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454 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
this character, closely resembles the I^ord God of Israel, "especially in
his policy of deception, temptation, and cunning."
In the Vishnu Purana this is made as plain as can be. For it is said
there, that:
At the conclusion of their prayers {stoira) the Gods beheld the Sovereign Deity
Hari (Vishnu) armed -wdth the shell, the discus, and the mace, ridiiig on Garuda.
Now Garuda is the Manvantaric Cycle, as will
Vishnu, therefore, is the Deity in
the Vaishnavas.
be shown in its place.
Space and Time, the peculiar God of
Such Gods are called in Ksoteric Philosophy tribal or
racial; that is to say, one of the many Dhyanis or Gods, or Elohim,
one of whom was generally chosen for some special reason by a nation
or a tribe, and thus became gradually a "God above all Gods,"* the
"highest God," as Jehovah, Osiris, Bel, or any other of the Seven
Regents.
"The tree is known by its fruit" ; the nature of a God by his actions.
We must either judge these actions by the dead-letter narratives, or
must accept them allegorically. If we compare the two—Vishnu, as
the defender and champion of the defeated Gods; and Jehovah, the
defender and champion of the "chosen" people, so called by antiphrasis,
no doubt, as it is the Jews who had chosen that "jealous"
God—we shall find that both use deceit and cunning. They do so
on the principle of "the end justifying the means," in order to have
the best of their respective opponents and foes—the Demons. Thus
while, according to the Kabalists, Jehovah assumes the shape of the
tempting Serpent in the Garden of Eden, sends Satan with a special
mission to tempt Job, harasses and wearies Pharaoh with Sarai, Abraham's
wife, and "hardens" another Pharaoh's heart against Moses,
lest there should be no opportunity for plaguing his victims "with
great plagues," Vishnu is made in his Purana to resort to a trick no
less unworthy of any respectable God.
The defeated Gods addressed Vishnu as follows
Have compassion upon us, O Lord, and protect us, who have come to thee for
succour from the Daityas (Demons) ! They have seized upon the three worlds, and
appropriated the offerings which are our portion, taking care not to transgress the
precepts of the Veda. Although we, as well as they, are parts of thee \ . . . .
engaged [as they are] ... in the paths prescribed by the holy writ ....
it is impossible for us to destroy them. Do thou, whose wisdom is immeasurable
* II Chronicles, ii. 5.
+ "There was a day wheu the Sons of God came before the Lord, and Satan came with his brotlurs,
also before the l,ord." {Job ii., Abyss., Ethiopic text.)