436 Voyage of the Novara. 



he created the Brahmins out of the substance of his head, to 

 guide and instruct man ; from his arms the Chetriyas, to pro- 

 tect and defend him ; from his trunk the Veisigas, to nourish 

 and support him ; and, lastly, from his feet the Sadras, to 

 serve and be the property of all the other castes. 



To Brahma, the fulness of whose existence no earthly notions 

 can embrace, there are no temples dedicated, these being rather 

 erected in honour of Vishnu, the Intercessor and Supporter, 

 who manifests himself in the atmosphere and in water, and Siva 

 the destroyer and regenerator of the various races, as also to 

 the other divinities whom the Hindoo religion numbers by 

 millions, although the majority of these have several names, 

 and the lower classes are simply Avatars, that is incarnations 

 or manifestations, of the superior deities. This peculiarity of 

 the Hindoo religion makes it impossible correctly to classify 

 or define Indian mythology. The god Rama, for example, 

 is frequently named for Krishna, and the latter again for 

 Vishnu. Vishnu, on his part, sometimes figures as Rama, 

 when he is to destroy Ravana, the tyrant of Ceylon, or as 

 Buddha, in order to found Buddhism. Like the Proteus of 

 Grecian fable, the Hindoo mythology assumes a thousand 

 different shapes, — it is, in short, Pantheism in its most perfect 

 development. 



A zealous Hindoo requires about four hours of each day to 

 get through his religious ceremonies, these being performed at 

 different periods, as he must bathe in the morning, at noon, 

 and again at night, in a tank or pool before the temple, and 



