8. MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
in the person of Sita, and who had been carried off by the Ravana. His 
exterior during this incarnation is described to be that of a handsome youth 
of a green complexion, who is armed with bow and arrows (pl. 2, jig. 7). 
The nenth Avatar is the most important of all his incarnations. He now 
appears as Arzshna, the noble black shepherd (jig. 10). While he was 
thus incarnate he was attacked by Aalinac, the father of the serpents, who 
bit him in the heel, and Krishna in return crushed him with his foot. The 
tenth Avatar (atk: Avatar), according to the sacred books, will only take 
place when the present creation is to be destroyed. When the last day shall 
have dawned upon this earth, then will Vishnu appear as Kaninki or Kathi, 
upon his body the head of a horse (jig. 12) (other authorities say mounted 
on a white horse), his right hand armed with the terrible flaming sword, and 
in his left the impenetrable buckler. The wicked will be judged according 
to their deeds and condemned to fearful punishment, and the good be 
admitted into paradise. The sun and moon will lose their light, and the 
earth tremble to its very centre; the stars will fall from the heavens, and 
the world with all that is therein be consumed by fire. After that there 
will be a new heaven and a new earth, and an age of purity will succeed. 
Before we close the history of Vishnu we must mention a few other 
representations of him, frequently met with in the temples devoted to his 
worship. /%g. 9 is that of a beautiful youth seated upon an oval cushion ; 
his head is encircled with the triple crown, to indicate that he is the ruler 
of heaven, earth, and the sea; suspended from his neck hangs the famous 
diamond KHaustubhamanay, and priceless rubies constitute his earings. 
Another representation of the god is seen in pl. 3, fig. 6, which exhibits 
him as carried by the giant Garuda, and in the act of revealing himself to 
the giant Vismanutra and to Hama as an incarnation of Rama. He is 
also sometimes exhibited, as in pl. 2, jig. 2, completely united with Siva, 
by which some of his followers wish to indicate that Vishnuism and Sivaism 
are one, and have superseded Brahmaism. Besides these there is a represen- 
tation of him on a pillar in the palace of Modobedery, near Manglar, where 
he is seen mounted on the back of an elephant (jig. 11) composed of the 
gopis or gopeas (nymphs of the Milk Sea). 
His paradise is also located on the sacred mount Meru, and is guarded 
by two dragons. It is divided into four sections, the highest of which is 
Nirban, where the perfectly pure are united with the god, which exempts 
them from the necessity of a metempsychosis; while the lowest, Saloc, is the 
abode of those who as a reward for their purity in life are endowed with an 
ethereal body, and with faculties capable of enjoying the purest pleasures. 
c. Swa (Shiva, Shiven) is the third person in the Triad. He is sym 
bolized by fire, and is himself the personification of the destroying power. 
His immediate worshippers look upon him as the Supreme Being, but other 
sects ascribe to him only a subordinate place. His followers are called 
Sivaites, and their religious system Sivaism. He is generally represented 
as of a white color, with one head (sometimes with five heads, and with 
four and in a few instances with sixteen arms) and riding on a white bull. 
He is distinguished by a third eye placed in the centre of his forehead, 
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