4H The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book t 
Vv^iiat Is it then ? Inftead of all this, they know one 
tn * u g • B°^h the moft antient Mailers, and the youngeft 
Scholars, ftudy Wifdom ; nor is there any thing for 
c which I commend them more than for their Averfion to 
( Indolence and Sloth. When the Cloth is laid, before 
e die ^leat is brought upon the Table, all the Youths are 
4 called together from feveral Places and Offices ; but they 
c a!e not Inhered to lit down, till they have anfwered the 
5 Mahers, who afk them. What Good they have done, fmce 
* Break of Day till Dinner-time ? One will anfwer, that having 
4 been cholen Arbiter between two Perfons at V ariance, he has 
4 removed all Subjects of Hatred and Sufpicions between 
4 them, and reconciled them together. Another will fay, 
4 That he obeyed his Parents Commands. A third, That 
4 he found out fome Truth by his own Meditation, or 
4 learnt it from another. Thus they all give an Account 
4 of the Good they have done. He who has nothing to 
4 fay why he fhould be admitted to Table, is lent back to 
4 his Work without his Dinner. 5 
9. I think it neceffary to take fome Notice here of 
what has been laid by the Moderns upon this Subjeft ; 
more efpeciaily by fuch as might either be fuppofed better 
Judges from their Learning, or better qualified to come at 
the Truth, by their having travelled in the Indies, and being 
acquainted with thofe of this Sort of Sages that Hill remain 
there. A learned French Writer obferves % that Dr. 
Hyde, in his moft learned Book on the Religion of the 
Perfians, has advanced a new Notion, in fuppofing, that 
the Brachmans were fo called from Abraham : But he is 
miftaken in this ; for, though Dr. Hyde inclines to this 
Opinion, yet he did not advance it, fince it had been long 
before maintained by William P oft ell , who afferts, that 
the Brachmans were defcended from one of the Sons of 
that Patriarch by KetUrah b . I agree, however, with this 
Critic, that the Notion is improbable ; and that it is much 
more likely they were fo called from the Word Bram , or 
Brarna , which fignifies an enlightened Man, and is alfo the 
Name of the reputed Founder of their Seri:. 
Their fundamental Notions remain fo much the fame, 
that it is really wonderful they have not, in the Courfe of 
fo many Ages, received greater Alteration, efpeciaily con- 
sidering the Revolutions that have happened in their 
Country, and that they have been now, for many Cen- 
turies, under a foreign Yoke for the Mogul is a Tartar 
by Defcent, and a Mohammedan by Religion ; and yet it 
is with the Indians who are his Subjects, that we are bell; 
acquainted. Francis Xavier , whom the Papifts ftiie the 
Apoftle of the Indies , fays, in one of his Letters, that, 
having acquired the Friendfhip of a Brachman , very emi- 
nent for his Knowledge and Learning, he opened himfelf to 
him in the following Terms : 4 The Secret of our Religion 
4 confifts in thefe two Points ; firft, in knowing that there 
4 is one God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and the 
4 Author of all Good, who alone is to be worfhipped : 
4 The fecond is, that the Idols are the Images only of 
4 evil Genii : But Care muft be taken not to divulge this 
4 to the People ; it is a Dodtrine quite out of their Reach ; 
4 and the Principles of good Policy require, that they 
4 fhould not be made acquainted with any Divinity. Thefe 
4 were the Principles of our old Philoibphy ; Profecute your 
4 Studies, and purfue Truth ; but, if you fhould be fo 
4 happy as to reach it, communicate your Difcoveries only 
4 to a Few. The Many are to be held with a tight Rein, 
4 and are to be kept in ftridt Subjeriion ; which cannot pof- 
4 fibly be done, if they are not hindered from feeing to the 
4 Bottom of Things, and their Imaginations flattered with 
4 pleafmg Appearances. 5 
Our old, and our modern Travellers, agree very well, 
in their Accounts of the modern Bramins , with what I 
have before delivered : The celebrated Signor Pietro della 
Valle , a noble Roman , a learned and candid Writer, and 
whofe Travels are juftly efteemed as accurate as any that 
were ever made into this Part of the World, tells us, that 
though the Setts of the Indians are multiplied to eighty- 
four, yet they may be reduced to four ; viz. the Brach- 
mans, the Soldiers, the Merchants, and the Mechanics. 
a Hijtorie Critique de la Philofophie, p. . 
Eaji India , by Sir I ho. Roe , p. 43 7, 439. 
!n the eflfential Points of Religion, fays he, ail agree; fo, 
all believe the Tranfmigration of Souls ; which, according 
to their Merits and Demerits, they think, are fent by God 
into other Bodies, either of Animals, more or lefs clear 
and of more or lefs painful Life ; or eife of Men, more X 
lels noble and handfome, and more or lefs pur e 0 f Race 
wherein they place not a little of their vain Superftitroh 
accounting all other Nations and Religions, befides 
ielves, unclean ; and fome more than others, according as thw 
more or lefs differ from their Cuftoms : All equall/beW 
tnat there is a Paradife in Heaven with God but that 
thereinto go only the Souls of their own Nation more 
pure and without any Sin, who have lived pioufly in this 
A odd; or, m cafe they have finned, that after' divert 
i ranfmigrations into various Bodies of Animals and Men 
having by often returning into the World, undergone many 
Pains, they are, at length, purged, and at laft die in the Body 
of fome Man of Indian and noble Race, as the Brachmans 
who amongft them are held the nobleft and pufeft, becaij 
their Employment is nothing elfe but the divine Wbrfhip 
the Service of Temples, and Learning ; and they obferve 
tneir own Religion with more Rigour than any others c . 
He likewife fays, tney acknowledge there is a Devil 
whom they deferibe much in the fame manner that we do- 
And they likewile think, that many wretched Souls un- 
worthy ever to have Pardon from God, as the laft of the 
great Pumfhments which they deferve, become Devils 
aho ; than which they judge there cannot be a greater Mi~ 
rV,\ The , greateft Sin in the Wor]d the y account fhedino- 
ol- Blood, efpeciaily that of Men ; and then, above all the 
eating of human Fleffi, as fome barbarous Nations do, who 
are therefore detefted by them more than all others. Hence 
uit tribleft among them, as the Brachmans , and particu- 
ai . Y tne % ot h not only kill not, but eat not, any livino- 
tinng ; and even from Herbs tineftured with any reddiffi 
Colour, reprefenting Blood, they wholly abftain. Others 
or a larger Corffcience eat only Fifh ; and the lowed Sort 
anci iuch as have fcarce any Confcience at all, tho 5 they 
will not kill, will neverthelefs eat all forts of Animals fit 
or ’ except Cows ; to kill and eat which, they have 
an abfolute Abhorrence ; for they fay, that the Cow is their 
Mother, on account of the Milk file gives them, and the 
Oxen fire breeds, with which they plough, and make uft 
, t yf m C arom Scarcity of other Animals, upon almoft 
all Occaflons ; fo that they think they have Reafon to fay 
the World is fupported by a Cow, which, from beT 
uled as a Proverb, is now converted into a Fable. More^ 
ovei, as Cows are well kept in India, and much taken 
Care of, they believe that the beft Souls, to whom God 
has given little Pain in this World, pafs into them ; which 
is a new Motive of Yenetration. 
The fame Author informs us, that the Race of the Ger- 
mamans are flill in Being,’ tho 5 under another Name. I 
ffiall give the Reader the Author’s own Words, and leave 
him to judge of them d . 4 The Gioghis, fays he, are not 
4 Brachmans by Defcent, but by Choice, as our religious 
C)rckis are. They go naked ; moft of them with their 
• Bodies painted and fmeared with different Colours ; yet 
4 fome of them are only naked, with the reft of their Bo- 
aies imooth, and only their Foreheads dyed with San- 
ders, and fome red, yehow, or white Colour ; which is 
alfo imitated by many fecular Perfons, out of Superfti- 
tion and Gallantry. They live upon Aims, defpifing 
Cioaths, and all other worldly Things, ft hey marry 
4 not, but make fevere Profeflion of Chaftity, .at leaftin 
A.ppeaiance; for in fecret it is known, that many of them 
4 commit as many Debaucheries as they can. They live 
in Society, under the Obedience of their Superiors, and 
4 wander about the World, without having any fettled 
Abode. Their Habitations are the Fields, the Streets, 
the Porches, the Courts of i emples and Groves, efpe- 
4 dally under thofe where any Idol is -worfhipped by them ; 
4 and they undergo, with incredible Patience, Day and 
4 Night, no iefs the Rigour of the Air, than the excef- 
4 five Heat of the Sun, which, in theft fultry Countries, 
4 is a thing fufficiently to be admired T 
In Commentario ad Je^irah, 
xiv. 
* Cap. xvi'i. 
Voyage 
