e god of antiquity was Indra ... next to and above whom was the
mysterious god Varuna, the creator, who gave eternal laws which god and
men were obliged to follow. He showed the stars their paths and gave each
creature his qualities.... He is the sun by day and the stars at
night".... From these statements the duality of the creator and his power
over both light and darkness alike, stand out clearly.

Another form of the supreme being was the sun god Surya, who was also
named Savitri, the generator, Pushan=the feeder and Mithra=the light-god,
who is called the watcher and ruler of the world and was associated with
the wheel, which is termed "the most ancient symbol of divine power and
dominion."(89)

"In India the wheel was, moreover, connected with the title of a
chakrayartin (from chakra=a wheel), the title meaning a supreme ruler or
universal monarch, who ruled the four quarters of the world and on his
coronation he had to drive his chariot or wheel to the four cardinal
points to signify his conquest of them" (Wm. Simpson, Quarterly statement
of Palestine Expl. Fund, 1895, p. 84). It is significant that "Mithra,"
the god of the wheel, who was, as I shall show later on, likewise
associated with the serpent, is represented with a chariot pulled by seven
horses and thus to find the idea of centrifugal power, combined with the
numeral seven and the conception of central rulership extending to the
four quarters.

While the above passages afford an interesting insight into the ancient
significance and symbolism of the chariot, the use of which, with that of
the throne was, originally, exclusively confined to the central supreme
ruler, they also furnish a curious parallelism to the Chinese tours of
inspection performed, by the emperor, to the four provinces in rotation.

The general application of the quadruplicate system is moreover shown by
the fact that, from time immemorial, the population of India has been
divided into four great castes, and these are associated with distinctive
colors, the Sanscrit word for color, _varna_, signifying also caste.
According to the native myth, Brahma created the Brahmin or ruling caste
from his mouth, the warrior caste from his arms and hands, the merchant
and agricultural caste from his hips and the artisan or lowest caste from
the soles of his feet. The warrior caste was named Kschatria; the people
the yellow, or Vaicya; the original, conquered inhabitants of India were
named the b