Richard Francis Burton

“ The Brahman, or priest, is supposed to proceed from the mouth of Brahma, the creating person of the Triad; the Khshatriyas (soldiers) from his arms; the Vaishyas (enterers into business) from his thighs; and the Shudras, "who take refuge in the Brahmans," from his feet. Only high caste men should assume the thread at the age of puberty.
[FN#174] Soma. the moon, I have said, is masculine in India.
[FN#175] Pluto.
[FN#176] Nothing astonishes Hindus so much as the apparent want of affection between the European parent and child. ”

“ The Sevras are Jain beggars, who regard their chiefs as superior to the gods of other sects. The Sannyasis are mendicant followers of Shiva; they never touch metals or fire, and. in religious parlance, they take up the staff They are opposed to the Viragis, worshippers of Vishnu, who contend as strongly against the worshippers of gods who receive bloody offerings. as a Christian could do against idolatry. ”

“ At least, so we explain them: but people do not worship abstract powers.
[FN#196] The residence of Indra, king of heaven, built by Wishwa- Karma, the architect of the gods.
[FN#197] In other words, to the present day, whenever a Hindu novelist, romancer, or tale writer seeks a peg upon which to suspend the texture of his story, he invariably pitches upon the glorious, pious, and immortal memory of that Eastern King Arthur, Vikramaditya, shortly called Vikram. ”

“ The sufferings from cramp also must be very severe. In India generally impalement was more common than crucifixion.
[FN#110] Our Suttee. There is an admirable Hindu proverb, which says, "No one knows the ways of woman; she kill her husband and becomes a Sati."
[FN#111] Fate and Destiny are rather Moslem than Hindu fancies.
[FN#112] Properly speaking, the husbandman should plough with not fewer than four bullocks; but few can afford this. If he plough with a cow or a bullock, and not with a bull, the rice produced by his ground is unclean, and may not be used in any religious ceremony. ”

“ The cow is called the mother of the gods, and is declared by Brahma, the first person of the triad, Vishnu and Shiva being the second and the third, to be a proper object of worship. "If a European speak to the Hindu about eating the flesh of cows," says an old missionary, "they immediately raise their hands to their ears ”

“ In the religion of the Hindoos there is one remarkable peculiarity. Prayers, penances, and sacrifices are supposed to possess an inherent and actual value, in one degree depending upon the disposition or motive of the person who performs them. ”

“ In the original, "Div"--a supernatural being god, or demon. This part of the plot is variously told. According to some, Raja Vikram was surprised, when entering the city to see a grand procession at the house of a potter and a boy being carried off on an elephant to the violent grief of his parents The King inquired the reason of their sorrow, and was told that the wicked Div that guarded the city was in the habit of eating a citizen per diem. ”

“ By becoming servants to the king; by pursuing any secular business; by acting priests to Shudras (serviles) ; by officiating as priests for a whole village; and by neglecting any part of the three daily services. Many violate these rules; yet to kill a Brahman is still one of the five great Hindu sins. In the present age of the world, the Brahman may not accept a gift of cows or of gold; of course he despises the law. As regards monkey worship, a certain Rajah of Nadiya is said to have expended œ10,000 in marrying two monkeys with all the parade and splendour of the Hindu rite. ”

“ Their tenets are consequently exaggerated and ridiculed, as in the text. They believe that there is no such God as the common notions on the subject point out, and they hold that the highest act of virtue is to abstain from injuring sentient creatures. ”

“ Shiva is always painted white, no one knows why. His wife Gauri has also a European complexion. Hence it is generally said that the sect popularly called "Thugs," who were worshippers of these murderous gods. spared Englishmen, the latter being supposed to have some rapport with their deities.
[FN#191] The Hindu shrine is mostly a small building, with two inner compartments. ”

“ In these cases the legs and feet of the patient began to swell and mortify at the expiration fo three or four days; men are said to have lived in this state for a fortnight, and at last they expired from fatigue and mortification. ”