200 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



We have already had occasion in previous 

 chapters to speak of animistic religion; this 

 very low and degraded form of faith prevails 

 largely in Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australia, 

 as well as in parts of Asia, where it is largely 

 embedded as a sort of substratum in better 

 religions. The term is used in a wide sense 

 by Dr. Tiele, who thus defines it: "Animism 

 is the belief in the existence of souls or 

 spirits, of which only the powerful those on 

 which man feels himself dependent, and before 

 which he stands in awe acquire the rank 

 of divine beings, and become objects of wor- 

 ship. These spirits are conceived as moving 

 freely through earth and air, and, either of 

 their own accord, or because conjured by 

 some spell, appearing to men. But they 

 may also take up their abode, either perma- 

 nently or temporarily, in some object, whether 

 lifeless or living it matters not; and this 

 object, as endowed with higher power, is then 

 worshipped or employed to protect individuals 

 or communities (fetishism)." The main 

 object seems to be to keep evil spirits in 

 order by means of magic, or to propitiate 

 them by gifts or by acts of homage. Leaving for the present this very low form of religion, 

 we pass on to consider the faith of the noble Aryan immigrants from the North. 



Photo by Messrs, Bourne & Shepherd} 

 A FAKIR. 



[Bombay. 



ARYAN THEOLOGY, LITERATURE, ETC. 



SEVERAL exquisite hymns from the Vedas show clearly and eloquently the Aryan belief in 

 a future state. The deceased, whose body the flames are consuming in the funeral pyre, is 

 thus addressed: "Depart thou, depart thou, by the ancient paths to the place whither our 

 fathers have departed. Meet with the Ancient Ones; meet with the Lord of Death. Throwing 

 off thine imperfections, go to thy home. Become united with a body; clothe thyself in 

 a shining form. Let him depart to those for whom flow the rivers- of nectar. Let him depart 

 to those who, through meditation, have obtained the victory; who, by fixing their thoughts 

 on the unseen, have gone to heaven. Let him depart to the mighty in battle, to the heroes 

 who have laid down their lives for others, to those who have bestowed their goods on the 

 poor." The doctrine of transmigration is unknown, so that the circle of relatives round 

 the funeral pyre sing with a firm assurance that their friend goes direct to a state of 

 blessedness and reunion with the loved ones who had gone before. "Do thou conduct us to 

 heaven; let us be with our wives and children," says a later hymn. "In heaven, where our 

 friends dwell in bliss having left behind the infirmities of the body, free from lameness, free 

 from crookedness of limb there let us behold our parents and our children." " May the water- 

 shedding spirits bear thee upwards, cooling thee with their swift motion through the air, and 

 sprinkling thee with dew." "Bear him, carry him; let him, with all his faculties complete, go 

 to the world of the righteous. Crossing the dark valley which spreadeth boundless around 

 him, let the unborn soul ascend to heaven. Wash the feet of him who is stained with sin; 

 let him go upwards with cleansed feet. Crossing the gloom, gazing with wonder in many 

 directions, let the unborn soul go up to heaven." 



