Parjanya
Parjanya ( Sanskrit पर्जन्य parjanya m. " Rain cloud"; Pali : Pajunna; Ardhamagadhi : Pajanna) is a Vedic rain god. In post-Vedic times he was equated with Indra .
The Parjanya are Rigveda dedicated three hymns. He is described as a bull that refreshes the plants on earth and thus promotes growth. He drives a watery car and pours water from water skins. Its rain is accompanied by lightning, thunder and wind. He is often mentioned together with the wind god Vata . He is once referred to as the son of Dyaus .
In Jainism , Pajanna is identified with the king of the gods Sakka , who in turn is equated with Indra .
Pajunna also merged with Sakka in Sinhala Buddhism . In the early Middle Ages Podona, the Sinhalese name, was venerated in the state cult of Sri Lanka , the cult has been considered to have passed since the Polonnaruwa heyday at the latest .
literature
- Volker Moeller: Parjanya . In: Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Ed.) Gods and Myths of the Indian Subcontinent (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-12-909850-X , p. 143.
- Parjanya . In: John Dowson : A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. Trübner & co., London 1879, p. 232 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ parjanya . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 606, col. 2 .
- ↑ Viyāhapannatti 14.2. See Jozef Deleu: Viyāhapannatti (Bhagavaī). The fifth Anga of the Jaina Canon. De Tempel, Bruges 1970 ( Recueil de travaux publiés par la Faculté de philosophie et lettres - Université de Gand ).
- ↑ Heinz Bechert : Podona or Posana. In: Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Ed.) Gods and Myths of the Indian Subcontinent (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-12-909850-X , p. 631.
