s the god Vishnu, and to a number of sects which have
adopted various special doctrines based on the worship of Vishnu
or of one of his two great incarnations, Rama and Krishna. Vishnu
was a personification of the sun, though in ancient literature
the sun is more often referred to under another name, as Savitri,
Surya and Aditya. It may perhaps be the case that when the original
sun-god develops into a supreme deity with the whole heavens as
his sphere, the sun itself comes to be regarded as a separate and
minor deity. His weapon of the _chakra_ or discus, which was probably
meant to resemble the sun, supports the view of Vishnu as a sun-god,
and also his _vahan_, the bird Garuda, on which he rides. This is
the Brahminy kite, a fine bird with chestnut plumage and white head
and breast, which has been considered a sea-eagle. Mr. Dewar states
that it remains almost motionless at a great height in the air for
long periods; and it is easy to understand how in these circumstances
primitive people mistook it for the spirit of the sky, or the vehicle
of the sun-god. It is propitious for a Hindu to see a Brahminy kite,
especially on Sunday, the sun's day, for it is believed that the bird
is then returning from Vishnu, whom it has gone to see on the previous
evening. [401] A similar belief has probably led to the veneration
of the eagle in other countries and its association with the god of
the sky or heavens, as in the case of Zeus. Similarly the Gayatri,
the most sacred Hindu prayer, is addressed to the sun, and it could
hardly have been considered so important unless the luminary was
identified with one of the greatest Hindu gods. Every Brahman prays
to the sun daily when he bathes in the morning. Vishnu's character
as the preserver and fosterer of life is probably derived from the
sun's generative power, so conspicuous in India.

As the sun is seen to sink every night into the earth, so it was
thought that he could come down to earth, and Vishnu has done this
in many forms for the preservation of mankind.

2. His incarnations.

He is generally considered to have had ten incarnations, of which nine
are past and one is still to come. The incarnations were as follows:

1. As a great fish he guided the ark in which Manu the primeval man
escaped from the deluge.

2. As a tortoise he supported the earth and poised it in its present
position; or according to another version he lay at the bottom of
the sea while the moun