184 / 1060
IO
r
Royal Commentaries:
BooK
V.
Name from the Cannon and Guns they ufed, which they raking
to
be Lightning
ana Thunder, believed them Gods, by whofe hands they were ufed.
Bltt-i Valera
interpreting this word, fays, that
it
figni~es
a Deity, vhich comprehends the
Will
and Power of a God ;. not that the word dot_h properly fignifie
fo
much
·but that it is a Name which the
IndJan1
found out to give to tnis
Apparition~
which they W oribipped in the fecond place
to
the un, and after that
tfiey
Ado~
red their Kings and
Inc1ts,
as
if
they had been Gods..
It
is
difputable whether the
Inept,
PiMcocha
was mote admired for his Vid:ory,
or
for his
Dream ; but certain
it
is, that he was
fo
reverenced
for
both, that they
efreemed him for a God, and adored him as one exprefiy fent from the Sun to
fave his Family,
and
the Divine
ff-fpring from utter ruine
5
and becaufe
rhat
by
him
the Imperial City, the Temple of the Sun, and the Convene of the Selell:
Virgins w€re preferved ; · he
was
afterwards
W
orfhipped
with
greater ofiemation
and honour, than any otheu of
his
Ancient Progen·cors.
And
though this
Inca
endeavoured to perfuade
his
Subje&
to
transfer
the
onour
which
rlley
gave
to
him, unto his Unde, the
ifion which appeared to him ; yet
fo
far was this de..
votion mfixed in their minds, that they could not be diverted from petfotming
Divine Honours towards him,
utitill
at length they compounded for their fuper–
ftitio
>
and agreed
to
impart and divide their W or!hip equally between them
5
and whereas d1ey had both the fame Name, they iliould Adore rhem together
under the fame Title and Notion: And for this reafon the
Inca Viracocha
(as we
!hall hereafter mention) eretl:ed a Temple
in
Honour and Memory of
his llnde
11racocha
;
in
which alfo bis own Fame was celebrated.
We may believe that the Devil, who is a cunningSophiHer, did appear to tbe
Prince either fieeping or waking
in
that Figure ; though the
Jndiam
confidently
report that the Prince was waking, and that this Apparition prefented ic felf co
him as he lay repofing hirnfelf under the fha ow of a Rock : We may imagine
alfo that this Enemy of Mankind played this trick to delude the World, and con–
firm the Authority of that Idolatrous
fuperfiition~
which he had already pla,nted
in the minds of this people: the which feemed the mofi: plaufible w..ay that he
· could proceed ; for that in regard a foundation was already laid of the
Indian
Em–
~ire,
and that by the Confiitutioqs of it, the
IncM
were to be the Lawgivers, and
the Or des of their Religion ; and that
they
were to be believed, and efi:eemed,
and obeyed for Gods; whatfoever contributed to tnis end, and to augment the
reputation and fanetity of the
Incas,
was a point gained towards the advancement
ofthis Gentilifm ; ofwhich, though there go many Stories, yet none is recounted
~ by
them with that admiration, as this Apparition of
Viracocha,
who coming with
· the popular charaeter of an Allye to the Sun, and Brother to the
Incas :
And ha–
ving the good fortune to have his Dream confirmed with the fuccefS ofa Vidory,
carried
fo
much force of belief with
it,
that on. all occafions afterwards of their
diO:refs, they had recourfe
to
his Temple, where the Oracle was confulted, and
direll:ions taken for the management of their affairs.
This is that imaginary
God
Viracocha,
of which fome Writers
report~
that the
Indian.1
efreemed him for
their principal God, to whom they were more devoted than to the Sun
:
But this
is certainly a milla
, and ferved onely for a piece of flattery to the
Spaniards,
that
,they might believe they gave them the fame Title and
ame, as they did to their
chiefeLl: God : but in reality they Adored no God ' ith fuch devotion as they did
the Sun, ( unlefs
it
were the
P
achacamac)
which they called the unknown God
:
For as to the
Spanidrds,
they gave them at firfi the Title of Children co the Sun,
in
fuch manner as they did co the Apparition
Yir1tcocha.
•