Rigvedic deities

There are 10000 hymns in the Rigveda, most of them dedicated to specific deities. Sri Aurobindo finds Deities being a Symbol or a image of psychological function of each gods.[1] Indra, a god (The mind), slayer of Vritra (opposing forces, the mother of Vritra, Diti being the dividing consciousness[2]) and destroyer of the Vala, liberator of the cows and the rivers; Agni the sacrificial fire and messenger of the gods(the human will); and Soma, the ritual drink dedicated to Indra(ananda), are the most prominent deities.

Deities by prominence with their psychological allegory

List of Rigvedic deities by a number of dedicated hymns, after Griffith (1888). Some dedications are to paired deities, such as Indra-Agni, Mitra-Varuna, Soma-Rudra, here counted double. Vishvadevas (all gods together) have been invoked 70 times.


Deities with number os times mentioned along psychological images

GodsAllegoriescounts
IndraMind250
AgniHuman will200
SomaAnanda123
Asvinspowers of light and nervous force56
varunaall pervading vastness46
Marutsseers of knowledge38


Minor deities (one single or no dedicated hymn)

See also

References
  1. Sri Aurobindo (1998), p. 34-35.
  2. Sri Aurobindo (1998), p. 131-132.
  3. Noel Seth,"Man's Relation to God in the Varuna Hymns," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Vol.III, 2010, pp.4 ff.
  • Ralph T.H. Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda (1888).
  • Rudralife
  • Sri Aurobindo (1998), The Secret of veda (PDF), Sri Aurobindo Ashram press
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