a
water-god. Water is the 'essence (sap) of immortality,' and the bath
of purification at the end of the sacrifice (_avabh[r.]tha_) stands in
direct relation to Varuna. The formula to be repeated is: "With the
gods' help may I wash out sin against the gods; with the help of men
the sin against men" (_Cat. Br_. iv. 4. 3. 15; ii. 5. 2. 47). Mitra
and Varuna are, respectively, intelligence and will, priest and
warrior; and while the former may exist without the latter, the latter
cannot live without the former, 'but they are perfect only when they
cooeperate' (_ib_. iv. 1. 4. 1).

Of the divine legends some are old, some new. One speaks of the
sacrifice as having been at first human, subsequently changing to
beast sacrifice, eventually to a rice offering, which last now
represents the original sacrificial animal, man.[34] Famous, too, is
the legend of the flood and Father Manu's escape from it (_Cat. Br_.
i. 8. 1. 1 ff.). Again, the Vedic myth is retold, recounting the rape
of _soma_ by the metrical equivalent of fire (_T[=a]itt. Br_. i. 1. 3.
10; _Cat. Br_. i. 8. 2. 10). Another tale takes up anew the old story
of Cupid and Psyche (Pur[=u]ravas and Urvac[=i]); and another that of
the Hindu Prometheus story, wherein M[=a]taricvan fetches fire from
heaven, and gives it to mortals (_T[=a]itt. Br_. iii. 2. 3. 2; _Cat.
Br_. xi. 5. 1. 1; i. 7. 1. 11).[35]

Interesting, also, is the tale of Vishnu having been a dwarf, and the
tortoise _avatar_, not of Vishnu, but of Praj[=a]pati; also the
attempt of the evil spirits to climb to heaven, and the trick with
which Indra outwitted them.[36] For it is noticeable that the evil
spirits are as strong by nature as are the gods, and it is only by
craft that the latter prevail.[37]

Seldom are the tales of the gods indecent. The story of Praj[=a]pati's
incest with his daughter is a remnant of nature worship which
survives, in more or less anthropomorphic form, from the time of the
Rig Veda (x. 61.) to that of mediaeval literature,[38] and is found in
full in the epic, as in the Brahmanic period; but the story always
ends with the horror of the gods at the act.[39]

Old legends are varied. The victory over Vritra is now expounded thus:
Indra, who slays Vritra, is the sun. Vritra is the moon, who swims
into the sun's mouth on the night of the new moon. The sun rises after
swallowing him, and the moon is invisible because he is swallowed ("he
who knows this swallows his foes"). The sun vo