"Chapter I. Prehistoric times"
"Chapter II. Ice Age"
"Chapter III. Arctic regions"
"Chapter IV. Night of the Gods"
"Chapter V. Vedic Dawns"
"Chapter VI. Long day and long night"
"Chapter VII. Months and seasons"
"Chapter VIII. The path of the cows"
Promotional video:
"Chapter IX. Vedic myths about captive waters"
"Chapter IX. Vedic myths about captive waters. 1. Legend of Indra and Vritra"
"Chapter IX. Vedic myths about captive waters. 2. Four victories of Indra in the fight against Vala"
"Chapter IX. Vedic myths about captive waters. 3. Cosmology in the Rig Veda"
"Chapter IX. Vedic myths about captive waters. 4. Cosmic circulation of atmospheric waters in myths"
"Chapter IX. Vedic myths about captive waters. 5. Fortieth day of autumn - the beginning of the struggle of Indra"
"Chapter X. Vedic myths about the morning deities. Ashwins"
"Chapter X. Vedic myths about the morning deities. About the Wheel of Surya"
It was indicated above that the waters of the lower world are divided, like heavenly and earthly, into three, seven or ten parts. We also learned that in ancient times the sacrifices completed their ritual actions at seven, nine and ten months and that Navagvas and Dashagvas are sometimes mentioned together, sometimes separately, and sometimes together with seven sages. I also briefly pointed out that the seven-digit division is found not only in the Vedas, but also in the myths of other Aryan peoples. But these facts require more in-depth consideration, and I intend here to point out some data that have not attracted much attention so far.
Yaska and Sayana speak only of the seven horses of the sun, the seven tongues of the Agni flame, since it was believed that the sun has seven rays. But S. P. Pandita (Indian scientist) set forth in his writings a new idea that these seven rays should be considered from the point of view of optics, and they reflect in their essence the seven colors into which the prism divides the light of the sun, or they are seven colors of the rainbow. At first glance, this looks like a satisfactory assessment of the fact, but our confidence in this is defeated as soon as we remember that the Rig Veda speaks about the ten horses of the sun and its ten rays. Yaska and Sayana either bypass this difficulty, or provide some evasive explanations. But these ten-digit divisions are so common that you cannot discard them, and they are also combined with seven-digit divisions. We should find out why such facts are recorded in the Rig Veda. But before thathow to begin considering all this, we must remember all the facts of this double combination and see how widely they are found in the Vedic literature.
Let's start with the sun. It is described as seven-horse (V, 45, 9), and its chariot is described as being pulled by seven horses and having seven wheels, or one horse with seven heads (I, 164, 3). It is indicated that these seven horses are of a chestnut color (I, 50, 8), but in the hymn (IX, 63, 9) it is said that ten horses are harnessed to his chariot, and in the hymn (I, 164, 14) it is said that the wheel the god of the year is also attracted by ten horses. In the Atharva Veda, it is indicated that the chariot of the sun is eight-horse (XI, 4, 22).
In the Rig Veda, Indra is also called a god who has seven rays, and his chariot is called seven-rayed (II, 12, 12; VI, 44, 24), while in the hymn (V, 33, 8) he is attracted by ten white horses, and in the hymn (VIII, 24, 23) he is called "the tenth new" ("dashamam navam"). In "Taittiriya Aranyaka" (III, 11, 1) Indra is called ten-digit, and here it should be noted that in the Avesta, in "Bahram-yashta", it is said about ten incarnations of Veretraghna (Vritrahan), and this is especially emphasized. Among those whom Indra patronizes, we see Dashadyu, that is, Ten times shining (I, 33, 14; VI, 26, 4), but a certain Dashoni, who had ten hands, or assistants, and also Dasha-mayu, the owner of ten illusions, he subdued Dyotane (VI, 20, 8). In another place, it is indicated that Dashoni and Dasha-shypra are with Indra when he drinks soma at the Syumarashmi (VIII, 52, 2).
The chariots of the god Soma and Pushan are described as five-pointed and seven-wheeled (II, 40, 3), and in the hymn (IX, 97, 23), Soma has ten rays.
In a number of hymns Agni is called seven-rayed (I, 146, 1; II, 5, 2), and his horses are said to have seven languages (III, 6, 2), but elsewhere (I, 141, 2) Agni is said to be "dasha-pramati" - "who shelters ten times," and his ten secret shelters are mentioned in the hymn (X, 51, 3). Young Agni is also called the "ninth" ("navam") (V, 27, 3) in the same description as the word "dashamam" ("tenth"), referring to the "new" Indra (VIII, 24, 23).
It is said about prayers that the sacrificing priests offer seven prayers to the gods (IX, 8, 4), and in the hymn (I, 144, 5) ten are indicated. Seven types of food are mentioned in the hymn (III, 4, 7), but the hymn (I, 122, 13) speaks of ten types. The Shatapatha Brahman speaks of ten methods of performing sacrificial libations (I, 8, 1, 34).
A number of hymns narrate about seven sacrifices ("vipras", "hotarah"), as we see in the fragments (III, 7, 7; III, 10, 4; IV, 2, 15; X, 63, 7), but in the hymn (III, 39, 5) clearly states that there are ten Dashagvas. And ten priests are mentioned in the Taittiriya Brahman (II, 2, 1, 1; II, 2, 4, 1).
Brihaspati, the firstborn priest, is described as having seven mouths (IV, 50, 4), and this is repeated in the Atharva Veda (XX, 88, 4). But in the same Atharva Veda (IV, 6, 1), the first brahmana Brhaspati has ten mouths and ten heads. The Rig Veda does not speak clearly about the seven heads of this brahmana, but in one place, in the hymn (X, 67, 1), “our father”, which means the father of the Angiras, has seven heads of knowledge.
The land is divided into seven parts (I, 22, 16), but about the lands it is said that there are ten of them ("dashavani") (X, 94, 7).
The stall of cows, opened by the Ashvins, has seven "mouths" - entrances (X, 40, 8), but the tenfold cow stall ("dashavraja") is mentioned in the hymns (VIII, 8, 20; VIII, 49, 10; VIII, 50, nine).
The hymn (X, 93, 4) lists seven kings: Aryaman, Mitra, Varuna, Rudra, Maruta, Pushan and Bhaga. But in the hymn (VIII, 5, 38), ten golden-like kings are mentioned, and ten non-sacrificial kings are mentioned in the hymn (VII, 83, 7). And Atharva Veda indicates that there were only ten ancient gods (XI, 8, 10).
These indications show that in one place seven horses of the sun are mentioned, and in another - ten; likewise we see indications of seven prayers and ten prayers; seven lands and ten lands; seven cow stalls and ten, etc. Thus, double indications can not be clearly explained everywhere in all cases, but on the whole there is no doubt that a number of the objects mentioned above are perceived as decaying into two images - seven-digit and ten-digit. To this double division should be added a threefold - three heavens, three earths, three lower worlds, as well as an eleven-fold division of the gods in the heavens, and earth, and waters, as mentioned above. The Atharva Veda mentions nine lands, nine oceans and nine heavens (XI, 7, 14), and this is also found in the Atharvasiras Upanishad.
It is now clear that the theory proposed by Jaska will not help in explaining all these categories of division. It can be assumed that a division by three was adopted for objects such as heaven, earth and the lower world. But how do we then explain all the other divisions, from seven to eleven? As far as I know, no attempt has been made to substantiate the principle of such an approach that defines all these classifications. But now the analogies concerning the seven priests, the Navagvas and the Dashagvas, may suggest a possible reason for these different divisions. For example, the fact that the sun has seven or ten horses seems naturally related to the seven or ten month periods of sunshine as described above. And in this case, it helps us understand the true meaning of these divisions.
The division of the priests into seven, nine and ten acts as an indication of the number of sacrificial victims: seven hotri, Navagva and Dashagva. Their number clearly serves to identify one reason, one reason. The homeland of the Aryans, located in ancient times between the North Pole and the Arctic Circle, was apparently divided in people's minds into different zones depending on the number of months during which the sun stood over the horizon. And that in the ancient arctic homeland, a year of seven, nine or ten months of sunshine was better known than a year of eight or eleven months. This is evidenced by such facts as the fact that the Navagvas and Dashagvas were considered the most prominent of the Angiras, and that the main definition of Surya was "seven-kon", as well as the story of the seven sons of Aditi, presented by her to the gods.
It should also be said that although the Angiras are called having different forms, Aryaman is described as having seven main forms, the rest of his images are not so essential, and he is referred to as a seven-time sacrifice (X, 64, 5). In the hymn (X, 27, 15) seven, eight, nine or ten hero warriors ("viras") appear "in front, behind and all around."
These lines are explained in different ways by different scholars, but I think they are related to the seven-, eight-, and nine-digit numbers of sacrifices, or Angiras, described in the hymn (III, 53, 7) as "heroes or warriors of the Asura." Therefore, it is possible that these "viras" are mentioned in the hymn (X, 27, 15). It is said about Indra in the hymn (VIII, 4, 1) that people revered him everywhere - in front (in the east), behind (in the west), above (that is, in the north) and below (in the south). And if the definitions “ahead”, “behind” and others in the hymn (X, 27, 15) are correctly understood, then the lines mean that seven-, eight-, nine- and ten-digit groups of donors can be seen “everywhere around”. In other words, different parts of the Arctic region had their own donor groups associated with the number of months of sunshine in these places. No theory can help explain this,except for the Arctic, and therefore, in view of the complete absence of other satisfactory explanations, we should, apparently, agree with its conclusions.
Continuation: "Chapter X. Vedic myths about morning deities. Ten kings and Ravana"