pPant bore, bcgc'f^t)/, cmel bqric/. 419 



critus writes of maidens carrying a crown of Lotus for the Princess 

 Helen on her marriage with Menelaus. In a painted temple at 

 Pompeii, the Lotus-flower is represented above a geni or winged 



god. The Grecian god of silence (Harpocrates), who was of 



Egyptian origin, is represented sometimes with a Lotus-flower in 



his left hand ; sometimes seated on a Lotus. But it is in the East 



where the Lotus is supreme — a sacred plant not merely revered as 

 a symbol, but even the objccTl: of worship in itself, and notably in 

 Hindostan, Thibet, and Nepaul, where it is believed that from its 

 mystic blossom came forth the all-powerful Brahma. In the 

 Hintlu theology, Om is the one Supreme Being from whom proceed 

 the great deities Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), and Siva 

 (destroyer). Before the creation of this world, there existed an 

 immense sea covering its surface ; on this vast sea moved the 

 spirit of Om, and quickened into life a golden Lotus, resplendent 

 as the sun, from which emanated the four-formed creative god 

 Brahma, who by the radiance of his countenance dispelled the 

 pervading gloom, and by the light and warmth of his divine pre 

 sence evoked the earth from the surrounding waters. Vishnu, the 

 pervader or preserver, is represented with four arms : from his 

 umbilicus springs a Lotus-plant, in the beautiful calyx of which 

 Brahma appears seated, ready to accomplish the work of creation. 

 The breath of Vishnu is like the perfume of the Lotus, and he 

 rests and walks, not on the earth, but on nine golden Lotus-plants, 

 carried by the gods themselves. The heaven of Vishnu is described 

 in the Mahdhhdvata as blazing with golden edifices studded with innu- 

 merable gems. Descending from the superior heaven the waters of 

 the Ganges flow through this Paradise, and here are also lovely dimi- 

 nutive lakes of water, upon the surfaces of which myriads of red, 

 blue, and white Lotus-flowers, with a thousand petals, are seen 

 floating. On a throne glorious as the meridian sun, seated on 

 Lotus-lilies, is Vishnu, and on the right hand is his wife, the goddess 

 Lakshmi, also seated in a Lotus, shining like a continued blaze of 

 lightning, while from her beauteous form the fragrance of the Lotus 

 is difTused through the heaven. Siva, the destroyer (the third 

 member of the Hindoo triad), is represented in many ways, but 

 generally with three eyes ; his favourite scat is a Lotus. Buddha, 

 an emanation from Vishnu, like Brahma, first appeared on this 

 hemisphere floating on an enormous Lotus, which spread itself 

 over the ocean. Buddha had for his symbol a Lotus, surmounted 

 by a trident (typical of the Sun with a flame, or the superior heaven). 



The emblem of the Sun was called Suramani (the jewel of 



the Sun), but when the Svnhhdvikas adopted the Lotus as their 

 symbol of spontaneous generation, they called this ornament Padmi 

 Maui (jewel of the Lotus), and inscribed their temples with these 

 words : — 



AUM MANI PAUMI HOONG. 



JiJurvit/i 'flic Jcii'cl Lotus Allien. 



2 E 2 



