{ MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
Another myth describes Brahm (pl. 1, jig. 16) as the supreme being, 
self-existing and ever the same, wholly absorbed in his sublime meditations, 
wrapped in the Jaya (this word means also delusion), the personification 
of pleasant self-forgetfulness, represented in the form of a cloak. In con- 
junction with the Maya (also called Bhavani, the mother of all created 
things), he gave existence to the three great Deyotas (created spirits), 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, who compose the Indian trinity called 
Trimurti, and are represented as a man with one body and three heads 
(pl. 2, fig. 1). The Maya, when Bhavani (pl. 1, jig. 2), is generally found 
depicted as seated upon a cloud, one foot under her body and the other 
stretched out as if in the act of descending; a veil cast around her, orna- 
mented with the figures of animals and other created things. 
The Trimurti is also included in other symbolical figures of Hindoo 
Mythology: viz. in the triangle with the flame (pi. 1, fig. 6), in the Lingam 
or Phallos (fig. 1), of which we shall speak again hereafter, when treating 
of Siva. The figure Om or Aum (fig. 9) contains also an allusion to the 
Trimurti. Om is a contraction of the letters A. U. M., and is considered 
by the Hindoos too holy to be pronounced by any one who is not a 
Brahmin. 
There are a few other symbols which we will enumerate here on account 
of their connexion with the above. The elephant (jig. 8) in the act of 
worshipping the lingam as the symbol of wisdom ; the Pradyapati (fig. 10) 
the symbol of creation as taught by the Brahmins ; Pracrite (fig. 11), the 
symbol of the three divine attributes, the creating, preserving, and destroy- 
ing powers; and the tortoise upon the serpent supporting the world and 
the seven celestial spheres (jig. 12), as the symbol of eternity. The chief 
symbol of Brahma is the earth, of Siva fire, and of Vishnu the water; they 
are all represented in jigs. 6 and 9. 
2. Tum THREE SupERIon Gops. a. Brahma. Brahm, the Supreme Being, 
was considered too awful and holy a god to have temples erected to him, 
or to be addressed by mortals. Hence a distinction was made between 
Brahm and the spirit of Brahm personified in Varayana, which signifies 
moving on the waters. 
Brahma, who was the first manifestation of Brahm enveloped in his 
Maya, is the embodiment of the creative power and wisdom, as well as the 
ruler of destiny, and lord over life and death. He is regarded as the first 
law-giver and teacher of the Hindoos, and hence as the author of the 
Vedas. 
In the sacred book we find the following account of his birth. Vara- 
yana extended upon the thousand-headed serpent Sesha, and moving upon 
the waters, caused the lotus to spring from his navel, and from the lotus 
Brahma (pl. 1, fig. 4). Another myth informs us that Vishnu, the second 
person in the Trimurti, and considered by the Vishnuites as only another 
name for the Supreme Being, assumed as Narayana the shape of a child, 
with its toe inserted in its mouth, and in this form, bedded on the leaf of 
the Indian fig tree (fig. 1a), was rocked by the waves of the milk sea. 
While in this position, and asleep, he called into existence the laws of 
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