MMM I i 1 il mm IIBICeilY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of CftttFOtNiA HANDBOOK OP SANSKRIT LITERATURE. A HANDBOOK SANSKRIT LITERATURE: APPENDICES DESCRIPTIVE OF THE MYTHOLOGY, CASTES, AND RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE HINDUS. INTENDED ESPECIALLY FOR CANDIDATES FOR THE INDIA CIVIL SERVICE, AND MISSIONARIES TO INDIA. GEORGE SMALL, M.A, M TEACHER OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES J FORMERLY MISSIONARY AT CALCUTTA AND BENARES } MEMBER OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, ETC. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 18G6. HERTFORD: PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN. //f PREFACE. IN the composition of this Handbook the Editor disclaims all originality. "Composition," indeed, is hardly an applicable term in the case, except in the literal sense of the word, that is, inasmuch as it has consisted in a " placing together " of materials already in existence, products of the genius and researches of other and far abler men. The work may more properly be designated a compilation; and the only merit that the author can rightfully lay claim to is that of care and diligence in the selection and arrangement of the subject-matter : the only merit that complimentary critics can attribute (if deemed due) being that of judiciousness, exhibited in the manner in which this has been done. He does not profess to be a manufacturer, but simply a merchant (or retailer) of literature, who knowing from experience the state of the market as regards " demand/' b yi PREFACE. endeavours, to the best of his ability, to provide the proper "supply." Contrary, however, to mercantile custom in general, instead of " buying at the cheapest market and selling at the dearest," the Editor has sought for "profit" (the reader's, if not his own) by getting his materials from the most authentic sources available even though the most expensive in order that he may retail them on far cheaper terms, as well as in a much more handy form, to his reading customers. The principal of these authorities some of which works are now difficult to be procured from being out of print may here be mentioned, though generally acknowledged in the body of the treatise. The book to which the Editor has, perhaps, been most largely indebted, is the learned and voluminous work " On the History, Litera- ture, etc., of the Hindoos," by the late Rev. "W. Ward, of Serampore. Next to that he would mention the more modern, but equally learned work, by Professor Max Muller, the " History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature." His chief other authorities have been Sir William Jones, H. T. Colebrooke, Esq., and Professor H. H. Wilson, from whose valuable contributions to the " Journal of the Asiatic Society," as well as separately published works, he has freely and largely quoted. To these he would PREFACE. yji add the "Historical Sketch of Sanskrit Literature," by Professor Adelung, as translated from the German by Mr. Talboys ; the prize essay, by the late Dr. Ballantyne, on " Christianity as contrasted with Hindu Philosophy," and various other treatises, by the same author, on the " Philosophical Systems of the Hindus ; " Lectures on Indian Epic Poetry," and other works, by Professor Monier Williams, of Oxford; "India and the Hindoos," by the Rev. F. de W. Ward, Missionary at Madras ; and lastly, but very especially, the editor would acknowledge his indebtedness to the valuable little work of a very similar character with the present, but now out of print, entitled the " Missionary's Yade Mecum," by the Rev. T. Phillips, formerly missionary at Muttra. The Editor's principal object in the preparation of this Handbook has been the supply of a desideratum, long felt both by himself and his pupils those of them, especially, who were candidates for H.M. Civil Service in India viz., a work in a condensed form, and at a moderate price, from which might be obtained such a general acquaintance with Sanskrit Literature as would enable them to answer the questions on that subject likely to be set at the competitive and subsequent examinations. yiii PREFACE. The importance of the study of Sanskrit, even on merely philological grounds, as the parent of the other classical languages (of the ^ryan family), as well as on account of the richness and variety of its own literature, is now becoming increasingly felt and acknowledged, not only on the European continent (where so much more attention has hitherto been paid to it), but even in England ; which forms an additional reason for hoping that a volume like the present will be hailed, in spite of all its imperfections, as a useful work of reference, or text-book. If, in any humble degree, it should prove an incentive to the study of that venerable and highly polished lan- guage, and a handy-guide to those entering on its study, the Editor will feel that the trouble he has taken in the preparation of this little volume has not been in vain. 24, WELLINGTON STREET, STRAND, June, 1866. For the assistance of those readers who may not be already familiar with the Sanskrit character, though, in general, the Roman equivalents have been used through- out the work, the Deva Nagari Alphabet, and most useful compound letters, are here appended : PREFACE. i x VOWELS. , ^ T &, f *> Nasal symbol, called Anusvdra, * m. Symbol for the final aspi- rate, called Visarga, \ h. CONSONANTS. Gutturals, efi k ^ kh Palatals, ^ ch ^ ch} Cerebrals, 'Z t "3 th Dentals, TT gh r y ^T n 'k, ^ n.g, ^ chch, ^^chchh, ^( chy, ^J dy, T!g nt y T^ nth, TJ^ wrf, ^ ww, ?5T ny, T^ ^#, W tth, ^ tn, ^ tm y -ft ty, ^ tr, ^ tv, <^T fe, ( ^%, ^ ^r, ^ ^*. W dbh, ^ dm, ^ dy, ^ dr, ^ dv, T% dhy, ^Sf dhv, nT nt, ^ nd, ^ nn, Zf ny, TT J r ^ P ; ^T */ ^ &rf ^T *y, W r, ^r 5%, ?f bhr, mbh, iq mm, 1Q my, ^f ml, ^| yy, cjj rA:, ^ rm, ^J lp, ^ W, , ^ ur, ^ *cA, "3^ sy, ^ sr, ^ si, ^ *, "g *^#, ^ A#A, ^ *Aw, shy, Tcff *A;, ^ *^, ^f st, "^ sth, ^ sn, ^ sm, ^J *y, ^ *r, , w hm > w % ^ hl > ^ kt y> IF ** r> ^ Ar#y> ^^ *** ?> kshm, ^T A:5%, TRJ gny, TVQ gbhy, TRgry, ^ n-kt, ^ n.ky, chchhy, ^ chchhr, |T5J w^y, <^ tsn, ^ r 151 3. The Celestial Dancers and Musicians ... 152 4. TheNayikas 152 5. TheYakshas 153 6. The Pis'achas 153 7. The other Servants of the Gods 153 III. ON THE AVATARAS AND TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 1. Krishna 154 2. Gopala and Gopinatha 155 3. Jaggannatha (or Juggernath) 156 4. Rama 157 5. Visvakarma 158 6. Kama-dev,a the Indian Cupid 159 IV. OF THE PRINCIPAL FEMALE TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 1. Sita 159 2. Radha 159 3. Rukmini and Satya-bhama 159 4. Subhadra ... 160 V. OF DEIFIED RIVERS. 1. Ganga (the Ganges) 160 2. Other Deified Rivers 161 xviii CONTENTS. VI. OTHER OBJECTS OF DIVINE WORSHIP. PAB 1. The Cow 162 2. The Monkey (Hanuman) 162 3. The Dog 163 4. The S'rigala (or Jackal) 163 5. The Garuda (or Garura) 163 6. Aruna 163 7. The S'ankara-chilla (or Brahmani-kite) 163 8. The Kanjana (or "Water-wagtail) 163 9. The Peacock, the Goose, and the Owl , 163 10. Fishes Worshipped 164 11. Trees Worshipped 164 12. The Salagrama Stone 164 APPENDIX II. ON THE HINDI/ CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. I. OF THE FOUR CASTES 165 II. OF THE RELIGIOUS SECTS 168 (a.) Divisions and Doctrines of the Vaishnava Sects ..170 1. Of the Sri Sampradayis, or Ramanujas 170 2. The Ramanandis, or Ramawats 175 3. The Kabir Panthis 179 4. The Khakis 186 5. The Maliik Dasis 186 6. The Dadu Panthis 187 7. The Rudra Sampradayis, or Vallabhacharis 188 CONTENTS. x i x PAGE (*.-) Of the S'aiva Sects 191 1. The Dandis and Das'n amis 193 2. The Yogis, or Jogis 197 3. The Jangamas or Lingayats 199 4. The Paramhansas 199 5. TheAghoris 200 6. The Urddhabahus .'. 201 7. The Akas Mukhis 201 8. TheNakhis 201 9. The Gudaras 202 10. The Sftkharas 202 11. The Rfikharas 202 12. The Ukharas 203 13. The Karalingis 203 14. The Sannyasis 203 15. The Vairagis 203 16. TheAvadhfitas 203 17. TheNagas 204 (c.) Of the S'akta Sects 204 1. The Dakshinas, or Bhaktas 205 2. The Vamis, or Vamacharis ... 205 (d.) Other (Miscellaneous) Sects 206 1. The Saurapatas, or Sauras 206 2. The Ganapatyas 206 3. The Sikhs, or Nanak Shahis 207 4. The Udasis, Govind Sinhis, etc 207 5. The Jains 207 EBBATA. The following mistakes have been only discovered by the Editor when preparing the Table of Contents, after the body of the work had left the press. He regrets much that they had escaped his observation when correcting the proofs (sometimes rather hastily) in the short intervals of professional engagements. The Reader is requested to notify them in his copy ; and also to observe that some words have two, or even more, different forms or orthographies, and he therefore must not always conclude, when he finds the same term spelt differently in different places, that either word is a mis- print : Page 1, line 17, for "Silpa," read "SUpa." 2, 7, ,, " Mimdnsa," read " Mimdnsd." 5, 9, "Vaisampaydna," read "Vaisampdyana." 12, 28, "Aranyaka," read "Aranyakas." 29, 30, "Parisishta," read " Paris'ishta." 47, 11, "Pdrshada," read "Pdrshadas." 55, 21, (5.) THE PARIS'ISHTAS, etc., to the end of Chap. II. should have been printed at the end of Chap. I. 76, ,, 3, for "PATANJALf," read "PATANJALA." 76, 5, "Pdtanfali," read "Patanjali." 77, ,,10,16,, Ditto Ditto. 82, 8, "Patanjala," read Pdtanjala." 89, 5, ^Tf^T read ^fin 96, 15, 24 "Jaimini" read "Jaimini" ,,107, 19, "Marwar," read "Marwar." 120, 4, etc. "4, 5, 6, 7," read u 1, 2, 3, 4." 126, 1,3, "Skdnda," read "Skanda." 139, 14, "charming," read "churning." ,,143, ,,21, etc. "Ganesa," read "Ganesa." 159, 15, "Sita," read "Sitd." 174, 14, "Dandavat," read "Dandavat." HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE, PAET I. RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY AKD ON THE YEDAS. 1. General Division of the Sdstrds, or Sacred Writings of the Hindus. THE Hindus arrange their sacred works under eighteen heads, or separate books, in which every sort of know- ledge, religious, philosophical, scientific, and ethical, is considered to be fully taught, as follows : 1. The four YEDAS, namely, the Rig, the Ycy'ur, 1 the Sdma, and the Atharva. 2. The four UP A- YEDAS, comprising the Ay us (on the science of medicine), drawn from the Rig-veda ; the Gdn- dharva (on music), from the Sama-veda; the Dhanu (on military tactics), from the Yajus; and the Silpa or Sthdpatya (on mechanics), from the Atharya. 1 The original words are respectively Rich (^T^) and Yajus but when prefixed to the word Veda, the euphonic rules of Sanskrit grammar require them to be pronounced Rig and Yajur, with which forms therefore the European reader is likely to be most familiar. Rich (the root and " crude base") however becomes, by the same rules, in the nominative oingular, Rik xJ HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 3. The six ANGAS/ viz., the Sikshd, on pronunciation ; the Kalpa y on ceremonies ; the Vydkarana, on grammar ; the Chhandas, on prosody and verse; the Jyotisha, on astronomy; and the Nirukta y an explanation of difficult words, etc., in the Yedas. 4. The four UPANGAS, viz., the Purdnas, or poetical histories ; the Nydya, on ethics ; the Mimdnsa, on divine wisdom and religious ceremonies ; and the D/iarma Sdstra, or the civil and canon laws. 2. Origin and Antiquity of the Vedas. The difficulties attending the first attempts to obtain from the Brahmans a knowledge of their Sastras, were very great. This is accounted for from the fact that the Sastras denounce the heaviest penalties on a Brahman who shall teach the knowledge of the sacred books to infidels or persons of low caste. This reserve, however, has at length been so overcome by the perseverance, influence, and gold of Europeans (pioneered by such men as Sir William Jones, Mr. Colebrooke, etc.), that the Brahmans will now, without the slightest hesitation, sell or translate the most sacred of their books, or communicate all they mow of their contents. The difficulty now lies more in the scarcity and obscurity of these works than in the scrupulosity of the Brahmans, their guardians. Though probably no person living has ever seen the whole Yeda, yet distinct portions of each of the four parts the Rig, the Yajur, the Sdma, and the Atharva have long been in the hands of learned Europeans, by whom they have been identified, and their contents examined 1 That is, "limbs" or "parts." ANTIQUITY OF THE VEDAS. 3 and translated. The Rig, the Yajur, and the Sdma are considered to be the principal portions of the Yeda, but the Atharvana is generally admitted as a fourth part. And divers mythological poems, entitled Itihdsas and Purdnas, are reckoned a supplement, and as such con- stitute a fifth Veda. It is well known that the Brahmans have more reverence for the Yedas than for any other of the Sastras. Several causes may be assigned for this ; they are at present but little known, and ignorance, in this case, is doubtless the mother of devotion; they are declared to be the peculiar inheritance of the Brahmans, and are kept from the lower castes, so that a Siidra cannot hear any part of them repeated without incurring guilt ; they are sup- posed to be the source of all the Sastras everything, it is said, is to be found in the Vedas. They claim an inscru- table antiquity. Many believe them to have proceeded immediately from the mouth of God ; thus the Yedanta writers say, " The self-evident word proceeding out of the mouth of God, this is the Veda." l But, perhaps (as one writer remarks) we may consider the word " Veda" as signifying " knowledge," or true ideas, or philosophy in general, and not merely the books so called, and thus account for the veneration in which it is held by Hindus generally, and especially by the Brahmans. 1 The date of the Vedas (undoubtedly the most ancient compositions in the whole range of Sanskrit literature) is fixed by Sir "W. Jones at 1500 B.C. Hitter supposes they were collected or composed about 1400 or 1600 B.C. Their great age may be inferred from the fact of their being mentioned in all ancient Indian works, and from the ancient iambic metre of eight syllables, in which they are written, and not in the common sloka of modern works. But it is impossible to fix the precise period of their composition from any data now procurable. HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. Notwithstanding the directly divine origin ascribed by the Yedantists and others to the Yedas, on consulting the works themselves, we find the names of the respective authors of each passage preserved in the Anukramanikd, or explanatory table of contents, which has been handed down with the Yeda itself, and of which the authority is unquestioned. The acknowledged author of the index to the white Yajus, and also that prefixed to the Rig-veda, was Katydyana, the pupil of Shaunaka. According to said " Anukramanika," Viwdmitra is the author of all the hymns contained in the third book of the' Rig-veda ; as Bharadmja is, with rare exceptions, the composer of those collected in the sixth book ; Vasishtha, of those in the seventh; Gritsamada, of those in the second ; Vdmadeva, of those in the fourth ; and Buddha, 1 and other descendants of AM, of those in the fifth. But in the remain- ing books of the Rig- Yeda, the authors are more various, such as Jamadagni, son of Bhrigu ; Parasara, father of Yyasa ; Gotama, and his son Nodhas ; Kasyapa, son of Marichi ; Angiras, Yrihaspati, Narada, and other celebrated Indian sages, along with many of their lineal descendants. Several personages of royal birth (as the five sons of Yrihangir, and the Rajas Trayaruna, and Trasadasya) are mentioned among the authors of some of the hymns in the Rig-veda. Many of the hymns are in praise of the liberality and other virtues of various celebrated kings and heroes, as of Swanaya, Chitra, Yibhandu, etc. Some parts of the Yeda are ascribed to divine persons, 1 First of the name, and progenitor of the race of kings called " children the Moon," or " the Lunar Dynasty." AUTHORS OF THE VEDAS. O and even to Brahma himself, under different names. "Where the author was unknown, the compiler probably gave to that hymn or section a divine origin, but it is probable that the greater portion, if not the whole, of the Yeda was written by devotees called Munis. Dwaipayana, surnamed Yyasa (or, "the compiler"), having compiled and arranged the Scriptures, theogonies and mythological poems, taught the several Vedas to as many disciples, viz. the JRik to Paila ; the Yajus to Vaisampaydna ; the Sdma to Jaimini ; the Atharva to Samantu ; and the Itihdsas and Purdnas to Suta. These disciples instructed their respective pupils, who, becoming teachers in their turn, communicated the knowledge to their own disciples ; until at length, in the progress of successive instruction, so great varieties crept into the text, or into the manner of reading or reciting it, and into the no less sacred precepts for its use and applications, that no fewer than 1,100 different schools arose. " 3. Of the Theology of the Vedas. The religious system of the Yedas may be described as a rude, non-idolatrous deism though in some aspects it presents a polytheistical appearance, in as far as the sun, moon, fire, etc., are regarded as proper objects of adora- tion. " The real doctrine of the Indian Scripture," says Colebrooke, " is the unity of the Deity, in whom the universe is comprehended ; and the seeming polytheism which it exhibits, offers the elements and the stars and planets as Grod. The three principal manifestations of 6 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. the divinity, 1 with other personified attributes and energies, and most of the other gods of Hindu my- thology are indeed mentioned, or at least indicated, in the Yeda. But the worship of deified heroes is no part of the system ; nor are the incarnations of deities suggested in any portions of the text which I have seen, though such are sometimes hinted at by the commentators." 3 " Some of these statements," however, remarks Prof. "Wilson, 3 " may perhaps require modification ; for without a careful examination of all the prayers of the Yedas, it would be hazardous to assert that they contain no indica- tion whatever of hero-worship ; and certainly they do appear to allude occasionally to the Avatars or incarna- tions of Vishnu. It is also true that the worship of the Vedas is for the most part domestic worship, consisting of prayers and oblations offered in their own houses, not in temples by individuals for individual good, and addressed to unreal presences, not to visible types. In a word, the religion of the Vedas was not idolatry." 4. General Divisions of the Vedas. The whole Veda is divided into three parts, viz., the Mantras or Gdnas prayers, hymns, etc., which collectively are called the Sanhitd of each Veda ; the Brdhmanas or theological part ; and the Jndna or Upanishads, the philo- sophical portion ; besides which many selections have been made from the Veda by different sages. 1 Viz., the Sun (under the various names of Surya, Mitra, etc.), Somd (the moon), and Agni (fire). To which are to be added Indra (the firmament, especially as seen at night), and Vdyu (the wind). 2 As. Res. yol, viii., p. 473. 3 Introduction to the Vishnu Parana. DIVISIONS OF THE VEDAS. 7 The first of these divisions comprises about thirty dif- ferent treatises, or collections of prayers and hymns, with comments, as the Rig-veda Sanhitd, the A' r any a Panchdka, the Yajur-veda Sanhitd, the Taittiriya Sanhitd, etc., etc. The Brdhmanas include between sixty and seventy separate works and comments ; and the Upanishads are sixty-two in number, though many are comprised in a few leaves, and only ten of them are much studied now-a- days, as containing matters of dispute between the sects who follow the six Darshanas, or philosophical schools. The proper meaning of Upanishad is said to be " divine science," or the " knowledge of God," and is equally ap- plied to the theology itself, and to a book in which thib science is taught. The whole of the Indian theology is professedly founded on the Upanishads. The several Sanhitds, or collections of Mantras in each Veda, constitute the Sdkhas (^WT) or " branches" of each Yeda. Tradition, preserved in the Ptirdnas, reckons the Sanhitds of the Rig-veda as 16 in number ; of the Yajur, 86, or, including those which branched from a second revelation of this Yeda, 101. Those of the Sdma-veda are reckoned as no fewer than 1,000, and of the Atharvana nine. But treatises on the study of the Yeda reduce the Sdkhas of the Rig to five; and those of the Yajus, in- cluding both revelations of it, to 86. 5. We proceed now to give a brief account of the Special Divisions and Contents of the several Vedas. I. OF THE RIG- YEDA. (a). The Sanhitd. The collection of prayers in the Rig- 8 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. veda is divided into eight parts (khanda or kanda), eacli of which is subdivided into as many lectures (adhydyd). Another mode of division also runs through the volume, distinguishing ten books (mandala), which are subdivided into more than 100 chapters (anumka), and comprise 1,000 hymns or invocations (suktd). A further subdivision of more than 2,000 sections (cargo) is common to both methods, and the whole con- tains above 10,000 verses, or stanzas (slokas) of various measures. " The Sanhita of the first Yeda," says Mr. Colebrooke, f contains mantras or prayers, which for the most part are encomiastic, as the name, Eig-veda, implies. 1 . . . On examining this voluminous compilation, a systematic ar- rangement is readily perceived. Successive chapters, and even entire books, comprise hymns of a single author ; invocations, too, addressed to the same deities, hymns relating to like subjects and prayers intended for similar occasions, are frequently classed together. The Eishi or speaker is of course rarely mentioned in the Mantra itself, but in some instances he does name himself. A few passages, too, among the Mantras of the Yeda are in the form of a dialogue, and, in such cases, the discoursers were alternately considered as Eishi and Devata. In general the person to whom it was revealed, or by whom its use and application was first discovered, is called the Eishi of 1 Derived from the verb rich (tg-q) "to praise." The term signifies any prayer or hymn in which the deity is praised ; and as those are mostly in verse, the term becomes also applicable to such passages of any Veda as are reducible to measures by the rules of prosody. The Rig-veda, containing most of these, derives its name from them. THE SANHITA OF THE RIG- VEDA. that Mantra. He is evidently, then, the author of that prayer, notwithstanding the assertion of the Hindus, with whom it is an article of their creed, that the Yedas were composed by no human author. " The deities invoked appear to be as various as the authors of the prayers addressed to them ; but, according to the most ancient annotations on the Indian Scripture, those numerous names of persons and things are all re- solvable into different titles of three deities, and ulti- mately of one God. The Nighantu, 1 or glossary of the Yedas, concludes with three lists of names of deities ; the first comprising such as are deemed synonymous with fire ; the second, with air ; and the third, with the sun. In the last part of the Nirukta, which entirely relates to deities, it is twice asserted that there are but three gods ' Tisra eva devatah.' The further evidence that these intend but one deity is supported by many passages in the Yeda ; and it is very clearly and concisely stated in the beginning of the Index to the Rig-veda, on the authority of the Nirukta and of the Yeda itself. " The deities," it is there stated, " are only three, whose places are the earth, the intermediate region, and heaven ; fire, air, and the sun. They are pronounced to be (the deities) of the mysterious names severally ; 3 and Prajdpati (the lord of creatures) is (the deity) of them collectively. 1 The Nighantu is the first part of the Nirukta, one of the Vedangas, or works supplementary to and connected with the Vedas. It is a glossarial explanation of obscure terms. 2 huv, Bhuvah, and Swar, called Vydhriti (cqi^fif) a mystical word or sound, as Om, etc. These commence the daily prayers of the Brahmans. 10 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The syllable Om l intends every deity ; it belongs to (Pammeshthi) Him who dwells in the supreme abode ; it appertains to (Brahma) the vast one ; to (Deva) God ; to (Adhydtma) the superintending soul. Other deities be- longing to those several regions are portions of the (three) gods ; for they are variously named and described, on account of their different operations, but (in fact) there is only one deity, the great soul (Mahdn A'tmd). He is called the sun ; for he is the soul of all beings ; and that is declared by the sage ' The sun is the soul of (jagat] what moves, and of (tasthush) that which is fixed. Other deities are portions of him ; and that is expressly declared by the text. The wise call fire Indra, Mitra, and Ya- runa," etc. 2 "The subjects and uses of the prayers contained in the Yeda differ more than the deities which are invoked, or the titles by which they are addressed. Every line is replete with allusions to mythology and to the Indian notions of the divine nature and the celestial spirits. For the innumerable ceremonies to be performed by a house- holder, and still more for those endless rites enjoined on hermits and ascetics, a choice of prayers is offered in every stage of the celebration. The various and repeated sacrifices with fire, and drinking of the milky juice of the Moon plant, or acid asclepias (soma-latd), furnish abun- j the mystic name of the deity, prefacing all the prayers and most of the writings of the Hindus. It is composed of three letters, viz. ^ff a name of Vishnu, ^ of S'iva, and ^ of Brahma. It therefore implies the Indian Triad, and expresses three in one. 2 This passage of the AnuJcramani is partly ahridged from the Nirukta, and partly taken from the Brahmana of the Vedas. THE BRAHMAN A OF THE RIG- VEDA. 11 dant occasion for numerous prayers, adapted to the many stages of those religious rites." l The third book of the Rig-veda (distributed into five chapters) contains invocations by Yisvamitra. The last hymn in this book consists of six prayers, one of which contains the celebrated Gdyatri (or verse consisting of eight syllables), as follows : " This new and excellent praise of thee, splendid playful sun, is offered by us to thee. Be gratified by this my speech. Approach this craving mind, as a fond man seeks a woman. May that sun (Pushan), who contemplates and looks into all worlds, be our protection. Let us meditate on the adorable light of the divine rules (Savitra) ; may it guide our intellects. Desirous of food, we solicit the gift of the splendid sun (Savitri), who should be studiously worshipped. Yene- rable men, guided by the understanding, salute the divine sun with oblations and praise." 2 (b.) The Brahmana of the Rig-veda. The second part of the Rig-veda consists of the Brahmana (or precepts). The Aitereya Brahmana is divided into eight books (Panjikd) each containing five chapters or lectures (Adhydya) and subdivided into an unequal number of sec- tions (Khanda*)> amounting in the whole to 285. The work is partly in prose, but for most part in verse. It treats chiefly of sacrifices to be performed by kings, and of the consecration of kings, etc. This latter ceremony was per- 1 Colebrooke's Essay on the Vedas. As. Ees. vol. viii. 2 There are four Gdyatris, according to the four Vedas, intended for the exclusive use of Brahmans, who believe that no S'udra can repeat them without drawing on himself signal punishment from heaven. The most common in use is in these words. " Om, earth, sky, heavens ! We meditate on that adorable light of the resplendent sun ; may it direct our intellects !" 12 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. formed by pouring on their heads, while seated on a throne prepared for the purpose, water mixed with honey, clari- fied butter (ghritd), and spirituous liquors (madhu), as well as two sorts of grass, and the sprouts of corn. This ceremony, called dbhi&heka (^rf5tffaj) " sprinkling/' or " anointing," is also celebrated on divers occasions as parts of the rites belonging to certain solemn sacrifices. The mode of its celebration forms the subject of the second chapter of the eighth book, which contains an instance (not singular in the Vedas) of a disquisition, or a difference of opinion among inspired authors. The thirty-eighth chapter describes a supposed con- secration of Indra, when elected by the gods to be their king. It consists of similar, but more solemn rites, including, among other peculiarities, a fanciful construc- tion of his throne with texts of the Yeda ; besides a re- petition of the ceremony in various regions, to ensure universal dominion. This last part contains many geo- graphical allusions. The fortieth, and last chapter of the Aitereya Brahmana, relates to the benefit of entertaining a Purohita, or ap- pointed priest ; the selection of a proper person -for that office, and the mode of his appointment by the king, together with the functions to be discharged by him. The last chapter describes rites to be performed, under the direc- tion of such a priest, for the destruction of the king's enemies. (c.) The Aranyaka and Upanishads of the Ri$-veda. The Upanishads are the argumentative sections of the Yeda, sometimes entitled the Yedanta. Some of these THE TJPANISHADS OF THE RIG-VEDA. 13 tracts are portions of the Brahmana, properly so called, others are found only in detached forms, and one is part of a Sanhita itself. These constitute the third part of the Rig-veda. The Aitereya Aranyaka comprises eighteen chapters or lectures, unequally distributed in five books. The second, which is the longest, for it contains seven lectures, forms, with the third, an Upanishad of this Yeda, entitled the Bahvrich Brahmana Upanishad, or more commonly the Aitereya, as the Composition or revelation made to a sage so named. The four last lectures of that second Aranyaka are par- ticularly consonant with the theological doctrines of the Vedantists, and are accordingly considered by theologians of that school as the proper Aitereya Upanishad. This work speaks of the creation of the universe by the self-existent and all pervading soul (Paramatma) or Brahma. First, the regions above the visible heavens, the atmosphere, the earth, and waters are created. Then God, to rule these various regions. Then food for all beings. The efforts of the primeval man to seize food, which was embodied in form, are described. After this is explained the mode in which the universal soul penetrated the man. Pro-creation is then described, and the whole is concluded by a disquisition on the nature of the soul. The Kaushitika Brahmana is another Upanishad. This contains two dialogues ; one in which Indra instructs Pratardana in theology, and another in which Ajatasatru, king of Kasi (Benares), communicates divine knowledge to a priest named Balaki. 14 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 2. OF THE YAJUR-VEDA, OR ADHVARYU. The Yajus, or Adhvaryu, consists of two different Yedas, the white and the black, which have each sepa- rately branched out into various Sakhas. 1 To explain the names by which both are distinguished, it is necessary to notice a legend which is gravely related in the Puranas, and the commentaries on the Yedas. The Yajus, in its original form, was at first taught by Yaisampayana to twenty- seven pupils. At this time, having instructed Yajnavalkya, he appointed him to teach the Yeda to other disciples. But being afterwards oifended with him, the resentful preceptor made him disgorge the science he had learned in a tangible form. The rest of Yaisampayana's disciples, receiving his com- mand to pick up the disgorged Yeda, assumed the form of partridges, and swallowed these texts, which were soiled and for this reason termed "black" (op^, krishna). This Yeda is also, and more commonly, called the Taiiti- riya, from tittiri (f?ffWT) " a partridge," and it contains twenty-seven Sakhas according to the number of Yaisam- payana's pupils. Yajnavalkya, overwhelmed with sorrow, had recourse to the sun, from which he received a new revelation of the Yajus, which is called "white" (7^ sukla) . There is, however, a more rational account of the origin of these two Yedas, given in the Anukramam, or Index, to the black Yajus. The Yajur-veda relates chiefly to oblations and sacri- fices, as the name itself implies, which is derived from yaj a branch." THE SANHITA OF THE YAJUR-VEDA. 15 (^T5f), " to worship." It contains instructions respecting religious exercises, the castes, feasts, purifications, expia- tions, pilgrimages, gifts, various sacrifices, the requisite qualifications in animals to be offered, the building of temples, the usual ceremonies at the births, marriages, and deaths, of men of all ranks, etc. Many of the hymns and detached portions of the Yeda have been translated by Mr. Colebrooke, Sir William Jones, Dr. Carey, and others. The Yajasaneyi, or white Yajus, is the shortest of the Yedas, so far as respects the first and principal part, viz., the mantras. (a) The Sanhitd of the Tajur. The Sanhitd of this Yeda is comprised in forty lecturs (adhydya), unequally divided into numerous short sections (khandaka or kdndikd), each of which, in general, constitutes a prayer or Mantra. It is also divided, like the Rig-veda into anuvdkas (chapters). The number of these appears to be 286 ; the number of sections or verses is nearly two thousand (1987) ; but this includes many repetitions of the same text in divers places. The Adhydyds are very unequal, containing from 13 to 117 sections (kdndikd). The black Yajus is more copious as regards the Mantras, than the white, but less so than the Rig-veda. Its Sanhitd is arranged in seven books (Ashtaka or kdndd) containing from five to eight lectures or chapters (Adhydya, Pras'na, or Prapdthakd). Each of these is sub divided into sections (Anuvdka), which are equally dis- tributed in the third and sixth books, but unequally in the rest. The whole number exceeds 650. No admittedly human authors were noticed by Colebrooke in this Yeda. 16 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. Nine entire Kandas are ascribed to Prajapati (the lord of creatures) ; as many to the moon, seven to Agni (or fire), and sixteen to all the gods. Many of the topics are the same as those of the white Yajus, but differently placed and differently treated. (b) The Brahmana and Upanishads of the Yajus. The fortieth and last chapter of this Yeda is an Upanishad, called Isavasyam, which has been translated by Sir William Jones. A part of this Upanishad, the Ukada Aranyaka, together with a commentary on the same by Sankara Acharya, is now in the library of the Asiatic Society of London. The Satapatha Brahmana is more copious than the col- lection of prayers (the Sanhita), but the same order is followed in both. The Yrihadaranyaka, which constitutes the fourteenth book, is the conclusion of the white Yajus. This forms the Yrihad Upanishad. In it we have an account of Yiraj (fc(^J5!) ? the first cause, dividing his own substance into male and female of every creature, from man to the lowest animal. In the second part of the Brahmana of the black Yeda, religious observances are described. Its Upanishads are two, the Taittiriyaka and the Narayana. Other Sakhas have other Upanishads, as the Maitrayani, Katha, and Swetasvatara. The Jesuits forged a modern imitation of this Yeda, called the Ezur Yedam. Copies of three other Yedas in Sanskrit, written in the Roman character and in French, were found among the manuscripts of the Catholic mis- DIVISIONS OF THE SAMA-VEDA. 17 sionary at Pondicherry (M. Barthelmy) where the one in question was discovered. A copy of the Ezur Yedam was brought from India, and presented to Voltaire, who sent it, in 1761, to the Royal Library of France. The forgery which had been manufactured at the instigation of the Jesuits (it is said by Father Roberto de Nobili, in the seventeenth century), has been ably exposed in an article by the late F. Ellis, Esq., contained in the Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay. 3. OF THE SAMA-VEDA. This Yeda, so called from Sdman, a prayer arranged for singing, consists of more than 1,000 Sanhitds. A peculiar degree of holiness seems to be attached to it by the Hindus, it being supposed that the perusal of it is destructive of sin. The prayers (Mantras) belonging to it are composed in metre, and intended to be chanted. The principal, if not the first part of the Sama-veda, is that entitled A.'rchika. It comprises prayers arranged in six chapters (Prapdthaka) subdivided into half- chapters, and into sections (dasati), ten in each chapter, and usually containing exactly ten verses each. The same collection of prayers, in the same order, but prepared for chanting, is distributed in seventeen chapters, under the title of Grdmageya-gdna. Another portion of the Sama-Veda, arranged for chant- ing, bears the title of A'ranya-gdna, and is subdivided in the same manner as the A'rchika. 2 18 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. There are four Brdhmanas of this Yeda, received by four different schools. One is denominated Skadvinsa, probably from its containing twenty-six chapters. An- other is called the Adbhuta- Brdhmana. But the best known is that entitled the Tandy a, and an exposition of it by Sdyandchdrya. Its principal Upanishad is the Chhan- dogya, divided into eight chapters. Another is called the Kena Upanishad. These works are disquisitions on ab- struse and mystical theology. The Kena has been trans- lated by Rammohan Ray. 4. OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Several scholars, learned in Indian literature, have sup- posed the fourth Yeda, from its more modern dialect, to be of less authority than the others, and will only acknow- ledge the first three to be genuine. " Passages of the Indian Scripture itself," says Colebrooke, " seem to support the inference, for the fourth Yeda is not mentioned in the enumeration given in the white Yajush, nor in the follow- ing text quoted from the Sastras by the commentator on the Rich. " The Rig-veda originated from fire, the Yajur- Yeda from air, and the Sama-Yeda from the sun." Hence some hold the Atharvan to be only a supplement to the others. The popular dictionary, Amara Singha, notices only three Yedas, and mentions the Atharvan without calling it one. The Sanhitd, or collection of prayers and invocations, belonging to the Atharvana, is comprised in twenty books (kdndd) subdivided into sections (anurdka), hymns (sitkttl), and verses (rich). The number of verses is stated as DIVISIONS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 19 6015 ; of sections, above 100 ; and the hymns amount to more than 760. The Atharvan contains many forms of imprecations for the destruction of enemies. But it also comprises a num- ber of prayers for safety and for averting calamities, as well as hymns to the gods with prayers to be used at solemn rites and religious exercises, excepting such as are named Tajna. The most remarkable part of the Atharvan consists of theological treatises, entitled Upanishads, which are appendant on it. They are computed as fifty-two in number, but in this reckoning different parts of a single tract are considered as distinct Upanishads. Four of such treatises, comprising eight Upanishads, together with six of those before described as appertaining to other Yedas, are perpetually cited in dissertations on the Yedaiita. Others are more sparingly, or not at all, quoted. The Gopatha Brdhmana appears to belong to the second part of this Yeda. The first chapter traces the origin of the universe from Brahma; and it appears from the fourth section of this chapter that Atharvan is considered as a Prajapati (or king) appointed by Brahma to create and protect subordinate beings. In the fifth chapter several remarkable passages, identi- fying the primeval person (Purushd) with the year (Samvatsara), convey marked allusions to the calendar. 6. Concluding Remarks on the Vedas. The genuineness of the Yedas in general has been fully proved by Colebrooke and others ; that is, that they are 20 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. the same compositions, which under the title of Yeda, have been revered by Hindus for hundreds, if not for thousands of years. From this opinion, however, are excepted the detached Upanishads, which are not received into the best collections of fifty-two theological tracts, belonging to the Atharva-veda ; and even some of those which are there inserted. Two of these Upanishads are particularly suspicious, viz., the Rama Tapaniya and the Gopal Tapaniya, from the well-known comparatively recent data of the worship of Rama and Krishna. So also every Upanishad that strongly favours the doctrines of these sects, may be rejected as liable to much suspicion. The Puranas relate multitudes of stories, which show what holy men these Yedic authors were. Thus Yyasa himself was illegitimate, and lived with his brother's wife, by whom he had two children. Yasishtha cursed his hundred children and degraded them to the rank of Chanddlas. In the Rig-veda is given a hymn repeated by the sage to stop the barking of a dog while he was break- ing into a house to steal grain. Gautama cursed his wife for a criminal intrigue with Indra, and afterwards received her again ; and Bhrigu murdered his own mother by cutting off her head. The writers of the Yedas, too, disagree among them- selves, while the mythology there taught is no better than that of the Puranas. The natural philosophy of the Yedas is also ridiculous, and in speaking of the origin of things, they equal the Puranas in indelicacy and absurdity. The killing the inhabitants of the "three worlds" and PERIODS OF VEDIC LITERATURE. 21 eating food with, a person of inferior caste, are esteemed of equal magnitude by Manu, " the great grandson of Brahma, the first created of beings, and the holiest of legislators." 7. Periodical Distribution of Vedic Literature. Professor Max Miiller 1 divides what he calls the Vedic age into four periods, viz., (1) the Chhandas, (2) the Mantra, (3) the Brdhmana, and (4) the Sutra periods ; the last-named forming the connecting link between the Yedic and the later Sanskrit. He excludes from the Yedic age such works as the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Manu's Dharma Sastra, the Puranas, and all the Darsanas and Sastras generally, as later productions. "An nth f>r important division of Yedic works must be always borne in mind, viz., Sruti 2 (revelation) and Smriti 3 (tradition). To the Sruti belong the Mantras and Brah- manas. The Smriti includes not only Sutras, but also Sloka works, such as the laws of Manu, Yajnavalkya, and Parasara, which sometimes are called the Smritis, in the plural. Most of these, if not all, are founded on Sutras, but the texts of the Sutras have been mostly superseded by these later metrical paraphrases. " The Smriti has no independent authority, but derives 1 In his "History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature," from which valuable and erudite work the contents of this section have heen extracted, though in a condensed form, mostly in the very words of the learned author. " tliat w hi cl1 ^^ ^ een heard." that which has been remembered. 22 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITEEATUKE. its sanction from its intimate connection with the Sruti. For, as Kumarila remarks, ' Recollection is knowledge, the object of which is some previous knowledge ; and if Manu and other authors of Smritis had not originally been in possession of authoritative knowledge, it would be impossible to appeal to their recollection as an authority.' Accordingly, there is no passage in the Yeda to warrant the authority of Smriti." 1. LITERATURE OF THE CHHANDAS PERIOD. "The Siitra, Brahmana, and Mantra periods of Yedic literature, all point to some earlier age which gave birth to the poetry of the early Rishis. There was a time, doubtless, when the songs which were collected with such careful zeal in the Mantra period, commented on with such elaborate pedantry during the Brahmana period, and examined and analysed with such minute exactness during the Sutra period, lived and were understood without any effort by a simple and pious race. There was a time when the sacrifices, which afterwards became so bewildering a system of ceremonies, were dictated by the free impulse of the human heart, by a yearning to render thanks to some Unknown Being, and to repay in words and deeds a debt of gratitude, accumulated from the first breath of life a time when the poet was the leader, the king and priest of his family or tribe ; listened to and looked up to as better, nobler and wiser than the rest, and as a being nearer to the gods in proportion as he was raised above the common level of mankind/' Such men were at once teachers, law- THE CHHANDAS PERIOD. 23 givers, poets and priests. Their teaching, poetry, and religion, simple and crude as they are, possess a peculiar charm, as spontaneous, original and truthful. " The greater portion of what we now possess of Yedic poetry must be ascribed to the Mantra (or Secondary) period ; but there still remains enough to give us an idea of an earlier race of Yedic poets. Even those earliest specimens of Yedic composition, however, belong clearly, as Bunsen remarks, to the modern history of the human race. Ages must have passed before the grammatical texture of the Yedic Sanskrit could have assumed the con- sistency and regularity which it shows throughout. The same applies to the religion of the Yeda. The earliest periods of its historic growth must have passed away long before the Eishis of India could have worshipped their Devas, or ' bright beings/ with sacred hymns and invoca- tions. But we should look in vain in the literature of Greece or Rome, or of any other Aryan nation, for docu- ments from which to study that interesting chapter in the history of mankind the transition from a natural into an artificial religion so full and valuable as we possess them in the Yeda." The Chhandas period, interesting as it is in a philo- sophical point of view, is represented by a very limited literature. Several specimens of hymns to the gods, etc., are given by Max Miiller, such as to Yaruna (ovpavbs), Agni (fire), Indra (the king of the gods), the horse (Aswa), the dawn (Ushas), etc., and one to the Vis've Devas, or " all the gods." But, in more than one of these hymns, a belief in only one Supreme Divine Being (Mono- 24 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. theism), though worshipped under various names, is clearly expressed in verses which the Yedantists frequently quote, and indeed have incorporated in their Upanishads. Some of the hymns (especially those of a philosophical cast) are doubtless comparatively modern and may be assigned to the Mantra period, at latest ; but those which belong clearly to an earlier date were probably composed between 1000 and 1200 B.C., which Max Miiller thinks should be assigned to the Chhandas period. 2. PRODUCTIONS OF THE MANTRA PERIOD. " The only document we have in which we can study the character of the times previous to the Brahmana period is the Rig-veda Sanhitd. The other two Sanhitas (viz. of the Yajur-veda and the Sama-veda) were in truth, what they have been called, the 'attendants of the Rig-veda/ The Brahmanas presuppose the Trayi-Vidyd, the ' threefold knowledge,' or the threefold Yeda ; but that again pre- supposes one Yeda, and that the Rig-veda. It belongs to a period previous to the complete ascendancy of the Brah- manas, and before the threefold ceremonial had been worked out in all its details. And yet there is some system, some priestly influence, clearly distinguishable in that collection also. The ten books of the Rig-veda stand before us as separate collections, each belonging to one of the ancient families of India, but there are traces in them of one super- intending spirit. Eight out of the ten Mandalas begin with hymns addressed to Agni, and these, with one exception, are invariably followed by hymns addressed to Indra. THE MANTRA AND BRAHMANA PERIODS. 25 This cannot be the result of mere accident, but must have been from previous agreement, and it leads us to conclude that the Mandalas were not made independently by dif- ferent families, but were collections carried out simul- taneously in different localities under the supervision of one central authority" Max Miiller fixes the probable chronological limits of the Mantra period between 800 and 1000 B.C. 3. WORKS OF THE BRAHMANA PERIOD. (a.} Of the Brdhmanas. It is difficult to give an ex- haustive definition of what a Brahmana is. " They were Brahmanic (i.e. theological) tracts, comprising the know- ledge most valued by the Brahmans, bearing partly on their sacred hymns, partly on the traditions and cus- toms of the people. They profess to teach the perform- ance of the sacrifice, but fer the greater part are occupied with additional matter " chiefly connected with the Hindu faith and ceremonials. "A Brahmana," says Sayana in his Introduction to the Rig- Veda, "is two- fold, containing either commandments (vidhi) or additional explanations (arihavdda)" The Veda consists of only two parts, the Mantras and the Brahmanas ; but the only par- ticular in which the former can be distinguished from the latter is in their more peculiarly sacrificial character. Whatever part of the Veda is not a Mantra, therefore, is a Brdhmana, whatever be its subject-matter. Although different portions of the Veda are often referred to under the designation of Itihdsas (epic stories), Pur anas (cosmo- 26 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. gonic stories), Kalpas (ceremonial rules), Gdthas (songs), Ndrdsansis (heroic poems), etc. all these titles apply only to subdivisions of the Brahmanas. The number of the Brahmanas, such as we possess them in MSS., is much smaller than we should have expected from the definition thus given above by Sayana. " If every Sakha consisted of a Sanhita and a Brahmana, the number of the old Brahmanas must have been very considerable. It must not be supposed, however, that the Brahmanas which belonged to the different Sakhas were works com- posed independently by different authors. On the con- trary, as the Sanhitas of different Sakhas 1 were only dif- ferent recensions of one and the same original collection of hymns, so the Brahmanas, which were adopted by different Charanas 2 of the same Yeda, must be considered not as so many independent works, but in most instances as merely different editions of the same common original." " There was originally but one body of Brahmanas for each of the three Yedas : for the Rig-veda, the Brahmanas of the Bahvrichas ; for the Sama-Yeda, those of the Chhandogas ; and for the Yajur-Yeda, in its two forms, those of the Taittiriyas and the Satapatha-brdhmana. These works were not composed in metre, like the San- hitas, and were therefore more exposed to alteration in the course of a long-continued oral tradition." The Brahmana of the Bahvrichas is contained in the 1 UJ [a. 56 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. and literary degeneracy, is not to be altogether overlooked in a work like this. Some of the Parisishtas profess to be composed by authors whose names, doubtless, belong to the Sutra period. Thus, Saunaka is said to have been the author of the Charanavyaha, Katyayana of the Chhandoga-parisishta, and Kusika, known as the writer of the Atharvana Sutras, is the reputed author of the Atharvana-parisishtas also. The style of these compositions is less concise than that of the Sutras, resembling more that of the Barhaddaivata and Rig-vidhana, works originally composed by Saunaka, but handed down to us apparently in a more modern form. They do not, however, exhibit that monotonous uniformity which we find in the Dharma Sastra of Manu, or in the later Puranas. *The simple Anushtubh Sloka preponderates in them, and the metre is more regular than that of the Anushtubh compositions of Saunaka, the genuineness of which is less doubtful. The Parisishtas, therefore, seem to belong to the Yedic age, but may be considered as the very last outskirts of Yedic literature. There is a collec- tion of Parisishtas for each Yeda, eighteen being attributed to the Yajur-Yeda, and seventy-four to the Atharvana. The Rig- and Sama-Yedas seem not to have had so many, but their number is uncertain. They are said to have been written in the form of dialogues, in a style similar to that of the Puranas. It is remarkable that Panini seems not to have known the Parisishtas even by name. PART II. PHILOSOPHICAL LITEEATUEE. CHAPTER I. ON THE SIX DARSANAS IN GENERAL, AND THE NYATA AND VAIS'ESHIKA IN PARTICULAR. 1 1. The Schools Enumerated and Analysed. The Hindus have six schools or systems of Philosophy (^TlN), viz., the Nydya, Vaiseshika, Sdnkhya, Toga, Ve- ddnta, and Mzmdnsd Darsana. 2 The Yaiseshika being in some sort supplementary to the Nyaya, the two are familiarly spoken of as one col- lective system under the name of Nyaya ; and as the case is 1 The authorities chiefly quoted from, in this and two subsequent chapters, are " Ward on the Hindoos," and Dr. Ballantyne's prize essay " Christianity contrasted with Hindu Philosophy." 2 It is the professed design of all the schools of Indian Philosophy to teach the method by which eternal beatitude (the supreme good) may be attained, either after death or before it. The path by which the soul is to arrive at this supreme felicity is science, or knowledge. The discovery, and the setting forth of the means by which this knowledge may be obtained, is the object of the various treatises and commentaries which Hindu Philosophy has produced. M. Cousin (in his " Cours de PHistoire de la Philosophic") endeavours to trace among the Hindti Philosophers, the Sensualism, the Idealism, the Scepticism, the Fatalism, and the Mysticism of the ancient Grecian and modern European Schools. 58 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. somewhat similar with the two other pairs, it is customary to speak of Hindu Philosophy as being divisible into the Nytiya, the Sdnkhya, and the Veddnta Schools. These three systems, if we follow the commentators, differ more in appearance than in reality, and hence they are, each in its degree, viewed with a certain amount of favour by orthodox Hindus. Their common bond of union is their implicit acceptance of the Vedas as among Christians the Bible which, however, they explain differently. In this respect, and on this ground, they unite in opposing Buddhism, which denies the authority of the Yedas. These three systems differ from one another in the several points of view from which they regard the universe, or things in general, as standing in relation severally to sensation, emotion, and intellection. " The Naiydyika, founding on the fact that we have various sensations, enquires what, and how many, are the channels through which such varied knowledge flows in ? Finding that there are five very different channels, he imagines five different externals adapted to these. Hence, his theory of the five elements the aggregate of what the Nyaya regards as the causes of affliction. "The Sdnkhya, struck with the fact that we have emotions with an eye to the question whence our impres- sions come enquires their quality. Are they pleasing, displeasing, or indifferent ? These three qualities constitute, for him., the external ; and to their aggregate he gives the name of Nature (Ulffff). " "With the Naiyayika he agrees in wishing that we were well rid of all three, holding that things pleasing, THE NYA'YA. GAUTAMA. 59 and things indifferent, are not less incompatible with man's chief end than things positively displeasing. " Thus, while the Nydya allows to the external a sub- stantial existence, the Sdnkhya admits its existence only as an aggregate of qualities. While both allow that it really (eternally and necessarily) exists. " The Veddntm, rising above the question as to what is pleasing, displeasing, or indifferent, asks simply what is and what is not. The categories are here reduced to two the Real and the Unreal. The categories of the Nyaya and the Sankhya were merely scaffolding for reaching this pinnacle of Philosophy. The implied foundation was in all respects the same, viz., the Veda." l Thus the Nyaya is conveniently introductory to the Sankhya, and the Sankhya to the Vedanta. And it is in this order that in Hindu schools, where all three are taught, the learner usually takes them up. The Nyaya is the exoteric doctrine, the Sankhya a step nearer what is held as truth, and the Vedanta the esoteric doctrine, or the naked truth. 2. As to the Founder of the Nydya School. The Nyaya system was originally concocted by Gau- tama, of whose personal history, however, but very little is known. From the Ramayana and the Puranas we learn that he was born at Himalaya, about the same time as Rama, i.e., at the commencement of the Tretd Yuga (or second age of the world) ; that he married Ahalya, the 1 Ballantyne's Essay. 60 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. daughter of Brahma, and afterwards cursed her on account of criminal intercourse with Indra, the king of the gods. He is said to have lived as a very austere ascetic, first at Pryaga (now Allahabad), then in a forest at Mithila (Muttra), and latterly (after the repudiation of his wife) in the Himalayan mountains. His son, Satananda, was priest to Janaka, King of Mithila, the father of Sita, the wife of Rama. From the above statements we may see how little reliance can be placed on the historical veracity of the Puranas. These works assure us that Grautama, though he lived in the second or silver age, married a daughter of Brahma ; but they meet the anachronism by affirming that all the sages live through the four Yugas (the Satya, Tret a, Dwapas, and Kali), into which the Hindus divide the whole course of the world's existence. 1 3. Of the Doctrines of the Nydya School "The Nydya offers the sensational aspect of Hindu Philosophy. In saying this, it is not meant that the Nyaya confines itself to sensation, excluding emotion and intellection ; nor that the other systems ignore the fact of sensation ; but that the arrangement of this system has a more pointed regard to the fact of the five senses than the others have, and treats the external more frankly as a solid reality. " The word Nyaya means ' propriety or fitness/ and the system undertakes to declare the proper method of arriving at that knowledge of the truth, the fruit of which, it 1 Ward on the Hindis. THE NYAYA SYSTEM. 61 promises, is the chief end of man. The name is also used, in a more limited application, to denominate the proper method of setting forth argument. This has led to the practice of calling the Nyaya the ' Hindu Logic, 9 a name which suggests a very inadequate conception of the scope of the system. The Nyaya system was delivered by Gautama in a set of aphorisms, so very concise, that they must, from the first, have been accompanied by a com- mentary, oral or written. The aphorisms of the several Hindu systems, in fact, appear designed, not so much to communicate the doctrine of the particular schools, as to aid, by the briefest possible suggestions, the memory of him to whom the doctrine shall have been already communi- cated. To this end they are in general admirably adapted. The sixty aphorisms, for example, which constitute the first of Gautama's Five Lectures, present a methodical sum- mary of the whole system, while the first aphorism, again, of the sixty, presents a summary of these sixty. The first aphorism is as follows : From knowledge of the truth in regard to evidence, the ascertainable, doubt, motive, example, dogma, confutation, ascertainment, disquisition, controversy, cavil, fallacy, perversion, futility, and occasion for rebuke, there is the attainment of the Summum Bonum. " In the next aphorism, it is declared how knowledge operates mediately in producing this result. ' Pain, birth, activity, fault, false notions, since, on the successive departure of these in turn, there is the departure of the antecedent one, there is Beatitude.' That is to say, when knowledge of the truth is attained to, 'false notions ' depart ; 62 HANDBOOK OP SANSKRIT LITERATURE. on their departure, the * fault ' of concerning one's-self about any external object ceases ; thereupon the enlightened sage ceases to ' act ; ' then, there being no actions that call for either reward or punishment, there is no occasion, after his death, for his being born again to receive reward or punishment ; then,, not being born again, so as to be liable to pain, there is no room for 'pain' and the absence oi pain is the ISTyaya conception of the Summum Bonum" As to the instruments adapted to the acquisition of a knowledge of the truth, Grautama teaches that " proofs " T, i.e., instruments of right knowledge), " are the senses, the recognition of signs, the recognition of like- nesses, and speech (or testimony.)" The objects in regard to which we have to obtain right knowledge, by means of the appropriate instruments, he enumerates as follows : " Soul, body, sense, sense-object, knowledge, the mind, activity, fault, transmigration, fruit, pain, and beatitude, these are the objects regarding which we are to seek for right knowledge/' Here it is to be carefully observed that the soul is spoken of as an entirely different entity from the mind. 1 Dugald Stewart tells us that the mind can attend to only one thought at a time. Gautama, recognising the same fact, but speaking of the known invariably as the soul, accounts for the fact in question by assuming that there is an 1 In the Hindu system, the soul W3T*^ is the self, and the mind (TTBO * s *ke or g an or faculty, which, standing between the self and the deliverances of the senses (as a minister between the monarch and the thousand simultaneous claims on his attention) prevents the latter from crowding in confusedly, by presenting one thing at a time. THE NYAYA SYSTEM. 63 instrument, or internal organ, termed the mind, through which alone knowledge can reach the soul, and which, admitting only one thought at a time, the Naiyayika in- ferred must be no larger than an atom. "Pleasure, pain, desire, aversion, volition, and know- ledge," says Gautama, " are that whereby we recognise soul (dtman) ; " and, again, " the sign " (whereby we infer the existence) " of the mind " (manas) " is the not arising of cognitions " (in the soul) " simultaneously." Thus the soul may be practically regarded as corresponding to the thinking principle, and the mind (manas) to the faculty of attending to one, and only one, thing at a time ; it being further to be kept in remembrance that the Naiyayika reckons the mind to be a substance and not a, faculty. 1 " In the list of the objects regarding which right know- ledge is to be obtained, the next, after mind, is activity (M^fri). This is defined as 'that which originates the [utterance of the] voice, the [cognitions of the] under- standing, and the [gestures of the] body.' This activity, we have seen under Aph. II., Gautama regards with an evil eye, as the cause of birth, which is the cause of pain, which it is the summum bomtm to get permanently rid of. " He further holds that it is through our own 'fault ' that we are active ; and he tells us that faults (or 1 The "Substances" ($^<4|lU| dravydni), according to the " Tarka- Sangraha" are just nine, viz. " Earth" ("Qf^qT prithivi] ; "water," op}; "light" (itattgto); "air" (^T^J vdyu) ; "ether" dJcdsa); "time" ( cfff^f Mia) ; "place" (f^lf disa) ; "soul" dtman) ; and "mind" (ff^ manas}. 64 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. failings) have this characteristic, that they cause e activity.' These faults are classed under the heads of affection (TR), aversion (^), and stolidity or delusion (*ftf), each of which he regards as a fault or defect, inasmuch as it leads to actions, the recompense of which, "whether good or evil, must be received in some birth, or state of mundane ex- istence, to the postponement of the great end of entire emancipation." The immediate obstacle to " emancipation " (" and from water earth (ijf^fV). All these, at the first creation, were produced in an atomic form. Dividing each of them into four parts, the Creator caused the first forms of things to arise. Yeda Vyasa further taught that deliverance from matter, or return to God (re-absorption in the Divine Spirit 1 ) was to be obtained in the following manner : First, the devotee must read through the Yedas. He must suffer no desire of advantage to mix with his religious services ; must renounce everything forbidden in the Sastras ; must render himself pure by the performance of daily devotions, duties for the good of others, atonements, and divine contemplation ; must acquaint himself with the unprofit- ableness of that which is fleeting and transitory, and the value of that which is unchangeable and eternal ; must renounce all hope of present or future rewards, gain the complete mastery over all his sensual organs, and medi- tate on God in all the forms and media by which he is made known to his creatures. By the power of these meditations and austerities, the soul will leave the body through the basilar suture, and ascend to the heaven of Agni (god of fire), from thence, in succession, to various other heavens till, having obtained, in the heaven of Varuna an aerial body, called Ativdhika, the devotee will *, or 90 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. then ascend to the heaven of Brahma, and after the ex- piration of one hundred years of Brahma and this god's absorption into the divine spirit, the devotee, likewise, will obtain the same state of felicity. Such, Yyasa taught, was the method of obtaining gradual emancipation. Immediate emancipation (^ftwi) was to be secured only by divine wisdom, which wisdom could not exist in the mind without the entire extinguish- ment of all consciousness of outward things, by meditation on the one supreme spirit, Brahma : that when this had been attained to, the soul would then obtain emancipation even in a bodily state. 1 Thus, while the Nyaya allows to the external world a substantial existence, and the Sankhya admits its existence, but only as an aggregate of qualities, the Yedantin, ad- vancing beyond both, arrives at the limit of simplification by deciding that nothing really exists besides one, and and that this one real being is absolutely simple. This one simple being, according to the Yedanta, is knowledge ("WT^f jndna} not the knowledge of anything, for this would imply a contradiction to the dogma that nothing exists except knowledge simply. Among us knowledge is regarded as the synthesis of subject and object ; but, according to the Yedanta, there is no object, and hence the term subject is not strictly applicable under a theory which, denying duality, does not admit the con- ditions of a relation. Soul, the one reality, is accordingly spoken of in the Yedanta, not as a substance (sf3J dravya) as it is reckoned 1 Ward. THE VEDANTA SYSTEM. 91 in the Nyaya, but as the thing (^T^sJ vastu], or, literally, " that which abides." This sole-existence, soul, according to the Yedantin, is God. To the objection that the soul does not spon- taneously recognise itself as God, he replies that this is because it is "ignorant," i.e., obstructed by ignorance (^TUTT ajndna.) "Were it not for this ajndna, he argues, the soul would know itself to be God there would be nothing but God there would be no world. It is this ajndna, then, that makes the world, and this being the case, it ought to have a name suggestive of the fact. Shall it be called Prakriti (TOfil), or " energy," then, the name by which the Sankhyas speak of their unconscious maker of worlds ? But then this Prakriti can be nothing else than the All -Powerful ; for we can admit the inde- pendent existence of God alone ; so that the ajndna, under discussion, may be even more accurately denoted by the word Sakti ("STfW), God's "power," by an exertion of which power alone the fact can be accounted for, that souls which are God do not knoiu that they are so. The term Sakti is therefore enrolled among the synonymes of ajndna. But then comes the mythologist, who argues, if this world would not even appear to be real, but for ignorance, then this apparent reality is "illusion" (TTTT Maya). This being admitted, Maya is made a goddess, and called the wife of Brahma, the Creator. The definition of " ignorance " in the Vedanta requires notice. Ignorance, we are informed, is " a somewhat that is not to be called positively either real or unreal," [not a mere negation, but] in the shape of an entity, the opponent of 92 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. knowledge, consisting of the three fetters. According to the Naiydyikas, ajndna is merely the privation or non- existence (^*iiq abhdva) of jndna. To exclude such a meaning here, it is asserted to be "in the shape of an entity " (*i [ q ^4 bhdva-rupa). The description of it - as something "not to be called positively either real or unreal," corresponds with Plato's bv KOI //,?) bv, as dis- tinguished from 6Wft>5 bv. The distinction is that of the phenomenal and the real. The universe being held to be the joint result of soul and ignorance ( ^HUT and "^niT^T), and the soul being the only substance, or " substratum of all/' it follows that ignorance is equivalent to, and identical with, the sum total of qualities. These, as in the Sdnkkya system, are held to be three ; so that ignorance is spoken of as "consisting of the three qualities" (f^jnfT^cfi trigundtmaka), or, as it may also be rendered, consisting of the three cords [or fetters], the word for " quality " (^p!T ffuna), meaning originally a "fetter," and these two senses, in Hindu philosophy, being closely related. Let us see what can have led to this division of quality into three. The one reality the universal substratum being veiled by the garb of the Phenomenal world, cer- tain marked distinctions of character among the phe- nomena present themselves. We have phenomena of pure cognition, of lively emotion, and, finally, of inertness. To one or other of these three heads, every phenomenon may, with a little ingenuity, be referred. The three heads are named respectively, in Sanskrit, sattwa, rajas, and tamas (^Tr% Vtto W^U- According to the commentators, the first of the qualities, whilst endlessly subdivisible into THE VEDA'NTA SYSTEM. 93 calmness, complacency, patience, rejoicings, etc., consists summarily of happiness. The second, on the other hand, consists summarily of pain. To these categories belong almost all the sensations and thoughts of thinking beings, scarcely any feeling, viewed strictly, being one of sheer indifference. This indifference, the third of the qualities, is exemplified in its highest potency in such things as stocks and stones, where the soul, the substratum of these, as of all else, is altogether "immersed in matter," or obfuscated by the quality of darkness, as the word tamas literally signifies. In its lower potencies, this third of the qualities exemplifies itself in sloth, drowsiness, etc. These three qualities, separately or commingled, more or less obscure the soul, which is held to be simple knowledge (jnana); and as the aggregate of them is the opposite of soul, or, in other words, not-soul, therefore the aggregate, as we have seen, takes the name of a-jndna, i.e., not-knoiuledge, or ignorance. The soul is often spoken of as a light. Now, suppose a lamp to be enclosed in a lamp-shade ; the glass may be either so pure that the light passes through scarcely diminished ; or it may be stained, so that the light is tinged, or partly dimmed ; or the lamp-shade may be of opaque materials, so that the light within is altogether obstructed. These three cases may perhaps illustrate the supposed operation of the three qualities, as well as account for the names by which they are spoken of as " purity/' " foulness," and " darkness " (sattwa, rajas, and tamas.) " Ignorance " (qjndna), according to the Veddnta, has two powers : that by which it envelopes the soul, giving 94 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. rise to the conceit of personality or conscious individuality, and that by which it projects the phantasmagoria of a world which the individual regards as external to himself. Soul thus invested is what the universe consists of. The supposed root of all evil the belief that aught exists besides the " one " is to be got rid of, we are told, by a right understanding of the great sentence, " That art thou" (fTr^), i.e., "Thou whosoever thou art art the one." "When this dictum has been rightly understood and accepted, the accepter of it, changing the " thou " to the first person, reflects thus " /am the one " (cf^). This is so far well ; but he must finally get rid of the habit of making even himself an object of thought. There must be no object. What was previously the subject must now remain alone an entity, a thought, a joy ; but these three being one only the " existent joy- thought." l 3. Concluding Remarks on the System. The treatises written in exposition and defence of the Vedanta System are very numerous, the original work of Veda Vyasa, of course, being the principal authority, upon which most other works are merely commentaries. The Vedanta Sara (or essence of the Vedanta) contains, per- haps, the best summary of the system, from the introduc- tion to which we give the following extract : "Veda Vyasa obtained, by religious austerities, the discourse which Krishna held with Arjuna, and from this discourse com- posed the Vedanta for the following reasons, viz., to humble Kakutstha, a king of the Solar race, who was 1 Ballantyne. THE VEDANTA SYSTEM. 95 intoxicated with, an idea of his own wisdom ; to point out that the knowledge of Brahma is the only certain way of obtaining liberation (*f\T^ mokshi), instead of the severe mortification of former yugas (ages) which man- kind at present are incapable of performing; and to destroy, among men, attachment to works of merit, since, so long as the desire of reward remaineth, men can never be delivered from liability to future birth. " As the primary object of a person in planting a tree is the fruit, and the secondary one is sitting under its shade, so, the chief fruit of devotion is a fixed mind on Brahma; the inferior fruit, a temporary enjoyment of happiness with the Gods. He who has obtained emancipa- tion does not desire this inferior fruit. " Those things which perfect the knowledge of Brahma are (1) Discriminating wisdom, which distinguishes be- tween what is changeable and what is unchangeable ; (2) a distaste for all worldly pleasure, and even for the happi- ness enjoyed by the Gods ; (3) an unruffled mind, the subjugation of the passions, unrepenting generosity, con- tempt of the world, the absence of whatever obstructs the knowledge of Brahma, and unwavering faith in the Yeda ; (4) the desire of emancipation. Brahma, the ever- lasting, the ever-living, is one. He is the first cause. But the world, which is his work, is finite, inanimate, and divisible. Devotedness to Brahma secures real and per- manent happiness. " Sankara A'chdrya wrote a comment on the Yedanta ; and a disciple of Adwaita Nanda Paramhansa, a Sunydsi, composed from this comment the Vedanta Sara." 96 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The chief upholders of the Vedanta System used to be the two classes of Hindu ascetics called the Dandis and the Sunydsis; but of late years the principles of the system have been very widely adopted and advocated by educated natives (especially the alumni of Government Colleges) at Calcutta and the other principal towns of British India. The late talented Rammohan-Ray was one of its ablest modern supporters. The doctrines of the school have been fully discussed and confuted by the Rev. Dr. Duff, in a series of lectures on Vedantism, delivered some years ago at Calcutta ; by the Eev. Dr. "Wilson, of Bombay, and others. 2. THE MfMANSA CARS' ANA. 4. Of the Author of the System and his Writings. The founder of the Mimansa School was Jaimini, of whose history very little is known. He is described as a short young man, of light complexion, wearing the dress of a mendicant, and living at Nilavata-Mula. He was born at Dwaita-vana. His father, Shakatayana, was author of a Sanskrit dictionary, and his son, Kriti, wrote certain verses in the Devi-Bhagavata. There are about twenty- six works extant, illustrating the Mimansa System, the chief of which are the Sutras of Jaimini ; the Bhashya, by Shavara (and comments thereon by Bhatta, Yachaspati-Mishra and Kanaka) ; the Satika- Sastra-Dipika, by Soma-Natha ; the Dharma-Dipika ; the Mimansa-Sara ; and the Mimansa Sangraha. THE MfMANSA DARS'ANA. 97 5. Outline of the System. From the three last-named works chiefly we gather the following abridgment of the system of Jaimini. He taught that God is to be worshipped only through the incantations of the Yedas : that the Yedas were uncreated, and contained in themselves the proofs of their own di- vinity, the very words of which were unchangeable. His reasonings on the nature of material things were similar to those of Gautama, insisting that truth is capable of the clearest demonstration, without the possibility of mistake. Creation, preservation, and destruction, he represented as regulated by the merit and demerit of works ; while he rejected the doctrine of the total destruction of the uni- verse. He maintained that the images of the Gods were not real representations of these beings, but only given to assist the mind of the worshipper ; that the mere forms of worship had neither merit nor demerit in them ; and that the promises of the Sastra to persons who presented so many offerings, so many prayers, etc., were only given as allurements to duty. He directed the person, who sought final emancipation, to cherish a firm belief in the Yedas, as well as persuasion of the benefits of religion, and the desire of being engaged in the service of the Gods ; and then, by entering upon the duties of religion, and by degrees ascending through the states of a student, a secular, and a hermit, he would be sure to obtain final absorption in Brahma. Of the three divisions of the Yeda, the first, called the Karma Kdnda, or "practical part," relates to religious 7 98 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. ceremonies (including moral and religious obligations). This portion Jaimini has attempted to explain in his Sutras, and in the Pwrt'a-Mimansa (i.e., "/orwer-Mimansa," which is commonly referred to when the term " Himdnsd " simply is used), so called in distinction from the Uttara (or latter) Mimansa ascribed to Yyasa, which is the same as the Yedanta, and is founded on the Jndna Kdnda (or theological part) of the Yedas, treating of the spiritual worship of the Supreme Being or Soul of the Universe. 1 Sound (^^) says Jaimini, in opposition to the Nyaiyikas, who deny this, is uncreated and eternal, and is of two kinds, viz., simple sound, or that which is produced by an im- pression on the air without requiring an agent, as the name of God ; and compound (symbolized or audible) sound. Thus, the state of the sea, in a perfect calm, represents simple, uncreated sound ; but the sea, in a state of agita- tion, illustrates sound as made known by an agent. Symbols of sounds, or letters (^rVH), are eternal and .uncreated ; as is also the meaning of sounds. For instance, when a person has pronounced ka (^S), however long he may continue to utter ka, ka, it is the same sound, some- times present and sometimes absent ; but sound is never new. Its manifestation alone is new by an impression made upon the air. Therefore sound is God (Brahma), and the world is nothing but name. The Yeda has no human origin, but contains in itself 1 The term Mimdnsd is derived from mdna (TT*f) "to seek knowledge," "to decide," the derivation taking the augment of the reduplicated verb (Wilson), and imports that the writer has rendered the meaning of the Veda certain. THE MIMANSA DARS'ANA. 99 the evidence of divine authorship, and comes forth as the command of a monarch. It is incumbent on men to receive also, as divine, those works (of the sages) which are found to agree with the Yeda, to contain clear defini- tions of duty, and to be free from contradictions. "What is religion ? That which secures happiness. And it is the duty of man to attend to the duties of religion, not only on this account, but in obedience to the commands of God. The divine law is called Vidhi (f^tv). Should any one say, then I have nothing to do with other kinds of instruction, since this alone is divine. To this it is replied, that forms of praise, motives to duty, and religious observances, are auxiliaries to the divine law, and have, therefore, a relative sanctity and obligation. There are five modes of ascertaining the commands of God, viz. : (1) The subject to be discussed is brought for- ward ; (2) questions respecting it are stated ; (3) objections are started ; (4) replies to these objections are given ; and (5), the question is decided. He who acts in religion according to the decision thus come to, does well ; and so does he who rejects what will not bear this examination ; but he who follows rules which have been hereby con- demned, labours in vain. Those actions from which future happiness will arise are called religious, or good, because productive of happi- ness ; and those which tend to future misery are called evil, on account of their evil fruits. Hence, according to Jaimini, actions of themselves have in them neither good nor evil. Their nature can only be inferred from the declarations of the Yeda respecting them, or from future 100 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITEKATUKE. consequences. The Hindus appear to have no just idea of moral evil. Of all the works on the Civil and Canon Law, that of Manu is to be held in the greatest reverence, for Manu composed his work after a personal study of the Veda. Other sages have composed theirs from mere comments. From the evidence of things which Grod has afforded, especially the evidence of the senses, mistakes cannot arise either respecting secular or religious affairs. When there may exist error in this evidence, it will diminish, but cannot destroy the nature of things. If there be an im- perfection in seed, the production may be imperfect, but its nature will not be changed. The seat of error and inattention is to be found in this reasoning faculty, and not in the senses ; error arising from the confused union of present ideas (anubhava) with recollection. Some affirm that ideas are received into the understand- ing separately, and never two at the same instant. This is incorrect ; for it must be admitted, that while one idea is retained, there is an opening left in the understanding for the admission of another. Thus, in arithmetical calculations, " one added to one makes two." The Yeda has, in some parts, forbidden all injury to sentient beings, and in others has prescribed the offering of bloody sacrifices. Jaimini explains this apparent con- tradiction by observing that some commands are general, and others particular : that the former must give way to the latter, as a second knot always loosens, in a degree, the first. So, when it is said that Saraswati is altogether white, it is to be understood, not literally, but generally, THE MfMANSA DAES'ANA. 101 for the hair and eyebrows of the goddess are not white. Therefore, in cases where general commands are given, they must be observed with those limitations which are found in the Sdstra. The promises of reward contained in the Sdstra upon a minute attention to the different parts of duty, have been given rather as an incitement to its performance than with the intention of entire fulfilment. He who has begun a ceremony, but has, by circumstances, been unable to finish it, shall yet not be unrewarded. The benefits resulting from the due performance of civil and social duties are confined to this life. Those con- nected with the performance of religious duties are to be enjoyed in a future state, while some meritorious actions, or virtues, reap their reward both in the present and the future life. Works give birth to invisible consequences either pro- pitious or otherwise according to their nature ; and, besides works, there is no other sovereign or judge. These consequences, ever accompanying the individual, as the shadow the body, appear in the next birth, in accordance with the time and manner in which those actions were performed in the preceding birth. " "Works rule, and men by them are led or driven, as the ox with a hook in its nose." The progress of all actions, whether they originate in the commands of the Sastras, or in the customs of a country, are as follows : First, the act is considered and resolved on in the mind ; then it is pursued by means of words ; and, lastly, it is accomplished by executing the 102 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. different constituent parts of the action. Hence it follows that religion and irreligion refer to thoughts, words, and actions. Some actions, however, are purely those of the mind, or of the voice, or of the body. The virtue or vice of all actions depend on the state of the heart. The doctrine that, at a certain period, the whole uni- verse will be destroyed at once, is incorrect. The world had no beginning, and will have no end. As long as there are works, there must be birth, as well as a world like the present, to form a theatre on which they may be per- formed, and their consequences either enjoyed or endured. One of the sages of the Mimansa school thus expresses himself: " God is simple sound. To assist the pious in their forms of meditation (or incantations l ) He is repre- sented as light ; but the power of liberation lies in the sound 'God God/ 2 When the repeater is perfect, the incantation, or name repeated, appears to him in the form of simple light or glory. " The objects of worship, which are within the cognisance of the senses, are to be received ; for without faith religious actions are destitute of fruit. Therefore, let no one treat an incantation as a mere form of alphabetic signs, nor an image as composed of the inanimate material, lest he should be guilty of a serious crime." 3. OTHER SYSTEMS OF HiNDt; PHILOSOPHY. Though the Hindu Philosophy is commonly said to be comprised in the six Darsanas already described, yet it is proper to add that there have existed in India several 1 Mantras. 2 Brahm. THE SATWATAS. 103 other sects, such as the Sdtwata, the regular Paurdniks, the Bauddhas, the Jains, etc^ 6. The Sdtwata Sect. Previously to the time of RamamVja-Charya, the Sdt- wata 1 sect had sunk into oblivion ; but since that period, a body of persons, distinguished by this title, has always been found in different parts of India. Latterly they have been most numerous in the Karnata country. They study the works of the reviver of the sect, Ramanuja, and a comment by Tata-Charya, along with a few other treatises. This creed is, in substance, as follows : God is possessed of form. The terms government, effort, desire, etc., are wholly inapplicable to a being destitute of form. Those who have spoken of God as pure spirit, meant only that he was not clothed with a body derived from primary elements. The mind regulates, through actions, the future destiny ; but mind is an appendage to body, and not a part of abstract spirit. From the divine form proceed rays of glory, so that God appears as a body of light. The Deity is perfect joy. Creation arose from His will, and the desire to create from that energetic joy which is essential to the Divine nature. As soon as the mundane system was formed, God entered it, and began to display all the operations seen in the visible universe. In obtaining liberation, devotion is more efficacious than wisdom or ceremonies. A future state of bliss is connected with a residence near the Deity in the unchangeable abode of the Divine Being. 1 Or SMtwata, according to Ward. 104 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. This sect rejects the idea of absorption, pleading that it is far more pleasant to drink the sweet and cooling draught than to be lost in the ocean ; and that the highest happi- ness of which we are capable is to be near the Deity, partaking of His overflowing blessedness. 7. The Paurdnilcs. Although the Purdnas appear to have led the people to the popular mythology, rather than to philosophic en- quiries, they still abound with speculations from which many systems of philosophy might be formed. One sj^s- tem was taught by Loma Harshana, who attracted around him many disciples, and formed a distinct sect under the name of Pauranics, though, in Bengal, at present, those are called so who have merely read one or more of the Puranas. The doctrines which Loma Harshana appears to have taught, comprised, among others, the following : Nara- yana, the supreme cause, possesses a visible form. For the purposes of creation, etc., he assumed the names of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, under each of which names some one of the three qualities prevails. For the good of man- kind, Narayana has been frequently incarnate, either as a divine teacher, or as a leader or guide, or as a hero. In the different forms of the Gocjs, to meet the immediate and private wants of mankind, as to remove diseases, etc., he assumes various shapes. The worship of God is to be performed by bodily services, such as bowing to his image, doing menial service in a temple, etc. ; by words, i.e., by THE BAUDDHAS. 105 reading, singing, repeating his name, etc. ; and by the mind, as in meditating on the various forms he assumes. 8. The Baudd/ias, or Buddhists. Among these there were six sects of philosophy, some of which agreed in doctrine generally with the orthodox sects ; but all of them deny an intelligent separate first cause. The founder of Buddhism was Buddha Sakya Muni, called also Gautama 1 Sakya-sinha, as to the period of whose existence historical data are exceedingly con- tradictory. The Chinese records fix his death at about 1000 B.C., while those of Ceylon place it in 543 B.C. The political triumph of Buddhism in India dates from the aera of Asoka, about the middle of the third century B.C. It was definitively introduced into China in A.D. 61, and into Ceylon probably during the third century B.C. The chronology of Buddhism is discussed at great length by Max Miiller in his "Ancient Sanskrit Literature." Buddhists were the great opponents of the Brahmans. Buddha himself was a Kshatriya, but of princely origin. He was not the first of his caste who sternly opposed the ambitions of the Brahmans. Yisvamitra, among others, who was also of the royal caste, had several centuries before struggled, with some success, against the exclusive- ness of the priests. The Brahmans, however, were ulti- mately victorious, and succeeded in driving Buddhism almost entirely out of India, which found a successful footing in Burmah, Ceylon, and China. 1 He must not be confounded with Gautama, the founder of the Nyaya School. 106 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 9. The Jains. Though these, like the Buddhists, may be regarded as rather a religious than a purely philosophical sect, yet as, in all the schools and systems, religion and philosophy are inseparably united, perhaps this may be the most befitting place to notice their peculiar tenets. The founder of this system was Rishabha-deva, a Hindu, who is said to have been incarnate thirteen times, each of which avatars is distinguished by the epithet Jina. 1 This term is also applied to the twenty-four Tirthankaras, or saints, who are supposed to flourish in an Avasarpini, or Jaina age, the last of whom was Mahavira. The leading tenets of the Jains, and those which chiefly distinguish them from the rest of the Hindus, are first, the denial of the divine origin and infallible authority of the Yedas ; secondly, the reverence of certain holy mortals, who acquired by practises of self-denial and morti- fication a station superior to that of the gods ; and thirdly, extreme and even ludicrous tenderness for animal life. The disregard of the authority of the Yedas is common to the Jains and the Bauddhas, and involves a neglect of the rites which they prescribe; in fact, it is in a great degree from those rites that an inference unfavourable to the sanctity of the Yedas is drawn ; and, not to speak of the sacrifices of animals, which the Yedas occasionally enjoin, the Homa, or burnt-offering, which forms a part of every ceremonial in those works, is an abomination ; as 1 f^TT from f^l " to conquer," i.e. he who has overcome the "eight great crimes." THE JAINS. 107 insects crawling among the fuel, bred in the ghi, or falling into the flame, may be destroyed by every oblation. As far, however, as the doctrines they teach are conformable to the Jain tenets, the Yedas are admitted as of divine authority. The Jains are divided into religious and lay orders, Yatis and Sravakas. Having no priests of their own, Brahmans officiate in their temples. The Jains are divided into Digambaras and Swetambaras ; the former sky-clad, i.e. naked, the latter white-robed. In the present day, however, the Digambaras in general are only entirely divested of covering at meals. The literature of the Jains is very extensive, including Pur anas of their own, writers on astronomy, astrology, medicine, mathematical sciences, etc. The followers of this sect were formerly very popular in Hindustan, and are still very numerous, -especially in the Doab, about Mainpiiri, and also in Guzerat. The pro- vinces of Mewar and Marwar are the cradle of the Jain system. The only other philosophical or religious sect we shall mention here is that of 10. The Klidndanas. The founder of this sect was Sri Harshd, 1 who in a work called the Khandana taught a system different from all the Darsanas, from which circumstance he received the title of the Khandana kdra, or the destroyer. 1 He was the author of a poem called the Naishada. PAET III. POETICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. ON THE EPIC POETRY OF THE HINDU'S. 1. Introductory Remarks. That Epic poetry, traditional as well as improvised, on the spur of the moment, existed during the Yedic age, though it was lost afterwards, is a fact clearly established by passages and references in the Brahmanas and other works of the Sutra age. In the collection of the Yedic hymns, there are some which may be called epic, and may be compared with the short hymns ascribed to Homer. In the Brahmanas passages occur, in prose and verse, celebrating the actions of old kings ; and on certain public occasions, such as at the Horse Sacrifice (as we learn from the Sankhyana Sutras, as quoted by Max Muller), the priest, on each of the ten days which it occupied, had to recite a story for the instruction and entertainment of the people, doubtless mostly or all in metre, and of a decidedly epical character. Many compositions of this kind, there- fore, must have existed in Yedic times, though they are THE RA'MA'YANA. 109 now lost ; and songs in celebration of great heroes were, doubtless, current in India quite as early as the Homeric poems in Greece, and perhaps earlier. The two great Epic poems of the Hindus are the Rdmdyana and the Hahd-bhdrata. To fix the exact period at which either of them was composed is now impossible, though, from internal evidence, they must both have been the productions of a post-vedic age. 2. TheRdmdijana was, no doubt, the more ancient of the two Indian Epics. Neither it nor the Maha-bharata, nor any of the produc- tions of antecedent ages, was committed to writing till many centuries after their original composition. In the fourth chapter of the first book of the Ham ay ana, we meet with special reference to the minstrels and reciters, by whom, like the Greek pa-^rw^oi, the ancient Hindu poems, previous to the invention of writing in India, were pre- served and transmitted from age to age. 1 1 Max Miiller, who discusses at some length (in his work on Ancient Sanskrit Literature) the interesting question, when writing was first introduced into India, considers that it was practised there before the time of Alexander's conquests, and that " though it may not have been used for literary purposes, we can hardly doubt that a written alphabet was known during the greater part of the Sutra period." Megasthenes declared that the Indians did not know letters, and that their laws were not written, and that they administered justice from memory ; and Nearchus, though he ascribes to the Indians the art of making paper of cotton, states that their laws, were not reduced to writing. Both these Greek writers, however, mention that the Indians used letters for inscriptions on mile-stones, etc. In the Lalita-Vistara, a work con- taining the life of Buddha (which was translated into Chinese A.D. 76) the young S'akya (i.e., Buddha) is represented as learning to write. And the first authenticated inscription in India is of Buddhist origin, and belongs to the third century before Christ. Written Sanskrit books were certainly known in Panini's time, who was probably contemporaneous with Alexander, if not before. HO HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The word Ramayana (IJ^T+^iqn) means the adven- tures of Rama, who was one of the incarnations of Vishnu, the Preserver, and is still a favourite deity in most parts of India, more especially in the districts of Oude and Bahar, where Krishna has not supplanted him. There were three Ramas in Hindu mythology, viz., Parasu-Rama, Rama- Chandra, and Bala-Rama, all avatars (or incarnations) of Vishnu. The last is the Indian Hercules, and as the elder brother of Krishna, appears frequently in the Maha- bharata. Parasu-Rama, as the son of the sage Jamadagni, is the type of Brahmanism, arrayed in opposition to the Kshatriyas, or military caste. He is introduced once into the Ramayana, but only to exhibit his inferiority to the real hero of the work, viz., Rama-Chandra, who, as the son of Dasaratha, a prince of the solar dynasty, typifies the conquering Kshatriyas, advancing towards the south, and subjugating the barbarous aborigines, who are repre- sented by Ravana and his followers. There are many poems bearing the name of Ramayana all relating to the same hero but by far the most com- plete and famous is the lengthy epic, the authorship of which is attributed to Vdlmild. It narrates the banishment of Rama, under the surname of Chandra (the moon), a prince belonging to the dynasty of the kings of Ayodhya ; his wanderings through the southern peninsula ; the seizure of his wife, Sita, by the giant ruler of Ceylon (Ravana) ; the miraculous conquest of this island by Rama, aided by Sugriva, king of the monkeys (or foresters the word bandar meaning both), or Rdkshasas as they are also called, and by Yibhishana, the THE EAMAYANA. brother of Havana ; the slaying of the ravishing demon by Rama, and recovering of Sita ; and the restoration of Chandra to the empire of his ancestors at Ayodhya. No mention is made of Rama in the Yeda, but he may be regarded as the first real Kshatriya hero of the post- vedic age ; and looking to the great simplicity of the style of the Ram ay ana, the absence of any reliable allusion to Buddhism as an established fact, and to the practices known to have prevailed in India as early as the fourth century before Christ, as well as from other considerations, "we cannot/' says Monier Williams (Essay on Indian Epic Poetry), " be far wrong in asserting that a great portion, if not the whole, of the Ramayana, as we now have it, must have been current in India as early as the fifth century before Christ." Yalmiki's work consists of 24,000 slokas (or distichs), divided into seven books, which are again subdivided into chapters. It may be divided into three principal parts, or periods, corresponding to the three chief epochs in the life of Rama. (I.) The account of his youthful days ; his education and residence at the court of his father Dasa- ratha, king of Ayodhya ; his happy marriage to Sita ; and his inauguration as heir-apparent or Crown Prince. (II.) The circumstances that led to his banishment ; the de- scription of his exile and residence in the forests of Central India. (III.) His war with the giants or demons of the south for the recovery of his wife Sita, who had been carried off by their chief Ravana ; his conquest and destruction of Ravana, and his restoration to the throne of his father. 112 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. In the first two sections of the poem, there is little of extravagant fiction; but in the third, the poet mars the beauty of the descriptions by the wildest exaggeration and hyperbole. The poem seems to be founded on historical fact ; and the traditions of the south of India uniformly ascribe its. civilization, the subjugation, or dispersion of its forest tribes of barbarians, and the settlement of civilised Hindus, to the conquest of Lanka (Ceylon) by Rama. A part of the Ramayana was published, with a transla- tion, by Messrs Carey and Marshman, some forty years ago, and a Latin translation of the first book has been more recently published by Professor Schlegel. The entire last book, in which Rama receives adoration as a God, and is identified with the supreme, is, doubtless, a modern appendage. 3. The Mahd'bhdrata. This huge epic, which is in all probability later in date than the Ramayana, and consists of about 220,000 long lines, is rather a cyclopaedia of Hindu mythology, legendary history, and philosophy, than a poem with a single subject. It is divided into eighteen books, nearly every one of which would form a large volume ; and the whole is a vast thesaurus of national legends, said to have been collected and arranged by Vydsa (the supposed com- piler of the Yedas and Puranas), a name derived from a Sanskrit verb, meaning " to fit together/' or " arrange." The following is an outline of the leading story, though this occupies little more than a fifth of the whole work, THE MAHA'BHARATA. 113 numerous episodes and digressions on all varieties of subjects being interspersed throughout the poem : According to the legendary history of India, two dynasties were originally dominant in the north called Solar and Lunar, under whom numerous petty princes held authority, and to whom they acknowledged fealty. The most celebrated of the Solar line, which commenced in, Ikshwdku, and reigned in Oude, was the Rama of the Ramayana. Under this dynasty the Brahmanical system gained ascendancy more rapidly and completely than under the Lunar kings in the more northern districts, where fresh arrivals of martial tribes preserved an inde- pendent spirit among the population already settled in those parts. The most famous of the Lunar race, who reigned in Hastinapur, or ancient Delhi, was Bhdrata, whose 'au- thority is said to have extended over a great part of India, and from whom India is to this day called by the natives Bharat-varsha (the country or domain of Bharata). This Bharata was an ancestor of Kuru, the twenty-third in descent from whom was the Brahman Krishna Dwalpdyana Vydsa (the supposed author of the Mahabharata), who had two sons, Dhritardshtra and Pdndu. The former, though blind, consented to assume the government when resigned by his younger brother Pandu, and undertook to educate, with his own hundred sons, the five reputed sons of his brother. These five sons were, 1st, Yudhishthira (i.e., "firm in battle"); 2nd, Bhima (i.e., "terrible"); 3rd, Arjuna (i.e., "upright"); 4th, Nakula (i.e., "a mun- goose ") ; 5th, Sahadeva (i.e., "a twining plant"). 114 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The three first were born from Pandu' s wife, Pritha, or Kunti, but were really her children by three gods, viz., Dharma, 1 Yayu, 2 and Indra 3 respectively. The two last were children of his wife Madri, by the Aswini-Kumaras, or " twin sons/' i.e., of the Sun. As, however, Pandu had acknowledged these princes as his sons, the objection to their birth was overruled by his example. Pandu (i.e., " the pale ") was probably a leper, and so incapable of succession. The characters of the five Pandavas are drawn with much artistic delicacy, and maintained consistently through- out the poem. The eldest, Yudhishthira, is a pattern of justice, integrity, and chivalrous honour and firmness. Bhima is a type of brute courage and strength, of gigantic stature, impetuous and irascible ; he is capable, however, of warm, unselfish love, and shows devoted affection for his mother and brothers. Arjuna, who is the chief hero of the poem, is represented as a man of undaunted courage, and, at the same time, generous, modest, and tender- hearted ; of super-human strength, withal, and matchless in arms and athletic exercises. Nakula and Sahadeva are amiable, noble-minded, and spirited. All five are as unlike as possible to the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, commonly called the Kuru princes, or Kauravas, who are represented as mean, spiteful, dishonourable, and vicious. The cousins, though so uncongenial in character, were educated together at Hastinapur by a Brahman named Drona, who found in the Pandu princes apt * The God of Justice, the Hindfi Pluto. 2 God of the "Wind (^olus.) 3 God of the Firmament (Jupiter tonans.) THE MAHA'BHA'RATA. 115 scholars. Their education finished, a grand tournament is held, at which the cousins display their skill in archery, the management of chariots, horses, etc. Arjuna especially distinguishes himself by prodigies of strength and skill ; but suddenly a stranger enters the lists, named Karna, who, after performing the same feats, challenges Arjuna to single combat. But each champion is obliged to tell his name and pedigree, and Kama's parentage being doubtful (he was really the illegitimate son of Pritha, by Surya (the sun), and, therefore, half-brother of Arjuna), he is obliged to retire ignominously from the arena. Thus publicly humiliated, Karna joins the party of their enemies, the Kurus, to whom he renders important service. En- raged at the result of this contest, the Kurus endeavour to destroy the Pandavas by setting fire to their house ; but they, warned of their intention, escape by an underground passage to the woods. Soon after, in the disguise of mendicant Brahmans, they repair to the Swayamvara (the public choice of a husband), by Braupadi, daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala. Arjuna, by the exhibition of his gymnastic skill, wins the favour of the lovely princess, who becomes his bride. Strengthened by Dru- pada's alliance, the Pandu princes throw off their disguise, and the king, Dhritarashtra, is induced to settle all differences by dividing his kingdom between them and his own sons, the Kurus. Yudhishthira, however, afterwards stakes and loses his whole territory at dice. His brothers then pass twelve years in the woods, in disguise, after which the war is again renewed. Krishna, King of Dwaraka, in Guzerat (an incarnation of Vishnu), joins the Pandavas, 116 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. as charioteer to Arjuna. The rival armies meet near Delhi. The battle, which lasts for eighteen days, terminates in favour of the Pandavas, who recover their possession, and the elder brother is elevated to the throne, Duryodhana and all the Kurus being slain in the conflict. Thus the undivided kingdom of Hastinapur became the possession of the sons of Pandu ; but they were so grieved by the dreadful slaughter which their ambition had occa- sioned, that they resigned their power. Their famous ally, Krishna who previous to his founding the city of Dwaraka, had been expelled from Mathura (Muttra), the seat of his family was accidentally killed in a thicket, and his sons, driven from their paternal possessions, sought refuge beyond the Indus. Such is a very brief outline of the leading story of the Maha-bharata ; but the episodes, which occupy more than three-fourths of the whole poem, deserve a passing notice. 4. The Bhagavad-Gita. This is a divine song, in the form of a discourse, be- tween the Avatar Krishna and his pupil Arjuna, held in the midst of an undecided battle. It gives a full and most curious exposition of the half- mythological, half- philosophical pantheism of the Brahmans, and a general view of the whole mystic theology of the Hindus. Schlegel calls this episode the most beautiful, and, perhaps, the only truly philosophical poem in the whole range of litera- ture known to us. There is something striking and magnificent in the introduction of this solemn discussion BHAGAVAD-GrTA AND NALOPAKHYANAM. H7 on the nature of the Godhead and the destiny of man in the midst of the fury and tumult of civil war in which it occurs. It consists of eighteen lectures on so many different subjects. Numerous translations have been made of it into various languages. 5. The Nalopdkhydnam. This episode forms part of the third book of the great Epic. It is of entirely a different cast from the last, and is said to partake more of the manner of our own Spenser than of the philosophic tone of the Gita. The gist of the story is briefly as follows : Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandus, is in exile in the wilderness, where he and his four brothers are doomed* to pass twelve years, according to an engagement he had entered into with his opponent Duryodhana, with whom he had lost in dice. The sage, Yrihadasva, bears him company ; and to amuse and console him, relates the history of King Nala, who, like himself, had lost his empire and wealth by playing at dice, but in the end became fortunate and happy. Nala, king of Nishada, possessed all the noble qualities and acquirements that could distinguish an Indian monarch. Bhima, king of Vidarbha (Berar) had an only daughter, the most beauti- ful and accomplished of her sex the gentle Damyanti. Nala and Damyanti became mutually enamoured from the mere fame of each others virtues. The Swayamvara of the princess is about to take place. Nala repairs as a suitor to Vidarbha ; but Indra and three other gods 118 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. become incarnate for the same purpose, and, meeting Nala in the way, they beg him to be the bearer of their message of love. He remonstrates, but at last consents. He delivers it, but Damyanti declares that, even in the presence of the gods, she shall select the noble Nala. The assembly meets, and all the royal suitors are in array ; but Damyanti discovers, to her dismay, five Nalas, each of the deities having assumed the form, features, and dress of the king of Mshada. She utters a supplicatory prayer to the gods to reveal to her the true object of her choice. They are moved with compassion, and stand con- fessed, their spiritual bodies being distinguished from that of the human hero by their casting no shadow, nor touching the ground, and otherwise. Damyanti throws the wreath of flowers around the neck of the real Nala in token of her choice. The assembly breaks up amid the applause of the gods, and the lamentations of the disappointed suitors. The nuptials are celebrated, and Nala and his bride are blessed with two lovely children. Nala, the model of virtue, and piety, and learning, at length performs the Aswameda, or sacrifice of a horse, the height of Indian devotion. In the course of time, how- ever, Nala is induced by an evil spirit to play at dice with his brother, Pttskkara, and loses his kingdom, his wealth, his very clothes. One stake only remains, Damyanti herself. This Pushkara proposes, but Nala refuses. The ill-fated pair are driven together into the wilderness all but naked. Nala persuades his wife to leave him, and re- turn to her father's court, but she will not forsake him. The frantic man, however, resolves to abandon her while asleep. NALOPAKHYANAM AND HARIVANS'A. H9 He does so. Each passes through, a series of strange and stormy adventures, ending in INala becoming master of the horse to the King of Ayodhya (Oude), and Damyanti return- ing to her father's house. After some time, Damyanti, in order to discover the retreat of Nala, proclaims her inten- tion to hold another Swayamvara, and to form a second marriage, though forbidden by the laws of Manu. Bitu- parna, the King of Oude, resolves to become a suitor, and sets forth with his charioteer the disguised Nala. As they enter the city of Bhima, Damyanti recognises the sound of her husband's trampling steeds his driving could not be mistaken by her ear. She employs every artifice to discover her lord ; she suspects the charioteer ; she procures some of his food, and recognises the flavour of her husband's cookery ; she sends her children to him. Nala can conceal himself no longer ; but the jealous thought that his wife was about to take a second husband, rankles in his heart, and he rebukes her with sternness. Damyanti solemnly denies any such design, declaring that she had only employed the artifice to win back her lord. Nala re-assumes his proper form and character wins back his wife and all that he had lost to his unprincipled brother, and, re-ascending his ancestral throne, recom- mences a reign of piety, justice, and felicity. 6. The Harivansa (i.e., family of Vishnu], etc. This forms a sort of appendix to the Maha-bharata, consisting of 25,000 verses. It recounts the adventures of Krishna, and subsequent fate of his family; but commences 120 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. with an account of the creation of the world, and of the patriarchal and regal dynasties. 1 The principal other episodes are 4. " The Deluge" 2 an Indian tradition of the deluge of Noah. This has been translated by Bopp and Milman. 5. " The Rape of Draupadi," and the combat of her five husbands to revenge it. 6. " The Death ofSimpdla" and an account of Krishna's war with him. 7. " The Brahman's Lament " over the orgies of the cannibal-giant Baka. The Baka-badha (as it is called in the original), or Brahmanavitapa, has been translated, in verse, by Dean Milman. 1 An English translation of the Harivans'a, with a critique on the French version of M. Langlois, is given in the Asiat. Journ., Feh., 1828. * This episode occurs in the Vana-parva of the Mahabharata. The hero of it is Manu, the Noah of the Hindus, not the grandson of Brahma, and reputed author of the Code, but the seventh Manu, or Manu of the Kali Yug (or pre- sent period), called Vaivaswata, and regarded as one of the progenitors of the human race. _ He is represented as conciliating the favour of the Supreme by his penance in an age of universal depravity. The earliest account of him is in the S'atapatha Brahmana, attached to the Vajasaneyi Sanhita of the Yajur-veda. 121 CHAPTER II. ON THE PTJRA'NAS AKD DRAMATIC WOEKS. 1. The Purdnas Generally Described. 1 The different works known by the name of Pur an as are evidently derived from the same religious system as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, or from the mytho-heroic stage of Hindu belief. They present, however, peculi- arities which designate their belonging to a later period, and to an important modification in the progress of opinion. They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two great poems ; they expand and systematise the chronological computations ; and they give a more definite and con- nected representation of the mythological fictions and historical traditions. But, besides these, and other par- ticulars, they offer characteristic peculiarities in the para- mount importance they assign to individual deities, in the variety and purport of the rites and observances addressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative of the power and graciousness of those divinities, and of the efficacy of implicit devotion to them. Siva and Vishnu, under one or other form, are almost the sole 1 Abridged from Professor Wilson's Preface to Translation of the Vishnu Purina. 122 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. objects that claim the homage of the Hindus in the Puranas: departing from the domestic and elemental ritual of the Yedas, and exhibiting a sectarial favour and exclusiveness not traceable in the Ramayana, and only to a qualified extent in the Mahabharata. They are no longer authorities for Hindu belief as a whole, but were evidently compiled for the purposes of promoting the special worship of Yishnu and Siva. It is probable, however, that there may have been an earlier class of Puranas, of which those we now have are but the partial and adulterated representatives. The name itself, Purdna ( (f old ") indicates the object of the com- pilation to be the preservation of ancient traditions, a purpose, in the present condition of the Puranas, but very imperfectly fulfilled. " I cannot discover in them," says Col. Yans Kennedy, " any other object than that of re- ligious instruction. The descriptions of the earth and planetary systems, and the lists of royal races which occur in them, are evidently extraneous." 2. The Cosmogony and Theogony of the Puranas. These may both, probably, be traced to the Yedas. The scheme of primary or elemental creation they borrow from the Sankhya philosophy, which is, probably, one of the oldest forms of speculation on man and nature amongst Hindus. The Pantheism (or, viewed in one light, the Polytheism) of the Puranas is one of their invariable characteristics, although the particular divinity who is all things, from THE PURANAS. 123 whom all things proceed, and to whom all things return be diversified according to their individual sectarial bias. They seem to have derived the notion from the Yedas; but in them the one universal Being is of a higher order than a personification of attributes and elements, and however imperfectly conceived or unworthily described is God. In the Puranas, the one only Supreme Being is supposed to be manifest in the person of Siva or Vishnu, either in the way of illusion (TTOT), or in sport ; and one or other of these divinities is, therefore, the cause of all that is is himself all that exists. 3. As to Date. The Puranas are evidently works of different ages, and have been compiled under different circumstances. It is highly probable that, of the present popular forms of the Hindu religion, none assumed their actual state earlier than the time of Sankara Acharya, the great Saiva reformer, who flourished, in all likelihood, in the eighth or ninth century. Of the Vaishnava teachers, Hamanuja dates in the 12th century, Madhvacharya in the 13th, and Vallabha in the 16th ; and the Puranas seem to have accompanied or followed their innovations, being evidently intended to advocate the doctrines they taught; 4. Their Style. The invariable form of the Puranas is that of dialogue, in which some person relates their contents in reply to the 124 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. enquiries of another. The immediate narrator is com- monly, though not constantly, Loma-harshana, a disciple of the famous Krishna Dwaipayana Yyasa, the son of Parasara, who is said to have taught the Yedas and Puranas to various disciples, but who appears to have been the head of a college or school, under whom various learned men gave to the sacred literature of the Hindus the form in which it now presents itself, Vydsa being a generic term, meaning " an arranger or compiler." Loma-harshana was a Suta, i.e. a bard or panegyrist, who was created, according to the Yishnu Purana, to celebrate the exploits of princes ; and hence, perhaps, the appropria- tion, in a great measure, of the Puranas to the genealogies of regal dynasties and descriptions of the universe. 5. The Pttrdnas enumerated. The Puranas are uniformly stated to be eighteen in number. Their names are as follows : (1) The Brahma Purana; (2) the Padma\ (3) the Vaishnava ; (4) the Sawa\ (5) the Bhdgavata\ (6) the Ndrada; (7) the Mdrkandcya ; (8) the A'gneya ; (9) the Bhavishya ; (10) the Brdhma-vaivartta ; (11) the Lalnga ; (12) the Vardha\ (13) the Skdnda ; (14) the Vdmana ; (15) the Kaurma ; (16) the Matsya ; (17) the Gdruda ; (18) the Brahmdnda. This list is according to the Bhdgavata. In other au- thorities there are a few variations in the titles, but not in the number. It is said that there are also eighteen Upa-purdnas, or minor Puranas ; but the names of these are specified in THE PURANAS. 125 the least receivable authorities, and the greater number of the works are not procurable. 6. Classified and Described. The Puranas are, in the Padma, divided into three classes, according to the qualities which characterise or prevail in them, viz., the Sdtivika, the Tdmasa, and the Rdjasa, from the predominence, respectively, of the quali- ties of satica (goodness or purity), tamas (gloom or ignorance), or rajas (passion), which distinguishes each. Those in which the mahdtmya (greatness) of Hari, or Vishnu, prevails, are Sdtwika ; those in which the legends of Agni, or Siva, predominates, are Tdmasa ; and those which dwell most on the stories of Brahma, are Edjasa. These last are special favourites with the sdktas, or wor- shippers of akti, or the female principle. It is in the Puranas included in the Rajasa class that such legends occur as the Durga Mahatmya (an episode of the Mar- kandeya), on which the worship of Durga, or Kali, is especially founded. The Brahma- vaivartta (another of the same class) devotes a great portion of its contents to the celebration of Radha, the mistress of Krishna, and other female divinities. Indeed, the principal subject of the Rajasa class seems to be the worship of Krishna, and the account of his amours, and as the sojourner in Yrindavan, under the title of Gopdla, and Bdl- Gopdla, the companion of the cowherds and milkmaids, the lover of Radha, or as the juvenile master of the universe, Jayanndtha. The aggregate number of Slokas in the Puranas is stated to be 400,000 or 1,600,000 lines. 126 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 7. Of the Skdnda and Padma Puranas. The longest of the Puranas seems to have been the Skdnda, which is said to have contained 81,000 stanzas, but in a collected form it is no longer in existence. Only fragments of it are .met with in the shape of Sanhitas, Kaiidas, and Mahatmyas. The most celebrated of these portions is the Kdsi-Kdnda, which gives a minute de- scription of the temples of Siva in or near Benares (Kasi), mixed with directions for worshipping Mahesh- wara (Siva). The greater part, at least, of this Kanda was most probably written before the first attack on Benares by Mahmud of Ghazni. The story of Agastya records, in a legendary style, the propagation of Hinduism in the south of India. The Padma Purdna, which is the next longest, contains 55,000 stanzas, and gives an account of the period when the world was a golden lotus (padma), Brahma assuming that form at creation. 8. Of the Vishnu Purdna. But the best known of all is the Vishnu Purdna, on account of the translation of it, with a long preface and numerous notes, by Professor H. H. Wilson, who gives, in his preface, a full analysis of all the other Puranas, so far as their contents are ascertainable. It contains 23,000 stanzas. In this work, Parasara, beginning with the events of the Vardha Kalpa, expounds all duties, especially in connection with the worship of Vishnu (as Krishna). THE PURA'NAS. 127 The fourth book, which, contains the genealogies of the royal family, commencing with the Solar and Lunar dynasties, until a comparatively modern period, may be regarded as a valuable epitome of Hindu history. Another of the Puranas deserves special notice here, as one of great celebrity in India, and as exercising a more direct and powerful influence on the opinions and feelings of the people than perhaps any other of the Puranas,.viz. 9. The Sri Bhagavata. This is placed fifth in all the lists, except in that of the Padma Pur ana, which ranks it as the 18th, as being the extracted substance of all the rest. It is so named from being dedicated to the glorification of Bhagavat or Yishnu. It consists of 18,000 verses. The Bhagavata was com- municated to the Bishis at Naimisharanya by the Suta (or bard) Loma-harshana ; but he only repeats what was re- lated to him by Suka, the son of Yyasa, to Parikshit, the king of Hastinapura, grandson of Arjuna. Having in- curred the imprecation of a hermit, by which he was sentenced to die of the bite of a venomous serpent at the expiration of seven days, the king, in preparation for this event, repairs to the banks of the Ganges, whither also come the gods and sages, to witness his death. Among the latter is Suka ; and it is in reply to Parik- shit' s question, what a man should do who is about to die, that he narrates the Bhagavata, as he had heard it from Yyasa, for nothing secures final happiness so certainly as to die whilst the thoughts are wholly engrossed by Yishnu. 128 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The narrative opens with a cosmogony, which, though in most respects similar to that of the other Puranas, is more largely mixed up with allegory and mysticism, and derives its tone more from the Vedanta than the Sankhya philosophy. The fourth Skanda contains the Manwantara of Swa- yambhuva, and describes the multiplication of the patri- archial families. The tenth book is the characteristic part of this Pur ana, and the portion on which its popu- larity is founded. It is appropriated to the history of Krishna more in detail than in the Vishnu Pur ana. It has been translated into nearly all the languages of India. The Prem Sdgar is the Hindi version of it. Colebrooke thinks the Bhagavata to be the work of the grammarian Vopadeva, six hundred years ago. Its au- thenticity is doubtful. It would be tedious and super- fluous to dwell longer on the Puranas, by giving even the briefest analysis of the contents and characteristics of the remaining works so called. "We proceed, therefore, to notice the 10. Dramatic and other Poetical Compositions, to which reference has not already been made. The classical poetry of ancient India is divided into three periods. The first is that of the Yedas, the second that of the great Epics, the third that of the Drama. A fourth is mentioned, but as it is of later date (since the birth of Christ), it is not considered as belonging to the classic age. The difference of style alone between the KALIDASA. 129 Vedas and the great Epic poems already noticed, is so great as to prove that centuries must have elapsed between their respective composition. The language of the former is visibly softened and polished in the Epic, nearly as much as that of the Iliad in the hands of the Grecian dramatists. The bards of India have given to poetry nearly every form which it has assumed in the western world ; and in each and all they have excelled. Its heroic poets have been likened to Homer ; Yyasa is not unworthy of comparison with Milton his Nala and Damyanti with the " Faerie Queen " of Spenser. In the Drama, Kalidasa has been designated the Indian Shake- speare. Under the present head, therefore, we shall com- mence with some account of that great poet and his works. 11. Kalidasa. Kalidasa is reputed to have been one of the ornaments (or " gems ") of the court of Yikramaditya, king of Ujayin, whose reign, used as a chronological epoch by the Hindus, is placed fifty-six years before the Christian era. His poems, undoubtedly, belong to a classical period of Hindu literature, and " that period, there is reason to believe (says Professor "Wilson), did not long survive the first centuries of Christianity. The poets of later date were men of more scholarship than imagination, and substituted an artificial display of the powers of lan- guage for the enforced utterance of the feeling or the fancy." The most celebrated, perhaps, of the works of Kalidasa 130 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. is his Sakuntald, or " the Fatal Ring," a drama, in seven acts, the plot of which is taken from an episode of the Mahabharata. 12. The Sakuntald. It was the publication of a translation of this play, by Sir William Jones, full seventy years ago, which Max Miiller thinks " may fairly be considered as the starting point of Sanskrit philology." "The first appearance of this beautiful specimen of dramatic art," he continues, " created, at the time, a sensation throughout Europe, and the most rapturous praise was bestowed upon it by men of high authority in matters of taste." It has since been translated into French, with elaborate notes, by M. Chezy; and, more recently, a beautiful edition of a new, partly poetical, translation has been published (in English) by Professor Monier "Williams. Dr. Gilchrist also (in 1827) edited a translation of it into "elegant Hindoostanee," which had been made long before his time. The Hindu drama possesses one striking peculiarity which should alone secure it general favour. " It is impossible," says Professor Wilson, "that the dramatic compositions of India should have been borrowed from any other people, either of ancient or modern times ; besides which, they present characteristic features in their conduct and construction which plainly evince their original design and national development." In the Sakuntala, as in most other Hindu dramas, the common people are represented as speaking the Prakrit, or vulgarised Sanskrit, while the language of the higher THE WORKS OF KALIDASA. 131 and more educated classes is the classical Sanskrit of the present type. 13. The Raghu - Vansa is another poem by Kalidasa, in nineteen cantos, and is considered one of the most admirable compositions in the Sanskrit language. It contains a history of the ancestors of Rama, commencing with Dilipi, the father of Raghu, one of the kings of Ayodhya (Oude) who was the grand- father of Rama-chandra and carrying down the history of his descendants to Agnivira, giving a genealogical table of twenty-nine princes in all. Nearly one-half of the work relates to the history of Raghu, and as much to that of Rama and other intermediate princes of the line. 14. The Megha-Duta, or " Cloud Messenger" is, next to the Sakuntala, perhaps the most celebrated of the poems of Kalidasa. Editions of this work were pub- lished at Calcutta in 1813, and in London in 1815, by Professor H. H. Wilson, with a translation in English verse, and notes and illustrations; and again reprinted with a vocabulary, etc., by Professor Johnson, of Haileybury, in 1843. It consists of only 116 strophes or stanzas. 15. The Nalodaya is a poem in four cantos, comprising 220 slokas, or couplets, on the adventures of Nala and Damyanti. One edition of this is accompanied by the comments of six learned pan- dits, and designated the Subodhini. This work has been 132 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. carefully edited by the late Rev. Dr. Yates, of Calcutta (1844) accompanied by a metrical English translation, an essay on alliteration, a grammatical analysis, and an account of other similar works. In this singular poem rhyme and alliteration are combined in the terminations of the verses : for the three or four last syllables of each hemistich within the stanza are the same in sound, though different in sense. It is a series of puns on a pathetic sub- ject. It is supposed to have been written as a counterfeit of a short poem (of 22 stanzas) similarly constructed, but with less repetition of each rhyme ; and entitled, from the words of the challenge with which it concludes, Ghat a- karpara ("an elephant's skull"). 16. The Vikramorvatt is a drama by the same elegant hand, doubtless, that wrote Sakuntala, tradition as well as internal evidences attesting the identity of authorship. "In each we see the same exquisite polish of style, the same light touch in painting scenery and character; and yet the dramas are 'like in difference/ and each has the separate personality, as well as the mutual likeness, which characterises the twin off- spring of the same creating mind." 1 An edition of the text was printed at Hertford (1849), under the auspices of Professor M. Williams, and an English translation, in 1851, by Professor E. B. Cowell. The text has also been edited in Germany by Professors Lenz and Boehtlingk; 1 Preface to Cow ell's translation. Both dramas are founded on ancient legends. A few meagre hints in the Mahabharata appear to have furnished the first idea of the amplified story of the Vikramorvas'i. The Pauranic ver- sion appears in the Harivans'a. OTHER EPIC POEMS. 133 and Professor Wilson has given a translation, in elegant verse, in his " Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus." 17. Miscellaneous. The other works attributed to Kalidasa are : (1) The Ritu-Sanhdra (or "assemblage of the seasons"), a de- scriptive poem, which was the first book ever printed in Sanskrit : "Wilson gives sixteen verses of it in his edition of the Megha-Duta. (2) The Srusha-Bodha, a poem on Sanskrit prosody, founded on Pingala's aphorisms, or rules of prosody, especially applicable to Prakrit poetry. (3) The Kumdra- Sambhava, or Birth of Kartikeya, the God of War, a long poem, originally in twenty-two books, but of which only fragments are now extant. Three or four other works have been attributed to him, but their au- thenticity is doubtful, viz., the Sringara-Tilaka, and Pras- nottara-Mala (two lyric poems), etc. 18. The other Epic Poets are Bharavi, Sri-Harsha, and Magha, who, with Kalidasa, have been dignified by the titles of Mahd-kavya, or the great poets. Bharavi is the author of the Kirdtdrjuntya, which contains an account of the wars carried on by Arjuna against savage nations. &ri-Harsha's principal work is the Naishadha-Charita, or the Adventures of Nala, Raja of Nishadha, in twenty-two cantos, which the Hindus rank as one of the six great poems regarded as the masterpieces of their profuse literature. Magha's epic poem, entitled Sisupala Badha (or the death of Sisupala) is a work of much merit. An edition of it was published at Calcutta (1815), in royal 8vo. 134 HANDBOOK OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. Soma-Deva, another epic poet, is the author of the Vrihat-katha, which Sir William Jones compares with the poems of Ariosto, and of a poem on the death of Nanda and the accession of Chandragupta to the throne. 19. Fables and Ethical works (Nitikatha}. The most celebrated work of this class is the Pancha- Tantra, so called from its being divided into five Tantras, or sections, but also known by the name of Panchopdkh- ydnam, or five (collections of) stories. It is the parent stock of the Hitopadesa, Pilpay's Fables, and other similar collections. Its authorship is attributed to Yishnu-Sarma, who is said to have extracted the essence of all the most celebrated works of this class. "Whoever reads this work," it is said, " acquires the whole Niti-Sdstm, and and will never be overthrown by Indra himself." The oldest collection of fables and tales that is known, is that which goes under the name of Bidpai, or Pilpay ; and there is no book, except the Bible, which has been translated into so many languages, though its origin is involved in mystery. The Arabic and Persian versions of this work are known by the name of the Kalila-wa-Dimna. The Sanskrit version is the celebrated Hitopadesa, or " Friendly Instructor," which is divided into four books, entitled respectively, the Mitra-Ldbha (or Acquisition of Friends), the Mitra-Bheda (or Separation of Friends), Sandhi (Peace), and } 7 igraha (War). This work is too well known by mere tyros in Sanskrit lore to require a further description here. APPENDIX I. BRIEF OUTLIKE OF HINDI/ MYTHOLOGY. As intimately connected with the literature of the Hindus, and tending greatly to its elucidation, the editor has deemed it de- sirable to subjoin a short account of their religious systems. For the following concise outline thereof he has been indebted chiefly to a valuable and interesting volume, entitled " India and the Hindoos," by the Rev. F. de "W. Ward, formerly missionary at Madras, along with the larger work already referred to, by the Rev. W. "Ward, of Serampore. The Yedas and S'astras, which claim to communicate all that need be known regarding the character of the Supreme, with the modes of performing acceptable worship, and of securing the divine blessing, teach the existence of one universal spirit, the fount and origin of all other beings, animate or inanimate, material or immaterial. To this supreme divinity is given the incommunicable name of Brahma : a noun, in the neuter gender, as indicating the negative mode of his existence : and to be distinguished from Brahma, the distinctive title of the first of the Hindu Triad. Of this great sfclf-existent, independent, and eternal One, we are told in the S'astras that he resides in per- petual silence, takes no interest in the affairs of the universe, finding his happiness in undisturbed repose. They add, that though all spirit and without form, he is devoid of qualities (f^JWO* without will (f^T^f ), without consciousness of his own existence, immersed in an abyss of unrelieved darkness and gloom. He is the ONE, say they, not generically, as possessed of a divine nature ; not hypostatically, as simple and uncompounded ; 136 APPENDIX I. not numerically, as the only actual deity, but the sole entity, whether created or uncreated. "His oneness is so absolute, that it not only excludes the possibility of any other God, co-ordinate or subordinate, but excludes the possibility of aught else, human or angelic, material or immaterial." He is thus, as one well says, " an infinite negative, an infinite nothing" This is the supreme deity of the Hindus, mysterious, unap- proachable, indescribable, in fact unintelligible. The Hindus are not Atheists in the sense of a chance creation of all beings and things. Their system, generally, is rather, in its original state, refined and sublimated Pantheism, all visible things being regarded as but manifestations of his (Brahma's) essence. With a verbal change, we may adopt the poet's cou- plet as descriptive of the Hindu faith, " All are but parts of this mysterious whole, "Whose body nature is, and Brahm the soul." The authors of the Hindu system, like the Greek philosophers, found a difficulty in conceiving how pure spirit could exert any energy, and especially an energy sufficient to create a world. "When, therefore, the supreme Brahma willed to create the world, he drew forth from himself three hypostases, to which were given the names of Brahma, Yishnu, and S'iva. These constitute the celebrated Hindu Triad, of whom the sacred books declare that "They were originally united in one essence, and from one essence were derived, and that the great One, became distinctly known as three Gods, being one person and three gods." Of each of these divine personages, we shall give a short description. 1. Brahma. This deity is usually represented as a man with four faces, riding on a swan, and holding in one of his four hands a portion q the Vedas ; in the second a pot of water ; while the third is raised upward to indicate protection ; and the fourth declined downward, as bestowing a gift. He is variously styled the OUTLINE OF HINDIT MYTHOLOGY. 137 " self-existent " (^^*) though falsely, since he sprung from Brahma the " great father" (fxRTRf :) the "Lord of creatures," ll), and, more appropriately, the " Creator " ( or He is reputed to have had originally four heads, having lost one, for a reason upon which his biographers are divided in opinion. That given in the Skanda Purana is as follows: "The Linga (or sacred symbol) of S'iva fell, by the curse of a Bishi, from heaven, and increased in such height that it filled heaven and hell. In order to see it, Brahma, Yishnu, and the other gods, assembled, and in the midst of their wonder they called out, ' Who can reach its extremity ? ' Vishnu descended to hell, and Brahma went upwards ; but neither search proved successful. Brahma, under the influence of shame, hired the cow, Kama, 1 and the tree, ketaka? as false witnesses, and asserted three times that he.had seen the end. The gods, knowing the falsehood of his daparation, deprived him, by their curse, of all worship, and S'ivafcut off one of his heads." Be the cause what it may, there is but one temple to his honour erected in the land, and he receives less direcJt reverence than almost any of the celestials. 2. Vishnu. This second of$he Trimurtti, 3 or Triad, appears as a blue man wearing yellowf garments, and riding on a skate (if^V an ^ holding in his four hands a war-club, a conch shell, a weapon called a chakra (or discus), and a water lily. He has numerous other names, 5 as Narayana, Yiswambhara, Kesava, Govinda, Ma- dhava, etc., and is worshipped as the Pervader, or the personifica- tion of the preserving principle. 1 Kama-dhenu, i.e. the cow which yields everything desired. 2 The "Pandanus odoratissimus." 3 fanpd lit. " three forms." 4 Or more generally on a Garuda (TT^O or garura, an animal half-bird and half man. 5 The Sastras say 1,000. 138 APPENDIX I. The Puranas mention ten Avatars (descents or incarnations) of this God, nine of which have already taken place, viz., (1) As a fish (the Matsya avatara) ; (2) as a tortoise, or turtle (Eachhapa] \ (3) as a boar (Vardha}\ (4) as a man-monster (Nara-Singha) ; (5) as a dwarf ( Vdmana] ; (6) as a giant (Parasu-rdma) ; (7) as Rdma (the hero of the Ramayana) ; (8) as Krishna ; (9) as Buddha. The tenth, which is still expected, will be (according to the S'astras) as a white horse, called the KaWi-avatdra. The first six are said to have taken place during the Satya Yuga, i.e., the first or golden age of the world's history, and of these there are no images made for worship. The following three occurred during the Treta and Dwapara Yugas, and the tenth is assigned to the present and last age, the Kali Yuga. Each incarnation was effected for the accomplishment of some special purpose of more or less importance, and distinguished by the performance of wonderful exploits. Thus, in the first, Yishnu took the form of a fish (some say of one kind and some another) in order to bring up the Yedas from the bottom of the ocean, for the instruction of Brahma on his entering on the work of creation. In the Kachhapa, he assumed the form of a tortoise, in order to take upon his back the newly created earth, and secure its stability. The Hindus still believe that the earth is supported on the back of this tortoise or turtle. The Yaraha happened at one of the periodical destructions of the world, when the earth sunk into the waters. Yishnu, the preserver, appearing in the form of a boar, then descended into the waters, and, with his tusks, drew up the earth. The fourth and fifth avatars took place for the destruction of certain giants and tyrants. The sixth ( Parasu ^Rama), for the overthrow and extinction of the Kshatriyas, who had become very corrupt and tyrannical. As Rama-chandra, in the seventh, he conquered and killed the giant Havana, the king of Ceylon ; and as Balarama, in the eighth, he destroyed Pralamba and other giants. The 1 Parasu is the name of an instrument of war. OUTLINE OF HINDI/ MYTHOLOGY. 139 ninth had for its object also the destruction of certain giants. For this purpose, in the form of Buddha, Vishnu produced among mankind, by his preaching, etc., a disposition to universal scepticism; that, having no longer any faith in the gods, the giants might cease to apply to them for those powers by which they had become such dreadful scourges to mankind. In this appearance, the object of Vishnu was accomplished by art, without the necessity of war; but the dreadful alternative adopted affords a proof of how wretchedly the world would be governed if everything depended on the wisdom of man. Some idea of the moral character attributed to Vishnu may be gathered from the following incident recorded in the Sastras: When the sea was churned to recover the ambrosia (Mount Mandra being the charming stick, a five-headed snake, Vaisuka, the rope, and the demons called Asuras, the workmen), Akabai and Lakshmi, two maiden sisters, arose at the same time. Vishnu, perceiving Lakshmi to be the more beautiful, wished to marry her; but not being able to accomplish the object until the elder was disposed of, he deceived the Eishi Uddakala as to Akabai' s beauty and excellences, which induced him to marry her, while Vishnu espoused the woman of his choice. The followers of this god, in particular, form one of the three- fold divisions of Hindu society, viz., the Vaishnavas, the S'aivas, and the S'aktas. 3. S'iva. is the reputed destroyer of mankind, as Vishnu is the preserver. He is commonly represented as a silver-coloured man, with five heads and eight hands, in six of which are, severally, a skull, a deer, fire, an axe, a rosary, and an elephant rod ; while the seventh is open, in the attitude of blessing, and the last in that of protecting. He has a third eye in his forehead with perpen- dicular corners, ear-rings of snakes, and a collar of skulls. At the end of each series of the four Yugas, S'iva submerges and destroys the earth, and then remodels it : his name being more properly the new-modeller or reproducer. One form in which 140 APPENDIX I. this deity is worshipped is the linga (or lingam}, answering to the phalli of the Greeks. It is exposed to view all the country over, and especially worshipped by the women. Siva has an immense number of devotees, some of whom consider him superior to Brahma himself. One of his consorts is the sanguinary Kali, another (for he was a polygamist) was the more pacific Durga, of each of whom we shall give a short account. 4. Kali is the Moloch of India. Her appearance indicates her character. She is represented as standing with one foot upon the chest of her husband, Siva, whom she has thrown down in a fit of anger ; her tongue, dyed with blood, is protruding from her mouth ; she is adorned with skulls, and the hands of her slain enemies are suspended from her girdle. The blood of a tiger delights her for ten years ; of a human being, for one thousand years. If any of her worshippers draw the blood from his own person, and offer it her, she will be in raptures of joy ; but if he cut out a piece of his own flesh for a burnt offering, her delight is beyond bounds. But, though thus sanguinary and malevolent, Kali is one of the favourite deities of the Hindus. The Swinging Festival, and other observances equally atrocious, are in her honour, being designed to avert her wrath, or secure her blessing. She is the special friend of thieves and murderers, who invoke her blessing before entering upon their deeds of violence, fraud, or death. 5. Durga combines the characteristics of Minerva, Pallas, and Juno. Her original name was Parvati, but having, by a display of extra- ordinary valour, defeated a giant named Durga, she was thence- forth dignified with the name of her conquered foe. This monster is by some supposed to be a personification of vice, and Durga of virtue, while the struggle typified the action and reaction of good and evil in the world. The festival in honour OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. of this goddess (the Durga Puja), observed in the month of September, has no superior for magnificence of entertainment and imposing appearance in the country. At the celebration of one festival, a wealthy Hindu has been known to give 80,000lbs. of sweetmeats, 80,000lbs. of sugar, 1,000 suits of cloth garments, 1,000 suits of silk, and 1,000 offerings of rice, plantains, and other fruits. In the single city of Calcutta, it is supposed that half a million pounds sterling are annually expended on the Durga festival alone. 6. Indra. He is called the king of Heaven, and his reign is said to continue one hundred years of the gods, after which another individual from among the gods, the giants, or men, by his own merit, raises himself to this eminence. The sacrifice of a horse (asvamedha) one hundred times will raise a person, it is said, to the rank of Indra. He is represented as a white man, sitting on an elephant, with a thunderbolt in his right hand, and a bow in his left. He has 1,000 eyes. The Puranas and other S'astras contain many stories regarding Indra, who is represented as particularly jealous lest any per- son should, by sacred austerities or sacrifices, out-do him in religious merit, and thus obtain his kingdom. To prevent these devotees from succeeding in their object, he generally sends a captivating female to draw away their 'minds, and thus luring them from their religious austerities, induce them to return to a life of sensual gratification. He was once guilty of stealing a horse consecrated by king Sagara, who was about to perform for the hundredth time the sacrifice of that animal. But that which entails the greatest infamy on the character of this god is his seducing the wife of his religious guide (guru) Gautama. This he effected (like Jupiter in the seduction of Alcmena) by assum- ing the appearance of her absent husband. Ahalya, the guru's wife, discovered her celestial seducer ; but, through wantonness, and he being king of the gods, consented to his importunities. Gautama, however, met him as he was leaving the hermitage, 142 APPENDIX I. and discovering the crime he had committed, pronounced upon him a curse by which the god instantly became a eunuch. Amaravati, the capital (or heaven) of Indra, was made by Visvakarma, the architect of the gods, a son of Brahma. It is described as eight hundred miles in circumference, and forty miles high. Its pillars are composed of diamonds ; all its thrones, beds, etc., of pure gold, as also its palaces. It is surrounded by beauteous gardens and pleasure grounds, interspersed with pools, fountains, etc., while music and dancing, and every sort of festivity, entertain the celestial inhabitants. Indra is supposed to preside over the elements, and is by some considered the deified impersonation of the heavens. His annual festival takes place on the 14th of the month Bhadra (August- September). 7. Surya the Sun. This god is said to be the son of Kasyapa, the progenitor of gods and men. He is represented as a dark-red man, with three eyes and four arms. In two hands he holds the lotus, or water- lily, with another he signifies the bestowment of a blessing, and with the fourth the forbidding of fear. He sits on a red water- lily, while rays of glory issue from his body. The Brahmans consider him one of the greatest of the gods, resembling Brahma in glory. The celebrated incantation called the gdyatri, and many other forms of prayer and praise used in the daily cere- monies of the Brahmans, are addressed to him. Every Sunday, but especially on the first in the month Magha ( January-February), his worship is performed, especially by women, who beg of him the blessings of a son, riches, health, etc. Those who adopt this god as their particular guardian deity, are called Sauras. They never eat till they have worshipped the sun, and when it is entirely covered with clouds they fast. On Sundays (Ravibdr), other Hindus as well as they perform special worship to his idol, and some of them also fast. Surya has two wives, named Savarna (*'.*. "likp," or "coloured," or "golden") and Chaya (i.e. "shade" or "shadow"). Savarna, OUTLINE OF HINDI/ MYTHOLOGY. 143 it is said, after her marriage to the sun, unable to bear the power of his rays, made an image of herself, and imparting life to it, named it Chaya, and left it with Surya. She then returned to her father, Visvakarma's house ; but on his refusing to receive her, she assumed the form of a mare and fled into the forest Dandaka. Surya went after her to his father-in-law's house, who received him with respect, but, unperceived, gave him a seat formed of different sharp weapons, by which he became divided into twelve round parts (the signs of the Zodiac ?). His rage was great, but he was pacified on learning that Visvakarma had sent his daughter back to him. By the power of dhydna (meditation), Surya ascer- tained that Savarna had become a mare and gone to the forest. On which he assumed the form of a horse, joined her, and in these forms two children were born to them, viz., Aswini (" horse- born") and Kumara (" prince") who became physicians to the gods. There are no temples dedicated to Surya in Bengal. A. race of kings, distinguished as the descendants of the sun, once reigned in India, of which dynasty Ikshvaku was the first king, and Rama the sixty -sixth. is the elder son of S'iva and Parvati (alias Durga). With his elephant face, big belly, and four hands, 1 and sitting on a rat, he presents a strange and repulsive appearance. But for all this no deity is more often named than he. Being esteemed the work-perfecter, or one who can place or remove obstacles, he is always invoked at the commencement of every religious service, enterprise, or composition. Before undertaking a journey, writing a letter, studying a book, and the like, Ganesa is on the lips of the traveller or student. This eminent position was assigned him 1 Holding, respectively, a shell, a chakra (or discus), a club, and a lotus (or water-lily). Instead of two tusks, as elephants have, he has only one, the other having been torn out by Vishnu, when, on one occasion, he wished to have an interview with S'iva, Ganes'a, as door-keeper, refusing him admittance. Yishnu had assumed the form of Paras'u-Eama. 144 APPENDIX I. as a compensation for the strange head he wears, which was put upon his shoulders when he lost his own, in infancy, by a look of the celestial S'ani the Hindu Saturn. 1 The goddess, seeing her child headless, was overwhelmed with grief, and would have destroyed S'ani, but Brahma prevented her, telling S'ani to bring the head of the first animal he should find lying with its head northwards. 2 He found an elephant in this position, cut off its head, and fixed it on Ganesa, who then assumed the shape he at present wears. Durga was but little soothed when she saw her son with an elephant's head ; but, to pacify her, Brahma 'said that, amongst the worship of all the gods, that of Ganesa should for ever have the preference. Shop-keepers and others paint the name or image of this god over the doors of their shops or houses, expecting from his favours protection and success. He is wor- shipped especially at the commencement of a wedding, as well as when the bride is presented to her bridegroom. No public festivals, however, in honour of Ganesa are held, nor any temples dedicated to him in Bengal, though stone images of the god are worshipped in the temples on the banks of the Ganges at Benares. Sir William Jones calls Ganesa the god of wisdom, referring, as a proof, to his having an elephant's head. The Hindus, how- ever, in general, consider the elephant a stupid animal ; and to be called "as stupid as an elephant" is a bitter taunt. He corresponds rather to the Roman Janus. 9. Kartikeya, the elder, and only other son of Durga, by S'iva, is the god of war. He is represented sometimes with one, and at others with 1 Durg& is said, on this occasion, to have cursed the gods, so that they have ever since heen childless, except by criminal amours with females not their own wives. 2 Durg&. had laid her child to sleep with its head to the north, which is forhidden hy the S'astra. It is superstitiously helieved that if a person sleep with his head to the east he will be rich, if to the south he will have long life, if to the north he will die, and if to the west (except when on a journey) he will have misfortune. OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 145 six faces ; is of a yellow colour ; rides on a peacock, and holds in his right hand an arrow, and in his left a bow. The express object of his birth is said to have been the overthrow and de- - struction of the giant Taraka, who, having by the performance of religious austerities obtained the special blessing of Brahma, afterwards oppressed both Brahmans and gods. Indra (the king of the celestials) then called a council in heaven, when the gods applied to Brahma, who declared that he could not reverse his blessing on Taraka, but that Kartikeya, who should be the son of Siva, would destroy the giant. Durga, the daughter of Hima- laya, partly by the intervention of Kandarpa, the god of love, and partly by the power of religious austerities, prevailed on the ascetic S'iva to marry her, and Kdrtikeya was the first fruit of their union. On the last evening in the month Kartika (October-November), a clay image of this god is worshipped, and next day thrown into the water. These images are sometimes not less than twenty-five cubits high, so that the offerings have to be pre- sented at the end of a long bamboo to reach the mouth of the god. His image is also made and set up by the side of his mother, Durga, at the great festival of this goddess in the month Aswina (September-October), and in the month Chaitra (March- April), when each day the worship of the son is performed after that of his mother. There are no temples in Bengal, however, to this god, nor any images of him kept in the houses of the Hindus except during a festival. "Women worship and make special vows to Kartikeya, in the hope of obtaining a male child. 10. Salrdmanmdn, who is likewise styled the Hindu Mars, seems to be merely another form of Kartikeya, and is regarded as the special guardian of the Brahmanical order. He is represented with six faces and twelve arms, riding on a peacock, and holding in his several hands a bow, an arrow, a conch, a discus, a sword, a rope, a 10 146 APPENDIX I. trident, a diamond weapon, fire, a dart, a drum, and a crescent shaped weapon. He is worshipped chiefly in the Madras Presidency. 11. Yama, called also Kala ("time"), Dharma-raja ("the holy king"), Kritanta ("the destroyer"), Preta-rat ("the lord of the dead "), etc., is the Pluto of the Hindus. The name Yama itself means "restraint," "penance," or, according to "Ward, "he who takes out of the world." He is the judge of the dead. His image is that of a green man, with red garments and inflamed eyes, having a crown on his head, and a flower stuck in his hair, with a club in his right hand, and sitting on a buffalo. His dreadful teeth, grim aspect, and terrific shape, fill the inhabitants of the three worlds with dismay. Yama is said to hold a court, in which he presides as judge, being assisted by a person named Chitra-gupta, 1 who keeps an account of the actions of men. A number of officers are also attached to the court, who bring the dead to be judged. If the deceased persons have been wicked, Yama sends them to their particular hell ; if good, to some place of happiness. The poor Hindus, at the hour of death, sometimes fancy they see Yama's officers (Eritanta-duta) in a frightful shape, coming to fetch them away. 2 Yama is said to reside at Yamalaya, on the south side of the earth. All souls, wherever the person die, are supposed to go to Yama in four hours and forty minutes, and a dead body cannot be buried till that time has elapsed. An annual festival is held in honour of Yama on the second day of the moon's increase in the month Kartika (October- November), when an image of clay is made and worshipped with the usual ceremonies for one day, and then thrown into the river. 1 That is, " he who paints " (or writes the fate of men) " in secret." 2 The Puranas teach that after death the soul becomes united to an aerial body, and passes to the seat of judgment to be tried by Yama. It, however, remains in this aerial vehicle till the last S'raddha (funeral-rite) is performed, twelve months after death, when it passes into happiness or misery, according to the sentence that may have been passed upon it by Yama. OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 147 No bloody sacrifices are offered to this god. He is also wor- shipped at the commencement of other festivals as one of the ten guardian deities of the earth. Every day the Hindus offer water to Yama in the ceremony called tarpana. Some Hindus, reject- ing the worship of other gods, worship only Yama, alleging that, as their future destiny is to be determined by him only, they have nothing to fear from any besides him. "We learn from the Mahabharata, that, after Brahma had created the three worlds heaven, earth, and patala he recol- lected that a place for judgment and the punishment of the wicked was wanting. He, therefore, ordered Yisvakarma to prepare a superb palace for the purpose, the hall of judgment being surrounded by a river of boiling water, which each one, after death, is obliged to swim across. But the offering of a cow to a Brahman cools the river, and renders the passage easy. 12. Agni (Fire). This god is represented as a red, corpulent man, with eyes, eye-brows, and hair of a tawny colour. He rides on a goat, wears a paita l and a necklace of a certain fruit. From his body issue seven streams of glory, and in his right hand he holds a spear. He is the son of the sage Kasyapa and Aditi, called the mother of the gods. Agni is especially worshipped under different names, at the time of a burnt offering, when clarified butter (ghi or ghritaj is presented to him. The gods are said to have two mouths, viz., those of the Brahman and of Agni (fire). As one of the guardian deities of the earth, he is worshipped at the commencement of every festival. At the full moon in the month Magha (January-February), when danger from fire is considerable, he is sometimes worshipped before the image of Bramha, for three consecutive days; and 1 The Paitd (a corruption of qcj^ " holy "), or TTpavita, is the sacred thread worn by the three first castes of the Hindus over the left shoulder and falling on the right hip. 148 APPENDIX I. when any particular work is to be done by the agency of fire, as the burning of bricks, etc., his worship is performed, or when a trial by ordeal is about to take place. Some Brahmans are distinguished by the name of Sdgnika, 1 because they use sacred fire in all the ceremonies in which this element is to be used, from the time of birth to the burning of the body after death. Swaha, the daughter of Kasyapa, was married to Agni. His name is repeated at the end of every incantation used at a burnt offering. 13. Pavana (Wind). He is the god of the winds and messenger of the gods. His mother, Aditi, it is said, prayed to her husband that this son might be more powerful than Indra. Her request was granted ; but Indra hearing of this, entered the womb of Aditi, and cut the fostus, first into seven, and then each part into seven others. Thus Pavana assumed forty-nine forms 2 (the points of the compass). He is represented as a white man, sitting on a deer, with a flag on his right hand. Pavana has no separate public festival, neither image nor temple. As one of the ten guardian deities of the earth, he is worshipped, however, at the commencement of every festival. "Water is also offered to him in the daily ceremonies of the Brahmans ; and whenever a goat is offered to any deity, a service is paid to him under the name of Yayu. He presides in the north-west, as Agni in the south-east region of the earth. 14. Varuna (tlie Ocean) is the god of the waters. His image is painted white, and he ?its on a marine monster called Makara, with a rope 3 in his right 1 From ^T "with" + ^M "fire." 2 The Hindus have forty-nine, instead of thirty-two points; and the Puranas give the above fable to account for the number. 3 Or "chain." This weapon, called pdsa ("m^) has this property, that whomsoever it catches it binds so fast that he can never get loose. All the gods, rdkshasas, etc., learn the use of this weapon. OUTLINE OF HINDI/ MYTHOLOGY. 149 hand. Yaruna's name 1 is repeated daily in the service of the Brahmans ; but his image is never made for worship, nor has he any public service or temple. He is worshipped, however, as one of the guardian deities of the earth, and also by those who farm the lakes in Bengal before they go out a-fishing; and in times of drought people repeat his name and praises to obtain rain. It is common, at such seasons, for Brahmans to sit in crowds on the banks of the Ganges, or any other river, and address their prayers to this god, receiving presents from rich natives for doing so. His heaven, called Yaruna-loka, is 800 miles in circumference, and was formed by Yisvakarma, the divine architect. In the centre is a grand canal of pure water. Yaruna, and his queen Yaruni, sit on a throne of diamonds f surrounded by Samudra (the sea), Gunga (the Ganges), and other river gods and goddesses, as well as other deities. Every means of sensual gratification is to be met with there. 15. The Planets and other Heavenly Bodies. These are all regarded as the objects of divine worship by the Hindus, and are the subjects of adoration under various sym- jolical forms. Thus, Ravi, the sun, is represented by a figure painted red, holding in each hand a water-lily, and riding in a chariot drawn by seven yellow horses. As one of the planets, he is worshipped only at great festivals. He may be regarded as simply another form of Siirya. Ravi, along with Soma, or Chandra (the moon), Mangala (Mars), Buddha (Mercury), Yri- haspati (Jupiter), S'ukra (Yenus), Stini (Saturn), give names to the different days of the week among the Hindus (viz. Ravibar, Sombar, Mangalbar, etc.), and are respectively the special objects of worship on each of those days. The only other celestial di- vinities we need mention are 1 The name Varuna signifies "he who (or that which) surrounds." From the root ^ or H. 150 APPENDIX I. 16. Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, who is said to have been obtained by Vishnu at the churning of the sea, and with whom, like Venus, the gods were all enamoured, especially S'iva. She is worshipped in every Hindu family four times a year. And, 17. Saraswati, the goddess of learning, the daughter of Brahma, and wife of Vishnu. Every Hindu who is able to read and write celebrates her worship, especially on the 5th day of the moon in Magha (Jan.-Feb.). II. ON THE INFERIOR CELESTIAL BEINGS. Intermediate, as it were, between gods and men, and either the enemies, or the companions and friends, of both, are certain beings which, occupying, as they do, an important place in the legends and poems of both the classical and more vulgar and modern Hindu writers, deserve a passing notice in connection with Sanskrit Literature. These are, 1. The Asuras, or Giants. They were the offspring of Kasyapa, the progenitor alike of gods and men, by his different wives. They bear a resemblance to the Titans of Grecian mythology, and stories of their wars with the gods abound in the Puranas. Indra, Vishnu, Kartika, and Durga are distinguished among the Hindu deities for their conflicts with these beings. As Jupiter was represented as aiming the thunderbolt in his right hand against a giant under his feet, so Durga, in her images, appears aiming the spear in her right hand against an Asura under her feet. A story is told at length, in the Mahabharata, of the churning of a sea of milk by the gods and Asuras. Mount Mandara was taken as the OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. churning-stick, round which the serpent Vasuka was wrapped to whirl it with. The gods then took hold of the head, and the Asuras of the tail of the surpent, but Yishnu prevailed on the latter to change places with the gods. As the result of their churning, there arose from the sea, first, the elephant Airavata ; afterwards, in succession, the gem Kanstubha, the horse Uchaish- rava, the tree Parijata, many jewels, the goddess Lakshmf, and, lastly, poison. Pull of alarm at this, the gods applied to S'iva, who, to save the world from destruction, drank up the poison, receiving no other injury than a blue mark on his throat, from which circumstance is derived one of his favourite epithets, Nilkanta. i.e. " the blue-throated." Then came up the water of immortality. The gods (330 millions in number) and the countless Asuras each claimed the boon; but while the latter went to bathe in the sacred stream, to prepare themselves for the holy draught, the gods drank up nearly the whole of the nectar. One Asura, however, contrived by trickery to get a little, and became im- mortal, but Vishnu cut off his head. Afterwards the immortalized head and trunk became the ascending and descending nodes, under the names of Rahu and Ketu. 2. The Rdhhasas. Many stories, respecting the wars of the Rakshasas, or Canni- bal-giants, with the gods, are contained in the Puranas and other S'astras. They are represented as assuming, at pleasure, the different shapes of horses, tigers, buffaloes, etc., some having 100 heads, and others as many arms. As soon as born, these giant-demons are said to arrive at maturity. They devour their enemies. The Rakshasas are all Brahmans, and are said to dwell in the south-west corner of the earth. Nairita, a Rakshas, is one of the guardian deities of the earth, presiding in the south west and in this character he is worshipped at all great festivals. He is represented as a black man in the posture of meditation adopted by the Brahmans, and having in his right hand a scimitar. One of the most celebrated of the Rakshasas, was 152 APPENDIX I. Havana, the tyrant-ruler of Lanka (Ceylon), whom Kama Chandra (of the Kamayana) dethroned and destroyed. His brother, Kumbha- Karna, was a still more enormous monster, devouring thousands of cows, sheep, buffaloes, etc., at one meal, and washing them down with 4000 hogsheads of spirits. His house was 20 or 30 thousand miles long, and his bed the length of the house ! ! ! 3. Celestial Dancers and Musicians. The Gandharvas and Kinnaras are the choristers of heaven, male and female ; the latter have horses' heads ! The Yidya-dharas are male and female dancers. The Apsaras are also female dancers, greatly celebrated for their beauty ; they have been frequently sent down to earth to captivate the minds of religious devotees, and entice them from those works of merit which were likely to procure them the thrones of the gods. Eight of the Apsaras are celebrated as beautiful beyond all others, viz., TJrvasi (whence the title of Kalidasa's drama Yikra- morvasi) Menaka, Eambha, Pancha-chara, Trilottama, etc. These five are the mistresses of the gods, and keep houses of ill fame in Indra's heaven. When any one of the gods visits the king of heaven, he generally spends some time with one or more of these courtezans. 4. TheMyiMs. These are female companions of Durga, and are worshipped at the festivals of this goddess. Eight of them have a pre- eminence over the rest. The Tantra-sastras declare that these females visit the worshippers either as their wives or as their mothers, and show them how they may obtain heaven ; or, as sisters, bring them to any female they choose, and reveal what- ever they desire to know of the present or future. He who wishes to obtain the company of a Nayika must worship her thrice a day, and repeat her name at night in a cemetery for 7, 15, or 30 days. On the last night he must continue to repeat OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 153 her name till she appears to him, and asks what he wishes for. She remains with him during the night, and departs next morn- ing, leaving with him presents to a large amount, which, however, he must expend next day, or they will all evaporate. If the worshipper wishes to go to any place in the three worlds, the iNayika takes him there in a moment. If, after cohabiting with a Nayika, he cohabit with any other female, the Nayika immediately destroys him. 5. The Yahhas are the servants of Kuvera, the god of riches, and fly through the world preserving the wealth of men. Kuvera is worshipped at the festival of Lakshmi, and at all other great festivals ; but he has no separate feast, image, or temple. The Ramayana relates that Kuvera, by prayer to Brahma, along with religious austerities, obtained Lanka (Ceylon), the very mire of whose streets is gold. Here he reigned till Rama dispossessed him. Brahma also gave him the chariot Pushpaka, which had the property of expansion and of going wherever the charioteer wished. From Lanka, Kuvera went to Mount Kailasa, where he is supposed still to remain. 6. The Pisdchas are goblins, messengers of the gods, who guard the sacred places, the resorts of pilgrims; sixty thousand guard the Ganges from the approach of the profane. 7. The other Servants of the Gods, of inferior order, are the Gudghakas, the Siddas, the Bhutas, and the Charanas. Besides which, there are several orders of female attendants, especially on Durga and S'iva, as, the Yo- ginis, Dakinis, Kakinfs, S'akinis, Bhutinis, and Pretinis. 154 APPENDIX I. III. ON THE AVATARAS AND TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. Some of these are worshipped with more show than any of the celestial deities, while the records of their exploits constitute the principal themes of the more popular Hindu literature. 1. Krishna. He was one of the incarnations of Vishnu, the object of which was the destruction of the kings S'isupata and Kansa, and a number of giants. His birth-place was Mathura. His father was Vasu-deva, a Kshatriya; his mother Devaki. Kansa seeking to destroy him when an infant, his father fled to the Forest Vrinda-vana, and concealed him in the house of Nanda ; hence he is sometimes called the son of JSTanda. The images of Krishna represent him as a black man, holding a flute to his mouth with both his hands, ; his mistress Eadha standing on his left. Many stories are recorded of Krishna in the Puranas ; but his history and character are best known, both to Hindus and Europeans, from their being set forth so fully in the celebrated work written in the Braj Bhaka (a dialect of the Hindi language) the Prem Sagar, by Sri Lallu Lall Kab, which has been translated into English by Captain Hollings and Pro- fessor Eastwick. In his infancy he is said to have deprived a giantess of her breath, who had poisoned her breast before giving him to suck. Panda's wife, one day, when looking into his mouth, had a view there of the three worlds, with Brahma, Vishnu, and S'iva sitting on their thrones. At eight years of age he took up Mount Grovardhana in his arms and held it as an umbrella over the heads of the villagers and their cattle during a dreadful storm, with which the angry king of heaven was overwhelming them ; he created a number of cattle, and also of children, to re- place those which Brahma had stolen from Vrindavana; he destroyed a large hydra which had poisoned the waters of the Yamuna (Jamna); he seduced the wife of Ayana-ghosha, a OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 155 Vaisya, and sported with 16,000 milkmaids in the wilderness of Vrinda. He next assumed four arms and destroyed Kansa, whose father he placed on the throne instead of him. After this he was engaged in various quarrels, and had to combat with many formidable enemies, which induced him to build a fort at Dwaraka in Guzerat, where he took up his abode and married two wives. He next joined the family of Yudhishthira in their war with the race of Duryodhana (the subject of the Mahabha- rata) ; and, lastly, destroyed S'isupala. He closed his life with an act worthy of such a character, by destroying his whole progeny, and was at length himself accidentally killed by an arrow, while sitting under a tree. It is very possible that, if any authentic Hindu history could be discovered, many of these facts .would be found recorded in the life of a Hindu king of the name, which facts have been embellished and distorted by the Asiatic poets till they have elevated the hero into a god. The temples dedicated to Krishna are very numerous, and it is a scandalous fact, that the image of Radha, his mistress, and not those of his wives, Rukmini and Satyabhama, always accom- panies that of Krishna. Pantomimic entertainments are fre- quently held, at which the lewd actions of this god are exhibited. Six parts out of ten of the whole Hindu population of Bengal are supposed to be disciples of this god in particular, and numerous festivals are annually kept in his honour. 2. Gopdld l and Gopindtha? These are both images of Krishna in his childhood. In the former the infant god is represented as resting on one knee, and, with his right hand extended, craving sweetmeats from his mother. A celebrated image of Gopinatha is set up at Agra- dwipa, where an annual festival is held in the month Chaitra. Multitudes of lewd women are always present at these festivals, and the most abominable indecencies are perpetrated. 1 i. e. " The Cow-herd." 2 ,-. 6i The Lord of the Milk-maids." 156 APPENDIX I. 3. Jagganndtha 1 (vulg. "Juggernath"}. This is another, and perhaps the most famous form of Krishna. The image has no legs, and only stumps of arms. The head and legs are very large. At the festivals, the Brahmans adorn him with silver or golden hands. Krishna having been accidentally killed by Angada, a hunter, he left the body to rot under a tree. Some pious persons, how- <"** ever, collected the bones of Krishna and placed them in a box. -JA There they remained till King Indra-dhumna (a great ascetic) was directed by Yishnu to form the image of Jaggannatha, and put into its belly these bones of Krishna. Yisvakarma (the ^- architect of the gods) undertook to prepare it, on condition that he should be left undisturbed till its completion. The impatient king, however, after fifteen days, went to the spot ; on which Yisva- karma desisted from his work, and left the god without hands or feet. The King was much disconcerted, but on praying to Brahma, he promised to make the image famous in its present shape. Indra-dhumna then invited all the gods to be present at the setting up of this image. Brahma himself acted as high priest, and gave eyes and a soul to the god, which completely established the fame of Jaggannatha. This image is said to lie in a pool, near the famous temple at Jaggannatha-kshetra (i.e. Jagganath's field), near the town of Pun in Orissa, commonly called by the English, Juggernath's Pagoda. There are many other temples to Jaggannatha in Bengal and other part of India, besides that in Orissa, built by rich men as works of merit, and endowed with lands, villages, and money, at which the worship of the god is performed every morning and evening. There are two great annual festivals in honour of the god, viz., the Snan-yatra 2 in the month Jyaistha (May-June) and the Kath-yatra 2 in the following month, A'sarha. These are every- where most numerously attended ; but especially those celebrated 1 i. e. " The Lord of the World." 2 Or j&trfc. OUTLINE OF HINDIT MYTHOLOGY. 157 at the great temple at Puri. Thither pilgrims from the remotest corners of India flock to pay their adoration at the unhallowed shrine. Between two and three thousand persons, it is computed, used to lose their lives on the annual pilgrimages to this temple, and not less than 200,000 worshippers were present at the fes- tivals, from which the Brahmans draw an immense revenue. Since the withdrawment of the large annual grant, however, which the British Christian Government of India, till very recently, made to the Orissa Temple, the numbers attending these festivals have very greatly diminished. All the land within twenty miles round the "Pagoda" is considered holy; but the most sacred spot is an area of about 650 feet square, which contains fifty temples, the most conspicuous of which is a lofty tower, about 184 feet in height, and about 28 feet square inside, in which the idol, with his brother Bala-Rama, and his sister Subhadra, is lodged. At the Snan-yatra (or bathing festival) the god is bathed by pouring* water on his head during the reading of incantations. At the Rath-yatra (or car festival) the carriage, containing the three images (which has sixteen wheels and two wooden horses) is drawn by the devotees, by means of a hawser, for some distance. On this occasion many cast themselves beneath the ponderous wheels and are crushed to death. 4. Rama, that is, Rama-Chandra and who must not be confounded with either Bala-Rama, the brother of Jaggannatha (i.e. Krishna), or with Parasu-Rama, another of the incarnations of Vishnu is the hero of the celebrated Epic of Yalmiki, the Ramayana. But as a brief outline of that work, containing a history of the adventures of this deified hero, has already been given in the body of this work, it will be unnecessary to add much further under the present head. The image of Rama is painted green. He is represented as sitting on a throne, or on Hanumau, the monkey, with a crown 158 APPENDIX I. on his head.' He holds in one hand a bow, in the other an arrow, and has a bundle of arrows slung at his back. The birth of Rama forms the seventh of the Hindu incarna- tions. On the birth-day of this god the Hindu merchants begin their new year's accounts, i.e. on the ninth day of the increase of the moon in Chaitra (March- April.) At the time of death many Hindus write the name of Rama on the breast and fore- head of the dying person, with earth taken from the banks of the Ganges; and as they follow the corpse to the S'masdn, or place of burning, they repeat the formula, Ram ndm lacMta hai, (i.e., "the name of Ram saves") believing that, through the efficacy of this name, the deceased, instead of being dragged to Yama to be judged, will immediately ascend to heaven. The tilak, or mark, put on the forehead by the disciples of Rama resembles a trident. The Ramahuts, a class of mendicants, im- press likewise, on different parts of their bodies, Rama's name and the figure of his foot. The worship paid to him is much the same as that to Krishna. An annual festival is held on his birth-day. The Dolyatra (or swinging festival) is also celebrated on that day, and kept as a fast, when his three brothers, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Sha- tranga, are also worshipped. Many small temples are erected to his honour. 5. Visvalca/rma was the son of Brahma, and the architect of the gods. His image is painted white, has three eyes, holds a club in his right hand, wears a crown, a necklace of gold, and rings on his wrists. He presides over the arts, manufactures, etc. The worship of Visvakarma is celebrated four times a year by all artificers, to obtain success in their business. The cere- monies may be performed either by night or by day, before any implement of trade. On these occasions the worshippers make a feast to their neighbours on as liberal a scale as their means will allow. OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 159 6. Kdma l -deva the Indian Cupid. He was the sou of Brahma, and is represented as a beautiful youth, holding in his hand a bow and arrow of flowers. He is always supposed to be accompanied by his wife Rati, 2 by spring personified, the cuckoo, the humming bee, and gentle breezes ; and is represented as wandering through the three worlds. The image of this god is never made in Bengal ; but on the 13th day of the moon's increase in Chaitra, an annual festival is held, when the ceremonies are performed before the Salgrama, an ammonite stone, considered as the emblem of Yishnu. When a bride leaves her father's house to go to her husband for the first time, petitions are addressed to this god for children, and for happiness in the married state. IV. PRINCIPAL FEMALE TERRESTRIAL DEITIES. 1. Stia, the daughter of Janaka, King of Hithila, and the wife of Rama, who is always worshipped along with her husband. She is represented as a yellow woman, covered with jewels. 2. Rddhd, who was the wife of Ayana-ghosha, a cow-herd of Gokula, where Krishna resided in his youth. Through Varai, a procuress, he seduced Radha, and took her to a forest, near the Yamuna, where they continued till Krishna left her to make war against Kansa. 3. Rukmini and Satya-bhdmd. These were the most distinguished wives of Krishna. He had six others, but is always associated with his mistress, Radha, and not with his lawful wives. "desire," "love." 2 Tf?f "passion." 160 APPENDIX I. 4. Subhadrd was the sister of Jagganatha, and is always worshipped with her brother, and placed with him in his temples. V. DEIFIED EIYEES. Among the objects of Hindu worship, certain rivers occupied a very important place, both as male and female divinities (Nada and Nadi.) The worship of these rivers is performed at certain auspicious seasons, as declared in the S'astra, and at some of the great festivals. Certain particular parts of these rivers are held peculiarly sacred, and draw great numbers of devotees : as the sources of the Ganges ; the union of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the Saraswati, at Prayaga (Allahabad) ; the branching of this united river into three streams at Triveni, the embouchure of the Ganges, etc. These waters are used for food, medicine, bathing, religious ceremonies, etc.; and, formerly, when a Hindu king was crowned, they were poured upon his head as a part of the ceremonial of his consecration. 1. Gang a (the Ganges}. This goddess is represented as a white woman, wearing a crown, sitting on the sea animal maka/ra, and having in her right hand a lotus, and in her left the lute. She is called the daughter of Himavat, though some Puranas declare that she was produced from the sweat of Vishnu's foot, which Brahma caught and preserved in his alms' dish. The Eamayana, Mahabharata, and Skanda-Purana give long accounts of the descent of Ganga from heaven. When Ganga was brought from heaven, the gods, conscious that their sins also needed washing away, and of the peculiar efficacy of its waters for the purpose, petitioned Brahma on the subject, who soothed them by promising that Ganga" should remain in heaven and descend to the earth also. The goddess, therefore, was called OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 161 Manrlakim in heaven, and Ganga on earth, and Bhogavati in pdtdla. The Hindus particularly choose the banks of this river for their worship, as the merit of works performed here, accord- ing to the S'astras, is greatly augmented. In the months of Yaisaka, Jyaishtha, Kartika, and Magha, the merit is greater than in other months ; as at the full moon in these months it is still more enhanced. The Puranas declare that the sight, the name, or the touch of Ganga, takes away all sin, however heinous ; that thinking of Ganga, at a distance, is sufficient to remove the taint of sin ; but bathing in it has blessings surpass- ing all imagination. The Hindus are, consequently, very anxious to die in sight of the Ganges, that their sins may be washed away at the last moments. A person in his last agonies is frequently dragged from his bed and friends, and carried, in the hottest or the coldest weather, from whatever distance, to the river side, where he lies, if a poor man, without covering day and night till he expires. With the pangs of death upon him he is placed up to the middle in the water and drenched with it. Leaves of the tulasi plant are also put into his mouth, while his relations call upon him to repeat, and repeat for him, the names of Rama, Hari, Karayana, Brahma, Ganga, etc. For a person to die in the house, and not on the river side, is considered, not only a great misfortune, but a cause of infamy. Dead bodies are brought by relations to be burnt near the river ; and when they cannot bring the whole body, it is not uncommon to bring a single bone and throw it into the river, in the hope that it will help to save the soul of the deceased. Some persons even drown themselves in the Ganges, in the sure and certain hope of ascension to heaven. On account of the veneration in which the water of this river is held, it is used in English Courts of Justice to swear upon, as the Koran in the case of the Musalmans and the Bible in that of Christians ; but many respectable Hindus refuse to be sworn in this way, alleging that the S'astras forbid them in these cases to touch the water of the Ganges ; and some have even 11 162 APPENDIX I. refused to contest causes, in which large sums were at stake, from fear of being obliged to take this oath. 2. Other Deified Rivers. Many of the Indian rivers, besides the Ganges, are esteemed sacred, and receive religious worship, though none to such an extent as it. We may mention especially the Brahmaputtra, Godavari, Karmada (or Narbada), and the Yaitaram (in Orissa), the bathing in which, at certain stated seasons, is esteemed an act of great religious merit. VI. OTHER OBJECTS OF DIVINE WORSHIP. But not only are certain rivers esteemed holy and deified by the Hindus; numerous animals, plants, and even stones, etc., are held in reverence by them, and receive divine honours; especially (among animals) 1. The Cow. Brahma, it is said, created Brahmans and the cow at the same time; the former to read the formulas, and the latter to afford milk, and hence ghi (clarified butter) for the burnt offerings. The gods, by partaking of the burnt-offerings, are said to enjoy exquisite pleasure, and men, by eating ghi, destroy their sins. The cow is called the mother of the gods, and is declared by Brahma to be a proper object of worship. 2. The Monkey. The black-faced monkey Hanuman, the son of Pavana, by Anjana, a female monkey, is believed to be an incarnation of S'iva. He is especially worshipped on their birth-days by Hindus, in order to obtain long life. In some temples his image is set up alone, and in others with that of Rama and Sita, and worshipped daily ; the worship of Rama being always preceded by a few ceremonies in honour of Hanuman. OUTLINE OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY. 163 3. The Dog. Though mentioned in the Mahabharata as an unclean animal, yet, as carrying Kala Bhairava, a form of S'iva, the dog, too, re- ceives worship along with his master. 4. The S'ngdla (Shakal or "jackal") is especially adored by all the worship- pers of Durga, this goddess having assumed the form of that animal when she carried the child Krishna over the Yamuna in his flight from king Kansa. 5. The Garuda (or Garura] is a fabulous animal, with the head and wings of a bird, and the body of a man. He is the carrier of Vishnu, and was the offspring of Kasyapa (progenitor of gods and men), by his wife Vinata. He is worshipped at the great festivals before the images of Vishnu. 6. the elder brother of Garuda, is the charioteer of Surya, and worshipped with his master. His image is that of a man without thighs. 7. The S'ankara-chilla, er "eagle of Coromandel" commonly called the Brahmani kite is considered as an incarnation of Durga, and therefore worship- ped by the Hindus, who bow to it whenever it passes them. 8. The Khanjana, or water-wag-tail, is esteemed as a form of S'iva, on account of the mark on its throat, supposed to resemble the sacred Sdlgrdma. 9. The Peacock, the Goose, and the Owl are worshipped at the festivals of Kartika, Brahma, and Lakshmf respectively. 164. APPENDIX I. 10. Fishes worshipped. Yishnu having been incarnate in the form of a fish, is wor- shipped under that image on certain occasions. And at the festivals in honour of Ganga, the fishes of that river are the objects of worship too. The Ilisha fish is specially worshipped in the Padma river, at the time of its first periodical arrival. 11. Trees. Certain trees are worshipped as the forms of particular gods, 1 and planted near the houses of Hindus for this purpose : but the most sacred of plants is the Tulasi? They have no public festival in honour of it, but occasionally prostrate themselves before it, repeating a form of prayer or praise. They have great faith also in the power of its leaves to cure diseases, and for ex- pelling the poison of serpents. The Yishnu Purana tells us that Tulasi was originally a devout female, who, wishing to become the wife of Yishnu, was changed by Lakshmi (his wife) into the plant : but Yishnu promised to assume the form of the Salgrama and always to continue near her. 12. The Sdlagrdma 3 stone, a species of ammonite, is held peculiarly sacred by Hindus, on account of the circumstance just mentioned, or because of a dif- ferent version of its origin given in the S'ri Bhagavata, where it is stated that Yishnu on a certain occasion became assimilated with mount Gandaki, in Nepal (from which the stone is brought), and afterwards commanded that the stones of that mountain should be worshipped as representatives of himself. The Salagraina is a black, hollow stone, nearly round, and about the size of a watch. 2000 rupees are sometimes given for a single stone. 1 The Aswaitlia (" Ficus religiosa ") and the Vata (" Ficus Indica," or banyan tree) are worshipped as representatives of Vishnu; and the Vilva (" .ZEgle mamelos," or Bel tree) as that of S'iva. 2 Holy basil (" Ocymum sanctum") ; vulgo "toolsee." 3 Or vulgo " Shalgram," the aetites or eagle stone. 165 APPENDIX II. ON THE HINDI/ CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS, SUCH frequent allusion is made in all Sanskrit works to the Castes and Religious Sects of the Hindus, that the editor has deemed it advisable to append a few remarks on each of these subjects. I. OF THE FOUR CASTES. The word caste) a corruption of the Portuguese casta ("a breed"), is a term which has been adopted to denote the dif- ferent divisions of Hindu society. It corresponds to the Sanskrit and Hindi terms Jdti (Wrf?!) r J&t (3TRI), meaning "birth," or " race," and Varna (cRST), or varn CTOf), or bar an (n,i), denoting " colour," or "tribe." The distinction of Hindus into castes is nowhere referred to in the early Yedic writings, and is evidently the invention of the Brahmans of a comparatively later period. The four great castes are the firdhmans, 1 the Kshatriyas? the Vaisyas, 3 and the S'adras, 4 ' but each of these includes many sub- divisions. 1 From ^if " to increase," or " be great ; " incarnations, as it were, of Brahma, the great first cause. 2 From f^f " wasting," " destruction," + ^TT "to preserve," i.e., he who saves the oppressed. 3 From f%I( " to enter," >., he who enters fields (Wilson), or on business (Ward). *From "SJ^" "to purify" (Wilson), or from "3^ "to go to," or "take refuge in," viz., the Brahman (Ward). 166 APPENDIX II. The Sama Yeda and the Puranas affirm that the Brahmans were produced from the mouth of Brahma at the same time that the Vedas dropped from it (and hence, perhaps, the same word Wlirt, nom. ?mn, means either " Brahma," a "Brahman," or " scripture knowledge," i.e., the Yeda), indicating thereby that their position in the community was to be pre-eminent in sacred- ness and honour, and that their duties were to concern religious doctrine and ceremony. The Kshatriyas, the same authorities tell us, sprang from the arm of the Creator, their duty being to protect the earth, the cattle, and Brahmans. The Yaisyas, again, had their origin in the thighs of the Supreme, and have as their assigned vocation to provide the necessaries of life by agriculture and trade; while, lastly, the S'lidras were the offspring of the feet of the deity, as denoting the servile offices and pursuits to which they were to devote themselves. In addition, however, to these Castes, there are the Pdridrs l the excommunicated those who are esteemed the outcasts of society, the refuse of mankind, the men of infamy and degrada- tion, with whom the lowest of any of the castes will have no intercourse, being subjected to ignominy and subjection for ever. The Smritis assign to Brahmans the offering of sacrifices, the offices of the priesthood, the study of the Yedas and explaining of the S'astras (all of which are forbidden to the other castes), the giving of alms, and the receiving of presents. Such is their exalted position, that to injure a Brahman is the most unpardonable offence. Whatever part of the body was used in harming one of the privileged class was at once to be removed ; while to do a beneficent act to this deified personage would atone for almost any sin, and secure the highest commendation and merit. The wearing of the paitd, or sacred thread (a corruption of pavitra (Iffcf^f " holy " ), is one of the privileges and marks of a Brahman, but not peculiarly so, as those of the Kshatriya and Yaisya castes likewise share the honour, the only distinction being the length, 1 " Or Pariahs, as often spelt. Probably, the editor supposes, a corruption of the Sanskrit Parihara (Hl\t|nJ, "disrespect," " an objectionable thing/* or of Pariharya (Ml\^l*4) " that should be avoided." HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 167 or numbers of plies, of the thread. It is worn over the left shoulder, next the skin, and extending half way down the right thigh. The investiture generally takes place among the Brahmans at about eight years of age, among the Kshatriyas at eleven, and among the Vaisyas at twelve, and must, in any case, be performed before fifteen. The ceremony is considered the " second birth" of the Hindu (whence the term " twice born" applied especially to the Brahmans), and a boy cannot be married till it takes place. Kings, governors, and all intrusted with civil and military affairs, in general belong to the Kshatriya caste; while the Vaisyas are properly the farmers and merchants of the land. Of late years, however, Brahmans are often to be met with occupying all these situations, as well as those which more peculiarly belong to them. There has been a wonderful lowering of Brahraanical pride and dignity since the conquest of the country by Europeans. While thousands are still attached to the temples, and subsist on the revenues of ecclesiastical lands, great numbers are employed in courts of justice, as clerks, interpreters, etc., or, as pandits, in assisting foreigners in the study of the languages, and many also are to be met with as merchants, accountants, and even as farmers and soldiers. But still, as a class, they stand, by uni- versal acknowledgment, the first in Hindu society. The question has often been asked Is Caste a civil or religious institution? Practically, at any rate, it is both, but eminently the latter. The distinctions it establishes are of divine decree, and the subjects of sacred record. Its effects upon all social relations are immediate and direct; but without the religious element it could not have retained its vitality so long, and produced such results as we now witness. Innumerable instances of the power of caste prejudices and laws might be quoted. We shall give only two. On one occasion, a Sipahi (sepoy, or native soldier) of high caste, falling down in a faint, the military surgeon ordered one of the Pariah attendants of the hospital to throw some water on him, in conse- 168 APPENDIX II. quence of which none of his class would afterwards associate with him, because he had thereby forfeited the privileges of his caste. The result was that soon after he put the muzzle of a musket to his head and blew out his brains, Several buildings were on fire at one time, at Madras, and threatened a general conflagration of the city. There were several wells near at hand, but the Brahmans forbade the use of water, lest a person of lower caste than themselves should approach, and thus pollute them. If a Brahman breaks caste, it may be regained by him, but at enormous expense, and by the performance of the most disgusting ceremonials and penances. These depend, however, very much on the rank and wealth of the out-caste. Prom twenty to thirty thousand pounds have again and again been paid in order to obtain restoration to Brahmanic caste. And often, of course, it is quite impracticable. II. OF THE KELIGIOUS SECTS. 1 There are five great sects, esteemed orthodox, to one or other of which every Hindu belongs, unless he is a professed dissenter. These are the Yaishnava, the Skiva, the S'akta, the Saura, and the Ganapatya. Of these, however, only the three first are now popular, prevailing, respectively, in the north-west (with Mattra and Lucknow as centres) in and about Benares, and in Bengal. 2 These sects were probably originally defined by Sankara Acharya about eight or nine centuries ago. This great reformer, after overthrowing all the sects he deemed heretical, allowed his fol- lowers to be divided into the five modern sects above specified. The worshippers of Vishnu, S'iva, and Sakti (i.e., Devi, alias Parvati), viewed as the adherents of the respective sects thence 1 Abridged from Prof. H. H. Wilson's learned " Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus," in vols. xvi. and xvii. of the "Asiatic Researches." 2 The women, however, all over the north-west, as well as in the more southern and easterly provinces, are devoted to the worship of Devi (the special object of S'akta adoration), and her temples abound in all the rural districts. HINDI/ CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 169 named, 1 are not to be confounded with the orthodox adorers of those divinities. Few Brahmans of learning, if they have any religion at all, will acknowledge themselves to belong to any of the popular divisions of the Hindu faith, although, as a matter of simple preference, they more especially worship some individual deity, as their Ishta (or chosen) Devata. They refer to the Vedas, Dharma S'astras, Puranas, and Tantras, as the only ritual they recognize, and regard all practices not derived from those sources as irregular and profane. On the other hand, many of the sects seem to have originated, in a great measure, out of opposition to the Brahmanical order. Teachers and disciples are chosen from any class, and the distinction of castes is, in a great measure, sunk in the new one of similarity of schism. The ascetics and mendicants also, in many instances, affect to treat the Brahmans with great contempt, and this is generally repaid by them with interest. Most of the followers even of the sects, however, pay the ordinary deference to the Brahmanical order. Most of the religious sects comprise two classes of individuals, which may be called clerical and lay. The bulk of the votaries are generally, but not always, of the latter order, whilst the clerical class are sometimes monastic, sometimes secular. Often the Gosdim (or religious preceptors) are men of business and family. The preference, however, is usually given to teachers of an ascetic, or ccenobitic life, whose pious meditations are not distracted by the affections of kindred, or the cares of the world; the doctrine that introduced similar unsocial institutions into the Christian Church, in the fourth century, being still triumphantly prevalent in the east, the land of its nativity. Of the ccenobitic members of the different communities, most pursue an erratic and mendicant life. They have, however, their fixed rallying points, and are sure of finding every here and there establishments of their own, or some friendly fraternity, where they are, for a reasonably moderate period, lodged and fed. 1 Of the other two sects specified above, the Saura is named from Surya (the sun) and the Ganapatya, from Ganapati (or Ganpat, in vulgar Hindi) an epithet of Ganes'a. 170 APPENDIX II. When old and infirm, they settle down in some previously existing Math, or establish one of their own. The Maths, Asthals, or Akdras, as the monastic residences are called, are scattered over the whole country. They vary in structure and size, according to the property or wealth of the owners ; but they generally comprehend a set of huts or chambers for the Mahant, or superior, and his permanent pupils ; a temple, sacred to the deity whom they worship, or the Samddhi, or shrine of the founder of the sect, or some eminent teacher; and a Dharma S'dld, one or more sheds or buildings for the accommoda- tion of the mendicants or travellers who may visit the Math. Ingress and egress is free to all : indeed a restraint upon personal liberty, as in the monasteries and convents of the Christian Church, seems never to have entered into the conception of any of the religious legislators of the Hindus. The number of resident chelas, or disciples, under the control of a Mahant, varies from three or four to thirty or forty, but there are always, besides, a number of vagrant or out members of the community. The MaKant is usually selected from among the senior or more pro- ficient chelas. (a.} DIVISIONS AND DOCTRINES OP THE VAISHNAVA SECTS. 1 Of the Yaishnavas, Professor Wilson enumerates upwards of twenty Sampraddyas, or sects, each of which he treats of at considerable length. Of these, however, there are but four, which, being generally regarded as the principal and most popular, need here be particularly described. These are the Kamanujas, the Ramanandis, the Kabir Panthis, and the Khakis. 1. Of the S'ri (i.e. Lakshmi] Sampraddyas or Rdmdnujas. This sect was founded about the middle of the 12th century 1 This account does not refer to the strictly orthodox worshippers of Vishnu, but to the sectaries and dissenters who are not entirely guided by the Vedas, S'astras, and Puranas, but by certain parts of them only. HINDI/ CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 171 by the Yaishnava reformer Raraanuja Acharya. 1 He was a native of Perambar, in southern India, and spent the early part of his life at Kanchi, or Conjeverara, where, after many years of study, he first promulgated his peculiar doctrines. He after- wards resided at S'ri Kanga, on the Kaverf, and there composed his principal works. He then visited various parts of India, disputing with the professors of different creeds, and reclaiming various shrines then in possession of the S'aivas for the wor- shippers of Yishnu, particularly the celebrated temple of Tripeti. Being afterwards persecuted by a S'aiva king in those parts, he found a refuge for some years in the Mysore country, but finally, on the death of his persecutor, returned to S'ri Ranga, where he ended his days. The establishments of the Ramanujas are numerous in the Dakhin (or Deccan) still, and the same country contains the site of the Gadd'i (the pillow or seat) of the primitive teacher, his spiritual throne, in fact, to which his disciples are successively elevated. This circumstance gives a superiority to the A'charyas of the south over those of the north, into which they are at present divided. Most of the Yaishnavas follow the doctrines of the Ramanujas, the chief tenet of whom is the assertion that Yishnu is Brahma : that he was before all worlds, and was the cause and creator of all. Though they maintain that Yishnu and the universe are one, yet, in opposition to the Yedanta doctrines, they deny that the deity is void of form or quality, and regard him as endowed with all good qualities, and with a two-fold form the supreme spirit (Paramatmd\ or cause, and the gross one, or effect, i.e., the universe or matter. The doctrine is hence called the Visishthddwaita, or doctrine of unity with attributes. In these assertions they are followed by most of the Yaishnava sects. Creation originated in the wish of Yishnu (who was alone, without a second) to multiply himself. He said, "I will become many," and he was individually embodied as visible and astherial 1 His history is recorded in various legendary tracts and traditionary narra- tives, much of it of the most fabuRus description. Thus, one work represents him as an incarnation of the serpent Sesha, his chief companions and disciples being the discus, mace, and lotus, and other insignia of Vishnu. 172 APPENDIX II. light. After that, as a ball of clay may be moulded into various forms, so the grosser substances of the deity became manifest in the elements and their combinations. The forms into which the divine matter is thus divided, are pervaded by a portion of the same vitality which belongs to the great cause of all, but which is distinct from his spiritual or aatherial essence. Here then, again, the Kamanujas oppose the Vedantikas, who identify the Paramdtmd and Jivdtmd, or eetherial and vital spirit. This vitality, though endlessly diffusible, is imperishable and eternal, and the matter of the universe, as being the same in substance with the Supreme Being, is alike without beginning or end. Purushottama, or Narayana, having created man and animals through the instrumentality of those subordinate agents whom he willed into existence for that purpose, still retained the supreme authority of the universe : so that the Ramanujas assert three predicates of the universe, comprehending the deity. It consists of Chit, or spirit ; Achit, or matter ; and Isvara, or God : or the enjoy er, the thing enjoyed, and the ruler and controller of both. Besides his primary and secondary form as the Creator and creation, the deity has assumed, at different times, particular forms and appearances for the benefit of his creatures. He is, or has been, visibly present amongst men in five modifications, in his Archa, objects of worship, as images, etc. ; in the Vibhavas, or Avataras, as the fish, boar, etc. ; in certain forms called Vyiihas, of which four are enumerated, viz. : Yasudeva or Krishna, Balarama, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha ; fourthly, in the Sukshma form, which, when perfect, comprises six qualities, viz. : viraja, absence of human passion ; vimrityu, immortality ; visoka, exemp- tion from care or pain ; vijighatsd, absence of natural wants ; satya- Mma, and satyasankalpa, the love and practise of truth ; and fifthly, as the antardtmd, or antarjdmi, the human soul or individualised spirit. These are to be worshipped seriatim as the ministrant ascends in the scale of perfection ; adoration is, therefore, five- fold, viz. : abhigamanam, cleansing and purifying the temples, images, etc. j updddnam, providing flowers and perfumes for reli- HIND17 CASTES AtfD RELIGIOUS SECTS. 173 gious rites; ijya, the presentation of such offerings, (blood-offer' ings, it may be observed, being uniformly prohibited by all the Vaishnavas) ; swddhydya, counting the rosary and repeating the names of the divinity or any of his forms ; and yoga, the effort to unite with the deity. The reward of these acts is elevation to the seat of Vishnu, and enjoyment of like state with his own, interpreted to be perpetual residence in Yaikuntha, or Vishnu's heaven, in a condition of pure ecstacy and eternal rapture. The worship of the followers of Ramanuja is addressed to Vishnu and Lakshmi, and to their respective incarnations, either singly or conjointly. The S'ri Vaishnava worship, in the north of India, is not very popular, and the sect is rather of a specula- tive than practical nature. The teachers are usually Brahmans, but the disciples may be of any caste. Besides the temples appropriated to Vishnu and his consort and their several forms, including those of Krishna and Rama and those which are celebrated as objects of pilgrimage, images of metal or stone are usually set up in the houses of the private members of this sect, which are daily worshipped, and the temples and dwellings are all decorated with the Sdlagrdma stone and Tulas't plant. The most striking peculiarities in the practices of this sect, are the individual preparation, and scrupulous privacy of their meals : they must not eat in cotton garments, but, having bathed, must put on woollen or silk ; the teachers allow their select pupils to assist them, but in general, all the Ramanujas cook for themselves, and should the meal, during this process, or whilst they are eating, attract even the looks of a stranger, the opera- tion is instantly stopped and the viands buried in the ground. A similar delicacy in this respect prevails amongst some other classes of Hindus, especially the Rajput families, but is not carried to so preposterous an extent. The chief ceremony of initiation in all Hindu sects is the communication by the teacher to the disciple of the Mantra, 1 1 The Mantra, and Tilak (or mark on the forehead) are never bestowed on any person of impure birth. 174 APPENDIX II. which generally consists of the name of some deity, or a short address to him ; it is communicated in a whisper, and never lightly made known by the adept to profane ears. The Mantra of the Ramanuja sect is said to be the six syllable Mantra Om Rd- mdya namah; or "Om, salutation to Rama " Another distinction amongst sects, but merely of a civil cha- racter, is the term or terms with which the religious members salute each other when they meet, or in which they are ad- dressed by the lay members. This among the Ramanujas is the phrase Ddsosmi (^T^tf^T) or -Ddsoham (<^nTltg) ; "I am your slave ; " accompanied with the Pranam, or slight inclination of the head, and the application of the joined hands to the forehead. To the A'chdryas, or supreme teachers of this sect, the rest per- form the AsJitdnga Dandavat, or "prostration of the body, with the application of eight parts" (the forehead, breast, hands, knees and insteps of the feet) to the ground. The Hindu sects are usually discriminated by various fantas- tical streaks on their faces, breasts and arms : for this purpose, all the Yaishnavas employ especially a white earth called Gopi- chandana, which, to be of the purest description, should be brought from Dwaraka, 1 being said to be the soil of a pool at that place, in which the Gropis drowned themselves when they heard of Krishna's death. The common Gopichandana, however, is nothing but a magnesian or calcareous clay. The marks of the Ramanujas are two perpendicular white lines drawn from the root of the hair to the commencement of each eye-brow, and a transverse streak connecting them across the root of the nose : in the centre is a perpendicular streak of red, made with red Sanders, or Roll, a preparation of rice, turmeric, and lime (or alum) with acid ; they have also patches of Gopichandana, with a central red streak, on the breast and each upper arm: the marks are supposed to represent the S'ankh, Chakra, Gadd, and Padma (or shell, discus, club and lotus), which Yishnu bears in his four hands, whilst the central streak is Sri or Lakshmi. 2 1 On the West coast of Gujerat. 2 The efficacy of these marks is great ; from the Kasi Khand we learn that Yama or Pluto spares those who wear them, for in them no sin exists. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 175 Some have these objects carved on wooden stamps with which they impress the emblems on their bodies, and others carry their doctrines so far as to have the parts cicatrized with heated me- tallic models of the objects they propose to represent, but this ia not regarded as a creditable practice : besides these marks, they wear a necklace of the wood of the Tulasi, and carry a rosary of the seeds of the same plant or of the Lotus. The Ramanujas are not very numerous in the north of India, where they are better known as S'ri Vaishnavas ; they are de- cidedly hostile to the S'aiva sect, and are not on very friendly terms with the modern votaries of Krishna, although they re- cognise that deity as an incarnation of Vishnu. 2. Rdmdnandis or Rdmdwats. The followers of Ramanand are much better known than those of Ramanuja in upper Hindustan ; they are usually con- sidered as a branch of the Ramanuja sect, and address their devotions peculiarly to Rama- Chandra, and the divine mani- festations connected with Yishnu in that incarnation, as Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman. The schism of Ramanand originated in the resentment of an affront offered him by his fellow-disciples and sanctioned by his teacher. The residence of Ramanand was at Benares, at the Pancha Gang a ghdt, where a Math or monastery of his followers is said to have existed, but to have been destroyed by some of the Mu- salman princes : at present there is merely a stone platform in the vicinity, bearing the supposed impression of his feet, but there are many Maths of his followers, of celebrity, at Benares, the Panchayatj or council, at which city is the chief authority amongst the Ramawats in upper India. As they maintain the superiority of Rama, in the present or Kali Yug, they are collectively known as Ramawats, although the same variety prevails amongst them, as amongst the Rama- nujas, as to the exclusive or collective worship of the male and 176 APPENDIX II. female members of this incarnation, i.e. of Rama and Sita, singly, or jointly, as Sita-Rama. Individuals of them pay particular veneration to some of the other forms of Vishnu, and they hold in like estimation as the Ramanujas and every Yaishnava sect the Sdlagrdm stone and Tuls'i plant ; their forms of worship correspond with those of the Hindus generally, but some of the mendicant members of the sect, who are very numerous, and are usually known as Vairagis, or ViraktaS) consider all forms of adoration superfluous, beyond the incessant invocation of the name Krishna and Rama. The practices of this sect are of a less precise nature than those of the Ramanujas, it being the avowed object of the founder to release his disciples from those fetters which he had found so inconvenient ; in allusion to this, indeed, he gave, it is said, the appellation Avadhufa, or " Liberated," to his scholars, and they admit no particular observances with respect to eating or bathing, but follow their own inclination, or comply with the common practice in these respects. The initiatory Mantra is said to be S'r'i Rama the salutation is Jaya S'ri Rdma, Jaya Rama or Sitd Ram : their marks are the same as those of the preceding, except that the red perpendicular streak on the forehead is varied in shape and extent, at the pleasure of the individual, and is generally narrower than that of the Ramanujas. Yarious sects are considered to be but branches of the Rd- mdnandi Vaishnavas, and their founders are asserted to have been amongst his disciples : of these disciples, twelve are particularised as the most eminent, some of whom have given origin to reli- gious distinctions of great celebrity ; and, although their doctrines are often very different from those of Ramanand, yet the popular tradition is so far corroborated, that they maintain an amiable intercourse with the followers of Ramanand and with each other. There are three different lists of these twelve disciples which do not agree. One is found in Price's Selections, a second in the Uhakta Mala, and Dr. Wilson gives a third. All agree, however, in naming Kab'ir, the weaver ; Raidas, the chamar, or currier ; HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 177 Pipa, the Rajput ; Dharma, the Jat ; Sena, or Seva, the barber, and some others, a list which shows that the school of Ramanand admitted disciples of every caste. It is in fact asserted in the Ehakta Mala that the distinction of caste is inadmissible accord- ing to the tenets of the Ramanandis. There is no difference, they say, between the Bhagavan and the Bhakt (or the deity and his worshipper). But Bhagavan appeared in inferior forms, as a fish, a boar, a tortoise, etc. ; so the Bhakta likewise may be born as a Chamar, a Korhi, a Chhi'pi, or any other degraded caste. When we consider the character of the reputed disciples of Ramanand, and the tenets of those sects which they founded, we are led to the conclusion that this individual, if he did not invent, at least gave fresh force to a very important encroachment upon the orthodox system. He in fact abrogated the distinction of caste amongst the religious orders, and taught that the holy character who quitted the ties of nature and society, "shook off," at the same time, all personal distinction. This seems to be the proper import of the term Avadhufa, and the popular character of the works of this school corroborates this view of Ramananda's innovation. S'aiikara and Ramanuja, writing to and for the brahmanical order alone, composed chiefly, if not solely, Sanskrit commentaries on the texts of the Yeda?, or Sanskrit expositions of their peculiar doctrines ; and the teachers of these opinions, whether monastic or secular, are indispensably of the brahman- ical caste. It does not appear that any works exist which are attributed to Ramanand himself, but those of his followers are written in the provincial dialects, and addressed to the capacity, as well as placed within the reach, of every class of readers, and every one of those may become a Yairagi and rise in time to be a Guru or Mahant. We shall have occasion to speak again particularly of such of the above mentioned disciples of Ramanand, as instituted separate sects, but there are several who did not aspire to that distinction, and whose celebrity is nevertheless still very widely spread throughout Hindustan. "We shall here simply remark that the four most famous authors in this sect are Nabhaji (the author of 12 178 APPENDIX II. the " Bhakta Mala"), Sur Das l and Tulasi Das (to whose poetical talents the late version of it is largely indebted), and Jayadeva, whose songs have been translated by Sir W. Jones. Besides the legendary tales of the celebrated writer Tulasi Das, whose works exercise more influence upon the great body of the Hindu population than the whole voluminous series of Sanskrit compositions, we have other notices of him collected from his own works, or preserved by tradition, that differ from them in some respects. Prom these it appears that Tulasi Das was a brahman of the Sarvariah branch, and a native of Hajipur, near Chitrakuta ; when arrived at maturity he settled at Benares, and held the office of Dewan to the Raja of that city. His spiritual perceptor was Jagannath Das ; he followed his teacher to Go- vardhan, but afterwards returned to Benares and there com- menced his Hindi version of the Ramayana in the year of Samvat 1631, when he was thirty-one years of age. Besides this work, which is highly popular, Tulasi Das is the author of a Sat sayd, or collection of 100 stanzas on various subjects, and of a great variety of hymns, as Ragas, Kavits and Padas, in honour of Rama and Sita. Tulasi Das continued to reside at Benares, where he built a temple to Sita Rama and founded a Math ad- joining, both of which are still in existence ; he died in the year of the Samvat era 1680, or A.D. 1624, in the reign of Jehangir; the legendary story, therefore, of his intercourse with Shah Jehan is consequently an anachronism. The ascetic and mendicant followers of Ramanand, known indis- criminately as Ramanandis or Ramawats, are by far the most numerous class of sectaries in Gangetic India ; in Bengal they are comparatively few ; beyond that province and as far as Alla- habad, although perhaps the most numerous, they yield in in- fluence and wealth to the S'aiva branches, especially to theAtits; from that place, however, they predominate, and either by them- 1 This popular Hindi poet and singer was blind. Hence any blind men- dicant musician is, complimentarily, called a Sur-das by the Hindus. Na- bhaji was also born blind, but is said to have obtained his sight when about five years old. The praises of Vishnu were the chief subject of the composi- tions of all these poets. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 179 selves or their kindred divisions almost engross the whole of the country along the Ganges and Jamuna ; in the district of Agra they alone constitute seven-tenths of the ascetic population. The Ramanandis have very numerous votaries, but they are chiefly from the poorer and inferior classes, with the exception of the Rajputs and military Brahmans, amongst whom the poetical works of Sur Das and Tulasi Das maintain the pre-eminence of Ram and his Bhakts. 3. Kabir Panthis. Amongst the twelve disciples of Ramanand, the most cele- brated of all and one who seems to have produced, directly or indirectly, a greater effect on the state of popular belief than any other, was Kabir. "With an unprecedented boldness he assailed the whole system of idolatrous worship, and ridiculed the learning of the Pandits and doctrines of the S'astras, in a style peculiarly well suited to the genius of his countrymen, to whom he ad- dressed himself, whilst he also directed his compositions to the Musalman, as well as to the Hindu faith, and with equal severity attacked the Mulla and the Quran. The effect of his lessons, as confined to his immediate followers, will be shown to have been considerable, but their indirect effect has been still greater; several of the popular sects being little more than ramifications from his stock, whilst Nanak Shah, the only Hindu reformer who has established a national faith, appears to have been chiefly indebted for his religious notions to his predecessor Kabir. This sect therefore claims particular attention. The account of his birth and life are found in the "BJiakta Mala. All traditions concur in making Kabir the disciple of Ramanand, although various stories are narrated of the method by which he obtained that distinction and overcame the objec- tions started to him as a man of low caste, or according to very general belief, of the Muhammadan persuasion. 1 1 The Musalmans (though on very untenable ground) claimed him as one < f their faith. This occasioned a contest at the death of Kabir the Hindus 180 APPENDIX II. It is exceedingly probable that Kabir flourished about the be- ginning of the 15th century : and it is also not unlikely that his innovations were connected with the previous exertions of Ra- manand ; consequently that teacher must have lived about the end of the 14th. The Kabir Panthis, in consequence of their master having been the reputed disciple of Raman and, and of their paying more respect to Yishnu, than the other members of the Hindu triad, are always included amongst the Yaishnava sects, and maintain with most of them, the Ramawats especially, a friendly intercourse and political alliance. It is no part of their faith, however, to worship any Hindu deity, or to observe any of the rites or cere- monials of the Hindus, whether orthodox or schismatical ; such of their members as are living in the world conform outwardly to all the usages of their tribe and caste, and some of them even pretend to worship the usual divinities/ though this is considered as going rather farther than is justifiable. Those, however, who have abandoned the fetters of society, abstain from all the ordi- nary practices, and address their homage, chiefly in chanting hymns, exclusively to the invisible Kabir : they use no Mantra nor fixed form of salutation; they have no peculiar mode of dress, and some of them go nearly naked, without objecting, however, to clothe themselves, in order to appear dressed where clothing is considered decent or respectful. The Mahants wear a small silk cap : the frontal marks, if worn, are usually those of the Yaishnava sects, or they make a streak with Sandal or Go- p'lcTiandan along the ridge of the nose ; a necklace and rosary of Tulas'i are also worn by them, but all these outward signs are considered of no importance, and the inward man is the only insisting on burning his corpse, the Muhammadans on burying it. To end the dispute (so runs tradition) Kabir himself appeared and desired them to look under the cloth that covered his remains. On doing so nothing was found but a heap of flowers. One half of these the then Raja of Benares removed to that city where they were burnt, and where he appropriated a spot now called the Kabir Chaurd for the reception of their ashes, while the Muhammadan chief Bijli Khan erected a tomb over the other portion at Magar, near Go- rakhpur, where Kabir had died. Both are now places of pilgrimage with the followers of this sect. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 181 essential part to be attended to. To avoid persecution, however, Kabir said, ft ^ ft ^ Associate and mix with all, and take the names of all; Say to every one, Yes Sir, Yes Sir ; abide in your own village. 1 That is, if they are addressed "Ram Ram," etc., they must answer with the same salutation. The doctrines of Kabir are taught in a great variety of works in different dialects of Hindi ; they are the acknowledged com- positions of his disciples and successors, but they are mostly in the form of dialogues, and profess to be of his utterance, either in his own words with the phrase, " Kabir verily says," or " Kabir has said," or they are given in the language of his fol- lowers, when the expression, "the slave of Kabir," is used. The style of all their works is very peculiar ; they are written in the usual forms of Hindi verse, the Doha, Chaupd'i and Samd'i; and are very voluminous, as may be inferred from the collection pre- served in the Khas Grantha, or the book at the Chaura. There are twenty in all, but the principal are the Sukh Kidhan, Go- rakhnathki Goshthi, Kabir Panji and the Vijek (or Bijek). There are also a variety of stanzas, called Agams, Banis, etc., composing a very formidable course of study to those who wish to go deep into the doctrine of this school, and one in which the greatest proficients amongst the Kabir Panthis are but imperfectly versed ; a few sdkhas, shabdas and rekhtas, with the greater portion of the Vijek, constituting their acquirements ; these, however, they commit to memory and quote in argument with singular readiness and happiness of application. The Goshthis, or disputations of Kabir, are not read till more advanced; whilst the Sukh Nidhan, which is the key to the whole, and which has the singularity of being quite clear and 1 Or more freely Unite with all, commune with all, acknowledge every God ; " Yes, yes, sir," say to every one ; but change not your abode. 182 APPENDIX II. intelligible, is only imparted to those pupils whose studies are considered to approach perfection. This great authority amongst the Kabir Panthis is written in very harmonious verse ; it rather inveighs against other systems than explains its own, and it is perhaps impossible to derive from it any satisfactory conclusion as to the real doctrines of Kabir. We shall now proceed to state the doctrines of Kabir according to the authority of the Sukh NidMti. The Sukh Nidhan is sup- posed to be addressed by Kabir himself to Dharmadas, his chief pupil, and follower of Ramanand's doctrines ; it is said to be the work of S'rutgopal, the first of Kabir' s disciples. From this authority it appears, that although the Kabir Pan- this have withdrawn, in such a very essential point as worship, from the Hindu communion, they still preserve abundant vestiges of their primitive source ; and that their notions are in substance the same as those of the Pauranic sects, especially of the Vaish- nava division. They admit of but one God, the creator of the world ; and in opposition to the Yedanta notions of the absence of every quality and form, they assert that he has body, formed of the five elements of matter ; and that he has mind, endowed with the three Gunas, or qualities of being, of course of ineffable purity and irresistible power; he is free from the defects of human nature, and can assume what particular shape he will ; in all other respects he does not differ from man, and the pure man, the Sddh of the Kabir sect, is his living resemblance, and after death is his associate and equal ; he is eternal without end or beginning, as in fact are the material elements of which he consists and of which all things are made, residing in him before they took their present form, as the parts of the tree abide in the seed ; or as flesh, blood and bone may be considered to be present in the seminal fluid. Prom the latter circumstance and the iden- tity of their essential nature, proceeds the doctrine that God and man are not only the same, but that they are both in the same manner, everything that lives and moves and has its being. Other sects have adopted these phrases literally, but the followers of Kabir do not mean by them to deny the individuality of being, HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 183 and only intend these texts as assertions of all nature originally participating in common elementary principles. The Parama-purusha was alone for seventy-two ages, for, after the Pauraniks, the Kabi'r Panthis maintain successive and endless creations ; he then felt a desire to renew the world, which desire became manifest in a female form, being the Maya, 1 from whom all the mistaken notions current amongst mankind originate : with this female (the Adi Bhavani, Prakriti or S'akti) the Param- purusha (or first male) cohabits and begets the Hindu triad, Brahma, Yishnu and S'iva. He then disappears, and the lady makes advances ;o her own sons : the result of this is the birth of Saras- wati, Lakshmi and TJma, whom she weds to the three deities, and then establishing herself at Jwalamukhi, leaves the three wedded pairs to frame the universe and give currency to the different errors of practice and belief which they have learnt from her. It is to the falsehood of Maya and her criminal conduct that the Kabir Panthis perpetually allude in their works, and in consequence of the deities pinning their faith upon her sleeve, that they refuse them any sort of reverential homage. The essence of all. religion is to know Kabir in his real form, a know- ledge which those deities and their worshippers, as well as the followers of Vtuhammad, are all equally strange to, although the object of their religion and of all religion is the same. Life is the same in ill beings, and when free from the vices and defects of humanity, assumes any material form it pleases. As long as it is ignoran', of its source and parent, however, it is doomed to transmigration through various forms; and, amongst others, we have a new class of them, for it animates the planetary bodies, undergoing a fresh transfer, it is supposed, whenever a star or meteor falls. As to heaven and hell, they are the inventions of Maya, and are therefore both imaginary, except that the Swarga of the Hirdus and Bihisht of the Musalmans imply worldly luxury and sensual enjoyment, whilst Narak and Jahannam are those cares and pains which make a hell upon earth. The moral code of the Kabir Panthis is short, but if observed 1 A notion common to all Hindu sects. 184 APPENDIX II. faithfully, is of a rather favourable tendency. Life is the gift of God, and must not therefore be violated by his creatures.. Humanity is consequently a cardinal virtue, and the shedding of blood, whether of man or animal, a heinous crime. Truth is the other great principle of their code, as all the ills of the world and ignorance of God are attributable to original falsehood. Retirement from the world is desirable, because the passions and desires, the hopes and fears, which the social state engenders, are all hostile to tranquillity and purity of spirit, and prevent that undisturbed meditation on man and God which is necessary to their comprehension. The last great duty is the usual sum and substance of every sect amongst the Hindus, implicit devotion, in word, act, and thought, to the Guru or spiritual guide : in this, however, the characteristic spirit of the Kabir Panthis appears, aid the pupil is enjoined to scrutinize his teacher's doctrines and acts, and to be first satisfied that he is the sage he pretends to l>e, before he resigns himself to his control. Irregular conduct is visited by reproof and admonition : if the offender does not reform, the Guru refuses to receive his salu- tation ; if still incurable, the only further infliction is expulsion from the fraternity. The doctrine of outward conformity and the absence of visible objects of worship have prevented this sect from spreading very generally throughout India : it is, however, very widely diffused, and has given rise to many others that have borrowed its phrase- ology and caught a considerable portion of its spipit; the sect itself is split into a variety of subdivisions, and there are no fewer than twelve branches of it traced up to the founder, be- tween which a difference of opinion as well as descent prevails. The founders of these twelve branches and the position of their descendants are the following: 1. S'rutgopal Das, the author of the Sukh JNldhat: his suc- cessors preside over the Chaura at Benares, the Samadli at Magar, an establishment at Jagannath, and one at Dwaraka. HIND17 CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 185 2. Bhago Das, the author of the Bijek; his successors reside at Dhanauti. 3. Narayan Das, and 4. Churaman Das : these two were the sons of Dharma Das, a merchant of the Kasaundhya tribe, of the S'ri Yaishnava sect, and one of Kabir's first and most important converts ; his residence was at Bandho, near Jabbalpur, where the maths of his posterity long remained. The Mahants were family men, thence termed Bans-gurus. The line of Narayan Das is extinct, and the present successor of Churaman being the son of a concubine, is not acknowledged as a Mahant by all the other branches. 5. Jaggo Das ; the Gaddi, or pillow at Kattak. 6. Jivan Das, the founder of the Setnami sect, to whom we shall again have occasion to advert. 7. Kamal, Bombay: the followers of this teacher practise the Yoga. 8. Tak Sali, Baroda. 9. Gyani, Majjhni, near Sahasram. 10. Saheb Das, Kattak : his followers are called Mala Panthis. 11. Nityanand. 12. Kama! ]N"ad : these two settled somewhere in the Dekhan. There are also some popular and perhaps local distinctions of the sect, as Hansa Kabiris, Dana Kabms, and Mangrela Kabiris. Of these establishments, the Kabir Chaura at Benares is pre- eminent in dignity, and constantly visited by wandering members of the sect. At a grand meeting there 35,000 Kabir Panthis of the monastic and mendicant class are said to have collected. There is no doubt that the Kabir Panthis, both clerical and lay, are very numerous in all the provinces of upper and central India, except perhaps in Bengal itself. The quaker-like spirit of the sect, their abhorrence of all violence, their regard for truth, and the unobtrusiveness of their opinions, render them very in- offensive members of the state ; their mendicants also never solicit alms, and in this capacity even they are less obnoxious than the many religious vagrants, whom the rank soil of Hindu super- 186 APPENDIX II. stition and the enervating operation of an Indian climate so plentifully engender. 4. KhdUa. This division of the Yaishnavas is generally derived, though not immediately, from Ramanand, and is undoubtedly connected in its polity and practice with his peculiar followers. The re- puted founder is Kil, a disciple of Krishnadas, whom some accounts make the disciple of Asanand (or Tahtanand), the disciple of Raman and. They are generally confounded with Bairagis. They are dis- tinguished from other Yaishnavas, by the application of clay and ashes to their dress or persons ; those who reside in fixed estab- lishments generally dress like other Yaishnavas, but those who lead a wandering life, go either naked or nearly so, smearing their bodies with the pale grey mixture of ashes and earth, and making in this state an appearance very incompatible with the mild and decent character of the Yaishnava sect in general ; the Khakis also frequently wear the Jatd or braided hair. Many Khakis are established about Farakabad, but their prin- cipal seat in this part of India is at Hanuman-garh, near Ayod- hya, in Oude ; the Samadhi, or spiritual throne of the founder, is said to be at Jaipur; the term Samadhi 1 applied to it, however, would seem to indicate that they bury their dead. 5. Maluk Ddsis. Maluk Das was fifth in descent from Ramauand, being the immediate disciple of Kil baba. The modifications of the Yaish- nava doctrines introduced by Maluk Das, appear to have been little more than the name of the teacher and a shorter streak of red in the forehead ; in one respect indeed there is an impor- tant distinction between these and the Ramanandi ascetics ; the teachers of the Maluk Dasis appear to be of the secular order, 1 A Samadhi is properly the tomb of a Jogi, who, from religious motives, has submitted to be buried alive. HINDI/ CASTES AND KELIGIOUS SECTS. 187 Grihasthas or house-holders, whilst the others are all coenobites ; the doctrines, however, are essentially the same. Their chief au- thority is the Bhagavad Gita ; they have also some Hindi S'dkhds and Vishnu Padas attributed to their founder, as also a work in the same language entitled the Das Ratan. The followers of this sect are said to be numerous in particular districts, especially among the trading and servile classes, to the former of which the founder belonged. The principal establishment of the Maliik Dasis is at Kara Manikpur, the birth-place of the founder, and still occupied by his descendants. Besides this there are six other Maths belonging to this sect, at Allahabad, Benares, Brindaban, Ayodhya, Lucknow and Jagannath, which last is of great repute, as rendered sacred by the death of Maluk Das. 1 6. Dadu Panthw. This class is one of the indirect ramifications of the Ramanandi stock, and is always included in the Yaishnava schisms. Its founder is said to have been a pupil of one of the Kabir Panthi teachers, and to be fifth in descent from Ramanand. The worship is addressed to Rama, but it is restricted to the Japa, or repetition of his name, and the Rama intended is the deity negatively described in the Vedanta theology : temples and images are prohibited. Dadu flourished, if the list of his reli- gious descent be accurate, about the year A.D. 1600, at the end of Akbar's reign, or in the beginning of that of Jehangir. His followers wear no peculiar frontal mark nor mala, but carry a rosary, and are further distinguished by a peculiar sort of cap, a round white cap according to some, but according to others, one with four corners, and a flap hanging down behind, which it is essential that each man should manufacture for himself. The Dadu Panthis are of three classes, the Viraktas, who are religious characters, go bare-headed, and have but one garment and one water-pot ; the Nag 'as , who carry arms, which they are 1 Maluk Das is supposed to have lived during the latter part of the reign 3f Akbar and down to the commencement of that of Aurangzeb or from 200 to 250 years ago. 188 APPENDIX II. willing to exercise for hire, and amongst the Hindu princes they have been considered as good soldiers ; the third class is that of the Bistar Dkdris, who follow the occupations of ordinary life. A further subdivision exists in this sect, and the chief branches again form fifty-two divisions or Thambas, the peculiarities of which have not been ascertained. The Dadu Panthis burn their dead at dawn, but their religious members not unfrequently enjoin that their bodies, after death, shall be thrown into some field or some wilderness, to be devoured by the beasts and birds of prey, as they say that in a funeral pile insect life is apt to be destroyed. The Dadu Panthis are said to be very numerous in Marwar and Ajmi'r. Of the Kaga class alone, the Raja of Jaipur is reported to entertain as soldiers more than ten thousand. The chief place of worship is at Naraina, where the veda of Dadu, and the collection of the texts of the sect, are preserved and worshipped, and where a Mela (or religious fair) is held annually, for fifteen days, in the month of Phalgun (February-March). The tenets of the sect are contained in several Bhdshd works, in which it is said a vast number of passages from the Kabir writings are inserted, and the general character of which is certainly of a similar nature. 1 Professor Wilson, in his sketch, next notices the Eai Dasis, a currier (Chamdr} sect, and the Sena Panthis, the existence of both of which, at present, is a matter of doubt. 7. Rudra Sampraddyis, or VallabhdcTidr'is. These worship Eala Gopala, the infant Krishna. This sect embraces all ranks of Hindu society, and is widely spread. The founder of it was Yallabha Acharya. This sect is better known from the title of its teachers, as Gokulastha Gosdins. The original teacher of the philosophical tenets of this sect is said to have been Vishnu Swami, a commentator on the texts of 1 For a very full account of their doctrines, in a translation of one of their works, see a paper by Lieutenant Siddons, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, June, 1837. HINDU CASTES AND EELIGIOUS SECTS. 189 the Vedas, who, however, admitted disciples from the Brah- manical caste only, and considered the state of the Sannyds'i, or ascetic, as essential to the communication of his doctrines. Vallabha Acharya was a successor of the above. He was a Sannyasi, and taught early in the sixteenth century. He resided originally at Gokul, a village on the left bank of the Yamuna, about three coss to the east of Mathura. After remaining there some time, he travelled through India as a pilgrim. There is a Baithak (or station) of his amongst the Ghats of Muttra, and about two miles from the fort of Chunar is a place called his well. After this peregrination, Yallabha returned to Brindaban. The Mahabharat and Bhagavat do not recommend the special worship of Krishna as distinct from Vishnu ; but the Brahma Vaivartta Purana claims supremacy for Krishna. This, then, is their text book. Amongst other articles of the new creed, Vallabha introduced one which is rather singular for a Hindu religious innovator or reformer. He taught that privation formed no part of sanctity, and that it was the duty of the teacher and his disciples to worship their deity, not in nudity and hunger, but in costly apparel and choice food ; not in solitude and mortification, but in the pleasures of society and the enjoyment of the world. The Gosaihs, or teachers, are almost always family men, as was the founder Yallabha. The followers of the order are especially numerous amongst the mercantile community, and the Gosaihs themselves are often largely engaged also in maintaining a connection amongst the commercial establishments of remote parts of the country, as they are con- stantly travelling over India, under pretence of pilgrimage, and thus reconcile the profits of trade with the benefits of devotion. The practices of the sect are of a similar character with those of other regular worshippers. Eight times a day the image of the boy Krishna, either in the house or temple, is worshipped. The mark on the forehead consists of two red perpendicular lines, meeting in a semicircle on the top of the nose, and having a round spot of red between them. The Bhaktas have the same 190 APPENDIX II. marks as the S'ri Vaishnavas on the breasts and arms, and some also make the central spot on the forehead with a black earth called S'yamabandi, or any black metallic substance ; the necklace and rosary are made of the stalk of the Tulasi. The salutations amongst them are Sri Krishna and Jaya Gopdl. The great authority of the sect is the Bhagavat, as explained in the Subodhini, or commentary of Yallabhacharya. He is the author also of a BhdsJiyd l on part of Yyasa's Sutras, and of other Sanskrit works, as the Siddhdnta Rahasya, Bhdgavad Lild Rahasya, and Ekdnta Rahasya. Amongst the votaries in general, various 'works upon the history of Krishna are current, but the most popular are the Vishnu Padas, stanzas in Bhasha, 2 in praise of Vishnu, attributed to Yallabha himself; the Brij Bilas, a Bhasha poem of some length; the Ashtachhap, an account of Vallabha's eight disciples ; and the Barta, a collection of insipid anecdotes. The worshippers of this sect are very numerous and opulent, the merchants and bankers, especially those of Gujerat and Malwa, belonging to it. Their temples and establishments are numerous all over India, but particularly at Mathura and Brindaban, the latter of which alone is said to contain many hundreds, amongst which are three of great opulence. In Benares are two temples of great repute and wealth, one sacred to Sat Jz, and the other to Purushottama Ji. Jagannath and Dwarika are also particularly venerated by this sect, but the most celebrated of all the Gosaiii establishments is at S'ri Nath Dwar, in Ajmir. Having thus noticed the chief of the Vaishnava sects, we must refer the student, who wishes for further information on the subject, for many others, whose names only we can give, to Wilson's sketch. He notices the Mira Bai's as a subdivision of the preceding ; the Brahma Sampradayis, or Madhvacharyas as peculiar to the south 1 Or commentary on technical terms. 2 Or the vernacular dialect, especially that of Eraj t in the country around Mathura, Brindaban, etc. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 191 of India ; the Sanakadi Sampradayis, or Nimawats, one of the primary Vaishnava divisions ; the Vaishnavas of Bengal, followers of Chaitanya, many of whom are settled at Brindaban ; the Radha Vallabhis, adorers of Radha exclusively ; the Sakhi Bhavas, who wear women's clothes, etc. ; the Charan Dasi's, Harischandi's, Sadhna Panthis, and Madhavis. Dr. Wilson concludes by describing the real meanings of the words Sannyasi, Yairagi, and Naga. 1 He also speaks of sects which are half Muhammadan, as the followers of Sheikh Madar, who, although they credit the divine mission of Muhammad, disregard the established forms of the Musalman faith, chew bhang, and go naked, smearing their bodies with ashes and twisting the hair into the Jata, 2 etc. The naked sectaries are always the most de- graded and violent in their manners. (i.) OP THE S'AIVA SECTS. The principal of these were founded or confirmed by the cele- brated commentator on the Vedas, Sankara Acharya, who con- tended that S'iva was pre-eminent among the gods. The S'aivas, therefore, worship Hahadev as the Supreme Being, and deny the independent existence of Yishnu and other deities. The S'aivas are all worshippers of S^iva and Bhavani con- jointly, and they adore the Linga or compound type of the god and goddess. There are no exclusive worshippers of S'iva besides the sect of naked gymnosophists called Lingis ; and the exclusive adorers of the goddess are the S'aktas. The adoration of S'iva is not so popular in upper India as it is in the south. Wilson conjectures that this may arise from the rude and unattractive emblem in which he generally appears, the mystic purpose of which is little understood or regarded by the uninitiated and vulgar, and which offers nothing to interest the 1 Though often confounded or used indiscriminately, these terms properly lescribe different classes of religious mendicants. The Sannyasis are more peculiarly the followers of S'iva, the Vairagis those of Vishnu. The Nagas ire those who go naked, and are the most profligate and worthless of the nendicant devotees. 2 i.e. The hair matted or clotted together, sometimes like a horn. 192 APPENDIX II. feelings or excite the imagination. No legends are recorded of this deity of a poetic and pleasing character ; and, above all, such legends as are narrated in the Puranas and Tantras, have not been presented to the Hindus in any accessible shape. The S'ivas have no works, as the Yaishnavas, in any of the common dialects, in which the actions of S'iva, in any of his forms, are celebrated. Corresponding to the absence of multiplied forms of this divinity as objects of worship, and to the want of works which attach importance to particular manifestations of the favourite god, the people can scarcely be said to be divided into different sects, any farther than as they may have certain religious mendicants for their spiritual guides. Actual divisions of the worshippers of S'iva are almost restricted to these religious per- sonages, collected sometimes in opulent and numerous associations ; but, for the greater part, detached, few, and indigent. There are no teachers of ancient repute but Sankara Acharya, and his doctrines are too philosophical and speculative to have made him popular. " The worship of S'iva continues, in fact, to be what it appears to have been from a remote period, the religion of the Brahmanas. Sambhu (Mahadev) is declared by Manu to be the presiding deity of the Brahmanical order; and the greater number of them, particularly those who practise the rites of the Vedas, or who profess the study of the S'astras, receive S'iva as their tutelary deity, wear his insignia, and worship the Linga, either in temples, in their houses, or on the side of a sacred stream, providing, in the latter case, extempore emblems kneaded out of the mud or clay of the river's bed. The example of the Brahmans, and the practices of ages, maintain the veneration universally offered to the type of S'iva, but it is not the prevailing nor the popular condition of the Hindu faith along the banks of the Ganges." l 1 Asiatic Eesearches, vol. xvii., p. 170. The above opinion is true in general, and especially as to the Ling worship ; but as it respects the worship of S'iva at Bhutes'war, or at Baba Adam, it requires modification. A large temple at Muttra, dedicated to this form, we are told by the Rev. J. Philips, is constantly frequented; and though Muttra is pre-eminently a Vaishnava town, yet the temple of Baba Adam attracts two or three melds in the year. A very large fair is also yearly held at the town and temple of Bhuteswar, on HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 193 The following are the principal sects belonging to the S'aiva class : 1. The Dandis and Dasndmis. It is customary to consider these two orders as forming but one division. The classification is not in every instance correct, but the practices of the two are, in many instances, blended, and both denominations are accurately applicable to the same indi- vidual. It will not be necessary, therefore, to deviate from the ordinary enumeration. The Dandis, properly so called, and the Tridandis of the Vaishnavas, are the only legitimate representa- tives of the fourth Asrama (^STT^W) or mendicant life, into which the Hindu is to enter after passing through the previous stages of student, householder, and hermit. It is not necessary, however, to have gone through the whole of the previous career, as the Brahman may pass from any one of the first orders to the last at once. He is then to take up his staff and waterpot, to derive from begging such a portion of food as is sufficient for his mere sustenance, and to devote the remainder of his days to holy study and pious meditation. Adopting, as a general guide, the rules of original works, the Dandi is distinguished by carrying a small dand (<^U^), or wand, with several processes or projections from it, and a piece of cloth dyed with red ochre, in which the Brahmanical cord is supposed to be enshrined, attached to it. He shaves his hair and beard, wears only a cloth round his loins, and subsists upon food obtained ready dressed from the houses of the Brahmans once a day only, which he deposits in the small clay pot that he carries always with him. He should live alone, and near to, but not within a city ; but this rule is rarely observed, and, in general, the Dandis are ? ound in cities, collected, like other mendicants, in Maths. The Dandi has no particular time or mode of worship, but spends his ime in meditation, or in practices corresponding with those of he Jumna, between A'gra and Etayeh. Hundreds of thousands of eveiy caste, tesides the Brahmans, then rush to pay their adorations in the great temple. ' 'is'es'wara temple, in Benares, the domes of which are beautifully gilt, is much i :equented by pilgrims of every caste. 13 194 APPENDIX II. the Toga, and in the study of the Yedanta works, especially according to the comments of Sankaracharya. As that teacher was an incarnation of S'iva, the Dandis reverence that deity and his incarnations in preference to the other members of the Triad, whence they are included among his votaries ; and they so far admit the distinction as not unfrequently to bear the S'aiva mark upon the forehead, smearing it with the Tripundra (fs| M U^ ) triple tranverse line (^), made with the VilJiuti (f%*Tf?f)> <> r ashes which should be taken from the fire of an Agniliotra Brah- man, or they may be the ashes of burnt cow-dung from an oblation offered to the god. They also adopt the initiating Mantra of all the S'aiva classes, either the five or six syllable Mantra, Namdh, or OmNamah, ^Wy(f^:fl^T^or' ; ^^(?Ttfl[qn'If). The genuine Dandi, however, is not necessarily of the S'aiva or any other sect, and in their establishments it will be usually found that they profess to adore Nirguna (f^pmT) or Niranjana (f*l\5l*l) the deity devoid of attribute or passion. The Dandis, who are rather practical than speculative, and who have little pretence to the appellation beyond the epithet and outward signs of the order, are those most correctly included among the S'aiva sects. Amongst these, the worship of S'iva, as Bhairava, is the prevailing form, and, in that case, part of the ceremony of initiation consists in inflicting a small incision on the inner part of the knee, and drawing the blood of the novice as an acceptible offering to the god. The Dandis, of every description, have also a peculiar mode of disposing of their dead, putting them into coffins and burying them, or, when practicable, committing them to some sacred stream. The reason of this is their being prohibited the use of fire on any account. Any Hindu of the three first classes may become Sannyasi or Dandi, or in these degenerate days, a Hindu of any caste may adopt the life and emblems of this order. Such are sometimes met with, as also are Brahmans, who. without connecting them- selves with any community, assume the character of this class of mendicants. These constitute the Dandis simply so termed, and are regarded as distinct from the primitive members of the order, HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. to whom the appellation of Dasnarais is also applied, and who admit none but Brahmans into their fraternity. The Dasnami Dandi's, who are regarded as the descendants of the original members of the fraternity, are said to refer their origin to Sankara Acharya, an individual who appears to have performed a part of some importance in the religious history of Hindustan. All accounts concur in representing Sankara as leading an erratic life, and engaging in successful controversy with various sects, whether of the S'aiva, Yaishnava, or less orthodox per- suasions. Towards the close of his life, he repaired as far as Kashmir, and seated himself, after triumphing over various opponents, on the throne of Saraswati. He next went to Badarikasrama, and finally to Kedarnath, in the Himalaya, where he died at the early age of thirty-two. 1 The spiritual descendants of Sankara, in the first degree, are variously named by different authorities, but usually agree in the number. He is said to have had four principal disciples, who, in the popular tradition, are called Padmapada, Hasti- malaka, Sureswara or Mandana, and Trotaka. Of these, the first had two pupils, Tirtha and Asrama ; the second, Tana and Aranya ; the third had three, Saraswati, Puri, and Bhdrat'i ; and the fourth had also three, Giri or Gir, Pdrvata, and Sdgara. These, which being all-significant terms, were no doubt adopted names, constitute collectively the appellation Dasnami, or the ten-named; and when a Brahman enters into either class, he attaches to his own denomination that of the class of which he becomes a member, as Tirtha, Puri, Gir, etc. The greater portion of the ten classes of mendicants thus descended from Sankara Acharya, have failed to retain their purity of character, and are only known by their epithets as members of the original order. There are but three, and part of a fourth, mendicant classes, or those called Tirtha, or Indra, Asrama, Saraswati, and Bharati, 1 See a fuller account of him in Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii., p. 177, and vol. xii., p. 536. Also, Wilson's Preface to his Sanskrit Dictionary, for the age in which he lived. 196 APPENDIX II. ^ who are still regarded as really Sankara's Dandis. These are sufficiently numerous, especially in and about Benares. They comprehend a variety of characters ; but amongst the most re- spectable of them are to be found very able expounders of Yedanta works. Other branches of Sanskrit literature owe important obligations to this religious sect. The most sturdy beggars are also members of this order, although their contributions are levied particularly upon the Brahmanical class, as whenever a feast is given to the Brahmans, the Dandis of this description present themselves as unbidden guests, and can only be got rid of by bestowing on them a due share of the good things provided for their more worldly-minded brethren. Many of them practice the Yoga, and profess to work miracles. The remaining six and a half members of the Dasnami class, although considered as having fallen from the purity of practice necessary to the Dandi, are still, in general, religious characters, and are usually denominated Atits. 1 The chief points of differ- ence between them and the preceding are their abandonment of the staff, their use of clothes, money, and ornaments, their pre- paring their own food, and their admission of members from any orders of Hindus. They are often collected in Maths as well as the Dandis, but they mix freely in the business of the world; they carry on trade and often accumulate property, and they frequently officiate as priests at the shrines of some of the deities. Some of them even marry, but, in that case, they are distinguished by the term Sanyog'i from the other Atits. The philosophical tenets of the Dandis, in the main, are those of the Yedanta system ; but they generally supersede the practice of the Yoga as taught by the followers of Patanjali, and many of them have latterly adopted the doctrine of the Tantras. Sankara and the Muni Dattatreya are both held in high veneration by the Dandis. 1 From ^ ffl fa , "a guest" a temporary dweller upon earth, or "past away" liberated from worldly cares and feelings. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 197 2. The Yogis, or Jogks The Dandi's are to the S'aiva sects what the followers of Ramanuja are to those of the Yaishnava faith, and a like parallel may be drawn between the disciples of Ramanand and those of Goraknath, or the Kanphata Jogi's ; the first pair being properly restricted to the Brahmanical order, intended chiefly for men of learning ; the two latter admitting members from every descrip- tion of people, and possessing a more attractive popular character. The term Jogi is properly applicable to the followers of the Yoga or Pantanjala school of philosophy, which, amongst other tenets, maintained the practicability of acquiring, even in life, entire command over elementary matter, by means of certain ascetic practices. 1 In the present day, none lay claim to perfection, and their pretensions are usually confined to a partial command over their own physical and mental faculties. These are evinced in the performance of low mummeries, or juggling tricks, which cheat the vulgar into a belief of their powers. 2 The principal mode in which the Yoga takes a popular shape in upper India is probably of comparatively recent origin. This is the sect of Kanphata Jogi's, who acknowledge as their founder a teacher named Gorakhnath,- traces of whom are found in Gorakh- kshetra, at Peshawar, and in the district and town of Gorakhpur, where also exists a temple and religious establishment of his followers. They hold also in veneration a plain near Dwaraka, named Gorakhkhetr, and a cavern or subterraneous passage at Haridwar. According to the authorities of this sect, Gorakh is but one of nine eminent teachers, or N"aths. Of the perfect Yogis, or Siddhas, eighty-four are enumerated. The Yogis of Gorakhnath are usually called Kanphatas, from having their ears bored and rings inserted in them at the time of 1 See Ward on the Hindus, and Colebrooke's Essays in vol. i. of the Asiatic Researches. 2 See Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii., p. 186, for illustrations. The origin of the Yoga is there proved to be ancient, from books, from the 'cavern temples, etc. 198 APPENDIX II. their initiation. They may be of any caste ; they live as ascetics, either singly or in Maths. S'iva is the object of their worship : they officiate, indeed, as the priests of that deity in some places, especially at the celebrated Lat, or staff, of Bhairava, at Benares. They mark the forehead with a transverse line of ashes, and smear the body with the same ; they dress in various styles, but in travelling usually wear a cap of patch-work and garment dyed with red ochre. Some wear a simple Dhoti, or cloth round the loins. The term Jogi, in popular acceptation, is of almost as general application as Sannyasi and Vairagi, and it is difficult to fix its import upon any individual class, besides the Kanphata, the vagrants, so called, following usually the dictates of their own caprice as to worship and belief, and often, it may be conceived, employing the character as a mere plea for lazy livelihood. The Jogi's are, indeed, particularly distinguished amongst the different mendicant characters, by adding to their religious personification more of the mountebank than any others. Most of the religious mendicants, it is true, deal in fortune telling, interpretation of dreams, and palmistry. They are often empirics, and profess to cure diseases with specific drugs, or with charms and spells. But, besides these accomplishments, the Jogi is frequently musical, and plays and sings ; he also initiates animals into his business, and often travels about with a small bullock, a goat, or a monkey, whom he has taught to obey his commands, and to exhibit amusing gesticulations. The dress of this class of Jogis is generally a cap and coat, or frock, of many colours. They profess to worship S'iva, and often carry the linga, like the Jangamas, in the cap. All classes and sects assume the character, and Musalman Jogis are not uncommon. One class of the Hindu Jogis are called Sarangihar, from their carrying a Sdrangi, or small fiddle, or lute, with which they accompany their songs. They beg in the name of Bhairava. Another sect of them, also followers of that deity, are termed Dorihars, from their trafficking in small pedlery, especially the sale of thread (dori) and silk. Another class adopt the name of Matsyendris ; and a fourth set are Bhartriharfs. The HIND17 CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 199 varieties of this class of mendicants, however, cannot be specified ; they are all errants ; fixed residences, or Maths, of any Jogis, except the Kanphatas, rarely occurring. 3. The Jangamas or Lingayats (3f^jTFf, "locomotive") One of the forms in which the Linga worship appears, is that of the Lingayats, Lingawants, or Jangamas, the essential characteristic of which is wearing the emblem on some part of the dress or person. The type is of a small size, made of copper or silver, and is com- monly worn, suspended in a case, round the neck, or sometimes tied in the turban. In common with the S'aivas generally, the Jangamas smear their foreheads with Yibhiiti, wear necklaces, and carry rosaries made of the Rudraksha seed. The clerical members of the sect usually stain their garments with red ochre. They are not numerous in upper India, and are rarely encountered except as mendicants, leading about a bull, the living type of Nandi, the bull of S'iva, decorated with housings of various colours and strings of kauri shells. The conductor carries a bell in his hand, and, thus accompanied, goes about from place to place, subsisting upon alms. l In upper India there are no popular works current of this sect, and the only authority is a learned Bhashya, or comment by Nilkantha, on the Sutras of Vyasa, a work not often met with, and being in Sanskrit, unintelligible to the multitude. Besides the Jangama priest of Kedarnath, an opulent establish- ment of them exists at Benares. Its wealth arises from a number of houses, occupying a considerable space, called the Jangam Ban. The title to the property is said to be a grant to the Jangamas, regularly executed by Man Singh, and preserved on a copper plate. 4. The Paramhan8a8(VK ' " in visible"), expressive of the indescribable nature of the deity. They have a peculiar garb, wearing a large round cap and a long frock or coat, stained with ochre clay. Some also wear rings, like the Kanphata Jogis, or a cylinder of wood passed through the lobe of the ear, which they term the Khechari Mudra, the seal or symbol of the deity, of him who moves in the heavens. 10. The Sbkharas (fRsTf). These are distinguished by carrying a stick three spans in length. They dress in a cap and sort of petticoat stained with ochrey earth, smearing their bodies with ashes, and wear earrings of the Kudraksha seed. They also wear over the left shoulder a narrow piece of cloth dyed with ochre and twisted, in place of the Janth, or Brahmanical thread. 11. The Rukharas (^^). These are of similar habits and appearance, but they do not carry the stick, nor wear the Rudraksha earrings, but in their place metallic ones. These two classes agree with the preceding in the watchword, exclaiming Alakh as they pass along. The term is, however, used by other mendicants. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 203 12. The Ukharas These are said to be members of either of the preceding classes, who drink spirituous liquors and eat meat. They appear to be the refuse of the three preceding mendicant classes, who, in general are said to be of mild and inoffensive manners. 13. The Kardlingis These are vagabonds of little credit, except sometimes amongst the most ignorant portions of the community. They are not often met with ; they go naked, and to mark their triumph over sensual desires, affix an iron ring and chain on the male organ ; they are professedly worshippers of S'iva. 14. The Sanny dsis 15. The Vairdgu 16. The Avadhutas Although the terms Sannyasi and Vairagf are in a great measure restricted amongst the Vaishnavas to peculiar classes, the same limit can scarcely be adopted with regard to the S'aivas. All the sects, except the Sanyogi Atits, are, so far, Sanny asi's, or excluded from the world, as not to admit of married teachers, a circumstance far from being uncommon, as we have seen, amongst the more refined followers of Vishnu. Most of the S'aiva sects, indeed, are of a very inferior description to those of the Vaishnavas. Besides the individuals who adopt the Dandagrahana ("holding the staff"), and are unconnected with the Dasnamfs, there is a sect of devotees who remain through life members of the condi- tion of the Brahmachari, or student. These are also regarded as Sannyasis, and where the term is used in a definite sense, these twelve kinds, viz. the Dandis, Brahmachdris, and ten Dasndmi orders, are implied. In general, however, the term Sannyasi, as well as Avadhiita and Alakhnami, expresses all the S'aiva class of mendicants, except, perhaps, the Jogis. 204 APPENDIX II. 17. The Ndgas(9(\T( "naked"). The S'aiva Sannyasis, who go naked, are distinguished by this term. They smear their bodies with ashes, allow their hair, beards, and whiskers to grow, and wear the projecting braid of hair called the Jata. Like the Vairagi Nagas they carry arms, and wander about in troops soliciting alms, or levying contribu- tions. The S'aiva Nagas are generally the refuse of the Dandi and Atit orders, or men who have no inclination for a life of study or business. "When weary of the vagrant and violent habits of the Naga, they re-enter the better disposed classes, which they had first quitted. The S'aiva Nagas are very numerous in many parts of India, though less so in the British provinces than in any other. These Nagas are the particular opponents of the Vairagi Nagas, and were, no doubt, the leading actors in the bloody fray at Haridwar, which had excluded the Vaishnavas from the great fair there from 1760 till the British acquired the country. 1 (c.) OF THE S'AKTAS. The worshippers of the S'akti (the power or energy of the divine nature in action) are exceedingly numerous amongst all classes of Hindus. The wife of Vishnu is Lakshmi; of S'iva, Parvati ; of Brahma, Saraswati. The wife of S'iva is by far the most popular, not only in Bengal, but also in the other Gangetic provinces. 2 Although the adoration of Prakriti, or S'akti, is to a certain extent authorised by the Puranas, particularly the Brahma Vaivartta, the Skanda, and the Kalika, yet the principal rites and formulae are derived from an independent series of works known by the collective term of Tantras. The followers of the Tantras profess to consider them as a fifth Veda, and attribute to them equal antiquity and superior authority. 1 Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. 2 For a full account of the origin and nature of this worship, see Wilson's Sketch, and Ward on the Hindus. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 205 Any of the female deities may be the object of the Sakta worship, and the term S'akti comprehends them all ; but the homage of the S'aktas is almost restricted to the wife of S'iva and to S'iva himself as identical with his consort. The worship of Devi is of considerable antiquity and popularity. The adoration of Vindhydvdsini, near Mirzapur, has existed for more than seven centuries, and that of Jwalamukhi, at Nagarkot, very early attracted Muhammadan persecution. These places still retain their reputation, and are objects of pilgrimage to devout Hindus, especially on the 8th of the months of Chaitra and Kartik. Her great festival, the Dasahra, is in the west of India marked by no particular honour, whilst its celebration in Bengal, under the name of Durga Puja, occupies ten days of prodigal expenditure. There is a mela every year at the temple of Devi, in Etawah, a village near Agra, when buffaloes, goats, fruits, etc., are offered, the former being mostly slain. Every village almost has a little mound of earth or very small temple, containing a shapeless stone, daubed red, which they call Ban Khandi Devi. This, however, is chiefly worshipped by the women. In fact, the women are the chief, if not the only, worshippers of Devi in the North-west Provinces. The chief of the S'akta sects are 1. The Dakshinas or BhaUas. When the worship of any goddess is performed in a public manner, and agreeably to the Vaidik or Pauranik ritual, it does not comprehend the impure practices which are attributed to the Yamis. In this form it is called the Dakshina or right hand form of worship. The pure lali, or offering, presented by these consists of grain, milk, and sugar, but kids are often offered to Devi in her terrific forms. This is, however, considered rather heterodox. 2. The Vdmu or Vdmdchdris. The Vanus mean the left-hand worshippers, or those who adopt a ritual contrary to what is usual, and to what, indeed, 206 APPENDIX II. they dare publicly avow. The object of the worship is, by the reverence of Devi, who is one with S'iva, to obtain supernatural powers in this life, and to be identified after death with S'iva and S'akti. According to the immediate object of the worshipper is the particular form of worship ; but all the forms require the use of some or all of the five Makaras or words whose first letter is m " Wine, flesh, fish, mystical gesticulations, and coition are the fivefold Makara which takes away all sin." This worship is celebrated by men and women in the dead of night. 1 (d.) MISCELLANEOUS SECTS. 1. The Saurapdtas, or Sauras. These worship Surya-pati, the Sun-god, only. There are but few of them, and they scarcely differ from the rest of the Hindus in their general observances. The Tilaka is made in a particular manner, with red sandal, and the necklace should be of crystal. These are their chief peculiarities, besides which they eat one meal without salt on every Sunday and each Sankranti, or the sun's entrance into a sign of the zodiac : they cannot eat either until they have beheld the sun, so that it is fortunate that they inhabit his native regions. 2. The Ganapatyas. These are worshippers of Ganesa, or Ganapati, and can scarcely be considered as a distinct sect. All the Hindus in fact worship this deity as the obviator of difficulties and impediments, and never commence any work, or set off on a journey, without invoking his protection. Some, however, pay him more par- 1 See a full account of these orgies in the works of "Ward and Wilson. HINDU CASTES AND RELIGIOUS SECTS. 207 ticular devotion than the rest, and these are the only persons to whom the classification may be considered applicable. Ganesa, however, it is believed, is never exclusively venerated, and the worship, when it is paid, is addressed to some of his forms." This image is placed over many door- ways, and every book in Hindi commences with AfOJIUj^l^f f!Ti " Adoration to the blessed Ganesa." 3. The SiMs, or Ndnak Shdhis, are classed under seven distinctions. 1 . TTdasis ; religious characters, who live in convents. 2. Ganj Bakhshfs ; not numerous, or of any note. 3. Ramrayis ; not common in Hindustan. 4. Suthra Shahis ; great gamblers, drunkards, and thieves. 5. Govind Sinhis. This is the most important division of the Sikhs, being in fact, the political association to which, or to the nation generally, the name Sikh is applied. Their faith is widely different from the quietism of Nanak, and wholly of a worldly and warlike spirit. The sword is used by them both against Muhammadans and Hindus. 6. Mrmalas ; these, like the Udasis, go nearly naked. 7. Nagas ; naked beggars, who abstain from the use of arms. 4. The Jains. The history and doctrines of this sect are set forth at consider- able length by Professor Wilson, in his " Sketch." But as they have already been noticed in the body of this work (p. 106), we content ourselves with merely mentioning them here among the Eeligious sects ; and for further information regarding them, as well as several other sects of minor importance (as the Baba Lalis, Sadhs, etc.), must refer the curious reader to the learned work from which we have already so largely quoted. HERTFORD: PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN. RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. 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