396 



BRACHMANS. 



Brachmans. rites of Apis. We are at a loss, however, to know 

 ' " y~ what conclusion we are to draw from this fact ; and 

 it must still be matter of conjecture, whether India 

 has borrowed from Egypt, or Egypt from India ; 

 or whether both have not drawn from one common 

 source. 



The Bramins formerly made a great mystery of 

 their tenets ; and there was nothing that they shun- 

 ned so much as communicating their dogmas in phi- 

 losophy and religion to strangers. The celebrated 

 Ackber, the wisest of all the princes who ruled the 

 Mahometan empire in India, was extremely anxious 

 to get acquainted with the doctrines of the Bramins: 

 for this purpose, he made use of every argument 

 which policy could suggest, to draw from them their 

 hidden stores of knowledge : finding, however, all 

 his efforts unavailing, he at last adopted the expedi- 

 ent of imposing on a celebrated Bramin, at Benares, 

 a youth of the name of Ftizi : this he accomplish- 

 ed by persuading the Bramin that Feizi belonged to 

 the cast of Bramins. The youth was joyfully re- 

 ceived, and instructed in all the mysteries of Shan- 

 scrit literature ; when the time, however, approach- 

 ed, that he should depart, and communicate to Ack - 

 ber the secrets which he had gained, he felt himself 

 detained by a violent attachment to the Bramin's 

 daughter : the ancient sage threw no obstructions in 

 the way of their mutual passion ; he even offered 

 his daughter in marriage to Feizi. The yoi>ng man 

 thinking it ungenerous any longer to deceive his be- 

 nefactor and instructor, fell down on his knees, and 

 confessed the imposture which had been practised 

 upon him. The Bramin, without uttering a word 

 of reproach, drew a dagger, and was on the point of 

 plunging it into his own breast, when Feizi prevent- 

 ed him, protesting that he would do whatever he re- 

 quired of him ; upon this, the Bramin imposed a so- 

 lemn oath, that he should never translate the Vedas, 

 nor divulge the information which he had clandes- 

 tinely obtained. 



This jealousy with regard to the mysteries of their 

 religion, as far as it is contained in their sacred books, 

 is now completely at an end ; and they may be ex- 

 plored by any one who has sufficient curiosity to im- 

 pel him to the task, and sufficient learning to execute 

 it successfully. But the most unfortunate circum- 

 stance in the business is, that, with all these facilities 

 of information, the subject is still as mysterious as 

 ever, and though curiosity has been highly gratified, 

 we are as far as ever from any facts that can lead to 

 a certain or useful result. 



It is pretty general'y asserted, that no alteration 

 has taken place in the Braminical system for many 

 thousands of years ; we, indeed, recognize many of 

 the features described by Strabo and Arrian ; but 

 we find others as completely altered. It is no long- 

 er true, that the offices of the Bramins are confined 

 to devotion, sacrificing, and philosophy. They en- . 

 gage in all the offices of civil life, and, in many cases, 

 nothing appears so foreign to their habits as litera- 

 ture and philosophy. The Paishwa of the Mahrat- 

 tas is a Bramin ; his troops are composed principally 

 of Bramins ; and it has been remarked, that through- 

 out his extensive territories, scarcely any thing is 



safe from violence and rapacity, but a cow and a Brae) 

 Bramin. 



It is also universally admitted, that the modern 

 Bramins are grossly ignorant and immoral. Nothing 

 is more common in India, than to meet with a fellow 

 infinitely inferior in point of intelligence to the rud- 

 est English clown, yet assuming all the grimaces of 

 sanctity and wisdom, and exacting, as his due, a re- 

 spect bordering on adoration. This is, indeed, the 

 natural effect of the Braminical system ; when a man 

 is sure of honour and respect, independent of merit 

 or exertion, as every Bramin is by his birth and cha- 

 racter, it is not easy to see what can stimulate the 

 mind to useful efforts : and it would be in vain to 

 expect moral purity, where ignorance is methodized 

 into a system, and where this order of men is raised, 

 if not by law, at least by the superstition of their 

 countrymen, beyond the reach of justice, and the 

 fear of penal inflictions. Accordingly, Mr Hoi- 

 well, who stickles as keenly for the pretensions of 

 the Bramins, as if he had been a convert to their 

 faith, allows an observation to escape him near the 

 close of his work, which completely oversets his 

 preceding theory ; for he admits, that there was 

 scarcely a murder or a robbery committed in the 

 country, but a Bramin was found to be at the bot- 

 tom of it. He is careful, however, to observe, that 

 he speaks only of the lowest and most ignorant race 

 of Bramins, and that the higher and more learned 

 orders are to be exempted from the charge. It 

 would perhaps be unfair to include a whole order of 

 men in the sweeping charge of ignorance and profli- 

 gacy, but we have an unfortunate fact to state, 

 which would lead us strongly to suspect the purity 

 and honesty of any order of Bramins. A learned 

 pundit at Benares, who had been engaged by Cap- 

 tain Wilford to translate one of the Puranas, impo- 

 sed on his employer, by the interpolation of the me- 

 morable story of Satyavrata and his three sons, cor- 

 responding exactly with the story of Noah. After 

 Captain Wilford had completely detected the trick, 

 he sent for the pundit to upbraid him, who swore 

 by all that was sacred, that it was no imposition; and 

 in proof of his assertion, brought ten of the most 

 celebrated pundits at Benares, who were ready to 

 swear to the falsehood. 



The Bramins, indeed, seem to have degenerated in 

 every respect from their ancestors. Clemens of 

 Alexandria quotes a passage from Megasthenes, a 

 historian who lived iu the time of Seleucus Nicator, 

 in which he affirms, that the physical sciences among 

 the Greeks were taught by the Bramins among the 

 Indians. Indeed the physical sciences amongst the 

 Greeks and Indians seem to be much on a par, con- 

 sisting entirely of absurd cosmogonies, and theories 

 altogether unsupported by experiment. Eusebius, in 

 his Preparalio Evangelica, 1. 6. c. 10., states a fact 

 very inconsistent with the present practice of the 

 Bramins; he expressly affirms, that they worshipped 

 no images : j<A<Js{ vohhat rat teyop.ttui Ba%ftarat 

 OITIHS, KOCTCC Tttpetotxriv ruy Trpoyovav K&I vcwwx, art <povt'j%- 

 , are |oi (rf.avri. At present there are not grosser 

 idolaters on the face of the earth, nor are the visible 

 objects of adoration any where so absurd, and ob- 



