Bravura

“ This, indeed, was the case, for with a vigorous crunch of his jaws, Bramble-buffer now smashed beams, rafters, joists, and planks all into one shapeless mass, which he forthwith spat out of his mouth as fast as he could, and afterwards indulged in a long, deep sigh of relief. It was a moment of agonizing suspense to the men. Suppose the giant should play false? They might indeed put out his eyes, but his roars would probably bring other giants to his aid before long, and, when free, his vengeance would be terrible. ”

“ Asirvadam the Brahmin has raised up lusty boys to himself, as every good Brahmin should; and they shall bind together his thumbs and his great toes, and lay him on the ground, when his hour is come,—lest the bed or the mat cling to his ghost, whithersoever it go, and torment it eternally. His wife shall spread beneath him a cloth that the hands of Kooleen Brahmins have woven. Lilies of Nilufar shall garland the neck of the happy cow that is to lead him safely beyond the fiery river, and the rings shall be golden wherewith her horns are tipped. ”

“ And he drew near to the gods of the retinue of Brahmā, and said: “Where, my friends, do the four great elements-earth, water, fire, and wind-cease, leaving no trace behind? "
‘And when he had thus spoken the gods of the retinue of Brahmā replied: “We, brother, do not know that. But there is Brahmā, the Great Brahmā, the Supreme One, the Mighty One, the All-seeing One, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Controller, the Creator, the Chief of all, appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the Father of all that are and are to be [20] He is more potent and more glorious than we. ”

“ The sweet echoes rang through the lily-cups to the vibrations of its fragrant petals. Soft melody of innocent life mingled with the voice of the waters. The good spirits sent by Bramah soothed the child now sleeping, and fanned its cheek with their breath, like the smoke of the welcome incense to the divine one. No eye saw the frail burden save Bramah’s, and the holy Ganges, on whose faithful bosom it reposed. ”

“ The Brahmin must eat no meat, nor any thing that has had life; he must drink no spirituous liquors. He must use no vessel for cooking or eating that has been used by any one of a lower caste; if a Sudra but look upon the pot in which his rice is boiling, it must be broken. He cannot receive water or cooked food from any but Brahmins; nor can he have a Sudra as a servant in his house. A man of any other caste, even though a king, is too impure to hand food to a Brahmin beggar. ”

“ As Raja, the warrior, sprang from the right arm of Brahma, and Vaishya, the cultivator, from his belly, and Soodra, the laborer, from his feet,—so Asirvadam the Brahmin was conceived in the head and brought forth from the mouth of the Creator; and he is above the others by so much as the head is above arms, belly, and feet; he is wiser than the others, inasmuch as he has lain among the thoughts of the god, has played with his inventions, and made excursions through the universe with his speech. ”

“ The wise Brahmin knew nothing of this, and merely said, for the sake of a few rupees, what Farebwala told him to say. For the bribe of a hundred rupees, he would have declared the herdsman's child to be the son of a rajah.
"Who are you, O ass, and son of an ass, who would pour contempt on holy devotees!" cried the angry Brahmin.
The youths around, easily moved to mirth or to mockery—as the chaff is whirled round by a light puff of wind—joined in the insulting Cry, "O ass, and son of an ass!" ”

“ The gods, they said, were of superior caste to mortals; but the Brahmini easily rose to the occasion, and her feminine wit supplied her with a crushing answer to them. She coolly assured her guests that the origin of herself and her husband was as divine as they themselves claimed, for all Brahmins, she reminded them with a smile of superior wisdom, were the offspring of Brahma, the Sirdar of the gods. Putting into the hands of Haro a copy of the sacred writings, she asked him to refresh his memory. ”

“ It need scarcely be said that the derivation is fanciful.↑ Brahmá, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first person of the divine triad of India. The four heads with which he is represented are supposed to have allusion to the four corners of the earth which he is sometimes considered to personify. As an object of adoration Brahmá has been entirely superseded by S'iva and Vishnu. In the whole of India there is, I believe, but one temple dedicated to his worship. ”

“ Brahmâ became afraid of his creation, and, addressing himself to Rudra, said — "O Chief of Devas, desist from such creation. Thy progeny with their fiery eyes are consuming all and even consuming me. Take to Tapas for the joy of all beings. By Tapas thou shalt create the Universe as it was of yore. By Tapas thou shalt gain that Bhagavân who dwells in all hearts." "Amen," said Rudra, and he went into the forests to make Tapas.
Brahmâ then begot ten sons: — Marichi, Atri, Angirasa, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasishtha, Daksha and Nârada. ”

“ But the rude inhabitants of the hilly ranges, the aborigines of the country, in many places know nothing of the gods or the religion of the Brahmins. In feature, the Brahmins are more handsome, as well as more intelligent in expression, and in complexion lighter, than the Tamil and other races of Southern India. In mental power, also, they are their superiors, while, from their station, they derive elegance and self-possession in manners. ”

“ All those things round me—the primeval forest, and the sacred stream of Ganga, the mighty Himalaya, mount of God, ay, the illimitable vault of heaven above me, sun and stars—what are they but “such stuff as dreams are made of”? Brahm thought, and they became something and somewhere. He may think again, and they will become nothing and nowhere. Are these eternal, greater than I, worth troubling my mind about? Nothing is eternal, but the Thought which made them, and will unmake them. They are only venerable in my eyes, because each of them is a thought of Brahm’s. ”

“ Any one who gives him an umbrella will never more be scorched by the sun; any one who gives him a pair of shoes will never have blistered feet; any one who gives him sweet spices will never more be annoyed by ill smells; and any one who gives him a cow will go to heaven.
You may be sure that, after such promises, the Brahmins get plenty of presents; indeed, they may generally be known by their well-fed appearance, as well as by their proud manner of walking. They always wear a white cord hung round their necks.
But we must not suppose that all Brahmins are rich, and all sudras poor ”

“ That of Brahmá is called Brahma-loka, situate on the summit of mount Meru; that of Vishnu is Vaikuntha, on the Himálayas; that of [S'] iva and Kuvera is Kailása, also on the Himálayas; that of Indra is Swarga or Nandana. The latter, though properly on the summit of mount Meru, below Brahmá's paradise, is sometimes identified with the sphere of the sky or heaven in general. It is the only heaven of orthodox Bráhmanism. ”

“ Crossing the gloom, gazing with wonder in many directions, let the unborn soul go up to heaven.”
From the Vedas has arisen the great sacred Brahmin caste, which even now ranks highest throughout India. It is regarded as pure, stainless, divine, as well as human, worthy of unbounded admiration and worship. The Brahmin is the general preceptor, the guide of many millions of Hindus, residing in the vast country lying between the Himalayas and Cape Comarin. ”

“ Leaving these places, further on along the coast is a town of the Moors, well walled, and built of good houses of stone and whitewash, which is called Brava. It has not got a king; it is governed by its elders, [27] they being honoured and respectable persons. It is a place of trade, which has already been destroyed by the Portuguese, with great slaughter of the inhabitants, of whom many were made captives, and great riches in gold, silver, and other merchandise were taken here, and those who escaped fled into the country, and after the place was destroyed they returned to people it. ”

“ As the boat gently passed out of subterranean darkness, and floated over the threshold of Nain, the realm of the dwarf of death, Bragi, the fair and immaculate young god, who until then had shown no signs of life, suddenly sat up, and, seizing the golden harp beside him, began to sing the wondrous song of life, which at times rose up to heaven, and then sank down to the underground realm of Hel, the goddess of death. ”

“ The yoke of superstition is really [32] too heavy to bear. In desiring to have something more, I lost even what I had already!
The privileges of a Brahmun are great. His person is sacred. It would be a sin if any one should dare to touch him by the foot, for the foot is a profane part of the body, as they believe. The caste Soodras, rising from the foot of Brohmo, became the lowest. When one priest accidentally touches another by the foot, he asks his pardon, saying, “Bishtŏ-bă nōmō.” It would be considered a real favor if a Brahmun should tread on a physician or barber, or other low caste. ”

“ Here brahma is wind, around which die five divinities—lightning in rain, rain in moon, moon in sun, sun in fire, fire in wind—and they are reborn in reverse order. The 'dying' is used as a curse. The king shall say, 'When fire dies in wind then may my foe die,' and he will die; so when any of the other gods dies around brahma. ”

“ So they went down to meet the Brahmin in the jungle, taking with them all their followers and attendants. Then the Brahmin uncovered his chattee, saying, “Beat, stick, beat! beat them every one!” and the stick jumped out, and the rope jumped out, and the rope caught hold of the Rajah and the rich Brahmin and all their attendants, and tied them fast to the trees that grew around, and the stick ran from one to another, beating, beating, beating—beating the Rajah, beating his courtiers—beating the rich Brahmin, beating his attendants, and beating all their followers ”

“ Buddha is dead and gone; but his followers put up petitions to him, though there is no one to hear and answer their prayers. But I must stop for the want of time rather than because there is nothing more to be said; and I have done no more than touch the subject."
"But it is not very different from Brahminism," suggested Professor Giroud.
"You are quite right, Professor," replied Sir Modava. "Brahma means the universal spirit; but it is not a personal divinity to be worshipped. I believe there is not an idol or sculpture in all India that represents Brahma. ”

“ The Brahmins as a rule never allowed dogs or fowls to enter their houses. They reared cows for the sake of their milk, parrots to amuse their women and children, and mangoose to kill the serpents which might intrude into their houses or gardens. [76] Their chief employment was to keep up the triple sacred fires in their homes, to perform yogas or sacrifices and to chant Vedic hymns. To the other castes they posed as ”heaven compellers.” They engaged as teachers occasionally Some of them were Tamil poets. ”

“ Among animals, they chiefly look upon the cow, ox, elephant, ape, eagle, swan, peacock, and serpent, as sacred; among plants, the lotus, the banana, and the mango-tree.
“The Brahmins have an especial veneration for a stone, which is, according to Sonnerat, a fossil ammonite in slate.
“It is in the highest degree remarkable that there is no representation of the Supreme Being to be found in all Hindostan. The idea appears too great for them; they consider the whole earth as his temple, and worship him under all forms. ”

“ For this purpose, a number of Brahmins, willing to bear his sins för a good compensation, were collected at the palace. The rajah, dressed in his robes, with his sword to add to his weight, got into one scale of a balance; the other was filled with gold, silver and jewels, until it weighed him down. These were divided with certain prescribed forms among the Brahmins who took his sins upon their own heads. The infatuated rajah believes that these men will suffer the penalty due him for his sins, and that he is relieved of their weight. ”

“ Every Brahmin must pray at morning and evening twilight in some unfrequented place, near pure water, and must bathe daily; he must also daily perform five sacraments, viz., studying the Vedas, making oblations to the manes of the departed, giving rice to living creatures, and receiving guests with honour. ”

“ Then at Bharadwāja's command, came into being near Bharata streams having payaca for their slime. And at the pleasure of the Brāhmana, on both their banks arose charming dwellings, covered with pale clay. And at that very moment there came twenty thousand women commissioned by Brahmā, adorned with divine ornaments. And there came also twenty thousand females sent by Kuvera, decked out in gold and gems, pearls and corals. ”

“ But the main points which distinguish Brahmā from the other gods are the same in all. Hēmādri mentions some forms of Brahmā such as Prajāpati, Visvakarma, [6] Lokapāla and Dharma. It may be noted that the swan vehicle and the goddesses are rarely, if at all, found in the figures of Brahmā generally set up in South-Indian temples.
Illustrations. An old picture of Brahmā from Seven Pagodas (fig. 6) and a later one from Kumbakōnam (fig. 7) illustrate the standing posture described above. ”