ORIENTAL SERIES.

SIVA, 299
upon it a symbol of the river Ganges, which he caught as it fell
from heaven a ; necklace of skulls
(muTida-mala), hangs round his
neck, and serpents twine about his neck as a collar (naga-kuraMa);
his neck is blue from drinking the deadly poison which would
have destroyed the world, and in his hand he holds a tmula 01
trident called Pinaka. His garment is the skin of a tiger, a deer,
or an elephant, hence he is called Kntti-vasas ; sometimes he is
clothed in a skin and seated upon a tiger-skin, and he holds a deer
in his hand. He is generally accompanied hy his bull Nandi. He
also carries the bow Ajagava, a drum (ckmaru) in the shape of
an hour-glass, the Kha^wanga or club with a skull at the end, or
- a cord (pa-sa) for binding refractory offenders. His Pramathas
or attendants are numerous, and are imps and demons of various
kinds. His third eye has been very destructive. With it he
reduced to ashes Kama, the god of love, for daring to inspire
amorous thoughts of his consort Parvati while he was engaged
in penance ; and the gods and all created beings were destroyed
by its glance at one of the periodical destructions of the universe.
He is represented to have cut off one of the heads of Brahma
for speaking disrespectfully, so that Brahma has only four heads
instead of five. $iva is the great object of worship at Benares
under the name of Yisweswara, His heaven is on Mount
Kailasa.
There are various legends respecting Siva's garments and
weapons. It is said that " he once visited a forest in the form
of a religious mendicant, and the wives of the JSfehis residing
there fell in love with his great beauty, which the JS/shis, per-
ceiving, resented ; in order, therefore, to overpower him, they
first dug a pit, and by magical arts caused a tiger to rush out of
it, which he slew, and taking his skin wore it as a garment ;
they next caused a deer to spring out upon him, which he took
up in his left hand and ever after retained there. They then
produced a red-hot iron, but this too he took up and kept in
his hand as a weapon, . . . The elephant's skin belonged to an
Asura named Gaya, who acquired such power that he would
have conquered the gods, and would have destroyed the Mums
had they not fled to Benares and taken refuge in a temple of
/Siva, who then destroyed the Asura, and, ripping up his body,
stripped off the (elephant) hide, which he cast over his shoulders
for a doak." Williams.