In the
same manner the Christian Gnostics, of the sect of Valentinus, held
their ?
same manner the Christian Gnostics, of the sect of Valentinus, held
their ?
Camoes - Lusiades
The
accounts of the god Brahma, or Brimha, are more various than those of
any fable in the Grecian mythology. According to Father Bohours, in his
life of Xavier, the Brahmins hold, that the Great God having a desire to
become visible, became man. In this state he produced three sons, Mayso,
Visnu, and Brahma; the first, born of his mouth, the second, of his
breast, the third, of his belly. Being about to return to his
invisibility, he assigned various departments to his three sons. To
Brahma he gave the third heaven, with the superintendence of the rites
of religion. Brahma having a desire for children, begat the Brahmins,
who are the priests of India, and who are believed by the other tribes
to be a race of demi-gods, who have the blood of heaven running in their
veins. Other accounts say, that Brahma produced the priests from his
head, the more ignoble tribes from his breast, thighs, and feet.
According to the learned Kircher's account of the theology of the
Brahmins, the sole and supreme god Vishnu, formed the secondary god
Brahma, out of a flower that floated on the surface of the great deep
before the creation. And afterwards, in reward of the virtue, fidelity,
and gratitude of Brahma, gave him power to create the universe.
Hesiod's genealogy of the gods, though refined upon by the schools of
Plato, is of the same class with the divine genealogies of the Brahmins.
The Jewish fables, foolish questions and genealogies, reproved by Saint
Paul (epist. Tit. ), were probably of this kind, for the Talmudical
legends were not then sprung up. _Binah_, or Understanding, said the
cabalists, begat _Kochmah_, or Wisdom, etc. , till at last comes
_Milcah_, the Kingdom, who begat _Shekinah_, the Divine Presence.
In the
same manner the Christian Gnostics, of the sect of Valentinus, held
their ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , and their thirty AEons. _Ampsiu_ and _Auraan_, they tell
us, _i. e. _ Profundity and Silence, begat _Bacua_ and _Tharthuu_, Mind
and Truth; these begat _Ubucua_ and _Thardeadie_, Word and Life, and
these _Merexa_ and _Atarbarba_, Man and Church. The other conjunctions
of their thirty AEons are of similar ingenuity. The prevalence of the
same spirit of mythological allegory in such different nations, affords
the philosopher a worthy field for speculation.
Almost as innumerable as their legends are the dreadful penances to
which the Hindus submit themselves for the expiation of sins. Some hold
the transmigration of souls, and of consequence abstain from all animal
food. {*} Yet, however austere in other respects, they freely abandon
themselves to every species of debauchery, some of them esteeming the
most unnatural abominations as the privilege of their sanctity.
accounts of the god Brahma, or Brimha, are more various than those of
any fable in the Grecian mythology. According to Father Bohours, in his
life of Xavier, the Brahmins hold, that the Great God having a desire to
become visible, became man. In this state he produced three sons, Mayso,
Visnu, and Brahma; the first, born of his mouth, the second, of his
breast, the third, of his belly. Being about to return to his
invisibility, he assigned various departments to his three sons. To
Brahma he gave the third heaven, with the superintendence of the rites
of religion. Brahma having a desire for children, begat the Brahmins,
who are the priests of India, and who are believed by the other tribes
to be a race of demi-gods, who have the blood of heaven running in their
veins. Other accounts say, that Brahma produced the priests from his
head, the more ignoble tribes from his breast, thighs, and feet.
According to the learned Kircher's account of the theology of the
Brahmins, the sole and supreme god Vishnu, formed the secondary god
Brahma, out of a flower that floated on the surface of the great deep
before the creation. And afterwards, in reward of the virtue, fidelity,
and gratitude of Brahma, gave him power to create the universe.
Hesiod's genealogy of the gods, though refined upon by the schools of
Plato, is of the same class with the divine genealogies of the Brahmins.
The Jewish fables, foolish questions and genealogies, reproved by Saint
Paul (epist. Tit. ), were probably of this kind, for the Talmudical
legends were not then sprung up. _Binah_, or Understanding, said the
cabalists, begat _Kochmah_, or Wisdom, etc. , till at last comes
_Milcah_, the Kingdom, who begat _Shekinah_, the Divine Presence.
In the
same manner the Christian Gnostics, of the sect of Valentinus, held
their ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , and their thirty AEons. _Ampsiu_ and _Auraan_, they tell
us, _i. e. _ Profundity and Silence, begat _Bacua_ and _Tharthuu_, Mind
and Truth; these begat _Ubucua_ and _Thardeadie_, Word and Life, and
these _Merexa_ and _Atarbarba_, Man and Church. The other conjunctions
of their thirty AEons are of similar ingenuity. The prevalence of the
same spirit of mythological allegory in such different nations, affords
the philosopher a worthy field for speculation.
Almost as innumerable as their legends are the dreadful penances to
which the Hindus submit themselves for the expiation of sins. Some hold
the transmigration of souls, and of consequence abstain from all animal
food. {*} Yet, however austere in other respects, they freely abandon
themselves to every species of debauchery, some of them esteeming the
most unnatural abominations as the privilege of their sanctity.
