HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 5 
nature, regulating generation, and the result was, that the flower of the lotus 
came forth from his navel, and gave birth to Brahma the creative power, 
who in his turn created the world. But a long time, which he spent in 
profound meditations, elapsed between his own birth and the creation of 
the world. When he had resolved upon calling the universe into existence, 
he created first space, and placed in it the seven Swrgs, or starry spheres of 
heaven, illuminated by the radiant bodies of the Deyotas. Then he made 
the earth (Afirtlock), and the sun and moon to give it light, and the seven 
Patals, or lower regions. This creation embraced the fourteen worlds of 
the Hindoo Cosmogony. When these worlds had been completed, and with 
them the mountain Calaya (Meru), there appeared at the top of the latter 
the symbol Yonz, the triangle, and inclosed in it the Zingam. Mount 
Meru was then selected as the seat of the gods, and for that purpose made 
the most delightful place of abode. Silvery brooks meandered in every 
direction, and fertilized its soil ; magnificent trees, shedding delightful odors 
and covered with delicious food, gratified the eye and the taste; and four 
large streams issued from the highest point of the mountain, and flowed 
towards the four quarters of the heavens. Splendid palaces were every- 
where seen, in which dwelt the gods, the guardians of the world, and the 
souls of the happy admitted to their company. 
Brahma, having thus made the material world, now created the spirits ; 
and in order to people his world, he gave existence to one hundred sons, 
partly Deyotas, spiritual beings, to become denizens of the celestial regions, 
and partly Daints, who were to live in the worlds of the lower regions. The 
earth alone remained still an uninhabited region, but it was not destined to 
remain so long, for Brahma now resolved to give it inhabitants who should 
be direct emanations from his own body; and from his mouth came forth 
the eldest born, Brehman (Brahman, priest), to whom he confided the four 
Vedas; from his right arm issued Chetris, or Chetre (warrior), and from 
his left, Shateranz (the warrior’s wife). His right thigh gave birth to Bais, 
or Bice (agriculturist and trader), and his left to Basand, or Varssya, his 
wife; and lastly, from his right foot sprang the lowest of the race, Suder, 
or Sooder (mechanic and laborer), and from his left Suderanz, or Sudra, his 
wife. 
These four sons of Brahma, so significantly bronght into the world, 
became the fathers of the human race, and heads of their respective castes. 
They were commanded to regard the four Vedas as containing all the rules 
of their faith, and all that was necessary to guide them in their religious 
ceremonies. They were also commanded to take rank in the order of their 
birth, the Brahmins uppermost, as having sprung from the head of Brahma. 
Brahma was originally the first in rank in the Trimurti, but he lost his 
position very soon after the creation. or the myth tells us that, anxious 
to enlarge his domain, he secretly appropriated to his own use a large por- 
tion of the universe assigned to the other gods, and then claimed, as author 
of the Vedas, superiority over Vishnu. Besides these, he was also accused 
of other and more heinous offences. Brahm punished him for these crimes, 
by casting him, with his place of abode, into the lowest abyss. There he 
ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOP£&DIA.—VOL. IV. 15 225 
