Image: Kipling cover art

Description: The elephant would be a reference to Airavat, the elephant of Indra, the king of the Hindu gods ( equivalent of the Greek deity Zeus , the elephant is seen carrying a lotus flower. It is the mount of Indra, and the Gaja ( Sanskrit word for elephant) or Gajaraj ( kingly elephant) was a respected and majestic figure associated with intelligence and wisdom and also fidelity. The deity Shiva's elder son, Ganesha ( the Roman Janus is similar ) has an elephant head and is associated with writing ( he is said to have personally helped in putting the epic "Mahabharata" into written script while its sage-composer Vyasa was narrating it aloud ), but the elephant-image shown in the seals on Rudyard Kipling's book is not Ganesha, it is Airavat.
Title: Kipling cover art
Credit: Two images from the part of the covers of books by Rudyard Kipling (Methuen &Co. 1919 and Macmillan &Co, 1930). Images scanned by User:Dabbler to illustrate the article on Kipling. I created this image from two images that are in the public domain as copyright has expired. S.Balakrishnan, Creative Consultant, New Delhi
Author: The artist is probably Lockwood Kipling, Rudyard Kipling's father.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No