four autumns among mortals and whom she consoles by promising him bliss in heaven. From this story has been derived the view that Purūravas is the sun and Urvaśī the dawn, which disappears at the rise of the sun.
Much less prominent than even the Gandharva and the Apsarases is the "Lord of the Dwelling" (Vāstoṣpati), who is invoked in one hymn (vii. 54) to afford a favourable entry, to bless man and beast, and to grant prosperity in cattle and horses. There can be no real doubt that he is the tutelary spirit of the house. Another deity of the same type is the "Lord of the Field," who is asked to bestow cattle and horses and to fill heaven and earth with sweetness, while the "Furrow" itself, Sītā, is invoked to give rich blessings and crops. It would, of course, be an error to conclude from the meagreness of their mythology that these were not powerful deities, but it is clear that they had won no real place in the pantheon of the tribal priests whose views are presented in the Ṛgveda.
So also the divinities of the mountains, the plants, and the trees are far from important in the Ṛgveda. Parvata ("Mountain") is indeed found thrice coupled with Indra, and the mountains are celebrated along with the waters, rivers, plants, trees, heaven, and earth. The plants have a hymn to themselves (x. 97) in which they are hailed, for their healing powers, as mothers and goddesses, and Soma is said to be their king; and the forest trees, too, are occasionally mentioned as deities, chiefly with the waters and the mountains. The "Goddess of the Jungle," Araṇyānī, is invoked in one hymn (x. 146), where she is described as the mother of beasts and as rich in food without tillage, and her uncanny sights and sounds are set forth with vivid force and power, though poetically rather than mythologically.
A different side of religious thought is represented by the deification of artificial objects, but the transition from such worships as those of the tree to articles made of it is easy and natural enough. It can be seen at work in the case of the adora-
