On the Nature of the Vedic Gods

Description

The present study concerns the vexed issue of the meaning and origin of the Vedic mythology . The book was originally published online in the series Sino-Platonic Papers (University of Pennsylvania). In it, the author argues that the main Vedic gods, e.g., Indra, Agni, Soma etc represent the principal stars and constellations of the night sky such as Taurus, Venus, Mercury, the Milky Way etc. Numerous passages in the Rig Veda, which have been deemed so far as completely obscure, are discussed and interpreted in a new light according to this theory. Dr. Anghelina also contends that the origin of Vedic religion and mythology has a practical purpose. This is the need to determine the precise succession of the seasons, which is pivotal for the survival of an agrarian society such as that of the Indo-Iranians in the northern Asian steppes in the second millennium BC. In other words, the origin of the Vedic religion has to do with the need of keeping time.