{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36254/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36254","id":"gutenberg_36254","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36254","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Hindu cults","Phallicism"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n                        Phallic Miscellanies.\n\n\n    [Illustration: _Female at the ceremony of Linga Puja._\n                                                 _E. W. Alais Sc._]\n\n\n\n\n                        PHALLIC MISCELLANIES;\n                Facts and Phases of Ancient and Modern\n\n                             SEX WORSHIP,\n\n                    As Illustrated Chiefly in the\n                         Religions of India,\n\n                            AN APPENDIX OF\n                  ADDITIONAL AND EXPLANATORY MATTER\n                            TO THE VOLUMES\n\n                     Phallism and Nature Worship.\n\n                   _BY THE AUTHOR OF \"PHALLICISM.\"_\n\n                          PRIVATELY PRINTED.\n\n                              MDCCCXCI.\n\n\n\n\n_PREFACE._\n\n\nAll that it is necessary to say by way of preface to this book is,\nthat, having in various former volumes, entitled severally Phallism,\nNature Worship, Phallic Objects, &c., entered at some length into a\nconsideration of the peculiarities indicated by these denominations,\nwe now propose laying before our readers an additional mass of\nimportant matter which illustrates and throws further light upon the\nsubject. This has been sought out with great labour and research\namongst the most trustworthy sources of information, and will form a\nvaluable appendix to the several volumes in question.\n\n\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n    India, the home of Phallic-worship--Linga described--The bull\n    Nandi--Linga puja--Large and small lingams--Antiquity of\n    Linga-puja--Growth of the Hindu Pantheon--Siva the\n    destroyer--Sacred bulls--Shrine of Ek Linga--Legend relating\n    to rivers--The Churning of the sea--Variety of forms of\n    Siva--Deities of India--Origin of the Universe--Hindu\n    Triad--Aum and O'M--Jupiter Genitor--Attributes of\n    Siva--Worship of Osiris--Identity of Egyptian, Grecian and\n    Indian deities--Hindu temples--Ceremonies.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n    Hindu evidence respecting the origin of Phallic\n    worship--Legend of the wounded Hara--The four sects of\n    worshippers instituted by Brahma--Resumption of the Lingam by\n    Siva--Siva and Parvati propitiated--Visit of Bhrigu to\n    Siva--The Lainga Puran on the Origin of Lingam\n    worship--Abolition of worship of Brahma--Moral character of\n    Hindu worship---Profligate sects--Egyptian\n    phallus--Bacchus--Testimony of Tertullian and Clement of\n    Alexandria--Dionysus--Directions for worship--Unsatisfactory\n    legends--Legend of Bhima--The fourth avatar of Vishnu--Visit\n    of Captain Mackenzie to the Pagoda at Perwuttum.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n    Representations of Siva--Siva's quarrel with his\n    father-in-law--Quarrel between Brahma and Vishnu--Misconduct\n    of Siva--Bengal temples of Siva--Ancient linga idols--Siege of\n    Somnath--Ferishtah's history--The twelve great\n    lingams--Account of the Viri-Sawas--The Jangamas--Legend of\n    Ravuna.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n    Lingam Worship in the Sheeve Pouran.\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n    The four kinds of stone lingas--Siva under a form called\n    Muhakalu--Temporary images of Siva--Siva's wives--Siva's and\n    Parvati's quarrels--Siva and Doorga--Siva's names--The heavens\n    of Siva--Latsami--Power of the priests--Tamil poetry--Indecent\n    worship--Dancing girls at religious ceremonies--Christian and\n    Pagan idolatry--Religious prostitution--Worship of the\n    female--Development of indecent practices--Sakti-puja.\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n    Further account of Right-hand and Left-hand worship--The\n    practices of the Vamis or Vamacharis--The rite of Mantra\n    Sadhana--Ceremony of Sri-Chakra--Claims of the priests to\n    supernatural power--Legends.\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n    Considerations respecting the origin of Phallic\n    worship--Comparisons between Indian and Egyptian practices and\n    doctrines.\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n    Vocabulary of words of Indian and Sanscrit origin.\n\n\n\n\nPHALLIC MISCELLANIES.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n    India, the home of Phallic Worship--Linga described--The Bull\n    Nandi--Linga puja--Large and small Lingas--Antiquity of\n    Linga-puja--Growth of the Hindu Pantheon--Siva, the\n    Destroyer--Sacred Bulls--Shrine of Ek-Linga--Legend relating\n    to rivers--The Churning of the sea--Variety of Forms of\n    Siva--Deities of India--Origin of the Universe--Hindu\n    Triad--Aum and O'M.--Jupiter Genitor--Attributes of\n    Siva--Worship of Osiris--Identity of Egyptian, Grecian, and\n    Indian deities--Hindoo Temples--Ceremonies.\n\n\nIndia, beyond all other countries on the face of the earth, is\npre-eminently the home of the worship of the Phallus--the Linga puja;\nit has been so for ages and remains so still. This adoration is said\nto be one of the chief, if not the leading dogma of the Hindu\nreligion, and there is scarcely a temple throughout the land which has\nnot its Lingam, in many instances this symbol being the only form\nunder which the deity of the sanctuary is worshipped.\n\nGenerally speaking, the Linga may be described as a smooth, round,\nblack stone, apparently rising out of another stone, formed like an\nelongated saucer, though in reality sculptured from one block of\nbasalt. The outline of this saucer-like stone, similar in form to what\nis called a jew's harp, is called Argha or Yoni: the upright stone,\nthe type of the virile organ, is the Linga. The whole thing bears the\nname of Lingioni. This representation of the union of the sexes,\ntypifies the divine sacti, or active energy in union, the procreative\ngenerative power seen throughout nature; the earth being the primitive\npudendum or yoni, which is fecundated by the solar heat, the sun--the\nprimeval Lingam, to whose vivifying rays, men and animals, plants and\nthe fruits of the earth owe their being and continued existence. Thus,\naccording to the Hindus, the Linga is God and God is the Linga; the\nfecundator, the generator, the creator in fact.\n\nLingas are of all sizes and of various forms. Sometimes they are\nextremely minute, being then enclosed in small silver reliquaries, and\nworn as amulets or charms upon the breast or arm. At other times they\nare several inches in height, as in the domestic examples, and often\nhave the bull Nandi carved either at the end of the yoni or at the\nside of the emblem. The Hindus say that the bull will intercept the\nevil which is continually emitted from the female sacti. Upon the\nerection of a new village, in setting up the Linga, they are careful\nto turn the spout of the yoni towards the jungle, and not upon the\nhouses or roads, lest ill fortune should rest upon them. These Lingams\nare of a much larger size than those just mentioned, being generally\ntwo or three feet in height. Early in the morning around these emblems\nmay be seen the girls of the neighbourhood who are anxious for\nhusbands, sprinkling them with water from the Ganges; decking them\nwith garlands of bilwa flowers; performing the mudra, or gesticulation\nwith the fingers, and while rubbing themselves against the emblem,\nreciting the prescribed incantations, and entreating the deity to make\nthem the fruitful mother of children.\n\nThis is what is called the Linga puja. During its performance the five\nlamps are lighted and the bell frequently rung to frighten away the\nevil demons.\n\nStill larger Lingas than any yet mentioned are found in the temples,\nsome of them immense--as high as forty feet and measuring twenty-five\nfeet in circumference. These large emblems are, as a rule, Lingas\nonly, not in conjunction with the Yoni. Colonel Sykes in his \"Account\nof the Ellora Excavations,\" (near Poonah, in the Bombay Presidency),\nspeaking of the Bisma Kurm, says, \"The first thing that meets the eye\non entering the temple is the enormous hemispherical figure of the\nLing (Lingam) at the end of the cave; it is always found on this scale\nin the arched Boodh excavations, and even at Tuneer, in a flat roofed\ncave, this emblem is forty-two feet in circumference, though its\nheight is inconsiderable.\"\n\nHow long this worship of the Lingam has prevailed in India it is\nimpossible to say; it is positively known to have existed for at least\n1500 years, and it is estimated that about two thirds of all the Hindu\npeople, perhaps eighty millions of souls, practise it. The idols are\noften described as conspicuous everywhere, in all parts of British\nIndia from the Himalaya to Ceylon. We are told that throughout the\nwhole tract of the Ganges, as far as Benares, in Bengal, the temples\nare commonly erected in a range of six, eight, or twelve on each side\nof a ghat leading to the river, and that at Kalna is a circular group\nof 108 temples, erected by a raja of Bardwan. Each of the temples in\nBengal consists of a single chamber, of a square form, surmounted by a\npyramidal centre. The area of each is very small, the linga of black\nor white marble occupying the centre. What race brought the Lingam\nworship into India is not known, but it seems to have come from the\nbasin of the Lower Indus through Rajputana, about the beginning of the\nChristian era. At Ujjain it was particularly celebrated about the\nperiod of the Mohammedan invasion, but probably long before, and one\nparticular Linga was named Vinda-swerna; from Vindu, _drop_, Swerna,\n_gold_. At present there is a four-faced lingam, sometimes three-faced\nor tri-murti; and tri-lingam is said to be the source of the name\nTelinga and Telingana, the country extending north of Madras to\nGanjam, and west to Bellary and Beder. The four-faced lingam is called\nthe Choumurti Mahadeva, such as may be seen in the caves of Ellora,\nand of common occurrence in other districts; and a famous shrine of\nek-linga, or the one lingam is situated in a defile about six miles\nnorth of Udaipur, and has hills towering around it on all sides.\n\nThis ek-lingam, or one phallus, is a cylindrical or conical stone; but\nthere are others termed Seheslinga and Kot-Iswara, with a thousand or\na million of phallic representations, all minutely carved on the\nmonolithic emblem, having then much resemblance to the symbol of\nBacchus whose orgies both in Egypt and Greece are the counterpart of\nthose of the Hindu Baghes, so called from being clad in a tiger's or\nleopard's skin, as Bacchus had that of the panther for his covering.\nThere is a very ancient temple to Kot-Iswara at the embouchure of the\neastern arm of the Indus; and there are many to Seheslinga in the\npeninsula of Saurashtra. At the ancient Dholpur, now called Barolli,\nthe shrine is dedicated to Gut-Iswara Mahadeva, with a lingam\nrevolving in the yoni, the wonder of those who venture amongst its\nalmost impervious and unfrequented woods to worship. It is said that\nvery few Saiva followers of the south of India ever realize the lingam\nand the yoni as representations of the organs of the body, and when\nmade to apprehend the fact they feel overpowered with shame that they\nshould be worshipping such symbols.[1]\n\n        [1] See the Indian Cyclopaedia.\n\nThe age assigned by the above writer to this particular kind of\nworship falls very far short of what has been stated by others, and\nappears most probable. It has been asserted that its history goes\nback two thousand years before the Christian era--that it was then, as\nit is now, in full force--that it witnessed the rise, decline, and\nfall of the idolatry of Egypt, and of the great Western Mythology of\nGreece and Rome. \"And when we reflect,\" says a modern writer, \"on its\nantiquity, and on the fact that hitherto it has scarcely yielded in\nthe slightest degree to the adverse influence of the Mohammedan race\non the one hand, or to European dictation on the other; and that it\nexercises by its system of caste, a powerful control over the manners,\ncustoms, costumes, and social status of the entire Hindu community, it\nbecomes a subject fraught with interest to every cultivated mind, and\noffers an affecting but curious example of the power of a hoary and\nterrible superstition in degrading and enslaving so large a portion of\nthe human race.\"[2]\n\n        [2] Sellon.\n\nIt can scarcely be questioned, theorise as writers may, that the\norigin of this worship is lost in antiquity; we seem able to trace it\nback to times when it was comparatively pure and simple--when it was\nthe worship of one god only, the Bruehm Atma, the \"Breathing Soul,\" a\nspiritual Supreme Being. As time passed, however, the primitive\nsimplicity disappeared, and rites and ceremonies became complicated\nand numerous. The spiritual worship of the Deity gave place to the\nworship of a representative image of him--a block of stone called\nPhallus or Linga, representing the procreative power discerned in\nNature. Even this was comparatively simple at first, but it soon\nspread itself out in a variety of directions, until an extensive\nPantheon was formed and an elaborate ritual and worship organised. It\nis computed that this Pantheon contains little short of a million gods\nand demi-gods.\n\nIt is more particularly with the god Siva we shall have to do in\nstating facts which illustrate the subject of Phallic worship, for the\nLingam or Phallus was the emblem under which he was specially\nworshipped. It certainly does seem remarkable, as Mr. Sellon remarked,\nthat of the host of divinities above mentioned, Siva should be the god\nwhom the Hindus have delighted to honour. \"As the Destroyer, and one\nwho revels in cruelty and bloodshed, this terrible deity, who has not\ninaptly been compared to the Moloch of Scripture, of all their\ndivinities, suggests most our idea of the devil. It may therefore, be\nconcluded that the most exalted notion of worship among the Hindus is\na service of Fear. The Brahmins say the other gods are good and\nbenevolent, and will not hurt their creatures, but that Siva is\npowerful and cruel, and that it is necessary to appease him.\"\n\nThe attribute of destruction is found visibly depicted in the drawings\nand temples throughout Bengal. To destroy, according to the Vedantis\nof India, the Susis of Persia, and many philosophers of the European\nschools, is only to generate and reproduce in another form: hence the\ngod of destruction is held in India to preside over generation; as a\nsymbol of which he rides on a white bull.\n\nThe sacred bull, Nanda, has his altar attached to all the shrines of\nIswara, as was that of Menes, or Apis to those of the Egyptian Osiris.\nHe has occasionally his separate shrines, and there is one in the\nvalley of Oodipoor, which has the reputation of being oracular as\nregards the seasons. The Bull was the steed of Iswara, and carried him\nto battle; he is often represented upon it with his consort Isa, at\nfull speed. The Bull was offered to Mithras by the Persian, and\nopposed as it now appears to Hindu faith, formerly bled on the altars\nof the Sun-god, on which not only the Buld-dan (offering of the bull)\nwas made, but human sacrifices. We do not learn that the Egyptian\npriesthood presented the kindred of Apis to Osiris, but as they were\nnot prohibited from eating beef, they may have done so. The shrine of\nEk-Linga is situated in a defile about six miles north of Oodipoor,\nthe hills towering around on all sides are of the primitive formation,\nand their scarped summits are clustered with honeycombs. There are\nabundant small springs of water, which keep verdant numerous shrubs,\nthe flowers of which are acceptable to the deity, especially the Kiner\nor Oleander, which grows in great luxuriance on the Aravulli. Groves\nof bamboo and mango were formerly common, according to tradition; but\nalthough it is deemed sacrilege to thin the groves of Bal, the bamboo\nhas been nearly destroyed: there are, however, still many trees sacred\nto the deity scattered around. It would be difficult to convey a just\nidea of a temple so complicated in its details. It is of the form\ncommonly styled pagoda, and, like all the ancient temples of Siva, its\nsikra, or pinnacle, is pyramidal. The various orders of Hindu sacred\narchitecture are distinguished by the form of the sikra, which is the\nportion springing from and surmounting the perpendicular walls of the\nbody of the temple. The sikra of those of Siva is invariably\npyramidal, and its sides vary with the base, whether square or oblong.\nThe apex is crowned with an ornamental figure, as a sphynx, an urn, a\nball, or a lion, which is called the kulkis. When the sikra is but the\nfrustrum of a pyramid, it is often surmounted by a row of lions, as at\nBiolli. The fane of Ek-Linga is of white marble and of ample\ndimensions. Under an open vaulted temple, supported by columns, and\nfronting the four-faced divinity, is the brazen bull Nanda, of the\nnatural size: it is cast, and of excellent proportions. The figure is\nperfect, except where the shot or hammer of an infidel invader has\npenetrated its flank in search of treasure. Within the quadrangle are\nminiature shrines, containing some of the minor divinities.[3]\n\n        [3] Tod's Rajasth, vol. I., p. 515.\n\nJust here we may introduce a legend relating to Siva, which, if not of\nvery great importance, is of some interest on account of its reported\nconnection with one of our English rivers. The gods, after the\ncreation, soon perceived that there were still many things wanting for\nthe good of mankind, and more particularly on account of themselves.\nIn their numerous wars with the giants, many of the gods being killed,\nthey were informed by Vishnu that it was possible to procure a\nbeverage, which would render them immortal. The task, however, was\nimmense; for it consisted of throwing all the plants and trees of the\nuniverse, according to some, but, according to others, only those that\ngrew on the sides of the White mountain or island, into the White sea;\nwhich was to be churned for a long time, in order to obtain the butter\nof immortality, or Amrit, the ambrosia of the western mythologists:\nand the old moon, which was already of Amrit, would serve as a leaven\nto predispose the whole mixture. The old moon was inert, and of little\nuse; they wanted also intoxicating liquors to exhilarate themselves,\nand celestial nymphs for their own amusement. This churning took place\nin the Dwapar, or third age of the Manwantura of Chacshusa, which\nimmediately preceded that of Noah. It lasted exactly twenty-nine years\nand five months, or 10,748 days, 12 hours, and 18 minutes. This is\nobviously the revolution of Saturn, which was in use amongst the\ninhabitants of the Isles in the Northern Ocean, who celebrated with\ngreat pomp, the entrance of that planet into Taurus, according to\nPlutarch.\n\nIt is declared in the Puranas, and acknowledged by everybody that this\nmomentous transaction took place in the White Sea, called the\nCalas-odadhi or the caldron-like sea; from its being an inland one,\nand surrounded on all sides, or nearly so, by the land; from which\ncircumstance it was compared to a pot or caldron. This sea was\ncontiguous to the White Island on one side, for on account of its\ncontiguity, the Amrit is said, in the Matsya-purana and others, to\nhave been produced on, or near the White or silver mountain, called\nthere also the mountain of Soma or Lunus. On the other side it\nbordered on Suvarn-a-dwipa, or Ireland: for we are told in the\nVrihat-Catha, that there was a sea town in that country, called\nCalas-a-puri, from its being situated on the Calas-odad'hi, or sea\nlike a Calasa or caldron. This caldron-like, or landlocked sea, is\nevidently the Irish sea. Into this Calasa, according to the\nVaraha-purana, the gods flung all the plants, and agreed to churn it.\nThis they did, says our author, in Varunaleyam or Varunasyabyam, the\nabode, abyam, or st'han of Varuna, the god of the sea. His abode, to\nthis day, is well known, and is in the very centre of that sea. The\nManx and Irish mythologists, according to Col. Valancey, call Varuna,\n_Mananan-Mac-Lir_, Mananan, the son of the sea: and his abode,\naccording to them, is in the Isle of Man, or Mannin, as it is called\nby the Irish bards. According to Gen. Valancey, it was called also\nManand, which answers to the Monoeda of Ptolemy.\n\nAfter the gods had fixed on the most proper time for the churning of\nthe sea of milk, they soon perceived that it would be impossible for\nthem to accomplish this tremendous work, without the assistance of\ngiants. They made peace accordingly with them, under the most solemn\npromise of sharing with them the fruit of their joint labours. The\ngods in general are represented as a weak race, but full of cunning\nand very crafty; the giants, on the contrary, are very strong, and\ngenerally without much guile. The gods of the Goths, and of the Greeks\nand Romans, did not bear a much better character. Even among\nChristians there are old legends, in which the devil is most\negregiously taken in by holy men.\n\nHaving thus settled the conditions, they all went to work, and\ngathered all the trees and plants, and flung them into the\ncaldron-like sea. They then brought the mountain of Mandara with\ninfinite labour. It is said that this mountain is in the peninsula,\nnear the sea shore, and to the north of Madras. They placed it in the\nmiddle of the caldron-like sea, which they used for a churn, and mount\nMandara as a churning staff. The serpent Vasuci served them instead of\na rope, and they twisted him round mount Mandara, and the giants were\nallowed to lay hold of the snake by the head: his fiery breath\nscorched the giants, and they became black: the unfortunate reptile\nsuffered much; he complained, but in vain. Mount Mandara began to\nsink; but Vishnu, assuming the shape of a tortoise, placed himself\nunder it. In the Scanda-purana chapter of the Sanata-cumara-Sanhita,\nin the 75th section, we have a minute account of the churning of the\nWhite sea by Vishnu, the gods and the giants: the latter had Bali at\ntheir head. After churning for five years the froth began to appear:\nand after three years more, Varuni or Sura, with her intoxicating\nliquors. The cow Camadhenu or Surabhi appeared after another year's\nlabour. According to the Brahman-da-purana, she was worshipped by the\ngods, and both gods and giants were highly pleased when they saw her.\n\nOne year after, the elephant Airavata made his appearance; and the\nnext year a horse with seven heads. Three months after, the Apsaras\nwith Rambha-Devi at their head. Chandra or Lunus, came one year after;\nthen after three years more, was produced Cala-cuta, a most subtile\npoison, flowing in large quantities; and then Vishnu became black. It\nwas of a fiery colour, and began to set fire to the three worlds.\nMankind, being alarmed, began to call out, Ah! Ah! The earth, in great\ndistress, with Vishnu, waited on Siva, craving his assistance. Siva\nswallowed up the poison which stuck in his throat, and caused a most\nintolerable heat, which parched his throat and body. His throat turned\nblue; from which circumstance he is worshipped under the name of\nNilacanteswara, or the lord with the blue throat.\n\nSiva, after swallowing the poison, as related, went to Himalaya, where\nhe buried himself in the snow. There are many places of worship\ndedicated to Siva, under that title; but the original one is in the\nWhite Island. It is very doubtful if our ancestors knew anything of\nthis churning, and of the deadly poison produced by it, and of a deity\nswallowing it up. \"In that case,\" says Major Wilford, \"there was no\nsuch a place in the White Island. Yet I cannot resist the temptation;\nand I am inclined to believe it not altogether improbable, but that\nmany of these idle legends originated in the west. If so, there might\nhave been such a place; and it could not have been far from\nCamalo-dunum. The poison, which Siva drank up, is called in Sanscrit,\nCala-cuta, or the black lump or mole, because it remained like a lump\nin Siva's throat, which looked like a cuta, a peak, also a lump or\nmole. Cala-cuta in Welh is y-duman, or the black lump or mole, and\nthis was, according to Ptolemy, the name of a river in England, now\ncalled the Blackwater, in Essex. It might have been supposed once,\nthat the black stinking mud of marshes and fens, and more particularly\nthat of the mosses, so baneful to living creatures, was produced in\nconsequence of this churning; probably the emblem used to signify some\ndreadful convulsion of nature in those parts. That such a thing\nhappened in the western ocean, is attested by tradition: and such was\nits violence, and the dreadful consequences which attended it, that\nthey could not but suppose that it had destroyed entirely the\n_Atlantis_ and left nothing in its place but mud. A deity is then\nintroduced, putting a stop to the progress of this black and poisonous\nsubstance, ready, according to the Puranas, to overwhelm, not only the\nWhite Island, but the whole world also. The serpent Midgard, being at\nthe bottom of the sea, like Ananta, and vomiting torrents of deadly\npoison, and surrounding the world like Seshanaga, is the subject of\nseveral fundamental legends in the mythology of the Goths: but\nabsolutely unknown to the Greeks and Romans. This Cala-cuta, or black\nlump of poison, stuck in Siva's throat, like the apple that Adam ate,\nand occasioned that protuberance, since called Adam's apple or\nbit.\"[4]\n\n        [4] See Asiatic Researches, Vol. II.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have already stated that Siva is usually deemed the third person of\nthe Hindu triad, that he represents the destructive energy, and that\nhe appears in such a variety of forms, and on so many occasions, that\nscarcely a step can be taken in any department whatever of eastern\nscience, art, or subject of literature, without encountering him in\nsome of his varied characters. The whole race of Hindoos, it seems, is\ndivided into two classes, denoting the worship of Siva, or of Vishnu;\nBrahma, the first or creative power, having no worshippers or temples.\nThese two classes are also called Saiva-bakht, and Vishnu-bakht. We\nhave also had occasion to inform our readers that destruction being\nused in the sense of renovation, the character of Siva is that of the\nrenovator, or recreator; associating him in character with Brahma, the\nproducing or creative power. The variety of relations in which this\nand the other two members of the Hindu triad appear--whether they be\nintroduced mythologically, metaphysically, or philosophically, has\nbeen exhibited as follows--all three are symbols of the sun, as he is\ntypical of that great light, as the theologians express it, \"whence\nall proceeded, and to which all must return.\"\n\n    Brahma | Power   | Creation     | Matter | The Past    | Earth\n    Vishnu | Wisdom  | Preservation | Space  | The Present | Water\n    Siva   | Justice | Destruction  | Time   | The Future  | Fire\n\nBut these characters, or attributes, are not exclusively applicable to\nthe three powers, as indicated above. They coalesce and participate,\nmore or less in several. An attempt has been made to shew in what\ndegree, more particularly, they represent their material forms of\nearth, water, and fire, thus:--\n\n    Brahma and Siva are Fire, in which Vishnu  } does not participate,\n    Vishnu and Brahma are Earth, in which Siva } or participates but\n    Siva and Vishnu are Water, in which Brahma } remotely.\n\nIn his examination of the Vedas, or Indian Scriptures, Mr. Colebrooke\ngives the following description of the deities of India:\n\n\"The deities invoked appear, upon a cursory inspection of the Veda, to\nbe as various as the authors of the prayers addressed to them: but\naccording to the most ancient annotations on the Indian Scriptures,\nthese various names of persons and things, are all resolvable into\ndifferent titles of three deities, and ultimately of one God. The\nNig'hanti, or Glossary of the Vedas (which is the first part of the\nNiructa), concludes with three lists of names of deities: the first\ncomprising such as are deemed synonymous with Fire; the second with\nAir; and the third with the Sun. In the last part of the Niructa,\nwhich entirely relates to deities, it is twice asserted that there are\nbut three gods, 'Tisra eva Devatah.' The further inference, that these\nintend but one deity, is supported by many passages in the Veda; and\nis very clearly and concisely stated in the beginning of the index to\nthe Rigveda, on the authority of the Niructa, and of the Veda itself.\"\n\nAfter citing several passages, Mr. Colebrooke continues:--\"The deities\nare only three, whose places are the earth, the intermediate region,\nand heaven: [namely] Fire, Air, and the Sun. They are pronounced to be\n[deities] of the mysterious names severally; and (Prajapati) the lord\nof creatures is [the deity] of them collectively. The syllable O'm\nintends every deity: it belongs to (Paramasht'hi) him who dwells in\nthe supreme abode; it pertains to (Brahma) the vast one; to (Deva)\ngod; to (Ad'hyatma) the superintending soul. Other deities belonging\nto those several regions, are portions of the [three] gods; for they\nare variously named and described on account of their different\noperations, but [in fact] there is only one deity, the Great Soul\n(Mahanatma). He is called the Sun; for he is the soul of all beings;\n[and] that is declared by the Sage. [The Sun] 'the soul of (jagat)\nwhat moves, and of (tast'hush) that which is fixed'; other deities are\nportions of him: and that is expressly declared by the Sage, 'The wise\ncall Fire, Indra, Mitra, and Varuna, etc.\"\n\nIn the Manava Sastra or Institutes of Menu the origin of the Universe\nis thus unfolded: \"It existed only in the first divine idea, yet\nunexpanded, as if involved in darkness, imperceptible, indefinable,\nundiscoverable by reason, and undiscovered by revelation, as if it\nwere wholly immersed in sleep. Then the sole self-existing power, who\nhad existed from eternity, shone forth in person, expanding his idea\nand dispelling the gloom. With a thought he first created the waters,\nand placed in them a productive seed: this seed became an egg, in\nwhich he was himself born in the shape of Brahma, the great forefather\nof all spirits. The waters are called Nara, because they were the\nproduction of Nara, or the spirit of God: and since they were his\nfirst Ayana, or place of motion, he was thence named Narayana, or\nmoving in the waters. In that egg the great Power sat inactive a whole\nyear of the Creator: at the close of which, by his thought alone, he\ncaused the egg to divide itself, and from its two divisions framed the\nworld.\"\n\nThe name given by the Indians to their Supreme Deity, or Monad, is\nBrahm; and notwithstanding the appearance of materialism in all their\nsacred books, the Brahmans never admit they uphold such a doctrine,\nbut invest their deities with the highest attributes. He is\nrepresented as the Vast One, self-existing, invisible, eternal,\nimperceptible, the only deity, the great soul, the over-ruling soul,\nthe soul of all beings, and of whom all other deities are but\nportions. To him no sacrifices were ever offered; but he was adored in\nsilent meditation. He triplicates himself into three persons or\npowers, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, and is designated by the word O'M or\nrather AUM.\n\nThis word O'M is a monosyllable of very profound import. It is\nsupposed to be so holy and awful, like the name Jehovah of the Jews,\nas not to be guiltlessly pronounced, even by a priest. It must be\ncontemplated, or recited mentally; and it then is said to excite many\nefficacious aspirations. This awful monosyllable is triliteral, and\nperhaps therefore better written AUM, for three Sanscrit letters do in\nfact compose it: but in composition A and U coalesce in O. The first\nletter is supposed to be symbolical of Brahma, the creative power of\nthe Deity; the second of Vishnu, the preserver; and the last of Siva,\nthe destroyer or renovator. As all the inferior deities of the Hindoos\nare avataras or manifestation of, and resolve themselves into those\nthree superior powers, so those superior powers resolve themselves\nultimately into Brahm, or the supreme being, of whom the sun is the\nmost perfect and glorious murti, or image. A combination of the three\nsymbolical letters forms, therefore, a hieroglyphical representation\nof the union of the three powers or attributes, and a word that, if\nuttered, would be nearly expressed by our letters A U M, or O O M,\ndwelling a little on each letter. A name of Parvati, the consort of\nSiva, is Uma or Ooma, and it is perhaps hence derivable; as well as\nOmkar, one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage in India, dedicated\nto the worship of this mysterious union.\n\nIn the Institutes of Menu, many verses occur denoting the importance\nof this monosyllable, and of a text of the Veda closely connected with\nit, called the Gayatri. Among those verses are the following:\n\nChap. ii, v. 74. \"A Brahman beginning and ending a lecture on the\nVeda, must always pronounce to himself the syllable OM: for unless the\nsyllable OM precede, his learning will slip away from him; and unless\nit follow, nothing will be long retained.\" A commentator on this verse\nsays, \"As the leaf of the palasa is supported by a single pedicle, so\nis this universe upheld by the syllable OM, a symbol of the supreme\nBrahm.\"\n\n76. \"Brahma milked out as it were, from the three Vedas the letter A,\nthe letter U, and the letter M, which form by their coalition the\ntriliteral monosyllable, together with three mysterious words, _bhur_,\n_bhuva_, and _siver_.\" These words mean earth, sky, and heaven, and\nare called the vyahritis.\n\n77. \"From the three Vedas, also, the Lord of creatures\nincomprehensibly exalted, successively milked out the three measures\nof that ineffable text beginning with the word _tad_, and entitled\nSavitri or Gayatri.\"\n\n78. \"A priest who shall know the Veda, and shall pronounce to himself,\nboth morning and evening, that syllable, and that holy text, preceded\nby the three words, shall attain the sanctity which the Veda confers.\"\n\n79. \"And a twice born man who shall a thousand times repeat those\nthree (OM, the vyahritis, and the gayatri), apart from the multitude,\nshall be released in a month from a great offence, as a snake from his\nslough.\"\n\n80. \"The priest, the soldier, and the merchant, who shall neglect this\nmysterious text, and fail to perform in due season his peculiar acts\nof piety, shall meet with contempt among the virtuous.\"\n\n81. \"The great immutable words preceded by the triliteral syllable and\nfollowed by the gayatri, which consists of three measures, must be\nconsidered as the mouth or principal part of the Veda.\"\n\n82. \"Whoever shall repeat, day by day, for three years, without\nnegligence, that sacred text, shall hereafter approach the divine\nessence, move freely as air, and assume an ethereal form.\"\n\n83. \"The triliteral monosyllable is an emblem of the Supreme, the\nsuppressions of the breath with a mind fixed on God are the highest\ndevotion; but nothing is more exalted than the gayatri.\"\n\nThe suppression of the breath is thus performed by the priest: closing\nthe left nostril with the two longest fingers of the right hand, he\ndraws his breath through the right nostril; then closing that nostril\nlikewise with his thumb, holds his breath while he meditates the text:\nhe then raises both fingers off the left nostril, and emits the\nsuppressed breath, having, during its suppression, repeated to himself\nthe gayatri, the vyahritis, the triliteral monosyllable, and the\nsacred text of Brahm. By an ancient legislator it is said to imply the\nfollowing meditation: \"OM! earth! sky! heaven! mansion of the blessed!\nabode of truth!--_We meditate on the adorable light of the resplendent\nGenerator which governs our intellects_: which is water, lustre,\nsavour, immortal, faculty of thought, Brahm, earth, sky, heaven.\" The\nwords in italics are very nearly the gayatri.\n\nChap. vi., v. 70. \"Even three suppressions of breath, made according\nto the divine rule, accompanied by the triliteral phrase\n(bhurbhuvaswah), and the triliteral syllable (OM), may be considered\nas the highest devotion of a Brahman.\"\n\n71. \"For as the dross and impurities of metallic ores are consumed by\nfire, thus are the sinful acts of the human organ consumed by the\nsuppression of breath, while the mystic words and the measures of the\nGayatri are revolved in the mind.\"\n\nThe extreme importance that the Hindoos attach to the gayatri, renders\nit a text of more curiosity than perhaps a general reader will be able\nto discover in the words themselves, in either their familiar or\nrecondite meaning. It is, like the holy monosyllable, to be mentally\nrevolved, never articulated. It is taught, as we have seen in the\npreceding extracts from the Menu, to the three first classes, that is,\nto the Brahman, or priesthood; to the Kshetriya, or soldier; and to\nthe Vaisya, or merchant; but not to the Sudra, or labourer, nor to\nindividuals of the three first named classes if rendered by vicious\npropensities unworthy of the 'second birth,' promised in the holiness\nof this mysterious regeneration. Fasting, ablution, prayer,\nalms-giving, and other commendable acts, are necessary preliminaries\nand accompaniments to initiation in the mysteries of this 'ineffable\ntext,' which is done by the Guru, or spiritual preceptor, in a\nreverent and secret manner. In the Vedas the text occurs several\ntimes, and translations of it by different Sanscrit scholars are\ngiven, with many particulars of it and other mysterious points in the\nHindoo Pantheon. \"There is no doubt,\" says the author of that work,\n\"but that pious Brahmans would be very deeply shocked at hearing the\ngayatri denied by unholy articulation, even if expressed in the most\nrespectful manner; and many would be distressed at knowing the\ncharacters, sound, and meaning, to be in the possession of persons out\nof the pale of sanctity. A gentleman on the western side of India,\nunaware of the result, began once to recite it audibly in the presence\nof a pious Pandit: the astonished priest stopped his ears, and\nhastened terrified from his presence.\" In the frontispiece to that\nwork, the character or symbol is given that would, if uttered, yield\nthe sound of OM. The author says he once shewed it to a Brahman, who\nsilently averted his face, evidently pained at what he unwillingly\nsaw.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Hindoo deities have vehicles assigned for the conveyance of\nthemselves and wives. These are called vahan. The vahan of Siva is a\nbull, called Nandi. They have likewise peculiar symbols or attributes:\nthose that more particularly designate Siva, his sakti, or anything\nconnected with them are the Linga, or phallus, and the Trisula or\nTrident. The phallic emblem denotes his presiding over generation,\nreminding us of the Jupiter Genitor of western mythologists, with whom\nSir William Jones identifies the Siva of the East.\n\n\"The Jupiter Marinus, or Neptune of the Romans, resembles Mahadeva\n(Siva) in his generative character; especially as the Hindoo god is\nthe husband of Parvati, whose relation to the waters is evidently\nmarked by her image being restored to them at the conclusion of the\ngreat festival, called Durgotsava. She is known to have attributes\nexactly similar to those of Venus Marina, whose birth from the\nsea-foam, and splendid rise from the couch in which she had been\ncradled, have offered so many charming subjects to ancient and modern\nartists.\"[5]\n\n        [5] Asiatic Researches, vol. I.\n\nAnother writer, Mr. Paterson, offers a passage descriptive of the\ncharacter and attributes of Siva. \"To Siva,\" he says, \"are given three\neyes, probably to denote his view of the three divisions of time; the\npast, the present, and the future. A crescent on his forehead,\npourtrays the measure of time by the phases of the moon; a serpent\nforms a necklace to denote the measure of time by years; a second\nnecklace formed of human skulls marks the lapse and revolution of\nages, and the extinction and succession of the generations of mankind.\nHe holds a trident, to show that the great attributes are in him\nassembled and united; in another is a kind of rattle, shaped like an\nhour glass, and I am inclined to think that it was at first intended\nas such, since it agrees with the character of the deity; and a sand\ngheri is mentioned in the Sastra as a mode of measuring time. In the\nhieroglyphic of Maha Pralaya, or grand consummation of things, when\ntime itself shall be no more, he is represented as trodden under foot\nby Mahakala, or eternity.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA writer in the Edinburgh Review for February, 1811, says:--\"The most\nancient worship of which any trace is left in Hindustan, is that of\nOsiris or Bacchus, whose Indian names are Iswara and Baghesa. In him,\nand in the gods of his family, or lineage, we recognise the divinities\nadored by the ancient Egyptians. That Osiris and Bacchus were the same\ndivinity, is attested by the unanimous suffrage of all the writers of\nantiquity. But the most ancient Bacchus was not celebrated as the god\nof wine, a character ascribed to that divinity in later times. The\nEgyptians assert that Osiris conquered India; and indeed his\nexpedition to that region is the subject of the celebrated epic poem\nof Nonnus. We by no means contend for the reality of these\nexpeditions; but it is an indisputable fact that the worship of\nOsiris, distinguished by the same attributes and emblems, has\ncontinued in India from the earliest ages to this day, under the\nappellation of Iswara. This, we think, may be completely proved by a\ncomparative survey of both, before, as patron of the vine, he assumed\nin Europe a new character.\n\n\"Osiris was adored in Egypt, and Bacchus in Greece, under the emblem\nof the Phallus. It is under the same emblem that he is still venerated\nin Hindustan; and Phalla is one of the names of Iswara in the\ndictionary of Amara Singha. The bull was sacred to him in Egypt.\nPlutarch assures us that several nations of Greece depict Bacchus with\na bull's head; and that when he is invoked by the women of Elis they\npray him to hasten to their relief on the feet of a bull. In India he\nis often seen mounted on a bull; hence one of his Sanscrit names\nVrishadwaja, signifying, whose ensign is a bull. Plutarch inform us\nthat 'Nilum patrem ac servatorem suae regionis, ac defluxum Osiridis\nnominant.' The Ganges in like manner is fabled by the Hindoos to flow\nfrom the tresses of Siva; hence another of his names, Gangadhara, the\nsupporter of the Ganges. We conceive by the way, that Scaliger and\nSelden are mistaken in supposing that Siris, the Egyptian name of the\nNile, is synonymous with Osiris. Siris seems to us the Sanscrit word\nSaras, a river in general, or _the_ river, from its imputed\nsuperiority. Isis is the consort of Osiris; Isa that of Iswara, or\nSiva. The attributes of the goddesses might be shown to correspond as\nprecisely as those of their lords.\n\n\"The attendants of Iswara resemble, in their frantic demeanour, the\nfurious Bacchants of the god of Naxos. Many tribes of imaginary beings\ncompose his train. The Pramatha, whose name denotes intoxication; and\nthe Jacchi, from whom he derives the appellation of Jaccheo, or lord\nof the Jacchi, corrupted into Jacchus, by his western votaries. It is\nremarkable that many of the appellations by which the Greeks\ndistinguish Bacchus, are also used by the Hindus; but instead of\napplying them to Baghesa himself, the latter refer them to his son,\nwhilst both nations have their legends to account for them. Thus the\nGreeks name Bacchus, Dimeter, having two mothers; the Hindus call\nScandha, the son of Baghesa, Divimatri, with the same signification.\nPyrigenes, born from fire; and its equivalent in Sanscrit--Agnija, are\nrespectively Greek and Indian appellatives of Bacchus and of Scandha.\nThe title of Thriambus we are told by Diodorus, was assumed by the\nGreek Deity in his triumph after the conquest of India. Tryambo, in\nlike-manner, is one of the most common appellations of the Indian\nBacchus, but we are not aware of its signification.\n\n\"We believe we have done more than was requisite to prove the identity\nof the Egyptian, Grecian, and Indian Divinity; for our readers will\nremark that our proofs do not rest in this instance, on analogy of\n_sounds_, which may undoubtedly be fortuitous, but on that analogy,\ncombined with the unity of the attributes denoted by those names,\nwhich it is impossible should be accidental.\"\n\nThere are five kinds of temples among the Hindoos, one of which is\ndedicated exclusively to the linga, another to Jugunnathu, and another\nis appropriated to the images of any of the gods or goddesses. The\nfirst of these is called by the general name of Mundiru; the second\nDaool, and the third Yorubangala. The names of the other two are\nPunchu-rutnu, and Nuvu-rutnu, in which the images of different gods\nand goddesses are placed, according to the wish of the owner.\n\nThe Mundiru is a double roofed building, the upper roof short and\ntapering. It contains only one room, in which is placed the image of\nthe linga. It is ascended by steps. The floor is about three cubits by\nfour. On the roof are placed three tridents. The building is of the\nGothic order, as well as most of the other pyramidical temples of the\nHindoos. Some of the temples of the linga contain two, three, or more\nrooms, arched over in the Gothic manner, with a porch in front for\nspectators. The rooms in which the image is not placed contain the\nthings with which the ceremonies of worship are performed, the\nofferings, etc.\n\nSome rich men as an act of merit, build one, and others, erect four,\nsix, twelve, or more of these temples in one place. Some great\nlandowners build a greater number, and employ Brahmins to perform the\ndaily ceremonies. The relict of raja Tiluku-Chundru, of Burdwan, built\none hundred and eight temples in one plain, and placed in them as many\nimages of the linga, appointing eleven Brahmins, with other inferior\nservants, to perform the daily ceremonies before these images. She\npresented to these temples estates to the amount of the wages of these\npersons, the daily offerings, etc.\n\nMany persons build flights of steps down the banks to the river side,\nfor the benefit of persons coming to bathe, and very often also build\na row of temples for the linga in front of these steps, two, four, or\nsix on each side, and a roof supported by pillars immediately opposite\nthe steps. At the present day, most of the persons who build these\ntemples are the head-servants of Europeans, who appropriate a part of\ntheir fortunes to these acts of supposed merit. Near Serampore a rich\nHindoo built twelve linga temples, and a flight of steps, and on the\nopposite side of the river, he built a house for his mistress, without\nany suspicion of the latter action spoiling the former.\n\nSmall square temples for the linga with flat roofs are erected in rows\non the right and left before the houses of rich men, or before a\ncollege, or a consecrated pool of water, or before the descent to a\nflight of steps.\n\nVery small temples like the Mundiru, two, three, or five cubits high\nonly, and containing a linga about a foot in height, are to be seen at\nBenares.\n\nSome persons build near the temples of the linga, a small house, open\nin front, for the accommodation of such persons who wish to die in\nsight of the river; and others build a temple, adjoining to that built\nfor the linga, and dedicate it some other idol.\n\nThese temples of the linga are to be seen in great numbers on both\nsides of the Ganges, especially in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. The\nmerit of building them near the river is greater than in the interior\nof the country, and if in a place of the river peculiarly sacred, the\nmerit becomes the greater. The west side of the river is more sacred\nthan the east.\n\nThe expense of one of these temples, if a single room, amounts to\nabout two hundred rupees, and the wages and daily offerings to one\nlinga amount to about three rupees per month. Some give the brahmin\nwho officiates twelve anas, and others a rupee per month, with his\nfood and clothes. Sometimes the offerings are given to him for his\nfood, but in other cases they are presented to the brahmins of the\nvillage alternately, and the priest has money given him in their\nstead. These offerings consist of a pound of rice, a pint of milk,\nhalf an ounce of sugar, and two plantains. The quantity, however, is\nnot prescribed, and other things are articled by some persons.\n\nThe daily ceremonies are:--In the morning the officiating brahmin,\nafter bathing, goes into the temple and bows to Siva. He then anoints\nthe image with clarified butter or boiled oil, after which, with water\nwhich has not been defiled by the touch of a shoodru, nor of a brahmin\nwho has not bathed, he bathes the image by pouring water on it, and\nafterwards wipes it with a towel. He next grinds some white powder in\nwater, and dipping the ends of his three fore-fingers in it, draws\nthem across the linga, marking it as the worshippers of Siva mark\ntheir foreheads. Next he sits down before the image, and, shutting his\neyes, meditates on the work he is commencing; then puts rice and\ndoorva grass on the linga; next a flower on his own head, and then on\ntop of the linga; then another flower on the linga; then others one by\none, repeating incantations; then white powder, flowers, vilwu leaves,\nincense, meat-offerings, and a lamp before the linga; next some rice\nand a plantain; then he repeats the name of Siva, with some form of\npraise, and at last he prostrates himself before the image.\n\nThe ceremonies in the hands of a secular person, are discharged in a\nfew minutes; if performed by a person who has sufficient leisure he\nspends an hour in them.\n\nIn the evening the officiating brahmin goes again to the temple, after\nwashing his feet, etc., and prostrates himself at the door; then\nopening the door he places in the temple a lamp, and, as an evening\noblation, presents to the image a little milk, some sweet-meats,\nfruit, etc., that is, such things as a Hindoo eats and drinks at those\ntimes when he does not eat his regular meals. The worship of the day\ncloses with prostration to the image, when the brahmin locks the door\nand comes away.\n\nAt this temple on the 14th of the increase of the moon, in the month\nPhalgoonu, in the night, a festival in honour of Siva is kept. On this\noccasion the image is bathed four times, and four separate pujas\nperformed during the night. Before the temple Siva's worshippers\ndance, sing, and revel all night, amidst the horrid din of their\nmusic.\n\nThe occasion of this festival is thus related in the puranas:--A\nbird-catcher was detained in a wilderness in a dark night, and took\nrefuge in a vilwu tree under which was an image of the linga. By\nshaking the boughs of the trees the leaves and drops of dew fell upon\nthe image, with which Siva was so pleased, that he declared, that\nwhoever should from that time perform the worship of the linga on that\nnight, he should do an act of unbounded merit.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n    Hindu evidence respecting the origin of Phallic\n    worship--Legend of the wounded Hara--The four sects of\n    worshippers instituted by Brahma--Resumption of the Lingam by\n    Siva--Siva and Parvati propitiated--Visit of Bhrigu to\n    Siva--The Lainga Puran on the origin of Lingam\n    worship--Abolition of worship of Brahma--Moral character of\n    Hindu worship--Profligate sects--Egyptian\n    Phallus--Bacchus--Testimony of Tertullian and Clement of\n    Alexandria--Dionysus--Directions for worship--Unsatisfactory\n    legends--Legend of Bhima--The fourth avatar of Vishnu--Visit\n    of Captain Mackenzie to the Pagoda at Perwuttum.\n\n\nSo far as Hindu mythology is concerned, we find ample and interesting\nevidence respecting the origin of Phallic worship in the East, in the\nform of the adoration of the lingam. Thus in the Vamana Purana we are\nenlightened as follows:--\"Then Hara, wounded by the arrows of Kama,\nwandered into a deep forest, named Daruvanam, where holy sages and\ntheir wives resided. The sages on beholding Shiva, saluted him with\nbended heads, and he, wearied, said to them,--'Give me alms.' Thus he\nwent begging round the different hermitages; and, wherever he came,\nthe minds of the sages' wives, on seeing him, became disturbed and\nagitated with the pain of love, and all commenced to follow him. But\nwhen the sages saw their holy dwellings thus deserted, they\nexclaimed,--'May the lingam of this man fall to the ground!' That\ninstant the lingam of Shiva fell to the ground; and the god\nimmediately disappeared. The lingam, then, as it fell, penetrated\nthrough the lower worlds, and increased in height until its top\ntowered above the heavens; the earth quaked, and all things movable\nand immovable were agitated. On perceiving which Brahma hastened to\nthe sea of milk, and said to Vishnu,--'Say, why does the universe thus\ntremble?' Hara replied,--'On account of the falling of Shiva's lingam,\nin consequence of the curse of the holy and divine sages.' On hearing\nof this most wonderful event, Brahma said,--'Let us go and behold this\nlingam.' The two gods then repaired to Daruvanam; and on beholding it\nwithout beginning or end, Vishnu mounted the king of birds and\ndescended into the lower regions in order to ascertain its base; and\nfor the purpose of discovering its top, Brahma in a lotos car ascended\nthe heavens: but they returned from their search wearied and\ndisappointed, and together approaching the lingam, with due reverence\nand praises, entreated Shiva to resume his lingam. Thus propitiated,\nthat god appeared in his own form and said,--'If gods and men will\nworship my lingam, I will resume it; but not otherwise. (In the Nagar\nKhand of the Skanda Puran, it is said that Shiva, afflicted for the\nloss of Sati, thus replied:--'O gods! it was in consequence of the\ngrief which I suffer in being separated from Sati that I cast away\nthis lingam, apparently fallen through the curse of the sages; but,\nhad I not willed it, who is there in the three worlds that could have\ndeprived me of it? why then should I resume it?')\n\n\"To this proposal Vishnu, Brahma, and the gods assented; and Brahma\ndivided its worshippers into four sects, the principal one of those,\nthat which simply worships Shiva under the symbol of the lingam; the\nsecond, that of Pashupati; the third, of Mahakala; and the fourth, the\nKapali; and revealed from his own mouth the ordinances by which this\nworship was to be regulated. Brahma and the gods then departed, and\nShiva, having resumed the lingam, was also leaving the spot, when he\nbeheld Kama at a distance; and, incensed with anger on remembering the\npains which he had endured, looked at him with his world-consuming eye\nand reduced him to ashes.\" _Chapter 6._\n\n\"The resumption of the lingam by Shiva,\" remarks Vans Kennedy in his\nresearches into Hindu Mythology, \"is related differently in the Shiva\nPuran, which account explains the reason of the particular form, under\nwhich that symbol is represented.\"\n\nThe Shiva Puran account says:--'On falling in consequence of the\nsages' curse, the lingam became like fire, and caused a conflagration\nwherever it penetrated; the three worlds were distressed, and as\nneither gods nor sages could find rest, they hastened for protection to\nBrahma. Having heard them relate all that had happened, Brahma\nreplied:--'After having committed knowingly a reprehensible act, why\nsay that it was done unknowingly? For who that is adverse to Shiva\nshall enjoy happiness, and yet when he came as a guest at noon-day you\nreceived him not with due honours. But every one shall reap the fruit\nof his good or bad actions, and the lingam therefore shall not cease\nto distress the three worlds until it is resumed by that god. Do ye,\ntherefore, adopt such means as you think best for restoring\ntranquility to the universe.' The gods said,--'But, O Lord! what means\nought we to adopt?' Brahma replied,--'Propitiate by adoration the\nmountain-born goddess, and she will then assume the form of the yoni\nand receive this lingam, by which means alone it can be rendered\ninnocuous. Should you thus obtain her favourable assistance, then form\na vessel of the eight kinds of leaves, place in it boiled rice and\nsacred plants; and having filled it with holy water, consecrate the\nwhole with the proper prayers and invocations, and with this water,\nrepeating at the same time suitable prayers, sprinkle the lingam.\nAfter, also, Parvati shall have under the form of the yoni received\nthe lingam, do you erect and consecrate the form of a lingam in the\nyoni; and, by worshipping it with offerings of flowers, perfumes, and\nsuch things, by kindling lamps before it, and by singing and music,\npropitiate Maheshwara, and thus will the forgiveness and favour of\nthat god be undoubtedly obtained.' Having heard these words, the gods\nand sages hastened to implore the protection of Shiva and the\nassistance of Parvati, as directed by Brahma; and these deities having\nbeen propitiated, Parvati, under the form of the yoni, received the\nlingam and thus appeased its consuming fire; and in commemoration of\nthis event was instituted the worship of the lingam.'\n\nThe Padma Puran ascribes the origin of the particular form under which\nthis symbol is represented, to the effects of a curse imprecated on\nShiva by Bhrigu. It is there said that, when, Bhrigu was sent to\nascertain the preeminence of the three gods, on arriving at Kailasa he\nthus addressed Shiva's door-keeper:--\"Quickly inform Shankara that I,\nthe Brahman Bhrigu, am come to see him.\" But the door-keeper\nsaid,--'Stop, stop, if thou wishest to preserve thy life; for my lord\ncannot be approached at present, as he is engaged in amorous dalliance\nwith Devi.' The divine sage being thus denied access, waited some time\nat the gate of Shiva's abode, and at length incensed with anger\nimprecated this curse:--'Since thou, O Shankara! hast thus treated me\nwith contempt, in consequence of thy preferring the embraces of\nParvati, your forms shall on that account become the lingam in the\nyoni.' It is generally understood that it was in consequence of this\ncurse, that Shiva was deprived of his lingam in the Daruvanan, and\nthat Parvati assumed the form of the yoni in order to receive and\nrender it innocuous.\n\nThe Lainga Puran relates the origin of the worship of the linga,\ndifferently.\n\nBrahma, addressing the angels.--'When I sprang into existence, I\nbeheld the mighty Narayana reposing on the abyss of waters; and, being\nunder the influence of delusion, awakened him with my hand and thus\naddressed him,--'Who art thou that thus slumberest on this terrible\nocean?' Hari awoke, and dispelling sleep from his lotos eyes, looked\nupon me, and then arising said,--'Welcome, welcome, O Pitamaha! my\ndear son!' On hearing the first of gods smiling thus speak, I,\nconfined within the bonds of the quality of impurity, replied,--'Why\ndost thou say my dear son? for know me to be the eternal god, the\nuniversal spirit, the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the three\nworlds.' But he immediately answered,--'Hear the truth, O four-faced!\nand learn that it is I who am the creator, the preserver, and the\ndestroyer, how canst thou thus forget Nayarana the self existent and\neternal Brahm? but thou committest no fault, for thy error proceeds\nfrom the delusion of Maya.' Hence arose between us a terrible combat\namidst the waters of the deluge, when, to appease the contest and\nrecall us to our senses, appeared a lingam blazing like a thousand\nsuns. Bewildered by its radiant beams, Hari thus said to me, lost in\namazement,--'I will proceed downwards in order to ascertain the\ntermination of this wondrous column of fire, do thou, O Lord! proceed\nupwards and seek for its top.' Having thus spoken, he assumed the form\nof a boar, and I that of a swan, and we both prosecuted our search for\nfour thousand years but being unable to ascertain its terminations, we\nthen returned back wearied and disappointed. Thus still under the\ninfluence of delusion, we prostrated ourselves before the lingam, and\nwere reflecting on what it could be, when we heard a voice, saying,\n_om, om, om,_--and shortly after appeared Shiva in the midst of that\ncolumn of fire.' In commemoration of this event, therefore, was the\nworship of the lingam instituted.\n\nThe Skande Puran relates that the abolition of the worship of Brahma\nis at the present day generally attributed to the inevitable\nconsequences resulting from the curse of Shiva.\n\n\"The lingam of Shiva, having in Daruvanam fallen on the ground in\nconsequence of the curse of the holy sages, instantly increased in\nsize, until its base went far beyond the lowest profound, and its head\ntowered above the heavens; and Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, and all the\ngods, having hastened to behold this wonder, thus spoke to one\nanother:--'What can be its length and breath? Where can be situated\nits top and base?' Having thus considered, the gods said,--'O Vishnu!\ndo thou ascertain the base of this lingam, and O Lotos-born, do thou\ndiscover its head, and let this be the place where you shall return to\nrelate what you may have seen.' Having heard these words, Vishnu\nproceeded to Tartarus, and Brahma to heaven; but high as he ascended,\nPitamaha could not perceive the head of that lingam, and he was\ntherefore returning and had arrived at the top of Meru, when\n_Surabhi_, as he reclined under the shade of a ketaki tree, saw him\nand thus spoke,--'Where hast thou gone, O Brahma! whence dost thou\nreturn? Say, can I do anything for you?' Brahma smiling, replied,--'I\nhave been sent by the gods to discover the head of this wonderful\nlingam which fills the three worlds, but I have not been able to reach\nit. What, therefore, shall I say to them when I return; for, if I\nfalsely assert that I have seen its top, they will require witnesses\nto attest the truth of it? Do thou, then, with this _ketaki_, give\ntestimony to what I shall declare.' _Surabhi_ and the _ketaki_ tree\nconsented to act as Brahma desired; and he, having made this\nagreement, proceeded to where the angels had remained, and thus\naddressed them:--'O gods! I have seen the top of this lingam, which is\nspacious, pure, delightful, adorned with the leaves of the _ketaki_,\nand wonderful to behold, but without my assistance no one can see it.'\nOn hearing these words the immortals were astonished, and Vishnu\nsaid,--'This is most surprising; for I have penetrated through all the\nlower worlds, and have not been able to discover its base; but most\nassuredly this lingam form of Mahadeva has neither beginning, nor\nmiddle, nor end; for it was through his divine will that you, O gods\nand holy sages! were produced, and also this universe with all that it\ncontains, movable and immovable; and in this lingam of the lord is\ncentred creation, preservation, and destruction.' Brahma then\nsaid,--'O Vishnu! why art thou surprised that I have seen the top,\nbecause thou hast not been able to reach the base of this lingam; but\nwhat proof dost thou require to convince thee that I have seen it?'\nVishnu, smiling, replied,--'Explain, O Brahma! how thou could'st have\nseen the head in heaven, while I could not discover the base in\nTartarus; but if this be really the case, who are the witnesses to\nyour having seen it?' Brahma quickly replied,--'The _ketaki_ and\n_Surabhi_; these, O ye gods! will attest that I speak the truth.' The\nimmortals then immediately sent for them; and when they arrived,\n_Surabhi_ and the _ketaki_ declared that Brahma had actually seen the\ntop of the lingam. At this instant a voice was heard from heaven,\nsaying,--'Know, O Suras! that _Surabhi_ and the _ketaki_ have spoken\nfalsely, for Brahma has not seen its top.' The immortals then\nimprecated this curse on _Surabhi_,--'Since thou hast with thy mouth\nuttered a falsehood, may thy mouth be henceforth deemed impure!' and\non the _ketaki_,--'Though thou smellest sweetly, mayest thou be\nconsidered unworthy to be offered to Shiva!' After the gods had ceased\nspeaking, the voice from heaven thus cursed Brahma:--'Since thou hast\nchildishly and with weak understanding asserted a falsehood, let no\none henceforth perform worship to thee.'\"\n\nLieutenant Colonel Vans Kennedy remarks that these are the only\naccounts of the origin of this worship which occur in the Puranas, but\nMr. Ward in his \"Account of the Writings, Religion, &c., of the\nHindus,\" says:--\"There are several stories in the Puranas respecting\nthe origin of the lingam worship, three of which I had translated, and\nactually inserted in this work, leaving out as much as possible of\ntheir offensive parts; but in correcting the proofs, they appeared too\ngross, even when refined as much as possible, to meet the public eye.\"\nLieutenant Kennedy alluding to this, says:--\"Mr. Ward takes every\nopportunity of objecting indecency and obscenity to the Hindu\nmythology; but, after a most attentive examination of the subject, I\nhave not been able to discover, unless calling a spade a spade be\nconsidered a sufficient ground, the slightest foundation for such an\nobjection in either the Purans, Upa-Purans, Ramayanum, or Mahabharat;\nand with regard to other Sanscrit works, I agree entirely in the\njustness of the opinion expressed by Mr. Wilson in a note to his\ntranslation of the Magha Duta. He says:--'I have, indeed, in this\nplace concentrated, and in part omitted, two verses of the original,\nas offensive to our notions of the decorum of composition. I cannot\nadmit, however, that Hindu literature, speaking generally, is more\nliable to the reproach of indecency than that of Europe: nothing can\nbe found in their serious works half so licentious as many passages in\nthe writings of Ovid, Catullus, Propertius, and even the elegant\nFlaccus. To descend to modern times, Ariosto and Boccaccio amongst the\nItalians, Brantome, Crebillon, Voltaire, La Fontaine, and the writers\nof many recent philosophical novels amongst the French, furnish us\nwith more than parallels for the most indelicate of the Hindu writers.\nWith respect to ourselves, not to go back to the days in which\n\"_obscenity was wit_,\" we have little reason to reproach the Hindus\nwith want of delicacy, when we find the exceptionable, though elegant,\npoetry of Little generally circulated and avowedly admired. We should\nalso recollect the circumstances of Indian society, before we condemn\ntheir authors for the ungarbled expressions which we conceive to\ntrespass upon the boundaries of decorum. _These authors write to men\nonly, they never think of a woman as a reader._'\"\n\nMoor in his \"Hindu Pantheon,\" bears general testimony to the perfectly\ndecent character of Hindu worship, on the whole, whatever may take\nplace in exceptional cases. Speaking of the sect of naked\ngymnosophists, called Lingis, and the Sactas, he says:--\"In this last\nmentioned sect, as in most others, there is a right-handed and decent\npath, and a left-handed and indecent mode of worship; but the indecent\nworship of this sect is most grossly so, and consists of unbridled\ndebauchery with wine and women. This profligate sect is supposed to be\nnumerous, though unavowed. In most parts of India, if not in all, they\nare held in deserved detestation; and even the decent Sactas do not\nmake public profession of their tenets, nor wear on their foreheads\nthe marks of their sect, lest they should be suspected of belonging to\nthe other branch of it{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~}. It is some comparative and negative praise\nto the Hindus, that the emblems under which they exhibit the elements\nand operations of nature, are not externally indecorous. Unlike the\nabominable realities of Egypt and Greece, we see the phallic emblem in\nthe Hindu Pantheon without offence; and know not, until the\ninformation be extorted, that we are contemplating a symbol whose\nprototype is indecent. The plates of my book may be turned and\nexamined, over and over again, and the uninformed observer will not be\naware that in several of them he has viewed the typical representation\nof the generative organs or powers of humanity.\" \"From the very\nnature, also, of this symbol,\" says Kennedy, \"it will be evident that\nit was never intended to be carried in the processions consecrated to\nShiva,\" and Abraham Roger, two hundred years ago, has in consequence\ncorrectly stated,--\"Mais quand on fait la procession par les villes\navec l'idole Eswara, ce qui arrive en certains temps, on ne la porte\npas sous la figure de lingam, mais sous la figure d'homme: la raison\nest, comme le Brahmine temoignoit, pour ce que les hommes ont plus de\nplasir et de contentement en la veue d'une figure humaine que dans la\nveue du lingam, en laquelle figure il est dans son pagode.\"[6]\n\n        [6] La Porte Ouverte, p. 157.\n\nBoth Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, as noticed by Gyraldus, though\nspeaking of the phallus, fail to explain its precise nature and form.\nMr. Payne Knight in his \"Symbolical Language of Ancient Art and\nMythology,\" says:--\"In Egypt and all over Asia, the mystic and\nsymbolical worship appears to have been of immemorial antiquity. The\nwomen of the former country carried images of Osiris in their sacred\nprocessions, with a movable phallus of disproportionate magnitude, the\nreason for which Herodotus does not think proper to relate, because it\nbelonged to the mystic religion. Diodorus Siculus, however, who lived\nin a more communicative age, informs us that it signified the\ngenerative attribute; and Plutarch, that the Egyptian statues of\nOsiris had the phallus to signify his procreative and prolific power,\nthe extension of which through the three elements of air, earth and\nwater, they expressed by another kind of statue, which was\noccasionally carried in procession, having a triple symbol of the same\nattribute. The Greeks usually represented the phallus alone, as a\ndistinct symbol, the meaning of which seems to have been among the\nlast discoveries revealed to the initiated. It was the same, in\nemblematical writing, as the Orphic epithet, _Pan-genetor, universal\ngenerator_, in which sense it is still employed by the Hindus.\"\nHerodotus, in allusion to the above, says:--\"To Bacchus, on the eve of\nhis feast, every Egyptian sacrifices a hog before the door of his\nhouse, which is then given back to the swineherd by whom it was\nfurnished, and by him carried away. In other respects the festival is\ncelebrated almost exactly as Bacchic festivals are in Greece,\nexcepting that the Egyptians have no choral dances. They also use,\ninstead of phalli, another invention, consisting of images a cubit\nhigh, pulled by strings, which the women carry round to the villages.\nA piper goes in front; and the women follow, singing hymns in honour\nof Bacchus. They give a religious reason for the peculiarities of the\nimage.\" Payne Knight supports his statement relative to the discovery\nof the meaning of the symbol by a quotation from Tertullian:\nConcerning the Valentinians (a sect of Ophites or of Gnostics) \"After\nmany sighings of the seers, the entire sealing of the tongue (from\ndivulging it) an image of the virile organ is revealed.\" This opinion,\nhowever, has been pronounced by others as extremely questionable; \"but\nwere it admitted,\" says Colonel Kennedy, \"it seems indisputable that\nthe phallus was always formed in such a manner as to leave no doubt\nwith respect to the object which it represented, and that in religious\nprocessions it was always attached to a human figure. It hence appears\nevident that the phallus bore no similarity to the lingam, and that,\nthough the causes which may originally have produced the worship of\nthese objects may have been the same in Egypt and India, still the\nsymbols adopted for their representation, and the adoration paid to\nthem by the Egyptians and the Hindus, differed most materially.\"\n\nClement of Alexandria was most severe in his condemnation of the\nabominations connected with certain festivals in which the phallus\noccupied a conspicuous position, but as the lingam is never carried in\nprocession, and its worship is not celebrated by bacchanalian rites,\nhis castigation could have had no reference, or at any rate, was not\napplicable to the Hindus. \"Extinguish the fire, O hierophant!\" he\nsaid, \"be ashamed of thy own torches, O torch-bearer! the light\nbetrays thy Jacchus: permit, if thou wish them to be reverenced, thy\nmysteries to be concealed by night, and thy orgies to be covered with\ndarkness; fire does not dissimulate, but exposes and punishes all that\nis subjected to its power. These, therefore, are the mysteries of\natheistical men; atheists I call them justly, because ignorant of the\ntrue God, they unblushingly worship an infant who was torn in pieces\nby the Titans, and a lamenting woman, and those parts of the body\nwhich modesty forbids us to name.\"\n\n\"The games and phalli consecrated to Bacchus, not only corrupt\nmanners, but are considered shameful and disgraceful by all the\nworld.\"\n\nClement then speaks of a certain event, in commemoration of which,\n\"was this mystery instituted, and phalli erected in every city in\nhonour of Dionusos; so that Heraclitus even says that misfortune would\nensue, if processions were not made, and hymns sung, and pudenda\nshamelessly worshipped, in honour of Dionusos. This then is the Hades\nand the Dionusos, in whose honour men become agitated with\nbacchanalian madness and fury; not so much, in my opinion, an account\nof natural inebriation, as in consequence of the reprehensible\nceremonies which were first instituted in commemoration of that\nabominable turpitude.\"\n\nThe event just referred to is this:--Dionysus was particularly anxious\nto descend to Hades, but was ignorant of the way; a certain man named\nProsymnus offered to shew him the same, provided he would grant him a\nspecified reward. \"The reward,\" says Clement, \"was a disgraceful one,\nthough not so in the opinion of Dionysus: it was an Aphrodisian favour\nthat was asked. The god was not reluctant to grant the request made to\nhim, and promised to fulfil it should he return, conforming his\npromise with an oath. Having learned the way, he departed and again\nreturned: he did not find Prosymnus for he had died. In order to\nacquit himself of his promise to his lover, he rushed to his tomb,\nburning with unnatural lust. Cutting a fig-branch that came to his\nhand, he shaped the likeness of the _membrum virile_, and sat over it;\nthus performing his promise to the dead man. As a mystic memorial of\nthis incident, _phalloi_ are raised aloft in honour of Dionysus\nthrough the various cities.\"\n\nThe character of Lingam worship may be gathered from the ritual\nprescribed in the Lainga Puran, which we find to be as follows:\n\"Having bathed in the prescribed manner, enter the place of worship;\nand having performed three suppressions of the breath, meditate on\nthat god who has three eyes, five heads, ten arms, and is of the\ncolour of pure crystal, arrayed in costly garments, and adorned with\nall kinds of ornaments: and having thus fixed in thy mind the real\nform of Maheshwara, proceed to worship him with the proper prayers and\nhymns. First, sprinkle the place and utensils of worship with a bunch\nof darbha dipped in perfumed water, repeating at the same time the\nsacred word _Om_, and arrange all the utensils and other things\nrequired in the prescribed order; then in due manner and repeating the\nproper invocations, prayers and hymns, preceded by the sacred word\n_Om_, prepare thy offerings. For the padiam (water for the ablution of\nthe feet), these should consist of ushiram (the root of the Andropogon\nmuricatus), sandal, and sweet-smelling woods: for the achamanam (water\nfor rinsing the mouth), of mace, camphor, bdellium, and agallochum,\nground together; and for the arghya (a particular kind of oblation,\nwhich, consisted of different articles in the worship of different\ndeities), of the tops of Kusha grass, prepared grains of rice, barley,\nsesamum, clarified butter, pieces of money, ashes and flowers. At the\nsame time, also, must be worshipped Nandi (the principal attendant of\nShiva, and supposed to be a portion of that god, who granted a son as\na boon to a holy ascetic named Shilada, and also consented that he\nwould be born as that son), and his wife, the daughter of Marut.\nHaving then, with due rites, prepared a seat, invoke with the\nprescribed prayers the presence of Parameshwara, and present to him\nthe _padiam_, _achamanam_ and _arghya_. Next bathe the lingam with\nperfumed water, the five products of the cow, clarified butter, honey,\nthe juice of the sugar-cane, and lastly pour over it a pot of pure\nwater, consecrated by the requisite prayers. Having thus purified it,\nadorn it with clean garments and a sacrificial string, and then offer\nflowers, perfumes, frankincense, lamps, fruit, and different kinds of\nprepared eatables, and ornaments. Thus worship the lingam with the\nprescribed offerings, invocations, prayers and honours, and by\ncircumambulating it, and by prostrating thyself before Shiva,\nrepresented under this symbol.\"\n\nColonel Vans Kennedy says that at the present day the whole of this\nritual is not observed, nor is this worship performed in that costly\nmanner which is recommended in the Purans. But the worship of all the\ndeities consists of sixteen essential requisites:--1, _Asanam_, the\npreparing a seat for the god; 2, _Asahanam_, the invoking his\npresence; 3, _padiam_; 4, _achamanam_; 5, _Arghya_; 6, bathing the\nimage; 7, clothing it; 8, investing it with a sacrificial string:\nofferings of; 9, perfumes; 10, flowers; 11, incense; 12, lamps; 13,\nnaivedya, _i.e._ offerings consisting of fruits and prepared eatables;\n14, betel leaf; 15, prayers, &c.; 16, circumambulation. The more of\nthese acts that are performed the more complete is the worship; but at\npresent it in general consists of nothing more than presenting some of\nthe prescribed offerings, and muttering a short prayer or two while\nthe lingam is circumambulated: the rest of the acts being performed by\nthe officiating priest.\n\nThis worship, it seems, need not be performed at a temple, any\nproperly purified place will do; it is most efficacious when performed\non the bank of some holy river, before a lingam formed of clay, which,\non the termination of the worship, is thrown into the sacred stream.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nColonel Kennedy says:--\"The legends respecting the origin of the\nworship of the lingam, cannot satisfy the philosophical enquirer; and\nthe real cause, therefore, which produced the adoration of so singular\nan object might appear to be a curious subject of speculation. But,\nthough in the Purans there are copious descriptions of the high\nimportance of this worship, and of the spiritual advantages to be\nderived from it, still these works contain not the slightest\nindication from which any just conclusion could be formed, with\nrespect to either the period when it was first introduced, or the\nmotives which may have occasioned the substitution of this symbol for\nthe image of Shiva. Yet it seems probable that this change had not\nbeen effected at the time when the Vedas were composed, and that the\nearliest record of this worship which has been preserved is contained\nin the Purans. But, as in those sacred books there is not the least\nappearance of its being either mystical or symbolical, it must be\nevident that if it originated in such causes they have long ceased to\nexist; and consequently that the speculations on this subject, in\nwhich the literati of Europe have indulged, are totally incompatible\nwith the simple principles, as far as they are known, on which this\nworship is founded. For, in fact, both in the Purans and by the Hindus\nof the present day, the lingam is held to be merely a visible type of\nan invisible deity; and nothing whatever belongs to its worship, or to\nthe terms in which this is mentioned, which has the slightest tendency\nto lead the thoughts, from the contemplation of the god, to an undue\nconsideration of the object by which he is typified. But it is\nimpossible to understand by what process of reasoning the founders of\nthe Hindu religion were induced to place Shiva among the divine\nhypostases; for they supposed, at the same time, that dissolution and\ndeath proceeded from the fixed laws of nature, and that his power was\nnot called into exertion until after the termination of twelve\nmillions of years. During the whole, therefore, of this inconceivable\nperiod, what functions could be ascribed to this god consistent with\nhis character of destroyer? This difficulty, however, seems to have\nbeen very soon obviated by investing him with the attributes of the\nSupreme Being, and even in the Purans it is under this character that\nhe is generally represented. As, therefore, the attributes which are,\naccording to the Hindus, peculiar to the one god are immovability and\ninaction, Shiva is described as being principally engaged in devout\nmeditation, and as exerting his divine power through the means either\nof Devi (or his energy personified) or of certain forms which he\ncreates for the occasion, such as Bhairava and Virabhadra. In Hindu\nmythology, consequently, there are only three legends, the destruction\nof the Tripura Asuras, and of the Asuras Audhaka, and Jalandhara, in\nwhich Shiva appears as the actor, unconnected with any reference to\nthe worship of the lingam. But on the introduction of this worship,\nnot a lingam seems to have been erected without its foundation having\nbeen ascribed to some miraculous appearance of Shiva; and hence have\noriginated a multiplicity of legends in the highest degree puerile,\nand everyone erring against the just principle,--\n\n  Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus\n  Inciderit.\n\nFor in the Shiva Puran, Suta thus speaks: \"Innumerable are the lingams\nwhich are adorned, as the type of Shiva, in heaven, earth, and\nTartarus; but where some of these are erected, there Shiva for the\ngood of the three worlds appeared, and consequently whoever visits and\nworships them, acquires more complete remission of sins and a greater\ndegree of holiness. Even of these, however, the number is\nunascertainable, but the twelve Jyolisha lingams are considered the\nmost sacred; there are, of course, many others, the worship of which\ninsures the remission of sins and final blessedness.\"\n\n\n_Legend from the Shiva Puran._\n\nA Rakshasa, named Bhima, the son of Kumbakarna, having obtained\ninvincible might as a boon from Brahma, commenced exerting his newly\nacquired power by attacking the king of Kamarupa. Him he conquered,\nand having seized his riches and kingdom, he placed him in chains in a\nsolitary prison. This king was eminently pious, and, notwithstanding\nhis confinement, continued daily to make clay lingams, and to worship\nShiva with all the prescribed rites and ceremonies. Meanwhile the\nRakshasa continued his conquests, and everywhere abolished the\nreligious observances and worship enjoined by the Vedas; and the\nimmortals also, were reduced by his power to great distress. At length\nthe gods hastened to implore the protection of Shiva, and to obtain\nhis favour by the worship of clay lingams; and Shambu, being thus\npropitiated, assured them that he would effect the destruction of the\nRakshasa through the medium of the king of Kamarupa, who was his\ndevoted worshipper. At this time the king was engaged in profound\nmeditation before a lingam, when one of the guards went and informed\nthe Rakshasa that the king was performing some improper ceremonies in\norder to injure him. On hearing this, the Rakshasa, enraged, seized\nhis sword and hastened to the king, whom he thus addressed:--\"Speak\nthe truth, and tell me who it is that thou worshippest, and I will not\nslay thee, but otherwise I will instantly put thee to death.\" The king\nhaving considered, placed his firm reliance in the protection of\nShiva, and replied undauntedly,--\"In truth, I worship Shankara: do\nthou what thou pleasest.\" The Rakshasa said,--\"What can Shankara do to\nme? for I know him well, and that he once was obliged to become the\nservant of my uncle (Ravana); and thou, trusting in his power, did'st\nendeavour to conquer me, but defeat was the consequence. Until,\nhowever, thou showest me thy lord, and convincest me of his might, I\nshall not believe in his divinity.\" The king replied,--\"Vile as I am,\nwhat power have I over that god? but mighty as he is, I know that he\nwill never forsake me.\" Then Rakshasa said,--\"How can that delighter\nin ganja (an intoxicating drug prepared from the hemp plant) and\ninebriation, that wandering mendicant, protect his worshippers? let\nbut thy lord appear, and I will immediately engage in battle with\nhim!\" Having thus spoken, he ordered the attendance of his army, and\nthen, revisiting the king, the mighty Rakshasa, while he smote the\nlingam with his sword, thus, laughing, said,--\"Now behold the power of\nthy lord.\" But scarce had the sword touched the lingam than Hara\ninstantly issued from it, exclaiming,--\"Behold! I am Ishwara, who\nappears for the protection of his worshipper, on whom he always\nbestows safety and happiness; and now learn to dread my might.\" On\nhearing this spoken, Shiva engaged in combat with the Rakshasa, and\nafter fighting with him for some time, at length with the fire of his\nthird eye reduced him and all his army to ashes; and in commemoration\nof this event was the spot where it occurred rendered sacred, and the\nlingam, under the name of Bhimashankara, an object of pilgrimage and\nworship until all succeeding ages. (_From the legend Jyolisha-linga\nMahatmyam_).\n\nColonel Kennedy says:--\"On perusing this legend, it will immediately\noccur that it is a mere imitation of the fourth avatar of Vishnu, the\nconcluding part of the account of which is thus given in the Padma\nPuran:--'Hiranyakashipu having ordered his son Pralhada to be put to\ndeath on account of his devotion to Vishnu, and all means employed for\nthis purpose having proved ineffectual, the king of the Daityas was\nastonished, and with gentleness addressed his son:--'Where is that\nVishnu whose pre-eminence thou hast declared before me, and who, as\nthou sayest, was called Vishnu because he pervades all things, and\nconsequently, being omnipresent, he must also be the Supreme Being?\nShow to me a proof of the divine power and qualities which thou\nascribest to him, and I will acknowledge the divinity of Vishnu; or\nlet him conquer in battle me, who have obtained the boon of being\nunslayable by any existing thing.' Pralhada, astonished,\nreplied,--'Narayana, the eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, and Supreme\nSpirit dwells in heaven, and man cannot obtain the view of his divine\nform through anger and hatred, but, though unseen, he is present in\nall things.' Having heard these words, Hiranyakashipu was incensed\nwith anger, and, reviling his son, said,--'Why dost thou thus with\nendless boasts exalt the power of Vishnu?' and then striking a pillar\nof his royal hall, thus continued: 'If Vishnu pervades all things let\nhim appear in this pillar, or I will this moment put thee to death.'\nThis said, he struck the pillar with his sword, and instantly from it\nburst a loud and dreadful sound, while Vishnu issued forth under a\nfearful form, half man and half lion.'\n\n\"But as the avatars of Vishnu are unquestionably an essential part of\nthe Hindu religion, since they are noticed in the Vedas, Upanishads,\nand Purans, and as the miraculous appearances of Shiva, on which the\nsanctity of various lingams is founded, are not generally acknowledged\nby the Hindus, and are mentioned only in the Shanka and Shiva Purans,\nit must necessarily follow that the fourth avatar of Vishnu is the\noriginal from which the above legend of Bhima Shankara has been merely\ncopied. The introduction, however, of a new mode of worship, is\nalways, as experience has shewn, supported by miracles; and it may\ntherefore be concluded that the legends respecting the Jyolisha\nlingams, at least, are as ancient as the first institution of the\nworship of the lingam. In which case it will be evident that the\ntransferring by the Shaivas to Shiva of the peculiar attribute of\nVishnu, that of preservation, and their founding various miracles on\nsuch transfer, are convincing proofs that Vishnuism must have existed\nbefore the present form of Shivaism; and that, in inventing these\nmiracles, the Shaivas have wished to ascribe to the god of their\nparticular adoration similar manifestations of divine power to those\nby which Vishnu was supposed to be peculiarly distinguished.\"[7]\n\n[7] Vaus Kennedy, Hindu Mythology.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAn account was published, about a hundred years ago, by Captain Colin\nMackenzie, of a visit he had lately paid to the Pagoda at Perwuttum,\nthe home of the Linga Mallikarjuna or Sri Saila. He said:--\"Having\nsent notice to the manager of the revenues, that I was desirous of\nseeing the pagoda, provided there was no objection, I was informed at\nnoon, that I might go in. On entering the fourth gate, we descended by\nsteps, and through a small door, to the inner court, where the temples\nare: in the centre was the pagoda of Mallecarjee, the principal deity\nworshipped here. From hence I was conducted to the smaller and more\nancient temple of Mallecarjee, where he is adored, in the figure of a\nrude stone, which I could just distinguish, through the dark vista of\nthe front building on pillars. Behind this building, an immense fig\ntree covers with its shade the devotees and attendants, who repose on\nseats, placed round its trunk, and carpeted. Among these, was one\nByraggy, who had devoted himself to a perpetual residence here; his\nsole subsistence was the milk of a cow, which I saw him driving before\nhim: an orange coloured rag was tied round his loins, and his naked\nbody was besmeared with ashes.\n\n\"The weather being warm, I was desirous of getting over as much of\nthis bad road, as I could, before noon: my tents and baggage had been\nsent off at four A.M., and I only remained near the pagoda with the\nintention of making some remarks on the sculptures of its wall, as\nsoon as daylight appeared.\n\n\"But the Brahmins, with the Rajpoot amuldar (who had hitherto shewn a\nshyness that I had not experienced in any other part of the journey),\ncame to request, that as I was the first European who had ever come so\nfar to visit Mallecarjee, and had been prevented from seeing the\nobject of their worship, by yesterday not being a lucky day, I would\nremain with them that day, assuring me that the doors would be opened\nat ten o'clock. I agreed to wait to that hour, being particularly\ndesirous of seeing by what means the light was reflected into the\ntemple, which the unskilfulness of my interpreter could not explain\nintelligibly to my comprehension. Notice being at last given, at about\nhalf-past eight, that the sun was high enough, the doors on the east\nside, the gilt pagoda were thrown open, and a mirror or reflecting\nspeculum was brought from the Rajpoot amuldar's house. It was round,\nabout two feet in diameter, and fixed to a brass handle, ornamented\nwith figures of cows; the polished side was convex, but so foul, that\nit could not reflect the sunbeams; another was therefore brought,\nrather smaller, and concave, surrounded by a narrow rim, and without a\nhandle. Directly opposite to the gate of the pagoda is a stone\nbuilding, raised on pillars, enclosing a well, and ending in a point;\nand being at the distance of twelve or fourteen feet, darkens the\ngateway by its shadow, until the sun rises above it: this no doubt has\nbeen contrived on purpose to raise the expectation of the people, and\nby rendering the sight of the idol more rare, to favour the imposition\nof the Brahmins. The moment being come, I was permitted to stand on\nthe steps in front of the threshold without (having put off my shoes,\nto please the directors of the ceremony, though it would not have been\ninsisted on), while a crowd surrounded me, impatient to obtain a\nglimpse of the awful figure within. A boy being placed near the\ndoorway, waved and played the concave mirror in such a manner, as to\nthrow gleams of light into the pagoda, in the deepest recess whereof\nwas discovered by means of these coruscations, a small, oblong,\nroundish white stone with dark rings, fixed in a silver case. I was\npermitted to go no further, but my curiosity was now sufficiently\nsatisfied. It appears, that this god Mallecarjee, is no other than the\nLingam, to which such reverence is paid by certain castes of the\nGentoos; and the reason why he is here represented by stones\nunwrought, may be understood from the Brahmin's account of the origin\nof this place of worship. My interpreter had been admitted the day\nbefore into the sanctum sanctorum, and allowed to touch the stone,\nwhich he says is smooth and shining, and that the dark rings or\nstreaks, are painted on it; probably it is an agate, or some other\nstone of a similar kind, found near some parts of the Kistna, and of\nan uncommon size.\n\n\"The Brahmins gave me the following account of the origin of the\npagoda. At Chundra-gumpty-patnum, twelve parvus down the river, on the\nnorth side, formerly ruled a Raja, of great power; who being absent\nseveral years from his house, in consequence of his important pursuits\nabroad; on his return, fell in love with his own daughter, who had\ngrown up during his long absence. In vain the mother represented the\nimpiety of his passion; proceeding to force, his daughter fled to\nthese deserts of Perwuttum, first uttering curses and imprecations\nagainst her father; in consequence of which, his power and wealth\ndeclined, his city, now a deserted ruin, remains a monument of divine\nwrath, and himself, struck by the vengeance of heaven, lies deep\nbeneath the waters of Puttela-gunga, which are tinged green by the\nstring of emeralds that adorned his neck.\n\n\"The princess was called Mallicadivi, and lived in this wilderness.\nAmong her cattle, was a remarkably fine black cow, which, she\ncomplained to her herdsman, never gave her milk. He watched behind the\ntrees, and saw the cow daily milked by an unknown person; Mallicadivi\ninformed of this, placed herself in a convenient situation, and\nbeholding the same unknown person milking the cow, ran to strike him\nwith the iron rod, or mace, which she held in her hand; but, the\nfigure suddenly disappeared, and to her astonishment, nothing remained\nbut a rude shapeless stone. At night, the god appeared to her in a\ndream, and informed her, he was the person that milked the cow; she\ntherefore, on this spot, built the first temple that was consecrated\nto the worship of this deity, represented by a rude stone. This is the\nsecond temple that was shewn yesterday, where he is exhibited in the\nrude state of the first discovery, and is called Mudi-Nulla-carjee or\nMallacarjee; the other temples were afterwards built, in later times,\nby Rajahs and other opulent persons. The Lingam shewn by reflected\nlight in the gilded temple, has also its history, and stories, still\nmore absurd and wonderful, attached to it. It was brought from the\ncity of Chundra-goompty-patnam. The princess, now worshipped as a\ngoddess, is also called Brama-Rumbo or Strichillumrumbo, from which\nthe pagoda is sometimes called Strichillum.\"\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n    Representations of Siva--Siva's quarrel with his\n    father-in-law--Quarrel between Brahma and Vishnu--Misconduct\n    of Siva--Bengal temples of Siva--Ancient linga idols--Siege of\n    Somnath--Ferishtah's history--The twelve great\n    lingams--Account of the Viri-Saivas--The Jangamas--Legend of\n    Ravunu.\n\n\nSiva, has the second place among the Hindoo deities, though in\ngeneral, in allusion to their offices, the principal gods are classed\nthus: Brahma, Vishnu, Siva. Siva, personifies destruction or\nreproduction, for Hindu philosophy excludes, while time shall exist,\nthe idea of complete annihilation: to destroy is, therefore, but to\n_change_, or _recreate_, or _reproduce_.\n\nThis god is represented in various ways. In the dhyanu he appears as a\nwhite or silver coloured man with five faces; an additional eye (one\nof his names is Trilochunu, the three eyed), and a half-moon on each\nforehead; four arms; in the first a purushao; in the second a deer;\nwith the third giving a blessing, and with the fourth forbidding fear;\nsitting on a water-lily, and wearing a tiger's skin. He is worshipped\nin the daily puja of the brahmins, who silently meditate upon him in\nthis form.\n\nAt other times Siva is represented with one head, three eyes, and two\narms, riding on a bull, covered with ashes, naked, his eyes inflamed\nwith intoxicating herbs, having in one hand a horn, and in the other a\nmusical instrument called a dumbooru.\n\nAnother of his images is the linga, a smooth black stone very much\nlike a sugar-loaf in shape, with a projection of a spoon shape.\n\nThere are three different stories respecting the origin of this image.\nThe Purana called Doorga-bhagavata gives the following account: King\nDukshu, having had a quarrel with Siva, refused to invite him to a\nsacrifice which he was performing. Siva had married Sutee, the\ndaughter of Dukshu. She resolved, uninvited, to attend at this\nsacrifice; but while there, she was so overcome by the abuse which\nDukshu poured upon her husband, that she died.\n\nThe ground of the quarrel between Siva and his father-in-law was this:\nIt was the custom for the junior branches of a family, as they arrived\nat an assembly, to bow to their older relation. On a certain occasion\nSiva neglected, or refused, to bow to his father-in-law, who began to\nabuse him in such a manner that a dreadful enmity was raised which\nended in the destruction of Dukshu.\n\nOn hearing the news of the fate of his beloved wife, Siva, in\nvexation, renounced a secular life, and assumed the profession of a\nreligious mendicant called a sunyasee. As a naked sunyasee he wandered\nfrom forest to forest, in the bitterness of grief. At length he\narrived in a certain wilderness where many moonees were performing\nreligious austerities, by the side of the river at a distance from\ntheir homes. The wives of these moonees, on beholding this naked,\ndirty, and withered sunyasee, asked him who he was, and why he was\nwandering up and down in this state? He related to them the cause of\nhis sorrow, viz., that he had been deprived of his wife, and was\noverwhelmed with distress on her account. The women laughed at him,\nand pretended to doubt his relation, declaring that his body was so\nwithered, that all desires must have been extinguished. In this manner\nthey provoked Siva, till at length he seized the wife of one of the\nmoonees and deflowered her. The moonee on hearing this relation,\npronounced a curse on Siva, and he became an hermaphrodite. As soon as\nthe curse had taken effect, the linga sunk into patalu, the world of\nserpents, and ascended into the boundless space.\n\nBefore this period, a fierce quarrel had taken place betwixt Brahma\nand Vishnu, as to which of them was the greatest, the former as the\ncreator, or the latter as the preserver or cherisher, of all. They\nappealed to Siva, who left it to be determined by a trial of strength\nat some future time, when he should have leisure.\n\nSiva at length proposed to the two gods to settle their quarrel in\nthis way: one of them should ascend, and endeavour to ascertain the\nheight of the linga, and the other descend, and bring up word of its\ndepth. Brahma ascended, and Vishnu plunged into patalu. In this way\nboth the gods tried their utmost efforts, but could not find either\nthe height or the depth of the linga. As Brahma ascended, he met a\nflower which had fallen from the top of the linga, and asked how far\nit was to the top. The flower told him that it had been falling from\nthe head of the linga so many kulpus (one kulpu is four hundred and\nthirty-two millions of years of mortals) and had not reached the earth\nyet; what hope was there then of his reaching the top? Brahma related\nthe account of the difference betwixt him and Vishnu, and that upon\nthis trial of their powers the point of pre-eminence was to be\ndecided. The flower advised Brahma to tell the assembled gods, that he\nhad gone to the top, and if they doubted the fact, he might call him\nto confirm it.\n\nBrahma descended, and Vishnu came up disappointed in his attempt to\nget to the bottom of the linga. When the two gods arrived in the\nassembly, Brahma declared that he had been to the top, and brought the\nflower to prove it. Vishnu confessed his disappointment, and charged\nthe flower with witnessing a falsehood. To this all the gods assented,\nand Vishnu pronounced a curse upon the flower, that it should never be\nreceived among the offerings presented to Siva.\n\nAfter the matter was thus disposed of, the gods resolved that the\nworship of the linga should have the precedency of every other\nworship; that the benefits attending its worship should be boundless,\nand that the heaviest curses should fall on those who neglected to\nworship this image. So much for the account in the Doorga-bhagavata:\nin the Kaduru-khundu the origin of the worship is thus mentioned:\n\nWhen the gods resolved to churn the sea, in order to obtain the water\nof life, become immortal, and overcome the usoorus, they were greatly\nafraid lest the usoorus should seize the water of life, and become\nimmortal also. When the water of life came up, they contrived to send\nthe usoorus to bathe; but after bathing, they arrived before the gods\nhad drank the life-giving beverage. To draw off their attention,\nVishnu assumed the form of a most beautiful female. This contrivance\nwas successful.\n\nThe god Siva hearing that Vishnu had assumed this form, went to the\nspot, and was so overcome by the charms of Mohinee, that he was about\nto seize her by force: she fled, and Siva followed her; mad with lust,\nhe pursued her till she could run no longer, when she turned, and\npronouncing a curse upon him by which he became a hermaphrodite, she\nimmediately assumed her original form, viz., that of Vishnu. Siva was\nso enraged, that all the gods, full of fear, arrived to soften him by\npraise. He at length consented to dismiss his anger on condition that\nthe linga should become an object of universal worship.\n\nAnother account of the origin of this worship is contained in some of\nthe other puranas: At the time of a universal destruction of the world\nall the gods are absorbed in what is called akashu; the linga alone\nremains. The puranas, therefore, say that as all the gods except the\nlinga are absorbed in the akashu, he who worships the linga, obtains\nthe unbounded merit of embracing all the deities at once. From these\nstories, temples innumerable have arisen in India, and a Siva linga\nplaced in each of them, and worshipped as a god.\n\nThe worship of Siva under the type of the Linga, is almost the only\nform in which that deity is reverenced. Its prevalence throughout the\nwhole tract of the Ganges, as far as Benares, is sufficiently\nconspicuous. In Bengal the temples are commonly erected in a range of\nsix, eight, or twelve, on each side of a Ghat, leading to the river.\nAt Kalna is a circular group of one hundred and eight temples, erected\nby the Rajah of Bardwan. Each of the temples in Bengal consists of a\nsingle chamber, of a square form, surmounted by a pyramidal centre;\nthe area of each is very small, the Linga, of black or white marble,\noccupies the centre; the offerings are presented at the threshold.\nBenares, however, is the peculiar seat of this form of worship: the\nprincipal deity, Visweswara, is a Linga, and most of the chief objects\nof the pilgrimage are similar blocks of stone. Particular divisions of\nthe pilgrimage direct visiting forty-seven Lingas, all of pre-eminent\nsanctity; but there are hundreds of inferior note still worshipped,\nand thousands whose fame and fashion have died away. If we may believe\nSiva, indeed, he counted a hundred Pararrdhyas in the Kasi, of which,\nat the time he is supposed to tell this to Devi, he adds sixty crore,\nor six hundred millions were covered by the waters of the Ganges. A\nPararrdhya is said, by the commentator on the Kasi-Khanda, in which\nthis dialogue occurs, to contain as many years of mortals as are equal\nto fifty of Brahma's years.\n\nThis worship of Siva, under the type of the Linga, is also, perhaps,\nthe most ancient object of homage adopted in India, subsequently to\nthe ritual of the Vedas, which was chiefly, if not wholly, addressed\nto the elements, and particularly to Fire. How far the worship of the\nLinga is authorised by the Vedas, is doubtful, but it is the main\npurport of several of the Puranas--such as the Skanda-Purana, the\nSiva, Brahmanda, and Linga Puranas. There can be no doubt of its\nuniversality at the period of the Mohammedan invasion of India. The\nidol destroyed by Mahmud of Ghizni, was nothing more than a Linga,\nbeing, according to Mirkhond, a block of stone of four or five cubits\nlong, and of proportionate thickness. The passage from the _Rozet as\nSefa_ (cited in the Asiatic Researches, vol. 17), runs thus:--\"The\ntemple in which the idol of Somnath stood, was of considerable extent,\nboth in length and breath, and the roof was supported by fifty-six\npillars in rows. The idol was of polished stone, its height was about\nfive cubits, and its thickness in proportion: two cubits were below\nground. Mahmud having entered the temple, broke the stone Somnath with\na heavy mace; some of the fragments he ordered to be conveyed to\nGhizni, and they were placed at the threshold of the great Mosque.\"\n\nAnother authority, the Tebkat Akbeeri, a history of Akber's reign,\nwith a preliminary Sketch of Indian History, has the following: \"In\nthe year 415 (Hijera) Mahmud determined to lead an army against\nSomnath, a city of the seashore, with a temple appertaining to the\nfollowers of Brahma; the temple contained many idols, the principal of\nwhich was named Somnath. It is related in some histories that this\nidol was carried from the Kaaba, upon the coming of the Prophet, and\ntransported to India. The Brahminical records, however, refer it to\nthe times of Krishna, or an antiquity of 4000 years. Krishna, himself,\nis said to have disappeared at this place.\n\n\"When the Sultan arrived at Neherwaleh (the capital of Guzerat) he\nfound the city deserted, and carrying off such provisions as could be\nprocured, he advanced to Somnath: the inhabitants of this place shut\ntheir gates against him, but it was soon carried by the irresistable\nvalour of his troops, and a terrible slaughter of its defenders\nensued. The temple was levelled with the ground: the idol Somnath,\nwhich was of stone, was broken to pieces, and in commemoration of the\nvictory, a fragment was sent to Ghizni, where it was laid at the\nthreshold of the principal mosque, and was there many years.\"\n\nFerishtah, the historian, supplies a much more graphic, if not\nreliable account. He says: \"When the garrison of Sumnat beheld their\ndefeat, they were struck with confusion and fear. They withdrew their\nhands from the sight, and issuing out at a gate towards the sea, to\nthe number of four thousand embarked in boats, intending to proceed to\nthe island of Sirindiep. But they did not escape the eyes of the king.\nHe seized upon boats which were left in a neighbouring creek, and\nmanning them with rowers and some of his best troops, pursued the\nenemy, taking and sinking some of their boats while others escaped.\nHaving then placed guards round the walls and at the gates, he entered\nSumnat, with his son and a few of his nobles and principal attendants.\nWhen they advanced to the temple, they saw a great and antique\nstructure, built of stone, within a spacious court. They immediately\nentered it, and discovered a great square hall, having its lofty roof\nsupported by fifty-six pillars, curiously turned and set with precious\nstones. In the centre of the hall stood Sumnat, an idol of stone, five\nyards in height, two of which were sunk in the ground.\n\n\"The king was enraged when he saw this idol, and raising his mace,\nstruck off the nose from the face. He then ordered that two pieces of\nthe image should be broken off, to be sent to Ghizni, there to be\nthrown at the threshold of the public mosque, and in the court of his\npalace. Two more fragments he reserved to be sent to Mecca and Medina.\nWhen Mahmood was thus employed in breaking up Sumnat, a crowd of\nBrahmins petitioned his attendants, and offered some crores (ten\nmillions) in gold, if the king should be pleased to proceed no\nfurther. The Omrahs endeavoured to persuade Mahmood to accept the\nmoney; for they said that breaking up the idol could not remove\nidolatry from the walls of Sumnat, that therefore it would serve no\npurpose to destroy the image, but that such a sum of money given in\ncharity, among believers, would be a very meritorious action. The king\nacknowledged that what they said was, in some measure, true; but\nshould he consent to that bargain, he might justly be called a seller\nof idols; and that he looked upon a breaker of them as a more\nhonourable title. He therefore ordered them to proceed. The next blow\nhaving broken up the belly of Sumnat, which had been made hollow, they\ndiscovered that it was full of diamonds, rubies, and pearls, of a much\ngreater value than the amount of what the Brahmins had offered, so\nthat a zeal for religion was not the sole cause of their application\nto Mahmood.\"\n\nIt is said, by some writers, that the name of this idol is a compound\nword of Sum and Nat; Sum being the name of the prince who erected it,\nand Nat the true name of the god; which in the language of the\nBrahmins, signifies Creator. In the time of eclipses we are told that\nthere used to be forty or fifty thousand worshippers at this temple;\nand that the different princes of Hindostan had bestowed, in all, two\nthousand villages, with their territories, for the maintenance of its\npriests; besides the innumerable presents received from all parts of\nthe empire. It was a custom among these idolaters, to wash Sumnat,\nevery morning and evening, with fresh water from the Ganges, though\nthat river is above one thousand miles distant.\n\nAmong the spoils of this temple was a chain of gold, weighing forty\nmaunds, which hung from the top of the building by a ring. It\nsupported a great bell, which warned the people to the worship of the\ngod. Besides two thousands Brahmins, who officiated as priests, there\nbelonged to the temple five hundred dancing-girls, three hundred\nmusicians, and three hundred barbers, to shave the devotees before\nthey were admitted to the presence of Sumnat. The dancing-girls were\neither remarkable for their beauty or their quality, the Rajas\nthinking it a honour to have their daughters admitted. The king of\nGhizni found in this temple, a greater quantity of jewels and gold,\nthan, it is thought, any royal treasury contained before. In the\nhistory of Eben Assur, it is related that there was no light in the\ntemple, but one pendant lamp, which being reflected from the jewels,\nspread a strong and refulgent light over the whole place. Besides the\ngreat idol above mentioned, there were in the temple some thousands of\nsmall images, in gold and silver, of various shapes and dimensions.\n\nThe idol destroyed by Mahmood was, in fact, one of the twelve great\nLingas, then set up in various parts of India, several of which\nbesides Somesware, or Somanath, which was the name of the Siva\ndemolished by Mahmood, were destroyed by the early Mahommedan\nconquerors.\n\nIn the Kedara Kalpa, Siva says: \"I am omnipresent, but I am especially\nin twelve forms and places.\n\n\"(1) Somanatha, in Saurashtra. (2) Mallikarjuna, or Sri Saila. (3)\nMahakala, in Ougein. (4) Omkara, said to have been in Ujayin. (5)\nAmareswara, also placed in Ujayin. (6) Vaidyanath, at Deogerh in\nBengal. (7) Ramesa, at Setubandha. (8) Bhimasankara, in Dakini. (The\n9th is missing from the list enumerated by Mr. Wilson in the Asiatic\nResearches, said to be unknown). (10) Tryambaka, on the banks of the\nGomati. (11) Gautamesa, site unknown. (12) Kedaresa, or Kedaranath, in\nthe Himalaya.\"\n\nOne of the forms in which the Linga worship appears, is that of the\nLingayets, Lingawauts, or Jangamas. These are the anti-braminical\nworshippers of Siva, who are distinguished by their wearing a small\nidol, either hung on the breast, round the neck or arm, or placed in\nthe turban; the idol is of silver or copper. In common with the\nSaivas, generally the Jangamas smear their foreheads with Vibhuti or\nashes, and wear necklaces and rosaries of the Rudraksha seed. The\npriests stain their garments with red ochre. They have never been very\nnumerous in the north of India, being rarely met with except as\nbeggars, leading about a bull, the living type of Nandi, the bull of\nSiva, decorated with housings of various colours and strings of Cowri\nshells: the conductor carries a bell in his hand, and thus accompanied\ngoes about from place to place, subsisting upon alms. These are the\ndisciples of Basava, whom they regard as a form of the god Siva. They\nare numerous in the South of India, among the Canarese, the Telugus,\nand the Tamils, the officiating priests of the Saiva shrines are\ngenerally of this sect, when they bear the designations of Aradyha,\nand Pandaram. The sect is also known by the name of Vira Saiva.\n\nMany years ago, Professor Wilson supplied certain information relative\nto this sect in his paper in the 17th volume of the Asiatic\nResearches. That information was sufficiently interesting to create a\ndesire for further particulars. Additional researches were accordingly\nentered upon and we are now able to supply a much fuller account than\nhad hitherto been possible.\n\nAmong Brahmins the Smartas (followers of Sancar Achari) are generally\ncalled saivites, but are in fact freethinkers, equally willing to\nadore Siva and Vishnu. Their creed may be found in the Mahabharat, the\nBhagavat, and the Ramayan, all of which are entirely rejected by the\ndisciples of Basava. There are indeed some few Siva Brahmins who\nofficiate as priests in the Siva temples, and though but little is\nknown of their peculiarities they certainly are different from the\nSmartas, who refuse to receive the holy water and rice.\n\nThe Vira-Saivas are divided into two sects: one is semi-braminical,\ncalled Aradhyas; the other is anti-braminical, and is called Jangam.\nThe Aradhyas claim to be descendants of saivite brahmins, and between\nthem and the Smartas there is a certain degree of reluctant\nintercourse: founded upon the rites of initiation which both parties\nuse. Their history, when divested of fabulous decoration seems to be\nthat, their creed was founded by Basava, whom they adore as their one\ndeity; looking upon him as an avatar or incarnation of Siva, the god\nof this creed.\n\nBasava was the son of a Saivite brahmin, named Madenga Madamantri, at\nHinguleswaram, a village near Bagwari in Belgaum, in the southern\nMahratta country. When he was a boy he refused (they allege) to wear\nthe braminical thread, because the rites that confer this mark of\ninitiation require the adoration of the sun in the manner prescribed\nin the Vedas. Perhaps in truth he did assume it, but if so, he\nsubsequently renounced it. Shortly after this time he escaped from his\nparents, and accompanied by his sister Acca Nagamma, he fled to\nCalianum, the capital of the Carnataca country, where the reigning\nprince was Bizzala or Vijala, a Jaina by religion, whose minister, a\nbrahmin, was Basava's maternal uncle: he bestowed employment on\nBasava, and ultimately gave him his daughter in marriage. (\"This\nproves,\" says a writer in the Madras Journal, \"in my opinion, though\nopposed to that of his followers, that he did not lay aside the\nbraminical thread in childhood, for had he done so no brahmin could\nhave given him his daughter in marriage.\") At his death Basava\nsucceeded to his office, and gradually usurped great power.\n\nIt would seem that at this time he began to compare the opposed\nstatements of Jainas and Brahmins, and perceived that both creeds were\nidolatrous. In the end he determined on getting rid of the braminical\npriestcraft, and accordingly refused to worship any deity but Siva,\nwhose image, the lingam, is the most ancient idol known among the\nHindus.\n\nA writer on the subject says:--\"This symbol is as separate from\nindecency in the Hindu mind as circumcision is to the Mahomedan mind.\nThe Brahmins with their usual love of filth have connected a variety\nof obscenities with the linga worship, but these are wholly unknown to\nthe Jangams, who look upon this idol just as the catholics do upon a\nreliquary, with deep veneration\n\n  'Hanging a golden stamp about their necks\n  Put on with holy prayers.'\n\n\"The image erected in the Saiva temples being denominated Sthavara\nLinga, or the stable image, he denominated this reliquary the Jangama\nLingam or Locomotive image: a phrase borrowed from the Vedas, where it\nis used for living being. Hence he and his followers are denominated\nJangams, or living images of the deity.\"\n\nBasava's determined opposition to the Saivite Brahmins and to the\nJainas raised him many enemies; while his bounty to the poor gained\nhim friends equally numerous. At last the prince's jealousy was\nroused, and a civil war ensued, wherein Bizzala was slain, and this\nevent was soon succeeded by the death of Basava, who, according to his\nfollowers was \"absorbed into the image,\" or vanished; while the Jaina\naccount declares that he fled to Capila Sangam, where the Malparba and\nKrishna rivers meet, about one hundred and four miles west of Bellary.\n\nThe name Basava is a very common one among Hindus: the Jangams have\ntaken occasion from their teacher having borne it to feign that he was\nan incarnation of Nandi or Bassava (the Apis or bull appertaining to\nSiva or Osiris), and this has been the source of numerous idle legends\nin the subject.\n\nThe Basava Purana after recording the events just alluded to,\nenumerates various marvellous actions, performed by Basava and several\nof his disciples, such as converting grains of corn to pearls,\ndiscovering hidden treasures, feeding multitudes, healing the sick,\nand restoring the dead to life, and then gives various anecdotes from\nwhich we make a selection.\n\nBasava having made himself remarkable for the profuse bounties he\nbestowed upon the Jangamas, helping himself from the royal treasury\nfor that purpose, the other ministers reported his conduct to Bijala,\nwho called upon him to account for the money in his charge. Basava\nsmiled, and giving the keys of the treasury to the king, requested him\nto examine it, which being done, the amount was found wholly\nundiminished. Bijala thereupon caused it to be proclaimed, that\nwhoever calumniated Basava, should have his tongue cut out.\n\nA Jangama, who cohabited with a dancing-girl, sent a slave for his\nallowance of rice to the house of Basava, where the messenger saw the\nwife of the latter, and on his return reported to the dancing-girl the\nmagnificence of her attire. The mistress of the Jangama was filled\nwith a longing for a similar dress, and the Jangama having no other\nmeans of gratifying her, repaired to Basava, to beg of him his wife's\ngarment. Basava immediately stripped Gangamba, his wife, and other\ndresses springing from her body, he gave them all to the Jangama.\n\nA person of the name of Kanapa, who regularly worshipped the image of\nCkamreswara, imagining the eyes of the deity were affected, plucked\nout his own, and placed them in the sockets of the figure. Siva,\npleased with his devotion, restored his worshipper his eyes.\n\nA devout Saiva named Mahadevala Machaya, who engaged to wash for all\nthe Jangamas, having killed a child, the Raja ordered Basava to have\nhim secured and punished; but Basava declined undertaking the duty, as\nit would be unavailing to offer any harm to the worshippers of Siva.\nBijala persisting, sent his servants to seize and tie him to the legs\nof an elephant, but Machaya caught the elephant by the trunk, and\ndashed him and his attendant to pieces. He then proceeded to attack\nthe Raja, who being alarmed, applied to Basava, and by his advice,\nhumbled himself before the offended Jangama. Basava also deprecated\nhis wrath, and Machaya being appeased, forgave the king, and restored\nthe elephant and the guards to life.\n\nA poor Jangam having solicited alms of Kinnaraya, one of Basava's\nchief disciples, the latter touched the stones about them with his\nstaff, and converting them into gold, told the Jangam to help himself.\n\nThe work is also in many places addressed to the Jainas, in the shape\nof a dialogue between some of the Jangama saints and the members of\nthat faith, in which the former narrate to the latter instances of the\nsuperiority of the Saiva religion, and the falsehood of the Jain\nfaith, which appears to have been that of Bijala Raza, and the great\npart of the population of Kalyana. In order to convert them Ckanta\nRamaya, one of Basava's disciples, cut off his head in their presence,\nand then marched five days in solemn procession through and round the\ncity, and on the fifth day replaced his head upon his shoulders. The\nJain Pagodas were thereupon, it is said, destroyed by the Jangamas. It\ndoes not appear, however, that the king was made a convert, or that he\napproved of the principles and conduct of his minister. He seems, on\nthe contrary, to have incurred his death by attempting to repress the\nextension of the Vira Saiva belief. Different authorities, although\nthey disagree as to the manner in which Bijala was destroyed, concur\nin stating the fact.\n\nIn the city of Kalyana were two devout worshippers of Siva, named\nAllaya and Madhuvaya. They fixed their faith firmly on the divinity\nthey adored, and assiduously reverenced their spiritual preceptor,\nattending upon Basava whithersoever he went. The king, Bijala, well\nknew their merits, but closed his eyes to their superiority, and\nlistening to the calumnious accusations of their enemies, commanded\nthe eyes of Allaya and Madhuvaya to be plucked out. The disciples of\nBasava, as well as himself, were highly indignant at the cruel\ntreatment of these holy men, and leaving to Jagaddeva, the task of\nputting Bijala to death, and denouncing imprecations upon the city,\nthey departed from Kalyana--Basava fixed his residence at\nSangameswara.\n\nMachaya, Bommidevaya, Kinnara, Kannatha, Kakaya, Masayana, Kolakila,\nBommadeva, Kesirajaya, Mathirajaya, and others, announced to the\npeople, that the fortunes of Bijala had passed away, as indicated by\nportentous signs; and accordingly the crows crowed in the night,\njackals howled by day; the sun was eclipsed, storms of wind and rain\ncame on, the earth shook, and darkness overspread the heavens. The\ninhabitants of Kalyana were filled with terror.\n\nWhen Jagaddeva repaired home, his mother met him, and told him when\nany injury had been done to a disciple of the Saiva faith, his fellow\nshould avenge him or die. When Daksha treated Siva with contumely,\nParvati threw herself into the flames, and so, under the wrong offered\nto the saints, he should not sit down contented: thus saying, she gave\nhim food at the door of his mansion. Thither also came Mallaya and\nBommaya, two others of the saints, and they partook of Jagaddeva's\nmeal. Then smearing their bodies with holy ashes, they took up the\nspear, and sword, and shield, and marched together against Bijala. On\ntheir way a bull appeared, whom they knew to be a form of Basava come\nto their aid, and the bull went first, even to the court of the king,\ngoring any one that came in their way, and opening a clear path for\nthem. Thus they reached the court, and put Bijala to death in the\nmidst of all his courtiers, and then they danced, and proclaimed the\ncause why they had put the king to death. Jugaddeva on his way back\nrecalling the words of his mother, stabbed himself. Then arose\ndissension in the city, and the people fought amongst themselves, and\nhorses with horses, and elephants with elephants, until, agreeably to\nthe curse denounced upon it by Basava and his disciples, Kalyana was\nutterly destroyed.\n\nBasava continued to reside at Sangameswara, conversing with his\ndisciples, and communing with the divine Essence, and he expostulated\nwith Siva, saying, 'By thy command have I, and thy attendant train,\ncome upon earth, and thou hast promised to recall us to thy presence\nwhen our task was accomplished.' Then Siva and Parvati came forth from\nthe Sangameswara Lingam, and were visible to Basava, who fell on the\nground before them. They raised him, and led him to the sanctuary, and\nall three disappeared in the presence of the disciples, and they\npraised their master, and flowers fell from the sky, and then the\ndisciples spread themselves abroad, and made known the absorption of\nBasava into the emblem of Siva.[8]\n\n        [8] See the Mackenzie Collection, vol. 2, Halakanara MSS.\n\nA writer in the Madras Literary Journal, upwards of fifty years ago,\nsaid that by perusing the books and observing the customs of the\nJangams, we might plainly see the grounds of that hatred in which\nBrahmins held the Jangams. Their leader was the resolute opponent of\nevery braminical principle. The Brahmins inculcated the adoration of\nmany gods. He declared that there was only one sole deity. They\nvenerated goddesses and subordinate beings; they reverenced cows,\nhawks, monkeys, rats and snakes; they used fasts and feasts, penance\nand pilgrimage, rosaries and holy water. All these he renounced; he\nset aside the Vedas which they venerated. They declared Brahmins to be\nliterally gods upon earth, women to be vastly inferior to men in all\nthings, and parias to be utterly abominable. Basava abolished these\ndistinctions. He taught that all men are holy in proportion as they\nare temples of the great spirit; that by birth all are equal; and\namongst those whom the Jangam books describe as saints, we find not a\nsingle Brahmin, but many parias and many women. In the braminical\nwritings, women are usually treated in a manner abhorrent to European\nfeelings, but in the Jangama books we find a very different temper.\n\nThe three words Guru, Linga, Jangam, are said to comprise the creed of\nthe sect, and were evidently intended to disavow every part of the\nbraminical priestly tyranny. This mystic phrase is thus expounded. The\nimage (lingam) is the deity: the Jangam is the wearer or fellow\nworshipper: and he who breathes the sacred spell in the ear is the\nGuru. Thus he supplies the link between the god and the worshipper,\nand ever after is looked upon with affection as the true parent: even\nmore respected than the father according to the flesh. For, says the\nJangam, I am one with the deity, and he alone is my father who\nconferred this unity on me.\n\n\"Brahmins frequently allege that the Jangams are a depraved sect, who\nare guided by the Tantras or heretical books,\" says Mr. Brown, \"but we\nshould not incautiously believe this. The Jangams are in all respects\nopposed to licentiousness, which is the main-spring of the Tantras.\nThe Jangams came from the west, the Tantricas from the north. The\nJangams adore the Linga, and abhor Maia the goddess of delusion (Venus\nor Cali, as Devi), who is expressly the goddess (Yoni, or Bhaga\nMalini) of the Tantricas. The Tantricas take no notice of the Lingam;\nthey adore Betala (the devil), and other malevolent powers. The\nJangams honour Siva as Daxina Murti, or the beneficent and loving\ndeity. The Tantricas say they aim at a perfect release from fleshly\nlusts. The Jangams do the same. But the former being hypocrites\npretend to yield to their passions as the path to freedom. Whereas the\nVira Saivas call on their votaries to deny themselves in all respects.\nThey attend especially to the rules concerning funerals, marriage; and\nplacing infants in the creed. On all these points the Tantras are\nsilent. The Tantras inculcate the use of flesh, wine, magic and\ndebauchery, the Jangam creed abhors these. The Jangams are an avowed\nsect; the Tantricas assume the guise of Smartas. The Jangams train up\ntheir children in their creed; the Tantricas merely admit proselytes.\nThe Jangams are sober, devout and humble; the Tantricas are debauched,\natheistical and proud. The Jangams are rigid puritans: the Tantricas\nare licentious atheists. Herein their depravity resembles that of the\nworshippers of Isis in Rome, the St. Simonians in France, the\nIlluminati, and other philosophers of Germany, the followers of\nCagliostro in Italy, and the Nessereahs at Kerrund in Persia.\"\n\nWith a few touches of his felicitous pencil, Shakespeare has given a\nview of their system, or _philosophy_ which is the Sacti Puja or\nWorship of Power.\n\n\t\"Thus everything includes itself in Power:\n\t_Power_ into will: will into Appetite:\n\tAnd Appetite, an universal wolf,\n\tSo doubly seconded with Will and Power\n\tMust make perforce an universal prey,\n\tAnd, last, eat up himself.\"\n\n                                        TROILUS I.\n\nAgain (ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, II., 1.)--\n\n\t\"Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both:\n\tTie up the libertine in a field of sweets\n\tKeep his brain fuming,\" &c.\n\nIndeed, the sottish aspirations of Gonzalo (Tempest, Act II, Scene 1),\ngive a summary of the bacchanalian rites taught in the Tantras. And if\nthe reader has any curiosity regarding their system of magic, he will\nfind it in Dr. Herklot's English translation of the Canom-e-Islam, or\ncustoms of the Moosulmans of India.\n\nKnowing the deserved odium that attaches to the Tantras, Brahmins\nassert that these constitute the Jangam system. But were this the case\nhow does it happen that the Tantra volumes are found only in the\npossession of Brahmins? The fact is that both parties read the Tantras\nfrom motives of curiosity, just as a Protestant might read the Koran\nwithout in any point adopting the Mahommedan faith. The Jangams\nhonestly avow, and vindicate all they do, they have no motive for\nconcealment. The Brahmin acts on an opposite principle and assures us\nthat the Jangams are a depraved and senseless set of heretics, who\nobey the levelling principles of the Tantras, and pay honour to the\nvilest castes.\n\nIt is to be observed that no instance is known of a Vira Saiva acting\non the principles laid down in the Tantras. To excuse their aptness to\nread these abominations they allege that the Tantras belong to their\ncreed because they describe Siva as the great deity, and countenance,\nas Basava does, the abolition of caste. These are but slender\napologies, for such an imitation of the evil example set them by the\nBrahmins.\n\nThe Minda Jangamas or Bachelors are spoken of in various passages of\nthe Lingadhari poems. They are confessed to be libertines, but are\ndevout. They have interviews with (Vesias) courtezans who are likewise\ndevout!!\n\nThe following is the received opinion. The Jangams are entirely\nforbidden to have intercourse with prostitutes: but among the earliest\nproselytes were some unmarried men, who were permitted by Basava to\nhave intercourse with courtezans who belonged to the sect. These men\nwere called Minda Jangams or libertines, and in the present age there\nare none; for all are bound either to marriage or to virtuous\ncelibacy.\n\nIn the western districts there are prostitutes who are called\nBasvinis, and are said to be thus devoted by their parents, on their\nlives being in danger through illness in infancy. Some of these are\ndaughters of Jangams: but all are not so, being children of Hindus of\nother castes. I have heard of some Jangams in similar cases attempting\nto remove a child's illness by giving it a braminical name, with a\nview to appease some god or goddess, whose displeasure is imagined to\nhave caused disease. These statements certainly shew the purity of the\ncreed not to be so complete as its devotees assert.\n\nThe Vira Saivas illustrate their creed by a comparison quite in the\nHindu style. They say, the guru is the cow: whose mouth is the Jangam\nor brother in the faith; and the lingam or image is the udder. The cow\nbenefits its owner by means of the udder: but what fills the udder?\nthe mouth. And what connects the mouth and the udder? the body.\nAccordingly if a Vira Saiva wishes the image to benefit him (that is,\nif he desires to obtain the favour of the deity), he must feed the\nmouth--that is sustain and comfort his brethren. And then the blessing\nwill be conveyed to him by means of the teacher. Accordingly the\nJangams blame the Aradhyas for neglecting this command, and ask how\nthey can expect the image to nourish them if they neglect to sustain\nbrethren and fellows in the faith, for the Aradhya refuses to look\nupon any but Aradhyas as brethren.\n\nThe strangest part of their legends regarding Siva is that wherein he\nis represented in the most contemptible light as completely the\nservant of various worthies or saints. Such stories abound in the\nBasava Puran but are excluded from the Lila. In these, some personages\nare represented under most degraded circumstances, as obeying or\nwaiting upon the saint whom the legend extols. Thus in the fourth book\nof the Basava Puran is a story of a certain \"worthy\" named Nambi, who\nby force of faith got Siva so completely into his hands that he\nemployed the god as a mere slave. In another story one of the\n\"worthies\" scolded Siva, who was so much alarmed that he slunk round\nthe other side of the image, and ran away into the jungle. Other\nstories represent this paltry demi-god acting either as a thief or as\na receiver of stolen goods, to protect his adorers; and they\nfrequently represent him as acting the part of a pander, at the\nbidding of one of the worthies.\n\nIn apology for these stories Jangams allege that they all establish\nthe necessity of faith as the great means of attaining happiness and\nmiraculous power. \"As the Brahmins,\" say they, \"call themselves gods\nupon earth, we will shew that our worthies are quite a match for\nthem.\" Accordingly there are many legends to prove that food or the\nleavings of food blessed by a worthy, can perform all sorts of\nmiracles. For instance, a Brahmin, who, by a curse, had become a\nswine, ate what a Jangam had spit out and hereby resumed the human\nform. Elsewhere a Jangam's shoe works miracles.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRavunu was once carrying an unadee-lingu from Himaluyu to Lunka, in\norder that he might accomplish all his ambitious schemes against the\ngods, for it was the property of this stone, also called Kamu-lingu,\nto grant the worshipper all his desires, whatever they might be.\nShinu, however, in permitting him to remove this, his image to Lunka,\nmade Ravunu promise that wherever he let it touch the ground, there it\nshould be set up.\n\nWhen the gods saw that Ravunu was carrying this stone to Lunka, all\ntheir heavens were in an uproar, for they knew that if Ravunu could do\nwhat he pleased, neither Indru nor any other god would be able to sit\non his throne. Council after council was held, and appeals to this and\nto that god made, in vain. At last it was resolved that Vurvonu should\nbe sent, to cause the sea to enter the belly of Ravunu, who would\nthereby be compelled to set the stone down while he discharged his\nwater. (Ravunu could not continue to hold the lingu while in this act,\nas a person becomes unclean at this time until he has bathed). Vurvonu\naccordingly set off, and entered the belly of Ravunu, as he was\ncarrying the lingu on his head, and the latter soon began to feel the\neffect of his visit. His belly swelled prodigiously, but he went on\ntill he could hold his water no longer. At this moment Indru, in the\nform of an old Bramhun, met him. Ravunu asked him who he was, and\nwhere he was going? The latter told him he was an old Bramhun going\nhome. Ravunu entreated him to take hold of the lingu for a short time,\nand he would bestow upon him the greatest favours. At length the\nBramhun consented, and Ravunu, setting the lingu on his head, squat on\nhis hams to ease himself. The Bramhun agreed to hold the stone an hour\nbut no longer. Ravunu told him he should not keep him half that time.\nAfter Ravunu had thus sat for four hours, the Bramhun complained he\ncould hold the stone no longer, and he threw it down,--when the bottom\npart sunk into patulu, and the top part remains to this day in a place\nin the zillah of Beerbhoom, called Voidyunathu, which is also the name\nof this lingu, and the river at that place called Khursoo is said to\nhave arisen from the water of Ravunu. Ravunu when he arose, seeing\nwhat had taken place, full of rage and disappointment, went home: some\naccounts say, having discovered that the gods had played him this\ntrick, he went and fought with them in the most furious manner.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n    Lingam worship in the Sheeve Pouran.\n\n\nIn the Sheeve Pouran are the following references to lingam-worship.\nChapter 38--Particularisation of the Lings of Seda Sheev; and first of\nthe twelve Jyotee Lings, with the history of the first, called\nSomentathe. Chapter 40--Of sundry Lings; and of Atree, the Reshee, and\nhis wife Anesoomya, procuring the access of the Ganges in a most\nextraordinary drought. Chapter 41--Sheev's appearance in Mertye Lok to\nthe Reeshees' wives, with a Ling in his hand, while the husbands were\nabsent. Their curses on returning, in consequence of which Sheev's\nLing fell off; and moving along on the ground, burnt wherever it\ntouched. The Deivetas, in despair, applied to Brahma, who advised them\nto sacrifice to Parvetee, and importune her to assume the\ncorrespondent form. She did so, and the two Lings becoming united,\nhave ever since been worshipped under that shape by Brahma, Vishnu,\netc. Chapter 67--Krishna worships a Ling for seven months, covering it\nevery day with leaves and flowers, all of which were afterwards thrown\ninto a heap: at the end of that time Sheev appears in the midst of a\nheap, and his august name was Beleishwer. Chapter 72--More particular\naccount of the Mahatmye of the Sheeve Ratree. The history of a hunter\nwho was converted to religion by the accidental falling of the leaves\nof a tree, where he had placed himself to shoot deer on a Ling, which\nhad been turned up by the deer's foot: the deer and his whole family\nhad engaged themselves by strong oaths to return and offer themselves\nas food for the hunter's children, and all kept their promise.\n\nAnother.--The attendants of Sheev and Dherma Raj dispute about the\nproperty in the soul of a thief, who was slain in stealing the\nvictuals belonging to a sacrifice; but having lighted a lamp on the\nVrete Sheeve Ratree, for the mere purpose of distinguishing his prey,\nthe holy act of lighting the lamp was held sufficient to secure his\nsalvation.\n\n\nFourth Adhyaye.\n\nBrehma is ordered to create the World.\n\nOn the Smerene of these five Mentres which were taught to Vishnu, Shree\nMeha Deiv, who is the compilation of all perfections, came himself and\ntaught Vishnu other Mentres, and Vishnu taught those Mentres, and the\nmode of Gyan for them, to Brehma. Brehma, with deep foresight and\ncapacious understanding, having practised the Smerene of all these\nMentres in purity of heart, thus addressed his prayers to the majesty of\nShree Meha Deiv.\n\n\nA distich.\n\n'O thou who knowest both what is present and what is concealed, O thou,\nwho art the understanding of the sinner and the saint, O teach thy\ndevotees the several works which it will please thee to perform, and by\nwhat means we may imprint on our obsequious hearts the reflection of thy\nmajestic essence.' Shree Bhegewan, out of the loving-kindness which he\nexerts towards his devotees, turning himself that way, said,\n'Attentively listen: having imprinted the Dhyan of this Ling firmly in\nyour heart, be diligent in the Pooja thereof. From piety and devotion to\nthis Ling shall innumerable benefits redound upon you.' Then addressing\nhimself to Vishnu, he proceeded: 'Perform worship to me with perfect\nfidelity.' Vishnu, submissively signifying assent with his eyes, and\nperforming Nemeskar, returned for answer:--\n\n'Thou art our Lord and we thy slaves, we live one by one in thy power.'\n\nAfter this, Shree Meha Deiv said: 'Having thoroughly impressed your\nminds with the image of my form, compose all your doubts and\nperplexities; and since your origin is from Prekreetee, ye are strong\nand mighty: and I have divided my person into three parts: I have fixed\nBrehma on my right hand, Vishnu on my left, and myself in the place of\nthe breast. And, whereas your faithful attachment is beyond all bounds;\nwhatever desire ye shall have in your minds, it shall be\nfulfilled.'--'After that,' said Brehma, 'I and Vishnu, performing\nNemeskar, humbly observed, that, having bound ourselves with complete\nattachment to his munificent service, we were hopeful that we should,\nunder no circumstance or place, ever let slip from our hearts the\nrecollection of his Majesty.'\n\n\nDistich.\n\nIn terms of gracious import he answered: 'Since your creation is for the\npurpose of producing the world, your request hath obtained its\naccomplishment; and your Bekt, _i.e._, adoration, shall ever be firm and\northodox towards me. You must make a Preteema, _i.e._, my image, of\nclay, and perform Pooja to it: in which ye shall both consult your own\nadvantage and my contentment. Moreover, another figure in this same form\nof mine, shall appear from a wrinkle of Bremha's forehead, and be named\nRoodre, and shall apply to compose the perplexities of the creatures;\nand he shall possess power not inferior to my own. Between him and me\nthere is no distinction. Thou, too, and Bremha, and Roodre, we are in\nfact all one form, and in no manner whatsoever is there any difference\nbetween us four to be be admitted: except only that there is this one\ndistinction between us, that your origin is from Prekreete and mine is\nnot. Wherefore, keeping this in your minds, be diligent in Dyan to me.\nThe four castes also, which are the Brehmen, the Khshtree, the Vishye,\nand the Soodre; and the four Ashreme, _i.e._, the Brehmecharee, the\nGrehest, trye, the Waneprest, and the Sanyassee; together with all other\ncreatures, shall thou introduce into the field of existence, that they\nmay become capable of Gyan and Aghyan.' And to Vishnu he said: 'Be thou\nthe granter and bestower of Mooktee in this world, and that, which in my\nsight is good, shall appear the same in thine; and whosoever shall admit\nany doubts herein is no Gyanee (_i.e._, learned in the truths of\ndivinity). And, of the Lings which have been already mentioned, having\nmade one of pearl, another of the dung of a milch cow, a third of gold,\nand a fourth of clay, and joined them together, be diligent in\nworshipping them.' After giving these orders he vanished; and the Ling\nof the Pooja of Shree Meha Deiv made its appearance from that same day.\nHe, who in presence of Ling shall open his mouth in praise of Shree Meha\nDeiv, is for six months in the form of Shree Meha Deiv. There is no\ndoubt of it.\n\n\nFifth Adhyaye.\n\nThe Reeshes again mentioned to Soote that, by the particulars of the\nproduction of the Ling, their greatest crimes were entirely done away,\nand they became liberated and redeemed. But the Mahatemye, _i.e._, the\nmightiness of Sheev and the production of all creatures, was what they\nwished more expressly to hear specified. Soot Pouraneeke said: 'A mercy\non your understanding, for ye have well demanded. The Ling of Seda\nSheev, which is Anente and Neergoone, announced to Vishnu, 'All\ncreatures shall employ themselves in worshipping thee, and whosoever\nshall be in straights and difficulties shall obtain release thence by\nthy favour. Thou must therefore assume a variety of appearances in the\nworld, and obtain fame and glory by the Avetars, and conduct the\ninhabitants of the world to the degree of liberation. I, also, becoming\nRoodre, in this very form of mine, will closely attend to the different\nnecessities of those who shall be created and sooth their griefs and\ncalamities. As there is no difference between thee and me, and Dhyan,\n_i.e._, thought of me, dwells constantly in thy heart, I, too, will\nnever be forgetful of thy Dhyan: and, whosoever shall be a faithful\ndevotee of mine, and hath at the same time evil thoughts towards thee, I\nwill set aside, all his merits and deserts towards me, and precipitate\nhim to the lowest abyss!' Vishnu also answered,'O! Meha Raja, whosoever\nshall be devoted to my Bhekt, and who, shall in the least instance be\ndeficient of respect to thee, I will hold him guilty of the blackest\noffence, and dispatch him to hell, nor will release him thence until the\nuniversal dissolution of all things.' After that, Vishnu said to Brehma,\n'Whenever any difficulty shall shew itself to me, be thou my protector;\nand since thou art the most exalted and chief of all the Deivetas, pay\nattention to all matters both in gross and detail. He who shall\nacknowledge thee, acknowledgeth me also; and he, who between us two\nshall start the least distinction, takes the securest method to fix\nhimself in hell. For the space of one hundred grand years, no obscurity,\nnor diminuition shall be obtruded on the light of thy being; and one of\nthy days, which is composed of four thousand Yoogs, and is called\nKelpe;--for that time, be thou rigorous and absolute.'\n\n\nThirty-eighth Adhyaye.\n\nOf the particular Lings of Seda Sheev.\n\nThe Reesheeshwers demanded of Soote an account of the Lings of Seda\nSheev, that are known upon this part of the earth, and are worthy to be\nworshipped, and where they are stationed.\n\nSoote answered: The Lings of Seda Sheev are innumerable. The whole earth\nis replete with them; and whatsoever is visible is a form or species of\nLing. Besides which, no place whatsoever is void of them; both Paradise\nand Patal are stocked with them; and all the Deivetas and Reeshes are\noccupied in their worship. And those who with complete devotion and\nentire faith have worshipped them, Bhegewan, for the gratification of\nsuch devotees, hath appeared and established himself there, at the\ndesire of his votaries, with a Ling for each particular case of demand.\n\nThe Lings which are thus extant over the land, are not to be counted:\nbut of such as are now more especially in repute I shall immediately\nstate to you the twelve Jyotee Lings.\n\n  Chapter 44.  1.--On the confines of the country of Soorashtree, on the\n                   south side is Somenathe,--a Ling of Seda Sheev.\n  Chap. 37,44. 2.--On the mountain Shree-Shile--Mellekarjoone.\n  Chapter 45.  3.--And in the city of Oojeyeenee--two; the first Mahakate.\n               4.--And the second Omkaree.\n  Chapter 46.  5.--On the back of the mountain Heemachel is Keidarenathe.\n  Chapter 47.  6.--And in the Dakshenee is Bheeme Shenker.\n  Chapter 48.  7.--In Benares is Veesheishmer.\n  Chapter 52.  8.--And on the bank of the river Gotemee, Treembeke.\n  Chapter 53.  9.--In Jete Bhoom, Veidenathe.\n  Chapter 54. 10.--And in the desert belonging to Dareka, Nageishwer.\n  Chapter 55. 11.--In Leitoo Cendhe, Rameishwer.\n  Chapter 56. 12.--And on the confines of the Dekshen, adjoining the\n                   mountain Geere Deive, Doohshemeishe.\n\nHe, who rising early in the morning shall repeat the names of these\ntwelve Jyotee Lings, will be freed from all his crimes, and shall\nobtain his desires: and whoever, on any particular account, addresses\na particular Ling, he will succeed accordingly, and such person is not\nfreed from the crimes by the Dershene, or view of the twelve Jyotee\nLings. It is enjoined all the four casts to perform Pooja to those;\nand, after Pooja, if they eat the sacrificial morsels they are\npurified from their crimes on the spot. And if they worship any one of\nthese twelve Jyotee Lings for six months, Mooktee becomes their\ndestiny, and they are no more subject to birth: and, if ever a Meicke,\nor Chandale, or deceiver, obtains Deersheene of the Jyotee, in another\ngeneration he is born in the house of a Veidread Brahmin, and becomes\nMookte.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n    The four kinds of Stone lingas--Siva under a form called\n    Muhakalu--Temporary images of Siva--Siva's wives--Siva's and\n    Parvati's quarrels--Siva and Doorga--Siva's names--The heaven\n    of Siva--Latsami---Power of the priests--Tamil\n    poetry--Indecent worship--Dancing girls at religious\n    ceremonies--Christian and Pagan idolatry--Religious\n    prostitution--Worship of the female--Development of indecent\n    practices--Saktipuja.\n\n\nMr. Ward informs us that besides the clay images of the linga, there\nare four kinds of stone lingas which are set up in the Hindu temples.\n\"The first,\" he says, \"is called swuyumbhoo, that is, the\nself-existent linga. The second is named unadee, or that which has no\nbeginning. (At the time of a great drought, the Hindoos, after\nperforming its worship, throw very large quantities of water upon this\nunadee-linga, in order to induce Siva to give them rain). The third\nthey call vanu-linga, because a king named Vanu first instituted this\nworship. The fourth is the common, or factitious linga. These images\nare all of stone, brought from the neighbourhood of the river\nGundhukee, which falls into the Ganges near Patna.\"\n\nThe Hindoos of every caste and of both sexes, make images of the linga\nwith the clay of the river Ganges, every morning, after bathing, and\nworship it, making bows, presenting offerings, and repeating\nincantations before it. This is most frequently done by the side of\nthe river.\n\nBesides the linga, there is another form in which Siva is worshipped,\ncalled Muhakalu. This is the image of a smoke-coloured boy, with three\neyes, his hair standing erect, clothed in red garments, his teeth very\nlarge; he wears a necklace of human skulls, and a large juta; in one\nhand he has a stick, and in another the foot of a bedstead; a half\nmoon appears on his forehead; he has a large belly; and presents a\nvery terrific appearance. Siva is called Muhakalu, because he destroys\nall, or all is absorbed in him at the time of a kalpu, and afterwards\nreproduced.\n\nImages of this form of Siva were not made in Bengal, but a pan of\nwater, or an unadee-linga, was substituted, before which bloody\nsacrifices were offered, and other ceremonies performed, in the month\nKartiku, at the new moon.\n\nIn the month Phalgoonu, every year, the Hindoos made the image of\nSiva, and worshipped him for one day, throwing the image the next day\ninto the water. This worship was performed in the night, and was\naccompanied with singing, dancing, music, feasting, &c. The image\nworshipped was either that of Siva with five faces or that with one\nface.\n\nIn the month Maghu a festival in honour of Siva is held for one day,\nwhen the image of this god, sitting on a bull, with Parvutee his bride\non his knee, is worshipped in the principal towns in Bengal.\n\nSiva had two wives, Sutee and Parvutee. Sutee was the daughter of king\nDukshu, and Parvutee the daughter of the mountain Himaluyu.\n\nThe fourth chapter of the Shreebhaguvutu, contains the history of\nDukshu, the son of Brahma; of his daughter Sutee, who was married to\nthe god Siva; of the abuse of Siva by Dukshu; of Siva's cursing\nDukshu; of the grand sacrifice of Dukshu; the gods all arrive at this\nsacrifice; the daughters of Dukshu are also present; Sutee wishes to\ngo, but is forbidden of Siva her husband; Siva, however, at last\nconsents to her going; she goes, and while her father is abusing her\nhusband, she dies of grief; Siva on hearing of the death of his wife,\nwas transported with rage, and taking his juta from his head, threw it\non the ground with great force, and up sprang a monster, in the form\nof a sunyasee, covered with ashes, having three flaming eyes, with a\ntrishoolu in his hand, wearing a tiger's skin, and a necklace of human\nbones; and having a round red mark like a ball betwixt his eyebrows;\nthis monster asked Siva why he created him; Siva ordered him to go and\ndestroy Dukshu; this monster then took along with him armies of\npratus, bhootus, yukshus, pishacus, etc. (wandering spirits), and\ndestroyed Dukshu's sacrifice; Siva's great sorrow at the loss of\nSutee; the gods come to comfort him; Sutee is again born; her father's\nname Heemaluyu, her mother's Manuku; Dukshu, after repairing the\ninjuries which Siva's juta-formed monster had made, completes his\nsacrifice, etc.\n\nA number of stories are contained in some of the Hindoo books\nrespecting the quarrels of Siva and Parvutu, some of them arising out\nof the revels of the former, and the jealousy of the latter. These\nquarrels resemble those of Jupiter and Juno. The chief fault of Juno\nis said to have been jealousy. When Siva and Parvatu quarrelled, she\nfrequently upbraided him with his filthy condition as a yogee. When\nthey were about to be married, the mother of the girl, and the\nneighbours poured the utmost abuse on Siva: the neighbours cried out,\n\"Ah! ah! ah! this image of gold, this most beautiful damsel, like whom\nthere is hardly such a beauty in the three worlds, to be given in\nmarriage to such a fellow--an old fellow with three eyes; without\nteeth; clothed in a tiger's skin; covered with ashes; encircled with\nsnakes; with a necklace of human bones; with a human skull in his\nhand; with a filthy juta, viz., a bunch of hair like a turban, twisted\nround his head; who chews intoxicating drugs; has inflamed eyes; rides\nnaked on a bull, and wanders about like a madman. Ah! they have thrown\nthis beautiful daughter into the river!\" In this manner the neighbours\nexclaimed against the marriage, till at last, Narudu, who had excited\nthis hubbub, settled the matter, and the wedding was consummated.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn a certain occasion Siva ordered his servants Nundee and Bhringee to\nprepare his bull that he might go a-begging; he himself bound the rag\nround his loins, twisted snakes as ornaments round his wrists, made a\npoita of three other snakes; put a tiger's skin on his back, a drum\nand a trident in his right hand, and in his left a horn; his body was\ncovered with ashes. Thus arrayed he mounted his bull, Nundee going\nbefore and Bhringee behind, and went into different places begging\nfrom door to door. Where-ever he went, he saw the people happy and\ncontented, enjoying all the pleasures of life. At the sight of all\nthis happiness, Siva was full of grief, and said in his mind, \"All\nthese people are surrounded with their friends and children, and are\nhappy; but after marrying, I have obtained nothing. I beg for my daily\nbread.\" Having collected a little rice, etc., Siva returned home, full\nof vexation. Doorga, his wife, gave him water to wash his feet, and\nSiva ordered her to prepare an intoxicating beverage called siddhee,\nand asked her whether she had prepared his food? She told him that she\nhad not yet kindled the fire. \"What!\" said Siva, \"it is now two\no'clock in the afternoon, and you have not begun to prepare the\ndinner?\" Filled with anger, he began to use the most violent language:\n\"How is this? I have married a wife destitute of fortunate signs, and\nI spend my life in misery. I see other families have bathed and sit\ndown to dinner by noon. I beg three times a day, and yet I cannot\nobtain sufficient to support nature. It has always been said in the\nthree worlds, that he who obtains a lucky wife, will through her\nbecome rich; through a lucky husband, sons are born. See now\n(addressing himself to those present), I have two sons; but where are\nthe riches which a fortunate wife procures? I suppose that in marrying\nthe wife of Himaluyu (a mountain) every one is become hard as the rock\ntowards me. In constantly begging I have obtained the name of\nShunkuru, the beggar. A person marrying a lucky wife sits at his ease\nin his house, and eats excellent food, and I go a-begging, and yet\nstarve. Narudu has given me such an unlucky wife, what shall I say to\nhim, a fellow without ancestry? He is not content unless he insult the\ndead. I can no longer support my family by begging. I can support\nmyself, but how can I provide for so many?\"\n\nDoorga, hearing all this, was full of sorrow, and began to utter her\ngrief to her two maids Juya and Vijuya: \"Hear! without thought, why\ndoes he abuse me in this manner? If he call me an unlucky wife, why\ndid he marry me? When a person's fate is bad, they say his forehead is\non fire. Why does he call me unlucky? Is not his own forehead on fire,\nand are we not suffering through his bad fate? True, I have neither a\nbeautiful form, nor excellent qualities, nor conduct, nor honour, nor\nwisdom, nor learning, nor property, nor race, nor brother, nor friend,\nnor father, nor mother, nor relations, nor ornaments; but, look at his\nform; he covers himself with the ashes of the dead; at his qualities;\nhe is known as the smoker of intoxicating herbs (the drunkard); at his\nconduct; he resides in cemeteries, and dwells with the bhootus;--at\nhis wisdom: amidst the assembled guests at his wedding he sat naked;\nrides on a bull, and is hooted at by the children in the streets as a\nfool;--at his learning; he does not know the names of his father and\nmother; at his property, he owns a bull, a drum, and a tiger's\nskin;--at his ornaments: he is covered with snakes;--at his honour: at\nthe time of marriage he was not able to obtain anything richer than a\ntiger's skin for a garment, though he begged for something better. It\nis true he has had two sons born, and on this account, I suppose, he\nis filled with pride. But such sons, in the three worlds, were never\nborn before, and I hope will never be born again. Behold his eldest\nson Kartiku, he drinks intoxicating beverage like his father; he is\nfull of rage if his food be delayed but a moment; what his father\nbegs, he, with his six mouths, devours; the peacock that carries him\ndevours the snakes with which his father clothes himself; his other\nson Gunashu has four arms, an elephant's head, and eats like an\nelephant; he is carried by a rat, which steals and eats the unshelled\nrice brought by Siva. Thus the children and the father are equally\nforsaken of fortune. The companions of Siva are either ghosts or\nbhootus.\"\n\nAs soon as Siva had mounted his bull to go a-begging, Doorga said to\nJuya and Vijuya, \"I will stay no longer here. He tells me to keep my\nhair clothed with dirt, and to cover my body with ashes. I will go to\nmy father's house, come along.\" The maids endeavoured to pacify her,\nand to shew her the danger of leaving her husband. After a number of\nexpostulations, she was persuaded to assume the form of Unnu-poorna,\nby which means the wealth of the whole world flowed into her lap. She\ngave a splendid entertainment on mount Koilasu to all the gods, at the\nclose of which Siva arrived from a begging journey. Struck with\nastonishment at what he saw, he was wonderfully pleased, and ate for\nonce till he was nearly surfeited. When he and Doorga were sitting\ntogether on the evening of this feast, he apologised to his wife for\nthe unkind language he had used towards her, to prevent which in\nfuture, he proposed that they should be united in one body. Doorga at\nfirst strongly objected, but was at length persuaded to consent, and\nSiva and Doorga became one, the right side (white) being Siva, and the\nleft side (yellow) Doorga. In this form an image is annually\nworshipped in Bengal.\n\nOther stories are told of Siva's descending to earth in the form of a\nsunyasee, for the preservation of some one in distress, or to perform\nreligious austerities.\n\nAmongst the fanciful names (a thousand in number) belonging to this god,\nare the following:--Siva, the benefactor--Muhashwuru, the great\ngod--Ceshwuru, the glorious god--Chundrushakuru, he on whose forehead\nis seen a half-moon---Bhootashu, he who is lord of the bhootus--Miriru,\nhe who purifies--Mirityoonjuyu, he who conquers death--Krittivasa, he\nwho wears a skin--Oogru, the furious--Shree-kuntu, he whose throat is\nbeautiful--Kupalubhrit, he whose alms dish is a skull--Smuruhuru, the\ndestroyer of Kama-davu, the god of love--Tripoorantuku, he who\ndestroyed an usooru named Tripooru--Gungadhuru, he who caught the\ngoddess Gunga in his bunch of hair--Vrishudhwujn, or he who rides on a\nbull--Shoolee, he who wields the Trident--St'hanoo, the everlasting--Survu,\nhe who is everything--Gireeshu, lord of the hills--Undhuku-ripoo, he\nwho destroyed an usooru named Undhuku--Sunkurshunu, he who destroys\nthe world--Trilochunu, the three-eyed--Ruktupu, the drinker of\nblood--Siddhusavitu, the drinker of an intoxicating beverage called\nSiddhe.\n\nThe work called Krityu-tuttwu describes the heaven of this god as\nsituated on the mountain Koilasu, and called Shivu-pooru. It is said\nto be ornamented with many kinds of gems and precious things, as\npearls, coral, gold, silver. On the mountain reside gods, the heavenly\nchoristers, dancers and courtezans, gods who act as servants to the\nother gods, sacred sages, divine sages, great sages, and a number of\nmoonees. These persons constantly perform the worship of Siva and\nDoorga, and the upsurus are continually employed in singing, dancing,\netc. The flowers of every season are always in bloom here, the winds\nshvityu, sangundu, and mandyu--gentle winds accompanied with coolness\nand sweetness--always blow on these flowers, and diffuse their\nfragrance all over the mountain wherein many birds are constantly\nsinging and repeating the names of Doorga and Siva, where the waters\nof the heavenly Ganges pass along in purling streams, where the six\nseasons--the spring, the summer, the rainy, the sultry, the dewy, the\ncold--at once exist, and where on a golden throne, adorned with\njewels, sit Siva and Doorga, holding conversation, in which Doorga\nasks questions of her husband.\n\nWhen the mountain Mervuva was whirled about in the sea, the motion\nproduced a foam which was like the cradle of a beautiful woman named\nLatsami. This second Venus was bestowed on Vishnvu, preferably to the\nDevetas, who were all in love with her. The Seivias, who assert that\nEswara is the sovereign God, say also, that he has a wife called\nParvati. They tell us that she had a double birth; first she was\ndaughter to Datsja, son of Brahma, and of Sarasvati his wife. Her\nfather gave her in marriage to Eswara, and some time after intended to\nperform a Jagam or sacrifice, to which he invited the Devetas, such as\nDeuendre, the Sun, the Moon, and the rest, but neglected Eswara, his\nson-in-law. Parvati told him he should also have invited him, but he,\ninstead of agreeing with her, made her the following injurious\nanswer:--Eswara, says Datsja, is not worthy of that honour, he is a\nfellow that subsists only on alms, and has no clothes to put on. We\nare to suppose that Eswara was at that time _incog._, and veiled under\nsuch a shape as made him unknown to all. Parvati inflamed with rage,\ncried out to her father, I myself am therefore not worthy to assist at\nit; and saying these words, she leaped into the fire that was prepared\nfor this solemnity. Eswara, exasperated in the highest degree at this\nunhappy accident, was all over in a sweat, and one of the drops of it\nhappening to fall on the earth, Virrepadra sprung from it, who\nimmediately asked his father what commands he had for him. Eswara bid\nhim go and destroy the Jagam of Datsja, and was obeyed; for he killed\nsome of the guests, drove away others, cut off Datsja's head, kicked\nthe sun, and broke all his teeth, so that he had not one left, and\ndrubbed the moon so heartily, that her face was covered all over with\nthe marks of the blows he gave her, which continue to this day. The\nDevetas implored Eswara's mercy, and obtained it; he was softened by\ntheir entreaties, and restored Datsja to life, on whose body he fixed\nthe head of a he-goat instead of his own. Parvati being consumed in\nthe fire into which she had thrown herself, was indulged a new birth,\nand was daughter of the mountain Chimawontam, who married her to\nEswara. Her husband was so passionately in love with her, that he gave\nher half his body, so that she became half man and half woman; for\nwhich reason the Brahmins call her Andhanari-Eswara, a name implying\nsuch an union.\n\nThese people are of opinion, that both Vishnu and Eswara can procreate\nchildren without the commerce of the other sex, since they ascribe to\nthem a power of getting them by the bare act of the will, so that they\nsuppose they only have them for dalliance sake. Eswara is represented\nin the temples under a very immodest shape, expressing by an action,\nthe union of both sexes. This is grounded on a tradition which the\nBrahmins themselves are partly ashamed of, and is as follows: It fell\nout one day that a Moniswara came to visit Eswara in a place where the\nlatter used to caress Parvati. The Moniswara came at a very\nunseasonable hour; in vain the porter shut the gate upon him, and even\ntold him the reason why he could not be admitted; for the Moniswara\nwas so enraged to find he must be forced to stay till Eswara should\nplease to shew himself, that he broke out into an imprecation, which\nhe immediately repented of. Eswara had overheard him, but pardoned him\nwhen he found he was sorry for it. The Moniswara, not satisfied with\nbeing pardoned for his offence, requested that all who should worship\nthe image of Lingam--the figure representing the union of the sexes in\nthe manner above mentioned, should reap greater advantages from it\nthan if they were to worship Eswara when represented with his whole\nbody. He obtained his desire, and it is to this circumstance that\nthose scandalous images under which Eswara is worshipped in the\nPagods, owe their original.[9]\n\n        [9] Picard, Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMahadeu signifies the sovereign God. He is represented under the shape\nof a pillar which diminishes insensibly from its base to its extremity\nat top. It is evident that this figure is the same as the Priapus of\nother nations; and that the modern Indians, as well as those of\nantiquity, have equally considered it as the God of Nature. Pictures\nwhich have reached us from India exhibiting the interiors of the\nPagods of Mahadeu reveal beyond all doubt the nature of this pillar;\nit cannot be mistaken for any else than what we have just suggested,\nviz., the male organ of generation. It is of gigantic size, rising\nmany feet from the floor, and the most profound veneration is rendered\nto it by the worshippers who completely uncover their feet before\npassing the threshold.\n\nIxora (Mahadeu) bears also the name of Lingam. The Jogins wear the\nLingam about their necks; but it would be impossible for fancy, says\nPicard, to invent anything more obscene, than the posture in which\nthey represent this double figure, to whom they assiduously offer the\nfirst fruits of their meals. We ascribe to the notion the Indians\nentertain that everything is formed by generation, the blind devotion\nthey pay to this Lingam, in which they confound the agent with the\nmeans he employs. It will be impossible to justify them in any manner\non this head, but by considering it as a type or symbol, which still\ncannot but be shocking to decency and good manners; some, however,\ncannot help thinking that those who first invented these figures, were\nnaturally inclined to satiate by lust, what they exhibited for the\nemblem of a Deity.\n\n\"It cannot be denied, but that the worship which is paid to nature,\nmay have migrated from the east into the west, together with the\nsymbolical figures under which they represented it; we are therefore\nnot to wonder, that the same idea should have discovered itself under\ndifferent names, to people who live at a great distance one from the\nother; since, as they both received the object of their worship from\nthe same source, they were under a necessity of receiving the same\nimages with the same ceremonies. To do these people justice, nothing\ncan better express the fruitfulness of nature than the union of both\nsexes, and the vigour of Priapus, whose name is very expressive;\nhowever, it is surprising that men, who, if we except some of the most\nbrutal savages, have always paid some regard to decency, should be so\nlost to all sense of it, as to carry in procession with great pomp and\nsolemnity, those parts of the body, which ought never to be revealed\nbut in cases of the highest necessity; and expose them publicly in the\nroads, in houses and temples, as is the custom in India.\"[10]\n\n        [10] Picard, Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses.\n\nPietro Dello Valle, observes, that the gods of the Indians are always\nrepresented naked, and that several figures in very indecent postures\nare seen in the pagods; undoubtedly he saw the Lingam above-mentioned\nthere. The other figures might possibly represent the vows or homages\nof the devout Indians, among whom the women do not scruple to\nprostitute themselves in honour of the gods. Husbands behold with the\nmost profound humility these meritorious prostitutions, which so often\nrevive what we in Europe look upon as the greatest injury and affront;\nso true it is, that false principles in religion easily destroy those\nof common decency, and even frequently change the very ideas which\nnature has implanted in us. As a husband is fully persuaded he has\nbeen cuckolded by a god, he is therefore very well satisfied. The\nJognis is the idol's curate, and performs the ceremony in quality of\nhis proxy, while the devoutly patient husband, in the meantime, washes\nthe saint's feet, and pays him the utmost veneration. The people of\nthe house withdraw, and leave the lady to the saint's embraces. When\nthis institution was made, the crafty Indians undoubtedly insinuated\nsome hopes of future felicity at the same time. When we have once\nfound out the secret of gaining an ascendant over people's minds, can\nit be a difficult matter to assure the female devotees, that,\n\n\t_Si quelque chose les empeche\n\tD'aller tout droit en paradis,\n\tC'est d'epargner pour leurs maris,\n\tUn bien dont ils n'ont plus que faire,\n\tQuand ils ont pris leur necessaire._\n\n                         La Fontaine dans ses Contes.\n\nThe sense of which is,\n\n    _If anything prevents their being immediately wafted to\n    Paradise, 'tis to reserve for their husbands a pleasure which\n    they have no farther occasion for, when they have had their\n    quantum of it._\n\nWe mention an instance which manifestly shews, that the Indians look\nupon the obscene devotions just alluded to, as highly meritorious.\nOver the gate of one of the cities of the little kingdom of\nSirinpatau, says Dellon in the preface to his Voyages, printed in\n1709, stands a stone statue representing Sita, wife to Ram, one of\ntheir gods, about as big as the life. On each side of her are three\nfamous Faquirs, or Penitents, naked, on their knees, their eyes lifted\nup towards her, and holding with both hands what decency will not\npermit me to mention. They pretend by this posture, to pay such an\nhomage, at they judge to be most grateful to this pretended\ngoddess.[11]\n\n        [11] Picard, Ceremonies et Contumes Religieuses.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMr. R. C. Caldwell, writing in Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia,\nsays:--\"Of old, pious Hindus who spiritualised their religion, even\nthe grossest forms of it, linga-worship included, were not, lacking.\nFor instance, the great Tamilian poet, Sivavakkiar, writes as follows\n(see the Indian Antiquary, Bombay, Apr., 1872, first paper on Tamil\nPopular Poetry):\n\n\t\"My thoughts are flowers and ashes,\n\t  In my breast's fane enshrined,\n\tMy breath, too, is therein it,\n\t  A linga unconfined:\n\tMy senses, too, like incense\n\t  Rise, and like bright lamps shine,\n\tThere, too, my soul leaps ever\n\t  A dancing god divine.\"\n\nThis, is my opinion, is one of the finest stanzas penned by\nSivavakkiar. The drift of it is this:--You popular Hindus, you have\nyour temples,--you have your flowers, and sacred ashes,--you have your\nphallus, or emblem of divine creative power,--you have also your\nincense and lamps, and you have your divine dancer, Siva. I, too, have\nmy flowers and ashes, but they are of the mind! I, too, have my linga,\nbut it is my breath or spirit. I, too, have my incense and lamps, but\nthey are my five senses. And I, too, have my deity leaping in divine\nsport within me, but that is my soul. In a word, mine is the true\nspiritual worship.\n\n\"Here the sage speaks of his body as a metaphorical temple (using\nlanguage similar to that employed in the New Testament, 'Ye are the\ntemples of the Holy Ghost'); then he likens his thoughts to flowers\nand ashes, which are used in the services of temples; lastly, he\ndeclares that his breath or spirit--which as a part of universal life\nhas no bound or limit--is the true _linga_, creative, and a part of\nthe creation, of his own being.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe serious consequences of adopting erroneous principles, even such\nas are commonly called metaphysical ones, seemingly the most remote\nfrom practice, is perhaps in nothing more apparent than with respect\nto the ideas which were in early ages entertained concerning _nature_,\nwhen its attributes came to be objects of worship. As there must be a\nconcurrence of male and female powers for the production of all living\ncreatures, it was supposed that, in the great productive powers of\nnature, there must be both male and female qualities. The Egyptians\nhad this idea, and accordingly several of their principal deities were\nsaid to be both male and female. Having little idea of delicacy, they\nrepresented those powers by the figures of the parts of generation.\nThe constant exhibition of these figures in their religious worship\ncould not but lead to much lewdness, first as an act of religion,\nacceptable to their gods, and then in common life; though this might\nbe far from the intention of those who formed the plan of the popular\nworship.\n\nHence, however, it is that, in the ancient heathen religions, we find\nrites of the most opposite nature, the extreme of severity and cruelty\nin some, and the extreme of indecency and sensual indulgence in\nothers. This is well known to have been the case in Egypt, the mother\nof religion and of science, to a great part of the Western world. We\ncannot without the utmost disgust and horror think of what, according\nto the testimony of Herodotus, whose authority in this case cannot be\nquestioned, women did before the bull Apis, and especially with the\ngoat that was worshipped at Mendes, to say nothing of the peculiarly\nindecent manner in which he says that in their religious processions,\nthey carried the phalli, and of their behaviour; when, in some of\ntheir festivals, they went in boats along the Nile, and exhibited\nthemselves to the inhabitants of the villages on its borders. The Nile\nitself, according to the testimony of Christian writers, was\nworshipped with the most obscene and execrable rites, even Sodomitical\npractices.\n\nThe idea that Plutarch gives us of the Egyptian rites is sufficiently\ndisgusting. \"Many of their religious ceremonies,\" he says, \"were of a\nmournful cast, and celebrated with much austerity. Some of their\nfestivals and direful sacrifices were considered as unfortunate and\nmournful days, and were celebrated by eating raw flesh, torn with\nmen's nails. On other days they fast, and smite their breasts, and in\nseveral places filthy and indecent words are used during the\nsacrifices. In their festivals and processions, the greater part act\nludicrous things both, speaking and thinking words of the most wicked\nand lewd meaning, and that even of the gods themselves. But when they\nconsult their oracles they are advised to have pious thoughts in their\nhearts, and words of good sound in their mouths.\"\n\nNo revels of the most irreligious persons could be more extravagant\nand indecent than the festivals of Bacchus; and the same people who\nsacrificed men, and even their own children, had places appropriated\nto prostitution, even of both sexes, adjoining to their temples, the\nprofits arising from which were a part of their revenues.\n\nThe Hindoo religion has much in it in this respect, that is similar to\nthat of the ancient Egyptian. \"Nothing,\" says De la Crose, \"is more\nrevered by the Hindoos than the lingam. Their most solemn worship is\npresented to their gods in this form. Lighted lamps are continually\nburning before it, in the inmost recesses of their temples, surrounded\nby other lamps with seven branches, like that of the Hebrews. Besides\nthose in the temples, they have small ones of stone or crystal, which\nthey hang to their necks, and fasten upon their heads. To these they\naddress almost all their prayers, and frequently have them buried with\nthem.\"\n\nCaptain Campbell, after describing the lascivious dancing of Hindoo\ngirls, who get their living by it, says, \"that such enticements to\nvice should make a part of the system of any society is to be\nlamented: yet in all ceremonies and great occasions, whether religious\nworship or domestic enjoyment, they make a part of the entertainment;\nand the altars of their gods, and the purity of the magic rites, are\nalike polluted by the introduction of the dancing girls. The impurity\nof this custom, however, vanishes, when compared with the hideous\npractice of introducing dancing boys.\"\n\nWith respect to the pagoda of Jaggernat, which he calls a curious and\ngrotesque monument of superstitious folly, he says, \"it is an immense\nbarbarous structure of a kind of pyramidal form, embellished with\ndevices cut in stone work, not more singular than disgusting.\"\n\nChristian idolaters, in forming types and figures of divine things,\nalways endeavour to represent them with personal beauty, as\nproportionate to their divine nature as human skill can make it. Those\nPagans, on the contrary, in forming their idols, cast out every\nvestige of beauty--everything that, by the consent of mankind, is\nsupposed to convey pleasing sensations; and, in their place,\nsubstitute the most extravagant, unnatural deformity, the most\nloathsome nastiness, the most disgusting obscenity. It is not in\nlanguage to convey an adequate idea of their temples and idols; and if\nit was, no purpose could be answered by it, only the excitement of\npainful and abominable sensations. To keep pace with the figures of\ntheir idols, a chief Brahmin, by some accursed artificial means (by\nherbs, I believe), has brought to a most unnatural form, and enormous\ndimensions, that which decency forbids me to mention; and the pure and\nspotless women who from infancy have been shut up from the sight of\nmen, even of their own brothers, are brought to kiss this disgusting\nand misshapen monster, under the preposterous belief that it promotes\nfecundity.\n\nTavernier mentions the same abominable custom, as also does Alexander\nHamilton, in his account of the East Indies.\n\nIn this pagoda, Capt. Campbell says, stands the figure of Jaggernat,\nbut it is nothing more than a black stone of an irregular pyramidal\nform, having two rich diamonds in the top by way of eyes, and a nose\nand mouth painted red. For this god, he says, five hundred priests are\nemployed in spoiling food.\n\nEvery pagoda, says La Crose, has a certain number of prostitutes\nannexed to it, dedicated to its use by pompous and solemn ceremonies.\nThey choose the handsomest, and educate them in such a manner, that\nwhen they come to a proper age they may bring the greatest gain to the\ntemple by the price of their prostitution. They can never marry, or\nleave the idol; and their children, if they have any, are also\ndedicated to it.\n\nSome, says Mr. William Chambers, devote their own children to this\nprofession. This is customary in the Decan, but not with the Hindoos\nof Bengal or Hindoostan proper. He says this custom was probably\nderived from the religion of Buddha. But almost all the ancient\nheathen religions had the same custom. It is described at large by\nHerodotus, as it was practised at Babylon in his time; and it is\nfrequently alluded to in the Old Testament. Lucian in his Treatise on\nthe Syrian goddess, says that those women who refuse to cut off their\nhair on her festival, must prostitute themselves during one day; and\nthat what they receive on that account is given to the goddess for a\nsacrifice. In Malabar it is reckoned meritorious to bring up girls,\nwho are commonly bastards, for the service of the temples, and they\nare taught music and dancing. When they are of a proper age, they go\nthrough the ceremony of a marriage to the god.\n\nThe Shastrus declare that the daughters of Brahmins, till they are\neight years old, are objects of worship as forms of the goddess\nBhagavatee. Many persons performed the worship of these girls daily.\nThey took the daughter of some neighbouring brahmin, and placing her\non a seat, with flowers, paint, water, garlands, etc., performed her\nworship, and then presented to her, if they were rich, offerings of\ncloth, ornaments, etc. At the close, the worshipper offered incense,\nand prostrated himself before this girl. At the worship of some of the\nfemale deities also, the daughters of Brahmins have divine honours\npaid to them. Many of the Tantra Shastrus, and particularly the\nRoodru'yamulu, the Yoni-tantra, and the Neelu-tantra, contain\ndirections for a most extraordinary and disgusting puja, which is\nunderstood in a private manner amongst the Hindoos by the name of\nChukru.\n\nThese Shastrus direct that the person or persons who wish to perform\nthis puja must first, in the night, take a woman as the object of\nworship. If the person who performs this worship be a dukshinacharu,\nhe must take his own wife, and if a vamacharu, he must take the\ndaughter of a dancer, a kupalee, a washerman, a barber, a chundalu, or\nof a mussulman, or a prostitute, and place her on a seat or mat; and\nthen bring boiled fish, flesh, fried peas, rice, spirituous liquors,\nsweetmeats, flowers, and all the other offerings and things necessary\nfor the puja. These offerings, as well as the female, must next be\npurified by the repeating of incantations. To this, succeeds the\nworship of the person's guardian deity; and after this the worship of\nthe female, with all the ceremonies included in the term puja. The\nfemale must be naked during the worship{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~}. Here indecencies not fit\nto be recorded in the present age and country, are contained in the\ndirections of the shastru for this worship, relating to every part of\nthe body in turn. Ward said that the learned Brahmin who opened to him\nthese abominations, made several efforts--paused and began again, and\nthen paused again, before he could pronounce the shocking indecencies\nprescribed by his own shastrus.\n\nAs the object of the worship was a living person, at the close of the\npuja she partook of the offerings in the presence of the worshipper or\nworshippers. Hence she drank of the spirituous liquors, ate of the\nflesh, though it was that of the cow, and also of the other offerings.\nThe orts were to be eaten by the person or persons present, while\nsitting together, however different their castes may be, nor might any\none despise any of the offerings, or refuse to eat of them; the\nspirituous liquors were to be drunk by measure. The company while\neating had to put food also in each other's mouths.\n\nWard wrote:--\"The person who performs the ceremonies, in the presence\nof all, behaves towards this female in a manner which decency forbids\nto be mentioned. The persons present must then perform puja in a\nmanner unutterably abominable, and here this most diabolical business\ncloses. At present persons performing these abominations are becoming\nmore and more numerous. They are called vamacharees. In proportion as\nthese things are becoming common, so much the more are the ways of\nperforming them more and more beastly. They are done in secret: but\nthat these practices are becoming very frequent among the Brahmins and\nothers is a fact known to all. The persons who perform these actions\nagreeably to the rules of the Shastrus are very few. The generality do\nthose parts that belong to gluttony, drunkenness and whoredom only,\nwithout being acquainted with all the minute rules and incantations of\nthe shastrus.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPratapuchandra Ghosha, in reading a paper before the Asiatic Society\nof Bengal, in September, 1870, said:--\"In the earliest portraits of\nthe Aryan race, as delineated in the Vedas, we find their ideas and\ntheir thoughts centred in their homes, their cattle, their fields, and\nin the discomfiture of their enemies. Their wants were few, and their\nprayers, therefore, were less varied; and their ceremonies were,\nprobably, equally simple. But this simplicity wore within itself the\nseed of a very complex system of thought. Everything that was useful\nin some way or other, everything that was beautiful or awful in\nnature, or that excited unusual feelings, or suggested new ideas, was\nestranged from the ordinary and associated with the supernatural. A\nnew current of thought soon after set in. In the freshness of\nimagination during the primitive state of society, comparisons,\nmetaphors, and allegories, were soon changed into real entities, and\nmythology rapidly gained ground in men's minds. Thus, the Puranas, by\na natural poetical idea, made the sun and the moon, which witness all\nthat is done on the earth, the spies of the divine ruler--a myth\ndescribing the all-pervading nature of their rays. In the Vedas, they\nare regarded as the universal witnesses of all ceremonies. The Rahu,\nthe ascending node, is derived from the verb literally meaning to\nabandon, void, hence also black, darkness, shadow, etc., and is\nrepresented in mythology as having no body, the _umbra_ of the\nastronomers. The _umbra_ may be said to devour as it were the\nluminaries. Later mythology makes Rahu a trunkless head, an ingenious\nmythological adaptation of the umbra which devours, but inasmuch as it\nhas no body, the moon comes out from the throat. Again, poetic\nimagination or extreme fear, personifies qualities, and that to such\nan extraordinary extent, that while describing the bloodthirsty\nvengeance of Sakti, she is said to have, in the _Chhinnamasta_\nincarnation, cut off her own head from the trunk, and with the gaping\ntrunkless skull gluttonously drank her own blood which springs with\nthe warmth of life. However hideous the conception is, it is the\nresult of the license allowed to poets to use partial similitudes. To\nsuch flights of unshackled imagination, the variously formed sphinxes\nof the Chaldeans are but mere flutters of the wings. As allegories\nillustrative of the concentration of force to overcome difficulties,\nand the adaptation of means to a purpose, the achievements of Durga\noffer many interesting instances. On the occasion of vanquishing the\nmighty _Asuras_, Sumbha and Nisumbha, and their general, named\nMahishasura (the buffaloe-demon), the several gods are made to direct\ntheir energy to their weapons for the purpose. The goddess Durga,\nrepresentative of this union, sprung forth with ten arms, fit to crush\nseveral _Asuras_ at one fell swoop. Kali, another incarnation of\nSakti, in the war with Raktavija, a demon multiplying his race, as his\nname implies, from the drops of blood flowing from his body, and\ntouching the earth, is represented as having licked up the blood as it\nstreamed forth from his person with a view to arrest that dreadful\npropagation.\n\n\"Many of these myths, again, may be traced partly to oriental\nhyperbole, and partly to the many-sided meanings of the words used in\ndescribing them: figurative expressions were seized and new myths were\ninvented in illustration of them. Others again are illustrative of\nnational customs; thus the protruded tongue of Kali has been the theme\nof several fanciful tales. With some, in the heat of the battle, Kali\nwas so maddened, that the gods despaired of the world, and sent Siva,\nher husband to appease her. Siva crept among the dead soldiers lying\nin the field, and contrived to pass under the feet of Kali, who no\nsooner perceived her husband trampled under her feet, than she became\nabashed, and in the fashion of the women of the country, bit her\ntongue as expressive of her regret and indelicacy.\n\n\"It is amusing to follow the line of argument put forth in the Puranas\nin support of these myths. In some instances, they approach so near\nthe ludicrous, that were it not for their thorough adaptability to the\nstate of native society of the time, their fallacies would have been\nlong ago exposed, and the whole Puranic system spurned and despised.\n\n\"Sakti is Force. Originally a sect of Hindoos worshipped force and\nmatter as eternal. The word being in the feminine gender, its\npersonification is a female divinity of supernatural powers, and every\noccupation which called for great exercise of energy and power at once\nselected her as tutelary goddess, and she is now the most popular of\nall the three and thirty millions of the Hindu pantheon. _Saktaism_\nhas since imbibed so many brutal practices of cannibalism, human\nsacrifices, and bacchanalian rites, that the very name of a Sakta,\ninspires horror and disgust, nevertheless the unholy Tantras, which\npropound and explain the principles of this doctrine, and give rules\nfor worshipping the different forms of Sakti, are increasing in number\nand popularity. They were, until lately, comparatively unknown beyond\nthe frontier of Bengal, but copies of MSS. are now demanded from every\nquarter of Hindustan. The Tantric system is of Bengali origin, and its\nrites and customs are ultimately interwoven with those of the hill\ntribes, especially those of Nepal and Assam. Demonology is a principal\nfeature in the Sakta faith, and the various nocturnal ceremonies are\nfixed which were much in vogue in Bengal, even as late as about fifty\nyears ago.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe great feature of the religion taught by the Tantras is the worship\nof Sakti--Divine power personified as a female, and individualised,\nnot only in the goddesses of mythology, but in every woman: to whom,\ntherefore, in her own person religious worship may be and is\noccasionally addressed. The chief objects of adoration, however, are\nthe manifold forms of the bride of Siva; Parvati, Uma, Durga, Kali,\nSyama, Vindhya-vasini, Jaganmata, and others. Besides the usual\npractices of offerings, oblations, hymns, invocations, the ritual\ncomprises many mystical ceremonies and accompaniments, gesticulations\nand diagrams, and the use in the commencement and close of the prayers\nof various monosyllabic ejaculations of imagined mysterious import.\nEven in its last exceptionable division it comprehends the performance\nof magical ceremonies and rites, intended to obtain super-human\npowers, and a command over the spirits of heaven, earth, and hell. The\npopular division is, however, called by the Hindus themselves, the\n_left-hand_ Sakta faith. It is to this that the bloody sacrifices\noffered to Kali must be imputed; and all the barbarities and\nindecencies perpetrated at the Durga Puja, the annual worship of\nDurga, and the Churuk Puja, the swinging festival, are to be ascribed.\nThere are other atrocities which do not meet the public eye. This is\nnot a random foundationless charge, we have the books describing the\nrites and ceremonies, some of them are in print, veiled necessarily in\nthe obscurity of the original language, but incontrovertible witnesses\nof the veracity of the charge. Of course no respectable Hindu will\nadmit that he is a Vamachari, a follower of the left-hand ritual, or\nthat he is a member of a society in which meat is eaten, wine is\ndrunk, and abominations not to be named are practised. The imputation\nwill be indignantly denied, although, if the Tantras be believed,\n\"many a man who calls himself a Saiva, or a Vaishnava, is secretly a\nSakta, and a brother of the left-hand fraternity.\"[12]\n\n        [12] Wilson's Lectures.\n\nThe worshippers of Sakti have always been divided into two classes, a\nright and a left-hand order, and three sub-divisions of the latter\nwere enumerated, who until lately were still well known--the\nPurnabhishiktas, Akritarthas, Kritakrityasamas.\n\nTime, and the presence of foreign rulers, it is evident to all\nobservers, have very much modified the character of much of the Hindu\nworship; if the licentious practices of the Saktas are still as\nprevalent as ever, which may well be questioned, they are, at least,\ncarefully concealed from observation, and if they are not exploded,\nthere are other observances of a more ferocious description, which\nseem to have disappeared. The worship of Bhairava, still prevails\namongst the Saktas and the Jogis; but in upper India, at least, the\nnaked mendicant, smeared with funeral ashes, armed with a trident or a\nsword, carrying a hollow skull in his hand, and half intoxicated with\nthe spirits which he has quaffed from that disgusting wine-cup,\nprepared, in short, to perpetrate any act of violence and crime, the\nKapalika of former days, is now rarely, if ever, encountered.\n\nA hundred years ago, the worshippers of the Sakti were exceedingly\nnumerous amongst all classes of Hindus, it was computed that of those\nof Bengal, at least three-fourths were of this sect. The bride of Siva\nin one or other of her many and varied forms, was by far the most\npopular emblem in Bengal, and along the Ganges.\n\nThe worship of the female principal, as distinct from the divinity,\nappears to have originated in the literal interpretation of the\nmetaphorical language of the Vedas, in which the will or purpose to\ncreate the universe, is represented as originating from the creator,\nand co-existent with him as his bride, and part of himself. Thus in\nthe Rig Veda, it is said, \"That divine spirit breathed without\nafflation single, with her who is sustained within him; other than him\nnothing existed.\" First desire was formed in his mind, and that became\nthe original productive seed, and the Sama Veda, speaking of the\ndivine cause of creation, says, \"He felt not delight, being alone. He\nwished another, and instantly became such. He caused his ownself to\nfall in 'twain, and thus became husband and wife. He approached her,\nand thus were human beings produced.\" In those passages it is not\nunlikely that reference is made to the primitive tradition of the\norigin of mankind, but there is also a figurative representation of\nthe first indication of wish or will in the Supreme Being. Being\ndevoid of all qualities whatever, he was alone, until he permitted the\nwish to be multiplied to be generated with himself. This wish being\nput into action, it is said, became united with its parent, and then\ncreated beings were produced. Thus this first manifestation of divine\npower is termed _Ichchhaupaa_, personified desire, and the creator is\ndesignated as _Swechchamaya_, united with his own will; whilst in the\nVedanta philosophy, and the popular sects, such as that of Kabir, and\nothers, in which all created things are held to be illusory, the\nSakti, or active will of the deity, is always designated and spoken of\nas Maya, or Mahamaya, original deceit or illusion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n    Further account of Right-hand and Left-hand worship--The\n    practices of the Vamis or Vamacharis--The rite of Mantra\n    Sadhana--Ceremony of Sri Chakra--Claim of the priests to\n    supernatural power--Legends.\n\n\nWith regard to what have been called right-hand and left-hand worship\nwe proceed to develop a few further particulars on the authority of\ncertain statements made in the Calcutta Review for 1848. When the\nworship of the Shakti is publicly performed, and in a manner quite\nharmonious to the Vaidik or Puranik ritual, and free from all obscene\npractices and impurities, it is termed the Dhakshina or right-hand\nform of worship; and those who adopt this pure ritual are termed\nDhakshinacharis. The peculiarities of this sect were described at\nlength, many years ago, in a work compiled by Kasinath, and entitled\n_Dhakshinachara_, _Tantra Raja_. According to this authority--the\nritual declared in the Tantras of the Dhakshinacharis is pure, and\nconformable to the Vedas. Its leading parts are:--\n\n1st.--_Auchmana._ The object of this, as well as some other ceremonies\nthat follow, is the purification of the worshippers. It consists in\ntaking up water from a copper vessel, with a small spoon of the same\nmetal, by the left hand, and pouring a small quantity of it on the\nhalf-closed palm of the right hand: in sipping up this water thrice\nwith the lips, and in touching with the fingers in rapid succession,\nthe lips, the eyes, and other parts of the head, along with the\nrepetition of proper formulae. With respect to the quantity of water to\nbe sipped, it is directed and strictly enjoined that it must be such\nas to run down the throat to the mouth of the oesophagus, and no\nfurther.\n\n2nd.--_Shasti Buchana._ This part of the ceremony is performed with\nthe view of rendering the result of adoration beneficial to the\nworshipper. Mention is now made of the month, the age of the moon, and\nthe day in which the ceremony takes place, and then appropriate\nmantras are repeated, such as, like good omens, are believed to\nprognosticate happy results.\n\n3rd.--_Sankalpa._ This is like the prayer part of a petition. In this\nthe adorer discloses the immediate object of his worship, mentioning\nagain by name the month, the fortnight, whether dark or bright, and\nthe age of the moon. He mentions also his own proper name and his\ngotra, which is always the name of some rishi or saint. A fruit,\ngenerally a betel-nut or a _haretaki_, is necessary, which is held in\nthe water contained in the copper vessel called Kosha.\n\n4th.--_Ghatasthapana._ or the placing of a pot. This consists in\nplacing a pot or jar, generally made of earth, but sometimes of brass\nor any pure metal, on a small elevation formed of mud,--the mud of the\nthrice sanctifying Ganges is of course preferable to any other. The\njar is filled with water, a bunch of mango leaves, with a green\ncocoanut, or a ripe plantain, is placed on its top, and the sectarial\nmark called the yantra is painted with red lead on its front. This is\nto serve for a temporary abode of the goddess, whose presence in it is\nworshipfully solicited.\n\n5th.--_Samanya Argha Sthapana._ This part of the devotion is opened by\noffering prayers to the ten cardinal points, which, according to the\nHindus, are the East, South-east, South, South-west, West, North-west,\nNorth, North-east, the Zenith, and the Nadir, presided over by Indra,\nAgni, Yama, Nairit, Baruna, Bayu, Kubera, Isha or Mohadeva, Brahma and\nAnanta. After this, what is called an Argha, composed of a small\nquantity of soaked rice and a few blades of durva-grass, is to be\nplaced on a dumb-conch shell, on the left side of the worshipper; and\nif, besides the worshipper, any Brahman, or Brahmans be present, a few\ngrains of rice must be given to each of them, after which, they all\nthrow the rice on the pot.\n\n6th.--_Ashan Suddhi_, or literally the purification of the seat, but\ntechnically, of the posture in which the worshipper is to sit or stand\nwhile engaged in his devotion. This varies according to the immediate\nobject of worship. The Tantras prescribe eighty thousand different\nsorts of postures. Some of these are impossible, others are very\npainful, all are more or less ludicrous.\n\n7th.--_Bhuta Shuddhi_, or the purification of the body. It is called\nBhuta Suddhi, for the body is believed to be composed of the five\nelementary substances called bhuta, viz., earth, water, fire, air, and\nether. In this observance, the worshipper is to conceive, that his old\nbody is consumed, and that a new and purified one is put on. It is\ndeclared that fire and nectar are deposited in every man's forehead;\nand it is by this brain-fire that the old body is to be conceived to\nbe reduced to ashes, on which nectar being mentally sprinkled over, a\nregenerated body must be conceived to come to existence by virtue of\nthe mantras.\n\n8th and 9th.--_Pranayain_ and _Rishyadinyas_. These are introductory\nprayers, inviting the presence of the goddess.\n\n10th and 11th.--_Matrikanyas_ and _Barnanyas_. These are singular\nrites, in which the worshipper repeats in order the letters of the\nSanskrit alphabet, each with the Anaswara combined, as ang, ang, kang,\nkhang, gang, ghang, and so on with the rest. And as he repeats these\nletters, which are fifty in number, he touches fifty different parts\nof his own body, according to directions minutely laid down in the\nTantras; and when an earthen image of the goddess is to be worshipped\nfor the first time, the officiating priest touches also the\ncorresponding parts of the idol.\n\n12th.--_Dyana._ In this, the worshipper is required, by closing both\nhis eyes, to form the image of his guardian divinity in his mind, and\nto fix his mental vision upon it for some time.\n\n13th.---_Abahan_, _Chakshudan_, and _Pranpratistha_. When the worship\nis performed without an image of the goddess, she is invoked to\nvouchsafe her presence in the jar.\n\n14th.--_Pujah_, or the presenting of offerings of rice, fruit,\nincense, etc.\n\n15th.--_Lelehi Mudra_, or the performance of the gesticulation called\nLelehi, which consists in putting the palm of the right hand upon the\nback of the left, and shaking the fingers. There are no less than\nsixty-four thousand different sorts of Mudra prescribed in the\nTantras.\n\n16th.--_Abarana Pujah_, or the worship of the attendants of the\ngoddess.\n\n17th.--_Mahakala Pujah_, or the adoration of Mahakala, a form of\nShiva.\n\n18th.--_Balidan_, or the offering of sacrifice, commonly a blood\noffering.\n\n19th.--_Kabajan Patheth._ In praise of the exploits of the goddess.\n\n20th.--_Homa._ Pouring clarified butter upon the consecrated fire,\nmade for the purpose on a bed of sand about one foot square. The ashes\nare worn on the forehead, and the residue carefully deposited or\nburied in a corner of the house.\n\nThe Vamis, or the left-hand worshippers, adopt a form of worship\ncontrary to that which is usual, and they not only worship the Shakti\nof Siva in all her terrific forms, but pay adoration to her numerous\nfiend-like attendants, the Yoginis, Dakinis, and the Sankinis.\n\nThe rites practised by the Vamis or Vamacharis are so grossly obscene,\nas to cast into shade the worst inventions which the most impure\nimagination can conceive. \"In this last mentioned sect (the Shaktas),\"\nsays a learned Sanskrit scholar, \"as in most others, there is a\nright-handed and decent path, and a left-handed and indecent mode of\nworship, but the indecent worship of this sect is most grossly so, and\nconsists of unbridled debauchery, with wine and women. This profligate\nsect is supposed to be numerous, though unavowed. In most parts of\nIndia, if not in all, they are held in deserved detestation; and even\nthe decent Shaktas do not make public profession of their tenets, nor\nwear on their foreheads the mark of the sect, lest they should be\nsuspected of belonging to the other branch of it.\" Solitude and\nsecrecy being strictly enjoined to the Vamis, they invariably\ncelebrate their rites at midnight, and in most unfrequented and\nprivate places. They neither acknowledge their participation in these\nmost scandalous orgies, nor, as we have already remarked, confess that\nthey belong to any branch of the Shakta sect, although their reserve\nin this respect is becoming every day more and more relaxed, if not of\nall, at least, of many. Those, whose immediate object is the\nattainment of super-human powers, or whose end is specific, aiming at\nsome particular boon or gift, are more strict on the point, lest they\nreap no fruits of their devotion. They never admit a companion, nor\neven one of their own fraternity, into the place of their worship.\nEven when they are believed by the credulous Hindus to have become\nShiddas, that is, possessed of supernatural powers; or in other words,\nwhen they have acquired sufficient art to impose upon their ignorant\nand superstitious countrymen, and have established their reputation as\nmen capable of working miracles, they take every care not to disclose\nthe means through which they have attained the object of their wishes,\nunless revealed by some accidental occurrence or unlooked-for\ncircumstance. Those whose object is of a general character, hold a\nsort of convivial party, eating and drinking together in large\nnumbers, without any great fear of detection. But yet they always take\ncare to choose such secluded spots for the scenes of their devotion,\nas lie quite concealed from the public view. They generally pass\nunnoticed, and are traced out only when we make it our aim to detect\nthem by watching over their movements like a spy. At present, as their\nchief desire appears to be only the gratification of sensual\nappetites, they are at all times found to be more attentive to points\nwhich have a direct reference to the indulgence of their favourite\npassions, than to those minor injunctions which require of them\nsecrecy and solitude. These, however, they are obliged to observe, at\nleast in part, for their own account; for the abominations which,\nunder the name of religious rites, they practice, cannot but expose\nthem to disgrace and reproach, even among the degenerate Hindus.[13]\n\n        [13] Religious Sects of India by H. H. Wilson.\n\nGuided by the same authority we present a brief summary of the\nprincipal rites observed by the above sect. The drinking of spirituous\nliquors, more or less, is with them, we are told, no less a habit than\na religious practice. They will perform no religious ceremony without\nwine. In their various forms of daily worship, in the performance of\nall their ceremonial rites, in the celebration of all their public\nfestivals, wine is indispensable. Every article of food which they\noffer to their goddess, is sprinkled over with the intoxicating\nliquor. Here it should be observed that the orthodox Vamis will never\ntouch any foreign liquor or wine, but use only the country doasta,\nwhich they drink out of a cup formed either of the cocoa, or of a\nhuman skull. The liquor is first offered to their especial divinity in\nquart bottles or pints, but more frequently in _chaupalas_ and earthen\njars, and then distributed round the company, each member having a cup\nexclusively his own. If there be no company, the worshipper pours the\nliquor into his own cup and after certain motions and prayers, empties\nit at a single draught. They call themselves and all other men that\ndrink wine, _birs_ or heroes, and those that abstain from drinking,\n_pasus_, _i.e._, beasts. No sooner is a child born, than they pour\ninto its mouth a drop or two of wine; at the time of its Sankara,\ncalled the _Anna prasana_, which takes place at the sixth moon from\nits birth, if it be a male, or at the seventh moon, if it be a female,\nthey give it pieces of cork or _shola_ dipped in wine to be sucked, so\nthey habituate the child from its cradle, in the drinking of\nspirituous liquors. At the time of the principal initiation, or\n_mantra grahana_, that is, when the specific or Bij mantra is received\nfrom the Guru, he and his new disciple drink together, the former at\nintervals giving instructions to the latter as to the proper mode of\ndrinking. Whenever the spiritual guide visits a Kaula family, all its\nmembers, men, women, and children, gather round him, and with great\ncheers and feasting, drink his health as he drinks theirs. The fact\nis, drinking is carried on to an infamous and degrading extent, their\nprinciple is said to be, drink, and drink, and drink again, till you\nfall flat on the ground; the moment you rise, drink again, and you\nshall obtain final liberation.\n\nIn justice to some who are exceptions to this rule, we must observe\nthat all Vamacharis are not drunkards, though they all drink. Some of\nthe Tantras prescribe the exact quantity to be drunk. According to\ntheir prescription, the least dose to be taken is an ounce, and the\nlargest not exceeding three ounces.\n\nThere is another variety of the Vamis who substitute certain mixtures\nin the place of wine. These mixtures are declared in the Tantras to be\nequivalent to wine, and to possess all its intrinsic virtues without\nthe power of intoxication; such as the juice of the cocoanut received\nin a vessel made _kansa_: the juice of the water-lemon mixed with\nsugar, and exposed to the sun; molasses dissolved in water, and\ncontained in a copper vessel, etc.\n\nIn all the ceremonies, which not only comprehend the worship of the\nShakti, but are performed for the attainment of some proposed object,\nthe presence of a female, as the living representative, and the type\nof the goddess, is indispensably necessary. Such ceremonies are\nspecific in their nature, and are called _Shadhanas_. Some who are\nmore decent than the rest of the sect, join their wives in the\ncelebration of the gloomy rites of Kali. Others make their beloved\nmistresses partners in their joint devotion. Here the rite assumes a\nblacker aspect. The favourite concubine is disrobed, and placed by the\nside or on the thigh of her paramour who is in the same condition. In\nthis situation, the usual calmness of the mind must be preserved, and\nno evil lodged in it. Such is the requisition of the Shastras, say the\nVamis, when reproached for their brutal practices.\n\nIn this way is performed the rite called the _Mantra Sadhana_. It is,\nas must be expected, carried on in great secrecy, and is said to lead\nto the possession of supernatural powers. The religious part of it is\nvery simple, consisting merely of the repetition of the Mula mantra,\nwhich may or may not be preceded by the usual mode of Shakta worship.\nHence it is called the _Mantra Sadhana_, to distinguish it from other\nsorts of Sadhanas. After ten P.M., the devotee, under pretence of\ngoing to bed, retires into a private chamber, where, calling his wife\nor mistress, and procuring all the necessary articles of worship, such\nas wine, grains, water, a string of beads, etc., he shuts the doors\nand the windows of the room, and, sitting before a lighted lamp, joins\nwith his partner in drinking. The use of this preliminary is obvious.\nWhen, by the power of the spirits, the veil of shame is withdrawn, he,\nmaking his wife or mistress sit in the manner already described,\nbegins to repeat his mantra, and continues to do so till one, two, or\nthree o'clock in the morning. At intervals the glass is repeated, and\nthe ceremony is closed in a manner which decency does not allow us to\nstate.\n\nWe now come to the blackest part of the Vama worship. Nothing can be\nmore disgusting, nothing more abominable, nothing more scandalously\nobscene, than the rite we are about to describe. The ceremony is\ncalled Shi-Chakra, Purnabhisheka, the ring or full initiation. This\nworship is mostly celebrated in mixed societies, composed of motley\ngroups of various castes, though not of creed. This is quite\nextraordinary, since, according to the established laws of the caste\nsystem, no Hindu is permitted to eat with an inferior. But here the\nrule is at once done away with, and persons of high caste, low caste,\nand no caste, sit, eat, and drink together. This is authorised by the\nShastras in the following text:--\"While the Bhairavi Tantra (the\nceremony of the Chakra) is proceeding, all castes are Brahmans--when\nit is concluded they are again distinct.\" Thus while the votaries of\nthe Shakti observe all the distinctions of caste in public, they\nneglect them altogether in the performance of her orgies.\n\nThe principal part of the rite called the Chakra is Shakti Sadhana or\nthe purification of the female representing the Shakti. In the\nceremony termed mantra Sadhana, we have already noticed the\nintroduction of a female, the devotee always making his wife or\nmistress partner in his devotion. This cannot be done in a mixed\nsociety. For although the Vamis are so far degenerated as to perform\nrites such as human nature, corrupt as it is, revolts from with\ndetestation, yet they have not sunk to that depth of depravity as to\ngive up their wives to the licentiousness of men of beastly conduct.\nNeither is it the ordination of the Shastras. For this purpose they\nprescribe females of various descriptions, particularly \"a dancing\ngirl, a female devotee, a harlot, a washerwoman, or barber's wife, a\nfemale of the Braminical or Sudra tribe, a flower girl, or a milk\nmaid.\" Some of the Tantras add a few more to the list, such as a\nprincess, the wife of a Kapali, or of a Chandal, of a Kulala, or of a\nconch seller. Others increase the number to twenty-six, and a few even\nto sixty-four. These females are distinguished by the name of Kula\nShakti. Selecting and procuring females from the preceding classes,\nthe Vamacharis are to assemble at midnight in some sequestered spot,\nin eight, nine, or eleven couples, the men representing Bhairavas or\nViras, and the women Bhairavas or Nayikas. In some cases a single\nfemale personating the Shakti is to be procured. In all cases, the\nKula Shakti is placed disrobed, but richly adorned with ornaments on\nthe left of a circle (chakra) described for the purpose, whence the\nceremony derives its name. Sometimes she is made to stand, totally\ndestitute of clothing, with protuberant tongue and dishevelled hair.\nShe is then purified by the recitation of many mantras and texts, and\nby the performance of the mudra or gesticulations. Finally she is\nsprinkled over with wine, and if not previously initiated, the Bij\nmantra is thrice repeated in her ear. To this succeeds the worship of\nthe guardian divinity; and after this, that of the female, to whom are\nnow offered broiled fish, flesh, fried peas, rice, spirituous liquors,\nsweetmeats, flowers, and other offerings, which are all purified by\nthe repeating of incantations and the sprinkling of wine. It is now\nleft to her choice to partake of the offerings, or to rest contented\nsimply with verbal worship. Most frequently she eats and drinks till\nshe is perfectly satisfied, and the refuse is shared by the persons\npresent. If, in any case, she refuses to touch or try either meat or\nwine, her worshippers pour wine on her tongue while standing, and\nreceive it as it runs down her body in a vessel held below. This wine\nis sprinkled over all the dishes which are now served among the\nvotaries.\n\nSuch is the preliminary called the purification of the Shakti. To this\nsucceeds the devotional part of the ceremony. The devotees are now to\nrepeat their radical mantra, but in a manner unutterably obscene. Then\nfollow things too abominable to enter the ears of men, or to be borne\nby the feelings of an enlightened community; things, from which the\nrudest savage would turn away his face with disgust.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHere the diabolical business closes.\n\nThe religious practices of the Shaktas being such as are believed to\nlead to the possession of supernatural powers, many persons of this\nsect, taking advantage of the religious blunders of the great mass of\nthe people, practice the most barefaced impositions. The credulity of\nthe Hindus becomes to many an inexhaustible source of wealth,\nespecially to those who are at the head of any religious\nestablishment, where any form of the Shakti is the presiding divinity.\nThese priests who day and night attend on the goddess, and perform\nvarious mystical rites, gradually acquire the credit of having close\nintimacy and secret communication with her; and then gifts, presents,\nand votive offerings are incessantly poured on the altar. Under\npretence of healing diseases of children, and curing barrenness,\nmothers and young women are induced to join in the worship of Kali,\nwhen the worthy votaries of the black goddess, the priests, thank her\nfor having fulfilled the object of their wishes. Offerings are\npresented, not only for receiving blessings, but also for personal\nsafety. Life and death are said to be in the hands of these Shiddhas.\nThey, if provoked, can sooner or later, kill the offender by the power\nof their mantras. This deadly ceremony is called Maranuchchatan. There\nis in one district, a temple dedicated to Shiddheswari, a form of\nKali, the late attending priest of which was a man universally\nbelieved to be of no common rate. The belief yet prevails in the\nneighbourhood, that once in the height of indignation he caused the\ndeath of a rich native for having indirectly called him a drunkard.\nThe story runs thus:--At a feast given to the Brahmans by this native\ngentleman, the priest of Shiddheswari was invited to his house,--the\nlatter, on account of the manifold duties of the temple, was late in\nhis attendance, on which the host, being displeased with his conduct,\nsaid to him as he entered the door, \"Well, Bhattacharjya, now I\nbelieve the dimness of your eyes has vanished,\" alluding to his known\nhabit of drinking. At this raillery, the rage of the favourite of Kali\nknew no bounds. He instantly returned to the temple and closed its\ndoors, strictly enjoining his servants not to disturb his meditation\nbefore flames from the funeral pile of the wretched host ascended to\nthe skies. And, wonderful to relate, an hour had scarcely elapsed,\nbefore the sons of the host came to the priest with clothes around\ntheir necks, fell suppliant on their knees, and with folded hands\nimplored his mercy, saying, \"O! Sir, save us and our family.\" The\npriest smiling, asked them what was the matter, to which they replied,\nweeping, \"Our father is no more. No sooner had your holy feet left our\ndoors, than on a sudden blood came out rushing from his mouth, he fell\non the ground and expired. Save us, we entreat thee, and the rest of\nhis family, for we have not offended against thy holy divinity.\" On\nthis, the wrath of the priest was pacified, and he spoke to them in an\naffectionate tone; \"No fear, my children, you are safe, go home and\nperform your father's funeral obsequies.\"\n\nAnother marvellous anecdote is told of him, as well as of many others\nof similar character. When on one occasion he was bringing liquor\nconcealed in a water-pot, a person whose object was to expose him,\nstopped him on the way and wanted to see what was in the pot. To this\nhe calmly replied, nothing but milk. Saying this, he poured out the\ncontents, and the liquor was found converted into milk. Such persons,\nby taking advantage of the fears of the superstitious Hindus, extort\nmoney and other presents from them.\n\nMuch of the splendour of the Hindu idolatry consists in the\ncelebration of the Shakta rites. The great festivals, which are\nannually celebrated in Bengal, such as the Durga Puja, the Jagaddhari\nand Kali Pujas, the Charak, the Basanti, Rutanti and Falahari Pujas,\nare all Shaktya observances, and for the most part performed by the\nworshippers of the Shakti. These festivals themselves, and the\nexhibitions that accompany them, exert a pernicious influence over the\nmorals of the people. The spirit in which these religious days are\nkept, the splendid and fascinating ceremonies connected with them, and\nthe merry exhibitions, including savage music and indecent dancing,\nthat form a part of the worship, cannot but captivate and corrupt the\nheart and overpower the judgment of youth.\n\nThe Shakta processions are utterly abominable. One of them takes place\nafter the blood-offerings at public festivals. Of a similar character\nare those which go before and follow the images, when carried to be\nthrown into the river or into a pond. On these occasions the Shaktas\nutter terms most grossly obscene, loudly and repeatedly, and make\ngestures the most indecent that can be imagined; and all this before\ntheir goddess and the public.\n\nThe habit of drinking wine, which prevails so widely among the\nShaktas, produces baneful effects on the minds of the Hindus. Leaving\nthe Kaulas as out of the question, since they themselves train up\ntheir children in the habit of drinking, the Shaktas in general are\nmore forward in trying the qualities of the prohibited article than\nany other sect of the orthodox Hindus, and their example stimulates\nothers to do the same. This is one of the reasons why the drinking of\nspirituous liquors, which was almost unknown among the Hindus of yore,\nhas gradually become so prevalent among them, as at this day. The\ntenets of the Shaktas open the way for the gratification of all the\nsensual appetites, they hold out encouragement to drunkards, thieves\nand dacoits; they present the means of satisfying every lustful\ndesire; they blunt the feelings by authorising the most cruel\npractices, and lead men to commit abominations which place them on a\nlevel with the beasts. The Shaktya worship is impure in itself,\nobscene in its practices, and highly injurious to the life and\ncharacter of men.[14]\n\n        [14] See Calcutta Review for 1855.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n    Considerations respecting the origin of Phallic\n    worship--Comparisons between Indian and Egyptian practices and\n    doctrines.\n\n\nFor the bulk of the evidence respecting Phallic or Nature Worship, and\nfor illustrations of its original character and ultimate developments,\nit is evident that India is the land to which we must chiefly look for\ninformation: for this reason the majority of the preceding pages deal\nwith that part of the world. Historically perhaps there is\nconsiderable difficulty in deciding as to where this worship\noriginated; its antiquity is so great, and its diffusion throughout\nvarious countries so general and extensive, that it appears impossible\nto say whether Greece, Rome, India, or Egypt was its earliest home or\nbirthplace.\n\nThere are some considerations, however, which render it probable that\nit was in India where its earliest manifestations were exhibited.\nWhatever impurities and abominations may have clustered round it in\ncomparatively modern times, the fact must not be lost sight of, that\nin its earlier phases in that country nothing was associated with it\nthat was calculated to cause any offence to the most refined and\nmodest of minds. Very little judgment is needed to understand that the\ntendency of practices thus appealing to the most easily excited of the\nanimal passions would be downward rather than upward, that instead of\ngrowing pure and free from the taint of lustful desires, the almost\ninevitable fruit would be impurity and licentious indulgence; it is\nnot likely therefore that the more respectable worship of early India\nwould be the product of the gross practices of the other nations we\nhave named. We can see clearly enough, we think, the origin of this\nworship resting upon the highest aspirations of the human soul. In\nendeavouring to frame a theological system and arrange a method of\nworship to meet the cravings of the mind for intercourse with the\ncreative powers of the universe, men would be sure to fix their\nthoughts upon those means and agents by which living beings and things\nwere brought into existence, and which, to say the least of it, acted\nas secondary causes in the creative work. These, of course, would be\nthe generative organs of men and animals in general, and for want of\nbetter and more exalted teaching, they would easily enough persuade\nthemselves that it was a proper thing to worship the power symbolized\nby such objects, if they did not actually worship the objects\nthemselves. Perhaps originally, the first of these two ideas was all\nthat was intended or contemplated, for it is undeniable that many\ncases have come under our notice in which men were really rendering\nadoration to an unknown spiritual power when they appeared to be doing\nnothing but worshipping a graven image.\n\nThere is no doubt the religious system of the Hindus is very ancient,\nand it has been supposed by some that it was formed about the same\ntime as that of the Egyptians, from which that of the Greeks and other\nwestern nations was in some measure derived. Many points of\nresemblance have been observed between them, too many, and too\nstriking, to have been fortuitous. Even some of the inhabitants of\nEthiopia appear to have been of the same origin with those of\nHindostan, and both the Ethiopians and Egyptians seem to have had some\nconnection or intercourse with the Hindoos; but of what kind it was,\nor when it subsisted, we have no certain account; and they appear to\nhave been so long separated, that at present they are in total\nignorance of each other.\n\nAccording to Eusebius and Syncellus, some people from the river Indus\nsettled in the neighbourhood of Egypt in the reign of Amenophis, the\nfather of Sesostris, and many Egyptians, banished by their princes,\nsettled in other countries and went as far as India. It is also\nsupposed that many of the priests of Egypt left the country on the\ninvasion of it by Cambyses. But such circumstances as these are not\nsufficient to account for the great resemblance between the two\nsystems. The Hindoos themselves say that their sacred books came from\nthe West, but they themselves, no doubt, as well as their books, came\nfrom that quarter, and their sacred books, it is supposed, were\nprobably composed while the seat of the empire was in Persia.\n\nThere are a few Egyptian words similar to those in the ancient\nlanguage of Hindostan, which seem to shew that the two people had some\naffinity to each other. _Brama_, pronounced _birouma_ in Malabar,\nsignifies man, and so did _pirouma_ in the language of Egypt. The name\nof the river of Egypt, Nile, is probably Sanscrit, since _nila_ in\nthat language, signifies blue, and the ancients say it had its name\nfrom that colour.\n\nBut circumstances of much more importance than these discover some\nearly connection between Hindostan and Egypt. The names and figures of\nthe twelve signs of the Zodiac among the Hindoos are nearly the same\nwith ours, which came from Egypt through Greece, and each of these\nsigns is divided into thirty degrees. Both the Egyptians and Hindoos\nhad also the same division of time into weeks, and they denominated\neach of the days by the names of the same planets.\n\nThe resemblance between the Oriental and Occidental systems extends\nmuch farther than Egypt. The office and power of the Druids in the\nnorthern parts of Europe, did not differ much from those of the\nBrahmins; and the Etruscans, from whom the Romans derived the greatest\npart of their learning and religion, had a system which had a near\naffinity with that of the Persians and Indians, and they wrote\nalternately to the right hand and the left.\n\nSeveral remarkable general principles were held alike by the ancient\nEgyptians and the Hindoos. They both believed that the souls of men\nexisted in a prior state, and went into other bodies after death. They\nhad the same ideas of the body being a prison to the soul, and\nimagined that they could purify and exalt the soul by the\nmortification of the body; and from the idea of the great superiority\nof spiritual to corporeal substances, they held all _matter_ in great\ncontempt. They also believed (according to La Croze) that plants had a\nprinciple of animation.\n\nSeveral religious ideas and customs were common to both countries. The\nEgyptians of Thebais represented the world under the figure of an egg,\nwhich came from the mouth of Cneph, and this resembled the first\nproduction according to the Hindoo system. Several of the Egyptian\ndeities were both male and female, which corresponds with the figure\nof the lingam with the Hindoos. This obscene figure, at least the\nphallus, was much used in the Egyptian worship, and from Egypt it was\ncarried into Greece, where it was used in the mysteries of Bacchus. As\nthe Hindoos worshipped their god Siva under this figure, and carried\nit in procession, the Egyptians and Greeks did the same with the\nphallus. Also, the lascivious postures of the Egyptian women before\ntheir god Apis, were the same as those of the Hindoo women before\ntheir idols. The Hindoos also chose their sacred bulls by the same\nmarks as were used by the Egyptians.\n\nThen, again, the account of the flight of the Egyptian gods, as given\nby the Greeks, and their concealing themselves under the forms of\nanimals, bears some resemblance to the various transformations of\nVishnu. Also, the Egyptians worshipped the Nile and the Hindoos the\nGanges. Some of the Hindoo temples have the same remarkable form,\nviz., that of a pyramid, or cone. That the pyramids of Egypt had some\nreligious use can hardly be doubted. All the pagodas are in that form,\nor have towers of that form in the buildings which surround them. The\ntemples in Pegu are also of a conical form. Sir William Jones says\nthat the pyramids of Egypt, as well as those discovered in Ireland,\nand probably also the tower of Babel, seem to have been intended for\nimages of Mahadeva, or Siva. One other thing, the onion, which was\nheld in veneration by the Egyptians, is not eaten by the Hindoos.\n\nNot only do we find the same general principles, and the same, or\nsimilar, religious customs, but some of the same gods among the\nHindoos, Egyptians, and Greeks. The Egyptian Cneph was the Supreme\nintelligence, which was never lost sight of by the Hindoos. With the\nEgyptians, Isis represented not only the moon, but sometimes the\npowers of Nature, which were supposed to have been in a great measure\nderived from the moon; and in Bengal and Japan, also, the same is\ncalled Isari, or Isi, and is described as a goddess with many arms.\nAccording to Sir William Jones, Iswara of the Hindoos is the Osiris of\nthe Egyptians, and Nared, a distinguished son of Brahma, resembles\nHermes, or Mercury. A statue of Jupiter had a third eye in its\nforehead, and Siva has three eyes. Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch say\nthat Osiris signifies a person that has many eyes, and Siva is drawn\nwith an additional eye in his forehead, though the phallus is his\nusual form. Osiris was said to have been killed by Typhon, and Chib\ncut off the head of Brahma.\n\nIndra of the Hindoos, called also Divespiter, is Jupiter, or\nDiespiter; the bull of Iswara is the Apis, or Ap, of Egypt. Cartraya,\nwith six faces and many eyes, was the Egyptian Orus, and the Mars of\nItaly. Sri, or Iris, called also Pedna, and Camala, was Ceres, and\naccording to Herodotus, she was the Egyptian Isis. Ganesu was Janus.\nVisuacarman, the Indian forger of arms for the gods, was Vulcan. The\nRama of India is Dyonisus, called also Bromius by the Greeks: Krishnu\nor Vishnu, is Apollo, and in Irish, it signifies the sun. According to\nthe Vedas and other sacred works, a bad genius, or giant, seizes on\nthe sun and moon when they are eclipsed, and the Egyptians ascribed\nthe same thing to their Typhon, who was said even to have swallowed\ntheir god Horus, or the Sun.\n\nThe Egyptians at certain festivals carried the images of their gods in\nprocession. Herodotus says they drew one of them in a carriage with\nfour wheels, and the same was done by the Hindoos. The Egyptians held\ncows in much greater veneration than any other animals; they were\nsacred to Isis, and never sacrificed. Some superstitious respect was\nalso paid to horned cattle by the Persians. In an account of the\nZendavesta, Ormusd, the Supreme Being, directs Zerdusht to render\nworship and praise to the _Supreme Ox_, and to the rain, of which the\nangel Jashter, who subsists in the form of an ox, is the distributor.\nThe Hindoos made some use of the image of a bull, as Mr. Sonnerat\nrelates in his account of some of their Temples, though they never\ncarried their superstition in this respect so far as the Egyptians,\nwho made live bulls the immediate objects of their worship.\n\nIt may be said that in all this there is a great deal of mere\nconjecture, and therefore of uncertainty; the evidence, however, upon\nwhich it is founded, coming from a number of independent sources from\nwriters of repute, learning, and veracity--is not easily disposed of.\nIt seems conclusive that systems very like one another indeed\nprevailed in different parts of the world, and though similar\nsituations may lead to similar sentiments, and corresponding\npractices, the above mentioned similarity is too great, and extends to\ntoo many particulars, to be thus accounted for. It is not at all\nextraordinary that men who had no communication with each other should\nbe equally worshippers of the sun, moon, and stars, that they should\nfancy deep caverns, or thick woods, to be haunted with spirits, that\nparticular rivers should have their several genii, or deities\ndispensing their waters at their pleasure, as the sun, they might\nsuppose, did his heat, and the moon, the stars, and the planets their\npeculiar influences; but that they should adopt the same rites in the\nworship of these natural deities, and especially that they should give\nthem _attributes_, and even _names_, so nearly alike, is beyond the\neffect of accident.\n\nThe conclusion we come to, and which we think is fully warranted by\nall the circumstances, is, that the great mass of phallic worship\nexisting in different parts of the world began in India, and gradually\nfound its way into the western nations, becoming, as was perfectly\nnatural with such a system, more and more depraved as time went on,\nand as it was found that it could be made subservient to the desires\nand passions of licentious men.\n\nOur frontispiece represents a pious female propitiating Mahadeva or\nSiva in his generative character, indicated by the Linga, inserted in\nits appropriate receptacle, the Argha, or Yoni. The engraving is taken\nfrom a picture which Moor describes as being delicately executed, the\nfemale being young, handsome, and elegantly dressed. She is performing\nthe ceremony of _Linga puja_, to which such frequent references is\nmade in these pages, and she has spread out in front of her the\nvarious objects required in that service. The symbol is placed in one\nof the many domestic temples, common at one time in India, known as\nDewal, or Devel, from Deva, a _deity_, and _havela_, a house,\nliterally a house of God. It is this erection which is ordinarily\nwritten pagoda, by the English, a word not used in India. The stone of\nthe building is white, its lines gold, and it is surmounted by a gold\nspire, called Sekra; when temples, or other things have a conical, or\npine-apple shaped termination, such ornament is called Kalasa. The\nexterior of the temple is white, its interior, ash coloured, like its\npatron deity, the Linga and Asgha are of black stone with gilt edges:\nthe Linga (the upright conical stone), which has mystical orange\ncoloured lines traced on it, is crowned with encircled folds of Bilva\nflowers; and a chaplet of three strings of them, white with yellow\nbuds at regular distances, hangs pendent from the top of the Linga,\nfalling towards the termination or spout of the Argha. The Bilva is a\nshrub consecrated to Mahadeva, who alone wears a chaplet of its\nflowers, which are offered in sacrifice to no other deity. The various\nimplements used in the puja to Siva are, five lighted lamps; (or one\nlamp with five wicks) a spouted vessel holding lustral water; a cup\nfor ghee; another cup for water with which to sprinkle the flowers;\nand a bell rung at certain times to scare away evil spirits.\n\nThe woman sits on an embroidered carpet, called Asana: her right hand\nis in a bag of gold brocade, the hand being supposed to hold a rosary\nof round beads, 108 in number without the connecting ones.\n\nThis picture admirably illustrates the true character of the original\nlingam-worship of India, and fully bears out all that has been said\nrespecting its original freedom from the indecencies which afterwards\nbecame so flagrant and universal.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n    Vocabulary of words of Indian and Sanscrit origin.\n\n\nAbadi--An inhabited place.\n\nAban--The name of the eighth month.\n\nAbashan--A low caste of labourers.\n\nAbd--A slave.\n\nAbdali--Fakirs of the bashara order.\n\nAbdar--A servant who prepares water for domestic use.\n\nAbdhut--A sect of religious mendicants.\n\nAbhir--A caste employed as cowherds and shepherds.\n\nAbkar--A maker of strong waters.\n\nAbri--A building stone found at Kabul.\n\nAchargya--A caste of Bengalese, said to have originated from the\nBrahmins.\n\nAcharya--A teacher.\n\nAchatur--A caste of cultivators of the soil.\n\nAdalat--A court of justice.\n\nAdar--The ninth month.\n\nAdbhutasanti--A burnt sacrifice used to counteract evil omens.\n\nAdhipati---A ruler.\n\nAdhwaryu--The third class of priests employed at a vedic sacrifice.\n\nAdi Granth--The chief scripture of the Sikhs.\n\nAdinath--The first arhat of the Jains.\n\nAditya--The sun.\n\nAdlingadawar--A caste of agriculturists.\n\nAdvichinchi--A caste of cultivators of the land.\n\nAfrit--A demon.\n\nAgarwala--A trading caste.\n\nAgasa--A caste of washermen.\n\nAghora--Religious mendicants who sometimes feed on human flesh.\n\nAgiari--A temple in which perpetual fire is maintained.\n\nAgni--The god of fire.\n\nAguri--A Bengalese caste of cultivators.\n\nAhri--One of the Himalayan gods.\n\nAhriman--The personification of evil in the Zoroastrian religion.\n\nAkshamala--A string of beads.\n\nAlifshai--The Benawa fakirs.\n\nAmanth--A Bengalese caste employed as servants.\n\nAmaras--Immortal.\n\nAmbattan--A caste employed as barbers.\n\nAmma Kodagas--A sect driven away by the Brahmins.\n\nAnant--Endless, a name applied to Vishnu and other gods.\n\nAndhyaru--A Parsi priest.\n\nAndra--A Buddhist dynasty considered to have reigned in India from 31\nB.C. to 429 A.D.\n\nAnila--The god of fire.\n\nAnnapurna--The goddess who is said to feed the inhabitants of Benares.\n\nAranyaka--A part of the Veda, considered so holy that it may be read\nonly in the solitude of a forest.\n\nArchaka--An officiating priest at a pagoda.\n\nArdha-matra--A mysterious word applicable to the deity.\n\nArdhanarisa--Name of Siva in his form as half male, half female.\n\nArja--A female mendicant.\n\nAsani--A small seat, also a carpet used at prayers.\n\nAsiloma--A demon who had swords instead of hair.\n\nAsthal--A temple.\n\nAsura--A spirit.\n\nAtasil--The eight precepts binding on an upasaka.\n\nAtharwa--The name of the fourth veda.\n\nAukamma--A village goddess.\n\nAvasta--The Zoroastrian scriptures.\n\nAyenar--A god of India who is supposed to guard the fields from demons.\n\nAzad--An order of fakirs.\n\n\nBagh--A garden.\n\nBahucharaji--A goddess worshipped in Gujarat.\n\nBahuta--An amulet worn on the arm by the worshippers of Narsingh.\n\nBai--A lady.\n\nBaidni--A woman of the Baidya caste.\n\nBaidya--A caste supposed to be the offspring of a Brahman father and\nVaisya mother.\n\nBalai--A caste of Sudras.\n\nBalaram--The elder brother of Krishna, sometimes an incarnation of\nVishnu.\n\nBana--An arrow.\n\nBandha--A slave or bondmen.\n\nBarahan--A goddess who is supposed to cure swelled hands and feet.\n\nBarat--The final ceremony of a marriage.\n\nBarwa--A wise man of the Bhils.\n\nBasani--A prostitute, or female dedicated to a god.\n\nBasawa--The sacred bull.\n\nBashkala--A demon.\n\nBenawa--A community of fakirs of the beshara order.\n\nBeshara--Those fakirs who hold themselves above the law.\n\nBhadaria--Mendicant astrologers of Brahman origin.\n\nBhadu--A low class of Uriya Brahmans.\n\nBhagat--A worshipper.\n\nBhagvan--The divine spirit.\n\nBhagwat--A name for God.\n\nBhairawa--A name of Siva.\n\nBhairawanath--A name of Siva.\n\nBhairon--_same as_ Bhaironath.\n\nBhakta--A devotee.\n\nBhavin--A woman devoted to the service of the Temple.\n\nBhikhu--A religious mendicant.\n\nBhopi--A priest of a village temple.\n\nBhu--The earth.\n\nBhut--The spirit of the dead; a goblin.\n\nBhuteswara--A name of Siva as destroyer.\n\nBhutya--Devotees of Bhawani.\n\nBilwa--The bel tree.\n\nBisheswar--A name of Siva, alluding to his having swallowed poison.\n\nBoa--A Temple.\n\nBo-tree--The pipal.\n\nBrahma--The Creator.\n\nBrahman--The first of the Hindu castes.\n\nBrahmani--A woman of Brahman caste.\n\nBroto--A vow.\n\nBudibudaki--A religious beggar who smears himself with ashes.\n\nBurha-Deo--The great God.\n\nBut--The name of a devi.\n\n\nCatanar--A priest of the Syrian Church.\n\nChakra--The weapon of Vishnu.\n\nChattur--A consecrated cake of cow-dung.\n\nChhandas--A sacred hymn.\n\nChhandoga--A name of the udgatri priest.\n\nChillah--A forty days' fast.\n\nChitpawan--A subdivision of the Maharashtra Brahmans.\n\nChitragupta--The first of the ministers of Yama.\n\nCholipanth--A sect of Panjabis allowing free sexual intercourse.\n\nChori--A marriage hall.\n\nChurel--A hobgoblin in the form of a hideous woman.\n\nCrore--Ten millions.\n\n\nDada--An elderly person, or a paternal grandfather.\n\nDadupanthi--A Vaishnawa sect founded by Dadu.\n\nDaftar--A register.\n\nDagoba--A dome-like structure built over the relics of a saint.\n\nDain--A witch.\n\nDaitya--A demon.\n\nDaiwatapka--Parsi betrothal ceremony.\n\nDakaut--Braminical astrological mendicants.\n\nDakiri--A female imp who feeds upon human flesh.\n\nDachocha--A caste said to be descended from a Brahman father and a Gauli\nmother.\n\nDakshina--A cow fit to be given to a Brahman.\n\nDanawa--A demon.\n\nDargah--The tomb of a saint.\n\nDasi--A woman dedicated to a temple.\n\nDastur--A Parsi high priest.\n\nDevi--A goddess; especially Durga.\n\nDevrukhi--The room of a temple where the idol stands.\n\nDewa--A god.\n\nDewanga--One who wears the emblem of Siva.\n\nDewasthan--A temple.\n\nDewata--A deity.\n\nDhumra--A giant.\n\nDinesha--Lord of the day.\n\nDiwar---Divinity of a village, for whom a portion of the grain is set\napart at each harvest.\n\nDobe--A brahma who has studied two of the four Vedas.\n\nDurdhara--A leader in the army of demons.\n\nDurga--The consort of Siva.\n\nDurga-puga--The worship of Durga.\n\nDurmukha--The name of a demon--the fury faced.\n\nDwaparayuga--The Third age of the world.\n\n\nEshana--One of the names of Siva.\n\n\nFakir--A Mohammedan religious mendicant.\n\n\nGabhara--The inner room of a temple where the idol stands.\n\nGadipati--Chief of a body of religious mendicants.\n\nGanesa--A god, the son of Siva.\n\nGarudi--A snake charmer.\n\nGentoo--Another name for a Hindu.\n\nGhaus--A fakir of the highest sanctity.\n\nGomedha--The sacrifice of a cow.\n\nGondhal--A noisy festival in honour of Devi.\n\nGopura--Building over the gate of a temple.\n\nGorakhnath--A name of Siva.\n\nGosain--An ascetic.\n\nGoshanashin--A Mohammedan ascetic.\n\nGramadewata--Tutelary deity of a village.\n\nGranthi--A reader of the Granth, or Sikh Scriptures.\n\nGrihadava--The tutelary god of a house.\n\nGrihastha--A Brahman in the second asrama.\n\nGuga--A saint to whom offerings are made to avert danger from snakes.\n\nGuru--A religious teacher.\n\n\nHaj--A pilgrimage.\n\nHaji--One who has performed the Haj.\n\nHambali--One of the orthodox schools of Sunnis.\n\nHar--A name of Siva.\n\nHara--The destroyer.\n\nHarpuji--The worship of the plough.\n\nHoma--An oblation made by pouring butter on a fire.\n\nHotri--The highest class of priest employed at a Vedic sacrifice.\n\nHuttari--Festival in honour of the rice harvest.\n\n\nId-al-fitr--Festival of breaking fast.\n\nIdgah--A place of prayer for Mussalmans.\n\nImam--The officiating priest of a mosque.\n\nIndra--The king of the firmament.\n\nIravata--The elephant of Indra.\n\nIshna-namaz--Prayer of sunset.\n\nIshrak-namaz--Prayer at sunrise.\n\nIshtadewa--A favourite deity.\n\nIswara--A name of Siva.\n\n\nJag--A vigil kept by Sudras on the tenth night after a sudden death, in\norder to summon the spirit of the deceased into the body of his son, or\nother person, and reveal the cause of death, the place where his\ntreasures are hidden, or other matter desired to be known.--_J. T.\nMelesworth._\n\nJagannath--A name of Vishnu.\n\nJajman--A patron.\n\nJanardan--A name of Vishnu.\n\nJanhavi--A name of the Ganges.\n\nJatra--A pilgrimage to a holy place.\n\nJin--A goblin.\n\nJivagar--A Buddhist ascetic.\n\nJnandewa-panthi--A supposed incarnation of Vishnu.\n\n\nKabir-panthi--A Vaishnawa sect, followers of Kabir.\n\nKailasa--The heaven of Siva.\n\nKali--The wife of Siva.\n\nKalki--The name of Vishnu in his tenth awatar, which is to take place at\nthe end of the present, or kali, age, when he will destroy the wicked\nand inaugurate a new age of purity.--_Whitworth._\n\nKarniji--A goddess worshipped in Bikaner.\n\nKatayani--A name of the goddess Parvati.\n\nKesari--The name of the lion of Durga.\n\nKeshava--One of the names of Vishnu.\n\nKhatib--The preacher in the mosque on Fridays and feast-days.\n\nKhirakasi--A sect of Hindus who renounced idolatry and Brahmanism.\n\nKhodiar--The devi of one of seven sisters of the Charan caste.\n\nKoti--A crore, or ten millions.\n\nKowmari--A appellation of Durga.\n\nKowshiki--A goddess that emanated from Parvati.\n\nKuber--The god of riches.\n\n\nLakshmi--Wife of Vishnu.\n\nLinga--The phallus or emblematic representation of Siva.\n\nLingait--A sect of Saiwas who wear the emblem of the linga.\n\nLohana--The most numerous class of Hindus in Sindh.\n\nLokas--The world.\n\n\nMadhu--The name of a demon.\n\nMadhwacharya--A Vaishava sect.\n\nMahadeva--A name of Siva.\n\nMahajanwadi--A place where caste feasts are celebrated.\n\nMahakala--A name of Siva.\n\nMaheswar--A name of Siva.\n\nManbhawa--A Vaishnava sect.\n\nMantra--Form of worship in the oldest part of the veda.\n\nManu--Man. Founder of the Manvantara.\n\nMaruta--Wind. A god of the wind.\n\nMasjid--A Mohommedan church.\n\nMastan--The Rasulshahi fakirs.\n\nMata--Name applied to various goddesses.\n\nMatia--A believer.\n\nMatsya--The first principal awater of Vishnu.\n\nMobed--A Parsi priest.\n\nMund--A demon.\n\nMuni--A saint.\n\nMundphoda--The Gurzmar fakirs, who beat their heads until they bleed in\norder to extort charity.\n\nMusa Sohag--A body of fakirs who dress as women.\n\nMutawalli--The warden of a mosque.\n\n\nNadiya--A bull marked as sacred.\n\nNaga--Naked.\n\nNageswaraswami--A serpent deity.\n\nNama--A mark worn on the forehead by followers of Vishnu.\n\nNamadari--A Vaishnava.\n\nNandana--A beautiful garden in Indra's heaven.\n\nNanda Devi--A name of Durga.\n\nNandi--Siva's bull.\n\nNarak--The place of punishment for souls.\n\nNarakasur--A demon son of Bhumi, slain by Vishnu.\n\nNarangkar--The maker of men.\n\nNarayana--The divine spirit moving on the waters.\n\nNarsinh--A form assumed by Vishnu in order to destroy the demon\nHiranyakasipu.\n\nNat--A spirit supposed to have the power to ward off evil.\n\nNavar--A Parsi priest of low order.\n\nNazar--The evil eye.\n\nNimbarka--A Vaishavan sect worshipping Krishna and Riadha conjointly.\n\nNirwana--Having the fire of life extinguished.\n\n\nPagoda--A Hindu temple in the south of India.\n\nParameshvari--A name of Durga.\n\nParamahansa--A sect of Siva's devotees.\n\nPariah--An outcast from society.\n\nParvati--The consort of Siva.\n\nPasupati--A name of Siva.\n\nPatala--The nether regions.\n\nPavaka--The god of fire.\n\nPinaki--A name of Siva.\n\nPrakriti--A goddess.\n\nPundarikaksha--Lotus-eyed.\n\nPurusha--Man; the human soul.\n\n\nRajasuya--A sacrifice performed at a coronation.\n\nRali--The deified spirit of a woman who drowned herself on being married\nto a child.\n\nRamanandi--A sect of Vaisnavas.\n\nRamanuja--A Vaishawan sect in the south of India.\n\nRamban--A priest of high rank.\n\nRath--A war chariot.\n\nRig--The first Veda.\n\nRishi--A sage or hermit.\n\nRozah--A fast.\n\nRudra--The storm-god.\n\n\nSadhu--A saint.\n\nSadra--The sacred shirt worn by the Parsis.\n\nSaduba--The name of a goddess.\n\nSakta--A worshipper of a sakti.\n\nSakti--Power.\n\nSama--The third Veda.\n\nSanhita--A collection of Vedic hymns.\n\nSannyasi--An ascetic.\n\nSaptapadi--Seven steps taken round the sacred fire, part of a Hindu\nmarriage.\n\nSaravasti--Goddess of eloquence and literature.\n\nSastri--A teacher.\n\nSattra--A sacrifice.\n\nSanra--A worshipper of the sun.\n\nSavitri--One of the incarnations of Sarasvati.\n\nShakra--One of the denominations of Indra.\n\nShakti--Power.\n\nShambu--An appellation of Siva.\n\nSiva--The third person of the Hindu triad.\n\nSrawak--A Buddhist saint.\n\nSura--A deity.\n\n\nTarpana--Offering of water.\n\nTrinetra--Three-eyed.\n\n\nUgni--God of fire.\n\nUmbika--A name of Durga.\n\n\nVaishnavi--The consort of Vishnu.\n\nVanhi--One of the names of the god of fire.\n\nVidhi--One of the names of Brahma.\n\nVipra--A person who recites Vedas.\n\nVishnu--The second person of the Hindu triad, the preserver.\n\nVrutra--The name of a demon.\n\n\nYogini--A class of malicious female fiends.\n\n\n\n\nNature Worship and Mystical Series.\n\nCr. 8vo, Vellum, 7s. 6d. each, nett.\n\n_Only a very limited number_, PRIVATELY PRINTED.\n\n\nPHALLICISM.--A Description of the Worship of LINGAM-YONI in various\nparts of the World, and in different Ages, with an Account of Ancient\nand Modern Crosses, particularly of the CRUX ANSATA (or Handled Cross)\nand other Symbols connected with the Mysteries of SEX WORSHIP. _(Only\nin sets), or 10s. 6d. separately._\n\n    The importance of this subject, may be gleaned from the\n    following remarks of Major Gen. Forlong. \"Our Queen rules\n    over, according to the latest census returns, some 100\n    millions of PURE-PHALLIC worshippers, that is three times the\n    population of these Islands, and if we say merely Phallo-Solar\n    worshippers, then 200 millions.\"\n\n\nOPHIOLATREIA.--An Account of the Rites and Mysteries connected with\nthe Origin, Rise, and Development of SERPENT WORSHIP in various parts\nof the World, enriched with Interesting Traditions, and a full\ndescription of the celebrated Serpent Mounds and Temples, the whole\nforming an exposition of one of the phases of PHALLIC, or SEX WORSHIP.\n\n\nPHALLIC OBJECTS, MONUMENTS AND REMAINS; Illustrations of the Rise and\nDevelopment of the PHALLIC IDEA (Sex Worship), and its embodiment in\nWorks of Nature and Art. _Etched Frontispiece._\n\n\nCULTUS ARBORUM.--A Descriptive Account of PHALLIC TREE WORSHIP, with\nillustrative Legends, Superstitious Usages, etc.; exhibiting its\nOrigin and Development amongst the Eastern and Western Nations of the\nWorld, from the earliest to modern times.\n\n    This work has a valuable bibliography which will be of the\n    greatest use and value to the student of Ancient Faiths. It\n    contains references to nearly five hundred works on Phallism\n    and kindred subjects.\n\n\nFISHES, FLOWERS, AND FIRE as ELEMENTS AND DEITIES in the PHALLIC\nFAITHS AND WORSHIP of the Ancient Religions of GREECE, BABYLON, ROME,\nINDIA, etc., with illustrative Myths and Legends.\n\n\nARCHAIC ROCK INSCRIPTIONS; an Account of the Cup and Ring Marking on\nthe Sculptural Stones of the Old and New Worlds. _With etched\nfrontispiece._\n\n    \"Let any one inspect the plates in works delineating the Hindu\n    Pantheon, and compare the drawings of the lingam-yoni with\n    many of the rock markings we have described, with those for\n    instance on the frontispiece of this book, and they will find\n    it difficult to avoid the conclusion that there is a manifest\n    and striking connection. The fact is, the phallic idea, has\n    prevailed all over the world to a far greater extent than many\n    have ever imagined, and superficial observers have passed by\n    many things as inexplicable which came properly within its\n    domain, and which thus recognised, would have been readily\n    understood. It is not, of course, to the gross forms of the\n    Priapus used in ancient Greek, Roman, or Egyptian Festivals\n    that we allude, but to the much more refined, and, if we may\n    so call it, modest lingam worship of India.\"--THE AUTHOR.\n\n\nNATURE WORSHIP, or an Account of PHALLIC FAITHS and Practices, Ancient\nand Modern, including the Adoration of the Male and Female Powers, and\nthe SACTI PUJA OF INDIAN GNOSTICISM, by the author of Phallicism,\n_with etched frontispiece_.\n\n    The subject reaches from the earliest dawn of history through\n    long and eventful ages, down to the most modern times, and\n    touches almost every kingdom of the past and present, in the\n    four quarters of the earth. The unearthing of long-buried\n    statues, monuments, and mystifying inscriptions, has suggested\n    and provoked new lines of study among symbolical remains, and\n    the key to so much that for long was unreadable has been found\n    in the singular revelations of this peculiar worship.\n\n\nMYSTERIES OF THE ROSIE CROSS, or the History of that Curious Sect of\nthe Middle Ages, known as the ROSICRUCIANS, with Examples of their\nPretensions and Claims.\n\n    In this work an attempt has been made to convey an\n    intelligible idea of the peculiar mystic sect of the\n    Rosicrucians. It is the first serious attempt to penetrate the\n    secret recesses of this occult body, whose strange beliefs and\n    curious practices have, ever since the days of Rosenkreutz,\n    been enveloped in a cloud of profound mystery.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\nThe spellings are inconsistent as presented in the original work.","title":"Phallic Miscellanies: Facts and Phases of Ancient and Modern Sex Worship, as Illustrated Chiefly in the Religions of India","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":42118}