The Religion of the Veda: The Ancient Religion of India (from Rig-Veda to Upanishads) c9.s1.4

c9.s1.4

In the first place, Vedic poets engage in a sort of scramble for the gods. The gods cannot be in one and the same place at the same time, and cannot grant all the conflicting wishes of their numerous suppliants. I have dealt with this theme which may interest the broader students of the history of religions, in a recent paper presented to the XIVth International Congress of Orientalists, held at Algiers in 1905.¹ The title of the paper, *On Conflicting Prayers and Sacrifices*, tells a good deal of the story. The notion which comes out quite persistently is that it requires art to "hog" the gods, and it is not a very delectable notion either from the æsthetic or the ethical point of view. Yet not less so perhaps than the *Te Deum laudamus* over the slaughter of enemies, which has been known to be chanted by both sides at the same time when each side claimed victory.²