second millennium BC.e.It was the time when coexisted in India Aryan tribes and immigrants from Iran.Therefore the languages and culture of the two nations were in close relationship, which is reflected in the speech, cults and religions.Create Vedic mythology refers to this period, which is reflected in the monument of Indian literature, the Rig Veda, which collected more than a thousand hymns dedicated to the gods.
As in ancient mythology, the gods of India submitted to patriarchy.At the head of the pantheon was Dyaus, he was the god of the sky and celestial bodies.However, in the Rigveda his cult was already in a state of extinction.Total in the Vedic pantheon, there were thirty-three deities.Some of them lived in the world, while the other lived in heaven, and the third was considered universal.
Later hymns supreme god called Varuna.He was a judge, a formidable Punisher people for their sins.In mythology, the head of the pantheon called the Rig Veda Indra - the god of thunder, who defeated the dragon Vritra, who threatened to devour the universe.Others, the most revered gods of India, described in the cult of the Rig Veda, the god of fire, Agni, the god of the sacred drink Soma.In addition to these entered the pantheon of deities, personified natural phenomena: the sun god Surya, the goddess of the dawn Ushas, twins Ashwins that were associated with pre-dawn and evening twilight.
reflected in the Rig Veda, the earliest stage of the creation of myths, when deified elements.Thus, the gods of ancient India were divided into two groups: the asuras and devas.The first inhabited areas of air and later were perceived as hostile to man anthropomorphic elements.Devas called gods.
By pozdnevediyskim literary monuments include the Yajur, Atharva Veda and Brahman cycle.They have received the development and evolution of the religious ideas of the era.At the forefront was nominated creator god Prajapati.It was called the father of the creator of the universe and the gods.Gradually changing role of other deities, perhaps borrowed from non-Aryan cults.Vishnu - one of them.Brahman his name was associated with the sun mythology and ritual sacrifice.Deity Rudra, who later found the name of Siva, has incorporated archaic features of earlier cults of the peoples who lived in India before the arrival of the Aryans.
They had special temples.For special ceremonies, which required the gods of India, constructed the altars.At times, they got the most bizarre shapes.For example, in the form of a bird.They performed sacrifices.In later changed their attitude towards the Vedas rites.Now, it was thought that the gods are powerless before a priest, whose actions have magical significance.Priests called the earthly gods.
When new gods came to India, Vishnu and Shiva, Indra belittling the role, he went by the wayside.Change the value and other idols.Varuna became the god of earth and atmospheric waters, Soma became a god of the moon.Some of the minor (old pantheon) were all forgotten.
At the end of the Vedic period, there was the doctrine of karma.According to him the number of good and evil deeds committed in his life a person is able to influence its rebirth.The soul goes after death in heaven or hell, and then moves into another living being.It explains the position of the individual in society: the punishment for the sins of past life or a reward for good deeds.The circle of rebirth concerned not only people, but also the gods.
Ever since the idea of Brahman cosmic power that can get a person indulging ascetic tortured flesh and asceticism.So mythology appeared force hostile to idols.The new god - Brahma, replaced the head of the pantheon pozdnevediyskomu Prajapati.The value of Shiva and Vishnu increased, and Indra, though it is considered the "king of the gods", moved on to a subordinate position.In the later Vedas Yama appeared, the man who after death could open the way to the afterlife realm and became king there.
archaic Vedic mythology and language, helps you learn the past of all Indo-European peoples and between the existing deep connection.At the same time India, the gods of her undying interest remain subject to this day.
