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196 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS or. honour of the worshipped was its prominent external feature. The connection between the worshipper and the worshipped lay through worship which always implied an act of offering in fulfilment of the vow or promise. The object of worship was the attainment of a desired cnd. This popular religion of worship was based upon the give-and-take principle. It was through prayer that the worshipper sought to have a communion or communication with the worshipped. The mediation by a holy person was considered necessary. So the office of a competent priest was always in requisition. From the side of tho worshipper no amount of offering was considered sufficient and no amount of praise adequate to bring out the divine attributes of the worshipped, who was in each case a deva or devatā, a personal god or goddess, malevolent or benevolent. Thus in Devadhamma representing the popular religion of Indta a belief in the presence of a divine. personality was the conditio sine qua non. This personality was either a god or a deity. It was marked throughout by a process of personification of the divine attributes or deification of the worshipped. The distinctife nomenclature for the different groups of worshippers was sought to be determined by the grammatioal rule yā yesam devatā, the worshippers are to be distinguished by the name of the deity they
