[Footnote 44: "My father and mother are my highest idol; I do for them what I do for Idols. As the three and thirty gods, with Indra foremost, are revered of all the world, so are my parents revered by me" (III. 214. 19, 20). The speaker further calls them paramam brahma, absolute godhead, and explains his first remark by saying that he offers fruits and flowers to his parents as if they were idols. In IV. 68. 57 a man salutes (abhivadya) his father's feet on entering into his presence. For the worship of parents compare XII. 108. 3; 128. 9, 10; 267. 31, XIII. 75. 26: "heroes in obedience to the mother.">[
[Footnote 45: The marked Brahm[=a] Creator-worship is a bit
of feminine religious conservatism (see below).]
[Footnote 46: Weber has shown that men of low caste took a
subordinate part even in the r[=a]jas[=u]ya sacrifice.]
[Footnote 47: In II. 18. there is a brand-new festival
appointed in honor of a female fiend, etc.]
[Footnote 48: III. 84. 83 (87. 11). We see the first idea in
the injunction of Indra to 'wander,' as told in the tale of
Dogstail in the Brahmana (see above).]
[Footnote 49: The usual formula (also Avestan) is 'pure in
thought, speech, and act.' The comparison of the six senses
to unrestrained wild horses is familiar (III. 211. 24).]
[Footnote 50: There is, further, no unanimity in regard to
the comparative value of holy places. In XII. 152. 11,
Sarasvat[=i] is holier than Kurukshetra, etc.]
[Footnote 51: At Pushkara is Brahm[=a]'s only (?)
shrine—the account is legendary, but half historical. The
modern shrine at Ajm[=i]r seems to be meant.]
[Footnote 52: Ganges, according to epic legend, was a goddess who sacrificed herself for men when the earth was parched and men perished. Then Ganges alone of immortals took pity on men, and flinging herself from heaven became the stream divine. Her name among the gods is Alakanand[=a], the 'Blessed Damosel.']
[Footnote 53: In iii. 87.10, "ten descendants and ten ancestors." The epic, i. 170. 19, regards the Sarasvat[=i] and Jumna as parts of the sevenfold Ganges, which descends from the heavens as these three, and also as the Vitasth[=a] (Rathasth[=a]), Saray[=u], Gomat[=i], and Gan[d.]ak[=i]; being itself 'V[=a]itara[n.][=i] among the Manes.' So xii. 322. 32.]