Section I.――Concerning the orthodox Hindu system 2

THE DABISTÁN,

OR

SCHOOL OF MANNERS.

MADAME VEUVE DONDEY-DUPRÉ,

Printer to the Asiatic Societies of London, Paris, and Calcutta.

46, rue St-Louis, Paris.

THE

DABISTÁN,

OR

SCHOOL OF MANNERS,

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN,

WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

BY

DAVID SHEA,

OF THE ORIENTAL DEPARTMENT IN THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S

COLLEGE;

AND

ANTHONY TROYER,

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND,

OF CALCUTTA AND PARIS, AND OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS;

EDITED, WITH A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, BY THE LATTER.

VOLUME II.

PARIS:

PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

SOLD BY

BENJAMIN DUPRAT, BOOKSELLER TO THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE ROYALE.

7, RUE DU CLOITRE SAINT-BENOIT.

AND ALLEN AND CO., LEADENHALL-STREET, LONDON.

1843.

THE DABISTÁN,

OR

SCHOOL OF MANNERS.

CHAPTER II.

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE DABISTAN describes in twelve sections the

religious systems of the Hindus:

_Section_ 1. Concerning the tenets of the _Búdah-Mímánsa_, the

followers of which are also called _Samártikan_ (_Smártís_), or

“legalists,” and are orthodox Hindus.

_Sect._ 2. Records some of their opinions relative to the creation:

their _Purans_ (_Tarikhs_), or “histories,” treat of the same subject.

_Sect._ 3. The religious ceremonies and acts of the _Smártís_, and

their orthodoxy.

_Sect._ 4. Treats of the followers of the _Vedanta_, who form the

philosophers and Súfís of this sect.

_Sect._ 5. Concerning those who profess the _Sankhya_ doctrines.

_Sect._ 6. Treats of the _Jogís_ and their doctrines.

_Sect._ 7. Describes the tenets of the _Saktíán_.

_Sect._ 8. The opinions and ceremonies of the worshippers of _Vishnú_.

_Sect._ 9. Treats of the _Chárvákián_.

_Sect._ 10. Describes the system of the _Tárkikán_, who are profound

investigators and deep thinkers in theology.

_Sect._ 11. On the tenets held by the followers of _Búdah_ (_Buddha_).

_Sect._ 12. On various religious systems professed by the people of

India.

* * * * *

SECTION THE FIRST――CONCERNING THE ORTHODOX HINDOO SYSTEM. As

inconstant fortune had torn away the author from the shores of Persia,

and made him the associate of the believers in transmigration and

those who addressed their prayers to idols and images and worshipped

demons, therefore the tenets held by this most subtle class of

reasoners come to be considered next after those of the Parsees. It is

however necessary to premise, that among the Hindus there are many

systems of religion, and innumerable creeds and ceremonies: but there

is one principal class of this people (as will be shown in the tenth

chapter), and its rank and dignity will be brought into evidence.

Like Zardusht and the sages of antiquity, they have recourse to

metaphorical and enigmatical figures of speech, as will appear evident

in the course of this narration. Long before the present work, the

author had from books ascertained their various systems, according to

a plan which he now voluntarily abandons; as in the year of the

Hejirah 1063 (A. D. 1653), whilst sojourning at Srikakul, the capital

of Kalinga,[1] certain eminent persons who were the author’s intimate

friends, had travelled in that direction for the purpose of visiting

their holy stations; one day a conference took place, on which the

author reviewed anew what he had before heard, and with the pen of

accuracy drew the line of erasure over all that was doubtful; so that

there was found a wide difference between the first and second work on

these points.

SUMMARY OF THE DOCTRINES CONTAINED IN THE BUDAH MIMANSA.[2] The whole

world is not governed by the orders of a real Lord, and there is in

truth no reality in his actual existence. Whatever of good or evil,

reward or punishment, attaches to created beings, is entirely the

result of their acts, deeds, and words; mortals are altogether captive

in the trammels of their own works, and confined in the chains of

their own deeds: without previous acts they are liable to no

consequences. The sovereign, _Brahma_, the creator of all things; the

angelic _Víshnu_, their preserver; and _Mahesh_, or _Siva_, the

destroyer of existences, attained to this exalted eminence through

means of righteous acts and holy deeds; nay, Brahma, through the

efficacy of worship, the power of obedience, the might of his

religious austerities, and by his good actions, created the world;

agreeably to the express declaration of the _Véda_,[3] which according

to the belief of the Hindus is a celestial revelation, every dignity

of the celestial orders is inseparably connected with meritorious

works and holy deeds; and as the intellectual soul is of the same

nature as the angelic essence, the possessor may, by the exercise of

angelic qualities, become one of those exalted dignities, and during a

lengthened but definite period, be invested with power and glory. For

instance, the human spirit, which in knowledge and good works has

attained to a degree accounted worthy of the rank of Brahma, is, on

the termination of the period of sovereignty assigned to the present

Brahma, appointed to that predestined dignity: the same principle also

applying to the other angelic degrees.

This tenet therefore leads to the same inference as the opinions

entertained by the distinguished Parsee sages, namely: that the

spirits of men, on attaining complete perfection, become united to the

heavenly bodies, and after many revolutions, the celestial souls are

blended with the divine intelligences. According to the Mobed:

“The cup-bearer poured into the goblet the wine of the celestial

soul,

And filled the nine empyreal domes with the beverage of human

spirit.”

The world has neither beginning nor ending; moreover all spirits are

enchained in the bonds of their own acts and deeds; so that the spirit

of high rank which adopts the practices of the inferior, cannot attain

to the sublime rank peculiarly assigned to exalted conduct; and the

inferior spirit, sedulously given up to the works of those eminent in

dignity, is enabled to obtain that glorious pre-eminence; so that

their meritorious works confer on them knowledge; and the purity of

their intellects, in proportion to their elevation, conducts them to

high degrees and praiseworthy deeds. The dominion obtained by an

animal body over the human soul arises from works; as in their

members, physical structure, and senses, all men are fashioned after

one model; but through the cause of becoming or unbecoming deeds, one

is a sovereign ruler, and another a destitute dependent. Thus, through

the influence of praiseworthy acts, one is honored and opulent; and

owing to a subservience to foul deeds, another lives degraded and

indigent; the high and dignified agent of opulence and honor falls not

into the depths of poverty, nor does the wretched slave to acts of

covetousness and avarice ever attain the dignity of honor and riches.

The world is the root and productive soil of works, and time is their

developer; because, when their time comes, it brings the fruit, just

as every season produces the flowers, sweet-scented plants, and fruits

suitable to the period; in like manner, the result of every act,

whether deserving of praise or censure, is made to adhere to its

agent, in whatever revolution that may be proper for it. Works are

divided into two kinds: those which are to be performed; the other,

those which are to be avoided: under the first, come those acts, the

performance of which is enjoined in the Vedas, or the celestial

revelation, such as the established worship and the requisite acts of

obedience which prevail among the Hindoos; under the second head come

those acts, the committing of which is forbidden by the text of the

celestial code; such as shedding blood, theft, immoral practices, and

other similar acts there enumerated. The supreme Lord stands not in

need of our adoration and obedience, nor is he in any want of us for

the performance of the above-mentioned duties at our hands; but the

results of our acts and deeds, in reference to rewards and

punishments, accrue and adhere to us. For instance, if the invalid

should adopt habitual moderation, he obtains that health which is the

object of his wishes, and his existence is thereby rendered happy; but

should he, from a bias to reprehensible pleasures, the concomitants of

disease, withdraw from the restraints of abstinence, his life becomes

embittered; the physician, in either case, being totally independent

of the patient’s welfare and sufferings. Moreover, the world is the

abode of disease, and human beings are the patients: if they acquit

themselves in the most perfect manner of their prescribed duties, and

strenuously avoiding what ought not to be done, they attain the state

of health, the most elevated degree of which is liberation from this

degraded body, and union with the ambrosial sweets of paradise; which

state is called _Mukti_ by this sect; and the mode of attaining the

highest degree of Mukti is not being immersed in the pleasures of this

world, plucking away the heart from the gratifications of sense, being

content with mere necessaries, abstaining from food, breaking the fast

with viands not relished by the vile appetite, and such like: just as

in sickness, for the sake of dissolving the morbid matter, it becomes

necessary to fast one day, and to swallow bitter draughts.

Such is the substance of the tenets professed by the sect entitled

Budah-Mimansá, which coincide exactly with those of the Yezdáníáns,

except that the latter admit the being of the self-existent God, the

sole and true object of adoration; regarding the acts and deeds

performed in this world as the means of elevation and degradation in

the next; holding the angelic dignities to be imperishable; and

esteeming human perfection to consist in attaining to the society and

service of the sublime assembly in the court of heaven; whilst the

followers of the Budah Mimansa do not admit the existence of the

eternal and infinite Lord; but according to them, the term “Almighty”

signifies the human soul, acts, and deeds. They also assert, that the

blessings of paradise are transitory, and that the angelic dignities

are liable to perish. However, the orthodox opinion, which is most

prevalent at this time, is this: they admit the being of the

truly-existing God, by whom the world subsists; but account his holy

essence altogether exalted, and exempt from whatever effects created

beings. They also believe that human beings are confined by the yokes

of their own works, and enchained by their deeds, in the manner before

stated.

[1] The name of a country: this name is applied in the

Puranas to several places, but it usually signifies a

district on the Coromandel coast, extending from below

Cuttack to the vicinity of Madras.――D. S.

[2] بوده ميمنس is the reading of the edition of Calcutta;

the same spelling of _Budh_, or _Budah_, is found when the

name of the legislator, properly _Buddha_, is introduced, as

in p. 175 of the same edition, and elsewhere. But _Budah_

may also signify “past, gone,” and therefore “prior;” on

that account D. Shea rendered the above name by _Purva_ (or

“prior”) _Mimansa_. According to Colebrooke and Mr. Wilson,

मीमांसा _Mímánsá_, signifies one of the philosophical

systems of the Hindús, or rather a two-fold system, the

first part of which is the _Purva Mímánsá_, or _Mímánsá_,

simply; the second part, the _Uttara Mímansa_. “The prior

Mímánsá, founded by Jaimini, teaches the art of reasoning,

with the express view of aiding in the interpretation of the

Vedas. The _Uttara_, or “latter,” commonly called the

_Vedanta_, and commonly attributed to Vyasa, deduces from

the Vedas a refined psychology, which goes to the denial of

a material world.”――(_Colebrooke’s Essays._)

But the above account of the Dabistán is not strictly and

fully in accordance with this definition of the first

Mímánsá, because it exhibits more of the Puranic than of the

Vedáic doctrine, not without some particular notions. It

appeared therefore best to adhere to the reading of the

original text.――A. T.

[3] Védá, the generic term for the sacred writings, or

scriptures, of the Hindús. See a subsequent note about the

four Védas.

SECTION THE SECOND TREATS OF CERTAIN OPINIONS ENTERTAINED BY THIS SECT

CONCERNING THE CREATION: A SUBJECT WHICH IS ALSO DISCUSSED IN THEIR

PURANAS OR HISTORIES.――In the second part of the Bhagavat, one of

their most esteemed Puránás, it is recorded that the Almighty Creator,

in the beginning, first placed the mantle of existence on the bosom of

_Prakriti_,[4] or “nature,” and produced the fourteen _Bhuvanas_,[5]

or “worlds.” The first sphere is that of the earth, which has been

estimated by some of the ancients at five Kotes (50 millions) of

Yojans,[6] each Kote being equal to one hundred Lakhs (10 millions)

and each Jojun to one Parasang and one-third; above the terrestrial is

the aqueous sphere; above which is that of fire; beyond which is the

aërial, over the celestial; beyond which is the _Ahankar_,[7] or that

of “consciousness;” and higher than this is the _Mahat-tat_

(_Mahat-tatwam_)[8] or “essence,” which is equal to ten of those below

it; and Prakrit having enveloped it, intelligence penetrating through

all the things before said, rises above: on earth it becomes

knowledge; by means of water, there is taste; by means of fire, form;

by means of air, the touch of cold and dry; by means of the heavens,

there is the perception of sound; and the organs of perception, are

the exterior senses; and the internal sense is the seat of

consciousness. In the same part of the Bhagavat it is stated that, by

nature, the heavens are the vehicle of sounds; and consequently, the

nature of the air gives the perception of sound and touch; in all

other bodies the air is spirit, and from it arises the energy of the

senses. To the nature of fire belongs the perception of sound, touch

and form; to the nature of water, that of sound, touch, form, and

savor; and to the nature of earth, that of sound, touch, form, savor,

and odor.

Of the fourteen created spheres, seven rise above the waist of the

Almighty, and the remaining seven correspond with the lower part of

his body; according to which enumeration the _Bhú-lok_,[9] or the

earth and terrestrial beings form “his waist;” the _Bhúvanlok_,[10] or

the space between the earth and sun, “his navel;” the _Surlok_,[11]

“his heart;” the _Mehrlok_,[12] “his breast;” the _Jonlok_,[13] “his

neck;” the _Tapalok_,[14] “his forehead;” the _Satyolok_,[15] “his

head;” the _Atellok_,[16] “his navel and podex;” the _Batellok_,[17]

“his thigh;” the _Sotollok_,[18] “his knee;” the _Talátellok_,[19]

“the calf of the leg;” the _Mahátollok_,[20] “the heel;” the

_Rasatollok_,[21] “the upper part of the foot;” the _Pátállok_,[22]

“the sole of the foot.”

There is another division limited to three spheres: the _Bhúlok_, “the

sole of the Almighty’s foot;” the _Bhuvarlok_, “his navel;” the

_Súrlók_, “his head;” the whole fourteen gradations in detail are thus

reduced to three, signifying a mighty personage, the same as the

Deity.

In the same section of that volume it is also stated, that from the

Almighty sprang _Svabhávah_,[23] “the self-existing;” that is, Nature

and Time; from Nature and Time proceeded forth _Prakrit_, which

signifies _Símáí_, “universe;”[24] from Prakrit came forth

_Mahat-tat_;[25] and from this latter, which is the same as _Mádah_,

“mental exaltation,” issued the three _Ahankárs_, or modes of

consciousness, “personality, egotism,” _Satek_, _Rajas_, _Tamas_.[26]

_Satek_, “goodness,” means “the intellectual energy;” _Rajas_, or

passion, “the attraction of vile propensities,” or “sensual pursuits;”

and _Tamas_ (darkness), “the repelling of what repugns,” in Arabic,

_Ghazab_, or “wrath.” From _Rajas_ issued forth the senses; from

_Satek_, the lords of nature and the servants of the existing beings;

and from _Tamas_ came forth _Shaid_, “enchantment;” _Shuresh_,

“confusion;” _Rup_, “form;” _Darsan_, “sight;” and _Gandah_,

“smell;”[27] that is, hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell; from

which five were produced the heavens, air, fire, water, and earth.

Also from the three above-mentioned properties (_gunás_) the three

mighty angels, _Vishna_, _Brahma_, and _Mahísh_, came into the area of

the creation.[28] Moreover, for the purpose of creation, eight other

Brahmas were also impressed by the first Brahma with the characters of

existence, and these became the various gradations of the spiritual,

corporeal, the high, the low, the mineral, vegetable, and animal

kingdoms.

In some of their treatises, God is the same as time, works, and

nature; whilst, according to others, these are regarded as the

instruments of his majesty.

In other treatises, the Almighty is held to be light, surpassingly

great and splendid, of exceeding brilliancy and radiance, corporeal,

invested with members.

Other descriptions represent him as pure light, abstract being, simple

existence, unconfined by place, exempt from transmigration, free of

matter, without parts, uncompounded, divested of the attributes of

accidents, and the creator of the world, and all therein contained.

According to other dissertations, God is the producer of beginning and

end, exhibiting himself in the mirror of pure space, containing the

higher and lower, the heavenly and terrestrial bodies.

It is stated in the first part of the Bhagavat, that the

truly-existing is an abstract being, one without equal or opposite,

who in the various languages amongst the human race has denominations

suited to the belief of his worshippers, and that the mode of

attaining union with him depends on eradicating wrath, extirpating

bodily gratifications, and banishing the influence of the senses. This

holy essence is called _Naráyan_,[29] whose heads, hands, and feet

exceed all number.

At the period when this world and all it contains were buried under

the waters, _Tot_, or “intellect” lay reclined in the sleep of unity,

on the head of _Adsesh_,[30] the supporter of the earth. From the

navel of this exalted being appeared the lotus flower, called by the

Hindoos _Kawal_;[31] out of which arose _Brahma_, from the members of

whose mighty existence all created beings hastened into the area of

visibility.

It is recorded in other treatises of this sect, that they give the

name of _Naráyan_, or “the majesty without color,”[32] that is,

“without the qualities of accidents,” to the absolute essence and

abstract being of God, who is in pure space. They say, moreover, that

his essence, which is devoid of all forms, made a personage called

_Brahma_, who was constituted the medium of creation, so that he

brought all other existences from behind the curtain of nonentity into

the luminous area of being. In like manner that sublime essence

manifested itself in the soul of Vishnu, so that he became an

_Avatár_, and to him is confided the preservation of whatever Brahma

created. That glorious essence next called up Mahadeo, for the purpose

of destroying Brahma’s creation, whenever infinite wisdom requires the

transformation of the visible into the invisible world; from which

three agents arises the arrangement of all things in the universe.[33]

They say that _Brahma_ is an aged man with four heads; _Naráyan_, or

_Vishnu_, holds in his hand the _Chakra_, or _Disk_, “a sort of

weapon;” he always assumes the _Avatárs_, or “incarnations;” of which

ten are greatly celebrated. _Avatár_[34] means appearance or

manifestation; _Karan_[35] signifies cause; Brahma, Vishnu, and

Mahadeo are called _Trikaran_, or the three causes.

In the Satya-Jog there was a Rakshas[36], named _Sámak Asur_, who

performed such great religious austerities, that he became enabled to

work miracles; he having taken the Anant-Ved[37] which was in Brahma’s

possession, and from which are derived the four Vedas given to

mankind, fled into the water; on this, Vishnu, on the fifth day of the

fifth month, _Chét_,[38] “March-April,”[39] in the _Kishn Bichah_,

having assumed the _Matsyávátar_, or “the form of a fish,” plunged

into the water, slew the Rakshas, and recovered the Veda: this was the

first Avatar.

The second was the _Kurmávátar_, or “that of the tortoise.” _Anant

Ved_ signifies “the numberless Vedas;” _Matsya_, “a fish;” _Avatár_,

“descent,” or “manifestation;” _Chét_, “the fifth solar month;” _Kishn

Bicheh_, “that portion of the month which is without moonlight and

when the nights are dark.”

On the twelfth of _Chét_, in the _Kishn Bicheh_, he assumed the

_Kurmávátár_, or “that of the tortoise.” They say that the Angels and

Deeves (Asurs), taking the serpent _Vásukir_,[40] formed with him a

cord, and fastening this to a lofty mountain called _Mandára_,[41]

made with it a churn-staff, which they moved about in the mighty

ocean, whilst Naráyan remained under the mountain to prevent it from

falling; and by this agitation they procured the water of life. In the

kingdom of _Kalinga_, they have formed the image of a tortoise, and

among the wonderful sights of that region is the following miraculous

event: if they cast the bones of a Brahman or a cow into the adjacent

reservoir, in the course of a year one half of it becomes stone, and

the other half remains unchanged. It is worthy of remark, that some

Persian astronomers represent the constellation Cancer by a tortoise,

nay call it by that name, instead of _Kharchang_, or “crab.” Ferdúsi,

the sage, thus expresses himself:

“The lunar lord beheld the ascendancy of the tortoise.”

And as they account Cancer the ascendant sign of the world, it is

therefore likely that the ancient Hindú philosophers represented this

constellation[42] under the figure of the _Kurma_, or “tortoise;” also

by the _Matsya_, or “fish,” is meant the constellation _Hút_, or

“Pisces.”

The third was the _Baráh_, or “boar Avátar,” when a Rakshas, named

_Karanyáksha_, having taken away the earth and carried it under the

water, Vishnu, on the sixteenth of Chet in the _Shakl Pacheh_,[43] or

“bright half of the moon,” assumed the form of a boar, slew the demon

with his tusks and brought out the earth.

The fourth was the _Narsinha_, or “man-lion Avátar.” There was a

Rakshas named _Kiranya Kashípú_, whose son, _Prahláda_, worshipped

Vishnu, and as his father persecuted him on that account, Vishnu,

therefore, on the fourteenth of _Baisakh_,[44] in the _Shakl Pacha_,

or “bright half of the moon,” having assumed the form of the Narsingh,

whose head and claws were those of a lion joined to a human body, slew

the demon Kiranya Kashipú.

The fifth was the _Vá-mana_, or “dwarf Avatar.” When the Rakshas, Bali

daitya, through his religious exercises and austerities had become

lord of the three worlds, that is, of all above the earth and below it

and the heavens, so that the angels were hard pressed and deprived of

their power; Vishnu, therefore, on the twelfth of _Bhadun_[45] in the

_Shakl Pachah_, descended in the _Vámanah Avátár_, and coming into the

presence of Bali, requested as much of the earth as he could traverse

in three steps: to this Bali consented, although _Sukra_, or “the

planet Venus,” the director and guardian of the demons, exhorted him

not to grant the request, saying: “This is Vishnu, who will deceive

thee.” Bali replied: “If he come to me as a suitor, what can answer my

purpose better?” Vishnu, on this, included the whole earth in one

step, the heavens in the second, and in the third, rising up to his

navel, said to Bali, “Whither can I pass?” Bali, on this, presented

his head; on which Vishnu, who saw this, having placed his foot, sent

_Bali_[46] below the earth, where he has ever since continued to reign

with sovereign power, during many hundred thousands of years. It is to

be noted, that _Vá-mana_ means a dwarf, as he was a diminutive

Brahman.

The sixth Avátar was _Paras u Rama_.[47] The _Chatri_, or “military

caste,” having become evil doers, in consequence of this, Vishnu, on

the seventh of _Bhadun_, in the _Shakl pachah_, or “bright half of the

moon,” assumed the Avátar of _Parasúram_, who was of the seed of the

Brahmans. In this incarnation he exterminated the Chettri class so

utterly, that he even ripped open their females and slew the fœtus.

According to the Hindus, _Parasuram_ is always living; they call him

_Chirangivah_, or “long-lived.”

The seventh is the _Ram Avátar_:[48] when the tyranny of the Rakshas

_Rávana_, sovereign of the demons, had exceeded all bounds, Vishnu, on

the ninth of Chet in the Shaklpachah, becoming incarnate in Rama, who

was of the Chettri caste, overthrew at that time Rávána, chief of the

demons of _Lanka_, (Ceylon). Now Lanka is a fort built of golden

ingots, situated in the midst of the salt ocean. He also recovered

Sita,[49] the wife of Rama, who had had been taken away by the

Rokshas, which is a name given by the Hindoos to a frightful demon.

The eighth was the _Krishn Avátar_. When Vishnu, in the _Dwapar-Jog_,

on the eighth of Bhádún, in the Kishn pachah, having assumed the

Avátar of _Krishna_, slew _Kansá_. Krishna was also of the Chettri or

“military caste.”

The ninth was the _Budh avatar_. When ten years only of the

_Dwapar-Jog_ remained,[50] Vishnu, in order to destroy the demons and

evil genii, the causers of night, assumed the Avátar of _Buddha_, on

the third of _Baisakh_, in the Shakl pacheh.

The tenth Avátar is to occur at the expiration of the _Kali-jug_, for

the purpose of destroying the Mlechas, or “enemies of the Hindoos.”

The _Kalki Avátar_ is to take place on the third of Bhádún, in the

Shakl Pachah, in the city of _Sumbul_, in the house of a Brahman named

_Jasa_. _Kalki_ is also to be of the Brahman caste. He will destroy

the corruptions of the world, and all the Mlechas, that is,

Muhammedans, Christians, Jews, and such like, are to be entirely

extirpated: after which the Satyog, or “golden age,” is to return.

They moreover maintain, that the contingently-existing inhabitants and

beings of earth are unable to penetrate into the presence of the

necessarily-existing sovereign, and that the essence of the Creator is

too exalted for any created beings to attain to an acquaintance with

it, notwithstanding the high knowledge and piety with which they may

be adorned: it therefore seemed necessary to the Almighty God to

descend from the majesty of abstractedness and absolute existence, and

exhibit himself in the various species of angels, animals, man, and

such like, so as to enable them to attain to some knowledge of

himself. They therefore assert, that for the purpose of satisfying the

wishes of his faithful servants, and tranquillizing their minds, he

has vouchsafed to manifest himself in this abode, which manifestation

they call an Avátar and hold this to be no degradation to his essence.

This tenet has been thus interpreted by Shidosh, the son of Anosh:

According to the Súfís, the first wisdom is the knowledge of God, and

of the universal soul, his life; and in this place they have

expatiated upon the attributes of the Almighty; thus by Brahma they

mean his creative power; and by the old age of Brahma is implied his

perfection: philosophers also call the first intelligence, the

intellectual Adam, and the universal soul, the intellectual Eve. The

sage Sunai has said:

“The father and the mother of this gratifying world,

Know, is the soul of the word,[51] and the sublime wisdom.”

By Vishnu is meant his attribute of divine love, and also the

universal soul; and they give the name of Avátar to the spirit derived

from the soul of the first heaven; in which sense they have said:

“Avátars are rays issuing from Vishnu’s essence.”

But these sectaries do not mean that the identical spirit of Rám, on

the dissolution of its connection with his body, becomes attached to

the body of Krishna; for they themselves assert that Parsurám (the

sixth Avátar) is immortal, and his body everlasting.

When Rámachandra became incarnate, he encountered the other; and

Parsurám, having posted himself on the road with hostile intentions,

Rámachandra said: “Thou art a Brahman and I a Chettri: it is incumbent

on me to show thee respect:” then applying the horn of his bow to

Parsurám’s foot, he deprived him of all power. When Parsurám who is

now along with his wife in the heavens, enrolled among the stars: he

was the instructor of Rama, and brought him to the knowledge of

himself; and his counsels to Ráma have been collected by the Rishi

Valmiki in the History of Ráma, called the _Ramáyana_, and the name of

_Jog-Vashishta_, given to them, which they call _Indrazaharájóg

Vashishta_.[54] Some parts of these tales were selected by a Brahman

of Kashmir, and afterwards translated into Persian by _Mulla

Muhammed_, a Súfí. To resume: Ráma, on hearing this expression from

Parsurám, said: “My arrow, however, errs not:” he then discharged some

arrows which have become the janitors of paradise, and do not permit

Parsurám to enter therein. This parable proves that they are by no

means taken for Avátars of Naryáan; as, although Pursurám and Rám were

two Avátárs of Vishnu, yet they knew not each other. Again, it is an

established maxim among philosophers, that one soul cannot be united

in one place with two distinct bodies. Besides, it is certain that

they give the name “Avatárs of Naráyan” to the souls which emanate

from the universal soul; and that they call Naráyan the soul of the

empyreal, or the fourth heaven. As to their assertions that Naráyan is

God, found himself destitute of strength, he asked his name, and on

learning that it was Ramachandra, he was greatly astonished, and said:

“Has Rámachandra’s Avátar taken place?” and Rámachandra having replied

“Certainly,” Parsurám said: “My blow is not mortal, I have taken away

thy understanding.” On this account it happened that Rámachandra

possessed not intelligence in his essence, and was unacquainted with

his true state, wherefore they style him the _Mudgha_, or stupid

Avátar.[52]

Vasishta, one of the Rishies,[53] or “holy sages,” and their

acknowledging his Avátars as God, and their saying that the Almighty

has deigned to appear under certain forms, all this means that a

Naráyan is the same with the universal soul, which the Súfees entitle

“the life of God.” As life is an attribute of the Almighty, and the

perfection of attributes constitutes his holy essence, consequently

the souls which emanate from the universal soul, or that of the

empyreal heaven, which is the life of God, know themselves, and

acquire the ornaments of pure faith and good works; and also, on being

liberated from body, they become identified with the universal soul,

which is Vishnu, or the life of God, agreeably to this saying: “_He

who knows his own soul, knows God_:” that is, he becomes God.

As to their acknowledging the fish, tortoise, and boar to be

incarnations of the divinity, by this they mean, that all beings are

rays emanating from the essence of the Almighty, and that no

degradation results to him therefrom, according to this narration of

the _Mir Sáíd Sharif_, of Jarjan (Georgia).

As a Súfí and rhetorician were one day disputing, the latter said: “I

feel pain at the idea of a God who manifests himself in a dog or hog:”

to which the Súfee replied: “I appeal from the God who displays not

himself in the dog.” On this, all present exclaimed: “One of these two

must be an infidel.” A man of enlightened piety drew near, and showing

them the exact import of these expressions, said: “According to the

belief of the rhetorician, the dignity of God is impaired by his

manifesting himself in the dog; he is therefore distressed at the idea

of a God thus deficient. But, according to the Súfee, the

non-appearance of God in that animal would be a diminution of his

dignity, he therefore appeals against a God deficient in this point:

consequently, neither of them is an infidel.” So that, in fact, the

Súfís and these sectaries entertain the same opinions.

The author of this work once said to Shídósh: “We may affirm that by

the fish is meant the lord, or conservative angel, of water;” as,

according to their mythology, a demon having taken the Vedas under

that element, was pursued and slain by Vishnu, and the Vedas brought

back: thus their mention of a fish originated from its inseparable

connection with water. By the tortoise is meant the lord, or

conservative angel, of earth; as their mythology relates, that the

Avátar of the tortoise occurred for the purpose of the earth being

supported on its back, as is actually the case; they have also

especially mentioned the tortoise, as it is both a land and aquatic

creature, and that after water comes earth. By the boar are meant the

passions and the propagation of living creatures; and as to the

tradition of a demon having stolen away the earth and taken it under

the water, and of his being pursued by Vishnu under the form of a

boar, and slain by his tusks, its import is as follows: the demon

means dissolute manners, which destroyed the earth with the deluge of

sensuality; but on the aid of the spirit coming, the demon of

dissoluteness was overthrown by the tusks of continence: the boar is

particularly mentioned, because its attribute is sensuality; and it

was reckoned an Avátár, because continence is virtue. The _Narsinh_,

or “man-lion,” is the lord, or conservative angel of heroism; and as

this constitutes a most praiseworthy quality, they said, that the

Narsinh was a form with a lion’s head and a human body, for when they

spoke of impetuous bravery in a man, they made use of the term “lion.”

By _Vámana_, or “dwarfish stature,” they meant, the lord of reason,

strength of reflection, and an intellectual being; the dwarfish

stature implying that, notwithstanding a diminutive person, important

results may be obtained through him; as in almost a direct allusion to

this, people say: “An intelligent man of small stature is far superior

to the tall blockhead.” By Rajah _Bali_, they typify generosity and

liberality.

Shidósh was delighted at this interpretation, and said: “They have

also recorded that Krishna had sixteen thousand wives; and when one of

his friends who thought it impossible for Krishna to visit all of

them, said to try him: ‘Bestow on me one of thy wives,’ Krishna

answered: ‘In whatever female’s apartment thou findest me not, she is

thine.’ His friend went into the different apartments, but in every

one of them he beheld the god engaged in conversation with its

mistress.” This story implies, that the love of Krishna was so rooted

in their hearts, that they cared for none besides, having his image

present to their eyes, and dwelling every moment on his beloved idea.

The tradition of Vishnu’s always bearing the Chakra in his hand (a

kind of military weapon), alludes to the knowledge and decisive

demonstration which are unattainable without the aid of soul.

In Mahadeo, they allude to our elementary nature by the serpent twined

round his neck; they mean anger, and the other reprehensible qualities

which result from corporeity; by his being mounted on a bull, the

animal propensities; by the tradition of his place of repose being the

site for burning the dead, is signified, the total dispersion of the

particles of bodies and the perishable nature of things. Mahadeo’s

drinking poison is also to the same purport. In this sense they also

say that Mahadeo is the destroyer of all worldly things; that is,

elemental nature imperatively requires the dissolution of combination

(connection), and that ultimately death comes in the natural course.

They also hold that every angel has a wife (female energy), of a

similar generic constitution, and originally derived from Brahma; and

as we have before stated, the philosophers call the first intelligence

the True Sire, and the universal soul, Eve; and thus he is the head

and the wife the shoulder; the universal soul is the body of the

empyreal heaven; and in like manner the other celestial souls and

bodies have wives of the elementary nature; as they give the

appellation of wife, or energy, to whatever is the manifest source of

action.

Moreover the established doctrine held by these sectaries is, that

each class should worship a particular angel, and the wife or female

energy of that angel; the worshipper regarding the object of his

adoration as God, and all others, as created beings; for example, many

believe Naráyan to be the supreme God; several others, look up to

Mahadéo, and many to the other male and female divinities; and thus,

pursuant to the four Védas, which according to their common belief are

a celestial revelation, they do not hold any angel who is the object

of their praise as distinct from God: by which they mean that God, who

is without equal, having manifested himself under innumerable modes of

appearance, contemplates the glorious perfection of his essence in the

mirrors of his attributes; so that, from the most minute atom to the

solar orb, his holy and divine essence is the source of all that

exists.

“To whatever quarter I directed my sight, thou appearedst there;

How widely art thou multiplied, even when thy features are unseen!”

The Fakir Arzú says: the above interpretation is confirmed by this

tradition of the Hindus, that _Agasti_,[55] a star, was formerly a

holy man, who once collected all the waters in the palm of his hand,

and swallowed the whole; which means that Agasti is the same as

Sohail, a star adjacent to the south pole, on the rising of which, all

the water that has fallen from heaven is dried up, agreeably to the

Arabic saying:

“_When Suhail ascends, the torrents subside._”

Many enigmatical and figurative expressions of a similar description

occur in their writings; for example, _Mahésh_ or _Mahadeo_, is an

angel with matted locks and three eyes, which are the sun, moon, and

fire; he has also five heads; his necklace is formed of a serpent, and

his mantle of an elephant’s hide. There are nine Brahmas, eleven

Rudras or Mahadeos, twelve suns, and ten regions, viz.: east, west,

south, north, zenith, _Nadir_, _Akni_, “between east and south;”

_Níreti_, “between south and west;” _Dayab_, “between west and north;”

and _Isan_, “between north and east.” The angels are in number

thirty-three Kotes, or three hundred and thirty millions, each Kote

consisting of one hundred Laks, or ten millions. These angels have

spiritual wives, who produce a spiritual offspring. They likewise hold

human spirits to be an effulgence proceeding from the divine essence;

if to knowledge they add good works, with a clear perception of

themselves and of God, they return to their original source; but

should they not know themselves and God, and yet perform praiseworthy

acts, they dwell in Paradise, where they remain during a period of

time proportioned to their meritorious works; on the expiration of

which period they are again sent down to this lower world, and again

to receive a recompense proportioned to their deeds.

The actions even of the inhabitants of Paradise undergo an

investigation, and are attended with reward or punishments duly

graduated. They also hold that all those persons who are not

sufficiently worthy of entering into paradise, but who have observed

religious ordinances in order to obtain dominion and worldly

enjoyments, shall acquire their object in a future generation. They

also say, in respect to any great personage, in whose presence the

people stand girt with the cincture of obedience, that the rewards and

results are, that this person continues in a suppliant attitude

devoted to the service of God and those individuals who prostrate

themselves before him, are in fact humbling themselves in adoration of

the Almighty; in short, they hold all splendor and greatness as the

rewards of alms and good works; thus they relate that whilst the

incarnation of Rámchandra abode in the desert, he sent his brother

Lachman to bring some roots of herbs in order to break his fast; but,

notwithstanding a diligent search, he being unable to find any,

returned and represented this to Rámchand, who replied: “The earth

abounds in food and drink; but in a former generation, on this very

day, I omitted the performance of an act which would have been well

pleasing in the sight of God, namely, that of contributing to the

sustenance of indigent Brahmans.”

They moreover believe that evil-doers, after death, become united to

the bodies of lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, swine, bears, reptiles,

plants, and minerals, in this world, and receive under these forms

their well merited punishment; but that those who have been guilty of

aggravated crimes are hurried off to the infernal regions, where they

remain suffering torture during a period of time proportioned to their

evil deeds; and when they have undergone the destined punishment, they

again return to this world. They also believe that there is in

paradise a sovereign, named Indra, and that whoever offers up a

hundred _Aswamédas_,[56] becomes Indra. When his appointed time in

paradise, in the full enjoyment of sovereign power has passed, he is

on the expiration of that period to descend to the lower world, and

there obtains a recompense proportioned to his acts. Moreover, Indra’s

spouse is named Sachí Devi, and falls to the share of the person who

attains the rank of Indra. Note: by Aswaméda is meant the sacrifice of

a horse of a certain color, and according to certain established

rites. However, by Aswaméd, their learned doctors understand

“abnegation of the mind:” for imagination is a fierce charger, the

sacrifice of which is an imperative duty on the religious ascetic; or

it may allude to the destruction of the animal passions.

They also believe that angelic beings are subject to concupiscence,

and wrath, and the cravings of hunger and thirst; their food

consisting of perfumes and incense, sacrifices, meat and drink

offerings, with the alms and oblations made by mankind; and their

beverage, the water of life.

They also assert that the stars were holy personages, who, on leaving

this world of gloom, through the efficacy of religious mortifications

became luminous bodies, ascending from the lower depths of this abode

of the elements to the zenith of the crystalline sphere; nay, their

birth-place, name, family, with the names of their fathers and

grandfathers, are carefully enumerated in the sacred volumes of this

sect. Thus they say that Sanicher (the slow-traveller) or Saturn, is

the son of the glorious Luminary; and Mirrikh or Mars, the son of the

Earth; the world-enlightening sun, the issue of _Kashyapa_, the son of

Maríchí, the son of Brahma; Zóhrah (or the regent of Venus) the son of

_Bhrigu_; and _Utáred_ (Mercury) the son of _Kamer_ (the regent of the

moon). Some however maintain the moon to be the son of Attri the Holy,

but, according to others he is sprung from the sea of milk.

[57]*These opinions contain a marked allusion to the tenets held by

the distinguished Parsi sages, namely, that the intellectual soul has

a relation to that sphere with which its good actions are connected:

they consequently apply the denomination of Sun to the spirit of one

united to the sun, and his father is entitled “the father of the

Sun.”*

The writer of this work once observed to Shídósh, the son of Anosh:

“Perhaps they mean by the sires of the stars, their presiding

intelligences, as in the technical language of philosophers, the name

of sires is also given to the intelligences, on which account Jesus

called the Almighty ‘Father.’”

According to them the elements are five in number, the fifth being the

Akas (or ether), which word in its common acceptation means “the

heavens;” but according to the learned it implies empty space, or

space void of matter. One of their distinguished doctors, _Sumitra_,

son of the Ray of Kalinga, holds that _Akas_, which the Greek

Platonists call _space_, is simple and uncompounded. Damudar Das Kaul,

a learned Brahman of Kashmir, also holds Akas to signify _space_; and

space is understood by the Platonists among the Yonian to be an extent

void of any substance (a vacuum), which may be divided into parts,

_the totality_ of which _parts_ may be equivalent to that extent of

the general vacuum which is congruous and equal to it, in such a

manner as to comprise every particle of that extent which is the space

in every _particular_ division of the general space. There is an

extent interposed between two things, and this extent is void and free

of matter. According to their account, no better interpretation of

_Akas_ than that which is conveyed by the word space, can be

offered.[58]

They moreover assert that the heavens have no existence, and that the

constellations and stars are fixed in the air. According to them there

are seven _samudras_, that is oceans, on this earth: the salt sea,

that of sugar-cane juice, the sea of spirituous liquors, that of

clarified butter, the sea of curds, the lacteal, and lastly, that of

sweet waters. They also say that there rises above the earth a

mountain called _Su-Meru_[59] entirely formed of the purest gold, on

which the angelic beings reside, and around which the stars revolve.

There are nine spheres, namely: those of the seven planets, with those

of _Rás_ and _Zanab_ (the head and tail of the dragon), which are also

borne along in their celestial vehicles. _Rás_ and _Zanab_ are two

demons who drank the water of life, whom Vishnu, at the suggestion of

the sun and moon, smote with a weapon called the _Chákra_, or disk,

and rent open their throats; in revenge for which, the moon is

devoured by _Rás_, and the sun by _Zanab_; but as their throats are

rent open, whatever is taken in at the mouth issues at the aperture in

the throat: by this allegory they allude to the lunar and solar

eclipses.[60]

Brahma dwells in a city called _Rást Lok_;[61] Vishnu in a region

called _Vaikanth_; and Mahadeo on a mountain of silver named

_Káilasa_. They also maintain that the fixed stars have no actual

existence, but that the objects which shine by night are couches of

gold set with diamonds and rubies, on which the inhabitants of

paradise repose. [62]*On this Shidosh remarks: “It is agreed that

paradise means the heavens, and also that the fixed stars are in the

eighth heaven; so that, consequently, the heavens constitute the

couches of the souls.”*[63]

They esteem the majesty of the great light as the supreme of angelic

beings, and on a careful investigation of their books, acknowledge no

existence as superior to him in dignity; as the constitution of

elemental compounds, and the existence of all beings is dependent on

and connected with his auspicious essence. They moreover regard

Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh, the radiance and reflexion of his light;

saying, it is his majesty alone which, by its acts and operations, is

called by these three names. They represent him as a sovereign, in the

human form, seated in a chariot which signifies the fourth heaven, to

which are attached seven horses, with angels and spiritual beings,

accompanied by royal trains and gorgeous pomp, continually passing

before his majesty. They also esteem him as the source of existence

and as universal existence. *They also believe the earth to be the

skin of a Raksh or evil genius, who was put to death, and his skin

stretched out: the mountains are his bones; the waters his blood; the

trees and vegetables his hair. By Raksh they mean a demon, which here

implies the material elements on this earth, which according to them

is supported on four legs; alluding in this to the nature and number

of the elements, each of which rests on its own centre.

According to them Saturn limps, which typifies his long period of

revolution; and _Bhúm_, or _Maríkh_, “Mars,” is a demon, on which

account they ascribe to him a malignant influence.* _Zoharah_, or “the

regent of Venus,” is the director of the demons, and to this planetary

spirit they ascribe the sciences and religions of the barbarians, and

the creeds of foreign nations.

The Muhammedan doctors say, that Islamism is connected with this

planet, from which source proceeds the veneration paid by them to

Friday, or the day of Venus. _Múshteri_, “Jupiter,” is accounted the

director of the angels, and the teacher of the system of Brahma, which

is conveyed in a celestial language, not used at present by any beings

of elemental formation: thus, although the Koran is a divine

revelation, the language of it is in general use among the Arabs; but

the four Véds which the Hindus account a celestial volume, is written

in Sanskrit, a language spoken in no city whatever, and found in no

book, save those of a particular sect: it is called by them “the

speech of angelic beings.” The Véda was given to them by Brahma, for

the due arrangement of human concerns. By angels or divine beings,

they mean eloquent speakers, and learned authors, who, being

illuminated by the effulgence of primitive wisdom, interpreted

whatever was revealed to them. It is to be remarked, that every one

who pleases may derive from the Védas arguments in favour of his

particular creed, to such a degree, that they can support by clear

proofs the philosophical, mystical, unitarian, and atheistical

systems, faith, and religion; Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity,

fire-worship, the tenets of the Sonites, or those of the Shíâs, etc.;

in short, these volumes consist of such ingenious parables and sublime

meanings, that all who seek may have their wishes fulfilled.

They say that the Almighty is a great body, and that all other beings

are in his belly; which resembles the opinions maintained by the

venerable Shaikh Shahbáb ud deen Maktúl, whose tomb may God sanctify!

namely, that the universe is one body, which contains all others in

existence, and is called the universal body. It has one spirit, which

comprehends all others, and is called the universal soul; and one

single object of intelligence, from which they derive all

intelligences, calling it the universal intelligence. It is stated in

the Mujmal al Hikmat, or Compendium of Philosophy, that the Almighty

is the spirit of spirit; and according to _Azar Húshangian_, “the

intellect of intellect.” _Shaikh Bó Ali_[64] (whose place of repose

may God illuminate!) thus speaks:

“The Almighty is the soul of the universe, and the universe the

reunion of all bodies;

The different angelic hosts are the senses of this frame;

The bodies, the elements, and the three kingdoms are its members;

All these are comprehended in the divine unity; all other things

are illusion.”

This sect gives the appellation of _Rakshas_, which means evil genii

or demons, to all those who do not profess their faith, and who

perform not good works.

Time, in Hindawi _Kal_, is a measure of the movement of the great

sphere, according to the philosophers of Greece and Persia. The author

has also heard from the Brahmans, and in conformity to the opinions

ascribed to the most distinguished persons of their caste, it is

stated in the work entitled _Muadan Ushshaffai Iskandari_ (a selection

taken from several Hindi medical treatises), that time, according to

the Hindu philosophers, is a necessarily-subsisting immaterial

substance, durable, incorporeal, that will ever last, and admits not

of annihilation. Time has been divided into three kinds, namely, past,

present, and future; but, as in their opinion time admits neither of

alteration nor extinction, these divisions are not in reality its

attributes, although correctly used when applied to acts performed in

time. According to the succession of acts, they figuratively describe

time as past, present, and future; as in reference to the solar

revolutions and phases, they call it by the names of days, nights,

months, years, and seasons: in short, they have so many intricate

distinctions of this same nature, that the mere attempt to enumerate

them would fill several volumes. They all agree that this world is to

continue for four ages: the first, the _Rast yug_, “the

righteous,”[65] which lasted one million seven hundred and

twenty-eight thousand common years; during which, all human beings,

high and low, exalted and humble, princes and servants, adhered to the

practice of righteousness and truth, passing their glorious existence

in a manner conformable to the divine will, and devoted to the worship

of the Almighty; the duration of human life in this age extended to

one hundred thousand common years. The second, the _Treta Yug_,[66]

which lasted one million two hundred and ninety-six thousand common

years: during this period, three-fourths of the human race conformed

to the divine will, and the natural duration of life extended to ten

thousand years. The third was the _Dwapar Yug_,[67] which lasted eight

hundred and sixty-four thousand ordinary years, during which one half

the human race performed good works and their life was limited to a

thousand years. The fourth is the _Kali Yug_,[68] or “iron age,” which

is to last four hundred and thirty-two thousand years, during which

three-fourths of the human race will be immersed in sin, infatuation,

and evil works, and the term of human life reduced to a hundred and

twenty ordinary years. These four ages (4,320,000 years) they call a

_Chakra_, and seventy-one Chakras a _Manwantar_; on the expiration of

seventy-one Chakras, there elapses one day of the life of India, the

ruler of the upper world; and on the expiration of fourteen

Manwantars, reckoned according to the preceding calculation, one day

of Brahma’s life is terminated.

They say, that the Almighty, having united himself with Brahma’s body,

created the world through his medium: Brahma thus became the Creator,

and brought mankind into existence, making them of four classes,

namely: the _Brahman_, _Chattriya_, _Vaisya_, and _Sùdra_. To the

first were assigned the custody of laws and the establishment of

religious ordinances; the second class was formed for the purposes of

government and external authority, being appointed the medium for

introducing order into human affairs; the third was composed of

husbandmen, cultivators, artisans, and tradesmen; and the fourth for

every description of service and attendance. All races not comprised

in one of these four divisions are not accounted of human origin but

of demoniacal descent: however the demons or Rakshas, through the

practice of religious austerities, attained to such dignity that

Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh (Siva) became their attendants. Thus

Rávan,[69] through the efficacy of religious mortification, became

lord of the world and its inhabitants; Brahma was reader of the Vedas

at his court; the sun filled the office of cook; the clouds were his

cup-bearers, and the wind his chamberlain.

[70]Finally, according to the sectaries, the life of Brahma lasts a

hundred extraordinary years of three hundred and sixty days, with

nights corresponding to the days,[71] so that up to the present time,

that is, the period of composing this work, in the year of the Hejira

1055 (A. D. 1645), there have elapsed four thousand seven hundred and

forty-six years of the Kali-Yug. So many Brahmas have appeared, that

the sums of their years exceed the limits of human comprehension; they

have merely a tradition that one thousand Brahmas have successively

appeared and been annihilated; so that the present is the thousand and

first, of whose life fifty years and half a day are expired, which

commences the half-day of the fifty-first year. As soon as the age of

Brahma terminates, according to the preceding calculation, or amounts

to the destined number, he then forms twelve blazing suns, whose heat

and splendor consume alike both earth and water, so that there remains

not a vestige of this world or its productions, and mankind plunge

beneath the waters, which catastrophe is called _Pralaya_, in Hindawi:

after this event, another Brahma appears and creates the world anew,

which process of dissolution and reproduction continues to all

eternity. The _Hakim Umr Khakani_ says:

“Those who adorn the heavens, which are a particle of time,

Come, and depart again, re-appear on the same stage――

For, in the skirts of heaven and the robe of earth, there is

A creation which is successively born as long as God exists.”

By the prolonged periods of duration ascribed to these celestial

personages, they allude to the antiquity of the world, which is so

immensely great that it cannot be comprised in numbers. The man of

spiritual attributes, Shídosh, the son of Anosh, says: “On the

termination of the great cycle, human creatures reappear, and the

water enveloping the terrestrial globe becomes of the same radical

constitution as the waters on high; again, through the intense heat of

the luminary, the water disappears, and twelve suns are formed: from

the ascent of vapors and the blending of exhalations, the celestial

disks are enveloped, when the tailed comets, which the Persians call

‘minor suns,’ and the Arabs _Shamseyat_, or ‘smaller solar

bodies,’[72] * consume alike the humid and the dry: such is the

necessary termination of that cycle: the world and its inhabitants

will be created anew.” * Mulla Ismail Suffi, of Isfahan, says:

“The world which is one, the creator, and the creation,

Both these worlds are like the scum of his cup;

This revolution of time resembles a painted lantern,

Which, notwithstanding its motion, remains in the same position.”

The assertion “that only the four classes above enumerated are of

human race,” implies that this denomination is attached to the

professors of humanity, virtue, and discrimination; superior to which

is showing mercy to the animal creation; also the knowledge of one’s

self and of the Creator; nay, the person destitute of these

characteristics has no share of the nature of man. Thus the sage

Ferdusi says:

“Whoever deviates from the path of humanity

Is to be accounted a demon, and not of human race.”

According to these sectaries, the worship offered to the forms of

Mahadeo and Naráyan, and to the statues of the other spiritual beings,

is highly to be commended. Strangers to their faith suppose them to

look upon the idol as God, which is by no means the case, their belief

being as follows: “The idol is merely a Kiblah, and they adore under

that particular form, the Being who has neither accident nor form.”

Moreover, as mankind is an assemblage composed of superiors and

inferiors, they have made images of the directors of the people, and

constituted them their Kiblah: besides, as all things exhibit the

power of the Almighty, they form images according to their similitude.

They also say, that as the Avátars are radiant emanations of the

divine essence, they therefore make images on their likeness, and pay

them worship: so that, whatever is excellent in its kind, in the

mineral, vegetable, or animal world, is regarded with veneration, as

well as the uncompounded elementary substances, and the starry

spheres. Rai Manuhar Kuchwáhhah has said:

“O Moslem! if the Kâbah be the object of thy worship,

Why dost thou reproach the adorers of idols?”

[4] प्रकृति _Prakriti_, or मूल प्रकृति _Mula Prakriti_, “the

root or Plastic origin of all;” termed प्रधान _Pradhána_,

“the chief one; the universal material cause;” identified by

the cosmogony of the Puránás with _Maya_, or “illusion;” and

by mythologists with _Bráhmí_, “the power or energy of

Brahmá” (_Colebrooke’s Essays_).

_Prakriti_, in philosophy, “the passive or material cause of

the world,” as opposed to the active or spiritual; and in

mythology, a goddess united to the primeval male, and the

genitress of the world (_Wilson_).――D. S.

[5] The quotations of our author are too general for being

referred to particular parts or passages of the Hindú books.

The above doctrine is contained in a great number of their

treatises. In the _Vedanta sara_, or “Essence of the Vedanta

doctrine” (p. 16, Calcutta edit.), we find mentioned the

fourteen भुवनानि _Bhuvanáni_, or “worlds.”――A. T.

[6] योजन _Yojana_, or _Jojun_, “a measure of distance” equal

to four Crosas, which at 8,000 cubits or 4,000 yards to the

Crosa, or Cas, will be exactly nine miles: other computations

make the Yojana but about five miles, or even no more than

four miles and a half (_Wilson’s Dict._).――D. S.

[7] More properly of egotism, which is the literal sense of

the term: its peculiar function is अभिमान _Abhimana_, or

“selfish conviction; a belief that in perception or

meditation _I_ am concerned; that the objects of sense

concern _me_; in short, that _I_ am” (_Colebrook’s

Essays_).――D. S.

[8] Derived from _Mahat_, “great,” महत् also the

intellectual principle and तत्व _Tatva_, “essential

nature――the real nature of the human soul, considered as one

and the same with the divine spirit animating the universe;”

the philosophical etymology of this word best explains its

meaning, _Tat_, “that; that divine Being;” and त्वं _Twam_,

“thou:”――“that very God art thou.” _Tatva_ also means

“reality, truth, substance,” opposed to what is illusory or

fallacious (_Wilson_).――D. S.

[9] भूर्लोक _Bhúrlóka_.

[10] भुवर्लोक _Bhuvarlóka_.

[11] सुरलोक _Suralóka_, “the heaven of Indra, and residence

of the celestials.”

[12] महर्लोक _Maharlóka_, “a region;” said to be one Crore,

or a million of Yojanas above the polar star, and to be the

abode of those saints who survive the destruction of the

world.

[13] जन लोक _Jana-lóka_, “the region where the sons of

Brahmá and other pious men reside.”

[14] तप लोक _Tapa-lóka_, “the abode of Ascetics.”

[15] सत्य लोक _Satya-lóka_, “the abode of Brahma and of

truth.”

[16] Here begin the seven divisions of the infernal

regions:――अतल लोक _Atala-lóka_, “the region immediately

below the earth.”

[17] वितल लोक _Vitala-lóka_, “the second region in descent

below the earth.”

[18] सुतल लोक _Sutala-lóka_, “the third region in descent,”

etc.

[19] तलातल लोक _Talátala-lóka_, “the fourth region,” etc.

[20] महातल लोक _Mahátala-lóka_, “the fifth region in descent

below the earth,” inhabited.

[21] रसातल लोक _Rasátala-lóka_, “the sixth region,” etc; the

residence of the Nágás, Asuras, Dáityas, and other races of

monstrous and demoniacal beings, under the various

governments of Sécha, Bali, and other chiefs.

[22] पाताल लोक _Pátála-loka_, “the seventh infernal region,”

the abode of the _Nágas_, or “serpents.”――A. T.

[23] स्व भाव _Svabháva_: derived from _Sva_, “own,” and

_Bháva_, “property.”

[24] मिम _Sima_, “all,” “entire.”

[25] (See note, p. 11). Another internal spirit, called

_Mahat_, or “the great soul,” attends the birth of all

creatures imbodied, and thence in all mortal forms is

conveyed a perception either pleasing or painful. Those two,

the vital spirit (_Jivatman_) and reasonable soul, are

closely united with the five elements, but also connected

with the supreme spirit, or divine essence, which pervades

all beings, high and low (_Menu_, b. 12., sl. 13 and

14).――D. S.

[26] सत्तवः, रजः, तमस् _satvas_, _rajas_, _tamas_, “truth”

or “existence;” “passion” or “foulness;” and “darkness” or

“ignorance,” are called the three great गुणाः _gunás_, or

properties of all created beings.――A. T.

[27] Of these five words, the two first are Persian, the

other three Sanskrit: the text is probably corrupt.――A. T.

[28] According to the _Vayu-purana_ (chapt. v.) Vichnu

proceeded from Satva, Brahma from Rajas, and Mahadéva, or

Siva, from Tamas.――A. T.

[29] The latter part of this sentence is according to the

reading of the manuscripts.――D. S.

In the edit. of Calcutta it is placed in the next line, and

connected with the contents of the world, as if these had

been with numberless heads, hands, and feet.――A. T.

[30] शेष _Sésha_, “the king of the serpent-race;” “a large

thousand-headed snake;” “the couch and canopy of Vishnu;”

and “the upholder of the world, which rests on one of his

heads.”――D. S.

[31] कुवल _kuvala_, from _ku_, “earth,” and _vala_, “to

cover.”――A. T.

[32] This etymology is founded upon a wrong spelling of the

name _Na-rang_, or _No-rang_, “no color,” instead of

Naráyana.――A. T.

[33] The definitions contained in the remainder of this

sentence are in the original incorporated with the text. In

the present, as in every similar instance, that arrangement

has not been disturbed.――D. S.

[34] अवतार _avatára_, from _ava_, “down, off,” and _tri_,

“to cross;” signifying “descent,” “translation.”

[35] करण _karana_.

[36] An evil spirit, a demon, a vampire, a fiend, but who

appears to be of various descriptions; and is either a

powerful Titan or enemy of the gods, in a superhuman or

incarnate form, as Ravana and others; or an attendant on

Kuvera and guardian of his treasures; or a mischievous and

cruel goblin or ogre, haunting cemeteries, animating dead

bodies, and devouring human beings. The Asurs are also

demons, and of the first order; the children of Diti, by

Kasyapa, engaged in perpetual hostility with the gods.

According to Hindoo mythology, Kasyapa is the name of a

_Muni_, or “deified sage;” who is the father of the

immortals――gods and devils (_Wilson_).――D. S.

[37] अनन्त वेद _ananta veda_, “the eternal Veda.”

[38] चैत्र _Cháitra_.

[39] कृष्ण पक्ष _Krishna paksha_, “the dark half of a month;

the fifteen days during which the moon is in the wane.”

[40] वासुकि _Vasuki_, “the sovereign of the snakes;” from

_Vasu_, “a jewel,” and _Ka_, “the head” (_Wilson_).――D. S.

[41] The mountain with which the ocean was churned by the

Surs and Asurs after the deluge, for the purpose of

recovering the sacred things lost in it during that

period.――D. S.

[42] The most ancient division of the Zodiac consisted of

twelve signs, namely: मेष _Mesha_, the Ram; वृष _Vrisha_,

the Bull; मिथुन _Mithuna_, the Pair; कर्कट _Karkat´a_, the

Crab; सिंह _Sinha_, the Lion; कन्या _Kanya_, the Virgin;

तुला _Tula_, the Balance; वृश्जिक _Vriśchica_, the Scorpion;

धनु _Dhanu_, the Bow; मकर _Makara_, the sea-monster; कुम्भ

_Kumbha_, the Ewer; मीन _Mina_, the Fish.

Sripeti, the author of the _Retnamálá_, has described them

in Sanscrit verse, of which the verbal translation is

annexed:

“The Ram, Bull, Crab, Lion, and Scorpion have the

figures of those five animals respectively; the Pair

are a damsel playing on the vina, and a youth wielding

a mace; the Virgin stands on a boat, in water, holding

in one hand a lamp, in the other an ear of rice corn;

the Balance is held by a weigher, with a weight in one

hand; the bow by an archer, whose hinder parts are like

those of a horse; the Sea-monster has the face of an

antelope; the Ewer is a water-pot borne on the shoulder

of a man who empties it; the Fishes are two, with their

heads turned to each other’s tails, and all these are

supposed to be in such places as suit their separate

natures” (_Sir W. Jones_, vol. I. p. 336).――D. S.

[43] सुक्ल पक्ष _súklapakcha_, “the light half of a month;

the fifteen days of the moon’s increase; or from new to full

moon.”――A. T.

[44] वैशाख _Váisákha_, “the month in which the moon is full

near the southern scale” (April-May); the first month in the

Hindu calendar.――A. T.

[45] भाद्र _bhadra_, “the month when the moon is full near

the wing of Pegasus” (August-September).――A. T.

[46] Vámana was so small, that in his journey, when he got

to the side of a hole made by a cow’s foot, and which was

filled with water, he thought it was a river, and entreated

another Brahman to help him over it. On coming into Bali’s

presence, he petitioned only for as much land as he could

measure by three steps; and the king ordered his priest,

notwithstanding his remonstrances, to read the usual

formulas in making such a present. Vámana then placed one

foot on India’s heaven, and the other on the earth; when lo!

a third leg suddenly projected from his belly, and he asked

for a place upon which he might rest his third foot. Bali

then, by his wife’s advice, gave his head for Vámana to set

his foot upon; Vámana next asked for a Dakshina, “a small

present which accompanies a gift;” but Bali was unable to

comply, as he had now lost every thing: in this dilemma he

offered his life, which Vishnu declined taking, as he had

promised Prahláda not to destroy any of his race. He

therefore gave him his choice of ascending to heaven, taking

with him five ignorant men; or descending to Patála, the

world of the hydras, with five wise men. Bali chose the

latter, as Vishnu promised to protect him against suffering

punishment there for his crimes on earth.

(_Ward on the Hindoos_, vol. I. p. 7.)――D. S.

[47] परशु राम or “Ráma with an axe.” He was the son of the

Muni Jamadagni, born at the commencement of the second or

Tréta-yug.――A. T.

[48] This is the Rama-chandra, the son of Daśarat´ha,

king of Ayodhya, or the modern Oude, and born at the

close of the second age.――A. T.

[49] Sitá, the daughter of the king of Mithila (the modern

Tirhut) was taken away by Rávána himself, who had come from

Lanka to the Indian peninsula, in order to revenge so many

Rakshasas, his relations, who had been destroyed by the

bravery of Ráma. This hero, having allied himself with

Hanuman and Sugriva, two chiefs of savage tribes,

represented as monkeys, conquered with their assistance the

island of Lanka, overthrew and slew in battle Rávaná, and

recovered his wife. The narration of these events forms one

of the most interesting parts of the Rámáyana, an ancient

and sacred poem relating the history of Ráma-chandra.――A. T.

[50] The beginning of the Kali-yug, succeeding the

Dvapar-yug, being fixed 3102 years B. C., Buddha would have

appeared 3112 years B. C.――A. T.

[51] The author, if even no Zoroastrian, seems to allude

here to _Honover_, “pure desire,” a general name for “the

word of Ormuzd;” it existed before all the good and evil

beings created by Ormuzd and by Ahriman; it was by

pronouncing it that the first triumphed over the latter, and

continued to extend and to protect the creation

(_Zend-Avesta_, I. 2 P. pp. 85. 138. 140. 412. II. 347. 348.

and elsewhere).――A. T.

[52] The Sri Bhagavat mentions the birth of this celebrated

sage in the Satya Yog, in the heaven of Brahma, from whose

mind he was born; the Kalika puranah gives an account of

another birth in the Padma Kalpa, when his father’s name was

Mitra Varúna, and his mother’s Kúmbha. The Ramáyana mentions

him as priest to the kings of the solar race for many ages.

This philosopher taught in substance the doctrines of the

Vedanta school. He is said to have had ten thousand

disciples.

(_Ward, on the Hindoos_, vol. IV. p. 19.)――D. S.

[53] Rĭshi, a kind of saint; that holy and superhuman

personage which a king or man of the military class may

become by the practice of religious austerities. Seven

classes of Rishis are enumerated: the _Dévarshi_,

_Brahmarshi_, _Maharshi_, _Paramarshi_, _Rájarshi_,

_Kándarshi_, and _Srutarshi_: the order is variously given,

but the Rájarshi is inferior to the four preceding ones, and

the two last appear to be the inspired saints of the Hindoo

mythology.――D. S.

The simple name is especially applied to seven sages of the

Bráhmarshi order, contemporary with each of the seven Menus;

those of the present Manvantara are: _Marichi_, _Atri_,

_Angiras_, _Pulastya_, _Pulaha_, _Kratu_, and _Vasishta_.

The names of each series differ: those specified also form,

in astronomy, the asterism of the Greater Bear

(_Wilson_).――A. T.

[54] This name, repeated in the Dabistán (see hereafter the

chapter upon the Nanak Panthians), never occurred to me

elsewhere.――A. T.

[55] The name of a saint celebrated in Hindu mythology, more

usually entitled _Agastya_, the son of both _Mitra_ (the

sun) and _Varuna_ (the lord of waters) by _Urvasi_ (a nymph

of heaven); he is represented of short stature, and is said

by some to have been born in a water-jar: he is famed for

having swallowed the ocean, when it had given him offence;

at his command also the Vindhya range of mountains

prostrated itself, and so remains; hence his present

appellation: he is also considered as the regent of the star

Canopus――(_Wilson’s Dictionary_, _sub voce_).――A. T.

[56] अश्वमेध _aśvamédha_, from _aśva_, “a horse,” and

_médha_, “a sacrifice.” Colebrooke, in his Essay on the

Védas (_As. Res._, VIII., ed. Calc.) states, that the horse

is “avowedly an emblem of _Viráj_, or the primeval and

universal manifested being. In the last section of the

_Taittiríya Yajurvéda_, the various parts of the horse’s

body are described as divisions of time and portions of the

universe: morning is his head; the sun, his eye; air, his

breath; the moon, his ear; etc. A similar passage in the

fourteenth book of the _Sátapat´ha bráhmańa_, describes

the same allegorical horse for the meditation of such as

cannot perform an Aśvamédha; and the assemblage of living

animals, constituting an imaginary victim at a real

Aśvamédha, equally represent the universal Being, according

to the doctrines of the Indian scripture. It is not however

certain, whether this ceremony did not also give occasion to

the institution of another, apparently not authorized by the

Védas, in which a horse was actually sacrificed.” That this

was really the case, we may infer from the frequent mention

of such sacrifices, made in the historical poems of the

Hindus and from the analogous instances of them found among

the Western nations. The Massageti and the Persíans

sacrificed horses to the sun; the Magians also to the rivers

(see _Herod._, l. I. VII.; _Xenoph._, l. VIII. See also upon

the sacrifice of a horse, _Exposé de quelques-uns des

principaux articles de la Théogonie des Brahmes_, par M.

l’abbé Dubois, ci-devant Missionnaire dans le Meissour.

Paris, 1825).――A. T.

[57] The passage between the asterisks is not in the

manuscripts.――D. S.

[58] This passage, relative to space, is as obscure as the

subject itself is metaphysical. The notions here expressed

are in accordance with the Vedanta doctrine, by which

_akas_, or “pure ether,” is the universal space, including

all, and the vacuum between the separate objects therein.

There is a vacuum unconnected with every thing, and in it

these particular vacuums are absorbed. This appears

conformable enough with modern philosophy, but the Hindus

applied it to the divine spirit itself: thus, they say that

there is a perfect spirit, in which individual souls and the

aggregation of all souls take refuge, and so Brahma and the

individuated spirits are one: both pure life. We may here

recollect that sir Isaac Newton, in attempting to define

space, compared it to “Something like the organ of

divinity.” According to the Vedanta-sara, there is no

difference between the all-ruling spirit and that of the

sage; as there is none between the forest and the trees and

the inclosed atmosphere; or between the lake and the parts

of the water, and the image of the sky which falls in it. We

are informed by Damascius, an author of the sixth century of

our era, who quotes Eudemos, a disciple of Aristotle

(_Wolfií Anect. Græca_, t. III. p. 259), that the united

intellectual all is called “space” by the Magians and by the

whole race of the Arians, which name may be applied to the

nations inhabiting the countries situated to the East and

West of the Indus.――A. T.

[59] The earth according to the Hindus is circular and flat,

like the flower of the water-lily, in which the petals

project beyond each other: its circumference being four

thousand millions of miles. In the centre is mount Sumeru,

ascending six hundred thousand miles from the surface of the

earth, and descending one hundred and twenty-eight thousand

below it. It is one hundred and twenty-eight thousand miles

in circumference at its base, and two hundred and fifty-six

thousand wide at the top. On this mountain are the heavens

of Vishnu, Siva, Indra, Agni, Yama, Noirita, Varúna, Váyú,

Kúvéra, Isha, and other gods. The clouds ascend to about

one-third of the height of the mountain: at its base are the

mountains Mandara, Gundha-mádana, Vipúla, and Súpárshwa, on

each of which grows a tree eight thousand eight hundred

miles high (_Ward’s Hindoos_, vol. III. p. 3).――D. S.

[60] According to the Máhábharat, when the _Súras_ and

_Asúras_ (the gods and _Dáityas_, or “demons”) had, by the

whirling of the ocean, obtained the _Amrita_, or “the nectar

of immortality,” a fierce dispute arose among them about the

possession of it; but Vishnu succeeded in obtaining it for

the Súras. Ráhu, a demon under the disguise of a Súra, was

about to drink it, when, informed of it by the sun and the

moon, the god just mentioned, by a blow with his chakra,

struck off the demon’s head, which, flying up to heaven,

since keeps an inextinguishable hatred against the two

luminaries who had betrayed him, and now and then swallows

the sun or the moon.――A. T.

[61] The name of Brahma’s heaven is properly सत्य लोक _satya

loka_, “the world of truth.”

[62] The words between the asterisks are not in the

manuscripts.――D. S.

[63] Not in the manuscripts.――D. S.

[64] A particular account of the Muhammedan doctors is to be

given hereafter.――A. T.

[65] In Sanskrit कृत युगं _Krita-Yugam_ and सत्य युगं

_Satya-Yugam_, “the righteous age.”――D. S.

[66] त्रेतायुग from त्रै _trai_, “to preserve.”

[67] द्वापर युग _Dwapar_, from _dwa_, “two,” and _par_,

“after, subsequent.”

[68] The beginning of the Kali Yug is placed about 3001

years anterior to the Christian era.――D. S.

[69] For a more detailed account of the occupations of the

several deities, male and female, see _Moore’s Hindu

Pantheon_, p. 333; and also plates, 52 and 54.――D. S.

[70] A month of mortals is a day and a night of the

_Pitris_, or patriarchs inhabiting the moon; and the

division of a month being into equal halves, the half

beginning from the full moon is their day for actions; and

that beginning from the new moon is their night for slumber.

A year of mortals is a day and a night of the gods, or

regents of the universe, seated round the north pole; and

again their division is this: their day is the northern, and

their night the southern, course of the sun.――D. S.

[71] Learn now the duration of a day and a night of Brahma,

and of the several ages which shall be mentioned in order

succinctly: Sages have given the name of Krita to an age

containing four thousand years of the gods; the twilight

preceding it consists of as many hundreds, and the twilight

following it of the same number.

In the other three ages, with their twilights preceding and

following, are thousands and hundreds diminished by one.

The divine years, in the four ages just enumerated, being

added together, their sum, or twelve thousand, is called the

age of the gods.

And by reckoning a thousand such divine ages, a day of

Brahma may be known: his night also has an equal duration.

The before-mentioned age of the gods, or twelve thousand of

their years, being multiplied by seventy-one, constitutes a

Manvantara, or the reign of a Menu.

There are numberless Manvantaras: creations also, and

destructions of worlds innumerable: the Being supremely

exalted performs all this with as much ease as if in sport;

again and again for the sake of conferring happiness

(_Haughton’s Menu_, p. 11. 12. 13).――D. S.

[72] The manuscript omits all the words after “smaller solar

bodies,” observe the asterisks.――D. S.

* * * * *

SECTION THE THIRD, CONCERNING THE RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES AND CEREMONIES

OF THE SAMARTAGANS (SMARTAS), OR ORTHODOX OF THE HINDUS.――According to

this class, there are two kinds of birth: the first, on quitting the

maternal womb; the second, on the day of assuming the _Munji_[73] or

_Zanar_, and repeating the established forms of prayer; as, until a

person has scrupulously performed both these rites, he is not regarded

as orthodox, nor an observer of their institutes. Under this are

contained the _Shodásán-Karmáni_,[74] “sixteen heads,” commencing with

the woman being purified from periodical illness; her attachment to

her husband; the forms of prayer necessary to be used on the occasion,

and observed until the moment of death; and the acts of charity

enjoined to be performed after the person’s decease.

Of their laudable customs are the following: 1. the _Garbh-ádhána-karma_,[75]

or delivering the likeness of a son, that is, giving up a daughter to

her husband; 2. the _Pungsavana_,[76] or reciting at the proper season

the prayers enjoined to be said, that a virtuous offspring may be

born; 3. the _Símantonnayana_,[77] that is, in the sixth month of a

woman’s pregnancy, the recitation of the proper forms of prayer and

giving a feast to Brahmans; 4. the _Játakarma_,[78] or the rites to be

practised by the father on the birth of a son, in regard to ablution;

_Hóm_, or burnt offerings; _Jap_, or devout meditation and acts of

charity; 5. the _Náma-karana_,[79] when, on the eleventh day after the

child’s birth, they give it a name and repeat the necessary forms of

prayer; 6. on the fourth month they bring out the child, which they

call the _Nish-kramana_;[80] 7. giving the child suitable food and at

a propitious moment, which they call _Anna-prásanna_;[81] 8. at the

age of three years they shave the child’s head and bore its ears,

which rite they call _Chúd´á-karana_,[82] or the ceremony of forming

the crest at the first tonsure of a Hindu. They are strictly enjoined

to observe the above eight ceremonies; and if the child be of the

female sex, they practise the same rites, but without the stated forms

of prayer; excepting at the time of her marriage, when they are bound

to recite the forms appropriated to that ceremony. 9. In his fifth

year, they bind around the child’s waist a string which they call

_Sútram_;[83] this rite they call _Mungi_;[84] the string is to be

made of the bark of the _Darbha_;[85] 10. three days after investing

the boy with the Sutra, they should put the Zanar, or “sacrificial

thread,”[86] about his neck, which they call the _Yajnópavíta_;[87]

11. on assuming the Brahmanical thread they are, by way of charity, to

bestow a cow on the Brahmans, which act they call _Gódán_;[88] 12. is

the ablution of the body with milk, curds, clarified butter, honey,

and sugar, which they call the _Ashnan-panjah_ and _Paraish-chat_;[89]

13. when the boy reaches his fifteenth year, they make him master of a

household; this they call _Viváhah_,[90] or “matrimony;” 14. the son,

after the decease of his father, performs the requisite charities and

donations, which they call _Pind-pradán_;[91] 15. on the 7th of the

month _Mágha_,[92] when the majesty of the great luminary is in

Aquarius, they are to present the Brahmans with pulse, barley, wheat,

black rice, sesamé, gold, and suchlike; this is called _Dán-phal_;[93]

16. on the _Shiva-rátri_,[94] or “night of Siva,” the 21st of the

_Bhágan_ (Phágan, or Phálgun) they present to the Brahmans a serpent

of silver, with red rice, which they call _Phani_.[95]

The above are the sixteen ceremonies. It is moreover necessary that a

Brahman’s son should be invested with the Munji at the age of eight,

the Chatriyas at eleven, and the Vaisyas at twelve, after which

ceremony the boy is to be sent to school.

A Brahman must, whilst performing the offices of nature, fasten the

Munji securely on the right ear, turning his face to the north, but at

night to the south. After performing these offices, he is to take his

instrument, and going three paces farther he is to apply to his hands

water, which is to be in a vessel, and with which earth has been

blended, and this is to be continued until there remains no

disagreeable odour. He is after this to perform his ablution in a

clean place,[96] and seat himself in such a manner that his hands

should be under his knees, with his face to the north or east; next,

whilst repeating the prescribed forms of prayer, he is to put a little

water three times successively into the palm of the right hand,[97]

which he is to swallow without reciting any prayers; he is then to

cleanse the mouth with the back of the left hand, and having taken

into the palm of his hand other water, and dipped the other fingers

into it, he is to apply them to his nose, eyes, and ears; the water

must be pure, without foam or bubble. On this occasion the Brahman is

to swallow so much water that the moisture may extend to his breast;

the Chattri such a quantity as to extend to his throat; the Vaisya

sufficient to moisten the inside of his mouth; the cultivator, women,

and children who have not assumed the Munji, are to apply a little

water to the lips, then immerse the head, and having repeated the

proper forms of prayer, to sprinkle the head several times. The

Brahman is next to compress the nostrils, so that the passage of

inhalation and exhalation should be closed up, and recite the prayers

prescribed on the occasion; then he is to stand for some time, turning

his face towards the great luminary, and repeat the necessary formulæ.

Every morning, on rising up and performing duly the offices of nature,

he is to go through the necessary rites which they call _Sandhya_,[98]

the observance of which, three times every day, is equally imperative

on both Brahman and Chattriya: 1. every morning, or from the dawn of

day until the rise of the world-illuminating solar orb; 2. at midday,

from the sun’s meridian altitude to his declination; 3. at evening, or

from one hour before the setting of the world-enlightening sun until

the rising of the stars. These rites are to be accompanied by

_Ghasal_, or “ablution,” except on the Sandhya of the latter part of

the day, when, if it be impossible, the established prayers only are

to be recited. On performing this ablution, the head is to be several

times sprinkled with water in such a manner that it may fall in drops

on it; after which, having gone through the indispensable forms of

prayer, he is to make the _Homa_, that is, he is to light the holy

fire on a pure spot, and place on it thin and fine pieces of wood, and

having chosen the still more delicate splinters of it, and moistened

them with water, he drops pure rice upon them. The fire being thus

lighted, he addresses prayers to his spiritual guide or his

instructor, father, and elders, and laying his head on the ground,

solicits their benedictions; pronouncing during this adoration his own

name, so that it may be heard by them, after this manner: “I, who am

such a one, in profound adoration address my prayers to you, and

prostrate myself in your presence:” the same prostration must also be

performed to his mother. He then repairs to his master, before whom he

stands in an humble attitude and receives instruction: but after this

form, that the instructor should say of himself, “I am now at

leisure:” he is not to command him, which would be accounted great

rudeness. When the pupil waits on his master, he is to appear before

him dressed in costly clothing; but if both master and pupil should be

in indigent circumstances, the latter is to solicit alms, and thus

procure subsistence for his master and himself: he is moreover to

remain silent at table.

The boy, when invested with the Brahminical thread, is called a

_Brahmachari_, until he enters into the marriage state; after which,

if through the necessity of his own family he derives his daily

support from another quarter, he is not to eat at one place only, but

go round to several doors, and receiving something at each, convey the

whole to its proper destination; but the person, whose father and

mother charge themselves with his annual support, and who can discover

no other Brahman beside himself in that district, is allowed to

satisfy his appetite at one place. Until the time of his marriage, the

Brahmachari eats not honey, never applies collyrium to the eyes, nor

oil nor perfumes to the body; and never eats the viands left at table,

except his master’s; he never utters a rejoinder with harshness or

severity; avoids female intercourse; and never looks at the great

luminary when rising or setting; he is a stranger to falsehood, and

never uses an expression of ill omen; nor holds any one in

detestation, or regards him as an object of reproach; above all, he

shows exceeding veneration to his preceptor.

The ancients commanded that boys should be engaged in the study of the

Veds, or “religious sciences,” from five years of age to twelve. They

have also said: “A Brahman should study the four Védas;” but as the

acquisition of the whole is impossible, their learned men are

consequently satisfied with the knowledge of small portions of each.

The first is the _Rigvéda_, which treats concerning the knowledge of

the Divine essence and attributes; the mode of creation; the path of

righteousness; of life and death. The second, or _Yajúsh-véda_, treats

of the rules prescribed for religious ceremonies, faith, burnt

offerings, and prayers. The third is the _Sámavéda_, which treats of

the science of music, the proper mode of reading the Védas, and the

portions selected from them; from this source are also derived vocal

and instrumental harmony. The fourth is the _Atharva-véda_, which

includes the rules of archery, the prayers proper to be recited when

encountering the foe and discharging arrows against them. If a person

acquainted with this system and form of prayer discharge a single

arrow, it becomes a hundred thousand arrows, some of which contain

fire, others wind, storm, dust, and rain; others vomit forth golden

stones and huge bricks; whilst some assume the forms of tremendous

wild beasts and ferocious animals, which strike terror into the

boldest hearts. Many are the extraordinary modes and wonderful devices

unfolded in this Véda for the total destruction of one’s enemies. Such

is the Atharva Véda, and such the artifices, magic practices,

incantations, spells, and devices contained in it.[99]

The _Brahmachárí_ is of two kinds: one as already described, whom the

Brahmans call Brahmachari, until the period of his becoming a

householder and taking a wife; the second is he who in the course of

this life never enters into the married state, pays no attention to

worldly cares, and continues the devoted servant of his instructor, on

whose death he pays the same attention to his survivors. If the

disciple should happen to die in his master’s house or that of his

successor, it is accounted far more meritorious than in any other

place; and if his decease should not occur, he is carefully to worship

the fire which is made for the purpose of the Hom, or “burnt-offering,”

and diminishing every day the quantity of his food.

Having thus given some statements concerning the Brahmachárí, it now

becomes proper to mention the various modes of contracting marriage

among the Hindus: thus it is related in the first part of the

_Mahábhárat_, that a woman who has lost her husband may lawfully take

another; for when Parasu-Rama had exterminated the Chattris, their

wives held intercourse with the Brahmans and bare them children. It is

also permitted to a wife deprived of her husband, to attach herself to

another; thus _Yojanagandhá_[100] was first the wife of _Paraśara_, by

whom she had a son, the celebrated sage _Vyása_,[101] and she

afterwards became the wife of a king named _Santana_.[102] In the same

work it is also recorded, that a woman may, by her husband’s consent,

maintain intercourse with another; thus, on the arrival of Raja Bali,

a Brahman named _Tamma_, sent him his wife and obtained a son. In like

manner, Raja _Pándu_, who abstained from all intercourse with woman,

permitted his wife _Kuntí_[103] to keep company with others, and she,

by force of his prayers, mixing with angels, had sons. In like manner

it is permitted that the son be separated from the father, but remain

with the mother, and that, on the decease of a brother, another

brother by a different father but the same mother, may marry the widow

of the deceased: thus _Vyása_, the son of _Yojangandha_ by

_Párasaru_,[104] visited the wives of _Vichitra-Virya_, who was born

of the same mother, Yojangandha, by king Santanu, and there was born

to him _Dhritaráshtra_, Raja _Pándu_, and _Vidúra_. It is also allowed

that several individuals of the same race and religion may among them

espouse one wife: thus _Draupadí_, daughter of _Drúpada_, Rája of

_Pánchála_,[105] was married to the five Pandava princes; and

_Ahalyá_,[106] the daughter of _Gautama_, to seven persons; and the

daughter of another holy person, was married to ten husbands. The

Yezdanians ascribe the seclusion of women, and their not choosing

husbands for themselves, to litigation, corruption, and the family

perplexities. It is recorded also in the Mahábhárat, that in ancient

times there was no such practice as the appropriation of husband and

wife; every woman being allowed to cohabit with whomsoever she thought

proper, until once the wife of a holy personage being in the society

of another, Swétakéta, the holy man’s son, feeling indignant at such

conduct, pronounced this imprecation: “Let the woman who approaches a

stranger be regarded as a spirit of hell!” and at present the brute

creation, which possess in common with us, immaterial souls, act

according to the ancient law: many, also, of the northern nations

follow the same practice. In the same work it is also stated, that the

sage Vyása was born of the daughter of a fisherman, whom the sage

Paraśara espoused, from which it follows that the issue of such a low

connection is not to be held as a low or degraded character. Thus far

has been extracted from the Mahábhárat.

According to the Smarttas, there are two kinds of wives: the first is

the legitimate wife, who is degraded by holding intercourse with any

man save her husband: the second are those on whom no restraints are

imposed; of whom there are numbers at the disposition of their chief

men. The princes of ancient times, to all appearance, established this

description of females for the purpose of receiving travellers and

pilgrims, an act which they regarded as productive of great blessings.

Moreover, on account of the increase of the male population, they held

not as a criminal act the holding an intercourse with these females;

but regarded guilt to consist in being intimate with a woman who has a

husband: they moreover esteemed it a base act to defraud the licensed

class of their hire. Tradition records that, in former times, the

_Lulees_, or “dancing women,” who inhabited the temple of the Tortoise

in the city of Kalinga, at first gave their daughters to a Brahman, in

order to conciliate the favor of the Almighty and insure future

happiness; but that afterwards they gave them from selfish purposes,

and exposed them from mercenary motives; even at present, although

they have entirely given up every pious purpose, yet they do not

associate with any save those of their own religion. However, Shir

Muhammed Khan, who was appointed military governor of that province

under the first sovereign, Abdálláh Kuteb Shah, forced them to repair

to the houses of the Moslem: notwithstanding which, the Lulees of the

temple of Jagganath, to this very day hold no intercourse with the

Muhammedans. In Gaya and Soram, when they take a wife, she must be of

noble and honorable descent, and of graceful carriage; and must not

previously have been affianced to any other person; she is not to be

related, in the remotest degree, to the stock or family of her

husband, she ought to have brothers, and her lineage and family for

ten generations are to be publicly known among her contemporaries. Her

relations also make strict inquiries into the merits and demerits of

the bridegroom, particularly as to the state of his health and

stamina. Some writers assert, that a Brahman may occasionally demand

in marriage the daughter of a Chattri, merchant, or cultivator, but on

this condition, that they do not join their husband in partaking of

food or drink.

Among the Hindus there are five modes of contracting marriage;[107]

the first, or _Viváha_, after this form: the damsel’s father looks out

for a son-in-law, to whom he presents money and goods in proportion to

his means, and gives him his daughter, which is the most legitimate

mode.[108] The second is the _Asurvívahah_, when without the consent

of the father or mother, by employing force and violence, or the

influence of money, the damsel is forcibly taken by the bridegroom

from her parents’ house to his own, and there married to him. The

third is the _Gandharviváhah_, when the bridegroom takes the damsel

away with her consent, but without the approbation of her parents, and

espouses her at his own house. The fourth is the _Rákshasa-viváha_,

when the parties on both sides are at the head of armies, and the

damsel, being taken away by force, becomes the victor’s bride.

The fifth is the _Písácha-viváha_, when the lover, without obtaining

the sanction of the girl’s parents, takes her home by means of

talismans, incantations, and such like magical practices, and then

marries her. Písách, in Sanscrit, is the name of a demon, which takes

whatever person it fixes on, and as the above kind of marriage takes

place after the same manner, it has been called by this name.

On espousing a damsel, the intelligent Brahman, having taken the

bride’s hand into his own, must go through the established forms

prescribed by his faith, and move seven steps in advance.[109] When he

espouses the daughter of a Chattrí, at the time of solemnizing the

marriage, an arrow is to be held at one extremity by the bridegroom,

and at the other by the bride; on contracting an alliance with a

merchant’s daughter, the bride and bridegroom are to hold a scourge or

some similar object in the same manner; on his marriage with the

virgin daughter of a cultivator, the parties mark their union by a

token of secret intimacy. When they deliver the bride to her husband,

if her father be not alive, or her paternal grandfather, or if her

brothers be not forthcoming on the occasion, then the most respectable

person of the tribe or family is to perform the necessary ceremonies;

and if the relations be not intelligent, then the damsel’s mother.

It is to be remarked, that when a girl attains the proper age for

entering into the married state, if her parents, notwithstanding their

ability, do not provide a husband for her, they commit a great sin. If

a distinguished suitor should not present himself, they are however to

provide a husband of a good family; this they are to perform only once

in their lives, as on the husband’s death it is unlawful for the widow

to become the wife of another person: after her husband’s decease, she

is obliged to pass the rest of her life in his house. If, previous to

advancing the seven steps prescribed at the time of contracting the

marriage, there should present himself a more distinguished suitor

than the former, it is allowed to take the damsel from the former and

give her to the latter, as before advancing the seven paces, the

matrimonial contract is not binding. Should a wife prove to be

immoral, all intercourse with her must terminate; but putting her to

death or turning her out of doors, are also forbidden: she is to be

confined to a small and dark chamber, clad in a coarse dress, and to

receive food but once a day.

The period of a woman’s illness, according to the Brahmans, extends to

sixteen days: on the four days following the first day of the

symptoms, all intercourse with her is forbidden. Women are strictly

enjoined to show the greatest respect to their husbands, parents,

brothers, and relations, and to use every possible exertion for the

preservation of their husbands’ property. When he goes on a journey,

she is not to deck her person, nor appear cheerful and smiling; she is

not to go to entertainments, to the houses of her acquaintances or

relations, nor invite them to hers.

As long as a girl is unmarried, it is necessary to guard her with the

closest attention; but, when married, this would be highly improper,

with this restriction however, that it is by no means fitting that a

female, from her tenderest years to the period of her maturity, should

be allowed unlimited liberty: on the contrary, she is to be ever

submissive and obedient to her father, husband, and relations: but if

these should not be in existence, the actual rulers are to take care

of her state.

When the husband is on a journey, the wife is not to remain alone in

the house, but is to repair to the dwelling of her parents, brethren,

or relations; and if, on her husband’s death, she become not a

_Sattee_, that is, burn herself with the deceased, she is then to

reside with his relations, devoting herself to rigid abstinence and

the worship of the Almighty. They say that when a woman becomes a

_Sattee_, the Almighty pardons all the sins committed by the wife and

husband, and that they remain a long time in paradise:[110] nay, if

the husband were in the infernal regions, the wife by this means draws

him from thence and takes him to paradise; just as the serpent-catcher

charms the serpent out of his hole. Moreover the Sattee, in a future

birth, returns not to the female sex; but should she reassume the

human nature, she appears as a man; but she who becomes not a Sattee,

and passes her life in widowhood, is never emancipated from the female

state. It is therefore the duty of every woman, excepting one that is

pregnant, to enter into the blazing fire along with her deceased

husband; a Brahman’s wife in particular is to devote herself in the

same fire with her husband; but others are allowed to perform the rite

in a separate place. It is however criminal to force the woman into

the fire, and equally so to prevent her who voluntarily devotes

herself.[111]

The enlightened doctors say, that by a woman’s becoming a Sattee is

meant that, on her husband’s decease, she should consume in the fire

along with him all her desires, and thus die before the period

assigned by nature; as in metaphysical language woman signifies

“passion,” or in other words, she is to cast all her passions into the

fire; but not throw herself into it along with the deceased, which is

far from being praiseworthy. A respectable woman must not from vanity

expose herself to the gaze of a stranger, but she is to wear a dress

which will completely cover her to the sole of the foot.

It is to be noted, that the son of a Brahman by a Chattri female is

not of the father’s caste, but a superior Chattri. It is moreover laid

down as a rule that a Brahman, on becoming a Brahmachárí, should

regularly worship the fire, which fire he is to discontinue at the

time of the marriage contract; but on that occasion he is bound to

light another fire and to recite the prescribed prayers, so that it

may be as a witness of the compact entered into between husband and

wife: also, after the celebration of the marriage, they are to repeat

the prayers prescribed at the time of lighting the fire which they are

ever after to worship daily.

The Brahman is moreover to offer up _Hóma_, or burnt offerings, at the

rising and setting of the great luminary, and to partake of food

twice; once during the day on the expiration of two watches (midday);

the second time at night, on the expiration of one watch: he is also

to assist with food and clothing, to the utmost of his power, the

indigent, and friends who come to his house.

The Chattri is to learn the Védas and Shasters, or the divine

revelations and sciences, but he is not to teach them to another; he

is likewise to perform Hóma, or “burnt-offerings.” His occupation

consists in governing and protecting the human race, for which reason

all monarchs were anciently of the Chattri class, the more effectually

to establish the righteous decrees of Brahma, and the institutions of

the Brahmans.

To the Bakkál, or “merchant caste,” appertains the profession of

buying, selling, and commercial transactions, the protection of

animals, and agriculture, which is attended with profit.

The cultivator, who is called _Dalmah_, or _Kumbí_, is enjoined to

engage in service, to practise tillage, or any employment within his

capacity by which he can gain a maintenance; there are in fact no

limits prescribed as to the nature of his occupations.

All four classes are strictly enjoined not to injure any living being

whatever, especially not to deprive any one arbitrarily of life; to

speak the truth, to act uprightly, and as long as they live not to

defraud a fellow-creature of his wealth.

Every Brahman is obliged once a year to celebrate the established rite

of _Yajna_, or “sacrifice:” if he be in indigent circumstances, he is

to go round to his brethren, and expend whatever he collects in the

Yajna, which is thus performed: there are three _Kundams_,[112] or

“fire-pits” to be formed, in front of which is fixed a wooden post;

then a rope made of Durva grass (in Sanskrit, _Kúsá_) is thrown around

the neck of a black he-goat, and fastened to that post; _Hóm_ is then

offered up during five days; on the first day, the sacrificer and his

wife both perform their ablutions, nine Brahmans at the same time

going through the rite of washing their heads and persons; of these

nine, one is looked upon as Brahma himself, all present obeying his

commands, and the remaining eight Brahmans waiting obsequiously on

him. In addition to these, sixteen more Brahmans are required, who are

to recite by themselves the _Mantra_, or “forms of prayer,” at the

moment of the _Hóm_, or “burnt-offering.” In order to light the fire,

they bring small pieces of a wood which in Sanscrit they call

_Arana_,[113] in Hindi, _Ak_ (asclepias gigantea); and also for the

same purpose another kind, in Sanskrit, _Khandíra_,[114] in Telinga,

_Chandaru_; for the Homa, a wood in Sanskrit called _Pámárak_, in

Telinga, _Utarini_, in Dakhani _Akhárah_, of which they make

tooth-picks; also a wood, in Sanskrit _Udámvarah_[115] (ficus

racemosa), in Telinga, _Miri_, in Dakhani, _Kular_, in Parsi _Anjir

dasti_, or “wild fig;” and another wood, in Sanskrit _samí_,[116] and

in Telinga, _Khammi_; also a grass, named in Sanskrit _Dúrvá_,[117] in

Telinga, _Kargi_, in Dakhani, _Haryálí_; also another sort, called

_Darbas_: altogether nine are required. The eight Brahmans first

mentioned having repeated the proper incantation, lay hold of the goat

in such a manner that they make it lie down on a bed formed of the

leaves and branches of the tree _Khartarhari_, or _Karshartari_, in

Sanskrit, _Kaliśakha_,[118] in Telinga, _Balsúkúma_, and in Dakhani

_Karankabánta_. In the next place, the sixteen Brahmans, having

recited the formula, or appropriate Mantra, stop up all the animal’s

orifices, so that he can neither exhale nor inhale, and keep him in

that position until he dies. Then one of the sixteen Brahmans, cutting

off the head at one blow, flays the carcase and cuts it up into small

pieces, throwing away all the bones to some distance, and then mixes

up clarified butter with the flesh. The eight Brahmans next lay it

piece by piece on the fire, whilst the other sixteen are employed in

throwing on the above mentioned kinds of wood, and pouring clarified

butter on them. The eight Brahmans eat of the meat thus roasted; the

person who offers the sacrifice also partakes of it; after which he

gives among all the officiating Brahmans one hundred and one cows with

their calves, along with a _dakshinah_, or “presents of money.” Hóma

must also be performed on the second day, and gifts presented to the

Brahmans; on the three following days, they recite the appropriate

Mantras, and light up the fire in the manner before described, but lay

no meat upon it; in short, during the whole five days, they entertain

all Brahmans who present themselves, offering up perfumes and giving

presents to each of them. On the expiration of the five days, they

completely fill and stop up two of the fire-receptacles, leaving the

third, which they do not close up until they have removed the fire it

contains to their dwelling: as the fire on this occasion had been made

outside the city, they erect there a house which they burn down on the

completion of the ceremony. When they have taken the fire to their

dwelling, they deposit it in a peculiar receptacle excavated for the

purpose; they offer up the _Hóma_ daily, never suffering this fire to

go out: they also make a covering for it, which they remove at the

time of offering up the Hóma.

The manner of offering the _Hóma_ is as follows: the sacrificer having

performed his ablution and made the _tilek_, or “inaugural mark,” on

the forehead with ashes from the fire receptacle, then celebrates the

Hóma; the rites must be performed by a Brahman, as it is of no avail

when performed by any other. If the officiating Brahman be a

_Vaishnavah_, “worshipper of Vishnu,” he performs the _Yajna_, or

“sacrifice,” in the same manner, excepting that, instead of a goat, he

employs the figure of a goat formed of flour, over which he goes

through the established ceremonies. When one goat is sacrificed, it is

called _Agnishtóma_, or “sacrifice to Agni;”[119] where two are

offered, _Yúnyíkam_;[120] the sacrifice of three is called

_Wajpéya_;[121] the sacrifice of four is called _Jyotishtóma_;[122]

and the sacrifice of five is named _Panjáham_.[123] When they

sacrifice a cow after this manner, it is called the _Gomédha_; the

sacrifice of a horse, _Aswamédha_; that of a man, _Narmédha_.

The _Yajna_, or “sacrifice” is to be offered in the months of _Mágha_,

“January,” _Váisháka_, “April,” or _Márga-sirsha_,[124] “August.”

Every person performs the Yajna once; but he sacrifices a goat every

year; or, if in indigent circumstances, the figure of a goat formed of

flour; and if he be a follower of Vishnu, the goat is to be a figure

formed of the same materials, as among that sect cruelty towards the

animal creation is reckoned as impiety. In their Smriti, or “sacred

writing,” it is thus laid down: “Let that person put animals to death

who has the power of reanimating them, as the victim thus sacrificed

must be restored to life.” Moreover, their pious doctors have said

that, by the sacrifice of a sheep, is meant the removal of ignorance;

by that of a cow, the abandoning low pursuits; by that of the horse,

the curbing of the mind; as according to the Hindus, Manah, or “the

heart,” from which proceed all phantasies and internal sense, is a

fiery and unbroken steed; finally, shedding man’s blood in sacrifice,

implies the eradication of all reprehensible human qualities. It is

also to be highly commended in a Brahman not to devote himself to

lucrative pursuits, but to repair to the abode of his co-religionists,

and being satisfied and grateful for the portion of grain he receives

from them, to give up the rest of his time to devotion; nor is he to

collect so much food as to have any remaining for the next day.

Vessels of gold are esteemed more pure than those of any other metal.

Whenever a Brahman sees an idol-temple, a cow, or a holy personage, he

is to walk reverentially round each. He is not to perform the offices

of nature in running water, nor in a cow-shed, nor in ashes; before a

Brahman, or a cow, or in sight of the great luminary; when he retires

to any place for this purpose, he is not in that state of nudity to

look towards the stars; neither is he to go out naked in rain, nor

sleep with his head to the west; he is not to cast saliva, blood, nor

semen into water, nor extend his feet towards the fire for the purpose

of warming them; he is not to leap on fire, nor drink water with both

hands. It is also wrong to awake, unless in case of necessity, one who

is in a profound sleep; nor is it allowed to sit on the same couch

with a sick person. It is not right to enter upon any undertaking to

which a suspicion of evil consequences is attached. Great care must

also be taken to remove to a distance from the smoke of a dead body on

the funeral pile. No one is to return to his home, whether in a city

or village, except by the public gate. A Brahman must not receive a

gift from a mean and sordid monarch, or from an avaricious person of

degrading pursuits, as in the future investigation, punishment

certainly awaits such conduct: in short, he never accepts any thing

from the impure or base. He is not to look at his wife when sneezing,

yawning, or gaping; when she is seated in privacy at her ease; or when

applying collyrium to her eyes, or anointing her hair.[125] He ought

not to sleep naked in his bed-room, nor in an empty house without a

companion; he ought not to throw water about in play, with the palm of

his hand or with his foot, nor to blow out fire with his breath,

without using any instrument.

It is to be known, that the astronomers among the Brahmans, in their

computation, divide the month into two parts; from the beginning to

the fifteenth day they reckon one part, and call the sixteenth day

_Púrva_, that is, one entire part; and the rest, to the end of the

month, is the other part; in like manner, they have in each month

twice twelve and six days; which they distinguish by the denomination

_dvádásí_, “the twelfth,” and _chachtí_, “the sixth, day” of the lunar

fortnight.

Nobody ought to put his feet upon the shade of a Dív, that is, of the

image of a celestial being, of a king, a preceptor, a saint, and a

married wife of another. It is not right to look with contempt upon a

Brahman. One may beat a delinquent on account of a fault, or a pupil

by way of chastisement, but his blows must not hurt the upper parts of

the body. No man ought to dispute or wrangle with one higher in rank

than himself, nor with a widow, nor with a man without connexion, an

old woman, a beggar, nor with children. Let him feign ignorance with

respect to a mandate upon a woman, and towards a person who should be

aware of the bad conduct of his wife. He is never to take his meal

upon the same table-cloth with a man without religion, a butcher, and

one who sells his wife. The master of the house ought never, with a

loud voice, to invite another to his board, because this looks like

ostentation.

Nine stars are to be worshipped for the increase of wealth, the

accomplishment of our wishes, and the union with the divinity; namely,

Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mercury, the solstice, and the

descending node. Let the pious distribute to the Brahmans and to the

wise men what is prescribed of corn, raiment, and jewels that may suit

them. The king is to possess dignity, wisdom, and affability towards

young and old; he is to be just towards the complainants; at court,

condescending to all, mild and liberal, knowing the truth,

understanding the wishes of men, respectful to the pious and the

saints, and showing deference to the lords of the faith, and the

secluded from the world; he is to be humble and command his ambition;

and in whatever may occur, pleasure and pain, fortune and misfortune,

let his conduct never be mutable and inconsistent.

Whoever runs away in battle, renders himself highly guilty, and all

the merit which he might have acquired before, falls to the share of

another who stood firm in the field of battle.[126] A king who, with

the laudable qualities before described, exerts himself in the

maintenance of his laws, the distribution of justice, and the welfare

of the cultivators, shares the recompense of all the good actions

which the inhabitants of the country have performed.[127] The exercise

of justice is imposed as a necessity upon a king; in order that, if a

son, brother, uncle, brother-in-law, preceptor, or any other friend,

commit a crime, he may immediately, according to the established code

of laws, order their chastisement, terrify, reprimand, or subject them

to retaliation.

In the Hindu Institutes which are called _Smriti_, it is said to be

established that, after the worship of the Supreme God, they ought to

venerate the subordinate divinities, and perform the prescribed rites.

To eat flesh, and to put to death some animals, is therein not

prohibited, excepting the cow; he who kills, or even hurts, this

animal, shall never enjoy the sight of heaven; and they say that he

only who can restore to life, may put to death, an animal; this is

necessary: who destroys a living being must vivify it again; if he be

not able to do this, he ought to forbear from that act, because he

shall not escape punishment for it. According to their learned

interpreters, the killing of certain animals which is permitted in

their sacred books, signifies the eradicating and destroying of such

blameable qualities as are proper to these animals.

In ancient times, it was the custom among the Brahmans and the wise

among them, when they had become householders and begotten a son, to

withdraw from society, and when they had established their sons, to

separate from them, and having retired into a desert, to devote

themselves to the worship of God; and when the sons had children in

their house, their father and mother did not visit each other in the

desert, but lived separate from each other, at the distance of several

farsangs.

The religious austerity of this people is very great; thus they

practise perpetual standing upon their legs, hanging themselves up,

abstaining from conversation, keeping silence, cutting themselves

asunder, leaping down from a rock, and such like. Women used to burn

themselves alive with their dead husbands: this is according to the

_Smriti_,[128] which is ascribed to Brahma, and believed to be eternal

truth.

Of this people, the author of this book saw in Lahor, the capital of

the sultan, a Brahman, called Sri Manu Rama, who would not accept any

nourishment from the Musulmans, nor keep society with strangers. It

was said, that an Umra of the Mahommedans had offered him three lacs

of rupees, which he refused to take. Pursuant to his religion, he

abstained from animal food. Kesayi Tívárí is one of the Brahmans of

Benáres, and well conversant with the science of his class. Having

left his house, he settled on the bank of the river Ravi, which passes

near the garden Kamran, at Lahór: given up to devotion, he seeks no

protection against rain and sun; he lives upon a little milk; and

whatever he has collcted during several months, he spends in the

entertainment of the pious Brahmans whom he invites.

[73] _Munji_, a sort of grass, from the fibres of which a

string is prepared, of which the triple thread worn by the

Brahman should be formed (_Saccharum munja Rox._)――(_Wilson’s

Sanskrit Dictionary._)――D. S.

[74] Ward enumerates only ten _Sanskara_, or “ceremonies:”

_Garbhádhána_, _Púngsavana_, _Simonton-nayana_,

_Játa-karma_, _Nishkramana_, _Náma-karana_, _Anna-práshana_,

_Chúra-karana_, _Upanayana_, and _Viváha_ (vol. III. p. 71).

[75] The above interpretation is not correct; the name of

the ceremony गर्भाधान is derived from _Garbha_, “the fœtus,”

and _adhan_, “taking;” according to Wilson’s Dictionary, a

ceremony performed prior to conception; but, according to

Ward, a ceremony to be performed four months after

conception, including a burnt sacrifice, the worship of the

Shálgráma, and all the forms of the Nándí-Múkhí-Shrádda. The

Shalgrama (from _Shal_, “to move, to shake,” and _Grama_, “a

village”) the _ætites_, or “eagle-stone,” black, hollow, and

nearly round, said to be brought from mount Gandaki, in

Nepaul――an emblem of Vishnu (see Ward, vol. I. p.

283-4-5).――D. S.

[76] पुंसवन. A religious and domestic festival, held on the

mother’s perceiving the first signs of a living conception:

from _pung_, “a male,” and _shu_, “to bear.”

_Nándi-Mukha-Sráddha_, funeral obsequies performed on joyous

occasions, as initiation, marriage, etc., in which nine

balls of meat are offered to the deceased father, paternal

grandfather, and great grandfather; to the maternal

grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather;

to the mother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great

grandmother: from _Nandi_, “good fortune,” and _Mukha_,

“principal.”

[77] सीमन्तोन्नयन a purificatory and sacrificial ceremony

observed by women, on the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of

their pregnancy: from _Simanta_, “a portion of the hair,”

and _Unnayana_, “arranging;” this forming an essential part

of the ceremony――(_Wilson_).

[78] जात कर्म from _Jata_, “born,” and _karma_, “an act

practised at the moment of birth,” in which the Shrádaha,

“the burnt sacrifice,” and other ceremonies, which occupy

about two hours, are performed, and then the umbilical cord

is cut――(_Ward_, vol. III. p. 73).

[79] नामकरण from _Náman_, “a name,” and _Kri_, “to

make”――(_Ward’s Glossary_).

The first part of a Brahman’s compound name should indicate

holiness; of a Chatriya’s, power; of a Vaisya’s, wealth; and

of a Sudra’s, contempt. Let the second part of the priest’s

name imply prosperity; of the soldier’s, preservation; of

the merchant’s, nourishment; of the servant’s, humble

attendance. The names should be agreeable, soft, clear,

captivating the fancy, auspicious, ending in long vowels,

resembling words of benediction――(_Haughton’s Menu_, p. 25).

[80] निष्क्रमण from _Nir_, “forth,” and _Kram_, “to step:”

carrying the child out of the house to see the sun, and

offering up petitions for the long life and prosperity of

the child.

[81] अन्न प्राशन from _Anna_, “food,” and _práśanna_,

“feeding” (_Ward’s Vocabulary_).――“In the sixth month, he

should be fed with rice; or that may be done which, by the

custom of the family, may be thought most propitious”

(_MS._, p. 25).――For the goddess Anna Perenna of the Romans,

the Anna-purna of the Hindus, from _Anna_, “race,” and

_purna_, “to fill” (see _As. Res._, vol. VIII. p. 69. 85).

[82] चूडाकरण from _Chúd´a_, “a single lock of hair left on

the crown of the head at the ceremony of the first tonsure,”

and _Karana_, “the act of making.”

[83] सूत्र _Sútra_, “a thread in general; a string, or

collection of threads,” as that worn by the three first

classes――(_Wilson_).

[84] मुञ्ज _Munja_, “a sort of grass” from the fibres of

which a string is prepared, of which the triple thread worn

by the Brahman should be formed (_Saccharum

Munja_)――(_Wilson_).

[85] दर्भ _Darbha_, _Cúsa_, or “sacrificial grass”――(_Wilson_).

The girdle of a priest must be made of Munja in a triple

cord, smooth and soft; that of a warrior must be a

bow-string of Murva; that of a merchant, a triple thread of

Sana. If the Munja be not procurable, their zones must be

formed respectively of the grasses Cusa Asmantaca, valvaja,

in triple strings, with one, three, or five knots, according

to the family custom――(_MS._ p. 26).

[86] The sacrificial thread of a Brahman must be made of

cotton, so as to be put on over his head, in three strings;

that of a Chatriya, of Sana thread only; that of a Vaisya,

of woollen thread――(_MS._ p. 27).

[87] The यज्ञोपवीत or “sacrificial cord,” originally worn by

the three principal casts of Hindus; at present, from the

loss of the pure Chatríya and Vaisya casts in Bengal,

confined to the Brahmanical order: from _Yajna_, “a

sacrifice,” and _Upavíta_, “a thread.”

[88] गो दान _Go-dána_, from _Go_, “a cow,” and _Dána_, “a

gift.”

[89] Probably अशन पञ्च or पञ्च तन्त्र _asana pancha_, or

_pancha tantra_, “five things.”

[90] विवाह.

[91] पिण्ड प्रदान _Pinda-pradána_, from _pinda_, “a funeral

cake;” an oblation to deceased ancestors, offered at the

several _Sraddhas_, by the nearest surviving relation, and

_prádán_, “the act of giving.”

[92] माघ _Magha_, the name of a Hindu month commencing when

the sun enters Capricornus. (January-February).

[93] दान फल _Dána-phal_, from _Dána_, “a gift,” and _phal_,

“fruit.”

[94] शिव रात्रि _Shiva-ratri_, from _Shiva_, “Siva, the

deity,” in his character of destroyer and reproducer; the

third person of the Hindu triad, and _ratri_, “night,” being

the night of the fourteenth day of the moon’s wane, in the

month _Magha_, or _Magha-phalguna_, a rigorous fast with

extraordinary ceremonies in honour of the _Sivalinga_, or

_Phallus_.

(_As. Res._, vol. III. p. 274.)

[95] फणी _Phani_, from _Phana_, “the expanded hood or neck

of the _Cobra di Capello_”――(_Wilson_).

[96] For a more detailed account, see _Ward on the Hindoos_,

vol. II. p. 29, etc.――The abstract given in the Dabistán is

inaccurate, agreeing neither with _Manu_ nor _Ward_: in

_Manu_, it is as follows (l. II. sl. 58): Let a Brahman at

all times perform the ablution with the pure part of his

hand, denominated from the Veda, or with the part sacred to

the Lord of creatures, or with that dedicated to the gods:

but never with the part named from the _Pitris_. (sl. 59)

The pure part under the root of the thumb is called

_Brahma_; that at the root of the little finger, _Cáya_;

that at the tips of the fingers, _Daiva_; and the part

between the thumb and index, _Pitrya_. (sl. 60) Let him sip

water thrice; then twice wipe his mouth; and lastly, touch

with water the six cavities (or his eyes, ears, and

nostrils), his breast, and his head. (61) He who knows the

law and seeks purity, will ever perform his ablution with

the pure part of his hand, and with water neither hot nor

frothy, standing in a lonely place, and turning to the east

or north. (62) A Brahman is purified by water that reaches

his bosom; a Chatríya, by water descending to his throat; a

Vaisya, by water barely taken into his mouth; a Sutra, by

water touched with the extremity of his lips.――D. S.

[97] This rite is called _Achamana_, performed by taking up

water in the palm of the right hand three times, and

drinking it as it runs towards the wrist; then, with the

right hand, the Brahman is to touch his lips, nose, ears,

navel, breast, forehead, and shoulders, repeating an

incantation; wash his hands again, and perform _achamana_;

repeat an incantatian; then sitting to the N. or E., before

sunrise, cleanse his teeth with the end of a green stick,

about six or seven inches long. If he clean his teeth after

sunrise, in the next birth he will be born an insect feeding

on ordure. He must now wash from his face the mark on his

forehead made the day before. Lastly, he puts a dry and

new-washed cloth round his loins and sitting down, let him

cleanse his poita by rinsing it in the water; then taking up

some earth in his hand and diluting it with water, put the

middle finger of his right hand in this earth, and make a

line botwixt his eyes up to the top of his forehead; then

draw his three first fingers across his forehead; make a

round dot with his little finger in the centre at the top of

his head; another on the upper part of his nose; and another

on his throat; etc., etc. (_Ward_, vol. II. p. 31).――D. S.

[98] _Sandhya._ The Brahman must offer up many prayers; pour

out water to different gods; repeat certain forms of prayer

in honor of the sun, which he must worship; and repeat the

Gáyatrí; then take up water with his Kosha (small copper

cup), and pour it out to his deceased ancestors; after which

he must return home and read some part of the Veda――(_Ward_,

vol. II. p. 31-32).

The _Gáyatrí_ here means a sacred verse from the Vedas, to

be recited only mentally: this is usually personified and

considered as a goddess, the metaphorical mother of the

three first classes, in their capacity of twice-born;

investiture with the sacred and distinguishing string, viz.:

being regarded as a new birth. There is but one Gayatri of

the Vedas; but, according to the system of the Tantricas, a

number of mystical verses are called Gáyatrís, each deity

having one in particular. From _Gaya_, “who sings;” and

_Trai_, “to preserve.”――D. S.

[99] We read in Colebrooke’s Treatise on the Védas (_As.

Res._, vol. VIII. p. 370) what follows: “It is well known,

that the original Véda is believed by Hindus to have been

revealed by Brahma, and to have been preserved by tradition,

until it was arranged in its present order by a sage, who

thence obtained the surname of _Vyása_, or _Véda Vyaśa_,

that is, ‘compiler of the Védas.’ He distributed the Indian

scripture into four parts, which are severally entitled

_Rich_, _Yajush_, _Sáman_, and _At´harvańa_; and each

of which bears the common denomination of Véda.”

After having discussed the question whether the fourth Véda

be more modern than the other three, the celebrated

Indianist concludes (p. 372): “That the three

first-mentioned Védas are the three principal portions of

the Véda; that the _At´harvańa_ is commonly admitted as a

fourth; and that divers mythological poems, entitled

_Itihása_ and _Puránás_, are reckoned a supplement to the

scripture, and, as such, constitute a fifth Véda.” He says

further (_ibid._, p. 378): “Each Véda consists of two parts,

denominated the _Mantras_ and the _Bráhmańas_, or ‘prayers’

and ‘precepts.’ The complete collection of the hymns,

prayers, and invocations belonging to one Véda is entitled

its _Sanhita_. Every other portion of Indian scripture is

included under the general head of divinity (_Bráhmańa_).

This comprises precepts which inculcate religious duties;

maxims, which explain those precepts; and arguments, which

relate to theology.――The theology of the Indian scripture,

comprehending the argumentative portion entitled _Védanta_,

is contained in tracts denominated _Upanishads_.”――A. T.

The Hindus have, besides, _Upavédas_. _Upa_ is a preposition

importing resemblance in an inferior degree; and _Véda_,

from _Vida_, “knowledge.” The four Upavedas comprise the

_Ayu_, on the science of medicine, drawn from the Rig Veda;

the _Gandharva_, on music, from the Sama-Véda; the _Dhanu_,

on military tactics, from the Yajush; and the _Silpa_, on

mechanics, from the Atharvańa.

Hindu learning has six divisions, called _Angas_, that is,

“parts,” or “members.” The six Angas are: _Sikshya_, on

pronunciation; _Kalpa_, on ceremonies; _Vyákarana_, on

grammar; _Chanda_, on prosody and verse; _Jyotisha_, on

astronomy; and _Nirukta_, an explanation of difficult words,

etc., in the Véda. These divisions, as dependant upon the

Védas, are also called _Védangas_. The Hindus count besides

four secondary portions of science, called _Upangás_: these

are: the _Puranas_, or poetical histories; the _Náya_, on

ethics; the _Mímánsa_, on divine wisdom and on ceremonies;

and the _D’harma s astra_, or the civil and canon laws (_Ward_,

vol. IV. p. 55).――D. S.

[100] Yojanagundhá (_Wilson’s Dict._) is a name of

Satyavati, the mother of the sage and poet Vyása.

[101] The great epic poem, _Mahábhárat_, is ascribed to

Vyása, on the wars between the Kurus and the Gandus, when

more than seven millions of men perished. Of the birth of

Vyasa, who divided the Véda into eighteen parts, wrote

eighteen _Puranas_, the eighteen _Upapuranas_, the

_Kalkipurana_, the _Mahabhagavata_, the _Ekámrapurana_, the

_Vedanta darshana_, and founded the _Vedanta_ sect, an

account is given, by himself, in the Mahabharat.――(_Ward_,

vol. III. p. 12).――D. S.

[102] Santanu, the fourth prince in succession from

Sambarana, the son of Riksha, whose reign began at the

commencement of the Kali Yug.

(_Ward_, vol. III. p. 21-22).――D. S.

According to Sir W. Jones (_Works_, IV. p. 32) and to

_Wilson’s Dict._ (_sub voce_), Sántanu was the twenty-first

sovereign of the lunar race in the third age; he was the son

of _Pratípa_, and grandson of _Riksha_ (see also

_Vichnupurana_. _Wilson’s transl._, p. 457.)――A. T.

[103] Kuntí was mother of the five Pandava princes, by as

many gods; the names of the princes were _Yud´hisht´hira_,

_Bhíma_, _Arjúna_, _Nakuĺa_, and _Sahadéva_. Pandu was

interdicted by a curse from connubial intercourse, and

obtained the above five sons through his two wives Kuntí and

Madrí (_Ward_, vol. III. p. 22).――D. S.

[104] _Parásaru_: this philosopher is described as a very

old man, in the dress of a mendicant. He is charged with an

infamous intrigue with the daughter of a fisherman; to

conceal his amour with whom, he caused a heavy fog to fall

on the place of his retreat. Veda Vyasa, the collector of

the Vedas, was the fruit of this interview (_Ward_, vol. IV.

p. 40).――D. S.

[105] One of the thirty-eight divisions of Central India

(_Ward_, vol. III, p. ix.)――D. S.

[106] _Ahalyá_ (_Vichnupurana, Wilson’s transl._, p. 454)

was the daughter of _Bahwaśwa_, and the wife of Gautama.――A.

T.

[107] In the _Institutes of Manu_ (l. III. sl. 21.) eight

forms of marriage are enumerated, viz.: the marriage form of

_Brahma_, of the _Dévas_ (gods), of the _Rishis_ (saints),

of the _Praja patis_ (creators), of the _Asúras_ (demons),

of the _Gandharvas_ (celestial musicians), of the

_Rákshasas_ (giants), and of the _Pisáchas_ (vampires). The

six first in direct order are by some held valid in the case

of a priest; the four last in that of a warrior; and the

same four, except the _Rakshasa_ marriage, in the cases of a

merchant and a man of the servile class. Some consider the

four first only as approved in the case of a priest; one,

that of _Rakshasas_, as peculiar to the soldier; and that of

_Asuras_ to a mercantile and a servile man; but in this code

three of the five last are held legal, and two illegal: the

ceremonies of _Pisáchas_ and _Asuras_ must never be

performed.――A. T.

[108] According to Mr. Wilson, it is when the bridegroom

gives to the bride, her father, and paternal relations, as

much as he can afford. According to Ward, it is when money

is received in exchange for a bride. Where a present is made

to the father of the girl, the caste of the boy is not very

respectable. In the most respectable marriages, the father

not only gives his daughter without reward, but bears the

expenses of the wedding, and presents ornaments, goods,

cattle, and money to the bridegroom (_Ward_, vol. III. p.

163-168). Ward mentions eight kinds of marriage: 1.

_Bráhma_, when the girl is given to a Brahman without

reward; 2. _Daíva_, when she is presented as a gift at the

close of a sacrifice; 3. _Arsha_, when two cows are received

by the girl’s father; 4. _Prájápatya_, when the girl is

given at the request of a Brahman; 5. _Asura_, as above; 6.

_Gandharva_; 7. _Rákshasha_; 8. _Piśhácha_ (_Ward,

ibidem_).――D. S.

[109] See for the marriage customs of the Hindus: _On the

religious ceremonies of the Hindus and of the Brahmans

especially_, Essay III. by H. T. Colebrooke, Esq.; _As.

Res._, vol. VII. p. 288. Calcutta edit.; and also: _Mœurs,

institutions et cérémonies des peuples de l’Inde_, par M.

l’abbé J. A. Dubois, vol. I. chap. VI. pp. 284-326. Paris.

1825.

[110] This passage is nearly a literal translation from the

Hetopades, p. 79:

“Three crores and a half are the hairs on a man;

So long a time shall she live in paradise who follows

her lord.

As a snake-catcher forcibly draws up a snake from his

hole,

In the same manner she, having taken her husband, is exalted

to heaven.

The affectionate wife, who on the funeral pile has embraced

her inanimate

Husband, abandons indeed her own body:

But taking up her husband, who has committed many sins――even

a hundred times

A hundred thousand――she shall obtain the mansions of the gods.”

――D. S.

[111] It is known that the sacrifice of widows was abolished

in the year 1834, in all the Indian provinces under the

government and influence of the English authorities, by lord

William Bentinck, governor-general of India.――A. T.

[112] कुण्डं a hole in the ground for receiving and

preserving consecrated fire.――(_Wilson._)

A part of the sacrifice, called _Yajna_, but it is often

performed separately. The things offered are clarified

butter, sesamum, flowers, rice, boiled in milk and sweetened

in honey, Durva grass, vilwa leaves, and the tender

branches, half a span long, of the _ashwatta_ (ficus

religiosa), the _dumvara_ (ficus racemosa), the _palasha_

(butea frondosea), the _akunda_ (asclepias gigantea), the

_sharni_ (mimosa albida), and the _kladira_ (mimosa catechu)

(see _Ward_, vol. II. p. 58).――D. S.

[113] अरणि _arani_, the plant of which especial use is made

for kindling fire, is the _Premna spinosa_ (_Wilson’s

Dict._).

[114] Perhaps खदिर _khadira_, (mimosa catechu).

[115] उडम्वर _udamvara_, “glomerous fig-tree” (ficus

glomerosa, Rox.).

[116] शमी _samí_ (acacia suma, Rox.).

[117] दूर्वा bent grass, commonly dub (Panicum dactylon)

(_Wilson’s Dict._).

[118] Probably a tree with black blossoms, perhaps काल

स्कन्ध _kála-shandha_, a sort of ebony; or the _tamála_,

bearing dark blossoms.

[119] अग्निष्टोम According to Wilson’s Dict., a sacrifice,

or rather a series of offerings, to fire, for five days, to

be celebrated in the spring, from _Agni_, “the deity

presiding over fire,” and _Stoma_, “an offering.”

[120] Perhaps युग्मकं _yugmakam_, “couple.”――A. T.

[121] वाजपेय from _waj_, “the acetous fermentation of meal

and water,” and _pèya_, to be drunk (by the gods).

[122] ज्योष्टिोम from _jyotish_, “light,” and _stóma_, “an

offering;” a particular sacrifice, at which sixteen priests

are required.

[123] पञ्जहोम From _panja_, “five,” and _hóma_, “a burnt

offering.”

[124] The months are so called from certain Nakshatras, or

the twenty-seven stellar mansions, two and one quarter of

which make up each sign of the zodiac. The sun passes

through those signs in twelve months, and the moon through

each sign in two days and a quarter. _Mágha_ is so called

from the tenth Nakshatra Mágha, represented by a house;

_Vaiśaka_, from Viśakha, the sixteenth, represented by a

festoon; and _Márgaśirsha_, from the fifth Mriga-siras, or

the antelope’s head.――D. S.

[125] Here terminates the translation of the late D. Shee,

p. 201, l. 9, of the Calcutta edition.

[126] According to the _Institutes of Manu_ (chap. VII. sl.

94-95): “The soldier who, fearing and turning his back,

happens to be slain by his foes in an engagement, shall take

upon himself all the sin of his commander, whatever it be:

and the commander shall take to himself the fruit of all the

good conduct which the soldier who turns his back and is

killed, had previously stored up for a future life.”

(_Transl. of Sir W. Jones._)

[127] _Manu_ (_ibid._, ch. VIII. sl. 304-305) determines the

recompense or punishment of good or bad kings as follows: “A

sixth part of the reward for virtuous deeds, performed by

the whole people, belongs to the king who protects them;

but, if he protect them not, a sixth part of their iniquity

lights on him.” The legislator redoubles the amount of

punishment to a bad king in a subsequent _sloka_ (308):

“That king who gives no protection, yet takes a sixth part

of the grain as his revenue, wise men have considered as a

prince who draws to him the foulness of his people.”

[128] It is to be regretted that the author has not

indicated the precise place of the Smriti, which enjoins the

sacrifice of the widows.

* * * * *

SECTION THE FOURTH, OF THE FOLLOWERS OF THE VEDANTA (THE

VEDANTIANS).――This sect belongs to the most learned and wise of this

people. We shall give the substance of their creed. They say: The

explanation regarding the only really existing Being (God) resembles a

science from which a faint likeness of his grandeur may be perceived;

this being and his qualities are pure of all imperfections and

contradictions; he oversees all beings; he discovers all that is

hidden; his existence comprehends all things; decay and deficiency

have no access to the boundless area of his existence; he is the lord

of life, the greatest of spirits endowed with pure qualities, and this

holy Being, this sublime object, they call _Brahma uttama_,[129] “the

most excellent Brahma,” that is, the supreme soul and the most exalted

spirit; and the evidence of this meaning, that is, of his existence,

is the created world; because a creation without a creator will not

come forth from the veil of non-entity into the field of evidence, and

the maker of this work is he, the Lord. This explanation is to be

supported in the field of certainty by the wise arguments of sagacious

people, and by the testimonies of the text of the Véda, that is, of

the heavenly book. The truly existing Being (God) has exhibited this

world and the heavens in the field of existence, but he has nothing

like an odor of being, nor has he taken a color of reality; and this

manifestation they call _Máyá_[130], that is, “the magic of God;”

because the universe is “his playful deceit,” and he is the bestower

of the imitative existence, himself the unity of reality. With his

pure substance, like an imitative actor, he passes every moment into

another form, and having again left this, appears in another dress. It

is he alone who, coming forth in the forms of Brahma, Vishnu, and

Mahadeva, exhibits the true unity in a trinity of persons, and who,

manifesting his being and unity in three persons, separate from each

other, formed this universe. The connexion of the spirits with the

holy Being (God), is like the connexion of the billows with the ocean,

or that of sparks with fire; on that account, they call the soul and

the spirits _jívátmá_.[131] The soul is uncompounded and distinct from

the body and from the material senses; but by the power of selfishness

it fell into a captivity from which the soul strives to be

liberated.[132] The soul has three conditions or states: the first is

the state of being awake, which they call _jágaravast´ha_,[133] and

in this state the soul enjoys quietly the pleasures of nature and

bodily delights, such as eating and drinking, and the like; and it

suffers from the privation of these just-mentioned enjoyments; that

is, it suffers from hunger and thirst, and similar pains; the second

state is that of sleep, called _svapna avast´ha_,[134] and in this

state the soul is happy in the possession of what it wishes and

desires, such as collecting in dreams gold and silver, and similar

things; it is distressed by the want of them; the third state is known

by the name of _Su svapna avast´ha_,[135] that is, “the state of

good sleep,” and in this state there is neither gladness nor sadness

from possession or privation of what is desired, but freedom from

pleasure and pain. It is to be known that they hold sleep to bestow a

prophetic sight of events, and the vision is called _rúyá_ in Arabic:

in this third state however, which they call sleep by excellence, no

events are seen, but it is being plunged in a profound sleep, and this

people do not take it simply for sleep, but they distinguish it as a

sort of lethargy, which they call _su svapna_. They believe the souls

to be imprisoned in these three states, and wandering about in a

circle. The soul in these conditions, although united with a body,

yet, by a number of meritorious deeds, and a virtuous conduct, attains

to the station of knowing itself and God: it then breaks the net of

illusion,[136] and it is the characteristic of saints whom they call

_Jnání_;[137] that, whatever they see in the state of being awake,

they reckon to be a vain illusion, as if presenting itself to men in a

dream. The saint thinks even a man awake to be deceived by a dream;

like one who, from inadvertency, takes a rope for a snake; but it is a

rope, not a snake: he knows the world to be a delusion, which, from

want of knowledge, is thought to be the universe, although, in truth,

it has no reality. This state is called by them _Tarbá avast´há_.[138]

When the saint becomes free from the ties and impediments of the

world, and from the chains of its accidents, then he enters into the

region of freedom, which they call _mukt_.[139] This mukt, according

to them, is divided into five parts: the first is, when the sanctified

man, having attained the dignity of freedom, in the city of the

subordinate divinities (angels), becomes one of them; as in this city

are the residences of the deities, such as the city of Brahma, of

Vishnu, of Mahadéva, and this part is called “the mukt of the pious.”

The second part is, when the devotee, a neighbour and companion of the

gods, is surrounded by an abundance of favor, and the society of the

celestial beings; and this division of the mukt they call _Svámi

prémá_.[140] The third part is, when the pious assumes the form of the

inferior divinities without union with their persons, that is,

whichever of the gods he chooses, it is his shape which he

appropriates to himself, and this part they name _Sára préma_.[141]

The fourth part of the mukt is, when the pious becomes united with one

of the gods, like water with water, that is, when he coalesces with

whichever of the gods he chooses, and this is entitled _svayukti_.[142]

The fifth part is, when the soul of the pious, called _jívátma_,

becomes one with the great spirit whom they call _paramátmá_,[143] and

recognise as the only real being, in such a manner that there remains

no room for a second to rise between, and this they distinguish by the

name of _Jnánam uttamam_.[144]

This is the substance of the creed of the Védantian: whoever possesses

this science is called _Inání_ by the Hindus, and all the principal

men among them are conversant with the doctrine of this sect. The

sublime discourses and wise histories delivered by Vasishta for the

instruction of Rama chandra, are entitled _Vasíshta yog_; and the

speeches which fell from the tongue of Krishna, when he was bestowing

advice upon Arjuna, who was one of the Pandus, go under the name of

_kathá_. Sankara Acharya, who ranks highest among the later learned

men of India, has written much about this doctrine. The dogmas of this

class are as follow: the world and its inhabitants are appearances

without reality, and God is but one necessary and self-existing being,

whom they call _Parama atma_; they say, this appearance and diversity

of form, this order and aspect of heavens, are like the vapor

resembling the sea upon the surface of sandy plains, and like the

vision of a dream; good and bad, pleasure and pain, adoration and

worship of God, are but objects of imagination, and these various

images are illusions;――the deepest pits of hell, the vaults of heaven,

the return to earth after death, transmigration, and the retribution

of actions, all that is but imagination, and variety of imagination.

QUERY Should one say, a principle of life acts in us; there is no

doubt of it; consequently the one is learned, the other ignorant; the

one is happy, the other distressed. How can that be mere imagination,

and appearance?

THE ANSWER they give to it is――If not in a dream, thou wouldst not see

thyself a king issuing mandates, a servant, submissive, imprisoned,

free, a slave, a master, sick, healthy, distressed, merry, melancholy,

and so on. How often in a dream didst thou not feel pleasure and

happiness, or wast overwhelmed by fear, and terror, and anguish? there

is no doubt but all this is mere illusion and empty appearance,

although the dreamer holds it all to be real truth.

Rayi-Rup, who is reckoned among the learned Rajahs, asked the author

of this book: “After having dreamt to have received any wound

whatsoever upon my body, if, as soon as I rise from sleep, I do not

find the least mark of it, I know that it was an illusion; but if in a

dream I converse with a woman, at my waking, I may perhaps not be able

to deny the visible effect of it: why should this happen in the second

case?”

To this question the following answer was given: “What thou thinkest

the state of being awake, this, in the opinion of the enlightened, is

also dreaming; and as it often happens that, thinking in a dream to be

awake, I perceive whatever appears as if I were really awake, whilst I

see it in a dream: in like manner, the usual state of being awake is

held by the wise to be nothing else but a dream. Hast thou not heard

what Kámyáb Samrádí has said in the Samrád námeh? A man had seven

noble sons, each of whom felt the ambition to command in the six parts

of the world. With such a desire, they addressed their devotion to

God. One day they laid their head upon the pillow of repose, and each

had a bright dream. It appeared to each, that he had left his body,

and was born again in a king’s house; after the death of the father,

each placed the crown upon his head, and bore dominion from east to

west; in the seven regions there was no king equal to him, and the

reign of each lasted one hundred thousand years; at the time of his

passing to the other world, he delivered the empire to his son, and,

leaving the body, took his flight to heaven. When they awoke, the

dinner which they had been preparing was not yet ready. Afterwards,

each of them related what happened to him; each of them pretended to

have possessed the seven regions during one hundred thousand years,

and each named such and such a town as the capital of his empire.

Although awake, they resolved then to go each to his kingdom, and to

see that capital, whether true or not. They went first to the town

which was the residence of the eldest brother; there they found his

son king, and the father knew his palace; in this manner they visited

the kingdoms of the other brothers, and saw their sons. Afterwards,

the seven returned to their native-place, and said to each other:

‘Each of us was in his dream king of the seven regions, and had no

other above himself; being awakened, we heard the same from the men of

those towns which we have visited for ascertaining that we had

possessed such rank and power in the world.’ Thus it is certain that

we are even now in a dream, and that the world is nothing else but an

illusive vision.”

This sect interpret the whole religion of the Hindus according to

their own belief, and they state that, pursuant to the Védas, to

confound during the worship all the subordinate divinities with the

one whose existence is necessary, means nothing else but that, in

truth, they all emanate from this one; further that it is but he who

manifests himself in the form of any deity, and that no _Serosh_ has

an existence of his own, but that in Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadéva, who

appeared above, are evidenced the three attributes of God, namely, in

Brahma, the creator; in Vishnu, the preserver; and in Mahadéo, the

destroyer. Moreover they say, that these three attributes are the mind

or intellect, which they call _manas_, and it is the action of the

interior sense which they distinguish particularly by the name of

_manas_.[145] Besides they entertain this belief about the interior

sense, that, if the mind wishes, it forms the image of a town; it

becomes then _Brahma_, who has as much as created it; as long as the

mind wishes, it preserves its work, on which account it becomes

_Vishnu_, who is its guardian; further, if it wishes, it throws it

off, in which sense the mind becomes _Mahadeo_. Their belief is also,

that religious austerity consists in the conviction of the pious, that

the world is an appearance without reality, and that, what exists, is

in truth God; and that, except him, every thing is but an illusion

which comes from him, but in truth has no reality. In their opinion,

whoever is desirous of this faith, and does not possess the required

knowledge, may by self-application, or by the lessons of a master, or

by the instruction of a book, become a proficient in it. The

conviction that the world does not exist, may also be acquired by

pious exercise; and the perfect therein know, that by means of

religious austerity one may acquire what he wishes to learn, and as

long as he tends towards it, he has not yet known himself, as he is

himself a choice part of the divine being. The pious man, who by dint

of austerity renders himself perfect, they call a _Yogí_,[146] that

is, one who by self-mortification attains his aim. The pious, who by

mental application, by the instruction of a master, by the study of

books, or by any effort not appertaining to religious exercises,

raises himself to any perfection, him they name _Rája-yogí_, that is,

one who attains sovereignty.

Among the Hindus are recommended as pious exercises, _Mantra_,[147]

_Homa_,[148] and _Dandavat_.[149] _Mantra_ signifies prayer; _Homa_ is

throwing clarified butter and like things into the fire, and reciting

prayers, in order to render propitious a certain divinity; _Dandavat_

is, when one prostrates himself like a stick before the object of

adoration, and touches the ground with the forehead. A person asked

Bhartari,[150] who was one of those adepts whom they call _Jnánis_:

“Dost thou recite mantras?” He replied: “I do.” That person asked

again: “What mantra?” He answered: “My breath, going out and in, is my

mantra.” That man continued to ask: “Dost thou perform Hóm?” The

answer was: “I do.” To the question, “And how?” the reply followed:

“By what I eat.” That person further inquired: “Dost thou practise the

Dańdavat?” After affirmation, being asked “At what time?” he said,

“When I sleep, stretched out to rest.” And this speech reminds me of

this sentence:

“_The sleep of the wise is preferable to the adoration of

the ignorant._”

The Hindus call _Déva árcháká_[151] the worshipper of an idol, that

is, one who is devoted to a divinity: which this people interpret to

be performing whatever rite a man himself chooses; because the deity

is the intellectual soul; to render it obsequious, is to perform the

act which it commands, that is, whenever it wills, to see with the

eyes, to hear with the ears, to smell with the nose, and so on, in

order to please one’s self. According to their account of the revealed

unity of God, all is _HE_. To say so is liable to censure; but it is

permitted to assert: “all is _I_.” Should one not attain to this

height of philosophy, he may choose the former thesis. The author of

the _Gulchén raz_, “the rose-garden of mystery,” says:

“Egotism belongs to God alone,

For he is the mystery; think him also the hidden source of illusion.”

This people are masters of themselves in their speeches and actions;

they know their origin and their end; and, occupied with themselves,

they are imprisoned in the gaol of the world. Sankara Atcharya, who is

distinguished among the Brahmans and the Sanyasis, professed this

doctrine, and to whatever side he turned his face, contentment

followed him. One day the adversaries and deniers of this creed

resolved to drive an elephant against him; if he do not fly but remain

firm, he is a saint; if otherwise, a bad man. When they had impelled

the animal against him, Sankara fled; then they said to him: “Why

didst thou fly before an illusion?” He replied: “There is no elephant,

nor I; and there was no flight: you saw it in a dream.” All the great

men among the Hindus are of this creed, and they agree that, in truth,

there is no faith but this, without regard to Avátars and Rakshasas:

all the enlightened Pandits have ranged themselves upon this side.

A _Jnaníndra_ is called one of the Brahmans of Kachmir;[152] this

class is, in the language of Kachmir, entitled _Guruvagurinah_, and

said to be the fathers of the Jnanían. One whose name was Chívarína,

knew well how to keep in his breath; one day he informed the

inhabitants of Náu chaher, which is upon the road of Kashmír, that on

the morrow he intended to leave his human frame. The next day, the

people assembled; Shívarina conversed with them until he arrived at

the place where wood had been piled up, on the top of which he sat

down with his legs crossed under him (which in the Persian language is

called _bahín neshisten_, and the description of which I gave in the

chapter about the imprisonment of breath practised by the Yezdaníán);

he left then the human body, and when the people saw that the bird of

life had taken his flight from the cage of the body, they set the wood

on fire.

Another Jnani practised the subduing of the breath in his youth, and,

mastering his soul by means of religious austerity, he attained to

that point that, although possessed of little natural capacity, he

undertook to read all the books of the Hindus, and understood all

their sciences better than the other Pandits, as they all agreed. He

now holds the first rank among the learned of his town, and acquired

such an independent manner of thinking, that he feels neither pain

from the loss, nor pleasure from the increase, of wealth, and holds

alike friend, enemy, stranger, and relation; he is not depressed by

the insult, nor elated by the praise of whomsoever; wherever he hears

the name of a Durvísh, he calls on him, and, if he conceives a good

opinion of him, he then frequents him and cultivates his friendship,

and never lets him be afflicted and sorrowful; he converses about

God’s unity, and cares about nothing else nor busies himself about any

other concern, and he visits no other persons but Durvishes. Sodarshan

is the name of his sister’s son, who is also connected with him as his

pupil; he left wife, son, and the house of this friend, and lives on

the little which his disciples bring to him. When the Jnaní wishes to

go out, the disciple puts his coat on him: because, inattentive to

every thing exterior and to what may be grateful about him, he is

never occupied with any thing else but with books.

It is known that the Hindus, that is, the legalists attached to the

Smriti (holy scripture), light up a fire, and with it sacrifice a

sheep, not without reciting spells and prayers; which they call

performing _Hóm_. The Jnánindra says: “Our fire is piety, and in it I

burn the wood of duality; instead of a sheep, I sacrifice egotism:

this is my _Hóm_.” Thus he interprets the whole religion of the

Hindus, and a great number of men became his disciples. He has a

nephew, called _Gangu_, ten years old, and younger than Sádarshan. One

day, Gangu was crying from anger; the author of this book said to him:

“Yesterday thou saidst: ‘The world and what it contains are but

illusion;’ now, why dost thou cry?” He replied: “If the world is

nothing, then my crying has no reality; I am not in contradiction with

myself.” So saying, he continued to cry.

“_The socíety of good men renders good._”

Jaganath, eight years old, is the son of a Jnáníndra; he brought a

puppy into a house where an idol was worshipped, put him there in the

idol’s place, and drew the mark of cast on his head. The boy was

asked: “What art thou doing?” He answered: “The stone has no life; why

should you not rather worship the puppy than this idol? Besides, each

person worships what he finds agreeable. Because this worship is a

play, I play with this dog.” And none of the people of the house

raised a hand on account of the boy’s liberty, but uttered blessings

upon him.

In the year 1049 of the Hejira (1639 A. D.) the author of these pages

visited in Kachmir a Jnáníndra, and was delighted with his society. He

called him his _atma_, that is, his “intellectual soul.” The Jnáníndra

was asked: “Who is thy disciple?” He answered: “It is he who, having

arrived to the self-existent God, knows and sees himself to be nothing

else but God.”

At the time when the writer of this book was walking with a Hindu

pious man on the border of the lake of Kashmir, a Sanyási who had

pretensions to independence, joined us. There, a meal was brought to

us, and the Sanyási eat with that pious man. After this, he began to

boast: “Hitherto I have not eat any flesh: it is but now that I have

tasted some.” The Jnání offered a cup of wine to him, who drank it for

the sake of discarding care. He then reassumed the theme of

self-praise. The pious philosopher had some bread of the bazar, which

according to the Hindu faith is still more prohibited than wine,

brought upon the table-cloth. The Sanyási broke a bit of the bread,

eat it, and again praised himself without measure: “Now,” said he, “am

I free of all bonds.” The wise smiled, and said: “Nothing remains but

to eat cow-flesh.” The Sanyási, as soon as he heard this, left the

company.

Of the distinguished disciples of the Jnáníndrás, whom the author of

this work saw, are: _Shankar bhat_, _Kanésh bhat_, _Sudarshan Kal_,

_Adab bhat_, _Máhatápindra_, and _Avat_, known under the name of

_Kopál Kúl_. A goldsmith asked Shankar bhat, one of the disciples just

mentioned: “Why do the Jnáníndras, with all their pretensions to

independence, still worship idols?” Shankar said: “Why dost thou work

in gold?” The goldsmith replied: “This is my profession for gaining my

livelihood.” The answer to this was: “And worship too is a trade and a

means to procure food.”

Mulla Shídáyi, a Hindu, who has a name amongst the poets, and

possessed a very impressive eloquence, went one day with the author of

this book to the house of a Jnáníndra, and conversed with him; he saw

his disciples, and having observed the manners of the people of the

house, he was struck with astonishment, and said: “My whole life

passed in devotedness to pious persons; but my eyes never beheld such

independence, and my ears never heard any thing comparable to the

speeches of those emancipated men.”

Hara Ráma púrí was a Sanyási, and one of the Jnánís possessing the

perfection of independence. When he came to Kashmír, being vexed by

the length of his hair, which was like ropes, he cut it off, on the

bank of a river near a house called Bhat jatáyi. Sri Kant Bhat, a

Pandit and Hindu judge, saw it and said: “Whenever thou cuttest off

thy hair, thou shouldst do it in a _tirth_, that is, in ‘a house of

worship.’” Hara answered: “There is a place in the most holy of

mansions, where the heart gets delighted, and on the spot where the

dead are burnt, all obscure points are terminated.” In the year 1051

of the Hejira (1641 A. D.) he went to Kichtovar,[153] and settled in a

plain called _chawgan_, where they played at ball, practised

equitation, and burnt the dead. Maha Singh, the son of Baháder Singh,

Rája of Kishtovár, became his disciple, and by devotion he rendered

himself free of the bonds of exterior things; now he likes the society

of the pious; he is young and conversant with poetry. In the year 1052

of the Hejira (1642 A. D.) a war broke out in Kishtovar, between the

Rája and the rebels of this country. When they made resound the drum

of battle, a general carnage began on both sides of the combatants;

Hara Rámapúrí, having got upon the top of an elevated ground, was

occupied with the sight of it, and at the uproar of the warriors and

the sound of pipes, and clarions, and kettle-drums, he began to dance,

and in the midst of his transport his foot stumbled; he fell headlong

from the mountain, and in rolling down received from a great stone a

head-wound, of which he died. Mirza Rafíah says:

“When the darkness of my heart became enlightened by the knowledge

of wisdom,

Whatever speeches were proffered as her arguments,

They bore upon some errors of my desires;

Thus the whole road was rendered winding from my stumblings.”

Sathrah and Jadú were two fakírs. Sathrah drew in Nagarikot[154] the

mark of the cast on his forehead, and threw the zunar on his neck; he

ate however roasted cow-flesh, with bread of the bazar, and indulged

himself in pleasure-walks. Some Hindus arrested him by force, and

brought him before the judge. The judge said to him: “If thou art a

Hindu, it becomes thee not to eat cow-flesh and bread of the bazar;

and, if thou art a Muselman, wherefore the mark of the cast and the

zunar?” The answer was: “The mark of the cast is of safran and

sandal-wood; the zunar is a woven thread; the cow-flesh comes from

grass and barley; bread from corn, and the oven from earth and water:

if thou considerest things according to truth, thou wilt find that all

is composed of four elements, which are neither Muselmans nor Hindus;

as to the rest, let thy commands be conformable to law.” The judge set

him at liberty. Jadú was one of his disciples, and went to Balkh, the

dome of Islam. He appeared in the mosque with the mark of the Hindu

cast, and with the zúnar, and, arrested, was brought before the judge,

who saluted him as a Muselman. Jadú replied: “If thou givest me a wife

and settlest me in a house, I will be a Muselman.” The judge gave him

a beautiful widow for a wife, and Jadú, having become a Muselman, went

into her house. After the lapse of a few days, he said to the woman:

“Give me the daughter whom thou hast had with thy late husband, in

order that I may sell her, and spend the price that I receive for her

for my subsistence. When we shall have another child, I will dispose

of it in the same manner, by selling; for this is my profession, and

except this I know no trade.” The woman dismissed him. Jadú, being at

liberty, went to Kabul;[155] he put a feather on his head, as

messengers used to do, fastened a bell round his waist, and, with a

loose belt on his shoulder and a striped coat, he appeared in the

bazar. The messengers arrested him, and said: “Why hast thou taken our

dress?” Jadú answered: “The crown and feather are upon the head of the

nightingale and of other birds, and the bell hangs upon the neck of

the sheep and of the cow; reckon me too one of them.” The messengers

began to handle him roughly; Jadú asked: “What is your desire?” They

said: “Thou art now to exercise with us the nimble pace of a courier.”

Jadú did not refuse: he ran with them, and gained so much over them

that at the morning dawn not one of the couriers remained near him.

During seven days and nights he neither ate nor drank any thing,

practising running. Jadú acquired the habit of religious austerity; in

the year 1052 of the Hejira (1642 A. D.), having convoked his friends

in Jelálabad,[156] between Peshaver[157] and Kabul, he took leave from

them and resigned his life.

Pertábmal Chadah (Chadah is a tribe of Kshatriyas) is a Jnání, that is

a pious man; his native country is Síál kut; he attained to perfection

in the exercise of virtue; he is not confined to any faith or

religion; but knows that every religion is a road leading towards God;

he sees in every face a friend revealed. One day he joined, on account

of an affair, Davárah, a man who was one of the chiefs appointed by

the government of Hargovínd, a successor of Nanak;[158] he became his

disciple, and declared himself as his adherent. Davárah washed his

feet, and the water thereof was drank by all the present followers of

the faith, which they did to every body whom they had gained over to

their religion. At last, a dispute arose between Pertábmal and

Davárah; the latter said to the other: “But yesterday I washed thy

feet (that is, made thee my disciple), and to-day thou makest war upon

me?” Pertábmal answered: “Oh weak-minded man! the Jats always wash my

feet as thou hast done: my own hand never touches my feet.” [The Jats

are a low class of the Hindus.]

It is an established custom among the followers of Nának to present,

when they pursue a desire, a few direms to the chief of their master,

or to their master, and solicit his favor. Pertábmal offered some

dírems to Kábelí, who was a religious chief appointed by Harigovind,

and then in Kabul; he said with his hands joined: “I wish to convoke

for prayer, according to their custom, all the followers of Nának; let

that be granted.” Kabeli, before giving his agreement, asked: “Thou

wishest perhaps to see Haragovind?” Pertábmal said: “I wish something

more precious.” Kabeli asked: “What is this?” The answer was: “I wish

the arrival of all the buffoons, dancers, and musicians from Péshawar

to Kabul, that we may see their actions, arts, and tricks.”

In the house of Pertábmal was an idol which the Hindus worship. A

mouse having made a hole in his furniture, he put the whole idol,

instead of a lump of earth, into the mouse-hole, in order to shut the

passage. The Hindus said: “What art thou about?” He answered: “The

deity who cannot obstruct the road of a mouse, and settle any thing

with a mouse, how will he protect me, and preserve me from the tyranny

of the Muselmans?” In like manner Pertábmal had in his house a

Sivalingam, which is a post of stone which the Hindus venerate: having

carried this lingam out of his house, like a post, he tied a dog to

it.

A Muselman said to him: “Two persons only of all unbelievers, namely,

Nushirvan and Hatam, will go to heaven.” Pertábmal replied: “According

to your faith, two persons only of the unbelievers will go to heaven;

but our belief is that not one of the Muselmans will go to heaven.”

Azadah (this was his adopted title) is a Brahman. One day he ate at

table with some Muselmans and drank wine. They said to him: “Thou art

a Hindu, and thou takest thy meal in common with Muselmans? Your

people never eat but with persons of their religion.” Azádah replied:

“I did not suppose that you were Muselmans; hereafter I will at eating

and drinking keep myself separate from you.” Another day he found

himself again drinking wine in company with them, and did not turn his

head from the meal; during the repast they said to Azádah: “Yesterday

we made ourselves known to thee as Muselmans.” He answered: “I knew

that you were joking with me. God forbid that you should be

Muselmans.”

Binaváli is the son of Híráman, a Káyastha.[159] The Káyasthas are a

tribe of the fourth cast which Brahma has created; among the

illustrious poets his name was Walí;[160] from his childhood he liked

very much the society of durvishes; and in his tender age he was with

the religious chief, named Ularváh, a great durvish, whose continual

exclamation was: “God, thou art present, thou art one, God, I attest

this.” In the year of the Hejirah 1045 (A. D. 1634) he associated with

the durvishes of India, and enjoyed the fruit of it; he came to

Kashmir in the service of Mulla Shah Budakhshí, and acquired the

desired knowledge. The Sufí is by no necessity bound to a creed; no

faith nor religion fetters his choice; he befriends the idol and the

temple of the idol, and is no stranger to the mosque; by the power of

ecstacy, not by any external knowledge, he utters loud sublime

speeches. In the year 1050 of the Hejira (1640 A. D.) the doors of

friendship opened between him and the author of this work; from the

refulgencies of his mind are the following lines:

“We are not ourselves that what we are; we are that what thou art;

Thou art without a mark; we are thy mark.

These marks are the marks of thy being;

They are the manifestations and the splendor of thy qualities,

Thou art pure of our care, and of our imagination;

O thou, who art manifest in this our garment;

Manifestations of thee are all things.

Thou art independent of the relation of ‘thou and we,’ and thyself

art ‘thou and we.’

Thy being comes forth in thy qualities,

Thy nature is the spring of thy being, O Lord!

We are all nothing; whatever is, is thou!

O thou! who art free of notion, imagination, and duality,

We are all billows in the ocean of thy being;

We are a small compass of the manifestations of thy nature.”

Azadah and Binaválí appear in the dress of Hindus, and profess the

belief of the Jnánís, to which they are reckoned to belong.

Mehir chand is a native of the Panjab, and belongs to the class of the

goldsmiths of Guzerat; he comes from the school of the disciples of

Akamnath, whose opinions he adopted. Akamnath is a Yógí, “a saint,”

and possessed of inspiration; according to the belief of his

followers, two thousand years of his life have elapsed.

“Like the azure heavens, a sage never dies;

The intellectual principle is free from storms, and from all that

is perishable.”

One day Akamnath came before the great emperor Jehangír, who is in

heaven; the celebrated monarch asked him: “What is thy name?” The sage

answered _Sarvat anga_, that is, “All the beings are my members.” In

the assembly, before the sovereign, a book was read; the king, having

taken the book from the reader, gave it into the hand of Akamnath,

saying: “This is thy saying, read it;” Akamnath returned the book to

the reader, bidding him to read on; but when this man began, the king

addressed Akamnath: “To thee have I said, read.” His answer was: “I

have at the beginning declared, that all things in the world are my

members; I am therefore reading by the tongue of that man.” Vásúl

Khaznúyi says:

“So free is my spirit that the creation is my body,

And that fire, and air, and earth, are my dwelling.

This celestial sphere, with all its globes,

Revolves only because it is my wish.”

Soon after a sparrow passed, flying from the water. Akamnath declared

before the king: “If with this body, which is near thy majesty, I

should attempt to go upon the water, I could but sink, but under the

form of a bird I passed.” The great Mouláná Jamí says:

“The world, with all spirits and bodies,

Is a certain person whose name is ‘_World_.’”

They say, that Akamnath went to the Kâbah (of Mecca) and saw the

house; he asked somebody: “Where is the master of the house?” That

person remained astonished. They opened the door of the house of God;

Akamnath repeated the question without receiving an answer from them;

he then called out: “There is no master of the house in this edifice:

this place is unsafe.” Finally, he inquired from the people, why the

images which had been in this house, have been thrown out; one

answered: “Because an idol is the work of the hand of a man; and

because the forms of men, who are created, ought not to be

worshipped.” Akamnath observed: “This house, too, is the work of men,

and any form therein is that of a man, and the work of men who are

created; should it be worshipped?” Having heard this speech, they

imprisoned him; but the next morning they found no prisoner: Akamnath

was gone. At last, those who returned from the pilgrimage saw him in

Hindostan.

“Perhaps shall we find him there in an idol-temple,

That friend whom we missed in a monastery.”

[129] क्षानं उत्तमं The supreme Brahme, in the most

extensive acceptation, is with the Hindus a neuter noun

(Brahme or Brahma); and the same term (Nom. Brahmá), is one

of the three gods who constitute one person.

[130] माया.

[131] जीवात्मा The vital principle or spirit.

[132] The text says: “on that account to be liberated from

it,” they use the word نفس _nafs_ probably نا فساد _na

fesad_, “no corruption:” this of course applies to the

Persian, but not to the Sanskrit term.

[133] जागरावस्था.

[134] स्वप्नावास्था state of dreaming applied especially to

life, or ignorance of worldly illusion.

[135] सुस्वप्नावस्था The fantastical conceptions of the

Hindus about the states or conditions of the embodied soul

are of course not always expressed in the same manner. “They

are chiefly three: waking, dreaming, and profound sleep; to

which may be added for a fourth, that of death; and for a

fifth, that of trance, swoon, or stupor, which is

intermediate between profound sleep and death (as it were

half-dead), as dreaming is between waking and profound

sleep. In that middle state of dreaming, there is a fanciful

course of events, an illusory creation, which however

testifies the existence of a conscious soul. In profound

sleep, the soul has retired to the supreme one by the route

of the arteries of the pericardium” (_Colebrooke on the

Philosophy of the Hindus, Transact. of the R. A. S. of Great

Brit. and Irel._, vol. II. part I. p. 25).

[136] The author uses here and elsewhere the Arabic word

غفلت _ghafalat_, which, besides the significations

enumerated in the dictionary, of “neglect, indolence,

imprudence, forgetfulness, inadvertency,” etc., seems to

have also that of ignorance, illusion; all these are

comprehended in the Sanskrit word _maya_, to render which

was, I can scarce doubt, the intention of the author.

[137] ज्ञानी _jnani_.

[138] तबोवस्था “the moving state,” from _tarba_, “to move.”

This denomination does not commonly occur in the writings of

the Vedantists about this subject.

[139] मुक्ति “final beatitude.”

[140] स्वामिप्रेमा.

[141] सारप्रेमा.

[142] स्वायुक्ति.

[143] परमात्मा.

[144] ज्ञानम उत्तमं

[145] नमः.

[146] योगी a devotee, an ascetic in general.

[147] मन्त्रः

[148] होमः

[149] दण्डवत्

[150] Perhaps _Bhartrihari_.

[151] देवार्चक.

[152] _Kachmir_, a province of North Hindostan, situated

principally between the 34h and 35th degree of north

latitude.――(_Hamilton’s E. India Gazeteer._)

[153] _Kishtovar_, a town in the province of Lahore, named

also _Triloknath_, situated close to the southern range of

the Kashmere hills, and 94 miles E. S. E. from the city of

Kashmere. Lat. 34° 7´ N., long. 75° 20´ E.――(_Hamilton’s E.

India Gazetteer_).

[154] _Nagarikot_, or Cote Caungra (Cata-Khankhara), a

strong fortress in the province of Lahore, 122 miles E. N.

E. from the city of Lahore. Lat. 32° 20´ N., long. 73° 42´

E.

[155] _Kabul_, the capital of the province of Kabul, in

Afghanistan. Lat. 34° 31´ N., long. 68° 34´ E.――(_Hamilton’s

E. India Gazetteer_).

[156] _Jelalabad_, a town in the province of Kabul, 73 miles

E. S. E. from the city of Kabul. Lat. 34° 6´ N., long. 69°

46´ E.――(_Hamilton’s E. India Gazetteer_).

[157] _Peshaver_, “the advanced post,” an Afghan town in the

province of Kabul. Lat. 33° 22´ N., long. 76° 37´

E.――(_Ibid._)

[158] See, about Nanak, the subsequent pages.

[159] कायस्थ, this is commonly the writer caste, proceeding

from a Kshattriya father and a Súdra mother.――(_Wilson_).

[160] Shah Wáli Ullah, or Shems Wáli Ullah is the author of

Hindustan poems, the original text of which was published in

1834, and a French translation of a part of them in 1836, by

M. Garcin de Tassy. According to this learned Indianist (see

preface to the text, pp. x. xi) Wáli was born in Surat; he

wrote about the middle of the 18th century, and was known in

India, Iran, and Turan. Is he the same with the above

mentioned Wáli? So much only can be said, till better

informed, that the ono was a contemporary of the other.

* * * * *

SECTION THE FIFTH: CONCERNING THOSE WHO PROFESS THE SÁNK’HYÁ[161]

DOCTRINES.――They say that there are two things in the existence, or

that the existence is divided into two parts: the one is truth, which

they interpret by _purusha_;[162] the other is illusion, named by them

_Prakrit_.[163] _Prakrit_ is the cause of the world, and purusha,

being from want of knowledge and confusion of the intellect mixed with

Prakrit, is in the world encircled, and penetrated by this

incongruity. Five imperfections are held to adhere to the purusha,

which they call _pancha kalusháni_,[164] “the five failings, or sins.”

These are: 1. _avidya_;[165] 2. _ishmatá_;[166] 3. _rága_;[167] 4.

_dvésha_;[168] 5. _avivèchaná_.[169] _Avidya_ signifies with them that

they believe the body and the senses to be the soul; _avidya_ knows of

no beginning nor origin; _ishmata_ means personality, individuality,

and selfishness; _rága_ is the propensity to what is agreeable;

_dvésha_, “hatred,” consists in adhering to one’s own opinion, and

condemning that of others as vicious; _avivèchaná_ relates to acting

or not acting with passion. The five failings just enumerated keep

_Purusha_, “the embodied soul,” in distress: but when the mind becomes

pure, these five pains are banished. After the purification of the

heart, all the qualities which are bad and wicked acquire purity, and

the qualities, called by them _vrittaya_,[170] are of four different

kinds: the first, _mitrata_;[171] the second, _karuna_;[172] the

third, _mada_;[173] the fourth _upèkshá_.[174] _Mitrata_ is friendship

for the well doers, and benevolence for the men of probity; _karuna_

means to be anxious for the good of the friendly-minded, and to

relieve the oppressed; _mada_ consists in enjoying the quiet happiness

of all the creatures of God; _upèksha_ signifies, not to use harsh

words against those who do ill. These are called _chatur vrittayá_, or

“four qualities,” which keep the heart under subjection, and prevent

it from seeing any thing else; and it is from the existence of these

four manners that the five pains before mentioned are annihilated, as

well as every thing that attracts them, and the fortunate man who is

liberated from these five sicknesses, attains the _satya loka_. And

thus is interpreted the appearance of the forms of Prakrit and Purusha

in the heart; the professor of this condition knows how to separate

them from each other, and becomes wise: by this knowledge Prakrit

disappears, after which, having found Purusha, or the true knowledge

of himself, which is understood of the soul, man becomes satisfied and

happy. According to the opinion of this sect, the five elements are

deduced from Prakrit.

This is the substance of the belief of the _Sánkhyán_.[175] In Little

Guzerat, a district of the Panjab, the author of this work saw

Atmáchand, and Máhádéo, who said to belong to the Sánk’hyán. According

to their opinion, Prakrit is nature, and God is the manifestation of

nature, and all the terrestrial and heavenly bodies exist by him, and

they said: “What affords verdure to the heads of thorns, is it not

nature?”

[161] A system of philosophy, in which precision of

reckoning is observed in the enumeration of its principles,

is denominated _Sánk’hyá_; a term which has been understood

to signify _numeral_, agreeably to the usual acceptation of

_Sánk’hyá_, “number:” and hence its analogy to the

Pythagorean philosophy has been presumed. But the name may

be taken to imply that its doctrine is founded in the

exercise of judgment; for the word from which it is derived

signifies “reasoning,” or “deliberation;” and that

interpretation of its import is countenanced by a passage of

the _Bhárata_, where it is said of this sect of

philosophers: “They exercise judgment (_Sánk’hyá_), and

discuss nature and other twenty-four principles, and

therefore are called _Sánk’hyá_” (_Colebrooke on the

Philosophy of the Hindus_)――(_Transact. of the R. A. Soc. of

Great Br. and Irel._, vol. I. P. I. p. 20).

[162] _Parusha_, pursuant to the Institutes of Manu (l. I.

sl. 11), is taken for the “divine male,” or Brahma himself;

it signifies in general the embodied soul.

[163] प्रकृत्ति _Prakritti_ is a word of the highest import

with the Hindu philosophers. In its precise sense, it means

“that which is primary,” “that which precedes what is made;”

from _pra_, “before,” and _kri_, “to make.” The Prakritti of

the Sánk’hyás is a primary, subtile, universal

substance, undergoing modification through its own energy,

and for a special motive, by which it is manifest as an

individual and formal substance, varied according to the

predominance of qualities which are equipoised and inert in

the parent, and unequal and active in the progeny (see

_Sánk’hyá Kárika_, translated by Colebrooke,

commented by Profess. Wilson, pp. 80-83). The author of The

Dabistán in the above passage attributes to _Prakritti_ the

meaning belonging to _máyá_, “illusion.” The _Sánk’hyás_ do

not commonly confound the signification of these two words,

for they maintain the reality of existing things: but the

_Vedantis_ and the _Pauranikas_ (or followers of the

Puranas) regard creation as a delusion, or as a sport of the

creator, that is, as the _máyá_. Prakritti is translated by

Colebrooke “nature,” sometimes “matter.” Professor Lassen

renders this word by “procreatrix.”

[164] प्ञ्चकलुषानि.

[165] The Persian text has اوديا, _audíjà_.

[166] اسمتا _ismatá_, perhaps इष्मता “desire,” from इष “to

desire.”

[167] राग mental affection in general.

[168] The original has دويش _davish_.

[169] The edit. of Calc. reads ابہویشہ _abhvèsha_. I am

induced to substitute for it _avivèchana_ अविवे चना and must

remark that the original text appears here, in its

denominations and definitions, rather more incorrect than in

other places. According to the well known doctrine of the

Sánk’hyá, the obstructions of the intellect here meant to be

indicated are “error, conceit, passion, hatred, and fear;”

which are severally denominated obscurity, illusion, extreme

illusion, gloom, and utter darkness (_Transact. R. A. S._,

vol. I. p. 33).

[170] वृत्तयः

[171] मित्रत “friendship.”

[172] करुण “tenderness, pity.”

[173] मद “joy, pleasure.”

[174] उपेक्षा “endurance, patience.”

[175] This account of the Sánkhyá philosophy will appear

very incomplete as to the whole, and incorrect in the few

particulars given. I shall enumerate the principal

categories of this philosophy, which are, with little

variation, adopted by all the schools of Hindu philosophy,

and perpetually alluded to.

_Mula-prakritti_ 1

“NATURE,” the root of all, no production.

PRINCIPLES PRODUCTIONS:

_Which are productions and_ _Productions of Ahankára are_:

_productive:_

Produced by nature is: T {The 5 organs of perception:

_Buddhi_, or _Mahat_, h { The ear,

“intellect.” e { ―― skin,

Produced by Buddhi: { ―― eye,

_Ahankára_, “egotism.” 1 { ―― tongue,

1 { ―― nose.

{The 5 organs of action:

o { The voice,

r { ―― hand,

g { ―― foot,

a { ―― organs of excretion,

n { ―― ―――― ―― generation.

s: {The mind.

The five subtile elements, producing The 5 gross elements:

Sound ―― ―― Ether,

Touch ―― ―― Air,

Form ―― ―― Light, or Fire,

Flavor ―― ―― Water,

Odor ―― ―― Earth.

―――――――――――― ―――――――――――――― ――――――――――――――

7 PRINCIPLES + 16 PRODUCTIONS = 23 CATEGORIES.

_Purusha_, “the soul,” neither

a production nor productive 1

TOTAL 25 _Tatwas_,

That is, physical and metaphysical categories of the

Sánk’hyá philosophy.

(See the work quoted, the _Sánk’hyá Kárika_, translated by

Colebrooke, and commented by Professor Wilson, pp. 16-17,

and elsewhere.)

* * * * *

SECTION THE SIXTH: ON THE JOGÍS AND THEIR DOCTRINES.――This sect

believe that _Isvára_, or the necessary being exists, one, the

principle of intellect, without an equal, without decrease nor

increase. In the language of the Hindus _Is a_[176] signifies “lord,”

and without Iśa all is but _jíva_,[177] that is “casualties;” in their

language _jiva_ means “life;” they hold Is a to be the maker of the

whole world, and the creator of all the elements; his holy being is

free from care, sickness, and want, and placed out of the circle of

work and agency; that is, that this holy being neither wants nor urges

any religious rites, such as ablution and the like; his knowledge

soars above and comprehends all being; he is the Lord, and none

besides him invested with supreme power; death and pain never approach

his existence, which has no limits. _Jíva_, “life,” they call what is

in the fetters of cares, in the bonds of infirmities, under the

pressure of pain, and in the prison of works and doings, and subjected

to the control of others, without command over itself. This life is in

truth not material nor corporeal; it is by ignorance only that it is

thought to be one with the body; and the body is supposed by them to

be revolving in the circle of material forms: by the necessity of

times and seasons, life abandons the works of the body, and passes

into another frame: and in this manner it migrates. Without the

_abhásayóga_,[178] the soul cannot be freed of the bonds of the

material world, and from the prison of what is corporeal, and

_yóga_,[179] in the language of the learned Hindus, signifies “union,”

or “acquisition;” and _abhyása_,[180] “the dominion of the eternal

sphere,” that is, possessing the enjoyment of a desired object; and

the purport of the _yóga_ is, that the heart be constantly kept in the

remembrance of God, and that no foreign object be permitted to enter

into that Jerusalem, that is, the house of God. The professor of this

union with the desired object reckons eight parts, which are: 1.

_yama_;[181] 2. _niyáma_;[182] 3. _ásana_;[183] 4. _pránáyáma_;[184]

5. _pratyáhára_;[185] 6. _dháraná_;[186] 7. _dhyána_;[187] 8.

_samadháraná_.[188] Yama is composed of five parts: the first is

_Ahinsá_,[189] that is, doing injury to nothing, and to kill no other

but the great wild beasts; 2. _Satyam_,[190] or “truth;” 3.

_Astéyam_,[191] that is, not stealing nor robbing; 4. _Brahma

tchárí_,[192] or to keep away from women, and all intercourse with

them, and to sleep upon the bare ground; 5. _Apragraha_,[193] which

is, not to ask any thing from any body, and never to take but what is

brought unasked. _Niyáma_, the second of the eight parts, is divided

also into five kinds: the first, _tápasa_,[194] that is, “devout

austerity;” 2. _japa_,[195] or “devotion by means of beads, stripes of

cloth, ejaculations, mental or loud repetition of the names and

attributes of God;” 3. _Sama_,[196] which is, “tranquillity and

satisfaction;” 4. _Suchi_,[197] or “purity, sanctity, perfection;” 5.

_Iśa-pútcha_,[198] “worshipping and praising God.” _Asana_, the third

of the eight parts of the yoga, means “sitting in some particular

posture,” various kinds of which are used among them. _Pránáyama_, the

fourth part, consists in “drawing in and letting out the breath,

according to an established mode and fixed rule.” _Pratyá hára_, the

fifth part, signifies “withdrawing the heart from all the desires and

attractions of the five senses; and keeping away from all sorts of

lust, the sight of beauty, the odor of the rose and of sandal, and

from all material and exterior enjoyments.” _Dhárana_,[199] the sixth

part, implies that, “in the heart of the cone-bearing tree, which is

the centre of the bosom, and which the people of India have compared

to the flower of a pond (_lotus_), the heart holds a fixed habitation;

that is, they guard it in that place.”

_Dhyána_, the seventh part, is the remembrance of God the Almighty.

_Samadhárana_, the eighth part, signifies that the heart, attached to

the work of God, forgets the work of the world, in such a manner that

in his presence, turned towards him, it remains absorbed in him, and

feels itself lightened of all exterior sense and satisfied. The wise,

who carries these eight parts to a high degree of perfection, hears

and sees from afar; his pure knowledge elevates him; and he becomes

strong in the science of Yog, which is the science of the union with

the desired object; the all-bounteous God regards him with pity, and

discards all pains, all sicknesses, all wants, and all deficiencies

from his existence. According to this sect, it is by attaining to

these eight conditions, that _Mukt_, which signifies “emancipation,”

is acquired.

This is the substance of the doctrine of the Yogís; now, I will relate

something of the opinions and actions of these sectaries, who have

been noticed in this time as professing the doctrine of the _Yog_. The

Yogís are a class well known in India, and _yóga_, in the Sanskrit

language, means “union;” they believe that they unite with God, whom

they call _Alíka_,[200] and according to their creed he is the

divinity by excellence; moreover his being is to be venerated under

the name of _Gorakhnáth_;[201] in like manner, _Mach’henáernáth_[202]

and _Chórengínáth_[203] are great personages or saints.

They believe Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadeva to be subordinate

divinities, but they are, as followers and disciples, addicted to

Gorakhnath; thus, some devote themselves to the one or the other of

the deities.

This sect is divided into twelve classes, which are as follow:[204]

_Satyanath_, _Ayípanthi_, _Kaśyapa_, _Vairag_, _Nátírí_, _Ardhanarí_,

_Náyari_, _Amara nath_, _Kam-híbdás_, _Jóli handi_, _Tarnaknath_,

_Jágar prarág_: these are called panthi nék, “good sects,” and

_panthi_ signifies “a tribe, a sect.”[205] According to their opinion,

the chiefs of all religions, sects, and creeds proceed as disciples

from the prophet and saint Gorakhnath, and what they found, they have

found it from him. Their belief is that Muhammed (to whom be peace)

was also a pupil and disciple of Gorakhnath, but, from fear of the

Muselmans, they dare not declare it; they say, that Bábá Rin Háji,

that is, Gorakhnath, was the foster-father of the prophet, who, having

received the august mission, took the mode of Yog from the sublime

road of true faith; and a great many of them agree with the Muselmans

in fasting and in prayers, and perform several acts according to the

religion of that people. The sect of Yogís know no prohibited food;

they eat pork as the Hindus and the Naźárains, and cow-flesh, like the

Muselmans, and so on; they also kill and eat men, according to the

custom of the Akmían, as will be related hereafter; and they drink

wine like the Guébers. There are some of this sect, who, having mixed

their excretions and filtered them through a piece of cloth, drink

them and say, that such an act renders a man capable of great affairs,

and they pretend to know strange things. They call the performer of

this act _Atílía_ and also _Akhórí_. Although they have all originated

from Gorakhnath, and adhere to him in the generality of their faith,

yet some follow the road of those who attached themselves to the

twelve divisions of the Yoga.

Among them, the restraining of the breath is held in great esteem,

such as it was practised among the Parsian by Azar Hushang, and by the

kings of that people. It is stated in the Bastán namah, that Afrasíab,

the son of Pashang, was strong in restraining his breath, and it was

on account of this qualification that, when he had escaped from the

sling of Aâbid, he kept himself concealed in the water. This history

is known.[206] Among the Hindus and the Parsian Yezdanián, nothing is

esteemed higher than this. I have said something of this custom in the

article upon the Parsian Sipasían: in this place I shall state more of

it.

This science of the breath is an imaginary one. The Yogis, the

Sanyásies, the Hindus, and the Tapasís, say that, when one has the

intention of mastering his breath, he most strictly abstains from

intercourse with women, from eating salt and any thing bitter and

sour, as well as from toil; then, tending towards this purpose, he

will know that from the place of sitting to the summit of the head

there are seven divisions of the body, which the Azarián call _haft

khán amèkhi_, “the seven places of union,” and the Yogís, _sapta

chakra_,[207] “seven circles.” The first is the region about the

pubis, similar to a flower with four leaves; the Hindus call it

_muládhára_.[208] In the middle of this originates a member, which the

Hindus call _manthar_,[209] and the Arabians ذكر _zicker_, and this is

the second region. The third is the navel, from the centre of which

proceeds a fire-colored vein, entitled by the Hindus _nábhi

chakra_.[210] The fourth region is that of the heart, called by the

Hindus _manipuram_,[211] and that is like a flower with twelve leaves.

The fifth is the windpipe, in the language of the Hindus

_kant´a_.[212] The sixth comprehends the interval between the two

eyebrows, in Sanskrit _bhruva_.[213] The seventh region is that of the

head, which is called by the Hindus _brahmanda_.[214] It is to be

known that in these regions there are many veins, among which three,

as the principal, are to be distinguished: the one is on the right

side, “the solar vein;” the other in the middle, “the earthen;” the

third on the left side, “the lunar;” these veins are named in the

language of the Hindus _áditya_, _pankila_, and _somana_;[215] in the

Persian language, _mahna_, _míná_, and _máná_.[216] One of the three

veins is the greatest, that, namely, which running from the middle of

the back to the right of the back bone, divides beyond it into two

branches, the one of which attains to the right, the other to the left

of the nostrils; the breath and the wind comes from them, and the air

which proceeds from these veins extends, during a man’s being awake,

to twelve, during sleep to thirty-two, and during coition to

sixty-four fingers: this air and breath they hold to be the foundation

of life, and a great importance is attached to this subject by the

learned Sipásian and Hindus. They believe the wind to be of ten kinds;

but what according to them is essential to know, is the superior and

inferior winds, which by the Hindus are called _Prána_ and

_Apána_;[217] by the Persians, _Alayi_ and _Pásáyi_. These two winds

attract each other mutually, and in pronouncing “_han_,” the breath

goes out, in pronouncing “_sa_,” it goes within; and this takes place

during prayers, without the aid and the motion of the tongue; when

they fix upon a name, it becomes _hansa_, and they say also _hamsa_:

the Hindus call it _ajapa_,[218] that is, it is pronounced without the

aid of the tongue; and in Persian it has the name of _damáníbád_, or

“sound of the wind.” Thus there is, above the channel of the region of

the pubis, a most subtile vein; from the summit of the shank a flower,

bright and similar to gold in redness, expands itself from eight

roots, and after having from this origin raised its head, and taken

the high direction to the top of the head, it is there closed: this

the Hindus call _Kundelí_,[219] “a snake;” and the Persians _Ruhen

mar_, and _Ráushibár_: and the path of the vein of the head is a

middle one. When the Kundeli awakes to draw breath from a high

feeling, it rises to the summit of the head; in like manner as a

thread passes through the eye of a needle, it goes through the said

opening to the top of the head. If thou knowest this mode well, thou

understandest the modes of sitting; of these we mentioned one in the

section upon the Sipasián; in this place we shall give a further

account of this subject. The most approved mode of sitting is that

which in the Hindu language is called _Maha ásana_,[220] and _Sáda

ásana_,[221] that is “sitting as the High, the mature of age, and the

accomplished,” which in Persian is termed _sánishín_. The mode of this

is as follows: the heel of the left foot is placed at the orifice of

the anus, and the heel of the other foot raised up straight to the

pubis, and to the bust; the eyes, without twinkling, are directed to

the middle of the eyebrows, then the part about the pubis is put in

motion; the inferior wind is drawn with the superior towards the upper

parts, and raised by degrees until it reaches the head. We have

explained the mode of drawing up the breath in the section upon the

Sipasían. At the time of drawing it up, the beginning is made on the

side of the left, for emission through the right, of the nostrils;

when drawn up on the right it is also passing through the right, and

the inferior wind emitted: this performance is called _Pránáyama_,[222]

by the Hindus, and _Aferasdam_, that is, “raising of the breath,” by

the Persians. The devotee, on drawing up the breath at the left side,

forms the image of the moon; that is, he places the disk of the moon

to the left, and to the right that of the sun. Some of the Sipásian

place the image of one of the seven planets at every stage of their

devotion. This mode is held in great esteem among the Hindus at all

prayers and religious exercises; they say, the adept in it has the

power of flying; he never falls sick, is exempt from death, and from

hunger and thirst; it is stated in the Ramzsitán of the Persian, that

by means of this power Kái Khusro is still alive. The Sipásían and the

historians relate, that whoever carries this process to perfection,

rises above death; as long as he remains in the body, he can put it

off and be again reunited to it; he never suffers from sickness, and

is fit for all business. They say that Kaí Khusró, when he had

acquired perfection in this devotion, felt his heart estranged from

existence in this world; he chose retirement from men, and having

separated from this body, he associated with the incorporeal beings,

and found eternal life. The Hindus hold that, whenever a man has

perfected himself in this act, Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadéva have no

command over him, but he rules over them. According to a great number

of the Hindus, it is this perfection which is personified in the three

deities, namely, Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadéva; and it is the belief of

many, that whoever becomes master of this process of devotion,

coalesces with God himself. Much has been said and written upon this

subject by the Hindus and by the Persians. The Sipásíans have a book

entitled _Sányal_, which contains a great deal on this subject, and

there exists no better book about it. Other writings are those of

Zardúsht, as well as the _Sarud i-mastan_, and the like, in great

numbers, which I have seen. Among the Hindus similar works abound,

such as that composed by _Atmá Ráma_, a Yogí, who is known under the

name of _Bahet Barváng_, and the book of Gorakh Singh, which has been

composed by Gorakhnath, and that of _Ambaret Kant_. The author of the

Dabistán says: “I saw Ambaret Kant, who has also translated his work

into Persian, under the title _Huz ul Hayat_. Therein are the sayings

of Gorakhnath, supposed to proceed from the prophet Khizar, and

Machinder Yónas; but these speeches, pursuant to Ambarat Kant, are not

original; they are in fact those of Gorakhnath; as, according to the

Yogís, Brahma came and went some hundred thousand times, but

Gorakhnath remained.” Relatively to the Yoga, this book gives no

further explanation.

Balik Nátha, they say, a penitent, was of royal extraction, and

attained great perfection in the Yoga; he restrained his breath during

one week, and after having passed one hundred and twenty years of his

life, he had not lost his strength. I have heard from the Mobéd

Hushíar, the author of several books, that in the year 1028 of the

Hejira (1618 A. D.), he brought me to him, and requested him to bless

me; Balik nath pronounced then upon me: “This boy shall acquire the

knowledge of God.”

Serud nath, descending from Humayún, was of a noble origin. Having in

his youth attained to the mastership of that sect, he could restrain

his breath for two days. In the year 1048 of the Hejira (1638 A. D.),

the author of this work saw him in Lahore.

Sanjá náth, of the sect of Ayí, was a man accomplished in restraining

the breath; the people numbered him among the saints, and said, that

seven hundred years of his life had elapsed without his hair having

yet become white: he was, in the last mentioned year, seen in Lahore.

Súraj nath made great proficiency in mastering the breath; for several

years, he has chosen his retirement in Pesháver, and is occupied with

his own concern. The people think his age scarce less than that just

before stated. The writer of this work visited him in the year 1055 of

the Hejira (1645 A. D.), and saw several of the Yogies, an account of

whom cannot find place in this book.

It is an established custom among the Yogís that, when malady

overpowers them, they bury themselves alive. They are wont also, with

open eyes, to force their looks towards the middle of their eyebrows,

until so looking they perceive the figure of a man; if this should

appear without hands, feet, or any member, for each case they have

determined that the boundaries of their existence would be within so

many years, months, or days. When they see the figure without a head,

they know that there certainly remains very little of their life; on

that account, having seen the prognostic, they bury themselves.

However the Jnánís of India hold this figure to be an illusion, and an

appearance without a trace of reality.

As the Sanyásis are also pious men, I will join an account of them to

that of the Yogís. The Sanyásis make choice of abnegation and

solitude; they renounce all bodily enjoyments; some, in order that

they may not be invested with another body, and migrate from body to

body; a great number, in order to go to heaven; and a multitude, in

order to acquire dominion, that is, to become kings, or very rich men.

When a man becomes a Sanyási, he must give up all desire to return

again into the world. They are distinguished by names, and divided

into ten classes, namely: _Ban_, _Áran_, _Tírthah_, _Áshram_, _Kar_,

_Parbatah_, _Sákar_, _Bhárthy_, _Perí_, and _Sarsatí_. They are

frequently holy men, and abstain from eating flesh, and renounce all

intercourse with women. This class follow the dictates of Datáteri,

whom they also venerate as a deity, and say that he is an incarnation

of Naráyan, and in the retaining of breath attained to such a degree

that he is exempted from death. When he came into the presence of

Gorakhnath, who is the chief of the Yogís, and according to the

opinion of the Sanyásis, an incarnation of Mahádéo, Datáterí, for the

sake of trial, smote Gorakhnath on the head, who took the appearance

of iron. Datáteri told him: “Thou hast not done well; there is no

striking iron.” When Gorakhnath himself bade him to combat, Datáteri

glided off from the body, in the same manner as water glides off, and

reunited safely again. In this sense Śabur Mashedi says:

_“The whole body became water, withhold thy hand from killing me,

As often as thou strikest a blow, my body reunites.”_

Afterwards, Gorakhnath disappeared in the water; Datáteri, having

found and recognised him in the shape of a frog, brought him forth.

When Datáteri concealed himself in the water, Gorakhnath, in spite of

all his searching, could not succeed in discovering him, because he

was mixed with the water, and water cannot be distinguished from

water. Mirzá Baki Alí says:

“When a drop is united with the sea, it becomes sea,

In substance, the bubble and billow are water: solve this riddle.”

Another says:

“From apprehension I became water: it is useless to strike water:

I am astonished that he assailed my fortune.”

There are two classes of Sanyásis: the one, the _Dandaheri_,[223] do

not wear long hair, and are attached to the precepts and regulations

of the _smriti_, or of the law: the second are the _Avadhútas_;[224]

they are like the other class; they wear the zunar, and drink water

mixed with ashes; but, contrary to the Dandahar, they let their hair

grow so that it becomes like ropes, and this they call _juta_;[225]

they do not bathe every day, and rub their head and body with ashes,

which they call _bhabút_;[226] at the time of death, the two classes,

having tied the body in a bag full of salt, throw it into the water,

where, by its weight and that attached to it, it remains a few days

sunk in the bottom, until they bury it in the earth.

The head of the second class is Sankara acharya; Saha dèva, the rája

of Kachmir, who in the year 750 of the Hejira (1349 A. D.) pulled off

the garment of the world, chose him for his teacher. Sankara acharya

was a learned Brahman, of a very independent mind; the Hindus say that

when the learned did not understand the Vedanta-śastra, Mahádéva,

having incarnated himself, appeared in the shape of Sankara acharya,

for the purpose of interpreting the Vedanta doctrine, upon which

subject many books have been written. _Sastra_[227] signifies, in the

Sankrit language, “science,” and _Véda_, the “heavenly book,” as has

been said; _anta_,[228] is “end, the accomplishment;” that is, “the

accomplishment of the intended object;” and the intent of the Veda is

the knowledge of God and of one’s self. On that account this science,

which consists in the knowledge of the union of God, as it is to be

derived from the text of the Veda, has been entitled _Veda-anta_, “the

accomplishment of the Veda.” Sankara acharya was a _Jnáni_, “a saint,

a divine,” professing the unity of God; his speeches and actions

became the code of the Jnánis.

One of these, called _Chatúr Vapah_, belongs to the class of the

_Dandahars_; he descends from the Brahmans of Guzerat, whom they call

_Nága-Brahmans_; his father, of the order of jewellers, enjoyed great

consideration and opulence. Chatúr Vapah, having acquired great

perfection in the worship of God, abandoned wife, father, mother, and

children; and chose the condition of a Sanyási; he devoted himself to

the practice of restraining the breath, and at last attained great

reputation, but never relaxed in his religious austerity; he ate no

more than three handsful; they say that sometimes he tasted nothing

but salt, and contented himself with three pinches of it; the nature

of his manners is so well known among the Sanyásis, that it is not

required to say more of it in this book. They say besides that, on

account of his perseverance in the beforesaid practice, and on hearing

the voice of God, a sound similar to that of a harp issued from his

veins. A Durvish, native of Persia, gave the following information:

“In the year 1045 of the Hejira (1635 A. D.), one night Chatur Vapah

came to me, and said: ‘Rise, that we may take a walk together;’ I went

with him and arrived at a deep water. Chatur Vapah, having put his

feet upon the surface of the water, walked upon it so as not to raise

a sprinkling; he then called me; going along the border of the pond, I

joined him, who until my arrival awaited me upon an elevated block of

stone which was near the pond. When I had seated myself near him, he

pointed to the block, and said: ‘Dost thou guess whose work this is?’

Having considered the bulk of the stone, which was not less than ten

cubits in length, I was struck with astonishment, and said: ‘This may

be the work of a deity.’ Chatur Vapah replied: ‘One of my friends

dwelt here, and endeavored to shape this block into his habitation,

and having brought the huge stone upon his shoulder from the high

mountain, began to work it. The people, astonished at the bulk of the

stone, sat down at night in a lurking-place, so that they saw the

Sanyásí with the great stone on his shoulder. On that account they

represented to him: What is the reason of undergoing such labour?

Command, and we will bring the stone down from the mountain, and shape

it right, provided the block be not too large. The Sanyási got angry,

and left the village.’ Chatúr Vapah afterwards added: ‘Rise, and let

us go to see him:’ we went there. Sitting cross-legged, he was

occupied with himself. Chatúr Vapah said to him: ‘This Durvish is my

friend; call the musician.’ He replied: ‘Raise thou the light up.’ At

these words, Chatur Vapah directed his looks to the field, and an

immense torch burst forth, lighted from the mysterious region, and

threw its scattered refulgence wide about, and the sound of many

musical instruments came upon the ear. At day-break we took leave of

him, and returned by the road which we came to our resting place.”

Khája Hafiz says right:

“When the chief of the wine-cellar became my preceptor, what

disparity is there in it?

There is no place which is not the place of God.

In the cell of the hermit, in the circle of the Sufís,

There is no principal place of the worshipper but

The extremity of the arch of thy two eyebrows.”

The Hakim Kamrán of Shíraz says: “We were in Benares with Chatúr

Vapah. One of the principal Muselmans who visited him asked him: ‘What

dost thou say of the truth of our prophet?’ He answered: ‘You say that

he is a legate of God, and a leader of the way to the people to which

the King of truth has sent him; but it is not becoming for those who

are companions of the Monarch of the world to take orders from him.’”

The inhabitant of heaven, Nuraddin Jehangír (may the light of God

illume his grave!) believed and placed a suitable confidence in him.

Abdár rahim of the Khánkhan prostrated himself before him. In the year

1033 of the Hejira (1623 A. D.), the author of this work, then in his

infancy, came with his friends and relations from Patna to the

capital, Akbár abad, and was brought in the arms of the Mobéd Hushíar,

the odor of whose excellent qualities is diffused about, to Chatur

Vapah. The pious man rejoiced at it, and bestowed his blessing on me,

the writer of this work; he taught me the mantra of _Súrya_, that is,

of the sun; he then enjoined Ganéśa-man, one of his disciples who were

present on this day, that he should remain with me until the age of

manhood, when I should be able to manage my affairs myself. Ganéśa-man

remained attached to me: he was a pupil of Chatur Vapah, and practised

the restraining of the breath assiduously. The Mobéd Hushíar says, he

once saw him when, sitting cross-legged, he restrained his breath so

that his belly, filled with wind, extended beyond his knees. The

Gosáin Chatur Vapah travelled to the everlasting kingdom in the year

1047 of the Hejira (1637 A. D.).

The author of this book saw, in the year 1053 of the Hejira (1643 A.

D.), Kalían Bharatí in Karitpúr in the Kohistan of the Panjab, which

was the country of the rája Tarachandra. Kalían was a religious man,

and kept his breath for two watches, or six hours. The Bháratís are a

class of Sanyásis. From Ferzánah Khushí, who is a pious man of the

Yezdanían, was received the information, that Kalíán Bhárati used to

drink, first, oil of lamps, and then milk, both which he emitted again

in such a manner that the color of each was preserved, and no mixture

had taken place. Kalin Bhárati always praised Persia; the author of

this work told him: “You have no connection in India; you should go

there.” He answered: “I went to Iran, but when I saw the king of the

country, Shah Abas Ibne Sultan,[229] who ought to be a servant of God,

I found him to be full of years, and although highly intelligent, yet

merciless, a shedder of blood, covetous, a word-breaker, a friend to

jesting, and admirer of buffoonery. In his country it was promulgated

that wherever a boy or girl gifted with beauty could be found, they

should be brought before the king. The Sufís of the tribe Kazelbásh

brought boys and girls to the king, that he might indulge himself in

any shameful act of his liking. I asked myself whether, if such a

behaviour were conformable to their religion, I could remain in this

town? When I inquired about it from their learned men, they denied it.

I further asked, whether the king approves of such deeds? They said:

‘These are deeds, customary with men of our faith.’ I then again said

to myself: the king is the substitute of God; if he himself goes

astray, is not firm in his faith, and does not disavow any part of

this religion, then it is not advisable to remain in this town.” Kalin

Bharati also said: “I cannot bear seeing a man who is not firm in his

faith; one who professes no religion at all is, at least, his own

guide; the professor of any faith who does what he says, and is fixed

in it, deserves not to be blamed.”

The writer of this book found, in the year 1048 of the Hejira (1638 A.

D.), Aisha Girda, in Kashmir. Ferzanah Khushí says, that he kept his

breath during three watches, or nine hours, and he found Maden Kir

equal to him. This was a man skilled in all sorts of magic and sleight

of hand: whenever well disposed, he scattered bread and salt about,

brought milk forth from bones, cut bones in two with a hair, and

passed birds’ eggs through the narrow neck of a bottle, and exhibited

such like tricks.

Other Sanyásis remain twelve years standing upon one leg, and this

class is called _Thávésar_.[230] Those who keep continual silence are

called _Máunínas_.[231] Many other, like these, are mentioned in Hindu

books, which the author of this work perused, but has no room for

describing them all in these pages; some of this class are men of

consideration and opulence, and are escorted by files of elephants;

they have carriages, fine apparel, courtiers, servants, on foot and

horseback.

[176] ईश.

[177] जीव

[178] अभ्यासयोग the practice of frequent and repeated

contemplation of any deity, or abstract spirit, repeated

recollection, etc.

[179] योगः among a great number of significations has that

of “religious exercise.”

[180] अभ्यास means, properly, “constant, eternal

repetition.”

[181] यम religious restraint, or obligation.

[182] नियम or नियाम any religious observance voluntarily

practised.

[183] आसन sitting in some particular posture, as is the

custom of the devotees; eighty-four kinds are enumerated.

[184] प्राणायामः breathing in a peculiar way through the

nostrils, during the mental recitation of the names or

attributes of some deity.

[185] प्रत्याहारः abstraction; insensibility; restraining

the organs so as to be indifferent to disagreeable or

agreeable excitement.

[186] धारणं fortitude; keeping the mind collected, the

breath suspended, and all natural wants restrained; steady

immoveable abstraction.

[187] ध्यानं meditation; reflection; mental representation

of the personal attributes of the divinity to whom worship

is addressed.

[188] समधारण see _dhárana_; _sama_ is an intensitive.

[189] अहिंसा harmlessness, one of the cardinal virtues of

most Hindu sects.

[190] सत्यं.

[191] अस्तेयं.

[192] ब्रह्मचारी a religious student, an ascetic of a certain

class.

[193] अप्रग्रह.

[194] तापस.

[195] जाप muttering prayers.

[196] शाम.

[197] शुाचि.

[198] ईशपूजा.

[199] See the signification of _dhárana_, as taken from

Wilson’s Dict., and given in note 6, p. 125.

[200] अलोक Heaven.

[201] गोरखनाथ a name adopted by a class of Yógis――(_Wils.

Dict._, sub voce, _nátha_.)

[202] Perhaps मचर्चिक नाथ _macharchika nátha_, “lord of

excellence,” or “happiness.”

[203] Probably चूडाङ्कनाथ _chúdánka nátha_, “lord of the

ornament of the crest.”

[204] Professor Wilson (see his Sketch of the Religious

Sects of the Hindus, in the XVIth vol. of the _As. Res._, p.

1-136) has enumerated the religious divisions of the Hindus

as they have been described by the author of the _Sankara

Vijaya_, probably in the 8th century of our era, to which

enumeration he added that of the present divisions of this

people, comprised in three great classes: the _Vaichnavas_,

the _Sâivas_, and the _Saktas_. Very few names of these

sects are to be found in The Dabistán, although both works

agree in general in the account of the opinions, rites, and

customs of the different sectaries; the outlines of their

systems appear to have remained the same during at least the

last thousand years, whatever alterations the details may

have undergone.

[205] _Panthi_ is derived from the Sanskrit पन्थिन्

_panthin_, “who goes the road.” This term occurs only in the

word परिपन्थिन् _pari-panthi_, “an adversary.”

[206] According to the Shah-nameh, Afrasiab, after many

battles, succombed to the fortune of Kaí-Khusro. The king of

Turan fled to the mountains of Berdah, where he concealed

himself in a cavern. It so happened that Hum, a descendant

of Feridun, lived as a hermit in the same desert: there he

heard by night a voice of complaint, which he soon

recognised to be that of Afrasiab. The hermit had not

extinguished the vindictive passion in his breast; he seized

and bound the fugitive king, and conducted him to be

delivered into the hands of Káí Khusró. On the bank of a

large river, Hum, visited by a feeling of pity, loosened the

fetters of his prisoner, who profited by these few moments

of liberty to escape, and dived into the water, where he

remained concealed, as is said above, so that he could not

be discovered. Káí Khusró, having in the mean time arrived

to receive himself the great captive, Hum advised the king

to subject Gorshivez (Afrâsiab’s brother) who was also a

prisoner in his hands, to severe tortures, in order that the

lamentations of the sufferer might draw Afrasiab out of the

water. This stratagem succeeded, and Afrasiab was killed by

the sword of Káí Khusró.

[207] सप्त चक्राः In the best treatises of the Hindu

philosophers, we find only six chakras, or “circles,”

enumerated; these are as follow: 1. _Muládhára_, “the parts

about the pubis;” 2. the _Swádishthánam_, or “umbilical

region;” 3. the _Manipúram_, “pit of the stomach,” or

“epigastrium;” 4. _Anáhatam_, “the root of the nose;” 5.

_Visuddham_, “the hollow between the frontal sinuses;” 6.

_Ajnyákhyam_, “the fontenelle, or union of the coronal and

sagittal sutures.” To these circles, or divisions, are

attributed various faculties and relations with divinities

and physical elements.

[208] मूलाधार.

[209] मन्थर “a churning stick.”

[210] नाभिचक्र.

[211] मणिपुर.

[212] कण्ट.

[213] भ्रुव.

[214] ब्रह्माण्ड signifies “Brahma’s egg,” to which the

earth is compared, and probably, as above, the head.

[215] आदित्य, पङ्किल, सोमन.

[216] These words have, in the Persian dictionary, a

signification different from that which is above attributed

to them, and seem to be technical terms belonging to the

doctrine of a sect.

[217] प्राण _prána_ is breath, expiration, and inspiration;

अपान _apána_ is flatulence, _crepitus_. Besides these two

winds, the Hindus name three other winds, namely: _Jamána_,

eructation, supposed to be essential to digestion; _Udána_,

passing from the throat into the head; it is the pulsation

of the arteries in the head, the neck, and temples; _Vyána_,

expanding through the whole body; it is the pulsation of the

rest of the superficial arteries and occasional puffiness of

external parts, indicating air in the skin (see _Vedanta

Sara_, edit. Calc., p. 9; and _Sánkhyá Kárita_, work quoted,

p. 105).

[218] अजप is a particular mantra, or mystical formula,

employed by the Tantrikas, the essence of which is the

letters _H_ and _S_, whence it is termed the _Hansa-mantra_.

[219] कुण्डली.

[220] मह आसन.

[221] साद आसन

[222] See, on it, vol. I. p. 80.

[223] दणिडी a mendicant carrying a staff.

[224] अवधूत.

[225] जूट.

[226] भस्म _bhasma_, “ashes,” भस्मीभूत _bhasmíbuta_,

“becoming ashes.”

[227] शास्त्र _sástra_, from शास _sása_, “to govern,” an

order, command, institutes of religion, science, etc.

[228] अन्त.

[229] The king of Persia above mentioned was probably Abbas,

the son of Shah Muhammed Mirza. He began to reign in 1585,

and died in 1628, in his 70th year. He was called “the

Great,” although his character and life were stained by

vices but too common to Oriental princes. To him succeeded

his grandson Shah Súfí, in 1627, and died in 1641; then the

son of the latter, Abbas II, not yet ten years old, was

proclaimed king; at the date above mentioned, viz. 1643, he

was about twelve years old, and could therefore not be the

king characterised by Kalin Bharati, who could very easily,

but fifteen years before the epoch above mentioned, have

seen Abbas “the Great,” then, as he says, “full of years.”

[230] Probably स्थातारस् _sthátáras_.

[231] मौनिनस्.

* * * * *

SECTION THE SEVENTH DESCRIBES THE TENETS OF THE SÁKTÍAN.――The belief

of this sect is as follows: Síva, that is Mahádeva, who in their

opinion with little exception is the highest of the deities, and the

greatest of the spirits, has a spouse whom they call _Máyá

saktí_;[232] this spouse shows first one color, and then another, that

is, something else than what really exists: for instance, water like

wine. This spiritual and material principle has three natures and

three qualities, namely: _rajas_,[233] that is, “dominion and desire;”

_sattva_,[234] which is “rectitude and wisdom, and the power to

control the senses, not to be subject to them;” and _tamas_,[235] or

“violence, passion, besides eating, gluttony, and sleeping.” With the

Hindus, Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadeva are personified as proceeding

from these three conditions,[236] or as the powers of the three

qualities mentioned. This Máyá is the maker of the productions of this

world and of its inhabitants, and the creator of the spirits and of

the bodies; the universe and its contents are born from her: from

respect of the said productions and of the mentioned effects, she is

entitled _Jagat-ambá_,[237] or “mother of the universe;” non-entity

finds no access to this creator; the garment of perishableness does

not sit right upon the body of this fascinating empress; the dust of

nothingness does not move round the circle of her dominion; the real

beings of heaven, and the accidental creations of the nether world,

are equally enamoured and intoxicated of desire before her; bound by

these ties of deceit in this revolving world, whoever rebels feels the

desire of _mukt_, that is, of emancipation, independence, and

happiness; nevertheless, from carelessness, he pays obedience and

worship to this world-deceiving queen, and never abandons the path of

adoration of this bewitching lady. This goddess, that is the spiritual

principle, exists in all living beings in six circles, which they call

_shat chakras_,[238] as the fibres in the stalk of a water-lily, in

which there are six divisions: 1. the _Muládhára_, or “the

sitting-place;” 2. the _Manipúram_, that is, “the navel;” 3. the

_Swadhishtanam_,[239] “the firm place, and which commands the upper

region of the navel;” 4. _Hrid_,[240] or “the heart;” 5. _Sáda_,[241]

that is, “the purified mansion and the place of purification,” and

this proceeds from the upmost part of the breast; 6. _Agni

tchakra_,[242] or “the circle of the fire,” and this is that of the

eye-brows. These are the six circles, and above them is _Indra_, that

is the window of life, and the passage of the soul, which is the top

and middle of the head; and in that place is the flower of the back of

one thousand leaves: this is the residence of the glorious divinity,

that is, of the world-deceiving queen, and in this beautiful site

reposes her origin. With the splendour of one hundred thousand

world-illuminating suns, she wears, at the time of rising, manifold

odoriferous herbs and various flowers upon her head and around her

neck: her resplendent body is penetrated with perfumes of various

precious ingredients, such as musk, safran, sandal and amber, and

bedecked with magnificent garments: in this manner, as was just

described, she is to be represented. The worship of her form and

appearance, the adoration and submission, ought to be internal and

true; and the exterior veneration, to be paid before her image;

moreover, all that has been divided into five sections and explained

in the Yoga śastra, is to be performed with assiduity. The interior

worship consists in representing her image, and in keeping her

remembrance every where; the possessor of such an imaginative faculty

and devotedness is called _bhakta_,[243] that is, “a possessor of

gladness and of the mansion of perfect delight, and of _mukt_, or

‘liberation’ to be enjoyed in this mansion of a permanent happy

existence.” The mode of this worship is contained in the _Agama_,[244]

and the whole sect conform themselves to it. With them, the power of

Mahadeva’s wife, who is Bhávání, surpasses that of the husband. The

zealous of this sect worship the _Síva-linga_, although other Hindus

also venerate it. _Linga_[245] is called the virile organ, and they

say on behalf of this worship that, as men and all living beings

derive their existence from it, adoration is duly bestowed on it. As

the linga of Mahadeva, so do they venerate the _bhaga_,[246] that is,

the female organ. A man very familiar with them gave the information

that, according to their belief, the high altar, or principal place in

a mosque of the Muselmans, is an emblem of the _bhaga_. Another man

among them said that, as the just-named place emblems the bhaga, the

minar, or turret of the mosque represents the linga: on which account

both are found together. In many places and among a great number of

the Hindus, this worship exists: a great many follow the Agama, in

which wine drinking is approved, and if, instead of a common cup, a

man’s skull (which they call _kapála_[247]) be used, the beverage is

much more agreeable. They hold the killing of all animals, even of

man, to be permitted, and call it _bala_.[248] At night they go to the

places which they call _śmaśána_,[249] and where the dead bodies are

burnt; there they intoxicate themselves, eat the flesh of the corpses

burnt, and copulate before the eyes of others with women, which they

name _śakti púja_:[250] and if the devoted woman be that of another,

the good work is so much the more valuable, and it is certain that

they offer their wives to each other; the disciples bring their wives

and daughters to their preceptor; they unite with their mothers,

sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, which is against the custom of

the Hindus, who do not take daughters of their near relations. The

author of this work saw one of the learned men of this sect, who read

to him a book of modern composition upon their customs, and therein

was stated that it is permitted to mix with every woman except one’s

daughter. This man began to abuse the work, saying that the text was

contrary to the old customs of this class, and that no such thing is

to be found in the ancient books, and declared it at last to be a

mistake of the copyist. They say that the woman exists for the sake of

being desired; she may be a mother or a daughter. In their opinion,

there is no enjoyment higher that that of love; the Hindus call it

_kámada_;[251] and say that, when a woman and a man are in close

conversation, whoever disturbs them is worthy of God’s malediction,

because they both therein share a state of happiness. The Agama favors

both sexes equally, and makes no distinction between women; they may

belong to whomsoever: men and women compose equally humankind, and

whatever they bring forth makes part of it. This sect hold women in

great esteem, and call them _śaktis_ (powers); and to ill treat a

_śakti_, that is, a woman, is held a crime. The high and low value the

Lulís (public girls) very high, and call them _deva kanya_,[252]

“daughters of the gods.”

Among them, it is a meritorious act to sacrifice a man, which they

call _naramédha_;[253] then the _gómédha_,[254] or sacrifice of a cow;

further, the _asvaméda_,[255] and finally, any other animal. When they

perform a sacrificial ceremony, which they call Kála-dek

(_kaladéya_)[256], they unite the blood of as many animals as possible

in a large vase, and place therein the man whom they bring over to

their creed, and they drink with him from that blood. Whenever the

worship of a god, or of the wife of a god is performed, the ceremony

is called _ishtam_,[257] and the master of the ceremony _ishta_. The

creed of this sect is, that any god or wife of a god may be worshipped

in two ways: the one is called _bhadram_,[258] which consists in

abstaining from shedding blood, and in being pure; the other, termed

_vakam_,[259] which admits spilling blood, commerce with women, and

neglect of purity; but they think this second preferable, and say that

each deity, male or female, has a form under which he or she is to be

represented; but that the worship of a female divinity affords a

greater recompense. When they have an intimate connection with their

own or another’s wife, they behold in her the image of the goddess,

and think to personate the god, her husband, and at this time they

sing a prescribed song, which to entune at the very moment of the

closest junction, they believe to be most recommendable. There is a

deity whose praise they sing with unwashed hands;[260] and another

whom they worship with the mark of their cast drawn with dirt on their

forehead. Some of these goddesses are by them called “queens,” and

others “servants;” and the worshipper of a woman is also termed

“servant.”

The author of this work saw a man who, singing the customary song, sat

upon a corpse which he kept unburied until it came to a state of

dissolution, and then ate the flesh of it; this act they hold

extremely meritorious. They say that the desires of this and of the

other world attain their accomplishment by means of the worship of a

god or of a goddess. The followers of this sect send their barren

wives, in order that they may become pregnant, to the performers of

such acts, and these men use the women before the eyes of their

husbands: whoever does not send his wife to his master, renders in

their opinion the purity of his faith very doubtful.

The Gossain Tara lochana, a Brahman, was of this sect, and devoted to

the worship of Káli, a female deity. Having gone to Kachmir in the

year 1048 of the Hejira (1638 A. D.), he practised pious austerity; at

last, as is usual, he chose a concubine, for which, they say, five

things are requisite: fish, wine, the wife of another man, flesh (if

human flesh so much the better) and a mantra, that is, a song. The

Hindus used to distinguish fish from flesh. Finally, having

accomplished the act of a Gosain, Tara lochana became the friend of

Ahsen Ulla, named Zafer Khán ibne Khájá, Abul hasen Taramzi, who was

the governor of Kachmir: this took place by the interest of the

confidential servants of the lord’s house, who were well disposed to

be directed by a perfect Gósain. The said lord wished Taralochana to

procure him victory over the Tibetans; the Gosain promised it to him,

provided he should conform himself to his directions: Zafer Khan

consented to it, and a convention was concluded between them. Tara

lochana said: “Appoint a great number of Lúlían who are never to

separate from me, because in our religion the intercourse with these

is preferable to that with other women, on which account they are

entitled _Déva-Kanyá_, ‘the daughters of the gods;’ my meal must never

be destitute of wine and other intoxicating liquors; to begin, let a

sheep be killed for me, and the necessaries and materials of repast be

prepared.” Zafer Khan did all the Gosain demanded; when he made his

expedition to Tibet, he obtained a remarkable victory, and returned

triumphant. At last, a disagreement took place between the Gosain and

Zafer Khan; the former quitted the latter, who soon after, on account

of a dispute between the Sonní and the Shiâh of Kachmir, lost his

consideration, and being obliged to retire, went to Kabul; there

Muhammed Tafer, one of his relations, gave him some fatal stabs with a

poniard, in consequence of which he lay sick for some time. Soon after

he lost his office and property, and remained long in Lahore without a

situation. The author of this book saw in the year 1055 of the Hejira

(1645 A. D.) in Gujerat, a district of the Panjab, Tara lochana, who

told him “It was on account of his difference with me that so great a

misfortune befel Zafer Khan.” Urfi of Shiraz says:

“The bounty of the Eternal does not reject the unbeliever,

Provided he acquire perfection in the adoration of his idol.”

Shédosh, the son of Anosh declared: that, according to the explainers

of the law, there must be observed in any pursuit a due relation and

correspondence to the intended purpose: further, in the pursuit of a

virtuous spirit, sanctity and purity are required; but in the pursuit

of a base spirit, nothing of purity enters, and may be dispensed with.

This subject has been treated in the second section of the work

thereupon.

The writer of this book saw in the same year, and in the place

beforesaid of Guzerat, a man called Mahadéo, who at night was always

sitting upon a dead body. I also saw Sadánand, of the same sect, who

said to one of his disciples: “I wish to perform a rite, called the

worship of the hair.” The disciple brought his own daughter, and

Sadánanda gazed at her hair, kissed her face, and in that way enjoyed

her before the eyes of her father. I saw besides a person who brought

his wife to him, saying: “I have no son in my house.” It is the belief

of this class that, if in such a manner any one has intercourse with a

barren woman, she obtains whatever she desires; on that account, some

of the women, at the moment of intimate junction, demand from the

perfect man the gift of _mukt_, that is, union with God Almighty, and

emancipation from this body. It was for that reason, that Sadánanda

used the woman before the eyes of her husband. One day, Sadánanda sat

in a burying place, naked, with one of his friends, and drank wine,

when one of the orthodox Brahmans passed that way, and saw these men.

The disciples said: “This Brahman will tell the people what he saw,

and expose us to ridicule.” Sadánanda replied: “It does not matter.”

When the Brahman came home, he died.

When in the year 1059 of the Hejira (1649 A. D.) the author of this

work happened to be in the district of Kalinga, he saw in every

village of this country the image of a god, or of a spirit called by

some particular name, and each of these spirits is supposed to be the

author of some sickness or misfortune, for the removing of which they

offer their prayers to him. One of these spirits is _Anamberam_; and

when a person gets a pimple, he brings an animal, commonly a domestic

bird, to the chapel, and sacrifices it. In the work _Khálasa al

hayat_, “the essence of life,” composed by Mulla Ahmed Tatvi, is

stated, that upon the sepulchre of _Asefnívas_,[261] a sage of Greece,

they used to sacrifice a bird, and they say that, in the book which

treats of the ceremonies of pilgrimage to the before-named deities,

three kinds of sacrifices are enumerated: agreeable perfumes, sweet

cakes, and beverages; besides Mulla Ahmed Tatvi mentions in his work

just before quoted, that _Herámes_ (that is Idris)[262] has

established fumigations and wine of grapes for the use of sacrifices.

Among the great idols of the country or Kaling is _Gang-Durgá_.[263]

They say, Ramachandra déo, one of their great Rájas, descendant of the

celebrated family of Kaśyapa, ruled in Orissa. This Rája, having

called a goldsmith, gave him the mass of gold which he demanded for

making an image of Durga. The goldsmith, having carried the gold home,

intended to form the goddess of copper and to purloin the gold,

thinking that, as to break into pieces an idol is not permitted among

the Hindus, he could keep the gold without fear of discovery. With

this project he went to sleep. When he awoke, he saw that one half of

the gold remained on the spot, and that the other half was formed into

the image of Durgá; having carried this with the remaining gold to

Ramachandra déo, and told the story, the Rája gave him the residue of

gold, and carried the idol, in his house and in his travels,

constantly with him. They say that, after the death of Kaśyapa the

Great, Makandéo assembled under his sceptre the nations of this

country, and that Vichnunath déo Sukra conquered the town Sri

Kakul,[264] from the Rája Nanda. Ramchandra déo moved his army towards

Sri Kakul, and took the fort; Vichnu-náth, being informed of it,

marched against him; Ramchandra déo, unable to resist his force, fled;

Ganga Durga was by her guardians thrown away in a village, from whence

she fell into the hands of a Brahman, who flung her into the barn of a

villager. This man, having taken her up, carried her to his house. The

goddess appeared to him in a dream, and said: “Offer me in sacrifice

thy eldest son, and I will make thee Rája.” After a certain time, the

villager told this secret to Vishnu-náth déo, who, having taken the

idol from him, gave him a horse ornamented with gold, and a

magnificent dress, and carried the goddess to Naránya púr, his

residence. As she demanded from him also the sacrifice of a man,

Vichnu-náth déo killed every year one of the thieves and like sorts of

men before her altar. After the death of Vichnu náth déo, his sons did

the same. When Vikramajet déo, who descended from Vichna nath déo, was

killed, and the country disturbed by insurrections, then Dasvent-ráu,

who was one of the grand-children of Vichnu-náth déo, having taken up

Durga, fled from fear of the army, commanded by Jalil ul Khader Tulají

Khan Bég, to Márkúl. Bhúpati, the Rája of Márkul, being also afraid of

the attack of the famous general, sent him the goddess Durga, on

Monday, the ninth day of the month Rabish ul avel, of the year 1062 of

the Hejira (September, 1651, A. D.). The idol was of gold, in the form

of a female, with limbs very well proportioned, four arms, in two of

her right hands carrying a three-pointed pike, which the Hindus call

_Trisúla_,[265] and with which the goddess was striking _Mahisha

Asura_, a demon under the form of a buffalo; he was beneath her right

foot; in another hand she had a white ball, and in the fourth, the

chakra, or discus, which is a circular weapon peculiar to the Hindus;

under her left foot was a lion, and beneath him a throne. When they

weighed the image, they found it equal to four panchiri, measure of

the Dekhan. Even now, they sacrifice in every village of the Kohistan

of Nanda-púr, and country adjacent, a man of good family.

Another idol, called _Mávelí_,[266] is in the town of Bister.[267] The

belief of the people there is that, when an hostile army comes to

attack them, the divinity, under the form of a woman selling

vegetables, goes into the camp of the enemy, and whoever eats what she

offers, dies; and during the night she appears like one of the public

girls, and whoever finds her charming, and calls her, meets with

death. They relate many strange and wonderful things about her. When

in the year of the Hejira 1069, A. D. 1658-9, the famous general

Tavaljí Khan Beg besieged and took the fort Kot Bahar, which is

stronger than the fort of Bister, there died so many men and beasts of

various maladies and the particular effects of climate, that their

number exceeds all computation; and this the inhabitants of the fort

of Bister attributed to the power of the goddess.

There is another class of followers of Síva, that is, of Sáktían,

whose creed is quite different from that just before stated: they

never have intercourse with the wife of another; they drink no wine.

The adorers of Síva are obliged to drink wine in the _Síva-ratra_,[268]

which is a sacred night: because it is written in their books that

they ought then to fill a cup with wine and to drink it; as, according

to the rule of this sect, it is not a matter of choice to drink wine;

many who cannot get it, having procured a draught of syrup, mix a

little of a fermented liquor with it to render it like wine, and take

it for such, calling it _pána_.[269]

Sri Kanta, a Kachmirian, is conversant with many sciences of the

Hindus; he knows the sástras, that is, the sástras of the Pandits,

namely, the _Smríti sastra_,[270] or “the written law;” the

_Kavi-sástra_,[271] “poetics;” the _Tarka-sástra_,[272] “logic and

dialectics;” the _Váidyá vidyá_,[273] “the medical science;” the

_Jyótisha_,[274] “astronomy;” and the _Pátanjala_,[275] that is, the

restraining of the breath; he knows besides very well the Vedanta, or

metaphysics, etc. In the year 1049 of the Hejira (1639 A. D.) the

author of this book saw him in Kachmir; he is one of the saints of the

Hindus. Sri Kant was invested by the inhabitant of heaven, Núr-ed-din

Mahommed Jehangír Pádshah, with the dignity of a judge of the Hindus,

in order that they may be tranquillised, and in every concern have

nothing to demand from the Muselmans: as it has been established in

the code of Akbar, that the tribes of mankind, high and low, with the

existing diversity of creeds and difference of customs, which are all

under the trust of a beneficent lord, ought to dwell in the shade of

protection of a just king, and persevere in the performance of their

worship and the exigencies of their devotion, so that, by the

authority derived from the chiefs, the sons of the age may not stretch

the hand of oppression over the condition of the people.

The belief of the Hindus is as follows: all the _tírths_,[276] that

is, “places of pilgrimage,” which are in the world are in imitation of

the fixed model _Haratírth_, which is in Kachmir; for, after having

visited the holy place of Kachmir, there is no desire to see that of

any other country; and they call it the great place of pilgrimage,

likewise _prayága_,[277] which is celebrated at Máhábád; there are

Shah abad ed-din púr, and Gangavara, Lárasún, and Kisâlíhazra. There

are many miraculous things in Kachmir; one of them is _Sandebár_, and

they relate: In ancient times, a holy Brahman dwelt in a cavern of the

mountain, where he devoted himself to the worship of the Almighty God.

Once every year, he went to the Ganges to bathe. After having passed

several years in that way, Gangá said to the Brahman: “Thou measurest

always such a length of road, on which thou dost set aside the worship

of God: my convention with thee is this: that, when the sun reaches

the constellation of the Bull, I will three times a-day come to thy

resting-place.” From this time, when the great luminary throws his

effulgence towards the constellation of the Bull, the water of the

river springs up boiling from the basin of the fountain, which is near

the place of his devotion. _Sundeberari_, in the cavern of the

mountain, became celebrated: it is a square basin, and has on its

eastern wall an open cavity, from which, as well as from several other

vents and holes in the sides of the basin, the water springs up.

However steadfastly one may look, the bottom cannot be discovered. And

in the middle of the eastern side, there are seven holes, which the

people of Kachmir call _Saptarshi_,[278] “the seven Rishis;” on the

northern side is an issue, which they call _dama bhaváni_;[279] when

the world-illuminating sun begins to enter the constellation of the

Bull, the water appears there in the following manner: it springs up

first from the large cavity, then from the _Saptarshi_: so the Hindus

call seven rakshasas, and give their name to the constellation of the

Great Bear. Further, the water comes up from the _dama bhaváni_, that

is “the mansion of _Bhaváni_, the wife of Mahadéo.” When the cavity is

filled, then the water, passing over the borders, runs out; the

Sanyásis and other Hindus, who had come from distant places, throw

themselves into it, and the people who find no room, carry water from

it. Afterwards, the ebullition declines in such a manner, that there

remains not the least trace of the water. In this month the water

boils up three times a-day, namely, in the morning, at mid-day, and in

the afternoon, at the hour of prayer. After the lapse of this month,

no more water is seen, until the sun enters again into the sign of the

Bull.

“Certainly, every thing announces God,

And offers the proof that there is but He.”[280]

The historians of the times know Sandeberarí among the wonders

described by the ancient learned men of Kachmir. The ignorant among

the Muselmans of Kachmir say, that Sandeberari is the well of _Abu

Ali_, and believe it to be the work of _shaikh Arráis_; the truth is,

that _Hajet ul hak_ never came to Kachmir: as it is evident from the

concurring testimony of history.

HISTORY OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS SHAIKH ABU ALÍ HUSSAIN, THE SON OF ABDULLAH

SINA (GOD BLESS HIS GRAVE!)[281]――The father of Abu Alí was a native

of the environs of Balkh, and his mother was Sitára. Abu Alí was born

in the year 333 of the Hejira (944 A. D.)[282] When he had attained

his eighteenth year, he was conversant with all the liberal sciences.

They relate, that Amír Nuh, the son of Manzur Sámáni,[283] in a grave

malady, when the doctors knew no remedy, was restored to health by the

salutary power of the songs of Abu Ali. When the Sámánían were in

distress, he directed himself towards Khórasan, the king of which

country, Alí, the son of Mámun Massar, received Abu Ali with perfect

favour. When Abu Ali was accused before the Sultan Mahmud Sabak

tegín,[284] of being opposed to the religion and creed of the ancient

wise men, and when the Sultan showed a disposition to apprehend him,

the Shaikh was alarmed and fled to Abyúverd; the satellites of the

Sultan followed him with pictures and descriptions of his person,

which were well drawn, and sent by the Sultan to all parts of the

kingdom, in order that the magistrates and head men of office, by

means of this picture might bring the fugitive before the Sultan. The

Shaikh, informed of it, fled towards Jorjan (Georgia). By means of the

remedies of the Shaikh, many sick were cured. Shamsen ul mâlí Kábús,

the son of Vashamger,[285] had a nephew on his sister’s side on a

sick-bed, all the remedies applied by the physicians proved useless;

by order of Kabus, they brought the Shaikh to the pillow of the sick;

but, in spite of all his cares and observations, the learned physician

could not discover the cause of his illness. The Shaikh said to

himself: “This young man may be in love, and from exceeding pudicity

keep his secret unclosed.” On that account he ordered the names of all

the places and towns to be written, and one after another to be read

before the patient, whilst the Shaikh held his finger upon the pulse

of the young man. When they pronounced the name of the abode of the

beloved, the motion of the pulse of the enamoured was perceptible; the

Shaikh ordered also the names of all the private houses to be read; at

that of the object of his desires, the pulse of the desirous became

disturbed; moreover they began to read the names of the inhabitants of

the houses; when they arrived at that of his idol, the pulse of the

adorer again beat higher. Mazheri of Kashmir says:

“The pulse of the loving beats higher, agitated only at the

name of the beloved.”

Thus, the perfect science of Abu Alí found the true remedy: he said to

one of the head men near Shams ul mâlí: “This young man is in love

with such a girl, in such a house, and there is no remedy but the

gratification of his desire.” After trial, the truth of these words

was found.[286]

When the Umras and the ministers of state withdrew from the obedience

of Kábus, whom they imprisoned, the Shaikh retired into the country.

Some time after, he betook himself to Ráí.[287] Majed-dóulah Abu Táleb

Rustam, the son of Fakher ed dóulah Dalímí, the Hakim (governor) of

Rái,[288] showed him great regard and honor; the Shaikh restored Majed

ud-dóulah from the malady of melancholy to good health.

When Shams ed-dóulah made war upon Helál,[289] son of Bader, son of

Hasnávíah, who came from the capital of the right faith (Mecca), he

defeated the army of Bâghdad. The Shaikh went from Rái to Kazvín,[290]

and from thence to Hamdan.[291] Shams ed-dóulah was cured of a colic

by the remedies of the Shaikh, whom he then raised to the dignity of a

Vizír. The chiefs of the army conspired against the life of Abu Ali;

he fled, and remained concealed during forty days. Meanwhile, the

malady of Shams ed-doulahreturned; the Shaikh, having come forth from

his place of concealment, delivered the Sultan from his illness, and

was again raised to the Vizirat. After the death of Shams ed-doulah,

the throne was filled by Bahá ed-dóulah, the son of Táj ed

dóulah.[292] The Umrahs requested Abu Alí to accept the Vizírat, but

he refused his consent. About this time, Aláded-dóulah, the son of

Jâfer Kakyuah,[293] sent from Iśfahan an invitation to the venerable

Shaikh to join him; but the Shaikh declined to come, and concealed

himself in the house of Abu Táleb, a dealer in perfumes. Without the

example of any other work before his eyes, he composed his work,

entitled _Shafá_, “remedy,” treating the whole of physics and

metaphysics.[294]

Tájed doulah, having assumed the name of Alaved-dóulah, kept the

Shaikh, by this assumption, employed in a continual succession of

affairs. When Alawed dóulah conquered the country of Tájed ud dóulah,

he brought the Shaikh to Iśfahán.[295] Towards the end of his life, a

disease of the bowels seized the Shaikh, and gained strength, on

account of his active life in the service of Alawed dóulah, and of the

expeditions of his enemies. The patient was carried in a covered

chair. When Aladed-dóulah came to Hamdán, the Shaikh felt that nature

had exhausted her strength, and could not resist the force of the

malady; on that account, having desisted from applying any remedy, he

took a bath, and having distributed his property in alms to the poor,

the indigent, and the necessitous, he turned his mind to God and the

elect of the divinity; at last, on a Friday, in the month of Ramzán,

of the year 427 of the Hejira (1035 A. D.), he passed from this

deceitful world to the residence of happiness.[296] A great man said:

“From the globe of black clay to the summit of Venus,

I traversed all the difficulties of the world;

Every tie which was fastened around me, on account of deceit and

illusion,

Was loosened――except that of death.”

The extraordinary and astonishing actions performed by Abu Alí have

been described in the book about the application of remedies in

several histories[297], few of which are reproduced in these pages;

and so much only with the intention to prove shortly to the candid

reader, that Shaikh Abu Alí never came to Kachmir, about which

intelligent and ingenious men in all countries agree.

“There is no house which may not be the house of God.”

[232] माया शक्ति.

[233] रजस् “foulness,” according to the interpretation of

Colebrooke and Wilson.

[234] सत्त्वं “goodness.”

[235] तमस् “darkness.”

[236] According to the Vayu-Purana (ch. V.), Brahma proceeds

from _rajas_; Vichnu from _sattvam_; and Siva or Mahadeva

from _tamas_. According to the Sánkhyá Kárika (sl. xiii):

“Goodness (sattvam) is considered to be alleviating and

enlightening; foulness (rajas), urgent and versatile;

darkness (tamas), heavy and enveloping. Like a lamp, they

co-operate for a purpose (by union of contraries).”

[237] जगद् अम्बा.

[238] षट् चक्राः See the six circles or regions of the human

body enumerated (p. 131, notes); here the denominations of

the three last divisions are different from the former.

[239] स्वाधिष्ठानं.

[240] हृद्.

[241] साद.

[242] अग्नि चक्र.

[243] भक्त.

[244] आगम a work on sacred science in general, and in

particular a Tantra, or any work, inculcating the mystical

worship of Siva and Sakti.

[245] िलङ्ग The Phallus, or Síva, under that emblem; it

signifies also nature, or _Prakritti_, according to the

Sánk hya philosophy, which considers this as the active

power in creation.

[246] भग.

[247] कपाल.

[248] बलं “rigor, severity, blood, strength, power.”

[249] श्मशानं “a cemetery.”

[250] शक्ति पूज.

[251] कामद, “giving what is wished; granting one’s desire.”

[252] देव कनयाः

[253] नर मेद.

[254] गो मेप.

[255] अश्व मेद.

[256] काल देयं.

[257] इष्टं, “an act of sacrifice, an oblation,” etc.; from

इष _isha_, “to wish;” substituted for यज्ञ _yadjna_, “to

sacrifice.”

[258] भद्रं “pure, pious, virtuous.”

[259] वकं “to be crooked, depraved, wicked.”

[260] This reminds us of the _Selli_, dwelling about Dodona,

where Jupiter was adored, and, by whose spirit moved, they

prophesied (ἀνιπτόποδες) “_with unwashed feet_.”――(_Hom._,

_Iliad_, XVI. v. 235.)

[261] اسفنيوس. I am at a loss to find the true name of the

Greek sage. In our days a class of Hindus, pursuant to an

ante-brahminical worship, venerate spirits, called _Vetals_,

to whom in sickness they make vows, to be paid on recovery.

The votive offering is generally a cock, the same that the

Greeks used to give to Æsculapius, when they thought their

cure owing to his sanatory powers――(See the Journal of the

A. R. S. of Great Britain and Ireland, No. IX. p. 194.)

[262] The prophet Enoch.

[263] Perhaps ख दुर्गा _Kha Durga_, “the heavenly Durga.”

[264] The names of the country of Kalinga and of the town

Sri Kakul occur at p. 3 of this volume. The town now called

Cicacole, in the northern Circars, once the capital of an

extensive district, is situated in lat. 18° 21´ N., long.

83° 57´ E.

[265] ित्शूूूलं a trident, a three-pointed pike, or spear,

especially the weapon of Síva.

[266] It is, perhaps, _Mahèsvarí_.

[267] The name which I find nearest approaching to that

above is _Bidzergur_, a town in the province of Allahabad,

lat. 24° 37´ N., long. 83° 10´ E., with a fort on a high and

steep mountain in the midst of an unhealthy country.

[268] िवरात्रिश is a celebrated festival in honor of Síva,

on the fourteenth of the moon’s wane, or dark fortnight in

Mágha (January, February).

[269] पानं drinking in general.

[270] स्मृतिशास्त्रं.

[271] कविशास्त्रं.

[272] तर्कशास्त्रं.

[273] वैद्यविद्या.

[274] ज्योतिषं mathematical, astronomical, and astrological

science.

[275] पातञ्जलं The Yoga-system of philosophy, from

Patanjeli, the sage by whom it was first taught.

[276] तीर्थ.

[277] प्रयाग signifies “sacrifice, oblation;” in compositon

it is applied to many places of reputed sanctity, situated

at the confluence of two rivers, as _Déva-prayága_,

_Rudra-práyaga_, _Karna práyaga_, and _Nanda-prayága_, in

the Himála mountains, which with Prayága, or Allahabad,

constitute the five principal places so termed――(_Wilson’s

Dict._, _sub voce_).

[278] सप्तर्षि.

[279] दम भवानी _dama_ signifies, in the Védas, “the hall of

sacrifice.”

[280] This verse is taken from the Arabic work entitled “The

Birds and the Flowers,” composed by Azz-ed-din Almoka dési,

published with a translation and notes by M. Garcin de

Tassy.――(See p. 8 of the text, and p. 131 of the notes).

[281] The merely cursory mention made of Abu Ali in the

foregoing lines, is sufficient for inducing the author to

interpose between the Sactis and the Vaishnavas, the account

of a man who neither belonged to the Hindus, nor professed

their religion.

The name of this celebrated personage is _Abu Alí Husain Ben

Abdallah, Ben Sina, Al Shaikh Al ráis_; he is commonly

called _Ibn Sina_; the Jews name him _Arabisans Aben Sina_;

and the Christians _Avisenna_.

Herbelot gives an account nearly similar to that of the

Dabistán, of the astonishing learning of Abu Alí and of his

flight before the persecutions of the Sultan Mahmud, and the

cure which the famous doctor performed upon the nephew of

the king of Georgia.

[282] According to Abulfeda and other authors, he was born

in the town of Bokhara, in 370 of the Hejira (980 A. D.).

[283] Mansur I, son of Abdelmalek, was the sixth king of the

Samánís: this dynasty derived their name from Sámán, whose

father is unknown. Sámán, a robber, had a son, Assad, who

quitted the infamous profession of his father, and educated

his sons in a manner which enabled them to rise to the

highest dignities under the Khalif Al-Mamon and his

successors. Ismâil, a grandson of Assad, founded the

princely dynasty in Mavaralnahar (Transoxana), to which

other provinces were annexed. Nine Samanian kings ruled from

the year of the Hejira 261 to 388 (A. D. 874-998).

[284] The first of the dynasty of the Ghasnavis. According

to the author of Nighiaristan, quoted by Herbelot, Avisenna,

when at the court of Mamon, king of Khorasan, was called by

Mahmúd to his own capital; the refusal of the Shaikh to obey

drew upon him Mahmud’s persecutions.

[285] Kabus, a prince of the Dilámi dynasty, ruled in the

provinces of Giorgian, Ghitan, Mazinderan, and Tabaristan,

upon the western and southern shores of the Caspian sea.

[286] The sagacity of Avisenna can but remind us of that

with which Eristratus, a disciple of Chrysippus and grandson

of Aristotle, discovered the secret cause of the mortal

malady of Antiochus, son of the Syrian king Seleucus: the

young prince was in love with his stepmother, Stratonice.

But Kabus, for preserving the life of his nephew, was

subject to no personal sacrifice; Seleucus saved his son by

the cession of his own wife.

[287] Ráí is a town in Irak Ajemí, or Persian Irak.

[288] Majed-doulah, the eighth prince of the Búyí dynasty,

reigned in Isfahan and ín Persian Irak, during his minority

under the tutelage of his mother, Seidát; at his majority he

confided the vizirate to Avisenna, on which account an open

war broke out between him and his mother. Seidát defeated

and took in a battle, before the town of Rái, her son, and

reassumed the government, but afterwards resigned it to him,

satisfied to guide him by her counsels, much to his

advantage, until her death; after which the weak prince

delivered himself into the hands of his conqueror Mahmud

Sabak tegin.

[289] Shams-ed-doulah (according to Herbelot, Samsameddulah),

son of Adhadededdulat, was the tenth prince of the Búyi

dynasty.

[290] Kazvin, a town in Persian Irak.

[291] Hamdan, a town in Persian Irak, to the west of Kazvin,

about 450 miles N. W. of Isfahan.

[292] Herbelot states Baha-ed-Doulah to be son of

Adhad-doulat, and brother of Samsameddulat.

[293] Herbelot says, that Abu Alí entitled his great work

_Canun fil thebi_, “Rule of Medicine;” this book has been

abridged and commented by Said Ben Hebatallah, by Razi Ben

al Khatib, and by another author, who has composed the

_Mugiaz fil theb_.

[294] We read in Abulfeda’s history (vol. III. p. 64): “In

the year of the Hejira 414, A. D. 1023, Ala-ed-daula Abu

Jafar, commonly called son of Kakuyah, took Hamdam from one

of the Búyís, say Sama-ed-doulah Abúl Hasan, son of

Shams-ed-Doulah.”

[295] The biography of Avisenna involves a variety of events

which cannot be here sufficiently developed for removing the

obscurity attending the short account of our author. The

name of Tájet-ud-doulah is not found in Abulfeda’s and

Herbelot’s notice of the Shaikh Avisenna.

[296] Adopting as true the year of his birth, as stated in

the Dabistán (see p. 169), Abu Ali, according to the above

date of his death, would have died in his ninety-first year.

According to Abulfeda (see vol. III. p. 92), he died in his

fifty-eighth year; Herbelot says, he died in the year of the

Hejira 428, A. D. 1036, in the fifty-sixth year of his life.

[297] Herbelot says that Avisenna wrote his biography

himself; the French author mentions a life of the celebrated

Muhammedan doctor, composed by doctor Giorgiani.

* * * * *

SECTION THE EIGHTH: OF THE VICHNUIAN (VA ISHNAVAS) WORSHIPPERS OF

VICHNU.――Vichnu, who, according to the belief of the followers of the

Smriti, is a subordinate divinity, is held by the Vichnuian to be the

preserver of all things. The Vedantían maintain him to possess the

qualities of virtue and of order, and to be the lord of the five

senses; not subject however to the said senses, nor to their influence

in any way. According to the Vichnuían, he is the first cause and

author of the universe; they believe him endowed with a body, like

mankind; he has a wife. Brahma, a deity, is the creator of things; and

Mahádéo, another divinity, the annihilator of beings; both are

creators of Vichnu, and distinct from his holy being, because the path

of union is closed between the creature and the creator; they say,

that every body has a soul, but that the soul is not distinct from,

but a part of, the body; the body has two forms, the male and female,

and the creator and author of their being is the holy nature of

Vichnu; the body is composed of five elements; men, conformably with

their actions and works, are invested either with animal or human

forms; the soul is always confined in the gaol of ignorance and in the

fetters of avidity. Further, the spirits are divided according to

three qualities, which are: 1. _sattvam_; 2. _rájas_; and 3. _tamas_:

the explanation of these three qualities has been before given. The

_Satya_ (virtuous) tends towards _mukt_, that is, “emancipation;” for

by the power of this laudable quality, he makes the _bakhti_, that is,

“the worship of Vichnu,” his pursuit; and this _bakhti_ raises him to

the highest state, that is, to that of “emancipation;” according to

the interpretation of this sect, _mukt_ consists in this: that, after

having left the _sthúla sarira_,[298] or “elementary body,” and the

_linga sarira_,[299] that is, “the visional body,” which has fallen

into a vision of appearances, and after having been transformed into

the primitive shape, which is either male or female, one enters the

_Váikunt_,[300] that is, “the heaven of beatitude of the Gods,” and

the mansion of real life. _Rájas_, that is, the possessor of this

quality, is liable to recompense or punishment; to the consequence of

virtue or crime, according to an impartial appreciation of both. Now

he holds the price of virtue, another time that of crime; and

conformably to his merits or demerits, he migrates invested with a

body, and for reward is associated with the blessed, or for punishment

suffers witth the damned. Whoever does not, from the circle of the

world, reach the shore of those who are united with salvation, he

shall certainly never attain to the state of the desired emancipation.

_Tamas_, that is, the possessor of this quality, is an adversary to

_mukt_, and an enemy to liberation; his present and future condition

is this: that, having left the _sthúla saríra_, that is, “his

elemental body,” and the _linga purusha_,[301] or “his visional body,”

and having returned to his primitive form, either male or female, he

will be tormented in the world of darkness, which they call

_andhatamasa_;[302] from this place of manifold torments he never

returns. This is the substance of the creed of the worshippers of

Vichnu, called Madhu Acháris.[303]

The belief of another sect of the Vichnavas, called _Rámánandis_,[304]

is in substance as follows: the quality of _Satwa_ tends towards the

attainment of the high state of _mukt_, or “emancipation;” the way of

acquiring it is, to lay aside all praises of another divinity; to

abstain from the rites of any other sect; and to shun any other

worship except that of the holy being of Vichnu, to whom alone all

thoughts, all prayers, are to be directed, and whose remembrance is

always to be kept. In the same manner as it is not permitted to a

husband to desire the wife of another, in the same way they hold it

wrong to think of any other deity but of Vichnu. The difference

between the beforesaid and this sect is, that the former associates to

the worship of Vichnu that of other angels, of the creatures,

servants, and companions of this God, which they maintain as

meritorious, and perform with magnificence; whilst the latter sect

considers the other deities as deformed and hideous.

The characteristical mark of the Rámánandis is a triangle drawn upon

their forehead;[305] they never eat their meal before persons of

another sect. The _Madhu Achárís_[306] wear two short strokes of red

clay near each other upon the forehead; they do not associate with

persons of another creed, but they eat before Brahmans who are not of

their own peruasion.

A third sect is that of the _Harbayántís_.[307] They drink with

Brahmans of another persuasion from the same cup, and wear a circle as

a mark on their foreheads.

A fourth sect is that of the _Rádhá-Vallabhis_;[308] these are bound

by nothing; they observe no fast on the eleventh day of the month;

they deliver their wives to the disposition of their preceptors and

masters, and hold this praiseworthy.

In Hindostan it is known that whoever abstains from eating meat and

hurting living animals, is esteemed a Vaishnava, without regard to the

doctrine beforesaid. Some of them take the name of Rama, who is also a

manifestation of Vichnu; others choose the title of Kishen (Krichna),

another incarnation of Vichnu. The reputation of continence and purity

prevails in favor of those who are called after Rama; whilst those who

take their title from Krishna are ill-famed for sensuality and

libidinousness. It happened one day that a worshipper of Rama met with

an adorer of Krishna; the former repeated perpetually “Ram, Ram;” the

latter was occupied with the praise of Krichna, to whom the worshipper

of Rama said: “Why dost thou repeat without end the name of a man who

was devoted to sensuality, the name of Krichna?” He answered: “Because

this name is better than that of a man who knew not even how to be

certain of the honor of one woman.” This was said in allusion to

Râma’s having banished his wife, named Sitâ, at the end of the

fire-ordeal which she underwent to prove her purity.[309] Some of the

pious of this sect eat no sort of turnips or carrots which in eating,

by taste or color, may remind of flesh. The writer of this work heard

from Hansa rádja, a Brahman, that it is written in ancient books of

this class, that Brahmans used to fly in the air and to walk upon the

water, when, on account of having polluted their lips by eating flesh,

they lost this power. As the Vairágis, too, profess to be Váishnavas,

I will treat of them in the following article.

* * * * *

OF THE VAIRÁGIS.――_Virág_ is in the dictionary interpreted

“aspiring.”[310] This sect renounces the world; their liturgy is in

verse, and comprehends the worship of Vichnu and his incarnations, as

Rama, Krichna, and the like, and these verses they call _Vichnu

padam_. They make pilgrimages to the holy places dedicated to Vichnu,

and wear around their necks rosaries of _tutasí_,[311] which they call

_malá-tulasí_. Tulasí is an Indian shrub. Whoever among the Hindus,

Muselmans, or others, wishes, is received into their religion; none

are rejected, but, on the contrary, all are invited. It is said that

some Muselmans also worship Vichnu, because in “_Bismilla_,” they

confound _Bisem_ with _Bishen_ (or Vichnu), and most of them agree

about the purity and infinity of Vichnu’s being; in truth, they think

he is incorporeal; the spirits proceed like rays from the light of his

being, and all bodies from the shadow of his existence; but they say

that when he wills he shows himself, as it happened, with four arms,

and they agree about his having manifested himself in ten

incarnations. They abstain from eating flesh. They are divided into

four classes: _Rámánujas_, _Nimánujas_, _Madhuacháris_, and _Radha

Vallabhis_, as before said:[312] these four classes they call _chár

sampardá_ (_sampradáya_).[313]

Kabir,[314] a weaver by birth, celebrated among those Hindus who

professed their belief in the unity of God, was a Váiragi. They say

that, at the time when he was in search of a spiritual guide, he

visited the best of the Muselmans and Hindus, but did not find what he

sought. At last, somebody gave him direction to an old man of bright

genius, the Brahman Rámánanda. This sage never saw the face of a

Muselman, nor of any other religionist. Kabir, knowing that Rámánand

would not converse with a weaver, dug a hole upon the accustomed road

of the Brahman, and placed himself therein. Towards the night Rámánand

used to go to bathe on the border of a river, and at the time when, to

wash his body and purify his soul with the water of sanctity, he bent

his steps towards a house of prayer, he arrived on the border of the

hole made by Kabir, who, coming forth, clasped the feet of Rámánanda.

As the Brahman harboured in his mind no other thought but that of God

the highest, under the name of Rámá, he called out: “Rám!” When Kabir

heard “Rám” from the tongue of Rámánand, he withdrew his hands from

the Brahman’s feet, and ceased not to repeat the word “Rám, Rám!” so

that no other object but that was hovering before his eyes, as before

those of Rámánanda; and he discoursed about the unity of God in

sublime speeches, such as are heard only from the most learned men.

Kabir, having acquired reputation, people said to Rámánand: “There is

a weaver in this town who wishes to be your disciple; it is to be

regretted that you cannot be connected with a weaver, who is a man of

a low caste.” Rámánand answered: “Call him to me,” which was done.

When Kabir’s eye fell upon that of Rámánanda, the former exclaimed:

“Rám, Rám!” the latter repeated “Rám, Rám!” and clasped Kabir fast in

his arms, to the great astonishment and wonder of the people around,

who asked the reason of such a favor. Rámánand replied: “Now Kabir is

a Brahman, because he knows Brahma, that is, the supreme Being.”

It is said, that a class of learned Brahmans, sitting on the border of

the river Ganga, praised its water, because it washes away all sins.

Whilst so speaking, one of the Brahmans wanted water; Kabir, who had

heard their speeches, jumped up from his place, and having filled a

wooden cup which he carried with water, brought it to the Brahman.

Kabir, a weaver by birth, being of a low caste, from the hands of whom

Brahmans can neither eat nor drink, the water was not accepted, upon

which Kabir observed: “You have just now declared, that the water of

the Ganga purifies the body and the soul from the pollution of sins,

and from the foulness of evil actions, and makes them all disappear;

but if this water does not render pure this wooden vase, it certainly

does not deserve your praises.”

Among the Hindus it is an establised custom to bring flowers to God at

the time of worship. One day Kabir saw a gardener’s wife who collected

flowers for the image of a deity; he said to her: “In the leaves of

the flower lives the soul of vegetation, and the idol to whom thou

offerest flowers is without feeling, dead, without consciousness, in

the sleep of inertness, and has no life; the condition of the

vegetable is superior to that of the mineral. If the idol possessed a

soul, he would chastise the cutter, who, when dividing the matter of

which the image is formed, placed his foot upon the idol’s breast: go,

and venerate a wise, intelligent, and perfect man, who is a

manifestation of Vichnu.”

Kabir showed always great regard for the Fakírs. One day, a number of

Durvishes came to him; he received them with respect in his house; as

he possessed nothing to show his generosity and munificence to them,

he went from door to door to procure something, but having found

nothing, he said to his wife: “Hast thou no friend from whom thou

mayst borrow something?” She answered: “There is a grocer in this

street who threw an eye of bad desire upon me; would I from this

sinner demand something, I should obtain it.” Kabir said: “Go

immediately to him, grant him what he desires, and bring something for

the durvishes.” The woman went to the lewd grocer, and requested the

loan of what she required; he replied: “If thou comest this night to

me, thy request is granted;” the woman consented, and swore the oath

which he imposed upon her to come; after which the grocer gave her

rice, oil, and whatever these men might like. When the Fakírs, well

satisfied, went to rest, a heavy rain began to fall, and the woman

wished to break her engagement; but Kabir, in order to keep her true

to her word, having taken her upon his shoulder, carried her in the

dark and rainy night, through the deep mud, to the shop of the bad

grocer, and placed himself there in a corner. When the woman had

entered into the interior part of the house, and the man found her

feet unsullied, he said to her: “How didst thou arrive without thy

feet being dirty?” The woman concealed the fact. The grocer conjured

her by the holy name of God to reveal the truth; the woman, unable to

refuse, said what had taken place. The grocer, on hearing this,

shrieked and was senseless. When he had recovered his senses, he ran

out and threw himself at Kabir’s feet. Afterwards, having distributed

among the poor whatever he had in his shop, he became a Virágí. Shaikh

Mahmud said:

“When lust seizes the heart of man, God now and then renders

vain his intent.”

It is said that when Kabir left his elemental body, the Muselmans

assembled in order to give him a burial, because they supposed him to

have been of the right faith; and the Hindus too crowded in order to

burn his body, because they thought him to have professed their

religion. At last a Fakír stept in the midst of them, and said: “Kabir

was a holy man, independent of both religions; but having during his

life satisfied you, he will also, after death, meet with your

approbation.” Having then opened the door, they did not find Kabir’s

body, and both parties remained astonished and bewildered.

“O friend, live so that, after thy death,

Thy friends may bite their finger (from joyous astonishment).”

In Jagernath, at the place where they burn the dead, is the form and

simulacre of a tomb which they call Kabir’s.[315]

“Live so with good and bad that, after thy death,

The Muselman may wish to bury, and the Hindu to burn thee (according

to their rites).”

Another of the celebrated Virágis was _Dáyú_. One day, when Brahmans

and Bánians (that is, traders) were assembled in a temple of Vichnu,

they drove Dáyú out of it, as not worthy of being among their

congregation. Dáyú, having gone out, sat down at the back of the

temple, which soon after turned about towards the side where Dáyú was.

_Perah Káivan_, a Yezdánian, is one of the accomplished saints, and

shows himself in the dress of every sect. When in that of a Vairági,

he was in Guzerat for the sake of a pleasure-walk, he saw some of the

Váirágis who came from a place of pilgrimage, and had a mark impressed

upon their hand and arm: because, whoever makes a pilgrimage to the

holy place of Krichna, gets the form of the God’s weapon (the diskus)

imprinted upon his body by means of a hot iron. Kaivan Perah said to

the Vairágis: “Why this wound?” they answered: “This is the mark of

Vichnu; whoever has it is by the God recognised as being his.” Kaivan

Perah observed: “When the soul is separated from the body, they burn

the corpse; no mark of it remains; whilst the soul is not perishable,

and has no mark: how will then Vichnu recognise it?”――When he came to

Ahmed-abad, which is the capital of Guzerat, he saw a crier who, from

the top of a mosque, chanted his prayer; when he had come down, Káivan

Perah asked him: “Hast thou received an answer?” the crier said: “From

whom?” Kaivan replied: “From him to whom thou hast been calling.”

Lubhaní says:

“They call loud to God seeking him,

This people think him, perhaps, to be far off.”

When he came to the harbour of Surat, which is one of the principal

ports of Hindostán, he met with a Háji (a pilgrim from Mecca) who had

come by sea to the harbour; Kaiván Perah asked him: “Whence dost thou

come?” He answered: “From the house of God.” Kaiván said further:

“Hast thou seen God?” The reply was “No.” “He was perhaps not at

home,” rejoined Kaiván, and the Háji remained astonished.

The Vairágis are not devoted to a particular worship; they say, the

name of Vishnu suffices for the acquisition of _mukt_, or “the union

with God.” This sect was formed during the Káli yúg, and call

themselves also Váichnavas: they renounce the world, and say: “Our way

is opposite to that of the Vêdas and of the Koran: that is, we have

nothing to do either with Muselmans or Hindus.” A great number of

Muselmans adopted their creed, such as Mirza Salah, and Mirza Háider,

two noble Muselmans who became Vaíragis. Of this sect was _Naráin

Dásí_, who sided with _Rámánandis_, which is one of the _Sampradayas_,

that is the first of the four classes before mentioned. The author of

this book saw him in the year 1052 of the Hejira (1642 A. D.) in

Lahore. He was one of those who are freed from the affections of the

world; he honored whomever he saw, and said: “Every body belongs to

the divinity; that is, every body is the house of God.”

“Without thee there is nothing that is in the world:

From thyself demand whatever thou wishest: for it is thyself.”

Píránah Kohely was of the sect of Vairagis, and Kohelí is a tribe of

Kshatriyas; he withdrew from all the affections and troubles of the

world. Having left the Guzerat of Panjab, which is his native place

and the seat of his ancestors, he went to Vizírábád, a city built by

Hakím Ilam eddín, named _Buzín khan_, and chose to settle not far from

the above mentioned Guzerat. He had no faith in pious austerity. He

said, the saints are men who, in a former existence, have brought

affliction upon other men, and on that account do penance in this

world; every pious act joined to some austerity is a requital of their

deeds; those who are fasting have, in a former state, let hunger and

thirst afflict the low and feeble; those who watch at night have, in

his opinion, prevented the servants from sleeping; the Sanyásis,

called Thádéser, who remain years standing upon one leg, he thinks to

be a class of spirits who have not permitted the servants to sit down;

and those who suspend themselves, and others who perform their

devotion in an inverted or strained posture, are a class who used to

suspend their inferiors; and those who visit celebrated places and

sacred mansions of pilgrimage, are a set who, for trifling reasons,

have without pity sent about couriers to different places, without

paying them their hire; the _játis_,[316] that is, those who abstain

from intercourse with women, and from sensual indulgence, are an order

of spirits, who have not provided for their sons and daughters the

subsistence and furniture requisite for the marriage state, and

prohibited to them this enjoyment, for which reason they now are

subjected to retaliating penance.

This sect do no harm to any living being; which is common to all

Vairágis, as well as to neglect devotion; but, in opposition to the

creed of the Vairágis, they do not admit the _Avatars_, and say that

God is exempt from transmigration and union; and, according to those

who profess the belief in the unity and solitariness of the supreme

being, he is not susceptible of (what we call) intimate friendship.

Being asked about the history of Krichna, Píránah said: “He was a

Rája, devoted to licentiousness, and oppressing mankind.” The writer

of these pages saw Píranah in the year 1050 of the Hejira (1640 A.

D.), in Vizirábád, and in the same year and in the same place he saw

Ananta, who was of the same creed as Píránah, but particularly

addicted to the belief of the singleness of God.

Ananta did not advise abstinence to the sick. One of his friends being

attacked by a diarrhœa, Ananta gave him substantial and sweet food,

until he left this elemental body. One of his disciples wanted to have

a vein opened; Ananda, having been informed of it, expressed himself

strongly against this operation and prevented it. Thus, the author of

these pages saw, in the year of the Hejira 1050 (A. D. 1640) in

Guzerat of the Panjab, another of this sect, called _Mían Lál_, who

was venerated by a great number of his sectaries; he abstained from

eating any sort of animal food, and showed politeness to every body;

like Píránah, he never cleansed his patched garment from vermin, and

used to say: “These insects have an assignment for their daily

subsistence written upon my body.” Váirágis are also called

_Mundís_;[317] because they shave four parts of their bodies, and one

shaved is called _Mundí_.[317] There arose a dissension between this

sect and the Sanyásis; in the year 1050 of the Hejira (1640 A. D.) a

battle was fought at Hardwar,[318] which is a holy place of the

Hindus, between the Mundís and the Sanyásis, in which the latter were

victorious and killed a great number of the Mundís: these men threw

away their rosaries of Tulasi wood which they wear about their necks,

and hung on their perforated ears the rings of the Jógís, in order to

be taken for these sectaries.

[298] स्थूलशरीर.

[299] लिङ्गशरीर called also शुच्मशरीर _sukshma sarîra_ or

“subtile body.”

It is essential to know the exact meaning which the Hindus

attach to the three words, _linga_, _linga śarîra_, and

_sthula śarîra_.

I must premise that, according to them, the soul is incased

as in a sheath, or rather in a succession of sheaths. The

first, or inner case, is _the intellectual one_: it is

composed of the pure, or simple, elements, uncombined, the

archetypes of elementary matter (तन्मात्र _tanma tra_), and

consists of the intellect (_buddhi_), joined with the five

senses. The next is the _mental sheath_, in which mind is

joined with the preceding. A third sheath comprises the

organs of action and the vital faculties, and is termed the

_organic_ or _vital case_.

These three sheaths (कोषाः _kóshas_) constitute the subtile

frame, _s ukshma śarîra_, or _linga-śarîra_, “the rudimental

body which attends the soul in its transmigration.”

_Linga_ is “the naked rudiment;” the word expresses

“designating, apprising,” synonimous with “characteristic,”

rendered also by “mergent,” and by “subtile.” The linga and

linga-śarîra are ordinarily, though perhaps not properly,

confounded, the linga consisting of thirteen component

parts, namely (see the table of categories, p. 122): of

intellect, egotism, and the eleven organs; whilst the

linga-s arîra adds to these a bodily frame, made up of the

five rudimental elements. In this form however they always

coexist; and it is not necessary to consider them as

distinct.

The “gross body,” _sthúla śarîra_, is composed of the coarse

elements formed by the combination of the simple elements in

a particular proportion, which the Hindus determine with an

acuteness, their own (see _Vedanta sara_, edit. of Calc., p.

11), but which is not necessary here to adduce. This

exterior case, composed of elements so combined, is the

“nutrimentitious sheath,” and being the scene of coarse

fruition, is therefore termed “the gross body.” This is

however animated from birth to death, in any step of its

transmigration, by the interior rudiment confined to the

first-mentioned inner case, which is called कारणशरीर

_kárańa-śarîra_, “the causal frame”――(See Colebrooke on the

Phil. of the Hindus in the Transact. of the R. A. Soc., Vol.

II. Part I. pp 35, 36, etc., and _Sankhya Karika_, p. 129).

[300] वैकुणटं is the Paradise, or world of Vichnu; its site

is variously described, either as in the northern ocean, or

on the eastern peak of Meru.

[301] Here the same as linga sáríra. Parusha means generally

“a subtile body;” it is unconfined, too subtile for

restraint, hence termed अतिवाहिक _ativáhika_, “surpassing

the wind in swiftness,” incapable of enjoyment until it be

invested with a grosser body, affected, nevertheless, by

sensations.

[302] अन्धतमसं “great darkness.”

Without entering here into the details of metaphysical

refinements which the Hindus exhibit in their various

systems of philosophy, we may content ourselves to state

that, in general, they adopt two kinds of bodies or persons,

a subtile, and a substantial or grosser one. The first

transmigrates through successive bodies, which it assumes as

a mimic shifts his disguises to represent various

characters. In the Bhagavad gita, it is intimated, that soul

retains the senses and mind in the intervals of migration:

“At the time that spirit obtains a body, and when it

abandons one, it migrates, taking with it those senses, as

the wind wafts along with it the perfumes of the flowers.”

The grosser body, propagated by generation, is perishable.

According to Manu (XII. 16): “After death, another body,

composed of the five rudimental elements, is immediately

produced, for wicked men, that they may suffer the tortures

of the infernal regions.” This concords with what is said

above.

[303] They are also called _Brahma Sampradáyis_. The founder

of this sect was Madhwácharya, a Brahman, born in the

Saka-year 1121 (A. D. 1199), in Tuluva, on the western coast

of the Indian peninsula; he died in his seventy-ninth year.

He was early initiated into the order of Anchorets, and

devoted to Vichnu; he composed thirty-seven works, built

eight temples, and founded as many _maths_, or “monasteries”

of his particular sect, which is one of the four great

sects. The superiors, or “Gurus” of it are Brahmans and

Sanyásis; their lay-votaries are members of every class of

society except the lowest; they profess perpetual celibacy.

These sectaries reside now chiefly in the peninsula, and are

altogether unknown in Gangetic Hindostan. To what is above

said of their doctrine, I shall add, that they distinguish

the principle of life from the supreme Being, or they deny

the absolute unity of the Deity, and the possibility of

absorption into the universal spirit, and the loss of

independent existence after death.――(See an explicit account

of this sect, by Professor Wilson, _As. Res._, vol. XVI. p.

100-108.)

[304] Rámánanda, the founder of this sect, lived about the

end of the 13th century, according to some accounts;

Professor Wilson is disposed to place him not farther back

than the end of the 14th, or beginning of the 15th century.

His residence was at Benares, in a _math_, or “monastery.”

The especial object of the worship of the Rámánandis is

Vichnu, in his incarnation of _Rámachandra_, on which

account they are called _Rámawats_. The mendicant members of

this sect, numerous even in our days, are usually known as

Váîragis or Viraktas, and consider all form of adoration

superfluous beyond the incessant invocation of Krichna and

Rama. The school of Rámánand admits disciples of every

caste; it abrogates, in fact, the distinction of caste

amongst the religious orders: this seems the proper import

of the term _Avad’huta_, which Rámánanda affixed to his

followers. It does not appear that any work exists

attributed to Rámánand himself; those of his followers are

written in the provincial dialects. The ascetic and

mendicant followers of Ramánand are by far the most numerous

class of sectaries in Gangetic India; some of them acquired

a great celebrity; among these are reckoned _Kabir_, of whom

hereafter, and _Jayadiva_, the author of the beautiful poem

_Gîta govinda_, well known by the translations made of it

into English, by Sir W. Jones; into Latin, by Professor

Lassen (who places however Jayadéva in the year 1150); and

into German, in the metre of the original, by Mr.

Ruckert.――(See, on the Rámánandis, the work quoted, pp.

36-52).

[305] According to Professor Wilson (work quoted, pp. 32 and

43), the marks of the Rámánandis are two perpendicular white

lines, drawn from the root of the hair to the commencement

of each eyebrow, and a transverse streak connecting them

across the root of the nose; in the centre is a

perpendicular streak of varied colours, besides other marks

on the breast and each upper arm.

[306] The marks of the Madhwácharis, according to the same

authority (p. 103), are the impress of the symbols of Vichnu

upon their shoulders and breasts, stamped with a hot iron,

and the frontal mark, which consists of two perpendicular

lines, made with _Gopi chandana_, or the sacred clay from

Dwaraka, the city of Krichna, and joined at the root of the

nose; a straight black line is drawn down the centre with

the charcoal from the incense offered to Náráyana,

terminating in a round mark with turmeric.

[307] This name, perhaps very corrupted, is not to be found

among those enumerated in Professor Wilson’s Treatise on the

Religious Sects of the Hindus.

[308] See the work quoted, p. 125-129. The members of this

sect consider a teacher named Hari Vans as their founder.

This person settled at Vrindavan, and established a math, or

“convent,” there, which exists to our days, and in 1822

comprised between forty and fifty resident ascetics. He also

erected a temple there that still exists, and indicates by

an inscription over the door that it was dedicated to Sri

Rádhá Vallabha by Hari Vans, Samvat 1641, or A. D. 1585.

Rádha, the favourite mistress of Krishna, is the object of

adoration to these sectaries, who worship Krishna as

_Rádhá-Vallabah_, “the lord or lover of Rádhá,” whose

adoration Mr. Wilson thinks an undoubted innovation in the

Hindu creed. He says (_ibid._, p. 125): “The only Rádhá that

is named in the Mahábharat is a very different personage,

being the wife of Duryodhana’s charioteer, and the nurse of

Karna. Even the Bhagavat makes no particular mention of her

amongst the Gopis of Vrindhavan, and we must look to the

Brahma Váivarta Purána (Krishna Janana Khanda) as the chief

authority of a classical character, on which the pretensions

of Rádhá are founded.” We know the difference of opinion

which exists among the Indianists about the antiquity to be

attributed to the Puranas, and which has not yet found a

positive decision. It is probably from the last mentioned

Púráná that Jayadéva (see note, p. 180) took the theme of

his admirable poem, in which the love of Krichna and Rádhá

is described in the most glowing colours.

[309] Rama, obliged to cede the throne to his brother

Bharatta, having on that account been banished by his

father, lived with his wife Sitá, and his younger brother

Lakshmana upon the mountain Chitra Kotá, in Bundelkand,

whence he descended towards the south into the woods of

Dandakam. Every where he protected the Rishis, destroying

their enemies, the Rakshasas. The head of these was Rávaná,

king of Lanka (Ceylon), who, in order to take revenge of

Rama, carried away by a successful stratagem, Ráma’s beloved

consort, Sîtá. The unfortunate husband, to release his wife,

concluded an alliance with Hanuman and Sugriva, chiefs of

the savage inhabitants, called monkies, of southern India,

and by their aid passed over to the island, took its

capital, Lanka, and killed the tyrant, Rávańa, in a

battle. Sitá was released, but, for proving her purity

preserved, she underwent the ordeal of fire: it proved

satisfactory; her innocence was manifest to the multitude,

but, it appears, not quite so to the mind of her husband,

who separated from her.

[310] This is not correct: विराग _virága_ is interpreted

“the absence of desire or passion; the disregard of all

sensual enjoyments, either in this or the next world.”

[311] तुलसी _Tulasí_, a small shrub held in veneration by

the Hindus, “holy basíl” (_ocymum sanctum_――_W._).

[312] This is not quite exact: for the author has not yet

mentioned the _Ramanujas_, nor the _Nîmanujas_, of whom he

says nothing hereafter.

Rámánuja Acharya was born at Perumbar, in the south of

India, about the end of the 11th century; his fame as a

teacher was established about the first half of the 12th

century; he was a great supporter and propagator, nay, the

chief author, of the later Váishnava faith; he founded 700

maths, or “convents,” of which four only remain; but other

establishments of this sect are still numerous in the

Dekhan.

The worship of the followers of Rámánuja is addressed to

Vichnu and to Lakchmî, his wife, and to their respective

incarnations, either singly or conjointly; wherefore they

are also named Srí Váichnavas, consisting of several

subdivisions. The chief religious tenet of the Rámánujas is

the assertion that Vichnu is Brahma; that he was before all

worlds, and was the cause and the creator of all. They

maintain three predicates of the universe comprehending the

deity: it consists of _chit_, “spirit;” _achit_, “matter;”

and _Iśwára_, “God.”

These sectaries are not allowed to eat in cotton garments,

but, having bathed, must put on woollen or silk, and their

meal, whilst they are eating, must not attract the eyes of a

stranger, or it becomes instantly spoiled, and should be

buried in the ground. The marks of the Rámánujas are the

same as those of the Rámánandis, before described (see note,

p. 181), excepting that the central perpendicular streak on

the forehead is red, made with red sanders or roli, a

preparation of turmeric and lime. Besides other marks on

their bodies, not enumerated here, they wear a necklace of

the wood of tulasi, and carry a rosary of the seeds of the

same plant, or of the lotus――(See, for a further account of

this sect, the work quoted, pp. 27-36).

[313] सम्प्रदाय a sect, a schism, a particular doctrine, and

exclusive worship of one divinity.

[314] The most celebrated of the twelve distinguished

disciples of Rámánandra (see note, p. 180) was _Kabir_. I

omit the miraculous circumstances of his birth. He was taken

up near Benares, a foundling, by the wife of a weaver, named

_Nimá_, and brought up by her and her husband _Nuri_. Such

is the uncertainty prevailing about Kabir’s time, that he is

placed by different authors within the space of not less

than three centuries, that is, from 1149 to 1449. According

to Professor Wilson, he flourished probably about the

beginning of the 15th century. The philosophic and religious

notions of the Kabir Panthir are in substance the same as

those of the Pauranic sects, especially of the Váichnava

division. They admit but one God, the creator of the world,

and, in opposition to the Vedanta notions of the absence of

every quality and form in him, they assert that he has a

body formed of the five elements of matter, and that he is

endowed with the three _gunas_, or qualities of being, of

course of ineffable power and perfection.

The works attributed to Kabir himself, or to his disciples,

are written in the usual form of Hindi verse; twenty of them

are enumerated in Professor Wilson’s account of this sect

(pp. 58 and 59), and appear very voluminous.

This sect is very widely diffused in India, and split into a

variety of subdivisions. At a great meeting near Benáres, no

fewer than 35,000 Kabir-Panthis of the monastic and

mendicant class are said to have been collected. A place

called “the Kabir Cháura,” at Benares, is an establishment

pre-eminent in dignity, and constantly visited by wandering

members of this sect, as well as by those of other kindred

heresies: its _Mahant_, or Superior, receives and feeds

these visitors whilst they stay; the establishment itself is

supported by the occasional donations of its lay-friends and

followers――(See the work quoted, pp. 53-75).

[315] According to Professor Wilson’s account (pp. 56-57),

in the midst of the dispute respecting the disposal of his

corpse, Kabir himself appeared amongst them, and having

desired them to look under the cloth supposed to cover his

mortal remains, immediately vanished; on obeying his

instructions, they found nothing under the cloth but a heap

of flowers; one half of them the Hindus burnt in Benáres,

and deposited the ashes in a spot now called _Kabir Chaura_,

whilst the Muselmans erected a tomb over the other portion

at _Magar_, near Gorakhpur, where Kabir died.

[316] In Sanskrit यति _yati_, called also _Séwra s_; they

are a body of pious mendicants, who live in celibacy, and in

general employ their time in the cultivation of medicine,

astrology, and divinity――(See _On the Jainas of Guzerat and

Marwar_, by Lieut.-Col. W. Miles. Transact. R. A. Soc., vol.

III. p. 335).

[317] मुण्ड shaved, bald.

[318] Hardwar, or _Hara-dwara_, “the gate of Hara,” is a

place in the province of Delhi, situated on the west side of

the Ganges, where this river issues from the northern hills.

Lat. N. 29º 57´; long. E. 78º 2´. The event above stated

took place in the 12th year of the reign of the emperor Shah

Jehan, who mounted the throne in the year 1628, and resigned

it to his son Aurengzeb in 1658.

* * * * *

SECTION THE NINTH: ON THE CREED OF THE CHA RVAK.[319]――This sect call

_rupa skandha_[320] whatever is perceived and understood by means of

the senses. What is ascertained by the perception of the senses is

named _vidyá[321] skandha_. Personality, consciousness, egotism, have

the denomination of _jnaná skandha_.[322] The knowledge of animal

nature is termed _jnapti skandha_.[323] Whatever enters the interior

part, that is, the mind, is entitled _sanskára skandha_.[324] They

say, out of these five skandhas just mentioned, there is no other

living principle, neither in man nor brutes;[325] the world and its

inhabitants have no creator, and there is no maker: this is clear:

because whatever has not entered into the field of manifestation, and

has not broken into daylight, cannot have the color of reality, and to

be high or low, proceeds from the nature of the universe; whatever is

written in the Vedas is not made public, and besides may be a lie

which rests upon no foundation; and a lie certainly proceeds from the

Vedas, inasmuch as they perform _hóm_, which is a ceremony in which

they throw rice and like matters into the fire, and recite prescribed

prayers, saying that this goes to the gods: now, whatever we throw

into the fire, after cremation, becomes ashes――how do these go to the

gods? It is also written in the Vedas, that they are to make an

offering of cooked meal to a dead man――who is to enjoy it? For

instance, when a person is gone from village to village, from one town

to another, and in his absence a meal destined for him is presented to

another person, the stomach of the former will not be filled. In the

same manner, when any thing is offered to a dead person, who,

according to the assumption of the followers of the Vedas, has been

translated to another world, what honor and profit will accrue from it

to him?

Thus is it also among the revelations of the Vedas, that the depraved

and criminal will be punished, and the virtuous and holy associated to

quietness and satiated with prosperity: the one and the other is a

lie: because the vicious man is freed and alleviated from the hardship

of fasting, of bathing in cold water, of subjection to pious

practices, and other inconveniences; whilst the virtuous, according to

the Vedas, is bound to all these troubles; further, the wise ought to

take his share of all the pleasures and cultivate his happiness,

because, once reunited with earth, he will no more return.

“There is no return for thee; once gone, thou art gone.”

However, nobody is to hurt living beings, as by it he is liable to

cause some harm to himself. It is agreed by the wise that no injury is

to be done to another; by the observance of which men may be set at

ease, their numbers increased, and cultivation be promoted. This is

the substance of the belief of the Charvák.

We will explain it more clearly; their creed is as follows: As the

creator is not manifest, and the comprehension of mankind cannot

attain to any certain knowledge about him, why should we submit to the

bondage of an object doubtful, imaginary, if even wished for, yet not

found; and why should we, in temples and monasteries, rub our

foreheads on the ground, and present offerings to deities whose

reality, as all agree, will not stand trial? And why, for the promise

of heaven and of future beatitude should we, like blockheads, abstain

from the abundance of desirable things, from conveniences and

blandishments? A wise man will not give ready money for an adjourned

good, and deliver up place and power upon the lying accounts of books,

which eloquent men call Vedas, or heavenly books; it is upon their

authority that they extinguish all desires in themselves, and press

the necks of men, like those of animals, in halters. We ought not to

be deceived; we ought not to believe what is not evident. The frame of

the body is composed of four elements, which by the necessity of

nature are united harmoniously together; as long as the constitution

is firm and health flourishing, it is proper to enjoy whatever is

desirable by its nature, provided no harm to living creatures arises

from it; when the frame falls asunder, the state to which the element

returns can only be the element; after the disjunction of the bodily

structure, there is no ascent to a higher mansion, no beatitude or

quietness, no descent, or fire, or hell. These sectaries, when they

hear the Vedas recited, say jokingly: “These are sick persons in a

painful fit, or hired journeymen in an uproar.” When they behold the

zunar (sacred thread) upon the neck of a Brahman, they say: “A cow

will not be without a rope.” When they find a pious person watching by

night, they say: “He aspires to the dignity of an owl.” When they

encounter a hermit upon a mountain, they remark: “He strives to outdo

a bear.” When a person practises the restraining of breath, they

observe: “He wishes to imitate a snake.” Of a person in a bath, they

say: “He chooses the dwelling of a fish or a frog.” Moreover, when the

Hindus relate that Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadéo, their three great

divinities, are the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer of the

world, they reply: “They represent nothing else than the sexual

organs.”[326] Upon Vichnu’s having four arms, they gloss: “At the time

of sexual intercourse, each man and woman has as many.” To the praise

of Mahadéo, from whose head the river Ganges flowed, they subjoin the

interpretation, that “this means the virile organ in its natural

functions.”[327] They meet the statement of Brahma’s being the creator

of things, with the reply: “That this is an emblem of the birth of

children:” and they proffer many other speeches of a similar import.

[319] चार्वाकः a philosopher, a sceptic in many matters of

Hindu faith, and considered by the orthodox as an atheist or

materialist.

[320] रूप स्कन्धः _Skandha_ signifies “a book, a section,”

also “the five objects of sense.”

[321] विद्या स्कन्धः

[322] ज्ञान स्कन्धः

[323] ज्ञप्ति स्कन्धः

[324] संस्कार स्कन्धः

I shall subjoin from Colebrooke’s treatise _On the

Philosophy of the Hindus_ (Transact. R. A. S., vol. I. part

I. p. 561) the more correct denominations and definitions of

the five skandhas:

1. _Rúpa-skandha_, comprehending organs of sense and their

objects, considered in relation to the person, or the

sensitive and intelligent faculty which is occupied with

them.

2. _Vijnnyána-skandha_ consists in intelligence (_chitta_),

which is the same with self (_átman_) and (_vijnyána_)

knowledge. It is consciousness of sensation, or continuous

course and flow of cognition and sentiment. There is not any

other agent, nor being, which acts and enjoys; nor is there

an eternal soul; but merely succession of thought, attended

with individual consciousness abiding within the body.

3. _Védaná-skandha_ comprises pleasure, pain, or the absence

of either, and other sentiments excited in the mind by

pleasing or displeasing objects.

4. _Sanjnya-skandha_ intends the knowledge or belief arising

from names or words: as ox, horse, etc.; or from indications

or signs, as a house denoted by a flag, and a man by his

staff.

5. _Sanskára-skandha_ includes passions; as desire, hatred,

fear, joy, sorrow, etc.; together with illusion, virtue,

vice, and every other modification of the fancy or

imagination. All sentiments are momentary.

[325] Charvaka and his followers recognise perception as the

only source of knowledge. They know of no more than four

elements, namely, earth, water, fire, and wind, or air; and

maintain that from a particular aggregation of them in

bodily organs there results sensibility and thought, as the

inebriating property is produced by the fermenting of

several ingredients; they deny the soul to be other than

body.

[326] Veretrum cum duobus testiculis.

[327] Veretrum, urinam vel semen emittens.

* * * * *

SECTION THE TENTH: ON THE SYSTEM OF THOSE WHO PROFESS THE DOCTRINE OF

TARK.[328]――_Tark śastra_ is the science of dialectics; it is divided

into sixteen parts, as follow: THE FIRST, _Pramána_;[329] this is the

application of the science, which is subdivided into four parts: 1.

_Paríkshá_;[330] that is, evidence, which with them is the sense of

discriminating what is particular and well defined; 2. _Anumána_;[331]

that is, after having perceived the mark of an object, to infer its

existence; thus shall I call a mountain _igni-vomous_, on account of

the smoke which proceeds from it; 3. _Apamána_;[332] that is

“resemblance;” thus I shall say: such as is a cow, such is also an elk

(or gayal);[333] although I may not have seen an elk, but only heard

that it is like a cow; 4. _Sabda_;[334] that is, “sound:” by these

they mean speeches which people adopt as sacred; such “as the Hindus

have the Vedas, and the Muselmans the Koran.” These are the four parts

which constitute the _Pramána_.

THE SECOND of the sixteen divisions of the Tark sastra is

_Pramiti_,[335] that is, the comprehension of what is conjoint and

concomitant. This division is subdivided into twelve parts, namely, 1.

_Atmá_,[336] that is “spirit;” and means something which is distinct

from what is material and sentient; something everlasting, eternal,

very subtile in all bodies; 2. _Sarírá_,[337] that is “body;” and this

they define to be the seat of sensuality and of maladies; 3.

_Indriya_,[338] “the exterior senses;” and these they call the organs

of perception; 4. _Artha_,[339] and this they declare to be “the

earthly existences;” 5. _Buddhi_,[340] which they term “knowledge;” 6.

_Manas_,[341] “or the interior sense, which with the Hindus is the

heart,” and that is enough; 7. _Pravritti_,[342] and this consists in

justice or injustice; 8. _Dósha_,[343] that is “sinful error,” and

this is subdivided into three parts, viz.: _Rága_, and this is

“sensual lust;” _Dvèsha_, that is, “hate, enmity;” _Muha_,[344] and

this is “gross ignorance;” 9. the ninth of the twelve subdivisions is

_Prétyabháva_,[345] which is “the reproduction either of the tree from

the seed, or of the animal from the sperma;” 10. _Phal_,[346] or “the

good consequence of the good, or the bad consequence of the bad,”

which means “retribution;” 11. _Dukh_,[347] or “pain;” and 12.

_Apavarga_,[348] that is, “delight,” or the satisfaction of truth,

from which they derive emancipation, or _mukt_, in the language of

their learned men. Whoever is in full possession of it banishes far

from himself twenty-one maladies which they enumerate, namely: 1.

_Saríra_,[349] or “the body;” 2. _Shadindriya_,[350] that is, “the six

senses,” five of which are exterior, and the sixth is, according to

the Hindus, the interior sense, except which they know of no other;

they say, the _mind_ is the lord of the exterior senses; 3.

_Shad-darsa_,[351] that is, “the six particular objects of the six

senses;” so as seeing with the eye, hearing with the ear, smelling

with the nose, tasting with the tongue, touching with the hand, and

perceiving with the mind; he who sees is one, and that which is seen

is another; so that there is a seeing eye and a seen object, whatever

is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, and impressed upon the mind,

corresponds respectively to each of the six senses; and whatever is

found by these six senses, or the six objects, are called

_Shad-darsas_; these six, with the six former senses, and the saríra,

or “body,” make thirteen; add to these six buddhaya, or “powers of

comprehension;” further, _sukhá_,[352] or “sensual delight;” and

finally, _dukh_, or “pain,” and you have the twenty-one affections

before mentioned.

THE THIRD of the sixteen parts of the Tarka is the _sanśaya_:[353]

this consists in pondering whether a certain object be such a thing or

another, as when a person sees from a distance an object and is not

certain what it is, whether it be a mineral or a man.

THE FOURTH PART is the _Prayójana_,[354] that is, “motive,” which they

explain thus: as when one by order goes to find something either good

or bad.

THE FIFTH PART is the _Drishtánta_;[355] that is, “comparison by way

of illustration;” so when they compare a mountain and a kitchen, that

is: the mountain contains fire, and so does the kitchen, and both

indicate it by the smoke which they emit.

THE SIXTH PART is the _Siddhanta_;[356] and this is knowing something

with certainty.

THE SEVENTH PART is _Avayava_,[357] “dividing a subject into minute

parts;” for instance, when they say: “he mountain contains fire on

account of smoke,” so is, in this question, the first part termed

_pratijnya_, or “proposition,” _the mountain contains fire_; the

second part, called _hètu_, or “cause, reason;” in this thesis is: _on

account of the smoke which it emits_.

THE EIGHTH PART is _Tarka_,[358] that is, “arguing:” so when they say:

“the mountain contains no fire,” it may be replied: “consequently it

also emits no smoke.”

THE NINTH PART is _Nirnéya_;[359] which is to find the truth

immediately.

THE TENTH is _Váda_,[360] or “discussion;” that is, to raise questions

about God and the saints.

THE ELEVENTH is _Jalpa_:[361] that is, “wrangling;” when one, in the

establishment of what is right, endeavors to conquer his adversary.

THE TWELTH PART is _Vitandá_;[362] which means that one pays no

attention to his own position, but combats that of other persons.

THE THIRTEENTH PART is _hètwàbhása_;[363] or “fallacious argument;” so

when one says: “sound is eternal;” because what may be seen by the eye

is like the sky, and just as the sky is perceived by sight, so is

sound the perception of the ear.

THE FOURTEENTH PART is _Ch’hala_,[364] “deceit;” this is when one

substitutes one meaning for another: so as the Persian word _náu

kambil_[365] means “a new cover,” or “nine covers,” it may give

occasion to equivocation.

THE FIFTEENTH PART is _Játi_[366] “futile argument;” and this may be

applied to a lying purpose: so when one says that “sound is eternal,”

because it is created, as is the sky; both are the works of a

divinity; and whereas the sky is eternal, sound is everlasting.

THE SIXTEENTH PART is _Nigraha_,[367] or “subjugation;” that is, when

one wishes to be a conqueror at the end of a dispute with another.

These are the sixteen parts of the Tarka.[368] The followers of this

doctrine judge and affirm that, as this world is created, there must

be a Creator; the _mukt_ or “emancipation,” in their opinion means

striving to approach the origin of beings, not uniting like the warp

and the web, the threads of which, although near, are nevertheless

separate from each other. This was related to me by the Imám Arastú,

who was a chief of the learned and said to me that he had derived it

from an old treatise upon logic, the precepts of which were without

explanation, and to have bestowed on it that arrangement under which

it now exists amongst the learned: he meant, probably, that the maxims

are the same as those extracted from the Tarka. The same doctrine was

taught in Greece: in confirmation of this, the Persians say, that the

science of logic which was diffused among them was, with other

sciences, translated into the language of Yonia and Rumi, by order of

king Secander, the worshipper of science, in the time of his conquest,

and sent to Rúmi.

[328] तर्कः: “discussion, reasoning, argument, reduction to

absurdity.”

[329] प्रमाणं.

[330] परीक्षा.

[331] अनुमान.

[332] उपमानं.

[333] Bos gavæus vel frontalis.

[334] शब्द.

[335] प्रमितिः true knowledge, or knowledge derived from the

senses, inference, analogy, or information.

[336] आत्मा.

[337] शरीरं.

[338] इन्दियं.

[339] अर्थाः objects of sense.

[340] बुद्धिः apprehension, conception, intelligence. It is

twofold: notion and remembrance.

[341] मनस्.

[342] प्रवृत्तिः activity, occupation. It is determination,

the result of passion, and the cause of virtue, and is vice,

or merit and demerit, according as the act is one enjoined

or forbidden. It is oral, mental, or corporeal; not

comprehending unconscious vital functions. It is the reason

of all worldly proceedings.

[343] दोष.

[344] मुह.

[345] प्रेत्य भावः is the condition of the soul after death;

which is transmigration: for the soul being immortal, passes

from a former body, which perishes, to a new one, which

receives it. This is reproduction (_punar ut patli_).

[346] फलं.

[347] दुःखं.

[348] अप वर्गः final beatitude, the delivery of the soul

from the body, and exemption from further transmigration.

[349] शरीरं.

[350] षद् इन्द्रियाणिः

[351] षदे् दर्शाः

[352] सुखं.

[353] संशयः

[354] प्रयोजनं is that by which a person is actuated or

moved to action; it is the desire of attaining pleasure or

of shunning pain; or the wish of exemption from both: for

such is the purpose or impulse of every one in a natural

state of mind.

[355] दृष्टान्तः

[356] सिद्धान्तः demonstrated truth is of four sorts; viz.:

universally acknowledged; partially so; hypothetically;

argumentatively (or _è concessa_).

[357] अवयवः A regular argument, or complete syllogism

(_nyáya_), consists of five members, or component parts: 1.

the proposition, प्रति ज्ञा _pratijnyá_; 2. the reason हेतु

_hetu_ (as above said); 3. the instance (_udáharańa_); 4.

the application (_upanaya_); 5. the conclusion,

(_nigamana_). Ex.: 1st, the hill is fiery; 2nd, for it

smokes; 3d, what smokes is fiery; 4th, accordingly, the hill

is smoking; 5th, therefore it is fiery.

[358] तर्कः not to be confounded with doubt, to which there

are two sides; but to this but one; that is, reduction to

absurdity.

[359] निर्नेयः ascertainment or determination of truth; the

result of evidence and of reasoning.

[360] बादः discussion defined as the speech of one desirous

to know the truth.

In Gotama’s arrangement, THE TENTH is called _Kat´ha_,

disputation, or conference of interlocutors, maintaining

adverse positions.

[361] जल्पः debate of disputants contending for victory.

[362] वि तण्ड cavil, or controversy, wherein the disputant

seeks to confute his opponent, without offering to support a

position of his own.

[363] हेत्वाभास semblance of a reason; it is the _non causa

pro causa_ of the logicians.

[364] छलं perversion and misconstruction; it is of three

sorts: 1. verbal misconstruing of what is ambiguous; 2.

perverting, into a literal sense, what is said in a

metaphorical one; 3. generalising what is particular.

[365] نوكنبل. In the Persian text an example of it is given,

which I have not thought necessary to translate.

[366] जातिः a futile answer, or self-confuting reply. No

less than twenty-four are enumerated.

[367] निग्रह It is the termination of a controversy. Of

this, likewise, no fewer than twenty-two distinctions are

specified.

[368] These are in substance the very same as the sixteen

categories of _Gótama_, exhibited in Colebrooke’s treatise

_On the Philosophy of the Hindus_, _Transact. R. A. Soc._,

vol. I. pp. 95-118.

* * * * *

SECTION THE ELEVENTH: ON THE TENETS HELD BY THE FOLLOWERS OF

BUDDHA.――These sectaries are also called _Jatis_.[369] They have no

belief in incarnations or Avatárs of the Deity, but they admit the

transmigration of the soul into different bodies; they deny several

other dogmas of the Hindus; in their opinion, nothing is more

detestable than the doctrine of the Brahmans, and when a misfortune

befals any one of them, they say: “Hast thou perchance done some good

to a Brahman,” or drunk some water of the _bone devourer_: so they

call the Ganges, because the Hindus, after the burning of the dead,

throw their bones into that river, and think it a meritorious act. The

Jatis take the greatest care of not hurting a living being; on which

account they do not like to pass through water, for fear that an

animal might come under their feet. They eat no animal food, never put

their feet upon grass, and when they drink water, they filter it first

through a handkerchief or a piece of cloth, that no living animal may

remain in it, and then steep this piece of cloth awhile in water, in

order that, if a living being stick thereto, it may be separated, and

take its place in the liquid. A great number of the Baníans or traders

are of this sect; for the most part they sell corn, and some get a

livelihood as servants. The durvishes of this class are called

_Srivaras_ and _Jatís_.[370] They pluck the hair of their head and

beard by means of tweezers.[371] When they travel, they carry a besom

of the bark of a soft tree with them, and out of regard for the life

of animals, they sweep the road with it before they put down their

feet, that no living insect may be destroyed. When they speak, they

hold a handkerchief before their mouth, not to swallow a fly or other

insect.

They are frequently learned, and pass their life in celibacy and

sanctity; these they call _Jatis_, who never behold the face of a

woman. Those of this sect who are married, called _Grihast’ha_,[372]

show great regard for the Jatis, before whom, by a refinement of

respect, they scarce dare bend their body. Whenever they receive a

Jati in their house, they do whatever he orders, according to their

power. They are divided into two classes: the _Lunugí_ and _Pujáris_.

The first are those who adore God as one, and think him free from all

imperfections and contradictions, descents and conjunctions, and who

worship no idol. The _Pujáris_ venerate the image of a deity, and have

temples for it. The durvishes of both classes, called Jatis, at the

time of taking meals, go into the houses of friends, and take only as

much food as may not cause a privation to the people of the house:

thus they visit several houses until they get satiated. They drink no

cold water, but go from place to place, and wherever any body has warm

water for bathing, they take a little of it, and having thus collected

sufficient water, they let it cool and then drink it.

Similar to the durvi hes of both classes is a third sect, called

_Mahá-átma_; they have the dress and appearance of Jatis; only they do

not pluck their hair with tweezers, but cut it. They accumulate money,

cook their meal in their houses, drink cold water, and take to them a

wife. Farzánah Khushí says: I saw, in Guzerat of the Panjab, a

Śrivara, and requested him to give me a full account, which may be

deemed true beyond any doubt, of the people of his sect. He related as

follows: “The men of my faith may live retired from the world, or

devoted to business; they do no harm to any body; but there are many

of them eager for science, and as many bereft of knowledge.” One of

the Maha-átmas was a learned man; the wife of a rich man devoted

herself to his service; one day she complained to him of the

unkindness of her husband; the Śrivara gave no answer; wherefore the

woman said: “Another time I will not wait on thee, because thou takest

no interest in me.” The Śrivara rejoined: “If even thy visit were

agreeable to me, it would be of no service to thee.” He then took up a

bit of grass, and having breathed upon it, gave it to the woman,

saying: “Put on a clean garment, and having ground the grass, rub it

upon thy garment until thy husband becomes kind to thee.” The woman

returned to her house, and having ground the grass upon a stone,

intended to rub it upon her garment, when the husband entered into the

room, therefore the grass she had ground remained upon the stone. When

night fell in, they shut the door of the house. The stone at every

moment jumped from its place, knocked against the board of the door,

and fell back: the woman and her husband were astonished. The man

asked his wife the reason of it, and she, from fear, told him what had

taken place. The man rose and opened the door of the house; the stone

was set in motion, and rolled on until it reached the house of the

Mahá-átma. Many other similar stories are told of the Srívaras. Khushi

said that he had seen the Jati just mentioned, who by the power of

incantation put stones into motion; he praised him, but declared that

this man was really a Jati, but not a Mahá-átma.

The author of this book affirms he has seen a great number of Srivaras

and their followers. From them he knew _Meher chand_, a _Lúnú_, in the

year 1056 of the Hejira (1646 A. D.), in Dotárah, which is under the

dominion of Jodpur Márawár, he found also Síva rama, a Pujári, in

Mírta, which place belongs to Marawar, and one named _Jagna_, a

Banian, in Ráwel Pandi: he was adorned with all the good qualities of

Jatis. When he saw a bird in the hands of a fowler, he bought it of

him and set it free. This sect do whatever they can for the liberation

of living beings. Many of them are rájas in several places and

countries. When one brings a goat which he has bought somewhere, and

is disposed to kill it, they come from their shops and buy the animal

at a high price; thus it has been seen that, having assembled from all

hands a great number of sheep, they appointed a person to take care of

them. It is said, that in Guzerat lived a Banian who was a Jati; one

day, a Muselman Durvish sat down before his shop, and having picked

vermin from his coat, was about to kill it; the Banian interposed; the

Durvish said: “If thou wilt give me something, I may spare it;” the

Banian offered a _pie_;[373] the other wanted more and more, until the

bargain closed with the sum of one hundred rupees, which the Banian

paid for the liberation of the offensive insect. Hafiz Shirázi says:

“Avoid hurting any living animal, and do whatever thou likest,

For in my book of laws there is no crime but this.”

[369] More correctly Yatis. See note, p. 195. This section

appears to apply more properly to the _Jainas_, that is, to

one of the great divisions of the followers of Buddha. The

Jainas are subdivided into a great number of tribes and

religious sects, a long series of which is enumerated in the

work quoted by Lieut.-Col. Miles (p. 351-363).

[370] In the note, p. 195, are mentioned the _Jatis_, or

_Yatis_, also called _Sévras_ among the Jainas of Guzerat

and Marwar. According to the same authority (Transact. R. A.

S., vol. III. p. 344), these are distinguished from the

_Sravakas_, as the laity of the Jainas are called in that

country. According to Major de la Maine (work quoted, vol.

I. p. 413), the Sravacs are the only considerable part of

the earlier Jains or Arhats. “Sravakas,” says Doctor

Buchanan Hamilton (_ibid._, p. 531), “is the name given to

the Jains in the districts of Bahar and Patna.” The three

authors just quoted agree in stating that the priests of the

Sravakas are called Yatis. The Dabistan reads سريوره,

_Srivarah_, which may be correct श्री वर “the elect of

happiness.”

[371] _Lunchîta-kéśa_, “hair-pluckers,” is one of the

nicknames given to the _Swétámbaras_, “clad in white,” a

sect of the Jainas――(_Colebrooke_, work quoted, p. 551).

[372] “A householder.”

[373] The natives reckon 64 pies to the rupee.

* * * * *

SECTION THE TWELFTH: ON VARIOUS RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS PROFESSED BY THE

PEOPLE OF INDIA.――It is to be recollected that, as has been stated,

there are Samradíán, Khodaníán, Radián, Shíderangíán, Pâikeríán,

Mílánían, Aláríán, Shídábíán, Akhshían, and Mazdakían, who are

dispersed in Iran and Turan, and all appear in the dress of Muselmans,

although in secret they follow each the path of their own chosen

faith; in the same manner various sects are also established in India,

but they do not appear in the dress of Muselmans. It is to be known,

that the fundamental rule in the creed of the Hindus is the _Smriti_,

that is, the “law,” and that all Rakshasas, that is, “devotees,”

follow this way; the Véda, to them the heavenly book, prescribes the

acts, and is a text, from which every sect may derive proofs of its

particular belief, and all may agree in some points.

I have already given an account of their religion, but I must here

remind the reader of some points. They say Naránaya, that is, “the

deity,” in the origin was alone; a flower, namely, the lotus, having a

thousand leaves, rose from his navel, from which Brahma came forth,

Brahma _chatur mukha_,[374] or “four faced;” one of these faces was

cut off by Máhadéo; Brahma is also _ashta báhu_,[375] that is “eight

armed;” in his navel was also a flower of five hundred leaves, from

which Vichnu proceeded; Vichnu _chatur báhu_, or “four armed;” he

carries in one hand a spear; in the other, the _chakra_, “the discus,”

a weapon peculiar to the Hindus; in the third hand, the _gadá_, or

“club;” and, in the fourth, the lotus flower. In the navel of Vichnu

was a lotus of one hundred leaves, from which sprang Mahadéo, who is

_ashtamukha_, or “eight faced” and “eight armed;” he rides upon a

bull, his neck is surrounded by a snake, the hide of an elephant

envelops him, and his body is rubbed with ashes; _chandra_, “the

moon,” _surya_, “the sun,” and _agni_, or “fire,” are his three eyes.

The sect of _Sáivas_ adore Mahadéo, and his wife is worshipped by the

_Akmían_ and _Ashnían_, as before shown.

Another sect is that of the Sanyásis, who are praised in the Smriti;

they distinguish themselves by long and entangled hair, which is

called _jata_.[376] The Saiva-Sanyásis are also called _Avadutas_;

their numbers increased during the Kaliyug; they are very pious,

intrepid, and charitable. At one time, a war broke out between them

and the Sófís: the former were victorious.

Another sect is that of the _Jangaman_; these also cut the hair off

their heads, they rub dust upon their bodies, and praise Mahadéo, to

whom they attribute a real existence. They are divided into several

classes. They say, among the celestial spirits are nine Brahmas, who

are the _anśus_,[377] that is, “the rays” of Brahma. There are one

thousand Vichnus, rays of Vichnu, who is also called _Naráyana_; there

are eleven _Rudras_, rays of Rudra, which is a name of Mahádeo; they

reckon twelve suns,[378] rays of the great luminary; sixteen

_kalas_,[379] that is, parts or rays of the moon; and they divide the

effulgence of that body into sixteen parts, and enumerate eight and

twenty of its mansions, or _nakshatras_,[380] and seven planets,

besides the head and tail of the dragon. Ganesa is to them a god with

the head of an elephant. They distinguish eight quarters of the world,

besides the zenith and nadir, and call them _asht dísa_,[381] in the

following order: _purva_, “east;” _paśchima_, “west;” _dakchina_,

“south;” and _uttara_, “north;” between south and east, _agni_;

between south and west, _náirrita_; between north and west, _váyu_,

between north and east, _íśána_. Among the deities are _Bhaírava_[382]

and _Hanuman_, and among female spirits _asht Durgás_, or “eight

Durgás,” in the following order: _Kálaká_, _Chandra Kálanjarí_,

_Káumarí_, _Váichnaví_, _Bábhraví_, _Chamundá_,[383] _Bhavání_, and

_Parvati_.[384] _Maha Lakchmî Sarasvatí_ is the wife of Brahma.

_Rakshasas_ are termed the pious men of the Satya yug; _Kaśyapa_ is

the father of the sun; _Vaśishta_, the preceptor of Ram-avatár;

_Viśvamitra_, a Kshatría, who by dint of pious austerity became a

Brahman; _Valmiki_ is the author of the poem Ramayána, which contains

the history of Ráma; _Angirasah Ihr Vyása_ composed the historical

poem Mahabharata; Bhazadvája Jamadagni existed in the Dwapara yug;

_Gotama_, _Kapah_, (_Kapila_?) _Parására_, _Narada_, in the Kali yug;

_Chonah_, _Apravanah_, _Aurdah_, _Jamed Kapeh_, these are for ever

living;[385] _Saptarchaya_, that is, seven Richis, or “saints,” are:

_Kaśyapa_, _Uttara_, _Bhardvája_, _Viśvamitra_, _Gotama_, _Jamadagni_,

and _Vaśis’hta_.[386]

It is to be known that there is a class among the Hindus who give

themselves the term of Muselman-sofis, and really agree in several

tenets and opinions with the Sufís. Thus, in the first place, they

devote themselves to celibacy. As they have heard that there are ten

classes of Sanyásís, and twelve of Yogís, they also pretend to be

divided into fourteen classes; when they meet together, the questions

which they ask are: Who are the four sages, and which are the fourteen

noble families? and they impose upon their disciples many years of

service, before they reveal to them the four sages and the fourteen

families; they say: The sage of sages is the illustrious Muhammed (may

the peace of God be upon him!); after him, devoted to godliness, Ali

(may the blessing of God be upon him!); from him the khalifat devolved

upon Imam Hossain; then Khaja Hossen, of Basora, also was his disciple

and a khalif: these four personages are the four sages. They say

besides, from Khaja Hossen, of Basora, sprang two branches: the first

was that of the khalif Hossen Basorí Habíb Ajemí, from whom nine

families proceeded, named as follows: the _Jíbíán_, _Táikeríán_,

_Kerkhíán_, _Sikatíán_, _Jenídíán_, _Gazrúníán_, _Túsíán_,

_Ferdusíán_, and _Soherwardíán_. From the second khalifat of Hossen

Basori, which was that of the Shaikh Abdul Wahid Zaid, came forth five

families with the following titles: the _Zebírían_, _Aiáśían_,

_Adhamían_, _Habírían_, and _Cheshtíán_: and these are the fourteen

noble families. It is said, that there exists a congregation of pious

sectaries, who do not adhere to the prophet Muhammed, although they

acknowledge him to be a blessed gatherer of the harvest of virtuous

perfection: they relate, that one day the prophet was taking a

pleasure-walk under the guidance of Jabríl, and came to a place where

a great tumult was heard. Jabril said: “This is the threshold of

pleasure: enter into the house.” The prophet consented to go in, and

there he saw sitting forty persons as naked as they came from their

mother, and a band busy serving; but whatever service the prophet

requested them to command him to do, they did not comply, until the

moment to grind _bang_[387] arrived. When they had ground it, they had

no cloth through which they could strain and purify it; then the

prophet, having taken his turban from his head, purified through it

the juice of the bang, the color of which remained on the turban;

whence the garment of the Biní Hashem is green. When the prophet

rendered them this service, they were glad, and said among themselves:

“Let us give to this messenger of God, who is always running to the

door of the ignorant, a little of the bang, that he may obtain the

secrets of the Almighty power:” so they gave the remains of the juice

to the prophet. When he had drunk it, he became possessed of the

secrets of the angel of destiny, and whatever men heard from him, came

through the means of this bounty.

There is a great number of this sect in Hindostan, and among the most

celebrated of them are, in the first line, the _Madárían_, who, like

the Sanyásís _Avadhuts_, wear the hair entangled; and the ashes which

they and the Sanyásis rub upon their bodies are called _bhasma_;[388]

besides, they carry iron chains on their heads and necks, and have

black flags and black turbans; they know neither prayers nor fasts;

they are always sitting at a fire; they drink a great deal of bang;

and the most perfect among them go about without any dress, in severe

cold, in Kabul, and Kachmir, and such places. These also consume much

bang, and to the praise of one of their sect they say: “Such a one

takes two or three _seers_[389] of bang.” When they sit together, they

relate, that in the night, when the prophet ascended through the seven

stages of heaven, he received the command of God to wander through the

heavens. When he arrived at the door of paradise, he found the

entrance as narrow as the eye of a needle; the porter made him a sign

to enter; the prophet said: “With this body, how shall I enter through

this passage?” Jabríl replied: “Say: _dam madar_,” (“the breath of

Madar,” a particular ejaculation of this sect). The prophet said so,

upon which the narrow door opened, and he entered heaven.

They say, when Badih eddin Madar[390] came to Hindostan, he became a

Yogi, whom the Hindus held in great esteem, and who had a great number

of followers. Madar took a house; he sent a little boy, whose name was

Jamen, with the order to fetch some dry cowdung with which he wanted

to kindle a fire. It so happened that Jamen fell in with an assembly

of Yogis, who, supposing him a Muselman, killed, cut into pieces, and

devoured the boy. Some time after, not receiving any thing to light up

his fire, Madár went in search of Jamen, and found the assembly of

Yogis, to whom he said: “What have you done with my good little boy?”

They answered: “We have not seen him.” Madár called him loud by his

name, and the members of Jamen, from within the bodies of the

assembled Yogis, answered “_Dam madar_.” Madár then said to the Yogis:

“Shall I bring forth Jamen from you all, or from one only of you?”

They replied: “From one body only.” By the power of Madár, the limbs

of the boy having united, in a manner that no body perceived any thing

of it, in the belly of the principal Yogi, Jamen fell out from the

nose of the same, so that neither the nostril of the Yogi’s nose was

enlarged, nor the boy’s limbs diminished:[391] whereupon the Yogis

chose to run away. Madár settled at this place, which till now is

known by the name of _Makanpúr_.[392] The Madarían come, as many as

possible, from all parts of the world, once a year, on a fixed day, to

Makanpur, and say that the blind and lame find their cure in that

place.

They relate also, that _Chistápá_, the wife of Baharam Gul, in order

to put to the test the Muhammedan and Indian durvishes and saints,

came once among them who were assembled, and said: “Whoever will

loosen the bracelet of beads (called _Sámran_) upon my arm, without

betraying the least symptom of lust, he is a perfect saint.” All the

pretenders to perfect sanctity, Muselmans and Hindus, presented

themselves, but at the sight of Chistapa, they all were maddened with

love, such was the beauty of her face: at last the turn came to Jamen,

who approached her, and loosened the bracelet in a manner which, at

the same time, evinced his manly strength, and his complete command

over himself.[393] On that account, Jamen was proclaimed victorious

over all the Muselmans and Hindus. And they have a great number of

other similar stories.

Another sect, the _Jelalían_, are disciples of _Said Jelal_, of

Bokhára;[394] his sepulchre is in the village _Auch_, in the district

of _Sind_; these sectaries profess to be Shíáhs, whilst the Medárían

are _Sunís_, on which account they revile each other. The former know

of neither prayers nor fasts, nor any other practices of piety with

which the Sufís are occupied; they take a great deal of bang, and used

to eat snakes and scorpions. When the adepts among them see a snake,

they put it whole into their mouth and swallow it, saying: “This is a

fish of the holy Alí;” in eating a scorpion they remark: “This is a

prawn of Alí:” and the worms which are found in the water, they call

the little crabs of Alí. Like the Medárian, the Jelalían go naked, and

even in the severely cold season, wear no garment; they sit before the

fire like the Medárian, but do not wear matted hair; frequently they

shave four parts of their body, and lead a wandering life in the

world. Some of them bring every thing that they gain to their master,

and when they go for instruction to a preceptor, they deliver to him

whatever they possess in ready money and other property; after which

he presents them with a turban, and his list of saints; they wear that

on their heads, and hang this on their necks. They believe that, when

Jzráíl comes to take their soul, the turban, descending, covers their

eyes so that they may not behold the face of the angel of death, which

is exceedingly terrific. Their master looks every day for a new

connexion with a woman; whenever he knows of a fine girl among his

disciples, he orders trumpets to be blown, goes on horseback, and

betaking himself to their house, uses his own discretion with the

girl, whom he now and then takes to his own house, but never marries.

The author of this book asked one of the Jelális: “Hámed Mahommed,

your master, does he take the daughter of one of his disciples without

marrying her?” He answered: “The Safavian kings too take wives,

daughters, and sons of their disciples, who are highly pleased with

it, why should not Hámed Mahommed, who is truly the Khalif

(substitute) of Alí, do the same?” This act is a sign of sovereignty,

and a prerogative of the family of the prophet. In this country are

many of his disciples, and he is a very great friend to hunting.

There is another sect who call themselves without tie and food; it is

a laudable conduct with them to take nothing from any body beyond the

required food and drink; and for their indispensable clothing, from

the shreds which they find in the streets to stick together a coat,

which they call _kherka_; and when they ask something from any body,

they first revile him and call him bad names, wherefore they often

receive bad treatment from the people. They say, God is a spirit, and

Muhammed his body; his four friends are his two arms and two feet;

_dam mádar_, that is, Mádar, is the breath and the spirit of God. They

drink many sorts of spirituous and intoxicating liquors. They believe

the unity of the divine being, and some of them are also pious men.

Their master was _Gada Naráyana_. The three just mentioned sects never

shed the blood of animated beings.

Another sect, called _Kakan_, is in Kachmir; celibacy is their law,

and their belief the unity of the divine being. They use much bang; a

number of them is devoted to piety; their name of “Kakan” is derived

from that of their master, who was Ibrahim Kakak. He lived, they say,

in the time of the Pádshah Jehangír, who inhabits heaven, and drew to

him whomever he chose; his very sight was such an attraction, that he

on whom it fixed was irresistibly thrown at his feet; thus he attached

to himself a great number of disciples, Hindus and Muselmans, none of

whom he induced to change his religion; that is to say, to the Hindu

he did not expound the Koran, nor propose circumcision; and to the

Muselman he did not make an obligation of the Zunar, and of the mark

of caste upon the forehead; neither the praise of Muselmans nor the

blame of Hindus came ever upon his tongue; he never pronounced either

the name of the prophet or that of an Avatar, which are the great

objects of veneration to the Muselmans and to the Hindus; but he

uttered _Ruma_, or _Alla_, or _Khoda_. He did not sleep at night, nor

did his disciples, who sat back to back until morning before him. At a

place of Kachmir, he said to his followers: “A great number of men

laid down; let us do the same.” The followers answered: “Let it be as

you say:” he then first laid himself down to sleep, and the friends

did the same. One day he heard the voice of a crier from the top of a

minaret, and said: “This is the voice of God;” at this moment one of

his companions broke wind; he subjoined: “This too is God; this too

the divine tongue.” A student present said to him: “Do not blaspheme.”

He replied: “The one and the other is an undulation of the air, and

the air is subject to God.” The student reassumed: “But the bad smell,

with the noise, what is it?” The answer was: “This proceeds from the

association of ‘_thou and I_.’” The student said farther: “Drink no

bang, because the bang-drinkers shall not pass over the bridge of

judgment (_sarat´h_).” Kakak replied: “Great is the number of

bang-drinkers; let us, on this side of the bridge, build a town and

call it _Bang pur_, and not think of passing the bridge.” Goya Kásem

composed a ludicrous account of these drunken sectaries. When the king

_Kásem Anwar_ (distributor of splendors) was near the habitation of

excellence, he recited the following verses:

“He (God) distributes the light; I distribute bang,

He is the distributor of splendors; I, the distributor of secrets.”

A great number of men in India think as these sectaries. The Sanyásis

assembled once in one of the sacred places of pilgrimage revered by

the Hindus; by accident, an army of naked Jelális and Madáris came

there at the same time, and having brought a cow, wanted to kill it;

the Sanyásis bought the cow from them; they came a second time, with

another cow, which the Sanyásis again, not without entreaties,

purchased. These men, barefoot and bareheaded, having become insolent

by their numbers, brought a third cow and killed it; the Sanyásis,

indignant at this, attacked them, and a battle ensued, in which the

Sanyásis at last obtained the victory, and killed seven hundred of the

naked Jelális and Madáris; they educated the boys of these fanatics,

whom they made prisoners on this occasion, in their own religion. The

Sanyásis were frequently seen engaged in war.

Another class of the Hindus are the _Yógis_, who pretend to a high

antiquity; an account of them has already been given.

Other sects, such as the _Sankhyan_, and the _Patanjálís_,[395] are

devoted to piety, and practise the _yóga_, and other pious

austerities; also the _Charvakíán_, who believe the four classes of

their sect to be very ancient: we have already treated of them, as

well as of the _Játis_ and _Vairágis_; the _Nanak Panthíán_ will be

introduced hereafter.

The _Narayaníán_ are a sect of the Hindus, which holds its creed from

_Gosáin Haridas_. He was of the tribe of _Játs_, from the village

_Kaníra_, in the district of _Saválik_; he was a servant of _Nabidás

Sanyálá_; which last name is that of a tribe of the numerous Rájaputs.

Haridas, when hunting, shot an arrow at a deer which was with young,

and brought down a fawn, which had also been pierced by the arrow. At

the sight of this event, Haridas broke his bow and arrows, tore his

garment into pieces, weeping and bewailing, and during twelve years

had no intercourse with the society of men. Afterwards, he assembled

many disciples about him. He died in the year 1055 of the Hejira (1645

A. D.). This sect know nothing of idols, nor of temples, nor of the

Kâbah, nor of any sort of worship; they do nothing towards obtaining

the knowledge of, or union with, God; they confine themselves to the

veneration of _Naráyan_, or “the supreme Being,” from which they

derive the name of _Naráyanían_. They do not occupy themselves with

the affairs of the world; abnegation and solitude is their law. Some

have an earthen cup to drink water in; some dispense even with this;

they hurt no living being; they never pull up any grass or green

herbs; they burn nothing; cook no meal; and when hungry, they go into

the houses of the Hindus, and accept some food, but no flesh of any

sort of animal. When one of them is about to die, he is asked: “Shall

we burn thy body, or throw it into the water, or bury it in the

earth?” Whichever he desires is done.

Another sect is that of the _Dádu Panthians_. Dádu was one of the

cotton carders in the village Naráina, in the district of Marwar. In

the time of the Padshah Akbár (who inhabits heaven!) Dádu devoted

himself to the state of a Durvesh, and assembled many disciples about

him. He prohibited his followers to worship idols, to eat the flesh of

any animal, or to hurt any living being; but he did not order them to

abandon woman and wife, or to withdraw from all business of the world;

but he left it free to any one to give up, or to cultivate, the

connection and intercourse with men. When one of them dies, they place

his corpse upon the back of a quadruped, and send it into the desert,

saying: “It is now better that rapacious and other animals may be

satiated with it.”

The _Píára panthíán_ hold their creed from _Bábá Píára_; at the time

of begging, they stand before the shops and houses, without looking at

any body or saying any thing; they demand nothing with the tongue;

they accept what is given, and go away when nothing is offered. The

Mobed says:

“The demand without the tongue is made by the eyes;

How can that which is heard be equivalent to what is seen?”

They take no notice of the Muselmans, although they so call

themselves.

The sect of the Vishnavas follow the doctrine of Gosáin Jáni. We hold

the information from Jogendas, that they called their master _Jehan_,

and his followers, composed of Hindus and Muselmans, adopted the creed

of Vishnavi. This is as follows: they hurt no living being; they avoid

fellowship with men of another creed among the Hindus and Muselmans;

they pray five times a-day, with their face towards the east; they

have the names of God, of the divinities, of the prophet upon their

lips, such as _Allah_, _Míkáíl_, _Jzráíl_, _Jibrail_, _Muhammed_,

_Jl_, and others; they bury their dead; they confer benefits upon

others to the extent of their power; a number of their Durvishes

pretend to be afflicted with maladies and beg alms, and whatever they

so collect they distribute to the blind and lame, and to people of

that description.

Further to be noticed is the sect of the _Surya-mak-han_,[396] that

is, of “the worshippers of the sun.” These derive their origin from an

ancient nation of Hindus, and are divided into two classes. The one of

them says: The great luminary is one of the divinities of the first

rank; he has _átmá_ and _buddhi_, that is, “soul and intellect;” the

light of the stars and the splendor of the universe proceeds from him;

he is the _asht bhuvana loka_,[397] that is, “the origin of the eight

worlds,” and of all earthly beings; the _sarva prabhá deva_,[398] “the

God of all radiance,” the chief and ruler of all divinities, the deity

of heavens, the king of the stars; the _Mahajyóti_,[399] or “the great

light,” worthy of praise; and of _namaskara_,[400] that is “respectful

salutation,” and of adoration; and of _hóm_, or “sacrificial

perfumes.” When the sun rises with his pure body, they stand opposite

to him, and after adoration recite a Sanskrit prayer, the paraphrase

of which is as follows:[401] “Whatever beautiful light and high

splendor thou possessest overflows the eyes from the excessive bounty

of thy manifestation; thou art that light which is not surpassed by

any other in the display of splendors; thine is the first prayer, for

thou art the substitute of God, and we place our hope in thy bounty;

to thee we address the prayers of our wants, that we may experience

and loudly proclaim thy mercy. When this light is thy face, whatever

we can say of the splendor, the beauty, and perfection of the supreme

intellectual soul and of the pure wisdom, is but that one light which

we recognise above in thy bountiful being, which thou temperest and

displayest; this light derives its glory from thee, and supplication

is due to this light. Give us thy assistance in the abnegation of

worldly pleasures; render us equal to thyself in the purity of light,

and by thy knowledge grant us union with thee; the wish of all

virtuous hearts is, that they may, far removed from all sensual

delights, be made happy in the communion with those who are like thee:

we abandon all worldly delights, that we may become similar to thee in

splendor, and arrive to thee, and remain with thee.”

The other class of the _Suryamakhan_ say: Whatever exists in the

_Swargaloka_[402] and in the _Bhúloka_,[403] that is, in the upper and

lower world, draws its origin from the sovereign great luminary; by

his glorious appearance we fill our _lojáni_,[404] or “eyes,” with

_kalyanum_,[405] or “auspicious light;” and we hear the

_Sanákáras_,[406] that is, “the incorporeal beings;” by him we acquire

_buddhi_, that is “intellect,” the professor of which attaches his

heart to nothing exterior: on that account they call the sun _natha_,

“a sovereign, or divine being,” and pay worship to him. Both classes

abstain from hurting living beings, and are on that account called

_jiva dayá_,[407] “compassionate of life;” they do good to others as

much as they can, wherefore they are termed _punyavantas_,[408]

“virtuous;” they keep far away from falsehood and iniquity, for which

they are entitled _dharmamayás_,[409] “righteous.” The _gríhastha_, or

“householder,” contents himself with one _strí_,[410] or “wife.” They

divide the sun into several parts, which they call _dyuvá

murtayas_,[411] “figures of the sun;” but the first class reckons

among the _Pandits_, or “learned,” an order of men who have a system

about _ákása_,[412] “ether,” _girayas_,[413] “mountains,” _tárá

phal_,[414] “starry firmament;” about the rising of heavenly bodies

and the prognostics which are connected with them; they possess

perfectly the canons of the _Véda anga_, “sacred science,” in which

the medical is comprised; and they set a great value upon _buddhí_,

“intellect;” and _áharanam_,[415] that is, “the application of the

thinking faculty;” and they say, that this is the mediator between

what is _sankhyanam_,[416] “rational,” or probable, and

_sadhanam_,[417] “substantiated,” which last is the form of things

perceived; and the right appreciation of probabilities is attained by

dint of _buddhi_ and _aharanam_, that is, by high intelligence; this

is fixing the thought of contemplation; or arriving at the science of

what is perceived and what is probable or rational; this comprehends

properly two sciences which are possessed by the _jitèndriya

loka_,[418] that is, “by those sages who have subdued the senses.”

There is a class of durvishes who practise _tapasya_,[419] or “devout

austerity,” and who, by great and difficult penances, banish every

illusion from them, so that in their sleep they may not have

unbecoming dreams, which they say are produced by the influence of the

imagination; and they guard their eyes from the wounds and impressions

which also proceed from the imagination. They climb up to the tops of

walls, without fear of falling down, and go to such places as are not

easily accessible, which they say is a triumph over illusion; they

pretend to have the power to cause rain to fall or to cease; to

attract whomever they like, and to render him obedient to their will;

to give information of whatever is concealed, and to reveal the

secrets of the heart; to possess the knowledge of the good and the bad

hidden in the minds; as well as that of the relations and history of

the world; and upon the mirror of their hearts are reflected the

lights of secrets, the _djoti mandalam_,[420] “the splendor of the

universe.” When a misfortune happens, all the pious men assemble and

hold council about the removal of it; they investigate the strange and

astonishing events; they keep day and night their eyes shut, and,

pondering, exercise their sagacity: these are called _Dhyani_.[421]

Those who are not occupied with exterior things are called

_tyagî_,[422] and others who shun all intercourse with women and have

no wife, take the title of _Yatis_; and there is a class who, with the

same abnegation as the former, never mix with the people of the world,

and never ask more from them than a small quantity of food: these are

called _Vaíragîs_,[423] or _Udasîs_.[424] Others live in deserts and

upon mountains, satisfied with fruits; the savage animals do them no

harm; they are named _Vanyasîs_.[425] When, among them, a child is

born or a marriage takes place in the house of a family-man, they do

not offer him their congratulation; and when a misfortune occurs, such

as the death of a friend, they do not grieve or take mourning. A

desire for generation, and a relish for meat and drink, inasmuch as

may be requisite, is permitted, but beyond this prohibited; and

whoever desires more is excluded from their society. This order of men

among them is called _Grihasta_; another division of them is formed by

the _Avach’háta_,[426] “emaciated by abstinence,” who are the adepts

of this sect; if I were to relate every thing of them, several volumes

would not be sufficient to contain my account.

In the Nababship of Kalinga exists a sect called _Sûrwar_ (Sûryar),

and another entitled _Gundwar_. They pay no tribute to any body; they

worship the sun; from simplicity, they prefer brass and copper to

gold, on account of bad smell. When one of them dies, they seize a

stranger and kill him. They say that, as the Rái (prince) of Gund sits

upon the ground, the lower people sit upon chairs, he being the lord

of the earth and the others are not so.

The _Chandra bakta_,[427] or “worshippers of the moon,” call this

planet one of the principal divinities, worthy of adoration and of

worship; the regulation of the nether world is committed to his care;

by the increase and decrease of the light of this heavenly body, the

hours of night and day may be known; after the sun it is the greatest,

and borrows its light from this great luminary, the access to which

may also be obtained by the moon’s mediation.[428] These sectaries

form an image of the moon, and worship it as an object of their

devotion: they never hurt a sentient being.

Another sect venerates other stars. There is one who pays homage to

_Agni_, or fire, and says that fire is the pure essence of God, who is

the sun himself: these are called _Agni Pramána_;[429] “the professors

of fire.” They believe also the other stars proceed from its radiance,

and that the earthly fire is an emanation of its rays; they venerate

every sort of fire, through the mediation of which they think access

to the sun may be obtained.

Another sect, the _Pavana bhakta_,[430] or “worshippers of the wind,”

believe that the substance of God is air, and this also the

intellectual soul.

The _Jala bhakta_,[431] or “worshippers of water,” hold water to be

the representative of the being of God, on which account they pay

veneration to the rivers and flowing streams.

The _Prithivi bhakta_[432] are “worshippers of the earth,” which they

believe to be the substance of God worthy of their adoration.

Another sect, called _Tripújas_,[433] worship the three kingdoms of

nature, in which every place and whatever presents itself to their

view, becomes an object of their veneration.

The _Manushya bhakta_,[434] or “worshippers of mankind,” recognise the

being of God in man; they know no being more perfect than mankind, and

think that it contains nothing of a bad nature.

A particular sect is to be found in Kashíal, a place in the

mountainous province of Kachmir. They worship idols; the son takes the

property acquired by his father to himself; but leaves whatever he

gains to his sons, so that it may be the firewood belonging to his

father that may burn his body. When one of them dies, a barber from

without the house goes before the dead, and then brings the message

that such a one wants something for a meal, upon which they go to work

to prepare it; and this society is kept up for some days; then, they

burn the dead; after cremation, they erect over his ashes an image of

stone, one half of which is male, and the other female; and when no

son of his remains, they marry his wife with a column of the house,

and whoever comes upon a visit of condolence, has intercourse with the

woman until a son be produced, and to him the inheritance is bestowed.

This sect have no regard for the life of animals.

Another sect exists in the mountains of Kachmir, with the name of

_Durds_. Among them it is customary for brothers to have but one wife;

occasionally they sell house, land, wife, and children; whoever buys

the house owns all these; they also pawn their wife. Some of them,

even when they become Muselmans, still adhere to this custom. They

also do not spare animals.

Further to be noticed in Hindostan is the tribe of _Dhaids_, one of

the lowest classes of men; they eat every thing but men; they worship

the sun. The author of this book met one day in Sikakul, in the

district of Kalinga, one of these men, whose name was Nága, and asked

him: “Who are the best men among all the tribes?” The man answered:

“The _Dhaids_,” and subjoined: “When they leave the body, they unite

with God; when a Brahman dies, he becomes a cow; when a Muselman

expires, he is transformed into a plant.” I enquired further: “If the

Dhaids be so highly favoured by God, why should they eat every thing

which they find, the flesh of cows, horses, mice, and the like?” The

man replied: “It is because God loves this tribe that he gave them

this command: ‘Eat whatever you like.’”

The _Choharas_ are now to be mentioned, known in Hindostan as cleaners

of privies and sweepers of the ground; and in the exercise of this

profession they visit the houses. They say, their master was Shah

Jhuna; he, in one hand a besom of gold, and in the other a basket of

silver, cleans now in the fourth heaven the house of God, and sweeps

the apartments of the Highest. This tribe too eat every thing as the

Dhaids.

The Nânac-Panthians,[435] who are known as composing the nation of the

Sikhs, have neither idols nor temples of idols. _Nânac_ belonged to

the tribe of Bédíans, who are Kshatriyas. His reputation rose in the

time of Zehir-ed-din Baber Padshah[436] (who inhabits heaven).

Before the victory of this king over the Afghans, Nânac was a

grain-factor[437] of Daulet khan Lodi,[438] who ranked among the

distinguished Umras of Ibrahim Khan, the sovereign of Hindostan.

A durvish came to Nânac, and subdued his mind in such a manner that

he, Nânac, having entered the granary, gave away the property of

Daulet-Khan, and his own, whatever he found there and in his house,

and abandoned his wife and children. Daulet Khan was struck with

astonishment at hearing this, but, recognising in Nânac the mark of a

durvish, he withheld his hand from hurting him.[439] In a short time

Nanac made a great progress in piety; at first he took little

nourishment; afterwards he allowed himself but to taste a little

cow-milk; next a little oil; then nothing but water, and at last he

took nothing but air: such men the Hindus call _pavana haris_.[440]

Nanac had a great number of disciples. He professed the unity of God,

which is called the law of Muhammed, and believed the metempsychosis,

or transmigration of the soul from one body to another. Having

prohibited his disciples to drink wine and to eat pork, he himself

abstained from eating flesh, and ordered not to hurt any living being.

After him, this precept was neglected by his followers; but _Arjun

mal_, one of the substitutes of his faith, as soon as he found that it

was wrong, renewed the prohibition to eat flesh, and said: “This has

not been approved by Nânac.” Afterwards, Hargovind, son of Arjunmal,

eat flesh, and went to hunt, and his followers imitated his example.

Nanac praised the religion of the Muselmans, as well as the Avatars

and the divinities of the Hindus; but he knew that these objects of

veneration were created and not creators, and he denied their real

descent _from heaven_, and their union _with mankind_. It is said that

he wore the rosary of the Muselmans in his hand, and the Zunar, or the

religious thread of the Hindus, around his neck.[441] Some of his

distinguished disciples report of him more than can here find room.

One of these reports is, that Nanac, being dissatisfied with the

Afghans, called the Moghuls into the country, so that in the year 932

of the Hejira (A. D. 1525) Zehir ed-din Baber padshah (who is in

heaven) gained the victory over Ibrahim, the king of the Afghans.[442]

They say also that Nanac, during one of his journeys,[443] finding

himself one night in a fort, was absorbed in a vision of God. Children

played around him, and some put their hands upon his body, without any

motion being perceived in him; they sewed his eye-lids, his nostrils,

and his flesh together, and tied his hands fast. When Nanac recovered

his senses, he found himself in this state, and went to a neighbouring

house, at the threshold of which he called out: “Ho! is there any body

in the house who may free my eye-lids sewed together and my hands?” A

handsome woman, having conducted him into the house, untied his hands

and tore the threads by which his eye-lids were sewed together with

her teeth asunder, on which account the color of the mark of the

woman’s caste remained upon Nanac’s forehead. After his having left

the house, the neighbours saw the mark, and supposed his having had an

intimate connexion with the woman; wherefore she was abused by the

people and repudiated by her husband.

This woman came one day to Nanac, and said: “I have, upon the way of

God, rendered thee a service, and now they revile me for it.” Nanac

answered: “To-morrow will the gate of the fort be shut, but shall not

be opened unless thou appliest thy hand to it.” The next day, in spite

of all efforts to open the gate, they could not succeed, and remained

in great consternation. Men and beasts, far from water, could not go

out to fetch it. The inhabitants addressed themselves to all men who

had a reputation for sanctity, but their prayers were in vain. At last

they had recourse to Nanac, and said: “O durvish, what is there to be

done?” He answered: “The gate shall not be opened except by the hand

of a woman who never lost her virtue with a stranger.” The inhabitants

brought all the women who had a reputation for chastity to the gate of

the fort, but it remained shut: on that account they sat down

hopeless. At the time of evening prayer came at last the friend of

Baba Nanac to the gate. The people laughed at her; her husband and her

relations were ashamed and abused her. The woman, without listening to

the speeches of the people, struck the gate with her hand and it

opened. All men were astonished and ashamed: they fell at the feet of

the woman.

The _báni_,[444] that is to say the poems, of Nânac, are, as it were,

perfumed with devotion and wisdom, still more can this be said of his

speeches about the grandeur and sanctity of God. All is in the

language of the _Jats_ of the Panjab, and _Jat_ in the dialect of the

Penjab, means a villager or a rustic.

Nânac’s disciples are not conversant with the Sanscrit language. The

precepts and regulations which Nânac established among them will be

explained hereafter.

Nânac said in his poems that there are several heavens and earths; and

that prophets, and saints, and those that are supposed to have

descended from above (avatárs), and persons distinguished by piety,

obtain perfection by zeal in the service of God; that whoever devotes

himself to the veneration of God, whatever road he may choose, will

come to God, and that the means to this is, to avoid hurting any

living being.

“Be true and thou shalt be free;

Truth belongs to thee, and thy success to the Creator.”[445]

Nánac left children in the Penj-ab,[446] they are called _Kartaris_;

but according to the opinion of some, he had no offspring. They say

that, after Nánac’s decease, his place was by his order occupied by

the Guru _Angad_, of the Srín tribe of Kshatriyas; next succeeded the

Guru _Amaradas_, of the tribe of the Bholáyí-Kshatriyas; after him

came the Guru _Ráma-das_, who was of the Sódahí-Kshatriyas, and also

called the Srí-guru. Ráma-das, dying, left his dignity to his son

_Arjunmal_. During the life of this Guru, the Sikhs, that is to say,

his followers grew great in number and in faith. They said, Bábá Nânac

is a god, and the world his creation; but Nánac in his poems reckons

himself a servant of God, and he calls God _Naránjen_ (Naráyana),

_Parabrahma_, and _Permaisher_ (Paramésvara), who is without a body,

and has nothing corporeal, nor deigns to be united with a bodily

frame. The Sikhs say that Nánac, in the same manner, had been without

a real body, but visible by the power of his individuality,[447] and

they believe that, when Nânac expired,[448] his spirit became

incarnate in the person of _Angad_,[449] who attended him as his

confidential servant. Angad, at his death, transmitted his soul into

the body of _Amara das_;[450] and thus Guru, in the same manner,

conveyed his spirit into the body of _Ráma-das_;[451] whose soul

transmigrated into the person of _Arjunmal_;[452] in short, they

believe that, with a mere change of name, Nânac the First became Nânac

the Second, and so on, to the Fifth, in the person of Arjunmal. They

say, that whoever does not recognise in Arjunmal the true Bábá Nânac,

is an unbeliever; they have a number of tales about the founder of

their sect, and assert that Bábá Nânac, in a former world, was the

radja Janak.[453]

When Sakha-daiv (Saha déva),[454] the son of Baiás (Vyasa), a

rakhaisher (rakshasa), came to Janak, in order to learn from him the

path of God, he found the rája, who had thrown one of his feet into

the fire; men on foot and on horseback formed a file; Nawabs and

Vizirs were busy about the affairs of the state; elephants and horses

presented themselves to the view. Saha dév thought in his mind that

such occupations and worldly concerns were unbecoming so pious a man.

The rája, who was skilled in penetrating the hearts of others, found

it out, and employing the power of magic, he caused fire to fall upon

the houses, so that at last all the horses and fine palaces were

burnt. The rája seemed neither to hear, nor to see, nor to care any

thing about what happened, until the fire reached the house where he

and Saha dév were. Janak did not throw one look upon it. The fire fell

upon the wooden cup, which they call there _kermandel_,[455] and which

Saha dév used for drinking water. He now, senseless, jumped from his

place, and took hold of his kermandel. The rája smiled, and said to

him: “All my people, and all this, my property, were burnt; my heart

was not bound to them; wherefore I let them be consumed, and feel no

pain about them; but thou, on account of thy kermandel, jumpedst

senseless from thy place. It is now clear whose heart is bound to the

things of this world.” Saha dèv was ashamed of his having been

disturbed. This tale was heard from the followers of Nânac.

The history of Janak and of Saha dév is contained in the _Jog

bashest_,[456] which is one of the principal books of the Hindus, in

the following manner: Bisvámiter (Viśvamitra)[457] in presence of the

Rakshasas addressed this speech to Ráma chander: “O Rama chander,

venerate thy father and mother; thou who issuedst from them so

beautiful, thou hast accomplished thy task; by the goodness of thy

nature and by the purity of thy character, thou hast polished the

mirror of thy heart, and given it such a brightness, that the

perfection o God is manifest in it; the success which a zealous

disciple obtains, after many difficulties and pious exercises under

the direction and instruction of a Rakshasa, during a long period of

time, that success became thy share without trouble; thine became the

science to be acquired; and thine is, even in this life, the

emancipation in the form of Saha dèv, the son of Vyása. He, thy

father, on account of the excellence of his pure form and of his

divine nature, having come forth wise from the womb of his mother,

without any assistance manifested his perfection, and on account of

the clearness of his intellect, whatever on the way of his journey,

was accessible to wisdom and excellence, was open to his looks, and no

veil nor curtain remained before him; nevertheless, even with such

advantages, he was inquisitive with Rakshasas and wise men in matters

of theology, so that these personages, or pious penitents, gave him

directions and lessons, and offered him their advice with alacrity.

Thus am I ready to give thee some instruction, and communicate some

precepts of wisdom to thee.” Therefore Rámachander inquired of

Visvámiter: “As Saha dèv brought the full measure of wisdom from the

body of his mother, and as his nature was endowed with such

perfection, my prayer is, that you may favor me with an explicit

account of him, and explain to me by what means he procured to himself

the advice of the wise, and in what manner the Rakshasas imparted

instruction to him.” Visvámiter replied: “O Rama chander, thy

condition is as fortunate as that of Saha dèv; such was his dignity

and excellence, that men, by listening to his tale, feel themselves

emancipated, and are no more subject to be born again. O Ramachander,

he too was impressed with the idea that in no condition this world is

permanent, but that all that is seen changes every moment, and passes

from one state to another. One guest arrives and comes into the world,

another dies and goes out of the world; the one is agitated with

distress, the other is quiet; the one exulting, the other overcome

with grief; in short, whoever and whatever exists in this world is

liable to change; there is not the least hope of firmness and

steadiness, and nothing is worthy to bind our hearts. But that which

is firm and steady, deserves that we attach our hearts to it, and that

we perpetually are mindful of, and fix our thoughts and meditate upon

it. Nothing however is firm and steady but the pure being of _Brahma_,

that is to say, the supreme and true entity of God. Moreover, whoever

directs his mind solely towards the divinity, will attain the

knowledge of it, and render himself perfectly free from the desires of

the heart, and from the pleasures of the body, which tend to swell and

to fetter the soul. And like the bird _Pápîhá_,[458] which is fond of

the water which falls from the cloud _Náisán_,[459] and does not taste

of any other liquid from river or well, but thirsting only for drops

from the cloud Náisan, is taken up with the search for them; thus Saha

dév, having made himself independent and free from all desires and

allurements, was always immersed in the contemplation of Brahma, and

having dissolved his own being in the reality of God, he knew Brahma,

and attained the state of absolute repose and quietness. When he thus

became a master of excellence, and as perfect as other rakshasas, then

he felt the desire of his heart accomplished, and with a mind more

splendid than the moon of a fortnight, he passed through the troubles

of life, according to the words of the prophet: ‘With a heavenly mind

upon the carpet of eternity.’”

One day, during a pleasure excursion in this world, he happened to

reach the mountain Sumair,[460] that is _Alburz_, which in Arabia, is

called _Káf_.[461] Upon the top of this mountain, he saw his father

Vyása, who in a cavern was occupied with the contemplation of Brahma.

Having saluted his father according to the custom of the Hindus, he

asked him: “My worthy father, you who possess the knowledge of the

supreme being, inform me in what manner this knowledge of the unity of

God is diffused in the multitude, in what way the creatures of this

world obtain their forms, to what period their existence is extended,

what is the cause of their duration, and how their existence happens

to be renewed several times, in order that I may possess proper

notions of the state of this world, and that I may unravel this

mystery to myself.”

Vyása, according to the desire of his son, explained the original

state of the creation in clear words; but as the mind of the sage was

involved in his own thoughts, and occupied with the contemplation of

Brahma, he gave only a short account of the creation and of the

development of this world to Saha dév, who did not derive an entire

satisfaction from it. Vyása knew his thoughts, and said: “O son, my

mind being immersed in the study and in the contemplation of God, I

cannot, for want of time, impart to thee at present distinctly the

account which thou desirest; but I will put thee in the way by which

thou mayst arrive at the satisfaction of thy heart, and I will send

thee to a man who will gratify thee. Know then, that in the country of

Tirhut[462] is a town called Míthila, and there resides Janaka, the

Rája, who is an excellent man, and possesses incomparable knowledge.

Go to him, and engage him to satisfy thy heart. He will give thee an

explicit account of the creation of the world from beginning to end.”

Saha dév, according to the direction of his father, having left him,

went into Tirhut, to the town of Mithila. He saw a city populous, and

delightfully built; the soldiers content with the Rája, and the rayots

(country people) happy and satisfied. Nobody complained at that time

of his lot: in the evening every one laid down in his corner, and at

day-break attended the court of Rája Janaka. The guards at the door

observed Saha dév, _tapasí_, that is, a pious adorer of God, the son

of Vyása, who stood at the gate and asked entrance. The rája Janaka,

before he received the report of it, knew from inward knowledge and

from the light of his mind, the purpose of Saha-dév’s mind; but in

order to try his character, and to put his sincerity and his

individuality to the test, he took no notice of the appearance of the

stranger. Saha-dév, who had come near him, remained there one day and

one night. On the next day, Janaka set about his business; the great

and the vulgar appeared before him. This day too, and the following

eight days and eight nights the rája did not address any question to

Saha dév, who remained in his place without saying a word to any body.

The eighth day, the rája Janak, when he saw that Saha-dév stood the

test by shewing the mark of excellence and betraying no unsteadiness,

he ordered that the stranger should be introduced into the interior of

the palace and into the private apartments. Beforehand, he enjoined

the maids of the bed-chamber and all the people of the palace that, on

Saha-dév’s arrival, they should place before him all sorts of

exquisite viands and agreeable perfumes, and whatever might allure the

mind, and that they should endeavour to fascinate and to madden him.

When Saha dév, by order of the rája Janaka, had entered the private

apartments, handsome women brought before him from all sides delicious

meats, and garments, and every thing that was attracting, and showed

him great respect; after humble prostrations, they placed him in an

elegant apartment. During other seven days and nights the rája did not

appear before him. The people of the inner apartments, according to

the rája’s orders, did what they could in a thousand different ways to

please him: they approached him, clasped their hands with his, rubbed

his hands and feet; they served and tempted him by four principal

means, namely: first, by the splendour of handsome maids; secondly, by

offering him whatever may charm the senses; thirdly, by tokens of

respect, and fourthly, by rubbing his hands and feet. Their intent

was, if there remained any human feeling in him, to rouse it up. Saha

dév, like a mountain that is not moved by any wind, stood firm; he

took notice of nothing, and threw not even a look upon the beautiful

moon-faced damsels about him. The rája Janaka, when informed that not

the least trace of human feeling, lust, or desire had remained in the

young man, and that he had freed himself from the fetters of error and

sensuality, ran without hesitation from the place where he was, and

touched the feet of Saha dév, saying: “Be thou happy, O rakshasa! who

art united with the supreme spirit, and in whom has remained no trace

of the qualities of water, earth, and of human nature, thou, who hast

acquired whatever may be desirable to thy regeneration: for thou

possessest the knowledge of God. Now, tell me, with what intention

didst thou come to me, and what dost thou expect from our meeting?”

Saha dév replied to the rája: “My intention in coming here was to

obtain from thee a true account of the creation; in what manner this

world came forth from the unity of the divine being, and how from him,

the One, proceeded the duality and multiplicity of forms. Explain this

to me, and impress it distinctly upon my mind. Although I received

from my father some true notion of the creation of this world, and

although, from the interior light and from the purity of heart which I

have acquired by my devotion, the truth of the great question presents

itself to my mind, yet I desire instruction from thee, and hope to

receive it from thy tongue.” The rája Janak revealed to Saha dév,

according to his wish, the history of the creation of the world. After

that Saha dév said again to the rája: “O king! it is certain that

between steady, wise, and learned men there is no contradiction; so

does the account of the origin of the world, which I have heard from

my father Vyása, and which I have well impressed upon my mind, agree

with that which thy tongue has communicated to me. The substance of it

is, that the creation of the world and the existence of its

inhabitants took place by the will and by the disposition of Brahma,

and according to the purpose of the supreme being, and that, when it

is the desire of Brahma, the world is created, and when the supreme

being finds it right to withdraw hímself from the circle of beings,

the world returns to nothing, and its inhabitants are again enveloped

with the veil of nothingness and voidness, and nothing remains but

God. In like manner is the existence of all bodies connected with the

will of the divine spirit, so that every being in dependence upon this

will, and in conformity with the principles of its own nature, each

time comes into, and goes out of, the world, or is born and dies. It

is when the worldly desires, connections, and concerns are

annihilated, that a man no more returns to nor leaves this world;

birth and death upon this earth no more concern him, because the ties

formed by his desires are broken.” Saha dév continued: “O rája, what

thou hast said, is impressed upon my mind; but tell me, if there

remains any thing, however minute it may be, of the account of this

world; this too I wish to hear.” The rája Janaka said: “The account of

the world is such as thou hast heard. That holy being, without a name,

without a mark, without an equal, is pure and free from lust and

desire, and his providence brings forth this world. He, the one

perfect being, in what a multitude of beings does he not manifest

himself! And if he removes from this creation the support of his will

and of his providence, nothing remains but himself, the only being. O

Saha dév, thou who hast purified thy heart from the attachments of

this body, and liberated it from all desires and seductive

propensities, thou hast convinced thyself of the trut that, whatever

appears before our eyes, is nothing, and has neither reality nor

substance; what was to be performed, thou hast accomplished it; what

was to be known, thou hast acquired it, and thou hast proved thyself

true; on that account thou art, even in thy life-time, possessed of

_mukt_ (emancipation); that is to say: as a person, when the soul has

left his body, is freed from the want of aliment, so hast thou,

although still in the state of life and health, been liberated from

all bodily wants.[463] Happy be thy life! blessed be thy age, O Saha

dév!”

Viśvamitra continued: “O Ramachander, thou hast acquired the same

knowledge as Saha dév; in the same manner as he abandoned all desires,

subdued all the appetites of his five senses, and possessed perfect

freedom, in the same manner thou must not permit any sort of desire to

enter in thy heart.[464] There is no other means of _mukt_ but this:

to this thou must tend.”[465]

After that he addressed the rakshasas and all those who were present,

in the following speech: “O rakshasas! and you who seek the road of

God, know that, as Ramachander, by the purity of his nature and by the

goodness of his disposition, raised himself to the highest dignity,

not less ought to be the excellence of all the wise who are destined

to the acquisition of _mukt_; thirsting for the knowledge of the

highest, they ought to listen to the speeches of all those who devote

themselves to God; nay, the truth and the faith, which Ramachander

possessed, ought to be common, and productive of the same consolation

and tranquillity to all those who, not in vain, aspire to wisdom and

sanctity. I have imparted to Ramachander what I knew to be the best;

now is the time of _Bashest_ (Vas ishta), who attained such a

perfection of a rakshasa, that nothing that is, was, and will be, is

concealed to him, and he has no equal in the world.” So far goes the

text of _Jog bahest_.[466]

The Guru Nánac, according to the belief of his followers, was in

former times the rája called Janak, and united the dignity of a king

with that of a saint. He called mankind to God. The author of this

work heard from distinguished Sikhs that, when Bába Nánac appeared in

the Sat-jog, a great number of Sikhs assembled around him. He sent a

cow into the kitchen. When prepared, it was brought into the assembly;

some ate of it, others were afraid to do so. The Guru prayed to God

that the cow might rise again, and all those who had been afraid,

beholding this miracle, approached him praying: “Now we shall eat

whatever you order.” Nánac answered: “Not now be it so: mine and your

engagement prevails in the Trèta-Jog.” Afterwards, at the revolution

of the Trèta-jog, the Guru appeared. The disciples assembled; then a

slaughtered horse was brought into the assembly in the manner before

said. Some ate of it; others abstained from it. The Guru prayed, and

the horse was brought to life. Those who had been afraid prayed as

before. He replied again: “Your word and mine are engaged for the

Dwápar-jog.” In this age they brought a slaughtered elephant into the

assembly of his followers. The same happened as I said before, and he

appointed them for the Kali-jog. In this age, they say, a man was

brought into the assembly; whoever ate, became free; who abstained

from it, remained subject to durance, and some of the Sikhs call Nánac

the slave of God.

It is also related that, when Nânac died, in the Sat-jog, two roads

opened before his soul: the one led to heaven, the other to hell.

Nânac chose the latter, and having descended below, he brought all the

inhabitants out of hell. The Lord God said to him: “These sinners

cannot enter heaven; you must return into the world and liberate

them.” On that account Nânac came to this world, and his followers are

the former inhabitants of hell; the Guru comes and goes, until that

multitude shall have found their salvation.

Except the zealots among the Sikhs, no man else believes Bábá Nânac a

god. As to the rest, Nânac’s followers condemn idolatry, and believe

that all their Gurus are Nânacs, as was said before. They do not

recite the mantras of the Hindus, they do not venerate their temples,

nor do they esteem their Avatárs. The Sanscrit language, which

according to the Hindus is the language of the gods, is not held in

such great estimation by the Sikhs. Whatever it be, the number of

these sectaries increased every where, so that, in the time of the

Guru Arjunmal it became very considerable, and at last there was no

place in any country where Sikhs were not to be found. They make no

difference between Brahmans and Kshatriyas, for Nânac was a Kshatriya,

and none of their Gurus was a Brahman, as stated above. Thus they

subjected the Kshatriyas to the tribe of Jats,[467] who are an

inferior caste of Baisas (Viśas). The deputies of the Gurus are

besides frequently Jats. They honour equally Brahmans and Kshatriyas.

The Guru is chosen at the discretion of his followers. It should be

known that, in the time of the Afghan sultans, the Umras were called

successors or deputies of Ali; finally, for the sake of brevity, the

name of deputy (masnad) alone was used by the Hindus. The Sikhs call

_masnad_, and also _Rámadas_, the Guru whom they esteem as a king of

the true faith.

Before the fifth period no tribute was exacted from the Sikhs, but

presents were given by them according to their own discretion, to

their Gurus. Arjunmal sent in his time a person to the Sikhs of each

town in order to collect a tribute; in that manner, the Sikhs

accustomed themselves to the government of a masnad, or deputy. Their

principal deputies, of whom there was a great number, elected on their

part deputies, so that such substitutes were to be found in every

place. The Sikhs created their Gurus, and established that an

_audasi_,[468] or one that has abandoned the world, is not to be

esteemed higher than any other man. On that account, some of their

Gurus are inclined to agriculture, others to commerce, and to various

trades and occupations. Each of them brings every year something,

according to his means, to his Guru; the deputy receives a present

without exacting it; others collect what is destined every year to the

deputy, and deliver it to the chief man of the Guru, who disposes of

it for his own maintenance and for other contingencies; no body incurs

blame on account of presents (or contributions): being raised from all

quarters, they are forwarded to the Guru.

In the month of February, when the sun is in the sign of the Bull, the

subordinate Gurus come to their chief with those of their followers

who choose to accompany them. At the time of taking leave, each

receives a turban as a present from the deputy.

Having recorded truly something of the Sikhs in general, I will now

give an account of the chiefs of this tribe whom I have known myself.

In the sixth period lived Sri Guru Har-govind, the son of the Guru

Arjun mal. The Padshah Nur-ed-din Jehangir,[469] now an inhabitant of

heaven, called to his court Arjun-mal, on account of his having

offered prayers for the king’s son Khusro, who had rebelled against

his father. Khusro having been taken, the king ordered the

imprisonment of Arjun-mal, and wanted to extort a large sum of money

from him. The Guru was helpless; they kept him a prisoner in the sandy

country of Lahore, until he died of the heat of the sun and of ill

treatment. This happened in the year 1015 of the Hejira (A. D.

1606).[470] In like manner the king banished from Hindostan the Shaikh

Nezam Thánasír, because he had been connected with, and had prayed

for, his son Khusro.

After Arjunmal followed his brother Baratha,[471] whom his followers

called “the benevolent Guru.” Now, in the year 1055 of the Hejira (A.

D. 1645), the Guru _Harjayi_ occupies his place. They both professed

the adoration of one God. The disciples of the Guru Har-govind, son of

Arjunmal, called these Gurus Mainá [472](نمينا) which among them is an

oprobrious name. After the decease of Arjunmal, his son, Har-govind,

also made pretensions to the khalifat (deputyship), and obtained the

place of his father.[473] Hargovind was always attached to the stirrup

of the victorious Jehangir. He became involved in many difficulties;

one of them was, that he appropriated to himself the pay due to the

soldiers in advance; he carried also the sword against his father; he

kept besides many servants, and was addicted to hunting. Jehangir, on

account of the money due to the army, and of the mulet imposed upon

Arjunmal (as was said before), sent Har-govind to the fort of

Gwalior,[474] where he remained imprisoned twelve years. He was not

permitted to eat a good meal. During that time the deputies and other

Sikhs used to come and bow before the walls of the fort. At last,

moved by pity, the king granted him liberty. After Jehangir’s death,

Har-govind entered the service of his majesty Amír-ul Múnenîn

Abu-ul-muzafer shaháb ed-din Muhammed saheb Keran sani shah Jehan, the

victorious king. When the Guru returned to Batnesh, which is a

district of the Penjab, he attached himself to Yar Khan, the eunuch,

who held the office of a Foujdar[475] in the Nawabí of the Penjab, and

whom he assisted in the administration. Har-govind returned to

Rámadaspúr, where the Gurus Rámadas and Arjun-mal had built great

edifices and dug tanks. There he sustained an attack of the army which

Shah jehan, the shadow of God, sent against him, and the Guru’s

property was then plundered. From thence he fled to Kartarpúr; there

too war reached him, and on this occasion Mír Badherah, and Páindah

Khan, the son of Fattah Khan Ganáida, found their death. Before and

after this, he encountered great dangers of war, but with the aid of

God he escaped unhurt, although he lost his property. It is related by

one, Sadah by name, that in this war a man aimed a blow at the Guru,

who parried it, and struck him with his blade, saying: “Not in that

manner, but so the sword is used;” and with one blow he made an end of

his foe. One of the companions of the Guru asked the author of this

work: “What was the purport of the words by which the Guru accompanied

his blow?” I said: “It was to give instruction, as it belongs to a

Guru to teach also how to strike a blow with a sword; for a Guru is

called a teacher: he did not strike out of anger, which would have

been blameable.” At last he retired from the war of Kartarpúr to

Bhagwárah, and because there, in the vicinity of Lahore, he met with

difficulties, he betook himself from thence in haste to Gerait púr,

which lies in the mountainous district of the Penjab, and was then

dependent upon the rája Tárachand, who had never paid homage to the

pádsháh Shah Jehan. The inhabitants of this country adore idols. Upon

the summit of a fortified mountain, they raised an image of the Déva,

named _Nâina_ (Naráyana). Rájas and other eminent persons made

pilgrimages to this place. At the time when the Guru came there, one

of the Sikhs, called Bhairo, who accompanied him, entered the temple

and struck off the nose of the idol. The rájas, having been informed

of it, came to the Guru to complain of the act, and named the man who

did it. The Guru called Bhairo before him. The Sikh denied the deed.

The servants of the rájas declared: “We know the man.” He replied: “O

rájas, ask you the god: if he tells you my name, kill me.” The rájas

said: “You blockhead! how shall the god speak?” Bhairo laughed and

answered: “Now it is clear who is the blockhead: if the god cannot

defend his head, nor point out the man who struck him, what benefit do

you expect from him, and why do you venerate his strength?” The rájas

remained silent and confounded. From this time, the disciples of the

Guru increased considerably, and in this mountainous country, as far

as the frontiers of Thibet and Khota, the name of Muselman was not

heard.

The author of this work heard what follows from the tongue of Guru

Har-govind: “A mighty rája exists in the north or this mountainous

country. One day he sent me an ambassador who asked information,

saying: ‘I have heard that there is a town named Delhi; what is the

name of its rája, and whose son is he?’ I was astonished to hear that

he did not know even the name of Amír ul Múmenín saheb Karan sáni

(Jehangír).” The Guru had eight hundred horses in his stable, three

hundred troopers on horseback, and sixty men with fire-arms were

always in his service. Among these some carried on commerce, and other

trades and occupations. Whoever was a fugitive from his home took

refuge with him.

The Guru believed but one God. A person desired from him some account

of the creation and the constitution of this world. The Guru said:

“The universe is an appearance without reality, and an unsubstantial

manifestation of God, the highest being; and all bodies, as well as

gods, are an idle illusion. I will tell thee, said he, a story of old

times: There was a king who went to hunt the _hátah jori_, which in

the Turkish language is called _kamer ghah_, and in Persian _barah

shikar_, ‘a fawn of the chace.’ A deer came into the circle of the

hunting party. The king said: ‘On whose side the deer will come forth,

let him not return before me until he has taken it with his hand.’ By

fate, the animal came out on the side of the king. Khusro run after it

until he was far from the army, and reached a place where, on account

of thick wood, he could not find a path. The king was glad to think

the deer would now return towards him; but when he came near it, there

was a small opening through which the game escaped. The king sharply

pushed on his horse, which, contracting itself, passed through the

thicket; but the pádsháh was taken by two branches, and his arms and

feet fastened so as if it had been purposely brought about. He

remained two days in such a state, until two persons, a man and a

woman, who were gathering wood, arrived near him. The woman said to

her husband: ‘Look! the king has hanged a thief.’ The man replied:

‘This is not a place for hanging; we must examine it nearer.’ When

they had approached, they saw and recognised the king, and said to

each other: ‘If we release him, it will be of use to us.’ The woman

observed: ‘He is the king; once made free, what advantage will he

grant us for it? If he promises to marry our daughter, we will release

him.’ They said so to the king, who promied what they desired. After

that, they liberated him, brought him to their house, and gave him

their daughter. He remained there some time, and then joined his army.

When he wanted to enter his palace, the door-keeper struck him with

his stick; the king was seized with a trembling and awoke. He saw the

high throne and the servants before him waiting for his orders. By

this dream he was aroused from the emptiness of his illusion; he knew

that the world is but an appearance without reality; and that,

whatever we experience, being awake, is likewise nothing more than a

dream. He found that the diversity of forms and of distinct bodies is

but an image of existence, and that in truth there is but one real

being, one praiseworthy, and raised above all others by superlative

excellence.”

One of the Brahmans was called Déva, and counted himself among the

wise. He visited the Guru, and seated himself one day upon the bed of

Bába Jév, who was the son of a Guru. The people said: “Do not sit

there.” He asked: “Why not?” They answered: “This is the place of the

Guru.” He said: “Is perhaps the figure of a Guru not that of a man, or

have I not a rational soul manifest in me? or can I not enjoy what

another eats or drinks?” This speech came to the ears of the Guru

Hargovind. He called that man before him, and said: “O Déva! it is not

the whole world but one being?” He replied: “It is.” The Guru pointed

to an ass, and asked: “Do you know what this is?” Déva replied: “You

are one with God, therefore you are also this.” The Guru laughed, and

was not at all angry. Déva wished to marry his own sister; the people

said: “This is forbidden.” He answered: “If it were forbidden, the

junction of the sexual parts would be impossible. Thus, because it is

not God’s will that we should rise up in the air, he withheld from us

the faculty of flying.”

The Sikhs venerated the Guru Har-govind as a god, and believed that he

has passed through six incarnations. Perah Kaivan, a Yazdanian, was

moved by the reputatation of the Guru, and came to visit him.

The Guru recognised him, and showed him great respect. Upon that

account Perah Kaivan left him. A week had scarcely passed after he was

gone, when Har-govind died, on a Sunday, the third day of the

Moherram, in the year 1055 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1645). When they had

placed his corpse upon the pyre, and when the fire rose up in high

flames, a ràjapút called Rájarama, who had been his servant,

precipitated himself into the fire, and walked several paces in the

midst of the flames, until he reached the feet of the corpse, and

having laid his face upon the soles of the Guru’s feet, he did not

move until he expired. After him, the son of a Jat, who was in the

service of Har-govind’s son-in-law, leaped into the fire. Many other

Sikhs wished to follow his example, but the Guru Har rayi forbade it.

Dáulet Khan Kaksal says:

“Of a hundred sayings of my master, I remember one:

The world never becomes a desert, nor the wine-house a prayer-house.

What can my soul give more than my heart can bear?

Whatever the soul gives, and whatever the heart bears, the one and

the other is god-given.”

The Guru Har-govind, in a letter to the author of this work, gave

himself the title of Nânac, which was his right distinction. I saw him

in the year 1053 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1643) in Kirtpúr. The Guru

Har-ráyi was the grandson of the said Guru;[476] his father was Garuta

(or Guru daitya), who is known under the name of Bábá Jév. The Guru

Har-govind wished first to transmit his place to his son Garuta, or

Bábá Jév; but the Guru Nághura, one of the Sikhs, brought his daughter

to Bábá Jév. The Bábá wished to send her to his private apartments.

His wife, the mother of Har-ráyi, complained of it to Har-govind, her

father-in-law, who, having heard her, said to Bábá Jév: “Having given

to Nághura the name of my son, I own him as such, and his daughter

cannot go to you, my son.” Nághura refused to take back his daughter;

nor would Bábá Jév give her up. The Guru Har-govind then said: “May

neither happiness nor success ever attend this husband and his wife!”

Upon that, the same day, Bábá Jév threw away his nuptial dress, and

sent the daughter of the Guru Nághura untouched back to her house. In

consequence of this event, Har-govind showed a more particular esteem

for his grandson Har-ráyi,[477] the son of Bábá Jév; he gave him the

name of his father, Bábá Jév, and appointed him his successor.

Invested with this dignity, Har-rayi remained one year in Kirtpúr.

When in the year of the Hejirah 1055 (A. D. 1645) Najábet Khan, the

son of Sharogh Mirza, by order of the pádsháh Shah-jehan, invaded with

an army the land of the rája Tarachand, and made the rája a prisoner,

the Guru Har-ráyi betook himself to Thapal, which town is situated in

the district of the rája Keramperkás, not far from Sirhind.

The Sikhs call Har-ráyi the seventh Guru. He was a great friend of the

author of this work. I will therefore give an account of some among

the principal chiefs whom I knew, as well as of some customs of this

people. The Sikhs distinguish also the deputies of their Gurus by the

name of Rámdais, that is to say, “servants of God, or of an idol.”

_Jahandas_ was one of the pretenders to the dignity of a Guru; he was

a man high and proud in his speeches, not agreeable to any,

indifferent to good and bad that might happen to him. One day he got a

wound on his foot. Har-govind told him: “Do not envelop _too much_,

and raise your foot.” According to this injunction, he suspended and

uncovered his foot during three months. When the Guru was informed of

it, he said to him: “Cover your foot; what I told you was intended for

the healing of your wound: do not rest on your foot for some days.”

One day the Guru said to him: “Tell the Sikhs to bring wood into the

kitchen, that they may gain some remuneration.” Jahandas did not

appear the next day, as if he had not during one day and a half awoke

from sleep. The people, suspecting some derangement of his brain,

thought he had absented himself. When they, with the Guru, looked

after him, they found him with a bundle of wood on his shoulder. The

Guru said: “I have not ordered you to bear that.” He replied: “You

gave your orders to the Sikhs; a Sikh am I, and know not to be any

thing higher than they are.” Another day the Guru went into a garden,

and said to Jahandas: “Remain at the door.” By accident, the Guru

returned home by another door; Jahandas remained three days on his

feet, until Hargovind, who was informed of it, called him away.

Har-govind had a disciple called _Badhata_, who sent a person to bring

corn from a field where it was lying cut. This man gave every thing

away, and then said to Badhata who had sent him: “You distributed

every thing, as a father, to the poor; I did the same in imitation of

your example, and dispense you from the remuneration which I should

have gained by bringing the corn to you.” Badhata was at first a

thief, and his disciples exercised later the profession of thieving;

they showed themselves very obedient to the orders of their master,

and believed that stealing for him deserved praise and recompense.

Har-govind, according to the Sikhs, declared that on the day of the

last judgment, his disciples will not have to account for their

actions.

_Sadah_, a disciple of the Guru, went by his orders to bring horses

from Balkh to Irak. He had a son who had fallen sick. They said to

him: “You are now in the town of Balkh, and but one day’s journey from

home: go to see your son.” He answered: “If he should die, there is

wood enough in the house to burn him: I went about the Guru’s

business, and will not return.” The son died, but he did not return.

At last he bought three capital horses of Irak; but Khalíl Bég, a

tyrant, took hold of them, which fell hard upon him. In the same year,

he lost his only son and heir, and saw himself deprived of strength

and honor. Sadah was a man neither gladdened by good nor afflicted by

bad fortune. The author of this work was once his companion on a

journey from Kabul to the Penjab. The belt of my coat broke; Sadah

gave me immediately his zunnar to serve me as a belt. I said to him:

“Why do you this?” He answered: “To tie the zunnar purports an

engagement to serve another; as often as I render some service to

friends, may I resign my zunnar for it.”

“This thread serves to tie every thing:

In a cloister it is a rosary; in a temple of idols a zunnar.”

A Sikh asked the Guru Har-govind: “In the absence of my Guru, what

other shall I find?” He replied: “Whichever of the Sikhs comes to your

house under the name of a Guru, him you may take for yours.” It is the

custom among the Sikhs that, whatever demand they have, they can state

it in the assembly of the Sikhs to the Guru, to whom they offer

whatever present they have, or a coin, and in so doing they join their

hands together, and proffer prayers to him, that he may be favorable

to them. The Guru states then his demand in the _Sangat_

(_Sangátí_),[478] that is to say, in the assembly of the Sikhs. This

custom exists also among the _Sipásian_, or _Izedanian_. The belief of

this people is, that an assembly is certainly capable of achieving

every thing, inasmuch as the minds act with their united strength.

Among the Sikhs there is nothing of the religious rites of the Hindús;

they know of no check in eating or drinking. When _Pertábmal_, a

_Jnání_, “wise,” Hindu, saw that his son wished to adopt the faith of

the Muselmans, he asked him: “Why dost thou wish to become a Muselman?

If thou likest to eat every thing, become a Guru of the Sikhs, and eat

whatever thou desirest.”

The Sikhs believe that all the disciples of a Guru go to heaven.

Whoever takes the name of Guru is received in the house of a Sikh. It

is related, that a thief introduced himself once under the title of

Guru, in the house of a Sikh, and was treated as such. In the morning

the Sikh went out to prepare something better for his guest. The thief

saw many jewels worn by the wife of the Sikh, and having killed her

immediately, and taken the precious things, he fled. Upon his way he

met with the master of the house, who by force brought him back. The

Sikh, when they returned to the house, found his wife dead. The thief,

seeing every thing discovered, confessed the truth. The Sikh replied:

“You have done well.” He then shut the door of the house, and said to

his neighbours: “My wife is sick: she ate nothing of the meal which

she had prepared.” Urging the thief to be gone, he did not take the

jewels from him, but made him a present of them. He finally burnt his

wife.

They also relate what follows: a kalender was in the house of a Sikh.

One day the kalender said to the wife of the Sikh: “For the sake of a

Guru, satisfy my desire.” The woman replied: “I am the property of

another; have patience.” The kalender, out of fear, did not return to

the house of the Sikh, who asked: “Why does the durvish not visit me

any more?” The woman told him what had happened. The Sikh said: “Why

did you refuse to yield to his desire?” The woman went out, and having

brought the kalender back, permitted every thing to him. When, in the

month of February, the Sikhs assembled at the house of the Guru (who

lived before the time of Har-govind), he threw an angry look at the

kalender, and said: “Him have I struck.” The kalender was stigmatised.

The following anecdote is moreover reported. A Guru saw a speaking

parrot, and praised him much. A Sikh heard this, and went immediately

to the proprietor of the parrot, who was a soldier, and asked him for

the bird. The soldier said: “If you give me your daughter, you may

have the parrot.” The Sikh consented. The soldier laughed, and added:

“Give me your wife too, and take the bird.” The Sikh did not refuse;

he conducted the soldier to his house, and delivered his wife and

daughter to him. When the soldier came home, and told his wife what

had happened, she was so angry with him that he left the parrot in the

hands of the Sikh, to whom he returned his wife and daughter. The

Sikh, joyful, lost no time to gratify the Guru. Such customs prevailed

among the Sikhs before the time of Har-govind.[479]

[374] चतुर्मुखः

[375] अष्ट बाहुः

[376] जटा the hair matted, as worn by the god Síva, and by

ascetics; the long hair occasionally matted together, and

brought over the head so as to project like a horn from the

forehead; at other times allowed to fall carelessly over the

back and shoulders.

[377] अंशुः

[378] The Hindus have twelve _ádityas_, that is, “forms of

the sun:” these appear to represent him as distinct in each

month of the year.

[379] कला a digit, or 16th part of the moon’s diameter.

[380] नक्षत्र The Pauránic and popular enumeration of those

mansions, or constellations is twenty-seven; Abhijit, the

twenty-seventh, being considered as formed of portions of

the two contiguous asterisms, and not distinct from

them.――(_Wilson’s Dict._)

[381] अष्ट दिशाः These eight cardinal points have each their

regent, viz.:

पूर्व its regent is Indra, इन्द्रः

पश्चिम ―― Varuna, वरुणः

दक्षिण ―― Yama, यमः

उत्तर ―― Kuvéra, कुवेरः

Between S. and E. the regent is अग्नि or वड्निः

―― S. and W. ―― नैरॄतः

―― N. and W. ―― वायुः

―― N. and E. ―― ईशानः

[382] भैरव “the formidable,” a name of Síva, but more

especially an inferior manifestation or form of the deity,

eight of which are called by the common name _Bhái ravas_,

and have each a particular name, all alluding to terrific

properties of mind or body.

[383] The edit. of Calcutta adds to Chamunda _Set mantra_.

[384] These are personified energies of the Gods, called

Mátris, viz.: क्यलक, कालञ्जरी, कौमारी, वैष्णवी, बाभ्रवी,

चमुण्डा, भवानी, पार्वती.

[385] I cannot hope to have restored every name of the

Persian text to its correct original form.

[386] If the seven Richis, who are supposed to abide in the

constellation of the Great Bear, are meant, their names

differ very much from those commonly given, which are as

follows: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulustya, Kratu, and

Vás ishta.

[387] _Bang_ is an inebriating, maddening draught, made of

hemp-leaves, henbane, opium, or masloe.――(_Richardson’s

Dict._)

[388] Black is the color of the Sunnites. This supports

Professor Wilson’s _Statement_, agreeing with the Dabistan

(see _As. Trans._, N. S. p. 75), that the Madárián are

Sunnites. But, considering the descent of their founder, and

the concurring account of several Asiatic authors, we may be

disposed to denominate them Shiâhs, or Jsmámiahs, although

the latter have adopted green as the distinguishing color of

their sect, which is also that of the followers of the

prophet.

[389] One _seer_ = 2 lbs. 6 oz.; French weight, 933.005

grammes; 40 seers make a _maund_; one maund, in English Troy

weight is 100 lbs.; French grammes, 27,320.182――(_Useful

Tables_, edited by James Princep, Esq., Part I. p. 63).

[390] Badih-eddin, “the marvel of religion,” was the son of

Saíd Alí, and his origin is traced up to the Imám Hossaín,

son of Alí. He was born in the year of the Hejíra 442, A. D.

1050-1. Under the reign of Ibrahim Sherkey, he came to

India, where he died in 1433 A. D., according to the dates

of his birth and death 383 years old, but 395 and even 400

years old, according to the legend of this saint, who owed

his longevity to the power of keeping his breath. Under the

simple name of Madár, he is held in great veneration in

India, where an annual feast is celebrated in his honor, and

his tomb visited by numerous pilgrims, even in our days. He

is said to have had 1442 sons, say spiritual children or

disciples――(See for Madar, _Mémoire sur les particularités

de la Religion musulmane dans l’Inde, par M. Garcin de

Tassy_, pp. 54-62).

[391] This tale reminds us of a similar story related in the

Mahábharat (Adhi-parva, Sambhava-parva, Adyaya 75, 76, edit.

Calc., vol. I. p. 115). _Kacha_, the son of Vrihaspati, who

was killed three times by the Asuras (the first time

swallowed by jackals; afterwards, cut to pieces and thrown

into the sea; and, finally, pulverised and swallowed by

Çukra, the preceptor of the dáityas) and each time brought

to life in a miraculous way.

[392] This a village near Firezabad, in the province of

Agra.

[393] Armillam membro suo aperuit erecto.

[394] These sectaries worship the more terrible attributes

of the Deity. Said Jelál, or Jelál-eddin Bokhárí was born in

the year of the Hejira 707 (A. D. 1307); he died in 775 (A.

D. 1374), and is buried in the town of Auch, in the province

of Multan.――(See the work of M. Garcin de Tassy, quoted pp.

69-70).

[395] The founder of this sect was Patanjali, born in

Havriti-varcha, he taught in Bhagabhandara. His school is

theistical, called _sa Jswara Sankhya_, or “philosophy with

the Lord.” God is the supreme ruler, a spirit or a soul,

distinct from other spirits or souls, untouched by those

evils to which these are subject; indifferent to all good or

bad actions and their consequences, as well as to all

transitory conceptions; he is omniscient; teacher of the

earliest things which had a beginning that is, of all

mythological divinities; himself infinite, and illimited by

time. Patanjali insists upon austere religious practices,

exterior and interior, to which he ascribes wonderful

effects.

[396] सूर्य मखाः

[397] अष्ट भुवन लोकः

[398] सर्व प्रभादेव.

[399] महाज्योतिः

[400] नमस्कारः

[401] The Dabistán (p. 269, edit. of Calc.) affords a

curious specimen of a Sanskrit prayer transcribed in Persian

characters; this prayer is here restored to its original

form in Devanagari. The literal translation of it,

subjoined, shows that it is composed of a series of epithets

encomiastical of the sun; these epithets have been most

freely amplified in the paraphrase which the author of the

Dabistán has given of the original prayer:

महज्योतिः उत्तमोदयः नृस्वादः लोकनः आहारः सुदर्शनः दृष्टिः मिथनः

महावतारः उत्तमप्रकासः पथ्वी स्मरणः महादातामुक्तसङ्गः आत्मदाता

शरीरज्योतिः स्व आत्म वुधनाथः सर्व ज्योतिः आतपः प्रकाशः औपमिकः

स्वर्ग दाता देवसहायः

“_Thou art_ the great light――most gloriously rising――the

delight of men――resplendent――_granter of_ food――agreeable to

sight――the eye _of heaven_――the promoter of union――the great

incarnation――the most excellent manifestation――mindful of

the earth――the chief bestower of the devotion to

emancipation――the dispenser of life――the light of

bodies――the lord of intellect and of interior life――all

illuming――the radiance of the day――the effulgency――the

supreme light――only like thyself――the donor of heaven――the

companion of the gods.”

[402] स्वर्ग लोकः heaven.

[403] भूलोकः

[404] लोजानि.

[405] कल्याणं.

[406] The Dict. gives only सनकाः and सनत्कुमाराः the four

sons of Brahma, inhabiting the Janaloka.

[407] जीव दय.

[408] पुण्यवन्त्.

[409] धर्ममयास्.

[410] स्वी.

[411] द्युव मुर्तयस्.

[412] आकाश.

[413] गिरयश्.

[414] तारा फलं also तारा पथः _ta ra patha_.

[415] आहरणं means literally “taking, seizing;” in logical

language, “compassing, comprehending,” that is applying an

organ to the object to which it is adopted. This is the

special function of the organs or instruments of action. We

have (see note, p. 122) enumerated “intelligence, egotism,

and mind;” these are the three internal organs; and “five

organs of perception, with five organs of action,” the ten

external organs. Those of action, _compass_, and _maintain_;

those of perception, _manifest_: therefore “compassing,

maintaining, and manifesting,” are the functions of the

thirteen-fold instrument――(See the work quoted, _Sank’hya

Karika_, 32. p. 110).

[416] सङ्ख्यानं.

[417] साधन.

[418] जितेन्द्रिय लोक.

[419] तपस्या.

[420] ज्योति मण्डलं.

[421] ध्यानी.

[422] त्यागी.

[423] वैरागीः

[424] उदासीः

[425] वन्यासीः

[426] अवछातः

[427] चन्द्र भक्ताः

[428] This passage seems to allude to the Hindu creed about

the souls’ journey from the earth to the uppermost heaven.

According to this, a hundred and one arteries issue from the

heart, one of which passes to the crown of the head. By that

passage, the soul of the wise issues and meets a solar ray,

by which it proceeds to the realm of fire, and by several

other stages to the _moon_; thence to the region of

lightning, and higher up, through Varuna’s watery region, to

the realm of Indra, so as to reach at last the abode of

Brahma.――(Transact. R. A. Soc., vol. II. pp. 31. 32.)

[429] अग्नि प्रमाणाः

[430] पवन भक्ताः

[431] जल भक्ताः

[432] पृथ्वी भक्ताः

[433] त्रि पूजाः

[434] मनुष्य भक्ताः

[435] Nânac was born A. D. 1469, in a small village called

_Talwandi_, now _Raya-pur_, on the banks of the _Béyah_, the

ancient _Hyphasis_, in the district of _Bhatti_, in the

province of _Lahore_. He was the only son of _Kalu_, of the

Kshatriya caste, and the _Vedi_ tribe of the Hindus――See

vol. XI. of the _As. Res._, pp. 197-292, edit. Calc. _a

Sketch of the Sikhs_, by Brigadier-General Malcolm. The

learned author, whilst with the British army in the Penjab,

in 1805, collected materials that would throw light upon the

history, manners, and religion of the Sikhs. He succeeded in

obtaining a copy of the _Adi granth_, the sacred book of the

Sikhs, and of some historical tracts, the most essential

parts of which were explained to him in Calcutta, by an

intelligent Sikh priest of the _Nirmala_ order. Dr. Leyden

enriched this stock of materials by supplying the general

with a translation of several tracts written by Sikh authors

in the Penjabi and Duggar dialects, upon the history and

religion of their nation. We may therefore believe we

possess quite satisfactory information about the Sikhs in

General Malcolm’s _Sketch_. I shall mark the references to

this work in my notes by G. M. The Dabistán, never quoted in

the said _Sketch_, furnishes some additional, and

corroborates the principal, information derived from other

sources.

[436] Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, the son of Umer Shaigh

Mirza, descended on the father’s side from the great Tâimur

Beg, and on the mother’s, from Gengis Khan. He was born A.

D. 1483, and succeeded, in the 12th year of his age to his

father, as king of Ferghana, a small country between

Samarkand and Kashgar. Driven by his enemies from his

paternal kingdom, he became the founder of one of the

greatest empires in the world.――(See _Memoirs of

Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, emperor of Hindustan_, written

by himself in the Jaghatai Turki, and translated partly by

the late John Leyden, Esq., M.D., partly by William Erskine,

Esq. London, 1826.)

[437] Nânaki, the sister of Nânac, was married to a Hindu of

the name of _Jaya-Ram_, who was employed as a grain-factor

of Dâulet Khan Lodi, a relation of the reigning emperor of

Delhi. Nânac attended at the granary of Daulet Khan, which

was in charge of Jaya-ram, at Sultan-púr――(G. M. p. 200.)

[438] Dâulet Khan Lodi, an Afghan by birth, was formerly

private secretary to Mah-Toghluck, the eighth king of Delhi

of the Tartarian dynasty, called Toghluck, which reigned

from 1321 to 1412 A. D. At that time Dâulet Khan was placed

at the head of the empire, but, at the end of one year and

three months, he was obliged to yield his power to Khizer

Khan, who founded the dynasty of Sadat, in Delhi. This

dynasty, after thirty-eight years, made room for that of the

Afghan princes of Lodi. Dâulat Khan established himself in

the Penjab. In the general disorders of the empire, this

Afghan chief, being attacked by other Afghans, connected

himself with Baber, the Tartarian invader of Hindostan, in

1534, against Ibrahim Lodi, the Afghan king of Delhi, and

after the victory of Baber, continued to rule the Penjab.

[439] Jaya-Rama was put in prison by Dâulet Khan, on the

charge of having dissipated his property, but was justified

by Nânak’s confessions――(G. M. p. 204).

[440] पवनाहारि “wind-eater.”

[441] He was one day lying on the ground with his feet in

the direction of the temple of Mecca: “How darest thou,

infidel,” called out a Muhammedan priest, “turn thy feet

towards the house of God?” “How can I turn them,” answered

Nânac, “in a direction where the house of God is not?”――(G.

M. p. 274.)

[442] The first expedition which Baber undertook towards

India was, according to Ferichta, in 1505; from Cabul, which

he had conquered the year before, he pushed to, and along,

the Indus. He attempted, later, three times to invade India,

namely, in the years 1519, 1521, and 1522; but, being

engaged in war, on one side with the Usbeck Tartars, and on

the other with the Afghans, he did not completely succeed,

till his fourth attempt in 1525, and in 1526 having

overthrown Ibrahim Lody, in a great battle near Panniput, he

destroyed the Afghan dynasty, three kings of which had

reigned 74 years in Delhi. It was probably about this time

that Nânac happened to be introduced to Baber, before whom

he maintained his doctrine with great firmness and

eloquence. The Tartarian conqueror, pleased with the Sikh

reformer, ordered an ample maintenance to be bestowed on

him, who refused it, saying, that he trusted in him who

provided for all men――(G. M. p. 206).

[443] Nânac (G. M. p. 204) travelled throughout India, and

went also to Mecca and Medina, teaching his doctrine every

where with a due regard to that of others. He showed great

moderation, and even courtesy, in his intercourse with the

public teachers of other religions. When he visited in

Multan the Muhammedan Pîrans, or “old wise men,” he said: “I

come, like the sacred Ganga to visit the ocean.”

[444] बाणि _báni_, speech.

[445] “A hundred thousand Muhammeds,” said Nánac (G. M. p.

275) “a million of Brahmas, Vichnus, and a hundred thousand

Ramas, stand at the gate of the most High. These all perish.

God alone is immortal. Yet men who unite in the praise of

God are not ashamed of living in contention with each other,

which proves that the evil spirit has subdued all. He alone

is a true Hindu whose heart is just, and he only a good

Muhammedan whose life is pure.”

[446] Nánac (G. M.) had two sons. There is in our days still

a tribe among the Sikhs, called the Nánac-páutras, or

“descendants of Nánac,” a mild inoffensive race; if not, as

is generally the case, mendicants, they are travelling

merchants.

[447] خوديمانى _khudimaní_ is the _ahankára_ of the Indians,

rendered in English by “consciousness, egotism,

individuality.”

[448] Nánac died in Kirti púr Dehra, on the banks of the

Rávi, the ancient Hydraotes of the Greek geographers. Kirti

púr continues to be a place of religious pilgrimage and

worship.

[449] Nánac (G. M. p. 208-9) bequeathed his succession to a

Kshatriya of the Tréhun tribe, called Lehana, who had been

attached to him, and whom he had initiated in the sacred

mysteries of his sect, and honored with the name of _Angad_,

perhaps _anga_, which word in Sanskrit signifies “body.”

This Angad wrote some chapters of the Adi-grant´ha. He

died in 1552, at Khandur, a village about 40 miles east of

Lahore.

[450] Amaradas (G. M.), a Kshatriya of the tribe of Bhalé,

died A. D. 1574, at the village of Gondaval, in the province

of Lahore.

[451] Rámadas (G. M.) was the son-in-law of Amaradas; to

Rámadas some Sikh authors ascribe the foundation of the town

Rámpur, or Rámdáspur, but falsely, as it was a very ancient

town, known formerly under the name of Chak. He however

contributed much to its increase, and dug a tank or

reservoir of water, which is celebrated to our days under

the name of _Amrita Sara_, “the lake of the water of

immortality.” Rámadás died, in 1581, at Amrita Sara, leaving

two sons, Arjunmal and Bharatamal, the former of whom

succeeded him.

[452] Arjunmal (G. M. p. 212) is celebrated for having

compiled the Adi-granth from the writings of his

predecessors, not without his own additions and

commentaries. Thirteen authors after him contributed to the

work as it now is. The Adi-granth is, like the rest of the

books of the Sikhs, written in the Gurumukh characters,

which are a modified species of the Nagari character.

Arjunmal was put to death in 1606, by the intolerance of the

Muhammedans.

[453] Janaka was a sovereign of Mithila, and father of Sitá,

the wife of Rámachandra. The name of Janaka became a general

name of all Mâithila kings.

[454] In the Indian genealogies, several Sahadevas are

mentioned. As we are evidently upon fabulous ground, we may

be excused from attempting to establish that the Sahadeva of

the text is the son of Pandu, or another.

[455] Probably कर मण्डलं _kara mandalam_, from _kara_,

“hand,” and _mandalam_, “an orb, a round cup.”

[456] I have not yet ascertained the correct Sanskrit title

of this book of the Hindus; but _Bashest_ is Vasishta, a

celebrated Muni, who rivalled and vanquished Visvamitra.

[457] Visvamitra, a Muni, the son of Gádhi, originally of

the military order, but who became by long and painful

austerities a Brahmarshi, in which character he appears in

the Rámáyaná, as the early preceptor and counsellor of Ráma.

[458] The Pápîha is believed to be the _falio nisus_, also a

kind of cuckoo (_luculus radiatus_); possibly the _chátaca_

of the Hindus, supposed to drink no water but

rain-water――(See _Megda duta_, “the Cloud-Messenger,”

translated from Sanskrit into English, by H. H. Wilson,

Esq., p. 14). The Papîha is celebrated in Indian romance for

his fidelity to his mate. Kalá, having been separated from

Kamrup (see the Adventures of Kamrup, translated from the

Hindustanee into French, by M. Garcin de Tassy, p. 96) says:

“Le Papîha erre-t-il dans la forêt sans celle à qui l’unit

l’amour?”

[459] _Náisán_ means a Syrian month, which corresponds to

April; the drops of Náisán, or of spring-rain, are believed

to produce pearls, if they fall into shells, and venom if

they drop upon serpents.

[460] सुमेरु _Suméru_, the sacred mountain _Méru_, on the

summit of which Brahma resides.

[461] A fabulous mountain, anciently imagined by the

Asiatics to surround the world, and to bound the horizon on

all sides.

[462] Tyrhoot, a district in the province of Bahar, situated

principally between the 27th and 28th degrees of north

latitude.

[463] The author of the Dabistán adds here the following

words: “And such a person is called in _Persian_ ‘a freeman,

in the state of higher freedom;’” he forgets that the

conversation takes place between two _Indian_ sages.

[464] The author amplifies this idea, so often repeated,

here again in four lines, which I did not think necessary to

translate.

[465] A similar repetition, running through three lines in

nearly the same words, is omitted in this translation.

[466] The philosophy of the Hindus has been more fully

explained in the foregoing chapters, to which several

passages of the present section relate.

[467] The Jats inhabited in very ancient times the borders

of the Indus in the lower parts of Multan. There they were

known to the Greek and Latin writers, under the name of

Calhæi, Malli, Oxidracæ as being without a king,

“_arattas_,” and divided into seven communities, who, united

by a common danger, resisted Alexander. In the same country

they opposed, 1300 years after the Macedonian invader, the

irruption of Sultan Muhammed, the Ghaznavid, by whom they

were beaten near Multan on the Indus. Inhabitants of

mountains as well as of plains, they acted a part in the

many wars which took place on the western frontiers of

India, either as predatory hordes, or as allies, or as

mercenaries of the belligerant parties. During the ensuing

disorders of the Indian empire, they extended themselves

towards the east of India, and became masters of the

mountainous district which is limited, on the east by the

rivers Thambul and Jumna; on the west, by the kingdom of

Jâipur, which to the south extends as far as twenty coss

from Agra; and to the north borders on the province of

Delhi. It is not necessary to pursue here the history of the

Jats in all its various vicissitudes; I shall only add that,

in the year 1707, Thuraman, one of their leaders, laid the

foundation of the fortress of Bhurtpúr, 20 miles N. W. from

Agra, and that this became celebrated, to our days, as the

capital seat of the Jats. They are Hindus of the fourth

great caste of Sudras.

[468] उदासो _udásí_, one who has no passion, nor affection

for any thing; in popular acceptation, a religious mendicant

in general, or one of a particular order.

[469] The reign of Jehangir lasted from A. D. 1605 to 1628.

[470] This date agrees with that given by Ferishta of the

rebellion and the imprisonment of Khusro.

[471] According to the Sketch of the Sikhs by General

Malcolm, Arjunmal was immediately succeeded by his son

Har-govind, whilst the Dabistán mentions his brother as his

successor. There appears an hiatus, or some confusion in our

text; so much however is indicated clearly enough, that

there was a contest about the succession between the brother

and the son of Arjunmal.

[472] The dictionary gives no satisfactory interpretation of

the word, as relating to the text.

[473] Har-govind (G. M. p. 213) was a warlike Guru, or

priest militant, and wore two swords in his girdle. Being

asked why he did so: “The one,” said he, “is to revenge the

death of my father; the other to destroy the miracles of

Muhammed.” His character appears in the Dabistán less

advantageously with respect to the religious customs of his

sect, from the austerity of which he is said to have greatly

relaxed, and he permitted the promiscuous use of flesh of

all animals except that of the cow: his military character

however is maintained in all accounts of him.

[474] Gwalior is situated in the province of Agra, eighty

miles travelling distance south from the city of Agra.

[475] Foujdar, an officer of the police in Hindostan, and

chief magistrate, who takes cognizance of all criminal

matters.

[476] Hargovind had five sons, the eldest of whom was Guru

daitya, the father of Har ráyi.

[477] Rayi is a title a little inferior to that of Rája,

generally applied to the Hindu chief of a village or small

district.

[478] सङ्गतिः

[479] The author of the Dabistán does not carry the account

of the Sikhs further than to the time of Harrayi, a

peaceable Guru, who died in 1664. After a contest between

his sons, or, as some Sikh authors relate, between his son,

_Har Krichna_, and his grandson, _Ram Ray_, the former was

chosen. He died in 1664, and was succeeded by his uncle,

_Tégh Bahader_, in spite of the opposition of his nephew,

Ram Ray. Tégh Bahader was imprisoned and put to death by the

Muhammedans, in 1675. After his death, the sect appeared

crushed, but under his son, _Gura Govind_, the Sikhs rose

again, no more as a sect, but as a nation endeavouring to

establish their independence. Guru Govind is considered by

them as the founder of their national greatness; he is the

tenth, that is, their last acknowledged religious ruler; he

is the author of the _Dasama Pádsháh-ka grantha_, or “the

book of the tenth king;” he changed the name of his

followers from Sikhs to _Singhs_, “lions,” who distinguished

themselves by a blue checkered dress; he first instituted

the _Guru-mata_, or “great council,” among them, and

established the _Akalis_, or “the immortals,” who preserved

their name and consideration until our days; in short, he

sanctioned, and confirmed by institutions, the doctrine

taught by his predecessors, who endeavoured to separate the

Sikhs from the mass of the Hindus. Indeed “the admission of

proselytes, the abolition of the distinction of casts, the

eating all kinds of flesh except that of cows, the form of

religious worship, and the general devotion of all Sikhs to

arms, are ordinances altogether irreconcileable with Hindu

mythology”――(G. M. p. 268).

Guru Govind is supposed to have died in 1708, at Naded in

the Deccan. After him, _Bandu_, a Váiragí, or ascetic,

united the Sikhs under his banners: during some time

successful and formidable, he fell at last before the power

of the Muhammedans. Without pursuing the later history of

the Sikhs, I shall content myself with stating that they

succeeded in forming in our times, under their late Rája,

Ranjet Singh, the kingdom of Lahore, of four millions of

inhabitants, dispersed over a surface of 70,000 square

miles, exclusively of the province of Kachmir, annexed to

their dominions.

See also upon the Sikhs _The Sigar-ul-Mutakherin_, by Mir

Gholain Hussein-Khan, translated from the Persian into

English by General John Briggs, London, 1832, vol. I. p.

109, etc.

CHAPTER III.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE KERÁ TABITIAN.

According to one of their treatises, they call God _Kajak_,[480] and

believe him to be one, infinite, all mighty; they maintain his

manifestation under three forms, as the Hindus; they say, if any one

finds God, he converses with him without the aid of a palate and of a

tongue: this is the condition of a prophet. They declare moreover that

the spirit is eternal, and that spirits are sent down; the soul, if it

knows itself and God, ascends to the upper world; if not, it remains

in the nether world. The author of this book heard from one of their

distinguished personages that, when the rational soul separates from

this body, it goes to the upper world; and from the heavens it rises

further; and above this there is a sea, in which is a mountain; and on

its top God, the supreme Lord, resides. If that soul has been

virtuous, the divinity manifests itself to it under a pleasing form;

so that from its aspect the soul derives superlative delight, which no

tongue can express, and remains eternally without change, happy and

blissful in its contemplation. But if the soul has been iniquitous,

God appears to it under a strange and terrific figure, than which none

can be more repulsive and hideous, so that from terror it throws

itself from the heavens down, and becomes confined in dust. Among

these sectaries was a man called _Pawn Pishna_, exceedingly pious. Of

this saint’s miracles they relate that, having jumped upon a stone,

the trace of his foot remained impressed upon it, and now they perform

pilgrimages to it. They say further that, when this perfect man

reaches the term of his life, he convokes the people about him, and

out of the crowd he chooses one, to whom in their presence he delivers

his books and his effects, and says: “I will come to thy house;” after

that, his soul leaves the body, which is buried according to their

customs. The wife of this guardian then brings forth a son, whose

tongue develops itself so as to speak in one year, or sooner; he

convokes witnesses, and in their presence he takes the things which

are counted to him by the guardian, to whom he then remits them again,

and utters not a word until the _usual_ age of speech. When he attains

the period of adultness, he takes the state of a durvish. They say

that such an elect man comes into the world for the conversion of

wicked men. These sectaries have temples of idols, which they call

_Chetharten_,[481] and in which they perform their worship. According

to their custom, when a man has two sons, he destines one of them to

become a durvish; and the king himself, having two sons, makes one of

them a durvish. They believe that there are two mansions; the first of

this, the second of the other, world; the son who becomes a durvish

takes possession of the latter, the son who associates with people of

business acquires the portion of the nether world; when the body of

the father and mother become weak and tottering from age, it is the

worldly son who tenders them his services; but when the soul of the

parents separates from the body, it devolves upon the son who is a

durvish to serve them. When a great number of such young durvishes

assembles, then the son of the king, or of any other chief becomes

their head, and they go to _Bármîánek_, which is a magnificent temple

of theirs. When they return from this pilgrimage, they become _Lámas_,

that is, _Hájís_, “pilgrims.” The Lámas abstain from eating flesh and

from women, and keep remote from all worldly affairs; they wear their

hair entangled, and eat from the skull of a man; they carry joints of

human hands filed together upon a string, instead of a rosary;[482]

and instead of horns for trumpets, they keep bones of human

forearms;[483] they say: “We are dead; and dead men have nothing to do

with the things of the living.”

“We are gone, and we took a separate corner of a sepulchre,

That our bones might not be a burden to any body’s shoulder.”

This class of men have not their equals in enchantments, juggling,

spells, and magic. Their king, if his mother be not of royal blood, is

by them called _Arghún_, and not considered their true king; whoever

of this sect belongs to the worldly people, does not abstain from

killing animals, eating flesh and meats forbidden by religion, and

associates with every body in eating. When the author of this book

conversed with a learned man of this sect by means of an interpreter,

whenever a question about some subtilty occurred, the translator could

not always by his interpretation satisfy him.

“Without possessing the tongue, it is strange to make a

friend by means of the tongue.”

[480] (T)_kon_(M)_tchog_, “the chief of the rarity, the

rarest being, God.”――(Dict. Tibetan and English, by

Alexander Csoma de Körös, p. 66, col. 2, l. 13.)

[481] [(M)_tchod_-(R)_ten_, “a chapel, a temple.”――(Dict. of

Csoma de Körös.)

[482] We find in a treatise entitled “The Sage and the

Fool,” making part of the Kahgyur, one of the principal

religious works of the Tibetans, that a brahman, not

satisfied with his disciple, and desirous of causing his

ruin, gives him the following advice: “Keep thyself pure

during seven days; cut off the heads of a thousand men; take

a single finger of each, to make thyself a rosary; and thou

shalt undoubtedly, after thy death, be born again in the

substance of Brahma.”――(See Mr. Schmidt’s Tibetan Grammar.)

[483] We read in “Turner’s Embassy to Tibet,” that, at a

religious ceremony, a priest played a sort of flute made of

the bone of a man’s leg.――(French Transl., p. 61.)

* * * * *

The last four notes have been obligingly furnished to me by

M. Foucaud, professor of the Tibetan language in Paris.

CHAPTER IV.

From the book _the Dabistán_, a short account of the religion of the

Yahuds, contained in two sections.

_Section the first_, the information received from the tongue of

Mohammed Sâíd Sarmed.

_Section the second_, upon the translation of the page of Adam, which

is the beginning of the book of Moses (the Pentateuch).

SECTION THE FIRST.――The author of this book never happened to have

intercourse with learned and distinguished men among the Yahuds; and

he set no value upon what he found in the books of foreigners about

their religion: because envy is a corrosion and a fire, which attacks

the enemy. But in the year of the Hejira 1057 (A. D. 1647), when I

came to Hyder abad, I contracted friendship with _Mohammed Sâid

Sarmed_, who was originally from a family of learned Yahuds, of a

class whom they call Rabánián (Rabbins); after an investigation into

the faith of the Rabbins and the perusal of the Mosaic books, he

became a Muselman; he read the scientific works of the wise men of

Iran, such as Mulla Sader, and Mír Abu-’l Kásem, of Kazer sak, and

many others: at last, for the sake of commerce, he undertook by sea

the voyage to Hindustan. When he arrived in the town _Tata_,[484] he

fell in love with a Hindu boy, called Abhi Chand, and, abandoning all

other things, like a Sanyási, naked as he came from his mother, he sat

down before the door of his beloved. The father of the object of his

love, after having found by investigation the purity of the attachment

manifested for his son, admitted Sarmed into his house, and the young

man too met him with an equal affection, so that he could no more

separate from him, and he read the book of Moses, the psalms of David,

and other books with Sarmed. The following verses are the composition

of this young Hindu:

“I submit to Moses’ law; I am of thy religion, and the guardian of

thy way:

I am a Rabbi of the Yahuds, a Kafir, a Muselman.”

The learned rabbis say, according to their belief, among the sons of

Israel it was not required that women should wear a dress, and Sarmed

said that Ishâiá, the prophet, himself used to go naked in his last

days. Sarmeda was a good master of poetry. Here follow some of his

verses:

RABAAI, QUATRAIN:

“Sarmed, whom they intoxicated from the cup of love,

Whom they called, exalted, and depressed,

Asked for wine, worship of God, and wisdom:

(But) they intoxicated him, and made him a worshipper of idols.”

In the praise of the prophet, we find what follows:

QUATRAIN:

“O thou, by whose cheek is wounded the mind of the red rose,

Internally is the whole blood of the heart, externally the red rose;

Thou camest so late after Joseph, who was in the garden expecting

thee,

That the rose (of his cheek) became first yellow (from vexation)

and at last (from pleasure) a red rose.”

ANOTHER QUATRAIN:

“This existence has, without the azure sphere, no reality,

This existence is confined; for, except the absolute being, nothing

has reality.

Is God ever in vain? No! God is not in vain.

This existence is real only with respect to its origin, but whatever

is derived has no reality.”

ANOTHER QUATRAIN:

“When God weighed in the balance of destiny with the sun,

The being endowed with every excellence, _Muhammed_,

This was so heavy that it moved not from its place;

The other was so light that it flew up to heaven.”

A DISTICH.

“Sarmed, who is a nightingale, has no desire of gold;

(But) his friend is the rose, and the rose has need of a handful

of gold.”

ANOTHER DISTICH.

“In the Kâbah and in the idol temple is his stone _the symbol of male

energy_, and his is _the symbol of female productiveness_;[485]

In one place it is the black stone _of the temple of Mecca_; in

another place an idol of the Hindus.”

In the eulogy of Shaikh Mohammed Khan, who was the chief minister of

the illustrious Dara, Sultan Abed Ullah Kat´eb, we find the

following quatrain:

“O thou, who art the circumference of greatness to the centre of

the throne!――

Thou, to whose service a hundred persons are devoted, as is the

firmament _to the universe_――

Make thou to me, who am a stranger, my evening equal to midday,

If at the side of Kateb[486] thou art as happy as at midday.”

The Shaikh desired the society of Sarmed. The author of this book was

one day among the persons present; he said to one called Jerán, who

made the eulogy of the Shaikh: “In a short time the Shaikh will, with

whatever he may have acquired, turn towards the voyage of the other

world, and Mîr Mohammed Sâid Mîr will take complete possession of the

dignity of government;” and the same year the Shaikh undertook to set

out _for Mecca_ from Hyderabad. In the year of the Hejira 1059 (A. D.

1649), in the harbor of Fahardanish, he passed from this bodily ark to

the circle of freedom. Hafiz says:

“The paradise of eternity is in this cell the share of the durvishes;

The Kâbah of the universe is the dominion of the durvishes;

O my heart, be there with reverence: for the sultan and the country

All are in the service of the majesty of the durvishes.”

Sarmed gave the information that, according to the Yahuds, God, the

Almighty, is corporeal; and that his body is after the image of

mankind, and similar to it; that, during the course of time, he is

dispersed in the same manner as splendor is dissipated. Sarmed

moreover said, that it is mentioned in the Mosaic book and in the holy

writings, that the spirit of the divine body is beauty itself, and

manifests itself under a human form; that punishment and recompense of

the other world are already experienced in this state; that life lasts

one hundred and twenty years; after that, man’s whole life may be

considered as one day, which, when he dies, is followed by night; that

his body assumes partly the form of a mineral, partly that of a

vegetable, and partly that of an animal, and the like; when one

hundred and twenty years have elapsed, night comes to an end, and the

morning appears again; if an atom of his bodily dust be in the east

and another atom in the west, they unite in one place, and life is

renewed to last again one hundred years, as we have said, when night

returns. Punishment and recompense are solely for this world. They

maintain that whatever is, bears eternally the form of mankind,

composed of water and earth.

The Yahuds agree in denying the appearance of _Aisia_ (Jesus) _as a

prophet_; they say that he was a deceiver; and they reject what the

_Aisuyan_, “Christians,” adduce from the Old Testament about the

appearance of Aísya; they maintain that the prophet Ishâía spoke of

himself the words[487] which have been applied to Aísya. They assert

that Ibrâhím was no prophet, but a holy man, and they esteem a holy

man higher than a prophet. They say that, in the Mosaic book, no

mention is made of Pharâún’s pretensions to be a god; but they relate

that this king was a tyrant who oppressed the children of Israel,

wherefore Musiâ (Moses) rose, and protested against his tyranny. As

Pharâún did not attend to his words, he met with his fate. They also

say that it is not to be found in the sacred book that Harun (Aaron)

was joined to Musiâ in the divine mission, although he acted as his

substitute. They agree in saying that Dáúdâ (David) sent Urîa to be

killed, because the king coveted the possession of that man’s wife,

whom he took afterwards, and hence Solíman was begotten. They further

insist that Aísia was no prophet, as the Nazaréans believe. Dáudâ

said: “My hands and feet will fall, and my bones have been counted;”

all this was fulfilled at the time when Aísia suffered death; but they

assert that Dáúda spoke those words of himself, and in such manner all

things which the Nazáréans set forth about Aísia, the Yahuds interpret

clearly in another sense. It is besides written in their sacred book

that, when the children of Isráîl shall perform iniquitous acts,

Muhammad will appear. About this, Sarmed said that, although the name

of the prophet is in the sacred book, yet another meaning may more

evidently be attached to it; but if even the prophet’s very name be

insisted upon, it has no other import but that it exhorts the children

of Isrâíl to convert themselves to his religion, and, in such an

endeavour, carried beyond all bounds, he said many other things.

The Yahuds receive no stranger into their community; circumcision is

the law of their prophet, not that of others. They say also that a

prophet is always living and present, to be the propagator of the law

which is contained in the sacred book. _Abhî Chand_, having translated

a part of the Mosaic book, the author of this work revised it with

Sarmad; they corrected it completely, affixed their mark to it, so

that it became a correct copy, from which is the following:

* * * * *

SECTION THE SECOND: ON THE BOOK OF ADAM.

The Dabistan gives here a Persian translation of the Genesis, from the

beginning to chapter VI, verse 8; at the end of which the author says

that this is the only portion of the sacred book of the Jews which he

had an opportunity of examining. According to Eichhorn (see Einleitung

in das alte Testament, 4th edit., vol. II. p. 329) the five books of

Moses were translated into Persian by the rabbi Jacob, son of Joseph,

after the ninth century; the translation contained in the Dabistan is

said to have been executed by Abhi Chand; we cannot say whether it was

made from the Hebrew original, or from the Arabic, or any other

language. We are informed by the baron Hammer-Purgstall (see

Gemaldesaal moslimisher Herrsher, p. 57) that Werka ben Nafil, a

cousin of Khadija, Muhammed’s wife, and a Christian priest, translated

the Old and New Testament from the Hebrew into Arabic; this

translation appears however to have been but little known. Eichhorn

says (loco citato, p. 231), that the first certain traces of a

translation of the Hebrew sacred books into Arabic are to be found in

the tenth century. Pocock mentions (pp. 34, 361) Sâadias, a learned

Jew, who lived from 892 to 941 A. D., as translator of all the books

of the Old Testament into Arabic; and another Jew (not named) who made

a version of the book of Kings into the same language.

The Persian translation of the fragment under our consideration was

revised by the author of the Dabistan, and by Sarmed, who was a Jew

and a Rabbin, converted to Muhammedism, most probably in the first

half of the seventeenth century. As it was undoubtedly executed from

another original copy than that which had served to the translators in

Europe, it appeared interesting enough to examine whether the Persian

version of the Dabistan differs in any material point from the

translations known in Europe. For that purpose I have consulted the

following copies of the Bible:

I. The polyglot Bible, printed at Paris, 1645, in which I

chiefly compared the Arabic translation.

II. The Persian translation, published by the Bible Society

in 1825.

III. The German Bible, translated by Martin Luther.

IV. The English Bible, appointed to be read in Churches, 1837.

V. The English translation from the original Hebrew, by John

Bellamy, 1818.

VI. The French translation from the original Hebrew, by S.

Cahen, 1831.

VII. The French translation, by Messrs. Glaire and M. Frank,

1835.

Here follow some variations which I have remarked in the Persian

translation compared with the text of the versions just enumerated.

(References are made to the respective copies, by repeating the Roman

numbers prefixed to each.)

GENESIS, CHAP. I.

V. 2. II. III. IV. V. VI. read: “the spirit of God;” I. the

Arabic translation has “the winds of God;” VI. “un vent

violent (divin) agitait la surface des eaux;” the Dabistan,

وباد خدا مى وزيد بہ روي آب

“And the _wind of God_ blew upon the face of the water.”

VV. 6. 7. 8. I. the Arabic translation has جلد, _jeld_, “a

skin, a volume;” II. پرده, _perdah_, “veil, curtain, fence;”

both Arabic and Persian, only figuratively “heaven;” III.

German, “veste;” IV. English, and VI. French, “firmament;” V.

English, “expanse;” VII. French, “étendue” (atmosphere); the

Dabistan رفيعه, “an elevation.”

V. 26. V. Mr. Bellamy objects to the translation of this verse

by the words: “Let us make man in our image” (in which all

the other versions agree), and he substitutes for it: “We

will make man;” in the Dabistan we find, in support of Mr.

Bellamy, بكنم آدم, “I will make man.”

CHAP. II.

V. 6. All the translations have: “a vapor _watered_ the face of

the earth;” the Dabistan says: “covered, decked.”

V. 7. All the copies agree in: “he breathed _into his nostrils_

the breath of life;” the Dabistan translates: “into his body.”

V. 8. Every where we read: “God planted a garden _eastward in

Eden_;” in the Dabistan: “from old times in Eden;” Mr. Cahen

remarks that Onkelos (a Hebrew commentator before our era)

interprets in the same manner: “in former times.”

V. 11. We read generally: “Pison: _that is it which compasseth

the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold_;” Messrs.

Glaire and Frank add: “l’or _de ce nom_;” in the Dabistan:

زمين حوملارا کہ آنجاست بلور و سذك يشب

“The land Havemla, where there is the beryl (also crystal)

and the stone jasper (especially a whitish kind found on

mount Imaus).”

V. 12. is not in the Dabistan.

V. 13. In the Dabistan are omitted, after the name of Gihon,

the words: “the same is it that compasseth the whole land of

Ethiopia.”

V. 14. The Dabistan reads, after the name of the river Hîdîkel,

رونده پيش طايفه يشراو, “running towards the _people of

Ashur_;” other versions have “towards the east of Assyria.”

V. 23. VII. Messrs. Glaire and Frank translate: “qu’elle soit

nommée _Ischâ_ (femme), parce qu’elle a été tirée de _Ish_”

(homme). This analogous derivation for man and woman does not

exist in other languages; we find however, in the old Latin,

_vir_ and _vira_, which words are used in the Latin

translation of the Samaritan text; in the Arabic version we

find امرعه for “virago,” and امريه for “virilitas;” the

translator, in the Dabistan, endeavored to reproduce the same

derivation, by _ânsán_ and _ânsn_:

از ابراي همين كَفته ميشود انسان كه كرفته شده است ار اسن

V. 24. The version in the Dabistan deviates from the other

translations by the word

ميخسپند بزنش

“he will _sleep_ with his wife,” instead of “cleave unto, or

adhere to, his wife.”

CHAP. III.

Offers no variation to be pointed out.

CHAP. IV.

V. 13. The translation in the Dabistan deviates from IV. VI.

VII. which have: “my _punishment_ is greater than I can

_bear_;” it agrees with I. II. III. and V. which say: “great

is my _iniquity_ to be _forgiven_;”

بزرك است كناه من از برداشتن

“Great is my _crime_ to be _overlooked_” (disregarded).

V. 16. There is coincidence between I. II. III. IV. VI. and

VII. which have: “he dwelt in the land _of Nod_, on the east

of Eden.” V. Mr. Bellamy translates: “he dwelt in the land

_wandering_ eastward of Eden;” in the Dabistan:

نشيست در زمين اواركي ييش عدن

“He dwelt in the land of vagrancy, before Eden.”

CHAP. V.

V. 25. All translations have: “Methuselah lived _a hundred

eighty and seven_ years, and begat Lamech;” in the Dabistan

we read only “eighty-seven years.”

V. 27. All versions agree in the words: “All the days of

Mathuselah were _nine hundred sixty and nine_ years;” in the

Dabistan we find: “the whole life of Manusalah was eight

hundred and fifty-nine years” (according to its own text it

ought to be 869).

V. 30. According to all versions: “Lamech lived after he begat

Noah _five hundred ninety and five_ years;” according to the

Dabistan, only “five hundred years.”

V. 31. Pursuant to all translations: “the days of Lamech were

_seven hundred seventy and seven_ years;” pursuant to the

Dabistan: “six hundred eighty and two years.”

CHAP. VI.

V. 3. In the Dabistan we read: “My spirit shall not always

_take patience_ with man;” other versions have: “shall not

always remain,” or “strive with man.”

V. 5. is omitted in the Dabistan.

The notice given in the Dabistan of the opinions of the Jews will be

found very incomplete and inaccurate, inasmuch as it is exhibited

without a due distinction of the different Jewish sects, to which they

may be attributed. For a far better account of the Jews, see that of

Makrisi, given in the “Chrestomathie arabe” of Silvestre de Sacy (vol.

I. pp. 284-369), with the various explanatory notes of that celebrated

orientalist.

[484] Tata is a town belonging to the Amírs of Sind, the

capital of a district of the same name, and situated near

the banks of the Indus about 130 miles, by the course of the

river, from the sea; lat. 22° 44´ N. long. 68° 17´

E.――(Hamilton’s _East India Gazetteer_.)

[485] See pp. 152-153.

[486] _Katéb_, the name of the sultan, signifies the north

pole; hence the author plays with the words _kateb_,

“north,” _naśif nahar_, “midday,” and _shám_, “evening.”

[487] The author leaves us in a total uncertainty about the

words to which he alludes; if to those of Isaiah, chap.

LIII, vv. 2-12, the prophet would have predicted his own

sufferings. According to the learned Jew, Isaac Orobio (see

_Israel vengé, ou Exposition naturelle des Prophéties que

les Chrétiens appliquent à Jésus, leur prétendu Messie_),

the words of Isaiah, chap. LIII, are not to be referred to a

single individual, but to the whole people of Israel.

CHAPTER V.

Of the religion of the Tarsá[488], containing three sections.

_Section I_――an account of the Lord Aisíá (Jesus).

_Section II_――of the creed of the Nasárá.

_Section III_――of the works of the Tarsá.

Of the Tarsá I saw several learned individuals, such as the Padrî

Fransaî, who is highly esteemed by the Portuguese in Goa, and by those

who are in Surat, a maritime place in India. In the year of the Hejira

1057 (A. D. 1647) the author of this book found him in the port of

Surat.

SECTION THE FIRST: AN ACCOUNT OF THE LORD AISIA (JESUS).――They say

that the birth of the Lord Mesîah took place in the year 3199 of the

creation of the world,[489] 2957 after the deluge of Noah,[490] 2015

years after the birth of Ibráhím,[491] and 1510 from the coming of

Mosîah (Moses);[492] and when the children of Israél were in the 65th

week, which the prophet Dáníel had announced, 752 years after the

building of Rome,[493] in the 42nd year of the reign of Cæsar

_Tiberius_. When Aísía appeared, the high priest said: “We charge

thee, upon thy oath by the living God, say, art thou the son of God?”

The blessed and holy Lord Aísîâ replied to him: “I am what thou hast

said. Verily, we say unto you, you shall see the son of man seated at

the right hand of God, and he shall descend in the clouds of heaven.”

They said: “Thou utterest a blasphemy, because, according to the creed

of the Yahuds, God never descends in the clouds of heaven.” Ishâîá the

prophet has announced the birth of Aîsîá in words the translation of

which is as follows: “A branch from the root of Ishaî shall spring up,

and from this branch shall come forth a flower in which the spirit of

God shall dwell: verily, a virgin shall be pregnant and bring forth a

son.” Isháî is the name of the father of Dávid. When they had

apprehended Aisîa, they spit upon his blessed face and smote him.

Ishâa had predicted it: “I shall give up my body to the smiters, and

my cheek to the diggers _of wounds_; I shall not turn my face from

those who will use bad words, and throw spittle upon me.” When Aflátes

(Pilatus), a judge of the Yahuds, scourged the Lord Aîsiâ in such a

manner that his body from head to foot became but one wound, so was it

as Ishâía had predicted: “He was wounded for our transgressions; I

struck him for his people.” When Pilatus saw that the Yahuds insisted

upon the death and the crucifixion of Jesus, he said: “I take no part

in the blood of this man; I wash my hands clean of this blood.” The

Yahuds answered: “His blood be on us and on our children.” On that

account, the Yahuds are oppressed and curbed down, in retribution of

their iniquities. When they had placed the cross upon the shoulder of

Aísiá, and led him to die, a woman wiped with the border of her

garment the face, full of blood, of the Lord Aîsîa; verily, she

obtained three images of it, and carried them home: the one of these

images exists still in Ispániah, in the royal town which is situated

within the country of the king of Portugal; and is shown there twice

every year:[494] the other is in the town of Milan, in the country of

Italy, and the third in the city of Rome.

[488] _Tarsa_ is derived from _tarsiden_, “fearing, timid, a

Christian, an infidel, a pagan, a worshipper of fire.”

[489] Upon the epoch of the creation of the world we have,

according to Riccioli, 70, according to Dortous de Mairan,

75 or 90, and according to the marquis de Fortia d’Urban,

108 different systems, to which many more may be added.

These epochs vary from 6984 to 3619 years; that of the

Dabistan, 3199, is the lowest known to me.

[490] The deluge is placed:

By the Septuaginta 2250 years before Christ.

―― Archbishop Usher 2348 ―― ―― ――

―― Others 3882 ―― ―― ――

[491] The above epoch differs 94 years from that given by

Archbishop Usher, viz.: 1921 years before Christ.

[492] The above epoch differs 19 years from that given by

Archbishop Usher, viz.: 1510 years before Christ.

[493] The date of the birth of Christ, as given by our

chronologers, varies from 747 to 754 years after the

building of Rome, or is uncertain within seven or six years

(see Chronologie de Jésus-Christ par M. le marquis de

Fortia, p. 102-103, Paris, 1830).

[494] The viscount of Santarem, to whose most extensive

learning in history and geography, I fortunately had an

opportunity in Paris of applying for information upon the

above mentioned fact, gave me the following notice: “In no

town of Portugal do I find any indication of the existence

of these relics. I think that there is, in the statement of

the Dabistán, an error and a confusion with the fact related

by Brandâo, in 1643, viz.: the famous Portuguese prince don

Pietro, son of John I., having, on his return from Jerusalem

to Spain, in 1428, married in the town of Alcoba in

Catalonia, the countess Isabella, daughter of D. Jayme,

count of Urgel, gave to the bishop of Valenza an image of

our Saviour, taken by St. Veronica. These relics were still

preserved in the cathedral of Valenza in Spain, called by

distinction ‘the royal town,’ in the year 1643.” It was a

few years after this (see p. 305), that the author of the

Dabistán might have received from father Francia, the

Portuguese missionary, the account above stated.

* * * * *

SECTION THE SECOND: OF THE CREED OF THE AI SU YAH (CHRISTIANS). They

say that, in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and of the Holy

Ghost, every one ought to bear in his heart and to keep perpetually on

his tongue the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and never to deny him, if

even it were at the peril of his head.[495] The holy cross is the sign

of the Christians. They reckon fourteen parts of their creed: seven of

which relate to God the Almighty, and seven to the human nature of the

Lord Jesus. The first seven are as follow: 1. to confess that God is

omnipotent and supreme; 2. to believe that he is the Father; 3. to

believe that he is the Son; 4. that he is a pure spirit; 5. that he is

the Creator; 6. that he bestows heaven; 7. that he grants

salvation.[496] The seven other articles, which relate to the human

nature of Jesus are the following: 1. to believe that he is the Son of

God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, born in the body of Maria; 2.

that he was born of Maria, the virgin, and without detriment to her

virginity; 3. that for our sake he was crucified, died, and was

buried; 4. that he shall descend from heaven, and raise up the former

generations, who there anxiously expected his blessed arrival; 5. that

he resuscitated on the third day; 6. that he ascended to heaven, and

sits at the right hand of the Father, the omnipotent and supreme God;

7. that he shall come at the end of the world to judge the living and

the dead, and to reveal their good and bad actions. They call God a

father, because he is bountiful to his servants as a father to his

children. They maintain that, although God has three different

persons, yet, in truth, he is but one being; in such a manner that the

persons are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, without the unity

of the blessed entity being affected by it, and this peculiarity

belongs to the divinity; in no creature is such an attribute to be

found. Jesus is in truth the Son of God; it is only metaphorically

that other holy personages are called the sons of God; it is in an

abstract sense,[497] inasmuch as, being God, that Jesus came forth in

heaven from the Father, not from the mother; in a similar manner, in

an abstract sense, inasmuch as, being a man upon earth, he has a

mother, but no Father. Jesus did not die, but, having a perfect love

for the sons of Adam, he sacrificed himself for the people, that they

may be liberated again from all sins. They say further, that below the

earth there are four places: the undermost of all is hell, which is

the place of severe punishment for the Satans and the iniquitous.

Another place, above this, is that which they call _purgatory_, that

is, a place of purification for good men, as some of the disobedient

who have rebelled, when they shall have there been purified, go to

heaven. A third place, higher than the last, is called the _limbus_,

in which are children under age; except that of being deprived of the

sight of the Lord Almighty, they are there exempt from all other

suffering. The fourth place is the most elevated of all; they call it

“the House of Ibrahîm,” that is, the dwelling of the souls of the

prophets and holy men: these were formerly not quite happy, because

they expected anxiously the arrival of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus;

when Jesus left the body which was buried, he descended to this fourth

place, and when he rose from the grave, he brought the pure souls with

him, leaving the souls in the three other places where they were.

When, after having been put to death, he was restored to life, his

soul was reunited to his body, and he remained forty days with his

disciples; he then, before their eyes and those of others, ascended to

heaven, and, in the highest place, seated himself at the side of God

Almighty. They declare: “When we say that Jesus is seated at the right

side of God, his Father, we mean not to say that God has a body and is

any thing corporeal. No! the Divine Being has neither right nor left

side. By such a description we intend to be intelligible _to the

vulgar_; for Jesus, in the abstract sense of being the son of God,

possesses the same greatness and power which his Father has, and in

the abstract sense of his being a man, he dwells in the most glorious

and most excellent place, which is in heaven.” They declare further:

“When we say that Jesus shall come on the last day of the world to

judge the dead and the living, and to give their due to all men, we

mean not to imply that all men will then be alive, but by the living

we denote the good men, and by the dead, the wicked.” Except

Christians, nobody else will be found pure and holy. On the day of

resurrection, all men shall live and their souls shall be reunited to

their bodies, and none will ever more die.

[495] Here the author shows how the Latin word “_filius_” is

to be written in Arabic or Persian characters.

[496] Here the author shows how the Latin word “_Deus_” is

to be written in Arabic or Persian characters.

[497] I render here, by “abstract sense,” the Persian word

حيثيت _hâysîyat_, which in the Dictionary is interpreted

“ubiquity, universality, capacity, merit, conditional

proposition, examination, etc.”

* * * * *

SECTION THE THIRD: OF THE WORKS OF THE CHRISTIANS.――Ten commandments

are established in the Gospel; three of them relate to God, and seven

others to the servants of God: 1. thou shalt love the Lord thy God

above all things; 2. thou shalt not swear by the name of God for the

sake of an argument, that is, thou shalt accustom thyself to the

truth; when this quality shall be manifest in thee, thou wilt never

have occasion for an oath. The wise master of secrets, the king Naser

Khusró says:

“At any time speak nothing else but truth, that thou mayst

not have need of an oath.”

3. keep the holy days, that is the Sunday and the other sanctified

days; 4. honor thy father and thy mother; 5. thou shalt not kill: this

means, evidently, thou shalt not kill a living being at all; but they

have interpreted it that only the animal which is a _private_ property

ought not to be killed, such a one as is serviceable, and in life, or

after death, may be of use. The true sense is, that we ought not only

not to kill our brother (and such is any son of Adam), but even not

hurt him by any deed or word; 6. thou shalt not commit fornication,

that is, with a woman not thy own, be she married or without a

husband; 7. thou shalt not steal; 8. thou shalt not calumniate nor

lie: in this command enters that, if any thing bad concerning somebody

be a secret, although we know it as a certainty, we ought nevertheless

to keep it concealed, and not to divulge it, except the bad thing were

against religion and faith, or tended against the king; 9. thou shalt

not covet another’s wife; 10. thou shalt not covet another’s good.

The other five commandments, which are less imperative, are: 1. to

hear mass on Sunday, and on other holy days; and this is a rite of

devotion which a padri performs; and every body ought in solitude to

turn his whole mind towards the remembrance of the sufferings of

Jesus; 2. every one ought to go to confession at least once a year.

The confession implies three conditions: the first is truth; the

second, contrition; the third, completeness; that is, to recount

humbly one’s own sins without diminution or addition, to speak out,

and to beg absolution; 3. it is necessary that every one should take,

yearly, the communion at the Easter feast, that is, when Jesus

attained to manhood and made his testament, establishing the rule of

the holy sacrament, which is a worship; 4. let every man keep the fast

at Christmas, and other fasts, except a person be excused; 5. it is

obligatory to pay the tithes, that is, the tenth part of whatever

grows from the earth, or comes forth from an animal, is to be given to

God.

At the time of prayer, they say, God is to be invoked as our Father;

he loveth us just as a father loveth a son, and his own Son says and

orders that we should call him a father. We ought then to abstain from

sins, that he may enable us to be his children. And when we say to

God: “thou art in heaven,” it is because we think he has chosen

heaven, and for that reason we raise our hearts from the earth

upwards, if even God has no dwelling so as to be beheld in heaven.

Besides, in their prayer, they do not demand bread from God, because

he is displeased at our wanting to-day the necessaries of life for a

future day, but because he wills us to be contented, and to feel no

anxious care about to-morrow. They say, that we ought to pardon the

mischief that we receive from others, in order that God Almighty may

also pardon our transgressions. They offer likewise prayers in praise

of the glorious Mary, saying that the Lord God diffuses abundantly his

grace in any place in which the image of the blessed Lady Mary be

present. In the same manner they consider the image of the Lord Jesus,

and that of the holy cross.

There are seven sacraments, which consist in submissive prayers and

invocations for remission of sins from God the Almighty: 1. _Baptism_;

that is, an external ablution in the name of God, of his Son, and of

the Holy Ghost; for this act any sort of water that may be procured is

acceptable; by this act the soul is purified from the contamination of

all sins; this rite may be performed by the first padri who may be

present, and if none are at hand, by any individual among the

Christians; 2. _Confirmation_; that is, a friction with holy oil,

given in the name of God; and the giver, that is, a padri of

known merit, bestows it on all Christians of an adult age;

_Sanct-Eucharisty_: this, they say, is the holiest of all the

sacraments, as it presents the Lord Jesus under the form of bread,

that he may become the power of the soul. Three conditions are

required in this act: the first is a true faith; the second,

abstinence from sins; the third, to fast, and eat nothing until taking

the sacrament; the time of taking it is Christmas; 4. _Penitence_;

which consists of two conditions that the Lord Jesus has imposed

therein: the first is confession; that is the avowal made by the

sinner of his sins, and the absolution of the padri, as of one who is

the substitute of Jesus, and whose forgiveness is the absolution of

Jesus. Then, it is necessary that the sinner should give a detailed

account of his concealed and open crimes, and to this he must add two

things; the one is an aversion to, and a repentance of, every action

which he may have done without the approbation of God; the other is a

sincere resolution of never undertaking any blamable acts; to execute

faithfully the penance imposed upon him by the padri, as Jesus ordered

a return for every crime. Further, whatever sins, venial or capital,

may have struck the ear of the padri, he ought never, even at the

peril of his head, to reveal or publish them; 5. _Sacrament of extreme

unction_; this is a friction by which they anoint a Christian with

holy oil, and they bestow this sacrament with some words which the

Lord Jesus has spoken. The above five sacraments are obligatory to

every adult Christian; 6. _Ordination_; this sacrament is taken by

devoting one’s self by free choice to the worship of God, which

vocation the Christians recommend; 7. _Matrimony_; this is an

agreement which a man and a woman take together at the time of their

binding themselves in wedlock, that during the whole of their life

they will keep faith to each other. This is peculiar to the adults.

This act is allowable to women frequently at the age of twelve years;

to men at that of fourteen. The man is not permitted to take more than

one wife, and the woman is bound to a single husband. The padri who

gives this sacrament, after having ascertained that there is no

objection to the marriage, and the compact being made before

witnesses, unites both to each other in wedlock according to the

conditions of matrimony.

The Christians say that faith is something by which we know a religion

to be certainly true, and that, whenever God, the Almighty, has sent

his message, however hard and difficult, and out of the natural mode

and rule it may appear, we know that God cannot tell a lie. The truth

is found in the book of God, by means of the evidence given by him who

is the substitute of the Lord Jesus, and whom they call _Pope_. It is

certain that he throws nobody into an error, because the Lord Jesus

has in the holy Gospel, made an arrangement with him to that effect.

It should be known that the life of man depends upon these laudable

qualifications. To search and to acquire knowledge is a laudable

intention, in every business and profession; on that account it is by

method and virtue that affairs find a proper arrangement; knowledge is

the master of things; it is like salt in meat, it is the eye of the

body; and as the sun in heaven. _Justice_ consists in using moderation

in the manifold transactions of men, and in keeping men in peace and

in mutual satisfaction: if therefore every body were contented with

his share, and entertained no desire for more, there would be no war

and contention. _Fortitude_ is something by means of which one obtains

superiority over the difficulties which obstruct the life of men, and

the business of fortitude is to triumph over terror and fear, which

Iblis (Satan) throws into the heart, in order to retain us from acts

which are to be done. _Continence_ is a faculty which bestows measure

and order in sensual pleasures; the business of continence is to

prevent men from being carried away by the delights of the world; we

ought to tend in this life towards godliness; blessed are those who

feel hunger and thirst after God. It is required that, in our devotion

to God there enters no other desire but that of the beatitude to see

the Divine Being; on that account blessed are those whose hearts are

pure, because the sight of God shall be their reward in heaven, and

even in this world they shall in a certain way see God: because those

whose eyes are pure, behold things of _superlative_ beauty; it is

required that we carry strife to a peaceful end, and accomplish our

virtuous endeavors. Those who are in a state of opposition to this,

take with efforts and struggles the road of misery. On that account

blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of

God.

There are fourteen gifts of God, the all merciful; seven of them are

bodily, and seven spiritual. The seven bodily gifts are: 1. to satiate

the hungry; 2. to quench the thirst of the thirsty; 3. to clothe the

naked; 4. to harbor the stranger; 5. to inquire after the sick, and to

console the captive; 6. to procure liberty to prisoners; 7. to bury

the dead. The spiritual acts are as follow: 1. to instruct the

ignorant; 2. to advise the poor _in spirit_; 3. to comfort the heart

of the mourners; 4. to admonish the sinners; 5. to forgive injuries

inflicted; 6. to show forbearance to the deformities of nature; 7. to

offer pious prayers for the living and the dead. The Christians say

that every necessitous individual is worthy of charities, to whatever

religion or sect he may belong, but the person of the same faith, or a

relative, is more deserving of favor. It is a sin, when by choice we

perpetrate an action which is in opposition to the pleasure of God,

and when we abandon an act which we are commanded to perform. A

capital sin is it for a man, by his own choice, to commit an

abominable act and deed, such as the unrighteous spilling of blood,

and whoredom. Of venial sins seven are enumerated: such as stealing

some slight thing without a perfect concurrence of the will in it. The

summary of the capital sins is as follows: pride, avarice, lust,

anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

Pride consists in esteeming one’s self higher than others, whence

proceed petulance, which displays itself in vaunting one’s self and

despising others, and in dispute, and disobedience. The remedies to be

applied to it are trust, submission, and obedience to another; these

are suitable means by which the hateful mind may be subdued.

Avarice is a desire without measure of the brittle things of the

world, and the bad consequences which result from it are theft,

deception in buying and selling, lies, and perjury: the remedies for

it may be good works and liberality.

Lust is an unbounded desire of sensual pleasures; but the way and

scandalous display of it is the defilement of women: the remedy to be

sought for counteracting it is chastity.

Anger is a desire without measure of vengeance upon somebody, and the

display of it is hatred of God’s creatures, insulting speeches against

men, contentions, and a total want of mildness: the remedies for it

are patience, forbearance, and the reflection that, for our crimes and

shameful acts, we are deserving of the adversity which comes upon us,

and to keep before our sight the Lord Jesus and his apostles, who

showed nothing but mercy and kindness to those very men who caused

their distress and affliction.

Gluttony is a desire without measure of eating and drinking; the

offspring of this is sensuality, rejection of fasts, slowness in

worship, and all sorts of diseases ruining the body: the remedies for

this are abstinence, moderation in eating and drinking, in order that

a becoming attention to divine favor be excited, the constitution

restored to health, and a return from all extravagance accomplished.

Envy is a pain and sadness derived from the good condition of the

affairs of other people; whence proceeds the jealous intention to find

fault and occasion for detraction. It displays itself by rejoicing at

the distress of one’s neighbors, when related by other tongues, by

reviling certain people, and by leading an unprofitable life: the

remedy for it is affection for mankind on account of their being God’s

creatures, and to consider that happiness and welfare are bestowed

upon them by the mercy of God, and that it is an exceeding offence

against good morals to be afflicted on account of the works and

effects which result from _divine_ disposition.

Sloth is negligence in the worship of God and in good behaviour. It

displays itself by a frequent deficiency in laudable and obligatory

actions, and in always letting slip out of our hands the expedients of

spiritual and material life: the remedy for it is activity and

alacrity.

Hell is a place a worse than which cannot exist, and in this abode one

is imprisoned to all eternity, on account of commission of sins for

punishment, more severe than which none can be imagined. Heaven is a

place full of all sorts of delight; the happiness of this place

manifests itself for all ages by jubilation and pleasure.

Jesus told his disciples: “After me, a great number of men will set

forth pretensions to divine mission, but all will be deceivers: remain

you persevering and steady in your adherence to me, until my coming.”

The Gospel has been translated from the tongue of Jesus into different

languages; namely, into Arabic, Greek, Latin, which last is the

language of the learned among the Firang; into Syriac, and this all

men of letters know.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the religion of the Muhammedans, or of the people of Islám (right

faith), consisting of two sections: the first treats of the religion

of the _Sonnites_, the second of the religion of the _Shiâs_.

SECTION THE FIRST: OF THE RELIGION OF THE SONNITES.――The author of

this book was informed by respectable persons of the Sonnites (the

mercy of God be upon them!) and saw in their books, namely, in the

doctrine presented by the imam _Mohammed Sheh eristanî_,[498] where it

is said, that in sign of revelation the verses of the high prophet

(upon whom be blessing!) show the right faith; that his religion will

divide into seventy and three sects,[499] and that of this number one

shall obtain salvation, and the rest shall share darkness and

perdition. It was asked: “Upon what people shall the sun of salvation

shine?” He answered: “It shall shine upon the people of the

_Sonat_[500] and _Jamáât_.”[501] It was further asked: “Who are the

people of Sonat[502] and Jamáât?” He said: “Those who walk the road

upon which I am to-day a traveller, and by which my successor shall

proceed.” The same book treats also of the _Sifátîah_,[503] a great

number of which sect has from all times acknowledged the greatness of

the divine nature, whose attributes are omniscience, power, life,

hearing, sight, providence, command, majesty, bounty, profuse

liberality, greatness, and magnificence; they make no difference

between the _essential attributes_ and the _attributes of operation_;

because in logic, according to their definition of the words, both

these attributes are but one; they maintain that some of the

attributes are proclaimed by the evidence of the blessed revelation;

and these they call _attributes declarative_: for instance, the hand,

the countenance; these they do not interpret in a particular sense,

but they say, these attributes are found mentioned in the sacred book,

on which account these attributes are called _declarative_. Whereas

the sect called the _Mâtazalah_[504] deny the attributes, and the

ancients maintain them by arguments; the latter are called _Sifátiah_,

and the Mâtezalah are entitled _Mâtalah_; but these last employ

exaggeration in their arguments to such a degree that they approach

the boundary of a mere image. Some use more restriction with respect

to the attribution, which is indicated by the actions _of God_.

Information derived from the sacred book devolved equally to both

sects; but some interpret these words in a manner that they may appear

probable, whilst others are firm in their interpretation, saying: “We

know by the application of the intellect that nothing can be like the

Lord’s divine power, and that at all times nothing of what is created

can be like him, and firmly convinced of it, we think these words are

to be considered as a mere simile, such as: ‘_God seated upon his

throne_,’ or such as ‘_I created you with my hand, and I preserve

you_.’ Except these words, which are to be considered as a mere

simile, we know no other meaning, and to know _thoroughly_ the meaning

and interpretation of it, we feel ourselves perplexed; but, in spite

of this perplexity, we deny the likeness of the created beings and the

Creator, on account of the extent of the divine power.”

The sect called _Jamáâtî_, which belongs to the moderns, amplified

what the ancients had maintained, and said, that necessarily an

evident sense is to be ascribed to these words, and by means of a

commentary an agreement was obtained upon the proper bearing which the

text of the sacred book has, so that we may without difficulty

interpret it, or establish the evident meaning of it. They always fell

into a pure simile, and in such an acceptation, they are in opposition

to the ancients. Whatever, as a pure simile, is taken from the sacred

book of the Jews, this is also not received by all the Jewish tribes,

although the readers of the Koran, having found some such words in the

Old Testament, employ the simile as an argument, and in this belief

are the _Shîâh_. Some fell upon the side of excess, and some upon that

of deficiency; but others of the sect, which by exaggeration[505]

exceeded all bounds, declared as vain any comparison with the Lord

Almighty, whilst the sect which happened to take the side of

deficiency and error compared something which is created to the Lord

God. When the _Mâtazalah_ and the _Matakalmán_,[506] “scholastics,”

appeared, then some openly turned their face from exaggeration and

deficiency in which they were, and became _Mâtazalah_. And some of the

ancients, inasmuch as they attached themselves to the imagery of

certain words which are to be considered as a mere simile, fell into

an error; but the sect of the ancients in general did not oppose the

interpretation of those words, and made themselves no objects of

contention and blame on account of the simile. It was the example of

the theologians and of the Imáms of the right faith, the Imám _Ans_

Ebn _Málik_,[507] (the peace of God be upon him!) who said that the

words: “_God was seated upon his throne_,” are evident; the attribute

is unknown, and the faith to be placed in it is necessary. The

question thereupon being a novelty, and carried to such a state, the

Imáms _Ahmed Hanbal_[508] and _Dáúd Jśfaháni_,[509] (the mercy of God

be upon them!) and the Jamáâtî, who followed them, came to a final

conclusion, until the time of _Abd-Alah Kalabî_, and _Abî al Abas

Kalánasî_, and _Háres Jben Asad Mahásebi_.[510] Although these were of

the ancients, it happened that, by devoting themselves to scholastic

theology, they became inflamed with it, but were not able to expound

the creed of the ancients; in such a manner as to impart, by means of

arguments, clearness to the fundamentals of theology, and their fervor

and activity became doubled and increased, until by the intervention

of the Shaikh _Abu ’l Hasen Asharî_[511], and by his instruction in

the precepts of rectitude and perfection an opposition appeared, and a

dispute arose, and enmity displayed itself. Ashâri inclined to their

side, and by opening roads to the fundamentals of theology, he lent

strength to their endeavors, and this creed became the religion of the

_Sonnites_ and the _Jamáât_. The title of _Sifátíah_, which they bore

as a title of honor, was changed, and they called themselves _Ashârî_.

As the _Ashârîáh_ and _Keramiah_[512] are among the establishers of

the divine attributes, they are acknowledged as two sects of the

totality of the Sifátîah. The principal point among the precepts of

the Ashârîs is, that every being that may _really_ exist must be

perfect, that it may answer its own purpose; perfection is a necessity

of existence, and the Lord Almighty is the _real_ being: the necessity

of the Lord God is always right, and the law by him is a salvation

acquired, so that the faithful believers shall in the other world, by

a beneficent necessity, become exalted:

“God said: ‘Some countenances shall on that day look towards

their Lord.’”[513]

They say besides, that if he gave access to heaven to all creatures,

or sent them to hell, it would not be unjust; because tyranny can be

exercised every where except in his empire. They maintain also, that

the office of an Imam becomes firm by union and election, not only by

manifestation and establishment: because, if there was manifestation,

it did not remain occult, and the excitements occasioned by the report

of it were abundant. Upon the plank of the children of Sáâdah[514]

they united to elect _Abubeker_; after having established Abubeker,

they chose _Omar_; and after consultation _Osman_, and afterwards

their choice fell upon _Alî_ (the blessing of God, the Highest, be

upon them all!). The order of their succession in the office of Imam

was according to the order of their excellence.

An example of what was said about the ancients is to be found among

the possessors of the sacred sayings, the Imam Ahmed Hanbal[515] and

Dáúd Ebn Ali Muhammed Jsfahánî[516] and the Jamáâtî of the ancients

(the blessing of God be upon them!) who proceeded as leaders upon the

high road of the ancients, such as Málik Ans and Makábil Ben Solîman,

and persevered upon the high road of peace, saying: “We made oath by

the book and the Sonna, and we were no opposers to the interpretation;”

therefore they placed confidence in the book of God, and the Sonnites

said: “We know that the Lord Almighty is not like any thing that is

created, and none of the created beings is like the Lord Almighty;”

and they were very careful of the simile, and said: “Whoever makes a

motion with his hand in reciting these words:

‘I created with my hands,’

“or extends his finger, repeating these words of the sacred sayings:

‘The heart of the believer is between two fingers of God the

Merciful.’

“it shall be necessary to cut off his hand.” They said besides: ”We

persevere in the interpretation of it, because there is a remedy for

the heart, which remedy proceeded from the heavenly revelation;

namely,

“They whose hearts are inclined to error will follow that

which is parabolical therein (the Koran), out of love of

schism and a desire of the interpretation thereof; yet none

knoweth the interpretation thereof, except God. But they who