﻿THE INDIAN ZODIAC. 3O3 



twelve Indian signs bear a wonderful resemblance 

 to those of the Grecian, yet they are too much varied 

 for a mere copy, and the nature of the variation proves 

 them to be original ; nor is the resemblance more ex- 

 traordinary than that, which has ofren been observed, 

 between our Gothic days of the week and those of the 

 Hindus, which are dedicated to the same luminaries, 

 and (what is yet more singular) revolve in the same 

 order : — Ravi, the Sun ; Soma, the Moon ; Mangala y 

 Tuisco ; Budha, Woden ; Vrihaspati, Thor ; Sucra, 

 Freya ; Sani, Sater ; yet no man ever imagined that 

 the Indians borrowed so remarkable an arrangement 

 from the Goths or Germans. On the planets I will 

 only observe, that Sucra, the regent of Venus, is, like 

 all the rest, a male deity, named also Usanas, and 

 believed to be a sage of infinite learning; but Zohrah, 

 the Naliid of the Persians, is a goddess like the Freya- 

 of our Saxon progenitors. The drawing, therefore, of 

 the planets, which was brought into Bengal by Mr. 

 Johnson, relates to the Persian system, and represents 

 the genii supposed to preside over them,, exactly as 

 they are described by the poet Hatifi: " He bedecked 

 " the firmament with stars, and ennobled this earth 

 " with the race of men ; he gently turned the auspi- 

 " cious new moon of the festival, like a bright jewel, 

 " round the ancle of the sky ; he placed the Hindu 

 " Saturn on the seat of that restive elephant, the re^ 

 " volving sphere, and put the rainbow into his hand, 

 *< as a hook to coerce the intoxicated beast ; he made 

 " silken strings of sun-beams for the lute of Venus 5 

 *' and presented Jupiter, who saw the felicity of true 

 " religion, with a rosary of clustering pleiads. The 

 " bow of the sky became that of Mars when he ws$ 

 " honoured with the command of the celestial host; 

 " for God conferred sovereignty ontheSun; and squa- 

 N drons of stars were his army." 



