[36] An evil spirit, a demon, a vampire, a fiend, but who appears to be of various descriptions; and is either a powerful Titan or enemy of the gods, in a superhuman or incarnate form, as Ravana and others; or an attendant on Kuvera and guardian of his treasures; or a mischievous and cruel goblin or ogre, haunting cemeteries, animating dead bodies, and devouring human beings. The Asurs are also demons, and of the first order; the children of Diti, by Kasyapa, engaged in perpetual hostility with the gods. According to Hindoo mythology, Kasyapa is the name of a Muni, or “deified sage;” who is the father of the immortals—gods and devils (Wilson).—D. S.
[37] अनन्त वेद ananta veda, “the eternal Veda.”
[38] चैत्र Cháitra.
[39] कृष्ण पक्ष Krishna paksha, “the dark half of a month; the fifteen days during which the moon is in the wane.”
[40] वासुकि Vasuki, “the sovereign of the snakes;” from Vasu, “a jewel,” and Ka, “the head” (Wilson).—D. S.
[41] The mountain with which the ocean was churned by the Surs and Asurs after the deluge, for the purpose of recovering the sacred things lost in it during that period.—D. S.
[42] The most ancient division of the Zodiac consisted of twelve signs, namely: मेष Mesha, the Ram; वृष Vrisha, the Bull; मिथुन Mithuna, the Pair; कर्कट Karkat´a, the Crab; सिंह Sinha, the Lion; कन्या Kanya, the Virgin; तुला Tula, the Balance; वृश्जिक Vriśchica, the Scorpion; धनु Dhanu, the Bow; मकर Makara, the sea-monster; कुम्भ Kumbha, the Ewer; [Sanskrit:मीन] Mina, the Fish.
Sripeti, the author of the Retnamálá, has described them in Sanscrit verse, of which the verbal translation is annexed:
“The Ram, Bull, Crab, Lion, and Scorpion have the figures of those five animals respectively; the Pair are a damsel playing on the vina, and a youth wielding a mace; the Virgin stands on a boat, in water, holding in one hand a lamp, in the other an ear of rice corn; the Balance is held by a weigher, with a weight in one hand; the bow by an archer, whose hinder parts are like those of a horse; the Sea-monster has the face of an antelope; the Ewer is a water-pot borne on the shoulder of a man who empties it; the Fishes are two, with their heads turned to each other’s tails, and all these are supposed to be in such places as suit their separate natures” (Sir W. Jones, vol. I. p. 336).—D. S.
[43] सुक्ल पक्ष súklapakcha, “the light half of a month; the fifteen days of the moon’s increase; or from new to full moon.”—A. T.