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Everything in India, this land of the elephant and the poisonous cobra, of the tiger and the unsuccessful English missionary, is original and strange. Everything seems unusual, unexpected, and striking, even to one who has travelled in Turkey, Egypt, Damascus, and Palestine. In these tropical regions the conditions of nature are so various that all the forms of the animal and vegetable kingdoms must radically differ from what we are used to in Europe. Look, for instance, at those women on their way to a well through a garden, which is private and at the same time open to anyone, where somebody's cows are grazing. To whom does it not happen to meet with women, to see cows, and admire a garden? Doubtless these are among the commonest of all things. But a single attentive glance will suffice to show you the difference that exists between the same objects in Europe and in India. Nowhere does man feel so much his insignificance, his weakness, as in front of this majestic nature of the tropics. Straight as arrows, the trunks of coconut trees sometimes reach 200 feet [60.96 m] in height; these "princes of the vegetable kingdom," as Lindley<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lindley John Lindley] (1799 –1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. – Ed.</ref> called them, crowned with a wreath of long branches, are the providers and benefactors of the poor people: palm trees provide them with food, clothing, and shelter. Our highest trees would look dwarfed compared with banyans and especially with coconut and other palms. Our European cow, mistaking, at first sight, her Indian sister for a calf, would deny the existence of any kinship between them, as neither the mouse-coloured wool, nor the straight goat-like horns, nor the humped back (like the one of the American bison, but without its mane) would permit her to make such an error. As to the women, each of them would make any artist feel enthusiastic about the gracefulness of her movements and drapery, nevertheless, none of the beauties of Hindustan would have waited for any kindness or greeting from our ruddy and stout Anna Ivanovna: “After all, what a shame, God forgive me, just look: the woman is entirely naked!” | Everything in India, this land of the elephant and the poisonous cobra, of the tiger and the unsuccessful English missionary, is original and strange. Everything seems unusual, unexpected, and striking, even to one who has travelled in Turkey, Egypt, Damascus, and Palestine. In these tropical regions the conditions of nature are so various that all the forms of the animal and vegetable kingdoms must radically differ from what we are used to in Europe. Look, for instance, at those women on their way to a well through a garden, which is private and at the same time open to anyone, where somebody's cows are grazing. To whom does it not happen to meet with women, to see cows, and admire a garden? Doubtless these are among the commonest of all things. But a single attentive glance will suffice to show you the difference that exists between the same objects in Europe and in India. Nowhere does man feel so much his insignificance, his weakness, as in front of this majestic nature of the tropics. Straight as arrows, the trunks of coconut trees sometimes reach 200 feet [60.96 m] in height; these "princes of the vegetable kingdom," as Lindley<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lindley John Lindley] (1799 –1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. – Ed.</ref> called them, crowned with a wreath of long branches, are the providers and benefactors of the poor people: palm trees provide them with food, clothing, and shelter. Our highest trees would look dwarfed compared with banyans and especially with coconut and other palms. Our European cow, mistaking, at first sight, her Indian sister for a calf, would deny the existence of any kinship between them, as neither the mouse-coloured wool, nor the straight goat-like horns, nor the humped back (like the one of the American bison, but without its mane) would permit her to make such an error. As to the women, each of them would make any artist feel enthusiastic about the gracefulness of her movements and drapery, nevertheless, none of the beauties of Hindustan would have waited for any kindness or greeting from our ruddy and stout Anna Ivanovna: “After all, what a shame, God forgive me, just look: the woman is entirely naked!” | ||
This opinion of Russian woman of year 1879 on the subject is quite comparative with the same one of the famous Russian wanderer, “the sinful slave of God, Afanasy son of Nikita<ref>Afanasy Nikitin (died 1475) – a Russian merchant from Tver and one of the first Europeans (after Niccolò de' Conti) to travel to and document his visit to India. He described his trip in a narrative known as ''The Journey Beyond Three Seas''. – Ed.</ref> from Tver.” Having made his "sinful travelling" across three seas: the sea of | This opinion of Russian woman of year 1879 on the subject is quite comparative with the same one of the famous Russian wanderer, “the sinful slave of God, Afanasy son of Nikita<ref>Afanasy Nikitin (died 1475) – a Russian merchant from Tver and one of the first Europeans (after Niccolò de' Conti) to travel to and document his visit to India. He described his trip in a narrative known as ''The Journey Beyond Three Seas''. – Ed.</ref> from Tver.” Having made his "sinful travelling" across three seas: the sea of Derbent, that is, "Doria<ref>Daria (Persian دریا) – a sea. – Tr.</ref> of Khvaliskaya", the sea of India, "Doria of Hiondustanskaya", the Black Sea or "Doria of Stembolskaya" (Istanbul), Afanasy Nikitin arrived in Chaul<ref>30 miles from Bombay. Chaul was a prospering and wealthy town under the Portuguese.</ref> (or, as he calls it, Chevil) in 1470 and describes India in the following words: | ||
{{Style P-Quote|“This is the land of Indians. Its people walk naked, do not cover their heads, with naked breasts, and wear their hair braided in single tress. Women have babies every year and they have many children. Men and women are black. Their prince wears a veil round his head and wraps another veil round his legs. The noblemen wear a veil on one shoulder (i. e. bramins, who wear scarf across the shoulder), and the noblewomen on the shoulders and round the loins, but everyone is barefooted. The women walk about with their hair spread and their breasts naked. The boys and girls, walk totally naked until they are seven years old and do not cover their shame...” }} | {{Style P-Quote|“This is the land of Indians. Its people walk naked, do not cover their heads, with naked breasts, and wear their hair braided in single tress. Women have babies every year and they have many children. Men and women are black. Their prince wears a veil round his head and wraps another veil round his legs. The noblemen wear a veil on one shoulder (i. e. bramins, who wear scarf across the shoulder), and the noblewomen on the shoulders and round the loins, but everyone is barefooted. The women walk about with their hair spread and their breasts naked. The boys and girls, walk totally naked until they are seven years old and do not cover their shame...” }} | ||
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This description is absolutely correct, but as for their ''costumeless'' Afanasy Nikitin is not quite correct: his description might concern only the lowest and poorest classes. These really do walk about covered only with a “veil”, which often is so poor that, in fact, it is nothing but a tape. But still, even the poorest woman is clad in a piece of muslin at least 15 arshins [10,67 m, 35 ft] long. One end serves as a sort of short wide trousers, and the other covers the head and shoulders when out in the street, though the faces are always uncovered. The hair is erected into a kind of Greek chignon. The legs above the knees, the arms, and the waist are never covered. Well, not a single honest woman here will agree to put on shoes: the latter is among the belonging and distinctive feature of “dishonourable” native women alone. In southern India, on the other hand, only Brahmins’ wives and daughters are allowed to wear shoes. When, not long ago, the wife of the Madras governor thought of passing a law that should induce native women to cover their breasts, the place was actually threatened with a revolution. A kind of jacket is worn only by public dancing girls. The Government recognized that it would be unreasonable to irritate women (who, very often, are more dangerous than their husbands and brothers) and the custom, based on the law of Manu, and sanctified by three thousand years' observance, remained unchanged. | This description is absolutely correct, but as for their ''costumeless'' Afanasy Nikitin is not quite correct: his description might concern only the lowest and poorest classes. These really do walk about covered only with a “veil”, which often is so poor that, in fact, it is nothing but a tape. But still, even the poorest woman is clad in a piece of muslin at least 15 arshins [10,67 m, 35 ft] long. One end serves as a sort of short wide trousers, and the other covers the head and shoulders when out in the street, though the faces are always uncovered. The hair is erected into a kind of Greek chignon. The legs above the knees, the arms, and the waist are never covered. Well, not a single honest woman here will agree to put on shoes: the latter is among the belonging and distinctive feature of “dishonourable” native women alone. In southern India, on the other hand, only Brahmins’ wives and daughters are allowed to wear shoes. When, not long ago, the wife of the Madras governor thought of passing a law that should induce native women to cover their breasts, the place was actually threatened with a revolution. A kind of jacket is worn only by public dancing girls. The Government recognized that it would be unreasonable to irritate women (who, very often, are more dangerous than their husbands and brothers) and the custom, based on the law of Manu, and sanctified by three thousand years' observance, remained unchanged. | ||
For more than two years before we left America we were in constant correspondence with a certain learned Brahmin, well known even in Europe, whose glory is great at present [1879] all over India. We came to India to study, under his guidance, the ancient country of Aryas, the Vedas, and their difficult language. His name is Dayananda Saraswati, Swami<ref>Swami is the name of the learned anchorites who are initiated into mysteries of their religion unattainable by common mortals. They are monks who never marry, but are quite different from other mendicant brotherhoods, the so-called ''Sannyasi'' and ''Hossein''. </ref>. This Pandit is considered the greatest Sanskritist of modern India and is an absolute enigma to everyone. It is only five years since he appeared on the arena of great reforms, but till then, he lived, entirely secluded, in a jungle, like the ancient gymnosophists mentioned by the Greek and Latin authors; and then he was studying the chief philosophical systems of the “Aryavartta” and the occult meaning of the Vedas with the help of mystics and anchorites.<ref>There is an ancient believe implanted among Hindus that on the Bhadrinath Mountains (22,000 feet above the level of the sea) there exist spacious caves, inhabited, now for many thousand years, by these anchorites. Bhadrinath is situated in the north of Hindustan on the river Bishegunj, and is celebrated for its temple of Vishnu right in the heart of the town. Inside the temple there are hot mineral springs, visited yearly by about 50,000 pilgrims, who come to be purified by them.</ref> From the first day of his appearance Dayananda Saraswati produced an immense impression and got the surname of the “Luther of India.” Wandering from one town to another, today in the South, tomorrow in the North, and transporting himself from one end of the country to another with incredible quickness, he has visited every part of India, from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, and from Calcutta to Bombay. He preaches the One Deity and, with ''Vedas'' in hand, proves that in the ancient writings there was not a word that could justify polytheism. Thundering against idol worship, the great orator fights with all his might against caste, infant marriages, and superstitions. Chastising all the evils grafted on India by centuries of casuistry and false interpretation of the ''Vedas'', he blames for them the Brahmins, who, as he openly says before masses of people, are alone guilty of the humiliation of their country, once great and independent, now fallen and enslaved. And yet Great Britain has in him not an enemy, but rather | For more than two years before we left America we were in constant correspondence with a certain learned Brahmin, well known even in Europe, whose glory is great at present [1879] all over India. We came to India to study, under his guidance, the ancient country of Aryas, the Vedas, and their difficult language. His name is Dayananda Saraswati, Swami<ref>Swami is the name of the learned anchorites who are initiated into mysteries of their religion unattainable by common mortals. They are monks who never marry, but are quite different from other mendicant brotherhoods, the so-called ''Sannyasi'' and ''Hossein''. </ref>. This Pandit is considered the greatest Sanskritist of modern India and is an absolute enigma to everyone. It is only five years since he appeared on the arena of great reforms, but till then, he lived, entirely secluded, in a jungle, like the ancient gymnosophists mentioned by the Greek and Latin authors; and then he was studying the chief philosophical systems of the “Aryavartta” and the occult meaning of the Vedas with the help of mystics and anchorites.<ref>There is an ancient believe implanted among Hindus that on the Bhadrinath Mountains (22,000 feet above the level of the sea) there exist spacious caves, inhabited, now for many thousand years, by these anchorites. Bhadrinath is situated in the north of Hindustan on the river Bishegunj, and is celebrated for its temple of Vishnu right in the heart of the town. Inside the temple there are hot mineral springs, visited yearly by about 50,000 pilgrims, who come to be purified by them.</ref> From the first day of his appearance Dayananda Saraswati produced an immense impression and got the surname of the “Luther of India.” Wandering from one town to another, today in the South, tomorrow in the North, and transporting himself from one end of the country to another with incredible quickness, he has visited every part of India, from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, and from Calcutta to Bombay. He preaches the One Deity and, with ''Vedas'' in hand, proves that in the ancient writings there was not a word that could justify polytheism. Thundering against idol worship, the great orator fights with all his might against caste, infant marriages, and superstitions. Chastising all the evils grafted on India by centuries of casuistry and false interpretation of the ''Vedas'', he blames for them the Brahmins, who, as he openly says before masses of people, are alone guilty of the humiliation of their country, once great and independent, now fallen and enslaved. And yet Great Britain has in him not an enemy, but rather a protector. He says openly – “If you expel the English, then, no later than tomorrow, you and I and everyone who rises against idol worship will have our throats cut like mere sheep. The Mussulmans are stronger than the idol worshippers; but these last are stronger than we.” And yet the English have so little understanding of their benefits that two years ago, in Pune, where the people were divided into two parties: reformers and idolaters-conservatives, when the party of the first carried its preacher with triumph and rejoicing on an elephant, and the other threw stones and mud at him, then instead of protecting Dayananda, it expelled him from the city, forbidding him to appear there in the future. | ||
The Pandit held many a hot dispute with the Brahmins, those treacherous enemies of the people, and has almost always been victorious. In Benares secret assassins were hired to slay him, but the attempt did not succeed. In a small town of Bengal, where he treated fetishism with more than his usual severity, some fanatic deftly threw on his bare feet a huge decapella<ref>Literally “snake with a hood” (Port. cobra de capello) or cobra. – Ed. </ref> cobra snake, whose bite causes death in three minutes and from which medicine still knows no remedy. “May the god Vasuki decide our dispute!”<ref>Vasuki is a snake that twirls round the neck of the god Shiva on idols and is deified by the mythology of the Brahmins, just like the snake Ananda, which is presented as a couch for the god Vishnu. At the end of July, when the festival of Nagas, or serpents, is celebrated, cups with milk are prepared in all squares and streets, and hundreds of snakes are brought by professional “snake charmers” to all towns and villages. On this day, India feeds its reptile “gods”, and Europeans are afraid to leave their houses.</ref> exclaimed the worshiper of Shiva, confident that his snake, raised and trained for the mysteries, would immediately put an end to the offender of its shrine. “Well,” Dayananda replied calmly, shaking off the cobra twirling round his leg with a strong movement, “only your god was too slow; it is | The Pandit held many a hot dispute with the Brahmins, those treacherous enemies of the people, and has almost always been victorious. In Benares secret assassins were hired to slay him, but the attempt did not succeed. In a small town of Bengal, where he treated fetishism with more than his usual severity, some fanatic deftly threw on his bare feet a huge decapella<ref>Literally “snake with a hood” (Port. cobra de capello) or cobra. – Ed. </ref> cobra snake, whose bite causes death in three minutes and from which medicine still knows no remedy. “May the god Vasuki decide our dispute!”<ref>Vasuki is a snake that twirls round the neck of the god Shiva on idols and is deified by the mythology of the Brahmins, just like the snake Ananda, which is presented as a couch for the god Vishnu. At the end of July, when the festival of Nagas, or serpents, is celebrated, cups with milk are prepared in all squares and streets, and hundreds of snakes are brought by professional “snake charmers” to all towns and villages. On this day, India feeds its reptile “gods”, and Europeans are afraid to leave their houses.</ref> exclaimed the worshiper of Shiva, confident that his snake, raised and trained for the mysteries, would immediately put an end to the offender of its shrine. “Well,” Dayananda replied calmly, shaking off the cobra twirling round his leg with a strong movement, “only your god was too slow; it is I who decide the dispute ...” And with a single vigorous movement of his heel, he crushed the head of the snake. “Now go,” added he, addressing the crowd, “and tell everyone how easily perish the false gods.” | ||
Thanks to his excellent knowledge of Sanskrit the Pandit does a great service, not only to the masses, clearing their ignorance about the monotheism of the Vedas, but to science too, showing who, exactly, are the Brahmins, the only caste in India which, during centuries, had the right to study Sanskrit literature and comment on the Vedas, and which used this right solely for its own advantage. Long before the time of such Orientalists as Burnouf, Colebrooke and Max Muller, there have been in India many reformers who tried to prove the pure monotheism of the Vedic doctrines. There have even been founders of new religions who denied the revelations of these scriptures; for instance, the Raja Ram Mohun Roy, and, after him, Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, both Calcutta Bengalees.<ref>At present, the latter has completely lost his mind, has become some kind of dancing dervish and, sitting in a dirty pool, glorifies Chaitanya, the Koran and Buddha, and calls himself a prophet; dressed in a woman's attire in the name of some “female god”, he dances a mystical dance with his followers and calls this god “mother, father and elder brother!”</ref> But neither of them had much success. They did nothing but add new denominations to the numberless sects existing in India. Ram Mohun Roy died in England, having done next to nothing, and his successor Keshub Chunder Sen, having founded the community of “Brahmo-Samaj,” which professes a religion extracted from the depths of the Babu's own imagination, became a mystic of the most pronounced type, and now is only “a berry from the same field,”<ref>Russian idiom and saying, which means “of the same kind”. – Ed.</ref> as the Spiritualists, by whom he is considered to be a medium and a Calcutta Swedenborg. | Thanks to his excellent knowledge of Sanskrit the Pandit does a great service, not only to the masses, clearing their ignorance about the monotheism of the Vedas, but to science too, showing who, exactly, are the Brahmins, the only caste in India which, during centuries, had the right to study Sanskrit literature and comment on the Vedas, and which used this right solely for its own advantage. Long before the time of such Orientalists as Burnouf, Colebrooke and Max Muller, there have been in India many reformers who tried to prove the pure monotheism of the Vedic doctrines. There have even been founders of new religions who denied the revelations of these scriptures; for instance, the Raja Ram Mohun Roy, and, after him, Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, both Calcutta Bengalees.<ref>At present, the latter has completely lost his mind, has become some kind of dancing dervish and, sitting in a dirty pool, glorifies Chaitanya, the Koran and Buddha, and calls himself a prophet; dressed in a woman's attire in the name of some “female god”, he dances a mystical dance with his followers and calls this god “mother, father and elder brother!”</ref> But neither of them had much success. They did nothing but add new denominations to the numberless sects existing in India. Ram Mohun Roy died in England, having done next to nothing, and his successor Keshub Chunder Sen, having founded the community of “Brahmo-Samaj,” which professes a religion extracted from the depths of the Babu's own imagination, became a mystic of the most pronounced type, and now is only “a berry from the same field,”<ref>Russian idiom and saying, which means “of the same kind”. – Ed.</ref> as the Spiritualists, by whom he is considered to be a medium and a Calcutta Swedenborg. | ||
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From the very first days of its existence some of the most learned Americans joined the (Theosophical) Society. Its members differed on many points, much as do the members of any other Society, Geographical or Archeological, which fights for years over the sources of the Nile, or the Hieroglyphs of Egypt. But everyone is unanimously agreed that, as long as there is water in the Nile, its sources must exist somewhere, and since there are pyramids, so the key to Hieroglyphs must exist also. So much about the phenomena of ''spiritualism'' and ''mesmerism''. These phenomena were still waiting their Champollion<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-François_Champollion Jean-François Champollion] (1790-1832) – a French scholar, philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in the field of Egyptology. – Ed.</ref>, but the Rosetta stone<ref>The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone Rosetta Stone] is a granodiorite stele found near the town of Rashid (Rosetta in the Nile Delta), inscribed with a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt (in 196 BC) in three versions: in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts and in Ancient Greek. This made the Rosetta Stone a key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts. – Ed.</ref> was to be searched for neither in Europe nor in America, but in those countries where they still believe in magic, where “wonders” are performed by the native priesthood (in which public did not believe), and where the cold materialism of science has never yet reached, in one word – in the East. | From the very first days of its existence some of the most learned Americans joined the (Theosophical) Society. Its members differed on many points, much as do the members of any other Society, Geographical or Archeological, which fights for years over the sources of the Nile, or the Hieroglyphs of Egypt. But everyone is unanimously agreed that, as long as there is water in the Nile, its sources must exist somewhere, and since there are pyramids, so the key to Hieroglyphs must exist also. So much about the phenomena of ''spiritualism'' and ''mesmerism''. These phenomena were still waiting their Champollion<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-François_Champollion Jean-François Champollion] (1790-1832) – a French scholar, philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in the field of Egyptology. – Ed.</ref>, but the Rosetta stone<ref>The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone Rosetta Stone] is a granodiorite stele found near the town of Rashid (Rosetta in the Nile Delta), inscribed with a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt (in 196 BC) in three versions: in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts and in Ancient Greek. This made the Rosetta Stone a key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts. – Ed.</ref> was to be searched for neither in Europe nor in America, but in those countries where they still believe in magic, where “wonders” are performed by the native priesthood (in which public did not believe), and where the cold materialism of science has never yet reached, in one word – in the East. | ||
The Council of the Society knew that the Lama-Buddhists, for instance, though not believing in God, and denying the personal immortality of the soul, are yet celebrated for their “phenomena,” and that mesmerism was known and daily practised in China for many thousands of years under the name of ''yin'' and ''yang''. In India they fear and hate the very name of the spirits whom the Spiritualists venerate so deeply, yet many an ignorant fakir can perform “miracles” calculated to turn upside-down all the notions of a scientist and to be the despair of the most celebrated of European prestidigitators. Many members of the Theosophical Society have visited India, many were born there and have themselves witnessed the “sorceries” of the Brahmins. The founders of the Club, well aware of the depth of modern ignorance in regard to the spiritual man, were most anxious that Cuvier's method of comparative anatomy should acquire rights of citizenship among metaphysicians, and, so, progress from regions ''physical'' to regions ''psychological'' on | The Council of the Society knew that the Lama-Buddhists, for instance, though not believing in God, and denying the personal immortality of the soul, are yet celebrated for their “phenomena,” and that mesmerism was known and daily practised in China for many thousands of years under the name of ''yin'' and ''yang''. In India they fear and hate the very name of the spirits whom the Spiritualists venerate so deeply, yet many an ignorant fakir can perform “miracles” calculated to turn upside-down all the notions of a scientist and to be the despair of the most celebrated of European prestidigitators. Many members of the Theosophical Society have visited India, many were born there and have themselves witnessed the “sorceries” of the Brahmins. The founders of the Club, well aware of the depth of modern ignorance in regard to the spiritual man, were most anxious that Cuvier's method of comparative anatomy should acquire rights of citizenship among metaphysicians, and, so, progress from regions ''physical'' to regions ''psychological'' on the same inductive and deductive foundation as in former case. Otherwise, psychology will be unable to move forward a single step, and may even obstruct every other branch of Natural History. We already see how physiology little by little captures the rights that do not belong to it to hunt in the realm of purely metaphysical, abstract knowledge, while pretending all the time that it does not want to know anything about the latter, and, having pushed them into the Procrustean<ref>Procrustes (in Greek mythology) was a host who put his guests into a bed, but only after trimming or stretching the poor guest so as to fit the bed exactly. – Ed.</ref> bed of natural history, which does not yield to its attempts, is seeking to class psychology with the hard sciences. | ||
In a short time the Theosophical Society counted its members, not by hundreds, but by thousands. All the “malcontents” of American Spiritualism – and there were at that time 12 million Spiritualists – joined the Society. Collateral branches were formed in London, Corfu, Australia, Spain, Cuba, California, etc.<ref>The Theosophical Societies of London have at least seven members of the Royal Society among hundreds of others people known in the field of science and literature. They add F.Т.S. (Fellow of the Theosophical Society) to F.R.S. (Fellow of the Royal Society). The son of a prominent member of parliament is the president of the London Society, and the president of Simla's “Eclectic Theosophical Society” is former Secretary for India, A. O. Hume.</ref> Everywhere experiments were being performed, and the conviction that ''it is not spirits alone who are the causes of the phenomena'' was becoming general. | In a short time the Theosophical Society counted its members, not by hundreds, but by thousands. All the “malcontents” of American Spiritualism – and there were at that time 12 million Spiritualists – joined the Society. Collateral branches were formed in London, Corfu, Australia, Spain, Cuba, California, etc.<ref>The Theosophical Societies of London have at least seven members of the Royal Society among hundreds of others people known in the field of science and literature. They add F.Т.S. (Fellow of the Theosophical Society) to F.R.S. (Fellow of the Royal Society). The son of a prominent member of parliament is the president of the London Society, and the president of Simla's “Eclectic Theosophical Society” is former Secretary for India, A. O. Hume.</ref> Everywhere experiments were being performed, and the conviction that ''it is not spirits alone who are the causes of the phenomena'' was becoming general. | ||
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In the meantime, we will climb to the top of the Malabar hill, to the “Tower of Silence”, the last dwelling for each of the sons of Zoroaster. | In the meantime, we will climb to the top of the Malabar hill, to the “Tower of Silence”, the last dwelling for each of the sons of Zoroaster. | ||
The “Tower of Silence” is said to be a Parsi cemetery. Here their dead, rich and poor, ''nabob<ref>''Nabob'' – a governor in India during the Mogul empire. – Ed.</ref>'' and ''coolie<ref>''Coolie'' – an unskilled Asian laborer. – Ed.</ref>'', men, women and children, are all laid in a row, and in a few minutes nothing remains of them but bare skeletons. A strange and dismal impression is made upon a foreigner by these towers, where absolute silence has reigned for centuries, indeed. This kind of building is very common in every place were Parsees live and die, especially in Surat. But in Bombay, of six towers, the largest was built 250 years ago, and the next largest one – just recently. They are round or sometime square in shape, from 20 to 40 feet high, without roof, window, or door, but with a single small thick iron gate opening towards the East, hidden by | The “Tower of Silence” is said to be a Parsi cemetery. Here their dead, rich and poor, ''nabob<ref>''Nabob'' – a governor in India during the Mogul empire. – Ed.</ref>'' and ''coolie<ref>''Coolie'' – an unskilled Asian laborer. – Ed.</ref>'', men, women and children, are all laid in a row, and in a few minutes nothing remains of them but bare skeletons. A strange and dismal impression is made upon a foreigner by these towers, where absolute silence has reigned for centuries, indeed. This kind of building is very common in every place were Parsees live and die, especially in Surat. But in Bombay, of six towers, the largest was built 250 years ago, and the next largest one – just recently. They are round or sometime square in shape, from 20 to 40 feet high, without roof, window, or door, but with a single small thick iron gate opening towards the East, hidden by bushes. The first corpse brought to a new tower ''dakhma'' (so they call these towers) must be the body of the innocent child, and certainly of a ''mobed'' (priest). No one, not even the chief watcher, is allowed to approach within a distance of thirty paces of these towers. Of all living human beings the ''Nassesalars'' (corpse-carriers)<ref>The life these men lead is simply wretched. No European executioner's position is worse. They live quite apart from the rest of the world, in whose eyes they are the most abject of beings. Being forbidden to enter the markets, they must get their food as they can. They are born, marry, and die, perfect strangers to all except their own class, passing through the streets only to fetch the dead and carry them to the tower.</ref> alone enter and leave the “Tower of Silence,” their craft is hereditary and the law strictly prohibits them speaking with the living, touching or even approaching them. Entering the tower with a corpse, covered (it doesn't matter whether a rich or a poor person) with old white rags, they undress it and place it, in silence, on one of the three circles and preserving the same silence, they come out, shut the gate until the next corpse, and burn the rags without a delay. | ||
Amongst the fire-worshippers, Death is divested of all his majesty and is a mere object of disgust. As soon as the last hour of a sick person seems to approach, everyone leaves the person alone, as to avoid impeding the departure of the soul from the body, so to shun the risk of polluting the living by contact with the dead. The ''mobed'' alone stays with the dying man for a while, and having whispered into his ear the Zend-Avesta precepts: “Ashem-Vohu” and “Yato-Ahuvarie,” leaves the room while the patient is still alive. Then a dog is brought and made to look straight into his face. This ceremony is called ''sas-did'' (the dog's gaze), since a dog is the only living creature that the ''drux-nassu'' (the evil demon) fears, and that is able to prevent him from taking possession of the body... It must be strictly observed though that no one's shadow lies between the dying man and the dog, otherwise the whole strength of the dog's gaze will be lost, and the demon will profit by the occasion. The body remains on the spot wherever Parsee dies, until the ''nassesalars'' appear with their arms hidden up to the shoulders under old bags, to take it away. Having deposited it in | Amongst the fire-worshippers, Death is divested of all his majesty and is a mere object of disgust. As soon as the last hour of a sick person seems to approach, everyone leaves the person alone, as to avoid impeding the departure of the soul from the body, so to shun the risk of polluting the living by contact with the dead. The ''mobed'' alone stays with the dying man for a while, and having whispered into his ear the Zend-Avesta precepts: “Ashem-Vohu” and “Yato-Ahuvarie,” leaves the room while the patient is still alive. Then a dog is brought and made to look straight into his face. This ceremony is called ''sas-did'' (the dog's gaze), since a dog is the only living creature that the ''drux-nassu'' (the evil demon) fears, and that is able to prevent him from taking possession of the body... It must be strictly observed though that no one's shadow lies between the dying man and the dog, otherwise the whole strength of the dog's gaze will be lost, and the demon will profit by the occasion. The body remains on the spot wherever Parsee dies, until the ''nassesalars'' appear with their arms hidden up to the shoulders under old bags, to take it away. Having deposited it in a covered iron coffin – one for everybody – they carry it to the ''dakhma''. If any one, who has once been carried thither, should happen to revive – which happens quite often – he will not come out anymore for nassesalars are bound to kill him. For such a person, who has been polluted by one touch of the dead bodies in the “tower”, has thereby lost all right to return to the living, by doing so he would contaminate the whole community.<ref>As some such cases have occurred, the Parsees are trying to get a new law passed, that would firstly allow the revival to come back to the world of living ones, and secondly compel the ''nassesalars'' to leave the only gate of the dakhma unlocked, so that ex-dead might find a way of retreat open to them. It is curious that the vultures, which devour without hesitation the corpses, will never touch those who are only apparently dead, but fly away uttering loud shrieks.</ref> Relatives follow the coffin at a distance and stop 90 paces away from the “tower”. After a last prayer at the gate of the dakhma, pronounced from afar by the ''mobed'', and repeated in chorus by the ''nassesalars'', the dog ceremony is repeated. In Bombay there is a dog, trained for this purpose, at the entrance to the tower. Finally, the body is taken inside and placed on one or other spot, according to its sex and age. | ||
We have twice been present at the ceremonies of “dying,” and once of “burial,” if I may be permitted to use such an incongruous term in this case. In this respect the Parsees are much more tolerant than the Hindus, who are offended by the mere presence at their religious rites of an European. N. Bayranji, a chief watcher of the tower, invited us to his house to be present at the burial of some rich woman. So we witnessed all the rituals at a distance of about forty paces, on bungalow’s verandah of our obliging host. He himself, although he had served at the “tower” for many years, never entered it and did not even come close. While the dog was gazing into the dead woman's face, we were gazing, as intently, but with much more disgust, at the huge flock of vultures above the ''dakhma'', that kept entering the tower, and flying out again with pieces of human flesh in their beaks... These birds, that build their nests in hundreds round the Tower of Silence, have been purposely imported from Persia, since Indian vultures proved to be too weak, and not sufficiently bloodthirsty, to perform the process of stripping the bones with the dispatch prescribed by law of Zoroaster. We were told that the entire operation of denuding the bones occupies no more than a few minutes... | We have twice been present at the ceremonies of “dying,” and once of “burial,” if I may be permitted to use such an incongruous term in this case. In this respect the Parsees are much more tolerant than the Hindus, who are offended by the mere presence at their religious rites of an European. N. Bayranji, a chief watcher of the tower, invited us to his house to be present at the burial of some rich woman. So we witnessed all the rituals at a distance of about forty paces, on bungalow’s verandah of our obliging host. He himself, although he had served at the “tower” for many years, never entered it and did not even come close. While the dog was gazing into the dead woman's face, we were gazing, as intently, but with much more disgust, at the huge flock of vultures above the ''dakhma'', that kept entering the tower, and flying out again with pieces of human flesh in their beaks... These birds, that build their nests in hundreds round the Tower of Silence, have been purposely imported from Persia, since Indian vultures proved to be too weak, and not sufficiently bloodthirsty, to perform the process of stripping the bones with the dispatch prescribed by law of Zoroaster. We were told that the entire operation of denuding the bones occupies no more than a few minutes... | ||
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Thanks to the flocks of hungry vultures, the bones are gnawed round till the last atom in less than an hour, and, in two or three weeks, the tropical sun scorches them into such a state of fragility, that the slightest touch ruins them down to powder, it is when they are carried down into the well. No slightest smell is left behind, no source of plagues or other epidemic. Perhaps this method is preferable to cremation, which leaves in the air about the ''ghat<ref>The ''Ghat'' is a place by the sea, or river shore, where Hindus burn their dead.</ref>'' a faint but disagreeable odour. Instead of feeding “Mother Wet Earth”<ref>Mother Wet Earth (Rus. Мать сыра земля) – Slavonic deity of fertile earth. – Ed.</ref> with carrion, Parsees give to ''Armaiti'' (earth)<ref>''Armaiti'' means, literally, “fostering cow,” and Zoroaster teaches that the cultivation of land is the noblest of all occupations in the eyes of God. – ''Yasna'' (hymns)</ref> pure dust. Accordingly, the worship of Earth is so sacred among the Parsees, that they take all possible precautions against polluting the “fostering cow” that gives them “a hundred golden grains for every single grain.” In the season of the Monsoon, when, during four months, the rain pours incessantly down and washes into the well everything that is left by the vultures, the water absorbed by the earth is filtered, for the bottom of the well, the walls of which are built of granite, is, to this end, covered with sand and charcoal. | Thanks to the flocks of hungry vultures, the bones are gnawed round till the last atom in less than an hour, and, in two or three weeks, the tropical sun scorches them into such a state of fragility, that the slightest touch ruins them down to powder, it is when they are carried down into the well. No slightest smell is left behind, no source of plagues or other epidemic. Perhaps this method is preferable to cremation, which leaves in the air about the ''ghat<ref>The ''Ghat'' is a place by the sea, or river shore, where Hindus burn their dead.</ref>'' a faint but disagreeable odour. Instead of feeding “Mother Wet Earth”<ref>Mother Wet Earth (Rus. Мать сыра земля) – Slavonic deity of fertile earth. – Ed.</ref> with carrion, Parsees give to ''Armaiti'' (earth)<ref>''Armaiti'' means, literally, “fostering cow,” and Zoroaster teaches that the cultivation of land is the noblest of all occupations in the eyes of God. – ''Yasna'' (hymns)</ref> pure dust. Accordingly, the worship of Earth is so sacred among the Parsees, that they take all possible precautions against polluting the “fostering cow” that gives them “a hundred golden grains for every single grain.” In the season of the Monsoon, when, during four months, the rain pours incessantly down and washes into the well everything that is left by the vultures, the water absorbed by the earth is filtered, for the bottom of the well, the walls of which are built of granite, is, to this end, covered with sand and charcoal. | ||
The sight of the Pinjarapala is less lugubrious and much more amusing. The Pinjarapala is the Bombay Hospital for decrepit animals, but a similar institution exists in every town where Jainas dwell, about whom it is a right time to say several words. Being undoubtedly one of the most ancient, this is also one of the most interesting, of the sects of India. It is much older than Buddhism, (which took its rise about 543 to 477 B.C.). Jainas boast that Buddhism is nothing more than a mere heresy of Jainism, Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, having been a disciple and follower of one of the main Jaina Gurus. The customs, rites, and philosophical conceptions of Jainas place them midway between the Brahmins and the Buddhists. In view of their social arrangements, they more closely resemble the former, but in their religion they incline towards the latter. Their caste divisions, their total abstinence from flesh, and their non-worship of the relics of the saints, are as strictly observed as the similar tenets of the Brahmins, but, like Buddhists, they deny the Hindu gods and the authority of the Vedas, and adore their own twenty-four Tirthankaras, or Jinas, who belong to the Host of the Blissful. Their priests, like the Buddhists', never marry, they live in isolated ''viharas'' (cells) and monasteries, choosing their successors from among the members of any social class. Considering Pali as a sacred language, they use it alone in their sacred literature (as well as in Ceylon). Jainas and Buddhists have the same traditional chronology. As Buddhists do, they do not eat after sunset, and carefully sweep any place before sitting down upon it, that they may not crush even the tiniest of insects. Both systems, or rather both schools of philosophy, teach the theory of eternal indestructible atoms, following the ancient atomistic school of Kanada<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanada_(philosopher) Kanada] (III–II | The sight of the Pinjarapala is less lugubrious and much more amusing. The Pinjarapala is the Bombay Hospital for decrepit animals, but a similar institution exists in every town where Jainas dwell, about whom it is a right time to say several words. Being undoubtedly one of the most ancient, this is also one of the most interesting, of the sects of India. It is much older than Buddhism, (which took its rise about 543 to 477 B.C.). Jainas boast that Buddhism is nothing more than a mere heresy of Jainism, Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, having been a disciple and follower of one of the main Jaina Gurus. The customs, rites, and philosophical conceptions of Jainas place them midway between the Brahmins and the Buddhists. In view of their social arrangements, they more closely resemble the former, but in their religion they incline towards the latter. Their caste divisions, their total abstinence from flesh, and their non-worship of the relics of the saints, are as strictly observed as the similar tenets of the Brahmins, but, like Buddhists, they deny the Hindu gods and the authority of the Vedas, and adore their own twenty-four Tirthankaras, or Jinas, who belong to the Host of the Blissful. Their priests, like the Buddhists', never marry, they live in isolated ''viharas'' (cells) and monasteries, choosing their successors from among the members of any social class. Considering Pali as a sacred language, they use it alone in their sacred literature (as well as in Ceylon). Jainas and Buddhists have the same traditional chronology. As Buddhists do, they do not eat after sunset, and carefully sweep any place before sitting down upon it, that they may not crush even the tiniest of insects. Both systems, or rather both schools of philosophy, teach the theory of eternal indestructible atoms, following the ancient atomistic school of Kanada<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanada_(philosopher) Kanada] (III–II centuries B.C.) – an Indian natural scientist and philosopher who founded the Vaisheshika school; also known as Kashyapa, Ulūka, Kananda and Kanabhuk. – Ed.</ref>. They assert that the universe never had a beginning and never will have an end. “The world and everything in it is but an illusion, a Maya,” say the Vedantists, the Buddhists, and the Jainas; but, whereas the followers of Sankaracharya preach Parabrahm (a deity devoid of will, understanding, and action),<ref>Brahm – without understanding, mind or will, “because It is absolute understanding, mind and will.”</ref> and Ishwara emanating from It, the Jainas and the Buddhists believe in no Creator of the Universe, but teach only the existence of Svabhâvat, a mutable, infinite, self-created principle in Nature. Still they firmly believe, as do all Indian sects, in the transmigration of souls. Their fear, lest, by killing an animal or an insect, they may, perchance, destroy the life of an ancestor, develops their love and care for every living creature to an almost incredible extent. Not only is there a hospital for invalid animals in every town and village, but their priests always wear a muslin muzzle (I trust they will pardon the disrespectful expression), in order to avoid destroying even the smallest animalcule, by inadvertence in the act of breathing. The same fear impels them to drink only filtered water. There are several millions of Jainas in Gujerat, Bombay, Konkan, and some other places. | ||
The Bombay Pinjarapala occupies a whole quarter of the town, and is separated into big and small yards, meadows and gardens, with ponds, cages for dangerous beasts, and enclosures for tame animals. This institution would have served very well for a model of Noah's Ark. In the first yard, however, we saw no animals, but, instead, a few hundred human skeletons – old men, women and children. They were the remaining natives of the, so-called, ''famine districts'', who had crowded into Bombay to beg their bread. The country government, having kicked them out of the last hovels for arrears of taxes collected during the famine, just as in the most fruitful years,<ref>Several years ago taxes were collected with peasants in kind, but now the peasants must pay them in cash, no matter what.</ref> crowned its Christ-loving care of the pagans, giving them a place at the animal hospital. Thus, while, a few yards off, the official veterinaries were busily bandaging the broken legs of jackals, pouring ointments on the backs of mangy dogs, and fitting crutches to lame storks, human beings were dying, at their very elbows, of starvation. Happily for the famine-stricken, there were at that time fewer hungry animals than usual, and so they were fed at the expense of animal benefactors. No doubt many of these wretched sufferers would have consented to transmigrate instantly into the bodies of any of the animals who were ending so snugly their earthly careers... | The Bombay Pinjarapala occupies a whole quarter of the town, and is separated into big and small yards, meadows and gardens, with ponds, cages for dangerous beasts, and enclosures for tame animals. This institution would have served very well for a model of Noah's Ark. In the first yard, however, we saw no animals, but, instead, a few hundred human skeletons – old men, women and children. They were the remaining natives of the, so-called, ''famine districts'', who had crowded into Bombay to beg their bread. The country government, having kicked them out of the last hovels for arrears of taxes collected during the famine, just as in the most fruitful years,<ref>Several years ago taxes were collected with peasants in kind, but now the peasants must pay them in cash, no matter what.</ref> crowned its Christ-loving care of the pagans, giving them a place at the animal hospital. Thus, while, a few yards off, the official veterinaries were busily bandaging the broken legs of jackals, pouring ointments on the backs of mangy dogs, and fitting crutches to lame storks, human beings were dying, at their very elbows, of starvation. Happily for the famine-stricken, there were at that time fewer hungry animals than usual, and so they were fed at the expense of animal benefactors. No doubt many of these wretched sufferers would have consented to transmigrate instantly into the bodies of any of the animals who were ending so snugly their earthly careers... | ||
But even the Pinjarajala roses are not without thorns. The grass-eating “subjects,” of course, could not wish for anything better; but I doubt very much whether the carnivorous, such as tigers, hyenas, and wolves, are content with the rules and the forcibly prescribed diet. Jainas themselves turn with disgust even from eggs and fish, and, in consequence, all the animals of which they have the care must keep the fast. We were present when an old tiger, wounded by an English bullet, was fed. Having sniffed at a kind of rice soup which was offered to him, he lashed his tail, snarled, showing his yellow teeth, and with a weak roar turned away from the food. What a look he cast askance upon his fat keeper, who was meekly trying to persuade him to “eat”! Only the strong bars of the cage saved the Jaina from a vigorous protest by “action” of this veteran of the forest. A hyena, with a bleeding head and an ear half torn off, began by sitting in the trough filled with this Spartan sauce, and then, without any further ceremony, upset it, as if to show its utter contempt for the mess. The wolves and some hundreds of dogs raised such disconsolate howls that they attracted the attention of two inseparable friends, an old elephant with a wooden leg and a sore-eyed ox, the veritable Castor and Pollux of this institution. In accordance with his noble nature, the first thought of the elephant concerned his friend. He wound his trunk round the neck of the ox, in token of protection, and both moaned dismally. But parrots, storks, pigeons, | But even the Pinjarajala roses are not without thorns. The grass-eating “subjects,” of course, could not wish for anything better; but I doubt very much whether the carnivorous, such as tigers, hyenas, and wolves, are content with the rules and the forcibly prescribed diet. Jainas themselves turn with disgust even from eggs and fish, and, in consequence, all the animals of which they have the care must keep the fast. We were present when an old tiger, wounded by an English bullet, was fed. Having sniffed at a kind of rice soup which was offered to him, he lashed his tail, snarled, showing his yellow teeth, and with a weak roar turned away from the food. What a look he cast askance upon his fat keeper, who was meekly trying to persuade him to “eat”! Only the strong bars of the cage saved the Jaina from a vigorous protest by “action” of this veteran of the forest. A hyena, with a bleeding head and an ear half torn off, began by sitting in the trough filled with this Spartan sauce, and then, without any further ceremony, upset it, as if to show its utter contempt for the mess. The wolves and some hundreds of dogs raised such disconsolate howls that they attracted the attention of two inseparable friends, an old elephant with a wooden leg and a sore-eyed ox, the veritable Castor and Pollux of this institution. In accordance with his noble nature, the first thought of the elephant concerned his friend. He wound his trunk round the neck of the ox, in token of protection, and both moaned dismally. But parrots, storks, pigeons, flamingos – the whole feathered tribe – revelled in their breakfast. Monkeys were the first to answer the keeper's invitation and greatly enjoyed themselves. Further on we were shown a holy man, who was feeding insects with his own blood. He lay with his eyes shut, and the scorching rays of the sun striking full upon his naked body. He was literally covered with flies, mosquitoes, ants and bugs... | ||
“All these are our brothers,” mildly observed the keeper, pointing to the hundreds of animals and insects. “How can you Europeans kill and even devour them?” | “All these are our brothers,” mildly observed the keeper, pointing to the hundreds of animals and insects. “How can you Europeans kill and even devour them?” | ||