ART. II.-Note on the Sri Jantra and Khat Kon Chakra, (SixAngled Wheel), or Double Equilateral Triangle. By E. C. RAVENSHAW, Esq., late of the Bengal Civil Service.

[Read 16th June, 1849.]

IN presenting to the Royal Asiatic Society the accompanying two specimens, in crystal, of the Sri Jantra, it will be proper to offer some explanation of the manner in which they came into my hands; of the use to which they are applied by the Hindus; and of the meaning, and apparently great antiquity, of the mysterious symbol of the Double Equilateral Triangle.

The Jantras were brought to me about two years ago when I was residing at Patna, by an itinerant vendor of Hindu images, sálagráms, and other religious curiosities from Benares. The man informed me, that they were made of crystal, brought from the neighbourhood of Jeypoor. He had a great number of them of various sizes; for the larger ones he demanded 30, 40, and 50 rupees. He could afford me little other information regarding them, than that they were objects of religious reverence among the Hindus. Never having seen or heard of the Sri Jantra before, and being struck with the identity of the symbol with the decoration of the Royal Arch in Freemasonry, I sent for a Brahman to expound the mystery. He informed me, that an explanation of it would be found in the "Mantra Mahodadhi," and the "Sarada Tilak;" but as he had not a copy of either of those works in his possession, I requested him to give me the substance viva voce. It appeared from his narrative, that the Sri Jantra is a sort of pocket Altar, on which worship may be offered to any Deity; and according to the name of the Deity it is called Durgá Jantra," "Deví Jantra," "Siva Jantra," &c. Each of the six angles of the hexagon represents a point of the compass, and is named after the three principal gods of the Hindu Pantheon, Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu, and their respective saktis or wives, Saraswati, Párvatí, and Lakshmí, (vide Plate I, Fig. 1.) The centre of the middle triangle, on the summit of the conical crystal, is called the "Karnika," and on this spot, either the image, or the name of the deity to be worshipped must be placed; the Angle dedicated to Brahmá is then placed to the East, and the ceremonies of devotion

Though of trifling importance to real science or profound literature, there is an interest in Chess and in its history, which repays a more critical investigation than it has yet received. Learned antiquaries have illustrated its existence of the last ten centuries, but there are still links wanting to connect it with its earliest origin, and to complete our knowledge of this ancient and universal game, which presents so remarkable on instance of etymologies surviving the Babel of ages, and historically, as well as in philology, constitutes one of the most intimate points of union between Europe and the East.

Considered merely as a chapter in the social history of mankind, Chess is equally worthy of admiration; a game which, having established its mimic images in defiance of the persecutors of idolatry, has triumphed alike over the denunciations of Coranic moral and the zealous rage of the Byzantine Iconoclast, and for whose support law and theology have been strained alike by Muslim Mulla and by Western Priest; from which kings have given names to their sons and to the cities they have founded, nor hesitated to ascribe their glories to its practice, when they made it a principle in the education of their children; and which, as an image of war, or an exercise of wisdom, has been the royal sport of lawgiver aud conqueror, from the Haruns and Cosroes of the East to the Charlemagnes and Canutes of our own climes; from the shepherd warrior of Tartary to the fugitive hero of Poltava, or his more modern rival in boundless empire and lawless ambition, the Tamerlane of France, Napoleon.

tion or general appearance of the Jantra. It is intended to represent the flower of the lotus, with the petals turned back. It will be remarked, that immediately below the triangles there are two rows of petals,―one containing eight, and the other sixteen leaves, called "Hasht dal," and "Shoras dal1. The number of dals or petals varies in each Jantra, according to the deity who is to be worshipped, and each petal has a separate name. The cone, thus formed, rests upon a square base, which represents the earth, and is called "Bhú-pur," or "city of the earth." It is not improbable, that the cone is meant to represent the Heavens resting on the Earth; but the Brahman did not give such an explanation of it. In the Sabæan worship of China, Sir J. Davis (p. 70, vol. ii,) states, that the altar of sacrifice to Heaven is round to represent the sky, and that of the earth square2; the Jantra appears to combine the two. In the valley of Nepal near Kathmandu, there is a large hemispherical solid building, called "Sambhunáth," consecrated to "Adi Buddha ;" an engraving of which is given in Kirkpatrick's work on Nepal. The form is very similar to that of the Jantra, but on the summit rises a pagoda with seven stories, representing the seven heavens, (vide Fig. 5, Plate II). The other Jantra is devoted entirely to the second person of the Hindu Trinity, "Sheo" or "Siva," and is therefore called "Siva Jantra." Fig. 4 and 5, Plate I, will convey to those who have not an opportunity of inspecting the original, some idea of its form, and the disposition of the triangles. It will be observed, that the triangles are not in a state of union as in the first Jantra, but that there are six Equilateral Triangles, one within the other, forming as it were a pyramid of triangles. The dals or petals are only eight in number, and named after the sun, moon, and the elements which form the chief subjects of the hymns of the Vedas.

I found it difficult to ascertain from the Brahman whom I consulted, any distinct account of the origin of this curious symbol; he affected a great mystery on the subject, and all I could gather from him was, that the two Equilateral Triangles intersecting one another in the Sri Jantra, were the emblems of the "Lingam" and "Yoni," the " Bíja" and "Bhag," or the male and female principles of nature, and of the Deity who is the god of nature.

Figure 2, Plate I, gives a bird's eye view of the Jantra, showing the leaves of the lotus and double triangle in the centre. Fig. 3 shows the elevation. In Egypt, the hieroglyphic sign of the earth was also a square.-Bunsen,

p. 534.

The analogies derived from a consideration of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, possibly led the Hindu philosophers to conclude that the process of creation was due to the co-existence of these two principles in the divine nature.

In H. T. Colebrooke's translation of parts of the Veda', the follow

ing passages illustrate this idea. "In the beginning there was no entity nor non-entity-no world nor sky, nor aught above it. Death was not, nor immortality; nor distinction of day or night; but that breathed without afflation single with her who is sustained within him." Again, in the Vrihad 'Aranyaka, an Upanishad, it is recorded-"The Primeval Being saw nothing but himself in the Universe and said, 'I am I.' He felt not delight being alone-He wished for another and instantly became such-He caused himself to fall in twain and thus become husband and wife." In the Sáma Veda it is stated, that "the will to create co-existed with the Deity as his Bride." It is probably the female principle under the name of " Vách," (translated speech or the word) which calls herself the universal soul. "Originating all Beings I pass like the breeze-I am above this Heaven, beyond this Earth, and what is the Great One, that am I."

This duality of the Deity seems to have been common to the primeval religions of Egypt and China, and probably of the intermediate regions of Asia. In the former, the Sun, under the name of Osiris, was worshipped as the Generator of All Things, and the Earth under the name of Isis, as the Great Mother, who, under the vivifying rays of the Sun, appeared to bring forth all animated beings, and all vegetable nature. In the great Temple of Isis, under the veiled statue of the goddess, was inscribed the well-known sentence:-"I am what hath been; what is; what shall be; and no mortal hath ever lifted my Veil." In nearly the same words, in the "Kási Khand," it is said of "Prakriti," or "Nature," what is Thou art in the Sakti form, and except Thee nothing has ever been." The necessity of the cooperation of a female principle in creation, was further recognized by assigning to each Deity a wife or Sakti. Thus Prakriti is said to have assumed various forms-Durgá the Sakti of Siva, Lakshmi of Vishnu-Saraswati of Brahmá-Rádhá of Krishna. The Syrian goddess Astarté, and the Venus Genitrix of the Greeks and Romans, were alike the deifications of the same principle. This is manifested in the beautiful apostrophe to Venus by Lucretius, which, standing

2

Asiatic Researches, vol. viii. p. 393.

* Bunsen, p. 438, says, "the Triad Isis, Osiris, and Horus resolves itself into