The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c27.s4.59

v1.c27.s4.59

It is difficult also to ascertain what element of ecstatic enjoyment of the sense of union with the deity entered into the sacrificial ritual.⁸ The gods, we learn later, once appeared in bodily presence at the offering, but had ceased to do so, but this is not conclusive against the natural belief that the singers in their sacrifices believed themselves actually to behold the gods whom they invoked. We find prayers¹ for the eye of Agni to enable the worshipper to behold the demons and sorcerers, a plant has the power to make demons visible, the dicer sees the dancing Apsarases, and in the stress of battle we may safely assume that Indians who prayed to their gods had visions, as in medieval or modern days, in which they beheld the objects of their invocation lending them divine aid. Especially in the invocations of Indra, the Maruts, and the Açvins, all gods of especially concrete character, who are of present help in time of trouble, do we find indications which suggest that the priest believed that the gods would, if duly praised, reveal themselves to his longing vision.² Possibly too we may reckon here the prayers in the Āprī hymns which bid the divine doors open wide to admit the gods to the offering, and the conception of the path of the gods to the heaven may be due to this cause. The Fathers, we know, appeared to their worshippers, for we hear of Yātus who smuggle themselves in among them assuming their form.