582 Seely's Won 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON l.LOUA, 

 &C, &C. 



The principal olyt'ct of worsiiip at 

 Elora is the stoiic so fiequcnlly spoken 

 of, tlie Lingliam of "tlic changer of 

 lliings," Maha Deo (literally the jrreat 

 God), Siva. It is a symbol of him in 

 liis generative character ; tlie base is 

 inserted in the Yoni ; the Ling is of a 

 «x)nical sliapc, and often a black stone, 

 covered with flowers (the Bella and 

 j4 5«ca siu'nhs); tlie flowers hang pen- 

 <lcnl from the crown of tlic ling-stone to 

 the spoilt of tijc ArglM or Yoni, (ni)s- 

 lical matrix); not a whit better than 

 Uie phaiins of the Greeks and its cere- 

 monies. AMiatever enthnsiasis may say 

 to the contrary, this symbol is grossly 

 indecent, and abhorrent to every moral 

 feeling, let the subject he glossed over 

 as it may. Five lamps are commonly 

 used in worship (Puja), at this symbol, 

 biit frcqiieiilly one lamp having five 

 wicks. Utten the lolos is seen on the 

 top of the Ling. The water that the 

 Argha holds (the pedestal in which the 

 Ling is inserted), is emblematical of 

 Vishnu, and the dent or orifice in the 

 flame, (Yoni) or rim, is called the navel 

 of Vishnu. How comes it, as we find 

 acknowledged by many, and which 

 Major Moor supports both in his wri- 

 tings and prints, that Brahma sprung 

 from the navel of Vishnu in the cup of 

 the lolos ? when it is asserted on the 

 other hand, in Hindoo mythology, that 

 Brahma was tiicyiVst created beiiisr, and 

 that Narayana was the spirit, the vivi- 

 fying, animating, moving, abstract 

 essence, so awfully c^pressed in our 

 own divine book: 



" And the Spirit of God moved upon the 

 face of the waters." 



The gross fables and inapplicable al- 

 legories engrafted iuvwdc}-n times, have 

 rendered the Hindoo mythology both 

 disgusting and unintelligible. I have 

 every respect for the mythology of the 

 ancients: it is to lliat we owe science, 

 arts, and history, and like the emblems 

 in heraldry, it speaks a symbolical lan- 

 guage. The primitive lirahmans were 

 philosophers and sages ; whilst t'leir suc- 

 cessors have, to confirm and enslave the 

 minds of the people, rendered a beautiful 

 system of mythology ami science vicious 

 and stupid. Of the lotos a few words 

 more: — "The lotos is a prominent 

 symbol in the Hindoo and Egyptian 

 cosmogony. This plant appears to have 

 the same tendency witii the Sphinx, of 

 marking the connexion between that 



dtrs of Elora. 



which produces and that which is pro* 

 diiced. Leo and Virgo, the Egyptian 

 Ceres, (Virgo), bears in her hand the 

 blue lotos, which plant is acknowledged 

 to be tiie emblem of celestial love, so 

 frequently seen mounted on the back of 

 Leo in the ancient remains." More 

 might be quoted in illustraticm of a 

 symbol seen so frequently in the temples 

 of Elora; for Mr. Newton, in his 

 learned essay on the zodiac, makes 

 mention of liie Bull, the Serpent, &c. 

 Another authority, Capf. F. Will'ord, on 

 the sacred isles of the west, s])eaks on 

 the same subject. " The lotos floating 

 on the water is an emblem of tlie world ; 

 the whole plant signifies bolh the earth 

 and its two principles of fecundation. 

 The stalk originates from the navel of 

 Vishnu, sleeping at the bottom of the 

 ocean ; and the flower is the cradle of 

 Brahma or Mankind. The germ is 

 both llie Meru and Linga ; the petals 

 and filaments are the mountains which 

 encirele Meru, and are also the type of, 

 the Yolii." We often perceive the, 

 snake proceeding from the top of the 

 ling-stone, as well as tlie lotos; the latter 

 doubtless allndiDg to Brahma, who for 

 the space of two hundred years remained 

 absorbed in contemplation in the cup of 

 tlie lotos. 



At Visvacarma's temple are seen the. 

 large spherical altar, the arched roof with 

 its stone ribs, emblematical of space, 

 and the |)illars (like the fabled pillars of 

 the world) embracing the orbicular va- 

 cuum, with the figure in front of the 

 altar, evidently in prayer, as if meditat- 

 ing on the globe behind, and the vaulted 

 heaven above, ribbed up with its stone 

 rafters, and the tree or umbrella spread- 

 ing over the altar, as the heavens do 

 over our globe. All this is a beautiful 

 illustration of the creation ; for these 

 temples were meant to last for ever, and 

 to commemorate the unspeakable glory 

 of the Almighty founder of the universe. 



I believe our pointed steeples and the 

 pyramids of Egypt are meant to repre- 

 sent a column of flame ascending to the 

 heavens. The Hindoos have the same 

 idea. Out of the crown of the head of 

 Buhda a pyramidal flame ascends ; and 

 I have seen casts of Siva similarly repre-. 

 sented, or the hair plaited in a circle as 

 emblematical of eternity, with a flame 

 ascending from the midst of the circle of _ 

 hair on the croAvn of the head. This 

 was an explanation of the emblem that, 

 a learned Brahman once gave me, and , 

 as such I narrate it : it is no fanciful , 

 hypothesis of mine. 



As' 



