43 2 S ^ME ACCOUNT OF THE CAVE 



preserving ; and the head on the right, Siva, or th£ 

 destructive or changing attribute. 



The figure with one breast has been thought by 

 most to represent an Amazon ; it however, appears to 

 me a representation of the consort ofS\\A, exhibiting 

 the active power of her lord ; not only as Bawani, or 

 courage, but as IsANi,or the goddess of nature, con* 

 sidered as male and female, and presiding over gene-* 

 ration, and also as Durga, Here we find the bull of 

 Is war a (one of Siva's names) and the figure bearing 

 his trisulc, or trident. The beautiful figure on the 

 elephant is, I imagine, Cam a, or the Hindu God of 

 Love ; the figure with four heads, supported by birds, 

 is a representation of Brahma; and that with four arms, 

 mounted on the shoulders of another, is Vishnu* 



The two principal figures in the niche to the left., 

 represent, perhaps, Siva and his Goddess as Par- 

 vati. Here, as before, we observe Brahma and 

 Vishnu in the- back ground. 



The terrific figure with eight arms has been much 

 talked of; some will have it to represent Solomon, 

 threatening to divide the harlot's child ; others, with 

 more reason on their side, suppose it to represent the 

 tyrant Cans a, attempting the life of the infant God 

 Cms iin a, when fostered by the herdsman Ananda, 

 To me, the third attribute, or the destroyer in action, 

 appears too well represented to be mistaken. The 

 distant scene, where the smaller figures appear in dis- 

 tress and pain, is perhaps the infernal regions. The 

 figure about to be destroyed, does not seem to me an 

 infant, but a full grown person; if, indeed, the de- 

 stroyer 



