ORIENTAL SERIES.

gether.
INTRODUCTION. xiii
India retains a place of some dignity; but Brahma,
Siva, and Vishwu have, in the Epics, risen to the chief place.
Even of these three, the first is comparatively insignificant.
His work of creation was over, and if he was ever an object of
great adoration, he had ceased to be so. Vishnu and $iva both
appear in these poems; and although Vishmi is the god whc
holds the most prominent place, still there are many passages in
which $iva is elevated to the supreme dignity. The Vishwu
who, in the Vedas, was the friend and companion of Indra and
strode over the universe, has become the great deity of preserva-
tion, and the terrible and howling Rudra is now $iva, the deity
of destruction and renovation. Each of these two gods in his
turn contends with and subdues the other ;
now this, now that,
receives the homage of his rival, and each in turn is lauded and
honoured as the chief and greatest of gods.
The Avataras or incarnations of Vishnu assume a prominent
place in the poems, and still more so in the Purawas. The first
three, the Fish, the Tortoise, and the Boar, have a cosmical cha-
racter, and are foreshadowed in the hymns of the Vedas. The
fourth, or Man-lion, seems to belong to a later age, when the
worship of Vislwu had become established The fifth, or
Dwarf, whose three strides deprived the Asuras of the dominion
of heaven and earth, is in its character anterior to the fourth
Avatara, and the three strides are attributed to Vishwu in
the Veda. The fifth, sixth, and seventh, Parasu-rima, Eama-
chandra, and Kn'shwa, are mortal heroes, whose exploits are
celebrated in these poems so fervently as to raise the heroes to
the rank of gods. The ninth Avatara, Buddha, is manifestly
and avowedly the offspring of the preaching of Buddha ; and
the tenth, Kalki, is yet to come.
When we reach* the Puranas there is found a very different
condition of things. The true meaning of the Vedic myths is
entirely lost, their origin is forgotten, and the signification and
composition of many of the mythic names are unknown. Ma*
vellous legends have gathered round the favourite, divinities, and
many more have been built upon fanciful etymologies of the old
names. The simple primitive fancies suggested by the opera-
tions of nature have disappeared, and have been supplanted by