The great religions of India

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

From a. photograph

by Moffat, Edinburgh

THE

GREAT RELIGIONS
OF INDIA

BY THE

REV. J. MURRAY MITCHELL
M.A., LL.D.

WITH PREFATORY NOTE

BY THE

VFRY REV. JAMES MITCHELL, D.D.

WITH PORTRAIT

YOUNG PEOPLE'S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT

NEW YORK

PRINTED 15Y

TURNBULL AND SPEAKS,
EDINBURGH

PREFATORY NOTE

THE Duff Missionary Lectureship was in-
stituted in 1880, both as a memorial of that
prince of Missionaries, the Rev. Dr Alexander
Duff, and at the same time as a means of
advancing that cause to which he had devoted
his life. By the terms of the trust deed a
course of lectures, not fewer than six in
number, must be delivered every four years
in Edinburgh and Glasgow, or in Glasgow
and Edinburgh, or in Edinburgh and Glasgow
alternately. The Trustees are men belonging
to different denominations, and the Lecturer
must be a minister, a professor, or a godly
layman of some Evangelical Church.

The author of the following lectures was a
life-long friend of Dr Duff; but apart altogether
from this relationship, no man living has had a
longer experience of missionary work, or a
wider personal acquaintance with missions in
every part of the world. At a very early age
he had dedicated himself to Foreign Missionary
work, and no pecuniary or other inducements

6 PREFATORY NOTE

at home, proved any temptation to abandon
his intention of devoting his genius and his
life to the advancement of Christ's Kingdom in
India. With his brilliant University career,
his great scholarship, his classical learning, his
literary tastes, and his many and varied accom-
plishments, he might have fairly looked forward
to some honourable if not lucrative post at
home ; but what things were gain to him, these
he counted loss for Christ, and from his early
only choice he never swerved. He conse-
quently went out to India, better equipped
than most, for the faithful and successful
discharge of that work to which the Lord had
called him, and in which he found ample scope
for all the unusual intellectual gifts with which
he was endowed, and for that broad and
sympathetic catholicity of spirit which was his
leading characteristic.

From a very early period he had made the
religions of India a special study. He
delighted in the comparative study of these
religions and in tracing the points of resem-
blance between Christianity and Buddhism
and between the Bible and the Koran — yet
never with the result, which some have arrived
at, of regarding the Christian religion as but
one of several systems, each of which has its

PREFATORY NOTE 7

distinctive excellence, — possibly the best of
them all, but yet having no more right to be
regarded as the one truth, than any of the rest.
While compelled to admit that, compared with
Islam the religion of Muhammad, Christianity
is making slow progress both in India and in
Africa, he yet maintained that few earnest
and sustained efforts have been made to
influence Muhammadans to become Christians.

When Dr Murray Mitchell was appointed
Duff Lecturer four years ago, he immediately
set about the preparation of the lectures with
his usual enthusiasm, and in as many weeks he
had six lectures finished on Paul's missionary
journeys. No sooner were they completed,
however, than his thoughts reverted again to
India, and to the religions with which Chris-
tianity was there brought into conflict, and " the
Greater Religions of India " became the subject
of his thoughts, which never after deviated into
any other channel.

For nearly eighteen months he was almost
exclusively occupied with these, and with such
absorption that he could think or speak of
little else until the lectures were finished at
the close of last year. They were delivered
in Edinburgh and Glasgow in the months of
January and February of this year, but not,

8 PREFATORY NOTE

however, by him, but by me — for a persistent
hoarseness, gradually increasing, had rendered
it impossible for him to speak so as to be
heard distinctly in a hall of any size.

As it is a condition of the Trust that the
lectures after their delivery shall be published
and copies presented to certain public libraries
in this country, in Continental Europe, and in
America, India, Africa and Australia, he
immediately occupied himself with their pre-
paration for the press, and with the addition of
certain notes to the different lectures. But this,
though full of pleasure, proved rather too
arduous a task for his increasing weakness, and
he reluctantly abandoned the idea of adding as
many notes as he had originally intended, and
even of giving the final revisal of the proofs for
the press. This has been to me, as the
delivery of the lectures themselves had been,
a labour of love which I cheerfully discharged.
I had hoped that my uncle might have been
spared to see the volume published, but God
willed it otherwise; and on the i/j-th of
November, in the ninetieth year of his age,
after a fortnight of great suffering, but of
perfect peace, he entered into the rest that
remaineth for the people of God.

JAMES MITCHELL.

CONTENTS

LECTURE FIRST

PAGE

INTRODUCTORY . • • • .11

LECTURE SECOND
HINDUISM . • • • 42

LECTURE THIRD

ZOROASTRIANISM . . • .112

LECTURE FOURTH
BUDDHISM . • • J74

LECTURE FIFTH

MUHAMMADANISM . 2°9

LECTURE SIXTH
THE RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES , . 251

INDEX • • -279

LECTURE FIRST

INTRODUCTORY

THE course of lectures which we commence
to-day is called The Duff Missionary Lectures.

They are so designated in memory of one
of Scotland's noblest sons, whose name is
familiar in the mouths of us all as a household
word, Dr Alexander Duff.

The object of the lectureship is the further-
ance of the great cause of Missions to the
Heathen. I have earnestly considered how, in
these lectures, this could best be done. Had
I possessed the eloquence of Dr Duff, it might
have been well to make them a series of
earnest pleadings, intended to arouse the
conscience and heart of the Christian Church.
For most assuredly the Church is, at best,
only half-awake in regard to Missions. What
said her Lord, when delivering His last behest,
as He was about to ascend on high? His
words were these : " Go into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every creature : "

12 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

UA11 the world — to every creature." It is
now nearly two thousand years since that
great command was given ; and yet at this
moment there are a thousand millions of our
fellow creatures who have not even heard the
Gospel. It was a true saying of Dr Duff's
that the Christian Church has hitherto been
only " playing at Missions." She has not yet
in any real and deep sense taken up the work.
Even the Moravian Church, although nobly
distinguished in this respect, has not fully
risen to a sense of the imperative duty, or the
grandeur of the privilege, of evangelising
the world. Narrow-mindedness and narrow-
heartedness ; — all our Home Churches are
chargeable with these things. Remonstrance,
pleading, aye, passionate appeal, are still in-
dispensably necessary.

Yet all things considered, I have thought it
well to bring the subject of Missions before
you in another way, a way which, I would
fain hope, may prove instructive and efficient.

"Mine eye," said the ancient prophet,
" affecteth mine heart." What he saw hefe/t.
The misery which he beheld around him
aroused his inmost soul. Even so, if you
could be transported to India, or China, and

INTRODUCTORY 13

actually see Pagan worship, the impression on
your hearts would be deep and ineffaceable,
far more so than can be produced by the
most ardent and eloquent appeal. I shall
never forget how my own blood ran cold in
my veins, when I first saw a human being
bowing down to a god of stone.

For a considerable time past, one has
observed a remarkable change in the way of
regarding non-Christian religions. For a long
time they were considered as little better than
masses of unmitigated falsehood, and therefore
deserving of unmitigated condemnation. But
in recent days we have been hearing of " ethnic
inspiration" and so on. This is a strong
reaction from the previous state of things.
But every reaction naturally tends to run into
excess, and ere long a reaction from the
reaction becomes necessary. It is high time
to assume a middle position — which, indeed,
is that of St Paul. The Apostle held that
God has " never left Himself without witness "
—being revealed to all men in the works of
creation and providence, and in the mind of
man ; but he also held that the nations "did
not like to retain God in their knowledge,"

14 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

and that the consequence had been very fear-
ful moral corruption (Romans i. 20-32).

Another point. When we study the
heathen religions we are often startled, some-
times shocked ; and we are ready to denounce
the teaching and the teachers as intentionally
wrong. But, for the most part, that is unfair.
It is far better to think of the nations as sick
in soul, and of their religions as medicines
honestly prescribed as remedies by well-mean-
ing, but unskilled physicians. It is deeply
pathetic to watch their treatment of the sick
and dying. When the physician has erred,
even grievously — pity and sorrow, at least as
much as indignation, are the feelings which
the occasion calls for.

My effort in these lectures will be to give
an unprejudiced and true account of heathen
systems. And in so doing I shall feel it a
solemn duty to try to be perfectly fair to
these systems, and to avoid all exaggera-
tion.

Christians, and especially missionaries, have
been often charged with narrow-mindedness —
with being able to see nothing but the faults
and errors of heathen creeds. If that be
true, it is much to be regretted. Heathen

INTRODUCTORY 15

religions are not all " dark as Erebus " ; they
are not all equally dark ; and all, or almost all,
retain some elements of truth. My object
then will be not to denounce but to describe ;
not to expose but to expound.

The special subject of the lectures is The
Great Religions of India.

It might almost have been called the great
religions of the world; for all of these — with
the exception of Confucianism — now exist in
India.

I have lately been reading again the story of
our acquisition of that great continent ; and
have been more than ever impressed with the
lessons it so strikingly conveys.

How are we, as Britons, to think of India ?
With pride, some will say. But a much truer
answer is, with awe.

"The existence of the Indian Empire has
often been called a miracle. It cannot be
accounted for by any process of reasoning
founded on experience." So speaks a well-
informed and thoughtful writer.1 Similarly says
another of high authority: "As time passes,
we are in the hands of Providence, which is
1 Mr Meredith Townsend.

1 6 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

greater than all statesmanship. Let us think
how India was won, and how, when seemingly
lost, it was restored."1

I trust we all believe in national responsi-
bility, and see that Britain's responsibility in
connection with India is overwhelmingly great.
The hand of God has put us there. The eye
of God is on us there. History is strewn with
the wrecks of nations, the u ruins of empires " ;
shall a fallen Britain be yet added to the
melancholy list ? That we are convinced will
depend on our discharge of our national
obligations ; and one of the most solemn of
these is in connection with that great Eastern
dependency, so wonderfully given and so
wonderfully preserved.

The astronomer Kepler, when engaged in
the study of the celestial phenomena, used to
say that he was reading "the great thoughts
of God " ; and it is not presumptuous in us to
try to read these as also revealed in the
providential movements of the world. We
are in India for a purpose — a purpose worthy
of God. Let us ever pray that our presence
there may tend to the glory of God and the
happiness of unhappy India !

1 Sir John Seeley.

INTRODUCTORY 17

Our subject, then, is the Great Religions of
India. In this lecture I can do little more than
give you a sketch-map of the journey we are
about to take. I shall simply enumerate the
various religions, and deal with them geo-
graphically, showing the localities which they
occupy in India. Their character, history,
and influence will be dealt with in future
lectures.

Some of the Indian religions extend over
the whole country, and others are confined to
special localities.

I. The first which I shall mention — the
greatest of them all — is that which we call
Hinduism, but the Hindus themselves call
Arya dharma — the Aryan religion. It
extends over the whole of India, though in
a feeble form in Burma and Ceylon.1 Its
followers are, in round numbers, nearly two
hundred millions of men.

Hinduism is very far from uniform in char-
acter : in different places very different beliefs
and institutions exist. Generally it may be
called a stupendous polytheism, shot through
and through with a stupendous pantheism. Its

1 Ceylon is a Crown colony, not politically a part of
India.

B

1 8 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

grand all-pervading characteristic is what we call
Caste. The idea of caste barely exists in any
other nation ; but it may be called the distinctive
mark of Hinduism ; it sways the Hindu mind
with irresistible power. The community is
divided into separate classes or ranks. The
highest class is supposed to be inherently holy ;
the Brahman is a ugod on earth"; the lowest
classes are inherently polluted, and their very
touch pollutes.

II. The next system we mention is
Buddhism. It is of later origin than Hinduism,
having arisen in the fifth century B.C. It may
be regarded as a reaction against Hinduism.
It arose in northern India and spread far and
wide throughout the peninsula ; and for many
centuries it seemed likely to prevail over
Hinduism. It extended also into the sur-
rounding regions : Tibet, Mongolia, Siam,
China, Japan ; and in all of these countries it
continues — and in some of them is powerful—
to this day. In India, however, for reasons not
very certainly known, it declined, until about
the twelfth century A.D., when it disappeared
from India proper, though it continued, and
continues, powerful in Burma and Ceylon.
It is found also, in a somewhat feeble state, in

INTRODUCTORY 19

the upper reaches of the valleys of the Indus,
among the Himalaya mountains.

Though Buddhism is usually called a religion,
it is really atheistic.

III. A system very similar to Buddhism is
Jainism. The Jains now amount to about a
million and a half. They are found chiefly in
western and central India. Like Buddhism
Jainism is atheistic. Worship is paid chiefly
to dead men.

The most distinctive tenet of the Jains is
reverence for life : they would on no account
put to death any living thing. They provide
hospitals, in which worn-out creatures of all
kinds are kept in life as long as possible.

It is remarkable that the Jains have always
been great temple-builders. The finest temples
in all India are those erected by them on Mount
Abu in South Rajputana. The Jains are
engaged chiefly in merchandise. Many of
them are rich traders and bankers. There are
few or no cultivators among them.

IV. Next may come the religion of the
Parsis or Zoroastrianism.

The word Pars! means Persian. The Parsis
are refugees from Persia. Soon after the
death of Muhammad, his followers, the Arabs,

20 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

broke into Persia, and in three great battles
overwhelmed the Persian monarchy. They
gave their conquered foes the usual threefold
choice of conversion, subjection, or death. The
readiness with which the great mass of the
people accepted the new faith shows that the
old Zoroastrian religion had not deeply affected
them as a nation. A portion, however, held
out ; and of these a small body sought refuge
in Western India. They were kindly received;
they settled, at first, chiefly as cultivators, and
have gradually developed into an important
trading community, which has now its head-
quarters in the city of Bombay.

The Parsis have often been styled fire-
worshippers, but they resent the appellation,
and declare that they reverence fire or light as
being the purest symbol of the unseen Deity.
They have no idols. They are not polytheists,
but claim to be monotheists.

They are a small but highly intelligent and
influential body — in character and manners now
barely distinguishable from Europeans.

A very small remnant of Parsis still exists
in Persia itself. They are poor, and much
oppressed by the Muhammadans ; but morally
they are in a high degree respectable.

INTRODUCTORY 21

V. I have now to call your attention to Islam
or Muhammadanism. This great religion is
by no means confined to India. It is far ex-
tended in Asia ; it is still farther so in Africa ;
and it is the faith of nearly half the population
of Turkey in Europe.

In India itself, according to the latest census,
it reckons no less than sixty-three millions of
followers — at least one in five of the population;
and the number is still increasing.

Muhammadanism is, like Christianity, a
missionary religion. None of the religions
already mentioned, with the exception of
Buddhism, can be so called. For example,
Hinduism cannot receive converts. Muhammad
commanded his followers to extend the true
faith, when needful, by the sword ; and every
Muhammadan would gladly do so, if he had
the power. We need not wonder then if — as
our empire stretches out — we find "mad
Mullahs" — as we call them — confronting us
at every step. These men — whether mad or
sane — believe that in opposing the infidel they
are doing God service. But peaceful men who
do not fight are also eager to extend the faith.
It has been said that they seek to do this for
political reasons — desiring to increase the power

22 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

of Muhammadanism, inasmuch as every convert
becomes its ally. But that is not the sole
reason for their so doing. An Arab merchant,
travelling in the prosecution of his business,
will spend money and take personal trouble to
make converts, because he honestly holds that
the belief of Islam is helpful towards a man's
salvation. Here, then, is laudable consistency.

Muhammadanism, like Hinduism, is more or
less diffused over the whole of India. For a
long time it advanced through war and con-
quest. The great conqueror Mahmud of
Ghazni conducted ten separate invasions of
Northern India, and inflicted unspeakable
suffering wherever his armies reached. One
host of Muhammadans after another came
from the North and extended the faith of
Islam. The Rajputs in particular opposed it
gallantly ; and so, in later days, did the
Marathas and the Sikhs; but, on the whole,
the Muhammadans have steadily gained ground.

One remarkable result has been that various
sects have sprung up, which are partly Hindu
in sentiment and partly Muhammadan; and
most of these continue in existence to this day.

Of late the stricter Muhammadanism has
asserted its sway more than formerly ; and

INTRODUCTORY 23

from among the lower castes the influx of
converts into Islam has been very considerable.
The reason of this success is not far to seek.
Every Muhammadan, as I have said, desires to
see converts. The lower classes of the people,
who are despised and down-trodden by the
higher Hindus, know that if they profess Islam
they are sure to be welcomed by a powerful
community. Should the higher Hindus attempt
to tyrannise over them when converted, their
rights would be vehemently maintained by the
whole Muhammadan body.

Of course it is the same thing if the low-
caste native become a Christian : his rights are
vindicated. But note one difference. The
convert is welcomed at once by the Muham-
madans — no questions as to his motives are
asked; whereas, before he is received by
baptism into the Christian Church, a strict ex-
amination must be submitted to. The question
has been asked whether missionaries are not
sometimes too severe in their examination of
inquirers. The thing is possible. I believe that,
when once they are convinced of an inquirer's
sincerity, they should receive him more readily
than has sometimes been done, and that there
has been on the whole a leaning to over-

24 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

strictness. This is far better than over-laxity ;
but still, it is regrettable.

VI. The next religion I mention is that of
the Sikhs.

The word Sikh means disciple. The system
arose with Nanak, who was born in 1469.
Before his time there had sprung up in India a
conviction of the infinite importance of having
a guru, or infallible teacher. As Muham-
madanism extended, this feeling deepened ; for
the Moslems spoke continually of their match-
less, infallible Prophet. Nanak had been deeply
impressed by Muhammadan teaching ; it is
even said he had gone on pilgrimage to Mecca.
But, rejecting both the Quran (Koran) and
the Hindu Shastras, he produced a new
scripture of his own — the " Grantha," or Book —
which he hoped would harmonise the teachings
of conflicting systems. It is morally a good
book, but weak in thought. It is pantheistic
in theology rather than monotheistic. It
inculcates the supreme importance of the guru
or true teacher. The Grantha is in the
language of the people — and this has given it
a great advantage both over the Arabic Quran
and the Sanskrit Shastras. Nanak was a
mystic quietist, and the religion at first spread

INTRODUCTORY 25

peacefully. But by and by, his successors
took part in political movements, and one of
them was executed as a rebel by the Emperor
Aurungzib. Whereupon the peaceful Sikhs
sprang into a host of warriors. Every true
Sikh must thenceforth be a soldier. He stood
apart from other men. He would not con-
descend to notice the Hindu : the Muhammadan
he was bound, if possible, to slay. The Sikhs
by and by became an independent nation ; and
in the early years of last century, under the
strong hand of Ranjit Singh, "the Lion of
the Panjab," they grew very powerful.
When Ranjit died in 1839, the Sikhs could no
longer be controlled. They made war on the
British. They were crushed ; and now this pre-
eminently warlike race appears to be thoroughly
loyal to the British Crown. They amount to
about two millions of men, living almost
exclusively in the north-west of India, especially
in the Panjab.

We have seen that Muhammadanism,
vehemently iconoclastic, earnestly proselytis-
ing, and generally victorious in battle, has
exerted a powerful influence on the mind of
India.

26 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Even so it was to be expected that the large
influx of Christian ideas, and of Western ideas
generally, that has of late been increasingly
going on, would tell powerfully on Hinduism.
" Ours," as Sir James Fitzstephen said, " is a
belligerent civilisation." The Hindus are
conservative, wedded to traditionary beliefs
and observances, and time was when Hindu
teachers professed to regard with supreme
contempt the efforts of Christians to extend
the Gospel, but that time has long since passed
away. In the ancient Roman Empire the
religious influence exerted by the Jews was far
from insignificant. Seneca uses the strong
language : " the vanquished have given laws
to the victors." 1 The great truths which were
held by the Jews regarding God and the soul,
sin, holiness, heaven and hell, could not but
powerfully affect the minds of all thinking
men. They might be disliked by a corrupt and
frivolous people; but, insensibly, irresistibly,
they carried the conviction of many. Even
so, now in India, the unity of God, the evil of
idol-worship, the tyranny of caste, the goodness
of God, the surpassing elevation and purity of
the character of Christ — a conviction or half-

1 Victoribus •olcti leges dederunt.

INTRODUCTORY 27

conviction of these fundamental verities is
steadily extending. No doubt, ideas change
before institutions, old customs moulder away
but slowly, even when the beliefs on which
they rest have been demolished. Still, the
mind even of bigoted India is not impenetrable,
and influential reformers have arisen. The
best known name in connection with the
recent reform of Hinduism is that of a Bengali
Brahman, Rammohan Rai. He was a thoughtful
and inquiring man, who studied both Greek
and Hebrew that he might be able to read the
Christian Scriptures in the original languages.
In 1820 he published a book with the
remarkable title: "The precepts of Jesus, a
Guide to Truth and Happiness." He in-
stituted the well-known Society called the
Brahma Samaj. He maintained that Christ
was exalted above all other creatures.

The Society has continued to the present
time, and has branches over a great part of
India. In later days the best known name
among its leaders has been that of Keshub
Chunder Sen, who was not a Brahman. He
immensely admired Christianity, but maintained
towards the end of his life the strange belief
that all religions are true.

28 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

The Calcutta Brahma Samaj, on the whole,
makes but little progress in numbers.

The same thing may be said of the Prathana
Samaj — literally Prayer Society — in Bombay.
This body has been more under the influence
of Brahman leaders than the Calcutta Society,
and its references to Christianity have been
less frequent and less hearty.

Many Hindus who see that some reform in
their old faith is necessary are by no means
prepared to go to the same length as the
Societies I have mentioned. This is the case
with the Arya Samaj, i.e. the Aryan Society.
It was founded by a Gujarat! Brahman about
twenty-seven years ago. He rejected all the
Hindu Shastras except the Vedas. He
asserted that the Vedas teach strict mono-
theism ; and idol-worship he rejected. He
maintained that the chief scientific discoveries
of modern days — electricity, steam boats,
railways, and all the rest are indicated in the
Vedas. Dayananda — the name he assumed —
probably believed what he said, but the idea
was utterly preposterous; and at a great
convocation of learned Brahmans his peculiar
views were condemned. The Arya Samaj,
however, continues — though scouted by

INTRODUCTORY 29

orthodox Hindus. It is mainly distinguished
for its opposition to Christianity.

VII. There still remain to be mentioned
the religions of the wilder races — the Hill and
Forest tribes.

I must content myself with a brief enumera-
tion of the most important of these.

Beginning from the North, we have the
Lepchas in the Himalayas ; the Khasis and
kindred tribes in Assam ; the Santals ; the
Kols and Oraons; the Gonds; the Khonds
in Orissa ; the Bhils ; the Todas on the
Nielgherry Hills; the Hill Arrians ; the
Karens in Burma ; and the Veddahs in Ceylon.

The religion of these simple races is very
largely Animism, or spirit worship, spirits
being generally supposed to preside over
nature. They are almost invariably malevolent
— devils rather than angels. Worship is pro-
pitiation,— deprecation of wrath, or little more.

One entire lecture at least must be given
to these simple but very interesting tribes.
Collectively they amount to nearly nine millions
of human beings. Those who are by birth
derived from the aboriginal races may be
reckoned as about sixteen millions ; but many
— perhaps seven millions — have gradually

30 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

accepted the faith of the Muhammadans or
the Christians, or have been absorbed among
the lowest Hindu castes.

The population of India is much more than
double that of the ancient Roman Empire even
in its proudest days. Herein lies a charge
— a duty — that may well awaken the most
solemn and searching thoughts in the mind of
Britain's sons and daughters.

But look at India's history. We may say
that her past record is like the scroll of the
book which the prophet Ezekiel saw in vision,
written within and without, " with lamentation
and mourning and woe" — this, at all events, until
comparatively recent years. Invasion after
invasion from without ; incessant wars within ;
great famines; fearful pestilences; — and all
these scourges frequently recurring.

And what has unhappy India had to comfort
her ? She has had the various religions about
which I have been speaking. They meant
well — those heathen systems, as I said before ;
they supplied all the consolation they could ;
but oh how deeply does one feel that
" miserable comforters are they all ! "

And now we British Christians are placed in

INTRODUCTORY 31

India, as I said, for a purpose worthy of God.
We are on our trial. May our hearts be
exalted to the sublimity of our high calling !
For we are there, not that we may fatten on
India's fertility and enrich ourselves at her
expense, but that we may rule in righteousness,
and in every way seek the good of India. The
discharge of this obligation forms, in Lord
Curzon's weighty words, " the supreme touch-
stone of national obligation." God grant then
that we may be able

" As with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the foul bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart " ;

and that, as far as in us lies, we may make
India a sharer in the spiritual and temporal
blessings which we ourselves enjoy — aye, and
teach her to emulate, nay to surpass, ourselves
in all that forms the glory and defence of
nations.

You naturally ask : Does that day of days
appear to be still far off? Even if it do so —
" far-off its coming shines," and from afar we
hail the gladsome, waxing splendour.

Yet we dare not pronounce it to be far off.
And when it comes, we seem warranted in
believing that the conversion of India will

32 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

resemble that of the Roman Empire, in coming
suddenly.

Let us hear the opinion on a kindred question
of a distinguished English churchman, Canon
Liddon : " Long before the Roman Empire was
Christian, the air, so to speak, was filled with
Christian ideas. The Christian creed was
discussed and rediscussed by those who did
not yet hold it ; and while stray conversions
took place in all ranks of life, the mass of
the people remained apparently attached to the
old Paganism. In the middle of the third
century not more than one twentieth part was
Christian. In the next century the conversions
came with a rush."

Ere long we expect to witness such a rush
— or what we generally call mass movements —
in India. Hitherto, on account of that singular
institution, Caste, which binds into unities
large bodies of the population — to draw a man
from out the mass, has been like extracting a
particle from the flinty rock. By and by that
strong cohesiveness will tell in an entirely
different way; and, when a considerable part
begins to move towards Christianity, probably
the whole mass will move. Hitherto men have
come over individually ; by and by they will

INTRODUCTORY 33

come in flocks. Quite possibly the gregarious
tendency may act only too powerfully, and
men may press into the kingdom because their
fellows are pressing. That difficulty indeed is
almost certain to arise ; and the churches will
have to deal with it when it comes.

Still the question presses : Is it likely to
come soon? Well, I had rather preach than
prophesy ; but I believe it will come much
sooner than many expect.

I do not ground my belief chiefly on the fact
that Christianity is advancing, we may say,
rapidly in India ; for example, in ten years, while
the general native population advanced twenty
per cent, the Protestant Christian population
increased one hundred and five per cent. But,
as one of our best missionary magazines lately
expressed it : " During the last few years a
vast change has been effected in the attitude of
the people towards Christianity. A deep and
growing interest is being shown, especially by
the young men in India, towards the person
and history of Christ. Though, at present,
they will have little or nothing to do with
Church organisation, and shrink from the
thought of baptism, yet they devour with real
eagerness any literature bearing on the history,

34 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

person, and work of Jesus ; and no book in
India is in so many hands as the Gospels ; and
no name looms so largely on the horizon of the
thoughts of the people as the name of Jesus
Christ."

"They shrink from the thought of baptism."
Are they then genuine inquirers ? Let me
briefly explain the position of religious inquirers
in India. People may condemn their hesitation ;
but with the censure they will surely mingle a
large amount of sympathy and pity.

As soon as it is known that any member of
a family is inclining to Christianity, the whole
household is thrown into agitation. The women
especially fill the house with wailings. They
intreat the young man not to bring indelible
disgrace on himself and all his connections.
He is probably married ; if so, his young wife,
with tears and caresses, implores him not to
break her heart ; let him believe what he likes ;
only he must promise not to be baptised.
Some of the family probably threaten that they
will commit suicide if he become an "apostate,"
and the inquirer knows that they are quite
capable of carrying the threat into execution.
He therefore pauses — agrees to wait, and in
many cases he comes to think that, after all,

INTRODUCTORY 35

the outward ceremony of baptism cannot be
of primary importance, and he can be a true
Christian without it. So then, you probably
say, baptism is shunned because the inquirer
shrinks from personal suffering. Yes, he does
so shrink ; but many an inquirer shrinks even
more from giving pain to others. In more ways
than one in India conversion work is heart-
breaking work all round. If the struggles they
have to pass through were only known, a much
larger measure of sympathy would flow forth
towards the converts. Many prayers are offered
on behalf of the heathen in India ; many also
for native Christians. So far well : but let
many also be offered for inquirers, amid their
great fight of affliction.

You will perhaps say that these are a
missionary's words, and that on such a question
a missionary is naturally too sanguine. Then
let us hear the opinion of Sir Alfred Lyall,
formerly a distinguished member of the Indian
Civil Service. "In India," he says, "change
promises to go on with a speed and intensity
unprecedented." He hopes that "India will
be carried swiftly through phases that have
occupied long stages in the history of other

nations."

36 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Oh day of days when East and West that
have been sundered for ages shall, with one
heart, worship at the Father's footstool !

I am aware that it has been said : —

" East is East, and West is West ; and never the twain
shall meet " ;

but, as an old Indian, I beg leave to correct
the text and read : —

«« East is East, and West is West ; and yet the twain shall

meet,
And Eastern men join Western men in fellowship

complete."

The hopeful words quoted above refer
chiefly to the young men of India — the
educated, who can read regarding the work
and character of the blessed Redeemer. These
already amount to a million of men, and the
number steadily increases. But what about
the uneducated masses?

I ask with the Apostle: "How can they
believe in Him of whom they have not
heard ? " Some have heard, and the result
is cheering; but the multitudes have not
heard, save in a few cases.

Therefore let us "redeem the time." Let
us make up as far as we can for past de-

INTRODUCTORY 37

ficiencies by double diligence in time to come.
Let us press on with all our various Missions —
evangelistic, educational, medical and female.

I would earnestly entreat the Missions that
work for India unitedly to enter into a solemn
covenant, that, so far as in them lies, they
will secure that within a definite period — say
ten years — every inhabitant of India shall have
an opportunity of hearing of Christ and His
salvation. As yet we have only one mis-
sionary— including those of all Christian races
and denominations — to about 70,000 heathen.
Does this content us ?

The enlargement of heart — the devotion
of heart — that this enlarged effort would bring
would come on the languid Church with
surprise, and would bear her rejoicingly and
victoriously onward. Missions would not then
be regarded only as a duty ; they would be
taken up as a delight. And then too the
Church would do — what she never has done
as yet — she would earnestly lay to heart and
solemnly ponder the great commission and com-
mand : "Go into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature." Surely the call is
magnificent; it is an inspiring battle-cry; it
ought to make every one of us a hero.

38 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

The Church would then take up the
question, as a practical and pressing matter,
how the Saviour's will can best, in all its
glorious fulness, be speedily carried out.
Then would it be seen that, all along, the
great difficulty in Missions has been not with
the heart of the heathen, but with the heart
of the Church ; and as Chrysostom long ago
exclaimed, " Ah, there would soon be no
heathen, if we were such Christians as we
ought to be." For, when the heart of the
Church is right, the arm of omnipotence is
free to work. Then the impossible, is im-
possible no more. Then mountains sink to
plains ; and " a nation can be born in a day."
"The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform
this."

And now in conclusion let me ask what
hope there is of our country rising to the high
occasion. In connection with the International
Conference of the Students' Volunteer Mission-
ary Union valuable information has lately been
given, and very earnest appeals have been made,
on which we doubt not the blessing of God
will largely rest. The single fact that there
are now throughout the world many thousands
of such student volunteers preparing to be

INTRODUCTORY 39

missionaries is a new departure which is full
of significance and full of promise.

The watchword of this great International
Union is " the evangelisation of the world in
this generation." Is that language presump-
tuous ? I do not think so. Let us remember
that, while conversion is the work of God,
evangelisation belongs to man.

Our blessed Redeemer knew the meaning of
His own words when He gave the great com-
mission already quoted, uGo into all the world,
and preach the Gospel to every creature " ;
and in this connection He added, " Lo ! I am
with you always, even unto the end of the
world." In proportion as the great command
is obeyed, so is the glorious promise fulfilled.
We dare not separate these two things. In
proportion as the Church strives to preach to
every creature, in that very proportion will
she realise the Saviour's blissful presence and
support.

" In this generation." It does not follow that
the sublime work of evangelising the world
could have been performed in any, or every,
generation. Even the Apostles, with all their
consuming zeal, could not have evangelised the
world in their generation. They had to begin

4o THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

the work, with eye and heart fixed on the
final issue, and to labour on with full assurance
of success towards the glorious final con-
summation.

Nineteen centuries have passed. The
Church has grown immensely in numbers. It
is a most solemn question: Could she accom-
plish the sublime work now in a generation ?
Those who have most carefully studied the
facts and figures answer Yes. I need not
quote the figures ; but I am convinced these
justify this opinion as to the Church's power.
If I mistake not, there are twenty-five millions
of communicants in our Protestant churches
alone. Now, if these churches were all in-
spired with such zeal as animates the Moravians
— who send to the heathen field at least one
in sixty of their number — we should have a
mighty host of missionaries ; and the blessed
consequence would be that by and by all our
churches would rejoice, as the Moravians do,
in converts from Paganism three times more
numerous than the members of the churches
are at home.

Let the churches then embark heart and
soul in this new Crusade ! It is higher and
holier far than that of the old Crusades. Of

INTRODUCTORY 41

them I have no wish to speak slightingly.
When Palestine fell under the power of the
Muhammadans, it sent a chill to the heart of
Christendom; and prince and peasant were
alike eager to rescue at all hazards the holy
land from the grasp of the infidel. And the
Crusaders performed wonders. They met the
Saracen hosts when these were flushed with
victory ; they rolled back the tide of invasion ;
and they established on the far-off plains of
Asia a kingdom that did no disgrace to the
proud name of European valour.

But this new Crusade is higher and better
far, and it is expressly enjoined by Christ
Himself.

There has been of late a steady rise of
missionary feeling in our home churches.
Certainly when we look back to the days when
the admirable Carey mourned with a breaking
heart over the coldness of Christians in obey-
ing Christ's parting command, there has been
a vast increase of evangelistic zeal ; and there
are many indications that we shall welcome a
still larger one ere long. So let us plead, and
so let us expect !

LECTURE SECOND

HINDUISM

SOMEWHAT less than four thousand years ago
the early Hindus — the Aryas, as they called
themselves — had penetrated by the passes of
the Himalaya mountains into north-western
India. Of their previous history their books
contain no account whatever. They seem to
have been partly an agricultural, but chiefly a
pastoral, people. They had been in close
contact with the Iranians, the ancient Persians,
and were connected more remotely with the
Greeks and Romans. The Aryas were a
gifted, energetic and warlike race. They
consisted probably of several tribes.

They found the country already occupied by
an entirely different people, of darker com-
plexion, but not savages. War speedily
ensued, and was carried on probably on both
sides, but certainly on that of the Aryas — as is
shown in the hymns — with what we must

HINDUISM 43

call ferocity.1 The Aryas were generally
victorious, and they steadily pushed on and on.
They reduced the original inhabitants to
slavery — driving those who would not yield
into the wilder parts of the country.

The original inhabitants were called dasyu by
the invaders — who scoffed at them as "noseless,
speechless, and godless " — words which merely
imply smaller noses, a non- Aryan language, and
a religion unlike that of their enemies.

The early Hindus were decidedly a devout
people. Their ideas seem to us very strange ;
but, from the beginning, and during their long
history, they have manifested a deep sense of
the superhuman and the unseen.

So long as the Aryas remained in the
neighbourhood of the Himalayas — the highest
mountains of the world — those stupendous
masses must have greatly deepened the feeling
in minds which were generally of quick sensi-
bility. Almost everything to them was
wonderful ; and a feeling of awe and reverence,
scarcely distinguishable from worship, must
have been continually called forth. The

1 Here is one passage out of a multitude equally fierce :
"Hurl thy hottest thunderbolts upon them ! Uproot them !
Cleave them asunder ! O Indra, overpower, subdue, slay
the demons."

44 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

exceedingly vast — the exceedingly beautiful —
the exceedingly terrible — all were regarded as
superhuman, and all were adored.

We draw our conceptions of early Hinduism
from its most ancient Scriptures — the Vedas.
These are four in number ; but the first is
especially important. It is called the Rig
Veda — " the Veda of praise " — and comprises
rather more than a thousand hymns. These
were probably collected at least six hundred
years B.C. — having been composed at various
dates during a considerable time preceding.

The religion was not idolatry in the sense of
image-worship. It was nature-worship. The
heavens, the sun, the dawn, the fire, the winds,
the waters — these were the chief objects
invoked. But their view of nature was not
ours. It was exceedingly difficult for the
early Hindu to think of natural objects as dead.
The flowing stream, the rushing wind, the
blazing fire: these all appeared instinct with
life. In other cases in which life was not so
obvious, the visible object was believed to be
animated by an internal something — call it
spirit or god.

The gods were named deva or the " bright

ones."

HINDUISM 45

In the Rig Veda the two most prominent
deities are Agni and Soma ; though it does not
follow that they were so from the beginning of
Hinduism.

Agni (the Latin Ignis) was a being of great
importance. He never indeed ceased to be
the god whom they had so wonderfully called
forth by friction out of two pieces of wood ;
but he dwelt also in heaven, in the sun and the
lightning ; he was a subtle power pervading
all things, ever ready to leap even out of the
black hard rock. A vast mythology sprang up
regarding this marvellous deity.

Soma was hardly less wonderful. He never
indeed ceased to be the yellow liquid which
they had crushed out of a particular plant.
But he was not confined to earth. He was
present in the gladdening rain. And where
was he not ? He was intoxicating, and there-
fore dear to men and gods : indeed the gods
had become immortal by drinking of him.
What could not such a being accomplish for
his worshippers? It really seems as if the
wildest visions they saw when under the power
of intoxication had been accepted as realities
by those old singers.

Not by any means so prominent as these

46 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

two deities, but still greatly admired and loved
was Ushas, the Dawn. In this case we
welcome a sense of the glory of nature,
which unfortunately does not very often appear
in the Vedas. Ushas was not only praised as
beneficent ; she was also admired as supremely
beautiful. Yes, the Dawn, with her far-
streaming radiance, coming back from the land
of mystery, bright, unchangeably young, and
scattering the terrors of night before her — she
was immortal, glorious, divine.

In the Rig Veda an exceedingly high posi-
tion is ascribed to Varuna. This name is
probably the same, etymologically, as the
Greek ovpavos, heaven. It is almost certain
that, at an earlier period, the place assigned to
Varuna was higher still, — that indeed he was
the supreme divinity. A mysterious presence,
a mysterious power, and a mysterious know-
ledge, are all ascribed to him. When two are
in company, he is the third. He loves good
and hates evil; he rewards the good and
punishes the evil. He is the god of the pure,
serene, distant heaven ; and yet he is not far
from any one of us.

You ask, Was Varuna the visible heaven, or
an invisible being presiding over it? The

HINDUISM 47

ancient Hindu hardly distinguished between
the two conceptions. His mind, when it did
not combine the two ideas into one, oscillated
between them.

Varuna appears to have retained his suprem-
acy as long as the Aryas were only in the
northern Punjab. But by and by they spread
to the territory watered by the Jumna and
Ganges, and here he was superseded by the
tumultuous Indra, the god of the atmosphere—
the region of cloud and storm. The awful
purity of Varuna had become oppressive ; his
votaries almost trembled as they approached
him ; and they were not unwilling to forget
him. But it was a deplorable fall when men
began to say, " The haughty Indra takes pre-
cedence of all the gods." To him no high
attributes are ascribed. "Thy intoxication,"
it is said, " O Indra, is most intense." " Im-
petuous as a bull," he rushes to the place
" where the liquor flows," and he drinks it " like
a thirsty stag." That rational men should have
forsaken the god of heaven for such a being as
this may seem incredible. How could it have
come about? The climatic conditions under
which they lived in the Gangetic valley were
chiefly these : there were three great seasons

48 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

—the cold, the hot, and the rainy. Towards
the end of the hot season the heat was terribly
trying. All living creatures — all nature —
languished. Water-courses dried up; cattle
died in large numbers. The suffering people
looked up into the sky. There are the clouds
floating from the ocean, laden with the life-
giving waters ; but they move on, driven by
demons who wish to chain them in the recesses
of the mountains. A most tantalising sight !
The people call on Indra, the god of the air,
pouring out to him large libations of the liquor
which both he and they love so well ; and lo !
soon the lightning-flash is seen. That is Indra
hurling his thunderbolts against the cloud-com-
pelling demons. The thunder roars, ah ! that
is the demon, struck, and howling as he flies
away. Then the blessed waters rush down to
earth ; and man and beast and tree and flower
and all nature are filled with life and joy. For
this the Hindus thought themselves indebted
to the god of the atmosphere.

The hymns are not generally marked by
primitive simplicity ; they are often laboured
and artificial — the voice of a dull priest rather
than that of a gifted singer.

The hymns of every Veda are called Sanhita.

HINDUISM 49

To the Sanhita there is added the Brah-
mana, which is in prose, and was evidently
written much later than the hymns. Its
subject is the application of the hymn to the
ritual. Added to the Brahmana come gener-
ally the Aranyakas, or forest-treatises — written
for the ascetics (who generally lived in the
woods) doubtless at a later time. Finally
come what are called the TJpanishads. It is
in these we see the origin of Hindu philosophy.
Speculation becomes very prominent in these
books ; ritual is barely mentioned. The
Upanishads are very numerous : but only ten
or twelve of them are especially important.
Part of them is in verse ; indeed, instead of
philosophic thought, they often give us poetical
rhapsodies. Out of them were developed by
degrees the six methodised systems of philo-
sophy. The doctrine of the Upanishads is
pantheistic ; and nothing can be more complete
than the change from the ceremonialism of
earlier times to the speculation of these books.
The importance which they attach to know-
ledge is simply unbounded.

I have been speaking of the Rig Veda.

The second of the four Vedas, the Sama
Veda, contains very little independent matter,

50 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

being nearly all extracted from the Rig Veda.
It was intended especially for those who chanted
the sacred texts.

The third or Yajur Veda contains a great
assemblage of sacrificial formulae Evidently
it was not produced in the Punjab but consider-
ably to the east of it, probably in the district
of Sirhind. The change of view from that of
earlier times is very considerable. Snake-wor-
ship now appears. The rites have multiplied.
In the earlier books the eye of the worshipper
was directed mainly to the gods; now the
gods are hardly mentioned, and ceremonies
are greatly multiplied. Devotion has almost
become sorcery. There was a considerable
measure of this even in the earlier books ; now,
it is nearly all in all. This goes on increasing,
until an entirely different kind of thought
arises, which appears in the various philosophical
schools.

The fourth Veda, the Atharva, is next in
importance to the first. There is a great
contrast between the Rig Veda and the
Atharva; morally the latter is immensely the
inferior.

The Atharva was accepted at a considerably
later date than the other, but was never quite

HINDUISM 51

universally acknowledged. The divinities in it
are approached with dread ; they are generally
demons; and the prayer is a deprecation of
their wrath. The book is full of magical
incantations and charms for the destruction of
enemies, the attainment of wealth, and so on.
The book overflows with sorcery. Talismans
and plants are supposed to be possessed of
irresistible power to kill or heal.

If each of these two books represents the
belief of the age in which it was collected, the
corruption of religion must have gone on with
a rapidity to which we can hardly find a
parallel. But probably the Atharva presents
the religion of the lower and larger class.1

As the Aryas advanced into the territories
of the aborigines, they adopted not a few of
their beliefs and rites. The aborigines were
mainly of Turanian, that is Tartar, descent ;
and they were devoted to the worship of
malignant deities, with rites correspondingly
dark and cruel. Some of the gods of the Rig
Veda, as we have seen, were low enough ;
still, they were not demons. But a base

1 Some would say that the Atharva contains an older
form of the religion, though its hymns were later in being
collected. We hardly think so.

52 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

demon-worship ere long became a part of
Hinduism.

But we must by no means overlook the
worship of the dead. Quite distinguishable
from the devas or gods are the pitris or fathers
(patres in Latin). In later writings they are
distinguished from men, as having been
created separately ; but this is not said in the
Vedas. Yama, the offspring of the sun and
the first of mortal men, traversed the road by
which none returns : and he now drinks the
Soma in the innermost part of heaven,
surrounded by the other Fathers. These also
come along with the gods to the banquets
prepared for them on earth, and sitting on the
sacred grass, rejoice in the exhilarating draught.

Darmesteter holds that the religion of the
Indo-European race, while still united, "re-
cognised a supreme God, an organising God,
almighty, omniscient, moral, who was origin-
ally the god of heaven." (Contemporary
Review, Oct. 1879.) Roth had previously
written acutely and learnedly to the same effect.

There is one prayer (so called) which is
pre-eminently holy. It is usually called — from
the metre in which it is composed — the
Gayatu. It may be thus rendered :

HINDUISM 53

Let us meditate on the excellent glory of the
divine sun (or Vishnu) ; may he enlighten our
understandings !

The worship paid to the gods by the Aryas
consisted of prayer and praise — which were
frequently, perhaps generally, accompanied by
offerings. One great offering was melted
butter, poured on the fire, so that it blazed
high, bearing the supplications and the essence
of the offering to the gods. Another frequent
offering was the Soma — the fermented and
intoxicating juice of a plant called Asclepias
acida.

Bloody sacrifices were frequent. Sheep,
goats, bullocks, cows, and buffaloes were
offered. But the grand ceremony was the
As"vamedha — the sacrifice of the horse. In
later days, when this sacrifice went on for
years and when sometimes a hundred horses
were offered, the potency of the rite was held
to be irresistible; and, if the worshipper
desired it, it was one of the most powerful
means that could be used to cause the throne
of the mightiest deities to totter.

The sacrifice of human beings was rare,
and hardly approved. It was called " the way
of the Sudras" — that is, of the conquered

54 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

races ; from whom it had been probably
derived. It was gradually and slowly
abandoned.

It is not easy to state the conceptions which
the early Hindus connected with sacrifice.
We see no evidence that the offering supplied
a meal or feast of which both deity and
devotee partook; and there could be no such
idea when human sacrifices were offered. In
most cases, however, the offerings were believed
to gratify and nourish the deities. Thus
Agni (Ignis), the fire-god, is said to be "fed
abundantly with butter ; " and it was always
with intense delight that Indra quaffed the
exhilarating Soma juice.

Steadily the complexity of the rites increased
till the ritual became the most elaborate that
ever existed. The importance of the Brah-
man— the man of prayer — increased in pro-
portion. The ancient language was less and
less understood by the common people : but
absolute exactness in the pronunciation of
every syllable and letter of the prayer was
indispensable, otherwise a curse instead of a
blessing might descend on the head of the
worshipper. Ere long only the man of prayer
could properly repeat the words, which had

HINDUISM 55

gradually become a magical spell, an incantation.
In no country has sacerdotalism ruled so
despotically as in India, all through its history.

The offerings were generally eucharistic,
/.£., thanksgivings. There were also expiatory
offerings, or atonements ; — and much importance
was attached to these. We may well study
the darkly mystic utterances of those old
books, which even speak of a divine being as
offered in sacrifice. "The nave of the world-
wheel " — that which upholds the order of the
universe, was believed to be the ancient,
mysterious, awful rite of sacrifice.

There were no temples. A space was
marked out in which worship was performed.
Each man worshipped for himself: there was
no public worship in our sense. By and by
the higher rites became possible only to the
wealthy.

It would seem that every chief had a
purohita, or domestic chaplain, who was
qualified to pronounce the sacred texts exactly.
But there were also domestic rites — performed
by, or for, the householder and his wife.

The number of the gods is not clearly
stated. It is often said to be thirty-three.
There is often a confounding of deities, as if

56 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

they were different names of the same personage.
Among these are a few female divinities ; but,
except the Dawn, these are not much regarded.
In later times, however, they became much
more important. The early deities are not
exactly immoral ; indeed the Veda generally
speaks in accordance with the dictates of the
natural conscience.

The Rig Veda believes in the soul of man
as distinct from the body, and separable from
it. At death the soul travels by the path
which was trodden by the forefathers. The
good soul is introduced " into the innermost of
heaven," where Yama, the ancestor of the
human race, banquets with the divinities ; and
the soul shares the delights of heaven.
These, though not impure, are coarse and
earthy, — the stimulating Soma drink entering
largely into them. What comes of the wicked
is not clearly stated: some passages would
almost imply that they are annihilated. So in
the Rig Veda, at least. In the Atharva Veda
they are said to be consigned to dismal, gloomy
pits. In the early books this subject is not
much dwelt upon. It is otherwise, however,
in the later books, and a hell of suffering is
in them clearly stated.

HINDUISM 57

The Hindus have no historical sense, and
the dates we can give to their writings are
largely conjectural. The period — during which
the ideas of the Rig Veda were generally
those of at least the higher people — seems to
terminate about the year 500 B.C. It had
lasted rather less than a thousand years — at
least 800.

The people were doubtless still divided
into septs or clans, quite capable of attacking
each other, yet retaining a sense of unity from
their common ancestry, language and customs.
In several respects they resembled our Highland
clans in their mutual relations.

The Hindus of all grades always speak of
the Veda as the foundation and authoritative
support of their religion; they seldom seem
to be aware how vast a difference exists
between that system as it was in ancient days
and as it is now. There has been large
growth from within and large accretion from
without. Modern Hinduism is not a creed,
but a vast congeries of conflicting creeds.
Great philosophical systems have also been
thought out ; and there is an assemblage of
such works, which are held to be possessed of
a large measure of inspiration. To these we

58 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

shall refer before we close. There are also
1 8 Puranas, which are sacred and fully
authoritative.

But after Buddhism arose and spread widely
there was a great reconstruction of Hinduism.

1. Many of the old gods now disappeared
and a multitude of new ones came in ; and
they are still continuing to come.

2. New doctrines were introduced, for ex-
ample, that of Transmigration. We cannot
say whether this important belief arose
spontaneously or was borrowed from the
aborigines.

No doctrine has impressed the general mind
of India more deeply than this. A man's birth
and condition in the world are held to depend
on his previous character. The succession of
births is, to every man, virtually endless. The
soul is born into the body of a man, or a beast,
or a fish, a reptile, an insect, a plant, or a stone
— for even stones have souls. This belief fills
the Hindu with the gloomiest apprehensions ;
he thinks of the horror of tenanting the body
of a tiger or a loathsome creature like a snake,
a toad or a worm ! And only when the soul
truly knows itself — that is, knows itself to be

HINDUISM 59

one with God — can the hideous process finally
cease.

3. Another novelty is the practice of
pilgrimage, />., visiting holy places. We can
trace this from about 200 B.C. Rivers had
begun to be held in great reverence; and
gradually all India came to be covered with
tirthas — i.e. holy places — on their banks. We
trace them from the Himalayas, south to Cape
Comorin, and from the extreme west of India
to the extreme east. Very popular are the
sacred places along the Ganges from the point
where it breaks out from the Himalaya
mountains, down to the spot where it mingles
with the sea. The holy places along the
Ganges are visited at certain recurring times
by more than a million — occasionally by nearly
two millions of devotees. Perhaps the most
celebrated place of all is Puri, in Orissa, where
there is the famous, or infamous, temple of
Juggernaut (Jagannath), literally, the lord of the
world.

The idea is that by bathing in a sacred stream
all sin is washed away; and much merit is
acquired by the toils of the journey, which
often extends to several hundreds of miles.
Doubtless one reason for the popularity of

60 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

pilgrimage — which is more attractive to women
than to men — is that it breaks in on the terrible
monotony of Indian life. But the evils con-
nected with it are exceedingly great. In
Calcutta I found husbands and fathers strongly
opposed to the wishes of their female relatives
to go to Puri or elsewhere ; and one great
cause of their reluctance was that, when the
caged bird once escaped, it often could not, or
would not, find its way back again. Indeed,
the perils of pilgrimage are always great and
manifold, as also are the moral evils connected
with it.

4. It was mentioned that the early Hindus
had no image-worship. When the natural
object — the fire or stream — was before their
eyes, images were out of the question. But
a love of symbolism was deep in the Aryan
mind from the first ; and in later days perhaps
the most outwardly striking characteristic of
Hinduism is idolatry. Idols, idols everywhere.
They are found all over the land by millions.
They are of stone or metal — brass being most
frequently used — and sometimes of wood.
They are of all sizes — from the gigantic to the
most diminutive — each idol is generally bright
and glaring, being smeared over with the

HINDUISM 61

sacred vermilion colour. Trees also, and any
remarkable masses of rock, are marked in the
same way; indeed, any object may be so —
especially any thing grand, beautiful, terrible,
or repulsive. A distinguished French author,
Bossuet, I think, said of the Greeks and
Romans: Tout etait Dieu, excepte Dieu lui-
meme ; and the words are equally true of the
modern Hindus.

5. Even so, temples which, as we saw, were
at first unknown, are now numberless : temples
of all sizes, — some beautiful, many much the
reverse. There is only one divine being to
whom in all India no temple is ever reared!
I often put the question : " Where in your town
is the temple of the Supreme Being ? " The
answer was an expression of amazement at the
question. " Temple of the Supreme? there is
no such temple." "Why not?" I asked: and
the instant reply was — "Because He is present
everywhere." " Most true," was my rejoinder,
"but surely you could meet to worship Him."
I cannot remember that any Hindu ever
acknowledged the suggestion to be reasonable.
It was heard always with surprise — sometimes
with scorn. This fact of itself reveals the abyss
that separates the Christian mind from the Hindu.

62 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

6. Another very important innovation is
that of Caste. Society is now divided into a
countless number of sections separated from
each other as by insurmountable iron walls.1

We saw that in early days the Brahman
uthe man of prayer," was slowly climbing
towards the pre-eminence which he was to
maintain for more than two thousand years,
and which has not been entirely lost even yet ;
but, as time went on, the number of castes
multiplied and the rules regulating them
became more and more stringent. Caste
observances are determined with a view to
preserving religious purity. The greater part
of a Hindu's duty is contained in obeying the
fixed restrictions as to eating and drinking.
A man may believe what he pleases, and act
almost as he pleases ; and yet, if he keeps
caste rules, he is an orthodox Hindu. The
laws of caste are often as absurd as they are
tyrannical. Thus into the city of Poona,
under the Native Government, no low caste
man was allowed to enter before 9 o'clock A.M.,
or to remain after 3 P.M. Why? Because,

1 Sir Henry Sumner Mayne — who knew India well —
characterized caste as the most desolating and blighting
of all institutions.

HINDUISM 63

before nine and after three he cast too long
a shadow; and wherever that shadow fell
upon a Brahman it polluted him, so that he
dared not taste food or water until he had
bathed and washed the impurity away. So,
also, no low caste man was allowed to live
in a walled town. Cattle and dogs could freely
enter and remain : but not the Mhar or Mang.

Under a Muhammadan or Christian govern-
ment such laws were of course swept aside;
but up to this day in some Native states in-
human restrictions continue. Unless things
have changed very recently, caste still rules with
iron sway in the kingdom of Travancore, in
Southern India.1

7. One truly remarkable change that has
taken place in Hinduism is the cessation of
animal sacrifice. In early Hinduism the rite
of sacrifice went on steadily increasing for
many centuries, the victims becoming more
numerous and the ritual more complex. The
Brahmanas (Treatises appended to the Hymns
of the Veda) — composed probably from 1000
to 800 B.C. — amaze us by the extent to which
the sacrificial system was carried, far exceeding

1 Somewhat more independence of caste customs has
been shown of late by the Travancore Government.

64 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

that of any other religion. Blood, blood,
everywhere and always. The philosopher
Hegel characterized the Hindu mind as maasslos,
i.e. measureless. That quality is seen in the
early sacrificial system as clearly as anywhere.
And yet, for nearly 2000 years it has com-
pletely disappeared. It is usual to ascribe its
termination to Buddhism, which arose in the
fifth century B.C. Vast doubtless was the
effect of Buddhism. But Buddha seems often
only to have given full, clear utterance to ideas
that were rising in many minds. Buddhism
was largely an unavoidable reaction from ex-
treme sacerdotalism.

Animal sacrifice has not indeed ceased in
India, and horrid spectacles are exhibited,
especially at Kalighat in Calcutta ; but these
are no survival of the Vedic rites; they are
relics of the savage aboriginal worship.

8. Another great innovation is the doctrine
of the Avatars, or incarnations of Vishnu; of
which there are generally said to be ten.
The word means descent. The avatars are
the descents from heaven of a divine being
desiring to mingle in the aifairs of human
life. The original conception is a striking
and touching one; the human heart craved

HINDUISM 65

the sympathy and support of a celestial being.
The old Vedic gods did not supply the want;
there was little in common between them and
struggling human beings.

But while we recognise the touching truth
of the original conception, we are startled by
the fantastic forms which the incarnations
assume. The deity becomes first a fish, who
plunges into the deep to rescue Manu, the
ancestor of the human race, and seven holy
men with him, from the universal deluge. I
will not weary you by a full statement of the
other incarnations. One or two references
will suffice. In the sixth, Rama with the Axe
is said to have annihilated the whole of the
Kshatriya caste when they sought to domineer
over the Brahmans. This doubtless points to
a great struggle between the two highest
castes, in which the Brahmans were victorious.
In the ninth descent Vishnu became Buddha,
for the purpose of inculcating error! The
acceptance of his teaching sent men to hell.
There is not a more dreadful conception in
all Hinduism than this. The incarnate Deity
teaching damnable error! Yet this was the
means the Brahmans devised to prevent the
people from becoming Buddhists !

66 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Another fearful practice was the burning
of widows on the same funeral pile with their
husbands. There is no authority for this in
the Veda; but probably the rite had existed
for at least 2000 years; and the murdered
women must have amounted to millions. We
know that from the battle of Plassey, which
gave Britain the sovereignty of Bengal in
1756, to 1829, when the inhuman rite was
suppressed, no fewer than 70,000 widows
were thus burnt to death. The Brahmans
vehemently opposed the suppression of the
dreadful custom ; they declared that it was
commanded in their sacred book ; and to prove
this, they corrupted the text, as Horace Wilson
and other scholars have fully shown. Under
the influence of the Brahmans even a rebellion
seemed imminent; but happily the British
Government stood firm. When I went to
India in 1838 the rite still existed in several
Native states ; and I well remember the horror
I felt when we heard of the burning alive of
nine women along with the corpse of old
Runjit Singh, the "Lion of the Punjaub."
But such deeds of darkness are possible no
longer. Even Hindu opinion would now hardly
tolerate the enormity.

HINDUISM 67

But a great change is still required in the
treatment of women. Marriages are often
ridiculously early. Recent statistics show that
in Bengal there were 433 widows under one
year of age. No widow of the higher castes
can yet re-marry. Her hair must be cut off;
she must be stripped of all her ornaments and
never appear at any family rejoicing; for the
curse of heaven is on her, and she would bring
that curse with her if she mingled with the
rest. No wonder if it has been said that the
old practice of widow - burning would have
been less dreadful than is their treatment now.
That would have been a brief torture ; this is
life-long torture. No doubt the hearts of
fathers and mothers often protest against the
custom, but the cruelty, though not now
universal, is still general.

It may be well to state how worship is per-
formed. Let me describe it as it is conducted
over the Maratha country in Western India.
There is an officiating priest at every temple.
He is not properly a Brahman. He is called
the Gurava. He washes the idol every
morning by pouring water over it, puts a red
pigment composed of sandal wood and oil on

68 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

its forehead, ornaments it with flowers, and
strews flowers round about it. He sweeps
the temple, then cleans it by smearing it every
seven or eight days with cow -dung; and
every night lights a lamp, or several lamps,
before the image.

The image is often visited by other inhabi-
tants of the village, particularly Brahmans.
They pour water over it and offer prayers to it.

This is the public worship. What about
family worship? In all respectable houses
there is an apartment called " the gods' house "
— a chapel, say — in which the images are kept,
ranged for the most part in rows. Almost
always there is a special family idol, a tutelary
god or goddess, which has been worshipped in
the house perhaps for generations. A priest
comes in the morning, enters the chapel, takes
down the deities, bathes them in a pail of
water, takes them out one by one, dries them
well, sets them up again in their places,
anoints them with red pigment, and offers
certain prayers. He receives a fee for his
trouble. Or the homage may be rendered by
the eldest son of the family, if his theological
knowledge enable him to do it properly. The
male members of the family then pray separately

HINDUISM 69

to the idols. The women and children gener-
ally place a few flowers on or near the deities
and set some fruits before them.

What do our readers think of all this ? To
us, as we write it down, it is a pathetic
spectacle. The homage is sincere; but the
deities are of brass or iron.

A great change in the Vedic life was the
rise and rapid growth of speculation. The
early period had been a stirring one. War
had been frequent, especially against the
"black skin," as the aborigines were called.
But by and by, the Aryan supremacy was
secured, and there was time to reflect. The
race pressed down the valley of the Ganges
into warmer regions : and the requirements of
life were more easily met. The country was
then largely covered with forests; probably
there was a wood in sight of every settlement.
In the East there is something very attractive
about life " under the greenwood tree." The
deep shade mitigates the glare and heat of
day. Rain comes in the fixed rainy season —
seldom at other times. All those who were
disposed for thought rather than action, were
easily led to choose a forest sanctuary. These

70 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

men would be almost exclusively Brahmans.
By, and for, such recluses were composed a
number of " Forest Treatises," of which the
most important parts are the Upanishads.
There are about 240 of these — twelve of
which are specially important.

They have been styled "guesses at truth,"
and no doubt the guesses are often far astray.
Professor Whitney calls them " the purest
twaddle." But there is generally sincerity in
the Upanishads, and sometimes earnestness.
There is also often a childlike confession of
ignorance, — everything seems so wonderful in
earth and heaven. Another almost universal
characteristic is — pessimism — a despairing, or
at least desponding, view of human life.

The tone of these writings is prevailingly
pantheistic. When one recollects the mob of
gods that jostle one another in Hinduism it
may seem strange to speak of pantheistic
Hinduism. Yet it is not so strange. The
very multiplication of gods proves that the
Hindu has a deep sense of a divine something
as everywhere diffused. Well, if all Nature is
divine, then every part of it is divine, and may
be worshipped. That of course is not just the
same thing as setting up stocks and stones ;

HINDUISM 71

but the Hindu generally points out the holi-
ness of any spot either by a mark or an image.
Hinduism is thus to be characterised either as
a polytheistic pantheism or a pantheistic poly-
theism.

Philosophy enters deeply into Hinduism;
and it is high time that reference should be
made to the subject. Anything like a full dis-
cussion of it in these lectures is quite out of
the question; I should weary you to death if I
undertook it. All that I can now attempt is
to state the outlines of one or two of the lead-
ing systems of Indian thought.

Let me remind you that ritualism had gone
on steadily extending long before speculation
began. In the Rig Veda the only attempt to
philosophise appears in one or two of the latest
hymns.

Reference has already been made to the
Upanishads, the treatises appended to the
Veda, as being mainly pantheistic in tendency.
Indian philosophy was finally methodized or
arranged into six leading systems which greatly
conflict with one another on fundamental ques-
tions. But on the whole what may be called
the reigning philosophy is the Vedanta. This
name means the end of the Vedas ; — though as-

72 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

suredly it is not the end to which the Vedas
naturally conduct us.

A short statement of this philosophy is
found in the Vedanta Sara (Kernel of the
Vedanta), which was probably composed about
800 A.C. It distinctly asserts that the Vedanta
philosophy is drawn from " the Upanishads
and works the auxiliary thereto." No mention
is made of the Vedas in this connection.

A learned writer has said of the Vedanta
philosophy, " such a system, even if it be
perfectly comprehensible, cannot be represented
by language." The words are not encouraging
either to you or me ; but let us all do our best
to understand the doctrine.

" The soul and God (Brahma) are one : to
show this is the scope of all Vedanta treatises,"
so says the Vedanta Sara. A great Upanishad
says that there was in the beginning " only
one without a second " (or in Latin unum, non
secundum, both adjectives in the neuter gender.)

The following verse is very well known : —

I sum up in half a couplet of ten million books the sense, —
God is real, world unreal, soul is God and none beside.

There are two great sentences continually
quoted; Tat tivam, i.e. That art thou, and
A ham Brahma, i.e. I am God.

HINDUISM 73

God is the sole reality. All else is only
appearance; it seems, but is not. Its seeming
existence is owing to ignorance, otherwise
called illusion. God and Ignorance are two
eternal existences.

This last assertion is in direct contradiction
to the fundamental belief that God alone exists.
But as has been often shown, the Vedanta is
far from self-consistent.

Ignorance is possessed of two powers — En-
velopment and Projection. The former con-
ceals from the soul its identity with God ; the
latter power projects the appearance of an ex-
ternal world.

There are four conditions of the soul ; being
awake, dreaming, dreamless sleep, and a fourth
state which is beyond dreamless sleep. When
awake a man is grossly ignorant of reality ;
asleep and dreaming, he is freed from a portion
of this ignorance ; when asleep without dreams,
he is still farther freed. But the consumma-
tion is the fourth state. Thus the world that
appears around us is an entire illusion; the
world seen in dreams is less so.

True knowledge therefore is the grand
requisite. " He who knows what soul is gets
beyond grief." " He who knows God becomes

74 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

God."1 "When He the first and the last
has been discerned, then one's own acts are
annihilated." 2

Throughout we have the strongest possible
assertions; but of proof, of evidence, not a
tittle.

It is remarkable how writers — poets especially
of unquestioned orthodoxy, can unconsciously
slip into the language of pantheism. Thus
Wordsworth —

" Thou, Thou alone,
Art everlasting and the blessed spirits
Which Thou includest as the sea her waves."

But Indian Pantheism is a fixed belief, calmly
and coldly stated.

In connection with the Vedanta we may
notice the Yoga system. The term Yoga
properly means concentration. The Yoga pro-
fesses to seek union with God. Some Hindus
assert that the higher form of Yoga is a true
and lofty philosophy fitted to lead the human
soul into true union with the divine.

There are eight means of mental concentra-
tion— which again, with the usual super-
subtlety of India, are amplified into eighty-four.
One may say that the Yogis expect to become

1 Vedanta Sara, 18. * Ib'uL, 143.

HINDUISM 75

divine by ceasing to be human. They employ
the most unnatural and painful postures, con-
tortions of the limbs, suppression of the breath,
and so forth. The effort is not only to become
divine, but to be possessed of supernatural
powers. The Yogi — generally a most repulsive
object in outward appearance — professes to
work miracles ; the credulous multitude believe
him, and supply his bodily wants. The man
in time becomes an expert conjurer and can
play wonderful tricks.1

Though Europeans who have seen the
Yogis are always ready to express disgust with
them and their professions, it is right to re-
member that the principle of asceticism is so
deeply implanted in the Indian mind that the
Yogi may be a believer in his own supernatural
powers, as well as in his desire for union with
the divine. In India I could not help feeling
that the spectacle of a fully developed Yogi
was more painful, if possible, even than open
idol-worship.

One is ready to exclaim that these are the
dreams only of a few self-styled philosophers.

1 In a book lately published — " The Mystics, Ascetics,
and Saints of India — by J. C. Oman," we have representa-
tions of the astonishing attitudes these men assume.

76 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

But to a considerable extent they have pene-
trated the common mind. Often when I have
asked, " Who is it that speaks in you ? " the
immediate answer has been, "God." And if I
still asked, " But if the soul is God, how can a
man tell lies ? " the Hindu was puzzled to know
how to answer, but would not surrender his
belief.

This identification of God and the soul is
surely, as Tennyson says, " a faith as vague as
all unsweet." On intellectual, moral, and
religious grounds it must be cast aside. The
sole existence being God, Sin is non-existent.
Even so, we are told that " he whose intellect
is not confused, though he should kill, kills
not." The murder is not real ; it only seems.

Humility, a sense of dependence, reverence,
prayer, obedience, repentance : these things
are all impossible. Love either to God or our
neighbour is equally so. Love from God is
the same ; for the poor Soul is alone in a
loveless universe. The conception is appalling.
So much for the Vedanta. Of the systems
generally, I sum up in the words of Dr
John Muir a very learned Sanskrit scholar1:

1 A native of Edinburgh and the very generous founder
of the Sanskrit chair in Edinburgh University.

HINDUISM 77

" The consistent followers of these systems
can have no religion, no action, and no moral
character." So Pundit Nilkanth Shastri states :
" The effect on those persons who have a
strong natural bias to vice is such that no
excess of wickedness seems to them wrong."

Or, in the words of so tolerant a thinker as
M. Cousin : " You comprehend that, God
being all and man nothing, a formidable theo-
cracy pressed upon humanity, taking from it
all liberty, all movement, all practical interest,
and consequently all morality." Such is the
sorrowful result of infinite speculation. How
awfully true are the Apostle's words, "The
world by wisdom knew not God ! "

Such then, briefly, is the higher pantheism
of India. A much respected member of the
Brahma Samaj, Mr P. C. Mozoomdar, has
said that "what Europeans call pantheism
is a certain phase of eastern thought which
they can never understand." That seems
rather hard on us poor Europeans, who
would fain hope that we can understand what
is understandable. But we are sure that
Mr Mozoomdar would reject as indignantly
as we do, much that the pantheists of India
teach. Thus, at the Parliament of Religions

78 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

held at Chicago a few years ago, the gentleman
who had assumed the title of Swami Vivcka
Ananda had no hesitation in speaking as
follows : —

"You are the children of God, the sharers
of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings.
You, divinities on earth, sinners ! It is a sin
to call you so. It is a standing libel on human
nature. The worst lie you ever told yourself
was that you were a sinner and a wicked

man."

These are amazing words. Is there through-
out this wide world a single religion, except
Hindu Vedantism, that would not repel with
indignation such heaven-daring sentiments ?

The students of Indian philosophy in India
are generally Brahmans ; and these, as a rule,
pay exceedingly little regard to any system of
thought which is not Indian and in accordance
with the great Sanskrit authorities. Educated
men of other classes in a few cases may pay
some attention to European — or at least English
philosophy. Thus some years ago, the name
of Mr Herbert Spencer was well known in
India ; his reputation as a thinker stood pretty
high. Several educated Hindus would have
called themselves his followers. Probably this

HINDUISM 79

arose from a belief that his well-known doctrine
regarding the " Unknowable " bore a re-
semblance to the Hindu teaching regarding
the parabrahma. But the resemblance was
wholly superficial. Mr Spencer maintained
that the Supreme Being " must be conceived
as certainly not less than personal ; " whereas
the Vedanta philosophy utterly denies the
personality of the Supreme. Indeed, the
Bhagavad-Gita, one of the highest Indian
authorities expressly declares that we cannot
pronounce the Supreme to be either existent
or non-existent. A state that is neither exist-
ence nor non-existence ; let us hope that our
Oriental friends can form some conception
of such a condition. I fear we people of the
West are incapable either of doing so, or of
imagining that we can.

Mr Herbert Spencer also fully accepts the
great conclusions of modern science ; but these
the Vedanta philosophy declares to be vain as
the vainest dream — mere appearances " pro-
jected," as it says, "by ignorance or illusion."

Finally, it is surely a remarkable fact that
while the great philosophies of Europe — the
creations, some of them, of highly distinguished
men — have hardly exerted any appreciable

8o THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

influence on the ancient systems of Hindu
speculation, the simple preaching of the
Gospel — the doctrine of the Cross — has
already told, and is every day telling, with
increasing power, on the hoary creeds of the
East. It seems, indeed, as if we were ap-
proaching the time foreshadowed in the days
of John the Baptist's preaching, when crowds
were pressing into the kingdom, or, in the
words of our Lord Himself : when u the
kingdom of heaven suffered violence and the
violent took it by force."

NOTES ON LECTURE SECOND

CASTE

is an institution which seems to have had no
existence in any country but India.

Society is arranged in strata or layers, which
are grounded on differences chiefly of occupa-
tion.

The classification is hereditary.

In the last Indian census report, three in-
teresting views on the origin of caste are given.
We quote the view of Mr Nesfield.

The Brahman, or priest, set the example.
He ruled that no one should hold the name or

HINDUISM 8 1

status of a Brahman unless of Brahman parent-
age on both sides.

The military chieftain followed the same
course. Then the upper working-classes did
so. Then the artisans. And so on down-
ward.

But though caste works tyrannically in all
cases it varies immensely in its regulations in
different places.

THE HINDU SECTS

as reconstructed after the fall of Buddhism
about the end of the twelfth century. Hinduism
is split into a multitude of what are called sects.
These may generally be classed under two
heads, the Vaishnava, or sects that hold Vishnu
supreme, and the Saiva, that so hold Siva.

We need not give more than the names of
these.

The Vaishnava sects are : —

1. The Raman ujyas.

2. The Ramanandis.

3. The Vallabhacharyas.

4. The Madhavacharyas.

5. The followers of Chaitanya.

6. The followers of Swami Narayau.

82 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

The Saiva sects are as follows : —

1. The Dandes, or staff-bearers.

2. The Yogis.

3. The Gangamas.

4. The Paramahansas.

5. The Aghoris.

6. The Urdhvabahus.

7. The Akas'amukhis.

The sects have often, indeed generally, run
into sad extravagance. But from time to time
men of purer minds and higher aspirations have
arisen, who have sought to purify religion.

When Muhammadanism appeared in India
as an active, proselytising system, it compelled
attention. The Arab merchants who visited
the " pepper coast " of Malabar were often
eager to proselytise. In particular their
vehement assertion of the Divine unity and
their stern denunciation of image - worship
could not be heard without awakening
thought.

One of the most influential teachers who
were influenced by Islam was Kabir, who
flourished about the year 1 400. The doctrine
of the Divine unity had deeply impressed him,
but he could never get rid of his early Hindu

HINDUISM 83

beliefs regarding transmigration, the avataras,
and several other points. One high character-
istic of Kabir's teaching is its moral purity. It
denounces caste, ridicules the $astras, and
denounces Brahmanical arrogance. Idolatry,
it says, is sinful. The sect has spread widely
over northern, western, and central India, and
has somewhat powerfully affected Hindu
thought.

A second reformer was Nanak, born in 1469.
But perhaps I said enough of him and his
followers the Sikhs in the introductory lecture.
Let us by all means keep our eye on the
Panjab and its energetic, gallant people !

SANSKRIT MSS. IN JAPAN

The celebrated Chinese pilgrim Hinen
Thsang, who visited India in the seventh
century of our era, informs us that great
numbers of MSS. were, at various times,
carried from India into China, in connection
with the missionary efforts of the Buddhists.
His travels were made known to the European
public by the French savant, Stanislas Julien,
in 1853. Ever since that time the hope has
been entertained that some of these ancient

84 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

documents, or at least copies of them, might
yet be discovered in the farther East.

Professor H. H. Wilson did all in his power
to stimulate the search for Sanskrit MSS. in
China. (See Journal of Royal Asiatic Society
for 1856.) China, however, has as yet
furnished us with no Indian MSS. nor with
copies of any such ; though translations of
Sanskrit works into Chinese exist in abundance.

In Japan the search has been more success-
ful. Some time ago, Dr Edkins, the
missionary, a well known Chinese scholar,
transmitted to Professor Max Mliller a small
vocabulary of Sanskrit words, accompanied with
a Chinese version and a transliteration into
Japanese. Since that time the subject has
attracted much attention. It was pointedly
referred to at the late Oriental Congress in
Berlin in 1881.

Dr Mitchell said he now laid on the table
about thirty documents, great and small, which
he had procured in Japan — mainly through the
kind assistance of Mr (now Sir) E. M. Saton,
Secretary to the British Legation at Tokio, and
an accomplished Japanese scholar.

i. There were five specimens of Pali MSS.
in Singalese character.

HINDUISM 85

i. Two volumes contained copies of various
Sanskrit MSS. and inscriptions found in
Japanese monasteries and temples.

3. Twelve volumes were syllabaries and
vocabularies.

4. Several were dharanis ; a specimen of
Tantrika literature well known in Nepal-
consisting for the most part of magical formulas.

Through the kind help of Bhagwan Lai
Pandit and Shankar Pandurang Pandit he was
able to supply a translation of the first and
last pages of a MS. as they are copied in the
first of the five volumes mentioned above.
The MS. is on palm leaf. It is in possession
of the Mikado. According to Bhagwan Lai
Pandit, whose authority on such questions was
very high, the MS. was probably written in
Nepal in the seventh or eighth century.
The work is mentioned in W. Brian Hodgson's
list of Sanskrit MSS. known in Nepal. It is
entitled Ushnisha vijaya — the next to the last
line evidently reading timt—usbnfsba vijaya
dharanl samapta : that is, conclusion of the
ushnisha vijaya dharanl. The ideas are in
the most transcendental style of Buddhist
metaphysics.

The words slddham rastu instead of siddham

86 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

astu, which frequently occur in these docu-
ments, show that no accurate knowledge of
Sanskrit existed in Japan when they were
written.

The numerous alphabets which are given are
not by any means exact reproductions of each
other, and probably belong to different eras.

The arrangement of the vowels and
consonants is the same as in the Sanskrit
alphabet. The anusvdr and visarga are in-
cluded ; but certain vowels and a compound
consonant are sometimes omitted.

The combinations of the consonants often
assume puzzling forms.

The powers of the letters are fully and
elaborately stated in Chinese equivalents and
generally in Japanese. In the vocabularies
not only is the sense of the word given ; but
it is always divided into syllables, and the
exact sound of each syllable is supplied — as
far as Chinese and Japanese can do so.

The statement given above was read by me
at a meeting of the Asiatic Society, Bombay,
2oth Dec. 1881.

The Bombay Gazette of 9th Jan. 1882 thus
refers to the matter : —

uDr Mitchell exhibited a collection of

HINDUISM 87

manuscripts and printed copies of manuscripts
found in Japan, which excited the liveliest
interest as our readers know. The suspicion,
long entertained, that the Buddhist missionaries
who from India carried their religion to the
farthest corners of the East, must have left some
permanent traces of their religion in Japan, has
recently been verified; and Dr Mitchell is
taking home with him a very complete collection
made by order of the Japanese Government of
copies of texts which are cherished with
superstitious reverence in the temples of Japan.
Not the least interesting among them are the
alphabets and syllabaries in which the
Devanagari character is set forth in forms that
are perfectly recognisable, and which indeed
in some cases preserve distinctions which have
died out in the vernaculars of India."

DID HINDUISM BORROW FROM
CHRISTIANITY ?

This is a question of equal interest and
difficulty. A full investigation would demand
more time than we can spare, and to most of
our readers would probably be tiresome. Still,
it seems desirable that the leading points of
the controversy should be mentioned.

88 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

When resemblances to Christian doctrines
occur in Greek or Roman writers, we are not
eager to say that the resemblance implies a
transference of thought. Thus, it does not
surprise us to find the thoughts of St Paul or
St John not unfrequently similar to those of
Plato. So, although Christianity and Hinduism
stand in general very far apart, we are pre-
pared to find occasionally coincidences between
the two.

But when the coincidences are very numer-
ous or very striking, it does suggest the
question whether the one system may not have
borrowed from the other.

The points of resemblance to Christianity
that have suggested the question at the head
of this note occur, for the most part, in the
Bhagavad Gita — the Song of the Holy One.
This is a very remarkable composition, which
is, in many respects, unlike other Hindu books.

Unhappily the date of its composition is
uncertain. The Orientalists, Lassen and
Weber, ascribe it to the third century after
Christ. It is difficult to believe it earlier, but
it may be considerably later. It has been
thrust into the heart of that great collection,
the Mahabharata ; but that it was originally a

HINDUISM 89

part of it is very unlikely ; for it forms a great
interruption of the narrative. The age of the
Mahabharata itself is unknown; but as it
speaks of the Yavanes 1 — probably the Greeks
or Bactria — it is more modern than many of
the other Hindu books.

The correspondence between the teaching
of the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita has been
frequently referred to ; but the most elaborate
comparison of the two which we know was
made by Dr Lorinser of Breslau in 1860, in a
long appendix to his translation of the Gita.

He quotes a passage in Chrysostom 2 which
asserts that the Syrians, Egyptians, Indians,
Persians and Ethiopians had translated into
their own tongues the doctrines taught by
Christ; and inasmuch as this is certainly true
of the other nations mentioned, he reasonably
asks why should we not hold it true of the
Indians also ? Chrysostom died in 407. If an
Indian translation of the Bible or New Testa-
ment existed before his time it might have
been probably made by the third century.

Lorinser does not mention that various

1 Sarvajna Yavana rajan suraschaiva viSeshatak, i.e. Om-
niscient are the Greeks, O King, heroic men surpassingly.

2 Gospel of John, Homil. Chap. i.

9o THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

apocryphal Gospels were circulated in the
East, chiefly among the Syrian Christians,
from the third century onwards. Some of
these attracted much notice, for example, the
Gospel of the Infancy, in Arabic. Doubtless
the canonical and apocryphal Gospels generally
agreed in their main assertions of fact and
doctrine.

Syrian Christians probably were in Southern
India in considerable numbers by the year 250
or so. So far as we know there existed no
unfriendly feelings between them and the
Hindu inhabitants.

The Jews of Malabar also must be taken
into account, though Dr Lorinser confines his
attention to the connection between the Gita
and the New Testament. He gives a very
large number of quotations. He comes to the
conclusion that the supposition of a connection
and a transference of thought is "almost
certain."

On the whole, notwithstanding what
Chrysostom says, as mentioned above, it is by
no means clear that there was any version of
the New Testament into an Indian language ;
but a connection between Christianity and
Indian thought is at least probable.

HINDUISM 91

It is exceedingly difficult for two religions
to exist side by side for any considerable time
without mutually affecting one another. No
two systems seem more mutually repellent than
Hinduism and Muhammadanism ; yet the late
census informs us that Hinduism has, in
certain districts, powerfully affected the latter.

Hinduism — through its whole history — has
been very impressionable. The Bhagavad
Gita itself is strongly eclectic and labours to
harmonise three great conflicting systems of
philosophy. The accomplished author would
certainly be much struck by the teachings of
Christianity if he knew them.

In addition to correspondences between the
Gita and the New Testament there are several
things which appear to indicate an acquain-
tance with Christianity on the part of the
Hindus. The Mahabharata speaks of a
" white island," and the worshippers of " one
God" who dwelt there.

Again there is the doctrine of bhakti or
devotion — affection fixed on God. This does
not occur in early Hinduism. The Vedas
speak often of sraddha or trust in the gods ;
but they hardly recognise the emotional part
of religion. The doctrine of bhakti comes in

92 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

abruptly. We think that, if not originally
drawn from Christianity, it was developed by
contact with it. The Hindus, ere long, carried
the doctrine to very extravagant lengths.

The same thing might be said of the idea
of the guru or religious teacher. It was
probably borrowed from Christianity, but
quickened by intercourse with Muhammadans.

The doctrine of the Trimarti must also be
considered. There is said to be a triad of
gods : Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. This con-
ception does not appear at an early date —
probably not till two centuries after Christ.
The remarkable point is that the triad is after
all a unity — Vishnu or Siva almost including all
the three deities. The doctrine does not
harmonise with proper Hinduism, in which the
three gods are quite distinct personalities, who
often quarrel and fight together.

All we would say is that the conception is
very like the thought of Hindus who had
heard of the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity, but whose ideas of it were shadowy
and inexact.

As the conclusion, on the whole, remains
doubtful, the connection should not be pressed
in controversy. But two things crave attention.

HINDUISM 93

First, as the Gita stands alone and unapproach-
able among Hindu books there must have
been some adequate cause of its immense
superiority. Europeans generally may call
this the extraordinary genius of the author of
the Gita and the Hindus attribute it to
inspiration ; but the probable explanation is
that which we have given.

Secondly, it is a truly remarkable fact that
by far the greatest and best of Indian books,
which separates itself so far from ordinary
Hinduism, comes, in its tone and spirit, so near
to Christianity, if there was no transference of
thought.

THE TANTRAS

We now briefly refer to a class of writings
about which there is a diversity of opinion
among Hindus. Some hold them in very high
esteem: others reject them. They are very
numerous ; but only five or six are very well
known.

They assumed the form of dialogues between
Siva and his wife. The goddess asks questions,
and the god replies. The doctrines explained
must be communicated only to the initiated.

They inculcate the worship of the sakti.

94 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

This word means power, but is applied to the
wives of the gods whose worshippers are
called feiktas.

Mystery, magic, and sheer folly mark all
the books ; but there are two branches of the
worshippers — those of the right and those of
the left hand ; and the books of the latter
branch overflow with all that is base and dis-
gusting. I simply cannot describe the mode
of worship for the reason expressed by the
Apostle Paul in Ephesians v. 1 2.

So far as I know, none of these books have
been translated into a European language ; and
probably none ever will be. To a European
mind the grossness is utterly disgusting, and
to many Hindus it is the same.

HINDU SCIENCE

The consideration of the science contained
in the Hindu books need not detain us
long. It is professedly of divine authority ; but
from beginning to end it is a mass of mere
guess-work, and in most cases it is utterly
erroneous.

First, take the geography. The earth
consists of seven circular continents separated
by as many seas. The sea next to the centre

HINDUISM 95

is of salt water; the others are successively
seas of sugar-cane juice, spirituous liquor,
clarified butter, sour curds, milk, and sweet
water.

Then comes the land of gold, uninhabited.
Then a mountain 10,000 yojans high (a
yojan is nine miles). Mount Meru is 84,000
yojans high. At its top there is a city 14,000
yojans in extent.

I need not go on with quotations. The
reader would laugh at first ; but there is no true
amusement in sheer folly ; and he would soon
get disgusted.

But try the astronomy. The earth is in the
centre, and round it move the heavenly bodies.
The distances of several of the planets are
stated — every one incorrectly. The moon is
twice as far from the earth as the sun is. The
sun rides through the heavens on a chariot
drawn by seven horses. Eclipses are caused
by the head of a slaughtered sage seeking to
seize the orb.

From the description given of the interior
of the human body, it is plain that the simplest
details of anatomy were unknown.

In history the Hindus were utterly wanting.
The idea that facts were to be told seems

96 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

never to have occurred to them. Sir Monier
Williams has said : " If a battle is described,
millions of soldiers, elephants and horses are
brought into the field, or, generally hundreds
of millions." Sir Henry Sumner Maine observes
— that Hindu books are " elaborately in-
accurate; supremely and deliberately careless
of all precision."

NOTE ON BENARES

One part of India differs so much from
another that it is not possible to supply a
succinct description which will serve for the
whole. It may be well, however, to give a
brief statement of the religious condition of
Benares — the " holiest " city in India. Ortho-
doxy of the old and strictest school is still very
powerful; the Sanskrit Sastras maintain their
place, and the Pandits teach what their fathers
taught two thousand years ago. The Arya
Samaj has spread in the districts around, but
has very slightly influenced the city. English
and European learning are steadily advancing.
Government education and Missionary education
are telling powerfully. There has been for
some years a " Theosophical " movement — with
both a Sanskrit and an English department —

HINDUISM 97

both energetically conducted. The great
support of this movement has been an English
lady, Mrs Besant, who must be possessed of
some peculiar charm, or power of persuasion
at least ; for she has induced the Maharaja of
Benares and other rich Hindus to contribute
large sums to the "Central Hindu College."
Many scholarships have been founded ; and in
two or three years the students have become
fully five hundred. We are not sufficiently
acquainted with Mrs Besant's Theosophy to
venture on explaining it ; but one thing is
certain, it is strongly, passionately, anti-
Christian. Teachers, both male and female,
have come from Europe to aid in the work;
and we have no right to say that worldly gain
attracts them, for their pay is small ; indeed
the Principal of the College and two other
leading men receive no salary. So we have
here the remarkable spectacle of educated men
and women going forth from purely anti-
Christian zeal. Farther, every effort was
made to win the orthodox pandits — a temple
was built to Sarasvati, and the image — elephant-
headed — of Ganesa set up over the entrance of
the college. Several of the orthodox priests
did join Mrs Besant's committee of management
G

98 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

for a short time; but very soon all but one
resigned.

It should still be mentioned that toleration
seems no part of theosophic teaching. One of
the professors once accompanied his wife to
church. He was immediately informed that, if
such liberties were taken, he must resign his
professorship.

This highest place of Indian idolatry, then,
still holds out apparently as firmly as ever
against the Gospel. But the Missions are not
discouraged. An immense deal has been done
especially by female and medical missions, and
the faithful men and women hold on in calm
assurance of final success.

THE BRAHMA SAMAJ

It is interesting to note the position which
the Brahma Samaj now occupies. In Max
Mliller's " Life and Letters " there is a letter of
his nearly five pages long addressed to Mr P.
C. Mozoomdar, in which he and his friends
are earnestly exhorted to declare themselves
Christians. Many of the leading members had
frequently and strongly expressed their admira-
tion of Christ; let them then, as a body, de-
clare themselves His disciples. Mr Mozoomdar

HINDUISM

99

declined to comply with the request, and
the Samaj generally has remained as it
was.

Max Miiller makes no mention of baptism ;
and we cannot say whether he would have
dispensed with the initiatory rite of the Chris-
tian Church. To us it appears indispensable,
as prescribed by divine authority. But wholly
apart from this, it is of the highest possible
value. It is a test of true discipleship. As
long as a Hindu inquirer remains unbaptised,
he is held to be a good Hindu. Does he
believe in Christ ? What matters that ? His
caste is as pure as ever; and he goes in and
out among his relatives and friends as before.
At this moment multitudes of Hindus admire
Christ — who, indeed, of pureminded men can
do otherwise ? But baptism alters the condition
of things entirely. The baptised man is ac-
counted an apostate ; he is polluted and pollut-
ing. Thus, to be baptised is to take up Christ's
Cross and follow Him through good report and
bad report. This is a test of true discipleship,
laid down by Christ Himself, which we dare
not alter. But perhaps Max Muller would not
have dispensed with the rite; or he might
have left it an open question.

loo THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

RECENT HINDU REFORMERS

Throughout its entire history Hinduism has
been powerfully affected by its environment.
On first entering India it borrowed largely
from the original creeds. In later days
Buddhism was nominally expelled ; but it
left much of its spirit behind. Muhammadan-
ism has influenced Hinduism in the South,
and still more extensively in the North.

It was therefore to be expected that Hindu-
ism would sustain important changes when
brought — as it is in our day — into close
contact with Christianity and modern European
thought. Even the great mass of the people
knows something of the Gospel; and those
who have received an education in English
cannot possibly remain ignorant of its leading
features. Every educated Hindu is thus com-
pelled to compare the doctrines of Christianity
with those of Hinduism ; and, in the great
majority of cases he learns to think as his
fathers never thought. Even if he does not
accept the full teaching of Christianity, there
are many of its doctrines that shine in their
own light and carry their own clear evidence
with them.

HINDUISM 101

But the desire of every true-hearted Hindu
who has adopted Christianity even partially
must be that the defects of his own religion
may be supplied and its errors, if possible,
corrected. Many men have so felt. We
may select the names of four who earnestly
sought the reformation of Hinduism.

The first was Rammohun Roy, a Bengali
Brahman born in 1774. Circumstances led
him first to study Persian and Arabic and
then Sanskrit. The strict monotheism of the
Quran impressed him, and he wrote a tract
against idolatry. He then studied English,
and in 1817 directed his thoughts earnestly
towards the Christian faith. He became more
and more desirous of the reform of Hinduism ;
and in 1820 he published in English and
Bengali a book entitled "The Precepts of
Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness."

In 1830 he took the important step of
opening a hall for public worship. Hitherto
united public prayer had been unknown to
the Hindus. The Society which he formed
he called the Brahma Samaj (usually written
Brahmo Samaj), meaning " Assembly of
believers in Brahma (God)."

Much notice was now taken of him and he

102 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

received the title of Raja; but he had nobly
borne not a little persecution. It is interest-
ing to us Scotchmen to know that he said:
" I was deserted by every person except two
or three Scotch friends, to whom, and the
nation to which they belong, I always feel
grateful." Dr Duff and his missionary
associates showed him all possible sympathy
in his trials ; and, when the Missionary Institu-
tion was opened in 1830, Rammohun Roy
heartily returned that sympathy.

He died at Bristol in England in 1833.

Debendernath Tagore was born in 1813.
He joined the Samaj in 1841, and imparted
to it a regular constitution introducing valu-
able rules. The Society was fully organised
by 1844. Every member bound himself to
abandon idolatry and pray daily to the one
true God. In 1850 the infallibility of the
Vedas was rejected by Debendernath and a
majority of the members. The Samaj also
rejected belief in any written revelation.

J. Keshub Chunder Sen, born in 1830,
was not a Brahman. He joined the Samaj in
1857. He taught a school in Bengali, and
lectured to the Samaj in English. But Keshub
advocated reforms for which Debendernath

HINDUISM 103

was not prepared. Ardent, ambitious, self-
reliant, Keshub became uncontrollable, and
when in 1864 he celebrated a marriage
between two persons of different castes, De-
bendernath told him that their co-operation
must cease. Keshub and his friends formed
a new Society in 1866; and, by August 1869,
they had built and opened a place of public
worship of their own.

Keshub called his new Society the " Brahmo
Samaj of India." He gave public lectures.
One delivered on May 1866 attracted immense
attention both in India and Britain. It was
believed to indicate on Keshub's part a strong
leaning to Christianity. But another lecture
with the title " Great Men," delivered a few
months later, was held to imply a retractation
of some of the sentiments he had avowed
regarding Christ. There was much ardour —
much movement, in the new Samaj. Religious
festivals, attended with no small excitement,
began to be held from November 1867.
Energetic efforts were made towards practical
reform. Under its influence a Marriage Act
was passed by Government, which legalised
for Brahmos the union of persons of different
castes, and which fixed fourteen as the lowest

104 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

age for the marriage of females. Efforts also
were made for the promotion of temperance.

By this time Keshub had visited Britain.
He did so early in 1870; and in April of that
year a public meeting was held in London to
welcome him ; in which Dean Stanley, Lord
Lawrence, Dr James Martineau and other dis-
tinguished men took part. He was also granted
a private interview with the Queen. He
preached in a good many places of worship
connected with the Unitarians.

By 1873 the autocracy exercised by Mr Sen
was felt somewhat heavily. He believed in
" Great Men," and held that, from time to time,
Divine Providence endows some men with
special power to purify and exalt religion ; and
he expected to be acknowledged as a leader
remarkably commissioned.

He initiated several valuable reforms, but
was opposed to other innovations demanded by
not a few. He held, for instance, that in the
emancipation of women, many were hurrying
on too fast. In this, he lost the support of
the Brahmo ladies generally. A crisis was
inevitable. Its coming was hastened by the
marriage of his daughter to the Raja of Kuch
Behar. Both bridegroom and bride were under

HINDUISM 105

the earliest age fixed by Mr Sen himself as al-
lowable. Vehement remonstrances assailed him.
A party proposed his deposition as minister;
and only by calling in the police was he able
to retain possession of the Brahmo Mandir.

A great revolt succeeded ; and a new Samaj
was regularly constituted. An appeal was
made to the provincial Societies, and fully two
thirds of these joined the new body.

It was a terrible blow to Mr Sen. One
cannot help feeling deeply for him. He was
not faultless; he was ambitious, and probably
despotic; but he had rendered very signal
service to the cause of truth and freedom and
righteousness ; and now — for the strife waxed
scandalously hot — he was attacked in the
bitterest language by his former disciples, and
every thing he did was ascribed to low and
sordid motives. Keshub retaliated, and repaid
scorn with scorn. The departure, however,
of so many of his associates was in one sense
a relief to him ; he could now carry out his
ideas without opposition. In 1880 the Society
was called the uNew Dispensation," and in a
public lecture he claimed equality for it with
Judaism and Christianity, and for himself a
divine commission and "singular" authority.

io6 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

The religion, he said, was "the wonderful
solvent which fuses all Dispensations into a
new chemical (sic) compound." Mr Sen now
declared that all religions are true — a startling
proposition, contradictory of much he had
previously maintained.

As early as 1861 a great leaning to Ritualism
had been observed in the services of the Samaj,
and this greatly increased under the "new
dispensation." An attached friend and
follower wrote in August 1881, "Keshub is
continually becoming more metaphysical and
mystical. Recently he has very much given
himself to mysticism. There has been a good
deal of flags, flowers, fires, and sacraments of
all kinds." Perhaps I am giving too many of
such details ; but Mr Sen's career, when care-
fully studied, seems to me to be variously and
sorrowfully instructive. By and by he died ;
but who could be his successor? Naturally
his accomplished relative and friend Mr P.
C. Mozoomdar should have been; but bitter
disputes arose which I have no heart to
relate. The Samaj continues : and according
to the Government census had gained somewhat
in numbers during the last ten years, and now
— we presume, including all its branches, has

HINDUISM 107

4080 members — a poor account of what Mr
Sen used confidently to designate as the Church
of the future.

The fourth name to be mentioned in this
connection is Dayananda Sarasvati. He was
a Gujarati Brahman born in Katiawar in W.
India. He began to attract attention about
1880. He maintained that of the Hindu
Shastras only the Vedas are authoritative and
that they teach strict monotheism. He re-
jected caste and idolatry. He forbade child-
marriage, and allowed widows to remarry. So
far then was the reformer. He said he found
in the Vedas the elements of every kind of
knowledge. All modern inventions were in-
dicated there — railways, telegraphs, steamships,
balloons, etc., and many others that are still
to be discovered. He prescribed improvements
in machines now used. By a rightly con-
structed balloon, he said, a man might visit the
stars, as he now visits a neighbouring street.
He dealt with politics also. Monarchy was
right, but it ought to be elective; for so, he
said, the Vedas clearly assert.1

1 Some friends in India — whose judgment I can fully
trust — mention that the Arya-Samaj is very strongly
"national," i.e. anti-foreign in feeling. This mixture of
politics with religion is a serious evil.

io8 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

These were new and startling views, and
they drew no little attention. But at a great
convocation of learned Brahmans at Calcutta
Dayananda's views — in so far as they differed
from the ordinary belief — were declared to be
unsound. Dayananda however went on travel-
ling, lecturing, publishing, till he died in
October 1883, at the age of fifty-nine. His
system of thought, however, which is called
Arya Samaj, endures ; and his followers are said
in the Government census to be in number
92,419. The distinctive teachings of the Arya
Samaj, as the Society is called, are entirely
baseless; yet it is far more flourishing than
the Brahmo Samaj. Finally let us note that the
Arya Samaj is decidedly Anti-Christian in its
whole character and action. This is not the
case with the Brahmo Samaj, and this difference
between the two Samaj es ought never to be
overlooked.

In Western India the movement towards
religious reform has never attained the magni-
tude it possesses in Bengal.

As far back as 1840 a Society was formed
for religious inquiry called the Paramhansa
Mandali. The members were opposed to
idolatry and caste, and favoured the re-

HINDUISM 109

marriage of widows. The Society lasted till
1860, always holding its meetings in secret.

In 1864 Keshub Chunder Sen visited
Bombay, and his stirring eloquence was not
without effect. A Society of thirty-one
members was formed, called the Prarthana
Sabha, a Prayer Society, and it has slowly
grown till its membership in Poona is above
one hundred. Branch Societies also exist in
five or six other places.

The Maratha people are certainly an
energetic, manly race, but they have been timid
in the matter of religious reform. I do not
pretend accurately to state the reason of this ;
but the lethargy appears to be largely due
to the influence of several men, all of them
Brahmans. Learned men they are, and of
high character ; but, as it has seemed to many,
very irresolute. At all events, when they
moved at all, it was, as one of them expressly
said, " along the line of least resistance." A
true reformer must surely set his face like a
flint against opposition; he must have much
of the martyr-spirit in him; but in several
matters of practical reform these men did
not carry out even the principles which they
professed, and it was not to be expected that

1 10 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

they would act heroically in advancing religious
change. I do not think that the Brahmo
Samaj of Bengal has ever expressed any
penetrating sense of the evil of sin, and the
necessity of a great redemption ; but it has
gone very far in its admiration of Christ as a
great and holy teacher, and the noblest of
martyrs. All this leaves doubtless a great gulf
between the Samaj and the Church of Christ.
But one earnestly wishes that Western India
could unite were it only in that glowing
admiration of Christ's character which was
expressed so often by the eloquent lips of
Chunder Sen.

It is singular that, as I write these words,
I have come in contact with one of the latest
utterances of the Brahmo Samaj of Bengal. It
runs as follows : —

"We Brahmos of the New Dispensation
believe that there can be no regeneration with-
out Christ, who is l the door ' of the kingdom
of heaven; and that, if any man comes not
through that door, he has no place in it."

Excellent, so far. When will our friends
in Western India go as far? We learn that
the learned man who, without disrespect to
others, may be called the leader of the Samaj

HINDUISM 1 1 1

in West India, has recommended, as the basis
of its religion, "the best portions of the
Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, and the
teaching of the mediaeval Hindu saints supple-
mented by certain things from Buddhism and
from the Bible ? "

We simply ask : If this advice is followed,
how many thousand years must elapse before
India can stand on a footing of equality with
the enlightened nations of the West ?

LECTURE THIRD

ZOROASTRIANISM

ZOROASTRIANISM is the religion of the ancient
Persians and the modern Parsis.

I hardly require to remind you of the high
position held in ancient days by Persia. King
Ahasuerus, as we are told in the book of
Esther, reigned " from India even unto
Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty
provinces." We all remember the great con-
flict of Greece with Persia, which made Mara-
thon and Thermopylae imperishable names, and
the counter-invasion of Alexander of Macedon,
which destroyed the first Persian empire. No
less memorable is the close connection of the
Persians and the Jews. The prophet Isaiah
heralded in impassioned strains the advent of
the great conqueror Cyrus, when he came to
free the Hebrews from the Babylonian yoke,
and to restore them to their own loved
Palestine.

ZORO ASTRI ANISiM 1 1 3

A very remarkable revival of the Persian
empire took place about 500 years after it
had been overthrown by the Macedonians.
This second empire reached from the Euphrates
to the Indus, and from the Caspian Sea to
the Indian Ocean. It lasted about 400
years, and warred, sometimes successfully,
against the Eastern empire. Then, in the
year 632, the irresistible Arabs rushed in
with their war-cry of " God and the Prophet " ;
and " the white palace of Chosroes " and the
sumless wealth of Persia lay at the mercy of
the desert-robbers. Zoroastrianism never re-
covered that terrible shock. The Arabs were
earnest proselytisers ; and they were quite pre-
pared, when they deemed it fitting, to become
persecutors. Zoroastrianism still exists in
Persia ; but it barely exists, and seems slowly
dying out.

A body of Persians refused to yield to the
Arab conquerors and retreated eastward. About
100 years afterwards they abandoned Persia
and found their way by sea to Ormuz, at the
mouth of the Persian Gulf. Even there the
Arab yoke was heavy ; and the Persians soon
sailed to Western India, which they reached
in 717, landing about sixty miles north of

H

ii4 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Bombay. The Hindu ruler of the district was
compassionate to the exiles. He asked for
some account of their religion, and in reply
they said : —

" O Prince of excellent fortune !
We are the poor descendants of Jemshid ;
We reverence fire and water,
Also the cow, the sun and the moon.
Whatever God has created in the world
We bow to it. . . ."

and so on.

Their statement is almost exclusively a list
of ritual observances, and seems to prove the
refugees to have been depressed and ignorant^
But they had brought with them " the tools
and skill of Khorasan."

They worked and prospered. Surat was
then a very important commercial city, and
soon attracted a large number of Parsis ; but
for many years past Bombay has been their
chief abode. They are generally merchants,
enterprising, and as a rule prosperous. They
have been called the " Anglo-Saxons of the
East." Not a few of their leading men have
been distinguished for philanthropy. Consider-
ing the smallness of the community, the in-
fluence it exerts is remarkable. The late

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 1 5

census makes them out to be, in all India,
89,904 in number.

But enough about their general history.
The religion can be traced back, in its leading
features, to a very early time — at least to the
days of Darius Hystaspis and some of them
still farther back.

Xerxes, in his invasion of Greece, burnt the
temples of Athens; but, on the whole, the
rulers of the first Persian empire were by no
means so intolerant as those of the second.
The second commenced in the year 226 A.D.,
under Ardashir Babegan (called by the Greeks
and Romans Artaxerxes). Unlike Alexander
of Macedon, who was something of a statesman
as well as a warrior, and who wished to bring
East and West into harmony, Ardashir strove
to fan their immemorial discordance into hatred.
He sought to blend his vast dominions into one
homogeneous sovereignty. He would have
none of what was called " the poison of
Aristotle." He desired to revive the religion
of Zoroaster, whose name was still widely
revered. The account of the way in which,
according to the Parsis, he tried to do so, is
beyond measure wild. He summoned the
priests of the ancient faith from all parts of

n6 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

his dominions. The call was responded to by
80,000 men. Successive deductions brought
the number down to seven, who were believed
to surpass all the rest in wisdom and piety.
The chief of these was Ardai Viraf. He
bathed, clothed himself in new garments,
received from his companions three cups of
soporific wine, and was then covered over
with a clean linen cloth. He slept for seven
days. During this time his soul quitted his
body, and was conveyed into the immediate
presence of the Deity. When he awoke he
called for a scribe who might commit to writing
the marvels he had seen and heard. He then
dictated the articles of the Zoroastrian faith,
and these the king and nobles readily accepted.
So runs the legend, which was probably believed
by only a portion of the ancient Parsis them-
selves, and which now awakens generally a
smile among their descendants.

It is said that in Alexander's time two
copies of the sacred books existed, of which
one was burnt and the other carried off by the
Greeks and lost. All we know is that the
Parthians, who had wrested Persia from the
Greeks, were fond of Grecian learning, and
tolerated rather than patronised the Zoroastrian

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 1 7

faith. This apparently soon sank into a rude
dualism, accompanied by the worship of fire.

But under Ardashir and his successors from
226 A.D. more than its ancient splendour was
restored. Church and State were now united by
the closest bonds, and the State became strongly
intolerant. Christianity had been introduced
into Persia. " Parthians and Medes and
Elamites " were present on the day of Pente-
cost, and heard the preaching of St Peter, the
effect of which was so remarkable. The
Zoroastrian rulers resisted the Gospel from the
first ; and when Constantine became a Christian,
the opposition to it became only fiercer. Certain
it is that the Persian martyrology is rich in
examples of unshaken fidelity to Christ under
the severest persecutions. King Shapur II.,
from about the year 339, was a more relentless
persecutor even than Decius or Diocletian.
Chosroes II. (Khosru Parviz) in 590 took a
solemn oath that there should be no peace
between Persia and Constantinople until the
Christians abandoned the religion of the
Crucified, and embraced the religion of the
Sun. He seized on Rhodes and kept a
besieging army ten years before Constantinople.
The Emperor Heraclius then awoke to his

1 1 8 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

extreme danger. In six successive invasions
of Persia he greatly exhausted its resources;
so that, when the Arabs rushed in, they carried
all resistlessly before them. This last event
occurred in A.D. 641. The Zoroastrians had
then to implore for themselves that toleration
which they had denied to others.

If we except its warlike ardour, there
is little in the history of the second
Persian empire which calls for notice. The
Emperor Valerian was taken captive, and
Julian was slain in battle. The people were
ignorant and but partially civilised. The
priests were narrow-minded and superstitious ;
and of all the kings only one has acquired
a high name in history, viz., Naushirvan the
Just.

There are not a few questions connected
with the history of Zoroastrianism which are
still matters of keen controversy. We shall
not enter into these, but shall in a great degree
confine our attention to points in which there
exists a large measure of agreement among
Oriental scholars. Happily, these are not few
in number ; nor are they by any means devoid
of interest. In these days, when so much
attention is paid to the comparative study of

ZOROASTRIANISM 1 1 9

religions, the Avesta faith ought by no means
to be overlooked. The system possesses some
striking peculiarities. Further, it has had a
very remarkable history. Most important
problems are involved in its relations to
Hinduism, Judaism, the Babylonian religion,
the Gnostic heresies, and the great system of
Manicheeism ; and in the Mithraic mysteries,
which were mainly of Persian origin, its influ-
ence spread extensively over the Roman Empire
and even as far west as Britain.

Much had been written regarding Zoroaster
and his religion, and many had been the
speculations regarding his doctrines ; but no
satisfactory conclusions could be reached so
long as the Avesta remained unknown. Even
before the Christian era Zoroaster had become
a mythical personage, and forged oracles were
ascribed to him which only increased the per-
plexity. The laborious researches of scholars
like Dr Thomas Hyde are deserving of high
respect ; but such men had to reason from
data always insufficient and often untrustworthy.
A new era in the study of Zoroastrianism
began with the labours of Anquetil du Perron.
The story of the travels and researches of this
enthusiastic explorer readsalmost likea romance.

120 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

He went to India in quest of the venerable
book ascribed to Zoroaster; found it among
the Parsi priests of Surat ; and, after years of
toilsome investigation into its doctrines, returned
in triumph with his prize to Europe. He
published a French translation of it, with
accompanying dissertations, in 1771. The
work at once excited the greatest interest.
This, after some time, began to diminish,
mainly in consequence of the faulty character
of the translation, which was frequently very
obscure, and not infrequently incorrect. Dur-
ing the last fifty years, however, the study of
the Avesta has been prosecuted by a succession
of able men with unflagging zeal, and with no
inconsiderable success.

We may mention, without disparagement of
others, the following writers as of high
authority : Westergaard, Spiegel, Haug, Canon
de Harlez, Geldner, Jasti, Dr E. W. West,
and Professor William Jackson.

We can trace the Avesta as we find it up to
the time of the Sasanian dynasty in Persia. The
Persian Empire was restored in the year 226
after Christ by Ardashir Babegan, the first of
the Sasanian line. He was a man of un-
common force of character ; bold and success-

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 2 1

ful as a warrior, and skilful in administration.
In building up his kingdom he called religion
to his aid. He earnestly sought to collect the
writings that inculcated the ancient faith of
Zoroaster; and several of his successors per-
severed in the attempt. The canon of the
Avesta was fixed under Shapur II., about the
year 350; revision and condensation were
effected in the reign of Khosru Parviz, between
531 and 579. The Avesta, as we possess it,
may thus be safely traced back at least to the
sixth century after Christ. We must allow
for errors of transcription in the case of what
had long been a dead language. Uncouth and
unintelligible phrases abound in the work ; the
text is often manifestly incorrect, and critics
are sorely tempted to try the undesirable
expedient of conjectural emendation. Still, on
the whole, here stands the Avesta, nearly as it
must have stood some thirteen, or even fifteen,
centuries ago. Further : although collected in
the day of the Sasanian kings, we have no
reason to believe that it was then composed.
An extensive literature existed in Persia before
the Macedonian conquest. The tradition of
the Parsis is that Alexander — "the accursed
wretch Sikandar," as they call him — burnt all

122 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

their books, with the exception of a few
fragments. The tradition cannot count for
much ; for the great conqueror was generally
tolerant in matters of religion, and pursued as
far as possible a policy of conciliation. The
disappearance of the ancient books is rather to
be regarded as the result of the centuries of
confusion that succeeded the Macedonian con-
quest over the countries in which the Zoro-
astrian faith generally prevailed. Be this as it
may, we have reason to believe that by far the
greatest part of the Avesta was composed at
various dates ranging from about the seventh
to the fourth century before Christ. Portions
may be still more recent; and it is possible,
even probable, that some additions were made
as late as the sixth century after Christ. The
work, as it stands, is not only fragmentary but
chaotic, wonderfully little skill having been
exhibited in the arrangement of its component
parts.

About Zoroaster himself we must say a few
words. Some able men doubt his very exist-
ence, and find in his history only a mythical
description of elemental war — an atmospheric
storm. On the whole, we think that he actually
existed; and that he was possibly a Bactrian,

ZOROASTRIANISM 1 23

but probably a Mede. There is reason to
believe that while the Medes were under
Assyrian dominion, their religion had to some
extent become mixed with that of the con-
querors ; but that, when the foreign yoke was
thrown off, an earnest attempt was made to
revive the ancient Aryan faith. With this
reformation we may provisionally connect the
name of Zoroaster. Thus, in round numbers,
we can with some probability assign his era to
the commencement of the seventh century B.C.
On these questions, however, we can as yet
attain to no more than plausible conjecture,
and all dogmatism is out of place. Even the
name of the great teacher — in Zend, Zara-
thushtra, has received no satisfactory explana-
tion. We may believe — still, it is only a
plausible conjecture — that the Avesta religion
arose to the south-east of the Caspian Sea,
among a race still semi-nomadic, but inclin-
ing more and more to pastoral and agricultural
life. It seems to have powerfully affected
Bactria and Media before it entered Persia.
In the last-named country the precepts of the
Avesta were but partially submitted to during
the earlier reigns, from Cyrus downwards ; but
the power of the Magi — the priests — with a

124 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

short interruption after the death of the
Pseudo-Smerdis, appears to have gone on
steadily increasing, until the Macedonian
conquest shattered it to pieces. The suc-
cessors of Alexander reigned eighty years
over Persia. Under the Parthian power
which succeeded, the Magi slowly recovered a
certain measure of authority; and Valkhash
(Volegeses), one of the later kings, seems to
have begun the work of collecting the
scattered fragments of the sacred books. The
Parthian dominion was overthrown by Ardashir
Babegan, who has been mentioned above ;
and, under him and his successors, Zoroas-
trianism obtained a far more influential position
than it had ever previously held. This it
retained until Persia was conquered by the
Arabs, in the middle of the seventh century
after Christ.

There can be little doubt that Ahura Mazda,
the chief divinity in the Avesta, was originally
the same as the Varuna Asura of the Veda.
(Ahura is simply the Zend form of Asura,
which means Lord.) A very lofty char-
acter is ascribed to this deity; if the Veda
ever approaches the conception of holiness, it
is in connection with him it does so. The

ZOROASTRIANISM 125

counterparts of Varuna, the heaven-god, are
found in Zeus, Ju-piter, and Ahura Mazda ;
and it may be held as demonstrated that the
conception of a supreme divinity, wise, power-
ful, and good, was common to the four great
divisions of the Aryan race, — the Greeks,
Romans, Hindus, and Iranians. It must have
belonged to them before they separated from
each other. Yet, although supreme, this
divinity was not sole ; he was, in the phrase
which meets us so frequently from the time of
Homer downwards, uthe father of gods and
men " ; but he received no exclusive homage.

After the other branches of the Aryan
family had migrated to the west, the Iranians
and Hindus evidently remained for some time
together ; and hence many elements are com-
mon to the two systems of religion. But
ere long the Indo-Iranian stream divided into
two parts, which were never to re-unite.
Each of the two systems of faith then received
its own special development.

In India, Varuna was gradually divested of
his serene majesty. Even in Vedic times
Indra, the tumultuous god of the lower sky,
who had none of his lofty attributes, was
exalted into the place of Varuna; and other

126 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

gods were gradually multiplied. But in Iran
(Persia) the authority of Ahura Mazda (i.e.
the wise Lord) became more fully recognised
than before. His moral attributes also were
never obscured. Still, Ahura Mazda falls
very far below the divinity who is revealed in
the Jewish Scriptures. He is not a purely
spiritual being. He is not omnipresent or
omnipotent.

Closely connected with Ahura is a hierarchy
of celestial beings, the Amesha-spentas. They
are very generally adored along with Ahura.
Thus : " We sacrifice to Ahura Mazda, bright
and glorious; we sacrifice to the Amesha-
spentas, all-ruling, all-beneficent." The func-
tion of these " holy immortals " is to inspect
and aid the whole of the good creation. Their
designations are as follows : —

1. Vohumano (literally, good mind'). The
name originally denotes submission to the
revealed law. He became the genius of truth,
and also of flocks.

2. Asha vasistha (the best rectitude) denotes
conformity to divine order ; truth and holiness.
He presides over fire. He also cures disease.

3. Khshathra vairya (supreme sovereignty).
;-

ZOROASTRIANISM 1 27

He represents royal dominion. He also pre-
sides over metals.

4. Spenta Armaiti (holy wisdom}. She be-
came the genius of the Earth.

5, 6. Haurvatat and Ameretat are generally
mentioned together. Their names signify
health and immortality. They denote the
fulness of blessing.

In the Gathas, the Amesha-spentas seem
abstract ideas, or qualities, rather than personal
beings. Their names sound like attributes of
Ahura Mazda ; and many passages appear to
require them to be so understood.

Yazatas. This term means worthy of worship^
and is occasionally used in that comprehensive
sense. .More frequently, however, it denotes
a very large class of beings who are inferior
in point of dignity to the Amesha-spentas.

Of the first kind are genii presiding over
natural objects, especially those connected with
the elements — fire and light, air, earth, and
water.

Equal importance is attached to the genii
connected with Light. A very high place
among these is assigned to Mithra. He was
originally the god of the luminous heaven.

It was towards the Christian era that the

128 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

worship of Mithra, mixed apparently with
cruel rites borrowed from Babylon, spread far
and wide in the west.

Of the genii of the waters the most cele-
brated is Ardvi sura Anahit, i.e. the high,
powerful, undefiled. She descends from the
region of the stars.

Of the productions of the vegetable world
the most celebrated was Homa, or Haomo.
The Homa is a plant with thick stalks and
yellow flowers, growing chiefly on the moun-
tains of Ghilan in northern Persia. The
Avesta speaks of it in the most exalted terms.
It flourishes in resplendent glory on "the
highest height " of the heavenly mountain
Hara Berezaiti ; its juice cures all ills of mind
and body. The juice is extracted by pounding
the plant with a pestle in a mortar. It is the
enlivening, the beautiful, the lordly, the
golden-eyed, the victorious, and the giver of
victory. It is the most precious part of the
offering.

The spirits of the air are not of much
importance. The most important is Vayu —
the wind ; who is said to belong in part to
the good, and in part to the bad, creation.

Of the spirits of the earth the most im-

ZOROASTRIANISM 129

portant is Spenta Armaiti, who is also one of
the Amesha-spentas.

The beings hitherto mentioned, with the
exception of Anahit, were originally common
to the Indo-Iranian race. There are other
divinities who are of purely Iranian origin, and
unknown in India. The most important of
these are the following : —

Sraosha. This name is derived from a verb
signifying to hear. Sraosha is the genius of
obedience to the law.

The Law (Daena) and the holy formulae or
spells are also worshipped as divine. So are
the sacred books, especially the Gathas.
Sacrifice is offered to them, and they are
frequently invoked for aid.

A very remarkable class of divinities is that
of the Fravashis. There is considerable
obscurity — not to say contradiction — in the
descriptions of them. Originally they pro-
bably were the souls of the dead ; but, in
process of time, all living beings — animals,
as well as men — sky, waters, earth, fire, and
plants, were believed to have each a Fravashi.
Beings yet unborn possess them.

Space is also worshipped. So is Time.

It seems needless to go into greater detail,

130 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

There is nothing in the whole of the good
creation that is not held to be deserving of
worship. Prayers are addressed to human
souls, the souls of animals, vegetables, springs
of water, rivers, mountains, the earth, the
wind, the sky, the stars, etc., etc.

We proceed now to speak of evil beings.
The Avesta, as Professor Darmesteter rather
sarcastically remarks, is " very rich in demons."
Daevas, drujas, yatus, pairikas, dvarants,
dregvants, and so on ; we have them of varied
classes, and in numbers without number.

The chief of these — and the creator of all
of them — is Angro mainyus or Ahriman. His
name in Zend means hurtful spirit. He is from
all eternity ; he is wholly evil ; his original
dwelling was in primeval, uncreated darkness,
which existed in boundless space, far apart
from the primeval, uncreated light. Angro
mainyus was at first ignorant of the produc-
tions, and apparently of the existence of the
good spirit. But when he became aware of
these, he "broke into the fair creation," deter-
mined to counterwork, and if possible, destroy
it. For every pure being created by the good
spirit, Angro mainyus created a corresponding

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 3 1

evil being ; in place of health, he made disease ;
and for life, death. The good spirit (we have
seen) is surrounded by six immortal holy ones.
Angro mainyus created six arch-demons, the
grisly council of hell, whose very names seem
mockeries of those of the pure hierarchy of
heaven. The entire struggle between good
and evil — light and darkness — lasts for twelve
thousand years ; and we are now in the thick
of the fight.

Zoroaster was the only human being that
could daunt Angro mainyus. He smote the
fiend with the holy spells, and especially with
the one called Ahuna vairya (or Honover),
which was as strong a weapon as a stone of
the size of a house. Still, however, the battle
rages. Three sons of Zoroaster will yet be
miraculously born, who will carry on his work,
in which the last of them — Soshyant, or
Sosiosh — will be completely victorious. Angro
mainyus will be overthrown; he will be cast
into hell, and (as is generally held) destroyed.
Then comes the frashokereti, the perpetuation
of life. The fair creation that had been slain
by the fiend revives ; the good live in a reno-
vated world, and everlasting joy prevails.

Garotmana is often mentioned as the dwell-

1 32 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

ing-place of Ahura Mazda. The name means
" the house of song." Ahura there sits on a
throne of gold, surrounded by the Amesha
spentas and Yazatas. Paradise is often identi-
fied with it. Hell is full of darkness and
horror. It is situated in the north, under the
earth; its mouth is beside the mountain
Arezura.

The sacred fire is kept in a special building
called Atesh Bahram; in the innermost and
most sacred division of the building. This is
separated from the rest by a wall; but the
door remains open.

Prayers are chanted memoriter by the
priest (Mobed), in front of the fire. Every
portion of the day has its allotted prayer.
While these are offered within the inner
apartment, the people without read or repeat
prayers, facing the fire. Sometimes the wor-
shipper may add an extempore supplication of
his own in the vernacular. Women occasionally
attend.

Prayers for the dead are recited daily in
the Atesh Bahram. Richer people generally
have the service performed in their own houses;
but poor people come to the fire-temple.

ZOROASTR1ANISM 1 33

So much for public worship. But even the
domestic fire is always sacred, and must be
treated as such. It, too, must never be
extinguished.

We may next speak of offerings. When
asked how the demon could be repelled by
him, Zoroaster said: "The sacred mortar, the
sacred cup, the Homa, and the words taught
by Mazda; these are my weapons, my best
weapons."

The great Iranian heroes of the ancient
times offered up animal sacrifices. Animal
sacrifices are not unknown in the Vendidad.
For a certain very grave offence the guilty
person must " slay a thousand head of small
cattle, and offer the entrails to the fire." In
other cases also animal offerings were required,
until in comparatively recent times ; but all
such observances seem now to have entirely
ceased.

In the present day, flesh (myazda) is not
offered. The priest takes the cup containing
the Homa in his right hand, raises it in his
right hand before the sacred fire, and drinks a
small quantity. The rest is poured into
a well.

The Homa offering is made in private houses

i34 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

as well as in fire-temples ; and the ceremony
should be performed twice a day.

Offerings are still made to the sea, consist-
ing chiefly of flowers and fruits, such as cocoa
nuts.

Ceremonial purity is with the Pars! a matter
of supreme importance. Defilement is easily
incurred, and hence the means of purification
are carefully prescribed in the Avesta. The
glory of the Zoroastrian law is said to consist
in its so fully and clearly declaring the
ceremonies needful for cleansing the defiled.

The distinction between ceremonial and
moral defilement is far from clear in the
Avesta.

The great material agents of purification are
water and gomez or nirang (urina bovis).

Everything that issues from the human body
is regarded as dead, and as belonging to the
demons. Even the hair and nails when cut
off are the same: and elaborate prescriptions
are given as to their disposal.

The great source of defilement is contact
with a dead body.

The new-born child must be washed with
water, not generally now with nirang. Before
this, it is impure. Before the age of fifteen,

ZOROASTRIANISM 135

and generally between nine and eleven, initia-
tion into the Zoroastrian faith takes place by
means of prayers, purifications, and the putting
on of the kusti (a string made of seventy-two
woollen threads twisted together), and the
sadarah or sacred shirt, which is of muslin
with short sleeves.

When anyone dies, men first wash the
body, dress it in white garments, and lay it on
a stone slab in the front room. The priest
comes and reads prayers. The women are now
in the same room with the body, the men
outside. During the last prayer a white dog,
kept usually in the fire-temple, is brought near
the corpse, and induced, if possible, to look at
it. Two, now generally four, men lay the
body on an iron bier. The dog is commonly
brought in twice ; and the whole ceremony
may occupy forty minutes. Then the body is
borne off by the four men — a fifth man pre-
ceding to clear the way, so that not even
the shadow of an unbeliever may fall on the
corpse. The priests walk two and two,
generally holding a handkerchief between them.
Ceremonies are performed close to the dakhma,
or " tower of silence," as it is usually called
in English. This is a circular pit very deep,

i36 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

round which is a stone pavement about seven
feet wide.

There are three great prayers, the potency
of which is extolled continually and in the
strongest possible language. These are the
Ahuna vairya, the Ashem Vohu, and the
Yenhe Hatam.

The Ahuna vairya is so called from the three
initial words Tathd ahu vairyo. It existed
before heaven, earth, water or fire ; and it is
the most effective weapon that Ahura Mazda
himself can^ use to crush the demons. It is
much to be regretted that of this very im-
portant part of the Avesta we have at least
six conflicting versions from scholars of high
name. In the midst of this perplexity, the
ordinary Parsi will console himself with the
reflection that the efficiency of the prayer
depends entirely on the right sounds being
uttered, and not at all on the sense attached
to them. But we cannot be certain even of
the sounds ; for the commentary on the prayer
given in the nineteenth chapter (Ha) of the
Yasna must be founded on readings consider-
ably different from those which the present
MSS. contain. The translation of Haug is the
following : " As a heavenly lord is to be chosen,

ZOROASTRIANISM 137

so is an earthly master (spiritual guide') for the
sake of righteousness, to be the giver of the good
thoughts, the good actions of life towards Mazda ;
and the dominion is for the Lord (ahura) whom
he has given as a protector to the poor?'1 With
all possible respect for the learned man who
supplies this version, it is almost impossible
that this can be the meaning of the most
potent, " most fiend-smiting " prayer in the
Avesta. Professor de Harlez paraphrases it
thus : " As there exists a supreme master, perfect,
so there is a master of the law established to
maintain and propagate holiness ; the regulator
of good thoughts and of actions springing out of
the order of things referring to Mazda.
Sovereign power belongs to Ahura ; he has con-
stituted him (viz. the master of the law)
protector (shepherd} of the poor" Professor
Darmesteter renders the prayer as follows :
The will of the Lord is the law of holiness.
The riches of Vohumano shall be given to him
who works in the world for Mazda, and wields
according to the will of Ahura the power he
gave him to relieve the poor" The sense of the
last rendering is clear; but it is not easy to
see how the Professor extracts it from the
present text. Finally, let it be remembered

138 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

that holiness or righteousness, as used in this
passage and elsewhere in the Avesta, means
merely ceremonial purity.

The Ashem Vohu prayer, which, if not so
potent, is used still more frequently than the
Ahuna vairya, is translated by Haug as follows :
" Righteousness is the best good ; a blessing it is ;
a blessing be to that which is righteousness
towards perfect righteousness." Darmesteter
makes it : " Holiness is the best of all good.
Well is it for that holiness which is perfection
of holiness."

Fasting occupies so important a place in
most systems of religion, that its entire absence
from the list of prescribed duties in the Avesta
attracts the more attention. There is no trace
of asceticism in the Avesta precepts or the
Pars! practice.

Marriage is much encouraged. It is implied
that monogamy was the general rule. Yet
one extraordinary practice is fully recognised
in the later books of the Avesta — marriage
with the nearest of kin.

Prostitution, adultery, sodomy, and such
crimes are strongly denounced.

The observance of magical rites is in a few
cases mentioned and reprobated.

ZOROASTRIANISM 1 39

The Avesta dwells with all possible earnest-
ness on the importance of agriculture. Its
ideas on this subject are embodied in quaint,
and sometimes coarse, phraseology; but it is
interesting to note the anxiety of the authors
of the Avesta that the people should cease to
be nomadic and take to a settled life. " Whoso
cultivates barley cultivates righteousness."

The putting to death of the creatures of the
evil principle is a high religious duty. If the
division of animals into good and bad had been
less arbitrary, this might have called forth a
half-approving smile; but when we hear of
tortoises, frogs, cats, ants, etc., being proscribed,
we are somewhat startled. With all the efforts
of the Avesta to be exact, there seems to be
no division of fishes, and no clear division
of birds, into good and bad. Every creature
being either of divine or demoniac origin, this
omission is — on the principles of the Avesta
itself — a grievous fault.

The place assigned to the dog is very
notable. One entire division of the Avesta
is devoted to the celebration of his excellence.

Physical and ceremonial defilements are put
on a level with moral offences. Contact with
a dead body — especially that of a man or dog

i4o THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

— must with all possible care be avoided. To
bury or burn a corpse is an unpardonable
crime. So is it for one man to carry a dead
body.

We can with all confidence regard the
present Pars! sacred books as having been
recognised from the middle of the fourth
century after Christ. Revision went on till
about the middle of the sixth. Doubtless most
or all of them were composed still earlier, but
how much, it is exceedingly difficult to de-
termine. Since that time they have probably
remained almost unchanged.

Possibly some part of the Avesta may have
been composed by Zoroaster himself or his
contemporaries. But here again a serious
difficulty presents itself. The date of Zoroaster
has been the subject of much controversy.
On the whole, it is probable that he lived
nearly three hundred years before the invasion
of Persia by Alexander of Macedon in 331 B.C.
He was probably born in the west of Media.
He seems to have preached with little accep-
tance there, but with much acceptance in
Eastern Persia or Bactria. The King of
Bactria, called by Persian writers Vishtaspa,

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 4 1

is said to have become a convert, and to have
brought over many of his subjects to the new
faith. Finally, Zoroaster is said to have died
— at the age of seventy-seven — murdered, say
some, when ministering at the altar, or rather
perhaps slain in battle, along with his patron
King Vishtaspa, by the same wild nomads who
at a somewhat later time cut off the great
Cyrus. Vishtaspa carried on wars for the
extension of the Zoroastrian faith, and it is
difficult to believe that Zoroaster did not
approve of these, and share in them.

The early Persians, as the Greeks inform
us, possessed an extensive religious literature.
But in the long lapse of ages the greater part
of this has perished. The portion that remains
is about the size of our Bible. It is divided
into five great parts, but Haug was justified
in designating the whole collection "frag-
mentary and chaotic." Songs, prayers, laws,
legends, with strange omissions and repetitions
— such is the Avesta as we find it.

It consists of the following parts : —

1. The Yasna, including the five Gathas or
Hymns.

2. The Vendidad.

3. The Vispered.

1 42 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

4. The Yashts.

5. A few short prayers called Afrigan,
Nyayish and Gah.

6. The Sirozah, a calendar of the days of
the month.

The meaning of the word Yasna is sacrifice.
This division of the Yasna contains the prayers
that are offered along with sacrificial rites.
The Gathas, however, form its most important
part. These are written in a different dialect
from the rest of the Avesta, and may perhaps
be more ancient.

The Vendidad is the law-book. The name
is characteristic; it means given against the
demons.

The Vispered contains prayers very similar
to those in the Yasna. The name means all
heads or all chiefs. The chief objects of the
good creation are invoked in it.

It is exceedingly difficult to see any principle
determining the division and arrangement of
the sacred book. It almost seems as if the
various recovered parts of the Avesta had
been huddled together as they came to hand.

The Avesta contains no system of homo-
geneous doctrine. The Gathas are almost, if
not wholly, monotheistic. The Vendidad leans

ZOROASTRIANISM

'43

towards dualism. In the Yashts the faith can
hardly be distinguished from polytheism.

The theology of the Gathas is remarkable.
They acknowledge Ahuramazda as the supreme
divinity. Now, there is little or no doubt
that this being was originally the same as
Varuna Asura of the Vedas, who also in
pre-Vedic days was probably acknowledged as
the supreme divinity, and retains throughout
the Vedas a distinct pre-eminence as the god
of heaven, i.e. the distant, pure, cloudless
heaven.

But the striking thing is that while, as time
went on, the Indian deity sank in character
and power, the Persian deity never did so.
The Persian system never fell into either gross
polytheism or pantheism. If not pure mono-
theism, it generally comes very near it.

The two races, the Hindu (or Aryan) and
Persian, had once lived in close proximity to
each other and worshipped the same gods.
The one body was pastoral and largely
nomadic. The other lived a settled life and
cultivated the soil ; in fact, there is no duty
on which the Avesta insists more zealously
than this. Quarrels easily arose ; and by the
time the Avesta was composed there was deep

144 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

hostility. Hating the Aryans, it was easy for
the Persians to hate their gods. The Persian
faith was by and by reformed, as the Parsis
assert, by Zoroaster ; and many of the gods of
the Hindus came to be called devils by the
Persians. It is highly probable that there had
been a great struggle in which the Persians
were victorious. And this might well have
been one chief reason for the Aryas seeking a
home in India beyond the snowy mountains.

One cause of the difference between the
two religions I have already suggested ; the
Persians probably extended their hatred of
the Aryas to their religion. But this is not
sufficient to explain the great divergence of
the systems.

It is a most interesting problem : what
occasioned this strong distinction between the
two religions ? In other words, what led to
the great reformation which is attributed to
Zoroaster ?

I do not wish to dogmatise, and will only
mention one or two historical facts, which must
not be ignored, and which seem to bear directly
on the question. The Ten Tribes, when
carried captive by the Assyrians, were conveyed

ZOROASTRIANISM 145

to "Halah and Razor, the river of Gozan,
and the cities of the Medes" Now Zoroaster
was very probably a Mede. His earnest and
inquiring mind surely could not have come in
contact with the Israelites and learned nothing
from them. The carrying away of the tribes
from Palestine took place in 723-721 B.C.
The probable date of Zoroaster was a little
later. And when afterwards the two tribes of
the Jews were carried into Babylonia, only the
most friendly relations existed between them
and their deliverers, the Persians. The acute
critic Darmesteter admits that the Avesta
"represents essentially the religion of the early
Persians," but holds that, "in consequence of
intercourse with the Greeks and Jews, it is
now pervaded all through with new principles."
He maintains that this took place chiefly after
the conquest of Persia by Alexander. So be
it, but I contend that the Hebrew influence
began nearly three hundred years before
Alexander, and probably never entirely ceased.
Canon de Harlez earnestly maintains this. I
am far from saying that the Persian concep-
tion of Ahuramazda rises to the sublimity of
the Hebrew conception of Jehovah ; still, when
we remember the ideas which even the cultured

146 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Greeks and Romans entertained of their gods,
it is truly remarkable that the comparatively
uncultured Persians should have believed in
one God, a great and wise and holy God, and
that throughout their whole history they have
kept themselves free from image-worship.

Ahuramazda is surrounded by a hierarchy of
celestial beings, called Amesha-Spentas, or
uholy immortals." Their names sound like
attributes of God — and such they probably
were at first; though gradually they were
held to be a kind of council. There is also
a somewhat inferior class of Yazatas, whom we
may call angels.

Great is the importance attached to Fire, and
the being presiding over it occupies the highest
place among the angels. The Parsis have often
been called fire-worshippers ; but, now at least,
they earnestly contend they do not adore fire ;
they only pay it reverence, as the purest symbol
of the unseen Deity.

The ancient Persians were very deeply
impressed by the existence and power of Evil,
evil in the physical world, and evil in the heart
of man. They came very soon to believe that
its existence was owing to the power of a
personal being, whom they called Angra

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 47

Mainyus or Ahriman. He is entirely antagon-
istic to Ahuramazda — as opposite as darkness is
to light. There is continual war between the
two powers, and, though the omnipotence of
the good power is never denied, the two sides
are so nearly matched, that we have at times
almost a doctrine of Dualism rather than of
Monotheism. But this probably came at a
later time.

The worshipper of Ahuramazda is com-
manded to put forth his utmost efforts to
counteract the works of the evil power. We
have nothing like this in the Hindu books, and
it is a noble characteristic of the Persian
system. Active energy in support of the right
and the true was deemed imperative ; inaction
was almost as culpable as opposition to the
good.

No doubt, when they sought to destroy the
works of the evil being, they were led to some
very strange conclusions. For they had divided
all things and all creatures into two great
camps, so to speak. Every creature, every
thing, was on the side either of Ahuramazda
or Ahriman. Thus, the dog was good, but the
cat was bad. The fixed stars were all on the
side of the good principle; the planets were

148 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

with the evil one. Stranger still, most trees
were good ; but the bark was the work of
demons. If I wished to amuse my readers,
other examples equally droll might be supplied ;
but I have no heart to laugh, nor, I am sure,
have you, at the attempts of a simple-minded,
earnest race to solve the high problems of the
universe.

The great struggle between good and evil
is said to last for 12,000 years, and we are
in the midst of it. It will terminate in the
complete destruction of the Evil Power and
all his works. It is sometimes implied that
Ahriman is not finally destroyed, but restored
to truth and goodness.

So much for moral evil. But there is not
only moral evil in the world; there is also
physical ; there is sickness — there is suffering.
Whence came they? The answer of the
Persians to this question shows us one of
the weakest things in their theology. They
never rise to the conception of sorrow as
discipline — as a preparation for purer service
and higher joy. They never say with our
English poet, "Sweet are the uses of
adversity." They did not believe that suffer-
ing of any kind could come from the Good

ZOROASTRIANISM 149

Principle, for He is invariably kind; it could
only be the work of the great enemy. Now,
this confounding of physical and moral evil
is of course a fundamental mistake and has
far-reaching consequences ; and I should be
thankful to know that all well-educated Parsis
had been able to get rid of the error. I fear
they hold that bodily sickness is caused by
some one of the multitude of demons that are
ever ready to assault human beings ; and that
they are themselves blamable for the sickness,
because the demon would have had no power
to afflict them if they had been on their guard
against him.

The teaching of the Gathas (hymns) is
very simple. We hear of the greatness and
goodness of Ahuramazda who is called "the
primeval spirit," uthe essence of truth," uthe
creator of all good creatures." There are
earnest exhortations to avoid all evil and to
be pure in thought, word and deed. Very
great stress is laid on leading a settled life
and cultivating the soil. In reference to the
nomadic races around, who were always on
the watch to attack them, the language is
exceedingly stern. "Slay the liars; kill the
wicked with the sword": such words are

150 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

frequent and far from pleasant ; but we must
remember that the Zoroastrians earnestly de-
sired peace, while the tribes around were
bent on war. It was simply a question of
slaying or being slain.

In the remarkable rock-inscriptions made
by the great Darius at Behistun (Bisitun),
Auramazda (so the name is given) is distinctly
called "the greatest of all objects of worship."
This is in accordance with the Gathas. We
must remember that there are a multitude of
beings among whom Ahuramazda, though
supreme, is not alone worshipped. Indeed,
there is nothing in the good creation — the
world as made by God — that may not receive
a reverence which is hardly distinguishable
from worship. Prayer is addressed not only
to the Supreme Being but to angels and arch-
angels, to human souls, the souls of animals,
springs of water, mountains, and so on. This
looks very like Hindu polytheism; but there
still exists this great distinction — that in the
Persian system God always remains immeasur-
ably above all other beings. If we were to
call them polytheists, the Parsis would com-
plain bitterly. In this connection we must
remember that there are fellow-Christians of

ZOROASTRI ANISM 1 5 1

ours who pray to saints and angels, and yet
we never call them polytheists.

With regard to the ritual, the sacrifice of
animals was frequent in the earliest times.
The ancient hero Thraetono is said to have
offered up a hundred horses, a thousand oxen,
and ten thousand sheep. This doubtless is
a mere legend, but it shows the bent of the
people's mind. The animals offered seem
to have been specially horses and camels. In
speaking on Hinduism I mentioned that the
most splendid sacrifice was that of the horse.
Apparently it had been handed down from
the time when the Persians and Hindus were
united, and before the arrival of the Hindus
in India.

In later days we find that Xerxes sacrificed
horses to the river Strymon. At another time
he sacrificed on the site of Troy a thousand
oxen, and the Magi who were with him offered
white horses ; and again, he poured a libation
out of a golden cup into the sea. The sea
was part of the good creation, which doubtless
the Persian king was in the habit of worship-
ping; but Herodotus tells us that when the
waves of the Hellespont had broken down the
bridge which he had constructed between

152 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Sestos and Abydos, he ordered that it should
be punished by three hundred stripes being
inflicted on the water, and further that a pair
of fetters should be thrown into it. "I have
even heard," says the historian, " that he sent
persons to brand the Hellespont with a hot
iron." These follies seem hardly credible ;
yet things not very dissimilar have happened
even lately. I well remember the time when
a distinguished Parsi merchant of Bombay,
when he was sending a great consignment of
opium to China, endeavoured to secure an easy
passage for it by pouring 300 tubs of sugar-
candy into the deep — or, I rather think, 3000.
I am not aware that the temper of the Ocean
was much sweetened by the offering.

Animal sacrifices are distinctly prescribed in
the Pars! law-book, the Vendidad. These
were offered down to a comparatively recent
time ; but they have now completely ceased.

Almost everything was personalised in the
Pars! system. The things so dealt with were
reverenced if good, but hated and warred
against if evil. Parsiism, as Darmesteter
has said, is "rich in demons"; and cer-
tainly the number of evil creatures who are
ready to assail the Parsi, and against whom

ZOROASTRIANISM 1 53

he must stand continually on his guard, is
amazingly large. The English language does
not suffice to name one half of them — storm-
fiends, demoniac nymphs, fairies, hob-goblins,
and wizards that are as bad as fiends. This
terrible fight is continued even in the "sea"
above the sky. The great means of over-
coming them is the uttering of some holy
word — that is to say, a spell or incantation.
Of all these creatures I specially notice one.
That is Aeshma deva — " the roaring demon,"
who in later days became almost as terrible as
Ahriman himself. He seems mentioned in the
Apocrypha under the name, hardly changed,
of Asmodeus.

The Avesta has only a very circumscribed
range of doctrine. That may be partly ex-
plained by the loss of sacred books ; but as
far as we can discover, the Persians were
always men of action rather than of thought.
No doubt the activity often assumed strange
forms. Thus it was the solemn duty of the
Parsi to destroy — as far as in him lay — the
living productions of the evil power. If the
division into good and bad had been less
arbitrary, this command might have called
forth a half-approving smile; for the destruc-

154 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

tion of noxious creatures, such as tigers and
serpents, is surely an excellent thing. But
when we see that frogs and ants and a whole
host of other innocent creatures are put under
the ban, we are considerably startled. The
condemnation was, of course, the result of
pure ignorance ; and, as such, it is now visibly,
though slowly, passing away. The prejudice
against cats, however, as far as I am aware,
continues to this day. Pars! children have no
playmate in pussy. I am sorry for pussy, and
still sorrier for the children.

Among all animals the dog is the special
favourite. We can understand this. The
watchful house-dog and the shepherd's dog
were of course invaluable. I am not aware
whether there were lap-dogs, I presume there
were ; I leave it to the ladies to guess. But
the dog of dogs is the water-dog. Who he
is I have tried in vain to discover. A Pars!
friend thinks it was some fabulous mythological
creature — something like a water-kelpie (well-
known in Scottish song) shall we say ? The
murder of any dog is a great offence, but the
murder of a water-dog is inconceivably heinous.
The punishments assigned to the various crimes
are certainly perplexing. Thus, manslaughter

ZOROASTRIANISM 155

is visited with ninety stripes, but the murder
of a water-dog deserves ten thousand stripes.

It seems impossible that legislation of this
sort could ever have been practically carried
out. It could not have been so under the
earlier Persian empire, and probably not even
in the later empire, that of the Sasanians.
The law-book of the Avesta — the Vendidad —
presents the later priestly idea of right and
wrong rather than State jurisprudence, and
I think we may dismiss the belief that legisla-
tion of this kind could ever have been more
than a sacerdotal recommendation or theory.

It is satisfactory to be able to quote the
statement of Pars! theology made a few years
ago by a late chief priest of the body in
Bombay : —

"The one holy and glorious Lord, the
Creator of both worlds, I acknowledge. He
has no form and no equal. There was nothing
before Him; He always is, and always will
remain. God has no shape ; He is enveloped
in holy, pure, brilliant, incomparable light. No
one can adequately praise Him. Among in-
visibles He is invisible. The Lord is greatly
superior to angels. He is present in every
place. He is almighty. He is most just

156 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

and wise. He is worthy of service and
praise, and "imperative is His demand for
obedience."

These are remarkable utterances; let it be
noted that I have only very slightly condensed
the prolix Oriental phraseology, leaving the
sense entirely unchanged. I believe the high
priest knew no English, and had drawn no
idea from any European books — though, doubt-
less, Christian thought was " in the air."

Somewhat less authoritative, but perfectly
trustworthy, is a statement from another
quarter. It is a quotation from a Pars!
Catechism.

Question. "What commands has God given
us through His prophet, the holy Zoroaster ? "

Answer. " To know God as one ; to know
the prophet, the exalted Zartosht, as the true
prophet ; to believe the religion and the book
brought by him as true beyond all manner of
doubt; to believe in the goodness of God;
not to disobey any commands of the holy
(Mazdiasnian) religion; to avoid evil deeds;
to strive after good deeds ; to pray five times
daily ; to believe in the just award pronounced
the fourth morning after death ; to hope for
heaven and fear hell ; to believe firmly in the

ZORO ASTRIANISM 157

day of general resurrection ; . . . and to face
some luminous object while worshipping God."

With regard to the last expression, let me
observe that it is used with some latitude.
Thus the Parsi often prays facing the sea, as
an important part of the good creation.

This reminds one of the excuse the Hindus
always offer for their idolatry. An image,
they say, is necessary for them to fix the mind
upon, which otherwise would wander and lose
itself. I have always felt this answer — when
not proudly but sorrowfully given — to be
most pathetic. I need not stop to say how
Christianity meets this great necessity.

In many systems of religion, Asceticism, i.e.-
bodily mortification, plays a very important
part; specially is this true of Hinduism, in
which it assumes a most extravagant posi-
tion, amounting sometimes to religious suicide.
In Zoroastrianism, however, there is not the
slightest trace of asceticism. On the contrary,
the Pars! must eat well and drink well, and, as
far as in him lies, keep his body strong, so as
to be better able to repel the attacks of his
enemies the demons.

The Parsi believes in heaven and in hell.
After death the soul continues beside the body

158 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

for three nights, and then the good soul
advances by a pleasant path to heaven,
Garodman, or the abode of song. The evil
soul proceeds by a very unpleasant road till it
sinks into hell.

We hear not unfrequently of the Chinvat
bridge, or, " the bridge of the gatherer," which
extends over hell. To the good man it
broadens out into a pathway which he tra-
verses with ease ; to the bad man it becomes
narrow, yea, sharp as a razor's edge ; and so
he falls into the abyss below.

But besides the decidedly good and bad
there is a third class — not good enough for
heaven or bad enough for hell. This kind
of soul is kept till the resurrection in the open
space between earth and the fixed stars, where
it suffers from the variations of heat and cold.

With regard to the future of the world
the views of the Zoroastrians are clear
and definite. As the end draws near, the
powers of evil become increasingly active.
Three great prophets are successively sent,
who labour to restore the Zoroastrian religion.
The last and greatest is Soshyans (Sosiosh), a
name which may be translated Saviour. He is
a son of Zoroaster, miraculously born. Having

ZOROASTRIANISM 159

completely vanquished all opposition, he raises
the dead. The just and unjust are then
separated. The unjust are thrown into hell
for three days. The metals in the mountains
melt with heat and flow over the earth in a
mighty stream. All have to pass through this
melted metal, but to the good it feels only
like warm milk. All are cleansed ; a draught
of haomo juice is supplied to them, and men
become immortal.

But the powers of evil gather for one final
and tremendous effort. Each archangel grasps
an archfiend; and finally Ahriman and the
dragon Az flee away to darkness and misery.
Even hell itself, however, is purified ; it is
united to earth ; and the world thereafter
reposes in everlasting purity and peace.

The Avesta is by no means always consistent ;
but the view now stated is, on the whole, the
more prevalent one. The ancient Zoroastrians
cherished the hope, if not the firm belief, that
good would eventually triumph over evil, and
indeed that all men would finally be purified
and happy.

We may now glance for a moment at
Zoroastrian worship. The fire-temples — fire-
houses rather — are all buildings of a single

160 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

storey, and are never constructed with any
splendour. They consist of three compart-
ments. The first is large. Both priests and
people gather there, and generally converse
together, sitting. A wall, with a door in it,
divides this from the second compartment,
which is a small square room. Many little
bells hang about, which the worshipper rings.
He does not sit down. The third compartment
only a priest can enter. An officiating priest
is always there, dressed in long white robes,
his hands covered with white cloths, his
face veiled. There is an urn of bronze, or
perhaps of silver, on an erection five or six feet in
diameter, in which there is fire, never smoulder-
ing, always blazing. Day and night the priests
feed this fire with fragrant sandalwood. The
worshipper lays downs his offering of sandal-
wood on the ground at the entrance. He must
not touch the priest. The priest takes up the
wood with a tongs and gives the worshipper
some ashes with a small brass spoon. The
worshipper faces the fire and prays in Zend.
Does he understand the meaning of the words ?
Very seldom, I presume. But the sounds are
sacred.

We must all feel that this is a painfully

ZORO ASTRIANISM 1 6 1

meagre service. If it can be called public
worship, it is in no sense social worship. There
is no singing, no reading, of the sacred books ;
and no preaching.

But there is also what we may call domestic
worship. Each family has a priest. He brings
sea water and sprinkles it on the door-posts
every morning and evening. He prays as he
sprinkles the sea water, and repeats the names
of all the members of the family. This
surely is a significant and striking thing.
Every morning and evening also the priest
bears a little brass pan (censer) into every
corner of the house.

It would be the greatest of calamities and of
sins if the fire in the fire-temple were allowed
to go out. It would be a great calamity also
if the domestic fire were allowed to do so.

The most peculiar of the observances of the
Parsis is their way of disposing of the dead.

The dead body is believed to be utterly
polluted and polluting. It cannot be buried,
for it would pollute the earth. It cannot be
burnt, for that would pollute the fire. The
Parsis expose the corpse on what is called "a
tower of silence," which is built in some
lonely place. Vast numbers of vultures
L

1 62 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

collect there, and keep diligent watch. The
body is brought into the inclosure and laid
down. The clothes are torn off, and the body
is fully exposed. The vultures instantly swoop
down upon it and in an incredibly short time
only the bare skeleton remains, which is then
thrown into the great general receptacle below.

The proportion of men among the Parsis
who have raised themselves to distinction is by
no means small. There have been great and
successful merchants; there have been great
philanthropists ; two have been members of the
British Parliament, and one of them is so still.

It may be well to sum up very briefly the
leading points on which the Zoroastrian
faith decidedly takes precedence of Gentile
systems generally : —

1. It ascribes no immoral attributes to the
object of worship.

2. It sanctions no immoral acts as a part of
worship.

3. None of the prescribed forms of worship
is marked by cruelty.

4. In the great contest between good and
evil the Zoroastrian is commanded to take an
active share in support of the good.

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 63

5. There is no image- worship.

6. Polygamy is forbidden, and a position of
respect is given to women.

7. Very great importance is attached to good
thoughts, words, and deeds.

8. The Avesta never despairs of the future.
Good will finally triumph.

How far has this interesting and singularly
compact race been affected by Christianity ?

The first case of conversion from their ranks
occurred in 1839. Three young pupils in the
Scottish Missionary Institution desired to be
baptised. One of them was seized by his
relatives and prevented from coming forward
the other two were baptised and lived long after-
wards as faithful missionaries. One of them,
still alive, is the venerable and much esteemed
Rev. Dhanjibhai Nauroji. Equally respected
is the Rev. Ruttonjee Nasrojee of the C. M. S.
The Sorabjee family, also, have long had a
valuable school in which Christian instruction
is given. Miss C. Shapurji has studied law
and fills an important office in England.

Within a few years past there has been an
interesting experiment called a Missionary

164 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Settlement for University women. The ex-
cellent ladies connected with it have not found
the Parsis very accessible to Christian teaching.
An influential paper quickly sounded an alarm.
It exclaimed : —

" Pars! brethren ! what blindness is this ?
It seems as if mental blindness had attacked
some Pars! brethren. Lady graduates have
come from England to give higher education to
Pars! girls. All honour to them that they
have not concealed their purpose, but say
openly that their desire is to teach the Christian
religion. It is our duty to sound the trumpet
of warning. The very foundations of the
peace and happiness of many are being slowly
undermined. There are Pars! ladies who are
graduates. Why are they not employed?
Pars! women, beware ! "

The English ladies do not restrict their
efforts to school teaching. They would most
gladly give Bible lessons to their Pars! sisters.
But while many in the Parsi community are
jealously watching every movement, these ladies
have an arduous task assigned them. Never-
theless, let them persevere. A gentle, pure,
noble Christian life is never lived in vain.
The tone of Pars! society will be raised and

ZOROASTRIANISM 165

sweetened even though there should be no
baptisms for a considerable time. Perhaps,
when the Parsis come to Christ they will come
as a community, not merely as individuals.
But be the time of their coming near or far-
off, the "Missionary Settlement for University
women" will be seen, when that day arrives,
to have contributed in no small degree to
bring on the blessed change.

Strange are the revolutions in history;
strange the vicissitudes that befall religions as
well as kingdoms. It was the belief of the
ancient Persians that the whole world would
be converted to the law of their Prophet
Zoroaster ; and, when the great Darius and
his successors had laid Northern India under
tribute, had overpowered Asia Minor and
Egypt, and were hurling their huge armaments
against the coasts of Greece, it seemed as if
the daring expectation might be fulfilled. But
Marathon, Thermopylae and Salami s were not
fought in vain ; the torrent of Asiatic invasion
was stemmed, and the civilisation of Hellas
stood secure. Then under Alexander of
Macedon Persia sank in ruins. Five hundred
years elapsed, and Persia rose again to grasp

1 66 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

at the sovereignty of Western Asia; and
repelling alike the Christian faith and Greek
philosophy, she claimed the East, from the
.ZEgean to the Indus, for the ancient and
resuscitated law of the great Persian teacher.
Sternly, relentlessly, she prosecuted the com-
bined work of conquest and conversion for four
hundred years; and then she fell, to rise no
more. What is Persia now ? We do not find
in all history a more lamentable contrast than
that which exists between the Persia of Cyrus
Darius and the Persia of our own day.

At present the country has fallen into politi-
cal insignificance, and gross corruption prevails
universally; and along with this — as in the
case of those sectaries, the Babis — the most
atrocious cruelty. Nor is there the least
hope of improvement while Persia remains
Muhammadan.

The Pars! community in Bombay has recently
been greatly agitated. The son of a dis-
tinguished Parsi merchant married a foreign
wife — a Frenchwoman. He had her first
invested with the sacred shirt and string that
always mark the Zoroastrian, and then the
marriage ceremony was performed according

ZORO ASTRI ANISM 1 67

to Pars! rites. The lady herself was anxious
to be regarded as a member of the Zoroastrian
community and join in their worship. But a
party calling itself orthodox objected, main-
taining that Zoroastrianism does not approve of
proselytes. A great meeting was called in
order to consider the question.

In the meantime news came from Europe
that three young Parsis had married Christian
wives, and that a fourth had married a Jewess.
Great was the consternation in Bombay. What
were things coming to ? Many meetings were
held, and the discussions were often stormy. In
the end, it appeared that it could not be proved
that Zoroastrianism disapproved of proselytism ;
but no final decision was definitely arrived at.
The so-called orthodox party is certainly
wrong in holding that Zoroastrianism rejects
proselytism; and the marriage of Parsis with
English and other foreign ladies is certain to
go on increasing, since enterprising Parsis will
continue to go abroad. Grave consequences to
Zoroastrianism are sure to follow. It is not
likely that many Christian or Jewish women,
if married to Parsis, will imitate Mrs Tata, and
seek to become Zoroastrians ; their influence
much more probably will tend to draw their

1 68 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

husbands away from the Pars! faith. Un-
doubtedly the purest of Gentile creeds is
Zoroastrianism ; it stands nearer to Revealed
truth than any other. It seems only natural,
then, that it should be the first of existing
Gentile systems to merge in Christianity.

NOTE ON ZOROASTER

It is much to be regretted that we know so
little about this celebrated man. We may well
believe that the religion of ancient Iran was
founded by a personage who has generally
been known by the name of Zoroaster; but
really this is nearly all we know regarding him.
Professor Williams Jackson of Columbia Uni-
versity has done his best to dispel the darkness.
He has laboriously collected the passages in
the Greek and Roman classics that refer to
Zoroaster, and he has also quoted the state-
ments of a large number of Oriental writers.
Yet, after going over the whole of these, we
are left in dire perplexity. Even the existence
of Zoroaster cannot be said to be more than
probable ; and the silence of Herodotus and of
Darius, in his great inscription, are difficult to
explain. Contradictions regarding Zoroaster

ZOROASTRI ANISM 1 69

abound among both classical and Oriental
writers; and from the latter we seldom get
anything beyond fantastic legends, nor indeed
much more from the former.

"Amid all the dross," says the professor,
"grains of gold are to be found." That is
surely probable, but opinions will differ as to
the number of the grains. The reader will
judge.

Zoroaster was probably born in the West
of Iran, in Media Atropatene, between 660
and 533 B.C. He had three wives at the same
time, and had children by the first two.

Allusions in the classics imply that his early
youth was much given to quiet meditation.

The Zartosht Namah is a modern book,
but is very popular among the Parsis. We
give a brief summary of its statements. At
the end of thirty a divine revelation was im-
parted to him. He was led in ecstatic trance
into the immediate presence of God and the
archangels. Marvellous things were shown,
and sublime truths were revealed. On coming
back to earth he began to preach. Six addi-
tional visions were vouchsafed in the following
seven or eight years. He thus became
possessed of sublime knowledge. But the

170 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

powers of evil assailed him. Zoroaster, how-
ever, was all-equipped, having among other
things obtained from Aharamazda stones as
big as a house to hurl at the fiends. The
fiends were discomfited.

For ten years Zoroaster preached before he
had one convert. The first was his cousin.
He was then led by divine guidance apparently
to the court of King Vishtaspa at Balkh. He
preached, but in vain. He had a terrible
struggle to pass through — lasting it would
seem two years. He was accused of sorcery,
and thrown into prison. On this the four legs
of the favourite horse of the king were found
drawn up into its belly. Zoroaster promised
to restore the animal to its natural state on
certain conditions. Vishtaspa gladly consented
to the terms. First, the king must accept the
faith. He agreed; whereupon Zoroaster
prayed, and the right foreleg came out.
Secondly, the king must promise that his brave
son Isfendiar should fight on behalf of the faith.
Agreed ; and then the right hind leg appeared.
Next, Zoroaster requested the conversion of
the queen. Agreed; and lo! the hind leg
came forth. Fourthly, Zoroaster demanded
that those who had plotted against him should

ZORO ASTRI AN ISM 171

be put to death. Granted also ; and then the
wonderful horse stood as stout on his four legs
as ever.

We pass over various marvels ; among which
the king's son is made to partake of a pome-
granate and so becomes invulnerable.

Vishtaspa is often mentioned in Pars! and
Muhammadan books. He was a zealous sup-
porter of the hitherto struggling faith. The
members of his court became converts, and
the religion began to spread over the whole
region. It seems certain that the zealous king
was intolerant, and advanced the faith by the
sword. The Shah Namah speaks of mission-
aries being sent forth to India, Asia Minor and
elsewhere. Two famous Hindu sages —
Sankaracharya and Vyasa — seem pointed at as
converts, as is also a Greek philosopher whose
name cannot be identified. The Dinkart asserts
that there was a translation of the Avesta into
Greek. This is certainly a mistake ; but as
several Greek writers, including Plato, were
acquainted with the Magian doctrines, the mis-
take was not unnatural. We hear of fire-
temples — ten at least — as having existed before
Zoroaster. One of his main employments was
to found others. King Vishtaspa was con-

172 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

verted when Zoroaster was forty-two years old.
The latter did not die till he was seventy-
six.

At least eight wars were successively carried
on against the unbelievers. Then came the
longest and most terrible war of all. Arejetaspa,
or Arjasp, was a Turanian king. He demanded
tribute from Vishtaspa, but hatred of the new
religion was also strong in his heart. By the
advice of Zoroaster, Vishtaspa refused the
demanded tribute. Arjasp, in return, ordered
Vishtaspa to renounce the new faith as well as
pay the tax. The demand was refused, and
both sides prepared for war. The account of
it may best be read in the great Persian poem
the Shah Namah in which it is detailed with
all the lavish luxuriance of Oriental imagery.
Arjasp was driven back in disgrace to his own
capital. Some years elapsed, and Arjasp re-
turned with a still mightier army. He stormed
the city of Balkh; the sacred fires were
quenched in the blood of the slaughtered
priests ; and, worst of all, Zoroaster was slain.
The circumstances of his death are not ascer-
tained; the Western do not agree with the
Oriental statements. But there can be little
doubt that he died a death of violence.

ZOROASTRIANISM 173

PARSlS IN PERSIA

In the Maratha newspaper of 29th April
1904, we read that the Parsiis in Persia lately
presented to Sir Mortimer Durand, our Minister
at the Court of Persia, an address, in which
they speak in strong language of the sore
grievances they have to bear, and declare
themselves sinking into despair. They en-
treat his Excellency to do what may be in
his power for their relief. The matter is
delicate ; but, no doubt, Sir Mortimer will do
for them all he can.

In that address it is stated that the ad-
herents of the Zoroastrian faith in Persia still
number 9269 persons.

LECTURE FOURTH

BUDDHISM

THE system of belief called Buddhism is widely
extended over Asia, but it has scarcely affected
any of the other three quarters of the globe.

Extravagant statements have sometimes been
made regarding the number of its professors ;
and when all the inhabitants of China are
called Buddhists, we need not be surprised if
we hear of four hundred millions. But
Buddhism is not the chief religion of China ;
and the entire number of true Buddhists in
the world cannot safely be reckoned as much
above one hundred millions. Buddhism is
divided into two great schools, the Southern
and the Northern. Professor Rhys Davids
declares that "Northern Buddhism has de-
veloped into a totally new religion," and the
language is hardly too strong. Or, as a great
authority in the Southern school expresses it,
"The monks of the great council overturned
174

BUDDHISM 175

religion; they broke up the old Scriptures
and made a new recension."

We deal at present with Buddhism as it
once existed in a great part of India and still
exists in Burma and Ceylon. It is of the
Southern school, and also is the Buddhism of
Siam. We shall have little occasion to refer
to the Northern school, which is found,
though with many varieties, in Nepal, Kashmir,
Tibet, Mongolia, China and Japan.

We naturally begin by mentioning what we
know of the founder of Buddhism. Unhappily,
that is very little — so little that critics of high
name have doubted whether Buddha was a
real man — whether he was not a " solar myth."
No history of him was written for several
centuries after his death, and by that time
there had gathered round the real Buddha an
immense mass of legendary lore. There are a
hundred fantastic tales to be met with in
books respecting him with which I will not
trouble you. Of Buddha and early Buddhism I
will mention what on the whole appears fairly
credible.

The name Buddha is a designation ; it means
" the enlightened one " ; his real name may
probably have been Gotama. He was the son

1 76 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

perhaps of a petty prince, or rather a nobleman,
in Northern India. His birthplace was Kapila-
vastu, a city about a hundred and sixty miles
N. of Benares.

In all probability Buddha was born about
the year 560 B.C. Speculation had been rife in
India before this time, and among other things
it was said that, when a man knew the truth —
or, as they expressed it, "the true self" — he
abandoned all desire for worldly prosperity or
possessions of any kind, and went forth as a
solitary mendicant. In this and several other
matters Buddha only gave full expression to con-
ceptions already existing in the higher Brahman-
ical mind ; although, as Buddhism developed,
very much was added that Brahmanism could not
accept, j ust as much was thrown aside which
Brahmanism earnestly clung to.

Buddha was born at a time when the higher
mind of India was in a state of no small
agitation. Keen discussions were going on,
but endless speculation had led to endless vari-
ance. One might even say there had been a
general collapse of the philosophies. Dog-
matism there was in abundance ; hair-splitting
in abundance ; but little more. Many had
begun to ask, Is truth attainable? and a

BUDDHISM 177

general feeling $f despondency would seem to
have prevailed among thinking people. Buddha,
as we conceive him, was a practical man, of
good common sense and of great kindness of
heart. He was no Brahman, and probably he
had no admiration for that selfish, ambitious
caste ; and he must have been wearied with
their speculations, which were equally endless
and profitless.

Of Buddha's early history we know next to
nothing. He lived in what is called a palace,
was married, and had a son.

One would gladly trace — if it were possible
— the course of thought that shaped his
remarkable career. The chroniclers make it
out that he adopted it suddenly — induced by
certain spectacles of much suffering and sorrow.
All this you may read, as it is told in a glowing
style in the late Sir Edwin Arnold's u Light of
Asia " ; but it should be remembered that the
historical value of the statement is exceedingly
small.

We are told that at the age of twenty-nine
Gotama (Buddha) could no longer rest in the
enjoyment of his comforts. Wife and child,
ease and honour, all failed to satisfy him.
He felt himself compelled to "flee from the

178 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

gay world as from a glittering serpent " ; he
"preferred the yellow garment of the mendi-
cant to the purple robe of state."

But where was he to go? Naturally, as
a Hindu, he put himself under Brahman in-
structors. He chose Rajagaha, and his girus,
two learned men at Rajagaha. These no
doubt inculcated the current philosophy of the
age, which very probably was pantheistic.
But the sacrifice of animals was also exceed-
ingly prevalent, and there is little doubt it
would be earnestly recommended. Pantheism
and polytheism — both these great systems of
thought would be scrutinised by Buddha,
but in neither of them did the inquirer find
any satisfaction. He is said to have remained
under his two Brahman preceptors for six years
until, as we may presume, they could teach
him nothing more. But Buddha remained
dissatisfied.

There was, however, another discipline —
much valued then, as it has been throughout
the centuries — that of asceticism, or self-
inflicted bodily pain. He therefore removed
to another district; and there, in company
with five others, he engaged in long fastings
and severe bodily mortifications. So would

BUDDHISM 179

he crush, he thought, the hateful dominion
of the body. But even the longest and most
painful inflictions were of no more use than
proud philosophy had been. He longed for
light, and all was darkness. He therefore
gave up this extreme asceticism and began to
partake again of food like ordinary men, though
this was to the sore disappointment of his
self-torturing companions. He soon left them
and retired into solitude. By this time
Gotama seems to have finally parted with
Hinduism. He felt he must therefore retire
to think the matter out. We do not know
how long his meditations lasted. The Buddhist
books tell us of the powers of evil assailing
him, determined to distract his mind and
disturb his meditations. We understand this
to mean that thoughts of former days and of
wife and child occurred to him, and he half
resolved to abandon all these vain attempts
to " mitigate the fever of his heart " by un-
natural means, and to return to ordinary life.
But finally, it is said, the light dawned upon
him, as he sat in deep thought under a
particular tree which became famous as the Bo
(Bodhi) Tree, or the " tree of knowledge."
Yes, the victory was now won; and Gotama

i8o THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

became Buddha, or " the enlightened one " —
the possessor of the highest wisdom — indeed,
the possessor of all truth. He had by himself
discovered the great secret, the answer to the
terrible problem — the problem of ages, —
Whence evil, and why ? He now saw into the
life of things, the cause of all the ills that
afflict humanity, and also the means of com-
pletely overcoming them. So the books
speak; but probably such wild language was
not used till two or three centuries after his
death. It was prompted by the sickly ex-
travagance of his followers, which went on
increasing for centuries.

When I come to mention what the doctrines
of Buddhism are, you will ask, Where is the
evidence of such supreme enlightenment ? To
us the fundamental teachings of Buddhism
are only desolating paradoxes, and his other
doctrines are at best only half truths.

And yet, let us do Buddha justice. It was
not a small thing for a man of that age to
break with Hinduism, both philosophical and
popular, and to formulate a new system of
thought and duty. It required considerable
force of mind.

When he rejected both pantheism and

BUDDHISM 181

polytheism, he easily fell back into atheism.
That doctrine was not new. One system of
philosophy — the Sankhya — stated that "the
existence of God is not proved"; and it is
possible that it may have in some degree
influenced Buddha, though it does not seem
to have largely affected his system of thought
as a whole.

We are told that, after thus attaining
supreme illumination, Buddha remained
wrapped in deep meditation for twenty eight
days, hardly tasting food all the time.

But what was he now to do? Was he
simply to sit still in the quiet enjoyment of
the boundless wisdom which he now enjoyed ?
No, he repelled the thought; indeed, he
imagined he heard a voice saying, "Go forth
and preach the truth to other men." He
therefore first tried to find his two Brahman
teachers, but they were dead. Next he
sought out the five ascetics whom he had
forsaken, and found them at Benares, which
was then, as now, the chief seat of Hindu
learning. He preached there a sermon, which
the books are said to present exactly as he
delivered it. One main thing it insists on is
the necessity of avoiding, on the one hand,

1 82 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

sensual enjoyment, and on the other excessive
bodily mortification. It very earnestly dwells
also on the universal prevalence of suffering,
and the necessity of renouncing the world,
including all family ties. The ascetics, it is
said, were convinced, and all became monks.
Ere long, others joined them till there were
sixty followers. These Buddha sent forth to
proclaim the new doctrine. Each was to go a
separate way, and he himself followed their
example.

Here was a truly remarkable thing:
Buddhism was from the outset a missionary
system. And this was something entirely new
— this proclamation of supposed truth to all
ranks and conditions of men. Hinduism knew
nothing of it.

How came this grand conception into
Buddha's mind? It probably arose from his
tender heart — from what, if we may ascribe
passion to Buddha, we may call his passionate
philanthropy.

Thereafter Buddha, during the dry season
— eight months a year — moved from place to
place. He seems to have traversed — almost
always on foot — a region 300 miles long and
100 broad. He preached in the language of

BUDDHISM 183

the people — not in the difficult language of
the Brahmans.

In this work Buddha persevered up to his
death. Surely, a touching spectacle! The
high-minded, sorely bewildered man, preaching
that dismal message of " No God," for five
and forty years !

Even so passes finally from view what I take
leave to call, although I do not see that he
was a gloomy man — the most pathetic figure
in all Indian history.

So far we have been dealing with the real
or supposed facts of Buddha's life; I must
now give some account of his teaching ; and as
I prepare to do so, there spreads out before
me the immeasurable ocean of Buddhist meta-
physical speculation. To render the doctrine
intelligible is extremely difficult; to make it
interesting is, I fear, impossible.

A fundamental part of the system lay in
what are called the four noble truths. These
are: —

1. All existence involves suffering.

2. Suffering arises from desire.

3. Suffering ceases when desire ceases.

4. There is a way to the extinction of
desire.

1 84 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

This way is the so-called " noble eightfold
path," which may be stated briefly thus : —

1. Right belief.

2. Right aspirations.

3. Right speech.

4. Right conduct.

5. Right living.

6. Right effort.

7. Right thought.

8. Right self-concentration, or rapture in
meditation.

Of course, when " right belief" is spoken
of, the meaning is belief, in accordance with
Buddha's teaching.

There is frequent reference in Buddhist
books to the "ten fetters," which must be
broken by those who travel on the noble
eight-fold path.

The first is the delusive belief of a Self.
He must learn not to think This is I or This is
Mine.

The second fetter to be broken is the fetter
of doubt. Doubt is said to have eight forms
— doubt of the teacher, doubt of his teaching,
doubt of the order, and so on.

The third fetter is belief in the efficacy of

BUDDHISM 185

good works and ceremonies, as practised by
the Brahmans in Buddha's days.

The fourth fetter is Kama — evil desire,
especially bodily desire.

The fifth fetter is ill-will.

The sixth is desire to live on earth.

The seventh is desire for a future life in
heaven.

The eighth is pride.

The ninth is self-righteousness.

The tenth is ignorance.

He who has travelled the noble eightfold
path and has broken the ten fetters has
entered on immeasurable peace — the life of
the Arahat. This is a form of Nirwana
which is attainable on earth. It is not
conscious existence ; nor is it unconscious
existence.

Buddha never spoke of God. He believed
in gods, like other Hindus — gods who were
imperfect and transitory beings ; but he never
spoke of a Creator, Preserver, Ruler, or Judge.
He thought he could construct a theory of the
universe without reference to any such Being.
He saw no need, no place, for God.

It would be very interesting if we could
trace the process of thought by which he

1 86 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

arrived at this terrible conclusion. I do not
find that process stated anywhere ; but we
have reason to think that it was through no
abstract, metaphysical speculation that he
became an Atheist, or at least an Agnostic.
It seems to have been all ultimately traceable
to his excessive, indeed morbid, sensibility.
Every form of suffering that Buddha witnesssed
gave him torture. And yet suffering was all
around — no living being, man or beast, could
possibly escape it. Of all conceivable worlds
this world seemed to him to be the worst.
His creed was the ne plus ultra of pessimism.

The people around him believed in gods or
spirits who were all jealous, capricious beings,
ready to visit with terrible chastisement any
want of respect to themselves. All of these
beings were morally offensive to Buddha.
He wished they did not exist : he could not
believe they existed.

Nor did Brahma — the god of the philo-
sophers— satisfy him. He — or rather // —
was a distant, dim abstraction, without even
personality.

Suffering, Buddha thought, must be the
result of evil. But even innocent children
suffer, and in many cases die. Why, why?

BUDDHISM 187

The problem became only the more perplexing
the longer he pondered it.

The great conception of suffering as disci-
pline, never once occurred to Buddha. Suffer-
ing, he thought, was always chastisement — due
chastisement.

This brings us to speak of Buddha's doctrine
regarding man. We think of soul and body
as united, but as perfectly capable of existing
apart from each other. We think of soul as
immortal. Not so thought Buddha. He held
that man is composed of various elements.
These are generally said to be five in number
— earth, water, fire, air and ether, with a sixth,
viz. consciousness. All these elements are
dissolved at death; and then the man exists
no longer. But a new set of elements at once
starts into existence, consciousness among them,
and a new man is produced. The man A has
an exact equivalent in the man B; and the
merit or demerit of A is transferred to B.
This, of course, is flagrantly unjust. But it is
evident that Buddha had a fixed determination
to maintain the great doctrine of Moral Re-
tribution. Good must be rewarded ; evil must
be punished ; and this could be only in this
extraordinary way — making B answerable for

1 88 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

the conduct of A, although the two individuals
had not the slightest connection. Buddha
thought he had solved the problem by saying
that A had consciousness, and so had B, —
although the consciousness of A was not the
consciousness of B.

This leads us to the remarkable doctrine
regarding Karma. Karma literally means
work, conduct ; but we may translate it char-
acter. It is held that every good work has
merit, and is inevitably rewarded, and every
bad work is inevitably punished. But the
award may be either speedy or long delayed.
Sometimes it comes during the life in which
the work is performed; sometimes in the life
following; sometimes generations, or perhaps
ages, afterwards.

This is the form which the great doctrine of
Transmigration assumes in Buddhism. There
can of course be no real transmigration, since
there is no soul to transmigrate. The soul,
according to the Hindus, escapes from the
body, like a bird escaping from its cage.
According to the Buddhists there is no bird
to escape.

And yet, it is truly remarkable that the
Buddhists systematically speak as if the same

BUDDHISM 189

individual existed through successive births
and as if the B we spoke of were really A.
We can hardly believe that such reasoning as
we have mentioned satisfied either Buddha
himself or his followers. But without it, his
whole system of thought falls at once into
ruins.

In the "Questions of Milinda" the query
of the identity of the being in the successive
existences is taken up. The saint Nagasena
affirms that it is not the same being and yet
not a different being. Milinda asks him to
explain. Nagasena replies that if you kindle
a light it will go on burning through the night ;
but it is neither the same flame at the
beginning and end, nor is it a different flame.
It would seem that this passed as an intelligible
and satisfactory statement.

In this sense Buddha himself had been
frequently reborn at least 400 times. He had
been almost everything in succession — a king,
a lion, a cock, a pig, a thief — almost every-
thing except a woman.

Salvation, according to the Buddhists, con-
sists in Nirvana. The word probably means
the state of a light blown out. But does it
imply only that all passion is extinguished, or

190 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

all existence ? There is also parlnlrvana — a
condition beyond nirvana ; and logically we
seem compelled to say regarding this, with
Professor Childers, that "annihilation is the
goal of Buddhism." Yet it is remarkable that
Buddha himself repeatedly refused to pronounce
any decision on the question. The reason he
assigned for his reticence was singular ; what-
ever answer he might give, wrong inferences,
he said, would be drawn from his words.
Many things, spoken apparently without
hesitation by Buddha, are liable to the same
objection ; and the reason so given can hardly
have been the true one. May we not believe
that, while his reasoning all tended to the doc-
trine of extinction of being, his soul shrank from
the awful thought ? Let me, however, mention
that, on the question of the meaning of
Nirvana, great authorities are ranged on
opposite sides; and it seems well, on the
whole, to follow Buddha's example and decline
to pronounce decidedly.

An interesting question is, How did Buddha
deal with Caste ? Caste in Hinduism is of
infinite importance; it has been called the
body and soul of Hinduism. So far as we can
see, Buddha did not directly attack it, he did

BUDDHISM 191

not in words oppose it ; but he ignored it. " My
law," said he, "is a law of grace for all."
Rich and poor, high and low, all were
received as brethren. Among the middle and
lower castes this doubtless tended greatly to
the popularity of his system.

But it is time to speak of Buddhist
morality.

Buddha himself, we have every reason to
think, was a man of pure life ; and the moral
precepts he laid down were unexceptionable —
in fact, wonderfully like those of the second
table of the decalogue.

Killing, stealing, adultery, lying and in-
toxication— all these things were forbidden.
And yet probably even as Buddha himself gave
them, these commandments ran to extremes.
Thus, when killing is forbidden, the meaning
is that all life is sacred, and that no living
creature — not the most savage beast, or the
most noxious serpent or insect — must be de-
prived of life. And so, when intoxication is
forbidden, the meaning is that to taste a drop
of anything that intoxicates is a deadly sin.

By and by other prohibitions were added
in the case of the monks ; though they were

192 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

not held absolutely binding in regard to the
lay brethren (if that term may be used).

1. Not to eat after noon.

2. To abstain from public shows, as stage
plays, etc.

3. To abstain from expensive dress, perfumes,
etc.

4. To abstain from luxurious couches.

5. Not to receive gold or silver.

There were still higher restrictions for those
whose hearts were set on attaining perfection.
They must dress in rags, live only by begging,
eat only once a day, live chiefly in forests,
sheltered only by trees, often dwelling in tombs,
and they must never lie down to sleep.

It is difficult to believe that the man who
in earlier days, as we have seen, rejected
asceticism, could impose such rules; they
very probably came in only after Buddha's
death.

We sometimes read of Buddhist priests.
But the term priest is not suitable. He
formed his disciples into fraternities of monks
all living together. There was no trace of
sacerdotalism in his system. The monks
would give instruction out of the sacred books
to any who desired it ; but there was no fixed

BUDDHISM 193

time of meeting for worship. Properly speaking,
indeed, there was no worship ; and I believe
Buddhism is the only so-called religion in
which there is no prayer. The nearest
approach to prayer is the threefold formula : —

I seek refuge in Buddha,

I seek refuge in the Law,

I seek refuge in the Order.
The monks then were not clergy. They
exercised no spiritual superintendence over the
community. Their great duty was to meditate.
Every morning they went forth with their
almsbowls, always clad in yellow garments.
They must receive whatever alms might be
given. The monks could indeed return to the
world if they chose. But to abandon the'
monastic life was regarded as an immense fall,
and a forfeiture of all hope of salvation.

No idea in Buddhism is more prominent
than this — that the great thing to be acquired
is merit; and the great means of acquiring
merit is almsgiving to the monks.

Not at first, but after a considerable time,
an order of nuns was also instituted. It is
clear that Buddha hesitated about this step.
But considering the position held by women in
India (though it was by no means then so low

N

i94 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

as it afterwards became) the institution of the
sisterhood of nuns was, on the whole, beneficial.
Moreover, rich women were liberal in their
gifts to Buddha and his followers. Women
have considerably higher respect shown them
in Buddhist than in Hindu communities. Thus,
in Burma and Ceylon they move about with
much greater freedom than is possible in India
proper. At the same time, the nuns were kept
in strict subjection to the monks ; there were
no lady-abbesses permitted.

It is evident that, even from the outset,
Buddha attracted numbers of disciples. We
can understand how the appearance, as a public
teacher, of a man of rank — probably a noble-
man— should have drawn disciples from among
the middle and lower classes ; there must have
been a reaction against Brahmanical sway.
Yet he had also not a few Brahman followers.
What drew the people to him ?

There seems nothing to attract but every-
thing to repel, in the terrible negations Buddha
inculcated. The attraction was mainly in the
man himself — his gentleness and overflowing
sympathy. And his memory continued to draw
disciples after his death.

But by and by, other causes powerfully

BUDDHISM 195

helped in the diffusion of Buddhism. A great
revolution took place in India. Chandragupta
—the Sandracottus of the Greek writers — a
man of low origin, usurped the throne of
Magadha (Behar) and extended his sway over
all Northern India. The Brahmans would
bitterly oppose him, on account of his caste;
and this would make him look with favour
upon the rival system of Buddhism. His
grandson As"oka, was a truly distinguished man
— all things considered, as remarkable a ruler
as India ever possessed. During his reign a
third Buddhist Council was held ; and a very
important resolution was passed, viz. to ex-
tend Buddhism by sending missionaries forth
to preach it. Asoka also issued edicts which
were inscribed on rocks and pillars ; and these
we still find scattered over Northern India, from
the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal, and
from the Himalayas to the Vindhya mountains.
There are thirty-six inscriptions, and they are
the oldest inscriptions known in India.

Asoka had been a great warrior; and in
some of these inscriptions he expresses great
regret on account of the blood-shedding he
had occasioned. He now prohibits all murder
of men and all slaughter of animals, whether

196 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

for sacrifice or food. He inculcates kindness
and self-denial, and commands that every five
years there shall be a great national confession
of sin, /'.*., of the violation of Buddhist precepts.

All this is striking enough ; but there is
something more remarkable still. The son
and daughter of the Emperor, it is said,
went as missionaries to Ceylon ; and there as
missionaries they lived and died.1 If this is
true, I ask — is there in all history a more
touching spectacle ? It has a great lesson for
Christians ; may we lay that lesson to heart !

In addition to the two great influences of
Buddha's personality and the zeal of ASoka,
there were several others which contributed to
the spread of the new religion. One of these
was the political state of India.

All foreign invaders were objects of ab-
horrence to the Brahmans. The Persians must
have been so ; and when the Macedonians
followed, even Alexander the Great was to
them only an unclean barbarian. They strove
to rouse the people against him; and Alexander
retaliated with severity.

1 How much, or how little, truth the tradition contains,
cannot at present be determined with certainty. — Professor
Oldenberg.

BUDDHISM 197

Afterwards there came into Northern India
a succession of foreign invaders — Greco-
Bactrians, Parthians and Scythians. All these
were for many reasons vehemently disliked by
the high-caste Hindus. Now the Buddhists
had no such feeling, for they had no caste.
They were eager to proselytise the invaders ;
and they were largely successful. Thus the
invaders and the Buddhists soon understood
each other and were mutually helpful.

We do not suppose that Asoka would per-
secute; but the imperial patronage, as we
have said, would mightily advance the cause
of Buddhism. The monarch himself speaks of
his own religious uzeal"; and the word pro-
bably implies a good deal.

Another thing must have had an influence ;
the Buddhists became great temple-builders.
They paid attention, also, to the art of painting;
and both their cave-temples and the edifices
they reared — long before the Brahmans had
done anything of the kind — must have exercised
no inconsiderable influence both on Hindus and
foreigners.

As Buddhism spread more and more it
effected very great changes in India. One of
these was the effect on animal sacrifice. The

198 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

land had been swimming in blood — the blood
of sacrificed animals, — but wherever Buddhism
was powerful these sacrifices ceased. No
doubt they continued in many places — both
as a part of accredited Hinduism and as a
remnant of the aboriginal worship.

Another great change was the cessation of
the Soma offering. The intoxicating draught
was no longer offered to the gods, nor was it
drunk by the priests. In fact, by Hindus as
well as Buddhists intoxication now came to be
regarded as a heinous sin.

And yet Buddhism, though once so power-
ful in India, ere long faded away. It was not
killed ; it died. Local outbreaks against it
there seem to have been here and there, but
no general persecution can be traced. Why
did it pass away ?

One cause of this was the intellectual superi-
ority of its opponents. Culture was with the
Brahmans. The Buddhists were generally
ignorant men ; l and in the frequent discussions
which arose, they were doubtless almost always
beaten in argument.

1 A judicious critic (Barth) calls the Buddhist style
"frightful, the most detestable of all styles."

BUDDHISM 199

Moreover, the Brahmans recast their system,
indeed, could not help recasting it. Hinduism
assumed a form very different from its earlier
one. The Brahman controversialists were as un-
scrupulous as they were skilful. As a set-off
against Buddha's tender humanity, which was
so attractive, they introduced Rama and
Krishna, as incarnations of the great god
Vishnu, — Rama, a gallant warrior, and Krishna,
the shepherd of Vrindavan, sporting with the
shepherdesses. In pourtraying the latter the
Brahmans appealed to the lower passions of
our nature; and soon the moral Buddha was
displaced by the immoral Krishna. The wily
Brahmans must have known that they were
outraging all propriety ; but what mattered
that? Their object was to repel intrusive
Buddhism, whether by fair means or foul.
And there was something still worse. One of
the incarnations was Buddha; Vishnu had
descended from heaven and become Buddha ;
but for what purpose? As I have said in
another Lecture, the god had descended
to teach men error, and so lead them to
destruction ! I need hardly characterise this
sentiment ; it is the most dreadful thing that I
know even in Hinduism.

200 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Although the accessions to Buddhism were
very numerous in consequence of the patronage
of the Emperor, it is difficult to believe that
there were many real converts. There was
nothing attractive in Buddha's teaching. No
Supreme Being, no soul, no future life ; these
are dreadful paradoxes, fitted to repel rather
than attract; and probably they were only
half believed at best. We need not wonder
then that Hinduism — with some of its worst
features removed — was able to rally and to
regain its former sway.

Although Buddhism no longer exists in
India proper, it has not disappeared from the
surrounding countries into which the zeal of
the early Buddhists carried it. Yes, the name
survives ; but the spirit of Buddhism has greatly
changed, so that it has become, as some critics
have said, actually " a new religion."

Regarding this far-extended Buddhism and
its results, one is reminded of an opinion of
Chevalier Bunsen's. He said it appeared like a
dose of laudanum administered to the wilder
races of Asia, in order to keep them quiet till
the time was come to embrace Christianity.
The thought is striking. Let us remember
that, when the Turks issued from their fast-

BUDDHISM 201

nesses in High Asia, they came in contact not
with Buddhists but Muhammadans and em-
braced the religion of the Quran ; and thus
their natural ferocity was only rendered more
intense in their dealing with men of other
religions. Had they become Buddhists, the
long and fearful record of wars and oppressions
of which their history chiefly consists, could
never have been written ; and unspeakable
suffering would have been spared both to Asia
and to Europe.

Thus it exists in Nepal ; but the Buddhists
there believe in an Adi-Buddha (literally,
primal Buddha), who is a real deity, possessed
at least of some divine attributes. In China it
is mixed with Confucianism and Taoism, and
overflows with magic and superstition of every
kind.

It has assumed many forms in Japan.
Among these none seems to me so interesting
as the Sin shia sect. A Buddhist professor
in a great college there assured me that the
ideas of this division — particularly regarding
Amida Buddha (literally, the infinite Buddha),
— could hardly be distinguished from our
Christian conceptions regarding God. Un-
doubtedly Christianity is telling with greater

202 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

and greater power on the mind of Japan.
The number of Christians among military and
naval officers, members of parliament, and
gentlemen connected with the press, is great
and increasing. The latest missionary report
we have seen — that of the American Board —
speaks thus : " There is much inquiry on the
part of students throughout the empire, and
a much more friendly and cordial feeling
towards Christianity as a religion. Many
leading Japanese who make no profession of
Christianity have publicly declared their belief
that Christianity offers to Japan that which it
most needs in the way of training for her
people. The influence of Christianity is
deepening and strengthening." l

At the present moment it looks as if the
first of heathen lands to enter — as a nation —
the fold of Christ would be the empire of the
Rising Sun — Japan.

The most singular form that extra-Indian
Buddhism has assumed is seen in Tibet and
Mongolia. This is generally called Lamaism.
It would require for its description a volume
instead of the few sentences to which we must
restrict ourselves.

i Report, pp. 4, 125.

BUDDHISM 203

Among the many peculiarities of Lamaism
none is more striking than the mode of praying
— or rather, what they call praying. There
are six syllables which the people take to a
prayer — Om mani padme hum.1 This is certainly
no invocation. These six syllables, uttered
with great rapidity and endlessly repeated, are
in every mouth. They are also inscribed
on paper and enclosed in cylinders which can
revolve. Thousands, or, it is said, even millions
of times these words may be inscribed ; and
every revolution of the cylinder is equal to an
oral repetition of the words. Surely, a most
notable instance of prayer by machinery. A
twirl — and the thing is done. Nobody knows
the meaning of those syllables ; but that is of
no consequence. They form a magic spell —
an incantation. For a moment the ludicrous
aspect of the so-called prayer by clockwork is
almost too much for our gravity. Yet a feeling
of deep sorrow soon rushes in. We hardly
know whether the sorrow will be lessened or
increased when we are told by the well-known
French missionaries, Hue and Gabet, of what
they witnessed at Lhassa. They say : " There
is a very touching custom at Lhassa. In the
1 Literally — Om, the jewel in the lotus, — Hum.

104 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

evening all the Tibetans — men, women, and
children — meet in the principal parts of the town
All kneel down and chaunt their prayers. These
religious meetings produce a solemn harmony
which powerfully affects the mind. The first
time we witnessed the spectacle we could not
help drawing a painful comparison between
this heathen town and the cities of Europe,
where people would blush to make the sign
of the Cross in public."

So then, these poor Buddhists, who do not
believe in God do yet believe in what they call
prayer. They feel the necessity of it, and
they try to pray. The heart then has a sense
of need, it seems to be "feeling after God" —
darkly groping we may say.

Hitherto Tibet has striven — and striven
successfully — to exclude Christian teaching.
Let us pray that the closed door may be
opened, and that the people may soon learn what
true prayer is — even the rising of the heart to
a Living God.

JAINISM

Although Buddhism does not now exist in
India proper — and has not done so for about
800 years — there is still there a system closely

BUDDHISM 205

allied to it, called Jainism. The doctrines of
the two religions are nearly the same ; but the
Jaina lays still more stress than Buddhism on
the sacredness of all life. A fundamental
maxim is this ; Not to kill is to be supremely
religious. Beast or bird — the most noxious
insect — all must remain uninjured. The Jains
are about one and a half million in number ;
but the community apparently is not increasing.
They are divided into two great sections — the
white-vested and the sky-vested. The latter
seem to correspond to the " Gymnosophists "-
the naked philosophers of whom the Greeks
have written. But in modern days they appear
to lay aside their garments only when taking
food. The separation between the two sections
may have occurred about the first Christian
century. The sections neither intermarry, nor
eat together.

The word Jina, from which the sect derives its
name, means conqueror. It is the designation of
Rishabha, the author of the system who is sup-
posed to have lived many millions of years ago.
His followers are called Arahat or holy ones.

The Jains are met with in many Indian
towns — especially in the Panjab, Rajputana,
Gujarat, and Kanara.

206 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

The Jains are generally fairly wealthy.
They are almost always engaged in commerce.
They shun agriculture since turning up the
soil is hurtful to many living creatures. Plants
also have life and must not be deprived of it.

One truly remarkable characteristic of Jainism
is its universality : it invites all men to adopt
it, and even the lowest are welcome.

It was at first intended for ascetics only;
but laymen could listen to the doctrine and to
some extent obey it.

The asceticism recommended is inward as
well as outward. Self-discipline and the puri-
fication of the mind are much insisted on.
Repentance for evil done, confession to a teacher
and humility — especially before all who held to
be holy men : these things are also necessary,
and the true Jain, it is believed, sometimes
rises to a high moral character.

Of course the external asceticism runs into
sad extravagance — such as begging, giving up
savoury food, sitting in uneasy postures, fasting
often carried to starvation : these teachers are
highly valued. Indeed the perfect man — accord-
ing to the sky-clothed Jaina — must not eat — he
ought to die. The Jaina, on entering the
order of monks, must give up all his possessions

BUDDHISM 207

and wander without a home, with his alms-
dish in his hand, never staying, if possible,
more than a night in one place. He must
carry a straining cloth for the water he drinks,
a broom, and a veil before his mouth, to avoid
killing insects. He must rest during the rainy
season, as animal and plant life are then
specially abundant and vulnerable. He must
pluck out all his hair. And he ought not to
wash his body.

The Jain monk, left to himself, would have
tried " to suppress the natural desire of man to
worship." But the laity felt the need; and a
kind of worship was introduced consisting of
the offering of flowers and incense to the
founder of Jainism, accompanied by hymns.
The founder actually became a kind of deity —
which was certainly an immense departure from
the original tenet. Then monuments and
temples came to be reared ; and, as has been
elsewhere mentioned, the most exquisite temples
in India are those on Mount Abu in Rajputana.

Literary and scientific activity became also
prominent. They wrote books on Prakrit,
the language of the people, but they also
studied Sanskrit to enable them to contend
with the Brahmans. They developed the

208 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

vernacular tongues Kanarese, Tamil and
Telugu.1

The former class — the white-vested — held
a great Conference two years ago in Rajputana ;
and last year another in Bombay. About 5000
Jains — including, be it observed, 200 females —
attended the meetings, which lasted for several
days and were full of animation. Papers were
read and resolutions passed. It was resolved
to develop the religion on its original lines.
This means, we presume, to resist all tendencies
towards theism — for Jainism is decidedly
atheistic. But the time-spirit affects even the
Jains ; and the Conference earnestly recom-
mended the reform of various social customs —
such as child-marriage, the practice of pur-
chasing wives, extravagant expenditure on
certain ceremonial occasions, and the beating of
the breast at funerals.

1 See Dr Biihler on the Jains ; edited by Dr Burgess,
1902.

LECTURE FIFTH

MUHAMMAD ANISM

IN treating of this religion it is necessary to
dwell at considerable length on the life and
character of its founder.

Everything shows that Muhammad, even in
early youth, was much inclined to pensive
meditation. One of his biographers describes
him as sorrowful in temperament, restless,
continually thinking. He was highly nervous,
ardent, impassioned, imaginative; and he had
many of the highest endowments of the Arab
mind. The chief traits of his outward man
were large, dark, lustrous eyes, middle height,
strong build, voice musical and sonorous, mien
and bearing majestic.

Muhammad appeared in a time of much mental
agitation in Arabia. The old pagan faith was
breaking up. Various new systems were press-
ing forward — Judaism, Christianity, several
Christian heresies, Zoroastrianism — these and

210 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

other forms of belief were all present. There
were public discussions in religion at the great
annual fairs.

We have no difficulty, then, in seeing how
Muhammad had his attention drawn to religion.
Two journeys which he took into Christian
Syria — one in his twelfth year, the other in
his twenty-fifth — must also, to so inquiring a
mind, have been variously suggestive.

A learned biographer, Sprenger, has said that
" Islam was not the work of Muhammad, but the
offspring of the spirit of the time. " Sir William
Muir, a high authority on Muhammadanism,
rejects this view, and rightly holds that Islam
owes its distinctive features to Muhammad's
personality. Certainly, if the age supplied
the materials, Muhammad was the skilled
workman who fashioned them into shape;
and the whole style of the building betrays the
peculiar genius of the architect.

By the year 610, when about forty years
of age, Muhammad had become still more ab-
stracted and melancholy. Whole days were
spent in solitary meditation in a wild region
not far from Mecca. He now became greatly
excited, and twice attempted suicide.

At the age of forty-four (A.D. 614) he

MUHAMMAD ANISM 2 1 1

began to teach, but privately. He vehemently
denounced idolatry. He had been a religious
idolater; but he now abhorred the false
divinities. His sanguine mind expected that
his pleadings would be heard. But no ; some
smiled at his burning zeal ; others treated him
with scorn. When he ventured to denounce
the tutelar deities of Mecca, he aroused
vehement indignation. So the battle went on,
Muhammad's lips shot forth fiery darts; but
at best they struck only on granite rock.

He was through life intolerant of opposition,
and the behaviour of his fellow-citizens not
only threw him into mental agony but seriously
affected his bodily health. From childhood he
had been subj ect to occasional strange attacks
of illness ; and these now became frequent and
violent. Sprenger says that he was for some
time a complete maniac. He himself began to
fear for his reason. "I hear a strange sound,"
said he, " I see a light ; I fear the jinns (the
evil spirits) are making sport of me."

Very conflicting opinions have been expressed
regarding the character of Muhammad. The
almost universally prevalent idea of Europeans
has been decidedly unfavourable. He has
been charged with consummate hypocrisy.

212 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Even such tolerant men as Grotius and Scaliger
held this opinion. The following quotation
from a well-known book, White's "Bampton
Lectures," will give a fair idea of the treatment
that Muhammad has generally received even in
recent days : —

" Eagerly ambitious of power, the Impostor
determined to cover his deep and aspiring
schemes under the specious veil of Divine
Revelation. Hence, with a boldness of design
that was exceeded only by the cunning that
conducted it, he meditated a religion which,
by flattering the corrupt passions and prejudices
of each, might embrace in its ample and
comprehensive law the Christian, the idolater,
and the Jew" (p. 177).

These are ringing sentences ; but the ex-
planation they offer of Muhammad's character
is not ours.

For a considerable time past, however, there
has been a notable change — at least in many
quarters ; and, indeed, in some cases, language
has been used regarding his whole character
and career that seems to imply a forgetfulness
of moral distinctions.

False from the outset Muhammad certainly
was not ; his fellow-townsmen had styled him

MUHAMMADANISM 213

Al Amin, the truthful ; and we can hardly
believe that such a man could have been trans-
formed into the boldest and basest of hypocrites.
Four years of enthusiastic preaching had
brought him only forty converts — several of
them relatives, others slaves, or the poorest
of the poor. When he pleaded passionately
against idolatry, he was asked, " Why, then,
does not God send a prophet to teach us?"
Opposition was increasing ; people were be-
ginning to say, " If the fool cannot be laughed
down, he must be crushed down by the strong
hand." What ! was idolatry to triumph, and
the end of all his preaching and burning tears
to be death or madness ? Oh for the visible
interposition of God on behalf of His own holy
cause and His unhappy servant ! What wonder
if in a moment of high-wrought excitement,
when reason reeled, he thought he saw the
white-winged messenger for whose coming he
had so vehemently longed and prayed ?

Here is Muhammad's account of his first
meeting with the angel Gabriel : —

" He stood

In the highest part of the horizon ;
Then he came nearer, and approached close,
And he was at the distance of two bow-lengths, or even
closer ;

2i4 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

And he revealed to his servant what he revealed. . . .

His heart falsified not what he saw, —

What ? will ye dispute with him as to what he saw ? " 1

It may have been a dream, or perhaps a
vision in high- wrought ecstasy; but we can
hardly doubt that Muhammad believed that he
had, as he says, actually seen all this.

Now, surely, he thought, his countrymen
would receive him as a divinely commissioned
teacher. But they did not. It would seem
that, on this, he was plunged into deeper
melancholy than ever; and it is to this period
that we may refer his attempts at suicide. The
suspension of the so-called revelation is variously
stated at six months or three years. To
Muhammad, believing in his divine commission
to restore "the faith of Abraham," it must
have been a time of torture ; and his denuncia-
tions of his opponents now became dreadfully
severe. With the bitter disappointment there
was equally bitter rage. I believe in a steady
deterioration of Muhammad's character ; and I
think we may trace its commencement to this
very trying period.

Of the later history of Muhammad a brief
outline will suffice. He died at the age of

1 Rudwell's Koran, p. 56.

MUHAMMAD ANISM 215

sixty-two or sixty-three — twenty years after
his first appearance as a preacher. Thirteen
of these were spent at Mecca amidst manifold
discouragements. At first the utterances were
abrupt, enthusiastic, startling, sometimes truly
poetical. The unity of God, the vanity of
idols, his own apostleship, resurrection, judg-
ment, paradise, hell — these were the topics
chiefly insisted on. Paradise is painted as a
region of gardens, vineyards, a flowing cup,
and delights still grosser. Hell is described
with all the stern realism of Dante's Inferno.
The duties enjoined are faith, repentance,
prayer, almsgiving, truthfulness, and honesty.

The preaching at first, though impassioned,
was conciliatory ; we might almost suspect
that he had a secret doubt of his own commis-
sion. But after four years or so the tone
begins to change. His assertion of authority
becomes more vehement; he is not only a
prophet, but the seal of the prophets — i.e. he
seals up and closes the whole lofty line. There
are curses also; there are terrible threats.
Vengeance is at hand ; and he exults in the
approaching ruin of his foes.

Thirteen years were spent at Mecca.

It was in 622 that Muhammad fled from

216 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Mecca to the city thenceforward called Medina
— Medmat al Nabi, "the city of the Prophet."
From this date commences the era used in all
Muhammadan lands — the Hijrah, — that is, the
Flight.

Now Muhammad assumes the position of a
great warrior-chieftain. Into the next ten
years were crowded twenty-seven military
expeditions, or, including smaller ones, forty.
He was personally present in at least one great
battle. His followers grew into an army
which no power in Arabia could resist. He
despatched embassies to announce his prophetic
office to the King of Persia, the King of
Abyssinia, the Viceroy of Egypt, and the
Emperor of Constantinople. He was preparing
for an attack on the last-mentioned monarch ;
but his force proved insufficient and turned
back when it reached Damascus — half-way on
its march. A mortal illness then seized him,
and soon afterwards he died. During those
ten years in Medina the character of Muham-
mad steadily changed to the worse. He became
more selfish and cruel, and more abandoned to
sensual indulgence.

One would be glad to know with what
feelings this remarkable man met the King of

MUHAMMAD ANISM 217

Terrors. We have traditions ; but they were
not collected till nearly two centuries after his
death, and we cannot well trust them. We
are told that he expired with such words on
his lips as these: " O God, help me in the
agony of death." u Eternity of Paradise ; par-
don." "The glorious companions on high."

On that deathbed we must gaze in awful
silence.

It may be well to sum up here our im-
pressions of Muhammad's character.

Intellectually he stood high ; we may call
him the great Arabian. He was both a
warrior and a statesman. He was fully con-
scious of his capacities, and was a man of
soaring ambition.

It has often struck me that Lucan's animated
description of Julius Caesar might answer for
Muhammad.1 I confess that this is giving him
high praise, for Julius Cassar was probably the
very greatest of the ancient Romans.

Of his moral character I hardly care to
speak. He was very revengeful, and many
of his deeds were remorselessly cruel. His
family arrangements I must also pass by. The
only point on which one can dwell with com-
1 Lucan, " Pharsalia," i. 145, etc.

218 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

placency, is that he never after her death
forgot Khadijah, his first wife. Still, at the
time of his own death, he had nine wives and
two concubines.

The religious conceptions of Muhammad
were exceedingly defective. To him Allah
was only an almighty despot ruling a universe
of slaves. He had little conception of the
Divine love, and equally little of the evil of sin.

There was no translation of the Scriptures
into Arabic; Muhammad was never really in
contact with the Word of God. Instead of
this, there was current the book called the
"Gospel of the Infancy," which was full of
fables.

Muhammad hated polytheism and idolatry.
Regarding Christ no words ever passed his
lips but those of the highest reverence. He
called Jesus " the sinless prophet," a high
designation which he never claimed for himself.

He rejected the doctrine of the Trinity;
but, as then stated in Arabia, it was not the
true doctrine of that great mystery.

He rejected also the great facts of the death
and resurrection of Christ. We may well
mourn over this, but we hardly wonder. To
a man with so feeble a sense of the Divine

MUHAMMADANISM 219

love and human sin, the doctrine of the
Atonement must have been incredible.

I need not repeat what has been already
said about Muhammad's fall. He probably
never was a deeply conscientious man; and
when the temptation was all the power and
glory of the world, Muhammad yielded to the
tempter. He fell, as ten thousands before and
since have fallen.

Whether he was aware of his moral de-
gradation, which went on increasing, is doubt-
ful. It is probable that to the last he believed
that it was right to do evil that good might come.

The spectacle is profoundly saddening. We
condemn Muhammad. Yes, but what shall
we say of the Christian Church that left him
ignorant of the Bible? Alas, when we think
what might have been! We cannot help
believing that, if this remarkable man had
only known the true Gospel, he might have
become the Apostle of Arabia.

But before passing from Muhammad's life
we ought to mention that he was not always
in a state of excitement, when Gabriel, as he
says, brought a revelation. He tells us that
sometimes the angel came and spoke to him
as one man speaks to another; "and this,"

220 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

he said, " is easy." What are we to make
of this? We may suppose that Muhammad
mistook a vivid dream for a reality. If such be
not the explanation, it is difficult to free him
from the charge of falsehood; and if this
be the explanation, then Muhammad had fully
adopted the ruinous belief that the end justifies
the means. You remember that the Apostle
says of those who hold that principle — " their
damnation is just." But we are almost com-
pelled to believe that Muhammad did adopt
it. He knew he abhorred idolatry, and was
jealous for the honour of God. He earnestly
longed to see his countrymen worshipping only
Allah ; we believe that at one time he would
willingly have died to secure that great end.
He thought he had really seen the angel at
least once; and if, to secure the reception
of an important message, he should now say
he had seen him when actually he had not,
would it matter so very much? If it was
taking some liberty with truth, God would
surely forgive His servant for the sin — if,
indeed, in the circumstances it was such. So
he evidently believed. We all know —

" by what unseen and unsuspected arts
The serpent error twines round human hearts " ;

MUHAMMADANISM 221

and the first case of conscious deception was a
fatal error. It led to a steady hardening and
degradation of Muhammad's soul.

Both by Muhammad and his followers the
Quran has always been regarded as a standing
miracle. The orthodox belief is that it is
eternal, uncreated, inscribed along with all the
Divine decrees on a preserved tablet. A copy
of this original was, on the " Night of Power,"
sent down to the lowest heaven ; and this the
angel is said to have brought part by part
to Muhammad, during twenty-three years.
Muhammad wrote down what the angel
recited, and then dictated it to amanuenses.

European writers of all schools of thought
have generally passed severe judgment on the
Quran. Luther most vehemently condemned
it; and the wise and gentle Melanchthon, in
speaking of it, became one-sided and harsh.
Gibbon styles it "an endless incoherent
rhapsody, of fable and precept and declamation,
which sometimes crawls in the dust and some-
times is lost in the clouds." Carlyle, though
he speaks too kindly of Muhammad himself —
being moved by admiration of his force of
character — has called it "a bewildered rhap-
sody j insupportable stupidity in short." Such

222 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

criticisms strike me as too severe. In the
earliest chapters there is often a spark of
poetry, and even in the later ones sometimes.
Earnestness, at all events, is seldom wanting.

As for the style, its balanced clauses and
rhyming assonances always charm the Arab
ear; and to others, when they hear them
chanted in a high-roofed mosque, the sonorous
Arabic has a weird melody, as of the desert
wind. As for the ideas, their range is exceed-
ingly narrow. In reality there is nothing new.
Much of Judaism, but not pure ; a little of
Christianity, not pure ; something of old Arab
paganism; a trace perhaps of Zoroastrianism ;
and some thoughts of his own — these things
make up the Quran.

There is a marked difference between the
language used at Mecca and Medina re-
spectively : Muhammadan writers themselves
speak of the " two faces of the Quran." But
apart from this, contradictions are very frequent.
Muhammad from time to time changed his
plans; and, to meet the exigency, a new
command from heaven was pleaded which
abrogated one that had preceded. Muham-
madan writers state that 225 verses were thus
cancelled. He had to speak of the superseded

MUHAMMADANISM 223

parts, and he puts these words into the angel's
mouth, " Whatever verse we shall abrogate or
cause thee to forget, we shall bring a better
than it, or one like it " (Sona ii.).

The Muhammadan doctors divide religion
into two parts, the dogmatic and the practical.

Under the former comes what must be
believed concerning God, Angels, the Sacred
Oracles, the Prophets, the Resurrection, the
Judgment, and Predestination — six articles in
all.

The practical part consists of five pillars or
foundations — namely,

1 . The recital of the Kalima or Creed.

2. Five times of daily prayer: before

sunrise, at noon, before sunset, after
sunset, and when night sets in.
All the prayers are recited in fixed forms of
Arabic words.

3. The thirty days' fast, i.e. during the

month of Ramazan.

4. Almsgiving.

5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.

I may also give the creed. It is brief.
" There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah."

It is the boast of the Muhammadans that

224 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

they, more clearly and emphatically than any
other religionists, assert the unity of God. It
is a theological question how far the bald
deism of the Quran and its stern denial of the
Divine Sonship renders the true God incon-
ceivable. At all events, the Muhammadan
conception of Allah is grievously imperfect.
Sovereignty and power — these two attributes
throw all the rest into the shade. The book
never speaks either of the love of God or of
love to God. Homage is what Allah demands,
not love. Man made in the image of God
and capable of intercourse with God, as a
child with a father — this is a conception
which Muhammad would have passionately
denounced. Holiness is most imperfectly con-
ceived. Divine mercy is often mentioned;
but it is a mercy which, when the prescribed
worship is observed, passes easily over the
grossest sins. It follows that the idea of Sin
is most imperfect.

Such searchings of heart as abound in the
Bible are unknown to the Quran.

Communion with God in the biblical sense
is hardly understood, and prayer is little more
than praise. It is not so much a mental as a
mechanical act.

MUHAMMADANISM 225

Perhaps these remarks may be thought
severe, but far severer criticisms could be
quoted from many well-informed writers.
Thus the traveller Palgrave, who mixed freely
with Muhammadans for many years, declares
that the Muhammadan conceptions of God are
"monstrous and blasphemous." The Arab
Bedouins of whom Palgrave speaks are not a
religious people, and their conceptions are not
all traceable to the Quran. The ideas are
Arabian, but not necessarily Muhammadan.

The evils resulting from the pilgrimage,
which it is a mortal sin wholly to neglect if one
is physically equal to it, are immensely great.
Had the faith been confined to Arabia, the
effects would have been less serious ; but when
Islam had extended over Asia and a large part
of Africa, they became truly disastrous. Im-
mense physical suffering is connected with the
pilgrimage. Plague often breaks out and
spreads from Mecca as a centre ; and if the
European powers could stop the pilgrimage
without arousing the whole Moslem world,
they would gladly do so.

And what are the observances binding on
the pilgrims ? In pilgrim garb they walk seven
times round the sacred mosque ; they kiss the

226 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

black stone seven times ; they drink of the
water — intensely brackish — of the well of Zem-
zem ; they shave their heads, pare their nails,
and have their hair and nails buried. They
then ascend Mount Arafat and throw showers
of stones at three pillars. This is understood
to be stoning the devil.

Nearly every regulation regarding one-half of
the human race — I mean woman — is supremely
objectionable. Family life is destroyed, and
society is poisoned at its fountain-head. The
Muhammadan is allowed four legitimate wives,
with divorce at pleasure.1 One of Muham-
mad's grandsons divorced eighty wives in suc-
cession. What we call illegitimate wives
may be in any number. In practice women
are excluded from public worship. The Quran
indeed is silent on the subject ; but the pro-
hibition flowed naturally — indeed inevitably —
from the conception of woman presented in the
Quran. The women must be kept in with
bolts and bars. I need not dwell on the
miserable folly of all this.

Slavery is also fully sanctioned ; a man may
have as many slaves as he can acquire or
retain ; and all these unhappy creatures,

1 With some restriction as to property

MUHAMMADANISM 227

whether men or women, are entirely at his
mercy.

It is the bounden duty of every Muhammadan
to do his utmost to extend the faith. Three
things are offered to unbelieving races — con-
version, tribute, or death. If Muhammadan
nations do not still deluge the world with
blood, it is because they are unable to carry
out Muhammad's command. He declares that
the angel thus addressed him : " O Prophet,
make war on the infidels and hypocrites, and
treat them severely. Hell is their portion, and
rough is the passage to it. Not until Anti-
Christ shall come must war for the extension
of the faith be allowed to cease."

Apostasy from Islam involves death, and
that doom is inevitable in most Moslem countries.
In Turkey the European powers have extorted
concessions that may — at least in the great
cities — save the convert's life. But all depends
on the Sultan.

It has been said by some that Islam, with all
its faults, elevates degraded races and helps
on the civilisation of the world. Doubtless
Islam is better than the horrible demonolatries
existing in some parts of Africa, according to
which there is no splendour in any " custom "

228 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

unless human blood flow in streams ; and
cannibals, of course, are raised by accepting
Islam. But if it raises them to a certain
elevation, it fixes them there; and then it is
infinitely difficult to move them a single step
higher. For one mark of the Quran is said to
befoutlitfi and to improve on the legislation of
Muhammad is like correcting Heaven.

About a year ago a great conflict was raging
in Morocco ; the struggle was not really
between two men — the Sultan and the Pre-
tender— but between two principles, Reform
and stern Conservatism. The Sultan has
adopted some European ideas and wishes to
reduce them to practice ; but the great body
of the chiefs abhor all innovation and seem
prepared to die rather than accept it. They
insist on retaining their chains and dungeons
and power to torture. The Quran ties men
down to the Arab semi-civilisation of the seventh
century. We are in the twentieth ; and the
difference between the two positions is measure-
less!

At an early period Paradise was promised
to him who fell fighting for the faith. The
Arabs of the desert are capable of deeds of
splendid valour ; and, with such an assurance

MUHAMMADANISM 229

as this, no wonder if they rush on the point
of the spear, courting death even more than
victory. Paradise — and such a paradise ! —
and won so easily ! It turns the coward into
a hero, or, I should rather say, into an in-
carnate fury. No wonder if the trained
legions of the Eastern Empire gave way
before the irresistible rush of men all panting
for instant transmission to delights that far
surpassed any joy this earth could offer.

One remarkable characteristic of Muham-
madans, as has been said, is this : every one
of them is possessed of proselytising zeal.
An Arab trader, for example, on his travels,
is probably a keen man of business; but
wherever, he goes, he seeks to gain converts
to the faith. He may be only a worldly man
and quite capable of what we call very sharp
practice ; but in this sense he is a religious
man — he is zealous for the extension of Islam.
Herein surely there is a remarkable difference
between him and a worldly European. The
European perhaps even sneers at conversion; but
at all events he takes no part in proselytising.
Whence this striking difference ? The question,
I think, could be answered ; but I will leave it
with my readers as an interesting problem.

230 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Muhammadanism is widely extended, and we
sometimes see this referred to as a proof of
its adaptation to human nature. The real
causes of its rapid and wide extension are
frequently forgotten ; and it may be well to
dwell on these at some length. Of Mu-
hammad's own wars we have already spoken.
On his death most of the Arab tribes broke
loose from their allegiance. Only three re-
mained faithful, and the very existence of
Islam was seriously imperilled. Two able
men, however, were unshaken in their fidelity ;
and the skill of Abu Baqr and the valour of
Khalid overcame the terrible danger. Tribe
after tribe was either won over by persuasion
or subdued by force. Still, there was only
one means by which their attachment to
Islam could be secured; and of that means
the prudence of Abu Baqr at once availed
itself. He held up before the tribes the
prospect of immeasurable spoil. He showed
them that the world was all before them, to
subdue for God and the Prophet — or, in other
words, for themselves.

Had some commanding mind — another
Attila, Gengis Khan, or Napoleon — arisen at
this juncture in Arabia and succeeded in

MUHAMMADANISM 231

rallying its tribes beneath his banner — even
had he made no pretension to a commission
from Heaven, it is in the highest degree
probable that we should still have witnessed
the same overpowering rush of Arab victory
as history actually records. Everything
favoured the sons of the desert. Fierce,
hardy, tameless, deeming all that the strong
hand could win to be honourable spoil, it was
only intestine strife that had so long kept
them pent up within their barren country.
Broad, fair lands were before them, tenanted
by races physically their inferiors, and for the
most part slothful and unwarlike. On the
other hand the Arabs were experienced
warriors, making up for what might be
wanting in discipline by fiery valour. P'rom
childhood they had been familiar with the
bow, the lance, and the scimitar; they were
more at home in the saddle than the tent, and
their lives had been largely spent in planning
and executing military inroads.

Two great empires then divided Asia
between them as far eastward as the river
Indus — those of Constantinople and Persia.
Persia, in the middle of the third century,
had to a large extent recovered its ancient

232 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

dominion and had restored the Zoroastrian
faith; but in the course of four centuries
it had fallen into anarchy. The reigning
prince was a boy of sixteen. The later
Greek Empire exhibited a spectacle no less
woful. All the errors and vices that marked
the decline of the Western Empire were re-
produced in the Eastern, with but few traces
of that valour that had, from time to time,
flashed forth as the ancient Roman greatness
slowly faded away. Moreover, religious strife
had become inflamed into bitter rancour. The
strongest party was that of the Melchites or
Royalists, who called themselves Catholics
or Orthodox; but there were many sects —
Monophysites, Nestorians, and others. The
fearfully weakening effect of their dissensions
will be appreciated from the circumstance that
the Copts of Egypt sided with the Muham-
madans on their invasion of Egypt, hailing
them as deliverers from the intolerable op-
pression of the Royalist party.

Everything, then, favoured the impetuous
Arabs as they fretted to be let loose. The
word was given, and immediately one army
was on its march northward to Christian Syria,
and another eastward to Zoroastrian Persia.

MUHAMMADANISM 233

Both countries were easy conquests ; in the
one case the sumless wealth of Persia was
a splendid prize, and in the other the capture
of Jerusalem was esteemed a still higher re-
compense, and il raised the spirit of the Arabs
to fever heat. Egypt fell next ; then Tripoli ;
and then, in the course of half a century, all
Northern Africa was subdued. Thereafter the
unquenchable ardour of the Moslems carried
them across the Straits of Gibraltar, and the
beginning of the eighth century saw them
masters of the larger part of Spain. It was
little more than a century after the death of
Muhammad when the great wave that had rolled
on unchecked to submerge all Western Europe
reached its furthest limit. Near the city of
Tours, on the banks of the Loire, the mighty
Saracen host of Abd-ur-rahman was crushed,
after a conflict of seven days, by Charles
Martel, the grandfather of Charlemagne.

The naval battles and conquests of the
Muhammadans were hardly less remarkable.
Their fleets floated triumphant in the Medi-
terranean. Crete and Sicily were wholly sub-
dued, with a great part of Corsica, Sardinia,
and Southern Italy.

Such and so potent was the lust of conquest

234 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

— for I repeat that the lust of conquest was
the great impelling power.

True, these were, in a sense, religious wars.
The Moslems thought they were obeying
Allah when they subdued or slaughtered the
infidel.

There has been thrown around the Caliphat
and the Saracenic kingdoms generally — for the
vast structure soon broke into fragments — a
golden atmosphere of romance ; but when we
calmly inquire what the early Moslem dominion
really was, and what the Saracens accomplished
of good for the human race, the splendour
dies at once. There was one century of head-
long valour and brilliant conquest; another
century followed of stagnation and precarious
dominion ; and a third of rapid and irretriev-
able decay.

I may perhaps be reminded of what some
Christian lands have done to extend their
religion by war and bloodshed. With this I
have nothing to do; my object has been to
remind you how different from the military
propagation of Muhammadanism was the
mode in which the early Gospel was extended.

The feeling of the Moslem towards men of
other creeds has all along been one of mingled

MUHAMMADANISM 235

hatred and contempt. The history of India
almost proves that the Moslems there never
forgot the principle enunciated by the prime
minister of the great conqueror Mahmud of
Ghazni, viz., that it was " not needful to have
mercy on a pagan idolater." Incidents like
the following were frequently occurring, —
Hindus put to death for disputing with Muham-
madans on religion ; idols broken in pieces ;
temples destroyed; prohibitions of Hindu
worship, processions, or oblations ; forced
conversions; forced marriages — men in power
seizing on the wives and daughters of idolaters
at their pleasure ; proscriptions ; confiscations ;
murders ; — and these horrors so frequent, that
the Moslem historian hardly pauses to express
either condemnation or regret.

A daily prayer which the pupils are taught
to offer in the Cairo schools is as follows :
"In the name of God the Compassionate, the
Merciful : O God, destroy the infidels and
polytheists, Thine enemies and the enemies of
Thy religion. Make their children orphans
and defile their homes; cause their feet to
slip. Give them and their families, their
households, and their women and their children
and their brethren and their friends and their

236 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

possessions and their wealth and their lands as
booty to the Moslems, O Thou Lord of all
creatures." l

But I must pass on to notice the present
condition of Muhammadanism in India.

The Muhammadan population of India,
according to the last census, is 63 millions.
Their number is increasing, though not by any
means so rapidly as the Christians are. In
former days Islam was extended in India mainly
by force, by the wars of such conquerors as
Mahmud of Ghazni and the persecution of
such tyrants as Aurungzeb and Tippoo Sultan.

In our day the gains of Islam — like those of
Christianity — are mainly from the wilder tribes,
the hill and forest races.

Indian Muhammadans have been slowly
coming down in rank. Both Hindus and
Parsis eagerly avail themselves of the existing
means of English education. But not so the
Moslems. They have usually professed to
despise the English language and literature,
which cannot compare for a moment, they
think, with those of the Arabs and Persians.
Moreover, they dislike mission schools because
1 See Lane's " Egyptians."

MUHAMMADANISM 237

they teach Christianity, while Government
schools are almost equally objectionable be-
cause they teach no religion. But the con-
viction has gradually sprung up that English
education is a necessity. This is an important
change, and fraught with other changes.

All along, for at least fifty years past, there
has been earnest discussion on the subject
of religion between Christian missionaries
and Muhammadans, and the advocates of
Islam have been sorely perplexed in their
attempts to defend their traditional beliefs.
They have been in many cases compelled to
explain away essential portions of these ; and,
among a considerable number, a rationalistic
Muhammadanism has been steadily extending.

Meanwhile missions have been pushing on;
and even the Muhammadan women begin to
ask why, when the foreign ladies are so
diligent among Hindu women, they should not
also visit Moslem women. Altogether, there
is a large amount of agitation on the subject of
religion among Indian Muhammadans. Tracts
are published in support of the Quran, and
preachers are sent out to defend it.

In Amritsar a society has been established
" to help new converts to Islam," which

238 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

appears to us simply a barefaced attempt at
bribery. If the Muhammadans will pay for
converts, they can no doubt get them in
abundance.

Meantime there is not only the rationalised
Islam we have spoken of, but a movement has
occurred in the Punjaub which every sincere
Musalman condemns as utterly heterodox.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian proclaims
that he is not only the great expected
Mahdi who comes before the end of the world,
but also the Messiah of this generation. This
man opposes orthodox Islam, but he opposes
Christianity even more. Jesus, he says, was a
prophet ; but he himself is a greater prophet.
The Mirza is a person of wealth, and circulates
many publications in support of his views. He
claims to have 50,000 followers, but the real
number may be 10,000. Among these, how-
ever, we find to our surprise some men of
education and standing. They are sick of the
errors and evils of Islam; and not knowing
Christianity, they for the present have turned
to this man, who professes his determination
to reform religion. The explanation is to be
found in the general unrest of educated
Muhammadans in India.

MUHAMMADANISM 239

A very interesting experiment has been
going on at Aligarh in Northern India. Sir
Sayad Ahmad, a man of no small enlightenment,
founded a college there, in which, along with
what he deemed a due respect for Islam and
its teachings, there should at the same time be
given a good European education. The new
college was lately visited by an Educational
Commission appointed by Government, which
gave in a decidedly favourable report of the
arrangements and working of the classes.
English, Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit are the
languages studied ; and the course is fairly
complete, including mathematics, physical
science, Muhammadan law, history, logic, and
political science. There are in all thirteen
professors. The famous University of Al-
Azhar in Cairo will bear no comparison in its
range of study with this of Aligarh. Pupils
attend to the number of about 600, and they
are very likely to increase; for, on the
whole, the new college is popular. It is simply
impossible that under the instruction they
receive, the pupils can long retain the intense
bigotry and narrowness that have hitherto
characterised Indian Muhammadans. Sir Sayad
himself was a rationalist who did not estimate

240 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

the inspiration of Muhammad as higher than
that of any great poet ; and we understand
that the entire spirit at Aligarh is similarly
rationalistic.1 If the college continues to
prosper — as it seems likely to do — an immense
change must gradually take place in the
Muhammadanism of India. In no other country
will Islam assume a similar form, at least for
many years to come. Christian missionaries
ought to be aware of the present critical
position of affairs. The unrest and agitation
among Muhammadans in India are certain to
increase. Missions, I am persuaded, ought to
pay a larger proportional attention to Muham-
madans than they have yet done. Yes, let
them more earnestly hold up before the eye of
the distracted Moslem the great commanding
form of Him who said, " I am the light of the
world."

It is a solemn fact that Islam is still advanc-
ing in India and elsewhere. The command of
the Quran to fight for the extension of the
faith is held to be still binding. In some parts
of Africa war is probably always going on ; only
when obedience to the command would involve

1 It has considerable resemblance to the Motazalite
heresy which arose in the time of the Caliph Al-Mamun.

MUHAMMADANISM 241

a conflict with any great European power, the
risk is seldom run.

Scattered over the Muhammadan world, how-
ever, there are religious orders, corresponding
to the monastic orders of the Church of Rome,
which exercise immense power over the people.
Some of these date from the time of
Muhammad himself. There are eighty-eight
of them in all, and new fraternities continue to
be formed. By far the most formidable of
these bodies is the Sanusiyah Order, founded
by Ali bin Sanusi in 1791.1 Since then it has
spread very rapidly; and the Sanusis them-
selves boast of now being eight millions of
men. They are bitterly opposed to Christians
and the extension of Christian power. But
meantime Russia has extinguished the khanates
in Central Asia, and Britain has seized on
Aden; in Africa France rules Algeria and
controls Morocco; Britain controls Egypt and
much of the Soudan, and Italy and Germany have
claimed portions of the true believers' territory.
All this the Sanusis most deeply resent.

They have chosen a region in the Libyan

desert between Egypt and Tripoli, about 400

miles inland. They have a college, a fortress,

1 Some say 1837.

Q

242 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

a monastery with a mosque, and many fine build-
ings connected with it. The cloud is steadily
gathering. These men are thoroughly in
earnest ; and although as yet they have hesi-
tated to measure swords with Europe, it seems
hardly possible that the conflict can be long
delayed. Let our politicians look to it ! The
danger is very real. The cloud may any day
burst in lightning and tempest over Asia,
Africa, and even Europe.

But it may be asked why the Moslems
should not gradually become civilised. We
may probably be reminded of Spain and the
civilization of the Moors. We may be told
also that France has done really a great work
in Algeria, and that Britain expects to do
the same in Egypt. Well, let us hope. But
meantime let us remember that the measure
of culture which Muhammadan Spain possessed
never grew out of Islam, but was rather a
reaction against it. The one great philosopher
whom the Spanish Muhammadans produced,
Averroes (as his name was Latinised), broke
away from the Quran, was excommunicated
and banished. To expect that Muhammadans
will become truly civilised is to expect that
they will cease to be Muhammadans.

MUHAMMADANISM 243

What, then, of the future of Muhammadanism ?
Two hundred millions — an eighth part of the
human race — are at present under its sway ;
how long is that iron sway likely to endure ?

Mr Bryce, M.P., who is a diligent student
of history, has said, if I mistake not, that
Muhammadanism will probably pass away in
two hundred years. The question is large
and complex; and, even if I had power to
grapple with it, no space remains to do so.
But I venture to say a few words regarding
the probable duration of Muhammadanism in
India.

Of course it can no longer be extended by
the sword or by such merciless tyranny as was
exercised under Aurangzib or Tippoo Sultan.
Nor will the great body of Muhammadans in
India remain the same hard, harsh, repellent
mass as it has been hitherto. It will share
more and more in the general education of
India ; and bitter prejudices, grounded on
sheer ignorance, will gradually be mitigated
or removed. Muhammadan intolerance will
gradually, but perhaps very slowly, die out in
India.

Still ampler results may be expected in the
case of the well-educated Muhammadans. It

244 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

is probable that they will continue to take
pride, in a certain sense and degree, in
Muhammad as one of the great names in
history. They will class him with such
illustrious men as Alexander of Macedon or
Julius Caesar. But that they should continue
to believe in his apostolate, is inconceivable.
There are many subjects on which every truly
educated man must vehemently reject the
teachings of the Quran — for example, its per-
mission of polygamy, divorce at the husband's
pleasure, slavery, and the propagation of the
faith by the sword.

Under the sway of Islam a vast mass of
mind has been lying, we may say, for ages spell-
bound. When restored to light and liberty
it will contribute its share to the progress
of human knowledge, and on certain subjects
may enter into rivalry with the European
mind. Such men are certain to be anathe-
matised from Mecca, as Sir Sayad Ahmad has
been ; but the ban will lie lightly on them, and
perhaps be accepted as a certificate of merit.

On the whole, then, I am full of hope in
regard to Indian Muhammadanism. That hope
is grounded on two suppositions. First, that
Divine Providence will permit the British

MUHAMMADANISM 245

suzerainty still to endure ; and secondly, that
the missions in India will be full of sympathy
and exercise no small patience with the
Muhammadan mind, as it gradually dis-
entangles itself from the deep prejudices of
ages. Let all Christian controversy be kindly
in spirit.

Of the future of Muhammadanism elsewhere
we can say little. Turkey, as long as it is
allowed to last, will probably remain what it
has been all along, grossly bigoted and cruel.
The " third great Canning," as Tennyson called
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, " the great Elchi "
(ambassador), as both Turks and Christians
named him, used these words : " As a matter
of humanity I wish with all my soul that the
Sultan were driven, bag and baggage, into the
heart of Asia." Eighty years and more have
passed since these words were used, and fresh
horrors have been enacted by the Turk. But
the time must come for his leaving; and when
it does, we shall all heartily " speed the parting
guest."

We see no prospect of internal reform in
Persia.

Even so in other lands there appears no hope of
improvement. Muhammadan states now every-

246 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

where feel European powers pressing in upon
them. I believe the uniform idea of Moslems
is that they must not languish to extinction,
like a sick man taking to his bed and quietly
yielding up the ghost. He does not acknowledge
he is now about to die ; but when that time
does come, the Moslem will probably fling his
whole remaining strength into one supreme
effort and perish sword in hand.

NOTE ON MUHAMMADANISM

The Shiah Muhammadans assert that ten
sections — about one - fourth part of the
whole — were struck out of the Quran by
Othman. Yet on the whole there is reason
to believe that the book stands now nearly as
Muhammad left it. The arrangement of the
chapters was not made by Muhammad. But
in truth, although probably every verse is
genuine, yet the book itself is a perfect chaos,
not the slightest attention to chronology having
been paid in the arrangement of the chapters.
Many of those which should have stood at the
beginning have been thrown to the end of the
book. These are among the best parts of the
book.

MUHAMMADANISM 247

Muhammadan theologians speak of two kinds
of inspiration — a higher and a lower — wahi
and ilham. The inspiration of the Quran is
wahi. Its words are held to be in the strictest
sense the words of God.

It seems to be taken for granted by some
writers that the Quran alone is the rule of
faith. This is a serious mistake. There are
four "pillars" of Islam: (i) the Quran; (2)
the traditions regarding the sayings and doings
of Muhammad ; (3) the unanimous consent of
the learned doctors ; and (4) analogical reason-
ing of the learned as to the precepts and
practice of the Prophet.

One great division of the Muhammadans
claims the title of Sunni or traditionists.
There are six standard collections of the tradi-
tions they accept. The Shiahs reject all of
these, and substitute five other collections of
their own.

The most famous collection of Sunni
traditions is that of Bukhari; but it was not
compiled for fully two centuries after the death
of Muhammad. Out of an immense number
which Bukhari selected, 7275 are probably
authentic. But oral traditions may change
immensely in the course of two centuries.

248 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

There are several points in which the teach-
ing of Muhammad himself greatly differs from
that of his followers.

1 . In the Quran the sinful acts of many of
the prophets are mentioned; and in several
passages Muhammad is commanded to ask
pardon for his personal sins.

But his followers — at least in India — contend
that Muhammad was sinless.

2. Muhammad himself, in his frequent
references to the Scriptures, both Jewish and
Christian, uses language of the highest possible
reverence.

His followers, on the contrary, have brought
various accusations against them. Some
assert that the true Scriptures have been
lost. Others maintain that they have been
abrogated or set aside. And others assert
that they have been corrupted by the Christians,
that is, that the true text has been designedly
set aside.

SUFIISM

A few words must be said about Sufiism.
The word may be derived from the Greek
credos, wise ; though the Muhammadans do
not generally admit this.

MUHAMMAD AN ISM 249

Sufiism is mysticism, ready to pass into
pantheism; it probably has been greatly in-
fluenced by the Vedanta, or pantheistic philo-
sophy of India.

It holds that the great duty of the human
soul is to go in quest of God.

It must begin with service, then it rises to
love ; next to seclusion, in which it thinks only
of God ; the fourth attainment is knowledge ;
the fifth, ecstasy; the sixth, truth; the seventh,
union with God • the last, extinction.

Many of the Sufis are thoroughly in earnest,
and deserve our deepest sympathy.

CONTROVERSY ON MUHAMMADANISM

More than two centuries ago, Marracci, who
translated the Quran into Latin, complained
thus : Contra Mahometum qui scripserunt sive
ex antiquioribus sive recentioribus sunt pauci,
ne dlcam paucissimi.

In the Eastern Church the most distinguished
opponent of Islam was Joannes Damascenus in
the eighth century. Another was Enthymues
Zigabenus, who died in 1 1 1 8.

One of the famous " Aberdeen doctors,"
John Forbes of Corse, in 1646 devoted to the

25o THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

subject of Muhammadanism one book of his
work " Instructiones Historico-Theologicas."

Among the opponents of Muhammadanism
none deserves a higher place than Raymond
Lull or Lully. He was distinguished both in
science and philosophy. He became a most
enthusiastic missionary to the Muhammadans
and died a martyr's death. In 1311 he pro-
posed at the Council of Vienna that missionary
colleges should be established in the Universities
of Paris, Salamanca, and Oxford. Originally
the professorships of Arabic in these univer-
sities were missionary professorships.

Of recent works those of Sir William Muir
and Dr Sprenger — the latter in German — will
be found very valuable.

LECTURE SIXTH

THE RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES

WHEN the Aryans, or Hindus, entered India
from across the Himalayas — probably more
than 4000 years ago — the land was no doubt
to a large extent covered with forests ; but it
was not uninhabited. The Aryans were at
once brought into contact with a race which
they called Dasyus, and which they scornfully
described as " black-skinned," " noseless," "god-
less," and even "speechless." That is to say,
they were darker than the white-skinned
Aryans, but they certainly were not negroes ;
they had noses, though not high Roman noses ;
they were not "speechless"; nor were they
" godless," though they differed from the Aryan
invaders in speech and religion. Battles ensued ;
those of the aborigines who would not yield to
the invaders were by and by driven off into
the wilder parts of the country, and the rest
were trampled down into slavery.

951

252 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

These last are frequently spoken of as "Hill
and Forest races," though that designation
hardly befits those who yielded to the invader
and remained in their old seats.

The religion of these races may generally
be described as Animism. This name is derived
from the Latin word Animus , i.e. spirit or soul.
Animism is Spirit-worship.

It is very widely diffused, especially among
the Turanian, or Tartar, races who are also
frequently called Dravidian. Indeed, the belief
in spirits seems instinctive. As children, I sup-
pose we were all afraid of ghosts and believed
in witches and fairies; and even when this has
been nominally superseded by a higher system
of thought, it often clings to the mind with
amazing tenacity.

The following seven characteristics, generally
though not universally, belong to Animism : —

1. A supreme, or at least superior, Being is
acknowledged, though scarcely worshipped.

2. Other spirits are also acknowledged,
which are almost all malignant, and have to be
propitiated.

3. Bloody offerings are necessary, as at least
a part of the propitiation.

4. Wild dances are performed in the worship.

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 253

5. Little importance is attached to idols,
temples, or priests.

6. Possession by spirits is believed in.

7. Witchcraft is much practised.

These characteristics are found in the
religions of the wilder tribes of India.

It is truly saddening to see how powerfully
the darker features of spirit-worship have
affected the minds of these races all over the
country. The conception of a great and good
Being, supreme over all others, seems never
absolutely extinguished ; but in many cases it
becomes so vague, so shadowy, that careful
inquirers have declared they could discover no
trace of it. On the other hand, the belief in
malevolent spirits is always distinct and strong.
But often — nay usually — a great and good
divinity is believed in. He is connected,
generally, either with the sun or the moon.
The multitude of stars around them is often
understood to be the offspring of these two
parents; though it is difficult to believe that
this childish thought can be retained by grown
up men, even among savages.

I have mentioned that the Supreme Being,
though acknowledged, is scarcely worshipped.
Perhaps rarely worshipped would be a more

254 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

accurate expression; for at distant intervals,
offerings of white fowls or white goats seem
to be made to him. But evil spirits — demons
— are everywhere and always near us ; demons
of the waters, demons of the mountains,
demons of the woods, demons of the house,
etc., etc. The spirits of the dead are also at
hand. All of these beings are powerful,
jealous, sensitive, revengeful; and they are
objects of unmitigated terror.

This universal belief in the presence and
operation of evil powers — whence comes it?
It has been traced to the influence of the
position and circumstances of these poor
people. The aborigines of India have for
ages had a hard struggle for existence. De-
vastating floods, blighting droughts, tempests
and whirlwinds far more destructive than any
we experience in Europe ; pestilences — whence
come these fearful things? Who sends the
wild beasts, tigers, serpents, and all the rest,
that fill the forest ? And who sends the still
more cruel men that seem ever on the watch
to rob and even slay ? It is not the doing of
God. He is good, and would never so deal
with men. But fiends are all around — bent
on mischief, with or without excuse. But

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 255

why does God permit them? Ah! who
can tell? He may be very far away, and
probably does not know. Anyhow, the fiends
must be, if possible, appeased. Worship thus
among the aborigines is the dictate simply of
fear. So men worship the tiger and the
serpent.

Surely, if the nations of the West believed
in a religion like this, existence would become
an intolerable burden, and suicide almost
universal. How then can the poor aborigines
of India bear up under it ?

Most of them are by constitution cheerful,
with little tendency to reflect, and with a
childish carelessness about the future. When
the sun shines cheerily, and food is plentiful,
the poor natives are happy. Some of them—
like the Santals and Uraons — are fond of
music and dancing. And most, or alas ! all of
them, are ready to seek refuge from their
calamities in drinking. But taking everything
into account, their demonolatry presses upon
them like a dreadful nightmare. A missionary
once said that the belief reminded him of
Milton's words —

" Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we sleep and when we wake."

256 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Yes, but what an agonising difference between
the Native idea, and Milton's high conception
of innumerable hosts in earth and heaven —

" Sole, or responsive each to other's note,
Singing their great Creator " ;

and in this high employment resting not day
or night.

I am reminded of an incident that occurred
in an old ruinous fort in Western India.
Through a break in the seaward wall the
breeze was beginning to play ; and, tired with
early work, I was resting quietly. A respect-
able-looking Native begged permission to speak
to me: he had something to ask. "By all
means speak," I said. "Well," said he, "I
am astonished that you remain in this dreadful
place, with only two attendants." He meant
my cook and my horsekeeper. u What is the
matter?" I asked. uWhy," said the man,
" the place is full of devils : how can you stay
here during the night ? " " Everything," I
answered, " has been as quiet as possible ; if
there are devils, they are wonderfully well-
behaved devils." " Ah ! " said the man
thoughtfully, "you are a European, and the
devils are afraid to touch you." "Well," I

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 257

said, "but my cook is a native of Goa, and
my horsekeeper is a Maratha; and then my
horse, he is no European. Yet none of us has
been disturbed; we have all slept quietly."
"Ah!" replied the Hindu, "they are all
under your protection, and the devils know it."

Of course on so good a text I preached a
little sermon to the man, the purport of which
will readily occur to my readers.

It was — if my memory serves me — very near
that very place some time afterwards that the
following scene was enacted. Let it be re-
membered that such startling celebrations are
very frequent in India.

At midnight a wild chant arose outside the
fort, funereal in its tone. One voice sang a
few words; and then a multitude joined in
chorus. Then came an invocation uttered by
a body of Mhars (low-caste people) marching
in solemn procession into the fort, and inviting
the spirits to come and receive the offerings.
These consisted of pieces of flesh — probably
that of a kid — the blood of which had been
caught in a dish when the head was struck off.
There were also bread and intoxicating liquor,
in short, plenty of the food generally used by
the Mhars themselves, along with sugar, salt,

258 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

spices, opium and tobacco — all borne on brass
or copper vessels, and guarded by men carrying
naked swords and flaming torches. The en-
trails of the animal victims were wound round
the necks of those who led the way. Then
arose a most wild and unearthly cry — an in-
vocation to the demons. The following words
were shouted aloud, first in solo, then in
chorus :

Take some liver !
Eat some bread !
Taste the blood !

and as each article was mentioned, a portion of
it was taken from the dish and flung forward
— certain, as the people thought, to be pursued
and caught by the crowd of hungry spirits that
were eagerly looking on. After every two or
three sentences the whole multitude joined in
one loud shout — " Be propitious ! " l

I daresay many people will not be prepared
to learn that such exhibitions as these are still
common in India. They are now mainly con-
fined to the lowest castes among the Hindus
and to the aborigines — the hill and forest
races. But even the middle and higher castes
believe that every wild scene in nature is

1 See "Chowchow," by Lady Falkland.

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 259

haunted — is the abode of a spirit, which is
almost certain to be malignant. And we must
recollect that such was once the belief of our
own people. If I remember aright, the old
English traveller Sir John Mandeville very
seldom refers to any place that is dark and
gloomy or otherwise unattractive, but he adds :
" And the whole place is full of devils."

I have been speaking of India ; but it is
well to remember that animism is the religion
of the Tartar races generally, and that also in
many particulars the African religions are the
same. Thus Livingstone says : " The Africans
acknowledge the Deity, but they hardly pray
to Him. . . . They ascribe everything above
human agency to unseen spirits." Livingstone
also tells us that the slave, groaning under the
tyranny of his master, exults in the belief that
when he himself dies he will return to torment
or kill his merciless oppressor. Among our
Wild India races, however, the idea of a
future state is generally very vague and
shadowy.

The Shanars in Southern India are among
the most interesting of the aboriginal races.
They amount to about half a million They
retain an indistinct belief in a great Being

260 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

whom they call Ruler or Lord. They hardly
admit, however, that the world was created by
Him, and think that, if He governs it, His rule
is very lax. But they fully believe in the
existence and agency of spirits. These are
watchful, jealous and revengeful, able and
willing to punish all who offend them. They
are especially propitiated by bloody sacrifices
and wild dances.

When a dance is to take place a person
must be chosen to enact the chief part of the
ceremony, since there is no regular priesthood
appointed to celebrate their worship. This
chief performer may be either a man or a
woman. First, a suitable dress must be put
on : it is many-coloured, frightfully grotesque,
with a multitude of small jingling bells.
Drums horns, clarionets, cymbals, are also
introduced — more bells, and bells of all different
sizes, and all sounding together, until there is
a perfect roar of noise, enough to satisfy the
ears of the most exacting demon. At first, the
dance is slow, and the accompanying music
is comparatively gentle. But the strain be-
comes quicker, louder, and the. dancer be-
comes more and more excited. He now drinks
a quantity of intoxicating liquor, lashes him-

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 261

self with a whip, cuts his flesh till the blood
flows, and more dreadful still, drinks the blood
of a decapitated kid. Now starting into fresh
life, he flourishes his bells and ..dances round
and round, moving quick, but almost stagger-
ing as if in the grasp of some oppressive
power. Then suddenly he becomes inspired.
He stares as if his eyes would start from their
sockets, and whirls wildly round and round.
Now the spirit has entered him, and he is
wholly under the demon's power. Ask his
name, and he gives the demon's name ; his
consciousness is entirely merged in that of the
spirit. Now all around are eager to put
questions. They ask about their children,
their crops, their cattle, and whatever interests
them most deeply. Answers are grunted
out.

These terrible orgies are usually celebrated
during the night. The sacred stillness of those
glorious Indian evenings is suddenly broken in
on by a hideous uproar — the beat of drums,
the bray of horns, the clash of cymbals — a
disturbance utterly out of keeping with the
deep calm of nature, and doubly distressing
when we remember by what it is to be accom-
panied.

262 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

Bloody offerings are a necessary part of this
worship. Goats, sheep, and fowls — these are
especially used. The goat or sheep is led to
the altar, adorned with red ochre and garlands
of flowers. A single stroke with a sharp knife
severs the head from the body ; if two blows
are required, the sacrifice is not deemed accept-
able. The blood is poured out on the altar.
The body of the animal is cooked, and, after
being offered to the demon, it forms part of a
sacred feast which is shared by all who have
joined in the celebration.

It is of importance to note that in these obser-
vances no reference is made to sin. The object
is to appease the wrath of the demon, which
arises from his having been too much over-
looked, not from the commission of any moral
offence. There is, however, also the idea of
substitution. The sacrifices are very frequently
offered in cases of sickness ; and the demon is
implored to accept the life of an animal instead
of that of a human being.

Childish superstition is rife among all classes
in India — rifest among the lowest. Thus in the
dusk of the evening the demons are often sup-
posed to be seen, especially in burning or burial
grounds. They assume grotesque or dreadful

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 263

shapes, often changing these in succession. Or
a sudden noise is heard. The people venture
to look, and lo ! there is the demon running off
like a big dog, or perhaps like a cat, with eyes
flaming like lamps. Or the demons are seen
gliding over marshy ground, in the shape of an
ignis fatuus. Small whirlwinds of dust are very
common in the dry season : these move above
and catch up dry leaves and straws and carry
them up into the air. This is a mild form of
the demon's play. Everything at all unusual is
an indication of the presence and action of a
dark unearthly being.

The temples of the demons are very poor
erections. A heap of earth is raised in the
form of a small pyramid, from five to eight feet
high ; it is ornamented with alternate streaks
of red and white paint. This is both the
dwelling and the image of the demon ; at least
there is generally no other image. A small
heap of earth in front of this, flat on the top,
forms the altar. In some cases the erection is
of earth and overlaid with stucco.

Occasionally one of the lower Hindu gods,
or probably a goddess, has been accepted by
the aborigines. In such cases a regular image
is erected. It is generally of earthenware

164 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

painted white, in order to render it more strik-
ing and ghastly. It has many hands, each
holding some instrument of torture, and with a
horrible mouth, the teeth of which are crushing
an infant — or more than one — to death. In
other cases, the image — when there is an image
— probably has a buffalo's head, and the hands
grasp a huge club. Near the temple there
generally stands a tree — the larger the better
— and if so, there will be the demon's dwelling
place. From this the demon beholds the
sacrifice ; he snuffs with delight the odour of
the flowing blood, and eagerly descends from
the tree to share with the worshippers in the
banquet that succeeds the sacrifice.

But the demons have many places of abode.
Any place or thing that is fitted to inspire
terror or disgust is almost certainly the abode
of a demon. Gloomy shades, dark valleys,
ruinous houses, solitary wastes — these are
their chosen dwelling places. They roam
abroad in the darkness ; they are at work in
the devastating gale, or the wild rushing flood ;
it is they that " ride in the whirlwind and direct
the storm," and, when the tempest roars in fury
it is the shriek and howl of the demons which
you hear.

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 265

All spirit-worshippers firmly believe in
possession by devils. Any unusual disease, and
any usual one which does not yield to the
ordinary remedies, is ascribed to the presence
of a demon. But he can be expelled from the
human body ; and there are many approved
modes of exorcism. If these fail, a sound
drubbing with shoe or stick, accompanied by
torrents of foul abuse is almost always more
than the most determined demon can stand.
"I am going," cries a strange voice. The
people cease beating, and ask his name, and
the reason of his visit. He says he is such
and such a demon, to whom they have, for a
long time, paid no proper respect; and they
must give him an offering. Or perhaps he says
he is some deceased relative who has become
a demon and must be gratified by a present.
When the sacrifice and the sacrificial feast are
prepared, the possessed man partakes and then
awakes as from deep sleep or stupor, but
professes to have no knowledge of what has
taken place while the spirit was in him.

You are ready, I suppose, to call this professed
ignorance only sheer pretence. But it is not
always pretence. The man firmly believes in
possession ; and his imagination readily admits

266 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

the idea that his strange feelings are occasioned
by a demon's presence. There are many
people, not particularly credulous, who would
hesitate to say there are no real cases of
possession in India. For myself, I am at a
loss — though I confess that all the cases that
came under my observation might be explained
either as cases of hypocrisy or of self-deception
— generally the latter.

It is exceedingly probable, that among the
Dravidian or Turanian races, human sacrifice
was formerly far from uncommon. Even to
our own day it prevailed to a deplorable extent
among the Khonds (Kandhs), in the mountainous
part of Orissa. It was in the year 1837 that
the British came to know that a regular system
of human sacrifice existed there — some offered
by the community, some by individuals on
their own account. Good crops and immunity
from disease were held by the Khonds to be
dependent on the awful rite. They did not
knowingly offer either a Khond or a Brahman ;
but, with these two exceptions, any man,
woman, or child might be the victim.

The news was very startling ; and Govern-
ment at once appointed Captain John Campbell
to investigate the matter, with full powers to

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 267

take steps to crush out the horrid practice.
The book this officer wrote is before me as
I write, and I simply abridge his distressing
statement.

"The victims were offered to the earth-
goddess Tari. They were generally procured
from a distance. They might be either stolen
or purchased. They were generally young
people. They were brought up into the hills,
and were treated — perhaps for years — with
much kindness, bearing as they did an almost
sacred character. Their fate was never men-
tioned to them. But by and by came the
great celebration. A vast assembly was held
for three days and given up to feasting and
riot and wild dances. The victim was brought
forward — opium or some intoxicating drug
having rendered him insensible. He was
anointed with oil, ghee, and carmine, and
crowned with flowers. Then came an awful
chaunt — a liturgy, horribly sublime. 'You
are ours,' they shouted; 'we have bought
you, and we offer you to the goddess.' The
victim must die without a struggle ; and to
secure this, his limbs were broken; and he
was generally fixed in a cleft tree. Each
savage then rushed, knife in hand, upon him,

268 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

cut off a morsel of his flesh, and bore it away,
dripping with blood, to his field and buried
it there, — each saying, i The goddess has now
tasted human blood, and we shall have crops
in plenty.'"

It is calculated that the number of these
sacrifices annually was about one hundred and
fifty. Thank God ; they have ceased entirely.

It will be a great relief if we now turn to
speak of a much higher tribe of aborigines.
On the western side of the chain of mountains
running from Cape Comorin to the northern
borders of Travancore, there is a race, number-
ing about eighteen thousand souls, called
generally Hill Arrians. They live on heights
from two to three thousand feet above the
sea level. They have the taste to select the
most beautiful spots for their abode, residing
generally in fixed villages. Many of them
are well off, being prosperous cultivators of
the slopes of the hills ; and they hold a
position equal to that of Muhammadans —
which is one of some honour in that region.

When in Southern India I was deeply
interested in hearing that these Hill Arrians
had sent a deputation of their number to a
C.M.S. missionary at Cottayam, on the plains,

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 269

some fifty miles distant, with a pressing re-
quest that he would set up schools for their
children. The missionary's hands were full,
and he did not respond to their request until
five successive deputations had been sent.
He then went to their hills. He received a
most hearty welcome. Arrangements were
made for their instruction, and in little more
than two years a hundred and twenty asked
for baptism ; and soon more than two
thousand had been baptised.

The most peculiar of the hill tribes is found
on the Blue Mountains (Nilgiris) in Southern
India. I refer to the Todas.1 Who they
originally were, or where they came from, is
a perplexing question. Let me give the
answer they returned to me when I asked
them. " We have come from nowhere ; our
ancestors were created on these hills, and
these hills belong to us."

Physically the Todas are a fine race — tall,
well-formed, and athletic. The women are
handsome and erect and would be pleasing if
they had the gentleness of Hindu women.
Both sexes are lively and laugh merrily on

1 See the Rev. Mr Baker's striking account given in
Mrs Murray Mitchell's book. " In Southern India," p. 304.

270 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

the least occasion. They are occupied almost
exclusively in the care of great herds of cattle
— buffaloes. Men and women dress almost
alike — wrapping, themselves in large blankets.
Cleanliness is not one of their virtues; they
seem never to wash either their bodies or
their clothes.

Their religion is a mystery. They have no
images, but there is a buffalo-bell in each
village to which libations of milk are made.
Their great comprehensive prayer — or wish,
rather — is this — "May all be well! may the
buffaloes be well ! " There is a head milkman
who may be called a kind of priest. He lives
alone with one attendant. No woman can
approach the place, nor any man without ex-
press permission. Milking is a sacred work;
and only this man can perform it. He places
the milk in the dairy, which is in fact their
only temple. The people live almost exclusively
on milk, chiefly in the form of curd and ghee.

One weakness of the Todas is their love of
presents ; and they are shrewd enough to
prefer white money very decidedly to black, as
visitors soon discover.

I have now to speak of the Karens of
Burma. The old traveller Marco Polo men-

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 271

tions them, but after his time they seem to
have been long overlooked. They were hardly
heard of again until 1828. They were then
living among the mountains, shunning as far
as possible all intercourse with the Burmese,
by whom they had long been most cruelly
treated.

It is difficult to say from what country they
came ; but it was probably from China. Their
traditions mention that they had to cross a
terrible river of sand. This would seem to be
the great desert of Gobi, which remains very
formidable to travellers up to this day.

The American Baptist Mission had been at
work among the Burmese for a considerable
time before they particularly noticed the wild
people dwelling among the hills. One of the
first converts was Ko Tha Byu. A Burman
had enslaved him on account of debt, but Dr
Judson restored him to freedom and employed
him as a water-carrier. This man read a
Christian tract in Burmese and was struck
with the resemblance between its statements
and the cherished traditions of his own people.
He became a convert and a preacher; and
through him the missionaries had their atten-
tion called to a field of labour which they had

272 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

hardly thought of, but which has proved most
fruitful.

The traditions of the Karens bear a remark-
able likeness to many of the statements of the
Old Testament. The resemblance indeed is
startling. Some would explain the coincidence
by supposing that either in their original home
or while on their way to Burma the Karens
came in contact with Nestorian missionaries,
who during the Middle Ages played so noble a
part in the heart of Asia, and right away into
the centre of China. But the Karen traditions,
while marvellously like many things in the
Old Testament, very seldom remind us of the
New ; and for this reason the Karens are
generally supposed to have drawn them from
Jewish sources. Some have inferred that they
are really of Hebrew origin. They certainly
seem to have been in close contact with a
Hebrew race ; and we know that there were
Jewish colonies in China, from some of which
we may suppose that the Karens derived their
venerable traditions.

They do not worship idols. They acknow-
ledge one great God, who, they say, is dis-
pleased and has withdrawn from them because
they lost a holy book which He once gave

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 273

them. They worship Naths, which are malig-
nant spirits ever on the watch to do them harm
if they fail in paying them due respect.

When the first converts saw the close
resemblance which the statements of the Bible
bore to their own traditions, they exclaimed :
" These white foreigners have found our book
and have brought it back to us." The preach-
ing of the missionaries was therefore sought
rather than shunned. In little more than two
generations about a hundred thousand became
Christians, and conversions still appear to
be multiplying more and more rapidly. The
entire Karen nation numbers about a million.
Last year there seem to have been baptised
two thousand one hundred and forty — all of
them adults. The Church members amount to
thirty-five thousand. It is right to mention
that this very remarkable work among the
Karens has been carried on mainly by the
American Baptists.

During the wars which the Indian Govern-
ment waged with Burma (1852-1856) the
Karens sided with the British against their
old oppressors the Burmese. English officials
were disposed at first to deal with them as a
weak and pithless race ; but the Karens turned

174 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

out to be vigorous, energetic, and in every
way trustworthy.

Though divided into three sections, they all
acknowledge a common ancestry, and they act
together without difficulty.

One remarkable thing is that no unkind
feeling exists between the converts and the
heathen Karens. An old heathen Karen will
say: "I am too old to change my life, but my
children will be Christians." How unlike is
this to the dreadful caste feeling that prevails
among the Hindus !

Education has also spread among them to a
considerable extent; and there are Karen
students connected with the University of
Calcutta.

In the great work of bringing in the wilder
races I am glad to say that England, Wales,
Scotland, America and Germany all have a
share. Space fails ; otherwise, I could supply
very encouraging statistics in this connection.

England, specially through the Church
Missionary Society, is working diligently
among the Santals, Bhils, Gonds, Kois, and
others.

Wales, i.e. the Welsh Presbyterian Mission,

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 275

has been diligent and successful among the
hill tribes of Assam, the Khasis, etc.

Scotland is engaged with the Lepchas, the
Santals, and the Bhils. The Mission with
which I am best acquainted is that among the
Santals. It does not seem long since the work
was begun ; but had I been told thirty years
ago that I should live to see its present state
of advancement, I would have answered — "I
hope to see it from heaven, but I cannot
expect to witness such progress while I remain
on earth."

Germany, i.e. The Basel Evangelical Mission,
works among the Badagas on the Nilgiris and
others.

America, especially through the Baptist Mis-
sion, among the Karens.

The whole body of these aboriginal races
we may say is melting away. They are now
only about eight millions and a half. But we
must not think that all the conversions are to
Christianity. Some are absorbed into the
great mass of Hindus; others become Muham-
madans. In such cases conversion to
Christianity becomes doubly, ay trebly,
difficult. Our work among the aborigines

276 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

ought to be extended before these children
of the wilderness shall have passed beyond our
reach.

SANTALS.

I cannot but add a few words regarding my
personal connection with this interesting tribe.
I met in Calcutta, on his return from Europe,
a distinguished civilian, William, — afterwards
Sir William — Hunter. He well remembered his
work among them, and was full of a beautiful
enthusiasm regarding the wild people. He
kindled a deep interest in my mind regarding
them. I proposed to my colleagues to start a
mission among them. They agreed at once.
Then I wrote home to Dr Duff and the
Foreign Mission Committee in Edinburgh,
asking permission to do so. The answer of
the Committee was : " Do as you think best ;
but our funds are low, and we can give you no
money." I preached a sermon to our European
congregation on the proposed effort ; and they
gave me a very fair collection. I proceeded
to Taljhari in the Santal country, and consulted
the Rev. Mr Storrs of the C.M.S. Mission,
begging him to supply us with two native
Christians, and giving him at the same time

RELIGION OF THE WILDER RACES 277

half of the collection I had got. Mr Storrs
was very friendly and promised to do his best.
He found he could supply only one man — a
simple lad who could teach but not preach.
I have a very distinct recollection of this lad
working away in a shed laboriously trying to
teach four or five of the duller Santals the
alphabet. For some time also a worthy man —
an Indo-Briton — was employed to preach ; but
by and by there came from Scotland Dr
Templeton and Mr A. Campbell. Ere long
Dr Templeton's health failed, but Dr Dyer
soon worthily filled his place; Mr Campbell,
now a D.D., has steadily held on and is
honoured as a patriarch ; and worthy associates
have joined them.

BHILS.

A very interesting matter connected with
the Bhils is mentioned in the life of that truly
remarkable man Sir James Outram. The
Bhils in the province of Khandesh had from of
old been incorrigible marauders — ever ready to
swoop down from the hills on their civilised
neighbours in the plains. The Marathea
Government had treated them as wild beasts,
and their English successors had been almost

278 THE GREAT RELIGIONS OF INDIA

equally merciless; but the Bhils remained as
wild as ever. It then occurred to the Governor
of Bombay — the sagacious Mountstuart Elphin-
stone — that an effort should be made to reclaim
them by gentle means. He devised two
schemes — one was to establish agricultural
settlements of Bhils, and the other to organise
a battalion of Bhil soldiers under a British
officer. The latter object Elphinstone in-
trusted to the care of Outram. Outram, with
consummate tact and temper, entered into the
governor's plans ; and in less than four years
the province of Khandesh was completely
pacified. Rightly did Elphinstone's successor
— Sir John Malcolm — congratulate Outram on
the remarkable combination of firmness, kind-
ness, and perseverance which had achieved so
important a result. When he left it, the Bhil
corps was 900 strong. This was the fit com-
mencement of a high career of one who has
been rightly styled Sans peur et sans reproche.

INDEX

AGNI, fire god of the Hindus,

45, 54

Agriculture commended in

the Avesta, 139, 143, 149
Ahmad (Sir Sayad), founder

of Aligarh College, 239,

244
Ahuna Vairya, one of the

three great prayers in the

Avesta, 136
Ahura Mazda, the chief

divinity in the Avesta, 124,

126, 136, 143, 145, 146,

147, 149, 150, 170
Alexander of Macedon, 112,

115, 121, 140, 196
Aligarh College, 239-240

and n.
American Baptist Mission,

271, 275

Amesha-Spentas, "holy im-
mortals," 126, 129, 132,

146
Angro Mainyus, chief of the

spirits of evil, 130, 146
Animal life, sanctity of, in

Buddhism, 191, 195, 197;

in Jainism, 205
Animal sacrifices, 53, 133,

151, 152, 178, 257, 261,

262 ; influence of Bud-

dhism on, 197, 198; dis-
appearance of, 63-64
Animals condemned, 139,

M7» J53» J54.

Animism or spirit worship,
the religion of the Hill
and Forest tribes, 29, 252

Arabs, their zeal for obtain-
ing converts, 23, 229;
they invade Persia, 20,
113, 124; overrun great
part of Europe, 232, 233

Aranyakas or forest treatises
of the Hindus, 49

Ardai Viraf, ParsI priest,
116

Ardashir Babegan, ruler of
the Persian empire, at-
tempts the restoration of
the ancient religion, 115,
117; endeavours to collect
the writings of Zoroastrian-
ism, 121

Ardvi Sura Anahit, goddess
of waters, 128

Arya Samaj, 96, 107, 108

Aryan religion. See Hindu-
ism

Aryan Society, its origin, 28 ;
opposed to Christianity, 29

Asceticism, 178, 206

379

280

INDEX

Ashem Vohu, prayer in the

Avesta, 138
Asoka, Indian ruler, furthers

the cause of Buddhism,

195-197
Astronomy of the Hindus,

95

Asvamedha or sacrifice of
the horse in Hindu wor-
ship, 53

Atharva Veda, summary of
its contents, 50-51 and n. ;
on the doom of the wicked,

56

Avatars, or incarnations of

Vishnu, 64
Avesta religion. See Zoro-

astrianism

BAPTISM, its value and neces-
sity, 34» 99

Basel Evangelical Mission,
275

Benares, note on the religious
condition of, 96

Besant, Mrs, her Theosophic
College at Benares, 97

Bhagavad-Gita on the Su-
preme Being, 79 ; its con-
nection with the Bible,
88-93

Bhils, 29, 274, 275 ; note
on, 277

Brahma, 92

Brahma Samaj, 27, 28, 77,
98, 101, 102

Brahmo Samaj of India,
103

Brahmanas, 49, 63

Brahmans, teaching on the
incarnation of Vishnu, 65 ;
opposed to suppression of
the burning of widows, 66 ;
their hatred of foreigners,
196; a cultured race, 198

Buddhism, date of its origin,
1 8 ; receives no converts,
21 ; opposed to animal
sacrifices, 64; sketch of
the life of its founder, 175-
185; outline of his teach-
ing, 183-185; the philo-
sophy of suffering, 182,
183, 186-187; God ex-
cluded, 185 ; the nature
of man according to
Buddha, 187; the doctrine
of good and evil, 187, 188;
transmigration, 188-189;
the hope of Buddhism,
189-190; its morality,
191 ; rules for the monks,
191 - 193 ; prominence
given to merit and medita-
tion, 193 ; an Order of
Nuns, 193 ; the position
of women under Buddhism,
194; causes which helped
its success, 195-197; the
reason of its decline, 198 ;
tactics employed by Brah-
mans against it, 65, 199;
a new religion, 174, 200;
as it exists in Japan and
Tibet, 202-204

CAIRO University, 239
Campbell, Dr A., 277

INDEX

281

Campbell, Captain John, his
evidence on human sacri-
fices, 266-267

Caste, its observances, 62 and
n.; an illustration of its laws,
62, 63 ; notes on, 80, 190

Chosroes II., 17

Christianity, progress of, in
India, 26, 33 ; introduced
into Persia, 117; its in-
fluenceon the Pars! religion,
163

Converts, reception of, by
Muhammadanism and

Christianity, 23

DAWN, the, worshipped by
the Hindus, 46, 56

Dayananda, founder of the
Aryan Society, 28, 107

Dead, worship of the, 52 ;
prayers for the dead, 132;
ceremonies at death, 135-
136; observances con-
nected with death, 161

Debendernath Tagore, a re-
former of Hinduism, 102

Demons, worship of, 5 1, 52 ;
belief in, among the Forest
and Hill tribes, 253-268

Dogs held in honour, 139,

147, 154

Du Perron, Anquetil, his
investigations into Zoroas-
trianism, 119, 120

ECLIPSES, 95

Enthymues Zigabenus, an
opponent of Islam, 249

FASTING unknown in Zoro-

astrianism, 138
Forbes, John, of Corse, a

writer on Muhammadanism,

249
Fravashis, or souls of the

dead, 129

GANGES, pilgrimages to the,

59
Garotmana, the "house of

song," 131-132
Gathas or sacred books, 129,

141-143, 149, 150
Gayatu prayer, 52
Geography as found in the

books of the Hindus, 94
Gonds, 29
"Gospel of the Infancy,"

218

HEBREW influence on the Per-
sian religion, 144-145

Hell in Hinduism, 65 ; the
abode of the wicked, 56 ;
its locality, 132; hell of
the Parsls, 157-159

Heraclius invades Persia,
117, 118

Hill and Forest races of India,
their religion, 251-268

Hinduism, early appearance
of, in N.W. India, 42 ;
its distinctive characteristic
of caste, 1 8, 62 and ». ;
notes on caste, 80, 190;
nature worship, 44 ; the
gods Agni and Soma, 45 ;
reverence for the Dawn,

282

INDEX

46, 56 ; Varuna, the god
of heaven, 46 ; Indra takes
the place of Varuna, 147 ;
the Vedas and their con-
tents, 44-51 ; demon wor-
ship, 51-52 ; offerings and
sacrifices, 53 - 55; the
ritual becomes more elabo-
rate, 55, 71 ; gods innu-
merable, 55, 60, 61, 68,
70 ; difference between
ancient and modern Hin-
duism, 57 ; introduction
of transmigration, 58; pil-
grimages, 59, 60 ; reve-
rence for rivers, 59; animal
sacrifices, 63-64; ascetism,
157; the incarnations of
Vishnu, 64, 65, 199; the
burning of widows, 66 ;
condition of women in
Hinduism, 67 ; mode of
worship, 67 ; the place of
philosophy in Hinduism,
71-80; Hindu sects, 8 1 ;
the influence of Chris-
tianity on Hinduism, 26-
28 ; points of resemblance
between Christianity and
Hinduism, 87-93 ; Hindu
religious societies and their
attitude towards Chris-
tianity, 27, 28 ; recent
Hindu reformers, I oo ;
revival of the religion,
200 ; Muhammadan treat-
ment of Hindus, 235. See
a/so Atharva Veda, Rig
Veda, etc.

Hinen Thsang, a Chinese

pilgrim, 83
Homa, a sacred plant, its

place in the Avesta, 128,

'33> 159

Horses, sacrifice of, 53, 151
Human sacrifices, 53, 266-

268

Hunter, Sir William, 276
Hymns or Vedas of the

Hindus, 44-51 and «.

See also Atharva Veda,

Rig Veda, Vedas

IDOLATRY, prevalence of, 55,
60, 61, 68, 70

Ignorance, eternity of, 73

India, and Britain's respon-
sibility, 15, 30, 31 ; foreign
invaders, 196, 197 ; re-
ligion of the Hill and Forest
tribes, 29, 2 5 1 ; the coming
salvation of India, 31-32,
36 ; the progress of Chris-
tianity, 33 ; difficulties to
be faced by converts, 34 ;
the duty of the Church
towards India, 37-41

Indra supplants Varuna in the
worship of the Hindus, 47,
125 ; the reason for the
change, 47-48

JAINISM, reverence for life its
chief characteristic, 1 9,
205, 206 ; a race of
traders, 19, 206; outline
of its teaching, 206;
builders of temples, 207 ;

INDEX

283

reforms recommended by

recent conferences, 208
Japan, Buddhism in, 201 ;

progress of Christianity in,

202
Jewish influence in the Roman

world, 26 ; and on the

Persian religion, 144, 145
Joannes Damascenus, 249
Juggernaut temple at Puri in

Orissa, 59

KABJR, a Hindu reformer, his
teaching, 83

Karens of Burma, 29, 270-
274

Keshub Chunder Sen, a re-
former of Hinduism, 27,
102-106, 109, no

K ha sis of Assam, 29

Khonds of Orissa, 29

Kols, 29

Koran. See Quran

Krishna, an incarnation of
Vishnu, 199

LAMAISM of Tibet, 202-203
Lepchas of the Himalayas, 29
Life, sanctity of, according
to Buddha, 191, 195,
197 ; and in Jain ism, 205
Lully, Raymond, an oppo-
nent of Muhammadanism,
250

MAHABHARATA, 88, 89, 91
Mahmud of Ghazni, the in-
vader of India, 22, 235,

Manu, the ancestor of the
human race, 65

Marathas, opposed to Mu-
hammadanism, 22

Marriage according to the
Avesta, 138

Martel, Charles, defeats the
Saracens at Tours, 233

Mecca pilgrimage, 223 ; its
evil effects, 225

Missions, the necessity for
earnest missionary effort,
11713* 37. 240, 245;
Britain's responsibility to-
wards India, 1 5, 30,
3 1 ; necessity for missions
among the Muhammadans,
240, 245 ; mission work
among the Hill Arrians,
268 ; the Karens of Bur-
ma, 270-273 ; and the
Sandals, etc., 274

MirzaGhulam Ahmad,claim8
to be the Messiah, 238

Mithra, worship of, 127

Mithraic mysteries, 119

Moravian missions, 12, 40

Muhammad, his early life,
209-211; claims to have
received a revelation, 113,
219 ; the character of his
preaching, 215; his claims,
215; begins his military
career at Medina, 216;
his later years, 216-221

Muhammadanism, how the
Quran was acquired, 221 ;
the nature of its contents,
221-225; the religion

284

INDEX

divided into dogmatic and
practical, 223 ; evil results
of the Mecca pilgrimages,
225 ; duties of the pilgrims,
225-226; the condition
of women under Muham-
madanism, 226 ; slavery
sanctioned, 226 ; zealous
for the obtaining of con-
verts, 21-23, 82> 227»
229, 240; Paradise the
reward of the faithful, 228-
229; the chief factors of
its success, 230 ; merci-
less towards the infidel,
235 ; the religion as in
India at the present day,
236 ; the number of ad-
herents, 21, 236; geogra-
phical extent, 21, 22;
effect of education on, 236,
239> 243 5 the power of
the religious Orders, 241 ;
no hope for its civilisation,
242 ; the future of Mu-
hammadanism, 243-246 ;
note on, 246-248 ; con-
troversy on, 249

NANAK, founder of the Sikh

religion, 24, 83
Naths or evil spirits, 273
Nirvana, 189, 190

ORAONS, 29

Outram, Sir James, subdues
the Bhils, 277, 278

PANTHEISM of India, 44, 70,
74-77

Paramhansa Mandali, a society
for religious enquiry, 108

Parliament of Religions at
Chicago, 77

Persia invaded by Arabs, 19-
20, 113, 124; refugees
settle in Western India,
20 ; its ancient grandeur,
112-113, ^5* and it8
decline, 166

Philosophy's place in Hin-
duism, 71-80

Pilgrimages to holy places,
_59-6o

Prathana Samaj, or Prayer
Society of Bombay, 28

Prayers for the dead, 132;
the three great prayers in
the Avesta, 136; prayers
unknown in Buddhism,
193 ; prayer as performed
in Tibet, 203, 204

Precepts of Jesus, 27, 101

Puranas, 58

Puri, in Orissa, a celebrated
holy place for pilgrims, 59

QURAN, how it was brought
to Muhammad, 221 ;
various opinions on the
book, 221 ; its style, 222,
246 ; its strength and
weakness, 224; its claims
of finality, 228

RAJPUTS oppose the advance

of Islam, 22
Rama, an incarnation of

Vishnu, 199

INDEX

Rammohan Rai's Precepts of
Jesus, 27, IOI

Ranjit Singh, ruler of the
Punjaub, 25

Rig Veda of the Hindus,
44-49 ; on the nature of
the eoul and the fate of
the wicked, 56 ; its philo-
sophy, 71

Rishabha, the founder of
Jainism, 205-207

Rivers reverenced by the
Hindus, 59

Runjit Singh, nine women
burnt on his funeral pile,
66

SACRIFICES. See Animal
Sacrifices: Human Sacri-
fices
Saktas, worshippers of the

wives of the gods, 94
Sama Veda of the Hindus, 49
Sanhita, or hymns of the

Hindus, 48
Sanskrit MSS. in Japan,

83-87
Santals and their religion,

274, 275; note on, 276
Science of the Hindus, 94
Sea, the, propitiated, 152
Sects of the Hindus, 8 1
Shanars, the, of southern

India, their religion, 259
Shapur II. a foe to Chris-
tianity, 117

Sikhs, origin of their religion,
24; opposed to Muham-
madanism, 22

Siva, 92, 93 ; Saiva sects,

81,82

Snake-worship, 50
Soma, a drink of the gods,

45, 52> 53> 56, 198
Soul, the, as described by

the Rig Veda, 56, 73,76;

its place in the Pars!

religion, 157
Spenta Armaiti, earth spirit,

129
Storrs, Rev. Mr, of the

C.M.S. Mission, 276
Students' Volunteer Mission-
ary Union Conference,

38-39
Sufiism, note on, 248

TANTRAS, 93

Temples, 61, 207

Theosophy in Benares, 96

Tibet, method of performing
prayers in, 203, 204

Todas of the Nielgherries,
29, 269

Transmigration, introduction
of, into Hinduism, 58 ;
and into Buddhism, 188

Travancore and Caste ob-
servances, 63 and n.

UPANISHADS, 49 ; their pessi-
mism and pantheism, 70-
72

Ushas, or the Dawn, wor-
shipped by the Hindus, 46,
56

VARUNA, the heaven god, 125,

286

INDEX

143; his attributes, 46;
supplanted by Indra, 147

Vayu, spirit of the wind, 128

Vedanta philosophy, 71-80

Vedanta Sara, 72

Vedas of the Hindus, 44-46 ;
48, 107 ; the Rig Veda,
44-49, 56-71 ; the Sama
Veda, 49 ; the Yajur Veda,
50 ; the Atharva Veda,
50-51 and n., 56; Vedas
of Ceylon, 29

Vishnu, 92 ; his incarnations,
64-65, 199 ; Vaishnava
sects, 8 1

Vishtaspa, king of Bactria,
140, 141, 170-172

WARTHANA Sabha, a prayer

society, 109
Welsh Presbyterian Mission,

275

Widows, burning of, 66
Wind spirit, 128
Women, condition of. See

Hinduism, Muhammadan-

ism, Zoroastrianism

XERXES and animal sacrifice,
'5'

YAJUR Veda, 50

Yama, ancestor of the human

race, 52, 56

Yazatas or angels, 127, 146
Yogis' methods for attaining

to the divine nature, 74-

75 ; and n.

ZOROASTER and his times,
122, 140, 145; note on,
168

Zoroastrianism, or religion of
the Parsis, 19, 112;
Persia's ancient grandeur,
112, 113; invasion by the
Arabs, 20, 113, 124;
Persian refugees seek a
home in India, 113-114;
early history of the ancient
faith, 115, 122-124; the
reverence for fire and light,
20, 146, 159-161, 171 ;
the gods and their attri-
butes, 126-129 > eyil
spirits, 130, 146, 147 ; the
struggle between good and
evil, 130-131 ; the sacred
fire, 132-133 ; prayers for
the dead, 132; offerings
and sacrifices, 133-134;
cleanliness and defilement,
134, 139; initiatory rite,
135; ceremonial at death,
135; the three great
prayers in the Avesta,
136; fasting unknown,
138 ; marriage and agri-
culture commended, 138,
139; the sacred books,
116, 119-122, 124, 141,
142, 169 ; conflict be-
tween the faiths of India
and Persia, 143-144 ;
Hebrew influence on, 144-
1 46 ; the great divisions
of good and evil, 1 46- 1 48 ;
conception of evil, 148-

INDEX

287

150, 153-159; innumer-
able objects of worship,
150; animal sacrifice, 151-
152; the doctrine of the
soul, 157; method of
worship, 159-161 ; con-
dition of women under
Zoroastrianism, 163 ; dis-
posal of the dead, 161 ;

summary of Zoroastrianism,
162 ; the influence of
Christianity on, 117, 163-
165 ; the question of
proselytising, 166-167 ;
Parsls in Persia, 173 ;
investigations of DuPerron,
119-121.

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