"Much Rig Veda imagery is maritime. A hymn in Book Ten says, ‘In the beginning there was darkness hidden in darkness, all this universe was an unilluminated sea.’ Another has the gods standing in the sea, ‘then from hidden in the oceans, they brought forth the sun’. One from Book Four also describes creation from the oceans. ‘The universe rests within your nature, in the ocean, in the heart of all life.’ The later Puranas also identify the origin of life as the sea. Indra is the most frequently invoked god, ‘who is as expansive as the sea,’ ‘extensive as the sea,’ and ‘a four-fold ocean, the support of treasures’. Agni is the second major god in terms of number of hymns and also ocean related. ‘All delights converge in Agni, as seven mighty streams into the ocean’ and ‘Agni, the one ocean, the upholder of treasures.’ The god of sacred fire and wisdom, ‘Agni will deliver us across all difficulties as a ship across the river or sea,’ imagery which also pervades later Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. The earth and Mother Goddess Aditi are compared to a ship, only possible for a deeply maritime people. There are references to months of sea-travel, images of the sun’s movements through the year compared to a vessel crossing the sea. The enlightenment of a sage is compared to a ship’s journey. They understood the mechanics of evaporation and precipitation. ‘Oh, Maruts, you draw up the rain from the ocean and full of heavenly waters make it pour.’ The ocean is the father of all gods, the support of cosmic laws. ‘Flow on Soma as wealth from four oceans to us.’ ‘There is perhaps not a single Vedic god or group of gods that is not somewhere related to the ocean or ships,’ and the ocean is repeatedly identified as the means to bring riches, hence the importance of Indra’s dragon-slaying and freeing of rivers."