Page:Durga Puja - With Notes and Illustrations.djvu/22

 later. And are not the identifications noted above too much strained and too far-fetched for taking the reason prisoner? How could the ten signs of the zodiac be said to represent the ten arms of the goddess when one of the signs (Virgo) is considered as the goddess herself, and why should the signs of the Bull, the Twin, and others be said to represent arms to which they have as little resemblance as anything with any other thing in creation. Why has the goddess three eyes, why is she said to be formed of the energy of all the gods, why did she ascend in the heavens after she came forth from Vishnu, why is she worshipped in trees and plants, why is she designated the daughter of mountain, why does she pierce the demon's heart with a lance, why does she hold the demon by the fore-lock, why is the demon encircled by a snake, why does the lion fall upon the demon and tear him up, why is she worshipped at the time of the equinoxes, why is the autumnal worship more elaborate than the vernal, why her worship, her entrance and her Visarjana are all enjoined to be performed in the morning, why is the Sandhya Puja, the puja held at the junction of two tithis regarded as the most solemn and meritorious of all others, why is she called Kaushiki, the goddess of flowers, why is the image thrown either into a fountain or a stream, why are springing grass borne on the head, why is the anointing of Durga considered so important, why is the great arati or nirajana held on the Dasami, and why is the Dasami called Vijaya, why is the