Who’s Pushan?

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Pushan is a Hindu god, part of the major pantheon, and discussed on numerous occasions in the Rig Veda. Pushan is the god of meeting and the domain of him was the road. He is also prayed for good luck in travel and, by extension, marriages.

In most wedding ceremonies, Pushan is invoked to bring good luck to the newlyweds on their life’s journey. He is also related to livestock and their feed, an important role in Hindu culture. Pushan is a protective and kind god, who looks after travelers on their journeys, protecting them from both wild beasts and cruel men, and helping them find the best road to happiness.

His role as god of travelers also extends beyond the mortal world, and he is also often described as a guide to departed souls. In this role, he leads the deceased to the afterlife, one of what are known as psychopomps. Another important psychopomp in Hindu mythology is Agni, the fire god of the Hindu pantheon, and in later times the Buddha too was seen as a Hindu psychopomp.

Pushan is depicted toothless, most often explained as the result of a fight with Shiva who is Rudra, and carries a long golden spear, signifying his constant movement. He is seen as riding a chariot drawn by goats, and is sometimes made a kind of sun god, dragging the sun on its course across the sky. His sister, Surya, is the avatar of the sun, and is often referred to as his lover, so even her attraction to the sun can be seen as an ornate courtship ritual.

The Rig Veda speaks of Pushan and the sun twice, in hymns 1:42 and 6:55, when it says: Come, fiery son of the untying, be for us charioteer of order, best of charioteers, lord of great wealth; you are a river of riches, a heap of gold. Pushan, who uses goats for horses in his chariot, his sister’s lover, Indra’s brother.

The offerings in Pushan are usually gruel of some kind, because it has no teeth. In the Taittriya Sahnhita Rudra is said to be responsible for this condition. It is said that a sacrifice was offered to many gods, but that Rudra was not part of the list, and was therefore enraged. In a rage, he shot an arrow into the sacrifice, simply to vent his frustration. Not knowing this, Pushan bit into the sacrifice and her teeth shattered completely.

Another account, in the Mahabharata, makes Rudra even more directly responsible for Pushan’s toothlessness. This account says that after the same sacrifice, Rudra was so angry that he ran among the gods in a rage, gouging out Bhaga’s eyes and kicking Pushan’s teeth. This myth of Pushan and his teeth bears a number of similarities to other Indo-European myths, notably the Greek myth of Eurynome and Ophion, in which Ophion, in a fit of jealousy, drives out Eurynome’s teeth.

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