* According to the system of the Metempsychosis, a soul, to undergo purification, passes into the body of some insect or animal.  It is of importance not to disturb this penance, as the work must in that case begin afresh.

     ** This is the name of a cast or tribe reputed unclean,
     because they eat of what has enjoyed life.

The first standard, retired from the rest, bearing a figure with four heads, is that of Brama, who, though the creator of the universe, is without temples or followers; but, reduced to serve as a pedestal to the Lingam,* he contents himself with a little water which the Bramin throws every morning on his shoulder, reciting meanwhile an idle canticle in his praise.

     * See Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes, vol. 1.

The second, bearing a kite with a scarlet body and a white head, is that of Vichenou, who, though preserver of the world, has passed part of his life in wicked actions.  You sometimes see him under the hideous form of a boar or a lion, tearing human entrails, or under that of a horse,* shortly to come armed with a sword to destroy the human race, blot out the stars, annihilate the planets, shake the earth, and force the great serpent to vomit a fire which shall consume the spheres.

* These are the incarnations of Vichenou, or metamorphoses of the sun.  He is to come at the end of the world, that is, at the expiration of the great period, in the form of a horse, like the four horses of the Apocalypse.

The third is that of Chiven, God of destruction and desolation, who has, however, for his emblem the symbol of generation.  He is the most wicked of the three, and he has the most followers.  These men, proud of his character, express in their devotions to him their contempt for the other gods,* his equals and brothers; and, in imitation of his inconsistencies, while they profess great modesty and chastity, they publicly crown with flowers, and sprinkle with milk and honey, the obscene image of the Lingam.

     * When a sectary of Chiven hears the name of Vichenou
     pronounced, he stops his ears, runs, and purifies himself.

In the rear of these, approach the smaller standards of a multitude of gods—­male, female, and hermaphrodite.  These are friends and relations of the principal gods, who have passed their lives in wars among themselves, and their followers imitate them.  These gods have need of nothing, and they are constantly receiving presents; they are omnipotent and omnipresent, and a priest, by muttering a few words, shuts them up in an idol or a pitcher, to sell their favors for his own benefit.