Çiva-worship appears to have been adapted from a local cult in the mountainous West, and at an early date to have been amalgamated with that of his next resemblance, the Vedic Rudra; while Krishna-worship flourished along the Ganges. These are those Dionysos and Herakles of whom speak the old Greek authorities. One cult is possibly as venerable as the other, but while Çivaism became Brahmanized early, Krishnaism was adopted much later, and it is for this reason, amongst others, that despite its modern iniquities Çiva has appealed more to the Brahman than has Krishna.
Megasthenes tells us a good deal about these Hindu representatives of Herakles and Dionysos. According to him there were Dionysiac festivals in honor of the latter god (Çiva),[66] who belongs where flourishes the wine, in the Açvaka district, north of the Kabul river. From this place Çiva's worship extended into the East, M[=a]gadha (Beh[=a]r), around Gokarna in the West, and even to the Kalinga country in the extreme Southeast. But it was especially native to the mountainous Northwest, about the 'Gate of Ganges' (north of Delhi, near Saharampur), and still further north in Kashmeer. In the epic, Çiva has his throne on K[=a]il[=a]sa,[67] the Northern mountain, in the Him[=a]layas, and Ganges descend from the sky upon his head.
On the other hand, Herakles, of the Ganges land, where grows no wine, is plainly Krishna, who carries club, discus, and conch. The Greek cities Methora and Kleisobora are Mathur[=a] and Krishna-pur, 'Krishna-town'; the latter on the Jumna, the former near it on the same river, capital of the clan which venerated Krishna as its chief hero and god, the Y[=a]davas. Megasthenes says, also, that Herakles' daughter is Pandaie, and this agrees with the P[=a]ndya, a southern development of the epic Gangetic P[=a]ndavas, who especially worship Krishna in conjunction with the Y[=a]davas. Their South-Indic town, Mathur[=a], still attests their origin.
In speaking of the relative antiquity of Vishnuism and Çivaism one must distinguish the pantheistic form of these gods from the single forms. While Çivaism,per se, that is, the worship of Çiva as a great and terrible god, preceded the same exaltation of Krishna, as is shown by their respective literary appearance, and even by Megasthenes' remark that the worship of Dionysos preceded that of Herakles by fifteen generations, yet did Krishnaism, as a popular pantheism, come before Çivaism as such. Although in the late Çvet[=a]çvatara Upanishad Çiva is pantheistic, yet is he not so in the epic till some of the latest passages make him the All, in imitation of Krishna as All-god. Probably Çivaism remained by the first philosophy, Sankhyan dualism, and was forced into Krishna's Vedantic pantheism, as this became popular. At first neither was more than a single great god without any philosophy.[68]
In one of the early exegetical works, which is occupied somewhat with philosophical matter, there is evidence that a triad existed between the Vedic triad of fires and the Puranic triad. Fire, Wind (or Indra), and the Sun (S[=u]rya), are stated in a famous passage to be the only real gods, all the others being but names of these. But, although in form this triad (Nirukta, vii. 4, 5) is like the Vedic triad,[69] it is essentially a triad in a pantheistic system like that of the epic and Pur[=a]nas, for it is added that "all the gods are parts of one soul." In explanation it is said: "Fire is the earth-god, Wind, or Indra, is the god of the atmosphere, and the sun is the god of the sky." Now in the Rig Veda Indra is closely united not only with Agni but with Vishnu, albeit in this period Vishnu is his subordinate. The nearest approach of this Vishnu to his classical descendant is in one of the latest hymns of the Rig Veda, where it is said that the seven seeds of creation are Vishnu's, as in later times he comprises seven males. In the philosophy of the T[=a]ittir[=i]ya Samhit[=a] the three places of Vishnu are not, as in the Rig Veda, the two points of the horizon (where the sun sets) and the zenith, but 'earth, air, and sky.'[70] That is to say, in the Brahmanic period Vishnu is already a greater god than he had been. Nay, more, he is explicitly declared to be "the best of the gods."[71] That best means greatest may be shown from the same work, where in savage fable it is recited that all the gods, including Indra, ran up to him to get his strength.[72] But especially in the Upanishads is Vishnu the one great god left from the Rig Veda. And it is with the philosophical (not with the ritualistic) Vishnu that Krishna is equated.
Of Çiva, on the other hand, the prototype is Rudra ('red'), his constant sobriquet. In the Rig Veda he is the god of red lightning, who is the father of the Maruts, the storm-gods. His attributes of a fulgurant god are never lost. Even as Çiva the All-god he is still the god of the blue neck, whose three-forked trident and home among the mountains remind us of his physical origin. He is always the fairest of the gods, and both early and late he is terrible, to be averted by prayer, even where his magic 'medicines' are asked for. To him are addressed the most suppliant cries: "O Rudra, spare us, strike not the men, slay not the kine." In the Atharva Veda at every step one finds characteristics which on the one hand are but exaggerations of the type formulated in the Rig Veda, and on the other precursors of the signs of the later god. In Çivaism, in contradistinction to Vishnuism, there is not a trace of the euhemerism which has been suspected in the Krishna-Vishnu cult. The Rudra of the Rig Veda already begins to be identified with the triune fire, for he bears the standing epithet of fire, "he of three mothers."[73] And this name he keeps, whether as Rudra, who is "brilliant as the sun" (RV. i. 43. 5), whose weapon is "the shining one that is emitted from the sky and passes along the earth" (ib. vii. 46. 3); or again, as the "red boar of the sky," the "holder of the bolt" (ib. ii. 33. 3), and, above all gods, "the terrible" (x. 126. 5).
Coming to the Brahmanic period one finds him a dweller in the mountain tops, of a red color, with a blue neck, the especial lord of the mountains, and so of robbers; while he is also the 'incantation-god,' the 'god of low people.' Some of these are Rudra's attributes; but here his name is already Çiva, so that one may trace the changes down the centuries till he finds again in the epic that Çiva is the lord of mountains, the patron of thieves (Hara, robber?), and endowed with the trident, the blue neck,[74] and the three mothers of old. In the middle period he has so many titles that one probably has to accept in the subsequent Çiva not only the lineal descendant of the Vedic Rudra, but also a combination of other local cults, where clan gods, originally diverse, were worshipped as one in consequence of their mutual likeness. One of the god's especial names is here Bhava, while in the earlier period Bhava and Rudra are distinct, but they are invoked as a pair (AV).[75] What gives Çiva his later tremendous popularity, however, is the feature to which we have alluded in the chapter on the epic. In the epic, all the strength of Çiva lies in the Linga.[76] Both Bhava and Rudra, as Çarva, the archer—his local eastern name—are represented as hurling the lightning, and it is simply from identity of attributes that they have become identified in person (AV. x. i. 23). Rudra's title of Paçupati, or 'lord of cattle'[77] goes back to the Vedic age: "Be kind to the kine of him who believes in the gods" is a prayer of the Atharva Veda (xi. 2. 28). Agni and Rudra, in the Rig-Veda, are both called 'cattle-guarding,' but not for the same reason. Agni represents a fire-stockade, while Rudra in kindness does not strike with his lightning-bolt. The two ideas, with the identification of Rudra and Agni, may have merged together. Then too, Rudra has healing medicines (his magical side), and Agni is kindest to men. All Agni's names are handed over in the Br[=a]hmanas to Rudra-Çiva, just as Rudra previously had taken the epithets of P[=u]shan (above), true to his robber-name. To ignore the height to which at this period is raised the form of Rudra-Çiva is surely unhistorical; so much so that we deem it doubtful whether Çiva-invocations elsewhere, as in the S[=u]tra referred to above, should be looked upon as interpolations. In the M[=a]itr[=a]yan[=i] Collection, the Rudrajapas, the invocations to Rudra as the greatest god, the highest spirit, the lord of beings (Bhava), are expressly to Çiva Giriça, the mountain-lord (2. 9; Schroeder, p. 346). In the [=A]itareya Br[=a]hmana it evidently is Rudra-Çiva, the god of ghastly forms (made by the gods, it is said, as a composite of all the 'most horrible parts' of all the gods), who is deputed to slay the Father-god (when the latter, as a beast, commits incest with his daughter), and chooses as his reward for the act the office of 'lord of cattle.'[78] This is shown clearly by the fact that the fearsome Rudra is changed to the innocuous Rudriya in the next paragraph. As an example of how in the Br[=a]hmanas Rudra-Çiva has taken to himself already the powers of Agni, the great god of the purely sacrificial period, may be cited Çat. Br. vi. 1. 3. 10 and 2. 1. 12. Here Agni is Kum[=a]ra, Rudra, Çarva (Sarva)[79], Paçupati (lord of beasts), Bh[=a]irava (terrible), Açani (lightning), Bhava (lord of beings), Mah[=a]deva (great god), the Lord—his 'thrice three names.' But where the Br[=a]hmana assumes that these are names of Agni it is plain that one has Rudra-Çiva in process of absorbing Agni's honors.
The third element in the Pur[=a]nic trinity,[80] identified with the Father-god, genealogically deserves his lower position. His rivals are of older lineage. The reason for his inferior position is, practically, that he has little to do with man. Being already created, man takes more interest in the gods that preserve and destroy.[81] Even Brahm[=a]'s old exploits are, as we have shown, stolen from him and given over to Vishnu. The famous (totemistic) tortoise legend was originally Brahm[=a]'s, and so with others of the ten 'forms' of Vishnu, for instance the boar-shape, in which Vishnu manifests himself, and the fish-shape of Brahm[=a] (epic) in the flood-story. The formal trim[=u]rti or tr[=a]ipurusha ('three persons') is a late figure. It would seem that a Harihara (Vishnu and Çiva as one) preceded the trinity, though the dual name is not found till quite late.[82] But, as we showed above, the epic practically identifies Vishnu and Çiva as equals, before it unites with these Brahm[=a] as an equal third.
There arises now the further question whether sectarian Vishnuism be the foisting of Krishnaism upon a dummy Vishnu. We think that, stated in this way, such scarcely can have been the case. Neither of the great sects is professedly of priestly origin, but each, like other sects, claims Vedic authority, and finds Brahmanical support. We have said that Vishnu is raised to his position without ictic suddenness. He is always a god of mystic character, in short, a god for philosophy to work upon. He is recognized as the highest god in one of the oldest Upanishads. And it is with the philosopher's Vishnu that Krishna is identified. Krishna, the real V[=a]sudeva (for a false V[=a]sudeva is known also in the epic), is the god of a local cult. How did he originate? The king of serpents is called Krishna, 'the black,' and Vishnu reposes upon Çesha Ananta, the world-snake; but a more historical character than this can be claimed for Krishna. This god-man must be the same with the character mentioned in the Ch[=a]ndogya Upanishad, 3. 17. 6. One may notice the similarities between this Krishna and him of the epic cult. Krishna, son of Devak[=i], was taught by his teacher, Ghora [=A]ngirasa, that sacrifice may be performed without objective means; that generosity, kindness, and other moral traits are the real signs of sacrifice; and it is then said: "The priest Ghora [=A]ngirasa having said this to Krishna, the son of Devak[=i]—and the latter was thereby freed from (thirst) desire—said: "When a man is about to die let him resort to this triad: 'the imperishable art thou,' 'the unmoved art thou,' 'breath's firmness art thou'; in regard to which are these two verses in the Rig-Veda:[83] 'till they see the light of the old seed which is kindled in the sky,' and 'perceiving above the darkness the higher light, the sun, god among gods, we come to the highest light.'" Krishna thus learned the abolition of sacrifice, and the worship of the sun, the highest light (Vishnu), as true being—for this is the meaning of the philosophical passage taken with its context. Kings and priests discuss philosophy together in this period,[84] and it would conform to later tradition to see in the pupil the son of a king. It is, moreover, significant that the priest, Ghora [=A]ngirasà, is named specially as priest of the sun-god elsewhere (K[=a]ush. Br. 30. 6), as well as that Krishna [=A]ngirasa is also the name of a teacher. It is said in this same Upanishad (3. 1. 1) that the sun is the honey, delight, of the gods; and this chapter is a meditation on the sun,[85] of which the dark (k[r.][s.][n.]a) form is that which comes from the Itih[=a]sas and Pur[=a]nas, the fore-runners of the epic (3. 4. 3). This is taught as a brahma-upanishad, a teaching of the absolute, and it is interesting to see that it is handed down through Brahm[=a], Praj[=a]pati, and Manu, exactly as Krishna says in the Divine Song that his own doctrine has been promulgated; while (it is said further) for him that knows the doctrine 'there is day,' his sun never sets (3. 11. 3-4). It is a doctrine to be communicated only to the eldest son or a good student, and to no one else (ib. 5), i.e., it was new, esoteric, and of vital importance. Here, too, one finds Sanatkum[=a]ra, the 'ever young,' as Skanda,[86] yet as an earthly student also (7. 1; 26. 2), just like Krishna.
It cannot be imagined, however, that the cult of the Gangetic Krishna originated with that vague personage whose pupilage is described in the Upanishad. But this account may still be connected with the epic Krishna. The epic describes the overthrow of an old Brahmanic Aryan race at the hands of the P[=a]ndavas, an unknown folk, whose king's polyandrous marriage (his wife is the spouse of his four brothers as well as of himself) is an historical trait, connecting the tribe closely with the polyandrous wild tribes located north of the Ganges. This tribe attacked the stronghold of Brahmanism in the holy land about the present Delhi; and their patron god is the Gangetic Krishna. In the course of the narrative a very few tales are told of Krishna's early life, but the simple original view of Krishna is that he is a god, the son of Devak[=i]. The few other tales are late and adventitious additions, but this is a consistent trait. Modern writers are fain to see in the antithesis presented by the god Krishna and by the human hero Krishna, late and early phases. They forget that the lower side of Krishna is one especially Puranic. In short, they read history backwards, for theirs is not the Indic way of dealing with gods. In Krishna's case the tricky, vulgar, human side is a later aspect, which comes to light most prominently in the Genealogy of Vishnu and in the Vishnu Pur[=a]na, modern works which in this regard contrast strongly with the older epic, where Krishna, however he tricks, is always first the god. It is not till he becomes a very great, if not the greatest, god that tales about his youthful performances, when he condescended to be born in low life, begin to rise. An exact parallel may be seen in the case of Çiva, who at first is a divine character, assuming a more or less grotesque likeness to a man; but subsequently he becomes anthropomorphized, and is fitted out with a sheaf of legends which describe his earthly acts.[87] And so with Krishna. As the chief god, identified with the All-god, he is later made the object of encomiums which degrade while they are meant to exalt him. He becomes a cow-boy and acts like one, a god in a mask. But in the epic he is the invading tribe's chief god, in process of becoming identified with that god in the Brahmanic pantheon who most resembles him. For this tribe, the (Yadavas) P[=a]ndavas, succeeded in overthrowing the Brahmanic stronghold and became absorbed into the Brahmanic circle. Their god, who, like most of the supreme gods of this region among the wild tribes, was the tribal hero as sun-god, became recognized by the priests as one with Vishnu. In the Upanishad the priest-philosopher identifies Krishna with the sun as the 'dark side' (k[r.][s.][n.]a, 'dark') of Vishnu, the native name probably being near enough to the Sanskrit word to be represented by it. The statement that this clan-god Krishna once learned the great truth that the sun is the All-god, at the mouth of a Brahman, is what might be expected. 'Krishna, the son of Devaki,' is not only the god, but he is also the progenitor of the clan, the mystic forefather, who as usual is deified as the sun. To the priest he is merely an avatar of Vishnu. The identity of Krishna with the Gangetic god described by Megasthenes can scarcely be disputed. The latter as represented by the Greek is too great a god to have passed away without a sign except for a foreigner's account. And there is no figure like his except that of Krishna.