220 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



Doorga has equalled Vishnu in the variety of shapes into 

 which she has multiplied herself, and of names by which 

 she has been distinguished. The most remarkable being 

 with whom she has shared her identity is Cali, or Kalee, 

 who under her own name is a principal object of Hindoo 

 adoration. Every humble characteristic of her original is 

 in Kalee heightened and carried to the extreme. She is 

 black, with four arms, wearing two dead bodies as earrings, 

 a necklace of sculls, and the hands of several slaughtered 

 giants round her waist as a girdle. Her eyebrows an 1 

 breast appear streaming with the blood of monsters whom 

 she has slain and devoured. Yet India has no divinity 

 more popular, nor one on whose shrine more lavish gifts 

 are bestowed. Not content, as the male deities generally 

 are, with the simple offerings of rice, fruit, vegetables, and 

 milk, she must see her altars flow with the blood of goats 

 and other animals. The ancient books contain directions 

 for the performance even of human sacrifices to this cruel 

 goddess. The bands of robbers by whom Bengal is in- 

 fested hold Kalee in peculiar honour, looking specially to 

 her for protection and aid, and invoking, by dark incanta- 

 tions, her blessing on their unhallowed exploits. 



It would be of little interest to enter into details re- 

 specting the minor divinities, whose number is very great. 

 Indra, though presiding over the elements, and invested 

 with the lofty title of King of Heaven, is not destined to 

 reign for ever ; he has even, by the efforts of men and 

 giants, been already repeatedly driven from his station. 

 Kartikeya, the god of war, riding on a peacock, with six 

 heads and twelve hands, in which numerous weapons are 

 brandished, presents a striking specimen of the fantastic 

 forms in which Hindoo superstition invests its deities. 

 Gancsa, a fat personage with the head of an elephant, is so 

 revered that nothing must be begun without an invocation 

 to him, whether it be an act of religious worship, opening 

 a book, setting out on a journey, or even sitting down to 

 write a letter. Surya is the deified sun ; Pavana is tihe god 

 of the winds ; Agnee, of tire ; Varuna, of the waters. 

 Yama, the Indian Pluto, pronounces sentence on the dead ; 

 but his judgment-seat is not beneath the earth, but in its 

 southern extremity, at a place called Yamalaya. A large 

 share of homage is attracted to him by the mingled influ- 

 ence of fear and hope. 



