CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN INDIA. 59 



of Daitya-Sudana, thus called from Vishnu com- 

 pletely overthrowing the empire of the Daityas or 

 Demons. These four Calpas are obviously to b^ 

 reckoned from the flood. The Culpa of Purushot- 

 TAMA, answers to that of Crishna; whose birth was 

 followed by a general massacre of all the male chil- 

 dren, through the whole country, by Cansa, in 

 order to destroy him. But let us return to this won- 

 derful child, who was to manifest himself to the 

 world, when 3 1 00 years of the Cali-yuga were elapsed, 

 that is to say in the 3101, answering to the first year 

 of the Christian Era, according to the Cumaricd- 

 chand'a, and the Vicrama-charitra. According to 

 the same respectable authority, the purpose of his; 

 mission, was to remove from the world wretchedness 

 and misery: and his name was to be 'Saga, or 

 the mighty and glorious King- 



^Sa'liva'hana was the son of a Tacshaca, or car- 

 penter; and was born, and brought up in the house 

 of a potmaker. God is called Deva-Tasht'a, or 

 God the artist or creator, in Sanscrit; and also 

 Deva-Tasht a', from which is derived Deo^Tat or 

 Teutat in the west, called Twasht'a' or Tuisto by 

 the German tribes. He produced Mannus, man, 

 the first Manu, M'ho had three sons. In Greece, ac- 

 cording to Pindar, God the father of mankind, and 

 creator of the world, was called Trar^^ A^i,TOTixyn<;, the 

 father and best artist. This carpenter, the father of 

 'Sa'liva'hana was not a mere mortal, he was the 

 chief of the Tacshacas, a serpentine tribe, famous in 

 the Purdrias. There, they are declared to be the 

 most expert artists and mechanics in the world:, and 

 they are by no means confined to a few trades ; but 

 their skill embraces every branch. When the ele- 

 phant Air'avata, with his immense retinue in thq 



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