Dyaus Pita
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In the Vedic pantheon Dyausa Pita is the Sky Father, divine consort of the Prithvi and father of Agni, Indra (RV 4.17.4) and Ushas, the daughter representing dawn. Originally and in archaic Vedic lore, Dyausa Pita and Pritvi Mata were one, single composite dvandva entity, named as the Dyavaprthivi.
Etymologically, Dyausa is derived from Sanskrit root word morpheme div which means to shine. Words related to Dyausa in Sankrit are many and include Divasa (Day), Disha (Direction) etc. It shares a common historical origin with Deus, the Latin word for God or deity (see below).
According to one version of Creation as embodied in the Rg Veda (RV), mortal life emerged from the procreation by Dyausa Pita, whereby the mother Earth, goddess Prithivi was impregnated by the Dyausa Pita by way of rains.
Dyausa Pita is the Sanskrit version of the Proto-Indo-European sky god concept personified by Dyeus, who appears in many other Indo-European religions with similar attributes. Dyeus was addressed as Dyeu Ph2ter, literally "Sky Father" or "shining father", as reflected in Latin Jupiter, Dispater and deus pater, Greek Zeu pater, Sanskrit Dyàuṣpítaḥ or DyausPitrah. In his aspect as a father god, his consort was Pltwih2 Mh2ter, "Earth Mother". Dyausa Pita appears in the Greek as Zeus pater (accusative Día, genitive Diós), in Latin as Jupiter (from archaic Latin Iove pater, "Sky father"), in Slavic mythology as Div, and Germanic and Norse mythology as Tyr or Ziu.
In the Rig Veda, Dyaus Pitar appears in hymns 1.89, 1.90, 1.164, 1.191 and 4.1 in simple invocations.
In RV 1.89.4b, Pitar Dyaus meaning the "Father Sky" appears alongside Mata Prithvi "Mother Earth".
In the Purusha Suktam, Dyaus is described to have been created from the head of the primaeval being, the Purusha.
Dyausa has been depicted during the day-time as a red bull who bellows thunder (in juxtaposition to the Pritvi Mata, represented as a cow), or as the night heavens in form of a black horse adorned with pearls, symbolizing the stars. The dark Dyausa also holds a thunder-stone. In art, Dyausa appears in both the above two different forms.
Details of the Dyausa Pita myth are sketchy. Ultimately, Dyaus is taken as having been killed by Indra, his elder son, who throws him out of the sky to fall to death (RV 4.18.12).
Thomas Oberlies tentatively identifies Dyaus with an Asura in pre-vedic religion, who was also slain by Indra. But the hypothesis remains largely unsupported.
[edit] References
- Donald A. MacKenzie, India: Myths and Legends (1994).
- Thomas Oberlies, Die Religion des Rgveda, Wien (1998).
- Ralph T.H. Griffith, Hymns of the Rigveda (1888).
[edit] See also
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