Karttikeya, the son of Siva and Parvati, the Jupiter and Juno of the Hindu theogony, has the leading of the armies of the gods, delegated by his father; and his mother has presented to him her peacock, which is the steed of this warlike divinity. He is called Karttikeya from being nursed by six females called Krittika, who inhabit six of the seven stars composing the constellation of the Wain, or Ursa Major. Thus the Hindu Mars, born of Jupiter and Juno, and nursed by Ursa Major, is, like all other theogonies, an astronomical allegory. There is another legend of the birth of Mars, which I shall give in the text. Footnote 4.22.23: This elephant-headed divinity has but one tusk. Footnote 4.22.24: The bard thus modestly designates himself. Footnote 4.22.25: Chief (_isa_) of the gana (_genii_) or attendants on Siva. Footnote 4.22.26: So he was at Rome, and his statue held the keys of heaven in his right hand, and, like Ganesa, a rod (the _ankus_) in his left. Footnote 4.22.27: [The rat is the emblem of Ganesa probably because, like Apollo Smintheus, he protects the crops from vermin (Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, 3rd ed. Part v. vol. ii. 282 f.).] Footnote 4.22.28: [Persian _āhanak_, ‘a sword of steel.’] Footnote 4.22.29: [_Anabasis_, vii. 2.] Footnote 4.22.30: The Gothic invaders of Italy inaugurated their monarch by placing him upon a shield, and elevating him on their shoulders in the midst of his army. Footnote 4.22.31: All these proper names might have Oriental etymologies assigned to them; Eyvor-sail is the name of a celebrated Rajput hero of the Bhatti tribe, who were driven at an early period from the very heart of Scythia, and are of Yadu race. Footnote 4.22.32: This word can have a Sanskrit derivation from _haya_, ‘a horse’; _marna_, ‘to strike or kill’; _Hjalmr_, ‘the horse-slayer.’ [These theories are of no value.] Footnote 4.22.33: The custom of engraving incantations on weapons is also from the East, and thence adopted by the Muhammadan, as well as the use of phylacteries. The name of the goddess guarding the tribe is often inscribed, and I have had an entire copy of the Bhagavadgita taken from the turban of a Rajput killed in action: in like manner the Muhammadans place therein the Koran. Footnote 4.22.34: The metaphorical name of the sword Tyrfing. Footnote 4.22.35: