Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Página 585

ORIGIN OF HINDU IDOLS
545
of the Trimurti dates, I believe, from a period long after
the establishment of idolatry in India.
It may justly be presumed that this symbolic representa-
tion of the three divinities united in a single body denotes
merely the three elements which are most perceptible to
In course of time the
all, viz. earth, water, and fire.
original notion vanished, and an ignorant people, guided
solely by the impression of the senses, gradually converted
what was at first a simple allegory into three distinct and
real divinities.
Before pushing my inquiries further upon this subject,
would make a few remarks on the origin which many
modern writers have assigned to this triple divinity of
They have asserted that these three gods are
India.
I
nothing else but the three principal deities of the Greeks
and the Romans under different names. Brahma, accord-
ing