seized with terror, and that was after the death of Vritra,
" when, like a scared falcon, he fled to the depths of space
across and beyond the ninety and nine rivers ; " ^ while
even in this flight the later literature, which has preserved
the memory of it, sees only an effect of remorse.^ The fact
is, that in India the struggle between the god and the
demon is, and will always remain, an unequal one ; it
will give rise to an infinite number of myths ; but this will
not, as in Persia, issue in dualism. Indra, then, is pre-
eminently a warlike god. Standing erect in his war-chariot,
drawn by two fawn-coloured horses, he is in some sort the
ideal type of an Aryan chieftain. But that is only one of
the sides of his nature. As a god of heaven he is also the
dispenser of all good gifts, the author and preserver of all
life ; ^ with the same hand he fills the udder of the cow
with ready-made milk, and holds back the wheels of the
sun on the downward slope of the firmament ; he traces for
the rivers their courses, and establishes securely without
rafters the vault of the sky.* He is of inordinate dimen-
sions; there is room for the earth in the hollow of his
hand ; ^ he is sovereign lord and demiurgos.^
Around him those divinities are grouped which seem to
share in his empire, from the first, his faithful companions
the Maruts, probably the bright ones, gods of storm and
the lightnings.'^ When their host begins to move, the earth
trembles under their deer-yoked chariots and the forests
bow their heads on the mountains.^ As they pass, men see
1 Rig- Veda, i. 32, 14.
^ The remorse of the brahmanicide,
for the antagonist of Indra has be-
come a Brahman : Mahabhar., V. 228-
569. The basis of this story is, how-
ever, of ancient date, Taitt. Samh.,
ii. 5, I ; ii. 5, 3 ; see vi. 5, 5, 2.
Taitt. Samh., ii. 4, 12, Indra does Twelve hymns of the first book
not kill Vritra, but concludes a com- addressed to the Maruts form the
pact with him. first volume (all that has appeared) of
^ Rig-Veda, iv. 17, 17; vii. 37,3 : the translation by Max Miiller. He is the Maghavau, the munificent ^ Rig-Veda, v. 60, 2, 3 ; viii. 20, ^ar excellence. 5, 6 ; i. 37, 6, 8. 4 Rig- Veda, i. 61,9; iii. 30, 14; iv. 28, 2 ; ii. 15, 2, 3. ^ Rig-Veda, i. 100, 15 ; 173, 6; vi. 30, I ; iii. 30, 5. s Rig- Veda, ii. 12; i. loi, 5 ;
- iv.
19, 2 ; iii. 46, 2 ; ii. 15, 2 ; 17, 5; vi. 30, 5 ; viii. 96, 6.
