106 



INDIA. 



SttfWo. and these are farther subdivided according to the xhs- 

 N -*V ' tricts they arc born in, and the families from which 

 BrJunini. they are sprung. The Brahmins of Malabar will nei- 

 ther eat nor drink with the Brahmins of other parts ot 

 India ; whereas the Brahmins of the north, especially 

 the Haiga Brahmins, do not scruple to cultivate the 



pre-eminent. Its water is conveyed to distant parts ; Statktk--. 

 and the dying are often brought to it, that, with their s " 1 ""Y""' 

 feet in it, they may have a happv passage out of life. Holy places. 

 If persons think of it, or invoke it, wSen they' bathe 

 in any other water, they will still derive all the bene- 

 fits of its virtues. The Brahmins also represent four 



me naura Drwmiuia, viv < * * n r *i t 



crounil to trade as merchants, and to eat fish. Al- confluences of rivers, or prayajas, as sacred : That at 



thoueh'the Brahmins are not permitted to exercise the Allahabad, where the Jumnah flows into the Ganges, 



sovereignty, yet they arc ofa higher rank than princes, is the largest and most holy. Many pilgrims to this 



The laws relieion, and prejudices of the Hindoos, alike place annually drown themselves, being conducted to 



invest them with very great privileges and immunities : the middle of the river, and then sunk, with pots of 



no jrreatcr crime can be committed than that of murder- earth tied to their feet. There are also a great number 



ing a Brahmin. He pays only one per cent, per month of holy places in Hindustan. The^ following are some 

 whereas the second caste pays one 



interest for money, . , 



and a half; the third two ; and the fourth five : if he 

 finds what belongs to a stranger, he keeps the whole, 

 or five-sixths of it ; wherea's another person finding 

 his own, is obliged to give up a^part of it. All the 

 priests are chosen from this order; they may also be- 

 come secretaries and accountants. Some of the divi- 

 sions of the Brahmins deem it unlawful to destroy ani- 

 mal life, or even to eat eggs ; others feed on fish or 

 fowl, but not on animal food. The following extracts 

 from the ancient Hindoo laws will further illustrate 



Mode of 

 life. 



of the most distinguished: 1st, Benares, aijd the dis- 

 trict ten miles round it. '2d, Oude, where Rama was 

 born. 3d, Metta, famous for the birth of Krishna. 4th, 

 Hurdwar, already noticed for its great fair ; this is fre- 

 quented by the Gosscins, or worshippers of Siva, who 

 are distinguished by a wrapper of cloth, dyed with red 

 ochre ; the Bairajies, disciples of Vishnu, who are dis- 

 tinguished by two perpendicular stripes of yellow 

 ochre or sandal on the forehead, and a string of beads 

 round the neck ; the Udassies, the followers of the 

 founder of the Seik sect, who are distinguished by a 



the comparative state of the Brahmins and the lowest conical cap and fringe ; and the followers of Mahadeva, 



castes. " If a Sudra reads the Vedas to any of the 

 other three castes, or listens to them, heated oil, wax 

 and melted tin, shall be poured into his ears : if he 

 gets them by heart he shall be put to death : if he 

 spits on a Brahmin, his lips shall be cut off. A Sudra, 

 Brice, or Chepteree, guilty with a woman of the Brah- 

 min caste, who has a master, shall suffer death, by 

 mutilation and burning. A Brahmin guilty with a 

 woman of any of the castes, who has a master, to be 

 fined from 8 to 16 rupees. The shadow of a Parian 



who have a longitudinal slit in the cartilages of the - 

 ear. The period of bathing is when the sun enters 

 Aries ; and every twelfth year, when Jupiter is in Aqua- 

 rius at this time, the concourse of people is greatly in- 

 creased. No particular ceremony is observed in bathing. 

 5th, The Hindoos regard all Cashmere as holy land. 

 6th, The famous pagoda of Juggernauth, in the province j ug gcr- 

 of Orissa, is another place of great sanctity. The po- aauth. 

 pular belief is, that the body of Krishna was carried 

 there by an inundation from the vicinity of Surat. At 



passing over victuals, milk, or even water, defiles it." Juggernauth, a Brahmin may receive food from the 



The institutes of Menou expressly declare that the 

 abode of a Parian must be out of the town : he must 

 not have the use of entire vessels ; his cloaths must be 

 the mantles of the deceased ; he must continually roam 

 from place to place, carry out the corpse of every one 

 who dies without kindred, be the common executioner, 

 and receive his food in potsherds, but not by the hands 

 of the giver. No Hindoo is allowed, by his religion, 

 to quit the caste in which he \vas born. Tippoo forced 

 12,000 Brahmins of the coast of Malabar to swallow 

 beef broth, in consequence of which they lost their 

 caste, became outcasts, and were either starved to 

 death, or committed suicide. 



Almost every action in the daily life of a Hindoo is 

 prescribed by his religion ; there are rules for diet, 

 and for the manner and time of eating : he must pray 

 thrice a day, morning, noon, and evening. The sip- 

 ping of water is indispensably necessary in all his 

 ceremonies and religious acts, and running water is 

 always preferred. The Gayatrie, which is regarded 

 as the most holy text in their sacred books, is repeated 

 a hundred or a thousand times, according to the mag- 

 nitude and the variety of the sins to be expiated. In 



hands of a Sudra. The idol Juggernauth is placed on 

 a throne, which is raised on a car 60 feet high ; and it 

 is said, that many of the pilgrims who resort to this 

 place throw themselves under the wheels of this car, 

 as it is dragged along. The number, of those who 

 come to die here is so great, that for 50 miles the 

 ground is strewed with human bones. All persons, 

 except certain devotees, are obliged to pay a tax 

 before they enter the temple. From the 1st of May 

 1806 to the 30th of April 1807, this tax produced 

 117,490 sicca rupees. The annual expenditure of the 

 temple is estimated at 56,000 sicca rupees, which 

 arises from lands and villages, and an allowance of 

 20 per cent, from the produce of the tax. The most 

 holy and frequented periods of pilgrimage are in 

 March and July. 7. Gayah, in the province of Ba- 

 har, which is esteemed the birth-place of Budha, is a 

 place much resorted to by pilgrims. The tax levied 

 on them by the Bengal government^ amounts annual- 

 ly to about 1| lacks of rupees. See JUGGETINAUTH. 

 8. Dwaraca, in the south-west extremity of Guzerat, rjwaraca. 

 which was long the residence of Krishna, is on that ac- 

 count much resorted to. The ceremonies consist in 



ancient times, animals, and even human beings, were bathing in a sacred stream in receiving a stamp im- 



sacrificed to their gods ; but, with the exception 

 of the Ghatteries, who on great occasions choose a 

 human victim, and always sacrifice animals, only 

 fruits, flowers, incense, and money, are offered in sa- 

 crifice. 



Holy places. There are 28 holy "rivers, dedicated to one or other 

 of their great deities, beginning with the Ganges, and 

 traversing the whole continent to the Indus ; but the 

 virtues of the Ganges are universally allowed to be 



pressed with an iron instrument by a Brahmin. On 

 this instrument are engraved the spell, the ring, and 

 the lotus, the insignia of the gods. A pilgrim may re- 

 ceive not only his own stamp, but stamps on his body 

 for his friends. Lastly, The pilgrims visit the isle of 

 Bate, where there is an image of Krishna. For all 

 these he pays a fixed sum. It is computed, that the 

 revenues of the temples here amount to a lack of ru- 

 pees, and that 15,000 pilgrims annually resort to Dwa- 



