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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Hindoos as they Are, by Shib Chunder Bose
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Hindoos as they Are
+       A Description of the Manners, Customs and the Inner Life
+       of Hindoo Society in Bengal
+
+Author: Shib Chunder Bose
+
+Release Date: October 11, 2011 [EBook #37722]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HINDOOS AS THEY ARE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Julia Neufeld and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: For this text version, t with a dot underneath
+is represented by [t.] as in "ba[t.]h".
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  HINDOOS AS THEY ARE
+
+  A DESCRIPTION OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS
+
+  AND
+
+  INNER LIFE OF HINDOO SOCIETY
+
+  IN BENGAL.
+
+  BY
+
+  SHIB CHUNDER BOSE.
+
+  WITH A PREFATORY NOTE BY
+
+  THE REV. W. HASTIE, B. D.,
+
+  PRINCIPAL OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S INSTITUTION, CALCUTTA.
+
+  London:
+
+  EDWARD STANFORD, 55, CHARING CROSS.
+
+  Calcutta:
+
+  W. NEWMAN & Co., 3, DALHOUSIE SQUARE.
+
+  1881.
+
+  PRINTED BY W. NEWMAN AND CO.,
+  AT THE CAXTON PRESS, 1, MISSION ROW, CALCUTTA.
+
+  [_The Right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved._]
+
+
+
+    CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                          _Page._
+
+    PREFATORY NOTE.                                             i
+
+    INTRODUCTION.                                             iii
+
+    I. THE HINDOO HOUSEHOLD                                     1
+
+    II. THE BIRTH OF A HINDOO                                  22
+
+    III. THE HINDOO SCHOOL-BOY                                 30
+
+    IV. VOWS OF HINDOO GIRLS                                   35
+
+    V. MARRIAGE CEREMONIES                                     41
+
+    VI. THE BROTHER FESTIVAL                                   90
+
+    VII. THE SON-IN-LAW FESTIVAL                               92
+
+    VIII. THE DOORGA POOJAH FESTIVAL                           93
+
+    IX. THE KALI POOJAH FESTIVAL                              136
+
+    X. THE SARASWATI POOJAH                                   151
+
+    XI. THE FESTIVAL OF CAKES                                 155
+
+    XII. THE HOLI FESTIVAL                                    159
+
+    XIII. CASTE                                               165
+
+    XIV. A BRAHMIN                                            180
+
+    XV. THE BENGALEE BABOO                                    191
+
+    XVI. THE KOBIRAJ, OR NATIVE PHYSICIAN                     209
+
+    XVII. HINDOO FEMALES                                      216
+
+    XVIII. POLYGAMY                                           227
+
+    XIX. HINDOO WIDOWS                                        237
+
+    XX. SICKNESS, DEATH, AND SHRAD OR FUNERAL CEREMONIES      246
+
+    XXI. SUTTEE, OR THE IMMOLATION OF HINDOO WIDOWS           272
+
+    XXII. THE ADMIRED STORY OF SABITRI BRATA, OR THE
+    WONDERFUL TRIUMPH OF EXALTED CHASTITY                     280
+
+    APPENDIX                                                  293
+
+ERRATA.
+
+Page 49, line 4, for "_Butterfly_," read, "_Prajapati_--the (Lord.)"
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+Babu Shib Chunder Bose is an enlightened Bengali, of matured conviction
+and character, who, having received the stirring impulse of Western
+culture and thought during the early period of Dr. Duff's work in the
+General Assembly's Institution, has continued faithful to it through all
+these long and changeful years. His extended and varied experience, his
+careful habit of observation and contrast, his large store of general
+reading and information, and his rare sobriety and earnestness of
+judgment, eminently qualify him for lifting the veil from the inner
+domestic life of his countrymen, and giving such an account of their
+social and religious observances as may prove intelligible and
+instructive to general English readers. In the sketches which he has now
+produced we are presented with the first-fruits of "the harvest of a
+quiet eye" that has long meditatively watched the strange ongoings of
+this ancient society, and penetrated with living insight into the
+springs and tendency of its startling changes.
+
+Although I had no special claim to any right of judgment upon the
+present phases of Hindu life, the writer took me early into his
+confidence, and from the apparent quality and sincerity of his work I
+had no hesitation in encouraging him to persevere, recommending him,
+however, to leave historical speculation to others and to confine
+himself to a faithful delineation of facts within his own experience.
+While his manuscripts were passing through my hands, I took pains to
+verify his descriptions by frequent reference to younger educated
+natives, who, in all cases, confirmed the accuracy and reliability of
+the details. The book will stand on its own merits with English readers,
+whose happily increasing interest in the forms and movements of Hindu
+life at this transitional period when the picturesque institutions and
+habits of thousands of years are visibly and irrevocably passing away,
+should gladly welcome its fresh and opportune representations. And all
+who, viewing without regret the decay of the old order and animated by
+the faith of nobler possibilities than it has ever achieved, are
+actually engaged in the great work of religious regeneration and social
+reform in India, should find much in these truthful but saddening
+sketches to intensify their sympathies and give definite direction and
+guidance to their best efforts.
+
+                                                         W. HASTIE.
+
+  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S INSTITUTION,
+      _23rd March, 1881_.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+In presenting the following volume to the Public, I am conscious of the
+very great disadvantage I labor under in attempting to communicate my
+thoughts through the medium of a language differing from my
+mother-tongue both in the forms of construction and in the methods of
+expression. My appeal to the indulgence of the public is based on the
+ground of my work being true to its name. It professes to be a simple,
+but faithful, delineation of the present state of Hindoo society in
+Bengal, and especially in Calcutta, the Athens of Hindoosthan. I cannot
+promise anything thrilling or sensational. My principal object is to
+give as much information as possible regarding the moral, intellectual,
+social and domestic economy of my countrymen and countrywomen. The
+interest attaching to the information and facts furnished will greatly
+depend on the spirit in which they may be received. To such of my
+readers as feel a genuine interest in a true reflection of the present
+state of society in this country, passing from a condition of almost
+impenetrable darkness to that of marvellous light, through the general
+and rapid diffusion of western knowledge, I do not think the details I
+have given will be found dull or dry. Not a few of the facts stated
+will, I fear, prove painfully interesting to those who are cognisant of
+the many incrusted defects and deficiencies still lurking in our social
+system. But if we carefully look at it we shall doubtless discover that
+it is not all darkness and clouds, "it has its crimson dawns, its rosy
+sunsets." The multitudinous phases of Hindoo life, though sadly
+revolting and repulsive in many respects, have nevertheless some
+redeeming features, revealing radiant glimpses of simple and innocent
+joys. In discussing the various social questions in their purely earthly
+aspects and relationships, it may be I have treated some of them
+inadequately and superficially, but in so doing I claim the merit of a
+humble endeavour after perfect honesty. I have in no wise exaggerated,
+but have simply followed the golden maxim of "nothing extenuate nor set
+down aught in malice."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The men of the land, and not the land of the men, form the subject
+matter of my work. My attention has long been directed to the domestic,
+social, moral, intellectual and religious condition of the Hindoos. The
+deep researches of European savants have from time to time thrown a
+flood of light on the learning and antiquities of India. We have every
+reason to admire the great truthfulness and accuracy of their
+observations in many respects. As foreigners, however, they were
+naturally constrained to pay but a subordinate attention to the peculiar
+domestic and social economy of the Natives. The idea of attempting a
+sketch of the inner life and habits of the Hindoos in this age, was
+originally suggested to the writer by the Revd. Drs. Duff and
+Charles--two Christian philanthropists, whose names are deservedly
+enshrined in the grateful memory of the Hindoo community of Bengal, the
+great centre of their educational and religious achievements. It was
+cordially approved by that high-minded statesman, Sir Charles
+Theophilus, afterwards Lord Metcalfe, who practically taught the Indian
+Public what a writer in the "_Nineteenth Century_" so aptly calls the
+great Trinity of liberty,--freedom of speech, freedom of trade, and
+freedom of religion.
+
+To supply this desideratum, and not merely to gratify the natural
+curiosity to know the inner life of the Hindoos, but to do something in
+the line of social amelioration by "bringing the stagnant waters of
+Eastern life into contact with the quickening stream of European
+progress," have been the chief aim of the following pages. Should a
+liberal Public, here as well as in Europe and America, vouchsafe its
+countenance to this my first literary enterprise, I purpose to continue
+my humble labor in the same sphere, extending my observation, if
+advisable, to a picture of the social life of Upper, Western and
+Southern India. The vastness of the subject is one great difficulty. It
+will open to all civilized and philanthropic nations a wide and yet
+unexplored field for the exercise of their thoughts and sympathies.
+
+To Europeans, and more especially to Englishmen, who have, for more than
+a century and a half, been the great and beneficent arbiters under
+Providence of the destiny of this vast empire, a correct knowledge of
+the domestic and social institutions of the Hindoos, is of the most
+vital importance, being essentially indispensable to a right
+understanding of the existing wants, wishes, feelings and sentiments,
+condition and progress of the subject race. Many erroneous ideas
+concerning the singular customs and observances of the people of India
+still prevail in Europe and America. They are partly due to defective
+observation, and partly to the prejudices of men whose minds are too
+pre-occupied to properly understand and appreciate the peculiar phases
+of character, manners and usages among nations other than their own.
+Such men are unfortunately led to associate the Natives "with ways that
+are dark and tricks that are vain." To remove the mass of misconception
+yet prevailing in some quarters by placing before the general reader a
+true and comprehensive knowledge of the daily life of a people, who
+occupy such a huge spot on the earth's surface, and whose numbers are
+counted by hundreds of millions, is indeed an important step towards the
+solution of a great social problem, and towards the removal of the gulf
+that divides the sons of the soil from the English rulers of the
+country. The tendency of close and constant intercourse is to promote an
+identity of interests between the two races. As a Native, the author may
+be allowed to have had the facilities requisite for acquiring a clear
+idea of the manners and customs of his countrymen, which may
+counterbalance in some degree the drawbacks and deficiencies naturally
+experienced by him on the score of language.
+
+The Rev. W. Hastie, B. D., Principal of the General Assembly's
+Institution, and Mr. J. B. Knight, C. I. E., have laid me under great
+and lasting obligations by their kind suggestions and encouragement. I
+have particularly to thank the former for the prefatory note which he
+has written in response to my special request.
+
+                                                SHIB CHUNDER BOSE.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+THE HINDOO HOUSEHOLD.
+
+
+It is my intention in the following pages to endeavour to convey to the
+mind of the European reader some distinct idea of the present manners
+and customs, usages and institutions of my Hindoo countrymen,
+illustrative of their peculiar domestic and social habits and the
+_inner_ life of our society, the minutiae of which can never be
+sufficiently accessible to Europeans. "It is in the domestic circle that
+manners are best seen, where restraint is thrown aside, and no external
+authority controls the freedom of expression."
+
+I shall begin with a general account of the normal Hindoo household, as
+at once the living centre and meeting point of the various elements of
+our society. But as it is impossible to describe the manifold gradations
+of social condition in a single sketch, I shall draw from the domestic
+arrangements of a family of one of the higher castes and provided with a
+convenient share of worldly prosperity. Only the principal elements in
+the group can now be alluded to, and some of them will be described with
+greater detail in separate sketches.
+
+The family domicile of a Hindoo is, to all intents and purposes, a
+regular sanctum, not easily accessible to the outside world. Its
+peculiar construction, its tortuous passages, its small compartments and
+special apportionment, obviously indicate the prevalence of a taste
+"cabined, cribbed, confined," and preclude the admittance of free
+ventilation and free intercourse. The annals of history have long since
+established the fact that the close confinement system which exists in
+Bengal, was mainly owing to the oppressions of the Moslem conquerors,
+and more recently to the inroads of the Pindaree marauders, commonly
+termed _Burghees_, the tales of whose depredations are still listened
+to with gaping mouths and terrified interest.
+
+The gradual consolidation of the British power having established on a
+firm basis the security of life and property, the people are beginning
+to avail themselves of an improved mode of habitation, affording better
+facilities of accommodation and a wider range of the comforts and
+conveniences of life. From time out of mind there has existed in the
+country a sort of domestic and social economy, bearing a close
+resemblance to the old patriarchal system, recognising the principle of
+a common father or ruler of a family, who exercises parental control
+over all. The system of a joint Hindoo family[1] partaking of the same
+food, living under the same roof from generation to generation,
+breathing the same atmosphere, and worshipping the same god, is
+decidedly a traditional inheritance which the particular structure of
+Hindoo society has long reared and fostered. This side of the subject
+will be enlarged upon in its proper place.
+
+A few words about the respective position and duties of the principal
+members of a Hindoo household will be in place at the outset. I shall,
+therefore, begin with the _Karta_ or male head, who, as the term
+imports, exercises supreme control over the whole family, so that no
+domestic affair of any importance may be undertaken without his consent
+or knowledge. The financial management, almost entirely regulated by his
+superior judgment, seldom or never exceeds the available means at his
+disposal. The honor, dignity and reputation of the family wholly depend
+on his prudence and wisdom, weighted by age and matured by experience.
+His own individual happiness is identified with that of the other
+members of the household. There is a proverbial expression among the
+Natives, teaching that the counsel of the aged should be accepted for
+all the practical purposes of life (except in a few unhappy instances to
+be noticed hereafter) and the rule exerts a healthy influence on the
+domestic circle. As the supreme Head he has not only to look after the
+secular wants of the family but likewise to watch the spiritual needs of
+all the members, checking irregularities by the sound discipline of
+earnest admonition. In accordance with the usual consequences of a
+patriarchal system, a respectable Hindoo is often obliged to support a
+certain number of hangers-on, more or less related to him by kinship. A
+brother, an uncle, a nephew, a brother-in-law, etc., with their
+families, are not unfrequently placed in this humiliating position,
+notwithstanding the currency of the trite apothegm,--which says, "it is
+better to be dependent on another for _food_ than to live in his
+_house_." This saying is to be supplemented by another which runs thus:
+"_Luckhee_, the goddess of prosperity, always commands a numerous
+train." The proper significance of these phrases is but too practically
+understood and felt by those who have been unfortunate enough to come
+under their exemplification.
+
+Next in point of importance in the category of the domestic circle is
+his wife, the _Ghinni_, or the female Head, whose position is a
+responsible one, and whose duties are alike manifold and arduous. She
+has to look after the victualling department, report to her husband or
+sons the exact state of the stores,[2] order what is wanted, account for
+the extra consumption of victuals, adopt the necessary precaution
+against being robbed, see that everyone is duly fed, and that the rite
+of hospitality is extended to the poor and helpless, watch that the
+rules of purity are practically observed in every department of the
+household, and make daily arrangements as to what meals are to be
+prepared for the day. The study of domestic economy engages her
+attention from the moment she undertakes the varied duties in the inner
+department of a household, the proper management of which, is, to her, a
+congenial occupation, becoming her sex, her position, her habitude, her
+taste. Independent of these domestic charges which are enough to absorb
+her mind, she has other duties to discharge, which shall be indicated
+hereafter.
+
+The next chief constituents in the body of the household, are the
+daughters and daughters-in-law, whose relative positions and duties
+demand a separate notice. Viewed from their close relationship it is
+reasonable to conclude that they should bear the kindliest feelings to
+each other and evince a tender regard for mutual happiness, returning
+love for love and sympathy for sympathy. But, as elsewhere, unhappily,
+such is the depravity of human nature that the operation of antagonistic
+influences arising from dissimilar idiosyncracies, embitters some of the
+sweetest enjoyments of life. In the majority of cases, a _nanad_, the
+sister of the husband, though allied to another family, is nevertheless
+solicitous to minister to the domestic felicity of her _vaja_ or the
+wife of his brother, but unhappily her intent is often misconstrued, and
+the sincerity of her motive questioned. Instead of an unclouded
+cordiality subsisting between them, the generous affection of the one is
+but ill-requited by the other. Hence, an unaccountable coldness commonly
+springs up between them which materially subtracts from the growth of
+domestic felicity. Shame on us that a vast amount of ignorance and
+prejudice yet renders us incapable of appreciating the highest end of
+the social state.
+
+When the several female members of a household meet together, enlivened
+by the company of their neighbours and friends (such visits being few
+and far between), these first object of inquiry is generally the amount
+of ornaments possessed, their workmanship, their value. Few things
+please them better than a conversation on this subject, which from the
+absence of mental culture, almost wholly monopolizes their mind, despite
+the natural tendency of human intellect to a progressive development. If
+not thus absorbed, the time is usually frittered away by sundry petty
+frivolous inquiries of a purely domestic character. On matters of the
+most vital importance their notions are as crude and irrational as they
+are absurd and childish.[3] Except in isolated instances, their bearing
+towards each other is generally marked by suavity, and kindliness of
+manners which has a tendency to draw closer the bond of union between
+them all.
+
+It is on such occasions that the amiable loveliness of human nature, is
+displayed,--brightening, for a time, at least the otherwise dark region
+of a Hindoo zenana and cheering the hearts of its inmates. In a thickly
+populated city like Calcutta, with its broad roads and dense crowds at
+all hours of the day, without a closed conveyance, either a palkee or a
+carriage, no married female is permitted to leave the house even for a
+single moment, for that of her sister, perhaps some three doors from her
+own. So great is the privacy, and punctiliousness with which female
+honor is guarded in the East. The sanction of the male or female head
+must, as a standing rule of female etiquette, be obtained before any one
+is at liberty to go out even to return a friendly or ceremonious visit.
+The reader may form an idea as to the tenacity with which the close
+zenana system in a respectable family is enforced, from the circumstance
+of a young _Bahou_ or daughter-in-law (the rules being not so strict in
+the case of a daughter) being set down as immodest and unmannerly, if
+she were accidently seen to tread the outer or male compartment of the
+house. If she but chance to articulate a word or a phrase so as to reach
+the ear of a male outside, she is severely censured, and steps are
+instantly taken, to teach her better manners for the future. Even the
+_Ghinni_, or female Head, does not escape censure for a like offence.
+With such scrupulous pertinacity is the privacy of the _inner_ life of
+the Hindoo society observed. A social line of demarcation is drawn
+around the zenana which a genteel Hindoo female is told and taught never
+to overstep, either in her conversation or bearing. Woe be to the day
+when she is incautiously led to move beyond her sphere, which, for all
+the practical purposes of life, is closely hemmed in by a ring of
+miserable seclusion, illustrating the scornful lines of the poet:
+
+  "Let Eastern tyrants from the light of heaven
+          Seclude their bosom slaves."
+
+A few advanced Hindoos, more especially the Brahmos, who have received
+the benefits of an enlightened education, are making strenuous efforts
+to ameliorate the degraded condition of their wives and sisters (the
+mothers being too old and conservative to acquiesce in the spirit of
+modern innovation) and bring them to the front, if possible, by ignoring
+the rules of orthodoxy. But it is the firm belief of such as have been
+schooled by experience and observation, that the time is yet far distant
+when this bold, sweeping, social revolution shall be brought about with
+the general consensus of the people at large. The moral tone of Native
+society must be immensely raised, its manners and customs entirely
+remodelled, and its traditional institutions and prescriptive usages
+thoroughly purified before the consummation of so desirable an object
+can be successfully effected.
+
+A Hindoo girl, even after marriage, enjoys greater liberty and is
+treated with more indulgence at her father's house than at her
+father-in-law's. The cause of this is obvious. From the very period of
+her birth, she is nurtured by her mother, aunts, sisters and other
+female relatives, no less than by her father, uncle, brothers and other
+male members of the family, all of whom naturally continue to bear her
+the same love and affection throughout her after life. A mother hugs her
+more tenderly, caresses her more fondly, hangs about her more
+affectionately, feels greater sympathy in her joy and sorrow, and
+watches more carefully how she grows up in health to her present state,
+than a mother-in-law. Whether she is eating, talking or playing, her
+mother's care never ceases. Should maternal admonition fail to produce
+the desired effect, as it does in a few isolated instances, the usual
+threat of sending her to her father-in-law's, acts as the most wholesome
+corrective.
+
+The social relaxations of Hindoo females have a very limited range. Some
+delight in reading the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, tales, romances, etc.,
+while others are fond of needle-work, playing at cards, or listening to
+stories of a puerile description. Though they seldom come out of their
+houses, except under permissive sanction, yet their stock of gossip is
+almost inexhaustible. They are generally lively and loquacious, and the
+chief passion of their life is for the acquisition of ornaments. They
+possess a retentive memory, seldom forgetting what they once hear. Fond
+of hyperboles, the sober realities of life have little attraction for
+their minds. Their social tone is neither so pure nor so elevated as
+becomes a polished, refined community. It is almost needless to add,
+that their familiar conversation is not characterised by that chaste,
+dignified language, which constitutes the prominent feature of a people
+far advanced in the van of civilization. Objectionable modes of
+expression generally pass muster among them, simply because they labor
+under the great disadvantage of the national barrenness of intellect and
+the acknowledged poverty of colloquial literature.
+
+It is a well-known fact that Hindoo males and females do not take their
+meals together. Both squat down on the floor at the time of eating.
+Except in the case of little girls, it is held highly unbecoming in a
+grown up female to be seen eating by a male member of the family. As a
+rule, women take their meals after the men have finished theirs. There
+is a popular belief that women take a longer time to eat than men. Of
+the perfection of the culinary art, the former are better judges than
+the latter. They chat and eat leisurely because they have no offices to
+go to, nor any definite occupation to engage their minds in. A Hindoo
+writer has said, that commonly speaking, they eat more and digest more
+readily than men. Naturally modest, they take their meals without any
+complaint, though sometimes they are served with food not of the very
+best description. The choicest part of the food is offered in the first
+instance to the males and the residue is kept for the females. A woman
+is religiously forbidden to taste of anything in the shape of eatables
+before it is given to a man. Simple in taste, diet and habits, but shut
+up in a state of close confinement, and leading a monotonous life,
+scarcely cheered by a ray of light, they are necessarily not receptive
+of large communications of truth.
+
+The children form an important link in the great chain of the domestic
+circle. When sporting about in childhood they have commonly spare
+persons, light brown skins, high foreheads beaming with intelligence,
+large dark eyes, with aquiline noses, small thin-lipped mouths, and dark
+soft hair. The fairness of their complexion is generally sallowed by
+exposure to the sun in the earliest stage of childhood.
+
+The child grows up under the fostering care of its parents amidst all
+the surroundings of the family domicile. As it advances in years the
+mother endeavours, according to her very limited capacity, to instil
+into its mind the rude elements of knowledge. From the incipient stage
+of early infancy when his mind is rendered susceptible of culture and
+expansion, crude and imperfect religious ideas largely leavened with
+superstition, are communicated to him, which subsequently mould his
+character in an undesirable manner. His early affections and moral
+principles are most entirely influenced by the impressions he receives
+at the maternal fount, and he seldom comes in contact with the outer
+world. He is taught to pay divine homage to all the idols that are
+worshipped at stated periods of the year, and his indistinct ideas grow
+into deep convictions, the pernicious influence of which can only
+afterwards be effaced by the blessings of western knowledge. In the
+villages "_chanaka sloaka_" or elementary lessons are still given as a
+sort of moral exercise. The mother from want of adequate capacity or
+culture is unfit to engraft on the youthful mind the higher divine
+truths, to teach the child how to look on men, how to feel for them, how
+to bear with them, how to be true, honest, manly, and how to "look
+beneath the outward to the spiritual, immortal and divine." Solid,
+practical wisdom, however, is often extracted from the most commonplace
+experiences, even by untutored minds.
+
+"Honor thy father and thy mother," is the first scriptural commandment
+with promise, the importance and excellence of which is early impressed
+on the mind of a Hindoo child by wise, discreet parents. And Hindoos are
+honorably distinguished by their affections for their parents, and
+continue to be so even in the maturer years of their life.
+
+In the case of a girl, even the most elementary sort of instruction is
+neglected except that she occasionally studies the Bengallee primer,--an
+innovation which the spirit of the times countenances. When of proper
+age, she is sent to a female school where she pursues her studies until
+finally withdrawn therefrom after her marriage. As a rational being she
+may continue to evince a natural desire and aptitude for intellectual
+progress and to carry it on by home study according to her taste and
+position in life. A few have made astonishing progress, despite certain
+formidable obstacles which an abnormal state of society inevitably
+interposes. The traditional bugbear of becoming a widow if she were to
+learn to read and write has happily passed away, not only in the great
+centres of education but likewise in several parts of the rural
+districts, where, to all appearances, females are just beginning, as it
+were, to assert their right to the improvement of their minds. This is
+certainly an unerring presage, foreshadowing the advent of national
+regeneration in the fullness of time. Many families being well-to-do in
+the world engage a Christian governess[4] both for elementary
+instruction as well as for needle-work, the latter being an
+accomplishment which even the most matronly ladies have now taken a
+great liking for. The introduction of this art of tasteful production
+has, in a great measure, superseded the idle, unprofitable gossip of the
+day, driving away ennui and slothfulness at the same time.
+
+In almost every respectable Hindu household there is a tutelar god,
+chiefly made of stone and metal after one of the images of Krishna, set
+up on a gold or silver throne with silver umbrella and silver utensils
+dedicated to its service. Every morning and evening it is worshipped by
+the hereditary _Purohit_, or priest, who visits the house for the
+purpose twice a day, and who, as the name implies, is the _first_ in all
+religious ceremonies, second to none but the _guru_ or spiritual guide.
+The offerings of rice, fruits, sweetmeats and milk, made to the god, he
+carries home after the close of the service. A conch is blown, a bell is
+rung, and a gong beat at the time of the Poojah, when the religiously
+disposed portion of the inmates, male and female, in a quasi-penitent
+attitude, make their obeisance to the god and receive in return the
+hollow benediction of the priest. The daily repetition of the service
+quickens the heartbeats of the devotees and serves to remind them,
+however faintly, of their religious duties. Such a worship is popularly
+regarded in the light of an act of great merit paving the way to
+everlasting bliss. A suitable endowment in landed property is sometimes
+set apart for the permanent support of the idol, which is called the
+_debatra_ land or inalienable property, according to the Hindu Shastras.
+Some families that have been reduced to a state of poverty through the
+reverses of fortune now live on the usufruct of the _debatra_ land,
+which serves as a sheet-anchor in stormy weather.
+
+Besides the daily Poojah of the household deity there are some other
+extraordinary religious celebrations, such as Doorga, Kali, Lakshmi,
+Jagaddhatri, Saraswati, Kartik, Janmashtami, Dole, Rash, Jhoolun,
+Jatras, etc., (the latter four being all Poojahs of Krishna) which
+excite the religious fervor of the Vaishnavas, as contra-distinguished
+from the Saktas, the followers of Kali or Doorga the female principle.
+
+The internal daily details of a Hindu household next demand our
+attention. In the morning when the breakfast is ready the little
+children are served first as they have to go to their schools, and then
+the adult male members, chiefly brothers, nephews, etc., who have to
+attend their offices. They all squat down _vis-a-vis_ on small bits of
+carpet on the floor, while the mother sits near them, not to eat but to
+see that they are all properly served; she closely watches that each and
+every one of them is duly satisfied; she would never feel happy should
+any of them find fault with a particular dish as being unsavoury, she
+snubs the cook and taxes herself for her own want of supervision in the
+kitchen, because the idea of having failed to do her duty in this
+respect is an agony to her mind.
+
+As a mother, she avails herself of this opportunity to plunge into
+conversation, and consult her sons about the conduct of all domestic
+affairs, which necessarily expand as there are adjuncts to the original
+stock. For example, she takes their advice as to the amount of
+expenditure to be incurred at the forthcoming wedding of _Sharat
+Shashee_, the youngest daughter, in the month of Falgun, or February.
+This is an occasion, when the hearts of both the sons and the mother
+overflow with the milk of human kindness, yet there is a desire to avoid
+extravagance as far as possible.
+
+A prudent mother wisely regulates her expenses according to the means
+and earnings of her sons, and she seldom or never comes to grief. The
+idea of an extravagant Hindoo mother is a solecism that has no existence
+in the actual realities of life. She is a model of economy, devotion,
+chastity, patience, self-denial, and a martyr to domestic affection. She
+may be wanting in mental accomplishment, which is not her own fault, but
+the very large share of strong common-sense she is naturally endowed
+with, sufficiently makes up for every deficiency in all the ordinary
+concerns of life. Accustomed to look upon her sons as the pride of her
+existence, she seeks every legitimate means to promote their happiness.
+If her daughters-in-law turn out querulous, and fall out one with
+another, which is not unfrequently the case, she reconciles them by the
+panacea of gentle remonstrance. But unhappily, such is the degeneracy of
+the present age that the influence of wholesome admonition being
+shamefully ignored is often lost in the cataclysm of discord, and the
+inevitable consequence is, that vicious selfishness disturbs Heaven's
+blessed peace, and "love cools, friendships fall off, brothers divide."
+
+After the sons have gone to their respective offices, the mother
+changing her clothes retires into the _thakurghar_(the place of worship)
+and goes through her morning service, at the close of which she
+prostrates herself, invokes the blessing of her guardian deity, and then
+again changing her clothes, takes her breakfast and enjoys a short
+siesta, while chewing a mouthful of betel sometimes mixed with tobacco
+leaf, in order to strengthen her teeth.
+
+In any sketch of a Hindu family it is necessary that something should be
+said about the domestic servants attached to a Hindu household. The
+cook, whose employment involves some very important considerations, may
+be either a male or a female. In most families, a preference is
+generally shewn for a female cook[5] for reasons which are obvious. The
+kitchen, being as a rule, placed in the inner division of the house, the
+females have an opportunity to assist her in various ways, so as to
+facilitate and expedite her work, which certainly is not always of the
+most pleasant nature. The dietary of a Hindu family, as may be easily
+anticipated, is of the simplest description, consisting for the most
+part of vegetables and fishes, with a little milk and ghee, but no eggs
+or meat of any kind. Not like the prepared dishes of the French and
+Moguls, highly flavored and richly spiced, the daily preparations are
+very simple; no onion, garlic, or strong aromatic spices are used. They
+are easy of digestion and palatable to taste, being altogether free from
+offensive and foetid smell. The simple turmeric, pepper, cummin,
+coriander and mustard seeds, etc., generally impart a fine flavor to the
+preparations, which the frugal and abstemious Hindoos eat with great
+zest. I have known the wives of several rich Baboos, take a delight in
+preparing with their own hands the evening meal of their husband and
+sons. This is entirely a labor of love, which they go through with the
+greatest cheerfulness. It is necessary to mention here that without
+fishes, which are very abundant, a nice little Hindoo breakfast or
+dinner in Bengal is an impossibility. The art of cooking should not be a
+mystery to all save the initiated few, it should be the study of every
+good and thrifty woman who is willing to sacrifice needless elegance and
+pomp to comfort and economy.
+
+This gastronomical digression will serve to indicate the taste of the
+Hindu in Bengal, and the very simple style of their living. Even in the
+selection of articles of food a nice distinction is observed; fishes are
+dressed in a part of the kitchen quite distinct from where the
+vegetable dishes are prepared, because a widow is strictly forbidden to
+use anything which comes in contact with fishes. Moreover, a widow would
+not accept a dish unless it is prepared by a real Brahmin cook, male or
+female. Should a male member of the family be ever disposed to eat goat
+flesh (he being forbidden to use any other kind of meat, save mutton,
+when sacrificed) a _Sakta_ cook undertakes to prepare it for him. When
+finished, she changes her clothes and purifies her body by sprinkling
+over it a few drops of Ganges water. Excepting little unmarried girls,
+whose parents are _Saktas_ (worshippers of female deities) no other
+Hindu female is permitted to use meat even by sufferance. In other
+rigidly orthodox families a similar concession is withheld.
+
+The wage of a female cook, who in nine cases out of ten is a widow, is
+about six to seven Rupees a month, with a few annas extra for
+_Ekadashi_--the day of close fast for all widows--and cocoanut oil for
+her hair,[6] six pieces of grey shirtings each ten cubits long, and
+three bathing napkins a year. She also gets an extra piece of cloth at
+the Doorga Poojah festival, when the most wretched pauper, somehow or
+other, puts on new clothes. Some of the widow cooks have certainly seen
+better days, but the vicissitudes of fortune have made them hopelessly
+destitute. As a rule, they bear the load of misfortune with the greatest
+patience. They chiefly come from the villages, and it speaks much in
+favor of the purity of their character that they ungrudgingly submit to
+the menial offices of a drudge, instead of being seduced into the
+forbidden paths of life. Of course there are a few black sheep in the
+flock, but happily their number is very limited. A male cook is always
+a Brahman. It is almost superfluous to add that the employment in a
+family or the admittance of any man-servant into the inner apartment of
+a Hindoo household, which is emphatically the great centre, as well of
+domestic happiness as of religious sanctity, is open to many objections.
+
+The second domestic servant that demands a notice at our hands is the
+_Jhee_, or maid-servant of the family. Her duties are alike onerous and
+troublesome. Like the potter's wheel she incessantly turns backwards and
+forwards and knows no rest till about ten o'clock at night. She rises
+early in the morning, sweeps and washes all the rooms and verandahs
+inside the house, cleans all the brass utensils of the family, makes
+fire in the stove, pounds the kitchen spices, prepares fishes for
+cooking purposes, and attends to other duties of a household nature.
+Some maid-servants are almost exclusively employed in taking care of
+children. Their duties are not so hard as those of the family _Jhee_
+indicated above. These females are often drawn from the dregs of society
+and their conduct, or rather misconduct, sometimes leads to the most
+unhappy results. Their wage is about two Rupees a month, exclusive of
+food and clothes. They occasionally also make something by carrying
+presents to relatives and friends.
+
+I next come to the male servants: there are more than a half-dozen of
+them in a respectable family, and their services are in the main
+confined to the outer apartment of the household. They sweep and clean
+all the rooms, spread white cloth bedding on the floor, change the water
+of the _hookah_ (the first essential both at an ordinary and special
+reception) fill the _chillum_ with tobacco, _kochay_, or trim the fine
+black bordered Simla _Dhuti_ and _Kalmay Urani_ (Baboo's native dressing
+attire) put in order the lamps, and go to Bazar to make purchases. Their
+pay ranges from three to four Rupees a month, exclusive of food and
+clothes.
+
+A rich Hindoo, however, has a large establishment of servants in
+addition to those mentioned above. There are durwans (door-keepers);
+syces (grooms); coachmen, gardeners, sircar, cashier, accountant, etc.,
+each of whom discharges his functions in his own sphere, but they seldom
+or never come in contact with the female inmates of the household. The
+cashier is the most important and responsible person, and his income is
+larger than that of any other servant, because he gets his commission
+from all tradespeople dealing with the family. All of them get presents
+of clothes at the great national festival the Doorga Pujah.
+
+The _khansamah_ of a Baboo is his most favorite servant. From the nature
+of his office he comes into closest contact with his master, he rubs his
+body with oil before bathing and sometimes shampooes him,--a practice
+which gradually induces idle, effeminate habits, and eventually greatly
+incapacitates a man for the manifold duties of an active life. Indeed,
+to study the life of a "big native swell" is to study the character of a
+consummate Oriental epicure, immersed in a ceaseless round of pleasures,
+and hedged in by a body of unconscionable fellows, distinguished only
+for their flattery and servility.
+
+Except in isolated instances, the general treatment of domestic servants
+by their masters, is not reprehensible.
+
+Except such as possess a thorough insight into the peculiar mysteries of
+the inner life of the Hindoo society, very few are aware that a
+wife--perhaps the mother of three or four children--is forbidden to open
+her lips or lift her veil in order to speak to her husband in presence
+of her mother-in-law, or any other adult male or female member of the
+family. She may converse with the children without fear of being exposed
+to the charge of impropriety; this is the systole and diastole of her
+liberty, but she is imperatively commanded to hold her tongue and drop
+down her veil whenever she happens to see an elderly member in her way.
+A phrase used in common parlance (_Bhasur Bhadrabau_) denotes the utmost
+privacy, as that which the _wife_ of a younger brother should observe
+towards the elder _brother_ of her husband. It is an unpardonable sin,
+as it were, in the former, even to come in contact with the very shadow
+of the latter. The rules of conventionalism have reared an adamantine
+partition wall between the two. We have all learnt in our school-days
+that modesty is a quality which highly adorns a woman, but the peculiar
+domestic economy of the natives, carries this golden rule to the utmost
+stretch of restriction, verging on sacred, religious prohibition.
+
+The general state of Hindoo female society, as at present constituted,
+exhibits an improved moral tone, presenting an edifying contrast to the
+gross proclivities of former times as far as popular amusements are
+concerned. The popular amusements of the Hindoos, like those of many
+European nations, have rarely been characterised by essentially moral
+principles. But the loose and immoral amusements of the former time do
+not now so much interest our educated females. The popular Native
+_Jatras_ (representations) do not now breathe those low, obscene
+expressions, which was the wont only some thirty years back, yet they
+are not, withal, absolutely pure or elevated. It is true that some of
+them are touching and pathetic in their themes, not jarring to a moral
+sense but admirably adapted to the taste of a people having a supreme
+respect for their idolatrous and mythological systems, from which most
+of these _Jatras_ are derived. The marvellous and the supernatural
+always exact an instinctive regard from the ignorant and the credulous
+multitude, destitute of the superior blessings of enlightenment. The
+_Panchaly_ (represented by female actresses only) which is given for the
+amusement of the females, especially at the time of the second marriage,
+is sometimes much too obscene and immoral to be tolerated in a zenana
+having any pretension to gentility. On such an occasion, despite a
+strict conventional restriction, a depraved taste clearly manifests
+itself. Much has yet to be done to develope among the females a taste
+for purer amusements, and such as are better adapted to a healthy state
+of society.
+
+In Hindoo females there is a prominent trait which deserves to be
+commended. Moses, Mohammed, and Manu, observes Benjamin Disraeli, say
+cleanliness is religion. Cleanliness certainly promotes health of body
+and delicacy of mind. When that excellent prelate, Heber, travelled in a
+boat on the sacred stream of the Ganges, seeing large crowds of Hindoo
+females engaged in washing their bodies and clothes on both sides of the
+river, at the rising and setting of the sun, he most emphatically
+remarked that cleanliness is the supreme virtue of Hindoo women. In the
+Upper Provinces, at all seasons of the year, hundreds of women could be
+daily seen with baskets of flowers in their hands slowly walking in the
+direction of the river, and chanting songs in a chorus in praise of the
+"unapproachable sanctuary of Mahadev, the great glacier world of the
+Himalaya, with its wondrous pinnacles, rising 24,000 feet above the
+level of the sea, and descending into the amethyst-hued ice cavern,
+whence issues, in its turbulent and noisy infancy, the sacred river of
+India." They display a purity, a sincerity, a constant and passionate
+devotion to their faith, which present a striking contrast to the
+conduct of men steeped in the quagmire of profligacy.
+
+Our ladies bathe their bodies and change their clothes twice in a day,
+in the morning and in the afternoon, neglecting which they are not
+permitted to take in hand any domestic work.
+
+In the large Hindoo households, the lot of the wife who is childless is
+truly deplorable. While her sisters are rejoicing in the juvenile fun
+and frolics of their respective children, sporting with all the
+elasticity of a light, free, and buoyant heart, she sits sulkily aloof,
+and inwardly repines at the unkind ordinance of _Bidhata_ and earnestly
+invokes _Ma Shasthi_ (the patron deity of all children) to grant her the
+inestimable boon of offspring, without which this butterfly life is
+unsanctified, unprofitable and hollow.
+
+The barrenness of a Hindoo female is denounced as a sin, for the
+atonement of which certain religious rites are performed, and incessant
+prayers offered to all the terrestrial and celestial gods; but all her
+superstitious practices proving in vain, only tend to intensify her
+misery.
+
+In the beginning of this sketch I set out by stating that the peculiar
+constitution of Hindoo society bears an affinity to the old patriarchal
+system. This is true to a very great extent. The system has its
+advantages and disadvantages, which are, in a great measure, inseparable
+from the outgrowth of the social organism. If properly weighed in the
+scale, the latter will most assuredly counterbalance the former, so much
+so, that in the great majority of cases, discord and disquietude is the
+inevitable result of joint fraternisation. Leadership is certainly
+organisation; it formed the nucleus of the patriarchal system. But it is
+simply absurd to expect that there should always be a happy marriage of
+minds in all cases, between so many men and women living together,
+endowed with different degrees of culture and influenced by adverse
+interests and sentiments. In the nature of things, it is impossible that
+all the members of a large family, having separate and specific objects
+of their own, should coalesce and cordially co-operate to promote the
+general welfare of a family, under a common leader or head. The
+millennium is not yet come. Seven brothers living together with their
+wives and children under one and the same paternal roof, cannot
+reasonably be expected to abide in a state of perfect harmony so long as
+selfishness and incongruous tastes and interests are continually at work
+to sap the very foundation of friendliness and good fellowship. Union
+is strength, but harmonious union under the peculiar regime indicated
+above, is already a remarkable exception in the present state of Hindoo
+society. If minutely probed, it will be found that women are at the
+bottom of that mischievous discord, which eats into the very vitals of
+domestic felicity. Segregation, therefore, is the only means that
+promises to afford a relief from this social incubus; and to segregation
+many families have now resorted, much after the fashion of the dominant
+race, with a view to the uninterrupted enjoyment of domestic happiness.
+
+Having briefly indicated in the preceding lines the chief family
+constituents of a Hindoo household in their several relations and
+characteristics, it is scarcely necessary for me to add, that whenever
+this interesting group, consisting of sweet children, loving husbands
+and wives, and affectionate parents and brothers, is animated by the
+vital, indestructible principles of virtue, practically recognising the
+obligations of duty, the divinity of conscience, and the moral
+connection of the present and future life, it will be found to diffuse
+all the blessings of peace, joy and moral order around the social and
+domestic hearth.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] The late Dr. Jackson, who was the family physician of the great
+Native millionaire,--Baboo Ashutosh Dey--seeing the very large number of
+men and women who resided in his family dwelling house, very facetiously
+remarked that the mansion was a small colony. A similar remark was made
+by Dr. Duff when he happened to see the numerous members of the Dutt
+family in Nimtollah, West of the Free Church Institution. If all the
+children and adults, male and female, of the family now, are counted,
+the actual number would, if I am not mistaken, come up to near 500
+persons, perhaps more.
+
+[2] Natives are always provident enough to lay in a month's supply of
+articles which are not of a perishable nature. In the Upper and Central
+Provinces, they generally provide a twelve-months' requirements at the
+harvest season when prices are moderate. They are thus enabled to
+husband their resources in the most economical manner possible.
+
+[3] The following scene will clearly illustrate the point. At an
+assembly of some females on a festive occasion, among other current
+topics of the day, the conversation turned on the religion of the _Sahib
+logues_(Europeans). Impelled by a sense of duty and justice no less than
+by the convictions of conscience, I admired the disinterested exertions
+of the Christian Missionaries in endeavouring to spread among our
+benighted countrymen the benefits of a good education as well as the
+blessings of a good religion. Fearlessly encountering all the dangers of
+the deep, which, happily for the cause of human advancement, have now
+been greatly minimized, renouncing all the pleasures of the world, and
+fortifying their minds against persecution, suffering and reproach, they
+come, not only among us but travel through the most uncongenial climes
+"to preach Christ." The remarkable disinterestedness and self-denial of
+some of these Missionaries is a bright reality, to appreciate which is
+to appreciate Christianity. Before the propagation of the religion of
+Christ, said I, the most admired form of goodness was centred in
+patriotism or the love of one's own country, but Jesus brought with him
+a new era of philanthrophy, the main pervading principle of which is a
+spirit of martyrdom in the cause of mankind. Can we find traces of such
+catholicism in our Hindoo Shaster? The universal fatherhood of God and
+brotherhood of man is only practically enunciated in the religion of
+Christ. The females were all struck with the noble, sublime, yet humble,
+forgiving and disinterested virtues of the religion of the _Sahib
+logues_. But a pert young female, quite unschooled by experience and too
+much wedded to wordly attractions, rather thoughtlessly replied that
+"the act of giving education is a good thing in its own way, so far as
+it affords a means of earning money, but why do the _Padrees_
+(Missionaries) strive to convert our Hindoo boys, and thereby compel
+them to forsake their parents to whom they owe their being? What
+advantage do they gain by such conversions? This is not good. Brahmo
+religion does not demand any such sacrifice. Why do the heads of the
+_Padrees_ ache for this purpose? They ought to give all their money to
+us, poor women, that we may buy ornaments therewith." Such is the low,
+grovelling idea they generally have of Christianity. It is useless to
+argue with them, simply because their minds are completely saturated
+with deep-rooted prejudice, and narrow, debased, selfish views.
+
+[4] The following incident will doubtless contribute not a little to the
+amusement of the reader. One day a governess was giving instructions in
+needle-work to a young married girl of thirteen years of age. She, (the
+girl) was industriously plying the needle, when lo! an aged female cook
+from the house of her husband suddenly appeared before her, and simply
+enquired of her how she was. The shy girl, overpowered by a sense of
+shame, dropped down her veil almost to the ground, and not only stopped
+work but likewise ceased to talk to the governess. The latter struck
+with amazement, quietly asked her pupil if she had hurt her eyes because
+she held fast her right hand on that part of her face. Other ladies of
+the family stepped forward and explained to the governess the real cause
+of the awkward position the girl was placed in. It was nothing more nor
+less than the unexpected visit of the female cook to the family of the
+bride. From feelings of false delicacy in presence of her husband's
+cook, she hung down her face and dropped down her veil. The governess
+learning the true cause politely desired the female cook to retire that
+she might be enabled to give her lessons without any interruption.
+
+[5] Whether descended from a Brahmin or Kayasth family, she goes by the
+general name of _Bamun Didi_ (sister) so named that the members of other
+families might unsuspectingly eat out of her hands. She is also called
+_Maye_ (woman). The entertaining of a middle aged female (generally a
+widow) is considered safe and irreproachable.
+
+[6] In order to preserve the hair and keep it clean, all Hindu females
+in Bengal use cocoanut oil for the head; they however rub their bodies
+with mustard oil before bathing. Young ladies occasionally use pomatum,
+bear's grease, soap, etc., which, in a religious sense, is desecration.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE BIRTH OF A HINDOO.
+
+
+The birth of a Hindoo into the household of which he is to form an
+essential constituent is attended with circumstances which partake, more
+or less, of the religion he inherits. It has been said that by tradition
+and instinct as well as by early habits, he is a religious character. He
+is born religiously, lives religiously, eats religiously, walks
+religiously, writes religiously, sleeps religiously and dies
+religiously. His every-day life is an endless succession of rites and
+ceremonies which he observes with the utmost of scrupulousness
+sanctioned by divine veneration. From his very birth his mind is imbued
+with superstitious ideas, which subsequent mental culture can hardly
+ever eradicate, so strong being the influence of his early impressions.
+
+It is now generally known that Hindoo girls are betrothed even in their
+tenderest years, and that the solemnisation of the marriage takes place
+whenever they attain to the age of puberty. Thus it is not uncommon for
+a young wife to be delivered of her first child in her thirteenth year,
+although the glory of motherhood is more frequently not realised until
+the fourteenth or fifteenth year. When the period of delivery arrives,
+and to her it is an awful period, which can be more easily conceived
+than described, the girl writhing under agony is taken into a room
+called Sootikaghur or Antoorghur, where no male members of the family
+are admitted. She is made to wear a red-bordered robe and two images of
+the goddess _Shashthi_ made of cowdung are placed near the threshold of
+the room for her daily worship with rice and _durva_ grass, for one
+month--the period of her confinement. If in her tender age, the labor be
+a protracted one, she often suffers greatly from the want of a skilful
+surgeon or even a proper midwife. Before the founding of that noble
+Institution, the Calcutta Medical College, proper midwives were not
+procurable, because they had had no systematic training; their
+profession was chiefly confined to the Dome and Bagthee caste, yet some
+of them were known to have acquired a tolerable fortune. Their fee
+varied from 5 to 50 Rupees, besides clothes and other gifts; the poor,
+certainly, giving less. For some years past, a strong belief has sprung
+up among some women that delivery in the name of god Hari Krishna is
+very safe. They that follow this religious regime, are believed, in the
+majority of cases, to have passed through the struggle of childbirth
+quite scathless. They use no _jhall_ or _thap_,[7] bathe in cold water
+immediately after delivery, take the ordinary food of _dhall vath_,
+curry, fish and tamarind, after offering them to the god Hari, and on
+the 30th day make a Poojah (worship) consecrating in honor of the god a
+quantity of sweetmeats (_sundesh and batasha_) and finally distribute
+them among children and others. This distribution is called Hariloot.
+This strong faith in the god seems to enable them to pass the period of
+confinement without danger. If the offspring of such women become
+strong, their strength is attributed to the mercy of the said god.[8]
+
+A woman that follows the old prescribed practice has to take _jhall_ and
+_thap_ and go through a strict course of dietetics, abstaining
+altogether from the use of cold water or any cooling beverage. She has
+to undergo the action of heat for at least five hours a day. The body
+and head of the newborn babe is rubbed with warm mustard oil--an
+application which is considered the best preservative of health in
+children. Exposure of the mother in any shape, is most strictly
+prohibited, and the use of certain indigenous drugs and warm
+applications is made as an antidote against all diseases of a puerperal
+character.
+
+While undergoing the throes of nature, the exhausted spirit of the
+expectant mother is buoyed up by the fond hope of having a _male_ child,
+which, in the estimation of a Hindoo female, is worth a world of
+suffering.
+
+In the event of the offspring turning out a female, her friends try to
+encourage her for the moment by their assurance that the child born is a
+male, and a lovely and sweet child, ushered into the world under the
+peculiar auspices of the goddess Shasthi. Such assurances serve very
+much to keep up her spirit for the time being, but when she is brought
+to her senses and does not hear the sound of a conch[9] her delusion is
+removed, sorrow and disappointment take the place of joy and excitement,
+her buoyant spirit collapses and a strong reaction sets in. Thus in a
+moment, a grace is converted into a gorgon, a beauty into a monstrosity,
+an angel into a fiend. She curses the day, she curses her fate. But
+"such is the make and mechanism of human nature" that she soon resigns
+herself to the wise dispensations of an overruling Providence. She
+gradually feels a strong affection for the female child and rears it
+with all the care and tenderness of a mother; she caresses and fondles
+it as if it were a boy, and her affection grows warmer as the child
+grows. This is natural and inevitable. At the birth of a male child, the
+occurrence is immediately announced by _sanka dhani_ (sound of a conch);
+musicians without being sent for, come and play the _tom tom_; the
+family barber bears the happy tidings to all the nearest relatives, and
+he is rewarded with presents of money and cloths. Oil, sweetmeats,
+fishes, curdled milk, and other things, are presented to the relatives
+and neighbours, who, in return, offer their congratulations. A rich
+Hindoo, though he studies practical domestic economy very carefully, is,
+however, apt to loosen his purse string at the birth of a son and heir.
+The mother forgetting her trouble and agony implores _Bidhata_[10] for
+the longevity of the child. She cheerfully suckles it and her heart
+swells with joy every time she looks at its face.
+
+On the second day after delivery, she gets a little sago and _cheeray
+vajah_ (a sort of parched rice). On the third day the same diet, with
+the addition of a single grain of boiled rice, and a little fried
+potatoe or _pull bull_, that she may use those things afterwards with
+safety. On the fifth day, if everything is right, the room is washed and
+she is allowed to come out of it for a short time; a little boiled rice
+and _moong dhall_ is her diet that day.
+
+On the sixth day, the image of the goddess _Shasthi_ is worshipped in
+front of the room where the child was born, because she is the
+protectress of all children. The Poojah is called the _Seytayra_ Poojah
+(worship). Offerings of rice, plantain, sweetmeat, clothes, milk, &c,
+are presented to the goddess by the officiating priest, and the
+following articles are kept in her room for the _Bidhata Pooroosh_ (god
+of fate) in order that he may note down unseen on the forehead of the
+child its future destiny, _viz._, a palm leaf, a Bengalee pen with ink,
+a serpent's skin, a brick from the temple of the god Shiva, and two
+kinds of fruits, _atmora_ and _veyla_, a little wool, gold and silver.
+On the eighth day is held the ceremony of _Autcowroy_, or the
+distribution of eight kinds of parched peas, rice, sweetmeats, with
+cowries and pice, amongst the children of the house and neighbourhood.
+On the evening of that day, the children assemble and with a _Koolo_
+(winnowing fan) going up three times to the door of the room beat it
+(the koolo) with small sticks, asking at the same in a chorus "as to
+how the child is doing," and shouting, "let it rest in peace on the lap
+of its mother." These juvenile ceremonies, if ceremonies they can be
+called, give infinite delight to the children, who are sometimes
+prompted by the adult members of the family to indulge in jocularity by
+way of abusing the father, not of course to irritate but to amuse him.
+At the birth of a female child, in common with the depreciation in which
+it is held, this ceremony is observed on a very poor scale. On the
+thirty-first day after the birth, the ceremony of _Shasthi_ Poojah is
+again performed. Hence a woman who has had as many as twelve or fifteen
+or more children, is called the _Shasthi Booree_, or "the old woman of
+Shasthi." Before a twig of a _Bata_ tree, the priest, while repeating
+the usual incantation, presents offerings of rice, fruits, sweetmeats,
+cloths, parched peas and rice, oil, turmeric, betel, betel-nuts, two
+eggs of a duck, and twenty-one small wicker baskets filled with _khoyee_
+(parched rice) plantain and _batasa_, which are all given to a number of
+women whose husbands are alive. It is on this occasion that the priest
+is also required to perform the worship of the goddess _Soobachinee_,[11]
+said to be one of the forms of the goddess Doorga.
+
+When the father first goes to see the child, he puts some gold coin into
+its hand and pours his benediction on its head. Other relatives who may
+be present at the time do the same.
+
+All respectable Hindoos keep an exact record of the birth of a child,
+especially a male child. Every family has its _Dowyboghee_ or astrologer
+who prepares a horoscope in which he notes down the day, the hour and
+the minute of the birth of the child, opens the roll of its fate and
+describes what shall happen to it during the period of its existence.
+These horoscopes are so much relied on, that if it is stated therein
+that the stellar mansion under which the child was born was not good,
+and that it shall be exposed to serious dangers, either from sickness
+or accident, at such a period of its life, every possible care is taken
+through _Grohojag_ and _Sustyan_ (religious atonement) to propitiate the
+god of fate, and ward off the apprehended danger before it comes to
+pass. These papers are carefully preserved by the parents, who
+occasionally refer to them when anything, good or evil, happens to the
+child. A Hindoo astrologer is a man of high pretensions; he dives into
+the womb of futurity and foretells what shall happen to a man in this
+life, without thinking for a moment, that our Creator has not vouchsafed
+to us the powers of divination. In a court of justice these papers are
+of great value in verifying the exact age of a person, and at the time
+of marriage, or rather before it, they are carefully consulted as to the
+nature of the stellar mansion under which both the boy and girl were
+born, and the peculiar circumstances by which they were surrounded. Many
+a match is broken off because the twelve signs in the zodiac do not
+coincide; for instance, if the boy be of the _Lion rass_ (sign) and the
+girl of the _Lamb rass_, the one, it is said, will destroy the other; so
+these papers are of very great importance when a matrimonial alliance is
+in course of being negotiated.
+
+When a male child is six months old, the parents make preparations for
+the celebration of the _Unnoprassun_, or christening, when not only a
+name is given to the child, but it gets boiled rice for the first time.
+On this occasion, the father is required to perform a _Bidhi Shrad_ so
+called from the increase and preservation of the members of the family.
+Some who live near Calcutta celebrate the rite by going to Kallee Ghaut,
+and procuring a little boiled rice through one of the priests of the
+sacred fane at a cost of eight or ten Rupees. When the rice is brought
+home a few grains are put into the mouth of the child by a male member
+of the family. The ceremony being thus performed the child from that day
+is allowed to take prepared food if necessary. Such families as do not
+choose to go to Kallee Ghaut observe the ceremony at home, and spend
+from 200 to 300 Rupees in feeding the Brahmans, friends and relatives,
+who, in return, offer their benediction and give from one to ten Rupees
+each to the child, which being shaved, clad in a silk garment, and
+adorned with gold ornaments, is brought out for the purpose after the
+entertainment. It is on such occasions that splendid dowries are settled
+on some children in grants of land or of Government securities, and I
+have known instances in which a dowry amounted to a lakh of Rupees. Of
+late years, the practice of making gifts to the child being held in the
+obnoxious light of a tax, the good taste of some has led them to confine
+the rite within the circumscribed limit of their own family.
+Superstition has its influence in making the choice of the name given to
+the child. The Hindoos are generally named after their gods and
+goddesses, under a belief that the repetition of such names in the daily
+intercourse of life will not only absolve them from sins, but give them
+present happiness and hope of blessedness in a state of endless
+duration. Some parents purposely give an unpleasant name to a child,
+that may be born after repeated bereavements, believing thereby the
+curses of the wicked shall fall innocuous on its head. Such names are
+Nafar, Goburdhone, Ghooie, Tincurry, Panchcurry, Dookhi, &c. In the case
+of females, she who has many daughters, and does not wish for more,
+gives them such names as _Khaynto_ (cessation,) _Arna_ (no more,)
+_Ghyrna_ (despised,) _Chee chee_ (expression of contempt.)[12]
+
+Except under extraordinary circumstances, a Hindoo mother[13] seldom
+engages a wet nurse; she continues to suckle her child till it is three
+or four years old, and attends at the same time to her numerous
+household duties, which are by no means light or easy. Indolent
+loveliness, reclining on a sofa, is not a truthful picture of her life;
+it may be she has to cook for her husband, because he is such an
+orthodox Hindoo that he will on no account accept prepared food (such as
+rice, dhall, vegetables, curry, &c.) from any other hand. In such
+families, the woman has to rise very early, perform her daily ablutions
+and attend to the duties of the kitchen, and before nine the breakfast
+must be ready, as the husband has probably to attend his office at ten.
+It is not an uncommon sight to see a woman cooking, suckling her child,
+and scolding her maid servant at one and the same time. A Hindoo woman
+is not only laborious, but patient and submissive to a degree; let the
+amount of privation be ever so great, she is seldom known to murmur or
+complain. All her happiness is centred in the proper discharge of her
+domestic and social duties. So simple and unambitious is a Hindoo
+female, that she generally considers herself amply rewarded if the food
+prepared by her hands is appreciated by those for whom it is intended.
+It is a lamentable fact that, expert as she doubtless is in the art of
+cooking, she is totally incapable of nourishing the minds of her
+children with any solid intellectual food worthy of the name. As already
+indicated, she communicates to her child what she can out of her own
+store of simple ideas and superstitious beliefs, but her best gift is
+the care and tenderness which she lavishes upon it, and the wakening of
+its young soul to return the sense of her own love.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[7] _Jhall_ is a preparation of certain drugs to act as an antidote
+against cold, puerperal fever and other diseases incident to child
+birth. It often proves efficacious. _Thap_ is the application of heat to
+the body.
+
+[8] For observances during the period of pregnancy, see Note A in
+appendix.
+
+[9] According to custom, a conch or large shell is sounded at the birth
+of a male child. Its silence is the sign of sorrow.
+
+[10] Bidhata is the god of fate.
+
+[11] For the popular story of the goddess Soobachinee see Note B.
+
+[12] Apart from the horrid practice of female infanticide, now put a
+stop to by a humane Government, many instances might be given of the
+extreme detestation in which the birth of a girl is held even by her
+mother. Among others I may cite the following: A woman who was the
+mother of four daughters and of no son, at the time of her fifth
+delivery laid apart one thousand Rupees for distribution among the poor
+in the event of her getting a son, when, lo! she gave birth to a female
+child _again_, and what did she do? she at once flung aside the money,
+mournfully declaring at the same time, that "she has already four
+firebrands incessantly burning in her bosom and this is the _fifth_,
+which is enough to burn her to death."
+
+[13] In cases where a woman is prolific enough to give birth to a child
+every year she is placed under the necessity of weaning her first-born,
+and giving it cow milk, a mode of sustenance not at all conducive to its
+health.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE HINDOO SCHOOL BOY.
+
+
+From the time when the young Hindoo passes from the infant stage of
+"mewling and puking in the nurse's arms," till he goes to school, he is
+generally a bright-eyed, active, playful boy, full of romping spirits
+and a favourite of all around him. His diet is light, and his health
+generally good. He usually runs about for three or four years _in puris
+naturalibus_, and among the lower classes a string is tied round his
+loins with a metal charm attached to frighten away the evil spirits.
+When he attains the age of five, the period fixed by his parents for the
+beginning of his education, he is sent to a _Patsala_ (vernacular infant
+school) not, however, without making a Poojah to _Saraswattee_, the
+goddess of learning. On the day appointed, and it must be a lucky day,
+according to the Hindoo almanac, the child bathes and puts on a new
+_Dhooty_ (garment) and is taken to the place of worship, where the
+officiating priest has previously made all the necessary arrangements.
+Rice, fruits, and sweetmeats, are then offered to the goddess, who is
+religiously invoked to pour her benediction on the head of the child.
+After this, the priest takes away all the things offered to the goddess,
+with his usual gift of one or two rupees, and the child is taken by his
+parents to the _Patsala_ and formally introduced to the
+_Gooroomahashoy_, or master of the school. Curious as little children
+naturally are, all present gaze on the new comer as if he were a being
+of a strange species. But time soon wears off the gloss of novelty and
+everything assumes its normal aspect. The old boys soon become familiar
+with the new one, and a sort of intimacy almost unconsciously springs up
+amongst them. In this country a boy learns the letters of the alphabet,
+not by pronouncing them, but by writing them on the ground with a small
+piece of _kharee_, or soft stone, and copying them over and over again
+until he thoroughly masters them. Five letters are set him at a time.
+After this he is taught to write on palm leaves with a wooden pen and
+ink, then on slate and green plantain leaves, and, finally, on paper. At
+every stage of his progress he is expected to make some present to his
+master in the shape of food, clothes and money. A village school begins
+early in the morning, and continues till eleven, after which the boys
+are allowed to go home for their breakfast; they return at two, and
+remain in the school till evening, when all the boys are made to stand
+up in a systematic order, and one of the most advanced amongst them
+enumerates aloud the multiplication and numeration tables, and all are
+taught to repeat and commit to memory what they hear. By the daily
+repetition of these tables, their power of memory is practically
+improved. With a view to encourage the early attendance of the boys, a
+_Gooroomahashoy_ resorts to the queer method of introducing the
+_hathchory_ system into his _Patsala_, which requires that all the boys
+are to have stripes of the cane in arithmetical progression, on the
+hand, in the order of their attendance, that is, the first comer to have
+one stripe, the second two, and so on, in consecutive order. The last
+boy is sometimes made to stand on one leg for an hour or so to the
+infinite amusement of the early comers. The system certainly has a good
+effect in ensuring early attendance.
+
+The course of instruction in such schools embraces reading in the
+vernacular, a little of arithmetic and writing, and such as become
+capable of keeping accounts pass for the clever boys. Stupid and wicked
+pupils are generally beaten with a cane, but their names are never
+struck off the register, as is the case in English schools. Sometimes a
+truant is compelled to stand on one leg holding up a brick in his right
+hand, or to have his arms stretched out till he is completely exhausted.
+Another mode of punishment consists in applying the leaves of _Bichooty_
+(a stinging plant) to the back of a naughty boy, who naturally smarts
+under the torturing. The infliction of such cruel punishments sometimes
+leads the boys to make a combination against the master for the purpose
+of retaliation, which generally results in bringing him to his senses.
+Hindoo boys are extremely sensitive, and are very apt to resent any
+affront to which they are cruelly subjected by their master.[14] The
+rate of fee in a village school is from one to three-pence a head per
+month, but the master has his perquisites by way of victuals and pice.
+There is a common saying among the Hindoos that in twelve months there
+are thirteen _parbuns_, or school festivals, implying thereby, that they
+are encountered by a continuous round of _parbuns_. On every such
+occasion the boys are expected to bring presents for the master, and any
+unfortunate boy who fails to bring such is denied the usual indulgence
+of a holiday. Little boys are seldom fond of reading, they would gladly
+sacrifice anything to purchase a holiday. It is not an uncommon thing to
+find a boy steal pice from his mother's box in order to satisfy the
+demands of his master at the festival. The principle on which a village
+school is conducted is essentially defective in this respect. Instead of
+teaching the rules of good conduct and enforcing the first principles of
+morality, it often sadly defeats the primary object of a good education,
+namely, the formation of a sound, moral and virtuous character. It is a
+disgrace to hear a schoolmaster, whose conduct should be the grand focus
+of moral excellence, use the most vulgar epithets towards his pupils for
+little faults the effects of which are seldom obliterated from their
+minds, even in the more advanced period of their life. However, such
+days of obnoxious pedagogism are almost gone by, never to come back
+again, now that the system of primary education has been extended to
+almost every village in India, under the auspices of our liberal
+Government. Whilst on this subject I may as well state here that some
+forty years ago our Government had appointed the late Rev. William Adam
+to be the Commissioner of Education in Bengal. That highly talented and
+generous philanthrophist, after a minute and searching investigation,
+submitted in his report to Government a scheme of education very similar
+to what is now introduced throughout Bengal. The scheme was then ignored
+on account of its vast expense, and the Commissioner was so disheartened
+at the apathy of Government towards the education of the masses, that a
+few days before his departure from Calcutta he took a farewell leave of
+some of his most distinguished native friends, and his parting words
+were to the following effect: "Your Government is not disposed to
+encourage those who are its real friends." This reproach has, however,
+been subsequently removed by the adoption of a primary system of
+education. The spirit of the times and the onward progress of
+enlightened sentiments have gradually inaugurated a comprehensive
+scheme, which, although still limited in its range, embraces the moral
+and intellectual improvement of the people in general.
+
+In Calcutta, when a boy is six years old, his parents are anxious to
+have him admitted into one of the public schools, where he has an
+opportunity to learn both the Vernacular and the English languages. He
+may be said from that day to enter on the first stage of his
+intellectual disintegration. The books that are put into his hands
+gradually open his eyes and expand his intellect; he learns to discern
+what is right and what is wrong; he reasons within himself and finds
+that what he had learnt at home was not true, and is led by degrees to
+renounce his old ideas. Every day brings before his mind's eye the grand
+truths of Western knowledge, and he feels an irresistible desire, not
+only to test their accuracy but to advance farther in his scholastic
+career. He is too young however, to weigh well everything that comes in
+his way, but as he advances he finds the light of truth illumine his
+mind. His parents, if orthodox Hindoos, necessarily feel alarmed at his
+new-fledged ideas and try to counteract their influence by the
+stereotyped arguments, of the wisdom of our forefathers, but however
+inimically disposed, they dare not stop his progress, because they see,
+in almost every instance, that English education is the surest passport
+to honor and distinction. In this manner he continues to move through
+the various classes of the middle schools till he is advanced to one of
+the higher educational institutions connected with the University, and
+attains his sixteenth or seventeenth year, which is popularly regarded
+as his marriageable age.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[14] _Apropos_, I may mention here the following incident. A few years
+back a well-known master of the Hindoo school being placed in a very
+awkward position, had to call in the aid of the Police to get himself
+out of the difficulty. Sailors and Kaffries--always a set of desperate
+characters--were retained by the boys for the purpose of insulting him
+on the high road, but the timely interference of the Police put a stop
+to the contemplated brutal assault. This had the effect of inducing the
+master to behave in future with greater forbearance, if not with more
+sober judgment. I forbear giving the name of the indiscreet, but
+well-intentioned master, whose connection with the school had
+contributed very largely to its efficiency and usefulness.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+VOWS OF HINDOO GIRLS.
+
+
+When a girl is five years of age, she is initiated by an elderly woman
+in the preparatory rites of _Bratas_, or vows, the primary object of
+which is to secure her a good husband, and render her religious and
+happy throughout life. When the boy is sent to the Patsala, the girl is
+commonly forbidden to read or write, but has to begin her course of
+Bratas. The germs of superstition being thus early implanted in her
+mind, she is more or less influenced by it ever after. Formed by nature
+to be docile, pliant and susceptible, she readily takes to the initial
+course of religious exercises.
+
+The first rite with which she has to commence is called the "Shiva
+Poojah," after the example of the goddess Doorga, who performed this
+ceremonial that she might obtain a good husband; and Shiva is regarded
+as a model husband. On the 30th day of Choytro, being the last day of
+the Bengallee year, she is required to make two little earthen images of
+the above goddess, and placing them on the coat of a bale-fruit (wood
+apple) with leaves, she begins to perform her worship; but before doing
+so, she is enjoined to wash herself and change her clothes, a
+requisition which enforces, thus early, cleanliness and purity in habits
+and manners, if not exactly in thought and feeling. Her mind being
+filled with germinal susceptibilities, she imbibes almost instinctively
+an increasing predilection for the performance of religious ceremonies.
+Sprinkling a few drops of holy water on the heads of the images, she
+repeats the following words: "All homage to Shiva, all homage to Shiva,
+all homage to _Hara_, (another name of Shiva); all homage to Bujjara,"
+meaning two small earthen balls, like peas, which are stuck on the body
+of the images. She is then to be absorbed in meditation about the form
+and attributes of the goddess, and afterwards says her prayers three
+times in connection with Doorga's various names, which I need not
+recapitulate here. Offerings of flowers and bale leaves are then
+presented to the goddess with an incantation. Being pleased, Mahadev
+(Shiva) is supposed to ask from heaven what Brata or religious ceremony
+is Gouri (Doorga) performing? Gouri replies, she is worshipping Shiva,
+that she may get him for her husband, because, as said before, Shiva is
+a model husband.
+
+Then comes the Brata of Hari or Krishna. The two feet of the god being
+painted in white sandal paste on a brass plate, the girl worships him
+with flowers and sandal paste. The god seeing this, is supposed to ask
+what girl worships his feet, and what boon she wants? She replies: May
+the prince of the kingdom be her husband, may she be beautiful and
+virtuous, and be the mother of seven wise and virtuous sons and two
+handsome daughters. She asks that her daughters-in-law may be
+industrious and obedient, that her sons-in-law may shine in the world by
+their good qualities, that her granary and farm-yard may be always full,
+the former with corn of all sorts, and the latter with milch cows, that
+when she dies all those who are near and dear to her may enjoy long life
+and prosperity, and that she may eventually, through the blessing of
+Hari, die on the banks of the sacred Ganges, and thereby pave the way
+for her entrance into heaven.
+
+It is worthy of remark here that even young Hindoo girls, in the
+exercise of their immature discretion, make distinction between the gods
+in the choice of their husbands. In the first Brata, that of Shiva, a
+tender girl of five years of age is taught, almost unconsciously as it
+were, to prefer him to Krishna for her husband, because the latter,
+according to the Hindoo Shasters, is reputed to have borne a
+questionable character. I once asked a girl why she would not have
+Krishna for her husband. She promptly answered that that god disported
+with thousands of Gopeenees (milk-maids) and was therefore not a _good_
+god, while Shiva was devotedly attached to his one wife, Doorga. The
+explanation was full of significance from a moral and religious point of
+view.
+
+The third Brata refers to the worship of ten images. This requires that
+the girl should paint on the floor ten images of deified men, as well as
+of gods, with _alapana_ or rice paste. Offering them flowers and sandal
+paste, she asks that she may have a father-in-law like Dasarath, the
+father of Ram Chunder; a mother-in-law like Kousala, the mother of Ram
+Chunder; a husband like Ram Chunder; a _dayur_ or husband's brother,
+like Luchmon, Ram's younger brother; a mother like Shasthi, whose
+children are all alive; like Koontee whose three sons were renowned for
+their love of justice, piety, courage and heroism; like Ganges, whose
+water allays the thirst of all; like the mother earth, whose patience is
+beyond all comparison. And, to crown the whole, she prays that she may,
+like Doorga, be blessed with an affectionate and devoted husband like
+Dropadi (the wife of the five Pandooas), be justly remarkable for her
+industry, devotedness and skill in the culinary art, and be like Sita
+(the wife of Ram Chunder) whose chastity and attachment to her husband
+are worthy of all praise. The above three Bratas take place in the
+Bengalee month of Bysack, (April) which is popularly regarded as a good
+month for the performance of meritorious works. The prayer contained in
+the above expresses the culminating female wish in entire accord with
+the injunctions of the holy shaster, but how often are the amiable
+qualities enumerated above set at naught in the actual conflicts of
+life, in which the predominance of evil desires swallows up every
+generous impulse!
+
+The next Brata is called the _Sajooty_ Brata. It is solely intended to
+counteract the thousand evils of polygamy--an unhealthy, unnatural
+institution, which ought to be expunged from the midst of every
+civilized community. Though God "has stamped no original characters on
+our minds wherein we may read his being," still we can clearly discern
+in His superior arrangements for the happiness of His creatures, that
+this abnormal practice is directly opposed to His dispensations, so much
+so that any one countenancing it, is guilty of a crime, for which, if he
+is not amenable to an earthly tribunal, he is assuredly accountable to a
+superior and superintending Being, the infringement of whose law is sure
+to be attended with misery. To get rid of the consequences of this
+monstrous evil, a girl of five years of age is taught to offer her
+invocation to God, and in the outburst of her juvenile feeling is almost
+involuntarily led to indulge in all manner of curses and imprecations
+against the possible rival of her bed. Nor can we find fault with her
+conduct, because "an overmastering and brooding sense" of some great
+future calamity thus early haunts her mind.
+
+In performing the _Sajooty Brata_, the girl paints on the floor with
+rice paste a variety of things, such as the bough of a flower tree, a
+Palkee containing a man and a woman, with the sun and moon over it, the
+Ganges and the Jumna with boats on them, the temple of Mahadeo with
+Mahadeo in it, various ornaments of gold and precious stones, houses,
+markets, garden, granary, farm-yard and a number of other things, all
+intended to represent worldly prosperity. After painting the above, she
+invokes Mahadeo and prays for his blessing. An elderly lady more
+experienced in domestic matters then begins to dictate, and the girl
+repeats a volley of abuses and curses against her _Sateen_ or rival wife
+in the possible future.
+
+  "There, stripped, fair rhetoric languished on the ground,
+  And shameful Billingsgate her robes adorn."
+
+The following are a few of the specimens; I wish I could have
+transcribed them in metre.:--
+
+    "_Barrey, Barrey, Barrey_ (a cooking utensil)
+  May _Sateen_ become a slave!
+    _Khangra, Khangra, Khangra_, (broomstick)
+  May _Sateen_ be exposed to infamy!
+    _Hatha, Hatha, Hatha_, (a cooking utensil)
+  May she devour her _Sateen's_ head!
+    _Geelay, Geelay, Geelay_ (a fruit)
+  May _Sateen_ have spleen!
+    _Pakee, Pakee, Pakee_ (bird)
+  May _Sateen_ die and may she see her from the top of her house!
+    _Moyna, Moyna, Moyna_ (bird)
+  May she never be cursed with a _Sateen_!"
+
+May she cut an _Usath_ tree, erect a house there, cause her _Sateen_ to
+die and paint her feet with her _Sateen's_ blood!
+
+I might swell the list of these curses, but I fear they would prove
+grating to the ears of civilized readers.
+
+The performance of the _Sajooty Brata_ springs out of a desire to see a
+_Sateen_ or rival wife become the victim of all manner of evils,
+extending even to the loss of life itself, simply because a plurality of
+wives is the source of perpetual disquietude and misery. By nature, a
+woman is so constituted that she can never bear the sight of a rival
+wife. In civilized countries, the evil is partially remediable by a
+legal separation, but in Hindoostan the legislature makes no provision
+whatever for its suppression. A feeling of burning jealousy becomes
+rampant wherever there is a case of polygamy to poison the perennial
+source of domestic felicity. So acutely sensitive is a Hindoo lady in
+this respect that she would rather suffer the miseries of widowhood than
+be cursed with the presence of a _Sateen_, whose very name almost
+spontaneously awakens in her mind the bitterest and the most envenomed
+feelings. She can make up her mind to give away a share of her most
+valuable worldly enjoyments, but she can never give a share of her
+husband's _affection_ to any one on earth. To enjoy the exclusive
+monopoly of a husband's love is the life-long prayer of a Hindoo female.
+She expresses it in the incipient stage of her girlhood, and practically
+carries it with her until the last spark of life becomes extinct. This
+certainly indicates the prompting of a very strong _natural_ feeling.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+MARRIAGE CEREMONIES.
+
+
+The Hindoos have a strong belief that to solemnise the marriage of their
+children at an early age, is a meritorious act as discharging one of the
+primary obligations of life. They are, therefore, very anxious to have
+their sons and daughters formally married during their own life-time.
+Sometimes children are pledged to each other even in infancy, by the
+mutual agreement of the parents; and in most cases the girl is married
+when a mere child of from eight to ten years, all unconscious as yet of
+the real meaning and obligations of the relation, although her girlish
+fancies have been continually directed to it. Matches in the case of
+good families are commonly brought about in the following way.
+
+When an unmarried boy attains his seventeenth or eighteenth year,
+numbers of professional men called _Ghatucks_ or match-makers come to
+the parents with overtures of marriage. These men are destitute of
+principle, they know how to pander to the frailties of human nature;
+most of them being gross flatterers, endeavour to impose on the parents
+in the most barefaced manner. As they live on their wits, their
+descriptive powers and insinuating manners are almost matchless. When
+the qualities of a girl are to be commended, they, indulging in a strain
+of exaggeration, unblushingly declare, "she is beautiful as a full moon,
+the symmetry of her person is exact, her teeth are like the seeds of a
+pomegranate, her voice is remarkably sweet like that of the cuckoo, her
+gait is graceful, she speaks like the goddess _Luckee_, and will bring
+fortune to any family she may be connected with." The Hindoos have a
+notion that the good fortune of a husband depends on that of the wife,
+hence a woman is considered as an emblem of _Luckee_, the goddess of
+fortune. This is the highest commendation she can possess.[15]
+
+If the qualities of a youth are to be appraised, they describe him thus:
+he is as beautiful as _Kartick_ (the god of beauty), his deportment is
+that of a nobleman, he is free from all vices, he studies day and night,
+in short, he is a precious gem and an ornament of the neighbourhood. The
+Hindoos know very well that the _Ghatucks_ as a body are great
+impostors, and do not believe half that these people say. From the day a
+matrimonial alliance is proposed, the parents on both sides begin to
+make all sorts of preliminary enquiries as to the unblemished nature of
+the caste, respectability and position in society of the parties
+concerned. When fully satisfied on these points, they give their verbal
+consent to the proposed union, but not before the father of the boy has
+demanded of the father of the girl a certain number of gold and silver
+ornaments, as well as of _Barabharun_, _i. e._, silver and brass
+utensils, couch, &c. exclusive of (with but few exceptions) a certain
+amount of money in lieu of _Foolshajay_.[16] Before proceeding further,
+I should observe that of late years a great change has taken place in
+the profession of the _Ghatucks_. The question of marriage, though not
+absolutely, yet chiefly, is a question the solution of which rests with
+the females. Their voice in such matters has a preponderating influence.
+Availing themselves of this powerful agency a new class of female
+_Ghatucks_ or rather _Ghatkees_ have sprung up among the people. Hence
+the occupation of the male _Ghatucks_ is nearly gone, except in rare
+cases where nice points of caste distinction are to be decided. The
+great influences of _Shibi Ghatkee_ and _Badnee's_ mother--two very
+popular female _Ghatkees_,--is well known to the respectable Hindoo
+community of Calcutta. These two women have made a decent fortune by
+plying this trade. Though certainly not gifted with the imaginative
+powers of a poetic bard of Rajpootana,[17] their suasive influence is
+very telling. They have the rare faculty of making and unmaking matches.
+From the superior advantage which their sex affords them, they have a
+free access to the inner apartments of a house (even if it were that of
+a millionaire)--a privilege their male rivals can never expect to enjoy.
+When balked by the subtlety of a competitor in trade, by their bathos
+they contrive to break a match. Their representations regarding a
+proposed union seldom fail to exercise a great influence on the minds of
+the Zenana females. Relying on the accuracy of their description, which
+sometimes turns out exaggerated, if not false, the mother and other
+ladies are often led to give their consent to a proposed union. The
+husband, swayed by the counsel and importunity of his wife, is forced to
+acquiesce in her choice. He cannot do otherwise because, as our friend,
+Baboo Keshub Chunder Sen, has very facetiously observed, "man is a noun
+in the objective case governed by the active verb woman."[18]
+
+When a _Ghatkee_ comes up with the proposal of a matrimonial alliance
+with an educated youth, the first question generally asked her is, "Has
+he passed his examinations?" If so, how many _passes_ has he got?
+meaning thereby how many examinations of the University has he passed
+through? "Has he yet any Jalpany or scholarship?" These are difficult
+questions which must be satisfactorily answered before a negotiation can
+be effected. That a University degree has raised the marriageable value
+of a boy, there can be no doubt. If he have successfully passed some of
+these examinations and got a scholarship, his parents, naturally priding
+themselves on their valuable acquisition, demand a preposterously long
+catalogue of gold ornaments, which, it is not often in the power of a
+family in middling circumstances easily to bestow. The parents of the
+girl, on the other hand, seeing the long list, demur at first to give
+their consent, but their demurring is of no avail; marry their daughter,
+they must. The present ruinous scale of nuptial expenses must be
+submitted to at any sacrifice, and after deep cogitation they send a
+revised schedule, (as if marriage were a mere matter of traffic) taking
+off from it some costly items, which would press heavily on the purse.
+In this manner the _Ghatkee_ continually goes backwards and forwards for
+some time, proposing concessions on both sides and holding out delusive
+hopes of future advantages in the event of the carrying out of the
+marriage. There is a trite saying among the Hindoos, that "a matrimonial
+alliance could not be completed without uttering a lakh of words."
+
+The parents of the girl on whose head falls the greatest burden, are
+eventually made to succumb from a consideration of their having secured
+a desirable match, namely, a _passed_ student. If not placed in affluent
+circumstances, as is generally the case, they are obliged to raise the
+requisite sum of money by loan, which sows, in many instances, the seeds
+of much future embarrassment. At a very moderate calculation, a
+tolerably respectable marriage now-a-days costs between two and three
+thousand Rupees (about L200),--sometimes more. There is another native
+adage which says, "we want twine for thatching and money for wedding." A
+respectable Hindoo gentleman who has four or five daughters to give in
+marriage and whose income is not large, is often reduced to the greatest
+difficulty and embarrassment by reason of the extravagantly enormous
+expenses of a marriage. The rich do not care much what they are required
+to spend. All that they look for is a desirable match. It is the middle
+and poorer classes, who form by far the largest aggregate of population
+in every country, that suffer most severely from the present enhanced
+scale of matrimonial charges. The late Rajah Rajkissen, Baboos Ramdoolal
+Dey,[19] Nemy Churn Mullick and other Hindoo millionaires, spent
+extraordinary sums of money on the marriage of their sons. The amount in
+each instance far exceeded a lakh of Rupees. The annals of Rajasthan
+furnish numerous instances of lavish expenditure, varying from five to
+ten lakhs of Rupees and upwards, on the solemnization of nuptials. There
+was a spirit of rivalry which animated the princes to surpass each other
+in magnificence and splendour on such occasions, regardless alike of the
+state of their exchequer, and the demoralizing effects of such conduct.
+Marriages in such a magnificent style are seldom to be seen in Calcutta
+now-a-days, not because of the distaste of the people for such
+frivolities, but because of the lamentable decline and impoverishment of
+the former magnates of the land. It is painful to contemplate that the
+present scale of expenditure among the middle classes has been in an
+inverse ratio to their income. The exertions made sometime ago by
+Moonshee Peary Lall for the reduction of marriage expenses would have
+doubtless conferred a lasting boon on the Hindoo community in general,
+if the object had been crowned with success, but as the Legislature has
+no control over such matters, relating as they do to purely private
+affairs, the noble scheme resulted in failure. It is quite optional with
+parties to go to heavy expenses on such occasions; no act of Government
+without the voice of the people could restrain them in this respect. Any
+social reform to be permanent and effectual must be carried out by the
+universal suffrages of the people.
+
+When the preliminaries of a marriage are settled, a person, on each
+side, is deputed by turns to see the boy and the girl. It is customary
+to see the girl first. When the friends of the bridegroom, therefore,
+come for the purpose, they sit down in the outer apartment of the house,
+whilst the bride is engaged in her toilet duty. After fifteen or twenty
+minutes, she, glittering in jewels and accompanied by a maid servant as
+well as by the _Ghatkee_, makes her appearance. The first thing she does
+in entering the room is to make a _pranam_ or bow to all present, and
+then she is asked to squat down on the clean white sheet spread on the
+floor. A solemn pause ensues for a minute or so, when one of the
+company, more officious than the rest, breaks the silence by putting to
+her a few questions. She naturally feels herself somewhat out of her
+element in the midst of so many strangers, and unconsciously shows a
+sort of embarrassment even of self conflict almost distressing to
+witness. This internal agitation of feeling, arising partly from modesty
+and partly from anxiety, causes her even to stammer. Her engrossing
+thought for the time being is, according to the early vow she has made,
+that she may have a _good_ husband with lots of jewels. "What is your
+name, mother?" is the first question. She may diffidently reply in a
+half suppressed tone "_Gri Balla_." "Who is that sitting before
+you?"--perhaps pointing to the girl's father. She says, "My father."
+"Can you read and write?" If she say, "yes," she is asked to read a
+little out of her book.
+
+The _Ghatkee_ here plays the part of a panegyrist by admiring the
+amiable qualities of the girl, who, she adds, is the very type of
+_Luckee_ (the goddess of prosperity.) While this examination is going on
+in the outer apartment, the anxious mother, whose heart beats with
+throbbing sensations while watching the scene from behind a half closed
+window, does not feel herself at ease, until she hears that her daughter
+has acquitted herself creditably. Before the girl leaves the room, the
+father or brother of the boy puts a gold mohur into her hand as a
+tangible proof of approval and bids her retire. It is needless to say,
+that she feels herself relieved, quite glad and free, when she again
+sees the faces of her mother and sisters, whose joy returns with her
+return.
+
+This interview is called _pucca dheykha_ or the confirmatory visit. All
+the Brahmins, _Ghatucks_ and _Ghatkees_, and other Koolins who may be
+present on the occasion receive two or four Rupees each. The servants of
+the house are not forgotten, they too receive each a Rupee. If this
+interview take place in the morning, the parties return home without
+breakfast, it being customary with them not to eat anything before
+bathing and performing their daily worship. If in the evening, they are
+treated to a good dinner consisting of the best fruits of the season,
+sweet and sour milk and sweetmeats of various kinds. It is on such
+ceremonious occasions, that the Hindoos make a display of their wealth
+by serving the dinner to their new friends with silver salvers, plates,
+glasses and _paundan_, (betel box). Almost every respectable gentleman
+keeps a good assortment of these silver articles. They are, however,
+reserved for special purposes, and used only on special occasions. As a
+rule, the people are not fond of investing their money, like Europeans,
+in plated-ware, because it is, comparatively speaking, of little
+exchangeable value in times of need and distress.
+
+It is now the turn of the boy to be examined in a similar way as to his
+scholastic acquirements. When the father and the relatives of the girl
+pay a return visit, they generally bring with them a graduate of the
+University. Should the boy be one who has successfully passed the
+Matriculation standard, he is not subjected to so strict an examination
+as one who does not enjoy the same dignity. In both cases, however, they
+must undergo some examination in English literature, composition,
+grammar, history, &c. It is a noteworthy fact that a boy however
+intelligent and expert in other respects, betrays a lamentable
+deficiency, arising from diffidence, when required to undergo an
+examination in the presence of his father-in-law and a University
+graduate. The thought of failure acts as a heavy incubus on his mind. He
+finds himself bewildered in a maze of confusion. If he do not actually
+stammer, he talks at least very slowly and diffidently, and if called
+upon to write, his hand shakes, and in fact he becomes extremely
+nervous. After this trial is over, the boy retires with mingled feelings
+of misgiving and complacence. He receives, however, in his turn a gold
+mohur. The gentlemen who had come to see him are then asked to a dinner
+in the way described above. The same display of silver-ware is made on
+the occasion, and nearly the same amount of presents of money made to
+the Brahmins, Koolins and others.
+
+When both parties are satisfied as to the desirableness of the union, a
+good day is fixed for drawing a _pattra_ or written agreement in which,
+say, a Koolin of superior caste, engages in writing to give his son in
+marriage with the daughter of either a second Koolin, or, as is often
+the case of a Mowleek, an inferior in caste. This _Pattra_ is written by
+a Brahmin on Bengallee paper with Bengallee pen and ink (as if English
+writing materials would desecrate such a sacred contract) and must
+consist of an odd number of lines, such as seven or nine lines. An
+invocation of the Butterfly must head the _Pattra_, the purport of which
+will run as follows: "I, Ram Chunder Bose, do engage to give my second
+son, Gopeenauth Bose, in marriage with Nobinmoney Dossee, the eldest
+daughter of Issen Chunder Dutt, who is also bound by his contract; the
+marriage to be solemnized on a day to be named hereafter." Here the
+signatures of both the fathers as well as of the witnesses follow. When
+finished, it is rolled up in red thread. The _Koolin_ gentleman hands it
+to the _Mowleek_ gentleman, when the latter embraces the former, and
+gives him at the same time _Koola marjada_ and _Pattra Darshanee_, as a
+mark of respect for his superior caste,--or about fifty Rupees. The
+articles required for the matrimonial contract are paddy, doov grass,
+turmeric, betel leaf, betel-nuts, sandal paste, cowries (small shells)
+and _alta_[20] all which are considered as conducive to the future
+welfare of the boy[21] and girl. When the contract is religiously
+ratified, a couple of conchs--one for the bridegroom and another for the
+bride--are sounded by the females, announcing the happy conclusion of
+this important preliminary, at which all hearts are exhilarated.
+Arrangements are now being made for the dinner of all who may be present
+at the time. Sometimes fifty to sixty persons are fed. Every care is
+taken to provide a good dinner for the delectation of the guests and a
+_Pattra_ on this scale costs from 300 to 400 Rupees. The Brahmins,
+Koolins, and others, receive, as usual, presents of money and return
+home replenished in body as well as in purse.
+
+It is worthy of remark that though the distinction of caste still exerts
+its influence on all the important concerns of our social and domestic
+life, it is nevertheless fast losing its prestige in the estimation of
+the enlightened Hindoos. In former days a Koolin occupied a prominent
+position in society, be his character what it might, but now-a-days the
+rapid spread of English education, and the manifold advantages derivable
+from it, has practically impaired his influence and lowered his dignity.
+A _Koolin_ who happens to be the father of a girl married to a
+_Mowleek_, is, in the present day, degraded into the rank of his
+traditional inferior, simply because he is the father of the girl; he
+must even be prepared to submit to all sorts of humiliation and continue
+to serve the _Mowleek_ father of the boy as long as the connection
+lasts. At every popular festival for at least one year he must,
+according to his rank, make suitable presents to his son-in-law, failing
+which a latent feeling of discontent arises which eventually ripens into
+bitter misunderstanding.
+
+But to return to the marriage contract. After the entertainment, both
+parties consult the almanac and fix a day for the ceremony, called
+_Gatray haridra_ or the anointment of the boy with turmeric. On that day
+the bridegroom, after bathing and putting on a red bordered cloth,[22]
+is made to stand on a grindstone surrounded by four plantain trees,
+while five women (one must be of Brahmin caste) whose husbands are
+alive, go round him five or seven times, anoint his body with turmeric,
+and touch his forehead at one and the same time with holy water, betel,
+betel-nuts, a _Sree_ made of rice paste in the shape of a sugarloaf, and
+twenty other little articles consisting of several kinds of peas, rice,
+paddy, gold, silver, &c. From this day, the boy carries about a pair of
+silver nut-crackers, and the girl a pair of _kajulnatha_,[23] which must
+remain with them till the solemnization of the nuptials, for the purpose
+of repelling evil spirits. A little of the turmeric paste with which the
+body of the bridegroom was anointed is sent by the family barber to the
+bride in a silver cup, her body is also anointed with it. A number of
+other gifts follow, namely, a large brass vessel of oil, various kinds
+of perfumery, three pieces of cloth (one must be a richly embroidered
+Benares _saree_, one Dacca, and the other red bordered), a small carpet,
+a silk musnud with pillows, two mats, some gold trinkets for the head, a
+few baskets of sweetmeats, some large fishes, sweet and sour milk, and a
+few garlands of flowers, &c., all which cost from two to three hundred
+Rupees, or sometimes more. A rich man sometimes gives a pair of diamond
+combs and flowers for the hair, of the value of two thousand Rupees and
+upwards. From this, an idea may be formed as to the lavish expenditure
+of the Hindoos on marriages, even in these hard times. A _few_ can
+afford it, but the _many_ are put to their wits'-end in meeting the
+demands thus made upon them.
+
+Two or three days after the ceremony of anointment, the Bengali almanac
+is again consulted, and a lucky day is appointed for the celebration of
+_Ahibarrabhat_, so called from its being a feast given just before the
+wedding. On this occasion the father of the bridegroom gives a grand
+entertainment to the male relatives of the family. As a counterpart to
+the same the father of the bride gives a similar entertainment to the
+female relatives of his own family, with this difference only, that in
+the case of the former no Palkees are required, whereas in the case of
+the latter these covered conveyances have to be engaged for bringing in
+the females. In either case the number of guests generally varies from
+two to three hundred, and as the present style of living among the
+Hindoos in the metropolis has become more expensive than that which
+prevailed in the good old days, partly from a vain desire to make an
+ambitious display of wealth, and partly from the unprecedentedly rapid
+increase of the population, which has, as a necessary sequence,
+considerably raised the prices of all kind of provisions, an
+entertainment of this nature costs from four to five hundred Rupees on
+each side. The very best kinds of _loochees_, _kocharees_, vegetable
+curries, fruits, sweetmeats[24] and other delicacies of the season are
+to be provided for this special occasion.
+
+English friends are often invited to the marriages of rich families in
+Calcutta and regaled with all sorts of delicacies from the Great Eastern
+Hotel. "The family mansion is splendidly furnished and brilliantly
+illuminated. There is literally a profusion of pictures and chandeliers.
+All the furniture and surroundings are indicative more of an English
+than of a Native house. Dancing girls are hired to impart _eclat_ to the
+scene. A _nabat_ covered with tinsel is put up in front of the house,
+where native musicians play at intervals, much to the satisfaction of
+the mother of the bridegroom and the boys of the neighbourhood, and a
+temporary scaffolding made of bamboos and ornamental paper is erected on
+the highway in the form of a crescent bearing on it the inscription,
+"God save the bridegroom." Male and female servants receiving presents
+of gold and silver bangles move about the house gaily dressed in red
+uniform, or clothes. As tangible memorials of the happy union, presents
+of large brass pots, with oil, plates with sweetmeats, fruits, and
+clothes, &c., are largely distributed among the Brahmins and numerous
+friends and relatives of the family. This present is called _Samajeek_.
+With the exception of Brahmins, who are content with offering hollow
+benedictions, in which the sacerdotal class, as a rule, is so very
+liberal, everyone else who receives them makes in return presents of
+clothes and sweetmeats, the nearest relatives making the most costly
+ones. In times of great _logansha_, _i. e._, when numerous marriages
+take place, the demand for clothes and sweetmeats is really enormous.
+Dealers in those things make a harvest of profit and "the town becomes a
+jubilee of feasts."
+
+During the night preceding the marriage, the women of both the families
+scarcely sleep, being busily engaged in making all sorts of preparations
+for the next day. Very early in the morning, five _Ayows_, or females
+whose husbands are alive, take with them a light, a knife, a _Sree_, a
+_Brundala_, containing sundry little articles, described before, a small
+brass pot, some sweetmeats, _choora_ and _moorkee_, oil, betel,
+betel-nuts and turmeric, and go to the nearest tank, sounding a conch,
+and touching the water with the knife, fill the brass pot with water.
+The above articles being presented as an offering to the brass pot, the
+females receive a portion of the eatables and return home sounding the
+conch, which is a necessary accompaniment of all religious ceremonies.
+
+What I am now about to describe may be called the _first_ marriage,
+because it is invariably followed by a second ceremonial when the union
+is really consummated. But it properly forms the binding ceremony, as
+constituting the marriage relative between the two youthful parties,
+with all its legal and social rights, even if they should not be spared
+to live together as husband and wife.
+
+The emptiness and superficiality of the relation, especially on the side
+of the childish bride, will be but too apparent, and is but too often
+realised in this uncertain life, in the prolonged misery of a virgin
+widowhood. On the day of the marriage both the bridegroom and the bride
+are forbidden to eat anything except a little milk and a few fruits. The
+father of the bride also fasts, as well as the officiating priests of
+the two families.
+
+About twelve o'clock in the day, the Mowleek family sends presents of
+clothes, sweetmeats, fishes, sour and sweet milk and some money, say
+about twenty-five rupees, to the house of the Koolin family, as a mark
+of honor to the latter, to which, from his superior caste he is fairly
+entitled. This present is called _Adhibassy_. Both the fathers are also
+required during the day to perform the ceremony of _Nannimook_ or
+_Bidhishrad_,--a ceremony, the meaning of which, as said before, is to
+make offerings to the manes of ancestors, and to wish for the increase
+and preservation of progeny.
+
+After the performance of the above ceremonies, both the bridegroom and
+the bride putting on new red bordered _dhooty_ and _saree_ respectively
+at their several houses, are made to bathe; and five women whose
+husbands are alive touch their foreheads with sundry little things, as
+mentioned before. They have afterwards to go through a few minor rites
+which are purely the inventions of the females, not being at all
+enjoined in the _Shasters_. It is obvious that the primary object of all
+these female rites is to promote conjugal felicity. Strange as it may
+appear, it is nevertheless a fact that the mother of the bridegroom eats
+_seven_ times (of course but little at a time) that day through a fear
+lest the bride, when she comes, will give her but scanty meals,[25]
+while the mother of the bride does not eat anything until the marriage
+ceremony is over, being impressed with a notion that the more she fasts
+the more she will get to eat afterwards.
+
+The females on the side of the bride, with the help of a matron,
+exercise their utmost ingenuity, and literally rack their brains, in
+devising all manner of contrivances partaking of the character of charms
+to win the devoted attachment of the bridegroom towards the lovely
+little bride. They resort to numerous petty tricks for the purpose which
+are too absurd and childish to be dwelt upon. Credulous as they
+naturally are, and simple as they are known to be in their habits, not
+to speak of the normal weakness of their intellect, they fondly imagine
+that their _thook thak_ or trick is sure to triumph and produce the
+desired effect. To give an instance or two. They write down in red ink
+on the back of the _Peray_, or wooden seat on which the bride is to sit,
+the names of twenty-one uxorious husbands, and go round the bride seven
+times. They also write the name of the goddess, Doorga, on the silk
+_saree_ or garment which the bride is to wear at the time of the
+marriage ceremony, because Shiva, her husband, was excessively fond of
+her. They place before her the _Chundi Pooty_, a sacred book treating of
+Doorga and Shiva, while her mouth is filled with two betel-nuts to be
+afterwards chewed with betel by the bridegroom unawares. Meantime active
+preparations are made on both sides for the auspicious solemnization of
+the nuptials. At the house of the bridegroom, arrangements are being
+made for illumination and fireworks, and the grand _Nacarras_ announce
+the approaching departure of the procession. Fac-similes of mountains
+and peacocks are made of colored paper spacious enough to accommodate a
+dozen persons; hundreds of _Khas gaylap_ and silver staves are seen on
+the roadside; groups of songsters and musicians are posted here and
+there to give a passing specimen of the vulgar songs of the populace; a
+_Sookasun_ or bridegroom's seat elegantly fitted up is brought out with
+two boys gaily dressed to fan the bridegroom with _chamurs_;[26]
+hundreds of blue and red lights are distributed among the swarthy
+coolies, who are to use them on the road when the procession moves. The
+bridegroom, being washed, is helped to put on a suit of superbly
+embroidered Benares _kinkob_ dress, with a pearl necklace of great
+value, besides bangles and armlets set in precious stones and garlands
+of flowers. Durwans and guards of honor are paraded in front of the
+house; and in short, nothing is left to impart an imposing appearance to
+the scene. As has been already observed, there is a growing desire among
+the Hindoos to imitate English manners and fashions. A marriage
+procession is considered quite incomplete unless bands of English
+musicians are retained, and a cavalcade of troopers like a burlesque of
+the Governor-General's Body Guard is seen to move forward to clear the
+way. A Cook's carriage with a postillion is not unfrequently observed to
+supersede the old _Sooksun_, or gilt Palkee.
+
+Before the bridegroom leaves his house he says his prayer to the goddess
+Doorga, and makes his preparatory _jattra_ (departure). At this time his
+mother asks him, "_Baba_ where are you going?" He answers, "To bring in
+your _Dassee_ or maid-servant." Before leaving he receives from her a
+few instructions as to how he should conduct himself at the house of his
+father-in-law. He is to gaze on the stars in heaven, keep his feet half
+on the ground and half on the wooden seat when engaged in performing a
+ceremony, and not to use any other betel but his own. The object of
+these instructions is to thwart the intention of his mother-in-law that
+he may become a uxorious husband, a wish in which his mother does not
+share at all, because it is calculated to diminish his regard for her.
+In the majority of cases the wish of the mother-in-law prevails over
+that of the mother, as is quite natural.
+
+He has next to perform the rite of _Kanakangoolee_, surrounded by all
+the women of the family. A small brass plate containing rice, a small
+wooden pot of vermilion, and one Rupee, are thrown right over his head
+by his father into the _Saree_, or robe of his mother, who stands behind
+him for the purpose of receiving the same. This is a signal for him to
+come out, and if all arrangements are complete, take his seat on the
+bridal _Sookasun_, or carriage. The procession moves forward amid the
+increasing darkness. One or two European constables march ahead. The
+usual cortege of stalwart durwans follow. The torches and flambeaus are
+lighted. The _Khasgalabullahs_ are ranged on both sides of the road; in
+the midst are placed bands of native and English musicians. Parties of
+songsters in female dress begin to sing and dance on the _Moworpunkhee_,
+borne on the shoulders of coolies. The flaring torches are waved around
+the procession. Blue and red lights are flashed at intervals. Noise,
+confusion, and bustle ensue. Men, women and children all flock to see
+the tamasha. Mischievous boys try to rob the lights. And to lend, as it
+were, an enchantment to the scene, gay Baboos in open carriages, in
+their gala dresses bring up the rear. It is on such occasions that
+modest beauties and newly-married brides (_bahus_) come out from the
+Zenana, and, unveiling their faces, rise on the tops of their houses on
+both sides of the road, in order to feast their eyes on all the pompous
+accompaniments of a marriage exhibition. As soon as the procession
+arrives near the house of the bride, the people of the neighbourhood
+assemble in groups to have a sight of the lord of the day, and four or
+five gentlemen of the party of the bride advance to welcome the
+bridegroom and his party of friends, who enter, receiving the stares of
+the idle and the salutations of the polite. The barber of the family
+brings out a light in a _sara_ (earthen vessel) and places it on the
+side of the road. Decency forbids me to mention certain of its
+constituents.
+
+As the initiatory rite of the auspicious event, the females blow the
+conch-shell in the inner apartment, and some more impatient than the
+rest peep through the latticed corridor or window, while the bridegroom
+is slowly conducted to his appropriate seat made up of red satin with
+embroidered fringes, having three pillows of the same stuff on three
+sides. An awning is suspended over the spacious compound, and it is
+splendidly illuminated with gas lights. Polite and complimentary
+expressions of good wishes and of refined native etiquette are exchanged
+on both sides, comparing favorably with the rude manners of past times.
+"Come in, come in, gentlemen, and sit down, please," is the general cry.
+"Bring tobacco, bring tobacco, for both Brahmin's and Soodras," is the
+next welcome expression. Boys, especially the brother-in-law of the
+bridegroom, now bring him a couple of betel-nuts, to be cut with the
+pair of nut-crackers he holds in his hand. He objects and hesitates at
+first, but no excuse is admitted, no plea heard, he must cut them in
+the best way he can.[27] When all the guests are properly seated,
+numbers of school boys sit face to face and begin to wrangle, much to
+the amusement of the assemblage. As English education is now all the
+"go" among the people, questions in spelling, grammar, geography and
+history, are put to each other. The following may be taken as a
+specimen: Aushotosh asks Bholanauth, "In what school do you read?"
+Bholanauth answers, "In the Hare School." A. continues, "What books do
+you read?" B. enumerates them.
+
+A. asks, "What is your pedagogue's name?" B., a little confounded,
+remains quiet, meditating within himself what could a _pedagogue_ mean.
+A. drawing nearer, asks him to spell the word, housewife? B. answers,
+"h-u-z-z-i-f." A. laughs heartily in which he is joined by other boys.
+Continuing the chain of interrogations, he asks B. to parse the
+sentence: "To be good is to be happy." B. hanging down his head,
+attempts, but fails. "Where is Dundee, and what is it famous for?" B.
+answers, "Dundee is in Germany." (laughter): A. pressing his adversary,
+continues, "What was the cause of the Trojan war?" B. answers
+hesitatingly, "The golden fleece!" Thus discomfited, B. takes refuge in
+ignoble silence, while A., in a triumphant mood, moves prominently
+forward amidst the plaudits of the assembled multitude. "Long live
+Aushotosh," is the universal blessing.
+
+Here two or three professional genealogists, having tunics on their
+bodies and turbans on their heads, stand up, and in measured rhyme
+recite the genealogical table of the two families now affianced,
+blazoning forth the meritorious deeds of each succeeding generation.
+They keep a regular register of all the aristocratic Hindoo families,
+especially of the Koolin class, and at respectable marriages they are
+richly rewarded. It is quite amusing to hear how seriously they rehearse
+the virtuous acts of the ancestors, carefully refraining from making any
+allusion to disreputable acts of any kind. Though not like Chunda, the
+inimitable bard and pole-star of Rajasthan, as Colonel Tod says, their
+services are duly appreciated by all orthodox Hindoos, who exult in the
+glowing recital of ancestral deeds. Their language is so guarded and
+flattering that it can offend nobody, except such as do not reward them.
+Having the genealogical table in their possession they can easily turn
+the good into bad, and _vice versa_, to serve their own selfish ends. An
+upstart, or one who has a family stain, pays them liberally to have his
+name inserted in the genealogical register, and to be mentioned in
+laudatory terms.
+
+In the _Thakoor dhallan_, or chamber of worship, all preparations for
+the solemnization of nuptials are now made. The couch-cot, beddings,
+carpet, embroidered and wooden shoes--here English shoes will not
+do--gold watch with chain, diamond ring, pearl necklace, and one set of
+silver and one set of brass utensils,[28] are arranged in proper order,
+and flowers, sandal-paste, dooav grass, holy water in copper pans, and
+khoosh grass, are placed before the priests of both parties. The
+bridegroom, laying aside his embroidered robe, is dressed in a red silk
+cloth, and taken to the place of worship, where the bride, also attired
+in a silk _Saree_, veiled and trembling through fear, is slowly brought
+from the female penetralia on a wooden seat borne by two servants and
+placed on the left side of the bridegroom. The agitation of her internal
+feelings when brought before the altar of Hymen is greatly soothed by
+the wealth of gold ornaments--the _summum bonum_ of her existence with
+which her person is adorned. The officiating priest puts into the hands
+of the bridegroom fourteen blades of khoosh grass in two small bundles
+which he winds and ties round his figures. The priest then pours a
+little holy Ganges water into the bridegroom's right hand, which he
+holds while the father-in-law repeats a _mantra_ or incantation, at the
+close of which he lets it fall. Rice, flowers and doorva grass are next
+given him, which he lays near the copper pan containing the holy water.
+Water is presented as at first with a prayer, and sour milk, then again
+water. The officiating priest now directs him to put his hand into the
+copper pan, and placing the hand of the bride on that of the bridegroom
+ties them together with a garland of flowers, when the father-in-law
+says: "Of the family of Goutam, the great grand-daughter of Ram Churn
+Bose, the grand-daughter of Bulloram Bose, the daughter of Ramsoonder
+Bose, wearing such and such clothes and jewels, I, Dwarkeynath Bose,
+give to thee, Oma Churn Dutt, of the family of Bharadaz, the great
+grandson of Dinnonath Dutt, the grandson of Shib Churn Dutt, the son of
+Jodonauth Dutt." The bridegroom says, "I have received her." The
+father-in-law then takes off the garland of flowers with which the hands
+of the married pair were bound, and pouring some holy water on their
+heads, pronounces his benediction. A piece of silk cloth called _Laja
+bustur_, is then put over the heads of the boy and girl, and they are
+asked to look at each other _for the first time in their lives_. While
+the marriage ceremony is being performed the boy is made to wear on his
+head a conical tinsel hat. Here the barber of the bridegroom gives to
+the priest a little _Khoye_ (parched rice) and a little ghee, which are
+offered with doorva grass to the god Brahma. A very small piece of
+coarse cloth called _gatchara_, or knotted cloth, containing in all
+twenty-one myrobolans, _boyra_ fruit and betel-nuts, is tied to the
+silk _dhobja_ or scarf of the bridegroom, which is fastened again to the
+silk garment of the bride, thus symbolising a union never to be severed.
+The married couple are then taken into the inner court where the females
+are waiting on the tiptoe of expectation, wreathed for a moment in the
+rapturous embraces of one another. As soon as the boy appears, or rather
+before his appearance, conch-shells are again blown, and he is made to
+stand on a stone placed under a small awning called _chadlahtalah_, a
+temporary shed, surrounded on four sides by plantain trees. By way of
+merriment, some females greet him with _hayeumllah_ mixed in treacle,
+some pull his ears, notably his sisters-in-law, while matrons cry out
+"_ulu, ulu, ulu_," sounds indicative of excessive joy. It would require
+the masterly pen of a Sir Walter Scott to adequately delineate the
+joyous feelings of the females on such an auspicious occasion.
+
+The bridegroom is made to wear on his ten fingers ten rings made of
+twigs of creepers, and his hands are tied by a piece of thread as long
+as his body. Putting betwixt them a weaver's shuttle, the mother-in-law
+says, "I have bound thee by thread, bought thee with cowries, and put a
+shuttle betwixt thy hands, now bleat thou like a lamb,[29] Bapoo,"--a
+term of endearment. She also closes his mouth by touching his lips with
+a padlock, and symbolically sewing the same with twenty-one pins, that
+he may never scold the girl; touches his nose with a slender Bamboo pipe
+and breaks it afterwards, throws over his body treacle and rice, as well
+as the refuse of spices pounded on a grindstone, which has been kept
+covered with a bag for eight days, are alive, by two females whose
+husbands and finally touches his lips with honey and small images made
+of sugar, that he may ever treat his wife like a _sweet_ darling.
+
+Afterwards the mother-in-law with several other married women, adorned
+with all their costly ornaments and dressed in their best attire, touch
+his forehead with _Sree_, _Barandalla_ a winnowing fan, plantain, betel
+and betel-nuts; and here the silk scarf of the boy, of which mention has
+been made before, is again more closely fastened to the silk garment of
+the girl, and kept with her for eight days, after which it is returned,
+accompanied by presents of sweetmeats, fishes and curdled milk. These
+puerile rites, purely the invention of females, are intended to act as
+charms for securing the love and affection of the husband for his wife.
+The wish is certainly a good one, but often the agencies employed fail
+to produce the desired effect! "Charms strike the sight, but merit wins
+the soul." Before the marriage ceremony is concluded, the boys of the
+neighbourhood make the usual demand of _Gramva[t.]i_ and _Barawari_ Poojah.
+At first in a polite way they ask the father of the bridegroom for the
+gift. He offers twenty Rupees, but they insist on having one hundred
+Rupees. After some altercation in which sometimes high words and
+offensive language are made use of,[30] the matter is eventually settled
+on payment of thirty-two Rupees. This money is used in giving a feast to
+the boys of the neighbourhood, reserving a portion for the _Barawari_
+poojah,--a mode of worship which will be more fully treated in another
+place.
+
+As an epilogue to the nuptial rite, the bridegroom continues to stand on
+a stone, while two men setting the bride on a wooden seat, and lifting
+her higher than his head, makes three circumambulations, asking the
+females at the same time who is taller, the bridegroom or the bride? The
+stereotyped response is, "the bride." This being done, the females
+throwing a piece of cloth over the heads of both, desire them to glance
+at each other with all the fond endearments of a wedded pair. As is to
+be expected, the coy girl, almost in a state of trepidation, casts but a
+transient look, and veils her face instanter; but the boy, young as he
+is, feels inwardly happy to view the lovely face of his future wife.
+This look is called _Shoovadristi_ or "the auspicious sight" which is
+held in the light of a harbinger of future felicity.
+
+The bridegroom returns to the _Thacoordhallan_ or place of worship and
+performs the concluding part of the marriage ceremony, while the
+officiating priest, repeating the usual incantation, presents the burnt
+offerings (_home_) to the gods, which is the finale of the religious
+part of the rite.[31] But before the bridegroom leaves the place of
+worship, the officiating priests of both sides must have their _dackina_
+or pecuniary reward. If the boy be of the Mowleek caste and the girl of
+the Koolin caste, the former must give double what the latter gives, _i.
+e._, 16 Rupees and 8 Rupees. Here, as in every other instance, the
+superiority of caste asserts its peculiar privileges. The professional
+genealogists, after concluding their recitation and singing their
+epithalamiums, also come in for their share of the reward, but they are
+generally told to wait till the next day, when in common with other
+Ghatacks they receive their recompense. The bridegroom is then permitted
+to have a little breathing time, after having undergone the infliction
+of so many religious and domestic rites, which latter formed the special
+province of the females.
+
+The head of the family now stands up before the assembly, and asks their
+permission to go through the ceremony of _Mala Chandan_, or the
+distribution of sandaled garlands. This is done to pay them the honor
+due to their rank. The _Dullaputty_, or the head of the order or party,
+almost invariably receives the first garland, and then the assembled
+multitudes are served. For securing this hereditary distinction to a
+family, large sums of money have been spent from time to time by
+millionaires who, by the favorable combination of circumstances, had
+risen from an obscure position in life to a state of great affluence.
+The late Rajah Rajkissen Bahadoor, Baboos Ram Doolal Dey, Kisto Ram
+Bose, Modun Mohun Dutt, Santi Ram Singh, Ram Rutton Roy and others,
+expended upwards of a lakh of Rupees, or L10,000, each for the
+possession of the enviable title of _Dullaputty_, or head of a party.
+The way by which this noble distinction was secured was to induce
+first-class Koolins, by sufficient pecuniary inducements, to intermarry
+into the families of the would-be _Dullaputty_. The generally
+impoverished condition of the old aristocracy of the land, and the
+onward march of intellect teaching the people to look to sterling merit
+for superiority in the scale of Society have considerably deteriorated
+the value of these artificial distinctions. The progress of education
+has opened a new era in the social institutions of the country, and an
+enlightened proletariat is now-a-days more esteemed than an empty
+titled _Dullaputty_, the magnitude of whose social status is not to be
+estimated by the numbers of Koolins he is connected with, but by the
+extent and character of his services to society.
+
+The bridegroom next dines with his friends outside, notwithstanding the
+importunities of the females for him to dine in their presence in the
+inner apartment, that they might have an opportunity to indulge in
+merriment at his expense. As a rule, the Brahmins dine first, and then
+the numerous guests and attendants, numbering sometimes one thousand.
+Despite the precaution of the friends of the bride to prevent unwelcome
+intrusion, from a natural apprehension of running short of supplies,
+which, on such occasions, are procured at enormous cost, many uninvited
+persons in the disguise of respectable looking Baboos contrive somehow
+or other to mingle in the crowd and behave with such propriety as to
+elude detection. The proportion of male intruders is larger than that of
+female ones, simply because the latter, however barefaced, cannot
+entirely divest themselves of all modesty. It would not be above the
+mark to put down the number of the former at twenty per cent. Such men
+are professional intruders; they are entirely devoid of a sense of self
+respect, and lead a wretched, demoralized life. Foreigners can have no
+idea of the extent to which they carry on their disreputable trade,
+including in their ranks some of the highest Brahmins of the country. It
+is not an uncommon sight, on such occasion, to behold numbers of people
+depart after dinner with bundles of _loochees_ (fine edibles) and
+sweetmeats in their hands, which _methranees_[32] threaten to touch and
+defile.
+
+When full justice has been done to the feast provided for the occasion,
+the crowd melts away and streams out at the door, well pleased with the
+reception they have had. It is much easier to satisfy men than women in
+this respect. The latter are naturally fastidious, and the least
+shortcoming is sure to be found fault with. When confusion and bustle
+subside, the bridegroom is slowly conducted into a room in the inner
+apartment which bears the euphonious name of _Basurghur_, the
+bed-chamber of the happy pair, or rather the store-house of jokes and
+banter, where are grouped together his wife, his mother-in-law,[33] and
+the whole galaxy of beauty. The very name of _Basarghur_[34] suggests to
+the female a variety of ideas at once amusing and fascinating. As I have
+already observed, she, nursed from her cradle in a state of perfect
+seclusion, and immersed in all the drudgeries of a monotonous domestic
+life, is glad of any opportunity to share in the unreined pleasure of
+joviality. The mother-in-law, throwing aside conventional restraint,
+introduces herself, or is introduced by other women, to her son-in-law.
+They pull the poor lad's ears, in spite of her earnest protestation, and
+if they do not know what flirtation is, they assail him with jokes
+which quite puzzle him and bewilder his senses. They burst into roars of
+laughter and make themselves merry at his expense; he feels himself
+almost helpless and unprepared to make a suitable repartee, and is at
+length driven into all manner of excuses, as plausible reasons for a
+brief respite and a short repose. He complains of headache occasioned by
+the lateness of the hour; as a sure remedy they give him soda, ice,
+eau-de-cologne, and almost bathe him in rose-water; but a soporific they
+can on no account allow him, because it would mar their pleasure and
+sink their lively spirits. Keeping up their jokes, they place the lovely
+bride with all her gold trappings on his knee, and unveiling her face
+ask him to look at it, and say whether or not he likes her; she closes
+her eyes, moves and jerks to have the veil dropped down, but her sisters
+yield not to her wish, and keeping her yet unveiled, repeat the
+question. Of course he makes no reply, but blushes and hangs down his
+head; their demand being imperative, he sees no other alternative, but
+to gently reply in the affirmative. They next make the girl bride, much
+against her inclination, lie down by his side; as often as she is
+dragged so often she draws back, but yielding at last to the admonition
+of her mother, she is constrained to lie down, because, on that night,
+this form is strictly enjoined in the female shaster. The innocent girl,
+unconscious of the absurd mirth, shrinking together, turns away, and
+occasionally whimpering, passes the sleepless, miserable hours. The dawn
+of morning is to her most welcome, although it affords her but a
+temporary relief. As the first glimpse of light is perceived, she flies
+into the bosom of her aunt, who tries to animate her drooping spirit by
+a word or two of solace, citing perhaps at the same time the example of
+Surrajiney, her elder sister, placed in a similar position three years
+ago. The women referred to remain in the _Basarghur_. As a matter of
+course aged women go to sleep faster than young sprightly girls of
+sweet seventeen, who are bent on making the best of the occasion by
+indulging in jokes and witticisms. They literally rack their brains to
+outwit the bridegroom by their _thata_ and _tamasha_ (jokes), and their
+stock of it seems to be almost inexhaustible. They contrive to make him
+chew the same beera or betel which is _first_ chewed by the bride, and
+if he be obstinate enough to refuse it, in obedience to the warning of
+his mother, which is often the case, four or five young ladies open out
+his lips, and thrust the chewed betel into his mouth. What young man
+would be so ungallant as to resist them after all? He must either submit
+or bear the opprobrium of a foolish discourteous boy. Thus the whole
+night is passed in the banter and practical joking peculiar to the
+idiosyncracy of the Hindoo females. When in the morning he attempts to
+get away from their company, one or two ladies, notably his _salees_, or
+sisters-in-law hold him fast by the skirt of his silk garment demanding
+the customary present of _Sarjaytollanee_.[35] He sends a message to his
+man outside, and gets thirty two or fifty Rupees, on payment of which
+they are satisfied and permit him to go. After a short respite he is
+again brought into the inner apartment, and after shaving, bathing and
+changing his clothes, he is made to go almost through the same course of
+female rites as he had to perform on the preceding night, with this
+difference only, that no officiating priest is required to help on the
+occasion. This rite is named _Bassi Bibaha_ (not new marriage), all the
+ceremonials being conducted by the females. It would be tedious to
+inflict on the reader a recapitulation of the same, but suffice it to
+say, that in all the primary pervading principle is plainly perceptible,
+namely, the long life and conjugal felicity of the happy pair. It is a
+remarkable fact that in the opinion of the Hindoo females the wider the
+circle of matrimonial ceremonies, the greater the chance of securing the
+favor of Hymen. At the conclusion, the boy and girl are directed to say
+that they have passed the state of celibacy and entered on that of
+matrimony. "Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled."
+
+As morning advances, the bridegroom walking, and the bride in the arms
+of her relative, are next brought into a room--the women blowing the
+conch and sprinkling water,--and made to sit near each other. They then
+play with cowries, (shells) the girl is told to take up _a few_ cowries
+in her left hand and put them near the boy, while on the other hand the
+boy is told to take up as _much_ as his right hand can contain and put
+them before the girl, the meaning of which is, that the girl would spend
+sparingly and the boy give her abundantly. They then play with four very
+small earthen pots, called _mooglivhur_, filled with rice and peas; the
+girl first opens the lids of the pots and throws the contents on a
+_Koolo_, (winnowing fan) the boy takes it up and fills the pots, the
+girl slowly puts the lids on and inaudibly repeats the name of her
+husband for the first time,[36] expressing a hope that by the above
+process she stops his mouth and curbs his tongue, that he may never
+abuse her. As the first course of breakfast, fruits and sweetmeats are
+served to the bridegroom and the bride. He eats a little and is
+requested to offer a portion of the same to his wife, whose modesty
+forbids her to accept any in his presence, but the earnest importunities
+of the nearest of kin overcome her shyness, and she is at length
+prevailed upon to taste a little which is offered her by the hand of her
+husband, the females expressing a desire at the same time that she may
+continue to eat from the same hand to the end of her days. They then
+receive the benedictions of the male and female members of the family in
+money, dooav grass and paddy, which embody a prayer to the God for her
+everlasting happiness. A second course of breakfast consisting of boiled
+rice, dhall, fish and vegetable curries in great variety, sweetmeats,
+sour and sweet milk is next brought for the bridegroom; seeing that he
+eats very slowly and scantily through shame, his sisters-in-law help him
+with handfuls of rice and curries, &c. After he has finished eating, the
+residue of the victuals is given to his wife in a separate room, because
+it is customary that she should use the same that day, with a view to
+cement mutual love and affection.
+
+Preparations are now being made for the return of the procession to the
+house of the bridegroom, but before it starts some pecuniary matters are
+to be settled. The father of the bridegroom gives fifty Rupees as
+_Sarjaytollanee_ for the benefit of the sisters of the bride, and the
+father of the bride must give the same sum, if not a larger one, as
+_Nanadkhaymee_ for the benefit of the sisters of the bridegroom. Then
+the difficult problem of _Samajeek_ is to be solved. In almost every
+case, the question is not decided without some discussion. Hindoos are
+above all tenacious of caste when the question is one of Rupees and
+pice. Crowds of _Bhats_, _fakeers_, _nagas_, _raywos_, and mendicants
+shouting at times "_Jay, Jay_," victory, victory; "Bar, konay bachay
+thakoog," may the bridegroom and bride live long, impatiently wait in
+the street for their usual alms. They get a few annas each and disperse.
+Professional _Ghatucks_, genealogists and Brahmins also come in for
+their share and are not disappointed. Then comes the interesting and
+affecting part of the ceremonial, the _jattra_, or the approaching
+departure of the happy pair for the house of the bridegroom. A small
+brass pot filled with holy water and a small wooden pot of vermillion
+being placed before them, they are made to sit on the two wooden
+_pirays_ on which they sat the previous evening at the time of marriage,
+and the females touch their foreheads with sour milk, _shiddi_ (hemp),
+and the consecrated _urghi_ of the goddess Doorga,[37] which latter is
+kept in a tuft on the _Khopa_ or ringlet of the bride's hair for eight
+days. Her forehead is also rubbed with vermillion, the emblem of a
+female whose husband is alive. This is followed by the rite of
+_Kanokanjooley_ already described, but this time the father of the bride
+throws the brass plate right over her head into the cloth of his wife,
+who stands for the purpose behind her daughter. A sudden and solemn
+pause is perceptible here, betokening the subsidence of joy and the
+advent of sorrow. In the midst of the company, mostly females, the
+father and mother of the bride, alternately clasping both the hands of
+the bridegroom, with tears in their eyes, commit the very responsible
+trust of the young wife to his charge, saying at the same time in a
+faltering tone, among other things, that "hitherto our daughter was
+placed under our care, but now through the _Bhabiturbee_ or kind
+dispensation of Providence, she is consigned for ever to your charge,
+may you kindly overlook her shortcomings and frailties and prove your
+fidelity by constancy." At this parting expression, tears start into the
+eyes of all the females who are naturally more susceptible than the
+sterner sex. With sorrowful countenances and deep emotion they look
+steadfastly at the married pair and imploringly beseech the bridegroom
+to treat the bride with all the tenderness of an affectionate husband.
+The scene is exceedingly affecting, and the sweet sorrow of parting does
+not permit him to say _Bidaya_ or farewell to the bridegroom. The
+mother-in-law, especially, should the bride be her only daughter, is
+overwhelmed with grief, and if she does not cry bitterly, her suppressed
+emotion is unmistakable; the idea even of a temporary separation is
+enough to break her heart, and no consolation can restore the natural
+serenity of her mind.[38] Her relatives endeavour to cheer her by
+reminding her of their and her own cases, and declare that all females
+are born to share the same fate. They scarcely enter the world before
+they must leave their parents and intermarry into other families. This
+is their destiny, and this the law of _Juggut_ (the world), and they
+must all abide by it. Instead of repining, she ought to pray to _Debta_
+(god,) "that her daughter should ever continue to live at her
+father-in-law's, use _Sidoor_ (vermillion) on her grey head, wear out
+her _iron bangle_, and be a _junma ayestri_," blessings which are all
+enjoyed by a female whose husband is alive. Such powerful arguments and
+undeniable examples partially restore the equanimity of her mind, and
+she is half persuaded to join her friends and go and see the procession
+from the top of the house. The same tumult and bustle which ensued at
+the time of coming now prevail at the departure of the bridegroom in
+his _Sookasun_, and the bride in her closely covered crimson _Mohapaya_,
+preceded by all the _tinsel trappings_ and bands of English and Native
+musicians. The procession slowly moves forward with all the pomp and
+consequence of a grand, imposing exhibition, amidst the staring of the
+wondering populace and of the sight-seeing public. "It is on such
+occasions," as Macaulay observes, "that tender and delicate women, whose
+veils had never been lifted before the public gaze, came forth from the
+inner chambers in which Eastern jealousy keeps watch over their beauty."
+The great body of _Barjattars_--bridegroom's friends--who graced the
+procession with their presence the previous night, do not accompany it
+now on its return homewards, and notwithstanding all the vigilance of
+the extra guards, the mob scrambles and forcibly takes away the tinsel
+flower and fruit trees on the way. In an hour or two, all the objects of
+wonder vanish from the sight, and leave no mark behind them: "the gaze
+of fools, the pageant of a day."
+
+On the arrival of the procession at its destination, the bridegroom
+alights from the _Sookasun_ and the bride from the _Mohapaya_, under
+which, by way of welcome, is thrown a _ghara_, or pot of water. Hereupon
+the silk _chadur_ or scarf of the bridegroom, so long in the possession
+of the bride, being entwined between both while the conch is blowing,
+they are taken into the inner apartment, the former walking, the latter
+in the arms of one of her nearest female relatives whose husband is
+alive. The boy is made to stand on an _allpana piray_ (white-painted
+wooden seat), the girl on a thala or metal plate filled with milk and
+altawater, and holding in her hand a live _shole_ fish. A small earthen
+pot of milk is put upon the fire by a female whose husband is alive, and
+when through heat it overflows, the veil of the girl being lifted, she
+is desired to witness the overflowing process and say gently three
+times, "may the wealth and resources of her father-in-law overflow,"
+while her mother-in-law puts round her left hand an iron bangle,[39] and
+with the usual benediction that she may be ever blessed with her
+husband, rubs the middle of her forehead with a little vermillion. A
+small basket of paddy or unhusked rice, over which stands a small pot of
+vermillion, is placed on the head of the bride, which the bridegroom
+holds with his left hand, and when they are both greeted three times
+with the _Sree_, _Barandala Koolo_, water, plantain, betel and
+betel-nuts, as has been described before, by the bridegroom's mother,
+he, with his pair of nut-crackers in his right hand, throws over the
+ground a few grains of paddy from the _reck_, walks slowly over a new
+piece of red bordered cloth into a room, accompanied by his wife and
+preceded by other females, one of whom blows a conch and another
+sprinkles water,--both tokens of an auspicious event.
+
+When all are properly seated upon bedding spread on the floor, the
+bridegroom and the bride play again the game of _jatook_ with cowries
+(shells)[40] as before. They afterwards receive the usual _asseerbad_
+(blessing) in paddy, doov-grass and money. The mother-in-law in order to
+ensure the permanent submissiveness of the bride puts honey into her
+ears and sugar into her mouth that she may receive her commands and
+execute them like a sweet obedient girl. Some females then, placing a
+male child on the thigh of the bridegroom, desire him to hand it to the
+bride. According to prescribed custom, the mother-in-law, on first
+seeing the face of her daughter-in-law, presents her with a pair of gold
+bangles. Other near female relatives, following her example, present her
+severally with a pair of gold armlets, a pearl necklace, a set of gold
+_pitjhapa_, or an ornament for the back, jingling as the girl moves, a
+pair of diamond cut gold ear-rings set in precious stones, and so on. To
+account for the common desire of the Hindoos to give a profusion of
+jewels to their females, Menu, their great fountain of authority,
+enjoins "let women be constantly supplied with ornaments at festivals
+and jubilees, for if the wife be not elegantly attired, she will not
+exhilarate her husband. A wife gaily adorned, the whole house is
+embellished."
+
+She is next taken into the kitchen, where all sorts of cooked victuals,
+except meat, are prepared in great abundance. She is desired to look at
+them and pray to God that her father-in-law may always enjoy plenty.
+Returning from the cookroom, the bridegroom gives into her hands an
+embroidered Benares _saree_ as also a brass _thala_, (plate) with a few
+_batees_ (cups) containing boiled rice, _dhall_, and all the prepared
+curries, vegetables, and fish, frumenty, &c., and addresses her,
+declaring that from this day forward he undertakes to support her with
+food and clothes. He then partakes of the dinner and retires, while the
+bride is made to share the residue.[41] She is thus taught, from the
+moment of her union at the Hymeneal altar, her fundamental duty of
+absolute submission to, and utter dependence on, her husband. Should she
+be of dark complexion and her features not beautiful, the bridegroom is
+thus twitted by his elder brothers' wives: "you all along disliked a
+_kalo_ (black) girl, now what will you do, _thacoorpo_? Surely you
+cannot forsake her, we will see by-and-bye you shall have to wash her
+feet." Words like these pierce the heart of the bridegroom, but
+politeness forbids him to reply. As regards the power of woman, the same
+lawgiver says--"a female is able to draw from the right path in this
+life, not a fool only, but even a sage, and can lead him in subjection
+to desire or to wrath."
+
+The nearest relatives and friends of the family are invited to partake
+of the _Bowbhat_ or bridal dinner consisting of boiled rice, dhall, fish
+and vegetable curries, frumenty, _polowya_, &c., served to the guests by
+the bride's own hands, which is tantamount to her recognition as one of
+the members of the family. To eat _unna_ (boiled rice) is one thing and
+to eat _jalpan_ (loochees and sweetmeats) is quite another. A Hindoo can
+take the latter at the house of one of inferior caste, but he would lose
+his caste if he were to eat the former at the same place. Even among
+equals of the same caste, and much more among inferiors, boiled rice is
+not taken without mature consideration, and some sort of compensation
+from the inferior to the superior for condescending to eat the same. The
+compensation is made in money and clothes according to the rank of the
+_Koolins_. Before departing, the guests invited to the _Bowbhat_ at
+which they eat boiled _rice_ from the hands of the bride, give her one,
+two, or more Rupees each.
+
+The day following is a very interesting day or rather night, being the
+night of _Foolsajya_[42] or flowery bed. At about eight o'clock in the
+evening the father of the bride sends to his son-in-law ample presents
+of all sorts of fruits in or out of season, home and bazar made
+sweetmeats, some in the shape of men, women, fishes, birds, carriages,
+horses, elephants, &c., &c., each weighing from 6 to 10 lbs., sweet and
+sour milk (_batasa_,) a kind of sweet cakes, _chineere moorkey_, paddy,
+fried and sugared comfits, spices of all sorts, betel and prepared
+betel-nuts, sets of ornaments and toys made of cutch, representing
+railway carriages, gardens, house, dancing girls, &c., imitation pearl
+necklaces made of rice, imitation gold necklace made of paddy, colored
+imitation fruits made of curd[43], butter, sugar, sugar-candy, _chana_
+(coagulated milk), otto of rose, rose-water, chaplets of flowers and
+flower ornaments, in great variety, Dacca and embroidered Benares
+_dhooty_ and _saree_ for the boy and the girl, clothes for all the
+elderly females, couch-cot, beddings, sets of silver and brass utensils,
+carpet, embroidered shoes, gold watch and chain, &c., &c. Between 125
+and 150 servants, male and female, carry these articles, some in banghy,
+some in baskets, and some in large brass _thalas_ or trays. These
+presents being properly arranged in the _Thacoor-dallan_ the male
+friends of the family are invited to come down and see them, some
+praising the choice assortment and large variety, as well as the taste
+of the father of the bride, while others more calculating make an
+estimate as to the probable cost of the whole. These articles are then
+removed into the inner apartment, where the females, naturally
+loquacious, criticise them according to their judgment; the simple and
+the good-natured say they are good and satisfactory, others more
+fastidious find fault with them. They are, however, soon silenced by the
+prudent remarks of the adult male members of the family. The servants
+are next fed and dismissed with presents of money, some receiving one
+Rupee each being the servants of the bride's family, some half a Rupee
+being the servants of other families. They then take back all the brass
+_thalas_ and trays, leaving the baskets behind.
+
+Here we come to the climax of interest. The bridegroom and the bride,
+adorned with a wealth of flower wreaths, and dressed in red-bordered
+Dacca clothes, with sandal paste on their foreheads, and sitting side by
+side in the presence of females whose husbands are alive, are desired to
+eat even a small portion of the articles of food that have been
+presented, and what is the most interesting feature in the scene, is
+that the former helps the latter and the latter helps the former, both
+throwing aside for the first time the restraint which modesty naturally
+imposes on such an occasion. To be more explicit, the boy eats one half
+of a sweetmeat and gives the other half to the girl, and the girl in her
+turn is constrained to follow the same example, though with a blushing
+countenance and a veiled face. Female modesty predominates in this
+isolated instance. If the boy give blushingly, the girl gives shyly and
+tremulously; in spite of her best efforts, she cannot consistently make
+up her mind to lift up her right hand and stretch it towards the mouth
+of her husband, but is after all helped to do so by a woman, whose
+husband is alive. This process of eating[44] and mutual help, when three
+days have scarcely passed over their heads, naturally gives rise to joy,
+merriment and laughter among the females; and one amongst them exclaims;
+"look, look, _Soudaminey_, how our new _Radha_ and _Krishna_ are sitting
+side by side and eating together; may they live long and sport thus."
+The mother of the boy watches the progress of the interesting scene,
+and in transports of joy wishes for their continued felicity. The young
+and sprightly, who have once passed through the same process, and whose
+hearts are enlivened by the reminiscences of past occurrences, too
+recent to be forgotten, tarry in the room to the last moment, till sleep
+weighing down the eyelids of the happy pair, the mother of the
+bridegroom gently calls them aside, and leaves them to rest undisturbed.
+In accordance with the old established custom, their bed is strewn with
+flowers and their bodies perfumed with otto of rose. This is not enough
+for the sprightly ladies, the complement of whose amusement and
+merriment is not yet full. Even if the night be a chilly one, regardless
+of the effects of exposure, they must _aripato_, or jealously watch
+through the crevices of windows, whether or not the boy talks to the
+girl, and if he do, what is the nature of the talk. Thus they pass the
+whole night prying and laughing, chatting with each other on subjects
+suited to their taste and mode of thought. When morning dawns, the boy
+opening the door goes outside, and the girl slowly walks to her
+maid-servants, who accompanied her from her father's house. Her whole
+desire is to get back to her mother and sisters; nothing can reconcile
+her to her new home; novelty has no charms for her except in her
+paternal domicile. She repeatedly asks her maid-servants as to when the
+_Palkee_ will come, and what is the time fixed for her _jattra_,
+(departure); the maid-servants, consoling her, induce her to wash her
+mouth and break her fast with a few sweetmeats. In obedience to the kind
+instruction of her mother, she sits closely veiled and talks little, if
+at all, even to young girls of her tender age. She next takes her
+_vojan_, or dinner, and to while away time, little girls try to amuse
+her with toys or a game at cards; at length the time comes for the
+toilet work, and the arrival of the covered _Mohapaya_ is announced. She
+again takes a few sweetmeats, and making a _pronam_ (bow) to all her
+superiors, is helped into the Palkee by her mother-in-law, a female
+having previously washed her feet. The usual benediction on such an
+occasion is, "may you continue to live under the roof of your
+father-in-law in the enjoyment of conjugal bliss."
+
+On the arrival of the Mahapaya at her father's house, almost all the
+females come out for a moment, taking care previously to have the suddur
+door bolted and the Palkee bearers removed. They cheerfully welcome the
+return of the girl home. Her mother, unveiling her face and taking her
+in her arms, thus affectionately addresses her, "my _Bacha_, (child) my
+_sonarchand_ (golden moon) where have you been? Did not your heart mourn
+for us?" Our house looked _khakha_ (desolate) in your absence. "What did
+they (bridegroom's family) say about our _dayway thowya_ (presents)? Did
+they express any _nindya_, (dissatisfaction)? How have the women behaved
+towards you? How are your _sassooree_ and _sasoor_ (mother-in-law and
+father-in-law,)?" Thus interrogating, they all walk inside and, making
+the girl change her silk clothes and sit near them, begin to examine and
+criticise the ornaments given her by her father-in-law. "Let us see the
+pearl necklace _first_," says Bhoopada? "The pearls are not smooth and
+round, what may be its value?" _Geeri Balla_, taking her own pearl
+necklace from off her neck, compares the one with the other. They
+unanimously pronounce the latter to be more costly than the former; be
+that as it may, its value cannot be less than Rupees 500. They next take
+in hand the _pitjapa_, ornament for the back, looking at it for a few
+minutes they pass their opinion, saying it is heavier and better made
+than that of _Geeri Balla_. The _Sita haur_, or _Jarawya_[45] (gold
+necklace) afterwards attracts their attention, and they roughly estimate
+its price at Rupees 350. It is not a little surprising that though these
+women are never permitted to go beyond the precincts of the zenana, yet
+their valuation of ornaments, unless it be a _jarawya bijoutry_ of
+enormous cost, such as is worn on grand occasions by the wife of a "_big
+swell_," often bears the nearest approximation to the intrinsic worth of
+an article. Thus almost every ornament, one after another, forms the
+subject of their criticism. When their discussion is over, the girl is
+desired to take the greater portion of her ornaments off her body--save
+a pair of gold _balla_[46] on her hands and a necklace on her neck--and
+leave them to the care of her mother. She then mixes in the company of
+other little girls of her tender age, some married, some unmarried; who
+curiously ask her all about her new friends, until their talk resumes
+its usual childish topics. She passes the day among them very
+pleasantly, so much so that when her mother calls her to take her
+luncheon, she stays back and says only "_jachee, jachee_," (coming,
+coming,) her mind being so much absorbed in her juvenile sports.
+
+The next day is again a day of trial for her, she has to go for
+_gharbasath_[47] to her father-in-law's house. On awaking, she remembers
+where she will have to go in course of the day; a sensation bordering on
+sulkiness almost unconsciously steals upon her, and as time passes it
+increases in intensity. About four in the afternoon the arrival of the
+_Mahapaya_ is announced, her sister combs her hair and adorns her
+person with all the ornaments she has lately received. Dressed in her
+bridal silk _saree_, her eyes seem charged with tears, and symptoms of
+reluctance are visible in every step; but go she must; no alternative is
+left her. So her mother helps her into the _Mahapaya_ and orders a
+durwan and two maid-servants to accompany her, not forgetting to assure
+her that she is to be brought back the next day. Despite this assurance,
+she whimpers and weeps, and is consoled on the way by her maid-servants.
+At her father-in-law's, young girls of her age being impatient to
+receive her, are seen moving backwards and forwards to get a glimpse of
+the _Mahapaya_, the arrival of which is a signal for almost all the
+ladies to come out and greet the object of their affection. Her
+mother-in-law steps forward, and taking up the girl in her arms walks
+inside, followed by a train of other ladies, whose hearts are
+exhilarated again at the prospect of merriment at the expense of the
+married pair. When the time comes round for them to retire, the same
+scene of _arepata_ is re-enacted by the mirth-loving ladies, with all
+their "quips and cranks and wanton wiles." At day-break, the girl, as
+must naturally be expected, quietly walks to her confidential
+maid-servant, and whispers her to go and tell her mother to send the
+_Mahapaya_ Palkee as early as possible. Bearing her message, one of them
+goes for the purpose but the mother replies, How can she send the Palkee
+except at the lucky hour after dinner? When this reply is communicated
+to the girl, she sits sulkily aloof, until her mother-in-law cajoles her
+and offers for her breakfast a few sweetmeats with milk. After a great
+deal of hesitation she complies with her request, which, to be
+effective, is always accompanied by a threat of not allowing her to
+return to her father's in the event of a refusal. About ten o'clock she
+takes her regular breakfast as described before, but she does not eat
+with zest, for whatever delicacy may be offered her, it palls upon her
+taste; continually brooding on the idea of a return home. This is the
+day when the bridegroom and the bride untie from each other's hand the
+yellow home-spun _charka_ thread with which they were entwined on the
+day of marriage, as a mark of their indissoluble union. At length the
+lucky hour arrives, and with it the _Mahapaya_ comes. The very
+announcement of the fact revives the drooping spirits of the bride.
+After going through the usual toilet work and a slight repast, she gets
+into the covered conveyance, assisted by her mother-in-law and other
+ladies. When she returns home, she changes her bridal silk garment and
+strips herself of the greater portion of her ornaments. Now uncontrolled
+and unreserved, she breathes a free, genial, atmosphere; her mother and
+sisters welcome her with their heartfelt congratulations, and she moves
+about with her wonted buoyancy of spirit. Throwing aside her sulkiness,
+she commingles readily in conversation with all around her. She praises
+the amiable qualities of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, and the
+very kind treatment she has had while under their roof, but she keeps
+her reserve when even the slightest allusion is made to her husband,
+because this is to her young mind forbidden ground on which she cannot
+venture to tread without violating the sacred rules of conventionalism.
+
+At the marriages of rich families, as will be understood from our
+description, vast sums of money are expended. The greatest expense is
+incurred in purchasing jewels and making presents of brass utensils,
+shawls, clothes, sweetmeats, &c., to Brahmins, Koolins, _Ghatacks_ and
+numerous friends, relatives and acquaintances, besides illuminations,
+fireworks and all the pageantry of a pompous procession. In and about
+Calcutta, the Rajahs of Shobabazar, the Dey family, the Mullick family,
+the Tagore family, the Dutt family, the Ghosal family, and others, are
+reported to have spent from fifty thousand rupees to two lakhs (L5,000
+to L20,000) and upwards in the marriages of their sons. Whilst writing
+this I am told Maharajah Jotendro Mohun Tagore is said to have expended
+about two lakhs of rupees in the marriage of his nephew. The most
+interesting feature in the extraordinary munificence of the Moharajah
+is, as I have learnt, his princely contribution to the "District
+Charitable Society,"--an act of benevolence which has shewn, in a very
+conspicuous manner, not only his good sense, but his warm sympathy with
+the cause of suffering humanity. It were to be wished that his noble
+example would exercise some influence on other Hindoo millionaires. If a
+tithe of such marriage expenses were devoted to Public Charity, the poor
+and helpless would ceaselessly chant the names of such donors, and the
+reward would be something better than the transient admiration of the
+idle populace.
+
+For one or two years after marriage, the girl generally remains under
+the paternal roof, occasionally paying a visit to her father-in-law's as
+need be. As she advances in years, her repugnance--the effect of early
+marriage--to live with her husband is gradually overcome, till time and
+circumstances completely reconcile her to her future home. Her affection
+grows, and she learns to appreciate the grave meaning of a married life.
+She is still, however, but a girl, in habit and ideas, when the real
+union of wedded life or the second marriage takes place, which is
+solemnised when she arrives at the age of puberty, say at her twelfth or
+thirteenth year. There is a popular belief, whether erroneous or not it
+is not for me to decide, that in this country heat accelerates growth,
+and hence the Hindoo Shasturs enjoin the necessity of early marriage,
+the injurious consequences of which are chiefly seen in the weak
+constitution of the offspring, and the premature decay of the mother.
+
+So abominable are some of the ceremonies connected with this event in
+the life of a female that to describe them fully would be an outrage on
+common decency.[48] I will, therefore, confine myself to a description
+of the ceremonies, entirely abstaining from an allusion to the
+abominations connected therewith. A general depravity of manners can
+only account for the prevalence of this obnoxious institution, in the
+eradication of which every Hindoo whose moral sense is not entirely
+blunted ought to co-operate. As the delay of the union is in the belief
+of a Hindoo an unpardonable sin, the fact referred to is announced by
+the sound of a conch, and the bodies of all the females are smeared with
+turmeric water,--an unmistakable evidence of joy. The news is also
+conveyed to the nearest relatives by the family barber who receives
+presents of clothes and money. It is quite evident from the silence of
+the Hindoo Shastur on the subject that the origin of the female rites is
+comparatively recent. Irrespective of the religious observances, it
+affords an opportunity to the zenana females to indulge in obscene
+depravities, the outcome of vitiated feeling.
+
+The poor girl is placed on this occasion in the corner of a dark, dingy
+room, with a small round pebble before her, shut out from the gaze of
+men, and surrounded on four sides by four pieces of slender split
+bamboos about one yard long fastened by a piece of thread. This is
+called the _teerghur_ mentioned before. Being regarded as unclean, she
+remains in this room for four days without a bedding or a musquito
+curtain, and no one touches her, not even her sisters. She is forbidden
+to see the sun, her diet is confined to boiled rice, milk, sugar, curd,
+and tamarind without salt. On the morning of the fifth day, she is taken
+to a neighbouring tank, accompanied by five women whose husbands are
+alive. Smeared with turmeric water, they all bathe and return home,
+throwing away the mat and other things that were in the room. She then
+sits in another room, and a very low caste woman, in the presence of
+five other respectable females (not widows), performs a series of what
+is vulgarly called _Nith Kith_,[49] purely female rites, which are
+exceedingly indecent and immoral, so much so that a woman who has any
+sense of shame feels quite disgusted. During the day, according to
+previous invitations, numerous female guests assemble and partake of a
+good dinner provided for the occasion. They are also entertained with
+songs, dancing and music, all done by professional females. When the
+guests retire, they congratulate the girl with the usual benediction to
+the effect,--"may you be blessed with a male child."
+
+After a day or two the religious part of the ceremony is performed,
+which is free from obscenity. On this occasion, the officiating priest
+reading, and the bridegroom repeating the service after him, presents
+offerings of rice, sweetmeats, plantain, clothes, doov-grass, fruits and
+flowers to the following gods and goddesses, _viz._, _Shasthi_,
+_Marcando_, _Soorja_, _Soobhachini_, _Gannesh_, and the nine planets,
+much in the same way as when the nuptial rites were formally solemnized.
+After this the hands of the bridegroom and the bride are joined
+together, and the priest repeating certain formulas, the bridegroom then
+causes a ring to slide between the bride's silk garment and her waist.
+Twenty-one small images (twenty male and one female) made of pounded
+rice are placed before the happy pair, and the priest feeds the bride
+with sugar, clarified butter, milk, and the urine and dung of a calf to
+ensure the purity of the offspring. They then partake of a good dinner,
+the bride taking the residue of the bridegroom's meal. The twenty-one
+images are put into the room of the pair as a token of happy offspring,
+and the proportion of the males to the females, shews the premium and
+discount at which they are respectively held. The bride now takes up her
+permanent residence in the house of her father-in-law and becomes one of
+his family.
+
+For one twelve month after the marriage, the parents of the bridegroom
+and the bride have to make exchanges of suitable presents to one another
+at all the grand festivals. At the _first tatto_ or present, besides
+clothes, heaps of fruits, sweetmeats, English toys and sundries, the
+father of the youth gives one complete set of miniature silver and brass
+utensils to the girl, while in return the father of the girl sends such
+presents as a table, chair, writing desk, silver inkstand, gold and
+silver pencil cases, stationery, perfumery, &c., in addition to an
+equally large quantity of choice eatables of all kinds too numerous to
+be detailed. The most expensive presents are two, namely, the _sittory_
+or winter present and the Doorga Poojah present, the former requiring a
+Cashmere shawl, _choga_ and sundry other articles of use, and the
+latter, fine Dacca and silk clothes to the whole family, including men,
+women and children.
+
+It is a lamentable fact that though a Hindoo bears a great love and
+affection to his wife while she lives, yet in the event of her death,
+the effects of these amiable qualities are too soon effaced by the
+strong influence of a new passion, and another union is very speedily
+formed. Even during the period of his mourning, which lasts one month,
+proposals for a second marriage are entertained, if not by the husband
+himself, by his father or elder brother. When the remembrance of this
+heavy domestic bereavement is so very fresh in the memory, it is highly
+unbecoming and ungenerous to open or enter into a matrimonial
+negotiation, and have it consummated immediately after the _asuchi_ or
+mourning is over. A wife is certainly not a beast of burden that is no
+sooner removed by death than it may be replaced by another. She is a
+being whose joy and sorrow, happiness and misery, should be identical
+with her husband's, and he is a savage in the widest sense of the word
+who does not cherish a sacred regard for her memory after her death. In
+regard to the whole conduct and relations of the married life, Hindoos
+cannot have the golden rule too strongly impressed: "Let every one of
+you in particular so love his wife, even as himself; and let the wife
+see that she reverence her husband."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[15] I may be permitted here to observe _en passant_ that a civilized
+nation in describing the beauty of a woman, is sometimes apt to adopt
+the flowery language of Hafiz. At a Ministerial banquet sometime ago,
+the Lord Mayor of London was reported to have said about the Princess of
+Wales; "she is perfection, she sparkles like a gem of fifty facets, she
+is light when she smiles and she is beauty whenever you see her."
+
+[16] Presents of sweetmeats, fruits, clothes, flowers and sundry other
+articles on a pretty grand scale from the bride to the bridegroom, which
+will be described more in detail afterwards.
+
+[17] A Rajpoot prince was said to have given a lakh of Rupees to a bard
+in order to purchase his rhythmic plaudits in a respectable assemblage
+of his countrymen.
+
+[18] If we consult properly the pages of the history of this country
+from the earliest period, we shall find abundant proofs of the very
+great influence of women on Hindoo society in general. I cannot do
+better than give the following quotation from Tod's Annals of Rajasthan.
+"What led to the wars of Rama? The rape of Sita. What rendered deadly
+the feuds of the Yadus? The insult of Dropadi. What made prince Nala an
+exile from Nirwar? His love for Damayanti. What made Raja Bharti abandon
+the throne of Avanti? The loss of Pingala. What subjected the Hindu to
+the dominion of the Islamite? The rape of the princess of Canouj. In
+fine, the cause which overturned kingdoms, commuted the sceptre to the
+pilgrim's staff and formed the ground-work of all their grand epics, is
+woman."
+
+[19] Besides the marriage expenses, this man gave to his five
+sons-in-law fifty thousand Rupees each, as well as a house worth ten
+thousand Rupees more.
+
+[20] A thin stuff like paper with which Hindoo females redden their
+feet. A widow is not allowed to use it. In the absence of shoes, which
+they are forbidden to wear, this red color heightens the beauty of their
+tiny feet. It is applied once a week.
+
+[21] In the selection of a bridegroom, outward appearances are not
+always to be trusted. The late Baboo Aushotosh Dey, a millionaire, had a
+very beautiful grand-daughter to give in marriage. As was to be
+expected, _Ghatacks_ and _Ghatkees_ had been rummaging the whole town
+and its suburbs for a suitable match, one who would possess all the
+recommendations of a good education, a respectable family, and a fair,
+prepossessing appearance--qualities which are rarely combined in one.
+Among others, the name of the late Honorable Baboo Dwarkey Nauth Mitter
+(afterwards a Judge of the Calcutta High Court,) was mentioned. He was
+then a bachelor, and his reputation as a scholar spread far and wide.
+Somehow or other he was brought into the house of Baboo Aushotosh Dey
+for the purpose of giving the ladies an opportunity of seeing him. His
+scholastic attainments were pronounced to be of very superior order, but
+not being blessed with a prepossessing appearance, he was rejected.
+
+[22] In Hindoo marriages and other ceremonies of a similar nature _red_
+color is indispensably necessary for all kinds of wearing apparel, even
+the invitation cards must be on _red_ paper. Red color is the sign of
+joy and gaiety as opposed to black, which is held to be ominous.
+
+[23] A collirium case which contains the black dye with which native
+females daub their own and their childrens' eyelids.
+
+[24] The Bengalis have become so much anglicised of late that they have
+not hesitated to give an English name to their sweetmeats. When the late
+Lord Canning was the Governor General of India, it was said his Baboo
+made a present of some native sweetmeats to Lady Canning, who was kindly
+pleased to accept it. Hence the sweetmeat is called "Lady Canning," and
+to this day no grand feast among the Bengalis is considered as complete
+unless the "Lady Canning" sort is offered to the guests. The man that
+first made it is said to have gained much money by its sale. It is not
+the savoury taste of the thing that makes it so popular, but the name of
+the illustrious Lady. While treating the subject of Hindoo
+entertainment, it would not be out of place to make a few observations
+on a branch of it, for the information of European readers. At all
+public entertainments of the kind I am referring to, respectable Hindoos
+strictly confine themselves to _vegetable curries_. Though those of the
+_Sakto_ denomination (the followers of Kali and Doorga) have no
+religious scruples to use goat-meat (male) and onion in the shape of
+curry among select friends at home, they dare not expose themselves by
+offering it to strangers. Hence, in large assemblies, they strictly
+confine themselves to vegetable curries of different kinds. The
+principle is good, were it honestly observed; because meat, if not
+necessarily, yet generally, is the concomitant of _drink_. _Privately_,
+however, both meat and drink are largely used. Respectable females are
+entirely free as yet from these carnal indulgences.
+
+[25] The cause of the fear is as follows: When Kartick (the god of
+beauty and the son of the goddess Doorga) went out to marry, he had
+forgotten to take with him the usual pair of nut-crackers. When he
+remembered this on the way, he immediately returned home, and to his
+great surprise, saw his mother eating with her ten hands, she being a
+ten handed goddess. On asking the reason, he was told that it was lest,
+when he should bring his wife, she would not give her the proper
+quantity of food. Under what strange hallucinations, even the gods and
+goddesses of the Hindoos laboured!
+
+[26] The _chamurs_ are fans made of the tails of Thibet cows.
+
+[27] Every commonplace minutiae in the domestic economy of a Hindoo
+family is fraught with meaning: the nuts are kept all-day in the bride's
+mouth and are saturated with her saliva. When cut by the hand of the
+bridegroom they are supposed to possess a peculiar virtue. Somehow or
+other, the bridegroom must be made to use them with the betel, in spite
+of the warning of his mother, forbidding him to use them on any account.
+When used, his love for his wife is supposed to be intensified, which is
+prejudicial to the interests of his mother.
+
+[28] The articles consist of Silver Ghara, Gharoo, Batha, Thalla, Batti,
+Glass, Raykab, Dahur, Dipay and Pickdan.
+
+[29] I have known a young collegian of a rather humourous disposition
+bleat like a lamb at the time of marriage, to the great amusement of all
+the females, except his mother-in-law, who, simple as she was, took the
+matter in a serious light, and felt herself almost dejected on account
+of the great stupidity of her son-in-law (for she could not take it in
+any other sense), but her dejection gave place to joy when in the
+_Basurghur_--the sleeping room of the happy pair for the night--she
+heard him outwit all the females present. It is obvious that the meaning
+of this part of the female rite is to render the husband tame and docile
+as a lamb, especially in his treatment of his wife.
+
+[30] In former days when education was but very scantily cultivated,
+unpleasant quarrels were known to have arisen between the two parties
+from very trivial circumstances. The friends of the bridegroom, often
+pluming themselves on their special prerogatives as members of the
+strong party readily resented even the slightest insult offered them
+rather incautiously by the bridal party. These altercations sometimes
+terminated in blows, if not in lacerated limbs. Instead of waiting till
+the conclusion of the ceremony, the whole of the bridegroom's party has
+been known to return home without dinner, to the great mortification of
+the other party. There is a common saying among the Bengalees that "he
+who is the enemy of the house should go to a marriage party." It was a
+common sport with the friends of the bridegroom to cut with a pair of
+scissors the bedding at the house of the bride. But happily such
+practices are of rare occurrence now-a-days.
+
+[31] An English gentleman, who, to a versatile genius, combined an
+intelligent knowledge of, and a familiar acquaintance with, the manners
+and customs of the country, once advised a Native friend of his to go to
+England and other great countries on the continent with a number of
+Hindoo females and exhibit there all the important social and domestic
+ceremonials of this country in a place of public resort. The very
+circumstance of Hindoo females performing those rites in the manner in
+which they are popularly celebrated here, would be sure to attract a
+very large audience. The marriage ceremonies alone would form a regular
+night of enchantment and amusement. The time will certainly come when
+the realization of such an ingenious idea would no longer be held
+Utopian.
+
+[32] Sweeper-caste females.
+
+[33] According to the prescribed rules of the Hindoo society, a
+mother-in-law is not permitted to appear before her son-in-law; it is
+not only considered indecorous, but is associated with something else
+that is scandalous; hence she always keeps her distance from her
+son-in-law, but on this particular night, her presence in the room with
+other females is quite consistent with feminine propriety. In the case
+of a very young son-in-law, however, a departure from this rule is not
+reprehensible.
+
+[34] In the suburbs and rural districts of Bengal, females, more
+particularly among the Brahmin class, are tacitly allowed to have so
+much liberty on this special occasion that they, putting under the
+bushel their instinctive modesty, entertain the bridegroom not only with
+epithalamiums but with other amorous songs, having reference to the
+diversions of Krishna with his mistress, and the numerous milk-maids.
+Under an erroneous impression of singing holy songs they unwittingly
+trumpet the profligate character of their god. These songs are generally
+known by the names of _sakhisungbad_ and _biraha_; the former as the
+designation implies, consist of news as conveyed by the principal
+milk-maids regarding his mistress, to whom he oftentimes proved false,
+and the latter of disappointed love, which broadly exhibits the
+prominent features of his sensuous life. They feel such an interest in
+these low entertainments, that under the hallowed name of religion they
+are led to indirectly perpetrate a crime. Frail as women naturally are,
+the example of such a god, combined with the sanction of religion, has
+undoubtedly a tendency to impair the moral influence of a virtuous life.
+I have always regretted this from my personal observation, but to strike
+a death blow at the root of the evil must be the work of ages. The
+essential elements of the Hindoo character must be thoroughly recast.
+
+[35] The fee for the trouble of removing the bed and keeping up the
+night, the ladies who remained in the bed-chamber are justly entitled to
+it for their pains; a widow, be it observed, is not permitted to touch
+the bed lest her misfortune would befall the bride, but she gets,
+however, her portion or share of the fee.
+
+[36] It should be mentioned that a female after her marriage is not
+allowed to utter the name of her husband or of any of his male and
+female relatives save those who are younger than she. There is no harm
+done in taking the name of a husband, but through a sense of shame she
+does not repeat it.
+
+[37] The _Urghi_ consists of _dooav_ grass, rice and _alta_ (a thin red
+stuff made of cotton like paper with which Hindoo females daub their
+feet,) previously consecrated to the goddess Doorga, and is supposed to
+possess a peculiar virtue in promoting felicity and relieving distress.
+
+[38] Hindoos are so passionately fond of their children, male or female,
+that they can but ill brook the idea of a segregation, even under
+circumstances where it is unavoidable. Hence wealthy families often keep
+their sons-in-law under their own roof. Sometimes this is done from
+vanity. Such sons-in-law generally become indolent and effeminate,
+destitute alike of mental activity and physical energy. They eat, drink,
+smoke, play and sleep. Fattening on the ample resources of their
+father-in-law they contract demoralizing habits, which engender vice and
+profligacy. The late Baboos Ramdoolal Dey, Ramruttun Roy, Prannauth
+Chowdry, the Tagore families, the old Rajahs of Calcutta and some of the
+newly fledged English made Rajahs and others, countenanced this
+practice, and the result is, they have left with but few exceptions a
+number of men singularly deficient in good moral character. These men
+are called _Ghar Jamayes_, or home bred sons-in-law, which is a term of
+reproach among all persons who have a spark of independence about them.
+The late Baboo Dinno Bundho Mitter, the celebrated author of "_Nil
+Durpun_," strongly satirises such characters in a book called "_Jamay
+Bareek_." While on this subject I may as well mention here that Baboo
+Ramdoolal Dey of Calcutta, who had risen from obscurity to great
+opulence, had five daughters, to each of whom he gave a marriage dowry
+of Rupees 50,000 in Government securities, and 10,000 Rupees for a
+house. Of course all his sons-in-law were first class _Koolins_, and
+used to live under the roof of their father-in-law. Some of their sons
+and grandsons are now ranked amongst the Hindoo millionaires of this
+great City, while most of the members of the original stock have
+dwindled into insignificance, strikingly illustrating the instability of
+fortune.
+
+[39] The use of an iron bangle or bracelet has a deep meaning, it
+outlasts gold and silver ones. A girl may wear gold ornaments set in
+precious stones to the value of ten or fifteen thousand Rupees, but an
+_iron_ bangle worth a pice,--a veritable insignia of _ayestreehood_
+opposed to widowhood--is indispensable to a married woman for its
+comparatively durable quality. A young widow may wear gold bangles till
+her twentieth year, but she is not privileged to put on an iron bangle
+after the death of her husband.
+
+[40] In the early part of the British Government in Bengal, _cowries_
+were the common currency of the Province in the ordinary transactions of
+life. People used to make their _hautbazar_ (market) with _cowries_, and
+a family that made a daily bazar with sixteen or eighteen _kahuns_ of
+cowries, equal to one rupee or so, was reckoned a very respectable
+family. The prices of provisions ranged nearly one-third of what they
+now are. Even the revenues of Government were sometimes paid in cowries
+in the Eastern districts, namely, Assam, Sylhet, &c.
+
+[41] There is a custom amongst the Hindoos that a married woman
+considers it no disgrace but rather an act of merit to eat the residue
+of her husband's meal in his absence; so great is the respect in which a
+husband is held, and so warm the sympathy existing between them. Even an
+elderly woman, the mother of five or six children, cheerfully partakes
+of the residue, as if it were the orts of gods.
+
+[42] It is a noteworthy fact that in contracting matrimonial alliances,
+some families placed in mediocre circumstances are satisfied with taking
+a certain sum of money in lieu of the presents mentioned, partly because
+the articles are mostly of a perishable nature, and partly because the
+making presents of money to numerous servants for their trouble and
+feeding them, is regarded more as a tax than anything else. They prefer
+utility to show. Even in such cases of verbal contract, the father of
+the bride must send at least thirty servants with presents, besides 100
+or 150 Rupees in cash as is stipulated before.
+
+[43] In making the above imitations, Hindoo females exhibit an
+astonishing degree of skill and ingenuity which, if directed by the hand
+of an expert, is capable of still further improvement. Naturally and
+instinctively they evince a great aptitude for learning all sorts of
+handiwork.
+
+[44] It is perhaps not generally known that the dinner of a native,
+Hindoo or Mussulman, male or female, is not considered complete, until
+he chews his _pan beera_ or betel. The bridegroom after eating and
+washing his mouth chews his usual _pan_, and is asked to give a portion
+thereof to the bride; he hesitates at first, but consents at length to
+give it into the right hand of his elder brother's wife, who forcibly
+thrusts the same into the mouth of the bride, observing at the same time
+that their mutual repugnance on this score will soon be overcome when
+their incipient affection grows into true love.
+
+[45] _Jarawya_ jewellery is set in precious stones, the value of which
+it is not easy to estimate.
+
+[46] A Hindoo _Ayistree_ female, _i. e._, one whose husband is alive,
+whether young or old, is religiously forbidden to take off _balla_
+(bangle) from her hands, if is a badge of _Ayistreeism_, even when dead
+red thread is substituted in the place of the _balla_, so great is the
+importance attached to it by _Ayistree_ females. When the _balla_ is not
+seen on the hand, it is called the _raur hatha_, or the hand of a widow,
+than which there could not be a more reproachful term.
+
+[47] _Gharbasath_ implies dwelling in a father-in-law's house. If the
+bride do not go there within eight days from the date of marriage, she
+could not do so for one year, but after _gharbasath_ she can go and come
+back any time when necessary. The object is to impress on her mind that
+her father-in-law's house is her future home. It is on this occasion
+that the worship of _Shoobachini_ already described is performed, and
+both the bridegroom and bride are taken to _Kally Ghat_ to sanctify the
+hallowed union and obtain the blessings of the goddess.
+
+[48] It is perhaps not generally known that some women, not from any
+malicious design but rather from the ennui of a monotonous life, as well
+as for the sake of amusement in which they might participate, make a
+secret combination, and invent some artificial means to prematurely drag
+the girl--the poor victim of superstition--into the _Teerghur_ before
+she actually arrives at the age of puberty.
+
+[49] This part of the rite is called _Kada_ or mire. A small pool is dug
+in the court-yard and some water thrown into it;--two women, the one
+personating a Rajah (King) and the other, a Ranee (Queen) feign to bathe
+in the pool, change their clothes, put on straw ornaments and dine on
+the refuse of vegetables, while the songstress recites all sorts of
+obscene songs and the females hide their faces through shame. This loose
+and ludicrous representation proves nauseating even to those for whose
+amusement it is performed. We cannot regard in any other light than as a
+relic of unmitigated barbarism.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE BROTHER FESTIVAL.
+
+
+Any social institution that has a tendency to promote the growth of
+genuine love and affection between man and woman, is naturally conducive
+to the happiness of both. In this sublunary vale of tears, where
+unalloyed felicity is but transient and short lived, even a temporary
+exemption from the cares and anxieties of the world adds at least some
+moments of pleasure to life. The _Bhratridvitiya,_ or _fraternal_ rite
+of the Hindoos, is an institution of this nature, being admirably
+calculated to cement the natural bond of union between brothers and
+sisters of the same family. Bhratridvitiya, as the name imports, takes
+place on the second day of the new moon immediately following the Kali
+Poojah or Dewali. On the morning of this day, a brother comes to the
+house of a sister, and receives from her hand the usual benedictive
+present of unhusked rice, doova grass and sandal, with a wealth of good
+wishes for his long, prosperous life, and the happy commemoration of the
+event from year to year. The brother in return reciprocates, and putting
+a Rupee or two into her hands, expresses a similar good wish, with the
+addition that she may long continue to enjoy the blessings of a conjugal
+life,--a benediction which she values over every other worldly
+advantage. The main object of this festival is to renovate and intensify
+the warmth of affection between kith and kin of both sexes by blessing
+each other on a particular day of the year. It is a sort of family
+reunion, pre-eminently calculated to recall the early reminiscences of
+life, and to freshen up fraternal and sisterly love. No ritualistic rite
+or priestly interposition is necessary for the purpose, it being a
+purely social institution, originating in the love that sweetens life.
+
+After interchanging salutations, the sister who has every thing ready
+thrice invokes a blessing upon the brother in a Bengali verse, and marks
+his forehead thrice with sandal paste by the tip of her little finger.
+She then serves him with the provisions provided for the festive
+occasion. Here genuine love and true affection almost spontaneously gush
+forth from the heart of the sister towards one who is united to her by
+the nearest tie of consanguinity and tenderest remembrances. If the
+brother be not inclined to relish or taste a particular dish, how
+affectionately does she cajole him to try it, adding at the same time
+that it has been prepared by her own hand with the greatest care. Any
+little dislike evinced by the brother instantly bathes her eyes in
+tears, and disposes her to exclaim somewhat in the following strain:
+"Why is this slight towards a poor sister who has been up till twelve
+o'clock last night to prepare for you the _chunderpooley_ and
+_Khirarchach_ (two sorts of home-made sweetmeats) regardless of the
+cries of _Khoka_ (the baby)." Such a pathetic, tender expression bursting
+from the lips of a loving sister cannot fail to melt a brother's heart,
+and overcome his dislike.
+
+About four o'clock in the afternoon, the sister sends, as tangible
+memorials of her affection, presents of clothes and sweetmeats to the
+house of the brother, fondly indulging in the hope that they may be
+acceptable to him. On this particular day, Hindoo homes as well as the
+streets of Calcutta in the native part of the town, present the lively
+appearance of a national jubilee. Each of the brothers of the family
+visits each of the sisters in turn. Hundreds of male and female servants
+are busily engaged in carrying presents, and return home quite
+delighted. On such occasions the heart of a Hindoo female, naturally
+soft and tender, becomes doubly expansive when the outflow of love and
+affection on her part is fully reciprocated by the effusion of good
+wishes on the part of her brother.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+THE SON-IN-LAW FESTIVAL.
+
+
+If not precisely analogous in all its prominent features to the popular
+festival described in the preceding Chapter, the following bears a
+striking resemblance to it, in its adaptation to promote domestic
+happiness. The festival familiarly known in Bengal by the name of
+"_Jamai Shasthi_" is an entertainment given in honor of a son-in-law, in
+order to bind him more closely to his wife's family.
+
+Nothing better illustrates the manners and usages of a nation from a
+social and religious standpoint than the festivals and ceremonies which
+are observed by it. They form the essential parts of what DeQuincey
+calls the equipage of life. As a nation, the Hindoos are proverbially
+fond of festivals, which are engrafted, as it were, on their peculiar
+domestic and social economy. A designing priesthood had concocted an
+almost endless round of superstitious rites with the view of acquiring
+power, and looking for permanent reverence to the credulity of the blind
+devotees. Such foolish rites are eventually destined to fall into
+desuetude, as popular enlightenment progresses, but those which are free
+from the taint of priestcraft by reason of their being interwoven into
+the social amenities of life, are likely to prevail long after the
+subversion of priestly ascendency. And _Jamai Shasthi_ is a festival of
+this unobjectionable type. No superstitious element enters into its
+observance.
+
+It invariably takes place on the sixth day[50] of the increase of the
+moon in the Bengali month of May, when ripe mangoes--the prince of
+Indian fruits--are in full season. Then all the mothers-in-law in Bengal
+are actually on the _qui vive_ to welcome their sons-in-law and turn a
+new leaf in the chapter of their joys. A good son-in-law is emphatically
+the most darling object of a Hindoo mother-in-law. She spares no
+possible pains to please and satisfy him, even calling to her aid the
+supernatural agency of charms. Ostensibly and even practically a Hindoo
+mother-in-law loves her son-in-law more than her son, simply because the
+son can shift for himself even if turned adrift in the wide world, but
+the daughter is absolutely helpless, and the cruel institution of
+perpetual widowhood, with its appalling amount of misery and risk,
+renders her tenfold more so.
+
+On this festive occasion, the son-in-law is invited to spend the day and
+night at his father-in-law's house. No pains or expense is spared to
+entertain him. When he comes in the morning, the first thing he has to
+do is to go into the female apartment, bow his head down in honor of his
+mother-in-law, and put on the floor a few Rupees, say five or ten,
+sometimes more if newly married. The food consists of all the delicacies
+of the season, and both the quantity and variety are often too great to
+be done justice to. The perfection of Hindoo culinary art is
+unreservedly brought into requisition on such occasions. Surrounded by a
+galaxy of beauty, the youthful son-in-law is restrained by a sense of
+shame from freely partaking of the feast specially provided for him. The
+earnest importunity of the females urges the bashful youth to eat more
+and more. If this be his first visit as son-in-law he finds himself
+quite bewildered in the midst of superfluity and superabundance of
+preparations. Many are the tricks employed to outwit him. With all his
+natural shrewdness, and forewarned by the females of his own family, he
+is no match for either the playful humor and frolics of the young,
+sprightly ladies. Sham articles of food cleverly dressed in close
+imitation of fruits and sweetmeats are offered him without detection in
+the full blaze of day, and the attempt to partake of them excites bursts
+of laughter and merriment. The utmost female ingenuity is here brought
+into play to call forth amusement at the expense of the duped youth. In
+their own way, the good-natured females are mistresses of jokes and
+jests, and nothing pleases them better than to find the youthful new
+comer completely nonplused. This forms the favorite subject of their
+talk long after the event. Shut up in the cage of a secluded zenana,
+quite beyond the influence of the outside world, it is no wonder that
+their minds and thoughts do not rise above the trifles of their own
+narrow circle.
+
+As in the case of the "Brother" festival, ample presents of clothes,
+fruits, and sweetmeats are sent to the house of the son-in-law, and
+every lane and street of Calcutta is thronged with male and female
+servants trudging along with their loads in full hopes of getting their
+share of eatables and a Rupee or a half Rupee each into the bargain.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[50] It appears to me rather anomalous, as far as Hindoo astrology is
+concerned, that such a national jubilee is fixed to be celebrated on
+this particular day, which is specially marked as an unlucky day for any
+good work. The Hindoo almanac places _Shasthi_, the sixth day of the
+moon, as _dugdha_ or destructive of any good thing in popular
+estimation. A Hindoo is religiously forbidden to commence any important
+work or set out on a journey on this day. It portends evil. Respectable
+Hindoo females who have children do not eat boiled rice on this
+particular day for fear of becoming Rakhasses, or cannibals prone to
+destroy their own offspring. The goddess Shasthi is the protectress of
+children. She is worshipped by all the women of Bengal six times in the
+year, except such as are barren or ill-fated enough to become
+virgin-widows.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE DOORGA POOJAH FESTIVAL.
+
+
+By far the most popular religious festival of the present day among the
+Hindoos of Bengal, is the _Doorga Poojah_, which in the North-Western
+and Central Provinces is called the _Dusserah_ festival. It is believed
+that the worship of the goddess Doorgah has been performed from time out
+of mind. The following is a description of the image of the goddess
+which is set up for worship: "In one of her right hands is a spear, with
+which she is piercing the giant, Mohishasur; with one of the left, she
+holds the tail of a serpent and the hair of the giant, whose breast the
+serpent is biting. Her other hands are all stretched behind her head and
+filled with different instruments of war. Against her right leg leans a
+lion, and against her left, the above giant. The images of Luckee,
+Saraswathi, Kartick and Gannesh are very frequently made and placed by
+the side of the goddess." The majestic deportment of the goddess, with
+her three eyes and ten arms, the warlike attitude in which she is
+represented, her sanguinary character, which was the terror of all other
+gods, and the mighty exploits (far surpassing in feats of strength,
+courage and heroism, those of the Greek Hercules,) all combine to give
+her an importance in the eyes of the people, which is seldom vouchsafed
+to any other deity. Even _Bramah_, _Vishnoo_ and _Shiva_ the Creator,
+Preserver and Destroyer of the world, were said to have propitiated her,
+and _Ram Chunder_, the deified hero, invoked her aid in his contest with
+_Ravana_, and as he worshipped her in the month of October, her Poojah
+has, from that particular circumstance, been ever after appointed to
+take place in that period of the year.[51] A short description of this
+festival, the preliminary rites with which it is associated, and the
+national excitement and hilarity which its periodical return produces
+among the people, will not be altogether uninteresting to European
+readers.[52]
+
+Twenty-one days before the commencement of the Doorga Poojah festival, a
+preliminary rite, by way of purifying the body and soul by means of
+ablution, is performed. The rite is called the "_Aapar pakhaya tarpan_"
+so called from its taking place on the first day of _Pratipad_ and
+ending on the fifteenth day of _Amabashya_, an entire fortnight,
+immediately preceding the _Debipakhya_ during which the Poojah is
+celebrated. It generally falls between the fifteenth of September, and
+the fifteenth of October. As already observed, this popular festival,
+called Doorga Poojah in Bengal and Dussera "or the tenth" in the
+North-West, although entirely military in its origin is universally
+respected. It is commemorative of the day on which the god Ram Chunder
+first marched against his enemy, Ravana, in _Lanka_ or Ceylon for the
+restoration of his wife, Seeta,[53] who was deservedly regarded as the
+best model of devotion, resignation and love, as is so beautifully
+painted by the poet:
+
+  "A woman's bliss is found, not in the smile
+  Of father, mother, friend, nor in herself:
+  Her husband is her only portion here,
+  Her heaven hereafter. If thou indeed
+  Depart this day into the forest drear,
+  I will precede, and smooth the thorny way."
+
+In the mornings of _Apar pakhaya_, for fifteen days continually, those
+who live near the sacred stream go thither with a small copper-pan and
+some teel seeds, which they sprinkle on the water at short intervals,
+while repeating the formulae in a state of half immersion. To a foreigner
+quite unacquainted with the meaning of these rites, the scene is well
+calculated to impress the mind with an idea of the exceeding devotedness
+of the Hindoos in observing their religious ordinances. The holy water
+and teel seeds which are sprinkled are intended as offerings to the
+manes of ancestors for fourteen generations, that their souls may
+continue to enjoy repose to all eternity. The women, though some of them
+are in the habit of bathing in the holy stream every morning, are,
+however, precluded by their sex from taking a part in this ceremony.
+Precisely on the last day of the fortnight, _i. e._, on the _Amabashya_,
+as if the object were attained, the rite of ablution ends, followed by
+another of a more comprehensive character. On this particular day, which
+is called _Mohaloya_,[54] the living again pay their homage to the
+memory of the fourteen generations of their ancestors by making them
+offerings of rice, fruits, sweetmeats, clothes, curded milk, and
+repeating the incantations said by the priest, at the conclusion of
+which he takes away all the articles presented and receives his
+_dakshina_ of one Rupee for his trouble. Apart from their superstitious
+tendency, these anniversaries, are not without their beneficial effects.
+They tend, in no small degree, to inspire the mind with a religious
+veneration for the memory of the departed worthies, and by the law of
+the association of ideas not unfrequently bring to recollection their
+distinctive features and individual characteristics.
+
+Some aristocratic families that have been observing this festival for a
+long series of years, begin their _Kalpa_ or preliminary rite on the
+ninth day of the decrease of the moon, when an earthen water pot called
+_ghat_[55] is placed in a room called _bodanghur_, duly consecrated by
+the officiating priest, who, assisted by two other Brahmins, invokes the
+blessing of the deity by reading a Sanskrit work, called _Chundee_,
+which relates the numerous deeds and exploits of the goddess. It is a
+noteworthy fact that the Brahmin, who repeats the name of the god,
+_Modosoodun_, seems, to all appearance, to be absorbed in mental
+abstraction. With closed eyes and moving fingers, not unlike the
+_Rishis_ of old, he, as it were, disdains to look at the external world.
+From early in the morning till 10 o'clock the worship before the earthen
+pot is continued, and the officiating priests[56] are strictly
+prohibited from using _sidha_, (rice) taking more than one meal a day,
+or sleeping with their wives, as if that would be an act of unpardonable
+profanation. This strict _regime_ is to be observed by them until the
+whole of the ceremonial is completed, on the tenth day of the new moon.
+It should be mentioned here that the majority of the Hindoos begin their
+_kalpa_, or preliminary rite, on _pratipad_, or the beginning of the new
+moon, when almost every town and village resounds with the sound of
+conch, bell and gong, awakening latent religious emotions, and evoking
+_agamaney_, (songs or inaugural invocations) which deeply affect the
+hearts of Doorga's devout followers. Some of these rhythmic effusions
+are exceedingly pathetic. I wish I could give a specimen here of these
+songs divested of their idolatrous tinge, but I am afraid of offending
+the ears of my European readers.
+
+The Brahmins[57] as a rule, commence their _kalpa_ on the sixth day or
+one day only previous to the beginning of the grand poojah on the
+seventh day of the new moon. From the commencement of the initial rite,
+what thrilling sensations of delight are awakened in the bosom of the
+young boys and girls! Every morning and evening while the ceremony is
+being solemnized, they scramble with each other to get striking the gong
+and _Kasur_ which produces a harsh, deafening sound. Their excitement
+increases in proportion to the nearer approach of the festival, and the
+impression which they thus receive in their early days is not entirely
+effaced even after their minds are regenerated by the irresistible light
+of truth. The females, too, manifest mingled sensations of delight and
+reverence. If they are incapable of striking the gongs, they are
+susceptible of deep devotional feelings which the solemnity of the
+occasion naturally inspires. The encircling of their neck with the end
+of their _saree_ or garment, expressive of humility, the solemn attitude
+in which they pose, their inaudible muttering of the name of the
+goddess, and their prostrating themselves before the consecrated pot in
+a spirit of perfect resignation, denote a state of mind full of
+religious fervour, or, more properly speaking, of superstitious awe,
+which goes with them to their final resting place. On the night of the
+sixth day (Shashti) after the increase of the moon, another rite is
+performed, which is termed _Uddhibassey_, its object being to welcome
+the advent of the visible goddess with all necessary paraphernalia.
+Another sacred earthen pot is placed in the outer temple of the goddess,
+and a young plantain tree, with a couple of wood apples intended for the
+breast, is trimmed for the next morning's ablution. This plantain tree,
+called _kalabhoye_, is designed as a personification of Doorga in
+another shape. It is dressed in a silk _saree_, its head is daubed with
+vermilion[58] and is placed by the side of Gannesh. Musicians with
+their ponderous _dhak_ and _dhole_ and _sannai_ (flutes) are retained
+from this day for five days at 12 or 16 Rupees for the occasion.[59]
+That music imparts a solemnity to religious service is admitted by all,
+but its harmony may be taken as an indication of the degree of
+excellence and refinement to which a nation has attained in the scale of
+civilization. What with the sonorous sound of _dhak_ and _dhole_,
+_sannai_, conch and gong, the effect cannot fail to be impressive to a
+devout Hindoo mind. Except Brahmins, no one is allowed to touch the idol
+from this night, after the _bellbarun_, when it is supposed life and
+animation is imparted into it. By the marvellous repetition of a few
+incantations a perfectly inanimate object stuffed only with clay and
+straw, and painted, varnished and ornamented in all the tawdriness of
+oriental fashion, is suddenly metamorphosed into a living divinity. Can
+religious jugglery, and blind credulity go farther?
+
+It will not be out of place to say a few words here about the
+embellishments of the images. As a refined taste is being cultivated, a
+growing desire is manifested to decorate the idols with splendid tinsel
+and gewgaws, which are admirably calculated to heighten the magnificence
+of the scene in popular estimation. Apart from the feast of colors
+presented to public view, the idols are adorned with tinsel ornaments,
+which, to an untutored mind, are in the highest degree captivating. Some
+families that are placed in affluent circumstances, literally rack their
+brains to discover new and more gaudy embellishments which, when
+compared with those of their neighbours, might carry off the bubble
+reputation. It is, perhaps, not generally known that a certain class of
+men--chiefly drawn from the lower strata of society--subsist on this
+trade; they prepare a magnificent stock of tinsel wares for a twelve
+month, and supply the entire Hindoo community, from Calcutta to the
+remotest provinces and villages. Indeed so great is the rage for novelty
+and so strong the influence of vanity, that not content with costly home
+made ornaments, some of the Baboos send their orders to England for new
+patterns, designs and devices, that they may be able to make an
+impression on the popular mind; and as English taste is incomparably
+superior to native taste, both in the excellence and finish of
+workmanship as well as in neatness and elegance, the images that shine
+in new fashioned English embellishments[60] are sure to challenge the
+admiration of the populace. On the day of _Nirunjun_, or _Vhasan_ as it
+is vulgarly called, countless myriads of people throng the principal
+streets of Calcutta, to catch a glimpse of the celebrated _pritimas_, or
+images, and carry the information home to their absent friends in the
+villages.
+
+Before sunrise on _Saptami_, or the seventh day of the bright phase of
+the moon, the officiating priest, accompanied by bands of musicians and
+a few other members of the family, proceeds barefooted to the river side
+bearing on his shoulder the _kalabhoye_ or plantain tree described above
+with an air of gravity as if he had charge of a treasure chest of great
+value. These processions are conducted with a degree of pomp
+corresponding with the other extraneous splendours of the festival. In
+Calcutta, bands of English musicians, and numbers of staff holders with
+high flying colors, give an importance to the scene, which is not ill
+suited to satisfy the vulgar taste. After performing some minor
+ceremonies on the banks of the river, and bathing the plantain tree,
+the procession returns home, escorting the officiating priest with his
+precious charge in the same way in which he was conveyed to the Ghat. On
+reaching home, the priest, washing his feet, proceeds to rebathe the
+plantain tree, rubbing on its body all kinds of scented oils[61] as if
+to prepare it for a gay, convivial party. This part of the ceremony,
+with appropriate incantations, being gone through, the plantain tree is
+placed again by the side of the image of Gannesh, who being the eldest
+son of Doorga, must be worshipped _first_. Thus the right of precedence
+of rank is in full force even among the Hindoo gods and goddesses.
+
+Previous to the commencement of the _Saptami_, or first Pooja, the
+officiating priest again consecrates the goddess Doorga, somewhat in the
+following manner: "Oh, goddess, come and dwell in this image, and bless
+him that worships you," naming the person, male or female, who is to
+reap the benefit of the meritorious act. Thus, the business of giving
+life and eyes to the gods being finished, the priest, with two
+forefingers of his right hand, touches the forehead, cheeks, eyes,
+breast and other parts of the image, repeating all the while the
+prescribed incantation: "May the soul of Doorga long continue to dwell
+in this image." This part of the ceremony, which is accompanied with
+music, being performed, offerings are made to all the gods and
+goddesses, as well as to the companions of Doorga in her wars, which are
+painted in variegated colors on the _chall_ or shed over the goddess in
+the form of a crescent. The offerings consist principally of small
+pieces of gold and silver, rice, fruits, sweetmeats, cloths, brass
+utensils and a few other things. These are arranged in large round
+wooden or brass plates, and a bit of flower or _bell_ leaf is cast upon
+them to guard against their being desecrated by the demon Ravana, who is
+supposed to take delight in insulting the gods and goddesses; the
+officiating priest then consecrates them all by repeating a short mantra
+and sprinkling flowers and _bell_ leaves on them, particular regard
+being had to the worship of the whole host of deities according to their
+respective position in the Hindoo pantheon. Even the most subordinate
+and insignificant gods or companions of Doorga must be propitiated by
+small bits of plantain and a few grains of rice, which are afterwards
+given to the idol makers and painters of the gods and goddesses. More
+valuable offerings form the portion of the Brahmins, who look upon and
+claim these as their birthright. In the evening, as in the morning, the
+goddess is again worshipped, and while the service is being held the
+musicians are called to play their musical instruments with a view to
+add to the solemnity of the occasion. In the morning, some persons
+sacrifice goats and fruits, such as pumpkin, sugar-cane, &c., before the
+goddess. In the present day, many respectable families have discontinued
+the practice from a feeling of compassion towards the dumb animals,
+though express injunctions are laid down in the Shasters in its favor.
+It is a remarkable fact that the idea of sacrifice as a religious
+institution tending to effect the remission of sin was almost
+co-existent with the first dawn of human knowledge. The Reverend Dr. K.
+M. Banerjea thus writes: "Of the inscrutable Will of the Almighty, that
+without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, this, too,
+appears imbedded in ancient Ayrian tradition in the _sruti_ or hearings
+of our ancestors." Next to the Jews, this religious duty was
+scrupulously observed by the Brahmins. Names of priests, words for fire,
+for those on whose behalf the sacrifices were performed, for the
+materials with which they were performed, abound in language
+etymologically derived from words implying sacrifice. No literature
+contains so many vocables relating to sacrificial ceremonies as
+Sanskrit. Katyayana says, "that heaven and all other happiness are the
+results of sacrificial ceremonies. And it was a stereotyped idea with
+the founders of Hindooism that animals were created for sacrifices. Nor
+were these in olden days considered mere offerings of meat to certain
+carnivorous deities, followed by the sacrificers themselves feasting on
+the same, as the practice of the day represents the idea. The various
+nature of the sacrifices appears to have been substantially comprehended
+by the promoters of the institution in India. The sacrificer believed
+himself to be redeemed by means of the sacrifice. The animal sacrificed
+was itself called the sacrifice, because it was the ransom for the
+soul." If we leave India and go back to the tradition and history of the
+other ancient nations, we shall find many instances, proving the
+existence among them of the sacrificial rite for the remission of sin
+and the propitiation of the Deity. The hecatombs of Greece, and the
+memorable dedication of the temple of Solomon when 20,000 oxen[62] and
+100,000 sheep were slain before the altar, are too well known to need
+any comment.
+
+In these later ages, when degeneracy has made rapid strides amongst the
+people of the country, the original intention of the founder of the
+institution being lost sight of, a perverted taste has given it an
+essentially sensual character. Instead of offering sacrifice from purely
+religious motives, it is now made for the gratification of carnivorous
+appetite. The late King of Nuddea, Rajah Kristo Chunder Roy, though an
+orthodox Hindoo of the truest type, was said to have offered at one of
+these festivals a very large number of goats and sheep to the goddess
+Doorga. "He began," says Ward, "with one, and, doubling the number each
+day, continued it for sixteen days. On the last day, he killed 33,168,
+and on the whole he slaughtered 65,535 animals. He loaded boats with the
+bodies and sent them to the neighbouring Brahmins, but they could not
+devour them fast enough, and great numbers were thrown away. Let no one,
+after this, tell us of the scruples of the Brahmins about destroying
+animal life and eating animal food."
+
+About twelve o'clock in the day, when the morning service is over, the
+male members of the family make their _poospaunjooley_ or offerings of
+flowers to the images, repeating an incantation recited by the priest,
+for all kinds of worldly blessings, such as health, wealth, fame, long
+age, children, &c. The women come in afterwards for the same hallowed
+purpose, and inaudibly recite the incantation repeated by the priest
+inside the screen. The very sight of the images gladdens their hearts
+and quickens their throbs. Though fasting, they feel an extreme
+reluctance to leave the shrine and the divinities, declaring that their
+hunger and thirst are gone not from actual excess in eating and drinking
+but from their fullness of heart at the presence of _Ma Doorga_. But go
+they must to make way for the servants to remove the offerings,
+distribute them among the Brahmins, and clean the temple for the evening
+service, at the close of which Brahmins and other guests begin to come
+in and partake of the entertainment[63] provided for the occasion.
+
+On the second day of the Poojah, offerings and sacrifices are made in
+the same manner as on the first day, but this is considered a specially
+holy day, being the day, as is generally supposed, when the mighty
+goddess is expected to come down from the mount Himalaya, and cast a
+twinkling of her eye upon the divers offerings of her devotees in the
+terrestrial world. This day is called _Moha Ustamy_, being the eighth
+day of the increase of the moon, and is religiously observed throughout
+Bengal. In Calcutta, this is the day when thousands and tens of
+thousands of Hindoos, who have had no Poojah in their houses, proceed to
+Kalyghat in the suburbs, and do not break their fast before making
+suitable offerings to the goddess Kali, who, according to Hindoo
+mythology, is but another incarnation of the goddess, Doorga. Except
+little children, almost all the members of a family, male and female,
+together with the priest, fast all day, and, if the combination of stars
+require it, almost the whole night. Elderly men of the orthodox type
+devote the precious time to religious contemplation. Until the _Moha
+Ustamy_, and its necessary adjunct _Shundya Poojah_, is finished, all
+are on the _qui vive_. It generally happens that this service is fixed
+by astrologers to take place before night's midmost stillest hour is
+past, when nature seems to repose in a state of perfect quiescence, and
+to call forth the religious fervour of the devotees. As the edge of
+hunger is sharpened, a Hindoo most anxiously looks at his watch or clock
+as to when the precious moment should arrive, and as the hour draws
+near, men, women and children are all hushed into silence. Not a whisper
+nor a buzzing sound is to be heard. All is anxiety, suspense and
+expectation, as if the arrival of the exact time would herald the advent
+of a true Saviour into the world. Amid perfect silence and stillness,
+all ears are stretched to catch the sound of the gun[64] which announces
+the _precise minute_ when this most important of all Poojahs is to
+begin. As soon as the announcement is made by the firing of a gun, the
+priest in all haste enters on the work of worship, and invokes the
+blessings of the goddess on himself and the family. When the time of
+sacrifice arrives, which is made known by the sound of another gun, all
+the living souls in the house are bade to stand aloof, the priest with
+trembling hands and in a state of trepidation consecrates the _Kharra_,
+or scimitar, with which the sacrifice is to be made, and placing the
+_Khaparer sara_ by the side of the _haureekat_, (the sacrificial log of
+wood) bids the blacksmith finish off his bloody job. Should the latter
+cut the head of a goat off at one stroke, all eyes are turned towards
+him with joy. The priest, the master, and the inmates of the house, who
+are all this while under the influence of mental agitation, now begin to
+congratulate each other on their good luck, praying for the return of
+the goddess every year.
+
+Nor must I omit to mention the other secondary rites which are performed
+on the second day of the Poojah. Besides absolute fasting, the females
+of the household actually undergo a fiery ordeal. About one in the
+afternoon, when the tumult and bustle have subsided a little, all males
+being told to go away, the women unveiling their faces, and holding in
+each hand a _sara_ or earthen plate of rosin, squat down before the
+shrine of the goddess, and in the posture of quasi-penitent sinners,
+implore in a fervent spirit the benediction of the goddess on behalf of
+their sons, while the rosin continues to burn in slow fire. As if dead
+to a sense of consciousness, they remain in that trying state for more
+than half an hour, absorbed, as it were, in holy meditation, repeating
+in their minds, at the same time, the names of their guardian deities.
+Towards the close of this penitent service, a son is asked to sit on the
+lap of his mother. Barren women to whom Providence has denied this
+inestimable blessing must go without this domestic felicity resulting in
+religious consolation, and not only mourn their present forlorn
+condition, but pray for a happier one at next birth. A few puncture
+their breasts with a slender iron _naroon_ or nail cutter, and offer a
+few drops of blood to the goddess, under a delusion that the severer the
+penance the greater the merit. Many women still go through this truly
+revolting ordeal at Kali Ghat, in fulfilment of vows made in times of
+sickness.
+
+Another ceremony which is performed by the females on this particular
+day is their worship of living Brahmin _Komarees_ (virgins) and matrons
+(_sodhavas_). After washing and wiping the feet of the objects of their
+worship, with folded hands, and, with the end of their _sari_ round
+their necks, in a reverential mood, they fall prostrate before the
+Brahmin women, and crave blessings, which, when graciously vouchsafed,
+are followed by offerings of sweetmeats, clothes and rupees. The purpose
+of this ceremony is to obtain exemption from the indescribable misery of
+widowhood, and ensure the enjoyment of domestic happiness.
+
+On the third or last day of the Poojah, being the ninth day of the
+increase of the moon, the prescribed ritualistic ceremonies having been
+performed, the officiating priests make the _hoam_ and _dhukinanto_, a
+rite, the meaning of which is to present farewell offerings to the
+goddess for one year, adding in a suitable prayer that she will be
+graciously pleased to forgive the present shortcomings on the part of
+her devotees, and vouchsafe to them her blessings in this world as well
+as in the world to come. This is a very critical time for the priests,
+because the finale of the ceremony involves the important question of
+their respective gains. Weak and selfish as human nature assuredly is,
+each of them (generally three in number) fights for his own individual
+interest, justifying his claim on the score of the religious austerities
+he has had to undergo, and the devotional fervour with which his sacred
+duties have been discharged. Until this knotty question is
+satisfactorily solved, they forbear pronouncing the last _munter_ or
+prayer. It is necessary to add here that the presents of rupees which
+the numerous guests offered to the goddess during the three days of the
+Poojah, go to swell the fund of the priest, to which the worshipper of
+the idol must add a separate sum, without which this act of merit loses
+its final reward in a future state. The devotee must satisfy the
+cupidity of the priests or run the risk of forfeiting divine mercy. When
+the problem is ultimately solved in favor of the officiating priest who
+actually makes the Poojah, and sums of money are put into the hands of
+the Brahmins, the last prayer is read. It is not perhaps generally known
+that the income the Indian ecclesiastics thus derive from this source
+supports them for the greater part of the year, with a little gain in
+money or kind from the land they own.
+
+The last day of the Poojah is attended with many offerings of goats,
+sheep, buffaloes[65] and fruits. The area before the shrine becomes a
+sort of slaughter house, slippery with gore and mire, and resounding
+with the cries of the dying victims, and the still more vociferous
+shouts of "_Ma, Ma,_" uttered by the rabble amidst the discordant sound
+of gongs and drums. Some of the deluded devotees, losing all sense of
+shame and decency, smear their bodies from head to foot with this bloody
+mire, and begin to dance before the goddess and the assembled multitude
+like wild furies. In this state of bestial fanaticism, utterly ignoring
+the ordinary rules of public decorum, and literally intoxicated with the
+glory of the meritorious act, the deluded mob, preceded by musicians,
+proceed from one house to another in the neighbourhood where the image
+has been set up, sing obscene songs, and otherwise make indecent
+gestures which are alike an outrage on public morals and common decency.
+When quite exhausted by these abominable orgies, they go and bathe in a
+river or a tank, and return home, thinking how to make the most of the
+last night. Should any sober-minded person remonstrate with them on
+their foolish conduct, the stereotyped reply is--"this is _Mohamayer
+Bazar_ and the last day of the Poojah, when all sorts of tomfoolery and
+revelry are justifiable." The sensible portion of the community, it must
+be mentioned, keep quite aloof from such immoral exhibitions.
+
+However great may have been the veneration or the depth of devotional
+feeling in which the Doorga Poojah was held among the Hindoos of bygone
+ages, it is certain that in the lapse of time this and all other
+national festivals have lost their original religious character, and in
+the majority of cases degenerated into profanities and impure orgies,
+which renew the periodical license for the unrestrained indulgence of
+sensuality, not to speak of the dissipation and debauchery which it
+usually brings in its train. Except a few patriarchal Hindoos, whose
+minds are deeply imbued with religious prepossessions as well as
+traditional proclivities, the generality celebrate the Poojah for the
+sake of name and fame, no less than for the purposes of amusement, and
+for the satisfaction of the women and children, who still retain, and
+will continue to do so for a long time to come, a profound veneration
+for the old _Doorga Uttsob_. Apart from the children, whose minds are
+susceptible of any impression in their nascent state, the women are the
+main prop of the idolatrous institutions and of the colossal
+superstructure of Hindoo superstition. If I am not much mistaken, it was
+to satisfy them that such distinguished Hindoo Reformers as the late
+Baboos Dwarkeynauth Tagore, Prosonocoomar Tagore, Romanauth Tagore, Ram
+Gopal Ghose, Digumber Mitter and others celebrated this Poojah in their
+family dwelling houses. How far they were morally justified in
+countenancing this popular festival, it is not for me to say. The fact
+speaks for itself. Even in the present time, when Hindoo society is
+being profoundly convulsed by heterodox opinions, not a few of my
+enlightened countrymen observe this religious festival, and spend
+thousands of rupees on its celebration. There are, however, a few
+redeeming features in connection with this annual demonstration, which
+ought to be prominently noticed. First and foremost, it affords an
+excellent opportunity for the exercise of benevolent feelings;[66]
+secondly, it materially contributes to the promotion of annual reunions,
+brotherly fraternization, and to the general encouragement of trade
+throughout Bengal.
+
+The very great interest which Hindoo females feel in the periodical
+return of this grand festival, is known to every one who is at all
+conversant with the existing state of things in this country. In the
+numerous districts and villages of Bengal inaugural preparations are
+made for the celebration of this anniversary rite precisely from the day
+on which the Juggernauth car is drawn in _Assar_, from the date of the
+festival of Ruth Jattra, that is for about four months before the date
+of the Doorga Poojah. While the _koomar_, or the image maker, is engaged
+in making the Bamboo frame-work for the images, the women in the
+villages devote their time to cleaning and storing the rice, paddy,
+different kinds of pulse, cocoanuts, and other products of the farm, all
+which are required for the service of the goddess. Ten times a day they
+will go to the temple to see what the Koomar is doing. Not capable of
+writing, nor having any idea of 'Letts' Diaries,' they note down in
+their minds the daily progress of work, and feel an ineffable pleasure
+in communicating the glad tidings to each other. When day by day the
+straw forms are converted into clay figures, and they are for the first
+time plastered over with chalk and then painted with variegated colors,
+the hearts of the females leap with joy, and again when the completed
+images are being decorated with _dack_ ornaments or tinsel ware, their
+exhilaration knows no bounds. In the fulness of anxiety, the mistress of
+the house directing her attention to what more is yet wanted for the due
+completion of the Poojah, rebukes the master for his apparent neglect
+somewhat in the following manner: "Where is the _dome sujah_,
+(basketware)? Where is the _koomar sujah_, (pottery)? Where are the
+spices and clothes? Where are the _sidoorchupry_ and sundry other things
+for the _Barandalla?_" Adding that there is no time to be lost, the
+Poojah is near at hand. The husband acquiescing in what the wife says
+assures her that everything shall be procured by Saturday or Sunday
+next.
+
+On the first day of the new moon, when every Hindoo in the city becomes
+more or less busy on account of his official, domestic and religious
+engagements, the lady of the house is chiefly occupied with making
+suitable arrangements for _tutwa_ or presents, first to her son-in-law
+and then to her other relatives, a subject on which I shall have to say
+a few words in its proper place. On the eve of the sixth day of the new
+moon, when the grand Poojah may be said to commence, the females,
+consigning all their past sorrows to oblivion, feel a sort of
+elasticity, hopefulness and confidence which almost involuntarily draw
+forth from the depths of their hearts, feelings of joy and ecstacy. Even
+a virgin widow, whose grief is yet fresh, forgets her miseries for
+awhile, and cheerfully mingles in the jubilee. She forms part and parcel
+of the domestic sisterhood, and for the five days of her life at least,
+her settled sadness gives way to pleasing sensations, and though
+forbidden by a cruel priesthood to lend her hand to the ceremonial, she
+nevertheless goes up to the goddess and prays in a devotional spirit for
+a better future. Amidst such a scene of universal hilarity, supplemented
+by a confident hope of eternal beatitude, it is quite natural that
+Hindoo females, socially divorced from every other innocent amusement,
+should feel a deep, sincere and intense interest in such a national
+festival which possesses the two fold advantages of a religious ceremony
+and a social demonstration. None but the most callous hearted can remain
+indifferent. Men, women and children, believers and unbelievers, are
+alike overcome by the force of this religious anniversary. The females
+go to the temple at all hours of the day, and feast their eyes upon the
+captivating figure of mighty Doorga and her glorious satellites. Nor do
+they stare at her with a vacant mind; each has her grievance to
+represent, her wish to express; prayer in a fervent spirit is offered to
+the goddess for the redress of the one and the consummation of the
+other. Should a son die prematurely, should a husband suffer from any
+difficulty, should a son-in-law be not true to his wife, should a
+daughter be doomed to widowhood, the females wrestle hard in prayer for
+relief and amelioration. On the fourth or Bijoya day, when the image is
+to be consigned to the river, one takes away a bit of the consecrated
+_urghy_[67]; a second, the _khappurer sara_, or the sacrificial earthen
+plate; a third, the crushed betel; a fourth, the sacred _billaw_ leaves,
+and so on; each forms a sacred trust, and all are preserved with the
+greatest possible care, as the priceless heirloom of a benignant
+goddess.
+
+Having briefly described the main features of this religious festival, I
+will now endeavour to give a short account of the other circumstances
+connected with it. In the house of a Brahmin, _Khichree_, rice, dhall,
+fish and vegetable curries, together with sweetmeats and sour milk, are
+given to the guests, chiefly in the day time during the three Pooja
+days. Many Hindoos, whose religious scruples will not allow them to kill
+a goat themselves, generally go to the house of a Brahmin--but not
+without an eight anna piece or a Rupee--to satisfy their carnivorous
+appetite during the Poojah. It is very creditable to the women of the
+sacerdotal class that three or four of them undertake the duty of the
+_cuisine_, and feed from six to eight hundred persons for three days
+successively. As fish is not acceptable to Doorga, neither cooked goat's
+and sheep's flesh, a separate kitchen is set apart for the purpose of
+cooking meat of sacrificed animals. Brahmin women, as a rule, cook
+remarkably well. Their long experience in the culinary art, their
+habitual cleanliness, their undivided attention to their duty, and above
+all, the religious awe with which they prepare food for the goddess,
+give quite a relish to every thing they make. Nor is this all. Their
+devotion and earnestness is so great that they cannot be persuaded to
+eat any thing until all the guests are fully satisfied, and what is
+still more commendable, they look to no other reward for their trouble
+than the fancied approbation of the goddess, and the satisfaction of the
+guests. It is not before nine o'clock at night that they become
+disengaged, after which they bathe again, change clothes, say their
+prayers to the goddess, and then think of appeasing their hunger. Simple
+and unartificial as they naturally are, they, being mostly widows, are
+quite content with _habishi unno_, which was of yore the food of the
+Hindoo _rishis_ or saints. It consists of _autob_ rice, or rice from
+unboiled paddy, green plantain and dhall, all boiled in the same pot. Of
+course a large quantity of ghee is added to it, and at the time of
+eating milk is taken. These Brahmin women are, indeed, mistresses of the
+culinary art, if the bill of fare is not long, yet the dishes they make
+are generally very palatable. The truth is, they practically follow the
+trite saying, "what is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." Their
+simple recipes always produce appetising and wholesome dishes, they are
+thrifty housewives. It must be admitted that simplicity is not meanness,
+nor thriftiness a fault.
+
+In the house of a _Kayasta_ or _Sudra_, whose female members, it must be
+observed, are generally more indolently inclined, and whose style of
+living is consequently more luxurious, the food offered to the guests
+consists chiefly of different kinds of sweetmeats, fruits, _loochees_,
+vegetable curries, &c. Four or five days before the Poojah begins,
+professional Brahmin sweetmeat-makers are employed to make the
+necessary arrangements at home, the principal ingredients required
+being flour, _soojee_, _chattoo_, (gram fried and powdered) _safeyda_
+(pounded rice) sugar, spices, almonds, raisins, &c. Not a soul is
+permitted, not even the master of the house, to touch and much less
+taste these articles[68] before they are religiously offered to the
+goddess in the first instance and afterwards to the Brahmins. In these
+"feast days" of the Poojah in and about Calcutta, where nearly five
+hundred _pratimas_ or images are set up, every respectable Hindoo, as
+has been observed before, is previously provided at home with an
+adequate supply of all the necessaries and luxuries of life that would
+last about a month or so, it being considered unpropitious then to be
+wanting in any store, save fruit and fish. This accounts for a general
+disinclination on the part of the well-to-do Baboos to partake of any
+ordinary entertainment when visiting the goddess at a friend's house,
+but to the Brahmins and the poverty-stricken classes this is a glorious
+opportunity for "gorging." The despicable practice to which I have
+alluded elsewhere of carrying a portion of the _jalpan_ (food) home is
+largely resorted to on this occasion. It is certainly a relic of
+barbarism, which the growing good sense of the people ought to eschew.
+
+The night of the ninth day of the increase of the moon is a grand night
+in Bengal. It is the _nabamee ratree_, and modesty is put to the blush
+by the revelry of the hour. The houses of the rich become as bright as
+the day, costly chandeliers, hanging lamps and wall lights burning with
+gas, brilliantly illuminate the whole mansion, while the walls of the
+_Boytuckhana_ or sitting room are profusely adorned with English and
+French paintings and engravings, exhibiting certainly not the best
+specimens of artistic skill, but singularly calculated to extort the
+plaudits of the illiterate, because engravings and pictures are the
+books of the unlearned, who are more easily impressed through the eye
+than the ear. All the rooms and antechambers are frequently furnished in
+European style. Splendid Brussels or Agra carpets are spread on the
+floors of the rooms, a few of which, as if by way of contrast, have the
+ordinary white cloth spread on them. Nor are hanging Punkhas wanting. In
+one of the spacious halls sits the Baboo of the house, surrounded by
+courtiers pandering to his vanity. Indolently reclining on a bolster,
+and leisurely smoking his _albollah_ with a long winding _nal_ or pipe,
+half dizzy from the effects of last night's revelry, he feels loath to
+speak much. Like an opium eater, he falls into a siesta, whilst the
+Punkah is moving incessantly. If an orthodox Hindoo, freed from the
+besetting vice of drinking, and awake to all that is going on around
+him, before him are placed the Dacca silver filagree worked _atterdan_
+and _golappass_, as well as the _pandan_ with lots of spices and betel
+in it. On entering the room, the olfactory nerves of a visitor are sure
+to be regaled with fragrant odours. At intervals rose water is sprinkled
+on the bodies of the guests, and weak spiced tobacco is served them
+every fifteen minutes, the current topics of the day forming the subject
+of conversation. All this is surely vain ostentation and superfluity. So
+far the arrangements and reception of friends are essentially
+_oriental_, the manner of sitting, the mode of conversation, and the way
+in which otto of roses, rose water and betel are given to guests are
+Mahomedan and Hindoo-like, but there is something beyond this; here
+orthodoxy is virtually proscribed and heterodoxy practically proclaimed.
+While the officiating priests and the female devotees are offering their
+prayers to the presiding goddess, the Baboo, a liberal Hindoo, longs to
+retire to his _private_ room, perhaps on the third storey, at the
+entrance of which a guard is placed to keep off unwelcome visitors,
+that he might partake of refreshments supplied by an English Purveying
+Establishment with a few select friends. The room is furnished after
+European fashion, chairs, tables, sofas, cheffoniers, cheval glass,
+sideboard, pictures, glass and silver and plated ware, knives, forks and
+spoons, and I know not what more, are all arranged in proper order, and
+friends of congenial tastes have free access. First class wines and
+viands, such as Giesler's champagne, Heatly's Port and Sherry, Exshaw's
+Brandy No. I, Crabbie's Ginger wine, Bass's best bottled beer, soda
+water, lemonade, ice, Huntley and Palmer's mixed biscuits, manilla
+cigars, cakes and fruits in heaps, _poloway_, _kurma_, _kupta_,
+_kallya_, roast fowl, cutlets, mutton chop and fowl curry,[69] are at
+your service, and an English visitor is not an unwelcome guest.
+_Loochee_, _Sundesh mittoye_, _burfi_, _rasagullah_, _sittavog_, &c.,
+the ordinary food of the Hindoos on festive days, are at a discount. The
+Great Eastern Hotel Company should be thankful for the large orders
+which the Hindoo aristocracy of Calcutta and its suburbs favor them with
+during this grand festival. The taste for the English style of living is
+not a plant of recent growth. It has been germinating since the days of
+John Company, when India merchantmen enjoyed the monopoly of the foreign
+trade of the country, when the highest authorities of the land had no
+religious scruples as Christians to be present at a Hindoo festival,
+when, in fact, Hindoo millionaires were wont to indulge in lavish
+expenditure[70] for the purpose of pleasing their new European masters.
+Leaving aside the dignity and gravity of the clerical profession for a
+while, the Reverend Mr. Ward was induced out of curiosity to pay a visit
+to the palatial mansion of the Shoba Bazar Rajahs of Calcutta on the
+last night of the Poojah.
+
+"In the year 1806," says he, "I was present at the worship of this
+goddess, as performed at the house of Rajah Rajkishnu at Calcutta. The
+buildings where the festival was held were on four sides, leaving an
+area in the middle. The room to the east contained wine, English
+sweetmeats, &c., for the entertainment of English guests, with a native
+Portuguese or two to wait on the visitors. In the opposite room was
+placed the image, with vast heaps of all kinds of offerings before it.
+In the two side rooms, were the native guests, and in the area groups of
+Hindoo dancing women, finely dressed, singing, and dancing with sleepy
+steps, surrounded with Europeans who were sitting on chairs and couches.
+One or two groups of Mussulman-men singers entertained the company at
+intervals with Hindoosthanee songs, and ludicrous tricks. Before two
+o'clock the place was cleared of the dancing girls, and of all the
+Europeans except ourselves, and almost all the lights were extinguished,
+except in front of the goddess,--when the doors of the area were thrown
+open, and a vast crowd of natives rushed in, almost treading one upon
+another, among whom were the vocal singers, having on long caps like
+sugar loaves. The area might be about fifty cubits long and thirty wide.
+When the crowd had sat down, they were so wedged together as to present
+the appearance of a solid pavement of heads, a small space only being
+left immediately before the image for the motions of the singers, who
+all stood up. Four sets of singers were present on this occasion, the
+first consisting of Brahmins, (_Huru Thacoor_), the next of bankers,
+(_Bhuvanundu_), the next of boeshnuvus, (_Nitaee_), and the last of
+weavers, (_Lukshmee_), who entertained their guests with filthy songs
+and danced in indecent attitudes before the goddess, holding up their
+hands, turning round, putting forward their heads towards the image,
+every now and then bending their bodies, and almost tearing their
+throats with their vociferations. The whole scene produced on my mind
+sensations of the greatest horror. The dress of the singers, their
+indecent gestures, the abominable nature of the songs, (especially
+_khayoor_) the horrid din of their miserable drum, the lateness of the
+hour, the darkness of the place, with the reflection that I was
+standing in an idol temple, and that this immense multitude of rational
+and immortal creatures, capable of superior joys, were in the very act
+of worship, perpetrating a crime of high treason against the God of
+heaven, while they themselves believed they were performing an act of
+merit, excited ideas and feelings in my mind which time can never
+obliterate. I would have given in this place a specimen of the songs
+sung before the image, but found them so full of broad obscenity that I
+could not copy a single line. All those actions which a sense of decency
+keeps out of the most indecent English songs, are here detailed, sung,
+and laughed at, without the least sense of shame. A poor ballad singer
+in England would be sent to the house of correction, and flogged, for
+performing the _meritorious actions_ of these wretched idolaters.[71]
+The singing is continued for three days from two o'clock in the morning
+till nine."
+
+It is a noteworthy fact that in those days when Bengal was in the zenith
+of its prosperity and splendour, the Governor-General, the members of
+the Council, the judges of the Supreme Court, and distinguished officers
+and merchants, did not think it derogatory to their dignity, or at all
+calculated to compromise their character as Christians, to honor the
+Rajahs with their presence during this festival, but since the days of
+Daniel Wilson, the highly venerated Lord Bishop of Calcutta, who must
+have expressed his strong disapprobation of this practice, these great
+men have ceased to attend. At present but a few young officers, captains
+of ships in the port and East Indians may be seen to go to these
+nautches, and as a necessary consequence of this withdrawal of
+countenance, the outward splendour of the festival has of late
+considerably diminished. Seeing the apparent approval of idolatrous
+ceremonies by some Europeans, a conscientious Christian once exclaimed:
+"I am not ashamed to confess that I fear more for the continuance of the
+British power in India, from the encouragement which Englishmen have
+given to the idolatry of the Hindoos, than from any other quarter
+whatever."[72]
+
+As regards the other amusements at this popular festival, a few words
+about the Indian _nautch_ (dancing) girls may not be out of place here.
+These women have no social status, their principles are as loose as
+their character is immoral. They are brought up to this disreputable
+profession from their infancy. They have no husbands, and many of them
+are never married. The Native Princes, and chiefs, rich zemindars and
+persons in affluent circumstances, the capacity of whose intellect is as
+stinted as its culture is scanty, have been their great patrons. Devoid
+of a taste for reading and writing, they managed to drive the ennui of
+their lives by the songs of these dancing girls. Great were the rewards
+which they sometimes received at the hands of the Native kings in their
+palmy days. When a Principality groaned under extravagance and financial
+embarrassment, these bewitching girls were entertained at considerable
+expense to drown the cares of state-craft and king-craft. Even the most
+astute prince was not free from this courtly profligacy. Though these
+girls often basked in the sunshine of royal favor, yet there was not a
+single _Jenny Lind_ among them either in grace or accomplishment. As
+regards their income, a girl has been known to refuse ten thousand
+Rupees for performing three nights at the Nazim's Court. When Rajah
+Rajkissen of Sobha Bazar, the Singhee family of Jorasanko, and the Dey
+family of Simla, celebrated these Poojahs with great pomp, dancing girls
+of repute were retained a month previous to the festival at great cost,
+varying from 500 to 1000 Rupees each for three nights. Now that those
+prosperous days are gone by, and the big English officials do not
+condescend to attend the nautch, the amount has been reduced to fifty
+Rupees or a little more. Their general attire and gestures, as well as
+the nature and tendency of their songs, are by no means unexceptionable.
+These auxiliaries to sensual gratification, combined with the
+allurements of Bacchus, even in the presence of a deity, are the least
+of all fitted to animate or quicken devotional feelings and prayerful
+thoughts.
+
+Theatrical performances from the popular dramas of the Indian poets, and
+amateur _jattras_, pantomimical exhibitions, also contribute largely to
+the amusement of the people. The old _Bidday Soonder_, _Maunvunjun_,
+_Dukha Juggo_, and others of a similar character are still relished by
+pleasure-seekers and holiday-makers. It is, however, one of the healthy
+signs of the times that native gentlemen of histrionic taste have
+recently got up amateur performances, which bear a somewhat close
+approximation to the English tragedies and comedies.
+
+Having previously described all the important circumstances and details,
+religious and social, connected with this popular festival, I will now
+give a short account of the Bhasan or _Nirunjun_ which takes place on
+the tenth day of the new moon, or in the fourth day of the Poojah. It is
+also called _Bijoya_, because the end of a ceremonial is always attended
+with melancholy feelings. This is the day when the image is consigned to
+water either of a river or tank. Apart from its religious significance,
+the day is an important one to English and Native merchants alike.
+Although all the public offices, Government and mercantile, are
+absolutely closed for twelve days, agents of Manchester and Glasgow
+firms must open their places of business on this particular day, which
+to native merchants and dealers is an auspicious day when large bargains
+of Piece Goods for present and forward delivery are made. Ten to fifteen
+lakhs of Rupees worth of articles are sold this day in three or four
+hours, the general impression being that such bargains bring good luck
+both to the buyer and the seller.
+
+About eight o'clock in the morning, the officiating priest begins the
+service, and in half an hour it is over. Music, the indispensable
+accompaniment of Hindoo Poojahs, must attend every such service. A small
+looking-glass is placed on a pan of Ganges water and every inmate of the
+family, male or female, is invited to see the shadow or rather the
+reflex of the goddess on its surface. Deeply imbued as the minds of the
+votaries are with religious ideas, every individual looks on the mirror
+with a sort of devotional feeling, and expresses his or her conviction
+as to the reality of the representation. The children, more from
+amusement than faith, hang about the place, but the females steadfastly
+cling to the panoramic view, quite unwilling to leave it. Though totally
+ignorant of the philosophical theory of the association or suggestion of
+ideas, the scene naturally presents to their mind's eye the emotions
+they feel when leaving the paternal roof for the father-in-law's house.
+"_Ma Doorga_ is going to her father-in-law's and will not return for
+another twelve month," exclaims one. "Look at her eyes, her sorrowful
+countenance," ejaculates another. "The temple will look wild and
+desolate when _Ma Doorga_ goes away," adds a third. To console them, the
+mistress of the house exhorts all to offer their prayers to the goddess,
+beseeching that she may continue to vouchsafe her blessings from year to
+year, and give prolonged life and happiness to all concerned. With this
+solemn invocation, they, each and every one, fall down on their knees
+before the goddess, whose spirit had departed on the day previous, and
+in a contemplative mood implore her benediction. Before retiring,
+however, every one takes with her some precious relic of the offerings
+(flowers or _billaputtra_) made to Doorga when her spirit was present,
+and preserves it with all the care of a divine gift, using it
+religiously in cases of sickness and calamity.
+
+About three in the afternoon, after washing their bodies and putting on
+new clothes and ornaments, the females make preparations for performing
+the last and farewell ceremony in honor of the goddess. The _sudder_
+(main) door is closed, musicians are ordered to go out in the streets,
+the Doorga with all her satellites is brought out into the area of the
+temple, the _barandallah_ with all its sundries is produced, and the
+females whose husbands are alive begin to turn round the images and
+touch the forehead of each and every one of the deities with the
+_barandallah_, repeating their prayers for lasting blessings on the
+family. To the inexpressible grief of the widows, who are present on the
+occasion, a cruel institution has long since debarred them from
+assisting in this holy work. These ill-fated creatures are doomed only
+to stare at the images, but are not permitted to take an active part in
+the ceremonial. Is it possible to conceive a more gloomy picture of
+society than that which absolutely expunges from a human breast all
+traces of a religious privilege the exercise of which, though under a
+mistaken faith, tends to sweeten a wretched life? The miserable widows
+of India are unhappily destined to pine away their existence until
+greater leaders of native reforms arise and deliver them from the
+galling fetters of superstition.
+
+The epilogue which closes the parting ceremony is called the
+_kanakanjally_, which consists in a woman (not a widow) taking a small
+brass plate of paddy and _doova_ grass with a Rupee dyed in red lead in
+it, and throwing it from the fore part of the image right over its head
+into the cloth of a man who stands behind for the purpose of receiving
+it. This last offering, it is needless to say, is preserved with the
+greatest care. The female who performs the rite is an object of envy.
+This rite being performed, the females take each a bit of the sweetmeat
+and betel which has been _last_ offered to _Ma Doorga_. A sudden
+reaction of feeling takes place, all hearts are grieved, and some
+actually shed tears. Two sensations, though not exactly analogous, arise
+in their minds; first the religious part of the festival, and the
+consequent arousal of a devotional spirit, vividly reminding one of the
+unceasing round of ritualistic ceremonies as well as festivity and
+gaiety that the presence of the goddess naturally enough produced, and
+which are about to vanish and disappear in an hour by the immersion of
+the goddess in the river or pond; and second, a worldly one, the
+recurrence of the idea when a mother sends her daughter to the house of
+her father-in-law. In either case, the tender heart of a Hindoo female
+easily breaks down under the pressure of grief.
+
+The goddess is afterwards brought out and placed on a Bamboo stage borne
+on the shoulders of a set of coolies, all the flowers and _billaputtra_
+offered her during the past three days are also put in a basket and
+taken to the riverside. The procession moves slowly forward, preceded by
+bands of English and Native musicians, and the necessary retinue of
+servants and guards, while from within the house, the women, not
+satiated with the sight of the goddess for one long month, stretch their
+eyes as far as their visual organs can extend to catch a last farewell
+glimpse of her. The streets of Calcutta, the English part of the town
+excepted, become literally crammed and almost impassable on such a day.
+Groups of Police constables are posted here and there with a view to
+maintain peace and order, the streets become a pavement of heads. At the
+lowest calculation, there cannot be less than 100,000 sight-seers
+abroad. Men, women and children of all classes and ranks come from a
+great distance to have a sight of the image. The tops of houses, the
+verandahs, the main roads, nay the unfrequented corners present a thick
+mass of living creatures, all anxious to feast their eyes upon the
+matchless grandeur of the scene. A foreigner, unaccustomed to such a
+magnificent spectacle, is apt to overrate the wealth and prosperity of
+the people on such a day. The number of images, the dazzling and costly
+embellishments with which they are decorated, the rich livery of some of
+the servants, the bands of musicians preceding the procession, the
+letting off of red and blue lights at intervals, the gala dress of the
+multitude, and last but not least, the elegant carriages of the big
+"swells," and the still more elegant attire of their owners, who loll
+back on the cushion of the carriages, diffusing fragrant odours as they
+pass, cannot fail to produce an imposing effect. Here a gaily clad Baboo
+with his patent Japan leather shoes; there a Hindoosthanee dandy with
+his massive gold necklace and valuable pearls hanging down his ears;
+here a proud Mogul in all the bravery of cloth of gold; there a frowning
+Mussulman with his dazzling cap and gossamer _chapkan_ (tunic), and
+ivory mounted stick, all combine to present a motley group of
+characters, national in their costumes, and unique in appearance. The
+poor country woman, her lord and children, though not favored by
+fortune, still cut a figure far above their normal condition.
+
+Those Hindoos, who adorn their images without stint of cost, parade them
+through the most densely crowded streets till eight in the
+evening--vanity being the chief motive of action--while those who move
+in humbler spheres of life take them to boats on the river hired for the
+purpose, and throw them into the water amidst shouts of exultation. The
+mob of course sing obscene songs and dance indecently, all which is
+tolerated for the occasion. The growing sense of the people--the result
+of English education--has now-a-days greatly diminished the amount of
+indecency which was one of the distinguishing characteristics of former
+days on such an occasion.
+
+Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, the assembled crowd
+begins to disperse in joyous mood, talking all the way as to the
+respective superiority of such and such images. Amongst such a great
+number and variety, there is sure to be difference of opinion, but it is
+soon settled by the affirmation of a wise head that "the spirit of the
+goddess is the same in all the images; _Ma Doorga_, does not mind show."
+
+When the worshippers and others return home, they go at once to the
+temple, where the officiating Brahmin waits for them to sprinkle on
+their bodies the sacred water; all are made to sit down on the floor
+with their feet covered with their clothes, lest a drop should fall upon
+them. The Brahmin with a small twig of mangoe leaves sprinkles the
+water, while repeating at the same time the usual incantation, the
+meaning of which is that health, wealth and prosperity may attend the
+votaries of _Doorga_, from year to year. After this they write on a
+piece of green plantain leaf the name of the goddess several times, and
+then clasp one another in their arms, and take the dust off the feet of
+all the seniors, with the mutual expression of good wishes for their
+worldly prosperity. An elderly man thus blesses a boy; "may you have
+long life, gold inkstand and gold pen, acquire profound learning and
+immense wealth, and support lakhs of men"; If a girl, he thus pronounces
+his benediction (there being no clasping of arms between man and woman
+nor between woman and woman), "may you enjoy all the blessings of a
+married life (_i. e._, never become a widow) become the mother of a
+_rajah_ (king), use vermillion on your grey head, continue to wear the
+iron bangle, get seven male children, and never know want." It is well
+known that no blessing is more acceptable to a Hindoo female than that
+she may never become a widow, because the intolerable miseries of
+widowhood are most piercing to her heart; nor can it be otherwise so
+long as human nature remains unaltered. This social institution of the
+Hindoos of cordially embracing each other and expressing all manner of
+good wishes on a particular day of the year, when all hearts are more or
+less affected with grief at the departure of the goddess, is a very
+commendable one. It has an excellent tendency to promote social reunion,
+good fellowship and brotherhood. Not only all the absent friends,
+relatives, acquaintances and neighbours, male and female, join in this
+annual greeting, but even strangers and the most menial servants are not
+forgotten on the occasion. Every heart rejoices, every tongue blesses,
+every acrimonious feeling is consigned to oblivion. This is a "quiet
+interval at least between storm and storm; _interspaces_ of sunlight
+between the breadths of gloom, a glad voice on summer holidays, happy in
+unselfish friendships, in generous impulses, in strong health, in the
+freedom from all cares, in the confidence of all hopes." During such a
+happy period "it is a luxury to breathe the breath of life."
+
+To drown their sorrows in forgetfulness, the Hindoos use a slight
+intoxicating beverage made of hemp leaves on this particular occasion.
+Every one that comes to visit--and there must be a social gathering--or
+is present, is treated with this diluted beverage and sweets. Even the
+most innocent and simple females for once in a year are tacitly allowed
+to use it, but very sparingly. One farthing's worth of hemp leaves, or
+about one ounce, suffices for fifty persons or more, so that it becomes
+almost harmless when so copiously diluted. But those who have imbibed a
+taste for English wines and spirits always indulge freely on this
+occasion, giving little heed to temperance rules and lectures. It is
+"_Bijoya_" and drinking to excess is justifiable.
+
+It would not be proper to close this subject without saying a few words
+about the national excitement which the approach of this festival
+produces, and the powerful impetus it gives to trade in general. It has
+been roughly estimated that upwards of a crore of Rupees (L10,000,000)
+is spent every year in Bengal on account of this festival. Every family,
+from the aristocracy to the peasant, must have new clothes, new shoes,
+new every thing. Men, women, children, relatives, poor acquaintances and
+neighbours, nay beggars must have their holiday dress. Persons in
+straitened circumstances, who actually live from hand to mouth, deposit
+their hard-earned savings for a twelvemonth to be spent on this grand
+festival. Famished beggars who drag a miserable existence all their
+lives, and depend on precarious alms to keep their body and soul
+together all the year round, hopefully look forward to the return of
+this anniversary for at least a temporary change in their rags and
+tatters. Hungry Brahmins, whose daily avocation brings them only a
+scanty allowance of rice and plantain, cheerfully welcome the advent of
+"_Ma Doorga_" and gratefully watch the day when their empty coffer shall
+be replenished. Cloth merchants, weavers, braziers, goldsmiths,
+embroiderers, lace-makers, mercers, haberdashers, carpenters, potters,
+basket-makers, painters, house-builders, English, Chinese and Native
+shoemakers, ghee, sugar and corn merchants, grocers, confectioners,
+dealers in silver and tinsel ware, songsters, songstresses, musicians,
+hackney carriage keepers, Oorya bearers, hawkers, pedlars and such
+dealers in miscellaneous wares, all look forward to the busy season when
+their whole year's hopes shall be realised by bringing lots of Rupees
+into the till. To a man of practical experience in business matters, as
+far as the metropolis of British India is concerned, it is perhaps well
+known that the "Trades" because of the Doorga Poojah make _more_ in one
+month than they can possibly make in the remaining eleven months. From
+the first week in September to the middle of October, when the Poojah
+preparations are being actually made by the Hindoos, when they, frugal
+as they assuredly are, once in a twelvemonth, loosen their purse
+strings, when the accumulated interest on Government securities is
+drawn, when all the arrears of house rent are peremptorily demanded,
+when remittance from the distant parts of the country arrives, when in
+short, rupees, annas and pice, are the "Go" of the inhabitants, the
+shopkeepers make a display of their goods as best they can. From sunrise
+to ten o'clock at night the influx of customers continues unabated,
+extra shops are opened and extra assistants employed, the shopkeepers
+themselves have scarcely leisure enough to take a hasty meal a day, and
+each day's sales swell the heart of the owner. The thrifty and
+economical Provincial, who loves money as dearly as the blood that runs
+through his veins, leisurely makes his sundry purchases before the
+regular rush of customers begins to pour in. He has not only the choice
+of a large assortment, and the "pick," of a new investment, but gets
+the benefit of a reasonable price, because the shopkeeper is not hard
+and tenacious in the early stage of the Poojah sale. As each day passes,
+and novelties are exposed for public inspection, the shopkeeper raises
+his prices according to increasing demand. The effeminate and
+extravagant Baboo of the City, who does not worship Mammon half so
+devoutly as his country brother, does not mind paying a little too much
+for his "whistle," because he is large hearted and liberal minded. His
+more frequent intercourse with Englishmen has taught him to look upon
+money as "filthy lucre." He is not calculating, and hence he defers
+making his purchases till the eleventh hour, when, to use a native
+expression, "the shopkeeper cuts the neck with one stroke."
+
+About one-fifth of the Hindoo population of Calcutta consists of people
+that are come from the contiguous villages and pergunnas of the
+Presidency Division; these men live in Calcutta solely for employment,
+keeping their families in the country where they have generally small
+farms of their own which yield them enough produce in the shape of rice,
+pulses, cereals, vegetables, &c., to last them throughout the year,
+leaving, in some instances, ample surplus stock, with which and a few
+milch cows as well as tanks, they husband their resources with the
+greatest frugality, and enjoy every domestic comfort and convenience.
+They do not care for Davie Wilson's biscuits and sponge-cakes, or a
+glass of raspberry ice-cream or Roman Punch on a summer day; their bill
+of fare is as short and simple as their taste is primitive. These men
+make their Poojah purchases much earlier than their brethren in the
+city, simply because they have to start for home as soon as the public
+holidays commence on the eve of the fourth day of the increase of the
+moon. If the Indian Railways have benefited one class of the people more
+than another, it is these men who should be thankful for the boon. If
+the East Indian and Eastern Bengal Railway Companies' coaching receipts
+are properly examined for two days, _viz._, the fourth and fifth days of
+the new moon or the beginning of the Doorga Poojah holidays, they will
+certainly exhibit an incredibly large amount of receipts from third
+class carriages. Indeed it has been rather facetiously remarked by
+town's people that Calcutta becomes much lighter by reason of the exit
+of country people during the Doorga Poojah holidays, but then the return
+of the former to their home from the Moffussil should be also taken into
+the account. On a fair calculation, the outgoing number far exceeds the
+incoming proportion. It should also be observed that the list of
+purchases of the former embraces a greater variety of items than that of
+the latter. Their mothers, wives, daughters and sisters, not to speak of
+the male members of the family, being absent in the country-house, the
+want of each and every one must be supplied. Articles for domestic
+consumption in a Hindoo family are in the greatest requisition.
+Looking-glasses, combs, _alta_, _sidoor_ or China vermillion, _ghoomsi_
+(string round the loins), scented drugs for ladies' hair, black powder
+for the teeth, soap, pomatum, otto of rose, rose water, wax candles,
+_sidoorchoobry_ (toilet box made of small shells), silk, thread, wool,
+carpets, spices of all sorts both for the betel and the kitchen,
+betel-nuts, cocoanut oil for ladies' hair, sugar-candy, almonds,
+raisins, Cabul pomegranates, Dacca, Santipore and English made
+_dhooties_, _oorunees_ (sheets), _sarees_ (lady's apparel), silk
+handkerchiefs, silk cloth, Benares embroidered cloth, satin and velvet
+caps, lace, hose, tinsel ornaments for the images, English shoes and
+sundries, constitute the catalogue of their purchases. This explains
+their going into the Bazar early and accounts for their extra
+expenditure on the score of luxuries and superfluities of life, but the
+reader should bear in mind that such extravagance is indulged in only
+once a year. Generally esteemed as these people are for their saving
+qualities, frugal, simple and abstemious habits, an annual departure
+from the established rule is not unjustifiable. The rich classes, as
+will be evident from what has been said, spend enormous sums in making
+their fashionable purchases on this occasion.
+
+From the foregoing details it is easy to infer that the Doorga Poojah
+anniversary presses heavily on the limited resources of a Hindoo family.
+A rich man experiences little difficulty in meeting his expenses, but
+the middling and the humbler classes, who comprise nine-tenths of the
+population, are put to their wits' end to make both ends meet. They are
+sometimes obliged to solicit the pecuniary aid of their rich friends to
+enable them to get over the _Doorga_ difficulty. It is, perhaps, not
+generally known that during this popular festival, or rather before it,
+when all Bengal is in a state of social and religious ferment, when
+money must be had by fair means or foul, not a few unfortunate men,
+chiefly libertines and rakes, deliberately commit frauds by forging
+cheques, drafts, and notes, which eventually lead them into the greatest
+distress and disgrace. Besides the high price of clothes and of all
+descriptions of eatables, every family must have a month's provision to
+carry them through the period during which no money is forthcoming.
+
+I had almost forgotten to say anything about the annual gratuity which
+the Brahmins of Bengal obtain on the occasion of this festival. From
+time immemorial, when orthodox Hindooism was in the ascendant, the
+Brahmins not only advanced their claims, as now, to all the offerings
+made to gods or goddesses, small or great, but established a rule that
+every Hindoo, whose circumstances would permit it, should give them
+individually, one, two, four, or five Rupees at the return of this
+festival. Every respectable Hindoo family, even now-a-days when
+heterodoxy is rampant in all the great centres of education, has to give
+ten, fifteen, twenty-five, or fifty Rupees to Brahmins. Rich families
+give much more. So very tenacious are the Brahmins of this privilege
+that even if they earn one hundred Rupees a month by employment they
+will not forego a single Rupee once a year on this occasion, seeing they
+claim it as a birthright.
+
+These men have studied human nature, but they have built their hopes of
+permanent gain on the baseless fabric of a hollow superstition, which is
+destined, through the progress of improvement, inevitably to fall into
+decay. It is too late to retrieve the huge blunder of laying a false
+foundation for their gains.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[51] Doorga is also worshipped in the month of April, in the time of the
+vernal equinox, but very few then offer her their devotion, though this
+celebration claims priority of origin.
+
+[52] For some general remarks on the religion of the Hindoos, see Note
+c.
+
+[53] "In this ancient story" says Tod, "we are made acquainted with the
+distant maritime wars which the princes of India carried on. Even
+supposing Ravana's abode to be the insular Ceylon, he must have been a
+very powerful prince to equip an armament sufficiently numerous to carry
+off from the remote kingdom of _Kousula_ the wife of the great king of
+the Suryas. It is most improbable that a petty king of Ceylon could wage
+equal war with a potentate who held the chief dominion of India; whose
+father, _Dosaratha_ drove his victorious car (_ratha_) over every region
+(_desa_) and whose intercourse with the countries beyond the Bramaputra
+is distinctly to be traced in the _Ramayana_."
+
+[54] This is also the day which is vulgarly called the _Kala kata
+amabashay_ when unripe plantain fruits are cut in immense quantities for
+offerings to Doorga.
+
+[55] This sacred jar is marked with two combined triangles, denoting the
+union of the two deities, Siva and Doorga,--the worshippers of the
+_Sakti_, female energy, mark the jar with another triangle.
+
+[56] The day before the _Kalpa_ begins, these priests receive new
+clothes, comprising a _dhootie_ and _dubja_, and some money for
+_habishay_, or food destitute of fish. Very few, however, abide by the
+rules enjoined in the holy writings.
+
+[57] Even in the observance of this religious preliminary, the Brahmins
+take advantage of their superior caste, and curtail five days out of six
+in order to save expense. Every thing is allowable in their case,
+because they assume to be the oracles between the god and man.
+
+[58] The vermilion is used by a Hindoo female whose husband is _alive_,
+the privilege of putting it on the forehead is considered a sign of
+great merit and virtue.
+
+[59] There is a singular coincidence between the Hindoos and the ancient
+heathen nations in regard to music. In both it is used as an
+indispensable accompaniment to religious worship.
+
+[60] It is no less strange than surprising that ornamental articles
+prepared by the hands of European artisans who are accustomed to eat
+beef and pork, the very mention, and much more, the touch of which
+contaminates the purity of religion, are put on the bodies and heads of
+Hindoo gods without the least religious scruple, simply for the
+gratification of vanity. So much for the consistent and immaculate
+character of the Hindoo creed!
+
+[61] These scented oils are mostly prepared by Mussulmans, whose very
+touch is enough to desecrate a thing; the Brahmins knowing this fact
+unhesitatingly use them for religious purposes. Thus we see in almost
+every sphere of social and domestic life the fundamental rules of
+religious purity are shamefully violated.
+
+[62] It is deserving of notice that the slaughter of oxen, cows or
+calves is most religiously forbidden in the Hindoo Shaster. Divine
+honors are paid to the species. The cow is regarded as a form of Doorga
+and called Bhuggobutty. The husband of Doorga, Shiva, rides naked on an
+ox. The very _dung_ of a cow purifies all unclean things in a Hindoo
+household, and possesses the property of a disinfectant. The milk of a
+cow assuredly affords the best nourishment to the young and the old,
+hence the species was deified by the Hindoo sages. Even after the advent
+of the English into this country for above two centuries, an orthodox
+Hindoo is apt to exclaim "what impious times!" whenever he happens to
+see a Mussulman butcher carry a cow or calf in the street for
+slaughtering purposes. Not a few wonder how the English power continues
+to prosper amidst the daily perpetration of such irreligious acts. By
+way of derision, the English are called _gokhaduk_ or beef-eaters and
+the _goylas_ (milkmen) _Kasays_ or butchers. If such Hindoos had power
+enough they would certainly have delivered their country from the grasp
+of these beef-eaters and placed it above the reach of sacrilligious
+hands. But alas! in the present _Kaliyaga_ or iron age, both they and
+their gods are alike impotent.
+
+[63] It is generally known that except the Brahmins, who are
+proverbially noted for their eating propensities, scarcely any
+respectable Hindoo condescends to sit down to a regular _jalpan_ dinner
+at this popular festival. He comes, gives his usual _pranamy_ of one
+Rupee to the goddess in the _thacoordallan_, talks with the owner of the
+house for a few minutes, is presented by way of compliment with otto of
+roses and pan, and then goes away, making the stereotyped plea that he
+has many other places to go to. Besides this, every man is expected to
+provide himself at home with a good stock of choice eatables on this
+festive occasion. The prices of sweetmeats, already too high, are nearly
+doubled at this time, because of the large demand and small supply. From
+32 Rupees a maund (82 lbs) the normal price of _sundesh_ in ordinary
+times, it rises to 60 or 70 Rupees in the Poojah time. Milk sells at
+four annas a pound, and without milk no _sundesh_ could be made. It is
+the most expensive article of food among the Hindoos of Bengal, when
+well made with fresh _channa_ (curded milk) it has a fine taste, but is
+entirely destitute of nutritive property. The Hindoos of the Upper
+Provinces, however, do not regard the preparation as _pure_, and
+consequently do not use it, because of its admixture with curded milk.
+
+[64] Rich men are in the habit of firing guns for the guidance of the
+people.
+
+[65] The flesh of buffaloes is used only by sweepers, shoemakers, &c.,
+who sometimes quarrel for the possession of the slaughtered animals. The
+meat with country liquor ends in drunken feasts.
+
+[66] The late Rajah Rajkissen Bahadoor, Baboos Santiram Sing, Ramdoolal
+Dey, Shibnarain Ghose, Prankissen Holdar, the Mullick family, the Ghosal
+family of Bhookoylash and others, spent large sums of money from year to
+year in giving clothes, food and money to a very large number of poor
+men, and liberating prisoners from jail on payment of their debts. Any
+relief to suffering humanity is certainly an act of great merit for
+which the donors deserve well of the community. In our days there are
+several Baboos who do the same on a limited scale, but the name of Baboo
+Tarucknauth Puramanick of Kassiriparrah deserves a special notice.
+Naturally unassuming and unambitious, his character is as irreproachable
+as his large-heartedness is conspicuous. On every anniversary of the
+Doorga Poojah, and on almost every religious celebration, he gives alms
+to hundreds and thousands of poor people without distinction of caste or
+creed. On the occasion of the Doorga Poojah festival he would not break
+his fast until midnight, when he is assured that all the poor people who
+came to his door have been duly provided with food and coppers. For
+three nights this distribution of alms continues. The public road before
+his house is closed by order of the police for the accommodation of
+beggars. Five or six times in a month he feeds all the poor people that
+come to his house, hence the fame of his generosity is spread far and
+wide, and he is surnamed Taruck Baboo, "the _datta_" or charitable--a
+distinction which the more opulent of his countrymen (and there are not
+a few) should seek to covet.
+
+[67] An _Urghy_ is a bunch of doorva grass tied up at the last, either
+with red cotton or a slip of plantain leaf. Two or three of such bundles
+are made, one is placed on the crown of the goddess and two on her two
+feet. It is usually stuffed with paddy and besmeared with sandal wood
+water and vermillion. It is a sacred offering and consequently preserved
+for solemn occassions.
+
+[68] Home made things are, in the long run, cheaper and more preferable
+to the questionable products of the market, which are not only inferior
+in quality but are more or less subject to defilement, being exposed for
+sale to people of all castes. This detracts from the absolute purity of
+the preparation.
+
+[69] It would not be out of place to observe here that liberal Hindoos
+as a body are not beef-eaters as is vulgarly supposed. They are content
+with fowls, goat, sheep and fish. About forty years ago before the
+Calcutta University was founded, the late Baboo Isser Chunder Goopto,
+the editor of _Pravakur_, a vernacular news paper, very cleverly hit off
+and satirised in popular ballads the then growing desire of the young
+Hindoo reformers to adopt a European style of eating. He commenced with
+Rammohun Roy--the pioneer of Hindoo reformation--and thus sarcastically
+described his public career. Addressing _Saraswattee_ the Hindoo goddess
+of learning, he thus laments: "Oh goddess! in vain have you established
+schools in Calcutta, look at the end of that Roy (Rammohun Roy);
+profound learning had wafted him over the waters to a distant region
+(England), and never brought him back again." As regards the young
+alumni, he makes a wife thus accost her husband: "_Pran, Pran_, my
+heart, my heart, you go to society and lectures every day, and when the
+Examination is held at the Town Hall you get prizes, heaps and heaps of
+books you read and always remain outside. Is it written in the books
+that you should never touch the body of a female? What sort of a
+_gooroo_ (master) is your Sahib? he is a regular _garu_ (bull) if he
+give you such lessons. You dislike _loochee_ and _munda_ (Hindoo
+sweetmeats) but you get _gunda_ and _gunda_ of fowl eggs and satisfy
+your hunger, and for you all there is an end of cows and calves." But
+this is an exaggeration about the eating of beef by the educated
+Hindoos. Except a few medical students, who have, in a great measure,
+overcome their prejudices by the constant handling of dead bodies, the
+rest still feel a sort of natural repugnance to eating beef. This is,
+perhaps, the effect of early impressions produced by the religious
+veneration in which a cow is held among the Hindoos. "The superstitious
+reverence," says an eminent writer, "for the ox, points doubtless to a
+period when that useful animal was first naturalized in India and
+protected by a law for its preservation and encouragement, which, now
+that the original intention is lost sight of in the lapse of ages, has
+invested the cattle with a religious character, and, indeed, it is not
+200 years since the Emperor Jehangir was obliged once to prohibit the
+slaughter of kine for a term of years, as a measure absolutely required
+to prevent the ruin of agriculture." It is a striking fact that that
+loathsome disease, leprosy, is very common among the lower orders of
+Mussulmans who use this meat freely. Perhaps it is more suited to the
+inhabitants of milder regions than those of a tropical climate.
+
+[70] So great was the mania for extravagant, ostentations show, that
+instances were not wanting in which a lakh of Rupees was freely spent on
+this grand occasion. The late Prankissen Holdar, of Chinsurah, in the
+neighbourhood of Calcutta, expended annually for three or four years the
+above sum in furnishing his house without stint of cost in truly
+oriental style, giving rich entertainments to Europeans and Natives, and
+distributing alms among the poor. There was no Railway then, and
+consequently the boat hire alone from Calcutta to Chinsurah for English
+and Native grandees might have cost four to five thousand Rupees. The
+very invitation cards written in golden letters with gold fringes cost
+eight to ten Rupees each. For the entertainment of his English friends
+he used to give ten thousand Rupees to Messrs. Gunter and Hooper, the
+then public Purveyors of Calcutta. First class wines and provisions were
+procured in abundance, and arranged in the corridor under European and
+Mahomedan stewards, while one hundred Brahmins were engaged in prayers,
+reciting _Chundee_ and repeating the name of the god, Modosoodun, for
+the propitiation of the goddess and the interests of the family. It
+sometimes so happened that the clang of knives, forks and spoons was
+simultaneous with the sound of the holy bell and conch, the one
+neutralising what the other was supposed to produce in a religious point
+of view.
+
+[71] "The reader will recollect that the festivals of Bacchus and Cybele
+were equally noted for the indecencies practised by the worshippers both
+in their words and actions."
+
+[72] The Reverend Mr. Maurice, a pious clergyman, who had never seen
+these ceremonies, attempted to paint them in the most captivating terms.
+Should he think that Hindoo idolatry is capable of exciting the most
+elevated conceptions about the godhead and leading the mind to the true
+path of righteousness, let him come and join the Brahmins and their
+numerous devotees in crying "Hurree Bole! Hurree Bole! Joy Doorga! Joy
+Kally!" "Mr. Forbes, of Stanmore Hill, in his elegant museum of Indian
+rarities, numbers two of the bells that have been used in devotion by
+the Brahmins. They are great curiosities, and one of them in particular
+appears to be of very high antiquity, in form very much resembling the
+cup of the lotus, and the tune of it is uncommonly soft and melodious. I
+could not avoid being deeply affected with the sound of an instrument
+which had been actually employed to kindle the flame of that
+superstition which I have attempted so extensively to unfold. My
+transported thoughts travelled back to the remote period when Brahmin
+religion blazed forth in all its splendour in the caverns of Elephanta:
+I was, for a moment, entranced, and caught the odour of enthusiasm. A
+tribe of venerable priests, arrayed in flowing stoles, and decorated
+with high tiaras, seemed assembled around me, the mystic song of
+initiation vibrated in my ear; I breathed an air fragrant with the
+richest perfumes, and contemplated the deity in the fire that symbolized
+him." And again, in another place, "She, (the Hindoo religion) wears the
+similitude of a beautiful and radiant cherub from Heaven, bearing on his
+persuasive lips the accents of pardon and peace, and on his silken wings
+benefaction and blessing." What strange hallucinations some of these
+Christian ministers labour under in attempting to reconcile the ideas of
+idolatry with those of the True and Living God!
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+THE KALI POOJAH FESTIVAL.
+
+
+In Bengal, next to the Doorga Poojah in point of importance stands the
+Kali Poojah, which invariably takes place on the last night of the
+decrease of the moon, in the month of Kartik (between October and
+November). She is represented as standing on the breast of her husband,
+Shiva, with a tongue projecting to a great length. She has four arms, in
+one of which she holds a scimitar; in another, the head of a giant whom
+she has killed in a fight, the third hand is spread out for the purpose
+of bestowing blessing, while by the fourth, she welcomes the blessed.
+She also wears a necklace of skulls and has a girdle of hands of giants
+round her loins. To add to the terrific character of the goddess, she is
+represented as a very black female with her locks hanging down to her
+heels. The reason ascribed for her standing on the breast of her
+husband, is the following: In a combat with a formidable giant called
+Ruckta Beeja, she became so elated with joy at her victory that she
+began to dance in the battle-field so frantically that all the gods
+trembled and deliberated what to do in order to restore peace to the
+earth, which, through her dancing was shaken to its foundation. After
+much consultation, it was decided that her husband should be asked to
+repair to the scene of action and persuade her to desist. Shiva, the
+husband, accordingly came down, but seeing the dreadful carnage and the
+infuriated countenance as well as the continued dancing of his wife, who
+could not in her frenzy recognise him, he threw himself among the dead
+bodies of the slain. The goddess was so transported with joy that in one
+of her dancing feats she chanced to step upon the breast of her husband,
+whereupon the body moved. Struck with amazement she stood motionless
+for a while, and fixing her gaze at length discovered that she had
+trampled on her husband. The sight at once restored her feminine
+modesty, and she stood aghast feeling shocked at the unhappy accident.
+To express her shame, she put out her tongue and in that posture she is
+worshipped by her followers.[73]
+
+Her black features, the dark night in which she is worshipped, the
+bloody deeds with which her name is associated, the countless sacrifices
+relentlessly offered at her altar, the terrific form in which she is
+represented, the unfeminine and warlike posture in which she stands, and
+last but not least, the desperate character of some of her votaries,
+invest her name with a terror which is without a parallel in the
+mythological legends of the Hindoos. The authors of the Hindoo mythology
+could not have invented in their fertile imagination a sanguinary
+character more singularly calculated to inspire terror[74] and thereby
+extort the blind adoration of an ignorant populace. About seven hundred
+years ago, a devoted follower of this goddess, named Agum Bagish,
+proclaimed that her worship should be performed in the following manner:
+The image is to be made, set up, worshipped and destroyed on the same
+night. It is a _nishi_ or midnight Poojah on the darkest night of the
+month, so that not a single soul from outside could know it. He strictly
+observed this rule while he was alive, and it was said that Rajah
+Krishnu Chunder Roy of Kishnaghur followed his example for some time.
+Baboo Obhoy Churn Mitter of Calcutta and Bhobaney Churn Mookerjee of
+Jessore also tried to observe the rule prescribed above, but as it has
+been alleged the spirit of secret devotion forsook them after a little
+while. They reverted to the general custom of worshipping the goddess
+on the darkest night in Kartik, inviting friends and making pantomimic
+exhibitions.
+
+Though her Poojah lasts but one night, the sacrifices of goats, sheep
+and buffaloes are as numerous as those offered before the altar of
+Doorga. In former times, when idolatry prevailed universally throughout
+Bengal and religious belief of the people therein was firm and unshaken,
+the splendour with which the worship of this goddess was performed was
+second only, as I have remarked, to that of the Doorga. Both goddesses,
+however, still continue to count their votaries by millions. "The reader
+may form some idea," says Mr. Ward, "how much idolatry prevailed at the
+time when the Hindoo monarchy flourished from the following
+circumstance, which belongs to a modern period, when the Hindoo
+authority in Hindoosthan was almost extinct. Rajah Krishnu Chunder Roy,
+and his two immediate successors, in the month of Kartick, annually gave
+orders to all the people over whom they had a nominal authority to keep
+the _shyma_ festival, and threatened every offender with the severest
+penalties on non-compliance. In consequence of these orders, in more
+than ten thousand houses in one night, in the Zillah of Kishnaghur, the
+worship of this goddess was celebrated. The number of animals destroyed
+could not have been less than ten thousand."
+
+Kali, like Doorga, Siva, Vishnu and Krishna, is the guardian deity of
+many Hindoos, who daily offer their prayers to her both in the morning
+and evening. Several, who possess great wealth and know not how to
+employ it better, dedicate temples to her service and consecrate them
+with ample endowments. In the holy City of Benares, there still exists a
+Kali shrine where hundreds of beggars are daily fed at the expense of
+the founder, the late Rani Bhobaney of Nattore. Nearly a hundred and
+fifty years ago, Raja Ramkrishna erected a temple at Burranagore, about
+six miles north of Calcutta, in honor of this goddess, and spent upwards
+of a lakh of Rupees when it was first consecrated. He endowed it with a
+large revenue for its permanent support, so that any number of religious
+mendicants who might come there daily could be easily fed. In his
+prosperous days, this rich zemindar paid an annual revenue of fifty-two
+lakhs of Rupees to the East India Company. Unfortunately the family has
+since been reduced to a state of poverty, and the temple is a heap of
+ruins. The endowment, like most other endowments of this nature,
+disappeared soon after the death of the founder. The Rajah of Burdwan's
+endowment of this kind still endures, and promises to enjoy a longer
+lease of life.
+
+The name of Kali, be it observed, is more extensively used than either
+that of Doorga or Shiva. Whenever a Native Regiment is to march or set
+out on an expedition the stereotyped acclaim is,--"_Kali Maikey Jay_,"
+"victory to mother Kali." When the evening gun is fired in any of the
+military stations, the almost involuntary exclamation is, "_Jay Kali
+Calcutta Wallee_." Nor is her worship less universal than her fame. On
+the last night of the decrease of the moon in Kartik, every family in
+Bengal must worship her though in a somewhat different shape. Every
+family, rich or poor, Brahmin or Soodar, must celebrate the Lucki or
+Kali Poojah before the sacred _Reck_ of _dhan_ or paddy, which in the
+estimation of a Hindoo is a valuable heritage.[75] Several incidents
+connected with this religious festival are worth recording. In the Upper
+and Central Provinces, as in the South of Hindoostan, it is called the
+_Dewallee_ Festival. Though the image is not set up, yet the Hindoo and
+Parsi inhabitants observe the holiday by opening their new year's
+account on that day. Illuminations, fireworks and all sorts of
+festivities mark the day. To try their luck for the next year, almost
+all Hindoo merchants and bankers indulge in gambling that night, and
+large sums are sometimes at stake on the occasion. In Calcutta, where
+gambling is strictly prohibited, the law is shamefully violated on that
+dark night. This does not imply any reflection on the vigilance of the
+Police, because the game is carried on surreptitiously. The Parsi
+merchants who deal in wines and stores throw open their shops and treat
+their European customers free of cost on that particular day. Their
+brethren in Bengal are, however, not so liberal to their customers,
+simply because it is not their new year's day. In Calcutta and all over
+Bengal the night is remarkable for illumination,[76] fireworks,
+feasting, carousing and gambling. There is a time-honored custom among
+the people to light bundles of _paycattee_ or faggots that night. As is
+naturally to be expected the children take a great delight in such
+pastimes. At the close of the Poojah a servant of the house takes a
+_Koolow_ or winnowing fan and a stick with which he beats and sings "Bad
+luck out" and "Good luck in."[77]
+
+
+Kali is also the guardian deity of thieves, robbers, _thugs_ and such
+like desperate characters. Before starting on their diabolical work,
+they invoke her aid to protect them from detection and punishment. The
+supposed aid of the goddess arms them with courage and leads them to
+commit the most atrocious crimes. When successful they come and offer
+sacrifices of goats, spirituous liquors and other things, under an
+impression that the superintending power of the goddess has shielded
+them from all harm. But the unbending rigor of the British law has
+almost entirely dissipated the delusion. Many an infamous dacoit in
+Bengal has confessed his guilt on the scaffold, lamenting that "_Ma
+Kali_" had not protected him in the hour of need. The notorious "Rugho
+Dacoit" of Hooghly, whose very name terrified a wayward child into
+sleep, made fearful disclosures as to the originating cause of his
+numerous crimes. Some forty years ago there lived in Calcutta a very
+respectable Hindoo gentleman, by name Rajkissore Dutt, who was a very
+great devotee of this goddess. Every month, on the last night of the
+decrease of the moon, he, it was said, used to set up an image of this
+goddess, and adorned her person with gold and silver ornaments to the
+value of about one thousand Rupees which were afterwards given to the
+officiating priest. On the annual return of this grand Poojah in the
+month of Kartik, he used to give the goddess a gold tongue, and decorate
+her four arms with divers gold ornaments to the cost of about three
+thousand Rupees, and his other expenses amounted to another six or seven
+thousand. For a number of years he continued to celebrate the Poojah in
+the above magnificent style, his veneration becoming more intensified as
+his wealth increased. He established a Bank in Calcutta called the
+"India Bank," which circulated notes of its own to a considerable
+amount. A combination was formed among a few influential Natives, whose
+names I am ashamed to mention, and a well concocted system of fraud was
+organised. Through one, Dwarkey Nath Mitter, a son-in-law of Rajkissore,
+Company's Paper or Government Securities to the amount of about twenty
+Lakhs of Rupees were forged and passed off as genuine on the public. But
+as fraud succeeds for a short while only, the gigantic scheme was soon
+discovered, and the delinquent was tried, convicted and sentenced to
+transportation for life to one of the Penal Settlements of the East
+India Company, where he lived for several years to rue the consequences
+of his iniquitous conduct. His eldest son told the writer that his
+father concealed in a wall of one of the rooms of his house Bank notes
+for upwards of a Lakh of Rupees. When the search of the Police was over
+he opened the part of the wall and to his utter disappointment found all
+the notes crumbled to pieces, and become a small bundle of rotten paper
+of no earthly use to any one. Thus was iniquity rightly punished. No
+wonder that the deep faith of Rajkissore in the goddess Kali did not
+avail him in the hour of danger. His flagitious career commenced by a
+blind devotion to his guardian deity, culminated in a gigantic forgery,
+and closed with transportation and infamy.
+
+It is generally known that there exists a temple of this goddess in the
+suburbs of Calcutta, which has long been celebrated for its sanctity.
+The place is called Kali Ghat, about four miles south of Government
+House. It is not exactly known when this temple was first built. The
+probable conjecture is that some three hundred years ago a shrewd and
+far-seeing member of the sacerdotal class, observing the great
+veneration in which the goddess was held among the Hindoos of those
+days, erected a temple to the image and gave the place a name after her,
+the renown of which, as Calcutta grew in importance, gradually spread
+far and wide. To perpetuate the holy character of the shrine, and to
+consecrate it by traditional sanctity, the following story was given
+out, in the truth of which the generality of the orthodox Hindoos have a
+firm belief. In time out of mind, when the Suttee (Doorga) destroyed
+herself on the _Trisool_ (three edged weapon), one of her fingers was
+said to have fallen on the spot on which the temple now stands and in
+whose recess the priests pretend it is still preserved. Hence the sacred
+character of the shrine, which still attracts thousands of devotees
+every year from all parts. In popular estimation from a religious point
+of view she does not yield much to the Juggernauth of Orissa, the
+Bisseshur of Benares, the Krishna of Brindabun, the Gyasoor of Gya, and
+the Mahadeb of Buddinauth. Fortunately for the site of the temple, which
+is in close proximity to the metropolis of British India, and until
+recently was in the immediate neighbourhood of the highest Appellate
+Court (Suddur Dewanny Adawlut) independently of its bordering on the
+_Addigunga_ (the original sacred stream of Ganges), it has always drawn
+the wealthiest and poorest portions of the Hindoo community. Had the
+offerings in gold, silver and in kind fallen to the share of one priest,
+it is not too much to say that he would long before this have been as
+rich as the Juggut Sett (Banker of the world) of Moorshedabad, who was
+reputed to have been worth upwards of fifteen _crores_ of Rupees.
+
+Wealthy Hindoos, when on a visit to Kali Ghat, expend from one to fifty
+thousand Rupees on the worship of this goddess, in the shape of valuable
+ornaments, silver plate, dishes &c., sweetmeats and food for a large
+number of Brahmins, and small presents to thousands of beggars, besides
+numerous sacrifices of goats, sheep and buffaloes, which make the space
+before the temple swim with blood. The flesh of goat, and sheep is
+freely used by the _sakta_ class of Hindoos when offered to Kali and
+Doorga, but they would never use it without such an oblation. It is
+otherwise called _britha_ or unsanctified flesh, which is altogether
+quite unfit for the use of a religious Hindoo. But the progress of
+English education has made terrible inroads on the religious practices
+of the people, at least of the rising generation.[78] The following
+description of the Kali or _Shyma_ Poojah given by Mr. Ward will serve
+to convey to the reader some idea of the nature of the festival.
+
+"A few years ago," says he, "I went to the house of Kali Sunkur Ghose at
+Calcutta, at the time of the Shyma festival, to see the animals
+sacrificed to Kali. The buildings where the worship was performed were
+raised on four sides, with an area in the middle. The image was placed
+at the north end with the face to the south; and the two side rooms, and
+one of the end rooms opposite the image, were filled with spectators: in
+the area were the animals devoted to sacrifice, and also the
+executioner, with Kali Sunkur, a few attendants, and about twenty
+persons to throw the animal down and hold it in the post, while the head
+was cut off. The goats were sacrificed first, then the buffaloes, and
+last of all, two or three rams. In order to secure the animals, ropes
+were fastened round their legs; they were then thrown down, and the neck
+placed in a piece of wood fastened into the ground and open at the top
+like the space betwixt the prongs of a fork. After the animal's neck was
+fastened in the wood by a peg which passed over it, the men who held it
+pulled forcibly at the heels, while the executioner, with a broad heavy
+axe cut off the head at one blow; the heads were carried in an elevated
+posture by an attendant, (dancing as he went) the blood running down him
+on all sides, into the presence of the goddess. Kali Sunkur, at the
+close, went up to the executioner, took him in his arms, and gave him
+several presents of cloth, &c. The heads and blood of the animals, as
+well as different meat offerings, are presented, with incantations, as a
+feast to the goddess, after which clarified butter is burnt on a
+prepared altar of sand. Never did I see men so eagerly enter into the
+shedding of blood, nor do I think any butchers could slaughter animals
+more expertly. The place literally swam with blood. The bleating of the
+animals, the numbers slain, and the ferocity of the people employed,
+actually made me unwell, and I returned about midnight, filled with
+horror and indignation." In the foregoing account, Mr. Ward has omitted
+to say anything about the nocturnal revelry with which the festival is
+in most instances accompanied. I have witnessed scenes on such
+occasions, which are too disgusting to be described. Not only the
+officiating priest and the spiritual guide, but all the members of the
+family and not a few of the guests partake of the spirituous liquors
+offered to the goddess, and in a state of intoxication sing _Ramprasadi_
+songs befitting the occasion. The festival closes with orgies such as
+are observed in the worship of Bacchus. There are, however, a few
+honorable exceptions to the rule, who, though they perform the worship
+of this goddess, yet altogether abstain from drinking. The goddess,
+Kali, is their guardian deity, they worship her daily, but are known
+never to touch a drop of wine. They attribute to her all the worldly
+prosperity they enjoy and look to her for everlasting blessedness. Such
+men have no faith in the common drunken motto, "_Bharey ma Bhobaney_,"
+mother _Bhobaney_ (another name of Kali) is in the cup. But the grand
+characteristic of this and similar festivals which are annually
+recurring is, as I have already mentioned, "the wine, the fruit and the
+lady fair."
+
+"Even _bacchanalian_ madness has its charms."
+
+But to return to the priests of Kali Ghat.--As time rolled on, their
+descendants multiplied so rapidly that it soon became necessary to allot
+a few days only in the year to each of the families, and on grand
+occasions, which are not a few, the offertories are proportionately
+divided among the whole set of the sacerdotal class. Thus it has now
+become a case of what a Hindoo proverb so aptly expresses: "The flesh of
+a sparrow divided into a hundred parts," or infinitesimal quantities.
+
+God has so constituted man that he can find little or no enjoyment in a
+state of inactivity. The proper employment of time, therefore, is
+essentially necessary to the progressive development of our powers and
+faculties, the non exercise of which must needs induce idle and vicious
+habits. No bread is sweet unless it is earned by the sweat of our brow.
+The Haldars (priests) of Kali Ghaut having no healthy occupation in
+which to engage their minds, and depending for their sustenance on a
+means which requires neither physical nor mental labor, have inevitably
+been led to adopt the Epicurean mode of life, which says, "eat, drink
+and be merry." This habit is further confirmed by the peculiar nature of
+the religious principles which the worship of this goddess enjoins.
+Certain texts of the Tantra Shaster expressly inculcate that without
+drinking the mind is not properly prepared for religious exercise and
+contemplation. The pernicious effects of such a monstrous doctrine are
+sufficiently obvious. It has been said that not only the men but the
+women also are in the habit of drinking. As a necessary consequence the
+vicious practice has not only enervated their minds but made their
+"wealth small and their want great." Disputes often arise between the
+worshippers and the priests of the temple respecting the offerings and
+the proper division of the same, the latter often claiming the lion's
+share which the former are unwilling to submit to. Gross lies are
+sometimes told in the presence of the goddess in order to secure to the
+major portion of the offerings in the interests of the worshippers--an
+expedient which the notorious rapacity of the officiating Brahmins
+imperatively demands. Surrounded by an atmosphere densely impregnated
+with the miasm of a false religion and a corrupt morality, the ennobling
+thought of a true God and the moral accountability of man never enters
+their minds. The chief end and aim of their life is to impose on the
+credulity of their blind votaries, and thereby pander to their
+unhallowed desires and selfish gratification. Nor can they rise to a
+higher and purer sphere of life because from their childhood they are
+nurtured in the cradle of error, ignorance, indolence and profligacy.
+Who can contemplate the effects of their impure orgies on the eighth,
+ninth, fourteenth and fifteen nights of the increase and decrease of the
+moon without being reminded of the saturnalia of the Greeks?[79] If a
+sober-minded man were to visit the holy shrine of Kali Ghat on one of
+these nights, he would doubtless be shocked at the unrestrained
+debauchery that runs riot in the name of religion. The temple, no less
+than the private domicile of the priests, presents an uninterrupted
+scene of bacchanalian revelry, which is unspeakably abominable. Men
+deprived of a sense of shame, and women of decency and morality, mingle
+in the revels, and the result is that all the cherished notions of the
+better part of humanity are at once put to flight. It is painful to
+reflect that notwithstanding the progress of enlightenment in the great
+centre of Indian civilization, people still cling to the adoration of a
+blood-thirsty goddess, and to the support of a depraved class of
+priests. The sacrifices of goats that are daily offered before the altar
+of Kali being too numerous for local consumption, are sold to outside
+customers much in the same manner as fruits and vegetables are brought
+from the neighbouring villages into the market. On Saturday the sale is
+larger than on the other week days, because that night is specially
+dedicated to the worship of Bacchus, Sunday affording a respite from
+work. But the sale of Kali Ghat goat meat has of late been much
+interfered with by the establishment of rival shrines in several parts
+of Calcutta, where a pound is to be had for three annas. The owners
+(mostly prostitutes and drunkards) of these pseudo-goddesses, vulgarly
+called _Kashaye_ or butcher Kali, sacrifice one or two goats every
+morning without any ceremony, except on Saturday when the number is
+doubled to meet increased requirements. Thus a regular and profitable
+butcher's trade is openly carried on in the name of the goddess, and the
+generality of the _Sakta_ Hindoos feel no religious scruples in using
+the meat which is thus sanctified. The comparative ease with which flesh
+is now obtained in Calcutta has tended, in no small degree, to encourage
+habits of drinking among a proverbially abstemious race of men; it being
+the popular impression that meat neutralises the effects of spirituous
+liquors.[80]
+
+Many images of Kali which have from time to time been set up in and
+about Calcutta, ostensibly for religious but practically for secular
+purposes, in imitation of the unrivalled prototype at Kali Ghat, have
+acquired unenviable celebrity, and been made subservient as a source of
+income to the owner and the officiating priests, who fatten on the
+offerings made to the goddess in the shape of money and provisions.
+Thus, for instance, the _Sidhassurry_ or Kali of Nimtollah obtains a
+few Rupees daily from such Hindoos as are carried to the riverside to
+breathe their last, independently of the small presents made at all
+hours of the day, especially in the mornings and evenings, when the
+crowd assembles. It is amusing to observe the complaisance with which a
+Brahmin gives a consecrated _Billaputtra_ or flower to a devotee in
+return for a Rupee or so. A shrewd Brahmin, like the ancient Roman
+soothsayer, laughs in his sleeves at such stupidity.
+
+A Sanskrit proverb says that a meritorious work endures. It keeps alive
+the name of the founder, and this vanity furnishes the strongest
+stimulus to the endowment of works of a religious character, and of
+public utility. It is, however, a painful fact that the nature and
+character of such endowments is, in most cases, lamentably wanting in
+the element of stability. Two or three generations after the death of
+the founder, the substance of the estate being impaired, the family is
+reduced to a state of poverty, the surviving members, often a set of
+demoralised idlers, depend for their support on the usufruct of the
+_Deybatra_, originally set apart for exclusively religious purposes, and
+placed beyond the reach of law. In these days the offshoots of many
+families are absolutely dependent on this sacred fund for their
+subsistence, and the consequence naturally is that the endowment is
+frittered away and the work itself inevitably falls into decay. Thus in
+process of time both the fund and the founder's name pass into utter
+oblivion.[81]
+
+The following account given by Mr. Ward about the death of a devotee of
+this goddess will not be uninteresting. "In the year 1809, Trigonu
+Goswamee, a vyuktavudhootu, died at Kali Ghat in the following manner:
+Three days before his death, he dug a grave near his hut, in a place
+surrounded by three _vilwu_ trees which he himself had planted. In the
+evening he placed a lamp in the grave, in which an offering of flesh,
+greens, rice, &c., to the shakals was made, repeating it the next
+evening. The following day he obtained from a rich native ten rupees
+worth of spirituous liquors, and invited a number of mendicants, who sat
+drinking with him till twelve at noon, when he asked among the
+spectators at what hour it would be full moon; being informed, he went
+and sat in his grave, and continued drinking liquors. Just before the
+time for the full moon, he turned his head towards the temple of Kali,
+and informed the spectators that he had come to Kali Ghat with the hope
+of seeing the goddess, not the image in the temple. He had been
+frequently urged by different persons to visit the temple, but though he
+had not assigned a reason for his omission, he now asked what he was to
+go and see there: a temple? He could see that from where he was. A piece
+of stone made into a face, or the silver hands? He could see stones and
+silver any where else. He wished to see the goddess herself, but he had
+not, in this body, obtained the sight. However, he had still a mouth and
+a tongue, and he would again call upon her; he then called out aloud
+twice, "Kali? Kali?" and almost immediately died;--probably from
+excessive intoxication. The spectators, though Hindoos (who in general
+despise a drunkard), considered this man as a great saint, who had
+foreseen his own death, when in health. He had not less than four
+hundred disciples."
+
+The various causes which have hitherto conspired to impart a sanctity to
+this famous temple are gradually waning in their influence, but it will
+be a very long time before the minds of the mass of the people are
+completely purified in the crucible of true Religion, before which
+superstition and priestcraft must vanish into air.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[73] The Hindoos put out their tongues when they are shocked at
+anything.
+
+[74] "The image of Minerva, it will be recollected, was that of a
+threatening goddess, exciting terror. On her shields she bore the head
+of a gorgon. Sir William Jones considers Kali as the Proserpine of the
+Greeks."
+
+[75] A _Reck_ is a small round basket, with which Natives measure rice,
+the staff of life in Bengal. Every family has its sacred _Reck_ of paddy
+which is preserved with religious care and brought out on such special
+occasions.
+
+[76] A superstitious idea prevails among the Hindoos that unless they
+illuminate their houses on this particular night, devils would come and
+take possession of them. In the Upper and Central Provinces it is
+customary with the Hindoo inhabitants not only to illuminate but
+whitewash their houses and decorate the doors and walls of shops with
+colored China paper so that every thing may look "_smart_" according to
+Native taste. In the Jubbulpore District I have seen the poorest laborer
+whitewash the mud walls of his tiled-hut with one farthing's worth of
+white earth called _Sewmattee_ which is found in great abundance in that
+part of the country.
+
+[77] One Joy Ghose, a notorious buffoon, was once asked by his old
+mother to perform the above rite. Joy, instead of reciting the motto in
+the right way, purposely inverted it just to irritate the old lady, and
+repeated the first last and the last first. The joke was too much for
+the sensitive mother; she wrung her breast, tore her hair, and refused
+to be consoled until the son repeated the song in proper order, _i. e._,
+"bad luck out, good luck in." Trifling with _Luckee_, the goddess of
+prosperity, is the height of folly. It is punished with misery here and
+perdition hereafter.
+
+[78] Young Bengal is no longer satisfied with Kali Ghat meat; his taste
+being improved and his mind disabused, he must needs have kid and mutton
+from the new Municipal market, which is certainly superior in quality to
+that of Kali Ghat.
+
+[79] The writer in his younger days remembers to have been once taken up
+on a Kali Poojah night by a gang of infamous drunkards in the very heart
+of Calcutta. When he was returning home about midnight in company with
+some of his friends after seeing the _tamasha_, he being the youngest of
+the lot had necessarily lagged behind, when to his utter dismay he was
+suddenly laid hold of by a man who smelt strongly of liquor and carried
+him hurriedly into an empty house on the roadside. The first shout at
+the very threshold was,--"here we have got a _moori_", _i. e._ a victim;
+the ruffians, who had their faces covered with clothes, jumped up at the
+announcement, and one of them accosted him in the following
+manner--"what money and pice have you got?" The writer replied a few an
+his pice only. No Rupees? asked another; whereupon they all fell to
+searching his person and stripped him of all his clothes, which
+consisted of a _dhooty_, a _chadur_ and a _jama_, and finally bade him
+go. As a matter of course he was obliged to return home almost in a
+state of nudity, one of his friends lending him a _chadur_ on the
+occasion. In these days the introduction of gas light and the posting of
+constables on the highway have greatly checked such ruffianism.
+
+[80] This idea is strengthened by the opinion of Native medical
+students, many of whom, it is a matter of regret, are not great
+advocates of temperance. Natives use liquor not for health but solely
+for intoxicating purposes. A very successful Native Practitioner to whom
+not only the writer but many of his respectable friends are under great
+obligation, not long ago fell a victim to the besetting vice of
+intemperance, and confessed his guilt like a penitent sinner in his
+dying moments. His reputation was so great at one time that it was said
+"patients felt half cured when he entered the room." In the beginning of
+his brilliant career, he was one of the most staunch advocates of
+temperance. How frail is human nature!
+
+[81] For an account of the _Bamacharee_ Sect, see note D.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+THE SARASWATI POOJAH.
+
+
+Saraswati is the Hindoo goddess of learning. She is represented as
+seated in a water lily and playing on a lute. Throughout Bengal her
+worship is celebrated with more or less pomp on the fifth day of the
+increase of the moon, in the Bengali month of Magha or Falgoon
+(February). As the popular Shastras reckon the commencement of spring
+from this date, the people, especially the young and gay of both sexes,
+put on _basantee_ or yellow garments, and indulge in all sorts of low
+merriment, manifesting a depraved and vitiated taste.
+
+Every Hindoo, young or old, who is able to read and write, observes this
+ceremony with apparent solemnity, abstaining from the use of fish on
+that day as a mark of reverence to the goddess. The worship is performed
+either before an image of the goddess, or before a pen, ink-bottle and
+_pooti_ (manuscript), which are symbolically regarded as an appropriate
+substitute for the image. The officiating priest, after reading the
+prescribed formula, and presenting rice, fruits, sweetmeats, flowers,
+&c., directs the votaries of the goddess to stand up with flowers in
+their hands and repeat the usual service, beseeching her to bestow on
+them the blessings of learning, health, wealth, good luck, longevity,
+fame, &c. Apart from its idolatrous feature, it is a rather strange
+sight to see a number of youths, after going through the process of
+ablution and changing their clothes, stand up before the goddess in a
+body, and in a devotional spirit address her in prayer for the blessings
+above enumerated. Even apart from its superstitious character, it is
+decidedly objectionable on the score of its purely secular tendency, as
+it makes no allusion whatever to the primary object of all prayer,
+_viz._, the atonement and pardon of sin and the salvation of the
+soul--an element in which the religious ceremonies of the Hindoos are
+singularly deficient.
+
+  "Life is real, life is earnest,
+    And the grave is not its goal;
+  'Dust thou art, to dust returnest,'
+    Was not spoken of the soul."
+
+It was reported of Sir William Jones that when he studied Sanskrit, he
+used to place on the table a metal image of this goddess, evidently to
+please his Pundit. Let it not be inferred from this that he advocated
+the continuance of idolatry; far from it, but even in appearance to
+acquiesce in homage to an idol made of clay and straw is to withhold
+from the Most High the reverence, gratitude and obedience due to Him
+alone. The early formation of a prayerful habit divested of any
+idolatrous feature will always exercise a healthy religious influence on
+the mind in maturer years.
+
+In every _chatoospati_ or school, the Brahmin Pundit and his pupils
+worship this goddess with religious strictness. The Pundit setting up an
+image, invites all his patrons, neighbouring friends and acquaintances
+on this occasion. Every one who attends must make a present of one or a
+half Rupee to the goddess, and returns home with the hollow benediction
+of the Brahmin. To so miserable a strait have the learned Pundits been
+reduced of late years, that they anxiously look forward to the
+anniversary of this festival as a small harvest of gain to them, as the
+authoritative ministers of the goddess. They make from fifty to one
+hundred Rupees a year by the celebration of this Poojah, which keeps
+them for six months; should any of their friends fail to make the usual
+present to the goddess, they are sure to come and demand it as a
+right.[82]
+
+Females are not allowed to take a part in the worship of this goddess,
+simply because the great lawgiver of the country has denied them this
+privilege. They, however, now-a-days read and write in spite of the
+traditional prohibition, but are religiously forbidden to say their
+prayer before the goddess, though she is herself an embodiment of their
+sex. It is quite obvious that feelings of lamentable debasement arise in
+their hearts at the annual recurrence of this festival, strongly
+reminding them of the unhealthy, unnatural ordinance of their great
+lawgiver.
+
+The day following the Poojah, the women are not permitted to eat any
+_fresh_ prepared article of food, but must be satisfied with stale, cold
+things, such as boiled rice and boiled pease with a few vegetables,
+totally abstaining from fish, which they cannot do without on any other
+day. Taking place on the sixth day of the increase of the moon, this
+part of the festival is called _Situl Shasthi_ as enjoining the use of
+cold food.
+
+As a mark of homage to the goddess, the Hindoos do not read or write on
+that day. Hence the day is observed as a holiday in public and
+mercantile offices where the clerks are mostly Hindoos. Should any
+necessity arise they write in red ink, as all the inkstands in the
+household are washed out and placed before the goddess for annual
+consecration. They are, however, not prevented from attending to secular
+business on this occasion. Unlike the sanguinary character of the
+Poojahs of Doorga and Kali, no bloody sacrifices are offered to this
+gentle goddess, but as regards rude merriment, the one in question does
+not form an exception to the others. Revelry and unbecoming mirth are
+the grand characteristics of this as indeed of almost every other Hindoo
+festival. It is sickening to reflect how indecency and immorality are
+thus unblushingly countenanced under the sacred name of religion.
+
+Loose women celebrate this festival, and keep up dancing and singing all
+night in a bestial state of intoxication to the utter disgust of all
+sober-minded men. The Moharajah of Burdwan used to expend large sums of
+money on this occasion, engaging the best dancing girls of the
+metropolis and illuminating and ornamenting his palace in a splendid
+style, besides giving entertainment to his English and Native friends.
+Vast multitudes of people from Calcutta still resort to his palace and
+admire the profuse festoons of flowers and the yellow appearance of
+everything, indicative of the advent of spring,--a season which,
+according to popular notion, invites the mind to indulge in licentious
+mirth. It is needless to enumerate farther the many obscenities
+practised in songs and actions on this occasion.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[82] A gift once made to a Brahmin must be continued from year to year
+till the donor dies; in some cases it is tenable from one generation to
+another.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE FESTIVAL OF CAKES.
+
+
+On the annual commemoration of this popular festival in Bengal, which is
+analogous to the English "Harvest home," the people in general, and the
+agricultural classes in particular, manifest a gleeful appearance,
+indicative of national demonstrations of joy and mirth. It takes place
+in the Bengalee month of _Pous_ or January, following immediately in the
+wake of the English Christmas and New year's day. With the exception of
+the upper ten thousand, almost all men, women and children alike
+participate in the festivities of the season, and for three succeeding
+days are occupied in rural pastimes and gastronomical enjoyment. The
+popular cry on this occasion, is--"_Awoynee_, _Bownee_, _teen deen_,
+_pittaey_, _bhat_, _khawnee_," "the _Pous_ or _Makar Sankranti_ is come,
+let three days be passed in eating cakes and rice," accompanied by a
+supplementary invocation to the goddess of Prosperity (Lukshmee) that
+she may afford her votaries ample stores so that they may never know
+want. As the outward manifestation of this internal wish, they tie all
+their chests, boxes, beddings, the earthen cooking pots in the kitchen,
+as well as those in the store-house containing their food grains, and in
+fact every movable article in the house, with shreds of straw that they
+may always remain intact. The origin of this festival is involved in
+obscurity, but tradition says that it sprung from the general desire of
+the people engaged in agricultural pursuits to celebrate the last day of
+_Pous_, and two succeeding days, in eating what they most relish, cakes
+of all sorts, to their hearts' content, after having harvested and
+gathered their corn and other food grains, which form the main staff of
+their life. Whatever may have been the origin of this festival, it is
+evident that it does not owe its existence, like most other Hindoo
+festivals, to priestcraft. The idea is good and the tendency excellent.
+After harvesting and gathering the fruits of their labour, on which
+depend not only their individual subsistence throughout the year, but
+the general prosperity of the country by the development of its
+resources, the husbandmen are well entitled to lay aside, for a short
+while, the ploughshare, and taking three days' rest, spend them in rural
+amusements and festivities amid their domestic circle. All this tends,
+in no small degree, to awaken and revive dormant feelings of love and
+friendliness by mutual exchange of invitations as well as of good
+fellowship. Their incessant toil in the field during the seven previous
+months, their intense anxiety on the score of weather, carefully noting,
+though not with the scientific precision of the meteorological reporter,
+deficient and plenteous rainfall, and apprehending the destructive
+October gale, when the ears of corn are almost fully developed, their
+constant watchfulness for the prevention of theft and the destruction of
+the crops by cattle, their unceasing weeding out of troublesome and
+useless plants and _cassay_ grass, sometimes wading in marshy swamp or
+mire knee deep, and their incessant anxiety for the due payment of rent
+to the zemindar, or perhaps of interest to the relentless money lender,
+are sources of uneasiness that do not allow them a moment's peace of
+mind. Should they, by way of relaxation, cease to work for three days in
+the year, they are not to be blamed for laziness or supineness. The
+question of a good harvest is of such immense importance to an
+agricultural country like India, that when the god, Ram Chunder, the
+model king, visited his subjects in Oude, the first thing he asked them
+was about the state of the crops, and when the enquiry was favorably
+answered, his mind was set at rest, and he cheerfully unfolded to them
+the scheme of his future Government.[83] Physically and practically
+considered, temporary cessation from labor is indispensable to recruit
+the energy of the exhausted frame of body, and promote the normal vigor
+of mind. So in whatever light this national jubilee is regarded,
+socially, morally or scientifically, it is productive of beneficial
+results, ultimately contributing to the augmentation of the material
+prosperity of the land.
+
+Some of my countrymen of a fastidious taste look upon this festival as a
+puerile and foolish entertainment, because it possesses no dignified
+feature to commend it to their attention, but they should consider that
+it is free from the idolatrous abominations and rank obscenity by which
+most of the Hindoo festivals are characterised, independently of its
+having a tendency to promote the innocent mirth and general hilarity of
+the masses, whose contentment is the best test of a good government and
+of a generous landed aristocracy.
+
+So popular is this festival amongst the people that the Mussulmans have
+a common saying to the effect, that their _Eed_, _Bakrid_ and
+_Shub-i-Barat_--three of their greatest national festivals--are no match
+for the Hindoo _Pous Sakrad_.
+
+Our children and women in the city, whose minds are so largely tinctured
+with an instinctive regard for all festivities, share in the general
+excitement. On this occasion, exchanges of presents of sweetmeats,
+cloths, jaggery, ghee, flour, oranges, cereals, cocoanuts, balls of
+concentrated milk, vegetables, spices, sugar, almonds, raisins, etc, are
+made between relatives in order that they may be enabled to solemnise
+the cake festival with the greatest _eclat_. In respectable families,
+the women cheerfully take the trouble of making these preparations,
+instead of trusting them to their female cooks, because male cooks are
+no adepts in the art. So nicely are these cakes made and in such
+variety, that the late Mr. Cockerell, a highly respected merchant of
+this City, used every year to get an assortment from his Baboo and
+invite his friends to partake of them; and notwithstanding the
+proverbial differences of taste, there are few who would not relish
+them.
+
+The boys in the many patshalas or primary schools around Calcutta,
+annually keep up this festival in a splendid style. The more advanced
+form themselves into a band of songsters, and, attended by bands of
+musicians with all the usual accompaniments of flags, staves, etc.,
+proceed in procession from their respective schools to the bank of the
+river Bhagiruttee, singing rhythmically in a chorus all the way in
+praise of the holy stream, and of her powers of salvation in the present
+_Kali Yuga_, or iron age. When they reach their destination they pour
+forth their songs most vociferously. They afterwards perform the usual
+ablutions and return home in the same manner as they set out from the
+Patshala, regarding the performance as an act of great merit.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[83] Indeed, it has become a byword among the Natives in general that
+the compound word, "_Ram-Rajya_," or the empire of Ram is synonymous
+with a happy dynasty. There existed peace, union and harmony among the
+people in the infancy of society. Almost every family had its assigned
+plot of land which they cultivated, and the fruits of which they enjoyed
+without the incubus of a rack-renting system, because the virgin soil
+always afforded an abundant harvest. The wants of the people were few
+and those were easily supplied. In fact there was a complete identity of
+interests between the rulers and the ruled. The result was universal
+contentment and happiness. But unhappily the present advanced stage of
+social organisation has considerably impaired the relation.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+The Holi Festival.
+
+
+The annual return of this festival in honor of the god Krishna, excites
+the religious feelings and superstitious frenzy of the Hindoos not only
+in Bengal but also in Orissa, Bombay, and in the Upper Provinces of
+India. From time immemorial, it has continued to exercise a very great
+influence over the minds of the people at large, so much so that what
+the Holi festival is in the Upper Provinces, the Doorga Poojah is in the
+Lower Provinces of Bengal, being by far the most popular and
+demonstrative in all their leading features. Though originally and
+essentially a Hindoo festival of a religious character, dedicated to the
+worship of a Hindoo god, it has subsequently assumed a jubilant phase,
+drawing the followers of a different creed to its ranks; hence not a few
+Mussulmans in Upper India observe it in a secular sense, quite distinct
+from its religious aspect or requirements.
+
+In Bengal it is called _Dole Jattra_, or the rocking of the image of
+Krishna on its throne. It occurs on the day of the full moon in the
+Bengallee month of Falgoon or March, at the vernal equinox,--a season of
+the year when all the appetites, passions and desires of the people are
+supposed to be more or less inflamed, and they naturally seek outlets of
+gratification. In the Upper Provinces it is known by the name of _Holi_,
+or festival of scattering _fhag_ or red powder among friends and others.
+On the previous night the people both here and in the Upper Provinces
+burn amidst music the effigy of an uncouth straw image of a giant named
+Maydhasoor, who caused great disturbance among the gods and goddesses in
+their hours of meditation and prayer. To put a stop to this unholy
+molestation the god Narayan or Krishna destroyed the giant by means of
+his matchless valor and skill, and thus restored peace in heaven as well
+as on earth. To commemorate this glorious achievement, the image of the
+above giant is annually burnt on the night previous to the _Holi_
+festival.
+
+The religious part of the ceremony, irrespective of its idolatrous
+element, is performed in accordance with the original rules of the
+Hindoo ritual, which are free from all kinds of abominations. But the
+great body of the people, lacking the vital principle of a pure and true
+faith and following the impulse of unrestrained appetites, have
+gradually sunk into the depths of corruption,--the outcome of impure
+imaginations and of a vitiated taste. In Bengal, the observance of this
+festival is not characterised by anything that is violently opposed to
+the social amenities of life. Notwithstanding the many-featured phases
+and multitudinous requirements of the Hindoo creed, the peculiarities of
+this festival are mainly confined to the worship of the household image,
+and the entertainment of the Brahmins and friends. Daubing the bodies of
+the guests with red powder in an either dry or liquid state, and singing
+songs descriptive of the sports of Krishna with the milk-maids in the
+groves of Brindabun, form the constituent elements of the festival in
+Bengal. Offerings of rice, fruits and sweetmeats are made to the god,
+and its body is also smeared with red powder by the officiating priest,
+so as to render it one with that of its followers. At the close of the
+ceremony, the rite of purification is performed, which restores the
+image--either a piece of stone or metal--to its normal purity.
+
+It is a noteworthy fact that in this festival, no _new_ image made of
+clay and straw is either set up or thrown into the sacred stream, as is
+invariably the case with the other Hindoo gods and goddesses generally
+worshipped by the people of Bengal. Krishna, in whose honor this
+festival is celebrated, has many forms, one of which generally
+constitutes the household deity that is worshipped every morning and
+evening by the hereditary priest with all the solemnity of a religious
+service. A Hindoo who keeps an image of this god is esteemed more in a
+religious point of view than one who is without it. In the popular
+estimation he escapes many censures to which a godless Hindoo is often
+exposed. Nor is this at all singular. An orthodox Hindoo who offers up
+his daily prayer to his tutelar deity is at least more consistent in his
+principles, which, as Confucius very justly says, means Heaven, than one
+who is tossed about by a wavering faith in the indistinguishable whirl
+of life.
+
+The festival of Dole Jattra or Holi in Bengal, commencing on the day of
+the full moon, varies, however, in its observance as to the day on which
+it is to be held. Some celebrate it on the first, some on the second,
+and some again on the third, fifth, seventh, ninth day of the dark phase
+of the moon. Generally Vaishnaws, or the followers of Krishna, observe
+it, though in some cases, the Saktos,--the followers of Doorga and
+Kalli--also celebrate it. No bloody sacrifices are offered on the
+occasion. Apart from the religious merit attributed to the ceremonial,
+it is comparatively a tame and undemonstrative affair in the Lower
+Provinces of Bengal when compared with the sensational excitement with
+which it is celebrated in the Upper Provinces. In Orissa too, it is kept
+up with great eclat before the shrine of Juggurnauth and its environs.
+Thousands and tens of thousands of pilgrims from a great distance
+congregate there on this occasion and offer their oblations to the
+"stumped" lord of the world. When the inhabitants of Bengal talk of
+their most popular festivals, they pronounce almost involuntarily the
+_Dole_ and _Doorgutsub_, but the latter has long since completely
+eclipsed the former. Morally, socially and intellectually the
+enlightened Bengallees are assuredly the Athenians of Hindoostan. Their
+growing intelligence and refined taste,--the outcome of English
+education--have imbued them with a healthier ideal of moral excellence
+than any other section of the Indian population throughout the length
+and breadth of the land (the Parsis of Bombay excepted). It is owing to
+the influence of this superior moral sense that they do not abandon
+themselves to the general corruption of manners obtaining in Upper India
+during the _Holi_ festival.
+
+"Fools make a mock at sin" is a scriptural proverb which is especially
+applicable to the inhabitants of the Upper Provinces on the annual
+return of this festival. Unlike their brethren in Bengal they pay
+greater attention to the secular than to the religious part of the
+ceremony. A few days before the _Holi_, as if to enkindle the flame of a
+national demonstration of a sensational character, they return to the
+low, obscene old ballads which constitute a notable feature of the
+ceremonial. Week after week, day after day, and hour after hour, they
+pour them out almost as spontaneously as a bird, because they have a
+perverse propensity for the indulgence of impure thoughts, and rude,
+profane mirth, which is an outrage on common decency and a scandal to a
+rational being. Notwithstanding the vigilance of the Police and the
+stringency of the Penal Code, these ragamuffins stroll along the public
+streets in bands, dance antics and sing obscene songs with impunity,
+simply because the major portion of the Native constables come from the
+same lower strata of society. Of course before a European they dare not
+commit the same nuisance. Should a luckless female, even old and infirm,
+chance to come in their way, they unblushingly assail her with a volley
+of scurrilous and insulting epithets much too gross to be tolerated by a
+rational being having the smallest modicum of decorum about him. To give
+a specimen of the songs, vulgar as they unquestionably are, would be an
+act of unpardonable profanation. Even in the Burra Bazar of Calcutta,
+where the Up-country Hindoos mostly reside, excesses and enormities are
+committed, even in the full blaze of day, which alike belie reason and
+conscience, and ignore the divine part of humanity. Mirth, music and
+melody do not form the programme of their amusement, but a feverish
+excitement, originating in lust and leading to criminal excesses, is the
+characteristic of the scene. If a sober-minded man were permitted to
+examine the Cash Book of a country liquor shop, he would most assuredly
+be struck with the enormous receipts of the shopkeeper during the
+festive days on this occasion. Bacchanalianism in all its most
+detestable forms reigns rampant in almost every home and purlieu
+throughout the Upper Provinces. Every brothel, every toddykhannah, every
+grog shop, is crowded with customers from early morning to dewy evening
+and later on. An almost incessant volume of polluted and polluting
+outcries rises to the skies from these dens of sin, smirching and
+vulgarising the brilliant ideals of a holy festival. The endless
+chanting of obscene songs, the discordant notes of the inebriated
+songsters almost tearing their throats in excessive vociferations, the
+harsh din of music, their frightful gesticulations and contortions of
+the body, their frantic dance, their dithyrambic fanaticism in which
+every sense of decorum is lost, their horrid looks rendered tenfold more
+horrid by reason of their smearing their bodies with red powder, the
+pestiferous atmosphere by which they are encompassed, and their reeling
+posture and bestial intoxication, _all_ conspire to make them "mock at
+sin."[84] Nor is this to be wondered at. The lives and examples of the
+Hindoo gods have, in a great measure, moulded the character of their
+followers: "Shiva is represented as declaring to Luckhee that he would
+part with the merit of his works for the gratification of a criminal
+passion; Brahma as burning with lust towards his own daughter; Krishna
+as living with the wife of another, murdering a washerman and stealing
+his clothes, and sending his friend Yoodhisthira to the regions of
+torment by causing him to utter a falsehood; Indra and Chundra are seen
+as the paramours of the wives of their spiritual guides." It is much to
+be lamented that the authors of the Hindoo mythology have unscrupulously
+held up the revels of their gods to the imitation of their followers.
+
+It is but just to observe that the more respectable classes are
+restrained by a sense of honor from participating with the populace in
+the vicious pleasures of undisciplined passions. But their implied
+approval of such sensual gratifications tends, in no small degree, to
+fan the flame of superstitious frenzy. If they do not expose themselves
+in the highway, they betray their concupiscence within the confines of
+their own dwellings. They substitute opium and bhang (hemp) for
+spirituous liquors, and among the females of the house, some aunt or
+other is the butt of their rude, unseemly satire. Their lusts and want
+of inward discipline, stimulated by a false religion as well as by the
+demoralized rules of an abnormal conventionalism, have deadened, as it
+were, their finer sensibilities, and generations must pass away before
+they are enabled rightly to appreciate their social relations and their
+moral and religious duties.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[84] When the late Mr. Thomason, the Lieutenant-Governor of the
+North-Western Provinces, visited Benares, the far famed city of holy
+shrines and holy bulls, during this festival, he exclaimed in pious
+indignation, "what disgusting scenes are enacted and frightful crimes
+perpetrated in the name of religion by rational beings capable of purer
+and sublimer enjoyments. Surely the shameless ragamuffins are the fit
+subjects of a bedlam."
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+CASTE.
+
+
+The distinction of caste is woven into the very texture of Hindoo
+society. In whatever light it is considered, religiously, morally, or
+socially, it must be admitted that this abnormal system is calculated to
+perpetuate the ignorance and degradation of the race among which it
+prevails. It is useless to enquire when and by whom it was founded. The
+Hindoo Shastras do not agree as to this point, but it is obvious to
+conclude that it must have originated in a dark age when a proud and
+selfish priesthood, in the exercise of its sacerdotal functions, imposed
+on the people this galling yoke of religious and social servitude. Even
+the rulers of the land were not exempt from its baneful influence. They
+were as much subject to the prescribed rules of their order as the
+common people. Calculating on the implicit and unquestioning obedience
+of men to their authoritative injunctions, a scheming hierarchy
+established a universal system, the demoralizing effects of which are
+perhaps without a parallel in the annals of human society. The capacity
+and culture of man's intellect was shamefully under-estimated when it
+was expected that such an artificial order, so preposterously unsuited
+to the interests of humanity and to the advancement of civilization,
+should for ever continue to influence the life and destiny of unborn
+generations.
+
+"The distinctions of rank in Europe" says Mr. Ward, "are founded upon
+civic merit or learning, and answer very important ends in the social
+union; but this system commences with an act of the most consummate
+injustice that was ever perpetrated; binds in chains of adamant
+nine-tenths of the people, debars them for ever from all access to a
+higher state, whatever their merits may be; puts a lock upon the whole
+intellect of three of the four orders, and branding their very birth
+with infamy, and rivetting their chains for ever, says to millions and
+millions of mankind,--'you proceeded from the feet of Brahma, you were
+created for servitude.'"
+
+History furnishes no parallel to such an audacious declaration, made in
+utter defiance of the fundamental principles of humanity. The onward
+march of intellect can never be checked, even when fenced in by the
+strongest of artificial barriers. Still will that "grey spirit" rise and
+chase away the errors which age has accumulated and superstition
+cherished.
+
+  "That grey spirit yearning in desire
+    To follow knowledge, like a sinking star,
+    Beyond the utmost bound of human thought."
+
+The distinction of caste, it is obvious, was originally instituted to
+secure to the hierarchy all the superior advantages of a privileged
+class, and to condemn all other orders to follow menial occupations such
+as the trades of the country could furnish. They kept the key of
+knowledge in their own hands, and thus exercised a domineering influence
+over the mass of the people, imagining that their exclusive privileges
+should have endless duration. This power in their hands was "either a
+treasury chest or a rod of iron." The mind recoils from contemplating
+what would have been the state of the country, the extent of her
+hopelessness and helplessness, if the light of European knowledge had
+not dawned and penetrated the Hindoo mind, and thereby introduced a
+healthier state of things. Eighty years back this system was at the
+zenith of its splendour; men clung to it with all the tenacity of a
+natural institution, and proscribed those who ventured to break through
+its fetters. It was a terrible thing then to depart from the established
+order of social union; the least whisper of a deviation and the
+slightest violation of its rules were visited with social persecution
+of the worst type. I cannot do better than give a few instances,
+illustrating the nature of the punishments to which a Hindoo was
+subjected in that period of terror, when caste-mania raged most
+furiously.
+
+"After the establishment of the English power in Bengal, the caste of a
+Brahmin of Calcutta was destroyed by a European who forced into his
+mouth flesh, spirits, &c. After remaining three years an outcast, great
+efforts were made, at an expense of eighty thousand rupees, to restore
+him to the pale of his caste, but in vain, as many Brahmins of the same
+order refused to associate with him as one of their own. After this, an
+expense of two lacks of Rupees more was incurred, when he was
+re-admitted to the privileges of his caste. About the year 1802, a
+person in Calcutta expended in feasting and presents to Brahmins fifty
+thousand Rupees to be re-admitted into the ring of his caste from which
+he had been excluded for eating with a Brahmin of the _Peeralee_ caste.
+Not long after this, two _Peeralee_ Brahmins of Calcutta made an effort
+to wipe out the opprobrium of _Peeralism_, but were disappointed, though
+they had expended a very large sum of money.
+
+"Ghunusyamu, a Brahmin, about thirty-five years ago, went to England and
+was excommunicated. Gocool, another Brahmin, about the same time went to
+Madras, and was renounced by his relatives; but after incurring some
+expense in feasting Brahmins, he was received back. In the year 1808, a
+blacksmith of Serampore returned from Madras and was disowned by his
+fellow caste men, but after expending two thousand Rupees amongst the
+Brahmins, he was restored to his family and friends. In the same year
+the mother of Kali Prosaud Ghose, a rich _Kayusto_ of Benares, who had
+lost caste by intercourse with Mussulmans and was called a _Peeralee_,
+died. Kali Prosaud was much concerned on account of the rites required
+to be performed in honor of the manes of his deceased parent, but no
+Brahmin would officiate at the ceremony; after much entreaty and
+promise of rewards, he prevailed at last upon eleven Brahmins to perform
+the necessary ceremonies at night. A person who had a dispute with these
+Brahmins informed against them, and they were immediately abandoned by
+their friends. After waiting several days in vain, hoping that his
+friends would relent, one of these Brahmins, tying himself to a jar of
+water, drowned himself in the Ganges. Some years ago, Ram, a Brahmin of
+Tribany, having, by mistake, married his son to a _Peeralee_ girl, and
+being abandoned by his friends, died of a broken heart. In the year
+1803, Shibu Ghose, a _Kayusto_, married a _Peeralee_ girl, and was not
+restored to his caste till after seven years, and after he had expended
+seven thousand Rupees for the expiation of his offence. About the same
+period, a Brahmin woman of Velupookuria, having been defloured, and in
+consequence outcasted, put an end to her existence by voluntary
+starvation. In the village of Buj Buj, some years ago, a young man who
+had lost his caste through the criminal intrigues of his mother, a
+widow, in a state of frenzy poisoned himself, and his two surviving
+brothers abandoned the country. Goorooprasaud, a Brahmin of Churna, in
+Burdwan, not many years ago, through fear of losing caste, in
+consequence of the infidelity of his wife, left his home and died of
+grief at Benares. About the year 1800, a Brahmin lady of Santipore
+murdered her illegitimate child, to prevent discovery and loss of caste.
+In the year 1807, a Brahmin of Tribany murdered his wife by strangling
+her to avert loss of caste through her criminal intrigues. About the
+year 1790, Kalidass, a Brahmin, who had been inveigled into marrying a
+washerman's daughter, was obliged to flee the country to Benares, where
+being discovered, he sold all his property and fled, and his wife became
+a maniac. In the time of Rajah Krishna Chunder Roy, a Brahmin of
+Santipore was found to have a criminal intrigue with the daughter of a
+shoemaker: the Rajah forbade the barber of the village to shave the
+family or the washerman to wash for them: in this distress they applied
+to the Rajah and afterwards to the Nawab for restoration, but in vain.
+After having been despoiled of their resources by the false promises of
+pretended friends, the Rajah relented and removed the ban, but the
+family have not obtained to this day their pristine position.[85]
+
+"Numbers of outcasts abandon their homes and wander about till death.
+Many other instances might be given in which the fear of losing caste
+had led to the perpetration of the most shocking murders, which in this
+country are easily concealed, and thousands of children are murdered in
+the womb, to prevent discovery and the consequent loss of caste,
+particularly in the houses of the Koolin Brahmins."
+
+The inveterate tenacity with which the rites and privileges of caste are
+clung to is a prominent feature of the Hindoo character, showing, like
+many other facts, that as a nation--the Rajpoots excepted--they fear the
+sword-blade, but can meet death with calmness and fortitude when they
+apprehend any danger to the purity of caste. In the year 1777, a
+Mussulman nobleman forcibly seized the daughters of three Brahmins. They
+complained to the judge of the district, but obtaining no redress, they
+committed suicide by poison under the nose of the unrighteous judge.
+"When, about a century since, a body of sepoys were being brought from
+Madras to Calcutta, the provisions ran short, till at last the only food
+consisted of salted beef and pork. Though a few submitted to the
+necessity of circumstances and defiled themselves, many preferred a
+languishing death by famine to a life polluted by tasting forbidden
+food. The Mussulman Governors often took advantage of this prejudice,
+when their exchequers were empty. The Hindoo would submit to the most
+excruciating tortures rather than disclose his hoard, but the moment his
+religious purity was threatened, he complied with any demand, if the sum
+asked for was within his means; if not, the man being linked to his
+caste fellows, the latter raised the required sum by subscription."
+
+In a moral point of view, the effects of this distinction are equally
+mischievous. Far from promoting a spirit of benevolence and good
+fellowship between man and man, it has a natural tendency to engender
+hostile feelings, which cannot fail to militate against the best
+interests of humanity. Should a Hindoo of inferior caste happen to touch
+one of superior caste, while the latter is cooking or eating, he throws
+away everything as defiled. Even in cases of extreme sickness, the one
+will seldom condescend to drink water out of the hands of the other.
+There are also instances on record in which two Hindoos of the same
+caste refuse to eat together, simply because they belong to two several
+_dalls_ or parties; in the villages especially this partisan feeling is
+sometimes carried to so great a length that no party will scruple to
+blast the fair fame of their antagonists by scandalous accusations and
+uncalled-for slanders. Thousands and thousands of Rupees are spent in
+securing the favors or alliance of the _Koolins_--the great arbiters of
+caste,--and he who by the power of his purse can enlist on his side a
+larger number of these pampered _Koolins_, generally takes away the
+palm. The hard struggle for the attainment of this hollow, ephemeral
+distinction, instead of stimulating any noble desire or laudable
+ambition, almost invariably terminates in fostering an antagonistic
+spirit, which is decidedly opposed to the laws of good fellowship and
+the general brotherhood of mankind. Genuine charity can never exist in
+such an unexpansive state of society, and mutual love is torn in
+shreds. If the original founder of the system had calmly and soberly
+considered, apart from selfish motives, a tithe of the evils which the
+caste system was calculated to inflict on society, he would, I make no
+doubt, have paused before imposing on Hindoo society the fetters of
+caste servitude.
+
+It has been urged by the advocates of the system that it is designed to
+confer a great boon on society by confining each trade or occupation to
+one particular class, and thereby securing perfection in that line; but
+the argument is as fallacious as the result is disappointing. Experience
+and observation sufficiently prove that the Hindoo artisans use almost
+the same tools and implements which their predecessors used centuries
+ago. They work with the same loom and spindle, the same plough, the same
+spade, the same scythe, the same threshing machine, and the same
+everything that were in vogue at the time of _Vicramadyatta_ in the
+sixteenth century, and if any improvement has been effected, it is owing
+to the superior skill of the foreigners. It is, however, creditable to
+the native artisans to say that they evince a great aptitude for
+learning and imitating what they see. Native carpenters, shoemakers,
+tailors, engravers, lithographers, printers, gold and silver-smiths,
+&c., now-a-days turn out articles which in point of workmanship are not
+very much inferior to those imported from Europe. Of course they are
+materially indebted to Europeans for this improvement.
+
+The circumstances which cause the loss of caste are the following: The
+abandonment of the Hindoo religion, journey to foreign countries which
+involves the eating of forbidden food, the eating of food cooked by one
+of inferior caste or of food forbidden to the Hindoos, female unchastity
+in a family, the cohabiting with women of a lower caste, or with those
+of foreign nations and the non-performance of religious rites
+prescribed in the Shastras.[86] There are other circumstances which
+detract from the dignity of a family, but they are of secondary
+importance. These causes were in full operation some seventy or eighty
+years ago. The unanimous voice of the neighbours denounced a Hindu as an
+outcast if he were found guilty of any of the above transgressions.
+Purity of caste was then watched with greater solicitude than purity of
+conscience and character. The magnates of the land spared neither
+expense nor pains to preserve inviolate the outward purity of their
+caste. The popular shastras of the Hindoos are certainly very convenient
+and accommodating in every respect; the sins of a life-time, nay of ten
+lives, may be washed away by an ablution in the sacred stream of the
+Ganges on the occasion of certain _holy days_ called _yogas_; so
+requisite provision is made in them for the atonement of the loss of
+caste by performing certain religious rites and feasting, and making
+suitable presents to Brahmins in money and kind. But it has always been
+a matter of wonder to many that the _Peeralees_ or the Tagores of
+Calcutta, alike noted for their wealth and liberality, have not as yet
+been able to regain their caste or their original position in Hindu
+society. The obvious reason appears to be that they are not desirous of
+a restoration by submitting to any kind of humiliating atonement. They
+have shown their wisdom in pursuing such an independent and manly
+course. The history of _Peeralee_ is thus given by Mr. Ward: "A Nabob of
+the name of _Peeralee_ is charged with having destroyed the rank of many
+Hindus, Brahmins and others; and from these persons have descended a
+very considerable number of families scattered over the country, who
+have been branded with the name of their oppressor. These persons
+practise all the ceremonies of the Hindu religion, but are carefully
+avoided by other Hindus as outcasts. It is supposed that not less than
+fifty families live in Calcutta, who employ Brahmin priests to perform
+the ceremonies of the Hindu religion for them. It is said that Rajah
+Krishna Chunder Roy was promised five lacks of Rupees by a _Peeralee_,
+if he would only honor him with a visit of a few moments, but he
+refused." Such was the virulence with which the caste mania raged when
+Hindu bigotry had reached its culminating point. Rajah Krishna Chunder
+Roy of Kishnaghur, about 100 miles north of Calcutta, was otherwise
+reputed to have been a very generous-hearted man, a great patron of
+learning and learned men, but he was so blindly led away by the impulse
+of bigotry that he unhesitatingly declined to assist a brother
+countryman of his who had been subjected to social ostracism through
+mere accident. But the Rajah's grandson, if I am rightly informed, when
+he had occasion to come down to Calcutta a few years back,
+unscrupulously took up his quarters at Spence's Hotel, and freely
+enjoyed the company of his European friends, indicating a healthy change
+in the social economy of the people, the result solely of intellectual
+expansion, and of the inauguration of a better era through the rapid
+diffusion of western knowledge.[87]
+
+The _Peeralee_ or the Tagore family of Calcutta, be it recorded to their
+honor, have long been eminently distinguished by their liberality, manly
+independence, enlightened principles and enterprising spirit. Some of
+the members of this family occupy the foremost rank amongst the friends
+of native improvement. The late Baboo Dwarkey Nath Tagore set a noble
+example to his countrymen by his disinterested exertions in the cause of
+native education and public charities. Several of his European friends
+were under deep obligations to him for his unbounded liberality under
+peculiarly embarrassed circumstances;[88] the length of his purse was
+equalled by the breadth of his views. His object in proceeding to
+England was mainly to extend his knowledge by a closer and more familiar
+intercourse with Europeans. He was the right hand of the illustrious
+Hindoo reformer, the late Raja Rammohun Roy. His magnanimous mind, his
+enlightened views, his engaging manners, his amiable qualities both in
+public and private life, and his indomitable zeal in endeavouring to
+elevate his country in the scale of civilization, gave him an influence
+in English society never before or after enjoyed by any Hindoo
+gentleman. His worthy relative and coadjutor, the late Baboo Prosono
+Coomar Tagore, C. S. I., who has left a princely fortune, was no less
+distinguished for his enlarged views and liberal sentiments. His rich
+endowment of the Tagore Law Lecturship in connection with the Calcutta
+University has substantially established his claim on the gratitude of
+his countrymen. It was he that first started the native English Paper
+called the "Reformer," which not only opened the eyes of the Hindoos to
+the errors of the antiquated system under which they lived, but diffused
+a healthy taste for the cultivation of English literature among the
+rising generation of his countrymen, and thereby paved the way for the
+development of advanced thought and intelligent opinion on the practical
+enunciation and appreciation of which mainly depends the future
+advancement of the nation. The late Moha Rajah Ramanauth Tagore, C. S.
+I., another member of the Tagore family, was deservedly esteemed for his
+liberal sentiments, his high sense of honor, his scrupulous fidelity and
+his unblemished character. Baboo Debendernath Tagore, the son of the
+late Baboo Dwarkeynauth Tagore, bears a highly exemplary character. His
+uncompromising straightforwardness, his sincerity and piety, his high
+integrity, his devotedness to the cause of religion, his unassuming
+habits, the suavity of his disposition, and his utter contempt for
+worldly enjoyments, have shed an unfading lustre around his name. Well
+may India be proud of such a worthy son. Moha Raja Jotendermohun Tagore,
+C. S. I., Raja Sourendermohun Tagore, his brother, and Baboo
+Gynendermohun Tagore, the son of the late Baboo Prosonocoomar Tagore,
+also belong to this family: all of them bear a very high character for
+intelligence, integrity, and sound moral principles.
+
+All these distinguished individuals are descended from _Peeralee_
+ancestors. Few have more deservedly merited the respect and esteem of
+their countrymen, or better vindicated their rightful claim to the
+honors bestowed on some of them. If they are denounced as outcasts, such
+outcasts are the ornaments of the country. If they are far in the rear
+of caste they are assuredly far in the van of intelligence, ability,
+mental activity, refinement and honesty. If to be a _Peeralee_ were an
+indelible stigma, it is certainly a glory to the whole nation that such
+a noble and stainless character as Baboo Debendernauth Tagore is a
+member of the same family. We would search in vain among the countless
+myriads of India for such a meek, spotless, but bright and glorious
+model.
+
+It is, moreever, to the _Peeralee_ or Tagore family that the enlightened
+Hindoo community of Calcutta is principally indebted for its refined
+taste and elevated ideas. May they continue to shed their benign
+influence not only on the rising but unborn generations of their
+countrymen, and carry on the work of reformation, not with the
+impetuosity of rash innovators, but with the cool deliberation of
+reflecting minds.
+
+The rules of caste are not now strictly observed, and their observance
+is scarcely compatible with the spirit of the age, and in one sense we
+have scarcely a Hindoo in Bengal, especially amongst those who live in
+the Presidency town and the district towns.
+
+The distinction of caste is more honored in the breach than in the
+observance of it.[89] As English schools and colleges are multiplying in
+every nook and corner of the empire, more liberal ideas and principles
+are being imbibed by the Hindoo youths, which bid fair in process of
+time to exercise a regenerating influence on the habits of the people.
+Idolatry, and its necessary concomitant, priestcraft, is fast losing its
+hold on their minds; a new phase of life indicates the near approach of
+an improved order of things; ideas which had for ages been pent up in
+the dark, dreary cell of ignorance now find a free outlet, and the
+recipients of knowledge breathe a purer atmosphere, clear of the hazy
+mists that had hitherto clouded their intellect. To a philanthropist
+such a forecast is in the highest degree encouraging. The distinction of
+caste has also received a fatal blow by the frequent visits of young and
+aspiring native gentlemen to England for the purpose of completing their
+education there. This growing desire among the rising generation should
+be encouraged as it has an excellent tendency to promote the moral and
+intellectual improvement of the nation.
+
+The late Baboo Ramdoolal Dey,[90] of Calcutta, who was a self-made man
+and a millionaire, was a Dullaputty or head of a party. When the
+subject of caste was discussed, he emphatically said, that "the caste
+was in his iron chest," the meaning of which was that money has the
+power of restoring caste.
+
+The late Baboo Ram Gopal Ghose, a distinguished merchant and reformer of
+this City, had a country residence at Bagati, near Tribani, in the
+Hooghly district, about 100 miles east of Calcutta. He had a mother who
+was, as might be expected, a superstitious old lady. Baboo Ram Gopal on
+principle never wounded her feelings by interfering with her religious
+belief. On the occasion of the Doorga Poojah at his country house, his
+mother as usual directed the servants to distribute the _noybidhi_, or
+offerings, consisting of rice, fruits and sweetmeats, among the Brahmins
+of the neighbourhood; but they all, to a man, refused to accept the
+same, on the ground that Ram Gopal was not a _Hindoo_, which was
+tantamount to declaring that he had no faith in Hindooism, and was an
+outcast from Hindooism. On seeing the offerings brought back, his
+mother's lamentations knew no bounds, because the refusal of the
+Brahmins to accept the offerings was a dishonor, and involved the
+question of the loss of caste. Apprehending the dreadful consequences of
+such a refusal, especially in a village where bigotry reigned supreme,
+the old lady became quite disconsolate. Ram Gopal, who with strong
+common sense combined the benefit of a liberal English education,
+thought of the following expedient: He at once suggested that every
+_noybidhi_ (offering) should be accompanied by a sum of five Rupees. The
+temptation was too great to be resisted, the very Brahmins who, two
+hours back, openly refused to take the offerings, now came running in
+numbers to Ram Gopal's house for their share, and regularly scrambled
+for the thing. In fact, he had more demands than he could meet. Thus a
+few Rupees had the marvellous effect of turning a _Sahib_ into a pure
+Hindoo, fully illustrating the truth of Ramdoolal Dey's saying, that
+"Caste was in his iron chest." Examples of this nature may be multiplied
+to any extent, but they are not necessary. Thus we see the decadence of
+this artificial system is inevitable, as indeed of every other unhealthy
+institution opposed to the best interests of humanity.
+
+I cannot close this chapter without drawing the attention of my readers
+to the gross inconsistency of the conduct of the caste apologists.
+Thousands and tens of thousands of the most orthodox Hindoos daily
+violate the rules of caste by using the _shidho chall_, (rice produced
+from boiled paddy) which is often prepared by Mussulmans and other low
+caste husbandmen, whose very touch is pollution to the food of the
+Hindoo. It is a notorious fact that nine-tenths of the Hindoos of
+Bengal, including the Brahmin class, are in the habit of eating _shidho
+chall_, which is the prime staff of their lives, simply because the
+other kind of rice, _atab chall_(rice produced from sun-dried paddy),
+contains too much starch or nutritive property and is difficult of
+digestion by _bhayto_ or rice-fed Bengallees who are, with a few
+exceptions, constitutionally weak from a variety of causes enumerated
+before. In the North-West Provinces, people never use _shidho_ rice
+owing to its being boiled in an unhusked state.
+
+The Hindoos of our day often consume sugar refined with the dust of
+charcoal bones. The universal use of _shidho_ rice and sweetmeats which
+contain refined sugar leads the Hindoos to break the rules of caste
+almost every hour of their lives. Besides these two chief articles of
+food, there are several other things made by Mussulmans, such as
+rose-water, _kaywra arauk_, and the like, the general use of which is a
+direct violation of the rules of caste. A Hindoo female, when she
+becomes a widow at an advanced period of life, sometimes takes to
+_atab_ rice because it is not produced from boiled paddy which makes it
+impure, but from sun-dried paddy, and here the members of the Tagore
+family are more strict in their _regime_ than any other class of Hindoos
+in Bengal. There are, however, yet a few orthodox Hindoos, who, though
+they eat _shidho_ rice, nevertheless abstain from using bazar-made
+sweetmeats and Municipal pipe water because the engines of the latter
+are said to be greased and worked by Mussulman and Christian hands. Such
+men make their own sweetmeats at home with Benares sugar and drink
+Ganges water, but the younger members of their family, if not without
+their approval at least with their partial cognisance, daily make the
+greatest inroads on this institution without having the moral courage to
+avow their acts. They eat and drink in the European fashion, and
+preserve their castes intact by a positive and emphatic disclaimer. So
+much for the consistency of their character. When the orthodox heads of
+Hindoo families are gathered unto their fathers, the key-note of the
+present or rising generation will be--"perish caste with all its
+monstrous evils."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[85] Rajah Kissen Chunder Roy, in the latter end of the 18th century,
+used to restore persons and families who had forfeited their caste by
+their laches by recovering from them a heavy fine for which there used
+to be much higgling. This fine was in addition to the expenses
+incidental to the ceremony of _Prayischittra_. Many heads of _Dalls_ or
+parties of our day follow the same practice.
+
+[86] The non-performance of religious rites does not now, however,
+entail forfeiture of caste. Hindu society is getting lax in our days.
+
+[87] I am inclined to believe that what the late Nuddea Raja did was his
+individual act; as the head of the Hindus of Bengal, the Rajah of Nuddea
+would strictly follow the practices of his great ancestor even to this
+day.
+
+[88] To one friend alone he gave two lacs of Rupees without any
+security, showing a degree of magnanimity seldom to be met with among
+the millionaires of the present day.
+
+[89] The young members of a family have no hesitation in partaking of
+food cooked by Mussulmans and forbidden in the Hindoo Shasters. On
+holidays or on special occasions, they send orders to the "Great Eastern
+Hotel," and get supplies of English delicacies such as they have a
+liking for. It is a well-known fact that almost every rich family in
+Calcutta and its suburbs (the orthodox members excepted) recognised as
+the head of the Hindoo community, patronise the English Hotel-keepers.
+Mr. D. Wilson, the famous purveyor in Government Place, seeing the great
+rush of native gentlemen into his shop on a Christmas eve, was said to
+have remarked that the Baboos were amongst his best customers. The great
+purveyor was right, because the Baboos give large orders and pay
+regularly for fear of exposure. Such of them as are placed in mediocre
+circumstances arrange with their Mussulman syces and get fowl curry or
+roast as often as they choose. There are indeed a few honorable
+exceptions, who on principle do not encourage the English style of
+eating and drinking. A very little reflection will convince any one that
+the English mode of living is ill suited to the Natives. It not only
+leads a man into extravagance, but what is more reprehensible, begets a
+habit of drinking, which, I need hardly say, has been the ruin of many a
+promising young Baboo.
+
+[90] This gentleman was a Banian to several American and English firms,
+which used to deal largely in cow and other hides. From religious
+scruples he refused to accept the usual commission on such articles by
+which he might have obtained at least forty thousand Rupees per annum.
+In these days no Baboo declines to take the usual commission, but on the
+contrary, many are engaged in the trade, which is a sacrilegious act in
+the eye of the Hindoo Shaster.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+A BRAHMIN.
+
+
+A Brahmin of the present iron age is quite a different ecclesiastic from
+what he was in the past golden age. He is a metamorphosed being.
+Believing in the doctrine of metempsychosis, he claims to have descended
+from the mouth of the Supreme Brahma, the Creator according to the
+Hindoo triad. In the lapse of time, his physical organisation, his
+traditional reputation as a saint and sage, his thorough devotion to his
+religious duties, his mental abstraction, his logical acumen, the purity
+of his character, his habitude and mode of living, have all undergone a
+radical change, unequivocally indicating the gradual declension of
+corporeal strength, of intellectual vigor, as well as of moral worth. In
+former times he was popularly regarded as the visible embodiment of the
+Creator, and the delegated exponent of all knowledge, revealed or
+acquired. The old and venerable Munis and Rishis, and their
+philosophical dissertations, their theological controversies and their
+religious and ethical disquisitions, evoked the admiration of the world
+in the dark ages before the Christian era. Almost all of them lived in a
+state of asceticism, and devoted their lives to religious contemplation,
+renouncing all the pleasures, passions and desires of the mundane world.
+The longevity of their lives in their sequestered retreat, the perfect
+purity of their manners, the simplicity of their habits, and their
+elevated conception of the immutable attributes of God, inspired the
+people with a profound reverence for their precepts and principles. The
+prince and the peasant alike paid their homage to the sacerdotal class,
+whose doctrines had, in the primitive state of society, the authority of
+religion and law.
+
+The power of the Brahmins penetrated every class of the people, and by
+way of eminence they called themselves _Dvija_, _i. e._, the regenerated
+or the twice born--a term which should only be applied to the really
+inspired sons of God. Since the promulgation of the Institutes of Manu
+they obtained that prominent rank among the Hindoos which they have
+retained unimpaired amidst all dynastic changes. Keeping the key of all
+knowledge in their exclusive custody, their functions were originally
+confined to the performance of religious ceremonies and the promulgation
+of laws. In all the affairs of the state or religion, the fiat of their
+ordinances had all the weight of a sacred command. Even the order of a
+mighty potentate was held in subordination to their injunctions. They
+were enjoined to worship their guardian deity three times a day, and
+were strictly prohibited from engaging in any secular occupation. They
+practised all manner of austerities tending to beget a contempt for all
+worldly enjoyments, and paved the way by religious meditation for
+ultimate absorption into the divine essence,--an ideal of the sublimity
+of which we can have no conception in the present degenerate age.
+
+The complete monopoly of religious and legal knowledge which the
+Brahmins enjoyed for a very considerable period after the first dawn of
+learning in the East anterior to the Christian era, enabled them to put
+forth their very great influence upon the spiritual and temporal
+concerns of the three other orders of the Hindoo population, who
+implicitly accorded to them all the valuable rights of a privileged
+class, superior to all earthly power whatsoever. It has been expressly
+declared in the Institutes of Manu that Hindoo Law was a direct
+emanation from God. "That Immutable Power," says Manu, "having enacted
+this Code of Laws, himself taught it fully to me in the beginning;
+afterwards I taught Marichi and the nine other holy sages." It is
+believed that in the tenth century, B. C. "the complete fusion of
+Hindoo law and religion," was effected, and that both were administered
+by the Brahmins, until some mighty kings arose in Rajpootana, who
+curtailing their supreme influence reduced them to a secondary position.
+Thenceforward their ascendency gradually began to decline, till at
+length through succeeding generations it dwindled into comparative
+insignificance.[91] In process of time, the four grand original classes
+slowly multiplied, which is not to be wondered at in a great community
+split into divisions and subdivisions, separated from each other by
+different creeds, manners, customs and modes of life. These
+ramifications necessarily involved diversities of religious, moral and
+legal opinions and doctrines more or less fatal to the unquestioned
+authority of the Brahmins, who seeing in the progress and revolution of
+society the inevitable decay of their hitherto undisputed influence,
+abandoned the traditional and prescribed path of religious life and
+betook themselves to secular pursuit of gain for their subsistence. The
+necessary consequence now is that in almost every sphere of life, in
+every profession or calling, the Brahmins of the present day are
+extensively engaged. And their cupidity is so great, that every
+principle of law and morality is shamefully compromised in their
+dealings with mankind. A Brahmin is no longer typical of either
+religious purity or moral excellence. His profound erudition, his
+logical subtlety in spinning into niceties the most commonplace
+distinctions, his spirit of deep research and his illimitable power of
+polemical discussion, have all forsaken him, and from an inspired priest
+he has degenerated into a mercenary _purohit_. He no longer wears on his
+forehead the frontlet of righteousness, his whole heart, his whole soul
+is impregnated with corruption. In a fervent spirit, he no longer says
+to his followers--"let us meditate on the adorable light of the Divine
+Ruler; may it guide our intellects." His sacred _poita_ (Brahminical
+thread) his divine _gayutree_ (prayer) his holy _basil_ (bead roll), his
+three daily services with the sacred water of the Ganges, no longer
+inspire the minds of his votaries with awe, obedience and homage. From
+the worship of the only Living and True God he has descended to the
+worship of 330 millions of gods and of goddesses. Human numeration reels
+at the list. The individuality of the godhead is lost in the never
+ending cycles of deified objects, animate and inanimate. We no longer
+recognise in the Brahminical character and life an unsullied image of
+godlike purity, holiness and sublimity. His ministrations no longer fill
+us with joyful and exhilarating hopes which extend beyond the grave and
+promise to lead us to the safe anchorage of everlasting bliss. They no
+longer stir up in our breasts during each hour of life's waning lustre
+"a sublimer faith, a brighter prospect, a kinder sympathy, a gentler
+resignation." I ask every Hindoo to look into his heart honestly and
+answer frankly whether a Brahmin of the present day is a true
+embodiment, a glorious display, a veritable representative of Brahma,
+the Creator. Has he not long since sacrificed his traditional pure faith
+on the altar of selfishness and concupiscence and committed a deliberate
+suicide of his moral and spiritual faculty? We blush to answer the
+question in the affirmative.
+
+I now purpose to give a short account of the ceremonies connected with
+the investiture of the _poita_, the sacred thread of a Brahmin, on the
+strength of which he assumes the highest ecclesiastical honors and
+privileges. According to the Hindoo almanac, an auspicious day is fixed
+for this important ceremonial, which opens a new chapter in the life of
+a Brahmin especially intended to ensure him all the rare benefits of a
+full-blown _Dwija_, or the twice-born. In celebrating the rite,
+particular regard is had to the state of the weather; should any
+atmospheric disturbance occur, the ceremony is postponed to the next
+clear day. The age assigned for the investiture is between nine and
+fifteen years. The occasion is accompanied in many cases by the
+preparation of _ananunda naru_, a kind of sweetmeat made of powdered
+rice, treacle, cocoanut and gingelly seeds rolled up into small round
+balls and fried in mustard oil. This particular sort of Hindoo
+confectionery, evidently a relic of primitive preparations, is
+manufactured on all occasions indicative of domestic rejoicing, hence
+the significance of the name given above. Before the appointed day, the
+boy is enjoined to abstain from the use of fish and oil, and on the
+morning of the ceremony, having been shaved, he is made to bathe, and
+put on red clothes, and when the rite of investiture commences wears a
+conical shaped tinsel hat, while the priest reads certain incantations
+and worships Narayan or Vishnoo, represented by a small round stone
+called _Saligram Sulu_, the ordinary household god of all Hindoos. A
+piece of cloth is held over his head, that he may not see or be seen by
+any of the non Brahminical caste. He then assumes the _dunda_, or the
+staff of an ascetical mendicant, which is represented by the branch of a
+_vilwa_ tree held in his right hand, at the top of which is tied a knot
+with a bit of dyed cloth. An initiatory _poita_ made of twisted _khoosh_
+grass, to which is fastened a piece of deer's skin, is next placed over
+the boy's left shoulder during the repetition of the prescribed
+incantations. The father then repeats to his son, in a low voice, lest a
+Soodra should hear, the sacred _gayutree_ three times, which he tries
+his best to commit to memory. The _khoosh_ grass _poita_ is here
+removed, and a real thread _poita_ spun by Brahmin women[92] which he
+is to wear ever afterwards, is substituted in its place. The boy now
+puts on his shoes and holds an umbrella in his hand while the priest
+reads and the father repeats the usual incantations, tending to awaken
+in the boy a sense of the grave responsibility he assumes. Thus dressed
+as a _Brahmacharee_ (a religious mendicant), with a staff upon his
+shoulder and a beggar's wallet hanging by his side, he goes to his
+mother, father and other relatives and begs alms, repeating at the same
+time a certain word in Sanskrit. They give him each a small quantity of
+rice, a few _poitas_ and a few Rupees, amounting in some cases to two or
+three hundred. The boy then squats down while the father offers a burnt
+sacrifice and repeats the customary incantations. After the performance
+of these ceremonies, the boy in his _Brahmacharee_ attire suddenly rises
+up in a fit of pretended ecstacy and declares before the company that he
+is determined in future to lead the life of a religious mendicant. The
+announcement of this resolution instantly evokes the sympathy of the
+father, mother and other relatives, and they all persuade him to change
+his mind and adopt a secular life, citing instances that that life is
+favourable to the cultivation and growth of domestic and social
+affections as well as religious principles of the highest order. The
+holy Shastra expressly inculcates that a clean heart and a righteous
+spirit make men happy even amid the sorrows of earth, and that the
+sackcloth of mendicancy is not essential to righteousness if we
+earnestly and sincerely ask God to give us His true riches. Thus
+admonished, he with apparent reluctance abandons his pre-concerted
+design, which is a mere sham, and assumes the _role_ of secularism.
+Certain formulas are now repeated, after which the boy leaves his
+_vilwa_ staff, and takes in hand a thin Bamboo staff, which he throws
+over his shoulder. Other ritualistic rites are then performed, at the
+close of which the priest receives his fee for the trouble and departs
+home with the offerings. The boy next walks into a room, a woman pouring
+out water as he goes. He is then taught to commit to memory his daily
+service, called _sundhya_, after the repetition of which he eats the
+_charu_ made of milk, sugar and rice boiled together.
+
+For three days after being investited with the _poita_ the boy is
+enjoined to sleep either on a carpet or a deer's skin, without a
+mattress or a musquito curtain. His food consists of boiled rice, ghee,
+milk and sugar, etc., only once a day, without oil and salt. He is
+strictly prohibited to see the sun or the face of a soodra, and is
+constantly employed in learning the sacred _gayutree_ and the forms of
+the daily service which should be repeated thrice in a day. On the
+morning of the fourth day, he goes to the sacred stream of the Ganges,
+throws the two staves into the water, bathes, repeats his prayers,
+returns home, and again enters on the performance of his ordinary
+secular duties. During the day, a few Brahmins are fed according to the
+circumstances of the family. Thus the ceremony of investiture is closed,
+and the boy being purified and regenerated is elevated to the rank of a
+_Dwija_ or twice born. How easily does the Brahminical Shastra make a
+change for the better in a religious sense in a youth quite incapable of
+forming adequate conceptions of a spiritual regeneration by the mere
+administration of a single rite!
+
+Having endeavoured to give thus a short account of the ceremonies
+connected with the investiture of the sacred thread of a Brahmin, it
+remains to be seen how far his present position, character and conduct
+harmonise with the reputed sanctity of his regenerated nature. Great
+blame is laid at the door of the British Government, because it does not
+accord that high respect to the sacerdotal class which their own Rajahs
+had shewn them in the halcyon days of Hindooism. Before the advent of
+the British to India, the doctrines of the Brahminical creed, as
+indicated above, were in full force. Every Hindoo king used to enforce
+on all classes of the people high or low, a strict observance of the
+idolatrous ceremonies prescribed in the Hindoo Shastra. In the dark ages
+scarcely any nation in the world was hemmed in by such a close ring of
+religious ceremonials as the people of this country. Almost every
+commonplace occurrence had its peculiar rites which required the
+interposition of the sacerdotal class. On occasions of prosperity or
+adversity, of rejoicing or calamity, their ministration was alike
+needed. These formed their ordinary sources of gain, but the greatest
+means of support consisted in the grants of lands, including sometimes
+houses, tanks, gardens, etc., given in perpetuity to gods or the
+priests. These grants are called, as I have already stated, the
+_Debatras_ and _Brahmatras_. Among others, the Rajahs of Burdwan,
+Kishnaghur, and Tipperah made the greatest gifts, and their names are
+still remembered with gratitude by many a Brahmin in Bengal. But the Law
+authorizing the resumption of rent-free tenures has, as must naturally
+be expected, made the English Government obnoxious, and it is denounced
+in no measured terms for the sacrilegious act. If Manu were to visit
+Bengal now, his indignation and amazement would know no bounds in
+witnessing the sacerdotal class reduced to the humiliating position of a
+servile, cringing and mercenary crowd of men. Their original prestige
+has suffered a total shipwreck. Generally speaking, a Brahmin of the
+present day is practically a Soodra (the most inferior class) of the
+past age, irretrievably sunk in honor and dignity. Indeed it was one of
+the curses of the Vedic period that to be a Brahmin of the present _Kali
+yagu_ would be an impersonation of corruption, baseness and venality.
+
+There is a common saying amongst the Natives that a Brahmin is a beggar
+even if he were possessed of a lakh of Rupees (L10,000.) It is a
+lamentable fact that impecuniosity is the common lot of the class. In
+ordinary conversation, when the question of the comparative fortunes of
+the different classes is introduced, a Brahmin is often heard to lament
+his most impecunious lot. The gains of the sacerdotal class of the
+present day have been reduced to the lowest scale imaginable. If an
+officiating priest can make ten Rupees a month, he considers himself
+very well off. He can no longer plume himself on his religious purity
+and mental superiority, once so pre-eminently characteristic of the
+order. The spread of English education has sounded the death-knell of
+his spiritual ascendancy. In short, his fate is doomed; he must bear or
+must forbear, as seems to him best. The tide of improvement will
+continue to roll on uninterruptedly, in spite of every "freezing and
+blighting influence," and we heartily rejoice to discover already that
+the "tender blade is grown into the green ear, and from the green ear to
+the rich and ripened corn."
+
+When, a few years ago, Sir Richard Temple carefully examined the
+Criminal Statistics of Bengal, he was most deeply concerned to find that
+the proportion of the Brahmin criminals in the jails of the Province far
+outnumbered that of any other caste. This is an astounding fact, bearing
+the most unimpeachable testimony to the very lamentable deterioration of
+the Hindoo ecclesiastical class in our days. To expatiate on the subject
+would be unpalatable. But we believe we can point with a degree of
+pardonable pride to a past period when nine men of literary genius,
+among whom the renowned Kalidas, the Indian Shakespeare, was the most
+brilliant, flourished in the Court of Vikramaditya in Ougein; but
+dynastic changes were simultaneously accompanied by the rapid decline of
+learning as well as of religious purity.
+
+The English rule, though most fiercely denounced by selfish,
+narrow-minded men, has nevertheless been productive of the most
+beneficial results even as far as the sacerdotal class is concerned.
+Every encouragement is now-a-days afforded to the cultivation of the
+classical language of India--Sanskrit--and not only are suitable
+employments provided for the most learned Pundits[93] in all the
+Government, Missionary and private educational Institutions throughout
+the country, but the University degrees conferred on the most successful
+students, tend to stimulate them to further laudable exertions in the
+study of the sacred language, which, but for this renewed attempt at
+cultivation and improvement, would have been very much neglected.
+
+Independently of the above consideration, it is no less gratifying than
+certain that the progress of education has produced men, sprung from the
+sacerdotal class, whose eminent scholarly attainments, high moral
+principles and unblemished character, as well as a practical useful
+career, have raised them to the foremost ranks of Hindoo society.
+Rammohun Roy, Dr. K. M. Banerjea, Pundit Isser Chunder Vidyasager, Baboo
+Bhoodeb Mookerjee, and others of equal mental calibre, are names
+deservedly enshrined in the grateful memory of their countrymen. If
+Western knowledge had not been introduced into India, men of such high
+culture and moral excellence would have passed away unnoticed and
+unrecognised in the republic of letters, and the fruits of their
+literary labors, instead of being regarded as a valuable contribution to
+our stock of knowledge, would have been buried in obscurity. To study
+the lives of such distinguished pioneers of Hindoo enlightenment, "is to
+stir up our breasts to an exhilarating pursuit of high and ever-growing
+attainments in intellect and virtue."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[91] As the natural consequence of this declension of supremacy,
+Brahminical learning, from this and other analogous circumstances, slept
+a winter sleep, occasionally disturbed and broken by brilliant
+coruscations of light thrown upon it by Western researches,
+contemporaneously sustained by the faint efforts of learned Pundits.
+
+[92] To so miserable a strait are some of them reduced that they
+actually strive to get a living by making these sacred thread poitas and
+strings for loins, indicating the pinching poverty and repulsive squalor
+in which they pine away their wretched existence. Indeed not a few of
+these widows are left "to the cold pity and grudging charity of a frosty
+world." They might almost sing and sigh with the poet as he sat in deep
+dejection on the shore.
+
+"Alas! I have nor hope, nor health, Nor peace within, nor calm around;
+Nor that content, surpassing wealth, The sage in contemplation found;
+
+         *       *       *       *       *
+
+Others I see whom these surround, Smiling they live, and call life
+pleasure; To me that cup hath been dealt in another measure."
+
+[93] However learned a Pundit might be in philology, philosophy, logic
+and theology, he is lamentably deficient in scientific knowledge,
+notably in geography and ethnology. With a view to test the knowledge of
+his Pundit on those two subjects, Bishop Middleton was said to have once
+asked him two very simple questions, (1) whence are the English come?
+(2) what is their origin? The reply of the Pundit was somewhat to the
+following effect: The English are come somewhere from Lunka or Ceylon
+(the imaginary land of cannibals), and they are of mixed origin, sprung
+from monkey and cannibal, because they jabber like monkeys, and sit like
+them on chairs with their legs hanging down,--an attitude peculiar to
+the monkey species,--and they eat like cannibals half-boiled beef, pork,
+mutton, &c. Childish as the reply was, the pious Bishop, however, with
+his wonted benignity, smiled and corrected his error.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE BENGALEE BABOO.
+
+
+This is an euphonious oriental title, suggestive of some amiable
+qualities which are eminently calculated to adorn and elevate human
+life. A Bengalee Baboo of the present age, however, is a curious product
+composed of very heterogeneous elements. The importation of Western
+knowledge has imbued him with new fangled ideas, and shallow draughts
+have made him conceited and supercilious, disdaining almost everything
+Indian, and affecting a love of European aesthetics. The humourous
+performance of Dave Carson, and the caustic remarks of Sir Ali Baba,
+give graphic representations of his anglicised taste, habits and
+bearing. Any thing affected or imitated is apt to nauseate when
+contrasted with the genuine and natural.
+
+The anglicised Baboos are certainly well-meaning men, instinctively
+disposed to move within the groove traditionally prescribed for them,
+but the scintillation of European ideas and a servile imitation of
+Western manners have played sad havoc with their original tendencies.
+Ambitious of being considered enlightened and elevated above the common
+herd, their improved taste and inclination almost unconsciously relegate
+them to the enchanted dream-land of European refinement, amidst the
+ridicule of the wise and the discerning. Society now-a-days is a
+quick-shifting panorama. Old scenes and associations rapidly pass away
+to make room for new ones, and prescriptive usages fall into oblivion. A
+new order of things springs up, and new actors replace the old ones. The
+influence of the aged is diminished, and the young and impulsive seize
+with avidity the prizes of life, forgetting in their wild precipitancy
+the unerring dictates of cool deliberation. "The hurried, bustling,
+tumultuous, feverish Present swallows up men's thoughts," and the
+momentous interests of society looming in the Future are almost entirely
+disregarded. The result necessarily carries them wide of the great
+object of human life. They forfeit the regard and sympathy of their
+fellow countrymen whose moral and intellectual advancement they should
+gradually strive to promote by winning their love and confidence.
+
+As a man of fashion he cuts a burlesque figure by adopting partly
+Mussulman and partly European dress, and imitating the European style of
+living, as if modern civilization could be brought about by wearing
+tight pantaloons, tight shirts and black coats of alpaca or broadcloth.
+He culminates in a coquettish embossed cap or thin-folded shawl turban,
+with perhaps a shawl neckcloth in winter. He eats mutton chops and fowl
+curry, drinks Brandy panee or Old Tom, and smokes Manilla or Burmah
+cigars _a la Francaise_. Certainly the use of those eatables and
+drinkables is proscribed in the Hindoo Shastra, and an honest avowal of
+it will sooner or later expose him to public derision, and estrange him
+from the hearts of the orthodox Hindoos. A wise European, who has the
+real welfare of the people at heart, will never encourage such an
+objectionable line of conduct, because it is _per se_ calculated to
+denationalise. To be more explicit, even at the risk of verbosity, it
+should be mentioned that Baboos resident in Calcutta not unjustly pride
+themselves on being the denizens of the great Metropolis of British
+India, which is unquestionably the focus of enlightenment, the centre of
+civilization and refinement, and the emporium of fashion in the East.
+People in the country glory and console themselves with the idea that in
+their adoption of social manners and customs they follow the example of
+the big Baboos of Calcutta. Although the fashions of Hindoo society in
+Calcutta do not change with the rapidity they do in Paris and London,
+monthly, fortnightly and weekly, yet they vary, perhaps, once in two or
+three years, and even then the change is partial and not radical. Slowly
+and gradually, the Hindoos of Bengal have abandoned their original and
+primitive dress, which consisted of thin slender garments, suited to the
+warm temperature of the climate at least for the greater part of the
+year, and adopted that of their conquerors. A simple _dhootee_ and
+_dubjah_, with perhaps an _alkhala_ on the back and a folded _pugree_ on
+the head, constituted the dress of a Bengali not long before the battle
+of Plassey. The court dress was, indeed, somewhat different, but then it
+was a servile imitation of that of a Rajpoot chief or a Mussulman king.
+When Rajahs Rajbullub, and Nubkissen, and Suddur-ud-din, a Mohamedan,
+attended the Government House in the time of Clive and Hastings, what
+was their court costume but an exact copy of the Mussulman dress? Even
+now, after the lapse of a century and a half, they use their primitive
+dress at home, _viz._, a _dhootee_ and an _uraney_. An Englishman would
+not easily recognise or identify a Bengalee at home and a Bengalee in
+his office dress, the difference being striking and marked. But the
+establishment of the British rule in India has introduced a very great
+change in the national costume and taste, irrespective of the
+intellectual revolution, which is still greater. Twenty years ago the
+gala dress of a Bengalee boy consisted of a simple Dacca _dhootee_ and a
+Dacca _ecloye_, with a pair of tinsel-worked shoes; but now rich
+English, German and China satin, brocade and velvet with embossed
+flowers, and gold and silver fringes and outskirts, have come into
+fashion and general use. It is a common sight to see a boy dressed in a
+pantaloon and coat made of the above costly stuffs, with a laced velvet
+cap, driving about the streets of Calcutta during the festive days. Of
+course the more genteel and modest of the class, _sobered down_ by age
+and experience, do not share in the juvenile taste for the gaudy and
+showy. As becomes their maturer years, they are satisfied with a decent
+broadcloth coat and pantaloon, with a white cloth or Cashmere shawl
+_pugree_, more in accordance with simple English taste. But both the
+young and the old must have patent Japan leather shoes from Cuthbertson
+and Harper, Monteith & Co., or the Bentinck Street Chinese shoemakers,
+the laced Mussulman shoes having gone entirely out of fashion. Nor is
+the taste of the Hindoo females in a primitive stage as far as
+costliness is concerned. Instead of Dacca _Taercha_ or _Bale Boo[t.]a_
+Sari, they must have either Benares gold embroidered or French embossed
+gossamer _Sari_, with gold lace borders and ends. It would not be out of
+place to notice here that it would be a very desirable improvement in
+the way of decency to introduce among the Hindoo females of Bengal a
+stouter fabric for their garment in place of the present thin, flimsy,
+loose _sari_, without any other covering over it. In this respect, their
+sisters of the North-Western and Central Provinces, as well as those of
+the South, are decidedly more decent and respectable. A few respectable
+Hindoo ladies have of late years begun to put an _unghia_ or corset over
+their bodies, but still the under vestment is shamefully indelicate. Why
+do not the Baboos of Bengal strive to introduce a salutary change in the
+dress of their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, which private
+decency and public morality most urgently demand? These social reforms
+must go hand in hand with religious, moral and intellectual improvement.
+The one is as essential to the elevation and dignity of female character
+as the other is to the advancement of the nation in the scale of
+civilization.
+
+The Lancashire and German weavers have ample cause to rejoice that their
+manufactured colored woollen fabrics have greatly superseded the Indian
+_Pashmina_ goods--Cashmere shawls not excepted,--and European Cashmere,
+broadcloth, flannel, hosiery and haberdashery are now in great request.
+From the wealthiest Baboo to the commonest fruit seller, half hose or
+full stockings are very commonly used. This forms an essential part of
+the official gear of a _keranee_ (writer) of the present day, though he
+is now seen without his national _pugree_ or head dress.
+
+A Bengalee Baboo is said to be a money-making man. By the most ingenious
+makeshifts he contrives to earn enough to enable him to make both ends
+meet, and lay by something for the evening of his life. He is generally
+a thrifty character, and does not much mind how the world goes when his
+own income is positive. He lacks enterprise, and is therefore most
+reluctant to engage in any haphazard commercial venture, though he has
+very laudable patterns amongst his own countrymen, who, by dint of
+energy, prudence, perseverance and probity, have risen from an obscure
+position in life to the foremost rank of successful Native merchants. He
+is destitute of pluck, and the risk of a commercial venture stares him
+in the face in all his highways and byways. In many cases he has
+inherited a colossal fortune, but that does not stir up in his breast an
+enterprising spirit. He seeks and courts service, and in nine cases out
+of ten succeeds. The sweets of service, and the prospect of promotion
+and pension, slowly steal into his soul, and he gladly bends his neck
+under the yoke of servitude. It is a lamentable fact that he is a
+stranger to that "proud submission of the heart which keeps alive in
+servitude itself the spirit of an exalted freedom." As a vanquished
+race, subordination is the inevitable lot of the Natives, but it is
+edifying to see how they hug its trammels with perfect complacency.
+
+The English Government is to the people of Bengal a special boon, a
+god-send. Almost every respectable family of Bengalee Baboos, past or
+present, is more or less indebted to it for its status and distinction,
+position and influence, affluence and prosperity. The records of
+authentic history clearly demonstrate the fact that the Baboos of Bengal
+have been more benefited by their British rulers than ever they were
+under their own dynasty. Instances are not wanting to corroborate the
+fact. The love of money is natural in man, and few men are more
+powerfully and, in many cases, more dangerously influenced by it than
+the people of this country. "It is a thirst which is inflamed by the
+very copiousness of its draughts." Possession or accumulation does not
+sufficiently satisfy it.
+
+Experience and observation amply attest the truth of the following
+current saying among the Hindoos of the Upper Provinces, _viz._,
+"_Kamayta topeewallah_, _lotetah dhoteewallah_," the meaning of which
+is, the English earn, the Bengalees plunder. To be more explicit, the
+English continue to extend their conquests, the Bengalee Baboos
+participate in the loaves and fishes of the Public Service. In a
+dejected spirit of mind, a Hindoosthanee is often heard to mourn; he
+addresses a Sahib in the most respectful manner imaginable, by using
+such flattering terms as "_Khodabund_, _garibparbar_," but in nine cases
+out of ten the Sahib scornfully turns away his head; when, on the
+contrary, a Bengalee _gir gir karkay dho ba[t.]h sanay diya_, _i. e._,
+jabbers to him a few words, he patiently listens to him, and signifies
+his acquiescence in what he says by a nod. In his boorish simplicity,
+the Hindoosthanee concludes that the Bengalee Baboos are well versed in
+charms, or else how do they manage to tame a grim biped like a Sahib.
+
+With a view to remove this erroneous impression, which until recently
+was so very common among the inhabitants of the Upper Provinces, and the
+existence of which is so prejudicial to the general encouragement of
+education throughout India, as well as to the impartial character and
+high dignity of the paramount power, the local Governments have been
+directed in future to select for public service all the educated Natives
+born and bred up under their respective Administrations in preference to
+the Bengalees. Thus the aspiration of a Bengalee Baboo, so far as Public
+Service is concerned, is now restricted within the limits of his own
+Province.
+
+A Bengalee Baboo is an eager hunter after academic honors. The
+University confers on him the high degrees of B. A., M. A. and B. L.,
+and he distinguishes himself as a speaking member of the British Indian
+Association or of the Calcutta Municipality. He also reads valedictory
+addresses to retiring Governors and other Government Magnificoes. He is
+created a Maharajah, a Rajah, a Rai Bahadoor, with perhaps the
+additional paraphernalia of C. S. I. or C. I. E. As a ripe man of vivid
+ambition and lofty aspiration, he necessarily hankers after and is all
+a-gog to dash through thick and thin for these new honors and
+decorations. He drives swiftly about in his barouche with his staff
+holder on the coach-box in broadcloth livery. Unfortunately no baronetcy
+blazons forth in Bengalee heraldry, like that bestowed on Sir Jamsetjee
+Jeejeebhoy. The cause is obvious. No millionaire Bengalee has to this
+day contributed so munificently to public charities as the Parsee
+baronet.
+
+When that distinguished Hindoo reformer, Baboo Dwarkanath Tagore,--the
+most staunch coadjutor of Rajah Rammohun Roy,--visited England, it was
+reported that Her Majesty had most graciously offered to confer on him
+the title of a Rajah; and his liberality and public spirit fully
+entitled him to that high distinction, but he politely refused it on the
+ground that his position did not justify his accepting it. He felt that
+the shadow of a name without substance was but a mockery. When Rajah
+Radhakant Deb was elected President of the British Indian Association
+"he used to declare that he was more proud of that office than of his
+title of Rajah Bahadoor, inasmuch as it indicated the chiefship of a
+body which was a power in the State and was destined to achieve immense
+good for the country." At the time of the Prince of Wales' visit to
+Calcutta, it was said that a certain English-made Rajah was introduced
+by a Government Magnifico to the Maharajah of Cashmere; among other
+matters, the Cashmere Rajah out of curiosity asked the Bengal Rajah,
+"where was his Raj and what was the strength of his army?" The question
+at once puzzled him, and his answer was anything but satisfactory. Of
+all the Indian Viceroys, Lord Lytton was certainly the most liberal in
+bestowing these hollow titles on the Baboos of Bengal, under a mistaken
+notion of winning the love and confidence, which ought to constitute the
+solid basis of a good Government. A Rajahship,[94] without the necessary
+equipage and material and moral grandeur of royalty is but a gilt
+ornament that dazzles at first sight but possesses little intrinsic
+value. It is in fact a misnomer, a sham, a counterfeit. The love of
+honor or power constitutes one of the main principles of human nature. A
+Rajah, in the true sense of the word, is one who shares in the royalty
+of divine attributes. He should remember that a man is bound to look to
+something more than his mere wardrobe and title; he must possess a
+goodness and a greatness which would benefit thousands and tens of
+thousands of his fellow-creatures by the exercise of real,
+disinterested virtue. Such a career alone can leave an imperishable and
+ennobling name behind, which will go down to posterity as a pattern of
+moral grandeur.[95] Politically considered these titles and decorations
+have their value, inasmuch as they have a tendency to promote the
+_entente cordiale_ between the rulers and the ruled, and, next to the
+Public Debt, furnish, in an indirect way, an additional buttress to the
+stability of the British Indian empire.
+
+In former times, when the English rule was in its inceptive stage, when
+external pageant--the outcome of vanity--was not much thought of, when
+the simple taste of the people was not tainted by luxury and corruption,
+an unnatural craving for titles exerted but a very feeble influence on
+the minds of the great. Instead of seeking "the bubble reputation" they
+vied with each other in the extent of their religious gifts and
+endowments, affording substantial aid to the learned of the land and to
+the poorer classes of the community. A spirit of disinterestedness and
+self-sacrifice never at variance with magnanimity was conspicuous in all
+their gifts. The immense extent of _Debatra_ and _Brahmatra_ land, _i.
+e._, rent-free tenures throughout Bengal, even after the relentless
+operation of the Resumption Act, still bears testimony to their
+disinterested benevolence and the heartiness with which they entered
+into other men's interests. Of course they were incapable of
+comprehending the innumerable affinities and relations of life in all
+its varied phases, rising from the finite and transient to the infinite
+and the enduring, but whatever they gave, they gave not with a stinted
+hand nor in an ostentatious way, but with a truly benevolent and
+disinterested heart, looking to the Most High for their guerdon. The
+sublime and elevated conception of organised charity never penetrated
+their minds. Religious gifts and endowments formed the great bulk of
+their contributions, but they also made permanent provision for the
+relief of the helpless and the destitute,[96] not on the recognised
+principles of English charity, _i. e._ the Hospital system, the Nurses'
+Institutions, Reformatories for unfortunates, parish relief, funds for
+the aged and infirm, provision of improved dwellings as well as for
+baths and wash-houses for the working-classes inaugurated by the
+magnificent gift by Mr. G. Peabody of L250,000, ragged schools and
+asylums for the deaf, dumb and blind, supported by voluntary
+contributions, and other organised methods for the relief of distress
+and destitution throughout the country. It is a sad reflection on the
+benevolent disposition of the Natives that they cannot boast of anything
+bearing a remote analogy to the above recognised forms of Charity. In
+India there is much individual charity of an impulsive and interested
+character, but the great element of success in English charity is
+combination and organisation, without which no work of public utility
+can be practically carried out.
+
+It is obvious that the peculiar social economy of the Natives presents
+an almost insuperable barrier to the harmonious amalgamation of the
+different classes artificially split into numerous subdivisions. In the
+neighbourhood of Poona, Mr. Elphinstone says, there are about 150
+different castes, and in Bengal they are very numerous. They maintain
+their divisions, however obscurely derived, with great strictness.[97]
+The religious, social and moral duties of these classes, exhibit marked
+differences, which are opposed to the combination of united efforts in
+the cause of relieving suffering humanity. The idea of a national
+brotherhood and a system of universal philanthropy, such as Christianity
+has nobly inaugurated, is much too elevated for the narrow, contracted
+minds of the people. Independent of the numerous subdivisions of caste,
+unhappily there still exists an impassable gulf between the Hindoos and
+Mussulmans--at present the children of the same soil--which has hitherto
+kept up a state of unhallowed separatism, essentially at variance with a
+cordial coalition for the consummation of any comprehensive system of
+Public Charity designed to benefit both. Age has rooted in the minds of
+the two communities an implacable mutual hate, quite subversive of the
+best interests of humanity. Plausible arguments may be adduced in
+support of the existence of this race antagonism, but let both of them
+be assured that "by abusing this world they shall not earn a better."
+Let every act or feeling or motive of both races be merged in one
+harmonious whole, developing the perfection of human nature in a
+distinct and bright reality.
+
+A Bengalee Baboo is fond of discussing European politics. The reading of
+history has given him a superficial insight into the rise and progress
+of nations. He does not deny that he amplifies and emphasises the
+sentiments he has learnt in the school of English politics. The orations
+of Lall Mohun Ghose in England have proved that a native of India has
+mastered the art of thinking on his legs, which is the beginning and end
+of oratory. A few more men like him, steadily working in earnest at the
+fountain head of power, would certainly awaken public attention towards
+the present condition of our country. It was Lord William Bentinck who
+advised a body of Native Memorialists, anxious for the political
+emancipation of their country, "to continue to agitate until they gained
+their end." Constitutional representation to proper authority, his
+Lordship remarked, would as much command public attention as idle,
+factious declamation divert it.[98] He was emphatically the "People's
+William" in India, as Gladstone is the "People's William" in England. He
+was a statesman who directed his whole attention and energy to internal
+improvement, repudiating all schemes of aggression or conquest. His
+beneficence, immortalised in a noble monument--the Calcutta Medical
+College,--will be more gratefully acknowledged by the latest generation
+than the genius of a Hastings, a Wellesley, or a Dalhousie.
+
+The complete emancipation of India, however, is a question of time.
+Baboo Lall Mohun Ghose's speeches in England have not been entirely
+fruitless, inasmuch as they have evoked and enlisted the sympathy of a
+few leaders of public opinion. He is manfully struggling to remove the
+bar of political disabilities, and to secure for his countrymen the
+benefit of representative institutions, for the recognition and
+appreciation of which they are now prepared. While they hope for the
+best, they must be prepared for the worst. They must learn meanwhile to
+cherish, as among the essential elements of ultimate success, a firm,
+manly, independent and self-denying spirit.
+
+A Bengalee Baboo is often voted a man of tall talk. Platitude is his
+forte. This is surely true to a certain extent; and until he descends
+from the elevated region of speculation to the matter of fact arena of
+practice, both his writings and harangues must necessarily prove
+abortive. He must learn to exchange his verbosity for action in the
+great battle of life. Every great politician or statesman must have a
+thorough practical training to enable him to overcome the opposition of
+different factions whose interests are jeopardised by his success, and
+to render his administration a blessing to the people. He must be
+prepared to grow and advance under adverse influences. The history of
+that consummate statesman, Sir Salar Jung, of that distinguished scholar
+and councillor, Sir T. Madeo Rao, of that astute minister, Maharajah Sir
+Dinkur Rao, furnishes the most convincing examples of superior
+administrative ability combined with practical wisdom. Lord Northbrook,
+in a recent speech at Birmingham, has made honorable mention of these
+three eminent statesmen, whose valuable services in their respective
+spheres have long since established their substantial claims to the the
+gratitude of their fellow countrymen. When Sir Salar Jung visited
+Europe, his very comprehensive and enlightened views elicited the
+admiration of several of the wisest statesmen of the age. His able and
+successful administration at Hyderabad, amidst the fierce opposition of
+factious parties, affords an admirable illustration of his superior
+practical wisdom. When, some thirty years ago, Maharajah Sir Dinkur Rao
+visited Calcutta, he was the wonder of all who heard him enunciate, in a
+telling speech at the Town Hall, his high, noble and practical views on
+civil Government. The speech was not made feverish by visions of
+indistinct good, as Mr. Theodore Dickens said, but it was a clear
+exposition of the liberal sentiments of a wise statesman.
+
+The Bengalees are not a warlike race. Their traditional habits and
+usages, their physique, their diet and dress, their natural tendency to
+slothfulness and effeminacy, their proverbial quietude, their general
+want of pluck and manly spirit, their ascetic composure, placing the
+chief joys of life in rest and competency,--an heirloom descended from
+their ancestors,--all indicate an unwarlike temperament. During the
+Mutiny of 1875,--an event which in atrocious acts of cruelty
+incomparably surpasses all other historical events ever recorded,--that
+kind hearted Governor General, Lord Canning, was advised to introduce
+Martial Law into Calcutta, but he negatived the proposal by emphatically
+declaring in the Council Chamber that the Bengalees are a mild, tame,
+inoffensive and loyal race of people, whose only weapon of defence is a
+simple penknife. A common Police constable with his baton is to them a
+grim master of authority. A red-coated Highlander is formidable enough
+to cope with and drive away an immense crowd of Bengalees even in the
+very heart of the City of Palaces, while in the villages all shops and
+houses are closed at the very sight of an European soldier in his
+uniform. In fact, Bengal can well be governed by a handful of Native
+Police constables, especially when the Arms' Act is in full force.
+Unlike the military races of Upper India, or the border tribes, the
+Bengalees will never, even under the influence of the most aggravated
+wrongs and injuries, retaliate or resort to such a desperate court of
+appeal as war and murder.
+
+English is the adopted language of a Bengalee Baboo. It is an
+instructive study to take a cursory view of the rapid progress of
+English education throughout India from the day when David Hare had held
+out pecuniary inducements to Hindoo youths to attend his school, and Dr.
+Duff called in the aid of Rammohun Roy to found the infant General
+Assembly's Institution, now developed into the largest College in India.
+Fifty years ago, who dreamt or even hazarded a prediction that a Native
+lad of sixteen or seventeen years of age would venture to traverse the
+perilous ocean and compete for the Civil Service Examination in England,
+paying no heed whatever to the manifold disadvantages arising from
+social persecution, and the disruption of domestic relations of the
+tenderest nature. When Bacon said that knowledge is power, he certainly
+did not mean physical but intellectual power. It is the irresistible
+influence of this power that has inspirited an Indian youth to appear at
+the English "open competition" for the purpose of winning academic spurs
+and entering a closely fenced service; it is the quickening influence of
+this power, combined with an enterprising spirit, that has gradually
+enabled a mere handful of English adventurers to convert a small factory
+into one of the vastest empires in the East. The gigantic strides that
+English education has made in India within a short time, have been the
+wonder of the age, the foundation rock of her ultimate emancipation,
+socially, morally and intellectually. The prison wall round the mind
+which ages had reared and learning fortified has been completely
+demolished, and not only men but matronly zenana females have picked up
+a few crumbs of broken English words which they occasionally use in
+familiar conversation, for instance, Rail, Talygraf, Guvner, Juj
+Majister, High Cote, etc.
+
+Some of the Bengalee Baboos read and write English with remarkable
+fluency, and the epistolary correspondence of most of them is commonly
+carried on in that language. When two or more educated Baboos meet
+together, or take their constitutional in the morning, they perhaps talk
+of some reading articles in the Anglo-Indian or English journals or
+periodicals, and eagerly communicate to each other "the flotsam and
+jetsam of advanced European thoughts, the ripest outcome in the
+Nineteenth century, or the aftermath in the Fortnightly," as if the
+vernacular dialect were not at all fitted for the communication of their
+ideas. It is a pity that the cultivation and improvement of a national
+literature--the embodiment of national thought and taste and the
+mainspring of national enlightenment--seldom or never engages their
+serious attention. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the large
+mass of the Indian population can be thoroughly instructed and reformed
+through the medium of a foreign language. The richness and copiousness
+of modern English, combining as it does conciseness with solidity and
+perspicuity, are admittedly very great; it is admirably adapted for the
+educated _few_, but it is not equally suited to the capacity and
+comprehension of the _many_. It is incumbent, therefore, on all well
+disposed Hindoos, who have the real welfare of their country at heart,
+to endeavour to fertilise their national literature by transplanting
+into it the advanced thoughts of modern Europe, and to enrich it with
+copiousness, such as would obviate its acknowledged deficiency and
+barrenness. Until this is done, it is as unreasonable to expect elegance
+and perfection in the national literature as it is to expect harvest in
+seed-time or the full vigor of manhood in the incipient state of
+childhood.
+
+Assuredly the Bengalees are a race of _keranees_ or writers, as Napoleon
+said the English were a nation of shopkeepers. Every morning and
+evening, almost all the main streets of Calcutta leading to the English
+quarter--bright prospect for the Tramway--are literally thronged with
+dense crowds of keranees in their white cloth uniform, busily making for
+their respective offices, either in shabby looking third class hackney
+carriages or on foot. A foreigner not used to such sights cannot fail
+almost unconsciously to come to a conclusion that the Bengalees are a
+nation of keranees. Every Government, Railway or Merchant's office, is
+filled with these Baboos, either actually employed or serving on
+probation, biding their time in fond expectation of picking up a slice
+of official bread, buttered or unbuttered. Even graduates of the
+Calcutta University do not hesitate to serve as apprentices, because a
+collegiate course does not teach the rules of bureaucracy or official
+routine. Most of them are good copyists or clever accountants, while a
+few are correspondence clerks. As a rule, their pay is very small
+compared with what is given to English Clerks, for reasons which I need
+not dilate upon here.
+
+Within the range of our experience, extending over fifty years, we
+remember only one Native gentleman--Baboo Shama Churn Dey, the present
+vice-chairman of the Calcutta Municipality--who, by his tried ability,
+intelligence and integrity has managed to climb to the top of
+keraneedom. In recognition of his high efficiency his salary has been
+raised to one thousand Rupees a month, in spite of many instances of
+supersession. I, in common with others, am fully persuaded that had he
+been a British-born Civilian, he would undoubtedly have drawn a much
+larger salary. But it is useless to repine at a misfortune which is
+inevitable.
+
+Even the amusements of a Bengalee Baboo are more or less anglicised.
+Instead of the traditional _Jattras_, (representations) and _Cobees_
+(popular ballads) he has gradually imbibed a taste for theatrical
+performances, and native musical instruments are superseded by European
+flutes, concertinas and harmoniums, organs and piano-fortes. This is
+certainly a decided improvement on the old antiquated system,
+demonstrating the slow growth of a refined taste. Thus we see in almost
+every phase of life, at home or outside, the Bengalee Baboo is
+Europeanized. In his style of living, in his mode of dress, in his
+writings, in his public and private utterances, in his household
+arrangements and furniture, in his bearing and department, in his social
+intercourse, in his mental accomplishments, and in fact, in his
+passionate partiality for Western aesthetics, he is a modified
+Anglo-Indian. But it were devoutly to be wished that he possessed a
+larger admixture of the essential elements of European truthfulness of
+character, energy and manliness of spirit, straightforwardness in his
+dealings with society, nobility of sentiment, magnanimity combined with
+simplicity, disinterested love and sympathy, and above all, moral and
+spiritual elevation.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[94] It is a disreputable fact, but it most assuredly _is_ a fact, that
+when some years ago a teacher of the Government School of Art published
+a book in Bengallee on the ancient arts and manufactures of Hindoosthan,
+and sent a copy of it to one of these English-made Rajahs, he politely
+refused to take it--the price being one Rupee only--saying it was of no
+use to him though it was an instructive and suggestive manual. This
+refusal offers a sad comment on the liberality of my fellow countrymen
+towards the encouragement of learning. But turning from the dark to the
+bright side of the picture, I may perhaps be permitted to point with
+pardonable pride to the almost unparalleled munificence of the late
+Baboo Kally Prosono Singh of this City, in this respect. That
+distinguished patron of vernacular literature had, it is said, spent
+upwards of L50,000 on the compilation of Mohabharat, that grand Epic
+poem of the Hindoos, which says Talboys Wheeler, still continues to
+exercise an influence on the masses of the people "infinitely greater
+and more universal than the influence of the Bible upon modern Europe."
+
+[95] Of all the English-made Rajahs of the present day, it is pleasing
+to recognise, in Moharajah Rajender Mullick of this City, some of the
+noble attributes of a Rajah. Modest and unassuming, he manifests to a
+great degree a generous disposition to relieve suffering humanity and to
+do good by stealth. Never did he struggle to thrust himself, by the
+nature of his work, upon public notice. Gifted with an intelligent mind,
+a refined taste, and considerable artistic ability, his moral greatness
+throws all other forms of greatness into the shade. He is not ambitious
+to make his name the theme, the gaze, the wonder of a dazzled community.
+
+[96] Of all the Hindoo millionaires whose life afforded the most
+ennobling example of a pious and disinterested man that of Lalla
+Baboo--the ancestor of the present Paikparra Rajah family, in the
+suburbs of Calcutta--was certainly one of the most remarkable. He
+possessed a princely fortune, a considerable portion of which he wisely
+set apart for the support of the poor and destitute. Unlike most of his
+wealthy countrymen, he renounced all the pleasures of the world, and in
+the evening of his life retired with only a shred of cloth into the holy
+city of Brindabun. As a practical illustration of self-denial he
+actually led the life of a religious mendicant, daily begging from door
+to door for a mouthful of bread. His religious endowments still continue
+to offer shelter and food to hundreds of poor people in and around
+Brindabun, which has been so graphically described by Colonel Tod.
+"Though the groves of Brinda" says he, "in which Kanaya (Krishna)
+disported with the Gopis, no longer resound to the echoes of his flute;
+though the waters of the Jumna are daily polluted with the blood of the
+sacred kine, still it is the holy land of the pilgrim, the sacred Jordan
+of his fancy, on whose banks he may sit and weep, as did the banished
+Israelite of old, the glories of Mathoora, his Jerusalem."
+
+[97] Division always implies weakness and "estrangement intolerable
+isolation" impeding the expansion of genuine benevolent feelings in a
+comprehensive sense.
+
+[98] Very few persons remember the days when Chuckerbutty faction and
+grievance Thomson used to raise a hue and cry in the Fouzdarry
+Balakhanah Debating Club, formed for the political emancipation of India
+before the people were fully prepared to appreciate the value of their
+rights and privileges.
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+THE KOBIRAJ OR NATIVE PHYSICIAN.
+
+
+Notwithstanding the rapid progress of medical science throughout the
+country since the establishment of the Calcutta Medical College, it is
+an undeniable fact that the practice of Hindoo _Kobirajes_ and Mussulman
+_hakims_ still continues to find favour in the eyes of a large section
+of the Indian population. In Chemistry, Anatomy, Midwifery and Surgery,
+the decided superiority of the English over the Native system, is
+admitted by all. This is unquestionably an age of improvement;
+everything around us indicates the progressive development of arts and
+sciences, and a society that does not keep pace with the onward march of
+intellect is certainly much behind the age.
+
+There was a time when upwards of sixteen original medical writers, some
+of whose works are still extant, flourished in India, and medicines
+prepared according to the formulas of the _Ayurveda_--the best standard
+medical work--were supposed to have produced wholesome results,
+affording no inconsiderable amount of relief to thousands afflicted with
+diseases of various kinds, and even of a most malignant character. Under
+the Hindoo dynasty, every encouragement was given to the cultivation and
+improvement of medical science. Next to the Brahmins, the Vidya class
+was respected, though sometimes they are unjustly twitted with what is
+called a hybrid origin. It is, however, foreign to our purpose to
+determine this point, which seems to be enveloped in obscurity. The
+common theory on which the Hindoo system of physic is based, has
+reference to the country, the season and the age of the patient, to
+which is superadded the course of regimen suited to his physical
+organisation. The scientific and philosophical theory is that there are
+certain defined elements in the human body on the natural equilibrium of
+which mainly depends the health of man. The disturbance of this normal
+equilibrium, either by the increase or decrease of the essential
+ingredients, deranges the system and requires the use of medicines
+generally obtained from several kinds of indigenous drugs, bark, root,
+wood, fruits, flowers, metals, &c.
+
+From the existing medical works according to which medicines are
+prepared and cures effected, it is evident that the Hindoo system is not
+entirely destitute of science, but the light it is capable of diffusing
+is greatly dimmed by a combination of unfavourable circumstances brought
+about by the overthrow of the Hindoo dynasty, the decay of learning in
+every branch of human knowledge, and the consequent growth and progress
+of empiricism.
+
+In his eleventh discourse before the Asiatic Society, that distinguished
+orientalist, Sir William Jones, has said "Physic appears in these
+regions to have been from time immemorial as we see it practised at this
+day by the Hindoos and Mussulmans, a mere empirical history of diseases
+and medicines." This is presumably a remark applicable to a society but
+little removed from a state of barbarism, but the existence of such
+scientific works as _Ayurveda_, _Nidan_, _Churruck-Swasru_,
+_Sarasungraha_, _Boidya_, _Sarvuswn_, &c., furnishes abundant proof that
+the Hindoo system of physic is not altogether founded on empiricism.
+
+In 1838 the Honorable the East India Company appointed a Committee,
+consisting of Drs. Jackson, Rankin Bramby, Pearson, W. B. O'Shaughnessy
+and Mr. James Prinsep, to examine and report upon the state of the
+Honorable Company's Dispensaries, and the possibility of substituting
+native drugs for European medicines, the primary object being twofold,
+namely cheapness and efficacy. Death, ill health and the casualties of
+the service dispersed the Committee long before the members could
+accomplish the task imposed on them, and subsequently the whole charge
+devolved upon Dr. W. B. O'Shaughnessy, who, after the unwearied labour
+of four years, assisted by some of the best Native physicians, produced
+a work entitled "The Bengal Dispensary" published under the authority of
+the Government of India, which still remains a valuable monument of his
+indomitable zeal and untiring devotion to medical science.
+
+Great attention has also been given to the scientific analysis of the
+various indigenous drugs by Roxburgh, Wallick, Ainslie, White, Arson,
+Royle, Pereira, Lindlay, Richard, &c., &c. The result of their
+analytical examination, though not so exhaustive as the very great
+importance of the subject required, was nevertheless very favourable to
+the opinion that the native system was based on fixed scientific
+principles, and that many of the drugs possessed great curative
+properties. Unfortunately the improved principles and important
+discoveries of modern Europe have not been sufficiently brought to bear
+on the simultaneous development of the native system. They have,
+however, proved greatly beneficial in teaching the native _kobirajes_ to
+adopt, to a certain extent, the European method and regime.
+
+It is a remarkable fact that even now, when this science may be said to
+be in a retrogressive stage both for want of adequate culture as well as
+of sufficient encouragement, there are a few Hindoo _kobirajes_[99] in
+this City, and in other parts of the country, whose treatment in chronic
+cases of fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, phthisis, pulmonary consumption,
+asthma, &c., proves, in a great measure, successful. Hence in almost
+every respectable Hindoo family there is a competent _kobiraj_, who is
+always consulted in cases of a serious nature. It is generally
+considered that on the subject of pulsation greater weight is attached
+to the opinion of a Hindoo _kobiraj_ than to that of an English doctor.
+By the pulse, in the different parts of our physical organisation, the
+state of the body may be ascertained and suitable remedies applied. In
+cases of severe indisposition among the Hindoos, the friends of a
+patient have not only to contend against the struggle between life and
+death, but to closely watch the last expiring flicker of vitality that
+he may be removed in time to the banks of the sacred stream for insuring
+his entrance into heaven.
+
+It has been urged by some native physicians that the Sanskrit work,
+_Ayurveda_, above-mentioned, treats of anatomy and of the doctrine of
+the circulation of the blood. If this be true, great credit is doubtless
+due to its author for having made in a comparatively dark age such
+considerable advances in an important branch of medical science, without
+which medicine and surgery are of little avail. Chemistry, which enables
+us to distinguish the real properties of different substances, was
+certainly not unknown to the Hindoo physicians, because their medicines
+indicate a scientific selection of several ingredients mixed together to
+produce a certain result. But it can by no means be asserted that the
+people ever attained to a thorough knowledge, either in the one or the
+other, which can bear comparison with the perfection of the modern
+European system. In almost every department of human knowledge steady
+progress is the grand characteristic of the age, but in this country
+unhappily a spirit of scientific investigation has very nearly been
+extinguished simply for want of adequate cultivation and support.
+
+If empirics abound in enlightened Christendom, where chemical analysis,
+scientific researches in materia medica and pharmacy, and anatomical
+demonstration and surgical operations almost daily bring to light new
+discoveries and inventions, what can be expected in a country where
+medical science has long since been in a state of absolute stagnation.
+Ignorant and unprincipled quacks, quite unacquainted with the rules of
+the Hindoo medical shastras, abound all over the country, which has for
+some years past been severely suffering from malarious fever of a
+virulent type, carrying death and devastation wherever it prevails.[100]
+They literally sport with the health of their patients, and the natural
+consequence is, hundreds and thousands of human beings are mercilessly
+sacrificed to their ignorance and cupidity. Not one in a hundred of
+those who call themselves _kobirajes_ is acquainted with the principles
+of physic as laid down in the standard medical works of the Hindoos.
+Some of them have a few nostrums of their own, the composition of which
+is unknown to every one but themselves.
+
+A Bengalee _kobiraj_ carries a miniature dispensary about him. He takes
+with him a small packet, containing different kinds of pills or powders,
+wrapped up in a piece of paper, in small doses which are commonly used
+twice a day with ginger, honey, betel, roots of doov-grass, &c. He
+seldom uses phials; liquids, when required, are made in a patient's own
+house. His medicines are chiefly made of drugs, but he has neither a
+proper classification of them, nor a complete system of botany. He uses,
+however, certain preparations of oil, which are sometimes beneficially
+administered in chronic cases. These preparations are rather expensive,
+selling from two to ten Rupees per pound. The popularity of some of
+these _kobirajes_ stands very high in Native public estimation. Almost
+every wealthy family in the interior as well as in the Town has its own
+physician. The fee of a quack in the villages is one Rupee on the first
+day of his visit, and he continues to attend twice daily until the
+patient recovers. When completely recovered, the physician gets one or
+two Rupees more, a suit of clothes and some provisions.
+
+The introduction of English medicines into the interior, though not
+scientifically administered in every case, has very considerably
+affected the trade of the native quacks. Their occupation, it may be
+said, is nearly gone, because the doctors of the Bengalee class, more
+systematically trained under the auspices of the Government Vernacular
+Colleges, have, in a manner, superseded them. In strong fevers, instead
+of compelling the patient to fast for twenty-one days or longer, and
+restricting his regimen to parched rice, the Bengalee class doctor first
+reduces him by evacuations,[101] and then gives him either fever
+mixture, or cinchona febrifuge, or quinine mixture as he thinks best.
+In place of warm applications--the quondam regimen of a kobiraj in
+strong fevers--he gives ice or cold water, thus relieving the patient
+from the effects of a merciless abstinence and excessive thirst. On the
+periodical return of the unhealthy season in Bengal, _i. e._, in the
+months of September, October, November and December, when the atmosphere
+is surcharged with a large quantity of vapour, these doctors generally
+reap a harvest of gain from their practice. It should be mentioned,
+however, that their imperfect knowledge and want of sufficient
+experience, are too often attended with the most disastrous results.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[99] The most popular and successful among them are, Gunga Prosad Sen,
+Chunder Coomar Roy, Gopee Bullub Roy, Prosono Chunder Sen, Brojendro
+Coomar Sen, Kally Dass Sen, &c. They profess to practise on the
+principles of _Ayurveda_, the best standard work on Hindoo Medical
+Science, and their mode of treatment is much appreciated by respectable
+Hindoos.
+
+[100] The general climate of Bengal has for some years past become very
+unhealthy, and as fever is the most prevalent epidemic in the Lower
+Provinces, Dr. D. N. Gupto's Mixture has become a patent medicine,
+proving efficacious in the majority of cases, so that the doctor is said
+to have made a very large fortune by the sale of it within a few years.
+As far as success is concerned, Dr. D. N. Gupto has almost become the
+minimized Holloway of Bengal. Several other Native assistant surgeons
+have from time to time endeavoured to offer their anti-malarious mixture
+to the inhabitants of Lower Bengal, but they have signally failed in
+winning public confidence and favor. Attempts at counterfeit trade marks
+have also been tried, but on conviction before a Court of Justice the
+guilty have been punished.
+
+[101] The late indisposition of the Marquis of Ripon gave rise to many
+alarming rumours as to the probable turn and termination of the
+disease--malarious fever--with which he was unhappily attacked during
+his travels to and from Bombay, and which, according to telegraphic
+messages, had considerably weakened his constitution, and diminished the
+wonted activity and vigor of his mind. The antiquated notion that
+violent paroxysm of fever in a European in this country causes the
+abnormal depletion of the system by constant evacuations has still a
+strong hold on the popular mind. Hence a pessimist view was generally
+taken of the speedy and complete recovery of so good and beneficent a
+Governor-General, whose rule, though only just begun, has been happily
+inaugurated by several circumstances of a peculiarly hopeful character,
+tending, in no small degree, to make the people happy and contented by
+anticipation. The termination of the disastrous and ruinous Afghan war,
+the few public utterances of his Lordship bearing on the future policy
+of the Government of India for the general well-being of the subjects,
+and the sure prospect of an abundant harvest, and the consequent
+appreciable reduction in the price of rice--the main staff of life in
+this country--by nearly fifty per cent., have all combined to evoke a
+sincere desire and fervent hope among the people for the long
+continuance of a rule so nobly begun and beneficently administered. May
+undisturbed peace and undiminished plenty and prosperity be the
+distinguishing features of such a liberal, generous and pure
+administration, and may it end fitly what it has begun so auspiciously.
+In speaking thus favorably of the Marquis of Ripon's Government, I
+merely echo the sentiments of my countrymen from one end of the vast
+British Indian empire to the other.
+
+
+
+
+XVII.
+
+HINDOO FEMALES.
+
+
+The condition of a Hindoo female, partially described in the preceding
+pages, is usually deplorable. The changes and vicissitudes to which her
+chequered life is subject are manifold. From the day she is ushered into
+the world to her dissolution, she is surrounded by adventitious
+circumstances, which, from the peculiar constitution of the society in
+which her life is cast, contain a larger admixture of misery than of
+happiness. Weak and frail as she assuredly is made by nature, the
+conventional forms and social usages to which she is religiously
+enjoined to adhere alike tend to deprive her of temporal and spiritual
+happiness. Born under unfavorable circumstances chiefly by reason of her
+sex, her life is rendered doubly miserable by the galling chains of
+ignorance and superstition. "Accursed the day when a woman child was
+born to me," was the emphatic exclamation of a Rajpoot when a female
+birth was announced. "The same motive," says Colonel Tod, "which studded
+Europe with convents, in which youth and beauty were immured until
+liberated by death, first prompted the Rajpoot to infanticide: and,
+however revolting the policy, it is perhaps kindness compared to
+incarceration. There can be no doubt that monastic seclusion, practised
+by the Frisians in France, the Langobardi in Italy and the Visigoths in
+Spain, was brought from Central Asia, the cradle of the Goths.[102] It
+is in fact a modification of the same feeling, which characterizes the
+Rajpoot and the ancient German warrior,--the dread of dishonor to the
+fair: the former raises the poniard to the breast of his wife rather
+than witness her captivity, and he gives opiate to the infant, whom, if
+he cannot portion and marry to her equal, he dare not see degraded."
+Descending from the lofty ideal of a chivalrous Rajpoot character to the
+more familiar portraiture of tame Hindoo life in Bengal, we find the
+same sad destiny is the portion of a female in both cases. "When a
+female is born no anxious inquiries await the mother--no greetings
+welcome the new comer, who appears an intruder on the scene, which often
+closes in the hour of its birth. But the very silence with which a
+female birth is accompanied forcibly expresses sorrow." In almost every
+stage of life, from infancy to old age, her existence presents a uniform
+picture of gloominess, uncertainty, despondency, and neglect. Freedom of
+thought and independence of action--the natural birthrights of a
+rational being--are denied her not by her Creator but by a selfish,
+narrow-minded and crafty priesthood. She is treated and disposed of as
+if she were entirely destitute of the feelings and ideas of a sentient
+being. She dare not emerge from the unhealthy seclusion of the closely
+confined _andarmahal_, or female department, where suspicions and
+jealousies, envy and malignity are not unfrequently brewing in the
+boiling caldron of domestic discord. Born within the precincts of an
+ill-ventilated zenana, and cooped up in the cage of an uncongenial cell,
+she is destined to breathe her last in that unwholesome retreat.
+
+A European lady can have no idea of the enormous amount of misery and
+privation to which the life of a Hindoo female is subjected. In her
+case, the bitters far counterbalance the sweets of life. The natural
+helplessness of her condition, the abject wretchedness to which she is
+inevitably doomed, the utter prostration of her intellect, the
+ascendency of a dominant priesthood exacting unquestioning submission
+to its selfish doctrines, the unmerited neglect of an unsympathetic
+world, and the appalling hardships and austerities which she is
+condemned to endure in the event of the death of her lord, literally
+beggar description. All the graces and accomplishments with which she is
+blessed by nature, and which have a tendency to adorn and ennoble
+humanity, are in her case unreasonably denounced as unfeminine
+endowments and privileges, to assert which is a sacrilegious act.
+
+If she is ever happy, she is happy in spite of the cruel ordinances of
+her lawgiver, and the still more cruel usages and institutions of her
+country. Manu, the greatest fountain of authority, has expressly
+inculcated the doctrine that no man other than a Brahmin should receive
+the blessings of knowledge, and much more severely was the rule enforced
+in the case of females, who were held to be naturally unfit for mental
+culture! It was worse than a blasphemy to attempt to educate a female;
+she was born in ignorance, she must die in ignorance. All the horrors of
+a premature and certain widowhood were pictured forth to her eyes, were
+she to make an effort to enlighten her mind.[103] How shamefully
+contracted were the views of the Hindoo lawgiver in respect of the
+progressive development of the human intellect! His prohibitory
+injunction was and is now more honored in the breach than in observance.
+
+From the moment a female child is brought into the world, a new source
+of anxiety arises in the minds of its parents, which becomes more and
+more intense as it advances in years. The thought of educating the child
+is not what troubles their heads, it is a thought which is at the
+furthest remove from their imagination; but the idea how to dispose of
+it in the world continually preys on their minds. The child, perfectly
+unconscious of the fate that awaits it, begins to handle the playthings
+set before it, and as nature in almost every case works intuitively, it
+soon learns to make a miniature kitchen with earthen pots and pans
+resembling that in the midst of which it has to spend the greater
+portion of its existence. It is a noteworthy fact that a Hindoo lady
+even when placed in affluent circumstances does not consider it beneath
+her dignity to occasionally take a part in the _cuisine_, or at least in
+making preparations for the same, though the family has professional
+cooks in its employ, the principal object being to feed her husband and
+children with extra delicacies prepared with her own hand. Instead of
+idle and unprofitable talk and scandalous gossipings, reflecting on the
+characters of others, such an occupation is deserving of
+commendation.[104]
+
+When six or seven years of age, the mother endeavours to initiate the
+girl in the first course of simple _Bratas_ or religious vows, which are
+destined, as has been already shewn, to exercise a vast influence on her
+mind. The germs of superstition being thus sown so early take a deep
+root. Meanwhile the anxiety of the mother for her marriage increases
+with her growth. Numerous proposals are received and rejected, till at
+length a selection is made according to the rules stated in a former
+sketch. In this manner, persons are married with as much indifference as
+cattle are yoked together, they are disposed of according to the
+judgment of their parents, without the parties, who are to live together
+till death, having the slightest opportunity of seeing each other, much
+less of studying each other's disposition.
+
+If a female child possess, as is very rarely the case, finely chiselled
+features, embodying the ideal of a Hindoo beauty, the breast of the
+mother is freed for a time, but for a time only, from perturbation or
+internal agitation. It may be she is congratulated on the birth of so
+beautiful a child, and it is but natural that she should indulge in
+pleasant delusions about the future of her offspring. She looks forward
+to a match at once desirable and happy. Fed with such hopes, she
+cherishes many a fond idea of the wealth of joys in store for her
+daughter. But how often are our brightest hopes blasted by the ruthless
+hand of fortune.
+
+If, on the contrary, the girl be deficient in beauty, the bosom of the
+mother is perpetually disturbed by gloomy forebodings, which no worldly
+advantage can effectually remove, no reasoning can sufficiently
+suppress. The reassuring admonition of congenial minds may sustain her
+spirits for a time, but whenever alone or disengaged from the toils of
+domestic duties, her mind almost involuntarily reverts to the future
+destiny of the girl. As day by day she grows older, and her features
+begin to assume a more distinctive form, the deformity, which was but
+faintly perceived at first, becomes more striking. The mother herself,
+perhaps, being a living illustration of how fruitless were the attempts
+of her parents to secure for her a desirable match, naturally feels a
+strong misgiving as to the good fortune of her child.
+
+While the hearts of the parents are thus filled with disquieting
+thoughts, the girl is perfectly unconscious of the fate that awaits
+her. She laughs and sports about, regardless of what is written on her
+forehead by the _Bidhata pooroosh_. The performance of the religious vow
+in her infancy, having for its object the securing a good husband, might
+incidentally remind her of marriage, but the thought passes off in a
+moment like the streaks of a morning cloud. Hence it has been justly
+said that the happiest days in the life of a Hindoo female are those
+preceding her marriage. If in Bengal, under the paternal care of a
+Christian Government, she is not permitted to become a victim to the
+poppy at her dawn, or the flames at her riper years, like her Rajpoot
+sister in times of yore, she is ever and anon subject to the appalling
+hardships of a _bidhaba_ life, or widowhood. Though too young to fully
+realise the thousand and one evils of such a wretched existence, yet the
+living examples she daily and hourly sees around her make, to use a
+native phrase, "her hands and feet enter into her belly."
+
+To those who have studied the existing state of Hindoo society, it is a
+matter no less of wonder than of gratulation that the system of early
+marriage, the arbitrary manner in which it is consummated, and the utter
+absence of the voice and consent of the parties thus affianced, deriding
+the very idea of the slightest opportunity being given to study each
+other's disposition and habitude, should produce such a large amount of
+conjugal felicity, which is the fundamental object of this solemn
+compact. In every nation removed from barbarism, marriage is a
+recognised ordinance, alike sanctioned by the law of God and the law of
+man. It is a solemn covenant between a man and a woman to love each
+other through all the vicissitudes of life, till the union is dissolved
+by the death of either. We may go further and say that even then the tie
+of relationship does not become totally extinct, inasmuch as the party
+surviving has to provide for the nurture and education of children,
+should there be any. Such being the nature of a matrimonial engagement,
+it is next to impossible that a boy of fourteen wedded to a girl of nine
+should be capable of forming an adequate idea of the grave
+responsibility. The evil must work its own remedy with the general
+spread of education and the growth of a sound system of domestic and
+social economy, because the existing one is unhealthy and unnatural. It
+is useless to dilate on the evil consequences of early marriage, they
+are clearly apparent in the every-day life of a Hindoo.
+
+Nature is so propitious to us in every respect that out of evil she
+brings good. When the female, destitute as she is of the blessings of
+knowledge, becomes the mother of several children, she is raised to the
+rank of a governess, or in other words, she becomes a _ghinni_, or head
+of the family. To all intents and purposes, she seems to understand her
+duties so thoroughly that almost instinctively she exercises a salutary
+control over a number of young girls, newly married, corrects all
+improprieties of conduct, and teaches them to cherish feelings of mutual
+kindness, love and affection.
+
+In many cases, however, it must be acknowledged, the custom of several
+families--all branches of the same stem,--living together under one
+roof, is a fruitful source of evil, often embittering the sweet
+enjoyments of a peaceful conjugal life. Where there is no harmony among
+the several female members of a family, the slightest misunderstanding
+occasions bitterest quarrels, especially when there is no recognised
+_ghinni_ or female head to check the same, or reconcile the parties by
+matronly advice. For instance, if one son in a family be well-to-do in
+the world, and another does not possess the same advantages, it is ten
+to one but that the wife of the former constantly advises him to mess
+separately, if not to remove to a different house, and as unequal
+combination is always disadvantageous to the weaker side, the latter has
+to put up with slights and indignities which are oftentimes unbearable,
+and terminate in a separation either in food or domicile, or both. It is
+a well established fact that a woman is the principal cause of a
+disruption between brothers and other members of a family. Though she is
+mild, soft, kind and flexible, yet she belies her nature when sordid
+self and mean avarice exert a dominant sway over her mind. Stinted in
+her culture and contracted in her views, Mammon is her god, and she
+looks to the welfare of her husband and her own children as the chief
+end of her existence. She is naturally loath to give a share of the
+affection of her husband to a rival; she also cannot brook the idea of
+frittering his earnings among his kindred. I have known of the most
+affectionate and devoted of brothers not being able to see each other's
+face under the all powerful influence of petticoat government. A
+European becomes a housekeeper as soon as he marries. The arrangement is
+an excellent one, no doubt, and as educated Hindoos are very much
+disposed to imitate English manners, the practice where feasible is
+gradually gaining ground, despite the prevalence of the old patriarchal
+system throughout the greater portion of the country. There is a common
+native saying, which runs thus: "as many brothers, so many abodes." It
+is to a certain extent a striking illustration of the existing state of
+things; harmony and peace can scarcely be found in a family where
+brothers are swayed, as they must be, by the irresistible influence of
+their wives.[105] To the credit of the patriarchal system, there still
+exist in every part of the country numerous families that scout the idea
+of a segregation.
+
+Turning from the dark to the bright side of the picture, it is
+gratifying to observe that of late years, attention has been directed
+to, and laudable exertions are being made for, the education of Hindoo
+females. Nothing can compare in importance with the steady progress of
+this movement. After the movement had been begun by the Missionary
+Societies, the late Hon. Mr. Drinkwater Bethune gave an important
+impetus to this noble cause from the side of Government. These examples
+have since been followed up by other devoted friends of native
+improvement, and the Government has fully recognised the paramount
+importance of the object. This combination of efforts has already
+produced the most gratifying results. That there is a growing desire for
+learning among the females by the study of such elementary books,
+Bengallee and English, as have a tendency to improve their
+understanding, is a patent fact. Not only young girls, whose age permits
+them to attend schools, but grown up ladies, who are confined within the
+precincts of a zenana, are alike influenced by this commendable desire.
+Almost every respectable Hindoo family in Calcutta has a Christian
+governess, who besides giving primary and Bible instruction, teaches all
+sorts of needle-work--an art in which considerable progress has been
+made within the last few years.[106] This is an indication of the growth
+of a refined taste which is a great step towards the cause of national
+improvement. As we have said elsewhere, instead of spending their time
+in idle talk and unprofitable occupation, if not in unpleasant
+dissension, they now vie with each other in producing works of art and
+usefulness, and as a matter of course the annual distribution of rewards
+is a great incentive to exertion. It is devoutly to be wished that this
+desire for learning and taste for works of art should gradually spread
+and be appreciated throughout the length and breadth of the land. In the
+interior, however, the mass of the people of all ranks and of both sexes
+are still as remote from the influence of this improvement as they were
+centuries ago.
+
+It is a pity that Hindoo females are withdrawn from schools the moment
+they are married; this is an insuperable obstacle to the full
+development of their mental powers. The progress made by some of them in
+the zenana is really very creditable, and challenges the commendation of
+all who have the elevation of native female character at heart. They are
+not only assiduous in the cultivation of feminine graces and
+accomplishments, but their superior grasp of thought and language rank
+them among the literary women of their country. Some thirty years back
+the Hindoo females of Bengal were immersed in ignorance; they were
+represented as degraded beings incapable of improvement; not one in a
+thousand could read or write; but since proper steps have been taken to
+remove this national reproach, they have evinced an ardent desire to
+enrich their minds by a course of study which, though not profound, is
+well fitted to adorn female life. The English Church Mission, "The
+Scottish Ladies' Association," a department of the Church of Scotland
+Mission, the Free Church Mission, the American Mission, &c. are all
+doing an incalculable amount of good by their disinterested efforts to
+impart the blessings of knowledge to such zenana females as are
+precluded by being married from attending schools. The complete
+regeneration of India cannot be expected until the emancipation of the
+females is accomplished, practically proving to the world, as it has
+already done in a very limited degree, the palpable absurdity of Manu's
+interdictory edict, restraining them from cultivating their intellectual
+powers.
+
+As a proof of the progress already made in the _higher_ branches of
+female education, it is gratifying to state that two young ladies passed
+the First Arts' Examination of the Calcutta University at the end of
+last year. One of these was trained in the Bethune School, and the other
+in the Free Church Normal School. This examination represents a very
+considerable amount of acquirement, and is next to the B. A. Several
+other female candidates also passed the Entrance or Matriculation
+Examination at the same time. Similar progress has been reported from
+the Madras Presidency.
+
+Authentic history furnishes abundant evidence of the prevalence of
+female education in the country to a considerable extent, until
+Mahomedan oppression not only proscribed Hindoo women from pursuing a
+literary career, but ultimately dragged them into a state of unhealthy
+seclusion for the preservation of their honor, which they valued more
+than their very life. In Rajpootana every respectable female was
+instructed to read and write. Of their intellectual endowments and
+knowledge of mankind, whoever has had opportunities of conversing with
+them could not fail to form a favorable impression.[107]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[102] "The Ghikers, a Scythic race, inhabiting the banks of the Indus,
+at an early period of history were given to infanticide". "It was a
+custom," says Ferishta, "as soon as a female child was born, to carry
+her to the market place, and there proclaim aloud, holding the child in
+one hand, and a knife in the other, that any one wanting a wife might
+have her; otherwise she was immolated. By this means they had more men
+than women, which occasioned the custom of several husbands to one wife.
+When any husband visited her, she set up a mark at the door, which being
+observed by the others, they withdrew till the signal was removed."
+
+[103] The Hindoo lawgivers, whatever their shortcomings in other
+respects, showed a great insight into human nature when they looked more
+to women than men for the comparative stability of their doctrines. That
+the perpetual ignorance of the former promises a permanent harvest of
+gain to the hierarchy, is quite evident. If a correct return were
+available as to the number of pilgrims who periodically visit the
+different holy places throughout the country, it would doubtless
+establish the fact that upwards of two-thirds of such pilgrims are
+females. If it were not for their pertinacious adherence to their
+traditional faith, the Brahminical creed, at least in the great centres
+of education, would have long since fallen into desuetude. The blind
+unquestioning faith of the female devotees in their gods and goddesses
+is the great secret of the very high estimation in which they are still
+held. If we educate the females and gradually disabuse their minds of
+early prejudices, we not only lay the axe at the very root of idolatry,
+but pave the way for the ultimate recognition of the true religion.
+
+[104] The late Baboo Rajbullub Roy Chowdhry, of Baripore, a very wealthy
+zemindar, south of Calcutta, used, it was said, to bring up the girls of
+his family, which was almost a small colony, in the art of cooking all
+sorts of native dishes, from the highly spiced _polowya_ to simple
+_dhall-bath_ and vegetable curry; he also taught them to bring up water
+for culinary purposes from a tank inside of the house in silver _ghara_
+or pots. Though he possessed the most practical of all worldly
+advantages,--the power of a purse,--yet he did not hesitate to initiate
+the girls in the art of cooking, that they may be fully prepared to
+perform the duty in case of necessity. I can easily cite other instances
+of a similar nature, but I believe they are not necessary.
+
+[105] At the time of the _Churruck Poojah_ or swinging festival, which
+takes place about the middle of April, the _Khasharees_ or Braziers of
+Calcutta are accustomed to make _Sungs_ or caricature-representations of
+different sorts of familiar scenes, illustrative of the prevailing
+manners of the present age. In many cases they hit off the mark so
+admirably that they cannot fail to make a deep impression on the popular
+mind. Among other representations they once exhibited a caricature of a
+son taking a wife on his shoulder, while dragging a mother by a rope
+round her neck, exemplifying thereby the respective estimation in which
+each is held.
+
+[106] An annual fair or _mela_ is held near Calcutta, at which the best
+specimens of needle-work executed by Hindoo females are exposed to
+public view, and prizes awarded by European and Native gentlemen. Great
+credit is due to Baboo Nobo Gopal Mitter, the editor of the National
+Paper, for this annual exhibition. Unfortunately the _mela_ is
+languishing for want of sufficient public support.
+
+[107] "I have conversed for hours," says Colonel Tod, "with the Boondi
+queen-mother on the affairs of her government and welfare of her infant
+son, to whom I was left guardian by his dying father. She had adopted me
+as her brother: but the conversation was always in the presence of a
+third person in her confidence, and a curtain separated us. Her
+sentiments shewed invariably a correct and extensive knowledge, which
+was equally apparent in her letters, of which I had many. I could give
+many similar instances. The history of India is filled with anecdotes of
+able and valiant females. Ferishta in his history gives an animated
+picture of _Durgavati_, queen of Gurrah, defending the rights of her
+infant son against Akbar's ambition. Like another Boadicea, she headed
+her army, and fought a desperate battle with Asoph Khan, in which she
+was wounded and defeated; but scorning flight, or to survive the loss of
+independence, she, like the Roman of old in a similar predicament, slew
+herself on the field of battle."
+
+The accomplished Maharatta lady--Roma Bai--who lately visited Calcutta,
+affords a remarkable example of an educated Hindoo woman. She is an
+excellent Sanskrit scholar, well read in _Sreemut Bhagabat_. Several
+Pundits were astonished at her wonderful acquirements.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+POLYGAMY.
+
+
+In this, as well as in some other eastern countries, polygamy has from
+time out of mind been in existence. That it is subversive of moral order
+and of conjugal felicity, is admitted by all who have paid the slightest
+degree of attention to the very many evil consequences of this abnormal
+institution. It is a violation of a just and divine law, opposed to the
+nurture and education of children, and inconsistent with the due
+equality of the sexes. In every country where this obnoxious practice
+prevails, and is dignified with the hallowed name of a social and
+religious ordinance, as is done in India, woman occupies a degraded
+position, and society is rude and unexpansive in its character. The most
+heinous crimes are committed without remorse, and conscience is seared,
+as it were, with a red-hot iron. "Nature has designed woman to be the
+equal of man as a moral and intellectual being; and confined to the
+exercise of her own proper duties as a wife and mother, she is placed in
+a favourable position as relates to her own happiness and the happiness
+of her husband." Much of the civilization of Europe is due to the high
+position of the fair sex in the social scale. Their education, their
+capacity for rearing their children in orderly and virtuous habits,
+their elevated conceptions of a Supreme Being, their social and domestic
+manners, the purity of their lives, their natural tenderness and
+affection, their freedom, and the moral influence of their actions on
+society, give them a rank in no way inferior to that of the other sex.
+But in this country, it is painful to realise that they are not only
+denied the inestimable blessings of a good education but that their
+first lawgiver has condemned them to a state of abject servitude.
+"Women have no business" says Manu, "with the text of the Veda, this is
+the law fully settled: having, therefore, no evidence of law, and no
+knowledge of expiatory texts, sinful women must be as foul as falsehood
+itself; and this is a fixed rule. Through their passion for men, their
+mutable temper, their want of settled affection, and their perverse
+nature, (let them be guarded in this world ever so well,) they soon
+become alienated from their husbands." Manu allotted to such women "a
+love of their bed, of their seat, and of ornament, impure appetites,
+wrath, weak flexibility, desire of mischief and bad conduct. Day and
+night must women be held by their protectors in a state of dependence."
+Apart from their practically servile condition, the apparent complacence
+with which polygamy is tolerated, and the facility with which a
+plurality of wives can be obtained, are circumstances which poison the
+perennial source of conjugal felicity, reduce them to a state of moral
+and intellectual degradation, and sap the very foundation of virtue. "A
+barren wife," says Manu, "may be superseded by another in the eighth
+year; she whose children are all dead, in the tenth; she who brings
+forth only daughters, in the eleventh year; she who speaks unkindly,
+without delay." Bullal Sen, who, if I mistake not, had first established
+the system of _Koolinism_ in Bengal, and prescribed certain rules in
+favor of polygamy, was singularly deficient in foresight and wisdom when
+he entirely overlooked the evil consequences inseparable from this
+monstrous matrimonial arrangement, so pregnant with mischief in whatever
+aspect we view it. Any artificial institution which is subversive of
+divine law will, in the main, prove highly unfavourable to the best
+interests of society. The marriage of a man with but one wife is an
+arrangement which should never be departed from. To dispose of the
+ministering angels of our existence, without the slightest regard to
+their future happiness, and yoke them to an unprincipled libertine, or
+a Koolin perhaps on the verge of his grave, is a system alike
+destructive of all social, benevolent and humane feelings. A Koolin has
+no regard, much less sympathy, for any one of his numerous wives, on the
+contrary he looks to them for gain and other worldly advantages. It is a
+notorious fact that Koolin wives after their marriage almost invariably
+live with their parents, thus virtually closing all avenues to the
+growth of affection between the husband and wife. The one is as
+estranged from the other as if there had been no bond of union between
+them. As the temptations to vicious indulgences are so very powerful and
+numerous in this wicked world of ours, the unscrupulous Koolin females
+of the sacerdotal class often sacrifice chastity at the altar of
+sensuality. The perpetration of the most horrible crimes is the
+necessary effect. The fault does not rest so much with the poor
+unfortunate females as with the diabolical system which openly tolerates
+and religiously upholds polygamy. That it is an unnatural state, even
+the most thoughtless will readily admit. In every case it is the source
+of perpetual disputes and misery. Domestic happiness can have no place
+in a family in which more than one wife lives. I have known many a
+person who under the impulse of passion had entered into this unnatural
+state deplore it as the greatest of all domestic afflictions. Even
+separate cook rooms, separate apartments, and separate _mehals_, and
+dining and sleeping alternately with two wives with the greatest
+punctuality, and giving the same set of ornaments to both, were not
+enough to ensure harmony, peace and tranquillity. Indeed it has become a
+proverb among the Hindoos, that "one wife would rather go with her
+husband to the gloomy regions of _yama_ (Pluto) than see him sit with
+the other." As has already been described, a tender girl of five years
+of age is, as her _first_ instruction before emerging from her nursery,
+initiated into the _Brata_ or religious vow of _Sayjooty_, the primary
+object of which is the ruin and destruction of a _Sateen_ or rival wife.
+The germs or jealousy against, and contempt for, a rival being thus sown
+so early, they take deep root and expand in time so as to become
+absolutely ineradicable.
+
+When the presence of two wives in the same house is attended with so
+much disquietude, the evil arising from the practices of professional
+Koolins is much greater. They are married to a number of females whose
+prospect of connubial bliss is as remote as the poles are asunder.
+Instead of true love and genuine attachment, the legitimate conditions
+of matrimony, the natural apathy of the husband is often requited by the
+infidelity of his numerous wives; nor can it be otherwise, the visits of
+the husband being, like those of a meteor, few and far between. Being
+destitute of the finer susceptibilities of human nature, and looking
+upon matrimony as a matter of traffic, he regards his wives as so many
+automata whose happiness is not at all identified with his own.
+Influenced by a sordid love of gain, bred and brought up in the lap of
+ignorance and laziness, and pampered by effeminate habits, he leads a
+profligate life typical of utter demoralisation. He cares as little for
+the chastity of his wives as a child does for the nicety of his
+playthings. By rank, profession and habit he is a debauchee. His sense
+of female honor is totally blunted. The thought of nurturing and
+educating his numerous children never enters into his mind. He knows not
+how many sons and daughters he has, whether legitimate or illegitimate;
+he is not capable of recognising them, simply because he has seldom or
+never seen their faces. If he keep a register of the number of his
+wives, he keeps no record of the number of his children. When he wants
+money, he pounces on such a father-in-law as can satisfy him. If he keep
+one wife at home, it is not from warmth of affection that he does so,
+but merely for his own convenience and comfort; she is made to discharge
+all the menial offices of a domestic maid-servant. Though never placed
+in affluent circumstances, yet he is the lord of thirty, forty or fifty
+women. It has been very aptly remarked by an eminent writer who had paid
+much attention to the manners and customs of the Hindoos,--that "amongst
+the Turks, seraglios are confined to men of wealth, but here, a Hindoo
+Brahmin, possessing only a shred of cloth and a piece of thread,
+(_poita_) keeps more than a hundred mistresses." Indeed such a system of
+monstrous polygamy is without a parallel in the history of human
+depravity. Prostitution, adultery, and the horrible crime of the
+destruction of the foetus in the womb by means of deleterious drugs
+administered by old women, are the inevitable consequences of this
+unnatural state of things. It is an undeniable fact that the daughters
+of Koolin Brahmins, abandoned by their unprincipled husbands, are often
+led into the forbidden paths of life, partly through the impulse of
+passion amidst the seductions of a wicked world, and partly through
+their exceedingly miserable circumstances. The houses of ill fame in
+Calcutta and other large towns are filled with women of this infamous
+character, and the inhuman practice of _patefalano_ prevails to an
+alarming extent, notwithstanding the increased vigilance of the police.
+Some fifty years ago a number of respectable Hindoos felt so disgusted
+at the mischievous tendency of the Koolin system of marriage that they
+were on the eve of memorialising the Government to put down the practice
+by a legislative enactment, such as had been done in the prohibition of
+_sati_ or female immolation, but they were assured that the authorities
+would not interfere in the domestic and social usages of the people.
+
+It is gratifying to observe, however, that the growth of intelligence
+and the march of intellect has of late years greatly counteracted the
+influence of this monstrous evil. If the Rulers will not attempt to
+abolish a social system opposed to the feelings of natural affection by
+the denunciation of the severest temporal penalties, the good sense of
+the people who are victimised by it must be appealed to for its total
+suppression.
+
+The following extract from Mr. Ward's excellent work on the Hindoos will
+give the reader an idea of the fearful extent to which Koolinism
+prevailed in Bengal some fifty or sixty years back, when English
+education could scarcely be said to have commenced the work of
+reformation or rather disintegration.
+
+"Notwithstanding the predilection for _koolins_ they are more corrupt in
+their manners than any of the Hindoos. I have heard of a Koolin Brahmin,
+who, after marrying sixty-five wives, carried off another man's wife, by
+personating her husband. Many of the Koolins have a numerous posterity.
+I select five examples, though they might easily be multiplied: Oodhoy
+Chunder, a Brahmin, late of Bagnapara, had sixty-five wives, by whom he
+had forty-one sons, and twenty-five daughters. Ramkinkur, a Brahmin,
+late of Kooshda, had seventy-two wives, thirty-two sons, and
+twenty-seven daughters. Vishnooram, a Brahmin, late of Gundulpara, had
+sixty wives, twenty-five sons and fifteen daughters. Gouree Churn, a
+Brahmin, late of Treebanee, had forty-five wives, thirty-two sons, and
+sixteen daughters. Ramakant, a Brahmin, late of Bhoosdaranee, had
+eighty-two wives, eighteen sons and twenty-six daughters; this man died
+about the year 1810, at the age of 85 years or more, and was married,
+for the last time, only three months before his death. Most of these
+marriages are sought after by the relations of the female, to keep up
+the honor of their families; and the children of these marriages
+invariably remain with their mothers, and are maintained by the
+relations of these females. In some cases, a Koolin father does not know
+his own children."
+
+Not only the rules of caste, but _poverty_ is also a great barrier to
+the marriage of Koolin women, a fact which has been very feelingly
+deplored in the following lines. Maidenly anxiety finds a natural vent
+in them:--
+
+  "Out spake the bride's sister,
+  As she came frae the byre,
+  O! gin I were but married,
+  It's a' that I desire;
+  But we poor folk maun live single,
+  And do the best we can,
+  I dinna care what I should want
+  If I could but get a man.
+  Another, and O! what will come o' me!
+  And O! what will I do?
+  That sic a braw lassie as I
+  Should die for a wooer, I trow."
+
+When Bullal Sen first introduced this obnoxious system, which went under
+the euphonious title of the Order of Merit, he little anticipated that
+the very small seed of mischief he then planted would soon grow into a
+luxuriant tree, and produce an abundant crop of evils, poisoning the
+very source of domestic felicity. It requires no depth of thought to
+predict that the evil is destined to die a natural death, as all such
+social evils are fated to do, when ignorance and superstition are driven
+into their congenial darkness. Though many a Hindoo still lives in the
+sin of polygamy without any particular repentance, yet the irresistible
+progress of virtue, like that of truth, will ultimately teach him that
+it is an unsafe foundation on which to build the sober structure of
+domestic happiness.
+
+The details of the following conversation between a husband, his old
+mother, and his two wives, placed at the disposal of the writer by a
+friend, may, he trusts, not be out of place:--
+
+"What is this noise for," exclaims Radhamoney, a widow, (the name of the
+mother) coming out of the _thacoor ghur_ in which she was worshipping;
+"this noise, this tumult, this quarrel, this wringing of the hands,
+these curses will surely drive away Luckhee from the house, it is
+enough to make the devil fly; you have lost every sense of shame, _mago
+ma_, your clamour has deafened my ears, where shall I go? one is apt to
+leave her clothes behind. You have been served right; it was only the
+other day that Grish, (name of the son) lost 5,000 Rupees in a case at
+the Burra Adawlut (High Court.) If I be a _Sati_ (chaste woman), I say,
+you two women (pointing to the two wives) will be beggared and reduced
+to the condition of _harrees_ (those who carry night soil); in what
+unlucky hour did these two women enter the house. You are both
+_Rakhasees_ (female cannibals.) Day by day, sorrow is eating into the
+vitals of my son, his golden body is being darkened every day; Oh!
+_Bidhata_ (God) you have ordained this for me?" "Ullungo (name of the
+maid-servant) what is the cause of this uproar?" asks the mother. "_Ma_,
+what will I say," replies the maid-servant; "the cook _first_ gave the
+_vath_, boiled rice to Comul," (name of the daughter of the first wife).
+"Is this all? nothing more?" continues the mother; "my Bacha (child) has
+had no food for seven days, being ill with fever. You all know this; the
+_kobeeraj_ (physician) this morning has ordered some rice for her,
+whereupon the second wife, all this while roaring and bawling, cursing
+and swearing, stepped forward and said, it is past nine and my Hurree
+(her son's name, 12 years old) has not yet got a morsel, his belly has
+shrunk, and the school time is come; if late, his master will make him
+stand." Radhamoney, the old mother, or _ghini_, sent for the cook, and
+enquired if the rice were ready. "Yes, _ma_, Hurree Baboo came into the
+cook room half an hour ago, and I asked him to take his meal; _chotta
+ma_ (second wife) prevented him, because I _first_ gave the rice to
+Comul who was so long ill." "Where is Hurree now?" enquired the old
+lady. The maid-servant replied "_Chotta ma_ gave him a few pice and told
+him to go to his school, though he could have eaten rice if he liked."
+"Let Grish return home," added the old lady, "and I will tell him to
+send me to Benares without delay; I am sick of your incessant broils;
+for giving Comul rice _first_ you two _bous_ fell into a quarrel, and
+cursed each other so fearfully that you, _burra bou_ (first wife), ate
+the head of Hurree, and you, _chotta bou_ (second wife), ate the head of
+Comul's husband."[108]
+
+It was evening, and Grish, the son, returned home from office. Before he
+had time to take off his office dress, the old mother, impatient to tell
+him what had occurred during the day, and with tears in her eyes, thus
+addressed him: "You, my son, have brought the greatest curse on yourself
+by marrying two wives; to-day the whole family has been starving, and
+why? because Comul, suffering from fever for the last eight days, had
+got a little rice this morning, and she ate _first_; _chotta bou_,
+therefore, prevented her son from eating anything, and sent the little
+_bacha_ to the school without rice. From what _pajee_ (mean) families
+have you brought these two females? I can no longer remain in the house.
+Under the slightest pretext, like infamous wenches, they not only brawl
+but curse each other and the son and son-in-law into the bargain. Can
+Luckhee dwell in such a house? send me to Benares instantly, I can no
+longer live in such a hell of a place. Your wives have made it a regular
+hell." The son consoles the old mother, promising that everything would
+be done according to her wish, begging her at the same time to eat
+something, and adding that he does not mind whether his two wives eat or
+not. After going through the evening service, he slept outside that
+night, pondering what should be done for the future quiet of the family.
+Next day he removed the first wife to her father's house, because the
+second wife is always the _Zuburdust_, imagining that one hand can never
+make a clap. But he was sadly mistaken, the deserted wife, continually
+brooding over her misfortune, at length resolved to put an end to her
+existence, and accordingly one night took an overdose of opium, and bade
+a final adieu to the world.
+
+The above story is founded on real life and should serve as a warning to
+those who under the impulse of passion blindly run into a state of
+polygamy, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest domestic evils among
+the natives.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[108] Eating the head means wishing death. When two rival wives fall out
+they literally become frantic through anger and jealousy. With shaking
+hands and dishevelled locks they abuse and curse each other most
+violently.
+
+
+
+
+XIX.
+
+HINDOO WIDOWS.
+
+
+The system of early marriage, and the barbarous institution of
+condemning a Hindoo female to a life of perpetual widowhood after the
+death of her husband, are evils which cannot be too strongly deprecated.
+In this country, owing to the prevalence of early marriage and the
+manner in which it is consummated, a Hindoo does not become a
+housekeeper immediately after his marriage. The wife generally remains
+one or two years with her parents, occasionally going to her
+father-in-law's house for a few days only; her husband pays her a visit
+now and then, but not without the special invitation of his
+mother-in-law. The object of such an invitation is evidently to make the
+son-in-law behave well towards her daughter. For the attainment of this
+object, as I have described before, no means is left untried. Indeed it
+has become a proverb among the Hindoos that when a man fares
+sumptuously, it is said, he has been fed with all the fondness shown to
+a son-in-law. It has always struck me that if a Hindoo female were
+permitted to re-marry after the death of her first husband, the
+affection of a mother-in-law for a son-in-law would not have been so
+warm as it now is under the existing state of things, which admits of no
+alternative.
+
+Living under the paternal roof for one or two years after her marriage,
+a Hindoo girl sometimes becomes a widow,[109]--a state of life which is
+unspeakably miserable. When a young female of ten or eleven years of age
+loses her husband, with whom perhaps she had scarcely ever exchanged a
+single word, she is quite unconscious of the unmitigated misery she is
+fated to endure for the remainder of her long existence.[110] Deplorable
+as such a condition undoubtedly is, it becomes doubly miserable from the
+cold, uncongenial and unsympathetic atmosphere by which she is
+surrounded, and the uncared-for neglect with which she is treated ever
+afterwards. Except a mother, who can adequately conceive the thousand
+and one miseries which are in store for the daughter? It is a gloomy
+picture from the beginning to the end, and the gloom deepens as time
+rolls over her devoted head. Cursed be the name of the lawgiver who has
+made such a cruel ordinance, and cursed the society that has become a
+thrall to it! Opposed to the feelings of humanity and natural affection,
+the divine lawgiver of the Hindoos, Manu, expressly enjoins that
+"although the state of widowhood might be deemed onerous by the fair sex
+of the west, it would be considered little hardship in the east. Let her
+emaciate her body, by living voluntarily on pure flowers, roots and
+fruits, but let her not, when her lord is deceased, even pronounce the
+name  of another man. A virtuous wife ascends to heaven, if, after the
+decease of her lord, she devote herself to pious austerity; but a
+widow, who slights her deceased husband by _marrying again_, brings
+disgrace on herself here below and shall be excluded from the seat
+of her lord. Abstinence from the common pursuits of life, and
+entire self-denial, are rewarded by high renown in this world, and in
+the next the abode of her lord, and procure for her the title of
+_sadhvi_ or the virtuous." From the above it is evident that widowhood
+has prevailed in this country from time out of mind. Its mischievous
+tendency is apparent in the degraded and corrupt state of female
+society. We can never thoroughly conquer nature; we can never restrain
+our passions so effectually as to render ourselves proof against
+temptation. The frailty of women is admittedly great, and the ease with
+which they may be seduced into the forbidden paths of life is too
+well-known to need being enlarged on. However sedulously a Hindoo mother
+may guard the virtue of her widowed daughter, and however forcibly she
+may inculcate the doctrine of purity of life and manners, it proves but
+a feeble barrier against the irresistible impulse of passion. Numerous
+instances are on record, proving the utter futility of human efforts to
+contend successfully against nature in this respect. A young widow may
+be sent to the holy cities of Benares and Brindabun, where she is not
+unfrequently removed with her mother or grandmother to spend the
+remainder of her days in a state of isolated seclusion and religious
+service, but this is a poor safeguard for the preservation of constancy
+and virtue. Volumes after volumes have been written on the subject,
+denouncing in an unmistakable manner the monstrous perversity of the
+existing system, but the evil has taken such a deep root in the social
+economy of the people that the utmost exertions must be put forth before
+it can be wholly eradicated.
+
+The evils of widowhood are not only confined to the endurance of
+accumulated hardships, and self-denials enough to rend asunder the
+tenderest chord of humanity, but they likewise extend to unlawful
+connections, and the perpetration of another crime, that of abortion,
+which is no less revolting in enormity than infanticide itself. Many
+respectable families, which are otherwise esteemed for their meritorious
+actions, have more or less sunk in honor from this indelible stigma; a
+few have even lost their caste and status in society from the above
+cause. In the primitive state of Hindoo society, when every female other
+than a wife was regarded either as a mother or sister according to age,
+irregular intercourse was almost unknown, but in these days of
+libertinism perfect purity of life is rarely known. Our divine lawgiver,
+in view to the interests of humanity and female honor, ought to have
+made proper provision by lending his authority and sanction to a system
+of widow remarriage within a reasonable period of life. Some such edict
+would have been alike honorable to our venerable sage, and beneficial to
+those who are morally and socially most deeply interested in it; but
+unfortunately his cruel dicta, running counter to the fundamental
+principles of virtue and morality, have necessarily engendered a rank
+crop of evils, undermining the very foundation of human happiness.
+
+The benevolent exertions of that high priest of Nature, Pundit Isswara
+Chunder Vidyasagar, Baboo Keshub Chunder Sen, the Brahmo apostle, and
+other Hindoo reformers, to promote the cause of widow marriage in
+particular, and female emancipation in general, have not, it is sad to
+contemplate, been attended with the measure of success they deserve,
+simply because the state of Hindoo society is not yet ripe for the
+innovation. I am, however, sanguine in my expectation that at no very
+distant future the progress of enlightenment will ultimately bring about
+the consummation so devoutly to be wished for. It is for the advanced
+pioneers to endeavour to remove the incrustation which age and learning
+have formed and tradition and custom enshrined with jealous and sedulous
+care. Until this is done, a Hindoo widow must continue to mourn her lot
+amidst the denunciations of a heartless world. Sighs will never cease
+flowing from her heart so long as she finds herself deprived of the
+master charm of life. She is now cast amongst the dregs and tatters of
+humanity. Bereft of the _substance_ of what endears life to a female,
+she is constrained to cleave to the _shadow_, which is destined to leave
+her when she leaves the light of life. Losing all hope of worldly
+enjoyments, she deposits the treasures of her heart in the sanctuary of
+religion, convinced that to sell the world for the life to come is
+profitable. It is terrible to contemplate the awful amount of physical
+and mental suffering with all its varied complications, to which she is
+doomed; her life is a steadfast battle against misery, her soul soars in
+a vacuum where all is unreal, empty and hollow, and all the sweet
+enjoyments of life fall flat on her taste. Her mental strife is never
+over. She is like a weary swimmer who throws himself back and floats,
+because he is too much exhausted to swim longer, yet will not sink and
+let the cold and merciless water close over his head. Her spirit has
+broken wildly loose from its normal attitude, and her mind is
+overwhelmed in a surging tide of misery. From the day she loses her
+husband, she has a new lease of life, and a miserable lease it must be.
+She will not cease to lament until her soul itself shall die. If she
+could say, joy was once her portion, it lighted on her as the bird rests
+on the tree in passing and takes wing, yet she would now say, her
+existence is so unlife-like that to her death is sweet. She is a poor
+fallen outcast of humanity. No one can enter into her feelings and views
+of things. She has no influence, no control over herself, she cannot
+turn over a new leaf within her own mind. Though society is almost a
+necessity of our existence, yet she lives wholly alone; a cheerless
+train of thoughts always haunts her mind, she feels a dismal void in her
+heart, she finds herself cut off at once and for ever from one most dear
+to her, no conversation, however pleasant, can bring her consolation or
+cheat her grief. The tide of settled melancholy threatens her reason. As
+an outcast, she is religiously forbidden to take a part in any of the
+social and domestic concerns of life, tending to relieve the ennui of a
+wearisome existence, and to enliven the mind for a while. She is a
+living example of an angel sent by heaven to minister to the comforts of
+man, turned by a cruel institution into a curse. Estranged from the
+affection of those who are, by the ties of consanguinity, nearest and
+dearest to her, she passes her days like a recluse, quite apart from the
+communion of society. She stares and gazes wildly at every festive
+celebration, while, as the poet sings,
+
+  "The glad circle round them yield their souls
+  To festive mirth and wit that knows no gall."
+
+If she have longings irrepressible and cravings insatiable to lend her
+hand to any _shoova karma_ (meritorious work), her widowed condition
+interposes an insurmountable barrier to her participation therein, as if
+everything would be desecrated when touched by her polluted hand.
+
+As a sentient being, endowed with all the finer susceptibilities of
+human nature, is it possible that she should so far forget herself as
+not to feel the bitterest pangs of despondency at her hopelessly forlorn
+condition? Driven from the genial atmosphere of a social circle, she
+drags a loathsome existence in this selfish and unsympathetic world.
+Except she that gave her birth, who would deign to look upon her with
+love and affection? Instead of being regarded, as she assuredly should
+be, as the soul of simplicity, a living picture of sweet innocence, she
+is shunned as one whose very presence portends evil. If she possess
+unaffected modesty and a keen sense of honor and virtue, who is to
+recognise and appreciate those amiable qualities in a society which is
+preposterously estranged from all natural susceptibilities? If she have
+riches what would that avail her, a poor misguided victim of
+superstition![111] Her charity, instead of being founded on the catholic
+principles of genuine liberality shewing a discriminate breadth of view,
+too often exhibits an unhappy tenacity of adhesion to exclusiveness in
+the performance of idolatrous ceremonies. If she is placed above the
+atmosphere of artificialness, it is her misfortune to be surrounded by a
+concatenation of conventional restrictions which render her life a
+visible embodiment of helpless misery and anguish, and if she ever
+appeals, she appeals to the Being who is the only friend of the hopeless
+and the poor. To attempt to reconcile a widow to her forlorn lot is to
+tell a patient burning with fever not to be thirsty. Her days are
+dismal, her nights are dreary.
+
+It was the dread of widowhood, and the unmitigated life-long miseries
+inseparable from it, that led fifty wives at a time to ascend the
+funeral pyre of a Rajpoot husband, with all the composure of a
+philosophic mind. It redounds greatly to the credit of the British
+Government that its generous exertions have not only struck the
+death-knell of this inhuman practice, even in the remotest corner of the
+Empire, but, what is more commendable, endeavoured "to heal the wounds
+of a country bleeding at every pore from the fangs of superstition."
+
+Not content with depriving her of the best enjoyments of life which
+society affords, and the laws of God sanction, by condemning her to a
+state of perpetual widowhood, the great lawgiver--the unflinching foe of
+freedom in females--has further enjoined the strict observance of
+certain practices that add gall to her already overflowing cup of
+misery. As has been observed before, she is restricted to one scanty
+meal a day, always of the coarsest description, devoid of fish[112]
+which is generally more esteemed by an _ayistree_ lady than any other
+article of food in her bill of fare. She must religiously fast on every
+_ekadossee_, twice a month, and on all other popular religious
+celebrations. She must bare her body of all sorts of ornaments, even the
+_iron_ and the _gold_ bangles, which once constituted the _summum bonum_
+of her life. As an appropriate substitute for the gold and pearl
+necklaces, she is enjoined to wear a _toolsee mala_ (a basilwood
+chaplet), and count a _toolsee_ wood bead roll for the final rest of her
+soul. She is prohibited from wearing any bordered clothes, a _thayti_
+being her proper garment; she is not permitted to daub her forehead with
+_sidoor_, (vermillion), once the pride of her life when her lord was
+alive; she is forbidden to use any bazar-made article of food, and to
+complete the catalogue of restrictions she sometimes shaves her head
+purposely that she may have an ugly appearance and thereby more
+effectually repel the inroads of a wicked, seductive world.
+
+If she have any children to nurture, the happy circumstance affords a
+great relief to her wearisomely monotonous life. Day and night she
+watches them with great care, and looks forward to their progressive
+development with intense anxiety, forgetting in the plenitude of her
+solicitude her own forlorn condition. Should there be any mishap in
+their case, it causes an irreparable break-down in her spirit, which is
+for ever "sicklied over with the pale cast of thought."
+
+It is a painful fact that riches when not properly used have a tendency
+to corrupt the minds of human beings, and lead them from the path of
+virtue to that of vice. A wealthy widow who has the command of a long
+purse more readily falls a prey to the temptations of the world than one
+who, moving in an humbler sphere of life, has her mind almost wholly
+engrossed with domestic cares, and the thoughts of a future state of
+beatitude. "Verily," as Lord Lytton says, "in the domain of poverty
+there is God's word."
+
+Considering the endless round of hardship and self abnegations to which
+she is inevitably doomed by a terrible stroke of fortune, "which scathes
+and scorches her soul," it is cheering to reflect that she so often
+shines brightest in adversity. Indeed she may be occasionally said "to
+die ten times a day," but her incredible powers of patient endurance,
+coupled with her high sense of female honor, are deserving of the
+highest admiration.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[109] Such a widow is called a _Korayraur_, or one who has never enjoyed
+the company of her husband. A stronger term of female reproach can
+scarcely be found in the Hindoo vocabulary. From the day this terrible
+bereavement occurs she is constrained by conventional rules, in such
+cases, to put off from her hand the _iron bangle_, but owing to her
+tender age she is tacitly permitted to continue to wear the gold bangle
+and a bordered _Saree_ cloth. She is forbidden to use fish--her most
+favorite dish,--and she must partially fast on every _ekadossee_, or
+eleventh day of the increase or decrease of the moon. When she arrives
+at the age of twenty her life presents an unvaried picture of despair
+and wretchedness. She becomes a regular widow.
+
+[110] It has been justly remarked, and I believe is in most cases borne
+out by facts, that a Hindoo widow generally lives to a very long age.
+Her simple and abstemious habits, her devotional spirit, her scanty meal
+once a day, her total abstinence from food of any kind on the eleventh
+day of the increase and decrease of the moon, besides other days of
+close fast, neutralising in a great measure the effects of every kind of
+irregularity from whatever cause arising, and the fearful amount of
+hardships she is accustomed to endure, all contribute to prolong her
+existence. Surely her life may be said to extend in the inverse ratio of
+her misery. It is a common expression used by a Hindoo widow, shewing
+her contempt of life, "will she ever die? _Yama_, Pluto, seems to have
+forgotten her?" If the statistics of the land are consulted, it will
+assuredly be found that Hindoo widows comparatively speaking enjoy a
+longer life than the adult male population, because the latter is
+subject to irregularities and other adverse contingencies of life which
+the former is almost entirely free from. It is not uncommon to see a
+Hindoo widow of eighty, ninety or a hundred years of age. In short,
+nature evidently seems to have exemplified in her the symbol of misery
+associated with longevity.
+
+It is also a remarkable fact that idolatry and superstition chiefly owe
+their continued influence to the wide-spread ignorance of these female
+devotees. At a religious festival, nearly three-fourths of the assembly
+are composed of widows.
+
+[111] The worship of _Juggodhatri_ (mother of the world), is performed
+by a widow for four years successively to forfend the calamity in the
+next birth.
+
+[112] It should be mentioned here that, except the widows of Brahmins
+and Kayestus of Bengal, those of lower orders continue to use fish
+without any scruple. It is a remarkable fact that Hindoo _women_ are
+more fond of fish than _men_. There are some men, especially among the
+_Boystubs_, followers of Krishna, who feel an abhorrence to eat fish at
+all by reason of its offensive smell, but there is not a single woman
+whose husband is alive that can live without it. When a girl becomes a
+widow, she can hardly take half the quantity of boiled rice she was
+accustomed to take before for want of this, to her, necessary article of
+food.
+
+
+
+
+XX.
+
+SICKNESS, DEATH, AND _SHRAD_, OR FUNERAL CEREMONY.
+
+
+As I have said in the beginning that a Hindoo lives religiously and dies
+religiously, so his last days are attended with a degree of melancholy
+interest which is characteristic of the religion which he professes, as
+well as of the race to which he belongs. When a Hindoo becomes seriously
+ill, the first thing he does is to consult the Almanac as to the stellar
+mansion of the period, and engage the officiating priest to perform a
+series of religious atonements, called _sastyana_, for the removal of
+the evil spirit, and the restoration of health. Mornings and evenings
+are dedicated to the service, and the mother or the wife of the patient,
+as the case may be, makes a vow to the gods, promising to present
+suitable offerings on his recovery, for which purpose a small sum of
+money is laid aside as a tangible proof of sincerity. If the patient
+should be a useful member of the family, enjoying a good income, greater
+solicitude is, as must naturally be expected, manifested for his sake
+than for that of an unproductive member; it being not uncommon that a
+whole family, consisting of eight or ten persons, male and female,
+depend for their sustenance on the earnings of a single individual,--the
+inevitable result of a joint Hindoo family. It is customary among the
+Hindoos, as it is among other civilized nations, that when a person is
+ill, his friends and relatives come to see and console him. The sick man
+generally remains in the inner apartment of the house, where the
+females--the ministering angels of life--watch him and administer to his
+comfort. When visitors enter the room, they go away for a time, but it
+must be mentioned that they are not wanting in attention,
+kind-heartedness and careful nursing. Days and nights of watching pass
+over their heads without a murmur, prayers are continually offered to
+the guardian deity for a favorable turn in the fortune of the family,
+and available supernatural agency is secretly employed for the
+attainment of the end. The following conversation will give some idea of
+the melancholy scene:--
+
+Ramkanto (a neighbour), enters the room, and gently accosts Mohun (the
+son of the patient.)
+
+Ramkanto, sitting, asks How is your father? I see he is very much pulled
+down; the times are very bad, I hear of sickness on all sides, when did
+he get ill? Have you seen the almanac? Have you arranged for _sastyana_
+(religious atonement)? Don't you despair. He will get well through the
+blessing of God; who attends him?
+
+Brojobundhoo (doctor) replies Mohun.
+
+Ramkanto. Yes, he is a good doctor, but you must have a good _Khobiraj_
+also (native physician) who understands the _naree_ (pulse) well; these
+English doctors do not much care about the pulse.
+
+Mohun--Well, sir, I have engaged Gopeebullub (native physician) to feel
+the pulse and watch the progress of the disease.
+
+Ramkanto--That is good, Gopeebullub is a very clever physician, though
+not old, he understands pulsation and other symptoms thoroughly. When
+does the fever come on? See, how he remains to-day; should the pulse
+sink after fever, send for an English doctor to-morrow, either Dr.
+Charles or Dr. Coates, both are very good doctors.
+
+Mohun--My uncle gave the same advice.
+
+Ramkanto, (taking Mohun aside) Baba, what will I say? To tell you the
+truth, I have no very great hopes of his recovery, the case is serious,
+if through the blessing of God he gets well, it would be a _second_
+birth; your father has been a great friend of mine, you all know very
+well, he is a staunch Hindoo; in these days of depravity, when the
+customs of the _Mlechas_ (Christians) threaten to obliterate all traces
+of distinction, and merge everything in one homogeneous element after
+the English fashion, very few men are to be found like your father,
+ready to sacrifice his life for the purity of his religion; if his end
+do not accord with his faith, his future state (_parakall_) is
+jeopardised; you, young men may laugh at us, old fools, thinking we have
+no sense; a few pages of English do not make a man learned; English
+shastra does not make us wise unto salvation; one's own religion is the
+best panacea for the good of his _parakall_ or future state. If you lose
+your father, you will never get a father again, he has nourished you
+with care and affection up to this day; as a dutiful son you are bound
+to serve him in this his last stage; you must be prepared to take him to
+the river side when need be, and that is not far distant; if you
+neglect, you commit a very great sin, quite unpardonable. What do
+fathers and mothers wish children for? It is only for the good of the
+_parakall_, and to take them to Gunga (Ganges) in proper time. Let your
+father pass three nights on the river side. I return this afternoon;
+take care, watch him closely and let Gopeebullub see him constantly.
+
+Giving these instructions, Ramkanto goes away. After three or four
+hours, the fever returns, the patient becomes delirious and talks
+nonsense, and the wife becoming very uneasy calls the son in a very
+depressed tone, and tells him to send for the English doctor. The son
+obeying the order sends for the English doctor at once.
+
+After an hour or so, in comes Dr. Charles accompanied by Baboo
+Brojobundhoo. Entering the sick man's room, Dr. Charles examines the
+patient carefully, asks Brojobundhoo what medicines he has been giving
+him, (the women all the while peeping through the window, unable to
+understand what the doctors are talking about), and being satisfied on
+this point, comes out and tells the son that his father is dangerously
+ill, and that his friend's prescriptions are all right; he, Dr. Charles,
+could not do better.
+
+Here enters Ramkanto with two other friends. Before going inside he thus
+speaks to the son: I hear Dr. Charles was here, what did he say? How was
+the fever to-day.
+
+Mohun answers, Dr. Charles said father is very ill, the paroxysm to-day
+was somewhat more violent than that of other days.
+
+Ramkanto--That's bad; day by day the fever eats into the vitals of his
+system. (Here the native physician comes). Well, _Khobiraj Mohashoy_,
+please go and see how the patient is doing? Gopeebullub (native
+physician) goes inside, examines the sick man with great care, satisfies
+the eager enquiries of the women by assuring them that there is no fear,
+and returns outside.
+
+Ramkanto to Gopeebullub--How did you find him? Is the pulse in its right
+place? Do you apprehend any immediate danger? Dr. Charles was here, you
+have heard what he has said, whatever the youngsters may say, I have
+greater confidence in you than in the English doctors; take good care
+and tell us the exact time when to remove the patient to the river side,
+that is our last sacred office; should anything happen at home, which
+God forbid, we shall never be able to show our faces through shame. What
+with such a big son, and so many friends and relations, it would be a
+crying shame if the patient die at home? Destiny will have its course
+but your _hathjuss_ (skill) will go a great way.
+
+Gopeebullub--Everything depends on the will of God, what can we mortals
+do? Whatever fate has ordained must come to pass, we are mere
+instruments in the hands of God; the patient is gradually sinking, the
+pulse neither steady nor in its right place, we must be prepared for the
+worst, a _strong_ pulse in a _weak_ body is an ominous sign, there is no
+fear tonight, I can guarantee that.
+
+Ramkanto--Well, it appears his end is nigh, he is no more destined to
+have rice and water.[113] Then, pointing to Mohun, Ramkanto says,
+to-morrow morning his _Boyetarni_ rite[114] must be performed; make the
+necessary preparations at once, and send a man to procure a cot
+(charpoy), also see that nothing may be wanting to hurry him to the
+riverside.
+
+Mohun--I must do what you bid me do, hitherto I remained behind a
+mountain, now I shall be without protection.
+
+Next morning, the rite of _Boyetarni_ being performed, preparations are
+made to carry the sick man to the river side: all the nearest relations
+and friends assemble, and the patient, then in the full possession of
+his senses, is brought outside and laid on the _charpoy_; his forehead
+is daubed with the mud of the Ganges, and a _toolsee_ plant is placed
+about his head. He is told to repeat the name of his guardian deity, and
+one man going up to him says, let's go to visit the mother Gunga, at
+which he nods; this serves as a signal for lifting the _charpoy_, and
+putting it on the shoulders of four strong persons of equal size. The
+heart-rending scene that ensues hereupon among the females cannot be
+adequately described. Their falling on the ground, their loud and
+affecting cries, the tearing of their dishevelled locks, the wringing of
+their breast, the contortions of their bodies, all produce a mournful
+scene of anguish and despair which my feeble pen can hardly pourtray.
+
+The sick man is thus carried, perhaps a distance of two or three miles,
+in a state of consciousness[115] exposed to all the dangers of
+inclement weather, fully aware of his approaching end, the carriers
+exchanging their shoulders every now and then, and shouting out every
+five minutes, "Hurry, Hurrybole, Gunga Narain, Brahma, Shiva Rama,"
+until they reach their destination, which, in Calcutta, is Nimtollah
+Ghaut, on the banks of the Hooghly.[116] When the _charpoy_ on which the
+sick man is borne is placed on the ground, some one calls out to the
+patient to see the sacred stream, which he does in a state of mind that
+can be better imagined than described. On opening his eyes he beholds a
+dark, gloomy scene, the ghastliness of which is enough to strike horror
+into the heart of the most callous and indifferent. Here a dying man
+suffering from the convulsive agony of acute pain, is, perhaps, gasping
+for breath, there a fellow mortal is taken in a hurry to the very edge
+of the holy water to breathe out the last flicker of life; to deepen the
+gloom perhaps a corpse borne on a Hindoo hearse is just brought to the
+Ghaut amidst the vociferous cries of "Hurry, Hurrybole," which is a
+significant death-warrant.
+
+            "'Tis too horrible;
+  The weariest and most loathed earthly life
+  Which age, ache, penury, and imprisonment
+  Can lay on nature, is a paradise
+  To what we fear of death?"
+
+Can imagination conceive a more dismal, ghastly scene? But religion has
+crowned the practice with the weight of national sanction, and thus
+deadened the finer sensibilities of our nature. Sad as this picture is,
+the most staunch advocate of liberalism can hardly expect to escape such
+a fate. To a person accustomed to such scenes, death, and its
+concomitant agony, loses half its terrors. How many Hindoos are annually
+hurried to their eternal home by reason of this superstitious, inhuman
+practice? Instances are not wanting to corroborate the truth of this
+painful fact. Persons entrusted with the care and nursing of a dying man
+at the burning Ghaut soon get tired of their charge, and rather than
+administer to his comfort, are known to resort to artificial means,
+whereby death is actually accelerated. They unscrupulously pour the
+unwholesome, muddy water of the river down his already choked throat,
+and in some cases suffocate him to death. "These are not the ebullient
+flashes from the glowing caldron of a kindled imagination," but
+undeniable facts founded on the realities of life.
+
+The process of Hindoo _antarjal_ or immersion is another name for
+suffocation. Life is so tenacious, especially in what the Hindoos call
+_old bones_, or aged persons, that I have seen some persons brought back
+home after having undergone this murderous process nine or ten times in
+as many days. The patient, perhaps an uncared-for widow cast adrift in
+the world, retaining the faculty of consciousness unimpaired, is willing
+to die rather than continue to drag on a loathsome existence, but nature
+would not readily yield the vital spark. In spite of repeated murderous
+processes, the apparently dying flicker of life would not become
+extinct. In the case of an aged man, the return home after _immersion_
+is infamously scandalous, but in that of an aged widow the disgrace is
+more poignant than death itself. I have known of an instance in which
+an old widow was brought back after fifteen _immersions_, but being
+overpowered by a sense of shame she drowned herself in the river after
+having lived a disgraceful life for more than a year. As I have observed
+elsewhere, no expression is more frequent in the mouth of an aged widow
+than the following: "Shall I ever die?" Scarcely any effort has ever
+been made to suppress or even to ameliorate such a barbarous practice,
+simply because religion has consecrated it with its holy sanction.
+
+But to return to the thread of my narrative, the sick man dies after a
+stay of four days at the Ghaut, suffering perhaps the most excruciating
+pangs and agony generally attendant on a deat-bed. The names of his gods
+are repeatedly whispered in his ears, and the consolations of religion
+are offered him with an unsparing hand, in order to mitigate his
+sufferings, and if possible to brighten his last hours. The corpse is
+removed from the resting place to the burning Ghaut, a distance of a few
+hundred yards, and preparations for a funeral pile are speedily made.
+The body is then covered with a piece of new cloth and laid upon the
+pyre, the upper and lower part of which is composed of firewood,
+faggots, and a little sandalwood and ghee to neutralize the effects of
+effluvia. The _Marooyapora_ Brahmin,[117] (an outcast) reads the
+formula, and the son or the nearest of kin sets fire to the pile; the
+body is consumed to ashes, but the navel remaining unburnt is taken out
+and thrown into the river. Thus ends the ceremony of cremation; the son
+putting a few jars of holy water on the pile, bathes in the stream, and
+returns home with his friends, changing his old garment for new white
+clothes, called _uttary_, on one end of which is fastened an iron key to
+keep off evil spirits. It is worthy of remark here, that providence is
+so propitious to us in every respect that in a few hours the son becomes
+reconciled to his unhappily altered circumstances caused by the loss of
+his father; instead of bemoaning his loss in a despondent frame of mind,
+he is soon awakened to a sense of his new responsibility.
+
+On reaching the gate of the house, all persons touch fire, and putting
+_neem_ leaves and a few grains of _kalie_ (a kind of pulse) into the
+mouth, cry out as before "Hurrybole, Hurrybole" and enter the house. The
+lamentation of the females inside the house, which was suppressed for a
+while through sheer exhaustion, is instantly renewed at the sound of
+"Hurrybole," as if fresh fuel were added to the flame, and every voice
+is drowned in the overwhelming surge of grief. Their melancholy strain,
+their pointed, pathetic allusion to the bereavement, the cadence of
+their plaintive voices, the utter dejection of their spirit, their loud,
+doleful cries reverberating from one side of the house to the other, the
+beating of their breasts, and the tearing of their hair, are too
+affecting not to make the most obdurate shed tears of sorrow.
+
+The son, from the hour of his father's death to the conclusion of the
+funeral ceremony, is religiously forbidden to shave, wear shoes, shirts,
+or any garment other than the piece of white cloth, his food being
+confined to a single meal consisting only of _atab_ rice, _khasury
+dhall_ (a sort of inferior pulse) milk, ghee, sugar and a few fruits,
+which must be cooked either by his mother or his wife; at night he takes
+a little milk, sugar and fruits. This course of _regime_ lasts ten days
+in the case of a Brahmin, and thirty-one days in that of a
+_Soodra_.[118] Here the advantages of the privileged class are twofold;
+(1), he has to observe the rigid discipline for ten days only; (2), he
+has ample excuse for small expenditure at the funeral ceremony on the
+score of the shortness of time. This austere mode of living for a month
+in the case of a _Kayast_, by far the most aristocratic and influential
+portion of the Hindoo population, serves as a tribute of respect and
+gratitude to the memory of a departed father. As the country is now in a
+transition state, a young educated Hindoo does not strictly abide by the
+above rule, but breaks it privately in his mode of living, of which the
+inmates of the family only are cognisant. He repudiates publicly what he
+does privately. Thus the outer man and the inner man are not exactly one
+and the same being, he dares not avow without what he does within, in
+short, he plays the hypocrite. But an orthodox Hindoo observes the rule
+in all its integrity, he is more consistent if not more rational, he
+does not play a double game, but conforms to the rules of his creed with
+scrupulous exactness.
+
+Fifteen or sixteen days after the demise of his father, the son, if
+young, is assisted by his friends in drawing an estimate of the probable
+cost of the approaching _Shrad_ or funeral ceremony. In the generality
+of cases, an estimate is made out according to the length of the purse
+of the party; a few exceed it under a wrong impression that a debt is
+warranted by the special gravity of the occasion, which is one of great
+merit in popular estimation.[119]
+
+The Sobha Bazar Rajah family, the Dey family of Simla, the Mullick and
+Tagore families of Patooriaghatta, all of Calcutta, were said to have
+spent upwards of L20,000 or two lacks of Rupees each on a funeral
+ceremony. They not only gave rich presents to almost all the learned
+Brahmins of Bengal, in money and kind, fed vast crowds of men of all
+classes, but likewise distributed immense sums among beggars and poor
+people,[120] who for the sake of one Rupee, walked a distance of perhaps
+thirty miles, bringing with them their little children in order to
+increase their numerical strength. Some really destitute women, far
+advanced in a state of pregnancy, were known to have been delivered in
+the midst of this densely crowded multitude. Although, now-a-days, the
+authorities do not sanction such a tumultuous gathering, or tolerate
+such a nuisance oftentimes attended with fatal accidents, no _Shrad_ of
+any note at all takes place without the assemblage of a certain number
+of beggars and paupers, who receive from two to four annas each.
+
+After the twentieth day, the son, accompanied by a Brahmin and a servant
+who carries a small carpet for the Baboo to sit on, walks barefooted to
+the house of each and every one of his relations, friends and
+neighbours, to announce that the _Shrad_ is to take place on such a day,
+_i. e._, on the thirty-first day after death, and to request that they
+should honour him with their presence and see that the ceremony is
+properly performed, adding such other complimentary epithets as the
+occasion suggests. This ceremonious visit is called _lowkata_, and those
+who are visited return the compliment in time. The practice is deserving
+of commendation, inasmuch as it manifests a grateful remembrance for the
+memory of one to whom he is indebted for his being.
+
+Precisely on the thirtieth day, the son and other near relatives shave,
+cut their nails, and put on new clothes again, giving the old clothes to
+the barber. Meantime invitations are sent round to the Brahmins as well
+as to the Soodras, requesting the favor of their presence at the _Sabha_
+or assembly on the morning of the _Shrad_, and at the feast on the
+following day or days. On the thirty-first day, early in the morning,
+the son, accompanied by the officiating priest, goes to the river side,
+bathes and performs certain preliminary rites. Here the _rayowbhats_ and
+_tastirams_ (religious mendicants), who watch these things just as
+closely as a vulture watches a carcase, give him a gentle hint about
+their rights, and follow him to the house, waiting outside for their
+share of the articles offered to the manes of the deceased. These men
+were so troublesome or boisterous in former days, when the Police were
+not half so vigilant as they now are, that for two days successively
+they would continue to shout and roar and proclaim to the passers by
+that the deceased would never be able to go into _Boykanta_ or paradise,
+and that his soul would burn in hell fire until their demands were
+satisfied. Partly from shame, but more from a desire to avoid such a
+boisterous, unseemly scene, the son is forced to succumb and satisfy
+them in the best way he can.
+
+As the style of living among the Hindoos has of late become rather
+expensive, and the potent influence of vanity--purely the result of an
+artificial state of society--exerts its pressure even on this mournful
+occasion, the son, if he be well to do in the world, spends from five to
+six thousand Rupees on a _Shrad_; the richer, more. He has to provide
+for the apparently solemn purpose the following silver utensils,
+_viz._:--_Ghara_, _Gharoo_, _Thalla_, _Batta_, _Battee_, _Raykab_,
+glass, besides couch, bedding, shawls, broadcloth, a large lot of brass
+utensils and hard silver in cash, all which go to pay the Brahmins and
+Pundits, who had been invited. The waning ascendency of this privileged
+class is strikingly manifest on an occasion of this nature. For one or
+two rupees they will clamour and scramble, and unblushingly indulge in
+all manner of fulsome adulation of the party that invited them.[121]
+
+The Pundits of the country, however learned they may be in classical
+lore and logical acumen, are very much wanting in the rules of polished
+life. The manner in which they display their profound learning is alike
+puerile and ludicrous. History does not furnish us with sufficient data
+regarding their conduct in ancient days. As far as research or
+investigation has elucidated the point, it is reasonable to conclude
+that the ascendency of the Brahmins was built on the ignorance of the
+people, and there is a very strong probability that there was a secret
+coalition between the priests and the rulers for the purpose of keeping
+the great mass of the nation in a state of perpetual darkness and
+subjection, the latter being oftentimes content with the barter of
+"solid pudding against empty praise." But the progress of enlightenment
+is so irresistible that the strongest bulwark of secret compact for the
+conservation of unnatural Brahminical authority is liable, as it should
+be, to crumble into dust. It would be a great injustice to deny that
+among these Brahmins there were some justly distinguished for their
+profound erudition and saintly lives; they displayed a piety, a zeal, a
+constant and passionate devotion to their faith, which contrast
+strangely enough with the profligacy and worldliness of the present
+ecclesiastics.
+
+The Pundits of the present day, when they assemble at a _Shrad_--and
+that is considered a fit arena for discussion--are generally seen to
+engage in a controversy, the bone of contention being a debatable point
+in grammar, logic, metaphysics or theology. They love to indulge in
+sentimental transcendentalism, as if utterly unconscious of the
+matter-of-fact tendency of the age we live in. A strong desire of
+displaying their deep learning and high classical acquirements in
+Sanskrit, not sometimes unmixed with a contemptible degree of
+affectation, insensibly leads them to violate the fundamental laws of
+decorum. When two or more Pundits wrangle, the warmth of debate
+gradually draws them nearer and closer to each other, until from sober,
+solid argumentation, they descend to the _argumentum ad ignorantiam_, if
+not, to the _argumentum adbaculum_. Their taking a pinch of snuff, the
+quick moving of their hands, the almost involuntary unrobing of their
+garment, which consists of a single _dhooty_ and _dubja_ often put round
+the neck, the vehement tone in which they conduct a discussion, the
+utter want of attention to each other's arguments, and their constant
+divergence from the main point whence they started, throw a serio-comic
+air over the scene which a Dave Carson only could imitate. They do not
+know what candour is, they are immovable in their own opinion, and
+scarcely anything could conquer their dogged persistence in their own
+argument, however fallacious it may be. They are as prodigal in the
+quotation of specious texts in support of their own particular thesis as
+they are obstinately deaf to the sound logical view of an opponent.
+Brahminical learning is certainly uttered in "great swarths" which, like
+polished pebbles, are sometimes mistaken for diamonds. The way in which
+the disputants give flavour to their arguments is quite a study in the
+art of dropping meanings. The destruction of the old husks, and the
+transparent sophistries, of the disputatious Brahmins, is one of the
+great marvels achieved by the rapid diffusion of Western knowledge.
+
+When engaged in an animated discussion, these Pundits will not desist or
+halt until they are separated by their other learned friends of the
+faculty. Some of them are very learned in the Shastra, especially in
+_Smrittee_, on which a dispute often hangs, but they have very little
+pretension to the calm and dispassionate discussion of a subject.
+Cogency of argument is almost invariably lost in the vehemence of
+declamation and in the utterance of unmeaning patter. Their arguments
+are not like Lord Beaconsfield's speeches,--a little labored and
+labyrinthine at first, but soon working themselves clear and becoming
+amusing and sagacious. Let it not be understood from this that the
+language (Sanskrit) in which they speak is destitute of sound logic, as
+Mr. James Mill would have his readers believe; it is certainly deficient
+in science and the correct principles of natural philosophy as developed
+by modern discoveries, but the elegance of its diction, the beautiful
+poetical imagery in which it abounds, the sound moral doctrines which it
+inculcates, the force of argument by which it is distinguished, and the
+elevated ideas which its original system of theology unfolds, afford no
+good reason why it should not be stamped with the dignity and importance
+of a classical language, and why "the deep students of it should not
+enjoy some of the honors and estimation conferred by the world on those
+who have established a name for an erudite acquaintance with Latin and
+Greek." If the respective merits of all the classical languages are
+properly estimated, it is not too much to say that the Sanskrit language
+will in no way suffer by the comparison, though as history abundantly
+testifies it labored under all the adverse circumstances of mighty
+political changes and convulsions, no less than the intolerant bigotry
+of many of the Moslem conquerors, whose unsparing devastations have
+destroyed some of the best specimens of Sanskrit composition. "When our
+princes were in exile," says a celebrated Hindoo writer, "driven from
+hold to hold and compelled to dwell in the clefts of the mountains,
+often doubtful whether they would not be forced to abandon the very meal
+preparing for them, was that a time to think of historical records," and
+we should say, of literary excellence? The deep and laborious researches
+of Sir William Jones, Colebrooke, Macnaghten, Wilson, Wilkins, and a
+host of other distinguished German and French savants, have, in a great
+measure, brought to light the hidden treasures of the Sanskrit language.
+
+From eight o'clock in the morning to 2 o'clock in the evening, the house
+of a _Shrad_ is crammed to suffocation. A spacious awning covers the
+open space of the court-yard, preventing the free access of air; carpets
+and satterangees are spread on the ground for the _Kayastas_ and other
+castes to sit on, while the Brahmins and Pundits by way of precedence
+take their seats on the raised _Thacoordallan_, or place of worship. The
+couch-cot with bedding, and the _dan_ consisting of silver and brass
+utensils enumerated before, with a silver salver filled with Rupees, are
+arranged in a straight line opposite the audience, leaving a little open
+space for _kittanees_, or bands of songsters or songstresses and
+musicians, which form the necessary accompaniment of a _Shrad_ for the
+purpose of imparting solemnity to the scene. Three or four door-keepers
+guard the entrance, so that no intruders may enter and create a
+disturbance. The guests begin to come in at eight, and are courteously
+asked to take their appropriate seats (Brahmins among Brahmins, and
+Kayastas among Kayastas,) the servants in waiting serve them with
+_hookah_ and tobacco,[122] those given to the Brahmins having a thread
+or string fastened at the top for the sake of distinction. The Kayastas
+and other guests are seen constantly going in and coming out, but the
+generality of the Brahmins stick to their places until the funeral
+ceremony is completed. The current topics of the day form the subject of
+conversation while the _hookah_ goes round the assembly with great
+precision and punctuality. The female relatives are brought in covered
+_palkees_, as has been described before, by a separate entrance, shut
+out from the gaze of the males. But as this is a mourning scene their
+naturally convivial spirit gives way to condolence and sympathy.
+Excessive grief does not allow the mother or the wife of the deceased to
+take an active part in the melancholy proceedings of the day; they
+generally stay aloof in a separate room, and are perhaps heard to mourn
+or cry. The very sight of the mourning offerings, instead of affording
+any consolation, almost involuntarily enkindles the flame of sorrow, and
+produces a train of thoughts in keeping with the commemoration of the
+sad event. Sisters of a congenial spirit try to soothe them by precepts
+and examples, but their admonition and condolence prove in the main
+unavailing. The appearance of a new face revives the sad emotions of the
+heart. Nothing can dispel from the minds of a disconsolate mother or
+wife the gloomy thoughts of her bereavement, and the still more gloomy
+idea of a perpetual widowhood. The clang of _khole_ and _kharatal_
+(musical instruments), which is fitted, as it were, from its very
+dissonance, to drive away the ghost and kill the living, falls doubly
+grating on her ears, while the fond endearments of _Jasoda_, the mother
+of Krishna, rehearsed by the songsters in the outer court-yard, but
+aggravate her grief the more. Weak and tenderhearted by nature, she
+gradually sinks under the overwhelming load of despondency, and raising
+her hand to her forehead mournfully exclaims, "has Fate reserved all
+this for me?" In such cases, there is appropriateness in silence.
+
+About ten o'clock the son begins to perform the rite of the funeral
+obsequies, taking previously the permission of the Brahmins and the
+assembled guests to do so. The officiating priest reads the formulas, he
+repeating them. It must be noticed here that tenacious as the Hindoos
+are in respect of the distinction of caste, they do not scruple to
+invite lower orders on such an occasion, but they would not mix with
+them at the time of eating. The _Dulloputty_ or head of the party, makes
+his appearance about this time; when he enters the house, all other
+guests then present, except the Brahmins, as a token of respect for his
+position, rise on their legs, and do not resume their seats until he
+sits down. For this distinction or honour a _Dullopatty_ has to spend an
+immense sum of money, to which allusion has already been made. His
+appearance serves as a signal for the performance of the rite, called
+_mala chandan_, or the distribution of garlands and sandal paste among
+the assembled multitude. As a matter of course, the Brahmins by way of
+pre-eminence receive the first garland, and after them the _Dullopatty_
+obtains the same honour, and then the _Koolins_[123] and other guests
+according to rank. Where there is no _Dullopatty_, the garland is put
+round the neck of a boy, at which no one can take any offence, and
+afterwards they are distributed indiscriminately.
+
+Meantime the son is engaged in the performance of the ceremony, while
+the bands of songsters quarrel with one another for the privilege of
+entertaining the audience with their songs, which renders confusion
+worse confounded. Female songsters of questionable virtue are now more
+in favor than their male rivals, which is an unerring proof of the
+degeneracy of the age. Only one band is formally engaged, but thirty
+bands may come of their own accord, quite uninvited. The disappointed
+ones generally get from two to four Rupees each, but the party retained
+gets much more, the rich guests coming in making them presents, besides
+what they obtain from the family retaining them.
+
+About one in the afternoon, the ceremony is brought to a close, and the
+assembled multitudes begin to disperse. Those who have to attend their
+offices return earlier, but not without offering the compliments suited
+to the gravity of the occasion. Some of the Brahmins remain behind to
+receive their customary _bidhay_ or gift. According to their reputation
+for learning they obtain their rewards. The first in the list gets, in
+ordinary cases, about five Rupees in cash, and one brass pot valued, at
+four or five Rupees, the second and third in proportion, and the rest,
+say, from one to two Rupees each, in addition to a brass utensil. The
+silver utensils of which the _soroshes_ are made are afterwards cut and
+allotted to the Brahmins according to their worth or status in the
+republic of letters. The _Gooroo_ or spiritual guide, and the _Purrohit_
+or officiating priest, being the most interested parties, generally
+carry off the lion's share. So great is their cupidity that the one
+disputes the right of the other as to the amount of reward they are
+respectively entitled to. As a matter of course, the _Gooroo_, from his
+spiritual ascendency, manages to carry off the highest prize. The
+distribution of rewards among the Brahmins and Pundits of different
+degrees of scholarly attainments, is a rather thankless task. In common
+with other human beings, they are seldom satisfied, especially when the
+question is one of Rupees. Each sets a higher value on his own descent
+and learning, undervaluing the worth of his compeers. The voice of the
+President, who has many a knotty question to solve, decides their fate,
+but it is seldom that a classification of this nature results in
+producing general satisfaction. As these Pundits, or rather professors,
+called _Adhaypucks_, do not eat in the house of _Soodras_, in addition
+to their reward in money and kind, they, each of them, receive a small
+quantity of sweetmeats and sugar, say about two pounds in all in lieu of
+_achmany jalpan_ or fried and prepared food. On a _Shrad_ day in the
+afternoon one can see numbers of such Brahmins walk through the native
+part of the city, with an earthen plate of sweetmeats in one hand and a
+brass pot in the other, the fruits of their day's labor. Such gains
+being quite precarious, and the prospect looming before them quite
+discouraging, the annual sum total they derive from this source is quite
+inadequate to their support, and that of the _chottoos-pattee_ or school
+they keep. Hence many such institutions for the cultivation of Sanskrit
+have been abandoned for want of sufficient encouragement, and as a
+necessary consequence the sons and grandsons of these Brahmins have
+taken to secular occupations, quite incompatible with the spirit of the
+Shastra. In the halcyon days of Hindoo sovereignty, when Brahminical
+learning was in the ascendant and rich religious endowments were freely
+made for the support of the hierarchy,[124] as well from the influence
+of vanity as from the compunctions of a death-bed repentance, such
+_chottoos-pattees_ annually sent forth many a brilliant scholar,--the
+pride of his professor and the ornament of his country. But the
+advancement of English education--the only passport to honor and
+emoluments--has necessarily laid, as it were, an embargo on the
+extensive culture of Brahminical erudition. The University curriculum,
+however, under the present Government, embraces a system well calculated
+to remove the reproach.
+
+The day following the funeral ceremony is spent in giving an
+entertainment to the Brahmins, without which a Hindoo cannot regain his
+former purity. About twelve, they begin to assemble, and when the number
+reaches two or three hundred, _Koosasan_ or grass seats in long straight
+rows are arranged for them in the spacious court-yard, and as Hindoos
+use nothing but green plantain leaves for plates on such grand
+occasions, each guest is provided with a cut piece on which are placed
+the fruits of the season, ghee-fried _loochees_ and _kachoories_, and
+several sorts of sweetmeats in earthen plates for which there are no
+English names. In spite of the utmost vigilance of door-keepers and
+others, intruders in rather decent dress enter the premises and sit down
+to eat with the respectable Brahmins, but should such a character be
+found out, steps are instantly taken to oust him. On a grand occasion,
+some such unpleasant cases are sure to occur. There are loafers among
+Hindoos as there are among Europeans. These men, whom misfortune or
+crime has reduced to the last state of poverty, are prepared to put up
+with any amount of insult so long as they have their fill. When a Hindoo
+makes a calculation about the expenses of an entertainment at a _Shrad_
+or marriage (both grand occasions), he is constrained to double or
+treble his quantum of supply that he may be enabled to meet such a
+contingency without any inconvenience. The practice referred to is a
+most disreputable one, and beseems a people not far above the level of a
+Nomad tribe. Even some of the Brahmins[125] who are invited do not
+scruple to take a portion home, regardless of the contaminated touch of
+a person of the lowest order, simply because the temptation is too
+strong to be resisted. Before departure, each and every one of the
+Brahmins obtains one or two annas as _dakhinah_, a concession which is
+not accorded to any other caste.
+
+The next day, a similar entertainment is given to the Kayastas and other
+classes, which is accompanied by the same noise, confusion and tumult
+that characterised the entertainment given on the previous day. The
+sober and quiet enjoyments of life which have a tendency to enliven the
+mind can seldom be expected in a Hindoo house of _Shrad_, where all is
+_golemal_, confusion and disorder. When a dinner is announced, a regular
+scramble takes place, the rude and the uninvited occupy the _first_
+seats to the exclusion of the genteel and respectable, and when the
+eatables are beginning to be served, the indecent cries of "bring
+_loochee_, bring _kachoorie_, bring _tarkari_," and so on, are heard
+every now and again, much to the disturbance of the polite and the
+discreet.
+
+The day following is called the _neeumbhanga_, or the day on which the
+son is allowed to break the rules of mourning after one month. In the
+morning the band of songsters previously retained come and treat the
+family to songs of Krishna, taking care to select pieces which are most
+pathetic and heart-rending, befitting the mournful occasion of a very
+heavy domestic bereavement. The singing continues till twelve or one
+o'clock, and some people seem to be so deeply affected that they
+actually shed tears, and forget for a while their worldly cares and
+anxieties. When the songs are finished, the son and his nearest
+relatives, rubbing their bodies with oil and turmeric, remove the
+_brisakat_ on their shoulders from the house to a place near it. A hole
+is made, and the _brisakat_ (a painted log of wood about six feet high)
+with an ox on the top, &c., is put into it; after this they all bathe
+and return home. The songsters are dismissed with presents of money,
+clothes and food.
+
+The son then sits down to a dinner with his nearest blood relation, and
+this is the _first_ day that he leaves his _habishee_ diet after a
+month's mourning, and takes to the use of fish and other Hindoo dishes.
+He is also allowed to change his mourning dress and put on shoes, after
+having made a present of a pair to a Brahmin; he, moreover, sleeps with
+his wife from this day as before, in fact he reverts to his former mode
+of living in every respect.
+
+As the entertainment this time consists of _vojan_, made up of rice and
+curries, and not _jalpan_, made up of _loochees_ and sweetmeats,
+comparatively a smaller number of guests assemble on the occasion[126]
+and that of loafers and intruders exhibits a very diminished
+proportion. Even on such occasions, one can always tell from a distance
+that there is a feast at such a house from the noise it is invariably
+attended with.
+
+Having described above the details connected with the funeral ceremony,
+I will now endeavour to give an account of one or two of the most
+celebrated _Shrads_ that took place in Bengal after the battle of
+Plassey, premising that every thing which shall be said on the subject
+is derived chiefly from hearsay, as no authentic historical records have
+come down to us. The first and most celebrated _Shrad_ was that
+performed by Dewan Gunga Gobind Set, on the occasion of his mother's
+death. It was performed on so large a scale that he caused reservoirs to
+be made which were filled with ghee and oil, immense heaps of rice,
+flour and _dhall_ were piled on the ground. Several large rooms were
+quite filled with sweetmeats of all sorts. Mountains of earthen pots and
+firewood were stacked on the Maidan. Hundreds of Brahmin cooks and
+confectioners were constantly at work to provide victuals for the
+enormous concourse of people. Silver and brass utensils of all kinds
+were arranged in pyramids. Hundreds of couches with bedding were placed
+before the _Sabha_, (assembly). Elephants richly caparisoned with silver
+trappings formed presents to Brahmins. Tens of thousands of silver coins
+bearing the stamp of _Shah Allum_ were placed on massive silver plates.
+And to crown the whole, thousands of learned Pundits from all parts of
+the country congregated together to impart a religious solemnity to the
+spectacle. All these preparations lent a grandeur to the scene, which
+was in the highest degree imposing. Countless myriads of beggars from
+the most distant parts of the Province assembled together, and they were
+not only fed for weeks at the expense of the Dewan, but were dismissed
+with presents of money, clothes and food, with the most enthusiastic
+hosannas on their lips. For more than two months the distribution of
+alms and presents lasted, and what was the most praiseworthy feature in
+the affair was the Job-like patience of the Dewan, whose charity flowed
+like the rushing flood-tide of the holy Ganges on the banks of which he
+presented offerings to the manes of his ancestors. Some of the
+_Adhapucks_ or Professors obtained as much as one thousand Rupees each
+in cash and gold and silver articles, or rather fragments of the same,
+to a considerable value. Besides these magnificent honorariums the whole
+of their travelling and lodging expenses were defrayed by the Dewan, who
+was reputed to be so rich that like Croesus of old he did not know how
+much he was worth; hence there is still a current saying amongst the
+Bengalees, which runs thus: "If ever money were wanted, Gouri Set will
+pay." Gouri Set was the son of Gunga Gobind Set. The expenses of the
+_Shrad_ have been variously estimated at between ten and twelve lacks of
+Rupees. The result of this truly extravagant expenditure was wide-spread
+fame, and the name of the donor is still cherished with grateful
+remembrance. But as all human greatness is evanescent, the fame of the
+family for charity once unparalleled in the annals of Bengal has long
+since dwindled into insignificance.
+
+The next _Shrad_ of importance was that of Maharajah Nabkissen Bahadoor
+of Shobhabazar, Calcutta. His son Raja Rajkissen performed the _Shrad_,
+which, to this day, stands unrivalled in this city. Four sets of gold
+and sixty-four sets of silver utensils described before, amounting in
+value to near a lakh of Rupees, were given on the occasion. Such
+paraphernalia go by the name of _dansagor_ or "gift like the sea."
+Besides these presents in money to Brahmins upwards of two lakhs of
+Rupees were given to the poor.
+
+If these immense sums of money had been invested for the permanent
+support of a Charitable Institution, it would have done incalculable
+good to society. But then there was no regularly organised system of
+Public Charity, nor had the people any idea of it. Such immense sums
+were spent mostly for religious purposes according to the prevailing
+notions of the age. Tanks, reservoirs, flights of steps on the banks of
+the river,[127] fine rows of trees, every three miles stone buildings or
+choultries for travellers, affording a grateful shelter throughout the
+country, were among the works of public utility constructed by the
+charitably disposed.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[113] This means that he must soon die.
+
+[114] _Boyetarni_ is a river which must be crossed before one gets to
+heaven; the rite consists in distributing a certain amount of _cowries_
+among the Brahmins for guiding the soul through the Death Valley to the
+other side.
+
+[115] A Hindoo, especially a grown up man, if he die at home is branded
+as an unrighteous person; many a one otherwise esteemed righteous in his
+life-time is denounced as a sinful being should he not expire on the
+banks of the holy stream. In the _rari_, or inland provinces, through
+which the Ganges does not flow, people are constrained to breathe their
+last on the banks of a neighbouring tank and are consequently precluded,
+from their geographical position, from securing the benefit of this
+_cheap_ mode of salvation. As a partial atonement for this natural
+disadvantage, they bring the navel of the dead and throw it into the
+holy stream, which, in their supposition, is tantamount to the
+purification of the soul.
+
+[116] A few years back the Calcutta Municipality proposed to have the
+burning Ghaut removed to Dhappa, a notoriously unhealthy marshy swamp,
+some six miles east of Calcutta, bordering on the Soonderbunds, because
+the present site was considered a nuisance to the city. As must
+naturally be expected, great sensation was produced among the Hindoo
+population, and memorials were submitted to the Government of Bengal,
+signed by the most influential portion of the Hindoo community. In spite
+of solicitation and remonstrance, the Municipality were determined to
+carry out their plan, but the _mighty_ Ramgopal Ghose, as the late Mr.
+James Hume, the Editor of the "_Eastern Star_," styled him, interposed
+and exerted his best, at great personal sacrifice, to nullify the
+proposal. The Hindoos called a meeting, and Ramgopal, moved by the
+entreaties of his countrymen, made an admirable speech at the Town Hall,
+on which occasion no less than fifty thousand people assembled on the
+_maidan_ facing the Town Hall. In the speech he set forth, in a graphic
+manner, the suitableness of the present site, and the distress and
+hardship of the people, as well as the shock to religious feeling which
+the removal would involve. He eventually succeeded in prevailing on the
+authorities to withdraw the proposal. When he came out of the Town Hall,
+he was most enthusiastically cheered by thousands of people, Brahmins
+and Soodras, and loud cries of "may he live long" were heard on all
+sides.
+
+[117] Some forty years back these Brahmins and their whole crew of
+_murdur-farashassys_ were a regular set of ragamuffins whose sole
+occupation was to fleece their victims in the most extortionate manner
+imaginable; the Brahmin would not read the formula, nor his myrmidons
+put up the funeral pile, without having received nearly four times the
+amount of the present cost. Great credit is due to Baboo Chunder Mohun
+Chatterjee, the late Registrar, for his strenuous exertions in making
+the Police frame a set of rules for regulating the funeral expenses at
+the burning Ghaut. It is a public boon which cannot be too highly
+appreciated.
+
+[118] In the case of a daughter (married) the mourning lasts for three
+days. On the morning of the fourth day she is enjoined to cut her nails,
+and perform the funeral ceremony of a departed father or mother. An
+entertainment is to be given to the Brahmins and friends. This is always
+done on a comparatively small scale, and in most cases the husband is
+made to bear all the expenses of the ceremony and the entertainment.
+
+[119] Apart from erroneous popular notions, which in this age of
+depravity are corrupted by vanity, the Hindoo Shastra, be it mentioned
+to its credit, abounds in explicit injunctions on the subject of a
+funeral ceremony in various ways according to the peculiar circumstances
+of parties. From an expenditure of lacks and lacks of Rupees to a mere
+trifle, it can be performed with the ultimate prospect of equal merit.
+It is stated in the holy Shastra that the god Ramchundra considered
+himself purified (for a Hindoo under mourning is held unclean until the
+funeral ceremony is performed) by offering to the manes of his ancestors
+simple balls of sand, called _pindas_, on the bank of the holy stream.
+In these days a poor man would be held sanctified or absolved from this
+religious responsibility by making a _tilakanchan Shrad_, or offering a
+small quantity of rice, _teelseed_ and a few fruits, and feeding only
+one Brahmin, all which would not cost more than four Rupees.
+
+[120] At the Shrad of Raja Nubkissen, Nemy Churn Mullick and Ramdoolal
+Dey, very near 100,000 beggars were said to have assembled together;
+this mode of charity is much discountenanced now and better systems are
+adopted for the ostensible gratification of generous propensities. The
+District Charitable Society should have a preference in every case.
+Instead of making a great noise by sound of trumpet and raising an
+ephemeral name from vainglorious motives, it is far wiser that a
+permanent provision should be made for the relief of suffering humanity.
+
+[121] The appearance of Brahmins on such occasions has the ludicrous
+admixture of the learned and the ragged, exhibiting the insolence of
+high caste and the low cringe of poverty.
+
+[122] The Hindoos are so much accustomed to smoking that it has almost
+become a necessary of life. At a reception it is the first thing
+required. The practice is regulated by rules of etiquette, so that a
+younger brother is not permitted to smoke in the presence of his elder
+brother or his uncle. Even among the reformed Hindoos, I have seen two
+brothers eat and drink together at the same table in European style, but
+when the dinner is over the younger brother would on no account smoke in
+the presence of his elder brother, if he do, he would be instantly voted
+a _bayadub_, or one wanting in the rules of good breeding. The
+observance of this etiquette, however, is confined only to the high
+caste people; among the lower orders, a son smokes before a father with
+the same freedom as if he were taking his ordinary meal.
+
+[123] The following anecdote illustrating the very great honor shewn to
+first-class Koolins, will, I trust, not be considered out of place.
+
+When the late Rajah Rajkissen Bahadoor of Calcutta had to perform the
+_Shrad_ or funeral ceremony of his illustrious father, the late Moha
+Rajah Nubkissen (the ceremony was said to have cost about five lacks of
+Rupees or L50,000,) he had to invite almost all the celebrated Koolins
+of Bengal at considerable expense. On the day of the _Shrad_ those who
+were invited assembled at his mansion in Sobha Bazar, when all eyes were
+dazzled at the unparalleled magnificence of the scene, displaying a
+gorgeous array of gold, silver and brass utensils for presents to
+Brahmins, exclusive of large sums of money, Cashmere shawls, broadcloth,
+&c. After the performance of the ceremony, as is usual on such
+occasions, the distribution of garlands and sandal paste had to be gone
+through; the whole of the splendid assemblage had been watching with
+intense anxiety as to who should get the _first_ garland--the highest
+respect shewn, according to precedence of rank, to the _first_ Koolin
+present. This is a very knotty point in a large assemblage to which all
+orders of Koolins had been brought together. The honor was eagerly
+contested and coveted by many, but at length a voice from a corner
+loudly proclaimed to the following effect: "Put the garland on my
+_gode_," (elephantiasis) laying bare and stretching his right leg at the
+same time and thus suiting the action to his words. The attention of the
+assembled multitude was immediately directed in that direction, and to
+the amazement of all, the garland had to be put round the neck of the
+very man who shouted from a corner, because by a general consensus he
+was pronounced to be the _first_ Koolin then present. But such
+artificial and demoralising distinctions, built on the baseless fabric
+of quicksand, having no foundation in solid, sterling merit, are fast
+falling, as they should, into disrepute.
+
+[124] Manu commands, "Should the king be near his end, through some
+incurable disease, he must bestow on the priests all his riches
+accumulated from legal fines."
+
+[125] To preserve order and avoid such unseemly practices, a wealthy
+Baboo--the late Doorgaram Cor--when he invited a number of Brahmins
+allotted to each two separate rations, one on the plantain leaf for
+eating on the spot, and another in an earthen _handy_ or pot for
+carrying home for the absent members of the family. Even this excellent
+arrangement failed to satisfy the greedy cravings of the voracious
+Brahmins. As a _dernier ressort_, he at last substituted _cash_ for
+_eatables_, which was certainly a queer mode of satisfying the _inner_
+man.
+
+[126] There is a vast difference between a _vojun_ and a _jalpan_
+dinner. If there be a thousand guests at the latter, at the most there
+would be only three hundred at the former, as none but the nearest
+relatives and friends will condescend to take rice (_vath_), which is
+almost akin to one and the same clanship, whereas in a _jalpan_, not
+only the members of the same caste but even those of the inferior order
+are tacitly permitted to partake of the same entertainment without
+tarnishing the honor of the aristocratic classes.
+
+The following anecdote will, I hope, prove interesting:--
+
+At the marriage procession of a washerman, confessedly very low in the
+category of caste, two _Kayastas_ (writer caste) joined it on the road
+in the hope of getting a hearty _Jalpan_ dinner; but lo! when, after the
+nuptial rites were over, rice and curries were brought out for the
+guests, the two _Kayastas_, who sat down with the rest of the company,
+tried to escape unnoticed, because if they ate rice at a washerman's
+they were sure to lose their caste, but the host would not let them go
+away without dinner. They at last spoke the truth, asked forgiveness and
+were then allowed to leave the house. To such disappointments
+unfortunate intruders are sometimes subjected.
+
+[127] In the sacred city of Benares vast sums of money have been sunk in
+building Ghauts with magnificent flights of steps stretching from the
+bank to the very edge of the water at ebb-tide, affording great
+convenience to the people both for religious and domestic purposes, but
+the strong current of the stream in the months of August, September and
+October, has played a sad havoc with the masonry works. Scarcely a
+single Ghaut exists in a complete state of preservation.
+
+
+
+
+XXI.
+
+SUTTEE, OR THE IMMOLATION OF HINDOO WIDOWS.
+
+
+Fifty years ago, when the British Government was endeavouring to
+consolidate its power in the East, and when the religious prejudices of
+the Natives were alike tolerated and respected, there arose a great man
+in Bengal who was destined by Providence to work a mighty revolution in
+their social, moral and intellectual condition. That great man was
+Rammohun Roy, the pioneer of Hindoo enlightenment. Having early enriched
+his mind with European and Eastern erudition, he soon rose, by his
+energy, to a degree of eminence and usefulness which afterwards marked
+his career as a distinguished reformer and a benevolent philanthropist.
+He was emphatically an oasis in this sterile land--a solitary example of
+a highly cultivated mind among many millions of men grovelling in
+ignorance. To his indefatigable exertions we are indebted for the
+abolition of the inhuman practice of Suttee, the very name of which
+evokes a natural shrinking from the diabolical deed, which appallingly
+and suddenly expunged a tender life from the earth, and severed the
+dearest tie of humanity. It was the severest reflection on the satanic
+character of a religion that ignores the first principle of divine law.
+Women are of an impressionable nature, their enthusiasm is easily fanned
+into intensity, and superstition and priestcraft took advantage of it.
+
+Not content with sending a sick man to the riverside to be suffocated
+and burnt to ashes, a narrow-minded hierarchy lent its sanction to the
+destruction of a living creature, by burning the Hindoo widow with the
+dead body of her husband, the fire being kindled perhaps by the hand of
+one whom she had nurtured and suckled in infancy. It is awful to
+contemplate how the finest sensibilities of our nature are sometimes
+blunted by a false faith.
+
+My apology for dwelling on this painful subject now that the primary
+cause of complaint has long since been removed by a wise Legislature, is
+no other than that I had been an eye-witness of a melancholy scene of
+this nature, the dreadful atrocity of which it is impossible even at
+this distance of time to call to mind without horror and dismay. As the
+tale I am going to relate is founded in real life its truthfulness can
+be thoroughly relied upon.
+
+When I was a little boy reading in a _Patsala_ at home, my attention was
+one morning roused by hearing from my mother that my aunt was "going a
+Suttee." The word was then scarcely intelligible to me. I pondered and
+thought over and over again in my mind what could the word 'Suttee'
+mean. Being unable to solve the problem, I asked my mother for an
+explanation; she, with tears in her eyes, told me that my aunt (living
+in the next house) "was going to eat fire." Instantly I felt a strong
+curiosity to see the thing with my own eyes, still laboring under a
+misconception as to what the reality could be. I had then no distinct
+notion that life would be at once annihilated. I never thought for a
+moment that I was going to lose my dear aunt for ever. My mind was quite
+unsettled, and I felt an irresistible desire to look into the thing more
+minutely. I ran down to my aunt's room and what should I see there, but
+a group of sombre complexioned women with my aunt in the middle. I have
+yet after fifty years, a vivid recollection of what I then saw in the
+room. My aunt was dressed in a red silk _sari_ with all the ornaments on
+her person, her forehead daubed with a very thick coat of _sidoor_ or
+vermillion, her feet painted red with _alta_, she was chewing a mouthful
+of betel, and a bright lamp was burning before her. She was evidently
+wrapt in an ecstacy of devotion, earnest in all she did, quite calm and
+composed as if nothing important was to happen. In short, she was then
+at her matins, anxiously watching the hour when this mortal coil should
+be put off. My uncle was lying a corpse in the adjoining room. It
+appeared to me that all the women assembled were admiring the virtues
+and fortitude of my aunt. Some licking the betel out of her mouth, some
+touching her forehead in order to have a little of the _sidoor_ or
+vermillion, while not a few falling before her feet, expressed a fond
+hope that they might possess a small particle of her virtue. Amidst all
+these surroundings, what surprised me most was my aunt's stretching out
+one of her hands at the bidding of an old Brahmin woman and holding a
+finger right over the wick of the burning lamp for a few seconds until
+it was scorched and forcibly withdrawn by the old lady who bade her do
+so, in order to have a foretaste of the unshaken firmness of her mind.
+The perfect composure with which she underwent this fiery ordeal fully
+convinced all that she was a real Suttee, fit to abide with her husband
+in _Boykonto_, paradise. Nobody could notice any change in her
+countenance or resolution after she had gone through this painful trial.
+
+It was about eleven o'clock when preparations were made for the removal
+of the corpse of my uncle to the Ghaut. It was a small mourning
+procession, nearly thirty persons, all of respectable families,
+volunteered to carry the dead body alternately on their shoulders. The
+body was laid on a _charpoy_, my aunt followed it, not in a closed but
+an open Palkee. She was unveiled and regardless of the consequences of a
+public exposure; she was, in a manner, dead to the external world. The
+delicate sense of shame so characteristic of Hindoo females was entirely
+suppressed in her bosom. In truth, she was evidently longing for the
+hour when her spirit and that of her husband should meet together and
+dwell in heaven. She had a _toolsee mala_ (string of basil beads) in
+her right hand which she was telling, and she seemed to enjoy the shouts
+of "Hurree, Hurree bole" with perfect serenity of mind. How can we
+account for the strange phenomenon wherein a sentient being in a state
+of full consciousness was ready to surrender at the feet of "Hurree" the
+last vital spark of life for ever, without a murmur, a sigh, or a tear?
+A deep, sincere religious faith, which serves as a sheet-anchor to the
+soul amidst the storms of life, can only unriddle the enigma and disarm
+death of its terrors. We reached Nimtollah Ghaut about twelve, and after
+staying ten or fifteen minutes, sprinkling the holy water on the dead
+body, and all proceeded slowly to Kooltollah Ghaut, about three miles
+north of Nimtollah. On arriving at the destination which was the dreary
+abode of Hindoo undertakers, solitary and lonesome, the Police Darogah,
+(who was also a Hindoo) came to the spot and closely examined my aunt,
+in various ways attempting if possible, to induce her to change her
+mind, but she, like "Joan of Arc," was resolute and determined, she gave
+an unequivocal reply, to the purport that "such was her predestination,
+and that Hurree had summoned her and her husband into the Boykonto." The
+Darogah, amazed at the firmness of her mind, staid at the Ghaut to watch
+the proceedings, while preparations were being made for a funeral pile,
+which consisted of dry firewood, faggots, pitch with a lot of sandal
+wood, ghee, &c. in it to impart a fragrant odour to the air. Half a
+dozen Bamboos or sticks were procured also, the use of which we
+afterwards understood and saw. We little boys were ordered to stand
+aloof. The Brahmin undertaker came and read a few _mantras_ or
+incantations. The dead body wrapped in new clothes being placed on the
+pyre, my aunt was desired to turn seven times round it, which she did
+while strewing a lot of flowers, cowries (shells) and parched rice on
+the ground. It struck me at the time that at every successive
+circumambulation, her strength and presence of mind failed, whereupon
+the Darogah stepped forward once more and endeavoured even at the last
+moment to deter her from her fatal determination, but she, at the very
+threshold of ghastly death, in the last hour of expiring life, the fatal
+torch of _Yama_ (Pluto) before her, calmly ascended the funeral pile and
+lying by the side of her husband with one hand under his head and
+another on his breast, was heard to call, in voice half suppressed, on
+"Hurree, Hurree,"--a sign of firm belief in the reality of eternal
+beatitude. When she had thus laid herself on the funeral pyre, she was
+instantly covered or rather choked with dry wood, while some stout men
+held and pressed down the pyre which was by this time burning fiercely
+on all sides, with the Bamboos. A great shout of exultation then arose
+from the surrounding spectators, till both the dead and living bodies
+were converted into a handful of dust and ashes. When the tragic scene
+was brought to a close and the excitement of the moment subsided, men
+and women wept and sobbed, while cries and groans of sympathy filled the
+air.
+
+If all religions be not regarded as "splendid failures," that outlook
+into the future, which sustains us amid the manifold griefs and agonies
+of a troublous life, holds out the sure hope of a blessed existence
+hereafter. My aunt, Bhuggobutty Dassee, though a victim of superstition,
+had nevertheless a firm, unalterable faith in the merciful dispensations
+of Hurree which prompted her to renounce her life for the salvation of
+her own and her husband's souls, giving no heed whatever to the
+importunity of her friends or the admonition of the world. The sincerity
+of her religious conviction immeasurably outweighed every other worldly
+consideration, and no fear or temptation could deter her from her
+resolute purpose, despite its singularly shocking character. It was the
+depth of a similar religious conviction and earnestness of purpose that
+led Joan of Arc to suffer martyrdom on a funeral pile. When asked by
+the executioner if she believed in the reality of her mission, "Yes,"
+she firmly replied, while the flames were ascending around her. "My
+voices were of God. All that I have done was by the command of God. No,
+my voices did not deceive me. My revelations were of God." "Nothing more
+was heard from her but invocations to God, interrupted by her long drawn
+agony. So dense were the clouds of smoke that at one time, she could not
+be seen. A sudden gust of wind turned the current of the whirlwind and
+Jeanne was seen for a few moments. She gave one terrific cry, pronounced
+the name of Jesus, bowed her head, and the spirit returned to God who
+gave it. Thus perished Jeanne, the maid of Orleans," and thus perished
+Bhuggobutty Dassee, my aunt.
+
+About the year 1813, Rammohun Roy published a pamphlet in which he very
+clearly exposed the barbarous character of the rite of burning widows
+alive. He was unfortunately backed by few friends. The orthodox party
+was then very strong, and included the most influential and wealthy
+portion of the Hindoo community. Maharajah Tejchunder Bahadoor of
+Burdwan, Rajahs Gopeemohun and Radhakanto Bahadoors, Promothnath Dey,
+Boystubchunder Mullick, Rammohun Mullick and, in fact, the entire
+aristocracy of Calcutta were enlisted on the side of opposition. The
+"Sumachar Chandrika," the recognised organ of the _Dhurmo Shabha_,
+edited by Bhowbany Churn Bonerjea, vilified Rammohun Roy, as an outcast
+and infidel and persecuted those who were bold enough to avow their
+sentiments in favour of the abolition of this inhuman practice. Rammohun
+Roy almost single-handed encountered this formidable opposition, he
+fought for a just and righteous but not a popular cause, regardless
+alike of the consequences of social persecution and the threats and
+scoffs of his orthodox countrymen. Patiently but steadily and
+consistently he worked his way, until at last his appeal finding a
+responsive echo in a Christian heart, that noble minded Governor
+General--Lord William Bentinck--gradually put a stop to the practice.
+That eminent statesman had many a conference with Rammohun Roy on the
+propriety or otherwise of abolishing this shocking practice. The
+anti-abolitionists presented a memorial to Government, urging therein
+its unjustifiable interference with the religious usages of the country.
+That wise Governor General, who was very anxious to preserve in full
+integrity the solemn pledge of government about a neutral policy in
+matters of religion, consulted the distinguished Orientalist, Mr. H. H.
+Wilson, on the subject, and finally came to the resolution of abolishing
+this inhuman institution throughout the British dominion in the East.
+But before giving effect to the resolution, he recorded in a Minute that
+the authoritative abolition of the practice would be an outrageous
+violation of the engagement of the Supreme Government. Accordingly his
+Lordship observed: "I must acknowledge that a similar opinion, as to the
+probable excitation of a deep distrust of our future intentions, was
+mentioned to me in conversation by that enlightened Native, Rammohun
+Roy, a warm advocate for the abolition of Suttees, and of all other
+superstitions and corruptions engrafted on the Hindu religion, which he
+considers originally to have been a pure deism. It was his opinion that
+the practice might be suppressed quietly and unobservedly by increasing
+the difficulties, and by the indirect agency of the Police. He
+apprehended that any public enactment would give rise to general
+apprehension, that the reasoning would be, while the English were
+contending for power, they deemed it politic to allow universal
+toleration and to respect our religion; but having obtained the
+supremacy, their first act is a violation of their professions and the
+next will probably be, like Mahomedan conquerors to force upon us their
+own religion."
+
+The argument urged by Government was as reasonable as its conduct was
+compatible with its known policy. But it must be mentioned to the credit
+of an enlightened Government that its generous exertions have
+effectually healed one of the most shocking wounds inflicted by inhuman
+superstition upon our unhappy country.
+
+
+
+
+XXII.
+
+THE ADMIRED STORY OF THE SABITRI BRATA,
+
+OR
+
+THE WONDERFUL TRIUMPH OF EXALTED CHASTITY.
+
+
+In the halcyon days of the Hindoo _Raj_, when religion was regarded as
+the mortar of society, and righteousness the cement of domestic
+happiness, when Judhistra the Just inculcated, by precept and example,
+the inflexible rules of moral rectitude, there reigned in the country of
+Madra a very pious, truthful, wise and benevolent king named _Aswapati_.
+For a long time he had no child, which made him extremely unhappy.
+Seeing that the evening of his life was drawing nearer every day and
+there was no sign of the approach of the wished-for consummation, he
+undertook to perform a grand religious ceremony with the object of
+obtaining a son and heir, and daily made ten thousand offerings to
+please the goddess, Sabitri, from whom the boon was expected.
+
+Thus passed away several long and painful years, at the end of which it
+came to pass that the goddess, Sabitri, one day suddenly appeared before
+him in the shape of a beautiful woman, and told him that she was ready
+to grant him any boon he might ask for, because she was well pleased
+with him for his austere asceticism, for the purity and sincerity of his
+heart, for the strict observance of his vow, and for his firm, unshaken
+faith in her. As was to be expected, he prayed for a good number of
+sons, affirming that without offspring the life of man upon earth is but
+a wilderness, obscuring the transitory sunshine of bliss into a chaotic
+mass of settled gloom.
+
+The goddess said that foreknowing this to be his cherished desire, she
+had gone to the Creator (Brahma) to consult him as to the best means for
+its realization, and through his mercy he would soon be blessed with a
+female child, in every way worthy of such a pious and virtuous father.
+Her beauty would shed a lustre around her name and the fame of her rare
+gifts of nature spread far and wide. She would be the cynosure of all
+princely eyes, and her charms radiate in all directions. So saying, the
+goddess disappeared and the king returned to his own capital.
+
+In a short time, the eldest queen became pregnant and in due course of
+time, gave birth to a daughter of matchless beauty. The king and his
+Brahmin friends called her Sabitri, after the name of the goddess who
+granted the boon. Day by day, the princess grew fairer and fairer, and
+soon passed from the incipient stage of smiling childhood to that of
+blooming youth. Every one that saw her chiselled features and
+prepossessing appearance believed that some angelic beauty,--the
+embodiment of loveliness itself--had descended upon earth in the shape
+of a lovely damsel. Indeed she was so surpassingly beautiful that no
+prince, how great or eminent he might be, dared seek her hand in
+marriage lest his suit should be spurned.
+
+The king, Aswapati, thought of marrying his only daughter, then in the
+fullness and freshness of youth, to some one worthy of the honor. For
+some time no royal suitors ventured to solicit her hand for the reasons
+stated above. At length, Sabitri sought and obtained her father's
+permission to secure for herself a suitable match. In complying with her
+request, the father moreover allowed her to take in her travels some of
+the wisest ministers of the state, whose experience and counsel would be
+available to her in so momentous an affair. Mounted on a golden chariot
+and accompanied by a number of gray headed ministers, she left the
+capital with the benedictions of the hereditary priests, and journeyed
+far and wide through many a strange country, visiting on her way some of
+the most delightful hermitages of the venerable old _Rishis_, who were
+absorbed in meditation.
+
+Sometime after, while the king was attending to the duties of the State
+and conversing with that renowned sage, Narada, Sabitri with the
+ministers returned home from her peregrination. The princess, seeing her
+father talking with the great Rishi, Narada, bowed her head down in
+token of due homage to the venerable Rishi and her respected father. The
+bustle consequent on the first interview after a long absence being
+over, Narada asked the king: "O monarch, where did your daughter go?
+Whence is she now coming? It is high time that you should give her in
+marriage to some noble prince worthy of her hand." The king replied, "O
+revered Rishi, I sent her abroad with some of my wisest ministers in
+quest of some noble prince, who, to a beautiful person should add all
+the rarest gifts of wisdom, courage, piety and virtue; now hear from her
+own mouth, how far she has succeeded in her sacred mission." So saying,
+the king desired Sabitri to tell them whom she had chosen for her
+husband. Sabitri, in obedience to her esteemed father's behest, thus
+spoke in a tone becoming her age and sex. "Father, a pious king named
+Dyumutsen once ruled the kingdom of Sala. A few days after his accession
+he lost both his eyes and became totally blind. At that time, his only
+child was in his infancy, quite incapable of conducting the affairs of
+the kingdom. His treacherous enemies, taking advantage of his blindness
+and the infancy of his child, invaded his kingdom and wrested it from
+his hands. The dethroned king and his beloved queen with their infant
+child betook themselves to a quiet life of contemplation in an adjacent
+wood, renouncing all the pleasures of a wicked, ungrateful world. For
+some years they passed their days in the sequestered wood amidst the
+abodes of many revered sages, who took a special delight in imbuing the
+nascent mind of the boy with the germs of moral and religious
+instruction, promising a full development in maturer years. He was in
+every way my equal, and him have I chosen as my worthy husband. His name
+is Satyavana."
+
+Hearing this, the hoary headed Rishi, Narada, thus addressed the
+monarch. "O monarch, I am grieved to say that your daughter has been
+unfortunate in her choice, in having thoughtlessly selected the virtuous
+Satyavana as her husband." The king feelingly enquired: "O great Rishi,
+are the noble qualities of valour, prudence, forgiveness, piety,
+devotion, generosity, filial love and affection to be found in
+Satyavana?" Narada answered, "Satyavana is Surya's (sun's) equal in
+matchless glory, is wise as Vrihashpati himself, brave and warlike as
+Indra, mild and forgiving as Earth." The king asked: "Is the prince a
+sincere worshipper of God, walking in the path of righteousness? Is he
+beautiful, amiable and high-minded?" Narada replied, "O king, like
+Ratideva, the son of Sankriti, the beautiful Satyavana, is generous;
+like Sibi, the son of Usinara, he is a lover of God and Truth; and is as
+high-minded as Yayati; all the pious old Rishis and other good men
+believe that Satyavana is brave, mild, meek, truthful, faithful to his
+friends, magnanimous, pious, and sincere in devotion and earnestness."
+The king again asked: "O venerable sage, you have named all the good
+qualities that can ennoble humanity; be kind enough to inform me in what
+he is wanting." "He has one great disqualification," said Narada, "which
+is enough to outweigh all his virtues, his life upon earth is very
+short, he is fated to live exactly one year from this day."
+
+Hearing the fearful prophecy of Narada, the king tried his best to
+dissuade his daughter from the fatal alliance, but all his efforts
+proved unavailing. Sabitri, firm and constant in her plighted faith,
+fearlessly replied that, despite the ominous prediction which is
+suggestive of the appalling horrors of premature widowhood to the mind
+of a Hindoo female, she could not retract her pledge and surrender her
+heart to any other being upon earth.
+
+Narada then exclaimed; "O king, I see your daughter is true to her
+promise, firm in her faith and constant in her love and attachment to
+Satyavana. No one will be able to lead her astray from the path of
+righteousness. Let the unrivalled pair, therefore, be united in the
+sacred bond of wedlock." The king replied, "O great Rishi, unalterable
+are your words; what you have now said is just and right. As you are my
+_Gooroo_ (spiritual guide) I will do what you have ordered me to do."
+"Heaven's choicest blessings be upon you all," said Narada, and
+departed.
+
+The king now directed his attention to the solemnisation of the nuptials
+of his beloved daughter with becoming pomp and eclat.
+
+The fair daughter of Aswapati was thus married in due form to Satyavana,
+the son of the blind old king, Dyumutsen. For a while the happy pair
+continued to enjoy all the blessings of conjugal life in their blissful
+and retired cottage, remote from the busy throng of men and quite
+congenial to religious meditation, though Sabitri knew full well, as
+predestined by Bidhata, that this short and transient happiness would be
+soon followed by long and painful suffering which would very nigh
+destroy them both.
+
+Thus week after week and month after month rolled away, when at length
+the prophetic day on which the terrible doom was to be pronounced upon
+Satyavana drew nearer and nearer, and when Sabitri saw that there
+remained only four days to complete the terrible year, perhaps the last
+year of Satyavana's life, at the end of which the fatal torch of _Yama_
+would appear before her beloved husband, her heart recoiled at the
+idea. To avert the dreadful doom she undertook the performance of an
+austere vow, which strictly enjoined three days of continuous fasting
+and prayer, pouring forth at the feet of the Almighty all the fervours
+of a devotional heart. Her father-in-law, Dyumutsen, though overwhelmed
+by the surging wave of grief, endeavoured to dissuade her from
+undertaking so trying a vow, but his admonition was quite ineffectual.
+She persistently adhered to her resolution and calmly resigned herself
+to the dispensations of a wise, and merciful Providence.
+
+Mental conflict, internal perturbation, and continuous fasting made her
+weak and emaciated, and the prophetic words of Narada incessantly
+haunted her mind like some fatal vision. It is quite impossible to
+describe the violent struggles that passed within her when that terrible
+day at last arrived, and when the inevitable decree of fate by which her
+dear husband should for ever cease to live would be fulfilled. After
+bathing in the sacred stream she made burnt offerings to the gods and
+prostrated herself on the ground, as a mark of profound homage to the
+honoured feet of the old Rishis, and those of her revered father-in-law
+and mother-in-law, who in return heartily pronounced their sincere
+benedictions upon her. When the hour for dinner came, she was desired to
+partake of some refreshment, especially after three days' continuous
+fastings, but animated by a fervent spirit of devotion she declined to
+take any food before sunset.
+
+Presently she saw her husband going to the forest with his axe and a
+bag, to procure fruits and dry wood. Sabitri begged to accompany him,
+but from the prescience of imminent danger as well as from the warmth of
+affection he would fain keep her at home, being assured that her tender
+feet were not fitted to wander in the "brambly wilderness" in her
+present enfeebled state of body; but regardless of all admonition she
+thus exclaimed: "O my beloved Lord, I am not at all weary with fasting,
+your very presence is my strongest support. I can never be happy without
+you, so do not turn a deaf ear to the earnest entreaty of an already
+disconsolate wife, whose fate is bound with yours in a gordian knot
+which no earthly force can break or cut." Satyavana was at last
+constrained to yield to her solicitations, and bade her take his father
+and mother's permission before her departure. It was with the greatest
+reluctance that their permission was given. Obtaining their benedictions
+and being armed with the panoply of divine grace, the unhappy pair
+quitted their sweet home for the dreary forest. On the way, Satyavana,
+half conscious of what would soon befall him, addressed his loving wife
+in the following affectionate words: "O dear Sabitri, behold how nature
+smiles in all her beauty, how the fields are adorned with fragrant
+flowers, shady groves, and a wide expanse of living verdure, how slowly
+and smoothly runs the murmuring brook with soothing melody, how the
+warblers of the forest pour forth their wild but sweet notes without
+fear of molestation, how merrily the peacock is dancing, how cheerfully
+the stag is frisking about, and above all, how the stillness of the
+scene invites the mind to contemplation."
+
+While Sabitri was attentively listening to her husband's descriptive
+illustration of nature, her heart swelled in her throat, but her eyes
+were not sullied with even one tear-drop. She continued to follow her
+husband as a faithful, obedient wife.
+
+At length they entered the forest, and Satyavana after having filled his
+bag with various kinds of fruits began to cut with his axe the withered
+branches of the trees. The effort soon overpowered him and he felt some
+uneasy sensation about his head. He slowly walked down to his dear wife
+and observed: "O much beloved Sabitri, suddenly I feel an acute headache
+which, becoming more and more painful, makes me quite insensible and
+almost breaks my heart. I cannot stand here any longer, but I trust by
+the aid of balmy sleep, soon to regain my health and strength."
+
+On hearing her husband's heart-rending words, she sat down upon the
+ground and placed Satyavana's head upon her lap. But as fate had
+ordained he soon became perfectly insensible. When Sabitri saw this, her
+wonted presence of mind did not fail her; trusting, however, in the
+boundless mercy of an overruling Providence, she calmly and composedly
+waited for the ill-fated hour, when the shadow of death would hide for
+ever her beloved Satyavana--a doom she was herself prepared to share.
+Suddenly, after a short while, she believed she saw a grim figure,
+clothed in red and resplendent with lustre like the sun, slowly
+approaching her with a chain in his hand. This was not a figment of her
+imagination. The veritable _Yama_ stood beside Satyavana and looked
+steadfastly upon him.
+
+No sooner did Sabitri see him than she, taking her husband's head from
+her lap and placing it upon the ground, with trembling heart thus
+addressed him. "God-like person, your heavenly form and majestic
+appearance bespeak unmistakably that you are a god among gods. Vouchsafe
+to unfold yourself and break your mind to me."
+
+Yama replied; "O Sabitri, thou art chaste and constant in thy devotion
+and meditation, I, therefore, feel no delicacy in satisfying your eager
+inquiry. I am Yama (Pluto), I am come here for the purpose of carrying
+away thy dead husband, as his days upon earth are numbered." To this,
+Sabitri said, "O king, I have heard that your imps carry away the dead
+bodies from the earth; why are you then come yourself?"
+
+Yama replied, "O amiable Sabitri, while living, your excellent husband
+possessed many good qualities and was justly remarkable for his
+righteousness. It was improper, therefore, to have sent my imps to carry
+him away. With this view I am come myself." So saying Yama forcibly
+drew out the finger-shaped soul from Satyavana's body. Being deprived of
+the vital spirit, the dead body became motionless, pale and pallid; and
+Yama went towards the South. The chaste Sabitri, in order to obtain the
+fruit of her vow, followed him with sad looks and a heavy heart. Seeing
+this, Yama remonstrated with her and ordered her to return home and
+perform the funeral obsequies of her husband. Sabitri said she would go
+wherever her husband was carried, and that by her unceasing prayer to
+the Almighty, by her firm faith in her spiritual guide, by the solemn
+fulfilment of her sacred vow, and by his (Yama's) grace, her course
+would be free and unrestrained. "O king of the infernal regions," said
+she, "kindly deign to lend a listening ear to a suppliant's prayer. He
+that has not obtained a complete mastery over his senses should not come
+to the forest to lead there either a domestic life, or a student's life,
+or the life of a devotee. Those who have effectually controlled their
+passions are fit to fulfil the necessary conditions of the four
+different modes of life. Of these four modes, the domestic life is
+decidedly the best, being most favourable to the acquisition of
+knowledge and wisdom, and to the cultivation of piety and virtue.
+Persons like myself do not desire to lead any other than a domestic
+life."
+
+"Now return home, O fair Sabitri; I am much pleased with your wise
+observations; I am willing to grant you any boon save the life of your
+husband," exclaimed Yama. Sabitri replied, "O king, be graciously
+pleased to restore eyesight to my blind father-in-law, and make him
+powerful as the Sun or the Fire, that he may be enabled to regain his
+kingdom and rule it with vigour." Yama granted the boon, and directed
+her to return home after the fatiguing journey. Sabitri answering said,
+"O virtuous king, I feel no trouble or fatigue while I am with my
+husband, for a husband is the strength and stay of his wife, and the
+wife is the sharer of her husband's weal or woe:
+
+  The wife, where danger or dishonor lurks,
+  Safest and seemliest by her husband stays,
+  Who guards her, or with her the worst endures.
+
+"Wherever, therefore, you carry my husband, my footsteps will dog you
+thither. Our very first intercourse with the good and the righteous
+leads to the growth of confidence and kindly feeling, which is always
+productive of the most beneficial results." Whereupon Yama replied, "O
+thoughtful lady, thy words are agreeable to my heart; they are fraught
+with meaning and good sense. I shall willingly grant you another boon
+save the life of your husband." "Allow me, then, O virtuous king, to ask
+for a hundred begotten sons to my father, who has no son," said Sabitri.
+
+"I grant the boon," said Yama, "now that all your wishes have been
+consummated, do not continue to follow me any longer. You are far away
+from your father-in-law's cottage; return home at once."
+
+Sabitri replied, "O virtuous king, we are apt to repose more confidence
+in the righteous than in ourselves; their kindness amply requites our
+love and regard." Yama said, "I am very much satisfied with your
+edifying speech, and am disposed to grant you another boon." Sabitri
+feeling grateful for the several boons granted unto her, presumed this
+time to ask for the resurrection of her husband as well as for the birth
+from them of a hundred powerful, wise and virtuous sons, to be the glory
+of the country and the ornament of society.
+
+"Be it so," said Yama cheerfully and disappeared.
+
+It is obvious that the fertile imagination of the hereditary priests of
+Hindoosthan, who, from their traditional mental abstraction, delighted
+more in the concoction of legendary lore than of the solid, sober
+realities of life, invented the above Brata or vow, mainly for the
+consolation of ignorant females, to avert the hardships of widowhood,
+than which a more unmitigated evil is not to be found in the domestic
+economy of the Hindoos. The unhallowed institution of the immolation of
+widows alive, was primarily traceable to the dread of this terrible
+calamity, which preyed, as it were, on the vitals of humanity. Hence the
+performance of this Brata is the culminating point of meritorious work
+in popular estimation, promising to the performer the perpetual
+enjoyment of connubial happiness, which is more valued by a Hindoo
+female than all the riches of Golconda.
+
+It is annually celebrated in the Bengalee month of Joysto both by widows
+and by women whose husbands are alive, by the former, in the hope of
+averting the evil in another life, by the latter, in the expectation of
+continuing to enjoy conjugal bliss both in this world and the next.
+
+On the celebration of this Brata on the fourteenth night of the decrease
+of the moon, the husband, being dressed in clean new clothes, is made to
+sit on a carpet, the wife, previously washing and drying his feet, puts
+round his neck a garland of flowers and worships him with sandal and
+flowers, wrestling hard in prayer for his prolonged life. This being
+done, she provides for him a good dinner, consisting of different kinds
+of fruits, sweetmeats, sweet and sour milk and ghee-fried _loochees_,
+&c. It should be mentioned here that a widowed lady offers the same
+homage to the god, Naraian, in the place of a husband.
+
+The usual incantation is read by the priest, and she repeats it
+inaudibly, the substance being in harmony with her cherished desire. He
+gets his usual fee of two or four rupees and all the offerings in rice,
+fruits, sweetmeats, clothes, brass utensils, &c. If not dead, a woman
+has to perform this Brata regularly for fourteen long years, at the end
+of which the expense is tenfold more, in clothes, beddings, brass
+utensils, and an entertainment to Brahmins, friends and neighbours, than
+in the ordinary previous years.
+
+Besides the Bratas described above, there are many others of more or
+less note, which are annually observed by vast numbers of females, who,
+from their early religious tendencies, seem to enjoy a monopoly of them.
+It is, however, a singular fact that the primary object of all these
+religious vows is the possession of all sorts of worldly happiness,
+seldom supplemented by a desire of endless blessedness hereafter. This
+is unquestionably a lamentable desideratum in the original conception
+and design of the popular Hindoo Shastras, clearly demonstrating its
+superficiality and poverty.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+NOTE A.
+
+OBSERVANCES AND RITES DURING PREGNANCY.
+
+
+From the period of conception a woman is enjoined by way of precaution,
+to live under certain rules and restrictions, the observance of which is
+to ensure a safe delivery as well as the safety of the offspring. She is
+not allowed to put on clothes over which birds of the air have flown,
+lest their return might prolong the period of her delivery. She fastens
+a knot to one end of the _Achal_ of her _Saree_[128] and keeps it tied
+about her waist, and spits on her breast once a day before washing her
+body, and is not allowed to sit or walk in the open compound in order to
+avoid evil spirits; as a safeguard against their inroads, she constantly
+wears in the knot of her hair a slender reed five inches long.
+
+When in a state of pregnancy, a Hindoo female is treated with peculiar
+care, tenderness and affection. She is generally brought from her
+father-in-law's house to that of her father, where all the members of
+the family shew her the greatest love lest she should not survive the
+throes of childbirth. Indeed the first childbirth of a young Hindoo girl
+is justly considered a struggle between life and death. As a religious
+safeguard and guarantee for safe delivery, she is made to wear round her
+neck a small _Madoolee_ (a very small casket made of gold, silver, or
+copper), containing some flowers previously consecrated to _Baba
+Thacoor_[129] and to drink daily until her delivery a few drops of holy
+water after touching it with the _Madoolee_.
+
+It is perhaps generally known that a Hindoo girl is married between 9
+and 12 years of age--an age when her European sister would not even
+dream of being united in the bonds of wedlock; and the natural
+consequence is, she becomes a mother at thirteen or fourteen years. An
+eminent writer who had studied the subject carefully thus remarks: "Till
+their thirteenth year, they are stout and vigorous; but after that
+period, they alter much faster than the women in any of the nations of
+Europe." Her tender age, her sedentary life, her ignorance of the laws
+of hygiene, the common dread of childbirth, the want of proper midwives
+as well as of timely medical aid (should any be necessary), conspire
+sometimes to cause an untimely death. She must continue to observe many
+precautions until her accouchement is completed.
+
+In the fifth month of her pregnancy takes place her _Kacha Shad_.[130]
+The day must be an auspicious one according to Hindoo astrologers, and
+she is treated that day with special indulgence, inasmuch as all the
+delicacies of the season are given to her without restriction. In the
+seventh month she is treated with _Bhaja Shad_, when she eats with a few
+other females (whose husbands and children are all alive) all sorts of
+parched peas and rice as well as _Methais_ and other sweetmeats; in the
+ninth month, the _Paunchamrita_[131] ceremony is held, when she is made
+to wear a red-bordered _Akhanda_ Saree (a piece of cloth ten cubits long
+with the edges uncut), which is preserved with the greatest care lest
+any jealous and mischievous woman who has lost her children, should
+clandestinely cut and take away a portion of the same, which is
+considered a very portentous omen for the preservation of the new born
+babe.
+
+On the celebration of _Paunchamrita_ above mentioned the officiating
+priest, after repeating the usual incantation, pours into her mouth a
+little of the delicacies, without the same coming in contact with her
+teeth. She is forbidden to eat anything else that day except fruits and
+sweetmeats; and then a good day is appointed for the celebration of the
+grand final _Shad_, when all the female relatives and connections of the
+family are invited. In Calcutta, Hindoo females of respectability are
+not permitted to be seen, much less to walk in the streets; they live in
+a state of perfect seclusion, entirely apart from the male members of
+the family, it being considered a very great disgrace should a
+respectable female be in any way exposed to public gaze. The very
+construction of a Hindoo family dwelling house clearly indicates the
+prevalence of the close zenana system; the inmates must have an inner
+and an outer apartment, there must be an inclosed court-yard reached by
+tortuous passages, closed by low constructed doors, through which one
+has to wriggle rather than to walk; the sun seldom shines into it; small
+contracted staircases, foul confined air, no circulation or ventilation
+are the result: the noxious effluvia evaporating from this or that side
+of the house, especially from the lower floor, is a nuisance which the
+inmates put up with, with scarcely any complaint. The drainage and
+water works have certainly effected considerable improvement towards the
+promotion of cleanliness, but still the dirty and filthy state of most
+of the family dwelling houses is a notorious fact. By a small door only
+there exists a communication between the inner and outer apartment;
+should the house be a small one, say from three to four _cottahs_, which
+is generally the case in such a crowded city as Calcutta, and should the
+women talk loud enough to be heard by men outside, they are not only
+instantly checked but severely reprimanded for the liberty. The great
+privacy of the close zenana system is, however, broken by females being
+obliged to travel in a Railway carriage: though Hindoos of rank,
+whenever they have occasion to go on pilgrimage by Rail, generally
+engage a reserved compartment for the females, yet they cannot manage to
+preserve absolute privacy when going into or coming out of the carriage
+at the Railway Stations.
+
+To return to the grand final _Shad_, on the day appointed an awning is
+put up over the court-yard of the house. _Palkees_ are sent to each of
+the families invited; and the guests (nearest female relatives) begin to
+come in from ten in the morning; a general spirit of hilarity prevails
+on all sides, noise and bustle ensue, the women are busy in receiving
+their guests, preparations are being made for the grand feast, the men
+outside direct the _Palkee_ bearers where next to go, the little
+children have their own share of juvenile frolic, the young damsels and
+the aged matrons are seen speaking to their respective friends with
+mutual love, affection and confidence; and signs of joviality and
+conviviality are seen every where. It is on such occasions that women
+unbosom themselves to each other, and freely and unreservedly
+communicate their feelings, their thoughts, their wishes, nay their
+secrets to friends of congenial spirit and temper; their conversation
+knows no end, their amiable loveliness almost spontaneously developes
+itself; they unburden their minds of the heavy load of accumulated
+thoughts; their joys and sorrows, their happiness and misery, their
+sympathy and emotion, pleasurable or painful, have their full scope. If
+they are naturally garrulous they become more so at such a jovial
+assemblage, so that one can dive deepest down into their hearts on such
+an occasion. Many a matrimonial match is proposed and matured at such
+meetings, and to crown the whole, sisters of kindred spirit embrace each
+other with all the warmth of genuine love and affection. If their minds
+are contracted by reason of scanty culture, their hearts are full of
+affection, sympathy and susceptibility, which cannot fail to exercise a
+beneficial influence on human nature.
+
+On such occasions, females are allowed to have some amusement or
+_tamasha_, according to their liking, (but of course not such as betrays
+a vitiated taste, overstepping the bounds of decorum, which was the case
+some years back). Dancing girls and _Panchalleys_ are entertained, who
+contribute not a little to the amusement of the assembled guests.
+Immured within the walls of a close zenana they are seldom suffered to
+enjoy such unrestrained liberty. Otto of roses, rose water out of gold
+or silver pots, nosegays, and _paun_ or betel are freely distributed
+among them. They sit on benches or chairs, or squat down barefooted on
+_forash bichana_ (a clean white sheet), and enjoy the _tamasha_ to their
+hearts' content. These amusements continue till evening, entertaining
+the guests with songs on gods and goddesses (Doorga, Krishna and his
+mistress, Radha): those relating to Doorga have a reference to the ill
+treatment she experienced at the hands of her parents, but those
+pertaining to Krishna and Radha tell of his juvenile frolics with his
+mother and the milk-maids, and amorous songs on disappointed love,
+which, though they may appear harmless to their worshippers, have
+nevertheless a partial tendency to debase the minds of females. By way
+of encouragement, the singing and dancing girls receive, besides their
+hire, presents of money, clothes and shawls, according to the
+circumstances of the parties retaining them. To do our women justice,
+however, it is pleasing to reflect that the progress of enlightenment
+has of late years wrought a salutary change in their minds. Instead of
+the former _Kabees_ (songs) which were shamefully characterised by the
+worst species of obscenity and immorality, they have imbibed a taste for
+more sober and refined entertainments. Moral and intellectual
+improvement amongst perfectly secluded females is a sure harbinger of
+national regeneration. The young and the sprightly, as is naturally to
+be expected, enjoy these amusements most; but the more elderly and
+thoughtful females make the best of the opportunity in conversation
+about domestic affairs with those of their own age and kinship. They
+have certainly no distaste for these frivolous entertainments, but the
+thoughts and cares of home press more heavily on their minds. Age and
+experience have taught them to regard the enjoyment of unalloyed
+domestic felicity as the chief end of life. A good Hindoo housewife is a
+model of moral excellence.
+
+About four o'clock in the afternoon, when almost all the guests are
+assembled together, long parallel rows of _pirays_, or wooden seats, the
+one quite apart from the other--are arranged in straight lines in the
+court-yard, in the midst of which is placed the seat of the pregnant
+girl, which, by way of distinction, is painted white with rice paste
+(_alpana_) with appropriate devices. Adorned with ornaments of
+glittering gold, bedecked with precious stones, and dressed in an
+embroidered Benares _Saree_, she walks gracefully towards her particular
+seat, which is a signal for others (widows excepted) to follow; they all
+squat down on the wooden seats, before which are placed small pieces of
+green plantain leaves and a few little earthen plates and a cup, which
+are intended to serve the purposes of plates and glasses. Before her
+stands a light, a _conch_ is sounded, and a rupee with which her
+forehead is touched is kept for the gods, for safe delivery. Fruits of
+different kinds, about fifteen or sixteen sorts of sweetmeats,
+_loochee_, _kachoory_, _papur_ (flour fried with ghee) in the shape of
+_chappatees_, vegetable curries of several kinds, sweet and sour milk,
+are provided for the guests, the female relatives of the girl serving as
+stewards. No adult male member of the family is allowed to assist in the
+feast, because Hindoo females blush to eat before men. Being most
+pre-eminent in point of caste, Brahmin women are served _first_. Here
+the rules of caste are strictly observed, and no departure therefrom is
+tolerated. It is not uncommon that uninvited females, or more properly
+speaking, intruders contrive by some means or other, to mix with the
+company; but they are soon singled out by the more shrewd and
+experienced, and to their chagrin and disappointment, instantly removed
+from their seats. They do not, however, go away with curses on their
+lips, but receive a few things and are ordered to leave the house
+without a _Palkee_.[132]
+
+After the feast is over, the women, washing their hands and mouths,
+express their good wishes for the safe delivery of the girl, and make
+preparations for returning home. Here confusion and bustle ensue
+consequent on the simultaneous desire of all to return home _first_, and
+as the sun begins to set, their anxiety becomes more intense to see the
+faces of their absent children; laying aside their wonted modesty, some
+of them almost unblushingly make a rush and enter the _first Palkee_
+that comes in their way, regardless alike of their sex and the rules of
+decorum. If 100 families are invited, about ten _Palkees_ are retained.
+Hackney carriages are sometimes substituted in place of _Palkees_, but
+whatever arrangements are made it is next to impossible to satisfy at
+least 200 people at one and the same time. The guests are never expected
+to find their own conveyances. Before coming, some of them keep the
+Palanquin waiting for an hour or so, while they are engaged at their
+toilet and adorning their persons with divers ornaments. It is not
+unfrequently the case on such occasions that females in poor
+circumstances borrow ornaments from their more prosperous friends, in
+order to appear in society to the best advantage. In the absence of
+mental accomplishments, Hindoo ladies necessarily set a high value on
+the jewels about their persons. Some twenty years back, massive articles
+of gold were considered the most _recherche_ ornaments, so much so that
+some rich ladies were adorned with gold articles alone to the weight of
+6 or 7 lbs.; to an English lady, this might appear incredible, but it is
+a fact which does not admit of any contradiction. Hindoo females are
+religiously forbidden to wear gold ornaments about their feet, it being
+considered a mark of disrespect to _Lukxmee_ (goddess of prosperity,)
+hence they put on pairs of solid massive silver _malls_ or anklets,
+weighing sometimes about 3 lbs.; though such massive articles are a
+great incumbrance to the free motion of the limbs, they are nevertheless
+used with great pleasure. Indeed it has been sarcastically remarked that
+were a Hindoo lady offered a gold _grindstone_ to wear round her neck,
+weighing some 20 lbs. she would gladly accept the offer and go through
+the ordeal. But as the spread of English education has improved the
+minds of the people, it has likewise improved their taste; instead of
+massive gold ornaments, ladies of the present day prefer those of
+delicate diamond cut workmanship, set with pearls and precious stones
+such as _chick_, _sittahaur_, _tarahaur_, _seetee_, _tabij_, _bajoo_,
+_jasum_, _nabaruttun taga_, bracelets of six or seven patterns, and
+ear-rings of three or four kinds, for which girls in very early youth
+perforate their ears in 8 or 10 places, as also their noses in two
+places. By their choice of the modern ornaments they shew their
+preference for elegance to mere weight. Brilliant Pearl necklaces[133]
+of from seven to nine rows, and costly bijouteries of modern style,
+have superseded the old-fashioned solid gold _Bhawootees_ and _Taurs_. A
+rich lady is sometimes seen with jewellery worth 15,000 to 20,000 Rupees
+and upwards; as a matter of course, such a lady is the cynosure of all
+eyes, and the rest of the company move as satellites round the primary
+planet. Conscious of her superiority in this respect and puffed up with
+vanity she disdains to hold converse with her less fortunate sisters.
+She is tramping, as it were, "to the tinkling sound of the ornaments of
+gold and gems on her person." As the grand centre of attraction, her
+gait, her gestures, her movements form the subject of general criticism,
+and as an object of envy she continues to be talked of even after the
+return of the guests to their homes.
+
+In the villages, however, silver ornaments are more in vogue than gold
+ones, simply because the rural population have neither the taste nor the
+means of the people of the city. As a rule, the Hindoos invest their
+savings in gold and silver which is turned to good account in times of
+need and distress. Throughout Hindoosthan, the people have so great a
+_penchant_ for gold and silver ornaments that not only women but men
+also adorn their persons with solid articles of sterling gold. I have
+seen Setts (shroffs) and Malgoozars go about with ornaments of
+considerable value; their dress, however, is generally exceedingly
+tawdry, and bears no correspondence to the worth of the articles of gold
+they carry about. I once weighed a solid pure gold chain worn by a Sett
+round his waist, which the natives call _Gote_, weighing over 4 lbs.,
+worth about 3,000 Rupees.
+
+In Bengal little children are seen with gold ornaments on their
+persons[134] till they are 6 years of age, but adults are entirely free
+from this passion. When a male child is born to a respectable Hindoo,
+the heart of the mother irresistibly yearns to adorn its person with
+ornaments, especially at the time of _vath_ (christening), _i. e._, at 6
+months of age for a male and 7 months for a female child.
+
+When the females return home after the entertainment, it is truly a
+scene of "sorry to part, happy to meet again." It is seldom that such
+opportunities are afforded them to give free vent to their feelings,
+thoughts and wishes;--a human being always feels unhappy at living in a
+perfectly isolated state; he or she naturally longs for society, and
+this longing is alike manifest in both sexes. The greater the restraint,
+as in the case of Hindoo ladies, the stronger the desire for social
+intercourse. Can a zenana Hindoo lady with her veiled modesty suppress
+the impulse to look about through the shutters of a closed Palkee, with
+guards on both sides, in the light of day? The impulse is by no means a
+criminal one but is prompted by the irresistible influence of nature.
+The parting exclamation on such occasions is, "Sister, when shall I have
+the good fortune to see you again?" "Why, not before long," is the
+common reply. The consummation of the desire, if long deferred,
+naturally produces feelings of discontent. A few days after the feast
+the families that were invited, give a tangible proof of their regard
+for the pregnant girl by making her presents of clothes and sweetmeats
+according to their respective circumstances, as a matter of course the
+nearest relatives making the richest presents.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[128] A Saree is a piece of cloth, 5 yards long with colored borders.
+
+[129] A Hindoo god generally kept by the lower orders of the people,
+such as _Domes_, _Charals_ and _Bagthees_.
+
+[130] _Kacha_ means raw; the term _Shad_ is synonymous with desire. The
+ceremony is so called from the female being allowed that day to eat all
+kinds of native pickles, preserves, sweetmeats, confectionery, several
+kinds of fruits then in season, sweet and sour milk, &c., but not rice
+or any sort of food grains. Her desire is gratified, lest the girl
+should not survive the childbirth. It should be mentioned here that from
+the second month of her pregnancy, she feels a great longing to eat
+Pathkhola (a sort of half burnt very thin earthen cake) which pregnant
+girls relish very much on account of its peculiar _sodha_ flavour.
+
+[131] _Paunchamrita_ means five kinds of delicacies, the food of the
+gods, consisting of milk ghee (clarified butter), dhahie (curded milk),
+cowdung and honey.
+
+[132] A rather contemptible practice still lurks in the Hindoo community
+at the time of dining on such public occasions. The females for the most
+part place a portion of the dinner aside for the sake of carrying it
+home for their absent children; even a rich woman feels no hesitation or
+humiliation in following the example of her less fortunate sisters. We
+can only account for this unseemly practice on the supposition that the
+Hindoo ladies do not like to partake of good things without sharing them
+with their beloved children at home. The wish is not an unnatural one
+but the practice most unquestionably _is_. In making provision for a
+grand feast, the Hindoos are obliged to treble the quantity of food for
+the number of guests invited, specially when it is a _pucca jalpan_,
+consisting of _loochees_ and _sundeshes_ (sweetmeats). If they invite
+100 families they must provide for about 300 persons, for the reasons
+specified above. It is a pity that in a matter of public entertainment
+both males and females cannot resist the temptation of appropriating a
+portion of the food to other than the legitimate purpose. Here feminine
+modesty is violated by infringing the ordinary rules of etiquette.
+
+[133] That the Hindoos have, for a long time, manifested a strong
+passion for ornaments, is a historical fact. Even so far back as the
+Mahratta dynasty, it was said of Dowlut Rao Sindhia that "his necklaces
+were gorgeous, consisting of many rows of Pearls, as large as small
+marbles, strung alternately with emeralds". The Pearl (_moti_) was his
+passion and the necklace was constantly undergoing change whenever a
+finer bead was found; the title of "Lord of a hundred Provinces" was far
+less esteemed by him than that of _motiwalla_ the "Man of Pearls," by
+which he was commonly designated in his Camp. It was perhaps a sight of
+this description that led Macaulay to say--"Our plain English coats
+command more respect than all the gorgeous orient pearl of the East,"
+indicating thereby the involuntary awe of savage for civilized life.
+
+[134] Such as _Bore_, _Komurpatta_, _Nimfull_, _Neyboofull_, _Ghoomur_
+round the waist, _Tabeej_, _Bajoo_, _Balla_, _Jasum_, _Taga_, &c. on the
+hands, pearl and gold necklaces of various sorts and gold mohurs or
+sovereigns strung together in the shape of a necklace.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE B.
+
+THE GODDESS SOOBACHINEE.
+
+
+The following is the story of this goddess:--In a certain village there
+lived a poor Brahmin boy, whose poverty was well-known throughout the
+neighbourhood. One day a fisherman came to sell some fish, on seeing
+which the boy began to cry for them. His mother, a poor aged widow,
+though very desirous to satisfy the craving of her son, had
+unfortunately no means to buy them, whereupon the fisherwoman affected
+by the cries of the boy, offered to give her credit and said she would
+come for the price on her way home. Meantime the mother cooked the fish;
+but before her son had time to eat them, the fisherwoman, according to
+her promise, returned for the price. The old woman being still unable to
+pay, the fish vendor demanded the return of the fish, which, though
+cooked, she was willing to take back. This being done, the boy, however,
+had the advantage of tasting the soup made of the fishes and was so much
+pleased with the taste of animal food that he could not resist the
+temptation of stealing one day a _lame_ duck belonging to the king, and
+eating it privately. Investigation being made, the theft was traced to
+the poor Brahmin boy, who being summoned before the king, was tried,
+convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned, at which the mother became
+inconsolable. Seeing her distress and despondency, the goddess Doorga,
+in the form of _Soobachinee_, appeared to her in a dream, and, giving
+her hopes of consolation and better luck for the future, eventually
+advised her to perform the worship of the goddess _Soobachinee_. In
+obedience to the above injunction, she did as she was directed.
+Seventeen ducks made of rice-paste (sixteen with two perfect legs and
+one with a lame leg) formed a part of the ceremony. After the
+performance of the worship and the expiatory rite of _homa_ (burnt
+offering) which expiates all sin, the holy water being sprinkled on the
+feathers of the stolen _lame_ duck, that were concealed under the ashes,
+the devoured duck was at once restored to life and sent back to the
+king's poultry-yard. The miraculous resuscitation of the duck was
+brought to the notice of the king, who immediately sent for the poor old
+woman and questioned her how the dead _lame_ duck was made alive again;
+the old woman, trembling through fear, related all the particulars about
+the appearance of the goddess in a dream. The king, being satisfied as
+to the truth of the tale, ordered the captive boy to be released at once
+and brought to his presence, concluding that the goddess must have been
+very propitious to the old woman and her son. Consulting his ministers
+on the subject, he said within himself he could not have a better match
+for his daughter, who was of marriageable age, than the late delinquent.
+So the nuptials were duly solemnized with becoming pomp, and the poor
+Brahman family lived ever after in a state of great affluence and
+happiness. Hindoo ladies of the orthodox school learn this tale almost
+in their nursery, and feel a peculiar delight in reciting it on certain
+occasions.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE C.
+
+
+The writings of the ancient Hindoo sages, as handed down to us by
+history and tradition, incontestably prove that they were chiefly
+theists; but as their religious ideas were supremely transcendental, ill
+suited to the comprehension of the great mass of the people, and
+consequently not adapted to bring joy, peace and rest to the mind, their
+descendants learnt to modify those ideas and practically reduce them to
+the level of the popular understanding. They gradually created a
+Trinity, _i. e._, the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. But as
+this triad was not sufficiently attractive or intelligible to the
+unlettered mass, who wanted something in the shape of real, tangible
+personification of the deity, in place of indistinct, invisible
+supernatural beings, a designing priesthood subsequently attempted to
+satisfy their wishes by foisting upon them a whole rabble of gods and
+goddesses, which are almost as innumerable as the pebbles on the sea
+shore. In numerical strength the Pantheon of the Hindoos far surpasses
+that of the Egyptians, Greeks, and the Romans. What ancient system of
+mythology contained so many as 330 million gods and goddesses? As in
+mythology, so in chronology, the Hindoos stand unrivalled. Their
+pantheon is as capacious and extensive as their antiquity[135] is
+unfathomable and prehistoric. The origin of the Puranic mythology is to
+be attributed to this national predilection; and the worship of the
+female deities with bloody sacrifices is intended to terrify the
+ignorant populace into superstitious beliefs still grosser than were
+habitual to them.
+
+The antiquity of the Brahminical creed and of the religious systems
+incorporated into, and engrafted on it, has long been a subject of
+interesting inquiry. It is not my intention to go into the subject more
+deeply than merely to affirm that it is still a debatable point among
+the most distinguished orientalists, whether or not the Egyptians and
+Greeks borrowed their system of mythology from that of the Hindoos, and
+afterwards improved on it by divesting it of the grosser excrescences.
+The character of the Hindoo deities is more or less puerile, impure and
+ungodly, not possessing any of the cardinal virtues, such as become the
+living and true God. Desiring to steer clear of such deformities and
+impurities, the Greeks and Romans consecrated separate temples to
+"Virtue, Truth, Piety, Chastity, Clemency, Mercy, Justice, Faith, Hope
+and Liberty."
+
+It is a remarkable fact, says Ward, that "the sceptical part of mankind
+have always been partial to heathenism. Voltaire, Gibbon, Hume &c. have
+been often charged with a strong partiality for the Grecian and Roman
+idolatries; and many Europeans in India are suspected of having made
+large strides towards heathenism. Even Sir William Jones, whose
+recommendation of the Holy Scripture (found in his Bible after his
+death,) has been so often and so deservedly quoted, it is said, to
+please his Pundit, was accustomed to study the Shastras with the image
+of a Hindoo god placed on his table; and his fine metrical translations
+of idolatrous hymns are known to every lover of verse. In the same
+spirit, we observe, that figures and allusions to the ancient idolatries
+are retained in almost all modern poetical compositions and even in some
+Christian writings."
+
+It has been very wisely remarked by a philosophical traveller, Dr.
+Clarke, that "by a proper attention to the vestiges of ancient
+superstition, we are sometimes enabled to refer a whole people to their
+original ancestors, with as much, if not more certainty, than by
+observations made upon their language; because the superstition is
+engrafted on the stock, but the language is liable to change." Writing
+on the same subject, Sir William Jones remarks, "if the festivals of the
+old Greeks, Persians, Romans, Egyptians and Goths, could be arranged
+with exactness in the same form with the Indian, there would be found a
+striking resemblance among them; and an attentive comparison of them
+all, might throw great light on the religion, and perhaps on the
+history, of the primitive world."
+
+The Egyptians described the source of the Nile as flowing from Osiris;
+so the Hindoos represent the holy stream of the Ganges as flowing from
+the head of Iswara, which Sir William Jones so beautifully describes in
+his hymn to Ganga:
+
+  "Above the reach of mortal ken,
+  On blest Coelasa's top, where every stem
+  Flowed with a vegetable gem,
+  Mahasa stood, the dread and joy of men;
+  While Parvati, to gain a boon,
+  Fixed on his locks a beamy moon,
+  And hid his frontal eye in jocund play,
+  With reluctant sweet delay;
+  All nature straight was locked in dim eclipse,
+  Till Brahmins pure, with hallowed lips
+  And warbled prayers restored the day,
+  When Ganga from his brow, with heavenly fingers free,
+  Sprang radiant, and descending, graced the caverns of the west."
+
+For composing such fine metrical translations of idolatrous hymns, Mr.
+Foster finds fault with the conduct of Sir William Jones: he writes, "I
+could not help feeling a degree of regret, in reading lately the Memoirs
+of the admirable and estimable Sir William Jones. Some of his researches
+in Asia have no doubt incidentally served the cause of religion; but did
+he think the least possible direct service had been rendered to
+Christianity, that his accomplished mind was left at leisure for hymns
+to the Hindoo gods? Was not this a violation even of neutrality, and an
+offence, not only against the gospel, but against theism itself? I know
+what may be said about personification, license of poetry, and so on,
+but should not a worshipper of God hold himself under a solemn
+obligation to abjure all tolerance of even poetical figures that can
+seriously seem, in any way whatever, to recognise the pagan divinities
+or abominations, as the prophets of Jehovah would have called them? What
+would Elijah have said to such an employment of talents? It would have
+availed little to have told him, that these divinities were only
+personifications (with their appropriate representative idols) of
+objects in nature, of elements, or of abstractions. He would have
+sternly replied--'And was not Baal, whose prophets I destroyed, the
+same?'"
+
+Dr. Stiles, President of Yale College in North America, was so highly
+impressed with the amazing antiquity of the Hindoo Shastras that he
+wrote to Sir William Jones, asking him to make a search among the
+Hindoos for the Adamic books. Had he not been a sincere Christian, he
+would have asked Sir William to send him a translation of a book written
+some two or three millions of years ago.
+
+General Stewart, who lived in Wood Street, Calcutta, was said to have
+made a large collection of Hindoo idols, which he arranged in the
+portico of his house. He was so fond of them that, it was said, a
+Brahmin was engaged to perform the daily worship, while he himself led
+the life of a Hindoo _rishi_ or saint, inasmuch as he totally abstained
+from the use of either wine or meat.
+
+Such instances of partiality on the part of enlightened Christians
+towards heathenism, we do not see in the present day. In the early times
+of the British settlement in India, there was a strong mania for
+exploring the untrodden field of Braminical learning, and the
+unfathomable antiquity in which it was imbedded. The philosophical
+theories of the _Munees_ and _Rishis_, their sublime conceptions
+concerning the origin of the world and the unity of God, their utter
+indifference to worldly concerns and sensual gratifications, their
+living in sequestered _ashrums_, the practice of religious austerities,
+the subjugation of passions, and above all, their pure, devotional
+spirit, lent an enchantment to their teachings, which was, in the
+highest degree, fascinating. It was not an ordinary phenomenon in the
+annals of the human intellect that Europeans, possessing all the
+advantages of modern civilization, should go so far as to entertain a
+sort of religious veneration for a system of polytheism, which even the
+natives of the country now-a-days denounce as puerile and absurd. Deeper
+researches have, however, subsequently dissipated the delusion, and
+thrown on the subject a great body of light, which the progress of
+Western knowledge is daily increasing.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[135] Such as _Bore_, _Komurpatta_, _Nimfull_, _Neyboofull_, _Ghoomur_
+round the waist, _Tabeej_, _Bajoo_, _Balla_, _Jasum_, _Taga_, &c. on the
+hands, pearl and gold necklaces of various sorts and gold mohurs or
+sovereigns strung together in the shape of a necklace.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE D.
+
+THE BAMACHAREE FOLLOWERS OF KALI.
+
+
+In some parts of Bengal and Assam, there still exists a sect of Hindoos,
+known by the name of _Bamacharees_, or the followers of the female
+energy, who practise a series of _Poornabishaka_ orgies in the name of
+this celestial goddess which are nothing less than abominable. The
+following is a rough programme of the rite. The Brahmin who is to
+perform the ceremony sits upon a sham image of the goddess in a private
+room, having beside him at the same time a quantity of flowers, red
+sandal paste, holy water, copper pans, plantain and other fruits, green
+plantain leaves, parched peas, cooked fish and flesh, and a certain
+quantity of spirituous liquor. When night approaches he takes the
+disciple who is to be initiated into the room, with nine females and
+nine males of different castes, with one female for himself and another
+for the disciple, and makes them all sit down on the floor. Taking up a
+small copper pan and a little of the holy water, he sprinkles it on all
+present and then proceeds with closed eyes to repeat a solemn
+incantation to the following effect: "O goddess, descend and vouchsafe
+thy blessings to Horomohun (the name of the devotee) who has hitherto
+groped in the dark, not knowing what thou art; these offerings are all
+at thy service"; saying this, he whispers in his ear the root of the
+_mantra_. From that time the goddess becomes his guardian deity. The
+Brahmin Gooroo then goes through divers other formulas, pausing for a
+while to serve and distribute liquor in a human skull or cocoanut shell
+to all the devotees, himself setting the example first. He next desires
+the females to lay aside their clothes, and bids his new disciple adore
+them as the living personifications of the goddess. Eating and drinking
+now go on freely, the males taking what is left by the females. Towards
+the close of the ceremony, the disciple, baptised in liquor, makes
+presents of clothes and money to the priest and all the men and women
+present. It is easy to conceive what sort of devotional spirit is evoked
+by the performance of these abominable orgies. Happily for the interests
+of morality in this country, the sect is nearly extinct, except in the
+most obscure parts of Assam and Bengal.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes: Obvious printer errors have been corrected.
+
+Many words are not consistently accented, as in "charpoy" and "charpoy",
+"Basarghur" and "Basurghur", Shrad and Shrad. They have been left as is.
+
+Both "labour" and "labor" appear.
+
+Page 300 right double quote supplied:  Even so far back as the
+Mahratta dynasty, it was said of Dowlut Rao Sindhia that "his necklaces
+were gorgeous, consisting of many rows of Pearls, as large as small
+marbles, strung alternately with emeralds.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hindoos as they Are, by Shib Chunder Bose
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