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Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, or Mahadeva, "for that is the order in which they are expressed by the letters A, U, M, which coalesce and form the mystical word, O M, a word which never escapes the lips of a pious Hindu, and can only be a subject for his silent meditation. This triple deity is sometimes named Vishnu, the pervader, and Narayan, or moving on the waters: when he is viewed as a destroyer, he is called Siva, and other names: Brahma appears as the great lawgiver. The first operations of Vishnu, Siva, and Brahma, are variously described by a number of allegories, "and from them we may deduce the Ionian philosophy of primæval water, the doctrine of the Mundane Egg, and the veneration paid to the Nymphæa Lotos;"* on which, in ancient sculptures, Brahma is seen floating on the waters. It is also a favourite symbol in Egyptian sculptures.

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Vishnu is sometimes represented as riding on a Garuda, or Garura, a species of eagle,

* Jones.

or large kite, which is highly venerated by the Brahmins, particularly those on the coast of Coromandel.* One of his names, in his preserving quality, is Hary.+

* It is there vulgarly named by the English, the Brahminy Kite.

+"Nearly opposite to Sultan-gunge, a considerable town in the province of Bahar, there stands a rock of granite, forming a small island in the midst of the Ganges, known to Europeans by the name of the rock of Jehangueery; which is highly worthy the traveller's notice, on account of a vast number of images carved in relief upon every part of its surface. Amongst these there is Hary, of a gigantic size, recumbent upon a coiled serpent, whose heads, which are numerous, the artist has contrived to spread into a kind of canopy over the sleeping god, and from each of its mouths issues a forked tongue, seeming to threaten death to any whom rashness might prompt to disturb him. The whole figure lies almost detached from the block on which it is hewn; is finely imagined, and executed with great skill. The Hindus are taught to believe, that at the end of every Calpa, or creation, all things are absorbed in the deity, and that in the interval between another creation, he reposeth himself on the serpent Sesha, duration, and who is also called Ananta, or endless."— Note of Mr. Wilkins to his translation of the Hectopades. "The

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Jupiter, in the capacity of Avenger or Destroyer, encountered and overthrew the Titans and Giants, to whom an eagle

"The use of images by the Hindus, for the purpose of heightening devotion, is at least as old as the Puranas; and it is remarkable, that, notwithstanding this circumstance, so little progress has been made in the arts of sculpture and painting. They may, perhaps, be admitted to equal the remains of Egyptian sculpture which have reached us; but are still infinitely inferior, in these particulars, to most nations, amongst whom religion has called in the assistance of the fine arts. We think it probable, that the progress of sculpture and painting was checked in Egypt, by the same causes which have retarded it in Hindustan. The length, breadth, form, and colour, of every limb, or feature, of each of their mythological personages,-their dress, air, and attitude, are imperiously prescribed to the Hindu artist, by the works which he considers as sacred. We recollect, in particular, that the Matsya Purana exhibits a very full code of laws for the guidance of the artist. The most copious treatise, however, on this subject that we have met with, is comprised in a work in the Imperial Library at Paris, entitled Hayasiras ; but the manuscript did not specify from what Purana it was extracted. We subjoin an extract from it.

"ISWARA," (OSIRIS, or BACCHUS).

"Let the arms, shoulders, and thighs of Iswara be

brought lightning and thunderbolts during the war. Thus, in a similar contest between Siva and the Daityas, or children of Diti, who frequently rebelled against heaven, Brahma is supposed to have presented the god of destruction with fiery shafts. When, beside this, we learn that Siva is believed to have three eyes, "and know from Pausanias, not only that Trioph

brawny and muscular; his colour, that of the beams of the crescent which decorates his brow; his long hair must be knotted in many convolutions; his shoulders covered by a tyger's skin; his ten arms ornamented with bracelets of snakes; pendents hung from his ears; his face bright, and exquisitely beautiful; a sword, a club, a trident, and other weapons, are perceived in his hands. When he appears in the character of the vanquisher of Tripura, during the conflagration of the city, he has sixteen arms, of which one wields the unerring Pinaca. When the moon of Vaisakha ushers in his feast, he is depicted as dancing amidst a crowd of sportive nymphs and satyrs, to the sound of instruments touched by celestial musicians. In the character of Yogheswara, his aspect must be terrific." Here follow the different proportions of his limbs and features in those four forms.-Edinburgh Review, vol. xvii. pp. 313, 314, article on Moor's Hindu Pantheon.

thalmos was an epithet of Zeus, but that a statue of him had been found at as early a period as the taking of Troy, with a third eye in his forehead, as we see him represented by the Hindus,* we must conclude that the identity of the two gods falls little short of being demonstrated."

*Pausanias mentions having seen in the temple of Minerva at Corinth, a statue of Jupiter in wood, with two eyes, as men have them naturally, and a third in the middle of the forehead. "I was assured, (says he), that it is the Jupiter Patrius, that was in the palace of Priam, son of Laomedon, in an open place, and that it was at his altar that the unfortunate king fled for refuge on the taking of Troy. In the division of the booty, the statue fell to the share of Sthenelus, son of Capaneus, who afterwards placed it in this temple. It may reasonably be supposed that Jupiter is represented with three eyes, to signify that he reigns in heaven, secondly, in the infernal regions, for the God who governs these is also called Jupiter by Homer; and thirdly, over the waters. Whoever, therefore, made that statue, gave him, I believe, three eyes, in order to express that one and the same divinity reigns over the three parts; though some have divided them amongst three different divinities."-Pausanias, Journey to Corinth, lib. ii. c. 24.

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