English
' Then the Suras and Asuras spoke unto Kurma-rajay the king of the tortoises, upon the strand of the ocean, and said, * My lord is able to be the supporter of this moun- tain.' The tortoise replied, * Be it so;' and it was placed upon his back. " So tie mountain being set upon ,the back of the tortoise, Indra began to whirl it about as it were a machine. The mountain Mandar served as a chum, and the serpent Vasukif for the rope: and thus in * Ananta. The serpent Ananta implies time without end ; also the jear. t The serpent Vasaki, figorativelj the year. Digitized by VjOOQ IC OF THE HINDUS. 21 former days did the Devas, the Asuras, and the Darms (or Danavas, feigned giants), begin to stir up the waters of the ocean for the discovery of the Amrita. " The mighty Asuras were employed on the side of the serpent's Ae^, whilst all the Suras assembled about his tail. Ananta, that sovereign Deva^ stood neaivNarayana. ** They now pull forth the serpent's head repeat- edly, and as often let it go; whilst there issued from his mouth, thus violently drawing to and fro by the Suras and Asuras, a continual stream of fire, and smoke, and wind ; which ascending in thick clouds replete with lightning, it began to rain down upon the heavenly bands, who were already fatigued with their labour; whilst a shower of flowers was shaken from the top of the mountain, covering the heads of all, both Suras and Asuras. In the mean time, the roaring of the ocean, whilst violently agitated with the whirling of the ixiO\m\2Xxi*Mandar by the Suras and Asuras, was like the bellowing of a mighty cloud. Thousands of the various productions of the waters were torn to pieces by the mountain, and confounded with the briny flood ; and every specific being of the deep, and all the inhabitants of the great abyss which is below the earth, were annihilated; whilst, from the violent agitation of the mountain, the forest trees were dashed against each other, and pre- cipitated from its utmost height, with all the birds thereon; from whose violent con^cicdtioa^a raging fire was produced, involving the whole mountain with smoke and flame, as with a dark blue cloud, and the. lightning's vivid flash. The lion and the retreating elephant are overtaken by the devouring flames, and every vital being, and every specific thing, are con- Digitized by Google 22 THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY sumed in the general conflagration. The raging flames thus spreading destruction on all sides, were at length quenched by a shower of cloud-borne water poured down by the immortal Indra.* And now a heterogeneous stream of the concocted juices of various trees and plants ran down into the briny flood. *' It was from this milk-like stream of juices, pro- duced from those trees and plants, and a mixture of melted gold, that the Suras obtained their immortality^. " The waters of the oceai\ now being assimilated with those juices, were converted into milk ; and from that milk a kind of butter was presently pro^ duced: when the heavenly bands went agaiii into the presence of Brahma, the grantee of boons, and addressed him, saying, * Except Narayana, every other Sura and Asura is fatigued with his labour; and still the Amfita doth not appear ; wherefore the churning of th6 ocean is at a stand.' Then Brahma said unto Narayana, * Endue them with recruited strength; for thou art their support.' And Nara- yana answered and said, ' I will give fresh vigour to such as co-operate in the work. Let Mandar be whirled about, and the bed of the ocean be kept steady.' '' When they heard the words of Narayana, they all returned again to the work, and began to stir about with great force that butter of the ocean, when there presently arose from out of the troubled deep, first the moon, with a pleasing countenance, shining with ten thousand beams of gentle light; next fol- lowed Srif, the goddess of fortune, whose seat is the * Indra, regent of the skies — a personification of the sky. t Sri, or Laksbmi, the lunisolar year ; also the moon. — [Most of the names men- tioned here, I believe, represent time.] Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 23 white lily of the waters ; then Sura Devi*, the god- dess of wine, and the white horse called UchUrava.1[ And after these, there was produced from the unc- tuous mass, the jewel KamtubhaX, that glorious sparkling gem worn by Narayana on his breast : so Paryataka\y the tree of plenty; and Surabhi% the cow that granted every heart's desire. " The moon, &ira Devi, the goddess Sri, and the horse as swift as thought, instantly marched away towards the Devas, keeping in the path of the sun. " Then the Deva Dhanwantari^, in human shape, came forth, holding in his hand a white vessel filled with the immortal juice Amrita. When the Asuras beheld these wondrous things appear, they raised their tumultuous voices for the Amrita ; and each of them clamorously exclaimed, * This of right is mine.' " In the mean time, Airauata **, a mighty elephant, arose, now kept by the god of thunder ; and as tliey continued to chum the ocean more than enough, that deadly poison issued from its bed, burning like a raging fire, whose dreadfiil fiimes in a moment spread through the world, confounding the three regions of the universe with its mortal stench, until Sivaff , at the word of Brahma, swallowed the fatal drug to save mankind ; which remaining in the throat of that sovereign Deva of ms^c form, firom that time he hath * Svra Deyf, Uie goddess ef wbe, ike consort of Baeebos — or the jear. t Veiasraiom, the white horse* probeUy the jeer ; for time has loag eara as well as wings. X KatuhAha, the glorious sparlclimg gem, the swi. $ Pirijaiaka, the tree of plenty, is doubtless the year. I Surabhi, the cow that grants eyery boon — the year. if Dhanwantari, the year, or time, the best physician — the same as Escnlapius. ** Airdvaia, By this most probably is meant doads, as prodactive of thander and lightning, and appertaining to Indra, the sky, personiBed as the god of thander. ft Siya, time, the great deity of the Hindus. Digitized by Google 24: THE ANCIENT ASTRONOMY been called Nilkanta, because his throat was stained blue. " When the Asuras beheld this miraculous deed, they became desperate ; and the Amrita and the god- dess Sri became the source of endless hatred. " Then Narayana assumed the character and per- son o{ MohinJ Maya, the power of enchantment, in a female form of wonderful beauty, and stood before the Asuras, "whose minds being fascinated by her presence, and deprived of reason, they seized the Amrita, and gave it unto her. "The Asuras now clothe themselves in costly armour, and, seizing their various weapons, rush on together to attack the Suras. In the mean time, Narayana, in the female form, having obtained the Amrita from the hands of their leader, the host of Suras, during the tumult and confusion of the-4^ra^, drank of the living water. " And it so fell out, that whilst the Suras were quenching their thirst for immortality, Rahu*, an Asura, assumed the form of a Sura, and began to drink also : and the water had but reached his throat, when the sun and moon, in friendship to the Suras, discovered the deceit; a;nd instantly Narayana cut off his head, as he was drinking, with his splendid weapon Chacra.1[ And the gigantic head of the Asura, emblem of a mountain's summit, being thus separated from his body by the Ckacrd's edge, bound- ed into the heavens with a dreadful cry ; whilst his ponderous trunk fell, cleaving the ground asunder, and shaking the whole earth unto its foundation, with ^^Ralm, tiie mooD's ascending node personified. t Chacra, the ecliptic, by which the dragon of old was feigned to he cat in two parts, RahUf the head, or ascending node, and Ketu, the tail, or descending node. Digitized by Google OF THE HINDUS. 25 all its islands, rocks, and forests. And from that time, the head of Rahu resolved an eternal enmity, and continueth even unto this day, at times, to seize upon the sun and moon.* " Now Narayana, having quitted the female figure he had assumed, began to disturb the Asuras with sundry celestial weapons ; and fi*om that instant a dreadful battle was commenced on the ocean's biiny strand, between the Asuras and the Suras. Innu- merable sharp and missile weapons were hurled, and thousands of piercing darts and battle-axes fell on all sides.