241:7 The four last are therefore stars in the circle of perpetual apparition. One of these is the pole-star; and in Kaśyapa we have a verbal affinity to Cassiopeia. The Śiśumára, or porpoise, is rather a singular symbol for the celestial sphere; but it is not more preposterous than many of the constellations of classical fiction. The component parts of it are much more fully detailed, in the Bhágavata, whence it has been translated by Sir Wm. Jones. As. Res. II. 402. The Bhágavata, however, mystifies the description, and says it is nothing more than the Dhárańá, or symbol, by which Vishńu, identified with the starry firmament, is to be impressed upon the mind in meditation. The account of the planetary system is, as usual, fullest in the Váyu, with which the Linga and Matsya nearly agree. The Bhavishya is nearly, also, the same. They all contain many passages common to them and to our text. In the Agni, Padma, Kúrma, Bráhma, Garud́a, and Vámana descriptions occur which enter into less detail than the Vishńu, and often use its words, or passages found in other Puráńas. Many intimations of a similar system occur in the Vedas, but whether the whole is to be found in those works is yet to be ascertained. It must not be considered as a correct representation of the philosophical astronomy of the Hindus, being mixed up with, and deformed by, mythological and symbolical fiction.

242:8 Only, however, as far as they are intended to propitiate Vishńu, and not for any other purpose.

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Hinduism

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