1. RED A fish. 2. YELLOW A tortoise. 3. GOLD A boar. 4. GREEN A lion. 5. BROWNISH GREEN A man's head. 6. RED An axe. 7. BROWNISH GREEN An ape. 8. PUCE A goat or antelope. 9. BRICK RED A cattashal or umbrella. 10. GREEN A white horse, saddled and bridled.
The following description of the ten Avatars, or incarnations, of Vichnou, as represented in a series of drawings,[49] will explain the meaning of nearly every one of the marks of the ten suits of cards. The only suits which do not exactly correspond with the Avatars, as represented in the drawings, are those numbered 8 and 9, the emblems of which are a goat and an umbrella. It is, however, to be observed that Hindoo authors do not agree in their accounts of the different Avatars of Vichnou, though they generally concur in representing them as ten in number, that is, nine passed and one to come. It is also possible that the goat--which appears couchant as if giving suck--and the umbrella, which in the east is frequently the sign of regal dignity, may be symbolical of the eighth and ninth Avatars in the description of the drawings. Though the Bramin Dwarf, in the fifth Avatar of the drawings, carries an umbrella, there can scarcely be a doubt that the Man's head, in No. 5 of the cards, is the symbol of this Avatar.
1. MATSYAVATARA. The first Avatar of Vichnou, as a Fish; represented as the body of a man with the tail of a fish. The human part is coloured blue; the rest is white. In two of his four hands he holds the _Chakra_, or _Soudarsana_, which here appears something like a quoit with rays proceeding from it.[50] In the palm of another of his hands the diamond--carré mystique--is displayed. According to the Bhagavat Purana, the precious stone or diamond called _Castrala_, is a sort of talisman which illuminates all things, and in which all things are reflected. It is the perfect mirror of the world, and Vichnou generally wears it on his breast, or holds it in the palm of that hand which is raised in the act of benediction.
2. KOURMAVATARA. The second Avatar, as a Tortoise; the upper part of the figure, man, the lower, tortoise. The _Chakra_ appears poised on the fingers of one of the hands.
3. VARAHAVATARA. The third Avatar of Vichnou, as a _Verrat_, or wild boar, to destroy the giant Hiranyakcha. Vichnou appears with the head of a boar, but with the body and limbs of a man. In the cards, the head of the boar is blue.