Page:Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Purānic.djvu/67

Rh of Indra; hence those sacrificed to him usually had this peculiarity. The Brahman is said to have propitiated Varuna, the god of the ocean, who gave him the thousand steeds, by means of which he was able to obtain the princess in marriage.

Varuna is represented in pictures as a white man sitting upon a fabulous marine monster called a makara. This animal has the head and front legs of an antelope, and the body and tail of a fish. In his right hand he carries a noose. He is occasionally worshipped in seasons of drought, and by fishermen as they cast their nets, but now-a-days no images of him are made.

The following legend is found in the "Padma Purana." On one occasion Ravana, the demon king of the island, was travelling home to Ceylon, carrying with him a stone linga, the emblem of Siva. He was desirous of setting up the worship of the great god there, and was taking the image from the Himalayas for this purpose. But the gods, fearing he would grow too powerful through his devotion to Siva, wished to frustrate his purpose. Siva, in giving the stone, made Ravana promise that wherever it first touched the ground, after leaving Siva's abode, it should remain. Aware of this fact, the gods tried to induce him to let it rest on the earth before he reached Ceylon. At last it was agreed that Varuna should enter Ravana 's bod}*, so that, in attempting to free himself, he might be compelled to loose his hold of the linga. Accordingly Varuna entered Ravana, and caused him such intense pain that he could scarcely bear it. When thus suffering, Indra, in the form of an old Brahman, passed by, and offered to take hold of the stone. No sooner