[224] अवधूत.
[225] जूट.
[226] भस्म bhasma, “ashes,” भस्मीभूत bhasmíbuta, “becoming ashes.”
[227] शास्त्र sástra, from शास sása, “to govern,” an order, command, institutes of religion, science, etc.
[228] अन्त.
[229] The king of Persia above mentioned was probably Abbas, the son of Shah Muhammed Mirza. He began to reign in 1585, and died in 1628, in his 70th year. He was called “the Great,” although his character and life were stained by vices but too common to Oriental princes. To him succeeded his grandson Shah Súfí, in 1627, and died in 1641; then the son of the latter, Abbas II, not yet ten years old, was proclaimed king; at the date above mentioned, viz. 1643, he was about twelve years old, and could therefore not be the king characterised by Kalin Bharati, who could very easily, but fifteen years before the epoch above mentioned, have seen Abbas “the Great,” then, as he says, “full of years.”
[230] Probably स्थातारस् sthátáras.
[231] मौनिनस्.
Section the seventh describes the tenets of the Sáktían.—The belief of this sect is as follows: Síva, that is Mahádeva, who in their opinion with little exception is the highest of the deities, and the greatest of the spirits, has a spouse whom they call Máyá saktí;[232] this spouse shows first one color, and then another, that is, something else than what really exists: for instance, water like wine. This spiritual and material principle has three natures and three qualities, namely: rajas,[233] that is, “dominion and desire;” sattva,[234] which is “rectitude and wisdom, and the power to control the senses, not to be subject to them;” and tamas,[235] or “violence, passion, besides eating, gluttony, and sleeping.” With the Hindus, Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadeva are personified as proceeding from these three conditions,[236] or as the powers of the three qualities mentioned. This Máyá is the maker of the productions of this world and of its inhabitants, and the creator of the spirits and of the bodies; the universe and its contents are born from her: from respect of the said productions and of the mentioned effects, she is entitled Jagat-ambá,[237] or “mother of the universe;” non-entity finds no access to this creator; the garment of perishableness does not sit right upon the body of this fascinating empress; the dust of nothingness does not move round the circle of her dominion; the real beings of heaven, and the accidental creations of the nether world, are equally enamoured and intoxicated of desire before her; bound by these ties of deceit in this revolving world, whoever rebels feels the desire of mukt, that is, of emancipation, independence, and happiness; nevertheless, from carelessness, he pays obedience and worship to this world-deceiving queen, and never abandons the path of adoration of this bewitching lady. This goddess, that is the spiritual principle, exists in all living beings in six circles, which they call shat chakras,[238] as the fibres in the stalk of a water-lily, in which there are six divisions: 1. the Muládhára, or “the sitting-place;” 2. the Manipúram, that is, “the navel;” 3. the Swadhishtanam,[239] “the firm place, and which commands the upper region of the navel;” 4. Hrid,[240] or “the heart;” 5. Sáda,[241] that is, “the purified mansion and the place of purification,” and this proceeds from the upmost part of the breast; 6. Agni tchakra,[242] or “the circle of the fire,” and this is that of the eye-brows. These are the six circles, and above them is Indra, that is the window of life, and the passage of the soul, which is the top and middle of the head; and in that place is the flower of the back of one thousand leaves: this is the residence of the glorious divinity, that is, of the world-deceiving queen, and in this beautiful site reposes her origin. With the splendour of one hundred thousand world-illuminating suns, she wears, at the time of rising, manifold odoriferous herbs and various flowers upon her head and around her neck: her resplendent body is penetrated with perfumes of various precious ingredients, such as musk, safran, sandal and amber, and bedecked with magnificent garments: in this manner, as was just described, she is to be represented. The worship of her form and appearance, the adoration and submission, ought to be internal and true; and the exterior veneration, to be paid before her image; moreover, all that has been divided into five sections and explained in the Yoga śastra, is to be performed with assiduity. The interior worship consists in representing her image, and in keeping her remembrance every where; the possessor of such an imaginative faculty and devotedness is called bhakta,[243] that is, “a possessor of gladness and of the mansion of perfect delight, and of mukt, or ‘liberation’ to be enjoyed in this mansion of a permanent happy existence.” The mode of this worship is contained in the Agama,[244] and the whole sect conform themselves to it. With them, the power of Mahadeva’s wife, who is Bhávání, surpasses that of the husband. The zealous of this sect worship the Síva-linga, although other Hindus also venerate it. Linga[245] is called the virile organ, and they say on behalf of this worship that, as men and all living beings derive their existence from it, adoration is duly bestowed on it. As the linga of Mahadeva, so do they venerate the bhaga,[246] that is, the female organ. A man very familiar with them gave the information that, according to their belief, the high altar, or principal place in a mosque of the Muselmans, is an emblem of the bhaga. Another man among them said that, as the just-named place emblems the bhaga, the minar, or turret of the mosque represents the linga: on which account both are found together. In many places and among a great number of the Hindus, this worship exists: a great many follow the Agama, in which wine drinking is approved, and if, instead of a common cup, a man’s skull (which they call kapála[247]) be used, the beverage is much more agreeable. They hold the killing of all animals, even of man, to be permitted, and call it bala.[248] At night they go to the places which they call śmaśána,[249] and where the dead bodies are burnt; there they intoxicate themselves, eat the flesh of the corpses burnt, and copulate before the eyes of others with women, which they name śakti púja:[250] and if the devoted woman be that of another, the good work is so much the more valuable, and it is certain that they offer their wives to each other; the disciples bring their wives and daughters to their preceptor; they unite with their mothers, sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, which is against the custom of the Hindus, who do not take daughters of their near relations. The author of this work saw one of the learned men of this sect, who read to him a book of modern composition upon their customs, and therein was stated that it is permitted to mix with every woman except one’s daughter. This man began to abuse the work, saying that the text was contrary to the old customs of this class, and that no such thing is to be found in the ancient books, and declared it at last to be a mistake of the copyist. They say that the woman exists for the sake of being desired; she may be a mother or a daughter. In their opinion, there is no enjoyment higher that that of love; the Hindus call it kámada;[251] and say that, when a woman and a man are in close conversation, whoever disturbs them is worthy of God’s malediction, because they both therein share a state of happiness. The Agama favors both sexes equally, and makes no distinction between women; they may belong to whomsoever: men and women compose equally humankind, and whatever they bring forth makes part of it. This sect hold women in great esteem, and call them śaktis (powers); and to ill treat a śakti, that is, a woman, is held a crime. The high and low value the Lulís (public girls) very high, and call them deva kanya,[252] “daughters of the gods.”