. The history of the devil and the idea of evil; from the earliest times to the present day . ; Airavata, Indraselephant; the tree of abund-ance ; Chandra, the god ofthe moon ; Sura, the goddessof wine; and, finally, Dhan-vantari, the Indian ^scula-pius, who is in possession ofthe water of life. The ser-pent began now to spit ve-nom, which blinded the de-mons, while the gods drankthe Amrita. Aarunani, when con-ceived as goddess of beauty,is called Lakshmi or Shri;and it is noteworthy thatlike Aphrodite of the Greeksshe originates from the frothof the ocean. The third incarnation isthe Varaha-a
. The history of the devil and the idea of evil; from the earliest times to the present day . ; Airavata, Indraselephant; the tree of abund-ance ; Chandra, the god ofthe moon ; Sura, the goddessof wine; and, finally, Dhan-vantari, the Indian ^scula-pius, who is in possession ofthe water of life. The ser-pent began now to spit ve-nom, which blinded the de-mons, while the gods drankthe Amrita. Aarunani, when con-ceived as goddess of beauty,is called Lakshmi or Shri;and it is noteworthy thatlike Aphrodite of the Greeksshe originates from the frothof the ocean. The third incarnation isthe Varaha-avatar, in whichVishnu, in the shape of awild boar, kills, with his tusks, the demon Hiranyaksha,who threatened to destroy the world. Hiranyakshas brother, Hiranya-Kasipu, had a sonby the name of Prahlada, Avho was a pious devotee of. Lakshmi. the Goddess of Beauty.(Musee Guimet) BRAHMANISM AND HINDUISM. 81 Vislinu. The unnatural fatlici tried to kill his son, butthe lattei escai)ed all danger because he did not cease topray to Vishnu. Wlicn Hiranya-Kasipu expressed adoubt of Aishnus omnipresence, mockingly declaringthat he could not possibly be in a column to which hepointed, the wrathful god decided to punish the . column rent in twain, and Vishnu, proceeding fmmits interior in the shape of a monster half man halflion, tore Hiranya-Kasipu topieces. This fourth incarna-tion is called the Narasiwha-avatar. Its moral is to im-press upon the people thesad fate of those who do notbelieve in Vishnu. Praladas grandson, Ba-lis, was a pious king, but onthat very account dangerousto the gods, for he was justabout to complete the hun-dredth grand sacrifice, bywhich he would have ac-quired sufficient power to de-throne Indra. Vishnu came to the assistance of the godof heaven and appeared before Balis as a dwarf in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubje, booksubjectdemonology
