THE HOME LIFE OF HINDUS
The home life of a people is one of the most decisive tests of its
character and its state of civilization.
In this chapter I shall attempt only to describe the home life of
Hindus. And even within this limitation I can only refer to the
general characteristics which obtain among nearly _all_ Hindus, and
shall pass by the details, which differ so largely in different parts
of the country and among different castes.
It is in the home that the natural religious bent of the Hindu finds
its full scope and most touching manifestations. Generally speaking,
one may say that the house of a Hindu is his sanctuary, where the
tutelar god has its niche or shrine to which daily worship is
rendered. There is hardly any event connected with home life which is
not religiously viewed and made the occasion of definite family
worship. Of the sixteen events in the life of a man, from birth to
death, there is not one which is not viewed from a religious aspect,
and is not accompanied by an elaborate ritual.
There is hardly a respectable Hindu household in which there is not a
shrine containing an idol of stone or of some metal which corresponds
in value to the measure of the family's wealth. "Every morning and
evening it is worshipped by the hereditary _purohit_, or priest, who
visits the house for the purpose twice a day, and who, as the name
implies, is the first in all ceremonies, second to none but the
_Guru_, or spiritual guide. The offerings of rice, fruits, sweetmeats,
and milk, made to the god, he carries home after the close of the
service. A conch is blown, a bell is rung, and a gong beaten at the
time of worship, when the religiously disposed portion of the inmates,
male and female, in a quasi-penitent attitude, make their obeisance to
the god and receive in return the hollow benediction of the
priest."[5]
[Footnote 5: From "Hindus as They Are."]
Even the building of the house is a matter which must be done
according to the rules of faith. The selection of a site, the correct
orientation of the building, the number and location of the rooms, the
proper material for the structure,--all of these must be determined by
the _Vastu Sastri_, or the architects, who do their business not so
much on scientific lines as upon religious. They have their
_Shastras_, or books of instruction, in architecture, whose basis is
largely a consideration of the supposed sentiments of the gods and a
proper harmonizing in the building of various religious conceits,
crude superstitions, and immemorial customs.
Even the day and hour of entering and dedicating the house must be
fixed by rules of faith, which are as exacting as they are
multitudinous. To enter and consecrate a house at the wrong
astrological moment would bring in its train a number of domestic
disasters. The house may be anything, from a most primitive hut to a
many-aisled palace; but in every case the astrologer must be consulted
as to the time; the spiritual architect must give his rules as to the
structure; and the family priest must make the house habitable by an
elaborate ceremonial and offerings to the god or gods of the family.
It is only after all these have been accomplished that a householder
may, with a clean conscience, enter his new home and expect a blessing
upon his family therein.
To a stranger who passes through the streets of a town or village it
may seem strange that no two adjoining houses have exactly the same
orientation. He may think it an evidence of carelessness, or a want
of taste. But to the Hindu it is the result of pious conformity to the
rules of his faith. To a non-Hindu it may seem peculiar that Hindus
generally enter their new homes in the first half of the year. But to
the Hindu it is the only half when the gods are awake; it would be
unpropitious and almost sacrilegious to dedicate a house in that part
of the year when the gods are supposed to be asleep!
The Hindu home would not be, to a westerner, either pleasant or
convenient. It looks dingy and dark, doors are small and massive,
windows are few and generally closed. This is partly because they are
intended to keep out the tropical glare, and partly because the people
seem averse to occupying an airy room. A westerner would suffocate in
a room in which Hindus would delight to spend a night. It has always
been a wonder to the writer that they thrive on so little fresh air in
their homes.
Hindus, in the main, care very little for elaborate household
furniture. Even in homes of wealth, articles of household furniture
are few and are chosen merely for utility's sake, save in homes where
western ideas are finding their way and a growing desire to ape
western manners takes possession of a family. Some years ago, a
wealthy Hindu gentleman welcomed the writer into his fine new
three-storied bungalow, whose front door was elaborately carved and
had cost Rs. 2000. It was furnished with fantastic articles of
European furniture. Mechanical toys and speaking dolls had places of
prominence; and among the pictures which adorned the walls the place
of honour was given to a framed tailor's pattern-plate! A full-sized
painting of the late British queen was specially honoured by being
kept in a dark closet! The family did not live in this house, but
occupied a comfortable one-storied building in the back yard. It was
adequate to their needs and in harmony with their tastes.
Hindus generally sleep on the floor. They spread a mat under them, and
this suffices for the ordinary man. Many add to this a dirty pillow,
which is a mark of extravagance and an evidence of degeneracy. The men
of the house may sleep anywhere within, or in the verandah without,
according to the season of the year. Recently, western ideas have
encroached upon this primitive, sanitary custom, and cots are finding
an ever increasing place in the household economy.
The Hindu family system is widely different from that of the West.
Among them the Joint Family System prevails universally. It is built
on the old patriarchal idea, according to which three generations
generally live under the same roof and enjoy a community of life and
of interest. When a man and wife have reared a family, the sons bring
to the paternal home their wives and live together and raise their
families in the common home of their father. The supreme authority, in
the direction of all their affairs, rests with the father. And the
mother generally takes charge of the household commissariat. The whole
income of all the members of the family is brought into the common
treasury, out of which all expenses are met. There is no individual
property, and no rights and privileges which any one can claim apart
from another's in that home. In large Hindu families there is often
found a small colony thus living together and dependent for guidance
and instruction upon the father. This system entails a great deal of
responsibility upon the head, whose authority is supreme. And so loyal
is every Hindu to paternal authority that there is never any question
raised by any one as to obedience to his commands.
This system has its advantages. In early times, it brought strength
and security to households thus consolidated. It is doubtless
favourable to general economy. And it has the peculiar merit of
developing a strong sense of responsibility in the whole family for
its every member, however incapacitated she or he may be for
self-support. The weak and the sick and the feeble-minded have the
same claim upon the resources of the family as have the others, and
the claim is universally recognized. For this reason, poor-houses are
not needed in India.
On the other hand, Hindus themselves are coming to regard this system
as being out of joint with modern life, under the aegis of a
progressive, civilized government. One of its chief defects is its
encouragement of laziness in members of families. No one feels that he
is responsible for his own maintenance. And no matter how industrious
a member may be, the product of his labour is not his own--it belongs
to the family. Such a system saps the foundation of industry and
enterprise. It furnishes constant temptation to slothfulness and
inactivity. In former times, this may not have been so manifest; but
at present, when opportunities open wide their inviting doors, and
means of accumulating wealth and influence multiply, the system has
become a source of discontent and of serious difficulty in the
community.
A few years ago the educated Hindus of South India were so exercised
over the injustice of the situation that they urged upon the Madras
Legislature a new act, called "the Gains Learning Bill," whereby every
man might claim the financial results of his own labours and
accumulate wealth apart from the property of the family. The matter
was fully argued in the Legislature, and the injustice of the Joint
Family System was so clearly revealed in this matter, that the bill
was carried through. Thereupon, orthodox Hindus raised such a storm of
opposition to the bill and decried it so vehemently, as a subversion
of their faith and an overthrow of their most ancient and cherished
institution, that the governor never signed the bill; and it has
therefore never become law.
Nevertheless, the agitation against the system is increasing, and the
incongruity of the Joint Family System with modern social conditions
is becoming so marked that the day of its overthrow is approaching.
A well-known Hindu writer describes the injustice of this system as
follows: "As one of the usual consequences of a patriarchal system, a
respectable Hindu is often obliged to support a number of hangers-on,
more or less related to him by kinship. A brother, an uncle, a nephew,
a brother-in-law, etc., with their families, are not infrequently
placed in this dependent position, notwithstanding the trite apothegm,
which says, 'it is better to be dependent on another for _food_ than
to live in his _house_.'"
Moreover, this system fosters family dissension. It requires an ideal
family, under the strong guidance of an ideal head, to live in peace
and harmony under this system. The writer above quoted, himself a
Hindu who had long lived under the system, expressed himself strongly
upon the subject: "The millennium is not yet come. Seven brothers
living together with their wives and children, under one and the same
paternal roof, cannot reasonably be expected to abide in a state of
perfect harmony, so long as selfishness and incongruous tastes and
interests are continually working to sap the very foundation of
friendliness and good-fellowship. Union is strength, but harmonious
union, under the peculiar regime indicated above, is already a
remarkable exception in the present state of Hindu society. On careful
inquiry it will be found that women are at the bottom of that
mischievous discord which eats into the very vitals of domestic
felicity. Separation, therefore, is the only means that promises to
afford relief from this social incubus; and to separation many
families have now resorted, much after the fashion of the dominant
race, with a view to the uninterrupted enjoyment of domestic
happiness."
Outside of the family itself, perhaps the two most important
functionaries are the family priest and the astrologer. And of these
two the latter is doubtless the more influential. It is well known, as
I have written on another page, that Hindus are not only firm
believers in astrology, but also the abject slaves of this science,
falsely so-called, in all the affairs of life. It is wonderful how
many events in the life of a family come within the realm of
astrological guidance and control. From birth to death, most of the
important transactions of life are controlled by astrological
considerations.
And with the astrologer we naturally join the sooth-sayer, who is
frequently in demand to pronounce his incantations and utter his
_mantras_, to remove all kinds of maladies and misfortune that may
overtake members of the family. It is impossible for a Westerner to
realize how much of the life of the Hindu, in the home and in society,
is circumscribed by superstitions and directed by omens only. In the
case of a man setting out upon a journey forty-three different things
may happen which prognosticate good, and thirty-four which forebode
evil. In household matters, the eye of the Hindu man, and very
specially of the Hindu woman, is ever open to any one of a thousand
indications that may reveal the will of the god or the demon as to
conduct on the occasion.
The position of women in the Hindu home is fundamental, and much
misunderstood by the people of the West.
It is sadly true that woman in Hinduism has suffered, throughout the
centuries, gross injustice, and has laboured under a thousand
disabilities. But it does not follow from this, as those not familiar
with Hindu lives are too apt to conclude, that woman is therefore a
nonentity and a mere helpless drudge in the family.
It is true that the great lawgiver, Manu, said, "No sacrifice is
allowed to women apart from their husbands, no religious rite, no
fasting; as far only as a wife honours her lord, so far is she exalted
to heaven." In accordance with this, Hinduism has always consistently
maintained that woman's well-being is entirely derived from her
relationship to man. Her salvation is to be acquired through him. Her
glory upon earth and her bliss in heaven and final emancipation
depend upon her attitude to him, specially her obedience and
devotion.
It is also true, that in no stage of her existence can she be regarded
as independent. She is dependent upon her father in childhood, the
slave of her husband so long as he lives, and subject to her son
during the days of her widowhood. Hinduism leaves her no opportunity,
in this human existence, for liberty and independence.
Hindu ideas of womanhood have always been low and unworthy. Rather
than being considered a help-mate to man, she has ever been regarded
as his tempter and seducer. The proverbs of India are full of these
base insinuations concerning womanhood. "What is the chief gate to
hell? Woman." This is only one of a host of common sayings which brand
the womanhood of India with shame.
It is for this same reason that woman has always been held unworthy of
education. To educate a woman is compared to placing a knife in the
hands of a monkey. The ignorance of the women of India to-day is not a
matter of careless neglect, but rather of studied purpose to deny to
them that which might change their relationship of subjection to man.
One might suppose that in matters of religion, which is the peculiar
consolation of the woman of India, a wide door of opportunity might be
given to her. But here again Manu says, "Woman has no business with
the texts of the Vedas; thus is the law fully settled. Having
therefore no evidence of law, and no knowledge of expiatory texts,
sinful woman must be as foul as falsehood itself; and this is a fixed
rule."
There are texts which command kindness and respect to womanhood. But
the above quotations represent the tenor of Hindu literature.
All of these represent the attitude of man toward woman in the home.
In society, she has had no recognized place whatever, until the
present, when, under the influence of western civilization, she is
beginning to find a very limited scope for her legitimate activities.
Nevertheless, in the seclusion of her own home, and inheriting the
burden of this deep reproach heaped upon her from time immemorial by
men, woman has created for herself a place of power in the Hindu home.
Within this sanctuary she has erected her throne and reigns a queen.
Has man kept her in ignorance? She will therefore apply herself the
more assiduously to works of faith and piety. Has he heaped upon her
abuse and called her "donkey" and "buffalo"? She has repaid the insult
by a loving devotion to her lord, such as has conquered his pride.
Whether it be as wife or mother, the women of no other land wield
greater power than the much-abused women of India. There is no woman
on earth who reveals, at this present time, more devotion and
attachment to her husband than does the Hindu wife. The old system of
_Sati_, whereby a woman immolated herself on the funeral pyre of her
dead husband, what was it? It was, indeed, a custom instituted by man,
enforced by religious rewards and penalties, with a view to reveal the
woman as the abject subject of her husband. And yet she glorified that
custom and often transmuted it into the most sublime exhibition of
wifely devotion. Hear the description of a _Sati_, given by a Hindu,
the subject of which was his own aunt. "My aunt," writes he, "was
dressed in a red silk _sari_, with all the ornaments on her person;
her forehead daubed with a very thick coat of _sindur_, or vermilion;
her feet painted red with _alta_; she was chewing a mouthful of betel;
and a bright lamp was burning before her. She was evidently wrapped in
an ecstasy of devotion, earnest in all she did, quite calm and
composed as if nothing important was to happen. In short, she was
then at her _matins_, anxiously awaiting the hour when this mortal
coil should be put off. My uncle was lying a corpse in the adjoining
room. It appeared to me that all the women assembled were admiring the
virtue and fortitude of my aunt. Some were licking the betel out of
her mouth, some touching her forehead, in order to have a little of
the _sindur_, or vermilion; while not a few, falling before her feet,
expressed a fond hope that they might possess a small particle of her
virtue.... In truth, she was evidently longing for the hour when her
spirit and that of her husband should meet together and dwell in
heaven. She had a _tulsi mala_ (string of basil beads) in her right
hand, which she was telling, and she seemed to enjoy the shouts of
'Hari, Hari-bole,' with perfect serenity of mind. We reached Nimtalla
Ghat about twelve; after staying there for about ten to fifteen
minutes, sprinkling the holy water on the dead body, all proceeded
slowly to the Kultalla Ghat, about three miles north of Nimtalla. The
dead body, wrapped in new clothes, being placed on the pyre, my aunt
was desired to walk seven times round it, which she did while strewing
flowers, cowries (shells), and parched rice on the ground. It struck
me at the time that, at every successive circumambulation, her
strength and presence of mind failed; whereupon the Darogah
(government representative) stepped forward once more and endeavoured,
even at the last moment, to deter her from her fatal determination.
But she, at the very threshold of ghastly death, in the last hour of
expiring life, the fatal torch of _Yama_ (Pluto) before her, calmly
ascended the funeral pile and, lying down by the side of her husband
with one hand under his head, and another on his breast, was heard to
call in a half-suppressed voice, 'Hari, Hari,'--a sign of her firm
belief in the reality of eternal beatitude. When she had thus laid
herself on the funeral pyre, she was instantly covered, or rather
choked, with dried wood, while some stout men with bamboos held and
pressed down the pyre, which was by this time burning fiercely on all
sides. A great shout of exultation then arose from the surrounding
spectators, till both the dead and living bodies were converted into a
handful of dust and ashes."[6]
[Footnote 6: "Hindus as They Are."]
The custom of Sati has been outlawed; but the spirit of Sati still
dominates the womanly heart of the Hindu wife.
It is this beautiful blending of piety and wifely devotion which has
been the song of Hindu poets, and the admiration of the Hindu
community, from time immemorial. It is true that a wife dare not utter
the name of her husband. The name of the husband of a Hindu woman was
Faith. When she came to read the Bible, she skipped this word every
time it occurred in her reading. Why should she demean her lord by
pronouncing publicly his sacred name?
And yet, when it comes to matters of religion, her stern piety and her
religious devotion in the home are the most potent factor of the
household; and husband and father will bow to her supremacy in this
realm. All public life and social functions have been proscribed to
her; therefore, does she see to it that in her narrow home sphere,
both religiously and in the training of her children, her influence
shall be supreme. And it is.
It is here that the progress of Christianity is much impeded in India.
A man is often found ready to change his faith, and to abide the
consequence of the same. It is much more difficult for a woman to
transfer her affection. But the conversion of the husband will not
abide in permanence so long as the wife persists in her devotion to
the ancestral faith. The writer has often seen illustrations of this
supremacy of the influence of the woman. But it is not always so. In
1823, a Brahman child was born in Calcutta. When six years old, he
lighted, by torch, the funeral pyre of his dead father and living
mother. When he attained manhood and had received a University
education, he became a Christian. He was then not only renounced by
his family, but his young wife also spurned and denied him. In
accordance with her faith, she regarded and treated him as dead,
performed his funeral rites, and, with shaven head, unjewelled body,
and the widow's white cloth, mourned his decease as if he had actually
died. For Christ's sake he had been an outcast from his people and was
twice dead to his beloved. This experience has been repeated a
thousand times in India in the case of Christian converts. But, in
this particular instance, there was a remarkable denouement. The young
man, deserted, divorced, and ceremonially buried by his wife, married
a Christian woman, with whom he lived happily for many years. But
after her death he returned to his first love and _remarried the
widow_ of his youth, who, in the meanwhile, had relented and become a
Christian. This was the experience of Professor Chuckerbuthy, of the
General Assembly College, in Calcutta, who died in 1901.
Marriage among Hindus differs in many respects from the same compact
among western people. It is in no instance dependent upon the
initiative of the contracting parties, if such the bride and the
bridegroom may be called in India. Neither of them is a direct
participant in the arranging of the contract. It is all done by the
parents or the guardians of the boy and girl. It is entirely a
business, and not a sentimental, affair. No other system would be
possible under past and present conditions in India. In the case of
infant marriages, the children concerned have, of course, neither
knowledge of, nor special interest in, the matter. Even in cases where
the future bride and bridegroom have attained puberty, no sentiment is
ever allowed to enter, as a consideration, into the matter. The first
question asked is whether the parties belong to the same caste and are
connected by family ties. If so, the marriage may be a suitable one.
It is strange that the children of brothers and sisters furnish the
most suitable marriage relationships. But the children of brothers, or
those of sisters, furnish a prohibited relationship! It is regarded as
improper for a boy to marry the daughter of his mother's sister, or of
his father's brother, as it would be to marry his own sister. The
marriage of those remotely connected by blood is rarely considered;
the marriage of those not at all connected by blood relationship,
never.
The next matter of paramount importance is a consideration of the
horoscope of the parties. Were the boy and girl born under
astrological conditions which harmonize; or does her horoscope so
conflict with his that their dissonance would bring evil and misery to
the family? In the latter case, a marriage will be impossible, even
though all other conditions are most inviting.
Then follows the question of dowry; and here comes the great struggle.
The girl's parents have to furnish, with the bride, a considerable
dowry, whose size is directly related to the affluence of the boy's
family, or to his education and prospects in life. The bickerings
which take place in this matter are most unseemly; and the marriage
compact is degraded into a sordid, mercenary transaction. Fathers of
girls involve themselves in debts which they can never clear, in order
to marry their darlings to sons of high families of good connection.
It is this difficulty of marrying daughters, save at an intolerable
expense to the family, which largely accounts for the universal and
keen disappointment of Hindu families when they discover, at
childbirth, that a daughter, and not a son, has been born.
The contract having been sealed by definite religious ceremony, the
children wait until the girl attains puberty, which may take place at
any time, from the age of ten to fourteen. Then the rites of
consummation are performed, and they live together as man and wife.
Until the marriage is consummated, it is the height of propriety that
the parties shall be apart and strangers to each other.
It is very often the case that there is much disparity between the age
of man and wife. A married woman is supposed to belong to her lord for
time and eternity. A widow is therefore ineligible for remarriage,
even though her husband may have died when she was an infant. The man,
on the other hand, may contract any number of marriages. The rapidity
and the businesslike way with which he proceeds to arrange new
nuptials after the death of his wife seems appalling to a Westerner!
It matters not how many wives he may have had, nor how old he has
become, none but the very young is eligible to become his spouse. The
consequence is that many men of matured, and even of old, age are
wedded to mere girls.
This is partly owing to the fact that the Hindu has not yet realized
the need, or importance, of companionship between man and wife. This
is very marked among the educated men of the Hindu community. Not only
by age, but also by educational and other qualifications, a wife is in
no condition to be a sympathetic companion to her spouse. So that the
relationship has, to them, little of mutuality in it.
The lot of the Hindu widow is, proverbially, a hard one. She is
despised and hated, even though she be but a child, because her
husband's family persist in believing that his death was caused by her
adverse horoscope. She suffers every obloquy in her husband's home, is
deprived of her jewels, has her head shaven, and is clothed only with
a coarse white cloth. Her fastings are long and severe, and she is not
allowed to attend any festivity; for the presence of a widow would be
deemed an evil omen and a curse.
Moreover, she is the object of suspicion, and is frequently the prey
of men's passions. It is a strange comment upon the religious
perversity of a people of the tender domestic nature of Hindus, that
they should deal with so much cruelty and such apparent indifference
to the bereavement and suffering of the unfortunate widow who bears
so tender a relationship to them. Religion has never wrought greater
cruelty and injustice to any one than to the Hindu widow, specially to
the child widow. And, notwithstanding the fact that these suffering
ones are a great host in this land, there are few of their people who
raise their voice in their defence or strive for their relief.
The relationship of son-in-law and mother-in-law is always a strained
one. The wife's mother may live with her under very decided
limitations. It is not permitted to her to eat in the presence of her
son-in-law, or to enter a room where he happens to be!
The situation is still worse between the daughter-in-law and the
mother-in-law. The vernaculars of India abound in proverbs which
illumine this relationship and reveal its strange character. The
husband's mother apparently delights in nothing more than in
exercising a cruel restraint over her son's wife. Nothing that the
young woman can do will please her. And the husband too often sides
with the older against the younger woman. When, however, the situation
becomes intolerable to the wife, she takes French leave, and goes home
to her parents. This soon brings her husband to terms; and it is
etiquette that he go and ask her to return, apologizing for the
troubles that she has endured. And so the situation is improved, for a
while, until another visit to her parents becomes imperative. It is
natural enough that the mother-in-law should thus deal harshly with
her daughter-in-law; for is it not her revenge for the similar
treatment which she received many years ago as daughter-in-law? The
real attitude of the Hindu toward his wife is doubtless more cordial
than it appears to a Westerner. He seems to delight in revealing an
indifference to her feelings and a contempt for her position. In the
household, she is not permitted to eat with him; she must wait upon
his lordship and take the leavings of his meal. Upon a journey, it
would be gross impropriety for her to walk by his side. Etiquette
demands that she walk behind him at a respectable distance of, say,
ten paces.
The love of jewellery is a marked passion with the women of India.
Millions of money are expended every year in the manufacture of female
adornments. And in this work there are more than four hundred thousand
goldsmiths constantly employed. The wealth of a family, especially
among the middle classes, is largely measured by the amount of
jewellery which the women of the household possess. No one would
grudge to these women a certain amount of these personal ornaments;
but when it becomes a mad craze to convert all their wealth into such
vanity, and thus to render their wealth entirely unremunerative, it
becomes a serious matter. The loading down of a woman or a girl with
precious stones, gold, silver, or cheaper metal, adds anything but
attractiveness to the person. It gives them a gross conception of
personal attractiveness as well as a monetary value to beauty, which
degrades the ideals of the country. When a woman's ears and nose, the
crown of her head, her neck, arms, hands, waist, ankles, and toes are
made to sparkle with the wealth of the family, and to bear down the
frail body of the proud victim, they cease entirely to set off the
personal beauty of the woman herself, and become rather a counter
attraction; and she is admired not for what she is, but for what she
carries.
Moreover, it is well known that these women are not satisfied, on
public occasions, to wear their own jewels only; they borrow also
those of their neighbours and shine with a borrowed light, which
reflects a great deal more their vanity than their beauty. Many a time
has the writer seen bright little Brahman girls carrying upon their
person the combined glittering wealth of several families upon
festive occasions. Add to this again the fact that there are thousands
of women and children murdered in India every year for the sake of
these personal ornaments which they flaunt before the public, and with
which they tempt criminals.
It is claimed that higher-class Hindus are cleaner in their personal
habits than almost any other people on earth. This is probably true,
so far as a multiplicity of ablutions can make them. The religious
washings of the Brahman are so frequent as to make him largely immune
to epidemics of cholera and other filth diseases. And yet the lower
classes of the people, in their homes and elsewhere, have little to
boast of in the line of cleanliness. They all aspire to the weekly
oil-bath, which is doubtless a wholesome thing in the heat of these
tropics, where, through paucity of clothing, the skin is much exposed
to the sun's rays. But oil has well-known attractive powers for dust,
filth, and vermin too!
It must also be remembered that the Hindu is given much more to
seeking ceremonial than sanitary cleanliness. It matters not how
filthy the water may be, chemically; if it be ceremonially clean, he
uses it freely. If it be ceremonially polluting, it is eschewed. As
one sees a village community make all possible uses of the village
pond, he wonders why the whole village has not been swept away by
disease. They are saved from their folly, doubtless, by the piercing,
cleansing rays of the tropical sun.
Hindu clothing is both beautiful and admirably suited to the tropical
climate. The one cloth of the Hindu woman, which she so deftly winds
around her body, and which is usually of bright colours, is perhaps
the most exquisitely beautiful garment worn by any people. And this is
altogether adequate to her needs. Unfortunately, western habits are
now coming into vogue, and, in the case of men and women alike, the
clothing of the West is partially supplanting that of the East.
Nothing could be more unfortunate, from the standpoint of health,
beauty, and economy.
The culinary arrangements and the cuisine of the Hindu home are
somewhat elaborate. Well-to-do Hindus, notwithstanding many caste
restrictions, are somewhat epicurean in their tastes, and live well.
As we have seen in the chapter on Caste, there are many limitations
placed upon the selection of food, the method of its preparation, and
of eating. Meat is entirely banned by the highest castes. None will
touch the meat of the bovine kind, save the outcast Pariah. All are
very particular in seeking seclusion for their meals. This is perhaps
the reason why the Hindu home is, generally speaking, so much more
secluded than that of other people. Hindus believe that fingers were
made before knives, forks, and spoons. Consequently they eat their
food entirely with their fingers. It seems offensive enough to
Westerners. It has often taken away the writer's appetite as he has
feasted with them, to have the cook dole out his rice to him with his
bare hands! They eat entirely with their right hand, and never touch
the food with the left, reserving that hand for baser purposes.
In wealthy families, household duties are performed by many servants.
It is amusing to see how many servants are required in India to
perform the ordinary functions of one able-bodied servant in the West.
The services which a Hindu will demand from his menials are far
greater than those of a healthy Westerner. His languid nature and
general effeminacy make him entirely dependent upon his servant for
most of the activities and amenities of life. Recently the writer
heard a Hindu companion in a railway car call his servant at night
from an adjoining car to come and turn the shade over the compartment
lamp that he might have a nap! A well-known writer, in describing the
life of a Babu, says: "The _Khansama_ of a Babu is his most favourite
servant. From the nature of his office he comes into closest contact
with his master; he rubs his body with oil before bathing, and
sometimes shampoos him,--a practice which gradually induces idle,
effeminate habits and eventually greatly incapacitates a man for the
duties of an active life. Indeed, to study the nature of a 'big native
swell' is to study the character of a consummate Oriental epicure,
immersed in a ceaseless round of pleasures, and hedged in by a body of
unconscionable fellows, distinguished only for their flattery and
servility."
During times of sickness, the native doctor is in requisition. This
functionary is not without his merits; for it is a hereditary
profession, and not a little medical wisdom and experience have been
transmitted from father to son down the centuries. Nevertheless, as
compared with modern science, the ignorance of these men is woful, and
the unnecessary loss of life through that ignorance is lamentable.
Their pharmacy is as defective as many of their remedies are absurd
and disgusting. The present government, by multiplying its hospitals
and dispensaries, has done much to arrest disease and remove
suffering. And yet the remedies do not reach one-tenth of the
population. And many of the one-tenth are so suspicious of western
science that in their extremity they will pass the well-equipped
government hospital and its diplomaed attendants in order to consult
the native doctor and to partake of his concoctions. One of the
reasons for this prejudice is the largeness of the dose which the
Indian doctor invariably supplies. How can the diminutive doses of the
white man and his establishment remove important difficulties and heal
serious diseases? The writer has known not a few well-educated Indian
Christians living under the shadow of a well-equipped missionary
hospital which furnished its medicines free, sneak away a few streets
beyond to consult the man who is a compound of a quack and an
astrologer. And yet, doubtless, the new pharmacy of the West brings
healing in its wings to millions of this people annually; and it is
one of the causes for the rapid increase of the population.
At childbirth, the barber's wife is always called. She is the midwife
of India, and the poor Hindu wife who is about to become a mother is
the victim of the ignorance and stupidity of this woman. It is no
wonder that so many die in childbirth or survive only to become
invalids through the remainder of their lives. To remove this serious
evil, government is putting forth strenuous efforts to bring
intelligent relief to the mothers of India.
The entrance of death into a Hindu family brings, as elsewhere,
inexpressible sorrow. The women of the family resign themselves to
their grief, which is expressed by loud wailings, with beating of
their breast and tearing their dishevelled hair. While professional
wailers are rare, nevertheless friends and relatives congregate and
add volume to the dirge of sorrow. The leading women mourners will
often express in weird chant and appropriate words their praises of
the virtues and the beauties of the departed ones. The men of the
household mourn in silence, as it is not fitting that the man should
audibly express his sorrow in public.
Hindus make immediate arrangements for burning or burial as soon as
death has occurred; so that, usually, the funeral services are over
within twelve or eighteen hours after death. This is desirable,
because of the Hindu custom of fasting so long as a corpse remains in
the house; and is also necessary because of the speedy decomposition
of the body in the tropics. It is also made possible by the fact that
Hindus do not use coffins.
It is the custom of most of the higher-caste Hindus to cremate their
dead; while many of the lowest castes and outcasts resort to burial.
Cremation would doubtless be the more sanitary method, if the fire
were not so inadequate in many instances. The Hindu burning-ground is
a place of ghastly and disgusting interest.
Funeral ceremonies do not terminate with the burning or with the
burial of the body in Hinduism. The ritual connected with the dead,
which is called _Shradda_, is, among the higher classes, a most
elaborate and complicated one, and lasts, with intermissions, for a
year. These are conducted with much effort by, and at great expense
to, the oldest son of the family. And a great significance is attached
to their rigid performance. It may be regarded as a part of the great
ancestral worship of the East.
The function of this ceremony is also kindred to that of Roman
Catholicism, which, through prayer and offerings, seeks the release of
souls from Purgatory. By this ritual, which involves also gifts to
Brahmans and priests, the son makes more easy the pathway of the
departed parent through the shades into the realms beyond, and
relieves the departed soul of its encumbrances and facilitates its
progress toward bliss. By some it is claimed that these ceremonies,
when rightly performed, render unnecessary his suffering in hell or
his returning to this world for rebirth. It is more likely that the
purpose is to reduce the suffering and to enhance the progress of the
soul between this birth and the next. In any case, all orthodox Hindus
regard the _Shradda_ ceremonies as possessing great virtue and high
importance. And this is one of the principal reasons why every Hindu
man and woman is so eager for the birth of a son in their family.
Without a son, who is there to relieve their soul from destruction,
and to bring to them future peace and rest through the _Shradda_
ceremony? Thus parents ever pray for male offspring; and the greatest
disappointment in the life of a Hindu woman is not to be able to
present her lord a son to solace him in this life and to assist him
through the valley of death. One of the questions asked by the dutiful
son, as he performs this laborious ritual, is,--
"O my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather!
Are you satisfied? Are you satisfied? We are satisfied."
If any son, by the dutiful performance of offering and ritual here
upon earth, can bring help and peace to his dead ancestors, the Hindu
son may be expected to succeed.
The following, taken from an ancient Sutra, is regarded as a Hindu
burial hymn:--
"Open thy arms, O earth! receive the dead
With gentle pressure and with loving welcome.
Enshroud him tenderly, even as a mother
Folds her soft vestment round the child she loves.
Soul of the dead, depart! take thou the path--
The ancient path by which our ancestors
Have gone before thee; thou shalt look upon
The two kings, mighty Varuna and Yama,
Delighting in oblations; thou shalt meet
The fathers and receive the recompense
Of all thy stored-up offerings above.
Leave thou thy sin and imperfection here;
Return unto thy home once more; assume
A glorious form."