CHAPTER XVI.

THE PUR[=A]NAS.--EARLY SECTS, FESTIVALS, THE TRINITY.

Archaeologia, 'ancient lore,' is the meaning of Pur[=a]na _(pur[=a]na_, 'old'). The religious period represented by the extant writings of this class is that which immediately follows the completion of the epic.[1] These works, although they contain no real history, yet reflect history very plainly, and since the advent and initial progress of Puranic Hinduism, with its various cults, is contemporary with important political changes, it will be necessary briefly to consider the circumstances in which arose these new creeds, for they were destined to become in the future the controlling force in the development of Hindu religion.

In speaking of the extension of Buddhism we showed that its growth was influenced in no small degree by the fact that this caste-less and, therefore, democratic religion was adopted by post-Alexandrine rulers in the Graeco-Bactrian period. At this time the Aryans were surrounded with foreigners and pagans. To North and South spread savage or half Hinduized native tribes, while soldiers of Greece and Bactria encamped in the valley of the Ganges. Barbarians had long been active in the North, and some scholars have even claimed that Buddha's own family was of Turanian origin. The Brahmans then as now retained their prestige only as being repositories of ancient wisdom; and outside of their own 'holy land' their influence was reduced to a minimum by the social and political tendencies that accompanied the growth of Buddhism. After the fourth century B.C. the heart of India, the 'middle district,' between the Him[=a]laya and Vindhya mountains from Delhi to Benares,[2] was trampled upon by one Graeco-Bactrian horde after another. The principal effect of this rude dominion was eventually to give political equality to the two great rival religions. The Buddhist and the Brahman lived at last if not harmoniously, at least pacifically, side by side. Members of the same reigning family would profess Buddhism or Brahmanism indifferently. One king would sometimes patronize both religions. And this continued to be the case till Buddhism faded out, replaced by that Hinduism which owed its origin partly to native un-Aryan influence (paganism), partly to this century-long fusion of the two state religions.

To review these events: In the first decades of the fourth century (320 or 315-291 B.C.) Candragupta, Sandrocottos, had built up a monarchy in Beh[=a]r[3] on the ruins left by the Greek invasion, sharing his power with Seleucus in the Northwest, and had thus prepared the way for his grandson, Açoka, the great patron of Buddhism (264 or 259). This native power fell before the hosts of Northern barbarians, which, after irruptions into India in the second century, got a permanent foothold there in the first century B.C. These Northern barbarians (their nationality is uncertain), whose greatest king was Kanishka, 78 A.D., ruled for centuries the land they had seized; but they were vanquished at last in the sixth century, probably by Vikram[=a]ditya,[4] and were driven out. The breathing-space between Northern barbarian and Mohammedan was nominally not a long one, but since the first Moslem conquests had no definitive result the new invaders did not quite overthrow Hindu rule till the end of the tenth century. During this period the native un-Aryan tribes, with their Hinduizing effect, were more destructive as regards the maintenance of the old Brahmanic cult than were outsiders.[5]

When Tamerlane invaded India his was the fourth invasion after the conquest of the Punj[=a]b by the Moslem in 664.[6] In 1525 the fifth conqueror, Baber, fifth too in descent from Tamerlane, founded the Mogul empire that lasted till the fall of this dynasty (nominally till 1857). But it must be remembered that each new conqueror from 997 till 1525 merely conquered old Mohammedan dynasties with new invasions. It was all one to the Hindu. He had the Mohammedan with him all this time only each new rival's success made his lot the harder, But Baber's grandson, the Great Mogul, Akbar (who reigned from 1556 to 1605), gave the land not only peace but kindness; and under him Jew, Christian, Hindu, and Mohammedan at last forgot to fear or fight. After this there is only the overthrow of the Mohammedan power to record; and the rise of the Mahratta native kingdoms. A new faith resulted from the amalgamation of Hinduism with Mohammedism (after 1500), as will be shown hereafter. [8] In the pauses before the first Mohammedan invasion, and between the first defeat of the Mohammedans and their successful second conquest, the barbarians being now expelled and Buddhism being decadent, Brahmanism rallied. In the sixth century there was toleration for all faiths. In the seventh century Kum[=a]rila renewed the strength of Brahmanism on the ritualistic side with attacks on Buddhism, and in the ninth century Çankara placed the philosophy of unsectarian pantheism on a firm basis by his commentary on the Ved[=a]nta S[=u]tra.[7] These two men are the re-makers of ancient Brahmanism, which from this time on continued in its stereotyped form, adopting Hindu gods very coyly, and only as spirits of small importance, while relying on the laws as well as the gods of old, on holy _[=a]c[=a]ra_ or 'custom,' and the now systematized exposition of its old (Upanishad) philosophy.[8] Its creative force was already spent. Buddhism, on the other hand, was dying a natural death. The time was ripe for Hinduism, which had been gathering strength for centuries. After the sixth century, and perhaps even as late as 1500, or later, were written the modern Pur[=a]nas, which embody the new belief.[9] They cannot, on account of the distinct advance in their cult, have appeared before the end of the epic age. The breathing spell (between barbarian and complete Mohammedan conquest) which gave opportunity to Kum[=a]rila to take a high hand with Buddhism, was an opportunity also for the codification of the new creeds. It is, therefore, to this era that one has probably to refer the first of the modern sectarian Pur[=a]nas, though the ritualistic Tantras and [=A]gamas of the lower Çivaite sects doubtless belong rather to the end than to the beginning of the period. We are strengthened in this belief by the fact that the oldest of these works do not pretend to antedate Kum[=a]rila's century, though the sects mentioned in the epic are known in the first centuries of the Christian era. The time from the first to the seventh centuries one may accordingly suppose to have been the era during which was developing the Brahmanized form of the early Hindu sects, the literature of these and subsequent sects being composed in the centuries succeeding the latter term. These sects again divide into many subdivisions, of which we shall speak below. At present we take up the character of the Pur[=a]nas and their most important points of difference as compared with the sectarian parts of the earlier pseudo-epic, examining especially the trinitarian doctrine, which they inculcate, and its history.

Save in details, even the special 'faith-scriptures' called Tantras go no further than go the Pur[=a]nas in advocating the cult of their particular divinities. And to this advocacy of special gods all else in this class of writings is subordinated. The ideal Pur[=a]na is divided into five parts, cosmogony, new creations, genealogies of gods and heroes, _manvantaras_ (descriptions of periodic 'ages,' past and future), and dynasties of kings. But no extant Pur[=a]na is divided thus. In the epic the doctrine of trinitarianism is barely formulated. Even in the Harivança, or Genealogy, _va[.n]ça_, of Vishnu, there is no more than an inverted triunity, 'one form, three gods,' where, in reality, all that is insisted upon is the identity of Vishnu and Çiva, Brahm[=a] being, as it were, perfunctorily added.[10] In the Pur[=a]nas, on the other hand, while the trinity is acknowledged, religion is resolved again into a sort of sectarian monotheism, where the devotee seems to be in the midst of a squabbling horde of temple-priests, each fighting for his own idol. In the calmer aspects of religion, apart from sectarian schism, these writings offer, indeed, much that is of second-rate interest, but little that is of real value. The idle speculations in regard to former divinities are here made cobweb thin. The philosophy is not new, nor is the spirit of religion raised, even in the most inspired passages, to the level which it has reached in the Divine Song. Some of these Pur[=a]nas, of which eighteen chief are cited, but with an unknown number of subordinate works,[11] may claim a respectable age; many of them are the most wretched stuff imaginable, bearing about the same literary and historical relation to earlier models as do the later legal Smritis. In fact, save for their religious (sectarian) purport, the Pur[=a]nas for sections together do not differ much in content from legal Smritis, out of which some may have been evolved, though, probably, they were from their inception legendary rather than didactic. It is more probable, therefore, that they appropriated Smriti material just as they did epic material; and though it is now received opinion that legal Smritis are evolved out of S[=u]tras, this yet can be the case only with the oldest, even if the statement then can be accepted in an unqualified form. In our own opinion it is highly probable that Pur[=a]nas and later legal Smritis are divergent developments from the same source.[12] One gives an account of creation, and proceeds to tell about the social side; the other sticks to the accounts of creation, goes on to theology, takes up tales of heroes, introduces speculation, is finally wrenched over to and amplified by sectarian writers, and so presents a composite that resembles epic and law, and yet is generally religious and speculative.

A striking instance of this may be seen in the law-book of 'Vishnu.' Here there is an old base of legal lore, S[=u]tra, interlarded with Puranic material, and built up with sectarianism. The writer is a Vishnuite, and while recognizing the trinity, does not hesitate to make his law command offerings to Krishna V[=a]sudeva, and his family (Pradyumna, Aniruddha), along with the regular Brahmanic oblations to older spirits.[13] Brahmanism recognized Hindu deities as subordinate powers at an early date, at least as early as the end of the S[=u]tra period; while Manu not only recognizes Vishnu and Çiva (Hara), but recommends an oblation to Çr[=i] and K[=a]l[=i] (Bhadrak[=a]li, here, as elsewhere, is Durg[=a]).[14]

In their original form the Pur[=a]nas were probably Hesiodic in a great extent, and doubtless contained much that was afterwards specially developed in more prolix form in the epic itself. But the works that are come down as Pur[=a]nas are in general of later sectarian character, and the epic language, phraseology, and descriptions of battles are more likely taken straight from the epic than preserved from ante-epic times. Properly speaking one ought to give first place to the Pur[=a]nas that are incorporated into the epic. The epic M[=a]rkandeya Pur[=a]na, for instance, is probably a good type of one of the earlier works that went by this name. That the present Pur[=a]nas are imitations of the epic, in so far as they treat of epic topics, may be presumed from the fact that although they often have the formulae intact of the battlefield,[15] yet do they not remain by epic descriptions but add weapons, etc., of more modern date than are employed in the original.[16]

The sectarian monotheism of the Pur[=a]nas never resulted in dispensing with the pantheon. The Hindu monotheist is a pantheist, and whether sectarian or philosophical, he kept and added to his pantheon.[17] Indra is still for warriors, Maruts for husbandmen, although old views shift somewhat. So for example, in the K[=u]rma Pur[=a]na the Gandharvas are added for the Ç[=u]dras.[18] The fourfoldness, which we have shown in the epic to be characteristic of Vishnu, is now represented by the military epithet _caturvy[=u]has_ (agmen quadratum), in that the god represents peace, wisdom, support, and renunciation; though, as a matter of fact, he is _avy[=u]ha, i.e_., without any of these.[19] Starting with the physical 'god of the four quarters,' one gets even in the epic the 'controller of four,' or perfect person, conceived like [Greek: anêr tetragônos]. Tennyson's 'four-square to all the winds that blow' is a good connecting link in the thought. The Pur[=a]nas are a mine of legend, although most of the stories seem to be but epic tales, more or less distorted. Nala 'the great-great-grandson of R[=a]ma' is described after the history of R[=a]ma himself; the installation of P[=u]ru, when his father had passed over his eldest son, and such reminiscences of the epic are the stock in trade of the legendary writers.[20]

The origin of the four castes;[21] the descriptions of hell, somewhat embellished,[22] where the 'sinful are cooked in fire';[23] the exaltation of Vishnu as Krishna or K[=a]ma in one, and that of Çiva in another--these and similar aspects are reflections of epic matter, spirit, tone, and language, only the faith is still fiercer in religious matters, and the stories are fainter in historical references. According to the Pur[=a]na last cited: "There is no expiation for one that bows to a phallic emblem," _i.e_., Çivaite, and "all the B[=a]uddhas are heretics";[24] and according to the K[=u]rma Pur[=a]na: "Vishnu is the divinity of the gods; Çiva, of the devils," although the preceding verses teach, in the spirit of the Divine Song, that each man's divinity is that which he conceives to be the divinity. Such is the concluding remark made by Vasistha in adjudicating the strife between the Vishnuite and Çivaite sectaries of the epic heroes.[25] The relation that the Puranic literature bears to religion in the minds of its authors is illustrated by the remark of the N[=a]rad[=i]ya to the effect that the god is to be honored "by song, by music, by dance, and by recounting the Pur[=a]nas" (xvii. 9).

Some of the epic religious ceremonies which there are barely alluded to are here described with almost the detail of a technical handbook. So the N[=a]nd[=i]ya (xix.) gives an elaborate account of the raising of a _dhvaja_ or standard as a religious ceremony.[26] The legal rules affecting morality and especially caste-intercourse[27] show a laxity in regard to the rules as formerly preached. Even the old Puranic form of the epic is reproduced, as when M[=a]rkandeya converses again with Yudhistris, exactly as he does in the epic.[28] The duration of the ages; the fruit of sacrifices, among which are still mentioned the _r[=a]jas[=u]ya, açvamedha_, and other ancient rites;[29] the virtue of holy-places;[30] the admixture of pure pantheism with the idea of a personal creation[31]--these traits are again just those which have been seen already in the epic, nor is the addition of sections on temple-service, or other more minute details of the cult, of particular importance in a history of religious ideas.

The Pur[=a]nas for our present purpose may all be grouped with the remark that what is ancient in them is a more or less fugitive resemblance to the epic style and matter;[32] what is new is the more pronounced sectarianism with its adventitious growth of subordinate spiritualities and exaggerated miracles. Thus for instance in the Var[=a]ha Pur[=a]na there are eleven, in the Bh[=a]gavat Pur[=a]na twenty (instead of the older ten) _avatars_ of Vishnu. So too the god of love--although K[=a]ma and his dart are recognized in the late Atharvan--as a petty spirit receives homage only in the latest S[=u]tra (as Cupid, [=A]pastamba, ii, 2. 4. 1), and in late additions to the epic he is a little god; whereas in the drama he is prominent, and in the Pur[=a]nas his cult is described at length (though to-day he has no temple). The 'mother'-fiend P[=u]tan[=a], who suckles babes to slay them, is scarcely known to the early epic, but she is a very real personality in the late epic and Pur[=a]nas.

The addition to the trinity of the peculiar inferior godhead that is advocated in any one Pur[=a]na, virtually making four divinities, is characteristic of the period.

In proportion as sectarian ardor is heightened religious tone is lowered. The Puranic votary clinging to his one idea of god curses all them that believe in other aspects of the divinity. Blind bigotry fills the worshipper's soul. Religion becomes mere fanaticism. But there is also tolerance. Sometimes in one and the same Pur[=a]na rival forms are honored. The modern Hindu sects are in part the direct development of Puranic doctrine. But most of the sects of to-day are of very recent date, though their principles are often of respectable antiquity, as are too their sectarian signs, as well as the animals of their gods, some of which appear to be totems of the wild tribes, while others are merely objects of reverence among certain tribes. Thus the ram and the elephant are respectively the ancient beasts of Agni and Indra. Çiva has the bull; his spouse, the tiger. Earth and Skanda have appropriated the peacock, Skanda having the cock also. Yama has the buffalo (compare the Khond, wild-tribe, substitution of a buffalo for a man in sacrifice). Love has the parrot, etc; while the boar and all Vishnu's animals in _avatars_ are holy, being his chosen beasts.[33]

EARLY SECTS.

A classification of older sects (the unorthodox) than those of the present remains to us from the works of Çankara's reputed disciple, [=A]nanda Giri, and of M[=a]dhava [=A]c[=a]rya, the former a writer of the ninth, the latter of the fourteenth century. According to the statements made by these writers there were a great number of sects, regarded as partly heterodox or wholly so, and it is interesting in examining the list of these to see that some of the epic sects (their names at least) are still in full force, while on the other hand the most important factions of to-day are not known at all; and that many sects then existed which must have been at that time of great antiquity, although now they have wholly passed away.[34] These last are indeed to the author of the critique of the sects not wholly heterodox. They are only too emphatic, in worshipping their peculiar divinity, to suit the more modern conceptions of the Hindu reviewer. But such sects are of the highest importance, for they show that despite all the bizarre bigotry of the Pur[=a]nas the old Vedic gods (as in the epic) still continue to hold their own, and had their own idols and temples apart from other newer gods. The Vedic divinities, the later additions in the shape of the god of love, the god of wealth, Kubera,[35] the heavenly bird, Garuda, the world-snake, Çesha, together with countless genii, spirits, ghosts, the Manes, the heavenly bodies, stars, etc., all these were revered, though of less importance than the gods of Vishnuite and Çivaite sects. Among these latter the Çivaite sects are decidedly of less interest than the corresponding Vishnuite heresies, while the votaries of Brahm[=a] (exclusively) are indeed mentioned, but they cannot be compared with those of the other two great gods.[36] To-day there is scarcely any homage paid to Brahm[=a], and it is not probable that there ever was the same devotion or like popularity in his case as in the case of his rivals. Other interesting sects of this period are the Sun-worshippers, who still exist but in no such numbers as when [=A]nand[=a] Giri counted six formal divisions of them. The votaries of these sub-sects worshipped some, the rising sun, some, the setting sun, while some again worshipped the noonday sun, and others, all three as a _tri-m[=u]rti._ Another division worshipped the sun in anthropomorphic shape, while the last awakens the wrath of the orthodox narrator by branding themselves with hot irons.[37]

Ganeça,[38] the lord of Çiva's hosts, had also six classes of worshippers; but he has not now as he then had a special and peculiar cult, though he has many temples in Benares and elsewhere. Of the declared Çivaite sects of that day, six are mentioned, but of these only one survives, the 'wandering' Jangamas of South India, the Çivaite R[=a]udras, Ugras, Bh[=a]ktas, and P[=a]çupatis having yielded to more modern sectaries.

Some at least among the six sects of the Vishnuite sects, which are described by the old writers, appear to have been more ancient. Here too one finds Bh[=a]ktas, and with them the Bh[=a]gavatas, the old P[=a]ñcar[=a]tras, the 'hermit' V[=a]ikh[=a]nasas, and Karmah[=i]nas, the latter "having no rites." Concerning these sects one gets scanty but direct information. They all worshipped Vishnu under one form or another, the Bh[=a]ktas as V[=a]sudeva, the Bh[=a]gavatas[39] as Bhagavat. The latter resembled the modern disciples of R[=a]m[=a]nuja and revered the holy-stone, appealing for authority to the Upanishads and to the Bhagavad Git[=a], the Divine Song. Some too worshipped Vishnu exclusively as N[=a]r[=a]yana, and believed in a heaven of sensual delights. The other sects, now extinct, offer no special forms of worship. What is historically most important is that in this list of sects are found none that particularly worship the popular divinities of to-day, no peculiar cult of Krishna as an infant and no monkey-service.

Infidel sects are numerous in this period, of which sects the worst in the old writers' opinion is the sensual C[=a]rv[=a]ka. Then follow the (Buddhist) Ç[=u]nyav[=a]ds, who believe in 'void,' and S[=a]ugatas, who believe that religion consists only in kindness, the Kshapanakas, and the Jains. The infamous 'left-hand' sectaries are also well known.

To one side of the Puranic religions, from the earlier time of which comes this account of heresies, reference has been made above: the development of the fables in regard to the infant Krishna. That the cult is well known in the later Pur[=a]nas and is not mentioned in this list of wrong beliefs seems to show that the whole cult is of modern growth, even if one does not follow Weber in all his signs of modification of the older practice.

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS.

For the history of the cult there is in these works much to interest one in the description and determination of popular festivals in honor of the great sectarian gods. Further details of more specific nature are given in other works which need not here be regarded. By far the most important of these festivals are those that seem to have been absorbed by the sectarian cults, although they were originally more popular. Weber in the paper on the _r[=a]jas[=u]ya_, to which we have had occasion several times to refer, has shown that a popular element abided long in the formal celebrations of the Brahmanic ritual.[40] is soundly beaten; that gaming creeps into the ceremony as a popular aspect; that there was a special ceremony to care _katsenjammer_ caused by over-drinking; and that the whole ceremony was a popular spring festival, such as is found to-day (but without the royal part in the play).

Undoubtedly the original celebration was a popular one. Today the most interesting of these popular fêtes is in all respects the New Year's Festival and the Spring Festival. The latter has been cut up into several parts, and to show the whole intent of the original ceremonial it is necessary to take up the _disjecta membra_ and place them side by side, as has been done by Wilson, whose sketch of these two festivals, together with that by Gover of the New Year's Feast called Pongol, we give in abstract, premising that, however close be the comparison with European festivals of like nature, we doubt whether there is any historical connection between them and the Hindu celebrations.

We begin with the more popular New Year's, the Pongol:[41] The interesting feature of this South India festival is that the Hindus have done their best to alter its divinities and failed. They have, indeed, for Indra and Agni got Krishna formally accepted as the god in whose honor it is supposed to be held, but the feast remains a native festival, and no one really thinks of the Puranic gods in connection with it. Europe also has seen such dynamic alterations of divinities in cases where feasts would insist till patrons of an orthodox kind were foisted upon them to give an air of propriety to that which remained heathenish.[42] The Pongol is a New Year's festival lasting for three days. The first day is for Indra; the second, for (Agni) S[=u]rya;[43] the third (to which is added, as a wind-up, a fourth day), for cattle. The whole feast is a harvest-home and celebration of cattle. The chief ceremony is the cooking of rice, which is put to boil with great solemnity, and luck for the next year is argued from its boiling well. If it does so a universal shout arises,[44] all rush about, congratulate, and give presents to each other, and merry-making follows. On the cattle-days the beasts are led about with painted horns and decorated with ribbons, and are then chased and robbed by the boys. The image of Ganeça is the only one seen, and his worship is rather perfunctory. On the evening of the last day the women have a party, paying obeisance to a peacock, and indulging in a family reunion of very simple character. On this occasion the girl-wife may return for a few hours to her mother. It is the only general fête for women during the year.

Not unlike this festival of the extreme south is the New Year's celebration at the mouth of the Ganges. Here there is a grand fair and jewels are cast into the river as propitiation to the river-goddess. Not long ago it was quite customary to fling children also into the river, but this usage has now been abolished.[45] Offerings are made to the Manes, general and particular, and to the All-gods. As with the Pongol, the feast is one of good-fellowship where presents are distributed, and its limit is the end of the third day. After this the festivities have no religious character. Thousands of pilgrims assemble for this fête. Wilson, who gives an account of this celebration, compares the ancient Roman New Year's, with the _mutui amoris pignora_ which were sent at that season. The gifts in India are sweetmeats and other delicacies, ominous of good for the next year.[46]

On the 2d of February occurs a feast to Çr[=i], or Lakshm[=i], Vishnu's bride, patroness of all prosperity to her worshippers. At present it is a literary festival on which all books, inkstands, pens, etc., are cleaned and worshipped, as adjuncts to Sarasvat[=i], the goddess of learning. This is rather significant, for Sarasvat[=i] is properly the wife of Brahm[=a], but the Vishnuites of Bengal have made her the wife of Vishnu, and identified her with Çr[=i]. It is to be noticed that in this sole celebration of abstract learning and literature there is no recognition of Çiva, but rather of his rival. Çiva and Ganeça are revered because they might impede, not because, as does Sarasvat[=i], they further literary accomplishment. Sarasvat[=i] is almost the only fair goddess. She is represented not as a horror, but as a beautiful woman sitting on a lotus, graceful in shape, a crescent on her brow.[47] The boys, too, celebrate the day with games, bat and ball, prisoner's base, and others "of a very European character." The admixture of sectarian cults is shown by the transference to this Vishnuite feast of the Çivaite (Durg[=a]) practice of casting into the river the images of the goddess.[48] When applied distinctly to Sarasvat[=i] the feast is observed in August-September; when to Lakshm[=i], in October-November, or in February. There is, however, another feast, celebrated in the North and South, which comes on the exact date fixed by the Romans for the beginning of spring, and as an ending to this there is a feast to K[=a]ma, Cupid, and his bride Rati ('Enjoyment'). This is the Vasanta, or spring festival of prosperity and love, which probably was the first form of the Lakshm[=i]-Sarasvat[=i] feast.

Another traditional feast of this month is the 10th[49] (the eleventh lunar day of the light half of M[=a]gha). The eleventh lunar day is particularly holy with the Vishnuites, as is said in the Brahma Pur[=a]na, and this is a Vishnuite festival. It is a day of fasting and prayer, with presents to priests.[50] It appears to be a mixture of Vedic prayers and domestic Vishnu-worship. On the 11th of February the fast is continued, and in both the object is expiation of sin. The latter is called the feast of 'six sesamum acts,' for sesamum is a holy plant, and in each act of this rite it plays a part. Other rites of this month are to the Manes on the 14th, 22d, and 24th of February. Bathing and oblation are requisite, and all are of a lustral and expiatory nature. Wilson remarks on the fact that it is the same time of year in which the Romans gave oblations to the Manes, and that Februus is the god of purification. "There can be no reasonable doubt that the Feralia of the Romans and the Çr[=a]ddha (feast to the Manes) of the Hindus, the worship of the Pitris and of the Manes, have a common character, and had a common origin."[51]

The 27th of February is the greatest Çivaite day in the year. It celebrates Çiva's first manifestation of himself in phallic form. To keep this day holy expiates from all sin, and secures bliss hereafter. The worshipper must fast and revere the Linga. Offerings are made to the Linga. It is, of course, a celebration formed of unmeaning repetitions of syllables and the invocation of female Çaktis, snapping the fingers, gesticulating, and performing all the humbug called for by Çivaite worship. The Linga is bathed in milk, decorated, wrapped in _bilva_ leaves, and prayed to; which ceremony is repeated at intervals with slight changes. All castes, even the lowest, join in the exercises. Even women may use the _mantras_.[52] Vigil and fasting are the essentials of this worship.[53]

The next festival closes these great spring celebrations. It bears two names, and originally was a double feast, the first part being the Dol[=a] Y[=a]tr[=a], or 'Swing-procession,' the second part being the execrable Holi. They are still kept distinct in some places, and when this occurs the Dolotsava, or Dol[=a] Y[=a]tr[=a], follows the Holi. They are both spring festivals, and answer roughly to May-day, though in India they come at the full moon of March. We have followed Wilson's enumeration of all the minor spring feasts, that they may be seen in their entirety. But in ancient times there was probably one long Vasantotsava (spring-festival), which lasted for weeks, beginning with a joyous celebration (2d of February) and continuing with lustral ceremonies, as indicated by the now detached feast days already referred to. The original cult, in Wilson's opinion, has been changed, and the Dol[=a] Y[=a]tr[=a] is now given over to the Krishna-cult, while the Hol[=i] divinity is a hobgoblin. The Dol[=a] Yatr[=a] begins with fasting and ends (as Hol[=i]) with fire-worship. An image of Krishna is sprinkled with red powder (_ab[=i]r_), and after this (religious) ceremony a bonfire[54] is made, and an effigy, Holik[=a], is put upon it and burned. The figure is carried to the fire in a religious procession headed by Vishnuite or Brahman priests, of course accompanied with music and song. After seven circumambulations of the fire the figure is burned. This is the united observance of the first day. At dawn on the morning of the second day the image of Krishna is placed in a swing, _dol[=a]_, and swung back and forth a few times, which ceremony is repeated at noon and at sunset. During the day, wherever a swing is put up, and in the vicinity, it is the common privilege to sprinkle one's friend with the red powder or red rose-water. Boys and common people run about the streets sprinkling red water or red powder over all passengers, and using abusive (obscene) language. The cow-herd caste is conspicuous at this ceremony. The cow-boys, collecting in parties under a koryphaios, hold, as it were, a komos, leaping, singing, and dancing[55] through the streets, striking together the wands which they carry. These cow-boys not only dress (as do others) in new clothes on this occasion,[56] but they give their cattle new equipments, and regard the whole frolic as part of a religious rite in honor of Krishna, the cow-herd. But all sects take part in the performance (that is to say, in the Hol[=i] portion), both Çivaites and Vishnuites. When the moon is full the celebration is at its height. Hol[=i] songs are sung, the crowd throws _ab[=i]r_ the chiefs feast, and an all-night orgy ends the long carousal.[57] In the south the Dol[=a] takes place later, and is distinct from the Hol[=i]. The burning here is of K[=a]ma, commemorating the love-god's death by the fire of Çiva's eye, when the former pierced the latter's heart, and inflamed him with love. For this reason the bonfire is made before a temple of Çiva. K[=a]ma is gone from the northern cult, and in upper India only a hobgoblin, Hol[=i], a foul she-devil, is associated with the rite. The whole performance is described and prescribed in one of the late Pur[=a]nas.[58] In some parts of the country the bonfire of the Hol[=i] is made about a tree, to which offerings are made, and afterwards the whole is set on fire. For a luminous account of the Hol[=i], which is perhaps the worst open rite of Hinduism, participated in by all sects and classes, we may cite the words of the author of _Ante-Brahmanical Religions_: "It has been termed the Saturnalia or Carnival of the Hindus. Verses the most obscene imaginable are ordered to be read on the occasion. Figures of men and women, in the most indecent and disgusting attitudes, are in many places openly paraded through the streets; the most filthy words are uttered by persons who, on other occasions, would think themselves disgraced by the use of them; bands of men parade the street with their clothes all bespattered with a reddish dye; dirt and filth are thrown upon all that are seen passing along the road; all business is at a stand, all gives way to license and riot."[59]

Besides these the most brilliant festivals are the R[=a]s Y[=a]tr[=a] in Bengal (September-October), commemorating the dance of Krishna with the _gop[=i]s_ or milk-maids, and the 'Lamp-festival' (D[=i]p[=a]l[=a]), also an autumnal celebration.

The festivals that we have reviewed cover but a part of the year, but they will suffice to show the nature of such fêtes as are enjoined in the Pur[=a]nas. There are others, such as the eightfold[60] temple-worship of Krishna as a child, in July or August; the marriage of Krishna's idol to the Tulasi plant; the Awakening of Vishnu, in October, and so forth. But no others compare in importance with the New Year's and Spring festivals, except the Bengal idol-display of Jagann[=a]th, the Rath Y[=a]tr[=a] of 'Juggernaut'; and some others of local celebrity, such as the D[=u]rg[=a]-p[=u]j[=a].[61] The temples, to which reference has often been made, have this in common with the great Çivaite festivals, that to describe them in detail would be but to translate into words images and wall-paintings, the obscenity of which is better left undescribed. This, of course, is particularly true of the Çiva temples, where the actual Linga is perhaps, as Barth has said, the least objectionable of the sights presented to the eye of the devout worshipper. But the Vishnu temples are as bad. Architecturally admirable, and even wonderful, the interior is but a display of sensual immorality.[62]

HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRINITY.

In closing the Puranic period (which name we employ loosely to cover such sects as are not clearly modern) we pause for a moment to cast a glance backwards over the long development of the trinity, to the units of which are devoted the individual Pur[=a]nas. We have shown that the childhood-tales of Krishna are of late (Puranic) origin, and that most of the cow-boy exploits are post-epic. Some are referred to in the story of Çiçup[=a]la in the second book of the Mah[=a]bh[=a]rata, but this scene has been touched up by a late hand. The Vishnu Pur[=a]na, typical of the best of the Pur[=a]nas, as in many respects it is the most important and interesting, represents Krishnaite Vishnuism as its height. Here is described the birth of the man-god as a black, _k[r.][s.][n.]a,_ baby, son of Nanda, and his real title is here Govinda, the cow-boy.[63] 'Cow-boy' corresponds to the more poetical, religious shepherd; and the milk-maids, _gopis_ with whom Govinda dallies as he grows up, may, perhaps, better be rendered shepherdesses for the same reason. The idyllic effect is what is aimed at in these descriptions. Here Krishna plays his rude and rustic tricks, upsetting wagons, overthrowing trees and washermen, occasionally killing them he dislikes, and acting altogether much like a cow-boy of another sort. Here he puts a stop to Indra-worship, over-powers Çiva, rescues Aniruddha, marries sixteen thousand princesses, burns Benares, and finally is killed himself, he the one born of a hair of Vishnu, he that is Vishnu himself, who in 'goodness' creates, in 'darkness' destroys,[64] under the forms of Brahm[=a] and Çiva.[65]

In Vishnu, as a development of the Vedic Vishnu; in Çiva, as affiliated to Rudra; in Brahm[=a], as the Brahmanic third to these sectarian developments, the trinity has a real if remote connection with the triune fire of the Rig Veda, a two-thirds connection, filled out with the addition of the later Brahmanic head of the gods.

To ignore the fact that Vishnu and Rudra-Çiva developed inside the Brahmanic circle and increased in glory before the rise of sectaries, and to asseverate, as have some, that the two chief characters of the later trinity are an unmeaning revival of decadent gods, whose names are used craftily to veil the modernness of Krishnaism and Çivaism,--this is to miscalculate the waxing dignity of these gods in earlier Brahmanic literature. To say with Burnouf that the Vishnu of the Veda is not at all the Vishnu of the mythologists, is a statement far too sweeping. The Vishnu of the Veda is not only the same god with the Vishnu of the next era, but in that next era he has become greatly magnified. The Puranic All-god Vishnu stands in as close a relation to his Vedic prototype as does Milton's Satan to the snaky slanderer of an age more primitive.

Çiva-worship appears to have been adapted from a local cult in the mountainous West, and at an early date to have been amalgamated with that of his next resemblance, the Vedic Rudra; while Krishna-worship flourished along the Ganges. These are those Dionysos and Herakles of whom speak the old Greek authorities. One cult is possibly as venerable as the other, but while Çivaism became Brahmanized early, Krishnaism was adopted much later, and it is for this reason, amongst others, that despite its modern iniquities Çiva has appealed more to the Brahman than has Krishna.

Megasthenes tells us a good deal about these Hindu representatives of Herakles and Dionysos. According to him there were Dionysiac festivals in honor of the latter god (Çiva),[66] who belongs where flourishes the wine, in the Açvaka district, north of the Kabul river. From this place Çiva's worship extended into the East, M[=a]gadha (Beh[=a]r), around Gokarna in the West, and even to the Kalinga country in the extreme Southeast. But it was especially native to the mountainous Northwest, about the 'Gate of Ganges' (north of Delhi, near Saharampur), and still further north in Kashmeer. In the epic, Çiva has his throne on K[=a]il[=a]sa,[67] the Northern mountain, in the Him[=a]layas, and Ganges descend from the sky upon his head.

On the other hand, Herakles, of the Ganges land, where grows no wine, is plainly Krishna, who carries club, discus, and conch. The Greek cities Methora and Kleisobora are Mathur[=a] and Krishna-pur, 'Krishna-town'; the latter on the Jumna, the former near it on the same river, capital of the clan which venerated Krishna as its chief hero and god, the Y[=a]davas. Megasthenes says, also, that Herakles' daughter is Pandaie, and this agrees with the P[=a]ndya, a southern development of the epic Gangetic P[=a]ndavas, who especially worship Krishna in conjunction with the Y[=a]davas. Their South-Indic town, Mathur[=a], still attests their origin.

In speaking of the relative antiquity of Vishnuism and Çivaism one must distinguish the pantheistic form of these gods from the single forms. While Çivaism,_per se_, that is, the worship of Çiva as a great and terrible god, preceded the same exaltation of Krishna, as is shown by their respective literary appearance, and even by Megasthenes' remark that the worship of Dionysos preceded that of Herakles by fifteen generations, yet did Krishnaism, as a popular pantheism, come before Çivaism as such. Although in the late Çvet[=a]çvatara Upanishad Çiva is pantheistic, yet is he not so in the epic till some of the latest passages make him the All, in imitation of Krishna as All-god. Probably Çivaism remained by the first philosophy, Sankhyan dualism, and was forced into Krishna's Vedantic pantheism, as this became popular. At first neither was more than a single great god without any philosophy.[68]

In one of the early exegetical works, which is occupied somewhat with philosophical matter, there is evidence that a triad existed between the Vedic triad of fires and the Puranic triad. Fire, Wind (or Indra), and the Sun (S[=u]rya), are stated in a famous passage to be the only real gods, all the others being but names of these. But, although in form this triad (Nirukta, vii. 4, 5) is like the Vedic triad,[69] it is essentially a triad in a pantheistic system like that of the epic and Pur[=a]nas, for it is added that "all the gods are parts of one soul." In explanation it is said: "Fire is the earth-god, Wind, or Indra, is the god of the atmosphere, and the sun is the god of the sky." Now in the Rig Veda Indra is closely united not only with Agni but with Vishnu, albeit in this period Vishnu is his subordinate. The nearest approach of this Vishnu to his classical descendant is in one of the latest hymns of the Rig Veda, where it is said that the seven seeds of creation are Vishnu's, as in later times he comprises seven males. In the philosophy of the T[=a]ittir[=i]ya Samhit[=a] the three places of Vishnu are not, as in the Rig Veda, the two points of the horizon (where the sun sets) and the zenith, but 'earth, air, and sky.'[70] That is to say, in the Brahmanic period Vishnu is already a greater god than he had been. Nay, more, he is explicitly declared to be "the best of the gods."[71] That best means greatest may be shown from the same work, where in savage fable it is recited that all the gods, including Indra, ran up to him to get his strength.[72] But especially in the Upanishads is Vishnu the one great god left from the Rig Veda. And it is with the philosophical (not with the ritualistic) Vishnu that Krishna is equated.

Of Çiva, on the other hand, the prototype is Rudra ('red'), his constant sobriquet. In the Rig Veda he is the god of red lightning, who is the father of the Maruts, the storm-gods. His attributes of a fulgurant god are never lost. Even as Çiva the All-god he is still the god of the blue neck, whose three-forked trident and home among the mountains remind us of his physical origin. He is always the fairest of the gods, and both early and late he is terrible, to be averted by prayer, even where his magic 'medicines' are asked for. To him are addressed the most suppliant cries: "O Rudra, spare us, strike not the men, slay not the kine." In the Atharva Veda at every step one finds characteristics which on the one hand are but exaggerations of the type formulated in the Rig Veda, and on the other precursors of the signs of the later god. In Çivaism, in contradistinction to Vishnuism, there is not a trace of the euhemerism which has been suspected in the Krishna-Vishnu cult. The Rudra of the Rig Veda already begins to be identified with the triune fire, for he bears the standing epithet of fire, "he of three mothers."[73] And this name he keeps, whether as Rudra, who is "brilliant as the sun" (RV. i. 43. 5), whose weapon is "the shining one that is emitted from the sky and passes along the earth" (_ib_. vii. 46. 3); or again, as the "red boar of the sky," the "holder of the bolt" (_ib._ ii. 33. 3), and, above all gods, "the terrible" (x. 126. 5).

Coming to the Brahmanic period one finds him a dweller in the mountain tops, of a red color, with a blue neck, the especial lord of the mountains, and so of robbers; while he is also the 'incantation-god,' the 'god of low people.' Some of these are Rudra's attributes; but here his name is already Çiva, so that one may trace the changes down the centuries till he finds again in the epic that Çiva is the lord of mountains, the patron of thieves (Hara, robber?), and endowed with the trident, the blue neck,[74] and the three mothers of old. In the middle period he has so many titles that one probably has to accept in the subsequent Çiva not only the lineal descendant of the Vedic Rudra, but also a combination of other local cults, where clan gods, originally diverse, were worshipped as one in consequence of their mutual likeness. One of the god's especial names is here Bhava, while in the earlier period Bhava and Rudra are distinct, but they are invoked as a pair (AV).[75] What gives Çiva his later tremendous popularity, however, is the feature to which we have alluded in the chapter on the epic. In the epic, all the strength of Çiva lies in the Linga.[76] Both Bhava and Rudra, as Çarva, the archer--his local eastern name--are represented as hurling the lightning, and it is simply from identity of attributes that they have become identified in person (AV. x. i. 23). Rudra's title of Paçupati, or 'lord of cattle'[77] goes back to the Vedic age: "Be kind to the kine of him who believes in the gods" is a prayer of the Atharva Veda (xi. 2. 28). Agni and Rudra, in the Rig-Veda, are both called 'cattle-guarding,' but not for the same reason. Agni represents a fire-stockade, while Rudra in kindness does not strike with his lightning-bolt. The two ideas, with the identification of Rudra and Agni, may have merged together. Then too, Rudra has healing medicines (his magical side), and Agni is kindest to men. All Agni's names are handed over in the Br[=a]hmanas to Rudra-Çiva, just as Rudra previously had taken the epithets of P[=u]shan (above), true to his robber-name. To ignore the height to which at this period is raised the form of Rudra-Çiva is surely unhistorical; so much so that we deem it doubtful whether Çiva-invocations elsewhere, as in the S[=u]tra referred to above, should be looked upon as interpolations. In the M[=a]itr[=a]yan[=i] Collection, the Rudrajapas, the invocations to Rudra as the greatest god, the highest spirit, the lord of beings (Bhava), are expressly to Çiva Giriça, the mountain-lord (2. 9; Schroeder, p. 346). In the [=A]itareya Br[=a]hmana it evidently is Rudra-Çiva, the god of ghastly forms (made by the gods, it is said, as a composite of all the 'most horrible parts' of all the gods), who is deputed to slay the Father-god (when the latter, as a beast, commits incest with his daughter), and chooses as his reward for the act the office of 'lord of cattle.'[78] This is shown clearly by the fact that the fearsome Rudra is changed to the innocuous Rudriya in the next paragraph. As an example of how in the Br[=a]hmanas Rudra-Çiva has taken to himself already the powers of Agni, the great god of the purely sacrificial period, may be cited Çat. Br. vi. 1. 3. 10 and 2. 1. 12. Here Agni is Kum[=a]ra, Rudra, Çarva (Sarva)[79], Paçupati (lord of beasts), Bh[=a]irava (terrible), Açani (lightning), Bhava (lord of beings), Mah[=a]deva (great god), the Lord--his 'thrice three names.' But where the Br[=a]hmana assumes that these are names of Agni it is plain that one has Rudra-Çiva in process of absorbing Agni's honors.

The third element in the Pur[=a]nic trinity,[80] identified with the Father-god, genealogically deserves his lower position. His rivals are of older lineage. The reason for his inferior position is, practically, that he has little to do with man. Being already created, man takes more interest in the gods that preserve and destroy.[81] Even Brahm[=a]'s old exploits are, as we have shown, stolen from him and given over to Vishnu. The famous (totemistic) tortoise legend was originally Brahm[=a]'s, and so with others of the ten 'forms' of Vishnu, for instance the boar-shape, in which Vishnu manifests himself, and the fish-shape of Brahm[=a] (epic) in the flood-story. The formal _trim[=u]rti_ or _tr[=a]ipurusha_ ('three persons') is a late figure. It would seem that a Harihara (Vishnu and Çiva as one) preceded the trinity, though the dual name is not found till quite late.[82] But, as we showed above, the epic practically identifies Vishnu and Çiva as equals, before it unites with these Brahm[=a] as an equal third.

There arises now the further question whether sectarian Vishnuism be the foisting of Krishnaism upon a dummy Vishnu. We think that, stated in this way, such scarcely can have been the case. Neither of the great sects is professedly of priestly origin, but each, like other sects, claims Vedic authority, and finds Brahmanical support. We have said that Vishnu is raised to his position without ictic suddenness. He is always a god of mystic character, in short, a god for philosophy to work upon. He is recognized as the highest god in one of the oldest Upanishads. And it is with the philosopher's Vishnu that Krishna is identified. Krishna, the real V[=a]sudeva (for a false V[=a]sudeva is known also in the epic), is the god of a local cult. How did he originate? The king of serpents is called Krishna, 'the black,' and Vishnu reposes upon Çesha Ananta, the world-snake; but a more historical character than this can be claimed for Krishna. This god-man must be the same with the character mentioned in the Ch[=a]ndogya Upanishad, 3. 17. 6. One may notice the similarities between this Krishna and him of the epic cult. Krishna, son of Devak[=i], was taught by his teacher, Ghora [=A]ngirasa, that sacrifice may be performed without objective means; that generosity, kindness, and other moral traits are the real signs of sacrifice; and it is then said: "The priest Ghora [=A]ngirasa having said this to Krishna, the son of Devak[=i]--and the latter was thereby freed from (thirst) desire--said: "When a man is about to die let him resort to this triad: 'the imperishable art thou,' 'the unmoved art thou,' 'breath's firmness art thou'; in regard to which are these two verses in the Rig-Veda:[83] 'till they see the light of the old seed which is kindled in the sky,' and 'perceiving above the darkness the higher light, the sun, god among gods, we come to the highest light.'" Krishna thus learned the abolition of sacrifice, and the worship of the sun, the highest light (Vishnu), as true being--for this is the meaning of the philosophical passage taken with its context. Kings and priests discuss philosophy together in this period,[84] and it would conform to later tradition to see in the pupil the son of a king. It is, moreover, significant that the priest, Ghora [=A]ngirasà, is named specially as priest of the sun-god elsewhere (K[=a]ush. Br. 30. 6), as well as that Krishna [=A]ngirasa is also the name of a teacher. It is said in this same Upanishad (3. 1. 1) that the sun is the honey, delight, of the gods; and this chapter is a meditation on the sun,[85] of which the dark (_k[r.][s.][n.]a_) form is that which comes from the Itih[=a]sas and Pur[=a]nas, the fore-runners of the epic (3. 4. 3). This is taught as a _brahma-upanishad_, a teaching of the absolute, and it is interesting to see that it is handed down through Brahm[=a], Praj[=a]pati, and Manu, exactly as Krishna says in the Divine Song that his own doctrine has been promulgated; while (it is said further) for him that knows the doctrine 'there is day,' his sun never sets (3. 11. 3-4). It is a doctrine to be communicated only to the eldest son or a good student, and to no one else (_ib. 5), i.e_., it was new, esoteric, and of vital importance. Here, too, one finds Sanatkum[=a]ra, the 'ever young,' as Skanda,[86] yet as an earthly student also (7. 1; 26. 2), just like Krishna.

It cannot be imagined, however, that the cult of the Gangetic Krishna originated with that vague personage whose pupilage is described in the Upanishad. But this account may still be connected with the epic Krishna. The epic describes the overthrow of an old Brahmanic Aryan race at the hands of the P[=a]ndavas, an unknown folk, whose king's polyandrous marriage (his wife is the spouse of his four brothers as well as of himself) is an historical trait, connecting the tribe closely with the polyandrous wild tribes located north of the Ganges. This tribe attacked the stronghold of Brahmanism in the holy land about the present Delhi; and their patron god is the Gangetic Krishna. In the course of the narrative a very few tales are told of Krishna's early life, but the simple original view of Krishna is that he is a god, the son of Devak[=i]. The few other tales are late and adventitious additions, but this is a consistent trait. Modern writers are fain to see in the antithesis presented by the god Krishna and by the human hero Krishna, late and early phases. They forget that the lower side of Krishna is one especially Puranic. In short, they read history backwards, for theirs is not the Indic way of dealing with gods. In Krishna's case the tricky, vulgar, human side is a later aspect, which comes to light most prominently in the Genealogy of Vishnu and in the Vishnu Pur[=a]na, modern works which in this regard contrast strongly with the older epic, where Krishna, however he tricks, is always first the god. It is not till he becomes a very great, if not the greatest, god that tales about his youthful performances, when he condescended to be born in low life, begin to rise. An exact parallel may be seen in the case of Çiva, who at first is a divine character, assuming a more or less grotesque likeness to a man; but subsequently he becomes anthropomorphized, and is fitted out with a sheaf of legends which describe his earthly acts.[87] And so with Krishna. As the chief god, identified with the All-god, he is later made the object of encomiums which degrade while they are meant to exalt him. He becomes a cow-boy and acts like one, a god in a mask. But in the epic he is the invading tribe's chief god, in process of becoming identified with that god in the Brahmanic pantheon who most resembles him. For this tribe, the (Yadavas) P[=a]ndavas, succeeded in overthrowing the Brahmanic stronghold and became absorbed into the Brahmanic circle. Their god, who, like most of the supreme gods of this region among the wild tribes, was the tribal hero as sun-god, became recognized by the priests as one with Vishnu. In the Upanishad the priest-philosopher identifies Krishna with the sun as the 'dark side' (_k[r.][s.][n.]a_, 'dark') of Vishnu, the native name probably being near enough to the Sanskrit word to be represented by it. The statement that this clan-god Krishna once learned the great truth that the sun is the All-god, at the mouth of a Brahman, is what might be expected. 'Krishna, the son of Devaki,' is not only the god, but he is also the progenitor of the clan, the mystic forefather, who as usual is deified as the sun. To the priest he is merely an _avatar_ of Vishnu. The identity of Krishna with the Gangetic god described by Megasthenes can scarcely be disputed. The latter as represented by the Greek is too great a god to have passed away without a sign except for a foreigner's account. And there is no figure like his except that of Krishna.

The numerous _avatars_[88] of Vishnu are first given as ten, then as twenty, then as twenty-two,[89] and at last become innumerable. The ten, which are those usually referred to, are as follows: First come the oldest, the beast-_avatars_, viz., as a fish; as a tortoise;[90] as a boar (rescuing earth from a flood); and as a man-lion (slaying a demon). Next comes the dwarf-_avatar_, where Vishnu cheats Bali of earth by asking, as a dwarf, for three steps of it, and then stepping out over all of it (the 'three strides' of the Rig Veda). Then come the human _avatars_, that of Paraçu-R[=a]ma (R[=a]ma with the axe), Krishna, R[=a]ma[91] (hero of the R[=a]m[=a]yana epic), Buddha, and Kalki (who is still to come).

The parallels between the latest Krishna cult and the Biblical narrative are found only in the Pur[=a]nas and other late works, and undoubtedly, as we have said in the last chapter, are borrowed from Christian sources. Krishna is here born in a stable, his father, like Joseph, going with his virgin spouse to pay taxes. His restoring of a believing woman's son is narrated only in the modern J[=a]imini Bh[=a]rata, These tales might have been received through the first distant Christian mission in the South in the sixth century, but it is more likely that they were brought directly to the North in the seventh century; for at that time a Northern king of the V[=a]içya caste, Çil[=a]ditya (in whose reign the Chinese pilgrim, Hiouen Thsang, visited India), made Syrian Christians welcome to his court (639 A.D.).[92] The date of the annual Krishna festival, which is a reflex of Christmastide, is variously fixed by the Pur[=a]nas as coming in July or August.[93]

As Krishna is an _avatar_ of Vishnu[94] in the Bh[=a]rata, and as the axe-R[=a]ma is another _avatar_ in legend (here Vishnu in the form of Paraçu-R[=a]ma raises up the priestly caste, and destroys the warrior-caste), so in the R[=a]m[=a]yana the hero R[=a]ma (not Paraçu-R[=a]ma) is made an _avatar_ of Vishnu. He is a mythical prince of Oude (hence a close connection between the R[=a]m[=a]yana and Buddhism), who is identified with Vishnu. Vishnu wished to rid earth of the giant R[=a]vana,[95] and to do so took the form of R[=a]ma. As Krishnaism has given rise to a number of sects that worship Krishna as Vishnu, so Ramaism is the modern cult of R[=a]ma as Vishnu. Both of these sects oppose the Vishnuite that is not inclined to be sectarian; all three oppose the Çivaite; and all four of these oppose the orthodox Brahman, who assigns supreme godship to Çiva or Vishnu as little as does the devotee of these gods in unsectarian form to Krishna or R[=a]ma.

Çiva is on all sides opposed to Vishnu. The Greek account of the third century B.C. says that he taught the Hindus to dance the kordax, but at this time there appears to have been no such phallic worship in his honor as is recorded in the pseudo-epic. Çiva is known in early Brahmanic and in Buddhistic writings, and even as the bearer-of-the-moon, Candraçekhara, he contrasts with Vishnu, as his lightning-form and mountain-habitat differ from the sun-form and valley-home of his rival. This dire god is conceived of as ascetic partly because he is gruesome, partly because he is magical in power. Hence he is the true type of the awful magical Yogi, and as such appealed to the Brahman. Originally he is only a fearful magical god, great, and even all-pervading, but, as seen in the Brahmanic Çatarudriya hymn, he is at first in no sense a pantheistic deity. In this hymn there is a significant addition made to the earlier version. In the first form of the hymn it is said that Rudra, who is here Çiva, is the god of bucolic people; but the new version adds 'and of all people.' Here Çiva appears as a wild, diabolical figure, 'the god of incantations,' whose dart is death; and half of the hymn is taken up with entreaties to the god to spare the speaker. He is praised, in conjunction with trees, of which he is the lord, as the one 'clad in skins,' the 'lord of cattle,' the 'lord of paths,' the 'cheater,' the 'deceiver.' When he is next clearly seen, in the epic, he is the god to whom are offered human sacrifices, and his special claim to worship is the phallus; while the intermediate literature shows glimpses of him only in his simple Brahmanic form of terror. It has long been known that Çivaite phallic worship was not borrowed from the Southerners, as was once imagined, and we venture with some scholars to believe that it was due rather to late Greek influence than to that of any native wild tribe.[96]

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Parts of the epic are called Pur[=a]nas, as other parts are called Upanishads. These are the forerunners of the extant Pur[=a]nas. The name, indeed, is even older than the epic, belonging to the late Vedic period, where are grouped together Pur[=a]nas and Itih[=a]sas, 'Ancient History' and 'Stories'; to which are added 'Eulogies.' Weber has long since pointed out that even when the 'deeds of kings' were sung at a ceremony they were wont to be so embroidered as to be dubbed 'fiction' by the Hindus themselves. India has neither literary history (save what can be gleaned from genealogies of doubtful worth), nor very early inscriptions. The 'archaeology' of the Pur[=a]nas was probably always what it is in the extant specimens, legendary material of no direct historical value.]

[Footnote 2: Strictly speaking to the present Allah[=a]b[=a]d, where is the Pray[=a]ga, or confluence of Yamun[=a] and Gang[=a] (Jumna and Ganges).]

[Footnote 3: M[=a]gadha; called Beh[=a]r from its many monasteries, _vih[=a]ras_, in Açoka's time.]

[Footnote 4: So, plausibly, Müller, _loc. cit_. below.]

[Footnote 5: The tribes became Hinduized, their chiefs became R[=a]jputs; their religions doubtless affected the ritual and creed of the civilized as much as the religion of the latter colored their own. Some of these un-Aryan peoples were probably part native, part barbaric. There is much doubt in regard to the dates that depend on accepted eras. It is not certain, for instance, that, as Müller claims, Kanishka's inauguration coincides with the Çaka era, 78 A.D. A great Buddhist council was held under him. Some distinguished scholars still think with Bühler that Vikram[=a]ditya's inauguration was 57 B.C. (this date that used to be assigned to him). From our present point of view it is of little consequence when this king himself lived. He is renowned as patron of arts and as a conqueror of the barbarians. If he lived in the first century B.C. his conquest amounted to nothing permanent. What is important, however, is that all Vikram[=a]ditya stands for in legend must have been in the sixth century A.D. For the drama, of which he is said to have been patron, represents a religion distinctly later than that of the body of the epic (completed in the sixth or seventh century, Bühler, _Indian Studies_, No. ii.). The dramatic and astronomical era was but introductory to Kum[=a]rila's reassertion of Brahmanism in the seventh century, when the Northern barbarian was gone, and the Mohammedan was not yet rampant. In the rest of Northern India there were several native dynasties in different quarters, with different eras; one in Sur[=a]shtra (Gujar[=a]t), one again in the 'middle district' or 'North Western Provinces,' one in Kutch; overthrown by Northern barbarians (in the fifth century) and by the Mohammedans (in the seventh and eighth centuries), respectively. Of these the Guptas of the 'middle district,' and the Valabh[=i]s of Kutch, had neither of the eras just mentioned. The former dated from 320-321 (perhaps 319), the latter from 190 (A.D.). The word _samvat_, 'year,' indicates that the time is dated from either the Çaka or Vikram[=a]ditya era. See IA. xvii. 362; Fergusson, JRAS. xii. 259; Müller, _India, What Can It Teach Us_? p. 282; Kielhorn, IA. xix. _24;_ xxii. 111. The Northern barbarians are called Scythians, or Huns, or Turanians, according to fancy. No one really knows what they were.]

[Footnote 6: The first host was expelled by the Hindus in 750. After a period of rest Mahmud was crowned in 997, who overran India more than a dozen times. In the following centuries the land was conquered and the people crushed by the second great Mohammedan, Ghori, who died in 1206, leaving his kingdom to a vassal, Kutab, the 'slave sultan' of Delhi. In 1294, thus slave dynasty having been recently supplanted, the new successor to the throne was slain by his own nephew, Allah-ud-din, who is reckoned as the third Mohammedan conqueror of India. His successor swept even the Dekhan of all its Hindu (temple) wealth; but his empire finally broke down under its own size; preparing the way for Timur (Tamerlane), who entered India in 1398.]

[Footnote 7: Çankara himself was not a pure Brahman. Both Vishnuites and Çivaites lay claim to him.]

[Footnote 8: Coy as was the Brahman in the adoption of the new gods he was wise enough to give them some place in his pantheon, or he would have offended his laity. Thus he recognizes K[=a]l[=i] as well as Çr[=i]; in fact he prefers to recognize the female divinities of the sects, for they offer less rivalry.]

[Footnote 9: There was a general revival of letters antedating the Brahmanic theological revival. The drama, which reflects equally Hinduism and Brahmanism, is now the favorite light literature of the cultured. In the sixth century the first astronomical works are written (Var[=a]hamihira, who wrote the _B[r.]hat Sa[.m]hit[=a]_), and the group of writers called the Nine Gems (reckoned of Vikram[=a]ditya's court) are to be referred to this time. The best known among them is K[=a]lid[=a]sa, author of the _Çakuntal[=a]_. An account of this Renaissance, as he calls it, will be found in Müller's _India, What Can It Teach Us_? The learned author is perhaps a little too sweeping in his conclusions. It is, for instance, tolerably certain that the Bh[=a]rata was completed by the time the 'Renaissance' began; so that there is no such complete blank as he assumes prior to Vikram[=a]ditya. But the general state of affairs is such as is depicted in the ingenious article referred to. The sixth and seventh centuries were eras that introduced modern literature under liberal native princes, who were sometimes not R[=a]jputs at all. Roughly speaking, one may reckon from 500 B.C. to the Christian era as a period of Buddhistic control, Graeco-Bactrian invasion, and Brahmanic decline. The first five centuries after the Christian see the two religions in a state of equilibrium, under Scythian control, and the Mah[=a]-Bh[=a]rata, the expanded Bh[=a]rata, is written. From 500 to 1000 is an era of native rulers, Brahmanic revival in its pure form, and Hindu growth, with little trouble from the Mohammedans. Then for five centuries the horrors of Moslem conquest.]

[Footnote 10: Har. 10,662. Compare the laudation of 'the two gods' in the same section.]

[Footnote 11: As the Jains have Angas and Up[=a]ngas, and as the pseudo-epic distinguishes Nishads and Upanishads, so the Brahman has Pur[=a]nas and Upapur[=a]nas (K[=u]rma Pur[=a]na, i. p. 3). Some of the sects acknowledge only six Pur[=a]nas as orthodox.]

[Footnote 12: As an example of a Puranic Smriti (legal) we may cite the trash published as the V[r.]ddha-H[=a]rita-Sa[.m]hit[=a]. Here there is polemic against Çiva; one must worship Jagann[=a]th with flowers, and every one must be branded with the Vishnu disc (_cakra_). Even women and slaves are to use _mantras_, etc.]

[Footnote 13: The lateness of this law-book is evident from its advocacy of _suttee_ (XXV. 14), its preference for female ancestors (see below), etc.]

[Footnote 14: Manu, III. 89; XII. 121.]

[Footnote 15: As, for example, in K[=u]rma Pur[=a]na, XVI. p. 186, where is found a common epic verse description of battle.]

[Footnote 16: A good instance of this is found in Brihan N[=a]rad[=i]ya Pur[=a]na, X., where the _churik[=a]_ and _drugha[n.]a_ (24) appear in an imitative scene of this sort; one of these being later, the other earlier, than the epic vocabulary.]

[Footnote 17: Perhaps the most striking distinction between Vedic and Puranic, or one may say, Indic Aryan and Hindu religions, is the emphasis laid in the former upon Right; in the latter, upon idols. The Vedic religion insists upon the law of right (order), that is, the sacrifice; but it insists also upon right as rectitude, truth, holiness. Puranic Hinduism insists upon its idols; only incidentally does it recommend rectitude, truth, abstract holiness.]

[Footnote 18: KP. i. p. 29.]

[Footnote 19: K[=u]rma, xii. p. 102. Contrast _ib_. xxii. p. 245, _caturvy[=u]hadhara Vishnur avy[=u]has procyate_ (elsewhere _navavy[=u]ha_). Philosophically, in the doctrine of the epic P[=a]ñcar[=a]tras (still held by some sectaries), Vishnu is to be revered as Krishna, Balar[=a]ma, Pradymana, Aniruddha (Krishna's brother, son, and grandson), representing, respectively, _[=a]tm[=a], j[=i]va,_ supreme and individual spirit, perception, and consciousness. Compare Mbh[=a]. xii. 340. 8, 72.]

[Footnote 20: KP. xxi. p. 236; xxii. p. 238, etc.]

[Footnote 21: _ib._ I, p. 23.]

[Footnote 22: Compare Brihan N[=a]radiya Pur[=a]na, xiv. 10, _bah[=u]ni k[=a][s.][t.]hay[=a]ntr[=a][n.]i_ (torture machines) in hell. The old tale of N[=a]çiketas is retold at great length in the Var[=a]ha Pur[a=]na. The oldest Pur[=a]na, the M[=a]rkandeya, has but seven hells, a conception older than Manu's twenty-one (compare on MP. x. 80 ff., Scherman, _loc. cit_. p. 33), or the later lists of thousands. The Padma Pur[=a]na, with celebrates R[=a]ma, has also seven hells, and is in part old, for it especially extols Pushkara (Brahm[=a]'s lone shrine); but it recommends the _taptamudra_, or branding with hot iron.]

[Footnote 23: Nar. xiv. 2.]

[Footnote 24: xiv. 54 and 70.]

[Footnote 25: KP. xxii. pp, 239-241.]

[Footnote 26: As will be shown below, it is possible that this may be a ceremony first taken from the wild tribes. See the 'pole' rite described above in the epic.]

[Footnote 27: Compare for instance _ib_. xxviii. 68, on the strange connection of a Ç[=u]dr[=a] wife of a Guru.]

[Footnote 28: KP. xxxvi. It is of course impossible to say how much epic materials come from the literary epic and how much is drawn from popular poetry, for the vulgar had their own epoidic songs which may have treated of the same topics. Thus even a wild tribe (Gonds) is credited with an 'epic.' But such stuff was probably as worthless as are the popular songs of today.]

[Footnote 29: KP. xxx. p. 305; xxxvii. p. 352.]

[Footnote 30: _ib._ p. 355.]

[Footnote 31: Compare N[=a]rad[=i]ya, xi. 23,27,31 'the one whom no one knows,' 'he that rests in the heart,' 'he that seems to be far off because we do not know,' 'he whose form is Çiva, lauded by Vishnu,' xiii. 201.]

[Footnote 32: Even Vishnu as a part of a part of the Supreme Spirit in VP. is indicated by Vishnu's adoration of _[=a]tm[=a]_ in the epic (see above).]

[Footnote 33: Compare Williams' _Brahmanism and Hinduism_.]

[Footnote 34: Çankara's adherents are chiefly Çivaite, but he himself was not a sectary. Williams says that at the present day few worship Çiva exclusively, but he has more partial adherents than has Vishnu. _Religious Thought and Life,_ pp. 59, 62.]

[Footnote 35: The two last are just recognized in Brahmanic legal works.]

[Footnote 36: See Wilson's sketch of Hindu sects. The author says that there were in his day two shrines to Brahm[=a], one in [=A]jm[=i]r (compare Pushkara in the epic), and one on the Ganges at Bithur. The Brahma Pur[=a]na is known also as S[=a]ura (sun). This is the first in the list; in its present state it is Vishnuite.]

[Footnote 37: Sun-worship (Iranian?) is especially pronounced in the Bhav[=i]shya(t) Pur[=a]na. Of the other Pur[=a]nas the L[=i]nga is especially Çivaite (_linga_ is phallus), as are the Matsya and older V[=a]yu. Sometimes Çiva is androgynous, _ardhan[=a]r[=i]çvara_, 'half-female.' But most of the Pur[=a]nas are Vishnuite.]

[Footnote 38: On the Ganeça Pur[=a]na see JRAS. 1846, p. 319.]

[Footnote 39: The worshippers of Bhagavat were originally distinct from the P[=a]ñcar[=a]tras, but what was the difference between them is unknown. The sect of this name in the pseudo-epic is not Ç[=a]kta in expression but only monotheistic. Probably the names of many sects are retained with altered beliefs and practices. The Vishnu Pur[=a]na, i. 11. 54, gives a model prayer which may be taken once for all as the attitude of the Vishnuite: "Glory to V[=a]sudeva, him of perfected wisdom, whose unrevealed form is (known as) Brahm[=a], Vishnu, and Çiva" (Hira[n.]yagarbha, Purusha, Pradh[=a]na).]

[Footnote 40: Weber shows for instance, _loc. cit_., that Indra takes the place of older Varuna; that the house-priest yields to the Brahm[=a]; that in this feast in honor of the king he]

[Footnote 41: Gover, JRAS. v. 91; IA. xx. 430.]

[Footnote 42: In Hinduism itself there is a striking example of this. The Jagann[=a]th ('Juggernaut') temple was once dedicated to Buddha as _loka-n[=a]th_ or _jagan-n[=a]th_, 'saviour of the world' Name, temple, and idol-car are now all Vishnu's!]

[Footnote 43: That is, Rain and Sun, for all Indra's warlike qualities are forgotten, absorbed into those of Çiva and his son, the battle-god. The sun crosses the equator at noon of the second day, the 'Mah[=a] Pongol.']

[Footnote 44: "Now every neck is bent, for the surface of the waters disturbed. Then with a heave, a hiss, and a surge of bubbles, the seething milk mounts to the top of the vessel. Before it has had time to run down the blackened sides, the air resounds with the sudden joyous cry of 'Pongol, oh Pongol, S[=u]rya, S[=u]rya, oh Pongol,' The word Pongol means "boiling," from the Tamil word _pongu_, to boil; so that the joyous shout is, 'It boils, oh S[=u]rya, it boils.' In a moment a convulsion of greetings animates the assembly. Every one seizes his neighbor and asks, 'Has it boiled?' Both faces gleam with delight as the answer comes--'It has boiled.' Then both shout at the top of their voices--'Oh Pongol, Pongol, oh S[=u]rya, oh Indra, Pongol, Pongol.'" Gorer, _loc. cit_.]

[Footnote 45: The Crocodile, _makara_, like the parrot, is sacred to K[=a]madeva, Love. But as Ganges also is holy it is difficult to say for which divinity the offering was intended. Some, indeed, interpret _makara_ as dolphin.]

[Footnote 46: A feast now neglected, though kept up by strict Brahmans, occurs on or about the 20th January. The orthodox adherents of the Çivaite sects and Ç[=a]ktas also observe it. It is a Çr[=a]ddha, or funeral feast to the Manes. Also on the 26th and 30th January there are rites nearly obsolete, the first being signalized by offerings to Yama; the second, a Çivaite feast (to his spouse, as 'giver of bridegrooms'). The list is more celebrated in the South than in the North. It is interesting chiefly as a parallel to St. Valentine's day, or, as Wilson says, the nearer feast of St. Agnes (21st January) on the eve of which divination is practiced to discover future husbands. It is this time also that the Greeks call 'marriage-month' (Gamelion); and the fourth day from the new moon (which gives the name to this Hindu festival, _caturth[=i]_, "fourth day") is the day when Hesiod recommends the bringing home of the bride.]

[Footnote 47: In case any writing has to be done on this day it is done with chalk, not with the pens, "which have a complete holiday" (Wilson).]

[Footnote 48: The invocations show very well how the worship of Brahm[=a] has been driven out in honor of his more powerful rivals. For Sarasvat[=i] is invoked first as "Thou without whom Brahm[=a] never lives"; but again as "Thou of eight forms, Lakshm[=i], Medh[=a], Dhav[=a], Pusht[=i], G[=a]ur[=i], Tusht[=i], Prabh[=a], Dhriti, O Sarasvat[=i]." The great festivals, like the great temples, are not very stricly sectarian. Williams says that in Çiva's temple in Benares are kept monkeys (sacred to Vishnu).]

[Footnote 49: Between this and the last occur minor holidays, one to avert small-pox; one (February the 4th) sacred to the sun (Sunday, the seventh day of each lunar fortnight, is strictly observed); and one to the Manes.]

[Footnote 50: Fasting is not necessarily a part of civilized religion alone. It is found in the Brahmanic and Hindu cults, but it obtains also among the American Indians. Thus the Dacotahs fast for two or three days at the worship of sun and moon. Schoolcraft, _Histor. and Statist_., iii. 227.]

[Footnote 51: The last clause (meaning 'common historical origin') were better omitted.]

[Footnote 52: Except the mystic syllable _[=O]m_, supposed to represent the trinity (_[=O]m_ is _a, u, m_), though probably it was originally only an exclamation.]

[Footnote 53: A small Vishnu festival in honor of Vishnu as 'man-lion' (one of his ten _avatars_) is celebrated on the 13th of March; but in Bengal in honor of the same god as a cow-boy. On the 15th of March there is another minor festival in Bengal, but it is to Çiva, or rather to one of his hosts, under the form of a water pot (that is to preserve from disease).]

[Footnote 54: The bonfire is made of fences, door posts, furniture, etc. Nothing once seized and devoted to the fire may be reclaimed, but the owner may defend his property if he can. Part of the horse-play at this time consists in leaping over the fire, which is also ritualistic with same of the hill-tribes.]

[Footnote 55: Compare the Nautch dances on R[=a]macandra's birthday. Religious dances, generally indecent, are also a prominent feature of the religions of the wild tribes (as among American and African savages, Greeks, etc., etc.).]

[Footnote 56: The 'Easter bonnet' in Indic form.]

[Footnote 57: In sober contrast stands the yearly orthodox Çráddha celebration (August-September), though Brahmans join in sectarian fêtes.]

[Footnote 58: Wilson draws an elaborate parallel between the Hol[=i] and the Lupercalia, etc. (Carnival). But the points of contact are obvious. One of the customs of the Hol[=i] celebration is an exact reproduction of April-Fool's day. Making "Hol[=i] fools" is to send people on useless errands, etc. (Festum Stultorum, at the Vernal Equinos, transferred by the Church to the first of November, "Innocents' Day").]

[Footnote 59: Stevenson, JRAS. 1841, p. 239; Williams, _loc. cit._; Wilkins, _Modern Hinduism_, ch. III.]

[Footnote 60: The daily service consists in dressing, bathing, feeding, etc It is divided into eight ridiculous ceremonies, which prolong the worship through the day.]

[Footnote 61: The brilliant displays attracted the notice of the Greeks, who speak of the tame tigers and panthers, the artificial trees carried in wagons, the singing, instrumental music, and noise, which signalized a fête procession. See Williams, _loc. cit_.]

[Footnote 62: Such, for instance, is the most holy temple of South India, the great temple of Çr[=i]rangam at Trichinopoly. The idol car, gilded and gaudy, is carved with obscenity; the walls and ceilings are frescoed with bestiality. It represents Vishnu's heaven.]

[Footnote 63: From this name or title comes the Gita Govinda, a mystic erotic poem (in praise of the cow-boy god) exaltedly religious as it is sensual (twelfth century).]

[Footnote 64: VP.l. 2. 63. The 'qualities' or 'conditions' of God's being are referred to by 'goodness' and 'darkness.']

[Footnote 65: All this erotic vulgarity is typical of the common poetry of the people, and is in marked contrast to the chivalrous, but not love-sick, Bh[=a]rata.]

[Footnote 66: Compare Duncker, LII^5. p. 327, More doubtful is the identification of Nysian and Nish[=a]dan, _ib_. note. Compare, also, Schroeder, _loc. cit._ p. 361. Arrian calls (Çiva) Dionysos the _[Greek: oitou dotêra Iudêis]_ (Schwanbeck, Fig. 1.).]

[Footnote 67: This remains always as Çiva's heaven in distinction from Goloka or V[=a]ikuntha, Vishnu's heaven. Nowadays Benares is the chief seat of Çivaism.]

[Footnote 68: The doctrine of the immaculate conception, common to Vishnuism and Buddhism (above, p.431), can have no exact parallel in Çivaism, for Çiva is not born as a child; but it seems to be reflected in the laughable ascription of virginity to Um[=a] (Civa's wife), when she is revered as the emblem of motherhood.]

[Footnote 69: In RV. v. 41. 4, the Vedic triad is Fire, Wind, and (Tr[=i]ta of the sky) Indra; elsewhere Fire, Wind, and Sun (above, p. 42), distinct from the triune fire.]

[Footnote 70: In the Rig Veda the three steps are never thus described, but in the later age this view is common. It is, in fact, only on the 'three steps' that the identity with the sun is established. In RV. 1. 156. 4, Vishnu is already above Varuna.]

[Footnote 71: Çat. Br. xiv. 1. 1. 5.]

[Footnote 72: For other versions see Mulr, _Original Sanskrit Texts_, iv. p. 127 ff.]

[Footnote 73: Later interpreted as wives or eyes.]

[Footnote 74: For an epic guess at the significance of the title _n[=i]laka[n.][t.]ha_, 'blue-throated,' see Mbh[=a] i. 18. 43.]

[Footnote 75: AV. iv. 28; viii. 2; xi. 2. Thus even in the Rig Veda pairs of gods are frequently besung as one, as if they were divinities not only homogeneous but even monothelous.]

[Footnote 76: Brahm[=a]'s mark in the lotus; Vishnu's, the discus (sun); Çiva's, the Linga, phallic emblem.]

[Footnote 77: The grim interpretation of later times makes the cattle (to be sacrificed) _men_. The theological interpretation is that Çiva is the lord of the spirit, which is bound like a beast.]

[Footnote 78: The commenter, horrified by the murder of the Father-god, makes Rudra kill 'the sin'; but the original shows that it is the Father-god who was shot by this god, who chose as his reward the lordship over kine; and such exaltation is not improbable (moreover, it is historical!). The hunting of the Father-god by Rudra is pictured in the stars (Orion), Ait. Br. iii. 33.]

[Footnote 79: See Weber. _Ind. St._ ii. 37; Muir, iv. 403. Çarva (Çaurva) is Avestan, but at the same time it is his 'eastern' name, while Bhava is his western name. Çat. Br. i. 7. 3. 8.]

[Footnote 80: The epic (_loc. cit_. above), the Pur[=a]nas, and the very late Atharva Çiras Upanishad and M[=a]itr. Up. (much interpolated). Compare Muir, _loc. cit_. pp. 362-3.]

[Footnote 81: According to the epic, men honor gods that kill, Indra, Rudra, and so forth; not gods that are passive, such as Brahm[=a], the Creator, and P[=u]shan (xii. 15. 18), _ya eva dev[=a] hant[=a]ras t[=a]l loko 'rcayate bh[=r.]ça[=.m], na Brahm[=a][n.]am_.]

[Footnote 82: Barth seems to imply that Harihara (the name) is later than the _trim[=u]rti_ (p. 185), but he has to reject the passage in the Hari-va[.n]ça to prove this. On Ayen[=a]r, a southern god said to be Hari-Hara (Vishnu-Çiva), see Williams, _loc. cit_.]

[Footnote 83: RV. viii. 6. 30; 1. 50. 10. Weber refers Krishna further back to a priestly Vedic poet of that name, to whom are attributed hymns of the eighth and tenth books of the Rig Veda (_Janm[=a][s.][t.]am[=i]_, p. 316). He interprets Krishna's mother's name, Devak[=i], as 'player' _(ib)_ But the change of name in a Vedic hymn has no special significance. The name Devak[=i] is found applied to other persons, and its etymology is rather _deva_, divine, as Weber now admits (Berl. Ak. 1890, p. 931).]

[Footnote 84: In the epic, also, kings become hermits, and perform great penance just as do the ascetic priests. Compare the heroes themselves, and i. 42. 23 _raja mah[=a]tap[=a]s_; also ii. 19, where a king renounces his throne, and with his two wives becomes a hermit in the woods. In i. 41. 31 a king is said to be equal to ten priests!]

[Footnote 85: In fact, the daily repetition of the S[=a]vitr[=i] is a tacit admission of the sun god as the highest type of the divine; and Vishnu is the most spiritualized form of the sun-god, representing even in the Rig-Veda the goal of the departing spirit.]

[Footnote 86: Skanda (Subrahmanya) and Ganeça are Çiva's two sons, corresponding to Krishna and R[=a]ma. Skanda's own son is Viç[=a]kha, a _graha_ (above, p. 415).]

[Footnote 87: Çiva at the present day, for instance, is represented now and then as a man, and he is incarnate as V[=i]rabhadra. But all this is modern, and contrasts with the older conception. It is only in recent times, in the South, that he is provided with an earthly history. Compare Williams, _Thought and Life,_ p. 47.]

[Footnote 88: _Ava-t[=a]ra_, 'descent,' from _ava_, 'down,' and _tar_, 'pass' (as in Latin in-_trare_).]

[Footnote 89: In the _Bh[=a]gavata Pur[=a]na_.]

[Footnote 90: The tortoise _avatar_ had a famous temple two centuries ago, where a stone tortoise received prayer. How much totemism lies in these _avatars_ it is guess-work to say.]

[Footnote 91: Balar[=a]ma (or Baladeva), Krishna's elder brother, is to be distinguished from R[=a]ma. The former is a late addition to the Krishna-cult, and belongs with Nanda, his reputed father. Like Krishna, the name is also that of a snake, Naga, and it is not impossible that Naga worship may be the foundation of the Krishna-cult, but it would be hard to reconcile this with tradition. In the sixth century Var[=a]hamihira recognizes both the brothers.]

[Footnote 92: Edkins, cited by Müller, _India_, p. 286.]

[Footnote 93: Weber, _Janm[=a][s.][t.]am[=i]_, pp. 259, 318. Weber describes in full the cult of the "Madonna with the Child," according to the Pur[=a]nas.]

[Footnote 94: On the subsequent deification of the Pandus themselves see 1A. VII. 127.]

[Footnote 95: Hence the similarity with Herakles, with whom Megasthenes identifies him. The man-lion and hero-forms are taken to rid earth of monsters.]

[Footnote 96: Greek influence is clearly reflected in India's architecture. Hellenic bas-reliefs representing Bacchic scenes and the love-god are occasionally found. Compare the description of Çiva's temple in Orissa, Weber, _Literature_, p. 368; _Berl. Ak._, 1890, p, 912. Çiva is here associated with the Greek cult of Eros and Aphrodite.]

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