Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/215

 the four mouths of Brahma. Brahma, as we have seen, had once five heads; and there is a supplement to the Hindū scriptures, which some affirm to constitute a fifth veda. A mysterious set of books, called Agama, proceeded from the mouth of Shiv[)u].

In Ceylon is a high mountain, on which is the print of a foot, still visible; the natives worship this sacred footstep as that of the god Buddha, who from that eminence ascended to his native skies.

It has been offered, as a probable conjecture, that the Buddha superstition was the ancient religion of India, and that the followers of Buddha were driven out of Hindūstan by the superior interest of the Brahmans at the courts of the Hindū monarchs. The priests of Buddha insist that the Brahmans came with their religion from Egypt; while, by others, it is conversely maintained that the Egyptians derived their doctrines and science from India. The religion of Buddha was, heretofore, and probably also about the era of Christianity, indisputably of extensive prevalence, as is evinced by many stupendous monuments. In Ava, where Buddhism is orthodoxy, the idea is upheld that it was equally prevalent in the same form throughout India until about the second century before Christ, when the Brahmans are stated to have introduced themselves and their rites.

This short account of the Hindū triad and their incarnations will give some idea of the mythology of the Hindūs; but to understand the subject more fully it would be necessary to refer to the authorities I have quoted in this abstract.