“The Jupiter Marinus, or Neptune of the Romans, resembles Mahadeva (Siva) in his generative character; especially as the Hindoo god is the husband of Parvati, whose relation to the waters is evidently marked by her image being restored to them at the conclusion of the great festival, called Durgotsava. She is known to have attributes exactly similar to those of Venus Marina, whose birth from the sea-foam, and splendid rise from the couch in which she had been cradled, have offered so many charming subjects to ancient and modern artists.”[5] [5] Asiatic Researches, vol. I. Another writer, Mr. Paterson, offers a passage descriptive of the character and attributes of Siva. “To Siva,” he says, “are given three eyes, probably to denote his view of the three divisions of time; the past, the present, and the future. A crescent on his forehead, pourtrays the measure of time by the phases of the moon; a serpent forms a necklace to denote the measure of time by years; a second necklace formed of human skulls marks the lapse and revolution of ages, and the extinction and succession of the generations of mankind. He holds a trident, to show that the great attributes are in him assembled and united; in another is a kind of rattle, shaped like an hour glass, and I am inclined to think that it was at first intended as such, since it agrees with the character of the deity; and a sand gheri is mentioned in the Sastra as a mode of measuring time. In the hieroglyphic of Maha Pralaya, or grand consummation of things, when time itself shall be no more, he is represented as trodden under foot by Mahakala, or eternity.” * * * * * A writer in the Edinburgh Review for February, 1811, says:—“The most ancient worship of which any trace is left in Hindustan, is that of Osiris or Bacchus, whose Indian names are Iswara and Baghesa. In him, and in the gods of his family, or lineage, we recognise the divinities adored by the ancient Egyptians. That Osiris and Bacchus were the same divinity, is attested by the unanimous suffrage of all the writers of antiquity. But the most ancient Bacchus was not celebrated as the god of wine, a character ascribed to that divinity in later times. The Egyptians assert that Osiris conquered India; and indeed his expedition to that region is the subject of the celebrated epic poem of Nonnus. We by no means contend for the reality of these expeditions; but it is an indisputable fact that the worship of Osiris, distinguished by the same attributes and emblems, has continued in India from the earliest ages to this day, under the appellation of Iswara. This, we think, may be completely proved by a comparative survey of both, before, as patron of the vine, he assumed in Europe a new character.