222 HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 



through this vast region, have likewise a sacred character, 

 though none in so eminent a degree as the Ganges. 



The Hindoo is also much addicted to a worship which 

 indicates the lowest degradation of the human mind, — that 

 of the brute creation. His most exalted deities, the cre- 

 ators and preservers of the world, scarcely command a 

 reverence equal to that bestowed on the cow. This useful 

 animal is saluted with every expression of profound affec- 

 tion and veneration. She is called the mother of the gods 

 and of three worlds. The highest deities are humbly en- 

 treated to appear under the form of milch kine, as that in 

 which they will be most grateful and serviceable to their 

 votaries. Even their dung is thought to confer a holy 

 character upon every object on which it is smeared. Two 

 great Indian princes, the Rajah of Travancore and the Pe- 

 ishwa Ragoba, being each enclosed in the body of a golden 

 cow and then drawn out, were regarded as having expe- 

 rienced a new birth ; the statue was immediately cut in 

 pieces and distributed among the Bramins. In their trea- 

 ties with the British, the native princes on some occasions 

 urged most earnestly that the soldiers should not be per- 

 mitted to kill a cow within the precincts of their territory. 



The monkey also ranks high among the objects of Hin- 

 doo worship. The exploits of Hanuman, with his innu- 

 merable host of four-footed brethren, are among the most 

 conspicuous incidents in the Ramayana. Princes and great 

 men often indulge in the strange freak of celebrating with 

 pomp and profusion the marriage of monkeys. The ani- 

 mal, like a great chief, is seated in a palanquin, and fol- 

 lowed by a train of singing and dancing girls, amid the 

 display of fireworks. Garoora, the king of birds, is another 

 object of veneration, though not equally distinguished. 



The ideas of man respecting an invisible world and a 

 future state of retribution form a most important element 

 in his religious belief. On this subject ths sentiments of 

 devout Hindoos are often profound, overcoming in some 

 instances the love of life, and impelling them to strange 

 modes of suicide. 



But their creed derives its peculiar character from the 

 tenet, so generally diffused throughout the East, respect- 

 ing the transmigration of souls. According to this belief, 

 the spirit of man -lfter death is not conveyed into a different 



