Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/597

 The Origiji of Monotheism. 287

Another incarnation of Vishnu is Narasinha, the Man- Lion. Now Narsing was a common name for kings in Southern India, and there also the Man-Lion is a favourite motive in architecture. There were Lion-dynasties in Orissa and in Ceylon ; the Ceylon kings were descended from a prince with a lion's hands and feet, the son of a lion and a princess. It is natural then to conclude that Naras- inha was a king or dynasty in whom Vishnu was in- carnated.

A Modern Instance.

The process can be observed in India at the present day. At Bodh-Gaya you may see a row of present-day tombs erected over the remains of ascetics. I owe the following details to Mr. Sivadas Bhattacharya. When an ascetic dies " his body is buried in the sitting posture, cross legged, with the hands on his lap, just as a man sits in meditation .... On the top of the grave a lingam of Siva is fixed. The idea is that Saiinyasi (ascetic) has not died, but has become one with the universal deity Siva (or Param- braham) . . . These lingams, especially those on the graves of the Mahants (Abbots) and influential men are daily worshipped by the Mahant's man in the same way as the god Siva is worshipped ... No other sort of offerings are made in the temples except those required for the worship of Siva . . . The mantras uttered are the same as those used for Siva worship."

The Germ of Monotheism.

This custom, I would suggest, is the germ of monotheism. This is how it may have first dawned on man that many gods were the manifestations of one. Monotheism is usually taken for granted and no explanation is ever offered for its first appearance ; it is supposed to be a natural growth, sufficiently explained by that magic word evolution ; vet, when we come to consider it, there is no