Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/426

372 the story. In the illustration, the image of Siva is represented as surmounting the Linga, (emblematic of this god,) which has been carved into a face. The king stands before it, with joined hands, in the attitude of worship, and behind him is the disease which has left him. From the size of the disease, it will be believed that the sufferings of the poor Brahmin-slayer must have been diffused pretty widely throughout his body. This representation of the nature of the disease may suggest some ideas on the practice of medicine in India, for which we cannot here make room. It might be observed that the Hindus do not say, with us, that they have caught any given disease, but that the disease has caught them.

The story connected with another illustration from the same source (the original of which is sculptured in stone in the ancient temple of Madura) will serve still farther to exemplify the views of the Hindus as to the nature of the holiness of their religious ascetics, and the dignity of the deeds of their gods. In a certain town of great sacredness lived a man of respectable caste, with his wife and twelve sons. These youths, neglecting the instructions of their father and mother, joined themselves with