I shall now illustrate a part of those truths by the Indian history of the circumstances, as copied from their Puranas, by one who had no anticipation of my differently-drawn conclusions, and one, in fact, who did not know either the _scene_ or the _substance_ of the occurrence which he thus transcribes. “Yoni, the _female nature_, is also,” says Wilford, “derived from the same root (_yu_, to mix). Many Pundits insist the Yavanas were so named from their obstinate assertion of a superior influence in the _female_ over the _linga_ or _male nature_, in producing a perfect offspring. It may seem strange that a question of mere physiology should have occasioned not only a vehement religious contest, but even a bloody war; yet the fact appears to be historically true, though the Hindu writers have dressed it up, as usual, in a veil of historical allegories and mysteries, which we should call obscene, but which they consider as awfully sacred. “There is a legend in the Servarasa, of which the figurative meaning is more obvious. When Sati, after the close of her existence as the daughter of Dascha, sprang again to life in the character of Parvati, or Mountain Spring, she was reunited in marriage to Mahadeva. This divine pair had once a dispute on the comparative influence of the sexes in producing animated beings, and each resolved, by mutual agreement, to create apart a new race of men.[272] The race produced by Mahadeva were very numerous, and devoted themselves exclusively to the worship of the _male deity_; but their intellects were dull, their bodies feeble, their limbs distorted, and their complexions of many different hues. Parvati had, at the same time, created a multitude of human beings, who adored the _female power_ only, and were all well shaped, with sweet aspects and fine complexions. A furious contest ensued between the two races, and the _Lingajas_ were defeated in battle; but Mahadeva, enraged against the _Yonijas_, would have destroyed them with the _fire of his eye_, if Parvati had not interposed and spared them;[273] but he would spare them only on condition that they should instantly leave the country, with a promise to see it no more; and from the _Yoni_, which they adored as the sole cause of their existence, they were named Yavanas.”