certain if the Sisnadevah whom Indra is
asked to destroy in Rig. V. VII. 21. 5 and X. 99. 3 are priapic
demons or worshippers of the phallus.]

[Footnote 346: VII. secs. 202, 203, and XIII. sec. 14.]

[Footnote 347: The inscriptions of Camboja and Champa seem to be the
best proof of the antiquity of Linga worship. A Cambojan inscription
of about 550 A.D. records the dedication of a linga and the worship
must have taken some time to reach Camboja from India. Some lingas
discovered in India are said to be anterior to the Christian era.]

[Footnote 348: See F. Kittel, _Ueber den Ursprung der Linga Kultus_,
and Barth, _Religions of India_, p. 261.]

[Footnote 349: As is also its appearance, as a rule. But there are
exceptions to this. Some Hindus deny that the Linga is a phallic
emblem. It is hardly possible to maintain this thesis in view of such
passages as Mahabh. XIII. 14 and the innumerable figures in which
there are both a linga and a Yoni. But it is true that in its later
forms the worship is purged of all grossness and that in its earlier
forms the symbol adored was often a stupa-like column or a pillar with
figures on it.]

[Footnote 350: Such scenes as the relief from Amaravati figured in
Gruenwedel, _Buddhist art in India_, p. 29, fig. 8, might easily be
supposed to represent the worship of the linga, and some of Asoka's
pillars have been worshipped as lingas in later times.]

[Footnote 351: But not of course the soul which, according to the
general Indian idea, exists before and continues after the life of the
body.]

[Footnote 352: Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern
India_, I. 84; II. 219.]

[Footnote 353: They are however of some importance in Vishnuite
theology. For instance according to the school of Ramanuja it is the
Sakti (Sri) who reveals the true doctrine to mankind. Vishnu is often
said to have three consorts, Sri, Bhu and Lila.]

[Footnote 354: _E.g._ Sat. Brah. I. 2. 5. See also the strange legend
_Ib._ XI. 1. 1 where Vishnu is described as the best of the gods but
is eaten by Indra. He is frequently (_e.g._ in the Sata Brah) stated to
be identical with the sacrifice, and this was probably one of the
reasons for his becoming prominent.]

[Footnote 355: See many modern examples in Crooke, _Popular Religion
and Folk Lore of Northern India_, chap. IV. and _Census of India_,
1901, vol. VI. _Bengal_, pp. 196-8, where are described various
deified heroes who are adored in Beng