El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-06

naturally religious In one form or
another they worship almost every
thing under the sun. They long for
salvation and they live in daily fear
of hell and damnation. This is especi-
ally so of the common people. and to
large extent Of the Brahman-
The Gods of the Hindus.
despair of giving you an adequate
conception Of the gods Of the Hindus.
Taking into account their idols. tenn
pies, shrines and other objects Of wor-
ship, it is estimated that they number.
all told, something like 500 millions.
And Notwithstanding this, the Hindus
base their belief upon one God alone,
of whom they say there is no second.
They say that God made the heavens
and the earth. and that he permeates
all creation. He is to every man, ana
in everything. He is a part of you
and me. and therefore your acts and
my acts are his acts. We cannot sin II
God is doing the acting, and at the
best our future is fated. When we
were babies the life We would lead
was written upon our foreheads. and
our joys and misfortunes were se1tleo
before we saw light.
The Hindus believe that God mani
tests himself in many incarnations
ANY great philosopher, priest or king
NAV represent him, and they have ia
ken Buddha as one Of his manifesto
lions. They say that God as whole
is so great that he is beyond human
conception and therefore they worship
him in his various incarnations. In
this sense everything may be wor-
SHIPPED as a part of God. and ii should
be so according as it is pure or good
or as il is terrible and to be feared
The lower classes Of the Hindus pray
to animals and to the dead They
pray to the spirits of those who have
done we'll in life, and also to the su-
preme gods Of Hinduism or the in
carnations of the deity as represented
in their sacred books.
The Triad of the Hindus.
In the latter sense the Hindus have
three great manifestations Of the
deity These are Brahma, Vishnu and
SILVA I find representatives Of them
scattered throughout the temples, and
have seen tens Of thousands worship
ing them in one form or another The
god. Brahma is represented as an idol
with four heads and four arms He
was the great creator who made man
kind and all living. His wife is often
represented beside him. Her name is
Sarasvatt. She is q gorgeous lady who
in jewels She is the especial patron
of music and speech. All liars pray to
her, and she wipes off their sins.
Vishnu. the second great god, is wor-
SHIPPED here at Benares in numerous
temples. He is known as the pre-
server and he came down to earth to
deliver man from demons. snakes and
wicked men, and from anger. avarice
and lust. He has his own special
heaven, and can take his followers
there. This god is said to have had
ten incarnations- I have described one
Of them in a previous letter in my
visit to the monkey temple here, where
he Is revered as Hanuman. As Rama,
he is the model son. brother and hus-
band. and as such his name Rama is
given TO children. When friends meet
they say Rama's name twice in way Of
good day. AS Krishna. Vishnu posed
as a lover and husband. and according
TO the records he will fit the part. He
had over $4,000 wives and 10000 chill
dren, not counting the girls.
Vishnu's wife was called Lakshmi.
She was the goddess of wealth and
beauty and sprang from the froth of
the ocean when it was churned by the
gods. She corresponds somewhat to
Aphrodite. the daughter of Jupiter.
who rose out of the Sea at Cyprus and
was worshiped by 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 is his wife, the terrible Kali.
This sacred lady wears a garland OF
human skulls, a necklace of dead
mans hands and her long outstretched
red tongue is supposed to always drip
blood. I visited one of her chief tenn
pies during my stay at Calcutta. 1t
lies on the banks of the Hooghly and
in it sacrifices of kids and goats are
now made almost daily. They were
killing a goat during my stay, and
scores of wOrshipers passed me on my
way in, each carrying a kid in his
arms. Before the British took India
human sacrifices were made to propi-
tiate this goddess, and during a famine
of about a generation ago, human
heads decked with flowers were placed
on the altar. Kali was the goddess
of the thugs the caste which used to
travel throughout India. strangling
victims IN her honor. She is supposed
to live in the cemeteries and delight in
pestilence and famine and all the mis-
cry of mankind. Her worship Is alto
gether a worship CT GEAR. It is one Of