Photo by W. M. Zumbro 



BABY S BE:D 01^ THORNS 



So great is the belief in the efficacy of mortification that even small children are occasion- 

 ally made to practice it. Here we see a mother who, for his soul's health, has deposited 

 her baby son upon a bed of thorns. It will be noticed that the young ascetic does not 

 preserve the stoic demeanor of his older brethren. 



The very spirit of the East, its subtle 

 philosophy, the incarnation of its deepest 

 desire, the product of its age-long effort, 

 all are embodied in the Indian Sadhii and 

 his self-inflicted penance. •' 



The motive lying back of Tapas—stU- 

 torture — has, however, changed from 

 time to time. In the times of the Rig 

 Veda, when the Aryan tribes had settled 

 in the western Punjab beyond the Indus, 

 various forms of self-torture were en- 

 dured, with a view to securing warlike 

 prowess, invincibility, miraculous powers, 

 magical charms. Poets, sages, martial 

 heroes, demigods like Arjuna and Rama, 

 are credited with ascetic practices ; even 

 the gods themselves underwent self-in- 

 flicted tortures for the attainment of the 

 object of their desires. 



The late Prof. Sir Monier Williams 

 wrote as follows : 



MAKING INEXHAUSTIBLE DEPOSITS IN THE 

 BANK OE HEAVEN 



''According to Hindu theory, the per- 

 .formance of penances was like making 

 deposits in the bank of heaven. By de- 

 grees an enormous credit was accumu- 

 lated which enable: :xie depositor to draw 

 the amount of his savings without fear 

 of his drafts being refused payment. 

 The power thus gained by weak mortals 

 was so enormous that gods as well as 

 men were equally at the mercy of these 

 all but omnipotent ascetics." '^' 



In the Mahabaratha there is a story 

 of two brothers, Daityas of the race of 

 the great Asura, who undertook a course 

 of severe austerities with the momentous 

 object ''of subjugating the three worlds." 

 "They clothed themselves in the bark of 



* Indian Epic Poetry, footnote, page 4. 



1270 



