The male nature of the triad was supposed to require to be supplemented by each of the three gods being associated with a female energy (_Sakti_). Thus _Vach_ or _Sarasvati_, the goddess of speech and learning, came to be regarded as the _sakti_, or consort of Brahma; _Sri_ or _Lakshmi_, "beauty, fortune," as that of Vishnu; and _Uma_ or _Parvati_, the daughter of _Himavat_, the god of the Himalaya mountain, as that of Siva. On the other hand, it is not improbable that _Parvati_--who has a variety of other names, such as _Kali_ ("the black one"), _Durga_ ("the inaccessible, terrible one"), _Maha-devi_ ("the great goddess")--enjoyed already a somewhat extensive worship of her own, and that there may thus have been good reason for assigning to her a prominent place in the Brahmanical system.
A compromise was thus effected between the esoteric doctrine of the metaphysician and some of the most prevalent forms of popular worship, resulting in what was henceforth to constitute the orthodox system of belief of the Brahmanical community. Yet the Vedic pantheon could not be altogether discarded, forming part and parcel, as it did, of that sacred revelation (_sruti_), which was looked upon as the divine source of all religious and social law (_smriti_, "tradition"), and being, moreover, the foundation of the sacrificial ceremonial on which the priestly authority so largely depended. The existence of the old gods is, therefore, likewise recognized, but recognized in a very different way from that of the triple divinity. For while the triad represents the immediate manifestation of the eternal, infinite soul--while it constitutes, in fact, the Brahma itself in its active relation to mundane and seemingly material occurrences, the old traditional gods are of this world, are individual spirits or portions of the Brahma like men and other creatures, only higher in degree. To them an intermediate sphere, the heaven of Indra (the _svarloka_ or _svarga_), is assigned to which man may raise himself by fulfilling the holy ordinances; but they are subject to the same laws of being; they, like men, are liable to be born again in some lower state, and, therefore, like them, yearn for emancipation from the necessity of future individual existence. It is a sacred duty of man to worship these superior beings by invocations and sacrificial observances, as it is to honour the _pitris_ ("the fathers"), the spirits of the departed ancestors. The spirits of the dead, on being judged by _Yama_, the Pluto of Hindu mythology, are supposed to be either passing through a term of enjoyment in a region midway between the earth and the heaven of the gods, or undergoing their measure of punishment in the nether world, situated somewhere in the southern region, before they return to the earth to animate new bodies. In Vedic mythology Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died, and "espied the way to" the celestial abodes, and in virtue of precedence to have become the ruler of the departed; in some passages, however, he is already regarded as the god of death. Although the pantheistic system allowed only a subordinate rank to the old gods, and the actual religious belief of the people was probably but little affected by their existence, they continued to occupy an important place in the affections of the poet, and were still represented as exercising considerable influence on the destinies of man. The most prominent of them were regarded as the appointed _Lokapalas_, or guardians of the world; and as such they were made to preside over the four cardinal and (according to some authorities) the intermediate points of the compass. Thus _Indra_, the chief of the gods, was regarded as the regent of the east; _Agni_, the fire (_ignis_), was in the same way associated with the south-east; _Yama_ with the south; _Surya_, the sun ([Greek: Haelios]), with the south-west; _Varuna_, originally the representative of the all-embracing heaven ([Greek: Ouranos]) or atmosphere, now the god of the ocean, with the west; _Vayu_ (or _Pavana_), the wind, with the north-west; _Kubera_, the god of wealth, with the north; and _Soma_ (or _Chandra_) with the north-east. In the institutes of Manu the _Lokapalas_ are represented as standing in close relation to the ruling king, who is said to be composed of particles of these his tutelary deities. The retinue of Indra consists chiefly of the _Gandharvas_ (probably etym. connected with [Greek: kentauros]), a class of genii, considered in the epics as the celestial musicians; and their wives, the _Apsaras_, lovely nymphs, who are frequently employed by the gods to make the pious devotee desist from carrying his austere practices to an extent that might render him dangerous to their power.