In pictures Brahma is represented as a red man with four heads, though in the Puranas he is said to have had originally five. He is dressed in white raiment, and rides upon a goose. In one hand he carries a staff, in the other a dish for receiving alms. A legend in the "Matsya Purana" [* section] gives the following account of the formation of his numerous heads:--"Brahma formed from his own immaculate substance a female who is celebrated under the names of Satarupa, Savitri, Sarasvati, Gayatri, and Brahmani. Beholding his daughter, born from his body, Brahma became wounded with the

arrows of love, and exclaimed, How surpassingly lovely she is!' Satarupa turned to the right side from his gaze; but as Brahma wished to look after her, a second head issued from his body. As she passed to the left, and behind him, to avoid his amorous glances, two other heads successively appeared. At length she sprang into the sky; and as Brahma was anxious to gaze after her there, a fifth head was immediately formed. Brahma then said to his daughter, 'Let us produce all kinds of animated beings, men, suras (gods), and asuras (demons). Hearing this, she descended, and Brahma having espoused her, they withdrew to a secluded spot where they dwelt together for one hundred divine years; [**] at the expiration of which time was born Manu, who is also called Swayambhuva and Viraj." [*+]

The following legend [*++] occurs, with some variations, in several Puranas, showing why Brahma was deprived of his fifth head:--

"Once when they were assembled on the top of Meru, the holy sages, having saluted Brahma, requested him to declare the true nature of the godhead; but the Creator, influenced by the delusion of Mahesha (a demon), and his mind obscured by spiritual darkness, asserted his own pre-eminence, and said: 'I am the womb of the universe, without beginning or end, and the sole and self-existent lord; and he who does not worship me

shall never obtain beatitude.' On hearing this, Kratu, a form of Narayana (Vishnu), smiled and said: ' Hadst thou not been misled by ignorance, thou wouldst not have made an assertion so contrary to truth; for I am the framer of the universe, the source of life, the unborn, eternal and supreme Narayana; and, had I not willed it, creation would not have taken place.'