SACRED ISLES IX THE WEST, &C. 255 



One of the sons of Noah is called Ila'-pati, 

 synonymous with Jya'pati, the lord of the earth, 

 the same with Praja'pati, or the lord of man- 

 kind. Inrleed the denomination of Prajapati is 

 originally no more than Jupat'i, with the iipsarga, 

 or indeclinable particle pra, used intensively. Jah 

 is the principle of life in a living being; hence a 

 man is called Fra-ja, from his superiority above 

 the rest of the animal creation. Besides, it is very 

 common in India to prefix the particle pra to pro- 

 per names of holy men, and more particularly so 

 among the BaudcVhists. Thus they say, Pra- 

 S'wana, the venerable Swan a. Pra-dnjya-slra^ 

 the venerable sire of the A'n/j/as, Pra-Is'xvara, Sec. 

 In the same manner, Prajapati signifies the ve- 

 nerable Ja'pati, the chief of the animated crea- 

 tion. This will not seem in the least surprising, 

 when we reflect that the Hindus never admit of 

 any legend, without disfiguring it so as to make 

 it their own. Besides, we see the enmity between 

 Brah:via' and S'iva remaining still in their human 

 shapes; for Carddames'wara killed his brother 

 Dacsha. 



It is acknowledged, both by Hindus and the 

 western mythologists, that at every renovation of 

 the world the same events take place, the same 

 heroes re-appear upon the scene; and of course 

 S'ama, Cama, Harsha, or Pra-ja'pati, are born 

 again to every Menu. 



Ila, or Ila', called also Ida', and Ir'a', was 

 the son of Noah ; and Ii.a'-pati is synonymous 

 with Jya'pati, and implicitly so with Ja'pati. 

 This Ila is called Ilys in the theogony of Or- 

 pheus, and Ghilshah in Persian romances, which 

 literally ansv.-ers to Ila'-pati. He is, perhaps, the 

 same with the eldest Ilus of Homer. 



