A History of Sanskrit Literature c10.18

c10.18

On its mythological side the religion of the *Yajurveda* does not differ essentially from that of the older Veda; for the pantheon is still the same. Some important modifications in detail are, however, apparent. The figure of Prajāpati, only foreshadowed in the latest hymns of the *Rigveda*, comes more and more into the foreground as the chief of the gods. The Rudra of the *Rigveda* has begun to appear on the scene as Çiva, being several times mentioned by that name as well as by other epithets later peculiar to Çiva, such as Çankara and Mahādeva. Vishṇu now occupies a somewhat more prominent position than in the *Rigveda*. A new feature is his constant identification with the sacrifice. The demons, now regularly called Asuras, perpetually appear as a group of evil beings opposed to the good gods. Their conflicts with the latter play a considerable part in the myths of the *Yajurveda*. The Apsarases, who, as a class of celestial nymphs endowed with all the seductive charms of female beauty, occupy so important a place in post-Vedic mythology, but are very rarely mentioned in the *Rigveda*, begin to be more prominent in the *Yajurveda*, in which many of them are referred to by individual names.