text:  In the cosmogony of the Hindoos it was on the summit of the sacred mountain Maha-meru which rises in the midst of the seven _dwipas_ or great peninsulas like the stalk between the expanded petals of a lotus that Brahma the creator sits enthroned on a pillar of gold and gems adored by Rishis and Gandharbhas; while the regents of the four quarters of the universe hold their stations on the four faces of the mountain