ere
conquered by the gods only with trickery" (in. 33. 60), an interesting
reminiscence of the fact that the later name for evil spirit was
originally the one applied to the great and good spirit (Asura the
same with Ahura).[17] According to a rather late chapter in the second
book each of the great Vedic gods has a special paradise of his own,
the most remarkable feature of the account being that Indra's heaven
is filled with saints, having only one king in it--a view quite
foreign to the teaching that is current elsewhere in the epic. Where
the sectarian doctrine would oppose the old belief it set above
Indra's heaven another, of Brahm[=a], and above that a third, of
Vishnu (i. 89. 16 ff.). According to one passage Mt. Mandara[18] is a
sort of Indian Olympus. Another account speaks of the Him[=a]layas,
Himavat, as 'the divine mountain, beloved of the gods,' though the
knight goes thence to Gandham[=a]dana, and thence to Indrak[=i]la, to
find the gods' habitat (III. 37. 41). Personified powers lie all
around the religious Hindu. And this is especially true of the epic
character. He prays to Mt. Mandara, and to rivers, above all to the
Ganges. Mt. Kol[=a]hala is divine, and begets divine offspring on a
river (I. 63). The Vindhya range of mountains rivals the fabled Meru
(around which course the sun and all the heavenly bodies), and this,
too, is the object of devotion and prayer.[19] In one passage it is
said that in Beh[=a]r (M[=a]gadha) there was a peak which was
continuously 'worshipped with offerings of flowers and perfumes,'
exactly as if it were a god. The reason why flowers are given and worn
is that they bring good luck, it is said in the same chapter (II. 21.
15, 20, 51).

What is, perhaps, the most striking feature of Hindu religious
thought, as a whole, is the steadfastness with which survive, even in
the epic and in Buddhism, the forms and formulae of the older faith.
At a time when pantheism or nihilism is the avowed creed the ancient
gods still exist, weak, indeed, yet infused with a true immortality.
This is noticeable even more in unnoticeable ways, in the turns of
speech, in little comparisons, in the hymns, in short, in the by-play
of the epic. 'Withered are the garlands of the gods, and their glory
is departed,'[20] but they still receive homage in time of need. And
in that homage is to be seen, and from the same cause, the revived or
surviving worship of the Veda. Each god in turn is mighty, though