The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c23.s2.1

v1.c23.s2.1

It is impossible, when we deal with the lesser demons of the Vedic religion, to ascertain with any reasonable certainty the origin of the different conceptions exhibited, for the lack of clearness of the notices given in our sources is in accordance with the fact that the demons are objects of aversion, and that therefore they are not minutely described, but only indicated in vague terms. It is probably true that in many cases the idea of such spirits is born of the idea of the hostile dead,⁶ or again the demons are the product of independent creative thought, corresponding to the ‘abstract’ deities, but they may also often be more naturalistic in their origin. It must be remembered that there are poisonous plants, that waters are often regarded as cruel and dangerous as well as kindly, as in the widespread belief that a river must be propitiated by the life of man at least once a year, that the savage character of the forest creates the view that it is inhabited by a dread spirit, that the hail is regarded as evil, and that trees are awe-inspiring⁷ and sometimes deadly in their fruits. The animatistic growth of such ideas as that of hostile spirits is as natural as the animistic, or the spiritist, but in the case of the demons the distinctions cannot be made with certainty in the confused figures which we find in the literature. Nor in the case of the demons can we overlook the fact that actual men may be included as well as spirits of the dead, and actual animals also be considered a very natural fact.