This goddess, representative of the Dawn, is a
favourite object of celebration with the Vedic poets, and "the hymns
addressed to her are among the most beautiful—if not the most beautiful—in the
entire collection." * She is described as the
daughter of the Sky, has Night for her sister.
Ushas is said † to travel in a shining
chariot drawn by ruddy horses or cows. Like a beautiful maiden dressed by her
mother, a dancing girl covered with jewels, a gaily-attired wife appearing
before her husband, or a beautiful girl corning from her bath, she, smiling and
confiding in the irresistible power of her attractions, unfolds her bosom to
the gaze of the beholders. She dispels the darkness, disclosing the treasures
it concealed. She illuminates the world, revealing its most distant extremities.
She is the life and health of all things, causing the birds to fly from their
nests, and, like a young housewife, awaking all her creatures, sends them forth
to the pursuit of their varied occupations. She does good service to the gods,
by causing the worshippers to awake, and the sacrificial fires to be lighted.
She is asked to arouse only the devout and liberal, while she allows the
niggardly to sleep on. She is young, being born every day; and yet she is old,
being immortal.The people lost much of their poetic fire; hence
the more human and practical deities caused the more poetical ones to pass into
oblivion. The changing colours of the dawn are compared to
the many-coloured robes of the dancing girl; the golden tipped clouds that
appear ere the sun shines in his strength, are like the jewels of a bride decked
for her husband; whilst the quiet modesty of the dawn herself is like a shy
maiden, conscious indeed of her beauty, entering society under the protection
of her mother.
