The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c17.76

v1.c17.76

Little part is played by minor deities in the Vedic theology. The predominance of the male element is marked: the goddesses are pale reflections of their husbands by whose names, with a feminine affix added, they are called: the only one who has a real character is Ushas, and more faintly Pṛithivī, ‘the earth,’ and of rivers the sacred Sarasvatī. The Ṛibhus are aerial elfs, the Apsarasas water nymphs, and the Gandharvas, their playmates, are aerial sprites. The simpler and more primitive side of nature worship is seen in the invocation of the plants, of the mountains, and of the trees of the forest; but real as these beliefs may have been to the common people, they are not the true subjects of the priests’ devotion. When speculation turned to deal with these matters, it found an utterance such as is seen in a striking hymn to the goddess of the forest, which exhibits much more poetical than religious feeling.