Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/214

 On the ancient sculptures and medals, allusive to the cosmogony, these hieroglyphic symbols, the egg and the serpent, perpetually occur in very great variety, single and combined; that famous representation of the Mundane egg, encompassed by the folds of the Agathodaimon, or good serpent, and suspended aloft in the temple of Hercules at Tyre, is well known to antiquaries. The Deus lunatus ovatus Heliopolitanus, or the divine egg with the lunar crescent, adored at Heliopolis, in Syria, is another relic of this ancient superstition. The most remarkable, however, of these symbolical devices is that erected, and at this day to be seen in one of the temples of Japan. The temple itself, in which this fine monument of oriental genius is elevated, is called Daibod, and stands in Meaco, a great and flourishing city of Japan. The principal image in this design displays itself in the form of a vast bull, butting with its horns against the egg, which floated on the waters of the abyss. The statue of the bull itself is formed of massy gold, with a great knob on its back, and a golden collar about its neck, embossed with precious stones. The fore-feet of the animal are represented as resting on that egg, and his hinder feet are immersed amidst stone and earth mixed together, the symbol of a chaotic mass, under which and the egg appears a considerable quantity of water, kept in a hollow stone. The basis of the whole is a square altar, the foot of which is engraved with many ancient Japanese characters; and round that foot, in M. D'Hancarville's engraving, are two natives of that country prostrate, and adoring it.

THE VEDAS.

The Hindūs believe that the original veda was revealed by Brahma, and was preserved by tradition until it was arranged in its present form by a sage, who thence obtained the name of Vyasa, or Veda-vyasa; that is, compiler of the vedas. He distributed the Indian scriptures into four parts, each of which bears the common denomination of veda. The veda, collectively, is the body of Hindū scripture. The most popular idea of their origin is, that they (the four vedas) issued from