ve in due time this black, yet visible
overwhelming darkness, which at present enfolds me, as thou
enablest me to remove the cloud of their dells. _Daughter of
Heaven_, I approach thee with praise, as the cow approaches
her milker; accept, O Night! not the hymn only, but the
oblation of thy suppliant, who prays that his foes may be
subdued."

Some of the principal gods of the Hindoo Pantheon are, Dyaus (the Sky),
Indra (the Rain-giver), Surya (the Sun), the Maruts (Winds), Aditi, (the
Dawn), Parvati (the Earth),[546:1] and Siva, her consort. The worship of
the SUN is expressed in a variety of ways, and by a multitude of
fanciful names. One of the principal of these is _Crishna_. The
following is a prayer addressed to him:

"Be auspicious to my lay, O Chrishna, thou only God of the
seven heavens, who swayest the universe through the immensity
of space and matter. O universal and resplendent Sun! Thou
mighty governor of the heavens; thou sovereign regulator of
the connected whole; thou sole and universal deity of mankind;
thou gracious and Supreme Spirit; my noblest and most happy
inspiration is thy praise and glory. Thy power I will praise,
for thou art my sovereign Lord, whose bright image continually
forces itself on my attention, eager imagination. Thou art the
Being to whom heroes pray in perils of war; nor are their
supplications vain, when thus they pray; whether it be when
thou illuminest the eastern region with thy orient light, when
in thy meridian splendor, or when thou majestically descendest
in the West."

Crishna is made to say:

"I am the light in the Sun and Moon, far, far beyond the
darkness. I am the brilliancy in flame, the radiance in all
that's radiant, and the light of lights."[546:2]

In the _Maha-bharata_, Crishna, who having become the son of Aditi (the
Dawn), is called _Vishnu_, another name for the Sun.[546:3] The demon
_Putana_ assaults the child Crishna, which identifies him with Hercules,
the Sun-god of the Greeks.[546:4] In his Solar character he must again
be the slayer of the Dragon or Black-snake _Kulnika_, the "Old Serpent"
with the thousand heads.[546:5] Crishna's amours with the maidens makes
him like Indra, Phoibus, Hercules, Samson, Alpheios, Paris and other
Sun-gods. This is the hot and fiery Sun greeting the moon and the dew,
or the Sun with his brides the _Star