The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c39.s3.42

v2.c39.s3.42

Despite the relations of the gods with the sacrifice, the sacrifice is by no means always loyal to them: it flees from them, taking now the form of Viṣṇu, now that of a Suparṇa bird, now that of a horse, or of a black antelope. Nor have the gods ever learned the whole art of sacrifice, even as men have not had it revealed to them: they pick up fragments of it from time to time. They may even have to seek knowledge from the Ṛṣis such as the snake seer, Arbuda Kādraveya.