Various Saints.
Many other worthies of the olden time are worshipped in the same way. From the Himâlaya to Bombay, Dattâtreya, a saint in whom a part of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva was incarnate, is worshipped by Vaishnavas as a partial manifestation of the deity, and by Saivas as a distinguished authority on the Yoga philosophy. He has temples both in Garhwâl and in the Konkan, like Parâsara Rishi, the reputed author of the Vishnu Purâna, who wished to make a sacrifice to destroy the Râkshasas, but was dissuaded by the saints, and then scattered the fire over the slope of the Himâlaya, where it blazes forth at the phases of the moon.[42] In like fashion the records of the last census have shown worshippers of the poets Kâlidâsa and Tulasi Dâs, as in Bombay their great writers Dnyânadeva and Tûkarâm are deified by the Marâthas. Nearly seven thousand people in the North-Western Provinces adore Vasishtha, the famous Rishi, and many others Nârada Muni, who is a well-known personage and generally acts as a sort of Deus ex machinâ in the folk-tales. On the whole in the North-Western Provinces over a quarter million people recorded themselves as votaries of these deified saints, devotees and teachers.
The same form of worship largely prevails in the Panjâb. Among other worthies we find Syâmji, a Chauhân Râja who is said to have given his head to Krishna and Arjuna on condition that he should be allowed to witness the fight between the Kauravas and Pândavas; Dhanwantari, the physician of the gods; Drona Achârya, the teacher of military science to the heroes of the great war. The Kumhârs or potters worship Prajapati, the active creator of the universe; and the Kâyasth scribes adore Chitragupta, who keeps the register of the deeds of men, which will be opened at the last day. This is quite irrespective of a horde of tutelary saints, who are adored by various tribes of handicraftsmen.