l
the gods, there is an idea destined to overthrow, as it surpasses, the
simpler conceptions of the naturalism that precedes it. Agni as the
one divine power of creation is in fact the origin of the human race:
"From thee come singers and heroes" (vi. 7. 3). The less weight is,
therefore, to be laid on Bergaigne's 'fire origin of man'; it is not
as simple fire, but as universal creator that Agni creates man; it is
not the 'fire-principle'[11] philosophically elicited from connection
of fire and water, but as god-principle, all-creative, that Agni gets
this praise.

Several hymns are dedicated to _Indr[=a]gni_, Indra united with Agni;
and the latter even is identified with Dyaus (iv. 1. 10), this
obsolescent god reviving merely to be absorbed into Agni. As water
purifies from dirt and sin (Varuna), so fire purifies (iv. 12. 4). It
has been suggested on account of v. 12. 5: 'Those that were yours have
spoken lies and left thee,' that there is a decrease in Agni worship.
As this never really happened, and as the words are merely those of a
penitent who has lied and seeks forgiveness at the hands of the god of
truth, the suggestion is not very acceptable. Agni comprehends not
only all naturalistic gods, but such later femininities as Reverence,
Mercy, and other abstractions, including Boundlessness.

Of how great importance was the triune god Agni may be seen by
comparing his three lights with the later sectarian trinity, where
Vishnu, originally the sun, and (Rudra) Civa, the lightning, are the
preserver and destroyer.

We fear the reader may have thought that we were developing rather a
system of mythology than a history of religion. With the close of the
Vedic period we shall have less to say from a mythological point of
view, but we think that it will have become patent now for what
purpose was intended the mythological basis of our study. Without this
it would have been impossible to trace the gradual growth in the
higher metaphysical interpretation of nature which goes hand in hand
with the deeper religious sense. With this object we have proceeded
from the simpler to the more complex divinities. We have now to take
up a side of religion which lies more apart from speculation, but it
is concerned very closely with man's religious instincts--the worship
of Bacchic character, the reverence for and fear of the death-god, and
the eschatological fancies of the poets, together with those first
attempts at creating a new