✓ 
116 HINDOOS TAN. 
and Siva, were no other than the Chriftian Trinity';’ a 
Sentence in which we can only doubt whether follyj 
ignorance, or impiety, predominates. The three powers, 
creative, prefervative, and dcflruaivt, which the Hindoos 
exprefs by the triliteral word O'm, were grofsly aferibed 
by the firft idolaters to the heat, light, and flame, of their 
miftaken divinity the Sun; and their wifer fucceffors in 
the Ealt, who perceived that the Sun was only a created 
thing, applied thole powers to its Creator; but the Indian 
Triad, and that of Plato, which he calls the Supreme 
Good, the Reafon, and the Soul, are infinitely removed 
from the holinefs and fublimity of the do&rine which 
pious Chriftians have deduced from texts in the Gofpel. 
This tenet of our church, cannot, without profanenefs, 
"be compared with that of the Hindoos, which has only an 
apparent relemblance to it, but a very different meaning.” 
The fcheme of the Hindoo Triad is thus ingenioufly 
laid down by Mr. Paterlon, in the eighth volume of the 
Afiatic Relearches : 
Brahma- 
Creation- 
Matter— 
Red- 
H 
s>® 
-Vishnu— 
Emblematical of 
—Prefervation- 
Thefe are referred to 
—Space- 
And painted 
-—Blue- 
H 
o w o 
-n-o 
• tj - 45 
T -i "a 
-Siva. 
—Deftruclion. 
-Time. 
-White. 
cT 
a> jiT 
q r 
cr 
o 
c ^ 
o 
o X 
>-t-> n> 
Brahma is find to mean literally in Sanfkrit, “ wifdom of 
God." He is reprefented with a crown upon his head, and 
with four hands: in one he holds a feeptre.; in another the 
Vedas, or Indian Scriptures ; in a third a ring, or circle, 
as an emblem of eternity ; and the fourth is empty, being 
ready to affift and protect his creatures. His goddefs or wife 
Serelwati, (for the gods of the Triad have all wives,) is 
the patronel's of invention, of harmony, and eloquence. She 
is confidered as the fountain of fcience and wifdom; the 
Minerva of India; and is ufually reprefented with a mn- 
fical inftrument in her hand ; and is fuppofed to have in¬ 
vented the Devanagry letters, and the Sanfkrit language, 
in which the facred laws of the Hindoos were conveyed 
to mankind. Under her aufpices the mufical modes are 
luppofed to be demi-gods or genii ; and an original Raga, 
or god of the mode,is fuppofed to prefiae over the fix Indian 
feafons ; each Raga is attended by five Ragnics, or nymphs 
of harmony ; each has eight fons, or genii, of the fame di¬ 
vine art; and to each Raga and his family is appropriated 
a diftintt feafor., in which alone his melody can be lung, or 
played, at preferibed hours of the day and night. The 
mode of Dipaca, or Cupid the'Infiamer, is fuppofed to be 
loft ; and a tradition-is current in Hindooftan, that a mufi- 
cian who attempted to reftore it was confirmed by fire from 
heaven. This goddefs has a facred feftival, in which the 
jprofeflors of learning and fcience offer up their incenfe, 
their pens, and their books. 
Vijhiiu is reprefented with a crown on his head, and 
four arms ; bearing in each hand a fymbol of his pre- 
ferving and regenerating quality. The lotus, or water- 
lily, typifies fecundity; the Sanc’ha, prefervation and 
growth ; the mace, power oyer the enemies of created 
matter; the dificus, univerlal lupremacy on the earth. 
One of his names, in his preferring quality, is Hary, or 
Heri. The confort of Vifhnu is named Lechemy ; and is 
the goddefs of felicity and beauty, of profperity and 
plenty. She is alfo named Pedma, Camala, and Sri, or 
Sris ; and is confidered as the Ceres of the Hindoos. 
Siva is reprefented with a crefcent on his head, to (how 
the lapfe of time by the phafes of the moon. A ferpent 
forms his necklace, to denote the meafure of time by the 
annual courfe of the fun through the zodiac. A chain 
of human fkulls decorates his bread, to fhow the extinc¬ 
tion of the generations of mankind, over which he pre- 
fides. He holds a trident in one hand, lynonymous with 
the feythe of Time, and an hour-glafs in the other, to de¬ 
note that, when the hour cometh, death and diifolution, 
as to the prefent ftate, are inevitable. The name of his 
goddefs is Cali, the deftroyer. But fir William Jones de- 
feribes her by the names of Parvati, Dvrga, and Bhavani. 
In fome of her properties he likens her to the Olympian 
Juno ; in others to Pallas, armed for war; both flew de¬ 
mons and giants with their own hands. She is the Pro- 
ferpine of the Hindoos. The vifible manifeftations of Siva 
upon the earth, are reckoned at one tnoufand and eight. 
The Vahans, or vehicles of the three gods of the Triad, 
were allegorically affigned as the attributes of purity, 
truth, and juftice ; the firft was typified by the Sevan, 
clothed with unfpotted whitenefs, riding in triumph 
amidft the waters; the pure element facred to Brahma. 
Garuda and Aruna are two brothers. Aruna is the 
dawn, the morning twilight, which precedes the Sun : Ga¬ 
ruda is the dazzling full blaze of day, the type of truth, 
and the celeitial Vahan of Vifhnu. 
Juftice, typified by the facred Bull, is the Vahan of Siva. 
The Bull, whole body is Paramejwara, and whofe every 
joint is a virtue; whofe three horns are three Vedas-, 
whofe tail ends where Adherma, or injuftice, begins. 
Such are the three gods of the Hindoo religion, which 
form their Triad. But it was not long before a fchifm 
broke out among the different priefts ; juft as we find it 
among enthufiafts of every left and country. The fol¬ 
lowers of Vifnnu and Siva invented new fymbols, each to 
aficribe to their refpe&iee divinity the higher attribute of 
creation. The contention for pre-eminence ended in the 
total fiipprefnon of the worlhip of Brahma, and the tem¬ 
porary lubmiifion of Vifhnu to the fuperiority of Siva. 
But this did not laft long; the feels railed endlefs wars 
againft each other; hordes of armed fanatics, under the 
titles of Vailhnavas and Saivas,en!ifted themfelves as cham¬ 
pions of their refpeftive faith ; the latter devoted their 
lives in fupport of the fuperiority of Siva ; and the former 
were no lels zealous for the rights of Vifhnu. Hence 
temples reared their venerable heads throughout Hindoo¬ 
ftan, dedicated to one or the other of thefe two gods ; 
but not a fingle fabric recognized tire facred name of 
Brahma. 
The annihilation of the feCl, and worfhip of Brahma, is 
allegorically deferibed in the Cafe hand of the Scanda Pu- 
ran, where the three powers are mentioned as contending 
for precedency. Vifhnu, at laft, acknowledges the fupe¬ 
riority of Siva; but Brahma, on account of his perfifting 
in his fupreme authority, had one of his heads cut off by 
Siva, and his puja abolifhed. From that period Siva is 
laid to have affirmed five heads. The intent of this In¬ 
dian legend is evidently to magnify the feCl of Siva above 
thole of Brahma and Vifhnu; and if, inftead of the De- 
vatas themfelves, who are deferibed as the aCtors in this 
allegorical account, we fubftitute the contending fefts, 
the fable will appear not deftitute of foundation in hillo- 
rical faff. 
The Vaijhnavas, in order to appropriate the creative 
principle to Vilhnu, make Brahma, whom they acknow¬ 
ledge as. the immediate agent of creation, to derive his 
origin from a lotos, which lprang out of the navel of Vilh¬ 
nu wliilft deeping upon the vaft abyfs of primeval wa¬ 
ters ; thus Vifhnu becomes fuperior to Brahma, as being 
the caufe, firft, of his exiftence, and fecondly, of all cre¬ 
ated things through his agency. The Argha is a velfel 
of copper ufed by the Brahmins in their pvja ; its lliape is 
intended to reprefent the univerlal Mother, but in the 
centre of it is an oval rifing embolfed, and by this the 
Vailhnavas affert is meant the navel of Vilhnu, from which 
all things originally lprang; and, by the myftic union of 
thefe two principles of production, they intended to de- 
feribe 
