[Footnote 337:  Macdonell seems to me correct in saying (J.R.A.S. 1915, p. 125) that one reason why Indian deities have many arms is that they may be able to carry the various symbols by which they are characterized.  Another reason is that worship is usually accompanied by dhyana, that is forming a mental image of the deity as described in a particular text. E.g. the worshipper repeats a mantra which describes a deity in language which was originally metaphorical as having many heads and arms and at the same time he ought to make a mental image of such a figure.]

[Footnote 338:  But some forms of Sivaism in southern India come even nearer to emotional Christianity than does Vishnuism.]

[Footnote 339:  I cannot discover that any alleged avatara of Siva has now or has had formerly any importance, but the Vayu, Linga and Kurma Purana give lists of such incarnations, as does also the Catechism of the Shaiva religion translated by Foulkes.  But Indian sects have a strong tendency to ascribe all possible achievements and attributes to their gods.  The mere fact that Vishnu becomes incarnate incites the ardent Sivaite to say that his god can do the same.  A curious instance of this rivalry is found in the story that Siva manifested himself as Sarabha-murti in order to curb the ferocity of Vishnu when incarnate in the Man Lion (see Gopinatha Rao, Hindu Icon. p. 45).  Siva often appears in a special form, not necessarily human, for a special purpose (e.g. Virabhadra) and some tantric Buddhas seem to be imitations of these apparitions.  There is a strong element of Sivaism borrowed from Bengal in the mythology of Tibet and Mongolia, where such personages as Hevajra, Samvara, and Mahakala have a considerable importance under the strange title of Buddhas.]

[Footnote 340:  The passage from one epithet to the other is very plain in R.V. I. 114.]

[Footnote 341:  Book XVI.]

[Footnote 342:  In the play Mricchakatika or The Clay Cart (probably of the sixth century A.D.) a burglar invokes Kartikeya, the son of Siva, who is said to have taught different styles of house-breaking.]

[Footnote 343:  A similarly strange collocation of attributes is found in Daksha’s hymn to Siva.  Mahabharata, XII.  Sec. 285.]

[Footnote 344:  Atharva, V. xi. 2. 24.]

[Footnote 345:  It is not certain if the Sisnadevah whom Indra is asked to destroy in Rig.  V. VII. 21. 5 and X. 99. 3 are priapic demons or worshippers of the phallus.]

[Footnote 346:  VII. secs. 202, 203, and XIII. sec. 14.]

[Footnote 347:  The inscriptions of Camboja and Champa seem to be the best proof of the antiquity of Linga worship.  A Cambojan inscription of about 550 A.D. records the dedication of a linga and the worship must have taken some time to reach Camboja from India.  Some lingas discovered in India are said to be anterior to the Christian era.]