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66 Hymns in the Rig-Veda list groups of gods as well as individual de- ities defeated by Indra (we follow the translation by R. T. Griffith, The Hymns of the Rig-Veda): Thou slewest with thy bolt the Sasyu . . Far from the. floor of Heaven in all directions, They met in fight the army of the blameless, then the Navagvas put forth all their power. Like emasculates contending with men they fled, by steep paths from Indra they scattered. Indra broke through Ilibsa's strong castles, and Sushna with his horn he cut to pieces. . . Thou slewest thy fighting foe with thy Thunder .. . Fierce on his enemies fell Indra's weapon. with his sharp rushing Thunderbolt he rent their towns to pieces. Thou goest forth from fight to fight intrepidly, destroying castle after castle with thy strength. Thou Indra, with thy friend who makes the foe bow down, slowest from far away the guileful Namuchi. Thou hast struck down in death Karanja, Parnaya .. . Thou hast destroyed the hundred towns of Vangrida. The ridges of the lofty heaven thou madest shake when thou, daring, by thyself smote Sambara. Defeating the gods' enemies in groups as well as in single com- bat, and making them "flee to destruction," Indra turned his ef- forts to the freeing of the kine. The "demons" hid them inside a mountain, guarded by Vala ("Encircler"); Indra, aided by the Angirases, young gods who could emit divine flames, smashed into the fortified hideaway and freed the kine. (Some scholars, as J. Herbert in Hindu Mythology, hold that what Indra released or re- trieved was a Divine Ray, not cows, for the Sanskrit word go has When these wars of the gods began, the Adityas named Agni ("Agile") as Hotri, their "Chief of Office." As the wars pro- THE WARS OF CODS AND MEN the ancient riteless ones fled to destruction . . . The Dasyu thou hast burned from the heavens. both meanings.)