Note 23 — Chapter IV · ANIMAL-WORSHIP.

The contempt for the ass seems to have arisen in post-Vedic times. Indra had a swift-footed ass, and one of the epithets of Vikramaditya was Gadharbha-rûpa, or “he in the form of an ass.” The Vishnu Purâna tells of the demon Dhenuka, who took the form of an ass and began to kick Balarâma and Krishna, as they were plucking fruit in the demon’s grove. Balarâma seized him, with sundry of his companions and flung him on the top of a palm tree. Khara, a cannibal Râkshasa who was killed by Râma Chandra, also used to take the form of an ass. Muhammad said, “The most ungrateful of all voices is surely the voice of asses.” Muhammadans believe that the last animal which entered the ark was the ass to which Iblîs was clinging. At the threshold the beast seemed troubled and could enter no farther, when Noah said unto him, “Fie upon thee! Come in!” But as the ass was still in trouble and did not advance, Noah cried, “Come in, though the Devil be with thee!” So the ass entered, and with him Iblîs. Thereupon Noah asked, “O enemy of Allah! Who brought thee into the ark?” And Iblîs answered, “Thou art the man, for thou saidest to the ass, ‘Come in, though the Devil be with thee!’”23