no 



EEV. G. D. POPE, D.D., ON 



inwrought into the system that such names as ' Deceiver and 

 'Maniac' (Kalvar, <SsrrcU'f) are perpetually given to the god. The 

 Puranam of Madura, containing the history of the sixty-four amusements 

 of (^iva (^^(5nJ?26Truj/rz_rD LfrrrrermLh)^ illustrates this. Some of these 

 quasi-divine sports seem to us very ridiculous, but we are required by our 

 (^aiva friends to receive the mystic interpretation of each ! In the 

 history of Mdnikka Vdgagar, which is really taken from hints in the same 

 Puranam, the change of the jackals into horses, and vice versa, and the 

 god's behaviour as a labourer are somewhat extreme cases of this, but are 

 not quite incapable, I suppose, of a serious application, 



2. "Closely connected with this are the very frequent manifestations of 

 the god for the purpose of trying His votaries ; and in several of these 

 (not translated) the god is represented in an exceedingly unfavourable 

 light. (See Note VI.) Throughout the whole of the legends there runs 

 the idea that, as there were innumerable mendicants assuming the 

 conventional garb and appearance of the god. He might at any time 

 appear to any of His worshippers in such a form ; and thus all pious souls 

 were rendered eager to exercise due hospitality to (^aiva mendicants, as 

 they knew not but that their love might any day be rewarded by receiv- 

 ing the visit of the Master Himself. Of course, the old classical stories, 

 such as that of Baucis and Philemon, are of a similar kind. 



3. The dancing of Qiva, especially in the Golden Hall at Cithamharam, 

 is connected with an especial legend, which will be given, but is always 

 interpreted in the same way as the sports referred to above. (See 

 Note VI.) His dancing is symbolical of His perpetual and gracious 

 action throughout the universe and in loving hearts. In fact, it takes us 

 back to the manifestations of the pre-Aryan demon, or Bhairava, that 

 dances in the burning grounds, smearing himself with the ashes of the 

 dead, and adorning himself with necklaces of their bones, and bearing 

 away with him a skull as a trophy. There are many composite elements 

 in these very ancient histories ; and it is but fair to allow those who 

 yet regard them with reverence to give them any reasonable interpre- 

 tation of which they may be considered susceptible. 



NOTE II. 



The Mystic Formula of the Five Letters (or Syllables). 



The following, which is Ch. IX of Uma-pati's great work entitled ' The 

 Fruit of Divine Grace,' gives the whole mystery of ' The Grace of the 



