THE

HINDU AT HOME

BEING

SKETCHES OF HINDU DAILY LIFE.

BY

wit

THE REV. J. E. PADFIELD, B. D.,

Missionary, C. M. S., Masulipatam.

Ancestor-worship, in some form or other, is the
beginning, the middle, and the end of what
is known as the Hindu religion.

(Professor Bhattacharja, in Tagore Law Lecture.)

MADRAS:

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

1896.

[All Rights Reserved.]

Price 3s. 6d.

22-209027

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

THE HINDU HOME.

The Hindu's life regulated by rules prescribed by
his religion-Absence of comfort in Hindu Homes
--The Vastu Shastram or science of domestic archi-

tecture-The Vastu Shastri-Instances of his

skill-The site for a dwelling-A deserted village-

The position of the house as regards neighbouring

dwellings-What timber should be used-The time

of year to begin building-The aspect-Foundation

laying ceremony-The Purōhita-Ceremonies ob-

served at various stages of the erection-Those at

the digging of the well ...

CHAPTER II.

...

THE HINDU HOME.-(Continued.)

The architectural plan of a Hindu house-The

massive door-way-The various rooms of the house

-The kitchen-The arrangement of rooms must

be according to the shastram-Bible imagery ex-

emplified-The absence of furniture-Sleeping

accommodation-Newly married couples do not set

up a separate home-Hindu gardens-House-

warming ceremonies-A declaration and a prayer-

Ceremonial defilement of houses-Particularly by

death-Purificatory rites-A declaration and a

prayer-Minor purifications

...

The motive for religious observances-Contrasted

with Christian motives-Divisions of a Brahmin's

life-Early morning observances-Prayers from

the puranas-Teeth cleansing-The bath-Prayer

to the rivers-Sandyāvandanam—Achamanam—

Sankalpam Sun worship-Pitrutarpanam-The

Gayatri Midday Sundyāvandanam Dēvatar-

chana-The kitchen its uses and contents-House-

Pages.

1-15

16-33

hold images-Their worship-Nivēdanam-Linga-

its-Taking meals-Precautions against interrup-

tions-Order of sitting Grace before meat-

Drinking water must be ceremonially pure-

Evening Sandyāvandanam—Prayer to Varuna—If

on a journey-If too ill to bathe-Prayer on re-

tiring for the night-Women have no share in

ceremonies-Each house has its private chapel-

No public religious teaching-Hopefulness produced

by the Hindus intensely religious nature

CHAPTER IV.

THE HINDU WOMAN'S RELIGION.

or

Woman's low position in Hinduism-Quotations

from Manu on this subject-Definition of a wife in

Mahabharata-Sīta and Rāma in Ramayana-

Difficulty of arriving at a clear idea of woman's

religious position-Woman has no religious status

apart from her husband-Illustrated by quotations

from Hindu writings-Woman's ordinary daily

round-Rise before day break-Melukolupu

morning song-Gōpika Gita-The tilakam-

Cooking-Woman's worship before the midday

meal-The woman's images not consecrated-

Lingam Worship-Lamp Worship-Mother ins-

tructing her children-Woman can only worship

with the consent of her husband-Good deeds of a

wife may benefit her husband, but his good deeds

confer no spiritual benefit upon her-This illustra-

ted from the code of Parasara-Hindu woman as a

widow-Sati-A widow's duties as laid down by

Manu-The religion of low caste women-Little

more than demonolatry or fetichism-At epidemics

-At festivals-Women go pilgrimages - Move-

ment towards bettering the status of women-The

Bible view of woman's status

...

Pages.

34-52

53-70

CHAPTER V.

THE HINDU SACRED THREAD.

The Yajnopavitam a mark of being a dvija-
Quotation from Manu as to who may wear the
thread-Others besides the three higher castes
wear it-The goldsmith caste and its privileges-
Low caste men are not free to dress, or travel about

as they may choose--An Orissa Rajah assumed

authority to invest with the thread-The Bengal

Vaidyas wear the thread-The material of which

the thread should be made-The Kshatriyas an

extinct caste-The number of threads and skeins in

the Yajnopavitam-The Brahman's knot-The

investiture, when it should be-Ceremonies con-

nected with the Upanayanam-Sacredness of deer

skin-The father teaches the novice the Gayatri-

When a new thread must be put on-Defilement

necessitating a new thread-Ceremonies connected

with replacing a defiled thread-Disposal of dis-

carded thread-Various ways of wearing the thread

-Importance of the thread

CHAPTER VI.

THE HINDU SACRED MARKS.

Anglo-Indian lack of information on Hindu cus-

toms-The Pundrams not mentioned in the Vedas-

Sacred marks not now distinctive of caste-Hindus

divided into worshippers of Vishnu or Siva-

Brahma not worshipped-The three schools of

philosophy-Urdva Pundrams and Tiryak pun-

drams On what parts of the body daubed-

Vaishnava marks-The materials with which

made-Their colour and shape-Rāmānujachārya-

Hostility of Ramanujās to Saivas-Vadagalais and

Tengalais-Distinguished by shape of forehead

mark-Mode of putting on pundrams and the

mantrams which should be repeated-Madhvā-

charya and the Madhvas-Their peculiar marks--

The Siva marks, how put on and with what materials

-Smarthas and Lingatháris-Jangams-The dress-

ing case-Absolute necessity of putting on

marks-Coloured marks changed to white as a sign

of mourning-Women's marks-The seal in the

forehead mentioned in the Revelation

Pages.

71-81

82-93

CHAPTER VII.

THE HINDU TONSURE.

Peculiar modes of wearing the hair-Hindus
themselves often unable to give a reason for their
customs-Cutting off hair symbolical of casting off
sin-The Sikha, Cudimi, Zuttu-The Roman
Catholic tonsure-A Brahmin not a Brahmin with-