_Ra'hu_ was the son of _Cas'yapa_ and _Dity_, according to some authorities; but others represent _Sinhica'_ (perhaps the sphinx) as his natural mother. He had four arms; his lower parts ended in a tail like that of a dragon; and his aspect was grim and gloomy, like the _darkness_ of the chaos, whence he had also the name of _Tamas_. He was {237} the adviser of all mischief among the _Daityas_, who had a regard for him: but among the _De'vatas_ it was his chief delight to sow dissension; and when the gods had produced the _amrit_, by churning the ocean, he disguised himself like one of them, and received a portion of it; but the Sun and Moon having discovered his fraud, _Vishnu_ severed his head and two of his arms from the rest of his monstrous body. That part of the nectareous fluid which he had time to swallow secured his immortality: his trunk and dragon-like tail fell on the mountain of _Malaya_, where _Mini_, a _Brahman_, carefully preserved them by the name of _Ce'tu_; and, as if a complete body had been formed from them, like a dismembered _polype_, he is even said to have adopted _Ce'tu_ as his own child. The head, with two arms, fell on the sands of _Barbara_, where _Pi't'he'na's_ was then walking with _Sinhica'_, by some called his wife: They carried the _Daitya_ to their palace, and adopted him as their son; whence he acquired the name of _Paite'he'nasi_. This extravagant fable is, no doubt, astronomical; _Ra'hu_ and _Ce'tu_ being clearly the _nodes_, or what astrologers call the _head_ and _tail_ of the dragon. It is added, that they appeased _Vishnu_, and obtained re-admission to the firmament, but were no longer visible from the earth, their enlightened sides being turned from it; that _Ra'hu_ strives, during eclipses, to wreak vengeance on the Sun {238} and Moon, who detected him; and that _Ce'tu_ often appears as a comet, a whirlwind, a fiery meteor, a water-spout, or a column of sand.--WILFORD. _Asiatic Researches_. _Suras._--X. p. 105. The word _Sura_ in Sanscrit signifies both wine and true wealth; hence, in the first _C'hand_ of the _Ramayan_ of VALMIC, it is expressly said that the _Devetas_, having received the _Sura_, acquired the title of _Suras_, and the _Daityas_ that of _Asura_, from not having received it. The _Veda_ is represented as that wine and true wealth.--PATERSON. _Asiat. Researches_. _Camdeo._--X. p. 106. Eternal CAMA! or doth SMARA bright, Or proud ANANGA, give thee more delight? _Sir W. Jones_.