[8] The Hindoo Scriptures have a long story showing how Radha at once became wife of Krishto and of Awe-an. It is hardly possible in this connection to recite it. But let it be known that the Hindoos have some reason to produce in defence of their faith, which they hold dear.
[9] A peculiar religious ceremony, like that of baptism, is performed for every Hindoo. The Brahmun who does it, and selects a male or female deity for his disciple, is called gooroo, or pastor. The disciple, Shis-ho, can on no account change his gooroo or the god he furnishes. The gooroo exercises absolute sway over his Shis-ho; just as the “infallible Pope” does over the Romanists. Gooroo has the power to send his Shis-ho to heaven or hell as he pleases. Without a passport from him, the “gates of heaven” would not admit the Shis-ho.
[10] It is customary with the Orientals to commit to memory the names of the distant ancestry. Among the Jews it was the custom, and is so still, I presume. Matthew and Luke traced the genealogy of our Master a great way back.
[11] Great respect is paid to the cat as the messenger of the goddess. They do not ill-treat this creature for fear of the displeasure of its mistress. Love for animals is taught here in this curious way!
[12] It is surprising to learn that one man had “sixty thousand sons,” all grown-up, reliable heroes at the same time; numerous as the sands on the sea-shore. The Hindoos say this host of sons was born to fulfil the prophecy of a Brahmun who had blessed the king, saying, perhaps, “Be thou the father of sixty thousand male children.”
[13] This, and kindred anecdotes, have great effect upon the practical life of the Hindoos, because they are thereby taught to believe that their own good or bad deeds will bring forth fruits for them according to their nature,—that by the mete by which they measure others will be measured unto them. They are thus taught the Divine justice,—that God is not a silent spectator of our proceedings: He notices everything, and meets us according to our merit. Again, such anecdotes have another influence upon the Hindoo mind. The Hindoos fear to insult a Brahmun, whose wrath is warm enough to burn the offender to ashes. But the Brahmun’s wrath does not amount to any visible danger now.
[14] This teaches a beautiful lesson of the nature of reconciliation, although wrapped in the allegorical covering of superstition. We see that none but the injured can forgive us,—that we ought to be reconciled to him, and redress the wrong we have done if possible; for without reformation, mere repentance is nothing. The Hindoo idea is, that even the gods do not stand by the side of the offender if he does not humble himself and ask pardon, that is, if he be not reconciled to his brother whom he had ill-treated. It is something like the saying, “Make peace with thy brother while he is on the way,” etc.
[15] In the Hindoo poems it has been shrewdly accounted for why Vogiroth had no bones in him. I am well acquainted with it, but think it not of much consequence to detail. Again, there is another thing to be considered, the adaptedness of the expression to the taste of a Christian reader. Every nation has its peculiar taste in regard to the idiom and expression of thought; what is decent with one is immodest with others. I see some expressions in the Bible which are not permitted to be used to the English or American people. The Oriental nations understand their peculiar meaning when they use those phrases.
[16] This is one of the leading features of Hindoo piety. In order to secure the blessing of a god or goddess, it is essentially needful to withdraw ourselves from the world, and take a vow to spend a certain portion, or the whole of our life in the wilderness; to abstain from food, drink, and recreation, and gradually to bring ourselves to that state in which we do not live by “bread alone,” but by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” We read in the lives of the Hindoo sages the process they had used to subdue their bodies, by continual fasts and self-torture. In the early part of their hermit life, they used to take a little food once a day, then once in two, and after a while one meal at the end of the week. In warm weather their seat was surrounded by a blazing fire made on purpose, and in winter they used to immerse their bodies in water, and pray.
[17] Kasa, a copper vessel used by the Hindoos in their religious services, to put water in, which they sprinkle on their heads and upon the idols also.