The most prominent feature of the religion of Zarathustra is the

dual principle of good and evil and the conflict between them. Ahura

Mazda is the supreme deity, the creator of the world, and Ahriman or

Angro Mainyush is the evil one, his constant opponent. A perpetual

struggle proceeds between them, extending over the whole of creation,

and will continue for a period of 12,000 years. The virtuous lives and

prayers and sacrifices of men help the cause of Ahura Mazda, while

every bad action and all kinds of ceremonial impurity constitute an

assistance rendered by them to Ahriman. Not only virtue, courage,

charity humility and kindness to animals, when displayed by men,

are held to reinforce Ahura Mazda, but also such useful acts as

cleaning a field for cultivation, digging a canal or building a

bridge. The animals are also divided into good and bad, the latter

being considered the creation of Ahriman and designated the seed of

the serpent. The bad animals include tigers, snakes, cats, wolves,

frogs, mice, ants and others, and to kill them is to perform a

virtuous act in the cause of Ahura Mazda. Among good animals dogs

and agricultural cattle appear to be the chief. The division is very

imperfect, and it would seem that the classification does not extend

to birds and fish. Most trees are good, but their bark is evil. Hail,

snow and all kinds of diseases are believed to be the work of Ahriman

and his evil spirits. [357] As all ceremonial impurity renders

assistance to the evil one, the Parsis are very careful in such

matters, as will be noticed subsequently. Ahura Mazda is assisted

in his struggle for the good by six Amesha-Spentas or good spirits,

who are something like archangels. They consist of the spirits of

cattle, fire, metals, the earth, health and immortality. With the

first four of these some moral quality or attribute as truth, wisdom

and the curing of diseases is now associated. Another great spirit

Sraosha is the judge of the dead. Similarly Ahriman is assisted by six

arch-fiends and a whole host of evil spirits (Deva and Druj) of all

kinds, against whom men have to be perpetually on their guard. One

of the principal bad spirits is Aeshma Deva, the roaring demon, who

appears to be the Asmodeus mentioned in the Apocrypha. At the end

of the period of struggle Ahura Mazda will engage in a final contest

with Ahriman and will conquer with the help of the Archangel Sraosha,

who will overcome the demon Aeshma. A virgin will then conceive and

bring forth the second Zoroaster as a Messiah, who will cause the

resurrection of the dead. The good will be separated from the bad,

but the punishment of the latter will not be eternal; and after the

purification of the world by a general conflagration all humanity will

unite in the adoration of Ahura Mazda. [358] Meanwhile after death

the souls of all men are weighed and have to pass over a narrow bridge

called Chinvad. The good souls, lightened by the absence of sin, find

it a broad and easy path to heaven, while to the bad ones, weighed

down with their sins, it becomes narrow as a razor's edge, and they

fall over into hell. M. Salomon Reinach points out that their beliefs

have several points of resemblance with those of Judaism, but it is

not easy to say which religion has borrowed from the other. [359] The

word paradise, according to Dr. Haug, comes from _pairidaesa_ in the

Zend-Avesta and means a park or beautiful garden protected by a fence.

7. The dual principle derived from the antagonism of light and

darkness.

It is noticeable that Ahura Mazda is considered as luminous and good,

and Ahriman as gloomy and bad. Ahura Mazda, according to Darmesteter,

can be traced back to Asura, the supreme god of Indo-Iranian times,

and is the representative of Varuna, Zeus or Jupiter, that is the sky

or heavens. Similarly Ahura Mazda is described in the Zend-Avesta

as righteous, brilliant, glorious, the originator of the spirit

of nature, of the luminaries and of the self-shining brightness

which is in the luminaries. Again he is the author of all that is

bright and shining, good and useful in nature, while Ahriman called

into existence all that is dark and apparently noxious. Both are

complementary as day and night, and though opposed to each other,

are indispensable for the preservation of creation. The beneficent

spirit appears in the blazing flame, the presence of the hurtful one

is marked by the wood converted into charcoal. Ahura Mazda created the

light of day and Ahriman the darkness of night; the former awakens men

to their duties and the latter lulls them to sleep. These features

of the good and evil spirits seem to point to the conclusion that

the original antithesis which is portrayed in the conflict between

the principles of good and evil is that of night and day or darkness

and light. The light of day and all that belongs to it is good, and

the darkness of night and that which belongs to it evil. As already

seen, Ahura Mazda is considered to be equivalent to Varuna or Zeus,

that is the god of the sky or heavens. Originally it seems likely

that this deity also comprised the sun, but afterwards the sun was

specialised, so to speak, into a separate god, perhaps in consequence

of a clearer recognition of his distinctive attributes and functions

in nature. Thus in the Zoroastrian religion Mithra became the special

sun-god, and may be compared with Vishnu and Surya in India and Apollo

in Greece. In the Avesta the sun is addressed as the king. [360]

Ahura Mazda speaks of the sun-deity Mithra as follows to Zoroaster:

"I created Mithra, who rules over large fields, to be of the same

rank and dignity as I myself am (for purposes of worship)." The only

visible emblem of Ahura Mazda worshipped by the Parsis is fire, and it

would seem that the earthly fire, which is called Ahura Mazda's son,

is venerated as the offspring and representative of the heavenly

fire or the sun. Thus Ahura Mazda may have been originally an old

god of the heavens, and may have become the abstract spirit of light

from whom the sun in turn was derived. If, as is now supposed, the

original home of the Aryan race was somewhere in northern Europe,

whence the Iranian and Indian branches migrated to the east, the

religious tenets of the Parsis may perhaps have arisen from the

memory of this journey. Their veneration of fire would be more easily

understood if it was based on the fact that they owed their lives to

this element during their wanderings across the steppes of eastern

Europe. The association of cold, darkness and snow with Ahriman or

the evil one supports this hypothesis. Similarly among the Indian

Aryans the god of fire was one of the greatest Vedic gods, and fire

was essential to the preservation of life in the cold hilly regions

beyond the north-west of India. But in India itself fire is of far

less importance and Agiri has fallen into the background in modern

Hinduism, except for the domestic reverence of the hearth-fire. But

Zoroastrianism has preserved the old form of its religion without

change. The narrow bridge which spans the gulf leading to heaven

and from which the wicked fall into hell, may have originally been

suggested by the steep and narrow passes by which their ancestors

must have crossed the mountain ranges lying on their long journey,

and where, no doubt, large numbers had miserably perished; while their

paradise, as already seen, was the comparatively warm and fertile

country to which they had so hardly attained, where they had learnt

to grow corn and where they wanted to stay thenceforth and for ever.

8. The Zoroastrians in Persia.

In Persia itself the Zoroastrian faith is now almost extinct, but

small colonies still survive in the towns of Yezd and Kerman. They are

in a miserable and oppressed condition and are subjected to various

irritating restrictions, as being forbidden to make wind towers to

their houses for coolness, to wear spectacles or to ride horses. In

1904 their number was estimated at 9000 persons. [361]

9. Their migration to India and settlement there.

The migration of the Parsis to India dates from the Arab conquest

of Persia in A.D. 638-641. The refugees at first fled to the hills,

and after passing through a period of hardship moved down to the

coast and settled in the city of Ormuz. Being again persecuted, a

party of them set sail for India and landed in Gujarat. There were

probably two migrations, one immediately after the Arab conquest in

641, and the second from Ormuz as described above in A.D. 750. Their

first settlement was at Sanjan in Gujarat, and from here they spread to

various other cities along the coast. During their period of prosperity

at Sanjan they would seem to have converted a large section of the

Hindu population near Thana. The first settlers in Gujarat apparently

took to tapping palm trees for toddy, and the Parsis have ever since

been closely connected with the liquor traffic. The Portuguese writer

Garcia d'Orta (A.D. 1535) notices a curious class of merchants and

shopkeepers, who were called Coaris, that is Gaurs, in Bassein, and

Esparis or Parsis in Cambay. The Portuguese called them Jews; but they

were no Jews, for they were uncircumcised and ate pork. Besides they

came from Persia and had a curious written character, strange oaths

and many foolish superstitions, taking their dead out by a special

door and exposing the bodies till they were destroyed. In 1578, at

the request of the Emperor Akbar, the Parsis sent learned priests

to explain to him the Zoroastrian faith. They found Akbar a ready

listener and taught him their peculiar rites and ceremonies. Akbar

issued orders that the sacred fire should be made over to the charge

of Abul Fazl, and that after the manner of the kings of Persia, in

whose temples blazed perpetual fires, Abul Fazl should take care that

the sacred fire was never allowed to go out either by night or day,

for that it was one of the signs of god and one light from among the

many lights of his creation. Akbar, according to Portuguese accounts,

was invested with the sacred shirt and girdle, and in return granted

the Gujarat priest Meherji Rana an estate near Naosari, where his

descendants have ever since been chief priests. [362]

10. Their wealth and prosperity.

The Parsis had begun to settle in Bombay under the Portuguese

(A.D. 1530-1666). One of them, Dorabji Nanabhai, held a high position

in the island before its transfer to the British in the latter year,

and before the end of the seventeenth century several more families,

of whom the Modis, Pandes, Banajis, Dadiseths and Vadias were among

the earliest, settled in the island. To the Gujarat Parsis more

than to any class of native merchants was due the development of the

trade of Bombay, especially with China. Though many Parsis came to

Bombay, almost all continued to consider Surat or Naosari their home;

and after its transfer to the British in 1759 the Surat Parsis rose

greatly in wealth and position. They became the chief merchants of

Surat, and their leading men were the English, Portuguese and Dutch

brokers. Shortly afterwards, owing to the great development of the

opium and cotton trade with China, the Parsis made large profits in

commerce both at Surat and Bombay. After the great fire at Surat in

1857 Bombay became the headquarters of the Parsis, and since then has

had as permanent settlers the largest section of the community. The

bulk of the native foreign trade fell into their hands, and the very

great liberality of some of the leading Parsis has made their name

honourable. They secured a large share of the wealth that was poured

into western India by the American War and the making of railways,

and have played a leading part in starting and developing the great

factory industry of Bombay. Many of the largest and best managed mills

belong to Parsis, and numbers of them find highly paid employment as

mechanical engineers, and weaving, carding and spinning masters. Broach

ranks next to Bombay in the prosperity of its Parsis; they deal

extensively in cotton, timber, fuel and the manufacture of spirit

from the flowers of the mahua tree. [363] From the Bombay Presidency

the Parsis have spread to other parts of India, following the same

avocations; they are liquor and timber contractors, own and manage

weaving mills and ginning factories, and keep shops for retailing

European stores, and are the most prosperous and enterprising section

of the native population. Two Parsis have become members of Parliament,

and others have risen to distinction in Government service, business

and the professions. The sea-face road in Bombay in the evening,

thronged with the carriages and motor-cars of Parsi men and ladies, is

strong testimony to the success which the ability and industry of this

race have achieved under the encouragement of peace, the protection

of property and the liberty to trade. Though they have a common Aryan

ancestry and their religion is so closely connected with Hinduism,

the Parsis feel themselves a race alien to the Hindus and probably

have no great sympathy with them. Their wealth and position have been

mainly obtained under British rule, and the bulk of them are believed

to be its warm adherents. The Parsis now make no proselytes, and no

regular provision exists for admitting outsiders to their religion,

though it is believed that, in one or two cases, wives taken from

outside the community have been admitted. They object strongly to

the adoption of any other religion, such as Christianity, by members

of their body. The Parsis are notable for the fact that their women

are very well educated and appear quite freely in society. This is

a comparatively recent reform and may be ascribed to the English

example, though the credit they deserve for having broken through

prejudice and tradition is in no way diminished on that account. The

total number of Parsis in India in 1911 was just 100,000 persons.

11. Marriage customs.

Polygamy among the Parsis has been forbidden by the Parsi Marriage

and Divorce Act of 1865. The remarriage of widows is allowed but

is celebrated at midnight. If a bachelor is to marry a widow, he

first goes through a sham rite with the branch of a tree, as among

the Hindus. Similarly before the wedding the bride and bridegroom

are rubbed with turmeric, and for the ceremony a marriage-shed

is erected. At a feast before the wedding one of the women beats a

copper dish and asks the ancestral spirits to attend, calling them by

name. Another woman comes running in, barking like a dog. The women

drive her away, and with fun and laughing eat all the things they can

lay their hands on. Prior to the rite the bride and bridegroom are

purified in the same manner as when invested with the sacred shirt

and cord. The bridegroom wears a long white robe reaching to his

ankles and a white sash round his waist; he has a garland of flowers

round his neck, a red mark on his forehead, and carries a bunch of

flowers and a cocoanut in his right hand. At every street corner

on his way to the bride's home a cocoanut is waved round his head,

broken and thrown away. He sets his right foot in the house first,

and as he enters rice and water are thrown under his feet and an egg

and cocoanut are broken. At the wedding the couple throw rice on each

other, and it is supposed that whoever is quickest in throwing the

rice will rule the other. They are then seated side by side, and two

priests stand before them with a witness on each side, holding brass

plates full of rice. The two priests pronounce the marriage blessing in

old Persian and Sanskrit, at each sentence throwing rice on the bride's

and bridegroom's heads. At intervals in the midst of the blessing the

bridegroom and bride are asked in Persian, 'Have you chosen her?' and

'Have you chosen him?' They answer in Persian, or if they are too

young their mothers answer for them, 'I have chosen.' [364]

12. Religion. Worship of fire.

The religious ritual of the Parsis consists of the worship of fire. The

fire temples are of a single storey and contain three rooms. On

reaching the outer hall the worshipper washes his face, hands and

feet, and recites a prayer. Then, carrying a piece of sandalwood and

some money for the officiating priest, he passes to the inner hall,

in which a carpet is spread. He takes off his shoes and rings one of

four brass bells hanging at the corners of the room. The priest also

rings one of these bells at each watch when he performs worship. He

then proceeds to the threshold of the central fire-room, kneels there,

and again standing begins to recite prayers. None may enter the

fire-room except the priests. Here the fire is kept always blazing

in a silver or copper urn on a solid stone pedestal, and is fed day

and night with sandal and other commoner woods. A priest is always

present, dressed in long white robes, his hands covered with white

cloths and his face veiled. The worshipper lays down his offering of

sandalwood at the entrance, and the priest takes it up with a pair

of tongs, and gives him some ashes from the urn in a silver or brass

ladle. These the worshipper rubs on his forehead and eyebrows. On

concluding his prayers, which are in the Avesta language, he walks

backward to where he left his shoes and goes home. A Parsi man never

allows his hearth fire to go out, and if he changes his residence he

carries it with him to the next place of abode.

13. The Homa liquor.

Like the Hindus, the Iranian ancestors of the Parsis revered the

sacred liquor made from the Soma or Homa plant. It was considered

a panacea for all diseases, and many stories about the miraculous

effects obtained from drinking the juice are contained in a hymn of

the Zend-Avesta composed in its honour. According to Dr. Mitchell [365]

the offering of Homa is still made at Parsi temples, though apparently

some substitute must have been obtained for the original plant, which

does not grow in the plains of India. At any rate the offering and

sacrificial drinking of the liquor were probably continued so long

as the Parsis remained in Persia. As this is a comparatively cool

country, the bad effects of alcohol did not perhaps become apparent to

the Parsis as they did to the Hindus in the plains of India, and hence

the sanctity attaching to the liquor underwent no similar decline. From

this it perhaps results that the Parsis have no feeling at all against

alcohol, and drink it for pleasure, like Europeans. Both the toddy of

the date-palm and mahua spirit are freely consumed at their feasts,

while the rich members of the community drink European wines and

spirits. As any dealing in alcohol is practically prohibited to

high-caste Hindus and also to Muhammadans, and low-caste Hindus have

hitherto scarcely ever been literate, the Parsis on account of this

peculiarity have found a profitable opening in the wholesale liquor

trade, and until recently have had very little effective competition

to face. This is perhaps a reason for their special addiction to it,

and also for their engaging in the sale of European stores and wines.

14. Parsi priests.

The Parsi priests form a hereditary caste, and are all supposed to be

descended from one Shapur Sheheriar, who with his sons and grandsons,

one of whom translated the Zend-Avesta into Sanskrit, are believed

to have been among the first Parsi settlers of the priestly caste at

Sanjan in north Thana. The training of a priest consists of learning

substantial portions of the Zend-Avesta by heart, and in going through

elaborate ceremonies of purification, in which the drinking of _nerang_

and _nerangdin_, or cow's and bull's urine, being bathed, chewing

pomegranate leaves and rubbing the same urine and sand on his body

are leading features. Priests always dress in white and wear a full

beard. They must never shave the head or face, and never allow the head

to be bare nor wear coloured clothes. If a priest's turban happens to

fall off, or if he travels by rail or sea, his state of purity ends,

and he must go through the whole ceremony of purification again and

pass nine days in retreat at a temple. [366] The principal business

of a priest, as already seen, is the tending of the sacred fire in

the temples, and he also conducts marriage and other ceremonies.

15. The sacred shirt and cord.

Parsi boys and girls are received into the Zoroastrian faith between

the ages of seven and nine. The child is purified by being bathed,

sipping bull's urine and chewing a pomegranate leaf, and makes the

profession of belief in the faith. He or she is then invested with

the sacred shirt, _sadra_, and the sacred cord or thread called

_kusti_. The shirt is of thin muslin, with short sleeves and falling

a little below the hip. The sacred cord is of wool, and can be made

only by the wives and daughters of Parsi priests. [367]

16. Disposal of the dead.

The Parsi method of exposing the dead in Dakhmas or towers of

silence to be devoured by vultures has often been described. It has

objectionable features, and the smaller communities in the interior

of India do not as a rule erect towers of silence, and are content

simply to bury the dead. It seems probable that the original custom

was simply to expose the dead on waste land, the towers of silence

being a substitute which became necessary when the Parsis began to live

in towns. This hypothesis would explain some points in their funeral

customs recorded in the _Bombay Gazetteer_. The dead body is washed,

dressed in an old clean cloth and laid on the floor of the house,

the space being marked off. If the floor is of earth the surface of

this enclosed space is broken up. If the floor is of cement or stone

one or two stone slabs are set on it and the body laid on them; it

is never laid on a wooden floor, nor on stone slabs placed on such a

floor. The space where the body was laid is marked off, and is not used

for a month if the death occurs between the eighth and twelfth months

of the year, and for ten days if the death occurs between the first

and seventh months. The last are said to be the hottest months. [368]

It would appear that these rules are a reminiscence of the time when

the body was simply exposed. It was then naturally always laid on

earth or rock, and never on wood, hence the prohibition of a wooden

floor. The fact that the spot where the body is now laid in the house

is held impure for a shorter period during the summer months may be

explained on the ground that all traces of the decaying corpse, after

it had been devoured by wild animals and vultures, would have been

dried up by the sun more quickly at this time than during the winter

months. In the latter period, as the process would take longer, the

place in the home is similarly held impure for a month, as against

ten days in summer, though at present neither the sun nor weather

can possibly affect a site inside the house. The fact that when the

floor is of earth the site for the corpse is broken up may indicate

that it was formerly laid on rough waste ground, and not on a floor

beaten smooth, though it might also be simply a means of avoiding

contamination of the floor. But if this was the object it would be

simpler to avoid letting the body come into contact with the floor at

all. The corpse may still be wrapped in an old cloth because it was

originally exposed in the cloth worn at death. The body is carried

to the tower on an iron bier by special bearers; if the journey is a

long one a bullock cart may be used, but in this case the cart must

be broken up and the pieces buried near the tower. Before the funeral

starts a number of priests attend at the house and recite the prayers

for the dead. During the service a dog is brought in to look on the

face of the dead. The mourners follow in the usual manner, and on

arrival at the tower the bearers alone take the corpse inside and lay

it naked on one of the slabs, which are built in circular terraces in

the interior. The mourners must be purified at the tower by pouring

a little cow's urine into their hands, and on returning home they

wash their face and hands, and recite a prayer before entering the

house. They must bathe and have their clothes washed before these

are again used. When a married man dies his widow breaks her glass

bangles and wears only metal bracelets, and so long as she remains

a widow she takes no part in any festal celebrations. Every morning

for three days after a death rice is cooked and laid in the veranda

for dogs to eat. No other food is cooked in the house of death,

the family being supplied by their friends. During these three days

prayers are said for the dead several times a day by priests, and

kinsmen pay short visits of condolence. On the third day a meeting

is held in the house and prayers are said for the dead; trays of

flowers and burning incense are placed before the spot where the body

lay, and a list of charitable gifts made by the family in memory of

the dead man is read. On the fourth day a feast is held specially

for priests, and friends are also asked to join in it. A little of

the food cooked on this day is sent to all relations and friends,

who make a point of eating or at least of tasting it. On the tenth

and thirtieth days after death, and on monthly anniversaries for the

first year, and subsequently on annual anniversaries, ceremonies in

honour of the dead are performed. [369]

17. Previous exposure of the dead, and migration of souls.

Some of these customs are peculiar and interesting. It has been seen

that for three days the home is impure, and no food is cooked in it

except what is given to dogs; and since on the third day offerings

are made on the spot where the body lay, it seems to be supposed

that the dead man's spirit is still there. On the fourth day is the

funeral feast, in which all relations and friends join, and after

this the house becomes pure, it being presumably held that the dead

man's spirit has taken its departure. For these three days food is

cooked in the house and given to dogs, and immediately after the

man is dead a dog is brought in to look at his face. It has been

suggested that the manner of laying out the body recalls the time

when it was simply exposed. But when it was exposed the body would

have been devoured principally by dogs and vultures, and the customs

connected with dogs seem to arise from this. The cooked food given

to dogs for three days is perhaps a substitute for the flesh of the

dead man which they would have eaten, and the display of the body to

a dog is in substitution for its being devoured by these animals, who

now that it is exposed in a tower of silence no longer have access

to it. It has further been seen how during the marriage rites,

after an invitation has been issued to the ancestors to attend,

a woman comes in barking like a dog. The other women drive her away

and laughingly eat everything they can lay their hands on, perhaps

in imitation of the way dogs devour their food. This custom seems to

indicate that the Parsis formerly believed that the spirits of their

ancestors went into the dogs which devoured their bodies, a belief

which would be quite natural to primitive people. Such a hypothesis

would explain the peculiar customs mentioned, and also the great

sanctity which the Parsis attach to dogs. On the same analogy they

should apparently also have believed that the spirits of ancestors

went into vultures; but it is not recorded that they show any special

veneration for these birds, though it must be almost certain that

they do not kill them. The explanation given for the custom of the

exposure of the dead is that none of the holy elements, earth, fire

or water, can be polluted by receiving dead bodies. But, as already

stated, towers of silence cannot be a primitive institution, and the

bodies in all probability were previously exposed on the ground. The

custom of exposure probably dates from a period prior to the belief

in the extreme sanctity of the earth. It may have been retained in

order that the spirits of ancestors might find a fresh home in the

animals which devoured their bodies; and some platform, from which

the towers of silence subsequently developed, may have been made to

avoid defilement of the earth; while in after times this necessity

of not defiling the earth and other elements might be advanced as a

reason justifying the custom of exposure.

18. Clothes, food and ceremonial observances.

Parsi men usually wear a turban of dark cloth spotted with white,

folded to stand up straight from the forehead, and looking somewhat as

if it was made of pasteboard. This is very unbecoming, and younger men

often abandon it and simply wear the now common felt cap. They usually

have long coats, white or dark, and white cotton trousers. Well-to-do

Parsi women dress very prettily in silks of various colours. The men

formerly shaved the head, either entirely, or leaving a scalp-lock

and two ear-locks. But now many of them simply cut their hair short

like the English. They wear whiskers and moustaches, but with the

exception of the priests, not usually beards. Neither men nor women

ever put off the sacred shirt or the thread. They eat the flesh only

of goats and sheep among animals, and also consume fish, fowls and

other birds; but they do not eat a cock after it has begun to crow,

holding the bird sacred, because they think that its crowing drives

away evil spirits. If Ahura Mazda represented the sun and the light

of day, the cock, the herald of the dawn, might be regarded as his

sacred bird. Sometimes when a cock or parrot dies the body is wrapped

in a sacred shirt or thread and carefully buried. Palm-juice toddy is

a favourite drink at almost all meals in Gujarat, and mahua spirit

is also taken. Parsis must never smoke, as this would be derogatory

to the sacred element fire. [370]

Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect

_Saiva, Shaiva, Sivite Sect_.--The name given to Hindus who

venerate Siva as their special god. Siva, whose name signifies

'The Propitious,' is held to have succeeded to the Vedic god Rudra,

apparently a storm-god. Siva is a highly composite deity, having the

double attributes of destroyer and creator of new life. His heaven,

Kailas, is in the Himalayas according to popular belief. He carries

the moon on his forehead, and from the central one of his three eyes

the lightning flashes forth. He has a necklace of skulls, and snakes

are intertwined round his waist and arms. And he has long matted hair

(_jata_), from which the Ganges flows. It seems likely that the matted

locks of the god represent the snow on the Himalayas, as the snow is

in reality the source of the Ganges; the snow falling through the air

and covering the peaks of the mountains might well suggest the hair

of a mountain-god; and this interpretation seems to be accepted in

Mr. Bain's _In the Great God's Hair_. Siva has thus three components

from which the idea of death might be derived: First, his residence on

the Himalaya mountains, the barren, lifeless region of ice and snow,

and the cause of death to many pilgrims and travellers who ventured

into it. Secondly, he is the god of the moon, and hence of darkness

and night, which are always associated with death. In this light he

might well be opposed to Vishnu, the god of the sun and day, and the

source of growth and life; their association as the two supreme deities

representing the preservation and destruction of life, would thus,

to some extent, correspond to the conflict of good and bad deities

representing light and darkness among the Zoroastrians. Thirdly,

Siva is a snake-god, and the sudden death dealt out by the poisonous

snake has always excited the greatest awe among primitive people. The

cobra is widely revered in India, and it is probably this snake which

is associated with the god. In addition the lightning, a swift,

death-dealing power, is ascribed to Siva, and this may have been

one of his earliest attributes, as it was probably associated with

his Vedic prototype Rudra. Whether Siva obtained his character as a

god of destruction from one only of the above associations, or from

a combination of them, is probably not known. Two great forces lend

the deity his character of a god of reproduction, the bull and the

phallic emblem. The bull tills the soil and renders it fertile and

capable of bringing forth the crops which form the sustenance of

mankind; while the phallic emblem is worshipped as the instrument

of generation. It is believed that there is a natural tendency to

associate these two objects, and to ascribe to the bull the capacity

of inducing human fertility as well as the increase of the earth. It

is in these two attributes that Siva is worshipped in the rural tract;

he is represented by the emblem referred to standing on a circular

grooved stone, which is the _yoni_, and in front of him is a stone

bull. And he is revered almost solely as a beneficent deity under

the name of Mahadeo or the Great God. Thus his dual qualities of

destruction and reproduction appear to be produced by the combination

in him of different objects of worship; the Himalayas, the moon,

the cobra and the lightning on the one hand, and the bull and the

emblem of regeneration on the other. Other interesting characteristics

of Siva are that he is the first and greatest of ascetics and that

he is immoderately addicted to the intoxicating drugs _ganja_ and

_bhang_, the preparations of Indian hemp. It may be supposed that

the god was given his character as an ascetic in order to extend

divine sanction and example to the practice of asceticism when it

came into favour. And the drugs, [371] first revered themselves

for their intoxicating properties, were afterwards perpetuated in

a sacred character by being associated with the god. Siva's throat

is blue, and it is sometimes said that this is on account of his

immoderate consumption of _bhang_. The _nilkanth_ or blue-jay, which

was probably venerated for its striking plumage, and is considered to

be a bird of very good omen, has become Siva's bird because its blue

throat resembles his. His principal sacred tree is the _bel_ tree,

[372] which has trifoliate leaves, and may have been held sacred

on this account. The practice of Sati or the self-immolation of

widows has also been given divine authority by the story that Sati

was Siva's first wife, and that she committed suicide because she

and her husband were not invited to Daksha's sacrifice. [373] Siva's

famous consort is the multiform Devi, Kali or Parvati, of whom some

notice is given elsewhere. [374] The cult of Siva has produced the

important Sakta sect, who, however, venerate more especially the

female principle of energy as exemplified in his consort. [375]

Another great sect of southern India, the Lingayats, worship him in

the character of the _lingam_ or phallic emblem, and are noticeable

as being a Sivite sect who have abolished caste. The Sivite orders

of Gosains or Dasnamis and Jogis also constitute an important feature

of Hinduism. All these are separately described. Apart from them the

Hindus who call themselves Saivas because they principally venerate

Siva, do not appear to have any very special characteristics, nor

to be markedly distinguished from the Vaishnavas. They abstain from

the consumption of flesh and liquor, and think it objectionable to

take life. Their offerings to the god consist of flowers, the leaves

of the _bel_ tree which is sacred to him, and ripe ears of corn,

these last being perhaps intended especially for the divine bull. The

sect-mark of the Saivas consists of three curved lines horizontally

drawn across the forehead, which are said to represent the _tirsul_

or trident of the god. A half-moon may also be drawn. The mark is

made with Ganges clay, sandalwood, or cowdung cakes, these last being

considered to represent the disintegrating force of the deity. [376]

Sakta, Shakta Sect

_Sakta, Shakta Sect_.--The name of a Hindu sect, whose members worship

the female principle of energy, which is the counterpart of the god

Siva. The metaphysical ideas of Saktism are thus described by Sir

Edward Gait: [377]

"Saktism is based on the worship of the active producing principle,

Prakriti, as manifested in one or other of the goddess wives of Siva

(Durga, Kali, Parvati) the female energy or Sakti of the primordial

male, Purusha or Siva. In this cult the various forces of nature are

deified under separate personalities, which are known as the divine

mothers or Matrigan. The ritual to be observed, the sacrifices to

be offered, and the _mantras_ or magic texts to be uttered, in order

to secure the efficacy of the worship and to procure the fulfilment

of the worshipper's desire, are laid down in a series of religious

writings known as Tantras. The cult is supposed to have originated

in East Bengal or Assam about the fifth century."

Dr. Bhattacharya states [378] that the practical essence of the Sakta

cult is the worship of the female organ of generation. According to a

text of the Tantras the best form of Sakti worship is to adore a naked

woman, and it is said that some Tantrics actually perform their daily

worship in their private chapels by placing before them such a woman. A

triangular plate of brass or copper may be taken as a substitute,

and such plates are usually kept in the houses of Tantric Brahmans. In

the absence of a plate of the proper shape a triangle may be painted

on a copper dish. In public the veneration of the Saktas is paid to

the goddess Kali. She is represented as a woman with four arms. In

one hand she has a weapon, in a second the hand of the giant she has

slain, and with the two others she is encouraging her worshippers. For

earrings she has two dead bodies, she wears a necklace of skulls,

and her only clothing is a garland made of men's skulls. In the Kalika

Puran [379] the immolation of human beings is recommended, and numerous

animals are catalogued as suitable for sacrifice. At the present time

pigeons, goats, and more rarely buffaloes, are the usual victims at

the shrine of the goddess. The ceremony commences with the adoration

of the sacrificial axe; various _mantras_ are recited, and the animal

is then decapitated at one stroke. As soon as the head falls to the

ground the votaries rush forward and smear their foreheads with the

blood of the victim. It is of the utmost importance that the ceremony

should pass off without any hitch or misadventure, [380] and special

services are held to supplicate the goddess to permit of this. If in

spite of them the executioner fails to sever the head of the animal at

one stroke, it is thought that the goddess is angry and that some great

calamity will befall the family in the next year. If a death should

occur within the period, they attribute it to the miscarriage of the

sacrifice, that is to the animal not having been killed with a single

blow. If any such misfortune should happen, Dr. Bhattacharya states,

the family generally determine never to offer animal sacrifices again;

and in this way the slaughter of animals, as part of the religious

ceremony in private houses, is becoming more and more rare. If a goat

is sacrificed, the head is placed before the goddess and the flesh

cooked and served to the invited guests; but in the case of a buffalo,

as respectable Hindus do not eat the flesh of this animal, it is given

to the low-caste musicians employed for the occasion. Wine is also

offered to the goddess, and after being consecrated is sprinkled on

every kind of uncooked food brought before her. But the worshipper

and his family often drink only a few drops. The Saktas are divided

into the Dakshinacharis and Bamacharis, or followers of the right-

and left-handed paths respectively. The Dakshinacharis have largely

abandoned animal sacrifices, and many of them substitute red flowers

or red sandalwood as offerings, to represent blood. An account of

those Bamacharis who carry sexual practices to extreme lengths, has

been given in the article on Vam-Margi. The sect-mark of the Saktas is

three horizontal lines on the forehead made with a mixture of charcoal

and butter. Some of them have a single vertical line of charcoal or

sandalwood. In the Central Provinces Sakta is a general term for a

Hindu who eats meat, as opposed to the Vaishnavas and Kabirpanthis,

who abjure it. The animals eaten are goats and chickens, and they

are usually sacrificed to the goddess Devi prior to being consumed

by the worshippers.

Satnami

List of Paragraphs

1. _Origin of the sect_.

2. _Ghasi Das, founder of the Satnami sect_.

3. _The message of Ghasi Das_.

4. _Subsequent history of the Satnamis_.

5. _Social profligacy_.

6. _Divisions of the Satnamis_.

7. _Customs of the Satnamis_.

8. _Character of the Satnami movement_.

1. Origin of the sect.

_Satnami Sect_ [381] (A worshipper of the true name of God).--A

dissenting sect founded by a Chamar reformer in the Chhattisgarh

country of the Central Provinces. It is practically confined to members

of the Chamar caste, about half of whom belong to it. In 1901 nearly

400,000 persons returned themselves as adherents of the Satnami sect,

of whom all but 2000 were Chamars. The Satnami sect of the Central

Provinces, which is here described, is practically confined to the

Chhattisgarh plain, and the handful of persons who returned themselves

as Satnamis from the northern Districts are believed to be adherents of

the older persuasion of the same name in Northern India. The Satnami

movement in Chhattisgarh was originated by one Ghasi Das, a native of

the Bilaspur District, between A.D. 1820 and 1830. But it is probable

that Ghasi Das, as suggested by Mr. Hira Lal, got his inspiration

from a follower of the older Satnami sect of northern India. This

was inaugurated by a Rajput, Jagjiwan Das of the Bara Banki District,

who died in 1761. He preached the worship of the True Name of the one

God, the cause and creator of all things, void of sensible qualities

and without beginning or end. He prohibited the use of meat, lentils

(on account of their red colour suggesting blood) of the brinjal or

eggplant, which was considered, probably on account of its shape, to

resemble flesh, and of intoxicating liquors. The creed of Ghasi Das

enunciated subsequently was nearly identical with that of Jagjiwan Das,

and was no doubt derived from it, though Ghasi Das never acknowledged

the source of his inspiration.

2. Ghasi Das, founder of the Satnami sect.

Ghasi Das was a poor farmservant in Girod, a village formerly in

Bilaspur and now in Raipur, near the Sonakan forests. On one occasion

he and his brother started on a pilgrimage to the temple at Puri,

but only got as far as Sarangarh, whence they returned ejaculating

'_Satnam, Satnam_.' From this time Ghasi Das began to adopt the life

of an ascetic, retiring all day to the forest to meditate. On a rocky

hillock about a mile from Girod is a large _tendu_ tree (_Diospyros

tomentosa_) under which it is said that he was accustomed to sit. This

is a favourite place of pilgrimage of the Chamars, and two Satnami

temples have been built near it, which contain no idols. Once these

temples were annually visited by the successors of Ghasi Das. But at

present the head of the sect only proceeds to them, like the Greeks

to Delphi, in circumstances of special difficulty. In the course

of time Ghasi Das became venerated as a saintly character, and on

some miracles, such as the curing of snake-bite, being attributed to

him, his fame rapidly spread. The Chamars began to travel from long

distances to venerate him, and those who entertained desires, such

as for the birth of a child, believed that he could fulfil them. The

pilgrims were accustomed to carry away with them the water in which he

had washed his feet, in hollow bamboos, and their relatives at home

drank this, considering it was nectar. Finally, Ghasi Das retired

to the forests for a period, and emerged with what he called a new

Gospel for the Chamars; but this really consisted of a repetition of

the tenets of Jagjiwan Das, the founder of the Satnami sect of Upper

India, with a few additions. Mr. Chisholm [382] gave a graphic account

of the retirement of Ghasi Das to the Sonakan forests for a period of

six months, and of his reappearance and proclamation of his revelation

on a fixed date before a great multitude of Chamars, who had gathered

from all parts to hear him. An inquiry conducted locally by Mr. Hira

Lal in 1903 indicates that this story is of doubtful authenticity,

though it must be remembered that Mr. Chisholm wrote only forty

years after the event, and forty more had elapsed at the time of

Mr. Hira Lal's investigation. [383] Of the Chamar Reformer himself

Mr. Chisholm writes: [384] "Ghasi Das, like the rest of his community,

was unlettered. He was a man of unusually fair complexion and rather

imposing appearance, sensitive, silent, given to seeing visions,

and deeply resenting the harsh treatment of his brotherhood by the

Hindus. He was well known to the whole community, having travelled

much among them; had the reputation of being exceptionally sagacious

and was universally respected."

3. The message of Ghasi Das.

The seven precepts of Ghasi Das included abstinence from liquor, meat

and certain red vegetables, such as lentils chillies and tomatoes,

because they have the colour of blood, the abolition of idol worship,

the prohibition of the employment of cows for cultivation, and of

ploughing after midday or taking food to the fields, and the worship

of the name of one solitary and supreme God. The use of _taroi_ [385]

is said to have been forbidden on account of its fancied resemblance to

the horn of the buffalo, and of the brinjal [386] from its likeness to

the scrotum of the same animal. The prohibition against ploughing after

the midday meal was probably promulgated out of compassion for animals

and was already in force among the Gonds of Bastar. This precept is

still observed by many Satnamis, and in case of necessity they will

continue ploughing from early morning until the late afternoon without

taking food, in order not to violate it. The injunction against the

use of the cow for ploughing was probably a sop to the Brahmans,

the name of Gondwana having been historically associated with this

practice to its disgrace among Hindus. [387] The Satnamis were

bidden to cast all idols from their homes, but they were permitted

to reverence the sun, as representing the deity, every morning and

evening, with the ejaculation 'Lord, protect me.' Caste was abolished

and all men were to be socially equal except the family of Ghasi Das,

in which the priesthood of the cult was to remain hereditary.

4. Subsequent history of the Satnamis.

The creed enunciated by their prophet was of a creditable

simplicity and purity, of too elevated a nature for the Chamars

of Chhattisgarh. The crude myths which are now associated with the

story of Ghasi Das and the obscenity which distinguishes the ritual

of the sect furnish a good instance of the way in which a religion,

originally of a high order of morality, will be rapidly degraded to

their own level when adopted by a people who are incapable of living

up to it. It is related that one day his son brought Ghasi Das a fish

to eat. He was about to consume it when the fish spoke and forbade

him to do so. Ghasi Das then refrained, but his wife and two sons

insisted on eating the fish and shortly afterwards they died. [388]

Overcome with grief Ghasi Das tried to commit suicide by throwing

himself down from a tree in the forest, but the boughs of the tree

bent with him and he could not fall. Finally the deity appeared,

bringing his two sons, and commended Ghasi Das for his piety, at the

same time bidding him go and proclaim the Satnami doctrine to the

world. Ghasi Das thereupon went and dug up the body of his wife,

who arose saying '_Satnam._' Ghasi Das lived till he was eighty

years old and died in 1850, the number of his disciples being then

more than a quarter of a million. He was succeeded in the office of

high priest by his eldest son Balak Das. This man soon outraged the

feelings of the Hindus by assuming the sacred thread and parading

it ostentatiously on public occasions. So bitter was the hostility

aroused by him, that he was finally assassinated at night by a party

of Rajputs at the rest-house of Amabandha as he was travelling to

Raipur. The murder was committed in 1860 and its perpetrators were

never discovered. Balak Das had fallen in love with the daughter of

a Chitari (painter) and married her, proclaiming a revelation to the

effect that the next Chamar Guru should be the offspring of a Chitari

girl. Accordingly his son by her, Sahib Das, succeeded to the office,

but the real power remained in the hands of Agar Das, brother of Balak

Das, who married his Chitari widow. By her Agar Das had a son Ajab

Das; but he also had another son Agarman Das by a legitimate wife,

and both claimed the succession. They became joint high priests,

and the property has been partitioned between them. The chief _guru_

formerly obtained a large income by the contributions of the Chamars on

his tours, as he received a rupee from each household in the villages

which he visited on tour. He had a deputy, known as Bhandar, in many

villages, who brought the commission of social offences to his notice,

when fines were imposed. He built a house in the village of Bhandar

of the Raipur District, having golden pinnacles, and also owned the

village. But he has been extravagant and become involved in debt, and

both house and village have been foreclosed by his creditor, though

it is believed that a wealthy disciple has repurchased the house for

him. The golden pinnacles were recently stolen. The contributions

have also greatly fallen off.

Formerly an annual fair was held at Bhandar to which all the

Satnamis went and drank the water in which the _guru_ had dipped

his big toe. Each man gave him not less than a rupee and sometimes

as much as fifty rupees. But the fair is no longer held and now the

Satnamis only give the _guru_ a cocoanut when he goes on tour. The

Satnamis also have a fair in Ratanpur, a sacred place of the Hindus,

where they assemble and bathe in a tank of their own, as they are

not allowed to bathe in the Hindu tanks.

5. Social profligacy.

Formerly, when a Satnami Chamar was married, a ceremony called Satlok

took place within three years of the wedding, or after the birth of

the first son, which Mr. Durga Prasad Pande describes as follows:

it was considered to be the initiatory rite of a Satnami, so that

prior to its performance he and his wife were not proper members

of the sect. When the occasion was considered ripe, a committee of

men in the village would propose the holding of the ceremony to the

bridegroom; the elderly members of his family would also exert their

influence upon him, because it was believed that if they died prior to

its performance their disembodied spirits would continue a comfortless

existence about the scene of their mortal habitation, but if afterwards

that they would go straight to heaven. When the rite was to be held

a feast was given, the villagers sitting round a lighted lamp placed

on a water-pot in the centre of the sacred _chauk_ or square made

with lines of wheat-flour; and from evening until midnight they would

sing and dance. In the meantime the newly married wife would be lying

alone in a room in the house. At midnight her husband went in to her

and asked her whom he should revere as his _guru_ or preceptor. She

named a man and the husband went out and bowed to him and he then

went in to the woman and lay with her. The process would be repeated,

the woman naming different men until she was exhausted. Sometimes,

if the head priest of the sect was present, he would nominate the

favoured men, who were known as _gurus_. Next morning the married

couple were seated together in the courtyard, and the head priest or

his representative tied a _kanthi_ or necklace of wooden beads round

their necks, repeating an initiatory text. [389] This silly doggerel,

as shown in the footnote, is a good criterion of the intellectual

capacity of the Satnamis. It is also said that during his annual

progresses it was the custom for the chief priest to be allowed

access to any of the wives of the Satnamis whom he might select,

and that this was considered rather an honour than otherwise by the

husband. But the Satnamis have now become ashamed of such practices,

and, except in a few isolated localities, they have been abandoned.

6. Divisions of the Satnamis.

Ghasi Das or his disciples seem to have felt the want of a more ancient

and dignified origin for the sect than one dating only from living

memory. They therefore say that it is a branch of that founded by Rohi

Das, a Chamar disciple of the great liberal and Vaishnavite reformer

Ramanand, who flourished at the end of the fourteenth century. The

Satnamis commonly call themselves Rohidasi as a synonym for their name,

but there is no evidence that Rohi Das ever came to Chhattisgarh,

and there is practically no doubt, as already pointed out, that Ghasi

Das simply appropriated the doctrine of the Satnami sect of northern

India. One of the precepts of Ghasi Das was the prohibition of the

use of tobacco, and this has led to a split in the sect, as many of

his disciples found the rule too hard for them. They returned to their

_chongis_ or leaf-pipes, and are hence called Chungias; they say that

in his later years Ghasi Das withdrew the prohibition. The Chungias

have also taken to idolatry, and their villages contain stones covered

with vermilion, the representations of the village deities, which the

true Satnamis eschew. They are considered lower than the Satnamis,

and intermarriage between the two sections is largely, though not

entirely, prohibited. A Chungia can always become a Satnami if he

ceases to smoke by breaking a cocoanut in the presence of his _guru_

or preceptor or giving him a present. Among the Satnamis there is

also a particularly select class who follow the straitest sect of

the creed and are called _Jaharia_ from _jahar_, an essence. These

never sleep on a bed but always on the ground, and are said to wear

coarse uncoloured clothes and to eat no food but pulse or rice.

7. Customs of the Satnamis.

The social customs of the Satnamis resemble generally those of other

Chamars. They will admit into the community all except members of

"the impure castes, as Dhobis (washermen), Ghasias (grass-cutters) and

Mehtars (sweepers), whom they regard as inferior to themselves. Their

weddings must be celebrated only during the months of Magh (January),

Phagun (February), the light half of Chait (March) and Baisakh

(April). No betrothal ceremony can take place during the months

of Shrawan (August) and Pus (January). They always bury the dead,

laying the body with the face downwards, and spread clothes in the

grave above and below it, so that it may be warm and comfortable

during the last long sleep. They observe mourning for three days and

have their heads shaved on the third day with the exception of the

upper lip, which is never touched by the razor. The Satnamis as well

as the Kabirpanthis in Chhattisgarh abstain from spirituous liquor,

and ordinary Hindus who do not do so are known as Saktaha or Sakta

(a follower of Devi) in contradistinction to them. A Satnami is put

out of caste if he is beaten by a man of another caste, however high,

and if he is touched by a sweeper, Ghasia or Mahar. Their women wear

nose-rings, simply to show their contempt for the Hindu social order,

as this ornament was formerly forbidden to the lower castes. Under

native dynasties any violation of a rule of this kind would have been

severely punished by the executive Government, but in British India

the Chamar women can indulge their whim with impunity. It was also

a rule of the sect not to accept cooked food from the hands of any

other caste, whether Hindu or Muhammadan, but this has fallen into

abeyance since the famines. Another method by which the Satnamis

show their contempt for the Hindu religion is by throwing milk and

curds at each other in sport and trampling it under foot. This is

a parody of the Hindu celebration of the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's

birthday, when vessels of milk and curds are broken over the heads of

the worshippers and caught and eaten by all castes indiscriminately

in token of amity. They will get into railway carriages and push up

purposely against the Hindus, saying that they have paid for their

tickets and have an equal right to a place. Then the Hindus are

defiled and have to bathe in order to become clean.

8. Character of the Satnami movement.

Several points in the above description point to the conclusion that

the Satnami movement is in essence a social revolt on the part of the

despised Chamars or tanners. The fundamental tenet of the gospel of

Ghasi Das, as in the case of so many other dissenting sects, appears

to have been the abolition of caste, and with it of the authority of

the Brahmans; and this it was which provoked the bitter hostility of

the priestly order. It has been seen that Ghasi Das himself had been

deeply impressed by the misery and debasement of the Chamar community;

how his successor Balak Das was murdered for the assumption of the

sacred thread; and how in other ways the Satnamis try to show their

contempt for the social order which brands them as helot outcastes. A

large proportion of the Satnami Chamars are owners or tenants of land,

and this fact may be surmised to have intensified their feeling of

revolt against the degraded position to which they were relegated by

the Hindus. Though slovenly cultivators and with little energy or

forethought, the Chamars have the utmost fondness for land and an

ardent ambition to obtain a holding, however small. The possession

of land is a hall-mark of respectability in India, as elsewhere, and

the low castes were formerly incapable of holding it; and it may be

surmised that the Chamar feels himself to be raised by his tenant-right

above the hereditary condition of village drudge and menial. But for

the restraining influence of the British power, the Satnami movement

might by now have developed in Chhattisgarh into a social war. Over

most of India the term Hindu is contrasted with Muhammadan, but in

Chhattisgarh to call a man a Hindu conveys primarily that he is not a

Chamar, or Chamara according to the contemptuous abbreviation in common

use. A bitter and permanent antagonism exists between the two classes,

and this the Chamar cultivators carry into their relations with their

Hindu landlords by refusing to pay rent. The records of the criminal

courts contain many cases arising from collisions between Chamars

and Hindus, several of which have resulted in riot and murder. Faults

no doubt exist on both sides, and Mr. Hemingway, Settlement Officer,

quotes an instance of a Hindu proprietor who made his Chamar tenants

cart timber and bricks to Rajim, many miles from his village, to

build a house for him during the season of cultivation, their fields

consequently remaining untilled. But if a proprietor once arouses the

hostility of his Chamar tenants he may as well abandon his village for

all the profit he is likely to obtain from it. Generally the Chamars

are to blame, as pointed out by Mr. Blenkinsop who knows them well,

and many of them are dangerous criminals, restrained only by their

cowardice from the worst outrages against person and property. It

may be noted in conclusion that the spread of Christianity among the

Chamars is in one respect a replica of the Satnami movement, because

by becoming a Christian the Chamar hopes also to throw off the social

bondage of Hinduism. A missionary gentleman told the writer that one

of the converted Chamars, on being directed to perform some menial

duty of the village, replied: 'No, I have become a Christian and am

one of the Sahibs; I shall do no more _bigar_ (forced labour).'

Sikh Religion

List of Paragraphs

1. _Foundation of Sikhism--Baba Nanak._

2. _The earlier Gurus_.

3. _Guru Govind Singh_.

4. _Sikh initiation and rules_.

5. _Character of the Nanakpanthis and Sikh sects._

6. _The Akalis._

7. _The Sikh Council or Guru-Mata. Their communal meal._

1. Foundation of Sikhism--Baba Nanak.

_Sikh, Akali_.--The Sikh religion and the history of the Sikhs have

been fully described by several writers, and all that is intended in

this article is a brief outline of the main tenets of the sect for the

benefit of those to whom the more important works of reference may not

be available. The Central Provinces contained only 2337 Sikhs in 1911,

of whom the majority were soldiers and the remainder probably timber

or other merchants or members of the subordinate engineering service

in which Punjabis are largely employed. The following account is taken

from Sir Denzil Ibbetson's _Census Report of the Punjab_ for 1881:

"Sikhism was founded by Baba Nanak, a Khatri of the Punjab, who lived

in the fifteenth century. But Nanak was not more than a religious

reformer like Kabir, Ramanand, and the other Vaishnava apostles. He

preached the unity of God, the abolition of idols, and the disregard

of caste distinctions. [390] His doctrine and life were eminently

gentle and unaggressive. He was succeeded by nine _gurus_, the last

and most famous of whom, Govind Singh, died in 1708.

"The names of the _gurus_ were as follows:

1. Baba Nanak 1469-1538-9

2. Angad 1539-1552

3. Amar Das 1552-1574

4. Ram Das 1574-1581

5. Arjun 1581-1606

6. Har Govind 1606-1645

7. Har Rai 1645-1661

8. Har Kishen 1661-1664

9. Teg Bahadur 1664-1675

10. Govind Singh 1675-1708

2. The earlier Gurus.

"Under the second Guru Angad an intolerant and ascetic spirit began

to spring up among the followers of the new tenets; and had it not

been for the good sense and firmness displayed by his successor,

Amar Das, who excommunicated the Udasis and recalled his followers

to the mildness and tolerance of Nanak, Sikhism would probably have

merely added one more to the countless orders of ascetics or devotees

which are wholly unrepresented in the life of the people. The fourth

_guru_, Ram Das, founded Amritsar; but it was his successor, Arjun,

that first organised his following. He gave them a written rule of

faith in the Granth or Sikh scripture which he compiled, he provided

a common rallying-point in the city of Amritsar which he made their

religious centre, and he reduced their voluntary contributions to

a systematic levy which accustomed them to discipline and paved the

way for further organisation. He was a great trader, he utilised the

services and money of his disciples in mercantile transactions which

extended far beyond the confines of India, and he thus accumulated

wealth for his Church.

"Unfortunately he was unable wholly to abstain from politics; and

having become a political partisan of the rebel prince Khusru, he was

summoned to Delhi and there imprisoned, and the treatment he received

while in confinement hastened, if it did not cause, his death. And

thus began that Muhammadan persecution which was so mightily to

change the spirit of the new faith. This was the first turning-point

in Sikh history; and the effects of the persecution were immediately

apparent. Arjun was a priest and a merchant; his successor, Har Govind,

was a warrior. He abandoned the gentle and spiritual teaching of

Nanak for the use of arms and the love of adventure. He encouraged

his followers to eat flesh, as giving them strength and daring; he

substituted zeal in the cause for saintliness of life as the price

of salvation; and he developed the organised discipline which Arjun

had initiated. He was, however, a military adventurer rather than an

enthusiastic zealot, and fought either for or against the Muhammadan

empire as the hope of immediate gain dictated. His policy was followed

by his two successors; and under Teg Bahadur the Sikhs degenerated

into little better than a band of plundering marauders, whose internal

factions aided to make them disturbers of the public peace. Moreover,

Teg Bahadur was a bigot, while the fanatical Aurangzeb had mounted

the throne of Delhi. Him therefore Aurangzeb captured and executed

as an infidel, a robber and a rebel, while he cruelly persecuted his

followers in common with all who did not accept Islam.

3. Guru Govind Singh.

"Teg Bahadur was succeeded by the last and greatest _guru_, his son

Govind Singh; and it was under him that what had sprung into existence

as a quietist sect of a purely religious nature, and had become a

military society of by no means high character, developed into the

political organisation which was to rule the whole of north-western

India, and to furnish the British arms their stoutest and most worthy

opponents. For some years after his father's execution Govind Singh

lived in retirement, and brooded over his personal wrongs and over

the persecutions of the Musalman fanatic which bathed the country in

blood. His soul was filled with the longing for revenge; but he felt

the necessity for a larger following and a stronger organisation, and,

following the example of his Muhammadan enemies, he used his religion

as the basis of political power. Emerging from his retirement he

preached the Khalsa, the pure, the elect, the liberated. He openly

attacked all distinctions of caste, and taught the equality of all

men who would join him; and instituting a ceremony of initiation,

he proclaimed it as the _pahul_ or 'gate' by which all might enter

the society, while he gave to its members the _prasad_ or communion

as a sacrament of union in which the four castes should eat of one

dish. The higher castes murmured and many of them left him, for he

taught that the Brahman's thread must be broken; but the lower orders

rejoiced and flocked in numbers to his standard. These he inspired

with military ardour, with the hope of social freedom and of national

independence, and with abhorrence of the hated Muhammadan. He gave

them outward signs of their faith in the unshorn hair, the short

drawers, and the blue dress; he marked the military nature of their

calling by the title of Singh or 'lion,' by the wearing of steel,

and by the initiation by sprinkling of water with a two-edged dagger;

and he gave them a feeling of personal superiority in their abstinence

from the unclean tobacco.

"The Muhammadans promptly responded to the challenge, for the

danger was too serious to be neglected; the Sikh army was dispersed,

and Govind's mother, wife and children were murdered at Sirhind by

Aurangzeb's orders. The death of the emperor brought a temporary lull,

and a year later Govind himself was assassinated while fighting the

Marathas as an ally of Aurangzeb's successor. He did not live to see

his ends accomplished, but he had roused the dormant spirit of the

people, and the fire which he lit was only damped for a while. His

chosen disciple Banda succeeded him in the leadership, though never

recognised as _guru_. The internal commotions which followed upon the

death of the emperor, Bahadur Shah, and the attacks of the Marathas

weakened the power of Delhi, and for a time Banda carried all before

him; but he was eventually conquered and captured in A.D. 1716, and a

period of persecution followed so sanguinary and so terrible that for

a generation nothing more was heard of the Sikhs. How the troubles of

the Delhi empire thickened, how the Sikhs again rose to prominence,

how they disputed the possession of the Punjab with the Mughals, the

Marathas and the Durani, and were at length completely successful, how

they divided into societies under their several chiefs and portioned

out the Province among them, and how the genius of Ranjit Singh

raised him to supremacy and extended his rule beyond the limits of

the Punjab, are matters of political and not of religious history. No

formal alteration has been made in the Sikh religion since Govind Singh

gave it its military shape; and though changes have taken place, they

have been merely the natural result of time and external influences.

4. Sikh initiation and rules.

"The word Sikh is said to be derived from the common Hindu term

Sewak and to mean simply a disciple; it may be applied therefore

to the followers of Nanak who held aloof from Govind Singh, but in

practice it is perhaps understood to mean only the latter, while

the Nanakpanthis are considered as Hindus. A true Sikh always takes

the termination Singh to his name on initiation, and hence they

are sometimes known as Singhs in distinction to the Nanakpanthis. A

man is also not born a Sikh, but must always be initiated, and the

_pahul_ or rite of baptism cannot take place until he is old enough

to understand it, the earliest age being seven, while it is often

postponed till manhood. Five Sikhs must be present at the ceremony,

when the novice repeats the articles of the faith and drinks sugar

and water stirred up with a two-edged dagger. At the initiation of

women a one-edged dagger is used, but this is seldom done. Thus most

of the wives of Sikhs have never been initiated, nor is it necessary

that their children should become Sikhs when they grow up. The faith

is unattractive to women owing to the simplicity of its ritual and the

absence of the feasts and ceremonies so abundant in Hinduism; formerly

the Sikhs were accustomed to capture their wives in forays, and hence

perhaps it was considered of no consequence that the husband and

wife should be of different faith. The distinguishing marks of a true

Sikh are the five _Kakkas_ or _K's_ which he is bound to carry about

his person: the _Kes_ or uncut hair and unshaven beard; the _Kachh_

or short drawers ending above the knee; the _Kasa_ or iron bangle;

the _Khanda_ or steel knife; and the _Kanga_ or comb. The other rules

of conduct laid down by Guru Govind Singh for his followers were to

dress in blue clothes and especially eschew red or saffron-coloured

garments and caps of all sorts, to observe personal cleanliness,

especially in the hair, and practise ablutions, to eat the flesh of

such animals only as had been killed by _jatka_ or decapitation,

to abstain from tobacco in all its forms, never to blow out flame

nor extinguish it with drinking-water, to eat with the head covered,

pray and recite passages of the Granth morning and evening and before

all meals, reverence the cow, abstain from the worship of saints and

idols and avoid mosques and temples, and worship the one God only,

neglecting Brahmans and Mullas, and their scriptures, teaching, rites

and religious symbols. Caste distinctions he positively condemned

and instituted the _prasad_ or communion, in which cakes of flour,

butter and sugar are made and consecrated with certain ceremonies while

the communicants sit round in prayer, and then distributed equally

to all the faithful present, to whatever caste they may belong. The

above rules, so far as they enjoin ceremonial observances, are still

very generally obeyed. But the daily reading and recital of the

Granth is discontinued, for the Sikhs are the most uneducated class

in the Punjab, and an occasional visit to the Sikh temple where the

Granth is read aloud is all that the villager thinks necessary. Blue

clothes have been discontinued save by the fanatical Akali sect, as

have been very generally the short drawers or Kachh. The prohibition

of tobacco has had the unfortunate effect of inducing the Sikhs to

take to hemp and opium, both of which are far more injurious than

tobacco. The precepts which forbid the Sikh to venerate Brahmans

or to associate himself with Hindu worship are entirely neglected;

and in the matter of the worship of local saints and deities, and

of the employment of and reverence for Brahmans, there is little,

while in current superstitions and superstitious practices there is

no difference between the Sikh villager and his Hindu brother." [391]

5. Character of the Nanakpanthis and Sikh sects.

It seems thus clear that if it had not been for the political and

military development of the Sikh movement, it would in time have lost

most of its distinctive features and have come to be considered as a

Hindu sect of the same character, if somewhat more distinctive than

those of the Nanakpanthis and Kabirpanthis. But this development and

the founding of the Sikh State of Lahore created a breach between the

Sikhs and ordinary Hindus wider than that caused by their religious

differences, as was sufficiently demonstrated during the Mutiny. In

their origin both the Sikh and Nanakpanthi sects appear to have

been mainly a revolt against the caste system, the supremacy of

Brahmans and the degrading mass of superstitions and reverence of

idols and spirit-worship which the Brahmans encouraged for their own

profit. But while Nanak, influenced by the observation of Islamic

monotheism, attempted to introduce a pure religion only, the aim

of Govind was perhaps political, and he saw in the caste system an

obstacle to the national movement which he desired to excite against

the Muhammadans. So far as the abolition of caste was concerned,

both reformers have, as has been seen, largely failed, the two sects

now recognising caste, while their members revere Brahmans like

ordinary Hindus.

6. The Akalis.

The Akalis or Nihangs are a fanatical order of Sikh ascetics. The

following extract is taken from Sir E. Maclagan's account of them:

[392]

"The Akalis came into prominence very early by their stout resistance

to the innovations introduced by the Bairagi Banda after the death of

Guru Govind; but they do not appear to have had much influence during

the following century until the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. They

constituted at once the most unruly and the bravest portion of the

very unruly and brave Sikh army. Their headquarters were at Amritsar,

where they constituted themselves the guardians of the faith and

assumed the right to convoke synods. They levied offerings by force

and were the terror of the Sikh chiefs. Their good qualities were,

however, well appreciated by the Maharaja, and when there were

specially fierce foes to meet, such as the Pathans beyond the Indus,

the Akalis were always to the front.

"The Akali is distinguished very conspicuously by his dark-blue and

checked dress, his peaked turban, often surmounted with steel quoits,

and by the fact of his strutting about like Ali Baba's prince with

his 'thorax and abdomen festooned with curious cutlery.' He is most

particular in retaining the five _Kakkas_, and in preserving every

outward form prescribed by Guru Govind Singh. Some of the Akalis wear

a yellow turban underneath the blue one, leaving a yellow band across

the forehead. The yellow turban is worn by many Sikhs at the Basant

Panchmi, and the Akalis are fond of wearing it at all times. There

is a couplet by Bhai Gurdas which says:

Siah, Sufed, Surkh, Zardae,

Jo pahne, sot Gurbhai;

or, 'Those that wear black (the Akalis), white (the Nirmalas), red (the

Udasis) or yellow, are all members of the brotherhood of the Sikhs.'

"The Akalis do not, it is true, drink spirits or eat meat as other

Sikhs do, but they are immoderate in the consumption of _bhang_. They

are in other respects such purists that they will avoid Hindu rites

even in their marriage ceremonies.

"The Akali is full of memories of the glorious day of the Khalsa;

and he is nothing if he is not a soldier, a soldier of the Guru. He

dreams of armies, and he thinks in lakhs. If he wishes to imply that

five Akalis are present, he will say that 'five lakhs are before you';

or if he would explain he is alone, he will say that he is with 'one

and a quarter lakhs of the Khalsa.' You ask him how he is, and he

replies that 'The army is well'; you inquire where he has come from,

and he says, 'The troops marched from Lahore.' The name Akali means

'immortal.' When Sikhism was politically dominant, the Akalis were

accustomed to extort alms 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 the religious ceremonies at Amritsar."

7. The Sikh Council or Guru-Mata. Their communal meal.

The following account was given by Sir J. Malcolm of the Guru-Mata

or great Council of the Sikhs and their religious meal: [393] "When a

Guru-Mata or great national Council is called on the occasion of any

danger to the country, all the Sikh chiefs assemble at Amritsar. The

assembly is convened by the Akalis; and when the chiefs 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.

"When the chiefs and principal leaders are seated, the Adi-Granth

and Dasama Padshah Ka Granth [394] are placed before them. They all

bend their heads before the Scriptures and exclaim, '_Wah Guruji ka

Khalsa! wah Guruji ka Fateh!_' [395] 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 Nanak to eat and to give to

others to eat next receive the salutation of the assembly, who then

rise, while the Akalis pray aloud and the musicians play. The Akalis,

when the prayers are finished, desire the Council to be seated. They

sit down, and the cakes are uncovered and eaten by all classes of

the Sikhs, those distinctions of tribe and caste which are on other

occasions kept up being now laid aside in token of their general and

complete union in one cause. The Akalis proclaim the Guru-Mata, and

prayers are again said aloud. The chiefs after this sit closer and

say to each other, 'The sacred Granth is between us, let us swear by

our Scriptures to forget all internal disputes and to be united.' This

moment of religious fervour is taken to reconcile all animosities. They

then proceed to consider the danger with which they are threatened,

to devise the best plans for averting it and to choose the generals who

are to lead their armies against the common enemy." The first Guru-Mata

was assembled by Guru Govind, and the latest was called in 1805, when

the British Army pursued Holkar into the Punjab. The Sikh Army was

known as Dal Khalsa, or the Army of God, _khalsa_ being an Arabic word

meaning one's own. [396] At the height of the Sikh power the followers

of this religion only numbered a small fraction of the population of

the Punjab, and its strength is now declining. In 1911 the Sikhs were

only three millions in the Punjab population of twenty-four millions.

Smarta Sect

_Smarta Sect_.--This is an orthodox Hindu sect, the members of which

are largely Brahmans. The name is derived from Smriti or tradition,

a name given to the Hindu sacred writings, with the exception of the

Vedas, which last are regarded as a divine revelation. Members of

the sect worship the five deities, Siva, Vishnu, Suraj or the sun,

Ganpati and Sakti, the divine principle of female energy corresponding

to Siva. They say that their sect was founded by Shankar Acharya, the

great Sivite reformer and opponent of Buddhism, but this appears to

be incorrect. Shankar Acharya himself is said to have believed in one

unseen God, who was the first cause and sole ruler of the universe;

but he countenanced for the sake of the weaker brethren the worship

of orthodox Hindu deities and of their idols.

Swami-Narayan Sect

1. The founder.

_Swami-Narayan Sect._ [397]--This, one of the most modern Vaishnava

sects, was founded by Sahajanand Swami, a Sarwaria Brahman, born

near Ajodhia in the United Provinces in A.D. 1780. At an early age he

became a religious mendicant, and wandered all over India, visiting

the principal shrines. When twenty years old he was made a Sadhu of

the Ramanandi order, and soon nominated as his successor by the head

of the order. He preached with great success in Gujarat, and though

his tenets do not seem to have differed much from the Ramanandi creed,

his personal influence was such that his followers founded a new sect

and called it after him. He proclaimed the worship of one sole deity,

Krishna or Narayana, whom he identified with the sun, and apparently

his followers held, and he inclined to believe himself, that he was a

fresh incarnation of Vishnu. It is said that he displayed miraculous

powers before his disciples, entrancing whomsoever he cast his eyes

upon, and causing them in this mesmeric state (Samadhi) to imagine

they saw Sahajanand as Krishna with yellow robes, weapons of war,

and other characteristics of the God, and to behold him seated as

chief in an assembly of divine beings.

2. Tenets of the sect.

His creed prohibited the destruction of animal life; the use of animal

food and intoxicating liquors or drugs on any occasion; promiscuous

intercourse with the other sex; suicide, theft and robbery, and false

accusations. Much good was done, the Collector testified, by his

preaching among the wild Kolis of Gujarat; [398] his morality was said

to be far better than any which could be learned from the Shastras;

he condemned theft and bloodshed; and those villages and Districts

which had received him, from being among the worst, were now among

the best and most orderly in the Province of Bombay. His success

was great among the lower castes, as the Kolis, Bhils and Kathis. He

was regarded by his disciples as the surety of sinners, his position

in this respect resembling that of the Founder of Christianity. To

Bishop Heber he said that while he permitted members of different

castes to eat separately here below, in the future life there would

be no distinction of castes. [399] His rules for the conduct of the

sexes towards each other were especially severe. No Sadhu of the

Swami-Narayan sect might ever touch a woman, even the accidental

touching of any woman other than a mother having to be expiated by a

whole-day fast. Similarly, should a widow-disciple touch even a boy

who was not her son, she had to undergo the same penalty. There were

separate passages for women in their large temples, and separate

reading and preaching halls for women, attended by wives of the

Acharyas or heads of the sect. These could apparently be married,

but other members of the priestly order must remain single; while

the lay followers lived among their fellows, pursuing their ordinary

lives and avocations. The strictness of the Swami on sexual matters

was directed against the licentious practices of the Maharaj or

Vallabhacharya order. He boldly denounced the irregularities they

had introduced into their forms of worship, and exposed the vices

which characterised the lives of their clergy. This attitude, as

well as the prohibition of the worship of idols, earned for him the

hostility of the Peshwa and the Maratha Brahmans, and he was subjected

to a considerable degree of persecution; his followers were taught

the Christian doctrine of suffering injury without retaliation, and

the devotees of hostile sects took advantage of this to beat them

unmercifully, some being even put to death.

3. Meeting with Bishop Heber.

In order to protect the Swami, his followers constituted from

themselves an armed guard, as shown by Bishop Heber's account of

their meeting: "About eleven o'clock I had the expected visit from

Swami-Narayan. He came in a somewhat different guise from all which

I expected, having with him near 200 horsemen, mostly well-armed

with matchlocks and swords, and several of them with coats of mail

and spears. Besides them he had a large rabble on foot with bows and

arrows, and when I considered that I had myself an escort of more than

fifty horses and fifty muskets and bayonets, I could not help smiling,

though my sensations were in some degree painful and humiliating,

at the idea of two religious teachers meeting at the head of little

armies, and filling the city which was the scene of their interview

with the rattling of gunners, the clash of shields and the tramp

of the war-horse. Had our troops been opposed to each other, mine,

though less numerous, would have been doubtless far more effective

from the superiority of arms and discipline. But in moral grandeur

what a difference was there between his troop and mine. Mine neither

knew me nor cared for me; they escorted me faithfully and would have

defended me bravely, because they were ordered by their superiors to do

so. The guards of Swami-Narayan were his own disciples and enthusiastic

admirers, men who had voluntarily repaired to hear his lessons, who

now took a pride in doing him honour, and would cheerfully fight to

the last drop of blood rather than suffer a fringe of his garment to

be handled roughly.... The holy man himself was a middle-aged, thin

and plain-looking person, about my own age, with a mild expression of

countenance, but nothing about him indicative of any extraordinary

talent. I seated him on a chair at my right hand and offered two

more to the Thakur and his son, of which, however, they did not avail

themselves without first placing their hands under the feet of their

spiritual guide and then pressing them reverently to their foreheads."

4. Meeting with Governor of Bombay.

Owing, apparently, to the high moral character of his preaching and

his success in reducing to order and tranquillity the turbulent Kolis

and Bhils who accepted his doctrines, Swami-Narayan enjoyed a large

measure of esteem and regard from the officers of Government. This

will be evidenced from the following account of his meeting with the

Governor of Bombay: [400] "On the receipt of the above two letters,

Swami-Narayan Maharaj proceeded to Rajkote to visit the Right

Honourable the Governor, and on the 26th February 1830 was escorted

as a mark of honourable reception by a party of troops and military

foot-soldiers to the Political Agent's bungalow, when His Excellency

the Governor, the Secretary, Mr. Thomas Williamson, six other European

gentlemen, and the Political Agent, Mr. Blane, having come out of

the bungalow to meet the Swami-Narayan, His Excellency conducted the

Swami, hand in hand, to a hall in the bungalow and made him sit on

a chair. His Excellency afterwards with pleasure enquired about the

principles of his religion, which were communicated accordingly. His

Excellency also made a present to Swami-Narayan of a pair of shawls

and other piece-goods. Swami-Narayan was asked by the Governor whether

he and his disciples have had any harm under British rule; and His

Excellency was informed in reply that there was nothing of the sort,

but that on the contrary every protection was given them by all the

officers in authority. His Excellency then asked for a code of the

religion of Swami-Narayan, and the book called the Shiksapatri was

presented to him accordingly. Thus after a visit extending to an hour

Swami-Narayan asked permission to depart, when he was sent back with

the same honours with which he had been received, all the European

officers accompanying him out of the door from the bungalow."

5. Conclusion.

The author of the above account is not given, and it apparently

emanates from a follower of the saint, but there seems little reason

to doubt its substantial accuracy, and it certainly demonstrates the

high estimation in which he was held. After his death his disciples

erected Chauras or resthouses and monuments to his memory in all the

villages and beneath all the trees where he had at any time made any

stay in Gujarat; and here he is worshipped by the sect. In 1901 the

sect had about 300,000 adherents in Gujarat. In the Central Provinces

a number of persons belong to it in Nimar, principally of the Teli

caste. The Telis of Nimar are anxious to improve their social position,

which is very low, and have probably joined the sect on account of

its liberal principles on the question of caste.

Vaishnava, Vishnuite Sect

1. Vishnu as representing the sun.

_Vaishnava, Vishnuite Sect_.--The name given to Hindus whose

special deity is the god Vishnu, and to a number of sects which have

adopted various special doctrines based on the worship of Vishnu

or of one of his two great incarnations, Rama and Krishna. Vishnu

was a personification of the sun, though in ancient literature

the sun is more often referred to under another name, as Savitri,

Surya and Aditya. It may perhaps be the case that when the original

sun-god develops into a supreme deity with the whole heavens as

his sphere, the sun itself comes to be regarded as a separate and

minor deity. His weapon of the _chakra_ or discus, which was probably

meant to resemble the sun, supports the view of Vishnu as a sun-god,

and also his _vahan_, the bird Garuda, on which he rides. This is

the Brahminy kite, a fine bird with chestnut plumage and white head

and breast, which has been considered a sea-eagle. Mr. Dewar states

that it remains almost motionless at a great height in the air for

long periods; and it is easy to understand how in these circumstances

primitive people mistook it for the spirit of the sky, or the vehicle

of the sun-god. It is propitious for a Hindu to see a Brahminy kite,

especially on Sunday, the sun's day, for it is believed that the bird

is then returning from Vishnu, whom it has gone to see on the previous

evening. [401] A similar belief has probably led to the veneration

of the eagle in other countries and its association with the god of

the sky or heavens, as in the case of Zeus. Similarly the Gayatri,

the most sacred Hindu prayer, is addressed to the sun, and it could

hardly have been considered so important unless the luminary was

identified with one of the greatest Hindu gods. Every Brahman prays

to the sun daily when he bathes in the morning. Vishnu's character

as the preserver and fosterer of life is probably derived from the

sun's generative power, so conspicuous in India.

As the sun is seen to sink every night into the earth, so it was

thought that he could come down to earth, and Vishnu has done this

in many forms for the preservation of mankind.

2. His incarnations.

He is generally considered to have had ten incarnations, of which nine

are past and one is still to come. The incarnations were as follows:

1. As a great fish he guided the ark in which Manu the primeval man

escaped from the deluge.

2. As a tortoise he supported the earth and poised it in its present

position; or according to another version he lay at the bottom of

the sea while the mountain Meru was set on its peak on his back,

and with the serpent Vasuki as a rope round the mountain the ocean

was churned by the gods for making the divine Amrit or nectar which

gives immortality.

3. As a boar he dived under the sea and raised the earth on his tusks

after it had been submerged by a demon.

4. As Narsingh, the man-lion, he delivered the world from the tyranny

of another demon.

5. As Waman or a dwarf he tricked the King Bali, who had gained

possession over the earth and nether world and was threatening the

heavens, by asking for as much ground as he could cover in three

steps. When his request was derisively granted he covered heaven and

earth in two steps, but on Bali's intercession left him the nether

regions and refrained from making the third step which would have

covered them.

6. As Parasurama [402] he cleared the earth of the Kshatriyas,

who had oppressed the Brahman hermits and stolen the sacred cow,

by a slaughter of them thrice seven times repeated.

7. As Rama, the divine king of Ajodhia or Oudh, he led an expedition

to Ceylon for the recovery of his wife Sita, who had been abducted

by Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon. This story probably refers to

an early expedition of the Aryans to southern India, in which they

may have obtained the assistance of the Munda tribes, represented by

Hanuman and his army of apes.

8. As Krishna he supported the Pandavas in their war against the

Kauravas, and at the head of the Yadava clan founded the city of

Dwarka in Gujarat, where he was afterwards killed. The popular group

of legends about Krishna in his capacity of a cowherd in the forests of

Mathura was perhaps at first distinct and afterwards combined with the

story of the Yadava prince. [403] But it is in this latter character as

the divine cowherd that Krishna is most generally known and worshipped.

9. As Buddha he was the great founder of the religion known by his

name; the Brahmans, by making Buddha an incarnation of Vishnu, have

thus provided a connecting link between Buddhism and Hinduism.

In his tenth incarnation he will come again as Nishka-lanki or the

stainless one for the final regeneration of the world, and his advent

is expected by some Hindus, who worship him in this form.

3. Worship of Vishnu and Vaishnava doctrines.

In the Central Provinces Vishnu is worshipped as Narayan Deo, who is

identified with the sun, or as Parmeshwar, the supreme beneficent

god. He is also much worshipped in his incarnations as Rama and

Krishna, and their images, with those of their consorts, Sita and

Radha, are often to be found in his temples as well as in their

own. These images are supposed to be subject to all the conditions and

necessities incident to living humanity. Hence in the daily ritual

they are washed, dressed, adorned and even fed like human beings,

food being daily placed before them, and its aroma, according to

popular belief, nourishing the god present in the image.

The principal Vishnuite sects are described in the article on Bairagi,

and the dissenting sects which have branched off from these in special

articles. [404] The cult of Vishnu and his two main incarnations is

the most prominent feature of modern Hinduism. The orthodox Vaishnava

sects mainly differed on the point whether the human soul or spirit

was a part of the divine soul or separate from it, and whether it

would be reabsorbed into the divine soul, or have a separate existence

after death. But they generally regarded all human souls as of one

quality, and hence were opposed to distinctions of caste. Animals

also have souls or spirits, and the Vishnuite doctrine is opposed to

the destruction of animal life in any form. In the Bania caste the

practices of Vaishnava Hindus and Jains present so little difference

that they can take food together, and even intermarry. The creed is

also opposed to suicide.

Faithful worshippers of Vishnu will after his death be transported

to his heaven, Vaikuntha, or to Golaka, the heaven of Krishna. The

sect-mark of the Vaishnavas usually consists of three lines down

the forehead, meeting at the root of the nose or below it. All three

lines may be white, or the centre one black or red, and the outside

ones white. They are made with a kind of clay called Gopichandan,

and are sometimes held to be the impress of Vishnu's foot. To put

on the sect-mark in the morning is to secure the god's favour and

protection during the day.

Vam-Margi, Bam-Margi, Vama-Chari Sect.

_Vam-Margi, Bam-Margi, Vama-Chari Sect._ [405]--A sect who follow the

worship of the female principle in nature and indulge in sensuality

at their rites according to the precepts of the Tantras. The name

signifies 'the followers of the crooked or left-handed path.' Their

principal sacred text is the Rudra-Yamal-Damru Tantra, which is said

to have been promulgated by Rudra or Siva through his Damru or drum

at the end of his dance in Kailas, his heaven in the Himalayas. The

Tantras, according to Professor Monier-Williams, inculcate an exclusive

worship of Siva's wife as the source of every kind of supernatural

faculty and mystic craft. The principle of female energy is known

as Sakti, and is personified in the female counterparts of all the

Gods of the Hindu triad, but is practically concentrated in Devi or

Kali. The five requisites for Tantra worship are said to be the five

Makaras or words beginning with M: Madya, wine; Mansa, flesh; Matsya,

fish; Mudra, parched grain and mystic gesticulation; and Maithuna,

sexual indulgence. Among the Vam-Margis both men and women are said

to assemble at a secret meeting-place, and their rite consists in the

adoration of a naked woman who stands in the centre of the room with a

drawn sword in her hand. The worshippers then eat fish, meat and grain,

and drink liquor, and thereafter indulge in promiscuous debauchery. The

followers of the sect are mainly Brahmans, though other castes may be

admitted. The Vam-Margis usually keep their membership of the sect a

secret, but their special mark is said to be a semicircular line or

lines of red powder or vermilion on the forehead, with a red streak

half-way up the centre, and a circular spot of red at the root of

the nose. They use a rosary of rudraksha or of coral beads, but of no

greater length than can be concealed in the hand, or they keep it in

a small purse or bag of red cloth. During worship they wear a piece

of red silk round the loins and decorate themselves with garlands of

crimson flowers. In their houses they worship a figure of the double

triangle drawn on the ground or on a metal plate and make offerings

of liquor to it.

They practise various magical charms by which they think they can kill

their enemies. Thus fire is brought from the pyre on which a corpse

has been burnt, and on this the operator pours water, and with the

charcoal so obtained he makes a figure of his enemy in a lonely place

under a pipal tree or on the bank of a river. He then takes an iron

bar, twelve finger-joints long, and after repeating his charms pierces

the figure with it. When all the limbs have been pierced the man whose

effigy has been so treated will die. Other methods will procure the

death of an enemy in a certain number of months or cause him to lose

a limb. Sometimes they make a rosary of 108 fruits of the _dhatura_

[406] and pierce the figure of the enemy through the neck after

repeating charms, and it is supposed that this will kill him at once.

Wahhabi Sect

_Wahhabi Sect._ [407]--A puritan sect of Muhammadans. The sect was not

recorded at the census, but it is probable that it has a few adherents

in the Central Provinces. The Wahhabi sect is named after its founder,

Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, who was born in Arabia in A.D. 1691. He set

his face against all developments of Islam not warranted by the Koran

and the traditional utterances of the Companions of the Prophet, and

against the belief in omens and worship at the shrines of saints,

and condemned as well all display of wealth and luxury and the

use of intoxicating drugs and tobacco. He denied any authority to

Islamic doctrines other than the Koran itself and the utterances of

the Companions of the Prophet who had received instruction from his

lips, and held that in the interpretation and application of them

Moslems must exercise the right of private judgment. The sect met

with considerable military success in Arabia and Persia, and at one

time threatened to spread over the Islamic world. The following is an

account of the taking of Mecca by Saud, the grandson of the founder,

in 1803: "The sanctity of the place subdued the barbarous spirit

of the conquerors, and not the slightest excesses were committed

against the people. The stern principles of the reformed doctrines

were, however, strictly enforced. Piles of green huqqas and Persian

pipes were collected, rosaries and amulets were forcibly taken from

the devotees, silk and satin dresses were demanded from the wealthy

and worldly, and the whole, piled up into a heterogeneous mass,

were burnt by the infuriated reformers. So strong was the feeling

against the pipes and so necessary did a public example seem to be,

that a respectable lady, whose delinquency had well-nigh escaped

the vigilant eye of the Muhtasib, was seized and placed on an ass,

with a green pipe suspended from her neck, and paraded through the

public streets--a terrible warning to all of her sex who might be

inclined to indulge in forbidden luxuries. When the usual hour of

prayer arrived the myrmidons of the law sallied forth, and with

leathern whips drove all slothful Moslems to their devotions. The

mosques were filled. Never since the days of the Prophet had the

sacred city witnessed so much piety and devotion. Not one pipe, not

a single tobacco-stopper, was to be seen in the streets or found in

the houses, and the whole population of Mecca prostrated themselves

at least five times a day in solemn adoration."

The apprehensions of the Sultan of Turkey were aroused and an army

was despatched against the Wahhabis, which broke their political

power, their leader, Saud's son, being executed in Constantinople in

1818. But the tenets of the sect continued to be maintained in Arabia,

and in 1822 one Saiyad Ahmad, a freebooter and bandit from Rai Bareli,

was converted to it on a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned to preach

its doctrines in India. Being a Saiyad and thus a descendant of the

Prophet, he was accepted by the Muhammadans of India as the true

Khalifa or Mahdi, awaited by the Shiahs. Unheeded by the British

Government, he traversed our provinces with a numerous retinue of

devoted disciples and converted the populace to his reformed doctrine

by thousands, Patna becoming a centre of the sect. In 1826 he declared

a _jihad_ or religious war against the Sikhs, but after a four years'

struggle was defeated and killed. The sect gave some trouble in the

Mutiny, but has not since taken any part in politics. Its reformed

doctrines, however, have obtained a considerable vogue, and still

exercise a powerful influence on Muhammadan thought. The Wahhabis deny

the authority of Islamic tradition after the deaths of the Companions

of the Prophet, do not illuminate or pay reverence to the shrines of

departed saints, do not celebrate the birthday of Muhammad, count

the ninety-nine names of God on their fingers and not on a rosary,

and do not smoke.