1870.] The Vdstu Ydga. 201 



Many of these myths, again, may he traced partly to oriental hy- 

 perhole and partly to the many-sided meanings of the words used in 

 describing them : figurative expressions were seized and new myths 

 were invented in illustration of them. Others again are illustrative 

 of national customs ; thus the protruded tongue of Kali has been the 

 theme of several fanciful tales. With some, in the heat of the battle, 

 Kali was so maddened, that the gods despaired of the world, 

 and sent S'iva, her husband to appease her. S'iva crept among the 

 dead soldiers lying on the field, and contrived to pass under the 

 feet of Kali, who no sooner perceived her husband trampled under 

 her feet, than she became abashed, and, in the fashion of the 

 women of the country, bit her tongue as expressive of her regret 

 and indelicacy. 



It is amusing to follow the line of argument put forth in the 

 Purdnas in support of these myths. In some instances, they ap- 

 proach so near the ludicrous, that were it not for their thorough 

 adaptability to the state of native society of the time, their 

 fallacies would have been long ago exposed, and the whole Paurdnio 

 system spurned and despised. 



S'akti is Force. Originally a sect of Hindus worshipped force 

 and matter as eternal. The word being in the feminine gender, 

 its personification is a female divinity of supernatural powers, 

 and every occupation which called for great exercise of energy and 

 power at once selected her as tutelary goddess, and she is now 

 the most popular of all the three and thirty millions of the Hindu 

 pantheon. S'dktaism has since imbibed so many brutal practices of 

 cannibalism, human sacrifice, and bacchanalian rites, that the very 

 name of a S' dicta, inspires horror and disgust ; nevertheless the unholy 

 Tantras, which propound and explain the principles of this doctrine, 

 and give rules for worshipping the different forms of S'akti, are 

 increasing in number and popularity. They were, until lately, com- 

 paratively unknown beyond the frontiers of Bengal, but copies of 

 MSS. are now demanded from every quarter of Hindustan. The 

 Tantrie system is of Bengali origin, and its rites and customs are 

 intimately interwoven with those of the hill tribes, especially those 

 of Nepal and Assam. Demonology is a principal feature in the 

 8' dicta faith, and the various nocturnal ceremonies are fixed which 

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