single all-powerful God, known according to his functions as Brahma,
Vishnu and Siva. As Brahma, he brought into existence three
worlds--heaven, earth and the nether regions--and also created gods or
lesser divinities, earth and nature spirits, demons, ogres and men
themselves. Siva, for his part, was God the final dissolver or destroyer,
the source of reproductive energy and the inspirer of asceticism. He was
thought of in many forms--as a potent ascetic, a butcher wild for blood, a
serene dancer--and in his character of regenerator was represented by his
symbol, the _lingam_ or phallus. The third aspect, Vishnu, was God in his
character of loving protector and preserver. This great Trinity was
ultimately supreme but under it were a number of lesser powers. Those that
represented the forces of good were called _devas_ or gods. They were led
by their king, Indra, lord of clouds, and associated with him were gods
such as Agni (fire), Varuna (water), Surya the sun and Kama the god of
passion. These gods lived in Indra's heaven, a region above the world but
lower than Vaikuntha, the heaven of Vishnu. Dancing-girls and musicians
lived with them and the whole heaven resembled a majestic court on earth.
From this heaven the gods issued from time to time intervening in human
affairs. Demons, on the other hand, were their exact opposites. They
represented powers of evil, were constantly at war with the gods and took
vicious pleasure in vexing or annoying the good. Below gods and demons
were men themselves.

In this three-tiered universe, transmigration of souls was still the basic
fact but methods of obtaining release were now much clearer. A man was
born, died and then was born again. If he acted well, did his duty and
worked ceaselessly for good, he followed what was known as the path of
_dharma_ or righteousness. This ensured that at each succeeding birth he
would start a stage more favourably off than in his previous existence
till, by sheer goodness of character, he qualified for admission to