Doctnnes of fit e Bra/tminical Faith. 435 



sion, inasmuch as a life of religious observances is more deeply 

 intertwined with the very foundations of the social system in 

 India than in any other country of the globe, and fairly 

 blocks the way against the expansiveness of European civiliza- 

 tion. For as simple as the Hindoo religion appears in its 

 primitive principles, the proper observance of its various rites 

 is proportionately difficult, and full of subtle distinctions for 

 the sincere Hindoo believer. 



The worship of Brahma, according to the doctrines enun- 

 ciated by Brahma's own lips in the Vedas, or holy books, took 

 its rise in the adoration paid to the powers of nature, regarded 

 as so many divinities, especially in the exalted transcenden- 

 talism of their ideas respecting the sun, the moon, the stars, 

 and the firmament. Thence was readily developed the belief 

 in a sole, eternal, Almighty Creator and Ruler of the world, 

 Brahma, represented as having four faces looking to the four 

 quarters of the globe, and reposing on a swan. This simple 

 monotheistic belief was gradually developed into the divine 

 manifestation of Brahma as a Triune divinity, namely, as the 

 Creating power (Brahma), the preserving power (Vishnu), and 

 the destroying, and at the same time renewing, energy of 

 nature (Siva). 



Although the revelation of Brahma has long since been com- 

 pleted, while Vishnu and Siva are still active agencies in the 

 world as Supporter and Augmenter respectively, Brahma is 

 assigned a very inferior rank in the worship of the masses, al- 

 though, according to the lawgiver Menu, the Moses of India, 



F r 2 



