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Always is Krishna's chunk represented as a sinistral 

 abnormality, and legend pictures to the mind of the 

 devout Hindu every shell of this rare form when alive 

 as a marvellous production receiving the homage of 

 thousands of chanks of ordinary form, which crowd 

 around it on all sides. Another myth is related by 

 Baldaeus, the chaplain to the Dutch forces which wrested 

 Ceylon from the Portuguese, to the effect that Garuda, 

 the eagle vehicle or attendant (almost certainly the 

 hawk-headed deity of Assyria) of Vishnu tlew in all 

 haste to Brahma and brouoht to Krishna "the chianko 

 or kinkhorn twisted to the right." * Vishnu derives 

 several of his alternative names from his chank symbol, 

 as Chankapani, the " chank-armed," and Chankamenthi, 

 the "chank-bearer." 



Krishna, when represented as a herdsman under 

 the form of Govinda or Gopala, usually bears a conch 

 in his hand and possibly the origin of this may be 

 sought in the use a herdsman may make of it to call 

 together his scattered herd just as the shepherds of 

 Corsica and Sardinia at the present day use a great 

 Triton shell ( Tritonium noduliferwit) for a like purpose. 



A curious and most significant fact is that the twenty- 

 second Tirthankar of the Jains, Nemi or Nemnat'h, 

 wdio, legend says, was the son of King Samudravijaya of 

 the race of Harivansa and a cousin to Krishna, has a 

 conch as his emblem and is represented in Jain statues 

 as being of a black colour. The black image of Nemi 

 in the Nemnath temple on Mount Girnar in Kathiawar 

 is a well-known example. The dark hue under which 

 Vishnu and Krishna are always represented by Hindus 

 and the black colour of his cousin Nemi, the Jain 

 Tirthankar, go far to show that these gods and teachers 

 belonged not to the Aryan race but to nations of 

 Dravidian orioin in the forefront of the earliest indii>"en- 

 ous civilization in North India or Hindustan. With 

 them in particular, is the conch most definitely associ- 

 ated ; there is strong presumption on this and other 

 grounds already referred to, to believe that it was the 



* With the contradiction which exists between East and West in so many 

 matters, the abnormal twist in these shells is termed left-handed or sinistral by 

 Europeans, whereas Indians term it right-handed. They view it from the mouth 

 end, we frijm the apex and accordingly confusion is fretpienl in conversation on 

 this subject with Intlians. 



