66 01 THE ORIGIN OF 



the Sun, in the other as an allegorical representa- 

 tion of the rise and progress of the doctrines of the 

 persecuted Vaislmavas, from the infancy of the 

 sect till its full establishment. Cansa is rejiresented 

 as a S'aiva; he appears to have persecuted the 

 sect of Vishnu : but that oppressed sect seems to 

 have multiplied under persecution, till the increase 

 of their power enabled them to overthrow their op- 

 pressors ; and, iinalh', to establish the doctrines of 

 Vishnu upon the ruins of Si'va. 



O/Cartice'ya, the supposed Mars of India. 



He is represented as a warrior with six- faces : he 

 is armed with arrows and spears, and he is draw^n 

 riding upon a peacock. I suppose this figure to be 

 an emblem of the sun, invented by the worshippers 

 of the Ling, when they first separated into a dis- 

 tinct sect; or, in the hieroglyphical language of 

 the Brahmens, when he was produced from the 

 seed which Maha'deVa shed uj)on tlie Earth, after 

 he had been separated from Bhava'ni', with whom 

 he had been in strict union a thousand years. My 

 supposition, however, contradicts the present re- 

 ceived opinions of the Hindus; for they do not 

 consider Ca'rtice'ya as the Sun. But, if we exa- 

 mine the figure, we shall find tliat it can only be 

 applied to the Sun ; and it will be found to agree 

 in all its parts. 



The Hindus divide tlie year into six Kitiis, or 

 seasons, in each of which tlie Sun appears v.'ith a 

 different aspect. There are six stars in the lunar 

 constellation, Critica ; and, as he derives his name 

 from that Nacshafra, those stars are represented 

 as his nurses, one for each month. Probably the 

 symbol was invented either when the Sun was itself 

 in that lunar constellation, or in the month Carticcif 



