the west is the region of snakes, according to _ib_. iii. 1. 1. 7. On
account of the godly nature of the east ("from the east came the gods
westward to men," _ib_. ii. 6. 1. 11) the sacrificial building, like
occidental churches, is built east and west, not north and south. The
cardinal points are elsewhere given to certain gods; thus the north is
Rudra's.[30]

It has been said that the theological ideas are not clear. This was
inevitable, owing to the tendency to identify various divinities.
Especially noticeable is the identification of new or local gods with
others better accredited, Rudra and Agni, etc. Rudra is the god of
cattle, and when the other gods went to heaven by means of sacrifice
he remained on earth; his local names are Çarva, Bhava, 'Beast-lord,'
Rudra, Agni (_Çat. Br_. i. 7. 3. 8; M[=a]it. S. i. 6. 6). Indra is the
Vasu of the gods. The gods are occasionally thirty-four in number,
eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve [=A]dityas, heaven and earth, and
Praj[=a]pati as the thirty-fourth; but this Praj[=a]pati is the All
and Everything (_Çat. Br_. i. 6. 4. 2; iv. 5. 7. 2 ff.). Of these
gods, who at first were all alike and good, three became superior,
Agni, Indra, and S[=u]rya. But, again, the Sun is death, and Agni is
head of all the gods. Moreover, the Sun is now Indra; the Manes are
the seasons, and Varuna, too, is the seasons, as being the year (_Çat.
Br._ iv. 5. 4. 1; i. 6. 4. 18; iv. 4. 5. 18). Aditi, as we have said,
is the Earth; the fee for an offering to her is a cow. Why? Because
Earth is a cow and Aditi is Earth; Earth is a mother and a cow is a
mother. Hence the fee is a cow.[31]

The tales of the gods, for the most part, are foolish. But they show
well what conception the priests had of their divinities.