e of marble or metal was paid divine worship, but he attacked the
very life of Brahminism, its system of gods, its doctrine and its
"trimurti" (trinity), the angular stone of this religion.

Para-Brahma is represented with three faces on a single head. This is
the "trimurti" (trinity), composed of Brahma (creator), Vishnu
(conservator), and Siva (destroyer).

Here is the origin of the trimurti:--

In the beginning, Para-Brahma created the waters and threw into them the
seed of procreation, which transformed itself into a brilliant egg,
wherein Brahma's image was reflected. Millions of years had passed when
Brahma split the egg in two halves, of which the upper one became the
heaven, the lower one, the earth. Then Brahma descended to the earth
under the shape of a child, established himself upon a lotus flower,
absorbed himself in his own contemplation and put to himself the
question: "Who will attend to the conservation of what I have created?"
"I," came the answer from his mouth under the appearance of a flame. And
Brahma gave to this word the name, "Vishnu," that is to say, "he who
preserves." Then Brahma divided his being into two halves, the one male,
the other female, the active and the passive principles, the union of
which produced Siva, "the destroyer."

These are the attributes of the trimurti; Brahma, creative principle;
Vishnu, preservative wisdom; Siva, destructive wrath of justice. Brahma
is the substance from which everything was made; Vishnu, space wherein
everything lives; and Siva, time that annihilates all things.

Brahma is the face which vivifies all; Vishnu, the water which sustains
the forces of the creatures; Siva, the fire which breaks the bond that
unites all objects. Brahma is the past; Vishnu, the present; Siva, the
future. Each part of the trimurti possesses, moreover, a wife. The wife
of Brahma is Sarasvati, goddess of wisdom; that of Vishnu, Lakshmi,
goddess of virtue, and Siva's spouse is Kali, goddess of death, the
universal destroyer.

Of this last union were born, Ganesa, the elephant-headed god of wisdom,
and Indra, the god of the firmament, both chiefs of inferior divinities,
the number of which, if all the objects of adoration of the Hindus be
included, amounts to three hundred millions.

Vishnu has descended eight times upon the earth, incarnating in a fish
in order to save the Vedas from the deluge, in a tortoise, a dwarf, a
wild boar, a lion, in Rama, a king's son, in Krish