sented the sun and the light
of day, the cock, the herald of the dawn, might be regarded as his
sacred bird. Sometimes when a cock or parrot dies the body is wrapped
in a sacred shirt or thread and carefully buried. Palm-juice toddy is
a favourite drink at almost all meals in Gujarat, and mahua spirit
is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would be derogatory
to the sacred element fire. [370]

Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect

_Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect_.--The name given to Hindus who
venerate Siva as their special god. Siva, whose name signifies
'The Propitious,' is held to have succeeded to the Vedic god Rudra,
apparently a storm-god. Siva is a highly composite deity, having the
double attributes of destroyer and creator of new life. His heaven,
Kailas, is in the Himalayas according to popular belief. He carries
the moon on his forehead, and from the central one of his three eyes
the lightning flashes forth. He has a necklace of skulls, and snakes
are intertwined round his waist and arms. And he has long matted hair
(_jata_), from which the Ganges flows. It seems likely that the matted
locks of the god represent the snow on the Himalayas, as the snow is
in reality the source of the Ganges; the snow falling through the air
and covering the peaks of the mountains might well suggest the hair
of a mountain-god; and this interpretation seems to be accepted in
Mr. Bain's _In the Great God's Hair_. Siva has thus three components
from which the idea of death might be derived: First, his residence on
the Himalaya mountains, the barren, lifeless region of ice and snow,
and the cause of death to many pilgrims and travellers who ventured
into it. Secondly, he is the god of the moon, and hence of darkness
and night, which are always associated with death. In this light he
might well be opposed to Vishnu, the god of the sun and day, and the
source of growth and life; their association as the two supreme deities
representing the preservation and destruction of life, would thus,
to some extent, correspond to the conflict of good and bad deities
representing light and darkness among the Zoroastrians. Thirdly,
Siva is a snake-god, and the sudden death dealt out by the poisonous
snake has always excited the greatest awe among primitive people. The
cobra is widely revered in India, and it is probably this snake which
is associated with the god. In addition the lightning, a swift,
death-dealing power, is ascribed to Siva,