The Consolidated Encyclopedic Library (Volume 6) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1903. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... HINDOO MYTHOLOGY By ELS A BARKER Of All the mythologies of the ancient world, there is none richer in character and suggestion than the one that has grown up around the original Hindoo conception of Brahm. The first impression made upon the mind by a contemplation of the Indian Pantheon is the incalculable number of divinities. But of the estimated three hundred and thirty million Hindoo gods, there are perhaps a score that are of great and individual importance. These primary gods, however, are worshiped under many names, according to their attributes and the metaphysical distinctions conceived by the subtle Indian mind; they are given many avatars or incarnations, each distinguished by a separate name, and each having a train of offspring and other attendants, who in turn have their own dependents and corollaries. It is impossible in. a brief chapter to give a detailed account of more than a small fraction of the Hindoo Pantheon; but among this myriad of devas, or " bright ones," there are a few especially significant representatives whose names are so often met with in literature and cultured conversation that some understanding of them is necessary, in this age of diffused knowledge, to one who has any ambition to be considered well informed. The names of the Hindoo trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, are daily becoming better known in Europe and America; while the Indian idea of reincarnation, or the transmigration of souls, has stimulated the imagination of many modern poets. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva--the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer--are the principal Hindoo gods; for Brahm himself, of whom the aforesaid trinity are aspects, is in his lonely grandeur too awful to be contemplated. Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva are variously symbolized as Spirit, Matter, and...