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HINDU MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES 

HENKY FROWDE, M.A. 

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 

LONDON, EDINBURGH 

NEW YORK AND TORONTO 

-V J 


HINDU MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES 

BY THE ABBE J, A, DUBOIS 

TRANSLATED FROM THE AUTHOR'S LATER FRENCH MS. AND 
EDITED WITH NOTES, CORRECTIONS, AND BIOGRAPHY 


HENRY K. BEAUCHAMP, CLE. 

FELLOW OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS J FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 


WITH A PREFATORY NOTE BY THE RIGHT HON. F. MAX MULLER 
AND A PORTRAIT 


THIRD EDITION 

OXFORD 
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 

1906 

OXFORD 

PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 

BY HORACE HART, M.A. 

PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 

EDITORS PREFACE TO THIRD 
EDITION 

The fact that a third reprint of this complete edition of 
the Abbe Dubois' Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies 
has been called for within a period of a few years is sufficient 
proof of the high value which is still attached to the Abbe's 
observations and of the wide popularity which his work 
still enjoys. It was stated in my Preface to the first 
edition : — ' The impression may be felt in many minds 
that a book written so long ago can be of little practical 
use at present ; but the fact is that the Abbe's work, 
composed as it was in the midst of the people themselves, 
is of a unique character, for it combines, as no other work 
on the Hindus combines, a recital of the broad facts of 
Hindu religion and Hindu sociology with many masterly 
descriptions, at once comprehensive and minute, of the 
vie intime of the people among whom he lived for so many 
years. With any other people than the Hindus such 
a work would soon grow out of date ; but with them the 
same ancestral traditions and customs are followed nowadays 
that were followed hundreds of years ago, at least by the 
vast majority of the population.' 

Not only in India but also in the United Kingdom and 
the Colonies, as well as in several countries of Europe and 
in the United States of America, reviews and notices of 
the work have appeared, bearing invariable testimony to 
the conspicuous merits of the Abbe's work. I may add 
that it formed the subject of the annual address of a learned 
President of the Royal Historical Society, and of the Presi- 
dential Address at an annual meeting of the Hindu Social 



iv EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION 

Conference by the late Mr. Justice Ranade, the famous 
Mahratta Brahmin leader of Bombay ; and it also furnished 
a text for some observations in an important speech delivered 
in Bombay by the late Viceroy and Governor- General of 
India, Lord Curzon. 

What may be regarded as still more satisfactory, perhaps, 
is that by the Indians themselves the work has been received 
with universal approval and eulogy. The general accuracy 
of the Abbe's observations has nowhere been impugned ; 
and every Indian critic of the work has paid a warm tribute 
to the Abbe's industry, zeal, and impartiality. Perhaps 
I may quote in conclusion here the opinion expressed by 
one of the leading Indian newspapers, The Hindu, which 
in the course of a long review of the book, remarked : 
' It is impossible to run through the immense variety of 
topics touched in this exceedingly interesting book ; but 
we entirely agree with Mr. Beauchamp in his opinion that 
the book is as valuable to-day as it ever was. It contains 
a valuable collection of information on a variety of subjects, 
including ceremonies and observances which might pass 
as trifles in the eye of many an ordinary person. The 
Abbe's description might be compared with the experience 
of the modern Hindu, who will find that while the influence 
of English education is effecting a quiet and profound 
change and driving the intellectual and physical faculties 
of the people into fresh grooves, the bulk of the people, 
whom that influence has not reached, have remained 
substantially unaltered since the time of the French 
Missionary.' 

H. K. B. 

Madras, October, 1905. 



PREFATORY NOTE 

By the Right Hon. F. Max Muller 

It is difficult to believe that the Abbe Dubois, the author 
of Mozurs, Institutions et Ceremonies des Pewples de VInde, 
died only in 1848. By his position as a scholar and as 
a student of Indian subjects, he really belongs to a period 
previous to the revival of Sanskrit studies in India, as 
inaugurated by Wilkins, Sir William Jones, and Cole- 
brooke. I had no idea, when in 1846 I was attending 
in Paris the lectures of Eugene Burnouf at the College de 
France, that the old Abbe was still living and in full activity 
as Directeur des Missions Etrangeres, and I doubt whether 
even Burnouf himself was aware of his existence in Paris. 
The Abbe belongs really to the eighteenth century, but as 
there is much to be learnt even from such men as Roberto 
de' Nobili, who went to India in 1606, from H. Roth, 
who was much consulted by Kircher in his China Illustrata 
(1667), and others, so again the eighteenth century was 
by no means devoid of eminent students of Sanskrit, of 
Indian religion, and Indian subjects in general. It is true 
that in our days their observations and researches possess 
chiefly a historical interest, but they are by no means to 
be neglected. They make us see how the acquaintance of 
European scholars with India began, and under what 
circumstances the first steps were taken by these pioneers, 
chiefly missionaries, towards acquiring a knowledge of the 
ancient language of India, Sanskrit, and through it, towards 
gaining an acquaintance with one of the most interesting 
peoples and one of the richest and most original literatures 
of the world. The reports sent from India by the Pere 
Cceurdoux (1767), and published by Barthelemy in the 
Memoirs of the French Academy, the letters of the Pere 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

In the Library of the Madras Literary Society and 
Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society may be seen, in 
a conspicuous position above one of the doorways, a 
striking portrait in oil-colours. This portrait at a distance 
one takes to be that of some Hindu, clothed in white, 
wearing a white turban, and holding in one hand the 
bamboo staff that tradition assigns to a Hindu pilgrim. 
A closer inspection, however, shows that in reality it is 
the portrait of a European, albeit the face is so tanned, 
and so furrowed with the lines of age and thought, that 
the first impression that one receives of it is not easily 
dispelled. It is a face that literally speaks to you from 
the canvas. The broad forehead, the well-shaped but 
somewhat prominent nose, the firm but kindly mouth, 
and above all the marvellously intelligent eyes, all bespeak 
a man of no common mould. Whoever the artist was 
(and I have not been able to discover his name or the 
circumstances which led to his executing the work), there 
can be no doubt that he has succeeded in depicting a 
countenance that is full of character ; while as a back- 
ground to his picture he has painted a low range of bare, 
rugged hills that seem to be in thorough keeping with his 
subject, and to suggest, as a kind of inspiration, the hard, 
self-denying, but solid life-work of him whose features he 
has handed down. 

This portrait is that of the Abbe J. A. Dubois, a Christian 
Missionary who laboured for some thirty-one years in India, 
.striving to fulfil the task which his sense of religious duty 
imposed upon him. Merely in this respect one can claim 



METHODS ADOPTED BY DUBOIS 

for him no special merit, for the annals of Christian Missions 
in India are full of the names of those who spent them- 
selves and were spent in the service of their Master. His 
special claim to recognition will be found elsewhere, namely, 
in the wonderful record which he compiled of the manners, 
customs, institutions, and ceremonies of the people among 
whom he lived and moved and had his being for so great 
a portion of his life. He seems to have recognized from 
the very first day of his arrival in India that Christian 
Mission work meant something more than the mere preach- 
ing and expounding of the Gospel ; that it included among 
its chief essentials to success a long and thorough study of 
the innermost life and character of the people amidst 
whom it was to be carried on. In his day, it must be 
remarked, there were no royal roads to such knowledge. 
There were no text-books to prepare the way by their 
critical analyses of the sacred Hindu writings. Such 
knowledge had to be gained at first hand, and by the more 
laborious (though, it must be confessed, more sure) method 
of personal inquiry in situ. ' I had no sooner arrived 
amongst the natives of India,' the Abbe himself tells us, 
' than I recognized the absolute necessity of gaining their 
confidence. Accordingly I made it my constant rule to 
live as they did. I adopted their style of clothing, and 
I studied their customs and methods of life in order to be 
exactly like them. I even went so far as to avoid any 
display of repugnance to the majority of their peculiar 
prejudices. By such circumspect conduct I was able to 
ensure a free and hearty welcome from people of all castes 
and conditions, and was often favoured of their own accord 
with the most curious and interesting particulars about 
themselves.' 

Unfortunately such details concerning the Abbe's per- 
sonal history as we possess are extremely meagre. His 

a 3 



x EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

modesty is so extreme that he rarely appears in his own 
person throughout his work, and those particulars that 
I have been able to obtain have been culled from various 
other sources — chiefly from the Madras Government 
Secretariat, from the British Museum, and from the Missions 
ttrangeres. The absolute retirement of the Abbe from 
European society for a long series of years after his arrival 
in India, though it qualified him, as was said when his 
work first appeared, ' for penetrating into the dark and 
unexplored recesses of the Hindu character,' also veiled 
him in an equal degree from the curiosity of his readers. 
Major Mark Wilks, the accomplished historian of Mysore, 
who in those days was British Resident in that province, 
in introducing the Abbe's work to the notice of the Govern- 
ment of Fort St. George, remarked : ' Of the history and 
character of the author, I only know that he escaped from 
one of the fusillades of the French Revolution and has 
since lived amongst the Hindus as one of themselves : 
and of the respect which his irreproachable conduct in- 
spires, it may be sufficient to state that when travelling, on 
his approach to a village, the house of a Brahmin is uni- 
formly cleared for his reception, without interference, 
and generally without communication to the officers of 
Government, as a spontaneous mark of deference and 
respect.' Subsequently, however, Major Wilks became 
much more intimate with the Abbe, and the latter speaks 
of him years afterwards in terms of great affection as his 
patron and friend. With regard to the circumstance 
mentioned above as having induced him to leave France 
and come to India, the Abbe remarked afterwards : ' It 
is quite true that I fled from the horrors of the Revolution, 
and had I remained I should in all probability have fallen 
a victim, as did so many of my friends who held the same 
religious and political opinions as myself ; but the truth 



PERSONAL HISTORY OF DUBOIS xi 

is I embarked for India some two years before the fusillades 
referred to took plaee.' 

Be this as it may, I have aseertained that the Abbe 
was ordained in the diocese of Viviers in 1792, at the 
age of twenty- seven, and left France in the same year. 
He entered on his Mission work under the guidance of the 
Missions Strange res. On reaching India he was attached 
to the Pondicherry Mission ; and for the first few years he 
seems to have laboured in what are now the Southern 
Districts of the Madras Presidency. He must have quickly 
made for himself a name, for on the fall of Seringapatam 
he was specially invited, on the recommendation, it is 
said, of Colonel Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, 
to visit the capital of Mysore in order to reconvert and 
reorganize the Christian community which had been forcibly 
perverted to Mahomedanism by Tippu Sultan. En passa?U, 
I may mention that, through the influence of the Abbe in 
Mysore, not a single priest of the Missions ^trangeres was 
persecuted by Tippu. For these apostates, we learn, he 
pleaded eloquently before Mgr. Champenois, the Bishop, 
and with such good effect that he once more gathered the 
lost sheep, of whom there were 1,800 in Seringapatam 
alone, into the Christian fold, and established on a per- 
manent basis the Roman Catholic Church in the province 
of Mysore. Of the practical farsightedness which guided 
him in his work, we may judge by two incidents that have 
been incidentally recorded of him. He met the problem 
of the poverty of the people committed to his care by 
founding agricultural colonies on the lines that have 
during these past few years been advocated by the Salvation 
Army and others, his principal colony being at Sathalli, 
near Hassan ; and he used his influence to such good 
effect in preventing epidemics of small-pox by promoting 
vaccination (then, be it remembered, a comparatively novel 



kii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

idea) that he was afterwards granted a special pension by 
the East Indian Company. ' The literary reputation which 
M. Dubois has acquired in this country,' wrote one of his 
colleagues, M. Mottet, in 1823, ' is the least of his merits. 
He has honoured and served the mission in every way, 
and perhaps more than any one of us. The Indians had 
the greatest attachment, confidence and respect for him.' 
M. Launay, in his recently published Histoire des Missions 
de Vlnde, remarks : ' Among other benefits which he con- 
ferred upon his flock, may be mentioned his zeal in estab- 
lishing agricultural colonies, and also introducing vaccina- 
tion to stay the ravages of small-pox ; in which, in spite 
of the extraordinary tenacity of native prejudice, he 
succeeded so fully that in 1803-4 a total of 25,432 natives 
were vaccinated and registered ; in memory of which the 
natives still remember him by the title of " Doddhaswa- 
miayavaru," or " Great Lord." M. Launay adds that in 
some parts, especially at Karumattampatty, he is spoken 
of to this day as ' the prince's son, the noblest of Euro- 
peans.' 

For the moment let us return to the great descriptive 
work which he compiled during his hours of leisure. That 
the Abbe was from the first a close observer of the people 
among whom he lived and a keen student of their religious 
and social institutions is perfectly apparent. But the idea 
of putting the results of his investigations into writing 
originated, as he tells us, ' in consequence of notices in the 
public papers calling for authentic documents regarding 
these people for the use of the historiographers of the 
Honourable Company engaged in writing the history of 
India.' The idea once formed, he set to work with charac- 
teristic thoroughness, though with too much modesty he 
remarks : ' I aim not at the rank of an author, which is 
suited neither to my talents nor to the secluded state in 



DUBOIS' CHIEF WORK xiii 

which my profession confines me amongst the natives of 
the country.' He remarks further, however : ' During my 
long sojourn in India I never let slip any opportunity of 
collecting materials and particulars of all sorts. My in- 
formation has been drawn partly from the books which 
are held in highest estimation amongst the people of India 
and partly from such scattered records as fell by chance 
into my hands and contained facts upon which I could 
thoroughly rely. But in regard to the majority of the 
materials which I now offer to the public I am chiefly 
dependent on my own researches, having lived in close 
and familiar intercourse with persons of every caste and 
condition of life. Probably many Europeans settled in 
India would have been more capable than myself of per- 
forming the same task ; but I may be permitted to doubt 
whether there has been any person more favourably 
situated for gleaning information or more zealous in his 
pursuit of knowledge.' 

At the same time he disclaims for his work any general 
applicability to the whole of India. His observations 
extend, broadly speaking, to the India that lies south of 
the Vindyan Range ; and even within those limits he is 
careful to remark that local differences are so many and 
so marked that ' there is no class or sect or community of 
Hindus that has not, in addition to the general rules 
of Hindu society, some domestic usages peculiar to itself.' 
So that, as he says, it is impossible to generalize with 
complete accuracy on any subject connected with them. 

But though the Abbe with characteristic modesty leaves 
to ' the many learned Europeans residing in the country ' 
the task of compiling from authentic documents ' a more 
methodical and comprehensive history of the Hindus,' his 
own work possesses special merits of its own and is far 
superior to any that could be compiled from books of 



xiv EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

reference and literary investigations, for, as Major Wilks 
said of it, ' it was meditated and composed in the midst of 
the people whom it describes, and in writing it the author 
followed the only path that has ever yet led to a true 
delineation of national character, namely, the path of 
original research and personal observation.' 

The French MS. of the work which the Abbe compiled 
under the circumstances and according to the design 
above described has a somewhat remarkable history. In 
its original form it was placed in the hands of Major Wilks 
in the year 1806, when the Abbe had been some fourteen 
years in the country. Major Wilks appears to have kept 
it by him and studied it for more than a year, and then 
to have forwarded it to the Government of Fort St. George 
with a letter of warm recommendation, in which he re- 
marked : ' So far as my previous information and sub- 
sequent inquiry have enabled me to judge, it contains the 
most correct, comprehensive, and minute account extant 
in any European language of the customs and manners 
of the Hindus.' This judgement was heartily endorsed 
by Sir James Mackintosh, to whom Major Wilks would 
appear to have sent it for his opinion, and also by Mr. W. 
Erskine, of Bombay, a man of distinguished talents and 
an acknowledged authority in everything connected with 
the mythology, literature, customs, and institutions of the 
people of India. Fortified in his own opinion of its high 
merits by the concurrence of these two eminent men, 
Major Wilks had no difficulty in persuading Lord William 
Bentinck, who was then at Madras, to purchase the MS. 
on behalf of the East India Company, the sum eventually 
agreed upon being 2,000 star pagodas (i.e. in the present 
currency some 8,000 rupees). In accordance with the 
Abbe's request this sum was invested in Government 
paper and the interest paid to him regularly afterwards 



HISTORY OF DUBOIS' MSS. xv 

— a modest sum, no doubt, judged by latter-day standards 
of literary remuneration ; but, then, the Abbe's wants 
were modest. According to Major Wilks all that he hoped 
for was ' a recompense sufficient to shield his future life 
from those miseries of extreme want which he had once 
already encountered.' 

In summing up his own opinion of the Abbe's work 
Lord William Bentinck remarked with characteristic can- 
dour and good sense : — 

' The result of my own observation during my residence 
in India is that the Europeans generally know little or 
nothing of the customs and manners of the Hindus. We 
are all acquainted with some prominent marks and facts, 
which all who run may read ; but their manner of think- 
ing, their domestic habits and ceremonies, in which cir- 
cumstances a knowledge of the people consists, is, I fear, 
in great part wanting to us. We understand very imper- 
fectly their language. They perhaps know more of ours ; 
but their knowledge is by no means sufficiently extensive 
to give a description of subjects not easily represented by 
the insulated words in daily use. We do not, we cannot, 
associate with the natives. We cannot see them in their 
houses and with their families. We are necessarily very 
much confined to our houses by the heat ; all our wants 
and business which would create a greater intercourse 
with the natives is done for us, and we are in fact strangers 
in the land. I have personally found the want of a work 
to which reference could be made for a just description 
of the native opinions and manners. I am of opinion that, 
in a political point of view, the information which the 
work of the Abbe Dubois has to impart might be of the 
greatest benefit in aiding the servants of the Government 
in conducting themselves more in unison with the customs 
and prejudices of the natives.' 

The purchase of the MS. was reported by the Madras 
Government to the Board of Directors in 1807 as ' an 
arrangement ... of great public importance ' ; and the 
MS. itself was transmitted to London at the same time for 



xv i EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

translation and publication. It was not until 1816, how- 
ever, that the English translation was actually published, 
with the sanction of the East India Company and under 
the personal supervision of Major Wilks. Meanwhile a 
copy of the MS. in the records of Fort St. George had 
in 1815 attracted the attention of Mr. A. D. Campbell, 
Superintendent of the Local Board of Examiners, who, 
in apparent ignorance of the fact that the original copy 
had been sent to England for publication, proposed to 
publish an annotated edition of it in Madras. Accordingly 
he commenced the task ; but almost immediately he 
reported to the Local Government as follows : — 

' I soon found enough to satisfy me that it would be 
unfair to proceed further in this pursuit without first 
affording the author an opportunity of revising his work, 
being convinced that the increased experience of the Abbe 
Dubois and his further acquaintance with the customs and 
habits of the Hindus would enable him to correct many 
parts of the MS., and to add new information on the very 
curious and interesting subjects on which it treats. I have 
now the honour of submitting to the Board the reply of 
the Abbe Dubois to a reference which I made to him on 
this subject, and it will thence be perceived that, notwith- 
standing the very favourable manner in which the accuracy 
of the facts stated in the MS. has been mentioned by 
Colonel Wilks, the author admits that the work requires 
" considerable alterations " and " many additions," and 
that " there are chapters which ought to be entirely made 
again." ' 

It is from this point that the history of the MS. becomes 
most interesting. It appears from a careful examination 
which I have made of the records in the Madras Govern- 
ment Secretariat (which records include several letters in 
the Abbe's own handwriting) that the MS. was sent back 
to the Abbe for his additions, excisions, and corrections, 
and that these were verv considerable. Indeed the MS. 



EARLIER EDITIONS xvii 

was completely altered, recast and enlarged, until it bore 
hardly more resemblance to the original work than a rough 
outline sketch does to a finished picture. 

And yet this rough sketch, so to speak, has up to this 
day been all that English readers have had presented to 
them of the Abbe's work. I do not for one moment desire 
to detract from the artistic and literary value of that sketch, 
admirable as it is, and as it has been acknowledged to be 
by the authorities quoted above. But what I do mean to 
say is that the sketch is only an extremely poor representa- 
tion of what the Abbe's great work really was. 

The true history was this. When the MS. was returned 
to him in 1815, the Abbe put into it all the additions and 
corrections suggested by many years of additional study 
and investigation ; and when he sent it back to the Govern- 
ment of Madras, it was, practically speaking, a different 
work altogether. On receipt of the revised MS. the Govern- 
ment of Madras decided that the only course open to them 
was to send it to the Court of Directors in England, as the 
original MS. had been. Unfortunately, however, before 
the revised MS. could reach England the original draft had 
been translated and published ; and it is this edition which 
has been sold ever since, and upon which the Abbe's repu- 
tation has rested. 

It is true that a so-called ' revised ' edition was published 
some thirty odd years ago, but it was merely a reprint (and 
unfortunately a very considerably curtailed reprint) of the 
original English edition. The only sign that I have been 
able to discover of the revised MS. in the Fort having been 
consulted, is the inclusion of a dedicatory page that had been 
added by the Abbe when he sent his finally corrected copy 
to the Madras Government before leaving India. As far 
as I can ascertain the chief effect of this new edition was 
a demand for a verbatim reprint of the original edition 



xviii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

which had been so arbitrarily cut down ; and this was 
almost immediately supplied by the publishers. 

The Abbe, the Local Government, and Mr. Campbell, it 
may be remarked, were all in hopes that a second revised 
edition would be published containing the corrections and 
additions that had subsequently been made ; but for some 
reason or another this has never hitherto been done. 

The view which the Abbe took of the edition, as it ap- 
peared, is expressed in a letter in English (of which he had 
a good knowledge) addressed to the Madras Government, 
dated Seringapatam, February 20, 1818, with which letter 
he submitted still further revisions. The Abbe remarked 
therein : — 

1 Since I wrote my last additions and corrections, a gentle- 
man in the place having favoured me for my perusal with 
a copy of the English translation of the work, I was sorry 
to observe that, owing perhaps to some oversight on the 
part of the copyists of my original MS., or other accidents, 
many interesting, authentic, and quite unexceptionable 
paragraphs, and in some instances whole pages, had been 
passed over, which circumstance occasions chasms in the 
narrative and otherwise renders the descriptions very im- 
perfect, and in a few instances contradictory. These dif- 
ferences are pointed out and corrected in the accompanying 
sheets ; and the other inaccuracies to be found in the 
original MS. and the translation were fully corrected and 
the work considerably enlarged in the additions sent before 
to Government. I therefore request that the accompanying 
accounts may be sent without delay to the Hon'ble the 
Court of Directors to be added to the former ones, in order 
that if the work goes through a second edition it may be 
made as interesting and curious as it lies in my power to do.' 

Nor were these the last corrections made in the text of 
his work by the good Abbe, for three years later, and a short 
time before he left India for good and all, he sent a fair copy 
of his 'finally corrected' work to the Madras Government. 



EARLIER EDITIONS xix 

which, like the two former MSS., was sent to England and 
is now in the India Office Library. One copy of this, I may 
mention, was taken by the Abbe to France, and was pub- 
lished in the original French. The number issued was 
however small, and copies of it are now almost unprocurable. 
And another copy of the MS. was left in the records of Fort 
St. George. This last-named copy I have carefully com- 
pared with the English translation which has hitherto been 
available to the public, and the comparison has shown me 
how vastly superior in every way (I might say every page) 
is the Abbe's later and unpublished work as contrasted 
with his first draft, composed sixteen years earlier, which 
despite its imperfections has enjoyed so much popularity 
amongst English students of Hinduism. 

It is certainly very strange that all the facts which I have 
detailed above have never before attracted attention, and 
that although copies of the Abbe's finally completed work 
are to be found in the records of the India Office and of the 
Government of Madras, it has never before been discovered 
that the published English edition is not in reality a com- 
plete or true representation of the Abbe's long labours in 
the field of original research. For all that, however, this 
edition has been largely drawn upon by English writers, 
chief amongst whom we may mention Mill, the historian of 
India, while Oriental students like Professor Wilson have 
acknowledged the assistance it afforded them, and in the 
British Museum there is a copy of it containing a manuscript 
note by Coleridge which shows that the poet had gone to 
it for inspiration. ' This is the honestest book of the kind,' 
Coleridge pronounced, 'as written by a Frenchman, that 
I have ever read.' 

Now, if this faulty English edition has been so widely 
consulted and so frequently extolled, an English edition 
of the Abbe's revised work ought to be infinitely more 



xx EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

valuable. This was tho thought which presented itself to 
me when I discovered, almost accidentally, while looking 
through the French MS. in the Madras Government's 
records, that the good Abbe had never had justice done to 
him. Accordingly, with the permission and with the aid 
of the Madras Government, I have made a verbatim trans- 
lation of the work in its complete form which I here present 
to the public, together with such notes and observations as 
seem necessary to put the text into line with later develop- 
ments and research. 

As to the intrinsic value of the Abbe's work, I have no 
hesitation in saying that it is as valuable to-day as ever it 
was, even more valuable in some respects. It is true that 
a mass of learned literature on the religious and civil life of 
the Hindus has accumulated since the Abbe's days, and it 
is still accumulating ; and the impression may be felt in 
many minds that a book written so long ago can be of little 
practical use at present ; but the fact is that the Abbe's 
work, composed as it was in the midst of the people them- 
selves, is of a unique character, for it combines, as no other 
work on the Hindus combines, a recital of the broad facts 
of Hindu religion and Hindu sociology with many masterly 
descriptions, at once comprehensive and minute, of the vie 
intime of the people among whom he lived for so many years. 
With any other people than the Hindus such a work would 
soon grow out of date ; but with them the same ancestral 
traditions and customs are followed nowadays that were 
followed hundreds of years ago, at least by the vast majority 
of the population. I do not deny that some of the Abbe's 
statements require to be modified in the light of changes 
that have taken place amongst the educated classes since 
the introduction of Western learning, but such necessary 
modifications, which, as remarked above, I have introduced 
in the form of notes, are surprisingly few. Enumerated 



VALUE OF DUBOIS' RESEARCHES xxi 

separately by themselves, no doubt these changes might 
furnish material for a substantial volume, for no person 
would now be so foolish as to repeat the assertion so long 
maintained unchallenged that the Hindu nation is completely 
apathetic, unchanging, and non-progressive in the modern 
sense. But in editing the Abbe's work I have confined 
myself to modifying such statements as seemed to require 
modification, and have avoided as far as possible any digres- 
sions that were not suggested by the text itself. 

Petty local differences in civil and religious affairs are 
a marked feature of Hinduism, just as almost innumerable 
subdivisions and sub-sections and sub-sub-sections are a 
marked feature of the caste system. Hence it is that much 
which is perfectly true of one locality is false of another ; 
and accordingly it is impossible to describe the many details 
of Hindu life and character without mental reservations 
as to possible exceptions. Nevertheless, there are certain 
broad, fundamental principles underlying these many 
differences and inequalities ; and it is upon these that the 
Abbe rears the fabric of his extraordinary work. More- 
over, the Abbe appears to me to avoid the many pitfalls of 
this uneven field of investigation with peculiar skill. It 
would be wrong to say that all his observations are generally 
applicable or perfectly just, but, taken as a whole, they 
are remarkably true and unprejudiced. 

I am here tempted to quote at some length the observa- 
tions concerning the Abbe and his researches made by a 
prominent Hindu, the Honourable Dewan Bahadur Srina- 
vasa Raghava Iyengar, CLE., at a meeting of the Madras 
Presidency College Literary Society in May, 1.896. This 
gentleman is well fitted to express an opinion on a subject 
of the kind, for not only has he been for some years past 
Inspector-General of Registration in Madras, a department 
of the public service which in its dealings is in closer touch 



XXII 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 



< han any other with the material and social conditions of 
the people themselves, but he is himself the author of 
a most authoritative work on the moral and material pro- 
gress of Southern India under British rule. At the meeting 
referred to he observed : — 

' The Abbe was a most remarkable character, and a study 
of his life cannot fail to be of profit to us all. It has been 
said, and said truly, that one half of the nation does not 
know how the other half lives. The difficulties which a 
foreigner has of understanding the inner life and modes of 
thought of a people to which he does not belong may indeed 
be said to be immense. The Abbe surmounted these 
difficulties by devoting thirty years of his life to his 
subject. To effect his purpose he adopted the garb, the 
manners, and, as he says, even the prejudices of the 
people among whom his lot was cast ; won their respect 
and confidence; and was held by them in quite as much 
reverence as one of their yogis or gurus. The quotations 
from his work show his shrewd common sense, clear-sighted- 
ness, and perfect candour. Any account given by such a 
man of the manners and customs of the people amongst 
whom he lived must in any case be instructive, and I for 
one look forward with great interest to the forthcoming 
revised edition of the Abbe's work.' 

In many respects the Abbe displays a truly wonderful in- 
sight into things. For instance, in his finally corrected work 
there is a passage (evidently a late interpolation) in which 
he sums up in a few brief sentences his opinion of British 
dominion in India, and which is all the more remarkable as 
coming from a Frenchman. In that passage he remarks : — 

' The European Power which is now established in India 
is, properly speaking, supported neither by physical force 
nor by moral influence. It is a piece of huge, complicated 
machinery, moved by springs which have been arbitrarily 
adapted to it. Under the supremacy of the Brahmins the 
people of India hated their government, while they cherished 
and respected their rulers ; under the supremacy of Euro- 
peans they hate and despise their rulers from the bottom of 



DUBOIS ON BRITISH RULE xxiii 

their hearts, while they cherish and respect their govern- 
ment. And here I would remark that the rule of all the 
Hindu princes, and often that of the Mahomedans, was, 
properly speaking, Brahminical rule, since all posts of con- 
fidence were held by Brahmins. 

1 If it be possible to ameliorate the condition of the people 
of India I am convinced that this desirable result will be 
attained under the new regime, whatever may be said by 
detractors who are ready to find fault with everything. 
Whatever truth indeed there may be in the prejudiced 
charges, engendered by ignorance and interested motives, 
which are brought against the new order of things, and 
which are perhaps inseparable from every great administra- 
tion, I for one cannot believe that a nation so eminently 
distinguished for its beneficent and humane principles of 
government at home, and above all for its impartial justice 
to all classes alike — I for one cannot believe that this 
nation will ever be blind enough to compromise its own noble 
character by refusing participation in these benefits to a sub- 
ject people which is content to live peaceably under its sway. 

' At the same time I venture to predict that it will attempt 
in vain to effect any very considerable changes in the social 
condition of the people of India, whose character, principles, 
customs, and ineradicable conservatism will always present 
insurmountable obstacles. To make a people happy, it is 
essential that they themselves should desire to be made 
happy and should co-operate with those who are working 
for their happiness. Now, the people of India, it appears 
to me, neither possess this desire nor are anxious to co- 
operate to this end. Every reform which is obviously 
devised for their well-being they obstinately push aside if it 
is likely in the least degree to disturb their manner of living, 
their most absurd prejudice, or their most puerile custom. 

' Nevertheless the justice and prudence which the present 
rulers display in endeavouring to make these people less 
unhappy than they have been hitherto ; the anxiety they 
manifest in increasing their material comfort ; above all, 
the inviolable respect which they constantly show for the 
customs and religious beliefs of the country; and, lastly, 
the protection they afford to the weak as well as to the strong, 
to the Brahmin as to the Pariah, to the Christian, to the 



xxiv EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

Mahoiuedan, and to tlie Pagan : all these have contributed 
more to the consolidation of their power than even their 
victories and conquests. . . . 

' It has been asserted that any great power based neither 
on a display of force nor on the affection and esteem of 
subject races is bound sooner or later to topple under its 
own weight. I am far from sharing this opinion altogether. 
The present Government is in a position in which it has 
little or nothing to fear from extraneous disturbance. True 
it is that like all empires it is subject to possible chances of 
internal dissension, military revolt, and general insurrection. 
But I firmly believe that nothing of this sort will happen to 
it so long as it maintains amongst its troops the perfect 
discipline and the sense of comfort which at present exist, 
and so long as it does all in its power to make its yoke scarcely 
perceptible by permitting its subjects every freedom in 
the exercise of their social and religious practices. 

' It is the poverty of the country which in my opinion 
gives most cause for apprehension — a poverty which is 
accompanied by the most extraordinary supineness on the 
part of the people themselves. The question is, will a 
Government which is rightly determined to be neither unjust 
nor oppressive be able always to find within the borders 
of this immense empire means sufficient to enable it to meet 
the heavy expenses of its administration ? But, after all, 
God alone can foretell the destiny of Governments ! ' 

Time has but proved incontestably the truth of these 
far-seeing criticisms. Even the Mutiny is therein antici- 
pated and its chief cause accurately foretold, while nobody 
will deny the justice, even at the present day, of the Abbe's 
observations on the attitude of the natives of India towards 
the British Government and on the difficulties with which 
that Government has to contend in administering its vast 
Eastern empire, according to Western notions of civilization 
andprogress, with the resources that it yields for that purpose. 

There is one other matter which I feel bound to refer 
to before concluding this brief notice of the Abbe's sojourn 
and work in India, and that is the impression he derived 



DUBOIS ON MISSIONS xxv 

after three decades of Mission labour as to the possibility 
of converting India to Christianity. I have no wish to 
renew the bitter controversy which ensued on the publi- 
cation of his Letters on the State of Christianity in India 
soon after his return to France ; but no notice of the Abbe's 
career would be complete without some reference to it. 
The purport of those Letters, as I understand them, was to 
assert that, under existing circumstances, there is no human 
possibility of converting the Hindus as a nation to any sect of 
Christianity ; or in the Abbe's own words, ' Let the Christian 
religion be presented to these people under every possible 
light, . . . the time of conversion has passed away, and under 
existing circumstances there remains no human possibility 
of bringing it back.' It would require a reproduction of 
the whole text of these Letters to explain fully the grounds 
upon which the Abbe based a decision so humiliating to 
himself and to his fellow-Christian workers, but the chief 
cause undoubtedly was the invincible barrier of what we 
may call nowadays intellectual Hinduism, but which the 
Abbe called Brahminical prejudice. He refers regretfully 
to the collapse of the Church, with its hundreds of thousands 
of converts, many of them of high caste, established by the 
Jesuits Beschi and de Nobili in Madura ; but at the same 
time he made no concealment of the real causes of their 
failure. ' The Hindus soon found that those missionaries 
whom their colour, their talents, and other qualities had 
induced them to regard as such extraordinary beings, as 
men coming from another world, were in fact nothing else 
but disguised Feringhis (Europeans), and that their country, 
their religion, and original education were the same as those 
of the evil, the contemptible Feringhis who had of late in- 
vaded their country. This event proved the last blow to 
the interests of the Christian religion. No more conversions 
were made. Apostasy became almost general in several 



xxv] EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

quarters, and Christianity became more and more an object 
of contempt and aversion in proportion as European manners 
became better known to the Hindus.' 

It is necessary to remark that the Abbe's Letters were 
vehemently answered by the Protestant missionaries, 
Hough and Townley ; but we need not enter into the 
details of the controversy. In another place the Abbe 
remarked : ' Should the intercourse between individuals of 
both nations, by becoming more intimate and more friendly, 
produce a change in the religion and usages of the country, 
it will not be to turn Christians that they will forsake their 
own religion, but rather (what in my opinion is a thousand 
times worse than idolatry) to become mere atheists, and 
if they renounce their present customs it will not be to 
embrace those of Europeans, but rather to become what 
are now called Pariahs.' 

In a word, the Abbe completely despaired of the higher 
castes ever becoming Christians, though he was ready to 
acknowledge that there was a harvest-field among the 
low castes and outcastes. Of his own attempts to convert 
the Hindus he remarks : ' For my part I cannot boast of 
my successes in this sacred career during the period that 
I have laboured to promote the interests of the Christian 
religion. The restraints and privations under which I have 
lived, by conforming myself to the usages of the country ; 
embracing, in many respects, the prejudices of the natives ; 
living like them, and becoming all but a Hindu myself ; in 
short, by being made all things to all men, that I might by 
all means save some — all these have proved of no avail to 
me to make proselytes. During the long period I have lived 
in India in the capacity of a missionary, I have made, with 
the assistance of a native missionary, in all between two 
and three hundred converts of both sexes. Of this number 
two-thirds were Pariahs or beggars ; and the rest were 



DUBOIS' CONCLUSIONS ENDORSED xxvii 

composed of Sudras, vagrants, and outcastes of several tribes, 
who, being without resource, turned Christians in order to 
form connexions, chiefly for the purpose of marriage, or 
with some other interested views.' 

These various quotations from the Abbe's Letters are 
likely to inspire indignation among Christian missionaries, 
but his general conclusions certainly find a remarkable 
echo in the following extract on Christianity in Mr. Baines's 
General Report on the Census of 1891 : — 

' Its greatest development is found where the Brah manic 
caste system is in force in its fullest vigour, in the south and 
west of the Peninsula, and amongst the Hill tribes of Bengal. 
In such localities it is naturally attractive to a class of the 
population whose position is hereditarily and permanently 
degraded by their own religion, as Islam has proved in 
Eastern Bengal, and amongst the lowest class of the inhabi- 
tants of the Panjab. We have seen that in the early days 
of Portuguese missionary enterprise, it was found necessary 
to continue the breach that Brahmanic custom had placed 
between certain grades of society and those above them ; 
but in later times, and in foreign missions of the Reformed 
Church, the tendency has been to absorb all caste distinc- 
tions into the general commission of the Christianity of that 
form. The new faith has thus affected the lower classes 
more directly than the upper, who have more to lose socially, 
and less to gain.' . . . 

It may be mentioned that in the agricultural settlement 
of reconverted Christians at Sathalli in Mysore, previously 
alluded to, the inhabitants retained theirHindu caste distinc- 
tions ; and the following observations in Mr. V. N. Narasim- 
miyengar's Mysore Census Report (1891) are noteworthy : — 

' Roman Catholicism is able to prevail among the Hindus 
more rapidly and easily, by reason of its policy of tolerating 
among its converts the customs of caste and social obser- 
vances, which constitute so material a part of the Indian 
social fabric. In the course of the investigations engen- 
dered by the census, several Roman Christian communities 



xxviii EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

have been met with, which continue undisturbed in the 
rites and usages which had guided them in their pre-con- 
version existence. They still pay worship to the Kalasam 
at marriages and festivals, call in the Brahmin astrologer 
and purohita, use the Hindu religious marks, and conform 
to various other amenities, which have the advantage of 
minimizing friction in their daily intercourse with their 
Hindu fellow-caste brethren.' 

And yet the Christian native is nowadays but in the 
ratio of seven in a thousand of the whole population. The 
remark accordingly made by the Roman Catholic Bishop 
of Agra to Jacquemont is as applicable now as it was when 
it was uttered in 1828 : ' La caldalja e molto grande, ma la 
carne e molto poca.' 

The last years of the Abbe's life were spent at the head- 
quarters of the Missions Etrangeres at Paris. He left 
India, never to return, on January 15, 1823, his passage 
having been paid by the East India Company and a special 
pension settled upon him for life in recognition of the 
many services which he had rendered in India. On his re- 
turn to Paris he was at once made Director of the Missions 
Etrangeres, and from 1836 to 1839 he filled the post of 
Superior. During his leisure he found time to translate into 
French the whole of the Pancha-tantra, the famous book of 
Hindu fables, a"hd also a work which he entitled The Exploits 
of the Guru Paramarta. He lived for no less than a quarter 
of a century after returning to Europe, and died in 1848 at 
the patriarchal age of eighty- three. 

In conclusion I desire to acknowledge the kind assist- 
ance and advice which I have received from many Hindu 
friends and others while editing the Abbe's work r especially 
do I desire to acknowledge the help rendered to me by 
Mr. C. V. Munisawmy Iyer, a Brahmin gentleman, who 
associated himself with me in the revision of the proofs. 

H. K. B. 
MADRAS, /September, 1897. 



CONTENTS 



Portrait or Dubois Frontispiece 

PAGES 

Editor's Preface to Third Edition 



ni-iv 

v-vii 

viii-xxviii 

1-13 



Prefatory Note by Max Muller 

Editor's Introduction . 

Author's Preface 

PART I. 

General View of Society in India, and General Remarks 
on the Caste System. 

Chapter I. Division and Subdivision of Castes. — Castes pecu- 
liar to certain Provinces. — Particular Usages of some Castes. 
— Division of Castes founded on Parentage. — Subordination of 
Castes. — Outward Signs of certain Castes. — Division of Caste- 
groups into Right-hand and Left-hand 14-27 

Chapter II. Advantages resulting from Caste Divisions. — 
Similar Divisions amongst many Ancient Nations . . . 27-37 

Chapter III. Expulsion from Caste. — Cases in which such De- 
gradation is inflicted. — By whom inflicted. — Restoration to Caste. 
—Methods of effecting it 38-44 

Chapter IV. Antiquity and Origin of Caste .... 44-48 

Chapter V. The Lower Classes of Sudras. — Pariahs. — Chuck- 
lers, or Cobblers, and others equally low. — Contempt in which they 
are held. — Pariahs strictly speaking Slaves. — Washermen, Barbers, 
and some others. — Disrepute into which Mechanical Skill has fallen. 
— Nomads and Vagabonds. — Gypsies. — Quacks. — Jugglers. — Wild 
Tribes, &c. 49-80 

Chapter VI. The Poverty of the Hindus .... 80-97 

Chapter VII. The Mythical Origin of the Brahmins. — Their 
Name and their Original Founders. — Conjectures on their True 
Origin. — Buddhists and Jains ...... 97-108 

Chapter VIII. Different Kinds of Brahmins. — Outward Signs 
by which they are distinguishable ..... 108-111 

Chapter IX. The different Hindu Sects. — Vishnavites and 
Sivaites. — The Exterior Marks and Customs peculiar to each. — 
The Pavadam. — The Mutual Hatreds and Differences between the 
Sects. — Reason for the Dislike which ordinary Brahmins feel for 
Vishnavite Brahmins and those belonging to other Sects. — Sub- 
divisions of the two Principal Sects ..... 111-123 

Chapter X. The Gurus, or Hindu Priests. — The Portrait of a 
true Guru,. — Their Temporal and Spiritual Power. — The Fear and 



vxx CONTENTS 

PACES 

Respect that they inspire. — Ecclesiastical Hierarchy composed of 
the Superior and Inferior Priests. — The Honours paid to them. — 
Priestesses 123-133 

Chapter XI. Purohitas, or Priests who officiate at Public and 
Private Ceremonies. — The Hindu Almanac as published by the 
Purohitas 134-138 

Chapter XII. MarUrama. — Their Efficacy. — The Gayatri. — 
The word ' Awn.' — Magic Mantrams 138-143 

Chapter XIII. Explanation of the Principal Ceremonies of 
the Brahmins and of other Castes. — The Sam-kalpa. — Puja. — 
Aratti. — Akshatas. — Pavitram. — Sesamum and Darbha Grass. — 
Puniaha-vacluma. — Panclia-gavia. — Purification of Places where 
Ceremonies take place. — Pandals, or Pavilions made of Leaves 143-155 

Chapter XIV. Ceremonies to be observed after a Woman's Con- 
finement. — Ceremonies performed over Infants . . . 155-159 

PART II. 

The Four States of Brahminical Life. 

Chapter I. The Bralimachari. — Ceremony of the Upanayana, 
or Investiture of the Triple Cord 160-170 

Chapter II. Conduct of the Brahrnachari. — Rules to be fol- 
lowed. — Rights acquired by investiture with the Cord. — The Six 
Privileges of Brahmins. — The Vedas 170-178 

Chapter III. External Defilements. The care that a Brahmin 
should take to avoid them. — His Conduct in this respect. — Means 
of Purification 178-186 

Chapter IV. Internal Defilements. — Abstinence from all 
Intoxicating Liquors, and from everything that has had Life. — 
Particular Horror of the Brahmins for the Flesh of the Cow. — Their 
Abhorrence of Europeans who eat it as Food . . . 186-194 

Chapter V. Defilements of the Soul, and the Means of Purifica- 
tion. — Places of Purification. — Sins for which there is no Forgive- 
ness. — Conjectures on the Origin of Brahmin Customs connected 
with Defilement and Purification. — Defilement by Europeans, and 
an Incident which happened to the Author from this Cause . 194-204 

Chapter VI. Marriage amongst Brahmins and other Hindus. 
— Celibacy. — Those who may remain unmarried. — Polygamy 
tolerated only amongst the Upper Classes. — The two Sexes nearly 
equal in numbers. — Indissolubility of the Marriage Tie. — How 
Marriages are arranged. — Preparatory Ceremonies. — Solemn Cere- 
monies for the first and following Days. — Marriage amongst Sudras. 
— Marriage amongst Kshatriyas. — Duties after Marriage . 205-235 

Chapter VII. The Second, or Grahastha, Status of Brahmin. — 
Rules of Life which the Brahmin Grahastha should daily follow. — 



CONTEXTS 



XXXI 



Introduction. — Forms to bo observed when relieving Nature and 
when Washing. — Manner of cleansing the Teeth. — Sandhya, Part I. 
— Rules relating to Ablutions. — The Correct Order of Daily Avoca- 
tions. — Rules to be followed when Eating and when going to Bed. 
— Sandhya, Part II. — Mantrams of which the Sandhya is com- 
posed. — Sandhya for Morning, Noon, and Evening. — Conclusion. — 
General Remarks . . 235-269 

Chapter VIII. Brahminical Fasts. — The Custom of. Rubbing 
the Head and Body with Oil. — The Over-indulgence of Brahmins. — 
— Their Scrupulous Observance of Custom. — Reflections on this 
Subject. — Their Samaradhanas, or Public Feasts. — Sudra Feasts 269-281 

Chapter IX. The Kinds of Food expressly forbidden to Brah- 
mins.— Occult Rites.— The Disgusting Rite called Sakti . 282-288 

Chapter X. The Various Occupations of Brahmins . 288-295 

Chapter XL Religious Tolerance amongst the Brahmins. — 
Their Indifference with regard to their own Religion. — Their Sub- 
lime Ideas of the Deity. — A Comparison between them and the 
Greek Philosophers. — The State of Christianity. — The Political 
Intolerance and Ignorant Presumption of Brahmins . . 295-306 

Chapter XII. The Morality of Brahmins. — Their Deceit and 
Dissimulation. — Their Want of Filial Devotion. — Their Inconti- 
nence. — Causes of their Depravity. — Unnatural Offences. — Out- 
ward Decency. — The Chastity of their Women. — Brahmin Methods 
of Revenge. — Brahmin Selfishness 306-315 

Chapter XILT. The Outward Appearance of Brahmins and 
other Hindus. — Their PhysicalDefects. — Remarks on the Kakrelaks 
or Albinoes, as described by Naturalists, who are not allowed Burial 
after Death. — Other Hindus to whom the same Honour is denied. 
— Exhumation of Corpses. — The Feeble Physique of the Hindus. — 
The same Feebleness and Deterioration to be observed throughout 
the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms. — Weakness of the Mental 
Faculties of Hindus. — The Language of the Brahmins. — Their 
Costume.— Their Houses 316-325 

Chapter XIV. Rules of Etiquette amongst Brahmins and 
other Hindus. — Modes of Greeting 326-331 

Chapter XV. The Ornaments worn by Hindus. — The Dif- 
ferent Marks with which they adorn their Bodies . . . 332-335 

Chapter XVI. Brahmin Wives. — The Education of Women. — 
Ceremonies which take place when they arrive at a Marriageable 
Age,and during Pregnancy. — The Low Estimation in which Women 
are held in Private Life. — The Respect that is paid to them in 
Public— Their Clothing and Ornaments .... 336-342 

Chapter XVII. Rules of Conduct for Married Women . 343-349 

Chapter XVIII. Mourning.— The Condition of Widowhood.— 
The General Contempt for Widows. — Remarriages forbidden. 350-355 



xxxii CONTENTS 

PAGES 
Chapter XIX. The Custom which at times obliges Widows to 
allow themselves to be burnt alive on the Funeral Pyre of their 
Deceased Husbands 355-3C7 

Chapter XX. Adoption. — Rules regarding the Partition of 
Property 368-376 

Chapter XXI. The Learning of the Brahmins.— Their Colleges. 
— Astronomy. — Astrology. — Magic 376-392 

Chapter XXII. The Poetry of the Hindus . . . 392-401 

Chapter XXIII. Brahmin Philosophy. — The Six Sects called 
ShanMata.— The Doctrine of the Buddhists . . . . 401-415 

Chapter XXIV. Chronology of the Brahmins. — The Epoch of 
the Flood 415-420 

Chapter XXV. The Epistolary Style of the Brahmins. — Hindu 
Handwriting 420-433 

Chapter XXVI. Hindu Fables 433-450 

Chapter XXVII. Hindu Tales 450-474 

Chapter XXVIII. Niti Slohas, or Moral Stanzas . . 474-482 

Chapter XXIX. The Funeral Ceremonies of Brahmins . 482-489 

Chapter XXX. The Various Ceremonies observed after Burial 
in Honour of the Dead 489-500 

Chapter XXXI. The Third Condition of Brahmins, viz. Yana- 
prastha, or Dweller in the Jungle. — The Respect paid to Yanapras- 
thas. — Conjectures as to their Origin. — Comparison between them 
and the Wise Men of Greece and other Philosophers. — The Rules of 
theVanaprasthas. — Their Renunciation of the World and Pleasures 
of the Senses.— Their Moral Virtues 5C0-509 

Chapter XXXLT. Sacrifices of the Vanaprastlia Brahmins. — 
Sacrifice of the Yagnam. — The Lesser Yagnam. — The Greater 
Yagnam. — The Giants, Enemies of the Vanaprasthas . . 509-517 

Chapter XXXIII. Penance as a Means of purifying the Soul. 
— The Penance of the Yanaprasthas. — Modern Gymnosophists, or 
Naked Penitents.— Purification by Fire .... 517-522 

Chapter XXXIV. The Fourth State of the Brahmins, that 
of the Sannyasi. — Preparation for this Holy State. — Ceremonies 
of Initiation. — Rules to be followed by the Sannyasi . . 522-527 

Chapter XXXV. A Sannyasi' 's Principal Duties. — Meditation. 
— Its Various Stages. — What it consists of, and how Hindu Devo- 
tees practise it. — General Remarks. — Comparisons between the 
Hindu Sannyasis and those who lead Similar Lives among 
Christians . 528-538 

Chapter XXXVI. The Funeral Ceremonies of Brahmin Sann- 
yasis ........... 538-541 



CONTENTS xxxiii 

PART III. 

Religion. 

pages 
Chapter I. Origin of the Trimurti and the Primitive Idolatry 
of the Hindus.— Comparison between the Greek and Indian Divi- 
nities. — Peculiar Idolatry of the Hindus. — Worship of the Elements 
represented by the Trimurti 542-555 

Chapter II. Metempsychosis. — Explanation of this Religious 
Doctrine. — Penalties for Different Sins. — The Hindus as Authors 
of the Doctrine of Metempsychosis. — Difference between them and 
the Greeks in this Respect. — Naraka, or Hell ; Punishments en- 
dured there. — Abodes of Bliss ...... 556-567 

Chapter III. Hindu Feasts. — The New- Year Feast. — The 
Feast of the Household Gods. — Commemoration of the Dead. — 
Feast of the Schools. — Feasts in Honour of Serpents. — Military 
Feasts. — The Feast of Lamps. — Sacrifices to Plants. — The Feast 
of the Lingayats. — The Pongvl Ceremonies. — General Remarks 567-577 

Chapter IV. Hindu Temples. — Ceremonies performed inthem. 
— Temples built on Mountains. — Pyramids. — The Architecture of 
Pagodas. — The Shape and Ornaments of the Idols. — Their Conse- 
cration. — Sacred Pillars. — Temple Priests and Servants. — Sacri- 
fices. — Dancing-girls. — Musicians. — Hindu Music. — Brahmin 
Tricks and Artifices for attracting Worshippers. — The Hindu Desire 
for Children. — The Revolting Practices to which they submit to 
obtain them. — Remarkable Ceremonies and Vows. — Prostitution 
in Certain Temples. — Religious Tortures. — The Rape of Women. — 
Famous Temples. — Tirupati. — Jagannath. — Public Processions. 
—General Remarks 577-612 

Chapter V. The Principal Gods of the Hindus. — Brahma. — 
Vi shnu. — Rama. — Krishna. — Siva. — The Lingam. — Vigneshwara. 
— Indra. — The Abodes of Bliss of these Different Gods. — Swarga. 
— Kailasa. — Vaikuniha. — Sattya-loJca ..... 612-636 

Chapter VI. The Worship of Animals. — The Worship of Mon- 
keys.— Of Bulls.— Of the Guruda Bird.— Of Snakes.— Of Fishes.— 
The Worship of BTiootams, or Evil Spirits. — Human Sacrifices 636-648 

Chapter VII. Inanimate Objects of Worship. — The Salagrama 
Stone.— The Tulasi.—Darbha Grass.— The Sacred Fig-Tree . 648-653 

Chapter VIII. The Administration of Civil and Criminal Jus- 
tice. — Customs connected with Usury. — Various Kinds of Punish- 
ment. — Trial by Ordeal. — The Prevalence of Perjury. — Remarks 
on the European Courts of Justice 654-667 

Chapter IX. The Military System of the Hindus.— Ancient 
and Modern Methods of Warfare. — The Material formerly com- 
posing their Armies. — The Military Game of Chess invented by the 
Hindus. — Poligars. — Different Weapons that have been in Use at 
Various Times in India 667-684 



xxxiv CONTENTS 

PAGES 
APPENDIX I. The Jains. — Differences between them and the 
Brahmins 685-700 

Appendix II. The Eka-Dasi, or Eleventh Day of the Moon 701-706 

Appendix III. Siva-Ratri, or Siva's Night . . . 706-708 

Appendix IV. Rules of Conduct for Women during their 
Periodical Uncleanness ....... 708-710 

Appendix V. Remarks on the Origin of the Famous Temple 
ofJagannath 710-716 

Appendix VI. Trial by Ordeal.— Its Different Forms . 717-722 
Index .... ..... 723-741 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



Though Europeans have possessed settlements in India 
for more than three centuries, it is only within recent 
times that authentic details have been obtained with 
respect to the people who dwell in this vast country and 
whose ancient civilization, methods of government, manners, 
creeds, and customs, are nevertheless so well worthy of 
notice. It is impossible to doubt for a moment that science 
and art nourished amongst these nations at an epoch when 
our most civilized countries of the West were still plunged 
in the dark abyss of ignorance. The various forms of their 
institutions, both political and social ; their knowledge of 
mathematics, especially of astronomy ; their systems of 
metaphysics and ethics : all of these had long ago made 
the people of India famous far beyond their own borders ; 
while the renown of Hindu philosophers had reached even 
Europe. The many ill-informed and often contradictory 
narratives about India which have been published in 
modern times have deservedly fallen into discredit. Yet, 
it must be admitted, some good work has been done by 
certain Literary Societies that have of recent years been 
established in India, the members of which, possessing 
access to original sources of information, have begun to 
survey with a more critical eye these records of divine and 
human knowledge, whose depositaries have hitherto guarded 
them with zealous care behind a veil of mystery. Without 
doubt the members of these Societies, distinguished as they 
mostly are by their erudition, will continue to devote 
special study to the languages of the country and to make 
abundant use of the sources of information open to them. 
Yet, it must be confessed, the information which we possess 
about the people of India is very meagre compared with 
that which it is most important for us to acquire. The 

DUBOIS B 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

ancient history of their country is, for one tiling, enshrouded 
in chimera and fable, and, unfortunately, such incoherence 
and such obscurity prevail in their written records, which 
are our only means of really getting at the truth, that it 
is not too much to presume that we shall never succeed in 
throwing proper light on all this mass of absurdities. The 
most popular and best known of these written records are 
the Bd may ana, the Bhagavata, and the Mahdbhdrata ' ; 
but the information which their authors give about the 
dates, events, and duration of the different dynasties ; 
about the heroes of India and their prowess in war ; about 
the various revolutions which occurred in the country and 
the circumstances which led to them ; about the beginnings 
of Hindu polity ; about the discoveries and progress in 
science and art ; in a word, about all the most interesting 
features of history, — all information of this kind is, as it 
were, buried amid a mass of fable and superstition. 

My readers will see in the following pages to what ex- 
tremes the people of India carry their belief in and love 
for the marvellous. Their first historians were in reality 
poets, who seem to have decided that they could not do 
better than compose their poems in the spirit of the people 
for whom they were writing. That is to say, they were 
guided solely by the desire to please their readers, and 
accordingly clothed Truth in such a grotesque garb as to 
render it a mere travesty from an historical point of view. 
The Indian Muse of History thus became a kind of magician 
whose wand performed wonders. The successors of these 
first poet-historians were actuated by the same motives, 
and even thought that it added to their own glory to 
improve on their predecessors and to surpass them in the 
absurdity of their fictions. 

While waiting for inquirers, more skilful than myself, to 
find a way through this labyrinth, which to me is absolutely 
inextricable, I offer to the public a large number of authentic 
records which I have carefully collected, and which, for 
the most part, contain particulars that are either un- 
known or only partially known, in the hope that they 
will be found not altogether devoid of interest. I believe, 

1 These arc the three great Hindu Epic poems. Vide Part II, 
Chapter XXII, and Part III, Chapter V. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 3 

at any rate, that they will be aeknowledged to contain 
some useful materials for future savants who may under- 
take a complete and methodical treatise on the people of 
India, a task which is far beyond my powers and which 
moreover I could not possibly have laid upon myself, 
seeing that I was without literary aids of any kind during 
my long and absolute seclusion amongst the natives of the 
country. 

In this new edition the contents of my first MS. have 
been carefully revised and corrected. They have, more- 
over, been considerably augmented by many curious details 
which did not appear in the original document. At the 
same time, I have made no substantial changes in the 
order and classification of the contents. Five or six 
additional chapters, and a number of corrections and im- 
provements in the body of the work, constitute all the 
difference between this and the earlier draft. Since the 
English translation of the latter appeared, great political 
changes have taken place amongst the people whose 
manners and institutions I have sketched ; but, as these 
changes were not taken into account in my original plan, 
I have not considered myself bound, when referring to 
them, to go beyond the limits which I prescribed for myself 
in the first instance. In all that I say about the administra- 
tion of the Peninsula my readers will at once perceive that 
I have in mind the Governments preceding that which has 
now made itself master of the destinies of the Indian people, 
and which has freed them from the iron yoke of a long 
series of arbitrary rulers, under whose oppression they 
groaned during so many centuries. 

This colossal dominion, which a European Government 
has succeeded in establishing in India without any very 
great difficulty and without any very violent shocks, has 
filled the people of India with admiration, and has fully 
convinced the Powers of Asia of the great superiority of 
Europeans in every way, and more especially in the art 
of subjugating and governing nations. 

We too may well wonder at a conquest which appears 
indeed almost miraculous. It is difficult for us to imagine 
how a mere handful of men managed to coerce into sub- 
missive obedience a hundred millions of people, scattered 



4 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

over a country which extends for twenty-four degrees of 
latitude north and south and for nearly the same number 
of degrees east and west. And it is still more difficult to 
understand how these few men are able to maintain within 
the bounds of duty and subordination a population whose 
creeds, habits, customs, and manner of life are so absolutely 
different from their own. 

Yet one will have little or no difficulty in accounting for 
such a phenomenon if one examines on the one hand the 
spirit, character, and institutions of the people governed, 
and on the other the system adopted by those governing 
them. The people of India have always been accustomed 
to bow their heads beneath the yoke of a cruel and oppres- 
sive despotism, and moreover, strange to say, have always 
displayed mere indifference towards those who have forced 
them to it. Little cared they whether the princes under 
whom they groaned were of their own country or from 
foreign lands l . The frequent vicissitudes that befell those 
in power were hardly noticed by their subjects. Never did 
the fall of one of these despots cause the least regret ; 
never did the elevation of another cause the least joy. 
Hard experience had taught the Hindus to disregard not 
only the hope of better times but the fear of worse. The 
fable of the ass urged by its master to escape from approach- 
ing robbers is most appropriate to these people. They 
have always considered themselves lucky enough if their 
religious and domestic institutions were left untouched by 
those who by good fortune or force of arms had got hold of 
the reins of government. 

The European Power which is now established in India 
is, properly speaking, supported neither by physical force 
nor by moral influence. It is a piece of huge, complicated 
machinery, moved by springs which have been arbitrarily 
adapted to it. Under the supremacy of the Brahmins the 
people of India hated their government, while they cherished 
and respected their rulers ; under the supremacy of Euro- 
peans they hate and despise their rulers from the bottom 
of their hearts, while they cherish and respect their govern- 
ment. And here I would remark that the rule of all the 

1 This is illustrated in the familiar proverb, ' What matters it whether 
Rama reigns or the Rakshasa (Ravana) reigns ? '— Eu. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 5 

Hindu princes, and often that of the Mahomedans, was, 
properly speaking, Brahminical rule, since all posts of 
confidence were held by Brahmins. 

If it be possible to ameliorate the condition of the people 
of India I am convinced that this desirable result will be 
attained under the new regime, whatever may be said by 
detractors who are ready to find fault with everything. 
Whatever truth indeed there may be in the prejudiced 
charges, engendered by ignorance and interested motives, 
which are brought against the new order of things, and 
which are perhaps inseparable from every great administra- 
tion, I for one cannot believe that a nation so eminently 
distinguished for its beneficent and humane principles of 
government at home, and above all for its impartial justice 
to all classes alike — I for one cannot believe that this 
nation will ever be blind enough to compromise its own 
noble character by refusing participation in these benefits 
to a subject people which is content to live peaceably under 
its sway. 

At the same time I venture to predict that it will attempt 
in vain to effect any very considerable changes in the 
social condition of the people of India, whose character, 
principles, customs, and ineradicable conservatism will 
always present insurmountable obstacles. To make a 
people happy, it is essential that they themselves should 
desire to be made happy and should co-operate with those 
who are working for their happiness. Now, the people of 
India, it appears to me, neither possess this desire nor are 
anxious to co-operate to this end. Every reform which is 
obviously devised for their well-being they obstinately push 
aside if it is likely in the least degree to disturb their manner 
of living, their most absurd prejudice, or their most puerile 
custom. 

Nevertheless the justice and prudence which the present 
rulers display in endeavouring to make these people less 
unhappy than they have been hitherto ; the anxiety they 
manifest in increasing their material comfort ; above all, 
the inviolable respect which they constantly show for the 
customs and religious beliefs of the country ; and, lastly, 
the protection they afford to the weak as well as to the 
strong, to the Brahmin as to the Pariah, to the Christian, 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

to the Mahomedan, and to the Pagan : all those have con- 
tributed more to the consolidation of their power than even 
their victories and conquests. 

There is another circumstance no less remarkable which 
may account for the stability and power of this Govern- 
ment, and that is the sagacity with which it has chosen 
persons to fill places of responsibility under it. For up- 
rightness of character, education, and ability it would be 
hard to find a body of public servants better capable of 
filling with zeal and distinction the offices, more or less 
important, that are entrusted to them. 

During the thirty years spent by me in the various 
provinces of India I have had the honour of knowing 
a very large number of these public servants, and it gives 
me much pleasure to testify here to the many excellent 
qualities which I have almost invariably found them to 
possess. Cast away, as it were, on the shores of this 
foreign land at a time when my own country was a prey 
to all the horrors of a disastrous revolution, I never failed 
to receive from them the warmest hospitality. Even 
when a desperate war might well have given rise to bitter 
prejudice against everything French, I never failed to find 
amongst the rulers of India many friends and benefactors. 
Would that the fear of offending their modesty did not 
forbid my mentioning here in testimony of my regard the 
names of many of them equally distinguished for their 
high merit and for their commanding position. But even 
at the risk of appearing indiscreet I cannot pass over one 
of them in silence. I cannot, in the fullness of my gratitude, 
abstain from mentioning publicly how much I owe to the 
Honourable Mr. Arthur Henry Cole, the British Resident 
in Mysore. This worthy official, whose public and domestic 
virtues, inexhaustible charity, and polished manners are 
recognized throughout the whole of the Peninsula, has 
found a fitting recognition of his fine character in the love 
and respect of the natives subject to his jurisdiction, who 
with one voice have hailed him as the father of their country. 
All that he has done for the natives of Mysore will be long 
remembered by them. As regards myself, nothing can 
equal the many acts of kindness which he has heaped upon 
me during my stay of twenty years in the province subject 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 7 

to his authority. If these words ever reach him I trust 
that he will recognize in them the genuine feelings of 
respect and gratitude which I shall ever cherish towards 
him. 

One might accuse me of blind prejudice if I went so far 
as to affirm that everybody vested with authority in this 
land was without exception worthy of high praise. The 
fact is, we do not live in an age of miracles. It is probable, 
it is even certain, that not all of those entrusted with the 
supervision of this huge political machinery are influenced 
by the purest motives. And yet the system of watchful 
control is such that any man who allows himself to be 
tempted from the path of duty by greed and avarice 
cannot hope to hide his corrupt doings from the eye of 
superior authority for any length of time. Every subject 
of the dominant power, however humble he may be, is 
allowed the right of free petition ; and this is sufficient 
guarantee that any well-founded grievances will be set 
right, any well-proven abuses put a stop to. 

It has been asserted that any great power based neither 
on a display of force nor on the affection and esteem of 
subject races is bound sooner or later to topple under its 
own weight. I am far from sharing this opinion altogether. 
The present Government occupies a position in which it 
has little or nothing to fear from extraneous disturbance. 
True it is that like all empires it is subject to possible 
chances of internal dissension, military revolt, and general 
insurrection. But I firmly believe that nothing of this 
sort will happen to it so long as it maintains amongst its 
troops the perfect discipline and the sense of comfort 
which at present exist, and so long as it does all in its 
power to make its yoke scarcely perceptible by permitting 
its subjects every freedom in the exercise of their social 
and religious practices l . 

It is the poverty of the country which in my opinion 
gives most cause for apprehension — a poverty which is 
accompanied by the most extraordinary supineness on 
the part of the people themselves. The question is, will 

1 Students of Indian History will bear witness to the wisdom of the 
Abbe's remarks, which subsequent history has so strikingly tended to 
confirm. — Ed. 



8 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

a Government which is rightly determined to be neither 
unjust nor oppressive be able always to find within the 
borders of this immense empire means sufficient to enable 
it to meet the heavy expenses of its administration ' ? 
But, after all, God alone can foretell the destiny of Govern- 
ments ! 

But I must return to the contents of my work. During 
my long sojourn in India I never let slip any opportunity 
of collecting materials and particulars of all sorts. My 
information has been drawn partly from the books which 
are held in highest estimation amongst the people of India 
and partly from such scattered records as fell by chance 
into my hands and contained facts upon which I could 
thoroughly rely. But in regard to the majority of the 
materials which I now offer to the public I am chiefly 
dependent on my own researches, having lived in close 
and familiar intercourse with persons of every caste and 
condition of life. Probably many Europeans settled in 
India would have been more capable than myself of per- 
forming the same task ; but I may be permitted to doubt 
whether there has been any person more favourably 
situated for gleaning information or more zealous in his 
pursuit of knowledge. I had no sooner arrived amongst 
the natives of India than I recognized the absolute necessity 
of gaining their confidence. Accordingly I made it my 
constant rule to live as they did. I adopted their style of 
clothing, and I studied their customs and methods of life 
in order to be exactly like them. I even went so far as 
to avoid any display of repugnance to the majority of their 
peculiar prejudices. By such circumspect conduct I was 
able to ensure a free and hearty welcome from people of 
all castes and conditions, and was often favoured of their 
own accord with the most curious and interesting par- 
ticulars about themselves. 

In publishing these records of my researches I have no 
wisli to aspire to literary fame. I have noted down just 
what I saw, just what I heard, just what I read. I have 
aimed only at simplicity and accuracy. If I have here 
and there ventured to give a few opinions and conjectures 

1 Within these few lines the Abbe, with extraordinary insight, has 
embodied the great problem of British administration in India. — Ed. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 9 

of my own, I beg that my readers will not suppose that 
I have done so out of vanity and with the object of posing 
as a profound scholar, which I am not. However severely 
critics may attack my work, they cannot be more keenly 
aware of its imperfections than myself. I know well that 
my researches might have been presented in a form more 
agreeable, more animated, and more methodical. There 
are many matters mentioned by me which called for more 
profound discussion, clearer criticism, and wider treatment. 
A more correct and more brilliant style would have con- 
cealed the dryness of certain details. But I beg indulgent 
readers to consider the circumstances which have prevented 
me from satisfying such conditions. Separated as I was 
for more than thirty years from all intercourse with my 
fellow-countrymen, communicating only rarely and occa- 
sionally with Europeans, passing my whole life in villages 
in the midst of rude cultivators of the soil, deprived of 
all the advantages which great cities offer to those writers 
who are clever enough to profit by the labours of 
their predecessors, prevented from invoking the aid and 
counsel of intelligent men, having no books to refer to 
except my Bible and a few writings without merit and 
without interest which chance rather than choice put into 
my hands, compelled indeed to rely upon the imperfect 
recollection of what I had read and learned in my youth : 
with all these disadvantages it was only to be expected 
that my work would be defective. Nevertheless I am 
persuaded that the notes which I have taken so much 
trouble to collect will afford some useful material to others 
more favourably situated than myself ; and I have there- 
fore no hesitation in offering them to the public. 

There is one motive which above all others has in- 
fluenced my determination. It struck me that a faithful 
picture of the wickedness and incongruities of polytheism 
and idolatry would by its very ugliness help greatly to set 
off the beauties and perfections of Christianity. It was 
thus that the Lacedaemonians placed drunken slaves in 
the sight of their children in order to inspire the latter 
with a horror of intemperance. 

There is every reason to believe that the true God was 
well known to the people of India at the time when they 

B 3 



10 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

first banded themselves together us a nation. For who 
can doubt that our blessed religion was originally that of 
the whole world ? Who can doubt that it would have 
exercised universal sway from the days of Adam to the 
end of time if its original form as established by God 
Himself and its primitive traditions had been carefully 
respected 2 Unfortunately human passion gained the 
upper hand. Whole nations were corrupted, and men 
made for themselves a religion more suited to the depravity 
of their own hearts. Nevertheless, what has now become 
of the innumerable deities of Greece and Rome ? They 
have vanished like an empty, transitory dream. Let us 
pray that the Almighty may be pleased to allow the torch 
of Truth to illumine the countries watered by the Ganges ! 
Doubtless the time is still far distant when the stubborn 
Hindu will open his eyes to the light and tear himself 
away from his dark superstitions ; but let us not despair, 
a day will come when the standard of the Cross will be 
flying over the temples of India as it flies now over her 
strong places 1 . 

Certain statements to be found in my work will seem 
almost incredible to my readers. All that I can say is 
that I have set down nothing without assuring myself 
most carefully of its truthfulness. For the rest, my 
readers will feel much less doubt as to the accuracy of 
these statements when they have learned to recognize 
how eminently original the people of India are in their 
manners and customs. So original are they, indeed, that 
one may search in vain for types, or anything approaching 
to types, of them amongst other nations of the world, 
ancient or modern. 

With regard to caste usages I must warn my readers 
that my researches were confined to the provinces south 
of the Kistna River, where I passed most of the time that 

1 Yet even now the number of Christians in India is, comparatively 
speaking, small. They form about '75 per cent, of the whole popula- 
tion, and nearly 75 per cent, of the total are found in Madras, Tra van- 
core, Hyderabad, Mysore, and Cochin. And concerning the native 
Christians of these parts a distinguished and much-travelled member of 
the Civil Service recently remarked, ' Their Christianity, as I have seen 
it, too often breathes but little of the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount.' 
—Ed. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 11 

I was in India. I cannot say whether these usages are the 

same to the north of that river and in Hindustan proper ; 
but if any differences there be it is probable that they 
exist only in form. There is no place in India which does 
not possess certain customs and practices of its own, and 
it would be impossible to give descriptions of them all. 
Fundamentally, however, caste constitutions are the same 
everywhere. Furthermore, however many the shades of 
difference between the various castes, however diversified 
the customs that control them, only slight differences 
exist between the various forms of religious belief. Indeed, 
the religion of the Hindus may be said to form a common 
centre for the numerous elements which constitute Hinduism 
in its widest sense. Moreover there is a certain general 
uniformity of rule and practice in everyday social matters, 
which compels one to look upon the different masses of 
the population as belonging in reality to one big family. 
Nevertheless, whatever I may say in the following pages 
must not be given a too general meaning, for it is hardly 
necessary to point out that in such a huge country there 
are many peculiarities of language and custom which are 
purely local in character. For instance, a careful observer 
would see less resemblance between a Tamil and a Canarese, 
between a Telugu and a Mahratta, than between a French- 
man and an Englishman, an Italian and a German. 

Even when they migrate or travel from one province 
to another, natives of India never throw off what I may 
call the characteristics of their natal soil. In the midst of 
their new surroundings they invariably preserve their own 
language and customs. 

On the Malabar coast one may count five different 
tribes, established from time immemorial, within a hundred 
leagues of territory north and south. They are the Xairs 
or Naiftiars, the Kurgas or Kudagas, the Tulus, the Kon- 
kanis, and the Kanaras. Although amalgamated in some 
degree, each of these tribes still preserves to the present 
day the language and mode of life peculiar to the place 
from which it originally sprang. The same thing may be 
remarked throughout the Peninsula, but especially in the 
Tamil country and in Mysore, where many families of 
Telusus are to be found whose ancestors were obliged for 



12 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

various reasons to quit their native soil and migrate thither. 
The remembrance of their original birthplace is engraved 
on the hearts of these Telugus, and they always carefully 
avoid following the peculiar usages of their adoptive 
country. Yet they are invariably treated with the most 
perfect tolerance. Indeed, every native of India is quite 
free to take up his abode wherever it may seem good to 
him. Nobody will quarrel with him for living his own life, 
speaking what language he pleases, or following whatever 
customs he is used to. All that is asked of him is that 
lie should conform generally to the accustomed rules of 
decorum recognized in the neighbourhood. 

The Brahmin caste has seemed to me to merit particular 
attention. It is the caste whose rules and practices are 
most scrupulously observed. All persons who have visited 
India or who have any notion of the character of the 
Brahmins, of the high esteem in which they hold them- 
selves, and of the distant hauteur with which they treat 
the common people, will be able to appreciate the diffi- 
culties which anybody must encounter who would become 
intimate, or even acquainted, with these proud personages. 
The hate and contempt which they cherish against all 
strangers, and especially against Europeans ; the jealous 
inquietude with which they hide from the profane the 
mysteries of their religious cult ; the records of their learn- 
ing ; the privacy of their homes : all these form barriers 
between themselves and their observers which it is almost 
impossible to pass \ 

Nevertheless, by much diplomacy and perseverance 
I have succeeded in surmounting most of the obstacles 
which have turned back so many others before me. I there- 
fore trust that the minute particulars which I have given 
in this work will be accepted as a record of all that it is 
useful to know about the religious ceremonies and ritual 
of the Hindus. 

I have divided this work into three parts. The first 
presents a general purview of society in India, and con- 
tains details concerning all classes of its inhabitants. In 

1 Since the Abbe wrote, vast stores of Brahminical lore have been 
brought to light by enterprising savants in Europe, especially by Professor 
Max Miiller. — Ed. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 13 

Hie second part I have discussed the Brahmins more par- 
ticularly, both in themselves and in relation to other castes. 
The third part contains particulars of the religious tenets 
and deities of India. 

Among the papers which are published separately, as 
Appendices, there is one on the Jains which I hope will be 
read not without interest. These schismatics are to be 
found in great numbers in the western provinces of the 
Peninsula, and especially in Malabar, where they represent 
the majority of the population. They form a perfectly 
distinct class, and differ widely from the Brahmins in many 
essential points of doctrine and practice. 



PART I 

GENERAL VIEW OF SOCIETY IN INDIA, 
AND GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CASTE SYSTEM 

CHAPTER I 

Division and Subdivision of Castes. — Castes peculiar to Certain Pro- 
vinces. — Particular Usages of some Castes. — Division of Castes 
founded on Parentage. — Subordination of Castes. — Outward Signs 
of certain Castes. — Division of Caste-groups into Right-hand and 
Left-hand. 

The word caste is derived from the Portuguese, and is 
used in Europe to designate the different tribes or classes 
into which the people of India are divided l . The most 
ordinary classification, and at the same time the most 
ancient, divides them into four main castes. The first 
and most distinguished of all is that of Brahmana, or 
Brahmins ; the second in rank is that of Kshatriyas, or 
Rajahs ; the third the Vaisyas, or Landholders and Mer- 
chants ; and the fourth the Sudras, or Cultivators and 
Menials. 

The functions proper to each of these four main castes 
are : for Brahmins, priesthood and its various duties ; for 
Kshatriyas, military service in all its branches ; for Vaisyas, 
agriculture, trade, and cattle-breeding ; and for Sudras, 
general servitude. But I will describe more fully hereafter 
the several social distinctions which are attached to each 
of them. 

Each of the four main castes is subdivided into many 
others, the number of which it is difficult to determine 

1 The Sanskrit word is Varna = colour, thus showing that upon the 
difference of colour between the Aryan Brahmins and the aboriginal 
inhabitants the distinction of caste was originally founded. — Pope. 



THE FOUR MAIN CASTES 15 

because the subdivisions vary according to locality, and 
a sub-caste existing in one province is not necessarily found 
in another. 

Amongst the Brahmins of the south of the Peninsula, 
for example, there are to be found three or four principal 
divisions, and each of these again is subdivided into at 
least twenty others. The lines of demarcation between 
them are so well defined as to prevent any kind of union 
between one sub-caste and another, especially in the case 
of marriage. 

The Kshatriyas and Vaisyas are also split up into many 
divisions and subdivisions. In Southern India neither 
Kshatriyas nor Vaisyas are very numerous ; but there are 
considerable numbers of the former in Northern India. 
Howbeit, the Brahmins assert that the true Kshatriya 
caste no longer exists, and that those who pass for such 
are in reality a debased race. 

The Sudra caste is divided into most sub-castes. Nobody 
in any of the provinces where I have lived has ever been 
able to inform me as to the exact number and names of 
them. It is a common saying, however, that there are 
18 chief sub-castes, which are again split up into 108 lesser 
divisions. 

The Sudras are the most numerous of the four main 
castes. They form, in fact, the mass of the population, 
and added to the Pariahs, or Outcastes, they represent at 
least nine-tenths of the inhabitants. When we consider 
that the Sudras possess almost a monopoly of the various 
forms of artisan employment and manual labour, and that 
in India no person can exercise two professions at a time, 
it is not surprising that the numerous individuals who 
form this main caste are distributed over so many distinct 
branches. 

However, there are several classes of Sudras that exist 
only in certain provinces. Of all the provinces that 
I lived in, the Dravidian, or Tamil, country is the one 
where the ramifications of caste appeared to me most 
numerous. There are not nearly so many ramifications of 
caste in Mysore or the Deccan. Nowhere in these latter 
provinces have I come across castes corresponding to 
those which are known in the Tamil country under the 



1(> CASTES PECULIAR TO CERTAIN PROVINCES 

names of MoodeUy, Agambady, Nattaman, Totiyar, Udaiyan, 
VcUeyen, Upiliyen, Pollen, and several others 1 . 

It should be remarked, however, that those Sudra castes 
which are occupied exclusively in employments indispens- 
able to all civilized societies are to be found everywhere 
under names varying with the languages of different 
localities. Of such I may cite, amongst others, the gar- 
deners, the shepherds, the weavers, the Panchalas (the 
five castes of artisans, comprising the carpenters, gold- 
smiths, blacksmiths, founders, and in general all workers 
in metals), the manufacturers and venders of oil, the 
fishermen, the potters, the washermen, the barbers, and 
some others. All these form part of the great main caste 
of Sudras ; but the different castes of cultivators hold the 
first rank and disdainfully regard as their inferiors all 
those belonging to the professions just mentioned, refusing 
to eat with those who practise them. 

In some districts there are castes which are not to be 
met with elsewhere, and which may be distinguished by 
peculiarities of their own. I am not aware, for example, 
that the very remarkable caste of Nairs, whose women 
enjoy the privilege of possessing several husbands, is to be 
found anywhere but in Travancore 2 . Amongst these same 
people, again, is another distinct caste called Nambudiri, 
which observes one abominable and revolting custom. The 
girls of this caste are usually married before the age of 
puberty ; but if a girl who has arrived at an age when 
the signs of puberty are apparent happens to die before 
having had intercourse with a man, caste custom rigorously 
demands that the inanimate corpse of the deceased shall 
be subjected to a monstrous connexion. For this purpose 
the girl's parents are obliged to procure by a present of 
money some wretched fellow willing to consummate such 
a disgusting form of marriage : for were the marriage 

1 Moodelly, ' chief man ' or highly respectable trader. Agambady, he 
who performs menial offices in temples or palaces. Nattaman, a caste of 
cultivators. Totiyar, a caste of labourers. Udaiyan, a potter. Yaleyen, 
a fisherman. Upiliyen, salt manufacturer. Fallen, agriculturist. — Ed. 

2 It would be more correct to say West Coast. Moreover, although 
Xair women are commonly described as polyandrous, they are not really 
so, for though they enjoy the privilege of changing their husbands, they 
do not entertain more than one husband at a time. — Ed. 



CASTES PECULIAR TO CERTAIN PROVINCES 17 

not consummated the family would consider itself dis- 
honoured \ 

The caste of Kullars, or robbers, who exercise their 
calling as an hereditary right, is found only in the Marava 
country, which borders on the coast, or fishing, districts. 
The rulers of the country are of the same caste. They 
regard a robber's occupation as discreditable neither to 
themselves nor to their fellow castemen, for the simple 
reason that they consider robbery a duty and a right 
sanctioned by descent. They are not ashamed of their 
caste or occupation, and if one were to ask of a Kullar to 
what people he belonged he would coolly answer, ' I am 
a robber ! ' This caste is looked upon in the district of 
Madura, where it is widely diffused, as one of the most 
distinguished among the Sudras. 

There exists in the same part of the country another 
caste, known as the Totiyars, in which brothers, uncles, 
nephews, and other near relations are all entitled to possess 
their wives in common. 

In Eastern Mysore there is a caste called Morsa-Okkala- 
Makkalu, in which, when the mother of a family gives her 
eldest daughter in marriage, she is obliged to submit to 
the amputation of two joints of the middle finger and of 
the ring finger of the right hand. And if the bride's mother 
be dead, the bridegroom's mother, or in default of her the 

1 Whatever may have been the case in the days of the Abbe, these 
customs no longer exist. In regard to this, Mr. W. Logan, in his Manual 
of Malabar, writes thus : ' To make tardy retribution — if it deserves 
such a name — to women who die unmarried, the corpse, it is said, 
cannot be burnt till a tali string (the Hindu equivalent of the wedding- 
ring of Europe) is tied round the neck of the corpse, while lying on the 
funeral pile, by a competent relative. Nambudiris are exceedingly 
reticent in regard to their funeral ceremonies and observances, and the 
Abbe Dubois' account of what was related to him regarding other 
observances at this strange funeral-pile marriage requires confirmation.' 
Careful inquiries made of the leading members of the Nambudiri com- 
munity and of others in Malabar who have an intimate knowledge of 
Nambudiri customs have convinced me that the Abbe must have mis- 
understood his informant in regard to the practice which he records 
here. What is done in such a case is merely to perform the religious 
rites, usually associated with Hindu marriages, over the dead body of 
the woman before the corpse is cremated. By marriage here is meant 
merely the tying of the tali (the emblem of marriage) and not the act 
of consummation of marriage. — Ed. 



18 SPECIAL CASTE CUSTOMS 

mother of the nearest relative, must submit to this eruel 
mutilation 1 . 

Many other castes exist in various districts which are 
distinguished by practices no less foolish than those above 
mentioned. 

Generally speaking, there are few castes which are not 
distinguished by some special custom quite apart from the 
peculiar religious usages and ceremonies which the com- 
munity may prescribe to guarantee or sanction civil con- 
tracts. In the cut and colour of their clothes and in the 
style of wearing them, in the peculiar shape of their jewels 
and in the manner in which they are displayed on various 
parts of the person, the various castes have many rules, 
each possessing its own significance. Some observe rites 
of their own in their funeral and marriage ceremonies : 
others possess ornaments which they alone may use, or 
flags of certain colours, for various ceremonies, which no 
other caste may carry. Yet, absurd as some of these 
practices may appear, they arouse neither contempt nor 
dislike in members of other castes which do not admit 
them. The most perfect toleration is the rule in such 
matters. As long as a caste conforms on the whole to the 
recognized rules of decorum it is permitted to follow its 
own bent in its domestic affairs without interruption, and 
no other castes ever think of blaming or even criticizing 
it, although its practices may be in direct opposition to 
their own. 

There are, nevertheless, some customs which, although 
scrupulously observed in the countries where they exist, 
are so strongly opposed to the rules of decency and decorum 
generally laid down that they are spoken of with dis- 
approbation and sometimes with horror by the rest of the 
community. The following may be mentioned among 
practices of this nature. 

In the interior of Mysore, women are obliged to accom- 
pany the male inmates of the house whenever the latter 
retire for the calls of nature, and to cleanse them with 
water afterwards. This practice, which is naturally viewed 

1 This custom is no longer observed ; instead of the two ringers being 
amputated, they are now merely bound together and thus rendered unfit 
for use. — Ed. 



USE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS 19 

with disgust in other parts of the country, is here regarded 
as a sign of good breeding and is most carefully observed 1 . 

The use of intoxicating liquors, which is condemned by 
respectable people throughout almost the whole of India, 
is nevertheless permitted amongst the people who dwell in 
the jungles and hill tracts of the West Coast. There the 
leading castes of Sudras, not excepting even the women 
and children, openly drink arrack, the brandy of the 
country, and toddy, the fermented juice of the palm. 
Each inhabitant in those parts has his toddy-dealer, who 
regularly brings him a daily supply and takes in return an 
equivalent in grain at harvest time. 

The Brahmin inhabitants of these parts are forbidden 
a like indulgence under the penalty of exclusion from 
caste. But they supply the defect by opium, the use of 
which, although universally interdicted elsewhere, is never- 
theless considered much less objectionable than the use of 
intoxicating liquors. 

The people of these damp and unhealthy districts have 
no doubt learnt by experience that a moderate use of 
spirits or opium is necessary for the preservation of health, 
and that it protects them, partially at any rate, against 
the ill effects of the malarious miasma amidst which they 
are obliged to live. Nothing indeed but absolute necessity 
could have induced them to contravene in this way one 
of the most venerable precepts of Hindu civilization. 

The various classes of Sudras who dwell in the hills of 
the Carnatic observe amongst their domestic regulations 
a practice as peculiar as it is disgusting. Both men and 
women pass their lives in a state of uncleanness and never 
wash their clothes. When once they have put on cloths 
fresh from the looms of the weavers they do not leave 
them off until the material actually drops from rottenness. 
One can imagine the filthy condition of these cloths after 
they have been worn day and night for several months 
soaked with perspiration and soiled with dirt, especially 
in the case of the women, who continually use them for 
wiping their hands, and who never change their garments 
until wear and tear have rendered them absolutely useless. 

1 If this custom ever existed, the spread of education has effectually 
put a stop to it. — Ed. 



20 A SABBATH OF THE 'LINGAYATS' 

Yet this revolting habit is most religiously observed, 
and, if anybody were so rash as to wash but once in water 
the cloths with which he or she is covered, exclusion from 
caste would be the inevitable consequence. This custom, 
however, may be due to the scarcity of water, for in this 
part of the country there are only a few stagnant ponds, 
which would very soon be contaminated if all the in- 
habitants of a village were allowed to wash their garments 
in them. 

Many religious customs are followed only by certain 
sects, and are of purely local character. For instance, it 
is only in the districts of Western Mysore that I have 
observed Monday in each week kept nearly in the same 
way as Sunday is among Christians. On that day the 
villagers abstain from ordinary labour, and particularly 
from such as, like ploughing, requires the use of oxen and 
kine. Monday is consecrated to Basava (the Bull), and 
is set apart for the special worship of that deity. Hence 
it is a day of rest for their cattle rather than for themselves. 

This practice, however, is not in vogue except in the 
districts where the Lingayats, or followers of Siva 1 , pre- 
dominate. This sect pays more particular homage to the 
Bull than the rest of the Hindus ; and, in the districts 
where it predominates, not only keeps up the strict observ- 
ance of the day thus consecrated to the divinity, but forces 
other castes to follow its example. 

Independently of the divisions and subdivisions common 
to all castes, one may further observe in each caste close 
family alliances cemented by intermarriage. Hindus of 
good family avoid as far as possible intermarriage with 
families outside their own circle. They always aim at 
marrying their children into the families which are already 

1 Mr. L. Rice, in his Mysore and Coorg, remarks : ' Lingayats : The 
distinctive mark of this caste is the wearing on the person of a Jangama 
lingam, or portable linga. It is a small black stone about the size of 
an acorn, and is enshrined in a silver box of peculiar shape, which is 
worn suspended from the neck or tied round the arm. The followers of 
Basava (the founder of the sect, whose name literally means Bull, was 
in fact regarded as the incarnation of Nandi, the bull of Siva) are properly 
called Liugavantas, but Lingayats has become a well-known designation, 
though not used by themselves, the name Sivabhakta or Sivachar being 
one they generally assume.' — Ed. 



CLOSE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIPS 21 

allied to them, and the nearer the relationship the more 
easily are marriages contracted. A widower is remarried 
to his deceased wife's sister, an uncle marries his niece, 
and a first cousin his first cousin. Persons so related 
possess an exclusive privilege of intermarrying, upon the 
ground of such relationship ; and, if they choose, they 
can prevent any other union and enforce their own pre- 
ferential right, however old, unsuited, infirm, and poor 
they may be 1 . 

In this connexion, however, several strange and ridiculous 
distinctions are made. An uncle may marry the daughter 
of his sister, but in no case may he marry the daughter of 
his brother. A brother's children may marry a sister's 
children, but the children of two brothers or of two sisters 
may not intermarry. Among descendants from the same 
stock the male line always has the right of contracting 
marriage with the female line ; but the children of the 
same line may never intermarry. 

The reason given for this custom is that children of the 
male line, as also those of the female line, continue from 
generation to generation to call themselves brothers and 
sisters for as long a time as it is publicly recognized that 
they spring from the same stock. A man would be marry- 
ing his sister, it would be said, if the children of either the 
male or the female line intermarried amongst themselves ; 
whereas the children of the male line do not call the children 
of the female line brothers and sisters, and vice versa, but 
call each other by special names expressive of the relation- 
ship. Thus a man can, and even must, marry the daughter 
of his sister, but never the daughter of his brother. A 
male first cousin marries a female first cousin, the daughter 
of his maternal aunt ; but in no case may he marry the 
daughter of his paternal uncle. 

This rule is universally and invariably observed by all 
castes, from the Brahmin to the Pariah. It is obligatory 
on the male line to unite itself with the female line. Agree- 
ably to this a custom has arisen which so far as I know 
is peculiar to the Brahmins. They are all supposed to 
know the gotram or stock from which they spring : that is 

1 This custom is gradually giving way now amongst the higher castes. 
—Ed. 



22 VAISYAS AND SUDRAS 

to say, they know who was the ancient Muni or devotee 
from whom they descend, and they always take care, in 
order to avoid intermarriage with a female descendant of 
this remote priestly ancestor, to marry into a gotram other 
than their own. 

Hindus who cannot contract a suitable marriage amongst 
their own relations are nevertheless bound to marry in 
their own caste, and even in that subdivision of it to which 
they belong. In no case are they permitted to contract 
marriages with strangers. Furthermore, persons belonging 
to a caste in one part of the country cannot contract 
marriages with persons of the same caste in another part, 
even though they may be precisely the same castes under 
different names. Thus the Tamil Yedeyers and the Canarese 
Uppareru would never consent to take wives from the 
Telugu Gollavaru and the Tamil Pillay, although the first 
two are, except for their names, identical with the second 
two. 

The most distinguished of the four main castes into 
which the Hindus were originally separated by their first 
legislators is, as we have before remarked, that of the 
Brahmins. After them come the Kshatriyas, or Rajahs. 
Superiority of rank is at present warmly contested between 
the Vaisyas, or merchants, and the Sudras, or cultivators. 
The former appear to have almost entirely lost their 
superiority except in the Hindu books, where they are 
invariably placed before the Sudras. In ordinary life the 
latter hold themselves to be superior to the Vaisyas, and 
consider themselves privileged to mark their superiority in 
many respects by treating them with contumely. 

With regard to the Vaisya caste an almost incredible 
but nevertheless well-attested peculiarity is everywhere 
observable. There is not a pretty woman to be found in 
the caste. I have never had much to do with the women 
of the Vaisya caste ; I cannot therefore without injustice 
venture to add my testimony to that of others on this 
subject ; but I confess that the few Vaisya women I have 
seen from time to time were not such as to afford me 
an ocular refutation of the popular prejudice. However, 
Vaisya women are generally wealthy, and they manage 
to make up for their lack of beauty by their elegant attire. 



SUB-DIVISIONS OF CASTES 23 

Even the Brahmins do not hold the highest social rank 
undisputed. The Panchalas, or five classes of artisans 
already mentioned, refuse, in some districts, to acknow- 
ledge Brahmin predominance, although these five classes 
themselves are considered to be of very low rank amongst 
the Sudras and are everywhere held in contempt. Brahmin 
predominance is also still more warmly contested by the 
Jains, of whom I have treated in one of the Appendices to 
this work. 

As to the particular subdivisions of each caste it is 
difficult to decide the order of hierarchy observed amongst 
them. Sub-castes which are despised in one district are 
often greatly esteemed in another, according as they con- 
duct themselves with greater propriety or follow more 
important callings. Thus the caste to which the ruler of 
a country belongs, however low it may be considered 
elsewhere, ranks amongst the highest in the ruler's own 
dominions, and every member of it derives some reflection 
of dignity from its chief. 

After all, public opinion is the surest guide of caste 
superiority amongst the Sudras, and a very slight acquain- 
tance with the customs of a province and with the private 
life of its inhabitants will suffice for fixing the position 
which each caste has acquired by common consent. 

In general it will be found that those castes are most 
honoured who are particular in keeping themselves pure 
by constant bathing and by abstaining from animal 
food, who are exact in the observance of marriage regula- 
tions, who keep their women shut up and punish them 
severely when they err, and who resolutely maintain the 
customs and privileges of their order. 

Of all the Hindus the Brahmins strive most to keep up 
appearances of outward and inward purity by frequent 
ablutions and severe abstinence not only from meat and 
everything that has contained the principle of life, but 
also from several natural products of the earth which 
prejudice and superstition teach them to be impure and 
defiling. It is chiefly to the scrupulous observance of 
such customs that the Brahmins owe the predominance of 
their illustrious order, and the reverence and respect with 
which they are everywhere treated. 



24 RICJHT-HAXD AND LEFT-HAND FACTIONS 

Amongst the different classes of Sudras, those who 
permit widow remarriage are considered the most abject, 
and. except the Pariahs, I know very few castes in which 
such marriages are allowed to take place openly and with 
the sanction of the caste l . 

The division into castes is the paramount distinction 
amongst the Hindus ; but there is still another division, 
that of sects. The two best known are those of Siva and 
Vishnu, which are again divided into a large number of 
others. 

There are several castes, too, which may be distinguished 
by certain marks painted on the forehead or other parts of 
the body. 

The first three of the four main castes, that is to say 
the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, are distinguished 
by a thin cord hung across from the left shoulder to the 
right hip. But this cord is also worn by the Jains and even 
by the Panchalas, or five castes of artisans, so one is apt to 
be deceived by it. 

From what has been said it will appear that the name 
of a caste forms after all its best indication. It was thus 
that the tribes of Israel were distinguished. The names of 
several of the Hindu castes have a known meaning ; but 
for the most part they date from such ancient times that it 
is impossible to find out their significance. 

There is yet another division more general than any 
I have referred to yet, namely, that into Right-hand and 
Left-hand factions. This appears to be but a modern 
invention, since it is not mentioned in any of the ancient 
books of the country ; and I have been assured that it is 
unknown in Northern India. Be that as it may, I do not 
believe that any idea of this baneful institution, as it exists 
at the present day, ever entered the heads of those wise 
lawgivers who considered they had found in caste distinc- 
tions the best guarantee for the observance of the laws 
which they prescribed for the people. 

This division into Right-hand and Left-hand factions, 
whoever invented it, has turned out to be the most direful 

1 Remarriage of virgin widows is one of the foremost planks in the 
platform of Social Reform, but it is opposed violently by the ortho- 
dox. — En. 



OPPOSITION BETWEEN FACTIONS 25 

disturber of the public peace. It has proved a perpetual 
source of riots, and the cause of endless animosity amongst 
the natives. 

Most castes belong either to the Left-hand or Right-hand 
faction. The former comprises the Vaisyas or trading 
classes, the Panchalas or artisan classes, and some of the 
low Sudra castes. It also contains the lowest caste, namely, 
the Chucklers or leather- workers, who are looked upon as 
its chief support. 

To the Right-hand faction belong most of the higher 
castes of Sudras. The Pariahs are its chief support, as 
a proof of which they glory in the title Valangai-Mougattar, 
or friends of the Right-hand. In the disputes and con- 
flicts which so often take place between the two factions it 
is always the Pariahs who make the most disturbance and 
do the most damage. 

The Brahmins, Rajahs, and several classes of Sudras are 
content to remain neutral, and take no part in these 
quarrels. They are often chosen as arbiters in the differ- 
ences which the two factions have to settle between them- 
selves. 

The opposition between the two factions arises from 
certain exclusive privileges to which both lay claim. But 
as these alleged privileges are nowhere clearly defined and 
recognized, they result in confusion and uncertainty, and 
are with difficulty capable of settlement. In these circum- 
stances one cannot hope to conciliate both parties ; all 
that one can do is to endeavour to compromise matters as 
far as possible. 

When one faction trespasses on the so-called rights of 
the other, tumults arise which spread gradually over large 
tracts of territory, afford opportunity for excesses of all 
kinds, and generally end in bloody conflicts. The Hindu, 
ordinarily so timid and gentle in all other circumstances of 
life, seems to change his nature completely on occasions 
like these. There is no danger that he will not brave in 
maintaining what he calls his rights, and rather than 
sacrifice a tittle of them he will expose himself without fear 
to the risk of losing his life. 

I have several times witnessed instances of these popular 
insurrections excited by the mutual pretensions of the two 



26 RIOTOUS DISTURBANCES 

factions and pushed to such an extreme of fury that the 
presence of a military force has been insufficient to quell 
them, to allay the clamour, or to control the excesses in 
which the contending factions consider themselves entitled 
to indulge. 

Occasionally, when the magistrates fail to effect a re- 
conciliation by peaceful means, it is necessary to resort to 
force in order to suppress the disturbances. I have some- 
times seen these rioters stand up against several discharges 
of artillery without exhibiting any sign of submission. 
And when at last the armed force has succeeded in restoring 
order it is only for a time. At the very first opportunity 
the rioters are at work again, regardless of the punishment 
they have received, and quite ready to renew the conflict 
as obstinately as before. Such are the excesses to which 
the mild and peaceful Hindu abandons himself when his 
courage is aroused by religious and political fanaticism. 

The rights and privileges for which the Hindus are ready 
to fight such sanguinary battles appear highly ridiculous, 
especially to a European. Perhaps the sole cause of the 
contest is the right to wear slippers or to ride through 
the streets in a palanquin or on horseback during marriage 
festivals. Sometimes it is the privilege of being escorted 
on certain occasions by armed retainers, sometimes that 
of having a trumpet sounded in front of a procession, or 
of being accompanied by native musicians at public cere- 
monies. Perhaps it is simply the particular kind of musical 
instrument suitable to such occasions that is in dispute ; 
or perhaps it may be the right of carrying flags of certain 
colours or certain devices during these ceremonies. Such 
at any rate are a few of the privileges for which Hindus 
are ready to cut each other's throats. 

It not unfrequently happens that one faction makes an 
attack on the rights, real or pretended, of the other. There- 
upon the trouble begins, and soon becomes general if it 
is not appeased at the very outset by prudent and vigorous 
measures on the part of the magistracy. 

I could instance very many examples bearing on this 
fatal distinction between Right-hand and Left-hand ; but 
what I have already said is enough to show the spirit which 
animates the Hindus in this matter. I once witnessed 



PETTY CAUSES OF DISPUTE 27 

a dispute of this nature between the Pariahs and Chuckhrs, 
or leather-workers. There seemed reason to fear such 
disastrous consequences throughout the whole district in 
question, that many of the more peaceful inhabitants began 
to desert their villages and to carry away their goods and 
chattels to a place of safety, just as is done when the country 
is threatened by the near approach of a Mahratta army. 
However, matters did not reach this extremity. The 
principal inhabitants of the district opportunely offered to 
arbitrate in the matter, and they succeeded by diplomacy 
and conciliation in smoothing away the difficulties and in 
appeasing the two factions, who were only awaiting the 
signal to attack each other. 

One would not easily guess the cause of this formidable 
commotion. It simply arose from the fact that a Chuckler 
had dared to appear at a public ceremony with red flowers 
stuck in his turban, a privilege which the Pariahs alleged 
to belong exclusively to the Right-hand faction 1 ! 



CHAPTER II 

Advantages resulting from Caste Divisions. — Similar Divisions amongst 
many Ancient Nations. 

Many persons studyso imperfectly the spirit and character 
of the different nations that inhabit the earth, and the in- 
fluence of climate on their manners, customs, predilections, 
and usages, that they are astonished to find how widely 
such nations differ from each other. Trammelled by the 
prejudices of their own surroundings, such persons think 
nothing well regulated that is not included in the polity 
and government of their own country. They would like 
to see all nations of the earth placed on precisely the same 
footing as themselves. Everything which differs from their 
own customs they consider either uncivilized or ridiculous. 

1 These faction fights have gradually disappeared under the civilizing 
influences of education and good government ; and if they ever occur 
at all, are confined to the lowest castes and never spread beyond the 
limits of a village. The distinctions between the two factions, however, 
still exist. — Ed. 



28 PREJUDICES AGAINST CASTE 

Now, although man's nature is pretty much the same all 
the world over, it is subject to so many differentiations 
caused by soil, climate, food, religion, education, and other 
circumstances peculiar to different countries, that the 
system of civilization adopted by one people would plunge 
another into a state of barbarism and cause its complete 
downfall. 

I have heard some persons, sensible enough in other 
respects, but imbued with all the prejudices that they have 
brought with them from Europe, pronounce what appears 
to me an altogether erroneous judgement in the matter of 
caste divisions amongst the Hindus. In their opinion, 
caste is not only useless to the body politic, it is also ridi- 
culous, and even calculated to bring trouble and disorder 
on the people. For my part, having lived many years on 
friendly terms with the Hindus, I have been able to study 
their national life and character closely, and I have arrived 
at a quite opposite decision on this subject of caste. I 
believe caste division to be in many respects the chef- 
d'oeuvre, the happiest effort, of Hindu legislation. I am 
persuaded that it is simply and solely due to the distribu- 
tion of the people into castes that India did not lapse into 
a state of barbarism, and that she preserved and perfected 
the arts and sciences of civilization whilst most other 
nations of the earth remained in a state of barbarism. 
I do not consider caste to be free from many great draw- 
backs ; but I believe that the resulting advantages, in the 
case of a nation constituted like the Hindus, more than 
outweigh the resulting evils. 

To establish the justice of this contention we have only 
to glance at the condition of the various races of men who 
live in the same latitude as the Hindus, and to consider 
the past and present status of those among them whose 
natural disposition and character have not been influenced 
for good by the purifying doctrines of Revealed Religion. 
We can judge what the Hindus would have been like, had 
they not been held within the pale of social duty by caste 
regulations, if we glance at neighbouring nations west of 
the Peninsula and east of it beyond the Ganges as far as 
China. In China itself a temperate climate and a form 
of government peculiarly adapted to a people unlike any 



ADVANTAGES OF CASTE 29 

other in the world have produced the same effect as the 
distinction of caste among the Hindus. 

After much careful thought I can discover no other 
reason except caste which accounts for the Hindus not 
having fallen into the same state of barbarism as their 
neighbours and as almost all nations inhabiting the torrid 
zone. Caste assigns to each individual his own profession 
or calling ; and the handing down of this system from 
father to son, from generation to generation, makes it 
impossible for any person or his descendants to change 
the condition of life which the law assigns to him for any 
other. Such an institution was probably the only means 
that the most clear-sighted prudence could devise for main- 
taining a state of civilization amongst a people endowed 
with the peculiar characteristics of the Hindus. 

We can picture what would become of the Hindus if 
they were not kept within the bounds of duty by the rules 
and penalties of caste, by looking at the position of the 
Pariahs, or outcastes of India, who, checked by no moral 
restraint, abandon themselves to their natural propensities. 
Anybody who has studied the conduct and character of 
the people of this class — which, by the way. is the largest 
of any in India 2 — will agree with me that a State consist- 
ing entirely of such inhabitants could not long endure, 
and could not fail to lapse before long into a condition of 
barbarism. For my own part, being perfectly familiar with 
this class, and acquainted with its natural predilections 
and sentiments, I am persuaded that a nation of Pariahs 
left to themselves would speedily become worse than the 
hordes of cannibals who wander in the vast wastes of 
Africa, and would soon take to devouring each other. 

I am no less convinced that if the Hindus were not kept 
within the limits of duty and obedience by the system of 
caste, and by the penal regulations attached to each phase 
of it, they would soon become just what the Pariahs are, 
and probably something still worse. The whole country 

1 This is true only of Southern India, where the Pariahs number 
5,000,000. They form one-seventh of the total population of the Madras 
Presidency. Of late years the degraded condition of these outcastes 
has attracted much attention, ami a great deal is now being done to 
elevate them morally and materially. — Ed. 



30 THE FOUNDATIONS OF CASTE 

would necessarily fall into a stale of hopeless anarchy, 
and, before the present generation disappeared, this nation, 
so polished under present conditions, would have to be 
reckoned amongst the most uncivilized of the world. 
The legislators of India, whoever they may have been, 
were far too wise and too well acquainted with the natural 
character of the people for whom they prescribed laws to 
leave it to the discretion or fancy of each individual to 
cultivate what knowledge he pleased, or to exercise, as 
seemed best to him, any of the various professions, arts, 
or industries which are necessary for the preservation and 
well-being of a State. 

They set out from that cardinal principle common to all 
ancient legislators, that no person should be useless to the 
commonwealth. At the same time they recognized that 
they were dealing with a people who were indolent and 
careless by nature, and whose propensity to be apathetic 
was so aggravated by the climate in which they lived, that 
unless every individual had a profession or employment 
rigidly imposed upon him, the social fabric could not hold 
together and must quickly fall into the most deplorable 
state of anarchy. These ancient lawgivers, therefore, being 
well aware of the danger caused by religious and political 
innovations, and being anxious to establish durable and 
inviolable rules for the different castes comprising the 
Hindu nation, saw no surer way of attaining their object 
than by combining in an unmistakable manner those two 
great foundations of orderly government, religion and 
politics. Accordingly there is not one of their ancient 
usages, not one of their observances, which has not some 
religious principle or object attached to it. Everything, 
indeed, is governed by superstition and has religion for its 
motive. The style of greeting, the mode of dressing, the 
cut of clothes, the shape of ornaments and their manner of 
adjustment, the various details of the toilette, the archi- 
tecture of houses, the corners where the hearth is placed 
and where the cooking pots must stand, the manner of 
going to bed and of sleeping, the forms of civility and 
politeness that must be observed : all these are severely 
regulated. 

During the many years that I studied Hindu customs 



CASTE IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT 31 

1 cannot say that I ever observed a single one, however 
unimportant and simple, and, I may add, however filthy 
and disgusting, which did not rest on some religious prin- 
ciple or other. Nothing is left to chance ; everything is 
laid down by rule, and the foundation of all their customs 
is purely and simply religion. It is for this reason that the 
Hindus hold all their customs and usages to be inviolable, 
for, being essentially religious, they consider them as sacred 
as religion itself. 

And, be it noted, this plan of dividing the people into 
castes is not confined to the lawgivers of India. The 
wisest and most famous of all lawgivers, Moses, availed 
himself of the same institution, as being the one which 
offered him the best means of governing the intractable 
and rebellious people of whom he had been appointed the 
patriarch. 

The division of the people into castes existed also amongst 
the Egyptians. With them, as with the Hindus, the law 
assigned an occupation to each individual, which was 
handed down from father to son. It was forbidden to 
any man to have two professions, or to change his own. 
Each caste had a special quarter assigned to it, and people 
of a different caste were prohibited from settling there. 
Nevertheless there was this difference between the Egyptians 
and the Hindus : with the former all castes and all pro- 
fessions were held in esteem ; all employments, even of 
the meanest kind, were alike regarded as honourable ; 
and, although the priestly and military castes possessed 
peculiar privileges, nobody would have considered it 
anything but criminal to despise the classes whose work, 
whatever it happened to be, contributed to the general 
good 1 . With the Hindus, on the other hand, there are 
professions and callings to which prejudice attaches such 
degradation that those who follow them are universally 
despised by those castes which in the public estimation 
exercise higher functions. 

It must here be remarked, however, that the four great 
professions without which a civilized nation could not 
exist, namely, the army, agriculture, commerce, and weav- 

1 See what the illustrious Bossuet says on this point in his DivcuiM* 
sur VHistoire UniverseUe, Part III. — Dubois. 



32 CASTE AMONGST ANCIENT NATIONS 

ing, are held everywhere in the highest esteem. All castes, 
from the Brahmin to the Pariah, are permitted to follow 
the first three, and the fourth can be followed by all the 
principal classes of Sudras 1 . 

These same caste distinctions observable amongst Hindus 
exist likewise, with some differences, amongst the Arabs 
and Tartars. Probably, indeed, they were common to the 
majority of ancient nations. Cecrops, it will be remembered, 
separated the people of Athens into four tribes or classes, 
while their great lawgiver, Solon, upheld this distinction 
and strengthened it in several ways. Numa Pompilius, 
again, could devise no better way of putting an end to the 
racial hatred between Sabines and Romans than by separat- 
ing the body of the people into different castes and classes. 
The result of his policy was just what he had desired. Both 
Sabines and Romans, once amalgamated in this manner, 
forgot their national differences and thought only of those 
of their class or caste. 

Those who instituted the caste system could not but 
perceive that with nations in an embryonic stage the more 
class distinctions there are the more order and symmetry 
there must be, and the more easy it is to exercise control 
and preserve order. This, indeed, is the result which caste 
classification amongst the Hindus has achieved. The shame 
which would reflect on a whole caste if the faults of one of 
its individual members went unpunished guarantees that 
the caste will execute justice, defend its own honour, and 
keep all its members within the bounds of duty. For, be 
it noted, every caste has its own laws and regulations, or 
rather, we may say, its own customs, in accordance with 
which the severest justice is meted out, just as it was by 
the patriarchs of old. 

Thus in several castes adultery is punishable by death 2 . 
Girls or widows who succumb to temptation are made to 
suffer the same penalty as those who have seduced them. 
The largest temple of the town of Conjeeveram, in the 
Carnatic, an immense building, was constructed, so it is 

1 This statement is not quite correct, for in Southern India, at any 
rate, some classes of Pariahs are most expert weavers, and are honoured 
as such throughout the country. — Ed. 

2 This of course is no longer allowed by law. — Ed. 



CASTE PENALTIES 33 

said, by a rich Brahmin who had been convicted of having 
had illicit intercourse with a low-caste Pariah woman. 
He was, however, sentenced to this severe penalty, not so 
much on account of the immorality of his action, seeing 
that in the opinion of the Brahmins it was not immoral 
at all, but on account of the low-caste person who had 
been the partner of his incontinence. There are various 
kinds of delinquencies in connexion with which a caste 
may take proceedings, not only against the principal 
offenders, but against those who have taken any part 
whatever in them. Thus it is caste authority which, by 
means of its wise rules and prerogatives, preserves good 
order, suppresses vice, and saves Hindus from sinking into 
a state of barbarism. 

It may also be said that caste regulations counteract to 
a great extent the evil effects which would otherwise be 
produced on the national character by a religion that 
encourages the most unlicensed depravity of morals, as 
well in the decorations of its temples as in its dogmas 
and ritual. 

In India, where the princes and the aristocracy live in 
extreme indolence, attaching little importance to making 
their dependants happy and taking small pains to inculcate 
in them a sense of right and wrong, there are no other 
means of attaining these desirable ends and preserving 
good order than by authoritative rulings of the caste 
system. The worst of it is, these powers are not suffi- 
ciently wide, or rather they are too often relaxed. Many 
castes exercise them with severity in cases that are for the 
most part frivolous, but display an easy and culpable 
indulgence towards real and serious delinquencies. On the 
other hand, caste authority is often a check against abuses 
which the despotic rulers of the country are too apt to 
indulge in. Sometimes one may see, as the result of 
a caste order, the tradesmen and merchants of a whole 
district closing their shops, the labourers abandoning their 
fields, or the artisans leaving their workshops, all because 
of some petty insult or of some petty extortion suffered by 
some member of their caste ; and the aggrieved people will 
remain obstinately in this state of opposition until the injury 
has been atoned for and those responsible for it punished. 



34 PURITY OF HINDI' DESCENT 

Another advantage resulting from the caste system is 
the hereditary continuation of families and that purity of 
descent which is a peculiarity of the Hindus, and which 
consists in never mixing the blood of one family or caste 
with that of another. Marriages are confined to parties 
belonging to the same family, or at any rate the same 
caste. In India, at any rate, there can be no room for the 
reproach, so often deserved in European countries, that 
families have deteriorated by alliances with persons of low 
or unknown extraction. A Hindu of high caste can, 
without citing his title or producing his genealogical tree, 
trace his descent back for more than two thousand years 
without fear of contradiction. He can also, without any 
other passport than that of his high caste, and in spite of 
his poverty, present himself anywhere ; and he would be 
more courted for a marriage alliance than any richer man 
of less pure descent. Nevertheless, it is not to be denied 
that there are some districts where the people are not 
quite so particular about their marriages, though such 
laxity is blamed and held up to shame as an outrage on 
propriety, while those guilty of it take very good care to 
conceal it as much as possible from the public. 

Further, one would be justified in asserting that it is to 
caste distinctions that India owes the preservation of her 
arts and industries. For the same reason she would have 
reached a high standard of perfection in them had not the 
avarice of her rulers prevented it. It was chiefly to attain 
this object that the Egyptians were divided into castes, 
and that their laws assigned the particular place which 
each individual should occupy in the commonwealth. 
Their lawgivers no doubt considered that by this means 
all arts and industries would continue to improve from 
generation to generation, for men must needs do well 
that which they have always been in the habit of seeing 
done and which they have been constantly practising from 
their youth. 

This perfection in arts and manufactures would un- 
doubtedly have been attained by so industrious a people as 
the Hindus, if, as I have before remarked, the cupidity of 
their rulers had not acted as a check. As a matter of fact, 
no sooner has an artisan gained the reputation of excelling 



HINDU ARTS AND MANUFACTURES 35 

m his craft than he is at once carried off by order of the 
sovereign, taken to the palace, and there confined for the 
rest of his life, forced to toil without remission and with 
little or no reward. Under these circumstances, which are 
common to all parts of India under the government of 
native princes, it is hardly surprising that every art and 
industry is extinguished and all healthy competition 
deadened. This is the chief and almost the only reason 
why progress in the arts has been so slow among the 
Hindus, and why in this respect they are now far behind 
other nations who did not become civilized for many cen- 
turies after themselves. 

Their workmen certainly lack neither industry nor skill. 
In the European settlements, where they are paid according 
to their merit, many native artisans are to be met with 
whose work would do credit to the best artisans of the 
West. Moreover they feel no necessity to use the many 
European tools, whose nomenclature alone requires special 
study. One or two axes, as many saws and planes, all of 
them so rudely fashioned that a European workman would 
be able to do nothing with them — these are almost the 
only instruments that are to be seen in the hands of Hindu 
carpenters. The working materials of a journeyman gold- 
smith usually comprise a tiny anvil, a crucible, two or 
three small hammers, and as many files. With such 
simple tools the patient Hindu, thanks to his industry, 
can produce specimens of work which are often not to be 
distinguished from those imported at great expense from 
foreign countries. To what a standard of excellence would 
these men have attained if they had been from the earliest 
times subjected to good masters ! 

In order to form a just idea of what the Hindus would 
have done with their arts and manufactures if their natural 
industry had been properly encouraged, we have only to 
visit the workshop of one of their weavers or of one of 
their printers on cloth and carefully examine the instru- 
ments with which they produce those superb muslins, 
those superfine cloths, those beautiful coloured piece-goods, 
which are everywhere admired, and which in Europe occupy 
a high place among the principal articles of adornment. 
In manufacturing these magnificent stuffs the artisan uses 



36 COHESION OF CASTE COMMUNITIES 

his feet almost as much as his hands. Furthermore the 
weaving loom, and the whole apparatus for spinning the 
thread before it is woven, as well as the rest of the tools 
which he uses for the work, are so simple and so few that 
altogether they would hardly comprise a load for one man. 
Indeed it is by no means a rare sight to see one of these 
weavers changing his abode, and carrying on his back all 
that is necessary for setting to work the moment he arrives 
at his new home. 

Their printed calicoes, which are not less admired than 
their muslins, are manufactured in an equally simple 
manner. Three or four bamboos to stretch the cloth, 
as many brushes for applying the colours, with a few 
pieces of potsherd to contain them, and a hollow stone 
for pounding them : these are pretty well all their stock 
in trade. 

I will venture to express one other remark on the political 
advantages resulting from caste distinctions. In India 
parental authority is but little respected : and parents, 
overcome doubtless by that apathetic indifference which 
characterizes Hindus generally, are at little pains, as I shall 
show later on, to inspire those feelings of filial reverence 
which constitute family happiness by enchaining the affec- 
tions of the children to the authors of their existence. 
Outward affection appears to exist between brothers and 
sisters, but in reality it is neither very strong nor very 
sincere. It quickly vanishes after the death of their 
parents, and subsequently, we may say, they only come 
together to fight and to quarrel. Thus, as the ties of 
blood relationship formed so insecure a bond between 
different members of a community, and guaranteed no 
such mutual assistance and support as were needed, it 
became necessary to bring families together in large caste 
communities, the individual members of which had a 
common interest in protecting, supporting, and defending 
each other. It was thus that the links of the Hindu social 
chain were so strongly and ingeniously forged that nothing 
was able to break them. 

This was the object which the ancient lawgivers of India 
attained by establishing the caste system, and they thereby 
acquired a title to honour unexampled in the history of 



CASTE SENTENCES :*7 

the world. Their work lias stood the test of thousands 

of years, and lias survived the lapse of time and the many 
revolutions to which this portion of the globe has been 
subjected. The Hindus have often passed beneath the 
yoke of foreign invaders, whose religions, laws, and customs 
have been very different from their own ; yet all efforts to 
impose foreign institutions on the people of India have 
been futile, and foreign occupation has never dealt more 
than a feeble blow against Indian custom. Above all, and 
before all, it was the caste system which protected them. 
Its authority was extensive enough to include sentences of 
death, as I have before remarked. The story is told, and 
the truth of it is incontestable, that a man of the Rajput 
caste was a few years ago compelled by the people of his 
own caste and by the principal inhabitants of his place of 
abode to execute, with his own hand, a sentence of death 
passed on his daughter. This unhappy girl had been dis- 
covered in the arms of a youth, who would have suffered 
the same penalty had he not evaded it by sudden flight. 

Nevertheless, although the penalty of death may be 
inflicted by some castes under certain circumstances, this 
form of punishment is seldom resorted to nowadays. When- 
ever it is thought to be indispensable, it is the father or 
the brother who is expected to execute it, in secrecy. 
Generally speaking, however, recourse is had by prefer- 
ence to the imposition of a fine and to various ignominious 
corporal punishments. As regards these latter, we may 
note as examples the punishments inflicted on women w T ho 
have forfeited their honour, such as shaving their heads, 
compelling them to ride through the public streets mounted 
on asses and with their faces turned towards the tail, 
forcing them to stand a long time with a basket of mud 
on their heads before the assembled caste people, throwing 
into their faces the ordure of cattle, breaking the cotton 
thread of those possessing the right to wear it, and ex- 
communicating the guilty from their caste \ 

1 The infliction of such punishments might nowadays be followed by 
prosecution in the Civil and Criminal Courts. — Ed. 



38 

CHAPTER III 

Expulsion from Caste. — Cases in which such Degradation is inflicted. — 

By whom inflicted. — Restoration to Caste. — Methods of effecting it. 

Of all kinds of punishment the hardest and most un- 
bearable for a Hindu is that which cuts him off and expels 
him from his caste. Those whose duty it is to inflict it 
are the gurus, of whom I shall have more to say in a sub- 
sequent chapter, and, in default of them, the caste headmen. 
These latter are usually to be found in every district, and 
it is to them that all doubtful or difficult questions affecting 
the caste system are referred. They call in, in order to 
help them to decide such questions, a few elders who are 
versed in the intricacies of the matters in dispute. 

This expulsion from caste, which follows either an in- 
fringement of caste usages or some public offence calculated 
if left unpunished to bring dishonour on the whole com- 
munity, is a kind of social excommunication, which deprives 
the unhappy person who suffers it of all intercourse with 
his fellow-creatures. It renders him, as it were, dead to 
the world, and leaves him nothing in common with the 
rest of society. In losing his caste he loses not only his 
relations and friends, but often his wife and his children, 
who would rather leave him to his fate than share his 
disgrace with him. Nobody dare eat with him or even 
give him a drop of water. If he has marriageable daughters 
nobody asks them in marriage, and in like manner his sons 
are refused wives. He has to take it for granted that 
wherever he goes he will be avoided, pointed at with scorn, 
and regarded as an outcaste. 

If after losing caste a Hindu could obtain admission into 
an inferior caste, his punishment would in some degree be 
tolerable ; but even this humiliating compensation is denied 
to him. A simple Sudra with any notions of honour and 
propriety would never associate or even speak with a 
Brahmin degraded in this manner. It is necessary, there- 
fore, for an outcaste to seek asylum in the lowest caste of 
Pariahs if he fail to obtain restoration to his own ; or else 
he is obliged to associate with persons of doubtful caste. 
There are always people of this kind, especially in the 



EXPULSION FROM CASTE 39 

quarters inhabited by Europeans; and unhappy is the 

man who puts trust in them ! A caste Hindu is often 
a thief and a bad character, but a Hindu without caste is 
almost always a rogue. 

Expulsion from caste is generally put in force without 
much formality. Sometimes it is due merely to personal 
hatred or caprice. Thus, when persons refuse, without 
any apparent justification, to attend the funeral or marriage 
ceremonies of their relations or friends, or when they happen 
not to invite the latter on similar occasions, the individuals 
thus slighted never fail to take proceedings in order to 
obtain satisfaction for the insult offered to them, and the 
arbitrators called in to decide the case usually pass a decree 
of excommunication. When a case is thus settled by 
arbitration, however, a sentence of excommunication does 
not bring upon the guilty person the same disgrace and the 
same penalties which are the lot of those whose offence 
offers no room for compromise. 

Otherwise it matters little whether the offence be deli- 
berate, whether it be serious or trivial, in determining 
that a person shall pay this degrading penalty. A Pariah 
who concealed his origin, mixed with other Hindus, entered 
their houses and ate with them without being recognized, 
would render those who had thus been brought into con- 
tact with him liable to ignominious expulsion from their 
caste. At the same time a Pariah guilty of such a daring 
act would inevitably be murdered on the spot, if his enter- 
tainers recognized him. 

A Sudra, too, who indulged in illicit intercourse witli 
a Pariah woman would be rigorously expelled from caste 
if his offence became known. 

A number of Brahmins assembled together for some 
family ceremony once admitted to their feast, without 
being aware of it, a Sudra who had gained admittance on 
the false assertion that he belonged to their caste. On the 
circumstance being discovered, these Brahmins were one 
and all outcasted, and were unable to obtain reinstatement 
until they had gone through all kinds of formalities and 
been subjected to considerable expense. 

I once witnessed amongst the Gollavarus, or shepherds, 
an instance of even greater severity. A marriage had been 



W INSTANCES OF CASTE VIOLATION 

arranged, and, in the presence of the family concerned, 
certain ceremonies which were equivalent to betrothal 
amongst ourselves had taken place. Before the actual 
celebration of the marriage, which was fixed for a con- 
siderable time afterwards, the bridegroom died. The 
parents of the girl, who was very young and pretty, there- 
upon married her to another man. This was in direct 
violation of the custom of the caste, which condemns to 
perpetual widowhood girls thus betrothed, even when, as 
in this case, the future bridegroom dies before marriage 
has been consummated. The consequence was that all 
the persons who had taken part in the second ceremony 
were expelled from caste, and nobody would contract 
marriage or have any intercourse whatever with them. 
A long time afterwards I met several of them, well advanced 
in age, who had been for this reason alone unable to obtain 
husbands or wives, as the case might be. 

Let me relate another instance. Eleven Brahmins 
travelling in company were obliged to cross a district 
devastated by war. They arrived hungry and tired in 
a village, which, contrary to their expectations, they found 
deserted. They had with them a small quantity of rice, 
but they could find no other pots to boil it in than some 
which had been left in the house of the village washerman. 
To touch these would constitute in the case of Brahmins 
an almost ineffaceable defilement. Nevertheless, suffering 
from hunger as they were, they swore mutual secrecy, and 
after washing and scouring the pots a hundred times they 
prepared their food in them. The rice was served and the 
repast consumed by all but one, who refused to partake 
of it, and who had no sooner returned home than he pro- 
ceeded to denounce the ten others to the chief Brahmins 
of the village. The news of such a scandal spread quickly, 
and gave rise to a great commotion amongst all classes of 
the inhabitants. An assembly was held. The delinquents 
were summoned and forced to appear. Warned before- 
hand, however, of the proceedings that were to be in- 
stituted against them, they took counsel together and 
agreed to answer unanimously, when called upon to explain, 
that it was the accuser himself who had committed the 
heinous sin and who had imputed it to them falsely and 



ATTACHMENT TO CASTE 1 1 

maliciously. The testimony of ten persons was calculated 

to carry more weight than that of one. The accused were 
consequently acquitted, while the accuser alone was igno- 
niiniously expelled from caste by the headmen, who, 
though they were perfectly sure of his innocence, were 
indignant at his treacherous disclosure. 

From what has been said, it will no longer be surprising 
to learn that Hindus are as much, nay, even more, attached 
to their caste than the gentry of Europe are to their rank. 
Prone to using the most disgustingly abusive language in 
their quarrels, they nevertheless easily forgive and forget 
such insulting epithets ; but if one should say of another 
that he is a man without caste, the insult would never be 
forgiven or forgotten. 

This strict and universal observance of caste and caste 
usages forms practically their whole social law. A very 
great number of people are to be found amongst them, to 
whom death would appear far more desirable than life, if, 
for example, the latter were sustained by eating cow's flesh 
or any food prepared by Pariahs and outcastes. 

It is this same caste feeling which gives rise to the con- 
tempt and aversion which they display towards all foreign 
nations, and especially towards Europeans, who, being as 
a rule but slightly acquainted with the customs and pre- 
judices of the country, are constantly violating them. 
Owing to such conduct the Hindus look upon them as 
barbarians totally ignorant of all principles of honour and 
good breeding. 

In several cases, at least, restoration to caste is an 
impossibility. But when the sentence of excommunication 
has been passed merely by relations, the culprit conciliates 
the principal members of his family and prostrates himself 
in a humble posture, and with signs of repentance, before 
his assembled castemen. He then listens without com- 
plaint to the rebukes which are showered upon him, receives 
the blows to which he is oftentimes condemned, and pays 
the fine which it is thought fit to impose upon him. Finally, 
after having solemnly promised to wipe out by good con- 
duct the taint resulting from his degrading punishment, 
he sheds tears of repentance, performs the sasktanga before 
the assembly, and then serves a feast to the persons present. 

C 3 



42 THE 'SASHTANGA' 

When all this is finished lie is looked upon as reinstated. 

The sashta?iga, by the way, is a sign or salute expressing 
humility, which is not only recognized amongst the Hindus 
and other Asiatic nations, but was in use amongst more 
ancient peoples. Instances of it are quoted in Scripture, 
where this extraordinary mark of respect is known as 
adoration, even when it is paid to simple mortals. {Vide 
Genesis xviii. 2 ; xix. 1 ; xxxiii. 3 ; xlii. 6 ; xliii. 26 ; 1. 
18, &c, &c.) In the same way the Egyptians, Chaldeans, 
and other nations mentioned in Holy Writ were acquainted 
with this method of reverent salutation and observed it 
under the same circumstances as the Hindus. As I shall 
often have occasion in this work to mention the sashtanga 
1 will give here a definition of it. The person who performs 
it lies prostrate, his face on the ground and his arms ex- 
tended beyond his head. It is called sashtanga from the 
prostration of the six members, because, when it is performed, 
the feet, the knees, the stomach, the chest, the forehead, 
and the arms must touch the earth. It is thus that pro- 
strations are made before persons of high degree, such as 
princes and priests. Children sometimes prostrate them- 
selves thus before their fathers. It is by no means rare 
to see Sudras of different classes performing sashtanga 
before Brahmins ; and it often happens that princes, before 
engaging an enemy, thus prostrate themselves before their 
armies drawn up in battle array \ 

When expulsion from caste is the result of some heinous 
offence, the guilty person who is readmitted into caste has 
to submit to one or other of the following ordeals : his 
tongue is slightly burnt with a piece of heated gold ; he is 
branded indelibly on different parts of his body with red- 
hot iron ; he is made to walk barefooted over red-hot 
embers ; or he is compelled to crawl several times under 
the belly of a cow. Finally, to complete his purification, 
he is made to drink the pancha-gavia. These words, of 
which a more detailed explanation will be given later on, 
signify literally the five things or substances derived from the 

1 Here and elsewhere the Abbe makes the mistake of interpreting 
saslUanga to mean ' the six angas,' or ' parts of the body.' Sashtanga 
(Saashtanga) really means with the eight jxirt* of the body, which are the 
two hands, the two feet, two knees, forehead, and breast. — Ed, 



UNPARDONABLE SINS OE CASTE t3 

body of a cow ; namely, milk, curds, ghee (clarified butter), 
dung and urine, which are mixed together. The last- 
named, urine, is looked upon as the most efficacious for 
purifying any kind of uncleanness. I have often seen 
superstitious Hindus following the cows to pasture, waiting 
for the moment when they could collect the precious liquid 
in vessels of brass, and carrying it away while still warm 
to their houses. I have also seen them waiting to catch it 
in the hollow of their hands, drinking some of it and rubbing 
their faces and heads with the rest. Rubbing it in this 
way is supposed to wash away all external uncleanness, 
and drinking it to cleanse all internal impurity. When 
this disgusting ceremony of the pa?icha-gavia is over, the 
person who has been reinstated is expected to give a great 
feast to the Brahmins who have collected from all parts to 
witness it. Presents of more or less value are also expected 
by them, and not until these are forthcoming does the 
guilty person obtain all his rights and privileges again. 

There are certain offences so heinous in the sight of 
Hindus, however, as to leave no hope of reinstatement to 
those who commit them. Such, for example, would be 
the crime of a Brahmin who had openly cohabited with 
a Pariah woman. Were the woman of any other caste, 
I believe that it would be possible for a guilty person, by 
getting rid of her and by repudiating any children he had 
had by her, to obtain pardon, after performing many 
purifying ceremonies and expending much money. But 
hopeless would be the case of the man who under any 
circumstances had eaten of cow's flesh. There would be 
no hope of pardon for him, even supposing he had com- 
mitted such an awful sacrilege under compulsion. 

It would be possible to cite several instances of strange 
and inflexible severity in the punishment of caste offences. 
When the last Mussulman Prince reigned in Mysore and 
sought to proselytize the whole Peninsula, he began by 
having several Brahmins forcibly circumcised, compelling 
them afterwards to eat cow's flesh as an unequivocal token 
of their renunciation of caste. Subsequently the people 
were freed from the yoke of this tyrant, and many of those 
who had been compelled to embrace the Mahomedan 
religion made every possible effort, and offered very large 



44 THE 'UNPARDONABLE SIN' OF HINDUISM 

sums, 1<> be readmitted to Hinduism. .Assemblies were 
held in different parts of the country to thoroughly consider 
their cases. It was everywhere decided that it was quite 
possible to purify the uncleanness of circumcision and of 
intercourse with Mussulmans. But the crime of eating 
cow's flesh, even under compulsion, was unanimously 
declared to be irredeemable and not to be effaced either 
by presents, or by fire, or by the pancha-gavia. 

A similar decision was given in the case of Sudras who 
found themselves in the same position, and who, after 
trying all possible means, were not more successful. One 
and all, therefore, were obliged to remain Mahomedans. 

A Hindu, of whatever caste, who has once had the 
misfortune to be excommunicated, can never altogether 
get rid of the stain of his disgrace. If he ever gets into 
trouble his excommunication is always thrown in his 
teeth. 

CHAPTER IV 

Antiquity and Origin of Caste. 

Apparently there is no existing institution older than 
the caste system of the Hindus. Greek and Latin authors 
who have written about India concur in thinking that it 
has been in force from time immemorial ; and certainly the 
unswerving observance of its rules seems to me an almost 
incontestable proof of its antiquity \ Under a solemn and 

1 Dr. Muir, in Old Sanskrit Texts, vol. i. p. 159, reviewing the texts 
which he had cited on this subject, says : — ' First, we have the set of 
accounts in which the four castes are said to have sprung from pro- 
genitors who were separately created ; but in regard to the manner of 
their creation we find the greatest diversity of statement. The most 
common story is that the castes issued from the mouth, arms, thighs, 
and feet of Purusha, or Brahma. The oldest extant passage in which 
this idea occurs, and from which all the later myths of a similar tenor 
have no doubt been borrowed, is to be found in the Purusha Sukta ; but 
it is doubtful whether, in the form in which it is there represented, this 
representation is anything more than an allegory. In some of the texts 
from the Bhagavata Purana traces of the same allegorical character 
may be perceived ; but in Manu and the Puranas the mystical import 
of the Yedic text disappears, and the figurative narration is hardened 
into a literal statement of fact. In the chapters of the Vishnu, Vayu, 
and Miirkandeya Puranas, where castes arc described as coeval with 



CASTE IN THE PURANAS 45 

unceasing obligation as the Hindus are to respect its usages, 
new and strange customs are things unheard of in their 
country. Any person who attempted to introduce such 
innovations would excite universal resentment and opposi- 
tion, and would be branded as a dangerous person. The 

creation, and as having been naturally distinguished by different guruu, 
or qualities, involving varieties of moral character, we are nevertheless 
allowed to infer that those qualities exerted no influence on the classes 
in which they were inherent, as the condition of the whole race during 
the Krita age is described as one of uniform perfection and happiness ; 
while the actual separation into castes did not take place, according to 
the Vayu Purana, until men had become deteriorated in the Treta age. 

' Second, in various passages from the Brahmanas epic poems, and 
Puranas, the creation of mankind is described without the least allusion 
to any separate production of the progenitors of the four castes. And 
whilst in the chapters where they relate the distinct formations of the 
tastes, the Puranas assign different natural dispositions to each class, 
they elsewhere represent all mankind as being at the creation uniformly 
distinguished by the quality of passion. In one text men are said to 
be the offspring of Vivasat ; in another his son Mami is said to be their 
progenitor, whilst in a third they are said to be descended from a female 
of the same name. The passage which declares Manu to have been the 
father of the human race explicitly affirms that men of all the four castes 
were descended from him. In another remarkable text the Mahabharata 
categorically asserts that originally there was no distinction of classes, 
the existing distribution having arisen out of differences of character 
and occupation. In these circumstances, we may fairly conclude that 
the separate origination of the four castes was far from being an article 
of belief universally received by Indian antiquity.' 

The following is the categorical assertion in the Mahabharata (Santi 
parvan) above referred to. It occurs in the course of a discussion on 
caste between Bhrigu and Bharadwaja. Bhrigu, replying to a question 
put by Bharadwaja, says: 'The colour [varna) of the Brahmins was 
white ; that of the Kshatriyas red ; that of the Vaisyas yellow, and that 
of the Sudras black.' Bharadwaja here rejoins, * If the caste {varna) of 
the four classes is distinguished by their colour {varna), then a confusion 
of all the castes is observable. . . .' Bhrigu replies, ' There is no differ- 
ence of castes : this world, having been at hist created by Brahma 
entirely Brahmanic, became (afterwards) separated into tastes in con- 
sequence of works. Those Brahmins (lit. twice-born men) who were 
fond of sensual pleasure, fiery, irascible, prone to violence, who had 
forsaken their duty and were red limbed, fell into the condition of 
Kshatriyas. Those Brahmins who derived their livelihood from kine, 
who were yellow, who subsisted by agriculture, and who neglected to 
practise their duties, entered into the state of Vaisyas. Those Brahmins 
who wen- addicted to mischief and falsehood, who were COVetoUS, who 
lived by all kinds of work, who were black and had fallen from purity, 
sank into the condition of Sudras.' — Ed. 



4<> ANTIQUITY OF CASTE CEREMONIES 

task, however, would be such a difficult one that I can 
hardly believe that any proposal of the kind would ever 
enter an intelligent person's head. Everything is always 
done in exactly the same way ; even the minutest details 
are invested with a solemn importance of their own, because 
a Hindu is convinced that it is only by paying rigorous 
attention to small details that more momentous concerns 
are safeguarded. Indeed, there is not another nation on 
earth which can pride itself on having so long preserved 
intact its social customs and regulations. 

The Hindu legislators of old had the good sense to give 
stability to these customs and regulations by associating 
with them many outward ceremonies, which, by fixing 
them in the minds of the people, ensured their more faithful 
observance. These ceremonies are invariably observed, and 
have never been allowed to degenerate into mere forms that 
can be neglected without grave consequences. Failure to 
perform a single one of them, however unimpoitant it 
might appear, would never go unpunished. 

One cannot fail to remark how very similar some of 
these ceremonies are to those which were performed long 
ago amongst other nations. Thus the Hindu precepts 
about cleanness and uncleanness, as also the means em- 
ployed for preserving the one and effacing the other, are 
similar in many respects to those of the ancient Hebrews. 
The rule about marrying in one's caste, and even in one's 
family, was specifically imposed upon the Jews in the laws 
which Moses gave them from God \ This rule, too, was 
in force a long time before that, for it appears to have been 
general amongst the Chaldeans. We find also in Holy 
Writ that Abraham espoused his niece, and that the holy 
patriarch sent into a far country for a maiden of his own 
family as a wife for his son Isaac. Again, Isaac and his 
wife Rebecca found it difficult to pardon their son Esau 
for marrying amongst strangers, that is, amongst the 
Canaanites ; and they sent their son Jacob away into 
a distant land to seek a wife from amongst their own 
people. 

In the same way to-day, Hindus residing in a foreign 

1 Numbers xxxvi. 5-12. 



TRADITIONAL ORIGIN OF CASTE 47 

country will journey hundreds of leagues to their native 
land in search of wives for their sons. 

Again, as to the caste system, Moses, as is well known, 
established it amongst the Hebrews in accordance with 
the commands of God. This holy lawgiver had, during 
his long sojourn in Egypt, observed the system as estab- 
lished in that country, and had doubtless recognized the 
good that resulted from it. Apparently, in executing the 
divine order with respect to it he simply adapted and per- 
fected the system which was in force in Egypt. 

The Indian caste system is of still older origin. The 
Hindu sacred writings record that the author of it was the 
God Brahma, to whom they attribute the creation of the 
world, and who is said to have established this system 
when he peopled the earth. The Brahmins were the pro- 
duct of his brain ; the Kshatriyas or Rajahs issued from 
his shoulders ; the Vaisyas from his belly ; and the Sudras 
from his feet. 

It is easy to understand the allegorical signification of 
this legend, in which one can distinctly trace the relative 
degrees of subordination of the different castes. The 
Brahmins, destined to fulfil the high functions of spiritual 
priesthood and to show the way of salvation to their fellow- 
men, issue from the head of the Creator ; the Kshatriyas, 
endowed with physical force and destined to undergo the 
fatigues of war, have their origin in the shoulders and arms 
of Brahma ; the Vaisyas, whose duty it is to provide the 
food, the clothing, and other bodily necessities of man, are 
born in the belly of the god ; and the Sudras, whose lot 
is servitude and rude labour in the fields, issue from his feet. 

Besides this traditional origin of the different castes, 
known to all Hindus, there is another to be found in their 
books, which traces the institution back to the time of the 
Flood. For, it should be noted, this terrible world-renovat - 
ing disaster is as well known to the Hindus as it was to 
Moses. On this important subject, however, I shall have 
more to say subsequently ; suffice it to remark that a 
celebrated personage, reverenced by the Hindus, and 
known to them as Mahanuvu, escaped the calamity in an 
ark, in which were also the seven famous Penitents of 
India. After the Flood, according to Hindu writers, this 



4S CASTE SUBDIVISIONS 

saviour of the human race divided mankind into different 
castes, as they exist at the present day *. 

The many subdivisions into which these four great 
original castes were broken up date undoubtedly from 
later times. They were due to the absolute necessity of 
assigning to each person in a special manner his particular 
place in the social organization. There are some Hindu 
authors who assert that the individuals composing the first 
ramifications of the large Sudra caste were the bastard 
offspring of the other higher castes, and owed their origin 
to illicit intercourse with the widows of the four great 
caste divisions. It is said that these bastard children, 
born of a Brahmin father and a Kshatriya mother, or of 
a Vaisya father and a Sudra mother, &c, were not recog- 
nized by any of the four primary castes, and so they were 
placed in other caste categories and were assigned special 
employments, more or less humble, according to their 
extraction. 

A few of these many subdivisions are said to be of quite 
recent origin. For instance, the five artisan classes are 
said to have originally formed only one class, as also the 
barbers and washermen, the Gollavarus and Kurubas, and 
a large number of others who in recent times have split up 
into new sub-castes. 

CHAPTER V 

The Lower Classes of Sudras. — Pariahs. — Chucklers, or Cobblers, and 
others equally low. — Contempt in which they are held. — Pariahs 
strictly speaking Slaves. — Washermen, Barbers, and some others. — 
Disrepute into which Mechanical Skill has fallen. — Nomads and 
Vagabonds. — Gypsies. — Quacks. — Jugglers. — Wild Tribes, &c. 

We have already remarked that amongst the immense 
number of classes of which the Sudra caste is composed, it 
is impossible to give precedence to any one class in par- 
ticular ; the natives themselves not being agreed on that 
point, and the social scale varying in different parts of the 
country. There are certain classes, however, who, owing 
to the depth of degradation into which they have fallen, 

1 The appellation Mahanuim is well worthy of remark. It is a com- 
pound of two words — Maha great, and Nuvu, which undoubtedly is 
the same as Noah. — Dubois. 



THE PARIAH CAST 10 19 

are looked upon as almost another race of beings, altogether 
outside the pale of society ; and they are perfectly ready 
to acknowledge their own comparative inferiority. The 
best known and most numerous of these castes is the 
Parayer, as it is called in Tamil, the word from which the 
European name Pariah is derived l . The particulars which 
I am about to give of this class will form most striking 
contrasts with those I shall relate subsequently about the 
Brahmins, and will serve to demonstrate a point to which 
I shall often refer, namely, how incapable the Hindus are 
of showing any moderation in their caste customs and 
observances. 

Their contempt and aversion for these social outcastes 
are as extreme, on the one hand, as are the respect and 
veneration which they pay, on the other, to those whom 
their superstitions have invested with god-like attributes. 
Throughout the whole of India the Pariahs are looked upon 
as slaves by other castes, and are treated with great harsh- 
ness. Hardly anywhere are they allowed to cultivate the 
soil for their own benefit, but are obliged to hire themselves 
out to the other castes, who in return for a minimum wage 
exact the hardest tasks from them. 

Furthermore, their masters may beat them at pleasure ; 
the poor wretches having no right either to complain or 
to obtain redress for that or any other ill-treatment their 
masters may impose on them. In fact, these Pariahs are 
the born slaves of India ; and had I to choose between 
the two sad fates of being a slave in one of our colonies 
or a Pariah here, I should unhesitatingly prefer the former. 

This class is the most numerous of all, and in conjunc- 
tion with that of the Chucklers, or cobblers, represents at 
least a quarter of the population. It is painful to think 
that its members, though so degraded, are yet the most 
useful of all. On them the whole agricultural work of the 
country devolves 2 , and they have also other tasks to per- 
forin which are still harder and more indispensable. 

1 Parayen means one that beats the drum [parai).— Ed. 

2 This is the case only in certain districts of Southern [ndia, such as 
Chingleput and Tanjore. An appreciable percentage »>! the Pariah-, 
has now migrated to the towns, where they serve as domestic servants 
in European and Eurasian households.— Ed. 



50 ABJECT CONDITION OF PARIAHS 

However, notwithstanding the miserable condition of 
these wretched Pariahs, they are never heard to murmur, 
or to complain of their low estate. Still less do they ever 
dream of trying to improve their lot, by combining together, 
and forcing the other classes to treat them with that 
common respect which one man owes to another. The 
idea that he was born to be in subjection to the other 
castes is so ingrained in his mind that it never occurs to 
the Pariah to think that his fate is anything but irrevocable. 
Nothing will ever persuade him that men are all made of 
the same clay, or that he has the right to insist on better 
treatment than that which is meted out to him 1 . 

They live in hopeless poverty, and the greater number 
lack sufficient means to procure even the coarsest clothing. 
They go about almost naked, or at best clothed in the 
most hideous rags. 

They live from hand to mouth the whole year round, 
and rarely know one day how they will procure food for 
the next. When they happen to have any money, they 
invariably spend it at once, and make a point of doing no 
work as long as they have anything left to live on. 

In a few districts they are allowed to cultivate the soil 
on their own account, but in such cases they are almost 
always the poorest of their class. Pariahs who hire them- 
selves out as labourers earn, at any rate, enough to live 
on ; and their food, though often of the coarsest description, 
is sufficient to satisfy the cravings of hunger. But those 
who are their own masters, and cultivate land for them- 
selves, are so indolent and careless that their harvests, 
even in the most favourable seasons, are only sufficient to 
feed them for half the year. 

The contempt and aversion with which the other castes 
— and particularly the Brahmins — regard these unfortunate 
people are carried to such an excess that in many places 
their presence, or even their footprints, are considered 
sufficient to defile the whole neighbourhood. They are 
forbidden to cross a street in which Brahmins are living. 

1 The Christian missionaries in India have done and are doing much 
to elevate the condition and character of this class. In Madras city 
there are now Pariah associations, and also a journal specially represent- 
ing; Pariah interests. — Ed. 



DEFILEMENT BY CONTACT WITH PARIAHS 51 

Should they be so ill-advised as to do so. the Latter would 
have the right, not to strike them themselves, because 
they could not do so without defilement, or even touch 
them with the end of a long stick, but to order them to be 
severely beaten by other people. A Pariah who had the 
audacity to enter a Brahmin's house might possibly be 
murdered on the spot. A revolting crime of this sort has 
been actually perpetrated in States under the rule of native 
princes without a voice being raised in expostulation \ 

Any one who has been touched, whether inadvertently 
or purposely, by a Pariah is defiled by that single act, 
and may hold no communication with any person what- 
soever until he has been purified by bathing, or by other 
ceremonies more or less important according to the status 
and customs of his caste. It would be contamination to 
eat with any members of this class ; to touch food pre- 
pared by them, or even to drink water which they have 
drawn ; to use an earthen vessel which they have held in 
their hands ; to set foot inside one of their houses, or to 
allow them to enter houses other than their own. Each 
of these acts would contaminate the person affected by it, 
and before being readmitted to his own caste such a person 
would have to go through many exacting and expensive 
formalities. Should it be proved that any one had had 
any connexion with a Pariah woman he would be treated 
with even greater severity. Nevertheless, the disgust which 
these Pariahs inspire is not so intense in some parts of the 
country as in others. The feeling is most strongly developed 
in the southern and western districts of the Peninsula ; in 
the north it is less apparent. In the northern part of 
Mysore the other classes of Sudras allow Pariahs to ap- 
proach them, and even permit them to enter that part of 
the house which is used for cattle. Indeed, in some places 
custom is so far relaxed that a Pariah may venture to put 
his head and one foot, but one foot only, inside the room 

1 Even to this day a Pariah is not allowed to pass a Brahmin Btreel 
in a village, though nobody can prevent, or prevents, his approaching 
or passing by a Brahmin's house in towns. The Pariahs, on their part, 
will under no circumstances allow a Brahmin to pass through their 
jxircherries (collections of Pariah huts), as they firmly believe that it 
will lead to their ruin. — Ed. 



52 THE ORIGIN OF PARIAHS 

occupied by the master of the house. It is said that still 
further north the difference between this and other Sudra 
castes gradually diminishes, until at last it disappears 
altogether. 

The origin of this degraded class can be traced to a very 
early period, as it is mentioned in the most ancient Puranas. 
The Pariahs were most probably composed, in the first 
instance, of all the disreputable individuals of different 
classes of society, who, on account of various offences, had 
forfeited their right to associate with respectable men. 
They formed a class apart, and having nothing to fear and 
less to lose, they gave themselves up, without restraint, to 
their natural tendencies towards vice and excess, in which 
they continue to live at the present day. 

In very early days, however, the separation between 
Pariahs and the other castes does not appear to have been 
so marked as at present. Though relegated to the lowest 
grade in the social scale, they were not then placed abso- 
lutely outside and beyond it, the line of demarcation 
between them and the Sudras being almost imperceptible. 
Indeed, they are even to this day considered to be the 
direct descendants of the better class of agricultural 
labourers. The Tamil Vellalers and the Okkala-makkalu- 
kanarey do not disdain to call them their children. But 
one thing is quite certain, that if these classes share a 
common origin with the Pariahs and acknowledge the 
same, their actions by no means corroborate their words, 
and their treatment of the Pariahs leaves much to be 
desired. 

Europeans are obliged to have Pariahs for their servants, 
because no native of any other caste would condescend to 
do such menial work as is exacted by their masters. For 
instance, it would be very difficult to find amongst the 
Sudras any one who would demean himself by blacking or 
greasing boots and shoes, emptying and cleansing chamber 
utensils, brushing and arranging hair, &c. ; and certainly 
no one could be found who for any consideration whatever 
would consent to cook food for them, as this would necessi- 
tate touching beef, which is constantly to be seen on the 
tables of Europeans, who thereby show an open disregard 
of the feelings and prejudices of the people amongst whom 



PARIAHS AS DOMESTIC SERVANTS :>:>> 

they live. Foreigners are therefore obliged to have recourse 
to Pariahs to perform this important domestic service. If 
the kind of food which they do not scruple to eat lowers 
Europeans in the eyes of the superstitious native, much 
more are they lowered by the social status of the people 
by whom they are served. For it is a fact recognized by 
all Hindus that none but a Pariah would dare to eat food 
prepared by Pariahs. 

It is undeniable that this want of consideration on the 
part of Europeans — or rather the necessity to which they 
are reduced of employing Pariahs as servants — renders 
them most obnoxious to other classes of natives, and 
greatly diminishes the general respect for the white man. 
It being impossible to procure servants of a better caste, 
foreigners have of necessity to put up with members of 
this inferior class, who are dishonest, incapable of any 
attachment to their masters, and unworthy of confidence. 
Sudras who become servants of Europeans are almost in- 
variably vicious and unprincipled, as devoid of all feeling 
of honour as they are wanting in resource ; in fact, they 
are the scum of their class and of society at large. No 
respectable or self-respecting Sudra would ever consent to 
enter a service where he would be in danger of being mis- 
taken for a Pariah, or would have to consort with Pariahs. 
Amongst other reasons which contribute largely to the 
dislike that natives of a better class entertain for domestic 
service under Europeans, is the feeling that their masters 
keep them at such a great distance, and are generally 
haughty and even cruel in their demeanour towards them. 
But above all things they dread being kicked by a Euro- 
pean, not because this particular form of ill-treatment is 
physically more painful than any other, but because they 
have a horror of being defiled by contact with anything so 
unclean as a leather boot or shoe. Pariahs, accustomed 
from their childhood to slavery, put up patiently with 
affronts of this kind which other natives, who have more 
pride and self-respect, are unable to endure. 

Under other circumstances, it should be remarked, 
domestic service in India is by no means regarded as 
degrading. The servant has his meals with his master, 
the maid with her mistress, and both go through life on 



54 OCCUPATIONS OP PARIAHS 

an almost equal footing. The conduct of Europeans being 
in this respect so totally different, natives who have any 
sense of decency or self-respect feel the greatest repugnance 
to taking service with them. One cannot wonder therefore 
that only the very dregs of the population will undertake 
the work. 

But to return to the Pariahs. One is bound to confess 
that the evil reputation which is borne by this class is in 
many respects well deserved, by reason of the low conduct 
and habits of its members. A great many of these un- 
fortunate people bind themselves for life, with their wives 
and children, to the ryots, or agricultural classes, who set 
them to the hardest labour and treat them with the greatest 
harshness. The village scavengers, who are obliged to 
clean out the public latrines, to sweep the streets, and 
to remove all rubbish, invariably belong to this class. 
These men, known in the south by the name of totis, are, 
however, generally somewhat more humanely treated than 
the other Pariahs, because, in addition to the dirty work 
above mentioned, they are employed in letting the water 
into the tanks and channels for irrigating the rice fields ; 
and on this account they are treated with some considera- 
tion by the rest of the villagers. Amongst the Pariahs 
who are not agricultural slaves there are some who groom 
and feed the horses of private individuals, or those used 
in the army ; some are in charge of elephants ; others tend 
cattle ; others are messengers and carriers ; while others, 
again, do ordinary manual work. Within recent times 
Pariahs have been allowed to enlist in the European and 
Native armies, and some of them have risen to high rank, 
for in point of courage and bravery they are in no way 
inferior to any other caste. Yet their bringing up puts them 
at a great disadvantage in acquiring other qualifications 
necessary for the making of a good soldier, for they are 
induced with difficulty to conform to military discipline, 
and are absolutely deficient in all sense of honour \ 

Pariahs, being thus convinced that they have nothing to 

1 The Abbe is too sweeping in many of his statements about Pariahs. 
For instance, in these days at any rate, the Pariah Sepoys in the Madras 
army are extremely well disciplined, especially the corps of Sappers. 
—Ed. 



THEIR VICE AND UNCLEANLINESS 

lose or gain in public estimation, abandon themselves 
without shame or restraint to vice of all kinds, and the 
greatest lawlessness prevails amongst them, for which they 
do not feel the least shame. One might almost say that, 
in the matter of vice, they outstrip all others in brutality, 
as the Brahmins do in malice. Their habits of uncleanli- 
ness are disgusting. Their huts, a mass of filth and alive 
with insects and vermin, are, if possible, even more loath- 
some than their persons. Their harsh and forbidding 
features clearly reveal their character, but even these are 
an insufficient indication of the coarseness of their minds 
and manners. They are much addicted to drunkenness, 
a vice peculiarly abhorrent to other Hindus. They in- 
toxicate themselves usually with the juice of the palm- 
tree, called toddy, which they drink after it has fermented, 
and it is then more spirituous. In spite of its horrible 
stench they imbibe it as if the nauseous liquid were nectar. 
Drunken quarrels are of frequent occurrence amongst 
them, and their wives are often sufferers, the unhappy 
creatures being nearly beaten to death, even when in 
a state of pregnancy. It is to this brutality and violence 
of their husbands that I attribute the frequent miscarriages 
to which Pariah wives are subject, and which are much 
more common amongst them than amongst women of any 
other caste. 

What chiefly disgusts other natives is the revolting 
nature of the food which the Pariahs eat. Attracted by 
the smell, they will collect in crowds round any carrion, 
and contend for the spoil with dogs, jackals, crows, and 
other carnivorous animals. They then divide the semi- 
putrid flesh, and carry it away to their huts, where they 
devour it, often without rice or anything else to disguise 
the flavour. That the animal should have died of disease 
is of no consequence to them, and they sometimes secretly 
poison cows or buffaloes that they may subsequently feast 
on the foul, putrefying remains. The carcases of animals 
that die in a village belong by right to the toti or scavenger, 
who sells the flesh at a very low price to the other Pariahs 
in the neighbourhood. When it is impossible to consume 
in one day the stock of meat thus obtained, they dry the 
remainder in the sun, and keep it in their huts until they 



56 FOOD EATEN BY PARIAHS 

run short of olhcr food. There arc few Pariah houses 
where one does not see festoons of these horrible fragments 

hanging up ; and though the Pariahs themselves do not 
seem to be affected by the smell, travellers passing near 
their villages quickly perceive it and can tell at once the 
caste of the people living there. This horrible food is, 
no doubt, the cause of the greater part of the contagious 
diseases which decimate them, and from which their neigh- 
bours are free. 

Is it to be wondered at, after what has just been stated, 
that other castes should hold this in abhorrence ? Can 
they be blamed for refusing to hold any communication 
with such savages, or for obliging them to keep themselves 
aloof and to live in separate hamlets ? It is true that with 
regard to these Pariahs the other Hindus are apt to carry 
their views to excess ; but as we have already pointed out, 
and shall often have to point out again, the natural in- 
stinct of the natives of India seems to run to extremes in 
all cases. 

The condition of the Pariahs, which is not really slavery 
as it is known amongst us, resembles to a certain extent 
that of the serfs of France and other countries of Northern 
Europe in olden times. This state of bondage is at its 
worst along the coast of Malabar, as are several other 
customs peculiar to the country *. The reason is that 
Malabar, owing to its position, has generally escaped the 
invasions and revolutions which have so often devastated 
the rest of India, and has thus managed to preserve un- 
altered many ancient institutions, which in other parts 
have fallen into disuse. 

Of these the two most remarkable are proprietary rights 
and slavery. These two systems are apparently insepar- 
able one from the other : and, indeed, one may well say, 
no land without lord. All the Pariahs born in the country 
are serfs for life, from father to son, and are part and parcel 
of the land on which they are born. The land-owner can 
sell them along with the soil, and can dispose of them when 
and how he pleases. This proprietary right and this 
system of serfdom have existed from the remotest times, 

1 Things in this respect have, of course, changed a great deal for the 
better since the Abbe wrote. — Ed. 



PARIAH SLAVERY 57 

and exist still amongst the Nairs, the Coorgs, and the 
Tulus, the three aboriginal tribes of the Malabar coast. 
This is, I believe, the only province in India where pro- 
prietary right has been preserved intact until the present 
day. Everywhere else the soil belongs to the ruler, and 
the cultivator is merely his tenant. The lands which he 
tills are given to him or taken away from him according 
to the w r ill of the Government for the time being. On 
the Malabar coast, however, the lands belong to those 
who have inherited them from their forefathers, and these 
in their turn possess the right of handing them down to 
their descendants. Here the lands may be alienated, sold, 
given away, or disposed of according to the will of the 
owners. In a word, the jus utendi et abutendi, which is the 
basis of proprietary right, belongs entirely to them. Every 
landed proprietor in that country possesses a community 
of Pariahs to cultivate his fields, who are actually his 
slaves and form an integral part of his property. All 
children born of these Pariahs are serfs by birth, just as 
their parents were ; and their master has the right, if he 
choose, to sell or dispose of parents and children in any 
way that he pleases. If one of these Pariahs escapes and 
takes service under another master, his real master can 
recover him anywhere as his own property. If a proprietor 
happens to possess more slaves than he requires for cultivat- 
ing his land, he sells some to other landlords who are less 
fortunate than himself. It is by no means uncommon to 
see a debtor, who is unable to pay his debts in hard cash, 
satisfy his creditors by handing over to them a number of 
his Pariah slaves. The price of these is not exorbitant. 
A male still young enough to work will fetch three rupees 
and a hundred seers of rice, which is about the value of 
a bullock. 

But the landed proprietors do not usually sell their 
slaves except in cases of great emergency ; and even then 
they can only sell them within the borders of their own 
country. In no case have they a right to export them 
for sale to foreigners. 

Each land- owner in the province of Malabar lives in 
a house that is isolated in the middle of his estate. Here 
he dwells, surrounded by his community of Pariah serfs, 



58 HUMANE TREATMENT OF SLAVES 

who are always remarkably submissive to him. Some 
land-owners possess over a hundred of them. They treat 
them usually in the most humane manner. They give 
them only such work as their age or strength permits ; 
feed them on the same rice that they themselves eat ; give 
them in marriage when they come of age ; and every year 
provide them with clothing, four or five yards of cloth for 
the women and a coarse woollen blanket for the men. 

In Malabar it is only the Pariahs who are thus con- 
demned to perpetual slavery ; but then there are no free 
men amongst them. All are born slaves from generation 
to generation. They have not even a right to buy their 
own freedom ; and if they wish to secure their indepen- 
dence they can only do so by escaping secretly from the 
country. All the same, I have not heard that they often 
resort to this extremity. They are accustomed from father 
to son to this state of servitude ; they are kindly treated 
by their masters ; they eat the same food as they do ; 
they are never forced to do tasks beyond their strength ; 
and thus they have no notion of what freedom or inde- 
pendence means, and are happily resigned to their lot. 
They look upon their master as their father, and consider 
themselves to belong to his family. As a matter of fact, 
their physical condition, which is the only thing that appeals 
to their senses, is much better than that of their brethren 
who are free. At any rate, the Pariah slave of Malabar is 
certain of a living, the supreme requirement of nature, 
whereas the free Pariah of other provinces lives for half 
his time in actual want of the meanest subsistence, and is 
often exposed to death from starvation l . 

It is indeed a piteous sight, the abject and half-starved 
condition in which this wretched caste, the most numerous 
of all, drags out its existence. It is true that amongst 

1 The slaves spoken of here are not Pariahs but Cherumars, who claim 
to be somewhat superior in rank to the Pariahs. From 1792 the East 
India Company steadily endeavoured to emancipate the Cherumars. In 
1843 an Emancipation Act was passed, but it was explained to the 
Cherumars that it was their interest, as well as their duty, to remain 
with their masters if treated kindly. ' Sections 370, 371, &c. of the 
Indian Penal Code,' writes Mr. Logan in his Malabar Manual, 'which 
came into force on Jan. 1, 1862, dealt the real final blow at slavery in 
India.' — Ed. 



PARIAH IMPROVIDENCE 59 

Pariahs it is an invariable rule, almost a point of honour, 
to spend everything they earn and to take no thought for 
the morrow. The majority of them, men and women, 
are never clothed in anything but old rags. But in order 
to obtain a true idea of their abject misery one must live 
amongst them, as I have been obliged to do. About half 
of my various congregations consisted of Pariah Christians. 
Wherever I went I was constantly called in to administer 
the last consolations of religion to people of this class. 
On reaching the hut to which my duty led me, I was often 
obliged to creep in on my hands and knees, so low was 
the entrance door to the wretched hovel. When once 
inside, I could only partially avoid the sickening smell by 
holding to my nose a handkerchief soaked in the strongest 
vinegar. I would find there a mere skeleton, perhaps 
lying on the bare ground, though more often crouching on 
a rotten piece of matting, with a stone or a block of wood 
as a pillow. The miserable creature would have for cloth- 
ing a rag tied round the loins, and for covering a coarse 
and tattered blanket that left half the body naked. I 
would seat myself on the ground by his side, and the first 
words I heard would be : ' Father, I am dying of cold and 
hunger.' I would spend a quarter of an hour or so by 
him, and at last leave this sad spectacle with my heart 
torn asunder by the sadness and hopelessness of it all, 
and my body covered in every part with insects and vermin. 
Yet, after all, this was the least inconvenience that I suffered, 
for I could rid myself of them by changing my clothes and 
taking a hot bath. The only thing that really afflicted me 
was having to stand face to face with such a spectacle of 
utter misery and all its attendant horrors, and possessing 
no means of affording any save the most inadequate 
remedies. 

Oh ! if those who are blessed with this world's goods, 
and who are so inclined to create imaginary troubles for 
themselves because they have no real ones ; if the dis- 
contented and ambitious who are always ready to grumble 
and complain of their fate, because perchance they have 
only the mere necessaries and are unable to procure the 
luxuries and pleasures of life ; if they would only pause 
for a moment and contemplate this harrowing picture of 



(50 THE PALLERS 

want and misery, liovv much more gratefully would they 
appreciate the lot that Providence has assigned to them ! 

As for myself, for the first ten or twelve years that 
1 was in India, I lived in such abject poverty that I had 
hardly sufficient means to procure the bare necessaries of 
life ; but even then I was as happy and contented as I am 
now that I am better off. Besides the consolations which 
my religion gave me under these trying circumstances, my 
reason found me others in the reflection that nineteen- 
twentieths of the people among whom I was living were 
bearing far greater trials of all kinds than any that I was 
called on to endure. 

Besides the Pariahs, who are to be found all over the 
Peninsula, there are in certain provinces other clashes 
composed of individuals who equal and even surpass them 
in depravity of mind and customs, and in the contempt 
in which they are held. Such, for instance, is the caste 
of Palters, who are only found in Madura and in the neigh- 
bourhood of Cape Comorin. The Pallers consider them- 
selves superior to the Pariahs, inasmuch as they do not 
eat the flesh of the cow ; but the Pariahs look on them 
as altogether their inferiors, because they are the scum of 
the Left-hand faction, whilst they themselves are the 
mainstay of the Right-hand. 

These two classes of degraded beings can never agree, 
and wherever they are found in fairly equal numbers, the 
disputes and quarrels amongst them are interminable. 
They lead the same sort of life, enjoy an equal share of 
public opprobrium, and both are obliged to live far apart 
from all other classes of the inhabitants. 

Amongst the forests on the Malabar coast there lives 
a tribe which, incredible as it may seem, surpasses the two 
of which I have just spoken in degradation and squalid 
misery. They are called Puliahs, and are looked upon as 
below the level of the beasts which share this wild country 
with them. They are not even allowed to build them- 
selves huts to protect themselves from the inclemencies of 
the weather. A sort of lean-to, supported by four bamboo 
poles and open at the sides, serves as a shelter for some of 
them, and keeps off the rain, though it does not screen 
them from the wind. Most of them, however, make for 



THE PULIAHS AND CHUCKLERS 6] 

themselves what may be called nests in the brandies of 
the thickest-foliaged trees, where they perch like birds of 
prey for the greater part of the twenty-four hours. They 
are not even allowed to walk peaceably along the high- 
roads. If they see any one coming towards them, they 
are bound to utter a certain cry and to go a long way 
round to avoid passing him. A hundred paces is the 
very nearest they may approach any one of a different 
caste. If a Nair, who always carries arms, meets one of 
these unhappy people on the road, he is entitled to stab 
him on the spot 1 . The Puliahs live an absolutely savage 
life, and have no communication whatever with the rest 
of the world. 

The Chucklers, or cobblers, are also considered inferior 
to the Pariahs all over the Peninsula, and, as a matter of 
fact, they show that they are of a lower grade by their 
more debased ideas, their greater ignorance and brutality. 
They are also much more addicted to drunkenness and 
debauchery. Their orgies take place principally in the 
evening, and their villages resound, far into the night, 
with the yells and quarrels which result from their intoxica- 
tion. Nothing will persuade them to work as long as they 
have anything to drink ; they only return to their labour 
when they have absolutely no further means of satisfying 
their ruling passion. Thus they spend their time in alter- 
nate bouts of work and drunkenness. The women of this 
wretched class do not allow their husbands to outshine 
them in any vice, and are quite as much addicted to drunken- 
ness as the men. Their modesty and general behaviour 
may therefore be easily imagined. The very Pariahs refuse 
to have anything to do with the Chucklers, and do not 
admit them to any of their feasts. 

There is one class amongst the Pariahs which rules all 
the rest of the caste. These are the Valluvas 2 , who are 
called the Brahmins of the Pariahs in mockery. They keep 
themselves quite distinct from the others, and only inter- 
marry in their own class. They consider themselves as 

1 No native is nowadays allowed to carry arms without a licence. 
But even now the Puliahs are forbidden to approach a person of higher 
caste. They always stand at a distance of 20 to 30 yards. — Ed. 

2 These are sometimes physicians and astrologers. — Ed. 



62 BARBERS AND WASHERMEN 

the gurus, or spiritual advisers, of the rest. It is they 
who preside at all the marriages and other religious cere- 
monies of the Pariahs. They predict all the absurdities 
mentioned in the Hindu almanac, such as lucky and un- 
lucky days, favourable or unfavourable moments for 
beginning a fresh undertaking, and other prophecies of 
a like nature. But they are forbidden to meddle with 
anything pertaining to astronomy, such as the foretelling 
of eclipses, changes of the moon, &c, this prerogative 
belonging exclusively to the Brahmins. 

There are other classes too, which, though a trifle higher 
in the Hindu social scale, are for all that not treated with 
much more respect. Firstly, amongst the Sudras there are 
those who follow servile occupations, or at least occupa- 
tions dependent on the public ; secondly, those who per- 
form low and disgusting offices, which expose them to 
frequent defilements ; and, thirdly, there are the nomadic 
tribes, who are always wandering about the country, 
having no fixed abode. 

Amongst the first I place the barbers and the washer- 
men. There are men belonging to these two employments 
in every village, and no one exercising the same profession 
can come from another village to work in theirs without 
their express permission. Their employments are trans- 
mitted from father to son, and those who pursue them 
form two distinct castes. 

The barber's business is to trim the beard, shave the 
head, pare the nails on hands and feet, and clean the ears 
of all the inhabitants of his village. In several of the 
southern provinces the inhabitants have all the hair on 
different parts of their bodies shaved off, with the excep- 
tion of the eye-brows ; and this custom is always observed 
by Brahmins on marriage days and other solemn occasions '. 
The barbers are also the surgeons of the country. What- 
ever be the nature of the operation that they are called on 
to perform, their razor is their only instrument, if it is a 
question of amputation ; or a sort of stiletto, which they 

1 This custom of shaving the hair from all parts of the body, for 
ceremonies where absolute purity is required, is not peculiar to the 
Brahmins ; it was also common amongst the Jews, for the same reason, 
and was part of their ceremonial law (Numbers viii. 6, 7). — Dubois. 



THEIR DESPISED CONDITION 63 

use for paring nails, if they have to open an abscess, or 
the like. They are also the only accredited fiddlers ; and 
they share with the Pariahs the exclusive right of playing 
wind instruments, as will be seen presently. 

As to the washermen, their business is much the same 
here as everywhere else, except for the extreme filthiness 
of the rags that are entrusted to them to be cleaned. 

Those engaged in these two occupations are in such 
a dependent position that they dare not refuse to work 
for any one who chooses to employ them. They are paid 
in kind at harvest time by each inhabitant of their village. 
No doubt the contempt in which they are held by men of 
other castes, who look upon them as menials, is due partly 
to this state of subjection, and also to the uncleanness of 
the things which they are compelled to handle. 

The potters also are a very low class, being absolutely 
uneducated. 

The five castes of artisans, of which I have already 
spoken, and also, as a rule, all those employed in mechanical 
or ornamental arts, are very much looked down upon and 
despised. 

The Moochis, or tanners, though better educated and 
more refined than any of the preceding classes, are not 
much higher in the social scale. The other Sudras never 
allow them to join in their feasts ; indeed, they would 
hardly condescend to give them a drop of water to drink. 
This feeling of repulsion is caused by the defilement which 
ensues from their constantly handling the skins of dead 
animals. 

As a rule, the mechanical and the liberal arts, such as 
music, painting, and sculpture, are placed on very much 
the same level, and those who follow these professions, 
which are left entirely to the lower castes of the Sudras, 
are looked upon with equal disfavour 1 . 

As far as I know, only the Moochis take up painting as 
a profession. Instrumental music, and particularly that 
of wind instruments, is left exclusively, as I have already 

1 Those who follow these liberal arts are treated with more respect in 
these clays. At all events, they are not looked upon with disfavour. 
There are now many Brahmins in Southern India who are professional 
musicians, though they play on certain instruments only. — Ki>. 



64 BINDU PAINTING AND MUSIC 

mentioned, to the barbers and Pariahs 1 . The little pro- 
gress that is made in these arts is no doubt due to the 
small amount of encouragement which they receive. As 
for painting, one never sees anything but daubs. The 
Hindus are quite satisfied if their artists can draw designs 
of striking figures painted in the most vivid colours. Our 
best engravings, if they are uncoloured, or our finest 
miniatures or landscapes, are quite valueless in their eyes. 

Though the Hindus much enjoy listening to music, and 
introduce it freely into all their public and private cere- 
monies, both religious and social, yet it must be admitted 
that this charming art is here still in its infancy. I should 
say Hindus are no further advanced in it now than they 
were two or three thousand years ago. They do not expect 
their musicians to produce harmonious tunes when they 
play at their feasts and ceremonies, for their dull ears 
would certainly not appreciate them. What they like is 
plenty of noise and plenty of shrill piercing sounds. Their 
musicians are certainly able to comply with their wishes 
in this respect. Such discordant noises are infinitely more 
pleasing to them than our melodious airs, which possess 
no charm whatever for them. Of all our various instru- 
ments, they care only for drums and trumpets. Their 
vocal music, too, is not a whit more pleasing to European 
ears than their instrumental. Their songs are chiefly 
remarkable for uninspiring monotony ; and though they 
have a scale like ours, composed of seven notes, they have 
not tried to produce from it those harmonies and combina- 
tions which fall so deliciously on our ears. 

Why is it, it may well be asked, that it should be con- 
sidered shameful to play on wind instruments in India ? 
I suppose it is on account of the defilement which the players 
contract by putting such instruments to their mouths after 
they have once been touched by saliva, which, as I shall 
show presently, is the one excretion from the human body 
for which Hindus display invincible horror. There is by 
no means the same feeling with regard to stringed instru- 
ments. In fact, you may often hear Brahmins singing and 
accompanying themselves on a sort of lute which is known 

1 Classes superior to the barbers and Pariahs also play wind instru- 
ments at the present time. — Ed. 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 65 

by the name of vina. This instrument has a rather agree- 
able tone, and would be still more pleasing if the sounds 
extracted from it were more varied. It has always been 
a favourite amongst the better classes ; and its invention 
must date from an extremely remote period, for it is often 
mentioned in Hindu books, where the gods themselves are 
represented as playing on the vina to soothe themselves 
with its sweet melodies. It is generally taught by Brah- 
mins ; and as their lessons are very expensive, and they 
persuade their pupils that a great many are necessary in 
order to attain proficiency, it is obvious that none but the 
rich can afford themselves this pleasure. 

The vina of the Hindus is probably the same as the 
cithara l , or harp, of the Jews, in playing which King 
David excelled, and with which he produced those melo- 
dies which soothed and calmed his unfortunate master Saul, 
after God had given Saul up as a prey to his evil passions. 

Besides the vina, the Brahmins have another stringed 
instrument called Icinnahra, which is something like a 
guitar, and the tone of which is not unpleasant. 

The Hindus do not use gut for the strings of their in- 
struments, as Europeans do. They would not dare to 
touch anything so impure, for if they did they would con- 
sider themselves defiled by the contact. To avoid such 
a serious impurity they use metal strings. 

I will now turn to the nomadic castes, which swell the 
number of wretched and degraded beings amongst the 
nation I am describing. Without any fixed abode, wander- 
ing about from one country to another, the individuals of 
which these vagabond tribes are composed pay little or 
no attention to the various customs which are obligatory 
on every respectable Hindu ; and this is why they are so 
cordially detested. 

One of the largest of these castes is that which is known 
in the south by the name of Kuravers or Kurumarus. 
This is subdivided into two branches, one of which carries 
on a trade in salt. Gangs of men bring this article from 
the coast and distribute it in the interior of the country, 
using asses, of which they possess considerable numbers, 

1 The Mahomedans of Northern India have a stringed instrument 
known as cithar. — Ed. 

DUBOIS D 



66 WANDERING TRIBES 

as their means of transport. As soon as they have sold 
or bartered this commodity, they reload the asses with 
different kinds of grain, for which there is a ready sale on 
the coast, and start off again at once. Thus their whole 
lives are spent in hurrying from one country to another 
without settling down in any place. 

The occupation of the second branch of these Kuravers 
is to make baskets and mats of osier and bamboo, and other 
similar utensils which are used in Hindu households. They 
are obliged to be perpetually moving from one place to 
another to find work, and are without any fixed abode. 

The Kuravers are also the fortune-tellers of the country. 
They speak a language peculiar to themselves, which is 
unintelligible to any other Hindu. Their manners and 
customs have much in common with those of the wandering 
tribes that are known in England as Gypsies, and in France 
as Egyptians, or Bohemians. Their women tell the fortunes 
of those who consult them and are willing to pay them. 
The person who wishes to learn his fate seats himself in 
front of the soothsayer and holds out his hand, while she 
beats a little drum, invokes all her gods or evil spirits, 
and gabbles aloud a succession of fantastic words. These 
preliminaries over, she studies with the most scrupulous 
attention the lines on the hand of the simple-minded 
person who is consulting her, and finally predicts the good 
or evil fortune that is in store for him. Many attempts 
have been made to trace the origin of these wandering 
tribes, who are to be found telling fortunes all over the 
world. The general opinion appears to be that they origin- 
ally came from Egypt, but this view might possibly be 
changed if these Kuravers of India were to be closely 
examined, and their language, manners, and customs com- 
pared with those of the Gypsies and Bohemians. 

The Kuraver women also tattoo the designs of flowers 
and animals which decorate the arms of most young Hindu 
women. The tattooing is done by first delicately tracing 
the desired objects on the skin, then pricking the outline 
gently with a needle, and immediately after rubbing in 
the juice of certain plants, whereby the design becomes 
indelible. 

The Kurumarus are much addicted to stealing, and from 



THE KALLA-BANTRUS 67 

this tribe come the professional thieves and pickpockets 
known by the name of Kalla-bantrus. These people make 
a study of the art of stealing, and all the dodges of their 
infamous profession are instilled into them from their 
youth. To this end their parents teach them to lie obsti- 
nately, and train them to suffer tortures rather than divulge 
what it is to their interest to hide. Far from being ashamed 
of their profession, the Kalla-bantrus glory in it, and when 
they have nothing to fear they take the greatest pleasure 
in boasting of the clever thefts they have committed in 
various places. Those who, caught in the act, have been 
badly hurt, or who have been deprived by the magistrates 
of nose, ears, or right hand, show their scars and mutila- 
tions with pride, as proofs of their courage and intrepidity ; 
and these men are usually the chosen heads of their caste. 

They always commit their depredations at night. Noise- 
lessly entering a village, they place sentinels along the 
different roads, while they select the houses that can be 
entered with the least risk. These they creep into, and in 
a few minutes strip them of all the metal vessels and other 
valuables they can find, including the gold and silver 
ornaments which the sleeping women and children wear 
round their necks. They never break open the doors of 
the houses, for that would make too much noise and so 
lead to their detection. Their plan is to pierce the mud 
wall of the house with a sharp iron instrument specially 
made for the purpose, with which they can in a few moments 
easily make a hole large enough for a man to creep through. 
They are so clever that they generally manage to carry out 
their depredations without being either seen or heard by 
any one. But if they happen to be surprised, the Kalla- 
bantrus make a desperate resistance and do their best to 
escape. If one of their number is killed in the scrimmage, 
they will run any risk to obtain possession of the corpse. 
They then cut off the head and carry it away with them 
to avoid discovery. 

In the provinces which are governed by native princes, 
these villains are, to a certain extent, protected by the 
authorities, who countenance their depredations in return 
for a stipulated sum, or on condition that they pay the 
value of half the booty that they steal to the revenue 



68 THE KALLA-BANTRUS AS THIEVES 

collector of the locality. But as such an understanding 
could not possibly be anything more than tacit in any 
civilized country, this infamous arrangement is kept secret. 
The culprits, therefore, can expect no compensation to be 
publicly awarded them by the magistrates for the wounds 
and mutilations which they may suffer in the course of 
their nocturnal raids ; but these same magistrates will do 
their best to screen or palliate their offences, the profits 
of which they share, and will always protect their clients 
from well-deserved punishment when they appear before 
them in court. 

The last Mussulman prince who governed Mysore had 
a regular regiment of Kalla-bantrus in his service, whom he 
employed, not to fight amongst his troops, but to despoil 
the enemy's camp during the night, to steal the horses, 
carry off any valuables they could find amongst the officers' 
baggage, spike the enemy's guns, and act as spies. They 
were paid according to their skill and success. In times of 
peace they were sent into neighbouring States to pilfer for 
the benefit of their master, and also to report on the pro- 
ceedings of the rulers. The minor native princes called 
Poligars always employ a number of these ruffians for the 
same purposes. 

In the provinces where these Kalla-bantrus are coun- 
tenanced by the Government, the unfortunate inhabitants 
have no other means of protecting themselves from their 
depredations than by making an agreement with the head 
of the gang to pay him an annual tax of a quarter of a 
rupee and a fowl per house, in consideration of which he 
becomes responsible for all the thefts committed by his 
people in villages which are thus, so to say, insured 1 . 

Besides the Kalla-bantrus of the Kurumaru caste, the 
province of Mysore is infested by another caste of thieves, 
called Kanojis, who are no less dreaded than the others. 

But of all the nomadic castes which wander about the 
country, the best known and most detested is the Lambadis, 
or Sukalers, or Brinjaris. No one knows the origin of this 
caste. The members of it have different manners and 

1 This, of course, is no longer allowed. The thieving classes have, 
under a more rigid system of police, been compelled to take to more 
lawful pursuits. — En. 



THE LAMBADIS 69 

customs, and also a different religion and language from 
all the other castes of Hindus. Certain points of resem- 
blance, however, which are to be found between them and 
the Mahrattas, lead one to believe that they must have 
sprung from these people in the first instance, and have 
inherited from them their propensities for rapine and theft, 
and their utter disregard for the rights of property when 
they think they are stronger than their victims and are 
safe from retributory justice. However, the severe sen- 
tences that the magistrates have latterly passed on them 
in several districts have exercised a salutary influence. 
They no longer dare to rob and steal openly. But the 
lonely traveller who meets them in some lonely spot had 
better beware, especially if they have reason to think that 
he would be worth plundering. 

In time of war they attach themselves to the army where 
discipline is least strict. They come swarming in from all 
parts, hoping, in the general disorder and confusion, to be 
able to thieve with impunity. They make themselves very 
useful by keeping the market well supplied with the pro- 
visions that they have stolen on the march. They hire 
themselves and their large herds of cattle to whichever 
contending party will pay them best, acting as carriers of 
the supplies and baggage of the army. They were thus 
employed, to the number of several thousands, by the 
English in their last war with the Sultan of Mysore. The 
English, however, had occasion to regret having taken 
these untrustworthy and ill-disciplined people into their 
service, when they saw them ravaging the country through 
which they passed and causing more annoyance than the 
whole of the enemy's army. The frequent and severe 
punishments that were inflicted on their chiefs had no 
restraining effect whatever on the rest of the horde. They 
had been attracted solely by the hope of plunder, and 
thought little of the regular wages and other inducements 
which had been promised them. 

In times of peace these professional brigands occupy 
themselves in trading in grain and salt, which they convey 
from one part of the country to the other on their bullocks ; 
but at the least whisper of war, or the slightest sign of 
coming trouble, they are at once on the look-out, ready to 



70 HUMAN SACRIFICES 

take advantage in the first moment of confusion of any 
opportunity for pillaging. In fact, the unfortunate in- 
habitants of the country fear an invasion of a hostile army 
far less than they do a sudden irruption of these terrible 
Lambadis. 

Of all the castes of the Hindus this particular one is 
acknowledged to be the most brutal. The natural pro- 
clivities of its members for evil are clearly indicated by 
their ill-favoured, wild appearance and their coarse, hard- 
featured countenances, these characteristics being as 
noticeable in the women as in the men. In all parts of 
India they are under the special supervision of the police, 
because there is only too much reason for mistrusting them. 

Their women are, for the most part, very ugly and 
revoltingly dirty. Amongst other glaring vices they are 
supposed to be much addicted to incontinency ; and they 
are reputed to sometimes band themselves together in 
search of men whom they compel by force to satisfy their 
lewd desires. 

The Lambadis are accused of the still more atrocious 
crime of offering up human sacrifices. When they wish to 
perform this horrible act, it is said, they secretly carry off 
the first person they meet. Having conducted the victim 
to some lonely spot, they dig a hole in which they bury 
him up to the neck. While he is still alive they make 
a sort of lamp of dough made of flour, which they place 
on his head. This they fill with oil, and light four wicks 
in it. Having done this, the men and women join hands, 
and, forming a circle, dance round their victim, singing 
and making a great noise, till he expires. 

Amongst other curious customs of this odious caste is 
one that obliges them to drink no water which is not 
drawn from springs or wells. The water from rivers or 
tanks being thus forbidden, they are obliged in a case of 
absolute necessity to dig a little hole by the side of a tank 
or river and take the water that filters through, which by 
this means is supposed to become spring water. 

Another nomadic caste is that of the Wuddars, whose 
trade is to dig wells, tanks, and canals, and to repair dykes. 
They, too, have to travel about in search of work. This 
caste is also much despised. The manners of the individuals 



THE PAKANATTIS 71 

composing it are as low as their origin, and their minds as 
uncultivated as their manners. Their extreme uncouthness 
may, perhaps, account for the low estimation in which they 
are held. 

In Mysore, and in the north-west of the Carnatic, another 
caste of nomads is to be met with, known as Pakanattis. 
They speak Telugu, and originally formed part of the caste 
of Gollavarus, or shepherds, and were agriculturists. They 
took to their present kind of life about a hundred and fifty 
years ago, and like it so much that it would be impossible 
to persuade them to change it for any regular occupation. 
The cause of their secession from the rest of their caste 
was that one of their headmen was grievously insulted by 
the governor of the province in which they lived. As they 
never received any redress at all commensurate with the 
affront, they determined to avenge themselves by deserting 
their homes in a body, and thus bringing all the agricul- 
tural work of the country to a standstill. From that time 
to this they have never attempted to return to their former 
mode of life, but are always wandering from place to place 
without settling anywhere. Some of their headmen, with 
whom I have conversed, have told me that they number 
about two thousand families, half of whom wander through 
the Telugu country and the rest through Mysore. The 
headmen meet from time to time to settle the differences 
which frequently arise amongst the members. However, 
the Pakanattis are the quietest and best behaved of all the 
wandering tribes. They are kept in excellent order ; and 
though they always go about in bands, theft and pillage 
are unknown amongst them, and if any of them are found 
guilty of either, they are severely punished by the rest. 
They are all most miserably poor ; the better off possess 
a few buffaloes and cows, the milk of which they sell, but 
the greater number of them are professional herbalists. 
They collect plants, roots, and other things in the different 
countries that they wander through, such as are used for 
medicine or dyes, or for salves, &c, for horses and cattle. 
These they sell in the bazaars, and the little money that 
they thus earn helps them considerably. They supplement 
their livelihood by hunting, fishing, begging, and charlatanry. 

All these tribes live entirely isolated from the rest of 



72 NOMADIC CAMPS 

the world, with whom they hold no communication, except 
in order to obtain the bare necessaries of life. They lead 
for the most part a pastoral life, and their headmen occa- 
sionally possess considerable herds of eattle, consisting of 
bullocks, buffaloes, and asses. They travel in bands of ten, 
twenty, thirty, or more families. They shelter themselves 
under bamboo or osier mats, which they carry everywhere 
with them. Each family has its own mat tent, seven or 
eight feet long, four or five feet broad, and three or four 
feet high, in which father, mother, children, poultry, and 
sometimes even pigs, are housed, or rather huddled together, 
this being their only protection against bad weather. They 
always choose woods or lonely places as sites for their 
camps, so that no one can see what goes on amongst them. 
Besides their mat tents and the other necessaries for camp- 
ing, they always take care to be provided with small stores 
of grain, as well as with the household utensils necessary 
for preparing and cooking their food. Those who possess 
beasts of burden make them carry the greater part of their 
goods and chattels, but the unfortunate wTetches who have 
no other means of transport are compelled to carry alj 
their worldly possessions, that is to say, the necessaries 
for housing and feeding themselves. I have seen the 
husband carrying on his head and shoulders the tent, the 
provisions, and some earthen vessels, whilst the wife, her 
body half uncovered, carried an infant on her back, hanging 
behind her in the upper part of her cotton garment ; on 
her head was the mortar for husking the rice ; while follow- 
ing her came a child bending under the weight of the rest 
of the household chattels. 

I have often seen this sad spectacle, and always with 
deep feelings of pity. Such is the kind of life which many 
Hindus are accustomed to, and which they bear without 
murmuring or complaining, and without even appearing 
to envy those whose lives are spent in pleasanter places. 

Each one of these nomadic tribes has its own habits, 
laws, and customs ; and each forms a small and perfectly 
independent republic of its own, governed by such rules 
and regulations as seem best to them. Nothing is known 
by the outside world of what happens amongst them. 
The chiefs of each caste are elected or dismissed by a 



NOMAD SELF-GOVERNMENT 73 

majority of votes. They are commissioned, during the 
time that their authority lasts, to enforce the caste rules, 
to settle disputes, and to punish all misdemeanour and 
crime. But however heinous offences may be, they never 
involve the penalty of death or mutilation. The guilty 
person has only either to pay a fine, or suffer a severe 
flogging or some other corporal punishment. Travelling 
ceaselessly from one country to another, these vagrant 
families pay no tax to any Government : the majority 
possess nothing, and they have consequently no need of 
the protection of a prince to guard them against spoliation. 
Further, they have no claims to take before the courts, 
since they administer justice themselves ; and being with- 
out any ambition, they ask neither pardon nor favour from 
any prince. All these nomadic tribes stink in the nostrils 
of other Hindus, owing to the kind of life which they lead, 
to the small esteem in which they hold the religious practices 
observed by other castes, and, lastly, to the vulgar vices 
to which they are enslaved. But the heaviest indictment 
against them is their excessive intemperance in eating and 
drinking. With the exception of cow's flesh, they eat in- 
discriminately of every kind of food, even the most revolt- 
ing, such as the flesh of foxes, cats, rats, snakes, crows, &c. 
Both men and women drink to excess toddy and arrack, 
i.e. the spirit of the country, and they will consume every 
kind of liquor and enervating drug which they can procure. 

The majority of these vagabonds live in a state of ex- 
treme poverty. When no other resource remains to them 
they beg, or else send their women to earn their livelihood 
by prostitution. 

Among the degraded beings who form the dregs of 
society in India must be classed the jugglers, the charlatans, 
mountebanks, conjurers, acrobats, rope-dancers, &c. There 
are two or three castes which practise these professions, 
travelling from country to country to find patrons or dupes. 
It is not surprising, with a people so credulous and endued 
with such a love of the marvellous as the Hindus, that such 
impostors should abound. They are regarded as magicians 
and sorcerers, as men versed in witchcraft and all the occult 
sciences, and are viewed with fear and distrust ; while the 
hatred in which they arc held is much greater than is 



71 JUGGLERS AND QUACKS 

Ebcci >rded in Europe to people of the same description. 
Some of these charlatans cany on a trade with a credulous 
public in quack medicines and universal panaceas. They 
may often be heard in the street haranguing the multitude 
and extolling their wares. They even surpass our own 
quacks in effrontery and barefaced imposture. Others are 
conjurers or acrobats ; and both one and the other perform 
really astonishing feats of legerdemain and agility. Euro- 
pean jugglers would certainly have to lower their colours 
before them. 

The best known of these castes is that of the Bombers or 
Dombarus. To the earnings which the men make by their 
industry the women also add the sums that they gain by 
the most shameless immorality ; their favours, if such a 
word be applicable, are accorded to any one who likes to 
pay for them. However, in spite of all this, the Dombers 
lead a wretched life ; and their extreme poverty is caused 
by their boundless intemperance. They always spend in 
eating and drinking much more than they actually possess ; 
and when all their means are exhausted they have recourse 
to begging. 

Other troops of vagabonds of the same class adopt the 
profession of travelling actors. I once met a large party 
who were representing the ten Avatars (or incarnations) of 
Vishnu, on which subject they had composed as many 
sacred plays. The greater number of them, however, play 
obscene and ridiculous farces in the streets, with boards 
and trestles for their stage ; or else they exhibit marionettes, 
which they place in disgusting postures, making them give 
utterance to the most pitiable and filthy nonsense. These 
shows are exactly suited to the taste and comprehension 
of the stupid crowd which forms the audience. Hindu 
players have learned from experience that they can never 
rivet the attention of the public except at the expense of 
decency, modesty, or good sense l . 

Some Hindu jugglers turn their attention to snake- 
charming, especially with cobras, the most poisonous of 
all. These they teach to dance, or to move in rhythm to 

1 At the present time there are many Indian theatrical eompanies 
formed somewhat after the fashion of European eompanies. Their per- 
formances, too, have improved a great deal since the Abbe's time. — Ed. 



SNAKE-CHARMERS 75 

music ; and they perform what appear to be the most 
alarming tricks with these deadly reptiles. In spite of all 
their care and skill it sometimes happens that they are 
bitten ; and this would infallibly cost them their lives, did 
they not take the precaution to excite the snake every 
morning, forcing it to bite several times through a thick 
piece of stuff so that it may rid itself of the venom that 
re-forms daily in its fangs. They also pose as possessors of 
the secret of enchanting snakes, pretending that they can 
attract them with the sound of their flutes. This craft 
was practised elsewhere in the very earliest times, as may 
be gathered from a passage in Holy Scripture, where the 
obstinacy of a hardened sinner is likened to that of a deaf 
adder that shuts its ears to the voice of the charmer. Be 
that as it may, I can vouch for it that the pretended power 
of Hindu snake-charmers is a mere imposture. They keep 
a few trained tame snakes, which are accustomed to come 
to them at the sound of a flute, and when they have settled 
the amount of their reward with the persons who think, 
or have been persuaded, that there are snakes in the 
vicinity of their houses, they place one of these tame 
reptiles in some corner, taking care not to be observed. 
One of the conditions on which they always insist is that 
any snake which they charm out of a hole shall not be killed, 
but shall be handed over to them. This point settled, the 
charmer seats himself on the ground and begins to play 
on his flute, turning first to one side, then to the other. 
The snake, on hearing these familiar sounds, comes out of 
its hiding-place, and crawls towards its master, gliding 
quietly into the basket in which it is usually shut up. 
The charmer then takes his reward and goes off in search 
of other dupes \ 

I will now give some particulars about the wild tribes 
which inhabit the jungles and mountains in the south of 
India. They are divided into several castes, each of which 
is composed of various communities. They are fairly 

1 Even to this clay there is a class of village servants called Kudimis, 
whose business it is to collect medicinal herbs and other plants that 
might be required by the people. These Krtdijnix arc also professional 
snake-catchers, and are supposed to possess infallible antidotes against 
snake- poison . — Ed. 



76 JUNGLE TRIBES 

numerous in many places in the Malabar hills, or Western 
Ghauts, where they are known by the generic name of 
Kadu-Kurumbars. These savages live in the forests, but 
have no fixed abode. After staying a year or two in one 
place they move on to another. Having selected the spot 
for their temporary sojourn, they surround it with a kind 
of hedge, and each family chooses a little patch of ground, 
which is dug up with a sharp piece of wood hardened in 
the fire. There they sow small seeds, and a great many 
pumpkins, cucumbers, and other vegetables ; and on these 
they live for two or three months in the year. They have 
little or no intercourse with the more civilized inhabitants 
of the neighbourhood. The latter indeed prefer to keep 
them at a distance from their houses, as they stand in con- 
siderable dread of them, looking upon them as sorcerers 
or mischievous people, whom it is unlucky even to meet. 
If they suspect a Kadu-Kurumbar of having brought about 
illness or any other mishap by his spells, they punish him 
severely, sometimes even putting him to death. 

During the rains these savages take shelter in miserable 
huts. Some find refuge in caves, or holes in the rocks, or 
in the hollow trunks of old trees. In fine weather they 
camp out in the open. At night each clan assembles at 
a given spot, and enormous fires are lit to keep off the cold 
and to scare away wild beasts. Men, women, and children 
all sleep huddled together anyhow. The poor wretches 
wear no clothes, a woman's only covering being a few 
leaves sewn together and tied round the waist. Knowing 
only of the simple necessities of existence, they find enough 
to satisfy their wants in the forest. Roots and other 
natural products of the earth, snakes and animals that they 
can snare or catch, honey that they find on the rugged 
rocks or in the tops of trees, which they climb with the 
agility of monkeys; all these furnish them with the means of 
satisfying the cravings of hunger. Less intelligent even than 
the natives of Africa, these savages of India do not possess 
bows and arrows, which they do not know how to use. 

It is to them that the dwellers in the plains apply when 
they require wood with which to build their houses. The 
jungle tribes supply them with all materials of this kind, 
in exchange for a few valueless objects, such as copper 



THE KADU-KURUMBARS 77 

or brass bangles, small quantities of grain, or a little tobacco 
to smoke l . 

Both men and women occupy themselves in making reed 
or bamboo mats, baskets, hampers, and other household 
articles, which they exchange with the inhabitants of more 
civilized parts for salt, pepper, grain, &c. 

According to the people of the plains, these savages 
can, by means of witchcraft and enchantments, charm all 
the tigers, elephants, and venomous snakes which share the 
forests with them, so that they need never fear their attacks. 

Their children are accustomed from their earliest infancy 
to the hard life to which nature appears to have condemned 
them. The very day after their confinement the women 
are obliged to scour the woods with their husbands in order 
to find the day's food. Before starting they suckle the 
new-born child, and make a hole in the ground, in which 
they put a layer of teak leaves. The leaves are so rough 
that if they rub the skin ever so gently they draw blood. 
In this hard bed the poor little creature is laid, and there 
it remains till its mother returns in the evening. On the 
fifth or sixth day after birth they begin to accustom their 
infants to eat solid food ; and in order to harden them at 
once to endure inclement weather, they wash them every 
morning in cold dew, which they collect from the trees and 
plants. Until the infants can walk, they are left by them- 
selves from morning till night, quite naked, exposed to 
sun, wind, rain, and air, and buried in the holes which 
serve them for cradles. 

The whole religion of these savages seems to consist in 
the worship of bhootams, or evil spirits, which worship they 
perform in a way peculiar to themselves. They pay no 
regard whatever to the rest of the Hindu deities. 

Besides the Kadu-Kurumbars there is another tribe of 
savages living in the forests and mountains of the Carnatic, 
and known by the name of Irulers, or in some places 
Soligurus. Their habits are identical with those of the 
Kadu-Kurumbars. They lead the same kind of life, have 
the same religion, customs, and prejudices ; in fact, one 
may say that the difference between the two tribes exists 
only in name. 

1 These transactions are now regulated by the forest laws. — En. 



78 THE MALAI-KONDIGARUS 

In several parts of Malabar a tribe is to be found called 
the Malai-Kondigaru, which, though as wild as those men- 
tioned above, has perhaps a little more in common with 
civilized humanity. They live in the forests, and their 
principal occupation is to extract the juice of the palm- 
tree, part of which they drink, the rest they sell. The 
women climb the trees to obtain it, and they do so in 
a surprisingly agile manner. These people always go about 
naked. The women only wear a little rag, which flutters 
about in the wind and most imperfectly covers that portion 
of their bodies which it is supposed to hide. During one 
of the expeditions which the last Sultan of Mysore made 
into the mountains, he met a horde of these savages, and 
was much shocked at their state of nudity ; for, however 
depraved Mahomedans may be in their private life, nothing 
can equal the decency and modesty of their conduct in 
public. They are horrified at word or look that even 
verges on indecency or immodesty, especially on the part 
of their women. The Sultan therefore caused the head- 
men of the Malai-Kondigarus to be brought before him, 
and asked them why they and their women did not cover 
their bodies more decently. They excused themselves on 
the plea of poverty, and that it was the custom of their 
caste. Tippu replied that he must require them to wear 
clothing like the other inhabitants of the country, and that 
if they had not the means wherewith to buy it, he would 
every year provide them gratuitously with the cotton cloths 
necessary for the purpose. The savages, however, though 
urged by the Sultan, made humble remonstrances, and 
begged hard to be allowed to dispense with the encum- 
brance of clothing. They finally told him that if they 
were forced to wear clothing, contrary to the rules of their 
caste, they would all leave the country rather than put up 
with so great an inconvenience ; they preferred to go and 
live in some other distant forest, where they would be 
allowed to follow their customs unmolested. The Sultan 
was accordingly obliged to give way. 

In and around Coorg is another tribe of savages known 
by the name of Yeruvaru. It is akin to the Pariah caste, 
and is composed of several communities scattered about 
in the jungles. These people, however, work for their 



THE YERUVARUS 7!) 

living, and make themselves useful to the rest of the popula- 
tion. They leave their homes to get food from the more 
civilized inhabitants of the neighbourhood, who, in return 
for a small quantity of rice given as wages, make them 
work hard at agricultural pursuits. The indolence of these 
savages is such, however, that as long as there is a handful 
of rice in their huts they absolutely refuse to work, and 
will only return to it when their supply of grain is entirely 
exhausted. Nevertheless, the other inhabitants are obliged 
to keep on good terms with them, because they perform 
all the hardest manual labour, and because if one of them 
was affronted or thought himself ill-treated, all the rest of 
the clan would take his part, and leave their usual abode 
and hide in the forest. The civilized inhabitants, to whom 
they are thus indispensable, would not be able to persuade 
them to resume their work until they had made friendly 
overtures and agreed to pay damages. These wild yet 
simple-minded people find it so difficult to procure the bare 
necessaries of life that they never even think of small 
luxuries which most other Hindus are so fond of, such as 
betel, tobacco, oil to anoint their heads, &c. They do not 
even appear to envy those who enjoy them, and are satisfied 
if they can get a little salt and pepper to flavour the taste- 
less vegetables and roots which form the principal part of 
their food. 

All these wild tribes are gentle and peaceable by nature. 
They do not understand the use of weapons of any sort, 
and the sight of a stranger is sometimes sufficient to put 
to flight a whole community. No doubt the climate in 
which they live is in a great measure responsible for their 
timid, lazy, and indolent character. They are very unlike 
the savages who people the vast forests of America or 
Africa, inasmuch as they do not know what war means, 
and appear to be quite incapable of returning evil for 
evil. For, of course, no sane person believes the accusa- 
tion brought against them that they can injure their 
neighbours by means of spells and enchantments. Hidden 
in thick forests, or in dens and caves in the rocks, they fear 
nothing in the world so much as the approach of a civilized 
being, and far from envying the happiness which the latter 
boasts of having found in the society of his fellow- men, 



SO THE REPUTED WEALTH OF INDIA 

they shun any intercourse with him, fearing lest he should 
try to rob them of their liberty and independence, and lest 
they should be condemned to submit to a civilization which 
to them is only another term for bondage. 

At the same time, these wild tribes of Hindus retain 
a few of the prejudices of their fellow-countrymen. For 
instance, they are divided into castes, they never eat beef, 
they have similar ideas about defilement and purifica- 
tion, and they keep the principal regulations relating to 
them. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Poverty of the Hindus. 

India has always been considered a most wealthy and 
opulent country, more favoured by nature than any other 
in the world, a land literally flowing with milk and honey, 
where the soil yields all that is necessary for the existence 
of its happy people almost without cultivation. The great 
wealth accumulated by a few of its native princes, the large 
fortunes so rapidly acquired by many Europeans, its 
valuable diamond mines, the quality and quantity of its 
pearls, the abundance of its spices and scented woods, 
the fertility of its soil, and the, at one time, unrivalled 
superiority of its various manufactures : all these have 
caused admiration and wonder from time immemorial. 
One would naturally suppose that a nation which could 
supply so many luxuries would surpass all others in wealth. 

This estimation of the wealth of India has been com- 
monly accepted in Europe up to the present day ; and 
those who, after visiting the country and obtaining exact 
and authentic information about the real condition of its 
inhabitants, have dared to affirm that India is the poorest 
and most wretched of all the civilized countries of the 
world, have simply not been believed. Many people in 
Europe, after reading what various authors have to say 
about India's manufactures and about the factories which 
turn out the delicate muslins, fine cloths, and beautiful 
coloured cottons, &c, which are so much admired all the 
world over, have supposed that the establishments pro- 
ducing such magnificent stuffs must have supplied models 



HINDU WEAVERS 81 

for those which are to be found at Manchester, Birmingham, 
Lyons, and other cities in Europe. Well, the truth is 
(and most people are still unaware of the fact) all these 
beautiful fabrics are manufactured in wretched thatched 
huts built of mud, twenty to thirty feet long by seven or 
eight feet broad. In such a work-room the weaver stretches 
his frame, squats on the ground, and quietly plies his 
shuttle, surrounded by his family, his cow, and his fowls. 
The instruments he makes use of are extremely primitive, 
and his whole stock in trade could easily be carried about 
by one man. Such is, in very truth, an exact picture of 
an Indian factory. As to the manufacturer himself, his 
poverty corresponds to the simplicity of his work-shop. 
There are in India two or three large classes whose only 
profession is that of weaving. The individuals comprising 
these classes are, for the most part, very poor, and are 
even destitute of the necessary means for working on their 
own account. Those who deal in the products of their 
industry have to go to them, money in hand, and after 
bargaining with them as to the price, quality, and quantity 
of the goods required, are obliged to pay them in advance. 
The weavers then go and buy the cotton and other neces- 
saries with which to begin work. Their employers have to 
supervise their work and keep a sharp look-out lest they 
decamp with the money, especially if the advances happen 
to be in any way considerable. 

As regards the condition of the Hindus generally, I think 
that the following account may make things plain. It is 
based on a long acquaintance with the inhabitants of a large 
tract of country. Still, the casual observer may find fault 
with it if he judges it by what he has noticed in large towns, 
more especially on the coast. There, at least, most of the 
natives possess houses of more or less value which they 
can dispose of if necessary, an advantage not shared by the 
rural classes. Besides, the towns are the rendezvous of 
the rich and industrious, and of those who intend to become 
so by fair means or foul, so it is not surprising to find 
a higher standard of comfort prevailing there. It is from 
experience of the masses of the population that I have been 
able to present this sketch of the different degrees of poverty 
or wealth amongst the people. *~^ 



\V 



82 THE POOREST CLASS OF HINDUS 

I should class the inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula in 
the following manner. The first and lowest class may be 
said to be composed of all those whose property is below 
the value of £5 sterling. This class appears to me to com- 
prise nine- twentieths, or perhaps even a half, of the entire 
population. It includes most of the Pariah class and nearly 
all the Chucklers (leather- workers) ; and these together 
form at least a quarter of the population. To them must 
be added a considerable portion of the Sudras, all the 
poorest members of the other castes, and the multitude of 
vagrants, beggars, and impostors who are to be met with 
everywhere. 

Most of the natives of this class hire themselves out as 
agricultural labourers, and are required to do the hardest 
manual labour for the smallest possible wage. In the 
places where they are paid in coin, they receive only just 
enough to buy the coarsest of food. Their wage varies 
from twelve to twenty rupees a year, according to locality. 
They are better paid along the coast. With this amount 
they are obliged to feed and clothe themselves. In some 
places they are paid half in coin and half in grain, or else 
they get their keep, and over and above that receive from 
four to eight rupees a year \ 

Some of the younger members of this class hire them- 
selves out without wages, on condition that, after working 
faithfully for seven or eight years, their master will provide 
them with a wife of their own caste and defray all nuptial 
expenses. Married servants who are fed by their masters 
carry home their daily rations. This food is supposed to 
be sufficient for the wants of one person, or, to quote the 
native saying, ' to be enough to fill the belly ' ; but they 
have to share it with their wives and children, who also 
have to work and thus add to the provision. When they 
are in actual want, as often happens, they go and seek for 
food in the woods, or on the banks of the rivers and tanks, 
where they find leaves, shrubs, roots, and herbs. These 
they boil, as often as not without even salt or any kind 
of condiment ; and this primitive food forms, for the 

1 The scale is higher everywhere nowadays, but so also is the cost of 
food-stuffs. Nowhere in India does the common labourer earn much 
more than a ' livi^wage.' — Ed. 



THEIR CHRONIC INDEBTEDNESS 8.3 

greater part of the year, the most substantial part of their 
meals. Clumps of bamboo abound in the woods, and its 
shoots form, for two or three months of the year, a great 
resource to the poor people who live near the places where 
it grows. 

As soon as the children belonging to the class living in 
a state of servitude have reached the age of eight or nine, 
they join the same master who employs their father, the 
boys looking after the cattle and the girls sweeping out 
the byres, collecting the dung, grinding the grain, &c. 

The well-to-do cultivators always employ men of this 
class ; and, in order to keep them in perpetual bondage, 
they lend them money either on the occasion of a marriage 
or for other purposes. The poor wretches find themselves, 
on account of their small wages, quite unable to pay back 
the capital thus advanced, and in many cases even the 
interest, which soon exceeds the original loan, and are 
therefore reduced to the necessity of working, with their 
wives and children, until the end of their days. From the 
time this happens their masters look upon them as actual 
slaves, and refuse to grant them manumission until they 
have repaid both the principal and interest of the sum 
which they or their fathers borrowed perhaps twenty or 
thirty years before. 

Those natives belonging to this class who are in a state 
of independence live by various industries. The greater 
number are carriers and coolies, or casual agricultural 
labourers in receipt of a small daily wage. The last-named 
are generally paid in grain, but when they receive money 
their wage varies from a penny to twopence a day, accord- 
ing to the district. However, they only work in proportion 
to their wage, and, whatever the task, a good European 
workman would, in most cases, do as much as four natives. 
But as the independent labourer is often out of work, and 
as the smallness of his wage or his improvidence does not 
allow of his putting by anything, his lot is no better, perhaps 
even worse, than that of his brother in slavery, and he is 
often in absolute want. Most of them have nothing of 
their own, or at the best only a wretched hut twelve or 
fifteen feet long by five or six broad, and from four to five 
feet high, which is full of insects and vermin and exhales 



84 SMALLEST CLASS OF AGRICULTURISTS 

an awful stench. Into this hovel they, witli their wives 
and children, crowd higgledy-piggledy. Their belongings 
consist of a few earthen vessels, one or two sickles, and the 
rags in which they stand. Those who are a little less 
poverty-stricken have a brass lotah for drinking purposes, 
and another out of which they eat, a hoe, two or three 
sickles, a few silver bracelets, worth three or four rupees, 
belonging to the women, and two or three cows \ These 
people are agriculturists and farm Government lands, on 
which they pay a tax varying from two to twenty-five 
shillings. 

Such, in truth, is the state of misery in which half the 
population of India passes its life 2 . 

I place in the second class all those whose property 
ranges from £5 to £25 sterling. This class, I should say, 
includes about six-twentieths of the entire population and 
is composed chiefly of Sudras. Those included in it are 
mostly agriculturists on their own account. Their poverty 
does not allow of their hiring others to work under them. 
They cultivate Government land, and pay a yearly tax of 
from one to twenty pagodas, according to the value of the 
land. They sometimes require as many as three ploughs. 
Their entire property consists of a few cattle, a few small 
gold and silver trinkets, one or two copper vessels for 

1 Many Hindus own a few oxen and cattle, which are supposed to be 
the most valuable part of their property ; in fact their degree of comfort 
is judged, more or less, by the number of these valuable animals which 
they possess. As soon as a Hindu has acquired a sufficient sum of 
money, he spends it as a rule on a pair of draught oxen and a cow. But 
the intrinsic value of these animals is small. The country oxen are, as 
a rule, stunted, weak, and incapable of enduring much fatigue. Four 
or five rupees is their outside value. — Dubois. 

2 In this connexion the reader will do well to refer to an excellent 
Blue Book entitled, Progress of the Madras Presidency during the Forty 
Years from 1853 to 1892, by the late Dewan Bahadur S. Srinivasa 
Raghavaiengar, C.I.E., a distinguished Government official, who clearly 
proves therein that a very great advance has been made by the country 
during the last four decades. Emigration also offers large fields of 
profitable employment to the Indian coolie nowadays — Ceylon, the 
Straits Settlements, Africa, the West Indies, Mauritius, &c, all com- 
peting for his services. The difficulty is to induce him to leave his 
miserable home. Those who do emigrate sometimes return with com- 
paratively large savings, and become either petty shopkeepers or petty 
cultivators. — Ed. 



PLEDGING OF CROPS 85 

drinking and a few more for eating purposes, and some 
iron farm implements. They live in thatched mud huts, 
rather more commodious and a little less filthy than those 
previously described. Weavers, barbers, washermen, and 
other workmen who cater for the wants of the public may 
also, for the most part, be included under this head. 

The cultivators of this second class, although better off 
than those of the first, find it hard to make both ends 
meet even in the best seasons. They are obliged to sell at 
least half their crop beforehand at low prices, to enable 
them to pay their taxes, and the miserly usurers who profit 
by their poverty leave them hardly sufficient for the wants 
of their family during six or eight months of the year ; 
in fact, many of them have only food enough to last four 
months. Some never even gather the harvest from the field 
they have sown, for as soon as the corn has formed in the 
ear they are day by day driven by hunger to cut off some of 
the green ears, with which they make a sort of soup. Con- 
sequently, by harvest time there is nothing but stubble left 
to gather, and to save themselves the trouble of cutting it 
they merely turn three or four cows into the field to graze. 
If by dint of self-denial they allow their crops to grow up 
intact, it is not they who benefit by them, for as soon as 
the grain has been threshed the money-lenders step in 
and take their due, and afterwards come those who lent 
them grain when they had nothing to eat, and demand 
payment of the original quantity plus twenty- five per cent, 
interest ; that is to say, a man borrowing twenty measures 
of corn has to repay twenty-five. 

The grain takes about four months to ripen, and this 
period is called the time of "prosperity, or sukha kala. It is 
about the only season in the year when the poor have 
enough of even the coarsest kinds of food, consisting of 
various sorts of small pulse, much the same as that which 
is used in Europe to fatten pigs and fowls, and in India 
to feed horses. Hence the well-known proverb, ' Do not 
approach a Pariah during the sukha kala season, nor go 
within range of an ox during the Divuligai V This is 

1 This feast will be specially mentioned later on. Its celebration takes 
place in November, when the country is clothed in verdure. — Dubois. 
It is also called Dccpavali and Divali. — Ed. 



cSG DEFICIENCY OF FOOD 

because both become unmanageable then, from an un- 
wonted state of prosperity. 

In most provinces those who cultivate rice do not eat it, 
hut sell it to pay their taxes. During the four months the 
;sole 
object seems to be to win a name for lordly extravagance. 
Money becomes no object to them, so long as it procures 
the gratification of their vanity. Immense- fortunes seldom 
survive the second generation, owing i-to.- the manner; in 
which the sons foolishly squander the ''wealth laboriously 
gained by their fathers. It is not uncoinr^on to rind sons 
who have inherited millions from their -father end their 
days in beggary. 

A native's house is besieged as soon -as he is known to 
be a wealthy man, and this not only by/his own relatives, 
but also by the indigent of his caste, ajid by ar#tf)rde of 
parasites of every description, including poverty-stricken 
Brahmins, religious mendicants, ballad-mongers, and low 
flatterers, who feed his vanity by writing odes to his honour 
and glory, and by lavishing on him praise of the most 
fulsome nature. All these dependants stick to the wealthy 
native like leeches, fighting with each other as to who 
shall carry off the largest share of the prize, and never 
releasing their hold on their victim until they have stripped 
him of everything. 

As to the general condition of the natives now, as com- 
pared with what it was thirty years ago, the question arises, 
has it improved or has it deteriorated ? I have occasionally 
heard this important question discussed amongst thoughtful 
and well-informed Europeans, but they could rarely agree 
with one another on the subject. Some maintained that 
the masses are enjoying greater prosperity than ever they 
did before ; others that they have never been in a more 



IMPROVEMENT UNDER BRITISH RULE 93 

wretched state ; while a few hold that things are prac- 
tically where they were before the change of government 
took place. But it is evidently absurd to suppose that 
a well-meaning, just, and equitable Government, which 
has succeeded one that was arbitrary, oppressive, and 
tyrannical, has produced no amelioration in the condition 
of the people, whatever peculiarities of character and dis- 
position the latter may possess, and however great an 
obstacle their institutions may be to the philanthropic 
endeavours of the new regime to make their lives more 
bearable, if not actually happier. This common-sense view 
of the case is borne out by my own observations. To me 
it seems undeniable that the condition of the people has 
improved in many important directions at least, and I have 
found that the most sensible natives themselves admit it. 
I do not mean to imply that the lowest classes in the land 
are better off, for in some provinces close observation will 
reveal an increase of misery : but where that is the case, 
I attribute it to causes beyond the power of any Govern- 
ment to prevent or put an end to ; and further, I think 
that, given the same causes, the misery would have been 
more acute under the old regime. 

Of these causes the chief one is the rapid increase of 
the population. Judging by my own personal knowledge 
of the poorer Christian populations in Mysore and in the 
districts of Baramahl and Coimbatore, I should say that 
they have increased by twenty-five per cent, in the last 
twenty-five years. During this period Southern India has 
been free from the wars and other decimating calamities 
which had been dealing havoc almost uninterruptedly for 
centuries before. 

Some modern political economists have held that a pro- 
gressive increase in the population is one of the most 
unequivocal signs of a country's prosperity and wealth. 
In Europe this argument may be logical enough, but I do 
not think that it can be applied to India ; in fact, I am 
persuaded that as the population increases, so in proportion 
do want and misery. For this theory of the economists to 
hold good in all respects the resources and industries of the 
inhabitants ought to develop equally rapidly ; but in a 
country where the inhabitants are notoriously apathetic 



94 INCREASING BIRTH-RATE 

and indolent, where customs and institutions are so many 
insurmountable barriers against a better order of tilings, 
and where it is more or" less a sacred duty to let things 
remain as they are, I have every reason to feel convinced 
that a considerable increase in the population should be 
looked upon as a calamity rather than as a blessing. 

It is in the nature of things that, in times of peace and 
tranquillity, when the protection of a just Government is 
afforded both to person and property, an increase in the 
population of India should take place at an alarming rate, 
since it is an indisputable fact that no women in the world 
are more fruitful than the women of India, and nowhere 
else is the propagationof the human race so much encouraged. 
In fact, a Hindu only marries to have children, and the 
more he has the richer and the happier he feels. All over 
India it is enough for a woman to know how to cook, pound 
rice, and give birth to children. These three things are 
expected of her, especially the last, but nothing more. It 
would even appear displeasing if she aspired to anything 
else. No Hindu would ever dream of complaining that 
his family was too large, however poor he might be, or 
however numerous his children. A barren woman is made 
to feel that there can be no worse fate, and barrenness 
in a wife is the most terrible curse that can possibly fall 
on a family. 

Another serious cause of the poverty of modern India 
is the decrease in the demand for hand labour, resulting 
from the introduction of machinery and the spread of 
manufactures with improved methods in Europe. Indeed, 
Europe no longer depends on India for anything, having 
learnt to beat the Hindus on their own ground, even in 
their most characteristic industries and manufactures, for 
which from time immemorial we were dependent on them. 
In fact, the roles have been reversed, and this revolution 
threatens to ruin India completely. 

Just before returning to Europe I travelled through some 
of the manufacturing districts, and nothing could equal the 
state of desolation prevailing in them. All the work-rooms 
were closed, and hundreds of thousands of the inhabitants, 
composing the weaver caste, were dying of hunger ; for 
through the prejudices of the country they could not adopt 



INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY 95 

another profession without dishonouring themselves. I 
found countless widows and other women out of work, 
and consequently destitute, who used formerly to maintain 
their families by cotton-spinning. Wherever I went the 
same melancholy picture confronted me. 

This collapse in the cotton industry has indirectly 
affected trade in all its branches by stopping the circula- 
tion of money, and the cultivators can no longer reckon 
on the manufacturers who, in the days of their prosperity, 
were wont to buy up their surplus grain, and even to lend 
them money when they were in arrears with their taxes. 
This has led the cultivators to the hard necessity of relin- 
quishing their grain to, and thus becoming the prey of, 
remorseless usurers. 

Such is the deplorable condition into which the poor 
Hindus have sunk ; and it grows worse daily, thanks to 
the much- vaunted improvements in machinery which some 
nations glory in. Ah ! if only the inventors of these in- 
dustrial developments could hear the curses which this 
multitude of poor Hindus never tire of heaping upon them ! 
If only, like me, they had seen the frightful misery which 
has overtaken whole provinces, owing entirely to them and 
their inventive genius, they would no doubt, unless they 
were entirely wanting in human pity, bitterly repent having 
carried their pernicious innovations so far, and having 
thereby enriched a handful of men at the expense of millions 
of poor people, to whom the very name of their com- 
petitors has become odious as the sole cause of their utter 
destitution ! 

And let no one venture to assert that the unfortunate 
Hindus can, if they choose, find a recompense in the fertility 
of their soil. The sight of vast plains lying fallow and 
waste may induce the superficial observer to accuse the 
natives of indolence or the Government of mismanagement, 
but he is not aware that the greater part, if not the whole, 
of these vast plains are sterile, bare, and incapable of 
cultivation through want of water during most of the year. 
In Southern India, at the present time, there are few lands 
in the neighbourhood of wells, tanks, and rivers which 
are not under cultivation, even on the summits of the 
highest hills ; and if by any chance a few fields still lie 



96 THE HINDU'S INBRED CONSERVATISM 

unreclaimed, it is due to the hopeless sterility of the soil, 
which, even in the best seasons, would never repay the 
labourer for his trouble, or else because, to yield any profit 
at all, they would require more capital and more courage 
than most of the people possess. 

It is, to my mind, a vain hope to suppose that we can 
really very much improve the condition of the Hindus, or 
raise their circumstances of life to the level prevailing in 
Europe. The efforts of a Government which is humane 
and generous, as well as just, may succeed up to a certain 
point in lessening some of their hardships ; but as long as 
it is in the nature of the Hindus to cling to their civil and 
religious institutions, to their old customs and habits, they 
must remain what they have always been, for these are so 
many insurmountable obstacles in the path of progress 
and to the attainment of a new order of things better 
calculated to bring them happiness. They will continue 
to grovel in poverty as long as their physical and intellectual 
faculties continue in the same groove. 

Therefore, to make a new race of the Hindus, one would 
have to begin by undermining the very foundations of 
their civilization, religion, and polity, and by turning 
them into atheists and barbarians. Having accomplished 
this terrible upheaval, we might then perhaps offer our- 
selves to them as lawgivers and religious teachers. But 
even then our task would be only half accomplished. After 
dragging them out of the depths of barbarism, anarchy, 
and atheism into which we had plunged them, and after 
giving them new laws, a new polity, and a new religion, 
we should still have to give them new natures and different 
inclinations. Otherwise we should run the risk of seeing 
them soon relapse into their former state, which would be 
worse, if anything, than before. 

Let our theoretical philanthropists, with their mistaken 
and superficial notions concerning the genius and character 
of the Hindus and the varied and multitudinous social 
links that bind them together, exclaim as much as they 
please in their unreflecting enthusiasm, that nothing has 
been done for the physical and spiritual improvement of 
the race. My reply is, ' Why do you expound your shallow 
theories in Europe ? Come and study the question on the 



A POLICY OF NON-INTERFERENCE 97 

spot. Make personal inquiry into the manners and customs 
of the people ; realize for yourselves whether all possible 
means have been tried with a view to gaining this desirable 
end. And then, but not till then, make up your minds on 
the question.' 

Since our European ways, manners, and customs, so 
utterly different from theirs, do not allow of our winning 
their confidence, at least let us continue to earn their 
respect and admiration by humane examples of compas- 
sion, generosity, and well-doing. Let us leave them their 
cherished laws and prejudices, since no human effort will 
persuade them to give them up, even in their own interests, 
and let us not risk making the gentlest and most sub- 
missive people in the world furious and indomitable by 
thwarting them. Let us take care lest we bring about, by 
some hasty or imprudent course of action, catastrophes 
which would reduce the country to a state of anarchy, 
desolation, and ultimate ruin, for, in my humble opinion, 
the day when the Government attempts to interfere with 
any of the more important religious and civil usages of 
the Hindus will be the last of its existence as a political 
power. 

CHAPTEE VII 

The Mythical Origin of the Brahmins. — Their Name and their Original 
Founders. — Conjectures on their True Origin. — Buddhists and 
Jains. 

The real origin of the Brahmins is wrapped in mystery, 
and one can only hazard conjectures on the subject, or put 
belief in myths. The story most generally accepted says 
that they were born from Brahma's head, which accounts 
for their name. One would suppose that as all castes 
were born from this same father they would be privileged to 
bear the same name ; but as the Brahmins were the first- 
born, and issued from the noblest part of the common 
parent, they claimed special privileges from which all 
others were rigorously excluded. They have another 
theory to bear out the accepted belief that no one else 
is entitled to the illustrious name of Brahmin. They say 
that no one knows anything about Brahma's attributes 



98 THE SEVEN PENITENTS 

and virtues beyond what they themselves choose to teach 
mankind, and that this knowledge in itself gives them the 
right to bear his name. Anyhow, their name is undoubtedly 
derived from Brahma's. The old writers call them ' Brah- 
manahas,' or ' Brahmahas,' which some of the Latin 
authors turned into ' Brachmanes.' The great difference 
between their caste and all others is that a Brahmin only 
becomes a Brahmin after the ceremony of the triple cord, 
which will be described hereafter. Until this essential 
ceremony has been performed he ranks only as a Sudra. 
By mere birth he is no different from the rest of his race ; 
and it is for this reason that he is called Dvija (Bis genitus, 
or Twice-born). His first birth only gives him his man- 
hood, whereas the second raises him to the exalted rank 
of Brahmin, and this by means of the ceremony of the 
triple cord. Indeed, two out of the seven famous Peni- 
tents, who are supposed to have been the original founders 
of the various sects of Brahmins of the present day, did 
not originally belong to this caste at all ; but by reason of 
the length and austerity of their term of penance, they 
were rewarded by having their state of penitent Kshatriyas 
changed to that of penitent Brahmins by the investiture 
of the triple cord. These seven Penitents, or Rishis, or 
Munis, of Hindu history (I shall often refer to them in the 
pages of the present work) are the most celebrated per- 
sonages recognized by the people of India. Their names 
are Kasyapa, Atri, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Viswamitra, 
Jamadagni, and Vasishta. The last-named and Viswa- 
mitra are those who were considered worthy of being 
admitted into the high caste of Brahmins. These far- 
famed Rishis must be of great antiquity, for they existed 
even before the Vedas, which allude to them in several 
places. They were the favoured of the gods, and more 
especially of Vishnu, who at the time of the Deluge made 
them embark on a vessel which he piloted, and thereby 
saved them from destruction. Even the gods were called 
to account for having offended these holy men, who did 
not hesitate to curse the deities who committed infamies. 
The seven Penitents, after setting a virtuous example 
on earth, were finally translated to heaven, where they 
occupy a place amongst the most brilliant constellations. 



BRAHMIN ORIGINS 99 

They are to be recognized in the seven stars that form the 
Great Bear, which, according to Hindu tradition, are 
neither more nor less than the seven famous Rishis them- 
selves. They are, according to Hindu legend, the ancestors 
of the Brahmins in reality and not by metamorphosis, and 
it is believed that without ceasing to shine in the firmament 
they can, and occasionally do, revisit the earth to find out 
what is occurring there. 

Are there any families in Europe which can, notwith- 
standing the mythical origins which heraldic science pro- 
fesses to discover, pride themselves on the possession of 
such ancestors '? And seeing that in our own aristocracy 
a man with a noble lineage is not above assuming an air 
of extreme hauteur and exclusiveness, we ought not to be 
surprised at a Brahmin's vanity or at the contempt with 
which he treats any one belonging to an inferior caste. 
This idea of handing down to posterity the names of their 
great men by immortalizing them, and assigning to them 
a place among the constellations, appears to have been an 
almost universal practice amongst ancient races. 

Astronomy has played an important part in the history 
of almost all idolatrous nations ; and of all false creeds it 
certainly is the least unreasonable, and has survived the 
longest. The religious and political lawgivers of these 
races were clever enough to perceive that the worship of 
the stars had taken a great hold upon mankind, and that 
the simplest and most effectual way of perpetuating the 
memory of their heroes would be to transform them into 
outward objects that were always before the eyes of the 
people. It was thus that the Greeks and Romans con- 
secrated the memory of their divinities and demi-gods ; 
and no doubt the Hindu lawgivers were prompted to 
immortalize their seven Rishis by means of the brightest 
stars in the sky because they realized that a Hindu imagina- 
tion is only appealed to through the visible, and therefore 
that was the best way to perpetuate the veneration due to 
these illustrious beings. But whatever may have been the 
claims of Brahmins to a celestial origin, it is a well-authen- 
ticated fact that neither their caste nor any other existed 
in the countries to the north-east of Bengal four or five 
centuries ago. About that time the inhabitants of those 



100 EARLY COLONIZATION OF INDIA 

parts, thinking that it might be to their advantage to adopt 
the customs of their neighbours, began to clamour for 
Brahmins. Accordingly, some were made to order out of 
the youths of the country, who, after conforming to the 
customs and rites of the Brahmins, were incorporated into 
their caste by the investiture of the triple cord. The 
descendants of these ready-made Brahmins have ever since 
been considered on an equality with the rest. The southern 
Brahmins do not care to be reminded of the fact ; yet they 
are obliged to admit it, as well as that two of the Rishis 
were originally Kshatriyas. An objection which people 
often put to them is that if nothing but the investiture of 
the triple cord can make Brahmins of them, then their 
wives, who do not go through the ceremony, really belong 
to the Sudras ; and this means that all Brahmins are obliged 
to marry out of their caste and by so doing violate their 
most sacred principles. The reply they invariably make 
to this, as to other embarrassing questions, is that they 
are but following time-honoured customs and institu- 
tions. 

One is certainly justified in expressing doubt on the 
subject of the Brahmins' origin, but I, for one, should be 
sorry to oppose my conjectures to their absurd fables. 
Far be it from me to start any theories. My only desire 
is to collect materials which may help those who are trying 
to lift the veil which shrouds from view the cradle of the 
universe. It is practically admitted that India was in- 
habited very soon after the Deluge, which made a desert 
of the whole world. The fact that it was so close to the 
plains of Sennaar, where Noah's descendants remained 
stationary so long, as well as its good climate and the 
fertility of the country, soon led to its settlement. I will 
say nothing of the conquests of Hercules, Bacchus, and 
Osiris, as most learned men look upon them as fabulous 
beings, and those who admit an element of truth in the 
tales carefully denude them of all the extravagant details 
which tradition assigns to them *. The history of Sesostris, 
although equally full of impossibilities, has something more 
truthful and authenticated about it. The few ancient 
monuments which have been preserved make him out to 
1 See Plutarch's Isis and Osiris, chap. xxxv. 



SUPPOSED ARABIAN SETTLEMENTS 101 

have been the bravest, not to say the only, warrior that 
peaceful Egypt had to boast of for a period of more than 
sixteen centuries, and they also lead one to believe that 
he was the greatest of all conquerors, with an empire 
extending from the Danube to the Ganges. But his Indian 
conquests were as temporary and unstable as those of his 
illustrious rival Alexander the Great much later on in the 
world's history. 

As to the settlements that the Arabs are supposed to 
have made in India, according to some authors, I think 
only superficial students will be found ready to believe in 
them. The fact that they are nomads, who have always 
lived a wandering life within reach of India, gives some 
appearance of reality to the theory. Some indeed believe 
that the caste system was borrowed from them, since it 
still exists in Arabia ; but, as a matter of fact, it is a custom 
common to all the ancient races of the earth. 

I do not trace the origin of the Brahmins either to 
Egypt or to Arabia, and I believe them to be the descen- 
dants not of Shem, as many argue, but of Japheth. Accord- 
ing to my theory they reached India from the north, and 
I should place the first abode of their ancestors in the 
neighbourhood of the Caucasus. 

Two famous mountains situated in Northern India, 
known as Great Meru (Maha-Meru) and Mount Mandara 
(Mandara Parvata), are frequently mentioned in their old 
books and in their prayers, liturgies, and civil and religious 
ceremonies. These mountains, which I believe to be one 
and the same under slightly different names, are so far 
away that their precise whereabouts is unknown to the 
Brahmins of to-day \ And this is not surprising in a 
country where geographical science is confined to know- 
ledge of the places situated between Benares and Cape 
Comorin. The Hindus themselves claim to be descended 
from the inhabitants of these distant northern regions, 
and they believe that it was there that the seven illus- 
trious ancestors of the Brahmins were born, whose descen- 

1 There can be no doubt that these mountains, and others mentioned 
as lying around them, belong to the great ranges of Central Asia, from 
which flow the great rivers that water Siberia, China, Tartary, and 
Hindustan. — Ed. 



102 THE SEVEN SONS OF JAPHETH 

dants have spread little by little throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. This opinion of the Hindus as to tli<- 
origin of the Brahmins is confirmed by the Brahmins 
themselves, by the manner in which they treat one another. 
The northern Brahmin considers himself nobler and of 
higher rank than his southern brother, inasmuch as, having 
originated closer to the cradle of the race, there is less room 
for doubt concerning the fact of his direct descent from 
the Rishis. Surely these seven Hindu Penitents, or philo- 
sophers, must be the seven sons of Japheth, who, with their 
father at their head, led one-third of the human race 
towards the West, when men began to disperse after the 
Flood. They did not all reach Europe. Some of them on 
their way there turned northwards, under the guidance of 
Magog, second son of Japheth, and penetrated into Tartary 
as far as the Caucasian Range, in which vast tract of 
country they made several settlements. 

I hazard no conjectures here which are not borne out 
by the Scriptures or by the commentaries of its wise in- 
terpreters, with whose aid I might easily pretend to much 
erudition ; it would only be necessary to copy out verbatim 
what Bochart and the savant Dom Calmet have written 
on this subject. 

Any one believing in the connexion between names and 
facts will be struck with the similarity existing between 
Magog's name and Gautama's, commonly called Gotama. 
Ma, or maha, signifies great, so that Gotama must mean 
the Great Gog or Magog 1 . 

Furthermore, pagan history adds weight to these con- 
jectures of mine on the origin and antiquity of the Brah- 
mins. Learned men allude to more than one Prometheus. 
According to the Greeks the most celebrated of them all 
is a son of Japheth. He created man out of the soil, and 
instilled life into him with the fire stolen from heaven. 
This bold enterprise irritated Jupiter, who punished him 
by chaining him to one of the Caucasian Mountains, where 
a vulture devoured his liver as fast as it renewed itself. 
Hercules killed the vulture, and thereby put the son of 
Iapetus, or Japheth, out of his torture. 

1 Much of this seems extremely fanciful. Max Miiller and other 
modern authorities should be consulted. — Ed. 



PROMETHEUS AND BRAHMA 103 

Why should not Brahma and Prometheus be one and 
the same person ? The Hindu divinity is known also 
under the names of Brema and Prume in some of their 
tongues. All these names bear resemblance to Prome- 
theos, or the god Prome of the Greeks. Brahma, like 
Prometheus, is looked upon as the creator of man, who is 
supposed to have issued from the various parts of Brahma's 
body. Brahma was also their great lawgiver, being the 
author of the Vedas, which he wrote with his own hand. 
He had more than once to appeal to Vishnu for help, just 
as Prometheus relied on Hercules to deliver him from his 
enemies. 

This pretension on the part of the Hindu Prometheus 
to be regarded as the maker of man, and therefore a god, 
has been handed down in some part to his eldest sons, 
the Brahmins, who humbly call themselves the Gods 
Brahma, or the Gods of the Earth. At certain times the 
people prostrate themselves before them in adoration, and 
offer up sacrifices to them. 

Again, several authors, both sacred and profane, have 
tried to prove that the Prometheus who wished to pass as 
the creator of man was no other than Magog himself. It 
is hardly likely that so near the time of the Deluge the real 
Creator should have been so completely forgotten that 
a son of Noah was able to pass himself off as a god ; but 
it is quite possible that his descendants deified him, when 
the spirit of idolatry began to reign on earth. It was 
Magog who settled in Tartary with all those who elected 
to follow him, having decided to separate from Japheth's 
other children. From thence he or his descendants spread 
over India and other countries, which had rightly fallen 
to Shem's lot. This verified Noah's prophecy that Japheth's 
dominion would be far-reaching, and that his posterity 
would dwell in the tents of Shem (Gen. ix. 27). But admit- 
ting that Tartary or the neighbourhood of the Caucasus 
was the birthplace of the Brahmins, it is not easy to decide 
the precise date of their arrival in India. It appears 
certain, however, that they were already established there 
in a flourishing condition more than nine centuries before 
the Christian era, as that was about the time of Lycurgus's 
visit to them ; and it is not likely that one of the wisest 



104 THE EARLY BRAHMINS 

of the ancient philosophers would have undertaken such 
a long and tedious journey unless the reputation of the 
learned men he was going all that way to consult was an 
old and established fact. 

The ancient Hindu works teach us that the Brahmins of 
those times differed essentially in matters of principle 
and conduct from their brethren of to-day. The original 
Brahmin is described as a penitent and a philosopher, 
living apart from the world and its temptations and entirely 
engrossed in the pursuit of knowledge, leading a life of 
introspection and practising a life of purity. At that 
period of their history the Brahmins were not such an 
intolerant and exclusive race that penitents belonging to 
other castes could not be initiated by the Diksha cere- 
mony *, or the investiture of the triple cord. There are 
many examples of this in their literature. The simple and 
blameless lives led by the primitive Brahmins, their con- 
tempt for wealth and honours, their disinterestedness, and, 
above all, their extreme sobriety, attracted the attention 
of the princes and the people. The greatest kings were 
not above rendering homage to them and treating them 
with more respect than they would have dared to demand 
for themselves from their own subjects. These philo- 
sophers, living secluded from the world with their wives 
and children, multiplied exceedingly. 

Although the modern Brahmin has degenerated con- 
siderably, he still acts up to a great many of the customs 
and institutions of his ancestors. Like them, he prefers 
to live in retired places, far from the noisy haunts of man ; 
and that is the reason why he settles in isolated villages, 
from which all natives belonging to other castes are ex- 
cluded. There are numbers of these villages in the different 
provinces of the Indian Peninsula, and they are known by 
the names of agraras or agraharas 2 . Still more do the 
Brahmins resemble their ancestors in the way in which 
they fast frequently and wash themselves daily, and in all 
that concerns their sacrifices ; but, perhaps, most of all in 

1 Diksha means consecration ; (undergoing) a religious observance for 
a particular purpose ; solemn preparation. — Ed. 

2 Agrara is merely a corruption of the word agrahara, which literally 
means ' land-grant to Brahmins.' — Ed. 



CORRUPTION OF MODERN BRAHM1NISM 105 

their scrupulous abstinence, not only from meat and all 
forms of living food, but even from anything with which 
superstition or prejudice may have connected any idea of 
pollution. 

The religious system of the Brahmins and the absurd 
theogony which they have propagated in India seem to be 
the points on which they have gone most astray from the 
teachings of their predecessors. I cannot believe that the 
original lawgivers of the Hindus intended to introduce 
a creed so abominable and palpably absurd as that which 
at present exists amongst them. Their mythology origin- 
ally consisted of allegories made intelligible by means of 
visible and material objects, so that religious knowledge 
should not die out of the minds of men who appeared to 
be little influenced by anything that failed to make a direct 
impression on their senses. But a coarse, ignorant, in- 
dolent, and superstitious race soon forgot the spirit of its 
creed, and ended by believing solely in the forms and 
emblems which had been employed ; so that, before long, 
they quite lost sight of the spiritual beings of which these 
emblems were only symbolical. But I shall have occasion 
to refer to this question again, and so shall merely state 
here that the long tissue of fables on which the present 
religion of the Hindus is founded is not, to my mind, very 
ancient ; at least, the greater part of it is not. Although 
some authors think differently, nothing will persuade me 
that their mythology is much older than that of the 
Greeks. 

The primitive creed of the ancient Brahmins seems to 
have been utterly corrupted by their successors. The first 
form of idolatry into which all nations fall, after forgetting 
their traditions concerning the unity of God and the 
absolute and exclusive worship He expects from all His 
creatures, is the adoration of the stars and conspicuous 
elements, such as earth, fire, and water. Apparently the 
first Brahmins practised the purer cult, but afterwards 
their descendants reached the lowest stage of idolatry by 
adoring images and statues, which were intended only as 
the emblems of the objects of their worship. It was when 
this came to pass that India and the greater part of Asia 
probably split up into the two beliefs which still exist, 

E 3 



106 THE BUDDHISTS 

one embracing the fables of the Trimurti and the other 
the religion of Buddha. 

The creeds of these two sects probably sprang from the 
common source of Brahminism, and are only corruptions 
of it. Some modern authors believe that originally Bud- 
dhism reigned supreme throughout India, on either side 
of the Ganges, and, perhaps, even throughout the whole 
of Asia from Siberia to Cape Comorin and the Malacca 
Straits, and from the Caspian Sea to the Gulf of Kamt- 
chatka. In any case, Buddhism appears to have been as 
ancient as the cult of the Trimurti. In both Tibets, in 
Tartary, and in China, we know that Buddhism still pre- 
dominates. According to the historian La Loubere, it 
was introduced into China from Siam in bygone ages, and 
not, as is generally supposed, from Cape Comorin. In 
Burma, Siam, Laos, Cambodia, Cochin China, Japan, 
Corea, and in most of the kingdoms beyond the Ganges, 
Buddhism is the recognized religion. The Singalese in- 
habitants of Ceylon are also Buddhists, and the cult was 
introduced to them by missionaries and colonists, who 
a long time ago came over from Burma to settle there. 
In fact, this religion, with the immortal Grand Lama ! of 
Tibet as its sovereign pontiff, is still beyond dispute of all 
existing creeds the one that embraces the greatest number 
of adherents. 

If the last census published by order of the Chinese 
Government is correct, their vast empire numbers about 
300,000,000 inhabitants, and if one estimates the popula- 
tions of the remaining Asiatic dominions where Buddhism 
prevails at 150,000,000 only, which is a very moderate 
calculation, then about one-half of the human race has 
Buddhism for its religion. 

Besides these two predominant creeds, there exists 
a third about which, until recently, little was known. 
I refer to the religion of the Jains. This sect stands quite 
aloof, hating equally both Brahminists and Buddhists, as 

1 Like a second Phoenix the Grand Lama never dies. When he is 
about to divest himself of his earthly coil, the Bonzes choose a child of 
three or four into whose body they cause his soul to migrate, and this 
child is declared his successor. All faithful Buddhists believe implicitly 
in this miraculous rebirth. — Dubois. 



THE JAINS 107 

well as their doctrines. They maintain that both the 
Trimurti and Buddhism are abominable modern inven- 
tions, and mere travesties of the true and primitive 
religion of India, which has remained pure and unimpaired 
amongst them only. They also hold that they alone are 
the real descendants of the old Brahmin Penitents, whose 
doctrines, customs, and usages they protect from universal 
degradation and from the monstrous innovations of Brah- 
mins and Buddhists alike. 

Brahminism underwent a hard struggle before it succeeded 
in establishing its dominion in India, owing to the opposi- 
tion offered to it by the Jains ; but after a long and bloody 
war the latter were crushed and had to submit to whatever 
conditions the Brahmins chose to dictate. The jealousy 
and animosity which these religious wars stirred up still 
prevail as strongly as ever, even after a lapse of two or 
three thousand years. Time, which generally softens the 
strongest hatreds and brings together the greatest enemies, 
has, in this case, failed to obliterate the traces of the 
ancient wrongs of which each sect mutually accuses the 
other. The daily prayer of a certain sect of Brahmins 
contains a curse levelled at the heads of the Jains, who 
retaliate by exclaiming, when they rise to pray, 'Brahma 
kshayam ! ' ' May the Brahmin perish.' If either sect 
comes into power, it takes the opportunity of humiliating 
its adversaries and of punishing them without mercy when- 
ever occasion offers. 

But whatever may be the respective claims of Buddhists, 
Brahmins, and Jains with regard to the antiquity of their 
religions and the differences of doctrine that divide them, 
it appears highly probable that they all sprang originally 
from the same source. All three believe in the funda- 
mental doctrine of metempsychosis. The images they 
worship bear a great likeness to one another, and most of 
these seem to be merely allegorical emblems invented to 
help them to remember their original divinities. All their 
religious establishments are alike composed of priests, 
monks, and hermits. All their sacrifices, and the cere- 
monies which accompany them, are nearly identical. And, 
lastly, there is the resemblance of the languages used by 
the priests in their religious services ; that is to say, the 



108 AFFINITY BETWEEN RELIGIONS 

Sanskrit of the Brahmins and Jains on this side of the 
Ganges, and the Pali, which is evidently derived from the 
Sanskrit, of the Buddhists beyond the Ganges. All these 
help to prove incontestably the affinity existing between 
the three religions. 

As very little is known about the Jain cult by Europeans, 
although it is to be found in all parts of the Peninsula, 
I shall give in an appendix a short account of their doc- 
trines and of the principal controversial points between 
them and their sworn enemies, the Brahmins. I should 
like to be able to do the same with regard to the Buddhists, 
but I have not been able to procure authentic documents 
about their cult. Residents of Ceylon, where Buddhism 
predominates, ought to be able to supply the blank thus 
left in my work. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Different Kinds of Brahmins. — Outward Signs by which they are 
distinguishable. 

Brahmins are subdivided into seven sects, each of 
which has for its patron one of the celebrated Penitents 
already mentioned. Besides this, they are split up into 
four classes, each class recognizing one of the four Vedas 
as its own. Thus there are Brahmins of the Yajur-Veda, 
of the Sama-Veda, of the Rig-Veda, and of the Atharva- 
Veda. Some are of opinion that this fourth class is extinct ; 
but, as a matter of fact, it still exists, although there are 
but few representatives left, who are even more exoteric 
than the other castes, because they allow bloody sacrifices 
to be offered up, and do not even draw the line at human 
beings. Added to this, they teach a belief in witchcraft, 
and any one who is supposed to possess the art earns the 
odious reputation of being a sorcerer. When the yagnam 
sacrifice takes place, it is customary for Brahmins of all 
four Vedas to be present. The prayers which are offered 
up at the sandhya 1 are quoted from the four Vedas, each 

1 Later on I shall explain in what the yagnam and sandhya consist. — 
Dubois. [ Yagnam literally means worship (in prayer or praise) ; sacri- 
ficial rite, or sacrifice (to, of, by)]. — Ed. 



MARKS OF THE BRAHMINS 109 

Brahmin repeating those of his own particular Veda, 
which accounts for the slight differences. Under ordinary 
circumstances the Brahmins do not appear to be very 
strict about these minor distinctions, or to prefer one 
Veda to another. Nor is this altogether surprising, con- 
sidering that the author of the famous Indian poem Bhaga- 
vata declares that originally the four Vedas were one and 
the same. According to him it was the Penitent Vyasa 
who divided them into four books, and at the same time 
added introductions and commentaries to render them 
more intelligible. Indeed, owing to inherent faults, or to 
the mistakes made by ignorant and inattentive copyists, 
the Vedas are so obscure that even men of learning find it 
hard to fathom them. I shall have more to say about the 
Vedas presently. To Vyasa is also attributed the author- 
ship of the eighteen Puranas 1 . These are eighteen poems, 
all equally futile, containing most minute accounts of 
Hindu mythology with its gods and heroes. The fables 
contained in them are responsible for the gross forms of 
idolatry practised by the Hindus. 

Brahmins are also distinguishable by their sect, by their 
names, by the marks which they trace on their foreheads 
and other parts of the body, and also by the high priest 
to whose jurisdiction they are subject. The four principal 
sects of Brahmins south of the Kistna are : the Vishnavites, 
the Smarthas, the Tatuvadis, and the Utrassas. The dis- 
tinctive mark of the Vishnavite Brahmins is the namam 2 . 
Their simhasana, that is, the place where their high priest 
resides and their chief school, is at Hobbala in the Northern 
Carnatic. The Smartha Brahmins trace three horizontal 
lines on the forehead with sandalwood paste. Their sim- 
hasana is at Singeri in North-west Mysore. Besides these 
horizontal lines on the brow, the Tatuvadi Brahmins have 
ineffaceable marks branded on certain parts of their bodies 
with a red-hot iron. Their simhasana is at Sravenur. 

1 The names are Brahma-purana, Padma purana, Vishnu-purana, 
Siva-purana, Bhagavata, Bavirhotara-purana, Naraddia, Markandeya- 
purana, Brahniakeyvreta- purana, Linga- purana, Yaraha- purana, Skanda- 
purana, Vamana-purana, Vayu-purana, Kurma-purana, Matsia-purana, 
Garuda-purana, Brahmanda-purana. — Dubois. 

- See following chapter. 



110 BRAHMINICAL SECTS 

The Utrassa Brahmins draw a perpendicular line from the 
top of the forehead to the base of the nose. 

There are also Brahmins known as Cholias, who are more 
or less looked down upon by the rest. They appear to be 
conscious of their own inferiority, for they hold themselves 
aloof from other Brahmins. All menial work connected 
with the temples is performed by them, such as washing 
and decorating the idols, preparing lighted lamps, incense, 
flowers, fruits, rice, and other similar objects of which 
sacrifices are composed. In many temples even Sudras 
are allowed to exercise these functions, and men of this 
caste are always chosen for the office of sacrificer in pagodas 
where rams, pigs, cocks, and other living victims are offered 
up. No Brahmin would ever consent to take part in 
a sacrifice where blood has to be shed. It is perhaps on 
account of the work they condescend to do that the Cholia 
Brahmins have fallen into such contempt. According to 
the general view of the Brahmins, to do any work which 
can be left to the lowest amongst the Sudras is to put 
themselves on their level, and consequently to degrade 
themselves. In any case the work of a pujari is not thought 
much of, and by some it is considered absolutely degrading. 
However, some Brahmins have to accept this task on 
account of their poverty, but they only do so with extreme 
reluctance. It is a common proverb amongst them that 
for the sake of one's belly one must play many parts l . 

There are other Brahmins who are derisively called meat 
Brahmins and fish Brahmins. For instance, there are the 
Konkani Brahmins, who come from Konkana, who eat fish 
and eggs without the slightest compunction, but will not 
touch meat. And there are many Brahmins from the 
northern provinces who make no secret of the fact that 
they eat meat. People tell me, though I can hardly believe 
it, that such conduct does not lessen the esteem in which 
they are held in their own country by those of their own 
caste who abstain from such forbidden food. Anyhow, 
when these degenerate Brahmins visit Southern India, and 
their ways become known, all the other Brahmins keep 
them at a distance and refuse to have any dealings with 

1 In Sanskrit : Udara nimittam bahii krita vcsham, which literally 
means, ' For the belly's sake many rCics are played.' — Ed. 



SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN BRAHMINS 111 

them. I wonder whether the first Hindu lawgivers forbade 
the eating of meat and of all other substances containing 
the germ of life. Do the southern Brahmins observe a rule 
strictly laid down, and do the northern Brahmins therefore 
break a law common to the whole caste ? It is probable 
that the northern Brahmins, feeling the want of more 
substantial food, freed themselves from a custom which 
was not found irksome by their southern brethren in a 
hotter climate. 



CHAPTER IX 

The different Hindu Sects. — Vishnavites and Sivaites. — The Exterior 
Marks and Customs peculiar to each. — The Pavadam. — The Mutual 
Hatreds and Differences between the Sects. — Reason for the Dislike 
which ordinary Brahmins feel for Vishnavite Brahmins and those 
belonging to other Sects. — Subdivisions of the two Principal Sects. 

The Brahmins recognize six sects, which they designate 
by the generic name of Shat Mata (the Six Sects, or Six 
Schools) ; and each of these sects has a numerous follow- 
ing. They are composed entirely of Brahmins, and each 
has its own particular doctrine of metempsychosis. How- 
ever, they do not carry these purely scholastic differences 
to the point of reciprocal hatred or persecution, and the 
subjects under dispute are pretty much the same as those 
which provoke polemical discussions amongst scholars and 
dialecticians in other countries. I shall refer again to this 
matter elsewhere, and will now speak about the two great 
sects of the Sudras. It will be seen that they are far from 
being as calm and tolerant over points of doctrine as the 
Brahmins. As a general rule, Hindus profess to pay equal 
honour to the two great divinities of the country, Vishnu 
and Siva, without showing preference for either, though 
there are a great many sectarians who devote themselves 
exclusively to the worship of one or the other. 

The one sect is usually called Vishnu-bhaktas, which 
means votaries of Vishnu ; the other is called Siva-bhaktas, 
or votaries of Siva. The latter sect is also called Linga- 
daris, and the former Namadaris. These names are derived 
from the distinguishing marks which the sectarians wear \ 

1 It is impossible to conceive anything more obscene than the meaning 



112 VLSHNAVITE DEVOTEES 

The followers of Vishnu wear the emblem called namam, 
which they paint on their foreheads. It consists of three 
lines, one perpendicular and two oblique, meeting at the base, 
and thus forming a sign which resembles a trident. The 
centre line is red, the two outer lines are white and are 
painted on with a sort of clay called namam ; hence the 
name given to this emblem. The distinctive sign of the 
Sivaites is, generally speaking, the lingam. They sometimes 
wear it fastened to the hair or round the arm, enclosed 
in a little silver tube ; but more often they hang it round 
the neck, and the silver box containing it rests on the 
chest. 

Instead of the namam, some devotees of Vishnu paint 
a single red perpendicular line in the middle of their fore- 
heads in a distinctive manner ; and instead of the lingam 
many of the votaries of Siva rub their foreheads and various 
parts of their bodies with the ashes of cow- dung by way 
of showing their devotion. 

The special devotees of Vishnu are to be found in great 
numbers in the southern provinces of India, where they 
are known by various names, such as Andi, Dasari,Raman- 
jogi, Bairagi, and many others 1 . 

Besides the namam, which is an unmistakable sign of 
this sect, most of the devotees may also be distinguished 
by the extraordinary costume that they affect. The clothes 
which they wear are dyed a deep yellow, shading into red ; 
many cover their shoulders with a coloured patchwork 
blanket, which they partly use as a cloak ; their turbans, 
too, are composed of a motley of many hues. Some wear 
a cheetah's skin on their shoulders instead of the blanket. 
Most of them have long necklaces of black seeds, the size 
of nuts. Besides this ridiculous costume, which vies with 
a jester's motley, the devotees of Vishnu always carry 
a bronze gong and a conch shell called a sangu when they 
are travelling or begging. Both of these are used to make 

of these two marks of Hindu worship, namely, the lingam and the 
namam ; obscene, that is, from the European point of view. From 
the Hindu point of view they symbolize spiritual and religious truths 
connected with the divine origin and generation of mankind. — Ed. 

1 The Abbe is wrong in saying that an Andi is a devotee of Vishnu ; 
he is always a devotee of Siva. Among Bairagis, too, there are devotees 
both of Vishnu and of Siva. — Ed. 



RELIGIOUS BEGGARS 113 

a noise and to announce their approach \ With one hand 
they strike the gong with a little drumstick, producing 
a bell-like sound ; with the other they hold the sangu to 
their mouth, and blow through it shrill and piercing sounds, 
which are very monotonous. These two objects are always 
to be seen in the hands of those followers of Vishnu who 
are beggars by profession, and who in some way resemble 
the mendicant friars of old. On their breasts they wear 
a sort of brass plate, on which is engraved a likeness of the 
monkey Hanumanta, or else one of the Avatars, or incarna- 
tions, of Vishnu. Some of them wear a number of little 
bells either hanging from their shoulders or on their legs, 
the tinkling of which warns people of their approach. To 
all the above paraphernalia some add an iron rod, at each 
end of which hangs a little brazier of the same metal con- 
taining the fire for burning the incense of which their 
sacrifices are composed. 

To ask for alms is looked upon as a right, and even an 
inherent duty, in this sect. Indeed, as a rule in India 
any one who assumes the cloak of religion can practise 
begging as a profession. 

It is principally when they are making pilgrimages to 
some sacred spot that these religious beggars make use of 
their privileges. Sometimes you meet as many as a 
thousand in one party. They scatter themselves through 
the various villages within reach of their route, and each 
inhabitant takes in a certain number of them, so that all 
travelling expenses are saved. This is the only occasion 
on which they travel in such large numbers, though they 
never wander about quite alone. Their manner when 
demanding alms is most insolent and audacious, and often 
threatening. If their demands are not instantly complied 
with, they will noisily repeat their request, striking their 
gongs and producing the most deafening sounds from their 
sangus all the time. If such methods are not successful, 
they have been known to force their way into a house, 
break all the household utensils, and damage everything 
they can find. These religious mendicants generally pursue 
their begging to an accompaniment of singing and dancing. 
Their songs are a species of hymns in honour of their 
1 Also devotees of Siva do this. — Ed. 



114 BEGGARS AND INTEMPERANCE 

deities ; and they very often sing indecent ballads. The 
more freely the latter are interlarded with obscenities, 
the better are they calculated to attract offerings from 
the public. 

The intemperance to which these religious beggars, and 
indeed all the devotees of Vishnu, are addicted, causes the 
better class of Hindus to regard them with great disfavour. 
In fact, such mendicants seem rather to pride themselves 
on their want of moderation in eating and drinking, from 
a feeling of opposition to the Lingayats, and in order to 
make the difference between themselves and their adver- 
saries more apparent. The sobriety of the latter equals, if 
it does not surpass, that of the Brahmins. Vishnavites eat 
all kinds of meat ostentatiously, and drink arrack, toddy, 
or any other intoxicating liquors or drugs that they can 
procure, without scruple or shame. Excesses of all kinds 
are laid to their charge, and it is amongst them that that 
most abominable rite called sakti-puja l is practised, of 
which I shall speak at greater length further on. 

The chief objects of veneration amongst the votaries of 
Vishnu are the monkey, the bird of prey called garuda, and 
the cobra. Should any one be so imprudent as to kill, or 
even injure, any one of these creatures in their presence, 
he might find the consequences very unpleasant, and he 
would only be able to expiate this supposed crime by offer- 
ing the sacrifice called pavadam, which is only performed 
on very grave occasions, such as those just mentioned, or 
when it is a question of obtaining reparation for an injury 
done to some member of the sect, but felt to reflect on all 
the others. This expiatory sacrifice is a very serious 
affair ; for it consists in immolating a human victim, and 
then resuscitating him ! 

When it is reported that any person has committed such 
an offence as renders the pavadam necessary, all the Vishnu- 
bhaktas flock in crowds to the culprit's house, round which 
as many as 2,000 and more have been known to assemble, 
each of them provided with his gong and his sangu. They 

1 Sakti-puja is the worship of Sakti, which is the active power or 
female energy of a deity (especially of Siva). This puja is observed 
largely among the Sivaites, and to some extent among the Vishnavites. 
—Ed. 



THE PA V AD AM SACRIFICE 115 

begin by arresting the person who is the cause of the assem- 
blage ; and then they erect at a short distance from the 
house a small tent, which is quickly surrounded by many 
rows of Vishnavites. The chiefs select some member of 
the sect who is willing to be sacrificed, and he is exhibited 
to the crowd who have come to witness the spectacle. 
They make a slight incision in his arm from which blood 
flows, and the victim then appears to grow weaker and 
weaker, until he falls fainting to the ground, where he 
remains motionless. The victim, who of course is only 
feigning death, is then carried to the tent which has been 
erected for the purpose, and around which the Vishnu- 
bhaktas group themselves, taking great care that no one 
shall approach who does not belong to their sect. Others 
watch the house of him who has been the cause of the 
ceremony. All this time the whole multitude are shouting 
and screaming at the top of their voices, which, added to 
the banging of the gongs and the harsh and lugubrious 
notes of the sangus, produces a din and confusion of sounds 
as indescribable as they are unbearable. This fearful 
hubbub continues until the offending party has paid the 
fine imposed on him, which is generally far beyond his 
means. However, the inhabitants of the village and neigh- 
bourhood, exasperated beyond all measure, usually try and 
make some agreement with the leader of the fanatics, 
and, paying them part of the stipulated sum, entreat them 
to bring the ceremony of the pavadam to a speedy termina- 
tion, and to return to their homes. When their demands 
have been satisfied the headmen retire to the tent, and 
restore the dead man to life. To bring about this miracle 
an incision is made in the thigh of somebody amongst them. 
The blood which flows from it is collected in a vessel, and 
then sprinkled over the body of the victim. By virtue of 
this simple ceremony the pretended dead man comes back 
to life, in the best possible health. He is then again shown 
to the spectators, who appear thoroughly convinced of the 
reality of this marvellous resurrection \ 

In order to consummate the expiation of the crime or 

1 The pavadam is probably called after Pavadammai, a minor deity 
of ferocious temper. The ceremony is not observed nowadays in any 
part of the country. — Ed. 



116 THE LINO AY ATS OR SIVAITES 

offence which lias given rise to the ceremony, they give 
a great feast with the money derived from the fine, and 
every one departs as soon as it is over. 

I once saw the pavadam celebrated with much solemnity 
in a village near my house. The offence which provoked 
it arose from an inhabitant of the village having uninten- 
tionally felled a tree called kaka-mara \ which bears yellow 
Mowers, and to which the followers of Vishnu offer sacrifices 
and worship. 

The sect of Siva is just as numerous as that of Vishnu. 
It predominates altogether in several provinces. In the 
western parts of the Peninsula, along the whole length of 
the long chain of mountains which separates what are 
known in Europe as Malabar and Coromandel, the followers 
of Siva form at least half of the population for a distance 
extending for more than 100 miles from north to south. 

Like the Brahmins they abstain from all animal food 
and from everything that has had even a germ of life, 
such as eggs, &c, some vegetable products being included 
under this head. Instead of burning their dead, as do 
most Hindus, they bury them. They do not recognize 
the laws relating to defilement which are generally accepted 
by other castes, such, for instance, as those occasioned by 
a woman's periodical ailments, and by the death and funeral 
of relations. They have also other rules and regulations 
which differ from those generally in force. Their indiffer- 
ence to all such prescriptive customs relating to defilement 
and cleanliness has given rise to a Hindu proverb which 
says : ' There is no river for a Lingayat ' ; meaning that 
the members of this sect do not recognize, at all events 
on many occasions, the virtues and merits of ablutions. 

The point in the creed of the Sivaites which appears to 
me to be most remarkable is their entire rejection of that- 
fundamental principle of the Hindu religion, marujanma , 
or metempsychosis. In consequence of their peculiar views 
on this point they have no titis, or anniversary festivals, 
to commemorate the dead and to afford them the benefit 
of the prayers, sacrifices, and intercessions of the living, 
of which festivals I shall speak more fully later on. A 
Lingayat is no sooner buried than he is forgotten. 
1 Cassia fistula. — Ed. 



THE SIVAITE GURUS 117 

Amongst the Sivaites there also exists a sect known by 
the name of Vira-seiva, which refuses to recognize any 
caste distinctions, maintaining that the lingam makes all 
men equal. If even a Pariah joins the sect he is con- 
sidered in no way inferior to a Brahmin. Wherever the 
lingam is found, there, they say, is the throne of the deity, 
without distinction of class or rank. The Pariah's humble 
hut containing this sacred emblem is far above the most 
magnificent palace where it is not. 

The direct opposition of their religious tenets and rules 
of life to those of all other Hindus, and especially to those 
of Brahmins, renders the Lingayats peculiarly obnoxious 
in the eyes of the latter, who cannot endure the sight of 
the Jangamas and other headmen of the sect. Amongst 
the Lingayats, as amongst the Namadaris, are an immense 
number of religious beggars, called Pandarams, Voderus, 
Jangamas, &c. Many of these penitent Sivaites have no 
other means of subsistence except begging. They ply their 
trade systematically and in gangs. Some, however, live in 
retreat in the mutts (monasteries) or temples, which usually 
possess lands, the rents of which, added to the offerings 
of the faithful, are sufficient to maintain them. 

The gurus, or priests of Siva, who are known in the 
western provinces by the name of Jangamas, are for the 
most part celibates. They have a custom which is peculiar 
to themselves, and curious enough to be worth remarking. 
When a guru travels about his district he lodges with some 
member of the sect, and the members contend amongst 
themselves for the honour of receiving him. When he has 
selected the house he wishes to stay in, the master and all 
the other male inmates are obliged, out of respect for him, 
to leave it, and go and stay elsewhere. The holy man 
remains there day and night with only the women of the 
house, whom he keeps to wait on him and cook for him, 
without creating any scandal or exciting the jealousy of 
the husbands. All the same, some scandal- mongers have 
remarked that the Jangamas always take care to choose 
a house where the women are young. 

The costume worn by the ascetics of Siva is very much 
the same as that of the Vishnavites. Both are equally 
peculiar in their attire. They always wear clothes of 



118 AN INITIATORY RITE 

kavi colour, that is to say, dark yellow verging on red. 
This colour is obligatory, not only on the devotees of both 
Vishnu and Siva, but also on every one who is under a vow 
of penance. It is the colour affected by all gurus and Hindu 
priests of all denominations, by fakirs, also by all the priests 
and religious followers of Buddha who live on the other 
side of the Ganges. 

Besides the lingam, there are several other outward 
signs by which the devotees of Siva may be recognized, 
such as the long necklaces of seeds called rudrakshas, which 
resemble a nutmeg in size, colour, and nearly in shape ; 
also the cow-dung ashes with which they besmear their 
forehead, arms, and various other portions of the body. 
The two chief objects of their devotion are the lingam and 
the bull. 

Though children usually follow the religion of their 
fathers, they do not become Vishnavites or Lingayats 
merely by right of birth. They are only admitted to the 
sect that their parents belong to when they have reached 
a certain age, and after being initiated by the guru. This 
ceremony of initiation is called diksha \ It consists in 
repeating certain appropriate mantrams, or prayers, over 
the neophyte, and whispering some secret instructions in 
his ear. But these are all spoken in a language which is 
seldom understood even by the person who presides at the 
ceremony. 

By the diksha the new member acquires a perpetual 
right to all the privileges of the sect into which he has 
been admitted. Persons of all castes can become Vish- 
navites, and after their admission can wear the namam or 
distinctive mark on their foreheads. Neither Pariahs nor 
even Chucklers are excluded ; and it has been noticed that 
the lower castes are particularly numerous in this sect. 

I do not think there would be any greater difficulty in 
becoming a member of the Siva sect, but as on initiation 
the members undertake to entirely give up eating meat 
and drinking any intoxicating liquor, the lower castes, 
who do both unhesitatingly, find the conditions too hard. 
Consequently, only high-class Sudras and scarcely any 

1 This word means ' initiation.' Native Christians often call Baptism 
gniana diksha, which means ' spiritual initiation.' — Dubois. 



TOLERANT SECTARIANISM 119 

Pariahs belong to this sect. It is no uncommon thing for 
people to change from one sect to the other, according as 
it suits their interest, or even out of spite or caprice. Either 
sect will take a convert from the other without asking any 
questions or making any difficulty. Sometimes one comes 
across missionaries scouring the country with written pro- 
fessions of faith in their hands, and using various means 
for gaining proselytes to their respective sects. In some 
parts a remarkable peculiarity is to be observed in refer- 
ence to these two sects. Sometimes the husband is a 
Vishnavite and bears the namam on his forehead, while 
the wife is a follower of Siva and wears the lingam. The 
former eats meat, but the latter may not touch it. This 
divergence of religious opinion, however, in no way destroys 
the peace of the household. Each observes the practices 
of his or her own particular creed, and worships his or her 
god in the way that seems best, without any interference 
from the other. At the same time, each sect tries its best 
to magnify its own particular deity and to belittle that of 
its rivals. The devotees of Vishnu declare that the pre- 
servation of the universe is entirely due to him, and that 
to him Siva owes both his birth and existence, since Vishnu 
saved him several times under such circumstances that 
without his aid Siva must infallibly have perished. There- 
fore Vishnu is immeasurably above Siva in every respect, 
and to him alone should homage be offered. 

The devotees of Siva, on their side, maintain obstinately 
that Vishnu is of no account, and has never committed 
any but the basest actions, which only disgrace him and 
make him hateful in the eyes of men. As proofs of their 
assertions they point to several facts in the life of this 
deity, which their adversaries cannot deny, and which 
certainly do not redound to his credit. Siva, according to 
them, is sovereign lord of all, and therefore the proper 
object of all worship. 

According to the Vishnavites it is the height of all 
abomination to wear the lingam. According to their 
antagonists, whoever is decorated with the namam will be 
tormented in hell by a sort of fork similar in form to this 
emblem. These mutual recriminations often end in violent 
altercations and riots. The numerous bands of religious 



120 SECTARIAN SQUABBLES 

mendicants of both sects are specially apt to provoke 
strife. One may sometimes see these fanatics collected 
together in crowds to support their opinion of the super- 
excellence of their respective doctrines. They will over- 
whelm each other with torrents of abuse and obscene 
insults, and pour forth blasphemies and imprecations, on 
one side against Siva, on the other against Vishnu ; and 
finally they will come to blows. Fortunately blood is 
seldom shed on these battle-fields. They content them- 
selves with dealing each other buffets with their fists, 
knocking off each other's turbans, and much tearing of 
garments. Having thus given vent to their feelings, the 
combatants separate by mutual consent. 

That these religious dissensions do not set the whole 
country ablaze, or occasion those crimes of all kinds which 
were for centuries the result of religious fanaticism in 
Europe and elsewhere, is due no doubt to the naturally 
mild and timid character of the Hindus, and especially to 
the fact that the greater number compound with their 
consciences and pay equal honour to Vishnu and Siva. 
Being thus free from any bias towards either party, the 
latter serve as arbitrators in these religious combats, and 
often check incipient quarrels. 

There is no doubt, however, that these controversies 
were wont to excite general ferment in several provinces 
at no very remote date. The agitation, excited in the first 
instance by fanatical devotees, was further fomented by 
the Rajahs and other princes, who became Vishnavites or 
Sivaites according as it suited their political interests. 

Those who are acquainted with the character and dis- 
position of the Bairagis and Goshais of the north, and of 
the Dasari, Andis, Jangamas, and Pandarams in the south, 
are fully persuaded that it would still be quite easy for 
two ambitious and hostile princes to arm these fanatics 
and persuade them to come to blows if they raised the 
standard of Basava (the bull) on one side, and of Hanu- 
mania (the monkey) on the other. 

In these religious squabbles, which still take place occa- 
sionally, the Vishnavites appear to be the more fanatical 
and fervent, and they are almost always the aggressors. 
The reason is, that this sect draws most of its members 



ORIGIN OF SIVAITES AND VISHNAVITES 121 

from the very dregs of society, and so takes a delight in 
creating troubles or disturbances. The followers of Siva, 
on the other hand, who belong to the upper classes of the 
Sudras, are much more peaceable and tolerant. 

The majority of the Hindus, and particularly the Brah- 
mins, take no part whatever in these religious squabbles. 
The latter act on the principle of paying equal honour to 
the two chief deities of the country, and though, as 
a rule, they appear to have a preference for Vishnu, they 
never let a day pass without offering in their own houses 
a sacrifice to the lingam, which is Siva's emblem. 

It is very difficult to determine the origin of these two 
sects. Some authors have thought that they are quite 
a modern institution. Yet they are alluded to in several 
of the most ancient Puranas. One of the Avatars, or in- 
carnations, of Vishnu, called Narasimha, that is to say, 
half -man half -lion, is the form under which this deity dis- 
guised himself when he came to deliver the earth from the 
giant Hiranniakashiapa, who was ravaging it. We learn 
in the Bhagavata that this cruel monster had a good son 
called Prahlada, who belonged to the Vishnavite sect, and 
who made the greatest efforts to induce his father to 
embrace his special form of religion, but without success. 
However, the ill-feeling between the two sects seems not 
to have been so marked at the beginning. 

Brahmins in general look upon the Vishnavite Brahmins 
(see Chapter VIII), who profess a special devotion for 
Vishnu if they do not worship him exclusively, as detest- 
able schismatics. The preference that the latter show for 
a sect composed almost entirely of Sudras and the lowest 
of the people, and their practice of appearing in public 
with their foreheads decorated with the namam, just like 
common Pariahs or Chucklers, are all offences which degrade 
them in the eyes of their noble confreres. 

No doubt the same contempt would be felt for Brahmins 
who wore the lingam, but I have never seen one thus 
decorated, and I doubt whether one could be found any- 
where in the south, from the banks of the Kistna to Cape 
Comorin. I have been told, however, that there are some 
districts in the north where persons of this caste are to be 
found who devote themselves exclusively to the worship 



122 SECTARIAN SUBDIVISIONS 

of Siva, and who always wear the emblem of this 
deity. 

The sect of Vishnavite Brahmins appears to have origin- 
ated in Dravida or Aravam (the Tamil country). From 
there they spread over the provinces up to the Kistna, 
where they have retained, to the present day, their own 
peculiar customs and language, as well as their own cult. 
The Brahmins who inhabit the country north of this river 
have never permitted these stubborn schismatics to settle 
amongst them. 

The feeling of aversion which orthodox Brahmins enter- 
tain for the Vishnavite Brahmins is shared by Hindus of 
all castes. A stigma of reproach appears to cling to them. 
It cannot be the case, however, that the disfavour with 
which they are regarded is entirely due to their exclusive 
worship of Vishnu. I think it must be largely imputed to 
their excessive pride and arrogance, their extreme severity, 
and their supercilious manners ; for though all Brahmins 
share these characteristics, it is generally acknowledged 
that the Vishnavites display them in an intensified form. 

Be the reason what it may, there is no denying that the 
Vishnavites form a class by themselves in society. The 
antipathy which these two orders of Brahmins feel for 
each other is noticeable on all occasions. The members 
of one sect never invite members of the other to eat with 
them, or to participate in their civil or religious feasts ; 
and when one of them is raised to a position of authority, 
it is on persons of his own sect that his patronage is be- 
stowed. 

The two sects of Vishnavites and Sivaites are each sub- 
divided into several others, which are known under the 
general term of M alias or Mattancharas. Amongst the 
Vishnavites, for instance, there are the Vaishnavas, the 
Tatuvadis, the Bamojus, the Satanis, &c, sub-sects w T hich 
again are divided into a great many others. For instance, 
amongst the Vaishnavas there are the Vaishnava-triamalas, 
the Kandalas, the Nallaris, &c. 

The Jogis, the Jangamas, the Voderus, the Viraktas, the 
Bolu-Jangamas, the Vira-seivas, &c, belong to the Sivaites. 

Each of these sub-sects has its own peculiar tenets, 
mysteries, mantrams, sacrifices ; in fact, some points of 



DOCTRINAL DISPUTES 123 

variation in rites as in doctrines. The heads of these 
sub-sects dislike and avoid each other. They often quarrel 
over the various points of doctrine which cause such 
divisions. But these are forgotten, or, at any rate, allowed 
to remain in abeyance, should it be necessary to make 
common cause in defending the interests of the sect as 
a whole, during the disputes which occasionally arise 
between the Vishnavites and Sivaites. 



CHAPTER X 

The Gurus, or Hindu Priests. — The Portrait of a true Guru. — Their 
Temporal and Spiritual Power. — The Fear and Respect that they 
inspire. — Ecclesiastical Hierarchy composed of the Superior and 
Inferior Priests. — The Honours paid to them. — Priestesses. 

I shall begin this chapter by giving an accurate descrip- 
tion of a true guru belonging to the sect of Siva. This 
picture is taken from the Vedanta Sara \ to which it serves 
as an introduction. At the same time I must warn my 
readers that it would be difficult to find any points of 
resemblance between this picture and the gurus of the present 
day, who are very far from attaining to this pitch of per- 
fection. The sketch will, however, prove that even the 
very highest moral virtues were not unknown to the Hindus, 
though now they regard them only as subjects for specu- 
lative discussion. 

4 A true guru is a man who is in the habit of practising 
all the virtues ; who with the sword of wisdom has lopped 
off all the branches and torn out all the roots of sin, and 
who has dispersed, with the light of reason, the thick 
shadows in which sin is shrouded ; who, though seated on 
a mountain of sins, yet confronts their attacks with a heart 
as hard as a diamond ; who behaves with dignity and 
independence ; who has the feelings of a father for all his 
disciples ; who makes no difference in his conduct between 
his friends and his enemies, but shows equal kindness to 
both ; who looks on gold and precious stones with the 
same indifference as on pieces of iron or potsherd, and 
values the one as highly as the other ; whose chief care is 

1 A translation of this, by Jacobs, is included in Triibner's Oriental 
Series. — Ed. 



124 THE IDEAL GURU PORTRAYED 

to enlighten the ignorance in which the rest of mankind 
is plunged. He is a man who performs all the acts of 
worship of which Siva is the object, omitting none ; who 
knows no other god than Siva, and reads no other history 
than his ; who shines like the sun in the midst of the dark 
clouds of ignorance which surround him ; who meditates 
unceasingly on the merits of the lingam, and proclaims 
everywhere the praises of Siva ; who rejects, even in thought, 
every sinful action, and puts in practice all the virtues that 
he preaches ; who, knowing all the paths which lead to 
sin, knows also the means of avoiding them ; who observes 
with scrupulous exactitude all the rules of propriety which 
do honour to Siva. He should be deeply learned, and 
know the Vedanta perfectly. He is a man who has made 
pilgrimages to all the sacred places, and has seen with his 
own eyes Benares, Kedaram, Conjeeveram, Ramesvaram, 
Srirangam, Sringeri, Gokarnam, Kalahasti, and other spots 
which are consecrated to Siva. He must have performed 
his ablutions in all the sacred rivers, such as the Ganges, 
the Jumna, the Sarasvati, the Indus, the Godavari, the 
Kistna, the Nerbudda, the Cauvery, &c, and have drunk 
of each of these sanctifying waters. He must have bathed 
in all the sacred springs and tanks, such as the Surya- 
pushkarani, the Chandra-pushkarani, the Indra-push- 
karani, and others, wherever they may be situated. He 
must have visited all the sacred deserts and woods, 
such as Neimisha-aranya, Badari-aranya, Dandaka-aranya , 
Goch-aranya, &c, and have left his footprints in them. 
He must be acquainted with all the observances for pen- 
ance or asramas, such as are enjoined by the most famous 
devotees, and which are known by the names of Nara- 
yana-asrama, Vamana-asrama, Gautama-asrama, Vasishta- 
asrama. He must be one who has practised these religious 
exercises, and who has derived benefit from them. He 
must be perfectly acquainted with the four Vedas, the 
Tarka-sastram (or logic), the Bhoota-sastram (exorcism), 
the Mimamsa-sastram (exegetics, &c), &c. He must be 
well versed in the knowledge of the Vcdanga (six auxiliaries 
of the Vedas), of the Jyotisha-sastram (astrology), of Vaidya- 
sastram (medicine), of Dharma-sastram (ethics), of Kaviana- 
takam (poetry), &c, and he must know by heart the eighteen 



THE GURUS' EXTENSIVE POWERS 125 

Puranas and the sixty-four Kalais l . This is the character 
of a true guru ; these are the qualities which he ought to 
possess, that he may be in a position to show others the 
path of virtue, and help them out of the slough of vice.' 

This is what the Hindu gurus ought to be, but are not. 
What follows is a description of them as they really are. 

The word guru, properly speaking, means ' master ' or 
' guide,' and this is why parents are sometimes called the 
maha-gurus or grand masters of their families, and kings 
are called the gurus of their kingdoms, and masters the 
gurus of their servants. 

The word is also used to designate persons of distinguished 
rank who are raised to a high position and invested with 
a character for sanctity, which confers both spiritual and 
temporal power upon them. The latter, which is exercised 
over the whole caste, consists in regulating its affairs, in 
keeping a strict watch to see that all its customs, both 
those for use in private as well as in public, are accurately 
observed, in punishing those who disregard them and 
expelling from caste those who have deserved this indig- 
nity, in reinstating the penitent, and several other no less 
important prerogatives. Besides this temporal authority, 
which no one disputes, they also exercise very extensive 
spiritual power. The sashtanga or prostration of the six 
members 2 when made before them and followed by their 
asirvadam, or blessing, will obtain the remission of all 
sins. The very sight even of gurus will produce the same 
effect. Any prasadam or gift from them, though usually 
some perfectly valueless object, such as a pinch of the 
ashes of cow-dung with which they besmear their fore- 
heads, the fruits or flowers that have been offered to idols, 
the remains of their food, the water with which they have 
rinsed out their mouths or washed their face or feet, and 
which is highly prized and very often drunk by those who 
receive it ; in short, any gift whatever from their sacred 
hands has the merit of cleansing both soul and body from 
all impurities. 

1 These include all kinds of worldly wisdom. — Dubois. 

2 It has already been pointed out in a note to a former chapter that 
sashtanga does not mean the prostration of six members but of eight 
members. — Ed. 



126 GURUS' CURSES 

On the other hand, while the beneficial effects of their 
blessings or their trivial presents excite so large an amount 
of respect and admiration from the dull-witted public, 
their maledictions, which are no less powerful, are as 
greatly feared. The Hindus are convinced that their 
curses never fail to produce effect, whether justly or un- 
justly incurred. Their books are full of fables which seem 
to have been invented expressly to exemplify and strengthen 
this idea. The attendants of the guru, who are interested 
in making the part which their master plays appear credible, 
are always recounting ridiculous stories on this subject, of 
which they declare they have been eye-witnesses ; and in 
order that the imposture may be the less easily discovered, 
they always place the scene in some distant country. 
Sometimes they relate that the person against whom the 
curse was fulminated died suddenly whilst the guru was 
still speaking ; that another was seized with palsy in all 
his limbs, and that the affliction will remain until the 
anathema has been removed ; or that the guru's male- 
diction caused some woman to be prematurely confined ; 
or that a labourer saw all his cattle die suddenly at the 
moment when the malediction was hurled at his head ; 
or that one man was turned to stone and another became 
a pig ; in fact, they will relate a thousand similar absurdi- 
ties quite seriously 1 . 

If the foolish credulity of the Hindu will carry him to 
these lengths, can any one be surprised if his feelings of 
respect and fear for his guru are equally extravagant ? 
He will take the greatest care to do nothing that might 
displease him. Hindus have been reduced to such terrible 
straits as to sell their wives or their children in order to 
procure the money to pay the imposts or procure the 
presents that their gurus remorselessly claimed from them, 

1 The ideas of the Hindus on the subject of the blessings and curses 
of their gurus are analogous, at any rate in point of extravagance, to 
those which, according to Holy Scripture, were current in the time of 
the ancient Patriarchs. Noah's curse on his son Ham and his blessing 
on the other two, Shem and Japheth, bore fruit (Genesis ix). The 
value that Esau and Jacob set on their father Isaac's blessing is well 
known (Genesis xxvii) ; also the bitter regret of Esau when he found 
that he had been supplanted by Jacob. — Dubois. 



ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY 127 

rather than run the risk of exposing themselves to their 
much-dreaded maledictions \ 

Each caste and each sect has its own particular gurus : 
but the latter are not all invested with equal authority ; 
a sort of hierarchy exists amongst them. Besides the vast 
numbers of subordinate priests who are to be met with 
everywhere, each sect has a limited number of high priests 
who exercise authority over the inferior gurus, deputing 
to them their powers of spiritual jurisdiction. These high 
priests have also the right of degrading their inferiors 
from their position and of putting others in their places. 
The residences of Hindu high priests are generally known 
by the name of simhasana 2 . These simhasanas are to be 
found in various provinces of India. Each caste and each 
sect acknowledges one that specially belongs to it. For 
instance, the Brahmins who belong to the Smartha sect 
have a different guru from the Tatuvadi sect, and these 
again recognize a different one from the Vishnavite Brah- 
mins. 

The different branches of the sects of Vishnu and Siva 
have also their own particular gurus and high priests. 
The Sri-Vaishnavas, for instance, acknowledge four sim- 
hasanas and seventy-two pitahs or supplementary establish- 
ments, where the inferior gurus reside, besides a multitude 
of subordinate ministers who are also called gurus. 

The high priests, as well as the inferior priests belonging 
to the sect of Siva, are drawn entirely from the Sudra 
caste 3 ; but the greater number of the head gurus belong- 
ing to the Vishnavites are Vishnavite Brahmins, and they 
appoint the inferior clergy of that sect. The most famous 

1 Times are changed since the days of the Abbe, and the gurus in 
most cases are the mere hangers-on of rich disciples. They may be able 
to exercise some influence over the illiterate and poor, but with the 
majority of the educated and well-to-do their influence is not very 
great. — Ed. 

2 This word may be translated ' throne.' It is derived from the two 
words simha, which means lion, and asana, which means a seat, because 
a high priest's throne ought to be covered with a lion's skin. Custom, 
however, has changed this for that of a tiger. — Dubois. 

Sim?uisana is more correctly derived from the figure of a lion on the 
back of the seat. — Ed. 

3 This is not true. — Ed. 



128 GURUS ATTACHED TO PRINCES 

simhasana of the Vishnavites is in the sacred town of 
Tirupati in the Carnatic. There a kind of arch-pontiff (the 
Mahant) resides, whose jurisdiction extends over almost 
the whole of the Peninsula. 

Brahmins are also, as a rule, the gurus of the various 
sects of Hindus who are more tolerant than those just 
mentioned, that is to say, those who worship both Vishnu 
and Siva. 

The high priest or the guru belonging to one sect has no 
authority over any other. Neither his prasadam l , nor his 
curse, nor his blessing would carry any weight with them ; 
and it is very rarely that you hear of priests overstepping 
the limits of their own jurisdiction. 

People of very high rank, such as kings or princes, have 
a guru exclusively attached to their households who accom- 
panies them everywhere. They prostrate themselves daily 
at the guru's feet and receive from him the prasadam or 
gift, and the asirvadam, or blessing. When they travel 
the guru is always in close attendance ; but if they are 
going to take part in a war or any other dangerous ex- 
pedition, the holy man takes care to remain prudently 
behind. He usually contents himself under these circum- 
stances with bestowing his blessing and giving some small 
present or amulet, which he has consecrated, and which, 
if carefully preserved, possesses the infallible virtue of 
averting all misfortunes to which they might be exposed 
when far from their spiritual guide. 

Princes, from motives of ostentation, affect to keep their 
gurus in great splendour, with the result that the latter's 
extravagant pomp often exceeds their own. Besides giving 
them many very valuable presents, they also endow them 
with land yielding large revenues. Hindu high priests 
never appear in public except in magnificent state. They 
like best to show off all their splendour when they are 
making a tour in their districts. They either ride on 
a richly caparisoned elephant or in a superb palanquin. 
Many have an escort of cavalry, and are surrounded by 
guards both mounted and on foot, armed with pikes and 
other weapons. Bands of musicians playing all sorts of 

1 Prasada means literally serenity, cheerfulness, kindness, favour, 
&c., and it has come to mean ' food or anything offered to an idol.' — Ed. 



PRIESTLY MAGNIFICENCE 129 

instruments precede them, and numberless flags of all 
colours, on which are painted pictures of their gods, flutter 
in the midst of the cavalcade. The procession is headed 
by heralds, some of whom sing verses in the high priest's 
honour, while the rest go on ahead and warn the passers-by 
to clear the way and to pay the homage and respect that 
are his due *. All along the route incense and other per- 
fumes are burnt in the high priest's honour ; new cloths 
are perpetually spread for him to pass over ; triumphal 
arches called toranams, made of branches of trees, are 
erected at short intervals ; bevies of professional prosti- 
tutes and dancing-girls form part of the procession, and 
relieve each other at intervals, so that the obscene songs 
and lascivious dances may continue uninterruptedly 2 . This 
magnificent spectacle attracts great crowds of people, 
who prostrate themselves before the guru, and, after 
having offered him their respectful homage, join the rest 
of the crowd and make the air ring with their joyful 
shouts. 

The gurus of inferior rank make a show in proportion to 
their means. Those who belong to the sect of Vishnu 
known by the name of Vaishnavas generally travel on 
some sorry steed. Some are even reduced to walking on 
foot. The Pcmdarams and Jangamas, priests of Siva, go 
on horseback or in a palanquin, but their favourite mode 
of progression is riding on an ox. 

Gurus, as a rule, rank first in society. They often 

1 The custom amongst persons of high rank, such as gurus, kings, 
princes, and governors of provinces, of being preceded on their march 
by heralds, singing their praises, is very general in India. These heralds 
give a long account of their master's noble origin, of his exalted rank, of 
his boundless power, his virtues, and his many excellent qualities ; and 
they admonish the public to pay the respect and homage which are due 
to so great a personage. This custom, though of Hindu origin, has been 
adopted by the Mahomedans. It appears, as may be seen from the 
writings of both sacred and secular authors, that the practice of being 
preceded by heralds dates from very ancient times — see Genesis xli. 43 ; 
Esther vi. 8 ; and there are several other passages in the Bible where 
such heralds are spoken of. — Dubois. 

2 This picture is greatly exaggerated. Nowhere do ' professional 
prostitutes and dancing-girls ' form part of processions in honour of 
gurus. On the contrary, prostitutes are not allowed to approach these 
holy men. — Ed. 

DUBOIS £ 



130 PASTORAL VISITS OF GURUS 

receive tokens of respect, or rather of adoration, that are 
not offered to the gods themselves. And this is not sur- 
prising when one remembers that every Hindu is fully 
persuaded that, under certain circumstances, the gurus 
have authority even over the celestial powers. 

From time to time gurus make tours of inspection in 
those districts where their followers are most numerous. 
They sometimes go as much as a hundred miles from their 
habitual residence. The chief, if not the only, object of 
the expedition is to collect money. Besides the fines which 
they impose upon those who have committed some crime, 
or been guilty of breaking some rule of their caste or sect, 
they are merciless in extorting tribute money from their 
followers, which often greatly exceeds their means. They 
call this method of obtaining money dakshina 1 and pada- 
kanikai 2 , and no one, however poor he may be, is exempt 
from paying it. There is no insult or indignity that gurus 
will not inflict upon any one who either cannot or will not 
submit to this tax. Deaf to all entreaties, they cause the 
defaulter to appear before them in an ignominious and 
humiliating attitude, publicly overwhelm him with insults 
and reproaches, and order that mud or cow- dung shall be 
thrown in his face. If these means do not succeed, they 
force him to give up one of his children, who is obliged 
to work without wages until the tribute money is paid. 
Indeed, they have been known to take away a man's wife 
as compensation. Finally, as a last and infallible resource, 
they threaten him with their malediction ; and such is the 
Hindu's credulity, and so great his dread of the evils 
which he foresees will fall upon him if the curse be spoken, 
that, if it is not absolutely impossible, he submits and pays 
the required sum 3 . 

The gurus also increase their revenue by means of taxes, 
called guru-dakshina, which are levied on the occasion of 

1 Dakshina literally means the sacrificial fee. It has now come to 
mean gift. The gift to the priest is enforced more or less among the 
Madhvas ; but among the Sivaites and Vishnavites the priests are more 
lenient. — Ed. 

- This word means literally ' offering at the feet.' See Chapter III. — 
Dubois. 

3 Nowadays gurus exercise less extensive powers over their disciples. 
—Ed. 



ILLICIT CONNEXIONS 131 

a birth, at the ceremony of the diksha (initiation), at 
a marriage, or at a death. 

If these pastoral visits were of very frequent occurrence 
it is evident that the resources of the poor flock would soon 
be exhausted. Fortunately, those of the chief gurus, which 
are the most expensive, take place but seldom. Some make 
a tour of their districts once in five years, others once in 
ten only, and others, again, only once in a lifetime. 

Some gurus are married, but most are celibates. The 
latter, however, do not appear to adhere very strictly to 
their vow of chastity. Their conduct on this head is the 
more open to misconstruction in that they can have one 
or two women in their houses as cooks. According to the 
customs and ideas of the country, for a man to keep a 
female servant and to have her as his mistress are one and 
the same thing. No Hindu can be persuaded of the possi- 
bility of free, and at the same time innocent, intercourse 
between a man and a woman. 

But in spite of this, the common herd, who fancy that 
gurus are not made of the same clay as other mortals and 
are consequently impeccable, are in no wise shocked at 
these illicit connexions. Sensible people take no notice, 
but shut their eyes and say that allowances must be made 
for human weakness. 

The Brahmins pretend that they are the gurus for all 
castes, and that they alone have a right to the rank and 
honours appertaining to that profession ; but, as I have 
already mentioned, a number of common Sudras also con- 
trive to raise themselves to that dignified position. The 
Brahmins, of course, look upon them as intruders, but this 
does not in the least prevent their enjoying all the honours 
and advantages which belong to their rank in the caste 
and sect by which they are acknowledged. 

Except when they are making their tours of inspection, 
most gurus live in seclusion, shut up in isolated hermitages 
called mutts. They are rarely seen in public. Some of 
them live in the vicinity of the large pagodas. But the 
high priests, whose large households and daily hospitalities 
entail considerable expenditure, generally live in the large 
agraharas or towns inhabited principally by Brahmins, 
and for this reason called punyasthalas, or abodes of virtue. 



132 RESPECT SHOWN TO GURUS 

There they give audience to the numerous members of 
their flocks who come to perform worship, to receive their 
asirvadam (benediction) and their prasadam (gift), to offer 
presents, to bring complaints about the infraction of rules 
and customs, &c. Hindus, on presenting themselves before 
their guru, first perform the sashtatiga, and then touch the 
ground with each side of the forehead. The holy man 
replies to this mark of respect by gravely pronouncing the 
word 'Asirvadam ! ' On hearing this, his worshippers rise 
and receive the prasadam from him, which he gives, whisper- 
ing the following words, if they belong to the Siva sect, in 
their ear : ' It is I who am thy guru, and whom thou art 
bound to worship.' 

The followers of Siva, having thus done homage to their 
Jangamas and Pandarams, proceed to perform a very dis- 
gusting ceremony. They solemnly pour water over the 
feet of their guru and wash them, reciting mantrams the 
while ; then carefully collecting the water so used in a 
copper vessel, they pour part of it over their head and 
face, and drink the rest. 

The Vishnavites go through a similar ceremony with 
their gurus ; and this is by no means the most revolting 
of the marks of respect which these idiotic fanatics delight 
in paying. A piece of food that a guru has already masti- 
cated, or the water with which he has rinsed out his mouth, 
at once becomes sacred in their eyes, and is swallowed with 
avidity. 

About ten miles from the fort of Chinnerayapatam a 
hermitage is to be found, known by the name of Kudlu- 
gondur, where a Vishnavite guru has taken up his abode. 
This solitary mutt, though but a poor place to look at, is 
visited by a great number of devotees, who go there to 
offer their homage to the penitent, to receive his asirvadam 
and prasadam, and through them the remission of their 
sins. I have been informed by some of these pilgrims 
themselves, that the more enthusiastic amongst them watch 
for the moment when the old guru is about to expectorate, 
when they stretch out their hands, struggling as to who 
shall have the happiness and good luck to catch the super- 
fluous fluid which the holy man ejects ; the rest of the 
scene is indescribable. 



TEMPLE WOMEN 133 

Gurus sometimes authorize agents to collect the tributes 
and offerings of the faithful, and also give them power to 
impose fines on evil-doers. 

After having discharged the duties to their followers 
which their position imposes, and performed their daily 
ablutions and sacrifices, both morning and evening, the 
gurus employ the rest of their time — or they ought to do 
so if they adhered to their rules — in the study and con- 
templation of their sacred books. In the case of married 
gurus the office descends from father to son. Successors 
to the unmarried gurus are nominated by their superiors, 
who generally choose one of their own creatures. A high 
priest is usually assisted by a coadjutor during his lifetime, 
who succeeds his chief as a matter of course. 

To the sects both of Siva and Vishnu priestesses are 
attached, that is to say, women specially set apart, under 
the name of wives of the gods, for the service of one or other 
of these deities. They are quite a distinct class from the 
dancing-girls of the temples, but are equally depraved. 
They are generally the unfortunate victims of the immorality 
of the Jangamas or Vaishnavas. These priests, by way of 
keeping up a character for good behaviour, and conciliating 
the families upon whom they have brought dishonour, put 
the whole blame on Vishnu or Siva ; and the poor gods, as 
is only fair, are forced to make amends. So the girls are 
given to the gods as wives, by the aid of a few ceremonies ; 
and we know that these worthy gurus enjoy the privilege 
of representing in everything the gods whose ministers 
they are. The women who are thus consecrated to Vishnu 
are called garuda-basavis (wives of garuda), and have the 
image of this bird tattooed on their breasts * as the dis- 
tinctive mark of their rank. 

The priestesses of Siva, are called linga-basavis , or women 
of the lingam, and bear this sign tattooed on their thighs. 

Though these women are known to be the mistresses of 
the priests and other dignitaries, still, for all that, they 
are treated with a certain amount of consideration and 
respect amongst their own sect. 

1 This bird, which is consecrated to Vishnu, and of which I shall 
presently speak at greater length, is known by European ornithologists 
as the Malabar eagle. — Dubois. 



134 



CHAPTER XI 

Purohitas, or Priests who officiate at Public and Private Ceremonies. — 
The Hindu Almanac as published by the Purohitas. 

To settle which are lucky or unlucky days on which to 
begin or put off an undertaking or expedition ; to avert, 
by mantrams and suitable prayers, the curses, spells, or 
other evil influences of the planets and elements ; to purify 
persons who have become unclean ; to give names to 
newly-born children and draw their horoscopes ; to bless 
new houses, wells, and tanks ; to purify dwellings and 
temples which have become polluted, and also to con- 
secrate the latter ; to animate idols and install in them 
their particular deities by the power of their mantrams : 
these are but a few of the duties which come within the 
province of the Brahmin purohitas, whose services are in- 
dispensable on such occasions. The most important of 
their duties, however, is the celebration of weddings and 
funerals. The ceremonies on these occasions are so num- 
erous and complicated that an ordinary Brahmin would 
never be able to get through them all ; they can only be 
learned by special study. Besides, there are mantrams 
and formulas connected with them which are known only 
to the purohitas, and which are described in books of ritual 
which they take great care to hide from the eyes of all 
persons outside their own sect. The father makes his son 
learn these formulas by heart, and thus they descend from 
generation to generation in the same family. The puro- 
hitas are not actuated by any pious motives in taking this 
jealous care of their knowledge and surrounding all their 
doings with so much mystery ; their fear is that rivals may 
step in who would share the profits which these religious 
exercises yield. 

The consequence is that there are very few Brahmin 
purohitas, and sometimes they have to be fetched from 
a great distance when their ministrations are needed \ 

1 A purohita is now to be found in almost every village where Brahmins 
live. He enjoys a maniam or free grant of land. In course of time the 
original family is divided into many families of cousins, who hold office 



THE HINDU ALMANAC 135 

If they have reason to expect a generous reward, they will 
start off at once, or at any rate they will send a son who is 
well versed in their ritual. Sometimes ordinary Brahmins 
pass themselves off as purohitas, especially amongst the 
Sudras, who are not very particular on this point. These 
interlopers are unacquainted with the formulas and correct 
mantrams, and so they mumble a few words of Sanskrit 
or some ridiculous and unintelligible sentences, believing 
that this is quite good enough for stupid Sudras. But if 
the real purohitas, who from self-interest are always on the 
alert, discover that their prerogatives have been invaded 
and their powers usurped, a violent quarrel ensues between 
them and their sacrilegious rivals. 

One of the most valued privileges of the purohitas is the 
right of publishing the Hindu Almanac. The majority of 
them, being too ignorant to compile it, buy copies every 
year from those of their brethren who are sufficiently well 
versed in astronomy to be able to calculate the eclipses 
and variations of the moon. It must be admitted that 
these learned Hindus, unacquainted as they are with the 
analytical operations which in Europe facilitate the com- 
putation of the movements of the stars, and having only 
the most ancient tables wherewith to assist their calcula- 
tions, require an enormous amount of patience and con- 
centrated attention to produce results which are in any 
degree trustworthy. 

This almanac is an absolute necessity to every purohita, 
since it tells him not only which are the lucky and unlucky 
constellations, and fortunate or inauspicious days, but also 
which are the propitious hours in each day ; for it is only 
at these particular moments that the ceremonies can begin 
at which he is called on to preside. The Brahmins also 
draw inspiration from this book in predicting happy and 
unhappy events in life. Numbers of people come to con- 

and enjoy the maniam in turn. The purohita is a Brahmin whose busi- 
ness it is to fix auspicious days for marriages, journeys, and undertakings 
generally. He presides at the marriage and funeral ceremonies of 
Sudras, but not at the marriage ceremonies of Brahmins. The Brahmin 
who presides at the latter is called upadhiaya. A purohita is sometimes 
called a panchangi, or one who has charge of the panchangam or almanac, 
not a very dignified office. — Ed. 



136 SUPERSTITIOUS PREDICTIONS 

suit them on points like these ; and it is not the common 
people only on whom this superstition has such a strong 
hold, for princes and persons of the highest rank believe 
in it even more firmly, if that be possible. There is no one 
in high position who has not one or more official purohitas 
living in his palace ; and these men act, so to speak, like 
rulers of the universe. They go every morning and with 
ludicrous gravity announce to the prince, to his state 
elephant, and to his idols, each in their turn, all that is 
written in the almanac relating to that particular day. 
Should the prince wish to hunt, walk, or receive visits from 
strangers, and the perspicacity of the purohita discovers in 
his infallible book that this is an unpropitious moment, the 
chase, the walk, or the visit is postponed. In large temples 
a purohita is specially retained to read to the idols every 
morning the predictions for that day contained in the 
almanac \ 

The Hindu calendar is known by the name of the pan- 
changam, which means the five members, because it con- 
tains five leading subjects : to wit, the age of the moon 
in the month ; the constellation near which the moon is 
situated on each particular day ; the day of the week ; 
the eclipses ; and the positions of the planets. Lucky and 
unlucky days are also indicated ; those, for instance, on 
which a person may travel towards one of the four cardinal 
points ; for any one who could safely travel to-day towards 
the north would probably be overtaken by misfortune if 
he attempted to journey to the south. There are number- 
less other predictions of a similar nature in the almanac, 
which it would be tedious to give in detail. 

1 The panchangam Brahmin is one who, by studying the almanac, is 
able to state propitious or unpropitious times. He gets his livelihood 
by going certain rounds, day by day, from house to house, declaring 
the condition of things, as per the almanac, and receiving in return 
a dole consisting, usually, of grain. He is not held in much respect by 
his own caste people, but he is much looked up to by other castes. He 
is consulted by his constituents, from time to time, when they wish to 
know the propitious period for any undertaking, as starting on a journey, 
making an important purchase, putting on new clothes or new jewels, 
or when about to take up a new appointment, or when any other im- 
portant event is contemplated. He is a Smartha by sect ; that is, he 
is really a worshipper of Siva and wears the marks of that god, but at 
the same time he respects and worships Vishnu. — Padfield. 



THE HINDU NEW YEAR'S DAY 137 

On the first day of the Hindu year, called Ugadi \ which 
falls on the first day of the March moon, the purohita 
summons all the principal inhabitants of the neighbourhood 
to his residence, and there solemnly announces, amidst 
much music, singing, and dancing, who will be king of the 
gods and who king of the stars for the year, who will be 
their prime ministers, and who will command the army ; 
who will be the god of the harvest, and what crops will be 
most plentiful. He foretells, too, whether the season will 
be wet or dry, and whether locusts or other insects will, 
or will not, attack and devour the young plants ; whether 
the insects and vermin, which disturb the repose of the 
poor Hindu, will be more or less troublesome, more 
or less numerous ; whether it is to be a healthy or 
unhealthy year ; whether there will be more deaths 
than births ; whether there will be peace or war ; from 
what quarter the country will be invaded ; who will be 
victorious, &c. 

Those who ridicule the purohita and his predictions are 
the very first to have recourse to him if the country is 
threatened with any great calamity, such as war, famine, 
drought, &c. Thus powerful is the sway which supersti- 
tion exercises over the whole land. It is not only the 
idolatrous Hindus who give credence to these absurdities ; 
Mahomedans, Native Christians, half-castes, and sometimes 
even Europeans, are not ashamed to consult the astrologer 
or purohita. 

The high-class purohitas only expound to Brahmins the 
oracles contained in the almanac, but many less fortunate 
Brahmins procure copies for themselves, and reap a rich 
harvest from the credulity of the lower classes. The 
panchangam serves as an excuse, but it is only another 
way of demanding alms. This method of earning a liveli- 
hood, however, causes them to be despised by persons of 
their own caste, and they only resort to it when other 
resources have failed. They always quote their favourite 
axiom : ' In order to fill one's belly one must play many 
parts.' 

The purohitas appear to date back to very ancient times. 

1 Ugadi is the Telugu New Year's Day. Nowadays there is no music 
or dancing on the occasion of the purohita reading the almanac. — Ed. 

F 3 



138 THE PUROHITAS 

Most Hindu writers mention them, and, if they are to 
be believed, the highest honours were paid to these 
Brahmins in times gone by. They and the gurus share 
the duty of preserving intact the ancient customs, and it 
is they who are loudest in condemning those who violate 
them. 

To them also is due the credit of having preserved from 
destruction all the books of history or of science that have 
survived the revolutions by which the country has been 
so often convulsed. 

All the purohitas are married, and I believe this to be 
obligatory, in order that they may minister in Brahmins' 
houses. A widower would not be admitted, as his very 
presence would be considered sufficient to bring mis- 
fortune \ 



CHAPTER XII 

Mantrams. — Their Efficacy. — The Gayatri. — The word 'Aum.' — Magic 

Mantrams. 

These famous mantrams, which the Hindus think so 
much of, are nothing more than prayers or consecrated 
formulas, but they are considered so powerful that they 
can, as the Hindus say, enchain the power of the gods them- 
selves. Mantrams are used for invocation, for evocation, 
or as spells. They may be either preservative or destruc- 
tive, beneficent or maleficent, salutary or harmful. In 
fact, there is no effect that they are not capable of pro- 
ducing. Through them an evil spirit can be made to take 
possession of any one, or can be exorcised. They can 
inspire with love or hate, they can cause an illness or cure 
it, induce death or preserve life, or cause destruction to 
a whole army. There are mantrams which are infallible 
for all these and many other things besides. Fortunately 
one mantram can counteract the effect of another, the 
stronger neutralizing the weaker. 

The purohitas are more familiar with these mantrams 
than any other class of Hindus ; but all Brahmins are 
supposed to be acquainted at any rate with the principal 
1 This is only partially applicable nowadays. — Ed. 



THE EFFICACY OF MAXTRAMS 139 

ones, if this Sanskrit verse, which one often hears repeated, 
is to be believed : — 

Devadhtnam jagat sarvam, 

Mantradhinam ta dtvata 
Tan mantram brahmanadhinam 

Brahmana mama devata. 

Which means, ' The universe is under the power of the 
gods ; the gods are under the power of mantrams ; the 
mantrams are under the power of the Brahmins ; there- 
fore the Brahmins are our gods.' The argument is plainly 
set out, as you may see, and these modest personages have 
no scruples about arrogating to themselves the sublime title 
of Brahma gods, or gods of the earth. 

As an instance of the efficacy of mantrams, I will cite 
the following example, which is taken from the well-known 
Hindu poem Brahmottara-Kanda, composed in honour of 
Siva : — 

' Dasarha, king of Madura, having married Kalavati, 
daughter of the king of Benares, was warned by the prin- 
cess on their wedding-day that he must not take advantage 
of his rights as her husband, because the mantram of the 
five letters, which she had learned, had so purged and puri- 
fied her that any man who ventured upon any familiarities 
with her would do so at the risk of his life, unless he had 
been previously cleansed from all defilements through the 
same medium. Being his wife she could not teach him 
this mantram, because by doing so she would become his 
guru, and consequently his superior. The next day the 
husband and wife both went in quest of the great Rishi, 
or penitent, Garga, who, on learning the object of their 
visit, bade them fast for one day and bathe the following 
day in the Ganges. Thus prepared the pair returned to 
the penitent, who made the husband sit down on the ground 
facing the east, and having seated himself by his side, but 
facing the west, he whispered these two words in his ear, 
"Namah Sivaya 1 ! " Scarcely had the king Dasarha heard 
these marvellous words when a flight of crows was seen 
issuing from different parts of his body, which flew away 
and disappeared ; these crows being nothing more or less 

1 This means, ' All hail to Siva ! ' and is the mantram of the five 
letters. — Dubois. 



140 THE MOST FAMOUS MANTRAM 

than the sins which the prince had previously com- 
mitted.' 

' Tli is story,' continues the author, ' is really true. I had 
it from my guru Veda-Vyasa, who learned it himself from 
the Para-Brahma. The king and his wife, thus purified, 
lived happily together for a great many years, and only 
quitted this world to join Para-Brahma, the Supreme 
Being, in the abode of bliss.' 

When one points out to the Brahmins that these much- 
vaunted mantrams do not produce startling effects in the 
present day, they reply that this must be attributed to the 
Kali-yuga, that is to say, to the Fourth Age of the world, 
in which we are now living, a veritable age of iron, when 
everything has degenerated ; a period of calamities and 
disasters, when virtue has ceased to rule the earth. They 
maintain, nevertheless, that it is still not at all uncommon 
for mantrams to work miracles, and this they confirm by 
citing stories which are quite as authentic and credible as 
the one I have just related. 

The most famous and the most efficacious mantram for 
taking away sins, whose power is so great that the very 
gods tremble at it, is that which is called the gayatri. It 
is so ancient that the Vedas themselves were born from it. 
Only a Brahmin has the right to recite it, and he must 
prepare himself beforehand by other prayers and by the 
most profound meditation. He must always repeat it in 
a low voice, and take the greatest care that he is not over- 
heard by a Sudra, or even by his own wife, particularly at 
the time when she is in a state of uncleanness. The follow- 
ing are the words of this famous mantram 1 : — 

Tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya 
Dhimahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. 

1 Long after I had finished my first work, I found in No. 27 of the 
Asiatic Journal of 1818 two different English translations of the gayatri, 
the exactitude of which I in no way vouch for, nor can I give any pre- 
ference to either translation. This, at any rate, is the sense of them : — 

1. ' Let us worship the light of God, greater than you, Sun, who 
can so well guide our understanding. The wise man always considers 
this (the Sun) the supreme manifestation of the divinity.' 

2. ' Let us worship the supreme light of the Sun, the God of all things, 
who can so well guide our understanding, like an eye suspended in the 
vault of heaven.' — Dubois. 



THE MYSTERIOUS WORD * AUM ' 141 

It is a prayer in honour of the Sun, one of whose names 
is Savitru. It is a great mystery. Each word, and indeed 
each syllable, is full of allusions which only a very few 
Brahmins understand. I have never met any one who 
was able to give me an intelligible translation or explana- 
tion of them. A Brahmin would be guilty of an unpardon- 
able crime and the most terrible sacrilege if he imparted 
it to an unbeliever. There are several other mantrams 
which are called gayatri, but the one mentioned above is 
that which is most generally used. 

After the gayatri, the most powerful mantram is the 
mysterious monosyllable om or aum. Though it is to the 
interest of the Brahmins to keep the real meaning of this 
sacred word a profound secret, and though the greater 
number of them do not understand it themselves, there 
does not appear to be much doubt that it is the symbolic 
name of the Supreme Being, one and indivisible, like the 
word aum \ This mystic word, which is always pronounced 
with extreme reverence, suggests an obvious analogy to 
that ineffable and mysterious Hebrew word Jehovah. 

Though the Brahmins are supposed to be the sole guar- 
dians of the mantrams, many others venture to recite 
them. In some professions they are absolutely indispens- 
able. Doctors, for instance, even when not Brahmins, 
would be considered very ignorant, and, no matter how 
clever they might be in their profession, would inspire no 
confidence, if they were unable to recite the special man- 
tram that suited each complaint ; for a cure is attributed 
quite as much to mantrams as to medical treatment. One 
of the principal reasons why so little confidence is placed 
in European doctors by the Hindus is that, when adminis- 
tering their remedies, they recite neither mantrams nor 
prayers 2 . 

1 The Hindu conception of the word aum is thus explained by one 
authority : — ' As long as there has been a Hindu Faith the power of 
sound has been recognized in the Sacred Word. In that word lie all 
potencies, for the sacred word expresses the one and latent Being, every 
power of generation, of preservation, and of destruction. . . . Therefore 
was it never to be sounded save when the mind was pure, when the 
mind was tranquil, when the life was noble.' — Ed. 

2 Failure to feel the pulse is also regarded by the Hindus as a sure 
proof of medical ignorance. — Ed. 



142 MANTRAMS USED BY SORCERERS 

Mid wives must also be acquainted with a good many ; 
and they are sometimes called mantradaris, or women who 
repeat mantrams ; for there is no moment, according to 
Hindu superstitions, when mantrams are more needed than 
at the birth of a child. Both the new-born infant and its 
mother are peculiarly susceptible to the influence of the 
evil eye, the inauspicious combination of unlucky planets 
or unlucky days, and a thousand other unpropitious ele- 
ments. A good midwife, well primed with efficacious man- 
trams, foresees all these dangers and averts them by reciting 
the proper words at the proper moment. 

But the cleverest mantram reciters, and at the same time 
the most feared, are the charlatans who profess to be 
thoroughly initiated in the occult sciences, such as sor- 
cerers, necromancers, soothsayers, &c. They have in their 
possession, if they are to be believed, mantrams which are 
capable of working all the wonders which I enumerated at 
the beginning of this chapter. They recite them for the 
purpose of discovering stolen property, thieves, hidden 
treasure, foretelling future events, &c. In a country where 
superstition, ignorance, and the most extravagant credulity 
reign supreme, it is no wonder that impostors abound and 
are able to make a large number of dupes. 

The hatred which is felt for these mischievous sorcerers 
is only equalled by the fear that they inspire ; and that is 
saying a great deal. Woe to any one who is accused of 
having injured another by his spells ! The punishment that 
is usually inflicted consists in pulling out two front teeth 
from the upper jaw. When bereft of these two teeth, it 
is thought the sorcerer will no longer be able to pronounce 
his diabolical mantrams distinctly. If he mispronounces 
the words his familiar spirit will be angry, and the mis- 
fortune that he is trying to bring down upon some one else 
will, it is thought, fall on his own head. 

One day a poor man who lived near me, and who had 
just undergone this painful punishment, came and threw 
himself at my feet, protesting his innocence and begging 
for protection and for advice as to how he could obtain 
justice. The unfortunate fellow certainly did not look like 
a sorcerer, but as I had neither the power nor the means of 
interfering in the affair, I could only offer him my sym- 



MAGIC SYLLABLES 143 

pathy and assure him how indignant I felt at the iniquitous 
treatment to which he had been subjected. 

There are certain majitra7?i.s which have a very special 
signification. They are called bija-aksharas, or radical 
letters ; such, for instance, as hram. hrim, hrom, hroum, 
hraha, &c. To those who have the key to the true pro- 
nunciation of them and know how to use and apply them, 
nothing is impossible ; there is no limit to the miracles they 
can perform. The following is an example : — 

Siva had initiated a little bastard boy into all the mys- 
teries of these radical letters. The boy was the son of 
a Brahmin widow, and on account of the stain on his birth 
had experienced the mortification of being excluded from 
a wedding feast, to which many persons of his caste had 
been invited. He revenged himself by simply pronouncing 
two or three of these radical letters through a crack in the 
door of the room where the guests were assembled. Im- 
mediately, by virtue of these marvellous words, all the 
dishes that had been prepared for the feast were turned 
into frogs. This wonderful occurrence naturally caused 
great consternation amongst the guests. Every one was 
convinced it was due to the little bastard, and fearing 
worse might happen they all rushed with one accord to 
invite him to come in. After they had apologized humbly 
for what had happened he entered the room and merely pro- 
nounced the same words backwards, when the frogs suddenly 
disappeared, and they saw with great pleasure the cakes 
and other refreshments which had been on the table before. 

I will leave it to some one else to find, if he can. any- 
thing amongst the numberless obscurations of the human 
mind that can equal the extravagance of this story, which 
a Hindu would nevertheless believe implicitly. 

CHAPTER XIII 

Explanation of the Principal Ceremonies of the Brahmins and of other 
Castes. — The Sam-l;alpa. — Puja. — Aratti. — Akshatas. — Pavitram. — 
Sesamum and Darbha Grass. — Puniaha vachana. — Pancha-gavia. — 
Purification of Places where Ceremonies take place. — Pandals, or 
Pavilions made of Leaves. 

Before entering into more particular details with regard 
to the ceremonies of the Brahmins, it is necessary, in order 



144 THE SAM-KALPA 

to make the rest of this book intelligible, to begin by giving 
an explanation of certain terms pertaining to these cere- 
monies, and also a short summary of the chief objects 
aimed at. This sketch will suffice to indicate the peculiar 
tastes and inclinations of the Brahmins, and will no doubt 
cause my readers to inquire how these men were able to 
impose so many extravagant absurdities on a people whose 
civilization dates from such very ancient times, and yet to 
retain their full confidence. 

The Sam-kalpa. 

The chief preparatory ceremony amongst the Brahmins 
is the sam-kalpa, which means literally ' intensive contem- 
plation V 

This method of mental preparation must in no instance 
be omitted before any religious ceremony of the Brahmins. 
When the sam-kalpa has been performed with due medita- 
tion, everything that they undertake will succeed ; but its 
omission is alone sufficient to transform all the ceremonies 
that follow into so many acts of sacrilege which will not 
pass unpunished. The Brahmin must meditate prelimi- 
narily on the following points. He must think — 

1. Of Vishnu, meditating upon him as the ruler and 
preserver of this vast universe, as the author and giver of 
all good things, and as he who brings all undertakings to 
a successful issue. With these thoughts in his mind he 
repeats thrice the name of Vishnu, and worships him. 

2. He must think of Brahma. He must remember that 
there are nine Brahmas, who created the eight million four 
hundred thousand kinds of living creatures, of which the 
most important is man ; that it is the first of these Brahmas 
who is ruling at the present time ; that he will live for 
a hundred years of the gods - ; that his life is divided into 
four parts, of which the first and half the second are already 
gone. He must then worship him. 

3. He must think of the Avatara, or incarnation, of 
Vishnu in the form of a white pig, which was the shape in 

1 Sam-kalpa literally means resolve of the mind, will, purpose, definite 
intention, determination, desire. It is no ceremony in itself, but is 
a prelude to every ceremony. — Ed. 

- Each day, according to the reckoning of the gods, is as long as 
several milliards of years. — Dubois. 



A PROCESS OF MEDITATION 145 

which that deity slew the giant Hirannyaksha. After 
having thoroughly realized the idea that this Avatara is 
the most celebrated of all in the Kali-yuga, he worships 
the pig god. 

4. He must think of Manu. He reminds himself that 
there are fourteen Manus, of which the names are Svaro- 
chisha, Tamasa, Svayambhuva, Raivata, &c. &c, and that 
they reign over the fourteen worlds during the hundred 
gods' years that Brahma's life will last. As Vaivaswata 
Manu is now in power in the Kali-yuga, in which the 
Hindus are living at this present time, he offers him worship. 

5. He must think of the Kali-yuga. He must recollect 
that we are at present in the early part of this yuga. 

6. He must think of Jambu-Dwipa. This is the con- 
tinent in which India is situated. He pictures it to him- 
self as surrounded by a sea of salt water, having in the centre 
a mountain of gold sixteen thousand yojanas 1 high, called 
Mahameru, on the thousand summits of which the gods 
have fixed their abode. He must remember that at the 
foot of this mountain on the east side grows the Jambu- 
vruksha, a tree which is a thousand yojanas high and as 
many in circumference ; that the juice of the fruits of this 
tree, which fall of their own accord when ripe, forms a 
large river which flows towards the west, where it mingles 
its waters with those of the sea ; that the water of this 
river possesses the power of converting everything it 
touches into gold, for which reason it has been called the 
Bangaru-nadi or Golden River. The Brahmin must not 
omit to think of this sacred tree, nor yet of the continent 
of Jambu-Dwipa, where it is situated. 

7. He must think of the great king Bharata, who at 
one time governed Jambu-Dwipa and whose reign forms 
one of the Hindu eras. 

8. He must think of the side of the Mahameru which 
faces him, that is to say, of the west side of this sacred 
mountain, if he lives to the west of it, of the east, if he 
lives to the east of it, &c. 

1 The ordinary yojana is about nine miles, but the sacred yojana 
which is here mentioned, is very much longer. — Dubois. 

Yojana literally means the distance driven at a yoking or stretch ; 
equal to four krodas, or about nine English miles. — Ed. 



146 FURTHER MEDITATIONS 

9. He must think of the corner of the world called Agni- 
diku, or the Corner of Fire, over which the god Agni-Iswara 
presides, and which is that part of the world in which India 
is situated. 

10. He must think of the Dravida country, where the 
Tamil (Arava) language is spoken. 

11. He must think of the moon's pathway, and the 
change of one moon to another. 

12. He must think of the year of the cycle in which he 
is living. The Hindu cycle is composed of sixty years, 
each of which has its own particular name. And he must 
say aloud the name of the particular year of the cycle in 
which he is living. 

13. He must think of the ay ana in which he is. There 
are two ayanas in the year, each of which lasts six 
months — one called the dakshina-ayana or southern ay ana, 
which includes the time during which the sun is south 
of the equinoctial line, and the other called uttara- 
ayana or northern ayana, which comprises the rest 
of the year, during which the sun is north of this line. 
He must pronounce the name of the ayana which is then 
going on. 

14. He must think of the rutu, or season of the year. 
There are six rutus in the year, each of which lasts two 
months. He must pronounce the name of the rutu in 
which he is performing the sam-kalpa. 

15. He must think of the moon. Each moon is divided 
into two equal parts, one of which is called Sukla-paksha 
and the other Krishna-paksha. Each of these divisions 
lasts fourteen days, and each day has its own special name. 
He must call to mind the division and day of the moon, 
and pronounce their names. 

16. He must think of the day of the week and pronounce 
the name. 

17. He must think of the star of the day. There are 
twenty-seven in each lunar month, each of which has a name. 
He must pronounce the name of the one which is in the 
ascendant on that day. 

18. He must think of the yoga 1 of the day. There are 
twenty-seven of these, corresponding to the twenty-seven 

1 Yoga means conjunction of stars. — Ed. 



PUJA, OR SACRIFICE 147 

stars, each with its own name. He must pronounce the 
name of the yoga, as also that of the star. 

19. He must think of the karana, of which there are 
eleven in each lunar month, each with its own name. The 
same formality must be gone through as with the star and 
the yoga. 

All these divers objects to which the Brahmin must turn 
his thoughts when performing the sam-kalpa are so many 
personifications of Vishnu, or rather are Vishnu himself 
under different names. Besides this ordinary sam-kalpa, 
there is another more elaborate one, which is reserved for 
grand occasions, and which will be described further on. 

This pious introduction to all their ceremonies averts, 
by virtue of its merits, every obstacle which the evil spirits 
and giants would put in the way. The name of Vishnu 
alone, it is true, is sufficient to put them to flight, but 
nothing can resist the power of the sam-kalpa. 

Puja ; or Sacrifice 1 . 

Of all the Hindu rites, puja is the one that occurs most 
frequently in all their ceremonies, both public and private, 
in their temples and elsewhere. Every Brahmin is abso- 
lutely obliged to offer it at least once a day to his household 
gods. There are three kinds of pujas — the great, the 
intermediate, and the small. 

The great sacrifice is composed of the following parts : — 

1. Avahana. The evocation of the deity. 

2. Asana. A seat is presented to him to sit on. 

3. Swagata. He is asked if he has arrived quite safely, 
and if he met with no accident on the way. 

4. Padya. Water is offered to him for washing his 
feet, 

5. Arghya. Water is presented to him in which flowers, 
saffron, and sandalwood powder have been placed. 

6. Achamania. Water is offered that he may wash his 
mouth and face in the prescribed fashion. 

7. Madhu-parka. He is offered in a metal vessel a 
beverage composed of honey, sugar, and milk. 

8. Snana-jala. Water for his bath. 

1 Puja means honour, respect, homage, worship. — Ed. 



148 THE ARATTI CEREMONY 

9. Bhooshan-abharanasya. He is presented with cloths, 
jewels, and ornaments. 

10. Gandha. Sandalwood powder. 

11. Akshatas. Grains of rice coloured with saffron. 

12. Push pa Flowers. 

13. Dhupa. Incense. 

14. Dipa. A lighted lamp. 

15. Neiveddya. This last offering is composed of cooked 
rice, fruit, liquefied butter, sugar and other eatables, and 
betel. 

Before offering these gifts, care should be taken to 
sprinkle a little water over them with the tips of the fingers. 
The worshippers then prostrate themselves before the 
deity. 

For the intermediate puja the last nine articles are 
offered ; for the lesser, only the last six. 

When sacrifices of blood are necessary to appease ill- 
disposed gods or evil spirits, the blood and the flesh of the 
animals that have been sacrificed are offered to them. 

Arti or Aratti. 

This ceremony is performed only by married women and 
courtesans. Widows would not be allowed, under any 
circumstances, to participate in it l . 

A lamp made of kneaded rice-flour is placed on a metal 
dish or plate. It is then filled with oil or liquefied butter 
and lighted. The women each take hold of the plate in 
turn and raise it to the level of the person's head for whom 
the ceremony is being performed, describing a specified 
number of circles with it. Instead of using a lighted lamp 
they sometimes content themselves with filling a vessel 
with water coloured with saffron, vermilion, and other in- 
gredients. The object of this ceremony is to counteract 
the influence of the evil eye and any ill-effects which, 
according to Hindu belief, may arise from the jealous and 
spiteful looks of ill-intentioned persons. 

The aratti is one of the commonest of their religious 

1 ^Yidows are not allowed to take part in any of the domestic cere- 
monies of the Hindus. Their presence alone would be thought to bring 
misfortune, and if they dared to appear they would be rudely treated 
and sent away. — Dubois. 



A SAFEGUARD AGAINST THE ' EVIL EYE ' 149 

practices, and is observed in public and private \ It is 
performed daily, and often several times a day, over persons 
of high rank, such as rajahs, governors of provinces, generals, 
and other distinguished members of society. Whenever 
people in these positions have been obliged to show them- 
selves in public, or to speak to strangers, they invariably 
call for the courtesans or dancing-girls from the temples to 
perform this ceremony over them, and so avert any un- 
pleasant consequences that might arise from the baleful 
glances to which they have been exposed. Kings and 
princes often have dancing-girls in their employ who do 
nothing else but perform this ceremony 2 . 

The aratti is also performed for idols. After the dancing- 
girls have finished all their other duties in the temple, they 
never fail to perform this ceremony twice daily over the 
images of the gods to whom their services are dedicated. 
It is performed with even more solemnity when these idols 
have been carried in procession through the streets, so as 
to turn aside malignant influences, to which the gods are 
as susceptible as any ordinary mortal. 

Aratti is also performed for the same purpose over 
elephants, horses, and other domestic animals. 

This superstition about the evil eye is common enough 
in many European countries. I have seen simple French 
peasants hastily draw their children away from some 
stranger or ill-looking person, for fear his glance might 
cast some spell over the little ones. The same notion was 
prevalent at the time of the ancient Romans, as Virgil, 
amongst others, bears witness in the following verse : — 
' Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos.' 

The Romans too had their god Fascinus, and amulets of 
the same name were given to children to wear to preserve 
them from spells of this nature. The statue of the god, 
placed on the triumphal car, preserved returning con- 
querors from the malignity of the envious. Hindus call 
this spell drishti- dosha, or the influence of the eye. And 
they invented the aratti to avert and counteract it. Their 

1 The word aratti itself means trouble, misfortune, pain. — Ed. 
a Aratti is performed also when people take children from one village 
to another, on visits to relations and friends. — Ed. 



150 THE AKSHATAS AND PAVITRAM 

credulity on this subject is boundless. According to them 
it is not only animate objects that come under the influence 
of the driskti-dosha ; vegetable substances are equally 
susceptible to it. It is to avert this spell that they stick 
up a pole in all their gardens and fields that are under 
cultivation. On the top of this pole they fix a large earthen 
vessel, well whitened on the outside with lime. This is to 
attract the attention of malicious persons who may be 
passing, as it will be the first thing to catch their eye and 
will thus prevent their spells from producing any disastrous 
effects on the crops, which otherwise would certainly be 
affected by the evil influence. 

Akshatas. 
This is the name given to husked rice coloured with 
a mixture of saffron and vermilion. There are two kinds 
of akshatas, one specially consecrated by mantrams, the 
other simple coloured rice. The first is used when per- 
forming puja and in other great ceremonies ; the other 
kind is only a toilet requisite, or is used as an offering of 
politeness. It is considered good manners to offer some 
in a metal cup to any one to whom a ceremonious invitation 
is sent. The latter in return takes a few grains and applies 
them to the forehead. 

The Pavitram \ 

The object of the pavitram is to scare away giants, evil 
spirits, or devils, whose mission it is to bring disasters 
upon men and mar the ceremonies of the Brahmins. The 
very sight of the pavitram makes them tremble and take 
to flight. 

This powerful amulet consists of three, five, or seven 
stalks of darbha grass plaited together in the form of a ring. 
Before beginning any ceremony the presiding purohita takes 
the pavitram, and, after dipping it in sanctified water, 
places it on the ring finger of his right hand. The seeds 
and oil of sesamum are very nearly as efficacious as the 

1 The pavitram is made of stalks of darbha grass. It is worn simply 
as a mark of sanctification. Three stalks are generally used for funeral 
ceremonies ; two for marriage ceremonies and other auspicious occa- 
sions. — Ed. 



THE PUNIAHA-VACHANA CEREMONY 151 

pavitram ; but the grass they call darbha is the most 
efficacious, for it possesses the virtue of purifying every- 
thing that it touches. The Brahmins can do nothing 
without it. It is the basis of all those pious and meri- 
torious acts which are known by the generic term of mok- 
sharthas, or deeds which lead to everlasting felicity, and 
which consist of the asva-medha (sacrifice of the horse), 
the vaja-peya, the raja-suya, the sattra-yaga, and other 
kinds of yagnas which are particularly pleasing to Vishnu \ 
No important action in life can take place without it. 
That is to say, it is necessary in the kamyarthas, which 
include the garbha-dana, the jata-karma, the nama-karma, 
the anna-prasana, the chaula, the upanayana, the simanta, 
and marriage 2 . It is in frequent use in the various religious 
exercises of the Brahmins pertaining to their four states, 
namely, Brahmachari, Grahastha, Vana-prastha, and Sann- 
yasi (vide p. 160 et seq.). In fact this sacred grass, the 
purity of which is considered unequalled, appears in every 
religious or civil ceremony. 

PUNI AH A- VACHAN A . 

The literal translation of this word is ' the evocation of 
virtue,' and it is the name given to the ceremony by which 
the sacred water is consecrated. They proceed thus : — 
Having purified a place in the housa in the ordinary manner, 
they sprinkle it with water. Then the officiating Brahmin 
purohita seats himself with his face to the east, and they 
place before him a banana leaf with a measure of rice on it. 
At one side is a copper vessel full of water, the outside of 
which has been whitened with lime ; the mouth of the 
vessel is covered with mango leaves, and it is placed on 
the rice. Near the copper vessel they put a little heap of 
saffron, which represents the god Vigneshwara, to whom 

1 Vaja-peya = trial of strength ; a kind of soma sacrifice. Sattra- 
yaga = another great soma sacrifice. Raja-suya = royal inaugural sacri- 
fice. — Ed. 

2 Kamyarthas = deeds which lead to worldly happiness. Garbha- 
dana = pregnancy. Jata-karma — horoscope writing. Nama-lcarma = 
naming ceremony. Anna prasana = weaning or food-giving ceremony. 
Chaula = head-shaving ceremony. Upanayana = initiation of a pupil. 
Simanta = ceremony of parting the hair, in the case of women six or 
eight months in pregnancy. — Ed. 



152 RITE OF THE PANCHA-GAVTA 

they perform puja, and for neiveddya they offer jaggery 
(raw sugar) and betel. They then throw a little sandal- 
wood powder and akshatas into the copper vessel, while 
reciting appropriate mantrams, with the intention of turn- 
ing the water which it contains into the sacred water of 
the Ganges. Finally they offer a sacrifice to the vessel, 
and for neiveddya they offer bananas and betel. The water 
thus sanctified purifies places and persons that have become 
unclean. 

Pancha-gavia. 

I have already explained 1 of what disgusting materials 
the mixture known by this name is composed. This is 
the way in which it is consecrated. The house is purified 
in the usual way. They then bring five little new earthen 
vessels, into one of which they put milk, into another curds, 
into a third liquefied butter, into a fourth cow-dung, and 
into the fifth the urine of a cow. These five little vessels 
are then placed in a row on the ground on some darbha 
grass, and they perform puja in the following manner : — 
First, they make a profound obeisance before the deity 
pancha-gavia, and they meditate for some time on his 
merits and good qualities. Some flowers are placed on 
the five vessels, and for asana they make the god an imagi- 
nary present of a golden seat or throne. They then offer 
to each vessel, as arghya, a little water, which is poured 
round them. For padya, a little more water is poured 
out for them to wash their feet, and achamania is offered 
immediately afterwards in the same way. The snana-jala 
is water in which a little garika grass has been steeped, 
which is presented to the god pancha-gavia, to enable him 
to perform his ablutions. The tops of the vessels are then 
covered with akshatas, while they are presented, in imagina- 
tion of course, with jewels, rich garments, and sandal- 
wood. In conclusion they offer them flowers, incense, a 
lighted lamp, bananas, and betel as neiveddya, and finally 
make another profound obeisance. 

These preliminaries ended, the officiating priest addresses 
the following prayer to the god pancha-gavia, or, what is 
the same thing, to the substances contained in the five 
1 Chapter III. 



PURIFICATION OF PLACES 153 

vessels : ' god pancha-gavia, vouchsafe to pardon the 
sins of all the creatures in the world who offer sacrifice to 
you and drink you, pancha-gavia. You have come pro- 
ceeding from the body of the cow ; therefore I offer you 
my prayers and sacrifices, in order that I may obtain the 
remission of my sins and the purification of my body, 
which are accorded to those who drink you. Vouchsafe 
also to absolve us, who have offered you puja, from all the 
sins that we have committed either inadvertently or 
deliberately. Forgive us and save us ! ' 

After this prayer they make another profound obeisance 
and put the contents of the five vessels into one. Then 
taking this vessel into his hands, the purohita performs the 
hari-smarana \ drinks a little of this precious liquid, pours 
a little into the hollow of the hands of all persons present, 
who also drink it, and keeps the rest for use during the 
ceremony. Betel is then presented to the Brahmins who 
are present, after which they disperse. 

Nothing can equal the supposed purifying virtues of 
this mixture. Brahmins and other Hindus frequently 
drink it to remove both external and internal defile- 
ments. 

There is also another lustral preparation called pancha- 
amrita, which is composed of milk, curds, liquefied butter, 
honey, and sugar mixed together. This is not filthy and 
disgusting like the one previously mentioned, but then it is 
much less efficacious. It however possesses a certain 
degree of merit under some circumstances. 

The Purification of Places. 
Before the performance of any ceremony the place where 
it is to take place must be previously purified. This is 
usually the duty of the women, and the principal ingredients 
required are cow-dung and darbha grass. They dilute the 
cow-dung with water and make a sort of plaster with it, 
which they spread over the floor with their hands, making 
zigzags and other patterns with lime or chalk as they go 
on. They then draw wide lines of alternate red and white 
over this and sprinkle the whole with darbha grass, after 
which the place is perfectly pure. This is the way in which 
1 Hari-smarana means meditating on Hari, or Vishnu. — Ed. 



154 PANDALS OR PAVILIONS 

Hindus purify their bouses day by day from the defile- 
ments caused by promiscuous goers and comers. It is 
the rule amongst the upper classes to have their houses 
rubbed over once a day with cow- dung, but in any class 
it would be considered an unpardonable and gross breach 
of good manners to omit this ceremony when they expected 
friends to call or were going to receive company. 

This custom appears odd at first sight, but it brings this 
inestimable benefit in its train, that it cleanses the houses 
where it is in use from all the insects and vermin which 
would otherwise infest them. 

Pandals. 

All the more important Hindu ceremonies, such as 
upanayana, marriages, &c, take place under canopies 
made of leaves and branches of trees which are erected 
with much pomp and care in the courtyard or in front of 
the principal entrance door of the house. The pandal is 
usually supported by twelve wooden posts l or pillars, and 
covered with foliage and branches of trees. The top or 
ceiling is ornamented with paintings or costly stuffs, while 
the whole is hung with garlands of flowers, foliage, and 
many other decorations. The pillars are painted in alter- 
nate bands of red and white. The pandals of rich people 
are often exquisitely decorated. A propitious day, hour, 
and star are always chosen on which to erect these canopies. 
Then the relations and friends all assemble to set up the 
centre pillar, which is called the muhurta-kal, and to which 
they offer puja to the accompaniment of music. Under 
this canopy all the ceremonies connected with the fete take 
place, and the guests remain underneath it till the end of 
the performance. The houses of Hindus are not as a rule 
sufficiently spacious, or in any way well adapted for receiv- 
ing large numbers of guests, so necessity has suggested this 
picturesque alternative. 

Besides these pandals, which are only used on grand 
occasions, upper-class people generally have a permanent 

1 Amongst the Sudras it is only those who belong to the Right-hand 
faction who are allowed to have twelve pillars or posts to their pandals. 
If a Left-hand Sudra, who is only entitled to eleven, should take upon 
himself to put twelve, a frightful fracas would ensue. — Dubois. 



CEREMONIES AFTER CONFINEMENT 155 

one before their principal entrance door to protect from the 
sun persons who may come to visit them, and who could 
not with propriety and due regard to custom be invited to 
come inside. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Ceremonies to be observed after a Woman's Confinement. — Ceremonies 
performed over Infants. 

JATA- KARMA. 

When a Brahmani begins to feel the pangs of child-birth 
her husband should be near her, so that he may carefully 
note the date of the month, the day, the star of the day, 
the yoga, the Jcarana, the hour, and the moment when the 
child is born. And to prevent any of these details being 
forgotten, he puts them down in writing. 

The house where a woman is confined, as well as all 
those who live in it, are unclean for ten days. Before this 
time is up they must have no intercourse with any one. 
On the eleventh day all the linen and clothes that have 
been used during this period are given to the washerman, 
and the house is purified in the manner I have already 
described. Then they call in a Brahmin purohita. The 
woman who has just been confined, holding the child in 
her arms, and with her husband by her side, seats herself 
on a sort of earthen platform, which is set up in the centre 
of the house and covered with a cloth. The purohita then 
approaches them, performs the sam-kalpa, offers puja to 
the god Vigneshwara, and goes through the ceremony of 
the puniaha-vachana, or consecration of the sacred water. 
He pours a small quantity of this water into the hands of 
the father and mother of the child, who drink a portion 
and pour the rest over their heads. He also sprinkles this 
water over the house and all who are living in it, and throws 
what remains down the well. The purohita is then pre- 
sented with some betel and a small gift, after which he 
departs. This ceremony, which is called jata-karma, re- 
moves all uncleanness, but the woman who has been 
confined does not become perfectly pure before the end 



156 CEREMONY ON NAMING A CHILD 

of a month. Until that time has elapsed she must live 
apart and have no communication with any one l . 

Nam A- KARMA. 

On the twelfth day after the birth of the child they give 
it a name. This is the nama-karma ceremony. The house 
having been duly purified, the father of the child invites 
his relatives and friends to be present at the ceremonies 
and at the feast which follows them. The guests go all 
together to perform their ablutions. On their return they 
first of all offer the sacrifice to fire called homam, in honour 
of the nine planets. Then the father of the child, holding 
it in his arms, seats himself on the little raised platform of 
earth and performs the sam-kalpa. By his side is a copper 
dish full of rice. With the first finger of his right hand, 
in which he holds a gold ring, he writes on this rice the day 
of the moon, the name of the day, that of the constellation 
under which the child was born, and finally the name that 
he wishes to give him. He then calls the child three times 
by this name in a loud voice. 

This ceremony ended, he gives a present to the presiding 
-purohita, distributes betel to all the Brahmins present, and 
then all take their places at the feast which has been pre- 
pared. As soon as it is finished the master of the house 
again offers betel to his guests, and also presents, if he is 
rich enough. 

The mother of the child does not appear at this cere- 
mony for the reason mentioned at the end of the preceding 
section. 

Anxa-prasana. 

As soon as the child is six months old he is weaned. 
Then the anna-prasana takes place. The name of this 
ceremony expresses the idea of feeding the child on solid 

1 This custom closely resembles that which Jewish women were 
obliged to follow under similar circumstances (Leviticus xi), but the 
Hindus pay no attention, as did the Israelites, to the difference in the 
sex of the child. As regards the time during which the uncleanness of 
the mother lasts, it is just the same with the Hindus whether a boy or 
a girl is born. — Dubois. 

This is wrong. When a mother gives birth to a girl, pollution lasts 
for forty days ; in the case of a boy, only thirty days. — Ed. 



CEREMONY USED WHEN WEANING 157 

food for the first time. For this occasion they choose 
a month, a week, a day, and a star which all combine to 
give favourable auguries. A pandal is erected, which is 
ornamented all round with toranams \ or wreaths of mango 
leaves, some of which are also hung over the entrance 
door of the house, the inside of which has been carefully 
purified by the women. The father of the child sallies 
forth, provided with a cup full of akshatas, to invite his 
relations and friends to the feast. All the guests, having 
purified themselves by bathing, assemble under the pandal. 
The mother, holding the child in her arms, and accom- 
panied by her husband, seats herself beside him on the 
little platform of earth which has been set up in the centre. 
The purohita advances towards them, performs the sam- 
Icalpa, offers, firstly, homam in honour of the nine planets, 
then a sacrifice to fire, to which he presents clarified butter 
and betel for neiveddya. When he has finished, the women 
sing verses expressing their good wishes for the future 
happiness of the child, and perform aratti 2 over him. 

The father offers puja to his household gods, and a 
portion of the dishes prepared for the general feast is set 
apart as neiveddya for them. 

Then the married women form a procession and sing, 
while they bring in a new dish of silver-plated copper, 
which is given by the maternal uncle of the child, and one 
of those cords made of cotton thread which all Hindus 
wear round their loins, and to which the little piece of calico 
is fastened which covers their private parts. They touch 
the child with these two articles, and then pour some 
paramanna, a mixture composed of rice, sugar, and other 
ingredients, into the vessel. Recommencing their song, 
they proceed in the same solemn order towards the house- 
hold gods and place before them the dish, which is then 
known as the dish god. They make a profound obeisance 
all together to this new deity ; then addressing it and the 
rest of the deities, they implore them to make the child 
grow, to give him strength, health, long life, and plenty of 

1 These torananu are always used at times of rejoicing. They are an 
outward sign of rejoicing, and an announcement that a feast is going on, 
inviting people to come. — Dubois. 

- -See last chapter. 



158 THE CHAULA CEREMONY 

this world's goods. Then taking up again the dish god, 
they carry it back, still singing, to the child. They first 
of all fasten the little cord round its loins. Two of the 
women then make it open its mouth, while a third pours 
some of the mixture contained in the dish down its throat. 
Instruments of music are playing and the women are 
singing during the whole of this ceremony. It is termi- 
nated by the aratti, after which all the Brahmins present 
are offered akshatas consecrated by mantrams. Each one 
takes a pinch of the coloured rice, part of which he puts 
on the child's head and the rest on his own. 

Then they sit down to a feast, and the ceremony is ended 
by a distribution of betel and a few presents given by the 
master of the house to his guests. 

The Chaula. 

Three years after the birth of the child 1 the tonsure, or 
chaula, is made for the first time. The Brahmins who are 
invited assemble under the pandal after having performed 
their ablutions. The child is brought in by his father and 
mother, who seat him between them on the little earthen 
platform. The married women then proceed to perform 
his toilette. They begin by anointing him from head to 
foot with oil, after which they wash him with warm water. 
They then colour his forehead and sundry other parts of 
his body with powdered sandalwood and akshatas, deck 
him with ornaments, and finally put a long necklace of 
coral beads round his neck and two bracelets to match on 
his wrists. 

The purohita then draws near the child thus adorned 
and performs the sam-kalpa, and also offers homam to the 
nine planets. He next traces on the floor in front of the 
child a square patch with red earth, which they cover with 
rice that has the husk on. The idol Vigneshwara is placed 
on one side, and to it they perform puja, offering brin- 
jals 2 , raw sugar, and betel for neiveddya. 

The child is made to sit near the square patch, and the 

1 Only the male child. — Ed. 

2 Beriiigcla in Portuguese, a purple vegetable shaped something like 
a fig. — Dubois. 

This is wrong. Brinjala are never offered to an idol. — Ed. 



BESTOWING THE TONSURE 159 

barber, after offering worship to his razor \ proceeds to 
shave the child's head, leaving one lock at the top, which 
is never cut. While the barber is performing his part of 
the ceremony, the women sing, musical instruments are 
played, and all the Brahmins present remain standing in 
perfect silence. As soon as the barber has finished, they 
throw him the money due to him. This he picks up, and 
before retiring he also carries off the rice that has been 
scattered over the square patch. 

The child is immediately put into a bath to purify him 
from the defiling touch of the barber. Then his toilette is 
begun anew. The women perform the ceremony of aratti, 
and the purohita for the second time performs the komam 
to the nine planets. The entertainment generally ends 
with a feast and the distribution of presents to the Brah- 
mins. The musicians are then paid, and receive besides 
their money a measure of rice each. 

The ears of children of both sexes are pierced at about 
the same age. This is an occasion for another feast, very 
closely resembling the preceding ones. The goldsmith per- 
forms the operation with a very fine gold wire, and the 
size of the hole is gradually increased from time to time. 
The hole is generally made larger in the ears of girls, so 
that they may wear larger ornaments. In some provinces 
both men and women have the holes as large as a Spanish 
piastre. 

However odd these customs may appear to us, at any 
rate they have the advantage of bringing the Brahmins 
often together and obliging them to fulfil their mutual 
obligations. And they certainly help to form a class of 
men who in tone and manners are infinitely superior to 
other Hindus. 

1 This act of worship, which the barber always performs before 
shaving any one, consists in putting the razor to his forehead. — Dubois. 
The same practice is observed by all artisans. — Ed. 



PART II 

THE FOUR STATES OF BRAHMINICAL LIFE 
CHAPTEE I 

The Brahmachari. — Ceremony of the Upanayana, or Investiture of the 
Triple Cord. 

In this Second Part I will bring to notice the most re- 
markable peculiarities of the Brahmin caste, the one of all 
others which clings most tenaciously to long established 
customs. Europeans have possessed up to the present 
time but very imperfect information on this subject, and 
what little information has been obtained has been taken 
as it were by stealth from the Brahmins, whose constant 
endeavour it is to veil their customs in mystery. I think 
that the details I am about to give will in consequence be 
found of considerable interest. These customs, however, 
do not belong exclusively to the Brahmin caste ; some of 
them are common to other castes as well. 

The life of a Brahmin has to be considered under four 
important aspects. The first is that of the young Brahmin 
who has been invested with the triple cord, and who is 
from that time called Brahmachari. The second is that 
of the Brahmin who has married, and who is thenceforward, 
but especially after he has become a father, called Gra- 
hastha. The third is that of the Brahmin who, renouncing 
the world, retires into the jungles with his wife, and who 
is then known as Vana-prastha (or dweller in the jungle). 
The fourth, and last, is the state of Sannyasi, or that of 
the Brahmin who decides to live entirely in solitude, apart 
even from his wife, a mode of life considered even more 
edifying than Vana-prastha. 

It is well known that all Brahmins wear a thin cord \ 
hung from the left shoulder and falling on to the right 
hip. It is composed of three strands of cotton, each strand 

1 This cord is called yagnopavitam in Sanskrit, jandemu in Telugu 
punul in Tamil, jcnivara in Canarese. — Dubois. 



CEREMONY OF THE TRIPLE CORD 161 

formed by nine threads. The cotton with which it is 
made must be gathered from the plant by the hand of a 
pure Brahmin, and carded and spun by persons of the same 
caste, so as to avoid the possibility of its being defiled by 
passing through unclean hands. After a Brahmin is 
married his cord must have nine and not three strands \ 

Brahmins, and all the other castes which have the right 
to wear this cord, prize it more highly and are certainly 
more proud of it than are many Europeans who by noble 
birth or great deeds possess the right to wear the cordon 
of the knightly orders. 

Children from the age of five to nine are invested with 
this cord. March, April, May, and June are considered the 
most favourable months for the investiture. As the cere- 
mony entails a considerable outlay, the poorer Brahmins 
go from house to house begging and collecting funds with 
which to defray the necessary expenses ; and natives of 
all castes believe that in making such contributions they 
are performing a pious act. 

This ceremony is called the upanayana, which means 
' introduction to knowledge,' for by it a Brahmin acquires 
the right to study. Several of the rites performed on this 
occasion are also performed at the marriage ceremony, so 
I will only describe here those which are peculiar to the 
cord ceremony, and I will describe later on those common 
to both. The following details are extracts from the ritual 
of the purohitas, which bears the title of Nittya Karma. 

To begin with, the father of the candidate must provide 
himself with many pieces of cotton cloth and plenty of 
small gold and silver coins, to be given as presents to the 
guests. He must also have a large supply of rice, flour, 
fresh and dried vegetables, fruit, oil of sesamum, clarified 

1 The number three, adopted, and so to say consecrated, in this and 
in many other instances, is evidently used in an allegorical sense. I am 
rather inclined to believe that it refers to the three principal divinities 
of India — Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. — Dubois. 

The Abbe is incorrect as to the number of strands. After marriage 
a Brahmin must wear six, and may wear nine. The triple cord is thus 
explained by one authority : ' It symbolizes the body, speech, and 
mind. It symbolizes the control of each ; and therefore when the 
knots are tied in it, it means that the man who wears the thread has 
gained control over body, speech, and mind.' — Ed. 



162 PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS 

butter, and milk in various forms, &c, for the feast ; 
sandalwood, vermilion, saffron ; and, above all things, 
plenty of betel-leaf and areca-nut. Further, there must 
be in abundance earthen vessels of all kinds, shapes, and 
sizes, seeing that on each of the four days that the feast 
lasts new ones will be required ; those which have been 
once used on this occasion, as on that of a marriage, being 
always broken into little pieces. When everything is 
ready, the father goes to consult the purohita, or family 
priest, to ascertain what day will be most propitious. 
The purohita having fixed a day, a pandal, or pavilion, is 
erected. The preliminary ceremonies and purifications are 
gone through, and the invitations issued in the customary 
manner. Meanwhile, the women decorate the walls of 
the house, both inside and out, with alternate broad bands 
of red and white paint. When the guests have arrived 
and are all assembled under the pandal, the purohita makes 
his appearance, bringing with him a cord and an antelope's 
skin \ 

Having performed the sam-kalpa, he offers puja, or 
adoration, to Vigneshwara, who is represented by a small 
conical heap of fresh cow-dung, placed in the centre of the 
pandal. He also makes to him offerings of garika 2 , sandal- 
wood, akshatas, or coloured rice, incense, and a lighted 
lamp. 

This god Vigneshwara, or Pillayar, or Ganesa 3 , &c, of 
whom we shall frequently have occasion to speak, is the 
god of obstacles, as his name (Vigna-iswara) denotes. He 
is of a morose and irascible disposition, and always ready 
to annoy and thwart those who fail to pay him sufficient 
respect. It is for this reason that so much deference is 
shown to him, and that on grand feast-days his good offices 
are the first to be invoked, his worshippers fearing lest he 
should take it into his head to disturb the feast and bring 
it to an untimely end. 

1 The antelope's skin is used as a mat on which the priest sits. The 
skins of both the antelope and the tiger are considered extremely pure : 
consequently one may sit on them without fear of defilement. — Dubois. 

2 Garika in Canarese, amgu in Tamil, durva in Sanskrit — a kind of 
millet-grass, Panicum dactylon. — Ed. 

s Ganesa literally means god of the inferior deities. — Ed. 



THE FIRST DAY'S CEREMONIES 163 

The sacrifice to Vigneshwara ended, the master of the 
house presents betel-nut to the Brahmins, and then they 
all proceed to make their ablutions. On their return, the 
neophyte is made to sit on a raised platform of earth in 
the centre of the pandal. The married women chant 
sacred songs, while they proceed to adorn him as for the 
ceremony of the chaula, though on this occasion the gar- 
ments are even richer and more costly ; and finally they 
delicately pencil his eyelids with antimony l . 

His toilette finished, the father and mother of the can- 
didate seat themselves by his side on the dais, and the 
women perform the ceremony of the aratti. Puja is offered 
to the household gods, and for neiveddya, or votive offering, 
portions of all the dishes prepared for the feast are set 
aside. The guests then seat themselves on the ground, in 
rows, the women placing themselves so as not to be seen 
by the men. The women belonging to the household bring 
in the rice and the various dishes which have been prepared 
for the feast, helping everything with their fingers, the use 
of spoons being unknown amongst them. Each guest 
receives his portion on a banana leaf, or on other leaves 
sewn together, which are never used more than once. 
When the meal is over, betel and areca-nut are distributed, 
and the guests then separate. 

The following day is called the muhurta, or great day ; 
it is that on which the actual investiture takes place. 
The guests are invited to reassemble as on the preceding 
day. 

The would-be recipient is seated on the dais, between 
his father and mother, all three having their faces turned 
towards the east. His loins are girt with a ' pure ' cotton 
cloth, that is to say, either a new one, or at least one that 
has been newly washed 2 . The married women perform 
his toilette, singing all the while. 

1 This is a kind of ointment formerly used by other nations. It is 
still a common practice amongst the people of India to ornament the 
faces of their children with it. Courtesans and beauties, too, often use 
it. It certainly enhances the brilliancy of the eyes, and is a pleasing 
addition to a handsome face. — Dubois. 

2 It is not only on this occasion that a ' pure ' cloth is obligatory. 
Each time that a Brahmin bathes he washes his clothing, to purify it. — 
Dubois. 



164 THE SECOND DAY'S CEREMONIES 

The purohita then approaches, holding in his hands an 
earthen chafing-dish full of hot embers. He performs the 
sam-kalpa, and then formally consecrates the pan of hot 
coals, which by virtue of his mantram becomes a god. To 
this he offers the sacrifice called homam, throwing on the 
fire some pieces of the aswatta, or sacred fig-tree, some 
cooked rice, and some melted butter. After this nine 
specially selected Brahmins offer the same sacrifice of the 
homam in honour of the nine planets. Then each having 
chosen a married woman, they all go off together, still 
singing, to convey the sacred fire to some place apart, 
where it must be carefully attended to and kept burning 
until the last day of the festival. It would be considered 
a very bad omen if, from inattention or any other cause, 
this fire were to be extinguished sooner. 

The inauguration of the ishta devata (or tutelary deity) 
immediately follows. The married women provide them- 
selves with a large copper vessel, which must be new and 
whitewashed outside. They take it, preceded by instru- 
ments of music, to be filled from a well or river. On return- 
ing to the house they place some mango leaves over the 
mouth of the vessel, and on the top of the leaves a cocoanut, 
coloured yellow with powdered saffron. The vessel is then 
wrapped in a woman's cloth which has been dyed the 
same colour, and is placed on the ground, on the top of 
a small heap of rice. Round its neck are then hung two 
palm leaves, rolled up and coloured red, and also a necklace 
of small black seeds, and a few other female ornaments. 
The purohita then invokes the tutelary deity and invites 
him to settle on the vessel, which becomes from that 
moment a female divinity, to whom the women promptly 
make an offering of flowers, incense, akshatas, a lighted 
lamp, and some betel-leaf. The mother of the young man 
then places the vessel, i.e. the new goddess, on her head, 
and accompanied by the other women, all singing in chorus, 
and preceded by the musicians, makes a solemn progress 
round the village, under a kind of canopy. On returning 
to the house she replaces the vessel, and, with the assist- 
ance of some of the other women, drapes round the two 
central pillars of the pandal two perfectly new cloths of 
the kind worn by women. The same procession then starts 



THE ACTUAL INVESTITURE 165 

again to fetch some mould from ant-heaps raised by kar* 
raiyan \ With this they fill five small pots. These again 
are sown with nine kinds of seed, which are well sprinkled 
with milk and water, to make them sprout quickly. The 
purohita approaches the five pots, and by virtue of his 
mantrams, or incantations, turns them also into divinities. 
The women then perform the customary acts of puja before 
them, and after prostrating themselves place them close to 
the tutelary deity. Then comes the invocation of gods, 
planets, and ancestors. I shall give full particulars of this 
ceremony when describing a marriage. 

During the invocation to the gods a piece of saffron- 
coloured thread is attached to the right wrist of the neo- 
phyte. A barber then cuts the nails of his fingers and toes 
and shaves his head, to the sound of instrumental music 
and the songs of the women. 

The young Brahmin next proceeds to bathe, in order to 
purify himself after having been defiled by the barber's 
touch. After his ablutions the women again dress him in 
pure new cloths. 

He is then purified by the purohita's incantations from 
all the sins committed through youthful ignorance since 
the day of his birth. The purohita also makes him a girdle 
of plaited darbha, or sacred grass (Poa cynosuroides), and 
winds it three times round his body, reciting mayxtrams all 
the time. At this juncture some small coins are distributed 
to all the Brahmins present. A muduga 2 stick, three 
cubits long, is then produced, and also ten pieces of rag 
such as are used by men in the East to cover their private 
parts 3 . These are dyed yellow in saffron water, and are 
hung in a row on the muduga stick, which the candidate 
puts over his shoulders. The purohita then recites the 
' neck mantram ' and invests the youth with the triple 
cord, which constitutes him a Brahmin. During this 
solemn performance the women sing, the musicians play, 
bells are rung, and to add to the uproar all present make 

1 These are the white ants so common in India, and so destructive. — 
Dubois. 

2 Butca frondosa. In Sanskrit palasa. — Ed. 

8 Many natives only wear this diminutive covering. It is as small 
as is compatible with any regard to modesty. — Dubois. 



166 REMARKABLE INITIATORY PHRASES 

as much noise as they can by striking gongs or anything 
else they can lay their hands on. 

After his investiture the newly initiated member takes 
part in what is known as the young men's feast \ which is 
prepared for him and for other young Brahmins who have 
recently been invested with the cord. 

At the termination of the repast the young man again 
seats himself on the raised platform of earth, facing the 
east. His father seats himself by his side, but with his 
face turned towards the west. A cloth is then thrown 
over them, hiding them from the eyes of the assembly. 
Again the women begin to sing, and the musicians to play. 
Meanwhile the father is whispering in his son's ear the 
secrets and mantrams which in his new position as a duly 
initiated Brahmin it is fitting for him to know. It is 
said that the following remarkable words form part of the 
discourse : — 

' Remember, my son, that there is only one God, 
who is the Creator, Lord, and Source of all things ; whom 
every Brahmin should worship in secret. But know also 
that this is a great mystery that must never be revealed 
to the vulgar and ignorant people. Should you ever reveal 
it, surely great misfortune will fall upon you.' 

These instructions, however, being given in Sanskrit, are 
not likely to be understood by the youth in whose ears 
they are uttered. 

The Brahmins present then place akshatas, consecrated 
by mantrams, on the head of their new colleague, and the 
women perform the ceremony of aratti. Betel is afterwards 
served out to the guests, who, after bathing, return for the 
feast, which should on this day be on a particularly splendid 
and liberal scale. 

The same evening, just when the lamps are being lighted, 
parents and friends again assemble under the pa?idal, and 
the newly initiated member seats himself on the earthen 
dais once more. The married women then go and fetcli 
the pan containing the sacred fire, which is solemnly placed 
beside him, much singing going on the while. The purohiia 
performs the sam-kalpa and recites mantrams over this fire, 

1 In .Sanskrit kumara bhojunam. Only Brahmacharis partake of this 
feast, each being presented also with a new cloth. — Ed. 



THIRD AND FOURTH DAYS' CEREMONIES 167 

while singers and musicians start afresh with renewed 
vigour. The young Brahmin, standing over the coals, 
offers for the first time in his life the sacrifice called homam, 
which, by his investiture with the cord, he has now acquired 
the right to do. After this sacrifice, and another, which 
the youth performs specially to the fire, the women make 
a procession and carry back the pan of coals to its place, 
returning to perform aratti to the young Brahmin. The 
day terminates with a further distribution of betel to the 
Brahmins, after which they all separate. 

On the third day there is the same assembly again, and 
for the most part a repetition of the ceremonies of the 
preceding day, particularly that of the homam ; while the 
day's proceedings are terminated as before by a feast. 

The ceremonial of the fourth and last day has a few 
additional peculiarities. After a repetition of the usual 
preliminaries, the women of the party form a procession 
and, singing all the time, go and fetch the sacred fire, 
which they set down close to the newly initiated member, 
who, standing up, places a few stalks of darbha grass round 
the pan of hot embers. He then performs homam by 
throwing on to the brazier some twigs of the sacred fig- 
tree, some cooked rice, some liquefied butter, and some 
coarse sugar. 

Thence they go to the tutelary deity, and having offered 
puja to him, they invite him to depart as he came. At the 
same time a little of the sacramental water from the deified 
vessel is poured into the hand of each person present, who 
forthwith drinks it, the remainder being thrown away. 
The deity is also despoiled of his yellow cloth and of the 
saffron thread with which he was decorated. After a few 
prayers have been addressed to these different objects, the 
divine essence is supposed to escape from them. 

The saffron-coloured thread which was fastened round 
the wrist of the new member is now taken off and put to 
soak in some milk. 

One large new earthen vessel and five smaller ones, all 
with lids, are then brought, smeared on the outside with 
lime. The five smaller vessels are rilled with water to 
begin with, and are then all emptied into the larger one. 
The lid of the larger vessel is put on, and it is then placed 



168 THE CLOSING SCENES 

against the central pillar of the pandal, to which is sus- 
pended a wreath of flowers falling exactly over the mouth 
of the vessel. An offering is made to it of sandalwood, 
coloured rice, and flowers, and for neiveddya, or votive 
offering, cakes and cooked rice. All those present are then 
sprinkled with the ceremonial water contained in the vessel. 
Then they go on to the five little vessels before mentioned, 
which are filled with earth. Puja is offered to them, and 
they are then placed in a row, receiving severally the name 
of one of the following five divinities : Brahma, Vishnu, 
Varuna, Rudra, and Devendra. They are then carried 
separately, and placed at the foot of five of the pillars 
supporting the pandal. They are invoked in the names 
which have just been given them, puja is offered to them, 
and the divinities are finally invited to return whence they 
came. Puja is offered to the five little pots, and the 
celestial beings they have been representing are also invited 
to retire. Then comes the turn of all the gods in general, 
the planets, and the ancestors whose presence was invoked 
at the beginning of the feast. Litanies are recited in their 
honour, and they too are politely invited to depart. Then 
the praises of the mantapam deity, that is to say, of the 
pandal itself, are sung ; and he also is dismissed. Then 
the women, singing all the time, perform the aratti to the 
new member ; and every one being seated for the feast, 
the new Brahmin takes his place amongst the elders of 
the caste. After the meal is over he is presented to each 
of the principal guests in succession, and does sashtanga, 
or prostration, to them ; they, on their part, congratulate 
him on his promotion, and wish him every good fortune. 
In conclusion, the master of the house distributes money 
amongst his guests, also pieces of cloth, the value of which 
is in proportion to the wealth of the giver. A cow is 
occasionally added to the other gifts. 

Brahmins everywhere are unsurpassed in the art of 
flattery ; and on these occasions they laud to the very 
skies those who have been prodigal in their gifts. Their 
liberality is exalted in all directions, and the most exagger- 
ated eulogies are lavished on them. The recipients of all 
this ridiculous flattery are generally sufficiently idiotic to 
be gratified by it, and consider that it amply repa3 T s them 



THE TRIPLE CORD IN OTHER CASTES 169 

for the enormous outlay which their childish vanity has 
caused them to incur. 

Before separating, all the guests, both men and women, 
accompany the new Brahmin, who is seated in an open 
palanquin, richly ornamented, on a solemn procession 
through the streets. On their return, the women, in songs, 
tell him of all the prayers that they have offered for his 
future happiness, and they wind up the feast by the cere- 
mony of aratti. As for the new Brahmin, he must be 
careful to perform the homam, evening and morning, for 
the next thirty days. 

Such are the formalities which accompany the most 
important and solemn event in a Brahmin's life. As we 
have remarked already, it is not by birth alone that a 
Brahmin is superior to other men. It is this regenerating 
ceremony which gives him a new existence and makes him 
worthy to be elevated in his capacity as a dvija, or twice- 
born (bis genitus), to the sublime status of his ancestors. 

All this long ceremonial, besides many other foolish 
trifles which I have not thought worth mentioning, is 
strictly obligatory. Were a single detail omitted, the 
whole community would raise a chorus of protest. It 
would be labour lost to endeavour to discover the origin 
of these ceremonies. Some few traces of it might be dis- 
covered in the old pagan times ; but assuredly no other 
nation in the world has preserved so completely the minutest 
details of its ancient superstitions. 

Some other Hindus share with the Brahmins the honour 
of wearing the triple cord. They are the Jains, the Ksha- 
triyas or Rajahs, the Vaisyas, and even the Panchalas. 
Rajahs receive the cord from the hands of a Brahmin 
purohita ; but the only ceremony necessary on this occasion 
is the sacrifice called homam. The new member then gives 
a great feast to the Brahmins to celebrate the event, but 
he is not allow r ed to be present himself ; and further, he 
also distributes gifts amongst them. Before they depart 
he is admitted to their presence, and performs the sash- 
tanga, perhaps in token of gratitude for the honour they 
have done him, or else merely to abase himself before 
these ' gods of the earth.' 

If the Hindu books are to be believed, the Brahmins 

G 3 



170 KEEPING THE ANNIVERSARY 

used formerly to exercise such supreme power over the 
kings and rulers of the country that they were looked 
upon by the latter as beings of a different order, and superior 
to other mortals ; princes accounting it an honour to receive 
some mark of distinction from them. And the Brahmins, 
on their part, either to enhance their own dignity, or per- 
haps from gratitude for the favours they received from the 
Rajahs, granted them the special privilege of wearing, like 
themselves, the triple cord. 

As for the Vaisyas, they do not receive it till the day of 
their marriage, when the officiating Brahmin presents it 
to them. The Panchalas are also decorated under similar 
circumstances, but it is conferred on them by the guru, or 
priest, of their own caste. 

After a Brahmin has been invested, he is expected to 
keep the anniversary every year at the time of the full 
moon in the month of Sravcma, or August. This anniver- 
sary is always celebrated by a feast, for which there are 
many prescribed ceremonies ; but I will spare the reader 
any further wearisome details. Suffice it to say that the 
Brahmin has to change his cord, the small rag in front of 
his private parts, and the cloth with which his loins are 
girt, all of which is done with much solemnity. The per- 
formance of this periodical duty obtains for him the remis- 
sion of all the sins committed during the year, and it is 
therefore called the Feast of the Annual Atonement. 

The Kshatriyas and the Vaisyas also keep this annual 
feast like the Brahmins. 



CHAPTER II 

Conduct of the Brahmachari. — Rules to be followed. — Rights acquired 
by investiture with the Cord. — The Six Privileges of Brahmins. — 
The Vedas. 

The state of Brahmachari continues from the ceremony 
of the wpanayana until marriage. This period of his life 
is looked upon as a time of study, of trial, of subordination, 
and of initiation into the rules and regulations of caste. 
To learn to read and write ; to commit the Vedas and 
mantrams to memory ; to study in those branches of 



TRAINING YOUNG BRAHMINS 171 

knowledge for which he shows any aptitude, that is, if 
his parents are sufficiently wealthy to be able to give him 
masters : above all things, to learn arithmetic in its ele- 
mentary forms, and to study the various idioms of the 
language : these are the occupations that fill up his days. 
The Brahmins have their separate schools, to which children 
of other castes, particularly Sudras. are never admitted. 
The nature of their studies, the discipline and mode of 
teaching, the very principles of education, are all totally 
different in the one and in the other. The Brahmachari 
must never chew betel : he must never put flowers in his 
turban or in his hair, or ornament his forehead with the 
paste of sandalwood l ; and he must never look in a looking- 
glass. Every day. morning and evening, he must perform 
the homam. or sacrifice of fire. He must take the greatest 
pains to conform to the rules and customs of his caste ; 
he must show the most absolute and prompt obedience to 
his parents and his teachers ; he must be modest, deferen- 
tial and respectful to his superiors, and affable to his 
equals. His family and his masters take particular care 
to instruct him in the art of lying and dissimulation, cunning 
and deceit \ qualities which are fully developed in all 
Brahmins, and form the principal traits in their character. 
There are. besides, hundreds of minute details most essen- 
tial in a Brahmin's education, comprising rules of good 
manners and decorous conduct, the art of speaking and 
conversing in well-chosen language, the appropriate de- 
meanour to assume on different occasions, how to hold 
oneself and how to use one's eyes, the different degrees of 
hauteur or humility which should be shown under various 
circumstances and at different times and places according 
to the people who are present. 

Nevertheless, in spite of the stress which is laid upon 
these petty precepts governing the conduct of young 
Brahmins, there are few who conform to them in all essen- 
tials. Even of the rules of conduct many are merely 

1 This is incorrect. The use of this paste on the forehead is obligatory, 
though the smearing of it on the body is forbidden until after marriage. 
—Ed. 

- There is no truth in such an assertion. These evil qualities are never 
deliberately inculcated. — Ed. 



172 BRAHMINICAL PRIVILEGES 

matters of form. Nothing is more common than to see 
their foreheads ornamented with sandalwood paste and their 
mouths full of betel \ 

If, from want of means or other causes, a young Brahmin 
is still unmarried at the age of eighteen or twenty, he ceases 
to be a Brahmachari, but at the same time he does not 
become a Grahastha. For all that, be his age and con- 
dition what they may, from the time that he receives the 
cord, he obtains the right to the six privileges which are 
inherent in this status. These privileges are : (1) to read 
the Vedas, (2) to have them read to him, (3) to perform 
the sacrifice of the yagnam, (4) to cause the yagnam to 
be performed, (5) to give, and also (6) to receive, pre- 
sents and alms. Three of these privileges, (2), (4), and (5), 
are also shared by the Kshatriyas or Rajahs. As to the 
despised Sudras, they possess only one of them, namely, 
that which allows them to give alms or presents to those 
Brahmins who will condescend to accept them from their 
impure hands. 

To the Brahmins alone belongs the light of reading the 
Vedas, and they are so jealous of this, or rather it is so much 
to their interest to prevent other castes obtaining any 
insight into their contents, that the Brahmins have in- 
culcated the absurd theory, which is implicitly believed, 
that should anybody of any other caste be so highly im- 
prudent as even to read the title-page, his head would 
immediately split in two. The very few Brahmins who are 
able to read these sacred books in the original only do so 
in secret and in a whisper. Expulsion from caste, without 
the smallest hope of re-entering it, would be the lightest 
punishment for a Brahmin who exposed these books to 
the eyes of the profane. 

These four marvellous books are held to be the work of 
Brahma himself, who wrote them with his own hand on 
pages of gold. Brahma, it is said, explained their meaning 
to four famous Munis, or penitents, to whom the books 
were entrusted, and to whom was confided the task of 
explaining them to the Brahmins. Sumantu, the first of 
these celebrated personages, was given the Yajur-Veda ; 

1 The chewing of betel by Brahmacharis is, nevertheless, an uncommon 
occurrence. — Ed. 



CONTENTS OF THE VEDAS 173 

Pailada, the Big-Veda ; Jaimini, the Sama-Veda ; and 

Angirasa, the Atharva-Veda \ 

But let it not be imagined for one moment that these 
books contain matter of much interest. Their antiquity 
alone, real or pretended, is their sole recommendation. A 
lengthy exposition of Hindu polytheism as it existed origin- 
ally, the most contemptible and ridiculous stories concern- 
ing the fanciful penances to which their hermits subjected 
themselves, the metamorphosis of Vishnu, the disgusting 
lingam, &c. ; such are, according to the evidence which 
I have acquired, more or less an epitome of the contents 
of these books, of which the Brahmins make such a great 
mystery 2 . 

The fourth of these books, the Atharva-Veda, is the 
most baneful work of all in the hands of a people already 
given over to the grossest superstition. It is a sort of 
conjuring book, professing to teach the magic art of 
injuring by means of spells and enchantments. Bloody 
sacrifices are also ordained in it. 

It is from these books that the Brahmins have unearthed 
the greater number of those mantrams which bring them 
in so much money, and cause them to be held in such 
high esteem. This, in fact, is what renders the Vedas so 
precious to the Brahmins. 

Such Brahmins as devote themselves to the higher 
branches of knowledge learn the Vedas by heart ; and 
though the greater number do not understand the real 
meaning of what they have learnt, still they are looked 
upon in some sort as doctors of theology, and are given 
the name of Veidikas. It is true, nevertheless, that those 
who devote themselves to the study of these books cannot 
hope to extract any instruction from them, for they are 

1 Mahidhara, on the Yajasaneyi Sanhita (Weber's ed. p. 1), says in 
regard to the division of the Vedas : ' Veda-vyasa, having regard to 
men of dull understanding, in kindness to them, divided into four parts 
the Veda which had been originally handed down by tradition from 
Brahma, and taught the four Vedas, called Rig, Yajush, Saman, and 
Atharvan, in order, to Paila, Vaisampayana, Jaimini, and Sumantu ; 
and they again to their disciples. In this way, by tradition, the Veda 
of a thousand Sakhas was produced.' — Ed. 

2 The Vedas and other sacred Hindu writings are now, of course, 
available to any student. The Abbe's sweeping assertion would not 
now be endorsed. — Ed. 



174 THE UPANISHADS 

written in ancient Sanskrit, which has become almost 
wholly unintelligible ; and such numberless mistakes have 
been introduced by copyists, either through carelessness 
or ignorance, that the most learned find themselves quite 
unable to interpret the original text. Out of twenty 
thousand Brahmins I do not believe that one could be 
found who even partially understood the real Vedas. 

The original text must not, as is often done, be con- 
founded with the more modern introductions and com- 
mentaries written by the penitent Vyasa. These were 
interpolated with the view of rendering the text more 
intelligible. They are known under the general name of 
Upanishads, and are three in number — the U pa-Veda, the 
Karma- Veda, and the Sakha- Veda. It is not much more 
than these commentaries that the most learned of modern 
Brahmins are capable of explaining. Their meaning is 
unintelligible except to those who have a considerable 
acquaintance with Sanskrit, the language in which they are 
written. Many learn to read and recite them mechanically, 
without understanding a word of them. 

In the agraharas, or Brahmin villages, and other places 
where Brahmins congregate in large numbers, you may 
perhaps come across some who are Sanskrit scholars, but 
even they would be unable to produce a good interpretation 
of the Vedas. Some Brahmins give gratuitous instruction 
in those parts of the Vedas which, thanks to the com- 
mentaries, have been made intelligible, while other Brah- 
mins, too poor to forgo remuneration, hold classes in which 
the same instruction is given to paying pupils. 

Rich Brahmins make a point of encouraging the study of 
the Vedas by offering prizes and other rewards, this being 
in the eyes of their fellows a work of the greatest merit. 

The Brahmins have done the Rajahs the honour of 
allowing them also to encourage the study of the Vedas 
by founding schools for that purpose and paying the pro- 
fessors. And I am convinced that nowadays they would 
not refuse a similar honour even to a common Sudra. 
But be that as it may, there is not much eagerness displayed 
amongst the Brahmins for this tedious kind of study. 
Poverty prevents some from taking it up, while indifference 
and idleness prevent others. 



SACRIFICES OFFERED TO FIRE 175 

In the yagnam, a name which comprises the third and 
fourth Brahminical privileges, the sacrifice called homam 
is apparently included, for the homam of the Rajahs is 
totally different. Every Brahmin must perform the 
homam at least once a day. It is a sacrifice offered to 
fire under various circumstances 1 . 

This sacrifice is made by lighting a brazier, which is 
then consecrated by mantrams. Into this are thrown 
small pieces of wood, gathered from one of the seven 
sacred trees, and afterwards a little melted butter and 
cooked rice ; these offerings being accompanied by suitable 
mantrams. The homam is almost invariably followed by 
another sacrifice, which is specially offered to fire, but only 
the ordinary puja is performed. I think by the word 
yagnam may be understood all sacrifices which are accom- 
panied by mantrams. 

The fifth privilege of the Brahmins, namely, the giving 
of alms and presents, is much less to their taste than the 
sixth, in which the operation is reversed. It must, how- 
ever, be admitted that rich Brahmins display a lavish 
hospitality, besides being charitable in other ways. But 
this is only to members of their own caste ; the rest of the 
human race is, if not detested, at least absolutely of no 
account so far as they are concerned. 

Amongst the gifts which Brahmins are willing to receive 
there are some which are more specially acceptable. They 
are called the pancha-danas, or the five gifts ; and they 
are gold, land, clothes, grain, and cows. The last-men- 
tioned gift causes them particular pleasure, seeing that 
milk in various forms is their principal food. Brahmins 
also possess large landed properties originally given them 
by generous princes and on which they pay no taxes. 
These descend from father to son, and always retain their 
immunity from taxation. As a rule Brahmins do not culti- 
vate their lands themselves, but lease them out to the 
Sudras, taking half the crops as rent. 

The Brahmins generally live on their lands, which are 

1 The sacrifice made to fire, or by means of fire, is a form of idolatry 
by no means peculiar to the Hindus. It is well known to what great 
lengths Persians, Chaldeans, and other ancient races carried super- 
stition with respect to it. — Dubois. 



170 BEGGING BY BRAHMINS 

called agrakaras. Numbers of these estates are to be 
found in the various provinces of the Peninsula. 

Then again, in their character as high priests, the Brah- 
mins gather in the greater part of the revenue of the lands 
belonging to the different temples, and furthermore receive 
all the offerings brought by devotees to the various idols. 

A Brahmin sees nothing humiliating in asking for or 
receiving alms. According to his ideas it is a right, of 
which he may make free use. His attitude when begging 
is also very unlike that of the poor wretch amongst our- 
selves, who fawns and grovels for the smallest trifle. The 
Brahmin asks for alms as for something that is his due, 
and not as if imploring a favour or benefit. At the same 
time he displays none of the importunity or impertinence 
to which people are subjected by the Mahomedan fakirs, 
or by the Sudra beggars who belong to the sects of Siva 
or Vishnu. The begging Brahmin boldly enters a house 
and states what he wants. Should he receive anything, he 
takes it without saying a word, goes away without any 
acknowledgement and without showing the smallest sign 
of gratitude. Should he meet with a refusal, however, he 
retires without any complaint or grumbling \ 

But woe betide any one who ventures to make the 
Brahmins promises which he subsequently fails to perform ! 
That would be a fearful sin, which could not fail to draw 
down the divine wrath upon the guilty person. A Hindu 
author gives the following example as a proof. ' Hata ! 
Hata ! 2 ' cried a monkey one day, seeing a fox devouring 
a rotten carcase. ' In a former state of existence you must 

1 Manu says : ' Let every man, according to his ability, give wealth 
to Brahmins, detached from the world and learned in Scripture ; such 
a giver shall attain heaven after this life ' (xi. 6). Very early in the 
statutes, a universal law is proclaimed, the spirit of which pervades the 
whole code. This law calmly lays down that whatever exists in the 
universe is all, in effect, though not in form, the wealth of the Brahmins ; 
since the Brahmin is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and eminence 
of birth. ' The Brahmin eats but his own food ; wears but his own 
apparel ; and bestows but his own alms ; through the benevolence of 
the Brahmin indeed other mortals enjoy life ' (i. 100-101). This is 
a pretty broad principle to enunciate, so it is easy to see how there is 
nothing derogatory in a Brahmin receiving alms, since he takes but what 
is his own, besides leaving a blessing to the giver. — Padfield. 

2 A kind of exclamation. — Dubois. 



BRAHMIN PRIVILEGES 1 



i i 



have committed some atrocious crimes to be condemned 
in your present life to eat such disgusting food.' ' Alas ! ' 
replied the fox with a groan, ' it is only what I deserve. 
Once upon a time I was a man, and I then promised a 
Brahmin a present, and failed to keep my word ; that is 
why I was born again in my present condition, which you 
find so revolting.' 

Brahmins declare that he who fails to keep faith with 
them, or who injures them in any way, will be condemned 
after death to be born again as a devil. Such a person 
could live neither on the earth nor yet in the air, but would 
be reduced to dwelling in a thick forest, for ever hidden 
amongst the foliage of a leafy tree. Day and night he 
would groan and bewail his unhappy fate. His only food 
would be the filthy juice of the palm tree, mixed with the 
saliva of dogs ; and he would have to use a human skull 
as a cup. 

Brahmins, as a rule, are exempt from all taxes on houses 
and other personal property. In many districts they pay 
no customs duty l . They are, again, not liable to be 
impressed into compulsory service, or called upon for those 
requisitions which fall so heavily on the other inhabitants, 
who are obliged to labour at public works, such as the 
making and mending of the high-roads, the repairing of 
temples, tanks, canals, &c, and who also have to carry 
provisions for the troops when on the march, or for magis- 
trates and other public servants, more often than not 
without any payment for their labour, or even sufficient 
food, and with no compensation for the losses which these 
requisitions cause them. Such general servants of the 
public as carpenters, blacksmiths, barbers, and washer- 
men are often obliged, at least in many districts, to work 
gratuitously for the Brahmins 2 . 

In countries governed by native princes Brahmins are 
rarely condemned to any serious corporal punishment ; 
and however heinous their crimes may be, they are never 
liable to the penalty of death. The murder of a Brahmin, 

1 This, of course, is no longer the ease under British rule. — Ed. 

2 This, however, is not due to any actual pressure, but to the fact that 
these public servants enjoy grants of land (maniams), and they work 
gratuitously for the whole village. — Ed. 



178 BRAHMINS UNDER FOREIGN RULE 

no matter for what reason, would be eonsidered absolutely 
unpardonable, for it is the greatest of all known crimes 
and would not fail to bring some terrible calamity to the 
whole country in which it had been committed. 

However, in those countries which are under European 
or Mahomedan rule, where the sacred character of the 
Brahmin is held in much less reverence, they are liable like 
any other native to punishments proportioned to their mis- 
demeanours. Sometimes the Mahomedans beat them to 
death, unless they pay considerable sums to buy them- 
selves off, a process which suits their persecutors, who are 
much better pleased to have their money than their blood. 
But sometimes either from avarice, or because they are 
afraid that if they once let their oppressors fleece them in 
this manner they will never be rid of such persecutions 
until they are despoiled of all that they possess, they prefer 
to suffer all kinds of torture, even death itself, rather than 
part with their money. When Brahmins find themselves 
in this sorry plight there are no lies, no false statements, 
oaths, and protestations that they will not employ in the 
hope of extricating themselves. Such conduct can excite 
no surprise when one remembers that they do not hesitate 
to teach publicly that lies and perjury, if used to gain 
personal advantage, are virtuous and meritorious. This 
convenient doctrine has spread marvellously, for there is 
not a native of India who would scruple to make use of 
both, to serve his own ends l . 

CHAPTER III 

External Defilements. — The care that a Brahmin should take to avoid 
them. — His Conduct in this respect. — Means of Purification. 

All that pertains to external and internal defilement, 
bodily and spiritual, is the very beginning and foundation 
of a Hindu's education, both religious and civil. They 
have invented numberless minute and ridiculous precautions 
to prevent the possibility of coming in contact with any- 
thing which, according to their views, would defile their 

1 No respectable persons (Brahmins included) are known to preach 
such doctrines nowadays. And the Abbe's assertions are altogether too 
sweeping. — Ed. 



DEFILEMENT BY THE DEAD 179 

persons, their clothes, their furniture, their temples, &c., &c. 
It is principally this ineradicable prejudice which has raised 
such an insurmountable barrier between them and the rest 
of mankind. Obliged by their religious tenets to hold 
themselves aloof from every one who does not share their 
beliefs, they can never, under any circumstances, be on 
such friendly or confidential terms with any stranger as 
would arise from feelings of mutual esteem and respect. 
It is undoubtedly from the Brahmins that the other Hindus 
have picked up this absurd prejudice, for it is in strongest 
force amongst them (the Brahmins). The predominating 
idea in their general conduct, and in their every action in 
life, is what they call cleanness ; and it is the enormous 
amount of care that they take to keep themselves ' clean,' 
to prevent any sort or kind of defilement, and to purify 
themselves from any uncleanness that they may have 
contracted, which gives them their ascendency over other 
castes. It is one of the special duties of the Brahmachari 
to be well versed, at an early age, in the customs and 
practices regulating this important branch of Hindu law. 

In all countries the sight of a human corpse produces 
a thrill of horror. Every one has a strong aversion, amount- 
ing almost to repugnance, to touching a dead body. But 
Hindus consider that the mere fact of assisting at a funeral 
is sufficient to defile them. When the ceremony is over, 
they immediately hasten to plunge themselves into water, 
and no one would dare to return home without having thus 
purified himself. Even the news of the death of a relative, 
though it may have happened a hundred miles away, 
produces the same effect, and every member of the family 
who receives the news must purify himself. Friends 
and simple acquaintances, however, are not contaminated 
thereby. 

The moment a Hindu has breathed his last the necessary 
preparations for his funeral begin, for as long as the body 
remains in the house, neither the inmates, nor even their 
neighbours, can eat or drink or attend to their usual occupa- 
tions. I have seen the service in a temple, where a large 
congregation had assembled, entirely suspended until the 
body of a man who had died not far off had been removed. 
Neither incense nor any other perfume would purify a house 



180 WOMEN AND UNCLEANNESS 

where a death had taken place. A Brahmin purohita must 
come to remove the impurity with which all the inmates 
are contaminated. To this end he offers sacrifices, recites 
mantrams suitable to the occasion, and at frequent intervals 
makes copious libations of holy water l . 

The monthly period, and the after-effects of child-birth, 
as I have remarked before, render women for the time 
being unclean 2 . 

The mother of the newly-born child lives entirely apart 
for a whole month or more, during which time she may 
touch neither the vessels nor the furniture of the house, 
nor any clothes, and still less any person whatsoever. The 
time of her seclusion being over, she is immersed in a bath, 
or else a great quantity of water is poured over her head 
and body. Women are similarly isolated during the time 
of their periodical uncleanness. In all decent houses there 
is a sort of small gynaeceum set apart for them ; but 
amongst the poor, in whose huts there is no such accom- 
modation, the women are turned into the street, under 
a sort of shed or outhouse, or else they are allowed a corner 
of the cowshed. 

When the time of uncleanness is passed, all the garments 
that the woman has worn are given to the washerman. 
Her clothes are not allowed inside the house ; in fact, no 
one would even dare to look on them 3 . 

When the washerman brings the clothes back, the Brah- 
mins never fail to put them into water again, inasmuch as 

1 According to the law of Moses, when an Israelite died in a house 
or in a tent, all the people living therein, and all the furniture it con- 
tained, were unclean for seven days (Numbers xix. 14, 15). Any one 
who touched the body, the bones, or the tomb of a dead man was also 
unclean for seven days. For purification, the ashes of a red heifer, 
which had been offered up as a sacrifice by the high priest on the Day 
of Atonement, were cast into a vessel full of pure water (Numbers xix. 
3-6). And an undefined person, free from all impurity, dipped a bunch 
of hyssop into this water, and besprinkled the furniture, the room, and 
the people who were defiled. On the seventh day these latter bathed 
themselves in water, and washed their clothes, after which they were 
considered perfectly cleansed. — Dubois. 

2 Jewish women were considered unclean under similar circumstances : 
and the law of Moses gives clear directions as to the manner in which 
they were to purify themselves. — Dubois. 

8 The Jews shared the same views on this subject. Isaiah lxiv. G. 
Esther xiv. 10. — Dubois. 



UNCLEAN OBJECTS 181 

the washerman, by the touch of his hand, has defiled them 
anew. The same thing happens with new cloths which 
come straight from the unclean hands of a Sudra weaver. 

Wives of Lingayats, however, content themselves with 
rubbing their foreheads with the ashes of cow-dung to 
purify themselves on similar occasions ; and by this simple 
act, which they call bhasma snana, or the bath of ashes, 
they consider that they are completely purified. In this 
way a precautionary measure most beneficial to health in 
this hot country becomes perverted by superstition. On 
the one hand it is minutely observed by those who do not 
in the least appreciate its real utility, while it is neglected 
by others who think it only a pious practice, to be replaced 
with equal advantage by another. 

Earthen vessels, by reason of the material of which they 
are composed, can never be purified when once they become 
unclean, and in this they differ from metal ones. Washing 
will purify the latter, but should the former become defiled, 
they must be destroyed 1 . 

As long as earthen vessels are new, and in the hands of 
the potter, any one, even a Pariah, may handle them with 
impunity ; but from the moment that they have contained 
water, they can only be used by the person who filled them, 
or by members of the same caste. Brahmins carry their 
scruples on this point so far as never to allow strangers to 
enter their kitchens, the doors of which are always kept 
carefully shut, lest some profane and unclean person should 
cast an eye on the earthenware inside, which, rendered 
unclean by that one look, would be only fit to be immediately 
broken to pieces 2 . It is to avoid the risk of a similar 
disaster that their women never draw water in earthenware 
vessels, but always use those made of brass and copper. 

It is just the same with their clothes as with their vessels. 
Some can be defiled, others cannot. Silk, for instance, 
remains always pure, also cloth made of the fibres of 

1 Beds, furniture, clothes, and vessels became, under the Jewish law, 
unclean by contact with anything that was impure, and often were the 
means of contaminating other objects (Leviticus xi. 32). — Dubois. 

2 Brahmins and rich Sudras arc gradually abandoning the use of 
earthenware vessels for cooking, and are using vessels of brass and bell- 
metal. These are even sometimes cleaned by Sudras nowadays. — Ed. 



182 REPUGNANCE TO LEATHER ARTICLES 

certain plants. For this reason the ancient Brahmin 
hermits always wore clothes made of either one or the other 
material. Brahmins at the present day, too, prefer to 
wear silk, particularly at meals. When a Brahmin doctor 
wishes to feel the pulse of a sick Sudra, he first wraps up 
the patient's wrist in a small piece of silk so that he may 
not be defiled by touching the man's skin l . The cotton 
clothes which are worn by most natives are peculiarly 
susceptible of defilement. It is quite sufficient to render 
them unclean if a person of an inferior caste, or, above all, 
a European or a Pariah, touch them. In the eyes of a 
Hindu, a Pariah and a European are on the same level. 
It is impossible to help laughing at the ridiculous care 
and perpetual pains which an orthodox Brahmin will take 
to preserve his person and his clothes from contact with 
anything unclean. But, whatever they may do, it is 
impossible for them to escape contamination in a popu- 
lous town. Hence the more scrupulous are obliged to 
quit the towns and take up their abode in the villages. 
Others, however, from motives of self-interest, compound 
with their conscience, and disregard the rules. Exposed 
as they must be to continual contact with people of all 
sorts, in the busy haunts where their business takes them, 
they content themselves with changing their garments on 
their return home. These are immediately dipped into 
water, and the uncleanness is removed. 

Leather and skins of all kinds, except those of the tiger 
and the antelope, are considered particularly unclean. Caste 
Hindus must never touch with their hands the slippers or 
sandals that are worn on the feet. A person riding must 
always carefully cover with cloth any part of the harness 
or saddlery that is made of leather. So it is that caste 
Hindus do not understand how any one can possibly wear 
anything made, as they say, of the remains of dead animals, 
such as boots, gloves, or leather breeches, without a feeling 
of horror and repugnance. The ordinary costume of a 
European greatly contributes to increase the low opinion 
that Hindus have formed of the delicacy of our tastes. 
A scrupulous Brahmin must look very carefully where he 

1 And so, too, when a Sudra doctor feels the pulse of a Brahmin 
patient. — Ed. 



EATING AND DRINKING 183 

puts his feet when walking. He would be defiled and 
obliged to bathe if by accident his feet should touch a bone, 
a piece of broken glass or earthenware, a rag, a leaf from 
which any one had eaten, a bit of skin or leather, hair, or 
any other unclean thing. The place where he sits must 
also be chosen with great care. Some penitents always 
carry with them the ' pure ' skin of a tiger or antelope on 
which to sit ; others use a common mat, while the rich 
have carpets ; but any one may sit on the ground without 
fear of defilement, if the place has been recently rubbed 
over with cow- dung. 

The way in which they take their food is also a matter 
of some moment. However many guests there may be, it 
would be considered very rude to speak to any one. They 
eat in silence, and conversation only begins at the end of 
the meal, after they have washed their hands and mouths K 
Nothing must be touched with the left hand, for reasons 
to be given later on, unless it be the copper vessel which 
contains water. Hindus drink only once, that is when 
they have finished eating, and they do so by pouring the 
liquid into their mouths from a distance. To drink as we 
do, by putting the glass or cup to the lips, would in their 
eyes be the height of indecency. While eating great care 
must be taken that not a fragment falls into the leaf serving 
as a neighbour's plate. One single grain of rice, one crumb 
even, would effectually prevent the latter from continuing 
his meal ; or at any rate he would have to take a fresh 
leaf and another portion of food. 

No doubt the same cause which makes Hindus of the 
higher castes so extremely particular about their manner 
of eating and drinking, accounts for their strong aversion 
to wind instruments of music. This cause is their insur- 
mountable horror of saliva. They would look on a man 
who spat upon the floor as quite destitute of good manners. 
Spittoons are to be found in every house ; but should none 
be provided and any one require to spit he would have to 
go outside 2 . However, from a sanitary point of view 

1 This is not now the case ; conversation does go on during meals. 
Occasionally, however, an individual makes a resolve always to abstain 
from talking while at meals. — Ed. 

2 Spittoons are not often found in Brahmin houses. — Ed. 



184 DISPOSAL OF FOOD REMNANTS 

there is nothing astonishing in this excessive scrupulosity. 
No properly brought-up European would dream of expec- 
torating on the floor of a room. But with a Hindu it is 
less from a due regard to cleanliness than from his ever- 
recurring fear of bodily defilement. 

The remains of food are never put aside and kept after 
a meal, nor are they given to the servants. As has been 
already stated, to be a servant is no degradation. A servant 
generally eats with his master, and what he left could not 
be offered to the poor, unless they were Pariahs, who take 
anything. Food remnants, in fact, are thrown to the crows 
and the dogs. Rice that is to be given away to the poor 
of the same caste, or any other persons with whom it is 
allowable to eat, is boiled separately. Rice given to other 
castes is always uncooked ; and it is thus that a Brahmin 
receives it from persons of an inferior caste, who make him 
a present. 

High- caste Hindus, and particularly Brahmins, rarely 
use plates and dishes at their meals. Sometimes, but only 
when quite alone in their own houses, they may use a 
service of copper or other metal ; but they are forbidden 
to use earthenware or china. Usually the rice and other 
dishes are served on a banana leaf, or on the leaves of 
some tree neatly sewn together in the form of a plate. To 
offer a Brahmin food on a metal plate which some one had 
already used, would be considered a deadly insult. Natur- 
ally the use of spoons and forks is also forbidden. Fingers 
are used instead, and Hindus cannot at all understand how 
we can use these implements a second time, after having 
once put them to our mouths, and allowed them to be 
touched with saliva. If Hindus should happen to eat dry 
food or fruits between meals, they break off pieces and 
throw them into their mouths, fearing if they put them 
into their mouths with their fingers the latter might be 
tainted with saliva \ A European once wrote a letter to 
some friend of his, recommending a Brahmin acquaintance 
of mine to his notice. When he had finished his letter he 
sealed it with a wafer, which he moistened by placing it 
on the tip of his tongue. The Brahmin, who saw him do 

1 This practice, like others, becomes mechanical. Hindus never give 
a thought to them. — Ed. 



ENDLESS ABLUTIONS 185 

it, would not take or touch the letter, and left in anger, 
considering he had been grievously insulted. He preferred 
to lose any advantage he might have gained from this 
letter of recommendation, rather than be the bearer of 
a missive that had been thus defiled. 

There are several kinds of animals, especially dogs \ to 
touch which would defile a Brahmin. It is very interesting 
to watch their movements, and the care they will take to 
avoid the familiar caresses of these faithful companions of 
man. If, in spite of their efforts, the dog really does touch 
them, they are obliged to hurry off immediately and plunge, 
with all their clothes on, into water, and thus remove 
from both their person and their garments the stain which 
they had involuntarily acquired by the touch of one of 
these unclean animals. 

There is an infinity of other kinds of exterior defilement 
to which Brahmins are exposed, but I think what has 
been already said is sufficient to make known their views 
on the subject. 

It is obvious that so many external defilements neces- 
sitate endless ablutions. There are certain rivers and tanks 
which are held to possess peculiarly cleansing properties, 
and those Brahmins who live near them are perpetually 
bathing in their waters, while those who from living at 
a greater distance are deprived of this advantage, have to 
content themselves with whatever water or tank is nearest 
to their dwelling-place. In many places they do not allow 
Sudras to approach the place where they bathe, either for 
the purpose of drawing water or to make their own ablu- 
tions. But they are obliged to be less exclusive in places 
where they are not supreme. 

A Brahmin rarely passes a day without bathing at least 
once 2 , while those who wish to call public attention to 

1 Amongst the many animals looked upon as unclean by Jews, the 
dog was particularly numbered. But it was only by eating the flesh, 
or touching the dead carcase of one, that they were defiled. The touch 
of a living dog did not matter. Furthermore, every commentator of 
the Holy Scriptures has agreed that these defilements were only figura- 
tive of other and far more important uncleannesses, namety, the sins 
and offences which we commit against God and our neighbour. — 
Dubois. 

2 One bath every day is compulsory, and is invariably taken. — Ed. 



186 ANOINTING THE BODY 

their minute observance of religious customs must bathe 
three times a day. 

It is a common practice amongst natives to anoint them- 
selves occasionally from head to foot with either oil of 
sesamum or sometimes castor oil. They remove the dirt 
which results from it by rubbing it off with certain herbs. 
They then have hot water poured over their bodies, and 
finally bathe in cold water. At their grand ceremonials 
Brahmins are in the habit of offering some such oily mixture 
to all their guests, who rub themselves over from head to 
foot with it, and then plunge into a bath. Dead bodies are 
similarly anointed before being conveyed to the funeral 
pile or burying ground ; and this office is always performed 
by the nearest relatives. 

CHAPTER IV 

Internal Defilements. — Abstinence from all Intoxieating Licmors, and 
from everything that has had Life. — Particular Horror of the 
Brahmins for the Flesh of the Cow. — Their abhorrence of Europeans 
who eat it as Food. 

Besides those external defilements which only affect the 
outer skin, there are others which Brahmins and other 
Hindus say insinuate themselves into the body, and which 
can only be got rid of by proper methods ordained by rule 
and custom. There is no doubt that it was for the sake 
of health and cleanliness, in the first instance, that Hindu 
lawgivers inculcated these principles of defilement and 
purification. The heat of the Indian climate, the profuse 
perspiration which is the natural result, and the diseases 
which are endemic in consequence of it, all help to im- 
poverish the blood of the inhabitants ; and from these 
causes doubtless originated those obligatory precautions 
which have since been strengthened by custom and supersti- 
tion, and which are considered to be best calculated to 
counteract these deadly influences. If the salutary rules 
at first prescribed have in the course of ages become per- 
verted into the present childish and puerile ceremonial, 
which common sense rejects, the fault must be attributed 
partly to popular superstition which exaggerates and dis- 
torts everything, partly to popular ignorance, and partly 



THE BRAHMINS AS WATER-DRINKERS 187 

to the cunning and avarice of the hypocritical charlatans 
who mislead the people. 

Water may be said to be a Brahmin's jxole bov o rag e. In 
order that it may be pure-and may not defile the person 
who drinks it, it is indispensable that it should be drawn 
and carried by a member of his own caste ; to drink water 
drawn by strange hands would be a great sin, the remis- 
sion of which could only be obtained at the cost of elaborate 
and expensive ceremonies. In some places Brahmins and 
Sudras fetch their water from the same place, but if by 
chance the water-pot of the latter should touch that of 
the former, the Brahmin immediately breaks his, if it is 
made of earthenware, or, if of brass or copper, gives it 
a thorough scouring with sand and water. In those parts 
of the country which are under the rule of native princes, 
Brahmins forbid any one of another caste to approach 
their wells ; but where Mahomedans are in power, and 
more particularly in the large towns under European rule, 
it is not unusual to see Brahmins, Sudras, and even Pariahs, 
all drawing water from the same source. But all the same, 
I once witnessed on the coast a violent disturbance caused 
by the inconceivable effrontery of a Pariah woman who 
had dared to draw water from the common well. 

Curdled milk diluted with water is a very favourite drink 
with Hindus. It is usually Sudras who prepare and sell 
this refreshing beverage. Although, generally speaking, 
there is more water than milk in the mixture, Brahmins 
have no scruples in partaking of it, and if any one re- 
proaches them with thus using water drawn and handled 
by Sudras, they reply that the curdled milk, which has 
come from the body of a cow, cleanses it from all impuri- 
ties. 

On the other hand, they have an invincible repugnance 
to the liquor which is obtained by tapping cocoanut and 
other palms and several other trees of the country. This 
juice is sweet and refreshing if drunk before it has begun 
to ferment, but if taken in excess it is intoxicating. A 
spirit called arrack is distilled from it, and for this also there 
is the same repugnance. As a rule, a respectable Hindu 
will not touch spirits or any intoxicating drink, considering 
that they cause one of the greatest internal defilements 



188 HINDU TEMPERANCE 

that it is possible to contract. In consequence of this 
praiseworthy opinion drunkenness is looked upon as a 
degrading and infamous vice, and any one would be promptly 
and ignominiously expelled from his caste were he found 
guilty of giving way to it. It is only Pariahs and men of 
the lowest classes who dare publicly to consume intoxicat- 
ing drinks. Nevertheless, one does see occasionally in 
European settlements and in the large towns high-caste 
natives, and even Brahmins, breaking the law of temper- 
ance ; but it is only in strict privacy, and after every 
precaution has been taken to conceal the unpardonable 
weakness. 

The air one breathes may also be the means of internal 
defilement ; for instance, it would mean defilement if the 
olfactory nerves of a Brahmin became sensible of the smoke 
arising from a funeral pyre where a body was being burned, 
or from the fire on a Pariah's hearth where food was being 
cooked. 

In certain parts of the country, if Pariahs perceive that 
a Brahmin is coming their way, they make a long detour, 
in fear lest the effluvia which is given off by their unclean 
persons should defile the exterior and interior of this noble 
personage. When Sudras speak to a Brahmin etiquette 
obliges them to keep at a respectful distance, or at least 
that they should put the right hand before their mouths, 
so that the taint of their poisonous breath may not reach 
him. It were very desirable, for the peace and honour of 
Sudra husbands, that this excessive delicacy extended also 
to their wives ; but Brahmins are far from feeling the same 
superb disdain towards them. As for the wives of Pariahs, 
the feeling of antipathy for everything connected with 
this class is so strong, and the defilement which results 
from even an innocent and accidental touch is so difficult 
to remove, that one very rarely hears of a Brahmin who 
has been so blinded by passion as to have had any inter- 
course with a woman of this class. 

It is with regard to their food that Brahmins take the 
most excessive precautions. They are never allowed to 
touch meat, and this excludes not only anything that has 
had life, fish included, but also anything that has contained 
a germ of life, such as eggs of all sorts. Vegetables, which 



STRICT RULES OF ABSTINENCE 189 

form their principal food, are also subject to numerous 
exceptions. Thus they reject any vegetable whose root 
or stem grows in the shape of a head, such as onions, garlic, 
mushrooms, &c. Is it because they have discovered some 
hurtful properties in these plants ? I think not. The 
greater number of such vegetables are, on the contrary, 
considered by other people to possess, in that very hot 
climate, antiseptic and health-giving qualities. 

I have often tried to find out the reason why these 
vegetables are avoided, but I have never been able to ex- 
tract any other answer from those I have questioned than 
that it was the custom and rule to avoid them \ 

To adhere strictly to all these rules of abstinence is what 
is called eating properly. Whoever eats of forbidden things 
cannot, according to Brahminical doctrine, keep his body 
really pure. However, I am quite satisfied by experience 
that there are some who occasionally relax the severity of 
these rules ; but the extreme care which is taken to conceal 
the fact proves what a strong hold the rules have over the 
greater number. 

These strict rules of abstinence are observed by all the 
respectable people of this large Hindu nation ; they are 
most scrupulously obeyed in the family circle, without any 
one daring to think of violating them, even under the most 
pressing necessity. They appear to have existed from the 
time when the natives of India were formed into one 
nation ; that is to say, at no very distant date from the 
Flood, and it seems to me they show a strong indication 
of the great antiquity of this people. 

And this law of abstinence, far from losing force and 
falling into abeyance, has gained many additional adherents 
from among the better class of Sudras. Its minute observ- 
ance is the surest way of gaining respect even amongst 
those who do not feel called upon to impose similar priva- 

1 Whatever the motive may be, there are no doubt some superstitions 
attached to it. Every one knows the extreme veneration in which the 
Egyptians held onions and other vegetables of the same family. They 
even swore by the leeks and onions in their gardens. Juvenal (Satires, 
xv) laughs at them about it : 

' Porrum et cepe nefas violare, et frangere morsu, 
O sanctas gentes quibus haec nascuntur in hortis 
Numina ! ' — Dubois. 



190 ABSTENTION FROM ANIMAL FOOD 

tions upon themselves. Only Sudras of the very lowest 
class eat meat openly ; and many of these do not venture 
to cook it in their own houses, but in a secluded corner of 
their cowsheds. To ask a Hindu if he eats meat, even 
when it is a well-known fact that he does so, is to insult 
him deeply ; while to offer meat at a meal to a guest with 
whom one is not intimate, would be the height of rudeness. 
Hindus who eat meat do so only in the privacy of their 
own families or in company with near relatives or intimate 
friends. Even the common Sudras do not offer meat at 
their festive gatherings such as wedding feasts. Were they 
to do so their guests would consider themselves insulted, 
and would leave immediately. 

The Lingayats, or votaries of Siva, are strict abstainers 
from anything that has possessed the principle of life. 
But the careful manner in which they thereby try to main- 
tain perfect internal purity does not profit them much, 
as they are credited at the same time with neglecting some 
of the precautions necessary to preserve their external 
purity. They are blamed, for instance, for allowing their 
women to come and go about the house during the time of 
their periodical uncleanness, and for not insisting on purify- 
ing ablutions afterwards ; the same also during and after 
confinements. In fact, they neglect a great many cleanly 
customs which, putting superstition aside, are most bene- 
ficial to health in hot climates. 

People who abstain entirely from animal food acquire 
such an acute sense of smell that they can perceive in 
a moment from a person's breath, or from the exudation 
of the skin, whether that person has eaten meat or not ; 
and that even after a lapse of twenty-four hours. 

In some parts there is a peculiar custom which allows 
men to eat meat, but strictly forbids it to women. 

To eat the flesh of the cow is an ineffaceable defilement. 
The bare idea of tasting it would be abhorrent to any 
devout Hindu. This invincible repugnance, based as it is 
now solely on the superstition which places the cow among 
the principal Hindu deities, had most probably at first 
a much more sensible but not less forcible motive, namely 
self-interest. The Hindu lawgivers recognized, of course, 
that these animals, so useful to man in all places and under 



ITS BENEFIT IN HOT CLIMATES 191 

all circumstances, were particularly valuable in a country 
where there is no other beast available for tilling or for 
transporting agricultural and commercial products. Besides 
which, the milk was an indispensable addition to the food 
of the multitude of poor natives who would otherwise have 
no other food than insipid vegetables. 

Perhaps we may also add another motive besides that of 
preserving the species of these valuable animals, and that 
is the indigestible nature of beef. Indeed, in a climate 
where the organs of the stomach are so much weakened by 
excessive perspiration, the habitual use of heavy food 
would have soon destroyed the health of the people. I 
have known many Europeans who entirely left off eating 
meat for this reason, because they found that they could 
not eat it without suffering afterwards from indigestion ] . 

At the same time the Hindu lawgivers knew the character 
of their compatriots too well to imagine that simple pro- 
hibitions and punishments would suffice to save the lives 
of these precious animals. So, calling religion to their aid, 
they deified them. To kill a cow — according to the prin- 
ciples of Hindu law — is not only a crime, but an awful 
sacrilege, a deicide, which can only be expiated by the death 
of the offender ; while to eat of the flesh of a cow is a 

1 Montesquieu says : ' There are many local laws peculiar to different 
religious beliefs. The tenet of metempsychosis is peculiarly suited to 
the Indian climate. The excessive heat burns up all the pasture, and 
there is little left with which to feed the cattle. There is always a danger 
of there being too few beasts to till the ground. Cattle multiply but 
slowly in that country, and are subject to many diseases. Hence it is 
that a religious law which protects them is very necessary from an 
economical point of view. But while the pastures are all burnt up, 
rice and vegetables grow very well by the help of irrigation. Thus 
a religious law which only allows of this kind of food is useful to the 
people of the country. Furthermore, while meat is usually tasteless in 
hot climates, milk and butter, which are obtained from these animals, 
form the chief items of food. The law forbidding cows to be killed 
and eaten as food is therefore not without reason in India ' (Esprit des 
Lois, book xxiv. ch. 24). — Dubois. 

Sir M. Monier- Williams in his book on Hinduism says in a foot-note : 
' Happily for the Hindus, the cow which supplies them with their only 
animal food — milk and butter — and the ox which helps to till their 
ground, were declared sacred at an early period. Had it not been so, 
this useful animal might have been exterminated in times of famine. 
What is now a superstition had its origin, like some other superstitions, 
in a wise forethought.' — Ed. 



192 DISREGARDING NATIVE PREJUDICES 

defilement which cannot be purified. Pariahs, however, 
are tacitly allowed to feast on the flesh of those animals 
which die of old age or disease. In their case this is not 
looked upon exactly as a crime ; but, as we have already 
seen, this privilege, of which these miserable outcastes 
avail themselves without scruple, contributes a good deal 
towards keeping up that sort of curse which overshadows 
them. 

The flesh of the buffalo, camel, horse, elephant, &c, in 
fact everything that comes under the head of large meat, 
inspires all Hindus, Pariahs excepted, with almost as great 
an abhorrence as the flesh of the cow or ox. There is the 
same idea of defilement connected with it. 

I have already pointed out that Europeans do not seem 
disposed to adopt the same rules of abstinence as are 
followed by the people among whom they live, and that, 
without paying any attention to the disgust which they 
cause, they continue to eat beef openly. It is certain that 
this conduct estranges them from all the better classes of 
Hindus, who, consequently, in this respect place them far 
below the Pariahs. It is true that the first conquerors of 
India, in defiance of the most sacred and long-established 
customs of the country, killed oxen and cows without 
exciting a general insurrection against such an insult as 
the slaughter of animals worshipped by Hindus as their 
gods ; and it is also true that for several succeeding cen- 
turies the handful of foreigners established among them 
have been allowed to kill these sacred animals with impunity 
to satisfy their own appetites ; but they have only to 
thank the mild, temperate, and indolent character of the 
nation which has spared them 1 . 

Amongst ancient nations there are few who would with 
so much patience have allowed their religious beliefs to 

1 This horror of cow-killing is as strong among Hindus throughout 
India to-day as it ever was. The remarkable revival of Hinduism 
during the last few years has been characterized by the formation of 
innumerable secret religious societies for the protection of the cow, and 
the riots among Hindus and Mahomedans in recent years are more or 
less directly traceable, it is asserted, to the propaganda of these societies. 
It may be mentioned that in Kashmir, until quite recently, cow-killing 
was punishable with death, and imprisonment for life is now the penalty. 
—Ed. 



KILLING SACRED ANIMALS 193 

be openly set at naught. The Israelites, when in captivity 
in Egypt, begged for permission from Pharaoh to make 
a pilgrimage into the desert, there to sacrifice to God 
without fear of interruption, because they would have been 
liable to be all massacred or stoned had they dared to 
perform such sacrifices in the sight of the idolatrous Egyp- 
tians, who worshipped as gods some of the very animals 
that they required for their sacrifices \ 

Cambyses made himself more execrable in the eyes of 
the Egyptians by killing the ox Apis, than by all the 
cruelties and acts of tyranny of which he was guilty in 
dealing with this peaceable people 2 . 

The Egyptians considered that to kill, even by accident, 
one of their sacred animals was the most heinous of crimes. 
Whoever was guilty of such an act was invariably put to 
death. A Roman soldier was torn in pieces by the popu- 
lace, in spite of the terror that the name of Rome inspired, 
for having by mischance killed a cat. Diodorus, who 
records this incident, also mentions that during a famine 
the Egyptians preferred to devour each other rather than 
touch the animals they held sacred. 

The Hindus would also carry their scruples to the same 
point. In whatever straits they might be they would 
prefer to die rather than save their lives by killing cattle. 
From this we may conclude that, though they daily witness 
the slaughter of these sacred animals by Europeans, without 
uttering any loud complaint, they are far from being in- 
sensible to the insult. But restrained by the fear which 
these foreigners have always inspired in them, they con- 
tent themselves with complaining in secret and storing up 
in their hearts all the indignation that they feel. Pious 
Lingayats have often come to me, imagining that my title 
of European priest gave me great influence over my fellow- 
countrymen, to implore me, in earnest terms, and often 
with tears in their eyes, to do everything in my power to 

1 Exodus viii. 26. 

3 ' Did Cambyses do well,' asks Voltaire, ■ when after conquering 
Egypt he killed the ox Apis with his own hand ? Why not ? He 
showed the idiots that their gods could be brought to the pit without 
nature rising in her wrath to avenge the sacrilege ! ' This is Voltaire's 
smart criticism, but I think few wise statesmen or sensible persons would 
share his opinion. — Dubois. 

DUBOIS H 



104 PURIFYING BODY AND SOUL 

put a stop to this sacrilege. In States which are still ruled 
by heathen princes on no pretext whatever is it permitted 
to kill a cow. In fact, this act of sacrilege, so hateful to 
Hindus, is only permitted in provinces where Europeans 
or Mahomedans hold sway. 

To purify the body from any interior defilement that 
may have been contracted there is no more efficacious way 
than by the performance of the pancha-gavia. 

As to other ordinary defilements, from which one can 
never quite escape, they may be removed in several ways, 
which I shall speak of in the next chapter. If these cere- 
monies can purify the soul from sin, so much the more 
will they be capable of purifying the body from all un- 
cleanness, both external and internal. 

CHAPTER V 

Defilements of the Soul, and the Means of Purification. — Places of 
Purification. — Sins for which there is no Forgiveness. — Conjectures 
on the Origin of Brahmin Customs connected with Defilement and 
Purification. — Defilement by Europeans, and an Incident which 
happened to the Author from this Cause. 

The doctrine is laid down in Hindu books, is endorsed 
by the philosophers of the country, and is admitted also 
sometimes by Brahmins, that the only real defilement of 
the soul proceeds from sin, which is caused by perversity 
of the will. One Hindu poet, Vemana, expresses himself 
thus on this subject : — ' It is water which causes mud, and 
it is water which removes it. It is your will that makes 
you commit sin, and it is by your will alone that you can 
be purified 1 .' This doctrine, though imperfectly carried 
out in practice, certainly proves that Hindus acknowledge 
that it is only by an effort of the will and by a renunciation 
of sin that pardon and purification of the soul can be 
obtained. 

But this enlightenment, which reason will never allow to 
be entirely extinguished even in the midst of the deep 
shadows of gross idolatry, has become, if not extinguished, 
at any rate entirely obscured by the religious formulariza- 

1 This is not to be found among the verses of Vemana, but any Telugu 
verse of which the author is unknown is ascribed to him. — Pope. 



ABLUTIONS IN SACRED WATERS 195 

tion to which the Brahmins have become slaws. The 
Brahmins have allowed themselves to believe that without 
either the wish or the intention of renouncing evil it is 
possible for the soul to be purified by various means, which, 
through the extreme facility with which they can be em- 
ployed, can only tend to lessen the real abhorrence of sin 
and give a false sense of security to the sinner. The ■pancha- 
gavia, for example, is sufficient to obtain the remission of 
any sin whatever, even when the sin has been committed 
deliberately ; and that is really why the use of such a dis- 
gusting liquid (the urine of the cow) is so strongly upheld. 
Looking as they do upon sin as a material or bodily defile- 
ment, it is not surprising that they consider mere ablutions 
of the body sufficient to wipe it out. Ablutions performed 
in certain sacred rivers, such as the Ganges, the Indus, the 
Godavari, the Cauvery, and others, purify both soul and 
body from any defilements they may ever have contracted. 
It is even possible for a person living at a distance to obtain 
the advantages conferred by their cleansing waters without 
leaving his house ; he has only to transport himself thither 
in intention, and to think of the place while bathing. 

There are several celebrated streams and tanks in India 
credited with the same purifying virtue ; but some of them 
only possess this virtue at intervals more or less frequent. 
Thus the waters of the famous tank of Combaconum, in 
Tan j ore, are only endowed with cleansing properties once 
in twelve years ; while those of the spring which rises in 
the hill Tirutanimalai, in the Carnatic, are efficacious every 
three years. There are few provinces in India which do 
not possess sacred tanks. When the year and the day 
arrive for people to bathe in these sanctifying waters, 
a pilgrimage is made to the spot by enormous crowds of 
devotees, who have been warned beforehand by messengers 
sent in all directions by the Brahmins, who are interested 
in keeping up this holy fervour. On the appointed day 
they all stand round the tank, awaiting the propitious 
moment to plunge into it. Directly the purohita gives the 
signal, all present, men and women, rush into the water, 
shouting and screaming, and making an indescribable 
uproar. They soon find themselves heaped one on top 
of the other, so that they can hardly move. It almost 



196 SACRED OBJECTS IN NATURE 

always happens that in the midst of this frightful con- 
fusion several are drowned or suffocated, and many come 
out with broken or dislocated limbs \ Happy are those 
accounted who lose their lives on such an occasion ! Their 
fate is more to be envied than lamented ; for these victims 
of religious ardour go straight to the realms of bliss. 

The time of an eclipse is also considered a particularly 
opportune moment for purifying oneself from sin. Bathing 
at that time, wherever it may be possible, but especially 
in the sea, possesses the merit of cleansing the soul from 
all defilements. To bathe during the solstices or equinoxes, 
at the time of a new or of a full moon, or on the eleventh 
day of the moon, is also considered efficacious. The mouth 
of a river, the point where it joins another, or where in its 
windings its course runs from east to west, are also peculiarly 
propitious. 

To read the Puranas and other sacred writings, to make 
pilgrimages to certain temples and holy places called jmnya- 
sthala, to climb to the top of certain very high mountains, 
and even simply to gaze at them : all these procure the 
forgiveness of sins. There is one of these holy mountains 
in the Carnatic, in the district of Coimbatore. It is called 
Nilagiri-malai, and is believed to be the highest in the 
province 2 . For this reason alone the Hindus have made 
it a punyasthala, or place of virtue, their custom being to 
deify everything extraordinary in nature. As it is very 
difficult to reach the top of this mountain, a view of the 
summit alone (and it is visible a long way off) is considered 
sufficient to remove the burden of sin from the conscience 
of any person who looks at it ; provided that he looks at 
it with that intention. 

In connecting religious sentiment with everything which 
has any distinctive peculiarity or grandeur, they have not 
forgotten to include the magnificent waterfalls which sur- 
prise and charm the eye. Thus the Cauvery Falls, and 

1 This is the Maha-mahham festival. A benevolent Government 
now takes the precaution of reducing the depth of the water to a few 
inches, to prevent such disasters. At the celebration of the festival in 
1897, 500,000 people were present. — Ed. 

a The Nilgiris, or Blue Mountains — now a sanatorium, the summer 
headquarters of the Madras Government. — Ed. 



THE FIVE DEADLY SINS 197 

several others, are supposed to be pre-eminently suitable 
for ablutions. In a word, one everywhere comes across 
places consecrated by superstition, where the greatest 
sinners can, with the most perfect ease, extinguish in 
a limpid and accommodating stream the burning fires of 
remorse by which they may be troubled. 

To recite mantrams ; to exercise the happy privilege of 
looking at the great ones of the earth, especially gurus ; 
to think of Vishnu and the other principal deities : these 
are all most efficacious in purifying the soul. A Brahmin 
who happened to go three times round a temple of Siva 
merely in pursuit of a dog that he was beating to death, 
obtained the remission of all his sins, and also the special 
favour of being transported immediately to Kailasa \ 

Admittance into Vaikuntha 2 was once granted to a great 
sinner simply for having pronounced, even in blasphemy, 
the name of Narayana and the name of Vishnu. All this 
is vouched for in the sacred Hindu books. 

There are, however, some sins so heinous, according to 
Hindu ideas, that they cannot be expiated by any of the 
means before mentioned. These unpardonable sins are five 
in number : — 

1. Brahmahattya, the murder of a Brahmin. 

2. Sisuhattya, the destruction of an unborn child, i.e. 
wilfully causing an abortion. 

3. Surapana, to drink toddy, the juice of the palm-tree. 

4. Swarna-Sneya, to steal gold. 

5. Guru-talpa-gamana, to have sexual intercourse with 
the wife of one's guru or of one's spiritual or temporal 
superior. 

Some add a sixth, which consists in holding communica- 
tion with any one guilty of any of these five sins, commonly 
called pancha-patakas, the five crimes. These fearful crimes 
cannot be wiped out in the lifetime of the offenders by any 
of the usual means employed for the purification of the 
soul. Those who are guilty of them expiate them after 
death, by one or more transmigrations of the soul into 
some vile animal, or by the torments of Naraka, i.e. hell. 

Besides the sins committed during his present existence, 
from which a Brahmin must be constantly purifying him- 
1 The paradise of .Siva. - The paradise of Vishnu. 



198 DEFILEMENT AND PURIFICATION 

.self, lie must also think of expiating those committed in 
a former state. To become a Brahmin by reincarnation is 
the happiest destiny possible for a human being. It is 
a reward which is only granted for the accumulated merits 
of many successive generations. Yet the fact of the re- 
incarnation is in itself a proof that there still remains in 
that person some fault to be expiated : otherwise the soul 
would have been transported to the Sattyaloka, or paradise 
of Brahma, and thereby would have been spared the trouble 
of animating another mortal body here below. Actual good 
deeds, such as giving alms to Brahmins, constructing wells 
or tanks, building temples, or contributing to the cost of 
religious services, and various other works of charity, are 
held to add considerably to the efficacy of the various 
methods of purification which we have just spoken of, 
when performed in conjunction with them. 

I will say nothing here of the many hindrances to the 
perfect purification of the soul caused by a man's wife or 
children, by his worldly possessions, by his caste, and by 
his passions. They will be referred to elsewhere. 

Defilements and purifications form together one of the 
most important articles in Brahmin doctrine and the Hindu 
creed. The practices and opinions with regard to these 
subjects are so extraordinary and so unique that it would 
be most interesting to thoroughly investigate the motives 
which originally gave rise to them ; but, either from 
prudence or from ignorance on their part, I have never 
been able to gather from Hindus any authentic information 
about them. Everything that I have been able to ascertain 
has been founded more or less on conjecture. But I have 
often had occasion to remark, that, after allowing for 
exaggeration, many Hindu rites bear a strong resemblance 
to those practised by other nations in bygone ages. Thus 
Jacob at Bethel, when preparing to offer up a sacrifice, 
commanded his household to purify themselves, and to 
change their garments \ When the Israelites were warned 
that God would appear to them in the desert of Sinai, 
God commanded them by Moses to wash their clothes, 
and not to touch their wives for three days beforehand '\ 
Many passages in the Hindu sacred writings recall the rules 
1 Genesis xxxv. 2. ~ Exodus xix. 10, 14- 



THE HINDU RELIGION NOT BORROWED 199 

which the law of Moses laid down for the children of Israel 
concerning the various kinds of defilements, real and 
technical l . 

It is, in fact, impossible to deny that there are many 
striking points of resemblance between Jewish and Hindu 
customs. Should one then conclude that the latter copied 
them from the former 1 I think not. If they are alike 
in some essentials, they display great dissimilarity in their 
outward forms. Besides, there is nothing that I know of 
in the history either of the Egyptians or of the Jews to 
show that these people existed as a nation prior to the 
Hindus. The peculiarity of the dogmas and rites of the 
Hindu religion, the strong antipathy which the Hindus feel 
for anything that savours of imitation, the unshaken firm- 
ness with which they cling to ideas which originated at 
a date now lost in the darkness of antiquity, the intolerance, 
the pride, the presumption of the Brahmins, and above all 
their detestation and contempt for foreigners and foreign 
customs : all these make me confident that the Hindus 
never borrowed anything from other nations. Everything 
connected with the Hindus is stamped with the impress of 
originality and independence. Never could this vain and 
self-sufficient people, who are so filled with the idea of their 
own moral ascendency, have condescended to model their 
habits and customs on those of foreigners, whom they have 
always kept at the greatest possible distance. How, then, 
came the Hindus to originate these singular notions of 
defilement and purification ? I feel that I possess neither 
the necessary learning nor the necessary talent to cope 
satisfactorily with this difficult question. I must therefore 
beg my readers' indulgence in briefly laying before them 
the conjectural opinions which I have formed on the 
subject. 

Even before the Flood men were imbued with these 
notions of defilement and purification. Amongst animals 
there were the clean and the unclean. God recognized this 
distinction when He dictated to Noah the number of each 
species that was to go into the ark \ 

It is probable that the tradition of this classification of 
things clean and unclean was handed down by the deseen- 
1 Leviticus xv. 11-15. a Genesis vii. 2. 



200 CLEANLINESS AND PUBLIC HEALTH 

dants of the men who escaped the Flood. When they began 
to eat animal food, and noticed that the flesh of some beasts 
was not as wholesome or palatable as that of others, their 
opinions with regard to this tradition were strengthened ; 
and, beginning by giving up what they found was dele- 
terious to their health, they finally persuaded themselves 
that they could not even touch the unclean thing without 
being defiled. 

These ideas about defilement were common to several 
other ancient nations. They, like the Hindus, had recourse 
to water and fire as means of purification. They also had 
their sacred rivers. At the time when the Hindus began 
to regard the waters of the Ganges, the Indus, and Godavari 
as peculiarly sacred, and to attribute to them those cleansing 
properties which could purify both soul and body, the in- 
habitants of Colchis and other peoples living near the 
Phasis credited the waters of that river with the same 
virtues, while those of the Nile were considered equally 
efficacious amongst the Egyptians. 

Cleanliness is a most important factor in preserving 
public health. The luxury of clothes in those primitive 
times was reduced to just what was necessary to cover the 
body, or to protect it from atmospheric changes ; and 
garments were rarely changed. The habits of the people 
therefore naturally tended to counteract the unhealthy 
consequences which would ensue from their prolonged use, 
by the frequent washing of these garments in pure water. 

Everything in nature had deteriorated after the Flood. 
There were many more diseases, and in searching for the 
causes of them people thought that the unwholesome 
nature of certain kinds of food might be partly answer- 
able for it. Therefore the use of such food was forbidden. 
They also realized that some of these diseases were con- 
tagious ; therefore the persons who were attacked by them 
were isolated. The science of medicine was at that time 
in its infancy, but it was soon seen that the greater number 
of these maladies were caused by the unhealthy condition 
or poverty of the blood, owing to excessive perspiration ; 
and the salutary effects of a bath being fully recognized, 
a bath was finally considered as a sovereign remedy for all 
complaints. 



ORIGIN OF HINDU CUSTOMS 201 

Men were at length obliged to disperse in different 
directions, and gradually peopled the various countries 
of the globe. India, being close to the plains of Sennaar 
and enjoying a good climate and a fertile soil, was doubtless 
one of the first countries thus inhabited. The very high 
temperature made those in authority feel that here, even 
more than in the country they had left, the rules of abstin- 
ence from certain meats, and attention to personal clean- 
liness, must be strictly enforced under pain of severe 
punishments. 

In all probability, therefore, these Hindu notions about 
defilement and purification originated at some date anterior 
to the Flood, and after being handed down from genera- 
tion to generation, undergoing various alterations and 
modifications either from superstition, the whim of some 
important person, or from motives of expediency to suit 
purely local conditions, they at length crystallized them- 
selves into their present form, and still continue to have the 
strongest hold on the people. 

Though the Hindus are fairly tolerant so far as the actual 
dogmas of their religion are concerned, they do not allow 
the smallest divergence of opinion on the subject referred 
to in the present chapter. If Europeans living in India, 
simply for the good of their health, would or could con- 
descend so far as to make their mode of life conform to