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LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION.
tual and ethical character of the 'deity is but seldom entirely lost. If we take for instance a short hymn addressed to Agni or Fire, we easily see that Agni (ignis) is conceived as the representative of fire, yet we also perceive even here a more distant background, or a true divine element, only enveloped in a mythological shell.
HYMN TO AGNI (RIG-VEDA II. 6). 1. Agni, accept this log which I offer to thee, accept this my service; listen well to these my songs.
2. With this log, O Agni, may we worship thee, thou son of strength, conqueror of horses ! and with this hymn, thou high-born!
3. May we, thy servants, serve thee with songs, O granter of riches, thou whorlovest songs and delightest in riches!
4. Thou lord of wealth and giver of wealth, be thou wise and powerful; drive away from us the enemies !
5. He gives us rain from heaven, he gives us inviolable strength, he gives us food a thousandfold.
6. Youngest of the gods, their messenger, their in"voker, most deserving of worship, come, at our praise, to him who worships thee and longs for thy help.
7. For thou, O sage, goest wisely between these two creations (heaven and earth, gods and men), like a friendly messenger between two hamlets!
8. Thou art wise, and thou hast been pleased : perform thou, intelligent Agni, the sacrifice without interruption, sit down on this sacred grass !
Here we may clearly observe that peculiar blending of ethical and physical elements in the character of one and the same deity, a blending which seems
