the sacrificer (the patron) gives; the sacrificer follows by catching hold of the fee given to the priests (ib.. i. 9. 3. 1).  It is to be noted, moreover, that sacrificing for a fee is recognized as a profession.  The work (sacrifice is work, ‘work is sacrifice,’ it is somewhere said) is regarded as a matter of business.  There are three means of livelihood occasionally referred to, telling stories, singing songs, and reciting the Veda at a sacrifice (Cat.  Br. iii. 2. 4. 16).

As an example of the absurdities given as ‘the ways of knowledge’ (absurdities which are necessary to know in order to a full understanding of the mental state under consideration) may be cited Cat.  Br. iv. 5. 8. 11, where it is said that if the sacrificial cow goes east the sacrificer wins a good world hereafter; if north, he becomes more glorious on earth; if west, rich in people and crops; if south, he dies; ‘such are the ways of knowledge.’  In the same spirit it is said that the sun rises east because the priest repeats certain verses ([=A]it.  Br. i. 7. 4).  No little stress is laid on geographical position.  The east is the quarter of the gods; the north, of men; the south, of the dead (Manes; Cat.  Br. i. 2. 5. 17); while 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 Carva, Bhava, ‘Beast-lord,’ Rudra, Agni (Cat.  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 (Cat.  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 (Cat.  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.