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OXFORP
I
GUNESHU.
COMMONLY KNOWN IN MADRAS AS
P U L I A R or BELLY - GOD-
far description vtdc .page 35.
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k Carver
A
VIEW
OF THE
HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION
or
THE HINDOOS :
INCLUDING
A MINUTE DESCRIPTION OF
THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS,
AND
TRANSLATIONS FROM THEIR PRINCIPAL WORKS,
BY THE REV. W. WARD,
ONE OF THE BAPTIST MISSIONARIES AT SERAMPORE, BENGAL.
THE FIFTH EDITION,
CAREFULLY ABRIDGED AND GREATLY IMPROVED ;
WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE atJTHOR, AND AN AMPLE INDEX
MADRAS:
J. HIGGINBOTHAM, MOUNT ROAD.
Bookseller anil $uoltsfjer,
18 6 3.
PRINTED AT THE UNITED SCOTTISH PRESS, BY GRAVES, COOKSON AND CO.
I H *\ o E l\ 5
1 I >j fe
<£a tfje jj^lctnarij of
The Rev. SAMUEL PEARCE, op Birmingham;
The Rev. JOHN SUTCLIFF, of Olney;
AND
The Rev. ANDREW FULLER, of Kettering,
una ta
The Rev. JOHN RYLAND, of Bristol;
The Rev. JOHN FAWCETT, of Hepden-bridge ;
AND
The Rev. ROBERT HALL, op Leicester;
autr ta
. The Rev. WILLIAM CAREY,
AND ALL THE OTHER EUROPEAN AND OTHER
COLLEAGUES OF THE AUTHOR IN INDIA ;
THIS WORK IS VERY AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,
BY
THE AUTHOPv,
Rerampore, June, 1815,
PEONUNCIATION OF HINDOO NAMES.
In endeavouring to give the sounds of Sungskritu words, the author has
adopted a method, which he hopes unites correctness with simplicity, and
avoids much of that confusion which has been so much complained of on this
subject. If the reader will only retain in his memory, that the short ii is to be
sounded as the short o in son, or the u in Burton ; the French e, as a iu plate ;
and the ee as in sweet ; he may go through the whole work with a pronuncia-
tion so correct, that a Hindoo would understand him. At the beginning and
end of a word, the inherent vowel (u) has the soft sound of au.
CONTENTS;
Biographical Introduction, by Key. W. 0. Simpson*
The following are the illustrations.
I.— Gnneshu, commonly known as the Pulliar or B&hj GW. •FRONTISPIECE*
II. — Brainah, the Creator.
III. — Vishnu, the Protector.
IV. — Shiva, the Destroyer with his Wife Parvatee.
V. — Krishna, the most celebrated Incarnation ofVishiu\
jVI. — Khali, Parvatee represented as avenging Justice,
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS,
The Hindoo theology founded on the same philosophical notion as that
of the Greeks, that the Divine Spirit is the soul of the world, proved from the
Greek writers, i. — from the Vedantrt-Sar'u, ii — A system of austerity founded
on this system, iii. — Extract from the Shree-Bhaguvutii on this subject, iv. —
Account of the ceremony called yogii, by which the Divine Spirit, dwelling hi
matter, becomes purified, extracted from the Patiinjiilu Dhtirshftnii and the
Gomkshu-sunghita, v. — No real yogees to be found at present, vi. — Absurdity
of these opinions and practices, id. — Another class of Hindoos place their hopes
on devotion, vii. — The great mass of the population adhere to religious cere-
monies, viii. — Conjectures on the origin of the Hindoo Mythology, ib. — on
images, as originating in moral darkness, and the depravity of men, ib. — those
of the Hindoos not representations of the One God, ix. — nor of his perfec-
tions, ib — nor of human virtues, ib. — nor of the objects of natural science, x. —
but iu general the invention of kings, to please the multitude, ib. — The doc-
trine of all the East, that God in his abstract state is unknown, and unconnect-
ed with the universe, ib. — the object of worship the divine energy, subject to
passions, in consequence of its union to matter, xi. — the creation of the gods
first, ib. — Proofs that the divine energy is the object of adoration, from the forms
of the gods, xii. — the modes of worship, ib. — the common observations of the
Hindoos on the phenomena of nature, xiii. — The divine energy the object of
worship among the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, &c. proved by quotations from
various authors, xiv. — The subjects embraced by the Hindoo mythology, ib. —
The ancient idolatry of this people confined to the primary elements, the
heavenly bodies, and aerial beings, xv. — the succeeding objects of worship,
Br'rimha, Vishnoo, and Shivri, the creator, the preserver, and destroyer, ib.—-
next the female deities, as the representatives of nature, ib. — then sundry
deities, connected with corrupt notions of Divine Providence ; and afterwards
deified heroes, xvi. — The number of the Hindoo gods, ^.-—Benefits sought from
different gods by their worshippers, ib. — Brdmha — his form — allusions to his
attributes — conjecture of Mr. Paterson's examined, xvii. — Vishnoo — the attri-
butes of his image explained — conjecture of Mr. Paterson's noticed, xviii.—
Shivn, and the attributes of his image — remarks on the worship of the Lingrt—
resemblance between Bacchua and Shivri — two other forms of Shivlt noticed^
vi
CONTENTS.
KalH-BhoimvH and Muha-Kalii, xix. — Indru, xx. — Ynmn, ib. — Guneshrt, xxi,
■ — Kartikeyii, ib. — Sooryu, ib. — Ugnee, xxii. — Pii.vn.rm, ib. — Vuroonu, xxiii. —
Sumoodr'a, ib. — Prit'hivee; ib. — The heavenly bodies, ib. — Doorga, xxiv. — ■
Kalee, ib. — Lakshrnee, xxv. — Sitraswntee, ib. — Sheetiila, ib. — Mnmisa, xxvi.
■ — Shiisht'hee, ib. — Krishna, ib. — Jngiinnat'hii, xxvii, — Eamii, xxviii. — Choi-
tiinyu, ib. — Vishwd-kiirraa, ib. — Kamn-devil, ib — Sutyu-Narayunii, ib. — Pun-
chaniinii, ib. — Dhjtnnii-t'hakooru, ib. — Kaloorayii, ib. — 'Deified beings in strange
shapes, ib. — worship of human beings, xxix. — Worship of beasts, ib. — birds,
— trees, ib. — Worship of rivers, xxx. — fish, ib. — books, ib\ — stones, ib. — a
log of wood, ib*. — Eemarks on the system of mythology y ib. — on the use of
idols in worship, xxxi. — Indelicacy of many of the Hindoo images, ib. — Corrupt
effects of idol worship in this country, xxxii. — especially after the festivals, ib.
— The history of the gods and religions pantomimes exceedingly increase these
effects, xxxiii. — Practices of the vamacharees add to the general corruption,
xxxiv. — Keflections on this state of things, xxxvi. — causes of the popularity of
the festivals, remarks, with a view of correcting the false estimate made
of the Hindoo character by the Rev. Mr. Maurice and others, xxxvii. — Idolatry-
exciting to frauds, xxxix. — setting up of gods a trade, ib. — Hindoo Temples, —
their use, xl. — dedication of them, ib. — Images, of what materials made, xli. —
Priests, ib. — Ceremonies at temples, xlii. — Periodical ceremonies, ib — daily
duties of a bramhiin, xliii. — form of initiation into the Hindoo rites, ib. — the
spiritual guide, ib. — Bathing, ib. — forms of worship before the idol, xli v. — Ex~<
tract from the Ain Akbiiree, z<5.note.— forms of praise and prayer, xlv. —
meditation, ib. — repeating the names of the gods, xlvi. — vows, fasting, and gifts
to bramhiins,^. — hospitality ..digging pools, planting trees,rehearsing and hearing
the pooranris, &c. xlvii. — Burning widows, and burying them alive, ib. — an
affecting relation by Captain Kemp, xlviii. note. — number of the victims, xlix.
— Visiting sacred places,^. — atonements, and offerings to themanes, 1. — heavens
and hells, ib. — Confession of faith made by a bramhun, li — Remarks on it. liL
— Sum of the Hindoo system, liii. — view of its effects, ib. — Remarks of the same
bramhiin on the present state of religion among his countrymen, ib. — Appear-
ances in the streets, reminding the passenger of the different Hindoo ceremonies,.
lv» — This system incapable of producing moral effects, notwithstanding the
doctrine of future rewards and punishments, lvi.— Errors inculcated in the
Hindoo writings respecting God, ib. — Impure actions of the gods, lix. — the gods
counteracting each other in the government of the world, ib.— Irreverence of the
people towards the gods, lx. — Contrast betwixt Hindooism and Christianity,?^.
— Hindoo system ascribes all sin to God, Ixi. — teaches the bramhiin to despise
the shoodru, ib. —exhorts to the extinction of every virtuous passion, ib. —
declares that sin is removed by the most trifling ceremony, lxii. — supplies pray-
ers for the destruction of enemies, ib. — permits falsehood, and theft even from
a slave, ib. — Works, said to raise men to heaven, not beneficial to others, ib. —
Remarks on the impurities and cruelties connected with this system, lxiii. —
Impossible to know the Hindoo idolatry, as it is, without initiation, lxiv. — The
dispensations of Providence towards the Hindoos unfolded by this state of
things, ^.—Happiness under the British government, ib. — Misrepresentations
of European writers noticed and reprehended, lxv. — Scripture testimony against
idolatry, lxvii. — Of the seceders, or heterodox Hindoos, the Joinvis, Bouddhus,
Shikhs, and followers of Choitunyu — the founders of all these sects religious,
mendicants Ixix. — Observations on the tenets of these seceders, ib.
* In this Introduction, the author has gone over the whole of the Hindoo Pantheon*
that he might supply a number of omissions in the body of the work ; and hence it
forms an epitome of the whole,
CONTENTS.
vn
BOOK 1.
OBJECTS OF WORSHIP.
CHAP. I.
OF GOD.
Page.
The One God an object of speculation only ; not a single temple
erected to his honour throughout the whole of Hindoost'hann, ... l
CHAP. II.
OF THE GODS.
Their number, three hundred and thirty millions, ... ... 2
Sect. I. Vishnoo. The source of all the Hindoo incarnations, 2.
Accounts of the ten incarnations, ibid. — Other incarna-
tions, 6. — Meaning of these fables, 7. — Images of Vishnoo,
8. Mark of his followers, ibid. His names, ibid. His
wives, ibid. His heaven, ... ... >#< g
II. Shivu. Forms of this god, 9. The lingd, ] 0. Eesembles
the phalli of the Greeks, ibid. Form of this god as Mnha-
Kaln, 11. Names and mark of the sect, ibid. Shivii's
festivals — particularly the silnyasee and swinging ditto,
12—16. Origin of these horrid rites, 17. Marriage of
Shivn, ibid. Fables respecting Shivu, 18. Names ibid.
Description of Shivu's heaven, ... ... 29
III. Brumha. Account of the creation, 21. Form of this o-0d*
ibid. Worship paid to him, ibid. He attempts to commit
incest, 22. Heaven of Brnmha. ibid. His names, 23
IV. Indrtj. His image and festivals, 23. Account of a criminal
intrigue, 24. Other fables, 25. Heaven of Indrii, 26.
Scenes in this heaven, in several stories, 27. Names of
this god, ... ... ... ... ^ 31
V. Sooryu. His descent, 31. His festivals, 32. Anecdotes
of this god, 33. His names, ... ... 3^
VI. Guneshu. His image, 35. Descent and birth, ibid. Wor-
ship, 36. Names, ... ... ... 37
VII. Kartikeyu. His image and descent, 37. Festivals, 39.
Names, ... ... ... ... ^
VIII. Ugnee. His form and descent, 40. Festival, 41. Names" 41
IX. Puvunu. His birth, 42. A story respecting him, ibid. His
impure character, 43. Names, ... ... 43
X. Vuroonu. His image and worship, 43. Fables, 44. His
heaven, 45. His names,
XI. Yumu. His image and festivals, 46. His court as judge
of the dead, 47. His palace, ibid. Fables respecting
him, 47-50. His heaven, 50. Marriage, ibid. Names, 52
XII. " Host of Heaven" Eem arks on their worship, 53
XIII. Tlanets. Worshipped in a body, ... ... 54
XIV. Rtjvee. His form and worship, 55. Commits a rape, 55
45
CONTENTS.
CT.
Page
XV. Somu. His image and worship, 56. Names, ... ... 56
XVI. Mungulu. His image, 57. An evil planet, ... ... 51
XVII. Booddhu. His form, 57. Accouut of his birth, ... hri
XVIII. Vrihusptjtee. His image, 58. An auspicious planet,
ibid. Names, ... ... ... ... 5£
XIX. Shookru. His form, 59. A fable respecting his blind-
ness, ibid. A propitious planet, ibid. A fable, ibid.
Names,... ... ... ... ... ... 6]
XX. Shcnee. His image, 61. An evil and much dreaded
planet, ... ... ... .. .«• 61
XXI. EahOo. His image, 62. Eeceived this form at the churn-
ing of the sea, ibid. Names, 63. Unaccountable coincidence
in the customs of different nations respecting an eclipse, 62. note
XXII. Ketoo. His image, ... ... ... ... Qc
CHAP. III.
OF the goddesses.
I. Doorga. Her descent, 64. Keason of her name, a fable,
ibid. Festivals, 67. Image, ibid. Ceremonies at her
festival minutely described, 68. Bloody sacrifices, 69.
Offerings, 70. Dances, 71. A scene at Eaja Raj-krish-
nu's at Calcutta, 72. Drowning the image, 74. Fables
respecting this goddess,... ... . . ... 7c
II. The ten Forms of Doorga. Story from the Marnkiindeyii
poorann, and another from the Chundee, relative to the
wars of Doorga, 76. Names of the ten forms, ...
III. Singhu-vahinee, a form of Doorga, Her image, 79. and
worship, ... ... ... ... ... 7J
IV. Muhishu-mtjrdinee. Her image, and worship, 80. Be-
nefits attending it, ... .... ... ... 8(
V. Juguddhatree. Her image, 80. A popular festival, held
in her honour, ... ... ... ... ... 8(
VI. Mooktu-keshee. Her image, 81. Her festival^ and the
benefits promised to her worshippers, ... ... 81
VII. Tara. Her image and worship, ... ... ... 8
VIII. Chinnu-mustuka. Her image, 82. Her worship, and the
benefits resulting from
IX. Jugudgotjree. Her image and worship, ... ... 8
X. Vugulamookhee. Her festival, 83. Benefits resulting
from her worship, ... ... ... ... 8
XI. Prutyungira. Petitions addressed to this goddess, 83.
Story respecting her, ... ... ... 8
XII. Unnu-poorna. Her image, and festival, ... ... 8
XIII. Guneshu-jununee. Her image, 85. Regular and occa-
sional festival, ... ... ... ... 8
XIV. Krishnu-krora. Her image, and festival, 85. The
history of this goddess, ... ... ... 8
XV. Vishalakshee. Offerings to this goddess, ... ... 8
XVI. Chundee. Her worship, and festivals, 87. Offerings to
CONTENTS.
ix
Sect.
XVII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
Page.
& XVIII. Other forms of Doorga of inferior note, ...87, 89
Kalee. Her image, and anecdotes connected with it, 89.
Human sacrifices, 91. Other horrid rites, 93. A singu-
lar fact, that thieves worship her, ibid. Festivals — a
scene at Kalee-Shunkuni-Goshu's, at Calcutta, 95. The
degree of honour formerly paid to this goddess by the
Hindoo rajas, 96. Image and temple at Kalee-ghatu,
described, 97. This image much honoured, presents
being made to it by kings, merchants, and even by Chris-
tians, 99. Statement of the value of the monthly offer-
lU^Sj mmm • •• •••
Other forms of Kalee of inferior note, ... ... ... 102
Ltjkshmee. Her image, 105. Her descent and festivals, 105
Kojagurtj-Ltjkshmee, another form of Lukshinee. Her
worship, and festival, ... ... ... ... 106
Suruswtjtee. Her descent, 106. Indecencies practised
during her festival,
Sheetula. Her image, 107. Worshipped during the
small-pox,
Muntjsa*. Her image and descent, 108. Her festival, ...
Shushtee. Her six festivals described,
107
108
108
110
CHAP. IV.
inferior celestial beings objects of worship.
I. Usoorus. Their conduct at the churning of the sea, a story, 1 13
II. Jiakshusus: Story of Koombhn-karnn. 115. The Gund-
hurvus and Kinrniriis, ibid. Vidya-dhuriis and Upsiiriis,
ibid. Nayikas, 117- Yiikshus, 118. Pishachls, Good-
ghukus, Siddhus, Bhootiis, Chariiniis, &c. ... ... 118
CHAP. V.
of the terrestrial gods.
I. Krishnu. His birth, 119. Juvenile exploits, ibid. His
image and festivals, 120. Image of Radha accompanies
Krishna's, 123. Number of his followers, ibid. Stories
of Krishnu, ... ... ... ... ... 123
II. Gopaltj. His image, 125. A story of this image found
iu a field, ... ... ... ... ... 125
III. Gofie-nat'hu. A celebrated image of him at Ugrrt-dweepu, 125
IV. Jugtjnnat'htj. Form of Ids image, with the origin of it,
127. His temples, ibid. Festivals, ... ... 128
V. Bulu-ramu. His image generally accompanies Jiigun-
nat'hu's, ... ... ... ... ... 129
* This goddess is honoured as she who protects from serpents : but the author is
assured, that, in the upper provinces, the serpent itself is worshipped, and that the
image is formed into a circle, the head and tail of the serpent being joined. The legend
respecting this serpent-god is, that the earth rests on his thousand heads,
\ contents,
Sect. Page.
VI. Eamu. His history, including his war with Eavfum, 130.
His image and festival, ... ... ... ... 134
VII. Choitunyu. History of this mendicant god, 134. His
festivals, 136. Another mendicant-god, ... ... 137
VIII. Vishwu-kurmu. Form of his image and festival, ... 137
IX. Kamu-devu. His image and festival, 138. A story respect-
ing him, 139. His names, ... ... ... 139
X. Sutyu-narayunu. His image and worship, ... ... 139
CHAP. VI.
terrestrial goddesses.
X«. S EETA j **• • • • X 4: 1
XI • ^K)A-X) 7"I A j o a * • • • %%) •
III. Eookminee, and Sutyu-bhama. ... ... ... 142
IV. Soobhudha, ... ... ... ... ib.
CHAP. VII.
deities worshipped by the lower orders only.
1. Punch anuntj. Form of the image, 143. A story respect-
ing him, ... ... ... ... 144 note.
II. Dhurmu-Thakooru. A form of Shiviij 144. His image
and festival, ... ... ... ... ... 145
III. Kaloo-rayu, ... ... ... ... ib.
IV. Kaltj-bhoiruvu, ... ... ... ... 146
/"V. Worship to cure the itch and scurvy. ... ... ib.
CHAP. VIII.
WORSHIP OF BEINGS IN STRANGE SHAPES,
I. Urdhu Nareeshwuru. Origin of this image, as related in
the pooraniis, 147. Its festival, ... ... ... 148
II. Krishnu-Kalee, ... ... ... ... ib.
III. Huree Huru. Form of the image, 149. Different ac-
counts in the pooraniis of its origin, ... ... 149
CHAP. IX.
WORSHIP OF HUMAN BEINGS.
Deified men and women — Bramhims, especially religious
guides, 151 Daughters of bramhiins, ib. Wives of
bramhrins, ib. A female, 152. Unutterable abominations
practised, ... ... ... ... ib.
CONTENTS.
XI
Sect. Page.
CHAP. X.
WORSHIP OF BEASTS.
T. The Cow, ... ... ... ... ... 154
II. The Monkey, (Hiinooman,) 155. Marriage of two given by
the Baja of Nikleeya, who spent 100,000 rupees on the
ceremony, ib. Anecdotes of this god, ... ... 156
III. The Dog, ... ... ... -.. ... ]57
IV. The Jackal, ... ... ... ... ib.
V. Other animals worshipped,... ... ... ... ib.
CHAP XI.
THE WORSHIP OF BIRDS.
I. Guroorw. His image and descent, 158. A story respect-
ing him, ibid. His names, ... ... ... 159
II. Uroonu, ... ... ... ... * ... ib.
III. Jutayoo, ... .. ... ... 160
IV. Shunkuru Chillu, or the Eagle of Coromandel, ... ib.
V. Khungunu, or the Wag Tail, ... ... ... ib.
VI. Other birds worshipped. ... ... ... ib.
CHAP. XII.
THE WORSHIP OF TREES.
L The Tooliise'e, ... ... ... ... ... 161
II. Other sacred trees, ... ... ... ... 162
CHAP. XIII.
THE WORSHIP OF RIVERS.
I. Gunga. Her image, 163. Descent, 164. Worship, 165.
Festivals, 166. Attachment of the natives to this river,
168. This attachment encouraged by the shastriis, ib.
note. Anxiety of the Hindoos to die in sight of the
Ganges, 169. Children and grown-up persons drowned
in it, 170. Extracts from the pooranus, ib. Beflections, 171
II. Other deified rivers, ... ... ... ib.
CHAP. XIV.
THE WORSHIP OF FISH. 173
CHAP. XV.
THE WORSHIP OF BOOKS, IK
xii
CONTENTS
Page.
CHAP. XVI.
THE WORSHIP OF STONES.
The SJialgramu.* Different kinds, 174. Reason of its deification, Hid.
Constant representative of the gods in worship, 175.
Other stones worshipped, ... ... ... 176
CHAP. XVII.
A LOG OF WOOD AVORSHIPPED.
The Pedal. Origin of its worship, 176. Festival given in honour of it
by the Eaja of Ndlii-danga, ... ... ... 176
BOOK II.
OF THE TEMPLES, IMAGES, PRIESTS, AND TEMPLE WOR-
SHIP OF THE HINDOOS.
CHAP. I.
OF THE TEMPLES.
Sect. T. Of different kinds of temples, ... ... ... 177
II. Dedication of temples, ... ... ... 180
III, Endowment of temples, ... ... ... ... 181
CHAP. II.
OF THE IMAGES.
Of what made, 182. Ceremonies of consecration,... .,. ... 183
CHAP. III.
OF THE PRIESTS.
Different orders, with their employments, ... ... ... 185
CHAP. IV.
OF THE WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLES.
In the temples of Shivit, 187. In those of Vishnoo, ... ... 188
* One of these stones, by a fall, being split asunder, was lately shewn to the au-
thor. The internal appearance of this strongly indicates, that these stones are not, as
has been supposed, (see Asiatic Researches, vol vii. p. 240. ) perforated stones, but
petrified shells : the shell in the inside of this was the Argonauta Argo.— May 8, 1815..
CONTENTS.
BOOK III.
OF THE STATED PERIODS OF WORSHIP, AND VARIOUS DUTIES
AND CEREMONIES.
CHAP. I.
of the times of worship.
Page,
Sect. I. Lunar days, ... ... ... ... ... 190
II. Weekly ceremonies, ... ... ... ... #m
III. Monthly ceremonies, .. ... ... ... 191
IV. Annual festivals, extracted from the Tit'hee-Tuttwa,... %b,
V. Daily ceremonies, 192. Daily duties of a bramhun, extracted
from the Anhiku-Tuttwu, 193 — 198. Present practice
among bramhuns, shoodrus, and women, as it respects the
daily duties of religion,... ... ... ... 199
CHAP. II.
APPOINTED RITES AND CEREMONIES.
I.
Form of initiation into the Hindoo religion,
199
II.
Duties of a disciple to his spiritual guide, (gooroo,) 200
Ancedote of a dying gooroo,
202
III.
Religious austerities,* (tnpasya,)
203
IV.
Burnt sacrifices, (yugnu.) Rules for them, 204. Human
sacrifices — Proofs from the shastrns that they have
been offered, 205. Facts relative to present times, 206.
Sacrifice of a bull, 208. Of a horse, ibid. Of an ass, 210.
At the birth of a son, ibid. After death, ibid. To the
nine planets, ibid. Other burnt sacrifices, ...
211
V.
Burnt offerings, (honm,) ... ...
7b.
VI.
Bloody sacrifices, (bulee-danu,)
212
VII.
Bathing, (snanu,) 213. Ceremonies accompanying it,
214
VIII.
Drink-offerings to the gods and deceased ancestors, (turpunii,)
ib.
IX.
Ceremonies of worship, (pooja,)
215
X.
Forms of meditation, (dhyanu,)...
217
* These are not penauces for sin : the yogee is not a penitent, but a proud ascetic,
I
xiv
CONTENTS.
Sect.
Page.
XI
.Repeating the names of the gods, (jupa,)
217
YTI
Forms of praise to the gods, (stuva,)
218
YTTT
Forms of prayer to the gods, (knvuchu,)
219
XTV
Petitions and vows, (kamunu and man anil,)
ib.
XV.
Vows (vrutu,) ...
220
XVI.
Fasting, (oopuvasii,) ...
222
XVII.
Gifts, (danii,)
223
XVIII.
Entertaining bramhims,
225
XIX.
Various works of merit. Hospitality to strangers, 225.
Digging pools, 226. Planting trees, &c. 227. Ancedotes,
227
vv
AA.
Reading and hearing the poorancis, ...
228
VTT
AAl.
Sacred rehearsals, (geetii,)...
229
YYTT
AA11.
Hanging lamps in the air,
230
Method of preventing family misfortunes,
ib.
XXIV.
Ceremony for removing evils following bad omens, ...
231
XXV.
Ceremonies performed while sitting on a dead body,
ib.
XXVI.
Ceremonies for removing, subduing, or destroying enemies,
232
XXVII.
Impure orgies, with flesh, spirituous liquors, &c. (poorna-
bhisheku,) ...
ib.
YYVTTT
AA V 111 .
Burning of Widows alive. Extracts from the shastriis
on this subject, 235. Ceremonies preceding the immola-
tion, 236. Many affecting relations of this lamentable
practice, 238. Widows of weavers buried alive, 244.
Reflections on the state of mind of the widow, and on the
conduct of the bramhuns, 245. Calculation of the number
1)111 lit j m • « ft • • • * • • • • » • «
246
XXIX.
Voluntary suicide, (kamyu-muranii,) 246. Drowning in the
Ganges — several shocking instances, 247. Burning of a
leper, 248, — Burial alive of ten persons,
249
XXX.
Persons casting themselves from precipices, &c...
250
XXXI.
Dying under the wheels of Jngimnat'hri's car,
251
XXXII.
Infanticide, ...
ib.
XXXIII.
Ascetics devoured in forests by wild beasts,
253
XXXIV.
Perishing in cold regions. ...
ib.
Calculation relative to the number of Hindoos who annually
perish, the victims of superstition, ...
ib.
YYYV
Ceremonies performed on visiting holy places, 255. Princi-
pal holy places in Hindoost'hanii,..,
257
XXXVI.
Ceremonies at death,...
265
XXXVII.
Rites for the repose of the soul, (shraddhu,)
261
XXXVIII.
Purifications,
266
XXXIX.
Atonements for offences,..,,.
ib.
CONTENTS.
XV
Page,
BOOK IV.
DOCTRINES OF THE HINDOO RELIGION.
CHAP. I.
OF THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS.
Extracts from the Kurnm-vipaku on this subject, 274. And from the
Ugnee pooranu, 275. Conversations among the Hindoos respecting
transmigration, ... ... ••• ••• •••
CHAP. II.
JUDGMENT OE MEN AFTER DEATH. ... 279
CHAP. III.
OF FUTURE HAPPINESS.
Different kinds of happiness, 281. Description of heaven, id. Various
works of merit entitling to heaven, 282. Conversations respecting
the state of the dead, 284. Doctrine of the Hindoos concerning
absorption, 285. Method of obtaining it, ... ... ... 286
CHAP. IV.
OF FUTURE PUNISHMENTS.
Extracts from the Shree-bhagilvutu, 288. Names and nature of the
Hindoo hells, id. A fable respecting them, ... ... 289
BOOK V.
HINDOO SAINTS, OP. MENDICANTS.
Preparatory duties of a mendicant, extract from Miinoo, 291. Eemarks
on the present state of mendicity, 293. Brief account of twenty differ-
ent kinds of mendicants, 294. A scene at Gnnga-Sagnru, 298. A
remarkable account, 300. Reflections on the number of Hindoos
living in a state of mendicity, ... ... ... ... 301
BOOK VI.
HINDOO RELIGIOUS SECTS.
CHAP. I.
ACCOUNT OF THE REGULAR HINDOO SECTS.
The soivKs, 302. The voishnuviis, ib. The shaktus, ... ... 303
xvi
CONTENTS.
Page.
CHAP. II.
ACCOUNT OP THE BOUDDHUS.
The same as the followers of Fo, 303. Eise of Bouddhism, 304, Per-
secution of the Bouddhus, 305. Their shastms and doctrines, 306.
Their temples and worship, 309. Their colleges, 310. Their festivals,
311. Translation of the substance of the Temee Jatii, a Biirman
account of the incarnation of Booddhu, ... ... .,. 312
CHAP. III.
ACCOUNT OF THE JOINLS.
Eise of this sect, 326. Account of Muha-veeru, 327. Summary of
the joinii doctrines, 329. Prescribed duties, 331. Festivals, 333.
Sects, 334. Bramhinical account of the joinas, ibid. Extract from
the Booddhu poorann, 335. And from Mr. Colebrooke's " Obser-
vations," ... ... ... ... ... ... 340
CHAP. IV.
ACCOUNT OF THE SHIKHS.
Particulars respecting Naniiku and other leaders of the sect, 342. Their
shastms, 345. Different sects, 347. Form of initiation, ibid. Their
festivals, 348. Additional remarks, Hid. Translation from the Adee-
Griint'ml, elucidating the opinions of Nanuku, ... ... 349
CHAP V.
ACCOUNT OF THE FOLLOWERS OF CHOITUNYU.
Their peculiar doctrines, 354. Account of their leaders, 355. Their
progressive increase ... ... ... ... ... 356
CHAP. VI.
ANALYSIS OF ALL THE HINDOO SECTS. 356
CONCLUDING EEMAEKS.
The object of worship the same throughout India, Tartary, China, Japan,
the Biirman Empire, Siam, and the Indian Isles, proved from the
preceding accounts, and from different works, ... ... 364
Glossary ... ... ... ... ... ... 369
Index ... ... ... ... 39s
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION.
There is a propriety, I think, in prefacing the follow-
ing work by some account of the author; for upon our know-
ledge of his career and capabilities depends the amount of
credibility and confidence which we award to his book. After
a careful perusal of the Lives we have of him,* I have been led
to conclude that we do not yet know all we ought to know
of the Reverend William Ward of Serampore: — a man who,
though not endowed with genius, was possessed of great capacity
for mental toil and physical endurance, just such a man as the
world wants and romance avoids: — a Missionary, expert and
diligent in many varieties of toil; — a Christian, whose piety
retained its freshness during a long and arduous career, breathed
itself out in the last efforts of his penf, and shed a quiet beauty
over his end. Scant justice can be done to him in a sketch so
brief as this; yet as far as space will admit, I will place before
the reader the chief events of his life.
William Ward was born of middle-class parents, in Derby, on
the 20th of October 1769. Soon after his birth, his mother, a good
and pious woman, was left a widow. Up to her prayers, con-
versation and example, Ward traced his religious history. The
first human hand that went to form his career and character was
a mother's : so should it ever be. His school life was not spent
under favourable auspices, and gave him an education plain and
common enough. But the lad was studious, retired, self-forming,
with high aims, which now and then peeped out and startled his
more common place companions. So came it, that he saw after
his own education when his masters had done with him, and
by such ways and means as a determined young man will
always find out, he acquired a knowledge of the literature
and science of his country. He became a printer by trade, and
* Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. William Ward, by Samuel Stennett. London,
1825.
Life and Times of Carey, Marshman and Ward by John Clark Marshman.
In two volumes. Longmans, London, 1859.
t " Reflections for every day in the year." Published in 1822. The work was
highly prized by his Christian friends and brought into daily use in many families.
2
WILLIAM WARD, PRINTER AND PREACHER.
spent some ten years, first in putting up type for newspapers, and
then in writing for them, in Derby, Stafford, and Hull; and he
acquired more than ordinary influence as an Editor. But the
power which fixed his future course lay not in these external cir-
cumstances, but in that inner life of piety, to the beginnings of
which I have already adverted. In his case, the influence of
maternal example and youthful associations did not supersede the
exercise of individual decision. After much thought, it appeared
to him that the opinions held by the Baptists were most in
accordance with the word of God and, by public baptism, he
became a member of that denomination, in 1794 or 1795, being
about twenty-five years of age. Prior to that event, he passed
through many troubles of heart, — "storms," "miry clay," "fierce vol-
cano fires not to be quenched by a mere sprinkling of words" — such
are his own phrases: but that rite spoke truly of a heart then
resting quietly and lovingly in discipleship to Jesus. Prompted
by his own earnest feelings, and drawn by the necessities of his
neighbourhood, Ward occasionally presided at religious assemblies
and gave "a word of exhortation" at cottage meetings: not with-
out notice, for in 1797 he was selected as a man of promise for
the future, and sent to Ewood Hall, near Halifax, where
Dr. Fawcett, the tutor of Foster, trained a few young men for the
ministry. There study, not wide, yet careful and regular, became
a habit, bearing fruit afterwards in the translation work of the
Serampore press and the uniform diligence of Serampore life.
Yet then and there the missionary spirit of the man found a
sphere for itself. He was often out preaching in the villages,
amongst a rough people; men and women such as the Brontes
describe, and among whom they also lived, listened to him and
loved him. He had a cottage church all his own; rough handed,
good hearted, long headed, plain spoken laborers crowding in to
hear their lecturer as, "elevated on a three-legged stool with his
little Bible in his hand, he preached with fervor and affection the
unsearchable riches of Christ." There seemed every probability
of his settling down to the pulpit and pastoral work of the home
ministry, when a circumstance occurred which reversed every
calculation, and led to his becoming one of India's pioneer
missionaries, for which, after all, God had been fitting him by this
twofold training of printing and preaching. So at least thought
a member of the Baptist Missionary Committee, who went down
casually to Halifax and saw Ward, and spoke to him of Brother
Carey working alone on the banks of the Hoogly. Ward was
now thirty years of age, a time of life when men generally allow
their emotions to freeze a little, and act on something stronger
than impulse. Add to this, that he had had fifteen years of
practical life, forming him to prosaic steady work, and that
at that time there was a future before him more hopeful than
generally falls to the lot of ministerial novitiates. We need not
then wonder at the absence of sentimentality in his decision to
HE BECOMES A MISSIONARY.
3
become a missionary. We feel the man will do his work well,
when a sense of duty sends him to it. Speaking on the occasion
of his ordination, of what is technically termed a "call," he said,
"I have received no new revelation on the subject: I did not
expect any. Our Redeemer has said 'Go ye into all the world
and preach the Gospel unto every creature and lo, I am with you
always even unto the end of the world.' This command I con-
sider is still binding. In His strength, therefore I will go forth,
borne up by your prayers, hoping that two or three stones at least
may be laid of Christ's Kingdom in India, nothing doubting but
that the fabric will rise from age to age, till time shall be no
more." Thus much for his public confession; as to his heart pre-
paration, we have the following sentence in a letter to a friend.
" Every day's experience convinces me that 'tis safety, 'tis life, 'tis
heaven to rest in the bosom of our God and no where else, but
there. I am afraid lest my heart should deceive me, but I feel
at present a resignation to the divine will, which I never felt
before. With such views the voyage to India, seems but like
crossing the Humber. A few more respirations, and the lungs shall
cease to play, the pulse to beat, the tongue to move, and then
'What boots it where the high reward is given,
Or whence the soul triumphant wings to heaven.'"
He embarked on the 24th of May 1799 with three companions,
one of whom was Dr. Marshman.
There are few circumstances of note in the next nineteen
years of Ward's life. Not that he lost his individuality ; no, he
gave it up to the steady carrying out of a system unique in the
love, self denial and energy of the men who devised and worked it.
His history henceforth, is one with that of the Serampore Mission.
Calcutta was closed against him and his companions ; so they
moved up to that Danish Settlement, which their labors brought
into celebrity; there Dr. Carey and his comrades joined them.
Death speedily thinned their ranks, and Carey, Marshman and
Ward, a memorable trio, were left to work alone.
It is evident from his letters, that Ward, from the beginning,
cultivated a habit of constant observation, and enhanced its value
by the admirable practice of taking accurate notes. In this lay
the foundation of the Work, now re-printed more than fifty years
after its materials were first gathered. Mission life was then for
the most part what it is now; a daily diligence in unobtrusive
labors; its motives, methods and effects being scarcely known to the
outside public, save when some event more distinctive than usual
attracts notice and awakens criticism. The language came but
gradually, but work came at once. Ward did that which lay near-
est to him, he preached and taught in English, and superintended
the Mission Press; and God blessed him in these first labora
4 SERAMPORE WORK.
When lie could speak Bengali (and lie spoke it fluently and well),
bazaar preaching and touring formed his only relaxation from the
toils of the printing office. Soon after his arrival, the first convert
was baptized; in 1800, two thousand copies of the Bengali New
Testament issued from the press, — 2,000 Missionaries, he called
them — and in 1803, the first native Minister preached his first
sermon. New successes followed extending labors, and fresh crises
of progress were gained almost yearly. In 1809 amidst all the
opposition of Government, the missionaries "had succeeded in
settling four stations in Bengal; they had sent a Missionary to
Patna, and planted stations on the borders of Orissa and Bootan,
and in Burmah ; the number of members in church fellowship ex-
ceeded two hundred; they had obtained a footing in Calcutta,
where a chapel had been erected at a cost of more than £3000,
and a large church and congregation collected ; the Scriptures had
been printed in whole or in part, in six languages, and translations
had been commenced in six others."* His prayer was fulfilled
ere half his course was run; he saw laid the foundation stones of
Christ's kingdom in Hindustan. One circumstance alone threat-
ened Ward's peculiar work. In 1812 the printing offices were burnt
down, and a loss of £10,000 was inflicted on the Mission. The
public evinced their confidence in the Missionaries by ready and
ample liberality, and before the close of the following year, he
writes " ten presses are going, and nearly two hundred people are
employed about the printing office." He knew the value of the
press, and the spirit in which he wrought, would have dignified
the meanest toil. When about to commence his career, he wrote
thus in his diary, "but to me, who am less than the least of all Saints,
is this grace given that I should" print "among the heathen, the
unsearchable riches of Christ." Now again he writes; "what
multitudes of Christian works will be wanted ! We have not been
able to print one argumentative work against idolatry; not one
elaborate defence of Christianity. We have let off nothing but
squibs. The Hindu Pundits have not yet felt in their learned
languages the weight of Christian artillery; except in one or two
parts of the Bible. We have not yet had the honor of an attack
from one Hindu scholar. These times are all to come; they are
coming. The struggle will be a tough one." What he anticipated,
we realize, and it will be well with us, if we can use his weapon,
the press, wisely and effectively.
Though this notice chiefly concerns the public career of Ward,
it would scarcely be just to close this period without a reference
to his domestic life, and that of the Missionaries with whom he
was associated. He married the widow of his deceased colleague,
Mr. Fountain, and the ceremony so far characterized the man and
his fellows, as to warrant the extract in which it is narrated.
* Carey, Marshman and Ward. i. 421.
WARD VISITS ENGLAND.
5
" 1802 May 10th. This evening sister Fountain and I were
married at our house in the presence of our Bengali friends and
others. This connection was intended for sometime, but circum-
stances prevented. Brother Carey introduced the business by a
few words and read the marriage agreement. I then took sister
Fountain by the hand and walked up to the table, saying 'we sign
this our solemn covenant to each other.' We then signed it, and
about a dozen friends, European and Bengali added their signa-
tures. Brother Carey then delivered a very appropriate address
to the parties on the duties of husband and wife, and made a
pleasing allusion to our family situation, in which all personal
interests are swallowed up in the interest of the whole. A short
prayer concluded the service. I gave some fruit and a few things
of native manufacture amongst the native friends, and thus the
marriage was celebrated."*
Let us now take a glance at "the situation" of Ward and his
companions. These men who by their labors brought in £50,000
in eighteen years to defray the expenses of the Mission, practised
the sternest economy in their household and personal expenditure.
Thev all dined together at four long tables, Missionaries, wives,
children and scholars, and this arrangement continued until the
enlargement of the mission circle by the arrival of new mission-
aries rendered it no longer desirable or practicable.-)-
Including a child of his wife's, by her first husband, Ward
had five children, two of whom died young; the remainder he
trained, with anxious solicitude for their best interests. In 1815
Mrs. Ward was compelled to visit England for her health, and
returned to find her husband so broken down in constitution as
to be under medical orders for home. Leaving his family behind,
he embarked in 1818, after nineteen }^ears of almost unre-
lieved toil; yet he carried Serampore with him, and marked out
for himself Serampore work to be done in England. His scheme
was to obtain the help and sympathy of British Christians for
the establishment of a Training College for native agents. His
visit was paid at a time unseasonable for the accomplishment of
his object, but seasonable enough for the general welfare of the
Mission. He found the public mind disturbed by many calum-
nies as to the Serampore brethren and their work. He took joy-
fully upon himself the responsibility of their defence, and in a
great measure succeeded in restoring confidence, and in placing
the Mission in a less exceptional position than it had hitherto
occupied. He travelled all over England, and visited Holland
and America; pleading first for the Society with which he was
connected, and then for the College, realizing for the latter, about
£3,000.
* Life of Ward. 111.
f Carey, Marshman and Ward. i. 152.
6 DEATH.
"During the voyage from America, Mr. Ward employed his
time in writing "Farewell Letters" to his friends in England and
America. He was subsequently induced to publish them, and the
work speedily went through three Editions. They are valuable
as the effusion of those fervent and affectionate feelings which
endeared him to all with whom he was associated. They also
breathe the genuine spirit of Christian benevolence, expanded by
the magnitude of the sphere in which he had laboured. In suc-
cessive letters he presents a vivid picture of the superstitions of
the natives, the impurity and cruelty to which they gave birth,
and the moral and religious degradation they entailed."*
He embarked for India in 1821; as the event proved, he
returned but to die. After his arrival at Serampore the Train-
ing School occupied his time along with the press. He was at
work when his Master called him. "On Wednesday the 5th of
March (1823) he preached the evening lecture, apparently in
excellent health and spirits. The next morning he joined his
brethren at their weekly breakfast, though suffering from what he
considered a simple diarrhoea which he attributed to a cold caught
during the night. After breakfast he proceeded as usual to his
labours, and began a letter to the Rotterdam Bible Society. At
noon he was obliged to leave the letter unfinished, and retired to
his room which he never left. At three in the afternoon he was
seized with cramps; and it then became evident that the disease
from which he was suffering was cholera of a virulent type. Two
medical gentlemen were immediately called in, and under their
treatment the dangerous symptoms appeared to abate. His friends
never left his couch the whole of that night. He was placed in a
warm bath, and fell into a sound sleep, which gave hopes of his
recovery, and induced Dr. Carey to go down to his collegiate
duties at Calcutta. But at eleven in the forenoon of Friday his
pulse began to sink, and at five in the afternoon he was a corpse.
The scene of distress was heart rending. The three old men had
lived and laboured together for twenty three years as if one soul
animated them, and it was difficult to realize the fact that one of
them was gone. Dr. Marshman had been afflicted for some days
with deafness which the present distress served to aggravate, and
for a time he was altogether deprived of the power of hearing. He
paced the room in silent dismay, watching with intense anguish
the gradual dissolution of his beloved colleague; yet unable to
receive any communication. Thus at the age of fifty-three died
the first of the men at Serampore.""f" Ward was no genius; no
dilettante missionary, but a conscientious worker, who amidst his
labour kept alive a spiritual mind, and graced it with an amiable
disposition, and herein he is a model of what the Mission field
requires in all its laborers, in all spheres and at all times.
* Carey, Marshman and Ward. ii. 245.
f Carey, Marshman and Ward. ii. 278.
EDITIONS OF THE FOLLOWING WORK.
7
A word or two is now required about that work which keeps
alive the name of Ward, and a new edition of which is here present-
ed to the reader. The idea of such a composition appears to have
suggested itself to the author soon after his arrival in India, and
he forthwith began to collect materials for it. It was first printed
at Calcutta in 1806, in two volumes quarto,* and was well received.
In 1815 a second edition was published in one volume, and in the
list of subscribers were found the names of more than two hundred
and fifty individuals of high position in the service of the East
India Company. It was re-printed in England soon after its ap-
pearance in Calcutta; and whilst the Author was sojourning there
in 1820, he carried a new edition through the press, the preface
to which is dated at sea, June 1st 1821. We have here then the
result of a process of observation, research, and correction, which
extended over twenty years of the Author's life.
The present re-print is from the edition published in London
in 1817, by order "of the Committee of the Baptist Missionary
Society," said in the title page "to be carefully abridged '
and greatly improved." The edition of 1821 was on the other
hand, "arranged according to the order of the original work print-
ed at Serampore." There being no preface to the edition of 1817,
we are left to surmise by whom and upon what principle the
abridgment was effected. As the dedication however bears date
at "Serampore, June 1815," I am inclined to think that the
Author himself revised the work, and it is not difficult by a com-
parison of the two editions to discover the principle upon which
he acted. He appears to have regarded those parts of the first
edition which referred to the historical traditions and literature
of India as foreign to the purpose of the new issue, and these he
left to the antiquarian and the scholar. There was wanted for
general use a book that should, in a popular way, treat of the belief, •
institutions, and practices of the Hindus, and this he found to his
hand in the remaining portions of the original work. This we
have in the edition of 1817. Subsequent circumstances have
proved that such a selection has preserved to us the truly valu-
able parts of Ward's work. Oriental scholars, too numerous to
name, have superseded the productions of Ward's pen upon sub-
jects so abstruse as the history and philosophy of India, so wide
as its ancient literature. But no one has followed him, much less
surpassed him in his own sphere, in the subjects brought before
us in this volume. At first sight, one might regret the absence of
one chapter of the first edition; I mean that which treats of some
features of social life in India, not directly religious. But more
detailed accounts of these matters are found in the work of Abbe
Dubois and to us, the Abbe's narrations have this additional
value, that they specifically refer to the Hindus of South India.
* Life of Ward, it is said in 1806:— Carey, Marshman and Ward, 1810.
s
CONTENTS OF THIS WOKK.
On the whole, the publisher appears to have done wisely and well
for the public, in selecting for publication the edition of 1817,
rather than the bulky volumes of 1821. From the latter how-
ever he has taken the glossary, in which the several terms used
in the work are explained.
"In the introduction, the author has gone over the whole of
the Hindu Pantheon, that he might supply a number of omissions
in the body of the work and hence it forms an epitome of the
whole." Coming to the work itself, after a few sentences upon
the views of philosophers as to the Deity he introduces us (Book
1.). to the whole assemblage of Hindu Deities. No name
of note in that long muster roll is omitted from these des-
criptions. Gods and goddesses, powers celestial and powers ter-
restrial, avatars and symbols, devils and monsters, birds and
beasts, trees and stones, have each assigned to them their modi-
cum of divinity, their quantum of reverence. The machinery
of worship is next described; the shrine, the idol and the priest.
(Book ii.). We attend the Hindu in his lunar fasts and annual
ceremonies; we follow him to his ablutions and stand by his
sacrificial fire; we listen to the mystic ejaculations of his prayers
and the intoned music of his hymns; we share his weary pilgri-
mages, watch the kindling of his funereal fires, and are spectators
of the repeated and sacred hospitalities that give repose to his
soul. (Book iii). Betaking ourselves to the "lotus feet" of the
Guru, we learn the laws that guide the wanderings of the soul
in future births, the nature of perfect bliss, and the modes of
future retribution. (Book iv.). We are introduced to the Brother-
hood of Holy Mendicants and made familiar with the tricks and
trappings of religious beggary. (Book v.). Lastly we become ac-
quainted with the orthodox sections of the Hindu community;
and then with heretics and schismatics, Buddhists, Jainas, Sikhs
and Bhaktas (Book vi.).
The Author gathered the materials for his work by personal
observation, by information derived from others, and by transla-
tions from standard native works. For the acquisition of in-
formation on reliable authority, few men have ever had so favor-
able an opportunity; for the extensive translations carried on by
the Serampore press gathered round the Missionaries a large body
of Pundits from all parts of India, whilst their philological ac-
quirements and official position associated them, not only with
learned natives unconnected with themselves, but with a circle of
Oriental scholars, amongst whom may be mentioned the names
of Colebrooke and Leyden. Ward taxed all the stores thus
placed within his reach for the production of this work. He is
generally however careful to cite his authority, so that the reader
may be fairly warned as to the degree of confidence to be placed
in the several statements. It is no slight voucher both for the facts
CONFIDENCE AWARDED TO IT.
9
and opinions of the book, that it should have received the sanc-
tion of eminent scholars, and that it should have gone through so
many editions during the very period (1803-1821) when Hindu
matters were discussed with the greatest interest, when the bitter-
est hostility was manifested towards the Missionaries both as to
their evangelistic and literary enterprises. I may be permitted
to quote one illustration of the style of criticism with which the
book was received. It is taken from an article in the Asiatic
Journal for 1817,* written it should be observed, when the work
had reached its third edition and after a good deal of adverse
criticism had been exercised upon it. "As a general survey of
whatever is connected with Hindustan, we mean the most essen-
tial concern of morals and religion, the singular book which we
are now about to review will be found the most luminous and
comprehensive of any ever published in this country, speaking to
facts and to facts only, upon the evidence of the senses: — the
scrutinising eye and the attentive ear whose accuracy could not
be deceived. The distinguishing, the sterling merit of this pub-
lication is that direct translations from the original Sanscrit ac-
company all the assertions, however apparently incredible, made
in the course of it. To the versions already published by Mr.
Colebrooke, Mr. Patterson and other members of the Asiatic Soci-
ety, are added those made by the Missionaries, assisted by learned
brahmans, from the Vedas and the sastras, illustrative of each
object discussed; so that the authenticity of the facts narrated
can admit of no doubt, however revolting may be the enormities
displayed to the mind of refined sentiment."
About 100 pages of Professor H. H. Wilson's Essay on the Re-
ligious Sects of the Hindus,*f- coincide with part of the following
work and I find many references to this work, cited as substantia-
tions of the text, a proof that that great oriental scholar consider-
ed Ward a reliable authority, and made him the companion of his
own researches.
As I have before hinted, this work is specially adapted for po-
pular use. It gives an answer to the casual observer on points
about which he is most curious, the temples that meet the eye in
every street ; the festivals with which every Hindu home is busy,
the worship which attracts his notice by the banks of lake or
river, the books by which the youth of India is still instructed
and upon which its manhood feeds. This book is a sine qua non
to every one who has not the leisure or liking for deep research,
yet wishes to have some key to the ongoings of Hindu life and
the elements of Hindu faith. In this respect it is as welcome to-
* Asiatic Journal, iii, 1817, 34, 35.
f Works of H. H. Wilson, Vol. 1. 1862. Trubner and Co., 152, 168, 171, 181,
196, 253, 258, 262, 277.
B
10
WARD'S VIEWS OF HINDUISM.
day as when first issued. We have little books without end that
nibble at Indian life and manners ; but Ward remains yet unri-
valled as a repertory of detailed information, and an indispensable
book of reference. The present publisher has recognised this, as
the worth of the work, and greatly aided it by the portable form
of the present volume, and by the devices of modern typography;
I refer to the detailed table of contents, the page headings, the
ample Index, and the beautiful colored plates, doing for us by the
eye what can scarcely be done by the pen; — helping us to shape
a correct idea of those "holy forms" of the principal deifies before
which, painted, carved, moulded or graven, millions of Hindus
daily bend in reverence.
One fault however has been charged upon this work with con-
siderable uniformity. It is said that the views contained in it
upon Hindu morals, manners and worship, are prudish and con-
demnatory beyond reasonable limits. Nor can the book be alto-
gether acquitted ; yet some considerations should be taken into
account which may modify censure. One is suggested by a phe-
nomenon of our own times. Let any one refer to the papers,
speeches, and pamphlets of modern Hindu reformers, from the
days of Rammohun Roy to our own, and he will find young Bengal,
or young Madras dealing in opinions and terms as to the creed
and practices of his grand-father much more in accordance with
the pages of this work than the oily apologies of a Twining or a
Scott Waring. Only the other day I observed in the public prints
the following expressions used by a brahman, a graduate of the
Madras University, in the course of a very able address on female
education. "In one point of view, a forgetful course is advisable
for some of our females. For some of the Hindu works, be they
Sanscrit, Telugu or Tamil, which out families use, are interspersed
with delineations and pictures that we males cannot read with-
out a blush; and we altogether abstain from reading such portions,
if females chance to be near us. Just imagine the effects that
may flow from our females reading such books! When a girl
quits her school, her parents in general put into her hands books
like the Neishadam, Camba-Ramayanam, Arichendra-Vilasam,
Sakunthalie-Vilasam and Mathana-Kkama-raja-Kathei. These
are dangerous instruments, especially in the hands of young in-
experienced persons" — and so on. The very sensible conclusion
of the whole address may be put thus; "if we educate our children,
especially our girls, we must have a new literature." — Such evi-
dence is surely of some weight.
Another consideration, which, I suggest, should qualify our
censure, arises from the state of public feeling when the book
made its several appearances before the public. At that time an
influential section of Indian politicians, who could both write and
speak well, ventured boldly to assert and defend opinions of a
character very opposite to those of Ward; according to them the
REASON FOR HIS STRONG EXPRESSIONS.
11
Hindus were almost immaculate in morals, the possessors of a lite-
rature and religion singularly perfect. For instance, a Mr. Charles
Marsh, a quondam Madras barrister, had a seat in the House of
Commons, during the Indian Debate of 1813, and delivered a very
effective speech against the opening of India to the labors of
Missionaries, whom he spoke of as "crawling from the holes and
caverns of their original destinations; apostates from the loom
and the anvil, renegades from the lowest handicraft employments."
In that speech occurs this paragraph. "When I turn to her philo-
sophers, lawyers and moralists, who have left oracles of political
and ethical wisdom to restrain the passions and awe the vices
which disturb the commonwealth: — when I look at the peaceful
and harmonious alliances of families guarded and secured by the
household virtues ; — when I see among a cheerful and well ordered
society, the benignant and softening influences of religion and
morality, a system of manners founded on a system of mild and
polished obeisance, and preserving the surface of social life, smooth
and unruffled, I cannot hear without surprise, mingled with horror,
of sending Baptists and Ana-Baptists to civilize or convert such a
people at the hazard of disturbing or deforming institutions which
appear hitherto to have been the means ordained by Providence
for making them virtuous and happy."* By the way, one cannot
help the question, was there any work for lawyers in a land where
the surface of social life was so smooth and unruffled \ Had this
barrister ever a brief? Views, such as those stated above, were
spawned multitudinously from the public press, and uttered
eloquently in public addresses by Anglo-Indians, the very men
apparently most fitted to write and speak on such subjects.
If a voice was to be raised in qualification of these high flown
eulogies, it must come from India, and it could not come better
than from those who had unwillingly been made the scape-goats
of the controversy, the Serampore Missionaries. Intimate ac-
quaintance with popular literature — that literature which is both
the index of popular morality, and the power that fashions it —
and personal observation, gave Ward a right to speak, and speak
he did, and for the most part gave chapter and verse for his utter-
ances. We cannot be surprised if, under the circumstances, he
did not care to smooth the roughness of his sentences, or stay to
count the grains of his indignation. Deduct something for the
heat of controversy, and the Missionary's views escape censure.
Certainly the sober opinion of our own day leans rather to the
plain spoken printer of Serampore, than the polished apologists
of the senate. The biographer of Carey, Marshman and Ward
says significantly enough: "But all these suspicions of exaggera-
tion have been at once and for ever dispelled by recent events.
While these pages are passing through the press, the mutiny of
a hundred thousand of our native soldiery has been announced
* Carey, Marshman and Ward. ii. 36.
12
BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION.
and Mr. Ward's view of the genuine character of Hinduism has
been lamentably verified by the wanton and unparralleled atroci-
ties committed on unoffending women and helpless babes, by the
mild and humane Hindus, when released from all restraint, and
at liberty to indulge their passions."*
Whether these views were narrowly accurate or not, they
were the author's own, and no subsequent publisher has a right
to omit, or modify them. They therefore stand in the present
edition in the very terms in which the author originally ex-
pressed them.
W. 0. Simpson.
.Royapettah, November 12, 1863.
* Carey, Marsh man and Ward. i. 444.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
ON THE
HINDOO RELIGION.
The whole system of Hindoo theology is founded upon the doctrine that;
the Divine Spirit, as the soul of the universe, becomes, in all animate beings,
united to matter ; that spirit is insulated or individuated by particular portions
of matter, which it is continually quitting, and joining itself to new portions
of matter ;a that the human soul is, in other words, God himself ; that the
knowledge of this, leading men to seek complete deliverance from the degrad-
ing and polluting influence of material objects, is the only means of being re-
united to the divine nature ; that this deliverance from matter may be obtained
in the present state by separation from human intercourse, the practice of
bodily austerities, and entire abstraction of mind ; and that, if not obtained in
one birth, it is to be sought through every future transmigration till obtained,
a There are two opinions among the Hindoos on this subject ; some philosophers
maintaining, that it is one soul which is united to sentient creatures ; while others sup-
port a contrary opinion, and affirm, that human souls must be emanations from the
Great Spirit, otherwise, when one person obtained absorption into the divine nature,
all would obtain it at the same moment. The vddantfj philosophers teach, ' that God
exists in millions of forms, from the ant to Brttmha, the grandfather of the gods, as
one moon is seen at once in twenty different pans of water.5
The agreement betwixt these opinions and those of the Greek philosophers is very
remarkable : — ' Almost all ancient philosophers agreed in admitting two principles in
nature, one active and the other passive ; but they differed in the manner in which
they conceived these principles to subsist. Some held God and Matter to be two
pi-inciples, which are eternally opposite ; not only differing in their essence, but having
no common principle by which they can be united. This was the doctrine taught by
Anaxagoras, and after him by Plato, and the whole Old Academy. This system, for
the sake of perspicuity, we will call the Dualistic system. Others were convinced,
that nature consists of these two principles ; but finding themselves perplexed by the
difficulty with which they saw the Dualistic system to be encumbered, that of suppos-
ing two independent and opposite principles, they supposed both these to be compre-
hended in one universe, and conceived them to be united by a necessary and essential
bond. To effect this, two different hypothesis were proposed : some thought God to
have been eternally united to matter in one whole, which they called Chaos, whence it
was sent forth, and at a certain time brought into form, by the energy of the divine
inhabiting mind. This was the System of Emanation, commonly embraced by the
ancient barbaric philosophers, and afterwards admitted into the early theogonies of the
Greeks. Others attempted to explain the subject more philosophically, and, to avoid
the absurdity which they conceived to attend both the former systems, asserted that
God, the rational and efficient principle, is as intimately connected with the universe,
as the human mind with the body, and is a forming power, so originally and necessarily
inherent in matter, that it is to be conceived as a natural part of the original chaos.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
This doctrine is taught in many parts of the Hindoo writings, especially
in the Durshunus ; which works, though almost wholly speculative, make known
a method of abstraction, to assist ascetics in obtaining deliverance from mortal
birth.
Udwuyanundu, a sunyasee, and the compiler of 4 the Essence of the
Vedantu,' says, ' Brumhu and life are one : that which, pervading all the
members of the body, gives to them life and motion, is called jeevu, life ; that
which, pervading the whole universe, gives life and motion to all, is Brumhu ;
therefore these two are one. Every kind of matter is without life ; that which
is created cannot possess life : therefore all life is the creator, or Briimhu ; God
is the soul of the world. This is the substance of the Vedantu philosophy.
Not only is God thus declared to be the soul of the world, but the writer
of the above work affirms, that the world itself is God — God expanding him-
self in an infinite variety of forms : ' All things past, present, and to come ;
all that is in the earth, sky, &c. of every class and description ; all this is
Briimhu, who is the cause of all things, and the things themselves.' Yet this
writer, in another part of this work, seems to affirm, that the universe is the
work of God : — ' The principle of life is Briimhu ; that which is animated is
the work of Brumhu,b who directs every thing, as the charioteer directs the
chariot. Brumhii is everlasting and unchangeable ; the world, which is his
work, is changeable.'
This work represents Brumhu, in his state of repose, as destitute of ideas
or intelligence, and entirely separated from all intelligences. It describes this
repose by comparing it to whatever may communicate the idea of undisturbed
tranquillity ; to the bosom of the unruffled ocean ; or to the rest enjoyed in a
deep sleep, in which there is an entire cessation even of the faculties of the
mind.
The Vedantu writers add, that at certain revolutions of time, 4 Briimhii
awaking from this repose, unites to himself his own energy, and creates the
universe f that as soon as souls are united to matter, they become impressed,
This system seems not only to have been received by the Ionic philosophers, Thales
and Anaximander ; but by the Pythagoreans, the followers of Heraclitus, and others.
Seno, determining to innovate upon the doctrine of the Academy, and neither choosing
to adopt the Dualistic nor the Emanative System, embraced the third hypothesis,
which, though not originally his own, we shall distinguish by the name of the Stoical
System. Unwilling to admit, on the one hand, two opposite principles, both primary
and independent, and both absolute and infinite • or on the other, to suppose matter,
which is in its nature diametrically opposite to that of God, the active efficient cause,
to have been derived by emanation from him ; yet finding himself wholly unable to
derive these two principles from any common source, he confounded their essence, and
maintained that they were so essentially united, that their nature was one and the
same.' Enfield, p. 329, 330.
b Or, as some writers explain it, exists as an effect, as heat is an effect of fire.
c 'Wheu Brumhu withdraws hi3 energy, the destruction of the world succeeds ;
when he employs it; creation springs to birth.' The Vedantu-mviu
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
according to their destiny, with more or less of three qualities5 : — as 1st, with
that which gives rise to excellence of character ; — 2ndly, with that which ex-
cites to anger, restlessness, worldly desire, &c. — and 3dly, that which leads to
inactivity, ignorance, and such-like errors. The character is formed, and the
future destiny regulated, by the preponderance of any one of these qualities.
Krishnu. is represented in the Shree-Bhaguvutu-Geetri as teaching Urjoonu,
that, ' the man who is born with divine destiny is endued with certain qualities,
[here follow a number of excellent qualities ;] that those who come into life
under the influence of the evil destiny, are distinguished by hypocrisy, pride,
presumption, harshness of speech, and ignorance ; that divine destiny is for
eternal absorption into the divine nature ; and that the evil destiny confmeth
the soul to mortal birth.'6
The soul then, by these writers, is considered as separated from the source
of happiness when it takes mortal birth, and as remaining a miserable wanderer
in various births and states, till it regains its place in the divine essence. A
devotee, sighing for absorption, is described as uttering his feelings in words to
this purport : 'When shall I be delivered from this world, and obtain God !'
In consonance with these ideas, a system of devotion has been formed,
to enable men to emancipate themselves from the influence of material
objects, and thus to prepare them for absorption. In the first place, the
devotee is to acquire the right knowledge of Brumhu, namely, that God and
matter are the same ; that Brumhu is the soul of the world. ' That error£ which
excites earthly desires, and impels to worldly exertions^ is destroyed,' says
the writer of the work already quoted, 1 by the knowledge of Brumhu.' The
person possessed of these ideas of God is called ' the wise man.' Brumhu
gnanee; and he who is destitute of this knowledge is considered as in a state
of pitiable ignorance, like an insect incrusted with matter.
Further to enable him to subdue his passions, and renounce all natural
desires, he is directed to retire from the world ; to counteract all his natural
propensities ; and to confine himself to intense meditation on Brumhu, till he
has thoroughly established in his mind this principle, that, ' seeing every thing
proceeded from Brumhu, and that, at the end of the four yoogus, when the
universe shall be dissolved, every thing will be absorbed into bim again,
therefore Brumhu is every thing.'
The Vedantu-saru says, ' There are four ways by which the knowledge of
d The possession of more or less of any one of these qualities is owing to the balance
of merit or demerit in the preceding birth. Many Hindoo philosophers, however, have
no idea of accountability as the cause of reward or suffering : they suppose that all ac-
tious, good and bad, produce certain natural effects, which ripen in a future birth ; as
poverty, disease, and wickedness, or riches, health, and works of merit. j
See Wilkins's translation of this work.
f Error here refers to the false idea, that a man's self and spirit are different, as
that / is any thing different from spirit. This idea of the separate existence of /
*eads to the idea of mine, and thus to every worldly desire,
iv
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
■Bramhu is perfected : — 1st, By that reflection, in which the person decides
upon what is changeable and what is unchangeable in the world ; — 2dly, By
cultivating a distaste of all sensual pleasures, and even of the happiness
enjoyed by the gods ; — 3dly, By the following qualities, an unruffled mind, the
subjugation of the passions, unrepenting generosity, contempt of the world,
the rejection of whatever obstructs the acquisition of the knowledge of
Brumhu ; — and Athly, By unwavering faith in the shastrMs, added to the
desire of absorption.'
Krishna, in his conversation with Urjoonu, makes the perfection of
religion to consist in subduing the passions, in perfect abstraction from all
objects of the senses, and in fixing the whole mind on Brrimhn. : I extract a
few paragraphs from Wilkins. — ' A man is said to be confirmed in wisdom-,
when he forsaketh every desire which entereth into his heart, and of himself is
happy and contented in himself. His mind is undisturbed in adversity, he is
happy and contented in prosperity, and he is a stranger to anxiety, fear, and
anger. Such a wise man is called a sage. The wisdom of that man is
established, who, in all things, is without affection, and having received good
or evil, neither rejoiceth at the one, nor is cast down by the other. His
wisdom is confirmed, when, like the tortoise, he can draw in all his members,
and restrain them from their wonted purpose.' * The wise neither grieve for the
dead nor for the living.' * The wise man, to whom pain and pleasure are the
same, is formed for immortality.' e The heart, which folio weth the dictates of
the moving passions, carrieth away the reason, as the storm the bark in the
raging ocean.5 ' The man whose passions enter his heart as waters run into
the unswelling placid ocean, obtaineth happiness :s Even at the hour of death,
should lie attain it, he shall mix with the incorporeal nature of Briimlm.5
'The man who maybe self-delighted and self-satisfied, and who may be
happy in his own soul, hath no interest either in that which is done, or that
which is not done.' 'The learned behold Brumhu alike in the reverend
bramlrim perfected in knowledge, in the ox, and in the elephant ; in the dog, and
in him who eateth of the flesh of dogs/ e Those whose minds are fixed on this
equality, gain eternity even in this world. They put their trust in Briimhu,
the eternal, because he is every where alike free from fault.' The enjoyments
which proceed from the feelings, are as the wombs of future pain.' £ To the
yogee, gold, iron, and stones, are the same.' 'The yogee constantly exerciseth
the spirit in private. He is recluse, of a subdued mind and spirit ; free from
hope, and free from perception. He planteth his own seat firmly on a spot
that is undefiled, neither too high nor too low, and sitteth upon the sacred
grass which is called kooshu, covered with a skin and a cloth. There he,
whose business is the restraining of his passions, should sit, with his mind fixed
on one object alone, in the exercise of his devotion for the purification of his
soul ; keeping his head, neck, and body steady without motion, his eyes fixed
on the point of his nose, looking at no other place around.' ' The man whose
mind is endued with this devotion, and looketh on all things alike, beholdeth
s This is strange doctrine in the mouth of Krishna, who spent his youth in
licentious amours; and afterwards cohabited with Radha, the wife of Ayanft-ghoshft,
while he retained 1,600 mistresses.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
V
the supreme soul in all things, and all things in the supreme soul.5 ' He who
shaving closed up all the doors of his faculties, locked up his mind in his own
breast, and fixed his spirit in his head, standing firm in the exercise of devo-
tion, repeateth in silence Om ! the mystic sign of Brarnhu, shall, on his quit-
ting this mortal frame, calling upon me, without doubt go the journey of
supreme happiness.' ' He my servant is dear unto me, who is unexpecting,
just, and pure, impartial, free from distraction of mind, and who hath forsaken
everv enterprize. He is worthy of my love, who neither requireth, nor findeth
fault ; who neither lamenteth, nor coveteth; and being my servant, hath forsa-
ken both good and evil fortune ; who is the same in friendship and in hatred,
in honor and dishonor, in cold and in heat, in pain and in pleasure ; who is
uusolicitous about the events of things ; to whom praise and blame are as one ;
who is of little spirit, and pleased with whatever comethto pass ; who owneth
no particular home, and who is of a steady mind.' ' Wisdom is exemption
from attachments and affection for children, wife, and home ; a constant even-
ness of temper upon the arrival of every event, whether longed for or not; a
constant and invariable worship paid to me alone ; worshipping in a private
place ; and a dislike to the society of man.'
A most singular ceremony, called yoga, is said to have been formerly prac-
tised by ascetics to prepare them for absorption. I give an account of this
ceremony from the first part of the PatnnjrUii Ddrshunii, and the Gortikshii-
siinghita : —
The yogee must in the first place, by medicines (here described) reduce
the appetites of the body, and increase its strength ; he must then learn the
proper posture for the ceremony ; this posture may be various, but a particular
one is here enjoined — the yogee is to put his legs across in a sitting posture,
and to hold his feet with his hands crossed behind him. The next act of
austerity is that of learning to inhale and discharge his breath ; in doing
which, he is to take a piece of cloth fifteen cubits long and four fingers in
breadth, and swallow it repeatedly, drawing it up and taking it down his throat,
drinking water at intervals. He must next choose a seat on some sacred spot,
at the bottom of a virtu tree, at some place frequented by pilgrims, near an
image of an uncreated lingii, or in any place peculiarly pleasant to a yogee ;
but it must be a secret one. — That on which lie must sit may be either kooshu
grass, or the skin of a tiger or a deer, or a blanket ; he must not sit on wood,
nor on the earth, nor on cloth ; his back, neck, and head must be exactly
erect; and he must remain motionless, keeping his eyes fixed on his nose.
The act of yogi! consists of several parts: the devotee must first with his
thumbs and fingers prevent the air from issuing through his eyes, ears, nostrils,
and mouth, and with his feet bind up the two other avenues of respiration. This
lie is to practise by degrees till he is able to exist without inspiration and
respiration. He who is thus far perfected will be able to subdue his passions,
and to disrelish all the pleaures of the senses. Should the mind, at any time,
be again entangled in worldly attachments, the devotee must study the essential
virtue of things, as, that the world is a dream ; that God is the all in all ; and,
thus bring back the mind to abstraction. He is next to meditate on his guardian
VI
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
deity according to the rules of the shastm. After thus annihilating, as it were
the body and the world, he is then to fix in his mind that he and Briunhii are
one, and so to settle this point as never to lose sight of it, nor return to earthly
attachments. From this state of mind arises complete pleasure ; he becomes
dead to food and to every other bodily want.
The yogee who has attained this state of perfection becomes emancipated
in the following manner :— while he sits confining the air within his body, and
closing his eyes, by the power of wisdom all his members become dead to action ;
he unites the energy which is lodged in the body to the soul, and they both
ascend by means of the veins and arteries to the skull, from which the soul
escapes, by the basilar suture : and the body being thus shaken off, he is reuni-
ted to the supreme soul.m
The Vedantu-saru also pronounces in favour of an opinion of the philoso-
pher Shunkuru, that the practice of ceremonies is to be renounced by the per-
son seeking absorption, in whom all desires respecting himself are to be
annihilated.
From the preceding sketch, the reader will be able to form some idea of
this system of Hindoo theology, which is doubtless very ancient. No yogees,
however, now exist, who perform these bodily austerities to the extent laid
down in the shastrus. A number of mendicants may be seen, who profess to
aim at abstraction of mind, and contempt of the world ; but they are in general
the greatest sensualists in the country.
Amongst the learned, a few are to be found, who consider the attainment
of divine wisdom, as the only means of securing future beatitude : these persons
either renounce all wordly connections and become pilgrims, or they remain in
a secular state, and ground their expectations (if they have any) of future hap-
piness, on their speculative opinions being less gross than those of the vulgar.
As an apology for not practising severe austerities, and for continuing in a
secular state, they quote a sentence of Junuku : * A man does not become a
a hermit by residing in a forest ; but he is a hermit, who even in his own house
subdues his passions.' Some of those persons despise the popular supersti-
tion.
The absurdity and impiety of the opinions upon which the practices of
these yogees are founded, need not be exposed : the doctrine which destroys all
accountability to the Creator, and removes all that is criminal in immorality,
must be condemned by every good man ; and the absurdity of rejecting those
rational enjoyments which at once prove the beneficence of the Creator, and con-
tribute to the refinement of our nature, is so flagrant, that the slightest notice
of it may surely be considered as more than necessary to the discharge of our
duty to the interests of Christian morals.
The author may however remark, that he has had many opportunities of
witnessing the pernicious effects of the belief, that it is God in man who
m For further remarks on absorption, and on those mendicants who practise aus-
terities leading to it, the reader is referred to pages 285, 286, 298—301.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Vll
is the author of every volition, and that evil and good actions are both to be
referred to him. A Hindoo, perverted by these ideas, does not perceive the
evil of ascribing every villainous action to God ; though when the dreadful
and unavoidable result of this doctrine has been pointed out, many revolt from
the conclusion. Under the influence of this doctrine, that the human soul is
God, the crimes of a malefactor lose their turpitude, and he is bewailed as a
person who has acted under unfortunate influence, or as one born with evil
destinv. It is also easy to perceive, that where such a belief prevails, all efforts
to fly from evil, and to attain moral perfection, are out of the question : — ' God
does every thing ;' ' My evil destiny follows me every where, as a shadow the
body,' is the method by which the Hindoo accounts for all his evil propensi-
ties and unjust actions.
Another class of Hindoos place a greater reliance on devotion than on
divine knowlege. They derive their opinions from different parts of the Hindoo
writings, and from favourite books of their own, as the Madhyu-bhashyii,
Bhuktee-rHsamritii-sindhoo, &c One of the sentiments of this sect is thus
given in the Shree-bhaguvutii : — ' He who, renouncing the service of God,
enters the path of wisdom, (practises religious austerities,) works hard at bruis-
ing the straw, but obtains only chaff.' Another of their poets has a verse to
this purport : — f He who dies at Kashee obtains absorption : true ; but the
cause of his emancipation is his devotion.' Vurahvi, a poet belonging to the
court of Vikriim-adityu, says, personifying a person of this sect, ' 0 God ! I
ask not for the merit of works ; nor for riches ; nor for fame ; I leave all
this to fate ; nor do I refuse to endure the fruit of my actions : — but this
I ask, that, through every transmigration, I may be thy devoted servant.' —
Vilwu-mungKlii, another poet of this sect, says, addressing himself to Vish-
noo, ' 0 God ! I desire not absorption. I ask for a distinct existence, and
to be always near thee, as my lord and master.' Some of these persons express
attachment to their guardian deity in the most familiar acts of devotion — as his
friends, or servants ; in songs or prayers ; by bowing or making offerings to
his image, by washing its feet, by repeating his name, or listening to his praise,
or meditating on his qualities. These persons are mostly found among the fol-
lowers of Krishna and Choitiinyu.
Such a worshipper presents himself before the image of Krishnu, and says,
'Oh, t'hakooru. ! thou art God, the maker of the world, the saviour, the friend
of the friendless : I am destitute ; I am thy servant ; save me !' Others, more
fervent in their attachment, omitting the usual purifications and ablutions before
morning worship, hasten, as soon as they rise, to pay all those marks of respect
and attention to the image which belong to the character under which they wor-
ship it. For instance, one man's image is that of the infant Krishnu : he
imagines it necessary, that the god should be honoured as a child, and he there-
fore makes an offering of sweetmeats to him early in the morning ; he is very
careful too that the image should be laid down to rest, and raised up again, only
at the appointed hours ; he bathes, anoints it, and adorns it with the utmost
fondness. Songs in praise of Krishnu are very common amongst this
sect ; and sometimes an enthusiast falls to the ground while singing,
ajid exhibits all the symptoms of superstitious frenzy. These persons reject
VU I
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
many of the Hindoo ceremonies ; but they repeat the name of Krishna, worship*
the common images of this god, and observe the national festivals to his
honor. Some individuals are directed in their religious duties by the Hindoo-
writings : but the great body are enthusiasts, following the impulse of feelings-
enkindled by their own impure imaginations. Some of them wander from,
village to village, proclaiming the name and reciting the praises of Krishna..
Those who reverence thcphilosophical doctrine, and those who thus adhere-
to devotion, form however but a very small part of the Hindoo population. The
great majority of the community are attached to the popular ceremonies, con-
sidering them as at least leading to the knowledge of God, or as laying in a
stock of merit which will influence their condition in this or a future birth.
The other branch of Hindoo theology enjoins religious duties, as?
preparing a person for that state which leads to absorption. Krishna, in
his address to Urjoonu, thus holds up the value of religious practice : —
s Perform thy duty, and make the event equal whether it terminate in good
or evil. The miserable are so on account of the event of things. Wise
men, who have abandoned all thought of the fruit of their actions, are
freed from the chains of birth, and go to the regions of eternal hap-
piness.1 Junuku and others have attained perfection even by works."
Wise men call him a pundit, whose every undertaking is free from the
idea of desire. He abandoneth a desire of a reward of his actions ; he
is always contented and independent, and although he may be engaged in
a work, he as it were doth nothing. God is to be obtained by him who
maketh God alone the object of his works. The speculative and the prac-
tical doctrines are but one, for both obtain the self-same end, and the place
which is gained by the followers of the one is gained by the followers of
the other. The man who. performing the duties of life, and quitting all interest
in them, placeth them upon Brumhu the supreme, is not tainted by sin ; but
remaineth, like the leaf of the lotus, unaffected by the waters. — If thou shouldest
be unable, at once, steadfastly to fix thy mind on me, endeavour to find me by
means of constant practice. If after practice thou art still unable, follow
me in my works supreme, for by performing works for me thou shall obtain
perfection.'
This brings us to the popular superstition of the Hindoos, of which I
shall now endeavour to give a summary account, beginning with their
mythology.
It is very difficut, perhaps, to speak decisively on the precise origin of
any of the Ancient Systems of Idolatry ; but not so difficult to trace idolatry
itself to certain natural causes, and to prove, that the heathen deities owe
their origin to the common darkness and depravity of men ; who, rejecting
» Mr. Wilkin s has thus translated this part of the Bhaguvuttf ; but the fact is,
that there is no distinct happiness in the Hindoo absorption, because there is no re-
maining individuality. The spirit being liberated from every thing which is not
spirit, and absorbed in the ocean of universal spirit, or deity, there can be no such
thing as individual enjoyment. The Hindoos illustrate their idea on this subject, by
comparing the soul to air confined in a vessel, which, when the vessel breaks, is im-
mediately lost in the vast body of air which composes the atmosphere.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
ix
the doctrine of the divine unity, and considering God as too great or too
spiritual to be the object of human worship, chose such images as their
darkness or their passions suggested. Hence idolatry has arisen out of
circumstances common to all heathen nations ; which fact, and another here-
after mentioned, will account for many coincidences in the mythology of
nations the most remote, while differences in manners and customs, and in
the degrees of civilization, may account for most of the diversities found in the
images and worship of different idolatrous nations.
It is not to be supposed that any of the images invented by the heathen
were intended to be representations of the One God, according to the ideas
given of this adorable Being in the sacred Scriptures ; they are images of
beings formed by the fancies of men, who cby wisdom knew not God.' It is
probable, indeed, that no heathen nation ever made a single idol in honour of
' the one living and true God;' and that direct worship to Him was never
offered by any heathens.
Nor does it appear, from the various systems of idolatry, that the
heathen regarded the gods as intercessors with the Supreme Being. It is
certain that no such idea exists among the Hindoos, who never worship the
One God, either directly or through the intercessions of others. The gods
are regarded as the onlv divine beings from whom evil is to be dreaded, or
good to be expected. It is true, I have heard the bramhuns often speak of
the worship of the gods as introducing the worshipper to a great approximation
to final beatitude, but this has nothing to do with the Christian doctrine of
mediation.
Writers on heathen mythology have frequently supposed, that the
extraordinary bodily organs of the gods were intended to represent the
perfections of Deity. Such writers, in elucidating the Hindoo system, would
have said, ' Indrii. is represented as full of eyes,k to exhibit the divine omni-
science ; Brumha with four faces, to display the perfect wisdom of God ; and
Doorga with ten hands, to teach that God is almighty.' It is a fact, however,
that the Hindoos are never thus instructed by the forms of their idols. When
the author once interrogated a learned brarnhun on this subject, he rejected
this Christian explanation of the forms of his idols, and referred him to the
image of Ravuim, the cannibal, who is painted with a hundred arms, and ten
heads.1
It has been common too to represent the idols as personifications of the
virtues, and as teaching, by hieroglyphics, a theory of morals. As it respects
k The Hindoo fable on this subject is so insufferably gross, that it cannot be
printed.
1 Thus Briareus, one of the monsters brought forth by the earth, is said to
have had a hundred arms, with which he threw up to heaven the rocks from the sea
shore against Jupiter.
X INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
the Hindoos, however, the fact is, that they have still, for popular use, a sys-
tem of morals to seek : some of their idols are actually personifications of vice ;
and the formularies used before the images, so far from conveying any moral
sentiment, have the greatest possible tendency to corrupt the mind with the
love of riches and pleasure.111
To the author it seems equally improbable, that the original framers of
idols designed to teach by them a system of natural science. The distance of
time betwixt the formation of different images, militates strongly against such
an idea : men of science, also, have generally held idolatrous rites in contempt ;
but before a man would sit down to frame an image, to teach the sciences,
his mind must have been enthusiastically attached to idolatry. Nor does it
appear probable, that the Hindoo poets were the first who set up idol worship ;
though we admit, that many ideas on this subject were borrowed from their ex-
travagant descriptions, and ethereal visions. The introduction of new idols seemsj
in most instances, to have been the work of kings, who sought the gratification
of the populace, rather than their instruction ; and the exhibition of popular
sentiments, rather than the teaching of profound mysteries, or the principles of
science. It appears from the Brumhu- voivur t tu pooranu, that king Soorut'hu
first set up the image of Doorga ; king MunguUI, that of Lukskmee ; TTshwu-
putee, that of Savitree, the wife of Brum ha 5 king Sooyugnii, that of Radha,
the mistress of Krishnu. ; Rumyu-rut'hn, king of Oojjunyinee, that of
Kartikeyu. ; king Shiva, that of Sooryu ■ and the sage Boudhayunu, that
of Guneshu.
The anthor imagines, that the disclosure of real facts respecting the
Mythology of the Hindoos, would greatly tend to elucidate the origin of that
of all the Eastern nations ; and he here offers to the consideration of
his readers a conjecture or two, the fruit of his own enquiries. The philoso-
phers of all these nations conceived, that the Great Spirit remains for ever un*
known, that he neither comes within the thoughts nor the speech of men. In
the Chandogyu. oopunishud of the Eig vedu, we have a discourse on this sub-
ject, in which Shwetii-ketoo enquired of Boudhayunu respecting Brumhu : the
sage answered him by an impressive silence : on being called upon for the rea-
son of this silence, he answered, ' Brumhu is undescribable : he who says, *' I
know Brumhu," knows him not ; he who says, " I know him not," has obtain-
ed this knowledge.' The vedu. declares, that * he is that which has never
been seen nor known.5 In other words, he is the Athenian ' unknown God.*
The One God is never worshipped by the Hindoos as a mere spiritual being,
but always as united to matter, and before some image.
m See Mr. Colebrooke's translation of many of these formularies, in his excellent
Essays on the Religious Ceremonies of the Hindoos3 in the fifth and seventh volumes 0!
the Asiatic Researches,
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION,
xi
When Brumha resolved to create, according to the pooraniis, 11 he looked
upon0 that which is denominated by the Hindoo philosophers delusion, or
inanimate energy,p and became subject to the three qualities (goonus) of
which it is composed — that which leads to truth, and is called suttu. ; that
which excites desires, (rnju ;) and that which leads to sensuality, (tamu.) He
now created time, nature, and future consequences ; the primary elements ; the
organs of sense, of action, and of intellect : he next became the first form, or
pattern, or the aggregate, of life, and individuated himself into separate por-
tions of animal life ; and then, under the name of Vishnoo, he created the
universe from the waters, and entered it as the soul of the world.
While Yishnoo lay asleep on the waters, a lotus ascended from his navel,
from which sprung Brurnha, the creator. Shivu, Vishnoo, and Brumha, are
considered as the representations of the three goonus : Yishnoo of the suttu
goonit, Brumha of the rnju, and Shivu of the tumu. We have no regular
account of the creation of Vishnoo and Shivu. Almost all the other Hindoo
deities are found to be derived from the three principal gods : — Indrii, Kamu-
devu, Doorga, Sooryu, Ugnee, Puvunu, Vuroonu, Gurooru, Vishwu-kurma,
Siiruswiitee, Yumu, &c. are the descendants of BrumJia ; — Gnneshu,
Jugiinnat'hu, Buliiramu, Kamu, Krishnu, Gopahl, Gop'ee-nat'hu, Valu-Gopalu
Choitunyu, Sutyu-lSTarayunu, Lukshmee, &c. are forms of Vishnoo ; — Karti-
keyu, PHuchanunu, Koodru, Kalu-Bhoiruvu, &c. are forms of Shivu. ' Thus'
as Sir W. Jones has observed, c we must not be surprised at finding, on a
close examination, that the characters of all the Pagan deities, male and female,
melt into each other, and at last into one or two.'
But the enquiry returns, 'What is the object of worship among the
Hindoos ?' It is not the One God, but this compound being, the soul of the
world enclosed in matter, the primeval energy, the prolific and vivifying principle
dwelling in all animated existences'1 or in other words the personification of
n The Shree-BhaghVutu, &c. The Noiyayikus declare, that the universe was
created from atoms; while the Meemangsukus, equally wise, affirm, that the
consequences of actions were the only things united to birth.
0 ' Or,' as the word is explained by some Hindoo scholars/ the first inclinationof
the Godhead to diversify himself, by creating worlds. Sir IF. Jones.
p It is called delusion, or appearance, to shew, that it is something assumed for an
occasion, and which, when that occasion is served, will be destroyed : hence they say,
that matter is from everlasting, but is subject to destruction. It is called inanimate
energy, as it supplies the forms of things, though the vivifying principle is God.
1 When the following lines of Pope were read to Gopalu-titrkalunkaril, a learned
bramhhn, he started from his seat, begged for a copy of them, and declared that the
author must have been a Hindoo
are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul ; —
W arms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze.
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees ;
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.'
xii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
whatever the disordered imaginations of the Hindoos have attributed to this
God encompassing himself with delusion.1- This energy is said to have created
the universe; and therefore this, as displayed in the grandest of the forms it
assumes,s is the object of worship. Hence the gods, the heavens collectively,
the sun and moon, as well as the stars, the sea, mighty rivers, and extraordi-
nary appearances in nature, receive the adorations of the Hindoos.* This
energy itself has been personified and worshipped, not only in the form of
Bhuguvutee,u but, as it is manifested equally in creation, in the government of
the world, and in the work of destruction, in Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu.
The universe being full of the divine majesty, a deity has been consecrated as
the regent of every element ; and, to complete this mass of folly, the bramhun
and the devout mendicant, as sharing more largely of the indwelling deity, have
received the adoration of the multitude.
If we recur to the bodily powers of the different images worshipped by
the Hindoos, we see the same principle exhibited : hence Ununtu has a
thousand heads ; Brumha has four faces ; Indru is full of eyes ; Doorga has
ten, and even Kavunu, the giant, has an hundred arms : — the formidable
weapons1 of the gods too, have evidently the same allusion, as well as their
symbols and vehicles, among which we find the eagle/ the serpent, the lion,
r The Tftntrus teach, that after Brtfmhff had entered the world, he divided
himself into male and female.
3 ' It seems a well-founded opinion, that the whole crowTd of gods and goddesses in
aucient Rome, and modern Vanares, mean only the powers of nature, and principally
those of the Sun, expressed in a variety of ways, and by a multitude of fanciful names.'
Sir W. Jones. — ' Nature herself, and its plastic powers, originating solely in the
sovereign energies of the supreme creative source of all being, they (the Asiatics) ab-
surdly dignified by the majestic denomination of God. This supreme creative energy,
diffused through nature, they distinguished by various names ; sometimes it was Osiris,
the fountain of Light, the Sun, the prolific principle by which that was invigorated ;
sometimes it was the life-generating Fire, the divine offspring of the solar deity ; and
it was sometimes called by an appellation consonant to the Soul of the World. The
First Vivific Principle, emanating from the primeval source of being, is visibly of
Chaldaic origin ; and thence, through the medium of the Egyptians, the Stoic philoso-
phers doubtless had their doctrine of ' the fiery soul of the world,' by which they sup-
posed all things to be created, animated, and governed.' Maurice.
* They (the pagans) called the elementary fire Pitha, Vulcan, Ugnee ; the solar
light they denominated Osiris, Mithra, Sooryh', Apollo, and the pervading air, or spirit ;
Cneph, Narayftnu, Zeus, or Jupiter.' Maurice.
u Many Hindoos are denominated shaktus, as devoted to the worship of this
shuktee, or energy. It is remarkable, also, that all the goddesses are called the
energies of their lords, as well as matrees, or mothers.
x Indrfr's thunder-bolt ; the Brumhastrft, a weapon wielded by the gods, which
infallibly destroys an enemy. ' Vishnoo's chukra, a weapon in the form of a circle,
continually vomiting flames.' — Maurice.
y ' Vishnoo riding upon his Guroortt, or eagle,' says Maurice, £ puts us in mind
of the thunder-bearing eagle of the Grecian Jupiter.'
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
* • •
Xlil
the tiger, the elephant, the bull, the buffalo, &c. The abominable lingu wor-
ship too, (the last state of degradation to which human nature can be driven,)
no doubt took its rise from the same doctrine.
Under the influence of this doctrine, the philosophic mind chose, as the
objects of its adoration, the forms in which this energy displays itself with
the greatest magnificence, and almost confined its worship to the primary
elements, the heavenly bodies, and aerial beings ; — the great body of the
community became attached to this energy in its forms of preservation : —
persons of gloomyhabits, as ascetics and yogees, adored it in the work of
destruction, as connected with emancipation and with return to ineffable
repose in the divine essence. The first class chose the retirement of forests
as the scene of their contemplations ; the second, the public streets, to adore
the prolific power; aud the last retired to gloomy caverns,* for the celebration
of those horrid rites, which took their rise in the common error, that the
energetic principle is the chief object of worship.
Thus the indwelling principle is adored in whatever form it is supposed
to display itself : in the cow, as a form of Bhugrtviitee ; in the boar, as an
incarnation of Yishnoo ; and in an ascetic, who has passed through religious
austerities supposed to be too dreadful to be borne without support from the
divine inhabiting energy. Exactly conformable to the Hindoo idea was the
declaration respecting Simon Magus, ' This man is the great power of God.'
The object of adoration being thus simple power, or energy, wherever this
is supposed to reside, the impiety of the possessor forms no obstacle to his
becoming an object of worship : it is sufficient that he be a god or a bramhun.
c The learned,' says Krishnu, ' behold Brumhu alike in the reverend bramhun,
perfected in knowledge, in the ox and the elephant ; in the dog, and in him
who eateth of the flesh of dogs.' Upon the same principle the Hindoo, when
he sees the force with which the flood-tide comes into the Ganges or any other
similar phenomena of nature, recognizes it as God, or the energy of God. The
blessing which he supposes a yogee obtains, as the fruit of his religious
austerities, he confines to power — power to heal or to kill others, to ride in
the air on the back of a tiger, to foretel future events, &c. Benevolent dis-
positions and actions procure for a man praise, but not reverence. Howard
would have obtained the encomiums of this people, and would have been
complimented on the exaltation he was likely to have in the next birth, but
nobody would have worshipped him ; this honour is always reserved for men
of pretended supernatural powers.
If these conjectures be just, they may perhaps afford a solution of the
1 The Scythians, the Druids, and other ancient nations, it is well known, wor-
shipped this energy in its destructive forms in gloomy recesses, and there offered
human and other victims. In the caverns of Salsette and Elephanta, too, the same
horrid rites were practised by gloomy ascetics.
xiv
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
difficulties attending the worship of the Egyptians," the Scythians, the Greeks,
the Persians, and other idolaters ; some of them adoring, by sanguinary rites,
this principle in its destructive forms, and others in its prolific forms, fire, and
the solar orb.b It is the same energetic principle that is also worshipped in
the wonderful motions of the heavenly bodies, and in the conflicting gods and
the giants, shaking to its centre the solid world ; in the warring elements ;c and
even in all the forms of brute matter in which it appears.
These ideas the author offers to the examination of men of greater leisure
and erudition, not without the hope, that they may tend to elucidate a subject
exceedingly complicated, and upon which a great variety of opinions have been
held. As the same ideas respecting the divine energy were held in common by
almost all the ancient philosophers, it is not wonderful that the same objects of
worship should be seen among all nations, subject to those variations and addi-
tions which might be expected whenman had abandoned the doctrine of the divine
unity, and had resolved to worship every form and appearance of this energy.
The Hindoo mythology, in its present mixed state, presents us with gods
of every possible shape, and for every possible purpose, {even to cure the itch /)
but most of them appear to refer to the doctrine of the periodical creation and
destruction of the world,d — the appearances of natures — the heavenly bodies, f
■ — the history of deified heroes,g — the poetical wars of the giants with the
gods,h — or to the real or imagined wants of mankind.1
a ' Taut, or Thoth, was the true Anubis of the Egyptians, one of their eight
greater gods. Thoth considers the cosmogony of Phoenicia as founded on the doctrine
which maintains two principles in nature, matter or darkness, and spirit or intelligence.
By the former, he would understand the chaos, obscure and turbid ; by the latter, the
agitative wind or spirit, which put that chaos in motion, and ranged in order the various
parts of the universe.1 Maurice.
b In this island of Albion, the image of the sun was placed upon an high pillar, as
half a man, with a face full of rays of light, and a flaming wheel on his breast. He was
worshipped in the same manner as Mithra in Persia, and the divinities of the East.
The Persian Magi preserved a continual fire upon an altar in hono\ir of the sun and the
lights in the firmament, as the Romans did their holy fire dedicated to Yesta. The
Jewish writers affirm, that this was the god Abraham refused to worship in Ur of the
Chaldees.' Galtruchius. — 'The sun became the deity adored by the Sabian idolaters.'
Maurice.
c ' Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind.'
d As Bruinha and Shivu.
e The deified elements, as PuvuniS, Yuroonti, &c.
f SooryiS, Chh'ndrh', &c.
s Ramn', who, in reference to his forest residence, is painted green, and carries a
bow and arrow.
h Doorga, who has a giant at her feet, and the head of another in her hand. The
author will not presume to decide, whether these wars of the gods have reference to
human contests, and as such are to be regarded as real history disguised in fable ; or
whether images of this class have been borrowed merely from the reveries of the poets.
* Stfrifswiftee, the goddess of learning; Unnu-poornft', the goddess of plenty, &c.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION,
XV
It cannot be doubted, from what has been published of the ve'dus, said to
be the most ancient of the Hindoo writings, that the primary elements, fire,
air, water, earth, and space, with the heavenly bodies, and aerial beings,
were the first objects of worship among this people.
The worship of the primary elements possibly originated in the doctrine
of the ve'dus respecting the eternity of matter ; for we find in these writings
the elements deified, and called by appropriate names, as in the modern mytho-
loo-v of the Hindoos.
Oi.
The worship of the heavenly bodies may probably be attributed to the astro-
nomical notions of the Hindoos : and, as the worship of heathens has always
been dictated by their fears and hopes rather than by their reason, it is not a
matter of surprise that they should have worshipped the host of heaven, while
they believed the stars to have such a mighty and immediate influence on their
destiny here and hereafter. In the prayers of the vedus, the name of Indru is
found, who was probably considered as a personification of the heavens : his
name, Indru, signifies the glorious ; and his body, covered with stars, might
easily be supposed to resemble ' the spangled heavens.5
The worship of aerial beings, under the general name of spirits, is easily
accounted for from the proneness of mankind to superstitious fears respecting
invisible existences, and from the notion found in the Hindoo writings, that
every form of animated existence has its tutelar divinity presiding over it.k
These appear to have been the first gods worshipped in India, though
such a system of mythology could in no way account for the existence and
government of the universe ; which exhibited a process for which this system
made no provision. This might therefore induce later Hindoo theologians to
add three new gods, under the characters of the Creator, the Preserver,
and the Destroyer, — Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu ; and the pooranris
exhibit each of these gods at his post, committing faults and absurdities that
would disgrace beings destitute of every spark of divinity, and even of reason.
A philosophical doctrine found in the Tuntrus, having reference to the
supposed union of spirit and matter in the formation of the world, 1 has intro-
duced an order of female deities among this people, at the head of which
stands Bhuguvutee, or Doorga. Of this goddess, many forms are worshipped
among the Hindoos ; and indeed almost all the goddesses are only different
forms of Bhuguviitee, as the image of Prukritee, or nature.
JHgunnat'hvi, the lord of the world ; Kooveru, the god of riches ; Kamu-
devu, the god of love ; Kartikeyu, the god of war ; Yumii, the regent of death ;
k Diseases also, and divisions of time, as well as places, have their tutelar deities.
The god Bhttgft, who is blind of both eyes, presides over the members of the body.
1 Mr. Paterson thinks, that the mixed image of Hnrfr-Gotiree, in which Shivif
and Doorga are united in one image; is intended to represent this union,
xvi
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
and Vishwu-kftrmn, the architect of the gods ; seem to have originated in the
fables of the Hindoos, and in the imagined necessities of a people destitute of
just ideas respecting Divine Providence.
Krishna, Ramii, and other terrestrial gods, are evidently deified heroes.
These general remarks may probably account for the whole system of
Hindoo idolatry, without the absolute necessity of admitting that this people
borrowed their gods from their neighbours. That they borrowed some, or the
features of some, many striking coincidences hereafter mentioned seem to indi-
cate ; but, these coincidences excepted, we have found no further evidence of
this fact.m
I shall now give some account of the gods found in the Hindoo Pan-
theon,11 as a very brief notice of what the reader has to expect in this volume.
It may be necessary, however, to premise, that the Hindoos profess to
have 330,000,000 of gods : not that they have even the names of such a num-
ber ; but they say, that God performs all his works by the instrumentality of
the gods, and that all human actions, as well as all the elements, have their
tutelar deities.
Images have been chosen to fix the mind of the worshipper, and attributes
of power and splendour, and various fables, having been added in the forms of
devotion and the addresses to the gods, all these attributes are recognized, and
the contents of these fables rehearsed, to raise in the mind of the worshipper
the highest thoughts of the power of the idol.
He who approaches an idol, seeking the happiness of a future state, is
required to fix in his mind only one idea, that the god can save him : and in
this respect all the gods, however various their images, are equal. But when
a Hindoo is anxious to obtain any peculiar favour, he applies to the god whose
province it is to bestow it : thus, he who prays to Bmmha, entreats that he
may be like him, in order to absorption ; but he who is anxious that his mem-
bers may continue perfect, and that he may enjoy the pleasures of the senses,
worships Indra ; he who desires children, prays to the progenitors of mankind ;
he who seeks worldly prosperity, worships Liikshmee ; he who prays for a
shining body, supplicates Ugnee ; the person who is anxious for strength, ap-
plies to Roodrn. ; the glutton prays to Uditee ; he who pants for a crown, ap-
plies to Vishwiidevu or Swayumbhoovu. ; a king intreats Sadhyu, that his
kingdom may be free from sedition ; he who prays for long life, addresses him-
m Should the reader, however, be inclined to pursue this subject, he will find
much ingenious conjecture, and many apparent resemblances betwixt the Egyptian,
Greek, and Roman mythology and that of the Hindoos, in Mr. Paterson's essay already
alluded to.
n The Hindoos have no temple like the Pantheon at Rome ; but the palaces of
some Hindoo rajas contain courts filled with idols, each of which has an establishment
of priests, who daily perform the ceremonies of worship.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION,
XVII
self to Ushvvinee-koomara ; he who desires corpulence, addresses Prit'hivee ; he
who prays that he may preserve his homestead, petitions Prit'hivee and the re-
gents of space ; he who seeks beauty, prays to the Gundhurvus ; he who prays
for a good wife, calls on Oorviisee, a celestial courtezan ; he who seeks honour,
prays to Yfignn. : he who is anxious for store-houses full of wealth ; calls on
Priiche'ta ; the seeker of wisdom, solicits the favour of Shivu. ; he or she who
seeks union and happiness in the marriage state, addresses Doorga ; he who
wishes to destroy his enemy, supplicates Noiritu ; he who is anxious for
strength of body, prays to Vayoo ; he who prays to be preserved from obstruc-
tion in his affairs, calls on Kooveru ; he who prays for the merit of works, ap-
plies to the regent of verse ; he who prays for pleasure in the enjoyment of
earthly things, addresses Chandra ; he who desires freedom from worldly pas-
sions, he who asks for the completion of all his desires, he who prays for ab-
sorption, and the person free from all desire, worship Brumha. Hence it ap-
pears, that all the Hindoo gods, except Briimha, are considered as bestowing
only temporal favours ; and it has been already observed, that this god has
been abandoned, and left without either temples or images. Thus the whole
system excites in the mind of the worshipper only cupidity and the love of
pleasure ; and to this agrees what I have repeatedly heard from sensible bram-
huns, that few if any persons now attend the public festivals with a direct view-
to a future state.
It is common for the Hindoos to speak of some of their gods as benevo-
lent, and to treat others as malignant beings0 : Shivu, as well as other gods,
unites both these qualities ; in one hand he holds a dreadful weapon, and with
two others he blesses a worshipper, and invites him to approach. Not one of
these images, however, conveys the least idea of the moral attributes of God.
1. BmmJia. This god may be properly noticed first, as he is called the
creator, and the grandfather of gods and men ; in the latter designation he
resembles Jupiter, as well as in the lasciviousness of his conduct, having betray-
ed a criminal passion towards his own daughter. Brainha's image is never
worshipped, nor even made ; but the Chiindee describes it as that of a red man
with four faees.p He is red, as a mark of his being full of the rnjn. goonii ; he
has four faces, to remind the worshipper that the vedus proceeded from his four
mouths. In one hand he has a string of beads, to shew that his power as
creator' was derived from his devotion. The pan of water in his left hand
points out, that all things sprang from water. It has excited much surprise,
that this deity, sopre-eminent, should be entirely destitute of a temple and of
0 Hindoo women, and the lower orders, regard Punchann'nfo', Dftkshintirayf?,
Mtfnttsa, Sheetftla, Shftsht'hee, as malignant demons', and worship them through fear,
still praying to them for protection. The superior deities, though arrayed with attri-
butes of terror, are considered as using their power only in favour of the worshipper.
p Brimma had five heads, hut Shivil deprived him of one, as a punishment for
his lust.
xviil
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
worshippers. Mr. Paterson supposes, that, in some remote age, the worshippers
of Shivu carried on a contest with the followers of Briimha, and wholly sup-
pressed the worship of this god. This conjecture opens a wide field of enquiry ;
but this gentleman does not adduce any historical evidence of the fact. The
story of Shiva's cutting off one of the heads of Briimha, and the existence of
violent contentions betwixt different sects of Hindoos at the present day, can
scarcely be considered as establishing it, though the conjecture appears not alto-
gether improbable. These contentions for superiority are annually renewed at
Huree-dwarii, Uyodhya, &c. betwixt the Vokhnuvus (Ramatus) and the fol-
lowers of Shivu, in which quarrels many perish.q
2. Vis/moo. This is the image of a black man, with four arms, sitting on
Gurooru, a creature half-bird, half-man, and holding in his hands the sacred
shell, the chukril, the lotus, and a club. His colour (black) is that of the de-
stroyer, which is intended to show, that Shivu and he are one ; he has four
hands, as the representative of the male and female powrers ; the shell (blown
on days of rejoicing) implies that Vishnoo is a friendly deity ; the chiikra is to
teach that he is wise to protect ; the lotus is to remind the worshipper of the
nature of final emancipation, that, as this flower is raised from the muddy soil,
and after rising by degrees from immersion in the waters, expands itself above
the surface to the admiration of all, so man is emancipated from the chains of
human birth ; the club shews that he chastises the wicked. Gurooru is a por-
tion of Shivu ; his body represents the vedii. Vishnoo is distinguished as
being the source of most of the Hindoo incarnations ; in which forms he com-
mands the worship of the greatest division of the Hindoo population. I know
of no temples nor festivals in honour of Vishnoo. He is called the Preserver,
but the actions ascribed to him under this character are referred to other forms
and names. The shalgramu, a stone, is a form of Vishnoo. During four
months of the year, all the forms of this god are laid to sleep. From the
agreement of this fact with what is said of Horus, Mr. Paterson gathers a
resemblance betwixt Vishnoo and Horus, and supposes that the Hindoos
derived their system from the Egyptian i he conjectures, also, that the fable of
Vishnoo's lying down to sleep, turning to one side, and rising, refer to the
increase, the greatest rise, and the retiring of the waters of the Ganges, the
Indian Nile. The state of the river in these four months agrees with this sup-
position, though the bramiiuns I consulted were not aware that this ceremony
had any connection with the Ganges. Vishnoo is sometimes called the
household god.
3. SMvu is a white man with five faces and four arms, riding on a bull,
[n one hand he holds an axe, as the destroyer of the wicked ; in another a deer,
q Raja-Ramft, a learned Shikh, employed as a translator in the Serampore print-
ing-onice, says, that about forty years ago, not less than 10,000 persons, and, about
twenty years ago, 4 or 5,000 perished in these contests at Htfree-dwaril Another
proof, added to that respecting the Bouddhfts, that the Hindoo is not free from the
fiercest spirit of persecution*
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
XIX
alluding to a sacrifice, when the deer, fleeing from the sacrificial knife, took
refuge with Shiva ; with another hand he is bestowing a blessing, and with
the last forbidding fear. Pour of his faces are designed to point out the sixty-
four tantrus, and the other a different tonka. The bull is a form of Vishnoo,
as the personification of religion ; its four feet are, religious austerities, purity,
compassion, and truth. In some particulars, this god strongly reminds us of
Vulcan and Bacchus. The few Hindoos in Bengal who adopt Shiva as their
guardian deity, are called soivyus. Except those of the linga and Punchanunu,
very few temples exist in honour of any other form of Shiva : and none of his
form riding on a bull. Before the linga, Shiva is however daily worshipped
under eight separate names, answering to the sun, moon, wind, fire, water,
earth, air, and an officiating priest at a sacrifice. Mr. Paterson thinks,
that there were once fierce contentions amongst the four principal sects, and
that as the Soivyas first prevailed against the worshippers of Brumha, so, in
its turn, this sect was subdued by the followers of Vishnoo and of the female
deities. The filthy appearance of Shiva as a mendicant covered with ashes, and
his quarrels with Doorga, his wife, have given rise to several ludicrous stories
found in the pooraniis. This marriage excited the same surprise as that
betwixt Venus and Vulcan, and seems an unaccountable event, unless it was
intended to illustrate the gross idea of the Tiintra writers respecting the origin
of the universe Shiva has three eyes like Jupiter, wears a tiger's skin like
Bacchus, and like him wandered about when on earth as a bloated mendicant,
accompanied by satyrs. Bacchus wore a deer's skin ; and Shiva is represent-
ed as holding a deer in his hand. The worship of the linga, also, strongly
resembles the worship of the Phallus in honour of Bacchus. The sunyasee
festival in honour of Shiva (see p. 12-16) appears to resemble much the
orgies of Bacchus, especially in the behaviour of the devotees/ who are said
to have run up and down the streets with their hair disheveled, and with
lighted torches in their hands. In the months Voishakha and Kartiku. the
linga is worshipped daily in the numerous temples dedicated to this abomina-
tion throughout Bengal. It is difficult to restrain one's indignation at the
shocking violation of every thing decent in this image; nor can it be ground of
wonder, that a chaste woman, faithful to her husband, is scarcely to be found
among all the millions of Hindoos, when their very temples are polluted with
filthy images, and their acts of worship tend to inflame the mind with licentious
ideas. 8 Another form of Shiva is that of Kalu-BJioiriivu, in which form he
r A most singular coincidence appears to exist here betwixt the Hindoo and the
Roman ceremonies. — These sunyasees, though taken from the lowest order, wear the
poita as bramhKns during this festival. Kennett. in his Roman Antiquities, book
v. p. 305, says, respecting the shows after a funeral, 'Though the exhibitors of these
shows were private persons, yet during the time of the celebration, they were con"
sidered as of the highest rank and quality, having the hono-ar to wear the Prsetexta.'
3 I am credibly informed, that a Hindoo, once on a visit at a temple near Seram«
pore, asked the officiating bramhtm to give him a proof that the idol was able to con*
XX INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
cut off Brnmha's head, which is seen in one of his hands. A sect of mendi-
cants, called yogfibhogn-vadees, who wear a large stone inserted through an
incision in each ear, live at the temples of this god. and are sometimes seen,
with a prostitute in one hand, a pan of hot coals in the other, with each of
which (the representatives of pleasure and pain") they profess to be equally
pleased. Another form of this god is that of Miiha-Kalu, in which he
appears as the destroyer. ' Miiha-kaln, as represented in the caverns of
Elephanta,' says Mr. Paterson, ' has eight arms ; in one hand he holds a
human figure; in another, a sword or sacrificial axe; in a third, a basin of
blood ; and with a fourth he rings over it the sacrificial bell : two other arms
are broken off, but with the two remaining he is drawing behind him a veil,
which extinguishes the sun, and involves the whole universe in one undis-
tinguished ruin. In the hieroglyphic of the Muha Pruluyii, (or grand consum-
mation of all things,) Shiva is represented as trodden under foot by Miiha
KaleeV or Eternity. He is there deprived of his crescent, trident, and
necklaces, to show that his dominion and powers are no more ; and is blowing
the tremendous horn, which announces the annihilation of all created things.'
4. hidru. This is the king of heaven, and the infamous violator of the
wife of his religious guide : he is painted as a yellow man, sitting on an
elephant, with a thunder-bolt in one hand, and a club in the other; and,
like Argus, is full of eyes. All the attributes of his image are only the
signs of his office as a king. He has one annual festival, and is very-
famous in the pooranus for the number of wars and intrigues in which
he has been engaged. His throne changes masters at the end of seventy-
one yoogiis of the gods. Jupiter was called the king of heaven, and the
Eulminator : Indrii's names, Divus-pntee and Vujree, are significant of
similar offices.
5. Yiimit, the Indian Pluto, is a dark-green man, clothed in red, with
inflamed eyes ; he sits on a buffalo, has a crown on his head, and holds in his
right hand a club with which he drives out the soul from the body, and
punishes the wieked. This is his form of terror, as king of the souls of the
dead ; but he is also worshipped in a form less terrific, which he is said to
assume when he passes a sentence of happiness on the meritorious. Beside his
annual festival, he is worshipped on other occasions ; and receives the homage
of the Hindoos in their daily ablutions. There are several remarkable coinci-
dences between Yumii and Pluto, as will be seen by comparing the fables res-
pecting the latter and those in page 48 of this work : the images of
verse with him. The bramhrm entered the temx)le, shutting the door after him, and
the visitor, astonished at immediately hearing voices, interrogated the priest respect-
ing it, who solemnly affirmed from within, that it was Jifgh'nnat'hti who was speaking ;
—but the visitor, determined to ascertain so interesting a fact, forced open the temple
door, and — whom should he see, inquisitive reader, but the mistress of the officiating
bramhifn. ?
t This is the famous image worshipped at Kalee-Chatlf, near Calcutta,
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
both c Grin horribly a ghastly smile.' Pluto had a rod in his hand ;
Yumu is called Dandii-dhuru, because he holds in his hand the rod of
punishment. Yumu is the shraddhii de'vu., or the regent of funeral rites ; and
the institution of funeral obsequies is ascribed to Pluto. The dead, in going
to Taunt's judgment-hall, cross Voituriinee, the Indian styx ;u the waters of
which, like those of Phlegethon, the fourth river of hell which the dead were
obliged to cross, are said to be boiling hot. Yumu has several assistants,
like Minos, who keep a register of human actions. There is something in the
story inserted in page 51, which seems to coincide with Pluto's being
obliged to steal his wife Proserpine, because he could obtain no other goddess,
his visage being so horrible and his habitation so gloomy. The Hindoos con-
sider hell as situated at the southern extremity of the earth ; the Greeks and
Romans thought it was a large subterraneous spot in the earth.
6. Giiiieshu. A fat short red man, with four arms and an elephant's
head, sitting on a rat. His corpulency is a type of Brumha, as the aggregate of
all things. In one hand he holds a bell, which is the pattern of a temple, and
also points out that this god banishes fear ; in another he holds a serpent-
weapon, to show that he throws impediments in the way of the wicked ;
another grasps the hook by which elephants are guided, which points out that
he guides the mind ; and with the other he forbids fear. His elephant's head
is a sign of the mystical sound Om, and the trunk is the type of the instrument
with which clarified butter is poured on the fire at a sacrifice. The author of
the Roodm-yamulu, from whom this is extracted, assigns no reason for
Guneshu's riding on a rat. Though he has been compared to Janus, I find but
two instances of coincidence betwixt them : every act of worship (pooja) is
preceded by an invocation to Guneshn ;x and men in business paint his image
over the doors of their shops, or suspend it amongst their merchandize, to
insure prosperity. Guneshii has been complimented as the god of wisdom .
but the Hindoo deity presiding over knowledge, or wisdom, is Sumswutee, a
goddess. Gune'shu receives many honours from the Hindoos, and is con-
sidered as bountiful in bestowing wisdom and other favours, though
there are no temples erected to his honour in Bengal. Those who adopt
him as their guardian deity, are called Ganuputyus.
7. Kartikeyii is the Indian Mars, or commander-in-chief to the gods.
He has in some images one, and in others six faces ; is of a yellow colour; and
rides on the peacock, an incarnation of Indrii. In one hand he holds a bow,
and in the other an arrow. He is worshipped as the giver of bodily strength.
8. Sooryu, (the sun.) I do not find the least resemblance betwixt this
Hindoo deity and Sol, either in their images or history. The Hindoos, in
u_ This river encircled the infernal regions nine times : Voiloninee encircles this
hall six times.
x ' In the Roman sacrifices, the priest alwavs mentioned first the name of Janus.'
Kevnctt, p, 35.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
a most indelicate fable respecting this god, have described the twelve signs of
the zodiac. Yamii, the regent of death, is his son ; and Chaya, a shadow, the
name of one of his wives.y The image of Sooryii is that of a dark-red man,
from whose body issue a thousand streams of light : he has three eyes, and four
arms ; in eacli of two of his hands he holds a water-lily, with another he is
bestowing a blessing, and with the last forbidding fear. He sits on a red lotus,
in a chariot drawn by seven horses. He is painted red, to show that his glory
is like flame ; his three eyes represent the day, evening, and night ; and his
four arms indicate, that in him are united priikritee and poorooshu, or matter
and spirit. One lotus explains the nature of emancipation, (see Vishnoo ;) and
the other, upon which the rays of Sooryu. are reflected, is a type of sound,
which some Hindoo philosophers believe to be eternal. The red lotus repre-
sents the earth ; his chariot, the measures of time ; and the seven horses, the
seven poetical measures of the vedus. The image of this god is never made,
but the sun itself is worshipped daily ; the shalgramu is also his constant
representative in the bramhinical worship. The disciples of this god are
called Sourus.
9. Ugnee, the regent of fire, is represented as a corpulent man, riding on
a goat, with copper-coloured eye-brows, beard, hair, and eyes ; his belly is the
colour of the dawn ; he holds a spear in his right hand, and a bead-roll in
his left ; from his body issue a thousand streams of glory, and he has seven
flaming tongues. His corpulency points out, that he grants the desires of his
worshippers ; the colour of his eye-brows, &c. represents the flame of the
burnt-offering when it ascends of a copper-colour, at which time he who desires
secular blessings offers his clarified butter ; but he who desires emancipation,
pours his offering on the fire when its colour is like that of the dawn. The
goat teaches, that Ugnee devours all things ; his spear, that he is almighty ;
and his bead-roll, that he is propitious. The rays of gitiry are to encourage
the worshipper to expect that he shall obtain the greatest blessings from this
god. Ugnee has neither temples nor images consecrated to him, but has a
service in the daily ceremonies of the bramhiins ; and one class of his wor-
shippers, called sagniku bramlmns preserve a perpetual fire like the vestal
virgins.55 He presides over sacrifices, and is called the mouth of the gods.
10. Fuvunii, the god of the winds, and the messenger of the gods, is
represented as a white man, sitting on a deer, holding in his right hand the
hook used by the driver of an elephant. He is painted white, to shew that he
y The pooranSs contain a fable respecting Sooryii and his wife, which almost
literally corresponds with the filthy story of Neptune and Ceres, when the latter turned
herself into a mare.
z There seems to be no order of females among the Hindoos resembling these
virgins ; but many Hindoo women, at the total wane of the moon, to fulfil a vow,
watch for twenty-four hours over a lamp made with clarified butter, and prevent its
being extinguished till the time for the appearance of the new moon.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION,
XXI 11
preserves life. The deer represents the swiftness of his flight ; the elephant
driver's hook explains his power over the body. He is worshipped daily, but
has neither separate festival, image, nor temple. I can find little or no resem-
blance betwixt this god and Mercury.
11. Vuroonu, the Indian Neptune, is a white man, sitting on a sea
animal, having a serpent-weapon in his right hand. He is painted white, to
shew that he satisfies the living ; and he wields a terrific weapon, to point out,
that he is approached with fear by the worshipper. His name is repeated in
the daily worship of the bramhuns, but he has neither public festival nor temple,
12. Siimoodru, the sea, is worshipped by tbe Hindoos when they visit
the sea, as well as at the different festivals, and on the sixth day after the birth
of a child.
13. Prifhivte, the earth, is worshipped daily by the Hindoos. She is a
form of Bhuguvutee, and may be called the Indian Ceres. The Hindoos have
divided the earth into ten parts, and assigned a deity to each. These are,
Indrii, Ugnee, Yumu, Noiritu, Yuroonu, Yayoo, Kooveru, Eeshu, Brumha, and
UnUntu.
14. The heavenly bodies. It is a remarkable fact, that almost all heathen
nations have fallen into the worship of the heavenly bodies. Perhaps the evi-
dent influence which the sun and moon have over the seasons and the vegeta-
ble kingdom, might, in the primeval ages, lead men to make them objects of
worship : after the introduction of judicial astrology, this species of idolatry
becomes less surprising. Whatever may be the antiquity of the ve'diis, it is
very plain, that the worship of the sun, moon, and other planets is there incul-
cated : many of the forms of praise and petition in those books, are addressed
to the heavenly bodies ; and to this day the worship of all the planets in one
service, and of different planets on separate occasions, has place among the
Hindoos.
Miivee* the sun. See the article Sooryu. 8omii,h the moon. We do
not perceive the least agreement betwixt this god and Diana. The Hindoo
feasts are regulated by the revolutions of the moon, but Soma is not °reatlv
honoured in the Hindoo mythology, being esteemed a malignant planet, as is
also Mungulu, c or Mars. Booddhii* or Mercury, is a fortunate planet ; and
so is VrihUsputee* or Jupiter, who is the preceptor of the gods. Shookru, f
or Venus, preceptor to the giants, is also a fortunate planet. This god is
represented as blind of one eye. Shunet* or Saturn, the son of Sooryu, an
evil planet. Eahoo and Ketoo, the ascending and descending nodes. The
a From this god the first day of the week is named Knvee-varn, as Sunday
derives its name from the Sun : day and varrt are synonymous,
b Hence Somtt-vartf, Monday. ° Mnngriln'-vartf, Tuesday.
d Booddh-varri, Wednesday, ? Vrihnsptitee-varn, Thursday,
f Shookrft-Yarfc, Friday, s Shifoee-varif, Saturday,
xxiv
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
planets are not honoured with temples, images, or festivals in Bengal. When
hope or fear, respecting their benign or malignant influence, is excited in the
mind of a Hindoo, he is drawn or driven to worship them.
15. JDoorga. The image of this goddess and that of Minerva, in one or two
instances, exhibit a pretty strong resemblance : both are described as fond of
arms; and it is remarkable, that Doorga derives her name from the giant
Doorga, whom she slew, as Pallas (Minerva) obtained hers from the giant Pal-
las, whom she destroyed. She resembles Minerva also as a goddess difficult of
access, which is one signification of the name Doorga. Sir W. Jones says,
c As the mountain-born goddess, or Parv'utee, she has many properties of the
Olympian Juno : her majestic deportment, high spirit, and general attributes
are the same ; and we find her both on Mount Koilasu, and at the banquets of
the deities, uniformly the companion of her husband. One circumstance in the
parallel is extremely singular : she is usually attended by her son Kartikeyu, who
rides on a peacock ; and in some drawings, his own robe seems to be spangled
with eyes : to which must be added that, in some of her temples, a peacock,
without a rider, stands near her image.5 The image of Doorga is that of a
yellow female with ten arms, sitting on a lion. The weapons she wields, the
trident, the scimitar, the discus, the arrow, the spear, the club, the bow, the
serpent-weapon, the hook for guiding an elephant, and the axe, are to point
out, that with these ten arms and weapons she protects the ten points. She
has one foot on Muheshu, a giant, to shew that she subdues the enemies of her
worshippers ; and she sits on a lion, a form of Vishnoo, as the giver of success
to her worshippers, and as exciting fear in their enemies. The quarrels of this
goddess with Shivu, her husband, strongly remind us of those betwixt Jupiter
and Juno, arising from the jealousy of the latter. The festivals in honour of
Doorga and of Krishna draw the whole Hindoo population to the temples,
while those in honour of other gods are comparatively neglected. Before the
temples of this goddess, thousands of victims are annually slaughtered, and
offered to her image. She is not merely honoured as Doorga, but, under other
names, distinct temples, images, festivals, and ceremonies have been institut-
ed. Doorga, as has been already observed, is also the representative of matter in
the creation of the universe, and in this character she is called Pnikritee.h Her
wars with the giants also add to her fame, and make her extremely popular
among the Hindoos : she is adopted by many, who take the name of skaktiis,1 as
their guardian deity. In Bengal, the greater number of bramhuns are shaktas :
in the western and southern provinces this sect tis less numerous.
16. Kalee, the Indian Diana Taurica. Though this is another form of
Doorga, her fame is so great, that it seems necessary to devote a few lines
exclusive to her. The dark image of this goddess is a truly horrid figure : her
hair is disheveled; her tongue hangs out; she holds in one hand a scimitar, in
another a giant's scull, with another she forbids fear, and with the last is
h Literally, the chief, or nature, f Shaktit, means energy,
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
XXV
bestowing a blessing. Her colour is that by which time is designated, and
she siands upon her husband, the destroyer, to keep him in subjection till
the time of the universal conflagraiion, when, with the eye in the centre of
his forehead, he will burn the universe. Her four arms represent the four
v edits ; the two inspiring terror point out those portions of the vedi which relate
to the destruction of enemies and the government of the world, and the other
tvro allude to those parts of the vedu which belong to devotion. Her dishevel-
ed hair represents the clouds, and intimates too thai time has neither beginning
nor end. Her tongue is the representative of lightning. She exhibits alto-
gether the appearance of a drunken frantic fury. Yet this is the goddess
whom thousands adore, on whose altars thousands of vicunas annually bleed,
and whose temple at Kalee-ghatu, near Calcutta, is the resort of Hindoos from
ail parts of India. This temple, it is said, frequently receives presents from
persons of the highest rank, and not unfrequently from persons called Chris-
tians. There are two things respecting Kalee which remind us of Laverna :
she is the protectress of thieves, and her image at Kalee-ghatu. is a head
without a body. Ano her form of this goddess, under the name of Siddhe'sh-
waree, is to be seen in clay temples all over Bengal. Human victims, it is
said, have often been immolated on the altars of Kaiee and Siddkeshwaree.
17. Lu/csh//id?, the goddess of fortune, is the wife of Vishnoo : she is
said to have been produced at the churning of the sea, as Yenus was said to
be born of the froth of the sea. At her birth, all the gods were enamoured of
her. She is painted yellow, with a water-lily in her right hand; (in which
form she is worshipped frequently by Hindo > women ;) but no bloody sacri-
fices are offered to her. The Hindoos avoid all payments of money on the
Thursday, (Lukshmee-varu,) from the fear of offending this goddess.
18. SuriktEiifte. the goddess of learning, another wife of Vishnoo. She
i- painted white, and stands on the water lily. In some images she is seen
holding a lute; and in others as possessed of three eyes, with a fan in one
hand and a book in the other. Her colour is to point out, that she is the
source of wisdom ; the lute reminds the worshipper that she is the author of
melody ; her three eyes represent the three vedus ; the book and pen obviously
belong to her character as the goddess of learning. 1 find no goddess in the
Ptoman or Grecian pantheon who resembles her. Sue has an annual festival,
when clay images are set up, and wo: shipped all over Bengal. Some of her
worshippers, on the last day of the festival, dance naked before the procession
of the image through the streets. Even prostitutes, at this festival, make an
image of this goddess, and set it up near their houses, to draw the spectators
to their brothels. On this day students, merchants, and others, refuse to
touch a pen ; for the Hindoos ascribe their ability to read, write, and even to
speak, to the favour of Surnswutee.
19. Sfieetula, the goddess who cools the body when afflicted with the
saaail-poXj receives many honours from the lower orders of Hindoos, among
xxvi
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
whom the ravages of the small-pox are often dreadful. This goddess is also
worshipped to procure the removal of cutaneous diseases.
20. Miifiusa, the queen of the snakes, or she who protects meti from
their fatal bite. The lower orders crowd to the three annual festivals held in
honour of this goddess.
21, Sushtfte'e, the goddess of fecundity. She is honoured with six
annual festivals, celebrated chiefly by females. Her image is that of a yellow
woman, sitting on a cat, and nursing a child ; though, in general, a rough
stone, painted on the top, and placed under a tree, is the object worshipped.
These may be considered as the celestial deities worshipped by the
Hindoos. The terrestrial goddesses are, Seeta, the wife ofRamu;k Had ha,
the mistress of Krishna; Rookminee and SHtyu-bhama, the wives of Krishnri ;
and Soobhxidra, the sister of Jugunnat'hu.1 The terrestrial gods are the
following : —
1. Krishnu resembles Appollo in his licentious intrigues ; in his being a
herdsman, m and an archer ; in his destroying a dreadful serpent ; in his love of
music ; and in the celebrity to which he attained. Krishna's image is that of a
black man, with a flute in his hand. His colour points out, that he fills the
mind with sensual desires, and the flute designates him as the author of
musical sounds. Apollo had in one hand a harp, and in the other a shield of
arrows. The history of Krishnu is chiefly found in the Shree-Bhagnvuta ; the
outline of which will be seen in p. 119, &c. Several festivals in
honour of this god are held annually, at which times the greatest licentiousness
prevails among all ranks. A great proportion of the Hindoo population in
Bengal are devoted to Krishnu.11 His intrigues with the milk maids, and
especially with Radha, his favourite mistress, are familiar to every Hindoo,
being incorporated into their popular songs, and the image of Radhn being-
placed by that of Krishnu in many of the temples. Under several other
names Krishnu is worshipped, to which forms separate temples have been
erected; among the rest to Gopalu, the herdsman; to Valii-gopalu, the
k This goddess, it is said, was dug out of the ground by king Jtfnrfktf, when he
was ploughing his field. A boy who was ploughed up out of the ground among the
Tuscans, gave rise to the order of Roman priests, whose business it was to divine
from appearances in the annual sacrifice.
1 It does not appear that Jngftnnat'hrt was ever married.
™ The pooranfts contain a story of this god much resembling that of Mercury's
stealing a cow from Apollo. In the Hindoo fable, Brhmha is the thief.
* Sometimes Hindoos are seen licking up the very dust of the place where the
crowd are celebrating the praises of Krishna* ; and others are said to faint with joy
on these occasions. In memory of Krishna's lewd conduct with the milk-maids in
the forest of Vrindavttnh', persons of property sometimes spend a day in the fields, and
entertain their friends.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION,
XXVll
infant Gopalii, to Gopee-nat'hii, the lord of the milk-maids. Krishna is one of
the ten incarnations of Vishnoo, The Kev. Mr. Maurice calls him ' the
amiable Krishna !'
2. Jugiumafhu, another deified hero, complimented with the title of
lord of the world, a form of Vishnoo. He is honoured with several annual
festivals, but the car festival is the most popular. Imitations of his ponderous
ear abound in many of the large towns ia Bengal0 : that in Orissa, connected
with the ancient temple erected in honour of this god, has crushed to death
hundreds of victims, perhaps thousands, and immolates a number every year.
This god receives the homage of pilgrims from all parts of India, for whose
accommodation roads have been cut, and lodging-houses erected. Such,
however, is the great mortality among the pilgrims, that a Hindoo of property
always makes his will before he sets out on this journey, and takes a most
affecting farewell of his disconsolate relations, Southey's description,1* ' in
his Curse of Kehama,5 though not literally correct, conveys to the mind
much of the horror which a Christian spectator of the procession of the car
cannot but feel. Mr. Paterson finds in the images of this god, and his brother
and sister, which are worshipped together, an hieroglyphic of the mystical
word Om.
° Krishnrf-vtfsoo gave to the temple of Jttgh'nnat'hn', near Serampore, an immense
car, which could not cost less than four or five thousand rupees. He also added an
allowance of six rupees a day for the expenses of the worship of this idol. Gourh'-
mttlikfl, a goldsmith of Calcutta, who gave the interest of his mother's weight in gold
to different temples, added six rupees more to the daily offerings at this temple ; but
these two benefactors, perceiving that the bramhtfns of the temple, instead of expend-
ing these sums in offerings to the god, and in alms to strangers, applied the greater
part to their private use, reduced the six rupees to one rupee four annas a day. To
extort more money from the donors, the bramhSns of this temple, at two succeeding
festivals, prevented the car from proceeding to an adjoining temple in which the donors
were interested, pretending that the god was angry with them for their parsimony
and would not go.
p ' A thousand pilgrims strain,
Arm, shoulder, breast, and thigh, and might and main,
To drag that sacred wain,
And scarce can draw along the enormous load.
Prone fall the frantic votaries in its road,
And, calling on the god,
Their self-devoted bodies there they lay
To pave his chariot way ;
On JttgiSnnat'h they call,
The ponderous car rolls on, and crushes all.
Through blood and bones it ploughs its dreadful path ;
Groans rise unheard ; the dying cry,
And death and agony
Are trodden under foot by yon mad throng,
Who follow close, and thrust the deadly wheels along, '
XXVlll
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
3. F.auiu, a deified monarch, and the hero of the Ramayunu, comes in for
a considerable share of the wretched devotion of the Hindoos, especially in the
western provinces. His history, found in Yalmeekee's epic poem, is partly
before the public. He is adored as the seventh Hindoo incarnation ; has an
annual festival, and is daily worshipped in the temples dedicated to him, his
brother, and his friend Hanoomanu; in which temples he appears as a green
man, with a how and arrows in his hands, sitting on a throne, having Seeta on
his left : his brother Lnksbmanu holds a white umbrella over his head, and
Hiinoomanii stands berore him as his servant with joined hands. He is consi-
dered as a beneficent deity. Some think that Rami! was deified on account of
a successful attack on Cevlon, when he was king of Mut'hoora.
4. ChoUunyii, i. e. the wisp, a form of Krishna ; the god of a sect of
voiragees, whose leader v as a religious mendicant. His most famous temple
in Bengal is at Ugra-dw eepd, where an annual festival is held, and to which
crowds resort from all parts of Bengal. The bramhans despise this sect.
5. Vishwu-kiirmu, the son of Bidmha, as architect of the gods, may be re-
garded as the Hindoo Vulcan. He is worshipped at an annual festival, the
implements of each artificer being the representative of the god. He employs
no Cyclops with one eye, but has a workman named Ma}d, a giant, who is
capable of exhibiting all manner of illusive edifices.
6. KamuJevii, the Indian Cupid. This god is also said to be the sun of
Bnimha : he is painted as a beautiful youth, carrying a bow and arrow of
flowers. He i as an anneal festival, but his image is not made ; nor does this
festival command much celebrity. Petitions are addressed to him by the bride
and bride-groom anxious fir offspring.
7. Sulyii Narayuitn. I have not discovered the origin of this idol : ihe
name implies that he is the true Yishnoo. He is worshipped frequently in the
houses of the rich, from the desire of insuring prosperity.
8. PuiicJianitttii, a form of Shiva, worshipped by the lower orders, who
consider him as the destroyer of children. The image used as his representa-
tive is a mis-shapen stone, anointed, painted, and placed under the vtitti and
other trees.
9. Dhurmu-l'hakoorUy another form of Shiva, held in much the same esti-
mation as Punchanunii.
10. Xaloo-rayii, the god of forests, another form of Shivu. He is
painted as sitting on a tiger, and carrying a bow and arrows: is worshipped
by the wood- cutters in the forests, to insure protection from wild beasts.
11. Deified Beings in strange, shapes. — Urdhu-varVeshwiirli. This com-
pound deity is Shiva and Doorga united in one body. The fable respecting
this singular transformation will be- found in p. 147. Eeligious worship
is paid to this idol. — Kris/i?/u-Kal?e. In this image of Krishna and Kalee
united in one body, vice itself is personified and worshipped. See p.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
xxix
US — Hwee-UurUi Another compound deity, Vishnoo and Shivi. The
worship paid to these idols appears to owe its origin to stories in the pooranis ;
but the original idea, meant to be conveyed by two of them, no doubt, was,
that the Great Spirit and matter are one.
12. The worship of Human Beings. The Hindoos worship their spiritual
guides ; also bramhnns, and their wives and daughters : and, among the
vnmacharees, women of the lowest caste, and even prostitutes, are worshipped
with lites too abominable to be recorded. Seep. 152.
13. The worship of Beasts. The cow, as a form of Bhitgtivafcee, is an
object of worship, and receives the homage of the Hindoos at an annual festi-
val:"1 (see p. 154.) Hunoomanu, the monkey, has also been placed
arnon^ the gods, as a form of Shiva. Temples to this god are to be seen, and
in some places his image is worshipped, daily ; he is even chosen by many as
their guardian deity. Hiinoomana bears some resemblance to Pan, and like
him owes his birth to the god of the winds. The dog, the jackal, and a num-
ber of other animals, have also places among the Hindoo deities, though they
are not greatly honoured.
14. Worship of Birds. Garopra, the carrier of Vishnoo, half a bird and
half a man, has received deification, as well as his brother Uroonii, the chario-
teer of Vishnoo. JAtayoo, another bird, the friend of Rama, receives divine
! onours ; as do the eagle of Coromaudel, (said to be an incarnation of Doorga,)
the wag-tail, the peacock, the goose, and the owl ; but the honours they receive
are not of the highest kind.
15. Worship of Trees. The Hindoos do not seem ever to have conse-
crated groves, but several trees they esteem sacred. Toolusee, a female raised
to deity by Vishnoo, was cursed by Lukshmee, his wife, in a fit of jealousy, and
turned into the tree of this name; which the Hindoos preserve with great care
near their houses, erect pillars to its honour,1- esteem its leaves and wood sacred,
and with the latter make the beads with which they repeat the names of their
guardian deities. Several other trees receive almost an equal homage :
(see p. 162.) It is considered as a great sin among the Hindoos for any mem-
ber of a family to cut down trees planned by an ancestor, and the misfortunes
of many a family have been ascribed to such an act of indiscretion.
<J The very dung of the cow is eaten as an atonement for sin, and, with its urine, is
used in worship. A Hindoo does not carry any thing out of his house in the morning,
till he has rubbed his door-way with cow-dung. Notwithstanding this reverence, the
bullocks employed in cai'rying burdens and at the plough, are used more cruelly by the
Hindoos than any other animals. ' The Athenians and almost all other nations
thought it a very great crime to kill the ox, insomuch that the offender was thought
to deserve death.' Potter's Antiquities of Greece, vol. i. p. 217-
r The heads of these pillars, which commonly open like a cup, are filled with
earth, and the plant is placed in them. 'The Romans and Grecians,' says Potter
4 consecrated certain trees to their gods.'
XXX
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
16. River worship. The Hindoos not only reverence their rivers,
but actually worship them, dividing them into male and female deities. But
Gunga, (the Ganges,) both in their poems, their pooranris, and in the supersti-
tious customs of the natives, appears to rank highest among the river deities.
She is declared to have descended from Vishnoo's heaven, the anniversary of
which event is celebrated by particular festivities. The most extravagant things
are related in the pooranas respecting the purifying nature of these waters ; and
several works have been written to extol the saving properties of the Ganges.3
Its waters are carried to immense distances ; every thing they touch becomes
purified ; crowds of Hindoos perform their worship on the banks of the river
daily, after purifying themselves in its stream ; the sick are laid on its banks,
expecting recovery from the mere sight of this goddess ; and it is reckoned
a great calamity not to die within view of Griinga. Many other rivers receive
the honours of divine worship, as will be seen in page 171.
17. Worship of Fish. Even the finny tribes are honoured by the Hin-
doos, though the worship paid to them is of an inferior nature.
1 8. The worship of Books is very common among this people. The lower
orders have such a profound respect for a book, that they think every thing in
such a form must be divine. On several occasions a book is converted into an
image, and worshipped with all the forms used before the most popular idol.
3 9. Worship of Stones. The shalugramu, as a form of Vishnoo, is more
frequently worshipped than any other idol in India/ not excepting the lingii
itself; which perhaps ought to be placed next, and which is also a stone. The
representatives of Punchanunu and other gods are shapeless stones. Many
images of idols sold in the markets are made of stone, and worshipped.
20. A log of wood. The pedal with which rice is cleansed from the husk
has also been raised to godship by the Hindoos. See p. 176.
Such are the objects adored by the Hindoos. Such is the deplorable
state into which the mind continues to sink, after it has once renounced the
doctrine of the unity of God. Divine Worship is confessedly the highest act
of reverence and homage of which man is capable. How shocking then, how
* The Gilnga-vakya-vulec, &c.
« ' The shaltfgramus are black stoues, found in a part of the Gttndttkee river,
within the limits of Nepal. They are mostly round, and are commonly perforated in
one or more places by worms, or, as the Hindoos believe, by Vishnoo in the shape of
a reptile. According to the number of perforations, and of spiral curves in each, the
stone is supposed to contain Vishnoo in various characters. For example, such a
stone perforated in one place only, with four spiral curves in the perforation, and with
marks resembling a cow's foot, and a long wreath of flowers, contains Lttkshmee-Nara-
yttntt. In like manner stones are found in the NfrrmSda, which are considered as
types of Shivri, and are called Vanff-LingS. The shalttgramtt is found, upon trial, not
to be calcareous : it strikes fire with steel, and scarcely at all effervesces with acids,'
Asiatic Researches, vol vii. p. 240.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION. XXxi
afflicting to a philanthropic mind, to see man prostrated before a beast, or a
log of wood ! How greatly is the horror increased, when this prostration of
intellect respects many millions !
I have repeatedly conversed with learned Hindoos on the use of idols in
worship : the best account I have ever received may amount to this. — God is
every where ; this is allowed, but his spirituality perplexes the mind. To col-
lect and fix the ideas on the object of adoration, therefore, an image is chosen ;
into which image, by the power of incantations, the deity is imagined to be
drawn. Hence, in dedicating an image, they call upon the god to come and
dwell in it. I have urged in reply, that if this were the whole end to be
answered, any image might do,u but that I saw amongst them many sorts of
idols. To this the bramhftn says, ' God has made himself known in these forms,
and directed these various images to be made, that men may be fascinated and
drawn to the love of worship ; that none of these images are intended to exhibit
the natural perfections of God, but his actions when incarnate; and that images
are only necessary while men continue in a rude state, and may be laid aside by
those who can attain to devotion by means of rational speculation.' This is
the best apology I have obtained for the worship of idols. Yet, surely, instead
of elevating the mind, and carrying it to a Being so glorious as God, images
debase a subject so sublime, and destroy all reverence for Him, who is ' glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders.' Images of God are therefore
highly offensive, and their makers and worshippers justly expose themselves to
the cutting reproof of Isaiah : 4 To whom then will ye liken God? or what
likeness will ye compare to him ? Behold, the nations are as drop of a
bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance : all nations before
him are as nothing, and are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.' But
that idols are not necessary, even to the rude and ignorant, let the experience
of every protectant country bear witness. Where shall we find piety more
elevated, or morals more correct, even among individual in the lowest orders
of society, than in our own land ?
But what shall we say, when many of these idols are monstrous personifi-
cations of vice ; and when it is a fact, that not a single virtuous idea is ever
communicated by any of them? The image of Kalee exhibits a female with
inflamed eyes, standing on the body of her husband, her hair disheveled,
slavering the blood of her enemies down her bosom, her tongue hanging from
her mouth, wearing a necklace of skulls, and holding a skull in the left hand,
and a sword in the right. Another image, that of Krishna Kalee, exhibits
Rrishnrt and Radha, his mistress, united in one body, to conceal Radha's infide-
lity from her husband. Another image is the lingu ! Another that of a monkey,
an incarnation of ' the great god' Shivii ; the offspring of the god of the winds
by a female monkey !x The image of Doorga is that of a female warrior : and
n They admit this : a pan of water is indeed often substituted for an idol,
x Pan is said to have been the son of Mercury.
XXX11 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
one form of this goddess is that of a female so a thirst for blood, that she is repre-
sented as cutting off her own head ; and the severed head, with the mouth dis-
tended, is s.en devouring the Wood streaming from the trunk. This goddess
stands upon two other deities in an attitude so abominably indecent that it cannot
be described : the common form of Kalee, standing on her husband Shivii, has
secret meaning, well known to a Hindoo, but which is so indelicate that even
they, licentious as they are, dare not make it according to the genuine meaning
of the fable to which it belongs.7 Some of the formulas used at the festival
in honour of this g >ddess, called the Shyama-pooja, relate to things which
can never become the subject of description ; but perhaps in this concealed
state they are more pernicious than if painted, and exhibited to the open gaze
of the mob. To this it may be added, that amidst ail the numerous idols
worshipped by the Hindoos, there is not one to represent, any of the Virtues.
In this respect, the Hindoo mythology sinks far below the European ; for the
Greeks and Romans aJored Virtue, Truth, Piety, Chastity, Clemency, Mercy,
Ju-tice, Faith, Hope and Liberty, and consecrated images and temples to
these deities. Among the Hindoos, the most innocent part of the system, and
that which existed in the purest, a^es, wa3 the worship of the primary elements,
tne adoration of inanimate matter !
The manifest effect of idolatry in this country, as held up to thousands of
Christian spectators, is an immersion into the grossest moral daikness, and a
universal corruption of manners. The Hindoo is taught, that the image is
reallv God, and the heaviest judgments are denounced against him, if he dare
to suspect, that the image is nothing more than the elements of which it is
composed. The Tiutni-sain declares, that such an unbeliever will sink into the
regions of torment* In the apprehensions of the people in general, therefore,
the idols are real deities ; they occupy the place of God, and receive all the
homage, all the fear, all the service, and all tne honours which HE so justly
claims. Tne government of God is subverted, and all the moral effects arising
from the knowledge of his perfections, and his claims upon his rational crea-
tures, are completely lost.
It is a fact too, that the festivals in honour of the gods have the most
pernicious effects on the minds of the people. During the ceremonies of
worship before the image, the spectators are very few, and these feel no interest
whatever in the mummery going forward; and were it not for those who come
to pay a visit of ceremony to the image, and to bring their offeiiugs, the temple
would be as little crowded on festival, as on common days : but as soon as the
well-known sound of the drum is heard, calling the people to the midnight
orgies, the dance and the song, whole multitudes assemble, and almost tread
one upon another; and their joy keeps pace with the number of loose women
present, and the broad obscenity of the songs. Gopalu-Tdrkkaluukaru, a
ptindit employed in the Setampore printing office, and a veiy respectable man
y Hindoos of the baser sort may be seen whispering to each other before this
image, and dilating on that which is too filthy for them to utter in an audible voice.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
XXX11I
among the Hindoos, avowed to a friend of mine, that the only attractives on
these occasions were the women of ill-fame, and filthy songs and dances ;
that these songs were so abominable, that a man of character, even amongst
them, was ashamed of being present ; that if ever he (Gopalii) remained, he
concealed himself in a corner of the temple. He added, that a song was scarcely
tolerated which did not contain the moat marked allusions to unchastity; while
those which were so abominable that no person could repeat them out of the
temple, received the loudest plaudits.2 All this is done in the very face of the
idol ; nor does the thought, ' Thou God seest me,' ever produce the slightest
pause in these midnight revels. In open day, and in the most public streets
of a large town, I have seen men entirely naked, dancing with unblushing
effrontery before the idol, as it was carried in triumphant procession, encouraged
by the smiles and eager gaze of the bramhuus. Yet sights even worse than
these, and such as can never be described by the pen of a Christian writer, are
exhibited on the rivers and in the public roads, to thousands of spectators, at
the Doorga festival,* the most popular and most crowded of all the Hindoo
festivals in Bengal ; and which closes with libations to the gods so powerful, as
to produce general intoxication. What must be the state of morals in a coun-
try, when its religious institutions and public shows, at which the whole popu-
lation is present, thus sanctify vice, and carry the multitude into the very gulph
of depravity and ruin !
There is another feature in this system of idolatry, which increases its per-
nicious effects on the public manners : — The history of these gods is a highly
coloured representation of their wars, quarrels, and licentious intrigues ; which
are held up in. the images, recitations, songs, and dances at the public festivals.
At the separate recitations, which are accompanied with something of our
pantomime, these incredible and most indecent fables are made still more
familiar to the people ; so familiar indeed, that allusions to them are to be
perceived in the most common forms of speech. Many works of a pernicious
tendency in the European languages are not very hurtful, because they aie too
scarce and expensive to be read by the poor ; but the authors of the Hindoo
mythology have taken care, that the quarrels and revels of the gods and god-
desses shall be held up to the imitation of the whole community.
In some of these histories and pantomimes, ShivH is represented as declar-
ing to Lukshmee, that he would part with all the merit of his works for the
gratification of a criminal passion ; Brumha as burning with lust towards his
own daughter ; Krishnu as living with the wife of another, murdering a
2 Sometimes the Hindoos open a subscription to defray the expense of a grand
act of worship in honour of some idol. If 400 rupees be subscribed on such an
occasion, I am assured, that 300 will be spent on the songs and dancing-girls.
a The author has more than once been filled with alarm, as this idolatrous
procession has passed his house, lest his children should go to the windows, and see
the gross obscenity inhibited by the dancers.
E
xxxiv
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
washerman and stealing his clothes, and sending- his friend Yoodhist'him to the
regions of torment by causing him to utter a falsehood ; Indrii and Chiindrii
are seen as the paramours of the wives of their spiritual guides-— But these
stories are so numerous in the pooraniis, that it seems unnecessary to drag
more of them to light. The thing to be deplored is, that the Hindoo objects
of worship were themselves monsters of vice.
Painful as this is, it is not all : there is a numerous and growing sect
among the Hindoos in Bengal, and perhaps in other provinces, who, in con-
formity with the rules prescribed in the works called Tuntrn, practise the most
abominable rites. The proselytes to this sect are chiefly bramhiins, and are
called vamacharees. I have given some account of them in p. 152, and p. 232,
and should have declined blotting these pages with any further allusion to these
unutterable abominations, had I not omitted in those accounts an article which
I had prepared, and which throws much additional light on the practices of a
sect so singularly corrupt.
The rules of this sect are to be found more or less in most of the Tuntriis ;
but particularly in the Neelu, Koodm-yamulu, Yonee, and Unnuda-kulpii. In
these works the writers have arranged a number of Hindoo sects as follows : —
VedachareeSjVoishniivachareesj Shoivacharees, Dukshinacharees, Vamacharees,
Siddhantacharees, and Koulacharees ; each rising in succession, till the most
perfect sect is the Koulacharii. When a Hindoo wishes to enter into this sect, he
sends for a person who has been already initiated, and who is well acquainted with
the forms of initiation ; and presenting to him garments, ornaments, &c. begs him
to become his religious guide. The teacher then places this disciple near him
for three days, and instructs him in the ceremonies of the sect : at the close of
which period, the disciple spreads some loose soil on the floor of the house in
which the ceremonies of initiation are to be performed ; and sows a small
quantity of barley, and two kinds of peas, in this soil, sprinkling water upon
it. He next proceeds to perforin some parts of the ten ceremonies practised
by the regular Hindoos from the time of birth to that of marriage : after which
he makes a declaration, that he has from that period renounced all the cere-
monies of the old religion, and is delivered from their yoke ; and as a token of
joy celebrates what is called the Vriddhee shraddhu. All these ceremonies are
to be performed in the day ; what follows is to be done in darkness : and there-
fore, choosing the darkest part of the night, the seed sown in the house having
sprung up, the disciple and his spiritual (it would not be too harsh to say
infernal) guide enter the house, with eight men, (vamacharees,) and eight
females, (a dancing-girl, a weaver's daughter, a woman of ill-fame, a washer-
woman, a barber's wife or daughter, a bramhiinee, the dauhghter of a land-own-
er, and a milkmaid.) Each of the vamacharees is to place by his side one of
the females, and the teacher and his disciple are to sit close to each other.
The teacher now informs his disciple, that from henceforward he is not to
indulge sharae^ nor dislike to anything, nor prefer one plan to another, nor
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION-
XXXV
regard ceremonial cleanness, or uncleanness nor caste ; and that, though he may
freely enjoy all the pleasures of sense, the mind must be fixed on his guardian
deity : that is, he is neither to be an epicure nor an ascetic, but to blend both in
his character ; and to make the pleasures of sense, that is, wine and women, the
medium of obtaining absorption-into Briimha j since women are the represen-
tatives of the wife of Cupid, and wine prevents the senses from going astray.
A pan of spirits, or of water mixed with spirits, is placed near each man and
woman; and in the centre another pan of spirits, different kinds of flesh, (of
which that of the cow makes a part,) rice, fruits, &c. and upon each of the
eight pans different branches of trees, and garlands of red flowers are placed ;
the pans also are to be marked with red paint : all these are surrounded with
eighty pounds of flour formed into different colours. A pan of intoxicating
beverage, called siddhee, is next consecrated ; of which each partakes : after
which they chew the pahu leaf. Next, before all the things placed in the
centre of the room, the spiritual guide rehearses the common ceremonies of
worship, addressing them to any one of the female deities who happens to be
the guardian deity of this disciple. The vessels from which the company arc
to drink, and the offerings, are next consecrated : these vessels may be formed
of earth, copper, brass, silver, gold, or stone, the cocoanut, or a human skull ;
but the latter is to be preferred. The spiritual guide then gives as much as a
wine glass of spirits to each female, as the representative of the divine
energy ; and the men drink what they leave. At this time the spiritual
guide declares, that in the sutyu yoogrt the people were directed in their
religious duties by the vedus, in the tretii by the writings of the learned,
in the dwapurn. by the different pooranris, and, in the kulee yoogu, the tiintrus
are the only proper guides to duty. As if well pleased with this sentiment,
each one of the company now drinks two more glasses of the spirits. The
disciple next worships each male and female separately, applying to them the
names of Bhoirnvii and Bhoiruvee, titles given to Shivu and Doorga, and
presents to each of them spirits, meat-offerings, garments, ornaments, &c. ; after
which the spiritual guide offers a burnt- sacrifice, with the flesh and other meat-
offerings, pouring on them, as they burn, clarified butter : the disciple also
repeats the same ceremony. The eight females now anoint the disciple by
sprinkling upon him, with the branches which were placed on the pan, spirits
and water ; and after mixing together the whole of the spirits, or spirits
and water, from all the pans, the spiritual guide, with all the branches, again
sprinkles the disciple : to whom he declares that he has now, for the good of
his soul, instructed him, according to the commandment of the great god
Shivu, in all the ceremonies belonging to the profession of a vamacharee ;
urging him, in practising these ceremonies, to keep his mind on Shivu, and
that he will be happy after death : at the close, he causes him to drink the
liquor thus mixed, repeating separate incantations. During his initiation
he is not to drink so as to appear intoxicated, -or to cause his mind to wander ;
but having habituated himself to a small quantity, he may take more, till he
xxxvi
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
falls down in a state of intoxication ; still however so as to rise again after a
short interval : after which he may continue drinking the nectar, till he falls
down completely overcome, and remains in this state of joy, thinking upon his
guardian deity. He is now known as an UviidhoStii, that is, as one who lias
renounced all secular affairs ; and receives a new name, perhaps Aruindu-
nat'hvi, or the joyous. He is to drink spirits with all of the same profession ;
to sleep constantly in a house of ill-fame; and to eat of every thing he pleases,
and with all castes indiscriminately. The next thing is to offer a burnt-
sacrifice ; after which the spiritual guide and the guests are dismissed with
presents, and the new disciple spends the night with an infamous female.
These vamacharees adore the sex, and carefully avoid offending a woman.
They also practise the most debasing rites, using the heads of persons who
have been guilty of suicide, also when sitting on a dead body, and while naked
and in the presence of a naked female. — It might seem impossible to trace
ceremonies gross as these to any principle except that of moral depravity ; but
the authors of this system attempt to reconcile it with the pursuit of future
happiness. The reader is aware that the regular Hindoo theologians attribute
all the vices to the passions, and consider their subjugation, or annihilation, as
essential to final beatitude ; they therefore aim at the accomplishment of this
object by means of severe bodily austerities. The vamacharees profess to seek
the same object, not by avoiding temptation, and starving the body, but by
blunting the edge of the passions with excessive indulgence. They profess to
triumph over the regular Hindoos, reminding them that their ascetics are safe
only in forests, and while keeping a perpetual fast ; but that they subdue their
passions in the very presence of temptation.
Thus, that which to the Hindoo should be divine worship, is the great
source of impiety and corruption of manners : and, instead of returning fiom
his temple, or from religious services, improved in knowledge, grieved for his
moral deficiences, and anxious to cultivate a greater regard to the interests of
morality and religion, his passions are inflamed, and his mind polluted to such
a degree, that he carries the pernicious lessons of the temple, or the festival,
into all the walks of private life. His very religion becomes his greatest bane,
and where he should have drank of the water of life, he swallows the poison
that infallibly destroys him.
In conversation with a learned bramhnn, in the year 1813, he acknowledged
to the author, that, at present, reverence for the gods made no part of the
attractions to the public festivals. One man celebrates a festival to preserve
himself from disgrace, another to procure the applause of his countrymen, and
a third for the sake of the songs, dances, &c. This brarahiin instanced cases
of images being made without any reference to the rules of the shastrii. At
one place, a Hindoo, having prepared an image, at an expense which he could
not meet, permitted it to be broken, and its head, arms, and legs to be trodden
upon in the streets ;•— another, who had been thus disappointed, threw ths
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
XXXV11
image into the water ; — and a third, having made an enormous image, had fas-
tened it to a cart, but on the first motion of the vehicle, the head of the idol
had fallen off, and the rest of the image was permitted to lie in the street as a
dead carcase. 1 give these instances to confirm what I have already said, that
it is not devotion that leads the Hindoo to the temple, but a licentious appetite .
and to afford another proof, that idolatry always tends to sink, but never to
raise its votaries. In the account of Kalee, (p. 94,) the reader will
find a fact respecting the execution of two Hindoos, who, when under sentence
of death, became Eoman Catholics, in pure revenge upon Kalee ; who did not,
as she was believed to have done in many other cases, protect them in the act
of robbery. One of the pundits who assisted me in this work begged, if I
mentioned this fact, that I would assure the English reader, that although this
goddess assisted public robbers, she always informed them that they must suffer
hereafter for their crimes, though she did assist them in their perpetration.
The Reverend Mr. Maurice seems astonished that a people so mild, so
benevolent, so benignant as the Hindoos, ' who (quoting Mr. Orme) shudder at
the very sight of blood' should hare adopted so many bloody rites. But are
these Hindoos indeed so humane? — these men, and women too, who drag their
dying; relations to the banks of the river at all seasons, dav and night, and
expose them to the heat and cold in the last agonies of death, without remorse ;
— who assist men to commit self-murder, encouraging them to swing with hooks
in their backs, to pierce their tongues and sides, to cast themselves on naked
knives, to bury themselves alive,b throw themselves into rivers,0 from pre-
cipices,* and under the cars of their idols ; — who murder their own children,
b ' Instances are not unfrequent, where persons afflicted with loathsome and
incurable diseases, have caused themselves to be buried alive.' Asiatic Researches,
p. 257.
c Mr. W. Carey, of Cutwa, in a letter to the author, dated the 4th of November,
1814, says, ' Two or three days ago I witnessed a scene more shocking than any I ever
saw in this place : — A poor weaver was brought here, and cast into the water, with a
pan of water tied round his waist to make him sink ; but providentially the river was
shallow, and he was taken out, after being in the water a day and a night. Hearing
of the circumstance, 1 went to see him, and found the poor man only affected with
rheumatic pains. I had him brought to my house, but could not prevail on the un-
feeling natives to carry him up till I procured an order from an officer of the police.
I hope he will be restored to health in a fortnight, when he will return home, with
some knowledge of the gospel. What adds to the horror of this narration, is, that the
perpetrators of this intended murder were the mother and brother of this unfortunate
Hindoo.'
d ■ A very singular practice prevails among the lowest tribes of the inhabitants of
Berar and Gondwunii. Suicide is not unfrequently vowed by such persons in return
for boons solicited from idols ; and to fulfil his vow, the successful votary throws him-
self from a precipice named Kalff-Bhoirrivft, situated in the mountains between the
Taptee and NftrmrMa rivers. The annual fair, held near that spot at the beginning of
spring, visually witnesses eight or ten victims of this superstition,' Asiatic Researches,
vol, vii. p. 257.
XXXV111
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
by burying them alive, throwing them to the alligators, or hanging them up
alive in trees for the ants and crows before their own doors,6 or by sacrificing
them to the Ganges ; — who burn alive, amidst savage shouts, the heart-broken
widow, by the hands of her own son, and with the corpse of a deceased
father f ; — who every year butcher thousands of animals, at the call of
superstition, covering themselves with their blood, consigning their
carcases to the dogs, and carrying their heads, in triumph through the
streets ? — Are these the c benignant Hindoos' ? — a people who have
never erected a charity-school, an alms'-house, nor an hospital; who suffer
their fellow-creatures to perish for want before their very doors, refusing to
administer to their wants while living, or to inter their bodies, to prevent their
being devoured by vultures and jackals, when dead ; who, when the power of
the sword was in their hands, impaled alive, cut off the noses, the legs, and
arms of culprits ; and inflicted punishments exceeded only by those of the fol-
lowers of the mild, amiable, and benevolent Booddhu in the Burman empire8 !
e I fancy this is done when the child is born with bad omens, or is supposed to be
afflicted by some evil spirit.
f At Benares and near Buxar numerous brick monuments have been erected
to perpetuate the memory of women who have been burnt alive with the bodies
of their' deceased husbands.
s It is well known, that the Burmans are the followers of Booddhu, whose princi-
pal aim was to excite in mankind a horror of shedding blood, and of destroying animal
life. The following facts will show how much humanity there is among a people far
exceeding the Hindoos in their care not to injure whatever contains life. Mr.
F. Oarey thus writes to his friends in Bengal: — ' I will now relate what has taken
place in this single town of Rangoon since my residence in this country, which does
not exceed four years. Some of the criminals I saw executed with my own eyes ; the
rest I saw immediately after execution. One man had melted lead poured down his
throat, which immediately burst out from the neck, and various parts of the bocty.
Four or five persons, after being nailed through their hands and feet to a scaffold, had
first their tongues cut out, then their mouths slit open from ear to ear, then their ears
cut off, and finally their bellies ripped open. Six people were crucified in the following
manner : their hands and feet were nailed to a scaffold ; their eyes were then extracted
with a blunt hook ; and in this condition they were left to expire : two died in the
course of four days ; the rest were liberated, but died of mortification on the sixth or
seventh day. Four persons were crucified, viz. not nailed, but tied with their hands
and feet stretched out at full length, in an erect posture, in which they were to remain
till death ; every thing they wished to eat was ordered them, with a view to prolong
their lives and misery. In cases like this, the legs and feet of the criminals begin to
swell and mortify at the expiration of three or four days ; some are said to live in this
state for a fortnight, and expire at last from fatigue and mortification. Those which
I saw were liberated at the end of three or four days. Another man had a large bam-
boo run through his belly, which put an immediate end to his existence. Two persons
had their bellies ripped up, just sufficient to admit of the protrusion of a small part of
the intestines ; and after being secured by the hands and feet at full stretch with cords,
were placed in an erect posture upon bamboo rafters, and set adrift in the river, to float
up and down with the tide for public view. The number of those who have been be-
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
xxxix
and who very often, in their acts of pillage* murder the plundered, cutting off
their limbs with the most cold-blooded apathy, turning the house of the
murdered into a disgusting shambles ! — Some of these cruelties, no doubt,
arise out of the religion of the Hindoos, and are the poisoned fruits of supersti-
tion, rather than the effects of natural disposition : but this is equally true res-
pecting the virtues which have been so lavishly bestowed on this people. At
the call of the shastru, the Hindoo gives water to the weary traveller during the
month Voishakhu ; but he may perish at his door without pity or relief from the
first of the following monih, no reward being attached to such an act after these
thirty days have expired. He will make roads, pools of water, and build lodg-
ing-houses for pilgrims and travellers ; but he considers himself as making a
good bargain with the gods in all these transactions. It is a fact, that there is
not a road in the country made by Hindoos except a few which lead to holy
places ; and had there been no future rewards held out for such acts of merit,
even these would not have existed. Before the .kulee-yoogu it was lawful to
sacrifice cows ; but the man who does it now, is guilty of a crime as heinous as
that of killing a bramhun ; he may kill a buffalo, however, and Doorga will
reward him with heaven for it. A Hindoo, by any direct act^shonld not destroy
an insect, for he is taught that God inhabits even a fly : but it is no great
crime if he should permit, even his cow to perish with hunger ; and he beats it
without mercy, though it be an incarnation of Bhugiivutee — it is enough, that
he does not really deprive it of life ; for the indwelling Brumhu feels no stroke
but that of death. The Hindoo will utter falsehoods that would knock down
an ox, and will commit perjuries so atrocious and disgusting, as to fill with
horror those who visit the courts of justice ; but he will not violate his shastru
by Iwearing on the waters of the Ganges.
Idolatry is often also the exciting cause of the most abominable frauds.
Several instances are given in this work : one will be found in page 75, and
another respecting an image found under ground by the raja of Nudeeva, in
p. 125.h
Indeed keeping gods is even a trade among the Hindoos : the only diffi-
culty to be overcome, is that of exciting attention to the image. To do this,
headed I do not exactly recollect ; but they must be somewhere between twenty and
thirty. One man was sawn to death, by applying the saw to the shoulder bone, and
sawing right down until the bowels gushed out. One woman was beat to death with a
large cudgel. — These are most of the punishments I have seen and heard of during my
stay in this plaea ; but many other instances happened during my absence, which I
have not related. As for the crimes for which these punishments were inflicted, I shall
only add, the crimes of some deserved death, some were of a trivial nature, and sume of
the victims were quite innocent.'
h Plutarch says, that Eomulus, when he instituted the Ludi Consuales, to sur-
prise the Sabine virgins, gave out, that he had discovered the altar of the god Consus
hid under ground ; which discovery attracted great multitudes to the sacrifice.
xl
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
the owner of the image frequently goes from village to village, to call the atten-
tion of the neighbourhood : he also persuades some one to proclaim, that he
lias been warned in a dream to perform vows to this image ; or he repeats to
all he sees; that such and such cures have been performed by it. In the years
1807 and 1808, almost all the sick and imaginary sick Hindoos in the south of
Bengal presented their offerings to an image called Taruk-eshwnru, at a place
bearing this name. The bramhiins owning this image became rich. This ex-
cited the attention of some bramhiins near NHdeeya, who proclaimed another
image of Shiva, in their possession, to be 'the brother of Tarnk-eshwuru ;' and
the people of those parts flocked to this image as others had done to the
original one.
The author has devoted a volume (Book I.) of this work to the gods. The
next article (Book II.) i elates to the Hindoo temples, none of which appear to
be distinguished for the elegance of their architecture: they are not the work
of a people sunk in barbarism ; neither will they bear any comparison with
the temples of the Greeks or Komans.* They are not constructed so as to hold a
crowd of worshippers, who are always accommodated in an area opposite the
temple. The room in which the idol is placed is considered sufficiently spacious
if it hold the officiating priest, the utensils for worship, and the offerings.
These temples answer none of the ends of a lecture room, nor of a
Christian temple. Here the passions are never raised to heaven by sacred
music, nor by the voices of a large and devout congregation celebrating the
praises of the Deity in the strains of sacred poetry ; here no devout feelings
are awakened by the voice of prayer and confession, nor are the great truths of
religion explained, or enforced upon the mind of an attentive crowd by the elo-
quence of a public speaker : the daily worship at the temple is performed by
the solitary priest with all the dulness, carelessness, and insipidity necessarily
connected with a service always the same, repeated before an idol made of a cold
stone, and in which the priest has no interest whatever ; and when the crowrd
do assemble before the temple, it is to enter upon orgies which destroy every
vestige of moral feeling, and excite to every outrage upon virtue.
The dedication of a temple is a work of great ceremony, k if the
building belong to a man of wealth ; the expense incurred in presents to
the bramhiins and others is also very great. The person who employs his
1 We learn from the Ain Akbftree, however, that the entire revenues of Orissa,
for twelve years, were expended on erecting a temple to the sun. — Maurice's Indian
Antiquities.
k Circumambulating a temple is an act of merit, raising the person to a place in
the heaven of the god or goddess whose temple he thus walks round. At Benares the
devout do it daily. If the circumambulator be a learned man, he repeats the praise of
the god as he is walking, and bows to the image every time he arrives at the door of
the temple. The ignorant merely walk round, and make the bow. The right hand is
always kept towards the object circumambulated.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
xli
wealth in this manner is considerably raised in the estimation of his country-
men : he frequently also endows the temple, as well as raises it ; which is
generally done by grants of land. The annual produce of the land thus be-
stowed, is expended in wages to the officiating priest, in the daily offerings to
the idol, and in lighting and repairing the temple. Many temples, however,
do not depend entirely on their endowments : they receive considerable sums
from occasional offerings, and from what is presented at festivals.1 Some
temples are supported at an expense so trifling as to astonish a reader not
acquainted with the forms of idolatry : many individuals who officiate at
temples obtain only the offerings, the value of which does not amount, in many
instances, to more than twenty shillings a year. Some few temples are however,
splendidly endowed, and many families receive their maintenance from them.
Where an idol has become very famous, and the offerings have amounted to a
large sum, even kings have been anxious to lay hold of such a source of
revenue.
The images of the gods may be made of almost all the metals, as well as of
wood, stone, clay, &c. Most of the permanent images are made of wood or
stone ; those which are destroyed at the close of a festival, are made of clay.
Small images of brass, silver, and gold, are not uncommon. The sculpture of
the stone images resembles that of the Popish images of the 12th century ;
those cast in brass, &c. exhibit a similar progress of the arts. The consecration
of an image is accompanied with a number of ceremonies, the most singular of
which is that of conveying sight and life to the image, for which there are
appropriate formulas, with prayers, inviting the deity to come and dwell in it.
After this ceremony, the image becomes sacred, and is carefully guarded from
every offensive approach. The shastrus contain directions for making idols,
and the forms of meditation used in worship contain a description of each
idol : but in many instances these forms are disregarded, and the proprietor,
though compelled to preserve the identity of the image, indulges his own
fancy. Some images are very diminutive, especially those made of the
precious metals ; but others, if for temporary use, are very large : a stone
image of the lingu is to seen at Benares, which six men with joined hands can
hardly grasp. At the festival of Kartikeyu, the god of war, an image is some-
times made thirty cubits high. Whatever may have been the case in other
countries, idolatry in this has certainly not contributed to carry the arts of
painting or sculpture to any perfection.
Any bramhun, properly qualified by rank and knowledge, may officiate in
a temple, and perform the general work of a priest. There is no order of
bramhiins to whom the priesthood is confined :m many bramhuns employ others
1 In the year 1809, at the temple of Jugannat'hu, near Serauipore, at the car
festival, about 570 rupees were presented to the idol, in vegetables, fruits, sweetmeats,
garments, and money. About 150 bramhiins, 50 females, and 150 shoodrns, were
entertained daily ; and, at the close of the festival, the priests of the temple received
420 rupees.
m I insert a short extract from Bryce's ' Sketch of the State of British India, ' in
order to assure the author, that as it respects Bengal, it is wholly without foundation.
F
xlii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
as priests ; a shoodrii must employ a bramhiin, but he has his own choice of
the individual ; he cannot repeat a single formula of the vedus himself without
being guilty of the highest offence. There are different offices in which priests
are employ< d ; but any bramlmn, properly qualified, may perform the cere-
monies attached to them all : (see p. 186.) In general, a family, able to bear
the expense, employs a priest on a regular allowance : some priests are retained
by many families of the same caste ; such a person is called the joiners' priest,
or the weavers' priest, &c. The bramhuns employed as priests to the shoodrus
are not in high estimation among their brethren, who never fail to degrade the
shoodrii in every stage and state of life. The fees of the priest are in general very
small : on some occasions, at the dedication of a temple, at the ceremonies for
the dead when performed for a rich man, at the great festivals, &c., the priest
receives very liberal presents. Female priests are almost unknown to the
Hindoos ; one or two instances are recorded in pp 143, 145.
The ceremonies at the temples are in most cases performed daily, morning,
noon, and evening, at which times food is presented to the idol : the services are
short, consisting of a few forms of petition and praise ; during the presentation
of flowers, leaves and (except to Shivu) a few articles of food, the priest is com-
monly the only person present. The doors of the lingu temples are generally
open all day ; multitudes of these temples are never honoured with worship,
though they contain an idol : this is accounted for by there being several of these
temples erected in one spot belonging to the same individual. Hindoos in general
bow to the image as they pass the temple, whether the doors be open or shut.
Where the deity is honoured by bloody sacrifices, a post is erected in front of the
temple, for the slaughter of animals. No assemblies can be formed in these
edifices ; but on particular occasions the people are collected before the door, and
sit or stand under an awning. The idols in honour of Vishnoo are laid down to
sleep in the day, if the image be not too large ; — a poor compliment to a god, that
he wants rest. The utensils employed in the ceremonies at the temples are,
several dishes to hold the offerings, a hand bell, a lamp, jugs for holding water, an
incense dish, a copper cup to receive drink-offerings for deceased ancestors and
the gods, another smaller one to pour from, a seat of kooshu grass for the
priest, a large metal plate used as a bell, and a conch or shell. All these
articles do not cost more than twenty shillings, unless the owner wish them to
be costly.
Daily, weekly, monthly, and annual ceremonies abound among this people,
to whom may truly be applied the remark of Paul to the Athenians, (Acts xvii.
22 ;) the festivals are noted in the Hindoo almanacs, and are generally held at
the full or total wane of the moon. In the month of February, they have one
festival in honour of the goddess of learning, Sunlswutee, which continues
one day. In March three, in honour of Shivu, Krishna, and Giinga. In April
4 The laws have always confined a certain proportion of bramhnns to the service
of the pagodas, to the education of youth, and to study.' p. 57- ' No pains are spared
in rendering accomplished those females, who, as the fascinating instruments of
superstition, are employed in the service of their temples.' p. 54.
OX THE HTNDOO RELIGION.
xliii
two ; one on the anniversary of the birth of Ramu, and the other the horrid
swinging festival. In June two ; one in the honour of Gunga, and the other
Jftgimnat'ha's car festival; the latter is again revived in July, when the car
returns to the temple. In August the cow is worshipped, and the birth of
Krishmi celebrated. In September the memory of deceased ancestors is com-
memorated, and the Doorga festival held. In October one, in honour of the
goddess Eiituntee ; and in November another, in honour of Kartikevu, the
god of war. On all these occasions the public offices are closed; but many
other holidays are kept by the Hindoos, which are not honoured as public
festivals.
The reader will find, in p. 193, an account of the daily duties of a
bramhun ; by which it appears, that if he strictly conform to the rules of his
religion, he must spend almost his whole time in religious ceremonies. The
present race of bramhiins curtail these ceremonies, especially those engaged in
secular affairs, who spend perhaps ten or twenty minutes in the morning, after
their ablutions, in repeating the usual formulas before the lingu, or the stone
called the shaltigramu, or a pan of water. Many, however, content themselves
with bathing, and repeating the name of their guardian deity.
The form of initiation into the service of a person's guardian deity consists
in giving him the name of this deity, and exhorting him to repeat it continually.
The ceremony of initiation is given in p, 199. From this time, the initiated
becomes entitled to all the privileges of the Hindoo religion, is placed under the
protection of the ^ods, and receives the benediction of his spiritual guide. The
Hindoos are careful to conceal the words of initiation, and do not wish to
declare to strangers what god they have chosen for their guardian deity.
The spiritual guide, who is chosen by the person hiuiself, receives the highest
reverence from the disciple, and is sometimes worshipped by him as a god.
Disobedience to this guide is one of the highest offences a Hindoo can commit,
and his anger is dreaded more than that of the gods. When the disciple ap-
proaches him, he prostrates himself at his feet, and the priest places his foot on
his head. To such a state of degradation does the Hindoo superstition reduce
the people ! These priests are notorious for covetousness and impurity : some
of them plunder the disciple of their all, and others violate the chastity of their
wives. They are not distinguished by any particular dress, nor do thev per-
form any offices of worship for their disciples.
Bathing in the Ganges, or in some other sacred river, or pool, is one of
the most constant and necessary duties enjoined upon the Hindoos; the
bramhiins, after bathing, frequently complete their devotions on the banks of
the river ; others go home, and repeat the requisite forms before the shalngra-
mn, or a pan of water. The people are taught that bathing is a religious cere-
mony, by which they become purified from sin11 ! They are never directed to
nAnd yet so far are the Hindoos from having any moral feelings, even in their
acts of purification, that few men bathe in a retired situation ; the majority choose those
places to which the female bathers resort, and on their accou ut remain in the water
Ion? beyond the time necessary for their ablutions. Many an infamous assignment is
X&V INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
bathe to promote bodily health. In the act of bathing, they pour out drink-
offerings to deceased ancestors. — To be convinced how entirely the present race
of Hindoos are influenced by the promises of salvation held out in their sacred
books on this subject, it is only necessary for a person to attend to what is
passing around him, viz., to the crowds bathing at the landing-places of the
Ganges ; to the persons bearing the sacred water into distant countries, in
vessels suspended from their shoulders ; to the shraddhus and other religious
ceremonies performed on its banks; to the number of temples on both sides of
the river ; to so great a part of the Bengal population having erected their
habitations near the river ; to the number of brick landing-places, built as acts
of holiness, to assist the people in obtaining the favour of Giinga ; to the houses
erected for the sick by the sides of the river ; to the people bringing their sick
relations, and laying them on bedsteads, or on the ground, by the side of the
Ganges, waiting to burn them there, and to throw their ashes into the river ;
to the immense crowds on the banks, waiting fur a junction of the planets, at
which moment they plunge into the stream with the greatest eagerness ; to
the people committing the images of their gods to the sacred stream, at the
close of their festivals ; and, finally, to the boats crowded with passengers
going to Sagvir island ijarnnga-saguru) every year0 .
The forms of worship (popja ) before the idol are particularly laid down
in p. 215. The priest who officiates has the common dress of a bramhun ; it
must, however, be clean : he has occasionally one or two bramhuns to assist
him in presenting the offerings.
made by looks, &c while they are thus washing away their sins. A number of bram-
iiftns engage as cooks to opulent families, to facilitate their licentious intrigues : this
is become so common, that the bramhuns, proverbially known by the name of cooking
bramhtfns, are treated with the greatest suspicion by those who care for the chastity
of their wives. Multitudes of bramhuns likewise are employed as priests to prostitutes,
and actually perform the offices of religion in houses of ill-fame; — so completely
absent is the moral principle from the religion of the Hindoos !
° Till lately, eople used to thro w themselves, or their children, to the alligators
at this place, under the idea that dying at Gftnga-sagrfrif, ia the jaws of an alligator,
was the happiest of deaths. This is now prevented by a guard of sepoys sent by
Government.
p The Ain Akbtfree says, the Hindoos ' divide pooja into sixteen ceremonies.
After the devotee has performed his usual and indispensable ablutions, with the
sSndhya and homtf, he sists down, looking towards the east or the north, with his legs
drawn up in front. Then, taking in his hand a little water and rice, he sprinkles the
idol, and conceives this act to be a proper preface to the commencement of his adora-
tion. Next follows the worship of the idol's flagon. Then succeeds the worship of
the conch-shell. Last in order, a ceremony which consists in plastering the bell with
ashes of sandal- wood. When he has finished, he throws down a little rice, and wishes
that his god may be manifested. These various duties are all comprised in the first of
the sixteen ceeemonies. — In the second, he prepares and places a table of metal,
either gold, silver, or copper, as a seat or throne for a deity.— In the third, he
throws water into a vessel to wash his feet ; for in Hindoost'hanS it is the custom,
that, when a superior enters the house of an inferior, he washes his feet. — In the
fourth, he sprinkles water thrice, to represent the idol rincing his mouth, since it is
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
xlv
Short forms of praise and prayer to the godsq are continually used, and
are supposed to promote very highly a person's spiritual interests. The
following is an example of praise addressed to Giinga : — ' 0 goddess, the owl
that lodges in the hollow of a tree on thy banks, is exalted beyond measure ;
while the emperor, whose palace is far from thee, though he may possess a
million of stately elephants, and may have the wives of a million of conquered
enemies to serve him, is nothing.' Example of prayer :— ' 0 god ! I am the
greatest sinner in the world ; but thou, among the gods, art the greatest
saviour : I leave my cause in thy hands.' Praise is considered as more
prevalent with the gods than prayer, as the gods are mightily pleased with
flattery. Some unite vows to their supplications, and promise to present to
the god a handsome offering if he be propitious.
Another act of Hindoo devotion is meditation on the form of an idol.
Mr. Hastings, in his prefatory letter to the Geeta, says, the Rev. Mr. Maurice
describes the bramhiins as devoting a certain period of time to the contem-
plation of the deity, his attributes, and the moral duties of life. The truth
is, that in this Hindoo act of devotion there is not a vestige of reference to
also the custom for an inferior to bring to a superior water to riuce his mouth with
before meals. — In the fifth, sandal, flowers, betel, and rice are offered to the idol. — In
the sixth, the idol and his throne are carried to another spot : theu the worshipper
takes in his right hand a white conch-shell full of water, which he throws over the
idol, and with his left hand rings the bell. — In the seventh, he wipes the idol dry
with a cloth, replaces it upon its throne, and adorns it with vestments of silk or gold
stuff. — In the eighth, he puts the zennar upon the idol. — In the ninth, he makes the
tilttk upon the idol in twelve places — In the tenth, he throws over the idol flowers or
green leaves. — In the eleventh, he fumigates it with perfumes. — In the twelfth, he
lights a lamps with ghee. — In the thirteenth, he places before the idol trays of food,
according to his ability ; which are distributed among the by-standers, as the holy
relics of the idol's banquet. — In the fourteenth, he stretches himself at full length
with his face towards the ground, and disposes his body in such a manner, as that
his eight members touch the ground, namely, the two knees, two hands, forehead,
nose, and cheeks. These kinds of prostration are also performed to great men in
Hind oost'hantL — In the fifteenth, he makes a circuit around the idol several times.——
In the sixteenth, he stands in the posture of a slave, with his hands uplifted, and
asks permission to depart.'— At some of the great festivals, boys in play make an
image, paint it, and beg from house to house for the offerings, as rice, fruits, &c.
When all things are ready, some one becomes the priest, and performs the ceremonies.
Thus early are the Hindoo children initiated into their idolatrous rites. If, however,
the parents of these children discover what is going on, they forbid it. and warn the
children, that the god will be displeased. If it be an image of Kalee, or any ferocious
deity, they endeavour to terrify the children, by telling them that the goddess is a
fury, and will certainly devour them. If any elderly boy be concerned, and the
image made be a good one, the parents will sometimes, rather than destroy it, call
a bramhft'n, and have the ceremonies performed in a regular way.
i Instead of hymns in honour of the gods, the Hindoos, at present, as has been
already noticed, introduce before the idol little beside filthy songs. Some bramhhns
acknowledge, that not a single Hindoo seeks in his religion any thing of a moral
nature. A real Christian, when he approaches God, prays, ' Create in me a clean
heart, and renew a right spirit within me.' ' Lead me not into temptation, but
deliver me from evil.' « Give me neither poverty nor riches.' 'Guide me with thy
xlvi
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
\
the dirine attributes, nor to moral duty. The Hindoo rehearses in his mind
the form of the god, his colour., the number of his beads, eyes, hands, &c. and
nothing more.
Eepeating the names of the gods, particularly of a person's guardian deity,
is one of the most common, and is considered as one of the most efficacious
acts of devotion prescribed in the shastms. The oftener the name is repeated,
the greater the merit. Persons may be seen in the streets repeating these
names either alone, or at work, or to a parrot ; others, as they walk along,
count the repetitions by the beads of their necklace, which they then hold in
the hand.
A great number of prescribed ceremonies, called vrutus, exist among the
Hindoos, which are practised with the hope of obtaining some blessing : females
chiefly attend to these ceremonies.
Fasting is another act of religious merit among the Hindoos. Some fasts
are extremely severe, and a Hindoo who is very religious must often abstain
from food. It is commended, not as an act of preparation for some duty,
calling for great attention of mind, but as an instance of self-denial in honour
of the gods, which is very pleasing to them. One man may fast for another,
and the merit of the action is then transferred to the person paying and em-
ploying another in this work.
Gifts to bramhuns are highly meritorious, as might be expected in a system
exclusively formed for their exaltation : the more costly the gift, the more
valuable the promissory note, drawn on heaven, aud presented to the giver.
Giving entertainments to bramhuns is also another action which procures
heaven.
Hospitality to travellers is placed among the duties of the Hindoos, and
is practised to a considerable extent, though the distinctions of caste destroy
the feelings which should give efficacy to this excellent law. So completely
do these distinctions destroy every generous and benevolent feeling, that many
unfortunate creatures perish in the sight of those who are well able to relieve
them, but who exonerate themselves from this duty, by urging, that they are
of another caste : a bramhun finds friends every where, but the caste has sunk
counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory.' A Hindoo, when he supplicates his
god, prays for riches, or for recovery from sickness, or for a son, or for revenge
upon his enemy. Sometimes the worshipper places himself before the image in a
sitting posture, and, closing his eyes, prays, ' Oh, god ! give me beauty, let me be
praised, give me prosperity, give me a son, give me riches, give me long life, or,
give me health, &c.' The eldest female of the house, throwing her garment over
her shoulder, and sitting on her hams, joining her hands, in the same manner, praj^s,
' 0 god ! preserve these my childen, and my son's wife ; do not suffer us to have
sorrow again in our family, (referring to some death in the preceding year,) and then
I will present offerings to thee every year :' saying this, she prostrates herself before
the image. Sometimes a woman, after bathing, stretches her arms towards the sun,
and says, ' 0 god of day ! such a one has ill-treated me ; do thou afflict her. See ! I
supplicate thee without having touched or tasted food.' A poor man, in the presence
of an image, sometimes prays, ' 0 god I fill me every day with food. I ask no more.'
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
xlvii
the afflicted sh5odrri to the level of the beasts': when a bramhun is relieved,
however, he is not indebted to the benevolence of his countrymen, so much as
to the dread which they feel lest neglect of a bramhun should bring upon them
the wrath of the gods.
Digging pools, planting trees for fruit or shade, making roads for pilgrims,
&c. are other duties commanded by the shastru, and practised by the modern
Hindoos.
Reading and rehearsing the pooranns are prescribed to the Hindoos as
religious duties, and many attend to them at times in a very expensive
manner.
Other ceremonies contrary to every principle of benevolence exist among
this people, one of which is to repeat certain formulas, for the sake of injuring,
removing, or destroying enemies. Here superstition is made an auxiliary to
the most diabolical passions-
But what shall we say of the murder of widows on the funeral pile? — this
too is an act of great piety. The priest assists the poor wretch, in her last
moments, before she falls on the pile, with the formulas given by the Hindoo
legislators : and, to complete this most, horrible of all religious customs, the
son of this wretched victim kindles the fire in the very face of the mother who
gave him birth. Can there possibly be a greater outrage on human nature ?
Is there any thing like it in all the records of the most wild and savage nations ?
The North American Indian proceeds with the utmost coolness, it is true, in the
work of scalping and minder, but the victim is his enemy, taken in battle; heie
the victim is an innocent woman — a mother — a widow, her heart fresh bleeding
under the loss of the companion of her youth— the murderer, her own
child— dragged to the work by the mild bramhun, who dances, and shouts, and
drowns the cries of the family and the victim in the horrid sounds of the drum.
Such is the balm which is here poured into the broken heart of the widow, Nor
are these unheard of, unparalleled murders, perpetrated in the night, in some
impenetrable forest ; but in the presence of the whole population of India, in
open day : — and oh ! horrible ! most horrible ! not less than five thousand of
these unfortunate women, it is supposed, are immolated every twelve months.
I have heard that the son sometimes manifests a great reluctance to the deedr
and that some of these human sacrifices are almos' dead before they are touched
by the flames." It is certain, that in many cases the family do much to
prevent the female from being thus drawn into the flaming gulph ; but such
are the effects of supetstition, and the influence of long established customs,
r The shastru prescribes, that he should do it with his head turned from the pile.
Kennett, describing the Roman funeral, says, ' The next of blood performed the cere-
mony of lighting the pile, which they did with a torch, turning their face all the while
the other way, as if it was done out of necessity and not willingly.'
s These barbarous murderers say, that when a woman is thus frightened to death,
the gods, charmed with her devotion, have taken her before she entered upon this
holy act.
xlviii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
joined to the disgrace and terrors of a state of widowhood, that, in the first
moments of grief and distraction for the loss of her husband, reason is
overpowered, and the widow perishes on the funeral pile, the victim of grief,
superstition, and dread. Many widows are buried alive with the corpses of
their husbands.*
Voluntary suicide is not only practised to a dreadful extent among
the Hindoos, but the shastriis positively recommend the crime, and
promise heaven to the self-murderer, provided he die in the Ganges !
Nay, the bramhuns, as well as persons of other castes, assist those
who design thus to end life, of which the reader will find instances recorded
in pp. 245, 245, 248. In some places of the Ganges, deemed peculiarly
sacred and efficacious, infatuated devotees very frequently drown themselves.
A respectable bramhiin assured the author, that in a stay of only two months
* The following circumstance took place at Gondul-para, about 20 miles N. of
Calcutta, on the 18th of March, 1813, and was communicated to the author by Cap-
tain Kemp, an eye-witness. The description is nearly in his own words : — ' On Thurs-
day last, at nine in the morning, Vishwrmat'hu, one of our best workmen, who had
been sick but a short time, was brought down to the river side to expire : he was
placed, as is customary, on the bank, and a consultation held respecting the time he
would die ; the astrologer predicted, that his dissolution was near at hand. This sick
man was then immersed up to the middle in the river, and there kept for sometime ;
but death not being so near as was predicted, he was again placed on the beach, extend-
ed at full length, and exposed to a hot sun, where he continued the whole of the day>
excepting at those intervals, when it was supposed he was dying, when he was again
immersed in the sacred stream. I visited him in the evening ; he was sensible, but
had not the power of utterance ; he however was able to make signs with his hand,
that he did not wish to drink the river water, which they kept almost continually
pouring into his mouth by means of a small shell. He remained in this situation
during the night : in the morning the immersions commenced, and were continued at
intervals till about five in the evening, when he expired, or was literally murdered.
His wife, a young woman about sixteen years of age, hearing of his death, came to the
desperate resolution of being buried alive with the corpse. She was accompanied by
her friends down to the beach where the body lay, where a small branch of the Mango
tree was presented to her, which (as I understood) was setting a seal to her determina-
tion ; from which, after having accepted the branch, she could not retreat. I went to
her, and questioned her with respect to the horrid act she was about to perform,
whether it was voluntary or from persuasion : nothing of the latter appeared ; it was
entirely her own desire. I spoke to her relations on the heinousness of the crime they
were guilty of, in allowing the young creature thus to precipitate herself into the pre-
sence of her Creator uncalled for. Mrs. K. spoke both to the mother and the daughter
a good deal, but all to no purpose. The mother declared, that it was her daughter's
choice, who added, that she was determined to " go the road her husband had gone."
There was not the least appearance of regret observable in the mother's countenance,
or conduct. A woman, then, can " forget her sucking child, and forsake the child
of her womb :" the prophet seemed to think it only possible that there might exist
such a monster, but here it was realized ; here was a monster of a mother, that could
resign her child, the gift of a gracious Providence, and designed to be the comfort
and support of her old age ; — could, without the least apparent emotion, consign this
child alive to the tomb, and herself continue an unmoved spectator of the horrid deed.
At eight P. M. the corpse, accompanied by this self -de voted victim, was conveyed to
a place a little below our grounds, where I repaired, to behold the prepetration of a
crime which I could scarcely believe possible to be committed by any human being.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
xlix
at Allahabad, he saw about thirty persons drown themselves ! Lepers are
sometimes burnt alive with their own consent, to purify themselves from
disease in the next birth. Others throw themselves under the wheels of
Jngunnat'hns ponderous car, and perish instantly. Thousands perish annually
by disease and want on idolatrous pilgrimages ; and notwithstanding the
benevolent efforts of Mr. Duncan, it is pretty certain, that infanticide is still
practised to a great extent in various parts of Hindoost'hanrt, (see p. 251.)
I have, in p. 254, ventured to offer a calculation respecting the probable num-
ber of persons who perish annually, the victims of the bramhinical superstition,
and find, that it cannot be less than Ten Thousand Five Hundred.
• Another very popular act of Hindoo devotion is that of visiting sacred
places." There are few Hindoos grown up to mature age, who have not visited
one or more of these places, the resort of pilgrims ; many spend their whole
lives in passing repeatedly from one end of Hindoost'hanii to the other as pil-
grims : nor are these pilgrimages confined to the lower orders, householders and
The corpse was laid on the earth by the river till a circular grave of about fifteen feet
in circumference and five or six feet deep was prepared ; and was then (after some
formulas had been read) placed at the bottom of the grave in a sitting posture, with
the face to the N., the nearest relation applying a lighted wisp of straw to the top of
the head. The young widow now came forward, and having circumambulated the
grave seven times, calling out Hftree Bui ! Hftree Brtl ! in which she was joined by the
surrounding crowd, descended into it. I then approached within a foot of the grave, to
observe if any reluctance appeared in her countenance, or sorrow in that of her
relations : in hers no alteration was perceptible ; in theirs, there was the appearance of
exultation. She placed herself in a sitting posture, with her face to the back of her
husband, embracing the corpse with her left arm, and reclining her head on his
shoulders ; the other hand she placed over her own head, with her forefinger erect,
which she moved in a circular direction. The earth was then deliberately put round
them, two men being in the grave for the purpose of stamping it round the living and
the dead, which they did as a gardener does around a plant newly transplanted, till
the earth rose to a level with the surface, or two or three feet above the heads of
the entombed. As her head was 'covered some time before the finger of her right
hand, I had an opportunity of observing whether any regret was manifested ; but the
finger moved round in the same manner as at first, till the earth closed the scene.
Not a parting tear was observed to be shed by any of her relations, till the crowd
began to disperse, when the usual lamentations and howling commenced, without
sorrow.'
u A journey to Benares, &c. and the performance of religious ceremonies there,
are actions in the highest repute, for religious merit amongst the Hindoos. Many sir-
kars in Calcutta indulge the hope, that they shall remove all the sins they commit
in the serviee of Europeans (which every one knows are neither few nor small) by a
journey to Benares, before they die. The Hindoo pffndits declare, that even Europeans,
dying at Benares, though they may have lived all their days upon cow's flesh, will cer-
tainly obtain absorption into Brttmhfr. On this subject, they quote a couplet, in which
Benares is compared to a loose female, who receives all, and destroys their desire of
sin, by quenching their appetites. The Hindoo learned men also admit, that English-
men may partake of the blessings of their religion in two other instances, viz., if they
become firm believers in Ghnga, or die at Jftgrtnnat'brt-kshe'trit In all other respects,
the Hindoo heavens are all shut against eaters of cow's flesh.
G
1
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
learned bramhttns are equally infatuated, and think it necessary to visit one or
more of these spots for the purification of the soul before death. In some
instanoes, a river; in others, a phenomenon in nature ; and in others, a famous
idol, attracts the Hindoos. Large sums are expended by the rich, and by the
poor their little all, in these journies, in the fees to the bramhnns, and in ex-
penses at the sacred place. I have given an accouut of the ceremonies prepara-
tory to the pilgrimage, as well as of those which are performed when the pil-
grims arrive at the consecrated place ; to which are also added particulars of
the most frequented of these haunts of superstition.
For the expiation of sin, many different methods of atonement are pre-
scribed in the Hindoo writings ; many of which, however, have fallen into
disuse.
Lest the observance of all these acts of religious homage should fail to
secure happiness in a future state, the Hindoos are taught to repeat the names
of the gods in their last hours ; and are also enjoined to make presents to the
bramhnns, especially to their spiritual guides : their relations also immerse the
body of a diseased person up to the middle in the Ganges, and pour copiously
of this sacred water into the dying man.
To procure relief for the wandering spirit after death, they make to it
offerings of rice, &c, in a religious ceremony, almost universally attended to,
called the shraddhu, and on which very frequently a rich man expends not less
than 3 or 400,000 rupees. To make this offering at Gnya, is supposed to be
attended with the certain deliverance of the deceased from all sorrow.*
The pooranus teach, that after death the soul becomes united to an aerial
body, and passes to the seat of judgment, where it is tried by Ynnm, the Indian
Pluto, who decides upon its future destiny. It, however, remains in this
aerial vehicle, till the last shraddhu is performed, twelve months after death ;
when it passes into happiness or misery, according to the sentence of Yiimri.
The same works teach, that there are many places of happiness for the
devout, as well as of misery for the wicked ; that God begins to reward in
this life those who have performed works of merit, and punishes the wicked
here by various afflictions ; that indeed all present events, prosperous or
adverse, are the rewards or punishments inevitably connected with merit or
demerit, either in a preceding birth, or in the present life ; that where merit
preponderates, the person, after expiating sin by death and by sufferings in
hell, rises to a higher birth, or ascends to the heaven of his guardian deity.
x 4 Ah !' said a Hindoo one day, in the hearing of the author, lamenting the catas-
trophe, ' it is not every one, even of those who set out for Grtya, who reaches the
place. ' Another Hindoo, in the presence of the author, reproving a young bramhtin,
who refused to afford pecuniary help to his aged infirm parent, asked him, if this was
not the grand reason why a person entered into the marriage state, that he might have
a son, who, by offerings at Gtiya, might procure for him happiness after death ?
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
li
The joys of the Hindoo heavens are represented as wholly sensual, and
the miseries of the wicked as consisting in corporal punishment : the descrip-
tions of the former digust a chaste mind by their grossness, and those given
of the latter offend the feelings by their brutal literality.
Anxious to obtain the Confession of Faith of a Bramhun, from his
own pen, I solicited this of a man of superior understanding, and I here give
a translation of this article : —
' God is invisible, independent, ever-living, glorious, uncorrupt, all-wise,
the ever-blessed, the almighty ; his perfections are indescribable, and past
finding out ; he rules over all, supports all, destroys all, and remains after the
destruction of all ; there is none like him ; he is silence ; he is free from
passion, from birth, &c, from increase and decrease, from fatigue, the need
of refreshment, &c. He possesses the power of infinite diminution, and light-
ness, and is the soul of all.
' He created, and then entered into, all things, in which he exists in two
ways, untouched by matter, and receiving the fruits of practiced He now
assumes visible forms, for the sake of engaging the minds of mankind. The
different gods are parts of God, though his essence remains undiminished, as
rays of light leave the sun his undiminished splendour. He created the gods
to perform those things in the government of the world of which man was
incapable. Some gods are parts of other gods, and there are deities of still
inferior powers. If it be asked, why God himself does not govern the world,
the answer is, that it might subject him to exposure, and he chooses to be
concealed : he therefore governs by the gods, who are emanations from the one
God, possessing a portion of his power : he who worships the gods as the one
God, substantially worships God. The gods are helpful to men in all human
affairs, but they are not friendly to those who seek final absorption ; being-
jealous lest, instead of attaining absorption, they should become Jgods, and
rival them.
* Religious ceremonies procure a fund of merit to the performer, which
raises him in every future birth, and at length advances him to heaven, (where
he enjoys happiness for a limited period,) or carries him towards final absorp-
tion.
' Happiness in actual enjoyment is the fruit of the meritorious works of
preceding births ; but very splendid acts of merit procure exaltation even in
the birth in which they are performed. So, the misery wThich a person is now
enduring, is the fruit of crimes in a former birth: enormous crimes however
meet with punishment in the life in which they are committed. The miseries
t Here an objection presses hard on the bramhftn, that it is God, or Spirit, then,
in matter, that suffers, since matter cannot suffer. To this he answers, that^the heart,
though it be inanimate, and, in consequence, unconscious matter, by its nearness to
spirit, becomes capable of joy and sorrow, and that this is the sufferer.
lii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
of a future state arise out of sins unremoved by former sufferings : an inanimate
state, and that of reptiles, are also called states of suffering. Absorption can
be obtained only by qualifications acquired on earth ; and to obtain this,
even an inhabitant of heaven must be born on earth. A person may sink to
earth again by crimes committed in heaven. The joys of heaven arise only
from the gratification of the senses. A person raised to heaven is considered
as a god.
' Every ceremony of the Hindoo religion is either accompanied by a
general prayer for some good, or is done from pure devotion, without hope of
reward ; or from a principle of obedience to the shastru, which has promised
certain blessings on the performance of such and such religious actions.
' Various sacrifices are commanded, but the most common one at present
is the burnt-offering with clarified butter, &c. It is performed to procure
heaven. — The worship of the gods is, speaking generally, followed by benefits
in a future state, as the prayers, praise, and offerings, please the gods. — Re-
peating the names of the gods procures heaven, for the name of god is like
fire, which devours every combustible. — Bathing is the means of purification
before religious services, and when attended to in sacred places, merits heaven.
— Gifts to the poor, and to persons of merit, and losing life to save another,
are actions highly meritorious, and procure for the person future happiness.
— Fasting is an act of merit, as the person refuses food in devotion to the
gods. — Vows to the gods procure heaven.— Praise offered to the gods in songs,
is efficacious in procuring future happiness.— Visiting holy places, a spiritual
guide, a father or a mother, destroys all sin. — Compassion, forbearance, tender-
ness, (regarding the shedding of blood,) speaking truth, entertaining strangers,
becoming the refuge of ^the oppressed, planting trees, cutting pools of water,
making flights of steps to holy rivers, and roads to holy places, giving water
to the thirsty, building temples and lodging-houses for travellers, hearing the
praise of the gods or a sacred book, &c. are actions which merit heaven. —
Religious austerities are useful to subdue the passions, and raise the mind to
a pure state. These austerities are rewarded either by heaven or absorption/
Thus far this bramhinical Confession of Faith. Its author has scarcely
noticed the amazing efficacy ascribed to religious abstraction, and the austeri-
ties practised by anchorites, though the doctrine of the vedus evidently favours
an ascetic life. Indeed, retirement from the world and abstraction of mind,
assisted by bodily austerities, is considered as the direct way to final beatitude ;
yet it is not denied, but that a person who continues in a secular state, may, by
performing the duties of his religion, accelerate his approach, either in this or
some future birth, to divine destiny. The yogee being thus exalted in the
Hindoo system of theology, and in consequence honoured by his countrymen, it
has become very common to embrace the life of a religious mendicant ; to do
which, indeed, among an idle, effeminate, and dissolute people, there are many
inducements very different from those of a religious nature : disappointments in
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION. liii
life, disagreeable domestic occurrences, wandering propensities, illicit connections,
and very often a wish to procure impunity in the commission of flagrant crimes,*
induce many to embrace such a life. Perhaps there is not a single instance at
present known, of a person's becoming an ascetic from the pure desire of ab-
sorption. In cases where there is the greatest appearance of such a desire, the
hermit possesses a motive no higher than that of exemption from the troubles of
mortal existence. I have given in this work an account of nearly twenty orders
of mendicants, (p. 294, &c.) the followers of different deities : these are the
scourge of the country, though the legitimate offspring of tins baneful super-
stition. Nor need we now expect to see realized the description of a yogee as
laid down in the shastru : this description never was realized ; those who have
received the highest fame as yogees, were as corrupt, perhaps, as the present
wretched imitators of these austerities. Many actions are attributed to them
which put human nature to the blush.
The sum of the Hindoo doctrine, then, is this : — spirit dwelling in bodies,
and partaking of the passions incident to residence in matter, is purified by
austerities and numerous transmigrations, nnd at length re-obtains absorption
into the divine nature. Religious practice leads to better destiny, and divine
destiny draws the person to abstraction and religious austerities.
Such is the Hindoo religion ; let us examine how far it is practised at
present. The ceremonies most popular are — the daily ablutions, repeating the
names of the gods, the daily worship of some idol, and visiting holy places.
The works of merit in greatest estimation are, entertaining bramhuns, building
temples, cutting pools, erecting landing-places to the Ganges, and expensive
offerings to deceased ancestors.
The strict bramb uns are distinguished by a scrupulous regard to bathing,
the daily worship of their guardian deity, and a proud contempt of the lower
orders. The voishntiviis are more sociable, and converse much among each
other on their favourite Krishnu, and the accidents connected with religious
pilgrimages.
' At present,' says the bramhun whose confession of faith has been given
in the preceding pages, ' nine parts in ten of the whole Hindoo population have
abandoned all conscientious regard to the forms of their religion. They rise
in the morning without repeating the name of god, and perform no religious
ceremony whatever till the time of bathing at noon, when, for fear of being re-
proached by their neighbours, they go and bathe : a few labour through the
usual ceremonies, which occupy about fifteen minutes ; the rest either merely
bathe, or hypocritically make a few of the signs used in worship, and then re-
z I have noticed in p. 293 the fact, that many hordes of mendicants are armed,
and live by public plunder ; but perhaps there are quite as many secret robbers to be
found in the garb of religious mendicants. Since this fact has become more generally
known, many have suffered the punishment of their crimes.
liv
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
turn home, and eat. This constitutes the whole of their daily practice. Among
these nine parts, moreover, there are many who spend the time of bathing in con-
versation with others, or in gazing at the women ; and some are to be found
who ridicule those who employ a greater portion of time in religious ceremonies :
" What ! you have taken an ass's load of religion." " Faith ! you are become
very religious — a very holy man. Eise, and go to your proper work." Three-
fourths of the single tenth part attend to the daily duties of their religion in the
following manner: — when they rise, they repeat the name of their guardian
deitv, make a reverential motion with the head and hands in remembrance of
their absent spiritual guide, then wash themselves in the house, and pursue their
business till noon. Should the wife or child have neglected to prepare the
flowers, &c. for worship, the master of the family scolds his wife in some such
words as these : — " Why do I labour to maintain you? It is not because you
can answer for me, or preserve me from punishment at death ; but that you
may assist me in these things, that I may repeat the name of God, and perpare
for a future state." If the son is to be reproved for such a neglect, the father
asks him, if he is not ashamed to spend so much time in play, careless how
much fatigue he undergoes to please himself, while he is unwilling to do the
smallest trifle to please the gods. He declares himself ashamed of such a family,
and desires to see their faces no more. He then gathers the flowers himself,
and going to the river side, takes some clay, examines whether it be free from
every impurity, lays it down, taking a morsel with him into the water, iramersse
himself once, and then rubs himself with the clay, repeating this prayer, " 0
earth ! thou bearest the weight of the sins of all : take my sins upon thee, and
grant me deliverance." He then invites to him the river goddesses Yrtmoona,
Godavuree, Suruswtitee, Nurnmda, Sindhoo, and Kaveree, that he may, in
Gunga, have the merit of bathing in them all at once, and again immerses
himself, after repeating, " On such a day of the month, on such a day of the
moon, &c. I (such a one) bathe in the southwards-flowing Gunga." He then
olFers up a prayer for himself in some such words as these ; — " Ubbnyn-chnrnnfi
praying for final happiness for ten millions of his family, bathes in Gunga :" and
then immerses again. Next, he repeats the day of the month, of the moon, &c,
and immerses himself, while he utters, " Let my guardian deity be propitious ;"
and then ascends the bank, wiping his hair, and repeating the praises of Gilnga,
as, " O Gunga, thou art the door of heaven, thou art the watery image of
religion, thou art the garland round the head of Shiva : the very craw-fish in
thee are happy, while a king at a distance from thee is miserable." He then
sits down, and repeats certain prayers to the sun for the removal of his sins,
among which is the celebrated gayutree, 41 Let us meditate on the adorable
light of the divine Ruler , (Savitree :) may it guide our intellects'* He next
pours out drink-offerings to Ynmu, to Brumha, Vishnoo, Roodrn, the eight
progenitors of mankind, to all the gods, and all living things in the three
worlds, to certain sages, and at length to his forefathers, praying that they
may hereby be satisfied. Now he forms, with the clay he had prepared, an
image of the tingu, and worships it ; which act includes praise to one of the
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION. lv
gods, prayers for preservation, meditation on the form of the idol, hymns on
the virtues of some deity, and repetitions of the names of the gods. He then
returns home, and repeats, if he has leisure, certain portions of one of the
shastrus. Before he begins to eat, he offers up his food to his guardian deity
saying, " I offer this food to such a god and after sitting, with his eyes
closed, as long as would be requisite to milk a cow, he takes the food and eata
it. In the evening, just before sun-set, if he have a temple belonging to him,
he presents some fruits, &c. to the image, repeats parts of the ceremonies of
the forenoon, and the name of some deity at considerable length. When he
retires to rest, he repeats (he word Pitdmu-nabhn, a name of Vishnoo. Perhaps
one person in ten thousand carries these ceremonies a little farther than this.'
As a person passes along the streets and roads he is continually reminded
of one or other of these ceremonies : — here 9its a man in his shop, repeating the
name of his guardian deity, or teaching it to his parrotb — there go half a dozen
voiragees, or other persons, making their journey to some holy place— here
passes a person, carrying a basket on his head, containing rice, sweetmeats,
fruits, flowers, &c. an offering to his guardian deity — here comes a man with a
chaplet of red flowers round his head, and the head of a goat in his hand, having
left the blood and carcase before the image of Kalee — there sits a group of Hin-
doos, listening to three or four persons rehearsing and chanting poetical versions
of the poorauiis — here sits a man in the front of his house reading one of the
pooranftV moving his body like the trunk of a tree in a high wind — and (early
in the morning) here comes a group of jaded wretches, who have spent the night
in boisterously signing filthy songs, and dancing in an indecent manner,
before the image of Doorga — add to this, the villagers, men and women,
coming dripping from the banks of the Ganges — and the reader has a
tolerable view of the Hindoo idolatry, as it stalks every day, along the streets
and roads, and as it may be recognized by any carelesss observer.
The reader will perceive, that in all these religious ceremonies not a
particle is found to interest or amend the heart ; no family bible, ' profitable
b This ceremony is supposed to bring great blessings both on the teacher and the
scholar : the parrot obtains heaven, and so does its master. Numbers of Hindoos,
particularly in a morning and evening, may be seen iu the streets walking about with
parrots in their hands, and repeating aloud to them, ' Radha-Krishnrt, Radha- Krishnrf,
Krishna", Krishnrf, Radha, Radha,' or ' Shivtt-Doorga,' or ' Kalee-tn'rah' . Some
are thus embloyed six months, others twelve or eighteen, before the parrot has
learnt hiB lesson. The merit consists in having repeated the name of a god so great a
number of times.
c Reading a book, or having it read at a person's house, even though the person
himself should not understand it, is a most meritorious action. The love of learning
for its own sake is unknown in Bengal : a Hindoo, if he applies to learning, always does
it to obtain rupees — or heaven. When he opens one of the shastrfts, or even an account
book, he makes a bow to the book. A shopkeeper, when he is about to balance his
books, uncertain how the balance will fall, makes a vow to some god, that if by his
favour he should not find himself in debt, he will present to him some offerings.
Ivi INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that men may be
thoroughly furnished unto all good works no domestic worship ; d no pious
assembly where the village preacher ' attempts each art, reproves each dull delay,
allures to brighter worlds, and leads the way.5 No standard of morals to re-
press the vicious ; no moral education in which the principles of, virtue and
religion may be implanted in the youthful mind. Here every thing that as-
sumes the appearance of religion, ends (if you could forget its impurity) in an
unmeaning ceremony, and leaves the heart cold as death to every moral
principle. Hence the great bulk of the people have abandoned every from and
vestige of religious ceremony. The bramhun who communicated this informa-
tion, attributed this general disregard of their religion to the kulee-yoogu. ; and
consoled himself with the idea, that this deplorable state of things was an exact
fulfilment of certain prophecies in the pooranus.
Some persons may plead, the doctrine of a state of future rewards and
punishments has always been supposed to have a strong influence on public
morals : the Hindoos not only have this doctrine in their writings, but are taught
to consider every disease and misfortune of life as an undoubted symptom of
moral disease and the terrific appearances of its close-pursuing punishment — can
this fail to produce a dread of vice, and a desire to merit the favour of the
Deity? I will still further assist the objector, and inform him, that the
Hindoo writings declare, that till every immoral taint is removed, every sin
atoned for, and the mind has obtained perfect abstraction from material objects,
it is impossible to be re-united to the Great Spirit; and that, to obtain this
perfection, the sinner must linger in many hells, and transmigrate through al-
most every form of matter. Great as these terrors are, there is nothing more
palpable than that, with most of the Hindoos, they do not weigh the weight of
a feather, compared with the loss of a rupee. The reason is obvious : every
Hindoo considers all his actions as the effect of his destiny ; he laments perhaps
his miserable fate, but he resigns himself to it without a struggle, like the
malefactor in a condemned cell. To this may be added, what must have forced
itself on the observation of every thoughtful observer, that, in the absence of
the religious principle, no outward terrors, especially those which are invisible
and future, not even bodily sufferings, are sufficient to make men virtuous. —
Painful experience proves, that even in a Christian country, if the religious
principle does not exist, the excellency and the rewards of virtue, and the
dishonour and misery attending vice, may be held up to men for ever, without
making a single convert.
But let us now advert to the pernicious errors inculcated in the Hindoo
writings, and to the vices and miseries engendered by the popular superstition : —
The Bhuguvut-Geeta contains the following most extraordinary descrip-
tion of God : — ' Sunjuyii. The mighty compound and divine being Huree,
having, 0 raja, thus spoken, made evident and to Urjoonu his supreme and
d The women and children take no share in the worship performed by the master
of the family. It is not supposed to belong to them. See p. 198.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Ivii
heavenly form ; of many a mouth and eye ; many a heavenly ornament ; many
an upraised weapon ; adorned with celestial robes and chaplets ; anointed with
heavenly essence ; covered with every marvellous thing ; the eternal God, whose
countenance is turned on every side ! The glory and amazing splendour of this
mighty being may be likened to the sun rising at once iuto the heavens, with a
thousand times more than usual brightness. The son of Pandoo then beheld
within the body of the god of gods, standing together, the whole universe
divided into its vast variety. He was overwhelmed with wonder, and every
hair was raised an end. He bowed down his head before the god, and thus
addressed him with joined hands: — Urjoonii. I behold, 0 god ! within thy
breast, the devus assembled, and every specific tribe of beings. I see Bmmha,
that diety sitting on his lotus-throne ; all the rishees and heavenly oorngiis : I see
thyself, on all sides, of infinite shape, formed with abundant arms, and bellies,
and mouths, and eyes ; but I can neither discover thy beginning, thy middle,
nor again thy end. 0 universal lord, form of the universe ! I see thee with a
crown, and armed with club and chftkra, a mass of glory, darting refulgent
beams around. I see thee, difficult to be seen, shining on all sides with light
immeasurable, like the ardent fire, or glorious sun. I see thee of valour infinite ;
the sun and moon thy eyes ; thy mouth a flaming fire ; and the whole world
shining with reflected glory ! The space between the heavens and the earth is
possessed by thee alone, and every point around ; the three regions of the uni-
verse, 0 mighty spirit ! behold the wonders of thy awful countenance with
troubled minds. Of the celestial bands, some I see fly to thee for refuge ;
whilst some, afraid, with joined hands sing forth thy praise. The mlihiirshees,
holy bands, hail thee, and glorify thy name with adoring praises. The roodriis,
the adityns, the viisoos, and all those beings the world esteemeth good ; iishwinrt,
and koomaru, the muroots and the ooshmiipa9, the gundhdrviis and yiikshns,
with the holy tribes of usoonis ; all stand gazing on thee, and all alike amazed !
The worlds, alike with me, are terrified to behold thy wondrous form gigantic ;
with many mouths and eyes ; with many arms, and legs, and breasts ; with
many bellies, and with rows of dreadful teeth ! Thus as I see thee, touching the
heavens, and shining with such glory ; of such various hues ; with widely-op-
ened mouths, and bright expanded eyes ; I am disturbed within me ; my
resolution faileth me, 0 Yishnoo ! and I find no rest ! Having beholden thy
dreadful teeth, and gazed on thy countenance, emblem of time's last fire, I know
not which way I turn ! I find no peace ! Have mercy then, O god of gods !
thou mansion of the universe! The sons of Dhriturashtrft, now, with all those
rulers of the land, Bheeshmii, Dronii, the son of Sootu, and even the fronts of
our army, seem to be precipitating themselves hastily into thy mouths, discover-
ing such frightful rows of teeth ! whilst some appear to stick between thy teeth
with their bodies sorely mangled.'6 — It should be observed, that this frightful
description of the Hindoo Supreme Being does not relate to the ferocious Kaleea
e Wilkins's translation of the BhttgoViftft Geeta.
H
Iviii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
drinking the blood of the giants ; but it is the playful Krishiui who thus shews
his dreadful teeth, with the mangled bodies of the family of Dhritiirashtra
sticking between them.
No question occurs so frequently in the Hindoo shastriis as this — ' What
is God ?' To know whether he exists or not, page upon page has been written ;
and this question has been agitated in every period of Hindoo history, wherever
two or three pandits happened to meet, with a solicitude, but, at the same time?
with an uncertainty, which carries us at once to the apostolic declaration, ' The
world by wisdom knew not God.' Some pundits call him the invisible and
ever-blessed ; others conceive of him as possessing form : others have the idea
that he exists like an inconceivably small atom ; sometimes he is male ; at other
times female ; sometimes both male and female, producing a world by conjugal
union ; sometimes the elements assume his place, and at other times he is a
deified hero. Thus in 330,000,000 of forms, or names, this nation, in the
emphatical language of St. Paul, has been, from age to age, c feeling after' the
Supreme Being, like men groping c in the region and shadow of death and,
after so many centuries, the question is as much undetermined as ever — What
is God ?
One day, in conversation with the Sungskrita head-pundit of the College
of Fort William, on the subject of God, this man, who is truly learned in his
own shastrus, gave the author, from one of their books, the following parable :
— In a certain country there existed a village of blind men, who had heard of an
amazing animal called the elephant, of the shape of which, however, they could
procure no idea. One day an elephant passed through the place : the villagers
crowded to the spot where the animal was standing ; and one of them seized his
trunk, another his ear, another his tail, another one of his legs. After thus
endeavouring to gratify their curiosity, they returned into the village, and sittitfg
down together, began to communicate their ideas on the shape of the elephant
to the villagers : the man who had seized his trunk said, he thought this animal
must be like the body of the plantain tree ; he who had touched his ear was of
opinion, that he was like the winnowing fan ; the man who had laid hold of his
tail said, he thought he must resemble a snake ; and he who had caught his leg
declared, he must be like a pillar. An old blind man of some judgment was
present, who, though greatly perplexed in attempting to reconcile these jarring
notions, at length said — c You have all been to examine this animal, and what
you report, therefore, cannot be false : I suppose, then, that the part resembling
the plantain tree must be his trunk ; what you thought similar to a fan must be
his ear ; the part like a snake must be the tail ; and that like a pillar must be
his leg.' In this way the old man, uniting all their conjectures, made out
something of the form of the elephant. — * Kespecting God/ added the pundit,
e we are all blind ; none of us have seen him ; those who wrote the shastrus, like
the old blind man, have collected all the reasonings and conjectures of mankind
together, and have endeavoured to form some idea of the nature of the divine
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
lix
Being.' e It is an irresistible argument in favour of the majesty, simplicity,
and truth of the Holy Scriptures, that nothing of this uncertainty has been left
on the mind of the most illiterate Christian. However mysterious the subject,
we never hear such a question started in Christian countries — What is God ?
The doctrine of a plurality of gods, with their consequent intrigues, crimi-
nal amours, quarrels, and stratagems to counteract each other, has produced the
most fatal effects on the minds of men. Can we expect a people to be better
than their ^ods '? Briimha was inflamed with evil desires towards his own
daughter. f — Vishnoo, when incarnate as Banmna, deceived king Bulee, and
deprived him of his kingdom.* — Shivfi's wife was constantly jealous on account
of his amours, and charged him with associating with the women of a low caste
at Coocb-Behar. The story of Shiva and Mohinee, a female form of Vishnoo;
is shockingly indelicate.11 — Yrihaspittee, the spiritual guide of the gods, com-
mitted a rape on his eldest brother's wife. 1 — Intra was guilty of dishonouring
the wife of his spiritual guide. k — Soory a ravished a virgin named Koontee.1 —
Yamii, in a passion, kicked his own mother, who cursed him, and afflicted him
with a swelled leg, which to this day the worms are constantly devouring.*—
Ugnee was inflamed with evil desires towards six virgins, the daughters of as
many sages ; but wras overawed by the presence of his wife n — Bnlnramu was
a great drunkard0 . — Vayoo was cursed by Dakshii, for making his daughters
crooked wThen they refused his embraces. He is also charged with a scandalous
connection with a female monkey. p — When Viiroona was walking in his own
heaven, he was so smitten with the charms of Oorvtishee, a courtezan, that,
after along contest, she was scarcely able to extricate herself from him. q —
Krishnii's thefts, wars, and adulteries are so numerous, that his whole history
seems to be one uninterrupted series cf crimes. r — In the images of Kalee, she
is represented as treading on the breast of her husband, a — Lukshmee and
Saras wiitee, the wives of Yishnoo, were continually quarrelling. * — It is worthy
of enquiry, how the world is governed by these gods more wicked than men,
that we may be able to judge how far they can be the objects of faith, hope,
and affection. Let us open the Hindo sacred writings ; here we see the Creator
and the Preserver perpetually counteracting each other. Sometimes the Preserver
is destroying, and at other times the Destroyer is preserving. On a certain
occasion,u Shiva granted to the great enemy of the gods, Baviina, a blessing
which set all their heavens in an uproar, and drove the 330,000,000 of gods
into a state of desperation. Briimha created Koombhu-kiirnn, a monster
larger than the whole island of Lftnka ; but was obliged to doom him to an
almost perpetual sleep, to prevent his producing an universal famine. This
e Acts xvii. 27. f See Kalika pooranil s See Mfihabharrttrt.
h Ibid. i Ibid. k ibid. 1 Ibid.
m See Mtfhabharfttri. n Ibid. • Ibid. p See Kamayfmft. q Ibid.
* See tbe Shree-bhagftvfrtit 8 See the Markfrndeytt poorann*. fc See the
Vrihh'ddhttnnft' pooranft. u See the Ramyftntf.
1*
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
ood is often represented as bestowing a blessing, to remove the effects of which
Vishnoo is obliged to become incarnate : nay, these effects have not in some cases
been removed till all the gods have been dispossessed of their thrones, and obliged
to go a begging ; till all human affairs have been thrown into confusion, and
all the elements seized and turned against the Creator, tite Preserver, and the
Reproducer. When some giant, blessed by Briimha, has destroyed the creation,
Vishnoo and Shivn. have been applied to ; but they have confessed that they
could do nothing for the tottering universe.
Reverence for tne gods, especially among the poor, as might be expected,
does not exceed their merits ; yet it is a shocking fact, that language like the
following should be used respecting what the Hindoos suppose to be the Provi-
dence which governs the world : — when it thunders awfully, respectable Hin-
doos say, ' Oh ! the gods are giving us a bad day the lower orders say, • The
rascally gods are dying.' During a heavy rain, a woman of respectable caste
frequently says, e Let the gods perish ! my clothes are all wet.' A man of low
caste says, ' These rascally gods are sending more rain.'
In witnessing such a state of gross ignorance, on a subject of infinite
moment to men, how forcibly do we feel the truth and the wisdom of the
declaration of the Divine Author of the Christian religion, ' This is life eternal,
to know thee the only true God !' A correct knowledge of the Divine perfec-
tions, in the mind of a sincere Christian, is a treasure which transcends in value
all the riches of the earth : for instance, how much does the doctrine of the
Divine Unity tend to fix the hope and joy of the Christian ! but the poor Hin-
doo knows not, amongst so many gods, upon whom to call, or in whom to trust.
In the spirituality of the Divine Nature, united to omniscience and omnipresence,
the Christian finds a large field for the purest and most sublime contemplations ;
but the degraded idolater, walking round his pantheon, sees beings that fill him
only with shame or terror : he retires from the image of Kalee overwhelmed with
horror, and from those of Radha -Krishna, with confusion and contempt — or
else inflamed with concupiscence. How effectual to awaken the fears and
excite the salutary apprehensions of those who neglect their best interests,
is the scripture doctrine of the Divine Purity and Justice ; but the
wretched Hindoo has the examples of the most corrupt beings, even in his
gods, to lead him to perdition. How necessary to the happiness of a good
man, are just ideas of the wisdom, and equity, and beneficence, of providential
dispensations : — the reader has seen how impossible it is for a Hindoo to
derive the smallest consolation in adversity from the doctrine of the shastms
respecting the government of the world. How consoling to a person, sensible of
many failings, is the doctrine of the Divine Mercy : — but these heathens have
nothing held out to encourage the hopes of the penitent ; nothing short of
perfect abstraction, and the extinction of every desire, qualify for deliverance
from matter, — The sincere Christian, with his knowledge of God, ' casteth all
his care on his Father, who is in heaven and the language of his mind,
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Ixi
invigorated by the living waters flowing from the fountain of eternal truth, is,
* Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel ' Though I walk through the valley
and even the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me ; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.'
The Hindoo writings farther teach, that it is the Great Spirit which is
diffused through every form of animated matter; that actions of every kind are
his ; that he is the charioteer, and the body the chariot ;x that it is the highest
attainment of human wisdom to realize the fact, that the human soul and
Briimhu are one and the same. By this doctrine all accountability is destroyed,
and liability to punishment rendered preposterous. How often has the author
heard it urged by the most sensible Hindoos, that the moving cause of every
action, however flagitious, is God ; that man is an instrument upon which God
plays what tune he pleases. Another modification of this doctrine is that of
fate, or unchangeable destiny, embraced, without a dissentient voice, by all the
Hindoos. Thus the Deity on his throne is insulted as the author of all crimes,
and men are emboldened to rush forward in the swiftest career of iniquity.
The sacred writings of the Hindoos encourage the bramhuns to despise
the great body of the people, and teach them, that the very sight and touch of
a shoodru renders them unclean. To be contented in ignorance is the duty of
a shoodru, as well as to drink with reverence and hope the water in which the
bramhun has dipped his foot. The services too and the hopes held forth by
this religion, are almost exclusively confined to the bramhuns. The shoodru
is supposed to be born to evil destiny ; and the only hope he can indulge is,
that after a long succession of transmigrations he may probably be born a
bramhun.
The subjugation of the passions, so much insisted upon in the Hindoo
shastriis, applies to all virtuous as well as vicious desires. The person who is
divested of all desire, even that of obtaining God, is described as having arrived
at the summit of perfection. The love of parents, of children, &c. is an
imperfection, according to the Hindoo code : hence says Krishna, c Wisdom is
exemption from attachment and affection for children, wife, and home7
x See the Vedanttf-sarfr.
y At the time a learned native was assisting the Rev. Mr. Carey in the transla-
tion oi the New Testament into the Sftngskritrf, when such passages as these were
translating, ' Henceforth know I no man after the flesh ' We are dead, and our life is
hid,' &c. ' I am crucified to the world ;' ' We are fools for Christ ;' ' We are made a
spectacle,' &c. he exclaimed, ' This is pure voirageeism : Paul was a true Purum-
hungsee.' Yet the divine principles upon which Paul trampled upon the world, and
devoted himself supremely to God, have no existence in the shatrfts. The Hindoo
principle is mere stoicism ; its origin is either selfishness, or infatuated ambition : but
the principle of the apostle, was the love of Christ, who died on a cross for his
enemies— as he himself says, « The love of Christ, like an irresistible torrent, bears us
away 4 If we are beside ourselves, it is for your sakes.'
Ixii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
These shastrfts also teach, that sin may be removed by the slightest cere-
mony ; and thus, instead of reforming, they promise impunity in transgression.
See different stories in pp. 51, 168, 170.
The Mt'huryvn vedu contains many prayers for the destruction of enemies ;
and gives a list of offerings proper to be presented to Bhiigiiv'rttee, that she may
be induced to assist in the gratification of revengeful passions : among the rest,
the worshipper is to make a paste image of a man, cut off its head, and offer
this head to the goddess, with a burnt-sacrifice, &c. Is it not reasonable to
suppose, that human sacrifices preceded the cutting off the head of this man of
paste ; and that one man was sacrificed and offered to the gods to induce them
to destroy another ?
In the Institutes of Miinoo a man is allowed to commit adultery, if the
female consent ; to steal, for the sake of performing a religious ceremony ; and
to perjure himself, from benevolent motives : they also allow of lying, to
preserve the life of a bramlmn, to appease an angry wife, or to please a mistress. z
What is still worse, in this code a bramhiin, in case of want, is permitted to
steal, not from the rich merely, but — from his slave ! It is a common senti-
ment among this people, that in secular transactions lying is absolutely necessary ;
and perjury is so common, that it is impossible to rely upon the testimony of
Hindoo witnesses. The natives ridicule the idea of administering justice by
oral testimony.
I have given in p. 282, a few examples of persons raised to heaven
by their own works, to shew that these works have nothing to do with
real morality. But how shall we describe the unutterable abominations con-
nected with the popular superstition ? The author has witnessed scenes which
can be clothed in no language, and has heard of other abominations practised in
the midst of religious rites, and in the presence of the gods, which, if they
could be described, would fill the whole Christian world with disgust and
horror. Let impenetrable darkness cover them till ' the judgment of the
great day.'
Men are sufficiently corrupt by nature, without any outward excitements
to evil in the public festivals ; nor have civil nor spiritual terrors, the frowns of
God and governors united, been found sufficient to keep within restraint the
z If a man, by the impulse of lust, tell lies to a woman, or if his own life would
otherwise be lost, or all the goods of his house spoiled, or if it is for the benefit of a
bramhhn, in such affairs falsehood is allowable.' Halhetfs Code of Gentoo Laws.— Row
can we wonder that the Hindoos should be so addicted to falsehood, when even in the
rig-vedh\ approached with profound reverence by so many Christian infidels, we find
monstrous exaggerations like the following ?— * Bhh'rh'tu' distributed in Mnshnarh* a
hundred and seven thousand millions of black elephants with white tusks, and decked
with gold.' < A sacred fire was righted for Bhnrfttif, son of Dooshhntri, in Sachigoontf,
at which a thousand bramhtfns shared a thousand millions of cows a piece.' See Mr.
Colebroohe's Essay.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
overflowings of iniquity : — but what must be the moral state of that country,
where the sacred festivals, and the very forms of religion, lead men to every
species of vice ! These festivals and public exhibitions excite universal atten-
tion, and absorb, for weeks together, almost the whole of the public
conversation :]and such is the enthusiasm with which they are hailed, that the
whole country seems to be thown into a ferment : health, property, time,
business, every thing is sacrificed to them. In this manner are the people
prepared to receive impressions from their national institutions. If these
institutions were favourable to virtue, the effects would be most happy ; but as.
in addition to their fascination, they are exceedingly calculated to corrupt the
mind, the most dreadful consequences follow, and vice, like a mighty torrent,
flows through the plains of Bengal, with the force of the flood-tide of the
Ganges, carrying along with it young and old, the learned and the ignorant,
rich and poor, all castes and descriptions of people — into an awful eternity !
In short, the characters of the gods, and the licentiousness which prevails
at their festivals, and abounds in their popular works, with the enervating
nature of the climate, have made the Hindoos the most effeminate and corrupt
people on earth. I have, in the course of this wrork, exhibited so many
proofs of this fact, that I will not again disgust the reader by going into
the subject. Suffice it to say, that fidelity to marriage vows is almost unknown
among the Hindoos ; the intercourse of the sexes approaches very near to that
of the irrational animals. The husband almost invariably lives in criminal
intercourse durirjg the pupilage of his infant wife ; and she, if she becomes a
widow, cannot marry, and in consequence, being destitute of a protector and of
every moral principle, becomes a willing prey to the lascivious.
Add to all this, the almost incredible number of human victims which annu-
ally fall in this Aceldama. I have ventured on an estimate of the number of
Hindoos who annually perish, the victims of the bramhinical religion ; (p.
254,) and have supposed, that they cannot amount to less than 10,500 !
Every additional information I obtain, and the opinions of the best informed
persons with whom I am acquainted, confirm me in the opinion, that this
estimate is too low, that the havoc is far greater, however difficult it may be
to bring the mind to contemplate a scene of horror which out-does all that has
ever been perpetrated in the name of religion by all the savage nations put to-
gether. These cruelties, together with the contempt which the Hindoos feel for
the body as a mere temporary shell, cast off at pleasure, and the disorganizing
effects of the caste, render them exceedingly unfeeling and cruel : of which their
want of every national provision fur the destitute ; their leaving multitudes to
perish before their own doors, unpitied and even unnoticed ; the inhuman manner
in which they burn the bodies of their deceased relations, and their savage
triumph when spectators of a widow burning in the flames of the funeral pile,
are awful examples.
Ixiv
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
But to know the Hindoo idolatry, as it is, a person must wade through
the filth of the thirty-six pooratms and other popular books — he must read
and hear the modern popular poems and songs — he must follow the bramhun
through his midnight orgies, before the image of Kalee, and other goddesses ; or
he must accompany him to the nightly revels, the jatras, and listen to the filthy
dialogues which are rehearsed respecting Krishna and the daughters of the milk-
men ; or he must watch him, at midnight, choking, with the mud and waters of
the Ganges, a wealthy rich relation, while in the delirium of a fever ; or, at the
same hour, while murdering an unfaithful wife, or a supposed domestic enemy ;
burning the body before it is cold, and washing the blood from his hands in
the sacred stream of the Ganges ; or he must look at the bramhun, hurrying
the trembling half-dead widow round the funeral pile, and throwing her, like a
long of wood by the side of the dead body of her husband, tying her, and then
holding her down with bamboo levers till the fire has deprived her of the power
of rising and running away. — After he has followed the bramhun through all
these horrors, he will only have approached the threshold of this temple of
Moloch, and he will begin to be convinced, that to know the Hindoo idolatry,
as it is, a man must become a Hindoo — rather, he must become a bramhun ;
for a poor shoodru, by the very circumstances of his degradation, is restrained
from many abominations which bramhtms alone are privileged to commit. And
when he has done this, let him meditate on this system in its effects on the mind
of the afflicted or dying Hindoo, as described in pp. 277, 278, and 285 ; on
reading which description he will perceive, that in distress the Hindoo utters
the loudest murmurs against the gods, and dies in the greatest perplexity and
agitation of mind.
The state of things serves to explain the mysterious dispensations of Provi-
dence, in permitting the Hindoos to remain s© long in darkness, and in causing
them to suffer so much formerly under their Mahometan oppressors. The mur-
der of so many myriads of victims has armed heaven against them. Let us
hope that now, in the midst of judgment, a gracious Providence has remembered
mercy, and placed them under the fostering care of the British government,
that they may enjoy a happiness to which they have been hitherto strangers.
If then this system of heathenism communicates no purifying knowledge
of the divine perfections, supplies no one motive to holiness while living, no com-
fort to the afflicted, no hope to the dying ; but on the contrary excites to every
vice, and hardens its followers in the most flagrant crimes ; how are we to account
for the conduct of its apologists, except in the recollection, that the sceptical part
of mankind have always been partial to heathenism. Voltaire, Gibbon, Hume,
&c. have been often charged with a strong partiality for the Grecian and Eoman
idolatries ; and many Europeans in India are suspected of having made large
strides towards heathenism. Even Sir Wm. Jones, whose recommendation of
the Holy Scriptures (found in his Bible after his death) has been so often and
so deservedly quoted, it is said, to please his pundit, was accustomed to study
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Ixv
the shastriis with the image of a Hindoo god placed on his table: — his fine
metrical translations of idolatrous hymns are known to every lover of verse. d
In the same spirit, we observe, that figures and allusions to the ancient idola-
tries are retained in almost all modern poetical compositions, and even in some
Christian writings.
However wonderful this partiality of professed Christians to heathenism
may be, it is not more extraordinary than the extravagant lengths into which
some learned men have gone in their expectations from the antiquity of the
Hindoo writings. Mr. Halhed seems to prefer Hindooism to Christianity pure-
ly on account of its boasted antiquity6. Dr. Stiles, president of Yale College,
in North America, formed such an enthusiastic expectation from the amazing
antiquity of the Hindoo writings, that he actually wrote to Sir William Jones,
to request him to search among the Hindoos for the Adamic books. Had not
this gentleman been a zealous Christian,- it is likely his extravagant expectations
might have led him to ask Sir William to translate and send him a book two or
three millions of years old, written in some krilpli amidst the endless succession
of worlds.
For sometime, a very unjust and unhappy impression appeared to have
been made on the public mind, by the encomiums passed on the Hindoo writings.
In the first place, they were thus elevated in their antiquity beyond the Chris-
tian Scriptures^ the writings of Moses having been called the productions of
yesterday, compared with those of the bramhiins. The contents of these books
also were treated with the greatest reverence ; the primitive religion of the Hin-
doos, it was said, revealed the most sublime doctrines, and inculcated a pure
morality. We were taught to make the greatest distinction between the
ancient and modern religion of the Hindoos ; for the apologists for Hindooism
did not approve of its being judged of by present appearances. Some persons
endeavoured to persuade us, that the Hindoos were not idolaters, because they
maintained the unity of God ; though they worshipped the works of their own
hands as God, and though the number of their gods was 330,000,000. It is
d ' I could not help feeling a degree of regret, in reading lately the Memoirs of the
admirable and estimable Sir William Jones. Some of his researches in Asia have no
doubt incidentally served the cause of religion ; but did he think the last possible di-
rect service had been rendered to Christianity, that his accomplished mind was left at
leisure for hymns to the Hindoo gods ? Was not this a violation even of the neutrality,
and an offence, not only against the gospel, but against theism itself ? I know what
may be said about personification, license of poetry, and so on : but should not a wor-
shipper of God hold himself under a solemn obligation to adjure all tolerance of even
poetical figures that can seriously seem, in any way whatever, to recognize the pagan
divinities, or abominations, as the prophets of Jehovah would have called them ? What
would Elijah have said to such an employment of talents ? It would have availed little
to have told him, that these divinities were only personifications (with their appropriate
representative idols) of objects in nature, of elements, or of abstractions. He would
have sternly replied — And was not Baal, whose prophets I destroyed, the sams ?' See
Fosters incomparable Essays.
e Is Mr. Halhed an example of the amazing credulity of unbelievers in every case,
wherein the Holy Bible is not concerned ? When he wrote his ' Code of Gentoo Laws/
Ixvi
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
very probable, that the unity of God has been a sentiment amongst the
philosophers of every age ; and that they wished it to be understood, that
they worshipped the One God, whether they bowed before the image of Moloch,
Jupiter, or Kalee : yet mankind have generally concluded, that he who worships
an image is an idolater ; and I suppose they will continue to think so, unless, in
this age of reason, common sense should be turned out of doors.
Now, however, the world has had some opportunity of deciding upon the
claims of the Hindoo writings, both as it respects their antiquity, and the value
of their contents. Mr. Colebrooke's essay on the vedfis, and his other import-
ant translations ; the Bhugiivut-Geeta, translated by Mr. Wilkins ; the trans-
lation of the Ramayunii, several volumes of which have been printed ; some
valuable papers in the Asiatic Researches ; with other translations by different
Siingskrita scholars ; have thrown a great body of light on this subject : — and
this light is daily increasing.
Many an object appears beautiful when seen at a distance, and through a
mist ; but when the fog has dispersed, and the person has approached it, he
smiles at the deception. Such is the exact case with these books, and this
system of idolatry. Because the public, for want of being more familiar with the
subject, could not ascertain the point of timeSvhen the Hindoo shastrus were
written, they therefore at once believed the assertions of the bramhrms and their
friends, that their antiquity was unfathomable.
The Reverend Mr. Maurice has attempted to describe the Hindoo cere-
monies, which he never saw, in the most captivating terms, and has painted
these c abominable idolatries' in the most florid colours. It might have been
expected, (idolatry being in itself an act so degrading to man, and so dishonour-
able to God,) that a Christian divine would have been shocked while writing
in this manner. If Mr. Maurice think there is something in Hindooism to
excite the most sublime ideas, let him come and join in the dance before the
idol; — or assist the bramhuns in crying Huree bull Huree bul* ! while the
he hesitated to believe the Bible, because it was out done in chronology by the his.
tories of the Chinese and Hindoos. "With sacred reverence he exclaims, at the close
of his account of the four yoogtis, c To such antiquity the Mosaic creation is but as
yesterday ; and to such ages the life of Methuselah is no more than a span !' He says,
in another page, ' The conscientious scruples of Brydone will always be of some weight
in the scale of philosophy.' If the age or reign of Brifmha, viz., 55,987,200,000,000
years, excited such sacred awe in the mind of this gentleman, what would have been
his sensations, and how strong his faith in ' holy writ' of the Hindoos, if he had hap-
pened to read in the Kamayunu the account of Ramu's army ; which, this ' holy writ'
says, amounted to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 soldiers, or rather monkies ? Again,
two thousand times the four yoogiSs, or 8,640,000,000 years, is the age of the sage
MarkfindSktf ! What, in the name of Mr. Halhed, is the life Of Methuselah to this ?—
This unbeliever in Moses became at last, it is said, a firm believer in Richard Brothers !
f Sounds of triumph, which the brambitns use when the fire of the funeral pile
begins to burn, and when they are choking a dying person with the water of the
Ganges. These words literally mean, 'call upon Huree,' or repeat the name of Hhree,
viz., Krishna'. In their popular use, they are like the English phrase, huzza / huzza !
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Ixvii
fire is seizing the limbs of the young and unfortunate Hindoo widow ; — or let
him attend at the sacrificing of animals before the images of Kalee and
Doorga ; — or come and join in the dance, stark naked, in the public street, in
open day, before the image of Doorga, in the presence of thousands of spectators,
young and old, male and female. He will find, that the sight will never make
these holy bramhtms, these mild and innocent Hindoos, blush for a moment. —
Seriously, should sights like these raise the ardour of enthusiasm, or chill the
blood of a Christian minister ? Say, ye who blush for human nature sunk in
shame. As a clergyman, Mr. Maurice should have known, that antiquity
sanctifies nothing : — ' The sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be
accursed.'
What will a sober Christian say to the two following paragraphs, inserted
in the fifth volume of the Indian Antiquities ?s ' Mr. Forbes, of Stanmore-hill,
in his elegant museum of Indian rarities, numbers two of the bells that have
been used in devotion by the bramhuns. They are great curiosities, and one of
them in particular appears to be of very high antiquity, in form very much
resembling the cup of the lotos ; and the tune of it is uncommonly soft and
melodious. I could not avoid being deeply affected with the sound of an
instrument which had been actually employed to kindle the flame of that
superstition, which I have attempted so extensively to unfold. My transported
thoughts travelled back to the remote period, when the bramhiin religion
blazed forth in all its splendour in the caverns of elephanta : I was, for a
moment, entranced, and caught the ardour of enthusiasm. A tribe of vener-
able priests, arrayed in flowing stoles, and decorated with high tiaras, seemed
assembled around me; the mystic song of initiation vibrated in my ear; I
breathed an air fragrant with the richest perfumes, and contemplated the Deity
in the fire that symbolized him.' In another place: — 'She [the Hindoo
religion] wears the similitude of a beautiful and radiant Cherub from Heaven,
bearing on his persuasive lips the accents of pardon and peace, and on his
silken wings benefaction and blessing.'
The sacred scriptures, of which this writer professes to be a teacher, in
every part, mark idolatry as the abominable thing which God hateth.
Mr. Maurice calls it, £a beautiful and radiant cherub from heaven.' How this
Christian minister will reconcile his ideas of idolatry with those of his Great
Master in the great day of final account, I must leave ; but I recommend to
him, and to all Europeans who think there is not much harm in Hindooism,
the perusal of the following passages from the word of the true and living
God : —
c If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or
the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee
secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known,
s While the author cannot but withhold his assent from Mr. Maurice's application
of the Hindoo triad, and the whole of his attempt to illustrate Scripture doctrines from
the ancient systems of idolatry, he embraces this opportunity of expressing his admira-
tion of the great merit of this singular and masterly work*
Jxviii
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
thou, nor thy fathers ; (namely, of the gods of the people which are round about
you, nish unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even
unto the other end of the earth ;) thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken
unto him ; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither
shalt thou conceal him : but thou shall surely kill him; thine hand shall be first
upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And
thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die because he hath sought to thrust
thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear and fear, and shall do
no more any such wickedness as this is among you.' Deut. xiii. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11. — I quote this remarkable passage, not because I think the Christian dispen-
sation allows of punishing idolaters with death, but to shew how marked is the
divine abhorrence of this sin.
c And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and
cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor
you.' Leviticus xxvi. 30. — ' Cursed be the man that maketh any graven image,
any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the
hands of the craftsmen, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people
shall answer and say, Amen.' Deut. xxvii. 15. — ' Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel, Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem,
and upon all the cities of Judah ; and, behold, this day they are a desolation,
and no man dwelleth therein. Because of their wickedness which they have
committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to
serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
Howbeit, I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early aud send-
ing them, saying, O do not this abominable thing that I hate. But
they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to
burn no incense unto other gods. Wherefore my fury and mine anger was pour-
ed forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ;
and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.-' Jeremiah xliv. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
■— c And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols V 2 Cor. vi. 16. — ■
' For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the
Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings,
banquetings, and abominable idolatries.' 1st Peter iv. 3. — ' But the fearful,
and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore-mongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake -which
burnetii writh fire and brimstone : which is the second death.' Rev. xxi. 3.
Let every conscientious Christian fairly weigh these portions of the divine
word, and then say, whether there be not, according to the spirit of these pas-
sages, a great degree of criminality attached to the person who in any way
countenances idolatry. I am not ashamed to confess, that I fear more for the
continuance of the British power in India, from the encouragement which
Englishmen have given to the idolatry of the Hindoos, than from any other
quarter whatever. The Governor of the world said to the Israelites, in parti-
cular reference to idolatry, ' If ye walk contrary to me, I will walk contrary to
you.' Moses, in the name, of Jehovah, thus threatens the Jews, if they
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Ixix
countenance id olatry : — ' I call heaven and earth to witness against you this
day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over
Jordan to possess it : ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly
be destroyed.' It cannot be doubted, that in every case in which either a
person, or a nation, begiDS to think favourably of idolatry, it is a mark of
departure in heart and practice from the living God: it was always so con-
sidered among the Jews. There is scarcely any thing in Hindooism, when
truly known, in which a learned man can delight., or of which a benevolent man
can approve ; and I am fully persuaded, that there will soon be but one opinion
on the subject, and that this opinion will be, that the Hindoo system is less
ancient than the Egyptian, and that it is the most puerile, impure, and
BLOODY OF ANY SYSTEM OP IDOLATRY THAT WAS EVER ESTABLISHED ON
EARTH.
To this description of the Hindoo Mythology, the author has added ac-
counts of the principal Hindoo Seceders, including the sects founded by
Boocldhu, Bishubhu-devii, Nanukii, and Choitiinyu.
All the founders of these sects appear to have been religious mendicants,
who, animated by excessive enthusiasm, have attempted to carry certain points
of the Hindoo system farther than the regular Hindoos, particularly those
which respect severe mortifications- Nanukii and Choitiinyu were less rigid, and
do not seem to have pressed the importance of religious austerities. Booddhii
and Bishudhu-devti evidently adhered to the systems of those Hindoo philoso-
phers who were atheists.11
Both these systems are comprised in two or three doctrines .- — the world
is eternal, and possesses in itself the energy which gives rise to what we call
creation, preservation, and resuscitation ; religion (Dluirrau) regulates all states,
and is in fact what Christians call providence, connected with absolute predes-
tination ; the person who acquires the greatest portion of dhurmu becomes a
personification of religion, procures happiness for himself, and deserves the
worship of others. Amongst all excellent qualities, compassion is the cardinal
virtue, especially as manifested in a rigid care not to hurt or destroy sentient
beings.
Without abating an atom of our abhorrence and contempt of a scheme of
religion which excludes a God, it is a singular feature of this system of atheism,
that it has placed the sceptre of universal government in an imagined being
under the name of Beligion ; or, to speak more correctly, in the hands of two
beings, Beligion and Irreligion, who have the power of rewarding and punish,
ing the virtuous and the vicious. In short, these heresiarchs have not promul-
gated a system of atheism, without making some provision for the interests of
morality in their way ; and if the idea of punishment alone would make men
virtuous, a Bouddhii and a Joinu might attain a place in the niche of fame not
much below thousands who believe in a First Cause.
h The Shee-bhagtivtitu mentions Booddhii as the son of Unjffnh', of.Keekh'th' ;
and that Charvvakri, a celebrated atheist, embraced and published the real opinions
of Booddhii. See Shree-bhagKvrftrf, chap. i. sect. 3,
Ixx
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
As men are bora under a certain destiny and as every action produces its
destined fruit, little is left to human exertion, and in consequence religious
ceremonies have little place in these systems. The only object of worship is a
deceased or living perfect ascetic : the former has temples erected to his memory,
which contain his image, and before which a few ceremonies are performed
similar to those before the Hindoo idols ; and the living mendicant is wor-
shipped by the devout, wherever he happens to rest from his peregrinations.
These men have almost entirely excluded from their system a social life ;
and at present those Joiniis, who find the rules of their guides too strict, are
obliged to solicit the forms of marriage at the hands of some Hindoo priest.
In the translation of the Te'mee Jatli, a Bouddhii work, (see p. 312,) the reader
will perceive, that a monarch and all his subjects abandoned a civil life at the
call of the monarch's son, an ascetic, and sought in a forest that abstraction
from secular concerns which they considered as an essential preparation for re-
union to the divine essence.
The ceremonies of these two sects are all comprised in the worshipping of
their saints, rehearsing their praises, listening to their sayings or written workss
and a rigid care to avoid the destruction of animal life, even in its most
diminutive forms. The Booddhiis and Joimis have not excluded, it is true,
every thing pleasant from their religion, for a number of festivals are celebrated
among them monthly or annually : but there is reason to suppose, that these
are no parts of the original system, but the additions of mendicants less rigid
in their principles and less austere in their manners.
The Joiniis speak of the Bouddhiis with a degree of contempt, as being very
loose in their practice, praticularly as it regards the destruction of animal life.
from this circumstance, and from the Joiniis being still found in Hindoost'-
hanii, as well as from the fact that they trace their religion up to a very early
Hindoo monarch, it may be conjectured, that they are the oldest of the two
sects, and are the scattered remnants of those persecuted under the name of
atheists, after the destruction of the Goutiimii dynasty, or, as they were then
called, Bouddhiis.
Naniiku, the Shikh leader, does not appear to have had any connection
with the atheists ; he disapproved of the excessive polytheism of the Hindoos,
and wished to draw them to the worship of the one God, whom, however, he
called by the names usually adopted by the Hindoos : Briimhti, Purum-eshwiirii,
Unadee, Nirakani, &c. He did not publicly reprobate those parts of the
Hindoo system to which he was most averse, but contented himself with observ-
ing, that while he left them indifferent, the practice of them would not be ac-
companied with the benefits held out by the Hindoo writers. He formed, from
the bramhinical system, a new one, having little polytheism in it, but borrowing-
all its principal doctrines from the Hindoo writings ; and he and his successors
incorporated the whole in two volumes. The principal tenets of this seceder
are : There is one invisible God, who is to be worshipped or honoured in holy
men ; his name is to be repeated ; that spiritual guide is to be reverenced ; all
evil avoided : if images be'adopted, they should be those of eminent ascetics.
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION.
Ixxi
Future happiness, consisting in union to the divine nature, is secured to those
Sliikhs who observe the rules laid down by their sacred books.
Choitiinyu, the last of the seceders, departed still less from regular
Hindooism : his principal opposition was aimed at the rising sect of the
shaktiis, or those who worship the female deities with bloody sacrifices : he
testified his abhorrence of the destruction of animal life in sacrifices, and
professed to be a rigid Voishniivii, adopting Krishna, or Hiiree, as his favourite
deity. He did not proscribe the other gods, but set up Vishnoo as uniting all
in himself; nor did he explode any tenet of Hindooism beside that relating
to bloody sacrifices. A devout attachment to Krishnu ; a strict union among all
his followers ; reverence for religious mendicants ; visiting holy places ; re-
peating the name of Hiiree, and entertaining mendicant Voishniivhs, compose
the prime articles in the creed of this sect.
Such are the systems established by these Hindoo heresiarchs, each of
which, though different in many essential points, is distinguished by one re-
markable feature, reverence for mendicant saints, especially those who seem to
have carried abstraction of mind, seclusion from the world, and religious austeri-
ties to the greatest lengths. Among the atheistical sects, these mendicants are
regarded as personifications of religion ; and among the two last, as partial
incarnations, or persons approaching the state of re-union to the Great Spirit.
Respecting the priority of the atheistical or the baramhinical systems, the
author has not been able entirely to satisfy his own mind. Some persons
conjecture, that they see a coincidence betwixt the doctrines of the vedris, and
of the atheistical sects, respecting the origin of things, and the worship of the
elements. It may be safely added, that to these systems succeeded the pouranie
mythology, and after that the worship of the female deities with bloody sacri-
fices. The whole of these systems, however, when more generally known, will,
no doubt, exceedingly endear the 'Word of Truth* to every sincere Christian,
and more and more prove, how deep and important a stake he has in the
glorious gospel of the blessed God.
THE
HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
BOOK I.
. OBJECTS OF WORSHIP.
CHAPTER I.
OF GOD.
It is a painful reflection to every benevolent mind, that not
a single Hindoo temple, dedicated to the One God, is to be found
in all Hindoost'han ; nor is any act of worship, in any form,
addressed by this people to God. The doctrines respecting the
Divine Nature are considered as mere philosophical speculations,
totally unconnected with religious services.
It is true, indeed, that the Hindoos believe in the unity of
God. ' One Brumhu, without a second,' is a phrase very commonly
used by them when conversing on subjects which relate to the
nature of God. They believe also that God is almighty, allwise,
omnipresent, omniscient, &c, and they frequently speak of him as
embracing in his government the happiness of the good, and the
subjection or punishment of the bad : yet they have no idea of
God's performing any act, either of creation or providence, except
through the gods ; and thus are prevented all the beneficial effects
which might have arisen out of their notions of the divine perfec-
tions : for in the whole of the reigning superstition the gods alone
are seen ; and these gods bear no more resemblance to the one true
God, than darkness to light, than vice to virtue.
Perceiving, therefore, that the speculations of the Hindoo
philosophers on the divine nature have no place whatever in the
religion of the country, I have placed these dogmas in the preceding
volume. ;f see Introduction,
VISHNOO — SOURCE OF ALL HINDU INCARNATIONS.
CHAPTER II.
OF THE GODS.
The deities in the Hindoo pantheon amount to 330,000,000,
Yet all these gods and goddesses may be resolved into the three
principal ones, Vishnoo, Shivu, and Bramha ; the elements ; and
the three females, Doorga Lukshmee, and Suraswutee. The follow-
ing pages will contain accounts of all those at present worshipped
by the Hindoos, particularly in the provinces of India under the
English government.
Sect. I. — Vishnoo.
This god is represented in the form of a black man, with four
arms ; in one of which he holds a club, in another a shell, in the
third a chukrua, and in the fourth a water-lily. He rides on
Gtirooru, an animal half-bird and half-man, and wears yellow
garments.
The Hindoo shastrtis give accounts of ten appearances or incar-
nations of Vishnoo, in the character of the Preserver ; nine of
which are said to be past.
The first is called the Mtitsyu incarnation. Brumhiab, the one
God, when he resolves to recreate the universe after a periodical
destruction, first gives birth to Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu, to
preside over the work of creation, preservation, and destruction.
After a periodical dissolution of the universe, the four vedus re-
mained in the waters. In order to enter upon the work of creation,
it was necessary to obtain these books, for the instruction of Brumha.
Vishnoo was therefore appointed to bring up the vedus from the
deep ; who, taking the form of a fish, (some say one kind and some
another,) descended into the waters, and brought up these sacred
books.
In the Kuchyupu. incarnation, Vishnoo assumed the form of a
tortoise, and took the newly created earth upon his back, to render
it stable. The Hindoos believe that to this hour the earth is sup-
ported on the back of this tortoise.
The Vurahu incarnation happened at one of the periodical des-
tructions of the world, when the earth sunk into the waters. Vish-
noo, the preserver, appearing in the form of a boar (vurahu), des-
cended into the waters, and with his tusks drew up the earth.
a An iron instrument of destruction like a wheel.
b The reader will please to keep in mind that Brurnhu means the one God, and
that Brumha means the idol of that name.
Published by J-Ki^iribottiain, ^adr**
A. Barren " tliotf
ACCOUNTS OF THE TEN INCARNATIONS.
6
What contemptible ideas on such a subject ! The earth, with all its
mountains, &c. &c. made fast on the back of a turtle, or drawn up
from the deep by the tusks of a hog !
The fourth incarnation is called Numsinghu0. Among other des-
cendants ofDukshu, (the first man that Brumhajcreated,) was Kush-
yupu, a moonee, and his four wives, Ditee, Uditee, Yintita, and
Ktidroo. From Ditee, sprang the giants ; from Uditee, the gods ;
from Yiniita, G&rooru ; and from Ktidroo, the hydras. The giants
possessed amazing strength, and amongst them two arose of terrific
powers, named Himnyakshu and Hirunyu-kushipoo, both of whom
performed religious austerities many thousand years to obtain im-
mortality. Brumha at length gave them a blessing apparently
equivalent to that which they desired. He promised, that no com-
mon being should destroy them ; that they should not die either
in the day or in the night, in earth or in heaven, by fire, by water,
or by the sword. After this these giants conquered all the king-
doms of the earth, and even dethroned Indru., the king of heaven.
Indru, collecting all the gods, went to Brumha, and intreated him
to provide some way of deliverance, as the universe which he had
created was destroyed. Brumha asked the gods, how he could
destroy those who had obtained his blessing ? and advised them to
go to Yishnoo. They obeyed, and informed this god of the miseries
brought upon the universe by these giants, whom Brumha had
blessed. Sarayunu promised to destroy them, which he did in the
following manner : Himnyti-kushipoo's son Prulhadu was constan-
tly absent from home performing religious austerities, at which his
father became angry, and, tying a stone to his body, threw him
into the water ; but Vishnoo descended, and liberated him. His
father next threw him under the feet of an elephant ; but the
elephant took him up, and put him on its back. He then built a house
of sealing wax, put his son into it, and set it on fire ; the wax melted,
and fell upon Prulhadu, but he received no injury. The father next
gave him poison, but without effect. At length, wearied of trying
to kill him, he said, ' Where does your preserver Yishnoo dwell V
'He is every where,' says Prulhadu. ' Is he then in this pillar V
'Yes,' said the son. 'Then,' said Hirunyu-kushipoo, 'I will kill
him,' and gave the pillar a blow with his stick — when Yishnoo, in
the form of half-lion, half-man, burst from the pillar; laid hold of
Hirunyu-kushipoo by the thighs with his teeth, and tore him up
the middle. This was in the evening, so that it was neither in.
the day nor in the night ; it was done under the droppings of
the thatch, about which the Hindoos have a proverb, that this
place is out of the earth; he was not killed by a man, but by a
being half-man, half-lion : so that the promise of Brumha to him
was not broken. Yishnoo next destroyed Hirunyakshu. After
the death of his father, Prulhadu began to worship Yishnoo under
c From nUru, a man ; and singhu, a lion,
4
ACCOUNTS OF THE TEN INCARNATIONS.
the form which he had assumed, and with tears, enquired into the
future fate of his father. Vishnoo assured him, that as he had
died by his hands, he would surely ascend to heaven. Vishnoo
was so pleased with the praises which Prulhadti bestowed on him,
that he began to dance, hanging the entrails of Hiruny ii-kushipoo
round his neck. By Vishnoo's dancing, the earth began to move
out of its place, so that Brumha and all the gods were frightened,
but durst not go near him. However, at the entreaties of Prulha-
du, Vishnoo gave over dancing ; the earth became fixed, and Vish-
noo gave Prul had u. this promise, that by his hands none of his
race should die.
The fifth is the Vamunu incarnation. Prulhadu's grandson
Bulee followed the steps of his great-grandfather, and committed
every kind of violence. In contempt of the gods, he made offer-
ings in his own name. He performed the •ftshwumedhu sacrifice
one hundred times, by which he was entitled to become the king
of the gods ; but as the time of the then reigning Indrii was not
expired, the latter applied for relief to Vishnoo, who promised
to destroy this giant : to accomplish which he caused himself to be
born of Uditee, the wife of Kushyupu, the moonee. Being ex-
ceedingly small in his person, he obtained the name of Vamunil,
i. e., the dwarf. At a certain period king Bulee was making a
great sacrifice, and Vamunu's parents being very poor, sent him
to ask a gift of the king. It is customary, at a festival, to
present gifts to bramhuns. Vamunit was so small, that in his
journey to the place of sacrifice, when he got to the side of a hole
made by a cow's foot, and which was filled with water, he thought
it was a river, and entreated another bramhun to help him
over it. On his arrival, he went to ask a gift of Billee, The
king was so pleased with him, on account of his diminutive
form, that he promised to give him whatever he should ask. He
petitioned only for as much land as he could measure by three
steps. Bulee pressed him to ask for more, intimating that such
a quantity was nothing ; but Vamunu persisted, and the king,
ordered his priest to read the usual formulas in making such a pre-
sent. The priest warned the king, declaring he would repent of
making this gift ; for the little bramhun was no other than
Vishnoo himself, who would deprive him of all he had. The king,
however, was determined to fulfil his promise, and the grant was
made. Vamunu' then placed one foot on Indru's heaven, and the
other on the earth, when, lo ! a third leg suddenly projected from
his belly, and he asked for a place upon which he might rest this
third foot, Bulee, having nothing left, and being unable to fulfil
his promise, was full of anxiety. His wife, having heard what was
going forward, came to the spot, and, seeing the king's perplexity,
advised him to give his head for Vamunu to set his foot upon. He
did so ; but Vamunu then asked for what is called dukshinu, a
small present which accompanies a gift, and without which the
ACCOUNTS OF THE TEN INCARNATIONS.
gift itself produces no fruit to the giver. Bulee knew not what to
do for dukshinii : his all was gone. His wife advised him to give
his life to Vaumnu as dukshind. He did this also ; but the latter
told him, that as he had promised Prulhadu not to destroy any of
his race, he would not take his life. He therefore gave him his
choice either of ascending to heaven, taking with him five ignorant
persons ; or of descending to patulu, the world of the hydras, with
five wise menA. Bulee chose the latter, but said that as he had
done much mischief on earth, he was afraid of going to patulu,
lest he should there be punished for his crimes. Yamuna told him
not to fear, as he would, in the form of Vishnoo, become his pro-
tector. At the close, this god, having restored every thing on
earth to a state of order and prosperity, returned to heaven.
The sixth is the Purushoo-ramix incarnation. Purushoo is the
name of an instrument of war. The occasion of this appearance
of Vishnoo is thus related : — The kshutriyus, from the king to the
lowest person of this caste, were become very corrupt. Every one
did as he pleased, the king was without authority, all order was
destroyed, and the earth was in the greatest confusion. In these
circumstances the goddess Prit'hivee6 went to Vishnoo, and prayed
for relief. Her petition was heard, and one part of Vishnoo was
incarnate as the son of Jmnudgunee, a descendant of Bhrigoo the
sage. After twenty-one different defeats the kshutriyus were
exterminated by Purushoo-ramu ; but after a lapse of years they
again became numerous : Urjoonu, a kshutriyu king with a
thousand arms, overcame the greatest monarchs, and made dread-
ful havock in the world : he beat Ravunii, and tied him to the
heels of a horse ; but Bmmha delivered him, and reconciled them
again. One evening in the rainy season, Urjoonu, being in the
forest, took refuge in the hut of Jumudugnee, the learned ascetic.
He had with him 900.000 people ; yet Jumudugnee, entertained
them all. Urjoonu, astonished, enquired of his people how the
sage, living in the forest, was able to entertain so many people ?
They could not tell ; they saw nothing except a cow which Brlmha
had given him ; but it was by her means perhaps that he was able to
entertain so many guests : its name was Kamu-dhenoo.f In fact,
when Urjoonu was to be entertained at the sage's house, this cow
in a miraculous manner gave him all kinds of food, clothes, &c.
The king on his departure asked for the cow ; but the sage refused
it to him, though he offered for it his whole kingdom. At length,
Urjoonu made war on Jumudugnee ; and though the cow gave an
army to her master, he was unable to cope with Urjoonu, who des-
troyed both him and his army. After the victory, however, Ur-
d It is a proverb among the Hindoos, that there is no pleasure in the company of
the ignorant in any place or circumstances ; and that a bad place, in the company of
the wise, is better than a good one in that o-f the ignorant.
e The earth personified.
f That is, the cow wh:ch yields every thing desired,
6
ACCOUNTS OF THE TEN INCARNATIONS.
joonu could not find the cow, but went home disappointed. Puru-
shoo-ramu, hearing of the defeat and death of his father Jumu-
dugnee, went to complain to Shivu, on the mountain Koilasii ; but
could not get access to him till he had knocked down the gods
Gune'shu and Kartiku, Shivu's door-keepers. Shivu gave Purushoo-
ramu the instrument purushoo, and promised him the victory. On
his return Purushoo-ramu met his mother, who was about to throw
herself on the funeral pile of her husband. After attending upon
this ceremony, Purushoo-ramu went to the residence of Urjoonu,
and killed himg.
These six incarnations are said to have taken place in the
sutyft yoogu'1. There are no images respecting them made for
worship.
The seventh incarnation is that of Ramu to destroy the giant
Ravimu ; for the history of which, see the Translation of the Table
of Contents of the Ramayunu, toward the close of this volume.
— The eighth incarnation is that of Buluramu, to destroy Prulumbu
and other giants. This latter incarnation is said to have taken
place in the d wapuru-yoogu. — The ninth is the Booddhu incarnation,
in which Vishnoo appeared as Booddhu, to destroy the power of the
giants. In order to effect this, Booddhu produced among mankind
by his preaching, &c. a disposition to universal scepticism ; that
having no longer any faith in the gods, the giants might cease to
apply to them for those powers by which they had become such
dreadful scourges to mankind. In this appearance the object of
Vishnoo, the preserver, was accomplished by art, without the
necessity of war ; though the dreadful alternative to which he was
driven to accomplish his object, that of plunging mankind into a
state of universal scepticism, affords another proof how wretchedly
the world would be governed if every thing depended on the
wisdom of man. — Thejienth incarnation is still expected, under the
name of the Kulkee Uvutaru. See translation from the Kulkee
pooranu, in the second volume.
The appearance of Vishnoo, when he took the name of Krishnu.
to destroy the giant Kungshu, is called the descent of Vishnoo
himself, and not an incarnation of this god. There are, how-
ever, beside the preceding ten incarnations, and this of Krishnu,
many others mentioned in the pooranus, all having their source in
Vishnoo. — The Shree-bhaguvutu contains accounts of the following :
Soo-yugnu created certain gods, and removed distress from the
three worlds ; — Kupilu taught his mother the knowledge of
s? This story is told variously in the pooranus : according to the "Ramaytinu, Vtfshis-
'thu was the owner of this cow, and Vishwiimitru the person who fought with the
moonee to obtain it.
h These ravages of tyranny, and bloody contests, form a sad specimen of the
happiness of the Hindoo sutyu yoogn, could we believe that there ever had been such
a period.
OTHER INCARNATIONS — MEANING OF THESE FABLES.
7
Brumhu, by which she obtained absorption ; — Duttatreyu. delivered
all his disciples, by means of the ceremony called yogu, from future
birth, and obtained for them absorption ; — Koormaru declared the
events that had happened in a former age ; that his, previous to
the dissolution of things which preceded his incarnation ; — Nuru-
Narayunu was such a perfect ascetic that the courtezans, sent by
the gods to allure him from his religious austerities, were unsuc-
cessful ; Vishnoo himself created a female on purpose to divert him
from his devotions, but her attempts were equally abortive ; —
Prit'boo opened the bowels of the earth, and brought forth its
treasures ; — Kishuvu was an incomparable yogee, who was worship-
ped by the purum-hungsus and other ascetics ; — Huyugreevu was
so great a saint, that the words of the ve'du were uttered every time
he breathed ; — Huree delivered his disciples from all their enemies,
whether among men or the inferior animals ; — Rungsu taught his
disciples the mysteries of yogu, and obtained absorption himself
while performing the ceremonies of a yogee ; — Munoo's fame filled
the three worlds, and ascended even as far as Sutyu-loku ; — Dhun-
wunturee delivered all diseased persons from their disorders on
their mere remembrance of his name, and gave the water of
immortality to the gods ; — V}^asu arranged the vedus, was the
author of the pooranus, &c. — Vibhoo was the spiritual guide of
80,000 disciples, whom he taught the knowledge of Brumhu, and
the ceremonies of yogu ; — Sutyuse'nu cleared the earth of hypocrites
and wicked persons ; — Voikoont'hu created the heaven of^Yishnoo
known by this name, and performed other wonders ; — Ujitu in-
structed the gods to churn the sea to obtain the water of immor-
tality, and did other things which distinguished him as an incar-
nation ; — Mohunee was incarnate, to prevent the giants from
obtaining the water of immortality at the churning of the sea ;
— Narudu revealed the work called Voishnuvu Tuntru. The
following incarnations are expected : Sarvubhoumu to dethrone
the present Indru, and instate Bulee in his stead ; — Yishwukse'nu
as the friend of Shumbhoo, Avhen he becomes the king of heaven ;
— Dhurmu-se'too to nourish the three worlds ; — Soodhama to assist
Koodru-savurnee, the twelfth of the fourteen munoos ; — Yogesh-
wuru to place Divus-putee on the throne of Indru ; — Vrihud-
bhanoo to make known many new religious ceremonies. — The reader,
however, is not to suppose that there are no other incarnations
mentioned in these marvellous books : every hero, and every
saint, is complimented by these writers as an incarnate deity.
I have not discovered any proof in the Hindoo writings, or in
conversation with learned natives, that these incarnate persons are
personifications of any of the divine attributes ; or that these
stories have any other than a literal meaning. No doubt they
were written as fables, which the ignorance of modern Hindoos has
converted into facts ; or many of them may relate to common
events here magnified into miracles.
8
IMAGES OF VISHNOO — HIS NAMES, WIVES.
Stone images of Vishnoo are made for sale, and worshipped in
the houses of those who have chosen him for their guardian deity.
There are no public festivals in honor of this god, yet he is wor-
shipped at the offering of a burnt sacrifice ; in the form of medita-
tion used daily by the bramhuns ; at the times when ' the five
gods' are worshipped, and also at the commencement of each shrad-
dhu. No bloody sacrifices are offered to Vishnoo. The offerings
presented to him consist of fruit, flowers, water, clarified butter,
sweetmeats, cloth, ornaments, &c.
Many choose Vishnoo for their guardian deity. These persons
are called Voishnuvus. The distinctive mark of this sect of
Hindoos consists of two lines, rather oval, drawn the whole length
of the nose, and carried forward in two straight lines across the
forehead. This mark is common to the worshippers of all the dif-
ferent forms of Vishnoo. It is generally made with the clay of the
Ganges ; sometimes with powder of sandel wood.
Vishnoo has a thousand names1, among which are the follow-
ing : — Vishnoo ; that is, the being into whom, at the destruction
of the world, all is absorbed. — Narayun-u, or, he who dwelt in the
watersk, and he who dwells in the minds of the devout. — Voikoon-
t'hu, or, the destroyer of sorrow. — Vishturu-shruva, or, he who, in
the form of Viratu, is all eye, all ear, &c. — Rhisheekeshu, viz., the
god of all the members, and of light. — Keshuvix, or, he who gave
being to himself, to Brumha and Shiva ; or, he who has excellent
hair. — Madhuva, or, the husband of Lukshmee. — Mudhoosoodhttnu,
the destroyer of Mudhoo, a giant. — Swumbhdd, or, the self-existent.
— Doityaree, or, the enemy of the giants. — Poondureekakshtt, or,
he whose eyes are like the white lotus. — Govindu, or, the raiser
of the earth. — Pitamvura, or, he who wears yellow garments. —
Uchyoottt, or, the undecayable. — Sharungee, or, he who possesses the
horn bow. — Vishwukshe'nu, or, he whose soldiers fill all quarters of
the world. — Junarddunu, or, he who afflicts the wicked, and, he of
whom emancipation is sought. — Pudmunabhu, or, he whose navel is
like the water lily. — Vishwumvuru, or, the protector of the world.-—
Koitubhujit, or, he who overcame the giant Koitubhu.
Vishnoo has two wives1, Lukshmee, the goddess of prosperity,
i The meaning of the principal names of some of the gods is to be found in the
comment upon the Umuru-koshii, by Bhtirutu-mulliku.
Jupiter had so many names, they could scarcely be numbered ; some of them
derived from the places where he lived and was worshipped, and others from the
actions he performed.
k At the time of a pruluyii, when every thing is reduced to the element of water,
Vishnoo sits on the snake Uniintu, which has 1,000 heads.
1 One of the Hindoo poets, in answer to the question, Why has Vishnoo assumed
a wooden shape? (alluding to the image of Jugunnat'hu,) says, 1 The troubles in his
family have turned Vishnoo into wood : in the first place, he has two wives, one of
whom (the goddess of learning) is constantly talking, and the other (the goddess of
AND HEAVEN, &C— SH1VU, FORMS OF THIS GOD.
9
and Suruswutee, the goddess of learning. The former was produced
at the churning of the sea : Suruswutee is the daughter of Brumha.
The following description of the heaven of Vishnoo is taken
from the Muhabharutu. This heaven, called Voi-koont'hum, is
entirely of gold, and is eighty thousand miles in circumference. All
its edifices are composed of jewels. The pillars of this heaven, and
all the ornaments of the buildings are of precious stones. The
chrystal waters of the Ganges fall from the higher heavens on the heads
of Droovu, and from thence into the bunches of hair on the heads
of seven rishees in this heaven, and from thence they fall and
form a river in Voi'koont'hu. Here are also fine pools of water,
containing blue, red, and white water-lilies, the flowers of some
of which contain one hundred petals, and others a thousand ; gar-
dens of nymphceas, &c On a seat as glorious as the meridian sun,
sitting on water-lilies, is Vishnoo, and on his right hand the god-
dess Lukshmee. From the body of Lukshmee the fragrance of the
lotus extends 800 miles. This goddess shines like a continued
blaze of lightning. The devurshees, rajurshees, and supturshees
constantly celebrate the praise of Vishnoo and Lukshmee, and
meditate on their divine forms. The brumhurshees chant the
vedus. The glorified voishnuvus approach Vishnoo, and constantly
serve him. The gods11 are also frequently employed in celebrating
the praises of Vishnoo ; and Gurooru, the bird-god, is the door-
keeper.
Sect. II. — Shivit.
Shivu, the detroyer, has the second place among the Hindoo
deities, though in general, in allusion to their offices, these three
gods are classed thus : Brumha, Vishnoo, Shivu*
This god is represented in various ways. In the form of me-
ditation used daily by the bramhuns, he is described as a silver
coloured man, with five faces ; an additional eye0 and a half-moon
grace each foreheadp. He has four arms ; in one hand he holds a
prosperity) never remains in one place : to increase his troubles, he sits on a snake ;
his dwelling is in the water, and he rides on a bird. ' All the Hindoos acknowledge
that it is a great misfortune for a man to have two wives ; especially if both live in
one house.
m The work called Kurmu-Vipaku says, that the heavens of Vishnoo, Brumha,
and Shiva are upon three peaks of the mountain Soomeroo ; and that at the bottom of
these peaks are the heavens of twenty-one other gods.
n These gods are supposed to be visitors at Vishnoo's.
° One of the names of Shivu is Trilochtinu, viz., the three-eyed. One of the names
of Jupiter was Trioculus, (Triophthalmos,) given him by the Greeks, because he had
three eyes. An image of this kind was set up in Troy, which, beside the usual two eyes,
had a third in the forehead.
p At the churning of the sea, Shivij obtained the moon for his share, and fixed it,
with all its glory, in his forehead.
9,
10 THE LINGU — RESEMBLES PHALLI OF THE GREEKS.
purushoo ; in the second a deer ; with the third he is bestowing a
blessing, and with the fourth he forbids fear : he sits on a lotusq, and
wears a tyger-skin garment.
At other times Shivu. is represented with one head, three eyes,
and two arms, riding on a bull, covered with ashes, naked, his eyes
inflamed with intoxicating herbsr, having in one hand a horn, and
in the other a drum,
Another imao-e of Shivu is the lingu, a smooth black stone
almost m the form of a sugar-loaf, with a projection at the base
like the mouth of a spoon.
There are several stories in the pooranus respecting the origin
of the lingu worship, three of which I had translated, and actually
inserted in this work, leaving out as much as possible of their of-
fensive parts : but in correcting the proofs, they appeared too
gross, even when refined as much as possible, to meet the public
eye. It is true I have omitted them with some reluctance, because
I wish that the apologists for idolatry should be left without ex-
cuse, and that the sincere Christian should know what those who
wish to rob him of the Christian Religion mean to leave in its stead.
From these abominable stories, temples innumerable have
arisen in India, and a Shivu lingu placed in each of them, and
worshipped AS A god ! ! These temples, indeed, in Bengal and
many parts of Hindoost'han, are far more numerous than those
dedicated to any other idol ; and the number of the daily worship-
pers of this scandalous image, (even among the Hindoo women,)
who make the image with the clay of the Ganges every morning
and evening, is beyond comparison far greater than the worship-
pers of all the other gods put together.
The account of the origin of the phalli of the Creeks bears a
strong and unaccountable resemblance to some parts of the
pouranic accounts of the lingu : Bacchus was angry with the
Athenians, because they despised his solemnities, when they were
first brought by Pegasus out of Bceotia into Attica ; for which he
afflicted them with a grievous disease, that could have no cure, till,
by the advice of the oracles, they paid due reverence to the god,
and erected phalli to his honour ; whence the feasts and sacrifices
called Phallica were yearly celebrated among the Athenians. — The
story of Piiapus is too indecent, and too well known to need recital.
i It appears that this plant was formerly venerated by the Egyptians as much as
it is now by the Hindoos. The sacred images of the Tartars, Japanese, and other
nations are also frequently represented as placed upon it.
r Bacchus, who appears to bear a pretty strong resemblance to Shivii, is said to
have wandered about naked, or to have had no other covering than a tyger's skin,
which is the common garment of Shivu, and of his followers, the sunyasees. The
bloated image of Shivii corresponds with that of Bacchus ; and though the Indian god
did not intoxicate himself with wine, yet his image is evidently that of a drunkard,
Shivu perpetually smoked intoxicating herbs.
FORM OF THIS GOD AS MUHA-KALU.
11
Should the reader wish for farther information on this subject, he
is referred to an extract from Diodorus Siculus, as given in the
Keverend Mr. Maurice's second volume of Indian Antiquities. The
perusal of this extract may help further to convince the reader that
the old idolatry, and that of the present race of Hindoos, at least
in their abominable nature, and in some of their prominent
features, are one.
Beside the clay image of the lingu, there are two kinds of
black stone lingus : these are set up in the Hindoo temples8. The
first is called swuyumb56, (the self-existent,) or unadee*, that
which has no beginning. The second they call vanu-lingu, because
Vanu, a king, first instituted the worship of this image. These
stones are brought from the neighbourhood of the river Gund-
kuhee, which falls into the Ganges near Patna. The images are
made by Hindoo and Mixsulman stone-cutters.
There is another form in which Shivu is worshipped, called
Muha-kalu. This is the image of a smoke-coloured boy with three
eyes, clothed in red garments. His hair stands erect ; his teeth
are very large ; he wears a necklace of human skulls, and a large
turban of his oavu hair ; in one hand he holds a stick, and in the
other the foot of a bed-stead ; he has a large belly, and makes a
very terrific appearance. Shivu is called Muha-kalu, because he
destroys a]l ; by which the Hindoos mean, that all is absorbed in
him at last, in order to be reproduced11.
Images of this form of Shivu are not made in Bengal ; but a
pan of water, or an unadee-lingu, is substituted, before which
bloody sacrifices are offered, and other ceremonies performed, in
the month Choitru, at the new moon. Only a few persons perform
this worship. Except before this image, bloody sacrifices are
never offered to Shivu, who is himself called a voishnuvu, i. e., a
worshipper of Vishnoo, before whose image no animals are slain,
and whose disciples profess never to eat animal food.
Under different names other images of Shivu are described in
the shastrus ; but none of these images are made at present, nor
is any public worship offered to them.
Those who receive the name of Shivu from their spiritual
guides, are called Soivyus. The mark on the forehead which
s It is remarkable, that a stone image, consecrated to Venus, bore a strong
resemblance to the lingti. Of this stone it is said, that it was " from the top to the
bottom of an orbicular figure, a little broad beneath ; the circumference was small,
and sharpening towards the top like a sugar loaf. The reason unknown.''
* At the time of a great drought, the Hindoos, after performing its worship,
throw very large quantities of water upon this unadee-lingil, in order to induce Shivii
to give them rain.
u Some say Saturn received his name, because he was satisfied with the years he
devoured. Saturn was also represented as devouring his children, and vomiting them
up again.
12
NAMES AND MARK OF THE SECT.
these persons wear, is composed of three curved lines like a half-
moon, to which is added a round dot on the nose. It is made
either with the clay of the Ganges, or with -sandal wood, or the
ashes of cow-dung.
Worship is performed daily at the temples of the lingu ; when
offerings of various kinds are presented to this image. If the
temple belong to a sh55dru, abramhiin is employed, who receives a
small annual gratuity, and the daily offeringsx. These ceremonies
occupy a few minutes, or half an hour, at the pleasure of the
worshipper. Many persons living in Bengal employ bramhuns at
Benares to perform the worship of the lingu in temples which they
have built there.
Every year, in the month Phalgoonix, the Hindoos make the
image of Shivu, and worship it for one day, throwing the image
the next day into the water. This worship is performed in the
night, and is accompanied with singing, dancing, music, feasting,
&c. The image worshipped is either that of Shivu with five faces,
or that with one face. In the month Maghu also a festival in
honour of Shivix is held for one day, when the image of this god
sitting on a bull, with Parvufcee on his knee, is worshipped. This
form of Shivu is called Huru-Goureev.
In the month Choitru an abominable festival in honour of
of this god is celebrated ; when many Hindoos, assuming the
name of sunyasees, inflict on themselves the greatest cruelties.
Some of the chief sunyasees purify themselves for a month previ-
ously to these ceremonies, by going to some celebrated temple or
image of Shivu, and there eating only once a day, abstaining from
certain gratifications, repeating the name of Shivu, dancing before
his image, &c. Other sunyasees perform these preparatory cere-
monies for fifteen, and others for only ten days ; during which
time parties of men and boys dance in the streets, having their
bodies covered with ashes, &c. and a long piece of false hair mixed
with mud wrapped round the head like a turban. A large drum
accompanies each party, making a horrid din.
On the first day of the festival, these stmyasees cast themselves
from a bamboo stage with three resting places, the highest about
twenty feet from the ground. From this height these persons cast
themselves on iron spikes stuck in bags of straw. These spikes are
laid in a reclining posture, and when the person falls the}r almost
constantly fall down instead of entering his body. There are
instances however of persons being killed, and others wounded ;
x The shastriis prohibit the bramhuns from receiving the offerings presented to
Shivu : the reason I have not discovered. The bramhuns, however, contrive to
explain the words of the shastru in such a manner, as to secure the greater part of the
things presented to this idol.
y Hfirti is the name of Shivu, and Gouree that of Doorga,
SHIVU'S FESTIVALS — SUNYASEE AND SWINGING.
13
but they are very rare. A few years ago, a person at Kidurpooru,
near Calcutta, cast himself on a knife used in cleaning fish, which
entered his side, and was the cause of his death. He threw him-
self from the stage twice on the same day ; the second time,
(which was fatal,) to gratify a prostitute with whom he lived. — In
some villages, several of these stages are erected, and as many as
two or three hundred people cast themselves on these spikes in one
day, in the presence of great crowds of people. The worshippers
of Shiva make a great boast of the power of their god in preserv-
ing his followers in circumstances of such danger.
The next day is spent in idleness, the sunyasees lying about
Shiva's temple, and wandering about like persons half drunk, or
jaded with revelling. On the following day, a large fire is kindled
opposite Shiva's temple ; and when the burnt wood has been form-
ed into a great heap, one of the chief sunyasees, with a bunch of
canes in his hand, flattens the heap a little, and walks over it with
his feet bare- After him, the other sunyasees spread the fire about,
walk acorss it, dance upon it, and then cast the embers into the air
and at each other.
The next morning early the work of piercing the tongues and
sides commences. In the year 1 806 I went to Kaleeghatu, in company
with two or three friends, to witness these practices ; at which
place we arrived about five o'clock in the morning. We overtook
numerous companies who were proceeding thither, having with
them drums and other instruments of niusic ; also spits, canes,
and different articles to pierce their tongues and sides. Some with
tinkling rings on their ancles were dancing and exhibiting indecent
gestures as they passed along, while others rent the air with the
sounds of their filthy songs. As we entered the village where the
temple of this great goddess is situated, the crowds were so great
that we could with difficulty get our vehicles along, and at last
were completely blocked up. We then alighted, and went amongst
the crowd. But who can describe a scene like this 1 — Here, men
of all ages, who intended to have their tongues pierced, or their
sides bored, were buying garlands of flowers to hang round their
necks, or tie round their heads ; — there, others were carrying their
offerings to the goddess : — above the heads of the crowd were seen,
nothing but the feathers belonging to the great drums, and the
instruments of torture which each victim was carrying in his hand.
These wretched slaves of superstition were distinguished from
others by the quantity of oil rubbed on their bodies, and by streaks
and dots of mud all over them : some of the chief men belonging
to each company were covered with ashes, or dressed in a most
fantastic manner, like the fool among mountebanks. For the sake
of low sport, some were dressed as English women ; and others had
on a hat, to excite the crowd to laugh at Europeans. As soon as
we could force our way, we proceeded to the temple of Kalee,
14
SHIVlfs FESTIVALS.
where the crowd, inflamed to madness, almost trampled upon one
another, to obtain a sight of the idol. We went up to the door-wa}r,
when a bramhun, who was one of the owners of the idol, addressed
one of my companions in broken English : " Money — mone}^ — for
black mother." My friend, not much liking the looks of his black
mother, declared he should give her nothing. From this spot we
went into the temple-yard, where two or three blacksmiths had
begun the work of piercing the tongues and boring the sides of
these infatuated disciples of Shivu. The first man seemed reluctant
to hold out his tongue ; but the blacksmith, rubbing it with some-
thing like flour, and having a piece of cloth betwixt his fingers,
laid firm hold, dragged it out, and, placing his lancet under it in
the middle, pierced it through, and let the fellow go. The next
person, whose tongue we saw cut, directed the blacksmith to cut
it on a contrary side, as it had been already cut twice. This man
seemed to go through the business of having his tongue slit with
perfect sang froicl. The compairy of natives were entirely unmoved,
and the blacksmith, pocketing the trifling fee given by each for
whom he did this favour, laughed at the sport. I could not help
asking, whether they were not punishing these men for lying. —
After seeing the operation performed on one or two more, we
went to another group, where they were boring the sides. The
first we saw undergoing this operation was a boy, who might be
twelve or thirteen years old, and who had been brought thither by
his elder brother to submit to this cruelty. A thread rubbed with
clarified butter was drawn through the skin on each side, with a
kind of lancet having an eye like a needle. He did not flinch, but
hung by his hands over the shoulders of his brother. I asked a
man who had just had his sides bored, why he did this ? He said,
he had made a vow to Kalee at a time of dangerous illness, and
was now performing this vow : a bye-stander added, it was an
act of holiness, or merit. Passing from this group, we saw a man
dancing backwards and forwards with two canes run through his
side as thick as a man's little finger. In returning to Calcutta we
saw many with things of different thicknesses thrust through their
sides and tongues, and several with the pointed handles of iron
shovels, containing lire, sticking in their sides. Into this fire every
now and then they threw Indian pitch, which for the moment blaz-
ed very high. I saw one man whose singular mode of self-torture
struck me much : his breast, arms, and other parts of his body, were
entirely covered with pins, as thick as nails or packing nee-
dles. This is called vanu-phoraz. The person had made a vow to
Shivu thus to pierce his body, praying the god to remove some
evil from him.
Some sunyasees at this festival put swords through the holes
in their tongues ; others spears ; others thick pieces of round iron
which they call arrows. Many, as a bravado, put other things
81 Piercing with, arrows.
SHIVU'S FESTIVALS.
15
through their tongues, as living snakes, bamboos, ramrods, &c.
Others, to excite the attention of the crowd still more, procure
images of houses, gods, temples, &c. and placing them on a single
bamboo, hold them up in their hands, and put the bamboo through
their tongues. In 1805, at Calcutta, a few base fellows made a
bamboo stage, placed a prostitute upon it, and carried her through
the streets, her paramour accompanying them, having one of her
ancle ornaments in the slit of his tongue. Another year a man put
his finger through the tongue of another person, and they went
along dancing and making indecent gestures together. Others
put bamboos, ropes, canes, the stalk of a climbing plant, the long
tube of the hooka, &c. through their sides, and rubbing these things
with oil, while two persons go before and two behind to hold the
ends of the things which have been passed through the sides, they
dance backwards and forwards, making indecent gestures. These
people pass through the streets with these marks of self-torture
upon them, followed by crowds of idle people. They are paid by
the towns or villages where these acts are performed, and a levy is
made on the inhabitants to defray the expense. On the evening
of this day some sunyasees pierce the skin of their foreheads, and
place a rod of iron in it as a socket, and on this rod fasten a lamp,
which is kept burning all night. The persons bearing these lamps
sit all night in or near Shivu s temple, occasionally calling upon
this god by different names. On the same evening, different parties
of sunyasees hold conversations respecting Shivu in verse.
On the following day, in the afternoon, the ceremony called
Churuku, or the swinging by hooks fastened in the back is per-
formed. The posts are erected in some open place in the town or
suburbs : they are generally fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five cubits
high. In some places a kind of worship is paid at the foot of the
tree to Shivu, when two pigeons are let loose, or slain. In other
parts, i. e., in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, the worship of Shivu
is performed at his temple ; after which the crowd proceed to the
swinging posts, and commence the horrid work of torture. The
man who is to swing prostrates himself before the tree, and a per-
son, with his dusty fingers, makes a mark where the hooks are to
be put. Another person immediately gives him a smart slap on
the back, and pinches up the skin hard with his thumb and fingers ;
while another thrusts the hook through, taking hold of about
an inch of the skin : the other hook is then in like manner put
through the skin of the other side of the back, and the man gets
up on his feet. As he is rising, some wTater is thrown in his face.
He then mounts on a man's back, or is elevated in some other
way ; and the strings which are attached to the hooks in his back
are tied to the rope at one end of the horizontal bamboo, and the
rope at the other end is held by several men, who, drawing it
down, raise up the end on which the man swings, and by their run-
ning round with the rope the machine is turned. In swinging,
16 SHIVU'S FESTIVALS.
the man describes a circle of about thirty feet diameter. Some
swing only a few minutes, others half an hour or more: I have
heard of men who continued swinging for hours. In the southern
parts of Bengal, a piece of cloth is wrapt round the body under-
neath the hooks, lest the flesh should tear, and the wretch fall, and
be dashed to pieces ; but the whole weight of the body rests on
the hooks. Some of these persons take the wooden pipe, and
smoak while swinging, as though insensible of the least pain.
Others take up fruit in their hands, and either eat it or throw it
among the crowd. I have heard of a person's having a monkey's
collar run into his hinder partsa, in which state the man and the
monkey whirled round together. On one occasion, in the north
of Bengal, a man took a large piece of wood in his mouth, and
swung for a considerable time without any cloth round his body to
preserve him, should the flesh of his back tear. On some occa-
sions these sunyasees have hooks run through their thighs as
well as backs. About the year 1800 five women swung in this
manner, with hooks through their backs and thighs, at Kidur-
pooru. near Calcutta. It is not very uncommon for the flesh to
tear, and the person to fall : instances are related of such persons
perishing on the spot. A few years ago a man fell from the post
at Kidurpooru, while whirling round with great rapidity ; and,
falling on a poor woman who was selling parched rice, killed her
on the spot : the man died the next day. At a village near Bujbuj,
some years since, the swing fell, and broke a man's leg. The man
who was upon it, as soon as he was loosed, ran to another tree,
was drawn up, and whirled round again, as though nothing had
happened. I have heard of one man's swinging three times in one
day on different trees ; and a bramhun assured me, that he had
seen four men swing on one tree ; while swinging, this tree was
carried round the field by the crowd.
On the day of swinging, in some places, a sunyasee is laid be-
fore the temple of Shivu as dead, and is afterwards carried to the
place where they burn the dead. Here they read many incanta-
tions and perform certain ceremonies, after which the (supposed)
dead sunyasee arises, when they dance around him, proclaiming
the name of Shivu.
The next morning the sunyasees go to Shivu's temple, and
perform worship to him, when they take off the poita which they
had worn during the festival. On this day, they beg, or take
from their houses, a quantity of rice, and other things, which they
make into a kind of frumenty, in the place where they burn the
dead. These things they offer, with some burnt fish, to departed
ghosts.
Each day of the festival the sunyasees worship the sun, pouring
a At Kidurpooru.
ORIGIN OF THESE HORRID RITES — SHIVu'S MARRIAGE. I?
water, flowers, &c. on a clay image of the alligator, repeating
muntrus.
These horrid ceremonies are said to derive their origin from a
king named Vanu, whose history is related in the Muhabharutn.
This work says, that Vanix, in the month Choitru, instituted these
rites, and inflicted a number of the cruelties here detailed on his
own body, viz., he mounted the swing, pierced his tongue and
sides, danced on fire, threw himself on spikes, &c At length he
obtained an interview with Shivu, who surrounded his palace with
a Avail of fire, and promised to appear whenever he should stand in
need of his assistance. Those who perform these ceremonies at
present, expect that Shivu* will bestow upon them some blessing
either in this lite or in the next.
Doorga is the wife of Shivu. This goddess is known under
other names, as Blmguvutee, Sutee, Parvutee, &c. In one age
Shivu w^as married to Sutee, the daughter of king Dukshu, and in
another to the same goddess under the name of Parvutee, the
daughter of the mountain Himaluyu : hence she is the mountain-
goddess.
When Doorga was performing religious austerities to obtain
Shivu in marriage, the latter was so moved that he appeared to
her, and enquired why she was thus employed ? She was ashamed
to assign the reason, but her attendants replied for her. He, in
jest, reproved her, observing that people performed religious aus-
terities to obtain something valuable ; in the article of marriage
they desired a person of a good family, but he (Shivu) had neither
father nor mother ; — or a rich person, but he had not a garment
to wear ; — or a handsome person, but he had three eyes.
When Shivu was about to be married to Parvutee, her mother
and the neighbours treated the god in a very scurrilous manner :
the neighbours cried out, " Ah ! ah ! ah ! This image of gold., this
most beautiful damsel, the greatest beauty in the three worlds, to
be given in marriage to such a fellow — an old fellow with three
eyes ; without teeth ; clothed in a tiger's skin ; covered with
ashes ; incircled with snakes ; wearing a necklace of human bones ;
with a human skull in his hand ; with a filthy juta (viz., a bunch
of hair like a turban) twisted round his head; who chews intoxi-
cating drugs ; has inflamed eyes ; rides naked on a bull, and
wanders about like a madman. Ah ! they have thrown this
beautiful daughter into the riverb!" — In this manner the neighbours
b In allusion to the throwing of dead bodies into the river. This resembles ^the
surprise said to have been excited by the marriage of Venus to the filthy and deformed
Vulcan. Another very singular coincidence betwixt the European idolatry and that
of the Hindoos is furnished by the story of Vulcan and Minerva, and that respecting
Shivu and Mohinee as given in the Markundeyu pooranu ; but which I have suppres-
sed on account of its offensive nature.
3
18
FABLES RESPECTING SHiVU — HIS NAME'S".
exclaimed against the marriage, till Narcdil who had excited the
disturbance, interfered, and the wedding was concluded.
A number of stories are related in some of the Hindoo books
of an inferior order, respecting the quarrels of Shivu and Par vu tee,
occasioned by the revels of the former, and the jealousy of the
latter. These quarrels resemble those of Jupiter and Juno. Other
stories are told of Shivu's- descending to the earth in the form of a
mendicant, for the preservation of some one in distress ; to per-
form religious austerities, fee,
Shivu is said, in the pooranus, to have destroyed Kundurpu
(Cupid), for Interrupting him in his devotions, previous to his--
union with Boorga. We find, however, the god of love restored
to existence, after a lapse of ages, under the name of Prudyoomu,
when he ao\ain obtained his wife Rutee. After his marriage with
the mountain-goddess, Shivu on a certain occasion offended his
father-in-law, king Dukshu, by refusing to bow to him as he en-
tered the circle in which the king was sitting. To be revenged,,
Dukshu refused to invite Shivu to a sacrifice which he was about
to perform. Sutee, the king's daughter, however,- was resolved to
go, though uninvited and forbidden by her husband. On her ar-
rival Dukslm poured a torrent of abuse on Shivu, which affected
Siitee so much that she diedc. When Shivu heard of the loss of
his beloved wife, he created a monstrous giant, whom he command-
ed to go and destroy Bnkslru, and put an end to his sacrifice. He
speedily accomplished this work, by cutting oft' the head of the
king, and dispersing all the guests. The gods, in compassion to
Dukshu, placed on his decapitated body the head of a goat, and
restored him to his family and kingdom.
This god has a thousand names, among which are the following ;
Shivu, or, the benefactor. Muheshwuru, the great god4. Eeshwuru,
the glorious god. Chundrushekuru, he whose forehead is adorned
with a half-moon. Bh65tcshu, he who is lord of the bhootusc.
Mriril, he who purifies. Mrityoonjuyu, he who conquers deaih.
Krittivasa, he who wears a skin. Oogru, the furious. Shreekuntur
he whose throat is beautiful*-. KupaliSbhrit, he whose alms' dish is
c In reference to this mark of strong attachment, a Hindoo widow burning with
her husband on the funeral pile is called Siitee.
d The pundits give proofs from the shastrtLs, in which Shivu is acknowledged to be
the greatest of the gods, or Muha-deVii r from muha, great, and devil, god.
e Bhootus are beings partly in human shape, though some of them have the faces of
horses, others of camels, others of monkeys, &c. Some have the bodies of horses, and
he faces of men. Some have one leg, and some two. Some have only one ear, and
thers only one eye. Shivu is attended by a number of these bhootifs, as Bacchus had
body of guards consisting of drunken satyrs, demons, nymphs, &c.
f After Shivu, to preserve the earth from destruction, had drank the person
which arose out of the sea, when the gods churned it to obtain the water of immortali-
ty, he fell into a swoon, and appeared to be at the point of death. All the gods were
exceedingly alarmed ; the usoorus were filled with triumph, under the expectation that
DESCRIPTION OF SHlVu's HEAVEN.
a skill K Smuru-lmra, the destroyer of the god of love. Tripoo-
rantuku, he who destroyed Tripooru, an usoorii. Gunga-dhuru, he
who caught the goddess Gunga in his liairh. Vrishu-dwnju, he
whose standard is a bull1. Shoolee, he who wields the tridentk,
St'hanoo, the everlasting. Shurvu, he who is every thing.
Gireeshu, lord of the hills, he who dwells on the hills.
The following account of the heaven of Shivu is translated from
the work called Krityu-tutwu. This heaven, which is situated on
mount Koilasu, and called Shivupooru, is ornamented with many
kinds of gems and precious things, a>s pearls, coral, gold, silver,
&c. — Here reside gods, danuvus1, gundhurvusm, upsurus", siddhus0,
charunusp, brumhursheesq, devursheesr, and muhurshees8; also
other sages, as Sunatunu, Sunutkoomaru, Sunundu, TJgustyu,
Ungira, Poolustyu, Pooluhu, Chitra, Angirusu, Goutumu, Bhrigoo,
Purashuru, Bhurudwaju, Mrikundu, Markundeyu, Shoonushephu,
Ushtavukru, Dhoumyu, Valmeekee, Vushisht'hu, Doorvasa, &c.
These persons constantly perform the worship of Shivu and Doorga,
and the upsurus are continually employed in singing, dancing, and
other festivities. — The flowers of every season are always in bloom
here : among which are, the" yoothee1, jateeu, mullika*, maluteey,
dor&z, tugurua, kuruveerub, kulharuc, kurnikarii'1, keshuru6,
poonnagud, dronac, gundhurajuf, shephalikas, chumpukn'1, bh65mee-
chtimpulca', nagu-keshuruk, moochukoondii1, kanchunu1", pioolee11,
jhintee", neel^-jhinteep, riikt'tt-jhinteeq, kudumbur, rujuneegundhu8,
turku', turooluta11, parijatux, &c. &c. Cool, odoriferous, and gentle
winds always blow on these flowers, and diffuse their fragrance all
one of the gods (even Shivii himself) was about to expire. The gods addressed Doorga,
who took Shivu in her arm, and began to repeat certain incantations to destroy the
effects of the poison : Shivu revived. This was the first time incantations were used
to destroy the ] tower of poison. Though the poison dkl not destroy Shivn, it left a
blue mark on his throat ; and hence one of his names is Neelu-ktlntu, the blue-throated.
s This is Brilmha's skull. Shivu in a quarrel cut off one of Brumha's five heads,
and made an alms' dish of it. Brumha and other gods, in the character of mendicants,
are represented with an earthen pot in the hand which contains their food. This pot
is called a knmun-diiloo.
h In Gunga's descent from heaven, Shivu caught her in the bunch of hair tied at
the back of his head.
i Shivu's conduct, on the day of his marriage with Parvutee, puts us in mind of
Priapxis. The Indian god rode through Kamu-roopu on a bull, naked, with the bride
on his knee.
k Here Shivu appears with Neptune's sceptre, though I cannot find that be re-
sembles the watery god in any thing else.
1 A particular kind of giants. m The heavenly choristers. n Dancers and
courtezans. ° P Gods who act as servants to some of the other gods. i Sacred
sages. r Divine sages. s Great sages. * Jasminum auriculatum. u J. grandi-
florum. _ x J. zambae. y Gatnera raeemosa. z Unknown. a Taberntemontana
coronaria. b Nerium odorum. c Nymphaea cyanea. d Pterospermum acerifolium.
e Mimusups elengi. d Rottlera tinctoria. e Phlomis zeylanica. f Gardenia florida.
s Nyctanthesarbor tristis. h Michelia champaca, 1 Kempferia rotunda. k Mesua
ferrea. 1 Pterospermum suberifolia. m Bauhinia (several species). 11 Linum trigynum.
° Barleria cristata. p Barleria cocrulea. i Barleria ciliata. r Kauclea orientalis-
B The tuberose. * .'Eschynomcnesesban. u Ipomea quamoclit. x Phoenix paludosa.
20
DESCRIPTION OF SHIVU'S HEAVEN.
over the mountain. The shade produced by the parijatu tree is
very cooling. This mountain also produces the following trees
and fruits : shalay, taluz, tumalua, hintalub, kurjodrac, amrttd,
jumvesru3, goovakuf, punusil?, shreephulu11, draksha1, ingoodeek,
vutu1, ushwub'hu111, kupitt'hu", &c. A variety of birds are constantly
singing here, and repeating the names of Door ga and Shiva, viz.,
the kak&°, shookup, paravutu'1, tittiree', chatukus, chasu*, bhasuu,
k5kilux, sarasit7, daty55huz, chukruvakua, &c. &c. The waters of
the heavenly Ganges (Mundakinee ) glide along in purling streams.
The six seasons are uninterruptedly enjoyed on this mountain, viz.,
vusixntu (spring) , greeshmu (summer), vursha (rainy), slmrut (sultry) ,
shishiril (dewy), and sheatu (cold). On a golden throne, adorned
with jewels, sit Shivu and Doorga, engaged in conversation.
The Shree-bhaguvutu contains another description of the heaven
of Shivu: — Sixteen thousand miles from the earth, on mount
Koilasu*, resides this god, in a palace of gold, adorned with jewels
of all kinds. This palace is surrounded with forests, gardens,
canals, trees laden with all kinds of fruit, flowers of every fragrance.
The kulpu tree also grows here, from which a person may obtain
every kind of food and all other things he may desire. In the
centre of a roodrakshuu forest, under a tree, Shivu frequently sits
with his wife Parvutee. The fragrance of the parijatu flowers
extends 200 miles in all directions ; and all the seasons are here
enjoyed at the same time. The winds blow softly, filled with the
most refreshing odours. At the extremities of this heaven south-
wards and northwards Shivu has fixed two gates, one of which is
kept by Nunde^, the other by Muha-kalu. A number of gods and
other celestial beings constantly reside here, among whom are
Kartike'yu and Gune'shu, the sons of Shiva" ; also the female ser-
vants of Doorga, Juya, and Vijuyar, eight nayikas, and sixty -four
yoginees, with bhootfts, pishachus, Shivu s bull, and those disciples
of Shiva (shaktus) who have obtained beatitude. The time is
spent here in the festivities and abominations of the other heavens.
y Phoenix sylvestris. z Erythriua fulgens. a Shorea robusta. b Borassus flabelli-
formis. c Diospyrus cordifolia. d Mangifera Indica. e The citron or lime tree.
f Areca catechu. s Artocarpus integrifolia. h JEgle raarmelos. 1 The grape
vine. k Unknown. 1 Ficus Iudica. m Ficus religiosa. u Feronia elephantiuro.
° The crow. p The parrot. q The pigeon. r The partridge. s The sparrow.
1 Coracias Indica. u Unknown. x The Indian cuckow. y The Siberian crane,
z The gallinule. a Anas casarea.
4 Sonini, "during his travels in Greece aud Turkey, made a journey into ancient
Macedonia, and paid a visit to mount Olympus, the abode of the gods. It was the
middle of July when this excursion was made, and although the heat was extreme
towards the base of the mountain, as well as in the plain, vast masses of snow render-
ed the summit inaccessible. " It is not astonishing," says Sonini, " that the Greeks
have placed the abode of the gods on an eminence which mortals cannot reach." The
monks of the convent, " who have succeeded them in this great elevation," confirmed
what has been sometimes disputed, the perpetual permanence of ice and snow on the
top of the mountain. With the exception of chamois and a few bears, there are hard-
ly any quadrupeds to be seen beyond the half of the height of Olympus. Birds also
scarcely pass this limit.
u Eleocarpus ganitrus.
BRUMHA THE CREATION — FORM AND WORSHIP OF BRUMHA. 21
•Sect. IIL — Brumha.
As has been already mentioned, Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu
derived their existence from the one Brumhu. The Hindoo pundits
do not admit these to be creatures, but contend that they are ema-
nations from, or parts of, the one Br&mhu.
Brumha first produced the waters, then the earth ; next, from
his own mind, he caused a number of sages and four females to be
born : among the sages was Kushyupu, the father of the gods,
giants, and men. From Uditee were born the gods ; from Ditee
the giants ; from Kudroo the hydras ; and from Vinuta, Gurooru
and Uroonu. After creating these sages, who were of course bram-
huns, Brumha caused a kshutriyu to spring from his arms, a
voishyu from his thighs, and a sh5odru from his feet. In this
order, according to the pooranus, the whole creation arose. The
Hindoo shastrus, however, contain a variety of different accounts
on the* subject of creation. I have thought it necessary to give
this brief statement, as it seems connected with the history of this
god.
Brumha is represented as a man with four faces, of a gold
colour ; dressed in white garments ; riding on a goose. In one
hand he holds a stick, and in the other a kumunduloo, or alms'
dish. He is called the grandfather (pitamuhtt) of gods and men5.
He is not much regarded in the reigning superstition ; nor does
any one adopt him as his guardian deity.
The bramhuns, in their morning and evening worship, repeat
an incantation, containing a description of the image of Brumha ;
at noon they perform an act of worship in honour of this god, pre-
senting to him sometimes a single flower : at the time of a burnt
offering, clarified butter is presented to Brumha. In the month
Maghii, at the full moon, an earthen image of this god is worship-
ped, with that of Shivu on his right hand, and that of Vishnoo on
his left. This festival lasts only one da}7, and the three gods are,
the next day, thrown into the river. This worship is accompanied
with songs, dances, music, &c. as at all other festivals ; but the
worship of Brumha is most frequently celebrated by a number of
young men of the baser sort, who defray the expences by a sub-
scription.— Bloody sacrifices are never offered to Brumha.
Brumha, notwithstanding the venerable name of grandfather,
seems to be as lewd as any of the gods. At the time that intoxicat-
ing spirits were first made, all the gods, giants, gundhurvus, yuk-
shus, kinnurus, &c. were accustomed to drink spirits, and no blame
was then attached to drunkenness : but one day Brumha, in a state
of intoxication, made an attempt on the virtue of his own daughter,
" Jupiter was called the father and king of gods and men.
22 BRUM HA ATTEMPTS TO COMMIT INCEST — HIS HEAVEN
by which he incurred the wrath of the gods. Sometime after-
wards, Brumha boasted in company, that he was as great a god as
Shiva. Hearing what Brumha had been saying, the latter, inflam-
ed with anger, was about to cut off one of Brumha's heads, but
was prevented by the intercessions of the assembled gods. Brumha
complained to Doorga, who appeased him by saying, that Shivu
did not attempt to cut off his head because he aspired to be greater
than he, but because he (Brumha) had been guilty of a great crime
in endeavouring to seduce his daughter. BrtLmha was satisfied
with this answer, but pronounced a curse on whatever god, gund-
hurvu, or ixpsura should hereafter drink spirits.
The above is the substance of the story as related in the Mu-
habharutu. The Kash e e-khun d.u of the Skunda pooranu says,
that Brumha lost one of his heads in the following manner:— this
god was one day asked by certain sages, in the presence of Krutoo,
a form of Vishnoo, who was greatest, Brumha, Vishnoo, or Shivu ?
Brumha affirmed that he was entitled to this distinction. Kratoo,
as a form of Vishnoo, insisted that the superiority belonged to
himself. An appeal was made to the veMus ; but those books de-
clared in favour of Shivu. On hearing this verdict, Brumha was
filled with rage, and made many insulting remarks upon Shivu ;
who, assuming the terrific form of Kalu-Bhoiruvu, appeared before
Brilmha and Krutoo, and, receiving farther insults from Brumha,
with his nails tore off one of Brumha's five heads. Brumha was
now thoroughly humbled, aud with joined hands acknowledged
that he was inferior to Shivu. Thus this quarrel betwixt the three
gods was adjusted ; and Shivu, the naked mendicant, was acknow-
ledged as Muha-devu, the great god.
Brumha is also charged with stealing several calves from the
herd which Krishnu was feeding.
This god, assuming the appearance of a religious mendicant,
is said to have appeared many times on earth for different purposes.
Stories to this effect are to be found in several of the pooranus.
The Muhabharutu contains the following description of the
heaven of Brumha : — this heaven is 800 miles long, 400 broad, and
40 high. Narudu, when attempting to describe this heaven, de-
clared himself utterly incompetent to the task ; that he could not
do it in two hundred years ; that it contained in a superioY degree
all that was in the other heavens ; and that whatever existed in
the creation of Brumha on earth, from the smallest insect to the
largest animal, was to be found here.
A scene in the heaven of Brumha : — Vrihusputee, the spiritual
guide of the gods, on a particular occasion went to the place of his
elder brother Ootut'hyu, and became enamoured of his pregnant
wife. The child in the womb reproved him. Vrihusputee cursed
AND NAMES— INDRU, HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVALS.
23
the child ; on which account it was born blind, and called Deerghu-
turna0. When grown up, Deergliu-tuma followed the steps of his
uncle, and from his criminal amours Goutumu and other Hindoo
saints were born. Deergl iu-tuma was delivered from the curse of
Vrihusniltee by Yoodhist'hiru.
This god lias many names, among which are the following :
Brumha, or, he who multiplies [mankind] Atmuboo, the self-
existent. Puramest'Kee, the chief sacrificer'1. Pitamuhu, the grand-
father. Hiruiryu-gurbhu, he who is pregnant with gold. Lokeshu,
the god of mankind, the creator. Chutoor-anuim, the four-faced,
Dhata, the creator. Ubju-yonee, lie who is born from the water-
lily. Hroohinu, he who subdues the giants. Prujaputee, the lord
of all creatures. Savitree-putee, the husband of Savitree.
Sect. IV.—Indrit
Indru is called the kino- of heaven, and his reijm is said to
continue 100 years of the gods ; after which another person, from
among the gods, the giants, or men, by his own merit, raises himself
to this eminence. The sacrifice of a horse6 one hundred times
raises a person to the rank of Indru.
The Shree-bhaguvutu gives the following list of the persons
who have been or will be raised to the rank of king* of the <rods
during the present kulpii : Huree, Rocnunu, Sutyu-jit Trishikhu,
Vibhoo, Muntru-droomu, and Poorundxiru, the present Indru. To
him will succeed Bulee, Shrootu, Shumbhoo, Voidhritu, Gundhu-
dhama, Divusputee, and Shoochee.
Indru is represented as a white man, sitting on an elephant
called Oiravutu, with a thunderbolt in his right hand, and a bow
in his left. He has 1,000 e}~cs.
The worship of Indru is celebrated annually, in the day time,
on the 14th of the lunar month Bhadru. The usual ceremonies of
worship are accompanied with singing, music, dancing, &c. In
Bengal the greater number of those who keep this festival are
women ; in whose names the ceremonies are performed by officiat-
ing bramhuns. It lasts one day, after which the image is thrown
into the river. This festival, which is accompanied by the greatest
festivities, is celebrated all over Bengal ; each one repeating it
annually during fourteen years. On the day of worship, a few
blades of dodrva grass are tied round the right arm of a man, and
e From deerghu, long ; tuma, darkness.
d That is, as the first bramhitn, he performed all the great sacrifices of the Hindoo
law. To every sacrifice a bramhun is necessary.
e The horse, on account of his usefulness in war, was sacrificed to Mars.
24
ACCOUNT OF A CRIMINAL INTRIGUE,
the left of a woman. Some persons wear this string, which contains
fourteen knots, for a month after the festival is over. Fourteen kinds
of fruits, fourteen cakes, &c. must be presented to the image. This
worship is performed for the purpose of procuring riches, or a house,
or a son, or pleasure, or a residence after death in Indru' s heaven.
Indru is supposed- to preside over the elements, so that in
times of drought prayers are addressed to him as the giver of rain.
He is also one of the ten guardian deities of the earth, and
is said to preside in the east. To render the worship of any other
god acceptable, it is necessary that the worship of these deities be
previously performed, viz.^ of Indru, Ugnee, Yumu, Noiritu^
VuYoonu, Puvunu, Eeshu, TJniintu, Kooveru, and Brumha ; also
that of * the five deities', viz., Sdoryu, Guneshu, Shivu, Bsorga,
and Vishnoo ; and of the nine planets, viz., Ruvee, Somu, Mun-
gulu, Boodhu, Vrihusputee, Shookru, Shunee, Rahoo, and Ketoo.
In consequence of this rule, a few ceremonies of worship are per-
formed to Indru at the commencement of every festival.
The pooranus and other writings contain a number of stories
respecting this king of the gods, who is represented as particularly
jealous lest any persons should, by the performance of sacred aus-
terities, out-do him in religious merit, and thus obtain his king-
dom To present these devotees from succeeding in their object,
he generally sends a captivating female from his own residence to
draw away their minds, and thus throw them down from the lad-
der of religious merit, and send them back again to a life of gratifi-
cation amono- the delusive forms of earth. Bu t that which entails the
greatest infamy on the character of this god is, his seducing the
wife of his spiritual guide Goutumu. This story is related in the
Ramayunu as follows : ' After receiving the highest honours from
Prumutee, the two descendants of Rughoo, having passed the night
there, went towards Mit'hila. When the sages beheld at a distance
the beautiful city of Junuku, they joyfully exclaimed, ' Excellent !
excellent !' Raghuva, seeing a, hermitage in a grove of Mit'hila,
asked the chief of sages, ' What solitary wilderness is this, O divine
one? I desire to hear whose hermitage this is, beautiful, of im-
penetrable shade, and inhabited by sages.' Vishwamitru,, hearing
these words, in pleasing accents thus answered the lotus-eyed
Ramu : 'Attend, I will inform thee whose is this hermitage, and
in what manner it became solitary, cursed by the gTeat one in his
wrath. This was the sacred hermitage of the great Goutumu,
adorned with trees, flowers, and fruits. For many^ thousand years,
O son of Rughoo, did the sage remain here with Tj hulya, perform-
ing sacred austerities. One day, O Ramu, the sage being gone far
distant, the king of heaven, acquainted with the opportunity, and
sick with impure desire, assuming the habit of a sagef, thus addres-
f That is, the habit of Goutumu. This resembles Jupiter's seducing Alcmena,
the wife of Amphytrion, in her husband's absence, in the likeness of Araphytrion.
OTHER FABLES. 25
seel UhuTya, 'The menstrual season deserves regard5, 0 thou
This depraved woman, O afflicter of enemies, knowing Sliukru4 in
the disguise of a sage, through wantonness consented, he being
king of the gods. The chief of the gods having perpetrated his
crime, she thus addressed him : ' O chief of gods, thou hast accom-
plished thy design, speedily depart unobserved. O sovereign of
the gods, effectually preserve thyself and me from Goutumu.' In-
<3ra smiling replied to Uhulya, * O beautiful one, I am fully pleased ;
I will depart ; forgive my transgression.' After this, he, O Ramu,
with much caution left the hermitage, dreading the wrath of
Goutumu. At that instant he saw Goutumu enter, resplendent
with energy, and, through the power of sacred austerities, invinci-
ble even to the gods6 ; wet with the waters of the sacred teer'-
thuf, as the fire moistened with clarified butter5, he saw him com-
ing to the hermitage, laden with sacrificial wood, and the sacred
kooslnl. Perceiving him, Shukru was overwhelmed with sad-
ness. The sage clothed in virtue, beholding the profligate lord
of' the gods in the disguise of a sage, in dreadful anger thus
addressed him : * O profligate wretch, assuming my form thou
hast perpetrated this crime : therefore become an eunuch.' At
the word of the magnanimous and angry Goutumu, the thou-
sand-eyed god instantly became an eunuch. Deprived of man-
ly energy, and rendered an eunuch by the anger of the devout
sage, he, full of agonizing pain, was overcome with sorrow11.
The great sage, having cursed him, pronounced a curse upon his
own wife: 4 Innumerable series of years, O sinful wretch, of depra-
ved heart, thou, enduring excessive pain, abandoned, lying con-
stantly in ashes, invisible to all creatures, shalt remain in this forest.
When Ramu, the son of Dushurut'hu, shall enter this dreadful
forest, thou, beholding him, shalt be cleansed from thy sin. Hav-
ing, O stupid wretch, entertained him without selfish views, thou,
filled with joy, shalt again approach me without fear.' Having
thus addressed this wicked woman, the illustrious Goutumu, the
g ' According to the shastrus, sixteen days from the appearance of the menses is
reckoned the menstrual season. All connubial intercourse is forbidden during the
first three of these days. The guilt incurred by a violation of this rule, on the first
day is equal to that of a criminal connection with a female chundahl, on the second
day equal to the same act with a washerwoman, and on the third to the same act
with a female shoodru.'
d A name of Indru, signifying strength.
e The Hindoos believe that the merit of works is such as to be sufficient to
raise a person higher than the gods themselves.
f Teert'hus are certaiu places esteemed peculiarly sacred by the Hindoos,
Bathing in these places is reckoned highly meritorious.
s That is, the fire of the burnt offering.
h Other accounts say, that Goutfimu imprinted a thousand female marks upon
him as proofs of his crime, and that Indru was so ashamed, that he petitioned Goutxtmi!
to deliver him from his disgrace. The sage, therefore, changed these marks into eyes,
and hence InchiS became the thousand-eyed god.
4
26 HEAVEN OF INDRU.
great ascetic, abandoned this hermitage, and performed austerities
on the pleasant top of Himuvut, frequented by the siddhus and
charilnus0.
Indru was also guilty of stealing a horse consecrated by king
Suguru, who was about to perform, for the hundredth time, the
sacrifice of this animal.
Indru, though king of the gods, has been frequently overcome
in war : Meghu-nadud, the son of Ravunu, the giant, once over-
came him, and tied him to the feet of his horse. On condition of
releasing the king of the gods, Bramha conferred on Meghu-nadu
the name Indru-jit, that is, the conqueror of Indru. He was called
Meghu-nadu because he fought behind a cloud, (meghu ;) and this
enabled him to overcome Indru, who, in the engagement, was un-
able to see him, though he had a thousand eyes.
Kushyupu, the sage, once performed a great sacrifice, to
which all the gods were invited. Indru, on his way to the feast,
saw 60,000 dwarf bramhuns trying in vain to cross a cow's footstep
which was filled with water, and had the misfortune to laugh at
these pigmies ; at which they were so incensed, that they resolved
to make a new Indru, who should conquer him, and take away his
kingdom. Indru was so frightened at these 60,000 pigmy bram-
huns, who could not get over a cow's footstep, that he entreated
Brumha to interfere ; who saved him from their wVath, and conti-
nued him on his throne.
Description ofUmUravUtee, the residence of Indict, from the Mu-
habharutU : — This heaven was made by Vishwu-kurma,the architect
of the gods. It is 800 miles in circumference, and 40 miles high ;
its pillars are composed of diamonds ; all its elevated seats, beds,
&c. are of gold ; its palaces are also of gold. It is so ornamented
with all kinds of precious stones, jasper, chrysolite, sapphire,
emeralds, &c. &c.,that it exceeds in splendour the brightness of twelve
suns united. It is surrounded with gardens and forests, contain-
ing among other trees the parijatu, the fragrance of the flowers of
which extends 800 miles, that is, fills the whole heaven6. In the
pleasure grounds are pools of water, warm in winter and cold in
summer, abounding with fish, water-fowl, water-lilies, &c. the land-
ing places of which are of gold. All kinds of trees and flowering
shrubs abound in these gardens. The winds are most refreshing,
never boisterous ; and the heat of the sun is never oppressive.
Gods, sages, upsuras, kinnurus, siddhus, saddhyus, deVurshees,
brumhurshees, rajurshees, Yrihusputee, Shookru, Shunee, Boodhu,
the winds, clouds, Oiravutu, (Indru's elephant,) and other celes-
c Carey and Marshman's Translation of the Ramayunil, vol. i., page 433.
d This word signifies thunder.
e It is a curious fact, that though this flower is so celebrated in the pooraniis for its
fragrance, it has no scent at all,
SCENES IN THIS HEAVEN, IN SEVERAL STORIES. 27
tial beings, dwell in this heaven. The inhabitants are con-
tinually entertained with songs, dances, music, and every species
of mirth. Neither sickness, sorrow, nor sudden death, are found
in these regions, nor are its inhabitants affected with hunger or
thirst. — When the god Narudu was sitting in an assembly of princes
at king Yoodhist'hirus, the latter asked him whether he had
ever seen so grand a scene before, Narudu, after some hesitation,
declared he had beheld a scene far more splendid in Indru's heaven,
of which he then gave the above account ; but confessed that the
place exceeded all his powers of description.
A scene in IndrtiL's heaven : — On a certain occasion an assem-
bly of the gods was held in this place, at which, beside the gods,
Narudu and the rishees, the gunus, ditkshus, gundhurvus, &c. were
present. While the courtezans were dancing, and the kinnurus
singing, the whole assembly was filled with the highest pleasure.
To crown their joys, the gods caused a shower of flowers to fall on
the assembly. The king of the gods, being the most distinguished
personage present, first took up a flower, and, after holding it to
his nose, gave it to a bramhun. The assembled gods laughing at
the brumhun for receiving what Indru had used, he went home in
disgrace ; but cursed Indru, and doomed him to become a cat in the
house of a person of the lowest cast. Suddenly, and unknown to
all, he fell from heaven, and became a cat in the house of a hunter.
After he had been absent eight or ten days, Shuchee, his wife, be-
came very anxious, and sent messengers every where to enquire for
her husband. The gods also said among themselves, 'What is be-
come of Indru ? — A total silence reigns in his palace, nor are we in-
vited to the dance and the usual festivities ! What can be the mean-
ing of this V — All search was in vain ; and the gods assembled to
enquire where he was. They found Shuchee in a state of distrac-
tion, of whom Brum ha enquired respecting the lost god. At
length Brumha closed his eyes, and by the power of medi-
tation discovered that Indru, having offended a bramhun, had
become a cat. Shuchee, full of alarm, asked Brumha what she
was to do. He told her to go to the house of the bramhun,
and obtain his favour ; upon which her husband would be restored to
her. Shuchee obeyed the directions of Brumha, and went to the house
of the bramhun ; who was at length pleased with her attentions,
and ordered her to descend to the earth, and go to the house of the
hunter, whose wife would tell her what to do that her husband
might be restored to his throne in heaven. Assuming a human
form, she went to the house of the hunter, and, looking at the cat,
sat weeping. The wife of the hunter, struck with the divine form
of Shuchee, enquired with surprise who she was. Shuchee hesita-
ted, and expressed her doubts whether the hunter's wife would be-
lieve her if she declared her real name. At length she confessed
who she was, and, pointing to the cat, declared that that was her
hnsband, Indru, the king of heaven. The hunter's wife, petrified
28
SCENES" IN THIS HEAVEN, IN SEVERAL STORIES,
with astonishment, stood speechless. Shuchee, after some farther
discourse, said, she had been informed that she (the hunter's wife)
alone could assist her in obtaining the deliverance of her husband.
After some moments of reflection, this woman directed Shuchee to*
perform the Kalika-vrutu. She obeyed and poor lodrti, quitting
the form of the cat, ascended to heaven, and resumed his place
among the gods. No doubt he took care in future not to ofTend
a branihun.
Another scene in the heaven of Indru, from the Shree-bha-
gnvutu. — On a certain occasion, the heavenly courtezans and
others were dancing before the gods, when Indru was so
charmed with the dancing and the person of Oorvushee,
one of the courtezans, that he did not perceive when his
spiritual guide Vrihusputee entered theassembly, and neglected to
pay him the usual honours. Vrihusputee was so incensed at this,
that he arose and left the assembly. The gods, perceiving the
cause, in the utmost consternation* went to Indru, and made him
acquainted with what had passed. The latter intreated the gods
to join him in seeking for the enraged Vrihusputee ; but the spiri-
tual guide had, by the power of yogu, rendered himself invisible.
At last they found the angry gooroo in his own house ; and the
gods, joining their petitions to those of Indru, entreated that the
offence might be forgiven. Vrihusputee declared that he had for
ever rejected Indrii, and that his resolution would not be changed.
Indru, offended that for so small an offence he should be so harshly
treated, declared that he would make no farther concessions, but
seek another religious guide. The gods approved of his resolution,
and advised him to choose Vishwu-roopu, a giant with three heads.
In process of time, at the suggestion of his mother, Vishwur65pu
began a sacrifice to procure the increase of the power of the giants,
the natural enemies of the gods. Indru heard of this, and, hurling
his thunders on the head of the faithless priest, destroyed him in
an instant. The father of Vishwur56pu heard of his son's death,
and, by the merit of a sacrifice, gave birth to a giant, at the sight
of whom Indru fled to Brumha ; who informed the king of the gods
that this giant could not be destroyed by all his thunders, unless
he could persuade Dudheeehee, a sage, to renounce life, and give
him one of his bones. The sage consented, and by the power of
yogu renounced life ; when Vishwu-kurma made this bone into a
thunder-bolt, and the giant was destroyed. But immediately on
his death, a terrific monster arose from the body, to punish Indru
for his bramhunicide Wherever the king of the gods fled, this
monster followed him with his mouth open, ready to swallow him
up, till Indru took refuge in a place where the monster could not
approach him ; however he sat down, and watched the trembling
culprit. After some time the gods began to be alarmed : there
f A Hindoo considers the anger of his spiritual guide as the greatest possible
misfortune.
SCENES IN THIS HEAVEN, IN SEVERAL STOEIES.
29
was no king in heaven, and every thing was falling into complete
disorder. After consultation, they raised to the throne of heaven,
in his bodily state, Nuhooshu, who had performed the sacrifice of a
horse one hundred times. When Nuliooshu enquired for Shuchee,
the queen of heaven, he found she was in the parijatu forest. He
sent for her ; but she declared she would not come, as he had a
human and not a divine body. The messengers remonstrated with
her, but she fled to Brumha; who advised her to send word to the
new Indru, that she would live with him, if he would come and
fetch her with an equipage superior to whatever had been seen
before in heaven. This message was conveyed to the new Indru ;
who received it with much joy, but took several days to consider
in what way he should go to fetch home the queen. At last, he
resolved to be carried to her in the arms of some of the principal
sages. As the procession was moving along, the king, in his exces-
sive anxiety to arrive at the parijatu forest, kicked the sacred lock
of hair on the head of Ugustyu ; who became filled with rage, and,
pronouncing a dreadful curse on the new Indru, threw him down,
and he fell, in the form of a snake, upon a mountain on the earth, —
Yishnoo, perceiving that one Indru was kept a prisoner, and that
another had been cursed and sent down to the earth, resolved to
find a remedy for this evil, and, cursing the monster who had im-
prisoned the former king of the gods, restored him to his throne
and kingdom.
Another scene in Inclrus heaven, from the Muhabliarnlu. —
Narudu one day called at Krishnu's, having with him a parijatu
flower from the heaven of Indru. The fragrance of this flower
filled the whole place with its odours. Narudu first called on
Rookminee, one of Krishnu's wives, and offered the flower to her.
She recommended him to give it to Krishnu, that he might dispose
of it as he chose. He next went to Krishnu, who received him
with great respect : 1 Well, Narudu, you are come after a long ab-
sence : what flower is that T ' Can't you tell by its fragrance X said
Narudu, 'it is the parijatu. . I brought it from Indru s garden, and
I now present it to you.' Krishnu received it with pleasure, and,
after some further conversation, Narudu retired into another part
of the house and watched Krishnu, to see to which of his wives he
would give this flower ; that he might excite a quarrel in Krish-
nu's family, and ultimately a war betwixt Krishnu and Indru.
Krishnu, after Narudu had retired, went to Rookminee, and gave
the flower to her, warning her to keep it secret, lest Sutyu-bhama
(another of Krishnu's wives) should hear of it. As soon as Naru-
du saw to whom Krishnu had given the flower, he paid a visit
to Sutyu-bhama, who received him with great attention. After
the first compliments were over, Narudu fetched a deep sigh,
which Sutyu-bhama noticing, enquired the cause. He seemed to
answer with reluctance, which made Sutyu-bhama still more in-
quisitive. He then acknowledged that his sorrow was on her ac-
so
SCENES IN THIS HEAVEN, IN SEVEEAL STORIES.
count. Her anxiety was now inflamed to the highest degree, and
she begged him to tell her without delay what he meant. ' I have
always considered you,' says NarMu, 'as the most beloved wife
of Krishnu ; the fame of your happiness has reached heaven itself :
but from what I have seen to-day, I suspect that this is all mis-
take.' ■ Why ? Why ?' asked Sutyu-bhama most anxiously. Naru-
du then unfolded to her, in the most cautious manner, the story
of the flower : ' I brought from heaven,' says he, ' a parijatu flower,
(a flower which is not to be obtained on earth,) and gave it to
Krishnu. I made no doubt but he would present it to you — to
whom else should he present it ? But instead of that he went
secretly to the apartments of Rookminee, and gave the flower to
her. Where then is his love to you ?' — Sutyu-bhama asked what
kind of flower this was. Narudu declared that it was not in his
power to describe it. ' Do you not perceive,' said he, ' its odours V
* I perceived,' said Sutyu-bhama, ' the most delightful fragrance,
but I thought it was from your body.' Narudu. declared that his
body was offensive, and that it was the parijafcu that diffused its
odours all around. ' But,' says he, ' when you see Krishnu, ask
him to let you look at it/ 'And do you think then,' said
Sutyu-bhama, 'that I shall speak to Krishnu, or see his face any
more !' — 4 You are right,' said Narudu : ' he did not even let you
see so precious a jewel ; but secretly gave it to another.' —
The enraged Sufcyii-bhama made the most solemn protestations
that she had done with Krishnu for ever. Narudu praised her for
her resolution, but hinted, that if she ever did make up the
matter with Krishnu, she should insist upon his fetching one of
the trees from heaven, and giving it to her. Narudu, having thus
laid the foundation of a dreadful quarrel betwixt Krishnu and his
wife, and of a war with Indru, withdrew, and Sutyu-bhama retired
to the house of anger*. — Some days after this, Krishnu went to
see Sutyii-bhama, but could not find her : on asking the servants,
they told him that she had on some account retired to the house of
anger. Not being able to discover the cause, he went to her, and
made use of every soothing expression ; but in vain. At last he
threw himself at her feet, when, after many entreaties, she
consented to be reconciled, on condition that he should fetch
one of the trees from heaven, and plant it in her garden. This
he engaged to do, and sent Gurooruto Indru with his respects :
but commissioned Gtirooru. in case of refusal to threaten him
with war ; and if this did not avail, to add, that Krishnu would
come and trample on the body of his queen, overturn his throne,
and take the tree from him by force. Neither the entreaties nor
threats of Krishnu" moved Indru ; who, on the contrary, sent
him a defiance. Krishnu, on the return of Guroorii, collected
his forces, and invaded heaven. Dreadful havock was made
on both sides. All the heavens were in a state of frightful
s A house set apart for an angry wife, where she retires till her husband recon-
ciles himself to her.
INDRU'S NAMES — SOORYU — HIS DESCENT.
31
uproar ; and the gods, full of alarm, advised Indru to submit, as he
would certainly be overcome. At length Krishnti let fly a weapon
called Soodtirshunu, which pursued the foe wherever he went.
The gods again exhorted IncLrii to sue for peace, to prevent his
immediate destruction : he at length took this advice, and sub-
mitted to the enraged Krishnu, who carried off the tree in triumph,
and appeased his jealous wife Sutyu-bhama.
The following are some of the names of this god : Indru, or,
the glorious. — Murootwan, he who is surounded by the winds.
— Pakushasunu, he who governs the gods with justice. Pooroohootu,
he who is invited to a sacr ifice performed by king Pooroo.—
Poorunduru, he who destroys the dwellings of his enemies. —
Jishnoo, the conqueror. — Shukru, he who is equal to every thing.
— Shutumunyoo, he who performed a hundred sacrifices. — Divus-
putee, the god of the heavens. — Gotrubhid, he who dipt the wings
of the mountains1. — Bujree, he who wields the thunder-boltk. —
Vritruha, he who destroyed the giant Vritru. — Vrisha, the
holy. — Sooru-putee, the king of the gods. — Bularatee, the destroyer
of Bulu, a giant. — Hurihuyu, he who is drawn by yellow horses.
— Numoochisoodunu, the destroyer of Numoochee, a giant. —
Sunkrundunu, he who causes the wives of his enemies to weep.
— Toorashat, he who is able to bear all things. — Meghu-vahunu, he
who rides on the clouds. — Stihusrakshu, he who has a thousand
eyes.1.
Sect. V. — JSodryu™.
This god is said to be the son of Kushyupu, the progenitor of
gods and men. He is represented as a dark-red man, with three eyes,
and four arms ; in two hands he holds the water-lily ; with
another, he is bestowing a blessing, and with the other forbidding
fear. He sits on a red water-lily, and rays of glory issue from
his body.
The bramhuns consider Sdoryu as one of the greatest of the gods,
because in glory he resembles the one Brumhu, who is called
tejomuyu, or the glorious. In the vedus also this god is much
noticed : the celebrated incantation called the gayutree, and
many of the forms of meditation, prayer, and praise, used in the
daily ceremonies of the bramhuns, are addressed to him. He is at
present worshipped daily by the bramhuns, when flowers, water,
&c. are offered, accompanied with incantations.
» It is said, that formerly the mountains had wings, and that they flew into all
parts of the earth, and crushed to atoms towns, cities, &c.
k In this Indru resembles Jupiter Fulminator.
i Mr. Wilkins considers Indru, with his thousand eyes, as a deification of the
heavens.
m The Sun,
32
HIS FESTIVALS.
On a Sunday, at the rising of the sun, in any month, but es-
pecially in the month Maghu, a number of persons, chiefly women,
perform the worship of S56ryu : I shall give an account of this
worship in the words of a respected friend. — ' The sun is annually
worshipped on the first Sunday in the month Maghu. The name of
this worship is called Dlrurmu-bhaoo, or S55ryu-bhaoo. The cere-
monies vary in different places, but in this district the women appear
to be the principal actors ; though none are excluded, and even
Musulmans are so far Hindooized as to join in the idolatry. I saw it
once thus conducted : — at the dawn of the morning a great number
of offerings were carried into the open field, and placed in a row.
The offerings consisted of fruits, sweatmeats, pigeons and kids. A
small pot was placed by each person's offering, containing about a
pint and a half of water. A device made of a water-plant, a species
of Millingtonia, intended to represent the sun, was placed on the
edge of the pot, and a small twig of the mango-tree, with a few
leaves on it, put into it, as people in England keep flowers. The
pot with all its appendages represented the sun perhaps as the
vivifier of nature. By each offering also was placed (what shall I
call it V) an incense-altar, or censer called dhoonachee. It resembled
a chafing-dish, made of copper, and stood upon a pedestal about a
foot long. It contained coals of fire, and a kind of incense from
time to time was thrown into it, principally the pitch of the salu-
tree, called dhoona. Near each offering was placed a lamp, which
was kept burning all day. The women also took their stations
near the offerings. At sun-rise they walked four times round the
whole row of offerings, with the right hand towards them, and the
smoking dhoonachees placed on their heads ; after which they re-
sumed their stations again, where they continued in an erect pos-
ture, fasting the Avhole day, occasionally throwing a little incense
into the dhoonachee. Towards evening, the bramhun who attend-
ed the ceremony, threw the pigeons up into the air ; which, being
young, could not fly far, and were scrambled for and carried away
by the crowd. The officiating bramhun perforated the ears of the
kids with a needle ; after which they were seized by the first per-
son who touched them. About sun-set, the offerers again took up
the smoking dhoonachees, and made three circuits round the rows
of offerings. After this, the offerings and lighted lamps were taken
away by their respective owners, who threw the lamps into a pool
of water.'
Women frequently make a vow to Sodryu to worship him, on
condition that he give — to one, a son ; to another, riches ; to
another, health, &c. Some perform these ceremonies after bearing
a son. This worship is sometimes attended to by one woman
alone ; at other times by five, six, or more in company.
So5ryu and the other planets are frequently worshipped in
order to procure health. This the Hindoos call a sacrifice to the
ANECDOTES OE THIS GOD.
33
nine planets, when flowers, rice, water, a burnt-sacrifice, &c are
offered to each of these planets separately. It is said, that two or
three hundred years ago Muy55rubhuttu, a learned Hindoo, in
order to obtain a cure for the leprosy, began to write a poem of one
hundred Sungskritu verses in praise of S56ryu ; and that by the
time he had finished the last verse, he was restored to health.
These verses have been published under the title of Sooryushutuku,
the author at the close giving this account of his cure. Sometimes
a sick person procures a bramhun to rehearse for him a number of
verses in praise of S55ryu, offering at the same time to this god
rice, water, and juva11 flowers. If the person be very ill, and a man
of property, he employs two or three bramhuns, who repeat as
many as a thousand verses. This ceremony must be performed
standing in the sun : when a thousand verses are rehearsed, the
recitation occupies more than a day. The origin of this method of
obtaining relief from sickness is ascribed to Shambu the son of
Krishnii, one of the most beautiful youths in the three worlds, who
was directed in a dream to repeat, twice a day, the twenty-one
names of Sooryu then revealed to him.
The persons who receive the name of Sooryu, and adopt this
god as their guardian deity, are called Sourus : they never eat till
they have worshipped the sun, and when the sun is entirely cover-
ed with clouds they fast. On a Sunday, many Sourus, as well as
Hindoos belonging to other sects, perform, in a more particular
manner, the worship of this idol ; and on this day some of them
fast.
The Ramayunu contains the following story respecting S56ryTS,
Hunoomanu, &c. In the war betwixt Kamu and Ravunii, an arrow
discharged by Puvunu pierced the body of Lukshmunu : Ramu.
and all his friends were exceedingly alarmed for the life of
Lukshmiinu ; the physicians tried all their efforts in vain. At
last one physician declared that if four kinds of leaves could be
brought from the mountain Gundhu-madhunu, and applied to the
wound, Lukshmunu might probably be restored to health. The
god who had given this arrow to Ravunii had declared, that who-
ever was wounded with it in the night should not recover, if a
cure were not obtained before day-light. It was night when the
wound was inflicted, but Hunoomanu engaged to bring the leaves
before morning. To secure the fulfilment of his promise, he leaped
into the air, and alighted on the mountain ; but searched in vain
for the medicinal leaves. While in his search, Ravunu, who had
heard what was going forward, sent Sooryu to arise on the moun-
tain at midnight. Hunoomanu, in a rage, leaped up, and seizing
Sooryu's chariot wheels, placed the blazing god under his arm and
the mountain on his head, and carried them to the camp of Ramu ;
where the friends of Lukshmunu searched out the plants, applied
11 Hibiscus rosa Sinensis,
5
ANECDOTES OF THIS GOD — HIS NAMES,
the leaves, and restored him to health : after which Hunoomanu
permitted Sooryu to depart.
Sooryu has two wives, Suvurna and Chaya. The former is
the daughter of Vishwukiirma. After their marriage, Suvurna,
unable to bear the power of his rays, made an image of herself ; and,
imparting life to it, called it Chaya0, and left it with S55ryu. She
then returned to her father's house ; but Vishwukurma reproved
his daughter for leaving her husband, and refused her an asylum ;
but promised that if she would return, he would diminish the
glory of Sooryu's rays. Suvurna resolved not to return, and,
assuming the form of a mare, fled into the forest of Dunduku,
Chaya and Yumu, whom Suvurna had left with Sooryu, could not
agree ; and Yumu one day beating Chaya, she cursed him, so that
he ever since has had a swelled leg. Yumu, weeping, went to his
father Sooryu, shewed him his leg, and related what had happened ;
upon which Sooryu began to suspect that this woman could not
be Suvurna, for no mother ever cursed her own son ; and if she
did, the curse could not take effect. He immediately proceeded to
the house of his father-in-law, who received him with great respect,
but unperceived gave him a seat consisting of different sharp
weapons, by which he became divided into twelve round parts.
S56ryu was enraged, and could not be pacified till his father-in-
law informed him that his daughter, unable to bear the glory of his
rays, had forsaken him. On enquiring where she was gone, the
father said he had sent her back to him immediately on her
arrival, but that where she now was he could not say. Sooryu,
by the power of dh}^anup, perceived that Suvurna had become a
mare, and was gone into some forest. The story here becomes too
obscene for insertion. -Sooryu and Suvurna, in the forms of a
horse and a mare, had two children, to whom they gave the names
of TJshwinee and Koomaruq. When Sooryu returned to his palace,
he asked his wife who this woman (Chaya) was. She gave him
her history, and presented her to him as a wife ; and from that
time Chaya was acknowledged as Sooryu's second wife.
There are no temples dedicated to Sooryu in Bengal. The
heaven of this god is called Sooryu-loku. A race of Hindoo kings,
distinguished as the descendants of the sun, once reigned in India ;
of which dynasty Ikshwakoo was the first king, and Ramu the
sixty-sixth.
The following are the principal names of Sooryu : Sooru, or, he
who dries up the earth. — Sooryu, he who travels, he who sends
0 This word means a shadow.
P When the old Hindoo ascetics wished to ascertain a fact, they performed what
is called dhyanil, viz. , they shut their eyes, and began to meditate, when, it is said,
the information they sought was revealed to them.
q That is, the sons of a mare : these are now physicians to the gods.
GUNESHU — HIS IMAGE, DESCENT AND BIRTH.
men to their work. — Dwadushatma, lie who assumes twelve forms1'.
— Divakuru, the maker of the day. — Bhaskurii, the creator of the
light. — Vivus wilt, the radiant. — Suptashwu, he who has seven
horses in his chariot. — Vikurttunu, he who was made round by
Vishwukurma in his lathe. — IJrku, the maker of heat. — Mihiru, he
who wets the earth3. — Pooshunu, he who cherishes all. — Dyoo-
munee, he who sparkles in the sky. — Turimee, the saviour. —
Mitru, the friend of the water-lily1. — Gruhuputee, the lord, of the
stars. — Suhusrangshoo, the thousand-rayed. — Ruvee, he who is to
be praised.
Sect. VI — Guntfshu.
This god is represented in the form of a fat short man, with
a long belly, and an elephant's headu. He has four hands ; holding
in one a shell, in another, a chiikru, in another, a club, and in the
fourth, a water-lily. He sits upon a rat. In an elephant's head
are two projecting teeth, but in Guneshu's only one, the other
having been torn out by Vishnoo, when in the form of Purusoo-
ramu he wished to have an interview with Shivii. Gune'shu, who
stood as door-keeper, denied him entrance, upon which a battle
ensued, and Purusoo-ramu, beating him, tore out one of his
teeth.
The work called Guneshu-khundu contains a most indecent
story respecting the birth of this god ; which, however necessaiy
to the history, is so extremely indelicate that it cannot possibly be
given. It is mentioned in this story, that Doorga cursed the gods ;
so that they have ever since been childless, except by criminal
amours with females not their own wives.
When it was known that Doorga had given birth to a son,
Shunee and the rest of the gods went to see the child. Shunee
knew that if he looked upon the child it would be reduced to
ashes ; but Doorga took it as an insult that he should hang down
his head, and refuse to look at her child. For some time he did
not regard her reproofs ; but at last, irritated, he looked upon
r Alluding to his progress through the twelve signs.
s The Sooryu-shutnliu says, the sun draws up the waters from the earth, and
then lets them fall in showers again.
t Ac the rising of the sun this flower expands itself, and when the sun retires shuts
up its leaves again.
u Sir W. Jones calls Gnneshn the god of wisdom, and refers, as a proof of it, to
his having an elephant's head, I cannot find, however, that this god is considered
by any of the Hindoos as properly the god of wisdom ; for though he is said to give
knowledge to those who worship him to obtain it, that is what is ascribed also to
other gods. The Hindoos in general, I believe, consider the elephant as a stupid
animal, and it is a biting reproof to be called as stupid as an elephant.
36
HIS WORSHIP.
Gune'shu, and its head was instantly consumed x. The goddess,
seeing her child headless y, was overwhelmed with grief, and would
have destroyed Shune? ; but Brumha prevented her, telling Shu-
nee to bring the head of the lirst animal he should find living with
its head towards the north. He found an elephant in this situ-
ation, cut off its head, and fixed it upon Gune'shu, who then assumed
the shape he at present wears. Doorga was but little soothed
when she saw her son with an elephant's head : to pacify her,
Brumha said, that amongst the worship of all the gods, that of
Gune'shu should for ever bear the preference. In the beginning of
every act of public worship therefore, certain ceremonies are
constantly performed in honour of Gune'shu2. Not only is
Gune'shu thus honoured in religious ceremonies, but in almost all
civil concerns he is particularly regarded : as, when a person is
leaving his house to go a journey, he says, ' Oh ! thou work per-
fecting Gune'shu, grant me success in my journey ! Gune'shu !
Gune'shu • Gune'shu !' — At the head of every letter, a salutation is
made to Guneshu3. When a person begins to read a book, he
salutes Gune'shu ; and shop-keepers and others paint the name or
image of this god over the doors of their shops or houses, expecting
from his favour protection and success.
No public festivals in honour of Guneshu are held in Bengal.
Many persons however choose him as their guardian deity, and are
hence called Ganuputyus.
At the full moon in the month Maghu, some persons make or
buy a clay image, and perform the worship of Gune'shu ; when the
officiating bramhun performs the ceremonies common in the
Hindoo worship, presenting offerings to the idol. This god is also
worshipped at considerable length at the commencement of a
wedding, as well as when the bride is presented to the bridegroom.
Great numbers , especially from the western and southern provinces,
celebrate the worship of Guneshu on the 4th of the new moon in
x This property is ascribed to Shunee, (Saturn.) to point out, no doubt, the
supposed baneful influence of this planet. This resembles the fable of Saturn's
devouring all his male children. The Kamaynnu contains a story respecting
Dusharut'hu. and Shunee, in which it is said, that Dashurut'hu was once angrywith
this god for preventing the fall of rain in his kingdom : he ascended his chariot to
make war with him, when Shunee, by a single glance of his eyes, set the king's
chariot on fire, and Dushiirut'hu, in the most dreadful state of alarm, fell from the
skies.
y One cause of this misfortune is said to be this : Doorga had laid her child to
sleep with its head to the north, which is forbidden by the shastru. The Anhikn-
tutwu declares, that if a person sleep with his head to the east, he will be rich ; if to
the south, he will have long life ; if to the north, he will die ; and if to the west, (except
when on a joui*ney,) he will have inisforttxnes.
z It will occur to the reader, that in all sacrifices among the Romans, prayers
were first offered to Janus.
a Gune'shu" is famed as writing in a beautiful manner : so that when a person
writes a fine hand, people say, ' Ah ! he writes like Gune'shu.' This god is said to
have first written the MuhabharatiJ from the mouth of Vyasilde'vu.
AND NAMES — KARTIKEY&, HIS IMAGE AND DESCENT.
37
Bhadrii, when several individuals in each place subscribe and de-
fray the expence. Many persons keep in their houses a small
metal image of Guneshu, place it by the side of the shalgramu, and
worship it daily. At other times, a burnt-offering of clarified butter
is presented to this idol Stone images of Guneshu are worshipped
daily in the temples by the sides of the Ganges at Benares ; but I
cannot find that there are any temples dedicated to him in Bengal.
Guneshu is also called Huridra-Guneshu. This name seems to
have arisen out of the following story : — When Doorga was once
preparing herself for bathing, she wiped off the turmerick, &c. with
oil, and formed a kind of cake in her fingers b. This she rolled to-
gether, and made into the image of a child ; with which she was
so much pleased, that she infused life into it, and called it Huridra-
Gune'shu c. The image of this god is yellow, having the face of an
elephant. He holds in one hand a rope ; in another, the spike used
by the elephant driver ; in another, a round sweetmeat, and in an-
other, a rod.
The principal names of Guneshu are : — Guneshu, or, the lord of
the gunnu deVtas d. — Dwoimatooru, the two-mothered e. — Eku-
duntu, the one-toothed. — Herumbu, he who resides near to Shivu.
— Lumboduru, the long-bellied. — Gujanunu, the elephant-faced.
Sect. YII. — Kartikeyu.
This is the god of war. He is represented sometimes with
one, and at other times with six faces ; is of a yellow colour ; rides
on a peacockf ; and holds in his right hand an arrow, and in his
left, a bow.
The reason of the birth of Kartikeyu is thus told in the Koo-
maru-sumbhuvu, one of the kavyus : — Taruku, a giant, performed
religious austerities till he obtained the blessing of Brumha, after
which he oppressed both bramhuns and gods. He commanded that
the sun should shine only so far as was necessary to cause the
water-lily to blossom ; that the moon should shine in the day as
well as in the night. He sent the god Yumu to cut grass for his
horses ; commanded Puvunti to prevent the wind from blowing any
stronger than the puff of a fan ; and in a similar manner tyrannized
b The Hindoos have a custom of cleaning their bodies by rubbing them ail over
with turmerick ; and then, taking oil in their hands, wiping it off again, when it falls
as a paste all round them.
c HSridra the name for turmerick.
d These are the companions of Shivu.
e One of Gune'shiTs mothers was Doorga, and the other the female elephant
whose head he wears.
f Juno's chariot was said to be drawn by peacocks,
38
HIS DESCENT.
over all the gods. At length Indrii called a council in heaven,
when the gods applied to Brumha : but the latter declared he was
unable to reverse the blessing he had bestowed on Tariiku ; that
their only hope was Kartikeyu, who should be the son of Shivu,
and destroy the gaint. — After sometime, the gods assembled again
to consult respecting the marriage of Shivu, whose mind was entire-
ly absorbed in religious austerities. After long consultations, Kun-
durpu8 was called, and all the gods began to Batter him in such a
manner that he was filled with pride, and declared he could do
every thing : he could conquer the mind even of the great god
Shivu himself. That, 'says Indrii,' is the very thing we want you
to do.' At this he appeared discouraged, but at length declared,
that he would endeavour to fulfil his promise. He consulted his
wife Eutee ; who reproved him for his temerity, but consented to
accompany her husband. They set off, with Vusuntuh, to mount
Himaluyu, where they found Shivu sitting under a roodrakshu* tree,
performing his devotions.
Previously to this, Himaluyu k had been to Shivu, and propos-
ed that Doorga, his daughter, should wait upon him, that he might
uninterruptedly go on with his religious austerities ; which offer
Shivu accepted. One day, after the arrival of Kundurpu and his
party, Doorga, with her two companions Juya and Vijuya, carried
some flowers and a necklace to Shivu. In the moment of opening
his eyes from his meditation, to receive the offering, Kundurpu let
fly his arrow ; and Shivu, smitten with love, awoke as from a
dream, and asked who had dared to interrupt his devotions. —
Looking towards the south he saw Kundurpu, when fire proceeded
from the third eye in the centre of his forehead, and burnt Kun-
durpu to ashes1. The enraged god left this place for another forest,
and Doorga, seeing no prospect of being married to Shivu, returned
home full of sorrow. She sought at last to obtain her object by
the power of religious austerities"1, in which she persevered till
Shivu was drawn from his devotions, when the marriage was con-
summated.
The Miihabharutu and Ramayunu contain accounts of the
s The god of love.
h The spring. The Hindoo poets always unite love and spring together.
» From the fruit of this tree necklaces are made, the wearing of which is a
great act of merit among the Hindoos.
k The mountain of this name personified.
1 Through the blessing of Shivu to Riitee, Ktindurpu was afterwards born in
the family of Krishrm, and took the name of Kamu-devu ; after which Ilutee (then
called Mayavutee) was again married to him.
111 When this goddess, says a kavyu shastru, told her mother that she
would perform austerities to obtain Shivu, her mother, alarmed, exclaimed — " Ooma !
(Oh! mother!) how can you think of going into the forest to perform religious aus-
terities ? Stay and perform religious services at home, and you will obtain the god you
desire. How can your tender form bear these severities ? The flower bears the weight
of the bee, but if a bird pitch upon it, it breaks directly."
HIS FESTIVALS,
39
birth of Kavtikeyti, the fruit of this marriage ; but they are so
indelicate that the reader, I doubt not, will excuse their omission.
On the last evening in the month Kartiku, a clay image of
this god is worshipped11, and the next day thrown into the water.
These ceremonies differ little from those at other festivals : but
some images made on the occasion are not less than twenty-five
cubits high ; that is, a whole tree is put into the ground, and wor-
shipped as a god. The height of the image obliges the worshippers
to fasten the offerings to the end of a long bamboo, in order to
raise them to the mouth of the god. This festival is distinguished
by much singing, music, dancing, and other accompaniments of
Hindoo worship.
The image of Kartikeyu is also made and set up by the side of
his mother Doorga, at the great festival of this goddess in the
month Ashwinu ; and each day, at the close of the worship of
Doorga, that of her son is performed at considerable length. In
the month Choitra also the worship of Kartikeyu accompanies that
of his mother. — No bloody sacrifices are offered to this idol.
At the time when the above festival is held, some persons
make 0 or purchase clay images, which they place in their houses,
and before which the officiating bramhtin performs the appointed
ceremonies ; preceding which a prayer is made for offspring. This
is repeated sometimes on the anniversary- of this day, for four years
together. If the person, long disappointed, should, in these years,
or soon after, happen to have a child, particularly a son, the whole
is ascribed to Kartikeyu^ . When persons have made a vow to
Kartikeyu, they present offerings to this idol at the completion of
the vow. These vows are sometimes made to obtain the health of
a child, or a son ; a woman, when she makes this vow, thus ad-
dresses the god : ' Oh ! Kartikeyu t'hakooru q, give me a son, and
I will present to thee [here she mentions a number of offerings, as
sweetmeats, fruits, &c] — I do not want a female child.' This
vow may be made at any time, or place, without any previous
n Vast numbers of these images are made; in some towns as many as five hun-
dred. It is supposed that in Calcutta more than five thousand are made and wor-
shipped.
0 He who makes an image for his own use is supposed to do an act of much
greater merit than the person who purchases one.
p A part of the Muhabharutu is sometimes recited to obtain offspring. The part
thus read is a list of the ancestors of Huree, (a name of Vishnoo.) When a person
wishes to have this ceremony performed, he employs a learned native to recite these
verses, and another to examine, by a separate copy, whether the verses be read with-
out mistake: if they be read improperly, no benefit will arise from the ceremony. If
the person who seeks offspring be unable to attend himself during the ceremony, he
engages jsorne friend to hear the words in his stead.— Some verses of praise, addressed
to Shivu, are also occasionally read in the ears of a husband and wife who are anxious
to obtain offspring.
q A term of respect, meaning excellent.
40
HIS NAMES— UGNEE, HIS FORM AND DESCENT.
ceremony. When several women are sitting together, another
woman perhaps comes amongst them, and, in the course of
the conversation, asks the mistress of the house, * Has your
daughter-in-law any children yet V She replies, in a plaintive man-
ner, ' No, nothing but a girl.' Or she answers altogether in the
negative, adding, ' I have again and again made vows to Karti-
keyu, and even now I promise before you all, that if the god will
give her a son, I will worship him in a most excellent maimer,
and my daughter-in-law will do it as long as she lives.'
There are no temples in Bengal dedicated to Kartike'vu, nor
are any images of him kept in the houses of the Hindoos except
during a festival.
The principal names of Kartikeyii, are : Kartikeyu, or, he who
was cherished by six females of the name of Krittika r. — Muha-
se'nu, he who commands multitudes. — Shuranunu, the six-faced. —
Skundu, he who afflicts the giants. — Ugnibhoo, he who arose from
tjgnee. — Goohu, he who preserves his troops in war. — Tarukujit,
he who conquered Taruku. — Vishakhu, he who was born under
the constellation of this name. — Shikhi-vahunu, he who rides on a
peacock. — Shuktee-dhuru, he who wields the weapon called
shuktee. — Koomaru, he who is perpetually young8. — Krounchu-
darunu, he who destroyed the giant Krounchu.
It is said that Kartikeyu was never married, but that Indru
gave him a mistress named De'vuse'na. He has no separate heaven,
nor has Gune'shu : they live with Shivu on mount Koilasil
Sect. VIII. — ffgnee.
This god is represented as a red corpulent man, with eyes, eye-
brows, beard, and hair, of a tawny-colour. He rides on a goat ;
wears a poita, and a necklace made with the fruits of eleocarpus
ganitrus. From his body issue seven streams of glory, and in his
right hand he holds a spear. He is the son of Kushyupu and
TJditee.
Ugnee has his forms of worship, meditation, &c. like other
gods ; but is especially worshipped, under different names, at the
time of a burnt -offering, when clarified butter is presented to him.
The gods are said to have two mouths, viz., that of the bramhun,
and of fire (Ugnee).
r Six stars, (belonging to ursa major) said to be the wives of six of the seven rishees.
These females are called Krittika. They cherished Kartike'ya' as soon as he was born
in the forest of writing-reeds, and hence his name is a regular patronymic of Krittika,
because they were as his mothers.
8 Under sixteen years of age.
HIS FESTIVAL AND NAMES.
41
At the full moon in the month Maghu, when danger from fire
is considerable, some persons worship this god before the image of
Brumha, with the accustomed ceremonies, for three days. When
any particular work is to be done by the agency of fire, as when a
kiln of bricks is to be burnt, this god is worshipped ; also when
a trial by ordeal is to be performed.
Some bramhuns are distinguished by the name sagniku, be-
cause they use sacred fire in all the ceremonies in which this ele-
ment is used, from the time of birth to the burning of the body
after death. This fire is preserved in honour of the god Ugnee,
and to make religious ceremonies more meritorious*.
KJ
Ugnee, as one of the guardian deities of the earth, is wor-
shipped at the commencement of every festival He presides
in the S. E.
Bhrigoo, a sagniku bramhun and a great sage, once cursed his
guardian deity Ugnee, because the latter had not delivered Bhrigoo's
wife from the hands of a giant, who attempted to violate her
chastity when she was in a state of pregnancy. The child, how-
ever, .sprang from her womb, and reduced the giant to ashes.
Bhrigoo doomed the god to eat every thing. Ugnee appealed to
the assembled gods, and Brumha soothed him by promising, that
whatever he ate should become pure. Ugnee was also once cursed
by one of the seven rishees, who turned him into cinders.
^ Urjoonu, the brother of Yoodhisthiru, at the entreaty of
Ugnee, set fire to the forest Khunduvu, in order to cure him of a
surfeit contracted in the following manner : — Murootu, a king,
entered upon a sacrifice which occupied him twelve months, during
the whole of which time clarified butter had been pouring on
the fire, in a stream as thick as an elephant's trunk : at length
Ugnee could digest no more, and he intreated Urjoonu to bum
this forest, that he might eat the medicinal plants, and obtain his
appetite again.
Swaha, the daughter of Kushyupu, was married to Ugnee. Her
name is repeated at the end of every incantation used at a burnt-
offering, as well as in some other ceremonies. The reason of this
honor is attributed to Ugnee's uxoriousness.
The heaven of this god is called Ugnee-loku. His principal
names are . — Vunhee, or, he who receives the clarified butter in
the burnt-sacrifice (homu). — Veetihotru, he who purifies those
who perform the homu. — Dhununjuyu, he who conquers (destroys)
riches. — Kripeetuyonee, he who is born^from rubbing two sticks
together. — Jwuiunu, he who burns. — Ugnee, he to whom fuel is
presented.
* There may be some resemblance in this to the custom of the Romans, in preserve
ing a perpetual fire in the temple of Vesta.
6
42 PUVUNU— HIS BIRTH— STORY RESPECTING HIM,
Sect. IX. — PuvUnit.
This is the god of the winds, and the messenger of the godsu.
His mother Uditei, it is said, prayed to her husband, that this son
might be more powerful than Indru : her request^was granted ;
but Indru, hearing of this, entered the womb of TJditee, and cut
the foetus, first into seven parts, and then each part into seven
others. Thus Puvunu assumed forty-nine formsx. He is meditated
upon as a white man, sitting on a deer, with a white flag in his
his right hand.
Puvunu has no separate public festival, neither image, nor
temple. As one of the ten guardian deities of the earth, he is
worshipped, with the rest, at the commencement of every festival.
He is said to preside in the N. W. Water is also offered to him
in the daily ceremonies of the bramhuns ; and, whenever a goat
is offered to any deity, a service is paid to Vayoo, another form
and name of Puvunu. In the work called Udikurunu-mala, a
burnt-sacrifice of the flesh of goatsy is ordered to be offered to
this god.
The following story is related of Puvunu in the Shree-
bhaguvutu : — On a certain occasion Narudu paid a visit to
Soomeroo2, and excited his pride in such a manner, that he protest-
ed the god Puvunu could not approach his summit. Narudu
carried the news of Soomeroo's insolence to Puvunu, and advised
him to go and breakdown the summit of Soomeroo ; which, even
to the depth of 800 miles below the surface, was of solid gold.
Puvunu went, and produced such a tempest, that the earth
trembled to its centre ; and the mountain god, terribly alarmed,
invoked Gurooru, who came to his relief, and, covering the moun-
tain with his wings, secured it from the wrath of Puvunu. For
twelve months, however, the storm raged so that the three worlds
were hastening to destruction. The gods desired Narudu to prevail
on Puvunu to compose the difference with Soomeroo : instead of
complying with which the mischievous rishee went, and calling
Puvunu a fool for exciting such a storm to no purpose, told him that
as long as Gurooru protected the mountain with his wings, there
was no hope ; but that, if he would attack Soomeroo, when
Gurooru was carrying Vishnoo out on a journey, he might easily
be revenged. This opportunity soon occurred : all the gods
u I can find no agreement betwixt this god and either Mercury or JEolus.
x The forty-nine points. The Hindoos have 49 instead of 32 points ; and the
pooranfts, which contain a story on every distinct feature of the Hindoo philosophy,
have given this fable : and in the same manner all the elements are personified, and
some remarkable story invented to account for their peculiar properties.
y The goat, it will be remembered, was slain in the sacrifices of Bacchus.
3 The mountain of this name personified.
HIS IMPURE CHARACTER AND NAMES — VUROONU, HIS IMAGE. 43
(330,000,000) were invited to Shivu's marriage with Parvutee,
among whom were the mountains Soomeroo, Trikootu, Ooduyu8,
Ustub, Vindhyu, Malyitvanu, Gnndhuma-dunn, Chitmkootil, Mu-
lityu, Nilu, Moinaku c, &c. Vishnoo, riding on Gurooru, also went to
the marriage, and all the heavens were left empty. Seizing this op-
portunity, Puvumx flew to Soomeroo, and, breaking the summit
of the mountain, hurled it into the sead.
Puvunu is charged with an adulterous intercourse with. Unjuna,
the wife of Keshuree, a monkey. The fruit of this intercourse was
Hunoomanu.
Puvunu was once inflamed with lust towards the hundred
daughters of Kooshunabhu, a rajurshee ; and because they refused
his offers, he entered the body of each, and produced a curvature
of the spine. They were made straight again by a king named
Brumhu-duttu, to whom they were married.
The name of the heaven of this god is Vayoo-loku. His prin-
cipal names are : — Shwixsunu, or, he who is the giver of breath. —
Spurshunu, the toucher. — Vayoo, he who travels. — Maturishwa, he
who gave his mother sorrow6. — Prishudushwa, he who rides on the
deer. — Gunclhuvuhu, he who carries odours.— Ashoogu, he who
goes swiftly — Marootu, without whom people die. — Mubhuswutu,
he who moves in the air. — Puvunu, the purifier. — Prubhungjunu,
the breaker.
Sect. X. — Vuroonu.
This is the god of the waters. His image is painted white ; he
vsits on a sea-animal called mukuru, with a ropef in his right
hand.
Vuroonu's name is repeated daily in the worship of the bram-
huns ; but is image is never made for worship, nor has he any pub-
lic festival or temple in Bengal. He is worshipped however as one
a Mountains over which the sun rises.
b Behind which the sun sets.
c Some of these belong to the snowy range north of India, and others to the tropi-
cal range dividing south from north India. These and other mountains are personified,
and by the Hindoo poets are designated as the residence of the gods, and by poetical
licence ranged among the inferior gods.
d Here it became the island of Ceylon, (Lunka.)
e When Iudra cut him into forty-nine pieces in the womb.
f This weapon is called pashu, and has this property, that whomsoever it catches,
it binds so fast that he can never get loose. All the gods, giants, rakshusus, &c. learn
the use of this weapon.
44-
FABLES RESPECTING HM.
of tlie guardian deities of the earth ; and also by those who farm
the lakes in Bengal, before they go out a fishing : and in times of
drought people repeat his name to obtain rains.
A story of this god is contained in the PMmu pooranu to this
purport : — Eavunu was once carrying an unadee-lingu from Hima-
luyu to Lunka11, in order that he might accomplish all his ambitious
schemes against the gods : for it was the property of this stone,
also called kamu-lingu, to grant the worshipper all his desires,
whatever they might be. Shivu, however, when permitting
Eavunu to remove this his image to Lunka, made him promise, that
wherever he suffered it to touch the ground, there it should remain.
When the gods saw that Ptavunu was carrying this stone to Lunka,
all the heavens were in a state of agitation : for the gods knew,
that if Eawunu could be permitted to accomplish his wishes, nei-
ther Indru nor any other god would continue on his throne.
Council after council was held, and applications made to different
gods in vain. It was at last resolved that Vurooiru should enter
the belly of Eavunu, who would thereby be compelled to set the
stone down, while discharging his urine\ Vuroonu accordingly
entered the belly of Eavunu, as he was carrying the lingu on his
head ; and the latter soon began to feel the effects of his visit.
His belly swelled prodigiously : — he proceeded however on his
journey, till at last he could wait no longer. At this moment Indru,
in the form of an old bramhun, meeting him, Eavunu, after asking
who he was, and where he was going, entreated him to hold the
lingu for a short time, promising to bestow on him the greatest
favours ; to which the bramhun consented, agreeing to hold the
stone an hour, but no longer. Eavunu told him he would not de-
tain him half that time ; and squatted on his hams to rid himself
of Vurooiru. After he had thus sat for four hours, the bramhun,
complaining he could hold the stone no longer, threw it down-
when the lower part sunk into the world of the hydras, and the
top is said to be visible to this day at Voidyu-na'thu, a place
in the zillah of Beerbhoom, where the river Khursoo is believed
te have arisen from the urine of this enemy of the gods1. Eavunu,
when he arose, and saw what had taken place, went home full of
s At the time of a drought, it is common for bramhuns to sit in crowds by the
sides of the Ganges, or any other river, and address their prayers to this god. A bram-
hun once informed me, that he remembered when Krishnu-Chundrn, the raja of Nuvii-
dweepft, gave presents to vast multitudes of bramhuns thus employed ; and that, in
the midst of their prayei-s, Vuroonu' sent a plentiful supply of rain,
h Ceylon.
i Kamii means desire.
k Ravumt could not hold the lingu while in this actr as a person hereby becomes
unclean until he has bathed. This is the strict rule of the shastril : at present, how-
ever, should a person, in the midst of his worship, be compelled to discharge urine, he
does not bathe, but only changes his clothes.
1 The Hindoos do not drink the water of this river, but bathe in and drink the
water of a pool there, which they have called Nuvu-gilnga, viz., the New Gilnga.
HIS HEAVEN AND NAMES.
45
rage and disappointment : some accounts add, that lie went and
fought with the gods in the most furious manner.
The heaven of this god, called Yu.ro onu-loku, is 800 miles in
circumference, and was formed by Yishwukurma, the divine ar-
chitect. In the centre is a grand canal of pure water. Vuroonu,
and his queen Varoonee, sit on a throne of diamonds ; and around
them the court, among whom are Suxnoodru, Gunga, and other
river gods and goddesses01 ; the twelve Adityus, and other deities ;
the hydras ; Oiravutu ; the doityus ; the danuvus, &c. The plea-
sures of this heaven consist in the gratification of the senses, as in
the heavens of Indru. and others. There does not seem to be a
vestige of any thing here, but what would exactly meet the wishes
of a li be] 'tine.
A scene in the heaven of Vuroonu : — Nimee, a king, invited
Vushisht'hu to preside as priest over the ceremonies at a sacrifice
he was about to perform. Yushisht'hu, being engaged at that time
as priest to perform a sacrifice for some other king, from whom
he expected very large presents, excused himself for the present ;
when Nimee, after using entreaty in vain, employed another sage
as priest. Yushisth'hu, having concluded the sacrifice in which he
was engaged, proceeded to the palace of Nimee ; but hearing that
the king had employed another priest, was filled with rage, and
pronounced a curse on the king, by which he was reduced to ashes.
Before the curse took effect, however, the king cursed Yushisht'hu,
and reduced his body also to ashes. The soul of Yushisht'hu ascend-
ed to Brumha, to enquire how he was to procure a body again.
Brumha said, ' Go to the gods Vuroonu and Sooryu.' He went,
and obtained his body in the following manner ; Sooryu, captivated
with the sight of Oorvushee, a courtezan, as she was dancing in
Indrus heaven, invited her to his house. As she was going,
Vuroonu met her, and became enamoured of her also. [Here the
story becomes too filthy to be written. —] From the inflamed
passions of these two gods, Ugustyu, an eminent ascetic, was born,
and Vushisht'hu, one of the most exalted of the Hindoo saints, ob-
tained a new body. The priests who had been employed by Nimee,
fearing they should lose all employment hereafter if they suffered
the king thus to perish, at the close of the sacrifice formed from the
ashes a young man, to whom they gave the name of Junuku ; who
became the father of Seeta, the wife of Ramu.
The meaning of the name Vuroonu is, he who surrounds. —
This god is also called Pruche'ta, or the wise. — Pashee, he who holds
a rope. — Yadusang-putee, the lord of the watery tribes. — Upputee,
the lord of waters.
r
m Among these deities are included gods of wells, pools, lakes, basins, whirl-
pools, &c.
46
YUMU — HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVALS,
Sect. XI. — Yumu.
This god is called the holy king, who judges the dead. His
image is that of a green man, with red garments ; inflamed eyes ;
having a crown on his head, and a flower stuck in his hairD; sitting
on a buffaioe, with a club in his right hand. His dreadful teeth,
grim aspect, and terrific shape, fill the inhabitants of the three
worlds with terror.
An annual festival is held in honour of Yumu on the second
day of the moon's increase in the month Kartiku, when an image
of clay is made, and wors hipped with the usual ceremonies for one
day, and then thrown into the river. No bloody sacrifices are
offered to this god.
Yumu is also worshipped at the commencement of other festi-
vals, as one of the ten guardian deities of the earth. He presides
in the south.
Every day the Hindoos offer water to Yumu, in the ceremony
called turpunu, as well as annually on the 14th of the month
Ugruhayunu, when they repeat several of his names.
At the time of other festivals, the Hindoos sometimes make an
image of the mother of Yumu0, and worship it. At other times
children in play make this image, and pretend to worship it.
On the first of the month Kartiku, a curious ceremony takes
place in every part of Bengal : — the unmarried girls of each house
engage a near relation to dig a small pit near the front of the house,
at the four corners of which they sow rice, or barley, or wheat, and
plant some stalks of the plantain or other tree : they also plant
other branches in the midst of the pit. The place being thus pre-
pared, every morning for a month these girls, after putting on clean
apparel, and sprinkling their heads with the water of the Ganges to
purify themselves, present flowers, &c. to Yumu by the side of this
small pit, repeating an incantation. Each day they put a single
koureep in an earthen pot, and at the end of the ceremony present
the thirty kourees to the person who dug the pit. They perform
this ceremony to procure from Yumu either husbands, or sons, or
happiness, and also that they may escape punishment after death.
n It is very common to see a flower, which has been presented to an image, stuck
in the bunch of hair which the Hindoos tie behind the head. This is done under the
idea that the flower has some virtue in it. Several shastrus prescribe this practice, and
promise rewards to the person who places in his hair flowers which have been present-
ed to his guardian deity, or to any other god.
0 A very old woman, who is at the same time a great scold, is called by the
Hindoos the mother of Yumu.
p Shells from the Maldive islands, which pass for money in Bengal. More than
six thousand of these shells may be bought for a rupee.
HIS COURT AS JUDGE OF THE DEAD — HIS PALACE.
47
I have heard of some Hindoos, who, rejecting the worship of
other gods, worship only Yumu ; alleging that their future state is
to be determined only by Yumu, and that they have nothing there-
fore to hope or to fear from any beside him.
Yumu is judge of the dead. He is said to hold a court, in
which he presides as judge, and has a person to assist him, called
Chitru-gooptuq, who keeps an account of the actions of men. A
number of officers are also attached to the court, who bring the
dead to be judged. If the deceased persons have been wicked, Yumu
sends them to their particular hell ; or if good, to some place of happi-
ness. The poor Hindoos, at the hour of death, sometimes fancy they
see Yumu's officers, in a frightful shape, coming to fetch them away.
Yumu is said to reside at Yumaluyix, on the south side of the
earth1". All souls, wherever the persons die, are supposed to go to
Yumu in four hours and forty minutes ; and a dead body cannot
be burnt till that time have elapsed.
The following account of Yumaluyu, and of Voiturunee, the
river to be crossed after death, is taken from the Muhabharutu : —
After Brumha had created the three worlds, viz., heaven, earth, and
patulu, he recollected that a place for judgment, and for the punish-
ment of the wicked, was wanting. He therefore called Vishwu-
kurma, the architect of the gods, and gave him orders to prepare a
very superb palace. Opposite the south door Vishwukurma made
four pits for the punishment of the wicked. Three other doors
were reserved for the entrance of the good, that they might not see
the place of punishment when they went to be judged. Brumha,
taking with him the gundhurvils, the giants, &c. went to see the
place, and gave it the name of Sunjee-vuuee. The gundhurvus
asked Brumha to give them this beautiful palace. Brumha asked
them if they were willing to inflict the punishments on the wicked :
to which they replied in the negative. The giants were next about
to seize the place by force ; to prevent which Brumha ordered Vish-
wukurma to form a vast trench around, and to fill it with water,
which became the river Voiturunee. Brumha next ordered Ugnee
to enter the river, and the waters became hot. Having thus sur-
rounded the hall of judgment with a river of boiling water, the
creator ordered, that after death each one should be obliged to swim
across. This, however, subjected the good to punishment : to pre-
vent which it was ordained, that the offering of a black cow to a
bramhun should cool the river,, and render the person's passage
easy8. It was still necessary, that some one should occupy this place,
and judge the dead ; and Brumha assigned this work to Yumu.
i That is, he who paints in secret ; or, he who writes the fates of men in secret.
r One Hindoo sometimes jokes with another, by asking him where he is going, as
he seems to be proceeding southwards.
8 I do not find that the Hindoos have any ferryman, like Charon, or boat to cross
this river ; though they talk of crossing it by laying hold of the tail of the black
43
FABLES RESPECTING HIM.
The Ramayunu contains the following story about Yumu : — <
Soon after Giinga came down to the earth, Yumu was very angry
with the gods, as she left him nothing to do in his office of judge ; all
the people, however sinful, through her power ascending to heaven.
His officers, in a rage, were about to give up their places, and leave
him. On applying to Indru, he advised him not to place his mes-
sengers in any situation where the wind, passing over Gixnga blew ;
for that all persons touched even by the wind of this sacred river
had all their sins removed, and would go to heaven*.
Many other stories are to be found in the pooranus, some of
them supposed to be related by persons who have been at Yumaluyu:
the following are of this description.- — In a certain village lived
two persons of the same name ; one of whom had lived out his
whole time, the other had many years to live. Chitru-gooptu,
examining his register, sent Yumu's messengers to fetch the person
whose appointed time was expired : the messengers went, but
brought the wrong person. On re-examining his records, Chitru-
gooptu found out the mistake, and directed the officers to hasten
back with the soul before the relations had burnt the body. While at
Yumaluyu, this person looked all around, and saw, in one place, the
punishments inflicted on the wicked : Yumu's officers were chastising
some, by casting them into pits of ordure ; others, by throwing them
into the arms of a red hot image of a woman11; others, by making their
bellies immensely large, and their mouths as small as the eye of a
needle ; others, by feeding them with red hot balls ; others, by
throwing them into pits filled with devouring worms and insects,
or with fire. In other places he saw those who had practised severe
mortifications living in a state of the greatest magnificence ; and
women who had been burnt on the funeral pile, sitting with their
husbands, enjoying the greatest delights. As he was coming away,
he saw preparations making for the reception of some one in the
highest style of grandeur, and asked the messengers who was to
enjoy this. The messengers replied that it was for one of his neigh-
bours, a very holy man, whose appointed time was nearly expired ;
and who, in fact, died soon afterwards.
A story very similar to this is often related of a person named
Buluramu, of the voidyu cast, who lived some years ago at Choopee,
near Nudieya. This man, to all appearance, died ; and was lying
by the side of the Ganges, while his relations were collecting the
wood and other materials to burn the body. Before the fire was
cow which the}' offered in order to obtain a safe passage. It is very common in Bengal
for a herdsman to cross a river by taking hold of a cow's tail.
* Whatever the Hindoos may think of Gunga's taking away their sins, it is ac-
knowledged by all, that the inhabitants who live on the banks of the Ganges are the
most corrupt and profligate of all the Hindoos.
u This instrument is used for the punishment of adulterers. When Ravunu was
carrying off Seeta by force, she reminded him, that for this crime he would have to go
into the burning arms of this image after death.
FABLES KESPECTfNG KIM.
49
lighted, however, the body began to move, and in'a little while the
dead man arose, and told bis Mends of his having been carried by
mistake to Yumaluyu, where he saw terrific sights of the punish-
ments of the wicked. This man lived fifteen years after this journey
to Yumii's palace.
The following story was invented, no doubt, in order to check
excessive sorrow for deceased relations. — A rich bramhun had only
one son, who grew up to manhood, and was loved almost to distrac-
tion by his parents3". This son, however, died in his youth, and his
wife was burnt with him on the funeral pile. The father and
mother were so overwhelmed with distress, that for years they
refused all comfort. During this time an old servant, who had
served the bramhun many years, and had eaten of his foody, died,
and, for his merit, was made one of Yumus officers. This man
was going one day to fetch the soul of some one from the village
where he had once lived, and saw his former master weeping by
the side of the road for the loss of his son. Assuming his old form,
he raised up his master, and endeavoured to comfort him, but in
vain. He then told him, that he was become one of Yumus offi-
cers, on account of the merit he had obtained by serving him (the
bramhun), and eating of his food; and that now, to remove his
sorrow, he would take him and shew him his son. The old man
got on his back, and the officer immediately carried him to the
residence of Yumu, and shewed him his son and daughter-in-law
in the greatest happiness, surrounded with every delight, playing
at chess. But the son, having lost all affection for his parent,
would not even look at him, though exhorted to it by his wife.
He replied, that in numerous transmigrations, it was very likely
that this old man might have been his son again and again. The
old man was so incensed, to see that his daughter-in-law had more
affection for him than his own son, for whom he was dying with
grief, that he desired the constable to carry him back. The old
brarnhunee would not believe that her son's affections were thus
alienated from them : the constable, therefore, carried her also to
see him ; but she met with the same treatment. They both im-
mediately renounced their grief for a son who had lost all his filial
affection, and resolved to think no more about him.
Other stories abound in the pooranus respecting Yumu, some
of which relate to disputes betwixt the messengers of this god and
those of some other god, about the soul of a departed person, whe-
ther it shall be happy or miserable. I insert two of these stories : —
x The Hindoos in general carry their attachment to children, especially to sons,
to the greatest excess. — They are amazed at the supposed want of affection in Euro-
peans, who leave their parents in order to traverse foreign countries ; some of them
without the hope of ever seeing them again.
y It is a very meritorious action for a shoodrn to eat the leavings of a bramhfm,
Hence a shoodrn will serve a bramhun for rather less wages than another person;
7
FABLES RESPECTING HIM.
When the gage 13 nimand nvyn was a child of five years old, he put
a straw into the tail of a locust, and let it fly away. In advanced
years, while once employed in performing religious austerities, he
was seized as a thief by the officers of justice, and, as he gave no
answer on his trial, the king took it for granted that he was guilty,
and ordered him to be impaled. After he had been impaled four
years, his bod}^ had undergone no change, and, though he appeared
perfectly insensible to human objects, he was evidently alive. The
king, being informed of this, was filled with astonishment, and
declared that he was certainly some great ascetic, equal to one of
the gods. He then immediately ordered him to be taken down ;
but in endeavouring to extract the wood upon which he had been
impaled, it broke within his body. The sage was then suffered to
depart, and, after sometime, his religious abstraction was inter-
rupted ; though his mind had been so set upon his god, that neither
impaling him for four years, nor breaking the stake within his
body, had disturbed his intense devotion. On awaking from this
state he discovered what had been done to him, and that he had
suffered all this from the hands of Yumu, for having pierced the
locust when he was a child, fie was exceedingly angry with Ynmu
for such unrighteous judgment. To punish a person for a sin com-
mitted at the age of five 5^ears, and for so small a crime to impale
him for four years, was what he could not bear. He then cursed
Yumu, and doomed him to be born on earth, and to take the name
of Vidooru, the son of a servant girl in the house of the mother of
Vedu-vyasu. — How the administration of justice in the other world
was carried on after Yumu assumed human birth, this story does
not relate. — What an excellent religion for a wicked man : the
criminal can punish his judge !
TJjamilu had committed the most enormous crimes, having
killed cows and bramhuns, drank spirits, and lived in the practice
of evil all his days. He had four sons ; the name of one was
Narayunu. In the hour of death TJjamilu was extremely thirsty, and
thus called to his son : ' Narayunu, Narayunu, Narayunii, give me
some water.5 After his decease, the messengers of Ynmu seized
him, and were about to drag him to a place of punishment, when
Vishnoo's messengers came to rescue him. A furious battle^ensued,
but Vishnoo's messengers were victorious, and carried off TJjamilu
to Voikoontu, the heaven of Vishnoo. The messengers of Yumu,
enraged, returned to their master, threw their clothes and staves
at his feet, and declared that they would serve him no longer, as
they got nothing but disgrace in all they did. Yumu ordered
Chitru-gooptu, the recorder, to examine his books. He did so, and
reported that this TJjamilu had been a most notorious sinner, and
that it was impossible for him to reckon up his sins, they were so
numerous. Yunru hastened to Voikoontu, and demanded of Vish-
noo an explanation of this affair. Vishnoo reminded him, that
however wicked this man might have been, he had repeated the
HIS HEAVEN AND MARRIAGE,
51
name Narayunu in his last moments ; and that he (Yumu) ought to
know, that if a man, either when laughing, or by accident, or in
anger, or even in derision, repeated the name of Vishnoo, he would
certainly go to heaven, though, like TJjamilu, covered with crimes,
he had not a single meritorious deed to lay in the balance against
them — This is the doctrine that is universally maintained by the
great body of the Hindoos : hence, when a person in a dying situa-
tion is brought down to the river side, he is never exhorted to re-
pentance, but is urged in his last moments to repeat the names of
certain gods, as his passport to heaven. A Hindoo shopkeeper one
day declared to the author, that he should live in the practice of
adultery, lying, &c. till death ; and that then, repeating the name
of Krishnu, he should, without difficulty, ascend to heaven. How
shocking this sentiment ! How dreadful this mistake !
Description of the heaven of YUmu, from, the MiihabharUtU.
This heaven, formed by Vishwukurma, is 800 miles in circumfer-
ence. From hence are excluded the fear of enemies, and sorrow
both of body and mind ; the climate is mild and salubrious ; and
each one is rewarded in kind, according to his works : thus he,
who has given much away on earth, receives a far greater quantity
of the same things in heaven ; he who has not been liberal, will
have other kinds of happiness, and will see food, houses, lands, &c.
but will receive nothing. All kinds of excellent food are here heap-
ed up into mountains*. To this heaven have been raised a great
number of Hindoo kings, whose names are given in the Muha-
bharutu. The pleasures of this heaven are like those of Indru-
pooru : the senses are satiated with gratifications as gross as the
writer of this pooranu, the licentious vyasu, could make them.
"Yumu married Vijuyu, the daughter of Veeru, a bramhun. The
Bhirvishyut pooranu contains the following story respecting this
marriage : — Yum it was so pleased with this female, on account of
her having performed the Boodhashtumee vrittu, that he appeared
to her, and offered her marriage. She was alaimed at the sight of
this stranger, and asked him who he was. When she found it was
Yumu, the judge of the dead, who was thus paying his addresses to
her, she was filled with terror. Yumu calmed her fears, and per-
mitted her to acquaint her brother ; as he would be full of distress
after her departure, if he were left in ignorance. Her brother told
her she was certainly mad : — ' What, to be married to Yumu ! A
fine husband truly !' She however consented, and Yumu conveyed
her to his palace, but charged her never to go to the southwards. She
suspected that there Yumu had another favourite, and would not
be satisfied till he had explained to her, that his reasons for forbid-
ding her to go southwards were, that there the wicked were
punished, and that she would not be able to bear so dreadful a
sight. All these warnings, however, were given in vain : while
z This seems to be a heaven for gluttons !
52
HIS NAMES. — " HOST OF HEAVEN."
Yumu was one day busy, she took another female or two, and went
southwards, till the cries of the damned had nearly terrified her to
distraction : to add to the horror of the scene, she saw her mother
in torments. On her return, Yumu. found her in a state of the
greatest distress, and soon discovered the cause. She insisted on
Yumti's delivering her mother that very day, or he should see her
face no more. Yumu declared this to be impossible ; that her own
bad conduct had brought her there, and that she could only be de-
livered, according to the forms of the shastru, after suffering the
punishment due to her. Vijuyu became impatient and clamorous ;
till Yumtl told her, that if she could get the merit of the Boodhas-
tumee vrutu, transferred to her by some one, she might deliver her
mother. Yumu further informed her, that on earth a certain queen,
who had performed the Boodhashtumee vrutu, had been three days
in the pains of child-birth ; and that, if she would perform a certain
ceremony, which, he described to her, the queen would be delivered,
and would in return transfer the merits of this vriltu to her mother,
who would immediately be delivered from torments. Yijuyu took
this advice; and thus procured the deliverance of her mother from
hell.
Yumu's principal names are ; Dhurmuxraju, or, the holy king.
— Pitriputee, the lord of the ancients. — Sumuvurttee, he who
judges impartially. — Pre'tu-rat, the lord of the dead. — Kritantu,
the destroyer. — Yumoona-bhrata,.the brother of Yttmoona*. — Shu-
munu, he who levels all. — Yuinu-rat, the chief of the fourteen
Yumusb. — Yumu, he who takes out of the world. — Kalu, time. —
Dundud.huru, he who holds the rod of punishment. — Shraddhu-
devu, the god of the ceremonies paid to deceased ancestors ; or, he
who eats his share of the shraddhu. — Voivuswutu, the son of
Vivuswut, or Sooryu. — Untuku, he who kills, or puts an end to life.
Sect. XII.— The Worship of the " Host of Heaven"
The Hindoos, like other idolatrous nations, have gone into the
worship of the heavenly bodies. The planets, the constellations,
the signs of the zodiac, the stars in general, the star Canopus0, the
star Kalu-poorooshti, &c. have all been deified, and are worshipped
with appropriate forms of petition, praise, &c. some of them at the
festivals of other gods, and others at different times. The constel-
lations are worshipped separately at the births of children, as well
as at the anniversaries of these births till the time of death.
a The river Yitmoona.
b Yumu has thirteen assistants, whose names are here given as different names
of this judge of the dead.
c Called by the Hindoos Ugftstyn', the sage.
REMARKS ON THEIR WORSHIP.
53
Some persons suppose, that the worship of the elements was
the primitive idolatry of the Hindoos, and that of heroes the in-
vention of later times. It is plain, however, that the vedus, sup-
posed to be the most ancient of the Hindoo writings, countenance
the worship of deified heroes. These books contain accounts of
Brumha, Vishnoo, and Sbivu, and most of the other deities. A.
paragraph in the Rig-vedit speaks of the gods choosing Indra to be
their king, whom they placed on a throne fancifully constructed
with texts of the ve'du : (amongst all the gods none are charged
with greater crimes than Indru, who seduced the wife of his spiri-
tual guide :) indeed from a variety of facts it is highly probable,
that to the ve'dus we are to attribute the foundation of this whole
fabric of superstition. These books contain prayers to procure the
destruction of enemies, as well as encourage the burning of widows
alived, which is surely a far greater crime than any thing done in
the presence of the images of Ramii or Krishnu. The ancient
idolatry, therefore, seems to have been as corrupt as any thing
practised at present. — Is it not probable that the horrid worship
of Moloch was really that of the element of fire ?
I do not find, however, that the heavenly bodies are worship-
ped on the tops of houses, as appears to have been the case among
those nations from whom the Jews learnt their idolatry. It is said
of Manasseh, that ' he worshipped all the host of heaven, and
served them/ Josiah, the son of Manasseh, put down all that burnt
incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets,
and to all the host of heaven. By the prophet Jeremiah, God
threatens, that the people shall bring out the bones of the
king of Judah, of the princes, priests, prophets, and people ; and
adds, ' And they shall spread them before the sun, the moon, and
all the host of heaven, whom they have served ; they shall not be
gathered nor be buried ; they shall be for dung upon the face of
the earth.' By the prophet Zephaniah, God threatens to cut off
them 'that worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops.'
Stephen, in rehearsing the history of the children of Israel before
the Jewish council, declares, that God formerly gave up their fore-
fathers to worship the host of heaven ; and mentions among other
objects of worship the star of the god Remphan.
This worship, which has been so general among heathen na-
tions, seems to have originated in judicial astrology, and in the
belief that the heavenly bodies have a great influence upon human
events. Hindoos, whose birth under a supposed evil planet has
been ascertained, are often filled with melancholy ; some abandon
themselves to despair, careless of what becomes of an existence
d eO fire, let these women, with bodies anointed with ghee, eyes (coloured) with
stibium and void of tears, enter the parent of water, that they may not be separated
from their husbands, may be in union with excellent husbands, be sinless, and be
jewels among women.' fiig-vedu.
PLANETS, WORSHIPPED! IN A BODY.
connected with such omens. The reader will perceive, in reading
the account of Saturn, to what a degree the Hindoos dread the in-
fluence of this planet, especially at the time when it is in a certain
sign. Against fears of this kind the prophet Jeremiah warned the
Jews : c Learn not the way of the heathen, and he not dismayed at
the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them.'
Sect. XIII. — The Worship of the Nine Gruhus*.or
Planets.
At the great festivals a small offering is presented to all the
planets at once ; but except on these occasions they are never
worshipped together. They are, however, frequently worshipped
separately by the sick or unfortunate, who suppose themselves to
be under the baneful influence of some planet. At these times the
nine planets are worshipped, one after the other, in regular succes-
sion. The ceremonies consist of the common forms of worship
before other images, and close with a burnt-offering to each planet.
To S55ryu are offered in the burnt-sacrifice small pieces of
the shrub urku1 ; to Chundru, those of the pulashu8; to Mars,
those of the khudiru h ; to Mercury, those of the upamargu. 1 ; to
Jupiter, those of the ushwutt'huk ; to Venus, those of the ooroom-
buru ; to Saturn, those of the shumee 1 ; to Rahoo, blades of d55rva
grass; and to Ketoo, blades of kooshii grass.
In honour of Sooryu boiled rice, mixed with molasses, is
burnt ; milk is to be mixed with the rice offered to Chundru ;
with that to Mars, curds ; with that to Mercury, clarified butter :
to Jupiter is offered frumenty ; to Venus, boiled rice alone ; to
Saturn, various kinds of food ; to Rahoo, goat's flesh or fish ; to
Ke'too, blood from the ear of a goat, mixed with rice.
The image of Sooryu is to be a round piece of mixed metal,
twelve fingers in diameter ; that of Chundru is to be like a half
moon, a cubit from end to end ; that of Mars, a triangular piece of
metal measured by the thickness of six fingers ; that of Mercury,
a golden bow measuring the thickness of two fingers from one
extremity to the other ; that of Jupiter, like a flower of the water-
lily ; that of Venus, a four-square piece of silver ; that of Saturn,
an iron scymitar ; that of Rahoo, an iron muktiru ; and that of
Ke'too, an iron snake.
c These stars are called gruhus,because they make known to people good and evil.
f Asclepias gigantiac. % Butea frondosa.
h Mimosa catechu. 5 Achyranthes aspera.
k Ficus religiosa. 1 Mimosa albida.
RUVEE — HIS FORM AND WORSHIP — COMMITS A RAPE.
The fees accompanying the worship of the different planets
are various : at that of Sooryu, a milch cow ; of Chandra, a shell ;
of Mars, a bull ; of Mercury, a morsel of gold ; of J upiter, a piece
of cloth ; of Venus, a horse ; of Saturn, a black cow ; of ftahoo, a
piece of iron ; and of Ke'too, a goat.
When the officiating bramhun performs the worship of separate
planets, he must put on vestments of divers colours, and offer
different kinds of flowers.
Sect. XI \r. — litivee™, the Sun.
This god, the son of Kushyupu, the sage, is painted red. He
holds a water-lily in each hand, and rides in a chariot drawn by
seven yellow11 horses.
Ruvee, as one of the planets, is worshipped only at the great
festivals. The Jyotish-tutwu says, that if a person be born under
the planet Ruvee, he will possess an anxious mind, be subject to
disease and other sufferings, be an exile, a prisoner, and endure
much sorrow from the loss of his wife, children, and property.
This god has been already noticed under the name of Sooryu :
but in that account several particulars were omitted by mistake ;
and which I insert here, though they properly belong to another
form of this idol. — While bathing, the Hindoos repeat certain
incantations, in order to bring the waters of all the holy places in
the heaven of this god into the spot where they are standing, and
thus obtain the merit of bathing not only in Gunga, but in all the
sacred rivers, &c. in the heaven of Sodryu. After bathing too, the
Hindoos make their obeisance to this god in a standing posture ;
the more devout draw up their joined hands to the forehead, gaze
at the sun, make prostration to him, and then turn round seven
times, repeating certain forms of petition and praise. On these
occasions they hold up water in their joined hands, and then ' pour
out a drink-offering' to the sun.
When the terrific being which sprung out of Shivu's bunch of
hair went with all the bhootus, &c. to destroy Dukshu's sacrifice,
all the gods being present, this monster seized on Sooryu and
knocked out his teeth : in consequence, at the time of worship,
only soft things, as flour, &c. are now offered to this god, such as a
toothless old man might eat.
Sooryu is charged in the Muhabharutii with ravishing Koonte,
a virgin, from whence Kurnnu, a gaint, was born.
m Hence Ruvee- variS, or Sunday.
n ?NTot green, as mentioned by Mr. Maurice.
56
SOMU — HIS IMAGE, WORSHIP AND NAMES.
Sect. XV. — Somu0, or C/cundru, the Moan, •
The image of Somu is that of a white man, drawn by ten
horses, or sitting on the water-lily. With his right hand he is
giving a blessing, and in the other he holds a club.
111 the work called Udhiku>unu-mala, a sacrifice is ordered to
be performed to Somu, and the worshipper is promised a place in
the heaven of this god.
All the Hindoo ceremonies are regulated by the rising or
setting, the waxing or waning of the moon. The JyotishtutwiS
says, 'If a person be born under the planet Somu, he will have
many friends ; will possess elephants, horses, and palanqueens ; be
honourable and powerful ; will live upon excellent food, rest on
superb couches, &c.'
A race of Hindoo kings are said to have descended from Somu
by Rohineep, and are called the children of the moon. The first of
these was Booclhu, and the forty-sixth Yoodhist'hiru.
This god on a certain occasion was forcibly carried away b}^
Gurooru, the bird on which Vishnoo rides, and delivered up to the
giants. The giants, anxious to become immortal as well as the
gods, promised Gurooru that if he would bring the moon by force,
so that they might drink the nectar supposed to exist in the bright
parts of that planet, they would deliver his mother from the curse
pronounced against her by her son Uroonu, by which she had been
doomed to become the slave of her sister. Gurooru' soon seized
the god, and placed him trembling among the assembled giants ;
but while the latter were gone to bathe, and prepare for partaking
of the waters of immortality, Indru arrived and delivered the cap-
tive, and thus disappointed these implacable enemies of the gods.
Somu is charged with seducing the wife of Vrihusputee, his
preceptor. — See p. 51
The chief names of this god are : Somii, or, he from whom the
water of immortality springs. — Himangshoo, he whose beams are
cooling. — Chundru, he at whose rising people rejoice. — Indoo, the
great. — Koomoodu-banduvu, the friend of the flower Koomooduq.
— Vidhoo, he who causes the gods to drink the water of life. — -
Soodhangshoo, he whose rays* are as the water of life. — Oshudhee-
shu, the lord of medicinal plants. — Nishaputee, the lord of night. —
TJbju, he who was born from the waters. — Joivatriku, the pre-
server of men. — Glou, he who decreases. — Mrigranku, he on whose
° Hence Somil-varu, or Monday. P The Hyades.
i Nymphcea lotus. After the rising of the moon this flower is said by the Hindoos
to expand.
MUNGULU, HIS IMAGE— AH EVIL PLANET — BOODHU, HIS FORM, 57
lap sits a deerr. — Kulanidhee, he with whom are the kulas\ —
Dwij^raj€, the chief of the bramhuns. — N-ukshutreshft, the lord of
the planets. — Ksh%aktiru\ he who illumines the night.
Sect. XVI.—Mungulu\ or Mars.
This god is painted red ; rides on a sheep ; wears a red neck-
lace, and garments of the same colour ; and has four arms : in one
hand lie holds a weapon called shuktee ; with another he is giving
a blessing ; with another forbidding fear ; and in the fourth he
holds a club.
' If a person be born under the planet Mtmgtiru, he will be full
•of anxious thoughts, be wounded with offensive weapons, be im-
prisoned, be oppressed with fear from robbers, fire, &c. and will
lose his lands, trees, and good name.' — Jyotish-tutwu.
Sect. XVII. — Boodhu", or Mercury,
This god has four arms ; in one hand he holds the discus,
In another a club, in another a scymitar, and with the fourth is be-
stowing a blessing. He rides on a lion ; is of a placid countenance ;
iind wears yellow garments.
The following is an account of the birth of Booclhu : — On a
certain occasion Vrihuspiitee, the spiritual guide of the gods, made
a, great feast, to which he invited all the gods. Chundru. was
present among the rest ; who, during the festival, fell in love with
Tara, the wife of Vrihusputee. Not knowing how to accomplish
his wishes, after his return home he invited Vrihusputee to a
sacrifice, begging him to bring his wife with him. Vrihusputee
and his wife proceeded to the palace of Chundru, but saw no pre-
parations for the sacrifice. The former expressing his surprise at
this circumstance, Chundru told him that the sacrifice was una-
voidably delayed, and advised him to return for a short time to
r See a story of tlie birth of Boodhu in the following page.
8 Kit la is the one 16th part of the disk of the moon, viz., that quantity which it
increases or decreases in one day.
1 Mnngttlu-vani, or Tuesday. Mungulu is also called Ungaraku. or, he who
travels ; Koojtt, the son of the earth ; and Lohitangn, the blood-coloured.
u Boodhu'-varu, or Wednesday. The meaning of Boodhu is, the wise. He is also
called RouhineyS, the son of Rohinee, and Soumyn, the son of ISomn.
8
58 ACCOUNT OF HIS BIRTH — VRIHUSPUTEE, HIS IMAGE,
his devotions, leaving his wife at his house. Vrihuspiitee consent-
ed, and during his absence Chundru dishonoured the wife of his
spiritual guide ; who on his return, finding his wife pregnant,
cursed Chilndru, and hurled him into the sea, where he continued
like a cinder, leaving the earth in darkness for two kulpus, or
864,000,000 years. Vrihusputee compelled his wife to deliver
herself, and, on the birth of the child Boodhu, reduced her to
ashes. Briimha afterwards raised her from her ashes, and, thus
purified, Vrihusputee took her to his embraces again. Sumoodru,
(the sea,) incensed at his son for this horrid crime of dishonouring
the wife of his divine teacher, disinherited him. Clrttndru then
applied to his sister Lukshmeex, the wife of Vishnoo, by whose
power part of his sin was removed, and he became light like the
moon when three days old. She also applied in his behalf to
Parvutee, who resolved to restore Chundru to heaven, and for this
purpose planted him in the forehead of her husband7 ; who went,
thus ornamented, to a feast of the gods. Vrihusputee, on seeing
Chundru again in heaven, was greatly incensed, and could only be
appeased by Briimha's ordaining, that the lascivious god should be
excluded from heaven, and placed among the stars ; and that the
sin by which his glory had been obscured should remain for ever,
f'hundru now asked Brumha to remove the vomiting of blood,
with which be had been seized since his fall from heaven ; who
directed him, as a certain cure, to hold a deer on his knees.
' If a person be born under the planet Boodhu, he will be very
fortunate, obtain an excellent wife, &c.' — Jyotish-WMvu.
Sect. XVIII. — Frihilsjmtee7', or Jupiter.
The image of this god, the son of the sage Ungira, is painted
yellow. He sits on the water-lily ; has four arms ; in one hand he
holds a roodrakshu bead-roll ; in another, an alms' dish ; in another,
a club ; and with the fourth, he is bestowing a blessing.
Vrihusputee is preceptor and priest to the gods ; in whose
palaces he explains the vedus, and performs a number of religious
ceremonies.
If a person be born under the planet Vrihilsputee, he will be
endowed with an amiable disposition; possess palaces, gardens,
lands, and be rich in money, corn, &c. ; obtaining the affections of
all, his honours will increase ; he will possess much religious merit ;
x Liikshmee was born, like Chundrif, at the churning of the sea by the gods.
y In Shiva's forehead is placed a half moon.
z Vrihusputi-varti, or Thursday.
AN AUSPICIOUS PLANET — HIS NAMES -SHOOKRU, HIS FORM — FABLE 50
and, in short, will have all his wishes gratified. Kshutriyus,
Voishytis, and Shoodrus, if born under this planet, will be prosper-
ous and happy ; but bramhuns will not be so fortunate : the reason
given is, that Vrihusputee is a bramhttn, and therefore does not
wish to exalt those of his own cast. — Jyotish-tutivu.
This £od is charged in the Muhabharutu with deflowering the
wife of his eldest brother Ootut'hyu.
Names. — Vrihusputee, or, preceptor to the gods. — Sooracharyu,
the priest of the gods. — Gisbputee, the eloquent. — Gooroo, the
preceptor. — Jeevu, he who revives the godsa. — Angirusu, the son
of Ungira. — Vachusputee, the lord of words, viz., the eloquent.
Sect. XIX. — ShookrUh, or the Planet Venus.
This god, the son of the sage Bhrigoo, is dressed in white ; sits
on the water-liry ; has four hands : in one, he holds a roodrakshu
bead-roll ; in another, an alms' dish ; in another, a club ; and with
the other is bestowing a blessing.
Shookrft is preceptor and officiating priest to the giants. He
is represented as blind of one eye ; the reason of which is thus
related: — When Vanvrmu went to king Bulee, to solicit a present,
Shookru, being Bulee's preceptor, forbad his giving him any thing.
The king disregarding his advice, the priest was obliged to read
the necessary formulas, and to pour out the water from a vessel,
to ratify the gift. Shookru, still anxious to withhold the gift,
which he foresaw would be the destruction of his master, entered
the water in an invisible form, and by his magic power prevented
it from falling ; but Vamunu, aware of the device, put a straw into
the bason of water, which entered Shookru's eye, and gave him so
much pain, that he leaped out of the bason : the water then fell,
and the gift was offered.
' If a person be born under the planet Shookru, he will have
the faculty of knowing things past, present, and future ; will have
many wives ; have a kingly umbrella, (the emblem of royalty ;)
and other kings will worship him ; he will possess elephants, horses,
palanqueens, footmen, facJ—Jyotish-tutwu.
Shookru's daughter, DeVujanee, was deeply in love with one
of her father's pupils, Kuchu, the son of Vrihusputee. This youth
a That is, when the gods die in battle. Vrihuspiitee by incantations restores
them to life.
b Shookru varu or Fridav.
&Q RESPECTING HI'S BLINDNESS — A PROPITIOUS PLANET — A FABLE.
had been sent b}T bis father to learn from Shookru an incantation
for raising the dead. One day Devujanee sent Kuchu to bring:
some flowers to be used in worshipc from a forest belonging to the
giants. Previously to this* Kuchti bad been devoured several
times by different giants; but Shookru by the above incantation
had restored him to life : when be tore open the bellies of these-
cannibals, and destroyed them. The giants now resolved to make?
Shookru himself eat this boy ; for which purpose they caught him
in the forest, cut him into the smallest pieces, boiled him up in
spirits, and invited Sookruto the entertainment. Kuohu not
returning from the forest, Devujanee wept much, and told her
father, that she would certainly kill herself1 if he did not bring;
back her lover. Shookru at length, by the power of meditation,
discovered that he had eaten this youth, so beloved by his daugh-
ter ; and he knew not how to bring him back to life, without the-
attempt being- fatal to himself. At last, however, while the boy
continued in his belly, he restored him to life, and taught him
the incantation for raising the dead } after which Kuchu, tearing
open Shookru's belly, came forth, and immediately restored his
teacher to life. Kuohu, having obtained the knowledge of revivify-
ing the dead, took leave of his preceptor, and was about to return
to his father Vrihusputee, when Devujanee insisted upon his
marking her. Kuchu declined this honour, as she was- the daugh-
ter of his preceptor ; at which she was so incensed that she pro-
nounced a curse upon him, by which he was doomed to reap no
advantage from all his learning. In return Kuchu cursed Devu-
jauee, and doomed her to marry a kshutriyu ; which curse after
sometime took effect, and she was married to king Yujatee.
After l>evujanee had borne two children, she discovered that the
king maintained an illicit connection with a princess of the name
of Summisht'ha, by whom he had three sons. She appealed to her
father Shookru, who pronounced a curse on Yujatee ; when his
hair immediately became grey, his teeth fell from his head, and
he was seized with complete decrepitude. Yujatee remonstrated
with his father-in-law, and asked him who should live with his
daughter, who -was yet young, seeing, that he had brought old age
upon him. Shookru replied, that if he could persuade any one to
take upon him this curse, he might still enjoy connubial felicity.
Yujatee returned home, and asked his eldest son by I>evujanee to*
take this curse for a thousand years, and possess the kingdom ; at
the close of which time he should become young, again, and con-
tinue in the kingdom : but this son, his brother, and the two
eldest sons of Summisht'ha refused the kingdom on these condi-
tions ; which so enraged the father, that he cursed them all. The
youngst son, however, by Summisht'ha accepted the conditions,
c Gathering flowei-s for the worship of the gods is often at present the employe
ment of young persons.
d The Hindoo children often resort to this threat to extort some favour from thei?
parents.
HIS NAMES — SHUNEE, HIS IMAGE — AN EVIL PLANET. Gl
and instantly became weak and decrepid ; when the father assumed
his former youth, and returned to the company of his wives.
Names. — Shookru, or, he who sorrows at the destruction of
the giants. — Doityii-gooroo. preceptor to the giants. — Kavyu, the
poet. — Ooshuna, the friend of the giants, — Bhargtivn, the descen-
dant of Bhrigoo.
Sect. XX.— Shunee*, or Saturn,
This god is dressed in black ; rides on a vulturef ; has four
arms ; in one he holds an arrow ; in another, a javelin ; in another
a bow ; and with the other is giving a blessing. He is said to be
the son of Sooryu by Chaya.
All the Hindoos exceedingly dread the supposed baneful in-
fluence of this god, and perform a number of ceremonies to appease
him. Many stories of him are to be found in the writings of the
Hindoos, such as that of his burning off the head of Gune'shu ; his
burning Dushurut' hit's chariot in his descent from heaven ; his
giving rise to bad harvests, ill fortune, &c.
a person be born under the planet Shunee,' says the
Jyotish-tutwft, ' he will be slandered, his riches dissipated, his son,
wife, and friends destroyed ; he will live at variance with others ;
and endure many sufferings.' The Hindoos are under constant fear
of bad fortune from this planet. Some persons, if absent from
home at the time of his appearance, return through fear, and others
forsake their business lest they should meet with misfortunes. If
one person persecute another, the latter sometimes takes it patient-
ly, supposing it to arise from the bad fortune which naturally
springs from the influence of this star. The Hindoos believe that
when Shunee is in the ninth stellar mansion, the most dreadful
evils befal mankind : hence, when Raraii broke the bow of Shivu,
which was the condition of obtaining Seeta in marriage, and when
the earth sunk, and the waters of the seven seas were united in
one, Purushoo-ramu, startled at the noise of the bow, exclaimed,
'Ah ! some one has laid hold of the hood of the snake, or fallen under
the ninth of Shitnee.' At present, when a person is obstinate, and
e Shfmee-varu, or Saturckvy. One of the names of Shunee is Shtinoish-churi?,
viz., he who travels slowly.
f This god is represented as sitting on this bird, probably, to denote his destruc-
tive power. Saturn, in the Grecian system of idolatry, was represented as devouring
his children. The vultures in Bengal are highly useful in devouring the dead bodies
of men and beasts, many of which are left in the roads and on the banks of rivers. It
is astonishing how swiftly these birds collect wherever a dead body falls, though
one of them should not have been seen in the place for weeks or months before ;
illustrating, in the most striking manner, the words of our Lord, " Wheresoever the
carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." — Matt. xxiv. 28.
G2 RAHOO,IIIS IMAGE — RECEIVED THIS FORM AT CHURNING OF THE SEA,
will not hearken to reason, a bye-stander says, ' I suppose he has*
fallen upon Shunee, or he has laid his hand upon the hood of the
snake, viz., he is embracing his own destruction.' When Ramu
found that some one had stolen Seeta, in the midst of his rage he
exclaimed, ' This person must have been born when Slmnee was in
the ninth mansion.'
Sect. XXI- Rahoo\
This god, the son of Singhika, is painted black : he rides on
a lion ; has four arms, in three of which he holds a scymitar, a
spear, and a shield, and with the other hand is bestowing a blessing.
' If a person be born under the planet Rahoo,' says the work
already quoted, ' his wisdom, riches, and children will be destroy-
ed ; he will be exposed to many afflictions, and be subject to his
enemies.'
Rahoo was originally a giant, but at the churning of the sea
he took his present name and form ; (that is, he became one of the
heavenly bodies1 ;) which transformation is thus described in the
pooranus : — At the time when the gods churned the sea to obtain
the water of life, SooryS (the sun) and Chundru (the moon) were
sitting together. When the nectar came up, these gods hinted to
Vishnoo, that one of the company who had drank of the nectar
was not a god. but one of the giants. Vishnoo immediately cut
off his head ; but after drinking the water of life, neither the
head nor the trunk could perish. The head taking the name of
Rahoo, and the trunk that of Ke'too, were placed in the heavens
as the ascending and descending nodes ; and leave was granted, by
way of revenge on S65ryu and Chundru, that on certain occasions
Rahoo should approach these gods, and make them unclean, so that
their bodies should become thin and black. The popular opinion,
however, is, that, at the time of an eclipse, Rahoo swallows the sun
and moon, and vomits them up againk.
h The ascending node.
» We are here reminded of Jupiter's deflowering Calisto, the daughter of Lycaorr,
king of Arcadia. It will be remembered, that when her disgrace became known, Juno
turned her into a bear, which Jupiter afterwards advanced into heaven, and made it a
constellation, now called Ursa major.
k It is a most unaccountable coincidence in the notions of remote nations, that
the Chinese and the Greenlanders, as well as the Hindoos, should think that the still
or the moon is devoured at the time of an eclipse. "As soon as they (the Chinese)
perceive that the sun or moon begins to be darkened, they throw themselves on their
knees, and knock their foreheads against the earth. A noise of drums and cymbals is
immediately heard throughout the whole city. This is the remains of an ancient
opinion entertained in China, that by such a horrid din they assisted the suffering
luminary, and prevented it from being devoured by the celestial dragon. " Crantz in
his History of Greenland asserts, that a similar custom exists among this people, who
could certainly never have learnt it either from the Hindoos or the Chinese.
I
BIS NAMES — KETOO, HIS IMAGE. 63
Many persons perform a number of ceremonies on these occa-
sions, as, those to the manes ; pouring out water to deceased
ancestors ; repeating the names of the gods ; setting up gods ;
making offerings, &c. The Jyotish-tutwu declares, that performing
these duties now is attended with benefits infinitely greater than
at other times. Nobody must discharge the faeces or urine, or eat
any food, until they have seen the sun or moon after the eclipse,
though, it be till their rising the next day. He who does not
observe this law, will have a million of hells in one.
Names. — Tumu, the dark, or, he who is possessed of a great
proportion of the quality of darkness. — Rahoo, he who swallows
and afterwards vomits up the sun or moon. — Swurbhanoo, he who
shines in the heavens. — Soinghikeyu, the son of Singhika. — Vid-
hoontoodu, he who afflicts the moon.
Sect. XXII.— K4too\
Ketoo is the headless trunk of Rahoo, which became immortal
at the churning of the sea. This god is painted of a light green
colour. He rides on a vulture ; in one hand holds a club, and with
the other is bestowing a blessing.
The preceding may be called the Hindoo Celestial Gods.
I dare not say, that I have given every deity of this order, as I
have not found any book containing an exact list of them. I could
easily have enlarged the number, by inserting accounts of other
forms of these gods ; but this would have swelled the work, without
adding to its value.
1 The descending node.
M DOORGA-HER DESCENT,-REASON OF HER NAME, A FABLE.
CHAP. III.
OF THE GODDESSES.
Sect. I. — Doorga.
In those parts of the Hindoo shastriis which treat of the
production of the world, this goddess is spoken of as the female
power, under the name of Pmkritee or Bhuguvutee. She was
first born in the house of Duksbu, one of the progenitors of man-
kind, and called Stitee ; under which name she was married to
Shivttj but renounced her life on hearing her father reproach her
husband. On her second appearance, we recognize her under the
name of Parvutee, the daughter of Himaluyu* ; when she was
again married to Shivu, by whom she had two children, Kartikeyu
and Gime'shu.
Doorga has had many births to destroy the giants* • The
reason of her being called Doorga is ^thus given in the Kashee-
khunclu : — On a certain occasion Ugustyu, the sage, asked
Kartikeyu, why Parvutee, his mother, was called Doorga. Karti-
keyu replied, that formerly a giant named Doorgu, the son of
Rooroo, having performed religious austerities in honour of Brum ha,
obtained his blessing, and became a great oppressor • he conquered
the three worlds, and dethroned Indru, Yayoo, Chandra, Yumu,
TJgnee, Vtiroonu, Kooveru, Bulee, Eeshanu, Roodru, S5oryu, the
eight Vusoos, &c. The wives of the rishees were compelled to
celebrate his praises. He sent all the gods from their heavens to
live in forests ; and at his nod they came and worshipped him.
He abolished all religious ceremonies ; the bramhuns, through
fear of him, forsook the reading of the ve'dus ; the rivers changed
their courses ; fire lost its energy ; and the terrified stars retired
from sight : he assumed the forms of the clouds, and gave rain
whenever he pleased ; the earth through fear gave an abundant
increase ; and the trees yielded flowers and fruits out of season.
The gods at length applied to Shivu. Indru said, ' He has
dethroned me ;' — Sooryu said, ' He has taken my kingdom :' and
thus all the gods related their misfortunes. Shivu, pitying their
case, desired Parvutee to go and destroy the giant. She willingly
accepting of the commission, calmed the fears of the gods, and
first sent Kalu-ratree, a female whose beauty bewitched the in-
habitants of the three worlds, to order the giant to restore things
a The mountain of this name.
b Sir W. Jones, not improperly, considers Doorga as bearing a pretty strong
resemblance to Juno, as well as to Minerva.
REASON OF ITER NAME, A FABLE.
65
to their ancient order. The latter, full of fury, sent some soldiers
to lay hold of Kalu-ratree ; but, by the breath of her mouth, she
reduced them to ashes. Doorgu then sent 30,000 other giants,
who were such monsters in size, that they covered the surface of
the earth. Among them were the following: Doordhnrn0,
DoormookhuV1, Khuru6, Shiru-paneef, Pashn-paneeg, Soorendrtih,
Dumunu.1, Hunook, Yugiiuhanee1, Khurgu-romam, Oograsyu", Devu-
kilmpunu0, &c. At the sight of these giants, Kafu-ratree fled
through the air to Parvutie, and the giants followed her. Doorgu,
with 100,000,000 chariots, 200 tirvoodus (or 120,000,000,000)
of elephants, 10,000,000 of swift-footed horses, and innu-
merable soldiers, went to fight with Parvutee on the mountain
Vindlru. As soon as the giant drew near, Parvutee assumed 1,000
arms, and called to her " assistance different kinds of beings, as
jumbhup, mnhajumbhuq, vijumblm1', vikutairunu3, pingakshiT, mii-
hishuu, muhogra*, iityoogru7, vigruhu2, kroorakshna, krodhnnnb,
krundiinu0, snnkr"undnnnd, muha-blmyne, jitantnkn/, muha-vahoo5,
muha-vuktruh, muh^edhuru1, doondooblruk, doondoobhiruvu1, nruha-
doondoo-bhinasiku"1, oograsyu", deergu-dushunu0, me'ghu-ke'shu11,
vrikanim"uq, singhasyu1', shookuru-mooklru8, shiva-rnvn-muhotkutu*,
shookut-oondu'1, pruchnndasyu^ bhsemakshu7, kshoodra-manusuz,
oolook"unetrua, kunnkasyub, kakntoondu0, khurnnukhud, deergti-
greevue, mulmjunglruf, shiroddhnrng, ruktu-vrindu-jnvanetrn11, vi-
dyootjivlm1, ngninetrnknk, tapunu1, dhoomrakshum, dhoomunish-
wasua, slK)orn-chundai]gshoo-tapnnii°, muhabheeshitn"u-mookh"up,
&c She also brought a number of weapons out of her body, as
useeq, clvukrar, bhooshoondee3, giacla*, moodgnruu, tomurux, bhindi-
paluy, purighia*, koontua, shulyu0, shuktee0, urdhu-chundi'ud, kshoo-
ruprir9, narachuf, shileemookhu", mnhabhullnh, pnrushoo1, bhidooruk,
and mnrmubhedu1. The troops of the giant poured their arrows
on Parvutee, sitting on the mountain Yindhru thick as the drops of
rain in a storm ; they even tore up the trees, the mountains, &c.
c Difficult to catch. d Foul-mouthed. e Cruel. f Holding a human
skull in the hand. e WieMers of the pashu. h Sovereigns of the gods.
» Bullies. k Of high cheek bones. 1 Sacrifice- destroyers. m They whose
hair is like scymitars. n Of terrific countenance. ° They who make the gods
tremble, p Malicious. ^Very malicious. r In various ways malicious. 8 Of fear- excit-
ing countenance. * Of yellow eyes. u Like buffaloes. x Wrathful. >' Exceedingly
wrathful. z Warriors. a Cruel-eyed. b Wrathful. c Causers of crying. d Causing
to cry excessively. e Fear exciting. f Death conquering, s Large-armed. h Large -
faced. » Mountain-like. k Noisy like the doondoobhee. 1 Dittoo. m With noses
like the doondoobhee. n With wrathful countenance. 0 Long toothed. p With hair
like clouds, q Leopard-faced. r Lion-faced. s Pig-faced. 1 Exciting terrors by
making sounds like the jackal. u With bills like a parrot. x Terrible-faced. >' Ter-
rific-eyed. * Little-minded. a Owl-eyed. b Gold-faced. c Crow-faced. d Sharp-
nailed. e Long-necked. f Long-thighed. s Large-veined. h With eyes red like
the yuva flower. i With tongues like lightning. k Fiery-eyed. 1 Inflamers.
m Smoke-eyed. n With breath like smoke. 0 Giving pain to the sun and moon.
p Of horrid countenance, i A scymitar. r A discus. s A hatchet. 1 A bludgeon
or club. u A hammer. * An iron crow y A short arrow. z A bludgeon.
a A bearded dart. bA javelin. c Another. d An arrow like a half-moon.
e A weapon like a spade. f A small arrow, s A round arrow. h A very long spear.
' A hatchet like a half -moon. k A thunderbolt full of spikes. 1 A bearded arrow,
REASON OF HER NAME, A FABLE.
and hurled at the goddess ; who however threw a weapon winds
carried away many of the arms of the giant : when he, in return,
hurled a flaming dart at the goddess ; which she turning aside, lie-
discharged another ; but this also she resisted by a hundred arrows.
He next let fly an arrow at Parvutse's breast ; but this too she re-
pelled, as well as two other instruments, a club and a pike. At
last Parvutee seized Doorgti and set her left foot on Ms breast ; but
he disengaged himself, and renewed the fight. The beings
(9,000,000) whom Parvutee caused to issue from her body then des-
troyed all the soldier's of the giant ; in return, Doorgtt caused a
dreadful shower of hail to descend, the effect of which Parvutee
counteracted by an instrument called Shoshunu"1. He next, break-
ing off the peak of a mountain, threw it at Parvutee, who cut it
into seven pieces by her arrows. The giant bow assumed the shape
of an elephant as large as a mountain, and approached the god-
dess ; but she tied his legs, and with her nails, which were like
scymitars, tore him to pieces. He then arose in the form of a buf-
falo, and with his horns, cast stones, trees, and mountains at the
goddess, tearing up the trees by the breath of his nostrils. The
goddess next pierced him with her trident, when he reeled to and
fro, and, renouncing the form of the buffalo, assumed his ori-
ginal body as a giant, with a thousand arms, and weapons in each,.
Going up to Parviltee, the goddess seized himby his thousand arms,
and carried him into the air, from whence she threw him down with
dreadful force. Perceiving however, that this had no effect, she
pierced him in the breast with an arrow ; when the blood issued
in streams from his mouth, and he expired. The gods were now
filled with joy : Sooryu, Chundru, TJgnee, &c. obtained their former
splendour ; and all the other deities, who had been dethroned by
this giant, inimediatety re-ascended their thrones ; the bramhuns
resumed the study of the vediis ; sacrifices were regularly perform-
ed, and every thing assumed its pristine state : the heavens rang
with the praises of Parvittio, and the gods, in return for so signal
a deliverance, honoured her with the name of Doorga.
Miihishu, king of the giants, at a certain period overcame the
gods in war, and reduced them to such a state of indigence, that
they were seen wandering about the earth like common beggars.
Indru, after a time, collected them together, and they went in a
bod}^ to Brum ha, and afterwards to Shivu, but met Avith no redress,
At last they applied to Vishnoo, who was so enraged at beholding
their wretchedness, that streams of glory issued from his face, from
which sprang a female named Miiha-maya (Doorga). Streams of
glory issued also from the faces of the other gods, and entering
Muha-maya, she became a body of glory resembling a mountain on
fire. The gods then gave their weapons to this female, and with a
frightful scream, she ascended into the air.
A weapon which dries up liquids.
FESTIVALS — IMAGE.
[The work Cliundee, in this place, contains a long account of
the dreadful contest betwixt Muha-maya and this giant, which
•ended in the destruction of the latter.]
After the victory, the gods chanted the praises of Muha-maya ;
?ind the goddess, pleased with their gratitude, promised to succour
them whenever they were in distress, and then disappeared.
The Hindoos believe that the worship of Doorga has been per-
formed through the four yoogus ; but that Soorutu, a king, in the
end of the dwapuru-yoogtl, made known the present form of wor-
shipping the goddess., and celebrated these orgies in the month
Choitru ; (hence called the Vasuntee, or spring festival.) Soorutu
offered a very great number of goats, sheep, and buffaloes to Doorga ;
believing, according to the shastru, that he should enjoy happiness
in heaven as many years as there were hairs upon the different
animals offered. After his death, however, his case excited much
discussion in the court of Yunm ; v/ho at length decided, that
though Soorutu had much merit, he had destroyed the lives of
many animals, and that he must be born and suffer death from all
these beasts assembled in one place, when he should immediately
be advanced to heaven. Others interpret this passage of the
shastru as moaning, that the king was to assume in succession the
forms of all these beasts, and be put to death in each form before
lie could ascend to heaven. In the tre'til-yoogu Kanra is said to
have performed the worship of Doorga in the month Ashwinu ;
and from him it is continued in this month, and called the Sham-
<leeya, or autumnal festival.
This festival, celebrated in the month Ashwinu, the most
popular of all the annual festivals held in Bengal, I shall now
attempt to describe. Immense sums are expended upon itn ; all
business throughout the country is laid aside for several days, and
universal festivity and licentiousness prevail. A short time before
the festival, the learned men and sirkars0 employed in Calcutta
almost universally return home ; some of them enjoy a holiday of
several weeks.
The image of Doorga has ten arms. In one of her right hands
is a spear, with which she is piercing the giant Muhishu ; with one
of the left she holds the tail of a serpent, and the hair of the giant,
whose breast the serpent is biting. Her other hands are all stretch-
ed behind her head, and filled with different instruments of war.
Against her right leg leans a lion, and against her left the above
■» In the city of Calcutta alone, it is supposed, upon a moderate calculation, that
half a million sterling is expended annually on this festival. About fifty years ago,
(1811) Kuudfirpii-gooru, a kaist'hu, expended in this worship 38,000 pounds, and spent
12,500 pounds annually as long as he lived in the same manner.
0 Natives who direct the business of Europeans are commonly called sirkar*.
The proper name is Mootsuddee, or Mookuree.
68 DESCRIPTION OF CEREMONIES AT HER FESTIVAL.
giant — The images of Lukshmee, Sumswutee, Kartikeytr, and
Guneshu, are very frequently made and placed by the side of this
goddess.
On the 9th dav of the decrease of the moon this festival begins,
when the ceremony called sunktilpu is performed, by the officiating
bramhun's taking into his joined hands a metal kosha, (which con-
tains water, flowers, fruits, sesamum, rice, and a blade of kooshu
grass,) reading an incantation, and promising that on the succeed-
ing days such a person will perform the worship of Doorga. After
this, Doorga is worshipped before a pan of water with the accus-
tomed formularies.
On the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 11th, and 15th days of the
moon, the same ceremonies are performed before the pan of water ;
and, with some trifling variations in the offerings, continued on. the
16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th.
On the 21st day of the moon, at the close of the worship, what
is called tidhivasu is performed. This also is a preliminary cere-
mony, and consists in taking rice, fruits, &c, and touching with
them a pan of water, and afterwards the forehead of the image, at
intervals repeating incantations.
On the 22d, early in the morning, the officiating bramhun con-
secrates the image, placing it on the spot prepared for it in the
temple, and repeating the proper formulas. After this, the princi-
pal ceremonies before the image begin. First, the business of
giving eyes and life to the images is performed ; when they become
objects of worship. In this curious ceremony, the officiating
bramhun touches with the two fore-fingers of his right hand the
breast, the two cheeks, the eyes, and the forehead of the image.
When he touches these places, he says, ' Let the soul of Doorga long
continue in happiness in this image.' After this, he takes a leaf of
the vilwu tree, rubs it with clarified butter, and holds it over a
burning lamp till it be covered with soot ; of which he takes a little
on the stalk of another vilwu leaf, and touches the eyes, filling up
with the soot a small white place left in the pupil of the eye.
The worship of Gune'shii and other gods is now performed ; then
that of the demi-goddesses, the companions of Doorga in her wars,
who are represented by the dots of paint on the canopy which covers
the image of the goddess. The offerings presented to them consist of
very small slices of plantains, on each of which are stuck two or
three grains of rice, &c. Then follows the worship of the other images
set up with that of Doorga ; to which succeeds the principal worship,
that of Doorga. First, the officiating barmhun perforus dhyanu ;
in which, sitting before the image, he closes his eyes, and repeats
the proper formulas, meditating on the form of the goddess, and
repeating to himself, ' I present to the goddess all these flowers,
fruits, &c. [here he goes over all the offerings ;] I slay all these
BLOODY SACRIFICES,
69
animals/ &c. He then calls the goddess, saying, ' O goddess, come
here, come here ; stay here, stay here. Take up thine abode here,
and receive my worship,' The priest next places before the image
a small piece of square gold or silver, for the goddess to sit upon,
and asks if she has arrived happily ; adding the answer himself,
' Very happily.' After this, water for washing the feet is offered,
by taking it with a spoon from one vessel, and pouring it out into
another, while the incantation is repeated. Ten or fifteen blades
of doorvu grass, a yiiva flower, sandal powder, rice, &c. are then
offered with an incantation, and laid at the feet of Doorga. Next
follows water to wash the mouth ; curds, sugar, and a lighted
lamp. Then water to wash the mouth, and to bathe ; then cloth,
or garments ; then jewels, or ornaments for the feet, arms, fingers,
nose, ears, &c, with sandal wood, and red or white lead ; then
flowers of different kinds, one at a time, with a separate incanta-
tion for each flower : also a vilwu leaf, with some powder of
sandal wood put upon it. Then are offered thrice successively two
handfuls of flowers of different kinds ; afterwards incense, a
lighted lamp, and meat offerings. At the close, the bramlrun walks
round the image seven times, repeating forms of petition and
praise.
Now the bloody sacrifices are offered. If the animal be a
sheep or a goat, as is always the case on the first day, the officiat-
ing bramhun, after bathing it either in the river or in the house,
puts his left hand on its forehead, marks its horns and forehead
with red lead, and reads an incantation, in which he offers it up
to the goddess, thus : e 0 goddess, I sacrifice this goat1' to thee, that
I may live in thy heaven to the end of ten years.' He then reads
an incantation in its ear, and puts flowers, and sprinkles water on
its head. The instrument with which the animal is killed is
consecrated by placing upon it flowers, red lead, &c , and writing
on it the incantation which is given to the disciples of Doorga.
The officiating bramhun next puts the instrument of death on the
neck of the animal, and, after presenting him with a flower as a
blessingq, then into the hand of the person appointed to slay the
animal, who is generally the black-smith1", but sometimes a brmhun.
The assistants put the goat's neck into an upright post, excavated
at the top so as to admit the neck betwixt its two sides ; the body
remaining on one side of the post, and the head on the other. An
earthen vessel containing a plantain is placed upon a plantain
leaf ; after which the blacksmith cuts off the head at one blow,
p Only male animals are offered.
i It is common among the Hindoos for a superior to give a blessing while pre-
senting a flower.
r The Hindoos covet the honour of cutting off the head of an animal dexterously
at the time of these sacrifices. If it be not done at one blow, they drive the blacksmith
away in disgrace. The shastrus have denounced vengeance on the person who shall
fail to cut off the head at one blow : his son will die, or the goddess of fortune
(Lukshmce) will forsake him.
70
OFFERINGS.
and another person holds up the body, and drains out the blood
upon the plantain in the bason If the person who performs the
sacrifice does not intend to offer the flesh to Doorga8, the slayer
cuts only a small morsel from the neck, and puts it on the plan-
tain ; when some one carries it, and the head, and places them
before the image, putting on the head a lighted lamp. After all the
animals have been thus killed, and some of the flesh and the
heads carried before the image, the officiating bramhtin repeats
certain prayers over these offerings, and persents them to the
goddess, with the blood which fell on the plantains : then, taking
the blood from the bason, he puts it on a plantain leaf, and cuts
it into four parts, presenting it to the four goddesses who attend
upon Doorga.
Offerings of rice, plantains, sugar, sweetmeats, sour milk,
curds, pulse of different sorts, limes, fruits, &c. are next presented
with prayers. Now the names of Doorga are repeated by the
priest, who afterwards presents camphorated water to the goddess ;
then betle -nut, limes, spices, &c, made into what is called pantt1.
After repeating a number of forms of praise, this part of the service
closes with the prostration of the officiating bramhun before the
idol. Next, food is presented with many prayers to the goddess ;
which food consists of what is called khechuru11, fried fruits, fried
fish and flesh. <foc. About four in the afternoon, large quantities of
food are presented to the goddess ; amongst which are, prepared
greens of three or four kinds ; prepared peas of three or four kinds ;
fried fruits, sweet potatoes, &c ; fried fish, mixed with fruits of
four or five different sorts ; the flesh of sheep and goats, stewed in
two or three ways ; preparations of tamarinds, two or three sorts ;
rice boiled in milk, two or three sorts ; fifteen or sixteen sorts of
sweetmeats &c. ; all which are offered with separate prayers : after
which water, betle, &c. are presented.
The bramh. uns are entertained either with sweetmeats, or pre-
pared food, by the person at whose house the worship is perform-
ed : some of them are expressly invited, and others attend to see
the ceremonies. The food which has been presented to the god-
dess, being considered almost as ambrosia, is given to the guests
with a sparing hand ; some of whom (mothers) beg to take a
morsel home to cure their children, or relatives, of diseases. Food
is also sent to the neighbours, and persons of inferior cast carry
away great quantities*.
s This is rarely or never done at present. There are no parts of the animal*
however, which may not be offered.
1 Chewed by almost all the natives.
u A common dish in Bengal, made of rice, boiled up with turmeric, peas, spices,
elarified butter, &c.
x In some places a family or several families of bramhuns are supported by the re-
venues attached to a temple, and by the offerings presented to the idol. At the time of
a festival, the heads of these families wait on those who come to make offerings to theidol,
and present them with betle, sweetmeats, fruits, water, &c, according to their quality.
DANCES.
71
In the evening, the officiating bramhun waves a brass candle-
stick, or lamp with five lights, before the goddess, repeating incan-
tations ; afterwards a shell with water in it, and then a piece of
cloth. At night the temple is lighted up, and, about eight o'clock,
unleavened bread, butter, fruits, sweetmeats, curds, milk, &c, are
presented to the goddess. At midnight some persons repeat the
worship ; but in this case the offerings are few, and there are no
bloody sacrifices.
After the worship of the day, many rich men engage a num-
ber of prostitutes, richly dressed and almost covered with orna-
ments, to dance and sing before the idol. The songs are exceed-
ingly obscene ; the dances highly indecent ; and the dress of the
dancing women no less so : their clothing being so fine as scarcely
to deserve the name of a covering. The tresses of some are thrown
loose, hanging down to the waist. Daring the dances, the doors
.are shut to keep out the crowd, as well as Europeans, who are
excluded. Six, seven, or eight women thus dance together, assist-
ed by music, for about four hours. Rich spectators, when remark-
ably pleased with a part of the song, throw to the singer as much
as four, eight, or sixteen rupees ; beside which, those who engage
these women make them presents of garments, and of considerable
sums of money. The sons of the rich natives are highly pleased
with these dances.
On the second day, the worship and sacrifices are much the
same as on the first, except that the bathing of the goddess, called
the great Snanu, is attended with more ceremonies. In this cere-
mony the priest first brings some earth said to have been thrown
up by the teeth of a wild hog, and, mixing it with water, presents
it with prayers to the goddess, to be used as soap. Then in suc-
cession earth from before the door of the king, or lord of the soil ;
from before that of a courtezan ; from the side of the Ganges ; earth
raised by ants ; and, lastly, earth from any river side, not the
Ganges, is presented with the same ceremonies. After this, tur-
meric, fruits and spices ; the water of the cocoa-nut, and of the
water melon ; the juice of the sugar cane ; honey, clarified butter,
sour milk, milk, cow's urine, cow-dung, sugar, treacle, and different
sorts of oil, are presented in succession, with the necessary formulas.
While the officiating bramhun is going through these ceremonies,
he revolves in his mind that he is making these gifts to assist the
goddess in bathing. At the close, he presents some water of the
Ganges, and after this the water of four seas ; or, if unable to ob-
tain this, the water of the Ganges again, and then the water of
some other river. The bathing ceremonies are closed by a present of
cloth for the loins. In the evening, or else in the night, according
to the conjunction of the stars, worship is again performed, in which
only one bloody sacrifice is offered ; and in some cases none. Widows-
fast on this day, particularly a widow with children : the latter
deriving great benefits from the meritorious actions of the mother.
72
SCENE AT RAJA RAJ-KRISHNU'S AT CALCUTTA.
On the third da}', the goddess is worshipped only once, but
the offerings and sacrifices are many ; buffaloes are offered only on
this day. A respectable native once told me, he bad seen one hun-
dred and eight buffaloes sacrificed by one Hindoo at this festival :
the number slain in the whole country must therefore be very
great. Formerly, some of the Hindoo kings killed a thousand ani-
mals on these occasionsy. The males only are sacrificed ; and they
are in general young and very tame, costing from five to sixteen
rupees each. None of the Hindoos eat the sacrificed buffaloes, ex-
cept the shoemakers2. Each animal is bathed before it is slain ;
after which the officiating bramhun puts red lead on its horns, and,
with a red string, ties a piece of wool smeared with red lead on the
forepart of the breast ; he also puts a piece of cloth coloured over
with turmeric on his back, and a necklace of vilwu leaves on his
neck, repeating prayers during these actions. The ceremony of
cutting off the heads of the buffaloes, and presenting them to the
goddess, is similar to those already described respecting the sacrifice
of goats and sheep.
After the beasts are all slain, the multitude, rich and poor,
daub their bodies all over with the mud formed with the blood
which has collected where the animals were slain, and dance like
furies on the spot ; after which they go into the street, dancing
and singing indecent songs, and visit those houses where images of
the goddess have been set up.
At the close of the whole, the officiating bramhun presents a
burnt-offering, and gives to the goddess a sum of money, commonly
about four rupees : some indeed give one hundred, and others as
much as a thousand rupees ; which at length return into the hands
of the officiating bramhun.
In the year 1806, I was present at the worship of this goddess,
as performed at the house of Raja Raj-Krishnu at Calcutta. The
buildings where the festival was held were on four sides, leaving
an area in the middle. The room to the east contained wine,
English sweetmeats, &c. for the entertainment of English
guests, with a native Portuguese or two to wait on the
visitors. In the opposite room was placed the image, with
y The father of the present king of Nudeeya, at one of these festivals, offered a
great number of goats and sheep to Doorga. He began with one, and, doubling the
number each day, continued it for sixteen days. On the last day he killed 33,768, and
in the whole he slaughtered 65,535 animals. He loaded boats with the bodies, and
sent them to the neighbouring bramhuns ; but they could not devour them fast enough,
and great numbers were thrown away. — Let no one, after this, tell us of the scruples
of the bramhuns about de&troying animal life, and eating animal food.
x In some places, the tame hog is offered to Doorga by the lowest casts, who,
among other offerings, present spirituous liquors to the goddess. At the end of the
ceremonies, these persons cook and eat the flesh, drink the spirits, and then, in a state
of intoxication, the men and women dance together, and commit the greatest indecen-
cies. No bramhun, on pain of losing cast, can assist at these ceremonies ; and indeed
all bramhuns, who perform ceremonies for persons of low cast, sink in society.
SCENE AT RAJA RAJ-KRISHNU's AT CALCUTTA.
vast heaps of all kinds of offerings before it. In the two side
rooms were the native guests, and in the area groups of Hindoo
dancing women, finely dressed, singing, and dancing with sleepy-
steps, surrounded with Europeans who were sitting on chairs and.
couches. One or two groups of Musulman men-singers entertained
the company at intervals with HindoostTianee songs, and ludicrous
tricks. Before two o'clock the place was cleared of the dancing
girls, and of all the Europeans except ourselves ; and almost all
the lights were extinguished, except in front of the goddess ;
— when the doors of the area were thrown open, and a vast crowd
of nati ves rushed in, almost treading one upon another; among
whom were the vocal singers, having on long caps like sugar loaves.
The area might be about fifty cubits long and thirty wide. When
the crowd had sat down, they were so wedged together as to pre-
sent the appearance of a solid pavement of heads ; a small space
only being left immediately before the image for the motions of the
singers, who all stood up. Four sets of singers were present on
this occasion, the first consisting of bramhuns, the next of bankers,
the next of voishnuvus, and the last of weavers ;a who entertained
their guests with filthy songs, and danced in indecent attitudes
before the goddess, holding up their hands, turning round, putting
forward their heads towards the image, every now and then bend-
ing their bodies, and almost tearing their throats with their
vociferations. The whole scene produced on my mind sensations
of the greatest horror. The dress of the singers — their indecent
gestures — the abominable nature of the songs — the horrid din of
their miserable drum — the lateness of the hour — the darkness of
the place — with the reflection that I was standing in an idol
temple, and that this immense multitude of rational and immortal
creatures, capable of superior joys, were, in the very act of worship,
perpetrating a crime of high treason against the God of heaven, while
they themselves believed they were performing an act of merit —
excited ideas and feelings in my mind which time can never obli-
terate.
I would have given, in this place, a specimen of the songs
sung before the image, but found them so full of broad obscenity
that I could not copy a single line. All those actions, which a
sense of decency keeps out of the most indecent English songs, are
here detailed, sung, and laughed at, without the least sense of
shame. A poor ballad-singer in England would be sent to the
house of correction, and flogged, for performing the meritorious
actions of these wretched idolaters.b The singing is continued for
three days, from about two o'clock in the morning till nine.
a Distinguished among the natives by the name of Huroo-t'hakooru, BhoVa-
nilndii, Nitaee, and Lukshmee.
b The reader will recollect that the festivals of Bacchus and Cybele were equally
noted for the indecencies practised by the worshippers, both in their words and actions.
10
n
DROWNING THE IMAGE.
The next morning, between eight and nine, a short time is
spent in worship, but no bloody sacrifices are offered. Amongst
other ceremonies at this time the officiating bramhun, in the pre-
sence of the family, dismisses the goddess, repeating these words:
' 0 goddess ! I have, to the best of my ability, worshipped thee.
Now go to thy residence, leaving this blessing, that thou wilt return
the next year : ' after which the priest immerses a looking-glass,
the representative of the goddess, in a pan of water ; and then
takes some of this water, and sprinkles himself and the company
with it. When the goddess is thus dismissed, the women set up a
cry — some even shed tears In the afternoon, the mistress of the
house and other women go to the image, put a rupee and some betle
in its hand, strew some turmeric at its feet, and rub the dust of its
feet on their own foreheads and those of their friends. On their
retiring, the crowd assemble, with their bodies daubed with tur-
meric, oil, and sour milk ; and, bringing out the image, place it on
a stage, to which they fasten it with cords, and carry it on their
shoulders to the water. It is here placed in the centre of two
boats lashed together, and filled with people, among whom are
dancers, musicians, singers, &c. At this time, in many instances,
men dance stark naked on the boat before many thousands assem-
bled, who only laugh at this gross indecency. Perhaps in one
place on the river twenty or thirty images will be exhibited at
once, while the banks are crowded with spectators rich and poor,
old and young, all intoxicated with the scene.0 The last ceremo-
ny is that of letting down the image, with all its tinsil and orna-
ments into the river.
The women of the house to which the temple belongs go to the
room from whence the goddess has just been taken, and place a
pan of water upon the spot where the image stood, and put upon
the top of the pan a branch of the mango tree. After the goddess
has been drowned, the crowd return to the temple ; and the offi-
ciating bramhun, taking his place by the side of the pan of water,
dips the branch of the mango tree into the water, and sprinkles all
the people, repeating incantations ; and thus blessing the people
they are dismissed, when each one clasps his neighbour in his arms.
Adjourning to their own houses, they partake of sweetmeats, and
of an intoxicating beverage made with hemp leaves. In a vast
c In a memorandum of my own, dated Sept. 26, 1803, I find these remarks, made
one evening in the course of a journey :-' About five in the afternoon, we came to
Btilargtir. The people of about twenty villages, more than 2,000 in number, including
■women and children, were assembled to throw their images into the river, this being
the termination of the Doorga festival. I observed that one of the men standing before
the idol in a boat, dancing and making indecent gestures, was naked. As the boat
passed along, he was gazed at by the mob ; nor could I perceive that this abominable
action produced any thing beside laughter. Before other images, young men dressed
in women's clothes, were dancing with other men, making indecent gestures. I cannot
help thinking the most vulgar mob in England would have turned with disgust from
these abominable scenes. I have seen the same abominations exhibited before our
own house at Serampore.'
FABLES RESPECTING THIS GODDESS.
75
number of instances, this festival is thus closed with scenes of the
most shameful intoxication : almost all the Hindoos in Bengal
think it a duty to indulge to a certain degree in drinking this
liquor at this festival.
Presents to the bramhuns and their wives are made on each of
the fifteen days of the festival by the person at whose house the
image is set up, if he be very rich. If he be not rich enough to
bear so great an expense, he gives presents on the nine or three
last days of worship ; and if he be still poorer, on the last day.
These presents consist of gold and silver female ornaments, silk
and cloth garments, brass and other metal dishes, basons, &c. Some
persons expend the greatest sums on the dances and other exhibi-
tions, and others in feasting and giving presents to bramhuns.
Some classes of Hindoos, especially those who are the disciples
of Vishnoo, do not offer bloody sacrifices to Doorga, though they
celebrate this festival with much shew. These persons, instead of
slaying animals, cut pumkins in two, or some other substitute,
and offer them to the goddess.
In the month Choitru, a number of Hindoos hold a festival to
this goddess, after the example of king Soorutti.
Many Hindoos are initiated into the rites by which this
goddess becomes their guardian deity ; and as she is considered as
the image of the divine energy, her disciples are called Shaktus,
a word signifying energ}^
Images of Doorga, made of gold, silver, brass, &c, are preserved
by many, and worshipped daily.
In the year 1808, a bramhun of Calcutta, who had celebrated
the worship of Doorga, pretended that he had seen the goddess in
a dream ; who had declared that she would not descend into the
river till he had sacrificed his eldest son to her : and that when
the people went to convey the image to the river, it was found so
heavy that it could not be lifted. Vast crowds of people flocked
to see this new miracle, many of whom made offerings to this
terror-inspiring goddess ; and others assisted the poor man, by their
contributions, to pacify the goddess in some way consistent with
the preservation of his son.
One of the Tuntrus contains an account of an incarnation of
Doorga in the form of a jackal, in order to cany the child Krishnu
over the river Yumoono, when he was flying from king Kungsu. Some
oi the heterodox Hindoos, called vamacharees, feed the jackal
daily, by placing the offerings in a corner of the house, or near
their dwellings, and then calling the goddess (in the form of some
one of these animals) to come and partake of them. As this is done
at the hour when the jackals come out of their lurking places to
76
THE TEN FORMS OF DOORGA — STORIES FROM THE
seek for food, one of these animals sometimes comes and eats the
offerings in the presence of the worshipper ; and this is not
wonderful, when he finds food in this place every day. Images of
the jackal are made in some parts of Bengal, and worshipped,
sometimes alone, and at others with the images of Doorga and
Shmushanu-Kalio. Some Hindoos bow to the jackal; if it pass
by a person on his left, it is a fortunate omen.
The cow is regarded by the Hindoos as a form of Doorga, and
called Bhuguvutee.
This goddess has a thousand names, among which are Katya-
yunee, or, the daughter of the sage Katyu. — Gouree, the yellow
coloured. — Kalee, the black. — Hoimuvut ie, the daughter of Hima-
luyu. — Eeshwuree, the goddess. — Shiva, the giver of good. — Blni-
vanee, the wife of Shivu — Survumungnla, she who blesses all. —
"IT pur n a, she who amidst religious austerities abstained from eating
even leaves. — Parvrttee, the daughter of the mountain. — Doorga,
she who destroyed the giant Doorgu ; the inaccessible, — Cb&ndika,
the terrible. — Umbika, the mother of the universe.
•Sect. II. — The ten Forms of Doorga.
This goddess is said to have assumed ten different forms in
order to destroy two giants, Shoomblm and Nishoombhu.
The following account of these wars is translated from the
Markundeyu poorarm : — At the close of the tre'ta yoogu, these two
giants performed religious austerities for 10,000 years; the merit
of which actions brouo-ht Shiva from heaven,6 who discovered that
by these works of extraordinary devotion they sought to obtain
the blessing of immortality. Shivu reasoned long witli them, and
endeavoured to persuade them, though in vain, to ask for any
other blessing short of immortality. Being denied, they entered
upon more severe austerities, which they continued for another
thousand years ; when Shiva again appeared, but refused to grant
what they asked for. They now suspended themselves with their
heads downwards over a slow fire, till the blood streamed from
their heads ; and continued thus for 800 years, till the gods began
to tremble, lest, by performing such rigid acts of holiness, they
should be supplanted on their thrones. The king of the gods
assembled a council, and imparted to them his fears : the gods ad-
mitted that there was great ground for fear, but asked what remedy
there was. Agreeably to the advice of Indru, Kundtirpu (Cupid),
with Kumbha and Tilottuma, the most beautiful of the celestial
courtezans, were sent to fill the minds of these giants with sensual
e It is a maxim of the Hindoo religion, that by performing religious austerities
the gods become subject to the wishes of men,
markunde'yu pooranu and chundee of dgorga.
77
desires ; and Kundurpu, letting fly his arrow, wounded them botli :
upon which, awaking from their absorption, and seeing two
beautiful women, they were taken in the snare, and abandoned
their devotions. With these women they lived 5,0l)0 years, after
which they began to think of the folly of thus renouncing their
hopes of immortality for the sake of sensual gratifications. They
suspected that this must have been a contrivance of Indru's ; and
driving the courtezans back to heaven, renewed their devotions,
cutting the flesh off their bones, and making burnt-offerings of it
to Shivu ; which they continued for another thousand years, till
they became entire skeletons, when Shivu again appeared, and
bestowed upon them this blessing — that in riches and strength
they should excel the gods.
Being thus exalted ^above the gods, they soon began to make
war with them. After various success on both sides, the giants
were every where victorious ; till Indru and all the gods, reduced to
the most deplorable state of wretchedness, solicited the interference
of Brumha and Vishnoo ; but they referred them to Shivu : who
also declared that he could do nothing for them. When, however,
they reminded him that through his blessing they had been ruined,
he advised them to perform religious austerities to Doorga. They
did so ; and after sometime the goddess appeared, gave them her
blessing, and immediately, disguised like a common female carrying
a pitcher of water, passed the assembled gods. This female asked
them whose praise they were chanting ? While she uttered these
words, she assumed her proper form, and replied, ' They are cele-
brating my praise.' The new goddess then disappeared, and ascend-
ed mount Himaluytt, where Chundu and Mundu, two of Shoombhu
and Nishoombhu's messengers, resided. As these messengers
wandered on the mountain, they saw the goddess, and were ex-
ceedingly struck with her charms, which they described to their
masters ; and advised them to engage the affections of this female,
even if they gave her all the glorious things which they had ob-
tained in plundering the heavens of the gods. Shoombhu sent
Shoogreevu, a messenger, to the goddess, to inform her that the
riches of the three worlds were in his palace ; that all the offerings
which used to be presented to the gods were now offered to him ;
and that all these riches, offerings, &c. should be her's if she would
come to him. The goddess replied, that this offer was very
liberal ; but she had resolved, that the person whom she
married must first conquer her in war, and destroy her pride.
Shoogreevfi, unwilling to return unsuccessful, still pressed for
a favourable answer ; promising that he would engage to
conquer her in war, and subdue her pride ; and asked in
an authoritative strain, ' Did she know his master, before whom
none of the inhabitants of the three worlds had been able to stand,
whether gods, hydras, or men ? How then could she, a female,
think of resisting his offers 1 If his master had ordered him, he
78
STORIES RESPECTING THE WARS OF DOORGA.
would have compelled her to go into his presence immediately.'
She said all this was very correct, but that she had taken her
resolution, and exhorted him, therefore, to persuade his master to
come and try his strength with her. The messenger went to his
master, and related what he had heard from this female; on
hearing which Shoombhu was tilled with rage, and without making
any reply, called for Dho5mloclmnu, his commander-in-chief, and
gave him orders to go to Himaluyu, and seize a certain goddess,
(giving him particular directions,) and bring her to him ; and if
any attempted to rescue her, utterly to destroy them. The
commander went to Himaluyu, and acquainting the goddess with
his master's orders, she, smiling, invited him to execute them ;
but, on the approach of this hero, she set up a dreadful roar, (as is
usual among the Hindoo warriors when two combatants meet,) by
which he was reduced to ashes ; after which she destroyed the
army of the giant, leaving only a few fugitives to communicate the
tidings. Shoombhu and Nishoombhu, infuriated, sent Chundu and
Mundu, who, on ascending the mountain, perceived a female
sitting on an ass, laughing ; but on seeing them she became
full of rage, and drew to her ten, twenty, or thirty of their
army at a time, devouring them like fruit. She next seized
Mundu' by the hair, cut off his head, and, holding it over her
mouth, drank the blood. Chundu, on seeing the other commander
destroyed in this manner, came to close quarters with the goddess ;
but she, mounted on a lion, sprang on him, and dispatching him as
she had done Mundu, devoured part of his army, and drank the
blood of the greater part of the rest. The two giants no sooner
heard this alarming news, then they resolved to go themselves, and
engage the furious goddess ; for which purpose the}^ collected all
their forces, an infinite number of giants, and marched to Himaluyu.
The gods looked down with astonishment on this army of giants, and
all the goddesses descended to help Muha-maya (Doorga), who how-
ever soon destroyed the giants. Ruktuveeju, the principal com-
mander under Shoombhu and Nishoombhu, seeing all his men
destroyed, encountered the goddess in person ; but though she filled
him with wounds, from every drop of blood which fell to the ground
arose a thousand giants equal in strength to Ruktu-veeju himself ;f
hence innumerable enemies surrounded Doorga, and the gods were
fdled with alarm at this amazing sight. At length Chundee, a
goddess who had assisted Kalee in the engagement, promised that
if she would open her mouth, and drink his blood before it fell on
the ground, she (Chundee) would engage the giant, and destroy
the whole of his strangely-formed offspring. Kalee consented, and
this commander and his army were soon dispatched. Shoombhu
and Nishoombhu, in a state of desperation, next engaged the
goddess in single combat, Shoombhu making the first onset. The
battle was dreadful, inconceivably dreadful, on both sides, till at
f This arose from a blessing given by Brumha.
NAMES OF THE TEX FORMS— SIXGHU—VAHINEE.
79
last both the giants were killed, and Kalee sat down to feed on the
carnage she had made. The gods and goddesses then chanted the
praises of the celestial heroine, and she in return bestowed a bles-
sing on each.
After the destruction of these enemies of the gods, the sun
(S5oryu) shone resplendently forth ; the wind (Vayoo) blew salubri-
ously ; the air became pure ; the gods ascended their thrones ; the
hydras attended to the duties of their religion without fear ; the
sages performed their devotions without interruption ; and the
people at large were restored to happiness.
The Chundei, a part of the Markundeyu pooranu, places these
forms of Doorga in the following order : First, as Doorga, she
received the messenger of the giants ; 2, as Dushubhooja/ she
destroyed part of their army ; 3, as Singhu-vahine^,h she fought
with Rnktn-veeju ; 4, as Muhishu-murdinee,1 she slew Shoombhu,
in the form of a buffalo ; 5, as Juguddhatree,k she overcame the
army of the giants ; C, as Kalee/ she destroyed Rnktu-veejn ; 7,
as Mooktu-keshee,™ she again overcame the army of the giants ; 8,
as Tara,n she killed Shoombhu ; 9, as Chinnumustuka,0 she killed
Nishoombhu ; 10, as Jugudgourei/ she was praised by all the gods.
Such of the above forms as are honoured by separate festivals'
will be noticed hereafter under their different names.
Sect. III. — Singhti-vahinee.'1
This goddess with yellow garments is represented as sitting on
a lion. She has four hands ; in one a sword ; in another a spear ;
with a third is forbidding fear, and with the fourth bestowing a
blessing.
Many people make this image, and worship it in the day-
time, on the 9th of the increase of the moon, in whatever month
they please, but in general in the month Ashwinu or Choitru, for
two or three days. The ceremonies, including bloody sacrifices,
are almost entirely the same as those before the image of Doorga.
Sometimes a rich man celebrates this worship at his own expense,
and at other times several persons, who expect heaven as their re-
ward, unite in it.
Some Hindoos keep in their houses images of all the following
forms of Doorga, made of gold, silver, brass, copper, crystal, stone,
or mixed metal, and worship them daily.
s Having ten arms. * Sitting on a lion. i Destroyer of the buffalo,
[viz., of Shoombhu in this form.] k Mother of the world. 1 The black.
m With flowing hair. «« Saviour. ° Headless. p The yellow. i She
who sits upon a lion.
80 MUIIISHU-MURDINEE AND JUGUDDHATREE, THEIR IMAGES, &G
Sect. IV. — Muhishu-mnrdinee. r
This is the image of a yellow woman, sitting on a lion ; having
either six or ten arms. In her hands are seen a conch, a discus, a
club, a water-lily, a shield, a large spear, and the tail of a snake.
Some persons make this image, and worship it with the ac-
customed ceremonies, including bloody sacrifices, on the 9th of the
month Choitru.
The Tuntrii-saru declares, that those who worship this goddess
will obtain present riches and future happiness.
Many of the regular Hindoos, as well as the heterodox sects,
receive the initiatory rites of this goddess, and adopt her as their
guardian deity.
Sect. V. — Juguddhatree.*
This is the image of a yellow woman, dressed in red, and sit-
ting on a lion. In her four hands she holds a conch,1 a discus, a
club, and a water-lily.
A very popular festival in honour of this goddess is held in the
month Kartikil, on the 7th, 8th and 9th of the increase of the
moon, when bloody sacrifices are offered as at the Doorga festival :
the formulas are necessarily different. Very large sums are fre-
quently expended on these occasions, especially in the illuminations,
dances, songs, entertaining of bramhuns, &c, as many as one hun-
dred and fifty persons being employed as singers and dancers,
beside others who sing verses from the Chundee, the Krishnnmun-
gulu, the Ramayunu, &c. A number of men like guards are also
hired, and placed near the temple for the sake of shew. Much
indecent mirth takes place, and numbers of men dance naked before
the image, and call this the %vay to heaven ; the venerable bram-
huns smiling with complacency on these works of merit, so accep-
table to the gods. The benefits expected from this worship are,
the fruit of meritorious actions, riches, the gratification of every
desire, and future happiness. These four things are commonly
mentioned in the Hindoo shastrus, as promised by the gods to
their worshippers.
r She who destroyed Muhishxl, a giant.
8 The mother of the world.
1 This shell is blown at the times of worship, and at other festivals.
V
MOOKTU-KESHEE AND TARA, THEIR IMAGES AND WORSHIP. 81
Sect. VI. — MooMu-keshee*.
This is the image of a naked woman, painted blue, standing
on the breast of Shivu, and having four arms : the upper right arm
is placed in the posture of bestowing a blessing ; with the other
she is forbidding fear, and in her left hand she holds a sword and
a helmet.
The festival of this goddess is held on the 14th of the decrease
of the moon in the month Maghu : the ceremonies are like those
before the image of Kalee, but the bloody sacrifices are very
numerous. Spirituous liquors are privately presented to the god-
dess, at a late hour at night, or rather early in the morning. Some
of the Hindoo shastrus allow of this practice, yet it is far from being
honourable. I have been credibly informed, that numbers of bram-
huns, in different places, at the annual festival of this goddess, join
in drinking the spirits which have been offered to her, and, in a
state of intoxication, pass from the temples into the streets, prece-
ded by lighted torches, dancing to the sound of music, and singing
indecent songs. Some are hugging one another ; others fall down
quite intoxicated ; others lose their way, and go along lifting
up their hands, dancing and singing alone. The purer Hindoos
stand gazing at a considerable distance, lest they should be drag-
ged among this crowd of drunken bramhuns.
The benefits promised to the worshippers of this goddess are
riches now, and heaven hereafter.
Very many persons are initiated into the rites of this goddess
as their guardian deity.
Sect. VII.— Tara\
This is the image of a black woman, with four arms, standing
on the breast of Shivu : in one hand she holds a sword ; in another
a giant's head ; with the others she is bestowing a blessing, and
forbidding fear.
The worship of Tara is performed in the night, in different
months, at the total wane of the moon, before the image of Sid-
dheshwuree ; when bloody sacrifices are offered, and it is reported,
that even human beings were formerly immolated in secret to this
ferocious deity ; who is considered by the Hindoos as soon incen-
sed, and not unfrequently inflicting on an importunate worshipper
the most shocking diseases, as a vomiting of blood, or some other
dreadful complaint which soon puts an end to his life.
u Of flowing hair. xTLe deliverer.
11
82 CHIN NU-MU STUKA AND JUGUDGOUIIEE, THEIR IMAGES, &C.
Almost all the disciples of this goddess are from among the
heterodox : many of them, however are learned men, Tara being
considered as the patroness of learning. Some Hindoos are sup-
posed to have made great advances in knowledge through the
favour of this goddess ; and many a stupid boy, after reading some
incantations containing the name of Tara, has become a learn-
ed man.
Sect. VIII. — Chinnu-mustuka/.
This is the image of a naked yellow woman, with her head
half severed from her body2, wearing a necklace of skulls, and
standing on the body of Shiva. She is surrounded with dead
bodies ; has a scymitar in one hand ; a giant's skull in another ;
and with two others is forbidding fear, and bestowing a blessing.
This image is not made at present, but the worship may
be celebrated before the images of any other female deities. Those
who receive the initiatory rites of this goddess worship her daily
before the shalgramu, or water, or flowers, or an incantation written
on a metal disha. She promises her disciples riches, learning, or
absorption**, but principally riches. Some people are afraid of
becoming her disciples, lest, in a lit of anger, she should bring
upon them a violent death0.
Sect. IX. — Jugudgouree*.
This is the whole length figure of a yellow woman, with four
arms ; holding in her hands a conch, a discus, a club, and a water-
lily. She is mostly worshipped on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of the
increase of the moon in Maghu. Very few persons learn the
initiatory rites of this goddess.
y The headless.
« The Tuntrus give the following explanation of this monstrous feature in the
image of this goddess : — At a certain time, not being able to procure any of the
giants for her prey, to satisfy her thirst of blood, Chinml-mustiika actually cut her
own throat, that the blood issuing thence might spout up into her mouth. I have
seen a picture of this image, agreeing with this description ; and at Chachra, in
Jessore, such an image may be seen at present, the half-severed head resting on the
left hand of the goddess, and streams of blood falling into her mouth.
a Before any one of these things, the worship of any of the gods may be per-
formed ; but the shalgramu is mostly preferred.
b A person can receive only one blessing at a time from his god. The Hindoos,
however, relate a story of a blind man, who put a trick on his guardian deity, by
obtaining three blessings from him at once : he asked that he might see — his child-
eat from off a golden dish every day. He was then childless.
c The following story, current among the Hindoos, I give as a proof of the
dread in which they live of some of their deities : — A bramhiln who had received the
initiating incantation of this goddess, to avoid dying an unnatural death, used to
confine himself to his house ; where, however, a hatchet, hung up for sacrificing
animals, fell upon and killed him as he lay asleep.
d The yellow.
VUOULAMOOKHEE — PRUTYUNGIRA, PETITIONS ADDRESSED. S3
Sect. X. — Vugulamookhee*.
The image of this deity is never made ; though she is some-
times worshipped on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of the moon in Maghu,
before a pan of water, or some other proper substitute. The
officiating bramhun, in yellow garments, presents yellow flowers,
flesh, fish, and spirituous liquors to her : the animals sacrificed are
not numerous.
This goddess is frequently worshipped in the hope of procuring
the removal, the injury, or the destruction of enemies, or whatever
else the worshipper desires — which is sometimes the wife of
another. He makes no doubt, if he can please the goddess by
presents, or flattery, or by inflicting, for her sake, certain cruelties
on his body, that she will be disposed to grant him even this
last favour. If the ceremonies be not performed in strict conformity
to the rules laid down in the shastru, it is believed that the wor-
shipper will be deprived of reason, or of speech, or that some other
dreadful calamity will befal him.
In the burnt-sacrifice presented to this goddess, turmeric, oil;
and salt, form the principal ingredients. The Hindoos believe that
after performing the proper ceremonies for the destruction of an
enemy, the goddess soon complies with the prayers of the wor-
shipper. Sh55drus, of course, employ bramhuns in thus attempting
to accomplish their murderous wishes. Particular forms of praise
and of petition, referring in many cases to the injury or destruction
of enemies, addressed to this goddess, are contained in the Tuntm-
saru.
Sect. XI. — Prutytingira}.
The image of this idol is never made, but is worshipped in the
night whenever a person chooses, which is, generally, when he
wants to injure or destroy another. The officiating bramhun dress-
ed in red, and wearing a roodrakshu necklace, offers, among other
things, red flowers, spirituous liquors, and bloody sacrifices. The
flesh of crows, or cats, or of some other animal, after having been
dipped in spirituous liquors, sometimes makes a part of the burnt-
offerings ; the worshippers believing that the flesh of the enemy,
for whose injury these ceremonies are performed, will swell on his
body as the sacrificed flesh does on the fire. Particular forms of
praise are also repeated before this image to accomplish the destruc-
tion of enemies. I here give a specimen : ' Oh ! Prutyungira,
mother ! Destroy, destroy my enemies ! Kill ! kill ! Eeduce them to^
• Of fear-exciting countenance.
f The well-proportioned.
84 TO, AND STORY RESPECTING HER — UNNU-POORNA, HER IMAGE,
ashes ! Drive them away ! Devour them ! devour them ! Cut them
in two ! Drink, drink their blood ! Destroy them root and branch I
With thy thunder-bolt, spear, scymitar, discus, or rope, destroy
them.'
A story to the following purport is very current among the
Hindoos : — J afur-alee-kha, the nabob of Moorshudubad, was
much attached to Ramu-khantu, his Hindoo treasurer ; who was
at enmity with Kalee-shunkuru, a very learned Hindoo, and a
great worshipper of the female deities. The latter, to effect the
destruction of Ramu-kantu, began to worship the goddess Priityun-
gira. He had not performed the ceremonies long, before Eamu-
kantil became sick, and it was made known to him and the nabob,
that Kalee-shunkuru was thus employed. The nabob, full of rage,
ordered that Kalee-shunkixru should be brought before him : but
he fled before the messengers could seize him, and began to perform
these ceremonies for the destruction of the nabob. A servant,
mistaken for Kalee-shunkuru, was, however, seized ; but he bribed
the messengers, that they might protract his journey as much as
possible. They did so, and the day before they arrived at
Moorshudubad the nabob died. I give this story to shew, what a
strong possession the popular superstition has taken of the minds
of the people ; who, while smoaking together, listen to these
stories with the utmost eagerness and surprise, as the villagers in
England tell stories current amongst them while sitting round the
winter's fire.
Sect. XII. — Unnu-poornag.
This image may be made standing, or sitting on the wa-
ter-lily : in the right hand is a spoon, like that with which the
Hindoos stir their boiling rice, and in the other a rice dish : Shivu,
as a naked mendicant, is standing before the image asking relief.
The worship .paid to this form of Doorga is performed on the
7th, 8th, and 9th days of the moon's increase in the month Choitru :
bloody sacrifices, fish, and spirituous liquors are among the offer-
ings. Unnu-poorna being the guardian deity of many of the Hin-
doos, (who have a proverb amongst them, that a sincere disciple of
this goddess never wants rice,) very great festivities take place at
this festival, accompanied with music, dancing, filthy songs, and
every thing else calculated to deprave the heart.
A Hindoo rising in a morning, before his eyes are well open,
repeats the name of this goddess — ' Unnu-poorna ! Unnu-po5rna f
and hopes, that through her favour he shall be well fed that day.
s She who fills with food ; from finnti , food, and poorivft, full
GUNESHU-JUNUNEE AND KRISHNU-KRORA, THEIR IMAGES, &C. 85
When one Hindoo wishes to compliment another on his riches or
liberality, he says, ' Oh ! Sir, your house is as full of riches as that
of TJnnu-p55rna :' or, if he speak of another when absent, he says,
' Such a one, in liberality, is like Unnu-poorna.'
Sect. XIII . — Otm^shu-jUnun ee \
This name Doorga assumed after the birth of Guneshu : she
is here represented as sitting on the water-lily, dressed in red, and
supporting with one arm the infant Guneshu at the breast, while
the other hand rests on the knee of the infant.
A small festival in honour of this goddess is celebrated in the
month Ugruhayunu or Phalgoonu, on the 7th, 8th and 9th of the
increase of the moon. Some years ago, at Gooptee-para, a village
about forty miles north of Calcutta, a great festival was held in
honour of Guneshu-jununee, when fifty thousand rupees or more
were expended. The bramhuns of the village collected money to
defray the expenses ; some gave one thousand, others two, and
. others five thousand rupees : and crowds came two or three days
journey to be present. The dancing, singing, music, &c. began a
month before the principal day of worship ; all the visitors were
entertained, and more than two thousand animals were slain.
Sect. XIV. — Ki'ishnu-kroraK
This is an image of Doorga giving suck to Krishnu, to des-
troy the poison which he had received in a quarrel with Kaleeyu,
a hydra.
A festival in honour of this goddess is held on the 7th, 8th,
and 9th of the increase of the moon, in the day, in the month
Maghti.
The history of this idol is thus related : — In the west of Hin-
doost'han, a stone image was once found in a pool ; and no inform-
ation could be obtained to what it related, until a Brumhucharee
referred them to the following story in one of the Tuntrus. — In the
neighbourhood of Vrinda-vunu, by the river Yumoona, Soubhuree,
a sage, for a long time performed religious austerities. One day, while
in the midst of his devotions, he saw a shukoolu and some other
fish playing together ; with which sight he was much pleased, till
Gurooru, the king of the birds, descended into the water, and
snatched up the shukoolu fish. The sage, unable to punish Gu-
h The mother of Guneshtt.
* She who holds Krishnti in her arms.
86
vishalakshee, offerings to this goddess.
room, pronounced a curse upon tins bird-god, or any other bird,
who should hereafter come to destroy the fish in this spot ; and
this curse was afterwards the means of preserving the king of the
hydras from the wrath of Gurooru in the following manner. — The
mountain Iiuluyu was the resort of many serpents, who daily col-
lected a number of frogs, &c. and presented them to Gurooru, to
conciliate him, and to prevent his devouring them. At last Kaleeyu,
the king of the hydras, commanded his subjects^to give the frogs to
him, promising to protect them from Gurooru : but the latter on
his arrival, finding no food, attacked and overcame Kaleeyu ; who,
though defeated, amused Gurooru by rehearsing some verses which
no one understood but hiinself\ till he had made good his retreat
into a deep place of the river, where Gurooru durst not follow him
for fear of the curse of the sage. In consequence of the serpent's
remaining in this spot, the poison proceeding from his body had
destroyed all the trees, water, &c. for two miles round, and who-
ever drank of the water died. About this time Krishnu was born ;
who in his childhood, on a certain day, discovering that a dreadful
mortality existed among the cows and the boys who kept them,
asked the reason, and was informed that they had been poisoned
by the waters of the Yumoona. Krishnu then jumped from a tree
into the river ; overcame the serpent, and drove him out of the
place. Kaleeyu, full of fear, asked where he was to go, for that
Gurooru would certainly kill him. Krishnu, putting his foot on
his head, assured him that when Gurooru discovered the mark of
his foot, he would not destroy him. The waters now became
wholesome ; the trees gained their verdure ; and the boys and cows
were restored to life : but the pain arising from the poison in the
wounds which Kaleeyu had given to Krishnu was intolerable. He
therefore prayed to Doorga, who made him suck the milk from her
own breast, by which he was immediately restored to health.
Sect. XV. — Vishalakshee \
A CLAY image of this goddess is set up at Shyenfrhatee, a village
in Burdwan, which is become a place of great resort for pilgrims.
Vast multitudes of buffaloes, sheep, goats, &c. are offered at differ-
ent times to this goddess, not unfrequently for the destruction of
enemies : sheep and goats are offered every day, and it is said that
formerly human sacrifices were offered to this goddess. Many per-
sons, it is affirmed, have obtained the privilege of conversing with
their guardian deities in consequence of worshipping this image
with very shocking ceremonies, while others thus employed are
said to have been driven mad ; yet some persons receive the name
of Vishalakshee as their guardian deity.
k These verses, it is said, now compose one of the kavyils called Pingtilit
1 Of large or beautiful eyes.
CHUNDEE, HER WORSHIP — OTHER INFERIOR FORMS OF DOORGA. 87
Sect. XYI.—Chundee™.
Images of this form of Doorga are not made at present in Ben-
gal ; but this goddess is worshipped by many of the bramlmris, &c,
before a metal cup containing the water of the Ganges. This wor-
ship is celebrated daily, or at the time of the full or change of the
moon, or when the sun enters a new sign, or on the 9th of the moon.
The Kaliku-poorann directs that birds, tortoises, alligators,
fish, buffaloes, bulls, he-goats, ichneumons, wild boars, rhinoceroses,
antelopes, guanas, rein-deer, lions, tigers, men, and blood drawn
from the offerer's own body, be offered to this goddess. The follow-
ing horrid incantation is addressed to the goddess Chundee, when
offering an animal in order to effect the destruction of an enemy :
' O goddess, of horrid form, O Chundika ! eat, devour such a
one, my enemy, O consort of fire ! Salutation to fire ! This is the
enemy who has done me mischief, now personated by an animal :
destroy him, O Muhamaree ! Spheng ! spheng ! eat, devour.'
Women sometimes make a vow to Chundee to engage her to
restore their children to health, or to obtain some other favour.
If a person recover in whose name such a vow has been made, his
neighbours ascribe it to Chundee.
The exploits of this goddess are celebrated in a poem written
by the poet Kunkimu, and recited on various occasions, under the
name of Chundee-ganil, or Ch it n d e e-y a t r a .
Sect. XYII. — Other forms of Loorga.
Kamakhyaf. — This goddess is worshipped daily by persons of
property before a pan of water, or some other substitute ; and also
by many shaktus on the 8th of the moon in both quarters. Those
who worship her monthly, generally present some particular re-
quest in favour of themselves or families. At the Doorga festival,
this goddess is also worshipped with many ceremonies and at a
great expense. A few persons receive the initiatory rites of this
goddess, and worship her as their guardian deity.
VindhyU-vasinee0. — This is the image of a yellow female,
sitting on a lion, with either four or eight arms : she is worshipped
in the month Voishakhu, on the 9th, or on the 7th, 8th, or 9th of
m The wrathful.
n She who is called desire.
0 She who dwelt on mount Vindhyii
88
OTHER INFERIOR FORMS OF DOORGA.
the increase of the moon : at Benares she is worshipped daily. The
destruction of several giants is ascribed to this goddess.
MUngUlu-Chundikct9. — This is the image of a yellow female,
sitting on three skulls, clothed in red ; having in her right hand a
book, and in her left a roodrakshu bead-roll. She is mostly
worshipped by females, or rather by bramhuns employed by them,
in consequence of some particular distress in their families ; when
they make a vow to the goddess to worship her a certain number
of times if she will deliver them. Even the wives of Musulmans
sometimes send offerings to the house of a bramhun, to be pre-
sented to her with prayers. In the month Poushu a small festival
is held in honour of this goddess.
Kumule-Jcamineeq> — This is the image of a female sitting on
the water-lily, swallowing an elephant, while with the left hand
she is pulling it out of her throatr. — She is worshipped on the 8th
of Voishakhu, with the usual ceremonies and festivities.
Raju-rajeshivuree5. — This goddess is represented as sitting on
a throne, the three feet of which rest on the heads of Brumha,
Vishnoo, and Shivu. She is worshipped on the Tth, 8th, and 9th
of Voishakhu, with the ceremonies common to all the female deities
to whom bloody sacrifices are offered.
Yoogadya* is represented as sitting on a lion, having ten arms.
— A festival in honour of this goddess is held on the last day of
Voishakhu, at Ksheeru, a village in Burdwan, where many animals
are slain, and large quantities of spirituous liquors offered : the
goddess at the time of worship is taken out of a tank near the
temple. It is supposed that not less than 100,000 people assemble
at this place on this occasion. Human sacrifices, I am informed,
were formerly offered to this goddess. — So numerous are the sacri-
fices, that the water of the pool, in which the dead bodies are
thrown immediately after decapitation, becomes the colour of blood.
These bodies are taken out of the pool again in a little time after
the sacrifice. The disciples of this goddess are very numerous.
Ktiroonamtiyee" ; — In some places the image of thi? goddess is
set up and worshipped daily. At the festivals of Doorga, Kalee,
&c. she is worshipped in a more splendid manner. Some persons
make vows to this goddess in times of distress, and many receive
the initiatory rites by which she becomes their guardian deity.
p The fervent benefactress.
q She who sits on the water-lily.
r This image is said to owe its rise to a vision at sea ascribed to Shreemtintii,
a merchant, the particulars of which are related in the Kilvee-kunkilntt
8 The goddess who governs Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivfi.
* She who existed before the yoogus,
T* The compassionate.
INFERIOR, FORMS OF DOORGA — KALEE.
89
Sect. XVIII. — Other Forms of Doorga.
Tripoora*,
Twuiitay,
Nitya*,
Prustabin eea,
Juyii-doorgab,
Shoolinee0,
Muha-lukshmeed,
Shree-vidya6,
Tripoora-soondureef,
Vunu-deveea,
Clmndu-nayikah,
Pruchunda1,
Chimdagrak,
Dhooma-vutee1,
Ublmyam,
Sut5eu',
Gouree0,
Pudmap,
Shucheeq,
M^dhar,
Savitree8,
Juyau,
Devu-se'nas,
Swudhay,
Swahaz,
Shanteea,
Toosteeb,
Poostee0,
Dhriteed,
Atmu-deVtae,
Koolu-deVtaf,
&c, &c.
Vijuya',
All these goddesses are worshipped at the festivals of Doorga,
as well as at other times, before the proper representative of a god,
as water, the shalgramu, &c, but their images are not now made in
Bengal. Many persons receive the initiatory rites of these deities,
and pay their devotions daily to the particular goddess whom they
have chosen as their guardian deity. Bloody sacrifices, fish, and
spirituous liquors, are presented to these goddesses. The last sixteen
are worshipped when rice is first given to a child, at the investiture
with the poita, at the time of marriage, and in general at all the
ceremonies performed for a son before marriage. Juyu-doorga is
worshipped to obtain deliverance from danger.
Beside the above forms of Doorga, there are many others, whose
names end with the word Bhoiruvee, viz., the terrific ; and temples
consecrated to Bhoiruvu and Bhoiruvee are erected at many of the
holy places visited by the Hindoo pilgrims. When a person per-
forms any of the ceremonies of Hindoo worship at these places, he
must first, on pain of meeting with some misfortune, worship these
two deities.
Sect. XIX. — Kalee.
This goddess may also be considered as a form of Bhuguvutee,
or Doorga. According to the Ohundee, the image of Kalee, *t pre-
sent worshipped in Bengal, had its origin in the story of Euktu-
veeju, already inserted in page ]78r. Kalee was so overjoyed at the
victory she had obtained over this giant, that she danced till the
x She who governs the three worlds, heaven, earth, and the world of the hydras,
y She who speedily executes her will. z The everlasting. a The praise-worthy.
b The destroyer of the giant Doorgu. c She who wields the weapon of this name,
d The great goddess of fortune. e The learned. -f The beaut}' of the three worlds.
s The goddess of forests. hThe destroyer of the giant Chundu. i The wrathful.
k The furious. 1 She who is the colour of smoke. m She who removes fear. n The
wife of Shivti. 0 The yellow, p She who sits on the water-lily, q She who tells the
truth of all. r The wise. s The cause of all, 1 The victorious. u Ditto. x The
celestial heroine. J She who presides over the manes. z Ditto. aThe comforter,
b Ditto. c The nourisher. ,l The patient. e The goddess of souls. f She who presides
over the generations of men. •
12
90
ANECDOTES OF KALEE'S IMAGE.
earth shook to its foundation ; and Shivu, at the intercession of the
gods, was compelled to go to the spot to persuade her to desist.
He saw no other way, however, of prevailing, than by throwing
himself among the dead bodies of the slain. When the goddess saw
that she was dancing on her husband, she was so shocked, that to
express her surprise she put out her tongue to a great length, and
remained motionless ; and she is represented in this posture in
almost all the images now made in Bengal.
The TJdhyatmu Ramayunu5 gives another story from which
the image of Kalee may have originated : — Ramu, when he return-
ed home with Seeta from the destruction of Ravmiu, began to boast
of his achievements before his wife ; who smiled, and said, ' You
rejoice because you have killed a Ravunu with ten heads ; but
what would you say to a Ravunu with 1,000 heads ? ' ' Destroy him,'
said Ramu. Seeta, again smiling, advised him to stay at home ;
but he, collecting all themonkies, the giants, and his own soldiers
together, with Si^ta, Lukshmunu, Shutrughnu, and Bhurutu, im-
mediately departed for Shutu-dweepu to meet this new Ravunu ;
sending Himoomanu before to discover the residence of this thou-
sand-headed monster, and bring a description of his person. Hunoo-
manu, after a little play with him, returned to Ramu, who soon
after attacked the giant : but he, looking forward, beheld Ramus
army as so many children ; and discharged three arrows, one of
which sent all the monkies to Kishkindha, their place of residence ;
another sent all the giants to Lunka, (Ceylon ;) and the third sent
all the soldiers to TJyoclhya, Ramus capital. Ramu, thunderstruck
at being thus left alone in a moment, and thinking that all his
adherents had been at once annihilated, began to weep : when
Seeta, laughing at her husband, immediately assumed the terrific
form of Kalee, and furiously attacked this thousand- headed Ravunu.
The conflict lasted ten years, but she at length killed the giant,
drank his blood, and began to dance and toss about the limbs of
his body. Her dancing shook the earth to its centre, so that all
the gods, filled with alarm, applied to Shivu : but he declared that
he almost despaired of calming her passions, for she was mad with
joy ; he promised, however, to do all that could be expected from
a god in so desperate a case ; but, pausing for some time, and
seeing no other alternative, he, in the presence of the assembled
gods, threw himself among the dead bodies under her feet. Brumha
called to the goddess, and said, ' 0 goddess ! what art thou doing ?
Dost thou not see that thou art trampling on thy husband V She
stooped, and saw Shivu under her feet ; and was so ashamed, that
she stood still, and threw out her tongue to an uncommon length11.
s There are four Ramayiinus, one written by Valmeekee, another by Vyasu-deVit,
and two others, called the Udbootu and the Udhyatrml Ramayiinus ; but the others
are in little estimation compared with the work of Valmeekee.
h When the Hindoo women are shocked or ashamed at any thing, they put
out their tongues, as a mode of expressing their feelings.
HUMAN SACRIFICES.
91
By this means Shivu' saved the universe ; and Seeta, again assuming
her proper form? went home with Kamu and his brothers.
In the images commonly worshipped/ Kalee is represented as
a very black female, with four arms ; having in one hand a
scymitar, and in another the head of a giant, which she holds by
the hair ; another hand is spread open bestowing a blessing ; and
with the other she is forbidding fear. She wears two dead bodies
for ear-rings, and a necklace of skulls ; and her tongue hangs down
to her chin. The hands of several giants are hung as a girdle
round her loins, and her tresses fall down to her heels. Having
drank the blood of the giants she has slain in combat, her eye-
brows, are bloody, and the blood is falling in a stream down her
breast ; her eves are red like those of a drunkard. She stands
with one leg on the breast of her husband Shivu, and rests the
other on his thigh1.
This deity is equal in ferocity to any of the preceding forms of
Doorga. In the Kaiika pooranu, men are pointed out, amongst
other animals, as proper for sacrifice. It is here said that the
blood of a tiger pleases the goddess for one hundred years, and
the blood of a lion, a rein-deer, or a man, a thousand. But by the
sacrifice of three men, she is pleased 100,000 years ! I insert|.two
or three extracts from the sanguinary Chapter of the Kaiika
pooranu : — ' Let a human victim be sacrificed at a place of holy
worship, or at a cemetery where dead bodies are buried. Let the
oblation be performed in the part of the cemetery called heruku,
or at a temple of Kamakshya, or on a mountain. Now attend
to the mode : The human victim is to be immolated in the east
division, which is sacred to Bhoiruvu ; .the head is to be presented
in the south division, which is looked upon as the place of skulls
sacred to Bhoiruvu ; and the blood is to be presented in the west
division, which is denominated heruku. Having immolated a
human victim, with all the requisite ceremonies at a cemetery, or
holy place, let the sacrificer be cautious not to cast his eyes upon
it. The victim must be a person of good appearance, and be pre-
pared by ablutions, and requisite ceremonies, (such as eating
consecrated food the day before, and by abstinence from flesh and
venery,) and must be adorned with chaplets of flowers, and
besmeared with sandal wood. Then causing the victim to face
the north, let the sacrificer worship the several deities presiding
over the different parts of the victim's body : let the worship be
then paid to the victim himself by his name. Let him worship
Brumha in the victim's rhundru, i. e., cave of Brumha, cavity in
the skull, under the spot where the sutuva coronalis and sagittalis
meet. Let him worship the earth in his nose, &c. — Worshipping
1 The image of Minerva, it will be recollected, was that of a threatening goddess,
exciting terror : on her shield she bore the head of a gorgon. Sir \Y. Jones con-
siders Kalee as the Proaerpine of the Greeks,
92
HUMAN SACRIFICES.-— OTHER HORRID RITES.
the king of serpents, let him pronounce the following incantation :
O best of men ! O most auspicious ! O thou who art an assemblage
of all the deities, and most exquisite ! bestow thy protection on me;
save me, thy devoted ; save my sons, my cattle, and kindred ; pre-
serve the state, the ministers belonging to it, and all friends ; and
as death is unavoidable, part with (thy organs 01) life, doing an act
of benevolence. Bestow upon me, 0 most auspicious ! the bliss
which is obtained by the most austere devotion, by acts of charity,
and performance of religious ceremonies; and at the same time, O
most excellent ! attain supreme bliss thyself. May thy auspices, O
most auspicious ! keep me secure from rakshusus, pishachus, terrors,
serpents, bad princes, enemies, and other evils; and, death being
inevitable, charm Bhuguvutee in thy last moments by copious
streams of blood spouting from the arteries of thy fleshly neck.' —
When this has been done, O my children! the victim is even as
as myself, and the guardian deities of the ten quarters take place
in him ; then Brum ha and all the other deities assemble in the
victim ; and be he ever so great a sinner, he becomes pure from
sin ; and when pure, his blood changes to ambrosia, and he gains
the love of Muhadevee, the goddess of the yogu nidru, (i.e., the
tranquil repose of the mind from an abstraction of ideas,) who is
the goddess of the whole universe, the very universe itself. He does
not return for a considerable length of time in the human form, but
becomes a ruler of the gunu devtas, and is much respected by me
myself. The victim who is impure from sin, or ordure and urine,
Kamakshya will not even hear named. The blind, the crippled,
the aged, the sick, the afflicted with ulcers, the hermaphrodite, the
imperfectly formed, the scarred, the timid, the leprous, the dwar-
fish, and the perpetrator of muha patuku, (heinous offences, such
as slaying a bramhun, drinking spirits, stealing gold, or defiling a
spiritual teacher's bed,) one under twelve years of age, one who is
impure from the death of a kinsman, &c, one who is impure from
the death of muha gooroo, (father and mother), which impurity
lasts for one whole year — these severally are unfit subjects for im-
molation, even though rendered pure by sacred texts. Let not a
bramhun or a chundalu be sacrificed; nor a prince, nor that which
has been already presented to a bramhun, or a deity ; nor the offspring
of a prince ; nor one who has conquered in battle ; nor the offspring of
a bramhun, or of a kshutriyu ; nor a childless brother ; nor a father;
nor a learned person ; nor one who is unwilling ; nor the maternal
uncle of the sacrificer. The day previous to a human sacrifice, let
the victim be prepared by the text maimshtuku and three deVee
gundhu shuktus, and the texts wad run gu, and by touching his head
with the axe, and besmearing the axe with sandal, &c. perfumes, and
then taking some of the sandal, &c. from off the axe, and besmearing
the victim's neck therewith. If the severed head of a human victim
smile, it indicates increase of prosperity and long life to the sacrificer,
without doubt ; and if it speak, whatever it says will come to pass.'
WORSHIP OF THIEVES TO HER.
93
This work further lays down directions for a person's drawing
blood from himself, and offering it to the goddess, repeating the
following incantation : ' Hail ! supreme delusion ! Hail ! goddess
of the universe ! Hail ! thou who fulfillest the desires of all. May
I presume to offer thee the blood of my body ; and wilt thou
deign to accept it, and be propitious towards me/
A person's cutting off his own flesh, and presenting it to the
goddess as a burnt-sacrifice, is another method of pleasing this infer-
nal deity : ' Grant me, 0 goddess ! bliss, in proportion to the fer-
vency with which T present thee with my own flesh, invoking thee
toebe propitious to me. Salutation to thee again and again, under
the mysterious syllables ting, ting .'
A person's burning his body, by applying the burning wick of
a lamp to it, is also very acceptable to KaJei, <fcc. On this occasion
this incantation is used : ' Hail ! goddess ! Salutation to thee, un-
der the syllables ting, ting. To thee I present this auspicious
luminary, fed with the flesh of my body, enlightening all around,
and exposing to light also the inward recesses of my soul.'k
It is observed in this work, that the head or the blood of an
animal, in its simple state, forms a proper offering to a goddess, but
that flesh must be presented as a burnt-offering. Other Tuntrus
observe, that the eating of the flesh of men, cows, and swine, and
drinking spirits, after these things have been offered to an idol,
must be done in secret ; or the -person will commit a great crime,
and sink into poverty. I am credibly informed, that very many
bramhuns in Bengal eat cow's flesh, and, after they have been offer-
ed to an idol, drink spirits, though none of them will publicly ac-
knowledge it.
Thieves frequently pay their devotions to Kalee, and to all the
goddesses to whom bloody sacrifices are offered, under the hope of
carrying on their villainous designs with security and success1. A
gang of ten persons, perhaps, agree to plunder a house ; who meet
together in a dark night, under a tree where an image of Sid-
de'shwuree is placed ; and bring to the spot spirituous liquors, fish,
and other offerings. One of the company, a bramhun, goes through
the ceremonies of worship : at the close of which a bloody sacrifice is
offered, and the instrument worshipped which is to cut through the
wall of the house* at which time the following incantation from
the Choru-punchashika is read: '0! Sindhukatee ! (the name of
k See Mr. Blaquiere's translation of the Sanguinary Chapter, Asiatic Researches,
vol- y- — —The author hopes Mr. Blaquiere will excuse the liberty he has taken of
altering his spelling of Sungskritii words, as he has done it merely to preserve unifor-
mity throughout the work.
1 One of Jupiter's names, it is well known, was Praedatof. because plunder was
offered to him.
94 WORSHIP OF THIEVES TO HER.
the instrument formed by the goddess Visha'e ! Kalee commanded
thee to cut a passage into the house, to cut through stones, bones,
bricks, jvood, the earth, and mountains, and, through the bless-
ing of TJnadyam, to make a way by cutting the earth from the
house of the Malineeto that of Vidya", and that the soil brought
out should be carried away by the wind. Haree-jhee0 and Chamunda
have given this blessing, and Kamakshya (Kalee) has given the
command/ After the reading of this incantation, the thieves sit
down to eat and drink the things that have been offered ; and
when nearly intoxicated, they gird their garments firmly round
their loins, rub their bodies well with oil, daub their eyes with
lamp-black, and repeat an incantation to enable them to see in the
dark ; and thus proceed to the spot : when they cut a hole through
the wall, plunder the house, and sometimes murder the inhabitants.
Sometime ago, two Hindoos were executed at Calcutta for
robbery. Before they entered upon their work of plunder, they
worshipped Kalee, and offered prayers before her image, that they
might be protected by the goddess in the act of thieving. It so
happened, that the goddess left these disciples in the lurch ; they
were detected, tried, and sentenced to be hanged. While under
sentence of death, a native Catholic, in the same place and circum-
stances, was visited by a Roman Catholic priest to prepare him for
death. These Hindoos now reflected, that as Kalee had not pro-
tected them, notwithstanding they had paid their devotions to her,
there could be no hope that she would save them after death ; they
might as well, therefore, renounce their caste : which resolution they
communicated to their fellow-prisoner, who procured for them a
prayer from the Catholic priest, translated into the Bengalee lang-
uage. I saw a copy of this prayer in the hands of the native Catholic
who gave me this account. These men at last, out of pure revenge
upon Kalee, died in the faith of the Virgin Mary : and the Catholics,
after the execution, made a grand funeral for them ; as these per-
m A name of Kalee, which means, without beginning.
n Soondurn, the son of Goonu-sindhoo, raja of Kanchee-poora, was overcome by
the charms of Vidya, the daughter of Veeru-singhu, the raja of Burdwan. For the
purposes of courtship, he concealed himself at the house of a flower-seller (Maliuee)
near the palace of Veeru-singhii, and began to pay his devotions to the goddess Kalee ;
who gave him this incantation, and the instrument Sindhukatee, that he might cut
his way to his fair one. One night, however, Soondnru was caught in the palace, and
seized as a thief. As he was led from prison to the place of execution, he composed
fifty verses in praise of the raja's daughter, which verses have since received the name
of Choru-punchashika. The Hindoos add, that when they weVe about to execute
Soondurn, the cords by which he was bound miraculously burst asunder, and the exe-
cutioners fell senseless to the ground ; in consequence, the execution was postponed,
and the next night Kalee appeared to Veeru-singhu in a dream, and directed him to
marry his daughter to Soondurn ; who was not a thief, but the son of the raja of
Kanchee-pooru, a very proper person to become his son-in-law. The marriage was
soon after celebrated in the most splendid manner.
° The Hindoos say, that a female of the Haree cast was once honoured with an
interview by the goddess Kamakshya, who delivered to her a variety of incantations,
now used by the lowest casts for the most ridiculous, as well as brutal and wicked
purposes.
FESTIVALS — SCENE AT KALEE-SHUNKURU-GOSHu'S AT CALCUTTA. 05
sons, they said, embraced the Catholic faith, and renounced their
cast, from conviction.
Agiim-vageeshu/ a learned Hindoo, about five hundred years
ago, formed the image of Kalee according to the preceding descrip-
tion, and worshipped it monthly, choosing for this purpose the
darkest nights in the month ; he made and set up the image,
worshipped it, and destroyed it, on the same night. At present
the greater number of the worshippers of Kalee hold a festival to
her honour on the last night of the decrease of the moon in the
month Kartiku, and call it the Shyamap festival.
A few persons celebrate the worship of Kalee at the full moon
in Kartiku ; the ceremonies of which are performed before a pic-
ture of this goddess, drawn on a stiff mat of reeds seven or eight
feet long. This festival lasts three days, and on the fourth the
picture is thrown into the river.
Some also worship Kalee for one night on the 1 1th of the
decrease of the moon, in the month Maghu ; and a few rich men
do so monthly, on the last night of the moon : while others wor-
ship this goddess in the month Jyoisht'hu, when it is called the
Phulu-huree festival, on account of the many mangoes, jack fruits,
&c. offered to her.
A few years ago, I went to the house of Kalee-shunkuru-
ghoshu, at Calcutta, at the time of the Shyama festival, to see the
animals sacrified to Kalee. The buildings where the worship was
performed were raised on four sides, with an area in the middle. The
image was placed at the north end, with the face to the south ;
and the two side rooms, and one of the end rooms opposite the
image, were filled with spectators : in the area were the animals
devoted to sacrifice, and also the executioner, with Kalee-shunkuru,
a few attendants, and about twenty persons to throw the animal
down, and hold it in the post, while the head was cut off. The
goats were sacrificed first, then the buffaloes, and last of all two
or three rams. In order to secure the animals, ropes were fastened
round their legs ; they were then thrown down, and the neck
placed in a piece of wood fastened into the ground, and made open
at the top like the space betwixt the prongs of a fork. After the
animal's neck was fastened in the wood by a peg which passed
over it, the men who held it pulled forcibly at the heels ; while
the executioner, with a broad heavy axe, cut off the head at one
blow : the heads were carried in an elevated posture by an
attendant, (dancing as he went,) the blood running down him on
all sides, into the presence of the goddess. Kalee-shunkuru, at
the close, went up to the executioner, took him in his arms, and
gave him several presents of cloths, &c. The heads and blood of
the animals, as well as different meat-offerings, are presented with
p A name of Kalee, meaning black.
96 HONOR PAID FORMERLY TO KALEE BY HINDOO RAJAHS.
mean vci tions as a feast to the goddess ; after which clarified butter
is burnt on a prepared altar of sand. Never did I see men so
eagerly enter into the shedding of blood, nor do I think any
butchers could slaughter animals more expertly. The place
literally swam with blood. The bleating of the animals, the
numbers slain, and the ferocity of the people employed, actually
made me unwell ; and I returned about midnight, filled with
horror and indignation.
The gifts to bramhuns and guests at this festival are numerous,
and in some instances very expensive. The bramhuns, and then
the family and other guests, are entertained, when the spirituous
liquors which have been presented to the goddess are drank pri-
vately by those who are in the secret. The festival closes with
the dances and songs before the goddess.
The reader may form an idea how much idolatry prevailed at
the time when the Hindoo monarchy nourished, from the following
circumstance, which belongs to a modern period, when the Hindoo
authority in Hindoost'hanu was almost extinct. — liaja Krishnu-
chundru-rayu, and his two immediate successors,, in the month
Kartiku, annually gave orders to all the people over whom they
had a nominal authority to keep the Shyama festival, and threaten-
ed every offender with the severest penalties on non-compliance.
In consequence of these orders, in more than ten thousand houses,
in one night, in the zillah of Krishnu-nugu.ru, the worship of this
goddess was celebrated. The number of animals destroyed could
not be less than ten thousand. The officiating bramhuns, especially
those who perform religious ceremonies for shoodrus, were greatly
perplexed, as a single bramhun had to perform the ceremonies of
worship at two hundred houses, situated in different villages, in
one night. All the joiners, barbers, or blacksmiths, in fifteen or
twenty villages, in many instances have but one officiating priest,
the bramhuns in general being unwilling to incur the disgrace
which arises from performing religious services for shoddrus.
Eeshanu-chundru-rayu, the grandson of Krishnu-chvtndm-
rayu, in certain years, presented to Kalee eighty thousand pounds
weight of sweetmeats, the same quantity of sugar, a thousand
women's cloth garments, the same number of women's China silk
garments,, a thousand offerings, including rice, plantains, peas, &c,
and immolated a thousand buffaloes, a thousand goats, and the
same number of sheep ; which altogether could not cost less than
ten thousand rupees, while the other expenses amounted to scarcely
less than twenty thousand. To defray these expenses, this
rajah sold the greater part of his patrimony; and in this and
other idolatrous customs, he and other Hindoo rajahs have expend-
ed almost the whole of their estates.
Raja Eam-Krishnu also expended very large sums of money
IMAGE AND TEMPLE AT KALEE-GHATU DESCRIBED. 97
upon the worship of Kalee. He set up a stone image of this god-
dess at Vurahu-nuguru ; on • which occasion he is said to have
spent a lack of rupees. He also endowed this image with such
a large revenue, that at present five hundred persons are maintain-
ed there daily. In the service of this goddess he has nearly reduced
himself to poverty, though formerly from the rents of the lands,
&c, he used to pay fifty-two lakhs of rupees annually into the Com-
pany's treasury.
Kalee is the guardian deity of very many of the Bengalees,
especially of the bramhuns.
At Kalee-ghatu, near Calcutta, is a celebrated image of this
goddess, 'whom (in the opinion of the Hindoos) all Asia, and
' the whole world worshippeth.' Having obtained an account of
this temple from a bramhun whom I sent to Kalee-ghatu for the
purpose, I here lay it before my readers : —
The temple consists of one room, with a large pavement
around it. The image is a large black stone, to which a horrid
face, partly cut and partly painted, has been given ; there are
neither arms nor legs, a cloth covering all the lower part which,
should be the body. In front of the temple is a very large build-
ing capable of seating two hundred people ; in which, and on the
pavement around the temple, many bramhuns daily sit reading the
Chundee, a work on the wars of Kalee : on some days, as many as
a thousand bramhuns may be seen thus employed. Beyond
this building, in front of the image, the animals for sacri-
fice are slain. Not fewer than four thousand persons assemble on
particular occasions at this temple, especially at the Shyama and
Doorga festivals ; and, twice a week, on the Chetulaq market days,
two thousand people or more visit this place, multitudes of whom
(my informer says, not less than a thousand) present offerings.
At these times it is common for a Hindoo to go up to the temple,
and, presenting himself at the door with joined hands, to address
himself thus to the idol : 1 Ob ! mother ! I am going to the market
for such and such a purpose. If thou grant me success, I will on
the next market day present offerings to thee to the amount of/ —
Or he says to another person standing near, ' See, brother, I have
promised to mother so and so, if she will accomplish my wishes in
the market /r
About nine o'clock each day, the bramhun who in turn per-
forms the duties at the temple, and who receives the offerings of
the day, after cleaning and bathing the image, puts on it the gar-
lands of flowers and other ornaments, sweeps the temple, and then
throws open the doors, calling out, ' Victory to the great Kalee !
i An adjoining village.
r It is said that formerly, especially in times of scarcity, numbers of men were sold
at this market.
13
98 IMAGE AND TEMPLE AT KALEE-GHATU DESCEIBED.
Victory to the great Kalee S' These compliments on different
mornings he changes at pleasure. After this, persons going to
bathe, or coming from bathing, approach the door of the temple,
and bow to the goddess : and now the daily worship is performed,
which occupies about an hour ; after which men and women are
seen bringing their offerings to the idol, which continue to be pre-
sented during the greater part of the day. Some merely present
them, without asking for any blessing : these persons take away
a few flowers, or any other trifle of what they have offered, as
something that will secure the good of the family ; and friends on
a visit at the house of such a person beg any thing of this kind,
and eat it, or wear it in their hair. Other visitors to the temple
leave part of the offerings there, and take away the other part to
present to their friends. Others make a vow, while the offering
is presented to the image, in some such words as these : ' Oh !
goddess ! mother Kalee ! If thou wilt deliver me out of such or
such a trouble, or wilt bestow such or such a blessing, I will pre-
sent to thee [here the petitioner repeats the names of all the offer-
ings or bloody sacrifices/] Disputes arise almost daily in the
temple betwixt the worshippers and the priests respecting the offer-
ings, and not unfrequently a violent scramble takes place for the
meat-offerings in the presence of the goddess herself : the officia-
ting bramhun says, ' Who is to have these offerings' ? to which the
worshipper replies, ' Oh ! sir ! our family priest always receives
these things. I must carry them home for him.' Or a man bring-
ing offerings procures a bramhun to go and tell a lie in the pre-
sence of the goddess, saying to him, ' Sir, the bramhuns at the
temple of Kalee are such notorious cheats, that of all I give to the
goddess, she will probably get nothing but a few flowers ; and
they are so rapacious that I shall never get these offerings out of
their hands :' on which this bramhun carries the offerings to the
temple, and declares, that they belong to the bramhuns of such a
temple, and must be returned to them. By these contrivances, the
offerer obtains what he has given to the goddess ; and, giving part
to the bramhun who has extricated him from the rapacious hands
of the proprietors of the temple, he takes the remainder home.
About three o'clock in the afternoon, food is placed before the
goddess, consisting of rice, greens, roots, fruits, milk, curds, clari-
fied butter, flesh, spirituous liquors3 (in a concealed form,) sweet-
meats, &c. &c. Generally about 250 pounds of rice are cooked
daily, but at particular time twice or thrice as much. After reser-
ving as much as is necessary for his own family, the officiating
bramhun sells the rest of the offerings to devout visitors or neigh-
bours, and gives away what he cannot sell. When a bloody sacri-
fice is offered, the offerer either pays the priest for his trouble, or
8 It is affirmed that the greater number of grown up persons in this village drink
spirits. Bramhuns may be seen in front of the temple, drinking spirits at noon-day ;
and religious mendicants walking about, naked, without the least sense of shame.
IMAGE MUCH HONORED — PRESENTS MADE
99
gives up the slaughtered animal. The slayer also receives a fee.
Of this flesh, the officiating bramhun keeps what he pleases, and
sells the rest to bramhims, shoodrus, Portuguese, and persons from
all parts of the neighbourhood.*
The daily offerings to this goddess are astonishingly numerous.
On days when the weather is very unfavourable, not less than
three hundred and twenty pounds of rice, twenty-four of sugar, forty
of sweetmeats, twelve of clarified butter, ten of flour, ten quarts
of milk, a peck of pease, eight hundred plantains, and other things,
(the price of which may amount to about five shillings,) are offer-
ed, and eight or ten goats sacrificed. On common days, of all these
things three times the quantity ; and at great festivals, or when a
rich man comes to worship, ten, twenty, or forty times this quantity;
and as many as forty or fifty buffaloes and a thousand goats are
slain.
Raja Nuvu-Krishnu, of Calcutta, about fifty years ago, when
on a visit to Kalee-ghatu, expended, it is said, not less than
100,000 rupees on the worship of this goddess. Amongst the offer-
ings was a gold necklace valued at 10,000 rupees, and, beside
other ornaments, a rich bed, silver plates, dishes, and basons ;
sweetmeats, and other food sufficient for the entertainment of a
thousand persons ; and trifling presents of money to near two thou-
sand of the poor.
About twenty years ago, Juyu-Narayunu-Ghoshalu, of Kicldur-
pooru, near Calcutta, expended 25,000 rupees at this place : when
he sacrificed twenty-five buffaloes, one hundred and eight goats,
and five sheep ; and presented to the goddess four silver arms, two
gold eyes, and many gold and silver ornaments.
About ten years ago, a merchant from the east of Bengal ex-
pended 5,000 rupees on the worship of this goddess, beside the
price of a thousand goats which were slaughtered.
In the year 1810, a bramhun from the east of Bengal expend-
ed on this idol about four thousand rupees, with part of which
he bought a golden necklace, the beads of which were in the shape
of giants' skulls.
In the year 1811, Gopee-mohunu, a bramhun of Calcutta, ex-
pended ten thousand rupees in the worship of this goddess ; but,
being a voishnuvu, he did not offer any bloody sacrifices.
The Hindoos, it seems, are not the only persons who worship
* The women belonging to the temple have become such good cooks, that it is not
uncommon for persons to pay for a dinner from their hands, preferring it to any thing
they could get elsewhere,
too
TO IT, BY KINGS, MERCHANTS AND
this black stone : I have received accounts several times of Euro-
peans, or their native mistresses, going to this temple, and expend-
ing thousands of rupees in offerings. The bramhun with whom
I wrote this account declares, that when he was a student at Vurisha,
near Kalee-ghatu, he several times saw the wives of Europeans
come in palanqueens with offerings ; though I suppose these ladies
were born in India. But the proprietors of the temple positively
assured this bramhun, (as he says,) that very frequently European
men presented offerings, soliciting some favour at the hands11 of the
goddess ; and that very lately a gentleman in the Hon. Company's
service, who had gained a cause at law, presented thank-offerings
to Kalee which cost two or three thousand rupees*. I confess that
I very reluctantly insert these accounts, because I should hope
they mostly originate in wilful misrepresentation on the part of the
bramhun s of the temple, or in mistake. I suppose some Portu-
guese (who also go by the name Sahe'b) may present offerings, and
pray to this goddess — hence one source of misinformation ; the
mistresses of Europeans are supplied with money by their retainers,
and hence the worship not unfrequently passes off, with many a
triumph over degraded Christianity, as the worship of such a Euro-
pean ;* and many Europeans, who go for curiosity to see the temple
and the image, inconsiderately or wantonly give presents to the
clamorous and greed}7 bramhims, who proclaim it as an offering to
their goddess. Actions the most innocent, (even going to view the
image,) are construed by these ignorant idolaters into an approval of
idolatry. A European who was lately there, says my informant,
to make a drawing of the image, when he departed gave the offici-
ating bramhun a gold mohur, and this present was probably enrolled
among the gifts to the temple.
It is further affirmed, that many MtUssiilmans (four or five
hundred) present offerings to Kalee monthly — so strangely has the
veneration for this image seized the minds of the natives ! And it
is added, that an equal number of prostitutes, from all parts of
Bengal, pay their devotions at this temple : some pray for the
health of their paramours, and others that great numbers may
visit their houses of ill fame. It is not uncommon for a loose female
to say to her paramour, after his recovery from sickness, ' I made
vows to Kalee, that if she would restore you to health, I would
present her with such and such offerings : you are recovered ; and
I must now go and perform my vows.' Such a female sometimes
thus prays for her paramour — ( O mother Kalee ! I pray for — .
If thou wilt increase his wealth, [or remove sickness from him — or
make him successful in such a concern — or increase his attachment
u Silver hands, and gold tongues and eyes are among the presents made by rich,
men to this goddess. Such is the stupidity of idolaters.
x It is probable, that the real worshipper in this instance was a head-servant of
this gentleman's ; though the expense might be defrayed by the master. Without
thinking of the guilt of such conduct, I have known frequent instances of Europeans
making presents to their servants for the avowed purpose of idol worship.
EVEN BY CHRISTIANS.
101
to me, that he may always follow my advice] I will present to thee
all these offerings [here she repeats the names of what she intends
to give].' When she returns home, she takes off all her ornaments,
laying them aside till her vow be either fulfilled or abandoned.
Merchants7 and tradesmen present offerings to Kalee once,
twice, or thrice a year, to obtain success in their concerns ; — many
rich men (thirty or forty) place bramhuns at this temple to worship
the goddess, to walk round the temple, and read the Chundee,
daily in their names ; — others place bramhuns here for these pur-
poses, for two or three months in the year ; — sepoys from all parts
of Hindoost'hanu resort to this temple as often as they can obtain
leave of absence ; — mothers present offerings, praying for the re-
covery of their children, and promising to bring the restored child
in their arms when they come to fulfil their vows ;z or, that it shall
be invested with the poita,a or pass through some other ceremony
at the temple ; — servants in search of employment make vows to
the goddess to present her with a month's wages, if she will raise
them to such a situation ; — in a word, the occasions of drawing
people to this famous temple are as endless as the superstitious
hopes and fears, the crimes and the wants of the worshippers.
Goats are devoted to Kalee, and kept, in some cases, for a long-
time, till the owner be able to meet the other expenses attending
the offerings and worship. These animals are called the goats
of Kalee.
The village of Kalee-ghttttu. (or Kalee-ghatu) owes the greater
part of its present population to this temple ; from which near two
hundred persons derive their subsistence, exclusive of the proprie-
tors, who amount to about thirty families. Some proprietors have
a day in turn, others half a day, and others two or three hours ; to
whom all the offerings presented in the portion of time thus appor-
tioned belong. All these families have become rich.
In the month Maghu, a festival is held in various places of
Bengal in honour of Ghatoo, the god who presides over blotches on
the skin ; but the assembly at Kalee-ghatu is very great. At the
time of swinging in Choitru also, the concourse of people at this
place is also very large. See the account of Shivu.
y Hindoo merchants engaged in foreign commerce, after the successful voyage of
a ship in which they had property, frequently present thank-offerings to this goddess.
z The hair of some children is not cut at all till the vow be fulfilled ; others only
separate a lock of the child's hair, tying it up in a bunch A large hillock of human
hair, collected at the times of shaving when vows have been fulfilled, is formed near
the temple.
a A bramhiin once assured me, that he had seen not less than three hundred boys
invested with the poita in one day at this place ; on which occasion many bloody
sacrifices were offered. The concourse of people was immense.
102
STATEMENT OF MONTHLY OFFERINGS.
I here add a rough account of what is expended on this idol
monthly : —
Buffaloes slain, (5)
Goats ditto, (1,000) ...
Sheep ditto, (30)...
Bice, (200 cwt.)
Salt, Spices, Pease, Fish, &c.
Clarified Butter, ... ...
Milk and Curds, ...
Sugar, (11 cwt.)
Sweetmeats, (22 cwt.) ... ... ... ...
Plantains, (25,000)
Evening offerings,...
Meatofferings,...
Dressed food,
_F©GS^ • • • ••• • • • •••
Travelling Expenses,
Alms given to the poor by visitors, ...
Extraordinaries from rich men, and at festivals,
Es. As. P.
30 0 0
800 0 0
.. 40 0 0
440 0 0
..200 0 0
7 0 0
5 0 0
105 0 0
.. 360 0 0
50 0 0
.. 60 0 0
90 0 0
.. 80 0 0
233 0 0
.. 300 0 0
200 0 0
,3,000 0 0
Sa. Rs. 6,000 0 0
Seventy-two Thousand Rupees annually, or Nine Thousand
Pounds sterling.
Sect. XX.— -Other Forms of Kalee, Sec.
Chamundah. — This image, which is similar to that of Kalee,
except that Chamfindais represented with two giants' heads in her
hands, and as sitting on a dead body, is seldom or never made.
The goddess is worshipped at the festival of Doorga, on three
different days.
Shmushanu-Kuleec. — When this image is made, other figures
are introduced, as those of the giants Shoombhu and Nishoombhu, of
jackals, dead bodies, &c. These giants are represented as sitting
on elephants, throwing arrows at the goddess ; while the latter is
standing on her husband, and aiming blows at them with a sword.
The ceremonies of worship are like those performed in honour of
Kalep : the worship begins at the total wane of the moon in Maghu,
and continues for three nights. Bevelling is carried to the greatest
b She who seized Chundu and Miindu, two giants.
c This uame denotes, that Kalee dwells in the place of burning the dead, and
presides over cemeteries. Shiutishanu means a cemetery.
OTHER INFERIOR FORMS OF K ALEE . 103
pitch : some of the worshippers, and not unfrequently the sons of
rich men, dance before the image naked, ' glorying in their shame.'
A few Hindoos adopt this goddess as their guardian deity.
Manuvu-Kalee11. — Another form of Kalee, whose image it
resembles except in the colour, which is blue. The worship is
celebrated on the fifteenth night of the decrease of the moon in
Maghu : — the present fruit, diversion ; — and hereafter, heaven.
Such are the ideas of the poor deluded Hindoos. A whole village
sometimes joins to defray the expense, at other times a rich man
bears it alone. Many bloody sacrifices are offered, and great shew
made, especially with illuminations ; to which are added dancing,
singing, music, &c.
Phulu-huree.e — This form of Kalee is that of a black female,
with four arms, standing on the breast of Shivu. She is worship-
at the total wane of the moon in the month Jyoisht'hu, or in any
other month, at the pleasure of the worshipper. The offerings are
numerous, especially of fruits : and buffaloes, goats, and sheep, are
sacrificed. The day after the worship, the image is thrown into
the river.
Bhuclru-KaleeJ — An image similar to that of Kalee; the
worship also resembles that which is paid to that goddess. The
image is in some places preserved, and worshipped daily.
Oogru-chunda." is worshipped at the total wane of the moon
in the month Kartiku : in some places temples made of clay are
erected in honour of this goddess, in which she is worshipped
either daily or monthly.
Anundu-mUyee.h — A black female, with four arms, sitting on
a throne ; to whom a number of temples are dedicated, containing
stone or clay images of the goddess. She is worshipped daily ;
also on fortunate days, at the pleasure of her numerous disci-
ples ; as well as at the great festivals of Doorga, Kalee, &c. when
bloody sacrifices are offered to her.
Nuvu-putvika} — These nine goddesses are worshipped at the
great festivals, but with the greatest shew as that of Doorga ;
when these assistants of Doorga in her wars are represented by
nine branches of different trees : Rumbha, by a plantain :k
Kuchwee-roopa, by a ktichwee ; 1 Huridra, by a huridra ;m Juyitntee
by a juyuntee ; n Vilwar56pa, by a vilwu ; 0 Darimee, by a darimu ;p
d Viz., in the form of man.
e She who receives much fruit. f The beneficent. s The furious.
k The joyful.
1 The nine goddesses. k Musa paradisaica. 1 Arum esculentum. m Cur-
cuma longa. n iEschynomene seshau, 0 yEglo marmelos. p Punica granatum.
104
OTHER INFERIOR FORMS OFKALEE.
IJshoka, by a an ushoku ; q Manuka, by a mania ; r and Dhanyu-
rodpa, by a dhanyu. s
Bheemu-chundee.1 — This image is made and worshipped at
Benares : in Bengal also the goddess is worshipped, especially on
a Tuesday, before another image, or a pan of water, or some
appointed representative of an idol.
Upura-jita.u — There is no public festival in honour of this
goddess, nor is her image set up for worship ; but in times of
sickness she is worshipped before the shalgramu, when forms of
praise from the Tuntrus are addressed to her.
Vimula* — A stone image of this idol is worshipped in one of
the temples erected in Orissa, near the famous temple of Jugun-
natTiu. Bloody sacrifices are offered to this goddess ; but as this
place is sacred to Yishnoo, these offerings are made in secret.
Yimula is also worshipped in Bengal at the festivals of Doorga
and Kalee.
Siddheshwuree.7 — In many villages in Bengal one, and in
some large villages several of these images are set up. They
are in general made of clay; but some are of stone. The image
is commonly the property of one family, who worship her every
day : others in the village worship her when they choose ; but
all the gifts and offerings come to the person who owns the
image. If a child have a fever, the parents worship the goddess
that it may recover, and promise to present various offerings to her
if she be propitious. If a woman want a son, she procures a bramhun
to worship the goddess in her name ; — if another person be seeking
employment, he prays the goddess to favour him ; — if a koolinu
bramhun wish his daughter to be married, he intercedes with the
goddess, and promises to celebrate her worship if she be favoura-
ble. On all occasions of particular distress or want, the people re-
sort to these images with their presents and vows. Thieves also
worship Siddheshwuree, that they may be favoured with her
smiles and be protected in thieving.2 Honest and poor people also
worship this image to obtain protection from thieves. An annual
festival is held in honour of Siddheshwuree on the same day as the
Shyama festival.
i Jonesia asoca. r Arum macrorliyzon. 8 Coriandrum sativum. * The
terrific. u The unconquerable. x She who purifies. y She who fulfils the
wishes of her worshippers.
z The goddess Laverna, it is well known, was the protectress of thieves, who,
from her, were named Laverniones, and who worshipped her, that their designs and
intrigues might be successful : her image was a head without a body.
LUKSHMEE, HER IMAGE AND FESTIVALS.
105
Sect. XXI. — Lukshmee.
Is called the goddess of prosperity : she is painted yellow,
and sits on the water-lily, holding in her right hand the pashu,
(a rope,) and in the left,, a necklace.
Vishnoo is said to have obtained this goddess at the churning
of the seaa ; at which time all the gods were so charmed with her
beauty that they desired to possess her, and Shiva was entirely
overcome by his passion. The reader will remember something
similar to this in the account of Venus, who is also said to have
sprang from the froth of the sea ; and whom, on being presented
to the gods, they all desired to marry.
The worship of Lukshmee is celebrated in five different months,
viz. in Bhadru, on the first Thursday of the increase of the moon,
in the morning ; in Ashwinu, at the full moon, in the evening ; in
Kartiku, on the last day of the decrease of the moon, in the night ;
on the last day in Poushu, in the morning ; and in Choitru, on the
first Thursday of the increase of the moon, either in the day or
night. The ceremonies are performed before a basket used as a
corn-measure, painted red : the worshippers fill this measure with
rice in the husk, and put round it a garland of flowers ; then cover
it with a white cloth ; and, encircling it with a number of small
shells, place before it a box containing red paint, a comb, &c. The
officiating bramhun performs the usual ceremonies, varying but
little from those at the "worship of Vishnoo, in the name of the
master or mistress of the house. No bloody sacrifices are offered.
Bramhuns are entertained rather liberally at this festival ; but on
the day of worship no alms must be given to the poor, (except
cooked food,) nor any money lost ; lest this goddess, who is sup-
posed to preside over wealth, and to have taken up her abode at
the worshipper's house, should be angry at her riches being wasted.
This worship is celebrated in almost every Hindoo family
five times a year ; the frequency of which is not to be wondered at,
when it is considered that Lukshmee is the goddess of prosperity.
If a man be growing rich, the Hindoos say, ' Lukshmee is gone to
abide at his house ;' if he be sinking into poverty, they say,
' Lukshmee has forsaken him.' If they wish to abuse another, they
call him Lukshmee-chara.b
The morning after the festival, the women take up the corn-
measure, and preserve it for some future time of worship : the
rice is used in worship during the whole year. At the close of
the festival, if a female of the family remember any stories respect-
a She is also called the daughter of Bhrigoo.
*> la the provincial dialect it is Lftkhee-chara, that is, luckless ; thus forming an
extraordinary coincidence of sound .and meaning in languages so extremely different.
106 KOJAGURU-LUKSHMEE— SURUSWUTEE, HER DESCENT.
ing Lukshmee, she relates them ; and the rest of the family,
joined by two or three neighbouring females, sit around and hear.
In some places a number of persons subscribe towards the expense
of making an image of Lukshmee, and worship it on any of the
days before-mentioned.
Names. — Lukshmee, or, the goddess of fortunate signs ; —
Pudmaluya, she who dwells on the water-lily ; — Pudma, she who
holds in her hand the water-lily ; Shree, she in whom all take
refuge Huree-priya, the wife of Huree.
Sect. XXII. — Kojaguvu-LUkslimee. c
This form of Lukshmee is worshipped at the full moon in
Ashwinu, in the evening, before a corn-measure, surrounded by
four plantain trees ; though some persons worship this goddess
before an image of Lukshmee. Bloody sacrifices are offered. The
worshippers invariably drink the water of the cocoanut at this
festival ; and numbers keep awake the whole night, listening to
the filthy songs, and the horrid din of Hindoo music.
Sect. XXIII. — Surttswutee.
This is the goddess of learning, the daughter of Brumha, and
the wife of Yishnoo. She is represented as a white woman,
standing on the water-lily, and playing on a lute.
On the 5th day of the increase of the moon, in Maghu, the
worship of this goddess is performed before her image, or a pen,
inkstand, and book ; the latter articles are supposed to form a
proper substitute for the goddess, who is called Vagvadinee, the
eloquent. The image is placed on a table, either at the west or
south side of the house. After the officiating bramhun has read
the formulas and presented the offerings, each worshipper whose
name has been read in the service takes flowers in his hands, and,
repeating a prayer, presents them to the goddess ; after which
follow gifts to the bramhuns, and a feast.
Every Hindoo who is able to read and write endeavours to
celebrate the worship of this goddess : the raja of Burdwan is
said to expend 15,000 rupees annually at this festival. In every
Hindoo college, the students keep the festival with great joy .
many °^ them dance naked, and are guilty of every indecency.
c The shastrns have commanded that each Hindoo shall remain awake during
the night of the full moon in Ashwinu, when a festival is held in honour of this god-
dess ; and from this circumstance this name is derived,
INDECENCIES OF HER FESTIVAL— SHEETULA
107
The day after the festival, the image is carried in procession
through the town, and then thrown into the river. In passing
through the streets of Serampore, at the time of this festival in the
year 1806, I was exceedingly shocked at observing among the
crowd, who were dancing, playing on music, bearing flags, &c.
two or three young men quite naked, the mob triumphing in this
shocking insult on public decency. To induce young men to resort
to their houses, many prostitutes keep this feast, and connect with
it, all that low merriment which corrupts the mind and draws the
attention of the crowd. d
On this day the Hindoos neither read nor write/ though they
will do any other secular business. They eat only once during the
day, and those who are accustomed to eat fish abstain from it on
this day.
The Hindoos believe, that from this goddess they derive their
learning and powers of eloquence/ as well as their ability to read
and write. Some of those who can neither read nor write, insist
upon it, that they ought to worship her, as they derive their powers
of speech from her.s Others however complain, ' Suruswutee has
bestowed nothing on us — why should we perform her worship V
The image of Suruswutee is sometimes painted blue, and
placed in temples ; when she is called Neelu-Suruswutee.
Names. Bramhee, or, the daughter of Brumha ; — Bharutee,
she who presides over words ; — Bhasha, she who bestows the power
of speech ;— Suruswutee, she who through the curse of a bramhun
was turned into a river.
Sect. XXIV.— SheetUla^
Is painted as a yellow woman sitting on the water-lily, dress-
ed in red, and giving suck to an infant. Before this image, or a
pan of water, the worship of this goddess is performed, in any part
of the year ; but in general on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of the increase
d In the year 1808, I saw a group of performers reciting the Ramayunrl in the
street ; and on enquiry, I found it was before the door of some prostitutes, who had
subscribed to bear the expense. The reasou assigned was, that it would be an act of
merit, helping them in another world ; and would also draw men into whoredom.
Offerings are sometimes brought home, and shared by a prostitute with her paramour ;
like the harlot, in the Book of Proverbs, who is represented as saying to the young
man she met in the street, ' I have peace-offerings with me ; this day have I payed my
vows.' — Prov. vii. 14.
e The only reason I can find for this is, it is the command of the shastrti.
f Of an eloquent man, the Hindoos say, ' Suruswutee sits on his tongue.'
s Of this fact they give the example of Ravuuu, who, when Raniu wras about to
kill him, procured a reprieve by flattering his adversary ; but the gods, afraid lest
Ravtinu should be spar-ed, sent Suruswutee into his throat, and caused him to say pro-
voking things to Ramu.
h Or, she who cools the Jbody at the time of the small-pox,
108 HER IMAGE WORSHIPPED DURING SMALL-POX — MUNUSA,
of the moon, in the day time. Bloody sacrifices are not offered.
On the 10th, the image is thrown into the water*
This goddess is also worshipped to obtain preservation from
the evil effects of the small-pox. In the months Choitru and
Voishakhu, the Hindoos inoculate those of their children who
are two years old ; on which occasion the inoculating bram-
hun1 presents offerings and prayers to this goddess in the name
of the child, promising for the parents, that if she be kind to
the child, they will present to her certain offerings, &c. as soon
as it is recovered. At the close of the ceremony, the bramhun
places the flowers which have been offered in the hair of the child,
telling the parents that the goddess will be favourable ; and then
performs the operation. When the child becomes affected with the
disease, the family priest (if the parents be rich enough to pay for
it) comes to the house every day, and repeats certain forms of pray-
er and praise to Sheetula ; after recovery she is again worshipped.
If the child become dangerously ill, it is carried to an image of
Sheetula, and bathed in the water which has been offered to this
goddess, some of wdrich is given it to drink.
Beggars of different descriptions procure a stone, gild a small
part of it, and carry it from place to place, singing the praises of
Sheetula. These mendicants sometimes proclaim in a village, that
Sheetula has appeared to one of them in a dream, and ordered,
that in this village the mistress of each house shall beg at three,
four, or more doors, and take whatever is given her, and eat it in
some neighbouring garden or forest.k The most dreadful misfor-
tunes being threatened in case of disobedience, the affrighted
women beg from door to door, and fulfil the supposed commands
of the goddess.
Sect. XXV.— Munusa1.
This goddess, the sister of Vasookee,™ and the wife of Jurut-
karu, a sage, is called the queen of the snakes, and is worshipped
to obtain preservation from their bite. She is represented as sitting
on the water-lily, clothed with snakes.
In the month Jyoist'hu, on the 10th of the increase of the
moon ; also on the 5th of the moon's increase and decrease in
Ashwinu and Shravunu, as well as on the last day of Shravunu,
this goddess is worshipped. On the three last occasions, the wor-
1 The regular Hindoo doctors (voidytt) do not inoculate, but a lower order of
bramhun s called doivugnus, or astrologers.
k This is a trick to extort some part of the alms from these deluded women.
1 Or Mimusa-dSvee ; the goddess who possesses pleasure in herself.
m The king of the serpents.
HER IMAGE, DESCENT AND FESTIVAL.
109
shippers plant branches of the Euphorbia before the house, and
worship them. In Shravunu, the worship is celebrated with the
greatest show ; on which occasion an image, or some branches of
the same tree, or a pan of water surrounded with snakes made of
clay, is placed as the object of worship : in some places, twenty or
thirty thousand people assemble ; and amidst singing, dancing,
music, &c. some persons play with snakes of different kinds, parti-
cularly the cobra capello, suffering them to bite them. This play,
however, ends fatally when the venomous fangs have not been
carefully extracted. The cast called Mai, who play with snakes
for a livelihood, profess great regard for Mrmusa. On the days of
the festival, the Hindoos do not kindle a fire, alleging that one of
the names of Munusa is Urundhuna, she who does not cook.
A day or two before the festival, in some places, the women
of the village (perhaps fifty or a hundred, or even two
hundred) beg rice, either in their own or an adjoining vil-
lage ; which they offer, in a field in the neighbourhood, in the
name of Munusa, but without an image. After thus offering rice,
milk, curds, sugar, &c. to the goddess, they eat them on the spot ;
and this act of holiness, they say, preserves their children from the
bite of snakes, as well as assists the parents themselves on their
way to heaven. A song founded upon the following story con-
cludes the whole : — Chandu, a merchant, not only refused to
worship the goddess, but professed the utmost contempt for her.
In process of time, however, she caused his six youngest sons to
be killed by the bite of snakes : to avoid the fate of whom, the
eldest son, Lukinduru, made an iron house, and retired to it ; yet
Munusa caused the snake Tukshuku to enter by a crevice, which
destroyed Lukinduru on his wedding-day ; his widow escaped, and
went weeping into the presence of her mother-in-law. The
neighbours again attempted to reason with Chandu ; but he
continued obstinate, declaring that Munusa was no goddess. She
appeared to people in dreams, and commanded them to persuade
him to celebrate her worship ; and, after much entreaty, to pacify
the goddess, he was induced to comply : but declared he would
present the offerings only with the left hand ;n and, turning back
his head, he threw a flower at her image with the left hand.
Munusa, however, was so pleased, that she restored his seven sons ;
and from this circumstance, the worship of this goddess has since
been very much celebrated.
When the worship is performed before an image, sheep, goats,
and buffaloes are offered to Munusa, and even swine.0
When a Hindoo has been bitten by a snake, the persons who
pretend to cure him read different incantations containing the
n The hand used in washing after stools.
fl Among the Egyptians, swine, it is well known, were offered to Bacchus.
110
shushtee's festivals described.
names of Munusa. If one or two persons in a village have died
by the bite of snakes, all "the inhabitants become alarmed, and
celebrate the worship of Munusa.
Sect. XXVL—Shtishtee?
Is a yellow woman sitting on a cat, nursing a child. The
Hindoos regard her as the protectress of their children.
Six annual festivals are held in honour of this goddess, viz., in
Jyoisht'hu, Bhadru, Ashwinu, Maghu, and two in Choitru ; on
the 6th of the increase of the moon, and on the last day but one
of the month.
The worship celebrated in Jyoisht'hu is performed by a
bramhunee, or an officiating bramhun, under the vutu tree,q or
under a branch of this tree planted in the house. At the time of
this worship, every woman of the village, dressed in her best
clothes, with her face painted, her ornaments on, and her body
anointed with oil, goes to the place of worship under the tree, taking
in her hand an offering ; over each of which the officiating bram-
hun performs the usual ceremonies. The offerings are sent to the
house of the officiating bramhun, or distributed amongst the eager
by-standers. Among others who are eager to obtain some of these
offerings, are women who have not been blessed with children ;
each of whom sits down pensively among the crowd, and opens
the end of her garment to receive what the assembled mothers are
eager enough to bestow : when the giver says, * May the blessing
of Shush tee be upon you, and next year may you bring offerings —
with a child in your arms.' The receiver adds with eagerness,
' Ah ! if she bestow this blessing, I will celebrate her worship ;
I will keep my vows, and bring offerings every year.' This festival
is called Arunyu-shushte5, because the worshippers are directed to
walk in some forest on this day, with fans in their hands.
In those houses where the daughter is married, but has not
left her parents, they send for the son-in-law ; and at the close of
the worship the girl's father sends to him, on a metal plate, a
flower, some unhusked rice, a piece of string consecrated to the
goddess, five or six blades of d56rva grass, a garment, &c. The
son-in-law, if a person of respectability, contents himself with
sticking the flower in his hair. If a poor man, he puts on the
garment, and raises all the other presents to his head. If the son-
in-law neglect to stick the flower in his hair, the girl's father be-
comes very sorrowful ; and all the spectators pronounce the former
p She is worshipped on the sixth lunar day,
i Ficus Indica.
shushtee's festivals described. . Ill
a dead man, for throwing away a flower which has been offered to
Shushtee.
The worship in the month Bhadru does not differ from the
preceding, except in its being performed by the river side, or at a
pool of water, before the stick which is whirled round in churning
butter, upon which a fan is placed. In the midst of the worship
the women make little paste images of children, and, placing them
on leaves of the kuntukee tree,r present them to the goddess, and
afterwards throw them into the river. This festival is called
Chapura-shushtee.8
The Ashwinu festival, distinguished by the name Doorga-
shilshtee, is in almost every particular the same as the preceding.
At the Maghu festival, called Sheetula-shushtee, the women,
on the night preceding, boil a large quantity of rice and pulse for
offerings ; mixing with the latter, in boiling, a kind of kidney
beans and varttakoos.1 The next morning they bathe very early,
and on their return go through the ceremonies of worship in the
house, before the two stones with which they grind their spices ;
and upon which they throw a yellow cloth, smeared with red lead.
The worship is finished before ten o'clock, and at noon they eat
what the goddess has left, i. e. every thing they gave her.
The two festivals in Choitru are held on the 6th, and on the
last day but one of the month : on the 6th, in the morning, either
before a branch of the vutu, the shalgramu, or some proper repre-
sentative of an image ; and at the close of the month, in the even-
ing, before an image of Shivu. On the 6th the worshippers eat the
bud of the Euphorbia inclosed in a plaintain ; and at the latter
festival they fast during the day, and after worship eat some fruit,
and some barley flour mixed with curds orjwater. Rich persons
eat sweetmeats. These festivals are called Ushoku-shushtee and
Neelu-shushtee.
Another festival is held in honour of this goddess in some-
parts of Bengal, in the month TJgruhayunu, called Huree-shushtee.
The worship is celebrated before a clay pot, filled with water,
having six spouts.
In addition to all these times of worship, females who have
lost all their children by death, worship this goddess every month :
beside which, after a child is six days old, every father, to preserve
the child, performs the worship of the goddess, while the officiating
bramhun reads the incantations : and on the 21st day of the
child's age, the mother presents offerings to the goddess with her
own hands, while the officiating bramhun reads the prayers. The
1 Artecarpus integrifolia.
6 In allusion to the making of these images,
4 The fruit of solanum melon gena,
112
shushtee's festivals described.
first of these ceremonies takes place in the evening, before a branch
of the vutu tree, fastened in the house floor ; the two stones with
which spices are ground being placed against the wall in the inside
of the house, covered with a piece of cloth. The husband, at the
close, asks the blessing of the goddess on the child, promising to
present to her a number of offerings when the child shall be twenty-
one days old. Before the door the family place the skull of a cow,
rubbing some red lead on its forehead ; and in three lumps of cow-
dung, put on the forehead, they stick three cowries ; upon which
also they spread a yellow cloth. The head remains a month at the
door of the house, as a kind of charm for the good of the children.
On the 21st day of the child's age, the mother invites ten or
fifteen female neighbours, who, with the officiating bramhun, ac-
company her to a stone placed at the foot of the vutu tree, which
is supposed to be the representative of the goddess ; around which
they put a large necklace or garland of flowers, and go through the
ceremonies of worship in the usual manner : at the close the
mother promises, on condition that the goddess bless her child, that
she will worship her every year. The mother distributes the sweet-
meats, &c. that have been offered to the idol among the females
present. This festival is called ekooshiya.u
Shushtee has no temples in Bengal ; her common representa-
tive, a rough stone, smeared with red paint, about as large as a
man's head, is commonly placed at the root of the sacred vutu ; to
which passengers, especially women, pay a degree of reverence.
In fulfilling particular vows to Shushtee, some worshippers sur-
round the vutu tree with garlands of flowers, and great numbers
of artificial lamps made of clay : others fulfil their vows by building
an earthen or brick seat around one of these trees. A female of
property, as a thank-offering after child-birth, presents by the
hands of a bramhun a child made of curds, which the bramhun
never fails to devour.
Bloody sacrifices of bullocks, goats, sheep, and sometimes of
tame hogs, are offered to Shushtee. For receiving these latter
offerings some persons call the goddess a cannibal.
At the close of the different festivals held in honour of Shush-
tee, it is common for women to entertain the company with mar-
vellous stories relating to this goddess. The wives of some of the
lower castes beg for a share of the offerings at the doors of the
bramhims,
Shushtee rides on a cat : hence the Hindoos, especially mothers,
avoid hurting this animal, lest the goddess should revenge herself
on their children.
u From eltooslm, twenty-one.
USOORUS, THEIR CONDUCT AT CHURNING OF THE SEA. 113
CHAP. IV.
INFERIOR CELESTIAL BEINGS, OBJECTS OF
WORSHIP.
These beings are either the enemies of the gods, as the
usoorus and rakshusus ; or their companions : or those who are
employed as dancers, singers, or musicians in the heavens of the
gods. They are worshipped at the great festivals, but have no
separate images.
Sect. I. — The Usoorus, or Giants.
*
These enemies of the gods, are the offspring of Kushyupu, the
progenitor of gods, giants, men, serpents, and birds, by his different
wives. They bear a resemblance to the titans or giants of the
Grecian Mythology ; and stories of their wars with the gods (some
of which will be found in this work) abound in the pooranus.
Indru, Vishnoo, Kartiku, and Doorga, are distinguished among the
Hindoo deities for their conflicts with these beings*. King Vulee,
a giant, is worshipped by the Hindoos on their birth-days, with
the same forms as are used in the worship of the gods.
Story of the churning of the sect by the gods and usoorus. —
The most rancorous hatred has always existed betwixt the usoorus
and the gods, although half-brothers ; the former having been
excluded by the gods from succeeding to the throne of heaven :
and dreadful conflicts were carried on betwixt them with various
success, till both parties sought to become immortal. The giants
performed the most severe religious austerities, addressing their
prayers alternately to Vishnoo, Shiva, and Brumha ; but were
always unsuccessful. The gods, however, at last obtained this
blessing at the churning of the sea of milk ; which story is related
at length in the Muhabhartitu and other works : — The gods first
took mount Mundurii, placed it in the sea, and wrapping round it
the serpent Vasookee, began to whirl it round as the milk-men
do the staff in making butter. The gods took hold of the head of
the snake, and the giants of the tail ; but being almost consumed
by the poison from the mouth of the serpent, the gods privately
entreated Vishnoo to prevail upon the giants to lay hold of the
a Jupiter was represented as aiming the thunder in his right hand against a
giant under his feet : Doorga is aiming the spear in her right hand against an usooril
under her feet.
Id
i
114
THE RAKSHUSUS.
head ; upon which he thus addressed them : ' How is it' said
Vishnoo, ' that you, giants as you are, have taken hold of
Vasookee's tail T The gods and the giants then changed places ;
and the elephant Oiravutu. first arose from the churned sea to
reward their labours ; afterward the gem Koustoobhu — the horse
Oochoishruva — the tree Parijatu — many jewels — the goddess
Lukshmee — and then poison. Full of alarm at this sight, the
gods applied to Muha-devu. (Shivu) ; who, to save the world from
destruction, drank up the poison, and received no other injury
than a blue mark on his throat.b Next came up the water of
immortality ; when the 330,000,000 gods, and the usoorus without
number, took their stand on each side, each claiming the mighty
boon. Vishnoo proposed to divide it with his own hands : but
while the usoorus went to prepare themselves by bathing in the
sacred stream, the gods drank up the greatest part of the nectar ;
and, to give them time to drink the whole, Vishnoo assumed the
form of a most captivating female ; with which the giants were so
charmed, that they totally forgot the nectar. One of them, how-
ever, having changed his shape, mixed with the gods, and, drink-
ing of the water of life, became immortal; but Vishnoo, being in-
formed of this circumstance by S65ryu and Chundru, (the sun and
moon,) cut off the head of the giant. The head and trunk, being
thus immortalized, were made the ascending and descending nodes,
under the names Rahoo and Ketoo.
Sect. II, — The Bakshusus,
Many stories respecting the wars of the rakshusus, or canni-
bals, with the gods, are contained in the pooranus and other shas-
trus, and several will be found in different parts of this work.
They are represented as assuming at pleasure the different shapes
of horses, tigers, lions, buffaloes, &c. : some have a hundred heads,
and others as many arms.c In the Hindoo writings Malee, Soo«
malee, Ravunu, Koombhu-kurnu, Vibheeshunu, Indru-jit, TJtikayu,
and others, are distinguished as renowned rakshusus. As soon as
born, these giants are said to arrive at maturity. They devour
their enemies. All the rakshusus are bramhuns, and are said to
dwell in the S. W. corner of the earth.
Noiritu, a rakshusu, is one of the ten guardian deities of the
earth, and presides in the S. W, In this character he is worship-
ped at all the great festivals. He is represented in the form of
meditation used by the bramhuns as a black man, having in his
right hand a scimitar.
b Hence this god is called Neelu-kantu, the blue throated.
r Some of the giants of the Grecian Mythology, it will be remembered, had
a hundred arms.
STORY OF KOOMBHU-KURNU-THE GUNDHURVUS, &C.
115
Story of Koombhu-kuvnu. — Immediately after his birth, this
cannibal stretched his arms, which were in proportion to his body,
and gathered into his month every thing within his reach. At one
time he seized five hundred courtezans belonging to Indru ; at
another the wives of one hundred sages, and cows and bramhuns
without number. Brumha at length threatened to destroy him,
unless he contented him with less, as he would presently eat up
the earth. He now became more moderate, and began to perform
the most severe austerities in honour of Brumha ; which he con-
tinued for ten thousand years. The gods trembled on their thrones,
lest Koombhu-kurnii, obtaining the blessing of Brumha, and es-
pecially the blessing of immortality, should swallow up every
thing, gods and men. They appealed to Brumha, and persuaded
Suruswutee, the goddess of learning, to enter into Koombhu-
kurnu, and excite him to ask this blessing, that he should con-
tinue to sleep day and night ; which request Brumha granted,
and sent the voracious rakshiisu to enjoy his everlasting sleep.
The friends of Koombhu-kumu however persuaded Brumha to
change his destiny : who now ordered that he should sleep unin-
terruptedly six months, but on the last day of the sixth should
awake ; during half of which day he should fight with and con-
quer Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu, and during the other half be
permitted to devour as much as he chose. At one meal he devour-
ed six thousand cows, ten thousand sheep, ten thousand goats,
five hundred buffaloes, five thousand deer, and drank four
thousand hogsheads of spirits, with other things in proportion.
After all, he was angry with his brother Bavunu, for not giving
him enough to satisfy nature. His house is declared to have been
twenty or thirty thousand miles long, and his bed the whole
length of the house. ' Lunka itself, sa}7s the Ramayunu, is eight
hundred miles in circumference : — where then was the place for
this bed V I have heard this question put by a person to the
bramhuns, who, unable to find room for Koombu-kurnu's bed,
were laughed at by the shoodrus, their disciples.
The Gundhurvus and Kinnurus are celestial choiristers male
and female. The latter have horses' heads ! ! ld
The Vidya-dhuvus are male and female dancers. The UpsurUs
are also female dancers, greatly celebrated for their beauty : they
have been frequently sent down to earth to captivate the minds
of religious devotees, and draw them from those works of merit
which were likely to procure them the thrones of the gods. Eight
of the upsurus are mentioned as beyond all others beautiful :
Oorvvushee, Me'nuka, Kumbha, Punch u-choora, Tilottuma, Ghri-
tachee, Boodbooda, and Mishru-keshee. The five first of these
are the mistresses of the gods, and keep houses of ill-fame in the
d Some idea may be formed of the taste of the early Hindoo poets, who here
represent heavenly music as coming from beings with the mouths of horses I
116
THE VIDYA-DHORUS AND UPSURUS.
heaven of Indru. When any one of the gods visits the king of
heaven, he generally spends some time with one or more of these
courtezans.
Story respecting the son of Indrti and an Upstira. — On a
certain occasion, many of the gods were invited to an entertain-
ment at the palace of Indru. In the midst of the dance Gundhui -
vu-senu, the son of Indru, was fascinated with the charms of one
of the upsuras ; and behaved so indelicately, that his father com-
manded him to descend to the earth in the form of an ass. All the
gods joined the son in endeavouring to appease the angry father ;
who ultimately directed that Gundlim*vu-senu should be an ass in
the day, and a man in the night ; he promised his son too, that
when Dhara, the king, should burn him, he should recover his
place in heaven. With this modification of the curse, Gundhurvu-
senu sunk to the earth, and alighted in the form of an ass near a
pond at Dhara-nuguru. In the day the fallen son of Indru remain-
ed in this form near the pond ; and in the night, in that of a man,
he wandered from place to place to appease his hunger. One day a
bramhun came to this pond to bathe ; when Gundhurvu-senii told
him that he was the son of Indru, and requested him to speak to
king Dharu, to give him his daughter in marriage. The bramhun
consented ; but on speaking to the king, the latter refused to be-
lieve that he was Indru's son, unless he himself had some conver-
sation with him. The next day the king went, with his counsellors
and courtiers, and held a conversation Avith the ass ; who related
his history, and the cause of his degradation : but the king still
refused assent, unless he performed some miracle. To this the ass
consented ; and in one night raised a fort of iron forty miles square
and six high. The next day the king, seeing the fort finished,
was obliged to consent, and to appoint the day of marriage. He
invited bramhuns, kings, and other guests without number, to the
wedding ; and, on the day appointed, with dancing, songs, and a
most splendid shew, (the bride being adorned with jewels and the
richest attire,) they marched to the iron fort to give the beautiful
daughter of king Dharu* in marriage to the ass. In that country
weddings are celebrated in the day. When all was ready,
they sent a bramhun to call Gundhurvu-senu from the pond ;
who, elated in the highest degree, having bathed, accompanied the
bramhun to the assembly. Hearing music and songs, Gundhurvu-
se'nu could not refrain from giving them an ass's tune : but the
guests, hearing the braying of the ass, were filled with sorrow ;
some were afraid to speak their minds to the king ; but they could
not help whispering and laughing one amongst another, covering
their mouths with their garments : others muttered to the king,
' O king, is this the son of Indru ? O great monarch ! you have
found an excellent bridegroom ; you are peculiarly happy in
having to give your daughter in marriage to the son of Indru ;
don't delay the wedding ; in doing good delay is improper ; we
THE NAYIKAS.
ill
never saw so glorious a wedding ; we have heard of a camel being
married to an ass, when the ass, looking upon the camel, said,
' Bless me ! what a fine form and the camel, hearing the voice of
the ass, said ' Bless me ! what a sweet voice V — The bramhuns
continued : ( In that wedding, however, the bride and bridegroom
were equal ; but in this marriage, that such a bride should have
such a bridegroom is truly wonderful !' Other bramhuns said?
' O king, at other weddings, as a sign of joy, the sacred shell is
blown ; but thou hast no need of that,' (alluding to the braying of
the ass.) The females cried out, ' O mother ! what is this ! at the
time of marriage to have an ass ! What a miserable thing ! What 1
will he give such an angelic female in marriage to an ass ?' — The
king, ashamed, held down his head. At length Gundhurvu-senu
began to converse with the king in Sungskritu, and to urge him
to the fulfilment of his promise ; reminding him, that c there was
no act more meritorious than speaking truth, (putting the king in
mind of his promise ;) that the body was merely a garment, and
that wise men never estimate the worth of a person by the clothes
he wears : moreover, he was in this shape from the curse of his
father, and during the night he should assume the body of a man.
Of his being the son of Indru there could be no doubt.' The minds
of the guests were now changed, and they confessed, that though
he had the outside of an ass, he was unquestionably the son of
Indru ; for it was never known that an ass could speak Sungskri-
tu. The king, therefore, gave his daughter to him in marriage.
By the time the guests were dismissed, night drew on, when Gund-
hurvu-senu assumed the form of a handsome man, and, having
dressed himself, respectfully went into the presence of the king.
All the people, seeing so fine a man, and recollecting that in the
morning he would become an ass, felt both pleased and sorrowful.
The king brought the bride in great state to the palace, and the
next day gave her servants, camels, jewels, &c and dismissed the
guests with many presents. Dhara, however, in the midst of his
other cares, could not but feel anxious that Gundhurvu-senu
should throw off his ass's body. After a thousand contrivances,
he said to himself, 'Gundhurvu-senu is the son of Indru ; therefore
he can never die : at night he casts off his ass's body, and it
lies like a dead body : T will therefore burn this body, and thus
keep him constantly in the shape of a man.' Accordingly, one
night, he caused the ass's body to be burnt, — when Gundhurvu-
senu appeared in his presence, told him that now the curse was
removed, and that he should immediately ascend to heaven. After
saying this he withdrew, and the king saw him no more.
Nayihas. — These are female companions of Doorga, and are
worshipped at the festivals of this goddess. Eight of them have
a pre-eminence over the rest. The Tuntru-shastrus declare, that
these females visit the worshippers either as their wives,
or as mothers ; and declare to them how they may obtain
J18
THE YUKSHUS, PISHACHUS, GOODGHUKUS, &C
heaven : or, as sisters, bring to them any female they choose,
and reveal whatever they desire to know of the present or future.
He who wishes to obtain the company of a Nayika must worship
her thrice a day, and repeat her name at night in a cemetery
for seven, or fifteen, or thirty [days. On the last night he must
continue to repeat her name till she appears to him, and asks what
he wishes for. She remains with him during the night, and departs
the next morning, leaving with him presents to a large amount ;
which, however, he must expend the next day, or they will all eva-
porate. If the worshipper wishes to go to any place in the three
worlds, the Nayika takes him thither in a moment. If after
cohabiting with one of the Nayikas, he cohabit with any other fe-
male, the Nayika immediately destro}^s him. Anundu-chundru, a
bramhun of Soopooru in Veeru-bhodmee, who died only a few
years since, is said to have obtained the fruit of his worshipping
the Nayikas.
The Yukshus are the servants of Kooveru, the god of riches,
and fly through the world preserving the wealth of men. A
number of stories, not worth detailing, principally referring to
their wars or intrigues, are contained in the pooranus. In the
form of meditation, Kooveru is described as a white man, having
a hammer in his right hand. He is worshipped at the festival of
the goddess Lukshmee, and at all the other great festivals ; but
has no separate feast, image, nor temple. The Ramayunu relates
that Kooveru, by prayer to Brumha, accompanied with religious
austerities, obtained Lunka, (Ceylon ;) the very mire of whose
streets is gold. Here he reigned till Ravunu dispossessed him.
Brumha also gave to this god the chariot Pooshpuku ; which had
the property of expansion, and, of going wherever the charioteer
wished. From Limka, Kooveru went to mount Koilasu, where he
is supposed to be at present.
Flshctchus. — These messengers of the gods guard the sacred
places tli e resort of pilgrims. Sixty thousand are said to guard
the streams of the Ganges from the approach of the profane.
The Goorlgliuhus, the Sirldhus, the Bhootus, and the Cha-
runus. — These are beings of inferior orders, residing with the gods
as servants.
There are several other orders of females, as the Yoginees,
Dakinees, Kakinees, Shakhinees, Bhodtinees, and Pre'tinees, who
wait upon Doorga or Shivu, as their attendants. All these also are
worshipped at the great festivals.
KRISHNU, HIS BIRTH AND JUVENILE EXPLOITS.
110
CHAP. V.
OF THE TERRESTRIAL GODS.
The Hindoo celestial goddesses, it will be seen, are very few.
There are no more indeed than three which can be considered as
really distinct, and as holding a distinguished place among this
class of Hindoo deities : these are Doorga, Suruswutee, and Luksh-
mee. Many of the others are different forms of Doorga ; and Munusa,
Shushtee, and Sheetula, would have been placed among the terres-
trial goddesses, but they do not seem to have had an earthly ori-
gin.— I now proceed to give an account of the terrestrial gods,
some of whom are worshipped with more shew than any of the
celestial deities.
Sect. I.— Krishnu.e
According to the Shree-Bhaguvutu, Muhabharutu, and other
works, this god, a form of Vishnoo, was incarnate to destroy kings
Shishoo-palii and Kungsu, and a number of giants.
Krishna was born at Mut'hoora ; his father's name was Vusoo-
devu, a kshutriyu, and his mother's Devukee ; but Kungsu. seeking
to destroy him when an infant, his father fled to Vunda-vunu, and
concealed him in the house of Nimdu, a voishyu : hence he is
sometimes called the son of Nundu.
Many stories are recorded of Krishnu in the pooranus : in his
infancy he deprived a giant of her breath, who had poisoned her
breasts before she gave him suck ;f — soon after he destroyed a
carriage against which he hurt his foot, when laid by his nurse at
the door to sleep ;g — Nundus wife, when looking into his mouth
one day, had a surprising view of the three worlds, with Brumha,
Vishnoo, and Shi vu sitting on their thrones ; — at the age of eight
years he took up mount Govurdhunu in his arms, and held it as an
umbrella over the heads of the villagers and their cattle during a
dreadful storm, with which the angry king of heaven was over-
whelming them ; he created a number of cattle, and also of boys
and girls, to replace those which Brumha had stolen from Vrinda-
vunu ; — he destroyed a large r^dra, which had poisoned the
waters of the Yumoona ; — he seduced the wife of Ayunu-ghoshu,
a voishyu, and sported with 16,000 milk- maids in the wilderness
e The black.
f It is common for a Hindoo nurse to offer the breast to a neighbour's child
when she happens to be on a visit.
« Mothers frequently lay their infants exposed to the rays of the sun to sleep,
after rubbing their breasts with oil.
120
HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVALS.
of Vrindu ; — he next assumed four arras, destroyed Rungs 11, and
placed Rungsus father on the throne ; after this he was engaged
in various quarrels, and had to combat with many formidable
enemies ; which induced him to build a fort at Dwaruka, where he
resided, and married two wives ; — he next joined the family of
Yoodhisht'hiru in their war with the race of Dooryodhunu ; — and,
lastly, destroyed Shishoo-palu. He closed his life with an act
worthy of such a character, by destroying his whole progeny;11 and
was at length himself accidentally killed by an arrow, while sitting
under a tree.
It is very possible, if any real Hindoo history could be dis-
covered, that many of these facts would be found recorded in the
life of a Hindoo king of this name ; which facts have been embel-
lished by the Asiatic poets till they have elevated the hero into a
god. The images of this lascivious and blood-stained hero are now
worshipped by the Hindoos with an enthusiasm, which transforms
them into the very image of Rrishnu himself.
This god is represented as a black man, holding a flute to his
mouth with both hands : his mistress Radha stands on his left.
On the 8th of the moon's decrease in the month Bhadru, an
annual festival is held in the nio;ht, to celebrate the birth of this
god. On this day all the worshippers fast6. The regular Hindoos,
and the disciples of the Gosaeesf, sometimes differ a day or two in
celebrating this feast. After the ceremonies of worship are conclu-
ded, the worshippers assemble before the temple near a hole cut in
the ground, into which have been thrown water, oil, curds, turmeric,
and earth ; and seize first one person and then another, and throw
them into this hole ; and others jump into it. Music, dancing,
h The posterity of Krishnu, say several pooranfis, were destroyed by the curse of
a brarnhun ; but as all events are ascribed to Krishnu by his votaries, this of destroy-
ing his own family is referred to his agency. So infamous is the character of this god,
even among those who hope for salvation through him, that Vilwti-mimgnln, a blind
poet, wrote the following verse, which certainly contains the severest possible censure
of this profligate deity.
' Oh ! Krishnu ! thou who didst destroy thy own offspring ;
Thou who didst renounce (Seeta) the spotless daughter of Ztinuku, in the wilderness ;
Thou who didst cast down to hades Vulee, who had given thee his all ; —
Who would think on thee, if thou wert not the deliverer from death V
In exact agreement with this Siingskritu verse, was the declaration made before
several persons in company in the year 1812, by Ram-nat'hii, the second Sungskritii
pundit in the College of Fort- William ; who, speaking of the universal profligacy of
manners in Calcutta, declared, that 'every house contained a KrishnuV
e In a Hindoo fast, the person abstains, for three days, from anointing himself
with oil, from connubial intercourse, from fish, every thing fried, and eats only once
a day. At the time of a Jewish fast, the person is said to have ' afflicted his soul
but among the Hindoos fasting and merriment go together. The Jewish fast was
connected with moral sentiment : the Hindoos fast as an act of mere ceremonial purity.
f The Gosaees are the religious leaders of a large portion of the worshippers of
Krishnu. Gosaee is a term of respect equivalent to Sir.
HTS IMAGE AND FESTIVALS.
121
singing obsence songs, &c. accompany these acts of rude merriment ;
at the close of which, dancing through the streets, the crowd go to
some pool, or to the river, and wash themselves : and thus the
festivity ends.
In the month Shravunu, another festival is held in honour of
Krishna, called Jhoolunu-yatrag. On the 11th night of the increase
of the moon this festival begins ; when a chair or throne, contain-
ing the image, being suspended from the ceiling of an adjoining
room in the temple, the proprietor begins to swing the image, and
other bramhun guests continue it at pleasure. At ten o'clock the
god is taken to his usual place, when the different forms of worship
are repeated, amidst the offering of flowers, incense, sweetmeats,
fruits, and other acts of adoration. During the celebration
of worship in the house, the crowd out of doors sing, dance,
and make a horrid discord with barbarous instruments of music,
connecting with the whole every kind of indecency. At twelve
o'clock the owner of the image entertains a great multitude of
bramhuns. After eating and drinking, they literally ' rise up to
play :' youths, dressed so as to represent Krishnu and his mistress
Radha, dance together ; and the festivities are thus continued till
the crowd retire at day -light. Some keep this feast for five nights,
beginning on the eleventh ; and others for three nights, beginning
on the thirteenth.
On the 15th of the increase of the moon in the month Karti-
ku, another festival is held during three nights, to celebrate the
revels of this impure god with the milk-maids. It is called the
Rasu. Each night, after the ceremonies in the temple are closed,
the crowd carry the image out with much noise, music, singing,
and dancing ; and place it in a brick building in the street, which
is open on all sides, and has one highly elevated sitting place.
This building is annually gilt, ornamented, and grandly illumina-
ted for this festival. Sixteen small images of Krishnu are neces-
sary on this occasion ; but a very small gold image, about the size
of a breast-pin, is placed as the object of adoration, and afterwards
given to the officiating bramhun. At the close of the festival, the
clay images are thrown into the river.
Round the building in the street, booths are erected, filled
with sweetmeats, playthings, and other articles, as at an English
fair. Here fathers and mothers, leading their children by the
hand, or carrying them on their hips,h come for fairings. Thieves
s The swinging festival.
h This is the way in which all Hindoos carry their children : a child is rarely
seen m a person's arms, as in Europe. The same custom appears to have existed
among the Jews : ' Ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees,
Isaiah lxvi 12.
16
122
HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVALS.
and gamblers are very busy at these times 1 ; and upon the whole
it is amazing how much a European is here reminded of an English
race-ground. At these times I have seen the grey-headed idolater
and the mad youth dancing together ; the old man lifting up his
withered arms in the dance, and giving a kind of horror to the
scene, which idolatry itself, united to the vivacity of youth, would
S3arcely be able to inspired In England the bait to corrupting
amusements is merely a horse-race : but in Bengal the Hindoo is
at once called to what he considers divine worship and to a licen-
tious festival ; no one imagining, but that worship and adultery
may be performeed in the same hour. About four or five in the
morning the crowd carry the god back to the temple ; and then
retire to cure their hoarseness and rest their wearied bodies.
On the fourth morning, having brought the god home, after
the usual ceremonies, they sing songs in celebration of the
actions of Krishnu ; and continue them from ten till twelve
or one o'clock in the day. Many come to hear, who present
various offerings to the god ; after which a grand feast is given to
the bramhuns. The expenses of this festival are defrayed either
by rich natives, or from the revenues of the temples.
At the full moon in Phalgoonu, the Dolu,1 another swinging
festival is held. — Fifteen days before the full moon the holidays
begin, from which time the Hindoos assemble in the night to sing
and dance ; and in the day they wander about the streets, throwing
red powder™ at the passengers, either with their hands or through
a syringe. On the night before the full moon, the ceremonies of
worship are performed ; at the close of which, having besmeared
themselves with red powder, they carry the god from his house to
some distance, amidst the sounds of music, dancing, fireworks,
1 In the year 1810, on account of the depredations of preceding years, the
magistrate of Serampore forbad the erection of booths and all games at this festival :
in consequence of which an expense of near four hundred rupees, incurred in perform-
ing the ceremonies of worship, fell upon the owner of the image of KrishnS, who
would otherwise have received as much from the proprietors of the booths and gaming
shops.
k Illuminations, fireworks, and the gilding of their temples, give a very shewy
effect to Hindoo ceremonies, which are often performed at the time of the full
moon, and at midnight. A moon-light night in India is highly pleasant. At the
time of the Rasu festival, I have seen a scene so gaily illuminated and adorned, that the
whole seemed enchantment ; every native, as he approached the god, threw himself on
the ground with the most profound reverence, and muttered his praise with rapture
as he mingled in the delighted crowd. Could I have forgotten that these people were
perpetrating a dreadful crime, and that these nightly festivals were connected with
the greatest impurities, I should have been highly gratified.
1 All these festivals are intended to represent the obscene acts or play of
Krishnu. This is the play of swinging common to young folks in Europe. I am told
that on this occasion, in various places in Hindoost'hanu, many families sit up all
night, swinging hy the light of the moon. They suspend a cord betwixt two trees,
and while some are swinging, others are singing impure songs, and others dancing.
*» This powder is made with the roots of wild ginger, coloured with sappan wood.
Other ingredients are added to make superior kinds.
IMAGE OF EADHA ACCOMPANIES KKISHNU'S.
123
singing, &c. A bamboo, with a straw man tied to it, having been
erected in some plain, they place the god here, and again worship
him. After three hours have been spent in various sports, especially
with fireworks, they set fire to the bamboo and straw, carrying
back the image to the temple. Very early in the morning they
bathe the god, set him on a chair, and then worship him, rocking
him in this chair, and throwing upon him red powder. At twelve
o'clock at noon these ceremonies are repeated with greater splend-
our ; when many offerings are presented, and the bramhuns
entertained. About four the festival closes by another repetition
of the same ceremonies. The god is then washed, anointed, clothed,
and put into the temple ; where food remains before him for some
time, and is then given to the bramhuns.
Besides these many other festivals less popular are held in
the course of the year.
Many small black stones, having images of Krishnu. cut in
them, are to be found in the houses of the Hindoos; to which
different names are given, but they are all forms of Krishnu. The
temples dedicated to Krishnu are very numerous ; and it is a
scandalous fact that the image of Radha, his mistress, always
accompanies that of Krishnu, and not those of his wives Rookminee
and Sutyu-bhama. Many persons may be heard in the streets,
and when sitting in their shops, repeating to themselves and to
parrots the names of Radha and Krishnu, as works of merit.
Pantomimical entertainments are frequently represented, in which
the lewd actions of this god are exhibited.
Six parts out of ten of the whole Hindoo population of Bengal
are supposed to be the disciples of this god. The far greater part
of these, however, are of the lower orders, and but few of them
bramlmns.n The mark on their foreheads consists of two straight
lines from the tip of the nose to the back of the head.
A story of Krishnu. — The death of Shishoo-palu is thus
related : — A quarrel arose at a sacrifice between Krishnu and this
monarch, respecting the point of precedency, which Shishoo-palu
would not resign to Krishnu: ''What !' says he, ' shall T be preceded
by the son of a cowherd ; one who has eaten with a cow-keeper,
who has led cows to pasture, and has been guilty of all manner
of abominations V Krishnu restrained his ra^e for some time ;
but at length became exceedingly angry, and cut off his head at
one blow. It was prophesied of Shishoo-palu, that as soon as he
saw the person by whose hands he should die, two of his four
arms would fall off; and this is said to have happened the moment
he saw Krishnu at the meeting of the kino-s at this sacrifice.
n The greater part of the brarahiSns are disciples of the female deities, (Shaktus.)
124
STORIES OF K1USHNIJ.
Another Story. — On a certain occasion the lascivious Krishnu
heard, that king Dundee possessed a horse, which every night
assumed the form of a beautiful female. Krishna asked for this
horse : but the king refused him, and fled to Bheemu, Krishnu' s
friend ; who, rather than abandon a person who had claimed his
protection, resolved to break the ties of friendship with Krishnu,
and go to war with him. A war commenced, which continued to
rage with the utmost fury, till the horse, assuming the shape of
a kinnuree, ascended to heaven, the period of the curse under which
it lay being expired.
Krishnu ruining his friend by urging him to declare a deli-
berate falsehood. — In the war betwixt the family of Dooryodhunu
and the Panduvus, Dronacharjyu. was so mighty a warrior that
the Panduvus had no hope of success, unless they could cut him
off ; to accomplish which, Krishnu contrived to throw Dronacharjyu
off his guard, by causing it to be reported through the army, that
his son Ushwutt'hama was killed. The father refused to believe
the report, unless Yoodhist'hiru would say it was true. Krishnu
pressed Yoodhist'hiru to tell this lie, as it would insure success to
their affairs ; and, in cases of extremity, the shastru had declared
it lawful to employ falsehood. Yoodhist'hiru at first positively
refused, but was at length persuaded by the entreaties of Krishnu,
XJrjoonu, and others ; who told him the assertion would not be a
lie, as an elephant of Dooryodhunifs, of the same name, had actu-
ally been killed in battle. Dronacharjyu was so^ overcome when
he was thus brought to believe the news, that tJrjoonu soon dis-
patched him ; which completely changed the face of the battle.
On account of this falsehood, Yoodhist'hiru, in going to heaven,
was terrified by a sight of the torments of hell. — Where did Krishnu,
the father of this lie, go ?
Theft and murder committed by Krishnu. — When Krishnu
was going to Mut'hoora to destroy Kungsft, as he approached the
city he felt ashamed of the meanness of his dress, which consisted
only of some shreads of cloth, like ropes, tied round his loins ; and
said to his brother Bulu-ramu, ' All are going to this sacrifice
elegantly dressed ; we cannot go in this condition.' Krishnu then
sent his brother to a washerman, who however would not part
with the clothes in his possession, as they belonged to king Kungsu.
A quarrel ensued, in the midst of which Krishnu killed the washer-
man, and carried off the clothes. These free-booters next went to
a shop, and stole two necklaces ; and afterwards seized some sandal-
wood, which a deformed woman was taking to the palace of
Kungsu : but, to reward her, Krishnu pulled her straight, and
made her more beautiful than the upsuras. The woman asked
Krishnu, since he had made her so beautiful, who should marry
her. Krishnu asked her, to whom she wished to be united. She
said, to himself ; — and from that time she became his mistress.
GOPALU, STORY OF HIS IMAGE — GOPEE-NATHU, 125
Sect. II. — Gopalu.0
This is an image of Krishna in his childhood. He is resting
on one knee, with his right hand extended, craving some sweet-
meats from his mother.
This infant god is worshipped at the festivals in honour of
Krishna : the ceremonies are the same, though the formulas are
different.
Those who preserve stone, or brass, or other images of this
god in their houses, as many do, worship them every day, or when-
ever they choose. Many persons receive the initiating incantation
of Gopalu as their guardian deity.
Gireesha-chundru, the raja of Nudeeya, in the year 1807, had
two dreams, in which the god Gopalu appeared to him, and told
him, that in a certain place in Nudeeya, a beautiful image of him
was buried deep in the ground. The raja paid no attention to his
dreams, till the god appeared to him a third time, telling him the
same thing : when he consulted his principal servants, who sent
labourers to dig up the image ; but none was found. A few nights
after, Gopalu appeared again, and told the raja that he was to be
found in such a place, describing the spot in a more particular
manner. The raja again sent his servants, who found the image.
The greatest rejoicings took place at Nudeeya on this occasion ;
learned bramhuns were called ; and a vast concourse of people
collected from the surrounding country to behold this miraculously
discovered god, and to witness his installation, at which four thou-
sand rupees were expended : a temple was afterwards erected on
the spot, and the god placed in it. This image is now become very
famous : the offerings presented to it do not amount, it is said, to
less than two hundred rupees monthly.
Another image of the infant KrishirS, called Balugopalu, made
of stone or metal, is kept in the houses of many, and worshipped
daily, as well as at the festivals in honour of Krishna.
Sect. III. — Gopee-nat'hti,.*
This is another form of Krishnu. In some places the image
is worshipped every day, as well as at the festivals in honour of
Krishnu.
A celebrated image of this god is set up at Ugru-dweepu
where an annual festival is held, on the 11th and five following
days of the decrease of the moon, in Choitru. The origin of this
image is so recent, that the story is known to every Hindoo : —
° The cowherd.
p The god of the milk-maids.
126
HIS IMAGE AT UGRU-DWEEPU.
Two religious mendicants, since become famous among the follow-
ers of Krishnu, Choitunyu and Nityanundu, sent their disciple
Ghoshu-t'hakooru, who did not relish an austere life, to TJgru-
dweepu, and directed him to take a certain stone with him, and
make an image of Gopee-nat'hu, which he should set up there and
worship. Ghoshu-t'hakooru obeyed his spiritual guides ; took the
stone on his head ; set it up as a god, the gift of Choitunyu
and Nityanundu, and began to worship it in public daily.
The god soon appeared to him in dreams, and revealed a num-
ber of secret things ; so that by degrees Gopee-nat'hu of TJgru-
dweepu became very famous. One night a stranger came to
the temple at a very late hour, when no one was awake to
give him refreshment. The god himself, however, in the form
of Ghoshu-t'hakooru, took an ornament from his ancle, and pur-
chased some food for the stranger at an adjoining shop. In the
morning there was a great noise in the town about this ornament,
when the shopkeeper and the stranger declared these facts, so
creditable to the benevolence of the god ; and from this circum-
stance the fame of Gopee-nat'hu spread still wider. After the
death of Ghoshu-t'hakooru, the god appeared to his successor, and
directed him to perform the funeral rites ; in the celebration of
which it was contrived that the god himself should present the
offering to the manes : for when the kooshu grass, the rice, and the
water were put into the hands of the image, the god (a little more
water than usual being poured into his hand) poured out the
offering ; when the crowd set up a great shout, declaring that the
god himself had presented the offering to the manes. At present,
it is said, this god brings in not less than 25,000 rupees annually
to his owner.
At the above-mentionedjfestival, it is supposed that 100,000
people assemble each day at Ugru-dweep$ ; among whom are great
multitudes of lewd women, who accompany the religious mendi-
cants. Filthy songs about Krishnu and his mistresses are sung
by the crowd, and all manner of indecent diversions practised.
Different castes eat together here.
After the death of Ghoshu-t'hakooru, the image fell into the
hands of the raja, or lord of the soil ; who sent bramlmns to per-
form the ceremonies before the image, and receive the offerings.
Raja Nuvu-krishnu, of Calcutta, once seized this image for a debt
of three lacks of rupees, due to him from the owner, raja Krishnu-
chundru-rayu. The latter afterwards regained the image by a
suit at law ; but not till Nuvu-krishnii had made another Gopee-
nat'hu exactly like it.
All this has arisen out of a stone given by two mendicants to
one of their companions ! — Who can avoid feeling a mingled sensa-
tion of disgust and pity, while he beholds such multitudes, the abject
slaves of a superstition so degrading ?
jugunnat'hu, his image, temples
127
Sect. IV. — Jugunnat,hu.q
The image of this god has no legs, and only stumps of arms :r
the head and eyes are very large. At the festivals the bramhuns
adorn him with silver or golden hands.
Krishnu, in some period of Hindoo history, was accidentally
killed by Ungudu, a hunter ; who left the body to rot under the
tree where it fell. Some pious person, however, collected the
bones of Krishnu, and placed them in a box ; where they remain-
ed till Indru-dhoomnu, a king, who was performing religious aus-
terities to obtain some favour of Vishnoo, was directed by the
latter to form the image of Jugunnat'hu, and put into its belly
these bones of Krishnu, by which means he should obtain the
fruit of his religious austerities. Indru-dhoomnu enquired who
should make this image ; and was commanded to pray to Vishwu-
kurmu.8 He did so, and obtained his request ; but Yishwii-kurmu
at the same time declared, that if any one disturbed him while
preparing the image, he would leave it in an unfinished state. He
then began, and in one night built a temple upon the blue
mountain in Orissa, and proceeded to prepare the image in the
temple : but the impatient kin<r, after waiting fifteen days, went
to the spot , on which Yishwu-kurmu desisted from the work, and
left the god without hands or feet. The king was very much
disconcerted ; but on praying to Brumha, he promised to make
the image famous in its present shape.
Indru-dhoomnu now invited all the gods to be present at the
setting up of this image : Brumha himself acted as high priest,
and gave e}Tes and a soul to the god, which completely established
the fame of Jugunnat'hu. This image is said to lie in a pool near
the present temple, at Jugunnat'hu-kshetru in Orissa, commonly
known among the English by the name of Jugunnat'hu's pagoda.
The particulars of this place will be found in the account of the
Hindoo holy places, the resort of pilgrims.
Jugunnat'hu has many temples in Bengal, built by rich men
as works of merit, and endowed either with lands, villages, or
money. The worship of this god is performed in these temples
every morning and evening ; at which times people come to see
the god, or prostrate themselves before him. During the intervals
of worship, and after the god has partaken of the offerings, he is
i The lord of the world, from jiigiSt, the world, and nat'hn, lord.
r The Athenians placed statues at their doors to drive away thieves, which they
called Hermte, from Mercury. These images had neither hands nor feet, and hence
Mercury was called Cyllenius, and by contraction Cyllius, from Kullos, viz., without
hands or feet.
8 The architect of the gods.
128
AND FESTIVALS.
laid down to sleep/ when the temple is shut up till the next hour of
worship.
Bramhiins may make offerings of boiled rice to this or to any
other god, but shoodrus cannot : they are permitted to offer only
dried rice.a The food which is offered to Juopmnat'hu is either
eaten by the bramhuns and their families at the temples, or by
passengers and others, who purchase it of those shopkeepers that
have brought it of the bramhuns ; a little is given to the poor.
There are two annual festivals in Bengal in honour of this
god ; the Snanu-yatra, and the Rut'hu-yatra.
At-the Snanu-yatra, in the month Jyoisht'hu, this lord of the
world, wrapped in a cloth, is carried out and placed in a seat on a
large terrace built in an open place near the temple. Here the
bramhuns, surrounded by an immense concourse of spectators,
bathe the god by pouring water on his head, during the reading of
incantations. The people at the close of the ceremony make obei-
sance, some by lifting their hands to their foreheads, and others
by prostration, and then depart, assured by the shastrus that they
shall be subject to no more births, but be admitted to heaven after
the death of this body. The. bramhuns then wipe this creator of
the world, and carry him back to the temple ; after which the
ceremonies of worship are performed before him with great shew.
This snanu, however, is not confined to Jugunnat'hu; but at
this time all the different images of Yishnoo, throughout the
country, are bathed. It is the custom of the Hindoos to feed their
children with rice for the first time when they are six, seven, or
nine months old. On this day, before the ceremony of feeding
the child, they bathe it, repeating incantations. Krishnu par-
took of his first rice at the full moon in Jyoist'hu; in commemo-
ration of which, this snanu-yatra is performed annually by the
worshippers of any separate form of Vishnoo,
About seventeen days after the snanu-yatra, on the second of
the increase of the moon in Asharhu, the Ku'thu or car festival is
held. Before the god is taken out of the temple to be placed on the
car, the usual ceremonies of worship are performed. The car be-
longing to the image near Serampore is in the form of a tapering
tower, between thirty and forty cubits high. It has sixteen wheels,
two horses, and one coachman, all of wood. Jugunnat'hu, his
brother Bulii-ramu, and their sister Soobhudra, are drawn up by
ropes tied round the neck, and seated on benches in an elevated
* The images of the gods in all the Hindoo temples, at certain hours, are laid
down to sleep ; at least, all those that are small enough to be laid down and lifted up
again.
u The bramhuns do not eat the boiled rice of the shoodrus. Sweetmeats, fruit,
the water of the Ganges, &c. are things received from shoodriis. Yet there are a few
bramhuns who refuse even sweetmeats and water from the hands of shoodrus.
BOLU-RAMU — HIS IMAC4E ACCOMPANIES JUGUNNAT'hu'S. 129
part of the carriage ; when a servant on each side waves a tail of
the cow of Tartary, called a clmmuru.* The crowd draw the car-
riage by means of a hawser ; their shouts, as the carriage proceeds,
may be heard at the distance of a mile. Being arrived at the ap-
pointed spot, the bramhims take out the images, and carry them
to the temple of some other god, or to a place prepared for them,
where they remain eight days. At Serampore, Jugunnat'hu, and
his brother and sister, visit the god Radhavullubhu ;y and here the
wives of bramhuns, who are never seen at shews, and who seldom
leave home, come to look at Jugunnat'hu. The car stands empty
during this time, and the crowd flock to gaze at the indecent
figures,2 alluding to the abominations of the gods, which are paint-
ed all over it. Temporary shops are erected near the place where
the car stands, like booths on a race-ground.a At the end of eight
days, the god is again drawn up by the neck, placed in the car,
and carried back to the place from whence he came ; but the crowd
is not quite so great as when the carriage is drawn out. Many
recent instances might be collected of persons,diseased or in distress,
casting themselves under the wheels of this ponderous car, and
being crushed to death.
This festival is intended to celebrate the diversions of Krishnu
and the milk-maids, with whom he used to ride out in his chariot.
Sect. V. — Bulu-ramu.h
This god was cotemporary with Krishnu. His image,
painted white, almost always goes with that of Jugunnat'hu,
though in a few temples it is set up alone. At the worship
of Jugunnat'hu, and also at that of Krishnu, a short service is
performed in the name of Bulu-ramu, whose image also sometimes
accompanies that of Krishnu. Some place the image of Revutee
by the side of her husband. From the sutyu to the kulee-yoogu
this female, the daughter of king Revutu, remained unmarried:
The king, at length, asked Brumha, to whom he should give his
daughter in marriage : Brumha recommended Bulu-ramu, who
saw her for the first time when ploughing. Notwithstanding her
x The chamuru is a necessary appendage to royalty among the Hindoos.
y Another form of Krishnu\ The name intimates that this god is the paramour
of Kadha. 5 v
* Romans i. 27-
a The spirit of gambling is very prevalent at this festival. I have been credibly
informed, that, a year or two ago, at Serampore, a man actually sold his wife for a
slave, in order to supply himself with money for gaming.
b He who pursues pleasure, or bestows it, in his own strength.
c This old maid must have been 3,888,000 years old at the time of her marriage
if we date her birth from the beginning of the sfityu-yoogu.
130
RAMU — HIS HISTORY, INCLUDING
immense stature, (it is said her stature reached as high as a sound
ascends in clapping the hands seven times.) Buluramu married her ;
and to bring down her monstrous height, he fastened a plough-
share to her shoulders.
Sect. Yl.—Ramud.
The following history of this god forms a brief table of con-
tents of the Ramayuim/ an epic poem, much celebrated among the
Hindoos.
At a certain period, king Dushu-rut'tm, having been cherished
with great affection by his wife Ke'koiyee/ promised her whatever
she should ask. She told him that she would avail herself of his
promises on some future occasion ; and when Ramu was called to
the eo-adjutorship by the voice of the people, and to which Dushu-
rut'hu gladly assented, Ke'koi37ee reminded the king of his promise;
and at the instigation of a deformed and revengeful female slave,
whom Ramu had formerly beaten, she petitioned that Ramu might
be exiled to a distant forest to live as an ascetic, and that Bhurutu
her son might be installed in his stead. The king reluctantly
complied. Ramu however readily submitted, and went into the
forest, taking with him Seeta and his brother Lukshmunu.
Dushu-rut'hu soon died of grief for Ramu. ; after which a shoe of
Ramus was placed on the throne, Bhurutu refusing the crown.
When in the forest, Soorpu-nukha/ the sister of Ravunu, a giant
who reigned at Lunka, (Ceylon,) proposed marriage to Ramu, who
sent her to Lukshmunu ; he sent her again to Ramu ; Ramu
sending her back to Lukshmunu, the latter cut off her nose : on
this she fled to her brothers Khuru and Dodshunu, who immediately
made war upon Kamu ; Hamu, however, destroyed them, as well
as their army of 14,000 giants, (rakshusus.) Ravunu, on hearing
of these events, requested Mureechu, another giant, to go to the
residence of Ramu in the form of a beautiful deer, and tempt
Ramu to pursue him, while he stole Seeta. Mareechu consented,
and Ramu, at the urgent request of Seeta, pursued the flying deer,
leaving Lukshmunu to guard his family. When Mareechu, in the
form of the deer, was wounded, he set up a loud cry like the
voice of Ramu; which greatly alarmed Seeta, who prevailed on
Lukshmunu to follow her beloved husband. While Seeta was
d The happy, or he who makes happy.
e I have omitted the long table of contents of this work inserted in the first
edition, thinking it unnecessary, as the Ramayunu* with an English translation is
issuing from the Serampore press. [The second edition is now published in England. —
Ed.]
* DKshu-rut'hu had 250 wives.
s A name given to her on account of her having nails like a Hindoo fan for
winnowing corn.
HIS WAR WITH RAVUNU.
131
thus left alone, Ravunu carried her off in triumph. The
poem then describes the grief of Ramu and his brother for the
loss of Seeta. Ravunu, in taking away Seeta, was met by Juta-
yoo, a vulture, formerly the friend of Dushu-rut'hu. This bird
endeavoured to deliver Seeta by fighting with Ravunu ; but being
unsuccessful, Seeta directed him to inform Ramu, that Ravunu was
carrying her away. Ramu in his search for Se^ta met with this
bird, which, as soon as it had delivered this account, died of the
wounds it had received in fighting with Ravunu. Ramu and his
brother now went forward in pursuit of Ravunu, and met with the
giant Kubundhu, whom they destroyed. This giant immediately
assumed another bod}^, and informed Ramu, that he had formerly
lived in the heaven of Indru, but had been cursed, and sent down
to take the body of a rakshusu. He further informed Ramu, that
two brothers, (monkies,) Soogreevu and Balee, were in a state of
warfare, Balee having seduced his brother's wife ; he therefore ad-
vised Ramu to destroy Balee, and contract an alliance with Soog-
reevu, by whose means he should obtain Seeta. Ramu took this
advice, and having destroyed Balee,h restored Soogreevu to his
kingdom. To prove his gratitude to Ramu, Soogreevu collected
his army of monkies, and sent them to seek for Seeta. The mon-
kies who went southward met Sumpatee, a vulture without wings,
brother to Jutayoo, who informed them that he had seen Seeta at
Lunka, (Ceylon.) Hunooman, one of Soogreevu s generals, im-
mediately leaped across the sea, (five hundred miles,)1 to Lunka,
where he found Seeta in a garden belonging to Ravunu ; to whom
he gave a ring from Ramu, while she, in return, sent Ramu a jewel
from her hair. Hunooman then began to destroy one of Ravunu's
gardens ; who sent people to kill Hunooman, but he destroyed
those who were sent. Ravunu then sent his son TJkshuyu against
the mischievous monkey ; but he also was destroyed. Ravunu
next sent his eldest son Indrujit, who seized Hunooman, and bring-
ing him before his father, the king ordered his attendants to set
fire to his tail ; when the enraged monkey, with his burning tail,
leaped from house to house, and set all Lunka on fire : after finish-
ing which he came to Seeta, and complained that he could not ex-
tinguish the fire that had kindled on his tail ; she directed him to
spit upon it, and he, raising it to his face for this purpose, set his
face on fire. He then complained, that when he arrived at home
with such a black face, all the monkeys would laugh at him.
Seeta, to comfort him, assured him, that all the other monkeys
should have black faces also ; and when Hunooman came amongst
his friends, he found that, according to the promise of Seeta, they
had all black faces as well as himself. After hearing the account
h Ramu, compared with Krishnu, is a pure character ; yet we see him here, with-
out provocation, destroy the rightful heir to a throne, and set up one who had seduced
the wife of his brother.
1 No one can doubt the propriety of makiog a spy of a monkey who can leap 500
miles at once.
132
RAMU S WAR WITH RAVUNU.
brought by Hunooman, Ramu and Lukshmunu, with Soogreevu
and his army of monkeys, proceeded to invade Lunka. They
tore up the mountains, trees, and other large substances, and
cast them into the sea to form a bridge ;k which, however,
Ravunu was constantly employed in breaking down. Yibhee-
shunu, Ravunus brother, perceiving that Ramu would make
good his landing, recommended that Seeta should be given up :
but his brother, unable to bear this advice, quarrelled with
Vibheeshunu ; who came over to Ramu, and advised him to
throw into the sea a temple and image of Shivu, assuring him,
that as Ravunu was a worshipper of Shivft, he would not destroy
the temple and image of his god. Kamu followed this advice, soon
made good his landing, and began the war with Ravunu. After
many giants had been killed, Koombhukurnu, a monstrous giant,
2,400 cubits high, and 1,600 thick, brother to Ravunu, engaged
Ramu and the monkeys. He began the combat by seizing and
devouring his enemies. Some of them, as soon as they entered his
mouth, came out at his nostrils and ears, and escaped. The terri-
fied monkeys fled ; but Ramu with his arrows first cut off his arms,
then his legs. Still he waddled round, and endeavoured to devour
all within his reach, till Ramu gave him a mortal wound in the
neck. Next after Koombhukurnu, Indrujit engaged in the contest.
He seized Kamu, and, by the power of enchantment, carried him
down to patalu; where Hunooman went in search of him, and,
while Muheeravunix was there, instructing Indrujit how to prostrate
himself before an image of the goddess Bhudru-kalee, Hunooman
cut off his head, and rescued Ramu. At length Ravunu himself
entered the combat ; but after many conflicts, finding himself very
weak, he resolved to restore Seeta, and put an end to the war. To
this Ramu consented ; but while Ravunu was on the point of
bringing Seeta, he thought within himself, ' If I do this, every one
will charge me with cowardice : shall I, a giant, refuse to fight ?'
The combat was again renewed, and Ravunu was slain.1 Rami!
then obtained his wife ; but as a trial of her innocence while in
the hands of Ravunu, he compelled her to pass through a fiery
k Ramu's bridge. See the map of Hindoost'han. Ramu was at a loss how to lead
his army across the sea to Lunka. He fasted, and prayed to SagSru for three days,
and was angry with the god for not appearing to him. He therefore ordered Liiksh-
munft to fire an arrow, and carry away the god's umbrella. He did so, and the arrow,
carrying away the umbrella, penetrated even as far as patalu. The god, aroused from
his sleep, exclaimed, ' Is Ranaii arrived by the sea side, and I have not known it ?' He
then directed Ramu to apply to king NnliS, to whom he had given a blessing, that
whatever he threw into the sea should become buoyant. At the command of Niihl,
the monkeys tore up the neighbouring mountains, and cast them into the sea. HiSnoo-
lnan brought three mountains on his head at once, each 64 miles in circumference ; and
one on each shoulder, equally large ; together with one under each arm, one in each
paw, and one on his tail. All these mountains being thrown into the sea, and becom-
ing buoy ant j a complete bridge was formed.
1 The engagement betwixt Ramu and Ravanu lasted seven days : Rami! cut off
the ten heads of Ravunu a hundred times, but they were always miraculously restored.
Ramu then discharged an arrow which had these properties, that if it went into the
air. it became a thousand : if it entered the body of an enemy, it became an innumer-
RAMU'S WAR WITH RAVUNU.
133
ordeal : winch she did unhurt. He then returned to Uyodhya. and
mounted the throne. After this, however, some person objected to
Ramu, that it was not proper for him to receive Seeta, after she had
been in keeping of a giant. He therefore sent her into the forest to
Valmeekee, the writer of the Ramayun'u, where she was delivered
of two sons, Luvu and Kooshu ; the latter of whom was afterwards
stolen by the god Punchanunu, when Valmeekee, to comfort the
mother, took a blade of kooshu grass, and secretly made a child so
much like Kooshu, that Seeta did not know it from her own son.
In a short time, however, Punchanunu, not being able to destroy a
child of Ramu s, restored Kooshu, and Valmeekee caused the two
boys to become one. Before his death Ramu performed the
sacrifice of a horse ;m and Seeta and her two sons, Luvu and
Kooshu, were restored to him : but Ramu wishing Seeta again to
pass through a fiery ordeal, she entered the fire ; but the goddess
Prut'hivee,n (Seeta' s mother,) opened her mouth, and received her
into patalu. At length Kalupoorooshu, the angel of death, went
to Eamu, expressing a wish for a secret conference. Ramu pro-
mised that while he was present no one should be admitted, and
placed Lukshmunu at the door to keep out all intruders : but
while Ramu and Kalu-poorooshu were closeted, Doorvasa, the
sage, arrived, and demanded an interview with Ramu. This sage
was so very passionate, that every one dreaded contradicting him ;
Lukshmunu, therefore, through fear, went in and announced his
arrival. Ramu, for this offence, rejected his brother, who in a
paroxysm of grief drowned himself in the sacred river Suruyoo,
and went to heaven. Ramu afterwards put an end to his life in
the same manner. Luvu and Kookshu succeeded him.0
able multitude. Ravunu at the sight of this arrow was filled with fear, and would
have fled ; but recollecting that ShivA had once given him an arrow that was to rescue
him in a time of extreme peril, he discharged it, and destroyed Ramfi's terrible arrow.
Still however he was full of fear, for whichever way he turned, he saw Rami! ; he shut
his eyes, but still he saw him in his mind. At length, perceiving no way of escape,
he began to flatter Ramu ; who was so softened, that he declared he would never des-
troy Ravunii. The gods, alarmed lest RavuniS should be spared, excited him to reproach
Ramu ; who, indignant at such conduct, let fry an arrow which pierced RavunrTs body,
proceeded through the earth into the regions below, and having there bathed, returned
in the form of a goose, and again entered the quiver in its original shape. The gods
were so much in fear of RaviSniS, that they durst not begin to rejoice till they were sure
he was dead : in whispers they asked each other, 'Is he dead?' — ' Is he really dead?'
&c. When it was known that he was certainly dead, the gods, Ramu, the monkeys,
and the bears, all began to dance. — Mundoditree, the chief wife of Ravunti, and mother
of Indritjit, after the death of her husband, went to Ramti, weeping. Ramu, not
knowing who she was, gave her this blessing, that she should never become a widow.
Finding his mistake, (having just killed her husband,) he ordered Htinooman continually
to throw wood into the fire ; according to a proverb among the Hindoos, that as long as
the body of the husband is burning, a woman is not called a widow. To this day,
therefore, Hunooman keeps laying logs on the fire ; and every time a Hindoo puts his
fingers in his ears and hears a sound, he says, he hears, the bones of Ravnnfi burning.
m This sacrifice was performed by many of the ancient Hindoo princes, and was
considered as highly meritorious.
n The earth personified.
° There arc a few sentences in this history, which are not to be found in
Valmeekee's Ramayfiuft ; but they may be seen in the Bengalee translation.
134
HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVAL — CHOITUNYU —
The image of Ramu is painted green ; he is represented as
sitting on a throne, or on Himooman, the monkey, with a crown
upon his head. He holds in one hand a bow, in another an arrow,
and has a bundle of arrows slung at his back.
The worship paid to him is of the same kind as that to
Krishnu ; but the formulas are different. On the ninth of the
increase of the moon in Choitru, on which day Ramu was born, an
annual festival is held, when multitudes of clay images are
worshipped. The dolu festival also is observed in honour of this
god on this day, which is also kept as a fast ; when Ramus three
brothers, Bhurutu, Lukshmunu, and Shutrughnu are worshipped,
but the imao-es of the first and last are never made. At other
O
festivals also a few ceremonies in honour of Ramu are performed.
The birth of Ramu forms the seventh of the Hindoo incarna-
tions. On the birth-day of this godp the Hindoo merchants in
general begin their new year's accounts. At the time of death,
many Hindoos write the name of Ramu on the breast and forehead
of the dying person, with earth taken from the banks of the
Ganges ; and hence these persons after death, instead of being
dragged to Yumu to be judged, immediately ascend to heaven.
Many of the disciples of Raima become Ramahoots, a class of
mendicants who impress on different parts of their bodies Ramu's
name and the figure of his foot. The mark on the forehead of
Ramu's followers very much resembles a trident.
Temples containing the images of Ramu, Lukshmunu, Seeta,
and Hunooman are erected in many parts of Bengal ; and the
worship of Ramu performed in them daily.
Sect. VII. — Choitunyu*
This is the image of an almost naked mendicant, painted yel-
low. Some of the Hindoos believe, that amongst all the Hindoo
incarnations there are four principal ones. The first, in the sutyu-
yoogu, called the Shooklu-vurnur incarnation, was that of Ununtu ;
that in the treta, the ruktu-vurnu,8 was the incarnation of Kopilu-
devu ; that in the dwapuru-yoogu, the Krishnu-vurnu ;* and the
last, in the kulee-yoogu, called peetu-vurnu,u that of Choitunyu.
According to the disciples of Choitunyu, the founder of this
sect, Udwoitu, a voidiku bramhun, lived at Shantipooru about 400
years ago. Nityanundu, another leader, was born at Nudeeya, a
little before Choitunyu. His father was a rarheeyu bramhun.
p The gods on this day are said to have caused a shower of flowers to fall, as at
the birth of Minerva it is said to have rained gold.
q The wise, r The white. s The blood-coloured. * The black. u The yellow.
HISTORY OF THIS MENDICANT GOD.
135
Choitunyu's father, Jugunnatliu-Mishru, a voidiku bramhun, lived
at Nudeeya ; his wife's name was Shuchee ; their first son, Vish-
wumbhura, embraced the profession of a dundee. The mother was
advanced in years when Choitunyu was born ; the child continued
three days without taking the breast, and the parents, not think-
ing it would live, putting it^into a basket, hung it on a tree near
the house." At this time Udwoitu before-mentioned, who had
heard of this birth, having some suspicions that it might be the in-
carnation he had expected and foretold, visited the parents, and
learning from the mother that she had not received the initiating
incantation of Huree, he wrote, with his great toe, this incantation
on the soft earth : — ' Huree, Krishna ; Huree, Krishna ; Krishna,
Krishna, Huree, Huree ; Huree, Rama, Huree, Ramu, Ramu, Rama,
Huree, Huree.' After the mother had received this incantation,
the child was taken down, and immediately began to draw the
breast.
Choitunyu made a great progress in learning ; at sixteen he
married Vishnoo-priya, and continued in a secular state till forty-
four, when he was persuaded by Udwoitu and other dundees then
at his house, to renounce his poita, and become a mendicant : upon
which, forsaking his mother and wife, he went to Benares. His
family was reduced to great distress indeed ; and it was thought a
crime that a person upon whom such a family depended should
embrace a life of mendicity. ✓
From this period Choitunyu began to form a new sect, giving
to all his followers the preceding initiatory incantation, and con-
tinuing to call them voishnuvus. He exhorted them to renounce
a secular life ; to visit the different holy places on pilgrimage ; to
eat with all castes who should receive the preceding incantation ; to
repeat the name of Vishnoo, using the bead-roll made with the
stalk of basil. He further taught that widows might marry ; but
forbad the eating of fish or flesh, and the worship of the deities to
whom bloody sacrifices are offered, as well as all communion with
those who make these sacrifices.
He went to Jugunnat'hu-kshetru in Orissa, and there assum-
ing six arms, received many honors. He exhorted Udwoitu and
Nityanundu to labour in making proselytes ; but directed Nitya-
nundu to enter into a secular state :F he did so, and took up his
x There are still many instances of children being exposed. If a child appear un-
likely to live, the parents consult an astrologer, who perhaps gives but small hopes of
the child's recovery. Voiragees and other mendicants, who make a merit of possessing
no worldly attachments, some times hang up a child in a pot in a tree ; or, putting it in
a pot, let it float down the river. Persons of other castes may do it, but these the most
frequently. Mr. Carey's journal, dated in July, 1794, contains the following paragraph :
' One day, as Mr. Thomas and I were riding out, we saw a basket hung in a tree, in
which an infant had been exposed ; the skull remained, but the rest had been devoured
by ants.' See Baptist Mission Accounts, vol. i. p. 183. This practice is now prohibit-
ed by the Hon. Company's Government, in a regulation made for that purpose.
y Perceiving his aversion to a life of mendicity
136
HIS FESTIVALS.
residence at Khurdu, near Calcutta. Choitunyu wrote to his two
principal disciples from Orissa, again exhorting them to labour in
gaining proselytes ; yet few or none joined them : and from this
time Choitunyu himself was never more heard of. Udwoitu and
Nityanundu raised families, whose descendants live at Shantipooru,
Vagna-para, and Khurdu to this day, where they are become leaders
of the sect ; all other Gosaees2 acknowledging the descendants of
these two families as their superiors, and prostrating themselves
before them. These Gosaees at present are men of large fortunes ;
at whose houses are the images originally set up by the male des-
cendant of Choittinyu, by Nityanundu, and Udwoitu Crowds are
almost constantly arriving at these places with offerings : besides
which, the Gosaees derive a large revenue from marriages, to super-
intend which they have agents distributed throughout the country,
who are allowed a sixth part of the fee ; a sum that from both
parties amounts to about six shillings. They also dissolve marriages
at the pleasure of the parties, on receiving the same fees. When
a new disciple is initiated, a fee is also given ; but the Gosaees
obtain the largest sums at the deaths of such of their disciples as
die intestate. At Calcutta, nearly all the women of ill-fame profess
the religion of Choitunyu before their death, that they may be
entitled to some sort of funeral rites : as almost all these persons
die intestate, and have no relations who will own them, the
Gosaees obtain their effects.
The anniversaries of the deaths of the original founders of the
sect are observed as festivals.
One-fifth of the whole Hindoo population of Bengal are sup-
posed to be followers of Choitunyu, and of the Gosaees, his successors.
Many of these persons despise the other sects of Hindoos, and
are great enemies of the bramhuns. They refuse to eat without
their necklace, as the bramhuns do without their poita. Most of
the mendicant followers of Yishnoo have embraced the tenets of
Choitunyu ; but many of the disciples of the latter live in a secular
state, and some of them are possessed of large property. Persons of
this description frequently entertain a great number of voiragees
at their houses; when, as an act of great merit, they prostrate
themselves before these wanderers, wash, and lick the dust of
their feet, and devour their orts. They pay no attention to the
feasts and fasts of the Hindoo calendar, except those in honour of
Krishnu.
The images most regarded among this sect are those of Choi-
tunyu and Nityanundu, set up at Umbika, in the district of
Burdwan.
z Distant branches of the same families.
ANOTHER MENDICANT GOD — VISHWU-KtjRMA.
137
About a hundred years ago, another man rose up in Bengal as
the leader of a sect, whose dress, of many colours, is said to be so
heavy that two or three people can scarcely carry it. This and his
string of beads are preserved as relics at Ghoshparu, where he
continued five years, and died at the house of Ramu-Shurunu-Palu,
a sh5odru of the Sud-gopu caste, to whom he communicated his
supernatural powers ; and who, after the death of this mendicant,
began to teach the doctrine of a constant incarnation, and that
God then dwelt in him. He persuaded many that he could cure
the leprosy, and other diseases ; and preached the doctrines of
Choitimyu, imitating him in conforming, for convenience sake, to
many of the superstitions of the Hindoos. He also gave a new
initiating incantation to his followers,* who, of whatever caste, ate
together privately. Vast multitudes joined this man, both Musul-
mans and Hindoos ; and carried him presents, eating together once
or twice a year. By this means, from a state of deep poverty he
became rich, and his son now lives in affluence.
A number of Ramu-Shurunu's disciples adhere to his son
Doolalu ; others follow Shivu-Ramu and some others of the old
man's disciples, who pretend to have received the power of their
master to cure diseases, &c. Though part of the father's followers
have thus apostatized, Doolalu pretends that he has now 20,000
disciples.
Sect. VIIL~Vishwti-ktirmah
Is the son of BrSmha, and architect of the gods : he is painted
white, has three eyes, holds a club in his right hand ; wears a
crown, a necklace of gold, and rings on his wrists. He presides
over the arts, manufactures, &c.
The worship of this god js performed once, twice, or four
times a year, in the month TJgruhayunu, Poushu, Choitru, or
Bhadru, by all artificers, to obtain success in business. The
ceremonies may be performed either in the day or night, before any
implements of trade. The joiners set up their mallet, chisel, saw,
hatchet, &c. as the representative of this god. Weavers choose
their shuttle, &c, putting them into the hole in the earth wherein
they place their feet when they sit at work. The razor is the
barber's god on this occasion. The potter, after a month's fast,
adopts and worships the w^heel with which he turns his pots.
Masons choose their trowel ; washermen take the beetle or stamper,
* The following is a translation of this incantation: ' 0 sinless Lord, 0 great
Lord ; at thy pleasure I go and return : not a moment am I without thee. I am
ever with thee ; save, 0 great Lord.'
b Vishwti, the world ; kurmi?, work.
18
138
KAMU-DEVU, HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVAL.
their smoothing irons, &c. as their god ; blacksmiths worship
their hammer and bellows ; the farmer his plough ; spinsters their
wheel. The shoemaker chooses his awl and knife, and bows down
to them : and thus, amongst all the artificers, each one chooses the
principal tool or instrument with which he works, and makes
it a god, or the representative of Vislrwu-kurmac. The cere-
monies are not long ; but according to their ability the worship-
pers provide as good a feast as possible. At the close of the festi-
val, the crowd form themselves into parties of pleasure : some go
upon the river in boats, singing songs, and playing on different in-
struments of music ; others sit in companies, smoke, and relate the
news of the village ; others spend their time in gaming, and some
resort to houses of ill-lame.
Though the illiterate consider this god, who may be called the
Indian Vulcan, as the inventor of all the mechanic arts, the shilpu
shastrus, a part of the original ve'du, are more properly considered
as their source. These works are not now read in Bengal, if they
really exist : they describe, it is said, the proper shape and dimen-
sions of all the various images of the Hindoo gods.
Sect. IX. — Kamn-ddvn, the Indian Cupid*
The image of this god, the son of Brumha, is that of a beauti-
ful youth, holding in his hands a bow and arrow of flowers. He
is always supposed to be accompanied by his wife Rutee/ by spring
personified, the cuckoo, the humming-bee, and gentle breezes ; and
is represented as wandering through the three worlds.
The image of Kamu-devu is never made in Bengal, but on the
13th of the increase of the moon in Choitru an annual festival is
held, when the ceremonies of worship are performed before the
shalgramu. At the time of marriage, and when a wife leaves her
father's house to go to her husband for the first time, petitions are
addressed to this god for children, and for happiness in the mar-
riage state.
c This worship affords another strong proof of the low and sordid nature of
idolatry, and strikingly illustrates the words of our Lord, ' after all these things do
the Gentiles seek.' Instead of raising their minds to the Great Source of all good,
these persons are taught to worship the tools belonging to their trades, as the cause
of their temporal happiness, This conduct seems to be reproved in the first chapter of
the book of Habakkuk, ' They sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their
drag ; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.'
d Kamii, desire ; devu, god.
e From RumiS, to play, or to give pleasure. It is said that the god of love found.
-^utee in the house of Shumbum, a giant, whom he destroyed.
STORY RESPECTING HIM — SUTYU-NARAYUNU. 139
The pooranu and kavyu shastrfis abound with stories respect-
ing Kanm-deVii, one of which I here give from the Kaliku poo-
ranu : — The god of love, the most beautiful creature in the three
worlds, with whom every one was pleased, immediately after his
creation solicited the commands of Brumha ; who assured him,
that, with his five arrows, he should wound with love the hearts of
the inhabitants of the three worlds ; that all beings should be sub-
ject to his sway, not excepting even Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu;
and that through him the universe should be peopled. Kundurpu
first discharged his arrow at Brumha himself, who became en-
amoured of his own daughter, Sundhya. Mureechee, and the other
sons of Brumha, also smitten by his arrows, were inflamed with
unlawful desires toward their sister. Shivu said to Brumha,
' What ! art thou inflamed with lust towards thy own daughter V
Brumha was covered with shame, and, from the perspiration which
issued from his body, Ugnishwuta and other progenitors of man-
kind/ to the number of 149,000, were born. Brumha, full of rage
against Kundurpu, cursed him, and declared that he should be
burnt to ashes by the fire from the eye of Shivu. ; but on his inter-
cessions promised, that when Shivu should be married to Doorga*
he would restore to him his body.
Names. — Mudunu, or he who intoxicates with love ; — Mun-
mttt'hu, he who agitates the mind ; — Maru, he who wounds with
love ; — Prudyoomnii, he who overcomes all ; — Meenu-ketunu, he
whose flag^ is a fish ; — Kundurpu, he who bloats the mind with
desire ; — Tjnungu, he who is destitute of body ; Bamu, the creator
of desire ; — Punchushuru, he who has five arrows ; — Smuru, he
who inflames ; — Shumburaree, the enemy of the giant Shumburu' ;
— Munusiju, he who is bom in the heart ; — Koosoome'shoo, he
whose arrows are flowers ; — Ununyuju, he who is born only in the
mind ; — Pooshptt-dhunwa, he whose bow is made of flowers ;■ —
Rutee-puteC, the husband of Rutee ; — Mukuru-dhwuju, he whose
flag is the animal Mtfkuru ; — Atmubhoo, he who is self-created.
Sect. X. — Sutyit-NarayunU.
This is a form of Vishnoo, but the image is never made : a
pan of water is the substitute.
This god is worshipped several times in the year, in the house
of the richer Hindoos, when all the bramhtms in the village are
f In performing the ceremony called turpunu, seven names are used in pouring
out drink.offerings to all these ancestors.
140
HIS IMAGE AND WORSHIP.
invited. The object of worship, painted red, and covered with
leaves of the mango tree, is placed near a square board, at the
four corners of which four arrows are set up, and from which
garlands of flowers are suspended ; a piece of clean linen is laid on
the board, and then the offerings of flowers and sweetmeats. At
the close of the festival, some one present reads different marvellous
stories in praise of this god. The sweetmeats are given to the
guests, especially to the bramhuns : the acquisition of riches,
recovery from sickness, the birth of children, the obtaining of any
of the blessings, or the removing any of the miseries of life, are
objects sought in the worship of this god.
The preceding account of the terrestrial gods contains the
names of all the principal deities of this description worshipped in
Bengal. I am aware, however, that worship is paid to some idols
not* mentioned here ; but these are only different forms of the
deities whose history is given, and the worship is merely an
appendage to the ceremonies at the great festivals.
SEETA — RADHA.
141
CHAP. VI
TERRESTRIAL GODDESSES.
Sect. I. — Seeta.
This is the image of a yellow woman, covered with jewels :
it always accompanies and is worshipped with that of her husband.
Seeta was the daughter of king Junuku,a whose capital was
Mit'hila. Her history, after her marriage with Ramu, will be
found in the account of that god.b
Sect. II. — Eadha.
Radha was the wife of Ayunu-ghoshu, a cowherd of Gokoolu,
where Krishnu in his youth resided : through Vuraee, a procuress,
he seduced Radha, and led her into the forest near the river
Yumoona, where they continued till Krishnu. left her to begin the
war with Kungsu.
This mistress of Krishnu has been deified with her paramour.
Her image is set up in temples with different forms of Krishnu,
and worshipped at the festivals of this god. The act of looking
upon these images together, is declared by the shastrus to be an
act of peculiar merit !
If a Hindoo be charged with any particular act of which he
wishes to express his abhorrence, he exclaims, ' Radha-Krisbnu !'
Many persons repeat ' Ramu ! Ramu ! Ramu !' on such occasions,
* Shivii gave to Jiintiku* a bow so heavy that a thousand men could not lift it,
and which the father placed iu a separate room, and commanded Seeta to sweep the
room daily ; in doing which she used to lift up the bow with her left hand, and sweep
under it with her right. One day the king saw her thus move the bow, and, filled
with astonishment, was at a loss to whom he should give this daughter in marriage.
After some time, he came to this resolution, that whoever should be able to break this
bow, should obtain Seeta. — Udhyatmu- Ramayunu,
b While Seeta was detained at LiSnka, she was fed with ambrosia for twelve
months by Indru, as she would not eat in the house of a giant. That RavftnG could
not destroy her virtue, is thus accounted for by the poorauiis : — -This giant had before
seized the wives of the gods, aud dishonoured them ; and one day he dishonoured, his
niece, the wife of king NulQ. : for which crime Kooveru cursed him, and caused tire to
proceed from his ten heads at once. By the entreaty of Brtlmha, this curse was mitigat-
ed ; with the proviso, however, that if he ever denied the wife of another, it should
be renewed in full force. — Ibid.
142
ROOKMINEE AND SUTYU-BHAMA — SOOBHUDRA.
but no one says Seeta-Ramu ; yet when Krishna's name is to be
repeated, they always join to it that of his mistress Radha.
One of the Hindoo learned men has written a work (the
Radha-timtru) to prove that Radha was an incarnation of Bhugu-
vutee ; and this opinion is quoted by the Hindoos of the present
day to cover this abominable transaction.
Sect. III. — RooJcminee and Sutyu-hhama.
These are the most distinguished wives of Krishna, but their
images are never made, Krishna being always associated with
Radha his mistress, and not with his lawful wives. At the festivals
of Krishnu, however, these women are worshipped, as well as six
other wives of this god, viz., Jambubutee, Mitruvinda, Lugunujitee,
Lukshmuna, Kalindee, and Bhudra ; but Rookminee and SutytU
bhama are the most distinguished.
Sect. IV. — Soobhudra.
This sister of Jugunnat'hu is worshipped at the same time
with her brother, and placed with him in the temples dedicated to
his honour.
PUNCHANUNU, HIS IMAGE AXD STORY RESPECTING HIM. 14.3
CHAP. VII.
DEITIES WORSHIPPED BY THE LOWER ORDERS
ONLY.
Sect. I. — Punchanunu*
Is a form of Shi via : the image has five faces, and in each face
three eyes. Some persons make a clay image, and worship it with
the usual forms, adding bloody sacrifices ; while others worship
Pimchanunu before a stone placed underneath the vutu,'0 ushwut'h-
t'hu,° or koolud trees. This stone is painted red at the top, and
anointed with oil.6 Offerings of flowers, fruits, water, sweetmeats,
and fried peas accompany the worship, and sometimes bloody
sacrifices. In almost every village this worship is performed
beneath some one of these trees. In some villages several of these
shapeless stones1' are to be seen thus anointed, and consecrated to
the worship of this god. In other places the clay images of
Ptmchanunu are placed in houses, or under trees ; and old
women, called dyasinees/ devote themselves to his service : they
sweep the inside of the clay temple, and repeat the ceremonies of
worship for others ; constantly remaining near the image, and re-
ceiving all offerings and presents. Not more than one woman
waits upon one idol, unless she admit a pupil, who expects to suc-
ceed her. These women, either married or widows, are treated
almost as witches.
There is no appointed time for the worship of this god, but
Tuesdays or Saturdays are preferred to other days.
There are some places in Bengal, where images of Punchanunu
are in great celebrity for bestowing the blessing of children, and
other favours on the worshippers.
The Hindoo women are terrified at this god, and are exceed-
ingly afraid lest their children should, in play, injure the stone
a The five-faced. b Ficus ludica.
c Ficus religiosa. d Zizyphu3 jujuba.
e The statue of the god Terminus was either a square stone, or a log of wood ;
which the Romans usually perfumed with ointments, and crowned with garlands.
f The representative of the goddess Passinuntia was a shapeless stone. The
Arabians are said to have worshipped a stone without the form or shape of a deity.
s It is probable that these dyasinees resemble the priestesses of Cybele.
144
DHURMU T'HAKOORU, A FORM OF SHIVU.
under the tree.8 Some therefore warn their children against going
near these stones, by declaring that PunchanuntL will assuredly
kill them, if they touch or play with his image.
Children in fits of epilepsy are supposed to be seized by this
god, and thrown into a state of frenzy, till they foam at the mouth,
tear their hair, &c. The mother asks the supposed evil spirit his
name, who answers, through the child, ' I am Punchanunu : your
child has cast dust on my image, kicked it, and is the ringleader of
all the children of the village in this wickedness. I will certainly
take away his life.' The dyasinee is now called, who comforts the
weeping and alarmed family, and addresses the god thus : ' 0 Pun-
chanunu S I pray thee restore this child : these are thy worship-
pers : the offender is but a child ; and it is not proper for thee to
be angry with such paltry offenders. If thou restore the child, the
parents will sacrifice a goat to thee, and present to thee many offer-
ings.' If this should foil to render the god propitious, they take
the child to the image, before which they sit down, and offer the
most excessive flattery to the god, causing the child to beat its head
on the ground. After using every contrivance, they retire, and, at
the close of the fit, believing that Punchanunu has cured the child,
they present to him offerings according to their ability.
Sect. II. — Dhtirmu ThakoorU.
Another form of Shivu. A black stone of any shape becomes
the representative of this god. The worshippers paint the part
designated as the forehead, and place it under a tree ; others place
the stone in the house, and give it silver eyes, and anoint it with
oil, and worship it. Almost every village has one of these idols.
s The late Jugunnat'hu-Turkkit-Punchanvlmi, who died in the year 1807, at the
advanced age of 112, and who was siipposed to be the most learned Hindoo in Bengal,
used to relate the following ancedote of himself : — Till he was twenty years old he was
exceedingly ungovernable, and refused to apply to his studies. One day his parents
rebuked him very sharply for his conduct, and he wandered to a neighbouring village,
where he hid himself in the vutiS tree, under which was a very celebrated image of
Punchanunu. While in this tree, he discharged his urine on the god, and afterwards
descended and threw him into a neighbouring pond. The next morning, when the per-
son arrived whose livelihood depended on this image, he discovered his god was gone ! !
He returned into the village distracted, and the village was veiy soon all in an uproar
about the lost god. In the midst of this confusion, the parents of Jilgfinnat'hu-
Turkku-Punchanflnit arrived to search for their son ; when a man in the crowd de-
clared that he had seen a young man sitting in PSnchantinu's tree, but what was be-
come of the god he could not say. The runaway at length appeared, and the sus-
picions of all the villagers fell upon him, as the stealer of Punchaniinu'. After some
time he confessed the fact, pointed out the place where he had thrown the stone, and
added moreover that he had discharged his urine on the god. All hands were lifted
up in amazement at this atrocious crime, and every one present pronounced his death
as certain ; for Punchanfinu woidd certainly revenge such a daring insult. Our young
hero was himself terribly affrighted, and from that hour sat down so sedulously to his
studies, that he became the most learned man in Bengal. He was employed by the
government in India for many years, at a salary of 300 rupees per month, and used to
give advice on the subject of the Hindoo law in all difficult cases.
HIS IMAGE AND FESTIVAL — KALOO-RAYU. 145
A festival in honour of this god is observed by some of the
lower orders in Voishaku, in the day. The ceremonies are like
those at the swinging festival, with the addition of bloody sacri-
fices, the greater number of which are goats. At this time devotees
swing on hooks ; perforate their sides with cords ; pierce their
tongues with spits ; walk upon fire, and take it up in their hands ;
walk upon thorns ; and throw themselves upon spikes, keeping a
severe fast. The people who assemble to see these feats of self-
torture, are entertained with singing, music, and dancing. On the
14th day, a great feast is held, when people bring their offerings,
and giving them to the officiating bramhun, request him to present
them to the idol, to fulfil a vow ; or with petitions to the god for
some particular favour, as the birth of a child, recovery from sick-
ness, or any other blessing.
Wherever this idol is placed in a house, a woman called a
dyasinee attends upon it, and repeats the daily ceremonies.
At two villages in Bengal, Poosooree and Rayu-kalee, the
worship of this god is constantly attended by crowds from a great
distance. If a woman's eldest child die, she makes a vow before
witnesses, that she will not cut her hair for two years ; and that
then, going to one of these villages, she will cut it off, and present an
offering to the god, provided he will preserve her second child.
Some women, as an acknowledgment of a favour, or to beg a bles-
sing, take a young child in their arms ; and putting on wet clothes,
place and earthen pot full of burning coals upon some cloth on their
heads ; and sitting before the god in a supplicating posture, con-
tinue for sometime offering incense, throwing Indian pitch into
the pan of coals.
A poor man sometimes places the black stone, adorned with
garlands, &c. in a basket, and the offerings which he collects at the
doors of housekeepers in another, and, tying the baskets to a bam-
boo which he lays on his shoulder, carries the god from door to door
as a show ; while another plays on a rude instrument of music, and
joins in singing the praises of Dhurmu-t'hakooru. House-holders
give a handful of rice, and the beggars present in return a flower
which has been offered to the god.
Sect. III. — Kaloo-rayti.
This is another form of Shivu. : the image is that of a yellow
man sitting on a tiger, holding in his right hand an arrow, and in
his left a bow.
A few of the lower orders set up clay images of this god in
straw houses, and worship them at pleasure. The wood-cutters in
the Eastern, Western, and Southern forests of Bengal, in order to
19
140 KALU-BHOIRUVU — WORSHIP TO CURE ITCH AND SCURVY.
obtain protection from wild beasts, adopt a peculiar mode of wor-
shipping this idol. The head-boatman raises elevations of earth
three or four inches high, and about three feet square ; upon which
he places balls of clay, painted red ; and, among other ceremonies,
offers rice, flowers, fruits, and the water of the Ganges carried from
the river Hooglee, keeping a fast : the god then directs him in a
dream where to cut wood free from danger. There is no authority
for this worship in the shastrus.
Dukshina-rayu is another god worshipped in the same manner,
and by the same class of persons.
Sect. IV. — Kalu-Bhoiruvu.
A NAKED Shivu, smeared with ashes ; having three eyes ;
riding on a dog ; and holding in one hand a horn, and in the other
a drum. In several places in Bengal this image is worshipped
daily.
Shivu, under this name, is regent of Kashee, (Benares.) All
persons dying at Benares are entitled to a place in Shivu's heaven ;
but if any one violate the laws of the shastru during his residence
there. Kalu-Bhoiruvu at death grinds him between two mill-stones.
Sect. V. — Worship to cure the Itch and Scurvy.
The goddess Sheetula is worshipped by the Hindoo females
whenever their families are afflicted with the itch ; and the god
Ghetoo (a black boiling pot) is worshipped to remove the scurvy or
any kind of blotches on the skin.
In the preceding sections of this work, the god Prit'hivee,
regent of the earth, should have been noticed : he has no separate
worship, but certain formulas are repeated in his name at all the
great festivals. Vishnoo is revered as the Household God ; he
is worshipped when a person enters a new house, or at any other
time to procure the removal of family misfortunes. Doorga
should have been mentioned also as the Village Goddess ; she
is worshipped by the villagers in the month Asharhu, before a jar
of water, when bloody sacrifices are offered. An annual festival is
also held in each village in Asharhu, in honour of Vishnoo, Indru,
Kooveru, and Lukshmee ; when the persons pay the first instalment
of their rents. The land-owner is at the expense.
URDHU-NAREESHWURU, ITS ORIGIN,
147
CHAP. VIII.
WORSHIP OF BEINGS IN STRANGE SHAPES.
Sect. I. — Urdhu-nareeshw&ru.11
Here Shivu and Doorga are united in one body, white and
yellow. The origin of this image is thus given in the Lingu
pooranu : — Shivu and Doorga after their marriage lived on mount
Koilasu, where Doorga kept the house, cooked, and nursed her two
children, Guneshu and Kartiku ; and Shivu supported the family
as a mendicant. On a certain occasion, Shivu, having one day
smoked intoxicating herbs to excess, was unable to go his daily
rounds. Doorga informed him that there was nothing in the
house ; that the family had eaten half of what was collected the
day before, and that Guneshu's rat and Kartiku's peacock1 had
devoured the rest. After much altercation, Shivu left his hut,
and Doorga, to avoid perishing for want, went to her father's,
taking her children with her. On the way Narudu met her, and
advised her to assume the form of the goddess TJnnu-po6rna,k and
lay an embargo on all the food where Shivu would ask for alms.
She did so ; and Shivu begged in vain for a handful of rice. Narudu
at length meeting Shivu also persuaded him to return to his wife :
Doorga received him with joy, and relieved his hunger ; which so
pleased the old mendicant, that in pressing her in his arms both
bodies became one.
In the Radha-tuntru it is said, that Shivu and Doorga assumed
this form in order to prove that Shivu' is the one Brumhu, in whom
both the male and female powers are united.
In one of the smaller Hindoo poems, a different account of the
origin of this image is given : — Shivu, finding it Very difficult to
procure a subsistence by the alms which he daily collected, especially
as Doorga had ten mouths, and Gune'shu a very large belly, agreed
with his wife, that they should assume one body, which would be
supported with less labour.
Notwithstanding this apparently close union of Shivu and
Doorga, the Shivopa-khyanu, a poem, contains a story, in which
Doorga is represented as quarrelling with Shivu in a fit of jealousy,
h Urdhu, half ; naree, woman ; eeshwuru, a name of Shiva.
1 GiSne'shfi rides on a rat, and KartikS on a peacock.
k One of the forms of Doorga, as the regent of food.
148
ITS FESTIVAL — KllISHNU-KALEE.
on account of his begging in that part of Shivu-pooru*1 where the
women of ill-fame live. — On another occasion, as related in the
Ramayunu, a dreadful quarrel took place betwixt Shivu and Doorga,
because Purushoo-ramu had beaten Kartiku and Guneshu, the two
sons of Doorga. Another account of these quarrels is given both
in the Ramayunu and the Muhabharutu : — Ramil's efforts to destroy
Ravunu proving abortive, in consequence of the protection afforded
the giant by Shivu, all the gods whom Ravunu had oppressed joined
Eamu in supplications to Shivu : and on the seventh day, when
Ravunu was to be slain, the gods resolved to be present ; and Shivu
was about to join them, when Doorga interfered, and asked him how
he could witness the destruction of his own disciple : that disciple,
who had stood praying to him all day in the sultry weather, sur-
rounded with four fires ; who had continued his devotions in the
chilling cold, standing in the water ; and had persevered in his sup-
plications, standing on his head in the midst of torrents of rain ?
— Here she poured a volley of abuse upon Shivu, as a withered old
fellow who smoked intoxicating herbs ; covered himself with
ashes ; dwelt in cemeteries ; a beggar ; whose name would never be
remembered ; — 'and dost thou think,' said she, > that I shall be
present at such a sight ?' — Shivu could no longer smother his resent-
ment, but reproached her in the severest terms, reminding her that
she was only a woman, and knew nothing : and indeed that she did
not act like a woman, for she was continually wandering from place
to place ; engaged in wars ; was a drunkard ; spent her time with
degraded beings ; killed giants, drank their blood, and hung the
skulls round her neck. Doorga was enraged to madness by these
cutting reproaches, so that the gods became alarmed, and intreated
Kamu to join in supplications to Doorga, or there would be no
possibility of destroying Ravunu. He did so, and so pleased the
goddess by his flatteries, that she was at length brought to consent
to the destruction of Ravunu.
At the new or full moon, or on the 8th or 14th of the moon in
any month, or on the last day of any calendar month, in the day,
the usual ceremonies of worship are performed before this disgusting
image, which is thrown into the water the succeeding day. The
formulas are those used in the worship of Doorga, not of Shivu.
Animals are slain and offered to the goddess.
Sect, II. — Krishnu-Kalee.
This scandalous image is worshipped annually at the total
wane of the moonm in Kartiku, in the night.
Of all the milk-maids that used to collect around him, Krishnu
1 Shiva's heaven.
m A very proper time for such a worship. Let neither sun nor moon shine on
such deeds.
IIUREE — HURU, ITS FORM.
149
was most charmed with Radha, the wife of Ayiinughoshu. When
the attachment was first formed, the sister of Ayiinu-ghoshu saw
them together, and informed her brother of the circumstance ; at
which Radha became very much alarmed, assured Krishnu that her
sister-in-law had seen her with him, and that her husband would
certainty destroy her. Krishnu commanded her not to fear, adding,
if her husband came, he would assume the form of Kalee, and she
should be found in the act of worship. When her husband and others
arrived, they found her thus employed, and joined her in her devo-
tions. Could it be believed that such an abominable instance of
adultery and treachery would be made the subject of worship? — yet
so it is. Four images are made from this stroy,viz : Krishnu-Kalee,
Radha, Ayunu-ghoshu, and Kootila, Ayftnu's sister. — Bloody sacri-
fices are offered to this image ; but the worshippers of Krishnu are
ashamed, when asked by the shaktus, if Krishnu has begun to
drink blood ?
Sect. lll.—Hnvee-Huru.
Here Vishnoo (Huree) and Shivu (Hum) appear in one body ;
the former is black, and the latter white. The image has four arms
and two feet.
The origin of this image is thus recorded in the Vishnoo
pooranu : — Lukshmee and Doorga were once sitting together in the
presence of Shivu, when Lukshmee contended that her husband
(Vishnoo) was greater than Shivu ; which Doorga as firmly denied.
Lukshmee said, her husband must be greatest, since Shivu had
worshipped him. In the midst of this conversation, Vishnoo arrived,
and to convince Lukshmee that both were equal, he immediately
entered the body of Shivu, and they became one.
Another account of the origin of this image is given in the
Kashee-khundu, a part of the Sundu pooranu. — On a certain occa-
sion, when Vishnoo and Shivu were conversing together, Shivu
requested Vishnoo to assume the beautiful female form which he
had formerly done at the churning of the sea : to which he consented ;
when Shivu, overpowered with desire, pursued the flying beauty,
till, overcome with fatigue, she hid herself behind a tree, and
re-assumed the form of Vishnoo. Shivu, however, embraced Vishnoo
with such eagerness, that the bodies of both became one .n
The worship of this image takes place whenever any one
pleases. Stone images in some places are continually preserved ;
and in others a clay one is made, and worshipped, and afterwards
committed to the river.
n The reader need not be informed how much this story in its termination resem-
bles that of the nymph Salmacis, who is said to have fallen excessively in love with a
son of Mercury by his sister Venus.
150
ACCOUNTS IN THE POORANUS OF ITS ORIGIN.
Raja Krishnu-chundrti-rayu expended fifty or sixty thou-
sand rupees at the consecration of a stone image of Huree-Huru,
which may be still seen at Gunga-vasu, near Nudeeya. While this
raja lived, fifty rupees were daily expended in this worship ; yet,
though a number of villages have been bequeathed to the god, the
expense of the daily worship and offerings is less now than formerly.
Few places in Bengal, however, can now boast of a temple at which
fifty rupees are daily expended °. No bloody sacrifices are offered
to this image.
However shocked a professed Christian may be at reading such
accounts, and however revolting to every feeling of modesty and
decency these stories may be, the Hindoo philosophers have thought
proper to perpetuate them, and in this image to personify lust itself.
The bramhuns also bow down to this image as to a deity worthy of
adoration
0 This expensefis incurred in the meat-offerings, consisting of rice, peas, salt, oil,
ghee, butter, sugar, sweetmeats, fruits of different kinds, herbs, spices, betle nuts, &c. ;
in the offerings of cloth, metal vessels, and other things ; and in the wages of the
bramhuns and shoodrils employed. About ten bramhuns and fourteen shoodrijs con-
stantl}' attend on the service of this image.
BRAMHUNS AS RELIGIOUS GUIDES ; THEIR DAUGHTERS, &C. 151
CHAP. IX.
WORSHIP OF HUMAN BEINGS.
Deified Men and Women.
All the bramhuns, but especially the religious guides,
(gooroo,) are objects of worship among the Hindoos, and have
divine honours paid to them. The spiritual guide, in the estima-
tion of the disciple, is literally a god. Whenever he approaches,
the disciple prostrates himself in the dust before him, and never
sits in his presence without leave. He drinks the water with
which he has washed the feet of his gooroo,p and relies entirely
upon his blessing for final happiness. I have heard some Hindoos
speak with comparative contempt of all other ways of salvation.
When the claims of the bramhuns to deity have been disputed by
any one, I have seen the poor besotted shoodru prostrate himself
at the feet of the nearest bramhun, and, raising his head, and
closing his hands, say, 6 You are my god.' At the same time the
character of the bramhun has perhaps been notorious for every
vice.
The shastrus declare that the daughters of bramhuns, till they
are eight years old, are objects of worship, as forms of the goddess
Bhuguvutee ; and some persons worship these girls daily. The
worshipper, taking the daughter of some neighbouring bramhun,
and placing her on a seat, performs the ceremonies of worship ;
in which he presents to her flowers, paint, water, garlands,11 incense,
and, if a rich man, offerings of cloth and ornaments. He closes
the whole by prostrating himself before the girl. At the worship
of some of the female deities also, the daughters of bramhuns
have divine honours paid to them.
The wives of bramhuns are also worshipped occasionally as an
act of great merit. A man of property sometimes invites ten,
twenty, or one hundred of these females, and repeating before
them forms of prayer, praise, &c, worships them, and at the close
entertains them with the offerings. This is frequently done at
Benares.
On the 14th of the decrease of the moon in Shravunu, at the
time of the Savitree vrutu, the wives of bramhuns very generally
p Doing reverence to the very feet of superiors prevailed among the Jews. Hence
the woman washed the feet of Christ, and wiped them with the hair of her head.
Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel.
i Both the Greeks and Romans, it is well known, used to adorn their images with
garlands at the time of worship.
152 * WORSHIP OF A FEMALE— ABOMINATIONS PRACTISED.
worship their husbands. The worshipper, having placed a seat for
her husband, and presented him with new garments, entreats him
to be seated, and puts round his neck a garland of flowers. She
then anoints his body with fragrant ointments, and performs before
him the various ceremonies which belong to the worship of the
gods. In presenting the offerings she says, regarding her husband
as a form of Vishnoo, ' Oh ! husband, grant that I may long live in
the marriage state, and never become a widow/ The husband
then partakes of the offerings, and the wife having walked round
him either three or seven times, the service ends. The origin of
this ceremony is given in the Brumhu-voivurttu pooranu, but the
story is too long for insertion.
Many of the tuntrus, and particularly the Roodruyamulu, the
Yonee-tuntru, and the Neelu-tuntru, contain directions respecting
a most extraordinary and shocking mode of worship, which is
understood in a concealed manner amongst the Hindoos by the
name of Chukru. These shastrus direct, that the person who
wishes to perform this ceremony must first, in the night, choose a
woman as the object of worship. If the person be a dukshina-
charee, he must take his own wife ; and if a vamacharee, the
daughter of a dancer, a kupalee, a washerman, a barber, a chundalu,
or of a Musulman, or a prostitute ; and place her on a seat, or mat :
and then bring broiled fish, flesh, fried peas, rice, spirituous liquors,
sweetmeats, flowers, and other offerings ; which, as well as the
female, must be purified by the repeating of incantations. To this
succeeds the worship of the guardian deity ; and after this, that of
the female, — who sits naked. * * * *
* * * ******
Here, things too abominable to enter the ears of man, and
impossible to be revealed to a Christian public, are contained in
the directions of the shastru. The learned bramhun who opened
to me these abominations, made several efforts — paused and began
again — and then paused again — before he could mention the shock-
ing indecencies prescribed by his own shastrus.
As the object of worship is a living person, she partakes of
the offerings, even of the spirituous liquors ; and of the flesh,
though it should be that of the cow. The refuse is eaten by the
persons present, however different their castes ; nor must any one
refuse to partake of the offerings. The spirituous liquors must be
drank by measure ; and the company while eating must put food
into each other's mouths. The priest then — in the presence of all
— behaves towards this female in a manner which decency forbids
to be mentioned ; after which the persons present repeat many
times the name of some god, performing actions unutterably
abominable : and here this most diabolical business closes. The
ABOMINATIONS PRACTISED.
153
The benefits promised to the worshippers are riches, absorption in
Brumhu, &c.
At present the persons committing these abominations (vama-
charees) are becoming more and more numerous ; and in propor-
tion as they increase, the ceremonies are more and more indecent.
They are performed in secret ; but that these practices are be-
coming very frequent among the bramhuns and others, is a fact
known to all. Those who abide by the rules of the shastrus are
comparatively few : the generality confine themselves chiefly to
those parts that belong to gluttony, drunkenness, and whoredom,
without acquainting themselves with all the minute rules and
incantations of the shastrus.
20
THE COW.
CHAP. X.
THE WORSHIP OF BEASTS.
Sect. I. — The Cow.
Brumha created the bramhuns and the cow at the same time :
the bramhuns to read the formulas, and the cow to afford milk,
(clarified butter,) for the burnt-offerings. The gods by partaking
of the burnt-offerings are said to enjoy exquisite pleasure, and
men by eating clarified butter destroy their sins. The cow is called
the mother of the gods, and is declared by Brumha to be a proper
object of worship.
The shastru appoints that the images of the gods shall be
anointed with milk, curds, clarified butter, cow-dung, and cows'
urine, whereby they become free from impurity ; and all unclean
places are purified with cow-dung. Indeed manjr bramhuns do
not go out of the house in a morning, till the door-way has been,
rubbed with cow-dung.
The cow was created on the first of Voishakhu, and on this
day, or on the second of the moon in Jyoisht'hu, she is worshipped
annually. No image is used, but the worship is performed in the
cow-house before a jar of water. The ceremonies are the same
as those before the images of the gods : the prayers are
necessarily peculiar to the object worshipped. The officiating
bramhun, at the close of the service, reads the whole of the Chun-
dee, a poem relating to the wars of Doorga. On the 13th of Phal-
goonu, the milkmen paint the horns and hoofs of their cattle yel-
low, and bathe them in the river. Persons strict in their religion
worship the cow daily : after bathing, they throw flowers at her
feet, and feed her with fresh grass, saying, ' O Bhuguvutee ! eat
and then walk round her three or seven times, making obeisance.
If you speak among Hindoos of eating the flesh of cows, they
immediately raise their hands to their ears : yet milkmen, carmen,
and farmers, beat the cow as unmercifully as a carrier of coals beats
his ass in England ; and many starve them to death in the cold
weather, rather than be at th e expense of giving them food.a Thus
is the cow at once a beast of burden and a goddess. Some of the
poor think themselves happy if they can support a cow, as by
serving this animal they expect reward in a future state. If a man
sell his cow, the shastrus threaten him with the torments of hell
during as many thousand years as there are hairs on her body.
If any one neglect to burn cow-dung, &c. in the cow-house, where-
a In the year 1812, a bramhfin was convicted before the Magistrate of Serampore,
of stealing from a relative a cow in calf, and offering this goddess for sale to a butcher*
THE MONKEY (HUNOOMAN) — -MARRIAGE OF TWO MONKEYS 155
by smoke is raised, and the musquitoes prevented from hurting the
cows, he will descend into the hell of musquitoes and gad-flies.
The gift of a cow to a bramhun is an act of great merit.
The dung of the cow is gathered and dried as fuel amongst the
Hindoos. Some cows are of more value for their dung than for
their milk ; tor the Bengal cow gives very little milk indeed, com-
pared with the European cow.
Sect. II. — The Monkey.
The black-faced monkey, Hunooman,b the son of the god
Puvunii, by TJnjiina, a female monkey,0 is believed to be an
incarnation of Shivu.
The Hindoos worship Hunooman on their birth-day to obtain
long life, which they suppose this monkey can bestow, as he is
immortal. In some temples his image is set up alone, and in
others with that of Ramu and Seeta, and worshipped daily. The
worship of Ramu is always preceded by a few ceremonies in honour
of Hunooman.
Stone images of Hunooman are kept in the houses of some of
his disciples, and worshipped daily. The worshipper of this animal
is promised every gratification he can desire.
Many Hindoos receive the initiating incantation by which
this monkey becomes their guardian deity. The mark which
these disciples make on their foreheads is the same as that made
by the followers of Shivu.
About twenty years ago, Eeshwuru-chundru, the raja of
Nudeeya, spent 100,000 rupees in marrying two monkeys/ when
all the parade common at Hindoo marriages was exhibited. In
the marriage procession were seen elephants, camels, horses richly
caparisoned, palanqueens, lamps, and flambeaus ; the male monkey
was fastened in a fine palanqueen, having a crown upon his head,
with men standing by his side to fan him ; then followed singing
and dancing girls in carriages ; every kind of Hindoo music ; a
grand display of fireworks, &c. Dancing, music, singing, and every
degree of low mirth, were exhibited at the bridegroom's palace for
b Hunooman broke his cheek-bone by a fall from the sun's orbit ; and his nams
is derived from hunoo, the cheek-bone.
e There is nothing too filthy for idolatry : here the god of the winds pays his
addresses to a monkey, as Jupiter is said to have done to a swan.
d At this time none of these monkeys were to be seen about Nfideeya ; now they
are so numerous that they devour almost all the fruit of the orchards, as the-
inhabitants are afraid of hurting them.
156 GIVEN BY THE RAJA OF NUDEEYA — ANECDOTES OF THIS GOD.
twelve days together- At the time of the marriage ceremony,
learned bramhuns were employed in reading the formulas from
the shastrus I
Amongst men of sense the performance of the ceremonies of
worship before the image of this monkey is attended with a degree
of disgrace. I have heard of a quarrel between two bramhuns,
one of whom was paid by a rich Hindoo to repeat the ceremonies
of Hindoo worship before the image of Hunooman, daily, at his
house: amidst the quarrel the other said. 'Thou refuse of
bramhuns ! thou gainest a subsistence by worshipping a monkey/
Stories of this god. — When Hunooman first saw the rising
sun, thinking it a ripe fruit, he leaped up to the residence of the
god of day, and seized his chariot : Indru fearing Hunooman
would swallow the glorious luminary, with his thunderbolt smote
him to the earth, where he lay lifeless. His distracted mother
applied to his father Puvtinu, who, enraged at the loss of his son,
retired into an inaccessible chasm, and bound up the wind, till
both men and gods began to perish. Briimha, Vishnoo, Shivu,
and other gods now petitioned Puvunu ; but he refused them the
privilege of breathing, unless they would make Hunooman im-
mortal. Brumha then bestowed on Hunooman the water of life, and
Puvunu restored to men and gods the vital air. — When ten years
old, Htinooman was possessed of immense strength. He brought
a stone, from a mountain, sixteen or twenty miles in circumfer-
ence, and threw it into a pool of water where a number of sages
were at worship. This raised the water, so that the sages, who
had closed their eyes in the act of meditation, began to sink. After
a few struggles they regained the land, and again sat down with
closed eyes to their work. Himooman next took out the stone,
and the waters retired ; and when the sages put out their hands
to take up water for worship, they were again disappointed.
Opening their eyes, they saw the water had sunk exceedingly ; and
following it, again closed their eyes, and sat down. Hunooman
again flung in the stone, and the sages began to sink. He con-
tinued to repeat these frolics, till the sages, discovering the culprit,
took away his strength. The sagacious monkey now began to
natter the sages ; brought them fruits, &c. from the forest, and
performed, with agility, every act of menial service. After three
years they blessed him, and assured him that, when he should see
Ramu upon mount Rishyumooku, he should obtain twice his former
strength. — On a certain occasion Hunooman was resolved to put
the strength of Bheemu to trial, as he was reputed to be so
tremendous a giant : and lengthening his tail, he threw it across
the path. As the Hindoos never stride across a person's body, or
even his shadow, Bheemu requested Hunooman to take up his
tail : but he complained he was grown old and could not. At last
Bheemu stooped to lift it out of his way ; he tried at the end, and
THE DOG, SHACKAL AND OTHER ANIMALS WORSHIPPED. 157
then at the middle, but found, giant as he was, he could not lift
up this monkey's tail. Overcome with astonishment, he began to
praise Hunooman, and at length prevailed on him to promise that
he would help the Panduvus in their expected war with Dooryo-
dhunu.
Sect. 111.— The Dog.
Carries Kalu-Bhoiruvu, a form of Shivu, and therefore receives
the worship of the Hindoos whenever his master is worshipped.6
I have heard also that there are many Hindoos in the west of
Hindoost'hanu, who pay their devotions to the dog, and become
his disciples. Though the dog is thus placed amongst the objects
of worship, he is mentioned in the Muhabharutu as an unclean
animal : ever}r offering which he approaches is rendered unaccept-
able to the gods, and every one who touches him must purify him-
self by bathing.
Sect. IV. — The Shacked.
The Tuntrus mention an incarnation of Doorga in the form of
the shackal, when she carried the child Ivrishnu over the Yumoona,
in his flight from king Kungsu. All the worshippers of the female
deities adore the shackal as a form of this goddess, especially the
vamacharees, who present offerings to him daily. Every worship-
per lays the offerings on a clean place in his house, and calls the
god to come and partake of them. As this is done at the hour
when the shackals leave their lurking places, one of these animals
sometimes comes and eats the food in the presence of the worship-
per : this will not appear wonderful when it is considered, that
the same animal finds food placed for him in this place every day.
In temples dedicated to Doorga and other deities, a stone image
of the shackal is placed on a pedestal, and daily worshipped. When
a shackal passes a Hindoo, he must bow to it ; and if it pass on the
left hand, it is a most lucky circumstance.
Sect. V. — Other Animals worshipped.
The elephant, the lion, the bull, the buffalo, the rat, the deer,
the goat, &c. are worshipped at the festivals of the gods whom
they respectively carry, that is, of Indru, Doorga, Shivu, Yunm,
Guneshu, Puvunu, and Brumha.
s The dog, it will be remembered, was consecrated to Mars.
158
GUROORU, HIS IMAGE AND DESCENT.
CHAP XL
THE WORSHIP OF BIRDS.
Sect. I. — Guroorti.*
This god, with the head and wings of a bird,b and the rest
of his body like that of a man, is called the king of the birds, and
the carrier of Yishnoo. Vinuta, the wife of Kushyupu, the
progenitor of gods and men, laid an egg,c and became the mother
of this bird-god. As soon as Gurooru was born, his body expand-
ed till it touched the sky ; all the other animals were terrified at
him ; his eyes were like lightning ; the mountains fled with
the wind of his wings, and the rays which issued from his body
set the four quarters ^ of the world on fire. The affrighted gods
sought the help of Ugnee, conceiving that Gurooru must be an
incarnation of the god of fire.
In consequence of a dispute betwixt Vinuta, the mother of
Gurooru, and Kudroo, the mother of the serpents, respecting the
colour of the horse procured at the churning of the sea, a continual
enmity has subsisted betwixt the descendants of these females ;
and Gurooru once obtained permission from one of the gods to
devour all the serpents he could find.d
The story of Gurooru' s becoming the carrier of Yishnoo is thus
related in the Muhabharutu : — His mother in the above dispute
having laid a wager, and being the loser, was reduced to a state
of servitude to her sister ; and the serpents, wushing to become
immortal, promised to liberate his mother on condition that
Gurooru should bring Chundru, (the moon ;) whose bright parts,
the Hindoos say, are filled with the water of immortality. Before
Gurooru departed, he asked his mother for some food. She advised
him to go to the sea shore, and gather up whatever he could see ;
but conjured him to beware of eating a bramhun : adding, ' Should
you at any time feel a burning heat in your stomach, be sure you
have eaten a bramhun.' Thus instructed, he began his journey:
at his flight the three worlds were agitated like the sea at the
great deluge. Passing by a country inhabited by fishermen, he
at one inspiration drew in houses, trees, cattle, men, and other
a Some suppose Gurooru to be a large species of vulture, and others the
gigantic crane.
b Gnrooru in some degree resembles Mercury, viz., in his having wings, and
being the messenger of Vishnoo, as Mercury was of Jupiter.
c Jupiter is said to have been enamoured of the goddess Nemesis in the shape
of a goose ; and that she laid an egg, from which was born Helena.
d "When the Hindoos lie down to sleep, they repeat the name of Gurooru three
times, to obtain protection from snakes.
STORY RESPECTING HIM — HIS NAMES — UEOONU.
159
animals; but, among the inhabitants swallowed, one was a
bramhun, who caused such an intolerable burning in his bowels,
that Gurooru, unable to bear it, called, in the greatest haste, for
him to come out. The bramhun refused, unless his wife, a
fisherman's daughter, might accompany him ;"to which 'Gurooru
consented. Pursuing his journey, Gurooru met his father Kushyupu,
who directed him to appease his hunger at a certain lake where
an elephant and a tortoise were fighting. The body of the tortoise
was eighty miles long, and the elephant's one hundred and sixty.
Gurooru with one claw seized the elephant, with the other the
tortoise, and perched with them on a tree eight hundred miles
high ; but the tree was unable to bear the ponderous weight, and
unhappily thousands of pigmy bramhun s were then worshipping
on one of its branches. Trembling lest he should destroy any of
them, he took the bough in his beak, continuing to hold the
elephant and tortoise in his claws, and flew to a mountain in an
uninhabited country, where he finished his repast on the tortoise
and elephant. Gurooru, having surmounted astonishing dangers,
at last seized the moon, and concealed it under his wing : but on
his return was attacked by Indru and other gods, all of whom,
however, except Vishnoo, he overcame ; and even he was so
severely put to it in the contest, that he came to terms with
Gurooru, who was made immortal, and promised a higher seat
than Yishnoo, while Gurooru on his part became the carrier of
Vishnoo. Since this time Vishnoo rides on Gurooru ; while the
latter, in the shape of a flag, sits at the top of Vishnoo's car.
Gurooru is worshipped at the great festivals before the different
images of Vishnoo ; but has no separate time of worship. His
image is placed in the temples dedicated to various forms of
Yishnoo ; and some persons receive his name as their guardian
deity, and repeat it daily.
Gurooru' s two sons, Sumpatee and Jutayoo, once flew, as a
trial of strength, up to the sun ; but the wings of Sumpatee were
burnt off. Gurooru resides in Kooshu-dweepu, one of the seven
islands into which the Hindoos divide the earth.
Names. — Guroomut, or, he who is clothed with feathers. —
Gurooru, he who swallows [serpents, and throws up their bones.]
Turkshyu, the father of Gurooru.— Yoinuteyu, from Vinuta.—
Khugeshwuru, the lord of the feathered tribes. — Nagantuku, the
destroyer of the serpents, (nagus.)— Vishnoo -rut' hu, the carrier of
Vishnoo. — Soopurnu, he whose feathers are of the colour of gold.
— Punnuga-shunu, the devourer of the serpents.
Sect. II— Uroonti.
The elder brother of Gurooru, is the charioteer of S65ryu, the
160 JUTAYOO— SHUNKURU CHILLU— KHUNJUNU AND OTHERS.
sun ; and is worshipped with his master, as well as at the festivals
of other gods. The image of this god is that of a man without
thighs.
Sect. III. — Jutayoo.
This bird is the friend of Ramu, and is worshipped at the
same festival with him. He is mentioned in the preceding account
of Ramu.
Sect. IV. — Shunkuru Chillu, or the Eagle of Coromandel.
This is the white-headed kite, commonly called the bramhunee
kite. It is considered as an incarnation of Doorga, and is rever-
enced by the Hindoos, who bow to it whenever it passes them.
Sect. V. — KhnnjunU or the Wag-tail.
Is considered as a form of Vishnoo, on account of the mark
on its throat, supposed to resemble the shalgramu. The Hindoos
honour it in the same manner as they do the eagle of Coromandel.
Sect. VI. — Other Birds worshipped
The peacock, the goose, and the owl,e are worshipped at the
festivals of Kartiku, Brumha, and Lukshmee.
e If, however, the owl, the vulture, or any other unclean birds, perch upon the
house of a Hindoo, it is an unlucky omen, and the effect must be removed by the per-
formance of the following expiatory ceremony : ' If a vulture, a heron, a dove, an owl,
a hawk, a gull, a kite, a Bhasha, or a Pundura, should settle upon a house, the wife,
or a child, or some other person belonging to the master of the house, will die, or some
other calamity will befal him within a year afterwards. To prevent this, the house,
or its value in money, must be given to bramhfins ; or a peace- offering of an extraordi-
nary nature must be offered : viz., five productions of the cow, the five gems, the five
nectareous juices, the five twigs of trees, and the five astringents, are to be put into a
pot of water ; the guardian deities of the quarters of the universe must then be wor-
shipped, and an hundred and eight oblations of clarified butter must be made with a
sacrificial piece of the wood of the Khadira tree, while the prayer of Mrityoonjityu is
repeated. The oblation, called the muha-vyadhee homu, is to be performed at the
commencement, or at the end of this ceremony. Oblations of clarified butter, at each
of which the gayitree is repeated, are then to be made to Vishnoo, the nine planets,
XJdbhootu, and the house-hold gods ; which being done, the bramhuns must be enter-
tained with clarified butter and rice milk. The sacrificial fees must then be paid, and
water sprinkled with appropriate incantations ; when an assurance that all has been
duly performed being given, a prostration is made to the bramhiSns, and the benedic-
tion received from them.'
THE TOOLUSEE.
161
CHAP. XII.
THE WORSHIP OF TREES.
Trees are worshipped by the Hindoos as the forms of parti-
cular gods : the ushwutu and vutu are representatives of Vishnoo,
and the vilwu that of Shiva. The devout Hindoos worship them,
water their roots, plant them near their houses, &c. The Hindoo
females, who are never seen in the streets, plant a sacred tree
within the compound, that they may not lose the merit of watering
it in the sultry months. The female shoodrus, to honour the wives
of bramhuns, carry water to these trees, and on a fortunate day
make offerings to them.
Sect. I. — The Toolusee*
The Hindoos have no public festival in honour of this plant ;
but they occasionally prostrate themselves before it, repeating a
form of prayer or praise : they have great faith also in the power
of its leaves to cure diseases, and use it with incantations to expel the
poison of serpents. They plant it also before their houses, and in
the morning cleanse the place around it with water and cow-dung ;
and in the evening place a lamp near it. Throughout the month
Yoishakhu they suspend a large pot over it filled with water, and
let the water drop upon it through a small hole. Whenever any
of these plants die, it is considered a sacred duty to commit them
to the river ; and when a person is brought to the river side to die,
his relations plant a branch of the toolusee near the dying man's
head. A pillar, hollow at the top, is erected by many Hindoos, in
which they deposit earth, and set the plant. They walk round
these pillars and bow to the plant ; which actions are declared by
the shastrus to be very meritorious.
The origin of the worship of the Toolusee is thus related in
the Vishnoo pooranu, and in the Toolusee-Mahatmu : — Toolusee, a
female, was engaged for a long time in religious austerities ; and
at length asked this blessing of Vishnoo, that she might become his
wife. Lukshmee, Vishnoo's wife, hearing this, cursed the woman,
and changed her into a- Toolusee plant ; b but Vishnoo promised,
that he would assume the form of the shalgramu, and always con-
tinue with her. The Hindoos, therefore, continually keep one leaf
of the toolusee under and another upon the shalgramu.
* Basil, Ocinrarn gratissimum, and 0. sanctum. The myrtle was sacred to Venus.
b Apollo changed the youth Cyparisgus into a cypres-.; tree. Daphne was changed
into a laurel.
21
OTHER SACRED TREES.
Sect. II. — Other sacred Trees.
The ushwuUu,0 vutu/ vukoolu,6 limitukee/ amulukee/ vilwu,b
and nimbu* trees receive divine honours from the Hindoos, and are
set apart with the same ceremonies as are common at the setting
up of an image of the gods. These ceremonies take place either at
the time of planting the tree, or after the person has watered and
nourished it for some time. An individual who consecrates an
itshwuttu or a vutu, considering these trees as continuing to flou-
rish many years, says, ' Oh ! Vishnoo ! grant that, for planting this
tree, I may continue as many years in heaven as this tree shall
remain growing in the earth V The person expects too, that as he
has set apart this tree to afford shade to his fellow creatures, so after
death he will not be scorched by excessive heat in his journey to
Yumu, the regent of death.
c Ficus religiosa. This and other trees are never injured, nor cut down, nor burnt
by devout Hindoos. I was once informed by a bramhiSn, that his grandfather planted
one of these trees near his house, which has now spread its branches so widely, that,,
as my informant affirmed, 2,000 persons may stand under it ; and so much is this tree
reverenced by his family, that they do not suffer its withered branches to be burnt,.
d Ficus Indica, vulgarly called the banyan tree;
e Mimusops elengi. f Terminalia citriua.
s Phillanthus emblica. 11 JEgle marmelas.
i Melia azodaracta*
GUNGA HER IMAGE, 163
CHAP XIII.
THE WORSHIP OF RIVERS.
Rivers are to be placed among the objects of Hindoo wor-
ship :k they are of both genders, Nudti and Nudee. The worship
of these rivers is performed at auspicious seasons, as laid down
in the shastru, and at some of the great festivals. Certain
places also of these rivers arwpeculiarly sacred, and draw to them
great numbers of devotees | as, the source of the Ganges ; the
union of the Ganges, the Yumoona, and the Suruswutee at Pruy-
agu;1 the branching of this united river into three streams at
Trivenee ; the place where the Ganges disembogues itself into the
sea, &c. Their waters are used for food, bathing, medicine, religi-
ous ceremonies, &c. and formerly when a Hindoo king was crown-
ed, they were poured upon his head as a part of his consecration.
SECT.,iI. Gunga.
This goddess is represented as a white woman, wearing a
crown, sitting on the sea animal Mukuru, and having in her right
hand a water-lily, and in her left the lute. She is called the daugh-
ter of mount Himavut, though some of the pooranus declare that
she was produced from the sweat of Vishnoo's foot, which Brumha
caught and preserved in his alms' dish.
The grandfather of Beeshmu was one day performing religious
austerities near the Ganges, when the goddess fell in love with
him, and, in order to persuade him to a union, went and sat upon
his right knee. He toJd her that the left knee was the proper
place for the wife, and the right for the^son ; that therefore she
should not become his, but be united tohts son : whose name was
Santunoo. After Santunoo and Gunga had been married some
time, she was about to leave him ; but consented to stay, on con-
dition that she might kill all her children at their birth. When
the first child was born, she threw it into the river, and so on
to the seventh inclusive. As she was destroying the eighth,
Santunoo forbad her, in consequence of which the child was saved,
but^ she abandoned her paramour. The whole of this was to
fulfil a curse pronounced by Yishnoo on the eight P*ods named
U shtu-vusoo.
k The notion of certain rivers being sacred, seems to have prevailed arnongsfc
other heathen nations. Hence Naaman the Syrian said, ' Are not Abana and Phar-
par, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ? May I not wash in them
and be clean V
1 It is ascertained, that there are six places of this name, five of which are situat«
ed on the river Ulukannnda. — See Asiatic Researches, vol. xi,
HER DESCENT.
The Ramayunu, Muliablmrutu, and the Gunga-khundu, a part
of the Skundu poorariu, give long accounts of the descent of
Gunga from heaven : — Snguru, a king, having no children, entered
upon a long course of austere devotions ; in the midst of which
Bhrigoo appeared to him, and promised, that from the eldest
queen should be born sixty thousand children, and from the other
only a single child. After some time, the queen was delivered of
a pumpkin ! which the king in anger dashed to the ground, when
the fruit was broken, and, to his astonishment, he saw children
rising from it ; and, calling sixty /thousand nurses, put each
child into a pan of milk. The other wife had a son, whom they
called Ungshooman. After these sons were grown up, the king
resolved to perform once more the sacrifice of a horse before his
death, and committed the victim to tne care of his sixty thousand
sons. The person who performs this sacrifice one hundred times,
succeeds to the throne of heaven. On this occasion the reigning
Indru was alarmed, this being Suguxu's hundredth sacrifice. To
prevent its taking effect, therefor&Jra descended to the earth, and
assuming another form, privately carried off the horse, which he
placed in patalu, near to Kupilu, a sage. The sixty thousand sons,
after searching throughout the eWfh in vain, began to dig into
patalu,c where the}^ found the horse standing by the side of Kupilu,
who was absorbed in his devotions. Incensed at the old man,
whom they supposed to be the thief, they began to beat him ;
when, awaking from his abstraction of mind, he reduced them all
to ashes. The king for a long time heard no more of his sons ;
but at length JSTarudii informed him of the catastrophe. He then
vsent his son Ungshooman down to the sage, who delivered up the
horse, and informed the king, that if he could bring the goddess
Gunga from heaven,'1 his sons might be restored to him. The king
offered the sacrifice, and placing Ungshooman on the throne, took
up his residence in a forest as a hermit, where he died. Ungshoo-
man, in his turn, m^kin^jhis son Dwileepu his successor, died also
in a forest. Dwileepu two wives, but no children ; he there-
fore abdicated the throne, and embracing the life of a hermit,
sought of the gods a son, and the deliverance of the sons of
Suguru. Shivu promised him, that by means of his two queens a
son should be born. These women lived together, and after some
time the youngest had a son, whom they called Bhugeerut'hu ;e
who, however, was only a mass of flesh. Though greatly moved at
the sight of such a child, thev nreserved it, and in time it grew
up to manhood. One day Ushtu-vukru, a moonee, who was
c The Hindoo Avriters say, tliat the seven seas were thus formed by the sons of
Suguru. Some accounts add, that not finding a place large enough to contain the earth
which they thus dug up— they devoured it !
d Or, as it is explained, if he could perform the funeral rites for these sixty thou-
sand persons with the efficacious waters of the Ganges, they would be delivered from
the curse, and ascend to heaven.
8 This story is so extremely indelicate, that it is impossible to translate it.
HER WORSHIP.
165
hump-backed, and wriggled in walking, called to see these females ;
when Bhu geeVut'hu, in rising to salute the sage, trembled and.
wriggled in such a manner, that TTshtu^&ru, thinking he was
mocking him, said, ' If thou canst not help wriggling thus, be a
perfect child ; but if thou art mockinpfme, be destroyed.' The
boy immediately became perfect, and fflWage gave him his bless-
ing. When Bhngeerut'hu was grown up, he addressed his prayers
to different gods for the restoration of his sixty thousand rela-
tions— but in vain ; at length Brumha, moved by his piety, gave
him a single drop of the water, and Yishnoo giving him a shell
which he blew, Gunga followed him. As she had to fall from
heaven to earth, Bhugeemt'hu was afraid lest the earth should be
crushed by her fall : wherefore Shivu, standing on mount Himaviit,
caught Gunga in his bunch of matted hair, and detained her there
for some time ; but at length suffered one drop to fall on the
mountain : and from thence, on the tenth of the increase of the
moon in Jyoisht'hu, the goddess touched the earth, and whichever
way Bhugeerut'hu went blowing the conch, there Gunga followed
him.
Several very curious circumstances happened to Gunga as she
passed along. In one place she ran near Junhoo, a sage, and
washed away his mendicant's dish, the flowers for worship, &c.
upon which he, in anger, took her up, and swallowed her. At
the in treaties of Bhugeerut'hu, however, the sage let her pass out
at his thigh, on which accept Gunga received the name of
J anhuvee.
On they went, till Gunga asked Bhugeerut'hu where these
sixty thousand relations were whom she was to deliver. He being-
unable to inform her, she, to make sure of their deliverance, at the
entrance of the sea, divided herself into one hundred streams/ and
ran down into patalu ; where, as soon as the waters of Gunga
touched their ashes, they were delivered from the curse, and
ascended in chariots to heaven.
When G^nga was brought from heaven, the gods, conscious
that their sins also needed washing away, petitioned Brumha on
the subject, who soothed them by promising that Gunga should
remain in heaven, and descend to earth also. This goddess,
therefore was called Mundakinee in heaven, Gunga on earth, and
Bhoguvutee in patalu.
All casts worship Gunga, yet most of the ceremonies at the time
of the daily ablutions, with the exception of some forms of praise to
this goddess, are in the name of Shivu and other gods. The Hin-
doos particularly choose the banks of this river for their worship,
as the merit of works performed here, according to the promise of
fThe mouths of the Ganges.
166
HER FESTIVALS.
the shastrus,8 becomes exceedingly augmented. In Voishakhu,
Jyoisht'hu, Kartiku, and Maghu, the merit is greater than in
other months ; and ^^ie full moon in these months is still more
enhanced. In every month, on the first, sixth, and eleventh of
the moon, and at its tot^l wane also, bathing in Gunga is much
recommended.
On the third of the moon in Voishakhu, a few Hindoos per-
form the ceremonies of worship by the side of the river, under the
expectation that the benefits will be undecayable : such is the pro-
mise of the smritee shastrus.
On the 10th of the moon's increase in Jyoisht'hu, in the fore-
noon, the Dushuhura festival is held, in commemoration of Gunga's
descent to the earth. Crowds of people assemble from the different
towns and "villages near the river, especially at the most sacred
places of the river, bringing their offerings of fruit, rice, flowers,
cloth, sweetmeats, &c, and hang garlands of flowers across the river,
even where it is very wide. After the people have bathed, the
officiating bramhun ascends the banks of the river with them ; and
after repeating sungkulpu,11 places before him a jar of water, and
sitting with his face to the north or east, perfoms what his called
ghutu-st'hapunuV After this, the bramhun performs other cere-
monies, as asunu shoodhee,k ungu-nyasu,1 kurangu-nyasu,1 bhoot-
sho5dhee,m dig-vundhunu,n bhoot-otsartinu,0 &c. then the worship
of the five gods ; of the nine planets ; of the regents of the ten
quarters, &c. To this succeeds meditation, manusu,p &c. ; the priest
next presents the offerings, which may be sixty-four, or eighteen,
or sixteen, or ten, or five, or merely flowers and water, according
to the person's ability. To these offerings, the worshipper must
add sesamum, clarified butter, and barley-flour. The officiating
bramhun next performs the worship of Narayunu, Muhe'shwuru,q
g ' He who thinks upon Gttnga, though he may be 800 miles distant from the
river at the time, is delivered from all sin, and is entitled to heaven. — At the hour of
death, if a person think upon Gunga, he will obtain a place in the heaven of ShiviS.
— If a person, according to the regulations of the shastru, be going to bathe in.
Gunga, and die on the road, he shall obtain the same benefits as though he had
actually bathed. —There are 3,500,000 holy places belonging to Gunga : the person
who looks at Gunga, or bathes in this river, will obtain all the fruit which arises
from visiting all these 3,500 000 holy places. — If a person who has been guilty of
killing cows, bramhiins, his gooroo, or of drinking spirits, &c. touch the waters
of Gunga, desiring in his mind the remission of these sins, they will be forgiven. — By
bathing in Gunga, accompanied with prayer, a person will remove at once the sins
of thousands of births.1 — Gunga- Vakya- Vulee.
h An incantation, at the time of repeating which the person promises to attend to
certain ceremonies.
1 The ceremonies performed at the setting up of an image. Here the jar of water
is the image, before which the worship of any of the gods may be performed.
k Purifying the seat. 1 Ceremonies accompanied with motions of the fin-
gers. m Purifying the five elements of which the body is composed. n Bind-
ing the ten quarters, to prevent evil spirits from arriving to defile the worship.
0 Driving away the evil spirits. p Going over all the ceremonies in the mind,
1 Shivtt.
HER FESTIVALS.
1G7
Brumha, SooryiS, Bhugeerut'hu, and Himaluyu ; then the worship
of the inhabitants of the waters, as the fish, the tortoises, the frogs,
the water-snakes, the leeches, the snails,1, the mukurus> the shell-
fish, the porpoises, &c. The offerings, after having been presented
to the inhabitants of the waters, are thrown into the Ganges.
Ten lamps of clarified butter are then lighted up, and all the other
offerings presented. After this, the names of certain gods are re-
peated, with forms of praise ; the fee is presented to the priest, the
bramhuns are entertained, and the offerings sent to the houses of
bramhuns. At the close of these ceremonies the people perform
obeisance to Gunga, and then depart. Great multitudes assemble
on the banks of the river on these occasions, and expect much both
in this life and hereafter from this act of worship. If a person,
placing on his head ten fruits of any kind, thus immerse himself
in the Ganges on this day, the sins of ten births will be removed.
In this month also clay images of Gunga are set up in domes-
tic temples, and worshipped, and the next day thrown into the
river. In some places clay images of this goddess are preserved in
clay temples, and worshipped daily. Persons escaping dangers on
water present offerings to Gunga, as well as to Vuroonu, the Indian
Neptune ; as mariners, having escaped the dangers of the sea, used
to offer a sacrifice to Venus.
On the thirteenth of the decrease of the moon in Choitru, the
people descend into the water, and with their hands joined immerse
themselves ; after which the officiating bramhun reads a portion of
the shastru, describing the benefits arising from this act of bathing.
The people repeat after the priest certain significant words, as the
day of the month, the name of Vishnoo, &c, and then immerse
themselves again. Gifts of rice, fruits, and money are offered to
r This strongly reminds us of the lines of Juvenal, Satire xv,
' Who has not heard, where Egypt's realms are nam'd,
What monster gods her frantic sons have fram'd ?
Here Ibis gorg'd with well-grown serpents*, there
The crocodile t commands religious fear :
Where Memnon's statue magic strings inspire
With vocal sounds that emulate the lyre ;
And Thebes (such, Fate, are thy disastrous turns !)
Now prostrate o'er her pompous ruins mourns;
A monkey-god £ , prodigious to be told !
Strikes the beholder's eye with burnished gold :
To godship here blue Triton's scaly herd,
The river progeny is there preferr'dll :
Through towns Diana's power neglected lies,
Where to her dogs§ aspiring temples rise : !
And should you leeks or onions eat, no time
Would expiate the sacrilegious crime.
Religious nations sure, and blest abodes,
Where every orchard is o'errun with gods !'
* See Gurooru. t The Hindoos throw their children to the alligators. £ Hunoomaa,
S See the account above, § See a preceding article.
108
ATTACHMENT OF THE NATIVES TO THIS RIVER.
the poor, the bramhuns, and the priest. On this occasion groups
of ten or twelve persons stand in the water in one spot, for whom
one bramhun reads the formulas. These groups are to be seen ex-
tending themselves very far along the river. At the moment of
the conjunction of the moon (on the thirteenth of its decrease)
with the star Shutubhisha, this festival is called the Great Varoo-
nee. The merit arising from bathing at this lucky moment is sup-
posed to be very great ; the people fast till the bathing is over.
When there is a conjunction as above, and the day falls on a
Saturday, the festival is called the Great, Great Varoonee.8
The pooranus declare, that the sight, the name, or the touch
of Gunga takes away all sin, however heinous ; that thinking of
Gunga, when at a distance, is sufficient to remove the taint of
sin ; but that bathing in Gunga has blessings in it of which no
imagination can conceive.
So much is this river reverenced among the Hindoos, that many
bramhuns will not cook upon it, nor throw saliva into it, nor wash
themselves nor their clothes in it.* Some persons perform a
journey of five or six months to bathe in Gunga, to perform the
rites for deceased relations, and to cany this water to place in their
houses, for religious and medicinal uses. The water of this river
is used also in the English courts of justice to swear upon, as the
koran is given to Musulmans, and the New Testament to Chris-
tians ; but many of the most respectable Hindoos refuse to
comply with this method of making oath, alleging that their
sha,stras forbid them in these cases to touch the water of the
Ganges/ the shalgramu, or a bramhun. When such cases occur
in the courts, the judges very candidly permit the person, if of
good character, to give his evidence in a way consistent with his
peculiar prejudices, as, after bathing, &c. and standing with his
face to the east. The Hindoo courts formerly admitted a person's
evidence without an oath ; and when a cause could not be deter-
mined by evidence thus given, they resorted to the ordeal. It is
not uncommon for one Hindoo to say to another, ' Will you make
this engagement on the banks of Gunga t The other replies,
' I engage to do what I have said ; but I cannot call Gunga to
witness it/ If a person utter a most audacious lie, while near or
upon the Ganges, the person to whom he is speaking says, ' Are you
s At the time of many of the festivals, the sides of the Ganges, in many places,
are gaily illuminated ; and lights fastened on boards, plantain stalks, &c. or put in
earthen pots, are floated down the stream.
k In the work called Valmeekee-moonee, amongst many other forms of praise to
be offered to Gunga, is the following : — ' 0 goddess, the owl that lodges in the hollow
of a tree on thy banks is exalted beyond measure ; while the emperor, whose
palace is far from thee, though he may possess a million of stately elephants, and
may have the wives of millions of conquered enemies to serve him, is nothing.'
u Many persons refuse to contest causes in which large sums are at stake,
under the fear that they may be constrained to make oath on the waters of the Ganges.
ANXIETY OF HINDOOS TO DIE IN SIGHT OF THE GANGES. 169
not afraid of uttering such a falsehood in the presence of Gunga ?'
A third person perhaps adds, as a continuation of the reproach — ■
i Not lie ; he has been guilty of discharging his urine into Gunga,
even at Pruyagu.'
Morning and evening the Hindoos visit and look at this river
to remove the sins of the night or of the day ; when sick they
smear their bodies with the sediment, and remain near the river
for a month perhaps. Some of course recover, and others die : a
Hindoo says, that those who have a steady faith and an unwaver-
ing mind, recover ; the rest perish.
The Hindoos are extremely anxious to die in the sight of the
Ganges, that their sins may be washed away in their last moments.
A person in his last agonies is frequently dragged from his bed
and friends, and carried, in the coldest or in the hottest weather,
from whatever distance, to the river side ; where he lies, if a
poor man, without a covering day and night till he expires : with
the pains of death upon him, he is placed up to the middle in the
water, and drenched with it. Leaves of the toolusee plant are
also put into his mouth ; and his relations call upon him to
repeat, and repeat for him, the names of Bamu, Huree, Narayunu,
Brumha, Gunga, &c. In some cases the family priest repeats
some incantations, and makes an offering to Voiturunee, the river
over which the soul, the}^ say, is ferried after leaving the body.
The relations of the dying man spread the sediment of the river
on his forehead or breast, and afterwards with the finger write on
this sediment the name of some deity. If a person should die in
his house, and not by the river side, it is considered as a great
misfortune, as he thereby loses the help of the goddess in his
dying moments. If a person choose to die at home, his memory
becomes infamous. The conduct of Raja Nuvu-krishnu of
Nudeeya, who died in his bed -room about the year 1800, is still
mentioned as a subject of reproach, because he refused to be carried
to the river before death. 'Ah ! Ah !' say the superstitious, when
a neighbour at the point of death delays the fatal journey to the
river, ' he will die like Raja Nuvu-Krishnu.'
Dead bodies are brought by their relations to be burnt near
this river ; and when they cannot bring the whole body, it is not
uncommon for them to bring a single bone and cast it into the
river,* under the hope that it will help the soul of the deceased.
x Many persons, whose relations die at a distance from the Ganges, at the time
of burning the body preserve a bone, and at some future time bring this bone and
commit it to Gunga, supposing that this will secure the salvation of the deceased.
The work called Kriya-yognsariS contains the following curious story : — A brainhiin,
Avho had been guilty of the greatest crimes, was devoured by wild beasts ; his bones
only remained. A crow took up one of these bones, and was carrying it over Gunga,
when another bird darting upon it, the crow let the bone fall. As soon as the bone
touched Gunga, the bramhiin sprang to life, and was ascending to heaven, when the
messenger of Yumu, the judge of the dead, seized him, as a great sinner. At this
170 CHILDREN AND GROWN-UP PERSONS DROWNED IN IT.
In the eastern parts of Bengal, married women, long disap-
pointed in their hopes of children, make an offering to Gunga, and
enter into a vow, that if the goddess will give them two children,
they will present one to her : and it is not uncommon for such
women to cast the first chi]d into the river as an offering ; "but it
is said, that at present some relation or religious mendicant stands
ready to preserve the life of the child. The mother cannot take it
again, but this person adopts and provides for it. These offerings
are made on the tenth of the moon in Jyoisht'hu, and on the 13th
of Choitrii.
Some persons even drown themselves in the Ganges, not
doubting but they shall immediately ascend to heaven. The
shastru encourages this.y It is a sin for a bramhun, but an act of
merit in a shoodru or a dun dee, if he be in worldly trouble, or
afflicted with an incurable distemper. The Gunga-Vakya-Vulee
says, ' Should any person have eaten with another who is degrad-
ed for seven successive births ; or have committed the five sins,
each of which is called muha-patuku ; should he have eaten the
food which has been touched by a woman in her courses ; or have
constantly spoken falsely ; or have stolen gold, jewels, &c. ; should
he have killed the wife of his friend ; or have injured bramhuns,
or friends, or his mother, &c. ; or have committed the sins which
doom a man to the hell called Muharouruvu ; or have committed
those sins for which the messengers of Yumu constantly beat a
person ; or have committed multitudes of sins in childhood, youth,
and old age ; — if this person bathe in Gunga at an auspicious period,
all these sins will be removed : he will also be admitted into the
heaven of Brumha, the Pururn-hungsee ; be put in possession of
the merits of the man who presents, a lac of red cows to a bram-
hun learned in the four vedus ; and afterwards will ascend and
dwell at the right hand of Vishnoo. After he has enjoyed all this
happiness, and shall be re-born on the earth, he will be possessed
of every good quality, enjoy all kinds of happiness, be very honour-
time Naray ami's messengers interfered, and pleaded, that the sins of this man, since
one of his bones had touched Gnnga, were all done away. The appeal was made to
Vishnco, who decided in the tramhun's favour. The bramhiin immediately went to
heaven.
y The Skundu pooranu declares, that by dying in the Ganges, a person will obtain
absorption into Brumhii. The same work contains a promise from Shivu, that who-
ever dies in Gunga shall obtain a place in his heaven. — The Bhuvishyu pooranu affirms
that if a worm, or an insect, or a grass-hopper, or any tree growing by the side of
Gunga, die in the river, it will obtain absorption into Brumhu. — The Briimhu pooranix
says, that whether a person renounce life in Gunga, praying for any particular benefit,
or die by accident, or whether he possess his senses or not, he will be happy. If he
purposely renounce life, he will enjoy absorption, or the highest happiness ; if he die
by accident, he will still attain heaven.— -Munoo says, 'A mansion with bones for its
rafters and beams ; with nerves and tendons for cords ; with muscles and blood for
mortar ; with skin for its outward covering ; filled with no sweet perfume, but loaded
with faeces and urine ; a mansion infested by age and by sorrow, the seat of malady,
harassed with pains, haunted with the quality of darkness, and incapable of standing
long ; such a mansion of the vital soul let its occupier always cheerfully quit.'
EXTRACTS FROM THE SHASTRUS — OTHER DEIFIED RIVERS. 171
able, &c. He who shall doubt any part of this, will be doomed to
the hell called Koombhee-paku, and afterwards be born an ass. If
a person, in the presence of Giinga, on the anniversary of her arri-
val on the earth, and according to the rules prescribed in the
shastrus, present to the bramhuns whole villages, he will obtain
the fruits that arise from all other offerings, from all sacrifices, from
visiting all the holy places, &c. ; his body will be a million times
more glorious than the sun ; he will obtain a million of virgins,
and multitudes of carriages, palankeens, &c. covered with jewels ;
he \*ill dwell for ages in heaven, enjoying its pleasures in company
with his father; as many particles, of dust as are contained in the
land thus given away to the bramhuns, for so many years will the
giver dwell in happiness in Vishnoo's heaven.'
Every real Christian must be deeply affected on viewing the
deplorable effects of this superstition. Except that part of the
rig-ve'du which countenances the burning of women alive, no writers
ever gave birth to a more extensive degree of misery than those
who have made the Ganges a sacred river. Thousands, yea mil-
lions of people are annually drawn from their homes and peaceful
labours, several times in the year, to visit different holy places of
this river, at a great expense of time, and money spent in making
offerings to the goddess ; expensive journeys are undertaken by
vast multitudes to obtain the water2 of this river, (some come two
or three months' journey for this purpose,) or to carry the sick, the
dying, the dead, or the bones of the dead, to its banks. What the
sick and dying suffer by being exposed to all kinds of weather in
the open air on the banks of the river, and in being choked by the
sacred water in their last moments, is beyond expression. In short,
no eyes, , but those of Omniscience, can see all the foul deeds done
upon and by the sides of this river ; and the day of judgment alone
can bring all these deeds to light. The bramhun will then see,
that instead of Gunga's having removed the sins of her worshippers,
she has increased them a million -fold.
Sect. II. — Other deified Rivers.
The Godavuree, the Nurmuda, the Kaveree, the Atreyee
the Kurdtoya, the Bahooda, the Gomutee, the Suruyoo, the
Gundiikee, the Varahee, the Churmun-wutee, the Shutudroo
the Yipasha, the Goutumee, the Kurmitnasha, the Shonu,a the
Giravutee, the Chundrubhaga, the Vitusta, the Sindhoo, the
BLudra-vukasha, the Punusa, the Devika, the Tamrupurnee, the
Tcongubhudra, the Krishna, the Vetruvutee, the Bhoiruvu, the
Biumhu-pootru,b the Voiturunee, and many other rivers, are
mentioned in the Hindoo shastrus as sacred.
z Many thousands perish by the dysentery, and o.thers through want, in these
journies.
» This is a male river. b Ditto.
172
OTHER DEIFIED RIVERS.
At the full moon in Asharlm, many thousand Hindoos assemble
at Prutapu-guriS, a place to the west of Lucknow, and bathe in the
Godavuree, or in the remains of it, (for at this season of the year
this river is nearly dried up.)
On the last day of Choitru, a large assembly of Hindoos meet
at Moduphuru-poorn, about sixteen miles from Patna, where the
Gundakee, the Suruyoo, and the Ganges meet.b The assembly
remains eight days, and a large fair is held on the spot, at which
horses, camels, and other beasts, and also children, are bought
and sold : the price of a boy is from ten to twelve rupees ; That
of a girl is less.
On the same day a large concourse of Hindoos, some say as
many as 20,000, principally women, assemble at "Oyodhya, to
bathe in the Suruyoo.
On the 14th of the decrease of the moon in Phalo;oonu, an
equal number of people are said to meet on the banks of the
Suruyoo at Buh ur uin-gh atu, near Lucknow : but they do not
bathe in the river, the water of which is very filthy, but in a
sacred pool adjoining.
On the banks of the Yumoona, on the second of the moon in
Kartiku, and on the eighth of the decrease of the moon in Bhadru,
vast crowds of Hindoos assemble in different places to bathe.
The Brumhu-pootru receives the same honours on the eighth
of the increase of the moon in Choitru. At a place three days'
journey from Dacca 50 or 60,000 people assemble, and sacrifice
pigeons, sheep, and goats, casting them into the river. Children
are also cast into the river here by their mothers, but are generally
rescued and carried home by strangers. Superstitious people say,
that on this day the river gradually swells so as to fill its banks,
and then gradually sinks to its usual level.
The Voiturunee, in Orissa, is also placed among the sacred
rivers, and on the thirteenth of the decrease of the moon in Choitru,
great multitudes of Hindoos, (six or seven hundred thousand,)
assemble at Yaju-pooru, near the temple of Jugunnat'hu, and
bathe in this river.
Many other rivers receive the same honours ;c and I could
have greatly enlarged this account, in detailing their fabulous
histories, and in noticing the superstitious ceremonies of this
deluded people on their banks : but what I have here inserted,
and the preceding account of Gunga, must suffice.
b There are several causes why particular places of these rivers are esteemed
peculiarly sacred. Some of these causes are given in the shastrus, and others arise from
tradition. One instance of the latter occurs respecting Voidyvuatee, a place near
Serampore, where Nimaee, a religious mendicant, performed his devotions, and where
at present, at a conjunction of particular stars, multitudes assemble to bathe.
c See Asiatic Researches.
WORSHIP OF FFSII AND BOOKS,
173
CHAP. XIV.
THE WORSHIP OF FISH.
ViSHNOO, having been incarnate in the form of a fish, is worship-
ped on certain occasions, or rather a form of praise is repeated in
honour of this incarnation.
In the preceding account of Gunga it will also be seen, that the
finny tribes of that river are worshipped at the festivals in honour
of this goddess.
I am informed, however, that female Hindoos, residing on the
banks of the Pudmu, on the 5th of the increase of the moon in Maghu,
actually worship the Ilishu fish, Avhen they first arrive in the river,
with the usual ceremonies, and after that partake of them without
the fear of injuring their health.
CHAP. XV.
THE WORSHIP OF BOOKS.
The Hindoos have deified their shastrus, which, on different
occasions, they worship with the same ceremonies as an idol,
anointing the book with perfumes, and adorning it with garlands.
At the reading of any part of the vedus, the Chundee, and other
works, the book to be read is always addressed as an idol. At such
times the worshipper thus prays to the book : ' Oh ! book ! thou art
the goddess of learning, bestow learning upon me.'
When an individual employs a bramhun to recite to his family
and neighbours the Muhabharutu, Ramayunu, Shreebhaguvutu,
or any other pooranu, the worship of the work recited is performed
on the first and last days at considerable length, many offerings
being presented : each day's recital is also preceded by a short
service paid to the book.
At the festival in honour of the goddess Suruswutee any one
of the shastrus is adopted and worshipped, joined with the pen
and inkstand.
The followers of Vishnoo, and especially the mendicant
voiragees, pay a still greater reverence than the regular Hindoos to
the books they esteem sacred. These books relate to the amours
of Krishnu, or to the mendicants Choitunyu and Nityanundu.
A book placed on a golden throne, and presented to a bramhun,
is a very meritorious gift.
174 THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHALGRAMU.
CHAP. XYI.
THE WORSHIP OF STONES.
The Shalgramu11.
This is the setites, or eagle-stone, of which there is a great
variety, and to which many virtues were ascribed by the ancients.
When I shewed a picture of the eagle-stone to a bramhun who was
sitting with me, without informing him what it was, he exclaimed
■ — ' This is the shalgramu !' and added, (jocularly,) ' Oh ! then,
Englishmen will be saved, as they have the shalgramu amongst
them.'
This stone, black, hollow, and nearly round, is said to be
brought from mount Gundukee, in Nepaul. It is added, that in
this mountain there are multitudes of insects which perforate the
masses of stone, so that' pieces fall into the river Gunduku in the
shape of the shalgramu, from whence they are taken with nets.
Common ones are about as large as a watch. They are valued
according to their size, their hollowness, and the colours in the
inside ; and from these circumstances they are called by different
names.The chief sorts are called Lukshme3-Narayunu,R"Sghoonat'hu,
Lukshmee, Jimardunu, Vamunu, Damoduru,b &c. These different
shalgramus are worshipped under their different names. The first
is sometimes sold for as much as two thousand rupees. The Hin-
doos have a notion, that whoever keeps in his house this celebrated
stone, and a shell called dukshina-vurtu,c can never become poor ;
but that the very day in which any one parts with one of them,;
he will begin to sink into poverty. Almost every respectable
bramhun keeps a shalgramu, as do some sho5drus. The bramhun
who does not keep one is reproached by his neighbours.
The reason why this stone has been deified is thus given in
the Shree-bhaguvutu : — Yishnoo created the nine planets to preside
over the fates of men. Shunee (Saturn) commenced his reign by
a From sharu and gramu, which, indicates that this stone makes the place
excellent in which it is preserved, as the Muhabhariitu is said to purify the places in
which it is read : hence bramhuns are forbidden to enter a village where the
Muhabhariittt is not found, as such place is pronounced unclean.
b The Hindoos say, that this last shalgramu requires large offerings of food to
be preseuted to it ; and that a bramhun, who had begged one of them, and neglected
to feed it sufficiently, was brought to ruin, this god having swept away nearly his
whole family by death. Many stories of this kind are related of this stone. Though
a single grain of rice was never known to be eaten by an image, yet the Hindoos
firmly believe this and similar stories, against all the evidence of their senses for
hundreds of years together. Gopalu, a learned bramhun employed in the Serampore
printing-office, declared that one of these stones had been placed in his house by a
relation, who attributed his family misfortunes to its powers.
c A shell, the convolutions of which turn to the right. Vishnoo is said to hold
a shell of this kind in his hand.
REASON OF ITS DEIFICATION — CONSTANT REPRESENTATIVE. 175
proposing to Brumha, that he should first come under his influence
for twelve years. Brumha referred him to Vishnoo, but this god,
equally averse to be brought under the dreaded influence of this
inauspicious planet, desired Saturn to call upon him the next day,
and immediately assumed the form of a mountain. The next day
Saturn was not able to find Vishnoo, but discovering that he had
united himself to mount Gundukee, he entered the mountain in
the form of a worm called vujru-keatu.c He continued thus to
afflict the mountain- formed Yishnoo for twelve years, when Vish-
noo assumed his proper shape, and commanded that the stones of
this mountain should be worshipped, and should become proper
representatives of himself ; adding, that each should have twenty-
one marks in it, similar to those on his body, and that its name
should be shalgramu.
The worship of any of the gods may be performed before the
shalgramu, and it is often adopted as the representative of some
god. It claims no national festival, but is placed near the image
worshipped, and first receives the devotions of the Hindoos. The
shalgramu is also worshipped daily by the bramhuns, after morn-
ing ablutions : they first bathe or wash the stone, reading the
formulas ; and then offer flowers, white lead, incense, light, sweet-
meats, and water, repeating incantations : the offerings, after
remaining before it a short time, are eaten by the family. In the
evening, incense, light, and sweetmeats are offered, preceding
which a bell is rung, and a shell blown ; and the whole is closed
by the priest's prostrating himself before the stone.
During the month Voishakhu, bramhuns suspend a pan of
water every day over the shalgramu, and, through a small hole at
the bottom, let the water fall on it, to preserve it cool during this
month, which is one of the hottest in the year. This water is caught
in another pan placed beneath, and drank in the evening as holy
water. When the country is in great want of rain, a bramhim in
some instances places the shalgramu in the burning sun, and sits
down by it, repeating incantations. Burning the god in the sun
is said to be a sure way of obtaining rain.
Some persons, when sick, employ a bramhim to present single
leaves of the toolusee plant, sprinkled with red powder, to the
shalgramu, repeating incantations. A hundred thousand leaves
are sometimes presented. It is said, that the sick man gradually
recovers as every additional leaf is offered. When a Hindoo is
at the point of death, a bramhun shews him the marks of the
shalgramu, the sight of which is said to secure the soul a safe pas-
sage to Vishnoo's heaven.
In a work called Shalgramu-nirnuyu an account is given of
the proper names of the different shalgramus ; the benefits arising
c Literally, the thunder-bolt worm.
176
OF THE CODS IN WORSHIP — THE PEDAL;
from their worship ; the kinds of shalgramus proper to be kept
by persons in a secular state, and also by the religious.
A separate room, or house, or a particular spot in the room
where the family dwell, is assigned to this god. Some persons
keep one, others ten, others a hundred, and some even as many as
a thousand of these stones.
The shalgramu is rendered impure by the touch of a shoodrud
and in such cases must be purified by rubbing it over with cow-
dung, cow's urine, milk, ghee, and curds. If a small part of the
shalgramu be broken off, the owner commits it to the river. The
bramhuns sell these stones, but trafficing in images is dishonorable.
[The shalgramu is the only stone deriving its deity from
itself: all other stones worshipped are made sacred b}^ incanta-
tions. For an account of them, see a succeeding article relative
to the Hindoo images.]
CHAP. XVII.
A LOG OF WOOD WORSHIPPED. -
The Pedal.
This is a rough piece of wood, (termed dhenkee,) generally
the trunk of a tree, balanced on a pivot, with a head something
like a mallet ; it is used to separate the rice from the husk, to
pound brick-dust for buildings, &c. A person stands at the farthest
end, and with his feet presses it down, which raises up the
head ; after which he lets it fall on the rice, or brick-ends. One
of these pedals is set up at almost every house in country places.
The origin of this worship is thus given : — A religious guide,
being called upon to give the initiating incantation to one of his
disciples, commanded him to repeat the word dhenkee, dhenkee.
Narudu, the god of the dhenkee, pleased with the disciple, visited
him, riding on a pedal, and gave him as a blessing another incan-
tation, by which he immediately became perfect, and ascended
to heaven.
The pedal is worshipped at the time of marriage, of investiture
with the poita, of giving the first rice to a child, and at any other
particular time of rejoicing. The women are the worshippers. It
is also worshipped in the month Voishaklm by all castes of females,
not excepting the wives of the most learned bramhuns ; who con-
secrate it by putting red, white, or yellow paint, and also some
rice, doorva grass, and oil on its head.
About twenty years ago, the raja of Nulu-danga, Muhendru-
devu-rayu, spent three hundred thousand rupees in a grand
festival in honour of this log of wood. At the close of the festival,
the raja took a firebrand, and set all the gilded scenery on fire,
and thus finished this scene of expensive folly and wickedness.
d So are all other images that have been consecrated.
OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEMPLES.
177
BOOK II.
OF THE TEMPLES, IMAGES, PRIESTS, AND CEREMONIES
OF THE HINDOOS.
CHAPTER L
OF THE TEMPLES.
The Hindoo temples in Bengal, though different in shape, are
nearly of the same description of architecture : they are very in-
inferior, it is true, to the sacred edifices in Europe ; but some of
these buildings are in a better style than might have been expected
from a people so little advanced in the arts.
Sect. 1. — Of different Kinds of Temples.
The Mitndiru* dedicated to the lingu, is a double-roofed
Gothic building, the body square, but the upper part short and
tapering to a point. It contains one, two, three, or more rooms,
about three cubits by four, with a porch in front for spectators.
The centre room contains the lingu ; in the others are placed the
utensils for worship, the offerings, &c. — Small square temples for
the lingu, with flat roofs, are erected in rows facing the houses of
rich men, or before a college, a consecrated pool of water, another
temple, or a flight of steps descending into the river. Similar
temples in honour of Guneshu are to be seen in some places. Very
small temples like the Mundiru, only three or five cubits high, and
containing a lingu about a foot in height, have been erected at
Benares.
The DeooltC3 temples, sacred to Jugunnat'hu, rise from the
foundation in a gradual slope like a sugar loaf, with an iron image
of Gurooru on the pinnacle. These temples, made of brick, are
ascended by a flight of steps, and contain only one room.
The PUnchu-rUtnil0 temple has two or three rooms, and a
single-arched roof, with a large pinnacle or turret on the dome, and
a smaller one on each corner. It is dedicated to the different forms
a Milndinl means any edifice of brick or stone ; but custom has appropriated it
almost exclusively to the temples of the lingii.
b Corrupted from devalayil, i. e.} devil, a god, alitytlj a house.
r Having five turrets.
178
DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEMPLES.
of Vishnoo, as Radha-bullubhu, Gopalu, Mudunu^mohunu, Govin-
dhu, &c. The temple called Nuvu-rUtn^ dedicated also to the
various forms of Vishnoo, has a double roof like the Mundira, with
a small turret on each corner of the lower roofs, and on the upper
one a larger ^turret to crown the dome. It contains four or five
rooms. At Ugru-dweepu, the temple of Gopee-nat'hu has different
houses attached to it ; one for cooking, another for the utensils
used in worship ; another is a store-house for the offerings, and two
others are open rooms for the accommodation of visitors and
devotees.
The Vishnoo-mtindiru, having one room, with a partico in
front, is a flat-roofed building, erected either within or without the
wall which encloses a Hindoo house, or at a little distance from
the owner's house ; and sometimes by the side of the Ganges, when
the person's house is near the river. A few temples may be
seen, having three rooms ; one of which is the god's hall of audience,
another his dining room, and the third his room for sleeping.
Another kind of temple, with a flat roof, is often erected by
rich Hindoos adjoining to their houses, and called Chundee-mun-
dtipti, and is designed for the image of Doorga or Kalee. This is
built on four sides, with an area in the middle. The image is
placed at the north end, with its face to the south ; the two sides,
and the north end, in most cases, contain upper rooms with porticos
beneath. The room which contains the image is about ten cubits
long and sixteen broad : the other rooms are open in front with
arched doorways ; and in these the visitors sit to see the ceremo-
nies of worship, hear the singing, &c.
The Yoru-bangala is made like two thatched houses or ban ga-
las, placed side to side ; and has what is called in England a
double-pitched roof, generally covered with tiles or bricks. The
front is open without doors. These temples are dedicated to dif-
ferent gods, but are not now frequently built in Bengal.
The Hindoos have another sacred edifice, called Rasumunchti,
in which the image of Krishnu is annually placed and worshipped.
This building is octagonal, with eight turrets at the corners, and
a steeple in the centre supported by pillars ; and consists of one
room, open on all sides, and elevated five or six feet from the
ground. On the nights of the rasu festival, the image is brought
and placed in this elevated open room, there worshipped, and
afterwards carried back to the temple adjoining to the owner's
house. The Dolu-munchu is a similar building, but is sometimes
made larger.
A great number of small clay and thatched buildings are erected
in Bengal, in which the images of Siddheshwuree, Krishnoo.
d Having nine turrets.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEMPLES.
179
Kamu, &c. are set up. The roofs of these buildings are sloping,
like the huts of the poor in Europe.
Images of some of the inferior deities are placed under trees,
and these trees become as it were temples for worship.
In some few towns a number of different temples are built in a
square. I once saw a BevaLuyn of this kind at Chanchra, in
Jessore, which contains twenty-one temples and as many gods.
One thousand acres of ground are attached to this place ; one
bramhun perform the ceremonies ; six others cook for these gods ;
four others gather flowers, and bring the articles for the daily
worship. Nimaee-mulliku, a goldsmith of Calcutta, built and
endowed this place. Similar devaluyus are to be seen at Krishnu-
nuguru, eGunga-vasu, Shiu-nivasu,Bmuhu-nuguruf, Natoru, Poonte\
Somrah, Bho5-koilasu, Gooptu-para, and at many other places in,
Bengal. — Raja Chundru-rayu, of Patulee, is said to have built two
hundred of these devaluyus, at each of which two or three hundred,
people are daily fed. The relict of raja Tiluku-chundru, of Burdwan,
erected one hundred and eight temples in one plain, and placed in
them as many images of the lingu ; attaching to them eleven bram-
hun s and inferior servants, and endowing the temples with estates
to the amount of the wap;es of the attendants.
Before many temples is seen a roof, supported by pillars,
under which portions of the shastrus are recited or sung, and at
other times animals for sacrifice slaughtered. In general, however,
the singing and dancing at the festivals take place under an
awning in the open air, near some temple, or near the person's
house who bears the expense. The long periods of dry weather in
this climate render this practicable ; nor would the heat allow of
such large assemblies meeting in houses, even if buildings suffici-
ently large could be constructed. This accounts for the Hindoo
temples being so small in the inside : many of them, especially
those of the lingu, are only large enough to contain the image, the
offerings, the utensils of worship, and the officiating priests.
Much of the wealth of the Hindoo kings was formerly expend-
ed in building temples, and supporting splendid festivals. At
present, those who erect these temples in Bengal are principally
the head-servants of Europeans, who appropriate part of their
gains to these acts of supposed merit. 1
e These belong to Gireeshu-chiSndri^the raja Nuvii-dweepn.
f This first place is in Moorshudabadii, and belongs to raja Vishoonat'hu, as* doe»
that at NatorS.
s This belongs to raja Bhoovunu-t'hakooru.
h This place is the property of Ram-sunkuru-rayu, a voidyil.
1 The capitol, or temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was raised in consequence of a
vow made by Tarquinius Priscus in the Sabine war.
ISO
DEDICATION OF TEMPLES.
The expense of erecting one of these temples, if a single room,
amounts to about two hundred rupees ; and the wages and daily
offerings to one image are about three rupees per month. Some
give the bramhun who officiates twelve annas, and others a rupee
monthly, with his food and clothes. Sometimes the offerings are
given to him, but in other cases they are presented to the bram-
hnns of the village alternately, and the priest has money given him
in their stead. These offerings frequently consist of a pound of
rice, a pint of milk, half an ounce of sugar, and two plantains.
The quantity, however, is not prescribed ; and other things are
added by the wealthy.
Sect. II. — Dedication of Temples.
When a Hindoo has erected a temple, he appoints a day to
dedicate it to some god. The following account of the dedication
of one hundred and eight temples to Shivu, some years ago, at
Talitu, in the district of Burdwan, by the mother of Tejush-chun-
dru, the raja of Burdwan, will give an idea of the manner in which
this ceremony is performed.
The foundation of these temples being about to be laid, a place
was dug in the earth about a cubit square, into which water was
poured, and a brick placed in the hole ; after which the worship of
the household god, (Yishnoo,) of Vuroonu, and the lingu, was per-
formed. At the close of the worship, a flower was thrown into the
water, the floating of which to the right was considered as a good
omen, and decided the point that the temple should be raised on
that spot. The following prayer was then addressed to this brick :
' As long as the earth and mountains remain, so long do thou
remain immoveable.' After the temples were nearly finished, many
bramhuns and the relations of the queen were invited, and on an
auspicious day the ceremony of consecration was performed. An.
altar was raised before each temple, and four priests chosen for
each altar ; who, purifying them, performed the worship of the
five gods,k the nine planets, the ten guardian deities of the earth,
and of Shivu, Vishnoo, and Doorga. To this succeeded the
burnt-sacrifice. One hundred and eight officiating priests then
celebrated the worship of Shivu, while sitting at the doors of the
temples. A person, in the name of the queen, next made a present
to the builder, and hinted to him that she now wished to conse-
crate these temples to Shivu. The trident of Shivu was next
worshipped, and fixed on the steeple. The princess then, sitting
in an enclosure below the steps of one of the temples, in the
presence of one of the priests and her attendants, devoted these
temples to Shivu, saying, ' O Shivu ! I present to thee these one
hundred and eight temples, made of brick : may I be rewarded
t Brumha, Vishnoo, Shivu, Gfin^shu, and Sooryit
ENDOWMENT OF TEMPLES.
181
with an everlasting residence in heaven.' In making this offering,
a number of minute ceremonies took place. The princess next
sent one of her relatives to perform the worship of Indru near a
bamboo, bearing a trident, with a flag fastened thereto. The same
person, after professing to animate one hundred and eight wooden
images of the bull, worshipped them, and placed them in the
temples thus dedicated. A representative of the princess next
walked round the temples three times : — (the princess herself
began to perform the ceremonies of circumambulation, but being
very corpulent, she resigned it to one of the priests.) — One
hundred and eight priests, bringing garlands1 and the other articles
used in worship, now performed the worship of the lingu in the
temples. At the close of these ceremonies, the princess presented
a rupee to each of the four hundred and thirty -two officiating
bramhuns, and one hundred and eight rupees to her own private
priest, who also obtained the offerings. She also presented twelve
kinds of offerings to Shivu, among which were vessels of gold,
silver, and other metals, cloths, &c. An entertainment to the
bramhuns succeeded, and at length the guests were dismissed with
presents from among the offerings, or in money, from ten to fifty
rupees each bramhun. One hundred thousand rupees, it is said,
were expended upon these buildings."1
The ceremonies are nearly similar to the above when idols
are dedicated and set up in temples ; when pools or trees are
consecrated to the public use ; when cars are presented to some
god ; and when a person is finishing the ceremonies of a vrutu
or vow.
Sect. III. — Endowment of temples.
The worship in some temples is conducted, and the offerings
supplied by the family which has erected the temple ; but in
others by a hired bramhun, who receives monthly wages : the
offerings are in general distributed among the bramhuns of the
village.
To a temple particularly celebrated, rich men make grants of
houses, sometimes of whole villages ; and of lands, orchards, pools,
&c. to a large amount ; and the produce of these grants is applied
to the uses of the temple.
The temple of Radha-bullubhu at Bullubhu-pooru, about twelve
1 At the time of worship the priest always puts upon the image a garland of
flowers. This seems to have been practised among other idolaters : for when the
priest of Jupiter came to worship Paul and Barnabas, (Acts xiv. 13.) he brought oxen
and garlands. No doubt the latter were inteuded to be put upon the heads or necks
of the apostle and his companion, the persons about to be worshipped.
m Te*jush-chilndril has since built one hundred and eight temples at Umbika
and dedicated them to Shivn.
18:2
MATERIALS OF WHICH IMAGES ARE MADE.
miles north of Calcutta, has been endowed with lands, houses, &c.
to the annual amount of 3,000 rupees, by Raja Muvu-Krishnu ;
which is divided among sixteen families of bramhuns.
The temple of Jugunnat'hu at Muhe'shu, about the same dis-
tance from Calcutta, has been endowed with lands, &c. to the
annual amount of 1,400 rupees, by Raja Anundu-Chundra-Rayil
The temple of Gopee-nat'hu at Ugru-dweepu has been endow-
ed with lands, &c. to the annual amount of 6 or 7,000 rupees, by
Raja Krishnu-Chundru-Rayu.
The temple of Jugunnat'hu in Orissa has been endowed by
several rich Hindoos : Raja Ram-Krishnu-devu gave two villages,
the rents of which bring in about 4,000 rupees annually : Nimoo-
mulliku of Calcutta gave daily one rupee, or 365 annually ; and
his children continue the donation. Other rich men make similar
annual presents. It is supposed that not less than 100,000 rupees
a year are drawn from the Hindoos by the bramhuns of this
temple.
CHAP. II.
OF THE IMAGES.
The images of the Hindoo gods are made either of gold, silver,
quicksilver mixed with the powder of tin, brass, copper, iron, mixed
metal,n crystal, stone, wood, or clay.0 The common workmen in
gold, silver, brass, &c. make these images.
The images made of gold are generally those of Doorga, Luksh-
mee, Radha, Krishnu, and Suruswutee ; which are kept in private
houses, and worshipped daily. These images must not not be less
in weight than one tola ;p they are generally three or four.
The image of Sheetula is often made of silver, kept in the
house, and worshipped daily. It is as heavy as ten or twelve
rupees.
n Containing, as the Hindoos say, eight ingredients, viz., gold, silver, tin, copper,
iron, zinc, lead, and brass.
0 The shastrtis allow images to be made of no other substances than these. The
image of Shunee alone is made of iron.
p Three tolas are rather more than one ounce. At Kidderpooru, adjoining
to Calcutta, is a golden image of Putitil-pavunee, two cubits high. Near Serampore,
is a golden image of Jugudhatree, about a cubit and a half high.
MATERIALS OF WHICH IMAGES ARE MADE.
183
0
The images of Shivu only are made of quicksilver and
crystal. They are very small, and are kept in the houses of the
rich, and used for daily worship.
Small brazen images of many of the gods are kept in private
houses, and worshipped daily. These are very small, weighing
only an ounce or two.
Very small copper images of Sooryu, and of Shivu riding on a
bull, are preserved in private houses, and worshipped daily.
The images of mixed metal are those of Radha, Doorga,
Lukshmee, Shivu, &c. The images of any of the gods may be
made with this mixed metal ; and may be worshipped either in
private houses or in temples.
The images of all the gods and goddesses may be made of
stone : the greater number are placed in temples ; a few small
ones are found in private houses. All images of stone are worship-
ped daily : the greater number are of the lingu, or the various
forms of Vishnoo. A few exist of the lingu nine or twelve cubits
high.q The mendicant followers of Vishnoo carry small images of
Krishnu with them in their peregrinations, which are from one to
two cubits high. All the stone images in Bengal are of black
marble ; but there are some at Benares which are white. The
sculpture on these stones is in much the same state of perfection
as that to be seen in the oldest churches in England, These stones
are brought into Bengal from the upper provinces, and cut by men
who are to be found in all the great towns, and to whom it is an
employment. Some stone images are miraculously found under
ground.1- See p. 125.
The nimbxr5 tree supplies the images of Vishnoo in his different
forms ; also of Doorga, Radha, Lukshmee, Shivu, Gurooru, Choi-
tunyu, &c. None of the wooden images are kept in private
houses, but in separate temples. They are generally from one to
three cubits in height.
All the images which, after worship, are thrown into the
water, are of clay baked in the sun, about four cubits high : the
images of the lingu, made daily and worshipped, are immediately
thrown away. In some places, clay images of Kartiku, twenty-one
cubits high, are set up, and after the festival jjommitted to the river.
The images of Doorga, SiddheVhwuree, Unnu-poorna, Krishnu,
Punchanunu, Shust'hee, Munusa, Dukshinu-rayu, &c. are however
constantly preserved in temples. The Hindoo potters are the prin-
i An image of the lingu is set up at Benares, which six men can hardly grasp.
r An image of Cybele is said to have fallen from heaven into a certain field in
Phrygia,
Melia azadarachta,
184
CEREMONIES OF CONSECRATION.
cipai god-makers, though many other castes, and even Musulmans,
follow this employment, The maker first takes a board, and raises
upon it a little frame-work, to which he fastens bamboos covered
with straw, for the back-bone, the arms, legs, &c. Round these he
lays clay mixed with cow-dung, chaff, and straw, which he suffers
to dry. Having made the head of clay, he lays it to dry, and
afterwards joins it to the trunk Very carefully. He again clothes
the body, arms, and legs, with more cow-dung and clay, and covers
the whole with a cloth, that it may not crack. When ready, he
carries it to the person's house who may have ordered it, and, ac-
cording to the size, obtains two, four, seven, or eight rupees for it.
Sometimes the maker paints it at his own house, which costs two,
three, four, or five rupees more.
The evening before the consecration, the person at whose
temple this image is to be set up, brings twenty-two different
articles, among which are fruits, flowers, gold, silver, rice, a stone,
turmeric, sugar, cow-dung, clarified butter, a shell, peas, red
powder, &c. With all these things the officiating bramhun
touches the forehead and other parts of the image, repeating in-
cantations. This is called udhivasu, or inviting the goddess to
come and dwell in the image. The next day, eyes and a soul
(pranu) are given. No one reverences the image till this work is
done.
When an image of Doorga is to be consecrated, in addition to
the above ceremonies, a plantain tree is brought, and bathed either
in the house, or in the river. At this time the service occupies
about an hour : after which the tree is clothed like a woman, with
two vilwu. fruits for breasts ; and nine sorts of leaves, smeared with
red paint, are hung round the neck. The trees, from which these
leaves are taken, are said to have assisted in different wars the
deities whose images accompany that of Doorga. The Hindoo
shastrus make no hesitation in giving tongues to stones, or making
trees into soldiers. It may be allowed in a romance ; yet the
modern Hindoos are silly enough to believe most gravely that all
this is the very truth. They say, ' Why not ? God can do every
thing.'
If a woman, a dog, or a shoodra touch an image, its godship
is destroyed, and the ceremonies of deification must be again per-
formed. A clay image, if thus defiled must be thrown away.
There are degrees of impurity imparted by the touch of different
animals. Breaking the hand or foot of an image is an evil omen.
If an image be unequal in any of its parts, or if the eyes be made
to look, upwards or downwards, and not straight forwards, some-
thing evil will befall the owner. If it be set up with ease, the
spectators declare, that god himself is pleased.
Godship of Images tried. — By performing a ceremony called
ORDERS OF PRIESTS WITH THEIR EMPLOYMENTS.
185
shora, it is imagined, a person may obtain the power of ascertaining
whether the deity dwell in an image or not. In this ceremony,
which must be repeated during fifteen days and nights, the devotee
bathes an image of the goddess Vipureetu-prutyungira with milk,
curds, clarified butter, cow's dung, and cow's urine ; worships it,
having on red garments; and repeats the initiating incantation of
this goddess ten thousand times. In the night, he walks round
the image, in a triangular manner, one hundred and eight times,
prostrating himself after every circumambulation. On the last
day, the ceremonies are continued to a greater extent, and the
burnt-sacrifice is added. When such a person bows to an image,
if the deity dwell not in it, it will break to pieces A person of
Krishnu-nuguru is mentioned as having obtained this power :
he bowed to an image ©f Mudunu-Mohunu, at Vishnoo-pooru ;
when the image became bent in the neck, and continues so to this
day. At Re'boona, a village near Balasore, several stone images
are said to have been broken by a man named Kalaparhu, who
bowed to them.
CHAP. III.
OF THE PRIESTS.
The Poorohitu. — Every bramhun may perform the ceremonies
of his religion. The priest, called a poorohitu, is, however, called
in to assist in the shracldhu, the ten ceremonies called sungskaru,
in those at the offering of a temple, at the different vrutus, at the
festivals, and at a burnt-sacrifice ; and he is sometimes called to
fast, and bathe, in the name of another. A man of property in
some cases, unwilling to fast himself, gives his poorohitu a rupee
to do it for him ; and, in the cold weather, he gives him a fee, to
bathe for a month, and perform the ceremonies connected with
bathing, instead of himself. Some rich men retain a family priest,
who receives the fees and separate presents of cloth, sweetmeats,
rice, fruits, &c. as his reward.
Any bramhun, who is acquainted with the different formulas
of worship, may become an officiating priest. In some cases, one
person is priest to a thousand families ; but he employs assistants,
and gives them a stipulated share of the perquisites. If the
priest do not arrive in time, or if he blunder in performing the
ceremonies, the person employing him reproves him. When
several families have the same priest, and wish to perform certain
ceremonies on the same day, the priest is sure to offend, and never
fails to be told of his partiality to one family, and neglect of the
other. These priests are generally very avaricious, and take care
2*
1S6
ORDERS OF PRIESTS WITH THEIR EMPLOYMENTS.
to have their full share of the presents at the close of a ceremony,
The amount of the fees depends upon the ability and generosity
of the person who employs the priest ; who is not unfrequently
very much dissatisfied with what he receives, and complains to
others, that ' the duties at such a man's house are very heavy,
but that he gives only a very trifling fee, and no more of the
offerings than a crow might eat.' This man subsists upon the fees
aud offerings, engaging in no other employment.
The higher orders despise a bramhun who becomes priest to
shdodrus, and refuse to eat with him. Such a person can only be
priest to one caste, and is called the joiners' bramhun, or the
blacksmiths' bramhun, &c.
The yogees, (mostly weavers,) the ehandalus, and the basket-
makers, have priests of their own castes, and not from among the
bramhuns.
The shastrus point out the proper qualifications of a poorohitu,
which are similar to those of a spiritual guide, mentioned in a
following article. Some enjoy this office by hereditary succession.
When a person, immediately after the performance of a religious
ceremony in his family, meets with success in his connections or
business, he not unfrequently attributes his prosperity to his
priest, and rewards him by liberal presents. On the other hand,
if a person sustain a loss after employing a new priest, he lays it at
the door of the priest. If at a bloody sacrifice the slayer happen
to fail in cutting off the head at one blow, the priest is blamed
for having made some blunder in the ceremonies, and thus produc-
ing this fatal disaster.
The Acharyu. — The person who taught the ve'dus used
to be called acharyu ; and at present the bramhun, who reads a
portion of them at the time of investiture with the poita, is called
by this name ; as well as the person who reads the formularies at
a sacrifice. This latter person is generally the poorohitu, but he
then assumes the name of acharyu. A considerable number of
bramhuns are qualified to discharge the duties of an acharyu ; and
any one thus qualified may perform them, without any previous
consecration or appointment. Twenty or thirty rupees is the
amount of the fee of the acharyu at festivals.
The Sudushyu. — The Sudushyu regulates the ceremonies of
worship, but is not employed on all occasions : he is however gene-
rally engaged at the festivals ; at the first shradhu after a person's
death ; at the dedication of images, temples, flights of steps, ponds,
&c. At the reading of the pooranus also he attends, and points
out where the reading or the copy is defective. He receives a fee
of ten or fifteen rupees, and sometimes as much as one hundred
and fifty. On extraordinary occasions, five or ten sudushyus are
employed,
WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLES OF SHIVU.
187
The Brtimha sits near the lire at the time of a burnt-offering
and supplies it with wood. The fee to this person is five rupees in
cases where the Sudushyu receives fifteen ; to which is added a
gift*of rice, &c.
The Hota throws the clarified butter on the fire in the burnt-
offering, repeating the proper formulas. He receives the same fee
as the acharyu.
w The four last-mentioned persons divide the offerings presented
to Ugnee, and are worshipped at the commencement of a sacrifice ;
when rings, poitas, clothes, seats of cloth, or wood, pillows/ awn-
ings, brass and copper vessels, &c. are presented to them.
The Hindoo priests wear their usual dress during the perform-
ance of any ceremony.
Other priests. — A number of persons are employed as assistants
to the priests : as, the Yuroo, who gathers flowers to present to the
image, sweeps the temple, &c. The person who buys and collects
the things for the offerings is called TJdhikaree ; he who performs
the ceremonies of worship is called Poojuku ; he who cooks for the
image, Pachuku ; he who recites the pooranu in an assembly is
called Pat'huku ; he who holds the book and corrects the reading
and the copy, Dharuku ; he who hears the words, as the represen-
tative of the person who is to enjoy the merit arising from the
hearing of these stories, is called Shrota ; and he who repeats in
the evening the meaning of what has been read in the day,
KuVhuku.
CHAP IY.
OF T © E WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLES.
The daily ceremonies in the temples erected in honour of
Shivu are as follows : — In the morning the officiating bramhun,
after bathing, enters the templeb and bows to Shivu. He then
anoints the image with clarified butter or boiled oil ;c after which
he bathes the image with water which has not been defiled by the
touch of a sh5odru, nor of a bramhun who has not performed his
ablutions, by pouring water on it, and afterwards wipes it with a
napkin. He next grinds some white powder in water, and, dipping
o
* The rich Hindoos sit with a large pillow placed at their backs.
b Pulling off his shoes at the bottom of the steps.
c The Greeks used to smear the statues of their gods with ointments, and *iorn
them with garlands.
- #
I
i
188
WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLES OF VISHNOO.
the ends of bis three fore-fingers in it, draws them across the lingu,
marking it as the worshippers of Shivu mark their foreheads. He
next sits down before the image, and, shutting his eyes, meditates
on the work lie is commencing ; then places rice and d55rva grass
on the lingu ; next a flower on his own head, and then on the top
of the lingu ; then another flower on the lingu ; then others, one
by one, repeating incantations ; he then places white powder,
flowers, vilwu leaves, incense, meat offerings, and a lamp before the
image ; also some rice and a plantain : he next repeats the name
of Shivu, with some forms of praise ; and at last prostrates him-
self before the image. These ceremonies, in the hands of a secular
person, are concluded in a few minutes ; a person who has sufficient
leisure spends an hour in them. In the evening the officiating
bramhun goes again to the temple, and after washing his feet, &c.
prostrates himself before the door ; then opening the door,c he
places in the temple a lamp, and, as an evening oblation, presents
to the image a little milk, some sweetmeats, fruits, &c. when, fall-
ing at the feet of the image, he locks the door, and comes away.
At the temple of Shivu, ,on the 14th of the increase of the
moon in Phalgoonu, in the night, a festival in honour of Shivu is
kept : the image is" bathed four times, and four separate services
are performed during tJie night. Before the temple, the worship-
pers dance, sing, and revel all night, amidst the horrid din of their
music. The occasion of thi^ festival is thus related in the Bhuvish-
wu-pooranfi : — A bird-catcher, detained in a forest in a dark night,
' climbed a vilwu tree under which was an image of the lingu. By
shaking the boughs of the tree, the leaves and drops of dew fell
upon the image ; with which Shivu was so much pleased, that he
declared, the worship of the lingu on that night should be received
as an act of unbounded merit.
The worship at the temples in honour ^pf the different
forms of Vishnoo, is nearly the same as thatr at the temples
of the lingu. Very early in the morning the officiating bram-
hun, after putting on * clean apparel, and touching the purify-
ing water of the Ganges, comes to the temple to awake the
god. He first blows a shell and rings a bell ; then presents water
and a towel,- and mutters certain prayers, inviting the god to
awake, &c. The offerings made to the forms of Vishnoo are much
greater in quantity than those presented to Shivu. About noon,
fruits, roots, soaked peas, sweetmeats, &c. are presented to the
image ; and after this, that which answers to the English idea of
dinner, consisting of boiled rice, fried herbs, spices, &c. Vishnoo
neither eats flesh, fish, nor fo^l. After dinner, betle nut, &c. in
leaves of the betle vine, are given to be chewed. The god is then
c It is reported of some Hindoo saints, that when they went to the temple to
awake the god, while repeating the words of the shastru used on these occasions, the
doors always flew open of themselves ; reminding us of the European superstition,
that 'the temple of Cybele was opened not by hands, but by prayers.'
I
WORSHIP IN THE TEMPLES OF VISHNOO.
189
left to sleep, and the temple is shut up. While he sleeps the
bramhuns eat the offerings. In the evening, curds, butter, sweet-
meats, fruits, &c. are presented, and at this hour people come to
the temple to look at the god and make their obeisance. After the
setting of the sun, a lamp is brought into the temple, and a small
quantity of milk, sweetmeats, &c. are offered. The priests wave a
lamp of five lights before the image, ring a small bell, present
water to wash the mouth, face, and feet, and a toweld. After the
offerings have continued before the god about ten minutes, they
are withdrawn, as well as the lamp, and the god is shut up in the
dark all night.
d When I enquired into the meaning of these ceremonies, I -was informed, that
they were in imitation of the service paid to Krishml when he used to return from
tending the cattle : — water to wash himself, a towel, lights to examine where the
thorns had entered his feet or any other parts of the body, a bell to testify their joy
that he has arrived in safety, and some food to refresh him after the fatigues of the
day in following the herds.
190
LUNAR DAYS — WEEKLY CEREMONIES.
BOOK III.
OF THE STATED PERIODS OF WORSHIP, AND VARIOUS
DUTIES AND CEREMONIES. *
CHAP. I.
OF THE TIMES OF WORSHIP.
Sect. I. — Lunar Bays.
The eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, and fifteenth lunar days, both
of the increase and decrease of the moon in each month, are consi-
dered as fortunate days. At the full moon in Asharhu, Kartiku,
Maglvu, and Voishakhu, religious ceremonies are peculiarly meritori-
ous, especially gifts to learned bramhuns ; but on the third lunar day
in Voishakhu, their merit is imperishable. Bathing in the Ganges
on the tenth lunar day in Jyoisht'hu, is extremely meritorious.
The second lunar day in Asharhu, and the eleventh in Shravunu,
are auspicious times for religious ceremonies. The performance of
the shraddhu during the decrease of the moon in Bhadru is a work
of great merit. On the seventh, eighth, and ninth lunar days of
Ashwinu, eleventh in Kartiku, the fifth lunar day in Maghu, the
thirteenth in Phalgoonu, and the seventh In Choitru, and at the
full moon in Poushu, very great benefits flow from religious acts.
On all these days the Hindoos are particularly occupied in the
different ceremonies of their religion.
Sect. II. — Weekly Ceremonies.
Some Hindoos fast every Sunday, and perform the worship of
their guardian deity Sooryu. Others, to fulfil a vow, fast on a
Monday/ performing the worship of Shivu. Others, who suppose
themselves to be under the baneful influence of the planet Saturn,
fast on a Saturday, and endeavour to propitiate this god by acts of
devotion.
* It is rather singular, that both in the European and Hindoo Mythology, the two
first days of the week should be called after the same gods: Rnvee-varii, Sunday, from
Rfivee, the sun ; and Sorati-varfi, Monday, from Soma, the moon,
MONTHLY CEREMONIES — ANNUAL FESTIVALS.
191
Sect, III. — Monthly Ceremonies.
The Shyama festival is held monthly by certain Hindoos.
The shraddhu should be repeated monthly. Some persons, not able
to attend to the weekly ceremonies connected with their vows,
perform them monthly.
Sect. IV. — Annual Festivals.
The festivals of Doorga, J-vhyama, Juguddhatree, Kartiku,
Muhish-murdinee, Kutuntee, TJnnu-pdorna, Phuluharee, Shivti,
Krishnu, Guneshu, &c. are held annually. Two festivals of Shiva
and nine of Krishnu are annual.
The following account of the Hindoo festivals in each month
of the year is taken from the Tit'hee-tuttwu : —
Voishakhu. — On the third lunar day, (the anniversary of
Gunga's descent,) the worship of Gunga, of the mountains Koilasu
and Himaluyu, of Bhugeerut'hu, and of Shivti. On the twelfth
lunar day the bathing and worship of Vishnoo.
Jyoishtliu. — On the tenth lunar day, (the anniversary of the
birth of Gunga,) the worship of Munusa, and of the nagus, (serpents.)
At the full moon, the bathing of Jugunnat'hu ; and on the four-
teenth of the wane of the moon, the worship of the goddess Savifcree.
Asharhn. — On the second lunar day, the drawing of Jugun-
nat'hu's car, with the worship of this god, and of Buluramu and
Soobhudra. On the tenth, the return of the car, and the worship
of these three gods. The next day is the anniversary of Vishnoo's
lying down to sleep.
Shravtinu. — At the full moon, the dolu festival. On the
eighth of the wane, (the anniversary of the birth of Krishnu,) the
worship of this god, of his father, Jushoda, Rohinee, Chundika,
Buluramu, Dukshu, Gurgu, Brumha, Lukshmee, and Shust'hee.
Bhadru. — On the seventh lunar day, the worship of Shivuand
Doorga ; and on the seventh, the worship of Munusa, before small
sheaves of doorva grass. On the twelfth, the worship of Indru,
before a kind of flag-staff made with a tree called dumunu. On the
fourteenth, the worship of TJnuntu. The shraddhu is performed
every day during the wane of the moon.
Ashwinu. — From the first to the ninth lunar day, the worship
of Doorga. At the full moon, the worship of Lukshmee, and the
game of Ohutoorajee ; and on the last day of the moon, the
Shyama festival.
192
DAILY CEREMONIES.
Kartiku. — On the first lunar day, the worship of king Bulee ;
and on the second that of Yumu, and the feasting of own brothers
by their sisters.b On the eighth, the worship of Gurooru ; and on
the ninth, that of Juguddhatree. At the full moon, the rasu
festival, and the worship of Shyama before a picture. At the
entrance of the sun into a new sign, or on the last day of Kartiku,
the worship of Kartiku.
Ugruhayunu. — On the sixth lunar day, the worship of
Kartiku ; and on the seventh, eighth, and ninth, that of Muhishu-
murdinee. On the fourteenth that of Gouree ; and on the seventh
of the wane of the moon, the offerings to the dead.
Poushu. — On the eighth of the decrease of the moon, the
offerings to the dead. On the fourteenth, the Shyama festival.
Magh . — On the fourth, the worship of Gouree ; on the fifth,
that of Suruswutee, and of the inkstand ; on the sixth, that of
Shush t'hee ; on the seventh, that of Sooryu ; and on the eighth ;
that ofBheeshmu. On the eighth of the decrease of the moon,
the offerings to the dead ; and on the fourteenth, the anniversary
of the rise of the lingu.
Phalgoonu. — On the eighth, the worship of Mungulu-
chundika ; and at the full moon, the dolu festival.
Ghoitru. — On 'the sixth, the worship of Kartiku ; on the
eighth, that of Vishnoo with ushoku flowers ; on the ninth, the
anniversary of the birth of Ramu. On the seventh, eighth, and
ninth, the worship of Doorga ; and on the ninth, that of TJnnu-
poorna. On the fourteenth, the worship of Kamu-de'vu. On the
thirteenth of the decrease of the moon, the worship of Gunga. On
the entrance of the sun into a new sign at the close of this month,
the presenting of water, rice, &c. to bramhuns.
Sect. V. — Daily Ceremonies.
The shastrus prescribe daily duties towards the gods, de-
ceased ancestors, strangers, and the cow. The worship of
Vishnoo, before the shalgramu ; of Shivu, before the lingu ;
of a person's guardian deity, before the shalgramu or water ;
and of any image constantly preserved, is performed daily. If the
family of a bramhun, where such an image is set up, has become
unclean by the death of one of its members, or by any other cause,
they do not omit the daily worship, but invite another bramhun
to perform the ceremonies. Sometimes a person makes a vow to
b The smritee shastrils ordain this custom. The manner of keeping it is as fol-
lows : — The sisters mark the foreheads of the brothers with white powder, and present
them with garments, poitas, &c. and provide a great feast. It is said that Yumil and
his sister Yiimoona established this custom.
DUTIES OF A BRAMHUN FROM THE ANHIKU-TUTTWU,
193
perform for a certain time the daily worship of Vishnoo, Shivu,
and his guardian deity. Bathing also, and repeating the names
of the gods, with or without a bead-roll, especially the name of a
person's guardian deity, are acts of daily worship. The daily
shraddhu is performed by very few ; but at the time of bathing,
in the ceremony called turpunu, the Hindoos pour out water from
a copper vessel, or from their hands, for their deceased ancestors.
Some religious acts are performed daily for three or four months
together : as during the time of Vishnoo' s sleeping, (viz., from the
twelfth or fifteenth of the moon in Asbarhu, to the twelfth or
fifteenth in Kartiku,) a person vows that no ra-zor shall come
on his head ; that he will abstain from flesh, fish, salt,0 peas, oil,
curds not made at home, &c. ; that he will not visit at the house
of a shoodru, nor eat there nor any where else more than once
a day. During this period he engages particularly to attend to
his daily duties, as bathing, repeating the name of his god, &c.
Agreeably to the directions of the Anhiku-tuttwu, the daily
duties of a bramhun, walking in strict conformity to the rules of his
religion are as follows : —
He must divide the day, from five o'clock in the morning till
seven at night, into seven equal parts. The duties of the first
part are thus described : — first, awaking from sleep, and rising up
in his bed, he must repeat the names of different gods and sages,
and pray that they would make the day prosperous. He must
then repeat the name of TJrjoonu, and pray to him, that whatever
he may lose during the day may be restored to himd ; and then
the names of any persons celebrated for their religious merit.
Next the names of uhulya6, Dropudeef, Seeta*, Tarah, and Mun-
dodure*. After this, he must meditate with his eyes closed on the
form of his spiritual guide, and worship him in his mind, repeating
these two incantations : Oh [****! according to thy commands
I descend from my bed.' — ' Oh ! * * * * ! I know what is right, but
I doit not : I know what is wrong, but I forsake it not : But do
thou reside within me, and whatever thou commandest I shall
do.' Then follows another incantation, and obeisance to Huree.
He now descends from his bed, placing first his right foot on the
ground. On going out, if he see a Shrotriyu bramhun, a beloved
and excellent wife, fire, a cow, an TJgnihotree bramhun, or any
c Rock salt may be eaten.
d It is said that when TJrjoonu was king, there were no robberies ; or if such a
thing did happen, by repeating his name, the loser was sure to find his property again.
e The wife of Goutumu : she was guilty of adultery with Indru.
f The wife of Yoodhisht'hira and his brothers.
g The wife of Ramii.
h The wife of Balee and Soogrecvn, two monkies,
' The wife of KavuntC,
194
DUTIES OF A BRAMHUN FROM THE AN HI KU -TU TTWU .
other bramhun, the day will be auspicious. If he see a wicked or
naked person, a wretched woman, distilled spirits, or a man with a
great nose, the day will be inauspicious. By repeating the names
of Kurkotuku,1" Dumuyrtntee/ Nulu,m and Ritoopurnu,n no quarrel
will arise during the day. He must then, after discharging wind,
washing his mouth, &c. go at least a hundred and ten yards from
his house into the field ; and taking water, choosing a clean place,
scattering some grass to the S, W., tying a turban round his head,
remaining silent with his face to the north, refraining from spit-
ting, and holding his breath, perform the offices of nature. His
poita must remain on Iris right ear till he has washed his hands.
It is unlawful to attend to the offices of nature on a road, in the
shade, where cattle graze, in the fire, or water, in a ploughed field,
where dead bodies are burnt, upon a mountain, on the ruins of a
temple, on an ant-hill, in a ditch, or by the side of a river.0 After
this, he must go to a more clean spot, and taking some good earth,
cleanse the left hand ten times, then both hands seven times, and
the back, of the left hand six times ; then his nails ; then wash his
hands ; each foot three times, and then rince both fe,et. If he per-
ceive any evil smell remaining on his hands or feet, he must wash
them again. If the bramhun have no water-pot, he must wash
himself in this manner in a common pool or river, and take care
that he come out of the water clean. His water-pot must neither
be of mixed metal, copper, nor gold : an earthen pot must be
thrown away as soon as used. If the pot be of brass or silver, he
must scour it well after he return. If a bramhun attend not to
these modes of cleansing, all his other religious actions will be
void of merit. p
The bramhun must next attend to his morning ablutions.
Taking a dry towel, he must go to a pool or river, and placing the
cloth on the ground, wet his feet and hands ; then perforin achu-
munu, by taking up Avater in the palm of his right hand three times,
and drinking it as it runs toward his wrist ; then with his right
hand touch his lips, nose, eyes, ears, navel, breast, forehead, and
shoulders, repeating an incantation ; wash his hands again and
perform achumunu, repeating an incantation ; then sitting to
the N, or E. before sunrise, cleanse his teeth with the end of
a green stick/1 about six or seven inches long. If he clean his
k A serpent. ! The wife of king Nulu. m A king. n Another king.
° So little is this regarded, that almost all the lower orders of Hindoos go to
the Ganges.
pOne of the things, in the conduct of Europeans, which gives most offence to the
Hindoos, is the omitting these modes of cleansing.
q On the 1st, Cth, 8th, 10th, and 14th days of the increase and wane of the moon,
and at the full and new moon ; on the last day of the calendar month : on a fast day,
and on the day of performing a shraddhu ; it is unlawful for a bramhun to clean his
teeth with a stick. If he should do this on these days, he will sink into a dreadful hell.
If the Bible had laid down rules and penalties like these, what occasion for ridicule
to unbelievers/
DUTIES OF A BRAMHC7N FROM THE ANHIKU-TUTTWU. 195
teeth after sunrise, in the next birth he will be born an in-
sect feeding on ordure. He must now wash from his face the mark
on his forehead made the day before ; then scrape and wash his
tongue, taking care that the blood does not flow. If in cleansing
his teeth he should make them bleed, he becomes unclean, and is
disqualified for performing any religious ceremony on that day. If,
however, he make his teeth bleed by the side of the Ganges, he does
not become unclean.
He must next gather flowers for worship on the banks of a
pool or river. If any one forbid him, he must willingly desist ; if
any are given him by a bramhun, he must receive them ; but not
if a sho5dru offer them : if a person have them to sell, he must give
him what he asks. If in carrying these flowers to the side of the
water, a person of mean cast touch them, or he touch any unclean
thing, he must throw them away. If a person of any cast make a
bow to him while the flowers are in his hand, he mus also throw
them away/
Returning*to the river, and sitting in silence, he must rub himself
all over with mud; then descending into the river as high as his breast,
with his face towards the east or north, he must repeat certain incan-
tations, by which (in his imagination) all other sacred rivers will flow
into that in which he stands, as well as other holy places; he must
afterwards repeat many incantations, and perform moodra, viz.,
certain motions by twisting his fingers into several curious shapes ;
then, dividing his hair behind, and bringing it into his hands before,
with his thumbs he must stop his ears ; with the three first fingers
of each hand cover his eyes, and with his two little fingers his nos-
trils, and then immerse himself three or four times ; then with his
hands joined throw up water to his head ; then repeat other incan-
tations ; then, taking up water with his joined hands, he must offer
it three times to the sun ; then washing his body, and repeating
certain prayers, that he may ascend to some heaven, or receive some
temporal good, he must again immerse himself in the water. After
this he must ascend to the side of the river, and wipe his body with
a towel ; then repeat certain forms of praise to Gtinga, S5oryu, Vish-
noo, and other gods ; then put dry and newly- washed cloth round
his loins ; and sitting down cleanse his poita by rinsing it in the
water ; then taking up some earth in his hand, and diluting it with
water, put the middle finger of his right hand in this earth, and
make a line betwixt his eyes up to the top of his forehead ; then
draw his three first fingers across his forehead ; make a round dot
with his little finger in the centre at the top of his head, another on
r The meaning of this is, that the sin of the person who made the bow being-
transferred to the bramhun, the sin, instead of entering the fire said to lodge in a
bramhun's hand, by which it would be consumed, enters the flowers, and they thereby
become unclean. If a bramhun, with flowers in his hand, meet a shoodril who is
ignorant of the rules of the shastru . he forbids him to bow to him ; b it in general, the
lower orders know this custom.
DUTIES OF A BRAMHUN FROM THE ANH1KU-T JTTWU.
the upper part of his nose, and another on his throat ; then with his
three first fingers make marks across his breast and arms ; then
make dots on his sides, and another on the lower part of his back.
After this he must take up water in his right hand three times, and
drink it.
To this succeeds the morning stindhya, in which the person
must offer many prayers ; pour out water to different gods ; repeat
certain forms of praise in honour of the sun, which he must worship ;
and repeat the gayutree : then take up water with his kosha,8 and
pour it out to his deceased ancestors ; after which he must return
home, and read some part of the ve'dtL*
After this, if the bramhun be a house-keeper, he must seek the
provisions for his family for the day. If he be diligent in discharg-
ing social duties, he will obtain heaven ; but if not, he will sink
into hell.
About eleven o'clock, taking the flowers, his kosha and kooshee,
some seeds of sesamum, leaves of the vilwfi tree, , blades of the
kooshu grass, and a towel, he must proceed to the river. Placing
these things by the side of the river, he must prepare a place for
worship ; take some proper earth, and cleanse it, so that neither
insects, hair, nor any thing impure remain ; and then make the
earth into a ball, lay it down, and wash his own body, rubbing him-
self with his towel. Then he must descend into the water up to
the middle, and perform his ablutions as in the morning. After
bathing, he must ascend to the side, wipe himself, put on a, dry piece
of cloth, (not a black one ;) sit with his face to the east or north ;
tie a lock of hair into a knot, and having repeated a prayer, the
whole of his hair in a knot ; mark his forehead as in the morning ;
then perform the ceremony called achumtmu ; and then the sundhya,
After this he must make an image of the iingd. with the pure earth
which he has prepared ; and laying it aside, descend into the water,
or sit by it, and pour out water (containing a few seeds of the
sesamum) from his kosha to three or four of the gods, repeating in-
cantations : then to certain sages, and deceased ancestors, viz., to
three generations on the father's and three on the mother's side,
(males.) If a bramhun do not present drink-offerings to deceased
relations, all his works of merit lose their virtue.
The next thing is the act of worship, (poqja ;) in which the
bramhun must sit with his face to the north, and placing the lingu
towards the same point, bathe it by sprinkling it with water ;
then, closing his eyes, sit for some time in the act of meditation,
(dhyanu ;) after which, placing some flowers on his own head, he
s A small copper cup. Another still smaller is called kooshee.
1 If at this time he copy a part of any of the shastr&s, and present it to some
bramhun, he will receive everlasting happiness,
DUTIES OF A BE AM RUN FHOM THE ANHIKU-TCTTWU.
197
must perform the worship of Shivu ; then meditate on the image,
and placing flowers on the lingu, repeat other incantations, to com-
municate a soul (pranu) to the lingu ; then another prayer to bring
Shivu himself into his presence ; and then perform a ceremony
called yonee-moodra, which consists of five curious motions with
the hands ; then he must offer to the lingu a morsel of silver or
gold ; or, if he he poor, water, reading prayer. He must after this
offer water for the god's feet ; also a little dry rice, and a few
blades of doorva-grass, with a prayer ; then a number of raw
vegetables. He must next repeat the name of Shivu a certain
number of times ; offer water, and repeat an incantation, (offering
water or flowers,) and worship Shivu in his eight forms,u repeating
eight incantations ; then follow forms of praise in honour of Shivu,
during which he must prostrate himself before the lingu ; and
afterwards make a drumming noise with his thumb or fingers on
the right cheek, and beat against his sides with his arms. If he
has been worshipping by the side of the Ganges, he must throw the
lingu into the river ; or if by the side of a pool or any other river,
he must throw away the lingu on the land. To this should suc-
ceed the worship of Vishnoo before the shalgramu, or before water.
Next that of Sooryu, TJgnee, Doorga, Brumha, the gayutree, the
spiritual guide, the nine planets, the ten guardian deities of the
earth, and lastly of the person's guardian deity. The offerings in
this last act of worship are the same as in the worship of the lingu,
but the prayers are more numerous.
When all these ceremonies have been performed by the side
of a poo], or a river, the worshipper, having presented the burnt-
offering, must return to his house, perform the daily shraddhu, and
offer to the gods plantains, dry rice, peas, sweetmeats, cocoanuts, &c.
The day's work must be closed by entertaining several poor
bramhuns, or other guests who may be in his house. If no guests
should arrive, about three o'clock in the afternoon he must sit
down to dinner ; which may consist of boiled rice, fried fruits,
split peas, greens, sour curds, or milk, but neither fish nor flesh.
First, he must offer the whole food to his guardian deity, sprinkling
water on the rice, and repeating incantations ; and then put morsels
of the different articles of his food in five places on a clean spot ;
which, after sprinkling with water, he must offer to the five winds,
Nagu, Koormu, Kreekutu, Devu-duttu, and Dhunun-juyu. After
this, drink a little water, repeating an incantation ; and then put a
little .rice into his mouth with his right hand at five different times,
and repeat incantations, containing the names of five airs which
the Hindoos say are lodged in the body ; he may then, remaining
in silence, finish his repast ; afterwards drink a little water,
wash his hands and mouth, and cleanse his teeth. After
u These eight forms of Shiva are representatives of the earth, water, fire, air,
space, sacrifice, the sun, and the moon.
198
PRCATTCE AMONG BRAMHUNS SHOODRUS, &C
washing his feet, he must sit upon a mat of kooshu-grass,
and chew betle-nut, mixed with some or all of the following
articles ; lime, treacle, catechu, cardamums, cloves, nutmeg, mace,
camphor, coriander seed, &c. Before he begins to chew the betle,
he must offer it with prayers to his guardian deity. If he do not
chew betle, he must eat fruit of the terminalia citrina, and repeat
the name of Yishnoo once.
To this must succeed the evening simdhya, either in his own
house or by the side of the river. The ceremonies are the same as
those already described. After this, repeating the name of his
guardian deity during two hours, he may take a little refreshment,
as sweetmeats, milk, plantains, curds, or something of the same
nature ; and about ten retire to rest.
At present, those bramhuns who live without secular employ-
ment spend about four hours daily in worship ; an hour in the
morning, two at noon, and one in the evening. Such a person's
first act in the morning, as he rises, is to repeat the name of his
guardian deity ; after which he goes into a field with a pan of water,
and returning, bathes ; then taking the water of the Ganges, he sits
down in his bouse, or by the river, and pours out drink-offerings
to his deceased ancestors ; repeat certain forms from the vedu,
the meaning of which he himself does not understand ; wor-
ships Shivu. with the usual forms of praise, as, 1 Oh ! Shivu ! thou
art every thing ; thou unitest all the gods in thyself ; thou canst
do all things,' &c. during which he offers with proper forms water,
flowers, &c. to the god ; and then repeats for some time the name of
his guardian deity. At noon, after bathing, he repeats certain forms
from the vedu ; and worships Shivu, his guardian deity, and other
gods, with the usual forms and offerings ; pours out drink-offerings
to deceased ancestors, and repeats the name of his guardian deity.
At this time, the worshipper prays for any thing he may be anxious
to obtain, as the health of his child, a lucrative situation, &c, but
this is done only when sickness, poverty, or any other necessity,
forces a person to express his complaints to his god. The worship
in the evening is similar to that in the morning.
Bramhuns in employment unite the first and second services
together in the morning, and finish the whole in half an hour ; con-
fining themselves to the repetition of the name of their guardian
deity, the forms from the vedu, including the gayufcree, and pouring
out a drink-offering to deceased ancestors. Most of these persons
omit the evening service altogether.
Though these ceremonies are in general performed in the house,
the family do not unite in them : during their performance, the
family business is transacted, and the children play as usual ; the
worshipper himself not unfrequently mixes in conversation, or gives
directions respecting matters of business. The children sometimes
RESPECTING DAILY RELIGIOUS DUTIES. — FORM OF INITIATION 199
sit as spectators, so that by the time they grow up, they learn the
different forms of daily worship.
The women, though not allowed to touch a consecrated image,
(beasts, women, and sh55drus are forbidden,) worship the gods daily
in their own houses, or by the river side, (repeating certain forms
from the Tuntru shastrus,) before an earthen image of the linong, or
the water 01 the Ganges : if they should worship before a consecrat-
ed image, they must keep at a respectable distance from the idol.
Some merely repeat a few forms while standing in the water,
bow to the god without an image, and thus finish the religion
of the day ; others spend half an hour in these ceremonies, and
females who have leisure, an hour or more.
The shoodrus in general repeat the name of their guardian
deity while bathing, and this comprises the whole of their daily
religion : yet rich men of the lower castes spend an hour in religious
ceremonies, in the house or by the side of the river.
As there is nothing of pure morality in the Hindoo writings,
so in the ceremonies of this people, nothing like the rational and
pure devotion of a Christian worshipper is to be found. In perform-
ing their daily duties, as might be expected from a ritual possessing
little meaning and no interest, the Hindoos are sometimes precise,
and at other times careless ; muttering forms of praise or prayer to
the gods, while their attention is drawn to every surrounding
object. To expect that services like these would mend the heart,
is out of the question.
CHAP. II.
APPOINTED RITES AND CEREMONIES.
Sect. I. — Form of Initiation into the Hindoo Religion.
Every Hindoo receives an initiating incantation from some
bramhun,8 who then becomes his spiritual guide, (gooroo :) the
principal thing in this incantation is the name of some god, who
becomes his (ishtu) chosen deity, and by repeating whose name he
is to obtain present and future happiness.
When the ceremony of initiation is to be performed, an aus-
picious day is chosen, which is preceded by a fast. On the morning
of the day appointed, the disciple bathes ; after which, entreating
the priest to sit down, he presents him with some cloth, kourees,
betle-nut and a poita : after which he performs the ceremony called
a There are some rare examples among the poor, of persons -who nerer receive
the initiatory incantation.
200
INTO THE HINDOO RELIGION.
simkulpu, in doing which he first takes in his joined hands a
small copper dish, with some water in it ; lays a plantain, some
flowers, sesamum, kooshu-grass, rice, &c. upon it ; and then says,
' For the removal of all my sins, and to obtain happiness after
death, I take the incantation from my gooroo.' The gooroo then
performs, at some length, the worship of the god whose name is to
be given ; to which succeeds the burnt-offering. He next thrice
repeats, in the right ear of the disciple, the incantation : after which
the disciple presents a fee of from one to twenty rupees, and wor-
ships the feet of the gooroo, presenting sweetmeats, cloths, flowers,
fruits, and other offerings commonly presented to the gods. He
next repeats certain forms, and in his meditation brings into his
mind that his spiritual guide is in fact his guardian deity, from
whom he is to receive salvation. Another fee is then given ; after
which the disciple drinks the water in which the gooroo's feet have
been washed, and prostrates himself at his feet; when the spiritual
guide, putting his right foot on his head, and stretching forth his
right hand, gives him a blessing. The gooroo is then feasted, with
other bramhuns. Two or three persons only are permitted to be
present at this ceremony.
The above incantation is called veeju miintru.b It generally
consits of a single sound : as, when it is to be taken from the name
of a god, a consonant is taken out of this name, and a vowel added
to it : thus, when Krishnu is about to become the chosen god of a
person, the gooroo takes the consonant k, and adds to it a, or oo, or
some other vowel, and then the muntru becomes ka, or koo. Very
frequently the sound ung is united to a consonant, to form the
initiating incantation, of which there are many specimens in the
Tuntru-saru. It is probable that no meaning was ever intended to
be attached to these sounds.
Sect. II. — Duties of a Disciple to his Spiritual Guide, ( Gooroo.),
The following article respecting the qualifications of a gooroo
is taken from the Tuntru-saru : — A spiritual guide must be free
from the following faults : he must not be subject to his passions,
so as to become an adulterer, a thief, &c. ; be born of a good family ;
possess suavity of manners ; be attentive to religious duties ;
honourable in the eyes of others ; always keep his body pure ; be
ready in religious ceremonies ; faithful in the discharge of the
duties of his caste ; wise, able to keep in order as well as to cherish
his disciples ; learned in the shastrus, &c. From a gooroo thus
qualified it is proper to receive the initiatory rites. A person who
is a glutton, who has the leprosy, is blind of one or both eyes ;
very small in stature, or who has whitlows ; whose teeth stand
b The original incantation, or [that which gives rise to works of merit, wealth,
the desire of happiness, and absorption.
"DUTIES OF A DISCIPLE TO HIS GOOROO.
201
out ; who is noisy and talkative ; subject to his wife, or whose toe3
or fingers are unnaturally unequal, or of an improper number ; an
asthmatic person, or in other respects diseased, is disqualified.
The following are the duties of a disciple to his preceptor, as
given in the Timtru-saru : — A disciple must be docile ; keep his
body pure ; be obedient in receiving all that the shastrus make
known ; be capable of understanding what he is taught, &c. If
the disciple consider his gooroo as a mere man, and not the same
as his guardian deity, he will sink into misery. A pupil must
worship his father and mother, as those who gave him birth ; but
he must honour his gooroo in a superior degree, as he who rescues
him from the path of sin, and places him in the way of holiness ;
the gooroo is in fact the disciple's father, mother, and god ; if
even Shivu be offended with a disciple, his gooroo is able to
deliver him. The disciple must promote "the welfare of his gooroo
by all his actions ; if he injure him, in another birth he will become
a worm feeding on ordure. If a disciple renounce the initiating
incantation, he will die; if he reject his gooroo, he will become
poor ; if both, he will fall into the hell Rouruvu. ; if he, leaving his
guardian deity, worship another god as his guardian deity, he will
sink into torments. A disciple must honour his gooroo's son and
grandson as he honours the gooroo. Whether the spiritual guide
be learned or ignorant, a vile or a holy person, a disciple has no
other resource, no other way to happiness, but his gooroo. Other
shastrus prescribe, that the disciple shall make prostration to the
gooroo three times a day, if he live in the same village, viz., in the
morning, at noon, and in the evening. If he meet him at any time,
he must prostrate himself at his feet, and receive his blessing.
When a gooroo dies, a disciple becomes unclean.
When the gooroo arrives at the house of a disciple, the whole
family prostrate themselves at his feet, and the spiritual guide
puts his right foot on the heads of the prostrate family. One of the
family washes his feet, and all afterwards drink some of the dirty
water with which his feet have been washed ; the water which
remains is preserved. Others present to him flowers, or anoint his
body with oil, or bathe him by pouring water on his head. After
they have all bathed, they again worship the gooroo's feet, by
presenting flowers, sweetmeats, &c. repeating incantations. The
gooroo is then entertained. Of the little that he leaves, each ore
seizes a morsel with eagerness. At length he departs with presents
according to the disciple's ability. Some give a piece of cloth,
others from one to ten rupees. The disciple sometimes sends
presents to his gooroo's house.
As a proof how rigidly many of the Hindoos adhere to the
commands of the shastru on this subject, it may not be amiss to
record the following circumstance : — In the year 1804, Huree-
Turku-Bhodshunu, a bramhun of Calcutta, aged about 60, was
26
202
ANECDOTE OF A DYING GOOROO.
carried to the river side, at the point of death ; and while there one
of his disciples, Ubhnyu-chnrnnu-Mitru, akaist'hu, went to see him.
The disciple asked his dying gooroo if there was any thing that he
wished from him. The gooroo asked him for 100,000 rupees. The
disciple hesitated, and said he could not give so much. The gooroo
then asked him what he was worth. He said, he might be worth
about 100,000, but it was not all in rupees. The gooroo asked him
to give his children half this sum. This the disciple surrendered ;
and then asked him what else he could do for him. He pretended
not to want any thing else, but his youngest son then present was
in want of a pair of gold rings for his wrists, and which he had
been unable to give him. The disciple had a son standing near
who had on a pair. These rings, worth about five hundred rupees,
were immediatly taken off, and put on the wrists of the old gooroo's
son. The disciple again asked what else he could do for him. The
gooroo requested him to give his eldest son a piece of ground in
Calcutta. He gave it. This land was worth twenty thousand
rupees. The disciple again asked, if there was any thing further
he could do to please him. The old fellow made apologies, but at
length requested him to make a present of five thousand rupees
towards the expences of his shraddhu.c This was added. The
next morning the gooroo died. His wife was burnt with his body.
At the time of his shraddhu, the disciple added another five thousand
rupees towards defraying the expenses. This man's memory is exe-
crated by all the Hindoos ; who say, he would certainly have gone
to hell, if his wife had not burnt herself with him. — Since this
event, TJbhuyu-churunu died at Muttra ; and his widow, taking
his clog and stick, renounced life at Calcutta, on a funeral pile pre-
pared for the purpose.
At present, the office of spiritual guide is often hereditary, and
of course is frequently in the hands of persons really disqualified.
Neither do the modern Hindoos pay much regard to the qualifica-
tions of their teachers : these guides too are equally careless re-
specting their disciples ; they give the incantation, and receive in
return reverence and presents. To become a religious guide it is
only necessary to be a bramhun, and be acquainted with the incan-
tations. In many cases, indeed, the wives of bramhuns become
gooroos to their own children, as well as to others, both male and
female. It is considered as a happy circumstance to receive the
form of initiation from a mother. Among the followers of Choitu-
nyu, some shoodrus are gooroos.
The business of a religious guide is very profitable. Some ob-
tain a thousand disciples ; and all are ambitious of guiding the
rich. Upon a moderate calculation, the gooroo of a thousand dis-
ciples receives in presents much more than a thousand rupees an-
c ites for the repose of the soul.
RELIGIOUS AUSTERITIES.
203
mially. A poor man generally gives his gooroo a rupee a year, or
if he visit him twice a year, two rupees. One or two of the
Gosaees, descendants of Choitunyu, have two or three thousand
disciples.
Instances of disputes between a spiritual guide and a disciple
are not uncommon : in which case the former does not fail to curse
such a disobedient disciple in terms like these : ' May your pos-
terity perish.' ' May all your wealth evaporate.' The disciple is
exceedingly alarmed at the curse of his gooroo, and if in a short
time any of the family die, his neighbours ascribe it to this curse.
If the children do not choose their father's gooroo, he curses the
family. If a bramhun consider himself as having claims on any
member of a family to become his spiritual guide, and this person
or the family be unwilling, the bramhun goes to their house, and
refuses to 'eat till they consent. The family dare not eat till the
gooroo has eaten. — On some occasions, the gooroo is called in to
adjust family differences. If two brothers quarrel about an estate,
an appeal is made to the gooroo, who generally gives his judgment
in favour of the brother who can afford the greatest bribe.
The gooroos or not distinguished by any particular dress, and
many pursue secular employment.
I have heard of some religious guides who, taking advantage
of the profound reverence in which they are held, are guilty of im-
proper conduct with their female disciples ; and others of these
demi-gods are guilty of crimes which they expiate on a gallows.
Assistant Gooroo. — These persons are sometimes employed in
teaching the disciple how to worship his guardian deity. If the
chief gooroo be a female, or be ignorant of the proper incantation,
the assistant gooroo is called in.
Sect. III. — Religious Austerities, (Tuptisya.)
Those religious works which require bodily sufferings, are, in
general, denominated tupusyas. Among other acts which fall
under this description, are, — severe abstinence ; repeating the
name of an idol, and sitting in particular postures, for a long
time ; a person's surrounding himself with five fires ;d and the
severities practised by ascetics. These works of severity towards
d In January 1812, the author witnessed the performance of some xmcommonly
severe acts of religious austerity, in the suburbs of Calcutta. A number of Hindoo
mendicants had erected huts near one of the descents into the Ganges, and several
devotees on this spot daily surrounded themselves with fires of cow-dung, and for three
or four hours each day rested on their shoulders with their legs upward, repeating the
names of the gods in silence, and counting their bead-rolls. Crowds of people were
coming and going, astonished spectators of these infatuated men ; who continued their
religious austerities in the night, by standing up to the neck in the Ganges for two or
three hours, euiuiting their beads.
204
RULES FOR BURNT SACRIFICES.
the body are not done as penances for sin, but as works of extra
ordinary merit, producing large rewards in a future state.
Sect. IV. — Burnt Sacrifices (Yugnu.)
In these sacrifices, the following ceremonies are commanded by
the shastru : — The names of deceased ancestors for six generations
must be repeated in the morning before the sacrifice ; to this
succeeds the appointment of the sacrificial priests ; then a cere-
mony for the success of the sacrifice, in which the priest, tak-
ing up dry rice, scatters it on the ground, repeating incantations ;
after this, sunkulpu, in which the person, repeating the name of
the day, month, &c. declares that he is about to perform this
ceremony to obtain such and such benefits ; lastly follows a sacri-
fice of mustard seed to drive away evil c-enii and enemies. On the
a/ O
altar are placed things necessary for the different ceremonies, as
pans for water, branches of the mangoe tree, fruits, flowers, garlands,
sandal wood, toolusee e and vilwu f leaves, do5rva and kooshu grass,
rice, seeds of sesamum, curds, red lead, small twigs of sacred trees
to be burnt, a mortar and pestle, spoons, meat offerings, garments,
&c. The priest sitting on the altar worships certain gods ; after
which the alter is set in order for the sacrifice, and the fire prepar-
ed ; the worship of Ugnee then takes place, at the commencement
of which the priest repeats a prayer from the vedu to this purport :
' Oh ! Ugnee ! thou who sittest on a goat, and hast seven columns
of fire ; thou art energy itself; thou art the mouth of the gods. —
I worship thee ; come.' One of the priests next purifies, with in-
cantations, the vessels, the wood for the sacrifice, and the clarified
butter ; he then boils the rice, and afterwards performs the burnt-
sacrifice either with clarified butter, the flesh of some animal, pieces
of wood, vilwu leaves, flowers of the kuruveeru^ or the water-lily,
boiled rice, seeds of sesamum, or fruits. To this succeeds a burnt-
sacrifice to certain gods, with rice, clarified butter, sugar, curds,
milk, flesh, and other articles, and a sacrifice to the nine planets,
and to all the gods whom the priest can remember. An atonement
for any mistake which may have occurred is next made by a burnt-
offering of clarified butter. The officiating priest must then put
on the fire a new poita, cloth, flowers, a plantain, betle, and rice ;
when the sacrificer, standing behind the priest, must put his right
hand on his shoulder, while the latter pours clarified butter on the
tire, till the flame ascends to a great height. If the flame be free
from smoke, and surround the altar in a southerly direction, the
blessings sought by the sacrificer will be obtained. After this,
the priest, sprinkling some water on the fire, dismisses the god
Ugnee. The sacrificer now presents fees to the priests, and the
e Ocy mum gratissimum.
f -i5Sgle marrnelos.
s Nerium odorum.
HUMAN SACRIFICES.
205
whole ends with a feast to the bramhuns, and the dismissing of
the guests with presents.
I have obtained from several works accounts of the following
burnt-sacrifices : —
The sacrifice of a MAN ! ! — First, a covered altarh is to be
prepared in an open place near the house of the offerer ; sixteen
posts are to be erected, six of vilwu, six of khudiru, and four of
oodoomburu ; a golden image of a man, and an iron one of a goat,
are then to be set up ; and also golden images of Vishnoo and
Lukshmee, a silver one of Shivu, with a golden bull on which
Shivu rides, and a silver one of Gurooru. Brass pans are also to
be provided for holding water, &c. Animals, as goats and sheep,
are to be tied to the posts, one of the khudiru posts being left for
the man who is to be sacrificed. Fire is next to be procured with
a burning-glass, or with flint, or brought from the house of a devout
bramhun. The priest, called brumha, sits on a seat of kooshu grass
at one corner of the altar with an alms' dish in his hand, and con-
secrates the different utensils. The priest, called hota, then per-
forms certain minute ceremonies, and lays blades of kooshu grass
all round the fire on the alter ; to which succeeds the burnt-sacri-
fice to the ten guardian deities of the earth, to the nine planets, to
Roodru, Brumha, Vastoo-poorooshu, and Vishnoo : to each of the
two latter clarified butter is to be poured on the fire a thousand
times. Next follows another burnt-sacrifice, and the same sacrifice
to sixtj^-four gods, beginning with Douvariku. After this, in the
name of all the gods above-mentioned, is made the burnt-sacrifice
with the flesh of the other animals tied to the different posts. To
this succeeds the human sacrifice. The victim must be free from
bodily distemper, be neither a child nor advanced in years.' After
slaying the victim, the hota, with small pieces of flesh, must offer
the sacrifice to the above-mentioned gods, walking round the altar
after each separate offering.
In the third book of the Muhabharutu, a story is related res-
pecting a king of the name of Somuku, who obtained from the
gods a hundred sons in consequence of having offered a human
sacrifice.
The Ramayunu contains a story respecting Muhee-Ravunu,
who attempted to offer Ramu and Lukshmunu, when in paturu, as
a sacrifice to Bhudra-Kalee, in order to obtain success in war for
his father Kavunu.
Another story is contained in the Ramayunu, that TJmvureeshu,
h The Hindoo altar may have brick- work around it, but in the inside it is to be
filled up with pure earth. In the centre some persons make a hole for the fire, and
others raise on the centre a small elevation of sand, and on this kindle the fire.
1 These victims were formerly bought for sacrifice.
206 PROOFS FROM THE SHASTRUS OF OFFERINGS OF, &C.
king of Uyodhya, once resolved on offering a human victim ;
which, after being prepared, was stolen by Indru. The king
traversed many countries unable to obtain another victim, till at
last Kicheeku sold his second son to him, for ' heaps of the
purest gold, jewels, and a hundred thousand cows/ The father
refused to sell his eldest son, and the mother would not give up
the youngest. The second son, after he had been sold, claimed the
protection of the sage Vish wa-mitru, who directed each one of his
sons to give himself up to be sacrificed instead of this youth :
but they all refused ; when Vishwa-mitru cursed them, and
gave this youth an incantation, by repeating which the gods would
deliver him from death. After he had been bound for execution,
he repeated this incantation from the Rig-veda ; when Indru
delivered him, and bestowed on the king the blessing he sought by
this sacrifice. The Shreebhaguvutu gives a similar story respecting
an ascetic, Juru-Bhurutu ; but in this case the goddess worshipped
burst from the image, rescued the devotee, k and destroyed those
who were about to sacrifice him.
The Institutes of Munoo contain the following paragraph : —
1 The sacrifice of a bull, of a man, or of a horse, in the kulee age,
must be avoided by twice-born men ; so must a second gift of a
married young woman, whose husband has died before consumma-
tion : the larger portion of an eldest brother, and procreation on a
brother's widow or wife/
However shocking it may be, it is generally reported amongst
the natives, that human sacrifices are to this day offered in some
places in Bengal. At a village called Ksheeru, near the town of
Burdwan, it is positively affirmed, that human sacrifices are still
offered to the goddess Yoogadya, a form of Doorga ; at Kireetu-
kona, near Moorshudubad, to Kalee ; and at many other places.
The discovery of these murders in the name of religion is made by
finding the bodies with the heads cut off near these images ; and
though no one acknowledges the act, }ret the natives well know
that these people have been offered in sacrifice.
About seven years ago, at the village ofSerampore, near
Kutwa, before the temple of the goddess Tara, a human body was
found without a head ; and in the inside of the temple different
offerings, as ornaments, food, flowers, spirituous liquors, &c. All
who saw it knew that a human victim had been slaughtered in the
night ; and search was made after the murderers, but in vain.
At Brumha-neetula, near Nudeeya, is an image of Munusa,
before which the worship of D55rga is performed. It is currently
reported, that at this place human victims are occasionally offered,
as decapitated bodies are found there.
k This man observed a voluntary silence, and refused all intercourse with human
beings, that he might avoid injuring any one.
HUMAN SACRIFICES.— FACTS RELATIVE TO PRESENT TIMES. 207
Ramu-natMiu-Yachuspu^ee, the second Sungskrifcu pundit in the
College of Fort-William, once assured me, that about the year 1770,
at the village of Soomura, near Gooptipara, he saw the head of a
man, with a lamp placed on it, lying in a temple before the image
of the goddess Siddheshwuree, and the body lying in the road op-
posite the temple. A similar fact is related respecting an image of
Bhurga-Rheema at Tumlooku, where a decapitated body was found.
At Chit-pooru, and at Kalee-ghatu,1 near Calcutta, it is said,
that human sacrifices have been occasionally offered. A re-
spectable native assured me, that at Chitpooru, near the image
of Chittreshwuree, about the year 1788, a decapitated body was
found ; which, in the opinion of the spectators, had been evidently
offered on the preceding night to this goddess.
The following story respecting raja Krishnu-chundriarayu is
believed by a great number of the most respectable natives of
Bengal : — A brumhucharee of Kritukona, after repeating (jupu)
the name of his guardian deity for a long time, till he had
established a great name as a religious devotee, at length had a
dream, in which he supposed that his guardian deity told him to
make a number of offerings to her, which he understood to mean
human sacrifices ; and that then she would become visible to him,
and grant him all his desires. He was now very much perplexed
about obtaining the necessary victims ; and, as the only resource,
he applied to Krishnu-chundru-rayu, and promised, that if he
would supply the victims, he should share in the benefits to be
derived from this great act of holiness. The raja consented to
this, and built a house in the midst of a large plain, where he
placed this brumhucharee ; and directed some chosen servants to
seize persons of such and such a description, and forward them to
the brumhucharee. This was done for a considerable time, (some
say for two or three years,) till at length the brumhucharee became
weak and emaciated through the perpetration of so many murders ;
and the raja began to suspect that there must be some mistake in
the business. He consulted a learned man or two near him, who
declared that the brumhiicharee had very likely mistaken the
words spoken to him in his dream, for that these words might
1 About the year 1800, according to Ubhfiyu^chuTfinu, a learned bramhun, who
has assisted the author in this work, two Hindoos cut out their own tongues, and
offered them to the idol at Kalee-ghatti. Both these men came from Hindoost'hanu :
one of them was seen by my informant lying on the ground after the action, the blood
running from his mouth. At Jwala-mookhu, to the N. W. of Delhi, from time im-
memorial, infatuated Hindoos have cut out their tongues, and offered them to Sfitee,
to whom this place is sacred, and where the tongue of this goddess is supposed to have
fallen, when Shivit threw the members of her body into different parts of the earth.
In the inside of the temple at this place (which appears to be part of a burning moun-
tain) fire ascends, exhibiting to this degraded people a constant miracle. The same
person informed the author, that two diseased persons, who who had gone to the
idols at Tarnkeshwuru and at Muoola in Bengal, some years ago, despairing of a
cure, sacrificed themselves to these idols by stabbing themselves, and Jetting the
blood fall into the pans placed to receive the blood of slaughtered animals.
208
SACRIFICE OF A BULL AND A HORSE,
mean simple offerings of food, &c. A thousand victims are said to
have been thus butchered.
The sacrifice of a Bull. — In this sacrifice four altars are re-
quired for offering the flesh to four gods, Lukshmee-Narayunu,
Ooma-muheshvvuru, Brumha, and TJnunttL Before the sacrifice,
Prit'hivee, the nine planets, and the ten guardian deities of the
earth, are worshipped. Five vilwu,m five khudiru," five pulashu,0
and five oodoomburup posts are to be erected, and a bull tied to
each post. Before the burning of the flesh, clarified butter is burnt
on one altar, and afterwards small pieces of the flesh of the
slaughtered animals on the four altars. The succeeding ceremonies
are common to all burnt-sacrifices* This sacrifice was formerly
very common. The Pudmu-pooranu and Muhabharutu contain
accounts of a great sacrifice of a bull performed by Runtee-deVu.
The sacrifice of a Horse, ( Ushwu-medhu.) — The animal must
be of one colour,q without blemish, of good signs, young and well-
formed. On an auspicious d&y, the sacrificer must touch the head
of the horse with clay from the Ganges, sandal wood, a pebble,
rice not cleansed from the husk, leaves of doorva grass/ flowers,
fruits, curds, clarified butter, red lead, a shell, lamp-black, turmeric,
mustard, gold, silver, metal, a lamp, a looking-glass, and other
things, repeating the prescribed formulas. The horse is next
bathed with water, in which has been immersed a ball compo-
sed of the bark of different trees, and spices ; and afterwards superbly
caparisoned. The god Indru is then invoked by a number of prayers,
and invited to come and preserve the horse, which is about to be let
loose. A paper is next fastened on the forehead of the horse, con-
taing an inscription in Sungskrittt to the following purport: 'I
liberate this horse, having devoted it to be sacrificed Whoever
has strength to detain it, let him detain its. I will come and deliver it.
They who are unable to detain it, will let it go, and must come to
the sacrifice, bringing tribute.' The horse is then liberated, and
l'uns at liberty for twelve months, followed by servants belonging to
the sacrificer. At the close of the year, he is brought and bound ;
and at the time appointed, a proper place is chosen and cleansed,
and an altar of earth, walled round with bricks, sixteen cubits
square, and one cubit high, is built, with a roof over it resting on
posts. At the east end a hole is made, and lined with bricks, to
contain the fire ; or a small teiTace of sand may be raised on the
altar for receiving the" fire. Under the roof is suspended a canopy,
with elegant curtains on all sides. A rope is fastened round the
m iEgle marraelos. n Mimosa catechu.
° Butea frondosa. p Ficus glomerata.
i A white horse is preferred. r Agrostis linearis.
" The poorantis give accounts of dreadful wars both among gods and men to
obtain this horse.
SACRIFICE OF A HORSE.
209
posts of the altar ; also branches of the mango tree, tails of the
cow of Tartary, bells, and garlands of flowers. The sacrificer then,
accompanied with presents, and the reading of different formulas,
appoints to their different work in the sacrifice, the acharyu, the
sudusyu, the brumha,1 the hota,u and the oodgata, the latter of
whom repeats portions of the Samu-ve'd-u, sitting on the altar.
Twenty-one posts, eighteen cubits and ten fingers high, are fixed
in the ground ; six of vilwu, six of the khudiru, six of pulashu, one
of piyalu,v and two of devu-daroo.w Each post is to have eight points
at the top, to be covered Avith painted cloth, and encircled with
garlands. The six pulashu posts are to be put into the ground with
their heads bent towards the altar. The horse is to be tied to one
of the khudiru posts ; and thirty animals and birds for sacrifice to
the other posts. All these animals and birds are to be purified by
sprinkling water on their faces, and by repeating incantations.
A silver image of Gurooru with gold feathers, and sixteen gold
bricks, are then to be brought ; after which the sacrificer and his wife
are to wash the feet of the horse, and caparison him afresh. Afan
of deer's skin is provided to blow the coals ; also some kooshu grass,
with piles of thin twigs of the fig or the pulashu tree ; a large pestle
and mortar for bruising the rice ; a bowl made of the fig-tree for
holding the holy water ; a wooden spoon to stir the boiling rice ;
another large one with two holes in the bowl to pour the clarified
butter on the fire ; another kind of spoon to pour the boiled rice on
the fire ; a pan of water, having on its top some branches, fruits,
and flowers, with the image of a man painted on it, and smeared
over with curds, &c; round the neck of the pan a piece of new cloth
is to be tied, and five articles, viz., gold, silver, a pearl, a coral, and
a gem, put into the pan ; five smaller pans of water are also to be
placed near the other, ornamented without in the same manner.
The horse is then killed by the hota, who divides the flesh into
pieces, and casts it on the fire, adding clarified butter, and repeating
the formulas. When the serum is put on the fire, the sacrificer and
his wife are to sit upon the altar, and receive the fumes. The
other animals are to be next sacrificed, amidst the repeating of
incantations. These sacrifices are offered to Brumha, Vishnoo,
Shivu, and the ten guardian deities of the earth . At the close of
th ese ceremonies, the hota casts a small quantity of curds on the
fire towards the north-east ; sprinkles a little water on the face of
the sacrificer and his wife ; bathes them by pouring upon them
water from the large pan, repeating incantations ; and marks their
foreheads, shoulders, throats, and breasts with the ashes from the
burnt curds.x This sacrifice was performed by many of the
1 He must sit within a cubit of the fire. .
u In this sacrifice sixteen hotas are employed. v Chiron jia sapida. w Pine, or fir.
* The manners of the Hindoos at the time this sacrifice used to be offered, must
have been very different from what they are now : a Hindoo female of rank never
appears at present in a public assembly, permitting another man to mark her forehead
with paint, &c.
27
210 SACRIFICE OF AN ASS AND AT THE BIRTH OF A SON, &C.
Hindoo kings, as mentioned in several poorantis. He who per-
formed one hundred was entitled to the throne of Indru, the king
of the gods.
The sacrifice of an Ass. — The sacrifice is to be performed by a
dundee, or other religious mendicant, as an atonement for some
fault, by which he has lost his station as a devotee. After the
fire is prepared, Noiritu is worshipped : the sacrificer then anoints
the ass with turmeric, bathes it, and ties it to a vilwu post ; and
afterwards purifies it by repeating incantations and sprinkling it
with water. A burnt-sacrifice with clarified butter is then offered
to the ten guardian deities of the earth ; and the ceremonies by
which a person is created a dundee are repeated. The relapsed
mendicant is now placed near the altar ; the ass is slain, and its
flesh offered to Noiritu in the burnt-sacrifice ; after which the
staff is put into the hand of the dundee, who addresses petitions to
the god ttgnee, and to the dundees who are present. He next
performs the sacrifice, thinking on Briimha, and then closes the
whole by dismissing Ugnee ; or, in other words, he quenches the
fire by pouring curds upon it. This sacrifice is supposed to be
effectual to all spiritual purposes, but it does not restore the
dundee to his rank among the same class of mendicants.
Sacrifice at the birth of a Son. — A father, on first visiting
his son, is commanded to take a piece of gold in his hand ; and with
fire produced by rubbing two pieces of wood together, to offer a
sacrifice to Brumha, and then anoint the forehead of the child
with the clarified butter left on the fingers at the close of the
sacrifice. The mother must sit near the altar, and receive the
scent of the offerings, having the child in her arms. To secure the
strength of the child, clarified butter and curds must be burnt, and
prayers repeated. The father must also bind a string of seven
or nine threads, and five blades of cl55rva grass, round the
wrist of the child ; and sprinkle water on its forehead with blades
of kooshu grass. He must also present oil and betle to ten or
twelve married females, and entertain them at his house. This
ceremony is never performed at present.
Sacrifice after Death. — The sagniku. bramhuns, who burn the
bodies of the dead with the fire kindled at their birth, are directed
to make this sacrifice. First, a burnt-offering is made with clarified
butter ; then the corpse, being washed, is laid upon the altar, and
the person officiating puts some of the clarified butter to the mouth
of the deceased ; after which the fire is made to surround the body,
and a prayer is repeated, that all the sins collected in this body
may be destroyed by this fire, and the person obtain an excellent
heaven.
Sacrifice to the nine Planets. — Most of the formulas in the
preceding sacrifices are used in this. The only differences belong
OTHER SACRIFICES — BURNT OFFERINGS.
211
to the wood and food burnt, to the images of the planets, the dress
of the priests, and to the fees presented at the close of the cere-
mon}^. This sacrifice is made to remove the supposed baneful in-
fluence of an evil planet. The author once witnessed this ceremony
at Calcutta.
Other sacrifices. — Beside these, many other sacrifices are men-
tioned in the Hindoo writings; I select the names of a few. —
Raju-s55yu, offered by the^kshutriyu kings to atone for the sin of
destroying men in war. — TJgnishtomu, a sacrifice to Ugnee. — Jyo-
tishtomu, to obtain a glorious body ; and Ayooshtomu, to obtain
long life. — Surpugnu., to destroy snakes. — Muha-vrutu, to obtain
the heaven of Brumha. At the close of this sacrifice, a brambun
and his wife are brought out, worshipped, feasted, and loaded with
presents. — Poundureeku, performed with the flowers of the water-
lily, dipped in clarified butter, in order to obtain Vishnoo's heaven.
— Utiratru, performed in the last stages of the night, to the god
Brumha. — Vishwu-jatu, to obtain universal conquest. — Oindru-
dudhee, performed with curds, made from milk taken from the
cow while the calf is kept at a distance with a twig of the pulashu
tree ; the whey to be given to a horse. — Pruja-yagu, performed by
a king for the good of his subjects. — Ritoo-yagu, attended to for
six years, the time being varied according to the six seasons. —
Survvu-dukshinu ; so called because the fees to the officiating
bramhuns, at the close of the sacrifice, amount to the whole pro-
perty of the sacrificer.* — Nuvushus-yshtee, a sacrifice with first
fruits to obtain good harvests.
Sect. V. — Burnt-Offerings, (Homu.)h
This is a particular part of the sacrifice called yugnu. but at
present it is often performed separately. The things offered are
clarified butter, sesamum, flowers, boiled rice, rice boiled in milk and
sweetened with honey, dddrvu-grass, vilwu leaves, and the tender
branches, half a span long, of the usliwuttuhu,0 the doomvuru/ the
pulashu/ the akundu/ the shumee,g and the khudiru,h trees. Clari-
fied butter alone is sufficient, but any or all of these things may be
added.1
a One of the gifts proper to be presented to brarnhiins is a person's wJiole property I
See a succeeding article, Danu. Here the fee at the close of a sacrifice is a person's all !
Such is the rapacity of these priests of idolatry.
b From hoo, to offer by fire. c Ficus religiosa.
d Ficus racemosa. e Butea f rondosa.
f Asclepias gigantea. s Mimosa albida,
*> Mimosa catechu .
1 The flesh of goats may be used in the homu ; but it is not customary at present.
212
BLOODY SACRIFICES.
The person who wishes to perform this ceremony, provides a
bramhun acquainted with the usual forms, and on the day before
the service observes a fast. The next day he rises early and bathes,
performing in the morning his usual worship : then coming home,
he begins the ceremony in the presence of his friends, with the
assistance of the bramhun whom he has chosen. First he sits down,
either in the house or before the door, with his face towards the
east, and makes a square altar of four cubits with clean dry
sand ; upon which, with a blade of kooshu-grass, he writes the
proper incantation. He then takes a little straw in each hand,
lights that in his left, and throws the other away. He re-
peats this action again, and then laying down the wisp of light-
ed straw on the altar, repeating ^incantations, lays upon it the
wood, and worships the god IJgnee, (fire.) Having already
provided clarified butter, and placed twigs, half a span long, by his
side, he takes up one of them at a time, and, dipping it in the
clarified butter, lays it on the fire, repeating a prayer. He may
offer either eight twigs, twent}-eight, one hundred and eight, two
hundred and eight, or three hundred and eight, and so on till he be
satisfied, or till he think the gods have had clarified butter enough.k
At the close, he puts or pours upon the fire, plantains, the leaves of
the piper betle, and sour milk. He does this, as they say, to cool
the earth, which, being a goddess, is supposed to have sustained
some harm by the heat of the fire. Finally, he makes presents, and
entertains bramhuns.
Sect. VI. — Bloody Sacrifices, (Bulee-danuK)
The reader will have observed, that for the burnt-sacrifices
animals were slain, and offered on the altar. In these sacrifices
(Bulee-danu) animals are slain, but the flesh is offered raw, and not
burnt on the altar : this is the difference between the two sacrifices.
Among the things proper for sacrifice are men, buffaloes, goats, sheep,
horses, camels, deer, fish, and birds of various kinds. At present
only buffaloes, goats, and sheep are offered.
When an animal (for example, a goat) is sacrificed, the follow-
ing forms are used. — First, the animal is bathed either with or in
water ; and then brought before the idol ; when the officiating
bramhun paints its horns red, and whispers an incantation in its
right ear ; after which, taking the right ear of the goat in his left
hand, with a blade of kooshu grass he sprinkles the head of the
animal with water, and repeats many incantations : the goat is then
worshipped, and fed with the offerings ; after which, it is led out,
k The god tjgnee was once surfeited with clarified butter, and to relieve him
Urjoonii burnt a whole forest containing medicinal plants.
1 FromBiHee, a sacrifice, and da, to give. The shastrns include all offerings under
the name bulee ; but at present this term is confined to the offering of the flesh of animals.
BATHING, AND CEREMONIES ACCOMPANYING IT.
213
and fastened to the stake. The instrument of death is next brought,
bathed, smeared with red lead during the repetiton of an incantation,
worshipped, and made to touch a burning lamp, that its edge may
not be blunted by the power of any incantation . The officiating
bramhun next puts the instrument and a flower into the hand of the
slayer, (perhaps the blacksmith,) who places the flower in his hair,
and prostrates himself before the idol. Then laying down the
weapon, he binds his cloth firmly round his loins, and waits at the
post, in the excavation of which the neck of the goat is to be placed,
till the bramhun has anointed the post with red lead, and placed a
saucer containing a plantain to catch the blood. The goat's neck is
now fastened in the excavation of the post, with its head on one
side and the body on the other. One man pulls its head by the
cord round its neck, which has been smeared with red lead, and
another pulls the body. The officiating bramhun sprinkles the neck
with water, and divides the hair on the neck ; after which he goes
into the presence of the idol, and offers a cloud of incense ; and
then he and all present, putting their loose garment around their
necks, rise, and stand before the idol with joined hands : and while
they remain in this attitude, the executioner, at one blow,™ strikes
off the head. The man who holds the body suspends it over the
dish containing the plantain, and the blood runs into it ; after
which he lays the body down. The officiating bramhun pours
some water on the head, which another person holds in his hand,
and afterwards places it before the idol, fastening it on each side
with two sticks put into the ground to prevent its moving. The
slayer then going to the body, cuts a morsel of the flesh from the
neck, and casts it among the blood preserved in the dish, which is
now carried and placed before the idol. The doors are then shut ;
a light made with clarified butter is placed on the head, and the
head is offered to the idol with appropriate prayers. The whole of
the blood is next offered, and afterwards divided into four parts
and offered, which closes the ceremony.
Sect. VII. — Bathing, (Snanu).a
Bathing, as an act of purification, always precedes and some-
times follows other ceremonies. It may be performed by pouring
m A person in the east of Bengal, who wap accustomed to lay aside part of his
monthly savings to purchase offerings for the annual worship of Doorga, was exceed-
ingly alarmed during the festival one year, when the person who was to cut off the
head of the sacrifice (a buffalo) failed to sever the head from the body at one blow.
Leaving the sacrifice struggling and half killed, he went up to the image, and with
joined hands cried out, : Oh ! mother ! why art thou displeased with me ? What have
I done?' His female relations came into the temple, and wept before the image in
the most bitter manner. The spectators began to reason upon this dreadful circum-
stance, imputing the failure in slaughtering the buffalo to different causes according to
their fancies. One opinion, among the rest, was, that the owner of the image was in
no fault, but that the goddess was angry because the officiating bramhun had let fall
saliva upon the offerings while reading the formulas,
n From shna, to purify or bathe,
214 DRINK OFFERINGS TO THE GODS AND DECEASED ANCESTORS.
water on the bocty in or out of doors, or by immersing the body in
a pool or river.
A bramhim bathes in the following manner : — he first rubs
his bod}'' with oil, and takes with him to the river a towel, a brass
cup called a kosha, flowers, leaves of the vilwu tree, and a few
seeds of sesamum. Some take alonp; with them a little rice, a
plantain or two, and sweetmeats. Arriving at the river side, the
bramhun, hanging a towel round his neck, makes a bow, or
prostrates himself before the river ; then rising rubs his forehead
with the water, and offers praise to Gunga. If he has omitted
his morning duties, he performs them now. After this he makes a
clay image of the lingu : then descends into the water, and
immerses himself twice, having his face towards the north or
east. Rising, he invokes some god, and, with his forefinger
making circles in the water, prays, that all the holy places
of the river may surround him at once, or rather that all the fruit
arising from bathing in them may be enjoyed by him. He again
immerses himself twice, and, rising, cleanses his body, rubbing
himself with his towel. He then comes up out of the water,
wipes his body, and repeats many forms of prayer or praise. This
is what properly belongs to bathing ; but it is succeeded by
repeating the common forms of worship, for which the person
made preparations in bringing his kosha, flowers, leaves, sesamum,
making the lingu, &c.
Bathing, in cases of sickness, may be performed without
immersing the head in water, by rubbing the arms, legs, and
forehead, with a wet cloth ; or by changing the clothes ;°
or by sprinkling the body with water, and repeating an incanta-
tion or two ; or b}^ covering the body with the ashes of cow-dung.
Sect. VIII. — D rink-Offerings to the Gods and deceased Ancestors
(Turpunu)? %
The Hindoos, at the time of bathing, present water daily ta
the gods, the sages, yukshus, nagus, gundhurvus, upsurus, iisoorus,
vidyadhurus, pishachus, siddus, and to their deceased ancestors.11
This they call turpunu ; which should tbe performed three times
a day : those who use the kosha take up water in it, putting in
sesamum, repeating the proper formulas, and then pouring out the
water into the river or pool where they are bathing. Those who
° A Hindoo considers those clothes defiled in which he has been employed in
secular concerns.
v From Tripu, to satisf}\
q Seeds of sesamum are also presented to deceased ancestors, and, among the gods,
to Yumu, the regent of death.
CEREMONIES OF WORSHIP.
215
perform this ceremony without the kosha, take up water with their
hands, and, repeating a prayer, present it to the gods, by pouring it
out from the ends of the fingers ; to parents, by letting it fall be-
twixt the fingers and thumb of the right hand ; and to the sages,
by pouring the water out at their wrists. For those who have
died in a state of extreme poverty, and have no one to perform the
ceremonies for the repose of the soul, instead of pouring it out of
the hands, they offer the libation by wringing the cloth with
which they bathe. If the person bathe in any other water, and
not in the Ganges, he cannot use sesamum, but performs the cere-
mony with water alone.
Sect. IX. — The Ceremonies of Worship, (Pooja.)
The following ceremonies in the presence of the idol are
what the Hindoos call pooja. — Previously to entering on this
act of idolatry, the person bathes ; returning home/ he washes his
feet, spreads a blanket or some other proper thing to sit upon, and
then sits down before the idol, having the articles necessary for
worship before him : a kosha, or metal bason, and a koshee, or
smaller one ; a small wooden stand, a metal plate, an iron stand
to hold five lamps, a censor, a brass stand with a small shell placed
on it, a metal plate on which to place flowers, a metal bowl into
which the water and flowers are thrown after they have been
presented to the idol, a metal jug for holding water, a metal plate
to be used as a bell ; a shell, or sacred conch,8 which sounds like a
horn; with a number of dishes, cups, and other utensils for holding
rice, paint, incense, betle, water, milk, butter, curds, sweetmeats,
flowers, clarified butter, &c. Having all these articles ready,* the
worshipper takes water from the kosha with the koshee, and let-
ting it fall into his right hand, drinks it ; he then takes a drop
more, and then a drop more, repeating incantations. After this
with the finger and thumbs of his right hand he touches his
mouth, nose, eyes, ears, navel, breast, shoulders, and the crown of
his head, repeating certain forms. He then washes his hands,
makes a number of motions with his fingers, and strikes the
earth with his left heel three times, repeating incantations,
When this is done, he flirts the first finger and thumb of his
right hand, waving his hand towards the ten divisions of the
earth ; closes his eyes, and repeats incantations to purify his
mind, his body, the place where he sits, as well as the offer-
r These ceremonies are frequently performed by the river side.
s Both men and women, ou entering a temple, often blow the conch or ring the bell,
to entertain the god.
1 In general when the worship is performed in the house, a bramhnn's wife, against
the arrival of her husbsnd from bathing, sets in proper order all the articles mtd in
worship ; - flowers, water, utensils, &c.
2J6
CEREMONIES OF WORSHIP.
ings about to be presented, (which it is supposed may have
become unclean, by having been seen or touched by a cat, a dog, a
shackal, a sh55dru, or a Musulman.) Next, he takes a flower,
which he lays on his left hand, and, putting his right hand upon it,
revolves in his mind the form of the god he is worshipping. He
then lays the flower on his head, and, joining his hands together,
closes his eyes, thinks upon the form of the god, that he has a nose,
eyes, four arms, four heads, &c. and then recites the outward forms
of worship in his mind. He now presents the offerings ; first, a
square piece of gold or silver, as a seat for the god, inviting him to
come and sit down, or visit him ; and then, asking the god if he
be happy, repeats for him, ' Very happy.' After this, he presents
water to wash the feet ; takes up water with the koshee, and pours
it into the metal bowl ; and presents at once rice, a vilwu leaf,
eight blades of doorva grass, paint, and water, with incantations.
He then presents water to wash the mouth, curds, sugar, honey ;
then water to wash the mouth again, and water to bathe in, with
prayers ; then cloth, jewels, gold, silver, ornaments, bedsteads, cur-
tains, a bed, pillow, cloth, printed cloth ; clothes for men, women,
or children ; shoes, brass drinking cups, candlesticks, and what-
ever would be proper presents to the bramhuns.u After this paint,
either red or white, is presented on a flower ; then eight or ten
flowers ; leaves of the vilwu tree ; a necklace of flowers ; incense
of three kinds, and a lighted lamp, with incantations. After the
bloody sacrifices, the offerings are presented, comprising rice, split
peas, different kinds of peas, shaddocks, pomegranates, pine-apples,
netted custard-apples, another species of custard-apples, bread fruit
or jakus, mangoes, water-melons, cucumbers, plantains, oranges,
ginger, cocoanuts, almonds, raisins/ guavas, dates, j ambus, jujubes,
wood-apples, melons, sugar-canes, radishes, sweet-potatoes, kesooru/
water, milk, curds, another sort of curds, cream, butter, sour-milk,
clarified butter, sugar, sugar-candy, &c. &c. After presenting the
offerings, the person repeats the name of a god for some time, and
then prostrates himself, (the spectators doing the same ;) putting
the cloth round his neck, and joining his hands, he offers praise to
the god, and prostrates himself again. The dinner follows, consist-
ing of fried greens, and several other dishes made up of kidney,
beans, varttakee,z cocoanuts, &c. fried together ; split peas, and
several kinds of fried herbs or fruits ; four kinds of fish ; boiled
and fried goats' flesh, vension, and turtle ; different fruits prepared
with treacle ; rice and milk boiled with sugar ; things prepared
u It must not be supposed that all these articles are presented daily by the Hin-
doos. This account describes what is performed at festivals. In the daily worship,
flowers, leaves, sacred grass, a little rice, &c. are presented.
x These and several other articles are imported from foreign countries ; and
though they have been prepared by the hands of the unclean, yet the Hindoos make
no difficulty in presenting them to their gods, and afterwards eating them.
y The root of scirpus maximus
z Solanum molongena.
MEDITATION — KEPEATINC THE NAMES OF THE GODS.
217
with pounded rice ; curds, sweetmeats, &c. The fish, flesh, fried
greens, and every thing of this kind is eaten with boiled rice. A
dish called kechooree, consisting of rice, split peas, clarified butter,
turmeric, and spices, boiled together, is also presented ; and then
water to drink. With every article of food a separate prayer is
offered. Water is next presented to wash the mouth, and a
straw to pick the teeth, with prayers ; then the burnt-offering
is made, and a present of money given. At last the person pros-
trates himself before the object of worship, and then retires to feast
on the offerings with other bramhuns. This is a detail of the form
of worship on a large scale, at which time it occupies the officiating
bramhun two hours.
Sect. X. — Meditation (Dhyanti.*)
In this act of devotion, the worshipper (of Shivu for instance)
closes his eyes, places his arms before him, and repeating the names
of the god, ruminates thus : — ' His colour is like a mountain of
silver ; his body shines like the moon ; he has four arms ; in one
hand he holds an axe, in another a deer, with another bestows a
blessing, and with the other forbids fear ; he has five faces, and
in each face three eyes ; he sits on the w^ater-lily ; the gods
surround him, and celebrate his praise ; lie is clothed with the
skin of a tiger ; he was before the world ; he is the creator of the
world ; he removes fear from every living creature.' While he
meditates on the offerings, he proceeds thus : — ' Oh ! god, 1 give
thee all these excellent things (recounting in his mind the names
of all the offerings, one by one.)
Both these forms of meditation are constantly used at the
time of worship, (pooja.) Many things are related in the pooranus
respecting the meditation known to ascetics, who, by the power
of dhyanu, discovered things the most secret.
Sect. XI. — Repeating the Names of the Gods, (Jupu)^
The Hindoos believe that the repetition of the name of God
is an act of adoration ; some add that the name of God is like fire,
by which all their sins are consumed : hence repeating the names
of the idols is a popular ceremony among the Hindoos.
In this act the worshipper, taking a string of beads, repeats
the name of his guardian deity, or that of any other god ; counting
by his beads 10, 28, 108, 208, and so on, adding to every 108 not
a From dhyoi, to tHiuk,
b To f?rjeak.
2S
218
FORMS OF PRAISE TO THE GODS.
less than one hundred more. This act is not efficacious, however,
unless the person keep his mind fixed on the form of the idol.
Many secular persons perform jupu without beads, hy counting
their fingers.
It is said that a person obtains whatever he seeks by persever-
ing in this act of adoration. If he be desirous of a wife, or of
children, or of money, (say a lac of rupees ;) or seek recovery
from sickness, or relief from misfortune ; he begins to repeat the
name of his god, and believes that he soon becomes subject to his
wishes. Jupu makes an essential part of the daily worship of a
Hindoo : some mendicants continue it day and night, year after
year, except when eating, sleeping, bathing, &c.
The Tuntru-saru contains the following account of the
consecration of the bead-roll : — The person sits down on the floor
of his house, and taking some green, red, black, yellow, and white
paint, draws a water-lily on the floor, upon which he places a
small brass dish ; and upon this, nine leaves of the ushwut'hu
tree, and upon the leaves a string of beads, cow's urine, cow- dung,
sour-milk, milk, and clarified butter, mixing them together, and
repeating an incantation : he then places honey, sugar; sour-milk,
milk, and clarified butter, upon the bead-roll, repeating another
incantation ; then some red lead and spices ; and then, with
incantations, he gives the bead-roll a soul, (pranu,) and according
to the usual forms worships it, and offers a burnt-offering to
the god whose name he intends to repeat with this string of
beads.
Sect. XII. — Forms of Praise to the Gods, (Sitivu.)
Forms of praise to the gods constitute a part of the daily
worship of the Hindoos. They spring not from emotions of
gratitude, but are repeated as acts of merit, to draw down favours
on the obsequious worshipper. — In this act, the person draws his
upper garment round his neck, joins his hand in a supplicating
manner, and repeats the forms of praise with a loud voice.
Examples : — { Oh ! Shivu ! thou art able to do every thing !
Thou art the preserver of all ! Thou art the fountain of life !' —
To Kartiku : £ Thou art the god of gods ; therefore I come to thee,
to enquire how I may repeat the praise of Sheetula, that she may
remove swellings on the body.' — To Sheetula : ' I salute Sheetula,
the goddess, for she can remove the fear of boils.'
The Hindoos say, that by praise a person may obtain from
the gods (who are fond of flattery) whatever he desires. The
forms are taken from the shastrus, though on some occasions, a
person may recite words of his own invention.
FORMS OF PRAYER TO THE GODS — PETITIONS &C.
219
Sect. XIII. — Forms of Prayer to the Gods, (Kuvuchu.)
These prayers are principally found in the Tuntrus ; a few in
the pooranus. They relate to the welfare of the petitioner here
and hereafter ; and are given by a spiritual guide to his disciple.
Examples: — 'O ! Hunooman ! when I go eastward, do thou
preserve me ! O ! son of Puvunu ! when I proceed southward, do
thou keep me ! O ! beloved son of Keshuree ;c when I go westward,
do thou preserve me. O ! Kamugnu !d keep me from danger when
I go northward. O ! Saguru-parugu!6 save me when I descend.
0 ! burner of Lunka ! (Ceylon,) deliver me from all danger. O !
counsellor of Soogreevu ! preserve my head.' In this manner the
person addresses petitions to this monkey-god, as for his head, so
for the preservation of every member of his body, from the fore-
head to the toes.
He who repea/ts this form twelve times beneath the urku tree,
will obtain long life, be the strongest man on earth, and the god-
dess of fortune will never forsake his dwelling. If he repeat this
kuvuchu seven times, at midnight, standing in water, he will be
able to drive away from his body every kind of disease : if at any
time, in any place, he will obtain beauty, eloquence, wisdom,
strength, victory, patience, and be free from fear and disease. If
any one bind this kuvuchu (as a charm1) on his arm, he will
obtain every desire of his heart.
Sect. XIV. — Petitions and Vows, (Kamtinu and Mantinti.)
The Hindoos are continually resorting to their gods for parti-
cular favours : if a person wish for a son,g or any other blessing,
he takes rice, plantains, and sweetmeats, and goes to some idol ;
and after worshipping it, and presenting offerings, asks the god to
bless him with a son. This petition is called kamunu ; after
putting up which he vows, that if the god grant his request, he
c K^shuree was married to the mother of HiSnooman, (if marriages take place
among monkies,) and Hunooman was the illegitimate son of Puvfinu.
d This monkey-god is called by this name, as the destroyer of evil desire ; from
kamu, desire, and hun, to destroy.
e Sagiiru, sea, parugu, the crosser ; alluding to his leaping across the sea to
Ceylon.
f Not only the Hindoos, but the Musulmans also are much attached to charms.
I once saw a Musulman woman dropping slips of paper into the river, and, upon
inquiry, found that they contained some sacred words, and that the woman was
presenting these papers to the river-saint, Khajakhejur, in hopes of obtaining relief
from sickness, service, or the like.
s The Hindoos in general never pray for daughters, because they do not bring
much honour to the family : they are expensive, and they can do nothing for the
family when the father is dead ; whereas a son preserves his father's memory,
performs the ceremonies for the repose of his soul, and nourishes the family by his
labours.
220 vows.
will offer to him two goats, or present him with two loadsh of
sweetmeats : this vow is called mairimih
In this manner the Hindoo asks for different blessings from his
god ; such as to become the servant of some European, or to have
sickness removed, or for riches, a house, a wife, or for a son to be
married. A woman prays for a husband who is absent. A
mother prays that her sick child may recover. Thus the poor
Hindoo carries his property to dumb idols, and knows nothing of
the happiness of casting all his cares on that glorious Being, ' who
careth for him.' The vows made at such times are various. One
promises to sacrifice a goat, a sheep, or a buffalo ; another to
present sweetmeats, or cloth, ornaments, money, rice, a house, a
necklace, one hundred water-lilies, one thousand toolusee leaves,
or a grand supper. All these offerings come to the bramhuns.1
If the god do not grant the requests and regard the vows
made at these times, the worshipper sometimes vents his rage in
angry expressions ; or, if the image be in his own house, he dashes
it to pieces. Such an enraged worshipper sometimes says, £ Oh !
thou forsaken of the goddess Fortune, thou blind god ; thou canst
look upon others, but art blind to me/ ' The gods are dying,' says
another, ' otherwise my five children would not have died ; they
have eaten my five children at once.' 1 After having worshipped
this god so faithfully, and presented so many offerings, this is the
shameful maimer In which I am requited.' Words like these are
common ; but this is in times when the passions of the worshippers
are touched by the death of a child, or by some dreadful misfortune :
and those who treat the gods so roughly are generally of the lower
orders.
Sect XV.— Votes, (Vruiu.)
Certain ceremonies, performed at stated times, frequently
by females, are called by the name vrutu. The following is an
example of one of these ceremonies : — At the fifth of the increase
of the moon, in the month Maghu, what is called the Punchumee-
Yrutu is performed. On the day before*the commencement of this
ceremony, the woman who is to perform it, eats food without salt,
and only once in the day ; refrains from anointing her body with
oil ; eats rice that has not been made wet in cleansing ; and puts
• b That is, as much as a man can carry, at twice in the way the bearers carry
water ; wTho put a bamboo yoke on the shoulder, and suspend a jar of water from
each end of the bamboo,
r
» The shastrii has declared that no gift3 are to be received from the hands of
shoodrus, except land or virgins. If, however, a bramhun have received a forbidden
gift, he is directed to oifer it lo Vishuoo, and then distribute it among bramhuns,
repeating, for the removal of his sin, the gayatree one hundred and eight times, or
more.
vows.
221
oti new apparel. The following morning she bathes ; after which
the officiating bramhun arrives at her house, and the things necessary
for the worship are brought : as, a new earthen jar, rice, sweetmeats,
a new poita, a piece of new cloth, clarified butter, fruits, flowers,
&c. The woman presents to the officiating bramhun, who sits in
the house on a mat made of kooshu -grass, with his face towards the
north or east, a piece of new cloth ; and putting a cloth over her
shoulders, and joining her hands, informs him that she intends to
perform this vrutu every month for six }7ears, and prays him to
become her representative in this work. She then rises, and the
bramhun, taking the shalgramu, places it before him, and performs
the worship of Vishnoo and Lukshmee. In the third and fourth
years, on the day preceding and on the day of the worship, she
eats rice not made wet in cleansing ; the next year, on these
days, only fruits ; the following year, on these two days,
she fasts. On the last day, (at which time the six years
expire,) the officiating bramhuns attend, to whom she says, 'I
have now finished the six years' vrutu I promised : I pray you
to perform another vrutu.' She then gives to each a piece of
cloth, a poita, and some betle-nut ; and putting a cloth round her
neck, and joining her hands, begs them to perform the necessary
ceremonies. Placing the shalgramu before them, they then per-
form the worship of of Shivu, S5oryu, Guneshu, Vishnoo, and Door-
ga ; in which offerings are made of cloth, sweetmeats, &c. Next
they worship the woman's spiritual, guide ; in which, amongst other
things, an offering is made of a bamboo plate, having on it a num-
ber of articles, and among the rest a piece of cloth. To this suc-
ceeds the worship of Vishnoo, Lukshmee, and the officiating priests.
A priest next prepares an altar four cubits square, by spreading
sand upon the ground. At three of the corners he fixes three pieces
of wood, lights some straw, and then worships the fire ; next he
boils rice, and, with clarified butter, presents the burnt-offering. The
female now puts a bamboo plate on her head, and walks round the
h're seven times ; then, standing still, she says, ' 0 ! TJgnee ! I call
thee to witness, that I have performed this vrutu. six years.' She
says the same to the sun, the shalgramu, and to the bramhuns.
Next she gives a fee, and distributes the gifts to the priests and
bramhuns. The bamboo plate which she placed on her head is
laid up in the house, and the whole closes with a grand dinner to
the bramhuns and others. This is the form of a vrutu on a large
scale. The Hindoos have, it is said, two or three hundred cere-
monies called by this name.
Savitree-vvUtu. In this ceremony the wife of a Hindoo, in
the month Asharhu, worships her husband : she first presents
to him a new garment, hangs a garland of flowers round his neck,
rubs his body with red lead and ointments ; and while he sits on
a stool, worships him, by presenting different offerings to him
repeating incantations, and praying that she may never be separat-
222
FASTING.
ed from him as her husband, nor ever become a widow. After a
number of other services paid to him, among which she makes
him partake of a good dinner, she walks round him seven times,
and then retires.
Adih* u-singh asunu-vrutu is observed every day in Voishakhu
for one year. During the thirty days, thirty women, the wives of
bramhuns, are entertained ; a different female each day. When
the bramhunee arrives, a seat is given her on the porch, and the
mistress of the house washes her feet, fans her, anoints her head
with oil, combs her hair, ornaments her forehead witli paint, anoints
her body with perfumes, and employs a female barber to paint the
edges of her feet. After this she conducts her into the house,
where she is fed with all the dainties the house can afford,
and dismissed with a gift of kourees. On the last of the thirty
days, in addition to this entertainment, a piece of cloth is presented
to a bramhunee. The benefit expected from this vrutu is, that the
female who thus honours the wives of bramhuns shall be highly
honoured by her husband in another birth.
It would be easy to multiply examples, for almost every
Hindoo female performs one or another of these vrutus :k but this
will be sufficient to give the reader an idea of these ceremonies ;
from the merit of which some expect heaven, others children, others
riches, others preservation from sickness, kc. — The vrutus are a
very lucrative source of profit to the bramhuns.
Sect. XVI. — Fasting, (Oopuvasu.)
Fasting is another work of merit among the Hindoos. A
common fast is conducted in the following manner : — The person
abstains on the preceding day from rubbing his body with oil, and
from eating, except once in the former part of the day. The next
day he eats nothing ; and on the following day he eats once,:
worships some god, and entertains one or more bramhuns. If a
person be unable to fast to such a degree, he is permitted to take a
little milk on the second day ; if he be very weak, he may add
fruit, curds, sweetmeats, &c.
Some Hindoos fast on the 11th1 of the increase, and the 12th
of the decrease of the moon in every month; on the 11th in
k Vrutus are unconditional vows to perform certain religious ceremonies ; but
what is called muminu (see a preceding article) is a conditional vow, promising to pre-
sent offerings on condition that the god bestow such or such a benefit.
1 Widows keep this fast so strictly, that if a widow were dying, and a draught
of water would prolong life, her friends would scarcely give it.
GIFTS.
223
Shravunii, Bhadru, and Kartiku ;m on the 12th in Shravunu ; on
the 14th of the decrease of the moon in Phalgoonu ;n on the 9th in
Choitru ;° on the 8th in Bhadru ;p and on the 8th in Ashwinu.q In
this month many natives of Hindoost'han fast on the first nine
days of the moon, in honour of Doorga ; and observe, as they sa}^
a total abstinence? even from water. Fasts precede some of the
festivals : after the death of parents, Hindoos fast three days ; after
that of a husband, a wife fasts three days ; before offering an atone-
ment, a fast is observed ; the day any pilgrim arrives at a holy
place he fasts ; in fulfilling vows, the Hindoos keep many fasts ;
some persons enter into a resolution to fast every other day, and
persevere in this for years. Some renounce rice altogether, and
keep a perpetual fast, living on milk, fruits, &c. Others (pilgrims)
offer a certain fruit to some idol, and renounce this kind of fruit,
promising never to eat of it again to the end of life. The gods, it
is said, delight to see their followers renounce anything as an act
of devotion or attachment to them. This person presents to
bramhuns fruit thus renounced, on the aniversary of the day on
which he renounced it. — Another custom, bearing a similarity to
fasting, also prevails among the Hindoos : — In the months Asharhu,
Shravunu, Bhadru, and Ashwinu, many renounce certain articles
of diet, and others omit to be shaved, as acts of devotion to the
gods.
The blessing expected from fasting is, that the person will
ascend to the heaven of that god in whose name he observes
the fast.
Sect. XVII.— Gifts, (DanU.T)
Peesents to learned bramhuns; to those less learned ; to unlearn-
ed bramhuns ; to one whose father was a bramhun, but his mother
a sh5odru ; and alms to the poor, are called by the name of danu.
The things which may be presented are, whatever may be eaten, or
worn, or is in use among Hindoos. These are the common gifts, but
the shastrus have pointed out extraordinary gifts : a daughter in
m On the first of these days Vishnoo goes to sleep ; on the second he turns to the
other side ; and on the third he awakes.
n The occasion of this fast is thus related : — On a certain occasion, Doorga asked
Shivil what would please him most, and be a work of the greatest merit. He replied,
to hold a fast in his name on the 14th of tha wane of the moon in Phalgoonu.
0 The birth-day of Ramu. ■ p Krishnu's birth-day.
n The time of the Doorga festival
1 From da, to give.
224
GIFTS.
marriage without receiving a fee ;8 a pool of water;* a shalgramu ;
a house containing food, clothes, &c. for twelve months ; gold ;
cows ; elephants ; horses ; palankeens ; a road ; a copy of a poo-
ranu ; a mountain of gold,u silver, brass, rice, or other articles ;
land ;x a person's ivhole property ; yea, even his life.
There are three ways of presenting a gift ; one in which the
person worships the receiver; another in which he gives as an act
of benevolence ; and the last, in which the giver prays for some
blessing on presenting his gift. If a sh65dru wish to present a gift
to a bramhun, he bathes, and carries it fasting : on arriving in the
presence of the bramhun, he sprinkles the gift with water, repeating
an incantation that it may be thereby purified, and then presents
it with such words as these : ' Sir, I have presented to you this gift :
let me have your blessing, that I may obtain heaven, or, that my
father may obtain heaven, or that it may be imputed to me as an
act of merit.'
If a man present land to bramhuns, he will obtain heaven ;
if a cow, he will after death ride on a cow across the river Voiturunee ;
if water, after death he will find refreshing water in his journey to
Yumaluyu, (the residence of Yumu, the regent of death) ; if a house
8 The generality of the respectable Hindoos say, that receiving a fee for a
daughter is like selling flesh ; yet the lower orders of bramhuns commonly receive
money on giving a daughter in marriage. Formerly the Hindoo rajas assisted the
bramhuns by giving them money for the expenses of their weddings. A story is re-
lated of a raja, who was intreated by a bramhiin to bestow a gift upon him for the
expenses of his marriage. The raja ordered him to put a garland round the neck of
the first woman he met, and let her become his wife. The bramhun went out, and
met the raja's mother returning from bathing. When about to put the garland round
her neck, she demanded the reason of this strange conduct; which the bramhun ex-
plained. The old lady told him to wait, and she would bring about what he wanted.
She sat at the door of the palace, and compelled her son to come and invite her in.
She replied, that she was become the wife of such a bramhun, and that she must go
with her new husband. The raja, thunderstruck, called for the bramhun, gave him
a thousand rupees towards his wedding, and brought his mother into the house again.
* Pools are dug every year in all parts of Bengal, and offered to all creatures, ac-
companied with a number of ceremonies.
u The height of these mountain-gifts is given in the Pooshkurti-khilndu of the
Pudmu-pooranu. It must not be supposed that they are very large ; but it is neces-
sary that figures of trees, deer, &c. should be seen on them. In one of the smritees is
an account of a prostitute, who offered a mountain of gold. About the year 1794,
Chunooghoshu, a kaist'hu of Midnapore, gave to the bramhuns an artificial mountain
of gold. A little before this, Gopalu-krishnu, a voidyu of Raju-nuguru, presented to
the bramhuns three mountains, one of gold, another of rice, and another of the seeds
of sesamum.
x It is very common for rich land-owners to make presents of land to bramhuns.
At a shraddhil for a father or a mother, a piece of laud, or its value in money, is in-
variably given to bramhtins, unless the person be poor. Many of the Hindoo rajas
sought out poor bramhttns, and gave them grants of land. A story is related of
Keerttee-chundra, raja of Burdwan, who once found a poor fatherless boy, the son
of a bramhun, tending cattle : he gave him a village, with as much land as he
could run over without stopping ; and disinherited the shoSdru who had dared to
employ the son of a bramhun in so mean an occupation. The same raja ordered a
man to be cut in pieces, for refusing to restore to a bramhun a grant of land which the
former had bought in a lot offered for gale.
ENTERTAINING BRAMHUNS — VARIOUS WORKS OF MERIT. 225
to bramhuns, he will obtain a palace in Leaven ; if an umbrella to a
bramhun, he will not suffer, in another world, from the rays of the
sun ; if shoes, in his way to heaven he will not suffer from the
heat of the ground ; if perfumes to bramhuns, he will never, after
death, receive an offensive smell ; if medicine to the blind, he will
be delivered from darkness hereafter ; if a daughter to a bramhun,
without a fee, he will gain as much as if he had given the whole
world.
Sect. XVIII.— Entertaining Bramhuns.
As might be expected in a system formed by bramhuns, honour-
ing them with a feast is represented as an act of the highest merit.
At the close of all religious ceremonies, bramhuns are entertained ;
private individuals, during particular holidays, make a feast for
one or more bramhuns ; a person on his birfch-day, on the anniver-
sary of the day in which received the initiating incantation, or at
the full moon, or at any feast, entertains bramhuns. During the
whole of the month Voishakhu, it is very meritorious to give
feasts to bramhuns.
Sect. XIX. — V arious Works of M erit.
The Hindoo lawgivers have established several customs,
which, if separated from idolatry, would be worthy of the highest
commendation : they promise to the obedient the greatest rewards
in a future state.
Among these we may place hospitality to strangers.7 The
traveller, when he wishes to rest for the night, goes to a house,
and says, ' I am utit'hee' ; i. e., I am to be entertained at your
house. The master or mistress of the house, if of a hospitable dis-
position, gives him water to wash his feet, a seat, tobacco,
water to drink, &c. After these refreshments, they give him
fire-wood, a new earthen pot to cook in,z rice, split peas, oil,
spices, &c. The next morning he departs, som times without
saying any thing, and at other times he takes leave.8 In the
*
y Munoo says, ' No guest must be dismissed in the evening by a house-keeper: he
is sent by the returning sun, and whether he come in fit season or unseasonably, he
must not sojourn in the house without entertainment. Let not himself eat any delicate
food, without asking his guest to partake of it : the satisfaction of a guest will as-
suredly bring the housekeeper, wealth, reputation, long life, and a place in heaven.3
z Almost every Hindoo is either constantly or occasionally his own cook.
a The Hindoos have no word for ' thank you' in their common language, and
gratitude itself appears to constitute no part of their virtues. The greatest benefits
conferred very rarely meet with even the Least acknowledgment, I have known
29
W%$ HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS — DIGGING POOLS.
houses of the poor or the covetous, a stranger meets with worse
entertainment. Not ^infrequently the mistress of the house
exeeuses herself to a person wishing to become a guest, and among
other things alleges, that there are none but women and children
at home. It is not very uncommon for a traveller to go to several
houses, and to be refused at all. This is partly owing to fear, that
the stranger may plunder the house in the night. Where persons
have porches at the outside of their houses, they have less fear, as
the stranger is then kept at a distance. This hospitality to strangers
is indeed sometimes abused by a thief* who robs the house and de-
camps. Yet if a person refuse to entertain a stranger, the shastru
declares that all the sins of the guest become his, and his works
of merit become the guest's. The traveller sometimes murmurs on
going away, exclaiming that the people of this village are so
depraved, that they refuse a handful of rice to a traveller. If a
family are unable through poverty to entertain a guest, the
shastru orders that they shall beg for his relief. The stranger
after eating must take nothing uncooked from the house.
A person of the name of Goluku-Chundru-Rayu, of Seramporer
formerly sirkar to the Danish East India Company, has particularly
distinguished himself in the present day, as the most eminent
Hindoo in Bengal for liberality to strangers. Upon an average,
two hundred travellers or mendicants were formerly fed daily
at and from his house ; and it is said that he expended in this
manner fifty thousand rupees annually.
Another work of charity is the digging of pools by the side of
public roads, to supply the thirsty traveller with water. The
cutting of these ponds, and building flights of steps in order to
descend into them, is in many cases very expensive : four thousand
rupees are frequently expended in one pond, including the expense-
attending the setting* it apart to the use of the public ; at which
time an assembly of bramhuns is collected, and certain formulas
from the shastrus read by a priest ; among which, in the name of
the offerer, he says, ■ I offer this pond of water to quench the
thirst of mankind..' At the close of the ceremony, a feast is given
to the assembled bramhuns, who are also dismissed with presents,
European physicians perform the most extraordinary cures on .the bodies of the
natives gratuitously, without a solitary instance occurring of a single individual
returning to acknowledge the favour. Amongst the higher orders of Hindoos, how-
ever, the master of a house sometimes says to a guest on his departure, ' You nvill
excuse all inattention ;' and the guest replies, 1 Oh I sir, yim are of a distinguished
caste ! What shall I say in return for the manner in which I have been entertained ?
Such food ! such a bed ! But this is like yourself. No one entertains a guest as you
do. May Lukshmee (the goddess of riches) ever dwell in your house.'
I suppose, that in all eastern countries it is a custom for guests to be thus
entertained at private houses. The address of our Lord to his disciples seems to-
intimate that such was the ease among the Jews : ' And into whatsoever city or town
ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy ; and there abide till ye go thence. And
whosoever shall not receive you, when ye depart out of that house, &c.'
PLANTING TREES, &C. — ANECDOTES.
227
It is unlawful for the owner ever afterwards to appropriate this
pond to his own private use. If the water be very clear and
sweet, the offerer is complimented as a person with whose merits
the gods are pleased. A person of Burdwan, of the name of
Ramu-palu, is mentioned as having prepared as many as a hundred
pools in different places, and given them for public use. Persons
inhabiting villages where water was scarce, used to petition this
public benefactor to cut a pool for them ; and, after obtaining
leave of the raja, he bestowed upon them this necessary blessing.13
The planting of trees to afford shade to travellers is another
act of merit among the Hindoos, and, in a hot climate like
this, deserves to be classed among actions that are commendable.
Some trees also are considered as sacred, and the planting of them
is therefore deemed a religious act The trees thus planted are
generally the ushwut'hu,c the vutu,d vilwu,6 ushoku/ vukoolu/
plukshu,h oodoomburu,1 shiiigshupa,k tumalii,1 jeevu-pootree,m 8zc.
At the time of planting these trees, no religious ceremony takes
place ; but when they are dedicated to public or sacred uses, the
ceremony called prutisht'ha is performed. The person avIio plants
one ushwut'hu,n one nimbu,0 two chumpuku,p three nagukeshwuru,q
seven talu,r and nine cocoanut trees, and devotes them with their
fruit, shade, &c. to public uses, is promised heaven.
About twenty years ago, a landowner of Patu-duhu, about
fourteen miles from Calcutta, planted an orchard by a public road,
placed a person to keep it, and dedicated it to the use of travellers
of all descriptions ; who are permitted to enter it, and take as
much fruit as they can eat on the spot. Krishnu-vusoo, of Calcutta,
made a road3 from Kutuku to the temple of Jugunnat'hu, in Orissa,
und planted a double row of fruit trees on the sides of this road
for the use of pilgrims going to the temple. The pilgrims cook
their food, sleep under the shade of these trees, and eat the fruit
which they yield. He also cut a large pool near the temple, to
supply these pilgrims with water. Raja Sookhu-muyu, of Calcutta,
who died in the year 1811, left 100,000 rupees to be appropriated
to the repairs and improvement of the road to the temple of
Jugunnat'hu, in Orissa, and to assist pilgrims going there in
paying the tax to Government.
In some parts, in the sultry months Vcishakhu and Jyoisht'hu,
b Cutting wells made a mail famous in patriarchal times : a well, said to be
Jacob's well, existed in Samaria at the commencement of the Christian era. John
iv. 6, 12.
c Ficus religiosa. d Ficus Indica. e iEgle marmelos. f Jonesia asoea.
* Mimusops eleugi. h Ficus venosa. 1 Ficus glomerata. k Dalbergia Sisso.
1 Xanthochymus pictorius. m Unascertained. n Ficus religiosa. 0 Melia
azadirachta, p Michelia champaca. <i Mesua ferea. r Borassua flabelliforrnis.
8 There are very few good public -road^ iu Bengal,
READING AND HEARING THE POORANUS.
rich Hindoos, as an act of merit, erect sheds by the public roads,
and supply travellers gratis with water and other refreshments.
For the comfort of travellers, lodging-houses are erected by
opulent Hindoos on the side of public roads, in some of which
travellers are supplied with refreshments gratis.
Sect. XX. — Heading and hearing Poorantis.
At the close of most of the pooranus, the writers affirm, that
it is an act of the greatest merit, extinguishing all sin, for the
people to read these works, or hear them read. Those principally
recited in Bengal, as an act of merit, are the Muhabharutu, the
Shrei-bhaguvutu, the Kaliku pooranu, the Ootkulu and Kalie-
khundus.*
Some auspicious day, in the month Kartiku, Maghu, or Voi-
shakhu, is chosen, on the day preceding which the bramhuns are
entertained. A shed, covered with thatch and open on all sides,
is prepared, sufficiently large, if the ceremony be on a grand scale,
to accommodate four or five thousand people. At one end, a place
rather elevated is prepared for the person who is to read ; and the
other end, if there be a portico to the house, is enclosed by a cur-
tain, from whence the women hear, and peep through the crevices.
3&ats are spread for the people to sit on, the bramhuns in one place,
and the kayust'hils in another,u and the sho5drus in another. On
the appointed day all take their places : the people, on entering,
make prostration to the shalgramu and to the bramhuns. The
person at whose expense this is performed, after bathing, enters
the assembly, acquaints the pundits with his design, and asks
leave to choose those who are to read ; to each of whom he pre-
sents a piece of cloth, directing him what to do. The reader
(Pat'hukil) sits on the elevated seat ; below him, on the right and
left, sit the examiners, (Dharukus) : and before him the Sudusyus,
who decide upon the exactness of the copy. Two persons (Shrotas)
sit in front, and in the name of the householder hear it read.
Before the recitation begins, a bramhun in his name presents a
garland of flowers, and some white paint, to theshalgramu ; places
very thick garlands on the neck, arms, and head of the reader, and
anoints his breast and forehead with white paint ; and afterwards
places garlands round the necks of the bramhuns and some of the
1 The two last works are parts of the Sknndu pooranu.
°- When a kayust'hu lias a pooranu read at his own house, before the recital
commences the officiating bramhun worships the book, the author, and the person
whose actions are celebrated in this work. Flowers, rice, a burnt- offering, &c. are
presented to the book, and to the persons worshipped,
SACRED REHEARSALS.
229
sh55drus. The Pat'huku then (about nine or ten o'clock in the fore-
noon) beings to read one of these pooranus aloud. The first day
they sit about an hour ; but on the succeeding days they begin at
seven and continue till twelve ; and in the afternoon meet again,
when the meaning of what was read in the forenoon in Sungskritu.
is to be given in Bengalee, by the Kut'huku, or speaker ; who takes
the seat of the Pat'huku, placing the shaJgramu upon a stand before
him. At times the passions of the multitude are greatly moved ;
when some one perhaps presents the reader with a piece of money.
The whole is closed at dusk, when the people retire, and converse
upon what they have heard. This method is pursued from day to
day till the book is finished. The recitation of the Muhabharutu
occupies four months, of the Shree-bhaguVutu about one.
Some persons entertain the guests on the last day instead of
the first, dismissing the bramhuns with presents. It is said, that
not less than 1 00,000 rupees have been sometimes expended by
rich men at such recitals. The person who causes these books to
be read, is promised great future rewards.
Sect, XXI. — Sacred Rehearsals, (Geeiu.*)
The Hindoos, as an act of merit, employ persons to sing those
parts of their shastrus, which contain the history of their
gods. These songs have been composed in the Bengalee
from the following, among other shastrus : the Chundee, Rama-
yunu, the Muhabharutu, the Shree-bhaguvutu, the Gunga-vakyu-
vulee, the Kaliku, Pudmu, and Shivu pooranus, and the Kashee-
khiindu. The names of the songs are : Kalee-keertunix, TJnnuda-
mungulu, Krishnu-munguhi, Gunga-bhuktee-turunginee, Kuvee-
kunkunu, Munusa-mungulu. Huree-sungkeirtunu, Peere'r-ganu,
Dhuper-ganu.
As a specimen of the manner in which this singing is conduct-
ed, I insert an account of the performance called Kuvee-kunkunu.
— Sometimes a rich man bears the expense, and at others half a
dozen persons join in it. If the former, he has the rehearsal in his
own yard ; and if several unite, it is done in some suitable place in
the village, after the place has been swept, and an awning put over
it. Eight or ten singers of any caste, attended by four or five musi-
cians are employed. Upon the ancles of all the singers are loose
brass rings, which make a gingling noise : in the left hand is held
a brush made from the tail of the cow of Tartary ; and in the
right, round flat pieces of metal, which by being shook, make a
jingling noise. The drum continues to beat till all the people
* From goi, sing,
230 HANGING LAMPS IN THE AIR — FAMILY MISFORTUNES.
have taken their places ; after which the chief singer steps forth,
and after a short preface begins to sing, moving his feet, waving
his hands, and now and then dancing. The softer music also plays
at intervals, and the other singers take parts, waving the cow-tails,
and dancing with a slow motion. When the passions of the hearers
are affected, some throw small pieces of money at the feet of the
principal singer. The performance continues during the day for
nearly six hours, and is renewed again at night.
These rehearsals are in some instances continued a month :
each day a new song is chosen. The inferior singers receive about
eight-pence a day each ; and for this trifle sing till they are black
in the face, and become quite hoarse. The performance being oat
of doors, is very unfavourable to vocal efforts, and the exertions
of the singers are in consequence very painful. The gifts to those
singers who excel, often increase the allowance considerably ; and
at the time of their dismission, the performers have garments, &c.
presented to them. A feast to the bramhuns concludes the re-
hearsal. Sometimes women are employed, though not frequently.
The hearing of these songs, however filthy some of them may
be, is considered as an act of religious merit.
Sect. XXII. — Hanging Lamps in the Air.
In the month Kartiku, the Hindoos suspend lamps in the air
on bamboos, in honour of the gods, and in obedience to the shastrus.
I cannot learn any other origin of this custom than this, that as
the offerings of lamps to particular gods is considered as an act of
merit, so this offering to all the gods, during the auspicious month
Kartiku, is supposed to procure many benefits to the giver.
Sect. XXIII. — Method of preventing Family Misfortunes.
If a Hindoo die on an unlucky day, the shastrus declare
that not only the whole race of such a person, but the very
trees of his garden will perish. To prevent these direful effects, a
ceremony called Pooshkura-shantce is performed in the night, by
the river side, or in some plain ; where two bramhuns sit on an
altar, and worship the nine planets, also Yumu, Chitru-gooptu,
Pooshkuru-poorooshii/ and the shalgramu ; and afterwards offer a
sacrifice. One of the bramhuns then makes the images of Yumii
y Yumii is the judge of the dead ; Chitru-gooptu is his recorder ; and Pooshkurif
poorooshtl, a kind of inferior deity, who resides with Yumii.
CEREMONY FOR REMOVING EVILS FROM BAD OMENS.
231
and Pooshkuru-poorooslm ; one with cow-clung, and the other with
paste made of rice. To these images he imparts souls, worships
the knife, slays a fish, and offers it in two parts, with some blood,
to the cow-dung and paste images. The person who performs this
ceremony then dismisses the two bramhuns with fees, and avoids
seeing their faces any more on that night.
Sect. XXIV. — Ceremony for removing the Evils following bad
Omens.
If a thunder-bolt fall on a house ; if a vulture, or hargilla
(the gigantic crane,) alight on it ; or if shackals or owls lodge in
it ; or if a shackal howl in the yard in the day-time, some evil will
befall the persons living in this house. To prevent this, the cere-
mony called IJdhhootii-shantee is performed ; which comprises the
worship of Brumha and other gods, the burnt-sacrifice, repeating
the name of a certain deity, &c.
Sect. X-XY. — Ceremonies performed while sitting on a dead Body
In the former edition of this work, I inserted a pretty long
account of a number of strange ceremonies, principally drawn from
the tuntrus, and known under the name of Sadhunu. One of
these rites is performed while sitting on a dead body ; and the
whole are practised under the superstitious notion that the wor-
shipper will obtain an interview with his guardian deity, and be
empowered to work miracles.
The late Kamn-Krishnu, raja of Natoru, employed the greater
part of his time in repeating the name of his guardian deity, and
in other gloomy and intoxicating rites. The princess who had
adopted him, and who had become his spiritual guide, was offend-
ed on perceiving his turn of mind. A little before his death, he
performed the 8huvu-sadhimu, and his house steward, a bramhun,
provided for him a dead body and other necessary articles ; and it
is affirmed, that while the raia was sitting on the dead bodv,
(which was placed in the temple of Kalee, built by the raja at
Natoru/) he was thrown from it to the river Narudu, a distance
of about half a mile. After a long search, the raja was found on
this spot in a state of insensibility, and in a few days after he
died. I give this story as it was related to me by twTo or three
bramhuns. That the raja performed the Shuvu-sadhtinu is very
probable.
z The raja is? said to have endowed this temple with lands, &c. of the annual
•value of 100,000 rupees. %
232 CEREMONIES FOR REMOVING OR DESTROYING ENEMIES.
Sect. XXVI. — Ceremonies for removing, subduing, or
destroying Enemies.
The tuntru shastrus, and even the veMus, have laid down the
forms of an act of worship to remove an enemy to a distance, to
bring him into subjection, or to destroy him. This worship is ad-
dressed to the yoginees, or other inferior deities, before a female
image made of cow-dung, or a pan of water, on a Tuesday or Satur-
day, at the darkest hour of the night. Many incantations are re-
peated, and some bloody sacrifices offered. The worshipper ex-
pects, that by the power of these incantations his enemy will be
seized with some dreadful disease, and will thus perish by the un-
seen hand of the yogineJs If a person hear that his enemy is
performing these ceremonies for his destruction, he pays another
person to perform similar rites, to prevent any evil arising to him.
The Hindoos have also a great variety of incantations, which
are supposed to possess the same power as charms in Europe.a For
destroying the cattle or goods of an enemy, incantations are used ;
as well as to hinder cows from calving, milk from yielding butter,
&c. Another incantation is used to extract fish bones from the
throat. They have incantations also for almost every disease ; as,
the head-ache, tooth-ache, fever, dysentery, leprosy, madness, burns,
scalds, eruptions on the skin, &c. In the tooth-ache they are taught
to imagine, that by the power of the incantation a small grub is ex-
tracted from the tooth. An incantation is repeated to make a tree
grow in the belly of an enemy, as well as to obtain preservation
from snakes, tigers, witches, ghosts, and all other destructive
things ; and to drive away serpents, or wild beasts. If any one
has been robbed, he prevails upon a person to read an incantation
to discover the thief. If any one, who has power to injure another,
be offended, the Hindoos read an incantation to appease him. If a
person has a trial depending in a court of justice, he reads an in-
cantation while putting on his turban, that he may gain his cause.
The caste of Hindoos who keep snakes for a show, repeat incanta-
tions that they may handle these snakes without harm. Other in-
cautious are mentioned, by which a person is able to conceal him-
self, when in the act of doing any thing requiring secrecy.
Sect. XXVII.— Impure Orgies, with Flesh, spirituous
Liquors, &c. (Poornabhisheku.)
Some of the worshippers of the female deities assume the pro-
fession of brumhucharees ; among whom the ceremony called
poornabhisheku is known, and which is performed in the night, in
a Some incantations must be read every day, others preserve their power three,
and some eight days ; but no incantation will keep good longer than eight days, with-
out being read afresh.
IMPURE ORGIES, WITH FLESH, &C.
233
a secret manner, at the house of the person who understands the
formulas. He who wishes to be initiated into these rites, raises an
altar of earth in the house appointed, and scatters some peas on it,
which sprout out by the time the altar is used. On the day pre-
ceding the rites, he performs the vriddhee-shraddhu in the name
of his deceased ancestors ; and during the whole of the following
night, repeats the name of the goddess to be worshipped, rehearses
her praise, eats flesh, drinks spirits, &c. On the following day,
he takes to the house appointed some flesh, (of airy animal,)
spirituous liquors, rice, fish, and many other offerings ; with
nine females of different castes, (one of which, must be a bram-
hun's daughter,) and nine men, (brumhucharees ;) with one
female for the priest, and another for himself. The priest next
takes nine pans of water, and places on them branches of different
trees, and sets up some plantain trunks around them ; after which
the person to be initiated presents a garment to the priest, and
intreats him to anoint him. The priest then offers to the goddess,
an intoxicating beverage made with the leaves of hemp ; of which
all present, both women and men partake. He next rubs on the
foreheads of the persons present some red lead, and worships the
goddess, the guardian deity, of the person to be initiated, making
the latter repeat it ; and worships the men and women who are
present, presenting to each a piece of cloth and other offerings.
Next the priest gives to the women spirituous liquors, in cups
made of the cocoanut, or of human skulls. What they leave is
taken out of the cups, mixed together, and given to the men. The
women then arise one by one, and, dipping the branches into the
pans of water, sprinkle the person to be initiated, repeating incan-
tations. This action is repeated by the priest, who changes the
name of the disciple, and gives him one expressive of the state into
which he is entering, as, Anundu-nat'hu, i. e., the lord of joy. If
after this the disciple should become a religious mendicant, he is
called a Vyuktavu-dh5otu : if he continue in a secular state, he is
called a Gooptavu-dhootu.b All the persons present continue
repeating the names of their guardian deities, and at intervals
partake of the offerings, without considering the distinctions of
caste, or the unlawfulness of the food. After midnight, acts of
obscenity are perpetrated so abominable, that the bramhun who
gave me this account could only repeat them in part.0 After this,
the priest worships one or more females, the daughters of bramhuns,
and sacrifices a goat to Bhuguvutee. The initiated then offers a
b The first of these two names implies, that the person makes no secret of his
being in the order into which he is initiated. He therefore becomes a religious
mendicant, and publicly drinks and smokes intoxicating herbs. The latter, after
initiation, continues in a secular state, and drinks spirituous licpiors in secret.
c RarrrK-nat'hu, the second Sdngskritn p&ndit in the college, informed a
friend of mine, that he once watched one of these groups unobserved, when spirits
were poured on the head of a naked woman, while another drank them as they ran
from her body.
30
2U
IMPURE ORGIES,
present of money to the priest, and to the females and males
present. The remainder of the night is spent in eating, drinking
spirits, and repeating the names of different deities. These abom-
inable ceremonies are enjoined in most of the tuntru shastrus.
The bramhun who gave me this account had procured it from a
brumlmcharee, by pretending that he wished to perform these
rites.
In the year 1809, Trikonu-goswamee, a vynktavu-dhootu died
at Kalee-ghatu, in the following manner : — Three days before his
death he dug a grave near his hut, in a place surrounded by three
vilwu trees, which he himself had planted. In the evening he
placed a lamp in the grave, in which he made an offering of flesh,
greens, rice, &c. to the shackals, repeating it the next evening.
The following day he obtained from a rich native ten rupees worth
of spirituous liquors, and invited a number of mendicants, who
eat drinking with him till twelve at noon, when he asked among
the spectators at what hour it would be full moon ; being informed,
he went and sat in his grave, and continued drinking liquors.
Just before the time for the full moon, he turned his head towards
the temple of Kalee, and informed the spectators that he had
come to Kalee-ghatu with the hope of seeing the goddess, not the
image in the temple. He had frequently been urged by different
persons to visit the temple ; but though he had not assigned a
reason for his omission, he now asked, what he was to go and see
there : — a temple ? He could see that where he was. A piece of
stone made into a face, or the silver hands ? He could see
stones and silver any where else. He wished to see the
goddess herself ; but he had not, in this body, obtained the sight.
However, he had still a mouth and a tongue, and he would again
call upon her. He then called out aloud, twice, ' Kalee ! Kalee !*
and almost immediately died ; — probably from excessive intoxi-
cation. The spectators, though Hindoos, (who in general despise
a drunkard,) considered this man as a great saint, who had
foreseen his own death when in health : he had not less than four
hundred disciples.
The persons who have gone through the ceremony of Poornab-
bisheku conceal this fact as much as possible, as the drinking of spirits
is disgraceful. They renounce all the ceremonies of the otherHindoos,
as far as they can do it without incurring disgrace and loss of caste,
Two bramhuns, who sat with me when I was finishing this
account, assured me, that the drinking of spirits was now so com-
mon, that out of sixteen Hindoos, two drank spirits in secret, and
about one in sixteen in public* Several of the Hindoo rajas, who
d They offer, or pretend to offer, these spirits to the idols, and then the drinking,
or drinking to excess, is no crime in the opinion of these brnrahucharees. Amongst
the regular Hindoo,1?, the eating of flesh is a crime, but eating flesh that has been
offered to an image is an innocent action,
EXTRACTS FROM THE SHASTRUS ON BURNING OF WIDOWS ALIVE. £35
had received the initiating incantations of the female deities, are
said to have given themselves up to the greatest excesses in drink-
ing spirits.
Sect. XXVIII. — Burning of Widows alive.
The following and other passages from the Hindoo shastrus
have no doubt given rise to this singularly shocking practice.
' 0 Fire, let these women, with bodies anointed with clarified
butter, eyes ( coloured) with stibium, and void of tears, enter thee,
the parent of water, that they may not be separated from their
husbands, but may be in union with excellent husbands, be sinless,
and jewels among women. — Rig-vedu.
' There are 35,000,000 hairs on the human body. The woman
who ascends the pile with her husband, will remain so many years
in heaven. — As the snake-catcher draws the serpent from its
hole, so she, rescuing her husband, (from hell,) rejoices with
him. — The woman who expires on the funeral pile with her
husband, purifies the family of her mother, her father and her
husband. — If the husband be a bramhunicide, an ungrateful
person, or a muderer of his friend, the wife by burning with him
purges away his sins. — There is no virtue greater than a virtu-
ous6 woman's burning herself with her husband. — No other
effectual duty is known for virtuous women, at any time after the
death of their lords, except casting themselves into the same
fire. — As long as a woman, in her successive transmigrations, shall
decline burning herself, like a faithful wife, on the same fire with
her deceased lord, so long shall she not be exempted from spring-
ing again to life in the body of some female animal/ — Ungira.
* If a woman who had despised her husband, and had done
what was contrary to his mind, should (even) from mercenary
motives, as fear, or a suspension of the reasoning powers, die with
her husband, she shall be purged from all (crimes.)' — Muhabharutu.
* Though he have sunk to a region of torment, be restrained
in dreadful bonds, have reached the place of anguish, be seized by
the imps ofYumu, be exhausted of strength, and afflicted and
tortured for his crimes ; still, as a serpent-catcher unerringly drags
a serpent from his hole, so does she draw her husband from hell,
and ascend with him to heaven by the power of devotion. — If the
e^ The terms Sadhwee and SXtee, here rendered virtuous, are thus explained by
Hareetfi : — ' commiserating with her husband in trouble, rejoicing in his joys, neglect-
ing herself when he is gone from home, and dying at his death.' In the Mfttshyft
pooranu" it is said, « By the favour of a chaste woman (Sadhwee) the universe is preserv-
ed, on which account she is to be regarded by kings and people as a goddess.'
236
CEREMONIES PRECEDING THE IMMOLATION,
wife be within one day's journey of the place where the husband
died, and signify her wish to burn with him, the burning of his
corpse shall be delayed till her arrival. — If the husband die on the
third day of the wife's menstrual discharge, and she desire to burn
with him, the burning of his corpse shall be delayed one day to
accommodate her.' — Vyasti.
' If the husband be out of the country when he dies, let the
virtuous wife take his slippers, (or any thing else which belongs to
his dress,) and binding them (or it) on her breast, after purification,
enter a separate fire.' — Br miiJvu pooranu.
c A bramhunee cannot burn herself on a separate pile.' Goutumu.
—c But this is an eminent virtue in another woman.' Ooshuna.
e A woman with a young child, pregnant, doubtful whether
she is pregnant or not, or menstruous, cannot ascend the pile.
Vrihun-narucleeyu pooranti. — The A^ishnoo pooranu adds, ' or
lately brought to bed, (within 20 or 30 days,) cannot,' &c.
I do not find, that it is common for women to reveal their
intention of being burnt with their husbands while both parties
are in health. A few, however, avow this in confidence to their
husbands, and there may be circumstances in the family which
may lead to the expectation of such an event. In some families,
for several generations, the widow invariably perishes at the death
of her husband ; and thus established custom exacts this self-
immolation from every woman, who has been so unhappy as to
have become united to such a family. How shocking to the female
herself, had she Christian feelings, to know that such a death awaits
her! How shocking to the son, had he the feelings of a man, to
know that he is doomed to perpetrate so horrible a matricide !
When the husband is directed by the physician to be carried
to the river side, there being then no hopes of his recovery, the wife
declares her resolution to be burnt with him/ In this case, she is
treated with great respect by her neighbours, who bring her deli-
cate food, &c, and when the husband is dead, she again declares her
resolution to be burnt with his body. Having broken a small,
branch from the mangoe tree, she takes it with her, and proceeds to
the body, where she sits down. The barber then paints the sides
of her feet red ; after which she bathes, and puts on new clothes.
During these preparations, the drum beats a certain sound, by which
it is known, that a widow is about to be burnt with the corpse of
her husband. On hearing this all the village assembles. The son,
or if there be no son, a relation, or the head man of the village
f Dying in the sight of the Ganges is not considered as absolutely necessary,
however, if a woman perish with the dead body ; and sometimes a wife forbids the
reinoval of her sick husband, assuring her friends, that she means to be burnt, and
thus make, the salvation of her husband certain without the help of Gnnga.
CEREMONIES PRECEDING THE IMMOLATION. 237
provides the articles necessary for the ceremony. A hole is first
dug in the ground, round which stakes are driven into the earth,
and thick green stakes laid across to form a kind of bed ; and upon
these are laid, in abundance, dry faggots, hemp, clarified butter,
pitch, &c. The officiating bramhtin now causes the widow to re-
peat the formulas, in which she prays, that ' as long as fourteen
Indms reign, or as many years as there are hairs on her head, she
may abide in heaven with her husband ; that the heavenly dancers
during this time may wait on her and her husband ; and that by
this act of merit all the ancestors of her father, mother, and hus-
band, may ascend to heaven.' She now presents her ornaments to
her friends, ties some red cotton on both wrists, puts two new
combs in her hair, paints her forehead, and takes into the end of
the cloth that she wears some parched rice and kourees. While
this is going forward, the dead body is anointed with clarified
butter and bathed, prayers are repeated over it, and it is dressed in
new clothes. The son next takes a handful of boiled rice, prepared
for the purpose, and, repeating an incantation, offers it in the name
of his deceased father. Ropes and another piece of cloth are spread
upon the wood, and the dead body is then laid upon the pile. The
widow next walks round the funeral pile seven times, strewing
parched rice and kourees as she goes, which some of the spectators
endeavour to catch, under the idea that they will cure diseases. g The
widow now ascends the fatal pile, or rather throws herself down
upon it by the side of the dead body. A few female ornaments
having been laid over her, the ropes are drawn over the bodies
which are tied together, and faggots placed upon them. The son
then, averting his head, puts fire to the face of his father, and at the
same moment several persons light the pile at different sides, when
women, relations, &c. set up a cry : more faggots are now thrown
upon the pile with haste, and two bamboo levers are brought over
the whole, to hold down the bodies and the pile.h Several persons
are employed in holding down these levers, and others in throwing
water upon them, that they may not be scorched. While the fire
is burning, more clarified butter, pitch, and faggots, are thrown into
it, till the bodies are consumed. It may take about two hours
before the whole is burnt, but I conceive the woman must be dead
in a few minutes after the fire has been kindled. At the close, each
of the persons who have been employed, takes up a burning stick
and throws it on the remaining fire. The bones, &c. that may be
left, are cast into the Ganges. The place where the bodies have
been burnt is plentifully washed with water ; after which the son
of the deceased makes two balls of boiled rice, and, with an incan-
s Mothers hang the kourees round the necks of sick children.
h A person sometimes takes one of these bamboos, after the bodies are burnt,
and, making a bow and arrow with it, repeats incantations over it. He then makes
an image of some enemy with clay, and lets fly the arrow into this image. The per-
son whose image is thus pierced is said to be immediately seized with a pain in hi*
breast.
238
AFFECTING RELATIONS OF THE PRACTICE.
tation, offers them in the name of his father and mother, and lays
them on the spot where they were burnt. The persons who have
been engaged in burning the bodies now bathe ; and each one,
taking up water in his hands three times, and repeating incanta-
tions, pours out drink-offerings to the deceased. The son binds
upon his loins, in coming up out of the water, a shred of new cloth ;
which he wears, if a bramhun, ten days. After this the family re-
turn home, or remain till evening ; or, if the burning has taken
place in the evening, till the next morning. Before entering the
house, they touch a piece of hot iron, and also fire. This is done as
a charm against evil spirits.
Soon after my arrival in Bengal, I was an eye-witness to two
instances of the burning of widows to death : — on the latter occa-
sion two women were burnt together ; one of them appeared to
possess great resolution, but the other was almost dead with fear.
In the year 1812, I saw another widow burnt to death at Soonduru-
pooru, a distance of about three miles from Serampore ; and in the
month of November, 1812, the wife of Ramu-nidhee, a banker, of
Serampore, was burnt alive with the dead body of her husband, not half
a mile from the Mission-house. These facts respecting the murder
of the helpless widow as a religious ceremony are indeed so notori-
ous, that the most careless traveller may convince himself, if he take
the least notice of what is doing on the banks of the river. The
natives do not attempt to hide these murders, but rather glory in
them as proofs of the divine nature of their religion. The facts here-
after inserted have been voluntarily given to me by respectable
natives, most of whom were eye-witnesses of what they here testify.
Several years ago, Ram-Nat'hu, the second Sungskritu pundit
in the College of Fort- William, saw thirteen women burn them-
selves with one Mooktua-ramu, of Oola, near Shantee-pooru. After
the pile, which was very large, had been set on fire, a quantity of
pitch being previously thrown into it to make it burn the fiercer,
another of this man's wives came, and insisted on burning : while
she was repeating the formulas, however, her resolution failed, and
she wished to escape ; but her son, perceiving this, pushed her into
the fire, which had been kindled on the sloping bank of the river,
and the poor woman, to save herself, caught hold of another woman,
a wife also of the deceased, and pulled her into the fire, where they
both perished.
About the year J 789, Ubhuyu-churunu, a bramhun, saw four
women burnt with Ramu-kantu, a kooleenu bramhun, at Vasu-
duroonee, near Kalee-ghatu. Three of these women were already
surrounded by the flames when the fourth arrived. She insisted on
being burnt with them : accordingly, after going rapidly through
the preparatory ceremonies, (the bramhuns in the mean time bring-
ing a large quantity of combustible materials,) some fresh wood was
laid near the fire already kindled, upon which this infatuated female
AFFECTING RELATIONS OF THE PRACTICE.
239
threw herself. In a moment faggots, oil, pitch, &c. were thrown
upon her, and, amidst the shouts of the mob, she expired.
Ramu-Huree, a bramhun, had three wives living at Khuruduh,
near Calcutta, at the time of his death, about the year 1802. One
of them was deranged ; with another he had never cohabited, and
by the other he had one son. The latter had agreed with her hus-
band, that, whenever he should die, she would burn with him ; and
he promised her, that if he died at Patna, where his employer lived,
the body should be sent down to Khurftduh. This woman touched
her husband's body at the time of this agreement, as a solemn rati-
fication11 of what she said.1 After some time this man died at Patna,
and a friend fastened the body in a box, and sent it down on a boat.
As soon* as it arrived at Khuruduh, the news was sent to his rela-
tions. The wife who had made the agreement failed in her resolu-
tion, and sat in the house weeping. Her son, who was grown to
manhood, ordered her repeatedly, in the most brutal manner, to pro-
ceed to the funeral pile ; and reminded her, that it was through her
that his father's body had been brought so far : but she refused, and
still remained weeping. While this was going forward, the derang-
ed wife, hearing that her husband was dead, and that his body had
arrived at the landing-place, instantly declared that she would burn
with him. The people endeavoured to terrify her, and divert her
from her purpose ; but she persisted in affirming that she would
positively burn. She came to the house, and poured the most bitter
reproaches on the wife who was unwilling to die. This poor de-
ranged wretch had a chain on her leg : a spectator proposed to take
it off, and lead her to the funeral pile ; and the third wife arriving,
she was led with this deranged woman to the body : the wood and
other articles for the funeral pile were prepared, and a large crowd
had assembled by the river side. As soon as the deranged wife saw
the dead body, which was very much disfigured, and exceedingly
h The Hindoos also make oath while touching one of the shastrus, or the shal-
gramu, or a cow, or fire, or the toolusee, or a roodrakshu" string of beads, or rice.
When made before a bramhun, or in a temple, or by laying the hand on the head of a
eon, an oath is ratified.
* The Hindoos relate a number of stories respecting women who promised their
husbands to burn with them, but afterwards shrank from the task. A story of this
kind is related of a man named Gopalu-bharii, who pretended to die, in order to try
the faithfulness of his wife. As soon as she thought he was really dead, she declared
she would not die on his funeral pile ; when the (supposed) dead man arose, and
upbraided her for her insincerity. Another story is related of Shumbhoo-ramu, of
Arachya, in Burdwan, who had three wives, but was most attached to the youngest.
This woman had promised her husband to burn with him after his death, and he had
in consequence behaved with the greatest coolness towards his other wives, and had
heaped all his wealth on this favourite. A person suggested doubts respecting the
sincerity of this woman's declaration. To try her, on a certain occasion, when
absent from home, her husband sent a relation to say he was dead, and to urge her
to go to the spot to be burnt with him. As soon as she heard the tidings, instead of
proceeding to the spot where the body was supposed to be waiting, she locked up
all the jewels, &c. her husband had given her, and set her husband's relations at
defiance. In a few hours the (dead) husband arrived, degraded this wife, and for the
future became more attached to the other two.
240
AFFECTING KELATIONS OF THE PKACTICE.
offensive, she declared it was not her husband ; that in fact they
were going to burn her with a dead cow. She poured curses on
them all, and protested she would not burn with a dead cow.k The
other female, who had never touched her husband, except at the
marriage ceremony, was then bound to this putrid carcase, and de-
voured by the flames.
About the year 1796, the following most shocking and atrocious
murder, under the name of suhu-murunu,1 was perpetrated at Mujil-
pooru, about a day's journey south from Calcutta. Bancha-ramu,
a bramhun of the above place dying, his wife at a late hour went
to be burnt with the body : all the previous -ceremonies were per-
formed ; she was fastened on the pile, and the fire was kindled ; but
the night was dark and rainy. When the fire began to scorch this
poor woman, she contrived to disentangle herself from the dead
body, and creeping from under the pile, hid herself among some
brush-wood. In a little time it was discovered that there was only
one body on the pile. The relations immediately took the alarm,
and searched for the poor wretch ; the son soon dragged her forth,
and insisted that she should throw herself on the pile again, or drown
or hang herself. She pleaded for her life at the hands of her own
son, and declared that she could not embrace so horrid a death — but
she pleaded in vain : the son urged, that he should lose his caste, and
that therefore he would die, or she should. Unable to presuade her
to hang or drown herself, the son and others present then tied her
hands and feet, and threw her on the funeral pile, where she quickly
perished.
Gopee-nat'hu, a bramhun employed in the Serampore Printing-
office, was informed by his nephew, that in the year J 799, he saw
thirty-seven females burnt alive with the remains of Ununtu-ramu,
a bramhun of Bagna-para, near Nudeeya. This kooleenu bramhun
had more than a hundred wives. At the first kindling of the fire,
only three of them were present ; but the fire was kept burning
three days ! When one or more arrived, the ceremonies were
performed, and they threw themselves on the blazing fire ! On the
first day, three were burnt ; on the second fifteen ; and on the
third nineteen ! Among these, some were forty years old, and
others as young as sixteen. The three first had lived with this
bramhun ; the others had seldom seen him. From one family he
had married four sisters ; two of these were among the slaughtered
victims.
In the year 1812, a kooleenu bramhun, who had married twenty-
five women, died at Choona-khalee. Thirteen died during his life-
k la the month of January, 1813, a poor deranged woman was burnt alive with
the corpse of her busband, Rughoo-nat'hu, a bramhun, at Bujiira-pooru, in the zillah
of KrishniS-nu'giSrii.
1 SubiS, with ; niur&nu', death.
AFFECTING RELATIONS OF THE PRACTICE,
241
time ; the remaining twelve perished with him on the funeral pile,
leaving thirty children to deplore the fatal effects of this horrid
system.
Some years ago, a kooleenu bramhun, of considerable property,
died at Sookhuchuru, three miles east of Serampore. He had mar-
ried more than forty women, eighteen of whom perished on the
funeral pile. On this occasion a fire extending ten or twelve yards
in length was prepared, into which they threw themselves, leaving
more than forty children.
About the year 1802, the wife of a man of property of the writer
easte was burnt at Kashee-pooru, in the suburbs of Calcutta. The
bramhun who witnessed this scene informed me, that when he went
to the spot, he saw a vast crowd of people assembled ; and amongst
the rest the above female, a girl about fourteen years old, and
another female, of a different caste, who had cohabited with the
deceased. The girl addressed herself to the mistress of her hus-
band, and asked her what she did there : it was true, her husband
had never loved her, nor had he for one day since their marriage
lived with her ; yet she was now resolved to enjoy his company
after death. She added, (continuing her address to the mistress of
her husband,) ' If, however, you will accompany him, come, let us
burn together ; if not, arise and depart.' She then asked the woman
what her husband had bequeathed to her, and was answered that
he had given her twenty-five rupees, and some clothes. To this the
wife of the deceased added twenty -five more. After this conversa-
tion, the bramhuns hastened the ceremonies ; her friends entreated
her to eat some sweetmeats, but she declined it, and declared that
she would eat nothing but that which she came to eat, (fire.) At
this time the clouds gathered thick, and there was the appearance
of heavy rain : some persons urged delay till the rain was over ; but
she requested them to hasten the business, for she was ready. A
bramhun now arrived, and entreated the favour of this woman to
forgive a debt due to her husband, for which his brother was in con-
finement. She forgave it, leaving a written order behind her, to which
she affixed her mark. After the ceremonies by the side of the river,
and near the pile, were concluded, she laid herself down on the
pile, placing one arm under the head of the deceased, and the other
over his breast, and they were thus tied together. At the time of
lighting the pile, the rain fell in torrents, and the fire was so
partially lighted, that during half an hour it only singed her
clothes and her hair. This devoted female, however, remained in
the same posture on the pile till the rain ceased, when, in a few
seconds, the fire devoured her. It was reported that she had
cohabited with others, but she denied it before she ascended the
pile.
An English clergyman, now deceased, once related to me two
scenes to which he had been an eye-witness : — one was that of a
242
AFFECTING RELATIONS OF THE PRACTICE.
young woman, who appeared to possess the most perfect serenity of
mind during every part of the preparatory ceremonies : calm and
placid, she acted as though unconscious of the least danger ; she
smiled at some, gave presents to others, and walked round the
funeral pile, and laid herself down by the dead body, with as much
composure as though she had been about to take rest at night.
The other scene was very different ; the woman, middle-aged and
corpulent, appeared to go through tiie business with extreme reluc-
tance and agitation ; the b ram Ira us watched her, followed her
closely, held her up, and led her round the funeral pile, and seemed
to feel uneasy till they had tied her fast to the dead body, and
had brought the faggots and bamboo levers over her. This clergy-
man added, that he saw one of this woman's arms move, as in
convulsive motions, for some time after the pile was lighted. The
Hindoos say, that it is a proof the woman was a great sinner, if
any part of her body is seen to move after the pile has been lighted ;
and, on the contrary, if she is not seen to move, they exclaim,
' Ah ! what a perfect creature she was ! What a blessed suhu-rnu-
runu was her\s !' A respectable native once told me, that he had
heard of a woman's shrieking dreadfully after she was laid on the
pile, which, however, did not save her life.m
Instances of children of eight or ten years of age thus devoting
themselves are not uncommon. About the year 1804, a child
eight years old was burnt with the dead body of Huree-nat'hu,
bramhun of Eio, near Calcutta. At the time the news arrived of
the death of this child's husband, she was playing with other
children at a neighbour's house. Having just before been severely
chastised by her aunt, and having formerly suffered much from her,
she resolved to bum witlrthe dead body, in order to avoid similar
treatment in future ; nor could her relations induce her to alter
her resolution. She said she would enter the fire, but would not
go back to her aunt. As soon as she was laid on the pile, she
appeared to die, (no doubt from fear,) even before the fire touched
her. The Hindoos say, it is often the case, that the female who is
really Sadhwee, is united to her husband immediately on hearing
the news of his death, without the delay of the fire. — Another in-
stance of the same kind occurred in the year 1802, at Vurisha, near
Calcutta ; a child, eight years old, was burnt with her husband.
Before she went to the funeral piler she was compelled to put her
hand upon some burning coals, and hold it there for some time, to
convince her friends that she should not shrink at the sight of the
fire. — About the year 1794, a girl, fifteen years old, who had been
delivered of her first child about three weeks, was burnt with her
husband, Devee-churunu, a bramhun of Muniramu-pooru, near
m l am credibly informed, that on the banks of the Brumhit-pootrS, the Hindoos
do not lay faggots on the bodies, nor are bamboos used as levers to hold them down ;
but the widow lies on the pile with her arms round her husband, and fire is kindled
beneath them.
AFFECTING RELATIONS OF THE PRACTICE.
243
Barraek-pooru. Her friends remonstrated with her, and did
all except (what they ought to have done) use force. When
they urged the situation of the infant she would leave, she
begged they would not disturb her mind with such things : it was
only a female child, and therefore the leaving it was of less conse-
quence. After she had mounted the pile, she sat up, and assured
the officiating bramhun she then recollected, that in a former birth
he was her father.
Women eighty years old and upwards sometimes burn with
their husbands. About the year 1791, G opal u-nay alunk aru , a
very learned bramhun, died at Nudeeya, He was supposed to have
been one hundred years old at the time of his death ; his wife
about eighty. She was almost in a state of second childhood, yet her
gray hairs availed, nothing against this most abominable custom.
— A similar instance occurred about the year 1809, at Shantee-
pooru, when the wife of Ramu-chundru-vusoo, a kayust'hu, at the
age of eighty or eighty-five, was burnt with the corpse of her
husband.
Mrityoonjuyu, the first Sungskritu pundit in the College of
Fort- William, once saw a bramhunee at Rungu-pooru, who had
escaped from the pile. She was carried away by a mat-maker,
from whom she eloped, and afterwards lived with a Musulman
groom. — About the year 1804, a woman who had lived with a man
as his wife, burnt herself with his body at Kalee-ghatii, near
Calcutta. — Some 3'ears ago, a sepoy from the upper provinces died
at Khiddiru-pooru, near Calcutta. The woman who had cohabited
with him went to the head land-owner, and requested him to
provide the materials for burning her wTith the dead body. He
did so, and this adulteress entered the flames, and was consumed
with the dead body of her paramour.
In Orissa, the defenceless widow is compelled to cast herself
into a pit of fire. If, on the death of a raja, his wife burn herself
with him, his concubines are seized, and by beating, dragging,
binding, and other forcible methods, are compelled to throw them-
selves into the pit, where they are all destroyed together. On this
subject I beg leave to insert a letter drawn up by Purushoo-ramu,
a learned bramhun : — ' Shree Purushoo-ramu writes : I have myself
seen the wives of one of the rajas of Ourisya burn with their husband.
These are the particulars : — after the death of raja Gopee-nat'hu-
devu, the head-queen, of her own accord, being prepared to be
burnt with the body, a pit was dug, and quantities of wood piled
up in it, upon which the corpse was laid, and upon this more
faggots : when the fire blazed with the greatest fury, the head-
queen cast herself into the flames and perished. The two other
wives of the raja were unwilling to follow this example ; but they
were seized by force, and thrown into the pit, and consumed. This
happened about the year 1793/
WIDOWS OF WEAVERS BURIED ALIVE.
The widows of the yogees, a description of weavers, are some-
times buried alive with their deceased husbands. If the person
have died near the Ganges, the grave is dug by the side of the
river, at the bottom of which they spread a new cloth, and on it
lay the dead body. The widow then bathes, puts on new clothes,
and paints her feet ; and after various ceremonies, descends into
the pit that is to swallow her up : in this living tomb she sits
down, and places the head of her deceased husband on her knee,
having a lamp near her. The priest (not a bramhun) sits by the
side of the grave, and repeats certain ceremonies, while the friends
of the deceased walk round the grave several times, repeat-
ing ' Huree bul ! Huree bul !' (that is, literally, ' Repeat
the name of Huree ;' but in its common use it is equivalent
to ' Huzza ! Huzza !'). The friends (if rich) cast into the grave
garments, sweetmeats, sandal wood, rupees, milk, curds, clarified
butter, or something of this kind ; and the widow directs a few
trifles to be given to her friends or children. The son also casts a
new garment into the grave, with flowers, sandal wood, &c. after
which earth is carefully thrown all round the widow, till it has
arisen as high as her shoulders, when the relations throw earth in
as fast as possible, till they have raised a mound of earth on the
grave ; when they tread it down with their feet, and thus bury
the miserable wretch alive. They place on the grave sandal wood,
rice, curds, a lamp, &c. and then, walking round the grave three
times, return home. -Among the voishnuvus also are instances
of widows being buried alive with the dead bodies of their husbands.
— On enquiring among the bramhuns, and other Hindoos em-
ployed in the Serampore printing-office, I found that these murders
were much more frequently practised than I had supposed : almost
every one had seen widows thus buried alive, or had heard of
them from undoubted authority.
I could easily increase the number of these accounts so as to
form a volume ; but I am not anxious to swell this work with more
facts of this nature : these are sufficient to fill the mind of the
benevolent with the deepest compassion for the miserable victims
of this shocking superstition.
The Hindoo shastrus permit a woman to alter her resolution,
even on the funeral pile, and command such a person to observe a
severe fast as an atonement. This fast, however, may be commut-
ed by gifts to bramhuns. The Vishnoo pooranu directs such a
female to become a brumhucharee ; which profession obliges the
person to abstain from every pleasure, from chewing betel or other
exhilirating herbs, from anointing herself with oil, 11 &c. Notwith-
n This anointing is called Sbhisheku : when oil is applied to the crown of the
head, and reaches to all the limbs, it is called iibhyilngu. There seems to be a strong
affinity betwixt the Jewish and Hindoo methods of anointing in this respect : ' It is
like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments.'
REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE OF MIND OF THE WIDOW, 245
standing this provision of the shastru, T am informed that at pre-
sent a widow, if she go to the dead body, declaring that she will
be burnt with it, is never permitted to return : or, should such a
case occur, she is delivered up to persons of the lowest caste to do
what they will with her ; she never goes back to her relations.
The desire of Hindoo women to die with their husbands, and
the calmness of many in going through the ceremonies which pre-
cede this terrible death, are circumstances almost, if not altogether,
unparalleled. It is another proof of the amazing power which this
superstition has over the minds of its votaries.0 Among other cir-
cumstances which urge them to this dreadful deed, we may rank
the following : — First, the vedus, and other shastrus, recommend
it, and promise the widow that she shall deliver her husband from
hell, and enjoy a long happiness with him in heaven; secondly,
long custom has familiarised their minds to the deed ; thirdly, by
this act they escape the disgrace of widowhood, and their names
are recorded among the honorable of their families ;p fourthly,
they avoid being starved and ill-treated by their relations ; and
lastly, the Hindoos treat the idea of death with comparative indif-
ference, as being only changing one bod 3^ for another, as the snake
changes his skin. If they considered death as introducing a per-
son into an unalterable state of existence, and God, the judge, as
requiring purity of heart, no doubt these ideas would make them
weigh well a step pregnant with such momentous consequences.
The conduct of the bramhuns at the burning of widows is so
unfeeling, that those who have represented them to the world as
the mildest and most amiable of men, need only attend on one of
these occasions to convince them, that they have greatly imposed
on mankind. Where a family of bramhuns suppose that the burn-
ing of a mother, or their brother's or uncle's wife, or any other
female of the family, is necessary to support the credit of the family,
the woman knows she must go, and that her death is expected.
She is aware also, that if she should not burn, she will be treated
with the greatest cruelty, and continually reproached, as having
entailed disgrace on the family. The bramhun who has greatly
assisted me in this work, has veiy seriously assured me, that he
believed violence was seldom used to compel a woman to ascend
the pile ; nay, that after she has declared her resolution, her friends
0 Such a widow reflects thus : 'It is right that the wife leave the world with her
husband ; a son can never be to a mother what a husband is to a wife ; the extinction
of life is the work of a minute ; by strangling, by drowning, how soon does the soul
leave the body : there are no terrors then in the funeral pile, and I shall at once enter
on happiness : what multitudes have died in this manner before me ; and if I live, I
have nothing but sorrow to expect.'
p It is common at Benares to set up, by the side of the river, stone monuments to
the memory of widows who have been burnt with the bodies of deceased husbands.
Persons coming from bathing bow to these stones, and sprinkle water on them, repeat-
ing the words Stitee, S&tee, i. e., chaste.
246 AND ON THE CONDUCT OF THE BRAMHUNS. — NUMBERS BURNT.
use various arguments to discover whether she be likely to per-
severe or not ; (for if she go to the water side, and there refuse to
burn, they consider it an indelible disgrace on the family ;) that it
is not uncommon for them to demand a proof of her resolution, by
obliging her to hold her finger in the fire ; if she be able to endure
this, they conclude they are safe, and that she will not alter her
resolution. If, however, she should flinch at the sight of the pile,
&c. they remain deaf to whatever she says ; they hurry her through
the preparatory ceremonies, attend closely upon her, and go
through the work of murder in the most determined manner.
Some years ago, two attempts were made, under the immediate
superintendance of Dr. Carey, to ascertain the number of widows
burnt alive within a given time. The first attempt was intended
to ascertain the number thus burnt within thirty miles of Calcutta,
during one year, viz. in 1808. Persons, selected for the purpose,
were sent from place to place through that extent, to enquire of
the people of each town or village how many had been burnt with-
in the year. The return made a total of FOUR HUNDRED AND
THIRTY-EIGHT. Yet very few places east or west of the river
Hoogly were visited. To ascertain this matter with greater exact-
ness, ten persons were, in the year 1804, stationed in the different
places within the above-mentioned extent of country ; each per-
son's station was marked out, and he continued on the watch for
six months, taking account of every instance of a widow's being
burnt which came under his observation. Monthly reports were
sent in ; and the result, though less than the preceding year's re-
port, made the number between TWO AND THREE HUNDRED
for the year !— -If within so small a space several hundred widows
were burnt alive in one year, HOW MANY THOUSANDS OF
THESE WIDOWS MUST BE MURDERED IN A YEAR — IN
SO EXTENSIVE A COUNTRY AS HINDOOST'HAN !q So
that, in fact, the funeral pile devours more than war itself! How
truly shocking ! Nothing equal to it exists in the whole work
of human cruelty ! What a tragic history would a complete detail
of these burnings make !
Sect. XXIX. — Voluntary Suicide, (Kamyu-Murunu.r)
A number of expressions in several shastrus countenance the
practice of voluntary suicide ;s and some of the smritees, and
pooranus, lay down rules for Kamyu-murunu ; declaring it, however,
i It will easily occur to a person familiar with the Holy Scriptures, what a great
difference there is betwixt the commands of these Scriptures respecting the widow and
the orphan, and the Hiudoo shastrus. In the former the Divine Being declares him-
self to be ' the father of the fatherless, the husband of the widow.'
r From kamu, desire, and murunu, death.
s Many modern works in the English language give too much countenance to thia
dreadful crime. What is it that unites nominal Christians and Heathens in so many
points of doctrine and practice ? Mftnoo says, 'A mansion infested by age and by sorrow
let its occupier always cheerfully quit.' Mr. Hume says, ' Whenever pain or sorrow
VOLUNTARY SUICIDE — DROWNING IN THE GANGES. , 247
a crime in a bramhun ; but meritorious in a shoddrft. The person
is directed first to offer an atonement for all his sins, by making a
present of gold to bramhims, and honoring them with a feast ;
afterwards, putting on new apparel and adorning himself with gar-
lands of flowers, he is accompanied to the river by a band of
music. If he has any property, he gives it to whom he pleases .
then, sitting down by the side of the river, he repeats the name of
his idol, and proclaims, that he is now about to renounce his life
in this place in order to obtain such or such a benefit. After this,
he and his friends proceed on a boat, and fastening pans of water
to his body, he plunges into the stream. The spectators cry out,
< Huree bul ! Huree bul !' Huzza ! Huzza ! and then retire. Some-
times a person of property kindly interferes, and offers to relieve
the wants of the victim if he will abstain from drowning himself ;
but the deluded man replies that he wants nothing, as he is going
to heaven ]
When a person is afflicted with a supposed incurable distemper,
or is in distress, or despised, it is common for him to form the re-
solution of parting with life in the Ganges ; or the crime is com-
mitted after a vow, at the time of making which the person prayed
for some favour in the next birth, as riches, freedom from sorrow,
&c. Sick persons sometimes abstain from food for several days
while sitting near the river, that life may thus depart from them
in sight of the holy stream : but the greater number drown them-
selves in the presence of the relations ; and instances are mention-
ed, in which persons in the act of self-murder have been forcibly
pushed back into the stream by their own offspring ! There are
different places of the Ganges where it is considered as most desira-
ble for persons thus to murder themselves, and in some cases auspi-
cious days are chosen on which to perform this work of religious
merit ; but a person's drowning himself in any part of the river
is supposed to be followed with immediate happiness. At Saguru
island it is accounted an auspicious sign if the person is speedily
seized by a shark, or an alligator ; but his future happiness is sup-
posed to be very doubtful if he should remain long in the water
before he is drowned. The British Government, for some years
past, has sent a guard of sepoys to prevent persons from murder-
ing themselves and their children at this junction of the Ganges
with the sea, at the annual festivals held in this place.1
so far overcome my patience, as to make me tired of life, I may conclude that I am
recalled from my station in the plainest and most express terms. Where is the crime
of turning a few ounces of blood from their natural channel ?' These are the opinions
of Mttnoo and Hume. The Christian system, in every part, teaches us to say, ' All the
days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.' In England, where the
idea prevails that self-murder excludes from the hope of mercy in the next world,
suicides are very common. What then must they be. in a country containing so much
unrelieved distress as this, and where the inhabitants are persuaded, that self-murder
in the Ganges is the very road to future happiness ?
t In the year 1806; at this place, I saw a bramhfinee (dripping with wet and
248
SHOCKING INSTANCES OF DROWNING.
Some years ago, as Shivu-Shiromunee,u a bramhun, was re-
turning from bathing with Kashee-nat'hu, another bramhun, at
Shantee-pooru, they saw a poor old man sitting on the bank of the
river, and asked him what he was doing there. He replied, that
he was destitute of friends, and was about to renounce his life in
the Ganges. Kashee-nat'hu urged him not to delay then, if he was
come to die ; — but the man seemed to hesitate, and replied, that
it was very cold. The bramhun (hinting to his companion that
he wished to see the sport before he returned home) reproached
the poor trembling wretch for his cowardice, and seizing his hand,
dragged him to the edge of the bank; where he made him sit down,
rubbed over him the purifying clay of the river, and ordered him to
repeat the proper incantations. While he was thus, with his eyes
closed, repeating these forms, he slipped down, and Sunk into the
water, which was very deep, and perished !
About the year 1790, a young man of the order of dundees
took up bis abode at Kakshalee, a village near Nudeeya, for a
few months, and began to grow very corpulent. Reflecting that a
person of his order was bound to a life of mortification, and
feeling his passions grow stronger and stronger, he resolved to
renounce his life in the Ganges. He requested his friends to
assist him in this act of self-murder, and they supplied him with a
boat, some cord, and two water pans. He then proceeded on the
boat into the middle of the stream, and, filling the pans with
water, fastened one to his neck, and the other round his loins, and
in this manner descended into the water — to rise no more ! in the
presence of a great multitude of applauding spectators. A few
37ears after this another dundee, while suffering under a fever,
renounced his life in the Ganges at Nudeeya ; and nearly at the
same time, a dundee at Ariyaduh, about four miles from Calcutta,
in a state of indisposition, refusing all medical aid, (in which indeed
he acted according to the rules of his order,) cast himself into the
river from a boat, and thus renounced life.
Gunga-dhuru-shastree, a learned bramhun, informed me, that
in the year 1806 he spent near two months at Pruyagu, during
which time he saw about thirty persons drown themselves !
Almost every day he saw or heard of one or more sunyasees who
thus terminated their existence ; and several instances occurred in
which a man and his wife, having no children, drowned themselves
together, praying for some blessings in the next birth.
A friend, in a letter written in the year 18J3, says, 1 The
circumstance which you heard me relate of the poor leper, took
shivering with cold) who had just been prevented by the sepoys from drowning
herself ; — and during my continuance there I heard of several mothers who had been .
prevented from murdering their children.
a This man related the fact to me himself.
BURNING A LEPER — BURIAL ALIVE OF TEN PERSONS.
249
place at Futwa, a little more than a year ago. On hearing the
people of my boat declare that a man was going to be drowned, I
looked out, and saw the poor creature, who had been deprived by
disease of his fingers and toes, but who in other respects appeared
healthy, eating very heartily in the presence of his friends. The
bank being high, I could not leave the boat till we had proceeded
to a considerable distance from the place where the man sat. As
I was running towards the spot, I heard the people on the top of
the boat call out, 'c He is drowned ! he is drowned !" His atten-
dants, who appeared to be his relatives, had assisted him to
descend the bank ; but whether they pushed him in, or whether he
went into the water of his own accord, I cannot tell. He made
great efforts to resist the stream, and reach the side, and struggled
much before he sunk. — I endeavoured to impress on the spectators
the heinousness of this crime ; but they smiled at my concern, and
said, ' they had only complied with the wishes of the deceased, who
had been deprived by disease of his hands and feet.'
Another friend, in a letter written at Cutwa, in the year 1812,
says, ' Last week I witnessed the burning of a leper. A pit about
ten cubits in depth was dug, and a lire placed at the bottom of it.
The poor man rolled himself into it, but instantly on feeling the
fire begged to be taken out, and struggled hard for that purpose.
His mother and sister, however, thrust him in again ; and thus, a
man who to all appearance might have survived several years,
was cruelly burnt to death. I find that the practice is not
uncommon in these parts.' This poor wretch died with the notion,
that by thus purifying his body in the fire, he should receive a happy
transmigration into a healthful body : whereas, if he had died by
the disease, he would, after four births, have appeared on earth
again as a leper.
Mr. Q in a letter from Agra, dated in the year 1812, says>
c I went out a few mornings ago, and came to an enclosed place,
which, on enquiry, I found had been rendered sacred by ten per-
sons having been buried alive there. I am informed, that many
persons visit the place every Monday afternoon for worship ; and
that once or twice a year large crowds assemble here, and at
another similar place near the city. There is great reason to
fear that this practice is very common in these parts. At
Allahabad many drown themselves every year ; and at Vrinda-
vunu many are buried alive or drowned every year, probably every
month.'
The Hindoos relate that there existed formerly at Ksheeru, a
village near Nudeeya, an instrument called kuruvut, which was
used by devotees to cut oil their own heads. The instrument was
made in the shape of a half moon, with a sharp edge, and was
placed at the back of the neck, having chains fastened at the two
32
250 PERSONS CASTING THEMSELVES FROM PRECIPICES, &C. DYING
extremities. The infatuated devotee, placing his feet on the
stirrups, gave a violent jerk, and severed his head from his
body.
Sect. XXX. — Persons casting themselves from
Precipices, Sec.
Another way in which the Hindoo shastrus allow a person to
renounce life, is by throwing himself from a mountain, or some
other eminence. Bengal is a perfect plain ; and I have not learnt
how far this permission of the shastru is acted upon in the
mountainous parts of Hindoost'hanu.
Sect. XXXI.—- Dying under the Wheels of
Jugunnafhu 's Car.
Amongst the immense multitudes assembled at the drawing*
of this car, are numbers afflicted with diseases, and others involved
in worldly troubles, or worn out with age and neglect. It often
happens that such persons, after offering up a prayer to the idol,
that they may obtain happiness or riches in the next birth, cast
themselves under the wheels of the car, and are instantly crushed
to death. Great numbers of these cars are to be seen in Bengal ;
and every year, in some place or other, persons thus destroy them-
selves. At Jixgunnat'lra-kshetru, in Orissa, several perish annual-
ly. Many are accidentally thrown down by the pressure of the
crowd, and are crushed to death. The victims who devote them-
selves to death in these forms have an entire confidence that
they shall, by this meritorious act of self-murder, attain to
happiness.
I beg leave here to insert the following extract of a letter
from an officer to a friend, to confirm the facts related in this and
the two preceding sections : ' I have known a woman, whose
courage failed her on the pile, bludgeoned by her own dear kind-
red.' This I have told the author of ' The Vindication of the Hin-
doos.'— I have taken a Gentoo out of the Ganges : I perceived him
at night, and called out to the boat-men. — ' Sir, he is gone ; he be-
longs to God.' ' Yes, but take him up, and God. will get him here-
after.' We got him up at the last gasp : I gave him some brandy,
and called it physic. ' 0 Sir, my caste is gone !' ' No, it is physic'
' It is not that, Sir ! but my family will never receive me. I am
an outcaste !' i What ! for saving your life ?' \ Yes.' ' Never mind
such a family/ — I let above one hundred men out of limbo at
UNDER THE WHEELS OF JUGIJNNATHUS CAR — INFANTICIDE. 251
Jugunnat'hu : there were a thousand dead and dying all in
limbo starving, to extort money from them/
Sect. XXXII. — Infanticide.
The people in some parts of India, particularly the inhabitants
of Orissa, and of the eastern parts of Bengal, frequently offer their
children to the goddess Gunga. The following reason is assigned
for this practice : — When a woman has been long married, and
has no children, it is common for the man, or his wife, or both of
them, to make a vow to the goddess Gunga, that if she will bestow
the blessing of children upon them, they will devote the first-born
to her. If after this vow they have children, the eldest is nourish-
ed till a proper age, which may be three, four, or more years,
according to circumstances, when, on a particular day appointed
for bathing in any holy part of the river, they take the child with
them, and offer it to this goddess : the child is encouraged to go
farther and farther into the water till it is carried away by the
stream, or is pushed off by its inhuman parents. Sometimes a
stranger seizes the child, and brings it up ; but it is abandoned by
its parents from the moment it floats in the water, and if no one
be found more humane than they, it infallibly perishes. The prin-
cipal places in Bengal where this species of murder is practised, are,
Gunga- Sagmu, where the river Hoogly disembogues itself into the
sea ; Voidyuvatee, a town about fourteen miles to the north of
Calcutta ; Trivenee, Nudeeya, Chakduh and Pruyagu.
The following shocking custom appears to prevail principally
in the northern districts of Bengal. If an infant refuse the mother's
breast, and decline in health, it is said to be under the influence of
some malignant spirit. Such a child is sometimes put into a basket,
and hung up in a tree where this evil spirit is supposed to reside.
It is generally destroyed by ants, or birds of prey ; but sometimes
perishes by neglect, though fed and clothed daily. If it should not
be dead at the expiration of three days, the mother receives it home
again, and nurses it : but this seldom happens. The late Mr.
Thomas, a Missionary, once saved and restored to its mother, an
infant which had fallen out of a basket, at Bholahatu, near Malda,
at the moment a jackal was running away with it. As this gen-
tleman and Mr. Carey were afterwards passing under the same tree,
they found a basket hanging in the branches containing the skele-
ton of another infant, which had been devoured by ants. The
custom is unknown in many places, but, it is to be feared, is too
common in others.
In the north western parts of Hindoost'hanu, the horrid prac^
tice of sacrificing female children as soon as born, has been known
* I have not the authority of this gentleman for inserting this extract ; but I
rely on his known benevolence to excuse the freedom I have thus taken.
INFANTICIDE.
from time immemorial. The Hindoos ascribe this custom to a pro-
phecy delivered by a bramhun to Dweepu-singhu, a raju-pootii
king, that his race would lose the sovereignty through one of his
female posterity. Another opinion is, that this shocking practice
has arisen out of the law of marriage, which obliges the bride's
father to pay almost divine honours to the bridegroom :y hence per-
sons of high caste, unwilling thus to humble themselves for the sake
of a daughter, destroy the infant. In the Punjab, and neighbour-
ing districts, to a great extent, a caste of Sikhs, and theEaju-pootus,
as well as many of the bramhuns and other castes, murder their
female children as soon as born. I have made particular enquiry
into the extent of these murders ; but as the crime is perpetrated
in secret, have not been able to procure very exact information.
A gentleman, whose information on Indian customs is very correct,
informs me, that this practice was, if it is not at present, universal
among all the raju-poots, who, lie supposes, destroy all their daugh-
ters : he expresses his fears, that, notwithstanding their promises
to the Government of Bombay, made in consequence of the very
benevolent exertions of Mr. fiuncan, the practice is almost gene-
rally continued. He adds, the custom prevails in the Punjab, in
Malwa, Joud-pooru, Jesselmere, Guzerat, Kutch, and perhaps Sind,
if not in other provinces.
A friend at Ludhana, in a letter written in the year 1812, says,
' The horrible custom of murdering female infants is very common
among the raju-pootus. One of these fellows had been induced, by
the tears of his wife, to spare the life of a daughter born to him.
The girl grew up, and had arrived at the age of thirteen ; but, un-
fortunately for her, had not been demanded in marriage by any
one. The raju-pootu began to apprehend the danger of her bring-
ing a disgrace upon the family, and resolved to prevent it by put-
ting the girl to death. Shortly after forming this atrocious design,
he either overheard, or pretended to have overheard, some of his
neighbours speak of his daughter in a way that tended to increase
his fears ; when, becoming outrageous, he rushed upon the poor girl,
and cut her head off. The native magistrate confined him for a
year, and seized all his property. But this was only because the
girl was marriageable ; infants are murdered with perfect impunity.'
* The Jatus, a people who abound in these parts,' says a friend,
in a letter from Agra, dated May, 1812, ' destroy their female
children as soon as born ; but being now afraid of the English,
they remove their pregnant women before the time of delivery
into the district of the raja of Blmrutupooru, that they may there
commit these horrid murders with impunity. ' Oh ! the dark places
of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty ! In these parts
5- At the time of marriage, the girl's father, taking hold of the knee of the boy,
■worships him, by presenting offerings of rice, flowers, paint, &e., and promising to
give him his daughter.
ASCETIC'S DEVOURED IN FORESTS BY WILD BEASTS.
253
there are not many women burned with their husbands, and when
they do burn, they are not held down with bamboos, but left to
themselves and the fire ; but if any one run away or jump out,
they cut her down with a sword, and throw her into the fire again.
This was done at a flight of steps just by, a little before the English
took this place ; since which time I have not heard of any such
events occurring.'
Sect. XXXIII. — Ascetics devoured in Forests by Wild Beasts.
Beside the dreadful waste of human life in practising super-
stitious austerities, great numbers of Hindoo devotees, who visit
forests as an act of seclusion from the world, perish by wild beasts,
The author, when on a visit to Saguru. island in the year 1806,
was informed by a yogee that six of his companions had been de-
voured there by tigers in the three preceding months ; that while
absent in the forest gathering sticks, he heard their cries, and look-
ing over the wall of the temple-yard in which they lived, he saw
the tigers dragging them by the neck into the forest. Other forests
infested by wild beasts are visited by these yogees, many of whom
are devoured every year. M umbers of secular persons too, drawn
to the annual festivals celebrated in these forests, fall victims to
the tigers.
o
Sect. XXXI V. — Perishing in Cold Regions.
The Hindoos have a way to heaven without dying. If the
person who wishes to go this way to heaven, through repeating
certain incantations, survive the cold, he at last arrives at Hima-
luyu, the residence of Shivu. Such a person is said ' to go the great
journey.' Yoodhist'hiru, according to the^pooranus, went this way
to heaven ; but his companions Bheemu, "Urjoonu, Nukoolu, Suhu-
devii, and Droupudee, perished by the culd on the mountain. This
forms another method in which the Hindoos may meritoriously
put a period to their existence. It is also one of the Hindoo atone-
ments for great offences.
It is difficult to form an estimate of the number of Hindoos
who perish annually, the victims of superstition ; and the author
fears any reasonable conjecture would appear to many as highly
exaggerated, and intended to prejudice the public mind against
the Hindoos as idolaters. He wishes to feel and avow a just ab-
horrence of idolatry, and to deplore it as one of the greatest
scourges ever employed by a Being, terrible in anger, to punish
nations who have rejected the direct and simple means which na-
ture and conscience supply of knowing himself ; but he would use
no unfair means of rendering even idolatry detestable : and
.... O e'
with tins assurance, -he now enters oil as correct a conjecture res-
254 NUMBER OF VICTIMS OF HINDU SUPERSTITION, &C.
pecting the number of victims annually sacrificed on the altars
of the Indian gods, as he is able :
Widows burnt alive on the funeral pile, in Hindoost'hanu*, 5,000
Pilgrims perishing on the roads and at sacred places,2 ... 4,000
Persons drowning themselves in the Ganges, or buried or burnt alive, . . 500
Children immolated, including the daughters of the raju-pootus, 500
Sick persons whose death is hastened on the banks of the Ganges, a 500
Total, ,.10,500
Supposing there to be five thousand towns and large villages
in Hindoost'hanu, and that one widow is burnt from each of these
places in one year, no less a number than five thousand helpless
ividows are annually burnt alive in this country ; but if we
are guided by the calculation made at Calcutta (see p. 246) it will
appear, that at least two widows in every large village must be
murdered annually, including all the large towns in the same
ratio. If so, instead of five thousand murders, the number must be
doubled ; and it will appear that ten thousand widows perish on
the funeral pile in the short period of twelve months. Nor is
this havoc like the irregular return of war ; on the contrary, it is
as certain and as fatal as the march of death itself.
The second calculation will not appear exaggerated, I am
persuaded, when we consider the testimony of Dr. Buchanan, added
1 ' BuddrucJc in Orissa, May ZOth, 1806. We know that we are approaching Jug-
gernaut (and yet we are more than fifty miles from it) by the human bones which we
have seen for some days strewed by the way. At this place we have been joined by
several large bodies of pilgrims, perhaps 2,000 in number, who have come from various
parts of Northern India. Some old persons are among them, who wish to die at Jug-
gernaut. Numbers of pilgrims die on the road ; and their bodies generally remain un-
buried. On a plain by the river, near the pilgrim's caravansera at this place, there are
more than a hundred skulls. The dogs, jackals, and vultures, seem to live here on
human prey,
' Juggernaut, 1 ith June. I have seen Juggernaut. The "scene at Buddruck is but
the vestibule to Juggernaut. No record of ancient or modern history can give, I think,
an adequate idea of this valley of death ; it may be truly compared with the ' valley
of Hinnom.' I have also visited the saud plains by the sea, in some places whitened
with the bones of the pilgrims; and another place a little way out of the town, called
by the English the Golgotha, where the dead bodies are usually cast forth, and where
dogs and vultures are ever seen.
'Juggernaut, 2\st June. I have beheld another distressing scene this morning at
the place of skulls ; a poor woman lying dead, or nearly dead, and her two children
by hei'j looking at the dogs and vultures which were near. The people passed by with-
out noticing the children. I asked them where was their home. They said, ' they
had no home but where their mother was.' O, there is no pity at Juggernaut ! no
tenderness of heart in Moloch's kingdom.' — Buchanan's Researches in India.
A person who has lived several years near the temple of JftgQnnat'hu, in Orissa, in
a letter to the author, says, ' I cannot pronounce on tbe numbers who annually perish
at Jiigtf unat'hu\ and on their way thither : in some years they do not amount to more
than 200 perhaps, but in others they may exsced 2,000.'
a A gentleman, whose opinion is of great weight, saje, 1 1 believe this estimate
is far below the truth,'
CEREMONIES ON VISITING HOLY PLACES.
255
to that of an officer inserted in page 252 of this volume ; to which
I could add, that of many respectable natives. — By fevers, by the
dysentery, and other diseases arising from exposure to the night
air, and the privations of a long journey, crowds are carried oft' in
a few days : sometimes numbers involuntarily fall under the wheels
of the monstrous car of Jugunnat'hu : five or six hundred persons,
principally women, I am informed, were crushed to death before
the temple of Jugiinnat'hu, in the }^ear 1810, by the mere pressure
of the crowd. The reader must consider that these sacred places,
the resort of pilgrims, are spread all over Hindoost'hanu, and that
pilgrims travel to them from distances requiring journeys of three,
four, and five months.
In the opinion of every person to whom I have shewn the
manuscript, the other calculations fall far below the real fact.
But if these calculations are not beyond the truth, what a
horrible view do they present of the effects of superstition. Since
the commencement of the bramhinical system, millions of victims
have been immolated on the altars of its gods ; and, notwithstand-
ing the influence of Europeans, the whole of Hindoost'hanu may
be termed £ a field of blood unto this day.'
I must leave it to the pen of the future historian and poet to
give these scenes that just colouring which will harrow up the
soul of future generations : I must leave to them the description of
these legitimate murders, perpetrated at the command and in the
presence of the high-priests of idolatry ; who, by the magic-spell of
superstition, have been able to draw men to quit their homes, and
travel on foot a thousand miles, for the sake of beholding an idol
cut out of the trunk of a neighbouring tree, or dug from an adjoin-
ing quarry ; — to prevail on men to commit murders to supply
human victims for the altars of religion ; — on mothers to butcher
their own children ; — on friends to force diseased relations into the
arms of death, while struo'odino; to extricate themselves ; — on
children to apply the lighted torch to the pile that is to devour the
living mother, who has fed them from her breasts, and dandled
them on her knees. To crown the whole, these priests of idolatry
have persuaded men to worship them as gods, to lick the dust of
their feet, and even to cut off lumps of their own flesh,b their own
heads,c as offerings to the gods.
Sect. XXXV. — Ceremonies performed on visiting Holy Places.
The founders of the Hindoo religion have taught that certain
places (Teert'hu-st'hanud) are peculiarly sacred ; that the perform-
b See p. 93. c See p. 249.
d The place where persons obtain salvation ; from tree, salvation, and sfhanu,
place.
CEREMONIES ON VISITING HOLY PLACES.
ance of religions rites at these places is attended with peculiar
merit, and followed by extraordinary benefits. The source and
confluence of sacred rivers ; places where any of the phenomena
of nature have been discovered ; or where particular images have
been set up by the gods themselves ;e or where some god or great
saint has resided ; or where distinguished religious actions have
been performed have been, pronounced sacred.
Excited by the miraculous accounts inserted in the shastrus,
multitudes visit these places ; others reside there for a time ; and
some spend the last stages of life at a holy place, to make sure of
heaven after death, liich men not unfrequenty erect temples and
cut pools at these places, for the benefit of their souls.
When a person resolves to visit any one of these places, he fixes
upon an auspicious da}^, and, two days preceding the commence-
ment of his journey, has his head shaved; the next day he fasts ;
the following day he performs the shraddhu of the three preceding
generations of his family on both sides, and. then leaves his house.
If a person act according to the shastru, he observes the following-
rules : First, till he returns to his own house, he eats rice which,
has not been wet in cleansing, and that only once a day ; he ab-
stains from anointing his body with oil, and from eating fish. If
he ride in a palanqueen, or in a boat, he loses half the benefits of
his pilgrimage : if he walk on foot, he obtains the full fruit. The
last day of his journey he fasts. On his arrival at the sacred spot,
he has his whole body shaved ;f after which he bathes, and per-
forms the shraddhu. It is necessary that he stay seven days at
least at the holy place ; he may continue as much longer as he
pleases. Every day during his stay he bathes, pays his devotions to
the images, sits before them and repeats their names, and worships
them, presenting such offerings as he can afford. In bathing he
makes kooshu grass images for his relations, and bathes them. The
benefit arising to relations will be as one to eight, compared with
that of the person bathing at the holy place. When he is about to
return, he obtains some of the offerings which have been presented
to the idol or idols, and brings them home to give to his friends
and neighbours. These consist of sweetmeats, flowers, toolusee
leaves, the ashes of cow-dung, &c. After celebrating the shraddhu,
he entertains the bramhuns, and presents them with oil, fish, and
all those things from \vhich he abstained. Having done this, he
returns to his former course of living. The reward promised to the
pilgrim is, that he shall ascend to the heaven of that god who pre-
sides at the holy place he has visited.
e At Benares, Shivu is said to have set up with his own hands an image of the
lingti.
f If it be a woman, she has only the breadth of two fingers of her hair behind
cut off. If a widow, her whole head is shaved.
PRINCIPAL HOLY PLACES IN HINDOOST'HANU.
257
The following are some of the principal places in Hindoost'-
hanii to which persons go on pilgrimage : —
GvLya, rendered famous as the place where Vishnoo destroyed
a giant. To procure the salvation of deceased relations, crowds of
Hindoos perform the shraddhu here ; on whom Government levies
a tax. Rich Hindoos have expended immense sums at this place.
Kashee, (Benares.) To this place multitudes of Hindoos go on
pilgrimage ; the ceremonies of religion, when performed at the
different holy places in this city, are supposed to be very efficacious.
It is the greatest seat of Hindoo learning in Hindoost'hanu. Many
Hindoos spend their last days here, under the expectation, that
dying here secures a place in Shivu's heaven. To prove that a
man dying in the very act of sin at this place obtains happiness,
the Hindoos relate, amongst other stories, one respecting a man
who died in a pan of hot spirits, into which he accidentally fell
while carrying on an intrigue with the wife of a liquor merchant.
Shivu is said to have come to this man in his last moments, and,
whispering the name of Brumha in his ear, to have sent him to
heaven. Even Englishmen, the Hindoos allow, may go to heaven
from Kashee, and they relate a story of an Englishman who had a
great desire to die at this place. After his arrival there, he gave
money to his head Hindoo servant to build a temple, and perform
the different ceremonies required ; and in a short time afterwards
obtained his desire, and died at Kashee. I suppress the name of
my countryman from a sense of shame.
Pruyagu, (Allahabad.) The Hindoos suppose that the Ganges,
the Yumoona, and the Suruswutee, three sacred rivers, unite their
streams here. Many persons from all parts of India bathe at this
place, and many choose a voluntary death here. Government
levies a tax on the pilgrims. He who has visited Guya, Kashee,
and Pruyagu, flattered himself that he is possessed of extraordinary
religious merits.
Jugunnatlbu-kshuU-u, (in Orissa.) Several temples and pools
attract the attention of pilgrims at this place ; but the great god
Jugunnat'hu is the most famous object of attention to pilgrims, who
come from all parts of India at the times of the thirteen annual
festivals held in honour of this wooden god. All castes eat together
here, the rise of which custom is variously accounted for. The
Hindoos say, that #00, GOO people assemble at this place at the
time of drawing the car ; when five or six people are said to throw
themselves under the wheels of the car every year, as a certain
means of obtaining salvation. When I asked a bramhun in what
way such persons expected salvation, he said, that generally the
person who thus threw away his life was in a state of misfortune ;
and that he thought, as he sacrificed his life through his faith in
Jtfgunnat'hu, this god would certainly save him.— The pilgrims to
33
258
PRINCIPAL HOLY PLACES IN HINDOOST'HANU.
this place, especially at the time of the above festival, endure the
greatest hardships ; some from the fatigues of a long journey,
others from the want of necessary support, or from being exposed
to bad weather. Multitudes perish on the roads, very often by
the dysentery ; and some parts of the sea-shore at this holy place
may be properly termed Golgotha, the number of skulls and dead
bodies are so great. In no part of India, perhaps, are the horrors
of this superstition so deeply felt as on this spot : its victims are
almost countless. Every third year they make a new image, when
a bramhun removes the original bones of Krishna/ from the belly
of the old image to that of the new one. On this occasion, he covers
his eyes lest he should be struck dead for looking at such sacred
relics.h After this, we may be sure, the common people do not
ivish to see Krishnu's bones.
It is a well-authenticated fact, that at this place a number of
females of infamous character are employed to dance and sing
before the god. They live in separate houses, not at the temple.
Persons going to see Jugunnat'lm are often guilty of criminal
actions with these females.1 Multitudes take loose women with
them, never suspecting that Jtigunnat'hu will be offended at their
bringing a prostitute into his presence ; or that whoredom is incon-
sistent with that worship from which they expect salvation, and
to obtain which some of them make a journey of four months.
Before this place fell into the hands of the English, the king,
a Mahratta chief, exacted tolls from pilgrims for passing through
his territories to Jugunnat'lm. At one place the toll was not less
than one pound, nine shillings for each foot-passenger, if he had so
much property with him. When a Bengalee raja used to go, he
was accompanied by one or two thousand people, for every one of
whom he was obliged to pay the toll. The Honorable Company's
Government levies a tax of from one to six rupees on each passen-
ger. For several years after the conquest of Kutuku by the English,
this tax was not levied ; when myriads of pilgrims thronged to this
place, and thousands, it is said, perished from disease, want, &c.
Some persons, on leaving this holy place, deposit with the
bramhuns of the temple one or two hundred rupees, with the in-
terest of which the bramhuns are to purchase rice, and present it
daily to Jugunnat'htt, and afterwards to dundees or bramhuns.
s The tradition is, that king Indru-dyooma, by the direction of Vishnoo,
placed the bones of Krishna, who had been accidentally killed by a hunter, in the
belly of the image of Jugunnat'hfi.
^ The raja of Burdwan, Keer Lee -Chit ndrti, expended, it is said, twelve lacs of
rupees in a journey to Jugunnat'hii, and in bribing the bramhuns to permit him to see
these bones. For' the sight of the bones he paid two lacs of rupees; but he died in
six months afterwards— /or his temerity.
» The officiating bramhuns there continually live in adulterous connection with
them.
PRINCIPAL HOLY PLACES IN HINDOOST'HANU.
259
Deeds of gift are also made to Jugimnat'hu all over Hindoost'hanti,
which are received by agents in every large town, and paid to the
Mut'hu-dhareesk at Jugunnat'hu-kshutru ; who by this means
(though professing themselves to be mendicants) have become some
of the richest merchants in India.
Rame'shivtiru, (Ramiseram.) This place forms the southern
boundary of the bramhinical religion. It is famous for containing
a temple said to have been erected by Ramu on his return from
the destruction of the gaint Ravunu. None but wandering men-
dicants visit it.
Ckundru-shekuru, a mountain near Chittagong, on which
stands a temple of the lingu. Over the surface of a pool of water
inflammable air is said to be perceived, from the fire of which pil-
grims kindle their burnt-offerings. The water oozes from one side
of the rock, and as it falls below, the pilgrims stand to receive the
purifying stream.
Gunga-S aguru, (Saguru-island.) At this place the Ganges
runs into the sea ; and this circumstance, it is supposed, gives an
efficacy to the waters. Vast crowds of Hindoos visit this island
twice in the year, and perform religious ceremonies for the good of
themselves and ancestors : some are guilty of self-murder, in which
they are assisted by a number of alligators which visit this spot :
the infant is cast into the jaws of this voracious animal by its in-
fatuated mother ; and thus the religion of Brumha transforms the
mother into a monster, and tears asunder the tenderest ties of
nature. — Ruins and pools still exist on the island, which prove
that, though now the haunt of wild beasts, it was once inhabited.
Uyodhya, (Oude,) the ancient capital of Ramu, situated by the
river Suruyoo, is still inhabited. The pilgrims are generally
Ramats. Mifhila, (Tirhoot,) the birth-place of Seeta, and the
capital of her father J unuku, is resorted to by pilgrims ; as well as
Mut'hoora, the birth-place of Krishnu ; and Vrinda-vunu, the
scene of the revels of this licentious deity, whose followers visit
many sacred retreats, the resort of Krishnu and the milkmaids.
Gokoola, the place where Krishnu was educated, is also visited by
pilgrims, who are shewn the various spots which have been con-
secrated by the gambols of their favourite god.
The forest of Noimishu, near Lucknow, is celebrated as the
place where S55tu, the sage, read the pooranus to 60,000 disciples.
Voidyunat1 hit, a place in Birboom, contains a celebrated image
called Ramu-lingu. Some pilgrims, afflicted with incurable dis-
tempers, fast here till they die : others make vows, sometimes in
k These MXt'hu-dliareea are found at every holy place. One person presides orer
the house, which is the common resort of pilgrims, who are entertained there.
260
CEREMONIES AT DEATH.
some such words as these : — f Oh ! Voidyunat'hu, give me a wife,
and I will bring a pan of water from the Ganges and bathe thee
or, ' I will present thee a mun of milk, for frumenty.'
At VUh^esJiwUru, another place in Birboom, an image of the
sage Ushtavukru is set up, where several warm springs attract the
attention of devotees, who bathe in their waters, not to heal their
bodies, but their souls.
Kooroo-ksliutru, a place near Delhi, where the dreadful battle
betwixt Yoodist'hiru arid Dooryodhunu was fought. Here
Purushoo-ramu also is said to have filled five pools with the blood .
of the kshetriyus, from which he offered a libation to his deceased
father.1
Hingoola, a cave or excavated rock on the sea-shore. Offerings
are presented to the regents of the place on a stone in the cave.
Ekamru-kanunU, a place on the borders of Orissa, containing
6,000 temples dedicated to Shivu. Not less than 70 or 8,000 people
are said to visit this place at the drawing of the car of Jugunnat'hu
when all castes eat together.
HuTee-dwarU, (from Huree, a name of Vishnoo, and dwaru, a
door,) or the mouth from which the Ganges issues. An account
of this place, inserted in the 6th volume of the Asiatic Researches,
declares, that 2,500,000 people assembled here at a festival in 1796.
Kancliee, a town in Telinga, divided into two parts, Shivu-
Kanchee and Vishnoo-Kanchee. At a festival held here in the
month Choitru, the disciples of Shivu and Vishnoo quarrel, and
often murder one another.
Multitudes of other places in India are venerated and visited
by pilgrims. When I was writing this account, on describing
Bristol Hot-wells, with all its gilt crutches hanging in the pump-
room, to the learned bramhun who assisted me, he confessed that
it would make a famous holy place, and attract immense crowds of
pilgrims. It is a deplorable circumstance, that such a waste of
time, of life, and of propert}T, should be incurred, through the fatal
deception, that the sight of a holy place will be accepted by the
Judge of heaven and earth, instead of repentance and conversion,
instead of a contrite heart and a holy life.
Sect. XXXVI. — Ceremonies at Death.
A SICK person, after his removal to the banks of the Ganges,
if he possess sufficient strength, directs quantities of food, garments,
1 To satisfy his revenge. There is nothing revolting to the feelings of the
Hindoos in this dreadful act of revenge : which has made Kooroo-kshiitrtt a holy place.
When a Hindoo is describing a dreadful quarrel, he says. { It was a perfect Koorook-
AutriV
RITES FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
261
&c. to be presented to the bramhuns. That he may not be com-
pelled to cross Voiturunee, whose waters are hot, on his way to the
seat of judgment, he presents to a bramhun a black cow. When
about to expire, the relations place the body up to the navel in
the river, and direct the dying man to call aloud on the gods, and
assist him in doing so.
The burning of the body is one of the first ceremonies which
the Hindoos perform for the help of the dead in a future state. If
this ceremony have not been attended to, the shraddhu, turpunu,
&c. cannot be performed. If a person be unable to provide wood,
cloth, clarified butter, rice, water pans, and other things, beside the
fee to the priest, he must beg among his neighbours. If the body
be thrown into the river, or burnt, without the accustomed ceremo-
nies, (as is sometimes the case,) the ceremonies may be performed
over an image of the deceased made of kooshu grass.
Immediately after death, the attendants lay out the body on
a sheet, placing two pieces of wood under the head and feet ; after
which they anoint the corpse with clarified butter, bathe it with
the water of the Ganges, put round the loins a new garment, and
another over the left shoulder, and then draw the sheet on which
the body lies over the whole. The heir-at-law next bathes himself,
puts on new garments, and boils some rice, a ball of which and a
lighted brand he puts to the mouth of the deceased, repeating in-
cantations. The pile having been prepared, he sets fire to it, and
occasionally throws on it clarified butter and other combustibles.
When the body is consumed, he washes the ashes into the river ;
the attendants bathe, and, presenting a drink-offering to the de-
ceased, return home : before they enter the house, however, each
one touches fire, and chews some bitter leaves, to signify that part-
ing with relations by death is an unpleasant task.
Sect. XXXVII. — Bites for the Repose of the Soul, (Shraddhu.)
The Hindoo shastrus teach, that after death the soul becomes
pretu,m viz : takes a body about the size of a person's thumb* and
remains in the custody of Yumu, the judge of the dead. At the
time of receiving punishment, the body becomes enlarged, and is
made capable of enduring sorrow. The performance of the shraddhu
delivers the deceased, at the end of a year, from this state, and
translates him to the heaven of the Pitrees, where he enjoys the
reward of his meritorious actions ; and afterwards, in another body,
enters into that state which the nature of his former actions assign
to him. If the shraddhu be not performed, the deceased remains
in the pre'tu state, and cannot enter another body. We are here
m A departed ghost.
262
RITES FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
strongly reminded of the 325th and six following lines of Virgil, in
the 6th book of his iEneid, as well as of the 28th Ode of the 1st
book of Horace.
The offerings made in a person's name, after his decease, and
the ceremonies which take place on the occasion, are called his
shraddhu, which the Hindoos are very anxious to perform in a
becoming manner. The son who performs these rites obtains great
merit : and the deceased is hereby satisfied," and, by gifts to the
bramhuns in his name, obtains heaven.
There are three shraddhus for the dead : one, eleven days after
death ; another, every month ; and another at the close of a year after
a person's decease. During the ten0 days of mourning, the relations
hold a family council, and consult on the means of performing the
shraddhu ; on the last of these days, after making an offering for
the dead by the side of the river, they are shaved. This offering
consists of boiled rice, sugar, curds, sweetmeats, milk, plantains,
&c. made into ten balls, and presented with prayers.
The next day, after bathing,p the family prepare an open place
for the ceremonies. If it be the shraddhu of a rich man, all the
learned Hindoos and respectable people of the neighbouring vil-
lages are invited. The company being seated under an awning,
the sons and the other relations of the deceased, dressed in new
garments, place themselves in the midst of the company with their
faces eastward, having near them sixteen different gifts, as brass
cups, candlesticks, umbrellas, shoes, &c. Next are brought seeds
of sesamum, a small piece of gold, and another of a different metal,
wrapt up in new cloths. The son of the deceased now puts a
piece of new cloth across his neck, and offers an atonement for the
sin of having killed insects in sweeping the room, in cooking,
grinding spices, and in moving the water jar ; then follows an
offering to the sun ; then, rising, and bringing his hands forward
in a supplicating posture, he solicits leave from the company to
make the offering ; after which he offers the sesamum, gold, and
metal, for the happiness of the deceased ; takes the kosha, and
sprinkles the sixteen gifts with water ; then, placing a flower on
each, and repeating prayers, he offers them in the presence of the
shalgramu, one by one, in the name of the deceased, that he may
obtain heaven. The son after this, if in circumstances sufficiently
affluent, presents large gifts to the bramhuns, as elephants, horses,
n Munoo says, ' What sort of oblation, given duly to the manes, is capable of
satisfying them for a long time, or for eternity, I will now declare, without omis&ion.'
o Bramhuns are unclean for ten days after the death of a relation ; kshutriyus,
twelve ; voishyus, fifteen ; and shoodriis, thirty.
i> At the time of bathing, the person who will perform the shraddhft, purifies
himself by putting water, seeds, fruits, &c. in parts of the trunks of four plantaia
trees, repeating ineantations. He sends some of this water home to purify the family.
i
RITES FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
263
palanqueens, boats, &c. the receiving of which, however, is not
honorable. A bramhun then marks the foreheads of all present
with sandal powder, and puts round the neck of each a garland of
flowers. To the ugrudaneeq bramhtins and others are now given,
amidst much confusion among the receivers, the sesamum, the
morsel of gold, the metal, a large bason full of kourees, and a couch
or two, as well as the sixteen different gifts ; after which the
assembly breaks up. The son then goes into the house, and
placing a bramhun and his wife on a seat, covers them with orna-
ments, worships them, and, adding a large present of money,
dismisses them.
After this, the son of the deceased requests five bramhuns, of
some note for learning, to offer a male calf ; in doing which they
take two cloths each, four poitas, four betle-nuts, and some
kourees, provided for the purpose, and go with the company to a
spot where an altar has been prepared, one cubit high, and four
cubits square. Four of the bramhuns sit on the four sides of the
altar, and there worship certain gods, aud offer a burnt-sacrifice.
Near the altar are placed the shalgramu, four female calves, a male
calf, and a vilwu post. The fifth bramhun reads certain parts of a
pooranu, to drive away evil spirits. The female calves are tied to
four vilwu posts, and the male calf to a post called vrishu post/
To the necks of the female calves four small slender baskets are
suspended, in which are placed, among other things, a comb, and
the iron instrument with which the Hindoo women paint their
eyebrows black. A sheet of metal is placed under the belly of
the male calf ; on the back a sheet of copper : the hoofs are covered
with silver, and the horns with gold, if the shraddhu be performed
by a rich man.8 On the hips of the male calf, marks of Shivu's
trident are impressed with a hot iron. After this, the son of the
deceased washes the tail of the male calf, and with the same
water presents a drink-offering to his deceased ancestors ; and
afterwards marries the male calf to the four female calves,
repeating many formulas, in which they are recommended to
cultivate love and mutual sympathy. The son next liberates
the female calves, forbidding any one to detain them, or partake of
their milk in future. In liberating the male calf he says, ' I have
given thee these four wives ;* live with them. Thou art the living
image of Yumu; thou goest upon four legs. Devour not the corn
i BramhSns who receive the first gifts at shraddhus are called by this name.
r Vrishil is the name for a bull, A rough image of one of these animals is
carved in the middle of the post, which is afterwards set up in a public road till it
rots or falls down. It is often full of rough carved figures. A good one costs about
four rupees.
B If by a poor man, imitations of these things are used.
* Here the Hindoos marry cattle ! In another part of this work the reader will
find an account of the marriage of monkies ! !
264
RITES FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
of others, go not near a cow in calf, &c.' The female calves are
generally taken by bramhuns :u the male calf is let loose, to go
where he pleases. x
To this succeeds what is peculiarly termed the shraddhu. The
river side, or the cow-house, or some retired place, is chosen ; after
cleansing which, they collect all kinds of eatables, cloth, sesamum,
flowers, &c. and place them in dishes made of the excavated
trunks of the plantain tree. The son then washes his feet, and
sits with his face towards the east, with a shalgramu before him,
and repeats many incaD tations to purify himself ; he then worships
the shalgramu ; presents to his deceased parent the seven dishes
placed to the east, repeating various incantations ; and worships
Gunga, Vishnoo, and the household gods, adding an offering to
the ancestors of the king, as an acknowledgment for using the
king's land at worship. He then, turning his face to the south,
reads many incantations, and with five, seven, or nine blades of
kooshu grass, makes the image of a bramhun, which he places on a
plantain before him ; then with joined hands he repeats before
this image many incantations, to the following purport : ' Before
thee, O bramhun, I perform my father's shraddhu. 'y He next
offers to his deceased parent, on a plan tain -trunk dish, seven
blades of kooshu and seven of doorva grass, flowers, dry rice,
cloth, red paint, and a brass lamp. He next cleanses the place
before him with his hands, and scattering upon it a few blades of
kooshu grass, presents other offerings to his deceased father,
repeating many incantations, which contain the names of the
offerings, and an invitation to the deceased father to partake of
them. From what remians of these offerings the son makes two
balls, the smallest of which is offered in the name of those of the
family who have not received the benefits of the shraddhu, and
the other he presents to his deceased father, and then lays it on
some kooshu grass as before, and worships it, presenting flowers,
water, &c. He now places both hands open against a lamp which
is burning, as though he were warming himself ; after which he
prostrates himself to the sun, and presents a fee of from one rupee
to five to the officiating bramhun ; salutes all the bramhuns present,
and makes prostrations to the shalgramu, which he afterwards
sends into the house. All the offerings are sent to the houses of
bramhuns. The family now return home, where an entertainment
is provided, both for bramhuns and others, consisting principally
u Yet the receiving of these and other gifts at shraddhtis is supposed to disgrace
a person.
x These bulls wander about, and are treated by the Hindoos with great respect.
No one can claim any redress for the injury they do, and no Hindoo dare destroy
them. In large towns they are often mischievous. The English call them bramhunee
bulls.
y The shastrn directs that a living bramhun shall be chosen ; but a grass
bramhun is generally substituted.
KITES FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOUL.
265
of sweetmeats, milk, curds, sugar, cakes, &c. The bramhuns eat
in an enclosed spot, the uninvited bramhuns near the house,
and the poor in the street or road. At the close of the en-
tertainment, if the person making the shraddhu be rich, he
gives presents to all those who are not guests, whether bramhuns
or the poor, and thus dismisses them. The next morning he
dismisses the learned bramhuns with presents : to the most
learned he gives five rupees perhaps, and to those less learned one.
The bramhuns who were invited are also dismissed with presents.
About one o'clock a feast is provided for the relations, who are
dismissed the next morning with presents of money, cloth, &c,
and on this day another dinner is provided for nearer relations.
At the close of the shraddhu a number of mendicant musicians
play on certain instruments of music, and sing verses celebrating
the revels of Krishnu ; they are often dismissed with large presents.
The next day the family return to their accustomed diet ; but
the sons, for twelve months after the decease of the father, must
refuse every gratification, and cook with their own hands, or eat
what has been prepared by a wife, or some near relation dwelling
in the house.
Gunga-Govindu-Singhu, a person of the writer caste, head-
servant to Mr. Hastings, expended, it is said, 1,200,000 rupees at
his mother's shraddhu ; and Raja Nuvu-Krishnu of Calcutta,
nearly as much in the shraddhu for his mother. This expense was
principally incurred in presents to the bramhuns, such as bedsteads,
at two or three hundred rupees each ; water pitchers of silver and
gold, some worth a thousand, and others two thousand rupees ;
dishes of silver and gold, at five hundred, two hundred, and one
hundred : silver and gold cups and lamp-stands, at two hundred,
one hundred, &c. ; covered bowls for betle-nut, and gold and silver
water j ugs, at from five hundred down to one hundred ; and
cloths at ten or fifteen rupees a piece.
Vast crowds of mendicants9 and poor people fill the roads at
the time of a large shraddhu for two or three days together, each
of whom obtains a rupee, or half a rupee; sometimes nothing.
The lower orders expend three hundred, two hundred, or one
hundred rupees at a shraddhu. Many persons reduce themselves
to beggary to procure the name of having made a great shraddhu.
If a man delay this ceremony, the priest urges him repeatedly to
what he calls his duty. According to the Hindoo law, a person
cannot inherit an estate who has not performed the shraddhu.
The monthly shraddhu for the first year after the death of
the parent, is upon a very small scale, and the expense is from
ten rupees to twelve annas.
a Some of the mendicants come journies of four or five days.
34
26 G PURIFICATIONS — ATONEMENTS FOR OFFENCES.
Beside these, there are other shraddhus for deceased ancestors,
as, in every month at the total wane of the moon ; on the last
fifteen, or ten, or five days of the moon in Bhadru ; once during
the first fifteen days of the moon in Ilgruhayunu ; and again in
the same months,b in Poushu,c and Maghu/1 on the eighth of the
wane of the moon ; in Voishakhu6 and Shravunu/ on any of the
first fifteen days of the moon. At some of these times all Hindoos
perform this ceremony ; at other times only a few persons. The
expense is trifling, as scarcely any persons are entertained at
them.
Sect. XXXVIII. — Purifications, '
A Hindoo becomes unclean by various circumstances, during
which he is interdicted almost every religious ceremony, and for-
bidden to shave or cut his nails. In the act of purification the
person shaves the head, bathes, and puts on clean apparel.
A Hindoo becomes unclean after the death of persons related
to him by birth. If a child die before he has teeth, the family
bathe immediately, and become clean ; or if a child die before its
ears are bored, the family remain unclean one night. If a woman
miscarry, the family become impure for ten days. After a birth,
all the members of the family in a direct line become unclean. A
woman in her courses is unclean for three days ; but on the fifth
day, after bathing, she may again perform religious ceremonies.
Every person is considered as in some measure unclean while in a
state of sickness, and from some religious services a sick person is
wholly excluded. A bramhun becomes unclean by the touch of
a shdodru, a dog, a Musulman, a barbarian, &c. and all casts, by
touching a woman in her courses, a dead body, ordure, urine,
the food of other castes, &c.
Sect. XXXIX. — Atonements for Offences.
The ancient Hindoo laws on this subject are very numerous,
and in many instances very severe and unjust. By these laws the
whole property of the country was put into a state of requisition
b In this shraddhu, the flesh of cows was formerly offered in sacrifice. In th©
kulee-yogii this is forbidden, and that of deer or goats is substituted.
c This shraddhu is performed principally with herbs.
d In this shraddhS bread is chiefly used.
8 Barley is the principal thing used in this shraddhii. At this time the Hindoo
women scatter the husks of barley in the public roads, in imitation it is said of the
mother of Rughoo-niindiinn', compiler of a number of the smritees.
The newly descended rain is the principal article in this shraddhit
ATONEMENTS FOR OFFENCES.
267
fey the bramhuns. At present, very few offences expose a person
to the penalties of the canon law : among these, however, are the
killing a bramhun, a religious mendicant, or a woman ; striking a
bramhun ; killing a cow. Slight atonements are also offered by
some when labouring under certain diseases, and for unintentional
offences.
I here insert some extracts from the work on atonements called
Prayushchittu-Nirnuyu. — There are nine sorts of sins requiring
atonements : 1. Jatee-bhrungshu-kuru, in which is included the eat-
ing of onions, defrauding relations, &c. 2. Shunkuree-kurunu, viz,,
sodomy. 3. Upatree-kurunu, which includes receiving presents from
barbarians ; bramhuns, entering into trade ; and bramhuns serving
sh5odrus.g 4. Mulavuhu, in which is included destroying insects ;
eating fruit which has lain near a person who has drank spirits ; ex-
cessive grief for a trifling loss ; and stealing wood, fruit, or flowers.
5. Prukeernnuku, which includes various offences against the caste.
6. Oopupatuku, which includes many actions : among the rest,
killing cows ; becoming priest to the low castes ; a person's selling
himself ; forsaking father, mother, sons ; neglecting the ve'du's,
or consecrated fire ; giving a daughter in marriage to a younger
brother before the elder- giving a younger son in marriage
before the elder ; in the two last cases also becoming priest at the
time of such marriage ; usury in lending goods ; not completing a
vrutu ; selling a pool of water, a garden, a son, &c. ; not perform-
ing any one of the sungskarus ; forsaking a friend ; obtaining
instructions from a disciple ; killing a woman, or a sh65dru, a
voishyu, a kshutriyu, &e. ; cutting green trees for fire-wood ;
neglecting to pay debts ; subduing or driving away a person not
an enemv by the power of incantations ; denying a future state,
&c. 7. Unoopatuku, which includes many different actions, viz.,
a son's having intercourse with a woman who is a wife (though of
another caste) to his father ; adultery with an uncle's wife ; with
the wife of a grandfather ; with an aunt by the mother's side ; with
the wife of a king ; with a father's sister ; with the wife of a
shrotriyu bramhun ; with the wife of a priest ; with the wife of a
teacher of the ve'dus ; with the wife of a friend ; with the friend of
a sister ; with any woman in the line of consanguinity ; with any
woman of a caste superior to that of the man ; with the wife of a
chandalii ; with a virgin, the daughter of a bramhun ; with a
woman while in her courses ; with a woman who has embraced
the life of a brumhucharinee. 8. Muhapatuku, which includes five
different offences, viz., killing bramhuns ; a bramhun's drinking
spirits, or a shoodru's intercourse with the wife of a bramhxin ;
stealing gold from a bramhun to the amount of a gold mohur ;
adultery with the wife of a gooroo, viz., with the wife of a father,
s In many places bramhuns, at present, become clerks, cooks, &c. to the higher
classes of shoodrus.
268
ATONEMENTS FOE OFFENCES.
if she be of a superior caste, or if she be of the same caste. Whoever
commits these actions is called muhapatukee, and whoever lives in
familiar habits with this person becomes also muhapatilkee : this
includes sleeping on the same bed ; sitting together on one seat ;
eating together ; drinking out of one cup ; eating together of food
cooked in one vessel ; becoming priest to a muhapatukee ; teach-
ing the ve'dus to such an offender. If a person converse with a
muhapatilkee, or touch him. or if the breath of this offender fall
upon him, and these familiarities be continued Jfor twelve months,
this person also becomes muhapatukee. 9. Utipatuku includes
incest with a person's own mother, or daughter, or son's wife.
If a person kill a bramhun, he must renounce life, or offer the
prajaputyii atonement for twenty -four years; h or, in case of inabi-
lity, he must offer 380 cows with their calves, and 100 cows as a
fee ; or 470 rupees, besides 24 rupees as a fee. If a person murder
a bramhiinee, whose husband is ignorant of the vedus. the offender
must perform the prajaputyu atonement for six years. This may
be commuted for ninety cows and calves, or 270 kahimus of kou~
rees. For murdering the wife of a kshutriyu, this atonement must
be repeated three years ; of a voishyu, one year and a half; and
of a shoodru, nine months. If the woman was with child, or in
her courses, the atonement must be doubled. If a bramhun, or a
kshutriyu, murder a kshutriyu, the prajaputyu atonement must be
repeated for three years. This may be commuted for forty-live milch
cows and their calves, or 135 kahunus of kourees. If a bramhun,
a kshutriyu, or voishyu, murder a voishyu, the above atonement
must be repeated for one year and a half. This may be commuted
for twenty-three cows and their calves, or 67J kahunus of kourees.
For murdering a sho5dru, the above atonement must be repeated
for nine months. This may be commuted for twelve cows and
their calves, or 36 kahunus of kourees ; (about one pound sterling.)
If a bramhun have killed a cow belonging to a bramhun, he
must offer the following atonement : — he must have his head
shaved ; for thirty days, dwell with cows, eat barley boiled in the
urine of cows, and wear a cow's skin. For the next two months,
he must eat only once a day. For the two following months, he
must bathe with the urine of cows. During these days of pe-
nance he must abstain from sin ; he must follow a herd of cows ;
h The following is the law respecting this atonement : — The offender, for three
days, is to eat, each day, only twenty-six niouthfuls of rice, clarified butter, milk, &c.
boiled together ; for the next three days he must eat in the evening twenty-two
mouthfuls ; for the next three days he is to ask for nothing, and, unless spontaneously
given him, to eat nothing. If any food be given him, it must be twenty-four mouth-
fuls of the same kind of food as mentioned above ; for the next three days he must eat
nothing. If he abstain from food on those days in which he is allowed to take food i£
given to him, he does not commit a fault. If a person be unable to fast so long, he
may make a commutation by fasting six days. If a person be not able to fast six days,
he may be exempted, on making an offering of a cow and calf ; or, in case of inability
to do this, he may offer three kahunus of kourees.
ATONEMENTS FOR, OFFENCES.
269
stand when they .stand', and eat the dust which they throw up
with their feet. At night, after putting the cows in the stall, he
must bow to them, and then sit upright, cross-legged, and watch
them all night. If one of the herd be sick, or have met with any
misfortune, he must expose his own life for its preservation. He
must not seek the preservation of his own life from the scorching
sun, the chilling cold, the pelting rain, or the driving storm, til] he
have secured the herd. If the cows be feeding on another person's
ground, he is not to drive them away, nor inform the owner. He
must not prevent the calf from sucking, though the cow should not
have been milked. After the person has thus gone through this
atonement without fault, he must offer to a learned bramhun ten
cows and a bull. If this be beyond his ability, he must give up
all he has. If an offender be unable to go through all his penance,
he must, besides the above fee, offer seventeen new-milch cows.
If he be poor, he may offer sixty-six kahurms of kourees k This
is the atonement, if the cow was wilfully killed by a bramhun. If
accidentally killed, the offender must go through half the penance,
and offer one cow. Besides offering the atonement, the person who
has wilfully or accidentally killed a cow, must give to the owner
another cow equally good. If he cannot give such a cow, he must
give a proper price, to be ascertained by live respectable neigh-
bours. If a bramhun castrate a bull, he must offer the six month's
atonement as for killing a bramhun's cow. If a cow die acciden-
tally in the field, it is taken for granted that it was not properly
taken care of, and an atonement must be offered. Such a person
must have his head shaved ; bathe three times a day ; wear a cow's
skin with the horns, hoofs, &c. on it ; follow the herd ; watch the
herd by night, &c. If the animal died at night in the cow-house,
and the keeper was permitted to go home, instead of watching
over the cattle, the atonement must be offered by the owner. If in
consequence of the falling of a bell from a cow's ear1 the cow die,
the owner must offer half of the prajaputyu atonement. If a Hin-
doo sell a cow to a barbarian, he must eat only one mouthful in
the morning for four days, and for the next four days four mouth-
fuls each clay in the evening. If the buyer kill and eat the
cow, the person who disposed of the animal must offer the same
atonement as a bramhun for killing a cow.
* If, however, part of the herd be lying down, and part be standing, he must do
as the greater number do. If the number lying down and the number standing be
equal, he must do that which is most painful to himself ; of course he must stand.
k In the work called Prayusbchittu-vivekii it is declared, that if a person be un-
able to pay this fine, he must beg for twelve years, and whatever he is able to procure,
he must give as a commutation for the atonement. At the present period, persons
may be seen, having the head shaved, making a noise like the lowing of a cow ; having
a rope, with which cow's are tied by the leg, in the band, &c. begging for this avowed
purpose : yet most of these persons make this a contrivance to obtain money.
1 Hung there like an ear-ring, or ornament, but with the intention of keeping the
herd together by the sound.
!
270
ATONEMENTS FOR OFFENCES*
If a man kill a horse, he must make an offering of cloth to a
bramhun.™ If an elephant, lie must give to the bramhuns five
blue bulls. If an ass, a goat, or a sheep, a male calf, one year old,
must be given to a bramhun. If a goose, a peacock, a white heron,
or a hawk, he must give a cow to a bramhun. If a tiger, a milch
cow. If a camel, or a buffalo, he must forfeit a rutuku of gold.
If a hog, he must present to a bramhun a pitcher of clarified butter.
If a parrot, a calf, one year old. If a snake, an axe for cutting-
wood. If a cat, a guano, an ichneumon, or a frog, he must for
three days partake of nothing but milk. If any one of these
offences have been done repeatedly, the offender must offer a fourth
of the prajaputyu atonement. If a person have killed a thousand
larger insects, he must, offer the same atonement as for accidentally
killing a sh55dru. For killing a few small insects, the person
must repeat an incantation, while squeezing his nose with hisfingers.
If a bramhuu, ignorantly, have intercourse once with the wife
of a chandalu, he must offer the prajaputyu atonement during
twelve years. If done wilfully, he must renounce life as the expia-
tion of his sin. If done repeatedly, the offence cannot be expiated.
If a bramhun have improper intercourse with a virgin, or with his
own daughter, or with his son's wife, he must become an eunuch,
and renounce life. If a person of any other caste commit such sin,
he must renounce life by the toosh-anulu atonement0.
m The atonements for killing horses and other animals, as well as insects, are alike
to all the castes. Shoolupanee, a pundit, however, maintains, that in all these cases a
shoodru, a female, a child, and an aged person, are to offer only one half of the atonement.
n In the work called prayu'shchittu-vivekri, the method in which this person must
renounce life is thus related : — After shaving his head, bathing, &c. he must cover
himself with chaff, and, lying down, the fire must be kindled at his feet ; and in this
way, by slow degrees, he must give up his life to expiate his crime. In another work,
the following story is related respecting this method of expiating sin : — In former times,
it was common for very learned pundits, to go from kingdom to kingdom, challeng-
ing each king to bring forth his pundits, to hold disputations on the subjects contain-
ed in the shastrus. Oodnyuuacharya had, in this manner, obtained the victory over
all the piindits in the world. He was also the great instrument in overcoming the
bouddhSs, and in re-establishiug the practice of the ve'dils ; but in arming the "kings
against the bouddhiis he had been instrumental in destroying many bouddhil bram-
huns. Towards the close of his life he went to Jagaimat'huk-kshetrti ; but when he
arrived at the temple, the door shut of itself against him, and he sat at the door, sorrow-
ful, and keeping a fast. In the midst of his fast the god appeared to him in a dream,
and told him, he had been guilty of killing many bramhuns ; he could not, therefore,
isee his face : he must renounce life by offering the toosh-anu'lu atonement. Ooduynna-
charyii was angry with Jftgunnat'hn, and pronounced a curse upon him, telling him,
that in some future period, when he should be destroyed by the bouddhiis, he would
remember his benefactor. This piludit soon afterwards, however, obeyed the com-
mand of JiSgunnat'hrt. When he had been several days suffering in the chaff-fire,
and his lower parts were burnt, Shfmkuracharyix called on him, and challenged him to
dispute. OodilyiSnacharyu declined it, on account of the pain which he endured ; but
Shunktlracharyrt promised to cure the burnt parts, and told him, that after the dispute
was over, he might offer the atonement. OodilyiSnacharyu ridiculed him for pretend-
ing to dispute with him, since he had not sense to judge in a case so obvious : half
his body was burnt already ; and yet he (Shunkuracharyil) advised him to have the
burnt parts restored, in order to dispute with him, in which case he would have to
endure these sufferings twice over. Shiinkfiracharyu, being thus overcome at the
commencement, retired. The other continued the atonement, and thus expiated his sin
of killing the bouddhrt bramhuns.
ATONEMENTS FOR OFFENCES. 271
If a shoodru live with a bramhunee of bad character, he
must renounce life by casting himself into a large fire. If
a shoodru live with a bramhunee of unsullied character, he must
tie straw round the different parts of his body, and cast himself
into the lire. The woman must be placed on an ass, and led round
the city, and then dismissed, never to return. If a voishyu com-
mit the same offence with a bramhunee, or a female kshutriyu, he
must renounce life, tying kooshu grass round his limbs, and then
throwing himself into the fire. If a person defile the bed of his
mother-in-law, he must put a red hot piece of stone or iron into his
mouth, and become an eunuch. If any person have unnatural connec-
tion with a cow, he must repeat the prajaputyu atonement four times.
If a person marry his paternal or maternal niece, he must
perform the chandrayunu atonement, and the marriage becomes
void, though the maintenance of this woman for life will fall upon
the offender. [For marrying within the degrees of consanguinity,
many different atonements are ordered,, according to the nearness
of relationship.]
If a bramhun eat without having on his poita, he must repeat
the gayutree 100 times, and partake of nothing that day but the
urine of cows. If a person eat cow's flesh unknowingly, he must
offer the prajaputyu atonement. If he have repeatedly eaten
cow's flesh, he must perform the chandrayunu vrutu, and forfeit a
bull and a cow. If a person eat the flesh of elephants, horses,
camels, snakes, or dogs, he must continue offering the prajaputyu
atonement during twelve months. If a bramhun drink spirits, he
must again undergo investiture with the poita. If a bramhun
repeatedly eat onions, he must perform the chandra-yunu vrutu,
and be again invested with the poita. If a person drink the
milk of a cow, before the expiration of ten days after she has
calved, he must fast two days. If any man drink the milk of
sheep or buffaloes, he must fast two nights.
If a bramhun eat once with a person whose father was a
shoodru and his mother a bramhunee, he must perform the
chandrayunu vrutu or make an offering of eight cows and their
calves, or 22 J kahunus of kourees. If a bramhun eat the food, or
semen, or urine, or ordure of a voishyu, he must perform the
prajaputyu vrutu ; or perform the other things prescribed instead
of this atonement. If any person be compelled to eat the boiled
rice of a chandalu, he must fast twelve days ; but this may be
commuted by giving to a bramhun five cows with their calves, or
15 kahunus of kourees. If the rice be unboiled, the eater must
fast three days. If a bramhun unknowingly drink water from the
pitcher with which a chandalu draws water from his well, he
must fast three nights, and the next day he must eat cow-dung,
cow's urine, milk, clarified butter, and curds, mixed toge-
272
ATONEMENTS FOR OFFENCES.
ther.° If he do this designedly, the atonement must be doubled. If a
brarnhun drink water from, or bathe in, a pool dug by a chandalu,
he must eat cow-dung, cow's urine, milk, curds, and clarified butter,
mixed together. If a dog touch a brarnhun while he has food in
his hand, the latter must fast one day. If a chandalu touch a
brarnhun before he have washed his hands and month after eating,
the latter must fast three days, and repeat the gayutree a thousand
times.
If a chandalu or mele'chchu break a bramhun's poita, the
brarnhun must oiler the muha-santupuim atonement p twice.
A person, having finished the ceremonies of an atonement,
must lay a handful of grass before a cow ; which if she eat, it is a
proof that the sin of the offender is removed. If she refuse it, the
atonement must be offered again. q
If sins be not expiated by the necessary atonements, the offend-
ers will descend into hell ; from whence, after expiation, they will
again arise, perhaps, to human birth, in consequence of some frag-
ment of merit which they possessed in the preceding birth ; but
they will continue to wear the marks of the sin in which they
died.1' Such persons must offer the proper atonements, when these
° In proportion to the quantity of cow-dung, he must take twice as much urine,
four times as much milk, eight times as much clarified butter, and of curds the same
as clarified butter.
p In this atonement the person must mix water steeped in kooshii grass, milk,
curds, clarified butter, cow-dung, and cow's urine together, and eat them, and the day-
after he must fast.
q Some years ago, a rich Hindoo of Calcutta, who had committed many sins,
thought it necessary to expiate them by an atonement. He invited learned natives
from NMeeya to ascertain the proper atonement, which he afterwards offered ; but
when he came to finish the ceremony by giving grass to the cow, she would not receive
it. This excited the greatest anxiety, and several pundits were consulted, to ascertain
whether the law for the ceremony bad been properly laid down. They all affirmed
that it had ; but on Jftgunnatliu-turku-punchanunu being interrogated, he declared,
that the commutation, instead of three, should have been five kahunus of kourees for
each cow. Upon this information the increased sum was paid ; the cow then ate the
grass, and the offender's sin was known to be expiated ! Several other anecdotes of
this kind are in circulation among the natives. — There is a remarkable coincidence
betwixt this story and that related of Apis, the ox worshipped by the Egyptians, of
whom it is said, that he took food from those that came to consult him ; but that he
refused to eat from the hands of Germanicus Caesar, who died not long after.
v Munoo says, ' A stealer of gold from a brarnhun has whitlows on his nails ; a
drinker of spirits, black teeth ; the slayer of a brarnhun, a marasmus. The violater of
his gooroo's bed shall be a deformed wretch. — For sinful acts mostly corporeal, a man
shall assume after death a vegetable or mineral form ; for acts mostly verbal, the form
of a bird or a beast ; for acts mostly mental, the lowest of human conditions. — The
slayer of a bratnhiln must enter, according to the circumstances of his crime, the body
of a dog, a boar, an ass, a camel, a bull, a goat, a sheep, a stp,g, a bird, a chandalu, or
a puccassa. — A priest, who has drank spirtiuous liquors,shall migrate into the form of a
smaller or larger worm or insect, of a moth, of a fly feeding on ordure, or of some
ravenous animal. — He who steals the gold of a priest, shall pays a thousand times into
the bodies of spiders, of snakes and camelions, of crocodiles and other aquatic mon-
sters, or of mischievous blood-sucking demons. — He who violates the bed of his natural
ATONEMENTS FOR OFFENCES-,
273
sins will be removed. If such a diseased person die without hav-
ing offered the atonement, the funeral rites must be refused.
Should any one burn his body, he must perform the chandrayuntt
vrutu.
If a person weep for the death of a self-murderer, or for a per-
son killed by a cow, or by a bramhun, he or she must offer an
atonement. If a woman repent after ascending the funeral pile, or
after resolving to renounce life in any way allowed by the shastrif,
lie or she must perform the prajapiitu vrutu.
For expiating the sin of falsehood, a person must repeat the
name of Vishnoo once.3 To preserve the life of a bramhun, and to
appease an angry wife, falsehood may be spoken innocently.
When there are many offenders in his kingdom, who ate un-
able to offer the proper atonements, a king must perform the
chanclrayuim vriitu ; by which he will obtain the pardon of the
sins of these subjects, and deliver his kingdom from the effects of
sin remaining unexpiated.1
or spiritual father, migrates a hundred times into the forms of grasses, of shrubs with
crowded stems, or of creeping and twining plants, of vultures and other carnivorous
animals, and other beasts with sharp teeth, or of tigers, and other cruel brutes. —
They who hurt any sentient beings, are born cats and other eaters of raw flesh ;
they who taste what ought not to be tasted, maggots ot small flies; they who
steal ordinary things, devourers of each other ; they who embrace very low womeu,
become restless ghosts. — If a man steal grain in the husk, he shall be born a rat ; if a.
yellow mixed metal, a gander ; if water, a plava, or diver ; if honey, a great stinging
gnat; if milk, a crow ; if expressed juice, a dog; if clarified butter, an ichneumon.—-
■ Jf exquisite perfumes, a muskrat ; if potherbs, a peacock; if dressed grain in any of
its various forms, a porcupine ; if raw grain, a hedgehog. — Jf a deer or an elephant,
he shall be born a wolf ; if a horse, a tiger ; if roots or fruit, an ape ; if n>
woman, a bear ; if water from a jar, the bird chataca ; if carriages, a camel ;
it small cattle, a goat. — Women, who have committed similar thefts, incur a
similar taint, and shall be paired with those male beasts in the form of their females.
— As far as vital souls, addicted to sensuality, indulge themselves in forbidden plea-
sures, even to the same degree shall the acuteuess of their senses be raised in their
future bodies, that they may endure analogous pains. — They shall first have a sensa-
tion of agony in Tamisru, or utter darkness, and in other seats of horror ; in Usipit-
travunu, or the sword-leaved forest ; and in different places of binding fast and of
rending. —Multifarious tortures await them: they shall be mangled by ravens and
owls; shall swallow cakes boiling hot ; shall work over inflamed sands, and shall feel
the pangs of being baked like the vessel of a potter.— They shall assume the forms of
beasts continually miserable, and suffer alternate afflictions from extremities of cold
and of heat, surrounded with terrors of various kinds.— More than once shall they lie
in different wombs, and, after agonizing births, be condemned to severe captivity and
to servile attendance on creatures like themselves.— Then shall follow separations from
kindred and friends ; forced residence with the wicked ; painful gains and ruinous
losses of wealth; friendships hardly acquired, and at length changed into enmities. —
Old age without resource ; diseases attended with anguish ; pangs of innumerable sorts,
and, lastly, unconquerable death.'
8 On the other hand, it is a common saying among the Hindoos, derived from
some of their shastriis, that if a person utter a lie, his family, for fourteen generations,
will successively fall into hell.
1 I have heard a native Christian, when preaching to his coilntrymen, mention
this atonement, to illustrate the fact of God's having given his Son as an atonement
for sins committed in his earthly kingdom.
35
274 EXTRACTS FROM THE KURMU-VIPAKU AND THE UGNEE POORANU
BOOK IV.
DOCTRINES OF THE HINDOO RELIGION.
The reader is referred to another part of this work for the
speculative theories of the Hindoo Mythology. The author has
begun these theories where they appear to be interwoven with the
popular superstition.
CHAP. I.
OF THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS.
After death, the person is conveyed by the messengers of
Yumu through the air to the place of judgment. After receiving
his sentence, he wanders about the earth for twelve months, as an
aerial being or ghost ; and then takes a body suited to his future
condition, whether he ascend to the gods, or suffer in a new body,
or be hurled into some hell. This is the doctrine of several
pooranus ; others maintain, that immediately after death and judg-
ment, the person suffers the pains of hell, and removes his sin by
suffering ; and then returns to the earth in some bodily form.
I add a few particulars respecting the transmigration of
souls from the work called Kumru-vipaku : — He who destroys
a sacrifice will be punished in hell ; he will afterwards be born
again, and remain a fish for three years ; and then ascend to
human birth, but will be afflicted with a continual flux. He
who kills an enemy subdued in war, will be cast into the
hell Krukuchu ; after which he will become a bull, a deer, a
tiger, a bitch, a fish, a man : in the last state he will die of the
palsy. He who eats excellent food without giving any to others,
will be punished in hell 30,000 years, and then be born a musk-
rat ; then a deer ; then a man whose body emits an offensive
smell, and who prefers bad to excellent food. The man who
refuses to his father and mother the food they desire, will be
punished in hell, and afterwards be born a crow ; then a man.
In the latter birth he will not relish any kind of food. The stealer
of a water-pan will be born an alligator, and then a man of a
monstrous size. The person who has lived with a woman of
superior caste, will endure torments in hell during seventy-one
yoogus of the gods : after this, in another hell, he will continue
burning like a blade of grass for 100,000 years. He will next be
born a worm, and after this ascend to human birth ; but his
body will be filled with disease. The stealer of rice will sink into
ON THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS.
275
hell ; will afterwards be born and continue eighteen years a
crow ; then a heron for twelve years ; then a diseased man. He
who kills an animal, not designing it for sacrifice, will, in the
form of a turtle, be punished in hell ; then be born a bull, arid
then a man afflicted with an incurable distemper. He who kills
an animal by holding its breath, or laughs at a pooranu. at the
time of its recital, will, after enduring infernal torments, be born a
snake ; then a tiger, a cow, a white heron, a crow, and a man
having an asthma. He who steal alms will sink into hell, and
afterwards be born a blind man, afflicted with a consumption.
A beautiful woman who despises her husband, will suffer in hell
a variety of torments ; she will then be born a female, and, losing
her husband very soon after marriage, will long suffer the miseries
of widowhood.
The Ugnee pooranu says, that a person who loses human birth,
passes through 8,000,000 births among the inferior creatures
before he can again obtain human birth : of which he remains
2,100,000 births among the immoveable parts of creation, as stones,,
trees, &c. ; 900,000 among the water tribes ; 1,000,000 among
insects, worms, &c. ; 1,000,000 among the birds ; and 3,000,000
among the beasts. In the ascending scale, if his works be suitable,
he continues 400,000 births among the lower castes of men ;
during 100 births among bramhuns ; and after this he may obtain
absorption in Brumhu.
"Whether the doctrine of the metempsychosis originated with
the politician or the philosopher, its influence on the state of
society might form an interesting subject of enquiry. As far as
I have been able to trace its influence, it appears to have the
most unhappy effects upon the present race of Hindoos. All their
sins are considered as necessary consequences of actions done in a
former life, on which account they seldom charge their consciences
with guilt for committing them. If a Hindoo be attacked with
some disease, or fall into peculiar misfortunes, he immediately
traces the cause to the sins of a former birth ; and, instead of
using measures to extricate himself, he sits down in despair,
thinking that these things are inseparably attached to his birth,
and that he can get rid of them only with life itself. In a religious
view, this doctrine is very pernicious : the Christian is taught,
that every thing depends upon the present state, and he there-
fore ' works out his salvation with fear and trembling ;' but the
Hindoo, like all other men, being always disposed to procrastinate
in religion, finds this disposition greatly encouraged, by the hope
that a future birth will be more favourable to him ; that he shall
be born to better fortunes, be rich, or be placed in happier cir-
cumstances for pursuing the concerns of religion. The next birth,
in the mouth of a Hindoo, is the same as ' to-morrow' in the mouth
of a nominal Christian.
276
CONVERSATIONS RESPECTING TRANSMIGRATION.
The faith of the Hindoos in the doctrine of the transmigration
of souls often appears in their conversation, especially when either
prosperous or adverse circumstances have arisen in a family.
When a person is in deep sorrow for the loss of a child, and is
addressed by another on the subject, the former perhaps utters her
grief in some such words as these : — ' What have I done, that I am
thus grievously afflicted ? When I examine my life from my child-
hood, I cannot see that I have done' any harm. Why then does
God thus afflict me? Why did he give me a child ? Why did he
take it away f — She next vents her grief in a torrent of abuse on
Yiimu : — 1 Oh ! Yumu ! What did I do to thee ? I am sure I never
injured thee. Thou knewest that I had none else : I am in this
world like a blind creature ; this child was my staff, — and thou
hast taken him away. O thou wicked Yiimu ! — I will put a wisp
of fire in thy face. — I will flog thee with the broom. — My breast is
rent with grief Another female now joins her, and says, ' Oh !
sister ! What ! is your child gone ? Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! — that vile Yumu
— he is full of injustice. If I could see him, I would cut him into
a thousand pieces. He lias taken all mine ; but he has left you
one.a Ah ! if I were stone, I should split into pieces ; but I am
earth — only flesh and blood, and therefore I am sunk into nothing-.
But why do I thus complain ? I am not singular ; every one's
house is plundered,' Another person now comes in, and says,
' Why do you blame Yumu ? What fault has he done 1 In former
births you must have committed many crimes ; otherwise I cannot
see why you should suffer in this dreadful manner : you have done
nothing but works of merit in this birth. You must have injured
some one's child in a former birth, and now yours is taken from
you. Yumu has done nothing wrong. He is justice itself. He
never errs. Nor ought you to think it extraordinary that a per-
son dies. It is more extraordinary that a peason desires to live.
If you confine a bird in a cage, though you cherish him with the
greatest care, if the door be open he flies away. But though there
are nine openings in the body by which the soul may make its
escape, and though the person be suffering the deepest distress, yet
the soul is not willing to depart ; — this desire of life is more won-
derful than death itself. — When the soul lias taken its flight, then,
why should you think it such an extraordinary thing ? You are
suffering for the sins of many former births ; which sins, like a
shadow, will pursue you, go where you will, and assume whatever
shape you may, till they be expiated by suffering. If this were
not so, why is it that a good man suffers, while a wicked man is
raised to the pinnacle of prosperity ? If men suffered only for the
a The Hindoo women are excessively fond of their children. When a mother
pays her respects to an aged female, she presents her child to receive her blessing, and
says, ' Mother !— give my child your blessing.' The old woman says, 'Live, live, as.
many years as there are hairs on my head.' When a mother takes her child into
company, to prevent ite being hurt by a witch, she rubs its forehead with earth thrown
•up by worms, or with the end of a lamp-wick, and spits cm its breast.
CONVERSATIONS RESPECTING TRANSMIGRATION.
277
*ins of this life, the good would have nothing but happiness, and
the wicked nothing but sorrow.'15
Sometimes the doctrine of transmigration appears in the
conversation of widows, when they are talking over their sorrows
one amongst another. One begins the conversation, by addressing
one of the company, recently become a widow, in some such words
as these : — ' Ah ! why is so much trouble fallen upon you ? You
have continually performed works of merit. I have observed,
that from your childhood you have been very religious.'6 Another
replies, — 1 How you talk ! What ! do you think she is suffering for
sins committed in this birth V The widow addressed now adds : —
' Ah ! my sorrows are indescribable. I am now suffering for the
sins of many births ; the sins of birth after birth, birth after birth,
are fallen upon me. If the sins of numerous births had not been
cast upon me, would my husband (a lac of lives in one) have been
taken from me ? O God, do not bring upon my worst enemy the
misery which I endure. What had I done against God, and what
against him, (her husband,) that I surfer thus? 1 must have
injured him in a former birth, and therefore he was married to me
on purpose to bring upon me the sorrows of widowhood. He was
born in one womb, and I in another ; we were perfect strangers ;.
fate brought us together, and I began to flatter myself that I should
long enjoy the blessings of a married state, when he was seized with
sickness, and, without making the least provision for me, has left
me to crouch and fawn for a handful of rice. When waiting upon
him in his last moments he did not say, ' I leave you this or that ;
you will not be destitute :' but, shutting up my food and garments,
he has thus abandoned me. He ! he was my greatest enemy. If
I meet him in a future state, I'll certainly revenge myself. Instead
of putting fire into his mouth after death, if I had known that he
would have served me thus, I would have put fire in his mouth
while living. I entreat the gods, that in the next birth I may be
a man, and he my wife, and that I may bring upon him exactly
what he has brought upon me ; and that this may be continued
through numerous births. Vile enemy — .' Continuing her address
to a married woman, she says : — f See ! you have two meals a day,
b I have heard it urged, in proof of the realit}- of successive births, that if a child
had not drawn the breast in a former bix-th, it would not, as soon as born, cling to the
breast, aud know how to suck. A person before whom this argument was once urged a
asked how this was to be accounted for when the person arose from the state of a fish
to human birth ?
c When a Hindoo female child shews her attachment to religion, she gathers
vilwu leaves and flowers, and making an image of the lingu, attempts to worship it ;
or she sits down attentively, and watches others while they perforin the ceremonies of
worship ; or she goes to a festival, and assists the females in making the necessary pre-
parations. When she is grown to maturity, she performs different ceremonies to ob-
tain the blessing of a good husband. After marriage she worships Shivu and other
gods, and prays that her husband may love her, and live long, so that she may not
endure the hardships of widowhood. When she becomes a mother, she daily bows to
the gods, repeats their names, and prays that they will bless her child.
2T8
CONVERSATIONS RESPECTING TRANSMIGRATION.
while I have but one ; you have all manner of ornaments, and T
am naked ; you are invited to all the feasts ; d you can eat of all
kinds of delicacies, but I must live on the meanest food ; I must
fast twice a month ; — e there is no end of my sorrows.'
If a person die an untimely death, it is attributed to crimes
committed in a former state of existence. A person born blind, is
supposed to have destroyed the eyes of some one in a former birth.
A few neighbours sitting together, as a person afflicted with an in-
curable distemper passes along, observe, 'Ah! no doubt, that man
was guilty in a former birth of such or such a crime, and now the
consequences appear in his present state.'
The prosperity of persons, especially if they have suddenly
risen from poverty to affluence, frequently gives rise to remarks on
the merits of such persons in a former birth : ' See,' says one, c such
a person was poor, and is now worth so many lacs of rupees. He
must have performed acts of extraordinary merit in former births,
or he could not have so suddenly risen to such a state of affluence.'
When conversing on this subject with a Hindoo, he instanced the
case of Ramu-Huree-Yishwasu, late of Khurdah : — c He was so
poor/ said he, ' that he was indebted to others for a place to lodge
in. After a few years of service with a European, he obtained a
fortune of thirty lacs of rupees. He bought an estate ; erected
a number of temples to Shivu, and then went to Kashee, (Benares,)
where he died in a very short time. Such an auspicious life and
death f can only be attributed to some wonderful acts of devotion
or liberality in former births.'
A very learned man is complimented with having given learn-
ing to others in a former birth.
When the Hindoos see any of the animals used cruelly, especi-
ally cows, they exclaim : — ' Ah ! how many sins must that crea-
ture have committed in a former birth !' They say the same if
they see a dog eating ordure. When they see a dog riding with
his master in his palanqueen, they say, ' True, thou art bom a dog,
but some good works have made thy fate tolerable.'
The pooranils and other shastrus promise deliverance from
future birth upon the performance of different religious ceremonies.
d A widow can take no share in marriage ceremonies, &c. She is not even per-
mitted to touch the bride.
e This fast is kept by widows on the eleventh of the increase and decrease of the
moon in every month ; and is observed so strictly among the higher castes, that
notwithstanding a widow has eaten only once on the preceding day, she does not touch
the least aliment, not even a drop of water, on this day.
f Every one who dies at Kashee becomes a god.
JUDGMENT OF MEN AFTER DEATH.
279
CHAP. II.
JUDGMENT OF MEN AFTER DEATH.
[From tlie Pudmu pooraml.]
At the extremity of the earth southwards, floating on the
waters, is Sungyumimee, the residence of Yumu, the judge of the
dead, and of his recorder Chitru-gooptu, and his messengers. Yumu
has four arms, is of a dark colour, with eyes like the petal of the
water-lily ; in his hands he holds a shell, a discus, a club, and a
lotus ; he rides on Gurooru ; wears a golden poita, and pearl ear-
rings ; and has a crown on his head, and a garland of flowers round
his neck. Chitru-gooptu, the recorder, and Yumu's attendants,
appear in the most pleasing forms.
Those who perform works of merit are led to Yumu's palace
along the most excellent roads, in som e parts of which the heavenly
courtezans are seen dancing or singing ; and gods, gimdhurvus,
&c. are heard chanting the praises of other gods ; in others, showers
of flowers are falling from heaven ; in other parts are houses con-
taining cooling water, and excellent food ; pools of water covered
with nymphceas ; and trees, aflbrding fragrance by their blossoms
and shade by their leaves. The gods are seen to pass on horses or
elephants, with white umbrellas carried over them ; or in palan-
queens or chariots, fanned with the chamurus of the gods ; while
the devurshees are chanting their praises as they pass along.
Some, by the glory issuing from their bodies, illumine the ten
quarters of the world.
Yumu receives the good with much affection, and, feasting
them with excellent food, thus addresses them : — ' Ye are
truly meritorious in your deeds ; ye are wise ; by the power of
your merits ascend to an excellent heaven. He who, born in the
world, performs meritorious actions, he is my father, brother, and
friend.'
The wicked have 688,000 miles to travel to the palace of
Yumu, to receive judgment. In some places they pass over a
pavement of fire ; in others, the earth in which their feet sink is
burning hot ; or they pass over burning sands, or over stones
with sharp edges, or burning hot ; sometimes showers of sharp
instruments, and at others showers of burning cinders, or scalding
water, or stones fall upon them ; burning winds scorch their
bodies ; every now and then they fall into concealed wells full
280
JUDGMENT OF MEN AFTER DEATH.
of darkness, or pass through narrow passages filled with stones,
in which serpents lie concealed ; sometimes the road is filled with
thick darkness ; at other times they pass through the branches of
trees, the leavres of which are full of thorns ; again they walk over
broken pots, or over hard clods of earth, bones, putrifying flesh,
thorns, or sharp spikes ; they meet tigers, jackals, rhinoceroses,
elephants, terrible giants, &c. ; and in some parts they are scorched
in the sun without obtaining the least shade. They travel naked ;
their hair is in disorder ; their throat, lips, &c are parched ; they
are covered with blood, or dirt ; some wail and shriek as they
pass along ; others are weeping ; others have horror depicted on
their countenances ; some are dragged along by leathern thongs
tied round their necks, waists, or hands ; others by cords passed
through holes bored in their noses ; others by the hair, the ears,
the neck, or the heels ; and others are carried, having their heads
and legs tied together. On arriving at the palace, they behold
Yumu clothed with terror, two hundred and forty miles in height ;
his eyes distended like a lake of water ; of a purple colour : with
rays of glory issuing from his body ; his voice is loud as the
thunders at the dissolution of the universe ; the hairs of his body
are each as long as a palm-tree ; a flame of fire proceeds from his
mouth ; the noise of the drawing of his breath is greater than the
roaring of a tempest ; his teeth are exceedingly long, and his nails
like the fan for winnowing corn. In his right hand he holds an
iron club ; his garment is an animal's skin ; and he rides on a
terrific buffalo. Chitru-gooptu also appears as a terrible monster,
and makes a noise like a warrior when about to rush to battle.
Sounds terrible as thunder are heard, ordering punishments to b^
inflicted on the offenders. At length Yumu orders the criminals
into his presence, and thus addresses them : — ' Did you not know
that I am placed above all, to award happiness to the good, and
punishment to the wicked? Knowing this, have you lived in sin ;
iiave you never heard that there are different hells for the punish-
ment of the wicked ; Have you never given your minds to religion ?
To-day, with your own eyes, you shall see the punishment of the
wicked. — From yoogu to yoogu stay in these hells ! — You have
pleased yourselves in sinful practices : endure now the torments
due to these sins. What will weeping avail f Yumu next
directs Chitrugooptu to examime into the offences of the criminals,
who now demand the names of the witnesses : let such, say
they, appear, and give their evidence in our presence. Yumu
smiling, though full of rage, commands Sooryu,g Chundru,h
PuvunuY Ugnee,k Akashu,1 Prit'bivee,™ Vuroonu,n Tit'hee,0 Dinu,p
Ratree,q Pratu-kalu,1* Sundhya-kalu,8 and DhurmuY to appear
against the prisoners ; who, hearing the evidence, are struck dumb,
g The suu. h The moon. 1 Wind. k Fire. 1 yEther. m Earth.
« Water. 0 A lunar-day. i1 Day. i Night. v Morning. 5 Evening.
f A representative of Yumu. All the elements, and the divisions of time, are thus
called upon to witness against the prisoners.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF HAPPINESS.
281
and remain trembling and stupified with fear. Yurnu, then gnash-
ing his teeth, beats the prisoners with his iron club till the}7 roar
with anguish ; after which he drives them to different hells.
CHAR III.
OF FUTURE HAPPINESS.
The shastrus teach that there are four kinds of happiness
after death : 1. That possessed in the heaven of the gods;11 —
2. That when the person is deified ; — 3. That which arises from
dwelling in the presence of the godsx ; — and, 4. In absorption/ In
the three first, the person is subject to future birth, but not in the
last. The three first are obtained by works ; the last by divine
wisdom.
The descriptions which the pooranns give of the heavens of
the gods are truly in the eastern style : all things, even the beds
of the gods, are made of gold and precious stones. All the plea-
sures of these heavens are exactly what we should expect in a sys-
tem formed by uninspired and unrenewed men : like the paradise
of Mahomet, they are houses of ill-fame, rather than places of re-
wards for ' the pure in heart.' Here all the vicious passions are
personified, or rather deified : — the quarrels and licentious intrigues
of the gods fill these places with perpetual uproar, while their im-
purities are described with the same literality and gross detail, as
similar things are talked of among these idolaters on earth. It
would be a flagrant insult to compare these heavens with the
place which our Saviour went to prepare for his disciples f but the
serious enquirer after truth will be struck with this additional
proof, that the Christian religion is ' worthy of all acceptation.'
I here subjoin an account of the heaven of Kooverii, the god
of riches, from the Muhabharutu : — It is eight hundred miles long,
and five hundred and sixty broad. The wind, perfumed with ten
11 The Meemangsu' writers have decided, that there is no separate place of future
happiness; that whether a person enjoy happiness, or endure misery, the whole is
confined to the present life. The pooranus, on the other hand, declare, that there are
many places of happiness and misery, and that persons go to these places after death.
x All raised to heaven are not permitted to approach the god in whose heaven
they reside. This privilege belongs only to favourites.
y The ve"dantu shastrits teach, that wherever a person possessing divine wisdom
dies, he is immediately received into the divine nature, as air, escaping from a vessel
when broken, immediately mixes with the surrounding air. The pooranus, however,
teach, that the soul of such a person ascends to God inhabiting a certain place, and is
there absorbed into the divine nature.
z John xiv. 2,
36
282
DESCRIPTION OF HEAVEN.
thousand odours, blows in soft breezes ; and the place, in every
part adorned with gold and jewels, displays a glory like that pro-
duced by the rays of the full moon. Here are also canals of the
purest water filled with fish, water-fowl, water-lilies, &c. with
flights of steps made of gold ; with forests and gardens in which
Kooveru and his courtezans divert themselves. In the treasury of
this god are immense heaps of jewels, gold, silver, &c. from which
the gods and goddesses supply themselves with ornaments. Koo-
veYu sits on a throne glorious as the meridian sun, and reposes on
a bed equally splendid. He is surrounded by different gods,
among whom are Shivu, Boorga, Shivu's bull, his servants Nundee,
Muha-kalu, Shunkoo, Kurnii, &c. and by a thousand goddesses, or
concubines, shining like the lightning, and adorned with loads of
jewels ; by the titans, by rlavunu, Vibheeshunu, and other rak-
shustis, the pishachus, the gundhurvus, the kinnurus, the upsuras,
the vidyadhuras, the mountain gods, &c. Before this assembly,
the upsuras dance ; the kinnurus, (with horses' mouths,) and the
gundhurvus, sing and play on heavenly instruments. All the
pleasures of the other heavens are to be found here.
The following are esteemed works of merit, capable of raising a
person to celestial happiness : — Honoring, entertaining, serving, and
giving gifts to bramhuns : the more learned the bramhun,the greater
the merit. Worshipping and repeating the names of the gods, and
particularly that of a person's guardian deity ; visiting or residing
at holy places, and performing the accustomed religious ceremonies
there ; performing the shraddhu for deceased ancestors ; bathing in
the Ganges and other sacred rivers ; offering sacrifices ; building
temples ; cutting roads and pools ; planting trees, especially sacred
trees ; making and setting up images ; repeating the gayutree, and
other parts of the vedus ; reading the vedu and other shastrus, or
hearing them read ; honoring and serving a spiritual guide ; hos-
pitality to guests, especially to bramhuns ; fasting, particularly at
times directed by the shastrus ; burning with a deceased husband ;
parting with life in sacred places.
King Soorut'hu was raised to the heaven of Indru for perform-
in o- the sacrifice of a horse." King Trishunkoo obtained heaven
by the power of the merits which Vushisht'hu, a bramhun, trans-
ferred to him.b Umbureeshu, a king, was about to perform a
human sacrifice, in order to obtain heaven; but when going to slay
the victim, through the interference of Vishwamitru, a bramhun,
his sacrifice was accepted of the gods, though the victim was not
slain,c and the king ascended to the heaven of Indru.'1 King In-
* Shree-bhaguvuttt b Ibid.
c He repeated an incantation given by Vishwamitnl, which destroyed th« pow«r
of the fire.
A Shrcp-bhagilvntn,
WORKS OF MERIT ENTITLING TO HEAVEN.
283
dru-dyoomnu, by performing austerities, offering sacrifices, and
presenting gifts to bramlmns, obtained the power of going to
heaven whenever he chose.6
Beside these ' works of merit,' performed by Hindoos ^undor
the hope of obtaining a heaven of sensual pleasures after death,
there are a number of other actions performed by them, supposed
to be meritorious in their nature, but which, in the opinion of ?«
Christian, deserve punishment, even in this life : — The Hindoo
widow, burning with the dead body of her husband, is promised a
residence in heaven during the reigns of fourteen Indrus ; yet no
Christian doubts whether these are real murders or not. The
deaths of vast multitudes of Hindoos are procured or hastened
annually by immersing a part of the body, in a state of dangerous
sickness, in the Ganges, and by pouring large quantities of this
water into the body of the dying person : yet the Hindoos think it
a work of great merit. Many persons voluntarily renounce life in
the Ganges, under the hope of obtaining immediate entrance into
heaven ; and yet a jury of Englishmen would pronounce it self-
murder. Infatuated mothers devote their children to this sacred
river, not doubting but they are sending them to heaven ; yet we
feel certain that every such infant is murdered. Many of the prac-
tices in the presence of the Hindoo idols, in the very midst of wor-
ship, are so dreadfully obscene, that I am persuaded even a
Billingsgate mob would not suffer the actors to escape without
some marks of their disapprobation ; and yet the Hindoos except
nothing less than heaven for these %vorks of merit. A great num-
ber of the Hindoo modern saints live in a state of perpetual intoxi-
cation ; and call this stupefaction, which arises from smoking in-
toxicating herbs, fixing the mind on God. Nor do the brumhu-
charees, who follow the rules of the Tuntrii shastms, and practise
unutterable abominations/ under what they call the forms of reli-
gion, ever doubt whether these acts are meritorious, and capable
of raising the person to heaven or not. Even women of the town
have worship performed by bramhuns in brothels, from which they
expect rewards in a future state : so completely absent from the
Hindoo mind is the Christian idea of purity of heart, and of the
necessity of this in order to approach God.
The Hindoos profess to have a great reliance upon the merit
of their works, though they do not depend upon any one ceremony
to procure future happiness : one Hindoo travels to the south,
another to the north, to obtain some salvation-giving charm : but
after all, he listens to any new nostrum with as much eagerness as
e Muhabharutu.
f Though the author has drawn away the veil from some of the scenes, yet the
Christian public must give him cxedit respecting the rest ; for they are so intohrably
gross, that they cannot be fully dragged into public view.
284 CONVERSATIONS RESPECTING THE STATE OF THE DEAD.
though he had hitherto done nothing towards obtaining heaven."
As a person's continuance in heaven depends on the quantity of
his merit, this may he another reason why the Hindoo performs so
many different works to obtain the same thing.
After the death of a Hindoo who has been particularly diligent
in practising the ceremonies of his religion, his neighbours speak
of him with much respect : one person perhaps asks another, 'Who
has been burnt at the landing place to-day f The other answers :
— ' Such an one : he was an excellent character ; he assisted
others ; he was very strict in performing his daily ablutions ;
he visited such and such holy places ; he was very generous to
bramhuns and to strangers ; he venerated the gods, &c. No doubt
he will obtain a place in heaven.' When a person dies who has
not been liberal to bramhuns, nor expended any thing in the
ceremonies of his religion, his neighbours doom him to hell
without ceremony. When a neighbour mentions him, the person
to whom he speaks affects perhaps to be alarmed that the sound of
such a person's name has entered his ear; and, to remove the
evil effects of such a circumstance, he repeats the names of several
gods in some such form as this : — c Ah ! Ah ! — Muhabharutu !
Muhabharutu ! Muhabharutu ! — Doorga ! Doorga ! Doorga ! I must
fast to-day, I fancy, for hearing this vile person's name repeated.'
If the person has lived in all manner of impurity, and, in the
language of Scripture, c has drank iniquity like water,' and yet
has performed the popular ceremonies with a degree of regularity,
he is spoken of with respect ; for it is a principle of the Hindoo
religion, that good words absolutely atone for bad ones.h Not-
withstanding it is common for survivors to speak in high terms of
the future state of those who were zealous idolaters, it is a
doctrine repeatedly inculcated in the Hindoo shastrus, that those
who have not overcome their passions, (pure and impure,) though
they may have performed the usual ceremonies of their religion,
cannot obtain celestial happiness. The doors of heaven are there-
fore shut against the great bulk of the people : they have neither
performed splendid religious actions, nor subdued their passions,
nor fixed their minds on God, nor performed severe religious aus-
terities. The shoodru, also, having no inheritance in the vedus, is
placed in far worse circumstances than the bramhftn. Heaven was
made for bramhuns, as well as the earth ; and in general a Hindoo
must be raised to bramhinical birth before he can raise his eyes
towards heaven as his home.1 Very few therefore indulge the hope
s The Hindoos have as great a propensity to embrace new theories of religion as
any other heathens whatever, where the caste does not interfere.
h Nominal Christians little imagine how heathenish many of their religious
notions are.
5 How different the spirit of the true religion : — ' To the poor is the gospel preach-
ed.—Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'
DOCTRINE CONCERNING ABSORPTION.
285
of heaven.k On the contrary, when at the point of death, almost
every Hindoo is in a state of the most perplexing anxiety, like
mariners in a storm when the vessel has become wholly unmanage-
able. Such a wretched Hindoo, in these moments, is often heard
giving vent to his grief and fears in the midst of his relatives, as
he lies by the Ganges. If he be advanced in years, they endea-
vour to comfort him by reminding him, that he could not expect to
have lived much longer ; that he leaves a numerous family in com-
fortable circumstances ; and further, that his merits will certainly
raise him to heaven. The dying man however, finds no comfort
in the merit of his works, but gives utterance to excessive grief in
some such language as this : — ' I ! what meritorious deeds have
I performed ? — I have done nothing but sin. — Ah ! where shall I go ?
— Into what hell shall I be plunged ? — What shall I do ? — How
long shall I continue in hell ? — What hope can I have of going to
heaven ? — Here I have been suffering for sin ; and now I must
renew my sufferings ! — How many births must I pass through ? —
Where will my sorrows terminate V — As a forlorn and miserable
hope, he calls upon his friends to give him their blessing, that Gunga
may receive him , and he takes leave of them in the utmost per-
turbation of mind. A Hindoo knows nothing of that hope which
is ' as an anchor to the soul, both sure and stedfast.'
When I urged upon a bramhun with whom I was in conversa-
tion, that the shastriis made large promises1 to those who repeated
the name of a god, or bathed in sacred rivers, or visited holy places,
&c. I was told by a learned bramhun, that the same shastriis de-
clared, that these promises were only made to allure men to the
performance of their duty, and were not meant to be literally ful-
filled."1
Absorption. — God, as separated from matter, the Hindoos con-
template as a being reposing in his own happiness, destitute of
ideas ; as infinite placidity ; as an unruffled sea of bliss ; as being
perfectly abstracted, and void of consciousness. They therefore
deem it the height of perfection to be like this being. Hence
Krishnu, in his discourse to Urjoonii,n praises the man ' who
forsaketh every desire that entereth into his heart ; who is happy
k As all other ways of obtaining heaven are rendered so difficult to the poor, this
is one reason which reconciles a Hindoo widow to the funeral pile ; as by this act she
is quite certain of obtaining future happiness both for herself, her husband, and several
generations of her ancestors.
1 He who bathes in the Ganges at an auspicious junction of certain planets,
is assured that by this act he delivers himself and 3,000,000 of ancestors from hell.
m What a contrast is this to the doctrine of the gospel !— ' Wherein God, willing
more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath : that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible
fur God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us.:— -Heb. vi. 17, 18.
" BliaguViitu* Gecta,
286
METHOD OF OBTAINING ABSORPTION.
of himself ; who is without affection ; who rejoiceth not either
in good or evil ; who, like the tortoise, can restrain his members
from their wonted purpose ; to whom pleasure and pain, gold,
iron, and stones are the same/ ' The learned,' adds Krishnu,
' behold Brumhu alike in the reverend bramhun, perfected in
knowledge ; in the ox, and in the elephant ; in the dog, and in
him who eateth of the flesh of dogs ' The person whose very-
nature, sa}^ they, is absorbed in divine meditation ; whose life is
like a sweet sleep, unconscious and undisturbed ; who does not
even desire God, and who is thus changed into the image of the
ever-blessed ; obtains absorption into Brumhu.0
The ceremonies leading to absorption are called by the name
of tupushya, and the person performing them a tupftshwee. For-
saking the world ; retiring to a forest ; fasting, living on roots,
fruits, &c. remaining in certain postures ; exposure to all the incle-
mencies of the weather, &c. — these, and many other austere
practices, are prescribed, to subdue the passions, to fix the mind,
habituate it to meditation, and fill it with that serenity and
indifference to the world, which is to prepare it for absorption, and
place it beyond the reach of future birth.
The reader will easily perceive, that this part of the Hindoo
religion, separated, as it confessedly was in some measure, from
the popular idolatry, instead of producing any good effects, drew
men away from the practice of all the social duties included in the
second table, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ;' and left
the mind a prey to pride, moroseness, and ignorance. It should
also be observed that many of these austerities were both senseless
and cruel in the extreme : one tupushwee is represented as hang-
ing for hundreds of years with his head downwards ; another, as
living on leaves ; another, on air ; another, as surrounding himself
with four fires, and enduring intolerable heat and thirst ; another,
as standing up to the neck in water ; Valmeeku, it is said, stood
in one posture, repeating the name of Bamu, till the white ants
(termed bellicosus) surrounded his body with a case of earth, and
devoured the flesh from his bones.
These tupushwees are supposed to have been the authors of
the most ancient of the Hindoo writings ; in some of which, it is
admitted, sentiments are to be found which do honor to human
nature. But it is equally certain that these sages were very
little affected by these sentiments ; and perhaps the same might be
0 Some of the followers of Vishnoo (voishmiviis) are not pleased with the idea
of absorption, or of losing a distinct and conscious state of existence. They are
represented as praying : — ' 0 Vishnoo ! we do not wish for absorption ; but for a
state of happiness in which we shall for ever see and serve thee as our lord ; in which
thou wilt continue as our beloved master, and we as thy servants.' Agreeably to
this prayer, they believe that devoted voishnuviis after death will be freed from
future birth, and remain for ever near Vishnoo in the heaven of this god.
METHOD OF OBTAINING ABSORPTION.
287
said of almost all the lieatlien philosophers. Yushisht'hu inflicted
on himself incredible acts of severity; but in the midst of his
devotions he became attached to a heavenly courtezan, and cohabit-
ed with her 5,000 years.p. Purashuru, an ascetic, violated the
daughter of a fisherman, who was ferrying him over a river ; from
which intercourse sprang the famous Vyasu, the author of the
Muhabharutu.q The father of Rishyu-shringu cohabited with a
deer, and his son had deer's horns.1' Kupdu, an ascetic, reduced
king Sagurif s 60,000 sons to ashes, because they mistook him for
a horse-stealer.8 Brigoo, in a fit of passion, kicked the god Vishnoo
on the breast.' Richeeku, for the sake of a subsistence, sold his
son for a human sacrifice.11 Doorvasa, a sage, was so addicted to
anger, that he was a terror both to gods and men." Ourvvu,
another sage, in a fit of anger, destroyed the whole race of
Hoihuyu with fire- from his mouth ;y and Doorvasa did the same
to the whole posterity of KrishnuV Javalee, an ascetic, stands
charged with stealing cow's flesh at a sacrifice : when the beef
was sought for, the saint, to avoid detection, turned it into onions ;
and hence onions are forbidden to the Hindoos.3 The pooranus,
indeed, abound with accounts of the crimes of these saints, so
famous for their religious austerities : anger and lust seem to have
been their predominant vices.
As it respects the modern devotees, none of them expect
absorption : they content themselves with performing the popular
ceremonies, and thus fall under the censures of Krishnu, who says,
' Numbers prefer a transient enjoyment of heaven to eternal
absorption.' It is true, now and then a poor wretch is seen naked,
covered with ashes, and his hair clotted with dirt, whose vacant,
brutish looks indicate that he is approaching a state of complete
abstraction, and that he may soon hope to enter into this perfect
state, viz., to live in a world full of wonders, without a single
passion left to be affected by them. Yet even this abstraction, or
contempt of the world, if it can deserve such a name, is brought on
by shunning the presence of man, and continually smoking intoxi-
cating herbs.
p Muhabhariitii.
1 Shree-bhaguviStu.
y Ramayunu.
q Ibid. r Ramayunii.
u Ramayunu.
z Shree-Bhaguvatu.
• Mtthabhariftti.
* Ibid.
« Ibid.
288 EXTRACTS FROM THE SHREE-BHAGUVUTU.
CHAP. IV.
OF FUTURE PUNISHMENTS.
The Shree-bhaguvutu contains the following . account of the
punishments endured in different hells : — The person guilty of
adultery or fornication, the thief, and the stealer of children, are
to be cast into the hell Tamisru, and continually famished and
beaten. He who defrauds others, is to be cast into a hell of dark-
ness. The proud person, who also neglects the ceremonies of reli-
gion, is to be tormented by the animals Rooroo. The glutton, who
has also been guilty of destroying animals, is to be thrown into a
hell of boiling oil. He who disregards the vedu and bramhuns, is
to be punished in a hell of burning metal for 3,500,000 years. He
who injures a man of a superior order, is to be torn by swine. The
unmerciful are to be tormented by snakes, flies, deer, birds, lice,
wasps, &c. The bramhun, bramhunee, brumhucharee, voishyu,
or king, who drinks spirits, shall be thrown into pans of liquid fire.
He who despises a religious devotee, shall be punished by sticking
fast in mud with his head downwards. He who kills a man, and
offers him to the gods ; and he who devours any animal, without
having slain it in sacrifice ; are to be feci on flesh and blood. He
who betrays and afterwards destroys a person, is to be pierced with
spears and arrows. The person who causes sorrow to others, is to
be bitten by snakes with five heads. He who is inhospitable to
guests, must have his eyes torn out by vultures and other ravenous
birds. The covetous are to be fed with impure substances. He
who cohabits with a woman of another caste, or a virgin, or the
wife of another man, is to be inclosed in the arms of an iron female
image made red hot. The person who professes different religions,
and is familiar with all castes,is to be punished by being continually
cast down from lofty trees. The bramhun who commits adultery
with the wife of a bramhun, is to be fed with blood. Highway
robbers, those who burn houses, or poison others, are to be bitten
by dogs with enormous teeth. False-witnesses are to be cast from
rocks 800 miles high.b
I here insert the names of some of the Hindoo hells : — Tamis-
ru, or the hell of darkness ; Undhu-tamisru, the hell of great dark-
ness ; Rouravu, a hell full of animals called Rooroo ; Muha-rouru-
vu, a similar but more dreadful hell ; Koombhee-paku, a hell of
boiling oil ; Kalu-S55tru, a hell of burning copper ; Usiputru-vimu
b It is to be understood, that punishments in hell may be prevented in many cases
by offering the appointed atonement. Punishment by the magistrate is also consi-
dered as an atonement, exempting the culprit from sufferings in a future state.
What good news this would be to English malefactors who die by the hands of the execu-
tioners— if they could believe it.
NAMES AND NATURE OF HINDOO HELLS.
289
a wilderness in which criminals are punished by the thorns of the
talu-tree ; Shookru-mookhil, a hell where criminals are bitten by
animals having the faces of swine ; Unclhu-k65pu, a hell dark and
full of reptiles ; Kriinee-bhojunu, where criminals become worms
feeding on ordure ; Sundungshu, where sinners are burnt with hot
iron ; Tuptu-sho5rmee, in which adulterers are tormented in the
embraces of a red hoi -iron female image ; Vujru-kuntuku-shal-
mulee, where men are thrown on trees full of dreadful thorns ;
Voiturunee, a river full of filth ; Podyodu, a similar hell ; Pranii-niro-
dhil, where sinners are pierced with arrows ; Vishusunu, where
they are beaten with clubs, &c. ; Lala-bhuksh u, where they are fed
with saliva, &c. ; S h a ru-m ey adit nit, in which dogs continually bite
the wicked ; Uvee-chimuyu, where false witnesses are thrown
headlong upon a hard pavement ; Patunu, where sinners are pinch-
ed with hot tongs ; Ksharu-kurddumu, where they are hurled
into mire ; Pukshy ogun u-bh oj unu, where cannibals feed on the flesh
of sinners ; Shooluprot'hu, where the wicked are punished by spears
and birds of prey ; Dundu-shooku, where snakes with many heads
bite and devour sinners ; U v u t u - n i r o d h u n ii where offenders are
punished in darkness with the fear of the approach of wild beasts ;
Upurya-viirtunu, where the eyes of sinners are picked out by birds
of prey ; and Soochee-mookhu, where sinners are pricked with
needles. Beside these, the Shree-bhagdvutu says, there are 100,000
hells, in which different kinds of torments are inflicted on criminals,
according to the directions of the shastrils, and the nature of their guilt.
The Hindoos in general manifest great fear of future punish-
ment. Sometimes, after committing a dreadful sin, these fears are
expressed to a friend in some such words as these ; — ' I have com-
mitted a shocking crime, and I must endure great and lung-con-
tinued torments : but what can I do ? There is no remedy now.'
Sometimes these fears are so great that they drive a man to per-
form many works of merit, particularly works of atonement. If
the offender be rich, they extort large sums of money from him,
which are expended in gifts to brarahuns, or in religious ceremonies.
If he be poor, he bathes in the Ganges with more constancy, or goes
on pilgrimage to different holy places. The Hindoos consider
some sins as sending whole generations to hell. A false witness is
to suffer future torments, and with him fourteen generations of his
family ; the man who swears by the waters of the Ganges involves
himself and family in the same sufferings.0 If a Hindoo at the
time of worship put a stalk, of do5rva grass on the lingu, he and
seven generations sink into hell
Emancipation of the wicked, a story, from the Muhabhartitil. — ■
Ravunit at one time had conquered the three worlds, heaven, earth,
c I have heard a Hindoo say, that such a person not only incurs ail this future
misery, but that the hand that touches the sacred water becomes white. This person
said he had seen several Hindoos who bore this mark of the wrath of the gods,
37
290
EABLE RESPECTING HINDOO HELLS.
and patalu ; and, as is said of Alexander, lie sighed that there were
no more worlds to conquer. When meditating where he should go
next, the world of misery came into his mind ; and he immediately
resolved to pay a visit to Yunru. Before his arrival, it was an-
nounced that Ravunu was coming : Yumu, tilled with fear, sent
word, that he had already surrendered to him, and was become his
vassal. Ravunu, however, pushed forward, and found Yumu all
submission. The conqueror, before his return, resolved to visit the
place of the damned : but on his arrival, he was petrified with
horror at the cries of the miserable wretches ; and, reflecting on
what he saw, said, ' I have conquered the three worlds, and there
remains nothing which my prowess has not performed. It will be
a glorious thing for me to set all these wretches at liberty.' — He
immediately attempted to comfort the sufferers, by assuring them
that he would not depart without accomplishing their deliverance.
A. transient gleam of hope visited the regions of despair. Ravunu
then commanded ' the spirits from the fiery deep,' and, with his
twenty arms, began to drag them up ; but as fast as he landed
them on the side, they fell in again : still he continued his efforts,
till lie saw that they were unavailing, and that he could not reverse
the decree which had fixed them in misery. Acknowledging his
disappointment to the poor prisoners, he left them, and returned to
Lftnka, (Ceylon.)
/
PREPARATORY DUTIES OF A MENDICANT,
291
BOOK V,
HINDOO SAINTS, OR MENDICANTS.
The Hindoo shastrus have described four different states
(ashrumu) into which it is proper for each bramhuin to enter, viz :
Brumhucharyu,* Grihust'hu,b Vanu-prust'lru,c and Brumhu-gnanee ;d
and it appears to have been the design of the founders of the Hin-
doo religion, that these orders should be suited to the four dis-
tinguishing periods in the life of man. While the youth continues
in a state of instruction, he is called a Brumhucharee, and the daily
duties of this state are laid down for him ; after marriage he be-
comes a Grihust'hu, and performs the several duties of civil life as
a householder ; at the age of fifty he renounces the world, and
enters a forest ; and lastly, by the power of religious austerities, he
becomes perfectly insensible to all human things, and is absorbed
in divine meditation.
The duties of a bramhun student are laid down at large by
Munoo and other writers. When the youth is about to leave this
state, and to enter on the duties of a householder, he takes a staff
in his hand, and pretends to leave the house, and go into a forest,
to read the vedus, and to obtain his food by begging : — but the
parents stop him, saying, 1 Oh ! child, return ; thou shalt not
go into the wilderness : we will supply thee with alms. Besides,
become a householder, marry, and perform the duties of a Grihust'-
hu.' From the first to the twelfth day, the face of the boy is not to
be seen by any shoodru, nor is he to see the face of a person of this
caste.6 He bathes early in the morning with a cloth over his face
as he passes through the streets, one person going before and
another behind him ; and if a sh56dru should approach they direct
him to pass another way, as a Brumhucharee is going to bathe.
He must eat only once a day ; abstain from flesh, fish, &c. ; and
perforin the proper ceremonies three times a day. On the twelfth
day, with his staff in his hand, he bathes, and casts his staff into the
stream, repeating incantations, intimating that he renounces the
state of the Brumhucharee, and becomes a Grihust'hu. On this
day some persons, for the sake of obtaining a few rupees, permit
their son to receive alms from the hands of a female shoodru, who,
from that time, calls this child the son of her alms. Having no
a A student. b A householder.
c A hermit ; from vituiS, a forest, and prust'ml, goiDg.
d A person possessed of divine knowledge.
« It is a shocking circumstance, and proclaims the true origin of the Hindoo reli-
gion, that it seeks all occasions to degrade and wound the feelings of the shoodru.
How different the Holy Scriptures : ' Honour all men.'
292
PREPARATORY DUTIES OF A MENDICANT.
son of her own, she visits the child, and takes him as a visitor to
her own house, where she feasts and clothes him. I have heard
of very large sums being given to the child of a bramlmn, when he
has* thus become the son of a person's alms. 1 can find no other
reason for this practice, than that a woman without children is
pleased even with such a son ; especially as he is the offspring of a
bramlmn. In a short time after the child has thus resolved to
enter the state of a Griimst'lm, he is generally married. The duties
assigned to him by the shastrus as a householder are, the dailv
offerings to the manes, and of clarified butter in the burnt-offer-
ing; the daily worship of the shalgramu, and the cow; the
raising of offspring ; his daily business ; the feeling of strangers ;
the hearing of the shastrus, bathing, repeating the names of the
gods, the worship of the gods, &c.
The next state is called Vanu-prust'lm, or, that of a hermit ;
for which order Munoo gives the following directions: — 'When the
father of a family perceives his muscles become flaccid, and his hair
grey, and sees the child of his child, let him then seek refuge in a
forest. Abandoning all food eaten in towns, and all his household
utensils, let him repair to the lonely wood, committing the care of
his wife to her sons, or accompanied by her, if she choose to attend
him. Let him take up his consecrated fire, and all his domestic
implements of making oblations to it, and, departing from the
town to the forest, let him dwell in it with complete power over
his organs of sense and of action. With many sorts of pure food,
such as holy sages used to eat ; with green herbs, roots, and fruit ;
let him perform the five great sacraments, introducing them with
due ceremonies. Let him wear a black antelope's hide, or a vesture
of bark; let him bathe evening and morning; let him suffer the
hairs of his head, his beard, and his nails to grow continually.
From such food as he may eat, let him, to the utmost of his power,
make offerings and give alms ; and with presents of water, roots,
and fruit, let him honour those who visit his hermitage. Let him
be constantly engaged in reading the vedus ; patient of all extre-
mities, universally benevolent, with a mind intent on the Supreme
Being ; a perpetual giver, but no receiver of gifts ; with tender
affection for all animated bodies. Let him slide backwards and
forwards on the ground ; or let him stand a whole day on tip-toe ;
or let him continue in motion rising and sitting alternately : but at
sunrise, at noon, and at sunset, let him go to the waters and bathe.
In the best season, let him sit exposed to five fires ; four blazing
around him, with the sun above : in the rains, let him stand un-
covered, without even a mantle, and where the clouds pour the
heaviest showers : in the cold season, let him wear humid vesture ;
and let him increase by degrees the austerity of his devotion. Then,
having reposited his holy fires, as the law directs, in his mind, let
him live without external fire, without a mansion, wholly silent,
feeding on roots and fruit. Or the hermit may bring food from a
REMARKS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF MENDICITY.
293
town, having received it in a basket of leaves, in Lis naked Land,
or in a potsherd ; and then let him swallow eight raouthfuls. A
bramhun, becoming void of sorrow and fear, and having shuffled
off' his bo cry by any of those modes which great sages practised,
rises to exaltation in the divine essence/
The reader is not to expect any such ascetics now, if they ever
did exist. There are, however, many things among the religious
mendicants of the present day which remind ns of the descriptions
of a tnpnshwee in the shastrus. To suggest the idea of their hav-
ing subdued their passions, some are almost naked, or entirely so ;
or to point out that they belong to the sect of ascetics who lived
in forests, they wear tigers' skins ; some keep the arm in an erect
posture, and permit their nails to grow till they resemble the claws
of a bird of prey.
Yet these persons renounce the world, because it has frowned
upon them, or because the state of a religious beggar in a warm
climate is preferred by an idle people to that of the lowest order
of day-labourers. When I asked a learned bramhun, whether
there were not some instances of persons, from religious motives,
renouncing the world and becoming mendicants, he said, there
might be, but he did not know of a single instance.
These mendicants, so far from having subdued their passions, fre-
quently curse those who refuse to give them food ; many are common
thieves ; almost all live in an unchaste state ; and others are almost
continually drunk by smoking intoxicating drugs. They are total
strangers to real purity of heart, and righteousness of life. They
dread to kill an insect, to reproach a bramhun, or to neglect a cere-
mon}^ ; but their impure thoughts, or unjust actions, never disturb
their peace. Indeed some of the most exalted of the Hindoo saints,
as has been already shewn, burned with rage so as to become a
terror to all who approached them ; and their impurities, as record-
ed in the pooranus, are too offensive ever to reach a European ear.
Even the god Shivu, one of the greatest tupushwees of all the Hin-
doo ascetics, was once so captivated, says the Muhabharutu, with
the charms of the goddess Mohinee, that he declared he would part
with the merit of all his religious austerities for a single gratifica-
tion of his impure desires.
In some parts of the upper provinces, these mendicants unite
in bodies, and become public plunderers, the inhabitants of whole
villages abandoning their houses on their approach. They gene-
rally live in. a mixed intercourse of the sexes, though few women are
to be seen among them ; they nearly approach the gypsies in
Europe in the grossness of their manners, but far exceed them in
the filthiness of their outward appearance. Sometimes two or
three thousand, though more frequently two or three hundred,
294
ACCOUNT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENDICANTS.
are seen in bodies, Laving leaders to guide them/ Many are
armed with swords and spears, and all have some weapons, They
carry with them images of the shalgramu, and stone images of
Krishnu, which they worship once a day, as devoutly as thieves
can be supposed to do. They are not likely to feel any remorse on
account of their crimes when bowing before the image of the
lascivious Krishnu.
I here subjoin a brief account of the different orders of religious
mendicants, as they exist at the present day : —
VoishnuvUs or Voiragees. — All the followers ofVishnoo are
called Voishnuvus. The term voiragee denotes a person destitute of
passions. Most of the mendicant voiragees are the folloAvers of
Choitunyu, and have what are called Gosaees at their head.
Persons of this sect take new wives (voiraginees) from among the
female disciples of the Gosaees : these are generally unchaste
women, who enter into this order when their youth is fled. The
Gosaees have a form of marriage peculiar to themselves/ the
principal ceremony in which is an exchange of necklaces by the
bride and bridegroom, and the alteration of the bride's name : she
generally wanders from place to place with her new husband.
Some of these female disciples become procuresses, and others beg
for their food as the followers of Choitunyu. Many wandering
voiragees sing the praises of Krishnu and Choitunyu before the
doors of persons where they beg ; a few continue in a secular state,
rear and sell calves, or lend mony on exorbitant interest.11 The
voiragee mendicants are much more social in their manners than
any other tribe of Hindoo wanderers ; they generally remain in
towns, and mix with the inhabitants. The voiragees contend as
strongly with the followers of the deities who receive bloody offer-
ings, as a Christian could do against idolatry.1
Sunyasees. — These mendicant worshippers of Shivu are very
numerous in Bengal, but are not much honoured by their country-
men. They smear their bodies with the ashes of cow-dung, wear
a narrow cloth tied with a rope round their loins, and throw a cloth,
dyed red, over their bodies. The artificial hair worn by some of
f At a particular junction of the heavenly bodies, sometimes as many as twenty
thousand Sunyasees and an equal number of Voiragees meet at Hftridwaril, and
fight, to determine who shall descend and bathe in Giinga first. The Sunyasees say,
' Gunga descended from the bunch of hair on the head of our god Shivu ; therefore
we will bathe first.' The Voiragees reply, 4 Gunga descended from the foot of our
god Vishnoo, therefore the right to bathe first is ours.'
e The better sort of Hindoos consider these marriages as convenient methods of
committing adultery.
h As much as 75 per cent, is given in some cases ; but 36 per cent, is commonly
given.
1 When I once asked a learned native respecting the many disputes and differences
in religion among the Hindoos, he said, 1 True, we need not complain of others ; the
uproar is in our own house.'
ACCOUNT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENDICANTS.
295
these persons reaches down to their feet, and is often clotted with
dirt till it adheres together like a rope. Some tie the teeth of
swine, as ornaments, on their arms, and others travel naked. The
respectable simyasees profess to live in a state of celibacy, eating
neither flesh nor fish, nor anointing their bodies with oil.
Ramatu. — This class of mendicants, worshippers of Ramu, is
formed of persons born in the western provinces of Hindoost'hanu.
With a rope or an iron chain they tie a shred of cloth very close
round their loins ; rub their bodies with the ashes of cow-dung,
and wander to holy places in large companies, many of them armed
with spears, swords, &c. They do not individually beg, but quarter
themselves in a body on rich men. The Ramatus make fires in the
night, and sleep near them in the open air. They smoke intoxica-
ting herbs to great excess.
Nimatu. — Another kind of devotees, having a different spiri-
tual head from the Ramatus. In dress, ceremonies, &c. they are
the same.
Naga. — These persons are in almost every respect the same as
the Ramatus, expect in the mark on the forehead.
Nanuku-puntliees. — A description of mendicants, followers of
Nanuku, though this order was founded by a Shikh named
Soot'hara.
Yadoo-pilnt'hee. — A tribe of mendicants founded by a man
named Yadoo. Scarcely any of them are to be seen in Bengal, but,
many wander up and down in the Punjab.
Kuveeru-punfhees. — Kuveeru, a Musulman, was the founder
of this order of mendicants : they renounce secular affairs, worship
Ram-ft, and live on alms ; they pretend to desire neither the merit
of works, nor riches, nor future happiness ; but, pi'actising the cere-
monies of their sect, leave the present and future to God.
Sufcee-bhavu. — These mendicants, born in the western provin-
ces, and composed of bramhuns and other castes, are followers of
Krishnu. ; and though men, put on the dress and ornaments, and
assume the manners of women, professing the same attachment to
Krishnu as the milk-maids are said to have had when Krishnu was
on earth. They paint and adorn with flowers an image of Krishnu,
and dancing around it, in imitation of the milk-maids, worship
it daily.
Khelanta-yogee. — These mendicants profess to have made
a vow to imitate Shivu in dress and manners : many of them
fasten artificial snakes round their foreheads ; put strings of hunmn
bones round their necks ; wear the skins of tigers, or go naked ;
and smear their bodies with ashes.
V
296 ACCOUNT OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENDICANTS.
Yungumu. These followers of Shivu wander about, ringing
a bell, and asking alms. Very few are to be seen in Bengal.
Kanu-pata-yogee. Other followers of Shivu ; who subsist on
alms, and are particularly distinguished for wearing in their ears
a large stone or shell.
The Shurevuves, who are regarded as Bouddhus, profess to be
extremely anxious to avoid destroying animal life, even in its most
diminutive forms j hence they carry besoms with them to sweep
the road, lest they should tread on an insect.
Ughorti-ptinthM. These mendicants, born in the western
parts of Hindoost'hanu, wander about naked or nearly so, carrying
in the left hand a human skull containing urine and ordure, and a
pan of burning coals in the right. If these marks of self-denial
do not extort the alms they expect, they profess to eat the ordure
out of the skull, in the presence of the persons from whom they are
begging.
Bvumhucharees. The three superior castes may enter into
this order, the members of which subsist by begging ; reside at
temples, or holy places ; wear red clothes » and bind round the
arms and neck, and suspend from the ears, strings made of the
seeds of grapes. They have the head shaved, though they some-
times wear a beard. In outward appearance, the principal differ-
ence betwixt a brumhucharee and a dundee lies in the former hav-
ing no staff in his hand. The time of one of these mendicants is
principally occupied in repeating the name of his guardian deity,
and counting the repetitions by his mala. All the brumhiacharees
drink spirits, smoke and eat intoxicating drugs, and reject no kind
of food.
Dundee. This name is given because these devotees receive
a staff (dundu) when they first enter this order. The bramhuns,
on meeting with a person of this order, prostrate themselves before
him. The dundee shaves his head and beard every four months,
wears a narrow cloth round his loins, and another loose red cloth
over his body ; abstains from fish, flesh, oil, common salt, and rice
which has been welted in cleansing. He travels with a staff in
one hand, and an alms'-dish in the other. The principal cere-
monies to which this order attend are, repeating the name of Vish-
noo, bathing once a day, and with closed eyes meditating (manusuk)
on the attributes of Vishnoo. This last act is done by the side of
the river. When about to bathe, they besmear themselves all
over with the earth washed by the waves of the Ganges. The
dundee does not beg his food, nor cook with his own hands ; but
is a guest at the houses of bramhuns. If a householder hear that
a dundee is come into the village, he goes to him and invites him
In performing this ceremony, Vishwamitrn spent 1,000 years without breathing.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENDICANTS.
297
to become his guest. A dundee blesses a person who is prostrate
at his feet, by pronouncing the name of Narayunu. When he passes
through a village, all the people come to their doors to stare at
him, so seldom are these people seen in Bengal. As soon as a
person becomes a dundee, he is freed from mortal birth, and is said
to become Vishnoo, and after death to obtain absorption in Brumhu.
Some bramhuns, on the approach of death, enter into the order,
for the sake of enjoying happiness without any further transmi-
grations. The dundees do not burn, but bury their dead, repeat-
ing incantations.
Oordhoo-vahoo. These persons belong to the order of Sunya-
sees. To fulfil a vow to Vishnoo,1 they hold up the right arm till
it cannot be brought into its natural position again. m For the first
few days of raising the arm into this posture the pain is great.
Some make a vow to hold up the arm till death, and others to
hold it up for certain number of years. The longer it is held up,
the greater merit. When a person wishes to bring the arm to its
former position, he anoints the joints with clarified butter ; and
in about two months, by degrees, the arm obtains its former
position, and in time become as strong as before. When this
vow is fulfilled, the worship of Vishnoo is performed, and a fee
given to the head priest of the sunyasees. It is supposed, that
on the road from Jugunnat'hu's temple in Orissa to Benares, not
less than two hundred of these mendicants may be seen.
Mounee. These devotees enter into a vow of perpetual silence.
They generally reside on the banks of the Ganges, and subsist on
milk, sugar, fruits, roots, sweetmeats, and water. They go almost
naked, besmearing their bodies with the ashes of cow-dung. The
people supply them with food in considerable abundance as an act
of merit ; or their disciples collect food by begging. They should
eat only once a day.
Purum-hungsti. A few persons are to be seen at holy places
who call themselves by this name, but they do not come up to the
description of the shastru. They pretend to be destitute of all
regard to visible objects ; they go naked ; have no apparent in-
tercourse with human beings ; remain speechless ; ask for nothing
and yet subsist on alms; eat any thing given them ; disregard all
outward purifications ; and wear their beard and the hair of their
head, unless some one take compassion on them and pay the bar-
ber. These persons affirm, that they have attained to that state
of perfection which the shastrtis require, viz., that their minds do
not wander after worldly things, and that they live in a state of
pleasure : but this abstraction and joy arise only from the fumes
of drugs or spirits, by which all the other passions are overcome.
I have seen such persons at Kalee-ghatu, near Calcutta. Instead
1 The directions respecting this vow are contained in the smritee shastrus.
m Until the arm has become stiff, they tie it up in the night.
OS
298
A SCENE AT GUJSTGA-SAGURU.
of dwelling in forests according to the directions of the shastru,
they remain at these places, in order to attract notice, and to ob-
tain voluntary alms. The pundit with whom I wrote this, acknow-
leged that pride was the reigning principle in these modern purum-
hungsus.
*
Muha-poarooshu and Siddhii-poorooshu. The most distin-
guished Hindoo saints have had the former name assigned to them
which signifies, The Great. Siddhu-poorooshu implies, that this
person has obtained an interview with his guardian deity, and that
he can do whatever miracle he pleases.
When I enquired of a koolinu bramhun with whom I was
sitting, whether any modern Hindoo sought to obtain an interview
with his guardian deity, he affirmed there were such persons. Asking
him for particulars, he mentioned his own uncle. I asked him what
his uncle did to obtain this interview % He said, from the age of
fifteen he had been repeating the name of his guardian deity. He
did not abide in the house, but mostly staid at a temple of Shivu
in the neighbourhood. He had never married ; sought no earthly
happiness ; ate any where, and, obtaining a bed of straw, sought
nothing better. His whole waking time, day and night, was spent
in repeating the name of his god. When the uncle was asked by
this nephew what he had obtained, he shook his head : but
apologized for not having been blessed with the interview he
expected, by declaring that he was not free from fear ; that when
he was sitting in a solitary place repeating the name of his god, he
was afraid, and durst not remain there.
In January, 1806, the author visited what the natives call
Gunga-Saguru, (Saguru island.) Near two huts made of heavy
logs of dried wood on the sands, he found two voiragees who had
embraced the principle of perfect abstraction from all sublunary
things. They were natives of the upper provinces. These huts
were pretty strong, and might be a tolerable defence against the
tigers. At their front, a broad heap of sand was raised, upon
which they had kindled a fire, and before which one of the
voiragees sat on a deer's skin, squeezing the leaf of an intoxicating
plant called ganja, which he afterwards smoked. This man had a
poita on ; his hair tied in a large bunch at the top of his head ; a
rope round his waist, upon which was tied a piece of the bark of
the plantain tree, which in part only covered his nakedness ; and
a shred of cloth also tied round his head ; except which he was
perfectly naked. We entered into conversation with this man,
who professed to be a worshipper of Ramu. He declaimed against
a worldlv state : told us we were in a state of constant agitation ;
but that he, indifferent to all these things, was full of joy : if he
had food, it was well ; if not, he contented himself with the name
of Kamu. When asked what he proposed to himself by this mode
of life, he professed that he had neither desires nor hopes; and
A SCENE AT GUNGA-SAGURU.
299
that he did not become a yogee to expiate sin. He gave us, from
a hole in the sand before his hut, some tolerably sweet water, for
which we offered him a reward : but he declined accepting it,
unless we would leave it on the spot ; he would not move a step to
obtain it. I endeavoured to convince him, that his love of ganja
was a proof that all passion was not extinct in him ; but he tried
to ward off this attack by professing indifference even towards
this indulgence. After this, when a rupee was given to him, he
asked what he could do with it ; and would not touch it in the
giver's presence, who threw it down for him on the deer's skin
upon which he sat.
From these huts we went to a neighbouring temple, which
contained a stone image of Kopilu, the sage. Here we found two
mendicants from the upper provinces, one of them a young man,
an Oordhu-vahoo, who had held up his left arm till it was become
stiff. They were both covered with ashes ; their hair clotted with
dirt, and tied in a bunch at the top of the head ; and were without
any covering except the bark of some tree, and a shred of cloth
drawn up betwixt the legs. At a distance, they could scarcely be
distinguished as men : and it appeared almost impossible for human
beings to manifest a greater disregard of the body. We asked the
young man, how long he had held up his arm in this manner ? He
said, ' for three years.' To the question whether it produced any
pain, he replied, that, as far as his body was concerned, it did so
for the first six months. The nails of this hand were grown long-
like the claws of a bird of prey. In his hut we saw two bead-rolls
made of the stalk of the basil, a deer's skin, the horns of a deer,
some embers, a piece of sacking, &c. — When asked why he em-
braced this manner of life, his reply implied an indifference to
future rewards ; he seemed scarcely willing to Gonfess that he had
any connections, father or mother, and reluctantly mentioned the
place of his birth. Respecting his food he manifested the same
indifference, though we discovered in one of the temples a large
quantity of corn, clarified butter, spices, &c The other pilgrim was
less communicative, but more intent on his devotions : he had a
separate hut, and, as though all desire of human society and friend-
ship was extinguished, these persons, the only human beings in
this part of the forest, seemed to have no connection with each
other. At a distance from the temple we saw a wild hog, and on
the sand, in several places, fresh marks of the feet of a large tiger.
The young man informed us, with perfect indifference, that during
the three preceding months six persons had been taken away by
tigers ; and added, in the same tone, that the human body was the
natural food of the tiger, and that such a death was no mark of the
divine displeasure. We asked him, whether he did not think it a
fortunate circumstance, however, that while so many of his com-
panions had been devoured by tigers, he was spared : he did not
appear to feel this sentiment,butsaid that they would take him also.
300
A REMARKABLE ACCOUNT OF A TO GEE.
After rising in the morning, as we learnt from the young
yogee, each of these ascetics repeats the name of some god, using
his bead-roll ; he then performs the ceremonies of worship before
some representative of an idol; then bathes and goes through the
ceremonies (sundhya) ordained by the shastru to be performed
three times a day ; then he prepares the offerings, worships his
idol, and again repeats its name for sometime. At mid-day he
eats ; then returns to the repetitions of the name of his god till the
evening sundhya ; and after this he continues repeating the name
of the idol till he falls asleep.
The following story is universally credited among the Hindoos
in the neighbourhood of Calcutta : — Some years ago, a European,
with his Hindoo clerk, Varanushee-ghoshu, of Calcutta, and other
servants, passed through the Sunderbunds. One day, as this
European was walking in the forest, he saw something which
appeared to be a human being, standing in a hole in the earth.
He asked the clerk what this could be ; who affirmed that it was a
man. The European went up, and beat this lump of animated
clay till the blood came ; but it did not appear that the person was
conscious of the least pain — he uttered no cries, nor manifested
the least sensibility. The European was overwhelmed with
astonishment, and asked what it could mean. The clerk said, he
had learnt from his shastrus, that there existed such men, called
yogees, who were destitute of passions, and were incapable of
pain. After hearing this account, the European ordered the
clerk to take the man home. He did so, and kept him some time
at his house : when fed, he would eat, and, at proper times, would
sleep, and attend to the necessary functions of life ; but he took
no interest in any thing. At length the clerk, wearied with
keeping him, sent him to the house of his spiritual teacher at
Khurclu. Here some lewd fellows put fire into his hands ; placed
a prostitute by his side, and played a number of tricks with him,
but without making the least impression on him. The teacher
was soon tired of his guest, and sent him to Benares. On the way,
when the boat one evening lay to for the night, this yogee went
on shore, and, while he was walking by the side of the river, an-
other religious mendicant, with a smiling countenance, met him :
they embraced each other, and — (as is said) — were seen no more.
I have endeavoured to ascertain the probable number of Hin-
doos who embrace a life of mendicity ; and am informed, that
scarcety less than an eighth part of the whole population abandon
their proper employments, and live as religious mendicants by
begging. Supposing that there are sixteen millions of Hindoos in
Bengal and Behar, and that each mendicant requires only one
rupee monthly for his support, it will appear, that not less than
2,000,000 rupees, or 250,000 pounds sterling, are thus devoured an-
nually by persons, the great majority of whom are well able to \
REFLECTIONS ON THE NUMBER OF MENDICANT HINDOOS. 301
support themselves by manual labour. What a heavy tax this
must be on the industrious, the great body of whom among the
Hindoos are comparatively poor !
When we add to this, the baneful effects of this system on the
morals of the mendicants themselves, as well as on the public man-
ners, every benevolent mind must exceedingly deplore such a state
of things. These beggars are not frowned upon like those who
have nothing but their misery to plead for them ; but are privileg-
ed and insolent harpies, boldly demanding the contributions of the
abject and superstitious Hindoos. Their indolent habits too, and
the filthy songs they sing, lead to every species of impurity, and to
perpetual acts of private plunder.
Many of the more enlightened Hindoos, especially the bram-
huns, hold these mendicants in the utmost contempt, and would
consider their being compelled to work as a great blessing confer-
red upon the country. On the other hand, some persons of pro-
perty treat them with the greatest reverence, and sometimes invite
a number of them to their houses, drink the water with which they
have washed their feet, and, at the end of the entertainment, eat of
the refuse from the plate of each. Gunga-Govindu-Singhu, a
person of the writer caste, who was patronized by Mr. Hastings,
and who realized a princely fortune, carried his attachment to the
Voiragee mendicants to the greatest lengths. He sometimes gave
a feast to three or four thousand, and performed the lowest offices
of service to these his guests : he also provided that persons of this
description should, after his death, be constantly entertained, re-
ceive presents, have medical attendance when sick, &c. at all the
temples which he erected and dedicated to the different forms of
Krishnu.
302
THE SOIVUS AND VOISHNUVUS.
BOOK TL
HINDOO RELIGIOUS SECTS.
CHAP. I.
ACCOUNT OF THE REGULAR HINDOO SECTS.
There are three principal sects among the regular Hindoos,
the Soivus, the Voishnuvus, and the Shaktus.
The Soivus receive the initiatory rites by which Shivu be-
comes their guardian deit}^ ; they imprint on their faces and bodies
the marks by which this sect is distinguished,"1 and profess the
most devoted regard to this god, trusting in him for protection, &c.
Their daily worship is performed before an image of the lingu,
either at home or by the side of a river, using those forms and
offerings which are peculiar to the sect. They have no festivals,
but once in the year they keep a fast in honour of Shivu, which is
accompanied by the worship of this god at the temples of the lingu.
In the month Voishakhu they present to this idol the leaves of the
vilwu, a favourite tree sacred to Shivu, and pour libations of milk
on the lingu. Some Soivus, at this auspicious season, plant shrubs
near the lingu, and sit before it repeating the name of Shivu. It
is an act of great merit among this sect to repeat the name of their
idol, with a necklace made of the seeds of the roodrakshu ; as well
as to visit Benares, (Kashee,) a place sacred to Shivu. The persons
belonging to this sect are principally bramhuns ; but the Soivus
are not numerous in Bengal. Mendicant Soivus are very rarely
seen : these persons cover themselves with ashes, wear large neck-
laces made of roodrakshu seeds, and wander to Benares and other
places sacred to this god.
The Voishnuvus observe the rites, and receive the distinguish-
ing markb of their sect, regarding Vishnoo in all his forms (as Ramu,
Krislmu, Jugunnat'hu, &c. &c.) as their protector. They reject all
animal food, even fish, and wear only white garments. Nearly one
half of the Hindoo population of Bengal are Voishnuvus, composed
principally of the lower orders : great numbers are religious mendi-
cants. Almost all the Hindoos in the province of Orissa are Voish-
nuvus. The followers of Choitunyu, having the Gosaees at their
head, continue a distinct branch of this sect. The distinguishing
vice of this sect is impurity, as might be expected from the charac-
ter of Krishnu, their favourite deity, and from the obscene nature
of the festivals held in his honour. The Shree-bhaguvutu is the
a See p. 12.
b See p. 8.
THE SHAKTUS — ACCOUNT OF THE BOUDDHUS.
303
book which the few bramhims to be found among the Voishnuvus
read : those less learned read a number of books written in Ben-
galee, all relating to the actions of Krishnu or Choitunyu.
The ShaJctus are the worshippers of Bhuguvutee, (Doorga,) in-
cluding all the forms of this goddess. They have their peculiar
rites, marks on their bodies, formulas, priests, and festivals. The
generality of those who join this sect are bramlruns In their out-
ward dress the Shaktiis resemble the Soivus ; but the latter In their
principles approach nearest to the Voishniivus, especially in their
mutual objection to the destruction of animal life. None of the
Shaktus embrace a life of mendicity. They derive the principles of
their sect, and the forms used in their religious ceremonies, from
the Tuntrus, by which works spirituous liquors are placed among
the proper offerings to Bhuguvutee ; and numbers of her wor-
shippers, offering libations to the goddess, drink to intoxication.
The yamacharees belong to this sect.
Beside these three principal sects among the Hindoos, the
shastrus mention two others, the worshippers of the sun (Sourus)
and of Guneshn (Gannputyus.) Very few Hindoos, however, in
the province of Bengal, are to be found, who have chosen these
gods as their guardian deities.
The religious mendicants of the same sect differ so much from
each other in dress and certain ceremonies, that they might be
supposed to belong to different sects ; but any remarks on these
shades of difference are rendered unnecessary by the preceding
chapter. I shall therefore proceed immediately to notice the three
most important schisms among the Hindoos, those excited by
Boodhu, Nanuku, and Choitunyu.
CHAP. II
ACCOUNT OF THE BOUDDHUS.
It is a question not perhaps completely decided, whether the
religion of Booddhu, now spread over the Burman empire, Siam,
Ceylon, Japan/ Cochin-China, and the greater part of China itself,b
a Ksempfer says, on the authority of the Japanese historians, that the BouddhS
doctrine was carried into Japan about the year 63. — See page ,365
b The Abbe Grosier (Book vii. c. ii. p. 312) gives the following account of the
doctrine of Fo, in which the principles of Booddhu are clearly to be distinguished : —
' Nothing is the beginning and end of every thing that exists : from nothing our first
parents derived their existence, and to nothing they returned after their death. All
beings are the same, their only difference consists in their figure and qualities. A
man, a lion, or any other animal may be formed of the same metal; if these different
pieces are afterwards melted, they will immediately lose their figure and qualities, and
together form only one substance Suchis the case with alhbeings, whether animate
304 EOUDDHUS SIMILAR TO THE FOLLOWERS OF FO.
be not in reality the ancient religion of India, and the bramhinical
superstition the invention of later times, and raised to predomi-
nancy by the superior influence of the bramhuns with the princes
of Hindoost'hanu. The author, however, declines entering on this
subject, made so difficult by the want of authentic historical
evidence.
It is certain, that amongst the six schools of philosophy
formerly famous among the Hindoos, two of them inculcated
doctrines respecting the First Cause of things that were decidedly
atheistical, or such as the followers of Booddhu maintain at this
day ; and it is indisputable, according to the Hindoo writings,
that these two sects were numerous before the appearance of
Booddhu.
About 700 years before the commencement of the Christian
era, \reeru- Yahoo, of the race of Goutuniu, a person attached to
one of these sects, destroyed his sovereign Bodhumullu, and im-
mediately seized the throne of Delhi. This king, and his three
immediate successors, reigned one hundred and eight years.
Muhe£-putee, or the lord of the earth, was the name of the third
of these monarchs ; and as most of the writers on this subject
agree in placing the era of Booddhu in the sixth century B. C, it
seems reasonable to suppose, that Booddhu was the son or near
relation of Muheeputee. If not connected with this family, why
should the family name of this race, Goutumu,be one of the most
common names of Booddhu % As the capital of the most powerful
of the Hindoo monarchs of this period was in South Behar, if
Booddhu was not the son of one of the Mugudhu kings, it is
possible he belonged to some branch of the family reigning at
Benares, which was probably then a separate kingdom. In the
Te'mee Jetu, a history of one of the incarnations of Booddhu, he
is said to have been the son of a king of Benares, and to have
persevered in choosing the life of an ascetic against every possible
artifice and persuasion of his loyal parents. The author has been
favoured with a translation of this work, by Mr. F. Carey, of
or inanimate : though, different in shape and qualities, they are still the same thing
sprung from the same beginning, which is nothing. This universal principle is ex-
tremely pure, exempt from all change, exceedingly subtle and simple : it remains con-
tinually in a state of rest ; has neither virtue, power, nor intelligence : besides, its
essence consists in being free from action, without knowledge and without desires. To
obtain happiness, we must endeavour by continual meditation, and frequent victories
over ourselves, to acquire a likeness to this principle; and to obtain that end, we must
accustom ourselves to do nothing, will nothing, feel nothing, desire nothing. When
we have attained to this state of happy insensibility, we have nothing more to do with
virtue or vice, punishments or rewards, providence or the immortality of the soul. The
whole of holiness consists in ceasing to exist, in being confounded with nothing : the
nearer man approaches to the nature of a stone or log, the nearer he is to perfection ;
in a word, it is in indoleuce and immobility, in the cessation of all desires and bodily
motion, in the annihilation and suspension of all the faculties both of body and soul,
that all virtue and happiness consist. The moment that man arrives at this degree of
perfection, he has no longer occasion to dread changes, futurity, or transmigrations,
because he hath ceased to exist, and is become perfectly like the god Fo.'
RISE OF BOUDDHISM.
305
Rangoon, and has added it at the close of this account. If then
it be admitted, that Booddhu was a person of ro3^al descent, that
he chose an ascetic life,c and embraced a system of philosophy
already prevalent in India, the other scenes of the drama require
no assistance from conjecture : he became the patron and idol of
the sect which from this time became distinguished by his name ;
he also received the support of the reigning monarchs, who were
attached to him not only by holding the same philosophical
opinions, but by the ties of blood.
This sect being thus established by Muhee-putee, the eleven
Bouddhu monarchs who succeeded him, and who reigned 291
years, may reasonably be supposed to have done what the bram-
huns charge them with, to have obliterated the religion of their
opponents.
It is certain, however, that the learned adherents of the bram-
hinical religion did not remain silent spectators of what they
deemed the triumph of atheism. d They contended with their
equally learned opponents, and this dispute, as is manifest by the
tendency of many of the works still read by the Hindoos, called
forth all the talents of both sides ; challenges to conduct the con-
troversy in the presence of kings and learned assemblies were given
and accepted : but here, as in innumerable other instances, the arm
of power prevailed ; and as long as the reigning monarchs were
Bouddhus, the bramhuns were obliged to confine themselves to
verbal contentions.
At length Dhoorundhuru, of the race of Muyooru, destroyed
Adityu, the last Bouddhu king, and assumed the sovereignty ; and
it is probable that from this time (B. C. about 300 years) we are
to date the commencement of the persecutions of the Bouddhus.6
c The disposition manifested by all superstitious nations to honour and even
to deify men remarkable for outward austerity, is particularly observable amongst
the Hindoos. They suppose that such a saint is a divine oracle, or the visible repre-
sentative of the deity ; they implicitly receive his doctrines, and pay him those
honors which they conceive are clue ' to gods come down in the likeness of men.'
This attachment to emiuent ascetics naturally springs out of the Hindoo system ; and
to this, the author conjectures, we are to attribute the origin and prevalence of the
three great schisms among the Hindoos, of Booddhu, of Nanuku, and of Choitunyu,
all of whom appear to have been religious mendicants.
d A story respecting these times is still current among the Noiyayikii sect : — The
wife of the last Bouddhu monarch but one was a disciple of Vishnoo, and called day
and night upon God, complaining against the Bouddhus as having exterminated his
worship, and all traces of a deity : at length Vishnoo, by a voice from heaven, assured
her, that he would appear in the forms of two learned men, Bhuttu and Ooduyuna-
charjyii, and restore his worship. Another story related by the same sect is, that
Ooduyunacharjyu, unable to turn the Bouddhus by argument, proposed that himself
and any number of this sect should cast themselves from a neighbouring mountain ;
the Bouddhus in the act of falling crying out, ' There is no God,' and Ooduyuna-
charjyu, ' God exists.' The challenge was accepted : the Bouddhus perished, and their
opponent fell unhurt.
e In opposition to this, it is said, ' If the conjectures of Sir William Jones, relative
39
306
PERSECUTION OF THE BOUDDHUS.
One or two facts tend to prove, that the bramhuns were not
much more mild and tolerant than other persecutors : — though a
number of Joinus are scattered up and down in various parts of
Hindoost'hanu, scarcely a vestige of the Bouddhu superstition is
to be found, and all its adherents are seen in the adjoining coun-
tries.— The fact respecting these persecutions is, however, placed
beyond all doubt by the Prayushchittu-viveku, a Hindoo work on
atonements ; from which we learn, that Ooduyunacharjyu, a learned
bramhun, and a fierce combatant against the Bouddhus, actually
burnt himself to death on a chaff-fire, (kooshuanulu,) as an atone-
ment for the sin of having excited the Hindoo kings to put to death
many Bouddhu bramhuns.
To avoid the malice of their enemies, therefore, the Bouddhus
emigrated to the neighbouring countries, and gave to the unciviliz-
ed inhabitants those doctrines, for which they had been unsuccess-
fully contending on the plains of Hindoost'hanu.
We have no authentic documents to prove how long this per-
secution lasted ; but it is a pretty current opinion among the most
learned Burmans, that the religion of Booddhu was introduced into
that country about 450 years after his death. According to this
statement, (admitting that the persecution began with Dhoorun-
dhuru,) it will appear to have continued 183 years.
There is a tradition among the Cingalese, that one of the kings
of Hindoost'hanu, immediately after Booddhu's death,* collected
together five hundred learned ascetics, and persuaded them to
write down on palmyra leaves, from the mouth of one of Booddhu's
principal disciples, all the doctrines taught by Booddhu in his life-
time. The Cingalese admit that they received their religion from
the hands of a stranger ; and it is probable that it was propagated
in the Burman empire soon after its reception in Ceylon, that is,
about 450 years after Booddhu's death. The Burmans believe, that
six hundred and fifty years after that event, in the reign of Muha-
moonee, Booddhu-ghoshu, a bramhun, was deputed to Ceylon, to
copy the work Vishooddhimargu, which includes all the Jatus, or his-
tories of the incarnations of Booddhu : and it is fabled, that the iron
stile with which he copied this work, was given him by a heavenly mes-
senger ; though others will have itthatBodhee-sutwugave it to him.
These Jatus are said to have amounted to five hundred and
fifty books ; some of which are, however, lost. A work called the
*o the inscriptions found at Mongheer, and on the pillar at Buddal, be well founded,
then the governing power on the banks of the Ganges, as late as about the time of the
birth of Christ, was of the sect of Bouddha.'— Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 165;
f A native of Ceylon assured the author, that the Cingalese considered it to be
about 2,500 years since the death of Goutumil. Mr. Felix Carey informed him, on
the authority of the Burmau history, that in 1813 it was 2,357 years since the birth of
this god. In an account published in the Asiatic Kesearches, vol. vi. p. 265, it is said,
that in 1?95, Booddhu had been deified 2;362 years.
THEIR 3HASTRUS AND DOCTRINES.
307
Ten Jatus is now the best known, and is held in the highest vene-
ration. The names of these Jatus are, Te'inee, Juntiku, Sooburnu-
ramu, Nemee, Muhoshut'ha, BhooridiSttu, Chundu-koomaru, Narudu
Vidooru and Vesuntura.
Since the above period, many Burmans have translated and
commented on these writings. In a work entitled ' The Great
History of the Burman and Pegu kings,' it is recorded, that during
the T'hioorfi-kshfttriyu dynasty, not less than fifty-five translations
were made, and as many comments written on these books. But
the Burmans are believed to possess works of greater antiquity
than these Jatus, on history, poetry, medicine, astronomy, gram-
mar, &c whether borrowed from the Sungskritu, or the produc-
tions of the Bouddhu set, time must disclose.5
It is a singular circumstance, that the Bouddhus should have
chosen for their hero, like the Hindoos for Vishnoo, ten incarna-
tions ; and still more singular, that they should have designated
the histories of these incarnations by the names of ten Hindoo
sages.
The Bouddhus do not believe in a First Cause : they consider
matter as eternal ; that every portion of animated existence has in
itself its own rise, tendency, and destiny ; that the condition of
creatures on earth is regulated by works of merit and demerit : that
works of merit not only raise individuals to happiness, but, as tbey
prevail, raise the world itself to prosperity ; while, on the other
hand, when vice is predominant, the world degenerates till the
universe itself is dissolved. They suppose, however, that there is
always some superior deity, who has attained to this elevation by
religious merit ; but they do not regard him as the governor of
the world. To the present grand period, comprehending all the
time included in a kulpu, they assign five deities, four of whom
have already appeared, including Goutumu, or Booddhu, whose ex-
altation continues five thousand years, 2,356 of which had expired
A. D. ]814. After the expiration of the 5,000 years, another saint
will obtain the ascendancy, and be deified. Six hundred millions of
saints are said to be canonized with each deity, though it is
admitted that Booddhu took only 24,000 devotees to heaven with
him.
The lowest state of existence is in hell ; the next, is that in
the forms of brutes : both these are states of punishment. The
next ascent is to that of man, which is probationary. The next
includes many degrees of honour and happiness up to demi-gods,
&c. which are states of reward for works of merit. The ascent to
superior deity is from the state of man.
s Some idea of their advance in science may be gathered from an interesting ac-
count of the Religion and Literature of the Burmans, inserted in the 6th vol. of the
Asiatic Researches, by Dr. F. Buchanan.
308
THEIR SHASTRUS AND DOCTRINES.
The Bouddhus are taught, that there are four superior heavens
which are not destroyed at the end of a kulpu ; that below these,
there are twelve other heavens, followed by six inferior heavens ;
after which follows the earth ; then the world of snakes • and
then thirty-two chief hells; to which are to be added, one hun-
dred and twenty hells of milder torments.
The highest state of glory is absorption. The person who is
unchangeable in his resolution ; who has obtained the knowledge
of things past, present, and to come through one kulpu ; who can
make himself invisible ; go where he pleases ; and who has
attained to complete abstraction, will enjoy absorption. k
Those who perform works of merit, are admitted to the
heavens of the different gods, or are made kings or great men on
earth ; and those who are wicked, are born in the forms of different
animals, or consigned to different hells. The happiness of these
heavens is described as entirely sensual.
The Bouddhus believe, that at the end of a kulpu the
universe is destroyed. To convey some idea of the extent of this
period, the illiterate Cingalese use this comparison : ' If a man
were to ascend a mountain nine miles high, and to renew these
journies once in every hundred years, till the mountain were
worn down by his feet to an atom, the time required to do this
would be nothing to the fourth part of a kulpu.'
Booddhu, before his exaltation, taught his followers, that
after his ascent, the remains of his body, his doctrine, or an
assembly of his discipies, were to be held in equal reverence with
himself. When a Cingalese, therefore, approaches an image of
Booddhu, he says, ' I take refuge in Booddhu ; I take refuge in
his doctrine ; I take refuge in his followers.'
There are five commands given to the common Bouddhus :
the first forbids the destruction of animal life ; the second forbids
theft ; the third, adultery ; the fourth, falsehood ; the fifth, the
use of spirituous liquors. There are other commands for superior
classes, or devotees, which forbid dancing, songs, music festivals,
perfumes, elegant dresses, elevated seats, &c. Among works of the
highest merit, one is the feeding of a hungry infirm tiger with a
person's own flesh.
The temples erected in honor of Booddhu1, in the Burman
The Hindoo idea of absorption is, that the soul is received into the divine es-
sence : but as the Bouddhus reject the doctrine of a separate Supreme Spirit, it is
difficult to say what are their ideas of absorption. Dr. Buchanan says, (Asiatic Re-
searches, vol. vi. p. 180.) Nirvanu 'implies (that is, among the Burmans) exemption
from all the miseries incident to humanity, but by no means annihilation.
i When the author asked a Joinu why, since the object of their worship was
neither creator nor preserver, they honored him as God, he was answered, that it
was an act of homage to exalted merit.
THEIR TEMPLES A.ND WORSHIP.
309
empire, are of various sizes and forms, as quadrangular, pentagonal,
hexagonal, heptagonal, or octagonal. Those of a round spiral
form can be erected only by the king, or by persons high in office.
An elevated spot is preferred for the erection of these edifices ; but
where such an elevation cannot be found, the building is erected
upon the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth terrace. These piles
are generally of solid brick work, but some are filled up with earth or
rubbish ; lime-stone is seldom used, generally earth or brick-dust.
Those who can afford it have their temples gilt all over, which
gives them a grand appearance. A coating of black lacker being-
laid upon the plaister, the gold-leaf firmly adheres. An umbrella
made of iron, and gilt, is fixed on the tops of the temples, round
the border of which some persons suspend bells ; the sound of
these bells, when the wind puts them in motion, has a pleasing
effect. Bells of various sizes are sometimes hung near a temple,
which the people ring to give notice of their arrival. Images of
lions, and monsters of various descriptions, facing the four quarters,
or on each side of the gate- ways, are to be seen attached to most
temples.
Within the vicinity of a temple, houses of charity for strangers
are erected, in which images of Booddhu are placed. Umbrellas
and stone pots, in imitation of those used by Goutumu as a
mendicant, are also placed near temples.
The temples of Booddhu in Ceylon are very large, some of
them capable of containing 3,000 people. Many of them have
verandahs all round. The hall containing the image is very
spacious.
The priests worship at the temples daily, or ought to do so,
The worship consists in presenting flowers, incense, rice, betle-nut,
&c. repeating certain prayers. The priest cleanses the temple,
preserves the lights, and receives the offerings. A worshipper
may present his own offerings, if he is acquainted with the
formulas The five commands are repeated by a priest twice a
day to the people, who stand up and repeat them after him.
Temples are built by individuals, or the inhabitants of a village,
as works of merit Several festivals precede the opening of a
temple, as, at laying the foundation ; at setting up the image ; at
fixing the umbrella ; at the purification ; and at the consecration.
These feasts are sometimes continued four or five days, when
musicians and dancing girls are emplo3^ed, various pantomimical
representations are exhibited, and a great concourse of people enter-
tained. Offerings of various kinds are presented to Booddhu and
the priests. The latter make a discourse to the assembly on
the virtue of building temples, grounding their address on some
apothegm of the saint.
Booddhu, as seen in many temples, appears seated upon a
310 ! THEIR COLLEGES.
throne placed on elephants, or encircled by an hydra; or in the
habit of a king, accompanied by his attendants. In most of the
modern images, however, he is represented in a sitting posture,
with his legs folded, his right hand resting upon his right thigh, and
his left upon his lap : a yellow cloth is cast over his left shoulder,
which envelopes his right arm. His hair is generally in a curling
state, like that of an African ; his ears are long, as though distended
by heavy ear-rings. The image is generally placed in the centre of
the temple, under a small arch prepared for the purpose, or under
a small porch of wood, neatly gilt. Images of celestial attendants,
male and female, are frequently placed in front of the image. In
some places the image of Jeevunukuru, a mendicant, who had
400,000 disciples, and who foretold the deification of Booddhu, is to
be seen, in an erect posture, having four mendicants behind him
with begging dishes in their hands, and Soome'dhu, a form of
Booddhu, lying prostrate before him, in a posture of reverence.
It appears evident from their writings, that the ancient reli-
gion of the Burmans consisted principally in religious austerities.
When a person becomes initiated into the priesthood, he immedi-
ately renounces the secular state, lives on alms, and abstains from
food after the sun has passed the meridian. The ancient writings
of the Burmans mention an order of female priests ; but it is likely
that these were only female mendicants.
Priests are forbidden to marry ; they are to live by mendicity ;
are to possess only three garments, a begging dish, a girdle, a razor,
a needle, and a cloth to strain the water which they drink, that
they may not devour insects.
The priests are the schoolmasters, and teach gratuitously as a
Avork of merit, the children being maintained at home by their
parents. If a priest finds a pupil to be of quick parts, he persuades
the parents to make him a priest; but if a boy wish to embrace a
secular life after he has been some time in the college, he is at
liberty to do so.
Boys of five years of age and upwards are admitted into the
Burman seminaries (koiyooms) as students. At their initiation,
the parents generally give a feast, which continues for three or four
days ; at the close of which time the youth, arrayed in costly gar-
ments and ornaments, and attended by a large retinue, is led
through the town on horseback to the college of his preceptor. As
soon as he arrives, he is stript of his attire ; his head is shaved ;
he is clothed with a yellow garment, and a pot, or beggar's dish, is
put into his hand ; and in this manner he is committed to his tutor.
The student is to observe the following rules ; to abstain from
murder, theft, evil desire, falsehood, ardent spirits, food after noon-
day, dancing, music, &c. from flowers and perfumes, elegant accom-
THEIR FESTIVALS.
311
modations, the use of gold and silver. Should he foil in keeping
these prohibitions he is disqualified for farther advancement. An
obedient disciple, at the end of twenty years, is admitted into the
order of priests.
To persons admitted into the order of the priesthood, two hun-
dred and twenty-seven precepts are given, the observance of which
for ten years entitles them to the rank of a priest of the first order,
and empowers them to have colleges and disciples under them.
A Bur man college is built in the style of a palace by some per-
son of wealth. The ancient koiyooms resembled caves, many of
which are still to be seen in the ancient city of Pougan.
Beside their colleges, there are other sacred edifices among the
Burmans, enclosed by a wall, and intended for the accommodation
of learned men, who meet to consult each other on religious mat-
ters. In some instances, an image of Goutumu is set up in a con-
spicuous part of the building.
The houses of the priests are built as works of merit, and
offered to them. A temple and a house for priests are commonly
built at once. It is a law in these houses, that a priest shall
always give his bed to a priest who is a stranger, if necessary. The
common people are never suffered to sit upon a priest's mat or bed.
The investiture of a priest is a very important ceremony. To
ordain the candidate, it is necessary that a priest should be present
Avho has been initiated twenty years, and not Jess than five priests
who have been in orders ten years each. The ceremony, from
which spectators are carefully excluded, is conducted in a temple
peculiarly sacred, or in a boat on the river, surrounded with a
screen of mats. At the commencement, a priest goes out, and asks
the crowd, whether they have any objection to the youth's becom-
ing a priest. If they all answer in the negative, he is presented to
the chief priest, and is asked many questions ; as, if he be free
from disease ; if he be perfect in his elementary knowledge ; if he
have obtained the consent of his parents. After many formulas
have been repeated, he is clothed in white ; and the eight utensils,
composing the whole property of a priest, are hung around him.
He is at length clothed like an old priest, and led to some college,
where he remains for three years under the inspection of an aged
priest, until completely initiated into the duties of the priesthood.
The four quarters of the moon or festival days among the
Cingalese. A temporary shed being erected on these occasions
near a temple, the people bring their offerings, and present them
to two priests employed in instructing the assembled multitude ;
the one speaks in the Palee, and the other explains his words in
Cingalese. Drums are beaten at intervals, and the temple is illu-
minated.
312
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHUS INCARNATION.
Formerly, it would seem that religious feasts were held
monthly among the JBurmans : as, the water feast ; that for pre-
senting drink-offerings to the images of Booddhu ; that for water-
ing the trees of the Ficus Indica ; the interrogatory feast ; one in
honour of the priests ; another in honour of Gunesbu ; the boat
festival ; the feast of alms ; the candle feast ; the feast of giving
clothes to the priests ; the lot festival ; and the festival for placing
fire near the images of Booddhu. At present, the Burman feasts
are held at the full and change of the moon only. At these times
all public business is suspended ; the people pay their homage to
Goutumu at the temples, presenting to the image rice, fruits,
flowers, candles, &c. Aged people often fast during the whole day.
Some visit the colleges, and hear the priests read portions from
the Bouddhu writings.
According to the religion of Booddhu, there are no distinctions
of caste. Polygamy is not forbidden by the Bouddhu doctrine, and
it is not uncommon for a man to have a plurality of wives. The
Burman s burn their dead with many ceremonies, especially the
bodies of the priests.
Kespecting the Hindoo deities, the Booddhus believe that
Brumha is the head of the Brumhacharees, and lives with them in
one of the higher heavens ; the Vishnoo, Shivu, Kartiku, and Soo-
muna, are the chief ministers of Indru, the king of heaven, who
has twenty-eight inferior ministers. An intelligent native of Ceylon
assured the author, that the Bouddhus dislike the Hindoo religion
more than they do Mahometanism.
The Substance of the Temee Jatu, an Account of the Incar-
nation of BooddhU.
Translated from the Burman, by Mr. F. Carey.
The divine one, while remaining in the Jatu forest, began to
relate his celebrated departure into the forest, and, in reciting the
encomium, uttered this Jatu of king Temee.
Upon a certain day, the mendicants, met in the assembly^ of
audience, continued to celebrate the departure ofBhuguvu Bhu-
guvti said, ■ O mendicants ! why are you assembled % 1 hey re-
plied. ' We are conversing on this subject.' He rejoined, < O men-
dicants, this is not the only time of my departure;, formerly to
accomplish unattained austerities, let it not surprise you that I
left my kingdom, and departed into the forest. Having said this,
he remained silent. The mendicants entreating, Bhuguvu reveal-
ed to them the history of the Jatus : —
< O ye mendicants ! in the kingdom of Kasheeku, and in the
BARMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION.
31S
city of Varanusee, (Benares,) formerly reigned Kashee Raja, a king
who possessed every excellent quality, and had sixteen thousand
wives. The citizens said among themselves, ' Our sovereign has
neither son nor daughter to preserve his family from extinction :'
they therefore assembled in the presence of the king, and, observ-
ing the rules laid down in the Kooshu J atu, thus addressed him :
' O king ! supplicate for a son.' The king, calling his sixteen
thousand wives, said, { Supplicate ye for a son.' Chundra, and
the other sixteen thousand wives, having feasted the gods, made
supplication, but obtained neither son nor daughter. This queen,
Chundra-deVee, perfected in holy rites, was the daughter of Murdu
raja. The king said, ' O spouse, do thou also entreat for a son.'
The queen, at the full moon, remained fasting, and, while reposing
upon a sofa, and reflecting upon her virtuous deeds, exclaimed, ' I
have certainly performed perfect vows ; therefore to me a son will
be granted.' Thus saying, she repeated her vows. Through her
piety, the angel, liaving been made acquainted with the queen's
desires, said, ' Chundra-devee supplicates for a son ; I will certain-
ly now grant her this blessing.' Looking around for a proper per-
son to be incarnate in her womb, he beheld Booddhu-sutwu. This
person had reigned over the kingdom of Varanusee during twenty
years ; after death he fell into Ooshrmdu-niruyu, where he was
punished eight}' thousand 3^ears ; he was next bom in Tavutingsa,
where he spent his life, and at death possessed an inclination to
ascend to the higher heavens of the gods. The angel, going to
him, said, ' 0 thou great one, produced in the world of mortals, by
thee works of merit shall be accomplished, and much people be
made happy. The queen of Kashee prays for a son ; wilt thou con-
sent to be incarnate in her womb f He added, ' There are also five
hundred sons of the gods on the point of transmigration, who are
willing to be reproduced/ Booddhu-sutwu. consented ; and having
transmigrated with the five hundred sons of the gods, he was conceiv-
ed in the womb of Chundra-devee ; the other gods, in those of the
wives of the nobles. At that time the womb of Chundra-devee shone
as with refulgent gems ; and knowing that she had conceived, she sent
information of it to the king, who ordered attendants on her person.
At length she was blessed with a son, replete with e very excellence.
On the same day also, in the houses of the nobles, the five hundred
sons of the gods were born. At the time of the birth, the king,
surrounded by his assembled nobles, remained in the palace yard,
when they addressed him thus : ' 0 sovereign, to thee a son is born.'
The king was filled with affection towards his first-born, which,
penetrating through flesh and bone, adhered to the marrow : in
this manner he was filled with affection, and his mind became com-
posed. The king then said to his nobles, ' To me a son is born :
are ye pleased V They answered, ' What dost thou say ? Before, we
were without a sovereign ; now he is born, and we have obtained
a ruler.'
40
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU's INCARNATION.
The king thus commanded his chief officer: 'It is my son's
prerogative to have attendants ; go thou to the houses of the nobles,
and see who have been born to-day.' The chief officer found the
five hundred sons, and, returning, related to the king what he had
seen. The king sent garments to each of the five hundred chil-
dren ; and also five hundred nurses. He also gave to Booddhu-
sutwu, four times sixty small-breasted, honey -like, milk-producing
nurses, having rejected all women in whom there was any defect.
If an infant sit upon the lap of a very tall woman to draw the
breast, its neck grows long ; if upon the lap of a short woman, it
grows hump-backed ; if upon the lap of a thin woman, her thighs
injure it ; if upon the lap of a very corpulent woman, it straddles
or trembles when it walks ; if upon the lap of a very long-breasted
woman, it becomes flat-nosed. A very black woman's milk is cold ;
an asthmatic woman's milk is sour ; a woman who has an obstruc-
tion in the throat, has acrid or bitter milk. Therefore, rejecting
all faulty nurses, and having given four times sixty small-breasted,
honey-like, milk-producing nurses, and paying great homage to
the infant, the king bestowed a reward upon Chundra-deVee ;
when she, receiving the favour, returned it again to her lord.
Upon the day the child was named, the king caused the prog-
nosticating bramhuns to be called, and, making large presents to
them, enquired concerning the child's destiny. The bramhuns
examined the marks on the child, and said, ' O most illustrious
sovereign, this child is replete with every propitious and excellent
quality ; he is qualified to govern not only this single island, but
the two thousand surrounding islands ; nor do we perceive the
least evil in his destiny.' The king was pleased, and proceeded to
name the child. Upon the day of his birth it rained all over the
kingdom of Kasheeku. On that day the heart of the king, and
the hearts of all his subjects, became tranquil. The child too was
born wet, and was therefore called Temee.
When the child was a month old, the nurses, embracing him,
brought him to the king ; who, viewing his beloved child, kissed
its head, and, causing it to be placed upon his Jap, remained satisfied.
At this hour, four thieves were brought before the king, who
commanded one of them to receive a thousand stripes with a prickly
whip ; another to be cast into prison ; another to be pierced with a
spear ; and the other to be placed upon a sh56lee.k Muha-sutwu,
hearing the words of the father, was afraid ; and trembling, reflect-
ed thus : ■ My father, obliged to be a king, has committed many
weighty and hell-deserving deeds.'
On the following day, the nurses caused him to be laid under
the white umbrella, upon an adorned pleasure-abounding bed ;
k An instrument upon which the criminal is impaled.
BUftMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU S INCARNATION.
S15
where, after reposing for a short time, he opened his eyes, and
beholding the white umbrella, and the great splendour of his
apartment, he became exceedingly afraid, more than before.
While reflecting how he came to this abode of cruelty, by the
strength of his former knowledge he perceived, that he had come
from the heavens of the gods ; looking still further back, he
remembered that he had been burning in hell ; looking back to a still
more remote period, he recognized himself as a king of that place,
(Benares,) and said to himself : ' Having reigned twenty years in
Varanusee, I was punished eighty thousand years in hell ; and
now I have sprung to birth again in this place, in this abode of
thieves. To four culprits yesterday my father spoke harsh, hell-
exposing words. Now undoubtedly I must reign again, and be
again cast into hell, where I must endure great affliction.' Terror
fell upon Muhasutwu, thus reflecting, and his resplendent body-
withered like a lotos rubbed between the hand ; and while con-
sidering by what means he could be emancipated from this abode
of thieves, he fell asleep. In the mean time the goddess, his
mother, thus consoled him : ' 0 child, Temee-koomaru, be not
sorrowful, doubtful, nor fearful : thou desirest to be released from
this abode of thieves ; therefore, though not lame, thou makest
thyself to appear as one lame ; though not deaf, thou makest
thyself deaf; though not dumb, thou makest thyself as one dumb:
Booddhu-sutwa, having derived consolation from the words of the
goddess, repeated the second stanza : ' O goddess, I will do what
thou hast commanded.'
The king, having appointed the five hundred youths to remain
with his son as a guard, they cried for the breast ; but Muha-
sutwu, affrighted at the idea of being cast into hell, exclaimed,
* Though I be even parched up to-day, death is preferable to being-
cast into hell.' Thus reflecting, he neither cried nor wept. The
nurses made known the fact to Chundra-devee, and she related
it to the king. From that time, they let the child fast beyond
the usual period, and sometimes omitted to give him nourishment
for the whole day : though the dread of falling into hell, how-
ever, though exhausted, he neither cried nor wept. Then the
mother, saying, ' My son is hungry/ gave him the breast herself ;
but though she nourished him at intervals during a whole year,
she could not understand his intentions.
The nobles afterwards, reminding the king, that children of
the age of one year take a liking to sweetmeats; and, adding,
we will try Booddhu-sutwu with them ; caused the five hundred
youths to be seated by him, and placing various sorts of sweetmeats
before him and them, retired to a secret place. The other youths,
leaping and scrambling, devoured the sweetmeats ; but Booddhu-
sutwu warned himself, saying, ' O thou Te'mee-koomaru, desiring
hell, dost thou wish for this food ? Filled with horror, he did
316
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION.
not even look upon it. Thus they tempted him with sweetmeats
for a whole year, but were unable to look into his heart.
[The work then goes on to relate, that the next year they
endeavour to excite his desires by setting various fruits before
him, but in vain. The following year they put playthings
before him ; and for another year great varieties of food. They
next endeavoured during a year to affright him with fire ; during
another with a furious elephant ; during another with serpents :
but he remained destitute of fear as well as of desire. At the age
of eight, they endeavoured to amuse him with dances ; at nine to
terrify him with swords ; at ten with loud noises from shells ; at
eleven with a horrid drum ; at twelve with extraordinary lights in his
bed-room ; at thirteen they covered him with molasses, and let the
flies torment him ; at fourteen they almost suffocated him with
offensive smells ; at fifteen they scorched him with fire ; at sixteen
they introduced into his presence beautiful females, perfumes,
dances, &c. Thus they enticed him for sixteen years with the
sixteen great temptations, and tried him with many other smaller
temptations ; but they were still unable to enter into his designs.]
Then the king, dejected, caused the destiny-foretelling bram-
huns to be called, and said to them : ' At the time of my son's
birth, you said, ' This child is replete with every fortunate and
virtuous mark ; neither is there any evil token whatever in him
but behold he is born lame, dumb, and deaf : your words are not
verified.' The bramhuns replied, ' O sovereign ! there is nothing
unknown to the wise. If we had said, the son born to the king
is stupid, it would have created thee pain of mind ; therefore we
did not mention the matter.' Then the king asked what was
proper to be done. The bramhuns answered, ' Great sovereign,
while this youth remains in the palace, we perceive three evils
may happen ; one to the king's life, another to the white umbrella,
another to the queen : therefore, without delay, put the unfortu-
nate horses to the unfortunate chariot, and placing him therein,
carry him out by the west gate to the burying-ground, and, having
dug a square hole, bury him.' The king, through the dread of
these evils, adopted this advice.
Chandra-de'vee, informed of these designs, went alone to the
king, and having made obeisance, said, f O sovereign, thou confer-
redst a blessing upon me, and I, having received it, committed it
to thee : now give it me again.' The king replied, ' Take it, O
queen.' She then said, ' O king, give the kingdom to my son.'
The king replied, ( It is out of my power; thy son is an idiot/
The queen replied, ' 0 sovereign, though thou hast decreed not to
give him the kingdom in perpetuity, give it him for seven years
only/ The king replied, ' I cannot, O queen :' but she renewed
her petitions, lowering each of them till she solicited for a reign
only of seven da}^ ; and this was granted.
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION.
317
Immediately the mother, decorating her son, thus addressed
him : ' 0 Temee-koomaru ! the kingdom is thine.' Then causing
proclamation to be made by the sound of the drum, and commanding
the whole city to be adorned, she seated her son upon an elephant,
with the white umbrella carried over his head. After being thus
conveyed round the city, she caused him to be laid upon a noble
bed ; and be sought her beloved son, during the whole night, thus :
' O son, Temee-koomaru ! in attending on thee for sixteen years,
my eyes smart with weeping ; my heart is as though it were
pierced through. I know thou art not lame, &c. Do not leave
me childless.' After the same manner she besought him the
following day, and the five remaining days.
On the sixth day, the king, having called his charioteer,
thus addressed him, ' O Soonundii, charioteer, to-morrow, early in
the mornino- uniting the unfortunate horses to the unfortunate
chariot, ta,ke the youth, and cause him to be carried out by the
west gate; and after having dug a square hole in the burying-
ground, cast him into it, and with the back of the spade break his
skull : thus causing him to die, cover him with dust ; and having
accomplished the work of increasing the earth, bathing, come
away.' The queen, having overheard what passed, was filled
with sorrow, and going to her son, addressed him, ' 0 son,
Te'mee ! thy father, the king of Kasheeku, has issued orders to
bury thee early to-morrow morning. O son ! early to-morrow
thou wilt die.' Hearing this, Muha-sutwu thus gratulated
himself : ' 0 Temee-koomaru ; thy sixteen years are now accom-
plished !' But his mother's heart was pierced through with sorrow.
Te'mee added, CI have attained to the consummation of my desires;'
but he refrained from speaking to his mother.
Early in the morning, the charioteer, having harnessed the
horses to the chariot, through the power of the god, and Muha-
sutwu's austerities, he put the fortunate horses to the fortunate
chariot ; then, stopping the chariot at the king's door, he entered
the inner apartments, and saluting the queen Chundra, he thus
addressed her : ' O queen ! be not wroth ; it is the king's command.'
Thus saying, with the back of his hand having put away the queen,
who was sleeping with her son enfolded in her arms, he took up
the youth as a garland of flowers, [viz., gently or carefully as a
person would carry tender flowers,] and descended from the palace.
At this time Chundra-devee, smiting her breast, and weeping
aloud, remained in the place-yard. Muha-sutwu, beholding his
mother, said to himself silently, ' My mother will die from the
anguish of her mind.' But correcting himself, he added, in his
own mind, « If I speak, the efforts of sixteen years will certainly
become abortive.'
The charioteer having put Booddhu-sutwu into the chariot,
said, I will go out at the west gate :' but through the merit of
813
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHu's INCARNATION.
Booddlni-sutwfi's austerities, the charioteer, deluded by the gods,
turned the chariot, and driving it out at the east gate, was precipi-
tated to the distance of twentv-four miles at once. The charioteer,
seeing before him a thick forest, mistook it for the burying-ground;
and thinking it an excellent place, drove the chariot to one side of
the road, halted, and descended. He now stripped Muha-sutwu of
his garments, tied them up, and laid them in a suitable place :
then with a spade he began to dig a square grave, at no great dis-
tance from the chariot. At this moment Booddhu-sutwu reflected
thus : ' Now is my time for exertion; it is true, I have not moved
hand nor foot for sixteen years, but I will now see if I do not
possess strength.' He arose, rubbed his arms and legs, descended
from the chariot, and then walking backward and forward several
times, found he possessed strength sufficient to go the distance of
of eight hundred miles in one day. He then said, ' Should the
charioteer contend with me, I will see whether I possess strength to
wrestle with him or not :' and laying hold of the hinder part of
the carriage, threw it, as though it had been a child's plaything, so
that it continued twirling round and round.
•
After this, Temee's guardian deity, taking the raiments of the
gods, and calling Vishwu-kurmu, the son of the gods, thus addres-
sed him : f 0 Yishwu-kurmu, go thou to Temee-koomaru, the son
of the king ofKasheeku, and array him.' Vishwu-kurmu descend-
ed, bearing ten thousand pieces of cloth, and bound them round
Booddhu-siit wit's head ; and thus, with the garments of the gods
and mortals, arrayed him like a devu.
Booddhu-sutwu, shining like the king of the gods, went
to the hole the charioteer was digging, and standing by the
brink, invoking, uttered the third stanza : ' 0 charioteer !
why art thou digging that grave in such haste ? O thou !
dost thou hear what I say? what wilt thou do with that grave?'
The charioteer, hearing the above words, without looking up, said,
' To the king has been born a son who is dumb, lame, and desti-
tute of understanding ; and the king has commanded me to bury
him in the wilderness.' Muha-sutwu said, ' I am neither deaf, nor
dumb, nor lame. 0 charioteer ! if thou bury me in this wilder-
ness, thou wilt do a bad action. Behold my thighs, my arms ;
hear me speak, 0 charioteer ! By burying me in this wilderness,
thou wilt commit an evil act.' The charioteer asked himself, ' Who
can this personage be, who has continued praising himself from the
time of his arrival ?' then beholding his features exquisitely beauti-
ful, he continued, ' Who can this person be ? Is he a man, or a god ?
and added the following stanza : ' Art thou a god, or a gundhurvu
or the devu Poortinduru ! Who art thou? Whose son ? How shall
I know thee ?' Muha-sutwu, describing himself in humble language,
recited this stanza : ' I am neither a god, nor a gundhurviS, nor
Poorunduru : I am the son of the king of Kasheeku, for whom
I
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION. 319
thou art digging this grave ; the son of that king by whom thou
art nourished. O charioteer ! undoubtedly it is an evil thing for
thee to bury me in this wilderness. He who cuts the branches of
the tree under the shade of which he sits and sleeps, is a worthless
person/
Although he spoke thus, the charioteer would not believe him
to be Booddhu-sutwii. The latter therefore said, ' I will convince
him by a godlike acclamation.' Then, by a dreadful vociferation,
echoing through the thick forest, he proceeded to utter the stanza
descriptive of the blessings of friendship : ' O charioteer ! he wdio
does not act unfaithfully towards his friend, has abundance of food,
not only in his own house, but wherever he may happen to go. He
who wrongs not his friend, to whatever country, town, or city he
may go, will be revered by all. He who acts not the treacherous
part toward his friend, thieves will not injure him, nor can kings
disregard him ; and he will excel all his enemies. He who is a
faithful friend, is beloved in the assembly, and becomes chief among
his relatives. He w7ho deceives not his friend, but honours him,
becomes honourable, and renowned in noble deeds. He who acts
not treacherously towards his friend, being a worshipper of others,
is venerated ; saluting others, he is saluted, and obtains glory and
renown. He who deals faithfully with his friend, shines like flame,
is glorious as the gods, nor is he forsaken of the deity of prosperity.
He who deceives not his friend, his cattle increase, and whatever
he plaints in his field flourishes and bears fruit. He who does not
wrong his friend, should he fall from a high mountain or tree, and
die, he will attain his place. He who acts not the impious part
toward bis friend, can never be hurt by his enemies ; but stands
firm like a well-rooted tree, upon which the wind has no effect.'
Thus Boodclhu-sutwu, in the above stanza, set forth meritorious
actions.
The charioteer then left off digging the grave, and, going to
the chariot, missed the robes and ornaments. He then returned,
and looking round recognized Booddhu-sutwu, at whose feet he
fell, and lifting up his joined hands, uttered the following stanza :
— ' pome, let me receive thee ; it is right that thou shouldest in-
herit thine own house. O thou king's son ! what art thou doing
in this wilderness ?' Muha-sutwu. replied, ' I have no desire for the
kingdom, nor for relations nor riches: father and mother have
rejected me ; the inhabitants of the towns and villages have
rejected me ; the youths have discarded me ; my mother has
sent me away ; my father has cast me off; I myself have
become a mendicant, nor have I the least inclination for ob-
jects of sense. Undoubtedly the prudent attain the object of their
desires : I am Vepukii the Brumlmcharee. To me, who have left
every thing, what cause of dread or fear can there be ?' The
charioteer replied, ' Possessing such melodious and excellent speech,
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION.
wherefore didst thou not speak when with thy father and mother V
Muha-sutwu answered, ' I ruled twenty years at Yaranusee, in con-
sequence of which I was tormented eighty thousand years in hell.
Dreading a similar calamity, I did not permit myself to be rein-
stated in the kingdom. On this account too, I forbore speaking to
father or mother. My father, seating me upon his knee, command-
ed four culprits to be punished in the following manner : — ' Kill
one ; bind the other ; having pierced one, anoint him with painful
corrosives ; impale the other'. Hearing these severe commands, I
was induced, though not dumb, to feign dumbness ; though not
lame, to put on the appearance of lameness, and remain besmeared
in my own excrements. 0 charioteer, what wise man, for his sus-
tenance, will perpetrate the five crimes1 f Know, 0 charioteer !
that I am a briimlrucharee. Certainly the deliberate have their
desires accomplished ; I am a brumlmcharee. To me, having de-
parted into the wilderness, what cause of fear f
The charioteer, hearing this, said within himself, ' This youth
has cast away a splendid kingdom as a putrid carcase, and has en-
tered this wilderness as a mendicant. Of what use will the world
be to me ? I also will embrace the life of a mendicant.' Thus re-
flecting, he uttered the following stanza : — ' 0 king's son ! I will
enter upon the life of a hermit with thee. O prince ! I prefer a
hermitage; call me to join thee.' Muha-sutwu" said, ' Verily, T will
make him a mendicant immediately.' But, reflecting again, he
said, ' Neither my father nor mother will come here ; and this
chariot, these horses, ornaments, and robes, will surely be destroy-
ed in this place. They will say, has not this youth become a can-
nibal, and devoured the charioteer V Perceiving a way to promote
the welfare of his father and mother, and being desirous of making
it appear, that the horses, chariot, ornaments, &c. were a debt due
by the charioteer, he uttered the following stanza : — 1 0 charioteer !
take back the chariot ; and, cancelling the debt, return.' The
charioteer then reflected thus within himself: 'While I am gone
to the town, should Muha-siitwu retire to any other place, and his
father, hearing of his son's welfare, say, ' Shew him to me, and
should T be unable to produce him, the father will punish me ; I
will therefore receive a pledge of him that he go not to any other
place.' He then uttered the following stanza : ' Success to thee ;
I will comply with thy solicitations ; but attend to this my re-
quest : remain here until I bring the king. I am not certain
whether he will be pleased at the sight of thee.' Muha-sutwii re-
plied, ' 0 charioteer ! I will act according to thy word ; I have a
desire to see my father ; return to the town. Inform my relatives
of my welfare, and tell my father and mother, that I have sent
them my salutation.'
i The Hindoo shastrfis, as well as the Bouddhd, mention five 'mortal sins,' viz-
stealing live tolas of gold, brim. con. with the wife of a spiritual guide, slaying cows
and bramhuns, and drinking spirituous liquors.
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION.
321
Saying this, Muha-sutwu bowed his head like a golden plan-
tain tree, and obseiwed the five touches, (that is, he caused his
thighs, arms, and forehead to touch the earth,) placing his face to-
wards the town of Varanusee. The charioteer, having received
his instructions, circumambulatiDg the youth, ascended the car,
and drove towards the town.
At this moment Chundra-devee, opening the lion door, and
striking her breast, began to weep. The mother, beholding the
chariot empty, and the charioteer returning by himself, with eyes
full of tears, wept ; and looking towards him, said within herself,
' Having killed the son of my bosom, this charioteer is returning
to us. Has he killed my son ? Has he performed the ceremony of
increasing the earth V Beholding the charioteer approach after
having murdered her darling son, she said again within herself,
' Will not the merciless enemies rejoice ? 0 charioteer ! when thou
killedst my son, was he dumb, or lame, or how? Did he weep?
Pray tell me. When thou interredst my dumb ajnd lame son, how
did he make any resistance with his hands and feet ? Pray tell me."
The charioteer replied, ' O queen, permit me to approach,
and I will inform thee of all that I have heard and seen concerning
the king's son.' Chundra-deVee answered, ' O charioteer ! fear
not : what thou hast heard and seen respecting the king's son, re-
late to me, without hesitation.' The charioteer replied, ' The queen's
son is neither dumb nor lame, he has a clear voice ; but dreading
to be made king, he has resorted to ingenious arts : he recollected
his former existence, when, after reigning twenty years in Varanu-
see, he fell into a flaming hell, and was tormented eighty thousand
years. Afraid of being king, he consented not to his instalment,
and for this reason also he spake neither to father nor mother. He
is complete in every member, of full and even stature, of excellent
speech and wisdom, and is on the road to heaven. If thou desirest
to see thy beloved son, come ; I will certainly take thee to the
place of his abode. Come without delay; it becomes thee to hasten/
The deVii, acquainted with the youth's desire of becoming a
mendicant, sent for Vishwu-kurmu, and said : • O Vishwu-kurmu,
son of the gods, the youth Temee is anxious to become a hermit ;
build him a house of leaves, and prepare for him every implement
necessary for a priest.' Vishwu-kurmu, by his own might, formed
a delightful residence in the twelve miles-extending forest ; dug
a pool and a well ; created trees which bore fruit out of their sea-
son ; and near the hermitage of leaves made a walk four and twenty
cubits in length, and strewed beautiful crystal-like sand upon it
H aving prepared all the implements necessary for a priest, he ad-
ded, ' Whosoever desires to become a priest, let him receive these
implements !; And having driven away all noxious animals, and
birds of unpleasant voice, he returned.
41
322
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION.
Mnha-sutwu, observing what Vishwu-kuram had done, and
knowing that the devil had designed it for him, entered the abode.
Having cast off his former garments, he girded himself with those
made from the bark of a tree, threw a leopard's skin over his
shoulders, covered his head with his long twisted hair, and placed
a bamboo across his shoulder. Then quitting the house of leaves,
with a staff in. his hand, he caused the lustre of his priesthood to
appear ; and while walking to and fro, exclaimed, £ This is bliss !
How happy am I !' Soon after, returning to his abode, and seating
himself upon a bough, he perfected the five and the eight cere-
monies proper for a hermit. In the evening he seated himself at
the head of the walk, and taking of the fruit of the trees which
bare out of their season, and boiling them in tasteless water, with-
out either salt or acid, as on immortal food, he fed upon this, in the
pot given him by the devu. Thus, reflecting upon the four doc-
trines of Brumha, he took up his residence in this grove.
The king of Kasheeku, after hearing the words of the
charioteer, called the chief officer of the army, and said, 'Put the
horses to the chariot, harness the elephants, blow the conches,
beat the large well-braced drum, and the harmonious small drum ;
and let the inhabitants of my kingdom attend me : I will go to
instruct my son.'
The king sent before him the four orders of warriors, amount-
ing to eighteen ukshouhinees.m Three days elapsed before they
were arranged ; and on the fourth day the sovereign of Kasheeku
left the city. Stepping into his carriage, he said to his concubines,
' All of you follow me ;' to his attendants, ' Take the chamuru, the
diadem, the scimitar, and the white umbrella, with the gold-
adorned shoes, and ascend the chariot.' The king then departed,
and quickly arrived at the place where his son Temee was. Be-
holding the king approach surrounded with swords, and shining
like a Same, Temee enquired after the welfare of his father, his
sisters, his mother, the inhabitants of the kingdom, &c. He asked
also respecting the vehicles, the granaries, and treasuries ; and
farther, whether the king did not delight in inebriating liquors ;
whether he delighted in vows, in virtue, and in bestowing alms.
The king, out of respect to'Muha-sutwu, would not sit upon
his throne ; his son therefore prepared a seat of leaves : upon this
too he refused to sit, and placed himself on the ground. Muha-
sutwu, seeing his father thus seated, entered his hut of leaves, and
brought forth some of the boiled leaves with which he wished to
entertain his sire, and repeated the following stanza : ' O sovereign,
partake of my saltless prepared food of leaves ; thou art my guest/
m A complete army is composed of one ukshouhinee, or 109,350 foot, 65,610
hcrses, 21,870 chariots, and 21,870 elephants. According to this account, therefore,
tbif king of Benares had an army 3,936360O strong.
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU'S INCARNATION. S23
The king replied, ' I cannot eat leaves ; it is not my food ; I eat
the soup of clean flesh, and rice/ Still, out of reverence to Muha-
sutwu, he received a small quantity of the food in his hand, and
thus addressing him in affectionate language, ' 0 child, I do not
feed upon such food,' seated himself. The queen, Chundra-devee,
surrounded with her maidens, came by a straight road to the
residence of Booddhu-sutwu, and beholding her beloved son, fell
on the ground senseless. Reviving, she arose, and embracing
Booddhu-sutwu's feet, worshipped him ; then arising, with her
eyes full of tears, she seated hersel in a suitable situation. The
king said, ' 0 queen ! beholdest thou the food of thy son V and
putting a little of it into her hand, he gave the remainder by little
and little to his concubines, all of whom said, * O sir, dost thou live
upon such food as this ? (putting it on their heads ;) thou performest
very severe austerities.' Thus saying, and worshipping him,
they seated themselves. The king said, e 0 beloved youth, this
food astonishes me ; thy dwelling alone is an astonishment to me.
How is it that thou, subsisting upon such coarse food, hast such a
beautiful appearance V Muha-sutwu said, * Because, O king, I
sleep upon this bed of leaves, my countenance appears so beautiful :
no instruments of defence, used for the protection of kings, are
placed over me ; but on account of my serene repose, my counte-
nance is of this beautiful hue. I feel no remorse for what is past,
no concern about what will occur, and I am resigned to what
happens ; therefore my countenance appears gay : the foolish,
because they are anxious about what may happen, and sorry for
what is past, wither away as a plucked green reed.'
The king, reflecting, ' I am come here to anoint my son,
and invite him to the kingdom,' said, ' 0 son ! I will bestow upon
thee the elephant-drivers, the charioteers, the horsemen, and array-
ed footmen, with delightful horses : I will also give thee the
maidens adorned with all sorts of ornaments ; raise up progeny by
them, and thou shaft become our sovereign : virgins well versed in
dancing and singing, and perfected in this wilderness. I will
bring thee adorned daughters of other kings, and after thou hast
raised a numerous progeny, thou mayest become a priest. Thou
art young and tender, it is good for thee to reign. What art thou
doing in this wilderness V
Here commence the virtuous sayings of Booddhu-sutwu : — t O
sir ! a youth ought to perform virtuous acts ; the young may be-
come ascetics ; a youth's becoming a priest is extolled even by the
sages. I will perform virtuous actions ; I have not the least desire
to be installed in the kingdom. I have seen a youth, the beloved
son of much anxiety, who could but just say 'father, mother,' die
before he reached maturity. I have beheld the life of beautiful
young maidens consume away, being rooted up (by death) as the
sprout of a bamboo, when plucked. Men and women, even when
824 BURMAN ACCOUNT OF EOODDHu'S INCARNATION.
young, die : if therefore the young die, who can confide in life ?
Even as the life of fish in a scarcity of water is very short, so the
life of mortals shortens by every passing night : of what avail then
is youth ? Men are constantly harassed, constantly surrounded ;
they pass away without seeing good : therefore why wilt thou
install me in the kingdom V
The sovereign of Kasheeku said, 'O son, inform me who
harass mankind ; who agitate mankind ; and what is it that passes
away without profit.' Booddhu-sutwu replied, ' Death harasses
mankind; increasing age surrounds them. This know, O sire !
that as the thread grows less and less by every insertion of the
shuttle, so the life of man dwindles away. As the waters of an
overflowing river never re-ascend, so the days of man never return.
An overflowing river carries away all the trees near its banks, so all
mankind are borne away by increasing age and death.'
The king, hearing the virtuous sayings of Booddhu-sutwu,
became very dissatisfied with human life ; and being desirous of
becoming a hermit, said, f I will not return to the city : I will
certainly cause my son to return, and the white umbrella to be
given to him.' Thus reflecting, and being desirous of enticing his
son to accept the kingdom, he said, [Here the same offers are repeat-
ed of horses, footmen, elephants, virgins, &c]
To shew his disregard of the kingdom, Muha-sutwu replied,
* O sire ! why temp test thou me with perishing wealth, dying
women, and youthful bloom ? O king ! what is love, the pleasant
look, present delight, anxiety in pursuit of wealth, sons, and
daughters, and wives, to me, who am released from the bonds of
iniquity ? I know that death will not forget me ; therefore, of
what use are pleasures and riches ? As the shedding of ripe fruit is
a constant evil, so to mankind death is a continual cause of anxiety.
Of many people seen in the morning, how few are to be seen at
night; and of the many seen in the evening, how few are to be
seen in the morning ! Virtuous deeds ought to be practised to-day,
for who can tell but we must die to-morrow ; nor is there any pos-
sible escape from the arrows of death. 0 sire ! thieves long after
riches : I am freed from the bonds of iniquity. Keturn, return,
O king ! I have no desire for the kingdom.'
Hearing these sayings, the king, as well as Chundra-devee, with
the sixteen thousand maidens, and all the nobles, were desirous of
becoming mendicants. The king made proclamation, 1 Whosoever
wishes, let him come to my son, and become a priest.' This he also
caused to be published by the sound of the drum throughout the
city. The inhabitants of the town, then, leaving their articles of
merchandize in the market, and their houses open, quitted the town,
and went out to the king ; who thus, with many of his subjects,
embraced a forest residence with Muha-sutwu. The hermitage grant-
BURMAN ACCOUNT OF BOODDHU's INCARNATION.
325
ed by the angel was filled with people to the extent of six miles ;
Muha-sutwu also put his house of leaves in order : the women he
placed in the interior, because women are apt to be afraid ; to the
men he assigned the yard.
All the people, taking of the fruit which had fal]en on the
ground, eat thereof, and performed the rites of ascetics. Muha-
sutwu, by the power of his devotions being raised in the air,
delivered virtuous and mellifluous sayings.
At that time a neighbouring monarch, hearing that the king
of Varanusee had departed from the city, and had entered the
wilderness as a hermit, said to himself, 'I will take possession of his
kingdom :' upon which he left his own capital, and entering the
city of Varanusee, beheld it richly adorned. Ascending the palace,
and struck with its gems, he said to himself, ( There must be some
evil here, or the king of Kasheeku would not have left this wealth/
Thus reflecting, he called seven persons who had been left behind,
and enquired of them, 'Did any disaster befal your sovereign in this
town V The drunkards replied, ' No, 0 king !' The king enquired,
' Why, then, did he forsake it V They replied, 'Temee, the son of our
sovereign, would not accept the government ; but feigning himself
deaf, dumb, &c. departed from the city, and entered the forest, to
perform the rites of an ascetic : on which account our sovereign,
accompanied by a great multitude, left this city, to practise the
rites of an anchorite near his son. ' The illustrious monarch, hearino-
what they said, was overjoyed, and said, ' I also will become a
hermit : by what gate did your sovereign depart ?' They replied,
' By the east gate.' The king, accompanied by his attendants,
departing out at the east gate, went toward the banks of the
river. Muha-sutwu, informed of his approach, came from the
forest, and, by the power of his devotion being seated in the air,
declared the mellifluous sayings ; on hearing which, this king also,
with his army, became hermits under Muha-sutwu. In like
manner, three other kings left their kingdoms, with an intention
of taking Varanusee ; but like the former they embraced a forest
residence with Booddhu-sutwu. The elephants and horses became
wild ; the chariots fell to pieces ; the coin of the treasuries,
mingled with the sand of the hermitage, was reduced to earth ;
and the whole concourse of people, having accomplished their
austerities, went to heaven. The elephants and horses, having had
their minds enlightened in the society of the sages, were repro-
duced in the six abodes of the gods.
Sutwu, closing these virtuous instructions, said, c 0 ye mendi-
cants when 1 formerly left the city, I truly departed ; but this is
not the period of my departure.' He then collected together the
J atu. At that time, the daughter of the goddess, who guarded the
umbrella, and the charioteer, were reproduced ; the angel became
"Uniroodhu ; the father and mother were reproduced in an illustri-
32G
RISE OF THE JOIN US.
ous family; the remaining multitude were reproduced as the
assembly of Booddhu. < I, the deaf, lame, and dumb, am declared
to be god.'
CHAR III.
ACCOUNT OF THE JOINUS.*
' The joinus,' says Dr. F. Buchanan, ' are spread all over
India; but at present are not numerous any where, except in
Tooluvu. They allege, that formerly they extended over the whole
of Aryu, or Bhurutu-kund-u ; and that all those who had any just
pretensions to be of kshutriyu descent, were of their sect. It no
doubt appears clear, that, in the south of India, many powerful
princes were their followers, till the time of Ramanooju-acharyuV
This sect is said to owe its rise to Rishubhu-devu, a Hindoo ;
who is said, in the Kulpu-s66trn,b a joinu shastru, from which the
greater part of the following account is extracted, to have been in-
carnate thirteen times. The Kulpu-sootru gives the periods of
these births, and declares, that at his last appearance, Bishubhu
was born in the family of Ikshwakoo ; his father's name was Nab-
hee, his mother's Muroo, (the Shree-Bhaguvutu calls her Meroo.)
At this time, says the same work, men were in an uncivilized state,
supported not by their labour, but by the fruits of trees, (kulpu-
vrikshu,) which supplied spontaneously all their wants, and under
which they dwelt, having no houses. The gods descended at the
birth of Bishubhu, and, when he was grown to maturity, Indru
came from heaven to give him in marriage. Bhurutu, and many
other sons, were the fruits of this marriage.0 At the installation
also of Rishubhu, Indru was present, and gave him a celestial
throne. This monarch had the following titles of honor bestowed
a From the word jinn (ji, to conquer) this sect derives its name. He who has
overcome the eight great crimes, is called jinu. These crimes are, eating at night ;
slaying any animal ; eating the fruit of those trees that give milk, pumpkins, young
bamboo plants ; tasting honey, flesh ; taking the wealth of others ; taking by force a
married woman ; eating flowers, butter, cheese ; and worshipping the gods of other
religions.
b This work is written in the Urdhii-magxijee and the Prakritu-Lunkeshwuree
languages : three learned men have written commentaries on it, one of which, the
Kulpu-droomii-kitlika, as well as the Kulpu-sootru", are in the College library, Calcutta.
The Kulpu-sootril is divided into three parts, comprising the history of the joinu
mendicants, the duties of the wise, and of ascetics.
c Gomuteshwura-swTamee is mentioned as another son by a different queen, and
is said to have reigned at Oude. — See Asiatic Researches, vol. ix. p, 260.
RISE OF THE JOINUS
327
on him : the Great King, the Great Mendicant, the Great Joinu,d the
Perfect Saint, the Paragon of Virtue. He taught mankind to cul-
tivate the earth, as well as the first acts of civilization ; and after-
wards adopted a person as his spiritual guide, Then, during a
whole year5 he presented gifts to the people, and renouncing his
kingdom, went into a forest, where, for a thousand years, he con-
tinued the devotions of a hermit, and refined all his powers : to the
hermits dwelling near him in the forest he explained the principles
of religion, but initiated twelve persons as his chief disciples ;
eighty-four others he sent out to instruct the people of various
countries. Near him were 84,000 joinus ; 300,000 females, men-
dicants ; 300,500 other disciples ; and 500,000 females who had
begun to learn the principles of the joinu religion ; beside many
thousands more. At length, after residing several millions of years
in this forest, at the close of the third of the six yoogus, he obtain-
ed absorption, together with a thousand of his disciples.
After Rishubhu-devu, twenty-two persons jlyq mentioned in
this work as the^ successive leaders of the sect : Ujitilnat'hu, Sum-
bhuvu-nat'hu Ubhinundunu, Soomutee-nat'hu, Pudmu-prubboo,
Sooparshwu-nat'hu, Chundru-prubhoo6, Soovit-nat'hu, Sheetulti-
nat'hu, Shreyangsu, Vasuvu-poojyu, Vimulu-nat'hu, Ununtu-
nat'hu Dhurmu-nat'hu, Shantee-nat'hu, Koontliu-nat'hu, TJru-
nat'hu, Mullee-nat'hu, Munusu-vrutee, Numee-nat'hu, Nemu-nat'huf,
and Parshwu-nat'hu.s I give the account of the incarnation of
Parshwu-nat'hu, who is here said to have descended from the tenth
heaven into the womb of Yamunu, the queen of Ushwu-senu, on the
fourth of the dark part of the moon, under the star Yishakha, in
the month Choitru, at Benares. He was born on the tenth of
Poushu. ; at which time the gods descended, and celebrated a
great feast. After he had lived to the age of thirty, he received
the forms of initiation, and entered a forest with all the pomp of a
king : but there he dismissed his courtiers and royal state, and
assumed the dress of an ascetic. He took up his abode under an
ushoku tree, and continued an ascetic for seventy years ; when,
from mount Shikhu.ru, he and thirty -three other joinu ascetics
obtained absorption. This happened at the close of the sookhumu-
dookhumu yoogu.
The last of the joinu y ogees was Muha-veeru, who is said to
have been incarnate twenty-seven times, and at his last birth to
d The bramhuns place Rishubhu at the head of this atheistical sect : it is record-
ed in the fifth chapter of the Shree-bhagu'vutu, that the kings of Konku, Vdnku, and
Kootuju, witnessing his devotions, became joinus.
e In the ninth vol. of the Asiatic Researches, facing p. 264, is a drawing of this
anchorite.
f This ascetic was the son of king Sumoodru-vijuyS, of Souveeru, in Trishutu.
s Facing the 272d page of the ninth vol. of the Asiatic Researches is a drawing of
this god, under the name of Jain-deo.
328
ACCOUNT OF THE LAST JOINU YOGEE, MUHA-VEERU.
have been the son of Siddhart'hu, a kshutriyu, of Kshutriyu-
koondti. As usual, in these extraordinary births, he performed
many wonderful things while a child, and began his studies at the
age of five. At school, however, he was so idle, that his tutor
reproved him ; but was unable to understand the answers given
by the youth, till Indru appeared, and assured the teacher, that
the youth was more than man, since he had already written a
Sungskritu grammar, the Joinendru. After leaving school, he
pursued his pleasures for twenty-eight years ; during which time
the king and queen died, and the eldest son was raised to the
throne. Mulia-veeru now asked leave to retire from the world to
a forest, but was detained two years by his elder brother; after
which, distributing millions upon millions of money amongst the
subjects, he took leave of his wife and children, and entered a
forest, carried in triumph by ten thousand gods, the heavens
raining flowers on the procession, arid the gods singing his praises.
Then, sitting down under a shady tree, in the presence of this
divine assembly, he stripped himself of his royal garments, and
put on those of an ascetic ; after which the assembly broke up.
While here, he received many disciples, and became a great
teacher. He practised the most rigid austerities, renouncing all
food and clothing, as well as all intercourse with man, till at length
he remained standing, like the trunk of a dead tree, unconscious of
his bodily existence ; and while in this state, obtained the exact
knowledge of all things.
During, his continuance in the place where he practised
these austerities, he one day went to the tree under which he had
commenced his devotions, where he met ^eleven bramhuns engaged
in controversy on the following subjects : — ■' Is there a soul in man?
— If there be a soul in man, is it united to the body, or is it
separate from it ? — Of how many elements is the body com-
posed ? — Is there an after-state ? — Is the soul in bondage while
in the body, and is there any state of deliverance ? — Are there
any gods? — Are any persons in danger of future torments? —
Are there works of merit ? — Is there such a thing as absorption V
As he approached these bramhuns, they saw the gods scatter on
him a shower of flowers, and pass to and from him through the air.
He asked the pundits whether they did not entertain doubts on
these subjects : [Here he, to their astonishment, repeated what
had formed the grounds of their dispute.] They sat down, and
eagerly listened to his discourse, as the messenger of heaven.
Muha-veeru reminded them, that they did not understand the
vedu ; therefore they entertained these doubts. He declared, that
there was a separate spirit, who is wisdom, mind, sight, hearing,
vacuum, air, light, water, joy, religion, irreligion, compassion, liber-
ality ; and that he dwells in all animal bodies : that the body and
soul are distinct, as in flowers, the fragrance ; in milk, butter ; in
SUMMARY OF THE JOINU DOCTRINES.
329
wood, fire : that he is the expression of all his works : that works
of merit and demerit determine the character : that birth and death
belong to the body ; perpetuity to the soul ; presence and absence
to spirit and matter, to religion and irreligion, to visible and invisi-
ble forms. Hearing this discourse, the eleven bramhuns became
his disciples. Muha-veeru had also another distinguished disciple,
Goutumuswamee, for whom he had a particular regard, and whom
he sent, on the day of his absorption, (death,) to the residence of
of Devu-surmmu, lest his mind should be too much affected.
Seventeen of Muha-veeru's disciples obtained deliverance from the
body at the same hour with their master.
Some ages after this, when men were sinking into ignorance,
Kundilacharyu collected a number of sages at Mut'hoora, and
compiled the work called Kulpu-sodtru, the contents of which had
existed in the minds of the principal disciples of Muha-veeru from
past time.
The joinus have at present a number of mendicant chiefs
scattered up and down in Hindoost'hanu. Shruvanu-Beligolu is
the principal residence of the joinu. gooroos. See Asiatic Researches,
vol. ix. p. 255.
The following is offered as a summary of the joinu doctrines
and ceremonies, as given in the Kulpu-sodtru, &c. It seems
necessary to premise, however, that it is difficult to give a system
which will apply to the whole sect, among whom various opinions
prevail. A considerable number of joinus approach a good way
towards the orthodox Hindoos : they acknowledge something of a
deit}1", though they den}* a creator, and reverence in a limited sense
the Hindoo deities. They also retain the ten ceremonies connected
with progress through life up to marriage. They are divided into
the four Hindoo castes, and four states, (ashrumus ;) they marry
like the Hindoos, and burn their dead, but do not make offerings
to them in the shraddhu : they say, ( Of what use is it to pour oil
into the lamp after the wick is burnt to ashes V In their chrono-
logy they are more extravagant than the orthodox, and their
descriptions of the earth bear a strong resemblance to those of the
pooranus. The strict joinus, it is probable, are constrained to a
life of mendicity ; for it seems impossible for a person in a secular
state to adhere to the rules laid down for this sect ; especially those
rules which refer to the preservation of all living creatures, vows of
continence, &c. All the joinu chiefs appear to have been gloomy
ascetics, assuming the rights of deity, and denying the authority
of God : they despised the ribaldry of the bramhuns ; and amongst
the joinu sunyasees, at present, a sovereign contempt of the creator,
of a future state, and of religious ceremonies is observable.
The earth, say the joinus, is formed by nature ; that is, by
inherent properties existing in itself. As the trees in an uninha-
42
330
SUMMARY OF THE JOINU DOCTRINES.
biteci forest spring up without a cultivator, so the universe is
self-existent ; and as the banks of a river fall of themselves, so
there is no supreme destroyer. The world, in short, is produced
as the spider produces his web, out of its own bowels. Who is it
that causes the milk to ooze from the udder of the cow, and the
rivers to flow to the sea ?
Spirit is found in two conditions, emancipated and enclosed
by matter. There is but one spirit individuated among the whole
uni verse of animated existences.1'
All human affairs are regulated by religion and irreligion, i. e.,
by works of merit and demerit. Religion naturally and of itself
purifies, and exalts, and immortalizes its possessor ; while irreligion
denies, degrades, and ruins men.
*
The future births of men are regulated by present actions :
the wicked are punished in different degraded bodies, or in some
hell. Those who practise works of merit may, if their merits are
sufficiently great, ascend to one of the twelve heavens.
Beyond the highest heavens, for eight miles, all is darkness.
Below this is a heaven where all who obtain unchanging happiness
remain,1 and which is 36,000,000 miles long. The inhabitants of
this world will occupy 1,332 cubits of these regions, where they
are all assembled. Below this are five heavens inhabited by
ascetics something less pure than the former ; and still lower are
twelve heavens, one below the other. Next to this is the earth,
balanced in the air ; beneath this, water; and still lower, darkness.
Persons committing sin in these heavens become men, or animals,
or inanimate substances, or sink into a region of torment : but as
often as any one descends from happiness, another ascends from
the earth, and occupies his couch, or place of repose, in heaven.
The earth remains fixed by its own nature : when an earthquake
occurs, it is caused by ^enturee, a god, throwing his arms up to
his head. Joinu perfected saints are spread over the whole
universe: their number is beyond all calculation.
Something farther of the principles of this sect may be
gathered from the following address of a joinu anchorite to Kalu-
koomaru, the son of Bujru-singhu, the king of Dharavasu, a
joinu : — ' Honour kings ; seek the blessing of wise men ; excuse
thyself to gamesters and women ; the fruit of wisdom is to know
matter and spirit, works of merit and demerit, to act by rule,
to know that the use of riches is to feed the poor, that the
proper use of speech is to express only excellent words, that
h Charvvakii, a joinu leader, denied the existence of spirit altogether.
1 The joinus, imagining that a certain mark in the open hands when placed to-
gether forms a representation of this heaven, daily draw their joined hands to their
forehead, meditating on this place of happiness.
PRESCRIBED DUTIES.
331
the body is mortal, riches uncertain, death near, and that
therefore the cultivation of religion is necessary ; that as
gold is purified by filing, cutting, melting, and beating, so
by the words of holy persons, by works of merit, religious
austerities, and compassion, the mind becomes pure.' — Hearing
these words, the king's son, was anxious to embrace the life of a
hermit, and went to consult his mother, who used the strongest
language to dissuade him from his purpose ; she affirmed, that it
was as difficult to become a yogee, as to swim across the ocean, to
walk on spikes, to stand on water, to feed on sand, to lift mount
Soomeroo, or to conquer the three worlds !' Not regarding the
words of his mother, however, the son entered a forest.
The daily duties of a joinu are the following : — When he rises
in the morning, he must bathe, shake gently his garment, and the
mat on which he lay, to purify them ; after which, he must repeat
certain- prayers or incantations addressed to persons possessing the
five qualities of TJrihuntu, Siddhu, Acharyu, Oopadhyayu, and
Sadhoo, and others addressed to Wisdom, Religious Light, Excel-
lent Conduct, and Devotion, for the purpose of removing the sins
of the night. He next proceeds to a temple,k walks round it three
times ; bows and prays to the image, which is that of a joinu
yogee in a sitting posture ; after which he goes to his spiritual
guide, and bowing, makes vows to him for the day. These vows
regard eating, speaking, &c. One person vows not to eat, and
another not to speak, for so many hours, calling upon all joinu
yogees, and all joinus, to witness his vows ; after which he listens
to some parts of their sacred writings : these duties occupy the
forenoon. He now goes to solicit alms for the food of the day ; and
he does this according to vows, regulating the number of houses at
which he resolves to beg. On his return, he repeats certain incan-
tations, to remove the sins which he has committed in destroying
life as he walked through the streets.1 He now eats, and again re-
peats certain prayers to persons designated by the five names above
mentioned. During the remainder of the day he continues nearly
silent ; and at the close of it repeats, as in the morning, certain in-
cantations, to remove the sins of the day. Before retiring to sleep,
standing near his bed, he rehearses certain stories respecting joinu
devotees and kings, the qualities of the places in which joinus
should reside, and those of female mendicants, and then the in-
structions of a spiritual guide to his disciple. He who lives in a
k 'There is a famous image, of eighteen times the height of a man, upon a rock
near Beligola, named Gomuteshwuru-swamee.' ' At Koorkool, near Mangalore, there
is also a gigantic image of Gomuteshwuru. ' ' There are two kinds of temples among
the joinus, one covered with a roof, and the other an open area, surrounded by a wall.
Asiatic Researches, vol. ix. pp. 256, 285.
1 From this and other facts it will appear, to what an extent the joinus carry this
principle; they do not allow that any crime justifies the taking away of life; hence
they, as well as the bouddhtls, consider kings, as the administrators of criminal justice,
as the greatest of sinners. See page 314 of this volume,
332
PRESCRIBED .DUTIES,
secular state, among the above duties, omits to solicit alms, to visit
the spiritual guide, and to repeat their sacred writings ; the other
parts he practises as far as he is able.
Another duty enjoined upon the members of this sect is,
that of repeating the praise of those distinguished by the names
Urihuntu, Siddhu, Acharyu, Oopadhyayu, and Sadhoo. The first
name Urihuntu implies, that the yogee to whom it really be-
longs, possesses the power of causing an ushoku tree to spring
up and overshadow him, flowers to fall on him, a cooling
breeze to refresh him, a throne and a white umbrella to des-
cend for him, heavenly courtezans to come and sing before
him, the gods to ascend and descend hovering over him, and
glory like that of the sun to surround him wherever he sits ;
that he has a pure mind, profound speech, boundless know-
ledge, and that he is worshipped by the three worlds. The next
name, Siddhu, implies, that this person possesses the qualities
which secure absorption, viz., knowledge of all things ; that he is
all-seeing ; is capable of doing every thing ; is armed against every
enemy ; is completely happy ; is the same to all ; is all-powerful,
and is in all things a wonderful person. He who is called Acharyu
has overcome his passions ; is possessed of excellent properties ;
has renounced sensual gratifications ; does not listen to sensual dis-
course ; forgets all enjoyments ; is moderate in food ; looks not
at the couch of a female ; retains not the remembrance of women ;
partakes of no food difficult of digestion ; has renounced anger,
affection, desire, falsehood; commits no injury; receives no pre-
sents ; lives the life of an ascetic ; ponders his steps ; seeks purity ;
speaks sound words ; renounces impure food, and the company of
impure persons ; conceals his thoughts ; speaks little ; and walks
with little motion. Oopadhyayu implies, that the person receiving
this title has read and taught the following works, called ungus :
— Achar-ungu, Soogur-ungu, T'han-ungu, Sumuvay-ungu, Bhugu-
vutee-jee, Gata-jee, Oopasuku-dusha, tjntuguru, Unooturu-oovaee,
Prushnu-vyakurunu, and Vipaku-sdotru : and also the following
oopangus : Oovaee-s66tru,Rayu-psenee, Jeevabhigumu,Punhuvima,
Jumboo-dweepu-punnutee, Chundru-punnutee, Socru-punmitee,
Niravutee, Kupiya, Kuppu-virttngsiya, Poopphiya, and Pooppuchoo-
liya. The name Sadhoo implies, that the person possesses com-
passion, truth ; that he takes nothing but what is given to him ;
that he has renounced sexual intercourse, and food at night ; that
he does not injure the earth ; that he strains his drinking-water,
and carefully preserves it from insects ; covers his fire lest insects
be destroyed ; agitates not the wind, for the same reason ; destroys
not the leaves or flowers of trees, nor in any way injures sentient
creatures ; that he says nothing mixed with anger, pride, affection,
or desire ; that he meditates on religion ; that he speaks of
religion alone ; preserves his body and the mat on which he sleeps
pure ; covers his mouth while speaking ; sweeps his path when
PRESCRIBED DUTIES.
walking, and his seat when about to sit down, that he may not
destroy animal life ; avoids receiving more than the daily supply
of his wants ; fixes his mind and words on religion ; and bears
affliction with patience.
The person who, by practising the duties of the joinu. religion,
renders himself worthy of the worship of Indru and the other gods ;
who delivers himself from the chains of the world, obtaining
complete emancipation from matter ;m becomes a proper object of
worship to all creatures.
The joinu mendicants profess to have five vows of abstinence :
these regard falsehood, eating flesh or fish, theft, drinking spirits,
and female intercourse. They bind themselves also to possess
nothing beyond a cloth for the loins, a sheet to cover the body, a
towel to wipe the mouth, a brush11 to sweep the ground, for fear
of treading on insects, and a begger's dish. They are commanded to
fear secular affairs ; the miseries of a future state ; the receiving from
others more than the food of a day at once ; all accidents : food,
if connected with the destruction of animal life, &c ; death, and
disgrace ; also to seek to please all, and to obtain compassion from
all.
The joinus observe several festivals during the year; as, the
Flag, the Jumboo-dweepu, the water, the Dedication, and the Car
festivals ;° another, when eight hundred articles, eight of one sort,
are presented to a joinu deity ; but the greatest of all their
festivals is the Siddhu-chukru pooja, which is celebrated twice a
year, in the months Ashwinti and Choitru, and continues nine days.
The worship is performed before the nine names mentioned in
page 331, written on paper or on the earth, ima circle containing
nine divisions, of different colours, the name Urihuntu being in
the centre. On the outside of the circle are written the names of
the ten regents of the earth, of the sixt}^-four goddesses called the
ruling deities, of two Bhoiruvus, two dukshus, and the name of
the guardian deity of the circle, Chukreshwuree. Worship is daily
performed to all these names collectively during the festival, and
each name is daily honored with particular ceremonies in turn ;
the colours of the flowers and cloths offered are to be the same as
the colour of the compartment in which each name is written. To
most of the ceremonies included in what is called pooja (see p. 215.)
they add recitations in praise of devout joinus.
m Miiha-veera passed through twenty-seven births in the forms of gods, men, and
reptiles, before he obtained unchangeable emancipation.
n The shwe'turnburus (that is, those who wear white clothes) keep a brush of
woollen threads ; the digumbilrus have one made of peacock's feathers.
° There is a similarity betwixt some of these feasts and one or two of those ob-
served by the bouddhus. See p. 312.
334
FESTIVALS.
On the 5th of the increase of the moon, the joinus have a
monthly festival in honour of Muha-veeru ; to whom they present
five books, five pens, five inkstands, five leaves used as paper, and
five articles of every other offering. On the 11th of the increase of
the moon, another festival is held in honor of Munusu-vrutee, a
joinu anchorite ; when the person who supplies the expense ob-
serves a vow of silence for a day and a night.
In honor of the other twenty-two leaders of the joinu sect,
annual festivals are held on the anniversary of the birth of each.
Once a year, which may be celebrated in any month, the joinus
have another festival called Yishu-vuyirinanu.
In the month Bhadru, all the joinus in one town sit for eight
days, and hear the Kulpu-sootru read by one of their principal
mendicants, who explains as he reads. On the day before the
commencement of this festival, the book is richly adorned, and
carried in procession on the head of a boy sitting in a palanqueen ;
the joinus, on horseback and in palanqueens, following with music
and dancing. In the house, the book is placed on a throne, while
the company stand before it with joined hands ; they afterward
sit for some time, and listen to devout songs in praise of their
devotees and of religion. Part of the day is kept as a fast, but it
closes with an entertainment. Offerings are also presented to the
book and to the reader, and during the reading, the audience
occasionally manifest their attention by repeating the sound
jee,jee.
After the birth of a child, a secular joinu carries it to the
temple, which he circumambulates, bows to the god, repeats
certain prayers, and then carries the child to the spiritual guide,
who repeats an incantation in its ear. This is followed by a feast.
In a joinu mendicant's last sickness, a disciple repeats a certain
prayer to him, and rehearses the praises of the joinu mendicants.
After his death, with his body are burnt the brash with which he
swept the road or his seat, that he might not destroy animal life,
his staff, his beggar's bag, and a lump of wh eaten paste. When a
person dies, or a child is born, the family cannot visit a temple for
eleven days ; nor does the spiritual guide, nor any relation, visit
their house for three days. On the twelfth day a feast is held.
There are five sects of joinus, but the difference between them
is trifling. The Digumburus wear no clothes, and their images of
Rishubhu-devu are also naked. The other sects are, the Teru-
punt'hees, the Dhooriyas, the Loonkas, and the Bouddhus.
It may not be uninteresting to see what the bramhuns have
said of these atheistical sets, with whom they once carried on the
SECTS — BRAMHINICAL ACCOUNT OF THE JOINUS.
335
fiercest religious controversy ever known in India, and whom they
afterwards drove from the field with weapons dipped in blood. And
I here give a few extracts from the Kashee-khundu of the Skundu
pooranu, the Prubodhu-chundroduyu, the Vidwunmodu-turungi-
nee, and the Booddhu pooranu.
These sects are said by the bramhuns to have taken their rise
from Virochunu, whose conversion is attributed/ to a declaration
made by Brumha before Indru. and Virochunu, to the following
purport : — One day Indru and Virochunu asked Brumha, ' What
the mind was, and what the body ?' Brumha, who was in a state of
profound meditation, having his eyes shut, laid his hand on his
breast. At this time a bason of water stood before Brumha, and
his image, in this posture, was reflected upon the water. Viroch-
unu concluded, from this conduct of Brumha, that he intended to
say, that the body was every thing. Indru conceived, that this
was not his meaning, but that he meant to convey the idea, that
the body was like the shadow on the writer ; but that within
(intimated by laying his hand on his breast) there was an
immaterial spirit, and that this was Brumhu.
The next person who was the accidental cause of the spread of
the doctrines of atheism, says the Shree-bhaguvutu, was Rishubhu-
deVu, through whose devotions three kings became atheists, (see
p. 326.) Next, the bramhuns speak of Vishnoo as incarnate to
overturn the kingdom of Divo-dasu, a king of Kashee, who sought
to prevent the gods from receiving any praise or petitions from
men. Vishnoo spread atheism to such an extent, that Divo-dasu,
offended at the progress of impiety, renounced his kingdom, became
an ascetic, and shortly after ascended to heaven.
The Piidmu-pooranuq speaks of an ascetic named Digtrmburvi,
(not the disciple of Muha-veeru,) an incarnation of Shivu, who
promoted the tenets of atheism.
The next person who appeared was Booddhu, the son of Ujinur,
who was born in the district of Magudhu ; respecting whom I
subjoin the translation of an extract from the Booddhu pooranu : —
' I have heard,' says the anonymous author of this work, i that,
at a certain period, Bhuguvanu, (Booddhu,) being incarnate for
the purpose of performing many glorious things, was giving lessons
on religion, attended by 12,000 religious mendicants, and 32,000
bodhee-sutwus, or boucidhtis, in the garden of Inat'hu-pindudu, in
p See the Rig-ve"du and the Yogu-vashisht'hu* Ramayunii.
q See the PooshkuriS-khundu of that work.
r The Shree-bhaguviitu calls him the son of Ujinfi, but the Booddhu pooranu\ as
the reader will perceive from what follows, says his father's name was Shooddhodtinu,
and his mother's Maya-deVee.
336
EXTRACT FROM THE BOODDHU POORANU.
the forest of Je'tree, at Shrav&stee ; when, about twelve o'clock at
night, a ray of glory issued from his turban, which said — £ Praise
to Shakyu-singhu, the sage, eminent for intelligence, a luminary
dissipating darkness, resplendent, a holy flame, with a beautiful
body, and a subdued mind, &c.' Hearing this, the religious
mendicants, bowing, with joined hands, humbly requested of
Booddhu, that he would acquaint them with the words which had
been revealed by the glory proceeding from the turban. Booddhu
informed the mendicants, that She'tuke'too3, of the race of the gods,
formerly descended in a chariot from the heaven of Gune'shu, and
was born in the family of a bouddhu, to instruct mankind in the
true doctrine. After descending from his chariot to the earth, he
ascended a superb throne, in a palace miraculously prepared ; from
whence he declared to the attending gods, that he should be born
in the womb of a bouddhu female, and continue twelve years in his
mother's womb. The gods reflected among themselves, that almost
all families had some fault in them, which rendered it improper for
Booddhu to be born in these families ; but that the race of Shakyu-
singhu, being in possession of sixty-four distinguished qualities,
was pure ; that at Kupiluvusoo lived Shooddhodunu possessed of
twelve distinguished qualities. Booddhu consented, and directed
the attending gods to be born in such and such families ;
and, being born, to go and teach mankind the one hundred
and eight religious ceremonies.1 He then dismissed the
gods, that they might assume human birth, and departed him-
self to do the same ; that he might make known the bouddhu
doctrine to Moitreyabhidhu, who should teach it to the world.
Accordingly, Booddhu, in the month Voishakhu, at the full of
the moon, under the constellation Pooshya, entered, by the right
side, the womb of Maya-devee ; and, at the end of twelve years,
while she was amusing herself in the grove Lumbinee, she was
seized with the pains of child-birth, and was delivered of a son,
who, immediately on his birth, looked towards the ten quarters of
the world, and measured ten paces with his feet.u At the end of
seven days from the time of the birth, Maya-deVee died, and went
to an excellent heaven. All the gods, and other celestial beings,
moonees, rishees, &c. came to pay their honors to the god who
had been born in the house of Shooddhodunu ; they calculated
his nativity, the fortunate and unfortunate signs ; pronounced it
an excellent birth, and declared that this divine person would
live till he was eighty years old. The sage TJsitakshyu informed
Shooddhodunu, that his son would shortly leave his house, and
become a religious mendicant, in order to learn the bouddhu
doctrine,1 and teach it to others. From this the sage gathered,
8 Another name for Booddhu.
1 Ceremonies peculiar to the bouddhus.
u To signify that his doctrine should be extended through the world.
x He was to gather this doctrine from hooks and from learned men.
EXTRACT FROM THE BOODDHU POORANU.
337
that his son was a god, and fell down and worshipped him. At
length the celestial guests were dismissed with much praise and
respect ; and the father, accompanied by his son, and the rest of
the1 family, having entered the temple of a goddess, and repeated
the usual rites, covered his son with ornaments, while the sylvan
gods presented him with flowers.
' The boy Booddhu, taking 10,000 other boys with him, went
to school, and began to instruct his master, who was filled with
astonishment at the amazing extent of his knowledge. Unable to
answer his different questions, he evaded them, and begged him to
take his place among the boys ; 32,000 of whom, beside Booddhu s
10,000, were taught at this school : but Booddhu neglected his
school exercises, and began to teach these 42,000 boys the bouddlru
doctrines ; who all, in due time, became bouddhus. After leaving
school, Boodhu went to Kooshee, under a tree in which place he
took up his abode, and entered on religious austerities/
The next account of Booddhu, is that he married Gopa, the
daughter of Shakshyu, and retained 84,000 concubines ; but he was
principally attached to Gopa. — The gods one evening appeared to
the father of Gopa in a dream, and apprized him, that his son-in-
law would soon leave his house, and become a snnyasee. On
another occasion, the father and Gopa had each a dream, in
which they beheld Booddhu, having on a red garment, and a staff
in his hand, going on pilgrimage. When the king awoke, he placed
guards round the palace, and entreated him not to depart ; pro-
mising him all he desired, even his kingdom, and reminding him,
that he was too young to become an anchorite. Booddhu, perceiv-
ing that it was in vain to hope for the king's consent, retired to
his apartments; and his father placed more guards round the palace.
The gods, however, sent a heavy sleep on all the guards ; and this
incarnate person, on his arrival at the outside of the palace, mount-
ed his horse, and fled to the distance of forty-eight miles : when
he dismissed his servant, and the gods who had accompanied him ;
stript himself of all his ornaments; shaved his head; clothed
himself with the red garments which had been presented to him by
some god ; and thus assumed the garb of a sunj-asee. His old
apparel the gods took to heaven, where they became objects of
worship.
Booddlm in his pilgrimage met three hundred disciples of
Shravuku, of Yoishalee, with whom he discussed at great length
the bouddlru doctrine, which they ultimately embraced. He
afterwards converted 700 disciples of a person named Ramvt ; and
then visited Guy a, where, sitting down by the Noirunjee, he prac-
tised religious austerities.
Maya-devee, seeing her son inflicting the greatest cruelties
on himself, full of concern, descended to earth, and expostulated
43
*
338 EXTRACT FROM THE BOODDHU POORANU.
with him, reminding him, that he was her only son, the son of a
king, and that by these severities he would certainly destroy
himself. Booddhu, aroused from his intense meditation by the
voice of his mother, addressed much praise to her ; with which
she was so much pleased, that she presented to him a parijatu
flower, which she had brought from heaven, and then departed.
He now recommenced his religious austerities, and continued them
for six years, exposing himself to the scorching sun, the pelting
rain, the parching wind, and the severest cold. The children of the
neighbouring town came to the spot, and played every kind of trick
with him, putting sticks up his nose, into his ears, and mouth ;
but nothing could awake him from his intense abstraction. The
gods filled with admiration at his unparalleled devotion, des-
cended and worshipped him ; but a person, named Numoochee,
visited Booddhu, and upbraided him for his austerities, asking
him why he thus reduced his body to a skeleton ; why he
brought upon himself so much sorrow? — reminding him, that
his death was near, and that it was wise so to act as to secure
happiness in a future state ;y that he was the son of a king ; that
he ought to seek riches, to enable him to make gifts, and present
offerings to the gods, which were meritorious actions, and would
be rewarded by corresponding fruits ; but that at present he was
bearing sufferings without any hope of reward. Booddhu's medi-
tation was broken by this language, and he replied, ' Oh ! wicked
friend, dost thou not know what I am doing \ I am performing
yogu, in doing which, it is necessary first to perfect the body by
austerities, to purify the blood, £he flesh, the bones, the heart, and
the mind. Death is better than continuance in a body so vile that
meritorious actions will not proceed from it. I will subdue my
evil desires, indisposition to religious services, hunger and thirst,
disposition to conversation, covetousness, falsehood, sorrow, &c. ;
as an unbaked pot melts in the water, so will I, by yogu, subdue
or dissolve all these.' Numoochee, hearing this reply, departed.
At the close of the six years' yogu, Booddhu arose, and went to an
adjoining village to obtain refreshments ; after which, walking
seven times round a sacred tree, and making a seat of the grass, he
sat down under the tree, and made the following vow : ' On this
seat may my body, blood, and bones, become dry ; though life
depart, I will never abandon this yogu called siimyuk-sumbodhee/
The attending gods, hearing these resolutions of Booddhu, were
filled with astonishment, and taking offerings, worshipped him as
a god.
Booddhu taught, add the bramhuns, that the universe was
eternal, and had no creator ; and that all creatures were uninter-
ruptedly passing from death to life : he also protested against the
destruction of animal life, whether for food or sacrifice. He was
i By performing acts of charity, and the ceremonies of religion, instead of injuring
his body by austerities.
EXTRACT FROM THE BOODDHU POORANU,
339
much attached to astrological speculations, and wrote a work on
astrology.
The same Hindoo works inform us, that these seceders were
divided into six sects, embracing the doctrines published by
Digumburu, Yirochunu, Vishnoo, Booddhu, and Shakshyu-singhu.
— The founders of these sects were, Charvvaku, Madhyumiku,
Yogacharu, Soutrantiku, Yoibhashiku, and Niravurunu. — Digum-
buru taught, that the being who survives all, and of whom nothing
can be known, is God ; that the universe is composed of four
elements only, earth, water, fire, and air ; and that there is no
such thing as vacuum ; that the earth is eternal, and has no cre-
ator ; and that the highest act of virtue is to abstain from doing
injury to sentient creatures. Muha-veeru enlarged Digumburu's
work, and gave it the name of Urihuntanoo-shasunu. Charvvaku,
following Virochunu, declared that man was not possessed of
spirit, and that there was no future state. Madhyumiku started
the opinion, that the vacuum which" remains at the general
destruction of the universe is God. Yogacharu taught, that the
mind can only be occupied by one object at once. Soutrantiku
taught the Platonic doctrine, that in forming ideas the images of
things are impressed on the mind : he also held, that the mind can
only embrace one object at once. Yoibhashiku was of opinion,
that all visible objects are perishable ; and that sensible objects are
not imprinted on the mind, but are understood through the senses.
The last of these sages, Niravurunu, taught, that what others call the
soul is only something similar to light, diffused through the body,
which is capable of depression or extension, and which dies with it.
These philosophers wrote the following works : — the doctrines
of Yrihusputee ; philosophical mysteries • a treatise on logic ; a
work on astrology ; another to prove the folly of religious distinc-
tions and ceremonies ; and a history of the Bouddhu philosophers.
The following are some of the opinions of this sect2, as charged
upon them in the works mentioned at the head of this article : — •
There is no such God as the common notions on this subject would
point out ; no heaven separate from present happiness ; no hell
separate from present sufferings ; neither works of merit nor de-
merit. There are no such beings as creator, preserver, and des-
troyer. The world is eternal ; it exists from itself, and decays of
itself, as parents give birth to children, as an earthen vessel is pro-
duced by the potter, as the centipede arises from cow-dung, blades
of corn from seed, and as insects from fruit : nature gives birth to
every thing. Material things arise out of the four elements of
earth, fire, water, and air. All visible objects are subject to decay.
Man does not possess an immortal spirit. Spiritual guides are un-
z The atheistical part of these tenets ought not, perhaps, to be charged, in their
full extent, on all the joiniSs and houddhus,
340 MR. colebrooke's observations ox the joinu's.
necessary. The highest virtue consists in refraining from injuring
sentient creatures. Supreme happiness consists in being free.
Every species of pleasure may be called heaven. Absorption is re-
alized in death. The entire absence of desire or affection is the
highest state of happiness: as a person is afflicted for the death
even of a bird he has reared, while other birds die unnoticed. Death
is the same to Brumha and to a fly. To feed the hungry ; to give
medicine to the sick ; to remove fear from others ; to be compas-
sionate to all ; to instruct the ignorant ■ to exercise the five senses,
the five members, the faculty of reason, and the understanding, are
acts of virtue. There is no merit in cutting trees, or in kiUincr
animals, for religious ceremonies ; in mixing blood and earth to
rub upon the body, nor in burning linseeds and clarified butter.
A fine form, superior strength, a large family, a good disposition,
a tender heart, and decision of mind, are the chief good. The five
first of these philosophers taught, add the bramhuns, that the union
of the four elements gave rise to animal life, or motion : as the
union of certain ingredients produces a medicine capable of remov-
ing disease ; or as several colours mixed together produce a colour
different from any simple colour ; or as the juice of a sour fruit put
into milk diffuses sourness throughout the whole.
I shall conclude this account, with an extract from Mr. Cole-
brooke's excellent ' Observations on the Sect of the Joinus,' insert-
ed in the ninth volume of the Asiatic Researches, in which he points
out many striking similarities in the leading features of the systems
embraced by the orthodox Hindoos and the seceders.
(It appears, from the concurrent result of all the enquiries
which have been made, that the joiuus constitute a sect of Hindoos,
differing, indeed, from the rest, in some very important tenets ;
but following, in other respects, a similar practice, and maintaining
like opinions and observances. The essential character of the
Hindoo institutions, is the distribution of the people into four
great tribes. This is considered by themselves to be the marked
point, which separates them from mle'ch 'hus, or barbarians. The
joinils, it is found, admit the same division into four tribes, and
perform like religious ceremonies, termed sungskarus, from the
birth of a male to his marriage. They observe similar fasts, and
practise, still more strictly, the received maxims for refraining
from injury to any sentient being. They appear to recognise, as
subordinate deities, some, if not all, of the gods of the prevailing
sect ; but do not worship, in particular, the five principal gods of
those sects, or any one ot them by preference ; nor address prayers,
or perform sacrifice, to the sun, or to fire ; and they differ from the
rest of the Hindoos, in assigning the highest place to certain deified
saints, who, according to their creed, have successively become
superior gods. Another, point, in which they materially disagree,
is the rejection of the vedus, the divine authority of which they
MR. COLEBROOKE's OBSERVATIONS ON THE JOINU'S.
341
deny ; condemning, at the same time, the practice of sacrifices,
and the other ceremonies, which the followers of the veMus perform,
to obtain specific promised consequences in this world, or in the
next. In this respect, the joinus resemble the bouddhus orsougii-
tus ; who equally deny the divine authority of the vedus ; and
who similarly worship certain pre-eminent saints, admitting
likewise, as subordinate deities, nearly the whole pantheon of
the orthodox Hindoos. They differ, indeed, in regard to the his-
tory of the personages whom they have deified ; and it may be
hence concluded, that they have had distinct founders : but the
original notion seems to have been the same. In fact, this remark-
able tenet, from which the joinus and bouddhus derive their most
conspicuous peculiarities, is not entirely unknown to the orthodox
Hindoos. The followers of the vedus, according to the theology
which is explained in the vedantu, considering the human soul as
a portion of the divine and universal mind, believe, that it is capa-
ble of perfect union with the divine essence : and the writers on the
ve'dantu not only affirm, that this union and identity are attained
through a knowledge of God, as by them taught ; but have hinted,
that by such means the particular soul becomes God, even to the
actual attainment of supremacy .a So far the followers of the vedus
do not virtually disagree with the joinus and bouddhus. But they
have not, like those sects, framed a mythology upon the supposed
history of the persons, who have successively attained divmHy :
nor have they taken these for the objects of national worship. All
three sects agree in their belief of transmigration. But the joinus
are distinguished from the rest by their admission of no opinions,
as they themselves affirm, which are not founded on perception, or
on proof drawn from that, or from testimony. It does not, how-
ever, appear, that they really withhold belief from pretended reve-
lations : and the doctrines, which characterise the sect, are not
' confined to a single tenet ; but form an assemblage of mythological
and metaphysical ideas found among other sects, joined to many
visionary fantastic notions of their own. Their belief in the eternity
of matter, and perpetuity of the world, is common to the Sankhya
philosophy, from which it was perhaps immediately taken. Their
description of the world has much analogy to that which is given
in the pooranus, or Indian theogonies ;b but the scheme has been
rendered still more extravagant. Their precaution to avoid injur-
ing any being is a practice inculcated in the orthodox religion, but
a Vriliud-arunytiku Oopunishud-
b According to Mr. Colebrooke, the joinus suppose, that the world resembles a
spindle resting on the half of another ; or three cups, of which the lowest is inverted,
and the uppermost meets at its circumference the middle one. They conceive the
setting and rising of stars and planets to be caused by mount Soomeroo ; and suppose
three times the period of a planet's appearance to be requisite for it to pass round
Soomeroo, and return to the place whence it emerges. Accordingly, they allot two
suns, as many moons, and an equal number of each planet, star, and constellation, to
Jumbu-dweepu ; and imagine that these appear, on alternate days, south and north
of Soomeroo.
342 NANUKU AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS.
which has been carried by them to a ludicrous extreme. In their
notions of the soul, and of its union with body, and of retribution
for good and evil, some analogy is likewise observable.
' If it be admitted, that the bouddhus are originally a sect of
Hindoos, it may be next questioned whether that, or any of the
religious systems now established, be the most ancient. I have on
a former occasion0 indicated the notions, which I entertain on this
point. According to the hypothesis which I then hinted, the
earliest Indian sect, of which we have any present distinct know-
ledge, is that of the followers of the practical ve'dus, who worship-
ped the sun, fire, and the elements ; and who believed the efficacy
of sacrifices, for the accomplishment of present and of future pur-
poses. It may be supposed, that the refined doctrine of the
vedantees, or followers of the theological and argumentative part
of the vedus, is of later date : and it does not seem improbable,
that the sects of joinu and of Boodd'hu are still more modern.
But I apprehend, that the voishnuvus, meaning particularly the
worshippers of Ramu and of Krishnu, may be subsequent to those
sects, and that the soivyus also are of more recent date.*
CHAP. IV.
ACCOUNT OF THE SHIKHSa.
The founder of this sect was Nantihtt, a Hindoo of the
kshutriyu caste, bom in the year 1469, at Raibhoe'dee-Tuluwundee,
a village in the district of Majha, in the Punjab.
Sir John Malcolm hasrelatedb a number of particulars respect-
ing the life and travels of Nanuku ; the substance of which is, thai
he discovered an early attachment to a devout life, which his
father found it impossible to counteract ; and at length became
famous as a prophet : according to Bhaee-Gooroo-Vulee, author of
the Gnanu-Rutnavulee, a work in the Shikh dialect, he travelled
to all the sacred places of the Hindoos and Musulmans, and even
to Mecca. In these journies, as the author is informed by a
learned Shikh employed in the Serampore printing-office, he obtain-
ed many disciples ; and at the time of his death, which happened
when he was advanced in years, left not less than 100,000 persons
in different countries who were attached to him as their religious
guide.
c Asiatic Researches, vol. viii. p. 474.
a The followers of Nanuku are sometimes called Gooroo-niookhee, ' from the
snouth of the teacher but generally Shikhs, from Shishyu, a disciple.
b In his c Sketch of the Hindoo^' Asiatic Researches, vol, xi.
NAN UK Q AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS.
343
Nanuku appears to have resembled Choitimyu, and many other
Hindoos who have been celebrated for their attachment to forms
of devotion, in preference to barren speculations and religious shows.
He maintained the doctrine of the divine unity, which, it is
probable, he learned from the Musulman mendicants, with whom
he was very familiar : further, that God dwells in the devout, and
that this divine inhabitation renders the ascetic an object of rever-
ence and even of worship ; and that hence it became a duty to seek
the society of devout mendicants. The other two points most in-
sisted upon by him were, devout attachment to the deity, and a
harmless behaviour towards all creatures. — To promote the spirit
of devotion, Nanuku composed a number of sacred hymns in praise
of the Deity, which have a place in the Adee-Grunt'hu ; in which
work repeating the names of God is enjoined on the Shikhs.
This reformer dealt very mildly with the two systems which
he rejected, those of the Hindoos and Musulmans, and in conse-
quence he left many customs indifferent : he however dissuaded
his disciples from expecting any benefit from the worship of idols,
and other ceremonies connected with the Hindoo mythology.
Nanuku had two sons, Shree-chundru and Lukshmee-dasu.
His family now resides at Deliura, by the river Kavee, w here Nanuku
died ; and from whence, as the Shikhs say, he ascended to heaven
in his bodily state, his garments only being found after his death.
His disciples took these garments, and burnt them instead of the
body; but Sir John Malcolm says, that a small piece of one of his
garments0 is still exhibited at the temple dedicated to this mendi-
cant at DeTiura, where the objects of worship are the Shikh shas-
trus. Images of Nanuku are never made, though paintings of him
are to be seen in many places.
Nanuku, before his death, passing by his own relations, ap-
pointed IJngudu, a favourite disciple to succeed him. This mendi-
cant, at his death, appointed Umuru-dasii, one of his disciples, to fill
up his station; to him succeeded Kamu-dasu, and after him, in suc-
cession, Urjoonu, Huree-Govindu, Huree-Kayu, Huree-Krishnu, and
Teg-bahadur. The person who presided last over the Shikhs, was
Gooroo Govindu-Singhu.
\^
Urjoonu compiled the Adee-Grunt'hu, or, 'The first Book/
from the writings^ of his four predecessors, Nanuku, Ungudu,
Umuru-dasu, and TJrjoomi. Ramu-dasu enlarged and improved it
by his own additions and comments ; and some small portions have
been subsequently added by thirteen persons, the last of whom
was a female disciple named Meerabaee.
# e This small piece, however, is, I suspect, 200 lbs. weight, as a cloak of this kind,
which Nanuku is said to have left on his pilgrimage, was restored to his relations after
his death, aad placed in this temple.
3M< PARTICULARS REGARDING CERTAIN SHIKH LEADERS.
' Umuru-dasu,' says Sir John Malcolm, ' was distinguished for
his activity in preaching the tenets of Nanuku, and was very
successful in obtaining converts and followers, by the aid of whom
he established some temporal power ; he built Koojurawal, and
separated from the regular Shikhs the oodasee sect, which was
founded by Shree-Chundru, the son of Nanuku, and was probably
considered, at that period, as heretical/
Ramu-dasu, the son of Umuru-dasu, is celebrated for ' the
improvements he made at Umritu-suru, which was for some time
called Ram-pooru, or Ramclas-pooru. He added much to the
population of this city, and formed a famous reservoir of water,
which he called Umritu-suru, or the water of immortality !' This
pool has become the resort of the Shikhs from all parts> and has
given its own name and sanctity to this city, now called Umritu-
suru.
Thus each of the ten leaders of the Shikhs added to the number
and power of the sect, till, under Govindu-singhu, they became a
formidable nation. This man was a political leader rather than a
religious guide, and he introduced a number of accommodating
rules into the system of his predecessors, to meet the circumstances
of a people who were to acquire and support their independence
by the sword.
Those who wish to become acquainted with the political
events which have elevated a sect of mendicants into a powerful
nation, will be highly gratified by a perusal of Sir John Malcolm's
very interesting sketch. I shall merely add, from this article, a
paragraph respecting the national council of this people: — ' When
a Gooroo-muta, or great national council, is called, (as it always
is, or ought to be, when any imminent danger threatens the country,
or any large expedition is to be undertaken,) all the Shikh chiefs
assemble at Umritu-suru. The jissembly, which is called the
Gooroo-muta, is convened by the Ukalees ;d and when the chiefs
d ' The Ukalees, or worshippers of the Eternal, (Ukaltf-poorooshu,) under the
double character of fanatic priests and desperate soldiers, have usurped the sole
direction of all religions alfairs at Umritu-suru, and are consequently leading men in
a council which is held at that sacred place, and which deliberates under all the influence
of religious enthusiasm. Agreeably to the historians of that nation, they were first
founded by Gooroo-Govindil, whose institutes, as it has been before stated, they
most zealously defended against the innovations of the voiragee Btindu. They wear
blue chequered clothes, and bangles or bracelets of steel round their wrists, initiate
converts, and have almost the sole direction of the religious ceremonies at Umritu-
suru, where they reside, and of which they deem themselves the defenders, and
consequently never desire to quit it unless in cases of great extremity. This order
of shikhs have a place, or Boonga, on the bauk of the sacred reservoir of Umritu-suru,
where they generally resort : they are individually possessed of property, though they
affect poverty, and subsist upon charity ; which, however, since their numbers have
increased, they generally extort, by accusing the principal chiefs of crimes, imposing
fines upon them, and, in the event of their refusing to pay, preventing them from
performing their ablutions, or going through any of their religious ceremonies at
Umritii-silruV— Asiatic Researches, vol, xi.
THE SHIKH SHASTEUS.
345
meet upon this solemn occasion, it is concluded that all private
animosities cease, and that every man sacrifices his personal
feelings at the shrine of the general good ; and, actuated by
principles of pure patriotism, thinks of nothing but the interests
of the religion, and common-wealth, to which he belongs. — When
the chiefs and principal leaders are seated, the Adee-Grunt'hu and
I)ushuma-Padsha,hee-Grunt'hue are placed before them. They all
bend their heads before these scriptures, and exclaim, * Wah !
Gooroo jeeda Khalsa ! — Wah ! Gooroo jeekee phute !' A great
quantity of cakes, made of wheat, butter, and sugar, are then
placed before the volumes of their sacred writings, and covered
with a cloth. These holy cakes, which are in commemoration of
the injunction of Nanuku, to eat and to give to others to eat,
next receive the salutation of the assembly ; who then jise,
and the TJkalees pray aloud, while the musicians play. The TJka-
lees, when the prayers are finished, desire the council to be
seated. They sit down, and the cakes being uncovered, are eaten
of by all classes of Shikhs ; those distinctions of original tribes
which are, on other occasions, kept up, being on this occasion laid
aside^in token of their general and complete union in one cause.
The TJkalees then exclaim, • Sirdars ! (chiefs) this is a Gooroomuta!"
on which prayers are again said aloud. The chiefs after this sit
closer, and say to each other, ' The sacred grunt' hu is betwixt us :
let us swear by our scripture to forget all internal disputes, and to
be united.' This moment of religious fervor, and ardent patriotism,
is taken to reconcile all animosities. They then proceed to consi-
der the danger with which they are threatened, to settle the best
plans for averting it, and to choose the generals who are to lead
their armies against the common enemy. The first Gooroomuta
was assembled by Gooroo-Govindii, and the latest was called in
1805, when the British army pursued Holkar into the Punjab.'
The Shikhs pay the same reverence to their shastrus which
they formerly paid to their religious leaders. These books are placed
in their temples and worshipped/ and in some places are read twice
or thrice a day, by an officiating priest called a grunt'hee ; who,
before he begins to read, bathes, puts on clean apparel, sweeps the
the place where the book is to be worshipped, and covers it with
a mat ; places a stool on the mat ; spreads a cloth on the stool,
and on this cloth puts the book or books : (the book is always
wrapt up in a cloth, either plain or gilt, according to the ability of
the owner :) the cloths (which are several when it belongs to a rich
man) are next taken off with much reverence ; incense is burnt ;
e The words Duslium a Padshahee-Grunt'hu mean, 'The tenth leader's book,' cr
the work written during the presidency of the tenth leader, Govindu-singhff.
f The well-informed Shikh attempts to justify the outward appearance of worship,
by saying, that he does this, that the lower orders may regard the contents of
these books.
44
34(5
THE SHIKH SHASTRUS.
red powder sprinkled, and garlands of flowers laid upon the book,
to which the person makes a bow.s The grunt'hee reads aloud,
and those present who are able, join him in singing, or rather
chaunting the poetical parts of what is read. The grunt'hee receives
fees or presents, beside the offerings made at the times of worship ;
and lands are somtimes given to temples, as well as to the officiat-
ing grunt' hees.
Those who have leisure and opportunity, read portions of these
books daily, and repeat certain words, in the form of petition, four-
times a day. They who have not these books, repeat the name of
Nanuku or Govindu-singhu, or address prayers to one of these
leaders once or twice a day. This daily worship is performed
either in the dwelling house, or in a separate place devoted to reli-
gious uses. A Shikh never opens a copy of his shastrus without
rirst bowing to the book.
The doctrine of these two books respecting God is, that he is
an invisible spirit, and is to be conceived of as being active and
passive, with and without qualities. They contain the histories of
the Hindoo incarnations, and inculcate the doctrine of the Hindoos
respecting Brumha, Vishnoo, Shivu, the creator, the preserver, and
the destroyer ; and in different parts of these works are to be found
forms of praise to Narayunu, who is, however, revered as the one
God. There are three things which these works particularly com-
mend, as, a disposition to serve Narayunu ; — devotion, expressed
in repeating the names of Narayunu, in meditating on these
names, and in praising Narayunu : — and union with devout
persons. Govindu-singhu's work contains forms of praise to Na-
rayunu, whose chief name in this book is Ukalu-poorooshu, or
the everlasting. They advise Shikhs to seek absorption in
God, rather than the happiness enjoyed in inferior heavens,
from whence the soul descends to enter on a succession of births.
The performance of the ceremonies prescribed in their books, is the
Shikh way to final beatitude. These books further teach, that the
sorrows experienced in the different transmigrations of the soul,
are the fruit of sin ; that as long as the soul is confined in the
body, it is in chains ; and that whether the chains be of gold or of
iron, it is still a prisoner, and enduring punishments. They also
believe in the existence of the Hindoo king of death, Yumu, and in
the punishments he inflicts.
Govindu-singhu set up the worship of Doorga, and offered
bloody sacrifices at her festivals ; but he did not direct his disciples
to worship any other deity, though the work written by him con-
tains accounts of other deities. The worship of this goddess is at
present seldom performed before an image ; but if an old image
s When the person performs each of these ceremonies, he repeats an incantation,
taken from the shastrn : or, if he be ignorant of the proper prayer, he says, 'Oh! Gooroo.1
t
DIFFERENT SECTS AND FORM OF INITIATION.
have existed in any place from time immemorial, the Shikhs wor-
ship it. In general, however, they pile a number of weapons to-
gether, as the representative of Doorga.
These people are divided into two great sects, one of which
adheres to Nanuku, and the other to Govindu-singhn ; yet both
these chiefs are venerated by all the Shikhs. — The disciples of
Nanuku are called khoolasas, and have less of a warlike disposition
than those of Govindu-singhu, who are called khalsas. In the
Punjab, the khalsas are most numerous. A chief, to prove the
courage of a khalsa, sometimes seizes him, and threatens him with
punishment if he will not shave his beard. Should he refuse, he
beats him ; if this does not change his purpose, he proceeds as
though he were about to kill him. If he resolve to part with life
rather than with his hair, he sets him at liberty, as a good khalsa.
When a person wishes to become a Shikh, he makes known his
intention to some grunt'hee, or to any person learned in their shastrus;
and if he wish to become a khalsa, he permits his hair to grow.
When his hair has grown a month or two, he goes again to the
grunt'hee, who prepares the nectar, by stirring a knife in a bowl
of water, repeating incantations : a person present joins the hands
of the new disciple, into which the grunt'hee pours some of this
water of life, of which he drinks five times, and afterwards rubs a
little on his eyes. While he receives this water, he repeats, five
times, Wah ! Gooroo jeeda Khalsa ! — Wah ! Gooroo jeeda philteh P
The grunt'hee next demands his name ; which, if insignificant in
sound or meaning, is changed for another, and the word singhu
added. After this, a meat-offering is prepared, called kura prusadu,
composed of clarified butter, flour, sugar, milk, and various kinds
of fruits, mixed, and baked on the fire. The grunt'hee now wor-
ships the book, and presents to it some of the meat-offering ; the
rest of which is offered to "Ukalu-poorooshu, in the name of Nanuku,
accompanied with a prayer to Govindu-singhu, that his blessing
may rest upon this person now becoming a Shikh. At the close of
these ceremonies, the food is distributed among the spectators of
every caste ; and the grunt'hee addresses a short discourse to the
disciple respecting the religion of the Shikhs, and teaches him an
incantation by repeating it in his presence till it be learnt, or else
he gives it him in writing. The Shikhs pay great reverence to the
initiatory incantation, but less to their spiritual guides than the
Hindoos. Women are made Shikhs in the same manner as men ;
the only difference in the form is, that when the nectar is prepared
for women, it is stirred with the back instead of the edge of the
knife. When a Musulman becomes a Shikh, he is forbidden in the
strongest manner to eat beef
h ^ Wah, an exclamation of admiration ; Gooroo, spiritual teacher ; jeeda, an honoura-
ble epithet ; Khalsa, deliverance, or emancipation from the chains connected with a
bodily state ; and philteh, victory or glory..
348
FESTIVALS AND OTHER CEREMONIES.
The Shikhs have a number of festivals, but they are all
celebrated in a similar manner ; the difference consists principally
in the degree of splendour attached to them : among other festivals
are, the anniversaries of the birth and death of Nanuku ; and
monthly ceremonies when the sun enters a new sign. In the
month Kartiku also, on the 14th of the wane of the moon, at
Umritu-suru, they have a great annual feast, called Deepu-mala ;
when, from all the surrounding countries, two or three hundred
thousand people are said to bathe in the sacred pool, with the
same faith in its virtues as the Hindoos have in Gunga. On
other occasions, people from all the neighbourhood come and
bathe in this pool ; and those who live on the spot bathe in it
daily. When the Shikhs bathe in any other place, they call to
remembrance this pool, and pray for the blessings connected with
bathing in Umritu-suru.
Their temples are built by rich men, or by a few persons
uniting to defray the expense. They have a flat roof, and are suffi-
ciently capacious to accommodate multitudes of worshippers, who
sometimes sit, and at other times stand during worship.
Various sects of religious mendicants are found amongst the
Shikhs, asNanuku-shakhees/Nirvanees14, Ukalees1, and Nirmmulus.m
The Shikhs have certain ceremonies after the birth of a child,"
at their marriages, and at death : some present offerings to the names
of deceased ancestors, copying the ceremonies of the Hindoos. The
shows at their weddings resemble those of the Hindoos. The Shikhs
keep their women in great slavery, yet instances of infidelity are
not uncommon. Should a man murder his wife on account of im-
proper conduct, he is not punished. The chief says, if he were to
punish such a husband, all the women of the country would be-
come unfaithful.
The Shikhs burn their dead ; and their wives sometimes, but
very seldom, ascend the funeral pile with their husbands. This is
done, however, by those who are least detached from the Hindoo
system. They generally sing certain couplets of their shastru, ac-
companied with music, as they convey the body to the cemetery ;
and sometimes a great multitude of Shikhs assemble on these occa-
sions, and continue singing till the body is entirely consumed.
* That is, those who observe the customs of Nanffkil
k These go entirely naked.
1 The mendicants wear blue apparel, and profess to believe in Ukalft-poorooshrl
m The name of these mendicants intimates, that they are sinless.
n Before the time of Nanrikri, the people of the Punjab, of high caste, used to
destroy all their female children after preserving the first-born. Nanttki? forbad this
to all his disciples, on pain of excommunication. The practice still exists in the Punjab
amongst those who follow the Hindoo religion. Some of the descendants of Nanrikif
too, who do Rot profess the religion of their ancestor, perpetrate these murders.
DOCTRINES OF NANUKU AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS. 34-9
The Shikhs have schools for the instruction of children, at the
places consecrated to Naimku, and in villages belonging to different
chiefs : the grunt'hees also teach the meaning of their sacred books
to individuals who desire it ; and even shoodras are permitted to
explain these books to others.
The division of men into castes exists among the Shikhs in
some measure ; but the Shikh bramhuns, kshutriyiis, voishyus, and
shoodrus (if of one sect0) eat together. The poita is not much re-
garded, especially by the regular Shikhs. In the article of marriage,
however, the caste is very strictly regarded.
The Shikhs eat the flesh of wild fowl, and wild hogs ; and the
lower orders eat tame fowls. House-fed hogs are forbidden. Spirits
are not forbidden, and many indulge to excess ; but their favourite
beverage is bhungu.p
I am informed, that there are at present as many as a hundred
chiefs possessing separate districts in the Punjab ; that Runjeet-
singhu, the most powerful, can bring 100,000 soldiers into the field,
and that his revenues amount to near two crores of rupees annually.
Each petty chief is the judge in his own domain ; and he appoints
village magistrates, who hear the evidence of witnesses, or the
advice of four of five persons who may be present. The admi-
nistration of justice is, however, but ill attended to. The Shikhs
punish thieves by hanging them, or cutting them to pieces. They
have jails, but no written, civil, or criminal laws.
Doctrines taught by JSfanuku, and other Shikh Leaders :
Extracted from the Adee-Grrtnt'hif.
Ungudu, according to the commentary on this work, is repre-
sented as asking Nanuku respecting the Deity ; to which the sage
replies : — ' He is truth, the creator and governor of all things,
omnipresent, free from fear and from enemies, immortal, from ever-
lasting, self-existent. He is the truth ; he existed in this form be-
fore the foundation of the world, and he remains the same while
the world exists, and after it shall be destroyed : he is to be known
by means of a spiritual guide.'
* Absorption in God is not to be obtained by ceremonial puri-
fications, nor by observing perpetual silence, nor by excessive in-
dulgence, nor by learning.' ' In what way then,' asks the disciple,
4 is delusion to be destroyed, and truth to be obtained ?' ' By observ-
0 That is, all the followers of Nanffkti eat together, as do all those who follow
Govindtf - singhfr .
p The leaves of hemp, bruised with certain spices, and mixed with water ; make a
very strong and intoxicating beverage, called bhuagii, or siddhee,
350 DOCTRINES OF NANUKU AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS.
ing the divine commands, without being diverted by the sorrows
or pleasures of the present state.' The disciple continues, ' What
are the commands of God, and how far do they extend V Nanuku
replies, ' His command brought the universe into existence : this
is one command, but beyond this I cannot describe his authority.
By his command all animals came into existence, the great and
the small, the excellent and the degraded ; by his command joy
and sorrow were assigned to all, and by the same power future
happiness was prepared for the good ; birth, and death, and all
things were appointed by him, and without his command nothing
takes place. He who obeys God must be humble.'
The disciple next enquires, ' If a person praise the commands
of God, will he derive any advantage from thence ?' Nanuku.
replies, ' If any one can sing the praise of his commands, let him
do it ; he who cannot, let him understand these commands, and
without pride let him think upon them. Let him who sings these
praises, acknowledge his own insignificance and dependance on
God ; he will praise his excellent qualities and his power. Let him,
from other shastrus also, if he be able, select forms of praise, and
use them.'
To the end of the Jupu-jee, Nanuku goes on to describe the
divine properties, and the works of God, together with the effects
of devotion on the mind. In one place, in reply to a question res-
pecting offerings, he directs, as the most acceptable offerings,
morning praise to God, and the presentation of the body to him.
He promises the person who does this, the divine favour, and
future absorption. 'He who serves God, the fountain of all good,
will obtain his blessing. God is served, by listening to his
excellencies, by meditating on them, and by celebrating their
praise ; the method of which is to be obtained from a spiritual
guide, who is above all the gods, and who is in fact God himself.'
Nanuku says, that pilgrimages and other devout actions may
be good, if performed to please God ; but that pilgrims must not
seek their own profit in them, since every thing depends on the
motive. When asked, whether life might be prolonged by per-
forming ceremonies, Nanuku declared, that every ceremony would
be followed by a succession of births, if union to God were over-
looked. ' Hearing the praise of God is followed by every degree
of exaltation, subject to future birth ,q even to the dignity of the
gods. God is praised by Chitru-Gooptu and by all the gods, by
all the nymphs, and by all beings. He himself, as well as all his
works, are infinite. Meditating on God is followed by unspeakable
<i Nanuku does not seem to have said much respecting the nature of future hap-
piness in heaven, nor to have acknowledged the Hindoo heavens : he taught, however,
that there was a heaven where persons enjoy sensual happiness for a limited time,
subject to future transmigrations.
DOCTRINES OF NANUKU AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS. 351
gain, even by absorption in God, which absorption also includes
the whole of such a person's friends.
' God has created innumerable worlds. The period of creation
is not laid down in any writing ; it is known only to God. The
Hindoos place Kuchchupu under the earth, to support it, and the
Musulmans, a cow — but Nanuku says, the earth and all worlds are
upheld by Religion,' the mother of which being is Compassion, who
dwells with Contentment.'
In reply to a question from a disciple, respecting the value of
outward ceremonies, Nanuku, without altogether rejecting the effi-
cacy of ceremonies, recommended mental worship as of greater im-
portance, adding, that this was agreeable to the vedus.
Nanuku, in the same work, rejects all the ornaments and
trappings of mendicants, and says, virtue is the best ornament for
a pilgrim : he objects to separate religious societies, and recom-
mends his followers to unite themselves to the whole human race.
He further says, that the best victory is that which a man obtains
over his own passions.
e To the Being who is unchangeable and eternal do obeisance.
Let wisdom be your food : let compassion prepare it. Nature is
the mother of the world ; Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu are her sons,
who rule under the direction of God : he sees them, but remains
himself concealed. From the four primary elements, and day and
night, sprang the universe. God, the invisible, dwells in truth.
A thousand tongues can never complete his praise, nor is the power
to worship him inherent in man ; it is the gift of God. The
knowledge of God is more than all ceremonies, and fills the soul
with joy. He who is ashamed of sin, is happy ; he who performs
works of merit, shall obtain happiness.'
The above is an epitome of the contents of the Jupu-Jee, which
chapter of the Adee-Grunt'hu is directed to be read or repeated
daily by every Shikh, either before or after bathing. If a person
cannot read or repeat the whole, he is directed to read five verses.
It is not to be supposed, however, that all Shikh s preserve in their
houses even so much as this chapter of the Adee-Grunt'hu. Some,
if is true, commit to memory the whole of this chapter; and a
few Shikhs are to be found, who can repeat more than a third part
ot the Adee-Grunt'hu, a thick volume in folio. Others commit to
memory a similar quantity of Govindu-singhu's work.
In the 42d page of the Adee-Grunt'hu, Nanuku compares the
body to a field, the mind to the husbandman, the praises of God to
seed; and absorption in God he deems the fruit,
r This sentiment approaches towards the joina doctrine, that Religion and
Irrcligion arc the only governors of the world.
352 DOCTRINES OF NANUKU AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS.
TJrjoonu, in the 50th page, says, f The place where the
devout sit becomes purified and is made excellent.' In the 53d
page he thus exalts the spiritual guide, (Nauuku :) 'The sight of
him brings all the benefits which arise from visiting every holy
place, and delivers from all future birth.'
TJmuru-dasu, in the 59th page, praises the devout mendicant,
by declaring, that though lie be of the lowest rank in life, people
will praise him to the neglect even of the gods.
Nanuku, in the 69th page, replies to those who value them-
selves on their birth, by placing him who is under the influence of
wicked principles, on a level with, a basket-maker, (i. e., a person
of low caste) ; the cruel, with a butcher ; the slanderer, with a
sweeper ; the wrathful, with a chundalu. ' Such a man, though he
surround himself during his meals with a fence,8 lest he should be
defiled, deceives himself, as he in fact eats with a basket-maker, a
butcher, sweeper, or a chundalu. Speaking truth is the best puri-
fier of the bod}' ; good works, the best fence ; and repeating the
name of God, the best ablution : excellence of character is confined
to him who preserves himself from evil.'
Ruvee-dasu, a shoe-maker, but a celebrated devotee, says, in
the 70th page of this work, that the difference betwixt God and
animal life is similar to that betwixt gold and golden ornaments,
betwixt water and its waves.
1 Whatever thou hast, wife, riches, yea, thy own body, give it
to God.' TJvjoonu, p. 74.
' Compassion is the true mosque ; righteousness, the true seat
for worship ; bashfulness the true circumcision ; holiness, the true
fasting; proper conduct, the true pilgrimage to Mecca; speaking
truth, the true kiilma, or gayutree ; excellent conduct, the true
praise of God : these form the true Musulman. Injustice com-
mitted by a Musulman, is eating swine's flesh, and in a Hindoo,
eating beef : such a sinner can neither be saved by the peers, nor
by the gods.' — Nanuku, p. 87.
Nanuku, in the 213th page, holds up compassion as the
cotton, contentment as the threads, truth the weaving of the
threads, and the subjection of the passions the knots, of the true
poita, which never breaks nor becomes soiled. He who wears this
poita, is blessed. Again : — ' If touching the dead make a person
unclean, as all we eat is dead, men must always be unclean ; but
as evil desire alone defiles the mind, so does falsehood, the tongue ;
lust, the eyes ; and listening to defamation, the ears : he who is
thus defiled, becomes the prey of Yum it the king of death.
8 An allusion to the practice uf the Hindoos, who sometimes draw a ring round
fchem as they sit to cat.
DOCTRINES OF NANUKU AND OTHER SHIKH LEADERS. S5S
Whatsoever makes a man forget God, renders him unclean
Birth and death are not the causes of uncleanness ; for these
events proceed from God.'
Nanuku further taught, that the person who worships God
with outward things only, is in an error ; that a pure body is the
true vedix ; the mind, the true sacrificial garment ; wisdom, the
true poita ; medi tation on God, the proper vessel for worship ; and
the only true prayer, that in which the worshippers desire to be
incessantly employed in repeating the name of God. He who ob-
serves these rules, will obtain absorption.
Naniiku reproves men for presenting different essences to
God, and anointing their bodies with them after worship ; recom-
mending rather the name of God as the incense, and regarding the
mind as the stone on which it is ground, and good works as another
essence mixed with the former : he adds, that purifying the vessels
of worship is useless, the purification of the mind being the only
essential requisite.
TJrjoonu, in the 224th page, says, that the 330,000,000 of gods,
including Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu, are all subject to God.
c The devout are truly excellent, of whatever caste, or how-
ever poor.'* Nanuku. — 'The devout, however poor, never ask
God for riches.' Ruvee-dasu. — Naufiku, in p. 409, makes the
following quotaton from Kuveeru, a mendicant, who wrote several
small pieces still extant : — ' He who merely studies the vedu, repeats
the gayutree, and wears the poita, is not the honorable person ; the
devout alone are to be honored.' In page 501, TJrjoonu commends
the example of the man who rejects all outward ceremonies, and
worships God only in the mind.
' Many pronounce sin an evil, and yet love it ; but the de-
vout reject sin, and apply to the concerns of a future state. To
obtain wealth, some worship Shivii, others steal, and others endure
the greatest burdens ; but not an atom of this wealth accompanies
them into eternity : while those works of merit, which would
t To excite in the minds of his followers the love of de-rotion, Nanukn, while
living, was accustomed to relate the following story : — Junukii, the king, the father of
Seeta, was very devout, and had merited heaven ; but at the time of death he declared
to Yilmu, that he was resolved to go to heaven by the way of hell. Yumil informed
him, that he had no sins to expiate by suffering, and that such a course was unusual.
Junukii, however, insisted on seeing this place on his way to heaven : and his request
was complied with. On his arrival at the infernal regions, his presence evidently
assuaged the torments of the wicked ; and the criminals entreated him to remain
among them, at least during a short period. He begged to be excused, but entreated
Ytimx! to oblige him by liberating these miserable wretches. Yumxi declared, that
till their sins were expiated, no power could emancipate them. Junuku then transfer-
red to them the merit of an hour's devotion, and a general goal delivery was the
immediate consequence. Such was the power and merit of devotion ! Nanuku, at the
close of this story, used to add, that remembrance of God and pious feelings wer@
beyond all ceremonies efficacious,
45
354 DOCTRINES OF THE FOLLOWERS OF CIIOITUNYU.
accompany and save them, are totally neglected. The Musulman.
judge sits on the seat of justice, and, repeating the name of God, and
counting his beads, receives bribes, and sells justice ; the bramhun
puts on his poita, when he eats surrounds himself with a ting to
to keep off the unclean, and performs daily ablutions, but lives in,
sin : — all the ceremonies practised by these persons are profitless.'
Nantiku.
TJrjoonu says, p. 408, that God is not compelled to grant bless-
ings by any works of merit — devotion alone has this power
over God.
Nanuku, in p. 543, defends those who eat flesh, proving that
all eat flesh, even the child supported by his mother's milk, and
that all men live more or less by injustice ; that even herbs ob-
tained by unlawful gains are forbidden food. In the 609th page,
he gives an account of the punishments inflicted in difterent hells
by Yumu, the Indian Pluto, on those who have neglected a devout
life.
CHAP. V.
ACCOUNT OF THE FOLLOWERS OF CHOITUNYU.
In another part of this work we have given, amongst the gods,
an account of Choitunyu, and of the origin of the sect to which he
gave rise. We shall therefore now merely notice the principles,
numbers, and moral state of this sect.
Choitunyu, though he rejected the institution of the caste, does
not appear to have introduced any new doctrines among his fol-
lowers. He adopted as the object of worship one of the Hindoo
gods, Krish\iu, under the form of Huree ; and gave his disciples an
initiatory incantation containing this name. He declared, that
most of the ceremonies of the Hindoos were unprofitable ; but in-
culcated repetitions of the name of Huree ; bowing and presenting
offerings to his image ; as well as devotion of mind to this god,
under the characters of servant, friend, &c. — He taught that there
was no merit in pilgrimages to sacred places, but that journies in
search of the devout and wise were not improper. His attachment
to Huree, to the exclusion of the other gods, had no reference to
the doctrine of the unity of God ; he admitted the Hindoo mytho-
logy, but taught his disciples to devote themselves only to Huree.
The other ceremonies of the Hindoos, he did not reject as errors ;
but declared, that in the kulee yoogu they were not necessary. He
taught, that the devout worshipper of Huree would obtain heaven
by his devotion.
ACCOUNT OF THEIR LEADERS. 3'55
Ohoitunyu did not leave any works behind him, though he
was acquainted with the Sungskritu language ; the doctrines that
have since been given in writing, as the tenets of the sect, are said
to have been delivered orally by him ; and the writers belonging to
this sect have endeavoured to prove, that they are derived from
the works venerated by the Hindoos.
In the article to which we have already referred, (page 134,)
the reader will find an account of Choitunyu's two coadjutors, Ud-
woitu and Mtyanundu. Both these survived Ohoitunyu, and
helped to establish the sect, of which they acknowledged Ohoitunyu
to have been the founder.
After the death of these leaders, Roopu-Goswamee, Sunatunii-
Goswamee, his brother, and Jeevu Goswamee, formed the doctrines
of Ohoitunyu into a system. These men were all learned in the
Hindoo shastrus ; the two former were men of some distinction.
Their principal writings are the Huree-bhuktee-vilasu, a commen-
tary on the Shree-bhaguvutu, another on the tenth chapter of the
Shree-bhaguvutu, a Sungskritu grammar, a poem in honor of Krish-
nu, a work on poetical allusions, a poetical life of Ohoitunyu, &c.
During the lives of these writers, or soon after their decease,
many persons of influence joined this sect, and increased the number
of Choitunyu's followers very considerably ; but the persons most
honored were the descendants of Udwoitu and Nityanundu :
Ohoitunyu left no family. Some persons consider Ohoitunyu as a
full incarnation of Vishnoo, Udwoitu as Shivu, and Nityanundu
as Bulu-ramu, the brother of Krishnu.
At present^ the great leaders of this sect are the heads of the
families of Udwoitu and Mtyanundu, who live at Shantee-pooru
and Khurduhuu, though collateral branches of these families in
different places have collected a number of disciples. They are
known by the general name Gosaee, (Goswamee.)
These leaders, however, though at the head of a sect which
disregards caste, are as tenacious of these distinctions as the most
rigid of the regular Hindoos : they do not eat with their own dis-
ciples, and are careful to marry amongst families professing the
ancient religion.
The disciples of Ohoitunyu are initiated, as well as married, by
the gosaees, to whom fees are given. These gosaees honor the
festivals sacred to Krishnu, or Huree, and crowds of disciples as-
semble on these occasions to enjoy the festivities.
A number of insignificant temples and images, dedicated to
this deified mendicant, are scattered up and down in various places
» This place is about three miles south-east of Serampore,
356
THEIR PROGRESSIVE INCREASE.
in Bengal. It is supposed, that out of sixteen Hindoos in Bengal,
five will be found to be of this sect ; but many, I am informed,
are persons of the very lowest description as it respects moral
character, even as many as three in five.
The majority of the followers of Choitunyu subsist either
wholly or in part as public mendicants ; and amongst these, num-
bers of thieves are to be found. It has lately been ascertained,
that persons of this description are very numerous ; they assume
the profession of a voiragee, or religious mendicant, and receive the
reverence of the people as persons eminent for sanctity, but are in
reality common robbers. They do not all appear to subsist by
mendicity ; many of them make necklaces, twine, &c. merely that
they may appear to their neighbours as persons subsisting by a
lawful profession.
The sect of Choitunyu is increasing daily ; as it opens a door
to the practice of mendicity, encourages an indiscriminate and
most licentious mixture of the sexes, and emancipates from the
yoke of the caste, without incurring the disgrace usually following
that event.
The following works are very popular amongst this sect : — ■
Krishnu-keerttunii, by Govindii-dasu, and Vidyaputee. Choitunyu-
mungulu, the histor}?- of Choitunyu, in verse, by Lochunu, a voish-
nuvu. Pashundu-dulunu, a work in favour of the voishnuvu, by
Radha-madhuvu. Choitunyu-churitamritu, by Krishnu-dasu. This
is a work in defence of Choitunyu, partly in Sungskritu and partly
in Bengalee. Voishnuvu-burdhunu, by Doivukee-nundtinu.
Choitunyu-bhaguvutu, by Vrinda-vunu-clasu. Munu-shikshya, by
Nurottumu. Ragu-muyu-konft, a work on subduing the passions,
by Bvoopu-goswamee. Rusumuyu-kulika, on devotedness to
Krishna, by Sunatimu, a voishnuvu. Pre'mu-bhuktee-chundrika,
by T'hakooru-goswamee.
CHAP. VI
ACCOUNT OF ALL THE HINDOO SECTS.
Extracted from the Vidwanmodu-Tumnginee, a work by Chirunjeevu.
This work begins with the following invocation to Doorga :
. — ( May she who removes the darkness of the mind, who is reveal-
ed from everlasting, who, though invisible, exists in the earth, who
enlightens the ignorant, whose forehead is adorned with the
crescent, the fixed rays of whose body resemble the lightning,
whose body is like the clouds — descend into my mind,'
ACCOUNT OF ALL HINDOO SECTS.
357
[Tli en follows an account of the author's family ; after which
the author introduces the reader to the court of Dukshu, king of
Gouru, where the priest of the king, and a number of learned men,
are assembled in the presence of the monarch.]
In the first place, the master of the ceremonies announces to
the monarch the approach of a Voishnuvu, in the following
words : — ' May it please your Majesty, the person now approach-
ing wears the mark of his sect, extending from the tip of his nose
to the centre of his head ; has the representations of the weapons
of Vishnoo impressed on his body ; is clothed in yellow garments,
and wears a necklace of toolusee beads ; he has purified his body by
bathing, &e. and repeats the name Huree, Huree, as he comes.' The
voishnuvu now approaches the king, and says, ' May Vishnoo enter
thy mind ; he on whom Shiva and all the gods, sitting as yogees,
meditate; he who dwells in Yoikoont'hu; he who fills the uni-
verse, but remains invisible ; and whose body resembles that of
Brumha.' — Saying this, he takes his seat in the assembly.
The master of the ceremonies, seeing a Shoivu approaching,
mentions him to the king in these words : — ' The excellent person
who is now coming, has his hair bound up as a turban round his
head ; is girt round the waist with a tiger's skin ; is covered with
ashes ; and his head, neck, and arms, are surrounded with roodrak-
shu bead-rolls. The shoivu, entering the presence of the king, pro-
nounces the following blessing : — ' May Shunkuru, who instructs
the world ; whose praises are celebrated in the vedus, the tiintrus
and the pooranus ; who is the object of meditation to the yogee ;
who directs the gods in the work of creation ; who, though invisi-
ble, for the preservation of the world becomes visible ; who medi-
tates on his own qualities — may he preserve thee.' After which,
he takes his place in the assembly.
The pundit next announces a Shaktu, thus : — ■ He who now
approaches, comes like the full moon, with a juva flower in his hair,
a garland of mullika flowers encircling his neck ; a crescent, the
mark of his sect, on his forehead ; he comes meditating on Doorga.'
The shaktu then addresses the king : — ' May she, on whom Huree,
Huru, and Brumha depend in the work of preservation, destruction,
and creation ; she who destroys the fear of future birth ; who saves
the three worlds ; who destroys the enemies, and fulfils the desires,
of her disciples — may this goddess preserve thee.' After this, lie
sits down.
The same person next announces a Huree-Hura-dwoitu-vadee :
— f He who now advances, is adorned with a toolusee necklace,
is covered with ashes, meditates on Huree-Huru, and invites others,
for the sake of their salvation, to become the disciples of this god.'
He thus blesses the king : — ' May both Shunkuru and Vishnoo
dwell in thy heart, the half of whom is engaged in the devotions
358
ACCOUNT OF ALL HINDOO SECTS.
of a yogee, and near^ the other half sits Lukshmee ; he who
encircles himself with TTuuntu, (the king of serpents,) who rides
on Gurooru — may he, entering thy mind, preserve thee.' Saying
this, he sits down.
A Noiyayiku and a Voisheshiku, coming hand in hand, are
thus announced : — ' These come viewing this assembly with the
utmost contempt, the goddess of learning dancing on their
tongues.' They then salute the king: — 'May God preserve thee ;
he who, taking the forms of Brumha, Vishnoo, and Shivu, creates,
preserves, and destroys the world ; he who influences all to good
and evil ; he whose will, whose work, and whose wisdom, are
irresistible ; he who exists as separate from animal life, and who
is fulness itself.'
The next person introduced is a Meemangsuku, who is thus
described : — ' This man approaches with the marks of vows and
of a sacrificer upon him, teaching his disciples the forms of religion/
He thus blesses the monarch: — 'May your Majesty always be
engaged in religious services, which raised Indru to his throne,
Sooryu. to be monarch over the hosts of heaven ; and the merit of
which indeed, descending to thee from a former birth, has now
raised thee to a kingly throne.' Having pronounced this blessing,
he sits down.
The master of the ceremonies next introduces a Vedantee
thus : — ' This person comes as one who has renounced all pleasure ;
his apparel is painted with earth from the mountains, and in his
hand he holds a dundee's staff; having ascended the vessel which
is to carry him across the ocean of this world, he approaches as
though he were coming to preserve from destruction this whole
assembly.' Addressing the king, the Vedantee says, ' May the
glorious Being, who is wisdom and joy, who is omnipresent, the
only one, the everlasting, who is free from passion, in whom the
universe exists as the shadow of the sun in the water/ may he
give thee the knowledge, that thou art the same with him. Hav-
ing said this, he sits down.
The next persons announced, are a follower of the Sankhyii,
and another of the Patunjulu school. They are thus described : —
' These come with bodies bulky towards the head, and lean at the
extremities ;y professing similar sentiments, and meditating on
realities.' Being introduced, he of the Sankhyu sect thus addresses
the monarch : — ' May nature, (unaffected by spirits as the water-
lily by the water,) by whom, beginning with greatness, the
universe was made, prosper thee.' The Patunjulu thus blesses the
x That is, visible objects are false images of Him who alone is truth, and
through the want of the knowledge of whom, men act as though they had a distinct
existence.
y Caused by hanging with the head downwards, as an act of religious austerity.
ACCOUNT OF ALL HINDOO SECTS.
859
king : — e May the king pursue pleasure communicated by the vein
through which the soul of the yogee, ascending to the basilar
suture, from thence escapes from the body, and obtains final
deliverance.' He then sits down.
A Pouraniku next approaches, and is thus described : — ■ ' Here
comes a person full of words, with a mind fixed on God, instruct-
ing others in religious duty.' He thus addresses the king : — ' May
Narayunu preserve thee ; he who in the form of a fish brought up
the vedus ; who in that of a boar, saved the earth ; in that of a
tortoise, supports the universe ; in that of a lion, destroyed a
giant ; in that of a dwarf, carried Vamunu down to Patalu ; in
that of Purushoo-Ramu, destroyed the kshutriyus ; in the form of
Ramu, destroyed Ravunu ; in that of Bulu-Ramu, called Rohinee
mother ; in that of Booddhu, declared the slaughter of animals in
sacrifice to be unlawful ; and who, in that of Kulkee, at the end
of the iron age, will destroy the wicked, and restore the golden
age.' He then takes his place in the assembly.
A Jyotishu next approaches the assembly, and is thus an-
nounced : — ' Here comes a person acquainted with the fates of
men, who can declare things past, present, and to come ; and who
meditates on the nine planets.' Addressing the king, he says,
'May Sooryu make thee glorious like himself; may Chundru
make thee a dispenser of joy like himself ; may Mungulu bestow
a blessing on thee ; may Booddhu give thee wisdom ; may Vrihus-
putee endow thee with learning ; may Sookru give thee the
knowledge of verse ; may Shunee destroy thy incapacity ; may
Rahoo remove the wickedness of thy heart ; may Ketoo erect for
thee the standard of victory.' He then takes his seat.
Next a professor of the Ayoor-vedu draws near, who is thus*
described : — ' Behold a voidyu ; who by his medical knowledge
removes the miseries of mankind ; who gives joy to a patient, as
the full moon to the spectators : he comes as the afflicter of
affliction.' He thus blesses the king : — c May the king possess
faith in the virtues of medicine, which renders the person emaciated
by disease beautiful as a heavenly courtezan.' He sits down.
The next person introduced is a grammarian, who is mentioned
as repeating the Kulapu, (a grammar;) and is announced as the
very image of Muha-devu, an incarnation of TJnuntu. He thus
blesses the king : — ' May thy glory, O king be published through,
the world ; be thou the helper of all ; sitting on a firm seat,
practise religion ; compose differences.' He then retires to the
circle, and sits amongst the learned men.
An TJlunkaru professor now appears, and is thus introduced :
— £ Here comes a man forming prose and verse with great ingenuity,
causing his words to dance as he walks.' He thus blesses the
360
ACCOUNT OF ALL HINDOO SECTS.
king : — f May est thou spend thy days in the joy arising from
pleasant conversation ; conversation embracing amorous, heroic,
tender, ludicrous, disgusting, wonderful, terrific, and wrathful
subjects/ He also takes his place.
An atheist approaches next, and is thus announced: — 'Afraid
of destroying life, here comes one who sweeps the ground on which
he treads ; and who has plucked off the hair from his head/ He
thus blesses the king : — i Mayest thou never be drawn aside by the
words of deceivers, who worship the gods, and excite to religious
ceremonies by the hopes of future rewards ; who promise heaven
to the sacrificers of animals ; who talk of objects invisible.' —
Hearing these words of the atheist, all the assembly rise up,
saying, ' Oh ! thou wicked one ! — Who art thou ? — Whence comest
thou?'
The unbeliever replies : — e I am the sinner ; ye are the holy,
ye who fruitlessly destroy the lives of sentient beings f
The Meemangsuku replies : — ' The animals which I destroy in
sacrifice obtain heaven ; the gods are pleased with sacrifices ; the
sacrificer likewise obtains his desire : that destruction of life there-
fore which is commanded by the shastrils, is not criminal/
Unbeliever. Shocking ! What words are these ! Where is
heaven ? Where are the gods ? Where are your pleasures and sor-
rows after death ?
M. Dost thou vilify the doctrines of the vedus and pooranus ?
Unbeliever. Shall we believe the words of the deceitful ve'dus
and pooranus, which tell us of things which no eye has ever seen ?
M. If there be neither works of merit nor demerit, how is the
existence of happiness and misery to be accounted for ?
Unbeliever. Where are thy works ? Who has seen them, or
imitated them 1 And if thou sayest, ' My sorrow or joy is the fruit
of actions done in former births,' I affirm, that such births never
existed ; and that as it respects joy and sorrow, they depart and
return like the streams of a river. It is true, however, that the
world is deceitful.
Vedantiku. Oh ! thou atheist, in affirming that the world is
deceitful, thou hast pronounced justly ; but then thou oughtest to
acknowledge that there is one everliving and true God : for if
there be no truth, there can be no falsehood wearing the appear-
ance of truth.
Unbeliever. Well, thy opinions resemble mine; but who is
that Brumhu of whom thou speakest ?
ACCOUNT OF ALL THE HINDOO SECTS,
361
V. He remains in a state of inactivity ; is invisible ; desti-
tute of qualities ; omnipresent ; glorious ; the ever-blessed ; indes-
cribable, and unsearchable.
Unbeliever. If, as thou confessest, the world is false, what
necessity for Brumhu, a God invisible and inactive % Where is
the utility of such a being ?
The vedantee, hearing this, remained silent. Perceiving the
vedantee's silence, the whole assembly directed its attention to the
Noiyayiku pundit, who, filled with pride, thus began : — ' What
sayest thou ? Why dost thou attack others, when thou hast no
system of thine own ? People laugh at the man who, without per-
ceiving his own error, charges with error the opinions of others :
he is like the blind man who reproves another on account of the
speck in his eyes.'
Unbeliever. This man appears to be ingenious at objections:
however, hear me. The Madyumiku philosopher says, that at the
dissolution of the universe only vacuum remains ; the Yogacharxa
contends, that two ideas cannot exist at once in the mind, the
first being destroyed by the second ; the Soutrantiku says, that
ideas are the images of things ; the Voivashiku, that all material
things are frail ; the Digumvurus affirm, that the soul is commen-
surate with the body ; the Charvvaktis, that man is composed only
of body. I have described the opinions of these six sects, which
are all thus summed up : — there is no heaven, no transmigration,
no hell, no works of merit or demerit, no governor of the world, no
creator, no preserver, no destroyer ; no legitimate evidence of the
truth of things but that of the senses ; after death, there is neither
joy nor sorrow. All these errors [of the popular belief] arise out
of the ignoronce of men. Forbearing to destroy animal life is
the most excellent of virtues. Sin and pain are synonymous ;
mooktee, or deliverance, is nothing more than being independant
of others ; heaven consists in bodily comforts in this life ; a
religious teacher is therefore unnecessary.
The Noiyayikti (laughing) replies, If no evidence but that of
the senses is to be regarded, why, when you are from home, does
not your wife deem herself a widow ?
Unbeliever. We know that we shall never see the dead again ;
for we see the lifeless body : but we have hope of seeing a person
return from a foreign country.
N. Be it so, but the fact is placed in a state of uncertainty,
and why do you not pronounce upon his death ?
Unbeliever. lean be assured of his existence by a written
communication from him.
46
362
ACCOUNT OF ALL THE HINDOO SECTS.
JiT. Well, then the evidence arising from sound is admitted i
and indeed if the evidence of words be not regarded, all human
intercourse is at an end, and men must preserve perpetual silence.
But though thou rejactest the evidence of speech, thou art pleased
with excellent words, and displeased with evil speech.
The unbeliever was put to silence for a short time by these
observations ; at length he said, Well, I admit, for argument's
sake; that we must r. ;eiye the evidence arising from inference and
from sound : — but why must we admit the existence of a God !
JV. From the works of creation we are constrained to infer
that God exists. If you say there is no God, from whence arose
creation ?
Unbeliever. Why art thou concerned about finding a creator
for the world ? Does not a father beget a son, and an artificer, ac-
cording to his ability, produce every kind of utensil?
JV\ True, we see every thing produced by human ingenuity ;
but how do the trees grow in a forest, where no human footsteps
can be traced ?
Unbeliever. The trees of the forest spring from themselves,
as insects and worms from a hot-bed.
N~. Then the child may be born without a father.
Unbeliever. Some animals are born by the union of the sexes,
as men, beasts, birds, &c. Other things are produced by the union
of seeds with water or with the earth, as trees, &c. Seeds fall from
the trees, and, mixing with the earth, receive rain from the clouds,
and vegetate. Thus nature, in various ways, gives existence to
her different productions.
JV. True, I see you ascribe to nature the origin of things ;
but as there is a necessity for the trees of a garden to receive water
by the hands of the gardener, so the trees of a forest, I see, are
dependent on the agency of the clouds. But I wish to know what
you mean by nature ; is it something inherent in living substances,
or distinct from them ? If you say it is inherent, then it will appear
that substances can form themselves ; if you affirm, that it is distinct,
you contradict your own principles, for you maintain that nothing
exists distinct from matter ; or if you say, that there is something
beside matter, which is capable of all things, then know, that this
is what we call God. Therefore you cannot maintain that there is
any thing distinct from the body.
Unbeliever. You affirm then, that there is one God, who is
from and to everlasting, separate from matter, Almighty, the creator
of all. I affirm, that nature is Almighty, infinite, and separate from
matter.
ACCOUNT OF ALL THE HINDOO SECTS.
363
The NoiyayikU. Excellent ! Excellent ! You make an endless
number of works, and the creators numberless. I affirm, that
numberless works have one creator. I leave you (unbeliever) to
judge which is the most excellent of these opinions. To express
your opinion requires as many letters as to express mine ; you call
the creator nature, and I call him God : — what do you gain then in
rejecting a God ?
Unbeliever, (a little abashed.) Well, for the sake of the argu-
ment, I acknowledge that there is a God ; but why is he to be
eternal ;
The NoiyayikU. If he be not eternal, then he must have a
creator and a destroyer. If you deny his eternity, then I ask, who
is his creator and destroyer ? — and thus, without end, some being,
who is from everlasting, must be sought ; or you must fix on some
one having this property, and then he shall become God.
[Hearing this, the unbeliever remained silent, and the Noiyayiku
continued :] God, laying hold of religion and irreligion,1 created
the world ; seeing happiness and misery in the world, we form
this opinion. If there be neither heaven nor hell, why do you go
to the temples to worship ; and why sweep the road, lest you
should injure living creatures ? If there be nothing to be desired
or feared, there can be neither desire nor fear : yet we see, that
desire and fear have great power over men ; therefore we conclude,
that in the future state there is a heaven and a hell. You must
also admit, that the soul at death assumes another body, in order
to partake of the joys or sorrows of this future state, since the
animal soul without a body is incapable of suffering ; for the same
reason it must also be admitted, that the soul migrates through
various bodies. Further, what is thus made evident by inference,
is agreeable to the divine writings, and to all that has been written
by those whose opinions agree with the vedils : the truth of the
shastrus is confirmed by the correctness of their astronomical
calculations. [The Bouddhu, involved in incorrect judgment, and
ignorance of God, was overcome, and] the Noiyayiku thus triumph-
ed : f The existence of God is proved ! He is lord of all ; — he
presides over the work of creation, preservation, and destruction ;
he is everlasting ; — he is all wise ; — he is the author of salvation.
— Through his compassion, these proofs of his existence and
authoiity have been established.'
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
The author cannot close this work, without soliciting the
attention of the reader to one or two remarks : —
* That is, attaching to human existence vice and pain, virtue and happiness
364 OBJECT OF WORSHIP THE SAME THROUGHOUT
It will appear, on a perusal of this volume, that the object of
worship among all the Hindoos, and even among all the seceders
from the orthodox opinions, is the same. They believe, that
there is one God : so completely abstracted in his own essence
however, that, in this state, he is emphatically ' the Unknown,'
and is consequently neither the object of worship, of hope, nor of
fear ; — that he is even destitute of intelligence, and remains in a
state of profound repose ; — that at times this Being assumes what
is called his energya ; — that when united to energy, he is possessed
of qualities, and creates worlds ; which qualities are impressed,
more or less, on every form of existence. Next God becomes
individuated, and takes possession of every form of matter : it is
the same God, as Krishna says, ' which is seen in the reverend
bramhun perfected in knowledge, in the dog, and in him who
eatethofthe flesh of dogs.' Amongst the regular Hindoos, the
beings supposed to possess most of this energy, or in whom the
presiding deity eminently dwells, are the gocls, the giants, the
bramhuns, and devout ascetics : amongst the heterodox sects,
ascetics are almost exclusively considered as the favoured deposi-
taries of the divine energy.
In the preface to this volume, the author has mentioned these
notions as being entertained by the regular Hindoos ; and he re-
states them now merely to shew, that this ' indwelling scheme' is
the prominent feature of all the systems of paganism throughout
the east.
It will be seen, from the four last chapters of this volume,
that the founder of the joinu sect, as well as Bouddhu, Nanuku,
and Ohoitunyu, owe their whole success to this notion ; they would
never have been venerated while living, nor deified when dead, if
they had not been considered as possessing a large share of the
divine energy. A people whose minds are filled with the idea, that
it is God who pervades every thing, and who now manifests a
greater portion of himself in one form, and then in another, have
easily been imposed upon by pretended saints, especially by those
who made a great display of austere devotion. So incessantly is
this idea present with the Hindoos, that many wander away a
whole life in search of a man in whom God pre-eminently dwells ;
and though supernatural powers are most sought after, yet abstrac-
tion of mind, inoffensiveness, and a few other passive virtues, are
with some as highly esteemed as powers to perform the most
wonderful miracles. Thus, — it is God who is sought for amongst
the creatures, as persons search out and cautiously approach an ob-
ject in the dark ; while the astonished and half-affrighted spectator
exclaims, as he gazes on the imagined deity, 'There ! behold he is
there !' and prostrates himself before him. Even in the most re-
8 This energy, it is said, exists separate from Brftmhfr, in his abstract state, as
smothered embers ; and is, like himself, eternal.
INDIA, TARTARY, CHINA, JAPAN &C.
3G5
markable appearances in nature, the indwelling deity is recognized,
without searching at all for any natural causes of the phenomenon.
In the 7th volume of the Asiatic Eesearches, p. 381, Captain
Moor has given an extraordinary account of an hereditary living
deity ; to which the author begs leave to refer, as affording a strik-
ing illustration of the fact he here wishes to establish.
Amongst the mendicant orders, deities claiming similar powers,
though somewhat inferior to the Chinchoor Deo, described by
Captain Moor, are frequently to be seen, each strutting his hour
upon the stage, and then sinking into everlasting oblivion like
common mortals.
The Grand Lama is another hereditary living deity, before
whom millions prostrate themselves. When Captain Turner was
on his embassy to this deity, to gratify his votaries he made an
offering, he says, to the deceased Teshoo Lama ; and in addressing
the same deity, who had entered the body of an infant eighteen
months old, he said to the child — ' The Governor-General, on re-
ceiving the news of his [your] decease in China, was overwhelmed
with grief and sorrow, and continued to lament his [your] absence
from the world, until the cloud that had overcast the happiness of
this nation was dispelled by his [your] re-appearance.'
Captain Turner, speaking of the religion of Tibet, says, ' It
seems to be the schismatical offspring of the religion of the Hindoos,
deriving its origin from one of the followers of that faith, a disciple
of Bouddhu, who first broached the doctrine which now prevails
over the wide extent of Tartary. It is reported to have received
its earliest admission in that part of Tibet bordering upon India,
(which from hence became the seat of the sovereign Lamas ;)to
have traversed over Mantchieux Tartary, and to have been ulti-
mately disseminated over China and Japan. Though it differs
from the Hindoo in many of its outward forms, yet it still
bears a very close affinity with the religion of Brumha, in
many important particulars. The principal idol in the temples of
Tibet is Miiha-Moonee,b the Booddhu of Bengal ; who is worshipped
under these and various other epithets throughout the great extent
of Tartary, and among all nations to the eastward of the Brumhu-
pootru. In the wide-extended space over which this faith prevails,
the same object of veneration is acknowledged under numerous
titles: among others, he is styled Godumu or Goutumil, in Assam
and Ava ; Shumunu, in Siam ; Amida Buth, in Japan ; Fohi, in
China ; Booddhu and Shakhu-Moonee,in Bengal and Hindoost'hanu ;
and Dhurmu-Kaju and Muha-Moonee, in Bootan and Tibet.'
Ksempfer, in his history of Japan, declares that Bouddhism
began generally to spread throughout that country in the year of
h The great philosopher.
306
OBJECT OF WORSHIP THE SAME THROUGHOUT
Christ 518 : — and that Booddhu and Fo are the same person, is at
present, I presume, no longer the subject of doubt.
Although the notions of the followers of Zoroaster may be in-
volved in much obscurity, it is certain, that the worship of lire has
been preserved among this people age after age ; nor can it be
doubted, but that this worship has an immediate reference to the
Hindoo ideas of the divine and prolific energy giving existence to
the universe. Enfield, in his History of Philosophy, vol i. p. 43.
says, ' Though our information concerning the history of philosophy
among the Persians, in the ages prior to the time of Zoroaster, is
very imperfect, it is certain, from the united testimony of the
Greeks and Arabians, that long before that time the Magi existed
as a body, and were the official guardians of religion and learning.
The religion which they taught, consisted in the worship of the sun
or fire, a practice which prevailed among the Assyrians, Chaldeans,
and among other eastern nations. The name under which the
Persians worshipped the sun, or rather the invisible deity, whom
they supposed to be, in a peculiar mariner, resident in this luminary,
was Mithras.' Herodotus and Strabo 'relate, that the Persians
sacrificed horses to the sun.'c 'Whilst the multitude were con-
tented with a sensible object of devotion, the Magi, and those whom
they instructed in the mysteries of religion, considered the sun and
fire merely as visible symbols of the animating principle of the uni-
verse.' ' Besides Mithras, [the sun,] the Persians worshipped, under
opposite characters, Oromasdes and Arimanius ; the former as the
author of all good, the latter as the author of all evil/ This was
changed ' into the worship of two spiritual beings, the one the
author of good, the other of evil.d The system which supposes two
such principles in nature, seems to have been held by the Persian
Magi before the time of Zoroaster ; but how far they supposed them
dependent upon the Supreme Divinity, does not appear.' Plutarch,
on the authority of Theopompus, says, 'It is the opinion of the Magi,
that at last the evil principle shall perish, and men shall live in hap-
piness ; the God who directs these things taking his repose for a time,
which, though it may seem long to man, is but short.'6 ( Sharistan,
an Arabian writer, gives the following account of the doctrine of
Zerdusht or Zoroaster : — ' Zerdusht affirmed light and darkness,
c It is highly probable, that the Hindoo ushwumedhu, or sacrifice of the
horse, was adopted from the Persians, and incorporated, in early times, into the bram-
hinical system. One great source of the confusion in which we find every system of
mythology involved is, doubtless this borrowing system.
d Is not this a mistaken representation of the Joinu doctrine, that religion and
Irreligion govern the world ; or that the evil necessarily connected with the residence
of spirit in matter, tends to misery and dissolution, while virtue, or the victory of
spirit over matter, produces pleasure and prosperity ? The Joinus say, that the pre-
valence of vice reduces the vigour of all created substances, and finally dissolves the
universe, while virtue has an effect directly the reverse.
e Here is a remarkable agreement with the Hindoo doctrine of the day and
night of Brumha, or the periodical destruction and creation of the universe.
INDIA, TARTARY, CHINA, JAPAN kC.
S67
Zezdan and Ahreman, to be two contrary principles, which were
the origin of every thing subsisting in the world ; the forms of
nature being produced from the combination of these principles :
but maintained, that the existence of darkness is not to be
referred to the one supreme Deity, who is without companion or
equal ; but must be considered as the unavoidable consequence of
his determination to create the world, in which light can no more
subsist without darkness, than a visible body can exist without its
shadow/'
Thus the same notions of the great First Cause and the
origin of things appear to prevail, in some modification or other,
all over India, Tartary, China, Japan, the Burman empire, Siam,
and the Indian Isles. The divine energy, dwelling in the gods,
or in living ascetics, is adored over all these immense regions ; — ■
and in union with this notion, all these people embrace the
doctrine of transmigration, and the eSicacy of religious austerities
to restore these emanations of the deity, dwelling in matter, to
the Great Spirit from which they issued.
The author is aware, that these facts open a wide field for
investigation, and for most interesting reflection ; but having
already exceeded the limits he had prescribed to himself, he now
closes this work, after reminding the reader, and thereby entreating
the exercise of his candour, that it has been composed amidst
avocations which left to it only the remnants of his time.
^ f This surely resembles the Hindoo notion, of God's encompassing himself with
delusion in the creation of the world.
GLOSSARY.
A.
Acharyu, from a, prep, and churu, to go.
Achumunu, from a, prep, and chum, to drink.
Adee-Grunt'hu, from adee, first, and grunt'hu, a book.
Adityu, a name of the sun, who is called the son of Uditee.
Aduru-Singhasunu-vrutu, from aduru, honour, Singhasunu, a
throne, and vrutu, a vow.
Aeen-Ukburee, from aeen, a law, and Ukburu, the name of a
well-known emperor.
Agumu-Yageeshu from agumu, the name of one of the Tuntrus,
vak, a word, and eeshu, lord ; the god of speech, a name of
Yrihusputee.
Aluyu, a dwelling, from a, prep, and lee, to dissolve.
Angirusu, the son of TJngirus.
Anhiku, from uhun, a day, the ceremonies or food of the day.
Anundu-Nat'hu, the lord of joy, from anundu, joy, and nat'hu,
a lord.
Anundu-Muyee, from anundu, joy.
Arunyu-Shusht'hee, from urunyu, a forest, and Shusht'-hee, the
name of a goddess. ^
Asharhu ; this month is named from the stellar mansion IJsharha,
Ashrumu, from a, prep, and shrumu, labour.
Ashwinu ; this month is named from the stellar mansion.
Ushwinee, the name of a mare.
Ashoogu from ashoo, speed, and gum, to go.
Asunu, from as, to sit.
Atma, from a, augmentative, and ut, to move continually,
Atmu-Devuta, from atmu, self, and devuta, a god, a guardian deity,
Atmu-Bboo, from atmu, self, and bhoo, existence.
Ayooshtomu, from ayoos, life-time, and stomu, a sacrifice.
Ayunu-Goshu, the husband of Kadha, the favourite mistress of
Krishnoo.
B,
Badyclkaru, from badyu, music, and kree to do.
Balu-Gopalu, from balu, a child, go, a cow, and palu, a feeder.
Bamunu, small.
Bancha-Ramu, from bancha, desire, and Ramu.
Bhaee-Gooroo-Vulee, from bhaee, a brother, and gooroo, a teacher,
Bhaguvutu, from Bhuguvut, divine,
BharguvUj the son of Bhrigoo.
376
GLOSSARY,
Bharutu-Vurshu, from Bhurutu, and vurshu, a place.
Bhasha, a dialect, from bhash, to speak.
Bhashyu, from Bhasha, a tongue.
Bhasku.ru, from bhas, light, and kree, to do.
Bheemu Chundee, from bheemu, terrific, and chundee, furious,
Bhuguvutee, from bhogu, to endure or enjoy.
Bhoiruvu, the fear-exciting, from bhuyu, fear.
Bhoiruvee, the wife of Bhoiruvu.
Bhoiruveechukru" ; Bhoiruvee is a name of Doorga, and ehukru
signifies a circle.
Bhoo-Koilasu, from bli65, the earth, and Koilasu, the name of a
mountain.
Bho5-Loku, from bhoo, the earth, and loku, a world.
Bhoote'shu, from bhootu, great, and eeshu, a lord.
Bh5otu, the primary elements, from bhoo, to be.
Bhodtft-Shooddhee ; bhootu signifies the four elements, and shood-
dhee, purification.
Bhoovuneshu, from bhoovxinu, the world, and eeshu, lord.
Bhoovu-loku, from bhoovu, the sky, and loku, a world.
BhMru-Kalee, from bhudni, goodness, and Kalee, a goddess.
Bhiiguvutee, the wife of Bhuguvan.
Bhuguvut-Geeta, from Bhuguvut, divine, and geeta, a hymn.
Bhuktee-Busamritu-Sindhoo, from bhuktee, devotion, rusu, juice,
umritu, the water of life, and sindhoo, the sea.
Bhuvantindu, from bhuvu, the world, and anundu, joy.
Bhuvanee, from Bhuvu, a name of Shivu.
Bhuvishyu, from bhoo, to be.
Boodhashtumee, from Boodhu, Mercury, and ushtumee, the eighth
lunar day.
Boodboodu, a bubble.
Boodhu, the sage of this name.
Booddhu-Sutwu, from booddhee, the understanding, and sutwu,
the quality leading to truth.
Bouddhu, from Booddhu: he who acknowledges as God only bud™
dhee, or the understanding.
Boudhu-saru, the essence of the Booddu philosophy.
Bramhee, from Brumha.
Bramhunee, the wife of a brambun.
Bramhun-fi, he who knows BrumlriS, from Brumhu.
Brumha, from vrih, to increase.
Brumhastru, from Brumha, and ustru, a weapon.
Brumhotturu, from brumhun, and ooturu, belonging to,
Brumhu, from vrih, to increase.
Brumhucharee, from Brumhu, and chitr, to move.
Brumhucharyu, the profession of a Brumhucharee.
Brumhu- Dutthu, from Brumhu, and duttu, given.
Brumhu-Pootrii ; pootru means a son.
Brumhu-Gnanee, from Brumhu, and gnanee, the wise,
Bnimhurshee, from Brumhu, and rishee, a sage.
GLOSSARY.
371
Briimhu-Voivurttu, from Brumhu, and voivurtu, manifestation.
Bujree, from bujru, a weapon, a thunderbolt.
Bularatee, from bulu, strength, and uratee, an enemy.
Bulee, from bulu, strength.
Bulu-Ramu, from bulu, strength, and Ramu.
Burgu-bheema, from burga, a company, and bheema, the terrific,
Bustru-Hurunu, from vustru, clothes, and hurunu, to steal.
c
Calcutta, from Kalika, (Kalee) and ut, to move.
Chamunda, from charoo, good, and mundu, a head.
Chamuru, a fan made of the hair of the cow of Tartary.
Chandalu, a low caste of shoodrus, from chundu, furious, and
ulu, to go.
Chandu, from chundru, the moon.
Chapuru-Shusht'hee, from chapura, to press, and Shusht'hee, the
name of a goddess.
Charvvaku, from charoo, insinuating, and vak, a word.
Charimu, from chur, to go.
Chasakoivurtu ; chasa signifies a cultivator of the ground, and
koivurtu, a fisherman.
Chaya, a shadow, from cha, a covering, or disappearance.
Chinnu-Mustuka, from chinnu, cut off, and mustuku, a head.
Chirun-Jeevu, from chiru, a long period, and jeevii, life. ®
Chitru-Gooptu, from chitru, to write, and gooptu, hidden.
Chitrukootu, from chitru, speckled, and kootu, the peak of a hill
or mountain.
Choitru, the name of a month ; from Chitra, a lunar mansion.
Choitunyu, from chetunu, the living.
Choora-Kurunu, from choora, the bunch of hair on the crown of the
head, and kree, to do.
Choru-Punchashika, from choru, to steal, and punch ashu, fifty.
Chulu, to go, from chul, to go.
Chukru, a round weapon, from chuk, to return a blow, to rebound.
Chunde£, from chundu, furious.
Chundika, from chundu, furious.
Chundee-Mundupu, from chundee, the goddess, Chundee and
mundupu, a house.
Clmndogra, from chundu, furious, and oogru, wrathful.
Chundrika, the rays of the moon.
Chundrii, from chud, to shine.
Chundru-Shekhuru, from chundrii, the moon, and shekhuru, a
mountain peak.
Chundru-Rayu, from chundrii, the moon, and ray a, a title.
Chundru-Prubhoo ; the last word signifies lord. '
Chundu, furious, from chud, to rage.
Chundu-Nayika, from chundu, furious, and nayika, a female attend-
ant on Doorga.
GLOSSARY.
Cburmukam, from churmun, skin, and kree, to do.
Churuku, from chur, to go.
Churimu, that on which a person goes, from chur, to go.
Chufcoor-Anmru, from chutoor, four, and anunu, a face.
D
Danu, from da, to give.
Danu^Khundu, from danu, a gift, and khundu, a piece.
Danuvu, the sons of Dunoo.
Darinee, from dree, to tear or crack.
Dasu, a slave.
Data, a giver, from da, to give.
Dayu-Bhagu, from dayii, an inheritance, and bhagu, share,
Dayu-Tuttwu ; tuttwu means exactitude, or truth.
De^hu, from dih, to collect or increase.
Devaluyu, from devu, a god, and aluyu, a house.
Devee, the feminine of devu, a god.
DeVotturu, from devu, and ooturu, belonging to.
Devu, from div, to play.
Devu-Duttu, from Devu, a god, and duttu, given.
DeVu-Senu, from devu, a god, and sena, a soldier.
DeVujanee, from devu, a god, and jay a, a wife.
Devurshee, from devu, a god, and rishee, a sage.
Devukee, the daughter of Devuku.
Deepika, a light.
Dhanyu-Roopa, from dhanu, rice, and roopu, form.
Dharuku, from dhree, to hold.
Dharuna, from dhree, to hold.
Dhoomavutee from dhoomru, smoke.
Dhoomrolochunu, from dhoomru, smoke, and lochunu, the eye.
Dhova, fromdhav, to cleanse.
Dhritee, from dhree, to sustain.
Dhununjuyu, from dhunu, riches, and jee, to conquer.
Dhurniu-se'too from dhurmft, religion, and setoo, a bridge, or dam.
Dhurmu-T'hakooru, from dhurmu, religion, and t'hakooru, a lord.
Dhurmu-Raju, from dhurmu, and rajun, king.
Dhurmu-Bhanoo, from dhurmu, religion, and bhanoo, splendour.
Dhyanu, from dhyoi, to think.
Digumburu, from dish, a point of the compass, and umburu, cloth.
Dig-Vyuyu, from dish, the quarters of the earth, and vijuyu
conquest.
Ditee, the wife of Dukshu.
Divakuru, from diva, day, and kuru, from kree, to do,
Divus-putee, from dib, heaven, and ptitee, lord.
Doityu, the sons of Ditee.
Doityaree, from doityu, a giant, and tiree, an enemy.
Doit}ru-Gooroo, from doityu, a giant, and gooroo, a teacher.
GLOSSARY.
373
Doivugnu, from doivu, fate, and gna, to know,
Dolu, from dool, to swing.
Doolalu, from doorlubhu, obtained with pain.
Doorga, difficult of access, from door, prep, and gum, to go.
Dooryodhunu, from door, prep, and yodhtinu, war.
Doshu, from doosliu, evil.
Dootee-Sumbodliu, from d5otee, a female messenger, and sumbodhtf,
a call.
Droohinu, from drooh, to injure.
Dronaeharyu, from dronu, a measure of capacity, and acha^u,
a teacher.
DruVyu-Goonu, from druvyu, a thing, and goonu, a quality.
Druvyu, a thing.
Dukshu, clever, from duksh, to act quickly.
Dukshinacharee, from dukshinu, the right (hand), and acharin,
acting.
Dimdavut, from dundu, a walking-stick ; to fall in a straight pos-
ture like a stick, at the foot of a bramhun.
Dundu-Dhuru, from dundu, a staff, and dhree, to hold.
Dundee, from dundu, a staff.
Dundu-Shooku, from dungshxi, to bite.
Durpunu, from drip, to shine.
Durshunu, from drish, to see.
Dushu-Bhooju, from dushun, ten, and bhoojn, an arm.
Dushu-Koomaru, from dushun, ten, and koomaru, a son.
Dushu-Dik-Palu ; palu signifies the cherishing of a person.
Dushuma-Padshahee-grunt'hu, from dushumu, the tenth badshah,
and grunt'hu, a book.
Dushuhura, from dushun, ten, and hree, to take away.
Dushu-Rut'hu, from dushun, ten, and rut'hu, a chariot.
Duttatreytt, from Duttu, a gift, and atreyu, from Utree, a sage.
Dwadushatmu, from dwadushu, twelve, and atmun, form.
Dwapuru, from dwa, the second, and puru, after.
Dweepu, an island, from dwee, two, and ap, water.
Dwiju-raju, from dwiju, twice-born, and raju.
Dwoimatooru, from dwee, two, and matree, a mother.
Dyoomunee, from div, the sky, and munee, a precious stone.
E.
Eeshwii, the glorious, from eesh, to be grand.
Ekamru-Kanunu, from e'ku, one, amru, a mango tree, and kanunu
a forest.
Eku-Duntu, from e'ku, one, and duntu, a tooth.
Eeshu, the glorious.
Eeshwuru, the same.
Eeshwuree, the feminine of eeshwuru,
374 GLOSSARY.
G.
Ganu, a song, from goi, to sing.
Ganuputyu, from gimu, a companj^ and putee, a lord.
Gayutree, from goi, to sing.
Geesh-Putee, from gir, a word, and putee, a lord.
Geeta, from goi, to sing.
Geetii, from goi, to sing.
Ghatu, a flight of steps, from ghiitt, to move.
Ghee, from gritu, clarified butter.
Ghoshu, from goosh, to sound.
Gritachee, a heavenly courtezan, from ghrita, clarified butter, and
unch, to worship.
Gireeshu, from giree, a mountain, and eeshu, a lord.
Glou, from gioi, to be sad, or to fade.
Gnanee, from gna, wisdom.
Gnanu, from gna, to know.
Gnanu-Eutnavulee, from gnanu, wisdom, rutna, a precious stone,
and aviilee, a train.
Goohu, a secret place, from gooh, to hide or cover
Goohyu, from goohyu, requiring to be concealed.
Go-medhu, from go, a cow, and medhu, flesh.
Goonu, a quality, from goonu, to advise.
Goonu-Sindhoo, from goonu, qualities, and sindhoo, the sea.
Gooroo-Prtisadu, from gooroo, a teacher, and prusadu, a favour,
grace.
Gopalu, from go, a cow, and palu, a nourishing.
Gopee-Nat'hu, from goopee, the wife of a milkman, and nat'hu,
a lord.
Gooptavu-Dhootu, from gooptu, concealed, and uvudhootu, to re-
nounce.
Gooptee-Para, from gooptu, hidden, and para, a division, of a town.
Gooroo, a teacher, from gree to make known.
Gooroo-Mookhee, from gooroo, a teacher, and mookhee, belonging
to the mouth.
Gooroomutu, from gooroo, a teacher.
Gorukshu, from go, a cow, and ruksh, to save.
Gosht'hu-Yatra, from gosht'hu, a cow-pen, and yatra, to go.
Goswamee, from go, a cow, and swamin, a master.
Gotrubhid, from gotru, a mountain, and bhid, to divide.
Gouree, white, or light yellow ; from gouru.
Govindu, from go, a cow, and vid, to share out.
Grihust'hu, from grihu, a house, and st'ha, to remain.
Grihust'hu-Dhurmu, from ghrihust'hu, situated in a house, and
dhurmu, religion.
Gruhu-Putee, from gruhu, a planet, and putee, a lord.
Grunt' hee, from griint' hu, a book.
Guju-Duntu, from guju, an elephant, and duntu, a tooth.
Gundhu-Vunik, from gxi ndhu; spices, and vunik, a tradesman.
i
GLOSSARY. 375
Gundhurvii, from garm, a song, and dhurmu, a person's own pro-
fession.
Gundhuvuhu, from gundhu, a scent, and vuh, to carry.
Gundhu- Dhama, from gimdu, a scent, and dhama, a place.
Gunuku, from gtmu, to count.
Gune'shii, from gunu, a company, and eeshu, a lord.
Guneshu- Jununee, the mother of Guneshu; from junu, birth.
Gunga, from gum, to go.
Gunga-vakyavulee, from vakya, a word, and abulee, a train.
Gunga- Vasu, from vasu, a residence.
Gungadhuru-Shastree ; he who knows the shastru, is called shastree.
Gungadhuru, from Gunga, and dhuru, to hold.
Gujanunu, from guju, an elephant, and anunu, the face.
Gurbhadhanu, from gurbhu, the womb, and adhanu, to hold.
Gurooru, from guroot, a wing.
Gurootmut, from guroot, a wing.
H
He'twabhasu, from he'too, a cause, and abhasti, an appearance, a
semblance.
Himangshoo, from himu, cold, and ungshoo, rays of light.
Himaluyu, from hinrfi, cold, and aluyu, a house.
Himuvut, from himu, cold.
Hurunyu-gurbhu, from hirunyu, gold, and gurbhu, the womb.
Hirunyakashu, from hirunyu, gold, and ukshee, an eye.
Hirunyu-Kushipoo, from hirunyu, gold, and kushipoo, a sheath.
Hitopude'shu, from hitu, good, and oopude'shu, teaching.
Hoimuvutee, from himuvut.
Homu, from hoo, to offer.
Hota, he who directs the homu, or burnt-offering, from hoo.
Hungshu, a duck.
Hungsu-Dootu, from hungsu, goose, and doottt, a messenger.
Hunooman, from hftnoo, the cheek.
Huree- Vulu ; the last word is the imperative of viilu, to speak.
Huree-Dwaru ; dwaru signifies a door.
Huree-Huru ; both words are derived from rhree, to take away,
Huree-Priya ; priya signifies beloved.
Huridra, from hurit, light yellow.
Hurihuyu, from hurit, light yellow, and huyu, a horse.
Huru-Gouree, from Huru (Shivu), and Gouree, the light yellow.
Huru-Nat'hu, from Huru, the name of Shivu, and Nat'hu, a lord.
Huyu-Greevu, from huyu, a horse, and greevu, the back of the neck.
I.
Indoo, from id, to be glorious, or refulgent.
Indru, from id, to be glorious.
Indru-Dyoomnu ; the last word signifies riches.
376 GLOSSARY,
Indru-jit ; from jee, to conquer.
Ishtu, from ish, to desire.
J
Jagurunu, from j agree, to be awake.
Jaliku, from jalu, a net.
Jambuvutee, from Jambuvan, the name of a certain bear.
Janhuvee, from junhoo, a sage.
Jatee, a kind, from jun, to be born.
Jatn-Knrnm, from jatu, born, and kurmun, an action.
Jeevu, life, from jee v, to live.
Jishnoo, from jee, to conquer.
Joinu, from jinu, to conquer or excel.
Joivatriku, from jeev, to live.
Jugudgouree, from gugut, the world, and gouru, light yellow.
Juguddhatree, from jugut, the world, and dhatree, an upholder.
Jugudeeshu, from jugut, the world, and eeshu, lord.
Jugunnat'hu, from jugut, the world, and nat'lru, a lord.
Jugunnat'hu-kshe'triS, from jugut, the world, nathu, a lord, and
kshetru, a place.
Julpu, to speak, from julp, to speak.
Jumidaru, from jumin, land, and daru, an owner.
Jumudugnee, from jumut, terrific, and ugnee, fire.
Junarddunu, from junu, a person, and urddunil, a giving distress*
Junhoo, from ha, to abandon, (viz. the world).
Junumejuyii, from junu, a man, and ej, to tremble.
Junuku, from jun, to be produced.
Jupu, to speak inaudibly, from jup, to mutter.
Jurutkaroo, from jree, to be withered, and kree, to do.
Juru-Bhurutu, from juru, decrepitude.
Jushoda, from jushus, fame, and da, to give.
Jutayoo, from juta, a bunch of hair, and ayoo, life-time.
Juya, from jee, victory.
Juyu-Doorga, from juyu, victory.
Juyuntee, from jee, to conquer.
Jwala-Mookhee, from j wala, a flame, and mookhu, a face.
Jwulunu, from jwulu, to enkindle.
Jyoisht'hu, from jyesht'ha, a planet.
Jyotish-stomu, from jyotish, light, and stomu, the whole.
Jyotish, from jyot, to shine.
K«
Kahinee, a tale, from Kut'hu, to speak.
Kaliyu-Dumunu, from kaliyu, the name of a snake, and dumunu,
subduction.
Kalee, the black, from kalu, time.
Kalu-Bhoiruvu, from kalu, time, and bhoiruvu, the terrific.
GLOSSARY.
377
Kalft-Poorooshfi, from kulti, black, and poorooshtf, a male.
Kalu-Ratree, from kalu, dark, and ratree, night.
Kalu-S65tru, from kalfi, time, and s55tru, a thread.
Kaliyu, from k&lu, to move.
Kamti-devu, from kamii, desire, and devti, from div, to play.
Kamu-dhenoo, from kamu, desire, and dhenoo, a milch-cow.
Kamu-Koopu, from kamu, desire, and roopu, form.
Kamakhya, from kamti, desire, and akhya, an appellation.
Kanrtlnu, the heart's desire, from kxim, to desire.
Kandft, an arrow, or a chapter.
Kanu-Phata-Yogee, compounded of kanu, the ear, phata, slit, and
yogee, an ascetic.
Kartikeyu, from krittika, the name of a planet.
Kashee, from kash, to appear.
Kavyti, from kuvee, a poet.
Kayust'hu, from kayu, the body, and st'ha, to be situated.
Keshuree, from keshuru, a mane.
Keertunu, from kreet, to produce harmony.
Keertee-Chundru, from keertee, fame.
Ketoo, a sign, from kit, to dwell.
Ke'slrfivu, from keshtl, the hair.
Khechuru, from khu, the sky, and churu, going.
Kfrfindu, a piece, from child, to break.
Khflgeshwuru, compounded of khugu,a bird,and'eeshwuru,greatness.
Kinnuru, from king, what ? and nunS, a man.
Koilashu, from kelus, in water, to shine.
Kojaguru-Lukshmee, from kuh, who, and jagree, to awake.
Koitubhujit ; jit, signifies victory.
Koojti, from koo, the earth, and jun, to be produced.
Koolu-De'vuta, from koolu, race, and devuta, a god.
Kooleenu, from koolu, a race.
Koombhukaru, from koombhu, an earthen jar, and kree, to do.
Koombhu-Kurnu, from koombhu a jar, and kurnft, the ear.
Koomaru, a boy, from koomarti, to play.
Koomaru, from koo, evil, and mree, to beat.
Koombhee-Paku, from koombhu, a pot, and pakti, ripe.
Koont'hu, a groan, from koont'h, to groan.
Koomood-fi-Banduvti, from koomo'odu, a lotus, and btindhoo, a friend.
Koosoomeshoo, from koosoomu, a flower, and ishoo, an arrow.
Kosha, from koosh, to issue, to identify.
Kooshu, to lie down.
Kooshee, a small kosha.
Kooshunabhu, from kooshu, sacred grass, and nabhee, the navel.
Kooveru, from koov, to cover.
Koulacharee, from koolu, a race, and chur, to act, preceded by
the prep. a.
Koumoodee, brightness, from koomoodu, a nymphsea.
Koutooka-Survuswu, from koutooku, play, and survuswu, a per-
son's all.
48
378 GLOSSARY.
Krimee-Bhojuntt, from krimee, an insect, and bhojunu, to eat,
Kripeetuyonee ; yonee, a birth-place.
Krishnu, from krish, to draw.
Krishnu-Krora ; kroru signifies the side.
Krittivasa, from krittee, the skin, and vasus, a garment.
Kritantu, from kritu, done, and until, end.
Krya, work, from kree, to do.
Krodhagaru, from krodhu, anger, and agaru, a house.
Krounchu-Darunft, a proper name, and dree, to tear.
Ksharu-Kurddhnmu, from ksharu, ashes, and kurddhmnu, mud.
Ksheeru, milk, from kshur, to ooze out.
Kshupakurti, from kshupa, night, and kree, to make.
Kshutryu, from kshutu, a wound, and troi, to save.
Kubundhu, headless, from kin, the head, and budh, to kill.
Kuchu, hair, from Mch, to bind.
Kuchyupu, a proper name ; pa, means to drink.
Kulee, from Mlu, to reckon.
Kulee-Yoogu, from Ml, to enumerate, and yoogu, a period of time.
Kulkee, from Mlee, time, and koi, to subdue.
Ku.lp-8, from klipu, to contrive.
Kulpu-Sootru, from kulpu, time, and sootru, a thread.
KulunM-Bunjunu, from Mlunku,, a blot, and bunjunu, a breaking.
Kumulekaminee, from Mmultt, the water lily, and kamfi, desire.
Kunadu, from Mnu, an atom, and ud, to eat.
Kundurpu, from Mng, Brumha, and drip, to domineer.
Kupalubrit, from kupalu, the forehead or fate, and bhree, to hold.
Kurangunyasu, from Mru, hand, ungu, a part, and nyasti, to place.
Kurmiikaru, from kurmun, work, and kree to do.
Kuroonamuyee, from kuroona, pity.
Kurmu-Vipaku, from kree, to work, and pak, to ripen.
Kut'huM, a speaker, from kut'h, to speak.
Kuvuchu, from vuchu, a word.
Ktfviraju, from Mvee, a poet, and rajun, a king.
L.
Leelamritu, from leela, play, and umrita, nectar.
Lingu, from lig, to move.
Lohitangu, from lohitu, blood red, and ungu, the body.
Lokeshu, from loM, men, and eeshu, greatness.
LoM, from looch, to see.
Lukshmee-Chara ; the latter word means deserted.
Lftkshmunu, the beautiful, from Lukshmu, a fortunate sign.
Lumboduxu, from lumbu, long, and ooduru, the belly.
M.
Madhuvu, from ma, the goddess Lukshumee, and dhuvu, husband,
Magftdhti, from Mugudhu", the name of a country.
GLOSSARY.
379
Mala, a necklace.
Malakaru, from mala, a necklace, and kree, to make.
Malinee, from mala, a necklace.
Malyuvanu, from mala, a necklace.
Manu-Bunghu, from manu, honour, and bunghu, destruction.
Manunu, from man, to decide.
Manusu-Kalee, from miinus, mind.
Marootu, from mree, to kill.
Marti, from mree, to kill.
Matrika-Nyasu, from matrika, a mother, and nyasu, to place.
Maturishwa, wind.
Mayavutee, from maya, delusion.
Medha, apprehension, or conception, from me'dh, to be apt to learn.
Meemangsa, from man. to judge.
Meghu-Nadu, from meghu, a cloud, and nadu, a sound.
Meghu-Nat'hu, from meghu, a cloud, and nat'hu, a lord.
Me'ghu-Vahunu ; vahunu, a vehicle.
Me'nu-Ke'ttimS, from meenu, a fish, and ke'tunu, a flag.
Mihiru, from mihu, to water.
Mishru-Ke'shee, from mish, to mix, and ke'shu, hair.
Mitrfi, a friend, from mid, love.
Mitruvinda, from mitru, a friend, and vid, to obtain.
Moduku, from mood, to rejoice.
Mohinee, from mooh, to be infatuated.
Mohu, from moohu, confusion or stupefaction.
Moogdhubodhu, from moogdhu, stupidly ignorant, and bodhii,
knowledge.
Mooktu-Keshee^ from mooktu, spread out, keshft, hair.
Mooktu-Kamu ; mooktu, liberation.
Moolu, a root.
Moomookshootwu, from mooch, to liberate.
Mounee, he who subjects himself to voluntary silence.
Mriganku, from mrigu, a deer, and imkii, a mark.
Mritu-Sunje'evinee ; sunjeevinee means to restore to life.
Mrityoo, from mree, death.
Mrityoonjunu, from myrtyoo, death, and jee, to overcome.
Mudhoo-S5odunu, from sood, to destroy.
Mudhyudeshee, from mudhyu, midst, and de'shin, belonging to a
country.
Mudunu-Mohunu, from mudunti, desire, and mooh, to be infatuated.
Muha-Devu, from muhut, great, and div, to play.
Muha-Kalu, from muhut, great, and karfi, time.
Mubamaree, from muhut, great, and mree, to kill.
Muha-Patiiku, from mfthut{ and patuku, from put, to throw down
Muha-Poorooshu, from muhut, great, and poorooshu, a male.
Muha-Rouruvu, from rooroo, an insect.
Mtttia-Rut'hee, from mfthut, great, and rut'hu, a chariot.
Muha-Premu, from muhut, great, and premun, love.
Miiha-Senu, from muhut, great, and sena, soldier.
380
GLOSSARY,
Muhatmu, from muhut, great, and atmun, spirit.
Muha-Yrutu ; vrtitu is a ceremony to be performed according to
a vow.
Muha-Yyadhee, from muhut, great, and vyadhee, sickness.
Muha-Yidya, from muhut, great, and vidya, learning.
MuhendnS, from muhivt, great, and Indru, the king of heaven.
Muheshu, from muhut, great, and eeshu, glorious.
Mnheshwurn, from muhut, great, and eeshwuru, glorious.
Muhishu^Murdinee, from muhishii, a buffalo, and murdu, to
destroy.
Muheshwuru, from muhut, great, and eeshwurii, lord.
Muhuttranu, from muhut, great, and tranu, salvation.
Mukshu, from mooch, to liberate.
Mukuru-Dwuju, from mukuru, a water animal, and dwuju, a flag.
Mullti, strong, from mul, to hold.
Mulugrahee, from mulu, filth, and grahin, receiving.
Mundoduree, from mundu, small, and ooduru, the belly,
Mungulu-Chundika, from mungulu, good, and chundika, wrathful.
Mungulu-Varu, from mungulu, good, and varu, a day.
M"fin-Mut'hu, from munu, mind, and munt, to grieve.
Muntru, from mutr, to repeat in the mind.
Muntru-Droomu, from munun, to meditate, and droomu, a tree.
Munusa, from munus, mind.
Munusiju, from munu, mind, and junu, birth.
Munwunturu, from Munoo, a sage, and unturu, another, or a limit.
Muroot, from mree, to kill.
Muruipora, from murti, a dead body, and poora, to burn.
Nagantuku, from nagu, a serpent, and untuku, the end,
Namu-Kurfinu, from namun, a name, and kree, to make.
Naree, from nurii, a man.
Nayika, from nee, to obtain.
Neelu-Purvutu, from neelu, blue, and purvutu, a mountain,
NSetee, from nee, to obtain.
Neelu, dark blue.
Neelu-Kuntu, from neelu, dark blue, and kuntii, the throat.
Nidanu, a first cause, from nee, prep, and da, to give.
Nidhee, from nee, prep, and dha, to place.
Nigruhu-St'hanu, nigruhu signifies disfavour, and st'hanu, place.
Nigumunu, a sure decision, from nee, prep, and gum to move.
Nimittu, a cause.
Nirakaru, from nir, prep, and akaru, form.
Nirnuyu, from nir, prep, and nee, to obtain.
Nirooktu, from nir, prep, and ooktu, spoken.
Nirvanee, from nirvanu, liberation.
Nisha-Putee, from nisha, night, and putee. lord.
GLOSSARY.
381
Nishkrmnunu', a going forth, from nir, prep, and krum, to step.
Nityu, constant, everlasting.
Mtyanundu, from nityu, constant, and animdu, joy.
Niyumu, a resolution.
Noiyayiku, a follower of the Nyayu philosophy.
Nouka-Khundu, from nouka, a boat, and khiindu, a part.
Nree-Me'dhft, from nree. a man, and medhu, flesh.
Nrisinghu, from nree, a man, and singhu, a lion.
Nubhuswftt, from nubhils, the sky.
Nukshu^re'shu, from nnkshutru, a planet, and eeshu, a lord.
Nulu-Danga, from nulu, a reed, and danga, a place.
Nulu-Chump5o, from nulti, the name of a king, and chumpoo, a
particular kind of composition in which the same subject is
maintained in all the varieties of prose and verse.
N'fimoochee-Soodunu, a proper name joined to sood, to kill.
N'umuskaru, a reverential mode of obeisance : from numus, a bow,
and kree, to make.
NunS, man, from nree, to do right.
Ntirmuda, from nurmu, sport or entertainment, and da, to give.
Nuru-Singhii, from nuru, man, and singhu, excellent.
MiSvu-Putrika, from nuvu, nine, and putriS, leaves.
Nuvu-Rutnu, from nuvu, nine, and rutnu, a jewel.
Nyasu, a deposit, from nee, prep, and us, to throw.
Ny ay u, justice, from nee, prep, and uy, to move.
o.
Oodahurunu, from oot, a preposition indicating that the action has
an upward direction, and ahurunu, a collecting.
Oochoishruva, from oochchois, great, and shroo, to hear.
Oodasee ; oot, prep, and asu, to sit.
Oodde'shu, from oot, prep, and deshu, to seek.
Ooduyu, to arise, from oot, prep, and uyu, to go.
Oodgata, from oot, prep, and goi, to sing.
Oogru-Chunda, from oogru, fear-exciting, and chundu, wrathful.
Oindru-Dudhee, from Indru, and dudhee, curds.
Oojjulu-T^eelmunee, from oojjulu, splendour, neelu, blue, and
munee, a jewel.
Ooktil, spoken, from vuch, to speak.
Oopangu, from oopu, a preposition importing resemblance in an
inferior degree, and ringu, a part.
Oopasunu, from oopu, and us, to throw, preceded by the prep. a.
Oopu-Patuku, from oopu, prep, and put, to throw down.
Oopucharu-Chulu, from oopu, prep, churu, to move, and chulu, a
pretence.
Oopunuyu, from oopu, and nee, to take.
Oopunuyunu, from oopu, and nuyunu, an obtaining
Oopuputee, from oopu, and putee, lord,
382
GLOSSARY.
Oopumtee, from oopu, and mm, to play.
Oopusungharti, from oopu, and sungharu, destruction.
Oor&hu-Vahoo, from 55rdhu, high, and vahoo, arm.
Oosha-Hurimu ; hurunu means stealing.
Ooshmupa, from oosbmun, beat, and pa, to drink.
Osbudbeesbu, from oshudhee, medicine, and eesbu, a lord.
Oofcut'hyu, from oot, 'prejp. and tuVhyu, just.
p.
Pacbnku, be -who cooks ; from pucb, to cook.
Paku-Shasunu, from paku, a giant, and sbas to govern.
Parij atu- Hur unu, from parijatu, a particular flower, and hurunu,
to steal.
Parvutee, the daughter of pihwutu, a mountain.
Pat'huku, he who reads, from put'b, to read.
Patunft, from put, to throw down.
Patunjulu, from the sage Putunjulee ; which word is made up of
put, to throw down, and unjulee, joined bands. Tins conjunc-
tion teaches us, that people fell before him for instruction with
joined hands.
Peetamvuru, from peetu, yellow, and umbu'ru, cloth.
Phuluburee, from phulu, fruit, and rhee, to steal.
Phulu, fruit.
Pingulu, variegated.
Pingulu-Nagu, from pingulu, brownish yellow, and nagu, a serpent.
Pita-Muhu, from pitree, father, and miibut, great.
Pitree- Me'dhu, from pitree forefathers, and medhu, flesh.
Poita, from oopu, and veetu, pure.
Pooja, from poqju, to honour or serve.
P56juku, a worshipper.
Poondureekakshu, from poondureeku, a water-lily, and uksbee, an
eye.
Pooranu, from pree, to fill.
Pooree, a house, a palace.
Poornabhisbeku, from poornu, and ubhishe'ku, to anoint.
Poor nab hishiktu, from pooriru, full, and ubhishiktft, anointed.
Poorohitu, from poorus, to go before, and hitu, good.
Pooroohootu, from pooroo, fulness, and boo, to call.
Pooroosbu, a male, from pree, to fill or nourish.
Pooru, a town.
Poorunduru, from pooru, a house, and dree, to cut.
Poorushchurunu, from pooru, before, and churunu, practice.
Pooranu, old.
Pooshkuru-Shantee, from pooshkuru, the evil fortune attending a
person who shall die when an unlucky day, an unlucky lunar
day, and an evil planet all unite, and shantee, to pacify or
produce peace.
»
GLOSSARY.
383
Poorvuvilt, from poorvu, a cause, and vut.
Pooshpavulee, from pooshpu, a flower, and avulee, a row.
Pooshpu-Dhunwa, from pooshpu, a flower, and dhunwu, a bow.
Pooshpuku, from pooshp, to expand.
Pooshtee, from poosh, to cherish.
Pooshunu, from poosh, to cherish.
Pootiirja-Budhu ; budhu means to kill.
Pouranik, a follower of the pooranus.
Prajaputyu, the work of a prujaputee.
Pranayamu, from pranu, life, and ayamu, a coming.
Pramaniku, from prumanu, proof.
Prann-Nirodhn, from pranu, life, and nirodhu, to stop.
Pratu-Kalu, from pratur, morning, and kalu, time.
Pre'tii-raj ; pre'tu is a ghost, and raj signifies raja.
Prit'hivee, from Prithoo, a king who first formed towns, raised the
arts, &c.
Prityahuru, from prutee, a preposition indicating that the action is
returned or reflected, and ahtirn, to take.
Pru^hungjunu, from pru, prep, and bhunju, to break.
Pruchunda, from pru, prep, and chundu, wrathful.
Prudhanu, chief.
Prudyoomnu, from pru, prep, and dyoomnu, riches.
Prujaputee, from pruja, subjects-, and putee, a k>rd.
Pruja- Yagu, from pruja, subjects, and yagu, a sacrifice.
Prtikashu ; kashu means light.
Prukritee, from pru, prep, and kree, to do.
Prulhadu, from pru, prep, and alhadu, joy.
Pruluyu, from lee, to absorb.
Prumanu, from pru, prep, and ma, to measure.
Prtimeyu, the subject known, from pru, prep, and ma, to mea-
sure.
Prumutee, from pru, prep, and mutee, understanding.
Prustavinee, from pru, prep, and stoo, to praise.
Prutigna, from prutee, and gna, to know.
Prutukshu, from prutee, prep, and ukshee, the eye.
Pruyojunu, from pru, a preposition which adds intensity to the
meaning, and yooj, to join.
Pudart'hu, from pudu, a word, and urt'hu, an object.
Pudmaluya, from pudmu, the water-lily, and aluyu, residence.
Pudmu-Nabhu, from pudmft, a water-lily, and nabhee, the navel.
Pudmu-Prubhoo, from pudmti, a water-lily, and prubhoo, a lord.
Pudy avulee, from pudy a, prose, and avulee, a row, or range.
Pudung, from pudu, a place.
Puddhutee, a road, from pudu, the foot, and hfln, to smite.
Pukshudhuru-Mishru, from pukshu, a lunar half month, and dlrfiru*,
to hold.
Pimchangu, from punchun, five, and ungu, the body.
Punchuku, from punchun, five.
Punchu-Choora, from punchu, five, or much, and choora, a crest.
384
GLOSSARY.
Piinchumee- Vrutft, from pftnchu, five, and vr&tu, the ceremonies
* connected with a vow.
Punchu-Rutnu, from punchu, five, and rutnu, a precious stone.
Pianchushiirn, from punchy, five, and shuru, an arrow.
Ptmchanunu, from punchu, five, and anfinu, face.
Punjab, from punchu, five, and ap, water.
Punn^gashu*n"fi, from punnugu, a serpent, and ushu, to eat.
Punt'hee, from piit'hu, a way.
Purivrittee, from puree, prep, and vrittee, existence.
Pumm-Eshwuru, from purfim, excellent, and eeshwuru, God, or
simply, the glorious.
Purumanundu, from purumu, excellent, and anundu, joy.
Purumart'hti, from purumu, excellent, and tirt'hu, an object.
Purum-Hungshu, from purum, excellent, and ungshu, a goose.
Pur"fishoo-E,amu ; ptirfishoo, a weapon.
Puvunti, from poo, to purify.
K.
Radha, the favourite mistress of Krishnu, from radh, to accomplish.
Radha-Vullubhu ; vullubhu, beloved.
Ragu, passion, from rtmj, to colour.
Raja, light.
Raj-turuuginee, from rajun, a king, and turunginee, a river.
Raju-Pootu, from rajun, a king, and pootru, a son.
Raju-Yogti, from rajiin, a king, and yogu, abstraction,
Rajuraj, king of kings.
Rajfi-Rajeshwuree, from raju-raj, king of kings, and eesbwure"e, a
goddess.
Rajurshee, from rajun, a king, and rishee, a sage.
Raju-sdoyu, from rajun, a king, and soo, birth.
Ramu, from rum, play, or to please.
Ramayunu, from Ramu, and uyunu, to go.
Ramu-ShurTlnTfi-Paltt, from Ramu^Shiiriinu, and palu, a title.
Rarheeyu, from Rarhu, a country.
Rasu-Munchunu ; munchu, a stage.
Ravunu, from roo, to kill.
Rhisheeke'shu, from rhisheeku, the organs, and eeshu, a lord.
Rig-Vedu, from rich, an incantation, and vedu, from vid, know-
ledge.
Rishubhu-Devu* ; rishubhu, signifies excellent.
Rishyadee-nyasu, from rishee, a sage, adee, the first, and nyasu, to
place.
Rishyu-Shringu, from rishyu, a deer, and shringft, horns.
Ritoopurnu, from ritoo, a season, and purnu, a leaf.
Ritoo-Yagu, from ritoo, season, and y uj a, worship with sacrifices.
Rochunxi, from rooch, love.
Roodrakshu\ from Roodru, a name of Shiva, and ukshu, an eye.
GLOSSARY. 385
Roodru, from rood, to cry.
Rookminee, from Rookmu (gold), the name of a king.
Rujo-goonu, from runj, colour, or love, and goonu, a quality.
Rujii, dust, from runj, to colour.
Rujuku, from runj, to colour.
Rukshitu, preserved, from rukshu, to preserve.
Rukshogunu-Bhojunu ; bhojimu, to eat.
Ruktu-veeju, from ruktu, blood, and veeju, seed.
Rusu, a savour.
Rut'hu-Yootupu-Yootupu, from rut'hu, a chariot, and yootupu, a
chief ; repeated, it signifies chief of chiefs.
Rutuntee, from rut, to speak.
Rutee, from rum, to play.
Rutee-Putee, from Rutee, the name of the wife of Cupid, and
putee, a lord.
s
Sadhyu, from sadh, to perfect.
Sagniku, from su, with, and ugnee, fire.
Saheb, a title of respect.
Samanyutodrishtung, from Samanyu, equal, and drishtu, seen.
Sankhyu, a sect of philosophers, from sunkhya, clear knowledge,
Sarvu-bhoumu, from survu, all, and bhodmee, land.
Saru, the essence of any thing, from sree, to go.
Sena, an army.
Sevuku, from sevu, to serve.
Seemuntonnuyunu, from simuntu, the place on the head where the
hair divides, and oonnuyunu, a raising up.*
Shakha, a branch, from shakh, to overspread.
Shaktabhisheku, from shaktu, a worshipper of the divine energy,
and ubhisheku, to anoint.
Shaktu, from shuktee, energy.
Shantee, from shum, quiet.
Shantee-Pooru, from shantee, peace, and pooru, a town.
Sharudeeya, from shurudu, the clear sky, season.
Shastru, from shas, to rule.
Sheetula, cold.
She'shuvut, from sheshu, the end.
Sheetulu-patee, from sheetulu, cold, and patee, a mat, from put,
to move.
Shikh, from shishyu, a disciple.
Shikhee-Vahunu, from shikhee, the name of a peacock, and
vahunu, a vehicle.
* During the marriage ceremony, the bridegroom first pulls the veil over the face
of the bride, and then turning it up again draws a line with red lead down the centre
of her forehead. To this cevemonv this word alludes.
49
386
GLOSSARY.
Shiksha. to learn,
Shilpu, an art.
Shira, a fibre.
Shiromimee, from shiras, the head, and nmnee, a jewel.
Shishoo-Palu-Budhu ; budhu signifies to kill.
Shivopakhyanu, from Shivu, oopu, prep, and akhyanu, to speak ,
Shivu, the good.
ShmushantL-Kalee, from shmushanu, a cemetery.
Shoilu, from shila, a stone.
Shoivacharee, from Shiva, and acharin, practice.
Shoochee, the pure, from shooch, to purify.
Shooddhee, pure.
Shooklu-Vurnu, from shooklu white, and vurnu, colour.
Shoolu, a weapon.
Sh65linee, from shulu, a lance.
Shoonyu-Yadee, from shconyu, a vacuum, and vadee, a speaker.
Shoshunu, from shoosh, to dry,
Shraddhu, from shruddha, firm faith.
Shree-Shoilu, from shree, excellent, and shoilu, a mountain.
Shree-Vidya, from shree, excellent, and vidya, knowledge.
Shree-Kunt-hu, from shree, excellent, and kuntu, the throat.
Shree, a title which signifies excellence or greatness.
Shree-Ramu-Pooru, from shree, excellent, Ramu, the name of a
god, and pooru, town.
Shrootu, what has been heard, from shroo, to hear.
Shroutu, from shrootee, the vedu.
Shrota, from shroo, to hear.
Shrotriyu, from shrootu, the vedu.
Shruddha, firm faith, from shrut, faith, and dha, to hold.
Shubdu, sound.
Shuktee, from skuk, to be able.
Shuktee-Dhuru, from shuktee, an iron spear, and dhuru, to hold.
Shumbararee, from Shumburu, a giant, and uree, an enemy.
Shumunu, from shum, equal.
Shunku-Vunik, from shunku. a shell, and vunik, a tradesman
Shunkuru, from shung, good, and kree, to do.
Shuranunu, from shush, six, and anunu, face.
Shureeru, from shree, injure.
Shust'hee, she who is worshipped on the sixth (shusht'hu) day.
Shutu-Roopa, from shutu, an hundred, and roopa, form.
Shutrughnu, from shut rod, an enemy, and him, to kill.
Shutumunyoo, from shutu, a hundred, and munyoo, a sacrifice.
Shutuku, a hundred.
Slmtu-Dweepu, from shutu, a hundred, and Dweepu, an island.
Shuvu-Sadhunu, from shuvu, a dead body, and sadhunu, to perfect.
Shwetu, white.
Shwetu- Giree, from shwetu, white, and giree, a mountain.
Shwusunu, from shwus, to go.
Shyama, black.
GLOSSARY.
387
Siddhantacharee, from siddhantu, ascertained, and acharin, practice.
Siddheshwuree, from siddhu, to perfect, and eeshwuree, a goddess.
Siddhee, from sidh, perfect.
Siddhu, to perfect.
Siddhu^muntru, from siddhu, accomplished, and mimtru, an in-
cantation.
Siddhantu, from siddhu, proved, and untu, end.
Sindhukatee, from sindhu, to cut a passage, and krit, to cut,
Singh u, a lion, from kings, to injure.
Singhu-Vahinee, from singhu, a lion, and vuh, a vehicle.
Smuru, from smree, to remember.
Smuru-Huru, from smuru, Cupid, and rhee, to destroy.
Snanu, from sna, to purify.
Soivyu, the disciples of Shivu.
Soinghikeyu, the son of Singhika.
Soobhudra, from soo, beautiful, and bhudra, good.
Soodhangshoo, from shoodha, the water of life, and ungshoo, rays
of light.
Soodhanidhee, from soodha, the water of life, and nidhee, a treasure.
Sookhu-Muyu, from sookhu, happiness, and muyu, fulness.
Soogreevu, from soo, beautiful, and greeva, the back of the neck.
Sooksmu, very small.
Soomalee, from soo, good, and mala, a necklace.
Soomeroo, from soo, good, and meroo, a boundary mark.
Soonduru, beautiful.
Soopudmu, from soo, good, and pudmu, a water-lily.
Soopurnu, from soo, good, and purnu, a leaf.
Sooracharyu, from sooru, the gods, and achaiyu, a teacher.
Soorpu-Nukha, from soorpu, a hand winnowing fan, and nukhu,
the finger nails.
Sooru-Putee, from sooru, the gods, and putee, lord.
Sootru, to stitch.
Sootrudharu, from sootru, a cord, and dhree, to kold.
Soovurnu-Vunik, from soovurnu, gold, and vunik, a tradesman.
Soumyu, the son of Somu.
Souru, the disciples of Sooryu.
Spurshunu, from sprish, to touch.
St'hanoo, st'ha, to stay.
Sudanundu, from suda, always, and anundu, joy.
Sud-Gopu, from sut, good, and, gop, cow-keeper.
Sudushyu, by-standers at a council, whose business it is to notice
and correct mistakes.
Suguru, from su, with, and guru, poison.
Suhoktee, from suhu, with, and ooktee, a word.
Suhusrangshoo, from stihusru, a thousand, and ungshoo, rays of
light.
Suhusrakshu, from suhusru, a thousand, and ukshee, the eye,
Sumadhee, from sung, prep, and adhanu, a receptacle.
Sumasoktee, from sumasu, to compound, and ooktee, a word.
388
GLOSSARY.
Sumuvurttee, from sumii, equal, and vrit, presence.
SunjeeVunee, from sung, prep, and jiv, life.
Sungkshiptu-Saru, from sungkshiptu, abridged, and saru, essence.
Sungyumu, sung, prep, and yum, to cease.
Sungskaru, from sung, prep, and kree, to do.
Sungskritu, from sung, prep, and kree, to do.
Sundhya, from sung, prep, and dhoi, to remember.
Siingkeertunu, from sung, prep, and keertunu, to speak aloud.
Sunghita, from sung, prep, and hitu, to collect.
Sunkeernu, from sung, prep, and keernu, thrown about.
Sunkrundunu, from sung, prep, and krundunu, to ciy.
Sunyasee, from sung, prep, and nyasu, to renounce.
Supturshee, from suptu, seven, and risbee, a sage.
Suptashwu, from suptu, seven, and ushwu, a horse.
Suptuswura, from suptu, seven, and swuru, sound.
Surpugnu, from surpu, a serpent, and him, to destroy.
Survu-Bhootu-kshuyu, from survu, all, bbootu, souls, and kshee, a
decay.
Survvu, all.
Survvu-Dukshinu, from survvu, all, and dukshina, a fee at dis-
mission.
Survvu-Mungulu, from survu, all, and mungulu, good.
Suteeku, from su, substituted for suhu, with, and teeka, a com-
mentary.
Sutprutipukshu, from sut, right, and prutipukshu, an enemy.
Sut-kurmu, from sut, good, and kurmun, to work.
Sutwu-goonu, from sutwu, good, and goonu, quality.
Sutee, from sut, pure.
Sutyu-Narayunu, from sutyu, true, and Narayunu.
Sutyu-jit, from sutyu, true, and jee, to conquer.
Sutyu-yoogu, from sutyu, true, and yoogu, a definite time.
Suvurna, from su, one, and vurnu, kind.
Suvyubhicharu, from suhu, with, and vyubhicharu, wrong
practice.
Swaha, presentment of oblations.
Swurnukaru, from swurnu, gold, and kree, to make.
Swuryogu, from swur, heaven, and yogu, a sacrifice.
Swayum-bhoovu, from swuyung, itself, and bhoo, existence.
Swudha, presentment of oblations.
Swumbhoo, from shung, prosperity, and bho5, existence.
Swurbhanoo, from swur, heaven, and bha, light,
t.
TamisnS, the hell of darkness, from tumisru, darkness.
Tarukeshwuru, from taruku, a saviour, and eeshwuru, a god.
GLOSSARY,
389
Taruku-jit, from Taruku, and jee, victory.
Tejomuyu, from tejus, glory, and milyu, fulness.
Teju, glory, from tij, to sharpen.
Teeka, from teek, to judge.
Tejush-Chundru, from tejus, glory, and chundru, the moon.
T'hakooru, honourable.
Thakooranee, from t'hakooru, a lord.
Tilottuma, from tilu, dark spots on the skin, and oottumu,
excellent.
Toijusu, from tejus, brightness.
ToiJukaru, from tilu, oil, and kree, to make.
Toorashat, a name of Indrii.
Toostee, from toosh, to please.
Treta*-Yoogu, from tree, three, and, yoogu, a definite period of
time,
Trikootu, from tree, three, and kootu, a mountain peak.
Tripoorantuku, from tree, three, pooru, a house, and untuku, a
destroyer.
Tripoora, from tree, three, and pooru, a town.
Tripoora-Soonduree ; soonduree, beautiful.
Trishikhu, for tree, three, and shikha, the ascending flame.
Trivenee, from tree, three, and venee, a stream.
Tumu-goonu, from tumus, darkness, and goonu, quality.
Tumti, from tumus, darkness.
Tunmatru, from tut, that, and matra, only.
Tuntru, from tuntru, to hold.
Tupusya, from tupus, religious austerities.
Tuptu-Shoormee, from tuptu, hot, and sh5ormee, an image of iron.
Turkalunkaru, from turku, the name of the nyanu durshunu, and
ulunkaru, an ornament.
Turku, from turku, to infer.
Turunee, from tree, to save.
Turpunu, from trip, to satisfy.
Turungi nee ; turungu signifies the swell of water.
Tutee, from tunu, particulars.
Tuttwu, from tut, that, truth.
Twurita, from twuru, quickly.
u.
"gbhivadunu, to bow, from ubhee, prep, and vud, to salute.
"Ubustoo, from u, priv. and bustoo, a thing.
Qbhuyti-Churunu, from u, bhuyu, fear, and churunu, feet.
TJbju, from up, water, and junu, birth.
TJbju- Yonee, from ubju, the water-lily, and yonee, a birth-place, as
water is the birth-place of fish.
* The four yoogffs are numbered according to the quantity of religion in each ;
thus the siftyif has four parts, the treta, three, the dwapftrtt, two, and the kiflee, one.
390
GLOSSARY.
Ubyungu, from u, and byungu, crooked.
IJchyootu, from u, and clryootu, to ooze.
TFdbhootu, wonderful.
TJdhikaree, from udhee, prep, and kree, to do.
TJdhyatmu, from udhee, prep, and atmun, spirit.
Tldwoitu, from u, and dwee, two.
■^Jdwiteeyu from u, priv. and dwiteeyu, the second,
tjdwuyanundu, from u, priv. dwoi, two, and anundu, joy.
Ughoru-Punt'hees, from Ughoru, a name of Shivu, and punt'hu, a
, way.
TTgnibhoo, from ugnee, tire, and bhoo, existence.
Ugnanu, from u, priv. and gnanu, knowledge.
tJgnihotree, from ugnee, fire, and hotree, a sacrificial priest.
IJgnishtomu, from ugnee, fire, and stoo, praise.
TJgru-Dweepii, from ugru, before, and dweepu, an island,
fjgrudanee, from ugru, before, and da, to give,
fjjitu, from u, and jitu, victory.
XJjitu-Nat'hu, from ujitu, and nat'hu, lord,
tjkalee, a follower of the TJkalu, Poorooshu.
tjkalu-Poorooshu, the being who is not subject to time, from uk?du,
without time, and poorooshu, a male.
Ukrooru-Sungbadu, from u, priv. krooru, cruel, and sungbadu, a
report.
tjkshuyu, from u, and kshee, to decay.
tjlukanunda, from uluku, light, and anundu, joy.
tjlunkaru, from ulung, proper, and kree, to do.
ttmritu-Suru, from umritu, the water of life, and sums, a pool.
Umuravfitee, from umuru, immortal.
tJmvoodu, from umvoo, water, and da, to give.
TXnadee, u, and adee, first.
TJnadya, from un, and adya, beginning.
"Undhu-K5opu, from undhu, dark, and kodpu, a well.
Ungu, members, or body.
tjngu-nyasu, from ungu, the body, and nyasu, placing.
TJngshooman, from ungshoo, glory,
fjujunu, a black powder applied to the eye-lids.
"jjnnuda-Kulpu, from unnu, food, da, to give, and kilp, to be able or
capable.
"Unimittu, from u, priv. and nimittu, a cause.
fjnnu-Poorna, from unnu, food, and poornu, full,
fjnnumuyu, from unnu, food.
tjnnu-Prashunu, from unnu, food, and prashunu\ feeding.
tJnoo-Patuku, from unoo, small, and patuku, sin.
tjnungu, from u, and ungu, body.
fjntuku, from untu, the end, and kree, to do.
TJnuntu, from u, and untu, the end.
tjnftnyujti, from u, unyu, other, and junu, to be born.
fjpatree-Kurunu, from u, patru, a worthy person, and kree, to do.
tjpoorvuta, from u, priv. and poorvu, unprecedented.
GLOSSARY.
391
TJp-Putee, from up, water, and putee, a lord.
Uprudhanu, from n, priv. and prudhanu, chief.
IJpsiira, from up, water, and sree, to go.
IJpunhootee, from upu, pre}?, and knoo, to steal.
Upurajita, from u, and purajita, to conquer.
tjpura- Vurtunu, from, u, pura, prep, and avurtunii, to go in a circle.
Upurna, from u, and purnu, leaves.
Urdhu-Narishwuru, from urdhu, half, naree, woman, and eeshwuru,
a god.
TLtrdhu-Rut'hee, from, urdhu, half, and rut'hee, a charioteer.
Urdhu-shloku, from urdhu, half, and shloku, a verse.
TJroonu, the dawn.
Urt'hubhe'du, fi 'om urthu, meaning, and bhe'du, separation.
Urundhuna, from u, and rundhunu, to cook,
yshoka, from u, and shooch, sorrow.
TJshtu-Vusoo, from ushtu, eight, and Vusoo, a sort of gods.
Ushtu- Vukru, from ushtu, eight, and vukru, crooked.
Usee-Putru-Vunu, from usee, a scymitar, putru, leaves, and vunu,
forest.
Ushwu-se'nu, from ushwu, a horse, and sena, a soldier.
Ushwinee-Koomaru, from ushwinee, a mare, and koomaru, a child.
yshwumedhu, from ushwu, a horse, and medhu, flesh.
Usiddhee, from u, priv. and siddhee, completion.
TJsooru, from u, priv. and so5ru, a name applied to the gods.
Ushtu, eight.
Ustungu, from ustim, eight, and ungti, the body.
Usumprugnatfi, from u, priv. and sumprugnatu, completely in-
formed.
Usut, from u, priv. and sut, entity.
Utee-Patuku, from utee, excessive, and patuku, sin.
Utee-Rut'hea, from utee, very great, and rut'hee, a charioteer.
XTtikayu, from utee, great, and kayu, the bod}7,
tjtiratru, from utee, beyond, and ratree, night.
Utishuyoktee, from utishuyu, exceeding, and ooktee, a word,
ijtit'hee, from ut, to move, perpetually ; a guest, a stranger.
Uvudhodtu^from uvu, prey, and dhoo, to renounce,
fjvfitaru, from uvu, to descend, and tree, to save.
IJvutu-Nirodhunu, from uvutu, a hole in the ground, and niroodh,
to close.
tjyodhya, from u, and yoodh, war.
Uyunu, from uyu, to move.
v
Vachusputee, from vach, a word, and putee, a lord.
Vagvadinee, from vach, a word, and vudu, to speak.
Vak-Chulu, from vak, a word, and, chulu, to deceive.
392
GLOSSARY.
Yakya-Yulee, from vakyu, a word, and aynlee, a row.
Yalmeekee, from vulmeeku, a kind of ants.
Yalu-Gopalu, from valu, a child, go, cow, and, pain, to cherish.
Yamacharee, from vam, the left hand, and acharin, practice.
Yamunu ; little.
Vanu-Prnst'hn, from vunu, a forest, and prust'ha, to go.
Yaroonee, from Yuroorm. a constellation.
Yastoo-Poorooshu, from vastoo, a honse, and poorooshu, male.
Yasuvu-Dutta, from Yasuvu, a name of Indru, and dutta, given.
Yasuvu-Poojyu, from Yasuvu, a name of Indru, and pooj, worship.
Yayoo, from va, to go.
Ye'dacharpe, from vedti, and acharin, practice.
Yedantee, he who follows the vedantu.
Yedantu, the end or last part of the vedu.
Ye'du, from vid, knowledge.
Yeeju-Muntru, from veeju, seed, and muntru, an incantation.
Yeeju-Gunitu, from veeju, a seed, and gunittS, a calculation.
Yeeru-Singhu, from veeru, strength, and singhu, excellent.
Yeeru-Bhoomee, from veeru, strong, and bhodmee, land.
Yeeru-vahoo, from veeru, strength, and vahoo, the arm.
Yeetihotru, from veetu, to place, and hotru, sacrificial things.
Yibhavunu, from vee, prep, and bhavunu, thoughtfulness.
Yibheeshunu, frombheesh, terrific.
Yibhoo, from vee, prep, and bhoo, birth.
YichitruveeryiS, from vichitrti, variegated, and veeryu, semen.
Yidhee, command, from vidh, to legislate.
Yidyadhuru, from vidya, learning, and dhree, to hold.
Yidwurimodu-Turunginee, from vidwut, a learned man, modu,
pleasure, and turfingu, a wave.
Yidhoontoodu, from vidhoo, the moon, and tood, to bite.
Yidya-Putee, from vidya, learning, and putee, lord.
Yijuya, from vee, prep, and jee, to overcome.
Yikrum-Adityft, from vikrumu, power, and adityu, a name given to
the sun.
YikuYttunti, from vee, prep, and kurtumu, to cut.
Yilwu-Roopa, from vilwu, a fruit, and roopu, form.
Yimula, from vee, prep, and mulu, filth.
Yindhyu-Yasinee ; vindhyu, the name of a mountain, and vusu, to
reside.
Yiratu, great, from vee, prep, and raj, light.
Yiroodhu, from vee, prep, and roodh, to prevent.
Yishnoo, from vish, to overspread.
Yishwatma, from vishwu, all, and atmun, spirit.
Yishuyu, an object.
Yishwu-Kurma, from vishwu, the world, and kurmu, work.
Yishwuksenu, from vishoo, on four sides, unch, to go, and sena, a
soldier.
Yishwumbhuiu, from vishwfi, the world, and bhree, to cherish.
Yishwu-Mitru, from vishwu, the world, and umitru, not a friend.
GLOSSARY.
393
Vishwti-Jata, from vishwu, the world, and jatti, born.
Vishusunu, from vee, prep, and shfis, to destroy.
Vitruha, from Vitru, a giant, and hun, to destroy.
Vitunda, dispute, from vee, prep, and tud, to smite or punish.
Vivahfi, from vee, prep, and vuh, to procure.
Vive'ku, discrimination.
Vivurtu, from vee, prep, and vrit, to exist.
Vivuranu, from vee, prep, and vree, to skreen.
Voidiku, from ve'du, knowledge.
Voidyu, from vid, knowledge.
Voidyu-Vatee ; vatee signifies a house.
Voikariku, from vikaru, a change.
Voiragee, from vee, prep, and ragu, passion.
Voishakhu, from the planet vishakha.
Voishnuvu, disciples of Vishnoo.
Voishnuvacharee, from voishnuvu and acharin.
Voishe'shiku, from vishe'shu, a particular.
Voiturunee, from vee, prep, and tree, to cross over.
Vriddhee-Shraddhu, from vriddhee, great.
Vriddhee, great.
Vrihus putee, from vrihut, great, and putee, lord.
Vrihudbhanoo, from vrihut, great, and bhanoo, glory.
Vrihut, great.
Vrihuddhurmu pooranu, from vrihut, great, and dhurmu, religion.
Vrihun-Narudeeyu, from vrihut, great.
Vrinda-Vunu, from vrinda, thick, and vunu, a forest.
Vrishu-Dwujfi, from vrishu, a bull, and dwuju, a flag.
Vrisha, from vrishun, to cause the rain to fall.
Vrittee, from vrit, to exist.
Vujree, from vujru, a weapon.
Vujru-keetu, from vujru, a weapon, and keetu, a worm.
Vujru-Kuntuku-Shalmulee from vujrfi, a weapon, kuntuku, a thorn,
and shalmulee, a tree.
Vukasooru-Budbu, from vukii, a proper name, usooru, a grant, and
budhu, to kill.
Yukre'shwuru, from vukru, crooked, and eeshwuru, a god.
Vunu-Devee, from vunu, a forest, and devee, a goddess.
Vurnu-Sunkuru, from vurnu, caste or profession, and sunkuru, mixed.
Vyakhyu, known, or proclaimed.
Vyakurunu, from vee, prep, a, prep, and kree, to do.
V}7fiktavfi-Dh66tu, from vyuktu, known, uvu, prep, and dhoo, to
renounce.
Vyungyu, ridicule, from vee, prep, and unjii, to be produced.
Vyasoktu, from V}rasfi, and ooktfi, spoken.
Y-
Yadusang-putee, from yadus, a water animal, and putee, lord.
Yoodhisht'hiru, from yooddh, war, and st'hira, firm.
50
S94
GLOSSAKY,
Yogacharii, from yogu, and acharu, practice.
Yoogadya, from yoogu, and adya, the first.
Yogee, a person practising the duties called yogu.
Yege'shwuru, from yogu, and eeshwuru, a god.
Yoginee, a female yogee.
Yogu, the practice of abstraction of mind.
Yogu-Bhogu-Vadee, from yogu, abstraction, bhogu, enjoyment, and
vudu, to utter.
Yogu-Nidru, from yogu, abstraction, and nidra, sleep.
Yonee, the place or element of birth.
Yoru-Bangala, from yoru, a pair.
Yugnu, from yuju, worship of burnt-sacrifices.
Yugnuha, from yugnu, a sacrifice, and him, to destroy.
Yumaluyu, from Yumu, and aluyu, a dwelling.
Yumoona-Bhrata, from Yumoona, a river, and bhrata, a brother.
Yilmu, he who is free from the influence of the passions.
Ytimu-Rat, from yumu, and raj
Ytingumtl, a goer.
+
INDEX.
Absorption. ...into Bruinha attained by dying in the Ganges, 170 ,
after death, 281 and ib. note, defined 285, how ob-
tained 286, how understood by the Booddhus 308
and ib. note, taught by the Shikh shastriSs 346,
349. See Tupusya.
A batraction... of religious mendicants produced by drugs, 293.
A ccounts... ...of merchants opened on birth-day of Kamfi, 134.
Acharyto —an order of priests who teach the ve'dus, 186.
A dee-Grimtku,.. sacred hymns of Nanuku 343, compiled by tTrjoo-
nu, ib. doctrines of the Shikh s from the, 349 — 353.
Adulterers. ...Instrument used for punishment of, 48 note.
Alligators children of Hindoos thrown to, 167, note, at Gunga
Saguru, 259.
Altar of the Hindoos how made, 205, note.
Ancestors...,*, daily duties to deceased, 192, turp-ftnu ceremony, 214,
and shraddhus for them, 266.
Animals, sacrificed largely to Doorga, 69,72, their blood, &c,
a proper offering to a goddess, 93, slain and offered
to Urdhu-nareeshwuru, 1 48, when worshipped, 157,
for sacrifices slaughtered under roofs before temples,
179, offered in burnt and bloody sacrifices, 204—
212, atonements for killing certain, 870, used
cruelly traced to sins of a former birth, 278. See
Beasts. Offerings. Sacrifices.
A nointing.,... resemblance between the Jewish and Hindoo me-
thods of, 244, note.
Arabians worshippers of stones, 143.
Architect of the gods, Vishwu-Kurmu, 127, note. 137.
Arts presided over by the god Vishwu-Kurmu, 137.
Artificers...... worship Vishwu-Kurmu for success in business,
137.
Ascetics perform tupusya or bodily austerities, 203, dhyanu5
for ascertaining a fact, 34, note, 217, perish by
wild beasts, 253, why deified 305, note, joinu chiefs
generally gloomy, 329, reverence to, ta,ught by
Nanuku, 343. See Mendicants.
A sharhu... ....festival when and why celebrated, 191.
Ashrttnu the four different states into which bramhuus
enter, 291.
Ashwinu festival when and why celebrated, 191.
Ass how and by whom to be sacrificed, 210.
Atonement. .. .for offences in perishing by cold, 253, for offences why
demanded, 266, of what kinds, 267—273.
Austerities, effects of, on a mendicant, 291, of the Burmans, 310,
See Absorption. Mendicants. Tupusya.
4
396 INDEX.
Bacchus resembled to Shivu, 10, Doorga's festival compared
to that of, 73, note.
Banks merit of worshipping on, of Ganges, 166.
• Banyan Tree.. worshipped as that of Vutu, 162.
Bathing incantation for drawing holy waters into Sooryu's
heaven while, 55, of Dodrga called Snanu, 71,
waters of sacred rivers used for, 163, in Gimga
when recommended, 166, its benefits, 166 — 168,
notes, ceremonies performed by a poorohitti for a
man of property, 185, in the Ganges on what day
meritorious 190, daily, 193, ceremonies for, 213, in
sickness, 214, in Umritu-Suru held sacred by the
Shikhs, 348.
Bead-roll how consecrated, 218.
Beasts ...the cow, 154, monkey, (Hunooman) 155, dog. jackal
and other animals worshipped, 157, ascetics devour-
ed by wild, 253.
Beggars..*..,... worshippers of Sheetula, 108. See Mendicants.
Bells suspended round the border of umbrellas fixed on
tops of Booddhu temples, 309.
Benares See Kashee.
Bhadru.,., festival when and why celebrated, 191.
Bhdotus a sort of demons, 18, note.
Bhrigoo the father of Shookru or Venus, 59.
Bhuguvutee ... a name of Doorga on her first appearance, 64, Kalee,
a form of, 89. Bad ha an incarnation of, 142,
daughters of bramhuns worshipped as forms
of, 151, revered by the Shaktus, 303.
Bhtingu a favorite Shikh beverage, 3 49, of what made, ib. note.
Birds Gurooru, 158. Uroonu, 159, Jutayoo, Shunkuru
Chillu or Eagle of Coromandel, Khunjunu or Wag-
tail and others, worshipped, 160, of unlucky omen
when perched on a Hindu's house, how to be
expiated, 160, note.
Birth..'* proof of reality of a successive, 277, note, promise of
deliverance from future, 278, in what kinds of
happiness a person is subject to it, 281. See
Transmigration.
Birth-day Hunooman why worshipped by Hindus on their, 155.
Blindness person born with, supposed to have destroyed the
eyes of some one in a former birth, 278.
Blood of an animal a proper offering to a goddess,
93.
Bloody Sacri-
fices^.. See Sacrifices.
Booddhu or
Mercury. ...his form, birth, influences, 58, son of king Muhee-
putee, 304. Goutumu, a common name of, ib.,
chose an ascetic life, ib:, why deified, 305, his incar-
INDEX.
397
nations and doctrines, 306, teachings' of, before ex-
altation, 308, how revered by the Cingalese, ib.,
temples in Ceylon and Burmah, 309, festivals of,
309, 311, image, 310, priests, ib., Colleges, ib., Bnr- '
man account of incarnation of, 3 i 2 — 325, account
from the Booddhu pooranu of, 335 — 340.
Booddhtts the same as the followers of Fo, 303, note, disbelieve
a First Cause, 304. 307, rise of Booddhism, ib.,
persecuted by the Bramhuns, 305, 306, their emi-
gration from Hindoostan, 306, religion when taken
into Burmah and Ceylon, ib., their doctrines, 307,
308, rewards and punishments. 307, commands to
the common, 308, temples and worship, 309, festi-
vals, 309 — 311, priests, 310, burn their dead, 312,
deities, ib.
Booddhism.... rise of, 304,
Books.,.. deified, and the Hindu shastrus when and how wor-
shipped, 173. See Shastrus.
Bones of persons burnt at a distance from the Ganges cast
into it, 169, note, of a Sutee cast into it, 237, of
Krishnu in the belly of Jugunnathu's image,
note, 258.
Bramhuns prohibited from receiving offerings to Shivu, 12,
families of, supported by Doorga temple revenues
and offerings, 70, note, drinking spirits before Ka-
lee s temple, 98, note, -Rakshusus are all, 144, offer
boiled rice to Jugunnat'hu or any other god, 128,
Gosaees enemies of, 136, worshipped with their
wives and daughters, 151, if in trouble considered
sinful, 170, forbidden to enter a village where the
Muhabharutu is not found, 174, note, worship the
Shalgramu stone, 175, may perform ceremonies of
religion, 185, becoming priests to Shoodrus des-
pised, 186, daily duties of, 193 — 197, their ceremo-
nies for bathing, 214, gifts of what kind made to,
224, entertained, 225, their conduct at a Sutee, 245,
called ugrudanee receive first gifts at shraddhus,
263, when unclean, 266, atonement for murder of,
2f -8, offences of, how to be atoned, 268 — 273, pro-
strate themselves before a dundee mendicant, 296.
Bramhunee. . .the wife of a bramhun, 222, bulls why so called and
how treated, 264, note, atonement for murder of
a, 268.
Breast offered by a Hindoo nurse to a neighbour's child, 119,
note.
Brumha ...the creator, 21, his form, worship and character ib.,
heaven, 22, names, 23, Surnswutee daughter of,
106, a name given to a class of priests supplying
wood for burnt offerings, 187.
398
INDEX.
BrttmhU.* the one God, 1, dying in the Ganges secures ab-
sorption into, 170, note, absorption how obtained
into, 286.
Brumhucka-
rees ..worshippers of female deities performing orgies with
flesh, spirituous liquors, &c, 232, expect heaven
for their works, £83, an order of mendicants, 296.
BrUmhu-pooi-
rti a river, how worshipped ; children cast in it, 172.
Bulee-danU ceremonies for bloody sacrifices, 212.
Bull how to be sacrificed, 208, called bramhunee, how
treated, 264, note.
Bulu-ramu,...& brother of Jugunnat'hu drawn in his car, 128, his
image : married to Revutee, 129.
Burial ...alive often persons at Agra, 249.
Biirmah. Booddhu religion when introduced into, 306, tem-
ples of Booddhu in, 309.
Bur mans translators and commentators of the Booddhu
Jatus, 307, possess works of antiquity on various
subjects, ib. religion of, composed of austerities :
their priests, 310, colleges, 311, burn their dead,
312. See Booddhus.
Burning of widows alive with their husbands authorized by
the Shastrtis, 235, of a leper in the Kamyu-muru-
nu ceremony, 249, of dead bodies by Hindoos how
performed, 261, of the dead byjthe Burmans, 312,
by the joints, 329, by the Shikhs, 348. See Sutee.
Burnt Offer-
ings See Offerings.
Burnt Sacri-
fices See Sacrifices.
Butter clarified used in burnt offerings, 154.
Cannibals or
RaJcshitsus. .born giants, 114.
Canopus... ...a star called Ugustyu by the Hindoos, 52, note.
Car of Jugunnat'hu described, 128, diseased or distressed
persons crushed beneath it, 129, ceremonies for de-
dication of a, 181, dying under wheels of Jugun-
nat'hu s, 250—257.
Castes origin of, 21, of all descriptions worship Gtinga, 165,
have their own priests, 186, of all kinds eat
together at Jugunnat'hu-kshutru, 257, atonement
for offences of certain, 271, do not exist among the
Booddhus 312, joinus divided into the four Hin-
doo, 329, among the Shikhs, 349, and followers of
Choitunyu, 355. See Sects.
Cat ...a personification of the goddess Shushtee, 112.
Cattle .<* ..marriage of, 263.
INDEX.
399
Celestial Beings.See Celestial Gods.
Celestial Gods.of inferior note worshipped, 113, ^the Usoorus or
giants, ib., the B-akshushus or Cannibals, 114, Gun-
dhurvus and Kinntirus or choristers : Yidya-dhfi-
rus and Upsfirus or dancers, 115, Nayikas, com-
panions of Do orga, 117, Yukshus! or servants of
Kooveru, 118, Pishachus messengers of the gods_:
Goodghukus, Siddhees, &c., ib.
God-
desses very few ; the distinguished are Dcorga, Suruswu-
tee and Lukshmee, 119. — See Planets.
Cemeteries presided over by Shmushanu Kalee, 102, note.
Ceremonies..^ at £>66rg£'s festival, 68, of Snanu to her, 71, to Kalee,
91 — 99, to Lukshmu performed before a basket,
105, to Shush tee for children, 111, of Hindoos cele-
brated with fireworks, &c, at night, 122 note, at
worship of Yishnu-kurmu before implements of
trade, 137, of BramMn's wives walking round
their husbands, 152, of Chukrfi, ib., before Hunoo-
man considered disgraceful by sensible men, 156,
of expiation on perching of unclean birds on a Hin-
doo's house, 160, note of water and cow-dung to
the toolusee plant, 161, waters of sacred rivers used
for, 163, to Gunga performed in the name of Shivfi,
165, at the Duslrfihffra festival, 166, for dedica-
tion of temples, 180, of religion may be performed
by bramhuns, 185, on what lunar days merito-
rious, 190, description of weekly, monthly and
daily, 190 — 192, for initiation into the Hindoo
religion, 199, of a disciple to his gooroo, 200, for
religious austerities, 203, for burnt sacrifices, 204,
burnt offerings, 211, bloody sacrifices, 212, bathing,
214, tfirpmifi ib., p55ja, 215, dhyanfi, jftpu, 217,
Sttfvu, 218, Kuvuchfc, Kamunii and Manunu, 219,
Vratu*, 220, Oopuvasa, 222, Danu, 223, for enter-
taining bramhuns, 225, for reading and hearing
the poorantis, 228, for sacred rehearsals, 229, for
removing evils from bad omens, 231, while sitting
on a dead body, ib., for removing, subduing or
destroying enemies, 232, of burning widows alive,
235—246, of voluntary suicide, 246— 249, of infan-
ticide, 251, 252, on visiting holy places, 255 — 259,
at death, 260, for repose of the soul, 261, for puri-
fications, 266, for atonement of offences, ib., lead-
ing to absorption, 286, of the Joinus, 329 — 331, of
the Shikhs, 346—348.
Ceylon orLunka.ovigm of na,me of, 43, note. Kama's bridge to, 132,
note. Booddhu religion when carried into, 306, his
temples in, 309.
400
INDEX.
ChamurU an appendage to royalty among the Hindus, 129,
note.
Chandaltt intercourse between a Bramhun and the wife of a,
how to be atoned, 270, atonement when bram-
huns take food, water, &c., from a, 271.
Ghaya a wife of Sooryu, 34, mother of ShiSnee or Saturn, 61.
Charms trusted by Hindoos and Musselmen, 219, note.
Children excessive attachment of Hindoos to their, 49, note,
of the Moon descended from Somu, 56, Chundee
invoked for restoring health to, 87, Shushtee pro-
tectress of, 110, how carried 121, unlikely to live
hung in a basket to a tree, 135, note, when seized
with epilepsy cured by Punchantinu, 144, thrown
to alligators, 167, note, cast into the river Brumtm-
pootrtf, 172, burnt with a Sutee, 242, fondled ex-
cessively, 276, note, attachment to religion of
Hindoo female, how exhibited, 177, note, festival
by Joinus on birth of, 334, murder by Shikhs of
female, 348, note, their ceremonies at birth of, 348.
See Infanticide.
Chinnu-mi'is-
tiika her image and worship, 82-
Christians honor Kalee with presents, 100.
Ghitrii-gooptuXho, recorder of Qtimu, judge of the dead, 279.
Choristers called Gnndhurvns, and Kinnurus with horses heads,
115.
Choitrlt festival when and why celebrated, 192..
Choiti'tnyu a mendicant god, 134, married to 'Vishnoo-prfcya,
135, his festivals, 136, another mendicant god in
Bengal in form of, 137, Shoodru" gooroos and
Voiragee mendicants followers of, 202, his disciples,
a branch of the VoishnuVus, 302, their doctrines,
354, leaders 355, works, ib., and daily increase,
356. — See Gosaees.
ChUndee his image, worship, 87, invoked for restoring children
to health, ib., a work on the Avars of Kalee, 97, read
at the ceremony of worshiping the cow, 154.
Chtindrti She-
hiirii a mountain near Chittagong containing inflammable
air for kindling burnt offerings of pilgrims, 259.
Chuhrti an abominable ceremony described, 152.
Chundrtc a planet called Somu or the moon, 56.
Chingalese Boodhifs doctrines how transmitted to the, 306,
approach to an image of Booddhu by, 308.
Civilization... taught to mankind by Rishfibhu-de'vti the Joinu
founder, 327.
Clay ......images generally thrown into the water, 183, how
made, 184.
INDEX.
401
Clothes of a Hindoo employed in secular concerns impure,
214, note.
Gocoanut... ...water drunk at the festival of Kojaguru Lukshmee,
106.
Cold Regions..-prdLcticQ of perishing in, 253.
Colleges.. students how admitted into the Burman, 3 10, rules
for their observance, ib., when received into the
priesthood, 311, how built, ib.
Conch a shell blown at worship and festivals, 80, note, by
men and women on entering a temple, 215, note.
Conversation.. of Hindoos regarding the transmigration of souls,
276, among widows on talking over their sorrows,
277, respecting the state of the dead, 284.
Cooks Women at temple of Kalee at Kalee-ghatu good,
99, note.
Coronation.... .Waters of sacred rivers formerly used for, 163.
Cow ..... regarded as a form ofD5orga, 76, why created by
Brumha, 154, under what form and how worship-
ped, ib., ill-used, ib., punishment for sale of, ib., daily
duties to the, 192, atonement for killing a, 268,
used cruelly, attributed to sins of a former birth,
278.
Cow-dung how used, 154, punishment for neglect to burn, in
cow-house, 155.
Creation by Brumha, 21.
Gupid known as Kundurpu destroyed by Shivu, 18, called
Eamu-devu, 138.
Cybele and Bacchus' festival compared toBoorga's, 73, note.
priestesses of, resembled to dyasinees of Puncha-
nunu, 143, note, opening of temple of, resembled
to that of Vishnoo, 188, note,
Dances ...of prostitutes before D5orga, 71.
Dancers known as Vidya-dhurus and Upsurus, 115.
Danu... ...ceremony for presenting gifts, 223, of what kind, 224.
Daughters of bramhuns till what age worshipped, 151, why
never prayed for by Hindoos, 21 9, note, destroyed
by Rajpoots, 252.
Days what lunar, considered fortunate, 190, for religious
ceremonies at festivals, bathing, and shraddu, ib.
Dead Yumu, judge of the, 47, Kalee as Shmushanu-Kalee
dwells in the place of burning of the, 1 02, bodies
and bones brought to be burnt near the Ganges,
169, ceremonies while sitting on a dead body, 231,
for burning the, 261, how conversed on by Hin-
doos, 284, burnt by the Burmans, 312, by the
Joinus, 329, by the Shikhs, 348.— See Burning.
Death. name of Ramti. written on a person at time of, 134,
at Benares entitles to Shivu's heaven, 146, heaven
51
402 INDEX
obtained at, on thinking of Gunga, 166, note,
anxiety of Hindoos to die in sight of the Ganges,
169, marks of Shalgraean shown at, 175, Sacrifice
and fasts after, 210, 223. under the wheels of
Jugunnat'hu's car, 250, ceremonies, 260, untimely
attributed to crimes in a former state of exist-
ence, 278. — See Happines. Infanticide. Judgment.
Suicide.
DeepU-mala..ma, great Shikh festival for bathing in the TJmritu-
Suru pool, 348.
Deities...... ...future happiness of becoming, 281, of the Booddmis,
307, 312. — See Celestial Beings. Celestial and
Terrestrial Gods. Gods. Goddesses. Human
Beings. Planets.
Devotees of modern days do not expect absorption, 287, ab-
straction of certain, how produced, ib. — See Men-
dicants.
Dhe'nkee... ....a name of the pedal, 176.
Dhurmu Tha-
koorti .a form of Shivu : his image, 144, festival, 145.
Dhyanu performed by old Hindoo ascetics to ascertain a fact,
34, note, ceremony of meditation described, 217.
Disciple* his duties to his gooroo, 200.
Diet what articles of, renounced as a fast, 223.
Diseases persons crushed beneath Jugunnat'hu's car with, 120,
250, cured by toolusee leaves, 161, attributed to
crimes of a former birth, 278.
Distress the goddess Siddheshwuree invoked in times of want
and, 104.
Doctrine of a constant incarnation taught by a mendicant god,
137, of the transmigration of souls explained, 274,
extracts from the Kurmu vipaku, ib., and XJgnee-
pooranu thereon, 275, of judgment of men after
death, 279, 280. of future happiness, 281, 287. of
absorption, 285, of future punishments, 289, 290,
of the Booddhus similar to followers of Fo, 303,
307, 308, 335, of Kishubhu-devu the Jomu founder,
327, of the Joinus, 329, 330, 340. of Nanuku, 343,
349—353, of the Shikhs, 346, and their leaders,
349 — 353, of the followers of Choitunyu, 354, of
Zoroaster, 366, 367. — See Schism.
Dog worshipped in the form of Kalfi-Bhoiruvu and men-
tioned as unclean in the Muhabharutu, 157, touch-
ing a bramhun how to be atoned, 272.
DoivtigniXs inoculators for small pox, 108.
Dolu a swinging festival in honor of Krishnu, 122, observ-
ed also in honor of Eamu, 134.
Dodrga,..,. ....wife of Shivu, 17, mother of Guneshu, 36, of Karti-
keyu, 39, her descent, name, &c, 64, resembled to
INDEX.
403
Juno and Minerva, 64, note, festivals, image, 67,
ceremonies, 68, sacrifices, 69, offerings, 70, dance*
to, 71, bathing or snanu of, ib., worship at E-aja
Raj Krishna's at Calcutta of, 72, drowning of, 74,
fables, 75, names, 76, forms and wars of, 76, 79.
inferior forms of, 87 — 89, known as the village
goddess, 146, Chundee-Mundupii temples dedicated
to, 178, consecration of image of, 184, worshipped
by the Shikhs, 346.
Drink Offer-
ings to the gods and deceased ancestors, 214.
Brought ..prayers offered by bramhuns at the side of the
Ganges or other rivers at time of, 44, note.
Drowning of Doorga, 74, in the Ganges encouraged by the
Shastrus, 170, benefits attained, 170, note, called
Kamyu-murunu, 246.
Drugs used by religious mendicants for producing abstrac-
tion, 293.
Dilndee if in trouble or distempered, meritorious, 170, en-
gages in the sacrifice of the ass, 210, an order of
mendicants using a staff, 296, their appearance,
dress, duties, &c, ib., blesses those at his feet, 297,
absorbed at death into Brumhu, ib.
Dukshina-
raylt worshipped similar to Kalu-rayu, 146.
Dukshina-
pruttt, a shell kept with the Shalgramu stone to prevent
poverty, 174.
Dushuhiira.*..& festival in honor of Gunga's descent to the earth
how celebrated, 166, when called the Great Varoo-
nee, 168.
Dyasinees... ...old women, devotees of Punch anunu, 143, resembled.
to priestesses of Cybele, 143, note, attend on image
of Dhurmu T'hakooru, 145.
Eagle of Coro-
mandel...... See Shunkum-Chillu.
Earth Prithivee, regent of the, 146, Dushuhura festival held
in honor of Gunga's descent to, 166, described by
the Joinus, 329.
Eclipse .coincidence in customs of different nations respect-
ing an, 62, note.
EkamrH Ka-
muru a place on the borders of Orissa containing 6,000
temples, where all castes eat together, 260.
Elephant a synonym of stupidity with Hindoos, 35, note.
Enemies. ceremonies for removing, subduing or destroying, 232,
Englishmen... all owed by Hindoos to go to heaven from Kashee,
257.
404 INDEX.
Entertain'
went.'. of bramhuns, 225.
Epikpsy cured in children by Punchanunfc, 144.
Estate cannot be inherited without performing the shrad-
dhu, 265.
Estimate of the number of victims of Hindoo superstition, 254.
Evils following bad omens how to be removed, 231.
Falsehood taunted by the Hindoos in Gunga's name, 169, expia-
tion for sin of, 273, punished in future generations
of a family, 289.
Family daily ceremonies by whom performed on death in a
bramhun's, 192, misfortunes how to be prevented,
230, conversati on on the transmigration of souls,
276.
Fa*t ...of the Hindoo compared to the Jewish, 120, note, on
what days observed, 190, ceremonies for a, 222,
kept strictly by widows, 278, note.
Fee* ...to priests how regulated, 186, taken by bramhuns
on marriage of daughters, 224, note.
Eeet of bramhuns revered by their disciples, 151, resem-
bled to the Jews, 151, note.
Female how worshipped at the Chftkru' ceremon}^ 152, per-
forms the Vrutu or vow ceremonies, 220, of in-
famous character employed to dance and sing
before Jugunnat'hu, 258.
Festivals none in honor of Vishnoo, 8, of Shiva" particularly the
Sunyasee and swinging, 12, ]5. of Indrti, 23, of
Sooryu*, 32, of Gune'shu, 36, of Kartikeyu, 39, of
Uguee, 41, of Yumu, 46, offerings made to the
planets at, 54, of Doorga, 67, of Bacchus and Cybele
compared to DSorga's, 73, note, of Juguddhatree,
80, of Mookttf-Ke'shee, 81, of Unnu-poorna, 84, of
Gnneshujununee, 85, of Krishnu-Krora,#>., of Chun-
dee, 87, of Kalee, 95, of Lukshmee, 105, of Kajagurfc-
Lukshmee, 106, of Suruswutee, 107, of Mtinusa,
109, of Shushtee, 110, XJsoorus and Kakshusus
worshipped at, 113, of Erishnti, 120, of Gopee-
nat'hu, and Ugree-dweepfi, 126, of Jugunnat'hn',
128, of Choitunyu, 136, of Vishwu-KfirmS, 137, of
RamS-devS, 138, of Dhurrn-fi-T'hakooru, 145, of
Udrhu-nareeshwurn, 148, of GtLrooru the bird-god,
159, of Dushuhura or Gunga's descent to the Earth,
166, of the pedal, 176, of certain deities held an-
nually, 191, of Voishakbu*, Jyoishthu, Asharhtf,
Shravunu, Bhadru, Ashwinu, ib., Kartiku, Ugra-
bayunu, Pousbu*, Maglm, Phalgoonu, Choitru* when
celebrated, 192. fasts precede, 223, of Booddhti,
309, 311, of the Joinus, 333, 334, of the Shikhs, 348,
INDEX.
405
Fire Ugnee invoked when works are done by agency of,
41. used by Sagniku bramhfins, ib.
First Cause... not believed in by the Booddhus, 307.
Fish ...worship of Vishnoo as incarnation of a, 173, adored
in honor of Gunga, 167, 173, called IUshS when
and by whom worshipped, 173.
Flesh--. orgies by brumhucharees, 232, of certain kinds when
eaten, how to be expiated, 271, eaten by Shikhs,
349.
Flowers offered to the gods how used by Hindoos, 48, note.
for worship of the gods gathered by young per-
sons, 40, note, showered on birth of Ramu, 134,
note.
Fo followers of, similar to those of Booddhu, 303.
Food waters of sacred rivers used for, 163, of certain kinds
when eaten, how to be expiated, 271, of what sort
rejected by VoishnnVus, 302.
Forms... of Doorga, 79, note. 87 — 89, of Kalee of inferior note,
102.
Fuel ...cow-dung used by Hindoos as, 155.
Future State.. expected by the poor for supporting the Cow, 154,
contemned by Joinu sunyasees, 329.
See Doctrine. Transmigration.
Ganges profligacy of inhabitants on banks of, 48, note, her
image and marriage, 163, descent, 184, why called
Janhuvee, 165, mouths of, 165, note, by what
names known in heaven, earth and patiXhl, ib., her
worship, ib., festival, 166, how revered, 168, attach-
ment of natives to the, ib., encouraged by the
Shastr&s, 168, note, their anxiety to die in sight of
the, 169, children and grown up persons drowned
in the, 170, Vishnoo-mundiru' temples erected by
the side of the, 178, bones of a Sutee cast into the,
237, children offered to the, 251, fight between
Sunyasee and Voiragee mendicants for bathing
first in, 294, note. — See Rivers.
Gambling.. ...prevalent at the Gar festival of Jngtmnat'hfi, 129, note.
Ganja leaves smoked by Voiragee mendicants, 298. ,
GanupUtyUs... worshippers of GtSne'shu', 36, a Hindoo sect, 303.
Garlands used for adorning images, 151, by Greeks and Ro-
mans, 151, note, of flowers hung across Gunga at
the Dushuhura festival, 166, put by the priest on
the image during worship, 181.
Geetii, a ceremony for sacred rehearsals of the Sbastrus, 229.
Ghetoo a <?od presiding over blotches of the skin and scurvy,
l01, 146.
Giants or Usooras, 113, their conduct at the churning of the
sea, ib.
400
INDEX,
Gifts to learned Bramhuns on what lunar days meritorious,
190, cannot be received from a shoodru by bram-
huns, 220, note, of what kind to be made, 223, how
to be presented, 224, to be offered by a Shoodru,
ib., at shraddh-fis first given to ugmdanee bram-
huns, 263.
Godavuree where Hindoos bathe in the, 172.
God..,,,. ...unity of, how far recognized by Hindoos, 1, main-
tained by Nanuku, 343, absorption into, 285, how
believed by the Shikhs, 346.
Gods. .... of the Hindoos : 2, Vishnoo, ib., Shivu, 9, Brumha, 21,
Indru, 23, Sooryu, 31, Guneshu, 35, Kartikeyu,
37, Ugnee, 40, Puvunu, 42, Vuroonu, 43, Yumu,
46, trick for three blessings at once by a blind
man on his, 82, note, dreaded by Hindoos, ib.,
note. — worshipped by the lower orders : Pun-
ch an unu, 143, Dhuraiu-T'hakooru, 144, Kaloo-
Rayu, 145, Kalu-Bhoiruvu, 146, Sheetula, Ghe'too,
ib., cow called mother of, 154, daily duties to the,
192, turpunu ceremony to the, 214, repeating names
of the, 217, forms of praise and prayer to, 218, 219.
future happiness in the heaven of the, 281, and ib.,
notes. — in strange shapes: Urdhu-nareeshwuru,
147, Krishnu-Kalee, 148, Huree-Huru, 149, Joinus
revere Hindoo, 329. See Celestial and Terrestrial
Gods. Celestial Beings. Human Beings. Planets.
Goddesses.- - ....Doorga, 64, Singhu-vahinee, 79, Muhishu-murdinee
80, Juguddhatree, ib., Mooktil Ke'shee, 81, Tara, ib.,
Chinnu-mustuka, Jugudgouree, 82, Vugulamooktee,
Prutyungira, 83, Unnupoornu, 84, Gune'shu-junu-
nee, 85, Krishnu-Krora, ib., Vishalakshee, 86,
Chundee, 87, of inferior note as forms of Doorga,
87 — 89, inferior forms of Kalee, 89, 102. Lukshmee,
105, Kojaguru-Lukshmee, 106, Surilswutee, ib.,
Sheetula, 107, Munusa, 108, Shushtee, 110. See
Celestial and Terrestrial Goddesses. Planets. Rivers.
Gooroos ..bramhun religious guides worshipped, 151, ini-
tiating incantation received from, 199, qualifi-
cations of, ib., duties of a disciple to his, 201,
anecdote of a dying, 202, office hereditary, ib.,
disputes between disciple and assistant, 203, Shru-
vunu-Beligolu principal residence of the Joinu, 329.
Gooroo Govin-
du Singh tL.the last Shikh leader, 344, more political than reli-
gious, ib.
Gooroo-muta..th.e national council of the Shikhs, when and by
whom convened, 344.
Gopee-nathu,.,'ci form of Krishnu, 125, a celebrated image of him at
Ugru-dweepu, ih,, festival, ib,
INDEX.
407
Gopalu.... his image, 125, how and by whom found, ib.
Gosaees leaders of the worshippers of Krishna, 120, note, suc-
cessors of Choitunyu, 136, 355. revenue derived at
marriages by, i6.,at the head of mendicant voiragees,
294, marriage peculiar to, ib. — See Choitunyu.
GoutllmU......& common name of Booddhu, 304.
Gratitude not a virtue with Hindoos, 225, note.
GrZthtis or stars ; why so called, 54, note. — See Planets.
Gunga See Ganges.
G ting a- 8agu-
rti an island visited by pilgrims for its waters, 259.
Gtindhurvus.. .celestial choristers, 115.
Gundhurvti-
Senu a son of Indra : encounters an Upsura, 116.
GuneshXi..,*... his form and descent, 35, honored in religious and
civil concerns, 36, festivals, worship, ib., first writer
of the Muhabharutu, ib., note, names, 37.
GtineshH-ju-
nUriee her image and festival, 85.
GUrooru his image and descent, 158, the carrier of Yishnoo, ib.,
protector from snakes, ib., note, names, 159.
GXiya. a place of pilgrimage where the shraddhu for de-
ceased relatives is performed, 257.
Hair Flowers offered to gods placed by Hindoos behind
the head in tuft of, 46, note, of women devoted to
Dhurmu T'hakooru on death of eldest child, 145,
of Khalsa Shikhs allowed to grow when initiated,
347.
Happiness. ...after death of four kinds, and how obtained, 281, of
the heavens of the gods, ib.t by what works merit-
ed, 282, 283, conversations on the state of the
dead in, 284, difficult to be obtained by the ShSodru
and Hindoos generally, ib., degrees among Bood-
dhtis of, 307. — See Heaven.
Health Sooryu invoked for, 33.
Heaven.. ofVishnoo, 9, of Shivu, 19, 20, of Brumha, 22, of
Indra, 26, of Sooryu, 34, invocation for bringing
waters into it while bathing, 55, Kartikeyu has no
separate, 40, of XJgnee, 41, of Puvunu, 43, of Vuru-
nu, 45, how to be merited, 51, of Yumu, ib., of Shivu
attained on dying at Benares, 146, by thinking on
Gunga at death, 166, note, by drowning in the
Ganges, 169, by planting certain number of trees,
227, by perishing in cold regions, 253, awarded by
Yumu to the good, 279, of the gods and Kooveru,
281, what kind of works entitles to, 282, 283.
difficult of attainment by the Shoodru and Hindoos
generally, 284, of the Booddhus, 308, of the Joinus,
408 INDEX.
330, their daily practice representing certain, ib.,
note, of Nanilkft, 350, note*
Hells of different kinds for the wicked, 280, 288, illiberal
persons doomed to, 284. names and nature of vari-
ous, 288, attempt to emancipate the wicked by
Ravunu from, 289, of the Booddhus, 307, 308.
Hermoe.., ... ...compared to image of Jugunnat'hu, 127 note.
Hermit life led by Rishubhu-devu, 327-
Hingdola Offerings by pilgrims to the regents of the cave of,
260.
Himavut a mountain, 163, the parent of Gunga, 163.
Hindoos attached immensely to the river Ganges, 168, and
encouraged by the shastrus, ib. note, their anxiety
to die insight of it, 169, their own cooks, 225 note,
annually perishing as victims of superstition, 254.
bow influenced by doctrine of transmigration of
souls, 275. generally indulge no hope of heaven
and troubled at death, 285, J oinus approach to the
orthodox, 329.
Holy Places.... ceremonies on visiting Teert'hu-st'hanu or, 255. where
to be found, 256. names of the principal, 257, why
visited by pilgrims, 257 — 260.
Homu ceremonies for burnt offerings, 211.
Honor.. formerly paid to Kalee by Hindoo Rajas, 96.
Horse... sacrifice by Ramu of a, 133, meritorious, 133 note,
how to be sacrificed, 208.
Hospitality ...to strangers, meritorious, 225.
Hota a class of priests how employed, 187.
Host of Hea-
ven worshipped, 52, their origin, 53. — See Planets.
Houses of Burman priests how built, 311.
Human Be-
ings . . consisting of bramhtfns or religious guides, 151,
their daughters, and wives, how worshipped, ib., a
female how adored as Chtlkru, 152, sacrificed, 205.
HtXnddman ...the monkey god ; his adventures to recover Seeta,
131, an incarnation of ShiviS, 155, his image, des-
cent, worship, ib., marriage of two monkeys cele-
brated by Raja of Nudeeya, ib., stories of, 156.
HUree .....a form of Krishna worshipped by followers of Choi-
tunyu\ 354.
II iiree- dvjar u.the mouth of the Ganges, why visited, 260.
Huree-HftrU.. appears in one body as Vishnoo and Shivft, 149. origin
of image, ib.
Husbands. wives of bramhuns worship their, 152, adored in
the Savitr^e Vrutu ceremony, 221.
Idol Books worshipped as an, 173, ceremonies for dedica-
tion and setting up of an, 181, worship rejected
byNanukS, 343. See Images.
INDEX.
409
Illuminations of different kinds to be seen in Gunk's festivals on
the river, 168, note.
Image of Kale e at Kalee-ghatu near Calcutta, 97, honored
by kings, merchants, 99, and even by Christians,
100, Substitute for Suruswutee's, 106, of Gopalu
how found, 125, of Juguimat'hu compared to Her-
moe, 127, note, adorned with garlands, 151, note,
of gods anointed with milk, &c, 154, ceremonies at
setting up of an, 166, dishonorable to trade in,
176, of inferior deities put under trees, 179, of what
made, 182, consecration of, 183, how deified 184,
trial of godship of, 185, of Booddhu how approach-
ed by the Cingalese, 308, of monsters in temples of
JBooddhti, 310, of Gomuteshwuru-swamee S31, note,
of Nanuktt never made, 343.
Immortality... conflicts between the Usoorus and the gods for, 113,
water of, 114.
Incantations.. when first used by the gods for destroying effects of
poison, 19 note, while bathing for drawing holy
waters into Sooryu's heaven, 55, used for destroying
cattle, goods &c. and for diseases, 232.
Incarnations. of Yishnoo, 2. 7. 173, of Brumha 22,of Doorga, a jackal,
75, birth, of Ravunu seventh of the Hindoo,
134, four principal, ib. doctrine of a constant,
taught by a mendicant god in Bengal, 137, Radha
proved to be Bhuguv&fcee's, 142, Hun55man one of
Shivu's, 155, of Booddhu contained in the Jatus,
308, their number and designation, ib., 307. of
Booddhu by the Burmans, 312—325, of RishubhS-
devu the founder of the Joinus, 826, of Parshwu-
nat'hu a Joinu leader, 327, of the Hindoos in the
Shikh shastrus, 346.
Indru his form, worship &c, 23, stories of, 24, heaven, 26.
names, 31.
Infants exposed by mothers to rays of the sun to sleep, 119
note, how destroyed, 251. 252, cast to alligators
by pilgrims in Gunga-Saguru, 259. — See Infanti-
cide.
Infanticide ...where and by what people practised, 251, 252 car-
ried on by the Rajpoots and Jatus, 252, promised
heaven, 283.
Initiation into the Hindoo religion, 199, of the Shikhs, 347. of
the disciples of Choitunyu, 355.
Insects atonement for killing, 270.
Itch SheetuJa worshipped for removal of, 146.
52
410
INDEX.
Jackal an incarnation of Doorga, 75, by whom worshipped,
157, passing on a Hindoo's left hand unlucky ib.
Jatiis, the histories of Booddhu s incarnations, 306, their
number, ib. work of the ten jatus highly revered,
307, their names, ib. translated by the Burmans
ib. Temee Jatu account of Booddhu s incarnation,
312—325.
JeevunukurU image of the mendicant, why placed near Booddhu in
temples, 310.
Janhivee .a name why given to Rarnu, 160.
Jhoolunu-yat-
ra a swinging festival in honor of Krishnu, 121.
Joinfts where found, 326, rise of, ib. Rishubhu-deVu their
founder, ib. successive leaders of, 327, incarnation
of Parshwu-nat'hu a leader of the, ib. Mfiha-veerti
last of the Joinu yojees, 328, mendicant chiefs of
the, where located, 329, doctrines and ceremonies
of, 329, 330. their heaven, 330, daily duties, 331,
332. festivals, 333, sects, $34, Bramhinical ac-
count of the, 334, Mr. Colebrooke's observations
on, 340—342.
Judgment of men after death by Yumu, 279. 280, witnesses
against criminals at the, 280 note, of the wicked
to different hells, 280.
J&gUdgouree. .image and worship of. 82.
J ttguddkatree. her image and festival, 80. *
JUgunnat'hu. .form of image ; origin, 127, temples, ib. festivals, 1 28,
DeVulil temples sacred to, 257. worshipped by pil-
grims, ib., bones of Krishna* in belly of, 258, note.
See Car.
Jugtinnaf hu-
Kshtdm. ...in Orissa where pilgrims resort to worship Jugim-
nat'hu, 257.
JtigtinnatliU
Tiirkkti - Pun-
chanUnu.... ...a learned Hindoo and stealer of Punchanunu's image
144 note, temple how endowed 182. description of
car of, 1 28, dying under its wheels 250, 257.
Juno resembled to Doorga, 64 note,
JtinukXi the father of Seeta.
Jupiter or Vri-
husputee worshipped as a planet 58, compared to Shivu as
three-eyed, 90 note, resembled to Kalee, 93 note.
Juptt ceremony for repeating the names of the gods 217.
Juriitkaru a sage ; husband of Munusa 108.
Juiayud a bird god ; friend of Ramu 160.
J tdUs .,a people in Agra destroying female children 252.
JyoisMhJU festival when and why celebrated 191.
INDEX,
41 L
Kalee her image ; anecdotes of it, 90, human sacrifices and
other horrid rites to, 91, 92, worshipped by thieves,
93, resembled to Jupiter, 93, note, festivals, 95,
honored formerly by Hindoo Rajahs, 96, image at
Kalee-ghatu described, 97, adored by kings, mer-
chants, &c, 99, and Christians, 100, value of
monthly offerings to, 102, inferior forms of, ib.,
Chundee-mundipu temples dedicated to, 178
Kaliku poora-
nU recited in Bengal, 228.
Kaloo-Rayu...a, form of Shivu, 145, his image, ib. worshipped by
woodcutters, 146.
Kaltt - Bhoi-
ruvXi... a naked Shivu, 146, his name as regent of Kashee,
(Benares) ib. worshipped as a dog, 157.
Kamtinu a ceremony for petitioning a god, 219.
Kamti-devti...ihe Indian Cupid, 138, his image and festival, ib.
story of, 139, names, ib.
Kamu- Ling a. See Unadee-Lingu.
Kamyu - Mil-
riinu... a suicide by drowning in the Ganges, 246, 247,
instances of, 248, burning a leper, 249, burial alive
of ten persons, ib. See Suicide.
KamU-pitta....yogee mendicants of Shivu, how distinguished, 296.
Kanchee a town in Telinga famous for quarrels and murders
between Vishnoo and Shivu disciples, 260.
Kartikeyu his form, descent, 37, worship, festivals, 39, names,
40, never married, ib.
Kartiku,.. ....festival when and why celebrated, 192.
Kashee ( Be-
nares) Shivu under name of Kalu-Bhoiruvu regent of, 257,
persons entitled to his heaven on dying in, ib.
why resorted to by pilgrims, ib. a great seat of
Hindoo learning, ib. deification of every one dying
at, 278 note, merit of Soivyiis visiting, 302.
Ketoo the descending mode, 62, note. 114, a planet, 63,
image of, ib.
Khalsas Shikh warlike disciples of Govindhu-SingM in the
Punjab, 347.
KhecJiiiru a common dish in Bengal; how composed, 70, note.
Khelanta yogee.a, class of mendicants imitating Shivu, 295, their
dress ib.
Khoolasas Shikh disciples of Nanuku, 347.
Khunjunu ...the Wagtail bird ; a form of Shivti, 160.
Kk'lrsoo a river whose waters are never drunk hy Hindoos,
44, note.
Kings. l honor Kalee, 99, may atone for sins of subjects, 273,
temples erected by the Booddhft, 301.
s
412 INDEX.
KinnUrUs celestial choristers with horses heads, 115.
KoilasU heaven of Shivu, 19.
Koiyooms See Colleges.
KojagXcru-
LuJcshmee....8b form of Lukshinee 106. her worship and festival, ib.
Koombhu-hUr-
nU ......a famous rakshusu, 115.
KoomoodU a flower expanding at rising of the moon, 56, note.
Kooveru .the god of riches served by Yukshus, 118, his forms,
ib. and heaven, 281.
Koordo -kshu-
trli a place near Delhi visited by pilgrims, 260.
KooshU-dwee-
pii .....the residence of Guroorft, the bird god, 159.
Kosha and
Koshee.,, ...copper cups used by bramhuns in their daily duties
196.
Kouree..*. . ,.. shells from the Maldives passed for money, 46, note.
dropped by a Sutee used as a charm, 237. ,
KrishnU his birth and juvenile exploits, 119, image and festi-
vals, 120, posterity of, destroyed by a bramhun's
curse, 120, note, image of Radha always accom-
panies that of, 123, followers, ib., stories of, 124,
Easu-mimclm temples designed for image of, ib.,
bones of, in the belly of Jugunnat'hu, 258, note, pil-
grims visit birth-place, &c, of, 259, Sukee-bhavfi
mendicants worship, 295,
KrishnU - Ka-
lee ...origin name of, 149.
KrishnU Kro-
ra her image, festival and history, 85.
KrittiJca a patronymic of Kartike'yu, 40, note.
Kudroo mother of serpents, 158. enmity between her and
descendants of Guroortf, ib.
KulpU.... Booddhfi belief of universe being destroyed at end of
a, 308, defined by the Cingalese, ib.
KulpU-sodtrU..& work containing the Joinu doctrines, 329. festival
for reading it, 334.
KUviichU,...>"& ceremony for prayer to the gods, 219.
KUravUt am instrument used by devotees for cutting off their
heads, 249.
KUshyUpU the father of Ruvee or the Sun, 55, of the TJsoortts,
113, of Gurooru a bird god, 158.
KuveerTi-pimt
hees an order of mendicants founded by Kuveerfi, a Mus-
selman, renouncing secular affairs, 295.
Lamps suspended in the air in honor of the gods, 230.
Land.-".* ...... presented as gifts to bramhuns, 224 note, secures
heaven, 224.
INDEX.
413
Laverna resembled to Siddhe'shwuree as protectress of thieves,
104, note.
Learning patronised by the goddess Tara, 82, Suriiswntee god-
dess of, 206, Kashee the greatest seat of Hindoo,
257, of others in a former birth evidence of a man
being learned, 278.
Life .....destroyed by the Joinus, 331.
LingU ...an image of Shivu 10, resembled Phalli of the Greeks,
ib.y of two kinds, 11, MundiriS temples dedicated to
the, 177, Shivu worshipped daily before the, 192,
Soivyus adore the, 302. — See Unadee-Lingu. Va-
nu-Lingu.
Liquids Shashunu, an instrument for drying up, 66, note.
Liquor... . consumed at the Chukru ceremony by measure, 152,
orgies by brumhuchare^s with spirituous, 232,
used by the Shaktus in worshipping Bhuguvutee^
303.
Lotus a plant venerated by the Hindoos, 10.
Lukshmee her image, worship, festival, 105, names, 106.
Lukshmunu....& brother of Kamu, 134.
Lunka or Cey-
lon*.. why so called, 43, note, Ramus bridge over the sea
to, 132, note. See Ceylon.
Lust... personified in the god Huree-Huru, 150.
MaghTi a festival when and why celebrated. 192.
Moll ....a caste playing with snakes, devoted to Munusa, 109.
Manufactures. Vishwu-kurma presides over, 137.
ManttnU ...... .a ceremony for making vows, 219.
Maniistt ceremony for meditating on Yishnoo's attributes by
dun dee mendicants, 296.
Market..^.. Kalee invoked on going to, 97.
Marks... of Hun55man's disciples similar to those of Shivu's,
155.
Marriage of Shivu, 17, Kartikeyu never married, 40, of Yamu,
51, of Bulu-ramu to Revutee, 129, of Choitunyu,
135, of widows taught by him, ib. superintended
and dissolved byGosaeesl36,Kamu-devu adored at,
of two monkeys by the Rajah of Nudeeya, 155, of
the Gunga to Santimoo, 163, pedal worshipped at
176, of cattle, 263 note, atonement for certain
kinds of, 271, ceremonies cannot be performed by
a widow, 278 note, of Gosaees, 294, forbidden to
Booddhu priests, 310, of Rishubhu-devu, 326,
Joinu ceremonies of, 329, of Shikhs similar to Hin^
doos, 348, caste strictly regarded by them in, 349.
Mars or Mun-
giilU,„ ... »i.a planet worshipped, 55.
414
INDEX.
Matter Eternity of, believed by Booddhus, 307.
Medicine waters of sacred rivers used for, 163.
M editation. . . . See Dhyanu.
Mendicants or
Saints their four different states and duties, 291, 292,
present vicious state, 293, account of twenty kinds
of, 294 — 298, stories at Gunga Saguru island of
certain, 298, 299, of a yogee in the Sunderbunds,
300, number who live as, ib. how treated by the
Hindoos, 301, Soivyus rarely seen, 302, among
Voishnuvus, ib. of the different sects, 303, female
Booddhu priests supposed to be, 810, priests live
as, ib, chiefs of the Joinns where located 329, Joina's
constrained to be, ib. names and duties of their
yogees, 332, 333. among the Shikhs, 348, follow-
ers of Choitunyu chiefly, 356.
Merchants honor Kalee with presents, 101, open accounts on
Ramus birth-day, 134.
Mercury or
BooddhU... .a planet, 57, resembled to the bird god Gurooru,
158. See Booddhu.
Merit of hospitality to strangers, 225, of digging pools, 226,
of planting trees, 227, of cutting roads, ib., of hear-
ing and reading the pooranus, 228, of visiting holy
places, 256, of persons in a former birth traced to
present prosperity, 278, works of, conduct to
Yumu's palace, 279, of the good how rewarded, ib.,
of what kinds entitles to celestial happiness, 282,
283, doctrine of, held by Booddhus, 307, their
works, 308, Joinu belief in works of, 330. See Works.
Metal of which images are made, 182.
Metempsychosis.origm of doctrine of, 275, its unhappy effects on
the Hindoos, ib. See Transmigration.
Milk of the cow how used for burnt offerings, 154.
Minerva resembled to Doorga, 64, note. Ramu's birth likened
to that of, 134, note.
Misfortunes... Vishnoo revered for removing, 146, in a family how
to be prevented, 230.
MooktuKe'shee her form ; festival celebrated with liquor; benefits
promised to worshippers, 81.
Moon or Somu a planet, worshipped 56, who called children of
the, ib., Krishnu Kalee adored, at wane of, 14S,
waters of immortality said to fill its bright parts,
158.
Monkey See Hunooman.
Monuments... of stone erected by the river side at Benares to Sutees,
245, note.
Mounee,,t< devootees peculiar for perpetual silence, 297, their
dress, &c.; ib.
INDEX.
415
Mountain of gold, rice, &c., presented as gifts, 224, note.
Mlthabl ictr lit u. first written by Gutie'shu from mouth of Vyasudevu,
38, note, dog mentioned as unclean in, 157. puri-
fies the place where read, 174, note, recited in
Bengal, 228.
Muha-Kalii,..2b form of Shi via, 11.
Muha-maya.... known as Doorga, 66.
M&ha-pooroo-
shu.....* a name of distinguished Hindoo saints, 298.
Muha-putee....^ king, father of Booddhu, 304.
Muha-veeru..., the last of Joinuyogees, 327, his incarnation, ib. early
life, 328, becomes an ascetic, ib, encounter with
bramhuns, ib. his disciples, 329, festival, 333.
Mfthishu-
murdinee....her image and worship, 80.
Mttngtilu or
Mars ...form and evil influences of, 57.
Muniisa her image, descent and festival, 108, queen of snakes,
109.
Music... of heaven represented as coming from horses months,
115, note.
Mussulmen... honor Kalee, 100, becoming Shikhs forbidden to eat
beef, 347.
Muthu-dha-
rees a class of mendicants found at holy places, 259.
Naiyikas female companions of Doorga, 117, their duty, ib.
Names of gods repeated in the juvu ceremony, 217.
NantikU founder of the Shikh sect, 342, his birth, travels, &c,
ib., attached to forms of devotion, 343, family and
death, ib., successors, ib., their works, 344, doctrines
of, 343, 349—353. See Shikhs.
Nantikti pUnt-
'hees mendicant followers of Nanuku, 295.
NarayWnXt revered as the one God by the Shikhs, 346.
Nay a., ...devotees similar to the Ramutus, except in marks on
the forehead, 295.
NeelU'kuntTi....o? blue throated ; a name of Shivu, 19, note.
Nimatii.— devotees similar to the Ramutus in dress, &c, 295,
have a different spiritual head, ib.
Nityaniindit...db disciple of Choitunyu, 136.
Nodes..*,.. Rahoo and Ketoo described as the ascending and
descending, 114.
Noiriitt a rakshusu, 114, one of the ten guardian deities of the
earth ib., his worship, ib.
Noimishu a forest near Lucknow celebrated for reading the
pooranus to 60,000 disciples by the sage Sootu, 259.
Nudjfr & Nu-
des the guides of sacred rivers, 163.
416 INDEX.
Oath ...how takea by the Hindoos on refusal to swear on
water of the Ganges, 168, on what made and how
ratified, 239.
Offences atoned in perishing by cold, 253, atonement why
demanded for, 266, of what kinds to be expiated,
267—273. See Punishment.
Offerings, of what kind made to Doorga, 70, numerously pre-
sented to Kalee, 99, their monthly value, 102,
of swine to Munnsa, 109, to Jugunnat'hu, 128, clari-
fied butter used in burnt, 154, to Gunga, 166, on
escaping from dangers on water, 167, burnt, 211,
how given, 212, in a person's name after decease
called Shraddhu, 262, not made by the Johms to
the Shraddhu, 329. See Ceremonies. Gifts. Sa-
crifices,
Offspring Kartikeyu propitiated for, 39.
Omen ..ceremony for removing evils from bad, 231, expiation
when birds of unlucky, perch on a Hindoo's house,
160, note.
Onions. why forbidden to the Hindoos, 287.
Ooduyuna-
charjyu a learned bramhun and persecutor of the Booddhus,
306.
Oopiivasu ceremony for fasting, how conducted, 222.
Odrdlwo.vahdd.sunysLsee mendicants famed for holding up the right
arm in one position, 297.
Ordeal... when resorted to, 168.
Orgies of impurity with flesh, spirituous liquors, &c, by
brumhucharees, 232.
Panu chewed by natives of what composed, 70 note.
Parijatu a tree in Indru's heaven reputed for fragrant flowers,
26.
Parshwu-nat'hu.a, Joinu leader, 327, his incarnation, ib.
Parvutee a name of Doorga, 17. 64.
Passions not overcome disentitles to celestial happiness, 284,
subdued how shown by ascetics, 293.
Pedal when worshipped, 176. See Trees. Wood.
Petitions how offered, 219. See Vows.
Phalgodnu a festival when and why celebrated, 192.
Phallus ...resembled to theLingu, 10.
Philosophers. ..of the Hindoos little affected by the sense of honor
found in their writings, 287.
Pilgrims Names of places visited by, 257 — 259, with incurable
distempers fast in Voidyunat'hu till death, 259.
Pilgrimage Principal places of Hindoo, 257. See Holy Places.
Pishachus messengers of the gods guarding sacred places, 118.
Planets worshipped in a body and separately, 54, sacrifices
to, ib., 210, images of, ib., fees for worship 55,
!Xi)KX.
417
Somu or Chundra, the moon, 56, Munguiu or
Mars, 57, Booddhu or Mercury, ib., Vrihusputee
or Jupiter, 58, Shookru or Venus, 59, Shilnee or
Saturn, 61, Bahoo, 62, Ketoo, 63.
Points story of the forty-nine, 42, note.
Poison power of, how first destroyed by incantation , 19, note,
of serpents expelled by the toolusee plant, 161.
Poita Pedal worshipped at investiture of the, 176.
Polygamy not prohibited by the Booddhus, 312.
Pooja... ceremonies how to be performed, 2.15, Dhyanu used
during, 217- See Worship.
Pools ceremonies for consecrating, 181, of water given as
gifts, 224, merit of digging. 226.
Poornabhishe-
ku,., performed as orgies with flesh, spirituous liquors &c.
by brumhncharees, 232.
PooranUs Book when worshipped at recital of any of the, 173,
when read attended by Sudushyu priests, 186,
ceremonies for hearing; and reading- the, 228.
Poorohitu an order of priests, 185, ceremonies performed by, ib.
fees, 186, qualifications of a, ib.} how rewarded, ib.
Posterity of Krishnu destroyed by abramhun's curse, 120, note.
Potters ...the principal god-makers, 184.
PoUshU,., a festival when and why celebrated, 192.
Pougan Burman Koiyooms to be seen in the ancient city of,
311.
Poverty.^* prevented by keeping the shalgramu stone, 174.
Praise ...offered to the gods in the Stuvu ceremony, 218, re-
peated to certain distinguished names of Joinu
y ogees 332.
Prayer offered to the gods in the Kuvuchu ceremony 219.
Precipices Life renounced by Hindoos in falling from, 249.
Priests the Poorohitu 185. Acharyu, Sudushyu 186. Brumha,
Hota &c, 187. their employments 185 — 187, dress
of 187, orders of Booddhu, 310. forbidden to marry,
ib., their life, ib., are schoolmasters, ib., students
when called as, 311. precepts to them ib., houses ib.,
investiture ib., of the Shiks called Grunt'hee 345.
Prithivee regent of the earth and worshipped at all great
festivals, 146.
Proserpine compared to Kalee, 91, note.
Prosperity. ...Lukshmee the goddess of, 105, conversation of Hin-
doos on the transmigration of souls in, 276. attri-
buted to merit in a former birth ib.
Prostitutes. ...celebrate Suruswutee's festival, 107, profess religion
of Choi tuny it, 136, expect heaven, 283.
Prukritee a name of Doorga on first appearance, 64.
Pruthivee mother of Seeta, 133.
53
4 ! 8 INDEX.
Pruiisliika.. ..a ceremony for dedicating trees, 227.
PrXityungira.. why invoked, 83, forms of petition to, ib, story res-
pecting her, 84.
Praijagli union of the rivers Gunga, Yumoona and Suruswutee
where pilgrims chose a voluntary death, 257.
Panchanuiia.£L form of Shivu, 144, image ib,., how worshipped, ib.,
propitiated when children are seized with epilepsy,
ib., story of his image being stolen, 144, note.
Punishment... doctrine of future, 288, in different hells, ib. their
names and nature, ib. prevented by atonement,
288 note, dreaded by Hindoos, 289, Ravunu's at-
tempt to emancipate the wicked from, ib. Booddhu
states of, 307, of the wicked, 308, by the Joinus. —
See Hells.
P arificatioris .how conducted and when necessary, 266.
Piirum-hung-
su mendicants hold no human intercourse, 297, their
peculiarities, dress, &c, ib.
Pavanu,., his birth, festival, 42, adultery, heaven, names, 43,
father of Hunooman, 155.
Quarrel between Doorga and Shivu, 147, 148, Sunyasee and
Voiragee mendicants for bathing first in the
Ganges, 294, note.
Radha, ....mistress of Krishnu, 120, 141, image accompanies
Krishnu s, 123, 141, wife of Ayunu-ghoshu a cow-
herd, 141, an incarnation of Bhuguvutee, 142.
Rahoo his image and influences, 62, when received his form,
ib., interposes in an eclipse, ib., names, 63, the
ascending node, 62, note, 144.
Rain Vuriinu propitiated for, 84, how obtained by the Shal-
gramu stone, 175.
Rajahs honor Kalee, 96.
Rajupootus ... destroy their daughters, 252, murder infants, ib,
Rakslvustis or
Cannibals...theiY forms, 144, names of the distinguished, ib. all
bramhuns, ib.
Ramahodts... . mendicant followers of Ramu, 134, their marks, ib.
Bamaymm . . .Number of, and by whom composed, 90 note, history
of Ramu table of contents of, 130, Valmeekee
writer of, 133.
RameshivurU
( Ramiseram ^.why famous as a place of pilgrimage, 259, visited by
wandering mendicants, ib.
Ramu his history, 130, war with Ravunu, 130 — 133, bridge of,
to Lunka, 132 note, his death, 133, image and festi-
val, 134, worshipped b}^ Ramutu mendicants, 295
INDEX.
419
Ramutti mendicants worshipping Ramu, 295, where born,
ib., their dress, ib., smoke intoxicating herbs
excessively, ib.
Ramu SJiiiru-
nu Paelii. . .a successor to certain mendicant god, 137, taught the
doctrine of a constant incarnation, ib.
Rasa. a festival of Krishna, 121, its indecent celebration,
122.
Ravunu a giant who reigned at Lunka (Ceylon), 130, Ins wars
with Ramu for Seeta, 131, death, 133 note, visits
Yumii to emancipate the wicked from hell, 290.
Ravutee wife of Buhi-ramu, 129.
Red Powder.- thrown at passengers in the Dolu festival, of what
composed, 122, note.
Refreshment,. supplied by road-ways to travellers, meritorious, 228.
Religion attachment of Hindoo female children to, 277, note.
of Booddhu the most ancient in India,, 304.
Religious
Austerities .See Ascetics. Mendicants. Tupusya.
Rent. paid as first instalment in villages at certain festi vals,
146.
Rishubhu-de-
vU a Hindoo, the founder of the Joinu sect, 326, his
birth, incarnations and marriage, ib., titles, 327,
doctrines, ib. was a hermit, ib. his disciples, ib.
successors, ib. See Joinus.
Rivers waters of the Khursoo never drunk by Hindoos, 44,
note, dead toolusee plants committed to, 161, of
both genders worshipped, 163, Gunga, ib. its wor-
ship, ib. certain places of it held sacred, ib. other
deified, 171, 172. See Ganges.
Roads.., cut and planted with fruit trees for travellers, meri-
torious, 227.
RoodrakshU... necklaces worn by Hindoos, 38 note, when used b}^
Soivyus, meritorious, 302.
Rookminee. ...a wife of Krishnu, 142, worshipped at his festivals,
ib.
Rutee wife of Kamu-devu, the Indian Cupid, 138.
Rut'hu the car festival of Jugunnat'hu, described, 128.
Rtivee ( the
Sun).. his form, worship, influences, 55, called S65ryu, ib.
commits a rape, ib.
Sacrifice. „,..,. Bramhuns necessary to every, 23, note, of blood to
D56rga and Krishnu Kalee, 69, 148. of men' to
Kalee, 91, of ahorse, meritorious, 133, note, to the
river Br&mhu-pootru, 172. rules for burnt, 204. proofs
from the shastrus of human, 205, recent instances
420
INDEX.
of the practice, 207 of a bull, horse, 208, an ass ;
at birth of a son, 210, after death, ib., to the nine
planets, &c, ib., 211. bloody, 212 — See Infanticide.
Offerings. Suicide. Sutee.
Sadhwee ceremony of burning widows alive with their hus-
bands, 235. — See Sutee.
Sagniku bramhuns use fire, 41.
Saints of the Hindoos live in perpetual intoxication, 283,
famed for austerities notorious for vice, ib. of the
Joinusspread over the universe, 330. See Mendicants.
Salmacis a nymph resembled to Huree-Huru, 149, note.
Santunoo married to the river Gunga, 163.
Saturn resembled to Shivu, 11, note, to Shunee, 36. 61, note.
Savitree-vru-
ttt ..a ceremony of wives worshipping husbands, 221.
Schools where held for educating Shikh children, 349.
Schoolmasters.&mong the Booddhus are priests, 310.
Schism. of Booddhu regarding a First Cause, &c. 304. 339,
of the Joinus respecting a Creator, 329. 340, of
Choitunyu, 354. — See Doctrine.
Sculpture on stone images in what state found, 183.
Scurvy Ghetoo worshipped for removal of, 146.
Sea churned by the XJsoorus or giants, 113, formation
of the seven seas, 164, note.
Sects of the Hindoos: the Soivus, Voishnuvus, 302, Shak-
tus, 303, Sourus, Ganuputyus, ib. Booddhus, 303.
335, Joinus, 326, how divided, 334, Bramhinical
account and Mr. Colebrooke's observations regard-
ing them, 334, 340-342, Shikhs, 342, followers of
Choitunyu called Gosaees, 354, account of all the
Hindoo, 356—363.
Seeta ... wife of Ramu, 130, her history, ib. adventures of
Hunooman for her recovery, 131, image, 141, pil-
grims resort to Mit'hila the birth-place of, 259.
Servants...... .of Kooveru called Yukshus, 118, inferior celestial
beings with gods as, ib.
Sesa/mum... ...seeds used in the turpunu ceremony, 214.
ShaktUs ...followers of Dodrga, 75, a Hindoo sect worshipping
Bhuguvutee, 303, their marks, &c, ib., generally
bramhims, ib., resemble the Soivus in dress, ib.,
not mendicants, ib., ceremonies, ib., use spirituous
liquors, ib.
$/ia£#ram kept between toolusee leaves, 161, the cetites or eagle
stone of various kinds, 174, brought from mount
Gundukee, ib., called by different names, ib., why
deified, ib., representative of the gods, 175, polluted
by a Shoodru's touch, 176, Vishnoo worshipped
daily before, 192. See Lingu. Stones.
INDEX.
421
Shasirtis deified and worshipped, 273, where read or sung in
temples, 179, ceremonies, for singing, 229, allure
to duty by promises of reward, 285, of the Bood-
dhus in what contained, 307, revered by the
Shikhs, 345. — See Books.
Sheds erected for travellers by public roads, meritorious, 228.
Sheetula.... ...her image, 107, invoked for preventing small pox,
1 08, worshipped by beggars, ib. adored by Hindoo
females when itch afflicts the family, ib. image of,
made of silver, 182.
Shikhs Nanuku founder of the, 342, other leaders, 343, grew
powerful under Govindu-Singhu, 344, their na-
tional council when called, ib. shastrus, 345, divi-
sions, 347, initiation, 347, festivals, 348, ceremonies,
ib. schools 349, castes, ib. number of chiefs among,
ib. doctrines, 349—353.
Shivu his forms and worship, 9, 10, 187, festivals, 1 2, mar-
riage, 1 7, names, 18, heaven. 19, image made of
quicksilver, 183, worshipped by sunyasees, 294.
Shivu-pooru.. .heaven of Shivu, 148, note.
ShmushanU-
Kulee a form of Kalee presiding over cemeteries, 102.
ShoodrU eating leavings of a bramhun meritorious, 49, note.
cannot offer boiled rice to Jugunnat'hu, 128, if in
trouble or distempered, meritorious, 170, touching
a shalgramu, impure, 176, ceremonies, 199, how
to present gifts to bramhuns, 224, attains heaven
with difficulty, 284.
Shookru or Ve-
nus his form, 59, preceptor and priest to the giants ib.,
his blindness, ib., names, 61.
<S7ioo^..... .....an instrument for impaling criminals, 314, note.
Shraddhu......on certain lunar day, meritorious, 190, to be repeated
monthly, 191, observed by few, 193, for deceased
relations by pilgrims at Guya, 257, rites for repose
of the soul, 261, of three kinds, 262, how performed
262 — 266, for deceased ancestors, 266, Joinus do
not present offerings to, 329. See Ceremonies.
Offerings. Sacrifices.
Skovcb..... ...... a ceremony for trying the godship of images, 185.
Shree bhagu-
viitu ...recited in Bengal, 2 28, read by voishnttvu bramhuns 303.
Shoshiinii .an instrument for drying up liquids, 66, note.
ShravtiniX festival when and why celebrated, 191.
Shravunu-Be-
ligolu the principal residence of the Joinii gooroos, 329.
Shunee. resembled to Saturn, 36, 61 note, his form, 61, evil
influences, ib. image made of iron, 182.
422
INDEX.
Shunkii/'U-
Chillu,...,. or Eagle of Coromandel, 160, called the bramMne*
kite, ib. an incarnation of Doorga, ib.
Shurevures. ...mendicants known as Booddhus avoiding the des-
truction of animal life, 296.
Shushtee her image, 110, protectress of children, ib., festivals,
ih
Shyama a festival of Kaiee, 95, held monthly by certain Hin-
doos, 191.
Sickness.. Toolusee leaves offered to Shalgramu to recover
from, 175, bathing in, 214, prayers on a Joinu
mendicant's, 334.
SiddheshwU-
ree a form of Kalee worshipped by thieves, 104.
Siddhii Chtik-
ru-podja a great Joinu festival, 333, how celebrated, ib.
jSiddhu-poo-
rooshu a name why given to Hindoo saints, 298.
Sindhitkai ee...&n instrument used by thieves for cutting through
stones, &c, 94.
Singhtt-vahi-
nee a form of Doorga, 79, image and worship, ib.
Sins.--.... of men how destroyed, 154, of what kind forgiven
by bathing in Gunga, 166, note. 168 — 170, how
punished in different hells, 288, of some kind send
generations to hell, 289, among Hindoos and Bood-
dhus called mortal, 320. — See Hells. Punishment.
Transmigration.
JSirkars... ....... who called, 67, note.
Skin... Ghetoo invoked for removal of scurvy or blotches
of, 146.
SktindU-rpoo-
ranU recited in parts in Bengal, 228.
Sleep,,. position in, 36 note, images of gods how laid to, 128
note.
Small Pox Sheetula worshipped for preventing, 188.
Snakes— Munusa invoked to protect from bite of, 108, repeti-
tion of Gurooru's name protection from, 158, in-
cantation for handling, 232.
Snantt ...ceremonies, 213, 214. of a bramhun, 214. — See Bath-
ing.
Snanit-yatra.Josithmg festival of Juguimat'lra, 128.
Soivytis...: worship Shivix, 11, marks and customs, 302, a Hindoo
sect, ib. adore the lingu, ib. have no festivals, ib.
principally bramhuns, ib. object to destroy animal
life, 303.
SomU (the
Moon) image, worship, influences, names, 56,
LNDKX.
Son... ...Sacrifice at birth of a, '210.
Songs ........... Indecency of, before Dqorga, 73, of the Sliastriis,
how sung, 229.
Soobhudra a sister of Jugnnnat'liu drawn in his car, 128. 142.
Soomeroo ... —a mountain, how transformed into island of Ceylon,
43.
Sooryu his descent, form, worship, 31, festivals, 32, invoked
for health, &c, 33, anecdotes, ib. heaven, names, 34,
worshipped as Ruvee or the Sun, 55, father of
Shutiee or Saturn, 61, Uroonu charioteer of, 159.
Sooryu-loku,... heaven of S5oryu, 34.
Sorrovj Conversation on transmigration of souls by widows
in, 277.
Souls in what time go to Yumu after death, 47, Shraddhu
for repose of, 261, why performed, 262. — See Doc-
trine. Shraddhu. Transmigration.
Sourus worship Sooryu, 33, their customs, ib. a Hindoo sect
adoring the Sun, 303.
Spirit.-. ... ..-Conditions of, believed by the Joinus, 330.
Spirits drunk by bramhuns before Kalee's temple, 98, note.
commonly by Hindoos in secret, 234, note, when
taken by bramhuns how to be atoned, 271, used
by Shikhs, 349. — See Liquor.
Spiritual
Guide See Gooroo.
Spirituous Li-
quor See Liquor.
Stones -...worshipped as Punchanunu, 143, by the Arabians, ib.,
Dhurmu T'hakooru. represented as a black, 144,
worship of the Shalgramu and other, 174. 176.
images of gods and goddesses, 183.
Stuvu a ceremony for praising the gods, 218.
Strangers merit of hospitality to, 225. — See Travellers.
Sudtishyii priests regulating ceremonies, 186, engaged at festi-
vals and reading of the pooranus, ib.
Suicide called Kamyu-Murunu, 246, by drowning in the
Ganges, 247, of a leper and burial of ten persons
at Agra, 249, in falling from precipices, 250, d}dng
under wheels of Jugunnat'hu''s car, ib. by pilgrims
at Gfmga Saguru, 259, promised heaven, 283. —
See Drowning. Sutee.
Sukee-bhava....du\i order of mendicant bramhuns and other castes,
295, followers of Krishnu assuming the manners
of women, ib.
Sunghika the father of Rahoo, 62.
Stingy timinee. the residence of Yumu, judge of the dead where
situated, 279.
Snn or Ruvee. ,a planet, 55, worshipped by the Sourus, 303.
424 INDEX.
Sunjee-iMnee. .Yumu's judgment seat, 47.
Sunyasees devotees at Shivu's festivals, 12, mendicants worship-
ping Shivu, 294, their dress, ib. fight between
them and voiragees for bathing first in Gunga, ib.
note, practices of Joinii, 329. — See Ascetics. Mendi-
cants.
Superstition... Number of Hindoos annually perishing as victims of,
254.
SUrliswatee ...her descent, 106, wife of Vishnoo, ib. indecencies at
her festival, 107, names, ib. Shastrfis how worship-
ped at festival of, 173.
Suruy oo. ....... a river where Hindoos bathe, 172.
Stitee wife of Bdorga, 17, term applied to widows burning
themselves with their husbands, 18, note. Doorga
when named, 64, authorised by the Shastrus, 235,
ceremonies preceding, 236, instances of, 238, chil-
dren burnt with, 242, permitted to alter resolution
of being burnt, 244, calmness of a, 245, conduct of
bramhuns at a, ib., number burnt, 246, promised
heaven, 283, why reconciled to funeral pile, 285,
note.
SiXty U-bhama.Sb wife of Krishna, 142, worshipped at his festival,, ib.
Suty'ti - Nara-
yunii image and worship of, 139.
Suvurna a wife of Sqpryu. 34.
Swaha ...married to TJgnee, 41.
Swine offered to Munusa, 109.
Swinging festival in honor of Shivu, 15.
Tara. ...her image and worship, 81, patroness of learning, 82.
Tax levied by Government on pilgrims to Guya and Pru-
yagu, 257, to Jugunnat'hu-kshutru in Orissa, 258.
Teertlius... ...sacred bathing places of Hindoos, 25, note.
Teert'hU-sfha-
nii or holy places, 255, ceremonies on visiting, ib.
Teeth cleaned with a stick by a bramhun, when unlawful,
194, note.
Timee-Jatu.. .. a Burman account of Booddhu's incarnations, 312 —
325.
Temples none to the One God. 1, or to Sdoryu, 34, or Gu-
neslrfi, 37, or Kartikeyii, 40, of Kalee at Kalee-
ghatu near Calcutta, 97, none to Shushtee, 112, to
Krishnu numerous, 123, of Jugunnat'hu, 127, of
Eamu, 134, of D55rga contain images of the jackal
157, called Mundiru, Deoolu, Piinchu-rutnu, Vish-
noo mundinu, &c. described, 177 — 199, built in a
square, 179, by whom generally erected, ib. dedi-
cation of, 180, how endowed, 181, what kind of,
worship \n Shivu and Vishnoo, 187, 188, of Bood-
INDEX.
425
dim in Barman empire, S09, by whom built, ib. of
the Joinus, 331, note, of Nanuku. at De'hura where
portion of his garment is kept, 343, of the Shikhs,
348, of Choitunyu, 355. — See Ceremonies. Podja.
Worship.
Terminus a Roman god worshipped with oily matter like Pen-
cil animft, 143, note.
Terrestrial
Gods Krishnti, Gopalu, Gope-nat'hu, 125, Jugunnat'hu, 127,
Bulfi-ramil, 129, Choitunyu, 134, Vishwii-Kiirma,
137, Kamti-devu, 138, Sfctyu-Narayflnn, 139.
God.
desses Seeta, Radha, 141, Rookminee, Sutyu-bhama and
Soobhudra, 142. See Rivers.
Thieves worship Kalee, 93, Sicldhe'shwnree a form of Kalee,
104, hung by the Shikhs, 349, numerous among
mendicants of Choitunyu, 356.
Titans ...or giants of the Greeks resembled to the Usoorus, 113.
Tolls formerly levied by a Mahrattah chief on pilgrims
passing through his territories, to J tigflnnat'hu, 25 8.
See Tax.
Tongues of Hindoo women put out when shocked or ashamed,
90, offered to the idol at Kalee-ghatii and to Su-
tee, 207, note.
ToblUsee a sacred plant worshipped, 161, cures diseases and
expels poison of serpents, ib., planted in houses, ib.,
placed beside a dying man, ib., put into mouth
of the dying in the Ganges, 169, leaves offered to
Shalgramil in sickness, 175. — See Trees.
Torture of various kinds practised at Dhurmu-Thakooru's
festival, 145.
Trade ceremonies to Vishnu-kurmu before implements of,137.
Transmigra-
tion of souls defined, 274, extracts from the Knrm^-vipa-
ku* and Ugnee-pooranu' on it, 274, 275, its unhappy
influence on Hindoos, 275, how conversed on, 276,
believed by the Joints, 330 — 341, taught by the
Shikh shastrus, 346.
Travellers merit of hospitality to, 225, of pools dug to quench
thirst of, 226, of planting trees for, 227.
Trees the tooliisee, 161, ushwutu, vtitu, vukoolu, turituku-
lee, amillukee, vilvu and nimbu worshipped, 162,
other sacred, ib., never injured, cut or burnt, 162,
note, become temples for worship, 179, how dedi-
cated, 181, images made of nimbu, 183, merit of
planting, 227.
Triad Doctrine of the Hindoo, 20.
Trident.. marked on followers of Ramu, 134.
Tuptishivees.... persons performing tupnsya, 286, authors of ancient
54
42 G INDEX.
Hindoo writings, ib., resembled to certain mendi-
cants, 293.
TttpUsya or religious austerities of what kind, 203, why per-
formed, 204, ceremonies leading to absorption, 286,
destructive of social life, ib.
Turmeric used by Hindoos for cleaning the body, 37, note.
TUrpunU water offered to Yumu at, 46, ceremony of offering
it daily to the gods, &c, 214.
Udwoitti a disciple of Choitunyu, 136.
Ugnee his form, descent and worship, 40, honored by fire,
41, festival, heaven, names, ib., what priests divide
offerings to, 187.
Ugnee-lokU...* heaven of Ugnee, 41.
Ughoru-punt'-
hee..>. mendicants carrying a human skull with urine and
ordure for alms, 296.
Ugruhaytinft. festival when and why celebrated, 192.
UgUstyU an eminent ascetic, 45, his birth, ib., represented as
the star Canopus, 52.
Ukalees Shikh worshippers of the eternal, 344, conveners of
the Gooroomuta, ib., note.
Umbrella of iron and gilt fixed on tops of Booddhu* temples, 309.
UmritU-Suru.Sbipoo] calledthe water of immortality by the Shikhs344.
Umtiravtitee.. heaven of IndriS, 26.
Unadee-lingTi. the first stone black lingu, 11, called Kamii-lingu
granting worshipper all desires, 44.
Uncleanness., after death by bramhuns, kshutriyus, &c, how long
continued, 262. of what kinds, 266. — See Purifica-
tions.
Ungira father of Vrihuspfitee or Jupiter, 58.
Union ...of the Ganges, YtLmoona and Suruswtitee, rivers at
Pruyagu, 163. 257, of Gundakee, Surilyoo and
Ganges, sacred, 172.
Unity of God maintained by Nanuku, 343.
Unjiina mother of Htinooman, 156.
Universe destruction at end of a kulpu of the, believed by
Booddhfis, 308, J oinu belief of a self-existent, 330.
UnnU-poorna.. her image and festival, 84, represented as rich, 85.
UpsUrUs. .......female dancers of great beauty and mistresses of the
gods, 115.
U rdhti-nareesh-
wlirU united in one body as ShivS and Doorga, 147, origin
of image, ib., festival, 148.
Urine discharged in midst of worship unfits persons to
bathe, 44, note, of cow used for anointing images 154.
UrjoonU compiler of the Adee-Grunt'hti of the Shikhs, 343.
Uroonu a bird god, 159, elder brother of Gurooru worshipped
with Sooryu, ib., his image, 160.
/ )
INDEX.
427
UskwUtU a tree representing Vishnoo, 161, called the ficus
religiosa, 162.
Usoortis^or Gi-
ants enemies of the gods, 113, offspring of Ktishyilpu, ib.,
their conduct at churning of the sea, ib.
Uyodhy a fOude). the ancient capital of Rainu* visited by .Ramat pil-
grims, 259.
Vagnadinee...& name of the goddess Suruswtitee, 106.
Vaforieekee the writer of the Ramayunu*, 133.
Vamacharees.. engage in the abominations of the Chukru ceremony,
153, worship the jackal, 157, belong to the shaktu
sect, 303.
Vanti-lingu.... the second kind of black stone lingu, 11.
Vayoo-lokU ... heaven of Puviinfi, 43.
Ve'dus taught by Acharyu priests, 186.
Venus or Shook-
Tit worshipped as a planet, 59, resembled to Ltikshmee,
105, adored like Gunga on escaping dangers on
water, 167.
Vesta resembled to Ugnee in fire worship, 41, note.
Victims of Hindoo superstition annually perishing, 254.
Vidya-dhurUs.m&le and female dancers, 115.
VijttyU wife of Yunm, 51.
VihvU a tree representing Shivu, 161, leaves used by Soivus
in his worship, 302.
Vmlita mother of the bird god Gurooru, 158.
Vishalakskee..im?Lge, 86, offerings to, ib.
Vishnoo his form and incarnations, 2, images, followers,
names, wives, 8, heaven, 9, revered for removing
family misfortunes, 146, carried by Gurooru", 158,
incarnate as a fish, 173, represented by the Shal-
gramu, 17o, Pfinchti-rutnu and NuvtUrfttnu temples
dedicated to, 177, worship in temples of, 388, voi-
ragee mendicants follow, 294.
VishwTi Kiir-
mii architect of the gods, 1 27, note, his form and f estival,l 37.
Voidyunat'hu.n place in Birboom, why visited by pilgrims, 259.
VoikoontliU... .the heaven of Vishnoo, 9.
Voishakhti festival when and why celebrated, 191.
Voishnuvlis. . .follow Yishn55, 8, marks, ib., 302, Choitnnyus called,
135, their idea of absorption, 286, note, called
voiragees, 294, reject animal food, 302, wear white
garments, ib., found principally in Bengal and
Orissa, ib., very impure, ib., chiefly mendicants, ib.,
read the Shree-bhaguvutu, 303.
Voiragees.... ttt revere the sacred books more than regular Hindoos,
173, religious mendicants following Choittinyu,
294, their marriage and life, ib.
428
INDEX.
Voirayinees... wives of voiragee mendicants taken from female dis-
ciples of the Gosaees, 294.
Voitururiee ...a river to be crossed after death, 47, 169, Hindoos
bathe near Jugunnat'hu's temple in the, 172, a black
•cow given to bramhuns by sick-people not to cross
the, 261.
Vows .......made in the Kamunu ceremony, 220, performed by
females called vrfitn, ib., of Joinu mendicants, 333.
See Ceremonies. Offerings. Sacrifices.
Vrihuspidee or
Jupiter his image ; preceptor and priest to the gods, 58, in-
fluences, names, 59.
Vruta a ceremony for vows by females, 220.
Vugulamook-
hee her image and worship, 83.
Vtilee... a giant king worshipped on birth-day of the TJsoo-
rus, 113.
Vitkre'shwtiru.CL place in Birboom frequented by pilgrims for its
warm springs, 260.
Vuroonu his form and worship, 43, story of him, 44, heaven,
names, 45, the Indian Neptune adored on escap-
ing dangers on water, 167.
Vfiroonii-loku heaven of Vuroonu, 45.
Vittu .....a tree representing Vishnoo, 161, called the banyan,
162, note.
Wagtail See Birds. Khftnjuml
Wars of Dodrga, 76, of Kalee described in a work called
Chundee, 97.
Waters . . .of holy places drawn into So cry us heaven while
bathing, 55, of immortality, 114, washing feet of
bramhuns drunk by disciples, 151, Cow worshipped
before jar of, 154, of sacred rivers used for food,
medicine, coronations, &c, 163, offerings to Gunga
for escaping dangers on, 167, used for swearing in
Courts, 168, of the Shalgramu drunk, 175, merit of
digging pools to supply travellers with, 226.
Water-Lily . . .peculiarity of the, 35, note.
Weavers widows burned alive with husbands, 244.
Week .European and Hindoo mythology resembled in nam-
ing two first days of the, 190. — See Days.
Wisdom secures future absorption, 281 and ib., note.
Widows. . , burning themselves with their husbands called Sutee,
] 8, note, fast on second day's ceremony to Doorga,
71, women not, while husband's body is burning,
133 note. Choittinyu taught marriage of, 135, fast
of, 222 note, burnt alive with husbands authorized
by shastrus, 235, of yogees buried alive with hus-
bands, 244, conversing on transmigration of souls,
INDEX.
429
277, cannot engage in marriage ceremonies, 278,
note. — See Sutee.
Wives of Vishnu, 8, of Shivu, 17, of Sooryti, 34, of Yunrn,
51, of Bulu-ramu, 129, of Ramti, 130, of bramhuns
worshipped, 151, and honored by female Shoodrus
carrying water to sacred trees, 161, become gooroos
to their children, 202, entertained at vrutus, 222,
murdered by Shikhs why not punished, 348.
Women of Kalees temple at Kalee-ghatu good cooks, 99, note,
devote their hair to Dhurmu-T'hakoorii on death
of eldest child, 145, worship the pedal, 176, their
daily ceremonies, 199, sing at sacred rehearsals,
230. of age burn as S&tee, 243, of Hindoos very
fond of their children, 276, note, how made Shikhs
347, held by them in slavery, 348. See Female.
Wood ...a log called pedal described, 176, its worship, ib.
adored by women, ib. festival in its honor by the
Rajah of NuliS-danga, 176.
Wood^ cu^ers.. worship Kaloo-rayu for protection from wild beasts,146
Works future happiness of what kind secured by, 281, relied
on as meritorious, 283. See Merit.
Worship person discharging urine in, cannot bathe, 44, note.
of lunar days, and weekly, monthly and daily cere-
monies, 190 — 192, of annual festivals, 191, in Bood-
dhu temples, 309, of the Joinus, 333, similar
throughout India, Tartary, China, &c , 364 — 367.
See Ceremonies. Pooja.
Writings Tflpfishwees authors of most ancient Hindoo, 286.
See Books.
Yadoo~pani,~
hee mendicants in the Punjab founded by Yadoo, 295.
Yogees...... ...weaver widows buried alive with deceased husbands
244, Muha-veeru last of the Joina, 327. — See
Ascetics. Mendicants.
Yoginees addressed for removing, subduing or destroying ene-
mies, 232.
Yugnu ceremonies for burnt sacrifices, 204.
Yiikshus servants of Kooveru, god of riches, 118.
Yumalu ya.... residence of Yumu, judge of the dead, 47.
Yumoona. a river where Hindoos bathe, 172.
Yumu his form and festivals, 46. 279, judge of the dead, 47,
his palace, ib.y fables of him, 48, heaven, marriage,
51, names, 52, his messengers convey persons after
death to judgment, 274, Bavunu's visit to, for eman-
cipating the wicked, 290, believed in by the Shikhs,
346. — See Death. Hells. Judgment. Punishment.
Yungumci mendicants^following'Shivu with a bell for alms,
Zoroaster,,,,,,. doctrines of, 366, 367.
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