duty of man to worship these superior beings by invocations and
sacrificial observances, as it is to honour the _pitris_ ("the
fathers"), the spirits of the departed ancestors. The spirits of the
dead, on being judged by _Yama_, the Pluto of Hindu mythology, are
supposed to be either passing through a term of enjoyment in a region
midway between the earth and the heaven of the gods, or undergoing their
measure of punishment in the nether world, situated somewhere in the
southern region, before they return to the earth to animate new bodies.
In Vedic mythology Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who
died, and "espied the way to" the celestial abodes, and in virtue of
precedence to have become the ruler of the departed; in some passages,
however, he is already regarded as the god of death. Although the
pantheistic system allowed only a subordinate rank to the old gods, and
the actual religious belief of the people was probably but little
affected by their existence, they continued to occupy an important place
in the affections of the poet, and were still represented as exercising
considerable influence on the destinies of man. The most prominent of
them were regarded as the appointed _Lokapalas_, or guardians of the
world; and as such they were made to preside over the four cardinal and
(according to some authorities) the intermediate points of the compass.
Thus _Indra_, the chief of the gods, was regarded as the regent of the
east; _Agni_, the fire (_ignis_), was in the same way associated with
the south-east; _Yama_ with the south; _Surya_, the sun ([Greek:
Haelios]), with the south-west; _Varuna_, originally the representative
of the all-embracing heaven ([Greek: Ouranos]) or atmosphere, now the
god of the ocean, with the west; _Vayu_ (or _Pavana_), the wind, with
the north-west; _Kubera_, the god of wealth, with the north; and _Soma_
(or _Chandra_) with the north-east. In the institutes of Manu the
_Lokapalas_ are represented as standing in close relation to the ruling
king, who is said to be composed of particles of these his tutelary
deities. The retinue of Indra consists chiefly of the _Gandharvas_
(probably etym. connected with [Greek: kentauros]), a class of genii,
considered in the epics as the celestial musicians; and their wives, the
_Apsaras_, lovely nymphs, who are frequently employed by the gods to
make the pious devotee desist from carrying his austere practices to an
extent that might render