HINDU ZOOLOGICAL BELIEFS. 253 



Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva — were the judges, and the contest 

 agreed upon was after this fashion. Adisesha covered the 

 thousand peaks of Mount Mahameru with his thousand hoods and 

 wound his body round the base of the mountain. Then Vayu, 

 the wind, came with all his 'might, and after several years 

 succeeded in blowing off three of the peaks, which fell far in the 

 sea hundreds of miles away, and Lanka was built upon them. 

 Certain authorities consider that Mahameru was where the 

 Altai Mountains now stand, and the three peaks landed where 

 the present day Trincomalee now is. 



Vasuki is the Snake used as the rope in the famous episode 

 of the churning of the milk-ocean to form the nectar (amritha), 

 the drinking of which made the devas immortal. Away far 

 beyond the Himalayas stood Mount Mahameru, supported on a 

 tortoise that was Vishnu. The Snake's body was coiled round 

 the pillar-like form of the mountain. The devas held the tail, 

 wisely leaving the venomous head to the asuras (demons). Then 

 the gods at one end and the demons at the other moved the 

 Snake just as the Hindu carpenter to-day works his drill. 

 When the precious fluid was ready, the devas and the asuras 

 seated themselves opposite each other on the ground to partake 

 of this elixir of life ; but one asura, Eahu by name, foreseeing 

 that the devas alone would get the amritha, crossed over and sat 

 with them between the sun and the moon. Vishnu now went to 

 pour out the nectar, and in order that he might give to the gods 

 only and not to the demons, he assumed the form of a most 

 beautiful woman, Mohini (the temptress). He thus hoped to 

 secure the undivided attention of the asuras directed to his 

 beauty, so that he might pour out all the soma to the gods and 

 leave none for the expectant demons. The ravishing form of 

 Mohini secured the fixed attention of the asuras, and she had 

 given the drink to Eahu and thus made him immortal, when the 

 sun and moon pointed out to her the mistake she had made. 

 Mad with anger at being deceived herself, she struck Kahu with 

 her spoon and split him in two. Hence it comes to pass that 

 we have the two Snakes Rahu and Ketu, which are now planets, 

 which, on account of the old grudge they bear the sun and moon, 

 at every eclipse devour these heavenly bodies. 



Vasuki at first was the most poisonous of all the Snakes, but 



