[Sidenote:  Number and relations of deities uncertain.] The deities are generally said in the Veda to be “thrice eleven” in number.  We also hear of three thousand three hundred and thirty-nine.  There is no system, no fixed order in the hierarchy; a deity who in one hymn is quite subordinate becomes in another supreme; almost every god becomes supreme in turn; in one hymn he is the son of some deity and in another that deity’s father, and so (if logic ruled) his own grandfather.  Every poet exalts his favorite god, till the mind becomes utterly bewildered in tracing the relationships.

We have already spoken of Agni, Varuna, and Indra, as well as Soma.  Next to these in importance may come the deities of light, namely, the sun, the dawn, and the two Asvina or beams that accompany the dawn.  The winds come next.  The earth is a goddess.  The waters are goddesses.  It is remarkable that the stars are very little mentioned; and the moon holds no distinguished place.

[Sidenote:  Hardly any fetichism in the Rig Veda.] In the religion of the Rig Veda we hardly see fetichism—­if by fetichism we mean the worship of small physical objects, such as stones, shells, plants, etc., which are believed to be charged (so to speak) with divinity, though this appears in the fourth Veda—­the Atharva.  But even in the Rig Veda almost any object that is grand, beneficent, or terrible may be adored; and implements associated with worship are themselves worshiped.  Thus, the war-chariot, the plow, the furrow, etc., are prayed to.

[Sidenote:  Early tendency toward pantheism.] A pantheistic conception of nature was also present in the Indian mind from very early times, although its development was later.  Even in the earliest hymns any portion of nature with which man is brought into close relation may be adored.[6]

[Sidenote:  Reverence of the dead.] We must on no account overlook the reverence paid to the dead.  The pitris (patres) or fathers are frequently referred to in the Veda.  They are clearly distinguished from the devas or gods.  In later writings they are also distinguished from men, as having been created separately from them; but this idea does not appear in the Veda.  Yama, the first mortal, traveled the road by which none returns, and now drinks the Soma in the innermost of heaven, surrounded by the other fathers.  These come also, along with the gods, to the banquets prepared for them on earth, and, sitting on the sacred grass, rejoice in the exhilarating draught.

[Sidenote:  The subjects of the hymns of the Rig Veda.] The hymns of the Rig Veda celebrate the power, exploits, or generosity of the deity invoked, and sometimes his personal beauty.  The praises lavished on the god not only secured his favor but increased his power to help the worshiper.

[Sidenote:  The holiest prayer.] There is one prayer (so called) which is esteemed pre-eminently holy; generally called—­from the meter in which it is composed—­the Gayatri.[7] It may be rendered thus: