There  by  the  sound  of  his  flute,  under  the  branches  of  the
mythic  tree,  he  assembles  around  him  the  dead  who  have
lived  nobly.  They  reach  him  in  a  crowd,  conveyed  by
Agni,  guided  by  Pushan,  and  grimly  scanned  as  they
pass  by  the  two  monstrous  dogs  who  are  the  guardians  of
the  road.  Clothed  in  a  glorious  body,  and  made  to  drink
of  the  celestial  soma,  which  renders  them  immortal,  they
enjoy  henceforward  by  his  side  an  endless  felicity,  seated
at  the  same  tables  with  the  gods,  gods  themselves,  and
adored  here  below  under  the  name  of  Fitris,  or  fathers.  At
their  head  are,  of  course,  the  first  sacrificers,  the  minstrels
of  other  days,  Atharvan,  the  Angiras,  the  Kavyas,  the
Pitris  by  pre-eminence,  equal  to  the  greatest  of  the  gods,
who  by  their  sacrifice  delivered  the  world  from  chaos,  gave
birth  to  the  sun,  and  kindled  the  stars.^  It  is  not  impro-
ba.ble  there  were  some  who  thought  it  was  they  whom  they
saw  sparkling  at  night  in  the  constellations  ;  for  India,  too,
was  aware  of  the  old  myth  which  conceives  of  the  stars  as
the  souls  of  the  dead.^  These,  however,  are  very  far  from
being  the  only  representations  that  were  given  of  the
future  life.  As  it  was  not  always  the  custom  to  burn  the
dead,  we  find  them  conceived  of  as  resting  in  the  earth
like  a  child  on  the  lap  of  its  mother,  and  dwelling  for  ever
in  the  tomb,  called  in  consequence  "  the  narrow  house  of
clay."  ^  It  was  imagined,  too,  that  when  the  body  was  on
the  eve  of  dissolution  and  returning  to  its  elements,  the
soul  went  to  tenant  the  waters  or  the  plants.*  This  last
conception,  in  which  there  is  a  sort  of  first  rude  idea  of  the
theory  of  metempsychosis,  occurs  only  in  an  exceptional


1  Rig- Veda,  ix.  113,  7-1 1  ;  x,  Agastya  (Canopus)  are  of  ancient
135;'  154;  14;  15;  16,  I,  2;  17.  date:  Rig-Veda,  x.  82,  2;  ^'atap.
