Vedic Mythology c7.s1: § 59. General Traits

c7.s1.1

— Animals enter to a considerable extent into the mythological creations of the Veda. There are still numerous traces surviving from a more primitive age, when the line dividing men from animals was not definitely drawn (§ 65) and gods might be conceived as having animal forms also. The higher Vedic gods themselves being anthropomorphic in character, the supernatural beings of the Veda which have an animal form belong to a lower order, being semi-divine only or demoniac according as the animal is useful to man, as the cow, or injurious, as the serpent. Moreover, just as man has attached to him various animals which are serviceable to him, so the great anthropomorphic gods are naturally surrounded by a celestial animal world of a similar character. Lastly, actual animals are in the ritual connected with mythological conceptions of the gods. They are symbolical representatives intended only as an instrument for the time being to influence the gods they in some respect resemble. This fetishistic point of view is probably the faded remnant of a more primitive identification of gods with visible objects. The part which such animal fetishes play in Vedic times is, however, no longer great, since the representation of deities by animals conflicted with the higher conception prevailing of the gods as mighty men dwelling in heaven and coming invisibly to the sacrifice.