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APPENDIX III
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and Surya were two. For the third place there was rivalry between Vayu and Indra. Consequently one finds the Trinity of Agni, Indra and Surya or Agni, Vayu and Surya. The new trinity is identical in its conception with the old though different in its personnel. Every member of this Trinity is new. It seems after the first Trinity was dissolved no new Trinity existed for a considerable time. In the Chulla Nidessa there is mention only of Brahma Vratikas. There is no mention of Vishnu Vratikas or Shiva Vratikas. This means that at the time of the Chula Nidessa the cult of Vishnu and the cult of Shiva had not come into being. They were later on added to the cult of Brahma and constituted into a Trinity. Several questions rise in one’s mind when one considers the part played by the Brahmins in the evolution and confounding of the Trinity.
The first that arises is the faithlessness of the Brahamins to their Gods, the easy manner in which they abandon one set of Gods for another. In this connection one is reminded of the Jewish priests and Nebuchad-Nez-Zar.
“ Neb-U-Chad-Nez-Zar [1] the king made an image of gold, whose height was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits he set it up in the plain of Du-ra, in the province of Bab-y-lon.
“ 2. Then Neb-u-chad-nez-zar the king sent to gather together the princes (satraps), the governors (deputies), and the captains (governors), the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Neb-u-chadnez-zar the king had set up.
“3. Then the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Neb-u-chadnez-zar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Neb-uchad-nez-zar had set up.
“Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages.
That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Neb-u-chad-nez-zar the king hath set up;
And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Therefore at that time, when all the people heard, the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and
1 Old Testament—Daniel Chap. 3. verses 1-23.