Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 586

546
a
HINDU AND CJREEK MYTHOLOGY
conch,
blasts,
sangu,
or
and the
from which they blow ear-splitting
which is also stamped on their
figure of
shoulders with hot iron.
Siva, again, is a perfect prototype of Pluto, the gloomy
To Siva
of hell, the lord of the shades and of night.
belongs the power of destruction. He it is who reduces
he takes delight in giving vent to his
everything to dust
sobs and groans in places of burial, whence he derives the
name of Rudra commonly given him. It signifies one who
causes lamentation.
Pluto, unable to find a woman willing to dwell with him
in his dismal abode, carried off Proserpine, and concealed
her so well that for a long while she escaped the search of
In like manner, Siva found a wife in
her mother Ceres.
a remote quarter. Unable to get one elsewhere, he obtained
god
;
one at last from the mountain Mandra, who gave him in
marriage his daughter Parvati, in consideration of a long
and severe penance which Siva endured for her sake in the
For fear lest she should escape from him, he
deserts.
carries her always on his head, concealed in his enormously
thick hair \
But though some features of resemblance lead us to
believe in the identity of the fabulous deities of India with
those of Greece and Rome, we find ourselves disconcerted
As a matter of fact both Vishnu and Siva,
at every step.
as well as Brahma, possess many traits of likeness to the
Olympian king. It was Vishnu who cleared the earth of
a multitude of giants that overran it giants who far
exceeded in stature Enceladus, Briareus, and the other
Titans who were destroyed by Jupiter. Jupiter is borne
by an eagle Vishnu likewise rides a pretty eagle called
Garuda, which, though the smallest of the birds of its own
species, became enormously large when it carried the god
under the designation of Jagannatha, i. e. Master of the
World, an attribute which he shares with the most powerful
of the sons of Saturn.
Juno is the goddess of wealth. The name of Lakshmi,
the wife of Vishnu, also signifies one who gives riches. Jealous
—
;
The Abbe is evidently confusing
who according to Hindu mythology
1
Parvati
is
Parvati with Ganga (the Ganges),
is always carried on Siva's head.
always said to be carried on Siva's
left hip.
Ed.