{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXVII/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXVII","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXVII","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XXXVII","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"XXXVII. EASTERN MYTHOLOGY \u2014 ZOROASTER \u2014 HINDU MYTHOLOGY \u2014 CASTES; BUDDHA \u2014 GRAND LAMA\n\nZOROASTER\n\nOur knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians is\nprincipally derived from the Zendavesta, or sacred books of that\npeople. Zoroaster was the founder of their religion, or rather the\nreformer of the religion which preceded him. The time when he\nlived is doubtful, but it is certain that his system became the\ndominant religion of Western Asia from the time of Cyrus (550\nB.C.) to the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. Under the\nMacedonian monarchy the doctrines of Zoroaster appear to have been\nconsiderably corrupted by the introduction of foreign opinions,\nbut they afterwards recovered their ascendency.\n\nZoroaster taught the existence of a supreme being, who created two\nother mighty beings and imparted to them as much of his own nature\nas seemed good to him. Of these, Ormuzd (called by the Greeks\nOromasdes) remained faithful to his creator, and was regarded as\nthe source of all good, while Ahriman (Arimanes) rebelled, and\nbecame the author of all evil upon the earth. Ormuzd created man\nand supplied him with all the materials of happiness; but Ahriman\nmarred this happiness by introducing evil into the world, and\ncreating savage beasts and poisonous reptiles and plants. In\nconsequence of this, evil and good are now mingled together in\nevery part of the world, and the followers of good and evil\u2014the\nadherents of Ormuzd and Ahriman\u2014carry on incessant war. But this\nstate of things will not last forever. The time will come when the\nadherents of Ormuzd shall everywhere be victorious, and Ahriman\nand his followers be consigned to darkness forever.\n\nThe religious rites of the ancient Persians were exceedingly\nsimple. They used neither temples, altars, nor statues, and\nperformed their sacrifices on the tops of mountains. They adored\nfire, light, and the sun as emblems of Ormuzd, the source of all\nlight and purity, but did not regard them as independent deities.\nThe religious rites and ceremonies were regulated by the priests,\nwho were called Magi. The learning of the Magi was connected with\nastrology and enchantment, in which they were so celebrated that\ntheir name was applied to all orders of magicians and enchanters.\n\nWordsworth thus alludes to the worship of the Persians:\n\n\"... the Persian,\u2014zealous to reject\n\nAltar and Image, and the inclusive walls\n\nAnd roofs of temples built by human hands,\u2014\n\nThe loftiest heights ascending, from their tops,\n\nWith myrtle-wreathed Tiara on his brows,\n\nPresented sacrifice to Moon and Stars,\n\nAnd to the Winds and mother Elements,\n\nAnd the whole circle of the Heavens, for him\n\nA sensitive existence and a God.\"\n\n\u2014Excursion, Book IV.\n\nIn \"Childe Harold\" Byron speaks thus of the Persian worship:\n\n\"Not vainly did the early Persian make\n\nHis altar the high places and the peak\n\nOf earth-o'er-gazing mountains, and thus take\n\nA fit and unwalled temple, there to seek\n\nThe Spirit, in whose honor shrines are weak,\n\nUpreared of human hands. Come and compare\n\nColumns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,\n\nWith Nature's realms of worship, earth and air,\n\nNor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer.\"\n\nIII., 91.\n\nThe religion of Zoroaster continued to flourish even after the\nintroduction of Christianity, and in the third century was the\ndominant faith of the East, till the rise of the Mahometan power\nand the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the seventh century,\nwho compelled the greater number of the Persians to renounce their\nancient faith. Those who refused to abandon the religion of their\nancestors fled to the deserts of Kerman and to Hindustan, where\nthey still exist under the name of Parsees, a name derived from\nPars, the ancient name of Persia. The Arabs call them Guebers,\nfrom an Arabic word signifying unbelievers. At Bombay the Parsees\nare at this day a very active, intelligent, and wealthy class. For\npurity of life, honesty, and conciliatory manners, they are\nfavorably distinguished. They have numerous temples to Fire, which\nthey adore as the symbol of the divinity.\n\nThe Persian religion makes the subject of the finest tale in\nMoore's \"Lalla Rookh,\" the \"Fire Worshippers.\" The Gueber chief\nsays,\n\n\"Yes! I am of that impious race,\n\nThose slaves of Fire, that morn and even\n\nHail their creator's dwelling-place\n\nAmong the living lights of heaven;\n\nYes! I am of that outcast crew\n\nTo Iran and to vengeance true,\n\nWho curse the hour your Arabs came\n\nTo desecrate our shrines of flame,\n\nAnd swear before God's burning eye,\n\nTo break our country's chains or die.\"\n\nHINDU MYTHOLOGY\n\nThe religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on the Vedas. To\nthese books of their scripture they attach the greatest sanctity,\nand state that Brahma himself composed them at the creation. But\nthe present arrangement of the Vedas is attributed to the sage\nVyasa, about five thousand years ago.\n\nThe Vedas undoubtedly teach the belief of one supreme God. The\nname of this deity is Brahma. His attributes are represented by\nthe three personified powers of creation, preservation, and\ndestruction, which under the respective names of Brahma, Vishnu,\nand Siva form the Trimurti or triad of principal Hindu gods. Of\nthe inferior gods the most important are: 1. Indra, the god of\nheaven, of thunder, lightning, storm, and rain; 2. Agni, the god\nof fire; 3. Yama, the god of the infernal regions; 4. Surya, the\ngod of the sun.\n\nBrahma is the creator of the universe, and the source from which\nall the individual deities have sprung, and into which all will\nultimately be absorbed. \"As milk changes to curd, and water to\nice, so is Brahma variously transformed and diversified, without\naid of exterior means of any sort.\" The human soul, according to\nthe Vedas, is a portion of the supreme ruler, as a spark is of the\nfire.\n\nVISHNU\n\nVishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the Hindus, and\nis the personification of the preserving principle. To protect the\nworld in various epochs of danger, Vishnu descended to the earth\nin different incarnations, or bodily forms, which descents are\ncalled Avatars. They are very numerous, but ten are more\nparticularly specified. The first Avatar was as Matsya, the Fish,\nunder which form Vishnu preserved Manu, the ancestor of the human\nrace, during a universal deluge. The second Avatar was in the form\nof a Tortoise, which form he assumed to support the earth when the\ngods were churning the sea for the beverage of immortality,\nAmrita.\n\nWe may omit the other Avatars, which were of the same general\ncharacter, that is, interpositions to protect the right or to\npunish wrong-doers, and come to the ninth, which is the most\ncelebrated of the Avatars of Vishnu, in which he appeared in the\nhuman form of Krishna, an invincible warrior, who by his exploits\nrelieved the earth from the tyrants who oppressed it.\n\nBuddha is by the followers of the Brahmanical religion regarded as\na delusive incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by him in order to\ninduce the Asuras, opponents of the gods, to abandon the sacred\nordinances of the Vedas, by which means they lost their strength\nand supremacy.\n\nKalki is the name of the tenth Avatar, in which Vishnu will appear\nat the end of the present age of the world to destroy all vice and\nwickedness, and to restore mankind to virtue and purity.\n\nSIVA\n\nSiva is the third person of the Hindu triad. He is the\npersonification of the destroying principle. Though the third\nname, he is, in respect to the number of his worshippers and the\nextension of his worship, before either of the others. In the\nPuranas (the scriptures of the modern Hindu religion) no allusion\nis made to the original power of this god as a destroyer; that\npower not being to be called into exercise till after the\nexpiration of twelve millions of years, or when the universe will\ncome to an end; and Mahadeva (another name for Siva) is rather the\nrepresentative of regeneration than of destruction.\n\n\u00a0\n\nThe worshippers of Vishnu and Siva form two sects, each of which\nproclaims the superiority of its favorite deity, denying the\nclaims of the other, and Brahma, the creator, having finished his\nwork, seems to be regarded as no longer active, and has now only\none temple in India, while Mahadeva and Vishnu have many. The\nworshippers of Vishnu are generally distinguished by a greater\ntenderness for life, and consequent abstinence from animal food,\nand a worship less cruel than that of the followers of Siva.\n\nJUGGERNAUT\n\nWhether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reckoned among the\nfollowers of Vishnu or Siva, our authorities differ. The temple\nstands near the shore, about three hundred miles south-west of\nCalcutta. The idol is a carved block of wood, with a hideous face,\npainted black, and a distended blood-red mouth. On festival days\nthe throne of the image is placed on a tower sixty feet high,\nmoving on wheels. Six long ropes are attached to the tower, by\nwhich the people draw it along. The priests and their attendants\nstand round the throne on the tower, and occasionally turn to the\nworshippers with songs and gestures. While the tower moves along\nnumbers of the devout worshippers throw themselves on the ground,\nin order to be crushed by the wheels, and the multitude shout in\napprobation of the act, as a pleasing sacrifice to the idol. Every\nyear, particularly at two great festivals in March and July,\npilgrims flock in crowds to the temple. Not less than seventy or\neighty thousand people are said to visit the place on these\noccasions, when all castes eat together.\n\nCASTES\n\nThe division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with fixed\noccupations, existed from the earliest times. It is supposed by\nsome to have been founded upon conquest, the first three castes\nbeing composed of a foreign race, who subdued the natives of the\ncountry and reduced them to an inferior caste. Others trace it to\nthe fondness of perpetuating, by descent from father to son,\ncertain offices or occupations.\n\nThe Hindu tradition gives the following account of the origin of\nthe various castes: At the creation Brahma resolved to give the\nearth inhabitants who should be direct emanations from his own\nbody. Accordingly from his mouth came forth the eldest born,\nBrahma (the priest), to whom he confided the four Vedas; from his\nright arm issued Shatriya (the warrior), and from his left, the\nwarrior's wife. His thighs produced Vaissyas, male and female\n(agriculturists and traders), and lastly from his feet sprang\nSudras (mechanics and laborers).\n\nThe four sons of Brahma, so significantly brought into the world,\nbecame the fathers of the human race, and heads of their\nrespective castes. They were commanded to regard the four Vedas as\ncontaining all the rules of their faith, and all that was\nnecessary to guide them in their religious ceremonies. They were\nalso commanded to take rank in the order of their birth, the\nBrahmans uppermost, as having sprung from the head of Brahma.\n\nA strong line of demarcation is drawn between the first three\ncastes and the Sudras. The former are allowed to receive\ninstruction from the Vedas, which is not permitted to the Sudras.\nThe Brahmans possess the privilege of teaching the Vedas, and were\nin former times in exclusive possession of all knowledge. Though\nthe sovereign of the country was chosen from the Shatriya class,\nalso called Rajputs, the Brahmans possessed the real power, and\nwere the royal counsellors, the judges and magistrates of the\ncountry; their persons and property were inviolable; and though\nthey committed the greatest crimes, they could only be banished\nfrom the kingdom. They were to be treated by sovereigns with the\ngreatest respect, for \"a Brahman, whether learned or ignorant, is\na powerful divinity.\"\n\nWhen the Brahman arrives at years of maturity it becomes his duty\nto marry. He ought to be supported by the contributions of the\nrich, and not to be obliged to gain his subsistence by any\nlaborious or productive occupation. But as all the Brahmans could\nnot be maintained by the working classes of the community, it was\nfound necessary to allow them to engage in productive employments.\n\nWe need say little of the two intermediate classes, whose rank and\nprivileges may be readily inferred from their occupations. The\nSudras or fourth class are bound to servile attendance on the\nhigher classes, especially the Brahmans, but they may follow\nmechanical occupations and practical arts, as painting and\nwriting, or become traders or husbandmen. Consequently they\nsometimes grow rich, and it will also sometimes happen that\nBrahmans become poor. That fact works its usual consequence, and\nrich Sudras sometimes employ poor Brahmans in menial occupations.\n\nThere is another class lower even than the Sudras, for it is not\none of the original pure classes, but springs from an unauthorized\nunion of individuals of different castes. These are the Pariahs,\nwho are employed in the lowest services and treated with the\nutmost severity. They are compelled to do what no one else can do\nwithout pollution. They are not only considered unclean\nthemselves, but they render unclean everything they touch. They\nare deprived of all civil rights, and stigmatized by particular\nlaws regulating their mode of life, their houses, and their\nfurniture. They are not allowed to visit the pagodas or temples of\nthe other castes, but have their own pagodas and religious\nexercises. They are not suffered to enter the houses of the other\ncastes; if it is done incautiously or from necessity, the place\nmust be purified by religious ceremonies. They must not appear at\npublic markets, and are confined to the use of particular wells,\nwhich they are obliged to surround with bones of animals, to warn\nothers against using them. They dwell in miserable hovels, distant\nfrom cities and villages, and are under no restrictions in regard\nto food, which last is not a privilege, but a mark of ignominy, as\nif they were so degraded that nothing could pollute them. The\nthree higher castes are prohibited entirely the use of flesh. The\nfourth is allowed to use all kinds except beef, but only the\nlowest caste is allowed every kind of food without restriction.\n\nBUDDHA\n\nBuddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of\nVishnu, is said by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose\nname was Gautama, called also by the complimentary epithets of\nSakyasinha, the Lion, and Buddha, the Sage.\n\nBy a comparison of the various epochs assigned to his birth, it is\ninferred that he lived about one thousand years before Christ.\n\nHe was the son of a king; and when in conformity to the usage of\nthe country he was, a few days after his birth, presented before\nthe altar of a deity, the image is said to have inclined its head\nas a presage of the future greatness of the new-born prophet. The\nchild soon developed faculties of the first order, and became\nequally distinguished by the uncommon beauty of his person. No\nsooner had he grown to years of maturity than he began to reflect\ndeeply on the depravity and misery of mankind, and he conceived\nthe idea of retiring from society and devoting himself to\nmeditation. His father in vain opposed this design. Buddha escaped\nthe vigilance of his guards, and having found a secure retreat,\nlived for six years undisturbed in his devout contemplations. At\nthe expiration of that period he came forward at Benares as a\nreligious teacher. At first some who heard him doubted of the\nsoundness of his mind; but his doctrines soon gained credit, and\nwere propagated so rapidly that Buddha himself lived to see them\nspread all over India. He died at the age of eighty years.\n\nThe Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas, and the\nreligious observances prescribed in them and kept by the Hindus.\nThey also reject the distinction of castes, and prohibit all\nbloody sacrifices, and allow animal food. Their priests are chosen\nfrom all classes; they are expected to procure their maintenance\nby perambulation and begging, and among other things it is their\nduty to endeavor to turn to some use things thrown aside as\nuseless by others, and to discover the medicinal power of plants.\nBut in Ceylon three orders of priests are recognized; those of the\nhighest order are usually men of high birth and learning, and are\nsupported at the principal temples, most of which have been richly\nendowed by the former monarchs of the country.\n\nFor several centuries after the appearance of Buddha, his sect\nseems to have been tolerated by the Brahmans, and Buddhism appears\nto have penetrated the peninsula of Hindustan in every direction,\nand to have been carried to Ceylon, and to the eastern peninsula.\nBut afterwards it had to endure in India a long-continued\npersecution, which ultimately had the effect of entirely\nabolishing it in the country where it had originated, but to\nscatter it widely over adjacent countries. Buddhism appears to\nhave been introduced into China about the year 65 of our era. From\nChina it was subsequently extended to Corea, Japan, and Java.\n\nTHE GRAND LAMA\n\nIt is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and of the\nBuddhist sect that the confinement of the human soul, an emanation\nof the divine spirit, in a human body, is a state of misery, and\nthe consequence of frailties and sins committed during former\nexistences. But they hold that some few individuals have appeared\non this earth from time to time, not under the necessity of\nterrestrial existence, but who voluntarily descended to the earth\nto promote the welfare of mankind. These individuals have\ngradually assumed the character of reappearances of Buddha\nhimself, in which capacity the line is continued till the present\nday, in the several Lamas of Thibet, China, and other countries\nwhere Buddhism prevails. In consequence of the victories of Gengis\nKhan and his successors, the Lama residing in Thibet was raised to\nthe dignity of chief pontiff of the sect. A separate province was\nassigned to him as his own territory, and besides his spiritual\ndignity he became to a limited extent a temporal monarch. He is\nstyled the Dalai Lama.\n\nThe first Christian missionaries who proceeded to Thibet were\nsurprised to find there in the heart of Asia a pontifical court\nand several other ecclesiastical institutions resembling those of\nthe Roman Catholic church. They found convents for priests and\nnuns; also processions and forms of religious worship, attended\nwith much pomp and splendor; and many were induced by these\nsimilarities to consider Lamaism as a sort of degenerated\nChristianity. It is not improbable that the Lamas derived some of\nthese practices from the Nestorian Christians, who were settled in\nTartary when Buddhism was introduced into Thibet.\n\nPRESTER JOHN\n\nAn early account, communicated probably by travelling merchants,\nof a Lama or spiritual chief among the Tartars, seems to have\noccasioned in Europe the report of a Presbyter or Prester John, a\nChristian pontiff resident in Upper Asia. The Pope sent a mission\nin search of him, as did also Louis IX. of France, some years\nlater, but both missions were unsuccessful, though the small\ncommunities of Nestorian Christians, which they did find, served\nto keep up the belief in Europe that such a personage did exist\nsomewhere in the East. At last in the fifteenth century, a\nPortuguese traveller, Pedro Covilham, happening to hear that there\nwas a Christian prince in the country of the Abessines\n(Abyssinia), not far from the Red Sea, concluded that this must be\nthe true Prester John. He accordingly went thither, and penetrated\nto the court of the king, whom he calls Negus. Milton alludes to\nhim in \"Paradise Lost,\" Book XI., where, describing Adam's vision\nof his descendants in their various nations and cities, scattered\nover the face of the earth, he says,\u2014\n\n\"... Nor did his eyes not ken\n\nTh' empire of Negus, to his utmost port,\n\nErcoco, and the less maritime kings,\n\nMombaza and Quiloa and Melind.\"","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XXXVII","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":3355}