Section the third, concerning the religious observances and ceremonies of the Samartagans (Smartas), or orthodox of the Hindus.—According to this class, there are two kinds of birth: the first, on quitting the maternal womb; the second, on the day of assuming the Munji[73] or Zanar, and repeating the established forms of prayer; as, until a person has scrupulously performed both these rites, he is not regarded as orthodox, nor an observer of their institutes. Under this are contained the Shodásán-Karmáni,[74] “sixteen heads,” commencing with the woman being purified from periodical illness; her attachment to her husband; the forms of prayer necessary to be used on the occasion, and observed until the moment of death; and the acts of charity enjoined to be performed after the person’s decease.
Of their laudable customs are the following: 1. the Garbh-ádhána-karma,[75] or delivering the likeness of a son, that is, giving up a daughter to her husband; 2. the Pungsavana,[76] or reciting at the proper season the prayers enjoined to be said, that a virtuous offspring may be born; 3. the Símantonnayana,[77] that is, in the sixth month of a woman’s pregnancy, the recitation of the proper forms of prayer and giving a feast to Brahmans; 4. the Játakarma,[78] or the rites to be practised by the father on the birth of a son, in regard to ablution; Hóm, or burnt offerings; Jap, or devout meditation and acts of charity; 5. the Náma-karana,[79] when, on the eleventh day after the child’s birth, they give it a name and repeat the necessary forms of prayer; 6. on the fourth month they bring out the child, which they call the Nish-kramana;[80] 7. giving the child suitable food and at a propitious moment, which they call Anna-prásanna;[81] 8. at the age of three years they shave the child’s head and bore its ears, which rite they call Chúd´á-karana,[82] or the ceremony of forming the crest at the first tonsure of a Hindu. They are strictly enjoined to observe the above eight ceremonies; and if the child be of the female sex, they practise the same rites, but without the stated forms of prayer; excepting at the time of her marriage, when they are bound to recite the forms appropriated to that ceremony. 9. In his fifth year, they bind around the child’s waist a string which they call Sútram;[83] this rite they call Mungi;[84] the string is to be made of the bark of the Darbha;[85] 10. three days after investing the boy with the Sutra, they should put the Zanar, or “sacrificial thread,”[86] about his neck, which they call the Yajnópavíta;[87] 11. on assuming the Brahmanical thread they are, by way of charity, to bestow a cow on the Brahmans, which act they call Gódán;[88] 12. is the ablution of the body with milk, curds, clarified butter, honey, and sugar, which they call the Ashnan-panjah and Paraish-chat;[89] 13. when the boy reaches his fifteenth year, they make him master of a household; this they call Viváhah,[90] or “matrimony;” 14. the son, after the decease of his father, performs the requisite charities and donations, which they call Pind-pradán;[91] 15. on the 7th of the month Mágha,[92] when the majesty of the great luminary is in Aquarius, they are to present the Brahmans with pulse, barley, wheat, black rice, sesamé, gold, and suchlike; this is called Dán-phal;[93] 16. on the Shiva-rátri,[94] or “night of Siva,” the 21st of the Bhágan (Phágan, or Phálgun) they present to the Brahmans a serpent of silver, with red rice, which they call Phani.[95]
The above are the sixteen ceremonies. It is moreover necessary that a Brahman’s son should be invested with the Munji at the age of eight, the Chatriyas at eleven, and the Vaisyas at twelve, after which ceremony the boy is to be sent to school.
A Brahman must, whilst performing the offices of nature, fasten the Munji securely on the right ear, turning his face to the north, but at night to the south. After performing these offices, he is to take his instrument, and going three paces farther he is to apply to his hands water, which is to be in a vessel, and with which earth has been blended, and this is to be continued until there remains no disagreeable odour. He is after this to perform his ablution in a clean place,[96] and seat himself in such a manner that his hands should be under his knees, with his face to the north or east; next, whilst repeating the prescribed forms of prayer, he is to put a little water three times successively into the palm of the right hand,[97] which he is to swallow without reciting any prayers; he is then to cleanse the mouth with the back of the left hand, and having taken into the palm of his hand other water, and dipped the other fingers into it, he is to apply them to his nose, eyes, and ears; the water must be pure, without foam or bubble. On this occasion the Brahman is to swallow so much water that the moisture may extend to his breast; the Chattri such a quantity as to extend to his throat; the Vaisya sufficient to moisten the inside of his mouth; the cultivator, women, and children who have not assumed the Munji, are to apply a little water to the lips, then immerse the head, and having repeated the proper forms of prayer, to sprinkle the head several times. The Brahman is next to compress the nostrils, so that the passage of inhalation and exhalation should be closed up, and recite the prayers prescribed on the occasion; then he is to stand for some time, turning his face towards the great luminary, and repeat the necessary formulæ. Every morning, on rising up and performing duly the offices of nature, he is to go through the necessary rites which they call Sandhya,[98] the observance of which, three times every day, is equally imperative on both Brahman and Chattriya: 1. every morning, or from the dawn of day until the rise of the world-illuminating solar orb; 2. at midday, from the sun’s meridian altitude to his declination; 3. at evening, or from one hour before the setting of the world-enlightening sun until the rising of the stars. These rites are to be accompanied by Ghasal, or “ablution,” except on the Sandhya of the latter part of the day, when, if it be impossible, the established prayers only are to be recited. On performing this ablution, the head is to be several times sprinkled with water in such a manner that it may fall in drops on it; after which, having gone through the indispensable forms of prayer, he is to make the Homa, that is, he is to light the holy fire on a pure spot, and place on it thin and fine pieces of wood, and having chosen the still more delicate splinters of it, and moistened them with water, he drops pure rice upon them. The fire being thus lighted, he addresses prayers to his spiritual guide or his instructor, father, and elders, and laying his head on the ground, solicits their benedictions; pronouncing during this adoration his own name, so that it may be heard by them, after this manner: “I, who am such a one, in profound adoration address my prayers to you, and prostrate myself in your presence:” the same prostration must also be performed to his mother. He then repairs to his master, before whom he stands in an humble attitude and receives instruction: but after this form, that the instructor should say of himself, “I am now at leisure:” he is not to command him, which would be accounted great rudeness. When the pupil waits on his master, he is to appear before him dressed in costly clothing; but if both master and pupil should be in indigent circumstances, the latter is to solicit alms, and thus procure subsistence for his master and himself: he is moreover to remain silent at table.
The boy, when invested with the Brahminical thread, is called a Brahmachari, until he enters into the marriage state; after which, if through the necessity of his own family he derives his daily support from another quarter, he is not to eat at one place only, but go round to several doors, and receiving something at each, convey the whole to its proper destination; but the person, whose father and mother charge themselves with his annual support, and who can discover no other Brahman beside himself in that district, is allowed to satisfy his appetite at one place. Until the time of his marriage, the Brahmachari eats not honey, never applies collyrium to the eyes, nor oil nor perfumes to the body; and never eats the viands left at table, except his master’s; he never utters a rejoinder with harshness or severity; avoids female intercourse; and never looks at the great luminary when rising or setting; he is a stranger to falsehood, and never uses an expression of ill omen; nor holds any one in detestation, or regards him as an object of reproach; above all, he shows exceeding veneration to his preceptor.
The ancients commanded that boys should be engaged in the study of the Veds, or “religious sciences,” from five years of age to twelve. They have also said: “A Brahman should study the four Védas;” but as the acquisition of the whole is impossible, their learned men are consequently satisfied with the knowledge of small portions of each. The first is the Rigvéda, which treats concerning the knowledge of the Divine essence and attributes; the mode of creation; the path of righteousness; of life and death. The second, or Yajúsh-véda, treats of the rules prescribed for religious ceremonies, faith, burnt offerings, and prayers. The third is the Sámavéda, which treats of the science of music, the proper mode of reading the Védas, and the portions selected from them; from this source are also derived vocal and instrumental harmony. The fourth is the Atharva-véda, which includes the rules of archery, the prayers proper to be recited when encountering the foe and discharging arrows against them. If a person acquainted with this system and form of prayer discharge a single arrow, it becomes a hundred thousand arrows, some of which contain fire, others wind, storm, dust, and rain; others vomit forth golden stones and huge bricks; whilst some assume the forms of tremendous wild beasts and ferocious animals, which strike terror into the boldest hearts. Many are the extraordinary modes and wonderful devices unfolded in this Véda for the total destruction of one’s enemies. Such is the Atharva Véda, and such the artifices, magic practices, incantations, spells, and devices contained in it.[99]
The Brahmachárí is of two kinds: one as already described, whom the Brahmans call Brahmachari, until the period of his becoming a householder and taking a wife; the second is he who in the course of this life never enters into the married state, pays no attention to worldly cares, and continues the devoted servant of his instructor, on whose death he pays the same attention to his survivors. If the disciple should happen to die in his master’s house or that of his successor, it is accounted far more meritorious than in any other place; and if his decease should not occur, he is carefully to worship the fire which is made for the purpose of the Hom, or “burnt-offering,” and diminishing every day the quantity of his food.
Having thus given some statements concerning the Brahmachárí, it now becomes proper to mention the various modes of contracting marriage among the Hindus: thus it is related in the first part of the Mahábhárat, that a woman who has lost her husband may lawfully take another; for when Parasu-Rama had exterminated the Chattris, their wives held intercourse with the Brahmans and bare them children. It is also permitted to a wife deprived of her husband, to attach herself to another; thus Yojanagandhá[100] was first the wife of Paraśara, by whom she had a son, the celebrated sage Vyása,[101] and she afterwards became the wife of a king named Santana.[102] In the same work it is also recorded, that a woman may, by her husband’s consent, maintain intercourse with another; thus, on the arrival of Raja Bali, a Brahman named Tamma, sent him his wife and obtained a son. In like manner, Raja Pándu, who abstained from all intercourse with woman, permitted his wife Kuntí[103] to keep company with others, and she, by force of his prayers, mixing with angels, had sons. In like manner it is permitted that the son be separated from the father, but remain with the mother, and that, on the decease of a brother, another brother by a different father but the same mother, may marry the widow of the deceased: thus Vyása, the son of Yojangandha by Párasaru,[104] visited the wives of Vichitra-Virya, who was born of the same mother, Yojangandha, by king Santanu, and there was born to him Dhritaráshtra, Raja Pándu, and Vidúra. It is also allowed that several individuals of the same race and religion may among them espouse one wife: thus Draupadí, daughter of Drúpada, Rája of Pánchála,[105] was married to the five Pandava princes; and Ahalyá,[106] the daughter of Gautama, to seven persons; and the daughter of another holy person, was married to ten husbands. The Yezdanians ascribe the seclusion of women, and their not choosing husbands for themselves, to litigation, corruption, and the family perplexities. It is recorded also in the Mahábhárat, that in ancient times there was no such practice as the appropriation of husband and wife; every woman being allowed to cohabit with whomsoever she thought proper, until once the wife of a holy personage being in the society of another, Swétakéta, the holy man’s son, feeling indignant at such conduct, pronounced this imprecation: “Let the woman who approaches a stranger be regarded as a spirit of hell!” and at present the brute creation, which possess in common with us, immaterial souls, act according to the ancient law: many, also, of the northern nations follow the same practice. In the same work it is also stated, that the sage Vyása was born of the daughter of a fisherman, whom the sage Paraśara espoused, from which it follows that the issue of such a low connection is not to be held as a low or degraded character. Thus far has been extracted from the Mahábhárat.
According to the Smarttas, there are two kinds of wives: the first is the legitimate wife, who is degraded by holding intercourse with any man save her husband: the second are those on whom no restraints are imposed; of whom there are numbers at the disposition of their chief men. The princes of ancient times, to all appearance, established this description of females for the purpose of receiving travellers and pilgrims, an act which they regarded as productive of great blessings.
Moreover, on account of the increase of the male population, they held not as a criminal act the holding an intercourse with these females; but regarded guilt to consist in being intimate with a woman who has a husband: they moreover esteemed it a base act to defraud the licensed class of their hire. Tradition records that, in former times, the Lulees, or “dancing women,” who inhabited the temple of the Tortoise in the city of Kalinga, at first gave their daughters to a Brahman, in order to conciliate the favor of the Almighty and insure future happiness; but that afterwards they gave them from selfish purposes, and exposed them from mercenary motives; even at present, although they have entirely given up every pious purpose, yet they do not associate with any save those of their own religion. However, Shir Muhammed Khan, who was appointed military governor of that province under the first sovereign, Abdálláh Kuteb Shah, forced them to repair to the houses of the Moslem: notwithstanding which, the Lulees of the temple of Jagganath, to this very day hold no intercourse with the Muhammedans. In Gaya and Soram, when they take a wife, she must be of noble and honorable descent, and of graceful carriage; and must not previously have been affianced to any other person; she is not to be related, in the remotest degree, to the stock or family of her husband, she ought to have brothers, and her lineage and family for ten generations are to be publicly known among her contemporaries. Her relations also make strict inquiries into the merits and demerits of the bridegroom, particularly as to the state of his health and stamina. Some writers assert, that a Brahman may occasionally demand in marriage the daughter of a Chattri, merchant, or cultivator, but on this condition, that they do not join their husband in partaking of food or drink.