HINDO 
fuch impediment, he may bathe with water drawn from a 
well, from a fountain, or from a bal'on or a catiraft; but 
he lhould prefer water which lies above ground, choofing 
a ftream rather than ftagnant water, a river in preference 
to a l'mall brook, a holy ftream before a vulgar river ; and, 
above all, the water of the Ganges. In treating of the 
bath, authors diftinguilh various ablutions, properly and 
improperly focalled ; fuch as rubbing the body with afhes, 
which is named a bath lacred to fire ; plunging into wa¬ 
ter, a bath facred to the regent of this element: ablutions 
accompanied by the prayers,'” O waters! fince ye afford 
delight, &c.” which conititute the holy bath : Handing 
in dull railed by the treading of cows, a bath denominated 
from wind or air; Handing in the rain during day-light, 
a bath named from the fky or atmofphere. The ablutions, 
or bath properly fo called, are performed with the follow¬ 
ing ceremonies: 
After bathing and cleanfing his perfon, and pronounc¬ 
ing as a vow, “ I will now perform ablutions,” he who 
bathes muH invoke the holy rivers^ “ O Ganga, Yamuna, 
Sarafwati, Satadru, Marudviaha, and jiyiciya ! hear my 
prayers: for my fake be included in this ffmall quantity 
qf water with the holy ftrgams of Parufhti Afieni, and 
VitaHa.” He muHalfo utter the radical prayer, conliHing 
of the words “Salutation to Narayana.” Upon this occa- 
lion, a prayer extracted from the Padma Purana is often 
ufed, with this falutation, called the radical text; and 
the ceremony is at once concluded by taking up the 
earth, and pronouncing the lubjoined prayers : “ Earth, 
fupporter of all things, trampled by horfes, traverfed by 
cars, trodden by Viflinu! whatever fin has been commit¬ 
ted by me, do thou, who art upheld by the hundred-armed 
Criflina, incarnate in the fhape of a boar, afcencl my limbs, 
and remove every fuch fin.” 
The text extracted from the Padma Parana follows: 
“ Thpu didH fpring from the foot of Vifhnu, daughter of 
Vifhnu, honoured by him ; therefore preferve us from fin, 
protecting' us from the day of our birth even unto death. 
The regent of air has named thirty-five millions of holy 
places in the fky, on earth, and in the fpace between; 
they are all comprifed in the daughter of Jahnu. Thou art 
called file who promotes growth among the gods: thou 
art named the lotos; able, wife of Prithu, bird, body of 
the univerfe, wife of Siva, neclar, female cherifher of 
fcience, cheerful, favouring worlds; merciful, daughter 
of Jahnu, confoler, giver of confolation. Ganga, who 
flows through the three worlds, will be near unto him 
who pronounces thefe pure titles during his ablution.” 
As an expiation of the fin of eating with men of very 
low tribes, or of coveting or accepting what fliould not 
be received, the Brahmin plunges into water, at the fame 
time reciting a formula fitted to the occafion. One who 
has drunk fpirituous liquors, is to traverfe water up to his 
throat, and drink as much expreffed juice of the moon- 
plant as he can take up in the hollow of both hands, while 
he meditates the triliteral monofyllable, and then plunge 
into water, reciting the following prayer: “ O, Rudra ! 
hunt not our offspring and delbendauts ; abridge not the 
period of our lives; deffroy not our cows; kill not our 
horfes; flay not our proud and irritable folks ; becaufe, 
holding oblations, we always pray to thee.” 
_ Thefe ceremonies are ufually concluded with an obla¬ 
tion of water, and the following prayer: “ Gods, bene¬ 
volent genii, huge ferpents, nymphs, demons, wicked 
beings, fnakes, birds of mighty wing, trees, giants, and 
ail who traverfe the ethereal region, genii who cherilh 
fcience, animals that live in water, or traverfe the atmo¬ 
fphere, creatures that have no abode, and all living ani¬ 
mals which exiff in fin, or in the practice of virtue; to 
fatisfy them is tiffs water prefented by me.” Finally, the 
pr;efl wrings his lower garment, pronouncing this text: 
“.May thole who have been bom in my family, and have 
died, leaving no fon nor kinfman bearing the fame name, 
be contented with this water which I prelent, by wringing 
it from, my vefture,” Then, placing his facrificial cord 
3. S T A N. m 
over his left thoulder, Tipping water, and railing tin his 
arms, he makes a circuit towards the fouth, pronouncing 
thefe words: “ I follow the courfe of the fun;” (and, 
offering water from the hollow of his hand, lays,) “ Salu¬ 
tation to fpace; to the regents of fpace, to Brahma, to the 
earth, to falutary herbs, to fire, to fpeech, to the lord of 
fpeech, to the pervader, and to the mighty Deity.” 
The next daily duty of a Brahmin priefl, is the per¬ 
formance of the five great facraments. Thefe confift in 
the Hudy of the Veda, the facraments of the manes, of 
deities, and of fpirits, and of various .ceremonies, which 
muff be celebrated at different periods, as fituations and 
circumffances ftiall require. 
The lacrament of deities confiffs in oblations to fire, 
with prayers addreffed to various divinities; and it is ex- 
clufive of the offerings of perfumes and flowers before 
idols. Firff, the priefl fmears with cow-dung a level piece 
of ground four cubits lquare, free from all impurities, 
and fneltcred by a fned. Having bathed and lipped wa¬ 
ter, he fits down with his face towards the ealt, and places 
a veffel of water with cufa-grafs on his left; then drop¬ 
ping his right knee, and refting on the lpan of his left 
hand, he draws with a root of cufa-grafs a line one fpan, 
or twelve fingers, long, and directed towards the eaff. 
From the nearelt extremity of this line, he draws another 
at right angles to it, twenty-one fingers long, and direfted 
towards the north. Upon this line he draws three others, 
parallel to the firft, equal to it in length, and diffant feven 
fingers from each other. The firft is made a yellow line, 
and is lacred to the earth; the fecond is red, and facred 
to fire ; the third black, and facred to Brahma the crea¬ 
tor ; the fourth blue, and facred to Indra the regent of 
the firmament; the fifth white, and lacred to Soma. He 
next gathers up the duft from the edges of thele lines, 
and throws it away towards the north-eaft, faying, “ What 
was [herein] bad, is call awayand he concludes by 
Iprinkling water on the feveral lines. 
Having thus prepared the ground for the reception of 
the facrificial fire, he takes a lighted ember out of the 
covered veffel which contains the fire, and throws it away, 
faying, “ I dil’mifs far away carnivorous fire: may it go 
to the realm of Yarns, bearing fin [hence.”] He them 
places the fire before him, laying, “ Earth! Sky ! Heaven !” 
and adding, “This other [harmlefs] fire alone remains 
here; well knowing [its office,] may it convey my obla¬ 
tion to the gods.” He then denominates the fire accord¬ 
ing to the purpofe for which he prepares it, faying, “ Fire ! 
thou art named [fo and fo ;”] and he concludes this part 
of the ceremony by burning a log of wood, one fpan long, 
and fmeared with clarified batter. 
If any profane word have been fpoken during the ce¬ 
remony, atonement rnuft now be made by pronouncing 
this text: “ Thrice did Viffinu ftep, and at three ftrides 
traverfed the univerfe : happily was his foot placed on the 
dully [earth.”] The meaning is: Since the earth has 
been purified by the contafl of Viffinu’s foot, may Hie 
(the earth fo purified) atone for any profane word fpoken 
during this ceremony. 
If oblations be made of rice mixed with milk, curds, 
and butter, this is the proper time for mixing them ; and 
the priefl afterwards proceeds to name the earth in the 
following prayer, winch he pronounces proftrate, refting 
both hands on the ground : “We adore this earth ; this 
aufpicious and moll excellent earth: Do thou, O fire! 
refill [our] enemies. Thou doll take [on thee] the power 
[and office] of other [deities.”] 
With blades of cufa-grafs held in his right hand, he 
mull next ftrew leaves of the fame grafs on three fides of 
the fire, arranging them regularly, fo that the tip of one 
row ffiall cover the roots of the other. He begins with 
the eaftern fide, and at three times ftrews grafs there, to 
cover the whole fpace from north to fouth; and in like 
manner diftributes grafs on the fouthern and weftern fides. 
He then bleffes the ten regions of fpace; and,rifing a little, 
puts fome wood on the fire, with a ladle-full of clarified 
z butter. 
