Chap. II.]
HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
41
they may confer, or malignant demons to be deprecated for the evils which they a.d. — may inflict. Both the heavens and the infernal regions are peopled with such imaofinarv beings. Thev are also constantly moving in the air, on the earth, and '^'^'^^^ ^^^
» -' *= -^ _ "^ ° inferior
in the waters, and acting as the willing messengers or miwilling thralls of the deities. higher gods. To the better class belong the Brahmadicas, or sons of Brahma, the Menus, the Rishis, good angels and good genii, Apsaras and Gandarra.s, or heavenly nymphs and choristers, by whose dances, songs, and music the inhabi- tants of the celestial mansions are constantly entertained. To the malignant class belong the Asuras, who, though of the race of gods, were disinherited and cast into darkness ; the Deityas, a species of demons who have mustered armies and made war in heaven; Rakshasas, Pisachas, and still lower spirits, not unlike our nursery ghosts and goblins. By all of these much of the homage which is due only to the Supreme Power is practi- cally monopolized.
Another series of imaginary beings which play an important part in the religion of the Hindoos are personifications of sacred streams — above all, the Ganges, which figures as a female divinity under the name of Gunga, and is both honoured and worshipped. So highly estimated is the honour of having given birth to Gunga, that Vishnu and Siva are represented by their respective votaries as laying claim to it. According to the Vishnaivas .she had her first beginning in Vishnu's heaven, Vaikontha, and sprung from his foot ; according to the Saivas, Keilas, Siva's heaven, was the place of
her birth. There she sprung from his head, and after long wandering among his Gunga. matted locks descended at last upon the earth in a mighty stream, with all her train of fishes, snakes, turtles, and crocodiles. She is represented as a white woman with a crown on her head, either walking on the surface of the water or riding on a marine animal of rather nondescript form, though bearing some resem- blance to an alligator, holding a water-jug in one of her four hands and a water- lily in another. After descending to the earth Gunga made a narrow escape, for a sage whom she disturbed in his devotions was so incensed that he swallowed her up. Having contrived ultimately to find an outlet, she divided herself into the numerous streams which now form a network across her delta. The modes in which homage is paid to her are countless. Her shrines exceed 3,000,000 in number ; her banks are crowded with temples erected in her honour ; long pilgrimages are made to obtain the privilege of bathing in her stream ; for those who cannot make the pilgrimage, the water is transported to the remotest parts of the country and eagerly purchased ; even the dying are carried to her banks to breathe their last, and in this way not unfrequently accelerate the event Vol. II. 95
Gunga (the Ganges'. From Moore's Hindoo Pantheon.
