CHAPTER III
ANIMALS IN CULTURE MYTHS
All the stories so far have reflected primitive man’s way of thinking and acting. Passing now to more developed phases of life, we are confronted in myths by such an array of animals—definite personifications of natural phenomena—that no possible ark would hold these cosmical monsters.
Now if we imagine ourselves off for a hunt for some of these animals in the mythology of people no longer primitive but with a considerable degree of culture, we shall find ourselves rewarded to the full in the myths of India. The ancient Hindoo revels in animal cosmic myths. The sky seems to be in his imagination one vast pasture land for cows and bulls, though frequently it is turned into a battle-ground because of the incursions of an evil serpent who has a predilection for carrying off cows. These tremendous dramas in the imaginative sky of the Hindoo are a magnified reflection of the state of affairs existing upon the earth. Cosmic cattle would be expected to be more glorious than mundane cattle, yet we see through these myths how important the cow was to the existence of the Hindoo.[3] To increase the number of cows, to render them fruitful in milk and prolific in calves, to have them well looked after, is the dream, the ideal of the ancient Hindoo. His worst enemy, therefore, is he that robs him of his cows, while his best friend would be he who rescues the cows from the robber.
The dewy moon, the dawn, the watery cloud, in fact, the entire vault of heaven which gives the benignant and quickening rain as cows give their milk, are all personified as the beneficent Cow of Abundance.
The great and awful ruler of all these cows is the God Indra, who rides in a car to which are harnessed magnificent bay steeds. Sometimes he is called a Bull and sometimes he is said to roar like a Bull.
From the hymns of the “Rig Veda,” probably three or four thousand years old, many of which were written in honor of Indra, may be gathered the characteristics of Indra and these remarkable cattle. In her cloudy aspects, this cow of the sky was called the spotted one, and was said to be the mother of the storm winds or Maruts, while Indra, who hides himself in thunder-clouds is the Bull of Bulls, invincible son of a cow that bellows like the Maruts. This terrible creature bellows and shows his strength as he sharpens his horns, who is able of himself to overthrow all peoples. His horns are the lightning, and he is sometimes said to have a thousand of them. With all these animals prancing about in the sky, there is a fine opportunity for brilliant onslaughts upon the enemy who steals the cows. Indra with his thunder-bolts and the Maruts with their winds are the leaders on one side, while in the hostile camp will be found a horrid monster called by different names, such as Valas, Vritras, Cushnas, meaning the enemy, black one, thief, serpent, wolf, or wild boar. This awful being generally seems to throw down the gauntlet by stealing the cows of Indra and imprisoning them in a dark and dismal cavern in the clouds. Then an exciting battle follows; Indra bellows, the thunder-bolt bellows, the Maruts bellow, and ascend the rock, now by their own efforts making the sonorous stone, the rock mountain fall; now, with the iron edge of their rolling chariots violently splitting the mountain; then the valiant hero, Indra, beloved by the gods, moves the stone; he hears the cows, by aid of the Maruts he finds the cows hidden in the cavern. Furnished with an arm of stone he opens the grotto of Valas, who keeps the cows; he vanquishes, kills or pursues the thieves in battle. We may see this battle every time there is a thunder-storm, the lightning often leaps between the clouds, and the thunder roars before the rain falls, but when there comes the heavy downpour of rain, the ancient Hindoo would compare it to the refreshing milk of the cows which have been rescued by Indra.
Horses are also important animals in Hindoo myths. The Asvins, who gallop across the sky from morning till night, are sometimes called the sons of the Sun and the Dawn and sometimes they are called the steeds of Indra. They are described in the hymns of the “Rig Veda” as full of life, having eyes like the sun, drawing the chariot with the golden yoke, the two most rapid ones, who carry Indra as every day they carry the sun. They are as two rays of the sun, which illumine the sky with manes the color of a peacock, bridled sixty times, beneficent, winged, indefatigable, resolute destroyers of enemies.
The Hindoo deities all have animals on which they ride, called Vahans or Vehicles; thus, Indra sometimes rides an elephant, Siva, a bull, Durga, a tiger, and so on. These all share in the honors of worship accorded to their riders. These vehicles of the gods were probably once impersonations of the gods themselves, or animals into which they changed themselves as they do in the primitive myths with which we are already familiar.
The cow does not seem to have been a Vahan for any of the gods. She was too much of a goddess in her own right, shown by the fact that she was regularly worshipped every year with great ceremony.
Egypt, however, was the land where animals received the greatest reverence. We find there a complete archæological museum of mythological animals. Cats and dogs, mice and crocodiles, birds and insects—all were worshipped. So sacred did the Egyptians consider animals in general that it was a capital crime if any of them were killed. Should an Ibis or a Hawk be even accidentally killed, the unfortunate person who happened to do it was put to death by the multitude without form of law. Even if a cat died, everybody in the house cut off his eyebrows. Nothing, not even the direst extremes of famine, could tempt an Egyptian to eat a sacred animal. They would rather devour each other than this.