Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 2.djvu/74

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HISTORY OF INDIA.

TBooK IV.

AD.

Living incar. swallow. nation of Gauesa.

Cuvera

Cartikeia.

distinguished from other children but by an anxious wildness of the eyes, said to be occasioned by the (quantity of opium which he is daily made to He is not allowed to play with other hoys: nor is he permitted to speak any lang-uage but Sanscrit, that he may not converse with any but the Brahmins. He received us very politely, and said he was always pleased to see English people. After some conversation, which a Brahmin interpreted, we took leave, and were presented by his divine hand with almonds and sugar- candy, perfumed with asafcetida, and he received in retm-n a handful of rupees."

Cuvera, the god of wealth, has no temples dedicated to him, and no altars at which oblations are made, but is amply compensated by the practical homage which he receives from all ranks and conditions of men. His mj'thology possesses little interest. He resides in a splendid palace, and when he travels is borne through the air in a radiant car, or rather palanquin, by four attendants. On his head is a richly ornamented crown, and two of his four hands hold closed flowers of the lotus. In none of these particulars is it possible to discover felicity of invention, or any peculiar appropriateness. In short, the Indian Plutus, like too many of his most ardent and successful worshippers, is indifferent to everything but wealth, and while he possesses it, and has the power of bestowing it, can dispense with any other attraction.

Cartikeia, the god of war, is regarded as the son of Siva, and was brought into existence by some very extraordinary process, for the express purpose of

combating a giant of the name of Tarika, who had become a terror even to the gods. Brahma had been induced by the giant's penances and austerities to promise him universal power and dominion. This promise could not be recalled, and there seemed no means of escaping from the fatal consequences, for Tarika, abusing Brahma's blundering liberality, was threatening the whole creation with destruction: robbing the ocean of its riches, and the sun of its fire, commanding the moon to stand still, and subjecting all the other celestials to harsh and contumelious treatment- In this dilemma the gods assembled a council, and after full deliberation saw only one possible means of deliverance. By Brahma's grant Tarika was declared to be invincible except to a son of Siva. But where was such a son to be found? Siva was at this time childless, and was leading a life of austerity, which precluded the hope of offspring. Various devices, in which Parvati and the god of love bore the principal part, were adopted, and at last, Carti- keia, having been deposited as a germ and nourished in the bosom of Gunga or the Ganofes, emerjxed in the form of a beautiful male infant. After due nursing by females who came to the river to bathe, he grew up, and becoming fit

Cartikeia. — Moore's Hindoo Pantheon.