Bliss beyond the grave depends in turn upon the existence of the spirit after death, and, that the reader may understand this, we must say a few words in regard to the Manes, or fathers dead.

"Father Manu," as he is called,[34] was the first 'Man.' Subsequently he is the secondary parent as a kind of Noah; but Yama, in later tradition his brother, has taken his place as norm of the departed fathers, Pitaras.
These Fathers (Manes), although of different sort than the gods, are yet divine and have many godly powers, granting prayers and lending aid, as may be seen from this invocation: "O Fathers, may the sky-people grant us life; may we follow the course of the living" (x.
57.

5).

One whole hymn is addressed to these quasi-divinities (x.

15): Arise may the lowest, the highest, the middlemost Fathers, those worthy of the _soma_, who without harm have entered into the spirit (-world); may these Fathers, knowing the seasons, aid us at our call.