Siva, Durga, Rama, Krishna,
Kali--unknown in ancient days--are now mighty divinities; Indra is
almost entirely overlooked, and Varuna has been degraded from his lofty
throne and turned into a regent of the waters.
[Sidenote: New deities, rites, and customs.]
The worship of the Linga (phallus) has been introduced. So has the great
dogma of Transmigration, which has stamped a deeper impress on later
Hindu mind than almost any other doctrine. Caste is fully established,
though in Vedic days scarcely, if at all, recognized. The dreadful
practice of widow-burning has been brought in, and this by a most
daring perversion of the Vedic texts. Woman, in fact, has fallen far
below the position assigned her in early days.
[Sidenote: The Trimurtti, a triad of gods.]
One of the notable things in connection with the reconstruction of
Hinduism is the position it gives to the Trimurtti, or triad of
gods--Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Something like an anticipation of this
has been presented in the later Vedic times: fire, air, and the sun
(Agni, Vayu, and Surya) being regarded by the commentator[24] as summing
up the divine energies. But in the Vedas the deities often go in pairs;
and little stress should be laid on the idea of a Vedic triad.
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