Hindu mythology, Vedic and Purânic . ulers over long periodsof time); and V. The history of the two great races of kings, theSolar and the Lunar. The Puranas, as at present known, do notgenerally approach to this ideal; some treating of some of thesesubjects only, others containing much extraneous matter. Greatdiscrepancies, too, are found in the different In describing the Puranic deities, I shall follow the commonorder. The Hindus speak of the three great gods—•Brahma,Vishnu, Siva. These form what is often spoken of as the HinduTriad. After giving an account of each of these de
Hindu mythology, Vedic and Purânic . ulers over long periodsof time); and V. The history of the two great races of kings, theSolar and the Lunar. The Puranas, as at present known, do notgenerally approach to this ideal; some treating of some of thesesubjects only, others containing much extraneous matter. Greatdiscrepancies, too, are found in the different In describing the Puranic deities, I shall follow the commonorder. The Hindus speak of the three great gods—•Brahma,Vishnu, Siva. These form what is often spoken of as the HinduTriad. After giving an account of each of these deities and theirconsorts, I shall describe those who are regarded as their incar-nations, or descendants ; and then proceed to speak of thosewho have not any formal connection with any of them. It willbe seen that most of the principal deities are connected with oneor other of these three. * Wilsons preface to the Vishnu Purana. t For an outline of the contents of the different Puranas, see Introductionto Wilsons c Vishnu So The Puranic Deities. CHAPTER II. BRAHMA.* Brahma is regarded as the Supreme Being, the God of gods ; ofwhom Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are manifestations. It is truethat, in some verses of the Vedas, attributes that are ascribed tohim are also ascribed to other deities, and in some parts of thePuranas certain incarnations are said to be identical with thesupreme Brahma; nevertheless it is certain that Brahma isregarded by the Hindus (for which opinion there is abundantauthority in their Scriptures) as the Supreme God,—the origin ofall the others, and of whom they are manifestations. Thus weread in the Atharva-Veda : *— All the gods are in (Brahma)as cows in a cow-house. In the beginning Brahma was this[universe]. He created gods. Having created gods, he placedthem in these worlds, viz. Agni in this world, Vayu in theatmosphere, and Surya in the sky. And in the worlds whichare yet higher, he placed the gods which are still higher. ThenBrahma p
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