S R A 



S R A 



the peculiar property which it poffeiTes of inftantly burfting 



the capfules of the ripe fruit, on being toiiclied, with much 

 claiticity and viulence, fo as to throw the juice and feeds 

 which they contain forcibly to a great diftance all around, 

 to the great lurprize of thofe who may have touched them. 



Jjee MOMWKDICA. 



It likewife affords the medicinal fubftance known by the 

 name of elaterium. 



SQUIRZINA, in Geography, a town of the duchy of 

 Warlaw ; 50 miles W.N.W. of Pofen. 



SRADHA, the name of a ceremony among the Hin- 

 doos, of a very interelting and affefting nature; being 

 obfequies in honour of departed anceftois. 



The Hindoo Pantheon furniflies fome particulars ex- 

 planatory of this intereiling and affefting ceremony, which, 

 , the author tells us, is an oblation of daily recurrence with 

 Brahmans and rigid Hindoos who can afford it. It is of- 

 fered not only in honour of deceafed anceftors, but for their 

 comfort ; as the manes, as well as the gods connetted with 

 them, enjoy, like the gods of the Greeks, the iiicenfe of 

 fuch offerings ; which are farther of an expiatory nature, 

 fimilar, it may be prefumed, in their efficacy, as well as in 

 the motives that induce them, to the maffes of the Romifh 

 church. Over thefe ceremonies of Sradlia, Yama prefides, 

 in his charafter of Sradhadeva, or lord of the obfequies. 

 See Sradhadeva and Yama. 



Mr. Colebrooke tells us (Af. Ref. vol. vii. ), that the 

 prielts, in the performance of the Sradha, meditate the 

 gayatri, and thrice repeat " Salutation to the gods, to the 

 manes of anceftors, and to mighty faints; to Swaha (god- 

 defs of fire) ; to Swadha (the food of the manes); faiuta- 

 tion to them for ever and ever." Of the gayatri, &c. of 

 this quotation, fee O'm, Swadha, and Swaha. 



M. le Gentil found a Itrong refemblaiice between the 

 funeral rites of the Chinefe and the Sradha of the Hindoos. 

 On which fir WiUium Jones ( Af. Ref. vol. li.) fays, " that 

 all the circumftances which iiave been mentioned, under the 

 two heads of literature and religion, feem colleftivcly to 

 prove, (as far as fuch queftion will admit of proof,) that 

 the Chinefe and Hindoos were the fame people ; but having 

 been feparated near four ihoufand year<, have retained few 

 ftrong features of their ancient confanguinity ; efpeeially as 

 the Hindoos have preferved their old language and ritual, 

 while the Chinefe very foon loll both. And the Hindoos 

 have conflantly intermarried among themfelves ; while the 

 Chinefe, by a mixture of Tartarian blood from the time of 

 their firll eftablilhmcnt, have at length formed a race diitinft 

 in appearance from both Indians and Tartars." 



In the third chapter of tlie Inilitutes 0/ Menu, the rules 

 for the performance of the Sradha are detailed with pro- 

 lixity. Among other particulars of the moit important of 

 thofe ceremonies, we learn that Brahmans only ought to be 

 invited to the feaft, which forms one important rite ; and 

 fuch Brahmans fhould be of holy and learned iiabits. A 

 Sudra, that is, one of the fourtii or fervilc clafs, is urgently 

 prohibited as a guelt. Let the houfckeeper, it is faid, who 

 knows his duty, perform each day a Sradha with boiled 

 rice, and the liiie, or witii water, or with milk, roots, and 

 fruit ; for thus ke obtains favour from departed progeni- 

 tors, &c. &c. &c. 



The following extraft is taken from Colebrooke's Dif- 

 fertation on the religious Ceremonies of the Hindoos, in 

 the feventh volume of the Afiatic Refearchcs ; which article 

 contains much valuable matter, and many curious particulars 

 of the Sradha, or feaft attending funeral obfequies. 



" A dying man, when no hop,:s of his furviving remain, 

 (hould be laid on a bed of Kufa grafs (fee Ku.sa), in tie 



open air, his head fprinkled with water drawn from the 

 Ganges, and fmeared with clay brought from the fame 

 river. A Salagrama ft one (lee Salagrama) (hould be 

 placed near him, holy ilrains from the Veda (.fee Veda) 

 fliould be chaunted aloud, and leaves of holy bafil fcattered 

 over his head. 



" When he expires, the corpfe muft be wafhed, per. 

 fumed, and decked with wreaths of flowers, and carried by 

 the nearell relations to fome fpot ir. tlie foreft, or near 

 water: the funeral pile is lighted from the confecrated fire 

 maintained by the deceafed. (See of this under our articles 

 Sagnika and Sami.) The nearell relation apphes the 

 flaming brand to the pile, hung round with flowers ; and 

 the attendant prielts recite the appropriate invocations : 

 ♦ Fire ! thou wall lighted by him ; may he, therefore, be 

 reproduced from thee, that he may attain the regions of 

 celedial blifs. May this offering be aufpicious !' All who 

 followed the corpfe walk round the pile, but may not view 

 the fire. They then proceed to the river, and, after bath- 

 ing, prefent oblations of water to the manes of the deceafed, 

 faying, ' May this oblation reach thee!' Elegiac verfes, 

 fuch as the following, are then recited. 



" I. Foohfh is he who feeks for permanence in the human 

 itate ; infolid, like the Hem of the plantain-tree ; tranfient, 

 like the foam of the ocean. 



" 2. When a body, formed of five elements, to receive 

 the reward of deeds done in its own former perfon, reverts 

 to its own five original principles, what room is there for 

 regret ? 



" 3. The earth is perifliable ; the ocean, the gods them- 

 felves pafs away : how fliould not that bubble, mortal man, 

 meet dellruclion ? 



" 4. All that is low muil finally pcrilh ; all that is ele- 

 vated mud ultimately fall ; all compounded bodies muft end 

 in dill'odution ; and life be concluded by death," 



Excliifive of the daily Sradhas, or feails, given by wealthy 

 individuals, formal obfequies are performed ninety-fix hours 

 in every year, on particular days. " It fliould be ob- 

 fervcd," Mr. Colebrooke tells us, refpefting the praftice 

 of giving food at thefe obfequies, " that Braiimans generally 

 give it to one or more of their own relations. A llranger, 

 unlefs indigent, would be very unwilling to accept the food, 

 or attend at a Sradha, for the purpofe of eating it. The 

 ufe of flelh meat is piifitively enjoined to Hindoos at certaia 

 obfequies, and recommended at all. (See Inll. of Menu, 

 c. iii. V. 124. 268, &c.) But the precepts of tlieir law- 

 givers are, by fome, deemed obfolete in the prefent age ; 

 and are evaded by others, who acknowledge the cogency 

 of thefe laws. Thefe commonly make a vow of abdaining 

 from flefh meat, and co:.fider that vow as more binding than 

 the precepts here alluded to. Others, again, not only eat 

 meat at obfequies and folemn facrifices, but make it their 

 common diet, in direct breacli of their religion." It hence 

 appears clear, that the idea fo common in Europe, of the 

 univerfal abllineiice of Hindoos from flelh meat, is as er- 

 roneous as general. Swme pages of the Hindoo Pantheon 

 are devoted to prove this fad\ ; and it is fully proved, that 

 not only all Huidoos may, but that a great majority of thofe 

 who can obtain it, including Braiimans themlelves, actually 

 do, eat meat. 



The feall attendant on tV ccremonie* of the Sradha can 

 be given only by the fun, or grandfon, or male idue of the 

 defun£t ; and as the greated importance is attached by 

 Br.ihmans and others to the due performance of thefe cere- 

 nioni.s, default of male iffue is deprecated as among the 

 heavied of misfortunes. The Hindoo books, therefore, 

 abound in indanccs of the cfEcacy of praytr«, facrifices, 



alms 



