The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c20.s5.22.2

v1.c20.s5.22.2

The deities honoured, all in the same manner, are Agni, Vāyu, Sūrya, Viṣṇu, Prajāpati, Virūpākṣa, Sahasrākṣa, Soma, Brahman, the Vedas, the gods, the seers, the metres, the Om, Vaṣaṭ and Mahāvyāhṛti calls, the Sāvitrī, which is treated with great respect in the Jaiminīya Upaniṣad, the sacrifice, heaven and earth, the Nakṣatras, the atmosphere, day and night, the numbers, the twilights, the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, fields, herbs, trees, Gandharvas and Apsarases, serpents, birds, Siddhas, Sādhyas, Vipras, Yakṣas, Rakṣases—all classed as Bhūtas, beings—Çruti, Smṛti, firmness, delight, success, thought, belief, insight, memory, cows, Brahmans, movable and immovable things, and all beings, as well as various teachers and ancestors, paternal and maternal.³ In the list of offerings of the human sacrifice, a pure piece as we have it of priestly imagination, there is ample room for abstractions;