l and worshipped only after he had been raised to the
category of a Pitri, a father; and that this predicate of Father must
have been elaborated first before it could have been used, to
comprehend Dyaus, the sky, Varu_n_a, and other Devas. Professor
Mueller, however, denies that this is the whole truth in the case. The
Vedic poets, he remarks, believed in Devas--gods, if we must so call
them--literally, the bright ones; Pit_ri_s, fathers; and Manushyas,
men, mortals. (Atharva-Veda, X. 6, 32.) Who came first and who came
after it is difficult to say; but as soon as the three were placed
side by side, the Devas certainly stood the highest, then followed the
Pit_ri_s, and last came the mortals. Ancient thought did not
comprehend the three under one concept, but it paved the way to it.
The mortals after passing through death became Fathers, and the
Fathers became the companions of the Devas.

In Manu there is an advance beyond this point. The world, all that
moves and rests, we are told (Manu III., 201), has been made by the
Devas; but the Devas and Danavas were born of the Pit_ri_s, and the
Pit_ri_s of the _R_ishis. Originally the _R_ishis were the poets of
the Vedas, seven in number; and we are not told how they came to be
placed above the Devas and Pit_ri_s. It does not, however, appear
utterly beyond the power to solve. The Vedas were the production of
the _R_ishis, and the Pit_ri_s, being perpetuated thus to human
memory, became by a figure of speech their offspring. The Devas sprung
from the Pit_ri_s, because it was usual to apotheosize the dead. "Our
ancestors desired," says Cicero, "that the men who had quitted this
life should be counted in the number of gods." Again, the conception
of patrons or Pit_ri_s to each family and tribe naturally led to the
idea of a Providence over all; and so the Pit_ri_ begat the Deva. This
religion preceded and has outlasted the other.--A. W.]

[Footnote 293: _S_atapatha Brahma_n_a XI. 5, 6, 1; Taitt. Ar. II. 11,
10; A_s_valayana G_ri_hya-sutras III. 1, 1; Paraskara G_ri_hya-sutras
II. 9, 1; Apastamba, Dharma-sutras, translated by Buehler, pp. 47 seq.]

[Footnote 294: In the _S_ankhayana G_ri_hya (I. 5) four Paka-ya_gn_as
are mentioned, called Huta, ahuta, prahuta, pra_s_ita.]

[Footnote 295: A_s_v. G_ri_hya-sutras I. 3, 10.]

[Footnote 296: Manu III. 117-118.]

[Footnote 297: L. c. III. 85.]

[Footnote 298: See Des Coulanges, "Ancient City," I. 3. "Especially
were the meals o