Indian Philosophy v1.c8.s2.131

v1.c8.s2.131

When thought advanced from the material to the spiritual, from the physical to the personal, it was easy to conceive of abstract deities. Most of such deities occur in the last book of the Ṛg-Veda, thus indicating their relatively late origin. We have Manyu,⁵ Śraddhā,⁶ etc. Certain qualities associated with the true conception of god are deified. Tvaṣṭṛ, sometimes identified with Savitṛ,⁷ is "the maker" or the constructor of the world. He forged Indra's thunder-bolt, sharpened the axe of Brahmaṇaspati, made the cups out of which the gods drink Soma, and gave shape to all living things. Brahmaṇaspati is a very late god, belonging to the period when sacrifices began to come into vogue. Originally the lord of prayer, he soon became the god of sacrifices. We see in him the transition between the spirit of the pure Vedic religion and the later Brāhmanism.⁸