The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c30.s5.9

v2.c30.s5.9

⁴ This common rite in connexion with chthonic powers Weber (*Rājasūya*, p. 11, n. 4) ingeniously but most implausibly conjectures to be due to a desire to show the complete confidence of safety produced in the mind of the performer by his devotion. The placing of gifts on a tree is a rite with many parallels; Meyer (*Gesch. d. Alt.*³ I. ii. p. 722) holds that the idea is to bring the offering (e. g. in Ilion and Bambyke live animals) into immediate contact with the divinity temporarily resident in the tree. Cook (*Zeus*, i. 533) holds that the fertilizing animal is placed on the tree to secure its life. We are reduced to mere conjecture. Helm (*Altgerm. Rel.* i. 244 f.) ascribes the German rite (Tac. *Ann.* i. 67) either to an offering to wind and air demons or to tree spirits.