Lieut. -Colonel Tod on the Religious Establishments of Mexcar. 285 



few simple warrants and ordinances in their favour.* On a future occasion, 

 I may endeavour to add something to the stores of knowledge ah-eady pos- 

 sessed of these the deists of Rajast'han, wliose singular communities con- 

 tain mines of knowledge hitherto inaccessible to Europeans. The libraries 

 of Jessulmer in the desert, of Anhulwara the cradle of their faith, of 

 Cambay, and other places of minor importance, consist of thousands of 

 volumes. These are under the control, not of the priests alone, but of com- 

 munities of the most wealthy and respectable amongst the laity, and are pre- 

 served in the crypts of their temples, which precaution ensured their exist- 

 ence, as well as that of the statues of their deified teacliers, when the tem- 

 ples themselves were destroyed by the Mahommedau invader, who paid more 

 deference to the images of Buddha than to those of Siva or Vishnu. The 

 preservation of the former is in part owing to the natural formation of their 

 statues ; and while many of Adnat'h, of Nemi, and of Parswa have escaped 

 the hammer, there is scarcely a Kaniya (Ajwl/o) or a Rejibha (^Venus) of any 

 antiquity, with a nose, from Lahore to Ram-iswara. The two arms of these 

 theists sufficed for their protection ; while the statues of the polytheists, 

 though gifted with as many as Briareus, have met with no mercy. 



No. V.t is the translation of a grant by the celebrated Ra7ia Raj Sing, the 

 gallant and successful opponent of Arungzeb in many a battle. It is at 

 once of a general and special nature, containing a confirmation of the old 

 privileges of the sect, and a mark of favour to a priest of some distinction 

 called Manoh. It is well known that the first law of the Jains, like that of 

 the ancient Athenian lawgiver Triptolemus, is " Thou slialt not kill," a 

 precept applicable to every sentient being. The first clause of this edict, 

 in conformity thereto, prohibits all innovation ujjon this cherished principle ; 

 while the second declares that even the life which is forfeited to the laws 

 is immortal {umrd) if the victim but passes their abodes. The third article 

 defines the extent of sirna, or sanctuary, the dearest privilege of the races of 

 these regions, whose temples are as sacred to the refugee, as were those of 

 the Levite of Israel, or tiie shrines of Greece. The fourth article sanctions 

 the tythes, both on agricultural and commercial produce ; and makes no 

 distinction between the Jain priests and those of Siva and Vishnu in this 

 source of income, which will be more fully detailed in the account of Nat'h- 

 dwara. The fifth article is the particular gift to the priest ; and the whole 

 closes with the usual anatliema against such as may infringe the ordinance. 



* See Appendix to this paper. f Ibid. 



