ptions later than the other
two. She may have been a local deity,[1260] brought into association
with Osiris (as his sister or his wife) through the collocation of their
cults, and thus sharing his popularity; or she may have been a late
theological creation.[1261] Whatever her origin, as early as the
sixteenth century B.C. she appears as a great magician (poisoning and
healing Ra by magic arts),[1262] then (along with Osiris) as civilizer,
and finally as model wife and mother, and as serene and beneficent
mistress of the land. It was, apparently, in this last character that
she became the gathering-point for the higher religious and ethical
ideas of the time, and the central figure in a religious scheme that was
widely adopted in and out of Egypt and seemed to be a formidable rival
of Christianity.[1263]

+730+. _India._ It is in India that we find the most varied and most
sweeping development in the functions and positions of deities--a result
due in part to the long-continued movement of philosophic thought,
partly to changes in the popular religious point of view occasioned by
modifications of the social life.[1264]

The etymology of the name Varuna is doubtful, but the representation of
him in the Rig-Veda points to the sky as his original form--he is a
clear example of a sky-god who becomes universal. Of his earliest
history we have no information--in the most ancient records he is
already fully formed. In the Rig-Veda he embraces the whole of life--he
is absolute ruler and moral governor, he punishes sin and forgives the
penitent. In conjunction with Mitra he is the lord of order.[1265]
Mitra, originally the physical sun, is naturally associated with Varuna,
but in the Rig-Veda occupies a generally subordinate position, though he
appears sometimes to have the attributes of his associate; the two
together embody a lofty ethical conception. In accordance with the Hindu
fondness for metaphysical abstractions and generalizations the nature
god Varuna in the course of time yielded the primacy to Prajapati, 'lord
of beings,'[1266] who in his turn gave way to the impersonal Brahma. In
the popular cults as well as in philosophical systems Varuna sank (or
perhaps returned) to the position of patron of phenomena of
nature--there was no longer need of him.

+731+. A god of somewhat uncertain moral character is Indra, who as a
nature god is closely connected with the violent phenomena of the air
(rain, thunder, and lightn