A different myth – that of the hiran.yagarbha(golden reed or germ)
reflected the idea of the poet imagining creation to be like the sun rising
out of the waters of a river at dawn. The myth suggested that in the beginning
a golden seed was deposited in the primal waters. From the seed a reed
began to emerge and became the universe. Here the golden seed/reed was
likened to the rising sun and the rising of the fire from its pit. Once again,
the sacrificial fire was said to replicate the creative act and any number of
“risings” came to be seen as creative.
Both of these myths and others served as templates in later forms
of religion in India, especially in that stream which became known as
“Hinduism.” Well after the heyday of the Vedic sacrificial system, the imagery
of sacrifice was evoked as the model for religious living – in the city, the life
of the householder was a sacrifice, the role of the wife was sacrifice, even
the sexual act was understood to be sacrifice in the Ka ̄masu ̄ trainsofar
as the female was the altar and the male was the spark. Similarly, the
hiran.yagarbhahas been homologized to towers, pillars, and trees; the temple
tower was eventually understood to be the hiran.yagarbha, as was the yogin’s
spine or the pı ̄paltree which was thought to stand as the symbolic center of
the world.Hymns and commentaries
One of the legacies of the Vedic period has been remnants of hymns and
eventually commentaries that were passed down orally for generations within
priestly families. Some of the materials were eventually written, but, in some
cases, perhaps not until as late as the fourth century BCE. Attempts to
reconstruct something of the character of Vedic society and religion based
on these written sources has therefore been subject to a great variety in
interpretation and considerable uncertainty.
Nonetheless, it is generally agreed that the first generation of these hymns
was retained by four different sets of priests and were known as sam.hita ̄s.
The oldest of these sam.hita ̄swas the R.g Veda, believed by many historians
to reflect a tribal culture to be dated around 1200 BCE.^24 Chanted and
preserved by priests known as hotr.s, some 1,028 hymns have been preserved
and arranged in ten man.d.alasor cycles, though the first and last cycle are
thought to have been later additions. These are hymns which were used
in sacrifice, addressed to such deities as Indra (over 250 hymns), the lord of
war and storm, and celestial counterpart to the ks.atriya; and to Varun.a (some
twenty-five hymns) – counterpart to the bra ̄hma.na, who presided at the
highest reaches of heaven, holding the world together with his net of .rta:
the hymns were also addressed to fire personified as Agni; to Soma, the
favored drink of Indra; and to other deities.
26 Sources of Indian Religion