^227:+ Ibid., p. 423.

^230:* Kennedy, "Hindu Mythology," p. 253.

^231:* Max-Muller, "Chips," vol. i. p. 210 ff.

^239:* O. S. T., ii. 496.

^243:* In Hinduism it is the transmigration of souls from the lowest to the highest scale, until they become fit for absorption into the Divine from whence they came. At its close each life is carefully judged, and when next the person returns to the earth he is born in a higher stage if good preponderated; in a lower if the evil turned the scale. In Buddhism, which denies the existence of souls, the transmigration is somewhat different in form. As soon as a person dies a new being is produced in a more or less miserable condition, according to the "Karma," the sum total of the good or evil in all its many previous lives. Practically there is no great difference between these views. For though the Hindu believes that the same soul passes through countless changes in successive lives, there is no memory of previous experience, so that each life is separate and distinct from what went before. It is a formal rather than a real difference.

^244:* Burnouf, quoted by Max-Muller, "Chips," i. 222.

10. THE KALKI AVATARA.

This incarnation, unlike those already described, has yet to be made. It is the hope of the Hindus, that he who has so frequently visited the earth to restore order and happiness will come yet again to inaugurate a reign of universal goodness, peace, and prosperity. When Vishnu in the form of Krishna reascended to heaven, the Fourth or Kali Yuga commenced, which, as its name implies, is an age of strife and dissension. In the "Vishnu Purana" the character of this age is vividly described in words that seem prophetic. At its termination Vishnu is expected to come again, bearing the name Kalki, to put an end to wickedness, and establish a kingdom of righteousness similar to the First or Krita Yuga--the age of Truth. These four ages, in the same order and with similar characteristics, will again and again be experienced until the final end of all things shall come. The following extract from the "Vishnu Purana" [**]

will give an idea of the evils of the present age, which Kalki is to remove.

In Magadha a sovereign named Viswasphatika will extirpate the Kshattriya race, elevate fishermen, barbarians, Brahmans, and other castes to power; whilst Sudras, outcasts and barbarians will be masters of the Indus, Darvika, Chandrabhaga, and Kashmir. "The

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KALIKI.