Page:Deccan Nursery Tales.djvu/16

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DECCAN NURSERY TALES

main Hindu gods are three in number. They are all sprung from a common origin, Brahma, but they are quite separate beings. They do not form a trinity, i.e. three in one or one in three. And each of them has a wife and a family. The following genealogical tree will, I hope, help the reader.

 
 
Brahma
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the daughters of AgniShivaVishnu
 
Brahmadev
 
 
 
 
 
Parwati
 
Mahalaxmi
 
Saraswati
 
 
 
Kartakswami[1]
 
 
 
 
Ganpati

Of the above gods, Shiva, his son Kartakswami, and his wife Parwati, Vishnu and his wife Mahalaxmi only are mentioned in the following stories. Besides these, however, the Sun and Moon and the five principal planets obtain a certain amount of worship. The Sun is worshipped every morning by every orthodox Hindu. And Shani or Saturn inspires a wholesome fear, for his glance is supposed

  1. For an account of the birth of Kartakswami see The Tale of the Tulsi Plant, p. 93.