THE THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILLIONS OF THE GODS OF THE HINDOOS--THE
CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE--THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS--THE DIFFERENT
HELLS.
My dear children--I told you that in one of those seasons when Brahm was
awake, Brumha, Vrishnoo, and Siva were somehow drawn from Brahm's
essence. The three hundred and thirty millions of the gods of the
Hindoos were also drawn from this essence; as were all the atoms which
compose the earth, the sun, moon, and stars. At first, these atoms were
all in disorder. For the purpose of reducing them to order, Brahm
created what is called the great mundane egg. Into this egg he himself
entered, under the form, of Brumha, taking with him all these atoms.
After remaining in this egg four thousand three hundred millions of
years, to arrange these atoms, he burst its shell and came out, with a
thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand arms. With him, he
brought out all those harmonized atoms, which, when separated, produced
this beautiful universe that we see above and around us.
The universe, as it came from the mundane egg, is generally divided into
fourteen worlds: seven inferior or lower worlds, and seven superior or
upper worlds. The seven lower worlds are filled with all kinds of wicked
and loathsome creatures. Our earth, which is the first of the upper
worlds, it is said, is flat. The following figure will give you some
idea of it.
[Illustration: Concentric circles with labels on each from outermost to
innermost: Sea of Sweet Water. Sea of Milk. Sea of Sour Curds. Sea of
Clarified Butter. Sea of Spirituous Liquors. Sea of Sugar Cane Juice.
Sea of Salt Water. Earth.]
That part of the earth which is inhabited consists of seven circular
islands, or continents each of which is surrounded by a different ocean.
The island in the centre, where we dwell, is surrounded by a sea of salt
water, the second island is surrounded by a sea of sugar-cane juice, the
third island is surrounded by a sea of spirituous liquors, the fourth is
surrounded by a sea of clarified butter, the fifth is surrounded by a
sea of sour curds, the sixth is surrounded by a sea of milk, the seventh
is surrounded by a sea of sweet water.
In all the worlds above ours are mansions where the gods reside. In the
third is the heaven of Indra. This is the heaven to which it is said the
widow goes, after she has burned herself to death on the funeral pile of
her husband Its palaces are of the purest gold. And such are the
quantities of diamonds, and jasper, and sapphire, and emerald, and all
manner of precious stones there, that it shines with a brightness
superior to that of twelve thousand suns. Its streets are of the
clearest crystal, fringed with gold. In the seventh, or the highest of
the upper worlds, is the heaven where Brumha chiefly resides. This far
exceeds all the other heavens in point of beauty.
In the inferior worlds it is stated that there are one hundred thousand
hells. These are provided for such as have been great criminals. The
Hindoos say, that those who have not been very wicked, can make an
atonement for their sins in this world. Should they neglect to do this,
they must suffer for it in another birth. They believe in what is called
the transmigration of souls, or the passing of the soul, after death,
into another body. The soul must suffer in the next birth, if not
purified in this. Hence it is asserted, that if a man is a stealer of
gold from a Brahmin, he is doomed to have whitlows on his nails; if a
drinker of spirits, black teeth; if a false detractor, fetid breath; if
a stealer of grain, the defect of some limb; if a stealer of clothes,
leprosy; if a horse-stealer, lameness; if a stealer of a lamp, total
blindness. If he steals grain in the husk, he will be born a rat; if
yellow mixed metal, a gander; if money, a great stinging gnat; if fruit,
an ape; if the property of a priest, a crocodile.
Those persons whose sins are too great to be forgiven in this world,
must be sent to one of the hells to winch I have alluded. Weeping,
wailing, shrieking, they are dragged to the palace of _Yama_, the king
of those doleful regions. On arriving there, they behold him clothed
with terror, two hundred and forty miles in height, his eyes as large as
a lake of water, his voice as loud as thunder, the hairs of his body as
long as palm-trees, a flame of fire proceeding from his mouth, the noise
of his breath like the roaring of a tempest, and in his right hand a
terrific iron club. Sentence is passed, and the wretched beings are
doomed to receive punishment according to the nature of their crimes.
Some are made to tread on burning sands, or sharp-edged stones. Others
are rolled among thorns and spikes and putrefying flesh. Others are
dragged along the roughest places by cords passed through the tender
parts of the body. Some are attacked by jackals, tigers, and elephants.
Others are pierced with arrows, beaten with clubs, pricked with needles,
seared with hot irons, and tormented by flies and wasps. Some are
plunged into pans of liquid fire or boiling oil. Others are dashed from
lofty trees, many hundred miles high.
The torment of these hells does not continue for ever. After criminals
have been punished for a longer or shorter time, their souls return to
the earth again in the bodies of men. Here they may perform such good
acts as may raise them to one of the heavens of the gods; or commit
crimes, which may be the means of their being sent again to the abodes
of misery.
Things will go on in this way until the universe comes to an end, when
every thing is to disappear, and to be swallowed up in Brahm.
The Hindoos say, that it is now more than one hundred and fifty billions
of years since the world was created. After it has continued about one
hundred and fifty billions of years more, it is to come to an end. Then
Brumha is to die, and to be swallowed up with the universe in the sole
existing Brahm.
By what you have heard, you will learn that the Hindoos expect, by their
sufferings, to make an atonement for their sins. But there is no
atonement for sin, except through the blood of Jesus Christ. We must
come as lost sinners to our heavenly Father, confess our transgressions
to him, and plead for his forgiveness, only through the sufferings and
death which Christ endured. My dear children, have you done this? If
not, do it speedily, or the regions of the lost must soon be your
everlasting abode.