Encyclopedia for Epics of Ancient India

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Vayu

Read about Vayu at Wikipedia

VAYU. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] 'Air, wind.' The god of the wind, Eolus. In the Vedas he is often associated with Indra, and rides in the same car with him, Indra being the charioteer. The chariot has a framework of gold which touches the sky, and is drawn by a thousand horses. There are not many hymns addressed to him. According to the Nirukta there are three gods specially connected with each other. "Agni, whose place is on earth; Vayu or Indra, whose place is in the air; and Surya, whose place is in the heaven." In the hymn Purushasukta Vayu is said to have sprung form the breath of Purusha, and in another hymn he is called the son-in-law of Twashtri. He is regent of the north-west quarter, where he dwells.

According to the Vishnu Purana he is king of the Gandharvas. The Bhagavata Purana relates that the sage Narada incited the wind to break down the summit of Mount Meru. He raised a terrible storm which lasted for a year, but Vishnu's bird, Garuda, shielded the mountain with is wings, and all the blasts of the wind-god were in vain. Narada then told him to attack the mountain in Garuda's absence. He did so, and breaking off the summit of the mountain, he hurled it into the sea, where it became the island of Lanka (Ceylon).

Vayu is the reputed father of Bhima and of Hanuman, and he is said to have made the hundred daughters of King Kusanabha crooked because they would not comply with his licentious desires, and this gave the name Kanyakubja, 'hump-backed damsel,' to their city.

Other names of Vayu (wind) are Anila, Marut, Pavana Vata, Gandhavaha, 'bearer of perfumes;' Jalakantara, 'whose garden is water;' Sadagata, Satataga, 'ever-moving,' etc.

ANILA. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] 'The wind.'

ANILAS. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] A gana or class of deities, forty-nine in number, connected with Anila, the wind. 


Modern Languages MLLL-4993. Indian Epics. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. The textual material made available at this website is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. No claims are made regarding the status of images used at this website; if you own the copyright privileges to any of these images and believe your copyright privileges have been violated, please contact the webmaster. Page last updated: October 16, 2007 12:22 PM