|
THE HINDU GOD
In the beginning, the Vedic Religion was merely Nature Worship. Since the peasant was at the mercy of the forces of nature, he worshipped the Sun, the Moon, the Wind, the Rain and so on. In course of time, these forces were deified and came to be known as Prithivi (Earth), Agni (fire), vayu (wind) and parjanya (rain). They also worshipped Indra, the warrior of God and Varuna, the upholder of the physical and moral order. This simple religion became in course of time, highly philosophical. More important was the code of Morality given by the God Varuna.Violation of these laws would bring down terrible punishments like incurable diseases and banishment to hell. People therefore lived a pure and moral life.
Aryans wrote a book of poems, namely the Vedas. There are four Vedas.(1)The Rig Vedas, the oldest one.(2)The Sama Veda(3)The yajur Veda and (4)The Atharva Veda. The Vedas are full of hymns in praise of Gods and invoking their blessings. People prayed and offered sacrifices to obtain victory in war, abundant rain, good harvests and greater prosperity. The Vedas was personified as a living being. Each living being sprouted from the Vedic Corpus was genetically "termed in the name of a Goddess". These Goddesses were worshipped so profoundly as to develop personal relationship in the sense that the Goddess can possess the worshipper.
|
