<h1 id="id01306" style="margin-top: 5em">CHAPTER XXXVII</h1>
<h5 id="id01307">EASTERN MYTHOLOGY—ZOROASTER—HINDU MYTHOLOGY—CASTES—BUDDHA—
GRAND LAMA</h5>
<h5 id="id01308">ZOROASTER</h5>
<p id="id01309" style="margin-top: 2em">Our knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians is
principally derived from the Zendavesta, or sacred books of that
people. Zoroaster was the founder of their religion, or rather the
reformer of the religion which preceded him. The time when he
lived is doubtful, but it is certain that his system became the
dominant religion of Western Asia from the time of Cyrus (550
B.C.) to the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. Under the
Macedonian monarchy the doctrines of Zoroaster appear to have been
considerably corrupted by the introduction of foreign opinions,
but they afterwards recovered their ascendency.</p>
<p id="id01310">Zoroaster taught the existence of a supreme being, who created two
other mighty beings and imparted to them as much of his own nature
as seemed good to him. Of these, Ormuzd (called by the Greeks
Oromasdes) remained faithful to his creator, and was regarded as
the source of all good, while Ahriman (Arimanes) rebelled, and
became the author of all evil upon the earth. Ormuzd created man
and supplied him with all the materials of happiness; but Ahriman
marred this happiness by introducing evil into the world, and
creating savage beasts and poisonous reptiles and plants. In
consequence of this, evil and good are now mingled together in
every part of the world, and the followers of good and evil—the
adherents of Ormuzd and Ahriman—carry on incessant war. But this
state of things will not last forever. The time will come when the
adherents of Ormuzd shall everywhere be victorious, and Ahriman
and his followers be consigned to darkness forever.</p>
<p id="id01311">The religious rites of the ancient Persians were exceedingly
simple. They used neither temples, altars, nor statues, and
performed their sacrifices on the tops of mountains. They adored
fire, light, and the sun as emblems of Ormuzd, the source of all
light and purity, but did not regard them as independent deities.
The religious rites and ceremonies were regulated by the priests,
who were called Magi. The learning of the Magi was connected with
astrology and enchantment, in which they were so celebrated that
their name was applied to all orders of magicians and enchanters.</p>
<p id="id01312">Wordsworth thus alludes to the worship of the Persians:</p>
<p id="id01313"> "… the Persian,—zealous to reject<br/>
Altar and Image, and the inclusive walls<br/>
And roofs of temples built by human hands,—<br/>
The loftiest heights ascending, from their tops,<br/>
With myrtle-wreathed Tiara on his brows,<br/>
Presented sacrifice to Moon and Stars,<br/>
And to the Winds and mother Elements,<br/>
And the whole circle of the Heavens, for him<br/>
A sensitive existence and a God."<br/></p>
<p id="id01314"> —Excursion, Book IV.</p>
<p id="id01315">In "Childe Harold" Byron speaks thus of the Persian worship:</p>
<p id="id01316"> "Not vainly did the early Persian make<br/>
His altar the high places and the peak<br/>
Of earth-o'er-gazing mountains, and thus take<br/>
A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek<br/>
The Spirit, in whose honor shrines are weak,<br/>
Upreared of human hands. Come and compare<br/>
Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,<br/>
With Nature's realms of worship, earth and air,<br/>
Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer."<br/></p>
<h5 id="id01317">III., 91.</h5>
<p id="id01318">The religion of Zoroaster continued to flourish even after the
introduction of Christianity, and in the third century was the
dominant faith of the East, till the rise of the Mahometan power
and the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the seventh century,
who compelled the greater number of the Persians to renounce their
ancient faith. Those who refused to abandon the religion of their
ancestors fled to the deserts of Kerman and to Hindustan, where
they still exist under the name of Parsees, a name derived from
Pars, the ancient name of Persia. The Arabs call them Guebers,
from an Arabic word signifying unbelievers. At Bombay the Parsees
are at this day a very active, intelligent, and wealthy class. For
purity of life, honesty, and conciliatory manners, they are
favorably distinguished. They have numerous temples to Fire, which
they adore as the symbol of the divinity.</p>
<p id="id01319">The Persian religion makes the subject of the finest tale in
Moore's "Lalla Rookh," the "Fire Worshippers." The Gueber chief
says,</p>
<p id="id01320"> "Yes! I am of that impious race,<br/>
Those slaves of Fire, that morn and even<br/>
Hail their creator's dwelling-place<br/>
Among the living lights of heaven;<br/>
Yes! I am of that outcast crew<br/>
To Iran and to vengeance true,<br/>
Who curse the hour your Arabs came<br/>
To desecrate our shrines of flame,<br/>
And swear before God's burning eye,<br/>
To break our country's chains or die."<br/></p>
<h5 id="id01321">HINDU MYTHOLOGY</h5>
<p id="id01322">The religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on the Vedas. To
these books of their scripture they attach the greatest sanctity,
and state that Brahma himself composed them at the creation. But
the present arrangement of the Vedas is attributed to the sage
Vyasa, about five thousand years ago.</p>
<p id="id01323">The Vedas undoubtedly teach the belief of one supreme God. The
name of this deity is Brahma. His attributes are represented by
the three personified powers of creation, preservation, and
destruction, which under the respective names of Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva form the Trimurti or triad of principal Hindu gods. Of
the inferior gods the most important are: 1. Indra, the god of
heaven, of thunder, lightning, storm, and rain; 2. Agni, the god
of fire; 3. Yama, the god of the infernal regions; 4. Surya, the
god of the sun.</p>
<p id="id01324">Brahma is the creator of the universe, and the source from which
all the individual deities have sprung, and into which all will
ultimately be absorbed. "As milk changes to curd, and water to
ice, so is Brahma variously transformed and diversified, without
aid of exterior means of any sort." The human soul, according to
the Vedas, is a portion of the supreme ruler, as a spark is of the
fire.</p>
<h5 id="id01325">VISHNU</h5>
<p id="id01326">Vishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the Hindus, and
is the personification of the preserving principle. To protect the
world in various epochs of danger, Vishnu descended to the earth
in different incarnations, or bodily forms, which descents are
called Avatars. They are very numerous, but ten are more
particularly specified. The first Avatar was as Matsya, the Fish,
under which form Vishnu preserved Manu, the ancestor of the human
race, during a universal deluge. The second Avatar was in the form
of a Tortoise, which form he assumed to support the earth when the
gods were churning the sea for the beverage of immortality,
Amrita.</p>
<p id="id01327">We may omit the other Avatars, which were of the same general
character, that is, interpositions to protect the right or to
punish wrong-doers, and come to the ninth, which is the most
celebrated of the Avatars of Vishnu, in which he appeared in the
human form of Krishna, an invincible warrior, who by his exploits
relieved the earth from the tyrants who oppressed it.</p>
<p id="id01328">Buddha is by the followers of the Brahmanical religion regarded as
a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by him in order to
induce the Asuras, opponents of the gods, to abandon the sacred
ordinances of the Vedas, by which means they lost their strength
and supremacy.</p>
<p id="id01329">Kalki is the name of the tenth Avatar, in which Vishnu will appear
at the end of the present age of the world to destroy all vice and
wickedness, and to restore mankind to virtue and purity.</p>
<h5 id="id01330">SIVA</h5>
<p id="id01331">Siva is the third person of the Hindu triad. He is the
personification of the destroying principle. Though the third
name, he is, in respect to the number of his worshippers and the
extension of his worship, before either of the others. In the
Puranas (the scriptures of the modern Hindu religion) no allusion
is made to the original power of this god as a destroyer; that
power not being to be called into exercise till after the
expiration of twelve millions of years, or when the universe will
come to an end; and Mahadeva (another name for Siva) is rather the
representative of regeneration than of destruction.</p>
<p id="id01332">The worshippers of Vishnu and Siva form two sects, each of which
proclaims the superiority of its favorite deity, denying the
claims of the other, and Brahma, the creator, having finished his
work, seems to be regarded as no longer active, and has now only
one temple in India, while Mahadeva and Vishnu have many. The
worshippers of Vishnu are generally distinguished by a greater
tenderness for life, and consequent abstinence from animal food,
and a worship less cruel than that of the followers of Siva.</p>
<h5 id="id01333">JUGGERNAUT</h5>
<p id="id01334">Whether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reckoned among the
followers of Vishnu or Siva, our authorities differ. The temple
stands near the shore, about three hundred miles south-west of
Calcutta. The idol is a carved block of wood, with a hideous face,
painted black, and a distended blood-red mouth. On festival days
the throne of the image is placed on a tower sixty feet high,
moving on wheels. Six long ropes are attached to the tower, by
which the people draw it along. The priests and their attendants
stand round the throne on the tower, and occasionally turn to the
worshippers with songs and gestures. While the tower moves along
numbers of the devout worshippers throw themselves on the ground,
in order to be crushed by the wheels, and the multitude shout in
approbation of the act, as a pleasing sacrifice to the idol. Every
year, particularly at two great festivals in March and July,
pilgrims flock in crowds to the temple. Not less than seventy or
eighty thousand people are said to visit the place on these
occasions, when all castes eat together.</p>
<h5 id="id01335">CASTES</h5>
<p id="id01336">The division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with fixed
occupations, existed from the earliest times. It is supposed by
some to have been founded upon conquest, the first three castes
being composed of a foreign race, who subdued the natives of the
country and reduced them to an inferior caste. Others trace it to
the fondness of perpetuating, by descent from father to son,
certain offices or occupations.</p>
<p id="id01337">The Hindu tradition gives the following account of the origin of
the various castes: At the creation Brahma resolved to give the
earth inhabitants who should be direct emanations from his own
body. Accordingly from his mouth came forth the eldest born,
Brahma (the priest), to whom he confided the four Vedas; from his
right arm issued Shatriya (the warrior), and from his left, the
warrior's wife. His thighs produced Vaissyas, male and female
(agriculturists and traders), and lastly from his feet sprang
Sudras (mechanics and laborers).</p>
<p id="id01338">The four sons of Brahma, so significantly brought into the world,
became the fathers of the human race, and heads of their
respective castes. They were commanded to regard the four Vedas as
containing all the rules of their faith, and all that was
necessary to guide them in their religious ceremonies. They were
also commanded to take rank in the order of their birth, the
Brahmans uppermost, as having sprung from the head of Brahma.</p>
<p id="id01339">A strong line of demarcation is drawn between the first three
castes and the Sudras. The former are allowed to receive
instruction from the Vedas, which is not permitted to the Sudras.
The Brahmans possess the privilege of teaching the Vedas, and were
in former times in exclusive possession of all knowledge. Though
the sovereign of the country was chosen from the Shatriya class,
also called Rajputs, the Brahmans possessed the real power, and
were the royal counsellors, the judges and magistrates of the
country; their persons and property were inviolable; and though
they committed the greatest crimes, they could only be banished
from the kingdom. They were to be treated by sovereigns with the
greatest respect, for "a Brahman, whether learned or ignorant, is
a powerful divinity."</p>
<p id="id01340">When the Brahman arrives at years of maturity it becomes his duty
to marry. He ought to be supported by the contributions of the
rich, and not to be obliged to gain his subsistence by any
laborious or productive occupation. But as all the Brahmans could
not be maintained by the working classes of the community, it was
found necessary to allow them to engage in productive employments.</p>
<p id="id01341">We need say little of the two intermediate classes, whose rank and
privileges may be readily inferred from their occupations. The
Sudras or fourth class are bound to servile attendance on the
higher classes, especially the Brahmans, but they may follow
mechanical occupations and practical arts, as painting and
writing, or become traders or husbandmen. Consequently they
sometimes grow rich, and it will also sometimes happen that
Brahmans become poor. That fact works its usual consequence, and
rich Sudras sometimes employ poor Brahmans in menial occupations.</p>
<p id="id01342">There is another class lower even than the Sudras, for it is not
one of the original pure classes, but springs from an unauthorized
union of individuals of different castes. These are the Pariahs,
who are employed in the lowest services and treated with the
utmost severity. They are compelled to do what no one else can do
without pollution. They are not only considered unclean
themselves, but they render unclean everything they touch. They
are deprived of all civil rights, and stigmatized by particular
laws regulating their mode of life, their houses, and their
furniture. They are not allowed to visit the pagodas or temples of
the other castes, but have their own pagodas and religious
exercises. They are not suffered to enter the houses of the other
castes; if it is done incautiously or from necessity, the place
must be purified by religious ceremonies. They must not appear at
public markets, and are confined to the use of particular wells,
which they are obliged to surround with bones of animals, to warn
others against using them. They dwell in miserable hovels, distant
from cities and villages, and are under no restrictions in regard
to food, which last is not a privilege, but a mark of ignominy, as
if they were so degraded that nothing could pollute them. The
three higher castes are prohibited entirely the use of flesh. The
fourth is allowed to use all kinds except beef, but only the
lowest caste is allowed every kind of food without restriction.</p>
<h5 id="id01343">BUDDHA</h5>
<p id="id01344">Buddha, whom the Vedas represent as a delusive incarnation of<br/>
Vishnu, is said by his followers to have been a mortal sage, whose<br/>
name was Gautama, called also by the complimentary epithets of<br/>
Sakyasinha, the Lion, and Buddha, the Sage.<br/></p>
<p id="id01345">By a comparison of the various epochs assigned to his birth, it is
inferred that he lived about one thousand years before Christ.</p>
<p id="id01346">He was the son of a king; and when in conformity to the usage of
the country he was, a few days after his birth, presented before
the altar of a deity, the image is said to have inclined its head
as a presage of the future greatness of the new-born prophet. The
child soon developed faculties of the first order, and became
equally distinguished by the uncommon beauty of his person. No
sooner had he grown to years of maturity than he began to reflect
deeply on the depravity and misery of mankind, and he conceived
the idea of retiring from society and devoting himself to
meditation. His father in vain opposed this design. Buddha escaped
the vigilance of his guards, and having found a secure retreat,
lived for six years undisturbed in his devout contemplations. At
the expiration of that period he came forward at Benares as a
religious teacher. At first some who heard him doubted of the
soundness of his mind; but his doctrines soon gained credit, and
were propagated so rapidly that Buddha himself lived to see them
spread all over India. He died at the age of eighty years.</p>
<p id="id01347">The Buddhists reject entirely the authority of the Vedas, and the
religious observances prescribed in them and kept by the Hindus.
They also reject the distinction of castes, and prohibit all
bloody sacrifices, and allow animal food. Their priests are chosen
from all classes; they are expected to procure their maintenance
by perambulation and begging, and among other things it is their
duty to endeavor to turn to some use things thrown aside as
useless by others, and to discover the medicinal power of plants.
But in Ceylon three orders of priests are recognized; those of the
highest order are usually men of high birth and learning, and are
supported at the principal temples, most of which have been richly
endowed by the former monarchs of the country.</p>
<p id="id01348">For several centuries after the appearance of Buddha, his sect
seems to have been tolerated by the Brahmans, and Buddhism appears
to have penetrated the peninsula of Hindustan in every direction,
and to have been carried to Ceylon, and to the eastern peninsula.
But afterwards it had to endure in India a long-continued
persecution, which ultimately had the effect of entirely
abolishing it in the country where it had originated, but to
scatter it widely over adjacent countries. Buddhism appears to
have been introduced into China about the year 65 of our era. From
China it was subsequently extended to Corea, Japan, and Java.</p>
<h5 id="id01349">THE GRAND LAMA</h5>
<p id="id01350">It is a doctrine alike of the Brahminical Hindus and of the
Buddhist sect that the confinement of the human soul, an emanation
of the divine spirit, in a human body, is a state of misery, and
the consequence of frailties and sins committed during former
existences. But they hold that some few individuals have appeared
on this earth from time to time, not under the necessity of
terrestrial existence, but who voluntarily descended to the earth
to promote the welfare of mankind. These individuals have
gradually assumed the character of reappearances of Buddha
himself, in which capacity the line is continued till the present
day, in the several Lamas of Thibet, China, and other countries
where Buddhism prevails. In consequence of the victories of Gengis
Khan and his successors, the Lama residing in Thibet was raised to
the dignity of chief pontiff of the sect. A separate province was
assigned to him as his own territory, and besides his spiritual
dignity he became to a limited extent a temporal monarch. He is
styled the Dalai Lama.</p>
<p id="id01351">The first Christian missionaries who proceeded to Thibet were
surprised to find there in the heart of Asia a pontifical court
and several other ecclesiastical institutions resembling those of
the Roman Catholic church. They found convents for priests and
nuns; also processions and forms of religious worship, attended
with much pomp and splendor; and many were induced by these
similarities to consider Lamaism as a sort of degenerated
Christianity. It is not improbable that the Lamas derived some of
these practices from the Nestorian Christians, who were settled in
Tartary when Buddhism was introduced into Thibet.</p>
<h5 id="id01352">PRESTER JOHN</h5>
<p id="id01353">An early account, communicated probably by travelling merchants,
of a Lama or spiritual chief among the Tartars, seems to have
occasioned in Europe the report of a Presbyter or Prester John, a
Christian pontiff resident in Upper Asia. The Pope sent a mission
in search of him, as did also Louis IX. of France, some years
later, but both missions were unsuccessful, though the small
communities of Nestorian Christians, which they did find, served
to keep up the belief in Europe that such a personage did exist
somewhere in the East. At last in the fifteenth century, a
Portuguese traveller, Pedro Covilham, happening to hear that there
was a Christian prince in the country of the Abessines
(Abyssinia), not far from the Red Sea, concluded that this must be
the true Prester John. He accordingly went thither, and penetrated
to the court of the king, whom he calls Negus. Milton alludes to
him in "Paradise Lost," Book XI., where, describing Adam's vision
of his descendants in their various nations and cities, scattered
over the face of the earth, he says,—</p>
<p id="id01354"> "… Nor did his eyes not ken<br/>
Th' empire of Negus, to his utmost port,<br/>
Ercoco, and the less maritime kings,<br/>
Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind."<br/></p>
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