Br_.iii.2.3.

2; _Cat.
Br_.xi.5.1.

1; i.7.1.

11).[35] Interesting, also, is the tale of Vishnu having been a dwarf, and the tortoise _avatar_, not of Vishnu, but of Praj[=a]pati; also the attempt of the evil spirits to climb to heaven, and the trick with which Indra outwitted them.[36] For it is noticeable that the evil spirits are as strong by nature as are the gods, and it is only by craft that the latter prevail.[37] Seldom are the tales of the gods indecent.

The story of Praj[=a]pati's incest with his daughter is a remnant of nature worship which survives, in more or less anthropomorphic form, from the time of the Rig Veda (x.