Cox, George - Aryan Mythology Vol 2.pdf

110 MYTHOLOGY OF THE ARYAN RATIONS.
BOOK Professor Max Miiller's words, ' the first intimation of beings
II . . .
-. ^—- which do not wither and decay—of immortals, of immor-
tality.' 1 When
from this thought of the immortality of
other beings they awoke at length to the consciousness that
man himself might be among the number of immortal creatures,
the feeling at once linked itself with another which
had thus far remained almost dormant. To adopt once
more the words of Professor Max Muller, ' by the very act
of the creation God had revealed himself;' 2 but although
many words might be used to denote 6 that idea which the
first breath of life, the first sight of the world, the first
consciousness of existence, had for ever impressed and im-
planted in the human mind,' 3 the idea of a real relation with
this Unchangeable Being could be awakened in men only
when they began to feel that their existence was not bounded
to the span of a few score years.
Aryan and A twofold influence, however, was at work, and it pro-
Mono- duced substantially the same results with the Semitic as
theism. with the Aryan races. Neither could be satisfied with effects
while seeking for a Cause ; and the many thoughts as to the
nature of this Creative Power would express themselves in
many names. The Yedic gods especially resolve themselves
into a mere collection of terms, all denoting at first different
aspects of the same idea ; and the consciousness of this fact
is strikingly manifested by the long line of later interpreters.
A monstrous overgrowth of unwieldy mythology has sprung
np round these names, and done its deadly work on the
minds of the common peojDle ; but to the more thoughtful
and the more truthful, Indra and Varuna, Dyaus and Vishnu,
remained mere terms to denote, however inadequately, some
quality of the Divine Nature. But the Vedic Indra and
Dyaus might have a hundred epithets, and alike in the East
and West, as the meaning of these epithets was either in
part or wholly forgotten, each name came to denote a sepa-
rate being, and suggested for him a separate mythical history.
Thus the Hindu sun-god Surya was represented among the
Hellenic tribes not only by Helios and Phoibos, but by
1 May Muller, ' Comparative Mythology,' Chips, ii. 97-
2 Id. ' Semitic Monotheism,' Chips, ii. 352.
3 Id. ib. 363.