A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 ON TBE 
 
 IDOLATRY OF THE HINDOOS^ 
 
 DELIVERED NOV. 29, 181&, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 MEETmG) 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FEMALE FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY, 
 
 OF FRANKLIN, CONNECTICUT, 
 ILLUSTRATED BT AN 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 BY SAMUEL NOTT, Juv. 
 
 tATE MISSIONARY AT BOMBAY, 
 
 J\rORrVlCH: 
 
 HUBBARD Sf MARVIN PRISXEBJ, 
 
 i 8 ir. 
 
>: 
 
 •ISTRICT OP CONNECTICUT, s9. 
 
 BE IT REMEMBERED ; That on the twenty-fifth day 
 March, in the forty-first year of the Independence of the United 
 States of America, Samuel Nott, Jun. of the said District, hath 
 deposited in this office the title of a Book, the ri^ht whereof he 
 claims as Author, in the words following, to wit, “ A Sermon, on the 
 Idolatry of the Hindoos, delivered JVov. 29 , 1816 , nt the annual meet*- 
 ing of the Female Foreign Mission Society, of Franklin, Connecticut, 
 illustrated by an Appendix. By Samuel jYotl, Jun. late Missionary 
 at Bombay,'' in conformity to the act of the Congress of the United 
 States, entitled, “ An act for the encouragement of learning, by se- 
 “ curing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the authors and 
 ^‘proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.” 
 
 HENRY W. EDWARDS, 
 
 Clerk of the District of Conneaicut. 
 
 A title copy of Record, examined and sealed bv me, 
 
 ■r-r- ' ''HENRY W. EDWARDS, 
 Clerk of the District of Connecticut, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 iN the following discourse, the Author delivered from 
 the desk, his testimony in favor of Missions to India. He 
 now presents it to the public, with an Appendix, which will 
 Serve to confirm his assertions, and enforce his exhortations. 
 
 The labor of preparation has consumed considerable time, 
 and delayed unusually long, the publication of an occasional! 
 sermon ; while the work bears, more than he could have wish- 
 ed, the marks of a hasty production. His only apology, is, 
 that the state of his liealth, put it equally out of his power, to 
 complete it earlier, or to execute it better. 
 
 In giving the legends of the Hindoos, the Author has been, 
 frequently, indebted to the assistance of others. He has heard 
 those legends repeatedly, in private conversation and in public 
 assemblies, as well as read some of them in their books. But, 
 he preferred the mode he has adopted, to trusting entirely to 
 his own recollection, which might often be incorrect and de- 
 fective. In the accounts, he has given from his own observa- 
 tion, he has been faithful ; though he may have been sometimes 
 erroneous. He must leave them to be corrected, as well as 
 enlarged, by the information which may arrive from time to 
 time, from the Brethren in the East, whose residence among 
 the Hindoos, will give them the best opportunities, of under- 
 standing their customs and religion. 
 
 The enormities of Juggernaut, and the cruel rites of the 
 Hindoos, have been already fully communicated to the public. 
 Partly, on this account, and partly, because they have not fal- 
 len under the Author’s particular observation, an account of 
 them, forms no part of the present work. He has designed to 
 exhibit, according to his own impressions from actual observa- 
 
4 
 
 tiin, that religion, which has originated, and tolerates those 
 abominations with which the public are acquainted ; — to depict 
 the tree, which yields such corrupt fruit. 
 
 He commits his work to the public, with the earnest 
 prayer, that while the Head of the Church, has seen fit to lay 
 him aside from active duties, he would make this fruit of re- 
 tirement, at once, a means of promoting a faithful improve- 
 ment of the light of the gospel, and an efi'ectual charity towards 
 those who “ sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of 
 death.” 
 
 A view of the idolatry of the Hindoos, is calculated to 
 excite in every benevolent mind, something more than a mo- 
 vientary compassion, — to fix a permanent concern in their be- 
 half; which shall pervade every plan, animate in every article 
 of business, and influence the whole life to laborious action, 
 and to earnest prayer. 
 
 The present, may be the times, in which God designs, 
 the darkness of paganism, to begin effectually, to dissipate. 
 If they are, they must be likewise the times, in which Chris- 
 tians at home, equally, with their Messengers who go abroad, 
 make the ditfusion of the light qf the gospel, a leading busi- 
 ness of their lives. 
 
 As he peruses the record of ignorance, superstition, and 
 misery, may every reader say ; “ The lines have fallen unto 
 me in pleasant places and I have a goodly heritage.’’^ Hence- 
 forth, I will believe and obey the gospel, and be joyful in the 
 hope of its sure and eternal rewards. Henceforth, by divine 
 grace, it shall be the object of my labors and my prayers, that 
 the gospel may be preached, “ to every creature,^’ as the means, 
 of pardon, — the source of present peace and endless joy. 
 
 Framkliw, March 27 , 1817 . 
 
 0 
 
SERMON 
 
 ROMANS I. £0, £1, £2, £3. 
 
 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the. 
 world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
 made, even his eternal power and Godhead : so that they are 
 without excuse. 
 
 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not 
 as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imar 
 ginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 
 
 Professing themselves to he wise, they became fools, 
 
 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an 
 image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four.- 
 footed beasts, and creeping things. 
 
 IN the connection of the text, Paul expressed 
 his glorying in the gospel of Christ. He gloried in 
 it, as a message of peace suited to men of every na- 
 tion, according to the import of that ancient promise, 
 “ The just shall live by faith.” 
 
 The promise of life by faith, was suited not only 
 to the Jew, guilty for sinning against the light of rev- 
 elation, but also to the Greek, — to the Heathen, guil- 
 ty, for sinning against the light of nature, unawed and 
 unaffected by the manifestations of himself, which 
 God makes to all men by his works. Both Jew and 
 
t 
 
 Greek, each holding in unrighteousness, the trutl) 
 which he knows, have become obnoxious to the 
 wrath of God, and stand in equal need of that mes- 
 sage of life which comes to all men, %mthout respect 
 of persons. Such is the message in which Paul glo- 
 ries when he says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel 
 of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation 
 to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and 
 also to the Greek.” 
 
 In the verses which include the text, he shows, 
 that the heathen, having perverted their knowledge, 
 and abused their means of knowledge, are left with- 
 out excuse, and of course without hope. Thus be 
 justifies his glorying in the gospel, and the readiness 
 which he ever felt to preach it to the Gentiles ; — “ in 
 •weariness and painfulness— -in hunger and thirst — in 
 cold and nakedness.” 
 
 My hearers, in attempting to send the gospel to 
 the heathen, we are entering upon a work of toil, of 
 difficulties, ofexpence, of trying disappointments, 
 though doubtless of ultimate success. If we would 
 imitate the patience, self-denial, and steadfastness of 
 the Apostle, — if we v/ould do any thing commensu- 
 rate with the necessities of the heathen, — if we would 
 accomplish our own duty, we must enter upon our 
 work, with the principles of the Apostle deeply fixed 
 in our minds. In his sentiments and feelings all 
 must harmonize. The public, who contribute of 
 their substance, the societies, who regulate the funds, 
 and the missionaries, who preach among the heathen, 
 must make it their unalterable motto, JVe are net 
 ashamed of the gospel of Christ : for it is the power 
 of God unto sahation to enery one that believeth ; to 
 the Jew frst, and also to the Greek. 
 
t 
 
 ilecently returned from among the heatlien, with 
 the recollection cf their idolatry still fresh in my 
 mind, I feel under special obligations to plead their 
 cause. Though disappointed in my own aitem.pt, 
 to make known among them the hopes of the Gospel, 
 I am not discouraged. Nor would I be, while those 
 wretched heathen are without Christ — aliens from 
 
 the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the 
 covenants of promise, haring no hope, and without 
 God in the world.” No discouragements v ill ever 
 justify us, for withholding from them that gospel, 
 which is “ the power of God unto salvation.” No 
 discouragements can ever free us from our obliga- 
 tions, as “debtors, both to the Greeks and to the 
 Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise.” 
 
 The facts, which influenced the determinations 
 and the labors of Paul, in behalf of the heathen, are 
 given in the verses which I have read as a text. The 
 same facts are true, of the heathen people among’ 
 whom I have dwelt, and I come to report them to 
 you, as an impressive evidence of their guilt, and as 
 a decided call upon Christians to impart to them, the 
 knowledge of the gospel. 
 
 The declarations of the Apostle are these ; 
 
 I. That the eternal pow’er and God-head of a Su- 
 preme Being, are clearly seen by the heathen ; being 
 understood by the things that are made ; 
 
 II. That they have abused their knowledge, and, 
 actuated by vain imaginations, and a foolish heart, 
 have fallen into the grossest idolatry. 
 
 These declarations, are to form the basis of the en- 
 suing discourse; and shall be illustrated, by the 
 principles and practices, which prevail among the 
 Ilindoos, to whom they equally apply, and concern- 
 
irig whom, the important inference of the Apostle 
 will equally follow : — Therefore they are nuithout ex- 
 cuse^ 
 
 I. The eternal power and God-head of a Supreme 
 Being are clearly seen by the heathen ; being under- 
 stood by the things that are made. 
 
 The things that are made, bear the impression of 
 the Divine hand. Hence, the universe is a volume, 
 open to mankind ; — a revelation concerning God, 
 made to every intelligent creature. 
 
 Consider the earth : — here, God has not left himself 
 without a witness, in that he doeth good, and giveth 
 rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling the 
 hearts of men with food and gladness. “Speak to 
 the earth, and it shall teach thee ; and the fishes of 
 the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not 
 in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought 
 this ? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, 
 and the breath of all mankind.^’ 
 
 Look upward to the heavens: — these, W'hosc 
 beauties and whose wonders are exhibited in every 
 climate, and to the eyes of all mankind, these ‘‘ de- 
 clare the glory of God : and the firmament sheweth 
 his handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
 night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no 
 speech nor language where their voice is not heard. 
 Their line is gone out through all the earth and their 
 words to the ends of the world.” 
 
 How much would be understood, from these un- 
 doubted testimonies of Divinity, by reason, unassist- 
 ed by revelation, and unperverted by sinful disposi- 
 tions, it is not necessary to our present purpose to 
 determine. This is clear; — there is, in the works 
 ef God, a testimony of his being and Ifis attributes, 
 
9 
 
 but at the same time, an utter silence on the subject 
 of pardon. 
 
 Is all this testimony borne before the heathen for 
 nought ? No ; their very idolatry shows that they 
 have impressions of dependance, and a sense of reli- 
 gious obligation. And in respect to the Hindoos at 
 least, an intimate acquaintance with their customs 
 and views, affords evidence, that their idolatry is a 
 perversion of that revelation of a Supreme Deity, 
 which they have read from the volume of nature — 
 that they not only have the means of discovering, but 
 do actually belie’ce in an eternal and omnipotent God. 
 
 The Hindoos* universally believe in one Supreme 
 Deity, uncreated and eternal, from whom, as the 
 great first cause ^ all things proceed. In regard to 
 his moral attributes, it will presently appear, that 
 their ideas are inconsistent and absurd : and vet, it is 
 plain that they intend to ascribe to him moral perfec- 
 tion ; — an entire freedom from the passions, desires, 
 inconsistencies, and changes, of both gods and men. 
 
 On the other hand, the gods^ the prototypes of 
 their idols, are neither eternal nor omnipotent ; nei- 
 ther unchangeable nor holy. As really as men, they 
 are dependant in their origin and finite in their exist- 
 ence ; proceeding, like all things else, from Him, 
 who is eternal and omnipotent. They sustain, only 
 for a season, the several parts which mythology as- 
 signs them. ^ They are delegates, who perform the 
 duties of an absent lord ; and while their power lasts, 
 they possess an agency in the affairs of the W’orld, 
 and in the destinies of men. They are privileged 
 beings, whose claims to worship cannot be trifled 
 
 Sec Appendix 
 
 O 
 
10 
 
 vitii, wiih impunity. They are sensible oi>jectij, 
 wliose existence is more easily conceived, and whose 
 presence is more readily realized, than the existence 
 and presence ot the Supreme Spirit 
 
 Of these imaginary beings, which have bodies and 
 inhabit place, the images are only copies. By conse- 
 cration they become, in some sense, the residence of 
 the diviniiies which they represent. Thus, by a 
 double accommodation ; — by created gods in the 
 first place, and images of them in the second, a mode 
 of worship is instituted, suited to the gross concep- 
 tions and sinful dispositions of men. Still, the wor- 
 shipper believes in one Supreme God ; but, that idol 
 worship is all that is compatible with his present 
 condition, and all that is indispensable to ultimate fe- 
 licity. Ask the most gross idolater while he is 
 bending before his idol, concerning the object of his 
 worship, and he will point his finger, and lift his eye 
 to heaven, and say, “ My God, and yours are one. 
 The way in which we worship different. My idols 
 are God’s servants. This is the way of our fathers 
 — the way appointed for Hindoos.” 
 
 That God is one, is a truth, believed alike, by the 
 learned and the unlearned. For, it is written on a 
 leaf which is, and has ever been, unfolded to the eye 
 of all mankind. Hence, the doctrine of a Supreme 
 Being, is at once, the instruction of nature, and the 
 tradition from the fathers. 
 
 In perfect coincidence with the statement now 
 made, it may be observed, that the Hindoos, gener- 
 ally, understand that there is a division of worship- 
 pers into two classes. The one, worship the uncre- 
 ated God, in the purity of his own existence, without 
 
 " See Appendix B. 
 
11 
 
 qualities and forms. The other, unable to raise theit 
 thoughts to that elevation, worship him in a grosser 
 manner, by the intervention of finite deities and ma- 
 terial forms. The former, by austerity and contem- 
 plation, have disengaged their souls from the influ- 
 ence of matter, purified them from the defilements of 
 sin, and elevated them to the contemplation of the di- 
 vine essence. The latter, still entangled by matter, 
 deluded by the senses, and polluted by sin, as more 
 befitting their present condition, apply themselves on 
 principle, and with a ready mind, to the idol worship 
 of gods resembling themselves. 
 
 In proportion as a man is supposed to have attain- 
 ed to the worship of the uncreated and immaterial 
 Deitv, he is venerated as having imbibed a portion 
 of divinity, and as preparing, for the ultimate felicity 
 of being absorbed into that essence, from which all 
 creatures have proceeded. Devotees, who profess 
 to aspire after the spiritual worship, are seen about 
 the different temples, and the reverence which they 
 receive, is a proof of the belief which the people avow 
 without disguise, that their own worship, is suitable, 
 only, to a sinful, worldly, and imperfect state. 
 
 The existence of a Supreme God, and the unfit- 
 ness of idolatry to rational beings, is inculcated in 
 their books. Not merely, in those accessible to the 
 learned only, but in those popular histories of their 
 incarnate deities, intended for the common people. 
 To hear these chanted and expounded, the illiterate 
 often assemble, evening by evening, in the circle of 
 their friends and neighbors, or in crowded congre- 
 gations.* These contain declarations on the being 
 and attributes of God, from which, as authorities 
 
 * See Appendix C. 
 
12 
 
 ^xliich they admit, the Missionary may derive argvi- 
 ments, like Paul from the Grecian Poet, to confound 
 his idolatrous hearers. 
 
 In the opinion of the Hindoos, there is at present, 
 a moral declension in the universe, preceded by a 
 state of purity, in which, under the guidance of holy 
 beings, the true God was worshipped immediately 
 by his creatures. VV’'hen I have asked, in conversa- 
 tion, Why do you leave the worship of the Great 
 Supreme, and worship the workmanship of your own 
 hands ? I have received the reply, “ This is the 
 worship of the sinful, the earthen age.^ You can 
 expect nothing better from the present state. In the 
 more perfect age, which preceded ihe moral declen- 
 sion of the world, the true God was worshipped. A 
 less perfect worship is suited to the present imperfect 
 condition of men.” 
 
 An opinion prevails among them, which, however 
 philosophic it may seem, is entertained by all classes 
 — That as all things originate in, and proceed out of 
 God, so, to him in the final consummation, ail things 
 will again return. Austerity, contemplation, devotion, 
 and the subjugation of the body, restore the worship- 
 per, by their own efficacy, to the essence of the Eter- 
 nal. The greatest part of mankind, however, by a 
 series of transmigrations, come to that reward by a 
 circuitous and tedious journey. When every thing 
 shall have been prepared for this final consummation, 
 there will exist, neither material universe, nor gods, 
 nor men ; but all will be swallowed up in the great 
 Supreme. 
 
 ^ See Appendix D.. 
 
is 
 
 An expressive annual ceremony,^ which has a re- 
 ference to this event, illustrates the general doctrine, 
 and a description of it, will form an appropriate close 
 to this part of the subject. 
 
 It is annually, the potter’s profitable work, to 
 mould gods of clay, for the seemingly inconsistent 
 purposes — worship and destruction. These are ex- 
 posed for sale. Immense numbers arc bought, and 
 carried, each, by its purchaser to his home, and every 
 house becomes a peculiar temple for idol worship, 
 for the space of twelve days, during which, they bow 
 down and worship these gods of clay. At the expi- 
 ration of that period, and in many cases in a shorter 
 time, the scene changes, and the gods, who have 
 been receiving their worship, are attired, and deco- 
 rated, and enshrined ; — not to continue to receive the 
 adoration of men, but as preparatory to the last acts of 
 worship. Like rendering those funeral honors — the 
 last tribute of respect from admiring mortals, which 
 accompany the Hero, as he descends from his exal- 
 tation to the narrow hou^, where hia body is to moul- 
 der like another man’s. 
 
 Attired, decorated, and enshrined, on this day of 
 grand funeral ceremony for the gods of this world ; — 
 from every house, with all the state and splendor of 
 which each one is capable, a god is borne. And 
 you behold, through every street, a march of deities 
 amid a din of noisy instruments, led on by a multi- 
 tude of people, who are advancing to buty them in 
 the sacred water, as an evident testimony to the uni- 
 versal claims of the Great Supreme. They arc 
 
 Sep Appendix B. 
 
14 
 
 brought to the margin of the water, where a Brahmin 
 assists in performing the last act of worship, and then^ 
 the gods of clay are plunged into the deep water, 
 where they are left to dissolve into their original 
 dust. 
 
 This expressive ceremony seems to say, “ They 
 are no gods, which are made with hands. The gods 
 we worship are frail and perishable;” and it has 
 been represented to me, as pointing to the dissolu- 
 tion of the world, when there shall exist, neither ma- 
 terial universe, nor gods, nor men. In the opinion 
 of the Hindoos, the uncreated Brcfmh is unchangea- 
 ble and eternal. When creation started into being, 
 the first creatures were the primeval deities. For 
 these there are local habitations, heavens, where they 
 reside, ministered unto, and accompanied by, subor- 
 dinate deities and ministering servants. By the in- 
 carnation of the gods, and the incarnation of the in-' 
 habitants of heaven by which they were accompani- 
 ed, the universe has become filled with deities ; till, 
 scarce an anim.al exists, which has not been inhabited 
 by superior beings, and till, as I have been often told, 
 there are three hundred and thirty millions oj gods. 
 But this state of things, is not to be eternal. The 
 universe, with all v\ hich it contains, without the ex- 
 ception of either men, or gods, is to undergo a gen- 
 eral wreck, a final dissolution, and all existence is to 
 be swallowed up, in the Supreme. This event 
 seems to be typified in the annual ceremony of the 
 Hindoos, of which I have now given a description, 
 and with which, I close the proof, that they do actu- 
 ally believe^ in an eternal and omnipotent God. 
 
15 
 
 We will now proceed to the second declaration of 
 the Apostle, 
 
 II. That they have abused their knowledge, and, 
 actuated by vain imaginations, and a foolish heart, 
 have fallen into the grossest idolatry. 
 
 Reason and conscience constitute man a religious 
 being. A sinful heart hath turned him astray, and 
 set him at variance with Go J, his Maker. But his 
 tebellion is not open and direct. Influenced by two 
 contending principles, a sense of religion and the love 
 of sin, it is in every land, and in every age, his object 
 to comply with both ; — to satisfy the claims — to se- 
 cure the present and future favor of his Maker and 
 his Judge, and still live as he lists, in “the lust of 
 the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.” 
 Hence, there is in every nation, a propensity to false 
 religion ; to that religion which, lowering the claims 
 of God, is at once easy to man and meritorious with 
 Him. 
 
 At blank atheism, or an absolute neglect of Him, 
 whose offspring we are, and whose frown vve dread ; 
 the mind, conscious of guilt, starts back with hor- 
 ror ; but is soothed and quieted by the formalities of 
 religious worship. 
 
 These observations suggest the cause of the pro- 
 pensity of the human mind to idolatry: — the cause 
 why men do “ not like to retain God in their knowl- 
 edge.” In considering the idolatry of the Hindoos, 
 we should keep the cause of it in mind, that we may 
 ■follow the Apostle, in the melancholy inference, that 
 y they are without excuse.” 
 
 As we proceed under the present head ofdis-. 
 
16 
 
 cburse, it will appear, that the Hindoos are without 
 excuse, not because they are irreligious ; for they are 
 abundantly religious, and it is their abundance of re- 
 ligion, of which I am now to give an account, after 
 the manner of the Apostle, as a proof that they are 
 without excuse. 
 
 Observe then, first, though they hno’iu God, they 
 glorify him not as God, neither are thankful. In- 
 tending to ascribe to Him perfection, both natural 
 and moral, they represent him, as not only eter- 
 nal, unchangeable and omnipotent, but as without 
 passions, without sensation, without desires, without 
 
 happiness A description of the divine essence, 
 
 which, if it be intelligible, deprives him of the glory 
 which he possesses, as the fountain of love, and infi- 
 nitely happy in its eternal exercise. 
 
 In conformity to these ideas of his essence, they 
 consider him as having no direct concern in the act 
 of creation, or in the preservation and government of 
 the world.* The power of the Supreme, is imagin- 
 ed to have a distinct existence, and is represented as 
 his wife. By that divine power, tvas the origin of 
 creation. First of all is Vishnoo, lying on a many- 
 headed serpent, at the bottom of the sea. From his 
 body grows the water-lilly, which terminates on the 
 surface of the sea in a flow'er, and on that flower 
 grows Bramha, the Creator of the world. From 
 him proceeds creation, tvhich is handed over to 
 Vishnoo, the preserver of the world. The Supreme 
 Deity from whose power all things proceed, lies, in 
 silence and inattention to its concerns, according to 
 his essential character ; without qualities, without 
 action, without happiness, or, as it is represented by 
 
 ^ See Appendix F. 
 
17 
 
 those who would speak more philosophically, Maia^ 
 or the power which produced a material universe, 
 has enchained the Supreme Spirit. It is no part of 
 my object, to show that these ideas are consistent 
 with any rational views of a Supreme Being, nor any 
 part of my expectation, to render them perfectly in- 
 telligible. From them it is evident, that though 
 they know God, they glorify him not as God, nei- 
 ther are thankful to Him, as the original author of alf 
 their blessings. 
 
 What ! when unassisted reason has read from the 
 volume of nature, that there is an eternal, omnipotent 
 and unchangeable God, and that he must be pure 
 and holy ; is it rendering to him the glory that is his 
 due, to consider him as inactive in creation, as absent 
 from the system, and unconcerned for its good? 
 This, is to acknowledge his existence, but disrobe 
 him of his glory. This is, under the influence 
 of sin, to pervert the best knowledge, and the best 
 gifts. 
 
 With these views of the Supreme Being, as un- 
 connected with the aflTairs of the universe, it is not 
 strange that He is not the object of their worship. 
 Alienated from God themselves, they are disposed to 
 think that the alienation is on his part ; and as if, 
 while they are at a distance from him, he w^ere at a 
 distance from them, they feel at full liberty, to sink 
 to the level of their grovelling minds. The conse- 
 quence is, that no service is paid to the acknowledg- 
 ed first cause and last end of all things. They be- 
 lieve in one only God ; but offer him no prayers, no 
 praises, no thanksgivings ; or, in language suited to 
 their notions, all men are bound in the bondage of 
 3 
 
18 
 
 matter, so that they cannot comprehend the Supreme 
 Intelligence. I have heard them say ; “ How can 
 we worship him? How can we conceive of him who 
 is uncreated and eternal ? How can we fix our minds 
 upon him, who does not inhabit place ?” 
 
 Such is their treatment of the Suprtme Spirit. 
 liking to retain him in their hiowledge, they have 
 entirely forsaken the eternal God : and, as might be 
 expected, when men abuse the original impression 
 which his wwks make upon their minds, they have, 
 in the language of the text, become vain in their ima% 
 ginations, and their foolish heart is darkened : pro- 
 fessing themselves to be V)ise, they have become fools. 
 
 There are a few, who profess to consider their re- 
 ligion as an allegory, and to understand and revere 
 the hidden meaning. Glorying in their own wis- 
 dom, they say, that the common religion is suited to 
 tlie conceptions and feelings of the ignorant multi- 
 tude. 
 
 The people themselves, as has been already hinted, 
 think it suitable to the present age, and their own 
 condition. Under the influence of a corrupt and 
 sensual mind, they declare it impossible to worship 
 the Supreme Spirit. Instead of Him, they prefer 
 created gods — gods who are frail, changeable and 
 sinful. 
 
 Heathen ! your foolish heart is darkened. It is 
 not beyond your power, to bow down with humble 
 adoration before Him, whose power, whose pres- 
 ence, and whose goodness, are discovered in his 
 works. A sinful heart hath ui fitted you f r his wor- 
 ship. Buried in sensuality, your mind aspires not to 
 the admiration and worship of the Author and Pre- 
 server of your being. Therefore it is, that knowing 
 
God you worship him not as God. Therefore have 
 you changed the glory of the Incorruptible, into the 
 detestable similitudes of his corruptible creatures. 
 
 The idols which the Hindoos worship, are not 
 considered by them to be real beings. When they 
 come from the artist’s hands they are considered to 
 be, what they really are ; lifeless images, inanimate 
 stocks. Their claims to adoration are not founded, 
 simply, on their resemblance to their patterns. 
 “ You tell us, said a Hindoo (as I was walking with 
 him out of the gate of one of the temples) that the 
 idols we worship are nothing ; that they cannot see 
 ‘With their eyes, hear with their ears, or walk with 
 their Jeet. True, the image is only stone or metal; 
 but it must be consecrated, Sir ; the Brahmin must 
 repeat over it the hallowed verse, before it becomes a 
 proper object of worship. Then it becomes the 
 place of the god whose resemblance it bears, his 
 habitation, his chamber of audience, where he ac- 
 cepts our worship, and becomes sensibly present to 
 us.” 
 
 The forms of the idols are exceedingly various ; 
 corresponding to those imaginary beings which they 
 represent. The three primeval deities are in the 
 form of men ; and of these, as emblems of their wis- 
 dom and power, Bramha has four heads, and Vish- 
 noo four hands. Thus are they represented in 
 painting and in bronze, the one, sitting on his mater- 
 nal lilly, and the other, reposing on the many-headed 
 serpent, who participates with him in the worship of 
 his adorers. 
 
 In his incarnations, Vishnoo sometimes retained 
 the human form. In the first, however, he became 
 a fish, to recover the divine books which had been 
 
stolen by an evil being ; in the second a tortoise, fop 
 a pedestal in churning the sea of milk ; in the third, a 
 boar, to raise the drowning world on his tusk, apd in 
 the fourth, a Man-Lion, to destroy the enemy of gods 
 and men and to prove his own omnipresence. 
 
 There are many inferior deities, or personages con- 
 r.ected with the gods, either in their residence in 
 heaven, or their incarnate habitation on the earth, 
 whose images are worshipped both as household dei- 
 ties and in the temples of the gods. Among these 
 may be found, indeed, birds, and beasts, and creeping 
 things. Here is Garuda, the porter of heaven ; and 
 though descended of human parents, a bird produ- 
 ced from an egg. Here is Hanumunt, a- monkey — 
 a kind of heavenly incarnation, who accompanied the 
 divine Rama, while he was on earth ; chastising his 
 enemies by his tail, which by divine power, he was 
 able miraculously to elongate. Here is Gunputtee, 
 the god of wisdom, having a human body and an el- 
 ephant’s head. The first head having been cut oft' in 
 some heavenly altercation, this was taken, as the first 
 at hand, to supply its place. And here, too, 
 standing before the temple of this majestic deity, 
 who receives more direct worslnp than any other 
 god, as though reason had run mad, is the insignifi. 
 cant rat ; — the animal who conveys his carcase from, 
 place to place. ^ 
 
 Besides these, which are most of them commonly 
 seen as objects of worship, time would fail to men- 
 tion the difierent kinds of beings which are venerat- 
 ed, as connected with divinity. 
 
 The habitations of the gods are material, and con- 
 nected with them are door keepers, musicians and 
 
 * See Appendix G. 
 
dancing gliis, all of which are subjects of story and 
 receive a degree of veneration. I'here are also evil 
 beings; a kind of gods of destruction, who receive 
 either a uniform, or periodical worship. Some of 
 these are so peculiar as to beggar all description, be- 
 ing unlike any thing that we conceive either in heaven 
 or on earth. 
 
 In describing the vanities W'hich the Hindoos wor- 
 ship, I have been obliged to omit, as unsuitable to be 
 mentioned in this place, and indeed in any other 
 place, one of the most common and venerated of the 
 idols which fill their temples and receive their hom- 
 age. 
 
 That the gods of the Hindoos are like to “ men, 
 and birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping 
 things,” is not their only, or their greatest reproach. 
 Their characters are as trivial and base, as their forms 
 are low and degraded. They are like men, in their 
 passions and feelings, and the places where they re- 
 side are filled with folly, disorder and contention. 
 
 Their earliest history discovers their imperfec- 
 tions. Bramha, the creator of the w'orld, was so 
 puffed up with this honor as to begin to defame his 
 superior divinity. On that account he immediately 
 lost one of his five heads, and was forever after deni- 
 ed the privilege of being worshipped. Of the other 
 primeval deities and their wives, stories, implying 
 that they are subject to every bad passion and every 
 hurtful lust, are abundant. The history of the trans- 
 actions of all those beings, w'ho constitute those 
 motly communities which inhabit the fabulous resi- 
 dences of the gods, is as corrupt and base, as can be 
 furnished from the annals of men. Pride and selfish- 
 ness, jealousy and anger, party and lust, pervade the 
 
^2 
 
 very heavens where they dwell, and from them follow, 
 even in those elevated regions, the natural consequen- 
 ces which in our world flow from the flesh, viz. 
 
 •works of the flesh which are thesc^ Adultery, unclean- 
 ness, laschiousness, hatred, •oariance^ emulations^ 
 wrath, strife, eiroyings and murders. 
 
 In becoming incarnate, it is believed by the Hin- 
 doos, that the gods regarded the happiness of the 
 world. Though it is evident from their history, that 
 in some sort, they pursued and finally accomplished 
 this object, still, their history represents them as full 
 of the follies, and sins of men. The venerated 
 Krishna, from his earliest childhood, was a cunning 
 thief, and as he grew to manhood, evinced that he 
 possessed the faults of men united with the power of 
 God. Ho\v unlike that blessed incarnation — that 
 Immanuel, God with us, whom we adore. He be- 
 came man and n as tempted in all points like as we 
 are, yet without sin ; and in his life left an example, 
 which, whoever imitates, becomes a blessing to man- 
 kind and acceptable to his maker. ^ 
 
 I hope by this time you have some idea of the idols 
 which the Hindoos worship. They are inanimate 
 stocks ; resemblances of beings which exist only in 
 the vain imaginations of sinful men : and like the er- 
 ring creatures which pay them worship, are incon- 
 sisfent and sinful in their conduct and character. 
 
 These are the objects of the adoration of the Hin- 
 doos ; and bowing before them “ they change the 
 glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made 
 like to corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed 
 beasts, and creeping things or in the Apostle’s 
 words in one of the verses following, “ They have 
 
 * See Appendix H. 
 
25 
 
 changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped 
 and served the creature more than the Creator, who 
 is blessed forever.” 
 
 The Hindoo daily sees the sun breaking forth in 
 his glory and rejoicing “ as a strong man to run a 
 race.” By his light he sees the wonders of nature, 
 and the provision which Providence continually has 
 in readiness for man and beast. And night by night, 
 liaving refreshed nature, and enlightened man, he 
 sees him descending from his sight persuaded that 
 he will return again. He sees it, and feels in his 
 mind the impression that there is an eternal, omnipo- 
 tent, and incorruptible God. A truth which, though 
 he believes, he willingly changes into a lie. The 
 slave of a sensual mind, as though he were a very 
 beast, he neglects the Incorruptible, and degrades his 
 mind and prostrates his body in the worship of cor- 
 ruption. 
 
 Enter now with me into the enclosure of a Hindoo 
 temple and observe the worship of the people. With- 
 in it, there are various apartments for gods of differ- 
 ent shapes and names : not in which the people as- 
 semble to pay a united service, but where each as an 
 individual, pays his service for himself alone. 
 
 Mark, as you enter the enclosure, the clanger of 
 cymbals, the tumult of noisy singers, the din of ring- 
 ing bells, and a crowd of busy people passing and re- 
 passing. On one side, is a Brahmin chanting and 
 explaining to half a dozen hearers the sacred books. 
 On another, a company of asceticks besmeared with 
 ashes, singing loud songs of praise ; while the people 
 are hurrying in tlie midst of conversation and laugh- 
 
ter, to and from their evening worship. Single out 
 now a particular person and observe his service. He 
 has finished the business of the day, and has come, 
 as he tells you, to the presence of his gud or god- 
 dess. See him as he draws nigh, having in his hand 
 an offering of cocoa-nuts, and rice, and flowers. Soon 
 as he secs the image, he makes his salutation. He 
 breaks the cocoa-nut upon the head of the animal on 
 which his divinity is supposed to ride. He rings the 
 bell which hangs over the entrance, that he may be 
 sure of tlie attention of his god. He enters into his 
 presence, bows before him, presents his offering, 
 mutters a few words of praise and prayer, and then 
 taking a circuit around and around him, as the last 
 act of service, he returns, having satisfied his own 
 conscience and in his own opinion pleased his deity. 
 
 I meet him at the door, and ask, how can you thus 
 forsake the Great Supreme whose works you be- 
 hold around you ? He replies, “ This is Hindoo’s 
 way — These customs our fathers handed down to us. 
 My religion is good for me and your religion good 
 for you. I am engaged in the business of the world 
 and in making provision for the body. How can I 
 worship the great God. I must have a friend to in- 
 troduce me to the magistrate, much more to God.” 
 Ah, poor deluded Hindoo! And can the worship 
 of this misshapen image, give you a better access, than 
 simply to bow your heart with humble adoration 
 and praise to God your Maker ? 
 
 Such are the gods of the Hindoo, and such the 
 manner of his vtwship. To him to be religious is a 
 business of ceremony only ; not to yield tlie service 
 
25 
 
 of his heart, not to be pure, and benevolent, and - 
 meek. Such a service would condemn the gods he 
 worships. A system of useless ceremonies, which 
 mingles with all the concerns of life, has usurped its 
 place. By attention to this, the Hindoo secures the 
 favor of the gods who influence his destinies, and 
 proceeds on, as he thinks, step by step, towards that 
 Supreme Being, whom he refuses to worship. The 
 practices of his religion are sometimes grossly sinful, 
 but not on that account less meritorious. And if 
 they are not all so, they still leave the worshipper at 
 liberty to be actuated by sinful feelings, and to pur- 
 sue vicious conduct. Even those who are profes- 
 sedly devoted to sanctity, seek it not by right feel- 
 ings and virtuous conduct, but by a separation from 
 tire concerns of the world, by useless and disgusting 
 austerities, by voluntary corporeal sufferings, and by 
 performing tedious tasks.* These avail greatly with 
 the gods, and according to the legends of the Hin- 
 doos, often to the basest purposes. Stories are 
 abundant of devout persons having attained such a 
 degree of holiness and influence with the gods, as to 
 have obtained an unlimited privilege of gratifying the 
 most wicked dispositions.! 
 
 We have now surveyed the idols of the Hindoos, 
 and the worship that is paid them. To finish the 
 picture of their superstitions, let me direct your at- 
 tention to the reverence they pay to the objects of 
 nature, and to living creatures on the earth. 
 
 The sun is considered as a deity ; and the moon, 
 
 ^ See Appendix I. f See Appendix K. 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 who, in her monthly returns to remove the darkness 
 of the night, calls cut the population of the country, 
 to watch her first appearance and make their salu- 
 tations. Trees, and shrubs, and flowers, and ani- 
 mals of various kinds are sacred to different deities, 
 and become themselves objects of adoration. Espe- 
 cially every cow is sacred ; and to kill one, is a crime 
 next in order to the murder of a Brahmin. It is an 
 act of high merit, to turn out a bullock as the com- 
 mon property, to rove the streets and fatten on the 
 daily offerings of the people. Bullocks and cows 
 are objects of constant reverence. I have frequently 
 seen people, as they pass them in the street, paying 
 them their salutations. Even snakes are not neg- 
 lected. On an annual day they receive the offerings 
 of the people, in lieu of a fabled serpent to whom 
 that day is appropriated for w orship.* 
 
 Nor are men excluded from a privilege to which 
 mere animals are admitted. The Brahmins are 
 gods, and in a more special sense a religious disciple 
 denominates his instructor his god. Religious de- 
 votees, to the people at large, are very common ob- 
 jects of religious reverence. They throng every 
 temple, and are even besought by the people, as 
 though they could influence the destinies and relieve 
 the wants of men. See that man ! his nakedness 
 uncovered, or scarcely covered ; his swarthy body 
 whitened with ashes overspread ; his nails growm to 
 the length of claws ; his black hair, become pale and fil- 
 thy by long neglect, clotted and entwined in frequent 
 evolutions round his head. There he stands, raking 
 
 * See Appendix L. 
 
27 
 
 his little fire ; sheltered from the changes of the 
 weather and the damps of night, by a canopy of cloth. 
 
 See there another ; already in consequence of his 
 vow, for seven years he has held his left arm erect, 
 till the joint is callous, the arm withered, and the 
 nails growing on his clinched hand cover his WTist. 
 These are holy men, before whom the Hindoo bows 
 with reverence and homage ; and before whom he 
 often presents his request in the time of his extremi- 
 ty, and having received the intimation of favor, goes 
 away contented and happy. ^ 
 
 Let this complete the painful illustration, that the 
 Hindoo has become ^ain in Im imagination, and that 
 his foolish heart is darkened. 
 
 Were you told that the cunning adversary to the 
 salvation of men, had made it his special business to 
 contrive a system at variance with the rights of Deity 
 and the dictates of common sense ; suited equally to 
 debase the human mind and to please it when it is 
 debased ; and finally, suited to the cultivation of sin- 
 ful passions, and to encourage the practise of sin, 
 w’ould you not at once exclaim, Behold among the 
 Hindoos the complete accomplishment of his v\-icked 
 purpose ! This is the system which the Hindoo loves. 
 On this system he is willing to be religious ; and be- 
 ing so, he is without excuse. Let us sum up, in 
 application to the present case, the reasoning of the 
 Apostle. In his w'orks God has revealed his char- 
 acter to men. In that revelation to reasonable be- 
 ings, he presents his claims to service and affection. 
 The Hindoo has not altogether excluded its light, 
 
 * See Appendix M. 
 
28 
 
 but has clianged the truth of God into a lie — the 
 discovered glory of the incorruptible God into an im- 
 age made like to his corruptible creatures. Thus 
 he holds the truth in unrighteousness, is without ex- 
 cuse and deservedly the subject of the wrath of God. 
 
 Such were the sentiments of the great Apostle to 
 the Gentiles ; which, in connection with his adoring 
 and believing views of the infinite merits of his Sav- 
 iour, caused him to say, “lam not ashamed of the 
 gospel of Christ.” Over the heathen world, lying 
 in all its wretchedness, he cast his compassionate eye 
 and determined to give them, as far as in him lay, 
 the blessings of that gospel in which he gloried as 
 ihe po%ver of God unto salvation. With a benevo- 
 lence in his bosom which burned, like the bush of 
 Moses, without consuming ; wnth courage, not to be 
 daunted by the prospect of danger, or overcome by 
 the pressure of suifering ; and accompanied by the 
 power of the Holy Spirit, he pursued his work, tri- 
 umphing in the ancient promise, The just shall live 
 by faith. No matter what his country, or his ances- 
 tors, or his former religion. The just shall live by 
 faith, was the encouraging promise worthy to be 
 carried to every soul of man, and he preached it 
 faithfully and successfully, till the “ Gentiles became 
 obedient in word and deed, through mighty signs 
 and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 
 
 My hearers, I have not spoken on the superstitions 
 of the Hindoos, to gratify that idle curiosity which 
 gapes for novelty, while personal duties are un- 
 thought of ; but tvith a design of leading you to a 
 practical improvement of what you have been told : 
 — of pressing you as believers in the efficacy of the 
 
20 
 
 gospel for the salvation of men of every nation, to 
 adopt the practical conclusion of the Apostle Paul, 
 “ I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbari- 
 ans, both to the wise and to the unwise. ” Is it possi- 
 ble that it can have suggested Itself to a single chris- 
 tian hearer, that if the heathen are already in the pos- 
 session of so much light as has been represented, 
 they stand in no pressing need of the gospel of 
 Christ ? and therefore, that the obligations of Chris- 
 tians to send it to them, are neither indispensable nor 
 important ? — God forbid that I should depress that 
 hallowed zeal which burns in tlie hearts of many, or, 
 by unguarded expressions, check that pious liberali- 
 ty which is ready to make an offering, only, to the 
 needy. I would bear an unequivocal testimony. 
 TAe heathen do stand in pre&sing need of the gospel of 
 Christ, and the obligations of Christians to send it to 
 them, are indispensable, and infinitely important. 
 
 The heathen stand in pressing need of the gospel 
 of Christ : — 
 
 Because it reveals the character of God more fully 
 and clearly than the light of nature. 
 
 Because tliey have abused that light, and fallen 
 into the grossest idolatry. 
 
 Because the gospel alone declares to men the 
 means of pardon which their offended sovereign has 
 provided. 
 
 And lastly, because the gospel is tlie dispensation 
 of the Spirit — the power of God unto sahation. 
 
 Had the heathen improved, as they ought, the 
 light they enjoy ; — did they discover fully, and clear- 
 ly, whatever of the divine perfections is displayed in 
 the works of God ; would you withhold from them 
 
30 
 
 the happiness of seeing the more clear and full disr 
 plays of wisdom, power, and goodness, which you 
 have seen yourself, with indescribable »atisfaction, 
 in his word ? The heavens and the earth, with all 
 that they exhibit to the admiring eye of man, and the 
 manifest works of his providence unfold his charac- 
 ter, and speak his praise. But, the history of his 
 dealings with mankind, in filling them with good and 
 yet punishing idolatry and wickedness ; his utter 
 destruction of the nations that called not upon his 
 name ; his acts of judgment, long-suffering, and 
 faithfulness, towards the children of Israel ; his pure 
 and perfect laws, branching out in orderlj'^ and beau- 
 tiful ramifications from the great law of love; the 
 penalty annexed to their violation ; and most of all, 
 the united display of undeviating justice and abun- 
 dant grace, in sending his beloved Son to die for the 
 rebellious ; — these shed new light upon the discove- 
 ries of nature, reveal what was unknown before, and 
 give an indescribable exaltation and glory to Him, 
 W'hom nature of herself declares to be supremely glo- 
 rious. These present to mankind new claims of love 
 and homage, and a new source of happiness exceed- 
 ed, only, by the revelations concerning God, which 
 shall be made in eternity, to spirits purified from sin ; 
 ’Vi hen that which is perfect is come., and that which is 
 in part shall be done away. 
 
 But the heathen have not improved the light they 
 enjoy, but have fallen into the grossest idolatry. And 
 will the Christian, whose claim to that name, con- 
 sists, not in the improvement of the bright light of 
 revelation, but in penitence for misimproved knowl- 
 edge and abused mercy, wdll he withhold from the 
 
heathen the gospel, because they have abused the 
 light of nature ? 
 
 But, it is not merely the correction of mistaken 
 views, and the most delightful exhibitions of the di- 
 vine perfections and conduct, that the gospel offers 
 to the heathen. It is the T)oice of mercy to the sin- 
 ner; — shedding upon the darkness of death the light 
 of hope, by which he looks without dismay to the 
 tribunal of Him who cleareth not the guilty. It re- 
 veals the son of God clothed in human flesh, — dying 
 that man may live, — rising from the dead, and as- 
 cending on high to plead in man's behalf before the 
 throne of justice, with the infinite merits of Jehovah, 
 and with all the kindness of an elder brother. It does 
 more. Wherever it is preached, it is the power of 
 God unto sahationy to e’oery one that beliei^eth. The 
 energy of the Holy Spirit accompanies it, raising the 
 soul from death, and binding it to Him who triumph^ 
 ed over deaths and lives forever. 
 
 For this message of peace — for this power unto 
 salvation, the condition of the heathen loudly calls. 
 
 The scriptures condemn idolatry as a peculiarly 
 aggravated crime, and spare not threatenings to 
 those who have incurred its guilt. I do not say 
 that it, inevitably, condemns all who live and die 
 amid the darkness of pagan lands. I dare not deny 
 the possibility, nor am I unwilling to indulge the 
 hope, that from the midst of that darkness, there may 
 be some, redeemed by a Saviour they have never 
 known, and sanctified by a sovereign Spirit, who, 
 having served the true God as he is seen in his 
 works, will be happy in his eternal favor. 
 
32 
 
 But, i\\jAidolatorSt those who knowing God glorify 
 him not as God, cannot be saved in their idolatry, and 
 that generally speaking the members of idolatrous 
 nations are idolators, seems plain beyond a doubt. 
 I'o believe otherwise, would be to be charitable be- 
 5’ond what is written. The bible does not teach us, 
 that the light of nature, is th£ power oj God unto saU 
 •cation. It teaches us, rather, that God reserved the 
 agency of his Spirit, in recovering men to his moral 
 image, and in fitting them to dwell in his presence, 
 to grace the offers of salvation by the Son of his 
 love. 
 
 Do not the heathen stand in pressing need of the 
 gospel of Christ ? I have endeavored to present before 
 you the religion of the Hindoos ; a religion, which, 
 base as it is, is practised by ten times the number of 
 people in the United States. Its ceremonies, and the 
 worship of its idol gods, engross their minds, even 
 from lisping infancy to hoary age. The old man, al- 
 ready broken by the weight of years, takes up his ac- 
 -customed song, which he remembers while his mind 
 decays ; and clapping gently his withered hands, he 
 tunes his trembling voice to the tinkling of the chains 
 around his ancles, and chants to his little grandson 
 his first lesson of idolatry ; who learns to chime with 
 his voice in the praises of his god. One generation 
 passeth, and another generation cometh, to receive the 
 legacy of idolatry, — to grope in its darkness, — to be 
 beguiled by its formalities, and to sink under its aw- 
 ful guilt. 
 
 Having, then, in our hands a gospel fitted to en- 
 lighten them, to restore them to the image of their 
 
Maker, to lead them to his worship, to comfort them 
 in life and death, and make them infinitely and eter- 
 nally happy ; are we not their debtors ? 
 
 Yes, we are debtors. The gift of the gospel to 
 us, as well as to the Apostle, ^vas for a twofold pur- 
 pose : — that we might secure its blessings for our- 
 sehes, and that we might hand it on to our neighbor. 
 So long as we retain it, we are like that felonious 
 son, who retains the estate given by the father to his 
 family, and leaves his brothers and sisters to poverty 
 and rags. 
 
 We are debtors. — Chtistian, it is not a matter 
 submitted to thy choice^ vrhether thou wilt contri- 
 bute of thy substance that the gospel may be sent to 
 the heathen ; and if thou givest largely, thou needest 
 not applaud thy generosity. 
 
 It is not a matter submitted to the choice of the 
 ministers of Jesus, whether they will be to the hea- 
 then, messengers of glad tidings. Though labori- 
 ous, active, and enterprising beyond comparison, the 
 Apostle applauded not himself for a gratuitous ser- 
 vice, but says, “ I am debtor both to the Greeks and 
 to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the un- 
 wise.” 
 
 My hearers, the idolatry of the heathen, the rea- 
 sonings, resolutions and example of the Apostle are 
 now before you. And can any thing more be ne- 
 cessary, to awaken interest, to excite compassion, or 
 to fix your determinations ? Can there be named a 
 work more capable of sweetening the labors or alle- 
 viating the sufferings, which are the inevitable por- 
 tion of human life, than that of making the gospel 
 known to the debased and perishing heathen ? While 
 5 
 
34 
 
 tlie farmer is cultivating the soil, or the mechanic 
 fashioning his work, he may cherish the animating 
 thought, that he is not only providing, as he ought, 
 for himself and those whom God hath given him in 
 charge ; but, in his prayers and his contributions, is 
 a co-worker in accomplishing an object, as momen- 
 tous as the earth can possibly witness, — the turning 
 of idolatrous nations to the love and favor of God 
 their Maker. 
 
 To be engaged in such an enterprise, each in his 
 proper sphere — to be conscious of laboring, accor- 
 ding to our abilit)'", for such results — to cherish the 
 confident belief that our labor shall not be in vain, 
 but. Combining with the labors of others, effectual, in 
 blessing nations like the stars of heaven for multitude : 
 for the man in his business, for the female in her fam- 
 ily, and even for the child that serveth God, will an- 
 nihilate the lesser troubles of human life, and shed 
 the oil of gladness o’er the rest. 
 
 Every Christian, who embarks in the glorious en- 
 terprize of converting the heathen, may at once ful- 
 fil the ordinary duties of human life, and be a partak- 
 er in the happiness of the missionary, who having left 
 his country, and embarked on an enterprise of diffi- 
 culty and hazard, rejoices that he is cultivating a field 
 grown to waste, and preparing a harvest from barren 
 ground. Nay, he may rejoice like the Apostle when 
 he said, ‘'I have strived to preach the gospel not 
 where Christ was named, lest I should build on an- 
 other man’s foundation. But as it is written. To 
 whom he was not spoken of they shall see : and they 
 that have not heard shall understand.” 
 
 At what time, God will fulfil this promise to a par- 
 ticular people, and more especially, when, the latter 
 
35 
 
 day glory shall break in all its splendor on the world, 
 it is neither possible, nor necessary, for us precisely 
 to determine. But it is proper to close our medita- 
 tions on the darkness of the heathen, by those joyful 
 anticipations which the signs of the times, and a gen- 
 eral view of the promises of God, may justly awaken. 
 It is right, and so much the more, as we see that day 
 approaching, to take up with exultation and joy the 
 song of D avid ; “ Amotig the gods there is none like un- 
 to thee, 0 Lord ; neither are there any ^ or ks like unto 
 thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall 
 come and worship before thee., 0 Lord ; and shall 
 glorify thy name.'" 
 
 The signs of the times may well encourage the 
 most animating hopes. Already it begins to be 
 adopted as a principle of Christian practise, that it is 
 the duty of Christians in their several spheres to do 
 their utmost for the spread of the gospel. Already 
 is the wonder exhibited to an admiring world, of nu- 
 merous associations of men, of different countries, 
 languages and habits, connected by no system of 
 combined action, still liable to error and learning 
 from experience ; stedfastly tending towards one 
 great object, as really accomplishing all the parts of 
 one great plan, as though they were actuated by the 
 mind of one man. Why ? Doubtless because they 
 are influenced by one spirit to pursue the plan, and 
 fulfil the momentous design of one infinite mind. 
 Already has this moral machine been so long in mo- 
 tion as to show that its parts are properly combined, 
 and the stream which moves it, not a temporary cur- 
 rent, but sufficient and exhaustless ; proceeding from 
 
God, and destined to continue its impulse, till the 
 earth has become full of the glory of the Lord. 
 
 Disgusted with the idolatry of the heathen, mj 
 mind fixes with indescribable satisfaction, on the 
 prospect of a brighter day. 
 
 Let that gradual progression in the great work 
 continue, which has been witnessed even by the 
 young; — let the principles of Christian action con- 
 tinue to be developed and adopted ; — let the Christian 
 world obey the impulse they have received : — obsta- 
 cles may still obstruct, discouragements still call for 
 submission, patience and faith : yet, under the guid- 
 ance and blessing of that providence, whose work for 
 thirty )’^ears past excites our admiration ; under the 
 influence of that Spirit w'hich in the midst of opposi- 
 tion has wrought, and none could hinder ; is it too 
 much to hope for a visible and near approach of the 
 latter day glory before the youth are old ? 
 
 If there be any prospect of happiness which makes 
 me wash to live to old age, it is to bear a part in the 
 work of God, and to observe the progress of those 
 events by which He may be ushering in that blessed 
 day : and having seen, at least, its morning bright- 
 ening for a perfect day, to sink^into the grave, saying 
 like aged Simeon, Lord, nosu lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart in peace, for mine eyes ha’oe seen thy sal- 
 ’oationd'* 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 (A.) 
 
 The Uindoos believe in an eternal and omnipotent God. 
 
 The application of the Apostle’s words, equally, to the un- 
 learned and the learned, seemed to accord with their most ob- 
 vious meaning, and to correspond to those addresses to the 
 Heathen, recorded in the 14th and 17th chapters of the Acts, 
 in which he enforced the duties which men owe to the Supreme 
 God, not as though he were making a new discovery, but ap- 
 plying to the conscience neglected and abused knowledge. It 
 certainly corresponds with the case of the Hindoos as it ap- 
 peared to the Author in the course of a familiar acquaintance. 
 He is convinced it may be said, in the forcible language of the 
 Apostle, that by the Hindoos, the invisible things of God, even 
 his eternal power and God -bead, are clearly seen. 
 
 There is, undoubtedly, a difference between the statements 
 of philosophy, and the faith of the vulgar. The statements of 
 philosophy are more clear and dignified and contain sublime 
 descriptions of the Supreme Being ; though they evidently 
 conform to those popular notions by which philosophy in all 
 its movements has been entrammelled. The faith of the vul- 
 gar rests uj)on their imaginary gods. To them alone, they 
 look for protection and benefits ; and thus it is, that at first 
 view', their idolatry seems to conceal every testimony of a Su- 
 preme Being. 
 
 The truth is, that philosophy is better than philosophers, 
 who, I believe, are not unfrequently the grossest idolaters, 
 
38 
 
 notwitlistanding all the elevated views, which their reading ha», 
 afforded. The illiterate, on their part, sink in their practice 
 far below their knowledge. Concerning both it may be said, 
 knowing God, they worship him not as God. Not those who 
 have learned philosophy from books, but those who are willing 
 to practise the requisite austerities are the only professed wor- 
 shippers of the Supreme God. As to the rest, whether their 
 understandings are more or less cultivated ^ind enlarged, they 
 know him, but neglect him. 
 
 The similarity between the philosophic opinions respecting 
 God, and the testimony of the common people, will be seen by 
 the following extracts and statements, which will at the same 
 time confirm the assertion of the Author. 
 
 “ In the Vedanti Philosophy (says Lord Teignmouth, in his 
 life of Sir William Jones) which is evidently Platonic, the At- 
 inighty, known by the mystical and incommunicable appella- 
 tion of O’M is the only being; and all others, including 
 Bramha, Vishnu, and Mahesa, are only the creatures of idea 
 or perception ; which will perish in the general annihilation, 
 whilst O’M alone survives through all eternitv.” 
 
 O •' 
 
 This assertion is confirmed and the Pliilosophic doctrine 
 concerning the Supreme, and the gods, is more fully explained 
 in the following extracts from the Voog Vashiesti, a very an- 
 cient composition in Sanscrit cited by his Lordship. 
 
 “The instability of the world and of every thing contained in it is 
 certain ; hence it will one day happen, that the evil deities, w'ho are 
 now so powerful, shall fall into annihilation, and the Debtas distin- 
 guished by the title of Amrit, or immortal, shall perish. The 
 Berrahand,* on wdiich all nature depends for existence, shall be 
 broken, and not a trace remain of Bramha, Vishnu, or Siva. Time, 
 having annihilated all, shall himself perish. 
 
 Bramha, Vishnu, and Mahdeva, notwithstanding their eraZled dig- 
 nity, fall into the jaws of inexistence.” 
 
 “ You are not to consider Vishnu, Bramha, or Mahdeva, and oth- 
 er incorporate beings, as the deity, although they have each the de- 
 nomination of deva or divine : these are all created ; whilst the Su- 
 preme Being is -without beginning or end, unformed and uncreat- 
 ed worship and adore him.” 
 
 ^ The egg of the world. 
 
50 
 
 “ The ivorship which is paid to the inferior deities and the repre- 
 sentations of them, proceeds from this : mankind in general are 
 more affected by appearances than realities ; the former they com- 
 prehend, but the latter are difficult to be understood. Hence learn- 
 ed tutors first place figures before them, tliat their minds may be 
 composed, and conducted by degrees to the essential Unity who 
 survives the annihilation, when the Debtas and all created existen- 
 ces are dissolved and absorbed into his essence.” 
 
 The ideas contained in these extracts, seem to be the basis 
 of those notions concerning the Supreme Being, and the gods, 
 which are stated in the sermon, and which seem to be equally 
 entertained, by the most learned Brahmins, and by the most 
 illiterate of the other classes. 
 
 The philosophic view of the origin of creation, and of its 
 dependance upon the Supreme Being, is given in the follow- 
 ing beautiful hymn of Sir William Jones. It is addressed to 
 Narayena, or Vishnoo lying at the bottom of the waters ; and 
 except that in some parts, it seems too pure and elevated for 
 the composition of one destitute of revelation, it may be con- 
 sidered as the song of the most enlightened Hindoo Philoso- 
 pher. The reader may observe in it the foundation of the pop- 
 ular fables, to which he is referred in the sermon, and more 
 particularly in a part of this Appendix, and on which, the 
 mindsol the people ordinarily" rest. 
 
 HYAm TO JVABAYEN^. 
 
 Spirit of spirits, who, through every part 
 Of space expanded and of endless time. 
 
 Beyond the stretch of lab’ring thought sublime, 
 
 Badst uproar into beauteous order start, 
 
 Before Heaven was, thou art : 
 
 Ere spheres beneath us roll’d or spheres above, 
 
 Ere earth in firmamental ether hung, 
 
 Thou sat’st alone ; till, through thy mystic love, 
 
 Things unexisting to existence sprung. 
 
 And grateful descant sung. 
 
 What first impell’d thee to exert thy might ? 
 
 Goodness unlimited. What glorious light 
 Thy power directed ? Wisdom without bound. 
 
 What prov’d it first ? Oh ! guide my fancy right ; 
 
40 
 
 Oh ! rise from cumbrous ground 
 My soul in rapture drown’d, 
 
 That fearless it may soar on wings of fire ; 
 
 For Thou, who only know’st, Thou only can’st inspire; 
 
 Wrapt in eternal solitary shade, 
 
 Th’ impenetrable gloom of light intense, 
 Impervious, inaccessible, immense. 
 
 Ere spirits were infus’d or forms display’d, 
 
 Brehji his own mind survey’d. 
 
 As mortal eyes (thus finite we compare 
 With infinite) in smoothest mirrors gaze : 
 
 Swift, at his look, a shape supremely fair 
 Leap’d into being with a boundless blaze, 
 
 That fifty suns might daze. 
 
 Primeval Mata was the Goddess nam’d, 
 
 "Who to her sire, witli love divine inflam’d, 
 
 A casket gave with rich ideas fill’d 
 From wliich this gorgeous Universe he fram’d j 
 For, when th’ Almighty will’d 
 Unnumber’d worlds to build. 
 
 From Unity diversified he .sprang, 
 
 Wiiile gay Creation laugh’d and procreant Nature rang- 
 
 First an all-potent all-pervading sound 
 Bade flow the waters— and the waters flow’d. 
 Exulting in their measureless abode. 
 
 Diffusive, midtitudinous, profound, 
 
 Above, beneath, around ; 
 
 Then o’er the vast expanse primordial wind 
 Breath’d gently till a lucid bubble rose, 
 
 Which grew in perfect shape an Egg refin’d : 
 Created substance no such lustre shoivs, 
 
 Earth no such beauty knows. 
 
 Above the warring waves it danc’d elate. 
 
 Till from its bursting shell with lovely state 
 A fomi cerulean flutter’d o’er the deep 
 Brightest of beings, greatest of the great j 
 Wlio not as mortals steep 
 Their e5'cs in dewy sleep, 
 
 But heavenly-pensive on the Lotos* lay, 
 
 That blossomed at his touch and shed a golden rav 
 
 Hail, primal blossom ! hail empyreal gem ! 
 
 Kemel,* or Pedma,* or whate’er high name 
 
 * Different names for the Water-lily- 
 
41 
 
 Delight thee, say, what four form’d Godhead eaaie, 
 
 Witli graceful stole and beamy diadem, 
 
 Forth from th)' verdant stem ? 
 
 Full gifted Bremha ! Wrapt in solemn thought 
 He stood, and round his eyes fire-darting threw. 
 
 But, whilst his viewless origin he sought, 
 
 One plain he saw of living waters blue, 
 
 Their spring nor saw nor knew. 
 
 Then, in his parent stalk again retir’d, 
 
 With restless pain for ages he inquir’d 
 
 What were his powers, by whom, and why conferr’d : 
 
 With doubts perplex’d, with keen impatience fir’d. 
 
 He rose and rising heard 
 
 Th’ unknown all-knowing Word, 
 
 Bremha ! no more in vain research persist : 
 
 My veil thou canst not move — Go ; bid all worlds exist. 
 
 Hail, self-existent, in celestial speech 
 Narayex, from tliy watry cradle nam’d: 
 
 Or Vexamaly may I sing unblam’d, 
 
 With flow’ry braids, that to thy sandals reach, 
 
 Whose beauties who can teach ? 
 
 Or high Peitamber clad in yellow robes 
 Than sunbeams brighter in meridian glow. 
 
 That weave their heaven-spim light o’er circling globes ? 
 Unwearied, lotos-eyed, with dreadful bow. 
 
 Dire Evil’s constant foe ! 
 
 Great Pedmaxabha,* o’er thy cherish’d world 
 The pointed Checra,\ by thy fingers whirl’d. 
 
 Fierce Kytaeh shall destroy and MEDHct grin, 
 
 To black despair and deep destruction hurl’d. 
 
 Such views my senses dim. 
 
 My eyes in darkness swim : 
 
 What eye can bear thy blaze, what utt’rance tell 
 Thy deeds wth silver trump or many wreathed shell ? 
 
 Omniscient spirit, whose all-ruling pow’r 
 Bids from each sense bright emanations beam ; 
 
 Glows in tile rain-bow, sparkles in the stream, 
 
 *Venamaty, veith necklaces of flowers, Peitamber, ‘ dad in yeUots 
 robes, ^ and Pedmanabha, the icaier-lUy springing from his navel, are 
 all names of Vishnoo. 
 t A circular weapon peculiar to Vishnoo. 
 j Evil spirits feigned to have sprung from the ears of Vishnoo. 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 Smiles in the bud, and glistens in the flow’f 
 That crowns each vernal bow’r, 
 
 Sighs in the gale, and-warblen in the throat 
 Of ev’ry bird that hails the bloomy spring. 
 
 Or tells his love in many a liquid note, 
 
 'Wliilst envious artists touch the rival string. 
 
 Till rocks and forests ring ; 
 
 Breathes in rich fragrance from the sandal grove, 
 
 Or where the precious muskdeer playful rove : 
 
 In dulcet juice from clusl’ring fruit distils. 
 
 And burns salubrious in the tasteful clove : 
 
 Soft banks and verd’rous hills 
 Thy present influence fills ; 
 
 In air, in floods, in caverns, woods, and plains, 
 
 Thy will inspirits all, thy sovereign Mata reigns. 
 
 Blue crystal vault, and elementalfires. 
 
 That in th’ ethereal fluid blaze and breathe ; 
 
 Thou, tossing main, whose snaky branches wreathe 
 This pensil orb with intertwisting gyres ; 
 
 Mountains, whose radiant spires 
 Presumptuous rear their summits to the skies. 
 
 And blend their emerald hue with sapphire light ; 
 
 Smooth meads and lawns, that glow with varying dyes 
 Of dew-bespangled leaves and blossoms bright, 
 
 Hence ! vanish from my sight : 
 
 Delusive pictures ! unsubstantial shows 
 My soul absorbed One only Being knows, 
 
 Of all perceptions One abundant source, 
 
 Whence ev’ry object ev’ry moment flows: 
 
 Suns hence derive their force. 
 
 Hence planets learn their course ; 
 
 But suns and fading worlds I view no more : 
 
 OOD only I perdeive ; GOD only I adore.” 
 
 In the preceding extracts, it will he seen that the philosophic 
 testimony to the existence of the Great Supreme, is sufficiently 
 explicit. That the testiniony of the people, which is given in 
 the sermon, may be confirmed, I subjoin a specimen of my 
 own conversations with people of different classes. 
 
 The first conversation which I shall notice, was with some 
 palankeen bearers, a class of people who are in general unable 
 to read. I was conversing with them on the unity of God. 
 One of them observed, “ God is one j but there are a thousand 
 
43 
 
 incarnations, and thus it is, that while there is only one God, 
 there are three hundred and thirty millions of "ods.” I un- 
 derstood him to refer to a common notion, that in each incar- 
 nation, there was a general incarnation of the subordinate de- 
 ities. For instance in the case of Krishna, all the men, women, 
 and children of his village, and all the cattle, were incarnations 
 of heavenly beings. 
 
 A man who w'as making earthen images for sale, previous 
 to the annual drowning of the gods, was sitting at his work, 
 when I w'alked up and entered into conversation with him. 
 He told me he w'as a mason, and engaged in his present em- 
 ployment, only two months in a year, during which he earned 
 two or three hundred rupees.* He was surrounded by im- 
 ages of his own workmanship, from six inches, to more than a 
 foot in height, and from six, to twenty rupees in price. I 
 spoke to him fully, on the folly and wickedness of image wor- 
 ship. He received my instruction with the common reply j 
 “ This is our appointed way.” There was an image of Gun- 
 puttee before us. — I asked him if God inhabited Gunputtee. 
 He pointed to the earth and replied, “ Godf is there — God is 
 every where, but has appointed this way for our people.” I 
 asked what advantage I might expect, if I should become a 
 worshipper of Gunputtee ? and what I had to fear while dis- 
 suading others from his worship } He replied, with a smile, 
 referring to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls ; “You 
 probably were a worshipper of Gunputtee in your former life, 
 and on that account, are so well provided for in your present 
 existence.” 
 
 I had frequent opportunities of conversing with a company 
 of tailors, who sat daily at their work in my own neighbor- 
 hood, and of exhorting them to leave the worship of their idol 
 gods, to repent of their forsaking the Great Supreme, and to 
 worship and serve Him “ in spirit and in truth.” I still seem 
 to hear their reply — “ This is our way ; why should we alter 
 
 * A rupee is nearly half a dollar. 
 
 t It deserves to be remarked that when the Hindoos speak in this 
 way of God, they. do not use the same word which they apply to 
 their idols. The idol is deva , — God emphatically speaking is Perum 
 Eeshwor, the Great or Supreme God. 
 
44 
 
 the customs of our Fathers ? Our religion is one road to 
 Heaven, and yours another. Our gods are the servants, and 
 the door-keepers, as it were, of the Great Supreme ; and we 
 worship them as we apply to the friends and oflFicers about the 
 Magistrate, when we have business to transact with him.” — 
 The Magistrate is neither every where, nor knows every thing, 
 and you must make your business known to him in the best 
 way you can, but God needs no assistance in discovering 
 your wants, and is always at hand to hear your petitions or 
 your praises. “ True, but this is suitable in Kale-yug—V/e 
 live in an evil age, and are under the dominion of the senses. 
 How can we worship a pure spirit.^’ 
 
 Very similar was the language of an ascetick, before whom 
 I charged the people, who were standing by, with leaving the 
 Great Supreme to follow idols. “ True, said he, but it is own- 
 ing to the age — Kale-yug. The idols are not God, but God’s 
 attendants or door-keepers.” 
 
 As I was once visiting the temples, some person invited me 
 to go with him to see a silent g’ossaweg, or ascetick, who had 
 just arrived. I found him sitting upon a mat in a little pen, 
 like what I had been used to see for calves and sheep. He 
 had two attendants, a man and a boy. His neck was hung 
 heavy with rosaries, and his body was nearly naked. Con- 
 versation with him was out of the question, for his vow was 
 silence, partly, probably, as an austerity, and partly, that he 
 might be without interruption, wrapt in divine contemplation. 
 If I remember right, I w'as told that he had not spoken for 
 twelve years. Upon a board sprinkled with sand, he wrote a 
 sentence in the Mahratta language to the following purport ; 
 « God is one ; but the idolatrous religions, are for the unen- 
 lightened multitude.”* 
 
 While God is one, it is believed that there are various di- 
 vine manifestations ; and I have often heard the following 
 
 * Not because the unenlightened multitude are more ignorant of 
 the existence of a Supreme God, than those who profess to aim at 
 his worship. For, besides other evidences that they are not igno- 
 rant in this respect, is the reverence they pay to those very devo- 
 tees, whose separation from the world fits them for His w orship, 
 whose existence uH acknowledge, but for whose worship all are not 
 qualified. 
 
45 
 
 simile used, to illustrate that idea. “ When the sun shines 
 into a thousand vessels of water, there is the appearance of a 
 sun in each. The sun is one ; its manifestations maj be in- 
 numerable.” 
 
 The following extract from the speecli of Maj. Gen. Prole, 
 in the service of the Hon. E. India Company, delivered at the 
 Guild-Hall, Bristol, Eng. on Thursday, March 29th, 1816, 
 will serve to confirm the assertion of the Author. 
 
 “ After a military service of forty years, including an actual resi- 
 dence of thirty -six years in India, I can truly say that the people of 
 the East, are in a deplorable state of darkness with respect to reli- 
 gion. They do indeed profess to believe in a Supreme God ; but 
 their popular deities resemble those of Greece and Rome, as Cow- 
 per saj's, ‘ Gods such as guilt makes welcome.’ I have seen their 
 temples ornamented (if I may so speak) with all tlie orders of infer- 
 nal architecture, displaying all the sins of the cities of the plcdn, in 
 human figures, and exhibiting evil spirits under the significant em- 
 blems of serpents, toads, aligators, and other destructive or abomina- 
 ble reptiles ! Such are the gods of these deluded people, and they 
 are precisely such as St. Paul describes them in the first chapter to 
 the Romans, viz. “ Vile affections, four-footed beasts and creeping 
 things.” 
 
 Such is the evidence, that the Hindoos believe in an Eternal 
 and Omnipotent God, while, it is acknowledged, that they 
 practise the grossest idolatry. These two facts, seem to be 
 inconsistent with each other, and they would be so, if man 
 were a consistent being. But it is a lamentable truth that he 
 is not so. Hence the possibility of acknowledging the exist- 
 ence of one Great Supreme, and at the same time “ changing 
 his glory into an image made like to corruptible man, and 
 birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things.” The cor- 
 ruption of the heart, prepares the mind for delusion, sin, and 
 folly, and the light of nature, bedimmed, but not extinguished, 
 shines upon it to discover its malignity. 
 
 Over greater light, — the light of revelation, and the visible 
 footsteps of Deity, the same corruption prevailed among the 
 Jews, when “ they changed their glory into the similitude of 
 an ox that eateth grass,” and in every instance, in which their 
 hopes or fears, led them to adopt and practise the base super- 
 stitions of the Gentiles. 
 
46 
 
 And has it not prevailed over the still greater light, which 
 shines from the gospel of Cijrist. exhibiting more clearlj Him, 
 whom the light of nature and the ancient dispensation had re- 
 vealed to mankind ? Not long since, the great body of the 
 Christian church (for it then preserved that name) was devot- 
 ed to image worship, and was at no very great remove from 
 the spirit of idolaters. 
 
 (B.) 
 
 T/te.iwo classes of worshippers. 
 
 .JSTeergiine bhukte, and suggune bhukte, are the phrases, by 
 which in the Mahratta language, these classes are distinguish- 
 ed ; and they are in common use. The meaning of bhukte rs 
 worshipper ; of neergune, without qualities, and of suggune, 
 with qualities. A neergune worshipper, worships God as an 
 invisible spirit, “ unformed and uncreated,” without any in- 
 termediate agency. A suggune worshipper, worships gods 
 formed and created, and by the means of images visible to the 
 eye. Those who completely attain the spiritual worship, like 
 God himself, are said to possess perfect equality of mind, arc 
 indifferent to good or evil events, and take no interest in sen- 
 sible things. Thus, they are purer than the gods, w’ho like 
 men are capable of pleasure and pain, are interested by sur- 
 rounding objects, are selfish and sensual. Such are said to 
 have been the ancient Rishis. Such, I have been told, I know 
 not on what authority, are the holy men who inhabit the forests, 
 — Degambers, i. e. those who are clad only with the atmosphere. 
 It is not thought, I believe, that any of the devotees, who are 
 about the temples and who necessarily mingle, in some degree, 
 with the world, have attained to that similarity with God, 
 which has been above described. They profess to aim at its 
 attainment, and if being clad only with the atmosphere, may 
 
47 
 
 be admitted as proof of their success, many have attained itj 
 while a scrap of cloth is the only remaining badge of impurity 
 in the rest. 
 
 Some of the means of attaining the spiritual state, are, an 
 entire separation from business, and living by beggary, allow- 
 ing the hair and nails to grow untrimmed, reading the vedas 
 or holy books, and practising yw;? and tup, which, if I under- 
 stand the words from the frequent explanation, and specimen 
 of the exercise given by a Brahmin, imply, whilst constantly 
 practising austerity and devotion, an endeavor, by inhaling the 
 breath, to firaw the soul to the top of the head, which is the 
 heaven of the human body, that by that means, it may co.mc 
 into more immediate contact with the divine nature. The ob- 
 ject which is expected to be attained, at last, by the various 
 means that are used, is termed Moc\tee^ by which is meant 
 eternal salvation — i. e. “ a release from future transmigration, 
 and an absorption into the nature of the Godhead.” 
 
 The spiritual worship, is acknowledged by all, to be the 
 true and proper worship of God ; while the condition of men, 
 as inhabiting bodies, and actuated by senses, renders them in- 
 capable of it. This is the Hindoo’s apology for idolatry, and 
 one, to which he likewise betakes himself when accused of im- 
 morality. A shrug of the shoulders, and the single word 
 sungser, form a very common answer to reproof in either case. 
 This word it is difBcult to translate. It signifies the present 
 condition of men — the corrupt, and corrupting element, in 
 which the soul of man is drowned. Sunken in that element, 
 he is excusable, though he perform not the actions suitable to 
 another element. Nothing that corresponds to sense, or that 
 gratifies passion, is to be condemned, while man is actuated 
 by his passions and senses. The blame falls, not upon the 
 person who may be idolatrous and immoral, but, upon the con- 
 dition in which he is placed, — the nature of the dispensation 
 under which he lives, — the very passions and lusts w'hich ac- 
 tuate him, and the temptations by which he is surrounded. 
 The reader will not fail to be reminded, by this statement, of 
 tlie vain excuses by which men that enjoy the light of the gos- 
 pel, too commonly justify themselves. It is natural to men to 
 claim innocence, even in the act of doing wrong. Confession 
 
43 
 
 of the fact, is not found by observation in any country, neces- 
 sarily, to imply a sense of ill -desert. 
 
 It is not to be understood, that those who worship the gods, 
 by means of images, pay, at the same time, an indirect worship 
 to the Great Supreme. The reader will probably have observ- 
 ed, in the specimens which have been given of the conversation 
 of the Hindoos, that idol worship is a mode of worshipping the 
 gods ; and that the worship of the gods, is not a mode of wor- 
 shipping the Supreme but a substitute for it, designed and suit- 
 ed to accommodate beings actuated by sense and passion, and 
 living in an age of corruption and baseness. The worship of 
 the gods, leads therefore, to a direct and entire neglect of 
 Him : and in it, there is no reference to him, except it be, that 
 the practice of it, has a tendency to prepare the soul by de- 
 grees, and as rapidly as the corruption of man, and the bustle 
 of the world will admit, for a higher worship, and after various 
 transmigrations, for the attainment of mooktee, or absorption. 
 
 (C.) 
 
 The assemblies of the Hindoos to hear the legends of the gods* 
 
 The assemblies of the Hindoos, to hear the legends of the 
 gods, are very frequent, and of various kinds. To all classes 
 they furnish a favorite amusement, in which they frequently 
 forget at night, the business and cares of the day. The expo- 
 sition which is given is needful to the most; since those who 
 are able to read, and much more those who are not so, (who 
 form the greater part) are unable to understand the Sanscrit 
 words, with which the most common books are 611ed. They 
 listen with eager attention, and become by frequent opportu- 
 nities, familiarly acquainted with the actions of their gods, and 
 with the ideas which are inculcated in their hooks. 
 
 Small assemblies of ten, twenty, or thirty, are very com- 
 
49 
 
 tnon. In these, the expounder sits upon the floor, with the 
 leaves of his book lying on a little stool before him. Tuning 
 his voice to liis vina or harp (the tones of which resemble those 
 of the JEolian harp) he chants and expounds, verse by verse, 
 the poem before him. As tlie hearers enter, they bow their 
 iiands and heads to the feet of the speaker, and then, to the 
 rest of the company. Sometimes they hang a string of flow- 
 ers upon the speaker’s neck. They tlien sit down and receive 
 from the master of the ceremonies, a mark of sandal wood or 
 other dust upon their foreheads. 
 
 The beginning of every chapter in the history of the gods, is 
 an invocation of Gunputtee, and a hymn of praise to him and 
 other Gods. It consists of a repetition of titles,* each of 
 which refers to some new claim to honor, and of a prayer for 
 happiness. In this, and in a shorter but similar hymn which 
 closes the chapter, tlie whole company unite with loud voices, 
 while as they repeat the divine names, they bring their hands 
 to their foreheads, and in that attitude of salutation and hom- 
 age, bow their faces to the earth. Seeta-Rani, Seeta-Ram, fre- 
 quently repeated, meaning Ramchundre and Seeta his wife, 
 give us happiness^ or char-bhuja, Sree-Krishna, meaning /our- 
 handed Krishna and Sree his wife, are specimens of the praises 
 on these occasions. With such praises, they close the exer- 
 cise in one united act of obeisance. 
 
 Tlie artee or censer, which contains camphor, or some other 
 aromatic gum, and sometimes a few kernels of rice, is then 
 lighted up, and waved, first before the face of the speaker, and 
 then before the faces of each person in the company. In their 
 turns they place their hands over the fume, and then, bowing 
 as if still in the act of devotion, apply them to their faces. A 
 little sugar, distributed between the thumb and finger, is the 
 usual entertainment with which these meetings are concluded. 
 
 There are larger assemblies for a similar purpose, meeting 
 in large private rooms, in the vestibules of the temples, and 
 under temporary canopies, spread from side to side, in the 
 open streets. The place of meeting is generally splendidly il* 
 
 * Sec praises of Vishnoo, note G. 
 
 ' 7 
 
50 
 
 luminated, and sometimes with vari-colored lamps. The Ora- 
 tor addresses his audience, memoriter, in some cases, in an 
 uninterrupted story ; in others he sings a verse or two, only, 
 accompanied by the voices and instruments of an attendant 
 choir. These he afterwards explains in a familiar manner, 
 and then waves his hand to his companions, who strike up a 
 noisy chorus, and then repeat another verse. Sometimes, the 
 object of the speaker seems to be to interest by narrative, and 
 sometimes, by mimicry and bulFoonry, to excite the merriment 
 of his audience. 
 
 At the commencement of these exercises, as well as in the 
 smaller assemblies, the whole number unite with the speaker, 
 in frequently repeating the names of some of the gods. Even 
 in the midst of the address, at a signal given by him, loud and 
 general acclamations are made in their honor, and the heads of 
 the whole assembly bow towards the earth, like corn bending 
 with the wind. 
 
 During the whole course of the exercise, the speaker is re- 
 ceiving the obeisance of those who enter. Generally, before 
 the close, he becomes literally loaded with the strings of flow- 
 ers, which his hearers hang upon his neck, and with the fra- 
 grance of which, the air is filled. When the censer is waved 
 before him at the close, those who are so disposed, drop money 
 into it, as a recompense for the amusement and advantage he 
 has afforded them. 
 
 To read, or hear, the legends of the Gods, (as it is general- 
 ly stated at the close of each chapter,) is an act of great holi- 
 ness and merit; not exceeded by pilgrimages to the most sac- 
 red places, and washing in the holiest w-aters. Attendance, 
 therefore, upon such meetings as have been described, is an 
 act in which piety concurs with pleasure, and is a cheap and 
 easy method of becoming quite clean from every defilement. 
 A striking instance, of resort to this mode of purification, is 
 exhibited annually, at the close of the huli holidays, about the 
 beginning of April, when the pollutions incurred, by a fort- 
 night of ribaldry and indecency, are cleansed in a single eve- 
 ning. Then the natives, conscious of defilement, even in acts 
 sanctioned and required by their religion, assemble from every 
 
51 
 
 part, to hear the actions of the gods ; as they might themselves 
 express it, like the crowd of pilgrims at the sacred prayog— 
 that place of unparalleled sanctity and efficacy, in the neigh- 
 borhood of Benares, sacred to Maha-deva, where the Jumna, 
 the Sereswati, and the Ganges m^et together. 
 
 (D.) 
 
 The earthen age. 
 
 The Hindoos reckon four yugs or ages, each of which is of 
 immense duration. The first, is Kreta or satya yug which 
 was the first age of the world ; the golden age, — the age of 
 purity. After this, there is a gradual decrease in the length 
 of human life, (which in this age was supposed to be an hun- 
 dred thousand years,) and a gradual deterioration in the mor- 
 al state of men. The second, is Treta Yug, the silver age, 
 having three parts good. The third, is Dwapar Tug, the cop- 
 per age, in which half the human race became depraved, and 
 the fourth, is Kale Tug, the eartlien age, the age of “ conten- 
 tion and baseness,” of which 4918 years are now elapsed. 
 
 The four Yugs, my Brahmin told me, are figured in the 
 four watches of the day : night is the dissolution of all things, 
 which is called, maha pralaya, the great dissolution, which is 
 applied to sleep, to death, and to the dissolution of all thing? 
 i^t the end of Kale Tug. 
 
 (E.) 
 
 The annual drowning of the gods. 
 
 The Author is not certain, that the people, generally, un- 
 derstand this ceremony, to refer to the final destruction of the 
 gods. He has heard it so interpreted among the most illiter- 
 
ate ; and it seems to be an expressive type of an event, which 
 all classes expect. 
 
 The day of drowning the gods, is one of the greatest holidays 
 among the Hindoos. It takes place, generally, about the mid- 
 dle of September, or, if I am not mistaken, the fourth day of 
 the new moon in that month. 
 
 This anniversary is a season of universal motion among the 
 natives. Every where, tlieir din is heard, and every where, 
 they appear advancing to the place of ceremony. Great num- 
 bers carry their gods down the sloping shore of the sea ; but 
 the principal place of resort, in Bombay, is what is called 
 Bombay davee's tank, a large reservoir of sacred water, in the 
 centre of the native town. It is walled with hewn stone on 
 its foar sides. On the southern and western sides, are flights 
 of steps, down which the natives are constantly going to bathe 
 their bodies or procure water. In the centre of the tank is a 
 high pillar, which is a religious emblem of Mahadeva. On the 
 top of It a red flag is constantly waving, and the sides of it are 
 filled with niches for lamps, on the great holidays. Two other 
 pillars of the same description, stand on each side of the prin- 
 cipal flight of steps. A flagged foot-walk, enclosed by a plais- 
 tered seat, surrounds the tank. Here, of an evening, may be 
 seen great numbers of the natives, some walking and sitting, 
 whilst the temples belonging to the place, are thronged with 
 worshippers, and resound with the din of worship. The tem- 
 ples are sacred to different deities ; one of them to Parvati, the 
 wife of Mahadeva. She is the goddess of Bombay and gives 
 name to this sacred place. 
 
 It is common, on the day of the ceremony to which this note 
 refers, to see this enclosure which contains, perhaps, two acres 
 of ground, crowded w’ith people — with a multitude, who having 
 finished their own service, are spectators, of those who are 
 continually arriving to accomplish theirs. 
 
 There are great varieties in the size, quality, and decora- 
 tions of the several shrines ; which vary accoi-ding to the cir- 
 cumstances of those who bring them. The poorer sort arc 
 content with spending a very few rupees ; while the richest 
 may e.Spcnd some hundreds. All, hon-ever, have something 
 
53 
 
 of a splciiiliil appearance, being ornamented with gold and sil- 
 ver paper. 
 
 The shrines which belong to the poorer natives are brought 
 upon the head, by a single man. Those which belong to the 
 richer are brought by four men in palankeens or on litters. 
 Upon the litters are frequently borne two servants, one on 
 each side of the god, holding brushes in their hands, which 
 they constantly use in keeping off the insects. There are, 
 generally, attendant, a band of music, and a flag. 
 
 As soon as they are brought to the margin of the water, the 
 shrines are placed upon the ground, when a Brahmin by a 
 repetition of verses, sprinkling with flowers, and corporeal 
 salutations, performs the last act of worship. The god is then 
 removed from the shrine in which he was brought, and the or- 
 naments, with which hc^ had been adorned, and is carried out 
 into the centre of the tank, sometimes in a boat, and some- 
 times by an expert swimmer, w'here he is plunged in the wa- 
 ter. The swimmers, of which there are generally several, are 
 extremely active and efficient in this singular business of god- 
 destroying. 
 
 While I have been seeing this ceremony performed, I re- 
 member to have had my attention excited, by the noise of 
 processions, passing the temples with elevated flags, instead 
 of entering the enclosure to perform the ceremony I was wit- 
 nessing. ben I asked the cause, I was told they were the 
 flags of various deities, going on visits of ceremony among 
 themselves, each to the temple of another. 
 
 In 1812, 1 witnessed the same ceremony in Calcutta. Tlie 
 day of drowning the gods, was there, too, a day of great noise 
 and confusion. I was then living in the suburbs of Calcutta, 
 where I had an opportunity of seeing less, than I should have 
 seen in a more central situation. But still I was astonished 
 by the number of enshrined gods, that passed my post of ob- 
 servation (for I observed them with eager curiosity) in the 
 course of a few hours. About sunset, Mr. Hall and myself 
 followed those that were then passing to the river — a branch 
 of the holy Ganges, from whence we saw boat after boat bear- 
 ing the gods into the middle of the river. 
 
54 
 
 (F-) 
 
 The moral character of the Supreme Being. 
 
 The Hindoos seem to have been taught, either by the light 
 of nature, or by tradition, or more probably by both, that the 
 Supreme God must be perfect and holy : — that to be like men 
 and gods, selbsh and depraved ; incessantly actuated by cor- 
 rupt desires to guilty conduct, must be inconsistent with the 
 essential attributes of the uncreated and independent Deity. 
 It probably has been a conviction of this truth, which has led 
 them to conceive of Him as having no direct concern in the 
 affairs of the universe, — as “ without passions, without sensa- 
 tion, without desires, without happiness,'” — as “ enchained by 
 Maya,” and even asleep, till matter be destroyed. As they 
 themselves, are actuated by sinful and selfish feelings, towards 
 the objects in which they feel an interest, they seem inclined 
 to believe that those feelings are the necessary consequences 
 of the condition of temptation in which they are placed, and 
 that similar consequences would follow, if, even the Supreme 
 himself, could be supposed to take an interest in the affairs of 
 the universe. Undisturbed equanimity, seems to be the near- 
 est resemblance to essential holiness, which their gross minds 
 are able to conceive ; and in this, they seem to imagine the 
 moral perfection of the Supreme Being to consist. 
 
 Those fictitious characters, who, by a spiritual service have 
 become a part of God, have the same kind of moral perfection, 
 which is ascribed to Him. They possess that disinterested- 
 ness, which seems allied to stupidity, by which, they are free 
 from pleasure and pain, love and hatred, joy and sorrow. 
 Thus they arc unlike the gods ; unlike even the primeval dei- 
 ties, Bramha, Vishnoo, and Seeva, who, being concerned in the 
 management of the world, notwithstanding their exalted dig- 
 nity, are, necessarily, (as it would seem the Hindoo supposes,) 
 subject to the passions and feelings, which belong to all active 
 existences. 
 
 Whether the explanation which has been given, of the 
 views which the Hindoos entertain of the moral character of 
 God, and of his imagined seclusion, be correct or not, it is evi- 
 
55 
 
 dent that those views prepare them to admit all the foolish 
 fables of their mythology. 
 
 (G.) 
 
 The gods of the Hindoos. 
 
 Primeval deities. 
 
 The primeval deities, are Bramha, the creator, Vishnoo, the 
 preserver, and Seeva, the destroyer. They are known, like- 
 wise, by a great variety of names, each of which is honorary, 
 and which have been easily multiplied to an immense extent, 
 in languages easily compounded. 
 
 Bramha, the reader has been already informed, sprung from 
 the flower of the lotos or water-lily, which floated on the sur- 
 face of the sea, at the bottom of which, lay the recumbent Vish- 
 noo. He is represented in the Hymn of Sir William Jones, 
 which has been presented to the reader, as anxiously seeking 
 to know his origin, his powers, and the object of his existence. 
 There is a popular story, which (I write from recollection) 
 represents him, as assisted in his researches by a cow. 
 Whence that cow originated, before the creator had begun his 
 work, I do not remember that the legend declares. The Hin- 
 doos are at no pains to preserve consistency in the different 
 parts of their mythology. By the assistance of the cow, who 
 traversed the stem of the lotos, the recumbent Vishnoo, was 
 discovered. 
 
 When Bramha discovered his origin, his expressions of grat- 
 itude were so remarkable, as to procure him the honor of cre- 
 ating the world. By this new favor, his gratitude was turned 
 to pride, and being puffed up with the honor of his office, he 
 began to defame the deity by whom it was conferred. This 
 change in his behaviour, roused the wrath of the insulted god, 
 
who luimediately produced an agent of vengeance, named 
 Buru-Uy who cut off one of Brainha’s five heads. Thus as* 
 saulted, he felt disposed to return to his allegiance, and to re- 
 cover the favor of his offended superior. He therefore cele- 
 brated his praises in a song, and came again into favor. Still, 
 however, he retains so much of his pride, that he will be made 
 of less dignity and importance, than the monkey Hanumunt ; 
 and i«t not to be honored by either temple or worshipper. 
 The fact is, that he has neither temple nor worshipper among 
 the Hindoos. 
 
 In the creation of men by Bramha, tlie Hindoos discover the 
 origin of tiieir four great casts, or classes of people. They 
 proceeded from the creator in the following order, which indi- 
 cates both their dignity, and the nature of their office. 
 
 The Brahmin cast, proceeded from his mouth ; and are to 
 pray, to read, and to instruct. 
 
 The Cshatriya, from his arms ; and are to draw the bow, 
 to fight, and to govern. 
 
 The Bice, from the belly or thighs ; and are to provide the 
 necessaries of life by agriculture and traffic. 
 
 The Sooder, from the feet ; and they are to labor and to 
 serve.* 
 
 * These are the only original casts. The three lowest arc no^v, 
 it is said, much mingled together, and the lines between them are 
 not very distinctly marked. There are now, however, a great 
 number ef casts •who hold society within themselves, and who nei- 
 ther intermarry, nor eat, with those out of their own cast. These 
 casts owe their origin, it is supposed, to the state of confusion and 
 disturbance, in which India has been for centuries, and which ren- 
 dered clansiiips, necessary for protection and security. In the po- 
 lice at Bombay, there are registered, if my recollection is correct, 
 270 casts. 
 
 The race of people called Pariars, or outcasts, have an appear- 
 ance of w retchedness, which is beyond all description. Regarded 
 by all the other classes, as degraded, they are shunned with ffie 
 greatest care. They are considered as polluting every thing they 
 touch, defiling the water of the wells where they draw, and even, as 
 throwing pollution by their shadow'. I have been told. Unit in Poo- 
 uah, a Pariar exposes himself to legal punishment, if he allows his 
 shadotn to fall upon a Brahmin. The consequence of the contempt 
 with which they’ are treated, is, that they imbibe a low opinion of 
 themselves, think themselves unfit for society, and become really as 
 low sud degraded as they are supposed to be. 
 
57 
 
 The wife of Bratnlia is Sereswati, the goddess of music and' 
 eloquence. She has attendant gods and goddesses, rags and! 
 ragnees, which seem to be no more than personifications of the 
 diflerent tones in music. ' 
 
 Vishnoo, who has been already described as four-handed, 
 and lying on a many-headed serpent at the bottom of the sea, 
 is represented, likewise, as of a dark sky blue colour, and in 
 his incarnations, (of which an account will presently be given 
 to the reader,) clotlied from the waist in bright yellow skirts. 
 These are eminent qualities, and are greatly celebrated in 
 hymns to his praise. Garuda, a bird, the porter of heaven, 
 is the conveyance on which he rides. 
 
 The following hymn of praise to Vishnoo, is not the best 
 specimen, among those I have seen, but is the only one, which 
 it is in my power to give the reader. It will serve tor some 
 further explanation of the character of Vishnoo, and to give 
 the reader an idea of the praises, which the Hindoos bestow 
 upon their gods. Some of its allusions, the reader will better 
 understand, after he has read the account of the several incar- 
 nations. It is extracted from the introduction to one of the 
 chapters of a popular legend, and is as follows : 
 
 “ Vishnoo of great wealth, the boar incarnation, giver of blessings, 
 husband of Laeshmi, friend of the water-lily, displaying the whole- 
 universe in his open mouth, to whose various appearances there is 
 no end, bound by his mother about his loins, Vishnoo, sleeping in 
 the waters, immortal, residing as the fountain of life in all bodies, 
 son of Wasudeva, remaining in tlie breast of Mahadeva.” 
 
 Vishnoo is sometimes spoken of by his votaries, (in like 
 manner as Seeva by his,) as the Supreme : 
 
 “Not, says Sir William Jones, that the Brahmins Imagine their 
 male deity to be the divine essence of the Great one, which they de- 
 clare to be wholly incomprehensible ; but, since the power of pre- 
 serving created things by a superintending providence, belongs em- 
 inently to the God-head, they hold that power to exist transcend- 
 antly in the preserving member of the Triad, whom they suppose to 
 be every where always, not in substance, but in spirit and energy,”* 
 
 * See Essay on the gods of Greece, Italy and India, 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 Lacshini, the wife of Vishnoo, rose from the foam of the 
 ocean, when it was churned by gods and demons, with a large 
 mountain, as will be presently described. She is Sree, the 
 goddess of fortune and prosperity. To secure her favor, the 
 Hindoo writes her name at the beginning of every instrument. 
 When my instructor gave me a copy of the alphabet, and like- 
 wise in copying the gospel of Luke, for my fellow Missionary, 
 Mr. Hall, the first word he wrote was Sree. 
 
 Seeva, the destroyer, has three eyes, but only one head and 
 two hands, and as an emblem of his character, is represented 
 with a serpent coiled around his neck. His conveyance is a 
 white bull. — His celestial residence is mount Cailasa, “ every 
 splinter of whose rocks is an inestimable gem.” His terres- 
 trial residence is the mountain Himalaya, whose tops are cov- 
 ered with perpetual snow. From his head flows the Ganges, 
 the cause and manner of which is thus described by Sir W'il- 
 liam Jones in his liymn to Ganga : 
 
 “ Above the stretch of mortal ken, 
 
 On bless’d CaUasa’s top, where every stem 
 Glow’d w ith a vegetable gem, 
 
 Mahesa stood, the dread and joy of men ; 
 
 While Parvati, to gain a boon. 
 
 Fix’d on his locks a beamy moon, 
 
 And hid his frontal eye, in jocund play, 
 
 With reluctant sweet delay. 
 
 All nature straight was lock’d in dim eclipse. 
 
 Till Brahmins pure, with hallow’d lips. 
 
 And warbled prayers, restor’d the day ; 
 
 When Ganga from his brov.^, by heavenly fingers press’d. 
 Sprang radiant, and, descending grac’d the caverns of the west” 
 
 Parvati, is the wife of Seeva, and the daughter of Daetsja. 
 She leapt into the fire in a fit of anger, because her- husband 
 had not been invited to her father’s jaga, or sacrifice. By 
 this event, the anger of Seeva was excited, and from his per- 
 spiration on that occasion, proceeded a minor deity, named 
 Virepadra. He at the request of his father, put an end to the 
 sacrifice and life of Daetsja, struck the sun so severe a blow 
 as to break out his teeth, and by his blows upon the moon, gave 
 it that spotted appearance which it has unto this day. 
 
59 
 
 The prayers of the devetas, or good spirits, appeased the an- 
 ger of Seeva. He restored Daetsja to life, and gave him a 
 bullock’s head. 
 
 The following account of the marriage of Seeva and Parvati, 
 is given by Maurice from the Seeva pooraun. 
 
 “ All the devetas, and other inhabitants of the celestial regions, 
 being collected at the summons of Bhagavat, to arrange the ceremo- 
 nials of the marriage of Seeva and Parvati, first came Bramha, 
 mounted on his goose, with the reyshees at his stirrup ; next Vish- 
 noo, riding on Garud his eagle, with the chank,* checkra, the club 
 and the pedivef m his hands. Indra also, and Yama, and Cuvera, 
 and Varuna, and the rivers Ganga and Jumna, and the seven seas. 
 The gandarvasi also, and apsaras,!^ and Vasookee, and other ser- 
 pents, all dressed in superb chains and habits of ceremony, were to 
 be seen in order amid the crowded and glittering cavalcade. 
 
 And now, Seeva, after the arrival of all the devetas, and the com- 
 pletion of the preparations for the procession, set out, in the utmost 
 pomp and splendor, from the mountain Cailasa. His third eye 
 flamed like the sun, and the crescent on his forehead assumed the 
 form of a radiated diadem ; his snakes were exchanged for chains 
 and necklaces of pearls and rubies, his ashes for sandal and perfume, 
 and his elephant’s skin for a silken robe, so that none of the devetas 
 in brilliance came near his figure. The bridal attendants now 
 spread wide abroad the carpet of congratulation, and arranged in 
 order the banquet of bliss. Nature herself assumed the appearance 
 of- renovated youth, and the sorrowing universe recalled its long- 
 forgotten happiness. The gandarvas and apsaras began their melo- 
 dious songs, and the genes and keenners displayed the magic of 
 their various musical instruments. The earth and its inhabitants 
 exulted with tongues of glorification and triumph ; fresh moisture 
 invigorated the withered victims of time : a thousand happy and an- 
 imating conceptions inspired the hearts of the intelligent, and en- 
 lightened the wisdom of the thoughtful : the kingdom of external 
 forms obtained gladness, the world of intellect acquired brighteiess. 
 The dwellers upon earth stocked the casket of their ideas with the 
 jewels of delights, and reverend pilgrims exchanged their beads for 
 pearls. The joy of those on earth ascended up to heaven, and the 
 tree of the bliss of those in heaven extended its auspicious branches 
 downwards to the earth. The eyes of the devetas flamed like 
 torches on beholding these scenes of rapture, and the hearts of the 
 just kindled like touchwood on hearing these ravishing symphonies. 
 
 "Cone shell, f Battle axe, J MusicUns. 
 ^ Dancing girls of heaven. 
 
60 
 
 'rkU3 Seeva set off, like a garden in full blow, and paradise wa^ 
 eclipsed by his motion.” 
 
 Tlie grandeur of Seeva’s motion which eclipses j^uradise, 
 may be conceived by the following extravagant description of 
 Ins setting out on another occasion, which I have derived from 
 the same source. 
 
 “ In the place of the right wheel bl.-ized tire sun ; in the place of 
 the left was the moon ; instead of the brazen nails and bolls, which 
 firmly held the ponderous wheels, were distributed brahmins on 
 the right hand and rishis on the left ; in lieu of the canopy on the 
 top of the chariot was overspread the vault of heaven ; the coun- 
 terpoise of the wheels was on the cast and west. — The four vedas 
 were placed as the horses of the chariot, and Sereswati was for the 
 bell ; — Bramha himself was the charioteer, and the naeshatras (con- 
 stellations) and stars were distributed about it by way of ornaments. 
 Sumaru was in the place of a bow, the serpent Seschanaga was 
 etationed as the string, Vishnoo instead of an arrow, and fire was 
 constituted its point. Ganges and other rivers were appointed its 
 precursors ; and the setting out of the chariot, with its appendages 
 and furniture, one would affirm to be the year of twelve months 
 gracefully moving fonvard. 
 
 When Seeva with his numerous troops and prodigious army, was 
 mounted, Bramha drove so furiously, that thought itself, which, in 
 its rapid career, compasses heaven and earth, could not keep pace 
 with it. By the motion of the chariot heaven and earth were put 
 in tremor ; and, as the earth was not able to bear up under this 
 burden, the cow of the earth Kam-deva took upon itself to support 
 the weight.” 
 
 The incarnations of Vishnoo. 
 
 The incarnations of Vishnoo arc ten in number, nine of 
 which are past, and one is yet to come. 
 
 The^rst was in the form of a fish. An account of it is giv- 
 en by Sir W. Jones from the Bhagavat an Indian poem, 
 which, with some omissions, I shall present to the reader. 
 
 “ At the close of the last Calpa,*' there was a general destruction 
 occasioned by the sleep of Brahma : whence his creatures in differ- 
 ent worlds were drowned in a vast ocean. Bramha, being inclined 
 
 *The agggregate of the four yugs, or ages, is called a divine, age, 
 and a thousand ivine ages, constitute a Cdpa, or day of Bramha. 
 
6 i 
 
 10 slumber, desiring repose after a lapse of ages, the strong demon 
 Huijagriva came near him, and stole the Vedas,* which had flowed 
 from his lips. When Heri,]- the preserver of the universe, discover- 
 ed this deed of the Prince of Danavas,l he took the shape of a 
 minute fish, called sap'han. A holy king, named Satyavrata, then 
 reigned ; a servant of the spirit, which moved on tlse waves, and 
 so devout that water was his only sustenance. — One day, as he was 
 making a libation in the river Crita mala, and held water in the 
 ])alm ol his hand, he perceived a small fish moving in it. The king 
 of Dravira immediately dropped the fish into the river together with 
 the water which he had taken from it ; when the sapliari thus ))a- 
 thetically addressed the benevolent monarch ; ‘ Hoav canst thou, O 
 King, who showest affection to the oppressed, leave me in this river- 
 water, where I am too weak to resist the monsters of the stream, 
 who fill me w'ith dread He, not knowing wdio had assumed the 
 form of a fish, applied his mind to the preservation of the sap'hari, 
 both from good nature and from regard to liis own soul : and, hav- 
 ing heard its very supjiliant address, he kindly placed it under his 
 protection in a small vase full of water ; but in a single night, its 
 bulk was so increased, that it could not be contained in the jar, and 
 thus again addressed the illustrious Prince : ‘ I am not pleased with 
 living miserably in this little vase ; make me a large mansion, where 
 I may dw'cll in comfort.’ The king removing it thence, placed it 
 in the water of a cistern ; but it grew three cubits in less than fifty 
 minutes, and said ; ‘ O King, it pleases me not to slay vainly in this 
 narrow' cistern ; since thou hast granted me an asylum, give me a 
 spacious habitation.’ He then removed it, and placed it in a pool, 
 w here, having ample space around its body, it became a fish of con- 
 siderable size. ‘ This abode, O King, is not convenient for me, who 
 must swum at large in the w'aters : exert thyself for my safety, and 
 remove me to a deep lake.’ Thus addressed, the pious monarch 
 threw the suppliant into a lake, and when it grew of equal bulk with 
 that piece of water, he cast the vast fish into the sea. When the 
 fish w'as throw'n into the waves, he thus again spoke to Satyavrata ; 
 ‘Here thehornedsharks andothermonsters of great strength, will de- 
 vour me ; thou shouldst not, O valiant man, leave me in this ocean.’ 
 Thus repeatedly deluded by the fish, who had addressed him with 
 gentle W'ords, the king said ; ‘ Who art thou, that beguilest me in 
 that assumed shape ? — Surely thou art the great Heri, whose dw'el- 
 ling was on the waves. — Salutation and praise to thee, O first male, 
 the lord of creation, of preservation, of destruction. — I am anxious 
 to know, for what cause that shape has been assumed by thee.’ 
 The lord of the universe, loving the pious man who thus implored 
 
 ’■ Holy Books, f Yishnoo. [ Evil spirits, 
 
62 
 
 him, and intenduig to preserve him from the sea of destruction^ 
 caused by the depravity of the age, thus told him how he was to 
 act. ‘ In seven days from the present time, O thou tamer of ene- 
 mies, the three worlds will be plunged in an ocean of death ; but in 
 the midst of the destroying waves, a large vessel, sent by me for 
 thy use, shall stand before thee. Then shall thou take all medicinal 
 herbs, all the variety of seeds, and, accompanied by seven saints, 
 encircled by pairs of all brute animals, thou shalt enter the spacious 
 ark, and continue in it, secure from the flood, on one immense ocean 
 without light, except the radiance of thy holy companions. When 
 the ship shall be agihited by an impetuous w ind, thou shalt fasten 
 it with a large sea-serpent on my horn. For I will be with thee. — I 
 will remain on the ocean, O chief of men, until a night of Bramha 
 shall be completely ended.’ — Heri, having then directed the mon- 
 arch, disappeared ; and Satyavrata humbly waited for the time, 
 which the ruler of our senses had appointed. The pious king, hav- 
 ing scattered towards the East the pointed blades of the grass darbha 
 and turning his face tow'ards the North, sat meditating on the feet 
 of the God, who had borne the form of a fish. The sea over- 
 whelming its shores deluged the W'hole earth ; and it was soon jier- 
 ceived to be augmented by showers from immense clouds. He 
 still meditating on the command of Bhagavat,* saw the vessel ad- 
 vancing, and entered it with the chiefs of Brahmans. — The god, be- 
 ing invoked by the monarch, appeared again distinctly on the vast 
 ocean, in the form of a fish blazing like gold, extending a million of 
 leagues, with one stupenduous horn ; on which the king, as he had 
 before been commanded by Heri, tied the ship with a cable made 
 of a vast serpent, and happy in his preservation, stood praising the 
 destroyer of Madhu. — Then Heri, rising togetlier with Bramha 
 from the destructive deluge, which was abated, slew the demon 
 Hayagriva, and recovered the sacred books. — He who shall de- 
 voutly hear this important allegorical narrative, will be delivered 
 from the bondage of sin.” 
 
 “ Tins epitome of the first Indian Histor)' that is now extant, 
 (says Sir William Jones) appears to me very curious and very im- 
 portant ; for the story, though whimsically dressed up in the form 
 of an allegory, seems to prove a primeval tradition in this country 
 (India) of the universal deluge described by Moses.”t 
 
 In his second incarnation, Vishnoo assumed the form of an 
 immense tortoise, for the purpose of supporting on his back, the 
 mountain Mandar, while gods and demons churned tlie sea. 
 Bv this operation, iourteeu precious things were produced 
 
 * Vishnoo. f Ess.ay on the gods of Greece, Italy and Rome. 
 
63 
 
 from the ocean, among which, the chief, was the amreeta, Or 
 water of life. 
 
 In his third incarnation, Vishnoo assumed the form of a boar, 
 ‘‘ to draw up and support on his tusks the whole eartli, which 
 had been sunk beneath the ocean.” The earth, according to a 
 Hindoo legend, had been drowned by Ilirungaksr, who by the 
 performance of religious duties, had so gained a power over 
 the gods, as to be able to ask and receive whatever boon he 
 pleased.* 
 
 In hhfonrth incarnation, Vishnoo assumed the compound 
 form, of part man and part lion. Hirungakushup,^ by a mul- 
 tiplication of austerities, had obtained an unlimited power of 
 doing evil, and security, as he thought, from every danger to his 
 person, and from eyery interruption to his nefarious designs. 
 The divine promise secured him from the violence of man 6r 
 beast, by day or by night, and any where on the face of the 
 earth. That the havoc of this evil being might be arrested, 
 and the divine promise remairt still unbroken, Vishnoo, as a 
 man-lion issued from a marble pillar, which divided into two 
 parts, in the time of twilight, and raising him from the ground 
 tore out his entrails. The occasion of his appearance is said 
 to have been as follows. 
 
 Pralhaud, the sou of Hirungakushup having'been educated 
 by a venerable sage, was remarkable for holy dispositions. 
 His father persecuted him for his piety, and banished him from 
 his court. At length he became softened, and recalled his 
 son. As he sat in full assembly he began to argue against the 
 supremacy of Vishnoo, and boasted that himself was lord of 
 all the visible world, and asked what could Vishnoo pretend 
 to more. Pralhaud replied that Vishnoo had no fixed abode, 
 but was present everywhere. ‘ Is he,’ said his father, ‘in 
 that pillar ?’ ‘ Yes, returned Pralhaud.’ ‘ Then let him come 
 forth,’ said Hirungakushup ; and rising from his seat struck 
 the pillar with his foot; upon which, Vishnoo, assuming the 
 form of a man-lion came out of the pillar and tore him in 
 pieces. I 
 
 ” See Panoplist for October, 1316, page 472. f See do. page 47S. 
 i See Chambers — Asiatic Researches. 
 
64 
 
 In the pictures of this incarnation, the man-lmi appears, 
 standing between the parts of the divided pillar in the act of 
 taking vengeance. 
 
 Thefifik incarnation of Vishnoo, was in the form of a dwarf, 
 whose name was Vamen . — Its object, to obtain by artifice, the 
 dominioti of the universe, which had passed from the gods, in- 
 to the hands of the giant Lalif. Baly had conquered the 
 gods and expelled them from heaven, but still preserved the 
 character of generosity and kindness. Vishnoo having assu- 
 med the form of a very little Brahmin, presented himself be- 
 fore the giant, and begged for three paces of land to build a 
 hut. The scene on this occasion is happily and correctly 
 described in the following lines of the poet Southey. 
 
 “The incarnate came before the mighty one, 
 
 111 dwarfish stature, and in mien obscure ; 
 
 The sacred cord he bore, 
 
 And ask’d for Braraa’s sake, a little boon. 
 
 Three steps of Baly’s ample reign, no more. 
 
 Poor was the boon requir’d, and poor was he 
 "Who begg’d,....a little wretch it seem’d to be : 
 
 But Baly ne’er refused a suppliant’s prayer. 
 
 A glimce of pity in contemptuous mood, 
 
 He on the dwarf cast down. 
 
 And bade him take the boon. 
 
 And measure where he would. 
 
 Lo, son of giant birth, 
 
 I take my grant ! the incarnate power replies. 
 
 With his first step he measur’d o’er the earth. 
 
 The second spann’d the skies. 
 
 Three paces thou hast granted. 
 
 Twice have I set my footstep, Vishnoo cries, 
 
 Where shall the third be planted ? 
 
 Then Baly knew the god, and at his feet, 
 
 Jn homage due, he laid his humble head. 
 
 Mighty art thou, O lord of earth and heaven. 
 
 Mighty art thou ! he said. 
 
 Be merciful, and let me he forgiven. 
 
 He ask’d for mercy of the merciful, 
 
 •4nd mercy for his virtue’s sake vras show n. 
 
65 
 
 For though he was cast dou-n to Padalon,* 
 
 Yet there, by Yamen’sf throne, 
 
 Doth Baly sit in majesty and might. 
 
 To judge the dead, and sentence them aright.”t 
 
 The six'th incarnation of Vishnoo was Parasu-Rama, who is 
 thus described in a hymn of a Hindoo Poet, quoted by Sir 
 William Jones. 
 
 “ Thou batliest in pure water, consisting of the blood Cshatriyas,^ 
 (he world, whose offences are removed, and who are relieved from 
 the pain of other births, O Cesava|| assuming the form of Parasu- 
 Rama : Be victorious, O Heri, Lord of the Universe.” 
 
 Vishnoo became incarnate the seventh time, in the person of 
 Rama, or Ram-Chandre. He was accompanied by his broth- 
 er Lacshman, — an incarnation of the serpent on which Vishnoo 
 reposes. His object was to destroy Ravan and other Raksh~ 
 russes, or evil beings, who, having acquired incontrolable pow- 
 er, employed it in the misery of Brahmins and herds. Rama 
 wielded with success an immense bow, which he employed ia 
 his combats with his enemies. In the course of his adventures 
 bis own brother Lacshman was slain, and his wife Seeta carri- 
 ed captive by Ravan to Lanca, or the island of Ceylon. Han- 
 umunt, the prince of monkeys, himself too, an incarnation of a 
 heavenly being, and the devoted servant of Rama, brought a» 
 immense hill to his master, on which grew efficacious herbs, 
 which recovered Lacshman to life. By the assistance of his 
 fellow monkeys, he raised a bridge of rocks over the sea, be- 
 tween Ceylon and the continent of India, assailed the monster 
 Ravan, in his own territories, and recovered Seeta, whom he 
 restored to her husband. A part of the bridge, built on this oc- 
 casion, (it is said by the Hindoos,) remains to this day.1[ As 
 Rama was walking one day with his brother Lacshman, a 
 stone on which he trode was immediately transformed into a 
 female of beautiful form, who stood up before them and a(;r 
 
 * The infernal regions, f The god of death, 
 t See Southey’s ‘ Curse of Kehama,’ vol. 2, page 34. 
 
 The warrior cast. || A name of Vishnoo. 
 
 5 They probably refer to what is commonly called, Adam’s bridge! 
 
 9 
 
kuovvledged \rith animated praises, tlic divine Rauia as lief 
 deliverer, “ My name, "said she, is Melya. My father, far a 
 great offence, cursed me to be changed into a stone : and 
 •when I begged a mitigation from the severity of the curse, he 
 said ; “ When Vishnoo shall assume the form of Rama, thou 
 Shalt be restored by the inrpression of his foot.” 
 
 The eighth incarnation of Vishnoo was in the person of 
 Krishna ; and this, the Hindoos believe to be the chief of all 
 the incarnations. Its object, like that of the former, was to 
 destroy a cruel oppressor. When Vishnoo, at tlie united re- 
 quest of gods, Brahmins, and herds, detCrruined to become in- 
 carnate on this occasion, he requested the company of the ser- 
 pent on which he reposes. The scrjjent strenuously objected to 
 an enterprise of so much difficulty and suffering, as he had rea- 
 son to expect, from his experience in his former incarnation, 
 in the person of Laeshman. Vishnoo, however, removed his 
 objection, by promising, that he himself would stand foremost, 
 and bear the brunt, in the present expedition. On this condi- 
 tion, the serpent agreed to comply with his request ; which he 
 did by assuming the form of Baleram, the brother of Krishna. 
 
 The name of the oppressor, for whose destruction Vishnoo 
 was to become incarnate, was Cansa. On tlie day of the mar- 
 riage of Devaci, his excellent sister, to Vasudeva, Cansa, who 
 was present at the ceremony, was warned by a heavenly mes- 
 senger, that a son of that sister, whose marriage was then cele- 
 brated, would be the means of liis own downfal and death. 
 To prevent the accomplishment of this dreadful oracle, he en- 
 deavored, immediately to murder his sister. Failing in this, 
 he determihed to adopt a different plan, and to secure his own 
 safety by the destruction of her children, at the time of their 
 birth. That he might prevent every possibility of their es- 
 cape, he closely imprisoned, and carefully guarded, the new- 
 married pair. Whenever intelligence was brought him, that 
 his sister had borne a child, he rushed to the prison with the 
 greatest fury, and hardening his heart against her tears and 
 entreaties, tore from her, her helpless infant, bore it from the 
 prison, and dashed it in pieces on the rocks. 
 
 The oracle had admonished him that his enemy should be 
 Ihe eighth child, but Cansa, at first, felt it uncertain, whether 
 
67 
 
 it should be the first, or the last, of eight. Having, however, 
 destroyed seven in succession, he^kept a stricter guard, ax»4 
 watched with peculiar anxiety for the eighth, harrassed with 
 awful dreams, in a state of perpetual alarm, and beholding the 
 divine Omnipotence coming incarnate to meet him, wherever 
 he turned his eyes. When Krishna was born, he laid aside 
 for a moment the appearance of an infant, made known to his 
 mother, liis heavenly origin, and divine powws, ’till she be- 
 came so enraptured, as to begin to celebrate his praises. Hav- 
 ing given the necessary directions, concerning the means of 
 securing his safety, he assumed again the infant form. His 
 father took him in his arms to bear him away to MaVliura, a 
 distant village, to be fostered by the happy Anauda, and Yasoda^ 
 his wife. The doors of the prison opened before him. The 
 many-headed serpent attended, and sheltered the sacred charge, 
 Having arrived at the house of Ananda, he found there lying, 
 another new-born infant, for which he exchanged the incarnate 
 deity, and returned secretly with the changeling, to tlie prison. 
 "When Cansa arose in the morning, he received the intelligence 
 that his sister had borne another son. He rushes madly to the 
 prison, seizes his prey, and having brought it to his place of 
 slaughter, he raises his hand, and attempts to dash it on a 
 rock. With a smile of contempt and triumph, it rises in the 
 air, and ascends, till it vanishes from his sight. — It was not a 
 real child, but the semblance of one ; — a delusion of JHaya,-^ 
 the power, which produced a material world. 
 
 Yasoda, who was in a sound sleep when Krishna was laid 
 by her side, supposed, when she awoke, that he was her own 
 son. The Astrologers, called (after the manner of the Hin- 
 doos) to cast the nativity of the child, and declare his desti- 
 nies, celebrate his praises. His mother, attends him with 
 care, and is daily astonished by many manifest tokens of his 
 divinity. When lie cries, slie beholds in his open mouth, the 
 three worlds, heaven, earth, and the infernal regions ; — till 
 she herself, catches the prophetic flame, and in a kind of holy 
 phrenzy, predicts, and expresses, what she little understands, 
 or recollects in her sober moments. Cansa, the enemy of the 
 child, having heard the place of its abode, used every means to 
 efiect its destruction. The evil beings that surrounded him, 
 
68 
 
 were ready to undertake the work, and assumed a great vari- 
 ety of shapes, in order the more certainly, to accomplish their 
 design. First a female came, and by her artifice having ob- 
 tained the child in her arms, gave it her poisoned breast. In- 
 stead of accomplishing her design, her own life was exhausted 
 by the omnipotent infant and she sunk down dead before him, 
 and received the happiness which necessarily follows immedi- 
 ate destruction by the divine hand. This attempt having fail- 
 ed, Krishna was assailed by other emissaries of his enemy, un- 
 der various assumed forms, over all of whom he came off vic- 
 torious. At length, having attained to manhood, he turns as- 
 sailant, and effected the destruction of his invincible enemy, 
 delivered his parents from their long imprisonment, and re- 
 stored rest and comfort to the sufiering world : after which he 
 returned to Vaicont’ha his heavenly residence. 
 
 When Krishna was seven years of age, Indra, the god of 
 the sky, who had been incensed by the enthusiastic adoration 
 paid to the child by the inhabitants of his village, determined 
 to put his divinity to the test. For this purpose he assailed 
 Krishna, with a storm of rain, intending by a flood to effect his 
 destruction. The lad, unalarmed, collected together the 
 herdsmen and shepherdesses, and lifted over them the hill 
 Goverdhena, “ as if it had been a flower,” aad protected them 
 from the flood. For his own amusement, he affected to desire 
 their assistance, and sometimes excited their alarm, by pre- 
 tending to withdraw his little finger, with which he supported 
 the hill, and urging them to exert all their strength. Indra at 
 length acknowledged his divinity, put an end to the storm, 
 and himself devoutly asked forgiveness of the invincible child. 
 
 Buddha is the ninth incarnation, and the last which has yet 
 appeared. At his birth, Bramha received the child on a golden 
 vessel, “ and delivered it to Indra, by whom it was committed 
 to the charge of a female attendant ; upon which, the child 
 alighting from her arms walked seven paces, when it was tak- 
 en up by J^aha-Maya (its mother) and carried to her house. 
 At this time Tapaswi Muni, who, residing in the rocks, de- 
 voted his time to the worship of the Deity, learned by inspira- 
 tion that Buddha was come to life in the Raja’s palace : he 
 flew through the air to the Raja’s, where, sitting op a thronij 
 
69 
 
 he said, “ I have repaired hither, for the purpose of visiting 
 the child.” Buddha was accordingly brought into his pres- 
 ence. The Muni observed two feet fixed on his head, and, 
 divining something both of good and bad import, began to weep 
 and to laugh, alternately. The Raja then questioned him 
 with regard to his present impulse, to whom he answered, ‘ I 
 must not reside in the same place with Buddha, when he shall 
 arrive at the rank of Avatar :* this is the cause of my present 
 affliction, but I am even now affected with gladness by his 
 presence, as I am hereby absolved from all my transgressions.’ 
 The Muni then departed : and, after five days had elapsed, 
 he assembled four Pandits§ for the purpose of calculating the 
 destiny of the child, — one of whom divined that he would ar- 
 rive at the dignity of Avatar. 
 
 The boy was now named Sacya, and had attained the age of 
 sixteen years ; at which period it happened that the Raja Chu~ 
 hidan, had a daughter named Vasutara, whom he had engaged 
 not to give in marriage to any one, till such time as a suitor 
 should be found who could brace a certain bow in his posses- 
 sion, which, hitherto, many Rajas had attempted to accomplish 
 without effect. Sacya now succeeded in the attempt ; and 
 accordingly obtained the Raja’s daughter in marriage, with 
 whom he repaired to his own place of r-esidence. 
 
 One day, as certain mysteries were revealed to him, he 
 formed the design of relinquishing his kingdom ; at which time 
 a son was born in his house, whose name was Raghu. Sacya 
 then left his palace with only one attendant and a horse, and 
 having crossed the river Ganga, arrived at Balucali, where 
 having directed his servant to leave him and carry away his 
 horse, he laid aside his armour. 
 
 When the world was created, there appeared five flowers, 
 which Bramha deposited in a place of safety : three of them 
 were afterwards delivered to the three T’hacurs, and one was 
 presented to Sacya, who discovered, that it contained some 
 pieces of wearing apparel, in which he clothed himself, and 
 adopted the manners and life of a mendicant. A traveller 
 one day passed by him with eight bundles of grass on his 
 
 * Incarnation. \ Learned men. 
 
70 
 
 slioulders, and addressed him, saying: “A long ])criod has 
 elapsed since I Iiave seen the T'kaciir ; but now since I have 
 the liappiness to meet him, I beg to present him an offering 
 consisting of these bundles of grass.” Sacya accordingly ac- 
 cepted of the grass, and reposed on it. At that time there 
 suddenly appeared a golden temple, containing a chair of 
 xvrought gold, and the heighth of the temple was thirty cubits^ 
 upon which Bramha alighted, and held a canopy over the head 
 of Sacya : at the same time India descended with a large fan. 
 in his hand, and J\‘aga, the Raja of serpents, with shoes in his 
 hand, together with the four tutelar deities of the four corners 
 of the universe ; who all attended to do him service and rev* 
 erence. At this time, likewise, the chief of Asms* with his 
 forces arrived, riding on an elephant, to give battle to Sacya ; 
 upon which Bramha, Indra, and the other deities, deserted 
 him and vanished. Sacya, observing that he was left alone,, 
 invoked the assistance of the earth ; who, attending at his 
 summons, brought an inundation over all the ground, whereby 
 the Jlsur and his forces were vanquished, and compelled ta 
 retire. 
 
 At this time five holy scriptures descended from above, and 
 Sacya was dignified with the title of Buddha Avatar. The 
 scriptures confer powers of knowledge and retrospection, 
 the ability of accomplishing the impulses of the heart, and of 
 carrying into effect the words of the mouth. Sacya resided 
 here, without breaking his fast, twenty-one days, and then re- 
 turned to his own country, where he presides over Rajas, gov- 
 erning them w'ith care and equity. Ӥ 
 
 Buddha is worshipped, principally, by the Birmans, and the 
 Cingalese, but is acknowledged as an incarnation by the Brah- 
 mins. It is generally believed that the worship of Buddha ex- 
 tensively prevailed, anciently, in India, and that fierce con- 
 tests between the followers of Buddha and Brahma, resulted 
 in the final expulsion of the former, from the country. The 
 Buddhists have left very interesting remains in several places 
 on the western coast of India. In May, 1814, the Author vis- 
 
 ■^Evil beings. The word Asurs or Asoors stands opposed to Svi* 
 or Soars the gods. ^ Asiatic Rescarcheg. 
 
n 
 
 lied tbe cares of Caiiara, on the island of Salsette, and less 
 than twenty miles from Bombay. They contain images of 
 Buddha, and emblems which have evident reference, to the 
 events of his history already given. 
 
 These caves are in the middle of the Island which is six or 
 seven miles wide. The ascent to the hill of the caves is by a 
 narrow path through the woods, which introduces the visitor 
 of a sudden, to the region of art,— to a village of caverns ex- 
 cavated by human skill and patience from the solid rock. The 
 largest caves, reminded me of churches, and w’ere larger than 
 many churches are. The hill seemed to be literally covered 
 with smaller caves, perhaps, from fifteen to thirty feet square. 
 
 The tenth incarnation, which is yet to come is named Calkin 
 and “ is, says Sir William Jones, expected to appear mounted 
 on a white horse with a cimeter blazing like a comet, to mow 
 down all incorrigible and impenitent oflenders, who shall then 
 be on the earth.” 
 
 To the preceding account of the incarnations, it seems pro- 
 per to subjoin the following extracts concerning an incarnation 
 of Ganesa or Gunputtes which is supposed to be now residing 
 in the Mahratta country not far from Bombay. I have heard 
 the testimony of Mrs. Graham confirmed, by an eye witness, 
 who accompanied her in the visit she describes. 
 
 “ Chimehose, Dec. 19, 1C09. 
 
 “ I have just seen what I thought I should never have met with on 
 this side of Thibet, namely, an alive god, called the Deo of Chim- 
 ehose, who is nothing less than Ganesa* himself incarnate in the 
 person of a boy of twelve years old, the eighth of his family honored 
 as the vehicle of the Deity’s appearance on earth. The first was 
 Maraba, a Gosseyn, whose piety was so exemplary that Ganesa re- 
 warded it by becoming incarnate in his person, at the same time 
 committing to his care a sacred stone and the guardianship of his 
 own temple, promising the same favors to his descendants for seven 
 generations. These are now passed away, but as the piety and su- 
 perstition of the Dec’s Neighbors have enriched the family by grants 
 of lands, and towns, and villages, the holy Brahmins have decreed 
 that the God is still incarnate in the family of Maraba, and to the 
 objection that the promise was only to seven generations, they an- 
 
 * The God of prudence, an Idol painted with an Elephant’s Head. 
 
S-w^r, that, as tlie Deity was able to grant that favor to the seven 
 mediate descendants- of the holy Gosseyn, it would be impious to 
 doubt his power of continuing it to tlieir posterity. The Deo’9 
 palace is an enormous building without any kind of ejegance, near 
 the river Mootha, on which the town stands. As we entered the 
 Court, w'e saw a number of persons engaged in the honorable and 
 holy office of mixing the sacred Cow-dung to be spread on. the 
 floors. The whole palace looked dirty, and every window was 
 crowded with sleek well-fed Brahmins, who doubtless take great 
 care of the Deo’s revenues. We found the little Deity seated in a 
 mean veranda, on a wooden seat, not any w'ay distinguished from 
 other children, but by the wildness of the eyes, said to be occasioned 
 by the quantity of opium which he is daily made to swallow. He is 
 not allowed to play with other boys, nor is he permitted to speak 
 any language but Sanscrit. He received us very politely — said he 
 was always pleased to see English people, and after some conversa- 
 tion which a Brahmin interpreted, we took leave, and were present- 
 ed by his divine hand with almonds and sugar-candy perfumed with 
 assaf(Etida, and he received in return a handful of rupees. From the 
 palace we %vent to the tombs of the former Deos, which are so many 
 small temples inclosed in a well paved Court, planted round with 
 trees, communicating with the river by a flight of steps. Here was 
 going on all the business of worship. In one place were women 
 pouring oil, water, and milk over the figures of the Gods ; in another, 
 children decking them with flowers : here devotees and pilgrims 
 performing their ablutions ; and there priests chaunting portions of the 
 vedas. As T passed one of the tomb-temples I caught a glimpse of a 
 large highly polished stone— which I suppose is the palladium of 
 Chimehose, but I was desired not to approach it. I returned to our 
 tents filled with reflections not very favorable to the dignity of hu- 
 man nature, after witnessing such a degrading instance of superstitious 
 f®lly.” 
 
 (See Journal in India of Maria Graham.), 
 
 The churning of the sea. 
 
 The length of the following account, and the variety of mat- 
 ter which it contains, seemed to render it unsuitable, to be 
 given in direct connection with the second incarnation of 
 Vishnoo. It is however too important a representation of 
 Hindoo Mythology, — too useful a picture of the actions of the 
 
73 
 
 ■I 
 
 ^ods, to be omitted. It is given by Mr. Wilkins, from the 
 Jluhabarat, as follows : 
 
 “ There is a fair and stately mountain, and its name is Meroo, a 
 most exalted I'nass of glory, reflecting the snnny rays from the splen- 
 did surface of its gilded horns. It is clothed in gold, and is the res- 
 pected haunt of dews and gandharvs. It is inconceivable, and not to 
 be encompassed by sinful man ; and it is guarded by dreadful serpents. 
 Many celestial medicinal plants adorn its sides ; and it stands, pierc- 
 ing tlie heaven with its aspiring summit, a mighty hill, inaccesible 
 even by the human mind. It is adorned witll trees and pleasant 
 streams, and resoimdeth with the delightful songs of various birds. 
 
 “ The soars and all the glorious host of heaven, having ascended 
 to the summit of this lofty mountain, sparkling with precious gems, 
 and for eternal ages raised, were sitting in solemn synod, meditating 
 the discovery of the amreetu, the water of immortality. The dew 
 j^'araifun being also there, spoke unto Brahma, whilst the soars 
 were thus consulting together, and said, ‘ let the oeean as a pot of 
 milk, be churned by the united labor of the soars and asoors ; and 
 when the mighty waters have been stirred up, the amreeta shall be 
 found. Let them collect together every medicinal herb, and every 
 precious thing, and let them stir the ocean, andtliey shall discover 
 the amreeta.' 
 
 “ There is also another mighty mountain, whose name is Mandar, 
 and its rocky summits are like towering clouds. It is clothed in a 
 net of the entangled tendrils of the twining creeper, and resoundeth 
 with the harmony of various birds. Innumerable savage beasts in- 
 fest its borders ; and it is the respeeted. haunt of kennars, dews, and 
 npsars. It standeth eleven thousand yojaiv'^ above the earth, and 
 eleven thousand more below its surface. 
 
 “ As tlte united bands of dews were unable to remove this moun- 
 tain, they wmnt before Veeshnoo, who was sitting with Brahma, and 
 addressed them in these words: ‘Exert, O masters! your most 
 superior wisdom to remove the mountain Mandar, and employ your 
 utmost power for our good.’ • 
 
 “ Veeshnoo and Brahma having said, ‘ it shall be according to your 
 wish,’ he with the lotus eye directed the king of serpents to appear ; 
 and Jlnanta\ arose, and was instructed in that work by Brahma, and 
 commanded by JVarayan to perform it. Then Ananta, by his pow- 
 er, took up that king of mountains, together with all its forests, and 
 every inhabitant thereof : and the soars accompanied him into the 
 presence of the ocean, whom they addressed, saying, ‘ we will stir 
 
 * Forty-four thousand miles, f The endless ; a name of the many- 
 headed serpent. 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 up ihy waters to ublaiii the amretla' Anti tlic lord of the water# 
 replied, ‘ let me also have a share, seeing I am to bear the violent 
 agitation that will be caused by the whirling of the mountain !* 
 Then the soars and asoors spoke unto Koorma-raj, the king of the 
 tortoises, upon tlie strand of the ocean, and said, ‘ my "lord is able to 
 be the supporter of this mountain.’ The tortoise replied, ‘ be it 
 so and it was placed upon his back. 
 
 “ So the mountain being set upon the back of the tortoise, Eemira. 
 began to whirl it about as it were a machine. The mountain Man- 
 dar served as a churn, and the serpent Vasookee for the rope ; and 
 thus in former days did the dews, the asoors, and the danoos, begin 
 to stir up the waters of the ocean for the discovery of the amreeta. 
 
 “ The mighty asoors were employed on the side of the serpent’s 
 head, whilst all the soars assembled about his tail. Atlanta, that 
 sovereign dew, stood near JVarayan. 
 
 “ They now pull forth the serpent’s head repeatedly, and as 
 often let it go ; whilst tltere issued from his mouth, thus violently 
 drawing to and fro by the soars and asoors, a continual stream of 
 fire and smoke, and wind, which ascending in thick clouds, replete 
 with lightning, it began to rain down upon the heavenly bands, who 
 were already fatigued with their labor ; whilst a shower of flowers 
 was shaken from the top of the mountain, covering tlie heads of all, 
 both soars and asoors. In the mean time tlie roaring of the ocean, 
 whilst violently agitated with the whirling of the mountain Mandar 
 by the soars and asoors, was like the bellowing of a mighty cloud. 
 Thousands of the various productions of the waters were torn to 
 pieces by the mountain, and confounded w'ith the briny flood ; and 
 every specific being of the deep, and all the inhabitants of the. 
 great abyss which is below the earth, were annihilated; whilst, 
 from the violent agitation of the mountain, the forest trees were 
 dashed against each other, and precipitated from its utmost height, 
 with all the birds thereon ; from whose violent confiication a raging 
 fire, was produced, involving the whole mountain with smoke and 
 flame, as with a dark blue cloud, and the lightnings vivid flash. The 
 lion and the retreating elephant are overtaken by the devouring 
 flames, and every vital being, and every specific tiling, are consum- 
 ed in the general conflagration. 
 
 “ The raging flames, thus spreading destruction on all sides, were 
 at length quenched by a shower of cloud borne water, poured down 
 by the immortal Eendra. And now a heterogeneous stream of the 
 concocted juices of various trees and plants ran down into the briny 
 flood. 
 
 “ It was from this milk-like stream of juices, produced from those 
 trees and plants and a mlxturq of melted gold, that the soars obtaijr- 
 ed their immortality. 
 
75 
 
 The waters of the ocean now being assimilated with those juices, 
 were converted into milk, and from that milk a kind of butter 
 was presently produced ; when the heavenly bands went again into 
 the 'presence of Brahma, the granter of boons, and addressed him, 
 saying, ‘Except JVarayan, evei-y other soor and csoor is fatigued 
 with his labor, and still the amreeta doth not appear ; wherefore the 
 churning of the ocean is at a stand.’ Then Brahma said unto JVa- 
 rayan, ‘ Endue them with recruited strength, for thou art their sup- 
 port.’ And Narayan answered and said, ‘ I will give fresh vigor to 
 such as co-operate in the work. Let Mandar be whirled about, 
 and the bed of the ocean be kept steady.’ 
 
 “ When they heard the words of JVurayan, they all returned 
 again to the work, and began to stir about with great force that but- 
 ter of the ocean, when there presently arose from out the troubled 
 deep, first the moon, with a pleasing countenance, shining with ten 
 thousand beams of gentle light ; next followed Sree, the goddess of 
 fortune, whose seat is the white lily of the waters ; then Soora-De- 
 vee, the goddess of wine, and the white horse called Oochisrava. 
 And after these there was produced from the unctuous mass the 
 jewel Koivstoobh, that glorious sparkling gem worn by Narayan on 
 his breast ; also Pareejat, the tree of plenty, and Soorahhee, the 
 cow that granteth every heart’s desire. 
 
 “ The moon, Soora-Devee, the goddess Si-ee, and the horse, as 
 swift as thought, instantly marched away towards the dews, keeping 
 in the path of the sun. 
 
 “ Then the dew Dhamvantaree, in human shape, came forth, 
 holding in his hand a white vessel filled with the immortal juice 
 amreeta. When the asoors beheld these wondrous tilings appear, 
 they raised their tumultuous voices for the amreeta, and each of 
 them clamorously exclaimed, ‘ this of right is mine.’ 
 
 “ In the mean time Travat, a mighty elephant, arose, now kept 
 by the god of thunder : and as they continued to churn the ocean 
 more than enough, that deadly poison issued from its bed, burning 
 like a raging fire, whose dreadful fumes in a moment spread through- 
 out the world, confounding the three regions of the universe with 
 the mortal stench, until Seev, at the word of Brahma, swallowed the 
 fatal drug, to save mankind ; which, remaining in the throat of that 
 sovereign deio of magic form, from that time he hath been called 
 N'eel-Kant, because his throat was stained blue. 
 
 “ When the asoors beheld this miraculous deed, they became des- 
 perate, and the amreeta and the goddess Sree became the source of 
 endless hatred. 
 
 “ Then J^arayan assumed the character and person of Moheenee 
 Maya, the power of enchantment, in a female form of wonderful 
 beauty, and stood before the asoors, whose mjnds being fascinated 
 
76 
 
 by her presence, and deprived of reason, they seize the amrcda, aiut 
 gave it unto her. 
 
 “ The asoors now clothe themselves in costly armor, and, seizing 
 their various weapons, rush on together to attack Uie soars. Ip the 
 mean time Narayan, in the female form, having obtained the am- 
 reeta from the hands of their leader, the hosts of soars, during the 
 tumult and confusion of the asoors, drank of the living water. 
 
 “And it so fell out, that whilst the soor,9 were quenching their 
 thirst for immortality, Rahoo, an asoor, assumed the form of a soar, 
 and began to drink also ; and the water had but reached his throat, 
 when the sun and moon, in friendship to the soars, discovered the 
 deceit ; and instantly A'araynn cut off his head as he was drinking, 
 witli his splendid weapon chakra. And the gigantic head of the 
 asoor, emblem of a mountain’s summit, being thus separated from 
 his body by the chakra’s edge, bounded into the heavens with a 
 dreadful cry, whilst his ponderous trunk fell, cleavitig the ground 
 asunder, and shaking the w hole earth unto its foundation, w ith all its 
 islands, rocks, add forests ; and from that time the head of Rahoo 
 resolved an eternal enmity, and conlinueth, even unto this day, 'at 
 times to seize upon the sun and moon.* 
 
 “Now Narayan, having quitted the female figure he had assumed, 
 began to disturb the asoors with sundry' celestial-weapons ; and from 
 that instant a dreadful battle was commenced, on the ocean’s briny 
 strand, between the asoors and the soars. Innumerable sharp and 
 missile weapons were hurled, and thousands of piercing darts and 
 battle-axes fell on all sides. The asoors vomit blood frqm the 
 wounds of the chakra, and fall upon the ground pierced by the sword, 
 the spear, and spiked club. Heads, glittering with polished gold, 
 divided by the pattces’’ blade, drop incessantly ; and mangled bodies, 
 
 * The cause of eclipses, It is not however to be supposed that 
 the learned in India have no acquaintance with Astronomy. They 
 do not agree •with the people at large in believing the fables of the 
 Poets. “ The Pauranics, i. e. poetical fabulists, will tell you, (said 
 a venerable mathematician to Sir Wm. Jones,) that our earth is a 
 plane figure, studded with eight mountains, and surrounded by sev- 
 en seas of milk, nectar, and other fluids ; that the ))art w hich we in- 
 habit, is one of seven Islands, to which eleven smaller isles are subor- 
 dinate ; that a god, riding on a huge elephant, guards each of the 
 eight regions, and that a mountain of gold rises and gleams in the 
 centre ; but we believe the earth to be shaped like a Cadamba fruit, 
 or spheroidical, and admit only four oceans of salt water, all which 
 we name from the four cardinal points, and in which are many great 
 peninsulas with innumerable islands : they will tell you, that a dra- 
 gon’s head swallows the moon, and thus causes an eclipse ; but we 
 know, that the supposed head and tail of the dragon, mean only the 
 nodes, or points formed by the intersections of the ecliptic and the 
 moon’s orbit.” Sec Jones, on the antiquity of the Indian Zodiac. 
 
wallowing in their gore, lay like fragments of mighty rocks, sparkling 
 with gems and precious ores. Millions of sighs ajid groans arise on 
 every side ; and the sun is overcast with blood, as they clash their 
 arms, and wound each other with their dreadful instruments of de- 
 struction. 
 
 “ Now the battle is fought 'd’ith the iron-spiked club, and, as they 
 close, with clenched fist ; and the din of war ascendeth to the heav- 
 ens. They cry ‘pursue! strike! fell to the ground !’ so that a hor- 
 rid and tumultuous noise is heard on all sides. 
 
 “In the mklst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, 
 .Vart and JVarayan entered the field together. JVaraynn, beholding 
 a celestial bow in the hand ofvVar, it reminded him of his chaknl, 
 the destroyer of the asoors. The faithful weapon, by name soodar- 
 san, ready at the mind’s call, flew down from heaven with direct and 
 refulgent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold : and being arrived, 
 glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around, jYa- 
 ratjan, with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, hurled 
 forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger and glorious ruin of 
 •hostile towns ; who, raging like the final all-destroying fire, siiot 
 bounding with desolating force, killing thousands of file asoors in his 
 rapid flight^rburning and involving, like the lambent flame, and cut- 
 ting down all that would oppose him. Anon he climbeth the heavens, 
 pnd now again darteth into the field like a peesach,* to feast in hlootl. 
 
 “Now the dauntless asoors strive, with repeated strength to 
 crush the soors with rock and mountains, which, hurled in vast 
 numbers into the heavens, appeared like scattered clouds, and fell, 
 with all the trees thereon, in millions of fear-exciting torrents, strik- 
 ing violently against each other with a mighty noise ; and in their 
 fall the earth, with all its fields and forests, is driven from its foun- 
 dation ; they thunder furiously at each orther as they roll along the 
 field, and spend their strength in mutual conflict. 
 
 “ Now JVar, seeing the soors overwhelmed with fear, filled up the 
 path to heaven with showers of golden-headed arrows, and split the 
 mountain summits with his unerring shafts ; and the asoors finding 
 themselves again sore pressed by the soors, precipitately flee ; some 
 rush headlong into the briny waters of the ocean, and others hide 
 themselves within the bowels of the earth. . 
 
 “ The rage of the glorious chaJera, Soodarsan, which for a while 
 burnt like the oil-fed fire, now grew cool, and he retired into the 
 heavens from whence he came. And the soors having obtained the 
 victory, the mountain Mandar was cai’ried back to its former station 
 with great respect, whilst the waters also retired, filling the firma- 
 njent and the heavens with their dreadful roarings. 
 
 f Nar seems to have been the prince of Asoors. 
 
 * A spectre. 
 
78 
 
 “ TJie sooi s guarded the amreeta with great rare, and rejoiced ex- 
 ceedingly because of their success. And Eendra, with all his im- 
 mortal bands, gave the water of life unto JVarayan, to keep it for 
 their use.” 
 
 Minor Deities. 
 
 Garuda, who lay confined for five hundred years, within the 
 shell of his egg, eventually obtained so much power as to be 
 able to procure the amreeta, ov drink of immortality, by wliich 
 he delivered his mother from slavery. She had become a 
 slave, in consequence of losing a wager, with the other wife of 
 her husband, about the color of a horse. 
 
 Hanumunt is held in high veneration by the Hindoos. His 
 conception was preternatural, and hence his claim to be con- 
 sidered as an incarnation. His temples are very common in 
 Bombay. Sir William Jones observes, that “ the large breed 
 of Indian apes is still held in high veneration by the Hindoos, 
 and fed with devotion by the Brahmins, who seem in two or 
 three places on the banks of the Ganges, to have a regular en- 
 dowment for the support of them.” 
 
 Gunputtee is represented with an elephant’s head, and 
 mounted on a rat. In the temples, he is placed on a pedestal 
 with his legs crossed. An image of a rat is always placed be- 
 fore the door. “-This rat was a giant, called Gudja-mouga- 
 chourin, on whom the gods had bestowed immortality, as well 
 as great powers, which lie abused, and did much harm to man- 
 kind. — Entreated by the sages and penitents to deliver them, 
 he pulled out one of his tusks, and threw it at Gudja-mouga- 
 chourin: the tooth entered the giant’s stomach, and overthrew 
 him, who immediately changed himself into a rat, as large as a 
 mountain, and came to attack Gunputtee, who sprung upon 
 his back, telling him, that hereafter he should ever be his car- 
 rier.” The temples of this deity, (so far as my observation 
 has extended.) arc more common than those of any other dei- 
 ty ; and he receives a more universal reverence. “ All sacri- 
 fices and religious ceremonies, (says Sir William Jones,) all 
 addresses even to superior gods, all serious compositions in 
 
79 
 
 wi itiiig) and all worldly affairs of moment ; are begun by pious 
 Hindus, with an invocation of Ganesa, (i. e. Gunputtee.)” 
 The account of minor deities might be easily enlarged, but 
 it appears to me that enough has been said to give the reader a 
 tolerable view of the extravagance and folly of Hindoo My- 
 tliology. 
 
 (II.) 
 
 The moral character of the gods. 
 
 The moral character of the gods has necessarily appeared in 
 a considerable degree, in those legends which have been al- 
 ready given. One or two further illustrations only, will there- 
 fore now be necessary. 
 
 'rhe tricks of Krishna were innumerable. His mother, and 
 the people of his village were herd’s people, and lived by their 
 dairies. Krishna, daily employed his wisdom and power, in 
 stealing butter and cream. He led his companions into the 
 same courses, and would frequently make them abettors of the 
 mischief without sharing its gains. The popular stories repre- 
 sent him as extremely indelicate and incontinent. These sto- 
 ries would be utterly unsuitable to be recorded here, but they 
 greatly amuse the Hindoos in their assemblies, where males 
 and females promiscifcusly meet together. 
 
 The following account of Mahadeva and Parvati, is given by 
 ■yVilford, in the Asiatic Researches : 
 
 “ Mahadeva and Parvati, were playing with dice, at the ancient 
 game of Chaturanga, when they disputed and parted in wrath ; the 
 goddess retiring to the forest of Gauri, and the god repairing to 
 Cushadwip. They severally performed rigid acts of devotion to 
 the Supreme Being ; but the fires which they kindled blazed so ve- 
 hemently, as to threaten a general conflagration. The devas, in 
 great alarm, hastened to Brahma, who led them to Mahadeva, and 
 supplicated him to recall his consort ; but the wrathful deity only 
 
80 
 
 r.nswcrcd, (hat she must come by her own free choice. They ac- 
 cordingly dispatched Ganga, the river goddess, who pi-evailcd on 
 Parvati to return to him, on condition that his love for her should be 
 restored. The celestial mediatore then employed Caina-deva,* 
 who wounded Mahadeva with one of his floweiy arrows ; but the 
 angry divinity reduced him to ashes with a flame from his eye. 
 Parvati soon after presented herself before him in the form of a 
 cir.ati, or daughter of a mountaineer, and, seeing him enamoured of 
 her, resumed her own shape. In the place where they were recon- 
 ciled, a grove sprang up, which was named Camavana ; and the re- 
 lenting god, in the character of Cameswara, consoled the afflicted 
 Reti, the widow of Cama, by assuring her that she should rejoin 
 her husband, when he should be born again in tlie form of Prad- 
 yumna, son of Krishna, and should put Sambara to death. This 
 favorable prediction was in due time accomplished, and Pradyumna 
 having sprung to life, he was instantly seized by the demon Samba- 
 re, who placed him in a chest, rvhich he threw' into the ocean ; but 
 a large fish, which had s^vallowed the chest, was caught in a ne*t, 
 and carried to the palace of a tyrant, Avhere the unfortunate Reti 
 had been compelled to do menial service. It was her lot to open 
 the fish, and seeing an infant in the chest, she nursed him in private, 
 and educated him, till he had sufficient strength to destroy the ma- 
 lignant Sambara. He had before considered Reti as his mother ; 
 but the minds of them both being irradiated, the prophecy of Malm- 
 deva was remembered, and the god of lovt?, was again united with 
 the goddesii of pleasure,'’ • 
 
 ( 1 -) 
 
 The. worship of the Hindoos. 
 
 The temples, as is suggested in the sermon, are the habita- 
 tions of the gods, and not places of accommodation tor assem- 
 bled worshippers. Some of them are large and high, with af 
 dome and spire, but the apartments of the gods are small. 
 Many of the temples which I have seen, are low buildings. 
 
 The god of love. 
 
SI 
 
 having several apartments for different gods. These apart? 
 ments admit no light except by the door, through which in 
 passing the temples, the different deities may be seen enshrin- 
 ed, and glittering with gilded ornaments. There is consider* 
 able variety in the size of the apartments, which, generally, 
 are so small, as to be capable of admitting, hardly a dozen 
 people at a time. Little temples, for one deity only, are com- 
 mon, and are scattered over town and country ; but in the 
 principal places of resort, there are generally a number, and 
 all the temples are painted on the outside with an immense 
 variety of figures, exhibiting to the eye the wild fables of Hin- 
 doo mythology. 
 
 Many of the worshippers perform their service before the 
 door, standing in the vestibule. They carefully fix their eyes 
 upon the god to whose presence they have come, mutter, indis- 
 tinctly, a few words, salute the image by bringing both hands 
 to the forehead ; bow the head, slowly and solemnly, turn 
 around, ring the bell, and retire. I have often stood in front 
 of the temple of the goddess of Bombay, (for I could by no 
 means be suflered to enter it,) and seen these acts of worship. 
 And I have observed the proceedings of those devouter ones, 
 •whb enter into the temple itself. I have observed them, as 
 {hey entered, bringing their hands to their foreheads, and bow- 
 ing to her very feet ; touching themselves, apparently, with 
 some sacred water, and then joining those, who were circum- 
 ambulating the goddess, making a continual, and unbroken cir- 
 cle. At ten o’clock in the morning, I have observed her strip- 
 ped of her ornaments, (as well as her neighbor deities,) and 
 the Brahmins and Brahminees, washing and purifying her, to 
 be again apparelled and adorned for the worship of her delud- 
 ed votaries. I should have noticed the offerings of flowers 
 which are daily presented to her, and how her neck is over- 
 hung, with a multitude of odoriferous necklaces. 
 
 The same ceremonies of worship are performed at the other 
 temples. As the worshippers retire, they pay their tribute to 
 the Brahmins attendant at the temples ; who sit in the vesti- 
 bule on each side of the door, and receive a few kernels of rice 
 from the several worshippers in succession. These coUec=* 
 11 
 
82 
 
 iions, ami the oflerlngs to the gods, furnish their daily liveli- 
 hood. 
 
 Besides the ordinary daily worship, which has been describ- 
 ed, there is a noisy service performed in the morning and eve- 
 ning, by companies of singers, who unite their voices with the 
 discordant clangor of cymbals. In the singing on these occa- 
 sions, the voice is carried to its utmost stretch, and the coun- 
 tenance violently distorted, partly, as the natural consequence, 
 and partly, as an affectation of earnestness. To please the 
 gods, and not to harmonize the feelings in their worship, seems 
 to be the object of this act of service. The choir of musicians 
 are generally a solitary company, all whose senses, one would 
 imagine, must be stunned by their own noise. 
 
 It is usual for the Hindoos to keep in their own houses^ 
 small images, and even smooth stones brought from sacred 
 places. These they worship at home, besides the ordinary 
 visible worship which has been already described. It is com- 
 mon to observe them using forms of salutation, and repeating 
 praises while washing in the morning. Before eating, they 
 wash their bodies as an act of religious purification, and in con- 
 nection with religious worship. 
 
 A very considerable part of the service which the Hindoos 
 pay their gods, is the fulfilment of vows. To making these, in 
 great varieties, they are exceedingly addicted, not only to pro- 
 cure the removal of great evils, to avert great dangers, and 
 procure important favors, but on very slight occasions. The 
 circumambulation of the gods, which has been mentioned is 
 not only a part of the ordinary daily service but is often per- 
 formed in consequence of a vow. The votary determines the 
 number of circumvolutions, I suppose, by the degree of influ- 
 ence over the gods, which the case seems to require. 
 
 The religious fig-tree, “ with heart-shaped, pointed, and 
 tremulous leaves,” is highly venerated by the Hindoos, as 
 sacred to Vishnoo, and is worshipped in the manner which has 
 now been described. This tree I have observed at different 
 temples, but there is a very large and aged one at a temple in 
 the centre of Bombay, which is more particularly venerated 
 and worshipped. It is walled around, and a flagged footwalk 
 is prepared for the accommodation of the worshippers. Images 
 
83 
 
 ef clay are placed [around the body of the tree. To this tree 
 numbers of the natives daily resort, to fulfil their vows, which 
 can be done in many cases only by some hundreds of revolu- 
 tions. I have generally observed, when I have visited the 
 place early in the morning, twenty persons or more, following 
 each other around the tree, muttering as they went, and 
 throwing upon it their little offerings of rice and flowers, till 
 the roots of the tree became literally covered. The Asceticks 
 would sometimes come and toss in leaves between the wor- 
 shippers, upon the images of the gods. 
 
 There is a religious service (which I have observed very fre- 
 quently) common, I believe, principally, among the lower clas-. 
 §es, in fulfilment of a vow. It is denominated by a name, which 
 denotes the complete prostration of every part of the body, and 
 seems to be an acknowledgment of an entire surrender. A 
 curtain is held over the head of the votary, by four persons, 
 each supporting a corner. An offering of cocoa-nuts, fruits, 
 and flowers, and a band of noisy instruments attend him. 
 Thus attended, he measures his way towards the temple of the 
 god he serves, by repeatedly prostrating his body. At each 
 prostration the procession stands, and the musicians strike up 
 a louder tone, while the votary lays his body in the dust. In 
 the busiest hours of the day, and in the most public streets, 
 these processions are continually passing, and filling the streets 
 with a perpetual din. 
 
 The Pilgrimages which the Hindoos undertake, often, though 
 not always, are undertaken in consequence of vows. An in- 
 stance occurs to me, of a poor man of my acquaintance, who 
 took an expensive journey with his wife and infant son, to the 
 place whence his family originated, that he might there offer 
 to the family god, the hair of his son’s head, agreeably to a 
 vow which preceded his birth. It is very common to hear, of 
 a person that has been ill, that he has gone on a pilgrimage, 
 and there are holy places in every section of country, as well 
 as those which are visited by all the inhabitants of Hindostan, 
 to which, as occasion requires, the people are continually flock- 
 ing, in fulfilment of vows. Ramisseram, an Island between 
 Ceylon and the continent, — the famous Juggernaut in Orissa, 
 — the Island of Saugcr at the mouth of the Ganges, — that 
 
84 
 
 sacred river itself, and the city of Benares, are all well known 
 places of resort. A place called Nashcek, about one hundred 
 miles from Bombay, is much frequented by the natives there, 
 in the month of September. 
 
 A very important branch of the worship of the tlindoos, and 
 one in which all classes endeavor to honor the g<uls, is tliat of 
 making pilgrimages, on stated days, to particular temples, to 
 holy places, and for the performance of periodical worship. 
 Thus on one occasion the whole population, must go on a pil- 
 grimage (for thus the word they use, is usually translated) to 
 If^alokeeshwia', more than two miles from the town of Bombay, 
 a sacred tank, surrounded by temples, and houses of charity, 
 for the accommodation of mendicants, devotees, and all sorts 
 of religious persons, whom the sacredness of the place collects 
 together. — On another, three miles in another dii-ection, to 
 JHaha Laeshmi, to the temple of the great Laeshmi, the wife 
 of Vishnoo who has been already described. On another, they 
 must throng the court of Bombay davee^ bearing in their hands 
 com stalks, and boughs, passing in rapid succession through 
 the temples, ringing bells, and making a bustle of tlieir very 
 adorations, and paying their worship as to a god, to a tree sac- 
 red to Mahadeva, the worship of which ensures victory for the 
 year. 
 
 jyiarl Poojah, or Cocoanut day, which is on the full moon in 
 the month of August, near the close of the tempestuous season, 
 is one of the most remarkable of these pilgrimages. Between 
 the fort of Bombay and tlie native town, is a large plain, which 
 extends across the Island to the sea on either side. On the 
 Eastern side at the distance of a few miles appears the conti- 
 nent ; the Western opens to a bay, and presents as the view is 
 extended, tlie wide expanded sea. The shore, is here, gently 
 sloping, and is left bare for many a rod by the ebbing tide. 
 Towards the Northern extremity of the plain, arc the soldiers’ 
 lines, and a little farther on, the place of burning the dead, 
 which is continually smoking with the funeral pile. Here I 
 have seen assembled perhaps an hundred thousand people, up- 
 on the western shore, to perform the appropriate duties of this 
 anniversary, which are to make an ohering of Cocoanuts to tlie 
 sea. For some hours the plain is covered and the people form 
 
83 
 
 a cofltinuai procession down the sloping sliore, till their bodies 
 are half immersed in water. A prayer is then offered up, and 
 tlie worshippers as they successively arrive, toss into the sea a 
 Cocoanut with a bunch of sprigs and flowei-s. Thousands are 
 offered in tlie course of the day, after which the sea, wliich has 
 been now raging witli storms and billows for twelve weeks, is 
 expected to be quiet, and the Hindoos confidently commit their 
 property and their vessels to her bosom. I have been told that 
 this holiday is sacred to Parasu-Itama, who by his merits and 
 arrow procured the recession of the sea from the low’ lands on 
 the western side of India. This holiday, as its reported origin 
 would indicate, is peculiar to tlie western part of India. 
 
 Tlie ceremonies of the huli holidays about the month of 
 April, seem to be designed for the worship of an evil being. 
 These ceremonies, it is impossible to describe in any decent 
 manner. Let it be sufficient to observe, that for a fortnight, is 
 the season of noise, riot, ribaldry and indecent action, and 
 that men, women, and children, venerable old men, learned 
 philosophers, the best members of Hindoo Society, engage 
 in them publicly, apparently, under the full conviction that 
 they are indispensable to the favor of the gods. 
 
 (K.) 
 
 The influence of religious austerities. 
 
 The following extracts "will illustrate the views of the Hin- 
 doos on tliis subject. Though the accounts they give are fab- 
 ulous, tliey furnish, none the less, an exhibition of the general 
 views of the Hindoos at the present time, on tlie mode of (Stain- 
 ing the favor of the gods. 
 
 “ The pious, the royal sage, Bhugee-rutha, O son of Rughoo ! 
 was childless. Desirous of offspring, yet childless, the great mon- 
 arch entrusted the kingdom to the care of his counsellors, and, hav- 
 ing his heart set on obtaining the descent of Gunga, (the Ganges,) 
 
86 
 
 engaged in a long course of sacred austerities upon the mountain 
 Gokurna. With hands erected, he, O son of Rughoo ! surrounded 
 in the hot season with five fires,* according to the prescribed ordin- 
 ance ; in the cold season lying in water ; and in the rainy season ex- 
 posed to the descending clouds, feeding on fallen leaves, with his 
 mind restrained, and his sensual feelings subdued, this valiant and 
 great king continued a thousand years in the practice of the most 
 severe austerities. Tlie magnanimous monarch of mighty arm, hav- 
 ing finished this period, the divine lirumha, the lord of creatures, the 
 supreme governor, was highly pleased ; and with the gods, going 
 near to the, great Bhugee-rutha, eniploj'ed in sacred austerities, said 
 to him, I am proi»itious. O performer of sacred vows ! ask a bles- 
 sing. The mighty, the illustrious Bhugee-rutha, with hands re- 
 spectfully joined, replied to the sire of all, O divine one ! if thou art 
 pleased with me, if the fruit of my austerities may be granted, let 
 all the sons of Sugura^j obtain water for their funeral rites. The 
 ashes of the great ones being wetted by the water of Gunga, let all 
 my ancestors ascend to the carnal heavens-f Let a child, O divine 
 one ! be granted to us, that our family become not extinct. O god ! 
 let this great blessing be granted to the family of Ikshwakoo. The 
 venerable sire of all, replied to the king thus requesting, in the 
 sweetest and most pleasing accents: Bhugee-rutha, thou mighty 
 charioteer, be this great wish of thine heart accomplished. Engage 
 HuraJ O king ! to, receive (in her descent) Gunga, the eldest daugh- 
 ter of the mountain Himuvut.” 
 
 The effort made by Bhugec-rutlia to induce Seeva to receive 
 Gunga is thus described. 
 
 “Pruia-put.i being gone, Bhugee-rutha, O Rama! with uplifted 
 arm, without sujiport, without a helper, immoveable as a dry tree, 
 and feeding on air, remained day and night on the tip of his great 
 toe, upon the afflicted earth. A full year having now elapsed the 
 husband of Ooma,J and the lord of animals, who is reverenced by 
 all worlds, said to the king I am propitious to thee, O chief of men ! 
 I will accomplish thy utmost desire. To him the sovereign replied, 
 O Hura, receive Gunga. Bhurga): thus addressed, replied, I will 
 perform thy desire ; I will receive her on my head, the daughter of 
 the mountain. Muheshwura then, mounting on the summit of Hi- 
 muvut, addressed Gunga, the river flowing in the ether, saying de- 
 scend O Gunga !”H 
 
 * “ One towards each of the cardinal points, and the sun over his 
 head, towards which he was constantly looking.” 
 
 q Relatives of Bhugee rutha. 
 
 t “ The heaven from which there can be no fall.” t Seeva. 
 
 I! See the Ramayuna, translated by Drs. Carey and Marshman. 
 
87 
 
 Gunga descended in anger, expecting to bear down S^evtti 
 ’I'lie god received her unliurt, and would not allow her to de- 
 scend to the earth, till Bhugec-rutha had again performed aus- 
 terities : when Seeva became again propitious and Gunga Cow- 
 ed forth to water the earth, to gratifj the desires of king Bhu- 
 gee-rutha, and to become a water of ablution to mankind. 
 
 The following detail of austerities with malignant intention, 
 and of their dire effects, is cited by Maurice from the Seeva 
 Fooraun. 
 
 “ In the wood alidhoo, Which is on the confines of the kingdom of 
 Brege, Tarakee selected a pleasant and beautiful spot, adorned with 
 verdure and blossoms, and there exerted himself in penance and 
 mortification, externally, with the sincerest piety, but, in reality, the 
 most malignant intention, and with the determined purpose of op- 
 pressing the devetas ; penances such as credulity was astonished to 
 hear ; and they are here recounted. 
 
 1. For a hundred years, he held up his arms and one foot towards 
 heaven, and fixed his eyes upon the sun the whole time. 
 
 2. For a hundred years, he remained standing on tiptoe. 
 
 3. For a hundred years more, he nourished himself wdth nothing 
 but water. 
 
 4. For a hundred years more, he lived upon nothing but air. 
 
 5. For a hundred years more^ he stood and made his adorations 
 in the river. 
 
 6. For a hundred years more, he made those adorations buried up 
 to his neck in the earth. 
 
 7. For a hundred years more, enveloped with fire. 
 
 8. F or a hundred years more, he stood upon his head with his 
 feet towards heaven. 
 
 9. For a hundred years more, he stood upon the palm of one 
 hand resting on the ground. 
 
 10. Fora hundred years more, he hung by his hand from the 
 branch of a tree. 
 
 11. For a hundred years more, he hung from a tree with his head 
 downwards. 
 
 When he at length came to a respite from these severe mortifica- 
 tions, a radiant glory encircled the devotee, and a flame of fire arising 
 from his head, began to consume the whole world.” 
 
 The following whimsical illustration of the power which evil 
 beings may obtain over tlie gods, is given by Moore in his 
 “ Hindu Pantheon,” p, 333. 
 
S8 , 
 
 “Havana, by his power and infecnal arts, had subjugated all the 
 gods and demigods, and forced them to perform menial offices about 
 his pemoQ and household. Indra, made garlands of flowers to adorn 
 him withal ; Agni (fire) was his cook. Snrya (the sun) supplied 
 light by day, and Chandra (the moon) by night ; Varunu purvej-ed 
 ^vater for the palace ; Kuvera furnished cash. The wliole navagraha 
 (the nine planetary spheres) sometimes arranged theraselTes into a 
 ladder, by which they serving as steps, the tyrant ascended his 
 throne ; Brahma (for the great gods were there also ; and I give this 
 anecdote as 1 find it in my memoranda, without any improved ar- 
 rangement) — Brahma was a herald, proclaiming the giants titles, the 
 day of the week, month, kc. daily in tlie palace, — a sort of speaking 
 almanac : Mahadeva (L e. Seeva) in his avantara (incarnation) of 
 Kandeh-roo, performed the office of barber, and trimmed the giant’s 
 beards; Vishnu had the honorable occupation of instructing and 
 drilling the dancing and singing. girls, and selecting the fairest for tlie 
 royal betl : Gaiiesa had the care of tlie cow s, goats, and licrds ; Vayu 
 swept the house ; Yama washed the linen ; — and in this manner 
 were all the gods cmploj'ed in the menial offices of Ravana, who re- 
 buked and flogged them in default of industry and attention. Nor 
 were the female divinities exempted : for Bhavani, in her name and 
 form of Satni, was head aya, or muse, to Ravana’s children ; Lakshmi 
 and Sereswati were also among them, but it does not appear in w hat 
 capacity.” 
 
 The following extracts from Wilks’ historical sketches of 
 the South of India,* will finish the illustrations of the present 
 subject. 
 
 “ A Rachas, or giant, named Vrica, and in after times, BuSm-Asoof, 
 or the giant of the ashes, had by a course of devotion to ^lahadto 
 (Seeva) obtained from him the promise of whatever boon he should 
 ask. The rachas accordingly demanded, that every pei-son on 
 whose head he should place his right hand, might instantly be re- 
 duced to ashes ; and Mahadeo conferred the boon, without suspicion 
 of the purpose for which it was designed. 
 
 The rachas no sooner found himself possessed of this formidable 
 power, than he attempted to use it for the destruction of his bene- 
 factor. Maliadeo fled, the rachas pursued, and followed the fugitive 
 so closely as to chase him into a thick grave ; where Mahadeo, 
 changing his form and bulk, concealed himself in the centre of a 
 fruit, then called tunda puridoo. 
 
 The rachas haying lost sight of Mahadeo, enquired of a husband- 
 
 * See page 442. 
 
S9 
 
 ,inan, who was working in the adjoining field, whether he had seen 
 the fugitive, and what direction he had taken. The husbandman 
 who had attentively observed the whole transaction, fearful of the 
 future resentment of Mahadeo, and equally alarmed for the present 
 vengeance of the giant, answ'ered aloud, that he had seen no fugitive, 
 but pointed, at the same time, w ith the little finger of his right hand, 
 to the place of Mahadeo’s concealment. 
 
 In this extremitj’, Vislinoo descended, in the fbrm of a beautiful 
 damsel, to the rescue of Mahadeo. The rachas became instantly 
 enamoured. The damsel enjoined the performance of his ablu- 
 tions in a neighboring pool. After these were finished, she pre- 
 scribed, as a farther purification, the performance of the Sundia , — 
 a ceremony in which the right hand is successively applied to the 
 breast, to the crown of the head, and to other parts of the body. The 
 rachas, forgetful of the powers of his right liand, performed the sure 
 dia, and was himself reduced to ashes.” 
 
 The religious austerities, now commonly practised by the 
 Hindoos, cannot exactly resemble, either in their mode, or con- 
 sequences, those which have been now described. They con- 
 form to them, however, in their general character, and are sup- 
 posed to give the devotee an influence with the gods, both on 
 his own behalf and the behalf of others. 
 
 (L.) 
 
 The reverence paid to the objects of nature^ and living crea- 
 tures. 
 
 The Hindoos, of all sexes and ages, leave their houses iin* 
 mediately after sunset, on the evening when the new moon is 
 first visible, to pay her reverence. Every eye is directed to- 
 wards that part of the heavens in which they expect her to ap- 
 pear, and they watch in silent expectation, till the twilight has 
 become sufficiently dim to render her visible. As soon as they 
 see her, they bring their hands to their heads; and bowing, 
 12 
 
90 
 
 Address her according to the usual foi tn of salutation, which I 
 know not how better to translate, than by “ How do you do, 
 Ma’am.” 
 
 Every coiv is sacred. The usual forms of salutation are 
 frequently made to them. Cow-dung is abundantly used in 
 purifying the floors of houses, and seems to be considered as 
 indispensable in removing defilements. One method of taking 
 oaths, is by holding cow'-dung in the hand. The murder of 
 cows is always mentioned, and that early, in the list of crimes. 
 The salvation of herds, is mentioned as one of the moving 
 causes, in the principal incarnations of the gods. 
 
 To eat cow’s flesh, would be a crime not to be expiated, and 
 the very thought of it seems dreadful to a Hindoo. A servant 
 by all means avoids being accessory to the crime of which his 
 master is guilty, in eating beef, or veal, and will not so much 
 as touch the plate on which those viands are laid. In teaching 
 a school composed principally of Hindoo boys, I prepared an 
 English phrase in praise of veal, among many others, for my pu- 
 pils to commit to memory. When I proposed it to them, to 
 repeat after me. I found they were all panick-struck, and that 
 not one of them would open his mouth, to utter so horrid a sen- 
 timent. I have been credibly informed, that all the beef which 
 is used by the English force stationed at Poonah, is killed 
 eighty miles distant at Seroor. The Raja cannot admit the 
 criminal slaughter to take place any nearer. 
 
 The sacred bulls, wander over all the streets, exceeding 
 plump and fat, having an allowed right to feed at all the stalls, 
 and constantly receiving portions from the liberal and religious. 
 
 The worship of the fabled serpent is annually on the fifth 
 day of the new moon, in the month of August. One of the 
 causes, to which the appointment of this anniversary is attri- 
 buted, is as follows : — When Krishna was a boy, as he was 
 playing, his ball fell into a pond. As he was searching for it 
 at the bottom, he came to the house of Kalya, a serpent, and a 
 god of destruction. The wives of Kalya threatened Krishna 
 with the vengeance of their lord : upon which he put a rope in 
 his nose, and dragged him out to dry land. His wives inter- 
 ceded in his behalf, and Krishna consented to release him. At 
 that time Kalya, begged of Krishna the privilege of being wor- 
 
91 
 
 •hipped one day in the year, Ins request was granted, and in 
 consequence he receives the services of the present anniver- 
 sary. 
 
 In the suburbs of Bombay, on a rocky situation, there is a 
 small cavern, resembling, but considerably larger than, an 
 oven. At the extremity, there is a small cavity, at which, it 
 is storied, the serpent used annually to appear, to receive the 
 worship of mankind. Many profess to believe that he does so 
 still, but others say, that since the unclean Mahometans have 
 begun to inhabit that quarter, the place has become so polluted, 
 that he no longer condescends to gratify the wishes of his vota- 
 ries. The people however, frequent the spot, and pay their 
 oflferings, as sedulously, as though he were miraculously to 
 manifest himself, with some tokens of divine claim to worship. 
 I attended there, very early in the morning on the day of an- 
 nual pilgrimage to that spot, and saw the people casting parch- 
 ed rice, milk and money about the cavern, and placing them 
 in the aperture, where he is said to make his appearance. In 
 the afternoon, an immense concourse was collected on the 
 spot. Tamed serpents w ere brought in great numbers, and 
 received in rich abundance the ofterings of the people. 
 
 CM.) 
 
 Religious Devotees. 
 
 Religious devotees are the uniform appendages of all the 
 principal temples. Those with whom I have met at Bombay 
 were not generally natives of that Island, but strangers from 
 different parts of India, who arrived there from time to time on 
 temporary visits, such as according to their manner of life, they 
 pay, as a means of increasing sanctity, to one holy place after 
 another. Their prominent, general characteristics, are, those 
 disgusting consequences of entire neglect, which are mention- 
 ad in the sermon j while there is a variety in the particular 
 
92 
 
 courses wliidi they pursue. In one place, maybe seen, aman 
 sitting upon the floor within the vestibule of the temple, labo- 
 riously bending his body backward and forward, repeating the 
 names of the gods and panting for breath, as ifhe were unwilling 
 to occupy his time in breathing: — in another, a man standing — 
 had almost said in a clock-case with a little roof over his bead, to 
 protect him from the weather, reading the vedas : — in another, 
 leaning upon the branch of a tree, a man who has vowed never 
 to sit down, and, not to swell this article unnecessarily, every 
 •where, more marks of filth, and more preparation to disgust all 
 love of decency, and all modesty, than it is possible for any 
 but an eye witness to conceive, and more than I am anxious to 
 describe. 
 
 It is well known that many of the religious devotees among 
 the Hindoos, practice the most severe austerities. The sever- 
 est which I have witnessed, and that only in two or three in- 
 stances, is, the elevating of the arm, and suffering the joint to 
 indurate and the arm to perish, in that position, one of which 
 cases is mentioned in the sermon. 
 
 The number of religious devotees, compared with tbe bulk 
 of the people, is small, and did we consider their practices and 
 habits, only, as bearing testimony, to tbe delusion and dark- 
 ness of their own minds, the existence of this class of people, 
 would be to be deplored, but not to be considered as stamping 
 upon the people at large the most degraded character. The 
 truth is that the people, universally, venerate tliem, as eminent- 
 ly holy, and supplicate them, in the belief, that they have such 
 power with tiie gods, ns to be able greatly to assist them in 
 their wants and difficulties. 
 
 lleing engaged, solely, in devotion, they live upon the labors 
 of otliers, and daily levy their contributions upon the people. 
 In my morning walks, I used always to see a great many of 
 these ])oople, fat, la'/,y, dirty and covered with ashes, taking 
 their daily rounds. They run fast singing as they go. They 
 carry upon their arms a little bag to receive the alms of the 
 people, and as they run, stop at every door, uttering as the 
 signal of their arrival a peculiar yell, and then stand singing 
 the praises of the god.s. At the well known signal, the women 
 
93 
 
 couie to the door, with a little rice or flour in their hands and 
 pour it into the bag of the saint, who having given his blessing, 
 immediately runs again and as soon as he reaches another door 
 again sets up his yell, and with the same success. 
 
 Tlie view wiiicii has been given of the idolatry of the Hin- 
 doos, is, by no means, calculated to damp the ardor of the zeal- 
 ous, or discourage the hopes of the believing. The case of the 
 Hindoos, presents one of the multifarious forms of human de- 
 pravity ; a depravity which in every form baffles the unaided 
 labors of man, but is effectually subdued by the power of the 
 gospel in the hearts of all believers. The grand obstacle to 
 their conversion, is not tlie form of their depravity, by which 
 they differ from others 5 but its substance, by which they a- 
 grce with the great family of mankind. Whoever labors for 
 the conversion cf men, in any country, will find the principal 
 difficulty to be, in awakening the conscience, and convincing 
 of sin. In every country are to be found the same general 
 features of character, and, similar excuses to palliate guilt 
 and quiet the conscience. The reader will perhaps anti- 
 cipate me, in comparing, what the Hindoos say in their own 
 justification of the sinful nature of the present age, of the re- 
 sistless rule of the senses and of matter, and of the appoint- 
 ment of heaven, to some of the excuses which are so common 
 in a country highly favored as our own. 
 
 Let the Holy Spirit convince the Hindoo of sin, and the 
 charm of idolatry will dissolve. He will find the services, and 
 penances of his religion insufficient to relieve his mind 5 and 
 he will anxiously ask, “ What must I do to be saved ?” Tlien 
 will he receive as “glad tidings of great joy” the message 
 which the gospel brings to every convinced and desponfling 
 soul, “ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
 saved.” Were the office of the Missionary to be fulfilled, by- 
 turning the Heathen from one formality to another, by his own 
 
94 
 
 efforts alone, he niiglit well despair wlien he sees tlic strength 
 of their attachment to the religion of their ancestors. But 
 feeling as he must, that he has done nothing, until he has ef- 
 fected a radical change, he must necessarily be driven from all 
 self-confidence, to that reliance upon an Almighty arm, which 
 will enable him to hope even against hope amidst the most 
 idolatrous people on earth. He will remember, that the well 
 watered places of a Christian land are desolate and barren, till 
 the power of God is upon them, to revive and to restore ; and 
 will learn to labor among the heathen in the joyous hope, that 
 by the same power, even the desert shall become, a fruitful 
 feld. 
 
 In conclusion then, Christian Brethren, partakers of the 
 heavenly calling, — the Hindoos, — almis from the common- 
 wealth of Israel, and strangers from those covenants of prom- 
 ise, which are the stability of our joy and confidence, — claim 
 to be “ brought nigh by the blood of Christ.” They claim to 
 be meu\e fellow-heirs of our privileges as Christians, they claim 
 to be admitted to the fellowship of the gospel. 
 
 The design of the gospel, so far as its glory shall appear on 
 earth, (and on earth its glory shall be great,) is, to unite man- 
 kind at large, in one great brotherhood, by the faith of one 
 infinite Redeemer, and in the service of God their maker. In 
 its offers, there is “ neither Greek, nor Jew, Barbarian, Scythi- 
 an, bond, nor free.” The “ unsearchable riches of Christ,” 
 are the gift of heaven to no particular people, but have been 
 preached, and must be preached among the Gentiles,— “ to 
 make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which 
 from the beginning of the w'orld hath been hid in God, who 
 created all things by Jesus Christ : to the intent, that now, 
 unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might 
 be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, accor- 
 ding to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord.” It is the design of God, that a mystery, concealed 
 by the nature and design of the Jewish dispensation, should be 
 progressively, and gloriously, revealed in the ages of the gos- 
 pel ; that, both by men on earth, and the angelic hosts of 
 heaven, the church, “ all glorious within,” may be seen ex- 
 tending her blessings far and wide, till the abundance of the 
 
95 
 
 iea shall be converted unto her, and the forces of the Gentiles 
 come to her ; till peace shall come to her like a river, and the 
 glory of the Gentiles like ajioicing stream ; anil in all the beau- 
 ty, which was designed in the original plan of redemption, when 
 it was intended that God should be glorious in rebuilding the 
 ruins of a fallen world, she shall appear “fair as the moon, 
 clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” 
 
 fellowshi'p of the gospel, Christian reader, you are a 
 member ; a partaker of its spirit, and of its hopes ; and are 
 you not desirous of being a co-worker in its grand design; a 
 partner with your immortal Head in the grand results of his re- 
 deeming love ? Initiated into the fellowship of the gospel, you 
 are not your own ; you are bound by its rules, and however 
 limited your sphere, or abject your condition, it is your en- 
 nobling privilege, to be admitted to a partnership of glory. 
 
 In order to the full enjoyment of this privilege, however, 
 (than which, there is not a greater offered to mankind,) some- 
 thing more is required than occasional impulses and inactive 
 convictions. Each in the sphere of life which God and duty 
 assign (for they assign nothing inconsistent with the fellowship 
 of the gospel) and aware that the rule of Christian benev- 
 olence is limited in its application, not by the professions, en- 
 gagements, and circumstances of men, must submit himself to 
 that entire dominion of Cliristian benevolence, which he ap- 
 proves and expects in the Missionary, who has publicly avowed 
 the obligation he is under. Rather, each should be animated 
 by that spirit, at once the evidence and the cause of the ap- 
 proaching glories of the reign of Christ, which consecrates to 
 him the whole of human life. Be this the age, for the opera- 
 tion of this pervading principle. Christian, be thou the man, 
 living to fulfil thy duties, and to be a blessing to mankind ; — to 
 be a pattern of that charity which thou approves! in others ; 
 be thou the man to consecrate thy life to infinite and immortal 
 purposes, and by thy liberality, thy prayers, or thy exertions, 
 having turned many to righteousness, to shine like the stars of 
 the firmament forever.