Mangala's Nature

Posted 11:41 GMT
Now you must not think that Mangala, just because he was the god of war and empire, particularly looked forward to war. Like the rest of the world, Mangala's stomach churned, his brows furrowed, he looked at men and women and wondered if they were already among the future dead.

For the job of a god of war is neither to promote war nor to prevent it. Mangala observes as a naturalist does the typical behavior of a species, admires the admirable and dismisses from the realm of beauty and truth that which is unworthy. For a god of Mangala's job description, as for a general or a president, war is a project, one of human relations for the president, of science for the general, and of art for the god.

So like the rest of the world, Mangala waited.