They say, when Badih eddin Madar[390] came to Hindostan, he became a Yogi, whom the Hindus held in great esteem, and who had a great number of followers. Madar took a house; he sent a little boy, whose name was Jamen, with the order to fetch some dry cowdung with which he wanted to kindle a fire. It so happened that Jamen fell in with an assembly of Yogis, who, supposing him a Muselman, killed, cut into pieces, and devoured the boy. Some time after, not receiving any thing to light up his fire, Madár went in search of Jamen, and found the assembly of Yogis, to whom he said: “What have you done with my good little boy?” They answered: “We have not seen him.” Madár called him loud by his name, and the members of Jamen, from within the bodies of the assembled Yogis, answered “Dam madar.” Madár then said to the Yogis: “Shall I bring forth Jamen from you all, or from one only of you?” They replied: “From one body only.” By the power of Madár, the limbs of the boy having united, in a manner that no body perceived any thing of it, in the belly of the principal Yogi, Jamen fell out from the nose of the same, so that neither the nostril of the Yogi’s nose was enlarged, nor the boy’s limbs diminished:[391] whereupon the Yogis chose to run away. Madár settled at this place, which till now is known by the name of Makanpúr.[392] The Madarían come, as many as possible, from all parts of the world, once a year, on a fixed day, to Makanpur, and say that the blind and lame find their cure in that place.
They relate also, that Chistápá, the wife of Baharam Gul, in order to put to the test the Muhammedan and Indian durvishes and saints, came once among them who were assembled, and said: “Whoever will loosen the bracelet of beads (called Sámran) upon my arm, without betraying the least symptom of lust, he is a perfect saint.” All the pretenders to perfect sanctity, Muselmans and Hindus, presented themselves, but at the sight of Chistapa, they all were maddened with love, such was the beauty of her face: at last the turn came to Jamen, who approached her, and loosened the bracelet in a manner which, at the same time, evinced his manly strength, and his complete command over himself.[393] On that account, Jamen was proclaimed victorious over all the Muselmans and Hindus. And they have a great number of other similar stories.
Another sect, the Jelalían, are disciples of Said Jelal, of Bokhára;[394] his sepulchre is in the village Auch, in the district of Sind; these sectaries profess to be Shíáhs, whilst the Medárían are Sunís, on which account they revile each other. The former know of neither prayers nor fasts, nor any other practices of piety with which the Sufís are occupied; they take a great deal of bang, and used to eat snakes and scorpions. When the adepts among them see a snake, they put it whole into their mouth and swallow it, saying: “This is a fish of the holy Alí;” in eating a scorpion they remark: “This is a prawn of Alí:” and the worms which are found in the water, they call the little crabs of Alí. Like the Medárian, the Jelalían go naked, and even in the severely cold season, wear no garment; they sit before the fire like the Medárian, but do not wear matted hair; frequently they shave four parts of their body, and lead a wandering life in the world. Some of them bring every thing that they gain to their master, and when they go for instruction to a preceptor, they deliver to him whatever they possess in ready money and other property; after which he presents them with a turban, and his list of saints; they wear that on their heads, and hang this on their necks. They believe that, when Jzráíl comes to take their soul, the turban, descending, covers their eyes so that they may not behold the face of the angel of death, which is exceedingly terrific. Their master looks every day for a new connexion with a woman; whenever he knows of a fine girl among his disciples, he orders trumpets to be blown, goes on horseback, and betaking himself to their house, uses his own discretion with the girl, whom he now and then takes to his own house, but never marries. The author of this book asked one of the Jelális: “Hámed Mahommed, your master, does he take the daughter of one of his disciples without marrying her?” He answered: “The Safavian kings too take wives, daughters, and sons of their disciples, who are highly pleased with it, why should not Hámed Mahommed, who is truly the Khalif (substitute) of Alí, do the same?” This act is a sign of sovereignty, and a prerogative of the family of the prophet. In this country are many of his disciples, and he is a very great friend to hunting.
There is another sect who call themselves without tie and food; it is a laudable conduct with them to take nothing from any body beyond the required food and drink; and for their indispensable clothing, from the shreds which they find in the streets to stick together a coat, which they call kherka; and when they ask something from any body, they first revile him and call him bad names, wherefore they often receive bad treatment from the people. They say, God is a spirit, and Muhammed his body; his four friends are his two arms and two feet; dam mádar, that is, Mádar, is the breath and the spirit of God. They drink many sorts of spirituous and intoxicating liquors. They believe the unity of the divine being, and some of them are also pious men. Their master was Gada Naráyana. The three just mentioned sects never shed the blood of animated beings.
Another sect, called Kakan, is in Kachmir; celibacy is their law, and their belief the unity of the divine being. They use much bang; a number of them is devoted to piety; their name of “Kakan” is derived from that of their master, who was Ibrahim Kakak. He lived, they say, in the time of the Pádshah Jehangír, who inhabits heaven, and drew to him whomever he chose; his very sight was such an attraction, that he on whom it fixed was irresistibly thrown at his feet; thus he attached to himself a great number of disciples, Hindus and Muselmans, none of whom he induced to change his religion; that is to say, to the Hindu he did not expound the Koran, nor propose circumcision; and to the Muselman he did not make an obligation of the Zunar, and of the mark of caste upon the forehead; neither the praise of Muselmans nor the blame of Hindus came ever upon his tongue; he never pronounced either the name of the prophet or that of an Avatar, which are the great objects of veneration to the Muselmans and to the Hindus; but he uttered Ruma, or Alla, or Khoda. He did not sleep at night, nor did his disciples, who sat back to back until morning before him. At a place of Kachmir, he said to his followers: “A great number of men laid down; let us do the same.” The followers answered: “Let it be as you say:” he then first laid himself down to sleep, and the friends did the same. One day he heard the voice of a crier from the top of a minaret, and said: “This is the voice of God;” at this moment one of his companions broke wind; he subjoined: “This too is God; this too the divine tongue.” A student present said to him: “Do not blaspheme.” He replied: “The one and the other is an undulation of the air, and the air is subject to God.” The student reassumed: “But the bad smell, with the noise, what is it?” The answer was: “This proceeds from the association of ‘thou and I.’” The student said farther: “Drink no bang, because the bang-drinkers shall not pass over the bridge of judgment (sarat´h).” Kakak replied: “Great is the number of bang-drinkers; let us, on this side of the bridge, build a town and call it Bang pur, and not think of passing the bridge.” Goya Kásem composed a ludicrous account of these drunken sectaries. When the king Kásem Anwar (distributor of splendors) was near the habitation of excellence, he recited the following verses:
“He (God) distributes the light; I distribute bang,
He is the distributor of splendors; I, the distributor of secrets.”
A great number of men in India think as these sectaries. The Sanyásis assembled once in one of the sacred places of pilgrimage revered by the Hindus; by accident, an army of naked Jelális and Madáris came there at the same time, and having brought a cow, wanted to kill it; the Sanyásis bought the cow from them; they came a second time, with another cow, which the Sanyásis again, not without entreaties, purchased. These men, barefoot and bareheaded, having become insolent by their numbers, brought a third cow and killed it; the Sanyásis, indignant at this, attacked them, and a battle ensued, in which the Sanyásis at last obtained the victory, and killed seven hundred of the naked Jelális and Madáris; they educated the boys of these fanatics, whom they made prisoners on this occasion, in their own religion. The Sanyásis were frequently seen engaged in war.
Another class of the Hindus are the Yógis, who pretend to a high antiquity; an account of them has already been given.
Other sects, such as the Sankhyan, and the Patanjálís,[395] are devoted to piety, and practise the yóga, and other pious austerities; also the Charvakíán, who believe the four classes of their sect to be very ancient: we have already treated of them, as well as of the Játis and Vairágis; the Nanak Panthíán will be introduced hereafter.