36 HISTORY OF INDIA. [Book IV.
AD. — prince, his head encircled with golden rays, sits on a splendid car, dra^^'n
by a seven-headed horse. In front of him sits his charioteer, Arun, holding smya. ^{jg reins. Sometimes he seems to be regarded as the supreme lord of the universe, and as such is addressed in the Gayatri, which is the most solemn and mysterious of all the texts of the Veda. A much lower position is, however, usually assigned to him, and he even condescends so far as to become the parent, not merely of demigods, but of mortal men. His wife is Prabha, or brightness ; but tliis form she has sometimes been obliged to exchange for that of its opposite, Chaya, or shade, in consequence of being unable to endure his intense splendom-. He has not been always faithful to her. On one occasion Parvati, the wife of Siva, met him in the shape of a mare, and being impregnated with sunbeams by his breathing through her nostrils, became the mother of the Aswini, two of whom are the Twins of the zodiac. By Chandri, the wife of the moon, or the moon himself, usually represented as a male, but capable ap})arently of being transformed into a female, he had a numer- ous family called Pulindas. The mortals to whom he has given birth are the original progenitors of the race of Suryabans, who are hence called, and, what is more, seriously believed by multitudes to be, children of the sun. His worship- pers are numerous, and he has several temples exclusively dedicated to him, though often, when exhibited in a bodily form, he is obliged to content himself with a place in the temples of other deities, som.a or The moou, designated indifierently Soma and Chandra, is usually represented
as a beautiful youth, sitting in a chariot drawn by an antelope, and holding in liis hands a club and a lotus. The influence which he is supposed to possess in this lower world has given liim many worshippers, who imagine that the whole current of life depends on lucky and unluck}^ days, of which he is the great regulator. The planet Budh, our Mercury, is considered to be his son, and the first sovereign of the lunar race, distinguished by the na,me of Chandrabans. The other planets are in like manner deified ; but though they thus hold a place in the Hindoo pantheon, they are not entitled to a separate notice, as little more is expected from them than to furnish data for the calculation of nativities.
Amono- the gods who are conceived to exercise a more immediate influence on human aff"airs are Ganesa, the remover of diflicultics, Cuvera, the god of wealth, Cartikeia, the god of war, and Kama, the god of love. It will be proper to describe them briefly in their order Ganesa. Gaucsa, Or Gampatti, is represented as a short round fat man, with four
arms and the head of an elephant. He is usually seated on a lotus, but some- times rides on a rat, or has one near him, to indicate the prudence and fore- sight of which that animal is an emblem. In his hands he holds the anJcas, or liook for guiding the elephant, a shell, for which a kind of battle-axe is some- times substituted, a conical ball, and a cup with small cakes. He is much wor-
