mended the re-marriage of widows. He made Nud- CHAP. VIII. dea his centre, but travelled to Gour, Benares, Vrindávana, and Púree. He did not succeed in carrying out all his views, especially as regards the re-marriage of widows, but to this day one-fifth of the population of Bengal, including all the opulent native families of Calcutta, are followers of Choitunya.22 Brahma, Vish the Trimúrti. The association of Siva and Vishnu with human- Worship of ity have imparted a vitality to the conceptions of nu, and Siva as those deities which is wanting in that of Brahma. In former times there was an antagonism between the Saivas and Vaishnavas, which ranged them into hostile camps; but in the present day this antagonism is dying out, and the votaries of both deities are engaged in the worship of the supreme being, who is equally identified with Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. The worship of these three forms of the supreme spirit has thus become the life and soul of modern Hinduism. Sometimes they are separately adored as the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer of the universe, under the name of the Trimúrti, or "three forms;" but they are frequently worshipped as the three in one, and the name of one includes the name of all. The pious Hindú bows his head alike to Vishnu and Siva, to Ráma and Krishna, to Lakshmí and Durgá, or to any of the countless types of deity; but he mutters the mystic word Óm, which includes all the deities, and believes himself to be worshipping the one and the 22 Travels of a Hindoo, by Bholanauth Chunder, vol. i. 23 The term Óm is the symbol of the Trimurti. In the original Sanskrit it is spelt with three letters, which may correspond to the letters A, V, M; the A representing Brahma; the V representing Vishnu; and the M representing Siva. In the more ancient Brahmanical ritual, the term included all the gods of earth, sky, and heaven. See History, vol. ii., part v., Brahmanic Period. CHAP. VIII. Besides these three great gods, there is a vast Miscellaneous number of other deified existences in the Hindú deities. pantheon. They may belong to extinct mytho 21 logies; but they are often regarded as forms of one or other of the three great gods,-Brahma, Vishnu, or Siva; or of one or other of their corresponding goddesses,-Saraswatí, Lakshmí, and Durga. Thus there are the seven Rishis sprung from Brahima; the ten Avatáras of Vishnu; the eleven Rudras or forms of Siva; the eight guardian deities of the universe. Others are invested with individual characteristics, which still render them objects of popular worship. Amongst these are Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity of good luck ; Kuvera, the god of wealth; Kartikeya, the god of war; Káma, the god of amorous desire; Yama, the god of the infernal regions and judge of the dead. There are also other objects of worship, such as the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, the Serpent, the Bull, the Cow, the Earth, and the Rivers. The names and attributes of these deified existences awaken no associations in the mind of Europeans, and throw no light upon the religious ideas of the Hindús. Indeed they are often dismissed as the offspring of a blind and obstinate idolatry, which corrupts the heart and intellect of the Hindú; when they ought rather to be regarded as crude developments of the affections, which will be abandoned with the advance of education and civilization. The usages of the people, however, fall under a different category. They are well worthy of very 24 In the more abstract developments of the Hindú religion, the conceptions of gods and goddesses are reduced to mere emblems of the male and female energies, as the first causes of the universe. ages, as de Religious scribed by old vellers. study as illustrations of the carlier forms of religious CHAP. VIII. development among the human race. They are best gathered from the narratives of the older European traEuropean travellers, who faithfully recorded all they saw, and whose truthfulness will be attested by all who are familiar with the sacred books, or with the habits and manners of existing populations. co Polo, 1260 The first traveller on record, who visited India Travels of Marafter Hiouen-Thsang, was Marco Polo the Venetian. 1295. Marco Polo flourished in the latter half of the thirteenth century, when Edward the First sat upon the throne of England, and the last crusade was drawing to a close. He knew nothing of Hindustan or Bengal; but he was acquainted with the coasts of the Dekhan and Peninsula from Guzerat to Comorin, and from Comorin to the kingdom of Telinga or Telugu. His travels appear to have been written at Comorin, the most southerly point of India. He is the first traveller who mentions Comorin. Indeed, notwithstanding its remarkable position, Comorinhas never attracted the attention of any Iindú geographer, ancient or modern. He describes it as a very wild country, abounding in bears, lions, and leopards, and especially in monkeys. The monkeys seem to have attracted his particular attention. He says that they were of such peculiar fashion, that they might have been taken for men; a remark which suggests the origin of the monkey warriors in the Rámáyana.25 The region derives its name from a temple which was erected there in honour of Kumárí, "the Virgin; " the infant babe who had been 25 Marco Polo, Book iii., chap. 23. The edition of the works of this traveller by Colonel Yule is a valuable boon to the student of Asiatic history. The notes are the results of large experience and extensive reading. CHAP. VIII. exchanged for Krishna, and ascended to heaven at the approach of Kansa.26 Coromande Country: character of the people. Eastward of Comorin was the Coromandel country; the ancient Chola-mandalum. It is the land of the Tamil-speaking people, and extends northward along the Bay of Bengal as far as Telinga or the. Telugu country.27 Marco Polo describes the people almost as they might be described now. They were black, naked idolaters, who wore nothing but a cloth around their loins. They worshipped the cow and bull, and no one save the Pariahs would eat beef. They would not kill any animal, so that those who wanted flesh meat, such as kid or mutton, employed Saracens or other foreigners as butchers.28 They plastered their houses with cow-dung. They all sat upon the ground, kings and nobles, as well as common people. The wealthier classes slept in beds of light cane-work, which were drawn up to the ceiling for the sake of coolness, and to escape the bites of tarantulas, or mosquitoes. When a child was born they wrote down his nativity; that is to say, they noted down the hour, day, month, and of the moon. The children were black enough, but the parents rubbed them every week with oil of sesamé, which made them as black as devils. They painted their gods black and their devils white.29 age 26 See ante, page 378. Faria y Sousa, vol. ii., page 394. Colonel Yule identifies Kumári with Durga. This is an error. The temple of Kumári was erected by Krishna Raja of Narsinga, a zealous patron of the Vaishnavas. 27 The frontier between the Tamil and Telugu languages is at Pulicat, twentythree miles to the northward of Madras. The Dutch built a square fort here in 1609, for the protection of their trade in painted cottons and muslins, for which Telinga was celebrated in former times. Pulicat lake is a favourite pleasure haunt for residents at Madras. 29 By Saracens Marco Polo seems to refer to Mussulmans generally. 29 This is correct. Vishnu in his incarnation as Krishna is always painted Criminals condemned to death were allowed to CHAP. VIII. sacrifice themselves in honour of some idol. Widows burnt themselves with their dead husbands, and received great praise for so doing. The men marched naked to battle, armed only with the lance and buckler, and were wretched soldiers.30 The kings were black and naked like their subjects. One is described as wearing three golden bracelets thickly set with the richest pearls; anklets of like kind on his legs; necklaces of rubies, emeralds, and sapphires round his neck; and rings of gold on his toes. He also wore upon his chest a rosary, consisting of one hundred and four large rubies and pearls; and every day, morning and evening, he uttered a hundred and four prayers to his idols.31 kingdoms. The Tamil country was divided into five king- Five Tamil doms, which are not separately named by Marco Polo, but probably corresponded to the territories of Tinnevelly, Madura, Tanjore, Gingee, and Chola proper. They may have been disjointed members of the old empire of Chola or Dravida, for the five black or dark blue. Siva, or "the devil" of old European travellers, is painted white, as being "silver-coloured." 30 Marco Polo was possibly prejudiced. His judgment was probably formed on a comparison of the Tamil soldiery with the disciplined forces of Italy. 31 Marco Polo, Book iii., chap. 16—23. The rosaries of the Buddhists consist of a hundred and eight beads. The present rosary was probably connected with the worship of Krishna or Vishnu; and the so-called prayers were merely utterances of the sacred names of the god, which were supposed to be an expression of faith, and therefore to ensure salvation. The following refrain is very popular in Bengal; the author, however, is quoting only from memory: "Hári, Krishna, Hári, Krishna, Hári, Ráma, Hári, Ráma, Krishna, Ráma, Hári, Hári." The Bengalees teach this refrain to their parrots, and believe that they thereby acquire religious merits both for themselves and the birds. |