A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, so far as it illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans c11.4

c11.4

The same applies to the religion of the Veda. Words like deva for ‘god’ mark a more than secondary stage in the grammar of the Aryan religion. To use the root div, ‘to shine,’ with reference to the heavenly bodies, was the result of a free choice. There were other roots which might have been used instead. Nor was it by any means a necessity that the presence of a Divine Power should be felt exclusively in the bright manifestations of nature. All this was the result of a historical growth; and the early periods of that growth had passed away long before the Rishis of India could have worshipped their Devas or their bright beings, with sacred hymns and invocations.