rsi 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
^"fitMm&SSmuA °'a Some minor re 
 
 3 1924 023 005 279 
 
The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023005279 
 
PARSI, JAINA, AND SIKH 
 
 SOME MINOR RELIGIOUS SECTS IN INDIA 
 
HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
PARSI, JAINA, AND SIKH 
 
 OR 
 
 SOME MINOR RELIGIOUS 
 SECTS IN INDIA 
 
 Cfte e^dLitlmio Pri^e Cssag fot 1897 
 
 DOUGLAS M. THORNTON, B.A. 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE AND RIDLEY HALL, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 Mutbot of 'amca matting' 
 
 Toy yap leal y4vo$ efffiev 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 
 56 PATERNOSTER ROW AND 6$ ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD 
 1898 
 
The regulations under which Sir Peregrine Maitlaud's prize is 
 awarded by the University of Cambridge provide ' that the Essay 
 be printed at the expense of the successful candidate.' In pur- 
 suance of this regulation the present Essay is made public. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 WITH A WORD OF INTRODUCTION 
 
 Amidst the many evolutions of Indian re- 
 ligious thought, there is often a danger of 
 losing sight of individual influences at work. 
 The selection of these three religious sects of 
 Parsi, Jaina, and Sikh will, it is hoped, stimu- 
 late further study of those ages of religious 
 inquiry which have given birth to so many 
 schools of thought. The Parsi and the Sikh 
 religions are of twofold interest, as being reli- 
 gious faiths that have given birth to nations. 
 
 Parsi-ism has, therefore, been treated more 
 from an historical than a present-day stand- 
 point, which latter fails to give a true impres- 
 sion of its value as a study. The Parsi can 
 rightly claim to have encouraged the study of 
 
6 PREFACE 
 
 philology, and of the comparative method of 
 investigating the religions of the world. 
 
 The distinctive tenets of the Jaina take us, 
 for their origin, back to the Buddhist era in 
 India— that greatest era of religious specula- 
 tion that the world has ever known. And 
 hence the study of Jaina philosophy throws 
 many side-lights on the origin of Buddhism 
 and the period which gave it birth. It is time 
 that this were recognized more widely by 
 Anglo-Indians. 
 
 The Sikh remind us of the entrance of 
 Islam into India, and the era of its struggle 
 with reforming Hinduism. Their faith em- 
 bodies both the pantheism of the Brahman and 
 the monotheism of the Muslim, being itself the 
 product of the reflections of successive teachers 
 under both these influences. 
 
 D. M. T. 
 
 All Saints' Day, 1898. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PAKSI 
 
 I. Parsi-ism and its place in history — Ancient and modern 
 knowledge of Zoroastrianism — Biblical, classical, 
 
 mediaeval, European 9 
 
 II. The Parsi Scriptures — Definition of Avesta, Zand, Pahlavi, 
 Fazand, and Huzvaris — The language of the Zend- 
 Avesta — Its original extent — The formation of a Canon 
 — Present contents — Methods of interpretation . . 14 
 
 III. The origin and founder of Zoroastrianism — ^The per- 
 
 sonality of Zoroaster — His age and birthplace — Zoroas- 
 trian theology before Alexander — The Magi — Aryan 
 and Iranian elements 25 
 
 IV. The ritual of the Zend-Avesta — Birth, marriage, and 
 
 burial ceremonies — The towers of silence ... 29 
 V. Parsi history — ^The Mohammedan conquest of Persia — 
 Emigration to India — Present population, mortality, 
 and occupations — Parsi costumes, sects, calendar, 
 festivals, laws, and government 32 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE JAIKA 
 
 I. Their present extent and social importance — Discovery 
 of their origin — Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Jina — 
 Mahavira a contemporary and rival to Buddha — 
 Parallels and contrasts — The influence of Gosala — Brah- 
 manism. Buddhism, and Jainism — Their relationship — 
 Jainism not a Buddhist sect — Jaina, Buddhist, and 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Brahman vows compared — Jainism a, development of 
 Jrahmanism — The institution of the fourth Ajrama — 
 
 Views on the Atman 39 
 
 II. Authenticity of Jaina tradition— The Mathura Inscrip- 
 tions — The age of Jaina literature — Date of Devarddhi 
 and the Jaina Canon — Date of composition of the Sid- 
 dhanta — Tests of scientific knowledge, by language 
 and spelling of the texts, and by the metres used — 
 Works older than the existing Canon — The Ptirva — 
 
 Contents of the Siddhanta 49 
 
 III. Antiquity of Jaina philosophy — Early Jaina doctrines : 
 The eternity of Atman ; the kriyavada ; the annihila- 
 tion of Karman ; the three danda ; the doctrine of 
 katuyama samvarasamvuto — Early religious practices 
 of Nigantha — Leading Jaina doctrines of to-day — Jiva 
 and Ajiva — Moksha — The Jaina worship and temples . 57 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SIKH 
 
 I. Circumstances under which Sikhism came into existence 
 
 — The era of modern Hinduism — The Vaishnava — Kablr 69 
 II. The history of the Sikh — Religious and political — The 
 ten Gurus— Uovind Singh and the Khalsa— Sikh wars- 
 British occupation of the Panjab 72 
 
 III. The Grahth or sacred book of the Sikh— Its two parts 
 
 Its language and authors— Cardinal doctrines— The 
 Unity of the Supreme Being — Relation of man to 
 the Supreme— The origin of sin- Life after death— The 
 means of emancipation— The authority of the Gurii . 80 
 
 IV. Other Sikh observances— The golden temple at Amritsar 
 —Sikh population and denominations— Christian mis- 
 sions to the Panjab 88 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PARSI 
 
 ' I form the light, and ereate darkness ; I make peace, and create evil ; I am 
 the Lord, that doeth aU these things.' — IsA. xlv. 7 (E.V.). 
 
 I. Parsi-ism and its place in history — Ancient and modern know- 
 ledge of Zoroastrianism — Biblical, classical, mediaeval, 
 European. 
 
 II. The Parsi Scriptures — Definition of Avesta, Zand, Pahlavi, 
 Pazand, and Huzvaris — The language of the Zend-Avesta — 
 Its original extent — The formation of a Canon — Present 
 contents — Methods of interpretation. 
 
 ni. The origin and founder of Zoroastrianism — The personality of 
 Zoroaster — His age and birthplace — Zoroastrian theology 
 before Alexander — The Magi — Aryan and Iranian elements. 
 
 IV. The ritual of the Zend-Avesta — Birth, marriage, and burial 
 ceremonies — The towers of silence. 
 
 V. Parsi history — The Mohammedan conquest of Persia — Emigra- 
 tion to India — Present population, mortality, and occupations 
 — Parsi costumes, sects, calendar, festivals, laws, and govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Parsi-ism, and its Place in History. 
 
 The history of the world is full of eras when 
 momentous changes have happened suddenly, as well 
 as of long periods of progress and decay between 
 the storms of action. Migrations of the human race, 
 and rise of kingdoms in the East and West, have 
 caused a series of great shocks when nations meet. 
 And as the monuments of the past unravel history, it 
 is remarkable to see how often boundaries of Western 
 Asia have become this meeting-place; and how the 
 times of meeting mark the promulgation of some new 
 and great religion of the world. 
 
10 PARSI-ISM 
 
 The age of Abraham and period of the Kings are 
 known to be an age of strife between the dynasties 
 of Africa and Asia, while ancient Israel lay between 
 the two. The period of Achaemenian kings and 
 Medo-Persian empire marks the rise of Zoroastri- 
 anism. And though the East received its checks at 
 Marathon and Salamis, the brilliant short career of 
 Alexander added to the doctrines of the Magi Western 
 culture, and wider scope of influence on Greek philo- 
 sophy and Jewish thought ; while, on the other side, 
 an open door from India made a way of entrance 
 into Persia for the teachings of the Brahman and the 
 Buddha. Lastly, the Roman empire and universal 
 peace prepared three continents to receive the Christ 
 of God, until Mohammed's holy war stirred up the 
 lingering forces of disintegration in the East and West. 
 
 Ancient and Modern Knowledge of 
 Zoroastrianism. 
 
 The history of research into the religion of Zoro- 
 aster has been well divided into three periods — the 
 classical, the mediaeval, and the modem inquiries. 
 But only a few important names and authorities 
 will be mentioned here, gathered from Jewish, 
 Greek, Roman, Armenian, Mohammedan, and Euro- 
 pean sources. 
 
 Bible Witness. 
 
 The Old Testament contains two allusions to the 
 Magi and their worship ; in Jer. xxxix. 3 ' Rab Mag,' 
 or 'the chief of the Magi,' figures as an influential 
 member of Nebuchadrezzar's party, proving that 
 they had reached Babylon by 600 b. c. ; and in Ezek. 
 viii. 16, where their worship of the sun is hinted at. 
 Besides these passages there is much indirect evidence 
 that Cyrus held beliefs somewhat similar to the 
 Hebrew captives (cf. Isa. xliv. 28, xlv. i, xlvi. 11). 
 While in the New Testament the ' adoration of the 
 
ZOROASTRIANISM ii 
 
 Magi' at 'the Epiphany of Christ' is of historic 
 interest (Matt. ii. i). 
 
 Classical Witness. 
 Greek and Latin writers about the Magi are very- 
 numerous. Among those who have given the best 
 information are to be found, Herodotus (450 b. c), 
 Ktesias (400 b. c), Theopompus (300 b. c), and Her- 
 mippus (350 B. c). The latter is quoted by both Pliny 
 and Plutarch as having made elaborate investigations 
 (now lost) into all Zoroastrian books. Eudoxus and 
 Aristotle are quoted by Diogenes of Laerte as having 
 grasped the dualistic doctrine of the Magi. Among 
 later writers Strabo (60 b. c), Dio Chrysostomus 
 (130 A. D.), Pausanias (180 A. D.), Berosus, Damascius, 
 and Theodoras figure, and give respectively histories 
 of the fire-worship, theology, and dualism of the 
 Persians. 
 
 Mediaeval Witness. 
 
 Two Armenians, Eznik and Elisaeus, denounced their 
 heresies and compiled a history in the fifth century 
 A. D. Then came Masudi, the famous Arab historian 
 and traveller (950 a.d.), with more reliable information 
 on the Avesta, the Zand, and the Pazand. He dated 
 Zoroaster at 610 B. c, and did much to explain the 
 meaning of words. Two centuries later Shrahrastani 
 wrote 'on Keligious Sects and Creeds.' Though _ a 
 Mohammedan, he gives a most favourable account of 
 the Magi, and classifies them with great discretion 
 among the Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans as 
 having their creed founded on revealed books. He 
 reported several Magian sects as existing at the time 
 (1153 A.D. obit). But during all the time of the 
 Middle Ages the ignorance of Western writers about 
 the Magi was profound. 
 
 European Witness. 
 
 After the Renaissance inquiries began again. ' And 
 the nations of modem Europe came into contact with 
 
12 PARSI-ISM 
 
 the adherents of the Zoroastrian religion in the western 
 part of India, where they had settled, when they left 
 their fatherland, Persia, to escape the persecutions of 
 the Mohammedans/ Thomas Hyde (of Oxford) has 
 the honour of making the first deep research into the 
 classics upon the subject. But he knew not the Avesta 
 language. It was Anquetil Duperron whose example 
 inspired others to follow. He furnished Europe with 
 1 80 MSS. of several Oriental languages for research, 
 and gave a general outline of the contents of the 
 Avesta to the literary world in 1771. He had his 
 critics in Sir WiUiam Jones, Richardson, Meniers, and 
 Tychsen, but KleuJcer proved the authenticity of his 
 work from the classics, and Rask proved the close 
 affinity of the Avesta with Sanskrit. As early as 
 1793 Sylvestre de Sacy began to decipher Sassanian 
 Inscriptions. Then Eugene BuvTiouf, the Frenchman, 
 became the founder of Avesta philology, and published 
 the first edition of Avesta texts which had appeared 
 in Europe (1829-43]. He showed the value of 
 Neryosangh's Sanskrit translation of the greater part 
 of the Avesta, but never having studied Pahlavi his 
 work proved incomplete. After him followed a 
 number of German scholars, such as Olshausen, Bopp, 
 and Miiller; Friederic Spiegel, Hermann Brockhaus, 
 Westergaard, and Martin Haug; of lesser lights — 
 Duncker, Lassen, Windischmann, Bleeck, and Justi; 
 while more recently West, Mills, De Harlez, and 
 Darmesteter have come to the front. 
 
 A longer notice is due to some of these scholars. 
 
 Hermann Brockhaus, the Sanskrit Professor at 
 Leipsic, was the first to publish a rudimentary Avesta 
 dictionary (1850), and an edition of the Vandidad 
 Sada in Roman characters with index and glossary. 
 This book did much to stimulate Avesta studies in 
 Germany. 
 
 Friederic Spiegel aimed at giving the world a critical 
 edition of the whole of the writings in the Avesta 
 language, based upon a comparison of all the MSS. 
 
M^ESTERGAARD AND HAUG 13 
 
 then extant in Europe, whicli chiefly lay in Copen- 
 hagen, Paris, London, and Oxford. His researches 
 have been of great value. He brought out a grammar 
 of Pazand (i 851), and also of Huzvaris (i 856-60), thus 
 unravelling some of the most diiBcult pieces of work 
 that the philologist had to do. Then came his two 
 volumes of Avesta translation (1853-8). 
 
 Westergaard collected his information from all 
 Europe, India, and Persia. He, first, discovered the 
 Gatha to be metrical pieces, and then published 
 Avesta texts (1854). But he was too cautioiis to 
 translate quickly. His texts are admirable and have 
 never been superseded. 
 
 Haug built upon Brockhaus' compilation and 
 Westergaard's Yasna text. Then he tried to study 
 the Gatha, and found Anquetil's translation useless. 
 Foiled in this, he studied the Veda, Armenian, Pahlavi, 
 and modem Persian, to enable him to collect all the 
 parallel passages in the Zend-Avesta and arrange 
 them, fie found the Veda the most useful for his 
 
 furpose, and brought out his work The Five Gdthas 
 1858-60). Appointed as Sanskrit Professor in Poona 
 College, he continued his researches, especially in 
 Gujarat for MSS. (1863-4). A further study of 
 Pahlavi and Huzvaris somewhat modified his views 
 on the supposed antagonism between Veda and Avesta 
 antecedents. Several works have been published by 
 him (1868-74), while he was Professor at Munich. His 
 famous Essays on the Farsis have been edited in 
 England by Mr. E. W. West, and form a standard 
 work upon the subject. 
 
 West began to help Haug in his revision of his last 
 work on the Parsi Religion, The Book of Ardd-Virdf 
 (1872), and its glossary (1874) of Pahlavi-Pazand. 
 He has also published several other works, e. g. The 
 Book of the Mainyo-lrkhard ; but he is specially noted 
 for his Pahlavi Texts in the Oxford series of ' Sacred 
 Books of the East ' (vols, v, xviii, xxiv, xxxvii), which 
 came out between 1880 and 1893. 
 
14 THE PARSI SCRIPTURES 
 
 Darmesteter proved himself to be a genius in 1875, 
 when he brought out his Essay on the Mythology of 
 the Avesta. To him has been entrusted the translation 
 of the Zend-Avesta in the Oxford series. Vols, iv, xxiii 
 are his (vol. xxxi being due to Mr. L. H. Mills, and 
 consisting of the Yasna, Visparad, and parts of the 
 Khord-Avesta). Especially valuable is his introduction 
 to vol. iv (second edition, 1895), which has been largely- 
 used in the following pages. 
 
 JDe Harlez brought out a translation of the Avesta 
 (1881), with some useful discussions in the intro- 
 duction. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Parsi Scriptures. 
 
 The common name given to the Parsi Sacred Books, 
 by Europeans, is the Zend-Avesta. This term has 
 found favour in Europe, since the days of Anquetil 
 Duperron ; but it is rather a misleading name. So it 
 will be well to clear the ground at the start, and decide 
 upon what each term means, in order to avoid all 
 ambiguity later on. 
 
 There are five words used in connexion with the 
 Parsi Scriptures, and needing some explanation. They 
 are — Avesta, Zand, Pahlavi, Pdzand, and Huzvdris. 
 Mr. West has put very clearly the proper relationship 
 between the first three of these terms when he says — 
 ' The Avesta and Pahlavi of the same scripture, taken 
 together, form its Avesta and Zand, terms which are 
 nearly synonymous with " revelation and commentary." 
 European scholars, misled probably by Mohammedan 
 writers, have converted the phrase "Avesta and Zand " 
 into " Zend-Avesta," and have further identified Zand 
 with the lahguage of the Avesta^.' Then he proceeds 
 to explain that 'this use of the word Zand is quite at 
 variance with the practice of all Parsi writers who 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. v., Pahlavi Texts, pt. i. p. x. 
 
'PAHLAVI' 15 
 
 have been independent of European influences, as they 
 apply the term Zand only to the Pahlavi translations 
 and explanations of their sacred books, the original 
 text of which they call Avesta. So that when they 
 use the phrase "Avesta and Zand," they mean the 
 whole of any scripture, both the Avesta text and 
 Pahlavi translation and commentary 1.' 
 
 Haug, however, has a further explanation of how 
 the term Zend-Avesta came to be widely used. He 
 says — ' It is probable that the term Zend was origin- 
 ally applied to commentaries written in the same 
 language as the Avesta, for in the Pahlavi translation 
 of the Yasna, when the scriptures are mentioned, both 
 terms, "Avistak va Zand," are used, as if of equal 
 authority^." At any rate the later (or Pahlavi) Zand 
 appears also in many places to be merely a translation 
 of this earlier (or Avesta) Zand, with additional 
 explanations ofiered by the Pahlavi translators. In 
 this case, Zend-Avesta would not be a wholly inappro- 
 priate term, Avesta having extended its meaning 
 from the more ancient texts to all later explanations 
 of those texts in the same language. 
 
 The term 'Pahlavi,' or language of Pahlav, next 
 calls for explanation. It is not necessary to investi- 
 gate its derivation, except to adopt Haug's explanation, 
 that it is connected 'with the Parthva of the Cuneiform 
 Inscriptions, the land of the Parthians known to the 
 Greeks and Eomans, and of the Pahlava mentioned 
 by Sanskrit writers.' The change of Parthva into 
 Pahlav is very similar to that of ' Mithra ' into Persian 
 ' Mihr.' In its widest extent, the word ' Pahlavi ' is 
 applied to all the varying forms of the mediaeval 
 Persian language, but 'it has long been practically 
 restricted to the written language of Persia during 
 the Sassanian dynasty, and to the literature of that 
 period and a short time after, of which some fragments 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. T., Pahlavi Tetts, pt. i. p. x. 
 
 ' Haug's Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Bdigion of the 
 Parsis, p. 120. 
 
i6 THE PARSI SCRIPTURES 
 
 have been preserved by the Parsii.' Any fragments 
 of Pahlavi composition of later date than A. D. looo, 
 must be considered merely as modem imitations of 
 a dead language. 
 
 'The mediaeval Persian language is only called 
 Pahlavi, when it is written in one of the characters 
 used before the invention of the modern Persian 
 alphabet. . . . Whenever it is transcribed either in 
 Avesta characters or in those of the modem Persian 
 alphabet, it is called Pazand ^ ' (our fourth word that 
 needed explanation). 
 
 The word Pazand, therefore, probably means ' re- 
 explanation,' that is, a further interpretation of the 
 Pahlavi-Zand in the Persian vernacular. But the 
 term is applied not only to the purely Persian words 
 in Pahlavi texts, but also (as already noticed) to 
 transliterations of the said texts, either in Avesta or 
 modern Persian characters, in which all obsolete forms 
 are replaced by their Pazand equivalents. These 
 transliterations form what are called Pazand texts; 
 and as many as have been examined seem to have 
 been written in India. 
 
 But we have not yet fully explained the mysteries 
 of Pahlavi. It is precisely the peculiarity of the lan- 
 guage, when written, that made its character a standing 
 puzzle to European scholars, until Haug first satisfac- 
 torily explained its mode of writing. The key to 
 unlock the door of interpretation lay in the historical 
 Inscriptions. From them it was found that the 
 Persians of Parthian times had, like the Assyrians of 
 old, borrowed their writing from a foreign race ; only, 
 these later Aryan Persians accepted a Semitic alphabet, 
 whereas the Semitic Assyrians adopted an Akkadian 
 syllabary. Besides the alphabet, they also transferred 
 a certain number of complete Semitic words to their 
 writings, as representatives of the corresponding words 
 
 » Haug-s Essays on the Sacred Language, WriHngs, and Seligion of the 
 Parsis, p. 8i. ' a "J "«> 
 
 " S. B. E., vol. V. pt. i. p. xii 
 
LANGUAGE OF THE ZEND-AVESTA 17 
 
 in their own language. The number of these might 
 at any time be increased or diminished at the discretion 
 of the writer; but they were probably never very 
 numerous, for not more than four hundred of them 
 are to be found in the Pahlavi writings now extant. 
 These represent nearly all the commonest words in 
 the language, and so often constitute more than half 
 the bulk of a Pahlavi text^. 
 
 Added to the four hundred Semitic logograms 
 already mentioned, we find also about one hundred 
 obsolete forms of Iranian words used as logograms, 
 much in the same way as ' Xmas ' may be used for 
 'Christmas' in English, or 'lb.' for 'pound.' These 
 logograms form what is called the Huzvaris portion 
 of the Pahlavi, while the other words, intended to be 
 pronounced as they are spelt, form the Pazand portion. 
 
 The conclusion, therefore, to which we have come 
 is, that Pahlavi has the appearance of being a com- 
 pound language. Some of its commonest words are 
 written, either with Semitic letters, or as Semitic 
 words, and a few of its words are written in obsolete 
 Iranian; both of these kinds being called Huzvaris. 
 Other words are either purely Persian, or transliterated 
 from Avesta characters, or from modem Persian 
 characters into Pahlavi ; these forms all taking the 
 name of Pazand. And to add to the general confusion, 
 Persian terminations are often added to Semitic words. 
 As if this were not enough, there are good reasons for 
 supposing that the language was never spoken as it 
 was written. 
 
 The Language of the Zend-Avesta. 
 
 It has been pointed out by Haug that 'the lan- 
 guages of Persia, commonly called Iranian, form 
 a separate family of the great Aryan stock of lan- 
 guages.' Among Iranian languages proper, he classes 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. V. pt. i. p. xiii. 
 B 
 
i8 THE PARSI SCRIPTURES 
 
 the ancient, mediaeval, and modem languages of Iran, 
 in the following way ^ : — 
 
 (a) The East Iranian or Bactrian branch, extant 
 only in two dialects — the Gatha and the classical 
 Avesta. The former is the more ancient, and is the 
 language of the so-called Gatha or hymns. The latter, 
 in which most of the books of the Zend-Avesta are 
 written, was for many centuries the spoken and 
 written language of Bactria. These Bactrian lan- 
 guages seem to have died out in the third century 
 B.C., leaving no daughters. 
 
 (&) The West Iranian languages (of Media and 
 Persia), known to us during three periods, but only 
 in the one dialect, which has at every period served 
 as the written language throughout the Iranian 
 provinces of the Persian empire. These three periods 
 of history were — ancient Persia under the Achae- 
 menians (b. c. 500-300) ; mediaeval Persia under the 
 Arsacidans (B.C. 300-A.D. 236), of whom no records 
 remain ; modem Persia under the Sassanians (a.d. 200- 
 600), who have left us many Inscriptions on rocks and 
 coins in the Pahlavi language. 
 
 The original language of the Parsi Scriptures, as we 
 have seen already, is not rightly called Zend, and the 
 term should be discarded, as having no reference to 
 a language, but only to commentaries to a language. 
 But, as we have seen, they are written in two dialects 
 of the ancient Bactrian tongue. For want of a better 
 term, we may follow the Parsi scholars in using the 
 term Avesta for the language of the Avesta. 
 
 What, then, is the Avesta language, so highly 
 developed and rich in inflexions? It is a sister of 
 Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and Gothic — no longer in the 
 prime of hfe, but rather in declining years. Notwith- 
 standing the symptoms of decay, its relation to 
 the most ancient Sanskrit, the so-called Vedic dialect 
 is as close as that of the different dialects of the Greek 
 
 ' Haug's Essays, p. 65 ff. 
 
LANGUAGE OF THE ZEND-AVESTA 19 
 
 language to each other (e.g. .^olic, Ionic, Doric, and 
 Attic). So that the languages of the sacred hymns 
 of the Brahman, and of those of the Parsi, are only 
 the two dialects of two separate tribes of one and the 
 same nation. It is noticeable that it is related closely 
 to Vedic, and not to classical Sanskrit, differences 
 in grammar being very small, and phonetic changes 
 from one to the other very regular. 
 
 The two dialects to which we have just referred 
 are found in the language of the Gatha, and in the 
 classical or ordinary Avesta. It is very difficult to 
 decide whether they represent the same language 
 at two different periods of time, or whether they are 
 two contemporary dialects, spoken in two difierent 
 provinces of the ancient Baetrian empire. If the 
 difference between the Gatha dialect and the Avesta 
 language were only phonetic, it would be reasonable 
 to suppose that they were two different methods of 
 pronunciation, as generally happens in different 
 districts with nations speaking the same language. 
 There are great phonetic changes, and several of these 
 are due to the lengthening of final vowels (e.g. ya 
 into e-ed), and these are attributable to the custom 
 of chanting the Gatha. But, besides phonetic, there 
 are decided grammatical changes, so that throughout 
 the Gatha are to be found fuller and older forms of 
 speech, whereas in the Avesta language these forms 
 are later and more contracted. 
 
 Judging from these and other peculiarities, there 
 is little doubt that the Gatha date back to a higher 
 antiquity of composition than can be claimed for the 
 ordinary Avesta. But as the differences are not so 
 great as between Vedic and classical Sanskrit, or 
 between the Greek of Homer and the Attic dialect, 
 the Gatha dialect is about two centuries older than- 
 the ordinary Avesta language, which was itself the 
 standard language of the ancient Iranian empire 
 under the Achaemenians. 
 
 Much of the difficulty of understanding Zend-Avesta 
 B a 
 
20 THE PARSI SCRIPTURES 
 
 texts arises from the absence of a knowledge of 
 grammar among ancient Persians and Bactrians. This 
 had made the compilation of accurate texts very 
 diflScult, and Westergaard has had to take great 
 trouble to give a correct text, according to the oldest 
 MSS. accessible to him. There is stiU a great need of 
 diflFasing a sound and critical knowledge of the Avesta 
 language. 
 
 The Original Extent of the Zend-Avesta. 
 
 Though the Zend-Avesta in its present state is 
 a comparatively small book, we learn both from 
 ancient classical writers, and from the tradition of 
 the Parsi, that the religious literature of the ancient 
 Persians was of considerable extent. Thus Pliny 
 reports, on the authority of Hermippus the Greek 
 philosopher, that Zoroaster composed two millions of 
 verses; and an Arab historian, Abu Jafir Attavari, 
 assures us that Zoroaster's writings covered twelve 
 hundred cowhides (parchments). Such an extensive 
 ancient literature could only be the work of centuries ; 
 for fit writing materials were both scarce and expen- 
 sive, besides which Orientals require a long time for 
 original composition. They are said to have possessed 
 their whole scripture in the form of twenty-one 
 books, called Nask, each containing Avesta and Zand. 
 Evidently the number twenty-one was an artificial 
 arrangement, in order to have one Nask to each 
 of the twenty-one words of the most sacred formula 
 of the Zoroastrians ; and so, each of the Nask was 
 indexed under one particular word of this formula. 
 
 Several descriptions of the contents of these Nask 
 are extant, and from them we see clearly that they 
 must represent the whole religious and scientific litera- 
 ture current throughout the ancient Persian empire ■ 
 for they treated not only of religious topics, but of 
 medicine, astronomy, agriculture, botany, philosophy 
 &c. These were undoubtedly the books which were 
 
THE PARSI CANON 21 
 
 known to the Greeks and Romans; and indexes of 
 them, similar to the catalogues of the ancient litera- 
 ture known to Parsi priests nowadays, were extant 
 at the time of Alexander the Great. 
 
 The History of the Formation of a Canon. 
 
 We have already mentioned the fact of a collection 
 and artificial arrangement of ancient literature,, sacred 
 to the Persians, into twenty-one Nask. This was 
 carried out during the Sassanian period, while Zoro- 
 astrianism was the state religion. But these Nask 
 were further subdivided into three classes, each 
 containing seven Nask ; they were known as the 
 Gatha group (gasan), the group of the law (dat), and 
 the group of the Hadha-mathra — what we should 
 respectively call the theological, legal, and mixed 
 groups of writings. 
 
 There are two accounts given in the Bvn-kard^, 
 which furnish us with a history of the formation 
 of the Avesta : the one extending from its origin 
 to the time of Alexander, and the other relating to 
 the restoration of the Avesta after the Greek in- 
 vasion; the first being vague and legendary, while 
 the second is precise and historical. It would be 
 beyond our subject to go into the details of this 
 history, except in the first case, when we are consider- 
 ing the likely date of Zoroaster, the Gatha, and the 
 earlier parts of the Avesta, and in the second, when 
 we are establishing the year in which the Canon was 
 properly closed. All we would do here is to indicate 
 the three occasions on which a collection was made 
 from some old fragments. The first edition to our 
 surprise emanated from a Parthian king, Valkhash; 
 the second from the first Sassanian king, ArdashTr 
 Babagan (aii-241 A. D.); the third and last from 
 King Shahpur I (341-372 A. D.) \ 
 
 ' Prof. Wilson is convinced that the Din-Mrd is a modern work 
 (Parsi Religion, p. 414). 
 " S. B. E., vol. iv. pt. i. (second edition), p. xxxviii. 
 
22 THE PARSI SCRIPTURES 
 
 The Present Contents of the Zend-Avesta. 
 
 The Parsi ascribe the loss of most of their ancient 
 writings, known to the Greeks, mainly to the ravages 
 that followed on the conquest of the Persian empire 
 by Alexander the Great; especially on the occasion 
 of the burning of the citadel and royal palace at 
 Persepolis in a drunken frolic. And, as we know, 
 these facts are mentioned by Western writers. But 
 even if the official copies of the sacred books had 
 been burnt and ravaged, there must have remained 
 other copies of many portions of them; and it was 
 from these scattered copies that the first Sassanian 
 monarchs collected what they did, which was con- 
 siderable. True, they were chiefly fragments, but 
 some portion of nearly every book seems to have 
 been recovered by them. The total disappearance 
 of most of the books must be traced to recent times, 
 and was due to the later ravages and persecutions 
 of the Mohammedans ^. 
 
 What now remain are divided generally into two 
 groups ^. The Avesta proper contains : — 
 
 The Vandldad, a compilation of religious laws and 
 of mythical tales, forming a priestly code ; 
 
 The Visparad, a collection of litanies for the sacrifice; 
 
 The Yasna, a composition of similar litanies and 
 five Gatha (old hymns). 
 
 The Khorda (or Small) Avesta is composed of 
 several short prayers, recited both by the priests 
 and all the faithful at certain times and seasons. 
 These are : — 
 
 The five Gah. 
 
 The thirty formulae of Sirozah. 
 
 The three Afrigan. 
 
 The six Nyayis. 
 
 ' Haug's Essays, pp. 123-125. 
 
 " S. B. E., vol. iv., Zend-Avesta (second edition), pt. i. pp. xxxi. 
 
INTERPRETATION OF THE ZEND-AVESTA 23 
 
 It is also usual to include the Yast, or hymns of 
 praise, and a number of fragments, e. g. the Hadhokat 
 Nask. 
 
 The Avesta proper is found in MSS. in two different 
 forms : either each of the three books are by themselves, 
 in which case they are generally accompanied by a 
 Pahlavi translation ; or the three are mingled together 
 according to the requirements of the liturgy. In this 
 case the collection is called the Vandidad Sada, or 
 ' Vandidad pure,' as it exhibits the original _^text alone 
 without a translation. 
 
 What helped to preserve the Avesta is obvious; 
 taken as a whole it does not profess to be a religious 
 encyclopaedia, but only a liturgical collection, and it 
 bears more likeness to our Prayer Book than to our 
 Bible. Thus the Vandidad Sada, which had to be 
 recited every day, would be more carefully preserved 
 than the Yast, which are generally recited only once 
 a month. And we are no longer in the dark as to 
 the character and contents of that larger literature of 
 which our Avesta is but a remnant, for it is now 
 known to us in its general outlines through a Pahlavi 
 analysis, which was made in the ninth century — two 
 centuries after the Arab conquest — at a time when 
 the sacred literature of Sassanian times was still in 
 existence ^- 
 
 Interpretation of the Zend-Avesta. 
 
 There are two distinct methods in use of inter- 
 preting the sacred scriptures of the Parsi, called the 
 comparative and the traditional methods. The com- 
 parative school hold that the key to the Avesta is the 
 Veda, and not the Pahlavi language. They say that 
 Sanskrit and Avesta are the echoes of one and the 
 same voice, the reflex of one and the same thought, 
 and therefore the Veda form the best lexicon and 
 commentary to the Avesta. They have felt that 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. iv. pt. i. (second edition), p. xxxiii. 
 
24 THE PARSI SCRIPTURES 
 
 translating the Avesta in accordance with the Pahlavi 
 is not really translating the Avesta, but only the 
 Pahlavi version of it, which is found, wherever deci- 
 phered, to wander strangely from the true meaning 
 of the original text; for tradition is wont to force 
 the ideas of its own age into the books of past ages. 
 
 The traditional school argue that translating Zand 
 by means of Sanskrit, and Avesta by means of the 
 Veda, is forgetting that relationship is not identity. 
 And the Vedic language is quite unable to teach us 
 what became in Persia of those elements which are 
 common to the two systems. Further, that the com- 
 parative method when left to itself leads to wrong 
 conclusions, e.g. the Zand Tneregha, which means 'a 
 bird,' would assume the meaning of ' gazelle,' to accord 
 with the Sanskrit mriga; and 'the demons,' 'the 
 Daeva,' would ascend from their dwelling in hell 
 up to heaven to meet their philological brothers, the 
 Indian 'Deva.' The fact being that the traditional 
 method starts from matters of fact, and moves always 
 in the field of reality ; while the comparative method 
 starts from a hypothesis, moves in a vacuum, and 
 builds up a fanciful religion and a fanciful language. 
 
 What really is the case is as follows: tradition 
 discovers and the Veda explains; the former made 
 us acquainted with the nature of the old Iranian 
 religion, by gathering together all its materials ; the 
 latter tried to explain its growth ; tradition is apt to 
 lose sight of chronological order, and give place to 
 logical order instead ; comparison is likely to exagge- 
 rate historical allusions from a want of discretion in 
 judgement. 
 
 But the question has been ably shown by Professor 
 Darmesteter to be a much wider one than that of 
 pre-historic times. ' In fact,' he says, ' we find in the 
 Avesta either polemics against, or loans from, the 
 great contemporary systems, the BrahmanicaL the 
 Buddhist, the Greek, and the Jewish \' These and 
 ■ S. B. E., vol. iv. (second edition), Introd., p. li. 
 
ORIGIN OF ZOROASTRIANISM 25 
 
 other elements which have found their way into, or 
 are characteristic of the Avesta, will best be analyzed 
 by a study of the theology and religious teachings of 
 the sacred book itself. But before doing so, it will 
 be well to establish some facts as to its origin and 
 founder. 
 
 III. 
 
 The Origin and Founder of the Zoroastrian 
 Religion. 
 
 ' All antiquity,' says De Harlez, ' Iranian as well as 
 Greek, gives it as fact that a philosopher-priest, at 
 an ancient date which is quite uncertain, reformed 
 the creed and worship of Iranian peoples. History 
 calls him Zoroaster. His existence up to the present 
 day was never doubted. Even to-day the majority 
 and the chief among Iranian scholars take him to 
 have been a real person. Others, at the same time, 
 would only have him pictured as a legendary being, 
 representing the body of Mazdean priests. One has 
 even transformed him into a god of storms ^.' But it 
 requires very strong proof to upset the unanimous 
 voice of classical antiquity. On the whole, therefore, 
 we take it that he actually existed. 
 
 The age in which Zoroaster lived is by no means 
 certain. After a close investigation of Oriental and 
 Western writings, Geiger and Spiegel have been 
 unable to determine the period accurately. For 
 Oriental authorities are quite unreliable upon this 
 point, for they say that 'Zoroaster belongs to the 
 middle portion of the duration of the world since 
 the creation of the human race, or 9,000 years after 
 the creation of the world.' They also state dogmatic- 
 ally that 'a thousand years cannot yet have fully 
 elapsed since his death, for otherwise a new prophet 
 should have already appeared.' Among Western 
 writers, 'Xanthus of Sardis is said to have placed 
 Zoroaster 600 years before the fall of Xerxes.' In 
 ' C. de Harlez, Avesta, Introd., p. xviii. 
 
26 ORIGIN OF ZOROASTRIANISM 
 
 this case, 'he must have flourished about 1080 years 
 before Christ.' Eudoxus, Aristotle, and Hermodorus 
 fix absurd dates, while Hermippus, Pliny, and Plutarch 
 are just as indefinite. Berosus, Porphyrins, a,nd Aga- 
 thias are scarcely more trustworthy, and Suidas and 
 Ktesias not reliable. 
 
 Again, the birthplace and native country of Zoro- 
 aster are not decided upon. Ktesias has been followed 
 by many other later historians in assigning Bactria 
 as his native home. But a whole series of authorities 
 look upon him as a Mede or a Persian. Amongst 
 them is to be found Berosus, who held a great 
 character for accuracy in ancient times. Turning to 
 Oriental writers once again, they unanimously place 
 Zoroaster in Western Iran as his native land, but 
 most of them state that he had worked for some time 
 in Bactria. The Avesta speaks of him as 'the re- 
 nowned in the Aryan home,' wherever that may be. 
 The Bundahish definitely assigns his birthplace to 
 be near the river ' Darja, in the Aryan home.' From 
 the above conflicting statements we can only say that 
 most writers try to place the native land of Zoroaster 
 altogether in the West and not in the East^- 
 
 The Zoroastrian Theology before Alexander 
 the Great. 
 
 We have historical evidence of some essential doc- 
 trines in Zoroastrianism, the existence of which can 
 be traced back far beyond the Parthian period and the 
 Greek conquest. One may with certain accuracy 
 distinguish in the religion what is old (or pre- Alexan- 
 drian, or Achaemenian) from what is late (or post- 
 Alexandrian) ^ 
 
 I. The belief in a supreme God, Ahura-Mazda, who 
 is the organizer of the world, is as old as anything 
 we know about Persia. Darius proclaims Auramazda, 
 
 ' Spiegel, Age of the Avesta and Zoroaster, pp. 8a ff. 
 ' S. B. E., vol. iv. (second edition), pp. Ix ff. 
 
ZOROASTRIAN THEOLOGY 27 
 
 the greatest of all gods, a powerful God, who made 
 this earth, who made that heaven, who made man, 
 who made Darius king. 
 
 II. The gods invoked with the Persian Zeus (Aura- 
 mazda) are, according to Herodotus, the Sun, the 
 Moon, the Earth, the Wind, the Waters, that is to say, 
 natural deities. The two greatest gods, next'to him, 
 according to Artaxerxes Memnon, are Mithra and 
 Anahata (Anahita), that is to say, a God of the Light, 
 and a Goddess of the Waters. 
 
 III. The principle pf Dualism is implied, in the time 
 of Darius, by the great king stating that Ahura 
 ' created welfare (shiyatim) for man' ; and in the time 
 of Herodotus, by the religious war waged by the Magi 
 against the ants, snakes, and other noxious creatures, 
 which shows that the distinction of Ormazdian and 
 Ahrimanian creatures was already in existence. More- 
 over, at the ead of the Achaemenian period, Aristotle 
 knows of a Good Spirit and the Evil One, Zeus 
 (Oromazdes) and Ades (Areimanios). 
 
 IV. The existence of the World was limited to 
 twelve thousand years, distributed into four periods, 
 the character of which was altered in the post- Alexan- 
 drian period, to humour the Neo-Platonic tendencies 
 of the age. It was already an established dogma that 
 Ahriman would be conquered at last, and that men 
 should live again. The belief in resurrection and 
 a future life implies the correlative belief in future 
 rewards and punishments, which was fully developed 
 later on. 
 
 V. Practical morality was already a trait in the 
 national character. Truthfulness was considered a 
 paramount virtue ; the doctrine of the balance of 
 merits and demerits was already known. The two 
 greatest merits of a citizen in the days of Darius and 
 Herodotus, as now, were the begetting and rearing of 
 a numerous family, and the fruitful tilling of the 
 soil. 
 
28 ORIGIN OF ZOROASTRIANISM 
 
 VI. The worship of the elements— water, fire, and 
 earth — and a respect for purity were practised. For 
 it was forbidden to sully the waters or the fire, to 
 throw a corpse into the &-e, or to bury it in the earth 
 until reduced to a fleshless, incorruptible skeleton. 
 
 VII. Two sorts of sacrifice existed — the bloody 
 sacrifice, as seen to-day in the Atashzohr, and the 
 bloodless sacrifice, consisting essentially of the Haoma- 
 ofiering and libations, of which we have indirect 
 evidence. 
 
 The principles of the Achaemenian religion may be 
 summed up as follows : — 
 
 I. Dogmas: the existence of two conflicting supreme 
 powers, one good and the other evil, Ormazd and 
 Ahriman; the final defeat of Ahriman after twelve 
 thousand years ; and the resurrection ; also a number 
 of Animistic deities, amongst which were Mithra 
 and Anahita. 
 
 II. Morals : veneration of truth, family, and agri- 
 culture. 
 
 III. Liturgy: a bloody sacrifice and a bloodless 
 sacrifice (Haoma); certain laws of purity extending 
 to the waters, the fire, and the earth; burning and 
 burying corpses forbidden. 
 
 The Magi. 
 
 This religion was practised in the south as well as 
 in the north of Iran, in Persia as weU as in Media. 
 It had its centre in Media, and its sacerdotal class 
 belonged to a Median tribe, the Magi. The priesthood 
 was hereditary — as it still is nowadays amongst the 
 Parsi— and the Magi were to Mazdeism what the 
 Levites and Cohenim were to Judaism. The sacer- 
 dotal tribe spread wherever Mazdeism extended ; and 
 in spite of the intense provincial hatred which the 
 Persians bore to the Medians, still the Magi were, in 
 the Persian idea, the only true, authorized priests. ' 
 
RITUAL OF THE ZEND-AVESTA 29 
 
 Aryan Elements. 
 
 Purely Aryan elements in the religion are: — the 
 supreme God, the God of the Heaven, Ahura-Mazda ; 
 the God of the heavenly light, Mithra ; the worship of 
 the elementary divinities, Waters, Fire, and Earth; 
 a number of storm-myths and mythical legends ; and 
 the worship of Haoma. 
 
 Iranian Elements. 
 
 Purely Iranian elements are : — the dualistic con- 
 ception of the world, and its limited duration of 
 twelve thousand years with its four periods ; the 
 continual conflict of Ormazd and Ahriman, and the 
 latter's defeat ; the resurrection of the dead, the notion 
 of purity carried to the extreme, the prohibition of 
 burning or burying the dead, and the throwing away 
 of corpses to dogs and birds of prey. 
 
 Some of the new dogmas may be the independent 
 development of Aryan elements ; for instance, the 
 dualistic conception may have grown out of the 
 mythical struggles between gods and demons. But 
 the Great year and the resurrection are things quite 
 new, which seem to betray external influences. But 
 whether these influences were Scythian or Chaldean 
 it is difficult to decide. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Ritual of the Zend-Avesta. 
 
 There are four leading features in the ritual of 
 the Parsis, as outlined in the Avesta — the care of 
 the sacred fire, special forms of prayer, offerings, and 
 purification. 
 
 _There are two classes of fire-temples, the seven 
 'Atash Bahrams,' and over a hundred 'AtashAdarans.' 
 There is no common worship, but the priests keep 
 a continual watch over the sacred fire, so that it never 
 goes out, feeding it with sandal- wood and gum benzoin. 
 
30 RITUAL OF THE ZEND-AVESTA 
 
 This fire is kept in a shrine, within an outer court, 
 where the people praying can always see its light, and 
 it bums in a large urn on a stone altar. The priest sits 
 within the shrine when praying, facing the fire and 
 cross-legged, holding in his left hand the 'barsom,' now 
 made of silver rods. 
 
 It is specially during the recitation of prayers that 
 the barsom is used. These prayers are chanted at 
 difierent times of the day, every portion having its 
 allotted prayer. They are generally pronounced with- 
 out being understood, because they are Zand prayers 
 in the Gujarati character. 
 
 As regards offerings, the old animal sacrifices of 
 Achaemenian times have practically ceased, and even 
 in the normal offering 'the flesh' is no longer used 
 and offered. The only part of the offering still 
 observed is the libation of the sacred plant of Haoma, 
 known to the Brahman as Soma. It is pounded first 
 in the sacred mortar, then the juice is collected in the 
 sacred cup. When accompanied by proper prayers 
 in the process of preparation, 'this liquid becomes 
 endowed with almost divine attributes ' ! 
 
 Lastly, ceremonial purity is with the Parsi a matter 
 of supreme importance, though the distinction between 
 moral and ceremonial defilement is far from clear in 
 the Avesta. The one is regarded as equally dreadful 
 with the other, and as requiring equal expiation. The 
 chief means of purification are water and ' gomez,' or 
 ' nirang,' which must be properly prepared and applied 
 with prayers. As Anquetil tersely puts it, there is 
 'no purification, no purifier, no priest, and no Parsi.' 
 Every morning the orthodox Parsi, with a view to 
 purification, applies the nirang to his face, hands, and 
 feet, after saying his prayers ; the liquid is even drunk 
 on greater occasions, pomegranate-leaves being chewed 
 to banish the taste. The greatest of all purifications 
 is the Barashnum, a ceremony which lasts in all for 
 nine nights, and always precedes the ordination of the 
 priest. 
 
ZOROASTRIAN CEREMONIES 31 
 
 Birth, Marriage, and Burial Ceremonies. 
 
 Four other ceremonies connected with the Parsi 
 between birth and burial call for notice. To inculcate 
 humility a Parsi must be born on the ground floor, 
 and washed with water before being considered pure. 
 On the seventh day the astrologer is called in to name 
 the child and divine his future. Nowadays at the 
 age of seven, or later, the rite of initiation into 
 Zoroastrianism takes place. It is accompanied by 
 prayers, purifications, and the putting on of the 
 'kusti' (or sacred cord of seventy-two threads) 
 and the 'sadara' (or sacred shirt). These must be 
 worn day and night without fail. 
 
 At the age of fifteen marriage is permitted, though 
 earlier marriages are not at all infrequent. The 
 priest is the matchmaker, and the astrologer fixes the 
 day for marriage. Cloth and twist unite the couple, 
 followed by prayers and the dastur's blessing. Their 
 home at first is with the bridegroom's father; and, 
 unlike Hindu widows, Parsi widows are allowed to 
 marry again. 
 
 Lastly, in death and burial Parsi ceremonies are 
 unique. Their sense of defilement through contact 
 with anything dead has led to elaborate ceremonies. 
 When a Parsi is dying, the priest repeats consoling 
 texts from the Avesta, administers the sacred cup of 
 Haoma, and prays for the forgiveness of his sins. 
 After death, the body is removed to the ground fioor 
 and prepared for burial. Priestly exhortations then 
 begin, during which a white dog, ' four-eyed,' is brought 
 in to gaze upon the dead and thus expel the demon, 
 and secure the passage of the soul over the Chinvat 
 bridge to heaven. 
 
 The same day the body is conveyed to the ' tower 
 of sUence,' or dakhma, by a special class of Parsi. 
 Within the dakhma the corpses are exposed to the 
 birds of prey, till only the skeleton remains. This 
 
32 CONQUEST OF PERSIA 
 
 grim practice is thus described in the Avesta in a 
 golden light ' : 
 
 ' Maker of the material world, thou Holy One 1 
 Whither shall we bring, where shall we lay the bones of the 
 dead, Ahura-Mazda ? ' 
 
 Ahura- Mazda answered ^ : 
 
 'The worshippers of Mazda shall erect a building out of the 
 reach of the dog, of the fox, and of the wolf, and wherein rain- 
 water cannot stay. Such a building shall they erect, if they can 
 afford it, with stones, mortar, and earth (?) ; if they cannot afford 
 it, they shall lay down the dead man on the ground, on his cai-pet and 
 his pillow, clothed with the light of heaven, and beholding the sun,' 
 
 The MohamTnedan Conquest of Persia. 
 
 The Sassanian dynasty was at the height of its 
 power by the time the Canon of the Avesta was closed, 
 under Adarbad Mahraspand, in the reign of Shahptir 
 II (330 A. D.). It now remains for us to sketch the 
 events that led the Parsi to migrate to India. We 
 will begin by describing how the kingdom of Persia 
 passed into Arab hands. 
 
 The first invasion began by order of Caliph Omar 
 in 633 A. D. But it was the great Arab victories at 
 Kadisiya (in that memorable year 637 A. D.) and 
 Nahavand (probably 641 A. d.) that shattered the re- 
 mains of the Sassanian empire. When the country had 
 been finally subjugated, the Caliphate was established 
 at Baghdad, and the nation was compelled by the 
 soldiery of Omar to accept death or the Koran. ' A 
 hundred thousand persons are said to have been forced 
 daily to abjure the faith of their forefathers ; and the 
 fire-temples and other sacred places were destroyed or 
 converted into mosques. Under rulers carrying out 
 this system without pity or remorse, almost the whole 
 Zoroastrian population of Persia embraced the faith 
 of Islam. Such of the followers of Zoroaster as obeyed 
 the dictates of their conscience abandoned their homes 
 and fled to the mountainous districts of Khorassan. 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. iv. pt. i. pp. 73, ^^.—Vand%dad, vi. 49-51. 
 
EMIGRATION TO INDIA 33 
 
 For about a hundred years they remained in Khorassan 
 unmolested, but persecution at last reached them, and 
 they were once more compelled to flee. A considerable 
 number succeeded iu reaching the little island of 
 Ormuz, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf 1.' 
 
 Emigration to India. 
 
 Then came the migration to India, first (so the story 
 goes) by sea to Diu, off the south of the Kathiawar 
 coast, then nineteen years later to Sanjan, where they 
 landed about the year 716 A. D. Here the first fire- 
 temple was allowed to be built in India. Hence they 
 are traced to Cambay (a. d. 943-997), and to Variav 
 about the same time ; also to Surat and other places 
 in the north, and Thana and Chaul in the south, of 
 Western India ; also to the city of Navsari by 1 14a a. D., 
 and Anklesvar a century later. It was in the last- 
 named place that the Visparad is said to have been 
 translated in 1258 a. d. Mention is also made of a 
 ' dakhma ' being built at Broach in 1309 a. d. 
 
 Travellers in India of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and 
 sixteenth centuries found the Parsi in many parts of the 
 country. And we know that in the fourteenth century 
 they were persecuted by the Mohammedans, and had 
 to move their sacred fire from Sanjan to Navsari, 
 which is now considered by them to be a very sacred 
 spot. Not much can be chronicled during the cen- 
 turies of Mohammedan supremacy, but we find them 
 ia the Mogul city of Surat in 1478 a.d., and can be 
 fairly certain that they first arrived in Bombay 
 shortly before the cession of the island to the British 
 in 1668 A. D. 
 
 Population, Mortality, and Occupations. 
 
 The last Indian census (of 1891) numbered the 
 Parsi in India at 89,904, or an increase of a little 
 over five per cent, in ten years. This represents about 
 
 ' Dosabha Sorabji Karaka, History of the Parsis, vol. i. p. 22 ff. 
 C 
 
34 PARSI COSTUMES 
 
 one three-thousandth part of the entire population, 
 but no less than one-fifteenth of the population of the 
 city of Bombay. The great vitality of the nation is 
 shown by the fact that Parsi families have the highest 
 average number of children under one year of age. 
 This will best be brought out by the comparative 
 table below. 
 
 Deaih rate under 
 
 one year of age. 
 
 
 Jaina . . . 54-47 % 
 
 Brahman . . 
 
 20'4 % 
 
 Hindu Sudra . 33-6 % 
 
 European' - 
 
 ao.i8 % 
 
 Mohammedan 30.46 % 
 
 Parsi . . 
 
 19.26 % 
 
 Hindu . . . 26.11 % 
 
 
 
 The Parsi are essentially men of the towns, and not 
 masters of estates. Not a single Parsi appears re- 
 turned by the census as a soldier, for the simple 
 reason that he can always get a higher salary than 
 a sepoy by other occupations. They are mostly 
 occupied with educational, commercial, and industrial 
 pursuits, and none are found in the menial occupa- 
 tions of life. Mendicancy is almost unknown among 
 them, and no nation on earth has a greater regard for 
 chastity of life. 
 
 Costumes. 
 
 The Parsi have given up the dress of their co- 
 religionists in Persia, and wear costumes somewhat 
 similar to the Hindu, and adapted to the climate. 
 Children only wear a single garment — ^in the form of 
 a loose shirt of cotton, flannel, or silk, called 'jabhla/ 
 which reaches from neck to knee — until the age of 
 seven. Lately light trousers have been introduced 
 among the upper classes. The ' topi ' on the head, and 
 shoes on the feet, complete the costume. Boys and 
 girls are dressed alike, except that girls wear long 
 hair and ornaments, especially earrings. 
 
 ^ The Parsi at home wears a long muslin shirt and 
 girdle, a waistcoat of white cloth with sleeves, loose 
 cotton trousers, slippers, and a China-silk skull-cap. 
 When going out, he puts on his turban, of dark 
 
PARSI SECTS 35 
 
 chocolate colour, over the skull-cap, unless he be 
 a priest, and then he wears a white turban. He also 
 wears an 'angrakha,' or loose overcoat, with very 
 long sleeves that roll up above the wrist. For full 
 dress he needs a 'jama' or a long, double-breasted 
 coat of cotton, and a piece of cloth, which is folded in 
 bands, and passed again and again round the waist. 
 This dress is worn at weddings, funerals, and on 
 certain state occasions. 
 
 The Parsi women wear similar underclothing to 
 the men. But their ' sari ' or outer dress is composed 
 of about six yards of bright-coloured silk or satin. 
 This is most gracefully arranged round the waist, 
 limbs, and shoulders. Besides this, the old-fashioned 
 ' kanchri ' has been generally superseded by a bodice 
 made after the EngHsh fashion. Every one except 
 a widow wears glass bangles, and until a generation 
 or so ago nose-rings were worn also. The old tradition 
 that the head should be covered day and night is 
 kept by the women wearing their ' mathatana,' under 
 wluch, for modesty's sake, all their hair is secreted. 
 For the same reason the men always wear their 
 skuU-caps. But every year Western ideas are prevail- 
 ing more amongst them. 
 
 Parsi Sects and the Calendar. 
 
 The Parsi of India are divided into two sects, the 
 Shehenshai and the Kadmi. They differ, not on 
 questions of faith, but of chronology. Both have 
 their own computation of the era of Yazdezard, the 
 last Sassanian king. The division amongst them 
 arose in this way: — The Parsi reckon a year to have 
 ^65 days, and a month thirty days; so that every 
 year they add five days, or Gatha, at the close. 
 In order to make up the jh. 54 m., and so accord 
 with the correct solar year, the ancient Persians are 
 reported to have intercalated 'one month' at the 
 end of every lao years. This intercalation is 
 
 a, 
 
36 PARSI FESTIVALS 
 
 called Kabisa. Now the Persian Zoroastrians seem 
 to have forgotten to make this intercalation after 
 they lost the sovereignty of the land ; and so when 
 one Jamasp, a learned Persian Zoroastrian, ^arrived 
 in Surat in 1090 A.D. to instruct the 'mobeds' or 
 priests, he discovered that his co-religionists in India 
 were a month behind their brethren in Iran in com- 
 mencing the new year. But it was not till 1746 a.d. 
 that the Kadmi sect was formed to observe the same 
 dates as the Persian Zoroastrians. The bulk of the 
 people then became Shehenshai, and adhered to their 
 old traditions. Quite an ardent controversy was 
 then started, and not cleared up until Kharsedji 
 Eastamji Kama published his work on the computation 
 of the Yazdezardi era (in 1870). Though a Kadmi, 
 he showed that both sects were curiously in the 
 wrong ; for the Kadmi erred in saying that inter- 
 calation was not enjoined by the Zoroastrian religion, 
 and the Shehenshai were wrong, inasmuch as no 
 intercalation had taken place (as they supposed) when 
 the Parsi refugees were in Khorassan. 
 
 A special feature about the Parsi calendar is the 
 great stress laid upon the importance of each day for 
 different things. For instance, the first day of the 
 month is the right day to enter a new house or garden ; 
 other days are best for a journey or a voyage ; others 
 for social gatherings ; while some are reserved for rest 
 and pious contemplation^- But it is not necessary 
 to add that the Parsi no longer follow the above pre- 
 cepts as laid down by the fertile brain of Adarbad. 
 
 Festivals. 
 
 There are several Parsi festivals still widely 
 observed. 
 
 Perhaps the most appreciated of all is the Pateti 
 holiday. Pateti, or New Tear's Day, is the day of 
 
 1 Dosabhai Sorabji Karaka, RisUrry of the Parsis, vol. i. ch. iu. 
 pp. 133-143- 
 
PARSI LAW 37 
 
 Ahura-Mazda in the month of Fravardin, which should 
 properly be called Naoroz. 
 
 Bapithvan is the third day of the first month, and 
 originally was intended to announce the commence- 
 ment of summer. 
 
 Khordad-Lal marks the anniversary of the birth 
 of their prophet Zoroaster. 
 
 Besides these and other holidays, there are the six 
 Gahambar, or days of rest. The Zoroastrian theory 
 that the world was created in 365 days, at six un- 
 equal intervals, has occasioned the observance of the 
 Gahambar. The good old custom of rich and poor, 
 high and low, partaking of food together and uniting 
 in prayers, is still observed at these times. 
 
 Parsi Law and Government. 
 
 There is no record of the laws by which the Parsi 
 were first governed when they arrived in India. But 
 journeys were subsequently made to Persia, with the 
 result that the Arda-viraf-nama, the Vistasp Yast, 
 and the Visparad were brought back from Persia, 
 and long acted as guides on religious and social 
 questions. 
 
 A properly constituted Panchayat was first formed 
 in Bombay soon after the island passed into British 
 hands. In religious matters the priests of Navsari 
 did and still do hold their own, but civil disputes 
 were all settled by this court of justice. Its decision 
 was considered as final. But this state of things only 
 lasted till the middle of the eighteenth century, when 
 it was further decided by the British governor, owing 
 to pending troubles, that the Panchayat should form 
 ' a general assembly ' of the Parsi. During the life- 
 time of the first-appointed members the assembly was 
 very powerful, but then it gradually declined and fell 
 into contempt. Again it regained its power, and again 
 it declined, chiefly owing to the injustice of having 
 ' one law for the rich and another for the poor.' Its 
 
38 PARSI LAW 
 
 only function now consists in being trustee to certain 
 Parsi charitable funds. 
 
 For some time the Parsi remained with no code 
 of laws, but merely subject to the common Hindu 
 law, to which they had subscribed on their first 
 landing at Sanjan centuries ago. But a Parsi Law 
 Commission was established, and finally succeeded 
 in securing laws for the Parsi from the British 
 Government. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE JAINA 
 
 ' Be that hateth his life (^x*/) *" '*'* world shM keep it unto life 
 eternal.' — St. John, xii. 25. 
 
 I. Their present extent and social importance — Discovery of their 
 
 origin — Mahfivira, the twenty-fourth Jlna — Mahavira a con- 
 temporary and rival to Buddha — Parallels and contrasts — 
 The influence of Gosala — Brahmanism, Buddhism, and 
 Jainism — Their relationship — Jainism not a Buddhist sect — 
 Jaina, Buddhist, and Brahman vows compared — Jainism 
 a development of Brahmanism — The institution of the fourth 
 Asrama — Views on the Atman. 
 
 II. Authenticity of Jaina tradition — The Mathura Inscriptions — 
 
 The age of Jaina literature — Date of Devarddhi and the 
 Jaina Canon — Date of composition of the Siddhanta — Tests 
 of scientific knowledge, hy language and spelling of the 
 texts, and by the metres used — Works older than the 
 existing Canon — The Purva — Contents of the Siddhanta. 
 
 III. Antiquity of Jaina philosophy — Early Jaina doctrines : The 
 
 eternity of Atman ; the kriyavada ; the annihilation of 
 Karman ; the three danda ; the doctrine of katuyama 
 samvarasamvuto — Early religious practices of Nigantha — 
 Leading Jaina doctrines of to-day — Jiva and Ajlva — ^Moksha — 
 The Jaina worship and temples. 
 
 The Jaina of To-day. 
 
 The Jaina, who are the most numerous and in- 
 fluential sect of nonconformists to the Brahmanical 
 system of Hinduism, now number about 1,400,000 in 
 India. They are found in every province of Upper 
 Hindustan, in the cities along the Ganges, and in 
 Calcutta. But they are more numerous to the west, 
 e. g. in Rajputana, Gujarat, and in the upper part of 
 the Malabar coast. They are also scattered throughout 
 
40 THE JAIN A 
 
 the whole of Southern India. Being mostly traders, 
 merchants, or bankers, they live in the towns, and the 
 wealth of many of their community gives them a 
 social importance greater than would result from 
 their mere numbers. It is even said that half the 
 mercantile transactions of India pass through their 
 hands. Their charity is boundless; and they form 
 the chief supporters of the beast hospitals, which the 
 old and striking animistic tenderness for animals has 
 left in many of the cities of India. 
 
 Discovery of their Origin. 
 
 Until quite recently European scholars did not 
 admit the pretensions of the Jaina to an earlier 
 origin than Buddhism. H. H. Wilson questioned 
 their importance at any period earlier than twelve 
 centuries ago '. Weber used to regard ' the Jaina as 
 merely one of the oldest sects of Buddhism*'; and 
 Lassen believed that they had branched off from 
 the Buddhists ^ M. Barth, after discussion of the 
 evidence, still thought that we must regard the 
 Jaina ' as a sect which took its rise in Buddhism *.' 
 On the other hand, Oldenberg, who brings later light 
 from the Pali texts to bear on the question, accepts 
 the identity of the Jaina sect with the Nigantha, 
 ' into whose midst the younger brotherhood of Buddha 
 entered ^.' 
 
 The learned Jacobi has now investigated the 
 question from the Jaina texts themselves. Oldenberg 
 had proved, out of the Buddhist Scriptures, that 
 Buddiiism was a true product of Brahman doctrine 
 and discipline. Jacobi shows that both 'Buddhism 
 and Jainism must be regarded as religions developed 
 
 ' Essays and Leetures on the Beligim of the Sindm, by H. H. Wilson. 
 Dr. Keinhold Kost's edition (1862), vol. i. p. 339. 
 ' Weber's Indische Studien, xvi. 210. 
 ' Lassen's Indische AUerthumskunde, iv. 763 ff. 
 * Earth's Beligions of India, ed. 1882, p. 151. 
 ° Buddha, his Life, his Doctrine, his Order, by Professor H. Oldenberg. 
 
MAHAVIRA 41 
 
 out of Brahmanism, not by a sudden reformation, but 
 prepared by a religious movement going on for a long 
 time.' And he has brought forward evidence for 
 believing that Jainism was the earlier outgrowth of 
 the two — evidence which will be more fully discussed 
 later on. He holds that the religion of the Jaina 
 was probably founded by Parsvanath, now revered 
 as the twenty -third Jlna ; and merely reformed by 
 Mahavira, the contemporary of Buddha. 
 
 Following the line of argument that Professor Jacobi 
 has adopted, except where it appears to be somewhat 
 inadequate, we come first to the claims of Mahavira 
 to be the founder of Jainism and a contemporary of 
 Buddha. 
 
 Mahavira, the Twenty-fourth Jlna. 
 
 It is now recognized by all scholars that Nataputta, 
 who is commonly called Mahavira or Vardhamana, 
 was a historical person and a contemporary of Sakya- 
 muni, the Buddha ; and that the religion of Jainism 
 which he founded is as old as Buddhism. In fact, 
 both took their rise in that wonderful era of religious 
 speculation upon the ultimate problems of life, about 
 the sixth century before Christ ; and we would remark 
 that in no other age and country do we find difiused 
 among aU classes of people so earnest a spirit of 
 inquiry, so impartial and deep a respect for all who 
 came forward as teachers, however contradictory their 
 doctrines might be. 
 
 We see then at once that it is most important to 
 compare Mahavira with Buddha, and Buddhism with 
 Jainism, in order to see whether they borrowed any 
 of their teachings from each other, or derived their 
 doctrines, their orders, and their speculations from 
 a common source. In any case, it will be well to note 
 how it was that 'Buddhism proved more adaptable 
 and appealed to more widespread sympathies, till it 
 surpassed and overshadowed Jainism ' ; still more 
 
42 THE JAIN A 
 
 interesting to trace the cause of the survival of the 
 latter in British India to-day, while the former has 
 long been extinct. 
 
 Mahavlra and Buddha^. 
 
 The chief points of resemblance between the respec- 
 tive founders of these religions were these: — (t) both 
 were ascetics ; (2) Mahavira had relations with the 
 same names as those of Buddha, both leaders being 
 of the Kshatriya caste ; (3) both disregarded the 
 authority of the Brahmans in religious matters. 
 
 But their differences were far more characteristic 
 than their apparent resemblance, of which so much 
 used to be made. For we read of Buddha as being 
 bom in KapUavastu in the kingdom of Magadha at 
 the foot of the Himalaya. But Mahavlra was the son 
 of one King Siddhanta of Kundagrama, not far from 
 Vaisali. And Buddha's mother died directly after 
 his birth, but the parents of Mahavira lived until he 
 was grown up. 
 
 Again, amid the halo of legends that gathered about 
 Buddha's life, we are probably right in saying that he 
 turned an ascetic against his father's will. Who has 
 not been touched by the story of ' the four sights which 
 powerfully affected him, and actually decided his 
 future course? The first object was a decrepit old 
 man : this led him to reflect on the miseries of old 
 age. He next passed a wretched leper, covered with 
 sores: here Gautama's thoughts glanced off to the 
 manifold forms of disease and suffering with which 
 the world abounds. The next object which crossed 
 his path was a dead body ; " And this," said he, " is the 
 end to which I and all must come ! " . . . Anon, another 
 object presented itself to him: he beheld a recluse 
 sitting rapt in meditation. " That," said he to himself, 
 " is the only course for me to pursue." . . . That very 
 night did he quit his home.' Not so with Mahavira, 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. xxii., Oaina-Sutras, pt. i. p. xiii S. 
 
MAHAVIRA 43 
 
 for he waited until his father's death, and then went 
 into retirement with the consent of those in power. 
 
 But the striking parallels and contrasts go further 
 than this. Whereas Buddha led a life of austerities 
 for six years, Mahavira persevered for twelve ; and 
 even afterwards, when he became a Tirthakara, he 
 was still convinced of the necessity of asceticism, 
 whereas Buddha looked upon those six years as 
 wasted time. Thus, after a lifetime of mutual 
 rivalry, Mahavira is said to have died at Papa, 
 leaving Buddha the advantage of preaching and 
 teaching for many years after, until his touching 
 death at Kusinagara when eighty years of age. 
 
 Mahavira, like Buddha, was a member of a feudal 
 aristocracy, whose family ties were strong and long 
 remembered. We know, too, for certain, that Buddha 
 addressed himself chiefly to members of the aris- 
 tocracy, and the Jaina originally preferred the 
 Kshatriya to the Brahmans. Therefore it is evident 
 that both Buddha and Mahavira made use of their 
 families to propagate their order, which partly 
 accounts for their prevalence at the time over rival 
 sects. Then when it is remembered that the kingdom 
 of Magadha was extended under Agasatru, son of 
 Bambisara, who figures largely in the life of Buddha 
 — extended so as to include Vaisall, and the birthplace 
 of Mahavira — we see that the foundations were laid 
 of an empire, which facilitated the rapid spread both 
 of Jainism and Buddhism ^. 
 
 A few other points about the founder of Jainism 
 are worthy of notice. After he had spent his twelve 
 years in austerities, during eleven of which he seems 
 to have gone about naked, he became omniscient, and 
 a prophet of the Jaina, called a Tirthakara. Several 
 other titles were then given him, such as Jina, 
 Mahavira, &c. (as with Sakya-muni). Then for thirty 
 years he taught his religious system and organized 
 
 * S. B. E., vol. xxi', pt. i. p. xiv. 
 
44 THE JAINA 
 
 his order of ascetics, under the patronage of the three 
 kings of Videha, Magadha, and Anga. His travels 
 extended west to Sravasti and north to the foot of 
 the Himalaya. His disciples (or apostles of the 
 Jaina) were eleven in number, and are detailed in 
 the Kalpa-Sutra. This list, we have reason to believe, 
 is accurate, since it is given without variation by 
 both sects of the Jaina. Lastly, we have the double 
 testimony of both Jaina and Buddhist Canons that 
 Nataputta (as he is always called by the Buddhists) 
 was a contemporary of Buddha, and that his followers 
 in Vaisali were numerous ^. 
 
 The Influence of Gosdla on Mahdvira's Boctrinea. 
 
 The Bhagavati states that Gosala, the son of Mak- 
 khali, after six years of asceticism with Mahavira as 
 his disciple, separated from him and started a_Law of 
 his own, and set up a Jina, the leader of the Agivika. 
 The Buddhists claim Gosala as coming from a long- 
 established order of monks. Jacobi thinks that 
 Mahavira and Gosala associated with the intention 
 of combining their sects and fusing them into one. 
 This does not seem conclusive. 
 
 His reasons are: — (i) their long life together pre- 
 supposes similarity of opinions ; (a) the ^visions of 
 animals, and of mankind, into six classes are common 
 to both; (3) the rules of conduct prove almost con- 
 clusively that Mahavira borrowed them from Gosala. 
 
 Certainly Mahavira's position was strengthened by 
 his temporary association with Gosala, though, if we 
 believe the Jaina, Gosala himself lost by it, and came 
 to a tragic end ^. 
 
 Brdhmanism, Buddhism, and Jainism. 
 
 We have already mentioned that it has been 
 generally believed, even by many scholars, that 
 Jainism is a branch of Buddhism. Let us now ex- 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. xxii. pt. i. p. ivi. ' Ibid., vol. xlv. pt. il. p. 
 
BRAHMANISM, BUDDHISM, AND JAINISM 45 
 
 amine the four points of coincidence which Professor 
 Lassen adduced to prove this point'. 
 
 I. Both sects give the same titles and epithets to 
 their prophets : e. g. Jina, Arhat, Mahavira, Sarvagna, 
 Sugata, Tathagata, Siddha, Buddha, Sambuddha, 
 Panhivrita, Mukta. 
 
 To this it has been well replied that probably all 
 were ' honorific adjectives and substantives applicable 
 to persons of exalted virtue.' For instance, even to- 
 day in Jaina writings, 'Buddha' means 'mukta,' or 
 ' liberated soul,' and yet it was taken by the Buddhists 
 as a title for Gautama. And to go further, Tirthakara, 
 which means ' prophet ' with the Jaina, is used of the 
 founder of a heretical sect by the Buddhists. The 
 more natural conclusion, therefore, to arrive at is that 
 Buddhists were opponents of Jaina when they formed 
 their terminology, and not vice versa. 
 
 II. Both sects now worship mortal men (their 
 prophets) as gods, and erect statues of them in their 
 temples. 
 
 But, we answer, this worship had nothing to do 
 with Buddhism or Jainism originally, nor did it 
 originate with the ' yati ' or monks, but with the 
 'sravaki' or laymen of the community. The re- 
 ligious development of the people in India had come 
 to find in ' bhakti ' the supreme means of salvation, and 
 so Professor Jacobi thinks that both sects came to 
 adopt this practice, independently, under the con- 
 tinuous and irresistible religious tendencies at work 
 in those times. 
 
 III. Both sects measure the history of the world 
 by enormous periods of time, which bewilder and 
 awe even the most imaginative fancy. 
 
 But so does the Brahman ; in fact, there is as much 
 difference between Buddhist and Jaina chronology as 
 
 ' Indische Alterthumskunde, iv. 763 ff. 
 
46 THE JAIN A 
 
 between Buddhist and Brahman. A study of the 
 three systems seems to show that while ' the Buddhists 
 have improved on the Brahman system of the Yuga, 
 the Jaina invented their Utsarpini and Avasarpini 
 eras after the model of the day and night of 
 Brahma.' In this case, therefore, the Jaina outdo the 
 Buddhists. 
 
 IV. Both sects lay stress on the 'ahipsa' or not 
 killing of living things. 
 
 This point refers to only one of the five vows of 
 the Jaina and Buddhists, which have so much in 
 common. It wiU be best, therefore, to compare these 
 vows with one another, as Professor Weber has done, 
 and underneath to place the first five of the ten 
 obligations of the Brahman ascetics, as drawn up by 
 Professor Windisch. 
 
 The five Jaina vows in order. The five Buddhist precepts. 
 
 ahinsa, not to destroy life. One should not destroy life, 
 
 sunrita, not to lie ^ One should not take that which 
 
 is not given '. 
 
 asteya, not to take that which One should not tell lies. 
 
 is not given, 
 
 brahmakarya, to abstain from One should not become a 
 
 sexual intercourse. drinker of intoxicants, 
 
 aparigraha, to renounce all in- One should refrain from un- 
 
 terest in worldly things, lawful sexual intercourse 
 
 and to call nothing one's ... an ignoble thing \ 
 
 own". 
 
 The five vows of the Brahman ascetics. 
 
 Abstention from injuring living beings. 
 
 Truthfulness '. 
 
 Abstention from appropriating the property of others. 
 
 Continence. 
 
 Liberality \ 
 
 ' Note the change in order. 
 
 ' The fifth vow differs in each case, liberality not being possible 
 for mendicants. 
 
JAINA VOWS 47 
 
 A mere glance at the above triple group of vows is 
 enough to convince any candid inquirer, that there is 
 quite as much reason to suppose that Jaina vows are 
 deducible from those of Brahman ascetics already in 
 use, as that Buddhism is the source. It is still more 
 obvious when the precepts and rules of the Brahman 
 ascetics, as in Baudhayana, are arranged alongside of 
 those of the Jaina monks. They have much the same 
 outfit. Both carry a cloth for straining water, and 
 both perform purifications with water when taken 
 out of a tank and strained. The Brahman broom 
 has its counterpart in the grasses with which the 
 Jaina sweep the road, where they walk and sit, in 
 order to remove insects. While the stick and the rope 
 belonging to the alms-bowl, the alms-bowl, and the 
 water-vessel are the invariable accompaniments of 
 each. In fact, the only speciality of the Jaina is their 
 filter for the mouth, which they call ' mukhavastrika.' 
 On the whole, therefore, the Jaina were fitted out 
 very much like their Brahman models, the Samnyasin 
 or Bhikshu. They have more vows in common with 
 the Brahmans than the Buddhists, and several precepts 
 in common with Brahman ascetics. 
 
 There is stiU another question to decide. Did the 
 Jaina monk copy from the Brahman ascetic, or vice 
 versa ? That the former is the case has overwhelming 
 evidence. For, putting aside for a moment the claims 
 of the Samnyasin to be part of the Asrama, which 
 are probably as old as Brahmanism itself, we find 
 traces of Brahman ascetics all over India, at a time 
 when Buddhism was only aoo years old, and still 
 exercising merely a local influence. Therefore it is 
 difficult to conceive how all the Samnyasin could have 
 been taken from the Buddhists. 
 
 But still more conclusive is the argument from the 
 
 date of Gautama, the lawgiver. For Professor Buhler^ 
 
 puts down Baudhayana as of a much older date than 
 
 the Apastamba, which we know was written in the 
 
 * Sacred Laws of the Aryas, pt. i. Introduction, p. xliii. 
 
48 THE JAINA 
 
 fourth or fifth century B. c. But Gautama was older 
 than either of these, and yet in his day he taught the 
 complete system of Brahman asceticism. 
 
 What then gave rise to the monastic orders of Jaina 
 and Buddhists ? It must be remembered that though 
 these orders were copied, as we have seen, from the 
 Brahmans, they were distinctly intended for the 
 Kshatriya caste, of whom both Mahavira and Buddha 
 were members. This is proved by a curious Wend 
 about the transfer of the embryo of Mahavira from 
 the womb of a Brahmanl to that of a Kshatriyani. 
 For it was alleged that no other caste was worthy 
 to bring forth a Tirthakara. Now it was only natural 
 that Brahman ascetics should not regard these feUow- 
 ascetics as quite their equals, however orthodox they 
 might be ; and that further separation between them 
 should ensue, when it came to be held that the Brahman 
 was entitled to enter the fourth Asrama (or stage), the 
 Kshatriya only three, the citizen two, and the Sudra 
 one. A remark of Vaisishtha throws light upon this 
 tendency to dissent, when he deplores the fact that 
 non-Brahman ascetics had ceased from reciting the 
 Veda, and hence were neglecting revelation. We can 
 be safe in saying that the beginnings of dissenting 
 sects like the Jaina and Buddhists arose out of the 
 institution of the fourth Asrama ^. 
 
 But there were other differences of belief taking 
 shape in^this age of inquiry 2. The Brahman philosophy 
 of the Atman, or Universal Soul, was being disputed. 
 And while the Jaina held to the orthodox beUef in 
 'the absolute and permanent soul '^ with but one 
 difference, that they ascribed to the Atman a limited 
 space — Buddha went further. ' The very first sermon 
 which he preached to his first converts (was a) discourse 
 on the absence of any sign of " soul," in any of all the 
 constituent elements of individual life ^' 
 
 ' S. B. E., vol. xxii. pp. xxix ff. 
 
 ■ Cf. p. 58. 
 
 ' T. W. Bhya-Davids, Buddhism, its History and Literature, p. 39. 
 
JAINA TRADITION 49 
 
 At length, therefore, we have arrived at some con- 
 clusions about the relationships between Brahmanism, 
 Buddhism, and Jainism, and it will be well here to 
 summarize them. First, that which Buddhists and 
 Jaina have in common, comes in every case from 
 older Brahman sources. Second, in fundamental 
 points the Buddhists and the Jaina are at variance. 
 Third, Mahavira and Buddha were undoubtedly con- 
 temporaries one of another. 
 
 II. 
 The Authenticity of Jaina Tradition. 
 
 The above discussion has, however, been conducted 
 on the supposition that the tradition of the Jaina as 
 contained in their sacred books may on the whole be 
 credited. But the intrinsic value of this tradition has 
 been called into question by M. Barth, who is a 
 scholar of cautious judgement. In his opinion, the 
 direct tradition of peculiar doctrines and records had 
 not yet been demonstrated, and he would seem when he 
 wrote to assume that the Jaina must have been care- 
 less in handing down their sacred lore \ Professor 
 Weber also concludes the introduction to his recent 
 work by saying, ' Personally I still continue to regard 
 the Jaina as one of the oldest of the Buddhist 
 sects ^.' 
 
 A conclusive answer then must be given, before 
 proceeding further, to the question : — ' Was the cultiva- 
 tion of the sacred text altogether abandoned in the 
 interval between the days of Mahavira and the redac- 
 tion of the Canon in 454 A. D. ? ' In answer to 
 Barth's doubts about the authenticity of Jaina 
 traditions, Jacobi admits that the Jaina sect may have 
 been for a long time small and unimportant, but 
 contends that small sects, like the Jews and the Parsi, 
 
 ' Barth, The Religions of India, ch. iv (1882 ed.). 
 ' Weber, Soared Literature 0/ the Jains, p. la. 
 D 
 
50 THE JAIN A 
 
 often do preserve their doctrines and traditions with 
 great pertinacity, and better than larger religious 
 communities. He points out that the trifling differ- 
 ences in doctrines and usages which caused the various 
 schisms in the Jaina body, indicate that they were 
 most particular about their tenets, and that the detailed 
 list of teachers and schools in the Sthaviravali of the 
 Kalpa-Sutra, which cannot be a pure fabrication, 
 shows the interest taken in the preservation of records. 
 With respect to the sacred books of the Svetambara, 
 he rejects a portion of the tradition, which says that 
 Devarddhi in the fifth or sixth century caused the 
 Siddhanta to be written in books, and introduced the 
 use of MSS. in the instruction of pupils and laymen. 
 He takes only the latter statement to be true, and 
 assumes that MSS. of the Anga and other sacred works 
 did exist at an earlier period, 'because it is hardly 
 credible that the Jaina monks should never before 
 have attempted to write down what they had to 
 commit to memory ^' 
 
 There is only one important point on which Jacobi's 
 answer is incomplete. It furnishes no instance in 
 which the tradition of the Jaina is proved to be trust- 
 worthy by independent, really historical sources. 
 This led Professor Biihler to enter on a careful re- 
 examination of all the ancient historical documents 
 which refer to the Jaina. The result has been that 
 he has succeeded in proving the correctness of a great 
 part of the larger list of teachers and schools, pre- 
 served in the Sthaviravali of the Kalpa-Sutra. The 
 historical documents corroboratiag it are the well- 
 known ' Muttra ' Inscriptions, published in Sir A. 
 Cunningham's Archaeological Reports, vol. iii. p. 31 ff., 
 plates xiii-xv '^. 
 
 ' S. B. E., Tol. xxii., Oaina-Sutra, pt. i. p. xxxviii. 
 
 ' They not only mention the division of the Jaina monks into 
 schools, lines of teachers, and branches, but contain the names 
 of nine gana, Teula, and sSkha, and of one teacher mentioned in the 
 Kalpa-Sutra, 
 
THE ' MUTTRA ' INSCRIPTIONS 51 
 
 These Inscriptions ^ bear the date of the era of Indo- 
 Scythian kings over North- Western India, e. g. Kan- 
 ishka, and though scholars are not quite agreed as 
 to when to fix the beginning of this era, one of the 
 latest dates assigned for Kanishka's accession to the 
 throne is the year 78-79 a. d. The dialect in which 
 they are written shows that curious mixture of 
 Sanskrit and Prakrit which is found in the Gatha of 
 the Northern Buddhists. From them we also learn 
 that the Jaina monks of Mathura formed, between 83 
 and 167 A. D., an order of a hierarchy, which was 
 divided into several schools, each of which counted 
 several subdivisions. Most of the persons named 
 receive the title vdchaka, or preacher, which is still 
 very commonly given to those ascetics who are con- 
 sidered fit to expound the sacred books to laymen and 
 pupils. One, however, is styled gaivin, 'chief of 
 a school,' a somewhat higher title, which even to-day 
 is conferred on an eminent Sadhu. Among the schools 
 the kotikagana shows that it had had a long history, 
 and may safely be considered as having been founded 
 at least a century before the beginning of our era. 
 The existence, therefore, of titles like vdchaka and 
 ganin, and of ancient schools at the end of the first 
 century A. D., shows that the Jaina sect had possessed 
 already for a long time ' a continuous and self-conscious 
 existence.' The Inscriptions further prove that the 
 great schism which divided the Jaina into two hostile 
 sections took place, not as modem tradition asserts (in 
 609 after Vira), but long before the beginning of our 
 era, thus confirming Jacobi's view already put forward. 
 In this way the gap of ten centuries which exists 
 between Vardhamana and Devarddhi is almost fiUed 
 up by continuous Jaina tradition. The two centuries 
 during which alone no tradition is preserved are 
 thought, by Jacobi, to have been filled up by the use 
 of the fourteen Purva, of which more will be said 
 later on. 
 
 ' Vienna OrienialJoumal, 1887, vol. i. pp. 169, 179-180. 
 D 2, 
 
52 THE JAINA 
 
 The Age of Extant Jaina Literature. 
 
 The Jaina Canon, or Siddhanta, was drawn up at the 
 council of Valabhi, under the presidency of Devarddhi. 
 This date corresponds either to 4,54 or 467 a.d., and is 
 incorporated into the Kalpa-Siitra (§ 148). ' Devarddhi 
 Ganin,' says the tradition, ' perceiving the Siddhanta 
 in danger of becoming extinct, caused it to be written 
 in books.' In olden times it had been the custom of 
 the Brahmans, and hence of the Buddhists and 
 Jaina, to rely on the memory more than on MSS. 
 How early these MSS. were first written we do not 
 know, for no mention is made of them, but it is 
 very likely that as soon as they settled in Upasraya 
 exclusively belonging to themselves, they began to 
 keep them as they do now. 
 
 If this view be correct, Devarddhi 'arranged the 
 already existing MSS. in a Canon, taking down from 
 the mouth of learned theologians only such works 
 as had not available MSS.' Then a great many 
 copies were made, in order to furnish every seminary 
 with books. In this way any single passage in a 
 sacred text may have been introduced by the editor, 
 and all we can say with certainty is that the bulk of 
 the Siddhanta is not of his making. 
 
 What can be ascertained about the date of com- 
 position of the sacred books? There is no proof at 
 all events that the first Tirthakara was the revealer 
 of their contents, though this is a dogmatic theory of 
 the Jaina. But we have three methods by which to 
 determine the latest date to which they may be as- 
 signed : the tests of scientific knowledge, of language, 
 and of metres used. For instance, no traces of the 
 elements of Greek astronomy can be found in the 
 Siddhanta, and we know that these were introduced 
 into India in the fourth century of our era. EAd- 
 dently the Jaina Scriptures must have all been com- 
 posed before then. The language too would give 
 
JAINA LITERATURE 53 
 
 a perfect clue, if it were not that books may have 
 been handed down, not in the language of com- 
 position, nor in that of pronunciation. Jacobi thinks 
 that the language has been modernized, for the same 
 word is not always spelt the same way in Jaina texts 
 and MSS. It would be quite impossible, therefore, 
 to restore Devarddhi's recension. But there are other 
 differences between the original and present Siddhanta 
 text. Weber speaks of 'lost passages which were 
 extant at the date of the older commentaries, but 
 also large interpolations which are apparent, and 
 furthermore the text has even suffered complete trans- 
 formations ^.' He attributes these changes, and the 
 loss of the entire ' Drishtivada,' to the influence of the 
 orthodox sect of Svetambara, to whom the present 
 Siddhanta exclusively belongs. 
 
 Probably we must regard these methods of spelling 
 as historical; that is, all spellings were treated as 
 authentic, and so were preserved. If this assumption 
 is correct, the most archaic spelling represents pro- 
 nunciation near the time of composition, while modem 
 spelling dates back to the period shortly before the 
 redaction of the Canon took place. Using this pro- 
 position, and comparing the Jaina Prakrit in its 
 oldest form with Pali texts on the one side, and later 
 Prakrits on the other, we are led to the conclusion 
 that the sacred books of the Jaina approximate more 
 in point of time to the Southern Buddhists than to 
 later Prakrit writers. 
 
 An examination of the metres in use is a still safer 
 guide. What do we find ? It will be sufficient for 
 the sake of example to take the Vaitaliya, Trish- 
 tubh, and Arya metres and discuss their use. We 
 note then that the Jaina Sutrakritanga-Sutra has 
 a whole lesson in the Vaitaliya metre; that Pali 
 verses of the Southern Buddhists and Sanskrit litera- 
 ture of the Northern Buddhists also use the metre; 
 
 ' Weber's Socred Literaiure (jf the Jains, translated by Dr. A. W. 
 Smyth (1893), p. 8. 
 
54 THE JAINA 
 
 and further, that the Dhammapadam (of the Southern 
 Buddhists) is written in an older style, whereas the 
 Lalita Vistara (of the Northern Buddhists) is more 
 modern in point of development. We conclude, there- 
 fore, that this one lesson in the Sutrakritanga dates 
 back to a period between the versifications of the 
 Southern and Northern Buddhists. 
 
 Take the Arya metre also as a confirmation of the 
 above proof, and the Dhammapadam, which is com- 
 posed in ancient Pali, will be found to contain no 
 such verses. Then notice that the Sutrakritanga, 
 just as we should expect if it is dated as we have 
 suggested above, contains a whole lecture in an old 
 form of Arya; and the later the period the more 
 common the Arya metre, till it is found not only in 
 the younger parts of the Siddhanta, and in Brah- 
 man literature (whether in Prakrit or Sanskrit), but 
 also in the works of the Northern Buddhists (e.g. the 
 Lalita Vistara). 
 
 Lastly, the form of the Trishtubh metre in ancient 
 Jaina works is younger than that in the Pali literature 
 and older than that in the Lalita Vistara. Li all three 
 cases then it appears that the Gatha of the Lalita 
 Vistara are more modern than those in the Jaina 
 Siddhanta. Hence Jacobi puts down 'the chrono- 
 logical position of the oldest parts of the Jaina 
 literature as intermediate between the Pali and the 
 Lalita Vistara.' 
 
 We have seen that the date of the oldest works 
 in the Jaina Canon makes them older than the 
 Gatha of the Lalita Vistara. What date are we 
 to assign to the latter ? We know that it is said to 
 have been translated into Chinese in 65 a.d. There- 
 fore extant Jaina literature must all be placed earlier 
 than our era. Again, from the close comparison of 
 Pali, Jaina, and later Prakrits, it has been shown 
 that Jaina literature resembles that of the Southern 
 more than that of the Northern Buddhists. Compare 
 this with Max Miiller's conclusion to his discussion on 
 
JAIN A LITERATURE 55 
 
 the point, when he fixes the latest date of a Buddhist 
 Canon at the time of the Second Council, 377 B.C., 
 and it will be seen that the whole of the Jaina 
 Siddhanta luas composed after the fourth century 
 B.C., and iefore the Christian era. It is interesting 
 then to notice that the traditions of the Svetambara 
 agree fairly well with this independent reasoning. 
 For they say that their Anga were brought together 
 at the time when Kandragupta was on the throne. 
 And this date is given by Max Miiller as 315-391 
 B. c, and by Westergaard and Kern as 330 b. c. There- 
 fore the composition of the Jaina Canon would fall 
 somewhere between the end of the fourth and 
 beginning of the third century B. c. Both sects of the 
 Jaina attribute the collection of works to Bhadrabahu. 
 
 Works older than the existing Canon. 
 
 Besides the Jaina Scriptures, the Svetambara and 
 Digambara speak of some older works called Purva, 
 as well as the Anga. There were said to be fourteen 
 of these, but in time the knowledge of them was lost, 
 and they became totally extinct. The Svetambara 
 hold that these fourteen Purva were incorporated 
 in the twelfth Anga, the Drishtivada, which was 
 lost before the thousandth year of their era, i. e. before 
 the redaction under Devarddhi. Anyhow a detailed 
 accoimt, or table of contents, is found in the fourth 
 Anga, the Samavayanga, and in the Nandi-Sutra. 
 There are two reasons for believing that this tradition 
 is correct. First, the word 'purva' means 'former,' 
 and second, the Anga do not derive their authority 
 from the Purva, and there would be no need to 
 fabricate the idea. 
 
 How then was it that the Purva were superseded 
 by a new Canon ? Weber thinks that the Svetambara 
 lost the Drishtivada, because they had begun so to 
 differ from the. tenets of the book that the Purva 
 
56 THE JAINA 
 
 fell into neglect '^. Jacobi holds that the Purva were 
 probably only of temporary value, and contained 
 accounts of philosophical controversies held between 
 Mahavira and his rivals. The title ' pravada ' which is 
 added to the name of every _ Purva seems to favour 
 this view. Whereas if the Svetambara be accused of 
 losing the Purva, the Digambara seem to have lost 
 their Anga as well within the first two centuries after 
 the Nirvaijia. 
 
 In this case the neglect of the Purva was due, 
 not so much to any direct intention, as to the fact 
 that the new Canon set forth the Jaina doctrines in 
 a clearer light. 
 
 Contents of the Siddhdnta. 
 
 What then was the Canon of the Jaina Scriptures 
 which Devarddhi Ganin compiled? The Siddhanta, 
 as we now have it, is divided into forty-five Agama, 
 in six groups; several of the texts of the Agama 
 having distinct names as authors. There are: — 
 
 I. Eleven Anga. 
 II. Twelve Upanga. 
 
 III. Ten Painna. 
 
 IV. Six Cheda. 
 
 V. Two Sutra (Nandi and AnuySgadvara). 
 VI. Four Miila-Sutra. 
 
 Weber has shown that ' the oldest portions of their 
 literature are in reality nothing but disjecta vietnhra ; 
 that they are very unequal, and, as regards the date 
 of their composition, separated from each other by 
 extensive periods.' Yet he admits that 'a hand, 
 aiming at unification and order, has been brought to 
 bear especially upon the anga and upanga.' Jacobi 
 also considers that the redaction of the anga took 
 place early, and tradition places the event under 
 Bhadrabahu. 
 
 ■ Indische Siudim, xvi. p. 248. 
 
JAINA PHILOSOPHY 57 
 
 III. 
 The Antiquity of Jaina Philosophy. 
 
 When we come to consider how old Jaina doctrines 
 are, and compare them with that of other schools of 
 thought in India, we jBnd that Jaina ethics are 
 generally based on primitive ideas. As illustrations 
 of these notions, nearly everything is possessed of 
 a soul; not only have plants their own souls, but 
 particles of earth, cold water, fire, and wind also ^. 
 
 Now ethnology teaches us that animism is the 
 basis of many beliefs that have been called 'the 
 philosophy of savages'; and that when civilization 
 advances, some kind of anthropomorphism takes its 
 place. Therefore it is natural to conclude that ani- 
 mistic beliefs must have been fairly prevalent, in 
 large classes of Indian society, when Jainism first 
 took its rise. And since this must have happened at 
 an early date, it points to the antiquity of Jaina 
 philosophy ''. , 
 
 Another mark Jainism has in common with the 
 oldest Brahman philosophies, Vedanta and San- 
 khya. The category of Quality is not yet clearly 
 and distinctly conceived, but is just evolving out of 
 the category of Substance. That is to say, things 
 which we recognize as qualities are constantly mis- 
 taken for and mixed up with substances. For 
 instance, the Sutra rarely use the expression ' guna,' 
 or 'qualities'; but more modern books regularly do 
 so, showing the idea to be a later innovation. Again, 
 the terms 'dharma' and 'adharma' (merit and 
 demerit) are treated of as kinds of substances with 
 which the soul comes in contact. Now Professor 
 Oldenberg has pointed out that this was distinctly 
 a primitive conception of the Vedic Hindu, and such 
 a confusion of ideas would never have occurred at a 
 later period. 
 
 * S. B. E., vol. xlv. p. xxxii. 
 ° Ibid., p. xxxiii. 
 
THE JAINA 
 
 Some Early Jaina Doctrines. 
 
 Have we any means of discovering what was the 
 teaching of early days, and whether it corresponded 
 with the doctrines of Mahavira ? It will be admitted, 
 from what has been said above, that the Nigantha or 
 Nirgrantha, now better known as Jaina or Arhata, 
 already existed as an important sect when the Bud- 
 dhist church was being founded. In order, therefore, 
 to come to a solution of the above question, perhaps 
 it will be best to take from published Buddhist 
 and Jaina works, as the oldest witnesses that we can 
 summon, available information about the Nigantha, 
 their doctrines and religious practices \ 
 
 I. The Eternity of Atman. 
 
 There were at the time of the Buddhists and Jaina 
 several other schools of philosophy, whom they each 
 called heretics. And it will not be out of place to 
 mention what were their theories about Atman, the 
 ' soul,' or as Pro^ssor Max Miiller prefers to translate 
 it — 'the self.' First, there were three materialist 
 schools — the one contending that the body and the 
 soul are one and the same ; the second, that the five 
 elements are eternal and constitute everything, as in 
 the following lines : — 
 
 ' Man (purusho) consists of four elements ; when he dies, earth 
 returns to earth, water to water, fire to fire, wind to wind, and the 
 organs of sense merge into air ' (or space — ' jlkasa') ' ; 
 
 the third school was a variety of the second, and is thus 
 described : — 
 
 'Some say that there are five elements and the soul is sixth 
 (substance), but they contend that the soul and the world (i. e. the 
 fire elements) are eternal. " These (six substances) do not perish 
 neither (without nor with a cause) ; the non-existent does not 
 come into existence, but all things are eternal by their very 
 nature '." ' 
 
 ' Of. S. B. E., vol. xlv., Satrahritrnga, ii. i, 20-23. 
 » S. B. E., ibid., i. 1, 15, 16. ' 
 
JAINA PHILOSOPHY 59 
 
 Then we find a fourth school of Fatalists described 
 as saying : — 
 
 ' But misery (and pleasure) is not caused by (the souls) them- 
 selves ; how could it be caused by other (agents, as time, &:c.)? 
 Pleasure and misery, final beatitude and temporal (pleasure and 
 pain) are not caused by (the souls) themselves, nor by others ; but 
 the individual souls experience them ; it is the lot assigned them 
 by destiny '.' 
 
 Lastly, four schools of Agnostics are given us — 
 Kriyavada, Akriyavada, Agnanavada, and Vamayika- 
 vada. All these were considered by the Jaina as 
 heretical. These Agnostics, or Agnanika, negatived 
 all modes of expression of the existence or non- 
 existence of a thing, if it were anything trans- 
 cendental or beyond human experience. And yet 
 there is little doubt that Mahavira owed some of his 
 conceptions to these very heretics, and formulated 
 others under the influences of the day^. For instance, 
 the doctrine of Syadvada is identically the same as 
 the Saptabhanginaya of the Jaina. It was an 
 ingenious way out of the maze of the Agnanavada 
 assertions about existence and non-existence. 
 
 Amidst all these conflicting views of the Soul, 
 Mahavira kept to the old Brahman idea of the 
 Atman. He held that it was eternal, but that the 
 Atman have only a limited space, instead of being 
 co-extensive with the universe. 
 
 II. The Kriyavada, or the doctrine which teaches 
 that ' the soul acts or is affected by acts.' 
 
 There is a story told of Siha, the general, a lay 
 disciple of Nataputta, in the sixth Khandhaka of the 
 Mahavagga. He wanted to pay Buddha a visit, and 
 went to ask Nataputta's leave. This was Nataputta's 
 answer : — 
 
 'Why should you, Siha, who believe in the result of actions 
 (according to their moral merit), go to visit the Samana Gautama, 
 who denies the result of actions ? He teaches the doctrine of non- 
 action ; and in this doctrine he trains his disciples.' 
 
 ' S. B. E., Sutrakritdnga, i. i, a, a, 3. 
 
 " Cf. what Mahavira taught about the Kriyavada himself lower 
 down. 
 
6o THE JAIN A 
 
 This doctrine of Kriyavada was opposed by Buddha's 
 bold teaching about Akriyavada, which said that ' the 
 soul does not exist, or that it does not act, or is not 
 affected by acts.' Here we recognize the teaching 
 of the different schools of materialists, and in the 
 Brahman philosophy of the Vedanta, Sankhya, and 
 Yoga schools of thought. Mahavira, on the other 
 hand, agreed with the Vaiseshika and Nyaya schools 
 of Brahman philosophy. 
 
 III. Annihilation of Karman. 
 
 The teaching of Nigantha Nataputta on this point 
 is thus described by Abhaya, a learned Buddhist : — 
 
 ' He teaches the annihilation (by austerities) of the old Karman, 
 and the prevention (by inactivity) of new Karman. When Karman 
 ceases, misery ceases ; when misery ceases, perception ceases ; when 
 perception ceases, every misery will come to an end. In this way 
 a man is saved by pure annihilation of sin (niggara), which is really 
 effective '.' 
 
 Very similar is the doctrine of the later books of the 
 Siddhanta. 
 
 ' By austerities he cuts off Karman '.' 
 
 ' By renouncing activity he obtains inactivity : by ceasing to act 
 he acquires no new Karman, and destroys the Karman he had 
 acquired before '.' 
 
 'Karman is the root of birth and death, and birth and death 
 they call misery ^,' 
 
 ' A man who is indifferent to the object of the senses, and to the 
 other feelings of the mind, is free from sorrows ; though still in 
 the Samsara, he is not afSicted by that long succession of pains, 
 just as the leaf of the Lotus (is not moistened) by water '.' 
 
 IV. The three Banda (danda being a word meaning 
 'punishment'). Nigantha Upali, who like Siha was 
 converted to Buddha's teaching, tells us that there are 
 three danda, the danda of the body, that of the speech, 
 and that of the mind. This is almost identical with 
 the Jaina doctrine. For we are told that Nataputta 
 ' also declared that there were three danda or agents 
 for the commission of sin, and that the acts of the 
 
 ' Anguttara Nikaya, iii. 74. 
 
 '^ S. B. E., vol. xlv. p. XV., and Vttaradhyayana, Lect. xiix. §§ 27, 37, 
 71. 73- ' Ibid., xxxii. w. 7, 34, 47, &c. 
 
JAINA PHILOSOPHY 61 
 
 body ^kaya), of the speech (vach), and of the mind 
 (mana), were three separate causes, each acting in- 
 dependently of the other 1.' He adds that the 
 Nigantha considered sins of the body more im- 
 portant than sins of the mind, and that this was 
 a point of contention between Jaina and Buddhists. 
 We have a direct confirmation of this fact in Jaina 
 works, for the very question as to whether sin may 
 be committed unconsciously is discussed there, and 
 a bold affirmative is given ^. But lower down the 
 Buddhists are even ridiculed for maintaining that 
 the intention of a man decides whether a deed be sin 
 or not ^- 
 
 V. Parsva and the doctrine of 'kdtuydma sam- 
 varasamvuto.' This word, translated ' restraint in 
 four directions *,' is equivalent to the Prakrit katug- 
 gama, a well-known Jaina term which denotes the 
 'four vows of Parsva ' in contradistinction to the five 
 vows of Mahavira. Here the Buddhists have probably 
 made a mistake in ascribing to Mahavira a doctrine 
 which properly belonged to his predecessor Parsva. 
 Professor Jacobi, therefore, looks upon this as a proof 
 that the Jaina tradition is correct, in asserting that 
 'followers of Parsva actually existed at the time of 
 Mahavira.' 
 
 Pdrsva's followers are mentioned in the Jaina 
 Sutra in quite a matter-of-fact way (especially Kesi, 
 who seems to have been a leader of the sect in the 
 time of Mahavira), so that there is no reason to 
 doubt the authenticity of these records. There is 
 an interesting legend of how the old and new body 
 were united ^. And indications of some estrangement, 
 even then, though not open hostility, may point to the 
 cause of the division of the body into Svetambara 
 
 ' Indian Antiquary, vol. ix. p. 159. 
 ' S. B. E., vol. xlv., Satrakritanga, ii. 4, p. 399. 
 ' Ibid., ii. 6, pp. 414-416. 
 
 ' Cf. Indian Antiquary, ix. 158 ff., 'On Mahavira and his pre- 
 decessors.' 
 " Cf. VUarSdhyayana, Leot. xxiii. 
 
62 THE JAINA 
 
 and Digambara. It was evidently a matter of time, 
 and in the end developed into a great scliism. 
 
 Also the Mgantha are frequently mentioned in the 
 Pitaka, as opponents or converts of Buddha and his 
 disciples. They must have been an important sect 
 by the time Buddhism took its rise. Hence they 
 must have existed before Nataputta. 
 
 There is yet another proof. Makkhali G5sala 
 divided mankind into six classes, and the third 
 were the Nigantha. Hence, since he was a contem- 
 porary of Buddha and Mahavira, it is clear that the 
 Nigantha had already attained to great importance. 
 
 Early Rdigious Practices. 
 
 Jacobi has deciphered some exhortations to a Savaka, 
 or Nigantha layman, as follows ^ : — 
 
 'Well, sir, you must desist from doing injury to beings in the 
 East beyond a yogana from here, or to those in the West, North, 
 South, always beyond a yogana from here ^' 
 
 This is evidently a trace of the Digvirati vow of 
 the Jaina, which lays down limits beyond which one 
 shall not travel or do business in different directions. 
 
 Again, later on it says : — 
 
 ' Well, sir, take off all your clothes and declare : — I belong to 
 nobody, and nobody belongs to me.' 
 
 According to this statement, the duties of a Niga- 
 ntha layman became during certain days equal to 
 those of a monk ; it was on common days only that 
 the difference between a layman and monk was 
 realized. 
 
 Comparing this rule with that of present-day ob- 
 servances of the Jaina, throughout these specified 
 days, we seem to see that Jaina have abated some- 
 what in their rigidity with regard to the duties of 
 a layman. 
 
 * AnguUaira Nikaya, iii. 70, 3. 
 
 ' Pali Text Society, Swmangala Vilasini, p. 119. 
 
JAIN A VU(.TKIJSKS UF TO-DAY 63 
 
 Also Buddhaghosa says that the Nigantha hold 
 the opinion that 'the soul has no colour,' in contra- 
 distinction to the Agivika, who divide mankind into 
 six classes according to the colour of the soul (Atman). 
 Both Nigantha and Agivika, however, agree that 
 'the soul continues to exist after death and is free 
 from ailments ' (arogo). 
 
 Again, Buddhaghosa says that Nigantha Nataputta 
 considers cold waiter to be possessed of life, for which 
 reason he does not use it. This is of course a well- 
 known doctrine of the Jaina. 
 
 Leading Jaina Doctrines of To-day. 
 
 We do not intend to discuss aU the present-day 
 doctrines of the Jaina, which constitute the philosophy 
 of their system, but only a few of the leading tenets. 
 According to original authorities, all objects — sensible 
 or abstract — are arranged under nine categories, termed 
 Tattva (truths or existences). 
 
 I. Jiva, or 'life,' is reducible to two classes. The 
 first comprises animals, men, demons, and gods; the 
 second, aU combinations of the four elements — earth, 
 water, fire, air — and all the products of the vegetable 
 kingdom. These are further arranged into five classes, 
 according to the number of Indriya they possess. 
 It is a peculiarity of the Jaina notions of life, that 
 it is always adapted to the body it animates, dimin- 
 ishing with the gnat and expanding with the elephant. 
 Life is defined, generically, as having no beginning 
 or ending, but endowed with its own attributes of 
 agent and enjoyer, proportionate to the body it 
 animates. Through sin it passes into animals, through 
 virtue and vice combined it passes into men, through 
 virtue alone it ascends to heaven ; through the anni- 
 hilation of both vice and virtue it obtains emanci- 
 pation. 
 
 II. Ajiva, or 'inertia,' comprises objects or pro- 
 perties devoid of consciousness and life. These are 
 
64 THE JAIN A 
 
 vaguely classed, and generally incapable of interpre- 
 tation. Their number is commonly set down as 
 fourteen, the symbol of vitality. For Ajiva, as well 
 as Jiva, can never be destroyed, though its form may 
 change. 
 
 III. Punya, or ' good,' is whatever causes happiness 
 to living beings. There are as many as forty-two 
 kinds of goodness enumerated. 
 
 IV. Papa, or 'ill,' is the cause of man's unhappi- 
 ness ; eighty-two kinds are enumerated. 
 
 V. Asrava is the source from which the evil acts 
 of living beings proceed. There are five specified 
 sources — the Indriya or organs of sense, the Kashaya 
 or passions, the Avrata or non-observance of positive 
 commands, and the Yoga or attachment of the mind, 
 speech, and body to any act ; and last of all, the Kriya 
 or acts, which are prompted in twenty-six difierent 
 ways. 
 
 VI. Sainvara is the cause by which acts are stored 
 up or impeded. The ingenious Jaina can think of 
 fifty-seven ways in which this can be done, e. g. by 
 secrecy, endurance, gentleness. 
 
 VII. Nirjara is the religious practice that destroys 
 mortal impurities. It is a kind of penance, positive 
 because repentant, and negative because of fasting 
 and continence. 
 
 VIII. Bandha is the association of life with acts, 
 as of milk with water, or fire with a red-hot 
 iron. 
 
 IX. Moksha is the last of the nine principles, and 
 consists in the liberation of the spirit from the bonds 
 of action. It amounts to exemption from the incidents 
 of life, and from the necessity of being born again. 
 It implies profound calm, as of a fire gone out, or of 
 the setting of a star, or of the dying of a saint. 
 'It is not annihilation but increasing apathy which 
 they (both Jaina and Buddhists) understand to be 
 the extinction of their saints, and which they esteem 
 to be supreme f eKcity.' 
 
JAIN A DOCTRINES OF TO-DAY 65 
 
 The means by which molcsha is to be attained are 
 called, as in the case of Buddhism, the three jewels — 
 right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct. 
 Right faith is unswerving belief in the Jina, who 
 was originally a man ' bound,' like others, but who has 
 attained by his own exertions to emancipation and 
 complete knowledge, and has preached the truth to 
 suffering humanity. 
 
 Right knowledge is the knowledge of the system 
 promulgated by the Jina: — 'The world of Brahman 
 cosmology is uncreated and eternal. Its component 
 parts are six substances. Souls, Dharma (or moral 
 merit), Adharma (or sin), space, time, and atoms of 
 matter. By the combination of these atoms are pro- 
 duced the four elements, and human bodies, as well 
 as the phenomena of the world of sense, and the 
 heavenly worlds. The Jaina are as extravagant 
 with regard to time as with regard to space. They 
 consider that human bodies and human lives increase 
 during the Utsarpinl, and diminish during the Ava- 
 sarpini — periods of incredible length. The doctrine 
 of bondage of souls, as held by the Jaina, is practi- 
 cally identical with the views held by Indian thinkers 
 generally. But they stand alone in maintaining that 
 souls are to be found ' in apparently lifeless masses, 
 in stone, in clods of earth, in drops of water, in fire, 
 and in wind.' 
 
 Right conduct divides itself into two branches, 
 according as it is incumbent upon the Jaina monk 
 or layman. The Jaina monk, as we have seen above, 
 on entering the order takes five vows ; not only is he 
 to abstain from these sins himself in thought, word, 
 and deed, but he is not to cause others to be guilty 
 of them. These rules are carried out to the letter. 
 The rules binding on laymen are less strict. They 
 are expected to abstain from gross violation of the 
 five precepts. They must be faithful to the marriage 
 vow, and promise not to increase their wealth by 
 unfair means. It is all the more remarkable, there- 
 
66 THE JAIN A 
 
 fore, that Jaina laymen are noted for their wealth. 
 They are of course forbidden to. indulge in flesh and 
 spirituous drinks, and any other kinds of food 
 (e.g. honey) which involve injury to animal life. 
 Agriculture too is forbidden, as an injury to the 
 'earth-body.' Even the ordering another man to 
 plough a field is stigmatized as a sin. 
 
 The result of all this teaching has been to make 
 Jaina laymen serious, weU-conducted, and humane 
 men, ready to endure great sacrifices for their 
 religion, and especially for the welfare of animals. 
 Advantage has been taken of this, under British rule, 
 to enlist their sympathies with veterinary science ^. 
 
 Jaina Ritual and Pantheon. 
 
 Biihler thinks that the original atheistic system of 
 the Jaina was fitted out with an elaborate cult, as 
 a concession to the lay mind. It is anyhow evident 
 from the 'Kathako^a,' or Jaina folk-lore, that the 
 Jaina worship many gods. Their chief objects of 
 worship are the Jlna, or Tirthakara, whom they 
 adore with flowers and incense and candles. Hymns 
 of praise are sung in their honour, and pilgrimages 
 are made to places hallowed by their memories. But, 
 like the Buddhists, they allow the existence of the 
 Hindu gods, and have admitted into their worship 
 any of those that are connected with the tales of 
 their saints, e.g. Indra, Sakra, Garuda, Sarasvati, 
 Lakshmi. They have quite a pantheon, now, of Bhu- 
 vanapati, Asura, Naga, Gandhana, &c., inhabiting the 
 celestial and infernal regions, mountains, forests, and 
 lower air^ 
 
 Each Tirthakara has a separate ckinha, or sign, 
 which is usually placed below his image. An excellent 
 list of the Jina, from Eishabha to Mahavira, appears 
 in Burgess's Cave Temples of Jndia\ Each Jlna is 
 
 1 Tawney, KatMkoga, pp. xii-xv. (Oriental Translation Fund. 
 New Series, ii. 1895.) 
 
 2 Fergusson and Burgess, Caw Temples of India, p. 488. 
 
JAINA TEMPLES 67 
 
 accompanied by his distinctive sign (e. g. vrisha, bull, 
 sesha, hooded snake), his colour, and his place of 
 Nirvana. There are five favourites among the twenty- 
 four, especially the first, twenty-third, and twenty- 
 fourth. 
 
 Jaina Temples. 
 
 ,The Jaina possess some of the most remarkable 
 places of pilgrimage in India, situated in the midst of 
 most lovely mountain scenery, in the west, and south, 
 and east. At Palitana, in Kathiawar, West India, 
 is the temple-covered hill of Satrunjaya, the most 
 sacred of the pilgrimage-resorts of the Jaina, so that 
 Jaina from all parts of India desire to erect temples 
 upon it. There are temples of every size, from three 
 feet square to large marble haUs, with columns and 
 towers and plenty of openings. The latter are thus 
 graphically described by Fergusson^: — 'They are 
 situated in tuks, or separate enclosures, surrounded 
 by high fortified waUs; the smaller ones line the 
 silent streets. A few yati, or priests, sleep in the 
 temples, and perform the daily services, and a few 
 attendants are constantly there to keep the place 
 clean, or to feed the sacred pigeons, who are the sole 
 denizens of the spot ; but there are no human habi- 
 tations, properly so called, within the walls. The 
 pilgrim or the stranger ascends in the morning, and 
 returns when he has performed his devotions or 
 satisfied his curiosity. He must not eat, or at least 
 must not cook his food, on the sacred hill, and he 
 must not sleep there. It is the city of the gods, and 
 meant for them only, and not intended for the use 
 of mortals.' Some of these temples date from the 
 eleventh century, but the majority have been built 
 in the present century. 
 
 The other most important place of pilgrimage in 
 the west was Mount Abu, on the borders of Eajpu- 
 
 ' Fergusson, History of Architecture, vol. iii. bk. ii. p. aa6. 
 
 E 2, 
 
68 THE JAIN A 
 
 tana. Five temples, wholly of white marble, are 
 built there, which for minute delicacy of carving and 
 beauty stand almost unrivalled. It is a beautiful 
 spot, ' rising from the desert as abruptly as an island 
 from the ocean,' and presenting on almost every side 
 inaccessible scarps 5,000 ft. or 6,000 ft. high. 'The 
 summit can only be approached by ravines that cut 
 into its sides.' This makes it all the more remarkable 
 that the white marble should have been conveyed 
 there, for no quarries are to be found within three 
 hundred miles of the spot, and the carrying work 
 must have involved immense expense. 
 
 The highest point of the Bengal range of hills was 
 also selected by the Jaina as a sacred spot. ' No less 
 than nineteen of their twenty-four Tirthakara are 
 said to have died and been buried there, among others 
 Parasnath, the last but one, and he consequently 
 gave the hill the name it now bears. . . . Before, 
 however, Jainism became pohtically important, the 
 centre of power had gravitated towarcfc the west. 
 Were it not for this, there seems little doubt but that 
 Parasnath would have been more important in their 
 eyes than Palitana and Gimar 1.' 
 
 Other temples in North Jaina style are found at 
 Girnar, Gwalior, and Khajuraho; but in Southern 
 India they are divided into two classes, called Basti 
 and Bettu. The former are temples containing an 
 image of one of the twenty-four Tirthakara ; but the 
 latter are not temples in the ordinary sense of the 
 word, but courtyards open to the sky, containing 
 images, not of a Tirthakara, but of one Gomati, who 
 is unknown to the Northern Jaina. These kinds of 
 temples are found at Sravana Belgula, Moodbidri, and 
 Gurusaukerry ^. 
 
 1 Fergusson, History of Architecture, vol. iii. bk. ii. pp. sio. 241. 
 ' Ibid., p. 265 ff. FF * . * 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE 8IKH 
 
 ' The Name of Jesus Christ . . . Neither is there any other Name under 
 heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must he saved.' — Acta iv. lo, 
 la (E.V.). 
 
 I. Circumstaucea under which Sikhiam came into exiatence — 
 The era of modern Hinduism — The Vaishnava — Kabir. 
 
 n. The history of the Sikh — Religious and political — The ten 
 Gruru — Govind Singh and the Khalsa — Sikh wars — British 
 occupation of the Panjab. 
 
 m. The Granth or sacred book of the Sikh — Its two parts — Its 
 language and authors — Cardinal doctrines — The Unity of the 
 Supreme Being — Relation of man to the Supreme — The origin 
 of sin— Life after death — The means of emancipation — The 
 authority of the Gurii. 
 
 IV. Other Sikh observances — The golden temple at Amritaar — 
 Sikh population and denominations — Christian missions to 
 the Panjab. 
 
 The Era of Modern Hinduism. 
 
 The period of the Reformation in Europe was also 
 a time of religious movements in India. The final 
 triumph of ancient Brahmanism over modern Buddhism 
 in India had taken place, after a struggle in which the 
 former was profoundly influenced by the latter. And 
 modem Hinduism had arisen as the third and most 
 complex phase of Hindu religious thought. The 
 victory was gained at the cost of many changes, of an 
 endless number of sects which arose, ' each exalting its 
 own god to the place of supreme.' The popular craving 
 for personal objects of faith and devotion had to be 
 satisfied by subordinating the purely spiritual Brahm, 
 with its first manifestation Brahma, to the personal 
 deities Siva and Vishnu or to some form of these 
 deities ^. 
 
 ' Monier- Williams, Beligious Life and Thought in India, p. 54. 
 
70 THE SIKH 
 
 This chapter is to be devoted to the consideration 
 of one of the most interesting of these modem sects, 
 interesting because it gave birth to a nation. A few 
 words of introduction are felt to be necessary. 
 
 There are three principal classes. of the present- 
 day Hindu, namely, (i) Smarta, (a) Saiva, (3) Vaish- 
 nava; and each has a distinctive school of thought 
 attached to it. 
 
 ' The Erst class believes that man's spirit is identical 
 with the one infinite Spirit (Atma, BrahmS,), which is 
 the substratum of the Universe and only cognizable 
 through internal meditation and self-communion. 
 They are also believers ia the Tri-murti ; that is, in 
 the three personal gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva — 
 with their train of subordinate deities — but only as 
 co-equal manifestations of the one eternal, impersonal 
 Spirit, and as destined ultimately to be re-absorbed 
 into that Spirit, and so disappear.' These are the 
 orthodox followers of Sankara ^- 
 
 'The second class of Hindu. consists of the Saiva, 
 who are believers in one god Siva, the one supreme 
 personal God, the one Self-existent Being, identified 
 with the one Spirit of the Universe, and therefore not 
 liable to lose his personality by reabsorption into that 
 
 ' The third class consists of the Vaishnava, who are 
 believers in one personal god Vishnu, above every 
 other god, including Siva. This one god exists in an 
 eternal body, which is antecedent to his earthly in- 
 carnations and survives all his incarnations ^.' 
 
 The Vaishnava. 
 
 It is with one sect of the Vaishnava that we have 
 to deal in this chapter. Let us first, however, glance 
 at the character of Vaishnavism itself. At the outset 
 we see that it is a form of monotheism, and presents 
 the essential elements of a genuine religion, namely, 
 
 1 Monier-Williams, Religious Life and Thought in India, p. 95 ff. 
 
UKliilN OF SIKHISM 71 
 
 a personal devotion to a personal God, by trusting 
 him, loving him, praying to him, and obeying him. 
 Vishnu is represented as a god that evinced sympathy 
 with mundane suffering, was interested in human 
 affairs, and active for the welfare of all created things. 
 This caused his frequent descents (avatara) on earth 
 under various forms. Such a god was needed for 
 India, and hence arose teachers, among whom was 
 Sandilya, who insisted upon the doctrine of salvation 
 by love and devotion (bhakti), a doctrine which was 
 fully propounded in the Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavata- 
 purana. We cannot wonder that devotion to Vishnu 
 in his two incarnations, Kama and Krishna, became 
 the most popular religion of India. Nor is it difficult 
 to understand that the condition of Vaishnavism 
 depends largely upon personal leadership and in- 
 fluence, and is one of perpetual decay and revival, 
 collapse and recovery. 
 
 Kahir. 
 
 Among the more important of the minor sects of 
 Vaishnavism was that founded by Eamananda early 
 in the fourteenth century. The sect of Kabir (Kabir 
 Panthi) is always included among the Vaish^iava sects, 
 because the founder was reputed to have been a dis- 
 ciple of Ramananda. Kabir's teaching undoubtedly 
 had much influence throughout Upper India in the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. And his sayings are 
 constantly quoted by Guru Nanak and his successors, 
 who were^the authors of the sacred writings of the 
 Granth. It is clear that his teaching exerted con- 
 siderable influence over the Sikh religion. In these 
 teachings of his, Kabir sets himself against the whole 
 body or Hindu superstitions, ridiculing the Shastra 
 and Purana, rejecting every distinction of caste, 
 religion, and sect, and condemning idolatry and 
 everything approaching to it^- 
 
 1 Monier-Williams, BeHigious Life amd Thought in India, pp. 158-160. 
 
72 THE SIKH 
 
 His positive doctrines and precepts are embodied in 
 numerous collections in Hindi, as well as in the Sikh 
 ' Granth.' From these we gather that the kejrnote of 
 his teaching was submission, in matters of faith and 
 morals, to the authority of the Guru^. Not that he 
 ever claimed infallibility for his own utterances, for 
 he constantly warned his disciples to investigate for 
 themselves the truth of every word he uttered. 
 
 If this man was the most perfect representative of 
 a reforming movement, it is unfortunate that so little 
 is known of his antecedents. The Mohammedans claim 
 him as one of themselves, and among the Hindu there 
 is a widespread tradition which represents him as 
 having been converted from Mohammedanism. And 
 there is no doubt that the teaching of the Vedanta, 
 as expounded by him, found its way into the Granth 
 through the respect paid by the Guru to his Hfe. 
 
 The History of the 8%lch. 
 
 With the above introduction, it is time to turn to 
 the history of the Sikh religion itself. It will be well 
 to divide the history into two parts : — 
 
 (a) The Religious History. (6) The Political History. 
 
 {a) The Reijgious History begins with Guru Baba 
 Nanak Bedi, who is known to have been bom in 
 1469, not far from Lahore in the Panjab. His 
 biographies in Panjabi are filled with myths and 
 stories of miraculous events connected with him, 
 invented soon after his death. But there is no reason 
 to doubt that at an early age he associated himself 
 with religious leaders of aU kinds, and wandered to 
 various shrines ' in search of some clue to the labyrinth 
 of Hinduism.] It is even affirmed that he went to 
 Mecca. He laid no claim, however, to be the originator 
 of a new religion, but mainly founded his teaching on 
 ' Barth, The TUUgims of India, pp. 339, 240. 
 
RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF SiKHISM 73 
 
 that of his predecessors, especially that of Kabir, whom 
 he constantly quoted. It does not appear that Nanak 
 directly attacked or denounced caste, as Kabir did, 
 but rather tolerated it as a civil institution, and 
 aimed at delivering Hinduism, and especially the 
 Vaishnavism of Northern India, from superstition 
 and idolatry. Thus he rejected the Veda, the Shastra, 
 and the Purana, as well as the Koran, and yet the 
 Brahman was to be treated with respect. ' There 
 are neither Hindu nor Musalmans' was the subject, 
 we are told, of one of his first sermons. 
 
 Nanak's death, we know, occurred on October 10, 
 1538. One of his sons was expected to succeed him, 
 but to the surprise of those present at his death-bed 
 he nominated, as second Guru, his devoted disciple 
 Lahana, of Trehan clan. His devotion to his master 
 seems to have been his chief merit, for he was quite 
 illiterate. He appointed Baba Amar-Das Bhalla to 
 succeed him. 
 
 For nearly a century the Sikh appear to have 
 remained a purely religious community of inoffensive 
 Puritans. As far as the fifth Guru, the supreme 
 authority was transmitted by means of consecration, 
 at the hands of the dying teacher, to the worthiest 
 of his disciples^- The name Sikh means 'disciple,' 
 and the strength of the movement lay in the relation 
 of the disciple to the ' Guru ^ ' or spiritual guide. All 
 this time the Mogul dynasty had been rising under 
 Babar and his successor Humayun, till under the 
 long reign of Akbar (1556-1605) the Sikh increased 
 greatly in number and power. This more than 
 tolerant Mohammedan emperor sought diligently for 
 a knowledge of other faiths, and Amar-Das, the third 
 Guru, was one of those who had conference with him. 
 His successor and son-in-law. Guru Baba Ram-Das 
 
 ' Barth, Tlw Religions of India, p. 245. 
 
 ' 'By the term Guru, the Sikhs mean a person who stands 
 between them and their Ood, and who has full control over their 
 spiritual welfare.' — Sadler. 
 
74 iHE SIKH 
 
 Sodhi, received from Akbar a gift of a piece of land, 
 on wlaich he dug the large square tank afterwards 
 called Amritsar ^ (' the pool of immortality '). It was 
 in the last year of this Guru's life that several Jesuit 
 fathers from Goa were invited by Akbar to visit the 
 Panjab. It is important to notice that, from the time 
 of Eam-Das SodhI, the fourth Guru, the succession 
 became hereditary (1581). An authentic story tells 
 us that this was granted by the third Guru to his 
 daughter on account of her devotion to her father. 
 She asked for and was granted by him the three 
 following requests : — (i) That her husband should suc- 
 ceed her father, (a) that the succession should become 
 hereditary, (3) that the Sodhi should be respected 
 sixteen times more than the descendants of any 
 former Guru. The remaining five Guru were regarded 
 as rulers, rather than as teachers. Arjan's works are 
 manifold. He compiled the sacred book called the 
 Adi Granth, the materials for which he had received 
 unarranged from his father. Thus he provided the 
 Sikh with a written standard of authority. He 
 built the Golden Temple in the middle of his father's 
 tank, and thus formed the nucleus of the sacred town 
 Amritsar, which is still the metropolis and holy place 
 of the Sikh religion. He established a regular system 
 of tax-collecting from all adherents to the sect in 
 different places. It is not surprising then to learn 
 that his power and prosperity only lasted during 
 Akbar's lifetime, or that he incurred the displeasure 
 of Jahangir, Akbar's successor, and was imprisoned 
 (1606), and died soon after; for the Mohammedan 
 government could scarcely permit of the growth of 
 an imperium in imperio. 
 
 From this moment the community of the Sikh 
 rapidly changes into a military theocracy, to which 
 the fierce population of the Jats supplied a fanatical 
 soldiery. The promulgation of the Granth for the 
 instruction of the people had made a way for this 
 ' Sir William Hunter, Indian Empire, p. 808. 
 
THEIR POLITICAL HISTORY 
 
 75 
 
 change in the character of the leadership. The work 
 of the teacher was now in great measure transferred 
 to the guardians of the sacred volume, who read it in 
 the ears of the people. The lives of Guru Har-Govind, 
 Guru Har-Rai, and Guru Har-Kishau are com- 
 paratively unimportant. But the ninth Guru, Teg- 
 Bahadur, attracted the attention of the fanatical 
 Emperor Aurangzib. Whether it was the emperor's 
 fanaticism, or the fault of this contemplative Guru, 
 he was put to death, without cause, at Delhi {1675). 
 This roused the Sikh to greater zeal, and hence- 
 forward they became a nation of fighting-men. 
 
 (b) Political History. Guru Govind Rai SodhI, 
 son of Teg-Bahadur, after passing some years in 
 retirement and study, came forth a vigorous and 
 enthusiastic leader with high aims. If Guru Nanak 
 was the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Govind 
 would be the founder of the Sikh nationality. He 
 therefore set himself the task of organizing the Sikh 
 of the Panjab, who were now becoming formidable 
 for their number, their physique, and their warlike 
 propensities. The first adherents of Nanak had been 
 mostly Jats or Khattris. Many of them were men 
 of great stature and powerful frame. As Sikh they 
 acquired a distinctive appearance, by giving up the 
 Hindu practice of shaving the head and face. They 
 were forbidden the use of tobacco. 
 
 All Govind's plans were directed towards increasing 
 the distinction between his followers and Hindu and 
 Mohammedans in general. First he called the sect 
 by the name of ' Khalsa,' borrowed from the Arabic 
 ' Khalas,' meaning ' pure.' Then he surrounded it 
 with a number of regulations, under the influence 
 of which it became a people by itself, devoted to 
 triumph or extermination. All social inequality was 
 abolished in the heart of the Khalsa body, every 
 member of which received the aristocratic surname 
 of Singh (in Sanskrit singha, lion), and this at the 
 risk of ofiending the most inveterate Hindu prejudices. 
 
76 THE SIKH 
 
 Costume was regulated in a uniform fashion, and 
 every disciple was bound to have with him five marks 
 of his discipleship, each beginning with the letter 
 Kakka (K), viz. long hair, a comb, a two-edged kmfe, 
 a bangle, and breeches reaching to the knee. With 
 the exception of the religious respect paid to cows, 
 all usages, practices, and ceremonies of Hinduism 
 were rigorously prescribed ; although Baba Govind 
 Singh Sodhi himself personally took a part in one 
 of the worst Hindu superstitions, to the extent of 
 sacrificing one of his followers to propitiate the 
 goddess Durga. There was henceforth to be a distinct 
 rite of initiation, known as the Pauhal and consist- 
 ing of a kind of sherbet. Sugar is mixed with 
 water by means of a two-edged knife, while the 
 Guru reads the first part of the JSpjI. This mix- 
 ture is then dashed on the head, face, and eyes, 
 and sprinkled over other parts of the body of each 
 new disciple, and the rest is given him to drink. 
 From the moment of initiation the Sikh became a 
 soldier, and the holy war his permanent occupation. 
 He was not even to return a salute from a Hindu. 
 Besides these rites, iron came henceforth to be respected, 
 and thereby certain superstitious practices crept into 
 this iconoclastic religion. The Sikh soldier prays 
 before handling his sword ; and the book of the Granth 
 has become an object of adoration. Lastly, Govind 
 tried to procure the original book of the Adi Granth, 
 as drawn up by Guru Arjan, in order to introduce 
 into it a more martial spirit. He was, however, foiled 
 in this by the other Sodhi, to whom the volume had 
 been entrusted, as they did not acknowledge Govind 
 as Guru. The cumbersome supplement that he 
 composed was then called ' The Granth of the Tenth 
 Reign.' 
 
 The object of his life Govind could not indeed carry 
 out, for it was an unequal struggle against the 
 formidable empire of Aurangzib. After thirty years 
 of fighting, what remained of his faithful ones were 
 
THEIR POLITICAL HISTORY 77 
 
 dispersed among the mountains, while he accepted 
 a post of command in the imperial armies, and fell at 
 last by the hand of an Afghan assassin near Nander 
 in the territories of the Nizam ^. The Sikh had not 
 adopted all his reforms, and he appears to have 
 clearly foreseen that at the stage which the sect had 
 reached, the personal influence of the Ouru would 
 henceforth be a source of schism, rather than of union. 
 Therefore when pressed on his death-bed to appoint 
 his successor, he declared that the dignity was 
 abolished, and that the Granth would for the future 
 be the Guru of the Sikhs. 
 
 After his decease the direction of the Khalsa body 
 is said by some to have passed into the hands of an 
 ascetic named Banda, who introduced further novel- 
 ties of usage, such as the prohibition of spirituous 
 liquors (in addition to that of tobacco). This only 
 caused divisions, and infuriated resistance. Besides 
 all this, the forces of the Khalsa were again and again 
 massacred and nearly annihilated by the generals 
 of the Emperor Farokhsir. Therefore after Banda's 
 death by torture (1716) the direction of the sect fell 
 into the hands of a mihtary corporation of zealots, 
 the Akali, ' The Faithful of the Eternal,' instituted, 
 they say, by Guru G5vind himself. When the dis- 
 solution of the Mogul empire permitted the Sikh to 
 regain a footing on the plain, the Akali set them- 
 selves up as the guardians of the sanctuary of 
 Amritsar, where the original copy of the Granth of 
 Guru Arjan was preserved. On great occasions they 
 summoned together here the Gurmatd, or 'the Council 
 of the Guru,' the general assembly of the Sikh 
 chiefs, in which the supreme, temporal, and spiritual 
 authority of the nation was vested, and which kept 
 up in the sect a sufficient coherence and prevented 
 the occurrence of new divisions in the bosom of the 
 Khalsa ^. 
 
 ' Elphinstone, History of India, book xii. p. 679 (1866 edition). 
 ' Barth, The Beligums of India, p. 248. 
 
78 THE SIKH 
 
 The rest of the history is entirely political, and can 
 be soon told. First, the Sikh recovered to their 
 federation, the greater part of the Jat Sirdars, who 
 had carved out for themselves small feudal states on 
 either side of the Sutlej. In 1764, after the final 
 retreat of the Afghans, they took possession of Lahore, 
 and became undisputed masters of the Panjab ; they 
 could at that time muster 70,000 cavalry. Then 
 arose Ranjit Singh, 'the Lion of the Panjab' (1797- 
 1839), who (having obtained the appointment of 
 Governor of Lahore from the Afghan Amir) proved 
 to be the consolidator of the power of the Sikh, and 
 soon made himself master of the whole Panjab. He 
 set himself the task of basing a personal despotism 
 upon the religious fanaticism of the Sikh. The 
 British, whose power in India was rapidly extending, 
 were at this time desirous of an alliance with Lahore. 
 A British envoy, Mr. Charles Metcalfe, was received 
 by Ranjit at Kasur in 1809, and an alliance was 
 formed. The Khalsa were organized into an army, 
 under European officers, which for steadiness and 
 religious fervour has haxi no parallel since the ' Iron- 
 sides ' of CromweU. Till his death in 1839 Ranjit 
 Singh was ever loyal to the engagements he had 
 entered into with Metcalfe in 1809. But he left no 
 son capable of wielding his sceptre, and Lahore was 
 torn by dissensions. The only strong power was the 
 army of the Khalsa, which, after the disastrous defeat 
 of the British arms in Afghanistan in 1842, burned 
 to measure its strength with the British sepoys. 
 The French generals, Avitabile and Court, were 
 foolishly ousted, and the supreme military command 
 was vested in a series of panchayats, or elective com- 
 mittees of five. 
 
 In 1845, then, the Sikh army, numbering 60,000 
 men with 150 guns, crossed the Sutlej and invaded 
 British territory. Sir Hugh Gough, the British Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, together with the Governor-General, 
 hurried up to the frontier. Within three weeks four 
 
THEIR POLITICAL HISTORY 79 
 
 pitched battles were fought, at Mudki, Firozshahar, 
 Aliwal, and Sobraon. The British loss on each occa- 
 sion was heavy; but by the last victory the Sikh 
 were fairly driven into and across the Sutlej, and 
 Lahore surrendered to the British. By the terms of 
 peace then dictated, the infant son of Kanjit, Dulip 
 Singh, was recognized as Raja; the Jalandhar Doab 
 or tract between the Sutlej and the Bias was annexed; 
 the Sikh army was limited to a specified number ; 
 Major Henry Lawrence was appointed to be resident 
 at Lahore ; and a British force was detailed to garrison 
 the Panjab for a period of eight years. Sir H. Har- 
 dinge returned to England in 1848, and was succeeded 
 by Lord Dalhousie ^. 
 
 He had not been six months in India before the 
 second Sikh war broke out. Two British officers 
 were treacherously assassinated at Multan. Unfortu- 
 nately, Henry Lawrence was at home on sick-leave. 
 The British army was not ready to act in the hot 
 weather, and despite the single-handed exertions of 
 Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Herbert) Edwardes, the 
 outbreak of fanaticism led to a general rising. The 
 Khalsa army again came together, and once more 
 fought on even terms with the British. On the fatal 
 field of Chiliariwala, which patriotism prefers to call 
 a drawn battle, the British lost 3,400 officers and 
 men, besides four guns and the colours of three regi- 
 ments. Before reinforcements could come out from 
 England, with Sir Charles Napier as Commander-in- 
 Chief, Lord Gough had restored his own reputation 
 by the crowning victory of Gujarat, which absolutely 
 destroyed the Sikh army. Multan had previously 
 fallen, and the Afghan horse (imder Dost Muhammad) 
 were chased back with ignominy to their native hills. 
 
 The Panjab henceforth became a British province, 
 supplying a virgin field for the administrative talents 
 of Dalhousie and the two Lawrences. Eaja Dulip 
 
 ' Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. vi. p. 411 ff. ; or Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica (ninth edition), vol. 20, pp. iii, 112. 
 
8o THE SIKH 
 
 Singh received an allowance of ;^58,ooo a year, on 
 which he retired as a country gentleman to Suffolk. 
 
 The first step in the pacification of the Panjab was 
 a general disarmament, which resulted in the delivery 
 of no less than lao.ooo weapons of various kinds. 
 Then followed a settlement of the land tax, village by 
 village, at an assessment below that to which it had 
 been raised by the Sikh exactions, and an introduc- 
 tion of a loose but equitable code of civil and criminal 
 procedure. The system of roads and canals was 
 greatly improved and extended by Colonel Robert 
 Napier (afterwards Lord Napier of Magdala) ; and 
 the security of British peace and the personal influ- 
 ence of British officers were felt to the furthest comers 
 of the province. Thus it happened that, when the 
 Mutiny broke out in 1857, the Panjab remained not 
 only quiet, but loyal, after only eight years' experience 
 of British rule; while the North- West Provinces, 
 which had been British territory for more than fifty 
 years, rose in rebellion. The Sikh population never 
 wavered. Crowds of willing recruits came down from 
 the Afghan hills. And thus the Panjab, instead of 
 being itself a source of danger, was able to furnish 
 a portion of its own garrison for the siege of Delhi. 
 
 The Sacred Boohs of the Sikh. 
 
 The Adi Granth or 'first iDook' forms that part 
 which is most generally revered. ' The Granth of the 
 Tenth Reign' finds favour with the more fanatical 
 section of the community. At present we have only 
 an English translation of some part of the Adi Granth, 
 as translated by Professor Trumpp (1877). 
 
 The Adi Granth is further subdivided as follows : — 
 I. The Japjl, which consists of introductory verses 
 by Nanak, used after early bathing. 
 _ 2. The So daru, consisting of extracts from Rag 
 Asa and Rag Gujri, which is used by the Sikh at 
 evening prayer. 
 
THEIR SACRED BOOKS 8i 
 
 3. The So purkhu, or other extracts from Rag Asa. 
 
 4. The Sohila, or three short sections, extracted 
 from the Rags Gauri, Asa, and Dhanasari, used as 
 a prayer before retiring to rest. 
 
 The above pieces, being intended for devotional purposes, were 
 therefore put at the beginning of the Granth. 
 
 5. The Rags, which form the body of the Granth, 
 thirty-one in number, the first four being the most 
 important ^. 
 
 6. The Bhog, or conclusion of the Granth, con- 
 taining thirteen portions, the last portion of which 
 is always read in various ceremonies of the Sikh. 
 
 In the above Rags the verses of different Guru 
 have been distributed, apparently without any leading 
 principle, as hardly any verse is connected internally 
 with another. It is to be noticed too that the name 
 given to these portions implies the tune (Rag) to 
 which they are sung. 
 
 Turning next to the language of the Adi Granth, it 
 is easily inferred that 'the idiom is not the same 
 throughout.' From a linguistic point of view the 
 Granth is of great interest, because it forms a treasury 
 of old dialects called GutttiuJcM, specimens of which 
 (in some cases) are nowhere else to be found. Gur- 
 mukhi, 'that which comes from the mouth of the 
 Guru,' is an antiquated form of Panjabi, which should 
 be clearly distinguished from the modern Hindi of 
 the North- West Provinces. The Granth contains 
 sufficient materials to enable us to bridge the gap 
 between the older Prakrit dialects and the modem 
 languages of the Aiyan stock in India. 
 
 The sacred book is supposed to have been composed 
 by at least thirty -five different authors, six of whom 
 were Guru, fourteen were Bhagat or saints, and 
 fifteen were Bhatti or professional panegyrists. The 
 dates of these authors must therefore be examined. 
 Firstly, the Bhatti may be dismissed as probably 
 
 * e. g. Trumpp, Adi Granth, pp. cxx, cxxi. 
 
83 THE SIKH 
 
 personal flatterers of Guru Arjan, whose writings are 
 quite valueless. Secondly, if Professor Trumpp is to 
 be relied on, the oldest writer in the collection was 
 Namdev, who lived about the fourteenth century. 
 He is also considered the oldest Marathi poet, and 
 represents in his verses in the Granth some pecu- 
 liarities of modem Marathi. About the same time 
 lived Trilocan, the Brahman, who with Namdev was 
 an inhabitant of the Deccan. Jaidev is also best 
 placed as writing his Prakrit verses during the four- 
 teenth century, and not earlier, according to Lassen, 
 or later, according to Wilson. Thirdly, the writings of 
 Ramananda, Kabir, and his feUow-disciples date back 
 to the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the 
 fifteenth centuries, for they all write ia old Hindi. 
 
 The only other writer in pure Hindi was Guru 
 Govind Singh, who lived two centuries later. For 
 Nanak and his followers seem to have employed a 
 mixture of two dialects, Panjabi and Hindi. There 
 was a special reason for endeavouring to write in 
 Hindi, for Hindi was the sacred language of all 
 Indian devotees, and had been raised therefore to a 
 kind of standard for religious compositions. It 
 rapidly became unintelligible, however, to the people 
 of the Panjab. 
 
 It would be beyond our object to enter fully into 
 the peculiarities of the idiom of the Granth. It is 
 only necessary, therefore, to say here that the whole 
 book is written in verse according to Hindii taste. It 
 is noticeable that the measures of Sanskrit poetry 
 have been discarded, and the metres are either Pra- 
 krit metres or later inventions. The verses must 
 rhyme together, but are only measured by quantity 
 of space or pauses. 
 
 Cardinal DoctriTies. 
 
 From what has been said above we shall expect 
 to find in the religion of the Sikh, not so much 
 anything new, as an emphasis laid upon several ideas 
 
IHKIR SACRED BOOKS 83 
 
 already familiar to the Hindu mind. The reform- 
 ing element consisted just in this very reassertion of 
 truth that had become hidden, and overgrown by 
 superstition and religious observance. At the same 
 time, in the study of the sacred Granth it is important 
 to distinguish between the teachings of Kabir and 
 Nanak. Kablr was not a Sikh Guru, but only a 
 religious teacher who exercised profound influence 
 over them. His teaching is essentially pantheistic, 
 whereas theirs is a bold attempt at monotheism. 
 Hence it comes that there are apparent contradictions 
 in the Sacred Book, for many of his pantheistic 
 utterances are incorporated in the Granth; and not 
 only so, but they exercised influence over the 
 phraseology of several succeeding Ouru, especially 
 that of Arjan. 
 
 A. The Unity of the Supreme Being is plainly 
 asserted. The very first line of the Adi Granth opens 
 with the following attributes of the Deity : — One God 
 (Ek-Unkar), the true Name (Sat-JNam), the Doer- 
 Person (Karta-Purkh), without Fear (Nir-bhan), with- 
 out Enmity (Nir-Vair), Endless Being (Akal-murat), 
 Uncreated (Ajuni-Sen-Bhin). Compare also — 
 
 ' Wliom shall I call the second ? There is none. 
 
 In all is that one Spotless One. . . .' 
 'Know that there are two ways, but only one Lord.' 
 ' There are six houses, six Grurii, six (methods of) instruction ; 
 
 The Guru of the Guru is One, the garbs many.' 
 
 The above three quotations come from Kags Gaurl 
 and Asa, and are attributed to Nanak. They have 
 evident reference to BrahmS, the Supreme Being; 
 while the two ways and the six Guru refer, on the 
 one hand to Hindu and Mohammedan, on the other to 
 various Hindu sects. But we must go deeper to find 
 what relation the Supreme Being has to creation. 
 BrahmS. is only creator in the sense of being able to 
 ' expand into plurality of forms.' For Arjan says : — 
 'He himself is One and He himself is many ^' Crea- 
 
 ' Eag Gaurl, Mah. V., Sukhmani XII. 6. 
 F a 
 
84 THE SIKH 
 
 tures are led to consider themselves as individual 
 beings, only because of Maya (illusion), which the 
 Absolute has spread out over the whole universe. All 
 thereby fall into the errors of egotism, and duality. 
 The world is mere play and sport of the Absolute 
 Being, which goes on expanding and contracting itself 
 as it pleases. BrahmS, generally known as Hari, 
 gives life and destroys ad libitum ; e. g. — 
 
 'Between thee and me, me and thee, what is the difference? 
 Like gold and the bracelet (made of it), like water and a wave '.' 
 
 These words of Arjan are sheer Pantheism. A 
 grosser and a finer kind of Pantheism does, however, 
 exist in the Granth. The grosser identifies aU things 
 with the Absolute, the finer distinguishes between the 
 Absolute and the finite being. The latter, as we have 
 seen above, frequently rises to Theism, and represents 
 God as not only uncontaminated by Maya, but even 
 distinct from His creation : e. g. ' Whose body the 
 universe is, he is not in it, the creator is not in it.' 
 In this finer shade of Pantheism creation assumes the 
 form of emanation from, the Supreme, as with the 
 Sufi. For either atomic matter is considered as co- 
 eternal with the Absolute and immanent in It, or the 
 reality of matter is more or less denied (and called rd 
 /nrj ov), so that the divine is the only real essence in 
 all. This last view borders on Idealism. 
 
 There are some difierences in the teaching of Kablr 
 and Nanak with respect to idolatry. Kabir ridicules 
 it altogether as follows : — 
 
 ' A stone is made the Lord, the whole world worships it : 
 Who remains in alliance to this, is drowned in the black stream V 
 
 But Nanak does not seem really to have forbidden 
 the worship of other gods on the ground of the unity 
 of the Supreme. Like many other Hindu teachers, 
 he was contented with contending for the supremacy 
 of Brahm. 
 
 ' Siii Bag, Eavidas I. 
 
 ' Bag Gauri Purbi. of Kabir, LIL a. 
 
SiKH DOCTRINES 85 
 
 B. The Rdaticm of Man to the Supreme. The 
 human soul is, as it were, 'scintilla animae divinae,' 
 and so by itself immortal. It is the aim and object of 
 the individual soul to be reunited with the fountain 
 of Ught, from which it has emanated. No reason is 
 given in the Granth for this emanation, but the 
 return is cut off by works done in the body and by 
 its impurity, of which second love or duality is the 
 cause. These evils subject the soul to metempsy- 
 chosis. 
 
 C. The Origin of Sin. Nanak did not deny that 
 the world was under the dominion of sin. The object 
 of his mission was to show mankind the way of 
 escape from misery, and his means of escape will be 
 considered later on. He fell into the common pan- 
 theistic conception of the Absolute being responsible 
 for sin. The Granth plainly teaches that all creatures 
 are subject to an absolute destiny. There are also 
 passages which pointedly deny the ' Liberum arbi- 
 trium ' in man. Even the gods are not excepted 
 from Maya. This is now and then keenly felt and 
 acknowledged. Ravidas boldly asks — 
 
 ' If I would not commit sins, O Endless One ! 
 How would thy name be "purifier of sinners"?' 
 
 Man then is impelled by three qualities (goodness, 
 passion, and darkness). Under these influences and 
 that of Maya, he commits acts which subject the soul 
 to transmigration. 
 
 D. The Means of obtaining Emancipation. The 
 repetition of the name of Hari is the means whereby 
 to drive away all the filth of sins, to liberate 
 from all further transmigrations, and to unite with 
 Hari. Whosoever mutters 'the name Hari' is saved 
 in a moment. This would indeed have been too easy 
 a way of salvation, had not the Sikh Guru safe- 
 
86 THE SIKH 
 
 guarded it. The name of Hari can therefore only be 
 obtained from the true Ouru, who alone can bestow 
 the rite of initiation and communicate the mantra 
 of the name of Hari : e. g. ' By the true instruction of 
 the Guru he easily utters Hari.' In connexion with 
 this initiation the doctrine of election is taught : e. g. 
 ' Whose destiny it is, him the true Ov/ru unites (with 
 Hari) ^.' But in order to prevent people from fatal- 
 ism, inquirers are encouraged to seek the Lord, as 
 follows : — 
 
 'Many are seeking the Lord. 
 They obtain in their own heart the supreme Brahm'.' 
 
 E. Life after Death. In no doctrine is the influence 
 of Kablr more widely felt than in the teaching of the 
 Granth upon Nirvana (Panjabi, Nirbaa). The immor- 
 tality of the soul is asserted only so far as the idea 
 of transmigration requires it. But when the soul has 
 reached its highest object, it is no more mentioned. 
 
 Kabir thus describes the process of reabsorption of 
 the soul in the fountain of light ^ : — 
 
 'A drop is mixed with a drop. 
 A drop cannot he separated from a drop.' 
 
 And again * : — 
 
 'When I was, thou (wast) not. Now art thou, and I am not. 
 Now I and thou have become One, my mind is assured seeing 
 One.' 
 
 This is exactly the pessimistic hope of the Buddha 
 emerging again in the popular teachings of Indian 
 mediaeval reformers, after having been expelled from 
 India with Buddhism long before. The only differ- 
 ence consists in the means to obtain the desired end. 
 
 ' Bag Gaurl, Mah. V., Sukhmani V. 5. 
 ' Ibid., Sukhmani X 6. 
 ' Ibid., Kablr, 29. 
 ' Itid.; Kablr, XXI. i. 
 
SIKH DOCTRINES 87 
 
 The Authority of the Guru. 
 
 From the above standards of doctrine, we see that 
 'the Ouru is set up as the only infallible guide to 
 complete emancipation.' He is the mediator between 
 Hari and mankind; he is the boat that carries men 
 over the water of existence ; he is the very fullness 
 of Hari himself. The disciple has therefore to submit 
 to the direction of the Ouru unconditionally, mind 
 and body, while the Guru freely disposes of the 
 treasures of Hari. It is fortunate that, according to 
 the Granth, the Guru need not exact much from his 
 disciples to effect their emancipation. He gives him 
 the name of Hari, enjoining him to mutter it con- 
 tinually. He requires him to repeat and sing the 
 qualities of Hari, meditating upon them continually. 
 He teaches him how to clear away his own ' ego,' and 
 to consider himself as identical with the Brahm, 
 pointing to this as the highest knowledge attainable. 
 But in point of fact the Guru has only one pan- 
 theistic sentence to teach : — ' So ham,' i. e. ' I am that, 
 I am identical with the Supreme.' And the three 
 steps towards the attainment of this end are thus 
 described : — 
 
 'First, by the One his own self was produced. 
 Second, duality', and third, the threefold Maya. 
 The fourth step is the high step of the disciple, 
 In which he is acquiring the perfectly True One'.' 
 
 When this fourth step is obtained emancipation 
 becomes complete. The soul need perform no religi- 
 ous works. Man has become totally hopeless in the 
 world, and if he dies thus merged in meditation upon 
 Hari, he becomes emancipated while in the body, and 
 at death does not come again. Nanak says : — ' The 
 disciple remains absorbed' (in the Supreme)^, i.e. in 
 communion and fellowship. 
 
 • By duality is meant ' God, the subject, by creation becoming 
 object.' 
 ' Eag Magh, Mah. Ill, Astpad VI. 4. 
 ' Kag Gauri, Mah. Ill, Astpad I. 8. 
 
88 THE SIKH 
 
 Other Sikh Observances. 
 
 Besides blind obedience to the Guru there are a few 
 other duties which each disciple must observe. The 
 first consists of ' Service to the Saints/ which is con- 
 sidered as quite essential to salvation. Hence disciples 
 are enjoined to wash the feet of the pious and to drink 
 the water used in so doiag ; they should become a life- 
 sacrifice to the holy men (sad-sangat), and should seek 
 their society as the greatest blessing. Then come the 
 triad of duties, namely, 'remembering the Name, 
 giving alms, and prsictising ablutions.' The two latter 
 are no longer duties, however, when the knowledge of 
 Brahm has been obtained. 
 
 Occasional exhortations are given to abstain from 
 falsehood, slander, and looking upon another's wife, 
 besides purifying the heart from the five vices of lust, 
 wrath, greediness, infatuation, and egotism. Charity 
 to animal life, and therefore abstinence from animal 
 food, was enjoined in early times. But the latter 
 became a dead letter when the Sikh became a mili- 
 tary nation in the days of the tenth Guru. Prayer 
 to ^he Supreme is only recommended throu^Tthe 
 medium^ 905®"^^:, OnTthe^other-hand; ^an^k is 
 to be cominended forrecognizing, in advance of many 
 teachers of his day, that secular business need form 
 no obstacle to a religious life. He advised his fol- 
 lowers to keep to their own occupations and not to 
 leave the world. 
 
 To sum up the teaching of the sacred Granth of 
 the Sikh in a few words — we find salvation is said 
 to depend upon the inward state of the mind, and not 
 on outward things, and the social system of caste is 
 not directly assailed by Nanak or his followers, until 
 legally abolished by Guru Govind Singh among the 
 Khalsa body. So that though the teaching of the 
 Veda and Purana is reproved, the Brahman is allowed 
 to remain the family priest. 
 
TEMPLE AT AMRITSAR 89 
 
 The. Golden Temple at Amritsar'^. 
 
 In the present day much of the religious devotion 
 of the Sikh centres round the sacred Granth itself, 
 and the shrine in which it rests, the ' Golden Temple ' 
 of Amritsar. This temple, called ' Har-mandar ' — 
 the temple of Hari — (or sometimes 'Durbar Sahib), 
 is one of the most striking sights in India. One 
 must picture to oneself a large square sheet of water, 
 bordered by a marble pavement. In the centre of 
 the water rises the beautiful temple with its gilded 
 dome and cupolas, approached by a marble causeway. 
 In structure and appearance it may be regarded as 
 a kind of compromise between a Hindii temple and 
 a Mohammedan mosque, reminding one of the at- 
 tempted compromise between Hinduism and Islam 
 which was once a favourite idea both with Kabir and 
 Nanak. In point of mere size the shrine is not 
 imposing, but the proportions seem nearly perfect. 
 All the lower part is of marble inlaid with precious 
 stones, and here and there overlaid with gold and 
 silver. The principal entrance looks towards the 
 north. The interior is even more gorgeous than the 
 exterior. On the ground floor is a well-proportioned 
 vaulted hall. Four short passages lead to this vaulted 
 chamber. All around on the outside is a narrow 
 corridor. In the interior, opposite the principal en- 
 trance, sits the Granthi scribe with the open Granth 
 before him. He is attended by other officials of the 
 temple, who assist him in chanting the sacred text. 
 The Granth is indeed the real divinity of the shrine, 
 and is treated as if it had a veritable personal exis- 
 tence. Every morning it is dressed out in costly 
 brocade and reverently placed on a low throne under 
 a jewelled canopy. All day long chowries are waved 
 over the sacred volume, and every evening it is trans- 
 ported to the second temple (Akal-Bunga), on the 
 edge of the lake opposite the causeway, where it is 
 
 ' Monier-Williams, Reiigimis Life and Thmght in India, p. 175 ff. 
 
go THE SIKH 
 
 made to repose for the night in a golden bed within 
 a consecrated chamber, railed off and protected from 
 all profane intrusion by bolts and bars. 
 
 Population. Benominations. 
 
 The total population of Sikh (that bear the name 
 of 'Singh') in India, according to theEeligious Census 
 of 1 891, numbers 1,907,833. Of these all but 37,000 
 live in the Panjab, where they now form 7i per cent, 
 of the population. Their stronghold is the country 
 between the rivers Ravi and Sutlej, including the 
 historical cities of Lahore, Amritsar, Ambala, and 
 Jalandhar. In no district, however, do they form as 
 much as ao per cent, of the population. 
 
 From a religious point of view the followers of 
 Nanak, exclusive of those who are the real Sikh, 
 form four leading denominations : 
 
 I. The Udasi are a society of monks that reject 
 the Granth of Govind Singh, and accept only the 
 Adi Granth. They have their own Guru, who 
 assumes spiritual authority. Their devotional service 
 is simple, consisting of morning and evening song of 
 praise, and playing upon the rebeck or violin. They 
 have deviated from asceticism and taken up secular 
 occupations. These Udasi were founded by Sri 
 Ghand, the eldest son of Nanak, but are not recognized 
 by the Sikh. 
 
 II. The Suthre (meaning ' pure ') took their origin 
 from Guru Har-Eai. They are, however, renowned 
 for their debauchery and drunkenness, and are to be 
 found in every town in the Panjab. They are a public 
 nuisance, and are disavowed by the Sikh, being 
 mostly joined by profligates and vagabonds. 
 
 III. The Nirmate Sadhti (pure saints) were origi- 
 nally strict Sikh, and followed exclusively the Granth 
 and G5vind Singh. But then they became tinged 
 with the Hinduism of the Shastra and the Vedanta, 
 and so adopted the reddish-yeUow instead of white 
 robes. Now they mostly live in separate societies under 
 
MISSIONS TO THE PANJAB 91 
 
 a Guru, and live a celibate life. Their brotherhood 
 owns no caste, and they are largely established at 
 Amritsar, being noted for their purity of morals. 
 
 rV. The Divane Sadh (mad saints) keep their hair 
 uncut like the Sikh, and wear a necklace of shells, and 
 a very large feather in their turban. They mostly con- 
 sist of Jats and tanners, and their devotional service 
 consists only of muttering the true Name (of Hari). 
 
 But the most interesting body, from whom alone 
 the real Sikh of the present day come, are the Akali 
 (worshippers of the Timeless Being), who are said to 
 have been instituted by Govind Singh. They were 
 the zealots who firmly withstood innovations, and 
 formed a powerful and dangerous body at the time 
 of Sikh independence, but are now dwindling away. 
 They could be distinguished by their blue clothes. 
 In those days also they directed the councils of the 
 Gurmata (or national council) in its deliberations, 
 besides acting as defenders of the faith and presiders 
 at religious ceremonies. 
 
 Christian Missions to the Panjdb. 
 
 For many years after the Indian Mutiny little 
 fruit was seen among the Sikh from the labours of 
 Christian missionaries, though greater success was 
 gained among Mohammedans. But the influence of 
 missionary education has begun to tell, and recently 
 a movement has been set on foot by several friends 
 of the Sikh, called the 'KJialsa Prayer Union ^.' It 
 has taken for its motto, 'the Evangelization of the 
 Sikh in this generation,' and is rapidly interesting 
 English Christians in the spiritual welfare of the 
 Sikh. The originator of the scheme, himself a Sikh 
 convert to Christianity, now studying medicine in 
 England, belongs to the family of the Sikh Guru, and 
 will givefurther information about the people that lie 
 so near to his heart to any who care to make inquiries^. 
 
 * Khalsa Prayer Union, In His Name, 1897, third edition. 
 ' Address, Baba Makhan Singh Sodhl, London Hospital, E. 
 
AUTHORITIES 
 
 Barih, The Eeligiom of India, 40, 49, 72, 73, 77. 
 BtLhler, Sacred Lams of Vie Aryas, 47. 
 
 Darmesteter, Essay on the Mythology of the Avesta, 14, 
 
 De Harlez, Avesta, 25. 
 
 Dosabhai Sorabji Karaka, History of the Parsis, 33, 36. 
 
 Elphinstone, History of India, 77. 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 79. 
 
 Fergnsson and Bnrgess, Omie Temples of India, (A. 
 PerguBSon, History of Architecture, 67, 68. 
 
 Hang, The Five Gathas, 13. 
 Hang, Tlie Book of Arda-Vvraf, 13. 
 
 Hang, Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Beligion of the Parsis, 
 IS, 16, 18, 22. 
 Hunter, Indian Empire, 74, 
 
 Imperial Oasette&r of India, 79. 
 Indian Antiquary, 61. 
 In His Najne, 91. 
 
 Lafisen, Indische AlterthuTnslcunde, 40, 45. 
 
 Monier-Williams, Beligious Life amd Thought in India, 69, 70, 71, 89. 
 Oldenberg, BudAha, his Life, his Doctrine, his Ordeir, 40. 
 Pali Text Society, SumaAgala Vilasini, 62. 
 Ehys-Davids, Buddhism, its History ami Literature, 48. 
 Sacred Books of the !East, iv, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 32 j v, xviii, xxiv, xxxvii, 
 J3 ; xxu, 42, 43, 44, 48, 50 ; xxsd, 14 ; xlv, 44, $7, S8, 59, 60, 61. 
 Spiegel, Age of the Avesta and Zoroaster, 16. 
 Tawney, Kathdkofa, 66. 
 Trumpp, Adi Oramth, 81. 
 Vienna Oriental Journal, 51, 
 
 Weber, Indische Studien, 40, 56. 
 
 Weber, Sacred Literature of the Jains, 49, 53, 
 
 West, The Book of the Mainyg-i-khard, 13. 
 
 West, Pahla/ei Texts, 13, 14, 15, 16. 
 
 Wilson, Parsi B^igion, 21. 
 
 Wilson, Essays and Lectures on the Beligion of the Hindus, 40. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abu Jafir Attavari, 20. 
 
 Achaemenian religion, the, 28, 
 
 Adarbad Maliraspand, 32. 
 
 Adhamia, 65. 
 
 Adi Qranth, the, 74, 80 ; language 
 
 _ of, 81 ; authors of, 81. 
 
 Agama, ^6. 
 
 Agasatru, 43. 
 
 A^bstics, Jaina, 59, 
 
 Ahura-Mazda, 26. 
 
 Ajiva, 63. 
 
 Akali, 77. 
 
 Akbar, 73. 
 
 Amar Das Bhalla Baba, 73. 
 
 Aiiga, the, ss. 
 
 Animism, Jaina, 57. 
 
 Ardashir Ba,bagan, King, 21, 
 
 Arda-viraf-nama, 37. 
 
 Aristotle, on Magi, 11. 
 
 Arjan, works of, 74. 
 
 Asrama, the fourth, 48. 
 
 Asraya, 64. 
 
 Atash Adarans, 29. 
 
 Atash Bahiams, 29. 
 
 Atman, the, 48, 58. 
 
 Aurangzlb, 75. 
 
 AvasarpinI, 65. 
 
 Avesta language, iS. 
 
 Ayesta proper, the, 22. 
 
 Avitabile, GeneraJ, 78. 
 
 Bactrian languages, 18, 
 Bands, 77. 
 Bandha, 64. 
 Barashnfim, the, 30. 
 Barsom, the, 30. 
 Barth on Jaina, 40, 49. 
 Basti, 68. 
 
 Battles in the Fanjab, 78. 
 Baudhayana, 47. 
 Berosus on Meigi, 11. 
 Bettn, 68. 
 
 BhadrabghOi work of, 55. 
 Bhagat, 81. 
 
 Bhatti, 81. 
 Bhogi the, 81. 
 Bible witness to Magi, 10. 
 Birth ceremonies, Farsi, 31. 
 BrahmS., 83. 
 
 Brahman ascetics, rules of, 47. 
 Brahman cosmology, 65. 
 Brahmanisiu, Buddhism, and Jain- 
 ism, 44 ; five vows of, 46. 
 Brookhaus, H., on Farsi, 12. 
 Buddha and Mahavira, 42. 
 Buddhaghosa, 63. 
 Buddhism, 44 ; five vows of, 46. 
 Buhler on G-autama, 47, 50. 
 Burial ceremonies, Farsi, 31. 
 Bumouf, E., on Farsi, 12. 
 
 Calendar, Farsi, 35. 
 
 Canon, Farsi, 21 ; Jaina, 52. 
 
 Caste, abolition of, 88. 
 
 Chilianwala, 79. 
 
 Christian Missions to the Fanjab, 
 
 91. 
 Costumes, Farsi, 34. 
 Court, General, 78. 
 Cunningham, Sir A., on Muttra 
 
 Inscriptions, 50. 
 Cyrus, belief of, 10. 
 
 Dalhousie, lord, 79. 
 Damascius on Magi, 11. 
 Danda, the three, 60. 
 Darmesteter on Farsi, 14, 24. 
 De Harlez on Farsi, 14 ; on Zo- 
 roaster, 25. 
 Death-rate, Farsi, 34. 
 Devarddhi, 50; and Jaina Canon, 
 
 Dharma, 65. 
 Digambara, the, 56. 
 Digvirati vow, the, 62. 
 Din-kard, the, 21. 
 Dio Chrysostomus, 11. 
 Diogenes of Laerte on Magi, 11. 
 
94 
 
 INDEX 
 
 t>iTiLn§ Sadh, the, 91, 
 Doctrines, Sikh, 83. 
 Dogmas, Zoroastrian, 28, 
 Dost Muhammad, 79, 
 Dress, Parsi, 34. 
 Dualism, Zoroastrian, 27. 
 Dullp Singh, 79. 
 Duperron, A., on Forsi, 12, 
 
 Edwardes, Sir H., 79. 
 Elements, worship of, 28. 
 Elisaeus, history of, 11. 
 Emancipation, Sikh, 85. 
 Emigration to India, Farsi, 33. 
 Eudoxus on Magi, 11. 
 Eznik, history of, 11. 
 
 Fatalists, Taina, 59, 
 Fergnsson on Jaina temples, 67. 
 Festivals, Parsi, 36. 
 Fire, sacred, 39. 
 Fire-temples, Farsi, 29. 
 Folk-lore, Jaina, 66. 
 
 Q-ahambar, days of rest, 37. 
 
 Gaoin, 51. 
 
 G£btha hymns, 19. 
 
 Gautama, date of, 47, 
 
 Geiger on Zoroaster, 25. 
 
 German authorities on Zoroaster, 12. 
 
 Gods, Jaiaa, 66. 
 
 Gfolden Temple at Amritsor, 89. 
 
 Gomati, 68. 
 
 Good, Jaina doctrine, 64. 
 
 Gosala, 44. 
 
 Gough, Sir H., battles of, 78. 
 
 Government, Parsi, 37. 
 
 Govind Eal SodhI, 75. 
 
 Granth, the, contents of, 80 ; lan- 
 guage of, 8i ; doctrines of, 83 ; 
 teaching of, 88. 
 
 GiSjarat, 79. 
 
 Gurmatgl, 77. 
 
 Qiaxmukhl, 81. 
 
 Guru, meaning of term, 73 ; au- 
 thority of, 87. 
 
 Eadhokat, the, 23. 
 Haoma, 30. 
 Eardinge, Sir H., 79. 
 Hari, doctrine of, 84. 
 Haug on Farsi, 13. 
 Hermippus on Magi, 11. 
 Herodotus on Magi, 11. 
 Hinduism, modem, 6g. 
 Huzvaris, 17. 
 Hyde, Thomas, on Faisi, 12. 
 
 m, Jaina doctrine of, 64. 
 Indriya, 63. 
 
 Inertia, Jaina doctrine of, 63, 
 Iranian languages, 18. 
 
 Jacobi on Jaina, 40, 62 ; on G^sala, 
 44 ; on Canon, 54, 62. 
 
 Jahanglr, 74. 
 
 Jaidev, 82. 
 
 Jaina, extent of, 39 ; origin of, 40 ; 
 founder of, 41 ; five vows of, 46 j 
 tradition of, 49 ; literature of, 52 ; 
 pidlosophy of, 57 ; early doctrines 
 of, 58 ; religious practices of, 62 ; 
 doctrines of to-day, 63 ; monks, 
 65 ; laymen, 65 ; ritual and pan- 
 theon, 66\ temples, 6y. 
 
 Jainism and Buddhism compared, 
 42; andBrfthmanism, 44 ; Lassen 
 on, 44 ; doctrines of, 65 ; worship 
 of, 66 ; temples, 67. 
 
 Jamasp, 36. 
 
 Jftpjl, the, 80. 
 
 Jats, 75. 
 
 Jesuits, visit the Panjab, 74. 
 
 Jina, doctrine of worship of, 66, 
 
 Jiva, 63. 
 
 Eablr, 71. 
 
 Kadisiya, victory at, 32. 
 
 Kadmi sect, 36. 
 
 Elalpa-Sutra, the, 50. 
 
 £anchri, 35. 
 
 £andragupta, 55. 
 
 Kanishka, 51, 
 
 Karman, 60. 
 
 Katuyama samvarasamvnto, 61. 
 
 Kgsi, 61. 
 
 Khalsa, the sect, 75. 
 
 Ehalsa Prayer Union, the, 91. 
 
 Kharsedji Eastamji Kama, 36. 
 
 Khorda Avesta, 22. 
 
 Khordad-Lal, a Parsi festival, 37. 
 
 Kleuker on Parsi, 12. 
 
 Kotikagana, 51. 
 
 Erfyavada, the, 59. 
 
 Eshatriya caste, 48. 
 
 Ktesias on Magi, 11, 
 
 Kusti, 31. 
 
 Lahana, 73. 
 Lajita Vistara, 54. 
 Dassen on Jainism, 44. 
 Law, Farsi, 37. 
 Lawrence, Major H., 79. 
 Laymen, Jaina, 65. 
 Idfe, Jaina doctrine of, 63, 
 
INDEX 
 
 95 
 
 Life after death, 86. 
 Literature, Jaina, 52. 
 Liturgy, 38. 
 Logograms, 17. 
 
 Magi, the, 10, 28. 
 
 Mahayira, 41 ; and Buddha, 42 ; 
 
 influence of GrOsala on, 44. 
 Masudi, 11. 
 
 Marriage ceremoniea, Faisi, 31. 
 Maya, 84. 
 Mazdeism, 28. 
 Metoaife, Mr. C, 78. 
 Metres, Jaina, 53. 
 Moksha, 64. 
 Monastic orders, 47. 
 Monks, Jaina, 65. 
 Morality, 27, 
 Morals, 28. 
 
 Mount Abu, temples at, 67. 
 Mutiny, Indian, 8a 
 Muttra Inscriptions, the, 50. 
 
 Nahavand, victory at, 32. 
 
 Namdev, 82. 
 
 Napier, Sir C, 79. 
 
 Napier, Lord, 80. 
 
 Nanak, Guru, 71. 
 
 Nanak Bedl, Guru Baba, 72. 
 
 Nask hooks, 20 ; divisions of, 21. 
 
 Katapntta, 44. 
 
 Niga^tha, the, 58. 
 
 Nirjara, 64. 
 
 NirmatS Sadhu, the, 90. 
 
 Offerings, Parsi, 30. 
 Oldenberg on Jaina, 4a 
 Omar, CaJiph, 32. 
 
 Pahlavi, i^. 
 
 PaHtana, temple at, 67. 
 
 Fauchayat, 37. 
 
 Panjab, the, Sikh conquest of, 78 ; 
 settlement of, 80 ; Christian mis- 
 sions to, 91. 
 
 Pantheism, Sikh, 83. 
 
 Papa, 64. 
 
 Farasnath, 68. 
 
 Parsi emigration to India, 33 ; popu- 
 lation, mortality, occupations, 
 33 ; costumes, 34 ; sects and 
 calendar, 35 ; festivalB, 36 ; law 
 and goyernment, 37, 
 
 Farsi-ism, 9. 
 
 Parsi Scriptures, the, 14 ; language 
 of, 18. 
 
 Farsva, 61. 
 
 Pateti, a Parsi festival, 36. 
 
 Pauhal, 76. 
 
 Pansanias, 11. 
 
 Fa^and, 16. 
 
 Persia, Mohammedan conquest of, 
 
 32. 
 Persian gods, 27. 
 Persian language, 16. 
 Philosophy, Jaina, 57. 
 Pliny on Magi, ii. 
 Plutarch on Magi, 11. 
 Prakrits, Jaina, 53. 
 Prayers of the Ayesta, 30. 
 Punya, 64. 
 Purity, Parsi, 30. 
 Purva, ss- 
 
 Quality, 57. 
 
 Sab Mag, 10. 
 
 Bags, the, 81. 
 
 Eam-Das SodhI, Guru Baba, 73. 
 
 Bamananda, 71. 
 
 Banjit Singh, 78. 
 
 Bapithvan, a Parsi festival, 37. 
 
 Bask on Parsi, 12. 
 
 Bokhsir, 77. 
 
 Sacrifices, Zoroastrian, 28. 
 
 Saoy, Sylvestre de, on Parsi, 12. 
 
 Sadaxa, 31. 
 
 Sankara, 70. 
 
 Saiva, 70. 
 
 Samnyasin, the, 47. 
 
 Samvara, 64. 
 
 Sari, 3S. 
 
 Sassanian dynasty, the, 32, 
 
 Sects, Parsi, 35. 
 
 Service to the saints, 88. 
 
 Shahpur I, King, 21. 
 
 Shahpur II, 32. 
 
 Shehenshai, the, 36. 
 
 Shrahrastani, 11. 
 
 Siddhauta, the, 5° ; "^^.te of, 55 ; 
 contents of, 56. 
 
 Siha, story of, 59. 
 
 Sikh, the, religious history of, 72 ; 
 succession of Guru, 73 ; political 
 history of, 75; as soldiers, 76; 
 ■wars of, 78 ; defeat of, 79 ; second 
 war of, 79 ; sacred books of, 80 ; 
 doctrines of, 83 ; observances of, 
 88 ; temple of, 89 ; population 
 of, 90 ; denominations of, 90. 
 
 SIkhism, rise of, 69 ; sects of, 70. 
 
 Sin, origin of, 85. 
 
 Siva, 70. 
 
96 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Smaxta, 70. 
 
 So darn, the, 80. 
 
 SOhila, the, 81. 
 
 Soma, 30. 
 
 So purkhu, the, 81. 
 
 Soul, the, Jaina view of, 63, 
 
 Souls, Jaina doctrine of, 65. 
 
 Spelling, Jaina, 53. 
 
 Spiegel, P., on Farsi, la ; on 
 
 Zoroaster, 25. 
 Strabo on Magi, 11, 
 Substance, 57. 
 Suthre, the, 90. 
 §Tetambara, the, 55. 
 
 Teg-Bahadur, 75. 
 Temples, Jaina, &j. 
 Theodorus on Magi, ii. 
 Theopompus on Magi, 11. 
 Tirthakara, 66. 
 Towers of silence, 31. 
 Tradition, Jaina, 49. 
 Trilocan, 82. 
 Tri-murti, 70. 
 
 UdasI, the, 90. 
 Utsarpinl, 65. 
 
 Vfiohaka, 51. 
 
 Vaisali, 44. 
 
 Vaishnava, the, 70. 
 
 Yalkhash, King, 21. 
 
 Vandldad, edition of, 12 ; pure, 23. 
 
 Vishnu, 71. 
 Visparaid, 37. 
 Vistasp Tast, 37. 
 
 Tows of Jaina, Buddha, and 
 Brahman, 46. 
 
 Water, Jaina view of, 63. 
 Weber on Jaina, 40, 49, 56. 
 West on Parsi, 13. 
 Westergaard on Farsi, 13. 
 Wilson on Jaina, 40. 
 World, duration of the, 27. 
 
 Xanthns of Sardis on Zoroaster, 25, 
 
 Yast, the, 23. 
 Yazdezardi era, 36. 
 
 Zend-Avesta, the, 14 ; language of, 
 17 ; extent of, 20 ; editions of, 21 ; 
 present contents of, 22; Avesta 
 proper, 22 ; Elttorda Avesta, 22 ; 
 interpretation of, 23 ; ritual of, 
 29 ; birth, marriage, and burial 
 ceremonies, 31, 
 
 Zoroaster, history of, 25 ; birthplace 
 of, 26. 
 
 Zoroastrianism, 10; Bible witness 
 to, 10; classical, ji ; mediaeval, 
 II ; European, 11 ; history of the 
 founder of, 25 ; theology before 
 Alexander, a6 ; persecution of, 
 32. 
 
 OXFOKD : HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY