Note 55 — Chapter III · DISEASE DEITIES.

Mention has already been made of the deities which protect the cattle and to whose displeasure diseases among cattle are attributed. It is said that such diseases are very common during the vishi of Shiva. A cycle of twenty years is called a vishi, three such cycles making a complete samvatsar of sixty years. Each of such vishis is presided over and named after each of the three gods of the Trinity, Brahmā, Vishnu and Shiva. The vishi of Brahmā is characterized by protection and creation, that of Vishnu by growth and that of Shiva by destruction, the last often bringing on such calamities as plague, famine and diseases among cattle.55