Pallas and Bergmann have written much on the religious cosmogony of the Kalmucks; we will follow them in their investigations, and endeavour to complete them by means of our own observations.
There was in the beginning an immense abyss, called Khoubi Saiagar, exceeding in length and depth 6,116,000 berez (about 12,000,000 leagues), and out of this abyss the Taingairis, or aerial spirits, existing from all eternity, drew forth the world. First rose fiery-coloured clouds, which gathered together until they dissolved into a heavy rain, every drop of which was as big as a chariot wheel, and thus was formed the universal sea. Soon afterwards there appeared on the surface of the waters an immense quantity of foam, white as milk, and out of it issued all living creatures, including the human race. We will say nothing of those hurricanes which, arising from the ten parts of the world, produced in the upper hemisphere that fantastic column, as lofty as the ocean is deep, round which revolve the various worlds of the Buddhist universe. But we cannot forbear to mention the ingenious explanation by which the astronomers of Thibet accounted for the periodical revolutions of the day. According to their sacred books, the mystic column has four faces, of different colours, argent, azure, or, and deep red. At sunrise the rays of the sun fall on the argent side, in the forenoon they are reflected from the azure, at noon from the gold, towards the close of day from the red surface, and the concealment of the orb behind the column is what produces night.
All the books of the Kalmucks speak of four great lands, which are sometimes spoken of as belonging to the same whole, sometimes as forming separate worlds. The first of these, lying eastward, is occupied by giants who are eight cubits high, and live for 150 years; the second, towards the west, has inhabitants eleven cubits high, whose lifetime is 500 years; the third, placed in the north, is still more favoured, for its inhabitants, though devoid of souls, live for 1000 years exempt from all infirmity. Their stature is 230 cubits. When the term of their existence is arrived, they assemble their families and their friends around them, and expire calmly at the call of a heavenly voice summoning them by their name. The fourth earth is that on which we dwell, and on which all the favours of the Deity are profusely lavished. It has four great rivers bearing the mystic names of Ganga, Schilda, Baktschou, and Aipura, which take their rise in the heart of four great mountains, where dwells an elephant two leagues long, white as snow, and named Gasar Sakitschin Koven (protector of the earth). This fabulous animal has thirty-three red heads, each furnished with six trunks, whence spout forth as many fountains, all surmounted with six stars. On each star sits a virgin always young and gracefully attired. These virgins are the daughters of the aerial spirits, one of whom, the most potent of all, sits astride on the middle of the elephant's head, when the animal thinks fit to change his quarters.[48]
In the beginning the inhabitants of this privileged earth lived 80,000 years, abounding in health, and incapable of forming a desire that was not instantly fulfilled. Their eyes shot forth rays of light that supplied the place of the sun and the stars, and invisible grace stood them instead of all nourishment. It was during this golden age that most of the secondary divinities were born, and 1000 Bourkhans were taken up from the earth to the abode of the blessed. But those blissful times came to an end, for, as in Genesis, an unlucky fruit, for which mankind imprudently conceived a liking, was the cause of their downfal. The human race lost all its precious privileges; its wings failed; physical wants tormented it; its gigantic stature dwindled down, and the span of life was contracted to 40,000 years, whilst the luminous rays of the eyes, the only light of that period, disappeared. Darkness then covered the face of the earth, until four powerful deities, touched with compassion, squeezed the mountain hard, and forced from it the sun and the moon, those two great luminaries which still exist in our day.
The evil did not stop here. To the physical woes that afflicted man was soon added moral depravation; adultery, homicide, and violence supplanted the primitive virtues, and disorder reigned over the whole face of the habitable earth. During this long period of decay the duration of life underwent successive curtailments, and many bourkhans descended on earth to correct and ameliorate mankind. The bourkhan Ebdekchi (the perturber) appeared at the time when the duration of life did not exceed 40,000 years. Altan Dohidakti, the bourkhan of incorruptible gold, appeared to the world when men only lived 30,000 years, and those whose years were but 20,000 were visited by the bourkhan Guerel Sakitchi (the guardian of the world). After him came Massouschiri. Lastly, the term of human, existence had been reduced to 100 years, when the celebrated bourkhan Dchakdchamouni, the founder of the existing sect, came upon the earth and preached the faith to one-and-thirty nations. A great moral revolution then took place in the world; but unfortunately the new law was variously interpreted, and thence resulted this great diversity of religions and languages.
Still, however, the degeneration of the human race is far from having reached its utmost limit. The life and stature of man and of all animals, will undergo a further considerable diminution in the course of ages. There will come a time when the horse will be no bigger than the present race of hares, and men but a few palms high, will live but ten years, and will marry at the age of five months. Thus the Buddhists have adopted notions diametrically opposed to those of certain modern philosophers, who think that we began as oysters and will end with being gods. Which is the more absurd of these two opinions? We shall not attempt to decide the question, but leave it to our neighbours beyond the Rhine, who are more competent than we to deal with such matters. The extreme limit of physical decay having been once attained, most living creatures will be destroyed by a mortal malady. But just when the world seems on the point of relapsing into the chaos from whence it issued, the voice of the celestial spirits will be heard, and some of the miserable dwarfs still peopling the earth will seek refuge in dark caverns; it will then rain swords, spears, and all sorts of deadly weapons; the ground will be strewed with corpses and red with blood. Finally, a horrible down-pour of rain will sweep all the corpses and all the filth into the ocean. This will be the last act of the genius of destruction, soon after which a fragrant rain will vivify the earth. All sorts of garments and food will drop from the sky; the dwarfs that have escaped destruction will come forth from their caverns, and men, regenerated and virtuous, will at once recover their gigantic stature and their privilege of living 80,000 years. There will then be a new decay, and when the bourkhan Maidari appears on earth, men will have again become dwarfs; but at the voice of that prophet they will be fully converted, and will attain a high degree of perfection. We will not follow Lamism through its systems regarding the various epochs of the world. The notions of the Kalmucks on this head are so confused, that I have been unable to learn any thing in addition to what is stated by the learned Pallas. Their sacred books speak of forty-nine epochs, ending by fire, or deluges, or hurricanes. They are all divided into four great periods. The first comprises the space of time in which human life begins with being 80,000 years long, and diminishes to 10,000; during the second period man perishes; during the third the earth remains desolate, and in the fourth occurs a hurricane which carries the souls from hell to the earth.
We have already mentioned that happy epoch in which thousands of holy beings were raised to the heavens, and deified under the name of bourkhans. These bourkhans do not all hold the same rank, but differ from each other both in power and functions. The Kalmucks, who hold them in great veneration, adore them as the most beneficent deities. Their images are found in all the temples. The mighty Dchakdchamouni is most especially worshipped. The bourkhans are supposed to inhabit different worlds; some dwell in the planets, others in the regions of the air, others again in the sky; Dchakdchamouni still inhabits the earth. There is an infinite multitude of legends concerning these secondary divinities, especially the last named. The following adventure is related of him in all the religious books of the Lamites, and is known to all the Kalmucks: One day three bourkhans were praying with great fervour, and while their eyes were piously cast down, an infernal genius deposited his excrement in the sacred cup belonging to one of them. Great was the stupefaction of the bourkhans when they lifted up their heads. They consulted further what they should do. If they diffused the pestiferous matter through the air, it would be the destruction of all the beings that people that element; if they let it fall on the earth, all its inhabitants would, in like manner, perish. They resolved, therefore, for the good of mankind, to swallow the dreadful substance. Dchakdchamouni had the bottom of the cup for his share, and the legend states that so horrible was the taste, the poor bourkhan's face suddenly became blue all over. That god has ever since been depicted with a blue visage.
The aerial spirits are next in importance to the bourkhans; some of them are beneficent, others malignant. The Kalmucks worship these rather than the others, because they alone can do harm to mortals, whilst nothing but good offices are to be expected from the beneficent spirits. These genii are not immortal, and their power is much less than that of the bourkhans. The manner in which their race is propagated is very simple, but singular: an embrace, an exchange of smiles, or of gracious looks is sufficient with them to produce conception. All these spirits have divers abodes in the world and in the air; to the malevolent among them, the Kalmucks attribute all the disorders of the atmosphere, and all pestilential diseases; the evil genii are particularly active in stormy weather, wherefore the Kalmucks greatly dread thunder, and always fire many shots when a storm blows, in order to scare away the demons.
There are also in the Lamite religion a great many fabulous deities represented by monstrous idols, which appear to be old reminiscences of a primitive creed anterior to Buddhism. It is remarkable that these idols have generally female faces. They are almost always decorated with the scarf of honour, or the bell and sceptre, used by the priests in their religious ceremonies, are placed in their hands. The priests are the makers of all these idols, some of which are of curious workmanship. The materials are baked earth, bronze, silver, or even gold.
Though the Kalmucks address their worship almost exclusively to the host of secondary deities we have just mentioned, still they acknowledge a supreme being, to whom the bourkhans and the good and evil genii are but vassals: if they have no image or idol representing him, it is because the conception of the one eternal creator passes all the bounds of their imagination, and they rather apply their thoughts to beings less incomprehensible and less remote from their own nature. Pallas seems to think that the Kalmucks follow the system of Epicurus, but the conversations I have had with many learned princes and priests, have convinced me of the contrary.