Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-08-06

I ed beside him Her name is Sarasvatl.
| She is a gorgeous lady who rides upon
| peacock and ls clad only iu jewels.
! She is the especial patron ~ music ana
| speech All liars pray Co her and she
wipes or thor sins.
Nlshuu. the second great god. IL wor-
| shipped here at Bouarrs in numerous
temples. lie is nows. as the presery-
| cr and hc came down tu earth 10 de-
liver man from demons snakes ana
wicked men, and from anger avarice
and lust He has his own special
heaven. and can take his followers
there. This god is said 10 have had
10 incarnatious | have described one
Of them in previous letter In nay
visit 20 the monkey temple hero, whore
boz is revcrcd at Hsuuman. As Rama,
Doe is the model son. brother and hus-
band, and as such his name Rama IL
given to children. When friends meet
they say Rama'e name twice In way of
good day As Krlshna Nishnu posed
as q lover ana husband. and accord
ing 10 the reCOrdH he VIII m the part
lie had over 10000 wives and 100000
children not counting the girls
Vishuu's wife was called Lakshmi
She was the goddess of wealth and
beauty and srrans from the roth Of
the ocean when IL was churncd hy the
gods. She corresponds somewhat TO
AININNllts the tNAElllNI ~ HHIll'i
who rose out of the sea at Cyprus and
was worahlped hy the Greeks as the
goddess of marriage and love.
THE TERRIBLE KALI
The last Of the three great gods Is
SILVA. the destroyer. associated with
whom rs his wife. the terrible Kan.
This sacred lady wears garland Of
human skulls "a necklace Of dead mans
II 81 o. TlI
tongue is supposed TO always drip
blood | visited one OF her chief tenn
Piles during my stay at Calcutta. II lies
ON the banks of the Hooghly, ana 10
II sacrifices Of kids and goats are now
made almost daily. They were killing
goat during my stay, ana scores ~
worshipcrs passed me on my way In,
each carrying kid IN his arms. Be
fore the British took India human sac
rihces were made 20 propitiate this
goddess. and during a famine OF about
n generation ago. human heads decked
with flowers we're placed on the altar.
Kali was tho goddess Of the thugs, the
caste which used To- travel throughout
India. strangling victims in her honor.
She is supposed 20 live In the Gene
teries and delight In pestilencc and
famine and an the misery Of mankind.
Her worship is Altogether "a worship ot
fear. II H. one OF the most revolving
OF the Hindu religion.
As to SILVA himself, he has 1000 dlf-
ferent names. Upon his head ne carries
the GangCs He has three eyes an |
around his neck Is a garland OF skulls.
His weapons are a bow, fhundcrholt
and an ak. He is the god OF death and
destruction and also the god OF asceu
cism and dancing, i'm the latter mani
festation being somewhat like Bacchus,
SACRED BOOKS OF HINDUISM
The Hindus have their sacred books, |
upon which their religions are based
Sune of these are about the oldest 81
manuscripts. They are known
AS the Vedas. and are published In san
skirt There are four Nelas, the most
important of which is the Rig Neda
This contains over 1000 hymns ad
dressed 10 the gods, and commemorate
ing the march Of the Aryan race from
IA hui to the Puniab And then there
Is the Sauna Neda which is largely TAX
an up with the ceremonies of the re-
. gion, the Atharva Neda, composed
chiefly Of incautations. and the Yajur
Veda. the publication of which the
Is trying 20 suppress ON
account II its obsoeuity. Connected