DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0251
Demon-worship and Spirit-worship. 239
fall away, and after committing acts of sin or disobedience
may become malignant beings animated with a spirit of
bitter hostility towards gods and men.
It is in consonance with the theory of a continual conflict
between the powers of good and the powers of evil that we
find the chief gods of the Hindu Pantheon constantly repre-
sented in the act of crushing their demon foes. Thus Krishna
is seen bruising the head of the great demon serpent Kaliya,
while Siva tramples on the arch-fiend Tripura, and holds
venomous serpents in his hands in token of his supremacy
over all malignant influences.
Hence, too, a great number of the 1,000 names of both
Vishnu and Siva will be found to be simple epithets—like
Murari ' enemy of Mura,' Purari ' enemy of Pura'—significant
of their victory over certain typical demon antagonists.
Furthermore, the symbols held in the hands of both deities,
the discus and club of Vishnu, and the trident and bow of
Siva, are merely weapons of supposed irresistible efficacy in
their conflicts with the spirits of evil.
We pass on now to the second great division of the demon
world—that which is said to owe its creation to man. This
is by far the more important of the two great divisions in its
bearing on the subject of the present chapter, for it is chiefly
to those demons whose existence is derived from the departed
spirits of human beings that adoration and propitiation are
commonly offered.
And, indeed, it is a noteworthy point in the religious creed
of all ordinary Hindus that the majority of malignant devils
are believed to have been originally human beings.
If any man is killed by a tiger or the bite of a snake, or
has died a sudden violent death of any kind, away from his
relations and out of reach of proper funeral ceremonies, he
forthwith, becomes an unquiet spirit, roaming about with
malevolent proclivities. In one place I found people wor-
shipping the ghost of a milkman who was killed by a tiger
fall away, and after committing acts of sin or disobedience
may become malignant beings animated with a spirit of
bitter hostility towards gods and men.
It is in consonance with the theory of a continual conflict
between the powers of good and the powers of evil that we
find the chief gods of the Hindu Pantheon constantly repre-
sented in the act of crushing their demon foes. Thus Krishna
is seen bruising the head of the great demon serpent Kaliya,
while Siva tramples on the arch-fiend Tripura, and holds
venomous serpents in his hands in token of his supremacy
over all malignant influences.
Hence, too, a great number of the 1,000 names of both
Vishnu and Siva will be found to be simple epithets—like
Murari ' enemy of Mura,' Purari ' enemy of Pura'—significant
of their victory over certain typical demon antagonists.
Furthermore, the symbols held in the hands of both deities,
the discus and club of Vishnu, and the trident and bow of
Siva, are merely weapons of supposed irresistible efficacy in
their conflicts with the spirits of evil.
We pass on now to the second great division of the demon
world—that which is said to owe its creation to man. This
is by far the more important of the two great divisions in its
bearing on the subject of the present chapter, for it is chiefly
to those demons whose existence is derived from the departed
spirits of human beings that adoration and propitiation are
commonly offered.
And, indeed, it is a noteworthy point in the religious creed
of all ordinary Hindus that the majority of malignant devils
are believed to have been originally human beings.
If any man is killed by a tiger or the bite of a snake, or
has died a sudden violent death of any kind, away from his
relations and out of reach of proper funeral ceremonies, he
forthwith, becomes an unquiet spirit, roaming about with
malevolent proclivities. In one place I found people wor-
shipping the ghost of a milkman who was killed by a tiger