The great Indian religions : being a popular account of Brahmanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism : with accounts of the Vedas and other Indian sacred books, the Zendabesta, Sikhism, Jainism, Mithraism, etc. / by G. T. Bettany.

  • Bettany, G. T. (George Thomas), 1850-1891.
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The great Indian religions : being a popular account of Brahmanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism : with accounts of the Vedas and other Indian sacred books, the Zendabesta, Sikhism, Jainism, Mithraism, etc. / by G. T. Bettany. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    personal description given. Indra, god of tlie clear sky, is handsome, ruddy or golden-liaired, with long arms, hut has endless forms which he can assume at will. He rides on a shining golden car drawn by two golden horses, which move more swiftly than thought; he has a thunder- bolt and other weapons, and is exhilarated by the libations of soma offered by his worshippers. In many passages the known effects of this favourite intoxicant were supposed to be felt by the gods. One of Indra’s especial functions is to encounter and vanquish the hostile demons of drought. As Muir says, the growth of these ideas is perfectly natural and intelligible to those who have wit- nessed the phenomena of the seasons in India. “ Indra is thus at once a terrible warrior and a gracious friend, a god whose shafts deal destruction to his enemies while they bring deliverance and prosperity to his worshippers. The phenomena of thunder and lightning almost in-