They are of all employments. There
are gods of the heavens above and of the earth below, gods of wisdom and
of folly, gods of war and of peace, gods of good and of evil, gods of
pleasure, gods of cruelty and wrath, whose thirst must be satiated with
torrents of blood. These gods fight and quarrel with one another. They
lie, steal, commit adultery, murder, and other crimes. They pour out
their curses when they cannot succeed in their wicked plots, and invent
all kinds of lying tales to hide their wickedness.
There are three principal gods, who compose what is called the Hindoo
triad. Their names are Brumha, Vrishnoo, and Siva. They were somehow
drawn from Brahm's essence, on one occasion when he was awake. Brumha,
they say, is the creator of the world, Vrishnoo the preserver, and Siva
the destroyer. Brumha has no temple erected for his worship, on account
of a great falsehood which he told. I will tell you what it was. Once,
as it is said, there was a dispute between him and Vrishnoo, as to who
is the greatest. While thus disputing, Siva appeared between the two as
a fire-post and told them that he who would find the bottom or the top
of the post first, would show that he is the greatest.
Pages:
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48