The Symbolism Of Vedic Era Deities

The Symbolism of Vedic era deities. References:

The information about the deities from the Vedic period mainly comes from the Rigveda, oldest sacred book of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit. Rigveda contains canonical texts, such as hymns, liturgies, and Brahmanas (texts with instructions on rituals). Rigveda consist out of 10 chapters or books called Mandalas. Each Mandala is a collection of hymns praising the Hindi deities. In total there are around a 1000 hymns in Rigveda alone. Most of the hymns are dedicated to Indra, Agni, Soma and Ishwara. In total, over 30 major and 20 minor deities are being worshipped in the liturgical texts, therefore it is commonly said that Vedic people practiced polytheistic faith. Every living phenomenon of nature can be personified.

One of the world creation theories is about Purusha, or in the other words the cosmic man. His body, is where all the gods reside, therefore it is considered as holy and untouchable place. In the representation of the microcosm, one can say that Vedic deities live within the body of a human being. To serve the gods properly, people must live a sinless life, because the gods within us would be getting weaker, every time humans follow their desires.