The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c13.s2.51

v1.c13.s2.51

The demoniac spirits are naturally conceived in human form, a fact which is in harmony with their origin from the souls of the dead, but which would not in itself establish that origin. But they are also figured as with animal shapes,⁵ and, unlike the great gods whose forms are normal, they are regarded often as not merely animal, but of utter and hideous deformity. Or again in some cases they are conceived as a mixture of the human and the animal forms.