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IX. 



On the Religious Ceremonies of the HiNDUSi 

 and oftlie Bra mens especially* 



By H. T. COLEBROOKE, Esq. 

 ESSAY III. 



Hospitality has been already mentioned iii the 

 preceding Essay, as one of the five great sacraments 

 which constitute the daily duty of a Hindu. The 

 formal reception of such guests as are entitled to 

 peculiar honour, was reserved for the subject of the 

 present tract. The religious rites, intermixed with 

 acts of courtesy, which are practised by way of for- 

 mal hospitality, are nearly the same, whether it be 

 high rank, a venerable profession, or cordial friend- 

 ship, which entitles the guest to be welcomed with 

 distinction. They chiefly consist in presenting to 

 him a st(X)l to sit on, water for ablutions, and honey 

 mixed with other food for refreshment. It seems to 

 have been anciently the custom to slay a cow on 

 this occasion ; and a guest was therefore called 

 goghna, or cow killer. Imperfect traces of this 

 custom remain in the hospitable ceremonies, which 

 I shall now describe from the ritual of BrdmanaSf 

 who use the Sdmaveda. As the marriage ceremony 

 opens \\\t\\ the solemn reception of the bridegroom 

 by the father of the bride, this part of the nuptial 

 solemnity may be fitly chosen as an example of hos- 

 pitable rites. It will furnish occasion too for 

 proceeding to describe the whole of the marriage 

 ceremony. 



Having previously performed the obsequies of 

 ancestors, as is usual upon any accession of good 

 fortune, the father of the bride sits down, to await 

 the bridegroom's arrival, in the apartment prepared 



for 



