Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 466

42(5
A VEDIC LEGEND
whomsoever they may have been written, conclusively
prove that the origin of Hindu writing dates from a period
which is lost in remote antiquity.
One of the principal articles of the Hindu faith is that
relating to the ten Avatars, or incarnations, of Vishnu.
The first and earliest is called the Matsya-avatar that is,
the incarnation of the god in the form of a fish. And what
was the cause of it ? It was the loss of the four books of
Brahma, under whose care they were left, fell
the Vedas.
asleep, and a giant, his enemy, availed himself of the
opportunity to steal the sacred volumes. Having escaped
unperceived, the giant hid himself in the sea with his
,
precious booty, which he swallowed, thinking it would be
Vishnu, having been informed of
in his bowels.
what had happened, changed himself into a fish, and went
After a long search,
in pursuit of this enemy of the gods.
he at length discovered the giant in the deepest abyss of
He attacked him, vanquished him, and tore
the ocean.
him in pieces. He then plucked the hidden books from the
giant's entrails, and restored them to the god who was their
author and guardian.
Is there anything to be found in any books of ours whose
unquestionable antiquity is recognized by European writers
that might be said to compare with this fable, any indica-
tion of sources from which it could have been borrowed,
thus proving its modern date ? I think not.
Some of the Hindu authors ascribe the invention of
writing to a famous Penitent called Agastya, who, it is
He is one of
said, was not taller than a hand's breadth.
the most ancient persons recognized by the Hindus, in-
asmuch as they make him contemporary with the seven
Penitents who were saved from the Flood in the ark, of
which Vishnu himself was the pilot.
Again, the Gymnosophists, or naked penitents of India,
have never been regarded as mythical personages. Even
in the time of Lycurgus, that is to say, nearly nine hundred
years before the Christian era, these philosophers enjoyed
such a reputation for wisdom and learning that their fame
had spread to countries far remote from their own. There
is every reason to believe that their fame could only have
been