_Laws of the Indians_[163].
The principal laws which the Indians have to observe, may be reduced
to twelve, and relate to the following points:
1. _To kill no one._--He who commits murder renders himself guilty
of one of the five mortal sins, which the Indians call _Mahàpàva_,
and for which, as we shall hereafter see, the severest punishment
has been appointed. In those provinces where the Pagans have the
superiority, he who kills a cow is punished as a murderer. I once
saw five natives of Malabar suspended from a tree in a forest near
_Ambalapusha_, on account of this supposed crime. As the cow is a
very useful animal, and as every one knows, that, according to the
Indian mythology, she is considered as a symbol of the goddess
_Lakshmi_, this law might in some measure be justified; but there are
Indian philosophers and priests who wish to extend it to all kinds
of animals in general. It may, however, be readily understood, that
animals used for sacrifice or offerings form an exception.
2. _To rob no one of his property._--We are told by Strabo, that, in
ancient times, the Indians never entertained any idea of shutting
their houses: so great was the contentment and simplicity of the
people of India, and so great their respect for the laws! At present,
there is great reason to suspect that things are considerably
changed. At _Collam_ I saw a native of Malabar, of the cast of the
_Cianas_, hanging on a gallows, for having stolen three coco-nuts in
the house of a _Nayr_. The _corpus delicti_ was suspended from his
neck, in order that it might serve as a warning to all passengers.
3. _Never to offend with a neighbour’s wife._--This law refers to
adultery, of which an account has been already given in the preceding
chapter.
4. _Never to say any thing that is contrary to truth._--The orientals
were formerly so addicted to lying, that governments were reduced to
the necessity of employing the severest means to extort the truth
from persons accused of any crime. Thus, for example, they caused the
culprit to hold his finger in boiling oil, or poured melted lead into
his hand, in order to make him confess. This practice was afterwards
transferred from the east to the west; and we still find traces of
its having been actually introduced among different barbarous nations.
The people of Malabar have such a bad character as liars, that every
magistrate or merchant, who transacts any business of importance with
them, causes the affair to be committed to writing, and to be signed
by them. Such a document is called _Caicitta_; that is, a writing or
note under a person’s own hand.
5. _Not to drink what may occasion intoxication._--This law refers
not only to all strong liquors in general, but, in particular, to the
use of opium, and the _Canjava_ or _Bangue_ leaves. Tippoo Sultan
forbade his soldiers to use any of these things, under the punishment
of death. In the year 1787, _Rama Varmer_, the king of Travancor,
issued an order by which the use of _Tàgara_, that is, palm-brandy,
was prohibited under pain of the confiscation of property. At
_Pullingune_, a woman was condemned to the besom, and her house
confiscated, because contrary to this prohibition she had sold
_Tàgara_. The contempt which the Indians entertain for the Europeans,
arises chiefly from the latter being so much addicted to drinking.
For this reason also they are called _Ciandàler_, or _Nisher_; that
is, contemptible, impure, unclean people.
6. _Never to leave one’s tribe (cast)._--This the Indians consider as
one of the greatest crimes they can commit. A _Giadibrshda_, that is,
a man unfaithful to his cast, is exposed to the greatest persecution
from all the members of it, and never is left at peace till he again
unites himself to it. On his re-admission he is obliged to drink
the so called _Panciadevya_, a peculiar kind of beverage, which
consists of cream, sour milk, liquid butter, cow’s hair, and cow-dung
dissolved in cow’s urine. By this, however, he is not fully freed
from his sin, but must spend a whole month in a sequestered hut; and
that he may have no pretence for leaving it, the necessary food is
carried to him daily till the time of his penance and purification
is expired. At _Tiruvandaburam_ I once saw a woman, of the cast of
the _Shudras_, who was subjected to this kind of life. It may be
readily perceived, that the object of this regulation is to prevent
the Pagans from embracing any other religion than their own, and to
preserve the respectability of the cast.
7. _To destroy no public edifice or construction._--Under these
are understood temples, the ponds in which the Indians perform
their ablutions, royal palaces, and, in particular, the _madam_,
_ambalam_, or inns erected on the public roads for the accommodation
of strangers, and which I have before described. It deserves here to
be remarked, that people pay nothing for the good entertainment which
they there receive. In these inns those philosophers known under the
names of _Yogui_ and _Gosuami_, and by some called very improperly
_Fakirs_, who subject themselves to the severest penances, are
treated at the king’s expence, though this is done sometimes in some
neighbouring temple. They eat nothing but rice, fruits, and herbs.
8. _To adulterate neither gold nor silver, nor any kind of coin._
9. _Not to be a tyrant or despot, or a cruel and unmerciful tormentor
of mankind._--This law, introduced by the ancient philosophers and
magi, was the strongest support of monarchical government, and
ensured duration to the different states of India; but as soon as the
princes who ruled over _Carnate_, _Maïssur_, _Madura_ and _Concao_
began to abuse their power, and to suffer their ministers to oppress
their subjects, that unwise conduct gave the first occasion to
revolutions. Hence it happened that these people, who had been long
tired of the galling yoke of their sovereigns, though they did not
wish to rise up in rebellion against them, received with open arms
the foreign conquerors who entered the country; and by these means
their imprudent rulers lost their thrones, and at the same time all
their influence.
10. _To exercise no violence against priests, philosophers, persons
subjecting themselves to penance, farmers, and women._--When I was
in India, a Brahman received a violent blow from a petty officer, on
the high road between _Padmanaburam_ and _Tiruvandaram_. The offender
was immediately seized; and the king of Travancor, _Rama Varmer_,
caused his little finger to be cut off. A _Mucoa_, or fisherman,
laid hold of the wife of a _Nayr_, and endeavoured to compel her to
submit to his embraces. The woman called out; and the _Mucoa_ being
seized was carried before a judge, who, finding the crime proved,
sentenced him to lose his right hand. At _Alangàtta_ I saw a _Nayr_,
who instructed young persons in writing, and who held the iron style
necessary for that purpose in the interior part of the joint of his
arm, because the king of Cochin, as a punishment for his offering
violence to a woman, had ordered his hand to be chopped off. To touch
a woman against her will is allowed to no person, not even the king’s
ministers and officers, unless the king expressly commands it. If
women are guilty of any thing that deserves punishment, they may be
deprived of their liberty, and sold as slaves; but to hang them, or
put them to death in any other manner, is contrary to the laws of
India.
11. _To with-hold from no workman, artisan, or day-labourer, his due
wages._
12. _Never to enter a temple, or any sacred place, without having
first purified one’s self in a river or Kulam (consecrated
pond)._--The _Parreas_ or skinners, the _Palleyas_ or slaves, who
cultivate the fields under the inspection of the _Vayshyas_, and
other people of the like kind, who belong to the lowest classes, dare
never enter a temple which is destined for the higher classes. These
mean classes are called _Nisher_, and have pagodas of their own. On
grand festivals, celebrated by the whole nation, such as that of the
goddess _Bagavadi_, they must deposit their offerings before the door
of that temple in which the higher orders assemble, and be contented
to worship the deity in it at a distance. In general, almost the same
divisions, and the same degrees of rank, are found among the Indians,
as those which were common among the Jews.
These are the chief laws of the Indians. They are contained in a
book entitled _Maha Tobassi Dhermaragia Guru_, a copy of which is
preserved in the Borgian Museum at Velitri; also in the Peguan text
of the book _Kamuva_, preserved in the library of the _Propaganda_,
and which is written with black letters on palm leaves gilt. Some
of them may be found also in the book _Amarasinha_, in _Manusmrti_,
and in _Magala Tara_, the latter of which has been translated from
the original _Pali_ by Father Amato, and is now in the possession of
Cardinal Borgia. All these laws are of Indian origin, as I have shewn
in my _Systema Brahmanicum_[164].
* * * * *
The author of the above-mentioned work, _Dhermaragia Guru_, a
Talapoin, who wrote it for the instruction of king _Dhermaragia_,
extends his moral precepts even to the words and thoughts. The sins,
says he, which the tongue commits, are:
1st, Lies.
2d, Calumny, the object of which is to interrupt the harmony of two
persons who are attached to each other by friendship and love.
3d, Improper and disrespectful words.
4th, Idle discourse.
* * * * *
A man sins with his thoughts:
1st, When he wishes to deprive his neighbour of his property.
2d, When he hates any one, or wishes the death of his neighbour, or
to see him reduced to a state of misfortune.
3d, When he approves erroneous doctrines.
* * * * *
Good works consist in the following points:
1st, Alms-giving.
2d, Observation of the five commands, which are: Thou shalt not kill;
thou shalt abstain from whoredom, and adultery; thou shalt not steal;
thou shalt not drink wine.
3d, Obedience to parents, relations, and men of wisdom.
4th, Prayer.
5th, Giving assistance to parents and superiors when in narrow
circumstances.
6th, Participating in the good works of one’s neighbour.
7th, The communication of good works which are done to others.
8th, Hearing the word of God, and reading the Sacred books.
9th, Explaining to one’s neighbour the divine laws; which, according
to the author’s opinion, are those which proceeded from the god
_Gautama_ or _Gòdama_.
10th, True belief, that is, in _Gòdama_.
* * * * *
The manner in which this deity, the _Budha_ of the Indians, must be
worshipped, is described by the author as follows: “Those who wish to
obtain a knowledge of the laws of God must, above all things, read
over with care three times the forms of prayer, and employ them with
a true and lively faith, viz.
“1st, The respect which I am bound to shew to the all-wise God is
deeply imprinted on my heart, and nothing shall make me deviate from
it.
“2d, The respect which I am bound to pay to his sacred laws is deeply
imprinted on my heart, and nothing shall make me deviate from it.
“3d, The respect which I am bound to shew to all the precepts of his
ministers is deeply imprinted on my heart, and nothing shall make me
deviate from it.”
What a contrast between the system of these Talapoins, and the
principles of many of the so-called modern philosophers, whose whole
aim and object is to convert men into infidels, and to degrade them
to the rank of the brutes! Ought not these people, if they do not
believe the Bible, to consider at least the following passage of
Plato[165]? “We are all under the superintendance of Nemesis. The
Eternal has appointed her the judge of our conduct. No mortal can
escape her eye; and every one will receive from her what his deeds
deserve.”
* * * * *
To conclude, it deserves here to be remarked: 1st, That in all the
copies of these laws now extant, a great number of Samscred words
occur; such as _Mangala_, _Uttama_, _Gòdama_, _Niba_, &c.: from which
there is strong reason to conjecture, that they were originally
written in the Samscred language. 2d, It is highly probable that
these laws were committed to writing about 1600 years before the
birth of Christ, and at a period when the school of the _Samanæi_ was
in a flourishing condition. 3d, It is evident that all these laws are
merely of a moral tendency, and, as such, belong to the _Sàmavèda_,
that is, the moral laws of the Indians. There are, however, some
others of a dogmatic nature, and these form the _Ircuvèda_, that
is, those parts of the Indian code of laws which treat of divine
and celestial things. In the last place, there are also ceremonial
laws, which relate to the practices of divine worship, offerings,
lustrations, &c. and these together form the _Yagiurvèda_. All these
three kinds are mentioned in the Brahmanic dictionary _Amarasinha_,
in the chapter entitled _Shabdàdivargga_. Copies of these laws are
preserved in all the temples and academies; but they are under the
keeping of the Brahmans, and besides them no one is suffered to read
them[166].