Dyaus (

Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit, also simply referred as the Vedic language, is the most ancient known precursor to Sanskrit, a language in the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is atteste ...

: द्यौस्, ) or Dyauspitr (

: द्यौष्पितृ, ) is the Rigvedic sky deity. His consort is Prthvi, the earth goddess, and together they are the archetypal parents in the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

Nomenclature

stems from Proto-Indo-Iranian ''*dyā́wš'', from the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

(PIE) daylight-sky god , and is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with the Greek Διας – ''Zeus Patēr'', Illyrian '' Dei-pátrous'', and Latin ''Jupiter'' (from Old Latin Dies piter ''Djous patēr''), stemming from the PIE ''Dyḗus ph₂tḗr'' ("Daylight-sky Father").' The noun (when used without the 'father') refers to the daylight sky, and occurs frequently in the

, as an entity. The sky in Vedic writing was described as rising in three tiers, , , and or .

Literature

Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́ appears in hymns with Prithvi Mata 'Mother Earth' in the ancient Vedic scriptures of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. In the Ṛg·veda, ''Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́'' appears in verses 1.89.4, 1.90.7, 1.164.33, 1.191.6, 4.1.10. and 4.17.4 He is also referred to under different theonyms: Dyavaprithvi, for example, is a dvandva compound combining 'heaven' and 'earth' as Dyauṣ and

Prithvi Prithvi (Sanskrit: पृथ्वी, ', also पृथिवी, ', "the Vast One", also rendered Pṛthvī Mātā), is the Sanskrit name for the earth, as well as the name of the goddess-personification of it in Hinduism. The goddess Prit ...

. Dyauṣ's most defining trait is his paternal role. His daughter, Uṣas, personifies dawn. The gods, especially Sūrya, are stated to be the children of Dyauṣ and Prithvi. Dyauṣ's other sons include Agni, Parjanya, the

Ādityas In Hinduism, Adityas ( ) refers to a group of major solar deities, who are the offspring of the goddess Aditi. The name ''Aditya'', in the singular, is taken to refer to the solar deity, sun god Surya. Generally, Adityas are twelve in number ...

, the Maruts, and the Angirases. The

Ashvins The Ashvins (, ), also known as the Ashvini Kumaras and Asvinau,, §1.42. are Hindu deities, Hindu Divine twins, twin gods associated with medicine, health, healing, sciences, and the twilight. In the ''Rigveda'', they are described as youthf ...

are called "''divó nápāt''", meaning offspring/progeny/grandsons of Dyauṣ. Dyauṣ is often visualized as a roaring animal, often a bull, who fertilizes the earth. Dyauṣ is also known for the rape of his own daughter, which, according to Jamison and Brereton (2014), is vaguely but vividly mentioned in the Rigveda. Dyauṣ is also stated to be like a black stallion studded with pearls in a simile with the night sky.

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

's separation of Dyauṣ and Prithvi is celebrated in the Rigveda as an important creation myth.

References

* {{Authority control Rigvedic deities Sky and weather gods European deities

Nomenclature

Literature

See also

References