I hYLON BRANCH — ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 81 



his side that he might bestow the enjoyment of sensual de- 

 light on those who live in the world, m like manner as he 

 once assumed the form of an ascetic to bestow that state 

 on them. 



" As the blind know nothing but the staves in their hands? 

 so thou knowest nothing but these words. Thou who art 

 devoid of eyes, knowest not that he who rides on the strong 

 and beauteous bullock (a) pervades all sentient beings, even 

 as the scent pervades the flower. 



" He is the beginning, he is the Saiva ascetic ; he is the 

 great enjoyer, he has no body, he has many bodies, he is 

 the light, and he is the sea of happiness. Who knows 

 which is his head and which is his foot? They who know 

 his form know as much of it as was manifested in the golden 

 sanctuary. 



The learned Vatiiavurex then reproached Sarasvati 

 (b), and thus addressed her: "O Sarasvati, who endowest 

 men and women with speech ! why dost thou thus speak 

 falsehood ? 



" Thou, who uttered the four Vedas, why dost thou now 

 utter falsehood ? hast thou forgotten that thy nose was cut 

 off at the sacrifice of Daksha (c) ? I conjure thee to de- 

 part from the tongues of the foolish men who deny the 

 grace of the three-eyed one (d) " 



Sarasvati, being affrighted, departed from the tongues 

 of the vile Buddhists, who, thereupon, languished and shi- 

 vered like those that took poison, and turned dumb. The 

 fid king, having witnessed this, was distressed in mind, and 



(a) Nandi, the Apis of the Egyptian Osiris- 



(b) Sarasvati, the consort of Brihma, and the goddess of 

 poetry and eloquence said to reside on the tongue- 



(c) Daksha, one of the Brahmadikas or lords of created be- 

 ings, whose daughter Sakti was married to Siva. Having in- 

 vited all the gods and goddesses except his own son in law to a 

 solemn sacrifice which he celebrated, he incurred the resentment 

 of the latter, and had his head cut off and replaced by that of 

 a ram. In the conflict, the gods and goddesses, who took the 

 part of Daksha, lost some of their limbs, and among them Sa- 

 rasvati had her nasal organ mutilated, 



(d) Siva has beside the usual two eyes, a third in the forehead; 

 hence his titles of Triyambaka (tstfiiuLauam') and Trilochana Os?fl 

 OeoiT^-Brajr) corresponding with those of Triocculus and Triop- 

 tba-lmos given by the Greeks to Jupiter. 



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