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SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
'How many gods are there really, Yâgñavalkya?'— 'Three.'-'Yea, so it is!' he said. How many gods are there really, Yâgñavalkya?'-Two.''Yea, so it is!' he said. 'How many gods are there really, Yagnavalkya?'-'One and a half.'-' Yea, so it is!' he said. 'How many gods are there really, Yagñavalkya?'-'One.'-' Yea, so it is!' he said. 'Who are those three hundred and three, and three thousand and three ?'
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5. He replied, 'These are their powers, but thirty-three gods indeed there are.'-'Who are those thirty-three?'-'Eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, and twelve Ådityas,—that makes thirty-one; and Indra and Pragapati make up the thirty-three.'
6. 'Who are the Vasus?'-'Agni, the Earth, Vâyu (the wind), the Air, Âditya (the sun), Heaven, the Moon, and the Stars :-these are the Vasus, for these cause all this (universe) to abide (vas), and hence they are the Vasus.'
7. 'Who are the Rudras?'-'These ten vital airs in man, and the self (spirit) is the eleventh when these depart from this mortal body, they cause wailing (rud), and hence they are the Rudras.'
8. 'Who are the Âdityas?' ''The twelve months of the year these are the Âdityas, for they pass whilst laying hold on everything here; and inasmuch as they pass whilst laying hold (â-dâ) on everything here, they are the Adityas.'
9. 'Who is Indra, and who Pragâpati? '—' Indra, indeed, is thunder', and Pragâpati the sacrifice.''What is thunder?'-'The thunderbolt.'-'What is the sacrifice?'-' Cattle.'
1 Sâyana takes 'stanayitnu' in the sense of thunder-cloud,'stanayitnuh stananasîlo gargan parganya ity arthah.
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