than the Sun to be the judge of man's deeds, seeing, as he does, from
his throne in heaven, all that is done on earth? The Vedas speak of
Sûrya--the pervading, irresistible luminary--as seeing all things and
hearing all things, _noting the good and evil deeds of men_.[497:2]
According to Hindoo mythology, says Prof. Max Müller:
"The Sun sees everything, both what is good and what is evil;
and how natural therefore that (in the Indian Veda) both the
evil-doer should be told that the sun sees what no human eye
may have seen, and that the innocent, when all other help
fails him, should appeal to the sun to attest his
guiltlessness."
"Frequent allusion is made (in the Rig-Veda), to the sun's
power of seeing everything. The stars flee before the
all-seeing sun, like thieves. He sees the right and the wrong
among men. He who looks upon the world knows also the thoughts
in all men. As the sun sees everything and knows everything,
he is asked to forget and forgive what he alone has seen and
knows."[497:3]
On the most ancient Egyptian monuments, Osiris, the Sun personified, is
represented as Judge of the dead. The Egyptian "Book of the Dead," the
oldest Bible in the world, speaks of Osiris as "seeing all things, and
hearing all things, noting the good and evil deeds of men."