Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/143

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The Prehistoric Gods 127

daughters of heaven, the Maidens Dawn, shine upon the morning sky in harmony with gem, or when they wake up in the morning they rise from the seat of em. The sun is placed upon the sky in obedience to the we. He is called the wheel of rm with twelve spokes. This means that he courses across the sky as the year of twelve months. Even the shallow mystery that the red, raw cow yields white, cooked milk is “ the arm of the cow guided by the ﬁzz)” The gods them- selves are born of the em or in the (is: (ffajﬁfd); they show by their acts that they know the (m, observe the (m, and love the fire."

The religion of the Veda, as we have observed, rests upon the material foundation of cult and sacriﬁce. These performances are not always regarded merely as merchandise wherewith to trafﬁc for the blessings of the gods. They begin to evolve intrinsic virtues and harmonies. In alater time, the time of the Yajur. Vedas, as we have seen,” the technical acts of the sacriﬁce are imbued with magic and divine power. But even in the Rig—Veda the sacriﬁce ﬁre is kindled under the “yoking of the 37's,” or, as we should say, under the auspices of world order. Agni, the god of

1 “ 0 sage mir, wie geht es 211,

Giebt weisse milch die rote Kuh 1’" German nursery rhyme. 9 graffiti“, ﬂay“, “Hemp, and so on. 3 Above, p. 31.