[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Religion and philosophy](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion) › [The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925) › v1.c19.s7.32 # The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s7.32 The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c19.s7.32 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c19.s7.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s7.32) The case of the tortoise is by no means so simple as that of most of the animals. In the piling of the fire altar in the ritual a tortoise is built into the altar, where it is left as lord of the waters to continue its existence;⁸ it is possible that here we have a trace of the reverence paid to the beast for itself, though it may be merely so treated as representing the waters. In the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa,⁹ however, the tortoise is treated as the form assumed by Prajāpati for creating all creatures, and this view is embodied by the later mythology in the tortoise incarnation of Viṣṇu. The tortoise as Kaçyapa appears also beside Prajāpati in the Atharvaveda,¹ and in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa² it is said that Viçvakarman promised the earth to Kaçyapa. In these cases there is merely theriomorphism. Theriomorphism is also found in the case of demons, who are not seldom called \*mṛga\*, ‘wild beast’, and specific enemies are called Aurṇavābha, ‘spider brood’, and Uraṇa, ‘ram’. By far the most frequent case, however, is that of Vṛtra, who is called the serpent repeatedly: we find also Ahi, ‘serpent’, not merely identified with Vṛtra, but occasionally alone, when he is described exactly as Vṛtra is described, as encompassing or swallowing the waters, and defeated by Indra. From this conception arises that of several Ahis of whom he is the chief.³ The term is also applied to Agni, and one god, Ahi Budhnya, has no other name. - [Previous: v1.c19.s7.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s7.31) - [Next: v1.c19.s7.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s7.33) - [Up: v1.c19.s7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s7) ## Linked texts (4) - [Aitareyabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.aitreya.8.21) — Mahidāsa Aitareya, Sanskrit - [Ṛgvedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.rg.9.88.4) — Sanskrit - [Atharvavedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.atharva.19.53.10) — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit - [Śatapathabrāhmaṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.brahmana.satapatha.7.5.1.1) — Yājñavalkya & Śāṇḍilya (Vedic teacher), Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s7.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.religion.keith-1925.v1.c19.s7.32) · Pramāṇa