214 



HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



the letters A U M united in the mystic syllable O'M, which 

 the Hindoo always pronounces with the profoundest venera- 

 tion. These three powers are separately imbodied in Bra- 

 ma, Vishnu, and Siva, whose names, according to the phi- 

 losophers, express only attributes of the one Supreme Mind ; 

 but the popular theology views them as distinct persons, 

 with visible, human, and even fantastic forms, mixing with 

 mortals, committing extravagant and often scandalous ac- 

 tions, controlled and oppressed by inferior deities, giants, 

 and even by men. Their history accordingly presents a 

 strange collection of the loftiest and the meanest, the purest 

 and most corrupted features in moral nature.* 



* In the engraving here given of the principal Hindoo deities, the figure 

 in the centre, with four heads, is Braina. On his right, in front, i» 

 Vislinu, and behind, Indra. On the left, Rama is seated in front, while 

 Siva stands behind. These figures are taken from Sir William Jones, 

 Asiatic Researches, vol. i., except Siva, the representation of whom is 

 borrowed from Sonnera. 



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