THE GODS OF THE HINDOOS.


My dear Children--The word heathen is applied to those who worship
idols, or who do not know any thing about the true God. This is the case
with this people. They say that there is one supreme being, whom they
call BRAHM; but he is very different from Jehovah, and is never
worshipped. Generally, he is fast asleep. In the place of Brahm, they
worship many gods--gods of all colors: some black, some white, some
blue, some red--gods of all shapes and sizes: some in the shape of
beasts, some in the shape of men; some partly in the shape of beasts,
and partly in the shape of men, having four, or ten, or a hundred, or a
thousand eyes, heads, and hands. They ride through the air on elephants,
buffaloes, lions, sheep, deer, goats, peacocks, vultures, geese,
serpents, and rats. They hold in their hands all kinds of weapons,
offensive and defensive, thunderbolts javelins, spears, clubs, bows,
arrows, shields, flags, and shells. They are of all employments. There
are gods of the heavens above and of the earth below, gods of wisdom and
of folly, gods of war and of peace, gods of good and of evil, gods of
pleasure, gods of cruelty and wrath, whose thirst must be satiated with
torrents of blood. These gods fight and quarrel with one another. They
lie, steal, commit adultery, murder, and other crimes. They pour out
their curses when they cannot succeed in their wicked plots, and invent
all kinds of lying tales to hide their wickedness.

There are three principal gods, who compose what is called the Hindoo
triad. Their names are Brumha, Vrishnoo, and Siva. They were somehow
drawn from Brahm's essence, on one occasion when he was awake. Brumha,
they say, is the creator of the world, Vrishnoo the preserver, and Siva
the destroyer. Brumha has no temple erected for his worship, on account