Behramji Malabari

“ What becomes of them after death it would be idle speculation to enlarge upon; but if I am to trust Vaishnava traditions, death means to them the departure of the wearied soul to Swarga, where its sole occupation is—flirting with the spirits of those who were the choicest among his female friends on earth! ”

“ The Máháráj is a very pious man a week before he dies, and when he dies he goes to where the rest of us do not—that is, to Kailás. He generally dies without issue, and without a groan.
Having described the average head-priest of the Vaishnavas as he actually is, I may also give a brief sketch of the career of the late Jivanlálji Máháráj, of Gujarát, who is now supposed to be a saint in the Vaishnava heaven. ”

“ The Máháráj and his worshippers afterwards found out that they were not quite agreed as to the meaning of "female education," but that mattered little. Jivánlálji Máháráj is spoken of as having been "the best among the brethren." I hope this assertion is meant as a compliment, though I very much fear the being "best" among Vaishnava Máhárvjás is at the best a sorry way of spending one's life in these days. But we cannot judge of these exalted personages from our own standard. It is enough for us that they die sooner or later ”

“ He is born a "lord" of ancestors the Lord knows who, and at a very tender age he lords it over a seraglio of intellectual ladies whose husbands are men of highly liberal marital sentiment. It is a wonder to many how the Máháráj lives in such a princely style. ”

“ Europeans and others may think Máhárájism a foul superstition, a system of vile sensualism; but so long as it is sustained by the "odour of sanctity," it will hold in thrall tens of thousands of families in India within its embruted cult. ”

“ Every sensible native knows that these priests "pollute their sanctuary," and in the name of religion desolate hearths and homes, and poison the fountain of domestic happiness. Karsandás Mulji, the truly enlightened Bania reformer, waged war on the tribe of Máhárájá's twenty years ago. ”

“ He often builds houses, opens a new business, or goes in for "philanthropic" pursuits with the money he has so miraculously obtained soon after having been "whitewashed." He has no thought, even then, of the hundreds whose homes he has made desolate by his refined rascality. ”

“ It is a most incomprehensible psychological phenomenon. No husband is more jealous than the Hindu; no wife values her honour so high as the Hindu wife. And still, both make a merit of sacrificing the most cherished social privilege! What power of faith is theirs! But how perverted!
↑ Literally, Great King. ↑ Late Finance Minister of India. ↑ * Madana Murti, the Image of Cupid, as the Máháráj is named by fair worshippers. ↑ Literally, the Essence of Pleasure. ↑ The renowned barrister. ↑ The great Hindu reformer of Bombay, who died about 1869. ”