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SIR,

V.-Curious specimen of Hindu superstition.

To the Editor of the Calcutta Christian Observer.

The following Sanscrit lines exhibit a curious instance of that subtle policy with which the superstitious Hindus, whose every daily act is regulated by some religious prescription, have been trammelled and enthralled by the crafty devisers of their theology. They detail the several names by which the various gods are to be invoked on the most important occasions of human life. I offer them to you under the impression they may be interesting to many of your readers; such, I mean, as are desirous of acquainting themselves particularly with the habits and modes of thinking, and superstitions of the Hindus, among whom they dwell, and in whom they are, from various causes, more or less interested. To the Christian, and Christian Missionary in particular, they will, I think, be acceptable, as leading to some useful and affecting reflexions on the subtlety, power and influence of the Hindu system which all desire, and many labour so generously, and assiduously, and pityingly, to expose and overturn, in order to make room for the blessed operation of the benignant, pure, and elevating power of Christianity.

श्राषधे चिन्तयेत् विष्णुं भोजने च जनार्द्दनं ।

शयने पद्मनाभञ्च विवाहेच प्रजापतिं ॥
युद्धे चक्रधरं देवं प्रवासेच त्रिविक्रमं ।
नारायणं तनुत्यागे श्रीधरं प्रियसङ्गमे ॥
दुःस्वप्नेस्मरगोविन्दं सङ्कटे मधुखदनं ।
कानने नरसिंहञ्च पर्व्वते रघुनन्दनं ॥
जलमध्ये वराहञ्च पावके जलशायिनं ।
गमने वामदेवञ्च सर्व्वकार्येषु माधवं ॥
एतानिषेोडशनामानि प्रातरुत्थाययः पठेत् ।
सर्व्वपापहरं पुष्यं विष्णुलोकं सगच्छति ॥

Which literally rendered, are too bald to be of any interest, being a string of mere precepts to invoke such and such names on such and such occasions: the reasons being not stated, but implied in the etymological meaning of the several epithets. I have ventured to imitate them in English verse, in which nothing is attempted beyond a simple exhibition of the bonâ fide meaning

of the original precepts; and confining myself thereto, all ornament is of course excluded, as well as all pretension to poetical merit. The title may run thus:—

A Guru's instructions to his pupils for the special appellations to be employed in the invocation of the gods, appropriately to the sundry acts to be performed. 1. Obedience due thy ready choice,

List, scholar, list thy teacher's voice,
Whilst I rehearse those names divine,
Which in each serious act of thine,
Thou must with faith devout invoke-
And thus the reverend Guru spoke.

2. Whene'er the healing draught you drink,
On Vishnu's name devoutly think;
Preserver of the world lo! He-
The mild, blest Saviour-Deity!
He shall the healthful medicine bless,
And chase away thy sicknesses.

3. So e'er the strengthening meal you eat,
Invite Janárddant to the treat.
O! all-ador'd, by thee we live!
Thou nourishment to all dost give.
Destroyer-of-ill, 'tis thine too, thine
To shield from harm by power divine;
To bid each envious demon flee,
And guard the food's just purity;
Hunger's fierce cravings to allay,
And give the stomach organs play.
4. Ere on the couch of soft repose,
Your weary eyes in sleep you close,
Let Padmanabh‡ your thoughts obtain,
The Lotus-navell'd, erst the main
Who swam secure in sleep profound,
Ere yet appear'd this earth's fair round ;-
He shall the genial influence shed,
And be the guardian of thy bed.

5. In ties of love and marriage bond,

When you shall clasp one fair and fond,

Vishnu or the Pervader (of the universe), the preserving and sustaining deity by whom creation subsists.

An epithet of Vishnu, or the preserver and sustainer, from jana, mankind, or the universe, and ardana worship, i. e. the object of divine worship throughout the world; or from jana, a low or vile wretch, and ardana, to slay, q. d. the slayer of the evil, or of those demons particularly who infest food; so the idea may be either that of sustentation only, or of deliverance and preservation from the Harpies, who would defile and devour the worshipper's food.

↑ Also an epithet of Vishnu, from padma, a lotus, and nábha, the navel, q. d. from whose navel, as he floated on the abyss, supported upon the folds of the mighty serpent Shesha, sprang the lotus, on which Brahma, the creator, appeared.

On this invocation upon going to rest, is founded the proverb 5 dagats, "He stumbles and falls, then Padmanabha!" used when a person makes a virtue of necessity; as if on falling by accident, one should invoke the Deity, facetiously affecting an intention to sleep.

Then hymns to Prajapati* raise,
Him universal Father praise.

So may his pregnant blessing shower
Its richness on the wedding hour!

6. If forth in martial guise you move,
In war's red field your might to prove,
To nerve your arm and fire your breast,
Diviner aid when you request,
Be Chakradhart the god invok'd,
The discus-arm'd, whose wrath provok'd,
Confusion to the foe shall send,
While triumphs in your train attend.

7. Or if your slow unwilling way
You take in foreign lands to stay,
Trivikram on your tongue resound,
The three worlds at a triple bound,
Who cross'd in that false dwarf's disguise,
Before the astonish'd Daitya's eyes;—
So may your easy journeys speed,
And safe return too be decreed.

8. And when relentless fate commands
Cessation of life's rapid sands,

And thou on Ganga's banks shalt lie,
Trembling to quit thy frame and die ;—

*Prajapati, from prajá, progeny or subjects, and pati lord, master, nourisher, an epithet of Brahmá the creator, as the universal pitámaha, or sire, hence termed the grand-father of gods and men. The term is also common to the divine personages varying, according to the mythology, from 10 to 7 or 3, first created by Brahmá, and thence likewise termed Brahmádikas.

An epithet of Krishna, a well known form of Vishnu, (from chakra, a discus or quoit, and dhara holding,) whose images are represented with four arms, one of which holds a discus, one of the weapons with which he fought Kangsa and many other enemies.

From tri three, and vikram a step; also an epithet of Vishnu, as assuming the form of a dwarf, (the váman avatár) for the discomfiture of Vali, a Daitya or demon sovereign, who on account of his religious merit had been endowed with immortality by Brahma. Indra, sovereign of heaven, being at war with Vali and worsted, sought help of Vishnu; who on occasion of a festival, when Vali was giving presents to the Brahmans, appearing in the diminutive form in question, craved as much land as he might compass in three steps: which request being granted, the wily dwarf suddenly grew to a stupendous size, and placing his foot successively on two of the three worlds, yet still expanding, finally demanded where he was to place it next. The deceived, yet pious demon king replied, upon my head: when the deities interfered and rescued him from the crafty Vishnu, who then made him sovereign of the third world, i. e. Pátála, or the infernal regions.

§ The Ganges or holy river, to die in whose waters the superstitious Hindus believe a passport to heaven. Hence persons supposed to be about to depart, are carried on biers to expire on the margin of the sacred stream. Such are called antarjali, i. e. entering the water.

"The relations of the dying man spread the sediment of the river on his forehead or breast; with the pains of death upon him, he is placed up to the middle in the water and drenched with it." Ward on the Hindus, who adds, "The Hindus are extremely anxious to die in sight of the Ganges, that their sins may be washed away in their last moments. If a person should die in his house, and not by the river side, it is considered a great misfortune, as he thereby loses the help of the goddess in his dying moments-if a person chuse to die at home, his memory is infamous."

"Many persons, whose relations die at a distance from the Ganges, at the time of burning the body preserve a bone, and at some future time bring this bone and commit it to the Ganges, supposing this will secure the salvation of the deceased." He then

Then ere the final launch be made,
Invoke Nárayan* to thine aid:
The floating Deity shall save
Thy shivering ghost amid the wave
Of hellt, and to some rest convey,
In regions of celestial day.

9. Whene'er in sweet and warm caress,
Your wife in your fond arms you press,
Then bring before your yielding mind,
Shridhar to his own Lakshmi kind,
With transports those bright charms beholding,
And to his heart the fair enfolding.
So mutual love shall bless the bed,
And heaven its fruitful influence shed.

10. In the dark hours of silent night,

Thy sleep should troublous dreams affright,
Think of Govinda§; 'twill allay,
The wildness of thy heart's dismay.
Cowherd divine-he faithful souls
Protects from ills, their fears controls;
By day and night his power employs,
To sooth their pains, increase their joys.

11. When threatening danger scowls around,
Thou Madhusudan's|| praise resound;
That name divine shall nerve thy soul,
Each fear repress, each foe control.
The demon-slayer still is he,
The ever-helpful Deity.

12. If in the wilderness you stray,

For Narasingha's¶ presence pray ;

quotes a curious story to the point. "A Brahman, who had been guilty of the greatest crimes, was devoured by wild beasts; his bones only remained. A crow took up one of these, and was carrying it over Gangá, when another bird rushing upon it, the crow let the bone fall. As soon as the bone touched Gangá, the Brahman sprang to life, and was ascending to heaven, when the messenger of Yama, (the Indian Pluto or Radamanthus,) the judge of the dead, seized him as a great sinner. At this time Nárayana's messengers interfered, and pleaded that the sins of the man, since one of his bones had touched Gangá, were all done away. The appeal was made to Vishnu, who decided in the Brahman's favor. The Brahman immediately went to heaven."

Nárayana, from nárá, the primeval waters, and ayana, moving; an epithet of Vishnu, who, during the periods of temporary annihilation, is represented as sleeping on the waters, floating on the 1000-headed serpent Shesha or Ananta, at once the couch and canopy of the god. The allusion is to the practice of carrying the dying Hindu to the banks of the sacred Ganges, into which also after death his ashes are thrown, and often, the unconsumed corpse, merely parched or singed with the flame of the funeral fire, when from poverty it is insufficient for the purpose of combustion.

+ The Vaitaraní is the infernal river, which the soul is said to cross, on leaving the body.

Another name of Vishnu as husband of Lakshmi or fortune, from shri that goddess, and dhara holding, having.

§ Krishna or Vishnu in that form, who kept the cows of Nanda his fosterfather; from go a cow, and rid to know, get, acquire, guard.

From madhu the name of a Daitya or demon, and súdana killing, an epithet of Vishnu, as Krishna, by whom he was slain.

From nara a man, and singhu, a lion; the man-lion, an avatár or incarnation of Vishnu, with the head and claws of a lion on the body of a man, who sprung from the centre of a marble pillar to destroy the demon Hiranyakashipu, and rescue his

That great man-lion ever true,
The faithless Daitya erst who slew;
To such as in his arm confide,
In desert lone, or city wide,

Alike through all the world around,-
The saviour of his faithful found.

13. To mountain heights should you ascend,
Make Raghunandana* your friend,
Dasharath's son, brave Ráma, who
O'er mountain-bridge to Lanká flew.
Pile upon pile, the monkey host

The causeway rear'd from coast to coast;
So shall the power of Ráma's name,
Inspire your courage, nerve your frame,
Make mountains plain before your eyes,
Or give your upward feet to rise,
Unwearied, unfatigued, till when
You visit safe the plain again.

14. If called to pass the watery deep,
Your thoughts upon Vardhat keep,
The Boar-god ever prompt to save,
From yawning gulf and towering wave ;
From ocean's caves in days of yore
Those mighty tusks the earth that bore,
From each sea-monster shall defend,
Until thy prosperous voyage end.

15. Should Fate ere urge through fiery flame,
Then call on Jalasháyi's name ;
Vishnu, preserver, be addrest,
Calmly who slept on ocean's breast.
He shall the elemental rage
Extinguish, and thy fears assuage;
Bear thee unharm'd amidst the fire,
Yet purify each high desire.

pious son Prahlád, whom he sought in every way but ineffectually to destroy. The fable says, that furious at his son's frequent escapes, and the futility of all his own efforts to make away with him, and mocking the devoted youth's confidence in the omnipresence and omnipotence of Vishnu, the man-lion deity instantly appeared bursting from a stone column, and laying the blasphemer on his knees, tore open his bowels with his terrific claws.

* An appellation of Rám, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu : from raghu the greatgrandfather of Rám, sovereign of Oude, and nandana son or descendant. Rám was the hero of the Rámáyana of Kálidás, the great epic poem of the Hindus, the subject of which is the wars of that incarnate deity against Rávana, the demon sovereign of Lanká or Ceylon, for whose destruction, as well as that of the other demons who infested the earth, this avatár appeared. Rám is fabled to have been aided in his invasion of Ceylon by an army of monkeys under their chief Hanumán, who carrying huge rocks, mountains, &c. filled up the channel between the island and the continent of India, and so formed a causeway; the remains of which, it is said, are those rocks that strew the narrow passage in Palk's straits, still called Rám's bridge. One of them is a sacred islet, named Rámisserám, on which is a celebrated temple to the honour of Rám, to which pilgrims flock from all parts of India.

+ Varáha, (a boar,) the third incarnation of Vishnu in that form, which he assumed at the time of one of the periodical destructions or pralayas of the world, when the earth sunk in the waters. Vishnu the preserver taking the shape of a boar descended into the waters, and drew up the earth with his tusks!

From jala water, and shayt reposing, an epithet of Vishnu the preserver, as asleep on the waters of the abyss before referred to.

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