032 THE GOD VIGNESHWARA
with a rat at his feet. Siva was his father, and Badra-Kali, or Durga, his mother. He is said to have given himself up entirely to a life of meditation, and to have never married.
The first time that his mother Badra-Kali saw him, she reduced his head to ashes by the brilliancy of her look. Siva, on learning this misfortune, and being sorely grieved at having a son without a head, considered earnestly how he might provide him with this eminently useful member.
With this intent he sent his servants with orders to cut off the head of the first living creature they met sleeping with the face turned towards the north, and to bring it to him.
An elephant happened to be the first creature they perceived in this position, and following Siva ' s instructions they cut off the animal ' s head, and hurried back with it to their master. Siva took it and fitted it on his son ' s neck, and since then Ganesa has preserved the shape under which he is still represented.
The elephant ' s head, and also the rat, are probably
emblems of the prudence, sagacity, and forethought which the Hindus attribute to this divinity.
Indra, or Devendra.
Indra is the king of the gods of the second rank, who live with him in Sivarga. He is the son of Kasyapa and
Aditi. The inferior gods and the virtuous persons who inhabit his happy domains are without number.
To make them happy Indra distributes amrita( nectar)
to them, and allows them to enjoy all the pleasures of the senses, to which he also gives himself up without restraint there is no kind of sensual enjoyment that cannot be indulged in, without satiety, in Sivarga. Indra ' s vehicle is an elephant, and his weapon the vajra, a kind of sharp knife. Lightning is also his weapon in his wars against the giants.
The Ashta-Dik-Palakas.
Indra occupies the first rank among the eight Dik- Palakas, who preside over and guard the eight principal