Hindu mythology, Vedic and Purānic . r ambrosia, depending on my secure the assistance of the daityas, you must beat peace with them, and engage to give them an equalshare of your associated toil ; promising them that bydrinking of the amrita . . they shall becomemighty and immortal. I will take care that the ene-mies of the gods shall not partake of the preciousdraught ; they shall only share in the labour. The gods entered into an arrangement with the asuras,and together they made the necessary preparations. The assembled gods were stationed by Krishna atthe tail of the serpent Vasuki
Hindu mythology, Vedic and Purānic . r ambrosia, depending on my secure the assistance of the daityas, you must beat peace with them, and engage to give them an equalshare of your associated toil ; promising them that bydrinking of the amrita . . they shall becomemighty and immortal. I will take care that the ene-mies of the gods shall not partake of the preciousdraught ; they shall only share in the labour. The gods entered into an arrangement with the asuras,and together they made the necessary preparations. The assembled gods were stationed by Krishna atthe tail of the serpent Vasuki (the churning rope),and the daityas and danavas at its head and by the flames emitted from his inflated hood, * Page 73. 144 THE PUR A NIC DEITIES. the demons were shorn of their glory ; whilst the clouds,driven by his breath towards his tail, refreshed the godsby vivifying showers. In the midst of the milky sea,Hari himself, in the form of a tortoise, served as apivot for the mountain, as it was whirled around. The. THE KUKMA AVATARA. holder of the mace and discus was present in otherforms amongst the gods and demons, and assistedto drag the monarch of the serpent race ; and in THE V A RAH A OR BOAR AVATAR A. 145 another vast body sat upon the summit of the moun-tain. With one portion of his energy, unseen by godsand demons, he sustained the serpent king ; and withanother infused vigour unto the gods. Such is the account of this incarnation of Vishnu astaught by the Puranas ; but in the earlier books, wherethe probable origin of this legend is found, it is Brahma,and not Vishnu, that is said to have assumed the formof a tortoise. In the Satapatha Brahmana arethese words: • Having assumed the form of a tor-toise, Prajapati (Brahma) created offspring. Thatwhich he created, he made; hence the word means tortoise; hence men say, All crea-tures are descendants of Kasyapa. This tortoise isthe same as Aditya. As the worship of Brahma be-came less popul
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