Editing Savitr (section)

===Abstract classification===
There are two classes of deities in the ''[[Rig Veda]]'' whose nature is founded on abstraction.
* The first class, consisting of the direct personifications of abstract notions – such as 'desire' – is rare, occurring only in the very latest hymns of the ''Rig Veda'' and due to that growth of speculation which is so plainly traceable in the course of the [[Vedic age]].{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

* The second and more numerous class comprises deities whose names primarily either denote an agent, in the form of a noun derived from a root with the suffix "''-tṛ''" (such as ''Dhatr'', 'Creator') or designate some attribute, such as ''[[Prajapati]]'' ('Lord of Creatures').

The class, judged by the evolution of the mythological creations of the [[Veda]], does not represent direct abstractions, but appears in each case to be derived from an epithet applied to one or more deities, illustrating a particular aspect of activity or character. Such epithets gradually become detached, finally attaining an independent status. Thus ''Rohita'', the 'Red One' (whose female form is ''Rohinī''), originally an epithet of the sun, as a separate deity in the capacity of a Creator.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}
{{quote|...&nbsp;[the] second class of gods, who may be called 'abstract', is afforded by the agent gods – such as ''Dhatr'' – whose name expresses a function which they perform; ... they can be called 'functional gods'. In all the cases which are to be found in the [[Vedic literature]] we are able to say with a fair degree of plausibility that the conception formed itself from the use of the epithet in question, in the first place, of some concrete god; ... after denoting that deity in the special field of action, it was gradually made into a separate deity, concerned merely with the sphere of action in question. This, however, cannot be proved beyond doubt: It will, for instance, always be open to question whether ''Savitr'' is really an aspect of the sun, or whether he is god of stimulation, who by reason of similarity of nature has been made 'like to the sun'. In other cases there can be less doubt: The god ''Visnu'' cannot really be explained as a god of 'wide stepping' – he is a sun god, who happens to have a special sphere of activity&nbsp;...<ref>{{cite book |title=The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads |volume=1 |author-link=Arthur Berriedale Keith |first=A. Berriedale |last=Keith |page=204}}{{full citation needed|year, publisher, place of publication|date=November 2019}}</ref>}}

''Savitr'' is never mentioned as having part in the [[Soma sacrifice]]
{{quote|a fact which is doubtless fair evidence that the ''[[Rig Veda]]'' did not know him as having a place in the rite, and that he was later brought in, perhaps because of his growing importance, perhaps as an ''Aditya''."<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Arthur Berriedale Keith |first=A. Berriedale |last=Keith |title=The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads |volume=2}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2014|page, year, publisher, pub. place all needed}}</ref>}}