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of four forms,' an entirely different conception of him (below). So that even in this most advanced sectarian literature there is no real threefoldness of the Supreme as one in three. In the following chapter (xii. 335. 1 ff.) there is a passage like the great Ka hymn of the Rig Veda, 'whom as god shall one worship?' The sages say to Vishnu: "All men worship thee; to whom dost thou offer worship?" and he says, 'to the Eternal Spirit.' The conception of the functions of Brahm[=a] and Civa in relation to Vishnu is plainly shown in xii. 342. 19: "Brahm[=a] and Civa create and destroy at the will of Vishnu; they are born of his grace and his anger." In regard to Çiva himself, his nature and place in Vishnuism have been sufficiently explained. The worship of this god is referred to 'Vedic texts' (the çata-rudriyam, vii. 202. 120);[38] Vishnu is made to adore the terrible god (ib. 201. 69) who appears as a mad ascetic, a wild rover, a monster, a satire on man and gods, though he piously carries a rosary, and has other late traits in his personal appearance.[39] The strength of Çivaism lay in the eumenidean (Çiva is 'prospering,' 'kindly') euphemism and fear alike, which shrank in speech and mind from the object of fear. But this religion in the epic had a firmer hold than that of fear. It was essentially phallic in its outward form (VII. 201. 93-96), and as such was deeply rooted in the religious conscience of a people to whom one may venture perhaps to ascribe such a form of worship even in the time of the Rig Veda, although the signs thereof in great part have been suppressed. This may be doubted, [40] indeed, for the earlier age; but there is no question that epic Çivaism, like Çivaism to-day, is dependent wholly on phallic worship (XIII. 14. 230 ff.). It is the parallel of Bacchic rites and orgies, as well as of the worship of the demons in distinction from that of good powers. Çiva represents the ascetic, dark, awful, bloody side of religion: Vishnu, the gracious, calm, hopeful, loving side; the former is fearful, mysterious, demoniac; the latter is joyful, erotic, divine. In their later developments it is not surprising to see that Vishnuism, in the form of Krishnaism, becomes more and more erotic, while Çivaism becomes more and more ghastly and ghoulish. Wild and varied as are the beliefs of the epic, there is space but to show a few more characteristic sides of its theology-a phase that may seem questionable, yet, since the devout Hindu believes the teachings of the epic, they must
