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diff --git a/37722.txt b/37722.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..25e6979 --- /dev/null +++ b/37722.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10642 @@ +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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HINDOOS AS THEY ARE *** + +***** This file should be named 37722.txt or 37722.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/2/37722/ + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Julia Neufeld and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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