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one. Without disputing the truth reflected in this view, we may say that, as a matter of fact, the vast multitudes of Hindus do not thus closely analyze their subjective processes but regard their gods in straightforward fashion as objective realities.

There could be no better introduction to the Indian pantheon than that afforded by a visit to the famous Caves of Elephanta, located on an island in the bay about six miles from the city of Bombay. They constitute a Brahman rock temple some one hundred and thirty feet deep, provided especially for the worship of Shiva, one of the dominating gods of modern Hinduism. There is some dispute as to the actual age of these Caves, some holding that they date back five thousand years. Experts, however, point out that this assertion could hardly be true in view of the stage of religious development reflected in the huge carvings to be seen on the walls. More conservative scholars say that the excavations were made between A. D. 700 and 750. We were fortunate in having as our guide in a tour of these Caves the aged native custodian himself, who surprised us not only with his intimate knowledge of the meaning of the various images and of Hindu doctrine, but also by his statement that he himself was a Christian, converted years ago in Bombay under the preaching of William Taylor, who afterward became a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

* India and Its Faiths, by Professor James Bissett Pratt, p. 71.

On the wall just opposite the entrance to the Caves there stands a colossal image of the "Trimurti," or Hindu trinity. The figure is a threefaced bust. The center face with its mild expression represents the great god Brahma, the Creator, once the leading deity of the Indian pantheon, but now superseded largely in popular worship by other gods. On the left of Brahma is the face of Shiva, the Destroyer, the old Vedic storm god, who holds a very important place in modern Hinduism. Around one of his wrists is wound the sacred cobra, to signify that he is the protector of the animal world, while in the center of his forehead there is a third eye, representing spiritual insight. It is very difficult to characterize Shiva and the other gods of the Hindus, for their traits are nearly always loosely conceived and frequently interchangeable. However, we must understand that Shiva is a destroyer in the sense of destroying to renew, as does nature in the passing of the seasons. To the right of the Trimurti is the Linga Shrine, typifying most realistically this reproductive power of Shiva. In the midst of this shrine is the famous symbol representing the creative principle of life, about which there has been so much criticism. Doubtless in theory linga worship has no degrading implications, but in actual practice it can scarcely remain free from a sensualizing influence upon the people, as is evidenced by the indescribably obscene representations on some of the Hindu temples. Generally, near by the linga there is a kneeling

figure of Nandi, Shiva's bull, upon which he rides in his journeys up and down the earth. Near the entrance to the Caves at the left is a figure of Shiva in another aspect. Here he is an ascetic deep in meditation, thus objectifying the great mystical ideal of India. Just to the west of the Trimurti at the back of the Caves we find Shiva and his consort Parvati, or Kali. Over the head of Shiva in this instance there rises a three-headed female representing the three sacred rivers of India, the Ganges, the Jumna, and the Sarasvati. Kali seems to have absorbed most of the destructive qualities of her husband, for she is commonly represented in a most horrible form. At Kali Ghat, in Calcutta, we stood one day in the midst of a crowd of worshipers where there were numerous images of this fiendish deity, watching the priests slaughter goats in her honor until the very pavement became slippery with the blood of sacrifice. It is said that the late Professor Borden P. Bowne, witnessing this same frightful ceremony, desired immediately to leave India. The typical representation of Kali shows her in the very act of murder, a chain of skulls about her neck, and her tongue protruding to signify an unslacked thirst for blood. In one of her four hands she holds a man's head dripping with blood; just below another hand holds a basin to catch the blood; a third hand wields a bloody sword, while the fourth with a gesture points to a beheaded enemy near her right foot. Under her left foot

is another prostrate figure, the cobra wound around his arm. Kali is really the personification of nature in her terrible aspects, and this fact, together with the other fact that she is said to have a gentler side, may tend to temper our judgment as to this awful deity, but nevertheless the popular expression of Kali worship is filled with sickening horror.

The third face in the Trimurti of Elephanta represents Vishnu. In Vedic days he was the sun god, but with the passing of the centuries he has taken on many new characteristics so that now he is scarcely recognizable as one of the ancient deities. Vishnu is the Preserver, and rather more personal in his relation to his followers than Shiva, corresponds more nearly to the Christian idea of God than either of the other two members of the Hindu trinity. He is a god of love and grace, with none of the terrible aspects of Shiva or Kali, and stands for the great cosmic principle of the universe, man's Supreme Self. Of his incarnations in various earthly forms two are very important his appearance as Krishna and Rama. Krishna was of lowly birth, but his life abounds in a multitude of heroic exploits, among which, for example, was his marriage to sixteen thousand wives. Legends also gather about his infancy and boyhood that forcibly remind one of the early days of Jesus Christ. The followers of Krishna worship are of two classes, one that emphasizes the nobler philosophic side of devotion, and the other