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Hindu Superiority:
AN ATTEMPT
TO DETERMINE THE POSITION OF THE HINDU EACE
IN THE SCALE OF NATIONS.
BY
HAR BILAS SARDA, B.A., F.R.S.L.,
Member op the Royal Asiatic Society op Great Britain and
Ireland; Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society op
London; and Member op the Statistical Association
op Boston, United States, America.
AJMER: RAJPUTANA PRINTING WORKS.
All Rights Reserved.
^5
PREFACE.
This book has grown out of a pamphlet written years ago and put aside at the time. The object of the book is, liy presenting a bird's eye view of the achievements of the ancient Hindus, to invite the attention of thou"-htful people to the leading features of the civilization which enabled the inhabitants of this country to contribute so much to the material and moral^wcU- being of mankind. And if this attempt succeeds in any way in stimulating interest in the study of the leading institutions of Hinduism and a proper appreciation of their merits I shall be amply repaid for my labour.
I must take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to ^Ir. J. Inglis, Superintendent, Scottish Mission Industries, Ajmer, for his valuable assistance in seeing the book through the Press.
HAR BILAS SARDA.
Ajmer : November lOOG.
CONTENTS.
Paok. Tllustratioxs ... ... ... ... ... xxiii.
IXTRODDCTION '... ... ... ... ... X\V-.\.\\ii,
CONSTITUTION.
The leading principle of Indian Constitution. — Turning point of Indian history. — Hindu decay beginning with the Kaliyug ... 1
I.— ANTI(,)r[TY.
Wonderful antiquity of the Hindu civilization. — Opinions of Count Bjornstjerna, Dr. Stiles, Hallied, Pliny and Aljul l''azal. — The Hindu King Dionysius reigned 7,000 B.C., or 1,000 years before the oldest king on Mauetho's tables, — Dynasties, not individuals, as units of calculation. — Rock temples as proofs of antiquity. — The Bactrian document Dubistitn. — Hindu civilization before 6,000 B.C. — Tlie Sunkalp — Brahma Din an I Jiatri. — Age of the earth according to the Hindus
II.— GOVEIIXMEXT.
Tests of good government. — Populousness of ancient India. — Views of Greek writers. — Hindus as numerous as all tlie olhcr natituis put together. — India renowned for wealth. — No thieves in ancient India. — P"'orm of Government immaterial. — Spirit dependent on the ethical character of a people, — Mistaken identification of democratic institutions with freedom. — Mr. Herbert Spencer's views. — Over-Government. —Republican institutions in ancient India. — Law, a test of good government. — Origin of the Greek, Roman and English laws. — Laws of ]\Ianu. — Hindu code will bear comparison with the systems of jurisprudence in nations most highly civilized. — Fallacies in Mill's reasoning. — His prejudice. — His History of India most mischievous according to .Max MuUcr. — Sir Thomas Strartge on Hindu Law of Evidence. — Sir W. Jones on Calluca's Conin;t'ntary on Maiiu ... ... ... 13
VI. CONTENTS.
IIL— SOCIAL SYSTEM. page.
Hindu social organization based on scientific principles — Varna- shrama. — Different from the caste system. — Brahmans and Sudras not by birth but by actions and character. — Mahabharata on the Varnashra7na. — ^legasthencs and Col. Tod on the system. — Sir H. Cotton and Mr. Sidney Low on the present Caste system 27
lY.— CHARACTER.
Love of truth — Arrian, Strabo, Hioventhsang and other Chinese
writers ; Marco Polo, Idrisi, Sbamsuddin and other Mohamednn
writers ; Sir J. Malcolm, Col. Sleeman, Professor Max Muller
on the truthfulness of the Hindus. — Absence of slavery. — Hindu
valour. — The most tolerant nation. — Character of Yudhishthra. —
Views of Neibulir, Monier Williams, Elphinstone, Mercer,
Sydenham, Abbe Dubois, and Sir T. Munro. — No race more to be
trusted than the Hindus. — If civilization to be an article of
trade between England and India, England will gain by the
import cargo. — Commercial honour stands higher in India
than in any other country. — Views of Warren Hastings, Heber
and Wilson. — Hindu children more intelligent than European. —
Hindu cleanliness. — Diet of the Hindus. — Physical agility. — The
Hindu as the wisest of nations. — Hindu origin of the game of
Chess. — Wisdom of Solomon inferior to that of the Hindus. —
Chivalrous conduct of Humayun. — A Mohamedan saves the
Piahtore dynasty from extinction
Y.— CHIVALRY.
Innate chivalry of Hindu character. — Chivalry of Sadoo. — Raja of Duttea. — The Rahhi. — Rawal Chachick of Jaisalmer. — Chivalry of Pana Raj Singh. — Ill-judged humanity of the Hindus. — Its unfortunate political results. — Cases of Shahabud- dui Ghori and Aurangzeb ... ... ... 54
CONTEXTS. vii.
Vr.— PATRIOTISM.
Love of Counh-y. — Rana Pratap and Thaknr Diirg-a Das. — Tliiir exploits. — Their patriotism. — Pratap and Ilamilcar. — Durga Das the Amolac. — Auraiigzob's dread of Durga Das. — Gar-ka- Bundi. — The heir of I\Iehtri. — Patriotism of Raj Siiigii of Jaisalmer. — Soortan Singh of Sirolii. — His hortMc conduct at Delhi. — Col. Tod on Rai|iut chivalry and ]ior(jisni ... ... (j.j
VII.— VALOUR.
The Hindus were the bravest nation the Greeks ever came in contact with, — Their character shines brightest in adversity. — They know not what it is to flee from the battle-field. — Kesrian K'isumctl. — Rao Soojii of Bundi. — The mother of the Rao. — Mukandas faces a tiger ; the tiger retires. — Mohabat Khan's exploit. — Rajput charges at Tonga and Patun. — Soningdoo breaks the iron bow at Delhi. — Homer's heroes compared to Kurus. — Lakh Talvar Rahtoran. — Recourse to poison by Moghal kings. — Deaths of Jaswant Singh, Prithi Singh and .Tai Singh. Til e cause of Akbar's death. — The murder of Ajit Singh of Jodhpur. — Singularity of Rajput character. — Its tenacity and strength. — Hercules was a Hindu. — Views of Prof. Hceren, Diodorus, Megasthenes, Col. Tod and Pococke. — Proofs of the identity of Balrani and Hercules ... ... ... 70
VIII.— POSITION OF WOMEN.
Position of women a test of civilization. — Chivalrous treatment of women by the Hindus. — Views of j\Ianu and other sages. — Jai Singh and his queen, Hariji. — Status of wife. — Her e(|ii;d rights with her husband according to the Sastras. — Woman, ardhangini , or half of man. — Comparison in this respect of the Hindu and the European women. — Ideals of Hindti women. — Maitreye, Gargya, Savitri, Damyanti, Avvayar and Kokayi. — Purdah system unknown in ancient India. — Th^' rights of women to property, — Peculiar poRitiju of IJiudu women. —
Till. CONTKXTS.
Page.
Influence of Hindu women on societj. — Female loj'-alty. —
Dtnvalde and her sons, Ala and Udila. — Taiabai of Bednore. — Eaui Dutgavati, another Boadccea. — The lieroism of Korumdevi and Javrahir Bai. — The matchless valour of the mother of Fattah of Kailwa during Akbav"8 siege of Chitor. — Sanjogta. — Bernier's testimony to the courage of Rajput women. — Retreat of Jaswant Singh ol' Jodhpur aftei- his defeat at Fatehabad. — The Rani refuses to see him and simts tlie gate of the castle ... ... 92
TX.— FOREIGN RELATIONS.
The conquest of the world liy the Hindu Emperor, Sudas, — Opinions of Air. Townsend and General Sir Ian Hamilton. — The conquests of Pui'urawa and of King Sagara. — Persia, Afghanistan and Turkistan parts of the Indian Empire. — Greek embassies to India. — Alegasthenes, Deimachus and Basilis. — Antiochus the Great becomes an ally of Sobhag Sen. — Scleucus gives his daughter in marriage to Ciiandergupta — The Persian king, Ivausherwan, gives his daughter to the Maharana of Chitor. — Indian embassies to Greece. — 'rhe Assyrian Queen, Semiramis, invades India. — Her defeat. — Gaj Sing, the founder of Ghazni, defeats Shah Secunder Roomi and Shah Mamraiis ... 120
X. -CAUSE OF INDIA'S FALL.
Alexander's invasion of India. — Hindu disunion, the cause of Alexander's victory. — The brilliancy of the court of Vicrama- ditya. — The treacherous conduct of Alexander. — Prithvi Raj of x\jnier. — His victories over Shahabud-din Ghori. — Disunion be- tween Prithvi Raj and Jai Chand. — The kings of Kanauj and Annhalwara Patun and Hamir join t]\e enemy. — Prithvi Raj kills Shahabud-din witii the lielp of Chund, — Baber's invasion. — Hindus under Rana Sanga. — Treachery in his camp. — Ray seen, the Tuar leader, goes over to Baber. — India not conquered by a foreign inva lor bnt ])iHrayed by her own sons. ... ... 127
COM'F.N'TS. ix.
HI^;DU COLONIZATION.
PAGE.
Desh-iietion nnJ fmiu-|-ntinn the cliirf foutures of (ho )i(?ri(>(l ulicu the M:ili:il)iiainta. took i>hu;e. — Whole races ami trilies enii.i^rati'd from India. — India's loss was the world's gain. — Emigration a necessary feature of a thickly-populated country. — Scarcity of historical records. — Destruction of Hindu lihraries. — Dr. Dow, Profs. Wilson, Heeren and Col. Tod on Hindu works on history. — The date of tiie Mahabharata.- Views of the Hindu astronomers. — Traditions. — The Hindu theory of emigration. — Tiie Central Asian theory of emigration. — Hindu civilization originated and developed in India. — It spread to Ethiojiia, Egypt. PhaMiicia, Persia. Greece, Rome, to the abode of the Hyperboreans, to Siam, China and Japan. — Col. Olcott, Sir W". Jones and ]\Ir. Pococke...l35
I.— EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA.
Egypt colonized by Hindus about 8,000 years ago. — Views of Brugsch Bey, Profe.ssor Heeren and Mr.Pococke. — Tlie testimony of Philostratus, Eusebius and Julius Africanus, Cuvior and Col. Tod to the Hindu colonization of Ethiopia ... ... 149
II.~PERSIA.
The ancient Persians were colonists from India. — Prof. !Max MuUer's opinion, — Zind derived from the Sanskrit. — Prof. Heeren and Sir W. Jones and Prof. Haug-Manu on the origin of the Persians, — Testimony of Vendidad ... 156
IIL— ASIA MIXOR.
The Chaldeans and the Assyrians were originally Hindus. — Views of Mr. Pococke and Piof, Maurice ... ... ... IGl
X. CONTJ'NTS.
IV.— GREECE.
; Pagk.
The Hindu origin of the nneient Greeks. — Greek society
essentially Hindu. — Origin of the names Greek, Pelnsgi and Macedonians. — Hellados.— TheHellas. — Achilles sprung from a Kaj[)ut stock ... ... ... ... 162
v.- ROME.
The Romans were the doscendsmts of colonists from India. — R(une derived from Rama. — The Etruscans were settlers from India... 167
YI.— TURKISTAN AXD NORTHERN^ ASIA.
Turkistan peopled by the Hindus. — Turanians were Hindus. — Ottorocnra? of the Greek writers were Ootooru Cooru, or Northern Coorus, sous of ( A)oru. — -Kliata iiduibited by Hindus, — Bajrapur in Siberia founded by Hindus. — Succession of the sons of Sri Krishna to the throne. — Chaghtaes were Yadus. — Origin of the Afghans. — Seestan. — Origin of the name Asia. — Samoyedes and Tchoudes of Siberia and Finland were the Yadus of India.., 168
TIT.— GERMAXY.
German Mensch same as Sanskrit 3/rt?! ».*/;. — Morning ablutions. — Origin of the name Germans. — The Hungarians. — Sculpture of Saxon cathedrals ... ... ... .., 171
YIIL— SCANDINAYIA.
Scandinavians descended from the warrior class of the Hindus. — Asigard or fortress of the Asi. — Colonized about 500 B.C. — The Scandinavian Edda derived from the Vedas. — Days of the week. — Origin of the Scandinavian mvths ... ... 173
CONIKN IS. xi.
TX.— HYPERBOREANS. p.,,;^.
Tlieir lliinln Origin. — Euiigrant.s from Kliyberpur. — Passaroii ... 175
X.— GREAT BRITAIX.
The Uniids were Buddhistic Brahuians. — Alcxaiulcr and Xapi^r conquer the de-;cenda,ii(s of tiieir foret'atliei-s.— I Nm i\ at ion ui "Hurrah." — The Stonehenge. — The I:^h■ of Saints cir '.M<ina". — The Celtic Druids ... ... ... ... 17G
XL— EASTERN ASIA.
Transgangetic Peninsula a iiart of India. — Influence of China over it. — The name Barmah. — Caudioja or Cambodia — The Chinese assert their Hindu oi-igin — They were emigrants from northern and north-western India. — Culture and religion of China. — Hindu colonization of the isles of the Indian archi|irlago — Java. — Views of Col. Tod, Mr. Elphinstone, Sir Stamford Raffles, and Mi\ Sewell. — Testimony of Chinese pilgrims. — .lava peopled entirely by the Hindus. — Borneo, Celebes, Sumatra and Australia 170
XIL— AMERICA.
High civilization of the ancient Americans. — Hindu remains still found there. — Testimony of Mr. Pococke, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Square and Dr. Zurfu. — Hindu mythology the parent of the American mythology. — Proofs of the Hindu colonization of America. — Worship of Ramachandra and Sita.-A rjuna's conquest of America and marriage with the daughter of the King. — Routes to America If^C
The question of Hindus visiting foreign lands. — The Vcdas enjoin it — Testimony of Sastras. — Manu and the Mahabharata -Travels of Vyasji and Sukhdeoji. — The expeditions of the Pandavas. — Emperor Sagarji. — The god of the sea. — Marriages of Hindu kings with foreign princesses. — Hindus in Turkistaii, Persia and
Xn. CONTEXTS.
rA(,'E. Riissia,— Ori'^hi (if ihc dilToroiit iiation.s of Asia and Europe. —
Tostluiony of the Puranas ami tlie MahaMiariitu,— Tlie seven
Dwipas. — The delnye. — Mou. Delbos uii Hindu civilization ... I'Jl
LITERATURE.
Literature a test of the greatness of a nation. — W. C. Tavlor on Sanskrit Hterature. — Bjornstjerna, Brown, General C'unniiiyiiani, Prof. Heer.Mi, Sir W. Jones. Max Mnller and Ward.— The Hindu liad the widest range of mind of which man is capable ... 201
Sanskuit Language.
Sanskrit language of woiidci-ful structure. — Compared with Gre(>k, Latin and Helu'ew. — More perfect and refined tlian any.— Profs. Wilsi^n, Max MuUer and Sclilegel. — Modern ])hil(jlogy dates fronj the study of Sanskrit. — Alpliabets of Western Asia derivedjroin llie Dconagri. — Sanskrit is tlie basis of all Indo- European Uinguage.s. — Greeic and Zind derived from the Sans- krit.— Connection of Sanskrit with the ancient lamjfuages of Europe. — High antiquity of the Sanskrit literature ... 204
Art of Writing.
Alphabetical writing known in India from tlie earliest times. — Its use extended to every purpose of common life. — Views of Bjornst- jerna, Goldstucker, Roth and Shyamji Krishnavarma. — Sans- krit was the spoken vernacular of the ancient Hindus ... 213
I.— VEDIC LITERATURE.
Max Muller on Vedic Literature. — The Vedas the greatest work in all literature. — Views of A^oltaire, Guigault and Delbos regard- ing the Vedas.— Vedas the most precious gift for which the West
COXTENTS. xiii.
TA(;e.
is iiulebtod to tlio East. — The study of VcJic Tjitci-aiurc iinlis- ])ensable to all. — The Vodas tlie oldest books in the world. — Vcdas the fountaiu of knowledge. — Vedio teaching regarding the composition of air. — Bidlnnanas not a part of the Vedas. — Sutras. — Piatisakhyas. — " Study of Language " by the Greeks and the Hindus.— Plato, Aristotle, Zenodotus and others eoniiiarcd with the ancient Hindus in this respect. — Consonantal division of th(! Sanskrit language unique in tin' history of literal nri'. — Inferiority of nioilern Europeans in this respect. — In philology the Hindus excel the Ancients and tlie Moderns, — Graniniatiral science of the Hindus, — Grammar of Paiiini stands su[»i-enie amongst the grammars of the world. — ( )ne of the most splendid achievements of human invention and industry. — Hindu acliii've- ments still uiisiir|iassed. — " No other country can produci' any grammatical system at all comparable to Paiuiu " ... ... 210
II.— POETRY.
Treasures of poetiy in India are inexhaustible. — The llinilns were a poetical people ... ... ... ... 'I'oQ
III.— EPIC POETIIY.
Ixamayaiia and Mahabharata compared to Iliad and Odvssev. — Ramayana the noblest of epics and far superior to the work of Nonnus.-One of the most beautiful comjiositions that have a})- peaicd at any period or in any country. — llama and Sit a jier- fect characters. — Mahabharata is the grandest of the epics. — Views of Mary Scott, Jeremiah Curtin, St. Hilaire Bartholemy, Sir Edwin Arnold, Mr. T. M. (,'oan and A. Darth. — Indian epics compared with the Greek e[iics, — Hindu and Greek mythologies compared. Iliad and Odyssey are founded on the l(aniayana and the Mahabharata ... ... ... ... 201
XI v. CONTENTS.
Page.
IV.— DRAMA.
Causes of the excellence of Hindu drama. — Hindu theatre will fill as many volumes as that of anj' nation of modern Europe. — Hindu comedy no way inferior to the ancient Greek, — Superi- ority of Hindu drama over the Greek explained and illustrated. — The higher purpose of the dramatic art never lost sight of in Hindu dramatic literature. — " Xowhere is love expressed with greater force or pathos than in tlie poetry of India." — Kalidas "one of the greatest dramatists the world ever produced." — " He has done honour to all civili/.ed mankind." — Sakuntala an astonishing Hterary performance. — Views of Schlegel, Humholdt and Goethe. — Langunge nowhere else so beautifully musical or so magnificently grand as that of the Hindu drama. — Vicrama and Urvasi. — Explanations of thft scientific myth. — Uttra Ram Charitra. — May be compared advantageously willi like composi- tions of Enrope. — MadhavaMalati. — MudraRaksliasa. — Mriclih- kati compared with the Merchant of Venice and the Two Noble Kinsmen. — Prabodh Chandrodya. — There is nothing like it in the literature of other countries ... ... ... 247
v.— LYRIC POETRY.
Gita Govind. — Views of Schlegel and SirW. Jones. — Tls luxuriant imagery and voluptuous softness. — Ritu Sangrah. — Impossible of translation. — Megh Duta "will bear advantageous comparison with best specimens of uniform verse in the poetry of any language, living or dead " ... ... ... ... 258
YL— ETHICO-DIDACTIC POETRY.
Hindu achievements in this branch of literature establish their intellectual superiority. — Constitutes practical ethics. — Its use and cultivation peculiar to the Hindus. — Panclitantra is the source of the whole fabulous literature of the world. — " Hindus are the instructors ef the rest of mankind in the composition of tales
CONTEXT^:. XIX
TV\i;i;.
liy the tallies of Cixssini :\inl Meyer. — Aniniitl variations id' th.'
moon. — Proofs of tlio great antiquity of lliiuiu astrononiv. — More atlvaneed than the Greek or thi' Arah astrononiv. — Views of Sir W. Hunter, Mr. El[)liinstone, Profs. Weher ami Vv'ilMin. Originality of the Hindus. — Xitl-.-Ji)iti-(t!< ov moon stations and the Cliinese *S>/e/j. — The Arabs were the disciples of tlie Hindus. — The nine Siddhantas. — The date of the Surya Siddhanta. — Age of Parasar Muni. — Aryahhatta Baraniiliira and Bhashkeraeharja. — Roundness of the earth. — The annual and diurnal motions of the earth. — The stars are stationary. — The Polar days and nights. — Circumference of the earth. — AVhat keeps the earth in its place. — The moon is a dark body. — The atmosphere. — Eclipses. — Tides. — .Tai Singh II. — Methods of the Hindus. — A ])eculiar theory of planetaiy motions. — To find the longitude 01 a place ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• oojj
IV.— :\IIL1TAR.Y SCIENCE.
Hindu traditions all warlike. — Naval power of the Hindus. — Hindu science of war. — Divisions of the army. — Array of forces or Vyiihas. — Use of elephants. — Soldierly qualities of the modern Indians. — Their chivalrous conduct. — Tiieir bravery. — Archery of the Hindus. — Indian swordmen. — Classification of wen]ion>. — Hindu weapons now extinct. — Firearms of the Hindus and their extensive employment. — Guns and cannons in media?val Jndia. — Vajra. — Gunpowder. — Greek writers on the firearms of the Hin- dus.— King Hal and the clay elephaiit. — Views of Carey, Marsh- man and Scholiast. — Firearms used by King Sagara. — The Brahmastra. — Ramayana mentions firearms. — The Shatagni and Agniaster. — Views of Halhed and Mr. H. H. Elliot. — Rockets a Hindu invention. — Other machines and contrivances to throw pi-ojectiles now extinct. — The Greek fire. — The Ashtar Vidya of the Hindus
XX. CONTEXTS.
Page.
v.— MUSIC.
The Hindus are a musical race. — Hindu ujusic formed on lietter principles than P]uropean music. — Hindu system of uuisic tlie oldest in the world. — Sub-division of tones and number of sonal modifications too intricate to be appreciated by Europeans. — Europeans cannot imitate Hindu nmsic. — Hindu airs cannot bo set to music. — Cultivated on scientific principles. — European igno- rance of Hindu music. — The Ragas and Itagnees. — The six princi- pal Ragas. — Hindu notation introduced intu Eurojiean nnisic in the eleventh century. — Derivation of Greek music from India. — Tansen and Naik Gojial ... ... ... .366
VI.— OTHER SCIENCES.
Engineering. — Mechanics, — Microscopes. — Telescopes. — Fire-en- gines.— Botany. — Magnets. — Doctrine of Vacuum in Nature. — Yiman Yidya. — A comjilete science. — 8ar]ia Yidya. — Electricity and ^lagnetism. — Philosnphy of slec'ii. — Aureole I'dund the heads of Hindu gods ... ... ... ... 375
ARTS.
I.— ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE.
Hindu architecture, wonderful and beautiful. — Views of Mahmad Ghaznavi. — Unequalled in elegance. — Cave temples. — Skill shown surpasses description. — Ornamenting grottoes. — The Saracen arch of Hindu Origin. — " Remains of the Hindu architectural art might still furnish architects of Europe with new ideas of beauty and sublimity." — English decorative art indebted to the Hindus. — Restoration of taste in England due to Hindus. — Alt exhausted itself in India ... ... ... 389
CONTENTS. < XXI.
IL— WEAVINa.
Unrivalled delicacy of sense of the Hindus. — Indian cotton finest in tlie world. — fii fineness of texture the Indian cotton t-loth is yet unapproached. — The products of the Indian loom yet unrivalled in beauty. — Europeans must not attempt to teach art to India — o9
III.— OTHER ARTS.
Art of dyeing. — Hindu colours the most brilliant in the world. — Hin- dus discovered the art of extracting colours from plants. — Ivory works. — Casting ii"on. — Hindu steel. — Damascus steel of Hindu origin, — The wronglit-iron pillar near Kutab at Delhi. — The gun at Xnrwar and the girders at Puri prove the marvellons skill of the Hindus. — Export of iron from India. — System of rotation of crops, derived from India. — Use of glass in windows in ancient India. — Perfection of art in India ... ... 400
COMMERCE AND WEALTH.
I.— COMMERCE.
Hindus the masters of the sea-borne trade of the world. — India was "once the seat of commerce". — Hindus were a commercial people. — Trade with Phoenicia. — The navy of Tarshish. — Peacocks. — The name of Hindu origin. — Trade with Syria. — Greeks first became acquainted with sugar in India. — Trade with Egypt.— Myos Hormos. — Trade with Greece and Rome. — Indian silk in Rome. — Pliny complains of the drain of gold from Rome to India. — Trade with Arabia and Africa. — Eastern Trade. — Ceylon. — Its commercial importance. — Ports of Ceylon. — Emporium of trade. — Ceylon a part of India. — Commercial ports of India. — Land trade with China. — Desert of Gobi. — Trade with Palmyra. — Trade routes for the land trade with Europe. — Internal trade of India. — Trade roads. — M/lc-'^foncs
xxil. CONTENTS.
Page. and inns for travellers. — Indian fairs at Hardwar, Allahabad
and other places ... ... ••• ••• 405
IL— WEALTH.
India was the richest country in the world. — Views of Prof. Hoeren and Dr. Wise. — Spoils of Somnath, Mathura and Kananj. — Gold first found in India. — An Indian port the only pearl market in the world. — The most famous stones and pearls all of Indian origin. — The Pitt and the Kohi-noor ... ... 427
RELIGION.
Pieligion a test of civilization. — What is the Hindu religion? — Knowledge of God. — The Shraddhas. — Hindu religion the only scientific religion in the world. — " Christianity has nothing to offer to those who are dissatisfied with Hinduism." — Buddhism is only reformed Hinduism. — Majority of mankind still follow religions that emanated from India. — Origin of the Greek Church. — Origin of Christianity. — Buddhism and Hinduism. — Propagation of jiJud- dhism. — Buddhism in Arabia and in Egypt, — The Hermes Scriptures. — Hindu origin of the religion of the Chaldeans, the Babylonians and the inhabitants of Colchis. — The Samaritans were Buddhists. — Buddhism in Britain. — The religion of the Scandinavians. — Edda derived from the Veda. — Scandinavian Mythology. — Egyptian and Greek religions derived from India. — The Mosaic cosmogony. — Greek mythology derived from Hindu mythology. — Christian mythology. — The Hindu is the parent of the literature and theology of the world ... ... 481
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Thakur Dl'rgatias. tlio nulitoi-c leader ...
Pauk.
... f.p fare ihe Title
L*. ^Mahap.axa Puatap
C
:5. JMauaiiaja rniTiivi Raj, the la-<t Iliiidn Emiiernr of Pdlii ... liO
cr
-^v- jjOjj*
INTRODUCTION.
IN the liistory of the world India occupies the foremost place. From the dawn of history to the present day India has been connected in one way or another witli almost every event of world importance. By endowing India with the best and the choicest of o-ifts it had in store, Nature herself ordained that this maonificent country, with a climate varied and salubrious, a soil the most fertile in the world, animal and plant life the most abundant, useful and diversified to be found anywhere on the face of the earth, should play the leading part in the history of mankind.
Mr. Murray says : " It (India) has always Appear- ed to the imagination of the Western AVorld adorned with whatever is most splendid and gorgeous ; glittering, as it were, with gold and gems, and redolent of fra- grant and delicious odours. Though there be in these magnificent conceptions something romantic and illu- BOTj, still India forms unquestionably one of the most remarkable regions that exist on the surface of the glolie. The varied grandeur of its scenery and the rich productions of its soil are scarcely ecjualled in any other country."^
'Murray'^ Tlistcry nf Imlia. \k 1.
XXVI. INTRODUCTION.
"India is an epitome of the whole world,"' and possesses all the leading features of other lands — the most bewitching scenery, the most fertile soil, the most dense forests, the highest mountains, some of the big- gest rivers and intensely cold seasons, may be found along Avith arid, treeless deserts, sandy waterless plains, and the hottest days. To a student of humanity or of Nature, India even now is most picturesque, and is the most interesting country in the world. Count Bjornst- jerna says : " But everj'thing is peculiar, grand, and romantic in India — from the steelclad knight of Rajas- than to the devoted Brahman in the temples of Benares ; from the fierce Mahratta on his fleet and active steed to the Nabob moving gently on his elephant ; from the Amazon who chases the tiger in the jungle to the Bayadere w4io offers in volupte to her gods. Nature, too, in this glorious country is chequered with variety and clad in glowing colours : see the luxuriance of her tropical vegetation and the hurricane of her monsoon ; see the majesty of her snow-covered Himalayas and the dryness of her deserts ; see the immense plains of Hin- dustan and the scenery of her lofty mountains ; but, above all, see the immense age of her liistory and the poetry of her recollections."^
Professor Max MuUer says : " If I were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly
1 Chambers's Encyclopa?dia, p. 337.
^Theogony of the Hindus, p. 126. "The scenery of the Himalayas," says Elphinstone. " is a sight ■which the soberest traveller has never de- scribed wiiliuiit kindling into enthusiasm, and which, if once seen, leaves an impression that can never be equalled or effaced." — History of India, p. 181.
INTRODUCTION. Xwn.
eiicloweil with all the weiilth, power, ami l)onnty tliat nature can bestow — in some ])arts a very paradise on earth — I should ])oint to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully deve- loped some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply ponder- ed on the greatest problems o£ life, and has found solu- tions of some of them which well deserve the attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant, I should point to India. And if I were to ask myself from what literature we here in Europe — we who have been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of the Greeks and the Romans, and of one Semitic race tiie Jewish — may draw that corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more com- prehensive, more universal, in fact more truly inunan, a life, not for this life only, but a transfigured and eter- nal life, again I should point to India." He adds: " Whatever sphere of the human mind you may select for your special study, whether it be language, or religion, or mytholog}', or philosophy, wdiether it be laws or customs, primitive art or primitive science, everywhere you have to go to India, whether you like it or not, because some of the most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India and in India only."i
Professor Hceren says : " India is the source from which not only the rest of Asia but the whole Western World derived their knowledsje and their relinion."- A writer in the Calcutta Review for December hSGI,
^Max MuUer's India: Wliat can it teach us ? [>. !."». 2 Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. :15,
XXVlll. INTRODUCTION.
said : '" Thoufrli now deomded and abased, vet we cannot doubt that there was a time when the Hindu race was splendid in arts and arms, happy in government, wise in leofislation and eminent in knowledgje."^
" The ancient state o£ India," says Mr. Thornton, " must have been one of extraordinary magnificence."^
Colonel Tod asks : " Where can we look for sages like those whose systems of philosophy were the proto- types of those of Greece : to whose works Plato, Thales, and Pythagoras were disciples ? where shall we find astronomers whose knowledge of the planetary system yet excites wonder in Europe, as well as the architects and sculptors whose works claim our admiration, and the musicians ' who could make the mind oscillate from joj' to sorrow, from tears to smiles, with the change of modes and varied intonation ?'"^
1 The same Review says : "That the Hindus were in former times a commercial [)eople we have every reason to believe — the labours of the Indian loom liave been universally celebrated, silk has been fabri- cated inimemorisdiy by the Hindus. We are also told by the Grecian writers tliat the Indians were the wisest of nations, and in metaphysical wisdom they wore certainly eminent : in astronomy and mathematics they were equally well versed ; this is the race who Dionysius records — • ' First assayed the deep,
' And wafted meroiiandize to coasts unknown, 'Those who digested first the starry ehoir, ' Their motions marked, and called them by their names.'" " Hindustan has from the earliest ages been celebrated as one of the most liighly-favoured couiitries on the globe, and as abounding in the choicest productions both of Nature and Art." — Encydopcedia Brilannica, p. 44(1,
^Chapters of Jlie British History of India, •"Tod's Rai.'Kthan, jip. 0O8, BOO.
INTRODUCTION. Xxix.
A writer in the Ed/)tbim/h Rerieiv for October 1872, says : " The Hindu is the most ancient nation o£ which we have valuable remains, and has been surpassed by none in refinement and civilization ; though the utmost pitch of refinement to which it ever arrived preceded, in time, the dawn of civilization in any other nation of which we have even the name in history. The further our literary inquiries are extended here, the more vast and stupendous is the scene which opens to us."
An attempt has been made in the following pages, with the help of the laudable labours of philanthropists like Sir VV. Jones, Prof. H. ]]. Wilson, Mr. Colebrooke, Colonel Tod, Mr. Pococke and other European scholars and officers to whom the country owes a great debt of gratitude, to get a glimpse of that civilization which, according to the writer quoted above, has not yet been surpassed. And what is the result ? AVhat do we learn about the ancient Hindus ? We learn that they were the greatest nation that has yet flourished on this earth.
''In the world there is nothing great but man, In man there is nothing great but mind,"
was the favourite aphorism of the philosopher, Sir William Hamilton.^ And Mrs. Mannint^ savs : "The Hindus had the widest range of mind of which man is capable."'
We find that the ancient Hindus, in every feature of national life, were in the first rank. Take whatever department of human activity you like, you find the ancient Hindus eminent in it, and as occupying a
See Jevon's Logic, p. 'J.
Ancient and Medi.-tval India, A''ol. IF, p. 148.
XXX. INTRODUCTION.
foremost place. This is more than wliat can be said of any other nation. You may find a nation great, in arms or commerce ;.you may find a people eminent in philosophy, in poetry, in science or in arts ; you may find a race gre.it politically but not equally so morally and intellectually. But you do not find a race which was or is pre-eminem in so many departments of human activity as the ancient Hindus.
The ancient Hindus were "a poetical people," they were essentially "a musical race," and they were ''a commercial people." They were "a nation of philoso- phers ;" "in science the}' were as acute and diligent as ever." " Art seems to have exhausted itselt" in India." " Tlie Hinlu is the parent ot" the literature and the theoloo^y of the world." His lan"'ua2:e is the best and the most beautiful in the world. The national character of the ancient Hindus as regards trutlifulness, chivalry and honour was unrivalled ; their colonies filled the world, their kings ''are still worshipped as the gods of the sea," "their civilization still pervades in every corner oE the civilized world and is around and about us every dav of our lives."
It may be urged that in the picture of Hindu civi- lization painted in the book, only roseate hues have been used, that while lights are pur|)Osely made prominent the shadows are conspicuous b}' their absence, and that most has been made of the best points of Hinduism, Such critics will do well to remember that the mountains are measured by their highest peaks and not by the low heights to which thej' here and there sink ; that the first rank amon<>- the mountains is assis^ned to the Himalayas
INTHU D UCTl ON. X X \ i .
by Mounts Everest, Dhjivalgiri and Kanchnnjangn, and not by the lower heiii^hls of Mussoorie and Daricelino- and that the patches of level ground here and there found enclosed within this 2:iirn.ntic ranire are iustly iunored.
It may also be remarked here that the object of this book being to enable men to appreciate the excellencies of Hindu civilization — by giving them an idea of the character and achievements of the ancient Hindus, who were the creatures of that civilization, which has admit- tedly seen its best days — any discussion of modern India for its own sake is without the scope of this book. Wherever, therefore, any fact relating to the society, religion, literature or character of the Hindus of the present day, or their capacities and capabilities is men- tioned it has reference only to the elucidation of some feature of that civilization as illustrated in the life, work or character of the people of ancient India. ^
It is the inherent truth of Hinduism, the vitality and greatness of the Hindu civilization that have en-
1 It is no part ol: tlie plan of this book to run down any creed or nationality. Consequently, whenever any other religion or race is men- tioned, it is only for the elucidation of some point of Hinduism, or to show the comparative excellence of some feature of Hindu civilization. Thus, whenever the oppressive nature of the rule of some of the Moiia- medan Emperors is mentioned, or the havoc caused by some of the invaders from the North- Western frontier of India is described, it is not to emphasize that fact itself, but to illustrate, explain, or elucidate some feature of the character of the Hindus or their literature and society. It miiy also be remarked that the evils of the rule of the Afghans, Turks, and others were due not to the religion tiiey professed but to their ignorance and backwardness in civilization. The Arabs, though professing the same religion as the Afghans and the Moghals, kept the lamp of knowledge and science lit in Europe and "Western Asia during the middle ages. The work of Al-Beruni, Abdul Fazal, Fai/.i and others in India pulls to pieces the theory that whatever evils there were in Mohamedan rule were due to the religion of the rulers.
XXXll. INTKODUCTION.
abled the Hindus yet to preserve their existence as such, despite all the political cataclysms, social u])heavals, and racial eruptions the world has seen since the ]\Iahabha- rata. These calamities overwhelmed the ancient Egyp- tians and the Phoenicians and destroyed the empires of ancient Greece, Persia and Rome.
Compared to the sun o£ Hindu civilization giving a constant and steady stream of beneficent light, which penetrates the farthest nooks and corners of the world, carrying comfort and contentment to mankind, these civilizations were like brilliant meteors that appear in the skies lighting the while, with their shortlived lustre, the heavens above and the earth below.
Tlieu — let me dive into the depths of time, And bring from ont the ages that have rolled,
A few small fragments of those wrecks sublime, Which human eye may never more behold ;
And lot the guerdon of my labour be,
My b' loved country ! one kind wish for thee.
CONSTITUTION.
Clime of the unfor<?otten bravo ! AVhere land froui plain to mountain cave Was freedom's home or glory's grave ; Shrine of the mighty ! Can it be That this is all remains of thee ?
— Byron^ : Giaour,
No one acqanlnted witli the history of the ancient Indians can reasonably deny the great merits of tlieir ancient Constitution, which combined happiness -with activity, tranquility Tvith progress — "one lesson which in every wind is blown" — and conservation with advance- ment. Their astonishing subjective capacities and their extraordinary powers of observation and generalization led them irresistibly to trace l^ature in all her multi- farious solemn workings. They followed her in every thing they did, and hence the halo of realit}^ and con- servation which surrounds their work. It is this reality and conservation, the happy results of following Nature — " which is wisdom without reflection and above it " — that have imparted that polish to Hindu Laws and Insti- tutions which makes them at once durable and brilliant. There was, anciently, an adjustment of forces which enabled each institution to describe its peculiar orbit and work in its own sphere, without interfering with the
2 HIXDU SUPERIORITY.
others; but now, altis ! owing to the long-continued nnd unabated pressure of hostile circumstances, tliat adjust- ment is beinsj broken, and the forces are beino- let loose SO as to brini>- the different institutions together. Their foundations, however, are still intact, owing to their exceeding firmness.
The turning point in the history of Ancient India was the Mahabharata, the Great War between the Pandavas and thelCauravas. This momentous event decided the future of Ancient India, as it closed the long chapter of Hindu growth and Hindu greatness. The sun of India's glory was at its meridian about the end of Dwapar, and, follow- ing the. universal law of Xatnre, Avith the beninnino- of the Kaliyuga, it turned its course towards the horizon, where it set on the ulains of Thaneshwar amidst the romantic splendour of Saiijugta's love and Pithora's cliivalrv. As the ]\Iahabharata marked the zenith of Hindu greatness, Shahabud-din's victory at Thaneshwar marked the sinking of the great luminary below the horizon. The nadir was reached several centuries later, when the armies luider Bajai liao .were routed on the same sacred, fateful plains bv the Durrani host. The o-reat war which, as will be seen hereafter, influenced so powerfully the destiny of nations was, in realitv, the beixiunino- of the end of Hindu "Teatness, and it was at this period that the political and social Constitu- tion of India began to 3:ield to. those innovations which, by their very contrast to the fundamental principles of that Constitution, are so prominent now.
ANTIQUITY.
I.— AXTIQIITY.
Tiiiic In tlic mot ol' all rrcatvJ ln/iiit^'s,
.\iitl muTcate ; ot' pleasure juid of jiaiii.
'riiiu' dutli ci-i'atc cxistoiicc. Time destroys,
TiniL- shatters all, and all again renews.
Time Nvatchcs while all sleep. Uuvaiiijuished Time !
— Maiiai;hai;ata : Adijxiira,
The antiquity of the Hindu civilization is wonderful, its vitality miraculous. The fabulous age of the Greeks, the times of the Egyptian Soufi, and the " stone age " of the modern European thinkers are but as yesterday in the history of the Hindu civilization. The age of this earth is not to be counted by a few thousand years, but by millions and trillions. And Hindu civilization is the earliest civilization in this world, l^ations have risen and fallen, empires founded and destroyed, races have appeared and disappeared, but the Hindu civilization that saw their rise and fall, tlieir foundation and des- truction, their appearance and disappearance, still remains.
After fully discussing the claims of the ancient nations of the world to high anti(piity. Count Bjornstjerna says: — '' No nation on earth can vie with the Hindus in respect of the antiquity of their civilization and the antiquity of their religion."^
Dr. Stiles, President of Yale College in America,
' formed such an enthusiastic expectation from the
amazing antiquity of ^the Hindu writings that he actually
iTheogony of the lJiti.lu>, p. ')'i.
4 HINDU SUPERIOrJTY.
wrote to Sir W. Jones to request him to search among the Hindus Tor the Adamic books. ^
Mr, Halbcd exclaims with sacred reverence, after treating of the four yugs of the Hindus: '"To such antiquity the Mosaic creation is but as yesterday; and to such ages the Hfe of Methuselah is no more than a span." In concluding his remarks on the antiquity of Hindu astronomy, Count Bjornstjerna says: "But if it be true that the Hindus more than 3,000 years before Christ, according to Bailly's calculation, had attained so high a degree of astronomical and geometrical learning, how many centuries earlier must the commencement of their culture have baeu, since the human mind advances only step by step in the path of scicuce ! ""-^ And yet, astronomy is not the science that is cultivated very early in the national literature of any country.
Pliny states that from the days of Bacchus to Alexander of Macedon, 15-1 kings reigned over India, whose reigns extended over G,451 j-ears. How many rei<>;ned before Bacchus historv is silent.
Abul-Fazal, in his translation of the Raj Tarangini^ quotes the names of the kings who appear in these an- nals, and whose successive reiii'ns are said to have occupied 4,109 years 11 months and 9 days. Prof. Heeren says: "From Dionysius (an Indian king) to Sandracottus (Chandragupta) the space of 6,042 years is said to have elapsed. Megasthenes says 6,042 years passed between Spatembas and Sandracottus.^
1 Ward's Mythology, Vol. I., p. \U.
STkeogony of the Hindus, p. 37.
3 Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 218,
ANTIQITTY. ;,
Professor Max Duiiker i says "that Spatcrnha.-,"" which is perhaps another name of Dioiiyisius,'' beiiaii his reign ill 6717 years B.C." "The era of Yutldhishtliira indeed," he again asserts, "is said to hav(' preceded that of Vicramaditya by the space of 3,044 years, and to have commenced about o,10U years B.C." -
Count Bjornstjerna says : " Megasthenes, the euNoy of xllexander to Kandragupso (Chandragupta), king of the Gangarides, discovered chronological tables at Poly- bhottra, the residence of this king, which contain a series of no less than loo kings, with all their names from Dionysius to Kandragupso, and specifying the duration of the reigns of every one of those kings, together amounting to 6,451 years, which would place the reign of Dionysius ne^irly 7,000 years B.C., and consequently 1,000 years before the oldest kin": found on the Eirvpti- an tables of Manefho (vie, the head of the Tmi/e Thebaine dynasty), wiio reigned 5,867 years B.C., and 2,000 years before Souji, the founder of the Gizeh Pyramid."^
Accordinn: to Sir AV. Jones, "* ei2;lity-one kinirs reimied in Man:adha. "The first 20 reiirns are unaccom- panied with any chronological determination, but the ensuing are divided by hiin into five separate dj-nasties, of which the first commenced with King Pradista about 2,100 A.C., and terminated with King Nanda, about 1,500 A.C., embracing a period of 16 reigns; the second
1 History of Aiitiquit}'. \u\. IV., p. 74. 2Historj of Antiquity, Vol. IV., p. 210, •"^Theogoiiy of the Hindus, p. 45. 4 Sir W, Jones' Works, Vol. I, p. 304.
6 HINDU sri'ERlORITY.
only comprises 10, and ends with tl>e 3ear l,3Go A.C.; the third (h'nastv. that of Snnu'a, contains also the same number of kings, and terminates 1,253 B.C.; the fourth, that of Canna,only consisted of four king's, and lasted till the year 908 A.C. ; the fifth, that of Andrah, forms a series of 2] kini>s, and continued down to the year 456 be- fore the Christian era and 400 before that of Vicrama."
Now, according to the Puranas, the race of the Brahadrathas had ruled over ]\Iagadha before Pradyotas, (who reigned 2,100 A.C, according to Sir W. Jones), from Somapi to Ripunja^'a^ for a thousand 3'ears. And before the first Brahadratlias, Sahadeo, Jarasandh and Erih:>drath are said to have reiiirned over Magadha."^'
The fact that dynasties and not individuals were units of calculation, is in itself a proof of the great anti- quity of the ancient Plindu Empire.
Count Bjornstjerna, after discussing the anti(|uity of Hindu astronomy says : " Besides the proofs adduced of the great antiquity of the civilization of the Hindus, there are others perhaps still stronger, namely, their gigantic temples hewn out of lofty rocks, with the most incredible labour, at Elephanta, at EUora and several other places wdiich, with regard to the vastness of the undertaking, may be compared with the pyramids, and in an architectural respect even surpass them.' ""
Professor Heeren"^ says : "We do not perhaps assume too much when w^e venture to place the origin of Avodhya from 1,500 to 2,000 B.C."
iMax Diuiker's History of Antiquity, Vol. IV., p. 7(). -Max Dunker's History of Antiquity, Vol. lY., p, 77. STheogonyof the Hindus, p. 38. ^Historical Researches, Vol. II., p. 227.
AXTKlllTV. 7
C;ij)t:iin Trover snys : •' I cannot rofiise credence to this fact, namely, that n'reat States, hiulily aiKiinecd in civilization, (jxisted at least three thonsand yc:n's ht'Tore onr era. It is beyond that limit that I look for Uamii, the hero of the llamayana."'^
Accorchni:; to the ^lahabharata, Avodhva pr(-»?pprcd for 1,500 rears, after which one of its kin^s, of the dvnastv of Santas, founded Kanauj. The foundation of the city-of Delhi (Indraprastha^) is as old as the fabulous ao-e (Pober, Vol. I, ]). 2(53), at which time it was already celebrated for its splendour (Vol. I. p. GUG).
Eenell- states that Kanauj was founded more than a thousand ye.'irs before Christ. l>ut apart fr(jm these haphazard shots of European writers — who, as Professor AVilson savs: "in order to avoid beino- thouo-|it credulous run into the opposite vice of incredulity,'' and wouhl never concede anvthinii' for which there is not a demonstrable proof, especially as the history of ancient India is a history of ages so remote as to hopelesslv put out of ioint their early-conceived and limited notions of chronolo<zy and antiquity — there is an important piece of evidence in favour of the great antiquit}' of Indian civilization. Says Count Bjornstjerna : "The Pactrian document, called Dabistan'' (found in Kashmir and brought 1o Europe by SirAV. Jones), gives an entire register of kings, namely, of the Mah.abadernes, whose first link rei^rned in Bactria 5,600 vears before Alexander's expedition to India, and consequently several hundred years before the time given by the Alexandrine text for the appearance of the first man upon tJie earthy
1 Asiatic Journal, 1^511. - Mcinuirs, p. ."> t, (2n(l (nlitimi). 3Tllt'()goiiy of till' lliiuliis. |>. 104.
S HINDU SUPERIORITY.
That these Bactrian kings were Hindus is now uni- versally admittedj Dabistan thus proves that India enjoN-ed splendid civilization 6,000 B.C., or nearly 8,000 years before the Victorian age.
This alone is sufficient to prove that the ancient Indians were incontestably the earliest civilized nation on earth. Another conclusive proof of their unrivalled antiquity will be found in the fact that all the great na- tions of the old world derived their civilization from India, that India planted colonies in all parts of the world, and that these colonies afterwards became known as Egypt, Greece, Persia, China, America, etc.; and that Scandinavia, Germany, and ancient Britain derived their civilization and their religion from the Hindus. In short, as will be seen hereafter, it was India which supplied the rest of the world with learning, civilization and religion.
The most ancient coinao;e in the world is that of the Hindus (Aryas), and the modern discoveries of the coins of ancient India are conclusive proofs of the vast antiquity of Hindu civilization.^
But in Indi^ evervthinu' is astounding to the Euro- pean. iSTotwithstanding the destructive ravages of bar- barous fanaticism, enough material remains from which we can hifer, upon scientific data, the age of the present earth.
Swami Dayananda Saraswati has treated the subject elaborately in his " Introduction to the Vedas," and
»See Mill's History of India, Vol II., pp. 237-238.
2The coiuace of the Hindus, ^^■hatever mav be its value and character, is certauily of a very remote antiquity — ElpMnstone's Indl'j, p. 176.
ANTIQUITY. 9
also discussed it with tlie Keverend Mr, Scott of Bureilly at Cliandapur (vide Arya Darpaa for March 1880, p. 67-G8.)
The Sanhalp^ which every educated Hindu in India knows well, and which is recited at c^'cry ceremony, even at a dip in the sacred Ganges, is the key to unfold the whole mystery that enshrouds the view of the time at which the earth assumed its present form.
^t^3T cTcH^ ^ ^^Cft f^??t^ Vi^Txi ^^^^%3R«^ Jf^S^Tf^*-
To understand what follows, it must be remembered that this world is alternately created from and dissolved into its material cause (^Km) — the parmdnu or atoms — after a fixed period. The world exists in one form for a fixed period, and then, for that verj^ period, it exists only in its material cause. The former is called " Brahma Din," and the latter "Brahma Ratri."
As the Atharva Veda says, the Brahma Din is equal to 4,320,000,000 years.
This Brahma Din is made up of 1,000 Chaturyugis (4 yugs) or Dibyayugs, as they are also called. ]Manu (Adhyaya I) says : —
A Chaturyugi or Dibyayug means a period of four yugs, Satyug, Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyug, and consists
10 HINDU SUPEPtTORlTY.
o£ 12,000 Dibva years— Satyug consisting of 4,800, Trete, of 3,600, Dwapar of 2,400, and Kaliyng of 1,200 Dibya years. Manu (Chapter 1, SI. 71) says : —
^TTTiT^^ II ^^ II And again,
=^c^pJt^: ^^^ifcr g^icitg i\ciV?i?T i c{^■^ cTi^x^crt^H^T
Now, a Dibva year is equal to oGO ordinary years. Thus Satyug =4,800X360=1,728,000 years. Treta =3,600x360 = 1,296,000 ,, . Dwapur = 2,400 X 360 = 864,000 Kaliynir = 1 ,200 X 360 = 432,000
J?
5?
A Chaturyu«i = 4,320,000 years.
Thus, the Brahma Din = 4,320,000,000 years. Thi.s is the period for which the world will remain hi its j^resent form.
Again, the Brahma Din is divided into 14 Man- wan tras and a IManwantra into 71 Chaturyugis. j\Ianu says : — •
cT^fjT=rt=5J% 11 TT^o W« °i 1^° ■©£. II
The Surya Siddhanta also says : —
ANTIQUITr. 1 I
According to the Sanlalp quoted ;d)ove, six Man- wantras^ have passed, the seventh is passinji", and the remaining seven have still to come Each Chatnryngi = 4,320,000, as shown before, and 4,320,000x71 = 306,720,000 = one Alanwantra. Kow, six ]\Ian\vantras = 1,840,320,000 have pnssed, and this present Kali3iig is the Kaliyugof the 2<Sth Chaturviiuri. 01" this Chatnr- yugi, 5,006 years o£ the Kaliyug (the present Sanibat being- 1963 A^icrama) have passed, ;ind 432,000 — 5^006 = 426,994 years of the Kaliyng have yet to pass. Thus, of the sevenjth .Manwantra, 116,640,000 ( 27 Chatnr- yugis 4,320,000 x 27) + 3,893,006 (the period of the 28th Chaturyugi alresldy passed, 4,320,000-426,994) total 120,533,006 years have passed. The period yet to pass before the day of Final Dissolntion comes is 214,704,000 (rcniainhig 7 Manwantras) + 186, 186,99 l(of die present (sixth) Manwantra.) =2,333,226,994 years.
The Europeans, "accustomed as they are," to use the words of Professor Sir ^I. AVillianis, " to a limited horizon", will find this vast anti(|uity bewildering, liillions surely are incredible, if not incomprehensible to pious ears accustomed to a scale, the highest note of Avhich rises no higher than 6,000 years, lint matters are improving, and even these pious souls will in time break the shell and come out into a world in which cen- turies will be replaced by milleiniiums.
Air. 15aldwin says: "Doubtless the nntiipiitv of the human race is much greater than is usually assumed by
^Tlie six Miuiwantras already passed arc 8\va\aniltliav, Swarocliis, Autami, Taiiifis, Ilaivat, Chakshus, VaivaSTvat. The seven ^lanwantras to couie are named Sa-ivaniit. Daks'iasawaniili. Dralinia, Sawarnili, Dharra Sawaniih, Rudra[iUclio, Roclij-aslieha and Cliotakali.
12 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
those whose views o£ the past are still regulated by mediae- val systems of chronology. Archaeology and linguistic science, not to speak here of Geology, make it certain that the period between the beginning of the human race and the birth of Christ would be more accurately stated if the centuries counted in the longest estimate of the rabbinical chronologies should be changed to mil- lenniums. And they present also another fact, namely, that the antiquity of civilization is very great, and suggest that in remote ages it may have existed, with important developments, in regions of the earth now described as barbarous * * ' The representation of some speculators that the condition of the human race since its first appearance on earth has been a condition of universal and hopeless savagery down to a comparatively modern date, is an assumption merely, an unwarranted assumption used in support of an unproved and unprovable theory of man's origin." ^
iLWiklwiu's Ancient America, p. 181,
GOVERNMENT. \l
IL— GOVEKXMEXT.
For I'oiius of GovormiKMit let fools contest; Whate'cr is best mimiuister'd, is bo.st.
—Pope, E. M.
The saying o£ the greatest English exponent of Pohtical Philosophy, Ediiumd Burke, that no country in which population flourishes can be under a Ijad Government, introduces ns to the subject of the political constitution of Ancient India. Burke lays down two important standards to test the good or bad govern- ment of a nation : (i) Popnlation, jmd (ii) AVcalth.
All the Ancient Greek writers and travellers arc agreed that the Ancient Aryas were the largest nation on the earth.
Appollodorus ^ states that " there were between the Hydaspes and Hypanis (Hypasis) 1,500 cities, none of which was less than Cos."
Megasthenes says that "there are 120 nations in India." Arrian admits that the Indians were the most numerous people- and that it was impossible to know and ennmerate the cities in Aryavarta. Strabo says that Eukratides was the master of 1,000 cities bet- ween Hydaspes and Hyphasis. Professor Max Dunker" says "the Indians were the largest of the nations."
] Elphiustonc's India, p. 241. See Strabo, Lib. XV. ^See his Chapter ou India, C. VII. See also his History of Nations, G, 22,23.
^History of Antiquity, Vol. V., p. 18.
14 HINDU SUrERIORlTV.
Ctesius states that "they (Hindus) were as numerous as all the other nations put tot/ether.^^^
But the most important j^roof of the over-abnnd;nit population o£ Ancient India is to be found in the suc- cessive waves of emigration from India to the different parts of the worhl, founding colonies and planting settlements in what are now called the Old and the ^''ew AVorlds.
As re^rards wealth, India has always been famous for its immense riches. "Golden India" is a hack- I'^eyed phrase.- Both in population and in wealtli, India, at one time was not only j^re-cminent but was ■without a rival.
What higher authorit}', what more positive proof of the good government of Ancient India is required than the fact that "Ancient India knew no thieves,"'" nor knew why to shut the doors of its houses even at the time when, according to Dr. Johnson, " the capital of the most civilized nation of modern times is the true Satan-at-home."
' Prepare for deatli. if here at i\ight you roam, And sign your will before you sleep from honie.'
The form of Government depends upon the character of a people, the conditions of life obtaining among them, and the principles of their social system.
iStrabo states that " Polibhothra was eight miles long and had a rampart Avhich had 570 towers and 64 gates." As late even as the IGtli century, Kanauj was reported to have contained no less than 30,000 shops of betelsellers and " .sixty thousand sets of musicians." See Historical Reseai-ches, Vol. II., p. 220.
-For further information on this subject, see "Wealth."
^'Sec Strabo, Lib. XV. p. iSS (1587 edition).
GOvi:i;nmi:nt. 1 . j
Witli clianiros in respect of these mnttcr.-;, the form <>[ Government also nndero-oes a change. Ih-oadly sj)e!ik- ing, the best form of Government is that Avhich enaljles onlv men of hiiih character, noble minds, wide svm- pathies, men of sterling qualities and talents to rise to the top, and prevents men of shallow minds, mean capacities, narrow sympathies, and nnscrnpnlons cliarac- ters from coming into power, it being always understood that the proper functions of Government arc onlv (i) national defence, and (it) protection of one individual or of one class from another.
The form of Government may vary, but the spirit depends on the ethical side of a people's character. It is well said —
Political rights, liowevor liroadly fiainod, Will not ehn'ate a people iiuliviilually depravod.
If high moral principles guide the people in their dailv conduct as a nation, the Government of that nation is frea from those pu-ty strifes, that incessant "warfare raged by one individual against another and I)v one class against another for power or for protection, which is a leading feature of all Euro})ean and Ameriean Governments of the present day. It is this law that discovers to us the eternal princi[)le, that sj)iritual eleva- tion not only helps material ])rosperity but is essential to the ]ia]>piness of a people, and that it is an index to the realization of the aim and object of jdl government.
Mr. Herbert Spencer says: "There has grown up quite naturally, and indeed almost inevitabl}' among civilized peoples, an identification of freedom wiih the political appliance-? established to maintain free- dom. The two are confused together in thought ; or, to express the fact more correctly, they have
16 HINDU SUrERIORlTY.
not yet been separated in thon^^ht. In most coun- tries during' ])ast times, and in many countries at the present time, experience has associated in men's minds the unchecked power o£ a ruler with extreme coercion of the ruled. Contrariwise, in countries where the people have acquired some power, the restraints on the liberties of individuals have been relaxed ; and with advance towards government by the majority, there has, on the average, been a progressing abolition of laws and removal of burdens which unduly interfered with suc]i liberties. Hence, by contrast, popularly- governed nations have come to lie regarded as free nations ; and possession of political power by all is supposed to be the same thing as freedom. But the assumed identity of the two is a delusion — delusion, which, like many other delusions, results from confound- ing Dieans with ends. Freedom in its absolute form is the absence of all external checks to whatever actions the will prom])ts ; and freedom in its socially-restricted form is the absence of anv other external checks than those arising from the presence of other men wdio have like claims to do what their Avills prompt. The mutual checks hence resulting are the only checks which free- dom, in the true sense of the w^ord, permits. The sphere within which each may act without trespassing on the like spheres of others, cannot be intruded upon by any agency, private or public, wdthout an equivalent loss of freedom ; and it matters not whether the pubhc agency is autocratic or democratic : the intrusion is essentially the same."i
1 Herbert Spencer's Autobiography, Vol I., p. 139,
GOVKIlXilKNT. 17
It is (liio to fi thorough recog-nition of this trutli that the Iiidiun sages laid so mucli stress on the necessity of formation of Hindu cliaracter on ethical and altruistic I^rinciples, to secure political as well as social prosijerity. The higher the ethical development of character, the greater the freedom enjo3'ed by a people. It is in this sense true that the best-governed people is the least- governed peoj)le. Over-government is an evil, a positive evil, and a very frequent evil. Over-government defeats its own ends. The real object of government is frustrat- ed : its proper functions are neglected.
Mr. Herbert Spencer says : "Among mechanicians it is a recognized truth that the multiplication of levers, wheels, cranks &c., in an apparatus, involves loss of power, and increases the chances of going wrong. Is it not so with Government machinery, as compared witli the simpler machinerj' men frame in its absence ? Moreover, men's desires when left to achieve their own satisfaction, follow the order of decreasinir inten- sity and importance : the essential ones being satisfied first. But when, instead of airo-re2;ates of desires spontaneously working for their ends we get the judg- ments of Governments, there is no guarantee that the order of relative importance will be followed, and there is abundant proof that it is not followed. Adaptation to one function pre-supposes more or less unfitness for other functions ; and pre-occupation with many functions is unfavourable to the complete discharge of anyone. Beyond the function of national defence, the essential function to be discharged by a Government is that of seeinu: that the citizens in seeking satisfaction
18 - HINDU SUrEKIORITY.
for tbcir own desires, individually or in gTOups, shull not injure one another ; and its failure to ])erform thi>ri function is great in proportion as its other functions are nameroos. The daily scandals of oin- judicial system, which often brings ruin instead of restitution, and frightens away multitudes who need protection, result in large measure from the pre-occupation of statesmen and politicians with non-essential things, Avhile the all- essential thing passes almost unheeded."^
In ancient India, owing to the high ethical and spiri- tual development of the people, they were not over- governed. They enjoyed the greatest individual freedom compatible with national cohesion and national security. It is owing to this want o£ ethical and altruistic develop- ment of character of the Westerners that freedom, in its true sense, is not yet enjoyed in Europe and America.
Mr, Herbert Spencer says: "Onlv alono: witli tlie gradual moulding of inen to tlie social state has it be- come possible, without social disruption for those ideas and feelings which cause resistance to unlimited autho- rity, to assert themselves and to restrict the authority. At pi-esent the need for the authority, and for the sentiment which causes submission to it, continues to be great. While the most advanced nations vie with
one another it is manifest that their members are far too aggressive to permit much weakening of restrainino- atrencies by which order is maintained araon<'- them. The unlimited right of the majority to rule is probablv
^ Autobiogiapliy, Vol, 1, p, 4L'2.
GoVEKNMKNT. 19
as advanced a conception of freedom as can safely ])e entertained at present, if, indeed, even that can safely be entertained.'
After the ^lahabharata, the Hindu statesmen tried to preserve a^ nnich of the old Constitution as tliey conld, ^Yhile providing for the assimilation of new elements consequent on the sliohtlv-chanixed conditions of life, Burke truly snys that tlie true stxatesman is he who preserves what is acquired and leaves room for future improvement. Thus, though the comparative neglect of the ethical and spiritual culture of the Hindus after the beginning of the Kaliy uga affected their indi\idual freedom, yet the ground \vork of the Constitution being sound, it was able to adapt itself to changing circum- stances, and, as the necessities of the situation plainly demanded, more heed Avas paid to the conservative principles than the progressive ones. But the spirit of the Constitution was never affected till its practical dissolution with the advent of the foreigners in India.
" Arrain - mentions with admiration that ever}' Indian is free." Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Wilks,' while discussing the political system in its provincial work- in"', says :" Each Hindu township is, and indeed al- ways was, a particular counnunity or petty republic by itself." "" The whole of India, " he says again, " is nothing more than one vast congeries of such republics."
1 Autobiography, Vol T, p. 441.
2 See Indica, Cli. X. See also Diodoras, lib. II, p. 214 (edition 1G04).
See also Elphiiisfcone's India, p. 239.
SHistorical Sketches of the South oi India, Vul. J, p. 119.
20 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
These facts clo not seem to support the theory that representative government does not suit the genius of the Hindus. Even Mr. James Mill is forced to admit that " in examining the spirit of these ancient Constitu- tions and laws, we discover evident traces of a germ of republicanism."^
As regards the executive system, Professor ^lax Dunker says : " The king placed officers over every village (called pati), and again over ten or twenty villages (gramh), so that these places with their acreage formed together a district. Five or ten such districts formed a canton which contained a hundred communities, and over this, in turn, the king placed a higher maoistrate : ten of these cantons form a reo;ion which thus comprised a thousand villages, and this was adminis- tered by a Governor. The overseers of districts were to have soldiers at their disposal to maintain order (Polics.) This is of itself evidence of an advanced stage of administration."^
The Police of India was excellent. Megasthenes says, that in the camp of Sandrocottus, which he esti- mates to have contained 400,000 men, the sums stolen dailv did not amount to more than Rs. 30.^
As regards the strength of the representative institu- tions, Sir Charles Metcalfe* says : " The village com-
iThat the people took active interest in polities is exhibited by their instigating Samhas to fly from Alexander and Musicanus to break the peace made with Alexander.
2History of Antiquity, Vol. IV, p. 215.
oElphinstone's India, p. 2il. There was no organized Police Service in England before the reign of Queen Victoria,
4 Report of the S-elect Committee of the House of Commonss 1832, Vol. Ill, Appendices, p. 3o,
GOVEUXMEXT. 21
muiiities are little re])ublics having nearly cvcrythin<>- they can want within themselves and almost independent o£ any foreign nation. They seem to last where nothing else lasts. D3'nasty after dynasty tumhles down, revolution succeeds revolution, and Pathan, ]\Ioghul, Mahratta, Sikh, English are all masters intnrn, l)ut the village communities remain the same. This union nf village communities, each one forming a separate little State in itself, is in a hio'h deo:ree conducive to their (Hindu) happiness, and to the enjoyment of a great portion of freedom and inde])endence."
The benevolent nature of the Hindu civilization is proved by the fact that the Hindu Colonies and depen- dencies enjoyed the same Constitution as the mother country. Sir Stamford RatHes^ says about Bali, an island east of Java: " Here, together with the Brahminioal religion is still preserved the ancient form of Hindu municipal polity."
Hindu works on diplomacy, polity and government (though few are now extant) show the high development that political thought reached in those days. Some of them have been translated into Persian and thence into European languages. Abu Sabhhad had the Eajnitl translated into Persian in 1150 A.D. Buzarchameher, the renowned minister of Nausherwan the Just, received his poUtical education and training in India.
1 Description of Java, Vol. II, Appendix, p. 2:37.
After quoting some passages from Manu, Colonel Briggs says: " These extracts afford us sufficient proof of a well-organised system of local superiutondcnee and aduiiniiitration." — Brigg's Land Tax of India, p. 2i.
22 HINDU SUrEKIUlilTY.
Law is a test of o'ood ii:overiiment. The ixreat Hindu work on law is a marvel of simplicity and wisdom. Without beino- complex, it satisfied all the diverse wants of the people. Its provisions did not chano;e everv week, and vet thev suited the varied circumstances of Hindu societ}^ Sir W. Jones^ says : — " The laws of Manu very probably were considerably older than those of Solon or even of Lycurgns, although the Dromulo-ation of them, before thev were reduced to w^ritino- miohthave been coeval with the first monarchies established in Egypt and India."
The Enii'lish derived their laws from the Romans, who, in their turn, derived them from Greece. Durini'' the
7 7 O
Decemvirate, Greece seems to have been indebted to India for its laws. Sir W. Jones says : - " Although perhaps Manu was never in Crete,-' yet, some of his institutions may ^vell have been adopted in that island, whence Lycurgns a century or two after may have imported them into Sparta."
The Bible in India says that the IManu Smriti was the foundation upon which the Egyptian, the Persian, the Grecian and the Roman Codes of law were built, and that the influence of Manu was still every day felt in Europe.
Professor Wilson* says, the Hindu had " a code of Laws adapted to a great variety of relations which coul d not have existed except in an advanced condition of social
organization."
1 Houghton's Institutes of Hindu Law, Preface, p. x, 2 Preface to Houghton's Institutes of Hindu Law, p. xii. ^The oneness of Minas and ]\Ianu is highly probable. ^Mill's India, Vol. II, p, 2^2.
GOVKliXMKNT. I'ii
Colemani s:ivs:"TIie style of it (^Innii^ has a certain austere majesty that souiuls like the Iniiiiiia^e ol: legislation and extorts a respectL'ul awe. The senti- ments of inde])en(lence on all beings but God, aud the harsh administrations even to kiujj's are trul\" noble, and the many panegyrics on the Gayatri prove the author to have adored that divine and incomparably-greater liii'ht which illiuuines all, delio'hts all, from which all proceed, to which all must return, and which can alone irradiate our intellect."
Dr. Robertson says: '" With respect to the number and variety of points the Hiudu code considers it will bear a comparison Y\'ith the celebrated Digest of Justi- nian, or with the systems of jurisprudence in nations most highly civilized. The articles of which the Hindu code is composed are arranged in natural and luminous order. They are numerous and comprehensive, and investigated with that minute attention and discernment which are natural to a people distinguished for acuteness and subtlety of understanding, rvdio have been long accustomed to the accuracy of judicird proceedings, and acquainted witli all the rehnements of legal practice. The decisions con- cerning every point are founded upon the great and immutable principles of justice which the human mind acknowledges and respects in every age and in all parts of the earth. Whoever examines the whole work cannot entertain a doubt of its containing the jurisprudence of an enlightened and commercial people. Whoever looks into any particular title will be surprised with a minuteness of detail and nicety of distinction which, in
iColeuiau's Mythology of the Ilindii^s, p. 8,
24 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
many instances, seem to go beyond the attention of European legislation; and it is remarkable that some o£ the regulations wL-ich indicate the greatest degree o£ refinement were established in periods of the most remote antiquity."^
Mr, Mill says that "the division and arrano'ement of Hindu law is rude and shows the barbarism of the nation"; upon which Professor Wilson, with his usual candour, remarks : " By this test, tl'ie attempt to classify would place the Hindus hiijiher in civilization than the Knglish."^
Mr. Mill's revievr of Hindu religion and laws is a ])iece of stupendous perversii}^ ignorance and stn])idity. Pro- fessor Wilson speaks of it in the following terms : — " The whole of this review of the religion as well as of the laws of the Hindus is full of serious defects arising from inveterate prejudices and imperfect know- ledge."'^ Of Mill's Historv of British India, Prof. Max MuUer says : — "The book which I consider most mis- chievous, nay, which I hold responsible tor some of the greatest misfortunes that have happened in India, is Mills' History of India, even with the antidote against its poison which is supplied by Professor Wilson's notes. "-^ Professor Max Muller deplores that " the candidates for the Civil Service of India are recommended to read it and are examined in it. "'' What wonder, then, that there is often
misunderstandin2: between the rulers and the ruled in India !
^ Disquisition conceniing India, Appendix, p. 217
-'Mills' India, Vol. I], pp. 2iM-25.
^Mills' India, Vol. II, p. 4o6 (Xote).
"^Inella : what can it teach us, p. 42.
5Max MuUer's India: What can it teach us? p. 42,
GOVERNMENT. 25
While discussing Mill's views, Professor Wilson again says: "According to tiiis theory (Mill's theory con- tained in his explaiijition of the causes of comphix procedure in the English courts of law) the corruption of the juilgo is the best security for justice. It would be dangerous to reduce this to practice."^
1 Mill's India, Vol. II, p. 512. — Mill say.s tliat ])ocanse the Hindus lend money on pledges, thercFore they are barbaron.s. On this, Pro- fessor "Wilsmi savs : — " Lendintr on ])ledires can scarcely he roirarded as pro>)f of a snite of barliarism, or the nuiltilude of ]'!i\vn-bi(ikers in Lond(Mi would witness our being very low in the scale of civilization." J\Iill declares the Mohammedan Code to be superior to the Hindu Code. " In civil branch," replies Wilson, "the laws of Contract and Inheritance, it is not so exact or complete as the latter (Hindus'1. Its (jMohnmc- dan) spirit of barbarous retaliation is unknown to the Hindu Code." Mill tlunks that perjui-y is a virtue according to the Hindu Code. But Wilson clearly proves that this is a creation of Mill's diseased imagination.
It is further objected that the uncertainties of the Hindu law are very great. Prof. Wilson (Essays, A"ol. Ill, page 5tl)) remarks: " If the unci'rtainties of the I'^iiglish law are less perplexing than those of the Hindu law, we doubt if its delays are not something more intermin- able. A long time elapses before a cause comes for decision and abun- dant oppoitunity is therrfore afforded for the tral'lic of underhand negotiations, intrigues and corru[iti(m. It is needless to cite mstances to prove the conseqaence or to make any individual application : public events have reinlcred tho fact notorious. It can scarcely be otherwise. ' Bathe returns to the charge and says :-" They say that Pandits don't agree in the discharge of Hindu law. But see in the case of Vira- plrmah PiUay versus Karain I'illay. the opinion of the two English judges. The Chief Justice of Bengal declares that a decision pronounced and argued with grc-at pains by the Chief Justice at Madras, will mislead those bv ^^hom it may be followed, and that the doctrine which it incul- cates is contrary to law." Professor Wilson again says :-The Chi-'f Justice of Hengal says that " he would connive at immoral acts :f he bought they led to useful results."
26 HINDU SUPKRIORITY.
An eminent anthoritv, the late Chief .Tn.stice of Madras, Sir Thomas Stranire, says of tlie Hindu Law of Evidence : " It will be read by every English lawyer with a mixture of admiration and delio'ht, as it mav be studied bv him to advantao'e."
A writer in the Asiatic Journal (p. 14) saA'.s : " All the requisite shades of care and diligence, the corres- ponding shades o£ negligence and default are carefully observed in the Hindu law of bailment, and neither in the jurisprudence nor in the legal treatises of the most civilised States o£ Europe are they to be found more logically expressed or more accurate!}' defined. In the spirit of Pyrrhus' observation on the Roman legionfi^, one cannot refrain from exclaimino- " I see nothing' barbarous in the jurisprudence of the Hindus."
Of the Commentary of Calluca on ]\Ianu, Sir AV. Jones says : "It is the shortest yet the most luminous; the least ostentatious yet the most learned ; the deepest yet the most agreeable commentary ever composed on ciny author ancient or modern., European or Asiatic.''''^
1 Preface to Houghton's Institutes of Hindu Law, p. 18.
SOCIAL SYSTEM. 27
III.— SOCIAL SYSTEM.
Hail, i^ocial life ! into thy pleasing bonnds A^ujuin I come to piiv the conmiou stock ]My siiare ut' service, uiid, in glad return To taste thy comforts, thy protected joys.
— Thomson' : Agamemnon.
The Hindus perfected society. The social organization of the people was based on scientific ])rinciples, and was well calculated to ensure progress without party strife. There was no accumulation of wealth in one portion of the communit^y, leaving the other portion in destitute poverty ; no social forces stimulating the increase of the wealth of the one and the poverty of the other, as is the tendency of the modern ci\ilization. The keynote of the system, however, was national service. It afforded to every memljcr of the social bod)-, opportunities and means to develop fully his powers and capacities, and to use them for the advance- ment of the common weal. Everyone was to serve the nation in the s])herc in which he was best fitted to act, which, being congenial to his individual genius, was conducive to the highest development of his faculties and powers.
There was thus a wise and statesmanlike classifica- tion which procured a general distribution of wealth, expelled misery and want from tlie land, promoted mental and moral progress, ensured national efficiency, and, above all, made tranquillity compatible witli ad- vancement ; in one word, dropped manna all round
2S HINDU SUPERIORITY.
and made life doubly sweet by securing external peace with national efficiency and social happiness — a condi- tion of affairs nowliere else so fully realized.
This classification — this principle of social organiza- tion— was the Varndshrama. Mankind were divided into two classes, (1) the Aryas and (2) the Dasyus, or the civilized and the savage. The Aryas were sub- divided into : —
1. Brahmanas, who devoted themselves to learning
and acquiring wisdom and following the liberal arts and sciences.
2. Kshatriyas, who devoted themselves to the theory
and practice of war, and to whom the
executive Government of the people was entrusted.
3. Yaishyas, who devoted themselves to trade and
the professions.
4. Sudras (men of low capacities), who served and
helped the other three classes. This classification is a necessary one in all civi- lized countries iu some form or other. It was the glory of ancient Aryavarta that this classification existed there in its perfect form and was based on scientific principles — on the principle of heredity (which has not yet been fully appreciated by European thinkers), the conservation of energy, economy of labour, facility of development, and specialization of faculties. Literary men, soldiers, doctors, lawyers, clergymen, traders, and servants are to be found in England, France, America, and in every other civilized country of modern times, as they were in Ancient India. The only difference
SOCIAL SYSTEM. 29
is that in one case the division was perfect and tho ■working of its marvellous mechanism regular, Avhilc in the other the classification is imperfect and its working irregular and haphazard.
The Varndshrama was not the same as the caste system of the present dav — a travesty of its ancient original. Xo one was a Brahman by blood nor a Siidra by birth, but everyone was such as his merits fitted him to be. " The peo})le,^' says Col. Olcott, " were not, as no\v, irrevocably walled in by castes, but they were free to rise to the hiiihest social diij-nities or sink to the lowest positions, according to the inherent qualities they might possess."
The son of a Brahman sometimes became a Ksha- triya, sometimes a Yaishya, and sometimes a Sudra. At the same time, a Sudra as certainly became a l>rali- man or a Kshatriya. Shanler Dig Vijya says : —
%? ^^^^[ ^%f^^: ^%[ STllTfcT ^T^?n: || " By birth all are Sudra, by actions men become Dicija (twice-born). By reading the Vedas one becomes Vipra and becomes Brahman by gaining a knowledge of God."
A passage in the Vanparva of the ]Mahabharata runs thus: "He in whom the qualities of truth, muni- ficence, forgiveness, gentleness, abstinence from cruel deeds, contemplation, benevolence are observed, is called a Brahman in the Smriti. A man is not a Sudra Ijy being a Sudra nor a Brahman bv being a Brahman." The Mahabharata (Santiparva) says : —
30 HINDU SUPERIOIUTY.
" There are no distinctions of caste. Thus, a world which, as created by Brahma, was at first entirely Brah- manic has become divided into classes, in consequence ot: men's actions.
In his paper on " Sanskrit as a Liviiio- LauLi'- uao"e in India," read before the International Coni^-ress of Orientahsts at Berlin, on the 14th September 1881, Mr. Shyamji Krishnavarina said : — " We read in the Aitareya lU-fdimana (,ii. 3. ID), for example, that Kavasha Ailusha, who was a Sudra and son of a low^ woman, was greatly respected for his literary attainments, and admitted into the class of Ivisbis. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of his life is that he, Sndra as he was, distinguished himself as the Rishi of some of the hymns of the Rig-Veda (Rig., X. 30-34). It is distinctly stated in the Chandogyopanishad that Jabala, who is otherwise called Satya-Kama, had no gotra, or family name whatever (Chan-Upa, IV. 4) ; all that we know about his parentage is that he Avas the son of a woman named Jabala, and that he is called after his mother. Though born of unknown parents, Jilbala is said to have been the founder of a school of the Yajur- Yeda. Even in the Apastamba-Sutra (ii. 5-10) and the Manusmriti (x. 65), we find that a Sudra can become a Brahman and a Bnlhman can become a Sudra, accord- ing to their good or bad deeds, Piinini mentions the name of a celebrated grammarian called Cakravarmana in the sixth chapter of his Ashtadhyayi (p. vi. 1. 130); now Cakravarmana was a Kshatriya by birth, since he has the prescribed Kshatriya termination at the end of his name, which is a patronymic of Cakravarmana,"
SOCIAL SYSTE:\r. 31
Who were ^ isvamitri and ^'allniki but S'.ulras. Even so late as tlic time ot" the Greek invasion of India, the caste system had not become ])eti'ified into its present state. The (Ire ^ks descril)e four castes. ^[agesthenes says that a Hindu of any cast(^ may becon)e a Sopliist (Brahman.) Arrian couiits seven classes: Sopliists, Ro-ricalturists, herdsmen, handicrafts and artizens, war- riors, in?;pectors and councillors. (See Strabo, Lib XV.)
Colonel Tod sa3-s : " In the early ages of these Solar and Lunar dynasties, the priestly office was not here- ditary in families ; it was a profession, and tb.e g-enealoii'ies exhibit frequent instances of branches of these races terminatin<x their martial career in the commencement of a reliirious sect or "potra" and of their decendants reassuming their warlike occupations."^
There was no hereditary caste. The people enjoved the advantages of hereditary ger.ius without the serious drawl)acks of ;i rigid system of caste based on birth.
'' The one great object which the promoters of the hereditary system seem to liave had in view was to secure to each class a high degree of efficiency in its own sphere." " Hereditary genius " is now a subject of serious enrpiiry amongst the enlightened men of Europe and America, and the evolution theory as api)lied to sociology, Avhen fully worked out, will fully show the
1 Mauusmrifi, II, l.'^H s^iya:— " As lilMTality tu a fool is IVuiUoss, so is a Brahman useless if lie ivad not the Holy Texts ; or again, he is no better than an eh'pliant made nf wood or an antelope made oi' leather."
?)2 HIXDU SUrElUOUITV.
merits of the system. In fact the India o£ tlic time of ^1:11111 will :i])i)u;ir to hwvc roiiclicd a stau'e cf civilizntic^n of which the brilliant "modern Enro])ean civilization" oidv liives ns liTnnpse.s.
Even the system in its present form has not been an ninnitigated evil. It has been the great conserv^ative ]ri-in('iple of the constitution of Hindu society, though oriirinallv it was a conserv^ative ,as w^ell as a proirressive one. It is this principle of the Hindu social constitution which h.as enabled the nation to sustain, without being sliat:)ered to })leccs, the tremendous shocks given bv the numerous political convulsions and religious upheavals thiit have occurred during the last thousand yenrs. " Tin; svstem of caste," savs Sir Henrv Coctc^n, " far from bein^- the source of all troubles Avhicli c^an be traced in Hindu society, has rendered most important service in the past, and still continues to sustain order and solidarity."
As regards its importance from a European point of view, Mr. Sidney Low in his recent book, A Vision of India, savs : — '* Tiiere is no <loubt that it is the main cause of the fun lauKMital stability and c;)utcntin(Mit bv Avhich Imlian society has been braced for cjnturie.s against the shocks of p;)litjcs and the cataclysms of Nature. It provides every man ^vi(h his |>]ic(', Jiis career, his occupation, his circle of friends. Ft makes him, fit the outset, a member of a corporate bodv: it ])rotects iiim through life from the canker of social jealousy and unfullilled aspirations; it ensures liim Cf)mpanionship ;nrl a sense of community with others in like ('as(! with liiiii-rlf. The caste organi/ai ion is to the, Hindu his club, his trade-union, his beneiit society, liis philanthi-ojiic society. There are no "work-houses
SOCIAL SYSTKM. 33
in Tndi;!, ami none nro as yet nccilod. Tlic ()i)liLr;iti()n to providi! tor kinsfollc imd friends in distress is uni- versidiy acknowledged; nor can it be questioned tliat tliis is due to the recognition oL' the strcn;;th of taniily tics and of the bonds created l»y associations and connnon pursuits which is fostered l»y the caste principle. An India without caste, as tilings stand at preseiit, it is not quite easy to ima<iine."
''>i niXDU SUPKIIIOIUTV.
IV.— CHARACTER.
To tlio.^o who know IIhm' ]iot. no wonls can j>aint. And those wlio know thee, know all words an- faint.
• — Han. Mork: Svn^ihiUfif.
TiiR liapin' results of govern men t (Igjx^ihI chiefly upon, tlie cliaractci' oF the p3 )ple. And whit nation, ancient or modern, can show such high cliaractcr as tliat of tlie ancient Hindus? Their generosity, simplicity, lionesty, trutht'uluess, courage, refinement and gentleness are proverbial. In fact, the elements so mixed in tlicin tiiat nature might stand up and say to all the world, "These were men."
The first and hio-hest virtue in man is truthfulness. As Chaucer savs : —
Trutli is the hi^Hicst tiling' tliat man may keep.
From the earliest times, the Hindus have always lieen praised bv men of all countries and creeds for their truthfuhiess.
Strabo says: "They are so honest as neither to require lo(;ks to their doors ni)r writings to bind llieir agreements."'
Ari-ian (in (lie second century), the pupil of ]'>picterus, says th;it '"no Indian was ever known to tt'll an im!i-ulh."- This, making a due allowance for exaggeration, is no mean praise.
Hiovcn li)s:ujg, the inost famous of the Chinese trav(!ilers, says: "The Indians are distinguished by
'Slial.o. Lib. XV. p. IHS (cd. loS?).
-Ill li>-:», ('.tp. xu, (1. Sec also Mcd'riiidle In ' Indian .Vntipiaiy,' 187(;. p '.•!'.
I llAKACTKn. 35
the stniiulitforwanliu'ss mid lioiu.'sly of lljcir cliarnrier. \\ iili regard to riclirs, (lu'V lU'Vi-r t:ikc anytliiiit^ unjustly ; with rcuard to justici-, tlu-y uv.\\n- rv.-n excessive conoessioiis .... stniii^ditforwarducs^ tliu Icadiuii' feature of tin-ir administration."'
Kiiann'-thai, the ( 'hines(! anil>as.sidor to Siani, .-.t\.^ that Sii-We, a relative of Fauehen, kinir of Siani, Nvho eanie to India ahuul I'.'ll .\.I).. on his return reported to tiie kin^* that '*tlie Indians are .straii^hl- i'orward and honest. "-
"In the fourth eentnrv, Friar Jordanus tell> us that the pcMjple ot India ure true in speech* and eminent in justice.'"-'
Fei-tu, the anil)assador of the Cliinc», Janperor Yangti to India in (](!.") A.D., amonu" other thinLfs ])oints out as jjcculiar to the Hindus tiiat '* they believe in .solemn oaths. "'^
Idrisi, in his Gcoi>;ra])hy (written in the llili centur\), savs : *' Tiie Indians arc naturallv inclineii to justice, and never depart from it in their actions. Their irood faith, honesty and lidelitv to their cnira«rc- ments are well known, and tin y \\V(- >o f:nnous for these qualities that people iiock to their country from every side. •
111 tlie thirteenth century, Siiams-ud-din Ahu Abdullah (piotes the Ibllowin;;- judgment of Uedi-ezr Zeman : —
'Vol. IT. p. .S:{.
•■'Max Mullt-r's Iii<lia: Wliat can it tonrli ns? j.. 55,
nUiViio l'..l.., cl. H. Yy^l: V.l II. \: :5:»t.
•Max Mullor's Iiiilia: wliat .-an it tf.uU u.>.: ji. L'75.
^Klliul':? lIi*tuiT of Iniiia, Vol. I, l>. 6^,
/
V
36 TITXDU SlTElUORITr.
*' The Indians are innumerable, like grains of sand, free fron-i deceit and violence. They fear neither death nor life."^
■ .Marco Polo (thirteenth century) says : '' You must know tiiat these Brahmins are the best merchants f in the world and the most truthful, for they would not tell a lie for anythinii' on earth." '^
Kamal-ud-din Ibd-errazak Samarkand! (1 1:10-1482), who went as ambassador of the Khakau to the prince of Calicut and to the king of A^idyanagar (1440-1 11 o), bears testimony to "the perfect security which mer- chants enjoy in that country."^
Abul Fazal says: "The Hindus are admirers of truth and of unbounded fidelity in all their dealings."-*
Sir John Malcolm says : "Their truth it; as re- markable as their courai^e.""^
Colonel Sleeman, who had better and more nunicr- ous opportunities of knowing the Hindu character than most Europeans, assures us " tha-t falsehood or lying between members of the same villaGfe is almost un- known." He adds, "I have had before me hundreds of cases in wliich a man's property, liberty and life has depended upon his telling a lie and he has refused to tell it." "Could many an English Judge," asks Professor Max MuUcr, "sjiy the ?ame?"*'
W'hiit is the pivot on which the whole story of liama}ana, the book which even now exercises the greatest
' India : What can i( tparli us? j». 275.
•-'.Marcu l'..lo, (Mi. H. Ynlo, Vol. 11, p. 850.
^Noticpfi (It's Alaimsnils toTii. xiv, ji. 4o0.
4T.«rs Hajastlian, Vol 1, y. (My.
•''Mill's Hiiicn- <.|' lu.lia. V.-I 1, p. 52."..
•^Ma.v MiiUcr'.s Jiulia : What can it toach u,>? p. 50,
CFIAUAl'TKi!. 31
iiilliioiico in the foriiiatioii III' Hindu ( liar;iclcr thr^uiiiidut India, tnrns ? — Td n-main true, tliowulj lite may <l«'j»art, and all that is near and dear in this world may j)eri>h. What is the lesson tani^ht hv the life of tlic irreati'st character nnfolded to view hv the .Mahai)harata, lihceshma Pitamah ? — To remain true and sti'dfast, come what mav.
Professor Max MnlKr says r"Il was love of truth that strnek all the people who came in contact with India, as the prominent feature in the national character of its inhahitants. No one ever accused them of false- hood. There must surely be some _<j;ronnd for this, lor it is not a ren)ark that is frequently maile l)y travollers in foreii;-n countries, even in our time, that their inhahi- tants invarial)Iy speak the trutli, Ucad the accounts of En^hsli travellers in France, and you will lind very little said about French honesty and veracity, while French accounts of England are seldom without a lling atPerfide Alhion!"'
P.ut it is not for truthfulness alone that the Hindus have been famous. Their generosity, tolerance, frank- ness, intelligence, courtesy, loyalty, gentleness, sobriety, love of knowledge, industry, valour and a strong feeling of honour are even now remarkal)le. )(
"Me^asthenes-^ observed with admiration the absence of slavery =* in Ii:<lia, the chastity of the women, and the courage of the men. In valour they excelled all other
n\nx M'lll.r's India: AVliat cnn it toacli us? 1'. r»7.
2Hniito)'s Oa/.rtt.M-r, "Imlia,"' p. 2M. ♦•,,.«,. .•
3IlovF 1). Maurice say.s tl.at "tl.o Su.lras an- not in m.) s- 1.
slaves, ami never can l.ave l.een such : the Greeks --re snrpr.M to UuA
all cla;<os in Lulia free citi/.ens;'-7A. . /^r;-- oj A. ^ -' ' P;,f,J;
Mr Elnhinstone sav.^ : Mt is remarkable tl.at in the Hindu drama.
thereiVnot a trace of servility in the behnviour of other ch»raotcr> to
the khv^r—IIistonj of Indio. \k I'lo,
38 HINDI' srr];i;i(>i;iTV.
Atiiiitic't^, sober and iiidiistrious, good ritrincrs and skill ul artizans, they scarcely ever had recourse to a law suit, an<l lived peaceably under their native chiefs,"
That acute observer, the historian Abul Fazal, says : " The Hindus are relif^ious, affable, courteous to strangers, cheerful, enamoured of knowledge, lovers of justice, able in business, grateful, admirers of truth, and of unbound- ed fidelity in all their dealings." 1/ Colonel Dixon dilates n])on "their fidelity, truthfulness, honesty, their deter- mined valour, their simple loyally, and an extreme and almost touching devotion when put upon their honour."- X
*' The Indians," says K^eibuhr, "are really the most tolerant nation in the v> orld." He also says that " they are gentle, virtuous, laborious, and that, perhaps of all men, they are the ones who seek to injure their feilow-bcings the least."
The high character, the noble self-sacrifice, the un- b(^unded love of a Hindu for those who are near and dear to him are well illustrated by the refusal of Yudhis- thira to accept salvation, while his wife and brothers Avere outside Heaven. The Mahabharata says : —
'• Lo, suddenly, with a sound that ran through heaven and earth, Indra came riding on his chariot and cried to the king, ' Ascend.' Then indeed did Yudhis- thira Icjok back to his fallen brothers and >poke thus unto Indra with a sorrowful heart : ' Let my brothers, who yonder lie fallen, go with me. Xot even into thy heaven, 0 Indra, would I enter, if they are not to be
' TudV Jtajastlum, Vol. ], p. CJ:;. ^'Coluiicl Dixoii was Couijuisi^iuiiur of Ajnii.'r-.Mci\Tara about IbDU A.D.
fllAKAi 'IKK. H9
thoiT ; nnd yon fairla i' 1 dn'iLC'itcr of a k\ws. I)iMMp:i<li, tlu' :ill-(K'<,:r\iiin-, let li(»r too tMitoi' with u^I."
Sir ^loiiicr William-^ says:' " Xativcn iicvor Avilliiii;]y destroy lift;. They cannot etiter into an Enii'lishmnn's desire for vcnitinir his hii^h spirits on u line dav hv killin!^' i^Mim* of s:jine Iciii 1 — ' hvi' a'ld let, live' is rlieir ruK; oCconchict towards tlie inferior ereation."
"The viliaii;ers," says Mr. Elpliinstone,- "are in- offensive, aniiabk? people, aifirrionate to tlieir family, kind to their neighbours and towards all Ijut (.iovcrnnient, h.oncst and sincere."
In 1S1;» A.IX, when evidence was given before tlie I'ririsli Parliament, •'• Mr. fiercer said : *' Thev (Ilindns) are mild in their disposirion, ])')lished in their general manners: in their domestic relations, kind and all'ection-
ate."
Captain Svdeidiam said : " The general cjiaraeter of the Hindus is submissive, docile, so!)er, Jn<'ITensive, capable of great attachment and loyally, (piick in apj>re- hension, inrelligent, active ; generally honest and j)erform- ino- the <luties of eharitv, i)enevolence and filial alFt-ction with as much sincerity and regularity as any nation Avith which I am ac(juainte I. '
Abbe Dubois says : '• The Hindus are not in want of improvement in the disclrarge of social duties amongst themselves. They understand this point a^ w.-ll n< and ]ierh((pfi better than Kurnpean.'^.^'
Sir John :\lalc()lm said: ''From the moment }uu enter Behar, the Hindu iidial»itants are a race of men,
1 Mtulcni India and tho Indians, p. B:!. 2FdpliiMsl(.n<*s Hi«;t()ry <'f India, p. 1'.»n. :* Mill's lli-.liMv of India, V'>1. I., p. •^'-■'-
40 HINDU SUPKRIORITY.
geiicrjilly spcakii\a', not mnro distiiin-uislied l)y their lofty stature and robust frame, than they are for some of the finest (juahtie.s of tlie uiind — tliey are brave, generous, humane, and their truth is ns renia.dval)le as their courage." At a subsequent examination, lie said, with respect to the feeling of honour : " I have known in- numerable instance of its b.iing carried to a pitch that •would be considered in England more fit for the ])ageof a romance than a history. AVith regard to their fidelity, I think, as far as my knowdedge extends, there is, generally speaking, 7io race of men more to be trusted.''''
Sir Thomas Munro when asked if he thought the civilization of the Hindus -would be promoted by trade Avith England being thrown open, replied : " I do not exactlv understand what is meant ])y the 'civilization' of the Hindus. In the knowledge of the theorv and practice of good government, and in an education which, by banishing prejudice and superstition, opeus tlie mind to receive instruction of evcrv kind, thcvare inferior to Europeans. But if a good system of agriculture, unri- valled manufacturing skill, a capacity to produce wliat- ever can contribute to either luxury or convenience, schools^ established in every villaufe for teachinir reading, writing and arithmetic, the general ])rac- tice of hospitality and charity ainongst eacli other
' "In Bengal there existed 80,000 native sciicols, though doubtless i""»r the must jiart of a poor (luality. According to a Government Report r.f ]8;>5 there was a village school for every 400 persons." — Misuonwij IntrlUfjeHcer, ]X, p. 18:J-r.):^.
.Sir Tliouias Munro estimated liie diililifii cduciited al ]mMic scliouls in lli(! Madras Presifh'ncj as less than cuii.' in liircc" — KljiJdnstonc's Ilinlory itf I ndiii p. 205.
(•i:ai:.\( ri:i{. 41
and. al)0\o all, a tro.itmciit <•!' tlif fi-imiK; sex, full o\' coiitidciicc, respect aii'l d.'licacv, an; aiiiniijx t!u: si'Mis uhicli •leiKtte a civilized jjooplc, then (he Hiiidiis are not inferior to the nations of Knrope, and //' ririUzation is t>> her-wic an artirle of trade hciircen the tiro C(nuitrie.<^ I am rnu'inccd that this country [F.inihni'l) irllJ .r'nn Ay the import <vm/o.''
Professor Max MuIKt' savs : — " I)urin«x the last twenty years, however, I have had some excellent opj)or- tunities of watchinii; p. nunii)cr of native scholars under circumstances where it is not difficult to detect a man's true character, I mean in literary work, and, inore parti- cularly, in literary controversy. I have watched them carrvinuf on such controversies both amon<jf themselves and with certain European scholars, and I feel hound to say that, frith hardly one exception they hare displayed a far greater re'^pect for truths and a far more manly and yenerous spirit than ice are accistomel to even in f'Juropti and America. They have shown strcni'th, hut no rude- ness; nay, T know that nothin;^ has surprised them a.s much as the coarse invective to which certain Sanskrit scholars have condescended, rudeness of speech hein?, accordinir to their view of human nature, a sjifo s:«rn not onlvof badhrccdin'j^hutof want of knowlc lL:;e. When thev were wron;i' they have readily admittcl their mistake; when they were ri^ht they have never sneered at their European adversaries. There has been, with few excep- tions, no quibblini!;, no special pleadinif, no untruthful- ness on their part, and certainly none of that l(»w cun- ning of the scholar who writes down and publishes what
'imlia : Wlnf oaii it t'H'It n- ' \< C".
42 nixDr sttrt^iotmty.
he knows pcrfectl}' well to he false, and snaps his fingers at those who still value truth and self-respect more highly than victorj- or applause at any price. Here, too, we might possibly (jain by the import cargo.
" Let me add that I have Ix^en repeatedly told by Eniilish merchants that commercial honour stands higher in India than in any othar country, and that a dis- honoured bill is hardly known there." /
f The first Governor- General of India, AVarren Hast- ings, said: "The Hindus are gentle, benevolent, more .susceptil)le of gratitude for kindness shown to them, than })rompted to vengeance for wrongs iniiicted,and as exem])t from the worst propensities of human passion as any people upon the face of the earth. The}" arc faithful, affectionate,*' etc. (Minutes of evidence before the Com- mittee of both Houses of Parliament, March and April ISir,). <
liishop Heber said : "To .say that the Hindus are deficient in any essential feature of a civilized people is an assertion which I can scarcel}^ suppose to be made by any M'ho have lived with them.''i Again, "they are decidedly by nature a mild, ])leasing, intelligent race, sul)er and parsimonious, and, where an object is held out to them, most indn-trious and ])erscvering-. . . Thev are men of high and gallant courage, courteous, int(rlli- gent,ajid most eager for kiiowle<lge and impr(n-cment,Avith a remarkable aptitude for the abstract sciences, gcometr}', astronomy, etc., and for iniitativc arts, painting and scnlp- ture ; dutiful Towai-ds their ])arents, affectionate to children, ^ more casilv alfectcd by kindness and attention to their wants an<l feelings than almost any men I Iiave met Avich."'' '.lonriial, II, p. y»2. -Ibid, p. 32'J. •''ibid, \u o(iih
ClIAUACTEU. 4.')
Auain, " I have Fomn] in Iii'Iia a race of •rciitK* and tciHjx'rati' liahits, v/itli a natural talent and acutcnc.>>s bevoi\d the ordinarv level of mankind." y
Of the lahourersand workmen in the C'lileiittn mint in /^ India, Professor Wilson says: "There was consider ''>''• skill and ready doeility. So Hir From there heini^ any >■ ■ > i- lity there was extreme frankness, and I should i^xv^ that wiierc^ tiiere is confidence without fcar^frankncss is one of the most universal features in the Indiiin character. In men of learning I found similar merits of industry, intelli- £!;ence, cheerfulness, frankness. A very connnon character- istic of Hindus especially was simplicity, truly childisji, and a^otal unacipiaintance. with l)u>iness and maiint-rs of life ; where this feature was lost' it was chietlv hv those ■who had been lonii" familiar with Europeans. . . Tlu're ciui be no doubt that the native; mind outstrij»s in early years, the intellect of the Europeans and. ircjnerally spe.nkinir, boys are much more rpiick in aj)prehension and earnest in application than those of our own schools. Men of ])roperty and respectability afl'orded me many oj)por- tunities of witnessing jiolished manners, clearness and com])rchensiveness of understiindinir, liberality of feelinir, and independence of principle that would have stamped them (jentlemen in any country in the world."- <
Hin(bi chihh'cn are more <{uick and intelligent than European. "The capacity of lads of 1 1^ and l.'i arc often surprising."
'•'ITio longer wo possess a province, the uiorc eoniiiion and Rravc I does perjury become." — Sir (>. Canipbell, quoted hy S. Joliiihon, Orica- j
tal Religions, India, p. 2H.S.
-Mill's liistory of India, Vol. I, pp. b6\)-'o2.
44 TIIXDU Sl'l'ERIORTTY.
tSir Thomas I\Innro, Mercer and others, quoted above, says Professor AVilsoii, were " men, equally eminent in wisdom as in station, remarkable for the extent of their opportunities of observation and the ability and dilii:;ence with which they used them, distinguished for possessing, by their knowledge of the language and the literat'ire of the country, and by their habits of intimacy with the natives, the best, the only means of judging of the native character, and unequalled for the soundness of their judgment and comprehensiveness of their views," ^ Professor Monier Williams'-^ says: "I have found no peo})le in Europe more religious, none more patiently I^ersevering in connnon duties."
Mr. Elphinstone says:'' "If we compare them (Hindus) with our own (English people), the absence of drunkenness and of immodesty in their other vices, will leave the superiority in purity of manners on the side least flattering to our self-esteem." He adds, " No set of people among the Hindus are so depraved as the dregs of our own great towns.""^
1 Mill's History of India, Vol I, p. 523.
-M<Mlern India and the Indians, pp. 88 and 128.
^History of India, p. 202.
•^Elphinstone's History of India, pp. 375-81. The pcrcontacrc of criminals in India is lower tlian in England. " Ty a series of reports laid before the Ilonse of Connnons in 1832 (Minntes of Evidence 'So. i, ysi'^i^lOo) it appears that in an average of four years the nmubcr of cai>i(al sentence's carried into elTcct annually in England and Wales is as 1 fur 203.281 souls, and in the jtrovinces under the Bengal Presidency 1 for 1,<I()1,1H2 ; traiisi.(»rtati(>n for life, in England 1 for 07,173 and in l'..'h'_':d, 1 for 402,010. The annual )»uml»er of sentences to death in KM-l.ind was 1,232, in V.cngal 51). The popnlalion of England is 13,000,000; the population of Hmgal, llO.OOO.dOU.
"Tlio clcanliiioss cF the Iliiwhis," he s;ivs a^^n'iu ''is piovitrhinl,' T)i( \ ... :i cKanly peojilo, jiiul m:iv be coinpnivd witli d«'ciilo<l ii<]v:intnLCt' witli tlic iiutioiisof the south oF Europe, l)oth :is yei^^anls th(;ir h:\l)itations ar.d their persons. Thi're are ni.iiiy of their praftitxvs which might he intnxhiced even int(» the North with henefit."
^Ir. Klj»hiiistone .siy.> :— "The natives arc (jfleii
accused of wanting- in irnititude. Hut it does not appear
that those wlio make tlie cliaru'e liave dune much to
inspire sueii a .sentiment : wiieu juasters are nallv kind
and considerate tliey find as warm a rL-unn from Indian
servants as any in the world ; and there are few who
liave tri(!d them in .--ickncss or in <litfieultic.s and danirers
Avlio do not l)ear witness to their svmpathv and attjich-
ment. Their devotion to their own chief is provcr!>ial
and can arise from no other caii.se than pjratitiide, uidcss
Avhere caste sn])pHes the i)lacc of clannish feelinufs. x The
fidelity of our sepoys to tiieir foreiun masters has hwn
shown in in.stances which it woidd be dilUcidt fo nuitch
even amonij the national troops in am/ other conntrt/."^
lie again says : "It is conunon to see persons who liave
been patronised by men in power not only continuing
their attachment to them when in disgrace, but even to
V The Hiiulii convict is a lu-ttcr man tlian tlic I']iir<'|M'aii. Tin* gr«^t T)anviii was struck wiili the Hindu convicts at Port Louis and he wondered that they were such noble-leokini; fij»ures. lie snys : " Tht'se men arc generally quiet and wdl-conducted : from their outward conduct, their cleanliness, and faithful observance of their .strange reliijious rites it is impossible to look at them with the .same eyes as on our wrptelie<l con- victs in New South Wales." — ^1 NiituialiisCe Voyage Hound the World, p. 181.
'Eliihinstones lJi>t(iry ol India, y -'-'-
46 nixDr .smcuioiUTv.
their families whvu they have li'l't tliem in a helpless condition."''
To tlie diet- and the so1)riety of living is due the greater liealthiness of the Hindus. There are o insanes in every 1U,OUO persons in parts of India ])eopled by
• lllClltioiU'd of iili /
o was (li^iiiisscd and
l"'A iK'ii'crtly authentic instance niiglit be mentioned En,a;lisii gentleman in a liiijli station in BeiiL^iil wli afterwards reduced to great temporary dillieulties in his own country: a native of rank, to wliom lie had been kind, supplied him, when in those cireumstanoes. with u|)war(ls of Rs. 100,000, of wliieh he would not accept rej)ayment and for which Ik; could exjiect no ])ossilile return. This generous friend was a IMnhralta Brahman, a race of all otliers who have least sympathy with otlier castes, and who are most hardened and corrujtted hy power." — Elphinslon('s Ilistari/ of Jmltd, p. 201.
-^Ir. .). II. Bourdillon, in his report on the Census of f881. observes tluit the superior healthiness of middle-age among tlie Hindus is more strikingly shown, for out of each KM) living persons the number of tliosc aged 40 years and over i.v among the —
Hindus 21-07
Christians... ... ... ... 14;^>I
!Muhammadans ... ... ... HI- 81
Ahorginals ... ... ... IT)- HO
As regaids the diet of the Hindus, ]\Ir. Buckle tells us : " In Imlia the great heat of the climate brings into play thai law (of nature) already pointed out, by virtue of which the ordinary food is of an oxygenous rather than of a carbonaceous character. This, according to another law, obliges the jici-'ple to derive their usual diet not from the animal liut fnnn the vegetaide world of which starch is the uio.st important constituent. At the same time, iln' higii temper- ature, incapacitating men for arduous labour, makes necessary a food of whicii the returns will be abundant, and which will contain much nutri- ijient in a compaiatively small space. Here, tiien, we liave s(Unc charac- teristics wliicli, if tiie preceding views are correct, ought to be found in the ordinary food of the Indian nations. So they all are. From the earliest period the nio.st general ftiod in India has been rice, whicli is the Hiokt nutritive of all ccrcalia, which contains uu enuriuous proportion
riiAi;A('ri:i:. 47
tlic Hiiidiis. as rompMnMl to .")() iiisaiio in cxi r\ 10,000 in Mli^laiid aiul Wales.'
Mr. Wanl says : —
'• In their tOi'ins of aildross and l)clijivi<Mir in com- pany the Hindus iniist hi! runkid aiuoiij^^st tlur politest nations."
Sj)eakinu" of the inl):d)itants of the (IanLr«'tif Iliii- (histaii, Mr. l']l|)hinstorK3 savs : " It is there \\v are nin.st likely to ii'ain a clear coneojuion of their hiirh spirit an<I o-caerous scll'-devotmn so sinuidarlv eoinhined \vitii ;,'eM- tlencss of nnnners and softness of heart tou;etiier with an aluDst infantine simplicity."
y Even h.oiuist writers, who ji ive had no opporluni- tie.«5 of studvinu" the Hindu eliaraeter, .sometimes hastily ironvTalize from strav instances of nntrutlifuiiMss and dishonesty they happen to come aero.ss in life, in respect of such, Professor .Max .Muller says: "\V«' may, to follow an Indian ])roverl), juduc <>f a wiiole tield of rice l»y tasiinii' oui' or tw > grains only, hut if we .ij»ply this rule to human l)ein<:;s we are sure to fall into the same mis- take as the P^n.i;lish chaplain who liad once on i)oard an English vessel christened a I'rench child, and who
of starrli. iiiul wliicli \ idds to tin' labonrrT an avi'rairo n-tiirii of at l«'A''t
sixty ti)l<l.'"— ///•-^"•.»/ ';/ Ciriliziiliini lu Euffhtwl, Vohnm 1, pup (14.
N<'il'iilir savs: " !*< rliapH tlic Iiuliau lawifivrrs tliMii^lit it na>*
Un- til.- sak.' <-f hcallli al.s..liit<-!y luvi'ssary to pmliil-it l!M•ontill^' of inrat,
bocausc tlic inultitud.' foIL.ws mon- easily tli.> prrjudic of n-liijion than
tlio a.lvirc of a physician . It is also vory likdy that th.- law of th.- Ori.-ntal
insists so stroni^ly on tlic pnrifi.ation of th.- bo.ly for hyi^ionir ron.<.ons."
» See the compaiativ.' tabular statonicnt <m img«' '201 «'f ihe
report on ihr Censtis of lU'ii,L,'al, Vul. I (IHsl).
48 HINDU SL'PEKIOKITV.
rcinainod iully convinced for the rest of his life tlmt all French liabies liad \ery long noses." X
The })h3'sical structure of the Hindu isjstill as ad- mirable as that of any other people on the globe.
]\Ir. Ornie says : " There is not a handsomer race in the universe than the l>anians of Gujrat."^ We read in Chamber's Encyclopa'dia that "the body of the Hindu is admirably proportioned."-
A strong opponent of the Hindus admires their })hysical agility. Mv. ^lill says : " The body of the Hindu is agile to an extraordinary degree. Not onl}" in those surprising contortions and feats which constitute the art of the tumV)lcr do thev excel almost all the nations in the world, but even in running and marching they equal, if not surpass, people of the most robust constitutions."-'
The Hindus were renowned for wisdom in ancient times.
" Wisdom, ray father, is tlio noblest gift The gods bestow on man, and better far Tlian all his treasures,"
Soi'iioci-KS : Aniijjonr.
" We are told by Grecian writers that the Indians were the wisest of nations." *
]\lr. Coleman' says: " The sages and ])oets of India have inculcated moral precepts and disj)layed poetic beauties which no country in the world of either ancient or modern diite need be ashamed to acknowledii'e."
'On the clYoininai-y of llie Inhabitants of Hindustan, pp. 4t;i-t!;j.
^Chamber's Encyclopa'dia, [). 539.
•^MiU's India, Vol. I, p. 478.
■'.Si'c Introduction.
■'•Mytii'-lx'^'y of the llimliis. p. 7.
rilAUA(TKI{. 49
Tlic didactic poctrv ol' the lliiidii> funiislK'.'* sullicioiit proof of their tnmsccMidciit wisdom. Mr. lilj.liiiistoiK!' siivs that 'Mlic r^rcoks had a «i;n'at iiiijircssioii of their (Iliiuhis) wisdom."
^Ii'. I')iirnoii{" says that the '' rtifhaiis an- a iiatinn ridi in spiritual i;il"ts, and eudowt'cl with prcidiar sa«;acit v and penetration."
It is the wisdom of llic Iliiuhis that inventecl tho best and the greatest oF indoor ;:;anK's, tlie i^amo of Chess, wiiich is now universally acknowledi^^ed to be of Hindu origin, the Sanskrit chaturaih/a bccoinin<^^ shatnraiigd in Persian.
Sir \V. dones says:'- "The Hindus are said to have l)oastod ol" three inventions, all of whieh indrcrl arc? admiral)le ; the method of instructini:; hv apolo^nies; the decimal scale and the ^ame of Chess, on which they have some curious treatises."
Profe:»sor Heeren' says: "Chess-board is mentione<l in Ramavana, where an account of A^odllia is Lriven."
Chess is thus proved to have been in u>e in India lourr before !Moses and Hermes made their apj)earance in the -world. Mr. J. Mill, however, with his characteristic prc- judico ai^ainst the Hindus, observes that "there ii^ no evidence that Hindus invented the ;rame, except their own pretentions." On this, Professor Wilson says : "This is not true; we have not the evidence of their j>retentions. T!ic evidence is that of Mohamcdan writers ; the kin*^ of
'History of Tinlia, [>. L*4?.
''As quoted liy Mill in liis Tliston- of British India, Vol. H, p. 43.
^Historical Rcsearclieis, Vol. II. p. 101.
00 HINDU SUrEKIORITY.
India is saiil, bv FirJausi in the Shalniaina — ami the story is therefore of the tenth century at latest — to hare sent a (^/u'ds-boanl and a teacher to Naiisherawan. Sir W . Jones refers to Firdausi as his authority, and this reference nnL^iit have shown by whom the story was told. Various ?tIohani- edau writers are quoted by Hyde, in his Historia Shahiludii, who all concur in attributing the invention to the Indians^-"
'•The wisdom of Solomon" is proverl)ial, l)Ut the story most frequently (juoted to show his wisdom, itself stamps that wisdom as inferior to that of the Hindus. Says Professor Max MuUer : " Xow you remember the judgment of Solomon, which has always been admired as a iiroof of <»Teat leu^al Avisdom amonir the Jews ! I must confess that, not havino- a leii'al mind,
1 never could suppress a certain shudder when reading tlic decision of Solomon: 'Divide the livinu: cliild in two, and irive half to the one, and half to the other.' "-
" Let me now tell you the same story as it is told by the Buddhists, whose sacred Canon is full of such legends and parables. In the Kanjur, which is the; Tilietan translation of the Duddhist Tripitakn, we read of two women who claimed each to be the mother of the .same child. The King, after listening to their quarrels for a long time, gave it uj) as liopt'lcss to settle who was the real mother. Upon this, Visakha stepped forwai-d and sfii<i: 'What is the use of examining and cross- examining these women. Let them take tlu' l)o\- and settle it among themselves.' Tliereu]>on, both women fill dii the
'Mill's Iiilia, Vnl. II.. ji. 1 1, foutnoti\ 2]vings iij_ 25.
< HAKAC TF.U. 51
cliilcl, iin<] wlini ilu- W'j^hi Ix'iinio vioUnl, (lie diiUl \va« hurt and hrgaii to cry. Tlicn (Hic u\' ilifiu let liiiu *^iiy because she could not hear to luar flic child crv. That settled the (lucstion. Tin; KiiiiJ iiiiw. the child to tlx" tnif mother, and ha<l the other heaten with a rod.
" This seems to m<', if not the mon; prinniive, yci the more natural form <»! the storv, showini'" a deciMT know- ledi:;e ol" hnma!i nature and more wisdom then even the wisdom ol" Solomon."'
Mr. J'ilphinstone s[)eaks of the Hindu character in mislortune in ^lowiuL!; terms. *■* When late," he says, '' is inevitaole, the h^wcst llinihi encounters it with a coohiess that would excite admiration in Europe,"*
X The national character ol" a people necessarily sull'crs from unsympathetic domination of a less civilized j»eople. Successful falsehoQMl, says IJentham, is the best defence of a shive ; and it is no wonder that tin- c]iaract<-r of the Hindus deteriorated under the Moslctn ride. The wc.n- der is their character is still so hiuh. l^rofessor Max Mul- ler says : — " I can onl v say that after reading: the accounts of the terrors ami horrors of Mohame<lan rule, my wonder is that so much of native virtue and truthful- ness should have survived."-' He also sjiys :
"When you read of the atrocities committed by
'Imlia : What i-aii it toadi us ? p. 11.
-'Kliiliiiist<iiii''s Ilisloiv of Iii.lia, i.au'.-s r.lS-r.»;(. Ol tlio great graiKlfadiiT of the prosciit Maliaiaja of .lodliimr, Colonel To«l aavs* : "Thcbio-'rapliv of ManSincli woiildafford n r»'iiiark»|.li'|.ictun> of limiiaii pationce, fortitudo and con-tau-y never snrpa<-d In ni.v aL'.- or country." — liajni'thiiv. Vol. 11. p. 711.
^Max Mull. r*> TndiH : What can it teach us ? i'. 72.
52 HINDU SUPEIilORITY.
the ^loliainedan conquerors oE India after that time (1000 A.D.) to the time when England stepped in and, "whatever maj" be said by her envious critics, made, at all events, the broad principles of our common humanity respected once more in India, the wonder, to my mind, is how any nation could have survived such an Inferno^ without beins: turned into devils themselves."^
'Max Mailer's India : What can it teaeli us ? p. 54. It must not be supposed fioui tlie condemnatory language used in more than oae place in this book with regard to the treatment of the Hindus and their literature by some of the Mussalman invaders and rulers of India, tliat the history of those reigns is one continuous re- cord of cruelty and oppression, unredeemed by any hnuianitarian consi- derations or sympathetic treatment. As Sir Arther Helps observes, no dark cloud is without its silver lining. There are instances on record which show a chivalrous and generous regard displayed by some of the Mohamedan Kings for the Hindus. It is related that when, during the reign of Rana Bikramajit, son of Rana Sanga of Chitor, who was at the time in Haravati, Mewar was invaded by Bahadur, King of Gujrat, and Chitor was invested by the combined armies of Gujrat and Malwa, Maharani Karnavati, the mother of the infant son of Rana Sanga, who was in the fortress, appealed for help to Hnmayun, whom she had adopted as her liakhiband hhai (bracelet-bound brother). Ilumayun, like a true cavalier that he was, accepted the obligation laid on him by the laws of chivalry and honour, to come to her aid, and abandoning his conquests in Bengal, hastened to answer the call of her adoptive sisttr, the dowager Maharani of Chitor. " He anijily fuHilled the pledge, expelled ihe foe from Chitc-r, took ^landoo by assault and, as some revenge for her king's aiding the King of Gujrat, he sent for the Rana Bikram.ljit, whom, following tliclr own notions of investiture, he girt with a sword in the captured citadel of his foe."
Nor should it be forgotten that it was a Mussalman who preserved the Kingdom of Marwar at the most critical jieriod of its history. Not satisfied with tiic blood of Jaswant and of his eldest .son, Pirthi Sindi, the unrelenting tyrant (Aurangzcb) carrying his vengeance towards the
ClIAUACTEU. 53
When, liowcvor, ccMturics of forcii^ii ( Moiilml ) i (lomiiiMtioM liMVt'k'ft tlu' in'oplc as virtuous, trutlifnl aii<l reliiUMl ;is any Ircc {k'<)j)1c to Ix' foimd anvwlicrc in tlur Avorld, what. I'urthcr evidence is ncccssarN' U) jir<»v(' the high national character of the ancient IIin<his, \vhoM! livrs M'cre regulated hy et'liical princijilcs of the highest order!
Milliaraja of Marwar ovoii beyond tlic gravo, ci>iiiiiiaii<K'(l that his infant son, Ajit, shonld be surrendond to h\< custody. •• Anrani; o(T<^re<l to «li- vido Maron (^lanvar) amongst hor noblfs if th«'y would -^urrrndiT their j)iince, but they replied 'our eonntry is willi our sinews, anil these ean delend botli it and our lord.' Willi eyes red with rage they 'n-ft tin- Am-f- /.7^(^^•. TlitMr abode was surroundi'd by tin- host of th<! Shah." A frarful battle ensued. The first care of the Raiputs was to save tin- infant j»rinc«\ and to avoid suspicion, the heir i>f Marwar, concealed in a ba^k^•t of KW«>et- nieats, was entrusted to a Moslem, who rigorously ex«i'ufe<l his trust and conveyed him to the appointed spot, where he was joine«l by the gallant
Durga Das and his Uaj[>tits, who had cut their way through all oi»posi-
tiou.
54 HINDU SUrKlIIOKITV.
v.— CHIVALRY.
Lt't laurels, droncliM in pure Parnassian dews, Regard the memory, dear to every muse, WIio witii a courage of unshaken root, In iiouour's field advanciniif his firm foot, Plants it upon the line tlint justice draws, And will prevail or ]'erish in ilic cause.
— Cou'pcr.
The innate cliivalry of Hindu character is well- known to those who have studied their history, or lived with them and studied their manners and cus- toms. Their treatment of the female sex, their un- willingness to injure or take away life unnecessarily, their magnanimous treatment of their fallen foes, their unwillingness to take advantage of their own superiority to their adversaries, prove the chivalrous character of the Hindu race. The undaunted heroism and the unequalled valour of the ancient Hindus, their magnificent self-confi- dence, their righteousness of conduct, and, above all, the sublime tcachinG;s of their Shastras, containino- the loftiest spiritual ideals j-et conceived by humanity, made them the most chivalrous and humane ])eople on tiie face of the earth. So much is the warrior caste of the Hindus even now identified with cliivalry that liajputi and Chivalry have become convertible terms.' Kajputana is eminently the land of chivalry, and the Rajputs, the descendents of the ancient Kshatriyas, have preserved some of the latter's virtues, prominent among whicii is chivalry, liaina, Arjuiui, Kama, Krishna, Uhima, Rali,
Jrtec Tod's Kajasthan, Vol. II, p. 001.
cmNAi.iiV. 55
B:il(lo()(II('r(Milr>)S:\^'MrM,:iii<li>tlicrs wore i<l(':il cliiirartrrs: but cominn" down to inodcrn tiiius we liml tliiit Kaii:! ' Pratiij) of Mt.'War, niir^u Das of Marwar and I'rillivi |{aj of Ajiiu'i* were characters for wliosc ('(pials in cliivalry find patriotiMii wo may search in vain the annals of other natii)ns, lOnrop^'an oi- Asiatic.
Tin; annals of no nation record instances to out- shine the romantic chivalry displayed i»y Sadoo, heir of the lord of Pu.nal, till lati-ly a lief of .laisalmcr, or tln^ chivalrous conduct of his l»ri<le, Kurraindcvi, daULditer of the. Mohil chief Manik Uao, who "was at on.-, i virii'in, a \\'ife ami a \sido\v.'''
(Jolonel Tod sa^'s : " Xor is there anythini; liner in the annals of the chivalry of the West than the diLjnitied and the heroic conduct of the Ivaja of Duttea," who met with a glorious death in defence of the laws of .-anctuary and honour, when on the (leath of Madhaji Scindliia, tiie females of his (Scindhia's) family, in apprehension of Ills successor, Daulat Uao, sought refui^e and protectiiiii with the liaja.-
The author of the Annals and Anti<|uities of Uajas- than pays the hiujhcst tribute to the vajoiu' atid chivalry of the Raj[Mits when he says: " Cu-ur de lion (Kinir of Knu;laiid) wouhl not liave remained ho loni; in the dun- geons of Austria had his subjects bci;n liajputs." '
Professor II. II. WiUonsays: ** Tin.* Hindu laws of war are very chivalrous and humane, an<i prohibit the slaviiiu' of the unarmed, of women, of the old and of the coufjuered."
1S(V Tod's Haja-tlian. V-.l. il, p. {\-2',\ -'Tod's Riiia>lli:.u. Vol. I. y. 117. STod's Hiij.isthaii. Vul. I. 1>. 101,
56
II IN DC SUPERIOR IT r
The inii:itc chivalry of the Hindu clinractcr has f;"ivon risu to a ]n'cnh:ir custom observed aitioiio- all classes of people, irrospcetive of caste, nationality oi- aue. Tt is the RdkJii (Uakshabandan), by which Hindu ladies command loval, disinterested, aiid whole-souled service of men, whom tlic}' deign to adopt as their brothers, though in most instances they never behold Ihem. " There is a delicacy in this custom," says Colonel Tod, ''with which the i)ond unitino- the cavaliers of Europe to the service of the fair in the days of chivalry Avill not com])arc."^
The following incident will show the character of the Ivajputs and the nature of their warfare. During the reign of Kan:i Rai .Mai of Chitor, his younger brother, Suraj Mai, whom the proplietess of Charuni Devi at Xahra Mugra had promised a crown, made several attempts to gain one. With the help of Muzaffar, the Sultan of ]\Ialwa, he took Sadri and Baturo and attempted even Chitor. Rai ^lal met the attack on the River Gumbeeree. The second son of the Rana, Pirthi Raj, " the Rolando of his age," as Colonel Tod calls him, selected his uncle, Suraj Mai, whom he soon covered with wounds, ^[any had fallen on b(>rh sides but neither i)arty would 3-ield : when worn out they retired from the held, bivouacked in sight of each other.
1 Tod's Riijasthiiu, Vol. I, p. 581. " It is one (jf the few (customs) when an intprcoursc of jcf.illantrv "i the most dclicato nature is eslalilish- ed hetweiMi the fair sex and the eavalii'rs of Ilajasthan. . . . The liai|iut dame bestows wi I h \\\>- Kakhi (bracelet) the title of adojiled lirothcr; and while its acceptance secures to hi-r all the iiroteclion of a 'cavalif-re Kervenle', scandal itself never sug'^osts any other tie to his dt'vution." —
y. ;;ii'.
( IlIVAMJV. ;)7
Colonel Tod coiitimics : — "Mr will .show tlic iiiHinuTrt and fecliiiii-s so peculiar to iIh- liajjxxjf, to (IcscHIm' tiU' nu'i'tiiiL; Itctwceu the rival uncle and nephew — uni(|U(! in the details of slrifi; pcrhajis since tho origin of inui.' Ft is taken from a maiuiscript «)r the rlhala Chief who succeeded Suraj Mai in Sa«lri. Pirthi Uaj visited his uncle, whom he found in a small tent reclinini;- on a pallet, haviiii,' just liad 'the harln-r' (//<?(?) to sew up his wonn<ls, lie rose; and met his nei)hew with the customary respect, as if nothini,^ unusual had occurred : l»ut the (^xertion caused some of the wounds i(j open afresh, when the followiiiLT dialoi^ne ensued : —
'• PiiiTiii PiA.r. — * Well, uncle, how arc your wounds ? '
" Suraj ^Ial. — ' Quite healed, my child, since I have the ])lt^isure of seeinix von.'
"Pii:tiii Ka.i. — ' Put, uncle (kaka), I have not yet seen the Dewanji.^ I first ran to see you, and I am very hungr}- ; have you anythini:: t<j eat ?'
"Dinner was soon served, and the extnionlinary pair sat down, and 'ate off the same platter ;' nor did Pirthi liaj hesitate to cat the 'y;///i ' presente<l on his takini^ leave.
"Piiiriir liA.r. — * Vou and I will end <»ur hattle in the morniiiL;', uncle.'
"SuKA.i Mai.. — ' \'ery well, chiM : cotne early ! '
"Thev met, and the rebels were defeated and lied to Sadri. Pirthi Paj, however, gave them no rest, pursuing
'Tod's Raja.>thaii, V.^l. I, p. 2*JG-'J7. ^Tho lUiia is callcl Diwanji.
58 HINDU SrrERIOKlTY.
them from place to plnce. In tlie wilds oC Baturro they forineil a stockaded retreat of the dho tree, which abounds hi the forest ; and Siijali and his companion, Sarungdco, were communing on their desperate ])lip:ht Avhen their cogitations were checked by the rush and neigh of horses. Scarcely had the pretender exclaimed, 'this must I)e my nephew!' when Pirthi Raj dashed his steed throuo-h the barricade and, reachinu' his uncle, <lealt him a 1)I()W which would have levelled him but for the support of Sarungdeo, who upbraided him, addinir, ' a buffet now was more than a score of w^ounds in former davs : ' to which Surai }.[al added, 'onlv when dealt by my nephew's hand.' Suraj Mai demanded a parley ; and calling on the jirince to stop the combat, he continued : ' Tf I am killed, it matters noi — my children are Rajputs, they will run the country to find support ; but if you '.wo slain what W'ill become of Chitor ? My fa('e will be blackened and my name everlastingly reprobated,'
"The swonl was sheathed, and as the uncle and nephew embraced, the lattt^r asked the former, ' wliat Avere you about uncle, when d came ? 'Oidv talking nonsense, child, after dinner.' M)Ut with me over yoin* head, uncle, as a foe, how could you be so negligent?' ' What could I do ? You had left m.e no resource, and 1 nui.vL iiave some place to rest my h('a<L''
An episode from the annals (jf Jaisalmer will illustrate the chivalrous nature of the Rajput and his desire to die lighting, as becomes a Rajput.
'Tod's IJajasthau, Vol. I. ].. J'JS.
Ciii\ Ai.i:r.
TiD
After a luiiii course; of victorious warfan', iu which he sulHhK'(( various tract.s of couutrv, even to the hi-art ol" the I'lnijal), (H.soasc s(M7am| oh ll.iwn] Chachick. In tliis stale he (h'teriuiiied to die as lie hail lived, with aruis in his hand; hut iiavini^ no foe near with whom to (:!>|H! he sent an eujliassy to the Lanira |>riuee of Multaii. lo hei^ as a last favour the jood-ii'in, or "icift of battle," that his soul uii^ht escape hv tlu; steel of his loeujaii, and not fall a sacrilice to slow disease. TIjo prince, suspectiuLr treachery, hesitated ; hut the niiatli luessuuger pled^■ed his wctrd that his master only wishctl an honoiu-ahle death, and that he woidd hrini^oiily five hundred nien to the conihat. The challi'Ui^e Im-Iui^ accepted, the liawul called his clansmen arouiul him, and on recoiuitinu^ w hat he had done, seven hundreil select li a )[)()•. )t>:, wdio had shared in all his victories, volunteer- ed to take the last liehl and make {snnLdlj)) oblation of their lives witii their leader.'
Ou reachini:; l)ht>(»niApur, he heard that tin; prince of Multan was within twocoss. His soul was rejoiced, lie perloruuMl his ablutions, ■\V()r>hi|)j)ed the l'ixIs, bestowed charity, and withdrew his thoui^hts from the
world. -^^^^-^
The battle lasted two lujurs, and the Vadii prince fell with all his kith and kin, after performing prodi«]jios of valour. Two thousand Kb.ans'- fell beneath their swords and the Hhatti irained the abode of Indra.
»Tod's Kaja^lhaii, Vol. II, pp. L'.'»S-'».
-TIr'SC woiv Ilimltis [Solaiiki Kaji-uls] as wa-s tjuir jirimo. Th** IJawal Cliacliiok lia<l nianicd 8<'tialil<-vi. tlio L:iaii.!-<lau,irlit.T "tf Hvl.nt Kliati. the Cliii'f I'f tlic Seta tril'f. or the S\val..i>. 6'.c IWs lUiju-Mhaii,
Vol, ibi..2ya.
GO HINDU SUrERIOlUTY.
Tlie chivalry oE the Chief oE ISimnj (a fief of Marwar in Uajputana), in the reign o£ Raja Maun Sinuli, excites tlie admiration of Colonel Tod, to Avhicli he skives expression in tlie following memorable words: " The brave Chief of Ximaj has sold his life but dearlv. In vain do we look in tlie annals of Europe for such devotion and generous despair as marked his end and that of his brave clan.''^^
Of Rana Raj Singh, the great opponent of AuranQ-zeb, Colonel Tod savs : — " As a skilful o-eneral and gallant soldier, in the defence of his conntrj, he is above all praise. As a chivalrous Rajput, his braving all consequences when called upon to save the honour of a noble female of his race, he is without parallel."^ " Tlie son of Rana Pertap, Umra, the foe of Jehangir," says Colonel Tod, "was a character of whom the proudest nation might be vain."''
Even of the Indians of the present day, ^Ir. Elphinstone says:* "They often display bravery unsurpassed by the most warlike nations, and will always throw aw^ay their lives for an}' consideration of religion or honour."
^To'd's Rajastlian, Vol. I, p. 107, Morci-iiarv liaiuls, 1o the iiiiijihcr of 8,000, witli i^an^, attacked Surtau Siin,'li in liis liaveli [dwelling] at Jodhpur, imdor the orders of Raja Maun Siii,!i:li. "With 180' of his clan he defended himsc^lf ayainst great guns and small arms as long as the house was tcnahle, and then sallied forth, sword in luind, and with his brother and 80 of his kin fi'll iinlily in the midst of his foes.
-Ann.ils and Anticpiities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 389.
•"» Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I. p. 1:53.
■^Elphinitonc's Iliotory of India, p. I'J'J.
CIllNAI.UV. Ill
The cliivalroii^ clmractcr nf tlu' Ilimln li:»> liainli- t';i|){)i'(l him in liis liulit. :i'j;;iiii>t liis uiiscriipiiloiis tors. To the advaiita^t; derived hy the opjioiients of lh«' TliiKlus IVoiii the latter's imitud jealousies and (hsunion was added also thatt)f their (lliiiilii) iiii\viirmi:iiess to do .'inythiii!^ a*^ainst the dictates oi" huiuanitv or the demands ot" ehivah'v. I nliki; other nations thev do not iu-lieve in the maxim, "every thinu^ is fair in love and war," "To spare a j)rostrate foe," says Colonel Tod, '* is the en^ed of the Hindu cavalier, and he curried all such maxim> excess. '
If the chivalrous nature of tlu; latter-ilay llind.i had oidy been tempered with ])oliti-al discretion, India Avould not have suffered tlu; misrule that characterized some of the subseipient rei^iis. Sultan Shah-l)u«I-din Ohori, when captured 1>\- Pirrhi IJaj on the field of Tilaori, wa-^ lil)eratetl a)id allowed to return to Ids country, only to come biick with a fresh armv, and with the assistance of the traitors of Kanauj and Patun and of the Ilaoli Uao Hamir, to overturn the Hindu throne of Delhi. Again, when Mahmud, thetihil/.i Kinu of Malwa, was de- feated antl taken prisoner by the Maharana of Chitor, not only was he set at liberty without ransom, but was loaded with gifts and sent l)ack to ^[alwa.
AVheii (bu'ing the invasion of Mewar by the Imj)erial forces of the Emperor Aurangzeb — when all the resources of the mighty Moghal Empire were placed at the dispos:il of the Mussalman generals, and the Emperor himself re- paired to the scene of action to direct the oju'rations in person — the heir-a])parent of Delhi and iiis army, cut off from all assistance, were at the absolute mercy of the lieir of Mewar, the niagnaniinous Rajputs, in pursuance .f
^ Tod's Rajastbau, Vol. I, i'. l'><7.
62 HINDU SL'PEUIOKITV.
mistaken notions of chivalry and humanity not only spared the wliole army, but gave them guides to conduct them by the detile of Dihvara, and escorted them to Chitor. Nav, we le.u-n from the historian Orme, that Auran-'zeb liimself owed his life to the clemency of the Raji)uts. Jle savs: — "The division wl:ich moved witli Aiu'angzeb himself was unexpectedly stopped by insuperable de- fences and precipices in front ; while the Rajputs in one night closed the streights in his rear, by felling the over- hanfimr trees : and from their stations above prevented all endeavours of the troops, either within or without, from removing the obstacle. Udeperri, the favourite and Circassian wife of Auranjizeb, accompanied him in this arduous war, and with her retinue and escort was enclosed in another part of the mountains; her conductors, dread- ing to expose her person to danger or public view, sur- rendered. She was carried to the Rana, wdio received her with homage and every attention. Meanwhile, the Emperor himself might have perished by famine, of which the Rana let him see the risk, l)y a confinement of two days, when he ordered his Rujputsto withdraw from tlieir stations, and suffer the way to be cleared. As soon as Auranj^zeb was out of danaer tlu; Rana sent hack his wife, accompanied by a chosen escort, who only re(piested in return that he would refrain from destroy- ini; the sacretl animals of their religion which might still ])e left in the jdains; but Aurangzeb, who believed in no virtue imt self -interest, imputed the generosity and for- l)earanee of the Rana to the fear of future venge:;nee, and continued the war. Soon after, he was again weU-nigh
('IIIVALKV. (13
encloscfl in tho nioiintnins. This second cxjK'ricnrc' of diHicultics Ix'vond liis jiltc and constitution, and tin? arrival of iiis sons, A/.im and AkKar, drtcrmincd liini not to I'xposc liiniscir anv lonL*"*'!' in tlu* li»Id, Imt to leave its ()|H!ralions to their condnct, snjierintcnded l»y his own iiistnictions from Ajnicr, to whicii city l»e retired with ihi.' Iionseholds df his fainiiv, tho oflicers of his court, and his hody^uar'l of rour thonsjind nK-n, dividini;' the army between his two sons, wiio each had hrouu'ht a coiisiderahle nnmher of troops from their respective (rovernments. "•
Well mav Colonel Tod exclaim : " Ihit for re|»'ated instances ol" an illjud^HMl humanity, the throne of tiie ]\louhals miL;ht have he'en com|"letely over!:ui-iie<l.'"-
Twice owiuLi" to ])olitieal in<liscreti<>n on the part of the lianas of Mewar, in the reiirns of AIJ>ar ai-.d flehanu'ir, did the Hindus lose; their chance of supremaey. Were it not l"«>r the ill-fated interview iM-tween Hana Prat^ip and Maun Sinufh of daipnr nn the I'daisaLrar lake, on the hitter's return home fn>m the con«pn*ht of Sholapur, Akhar woiiM never have succeeded in consoli- datinu" his ])OWer and founding; the Moi^dial Empire ' in India, which, after a hrilliant career of two centuries. was Hnallv shattered to pieces hy the Mahratta-.
'IVxls Uajastliaii, Vol. I., p. tW.',, 2T.:d's Ilajastlian, Vol. I., p. :)7'.\.
••" To liiiii Akliar was iiuldtti'il for lialf l»i> triiiin|>lis. frrnn tl»<« Know-clad Caucasus to (In* .shores of the 'f^oldcn Cln'n»<>iHx>.* Ij4>( llii> t«vt' cinliracc those cxtrt-iin's oi liis o)in|iu'sls. Kahulniid the Pnroiritmisaii of Ah'xaiuh'r, and Arracaii (now w<ll-kiiowu) on tlic Indian Oi-^-an: thf fornior rpunit'-d, the latter »ulijni;ated, to the einiiin* hy u Unjput |triiuT nn<l a ftajjtut army." p. :\:\n. •• rrinoe Selini (aft«'r\vnrd-> d.-hanyir') h'd the war against Hana Pratap guided hy the eonneils of Uajn Maun and llie distint;uislifd apostate son of Sagnrji, Mohahnt Klum " — Vol. 1. p:;/,7.
64 HINDU SUPERIOllITV.
A^'nin. wlion (lurini!* Jebano-ir's reii>:n, Mewar con- reived the idea ot" ])uttiiii;- u]) Prince Kburrani against the Emperor Jeliangir, and, in the Civil ^^'a^, to wrest the supremacy for the Hindus, JMicem's indiscreet taunt to Kaja Gaj Singh of ]\Iar\var at tlie critical moment alienated the Rahtores, and tlie de.'^ign was Frustrated.
tyiCii /li
etlana ■:!/'irt/^i
'/'¥
YU
fii.
PAnaoTiSM. G5
vr.— i\vTi;ioTisM.
nicatlics there the mail, with soul Hodead, Wlxi ncvfr til himself Imlh saii!, This is my own, my native Ian. I !
— Scott : J.'iy of IL- Last Afmnlrf!.
Love of one's own counti-y i-^ inlxnn in all <-ivili/,o»l men. M<'iir(i llJuhni — Motherland — was the (-(.nstjint relVain ol" the Hindus' son^r. The intcnsitv of the fc*-!- ini;- may be i;ani;ed ho\\\ the faet that when din-inLT his fall, |);)htieal foresioht Itcciine a wainiiLj snhstanee in tin'. mental liori/on of the Hindu, he ruled that no one should j»-o out of the saci-ed limit-- of this holvland, that life here and death here alone !*hall he the neeessirv con- ditions of ^i^^ainin^^ Heaven hereafter. It is of course universally known that the creed of the Kajpnt or the warrior easte of India even now is, that dy inL!^ sword in hand in the cause of the country is the surest and the nearest way to Indra's abode. Colonel Tod says: "The name of 'country' carried with it a macrical pow«'r in the mind of the Itaj[)ut. The name of his wife or his mistress must never be mentioned at all, nor that f)f his coimtrv but with respect, or his sword is instimly imsheathe<l.'''
Patriotism ! In vain you ransack the annals of Greece and Iiomc, of Modern or ^Icdia-val I!uro|)e to find such noble patriots as liana Prataj> and Thakur ])uru:a Das. Patriotism, chivalry and honour found their ideal embodiment in these two henx's. Prata[) fou;j:ht sinLrledianded, with a handfid of his Uaiputs, airainst th<;
ITod's Kninsthan, Volume II. p. ii'.».
6G HINDU SUPERIORITY.
iniglity liosts of Akhar, "the aTontcst monarcli that ever sat on an Asiatic throne," aided by the arms and counsels of his own countrymen, the Kiitchwahas, Rahtores, Haras, Dcoras of Abu and others, -whose kingdoms lay round Mewar. He fought for a qu;u-ter of a century and died, leaving a name, unrivalled in the history of patriotism and chivalry. Colonel Tod says : " Pratap succeeded to the title and renown of an ancient house, but without a capital, without resources, his kindred and clans dis- spirited by reverses; yet possessed by the noble spirit of his race, he meditated the rcco-\4ery of Chitor, the vin- dication of the honour of his house and the restoration of its power. Tlie wily Moghal (Akbar) arrayed against Pratap, his kin(h'ed in faith as well as blood. The princes of Marwar, Amber, Bikaner and even Boondi, late his firm ally, took part with Akbar and upheld des- potism. Nay, even his own brother, Sagarji, deserted hiui. But the magnitude of the peril confirmed the for- titude of Pratap, who vowed in the words of the bard, ' to make his mother's milk resplendent ; ' and he am])]y redeemed his pledge. Single-handed for a quarter of a century did In* withstand the combine<l eiforts of the em[)ire, at one time carrying destruction into the plains, at another flying from rock to rock, feeding his family from tlie fruits of his native liil'.s, and rearing the jiursling hero, Ann-a, amidst savage beasts and scarce less savage men, a fit heir to his prowess and revenge. Tlic bare idea that 'the son of linppa liawal sliould l)ow the iiead to mortal man' was insiij)portal)l(', and he s])Mrned every overture, which li:id submission ior its bisis, (jr tiie degradation cf uniting his lainily by marriage with the Tartar, tliougli lord of countless nndtitudes."
PATUIOTISM. r,7
Coloml Tod :ul(ls': *' It i.> \V(trtliy tlic utU'»jli<tti of those who iiillucncu the <lrstiiiii's of States in ni'.n- favoured cHmes to estimate llw. intensity of fcidin^ wliich could aim the jtrince to oi)|)ose the n'sourecs of u small j»rincij»alit y airainst the then most powerfid ('m|tiri: in the world, whose armifs wei"e more numerous an<l far more eificient than any (!ver led l>v the l*ersians a«rain>t the liherties of (Jreece. Had .Mewar j)ossess<'(l h< r Thucydidcs or her ZenoplnM', neither (he war of the Pelejionnesus, nor the Itetreat of the Fen Tlmusand would have yielded more diversified incidents for tl>« historic muse than the deeds of this hrilliant rei_i;n amid the many vicissitudes of Mewar. Indaunted heroism, iutlcxil/ic fortitude, that which ' keeps honour hrii^ht,' perseverance with /^V/t///// .such as no mithni can ln>ast were the materials opposed to a soaring" ambition, c<»m- mandinir ttdents, unlimited means and t!ie fervour nf religious zeal ; all, however, insufficient to contend with one unconrpierahlc mind. There is no: a j^rr^*; in the al- pine Aravallithat is not sanctified by some deed of Pratap — some brilliant victory or often more glorious defe;it. Uul- di'jhat /.<? the - Thcnnopijhv of Meuai., the field of Dcucir her Marathony
" The last moments of Prataj)," says Colonel Tod, "were an approjiriate commentary on his life, wliich he tern^inated, like the Carthaginian, swearing his successor to eternal confiict airainst the foes of his country's inde- pendence, liut the liajput prince liad not the same
»Tod's Raja-tlian, V"l. T. i>. mO.
^" What says the Tlicruio|.yl.x- of Iii.lia, Cory^rauni ? Fivr luuviml firelocks against 20 thousaiul m.n ! Do tlic aimals of Nnpolcon record a more brilliant exploit."— /^yj^'^/'i'", Vol. I. i'. bU.
68 HINDU SLTKRIORITV.
joyful assurance tliat inspired the Numidian Hamilcar ^ for his end was clouded with the presentiment that his son, Aiara, would ab.mdon his fame for ini^lorious repose. A powerful sympathy is excited by the picture wliich is drawn of this final scene. The dying hero is repre- sente I in a lowly dwelling ; his chiefs, the faithful com- panions of many a glorious day, awaiting round his pallet the dissolution of their prince, when a groan of mental anguish made Saloombra inquire ' what afHicted liis soul that it would not depart in peace ? ' He railed : ' it lingered,' he said, ' for some consolatory pledge that his country should not be abandoned to the Toorks ;' and with the death pang upon him, he related an incident which had guided his estimate of his son's disposition, and now tortured him with the redec- tion, that for personal ease he would forego the remem- brance of his oica and his country s icrow/s.
"On the banks of the Peshola., Pratapand his chiefs h:id constructed a few huts (the site of the future palace of Udaipur) to protect them during the inclemency of the r.uns in the day of their distress. Prince Amra, for- getting the lowliness of the dwelling, a projecting bam- boo of the roof caught the folds of his turban and dragged it off as he retired. A hasty emotion, which disclosed a varied feeling, was observed with pain by Pratup, wiio thence adopted tiie opinion that his son Avould never witiist;ind the hardships necessary to be endured in sui-hacause: 'These sheds' said the <lying prince, ' will Lfivc wav to sumptuous dwelling's, thus ircneratinir the love of ease, and luxury Avith its concomitiuits will ensue, to wliieh the independence of Mewar, Avliich we have bled to maintain, will be saerilied ; and you, my
chiefs, will f(»Ilo\v tho piTiiicioiis oxamplt'.' Tlu-v jilctlirod themselves, uikI l);'c;tiir! LTuamiitees for the jtriiicc, * hy the throii;; of r>.u)|):i K:i\v;i!,' tliat ili'v woiiM not [n'rinit iniiiisioiis lo he raisL'l till Mrwar had recovereil her iuile|)L;ii(leiice. The s:)il of l'rata]» was siitislied, and Avith joy he expired."'
As regards Durna Das and (he U ahtores, the iiolije historian of l{.aj|)utaiia says : " I.ct us ttikc a rctntsjiee- tive olanee of tiie traiisaetioiis of the Itaiiton-s from the year 17.")7, th;' p.-riod of K ij i daswiint's death at Cal)ul, to the restoration of Ajit. presentiiiL^ a conti- nuous conflict of 80 years' duration. In vain miiilit AVe search the annals of an\- other nation for >neh inflexible devotion as marked the Kaiitore character throui^h this ])eriod of strife, during;" which, to use their own phrase, ' hardly a Chieftain «lied on hin ])allet.' L(.'t those who deem the Hindu warrior V(.id of i)atriotism read the rude chronicle of this thirty years' war; let them compare it with that of ar.y other C(juntrv, and do justice to the mai^nanimons Rajpoot. This narrative, the simj»licity of which is the hest voucher for its aulhenticity, presents an uninterruptecl record of patri<jtism and disinterested loyalty. It was a p;'riod when the sacrifice^ of tliese principl<;s was rewarded bv the tyrant kiitu^ with the hij^hest honours of the State; norare we without instances of tlic temptation being too strong to be withstood: but they are rare, and serve only to exhibit in more pleasing colours tlic virtues of the tribe which spurned the attempts at sc<luc- tion. What a splendid example is the heroic Durga Das
1 Tud's Kaju.lhaii, Vul. I, {^[k oi^, VJ.
70 HINDU KUI'EinoiaTY.
of all that constitutes the glory of the Rajput ! valour, loyalt\', integrity, combined with prudence in all the ditHeulties which surrounded him, are qualities which entitle him to the admiration which his memory conti- nues to enjoy. The temptations held out to him were almost irresistible : not merely the gold, Avhich he and thousands ot" his brethren would alike have spurned, but the splendid offer of power in the proffered 'munsub of five thousand,' which would at once have lifted him from his vassal condition to an equality with the princes and chief nobles of the land. Durga had, indeed, but to name his reward ; but, as the bard justly says, he was ^ A molac^ hey ond iiW price, 'Unoko' unique. Not even revenge, so dear to the Rajput, turned him aside from the dictates of true honour. The foul assassination of his brother, the brave Soning, effected through his enemies, made no alteration in his humanity whenever the chance of war placed his foe in his power; and in this his policy seconded his virtue. His chivalrous conduct in the extrication of prince Akbar from inevitable de- struction had he fallen into his father's hands, was only surpassed by his generous and delicate behaviour towards the prince's fmnily which was left in his care, forming a markeil contrast to that of the enemies of his faith on similar occasions. The virtue of the grand- daughter of Aurangzelj, in the sanctuar}' of Droonara, was in far better keeping than in the trebly- walled harem of Agra. Of his energetic mind and the control he exerted over those of his confiding brethren what a proof is given, in his preserving the secret of the abode of his jH'ince throughout the first six years of his infancy ! But, to
lV\TI!Tf>-l ISM,
coiK'liule our cMiloc^y ill tin.' wonls of tlicir hunl : he hn« rcMpod tlio iimnortality dfstiiUMl li.r trood deeds ; iiin momory is chcrislicd, his acLioiis arc tlic llifinc ol' con- stant ])niis(', and his |mtiirc on Ills wliitc ljor.se, old, yet in vigour, is rainiliar anionirst tiic colleclions f»f the })<)rtraits of Uajpiitana."'
" In the liistory of mankind, " adds Colonel Tod, " tlioro is nothin<T to he found prt'sontini,^ a more brilliant picture of fidelity than that all'ordcd hy the Kahtorc clans in tlicir devotion to their prince from liis l)irth until he worked out hi-s own and Iiis coinitry's deliverance. "-
Colonel Tod says : ""Many anecdotes are extuit record- ing the dread, Aurangzeh ha<l of this leader of the Uahton'.s, one of which is aunisinLf. The tyrant had commande*! pictures to be drawn of two of the most mortal f«K*.s to his repose, Sevaji and Duri;a : Sevaji was drawn seated on a couch ; Duri^a in his ordinary position, on horseback, toastini^ O/iturties or barley-aikes with the ])oint of his lance, on a fire of maize-stalks. Auranir/.eh at the first 2,-lance, exclaimed, ' I may entrap that fellow (meaning Sevaji), but ihis dog is born to be my bsme."^
Patriotism, honour of his race, anxiety to maintain the ""ood name of his country arc inherent traits in the character of a true Hindu. A simi)le incident of no great political importance shows the living faith of the Rajput in his country and his race, for whose honour he is prepared at all times and in all circumstances to lay down his life unhesitatingly.
1 Tod's Kajrxsthan, Vd II, pp. 81, 82. -'Tod's Rajasthan, V..1. 11. p. '.M. 3Toa"s Uajastlian, Vol. II, p. «G.
72 HINDU SUPERIORITi'.
Ilumiliatod l)v a iiiiiht attack on his forces by a liandfiil of men under Hamoo, tlie Chief of lUindi, M'hen hi?s army was ])nt to flii;ht, in the course of a compaign against llaraoti, the Maharana of Chitor re-formed his troops under the walls of his celebrated fortress, and swore that he would not eat until he was master of linndi.
The rash vow went round ; but Bundi was sixty miles distant, and defended l>y brave hearts. His chiefs expostulated with the Rana on ihe absolute impossi- bility of redeeming his vow ; but the words of kings are sacred : Boondi nuist fall ere the King of the Gehlotes could (line. In this exigeuijc a childish expedient Avas proposed to release him from hunger and his oath ; 'to erect a mock Boondi, and take it by storm.' Tn- stantlv the mimic tOAvn arose under the walls of Chitor ; and, that the deception might be complete, the local nomenclature was attended to, and each quarter had its appropriate appellation. A band of Haras of the Pathar were in the service of Chitor, whose leader, Koombo ]);iirsi, Avas returning with his kin from hunting the deer, Avhen their attention Avas attracted by this strange bustle. The story AA'as soon told, that IJoondi must fall ore the liana could dine. Koombo assembled his bri'tlinn of the Pathar, dcclnring that even the mock Poondi must 1)C defended. All iVlt the in<lignity to the clan, :nid each bosom burning Avith indignation, they ])reparc<l to ])rotecfc the nnul Avails of the psemlo lioondi from in- sult. It AA-as reported to thePanath:it i'oondi waslinished. He advanced to the storm ; but what washis surprise whe^i, instead of the blank cartridge he heard a volley of balls whiz amouiist them 1 A messenger AVas despatched and was
r
TATl!I<»TT'<\r. 73
received by I'airsi at tlio fj^atc, who oxplaiiiod the cause of the unexpected salutation, desirinL'" hini to tell the Kana tliat ' not even the mock caj)itai <»r a llara should be dishonoured.' Sj)rcadini:; a shc^ct at the little gato- way, Bairsi and the Kaawtnit-^ invited the assault, and at the tliresliold of i Ti'(r-ca-JU>t>iuU (^{.\\v. I'oondi of clay) they gave u}) tiieir lives for the honour of tiic race."'
Wlicre can vmi find a more in^nirinir and cinioblini' example of a ))atriotic Hindu doint; his duty than that of the eldest son of the Mehlri Chief durinif the Civil AVar between r>akht Sini;li and Ham Siniili in Marwar? Colonel Tod says : " There is nothini:; more chivalrous in the days of Edward and Cressy than the death of the heir of Mehtri, who, w ith his father and brothers scaled his fealty with his blood on this fatal iield. He hacHoD* engaoed the hand of a daughter of a chief of the Xinn^kas, and was occupied with the marriage rites when tidings reached him of the approach of the rebels to Mairta, T^^e knot had just been tied, their hands had been joined — but he was a Mairtea — he unlocked his hand from that of the fair Xirooki, to court the Apsara in the fiehl of battle. In the bridal vestments, with the nuptial coronet (Mor) encircling his forehea<l, he took his station with his cian in the second day's figlit, and ' obtiiined a briilc in Inura's abode.' The bards of ^laroo dwell with delight on the romantic glory of the youthful heir of Mehtri, as they repeat in their Doric verse,
' Kan a niooti l)ull)ulla Otilla soiii n iiialla Asi Cos Unrro lio ay a Kiinwar .Mflitri walla.'
The paraphernalia here enumerated are very foreign to the
I'luJ'.s liajaslliaii, Vul II. \>\>. I";:!. <".4.
HINDU SUrERlORITY.
cavalier of tliu West : 'AYitli pearls shining in his ears, and a golden chaplet round his neck, a space of eighty coss came the heir of Mehtri.'
" Tiie virgin bride followed her lord from Jaipur, but instead of being met with the tabor and lute, and other siijfns of festivitv, wail and lamentation awaited her within the lands of Mehtri, where tidings came of the calamity which at once depri\-ed this branch of the Mairteas of all its supporters. Her part was soon taken ; she com- manded the pyre to be erected ; and \vith the turban andtoorah, which adorned her lord on this fatal day, she followed his shade to the mansions of the sun."^
Owing to certain reasons, Rni Singh, the heir-appa- rent of Jaisalmer. during the reiirn of ]\[ul Rai (who became king in A.D. 1762), was persuaded to put the minister to death. This was effected by the prince's own hand, in his father's presence ; and as the Mehta, in falling, clung to Mul Raj for protection, it was proposed to ttdvC off ^,lul Raj at the same time. The prDposition, however, was rejected with horror by the ]irincc, whose vengeance was satisfied. The Rawal wms allowed to escape to tlie female apartments ; but the chieftains, well knowing they could not expect pardon from the Rawal, insisted on investing Rai Singh, and if he refused, on placing his brother on the (J ndi. The '.-hi' of liai Singh w:is proclaimed; but no entreaty or threat would indiu-e him to listen to the proposal of occupying the throne ; in lieu of which he used a })all(;t (khatj. Three months and five dnys had passed since the de[)osal anti bondage of Mul Kaj, when a fcmiilc resolved to emancipate him ; this fcmah; was the wife of th • c'lief consj)irator, :nid conHdentiiil a(l\ iscr
IToi's Itajasthaii, Vol. I, iip. 74^,00.
rATKlOTlS.M. 7;,
oftlic i-oiroiit iM-iiKv. This „nl,I<. .Imiuo, a KaliKm- li.ij- |K)()tl)i, of the M:lll('(ll:icl:i?i, was the wife of Auop Sillj^h <>i 'niijmiali, iIk; pieMiiicr iiohlo of riaisaltncr, am! who, -svcaritMl with tlie tyramiy <.f tlic iiiiiiistfi- and tlic wcak- iiL'ss (»f his jiriiiLV, liad proposiul tlic (Icalh of the one and the d('i)o.sal of tlic other. Wt- aiv liot nia.lc accjiiaintrd with any reason, save tliat of sinnChmna^ iw 'fealty,' "whieli })ronij)ted the Uahtorni to rescue her prinee even at the risk of \\vv husband's life ; hut her a|>j>pal to her son, Zourawar, to perform his duty, is preserved, and wr i^ive it vcrhafim : 'Should your father oppose you, saerifiee hiui to your duty, and I will mount the pyre with his corp>;e.' The son yielded ohedienee to the injunction of his uiairnanimous parent, who had sutticient influenee to pi^ain over Arjoon, the brother of her husband, as well as ]\[egh Sinir, Chief of iJamo. The three ehieftains force<! an entrance into the prison where their prince was confined, who refused to l)e released from his manacles, until he was told that the Mahechi had promoted the })lot for his liberty. The sound of the «:;ran 1 lutkarra^ prochuniiuu: Mul Raj's re- possession oi the <j<idi^ awoke his son from sleep ; and on the herald depositinj:!; at the side of his pallet the sable siropava^ and all the insi«!nia of exile — the black steed and black vestments — the prince, obeyini^ the command nf the emancipated Ilawal, clad liimself therein, and, accompanied by his party, bade adieu to Jaisalmer, and took the road to Kottoroh. When he arrived at this town, on the southern frontier of the State, the chiefs proposed to '' run the country'' ; but he replied that the country was his mother and evert/ Rajpoot his foe loho injured it. *
•Tod'^ Kaja'^tli.ii), Vol. II, pp. 2G4. .j.
76 HINDU SUPKRIORITY.
" This Rajputni," adds Colonel Tod, " with an ele- vation of mind equal to whatever is recorded of Greek find Roman heroines, devoted herself and a husband whom she loved, to the one predominant sentiment of the Raj- put— swadharma (duty).
The reply of the Deorah prince of Sirohi when in- structed to perform that profound obeisance from which none were exempt at Delhi, where he had been carried by Mokundas, one of Jaswant Singh's generals after having been secretl/ captured whilst asleep in his palace, and his subsequent conduct, shows the high spirit and the independence of character of a true Rajput and his in- tense love for his country. He said that "his life was in the king's hands, his honour in his own ; ho had never bowed the head to mortal man, and never would," As Jaswant had pledged himself for his honourable treat- ment, the officers of the ceremonies endeavoured by stra- taG:em to obtain a constrained obeisance, and instead of introducing him as usual, they showed him a wicket, knee high, and very low overhead, by which to enter, but putting his feet foremost, his head was the last part to appear. This stubborn ingenuity, his noble bearing, and his long- protracted resistance, added to Jaswant's pledge, won the king's favour ; and lie not only proffer- ed him pardon, but whatever lands he might desire. "Though the king did not name the return, Soortan was well aware of the terms, but he boldly and quickly replied, ' what can your Majesty bestow c(|ual to Achilgurh ? let me return to it is all I ask.' The kina; had the mao-na- nimity to comply with his request; Soortan was allowed to retire to the castle of Abu, nor did he or any of the Deoras ever rank themselves amongst the vassals of
I'ATUInTlSM. , ,
tlie empire ; but they have eoiitinueil to tlie ])rcsent hour a life of ahiiost savaij^e in<U'j)cii(leuce."'
Colonel Tod savs : "These men of the si>il^ as tiu-y cmjihatically dcsiirnate themselves, cliii*^ to it and their aneient and wcll-deliiicd |>rivile<res, with an unconjjucr- able pertinacity; in their endeavours to j)reserve them^ whole generations have been swept away, yet has tiieir strength increased in the very ratio of oppressioFi. Where are now the oj)pressors ? the dynasties of (ihazni, of (ihor, the (ihiljis, the Lodis, the Pathans, the Timo<jrs, and tlie demoralising Mahratta ? The native Uajpoot hiw flourished amidst these revolutions, and survive<l tluir fall ; and but for tin- vices of their internal sway, chietly contracted from such association, woidd have ri<«'n to power upon the ruin of tluir tyrants."-
How fur will this high character of the Kajputs Ik? influenced bv the uvw condition of things remains to \m seen. Colonel Tod says : "When so many nations arc call- ^ ed u])on, in a period of great calamity and danger, to make over to a foreigner, their opposite in everything, their superior in most, the control of their forces in time of war, the adjudication of their disput(?s in time of ]>eace, and a share in the fruits of their renovating pros^xTity. what must be the residt, when each Ilajixxit may hang up his lanoe in the hall, convert his sword to a plough- share, and make a basket of his buckler ? What but the prostration of every virtue ? To Idc great, to l)e inde- pendent, its martial sj)irit must be cherished : happy if within the bounds of moderation." " It is to be hojx?d
•Tod's Raja-sthan, Vol. II, pp. 56,07. aTod's Kajasthan. Vol. II, p. IfiO. STo^l's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 127.
/S niNDU SUPEUIOKITr.
that education, travel and coiitacc with enlightened Europeans Avill succeed in counteracting the baneful in- rtuences dreaded l)v the gallant Colonel.
" The llajput, with all his turbulence, possesses in an eniinont degree both loyalty and patriotism."^
^y\\[\t can be a more eloquent testimony to the pat- riotic fervour and the heroic valour of the Rajputs, than the following extract from the Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan by Colonel Tod : —
" There is not a petty State in Rajputana that has not had its own Thermopylae and scarcely a city that has not produced its Leonidas. But the mantle of ages has shrouded from view what the magic pen of the liistorian miirht have consecrated to endless admiration : Sonniath might have rivalled Dclphos ; the spoils of Hind might have vied with the w'calth of the Lybian King; and, compared with the army of the Pandavas, 'the army of Zerxes would have dwindled into insignificance."^
'Tod's Itajasthau, Vul. L p. lOi. ^Tod's Uujastbaii, lutrojuction, p. 10.
VAL( )(.]{. 7«j
VII.— \ ALoi K.
No thiiuLrlit of lliiflit. Xoii(> of rotrnit. iiu milnToniiiiK dn-d Tlint ari,'ii('(l fcnr ; cncli on liiiiiM-lf ri-lif<l. As (ink in liis ann the iiioiipiit lav iM victory.
— Mii.ton: I'lmulif f.Dst.
Tin-: Hindus won; declared hy the Greeks to i>e the bravi'st nation tlicy ever came in contact with.' It u:i.s the Hindu King of Mauadha tliat struck terror in tlie ever-victorious armies of Alexander the (ireat.
Abul Faznl, the mini.-ter of Akliar, after afhiiirin"" their otlicr noble virtues, speaks of the valour of the Hindus in these terms: "Their character shines i)rightest in adversity. Their sc^ldiers (Hajputs) know not what it is to fiee from the field of battle, but when the surcesn of the combat becomes doubtful, thev dismount from their horses and throw away their lives in payment of the debt of valour."
" The traveller, Bernier, says that " the IJajputs em- brace each other when on the battK'-fie!d as if resolved to die." The Spnrtans, as is v.ell known, dre>sed their hair on such occasions. It is well known that wjjen a IJajput becomes desperate, he puts on garments of saffron colour, which act, in technical lanixuaire, is called kesrian kasumal kdnui (donning saffron robes).
After describing how, when l)ara disappeared from the field of Dholpur where the Imperial forces had made a
^Kl|i|iiii>ton'*> lli-tniy of Iii'lia. v. 111?.
80 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
last stand asfainst the combined armies o£ Auran^zeb and Mnrad in their advance to Agra,1i,nd the Imperial forces took to flii>-ht, the Bundi chief, like Porus ot old, continued fighting heroically till he was killed, saying "accursed be he who flies ! Here, true to my salt, my feet are rooted to this field, nor will I quit it alive but with victory," and how Bharat Singh, his youngest son maintained the contest nobly. Colonel Tod says: "Thus in the two battles cf Ujjain and Dholpur, no less than 12 princes of the blood, toirether with the heads of every Hara ckm, maintained their fealty even to death. Where are we to look for such examples ?".^
During a visit of the Boondi chief, Kao Sooju, to Chitor, Rana Ratna, at the instigation of an intriguing Poorbia, determined to slay the Rao in an hunt when the respective chiefs were attended only by a couple of ser- vants. Finding a convenient opportunity, the Rana said to his companion, " now is the moment to slay the boar, and instantly an arrow from the bow of the Poorbia was sped at the Rao. " With an eagle's eye he saw it coming, and turned it off with his bow." This might have been chance, but another from the foster-l^rother of the Rana convinced him there was ireachery. Scarcely had he warded off the second, when the Rana darted at him on horseback, and cut him down with his Lhanda. The Rao fell, but recovering, took his shawl and lightly boimd up the wound, and as his foe was making oft', he called aloud, "escape you may, but you have sunk Mewar." The Poorbia, who followed his prince, when he saw the
iTod's Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 481. "The annals of no nation ou cartli can fnrnirih such an (.'Xanii'lc as an entire family, six royal brothers, stretched on the field and all but one in death" — \'ol. II, p. 1',).
\Ai.(»ri:. 81
Kaohiud ii|) his wound, saiil, '' tlio wr»rk is hut li.ilf dono;'* jiiidlikc :i cowfinl. Kiitii:i once more charLr'''! tin' wnimtlnl Kao. As Ills Mi'iii was raised to jiiii<li tlifdciMl of sliamc, like a woiindi'd tipT tlic Ilara mad*- a dviiii; i-IVurt, caught ihv. assassin hy the roix*, and draiTiT^'d liiiu fr<»m his stocMl. Toi^c'LhcM' t!ioy <-ami' to ihc <;rouiid, llic Kaiia underneath. The Rao knelt u|)<)n his hcnst, whiU", with A'-cU' preternatural strenu;th, with one iiand lie ijrasped his victim by the throat, with the otlii-r lie searchetl for hin dai^ger. Wliat a nioniMit for rcv^eni^e I He pluiii^t'd the weapon into his assassin's lieart, and saw him expire at his feet. The Kao was satisfied ; there was no more Hfe left him than suiliced for reveni^e, and lie droppi-d a corpse upon the dead body of iiis foeinan.
The tidings tlew to lioondi, to the mother of the Rao tliat her son was slain in tlie Alharn. ''Slain I" exclaimed this noble datne, "but did he fall alone? Never could a son who has drunk at this breast d(?j)art unaccompanied;' and as she s)K>ke, "maternal feeling caused the milk to issue from the fount with such force that it rent the slab on which it fell.'''
Colonel Tod thus relates an ineident he witnesscil in Haravati : — "There was one specimen of tU'Volion (to the prince of Kotah) which we dare not pass over, companibje with whatever is recorded of the fabled traits of heroism of Greece or Rome. The Regent's (Zalim Singh- of Kotah)
1 Tod's Rajastlmn, Vol. II , pp. 468, fiO.
^Col. Tod savs : " Zalim Siiii^li was a «'<)nsiiinniafo jMiliiirjan, \vlio can scarcely find a paralN-l in tliw vari«il patj«'s of'hij.j^in. Il-' was \.\w primHui utohlh' of (In- n'Lcinii Iii- inlialiitcd, a ^pliip' far too ron- fiiu'.d for Iiis i^cuins, wlijcli n'ijuiri-(l a wiilt-r li'I'I l".>i it- ,|!-,i.I.i\ mul might have cuutrullod the destinies of uutions.
82 nKS-pU SLTEniORTTY.
battalions were advancing in columns along the precipi- tous bank of a rivulet, when their attention was arrested bv several shots fired from an isolated hillock risinir out of the plain across the stream. Without an}^ order, but as by a simultaneous impulse, the whole line halted to gaze at two audacious individuals, who appeared deter- mined to make their mound a fortress. A minute or two passed in mute surprise, Avhen the word was given to move on ; but scarcely was it uttered ere several wounded from the head of the column were passing to the rear, and shots began to be exchanged very briskly, at least twenty in return for one. But the long match- locks of the two heroes told every time in our lengthen- ed line, while the}^ seemed to have 'a charmed life,' and the shot fell like hail around them innocuous, one continuing!: to load behind the mound, while the other fired with deadly aim. At length two t\yelve pounders were unlimbered ; and as the shot whistled round their ears, both rose on the very pinnacle of the mound, and made a profound salaam for this compliment to their valour ; which done, they continued to load and fire, whilst entire platoons blazed upon them. Altliough m jre men had suffere 1, an irresistible impulse was felt to save these iz'-dlant men ; orders were given to cease fir- ing, and tlie force was directed to move on, unless any two individuals chose to attack them manfully hand-to- hand. Tlie words were scarcely uttered when two young
'• VVIit'ii an Eni^lish division in their pursuit of the I'iiulari loader, Kariiij Kiiau, insulted his town of Baran, ho hurst forth: ' If twenty years could i>; taken from hi-! life, Delhi and Deccau should be one." — Tod's liiij't)ft/i'iit, Vol. 11, 1-1-. 517, 18.
vAf.orn. H.i
RoIuHms drew (JK'ir swords, s|)nin2; t\o\\n t\w i):ink, aii<i soon cleared tiic s|)acn hctwccMi tlicin and tlic ffMMiK'ii. All was (k'(M) anxictv as tiKV inounfctl (o tljc assaidl ; but wlu-rlier tlicir i)liy>i<al Iimiiic was less vijroron their eiuML^ies were exhausted hy woumls or hy lli«w peculiar situation, these brave dcieiiders fell on tin- nioinit. whence they disputed (he ujarch of tfn battalions of infantry and twenty pieces of cannon."'
]\Iukandas was the head of the Kuiipanwat nahtorort of Marwar. He incurre<l the displeasure of the EmjK»ror Aurant^zeb, by a reply which was disres])eclful. The tvrant condemned him to enter a tiLTer's d<n. and contend for his life unarnie<l. Without a si";, fear liv,' entered the arena where the savage lx»aist was pacing, and thus contemptuously accosted him : "Oh ti<^er of the Mian, face the tiger of Jaswant ;" exhibit- ing to the king (.)f the forest a pair of eyes, which ani^cr and opium had rendered little less inflamed than his own. The animal, startled by so unaccustomed a salutation, for a moment looked at his visitor, put down his head, turned round and stalked from him. " You see," ex- claimed the Rnhtore, ''that he dare not face me, and it is contrary to the creed of n true Itajpoot to attack an enemy who dares not confront him." Kvcn the tyrant, who beheld th(3 scene was siu'prised into admiration, presented him with gifts, and asked if he had any child- ren to inherit his j)rowcss. His reply, 'how ran wr _ ., children when you keep us from our wives In'vond the Attock ?' fully shows that the Kahtore and fear were strangers to each other. From this singular encounter lie bore the name of Xaharkhan, ''the tiger lord "^
>T..,rs UaiaMlianrV..!. TI. pp. '^:9. HO. ^Tud's Rajasthau, Vol. II. pp. 55, 56.
84 HINDU SUrKKlOKlTY".
"It was witli the Sesodia Rajputs and the Shekha- wnts that Mohahat Khan performed the most daring exploit in ]\Ioghal history, making Jehangir prisoner in his own camp in the zenith o£ his power." This Mohabat Khan was an apostate son of Sagarji, lialf- brother of Kana Pratap. " He was beyond doubt," says Tod, " the most daring Chief in Jehangir's reign." "^ "The celebrated heroic chari>:es of the Rahtore horse at the battles of Tonsfa and Patun in 1791 A.D., against the disciplined armies of the French General DeBoigne, carrying everything before them, show the unequalled dash and clan of the Rahtore cavalry when inspired by patriotism.
There is no end to the recountino: of the brave deeds performed by the Rajputs. Name a few heroes like, Pratap, Durga Das, Jaswant, Hamir, Raj Singh, Maun, Prithi Raj, Sivaji, and a volume is said. The rest
' Were long to tell ; liuw many battk-s fonglit, How many kings dostroyed and kingdoms won.'
But as the Rajputs were men of valour, so were thev men of herculean build and streno'th. It was a Bhatti Rajput — Soningdeo, a man of gigantic strength — who not only Ijcnt but broke the iron bow sent by the king of Jvhorasan to the Emperor of Delhi to string, when no one in Delhi c(nild do so.^
"Homer's heroes," says Col, Tod, " were pigmies to th(; Ktinis, whose Ijracelet we may doubt if Ajax couM have lifted."^
> Tod's Rajastlian, Vol T, p. 355. ■-'Tod's Kajasthan, Vol. II. j.. 254. ^Tod's Kajasthan, Vol, 11, y. Si.
v\i..pn{. So
Colonel T()<1 s;iys: " Li»r us take the H;ij|»iit character fn)iii llic roval historiaiis tlieinsclvcs, from AkUir, Juliauuir, AuraiiL;zcl). The most l)rilliaiit coii- questa of the.su moiiarclis were \)\ tlicir Rajjiut allies; thouuli the little reij^anl ihe latter ha<l for opitiion alienated the sympathies of a race, who, wh«-n rJLrhtly nianaiied, encountered at command the Afghan amidst the snows of Caucasus, or ma<le the furthest Chersonese tributary to ihc empire. Assam, where the Uriti.^h arms ■were recently eni:ai;ed, ami for the issue of which such anxiety was manifested in the metropolis of l)ritain,was ct^inijuered 1)\- a Itajj»ut [)rince, whose descendant i> now an ally of the British G(n-ernment."'
" The Moiiiials were indebted for half their con- quests to the La/ih Tubrar Iv>ht(ir(in " (hundn-d thous'uid swords of the liahtores). " l>ut the lm|K'rial |)rinres knew not how to a}>preciate t)r to manaire such men who, when united under one who coulil control them, "Were i r resistible. "-
Ileliirious biirotrv and Imiu'rial vanity eventually disfrusted the IJajputs, who were the bulwark of the ]\I()<diul throne, with the result that the emijire came to an end sooner than was expected. " The spirit of devo- tion in this brave race, by whose aid the Mo<,'hal iH)wer Avas made and maintained, was irretrievably alienated,"' when Delhi was invaded by Nadir Shah. Kven in the times of the. ijjreatMoghal Emperor, Aurangzib, tin- Hindu princes of rtaji)utana though disunited and jealous of
1 Tod's Rajastlmn, Vol. 1. y. 195. •''Tod's Kajast.l.aii. V..1. II. y. :>07. ^Tod's Waja^thaii, Vul. \. y. 117.
8G HINDU SUrERlOKITY.
each other, were some of them iiidividiiiillj too stron*; to be openly defied by the Emperor. Jaswant Siiig'h ot" Jodhpur was poisoned at Kabul, ^ and his heir, Prithi Singh, at Delhi, which freed the heart of Ain-ani;' from a terrible nii^'htmare. It Avas only after these murders that the tyrant thought of imposing the hated Jazia. The great Jai Singh of Jaipur was also poisoned at his in- stigation by the Raja's son, Ivirat Singh. Having recourse to poison, when unable to openly meet a strong opponent, was a favourite practice of the Moghal Emperors of India. Even the much-belauded Ak])ar, ' the arch-enemy of the Hindus,' was not above it. Colonel Tod savs : " A desire to be rid of the great Raja Maun of Amber, to whom he was so much indebted, made the emperor to act the part of the assassin. He prepared a majum,, or confection, a part of which contained poison ; but, caught in his own snare, he presented the innoxious portion to the Rajput and ate that dragged with death himself."- The cause appears to have been a design on the part of Raja ]\Iaun to alter the succession, and that Khusro, his nephew, should succeed instead of Selim.
The murder of Maharaja A jit Singh of Mar war by his own sou, l^,akht Singh, at the instigation of the Say- yads — the kingmakers of India — was another instance of the policy of " covert guile," which became a stronger weapon than the sword in the hands of some of the ^lohamedan rulers of India, who seem to liave accepted the reconnnendation l)estowed on this policy by Belial in the assembly of the Fallen Angels.
1 Tod's lujiv-sthiiii, Vui. I, ).. ;■;::), aihi Vol. ii, i^. D2.
2Tod'.s RujustliHii, Vol. 1, in.. ;j;jl, 52,
vAi.oiK. h:
Th;^ inlionMit stroni^tli of the liajjiiit cli:iru«'t«T, liitt power of cloi^ncii I'lisistciice, his iiiviiicihlti attaclimuiit to his country, aii«l, al)ove all, the spiritual nature of tin* itlt'als that nurture liis soul, are fully recoLrniscd hy the historian of K;i jputana, when he says : ** What nation on earth would have maintained the M-nihlaneeof civilization, the spirit or the customs of their forefatliors, durinj: so many centuries of overwhelmini^ depre.-^si on, imt one of sucli singular character as the KajjMit ? Thouj^h ardent and reckless he can, when reijuired, sul)side into forbearance and apparent apathy, and reserve iiimself for the op|)ortunity of revenu'e. Uajasthan exhi!/jts the sole example in the histiiry of mankind, of a people with- standini; every outraiic l)arl>aritv caii inllict, or human nature sustain, from a foe whose religion commands anni- hilation, and bent to the earth, yet rising buoyant from the pressure, and making calamity a whetstone to cour- age. How did rh(! liritons atonce sink under the Uornans, and in vain strive to save their groves, their druids, or the altars of lial from destruction ! To the Saxons they alike succumbed ; they, again, to the Danes ; and thi** lieteroaeneous l)reed to the Normans. Kmpire "was lost and gained by a single battle, and the laws and religion of the conipiered merged in those of the con<|uerors. ^ Contrast with these the llajpnts: not an iota of tlicir religion or pustoms have they lost, though many a foot of land. Some of their States have been expung- ed from the map of dominion : and, as a ])unishment of national inh.lclity, the pri<lc of the llahtore, and the glory of the Chalook, the over-grown Kanauj and gor- geou> Anhulwarra, are forgotten name> I Mcwar alone,
S8 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
the sacred bulwurk of rcli^'ion, never compromi.sed lier honour for her safety, jind still survives her ancient limits ; and since the brave Samnrsi gave up his life, the blood of lier princes has flowed in copious streams for tlu' maintenance of this honour, religion and mdepen- dence."'
As the ancient Huidus were the bra.vest nation in the world, so difl they give to the world its greatest hero. Her- cules has been universally acknowledged to be the greatest warrior, the bravest and the most powerful man the world has ever produced. And Hei-cules was, in reality, a Hindu and not a Greek. Hercules was but Balram. This may sound paradoxical to those who have not studied compara- tive mytholog}', but to those who have done so there is nothinu; stranii:e in this statement. The word Ilcrcnlcs is derived from the Sanskirt word Heri-cul-es ('^'^Tfi^i^). Balram emii^rated to Greece after the ]\Iahabharata, and in consequence of the display of his wonderful feats of strength and valour there, the people of Greece began lo worship him as a god.
Professor Heeren says : " We can hardly doubt that Bacchus and Hercules were both of them Hindu deities, since they are not only represented as objects of general worshi}), but the ])articular countries and places are also specified where both the one and the other had temples erected to their services (see Arrian, ]). 171, and Strabo, Vol, loth p. 4S!)).
Diodorus says that Hercules was born amongst the Indians. " The combats to which Diodorns alludes are
ilVl's llaju^tlian, Vul. I, p. 20'J.
VAT.oi i:. .S9
those ill the lo|[r<'n<1arv liaiuits of tin' HtTriilas dnrln.r tliL'ir twelve \(';irs f\il<' IV'-ii' »!'.• -.■■' -T i|n.ir fathers.'"
Colonel '10(1 Ni^s : " ImmIi Krislina ami l;ai»U:«) (Pialrnm) or A|»oII() ami Hercules are rs (l(»r<ls) of th«' race (ciil) oC lleri (Heri-nil-cs), of which the (inn-ks minht have made the comMomjcl Hercules. Mji:lit not a colony after the Great W'-.iv have iniirrated \\'est\vanl ? The periled of ihe return of Hera<'li«lM', the desceiidantH of Atreus (Atri the proirenitor of the Ili-rieula (vrT^'?i) Avould answer : It was ulrout half a century after tiie Great War."
After (h'scrihinc: the population of Hehar, Mr. Poeocke says: "Here then tlie historian is ])rt»Sfnt4'd Avitha primitive ])opulation in Hellas, not onlv from the Himalayas, hut from Pelasa, Mnirhada, <>r liahar, with correspond iuLT clans to enter Greece, and the cherished memory of their Chiefs, as the foun<lation of one of the jxodships of Ilellas, Thouirh Inildeva, the elder l>r<»thcr of Krishna, who was supj)osed to have perished in cross- ing the Himalaya mountains, succeeded ultimately in reaching Greece, where his renown heeame great, Krishna was doomed to ])erish in a lajid far distant from that country." -
Colonel Tod cannot resist the inference that the Herculasof India and the Heracli(he of (ireece werec?)n- nected. Arrian notices the similarity of the Hindu and Theban Hercules, and cites as his authority the amhassii- dorof Seleucus, Mega'^^thenes. wlio siv- : •• H^ u-ed the
^Tocl's Tiajasthan, Vol. I, y. ;;it. .\riuu a .-.If'iy ul Liiicul«.N J> \\w sanif as that given in llic ruraiias. 'Iiulia in Greece, p. L'l^'.K
90 niNDU SUrERIOlUTY.
siimc hal>it with the Theban, and is practically worshipp- ed by the Sureseni, who have two j^reat cities belonging to them, namely, Mathura and Clisoboros."
The points of resemblance between the Hindu and the Tlieban Hercules are most striking, and irresistibly lead one to the conclusion that here at least similarity is sj'nonymous with identity,
( 1 ) The Heraclidai claimed their origin from Atreus, the Hericulas from Atri.
('2) Euristhenes w"as the first s^reat kinof of the Hera- clidie ; Yudhistira has sufficient affinity in his name to the first Spartiui king not to startle the etymologist — the (/ and r being always permutable in Sanskrit.
(3) The Greeks or lonians are descended fi-om Yavan or Javan, the seventh from Japhet. The Hericulesare also Yavans claiming from Javan of Yavona, the thirteenth in decent from Yayat, the third son of the primeval patriarch.
(4) The ancient Heraclida? of the Greeks asserted
that they were as old as the sun, older than the moon.
May not this boast conceal the fact that the Hericulida^ (or
Sur\'avansa) of Greece had settled there anterior to the
colony of the Indu (Lunar) race of Hericulas ? Col. Tod
says: "Amid^^t the snows of Caucasus, Hindu legends
abandon the Hericulas under their leaders, Yudhistira and
Baldeo : vet, if Alexander established his altars in Pan-
rhalica amonijst the sons of Pooru and the Hericulas,
what ])liysical im})ossil/ilitv exists that a colony of them
nnder Yudhistira and lialdeo, eight centuries anterior,
should have penetrated to Greece ? Comparatively far
advanrcd in science and arms, the con(pifcsl would have
bejii easy."
VAIOI-R. 91
(.'>) When Alexander a(tnrko<l tlio *' free cijic.*" «>f P:nKli:jlika,tlR' Poonis and the Ilfric-ulas wliooppnsfd iiim evinccil tlio recollcctiouf^ of tlicir ancestor, in (•:irr\ in"- tJic ligure of Hercules as tlicir standard.'
Coinparixin proves a common ori;;iri to Hin<lu iini Greek nivtliolo«rv ; and IMato savs " the (jJrwks «lerived theirs from KL'-y|)t and the East. May not this colony of tlie lI(M'aclida' wlio penctrateil int(. I'elopontie.suH (accordinL,^ to Vohiey) l()7Sye;ir.s before Christ, l)C Hufli- ciently near our calculated |)eri(»d of tiie <Jreut War?"*
" Mow refreshinL(," Coloncd Tod eonclu-. the
mind yet to discover amidst tln^ ruins of tlje Yannma, Hercules (IJaldeo) retaijiin^ his cluh an<l lion's hiile."
'"Tho innrtial Rajjuits hvo not Ktrangors to nrnu>riai bfiiriii so indiscriiuiuatoly usfd ill Kiircfc Tlio pn-.it banner of Mfwjir i-\iii- bits a goldon sun nn a crimson fit-Id, those of tbo chiefs l)«'«r a <ln>:>f«'r. Amber displays the I'unchrangn, or five-colon rixi fla;;;. The linn r:>'ii- pant on an argent field, is extinet with tli«» State of Chan«I«'ri. In h'l- rope, these enstonis were not intrfxluoed till the pcri'Ki of th«' (V- ~ ' -. and were cojiied fmiH the Saracens, while the usr of them nni ...^ :.. Rajput tribes can lit' tracinl t.i n i.friud anf- ri<r t<« fhr war <">f Trr-y."— '' Iwliii in Greerc'' p. 1)2.
-Tod's Kajasthan, Vol.1, p ">1.
92 HINDU SUrKKlOlilTY.
YIIL— THE POSITIOX OF WOMEX.
Oh fairest of creation ! last and best Of all God's works I Creature in whom execU'd Whatever can to sight or thonglit be formed Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet.
— Milton : Paradise Lost.
Mr. Herbert Spencer, the great a|X)stle of individaal freedom, says that the position of women supplies a good test of the civilization of a }>eopIe.
Colonel Tod also says: "It is universall}' admitted that there is no better criterion of the refinement of a nation than the condition of the fair sex therein."^
The high position Hindu women have always occupied in India would, if this is true, argue a very advanced state of civilization in that country. Even of the modern Hindu society, Colonel Tod says : " If devotion to the fair sex be admitted as a crite- rion of civilization, the Rajput must rank very high. His susceptibility is extreme, and fires at the slightest offence to female delicacy, which he never forgives. A satirical impromtu, offending against female delicacv, dissolved the coalition of the Rahtores and Cutchwahas, and laid eacli prostrate before the Mahrattas, whoin wlien united they liad cruslied ; and a jest, apparently triviid, com])romised the right of promogcniture to the throne of Cliitor, and proved more disastrous in its conse- quences than the arms citlier oi" Mughuls or ]\[alirattas,"'
1 Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. G09. 2Tod's Kaja.ithan, Vol. 1. \u 27G.
tin; position of womkn-. I):;
Professor II. 11. Wilson says : "And it nmv U- ron- fidontlv asserted that in no nation of anti«|uitv wvm ■\vonien lield in so nnicli esteem as anjon«^st the Ilindns,"'
In Ancient Iiuha, howevi r, th«'V not onlv posHeswd equiditv of opportnnities witlyincn, hut enjoyed certain ri}i;hts and privilei^es not chiinicd hv the male sex. 1 he chivalrous treatment of women hy Ilindiin Ik well known to all who know anythiiiLfof Hindu siH'iety.
''Strike not even with a hlossom a wife ;ruilty of a liunch'cd faults," says a Hindu saj^e, *' a sentiment wi tlelieate," savs Colonel T<xl *' that Kiii;nald-de-Horn, the prince of troubadours, never uttered any more refined. "'•*
^lanu (C'hai)ter \. I'M)) savs: •" The mouth of a woman is consUmtlv pure." and he ranks it with the running" waters and the sunbeam."* He idso hjivk (Chapter II. 1^3), " wliere the females are honoured, there the deities are pleased ; but where di^honoureo, there all religious rites become useless."
The Hindus seem to have laid special stres8on honour- in<4 the wife and trcatin^^ her with tvcr-incrensinij ddicaiy. The nearest api)roach to these ideas are the views of .Mr. Herbert Spencer, who in a letter dated the l<Sth March 184"), to his friend Lott, says : " And on this ground I conceive that instead of tliere being, as is commonly the case, a greater familiarity and carelessness with regard to appearances Ixjtween husband and wife,
1 Mill's History of Iiulin, Vol. II, p. ol.
••iloa's Rajastliaii. V..1. 1. \>. i".!!.
3TIiP women air recouinu'iulca "to proscno a rlifH?rfnI t«»nip.r " »n.l .t.> ivmain always >>.lUlrcsscJ. " H the uitV \k not olr^nntly •Itiml she will not exhilarate her hiKbaiul. .V wife gaily BdorueU. the whole house is ciiibellislK'd."
94 HINDU surtuioRiTY.
there ought to be a greater delicacy than between any other parties."^
A rather forcible illustration of this view is the reply of tlie Hariji, cpieen of the famous Kaja Jai Singh of Jaipur. One day when the Eaja was alone with the queen, he began playfully, to contrast the sweeping /i/y^e of Kotah with the more scanty robe of the belles of his capital ; and taking up a pair of scissors, said he would reduce it to an equality with the latter. Offended at his levitv, she seized his sword, and assuming a threatening attitude, said, " that in the house to which she had the honour to belong, they were not habituated to jests of this nature ; that mutual respect was the guardian not only of ha])piness but of virtue ;" and she assured hin.i that if he ever again so insulted her, he would find that the daughter of Kotah could use a sword more effectively than the prince of Amber the scissors. -
^lanu commands that " whoever accosts a woman shall do so by the title of sister, and that way must be made for her even as for the aged, for a priest, a prince, or a bridegroom ;" and, in the law of hospitality, he ordains that pregnant women, brides, and damsels shall have food before all the other guests." (Education, art. 129).
The legal status of a wife in ancient India and her equal treatment with her husband is thus defined by ^lanu, the great lawgiver of the Hindus : —
1. If a wife dies, her husband may marry another wife. (Manu, Chapter V, verse 1G8).
nieibcrt Spencer's Autuhiogmphy, Vul. I. p. 208. -Trid's Hajastliaii, A''ol. I. p. Oi'G.
THK rr^sirioN ok \\imfn. i)5
If ii liusl>jm<l «lii's, a wiff may inarrv anotli. r
liushaii.l (Maim, .luutcd hy Maillmva ant) \.
Hatha Dikshita ; Parasara ; Xara«la : ^'a^navalkvn, quoted bv Krishnacharya Smrili ; A<:iii I'luana : Smriti, (juoted by Clietti Koiu-ri Acliarya and -lananlHim lihatta).
"2. It a wife Imjcoidcs fallt-n by drunkmucHH or im- moralitv, Ikt liusliand mav niairv another (Manu, C'haptcr IX, verse 80 ; Yagnavalkva, piL'e 416, veruc 73).
It a husband l)econic> fallen, a wife ii,., ^ re-inarrv another husband (Mann, (|uoled by Madiiava and several other authorities above mentioned).
3. If a wife be barren, her Inisband jnay marrv another wife (Manu, ('ha})ter IX, verse Si).
If a husband be imjjotent >he n)av marrv another husband (Mann, and several other authorities (juotcd above) .
4. In })articular cireumstanees, a wife may ccflsc to cohabit with her husband (Manu, Chapter IX, verse 79).
■). If a husband deserts his wife, she may marry another. (Manu, Chapter IX, verse 7li, and tjeveral others).
(i. If a wife treats her husl)and with aversion, he may cease to cohabit with her. (Manu, Chapter I\. verse 77).
7. A husband must be revered (Manu, Chapter V, verse 154).
A wife nuist be honoured by the husband (Manu, Chapter III, verse 55).
06 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
S, A fTOod wife irradiates the house and i.s a i>od- des< of wealth (Manu, Chapter IX, verse 2(5).
A trood husband makes his wife entitled to honour (Manu, Chapter X\, verse 28).
The hiiih ethical teaching's of the Hindu Shastras prepared the men to assign to women a peculiarly j^ri- vileged position, keeping them safe from the rough and degrading work that now often falls to their lot in the AVest, in consequence of the severe struggle for existence raging there. While providing the freest possible scope for the exercise of their peculiar gifts, which cnal)led thooi to achieve in the superlative degree, the high and noble work which it is the privilege of women to perform for the well-being and advancement of a people, the ancient Hindu constitution not only accorded to them the position which the mothers, the sisters, the wives, and the daughters of the highest and the lowest in the nation are justly entitled to, but which enabled their true feminine nature and character to receive full development, so as to fulfil their high destiny of giving to the world a race of men yet unequalled in intellect, character and energy.
In Europe, as well as in India, the woman is stvled " the half of the man " — in Europe, as "the better half," in India, siinpl)^ as Ardhaju/iiii (lit. half-self). In Eu- rope, however, it is a meaningless phrase, rather point- ing to the desirability of assigning woman a position Avhich is hers bv nature than siunifvinii: the ijosition actually occupied l)y her — showing the desirable l)ut vet- unattained ideality rather than, as amongst the Hindus, an actual reality. No doubt there are women in J^uro])e, wlio as wives, are treated by their husbands with the same res])ect .uid genorons consideration as Iliiifhi ladies command in all trulv Hindu laniilics. True, in
THK I'o.sniu.N OF ui.\rF.v. 07
every iiradc of Murojx'Mii soci«»tv womkmi arc to l><» met Avitli, whose |)ositioii, dnmcstic :is well as sofial, is not oiiK pcrlrclU- lia]t[)\- aii<l sat i>ract(»r\', l)Ut, (o all oiit\var«l a|)|>('araiu'e, looks jiiuh<r than tliaf on j«)V('.l liv llicir Iliii<lii ^sisl(•^s : True also, that I'airoj>c:iii women ctijov in some respects, and in eertaiti directions, privilei^os neither enjoyed hy any Asiatic women nor desireil hy them. They onj(\v a freedotn of action in certain matt<'rs whii h is not onl}' one of the distinniiishini^ featnres of the I'ai- ropean civilization, l)ut emj)hasi/es the neiration of all tliat is meant hy art/Iian;ini or the half. In Mnrope, woman has a distinct individuality of her own, which flom'ishes independently of man, though hy his side an<l coimected with him. l><^th men and women there lead separate, distinct, indej»endent lives, alheit Nature and necessity compcd them to live together. Not so in India. Woman has no distinctive, in<le|K'n<lent indivi- duality in Hindu social pf)lity. Frum her hirth to her death she is a part of man, and cannot he separated from him. With niarriai^e, she merires her individuality into her husbjuid's, and both ton;ether form a >inLde entity in society. The one without the other is only a part and not a whole.
It must not, however, he stijiposed that the woman loses herself in the man, and is therefore inferior to liim. The man, too, after his union with woman is, like her, only a part of the social entity. All important n-liirious, social, and domestic concerns of life recognise the entity only when it is complete, /.^., formed of a man and a woman.
In Euro})C, the power ami position enjoyedhy woman are not recognised bv the authority which sanctions all
08 HINDU SUPEKIOKITY.
social law, and on Avliich tlie entire fabric of society is ultimately based. ^\'hat position and privilege she eniovs she evidently cannot claim as of riuht — a riiilit inherent in and inseparable from womanhood. In some of the most important concerns of life she is utterly ii^nored. Xot so amcMigst the Hindus. In India she is in possession of her rights, which no power on earth can take away from her. The Hindu woman is not in- debted, like her European sister, for her position to a man's love or affectionate reg-ard or to the exigencies of social life. It is her birthright, inalienable, and recog- nised by all ; it lives with her and dies with her. Man is as much subject to it as the woman is to a man's. Take, for instance, the most important concern of life, the warria'je. In Euro])e, the father gives away the daughter ; in his absence, the bri^ther, or the uncle or some near male relation, as the case may be. He by himself performs this sacred and most important function in life. Where comes in the heMer lialf oi the father, the brother, the' uncle or the other relation ? She has no place in the rite, no hn-as standi^ no indispensable, inalienable position in the function. She is not a necessary pnrty. She may be hapjiy in the event and join the festivities, l)Ut she is an utter outsider so far as the rite itself — the right of giving awa\ — is concerned. Ihit what do we find in India? Amongst the Hindus, in order that the ceremony of giving away (called I\;Miyadan) may be com- ])lete, the (U'dhaiii/ 111, or (he wife of the father, the brother, tiu- uneh; or the (jtlier male relative nuist take j);U'r in it. The "giving awav' i> not complete lill the husband and the wife b'^th <lo it. Xay, there is scmething more to mark the unalterabh; position of the wife as the
Tin: I'lisirinN or womkx. '"'"
"otlierh:ilf "of'tlicliushiiinl. If, owiiiLrtoaiiy.'ansc — ilcatli, illnoss or iinavoidiiMc aliscm-c — tlii' bottor half of the; lather, l)rothir (»r tiic other relative cannot be prt'sent at tile Sacra inoMt, a piece of cloth or somethint; else is j>lace<l by his side as a substitute for her, to show that he, by hiinseir, is «)nly an iiiconi|)lete imliviibial, and cannot perform the most iniportant functions of life unless and until joined by his wife. An<l it is not so with niarriai^e only. From the marriaj^i? down to a dip in the sacred (TaiiLTcs ; the worship of the sacred Ixir tree (tlie Ficus Indica) in the /w/r 7V;y// ceremony :' the woi'shi]) of the household ^oils, and other simple, ordinary duties, ordained by reliirion or sanctioned bv social usau;(;, no ceremony is comi)lete uidess tlu' wife joins the husband in its perfoi-mance. ^^'Ilat a difference hert* between the respective positions of the Kuro|>ean and the Hinchi woman I Ifou inferior is the j)osition of a European W(jman to that of her Hindu sister I W ith all the love and devotion she receives and the fr(e<iom of action she enjoys, she in I'.uropc is even now as far away from the j)osition of the other half of a man as she was two thousand years a«^o. l>ut society in Kurop • ■ still in its making;. Important and far-reachini^ chanu;e.-> will yet have to be made before it arrives at a stage of evolution, when it will come into line with its sister ori^a- nizatiou, the Hindu society, as it is found in the Ssistras. \y In the West, women's sj)here is yet limited ; N women's position yet precarious, owinir to the selHsli and hypocritical conduct of man, the pro«luct of a material civilization divorced from spiritual ideals.
' When the wifo keops a fast for three days.
100 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Their principal interest in pu))lic nfFuirs, however, is directed to secure for themselves riglits which they regard as essential to assure their position in the cold, pitiless struggle for existence, which respects neither age nor sex. In ancient India people never thought oF usurping from women their rights and privileges. They were safe from the turmoil of life ; they were secure against the attacks which all have to meet who are governed by the complicated machinery of a civiliza- tion based on the worship of Mammon, with its horizon bounded by the desires, aspirations and capabilities of the physical man.
Sri Madhavacharya says that Draupadi's part in the administration of the empire was to instruct the subjects as to the duties and riglits of women, super- intend the management of the Palace and its treasuries, to assist in the manaij:ement of the finances of the empire, and to supervise the religious institutions of the nation.
The character and ideals of Hindu women may be inferred from the conduct of Maitreye, wife of Yagya- valka, who declined to accept the estate offered to her by her husband, on his entering the thiid Ashram ( Vanaprasta. ) She told him that she also would like to havi' that which he was going in search of, and that, if I lie estate had been worth havinij:, he would not have given it away.
Avvayar, I)am3anti and Savitri were women whose lives would have purilied the national life of any people. The learning of Gargya, the intellect and character <)f I'ara, \\\c (idclitv of Anasuva and the devotion and love of Sita would do honour to any nation.
Tin; i'o.shiun ..k wkmkx. U>1
The cdurauc mikI Nalniir <li>jtlav('<l l)V KtkaNi in ilic hattle-ru'ltl 1)\ the .side of Dasratlia are iu» !«•» rt-inark- ai)le than tlic heroism displavtMl hv SatvaMuuiia, of v.huiii .Madhavacharya .-^ays that, when she saw hi-r hii.sbanil liri'd and liis eiieinv exulting in .stri:n;^lh, hh« foni^ht with hint and d('|)riv('(| him <»f his arms. Thesi? facts show tliat in ancient times llje women of India were not unused to warfare, and that they aeeompanied tlieir husl)ands evervwliere. I'liey did not lead sechided lives; thi-v were not kept in the zenana. The pardah system, wliieh marks the a<lvent into In<lia of foreiiiuers of a much lower civilization, was unknown in aiieiiiit
India.
It has sometimes hccii urnctl l>v men nnac(|uainted
with the social life of the Hindus that the fact that dauu;hters do not share in tiie paternal pro|M'rtv in tlie same way as tlie sons, and tliat the widow doo not share eipially witli lier sons the property left hy tlie husl»and, arnie a l(»w state of civilization amon«;st tliein. In the first place, the law of inheritjuice in this resjH'ct is no proof of tlu' iii.i;h or the low retinement of a people ; or the Aral)s would be held to be more rt-fined than thtr Hindus. In the second place, it is not a fact that womim do not iidierit or are incompitent to hold proj>erty.
Professor Wilson says : " Tlu;ir riirht to property is fully recognised and fully secured/" He also says: " In the absence of direct male heirs, widows succeed to a life interest in real, and absolute interest in personal |»ro- perty. Next, dauL^hters inherit absolutely. Where there are sons, mothers and daui^hters are entitled to .'♦hares, and wives hold peculiar j)roj)erty from a variety of 'Mill'a Uistory vl ludia, p. 416. foutnute.
102 IIIXDU SUl'EKIORITY.
sourcos, besides those specified by the text, over wliich a husband has no power duriiii^ their lives, and which descends to their own heirs, Avith a preference in some cases to females. It is far from correct, therefore, to say that wc^iiien amonii'st the fiiiuUis are excluded from the rights of property."
Commenting' on Mr. rJames Mill's opinion tliat ac- cording to ^lanu (Chapter IV, 4o) women among the; Hindus are excluded from sharing in the paternal pro- perty, Professor Wilson snys : " Thc^ reference is incor- rect, so is the law ; as the passage in the first volume adverted to mii^dit have shown had the writer remem- bered it. For, after stating in the text, in the same un- fjualitied manner, that daughters are altogether debarred from a share, it is mentioned in a note that those M'ho are unmarried are to receive portions out of tlu'ir brothers' allotments. It is mere (piibbling, there- foi'e, to say they have no shares. But the more important question, as affecting the position of Avomen in society, is not merely the shares of daughters, although this is artfully put forward as if it was decisive of the rights of the wiiole sex, but what rights women have in regard to property ; and as we have already shown, the laws do not very materially differ in this respect from those which are oKserved in the civilized countries of modern Europe."^
Forei<j:ners iml)ibe unfavourable notions regarding the position of Hindu women from their ignorance of the working of Hindu society and of the principles on whicli it is based. T\w. Hindu law of inheritance in this respect is somewhat different from that obtaining in Europe, l)ut in no way bcliind the latter in safeguarding the posiiicm of women.
1 Mill's History of India, Vol. I, p. 401,
Tiir, rosiTioN or womiv. ]i)'\
Whon inoH in :ill ixnulcs <)f sociotv ro('ofnif»<' tlic rights and privik-i^cs of women, and the social sv-'^N-ni of the nation is so fraincil a>. to provide means in inlonc those rii^hts, the aid of leu:islation hecomes nnnccewHiiry. Those who arc acf)uaintod with the workinufof the soeial system of the Hindus know that the ri^dits of women are recoi'nised in a far njore sni)stantial manner than hv 'dv- inijf them a eertain ])ortion of tlie iidieritence in linal settlement of all their elaims on the family.
Kespect for feminine natnre, considerations of honour and chivalry towanls the sex, and the in^rrained feelina; of reirard and esteem for womanhood, nri:ed the Hindus to take measures to safei^nard the position of woman aii^ainst all possible but avoidable contingencies. A woman aecordinu-lv has claims on her father and brothers and sons for a suitable maintenance under all circumstances. A father may leave nothinir to his sons, yet they are bound to suitably maintain their motlier ho lonij as she ia alive.
Sisters claim maintenance, their marria«je «^xpenses, and ])resGnts on all ceremonial occasions, no matter wiu*- ther their brothers have inherited any paternal esUite or not. And, not dauirhters and sister.^ alone enjoy such riiihts in Hincbi society. Their children, t(^), have ccrtniii "well-defined claims, and Hindu society posses.ses mesuis to see that those elaims are satisfied. Tiie ciTcnumial insti- tutions of the Hindus controlled by the caste origan i /at ion, reco«^nise and fulfil these obliijations. Those who arc ac([uainted with the inner workini,^ of Hindu society know that the sisters and the dauL,diters not only enjoy certain rights in connection with every festival ami every event of importance in their father's an<.l brothers' faini-
I
104 lllXDU SITKRIORITY.
lies — nt ^ctmc of Avliich functions tlioy play the lending ])!irt. hut that even after their niai-riaaes their coiuieetion ■with the families in whicli they were born is one of a jierennial flow towards them of presents and i^ifts, to whieh they are entitled by social law, irrespective of the relations existinii" between them bcini>' cordial or strained.
Thus, while their rights are secured a^-ainst contin- frencies, women altog-ether get from their fathers and brothers far more than is generally received by them anywhere else in Europe or Asia. Moreover, the joint Hindu family system is highly conducive to the preserva- tion of their inHriCncc — in some respects predominent — in the families in which tiiej^ were born.
Even at the present day, though the women are not so prominent, their influence is supreme. They talk slander and tell mischievous falsehoods who say that the Hindu women are prisoners in the zenana, that their condition is a pitiable one, that they claim the pliilan- tlu'opic efforts of men and women to alleviate their hard lot, and that they deserve all the sympathy that suffering humanity may receive. Colonel Tod says : " The super- ficial observer, who applies his own standard to the cus- toms of all nations, laments, with an afliected philan- thropy, the degraded condition of the Hindu female, in which sentiment he would find her little disposed to join. He })articularly laments her want of liberty and calls her seclusion, imprisoimient. From the knowledge 1 possess of the freedom, the respect, the hapj)iness which liajput women enjoy, I am by no means inclined to (h'plore their state as one of captivity." And, who does not know tiiat amongst no ])eople in India is pardah observed more strictly than by the Kajputs?
TIIK InSITlON <»I WoMrv. 10.^
Ev(M'v SiiMskrit s(li(»l:ir knows in what rosfv»ct nw\ vonoi'iition Indies liko (JarirvM, I )r:iu|»:i«li, Sakuiitala, Mandod.-iri, :iii<l Kiikiiiani' wci-c held. \\'li<» can listen, ■witlioiit admiral ion and >lroni^ rniotion, t<» llii; cvlc;l»ratrd I'orcst spccicli ol' Dranpadi, after tlie Nanishrncnt of tlie Pan(]avas.
'• llindn female devotion ' is a liaeknevtid jdirnw. Colonel Tod says : "Nor will the annals of any nation atl'ord more numerous or more suMiine inst:nices of female devotion than those of the Rajputs."- Even in media'val ai^es, India produced ^vonu•n that wouhl mak(» the darkest page of history resplendent. *' Tiie annal> of no nation on earth," says Colonel Tod, '' reccjrd a more eiuioblinii; ov more nia;i'nanim()us instance "i" !'. to ''•• loyalty than exem])lilied by Dewalde, nioii;. i oi luc Binafur brothers."'
As the inciilent allude<l to al)ove thnnvs a tlood of liiiht on the high character of the Ka jput women, and fully illustrates thecouunanding inlluenee tlicy exercise in society, a short account of tliis inspiring cj)is<Mle that occurred Avhen Hindu indej»endencc was alnjut to be overthrown, may well be inserted.
While the last Hindu empenjr of India, the chival- rous Prithviraj, was returning to Delhi from Sanieta, some of the wounded, wIk* covered his retreat, wen! assailed and put tc dc:ith by I'armal, the Chundail prince of Mahoba. In order to avenge this insult, the emperor
'Within the last 100 years, the name «»f Maharani Ahalrabai
Ilnlkiir was prominently before the world. She i-. kuown from the Himalayas to Cape Coniorin, and her memory is n .(n illv M..rvl,;, : ,..? in some places.
^Tod's Rajablhau, Vul. J, i'. GIU. ^lud's Kajastbau, Vul. I, p. 01 1.
106 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
invaded the territory of the Cliundail, ^vhose troops were cut to pieces at Sirswah. The Chniidail l)y the advice o£ his queen, Mahnidevi, demanded a truce of his adver- sary, on the plea of the absence of his cliieftains, Ala and Udila. The envoy found the Chohan ready to cross the Pahouj. The chivalrous Prithviraj, unused to rofusin^^ such requests, f^ranted the truce.
The two brothers, Ala and TTdila, the Sardars of Mohaba, had been made to abandon their home because Ala had refused to part with one of his mares which Parmal desired to possess. They went away to Kanauj, where they were received with open arms by Jai Chand. .
The bard, Yagnuk, now repaired to Ivanauj to beg the two heroes on behalf of Parmal to return to Ma- hoba, as their fatherland demanded their services. He said, " the Chohan is encamped on the j)lains of Maho- ba, Nursinf]^ and BirsinG;' have fallen, SirsAvah is i»-iven to the flames, and the Kingdom of Parmal laid waste by the Chohan. For one month a truce has been obtained, while to you I am sent for aid in his griefs. Listen, Oh sons of Pinafur, sad have been the days of ]\Ialundevi since you left ]\Iahoba ! Oft she looks to- wards Kanauj ; and, while she recalls you to mind, tears f^ush from her eyes and she exclaims, 'the fame of the Chundail is dopartinir, but when gone, Oh, sons of Jasraj, great will be your self-accusing sorrow ! yet, think f.f Mahoba.' " '^
" Destruction to ^Mahoba ? Annihilation to the Chundail, who, without fault, expelled us our home ; in whose service fell onr father, l)v whom his kina:dom was extended. Send the slanderous Purihara — let him lead your armies against the heroes of Delhi. Our heads
TIIK l'i»Mlli»N m. \V(.Mi:\. I(i7
were tlio ])ill:n's of M:ili<>lta ; l)y us \v<rc tlic (icimikIh I'XjX'lIcil.and tlu'ir strou^lioMx. 1 )c(.m;,i-|i aurj (;|i:iinll»:iri, uiltird to liis s\va\. W'c iiiaiiilaiiu'(| (In- licl.l a•^•lillst tin- rlailoou, sacked 1 1 iudow n. niid plaiilcd liis standard nu the plains of Iviillair. It wa-- I (cnntiimed Ala) wiio stopped the s\v»)i-.l (.1' the conipierin^- ( 'ntehwaha. 'I'he Amirs of th(! Sidtaii lied hefori' ii>. At <I\a we wen* vietorioiis, and added Kewah to his kini,'<loni. 'Antcrvi-d' I u;ave to tiie llanies and U'velled to the "ground the towns ol Mewat. From ten jirinecs did .lasraj i)rinix sj>oil to Mahoba. This liave we done; and tlii' reward is exile from oui' home ! Scxcn times lia\e I recei\i:d W(imld■^ ill his ser\ ice, and since my I'atlier's <leatli ;it>iiied f«irt\' l)attles ; and iVmii seven has Udila ronveved tiie rec<ir<l (>r \ ictory to Piirmal. Thrice my death sei'ined im-vit- ahle. The lionoiir ot" his house 1 liavi' nplield — vet exile is mv reward."
The hard replies: — '• The father of I'armal left him Avlieu a child to the care of Jasraj. ^'<>nr faiiier was in lieu of his own ; the son should not ahandon him when inisforimie makes him call <»n you. Tlie llajput who ahaiKlons his sovereign in ili^tre.ss will he j)lunged into liell. Then ]»lace on your lietid the loyalty of your father. Can you desire to remain at Kanaui while he is in trouble who expended thousands in rejoiein«is for your hirtli ? Malundevi (the «pieen), who loves you a.s her own, presses your return. She bids me demand of Dewalde, fullilmont of the oft-repeated vow that your life and Mahoba, when endangered, were inseivirable. The breakers of vows, despised on earth, will Iw plunged into hell, there to remain while sun and moon endure."
II
108 HINDU sunnuoKiTV.
Dewalde lieard the message of the queen. "Let us ily to ]\I:ihoba," she exclaimed. Ala was silent, while Udila said aloud, " May evil spirits seize upon Mahoba. Can you forget the day when, in distress, he drove us forth ? Return to Mahoba — let it stand or fall, it is the same to me ; Kanauj is henceforth my home.''
" AVould that the gods had made me barren," said Dewalde, " that I had never borne sons who thus aban- don the paths of tlie Rajput, and refuse to succour their prince in danger." Her heart bursting with grief, and her eves raised to heaven, she continued : " Was it for this, 0 universal lord, thou mad'st me feel a mother's pangs for these destroyers of Binafur's fame ? Un worth V offspring ! the heart of the true Rajput dances with joy at the mere name of strife — but ye, de- generate, cannot be the sons of Jasraj — some carl must have stolen to my eml)race, and from such ye must be sprung." This was irresistible. The young Chiefs arose, their faces withered in sadness. " When we pe- rish in defence of ^lahoba, and, covered with wounds, l)erform deeds that will leave a deathless name, when our heads roll in the fields, when we embrace the valiant in fight, and, treading in the foot-steps of the brave, make resplendent the blood of both lines, even in the presence of the heroes of the Chohan, then will our mother re- j(-»ice."
The chieftains took leave of the King of Kanauj and returned to Mahoba. On their return a grand Council assembled at a final deliberation, at which the ninther of the Jiinafurs and the ([ueen ^ilalundevi were present. Tiie latter thus opens the debate : " Oh, mother oi Ala, liuw may we succeed against the lord of tlie
Tin: vosirioN ok \vi>\i\:s. Idl)
world ? If (IcftTitcd, lost is Mahol):! ; if wo |>jiv trilnitr, we are loacUnl with sliMine." DrwiiMc n'C(»inmrii(lK hearinu; scridfim tln' oj)init)n.s of tlu- ciiicfUniiH, wIumi Ala thus .s|)eaks : "Listen, ( )h mnfhcr, to your son ! he alone is of pure linea^-e, who, jilacin^^ loyalty on hin head, abandons all thoughts of self, and lays down his life for his j)rince ; my thoii,i,d»ts an; only for Parnjal. If she' lives, she will show herself a woman or cmnnatiini of Parvati. The warriors of Sanihhiir shall Ih' cut in pieees. I will so illustrate tht* blood of my fathers tiiat my fame shall last for ever. My son, Kendal, Oh prince! I bequeath to yon, and the fame of Di'walde is in your keej)ing.'' Tiu' ([nccn thus replies: '' The warriors of the Chohan are (ieree as tlu-y are numcnjus ; pay tri- bute, and saveMahoba." The; soul of Udila was inllamcil, and turnin!4" to the rpieon s;ii(l " Why thoui^ht you not thus when you slew the defenceless ? but then I was unheard. Whence now your wisdom ? thrice I beseech- ed you to })ardon. Nevertheless ^lahoba is safe while life remains in me, and in yoiu* cause, Oh I'armal ! we shall espouse celestial brides."
"Well have you spoken, my son," said Dewalde, "notiiinii' now remains but t<j make thv parent's milk resplendent by thy dee<ls. The calls of the j>e;is;int driven from his home meets the ear, and while wc <leli- berate, our villages are given to the llames." JJut Parmal replied : " Saturn rules the day, to-morrow we shall meet the foe," With indignation, Ala turned to the king: " He who can louk tamcbj on ichile the smoke ascends jrum his ruined toicns^ his fields laid waste, can be no Jiajput: he who succumbs to fear when his countnj is invaded.
^ lliiidus do uot cull tbcir wives now-a-day l>y thi-ir uaiuo$>.
IIU HI^^DU SUPERIORITY.
his body will he plunu'ed into the hell o£ hells, his soul a waiulerei- in the world of spirits for sixty thousand years ; hut the warrior who perforins his duty will Ix' received into the mansion of the sun, and his deeds will last f(H' ever."
The heroes embraced their Avivcs for the last time, and with the dawn, performed their pious rites. Then Ala, calling his son Eendel and TJdila, hit^ brother, he once more poured forth his vows to the universal mother, " that he would illustrate the name of Jasraj, and evince the pure blood derived from Dewalde, whenever he met the foe." "Nobly, have you resolved," said Udila, " and shall not my kirhan^ also dazzle the eyes of Sambhur's lord ? Shall he not retire from before me ? " " Fare- well, my children," said Dewalde, "be true to your salt, and should you lose your heads for your prince, doubt not you will obtain the celestial crown." Having ceased, the wives of both exclaimed, " wdiat virtuous wife sur- vives her lord ? For, thus says Goriji, "the won)an who survives her husband wdio falls in the field of l)attle will never obtain bliss, but wander a discontented ghost in the region of unhallowed spirits."
The fidelity of a nurse is well exemplified by the conduct of Pumia, the dhai of Udai Singh, son of lla.na Sanga, who was a Kheechee I\aj])utani, when lhuil)ir, after killing the Uana, Bikramjit, entered the Uaola- to kill the luir-apparent, Udai Singh, also. Aware that one murder was the precursor of another, the faithful nurse put her charge into a fruit basket, and covering it with leaves, she delivered it to the bari^ enjoining him to es- cape wiih it from the fort. Scarcely had she time to
^ A sciuiitar. "Queen's quarters in the [lalace,
TIIF rn<ITlf>\ nl \vn\\r\\ 1 1 1
suhstitutc lior oavii iiifaiil in tlio room «.r tlio princo, wlirn r.mil)ir, ciitLriiiL!", t'ii(|uir('(l for liiiii, Ilcr li|).s n-fiiT*! tluir oliicf, >\iv jM>iiiti'il to the crjKllr, and l)rli<l.l tli<- niuiik'rons steul l)nri('«l in the luan of in-r IhiIk,'. '
Tlic ('Xj)lnits of tile lurnic 'V:\rn \W\ i)( l'u*(lii«'j<- ;iii.l t.boso of h(M- i;;>li:inr Iiiish iicl, I'ritlivira j. tlic hrotlicr of the cclt'l)ratc(l Raiia Saii^a, who ojiposcd IVihiT at Itiaiia, would li^ivo a. ck'ar idea of the dominatiiiix intliieiirc which tlie Uaj|»ut fair exercise not only in tin- formation of lia ji)nr character l)nt on Ka jputcondnct throULfkiont life
Colonel Tod savs: '' Tara Hai was the dau'diter of liao Snrtan, the chieftain of iiednore. He was of the Solunki trihc, the lineal de><ccndanc of the famed lialhara kings of Anhuhvara. Thence cx|>elled l)y the urni.H of Alia in the thirteenth century, they miijrato<l to Central India, an<l olitained possession of Tonk-Thoda and its lands on the IVinas, which from remote timoH had been occnpie«l (perliaps fo\mded) hy tlic Taks, and hence hore the name of Taksilla-nagar, faiuiliarly Takit- ].ur and Thoda. Surtan had been deprived of Thoda by Lilla the Afghan, an<l nov»' occuj>ied I>ethK)rc at the loot of the Aravalli, witjiin the IkmukIs of Mewar. Stimnlate(l by tlie reverses of her family, and l»y the incentives of its ancient glory, Tara l>ai, scorning tlio liabiliments and occujiations of her sex, learned to gsiide the war-horse, and to throw with unerring aim the arrow from his back, even while at sp<>ed. Armed with the bow and (piiver, and moimted on a liery Kathyawar, she joined the cavalcade in their unsuccessful atte'npts to wrest Thoda from the Afghan. dai:nnl, tiie tliird son of Kana Rai Mul, in ])erson nia<le projxisds for her
1 Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 315.
112 HINDU surEuioiUTV.
liaiul. 'licdocni Thodn,' said the star of Bednorc, 'and my liand is thine.' He assented to the terms ; but cvincinij; a rnde determination to be possessed of the prize ere he had earned it, he was slain by the indignant father. Pirthiraj, the brother of the deceased, was then an exile in ]\Iar\var ; he had just signalized his valour and ensured his fother's forgiveness, by the redemption of Godwar, and the catastrophe at Bednore determined him to accept the gage thrown down to J:umul. Fame and the bard had carried the renown of Pirthiraj far beyond the bounds of Me war ; the name alone was attractive to the fair, and when thereto he ^vho bore it added all the chivalrous ardour of his pro- totype, the Chohan, Tara IJai, with the sanction of her father, consented to be his, on the simple asseveration that 'he would restore to them Thoda or he was no true Kajput.' The anniversary of the martyrdom of the sons of Alii was the season chosen for the exploit. Pirthiraj formed a -select band of five hundred cavaliers and accompanied by his bride, the fair Tara, Avho insisted on partaking of his glory and his danger, he reached TlKxla at the moment the tazzia or bier containing the martyr- brothers, was placed in the centre of the chouk or
* sfpiare.' Tlie prince, Tara Bai and the faithful
* Senger Chief, the inseparable companion of Pirthiraj, left their cavalcade and joined the procession as it jiassed inider the balcony of the palace, in which the Afghan ■was putting on his dress ])reparatory to descending. Just as lie had asked who were the strange horsemen that had joined the, throng, the lance of Pirthiraj and an arrow from the bow of his Amazonian bride stretched him on the tluor. Before the crowd recovered from the
Tiir r«..siri,,x ..f wo\fEv. ii;j
\\ m:i"u
panic, the thr.'c had n'aclicd the ^^nUi of the l-.un. thi'ir exit was ()l)striK'tefl hy an ••Icphant. Tarn T.ai \vith her scimitar divided hi- trunk, and tlie animal tlv- i"n» l-^i^' joined tlicir cavalcade, which was close at hand.
'' The Afiihans were encountered, and oidd not stand the attick. Tiiosc who <]id not llv were cut to pitx^es ; an<l the «rallant Prithiraj inducted th«' father of hi;, bride into his inheritance. A brother of the Af-dians, in his attein])t to recov(T it, lost his life. The Xawab, Mulloo Khan, then holdini;- Ajmer, determined to oi)jm)3c the Sesodia prince in person, wIk^, resolved upon beini:^ the assailant, advanced to Ajmer, encountered lii> foe in the camp at day-l)rcak, and after irreat slauijhter entered Gurh lieetli, the citadel, with the fui^itives. 'P>v these acts' savs the Chronicle, 'his fame increase«l in Kajwarra : one thousand Ilajj)nts, animated by the same love of i^lory and devotion, withered round the tuUarras of Prithiraj. Their swords shone in the heavens, and were dreaded on the CiU'th ; but thev aided the defence- less."
The stron*^ affection of a Hindu wife for her hus- band is typified in the con«luct of Chandandas's wife, so beautifully described in the political dranui of Mmlra Rakhshas.'
The Rajput mother claims full share in the irlory of her son, who imbibes at the maternal fount his first rudiments of chivalry ; the importance of this parental instruction cannot be better illustrated than in the ever- recurring simile, "make thy mother's njilk resplendent," the full force of which we have in the powerful thoui^h
'Tovl's Kaj:.sth:\u, Vol. I, pp. 673, 74. '-'See Infra, "Uindn DraTi a,"
11-1 TITXPr SrPKKTOI^TTV.
ovcrstrniiK'd exprossion o£ the Bmidi Queen's joy on the announcement of the heroic death of her son.
Nor lias tlie Rajput mother failed to defend her sf-in's ri<;hts M'ith exx3niplary valour, and to teach her son how life should be sacrificed at the altar of the country and in defence of the country's independence. Look at the animated picture given by Ferishta of Durgavati, (.^ucen of Gurrah, defendiniy the ri2;hts of her infant son airainst Akbar's ambition. " Like another Boadecea, she headed her army and fought a desperate battle with Asafkhan, in which she was defeated and wounded. Scornhi<2: fiiiiht or to survirx the loss of independence, she, like the an- tique Roman in such a predicament, slew herself on the field of battle." 1
Durgavati was only following in the footsteps of the earlier queens, the exploits of some of whom are well known in Ka jputana. For instance, after the death of Rana Samarsi, on the field of Thaneshwar, his heir, Kurna, being a minor, Kurna's mother, Koruni Devi, a ])rincess of Patun, headed her Rajputs and gave battle in ])erson to Kutbuddin Aibak, near Amber, when the \'ice- roy (Kutbuddin) was defeated and wounded. "-
" In the second Saka of Chitor, when l)ah;idur. Sul- tan of (iiijrat, invaded that far-famed fortress, the (jucen- uiother, Jawahir l^ii, in order to set an example of courageous devotion to their country, ai)peared clad in armour and headed a sallv, in which she was slain.""'
\)\\v'\\\\f the famous assault on Chitor by Akbar, when the command of the fortress fell on Fattah, who
1 Toil's Rajastliiiii. V..1. T. ).. CI 2. ^'Toil's Hajastliaii. \m|. |. p. -IW.), •■^Tud's IJiijustliaii. Vol. I, [,. ;jn.
Tin; i'()sni(.\ m. \v<»mi:n. 1 1 '
was (>nly sixhxMi years ot aero at tin- doath of th.- riiandawat Icadrr, his motlirr (li's|)l:iv<'«l lH'rni>rii uii ])arall('l('(l in history, ('(.loud T..<l says:— " Whni ih.* Salooinra fell at ilu' natc of fhr Sun, th<' romjnan.l (IcvoIvrJ oil I'litta (Tafta) of Kaihva. I|. ()h1\- sixteen: his fathci- had fallen in tlir la>l ,>hink, and Iiis mother had sursivcd hut to rear this the sole heir of their house. Like the Spartan inotlirr of old, she eonunan(K'<l him to put on the 'sitVruii rol)e' and to die for Chitor: hut sin-passin^r the (irrcian dame, she illustrat(!d her precept l)V cxamph'; and h'st any soft, 'compunetious visitini^s ' for one dranr than herself miirlit dim the lustre of Kaihva, >li<' armed tin* }out:i; bride with a lanee, with her tlescendcd the rock, and the defenders of Chitor saw her fall, liirlitinLT '>y tiie side of her Amazonian Tuothcr. \\ hen their wive- and dauuhters performed such deeds, the Rajputs l)ocame reckless of life.'"
"Xi>r ill) I ili'fjii liiiii worthy who prefer-^ .V t'rii'iitl, how drar so cviT to his country."
— Soi'HOCi.Krt: Antiijint' .
An inci<lent taken fr^m the annals of Mewar will illustrate the stren!i:th, the courai;can<l the f^eneral charac- ter of Kajput women. Irsi, the elder l)rother of the Uanu Ajeysi, "being out on a hunting excursion in the forest of Ondwa, with some young chiefs of the court, in pursuit of the boar entered a fiehl of maize, when a femaK* olfcred to dri\e out the game Pulling one of the >talks of maize, which grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, she pointed it, and mounting the platform nimle to watch the corn, impaled the hog, dragged him l>efore the hunter-.
'Tud's Uaja?thau. Vol. I. p. .Jl'G.
IIG HINDU SUrEUIORlTY.
and departed. Thou<;h accustomed to feats of strength^ and heroism from the nervous arms of their country- women, the act surprised them. They descended to the stream at hand and prepared the repast, as is usual, on the spot. The feast was held, and comments were passing on the fair arm which had transfixed the boar, when a ball of clay from a sling fractured a limb of the prince's steed. Looking in the direction whence it came, they observed the same damsel, from her elevated stand, preserving her fields from a.'rial depredators ; but seeing the mischief she had occasioned she descended to express regret, and then returned to her pursuit. As they were proceeding homewards after the sports of the day, they again encountered the damsel with a vessel of milk on her head, and leading in either hand a young buffalo. It was proposed, in frolic, to overturn her milk, and one of the companions of the prince dashed rudely by her ; but Avithout bein<>: disconcerted, she entangled one of her charjj^es with the horse's limbs, and brou2:ht the rider to the ground. On inquiry the prince discovered that she was the daughter of a poor Rajput of the Chundano tribe. He returned the next day to the same quarter and sent for her father, wlio came and took his seat with perfect independence close to the prince, to the merriment of his C()m]ianions, which was checked by Ursi, askin*!; hi:s daughter to wife. They were yet more surprised by the demand being refused. The Rajput, on going home, told the more prudent mother, who scolded him heartily, made him recall the refusal and seek the ])rincc. They were married, and Ilamir was the son of the Chundano Raj- putni."'
nVxl's Rajastliiin, Vol. T, pj). 207, 08. It was fliis Kaiia Hainir who attackod, flctoatcfl and made prisoner ilie Kliilji Uiiiu;, Malimud, tlie successor of Alhdiiiddiii Kliilji. Tlic kin-j: si'lTcrt'd a coiiliiu'inciit of llirco nii.iitlis in (,"liiti>r. "Nor was lie lilicralcd till lie had surrendered A jnii T. Haiithaiiilihor. XaLTaiir and Soe Sopur. hesides paying' lit'ty lukh.b (.rf ruiiL'cs and one hundred elephauls, See Vol. I, p. 272.
Tin; Position of nvomkn. n;
"Tlio roui.iMtic history of tlu- CIioIimh Kni|MT..r of Delhi ahoiiiids in skrtclu's of friiialc chanictrr ; :in«l in the story of l>is carry iiiii^ otV Saiijoirta, tlu' priii Kaiiaiij, \vc ha\('ii faithful picriirc of the scx. Wi.- her, from the imoimcmL when, rcjccLiiijr the iwwMiiltl* .1 ])rin(('s, !?lu' threw the 'L^irlami of iiiarriajro' rouml thr neck of her lh'r<», (lie Ciioliaii, aliamion herself to ail the intliieiices of passion, mix in a mmhat of fivt? <lav«' contimiance against her father's arrav, witness his over- throw and the carnau'e of hoth armies, an<l snhM'cjnentlv, by her seductive charms, lullini^ her lover into a neglect of every princelv duty. ^ er when the f(H's of his «(lory and power iii\;idc I iidia, we si-e the enehantrc'ss at on<*<* st<U't from her trance of plcasurr, :ind e\chan;^in;r the softer for the sterner j)assions, in accents not less strong because minified with dei'p affection, she conjures hini, while armiuLT him for tiie battle, to die for hib fume, declarini: that she will join him in tiie 'mansions of the sun.' "
What Hindu can read without emotion the reply of the brave and beautifid Sanjoi^rta, then in the hey<ley of her honeymoon ? On Prithvi's relatiiiLT to her the dream, he saw the ])revious ni,i(ht, she sjud : "Victory and fame to my lord ! Oh Sun of the Chohans, in irlory or in ])lensure, who has tasted so dc^cply ns you ? Toilic is the destiny not only of man but of the j(<k1s, all desire to throw olf the old garment ; but to die w<'ll is to live for ever. Think not of self, but of inunortality ; let your sword divide your foe, and I will Ix' your ardh(ui;f(i (the other half) hereafter.''
The army having assembled and all being prepare<l to march against the Islamite, the fair ^anjogtu armed
118 HINDU SUPERIOKITY.
hor lord for the encounter. " In vain she sous^ht the rini»:s of his corslet ; her ej'es were fixed on the face of the Chohan, as those of the famished wretch who finds a piece of fjold. Tlic sound of the drum reached the ear of the Chohan ; it was as a death-kuell on that of Sannouta: and as he left her to head Delhi's heroes, she vowed that henceforth water only should sustain her, I shall see him ao:ain in the rei2;ion of Surva, but never more in Yogini})ur."
A more recent instance of the high spirit, undaunted courage and a high sense of duty and honour displayed by a queen of Marwar, has been recorded by a Frenchman of note. In the Civil AVar for empire amongst the sons of Shah Jahan, when Aurangzeb opened his career by the deposal of his father and the murder of his brothers, the Iiajputs, faithful to the Emperor determined to oppose him. Under the intrepid Rahtore, Jaswant Singh, thirty thousand Rajputs chiefly of that clan, advanced to the Narbada, and with a magnanimity amounting to imprudence, they permitted the junction of Munid with Aurangzeb.
Next morning the action commenced, which conti- nued throughout the day. The Rajputs behaved Avith their usual braver}', but were surrounded on all sides, and by sunset left ten thousand dead on the field. The ]\Iaharaja retreated to his own country, but his wile, a daughter of the Rana of rdai])ur, " disdained (says Ferishta) to receive her lord, and shut the gates of the castle."
The French tniveller, Bernier, wlio was ])resent in India at the time, says: "I cannot forbear to relate the
Tiir I'osi ri'iv > <] wiiMi \. 1 111
fierco rocoptinn wliidi die (laiiirhrcr of the K'aim pivo to hor IuisIkiikI, Jnswimr Sini^'li, uf'tcr his drfcat uimI Hii;lit. When she hcunl he \v;is iiiLTh. ;ii,,| had ..indcr- stood what ha<l passed in th<; hattlo — that he had I'ouniit with all possihlc coiiraLr*' ; that lie had hut four or five himdr('(l men left ; and at last, no lon'n-r ahle to resist the enemy, had heen foreed to retre;»t ; instead nf sendint; some one to condole him in his mis- iortunes, she commanded in a <h*Y mood to hhnt the g^ates of tlie castle, and not to let this infamous man enter ; tiiat he was not her hushand ; tliat the son-in-law of the _i;reat Kana could not have so mean a soul ; that he wastcj remember, that heinii: Lrrafted i'>to so iIlustriou?> a house, he was to imitate its virtue ; in a word, he wa« to vanquish, or to die. A moment after, she was of anotlier humour. She connnands a pile of wood to be laid, that she mi,i;ht burn herself ; that tliey abused her ; that her husband must needs be dea<l ; that it could not l)e other- wise. And a littl(! while after she was seen to chanm* countenance, to fall into a passion, and break into a thousand re})roaches against him. In short, she retnained thus trans))orte(l ei^dit or nine days, without Ikmui: able to resolve to see hi-r husband, till at last her motlnT comin<^, brouj^ht her in time to herself, comixised by assurin£r her that as soon as the Kaia had but refrcshetl himself, he would raise another nrmy to fight Auranir/.eb, and repair his honour. \W which story one may see a pattern of the courage of the women in that country."'
J
^ Tod's l{aja-<tlian, Vul. 1, i>. ii'2'2.
li'O HINDU .surKiaoRiTr
IX— FOREIGiV RELATIONS.
"In tlio tlioatro of the world
The people are actors all.
One (lotli the sovereign nionarcli play ;
And liini the rest obey."
— Caldkron.
When such brillianr imtionfil character combines with such hap])y social organization of the people as to excite the admiration of all who study it, one can easily conceive what noble achievements of peace and war the ancient Hindus must have accom])lished. It is true, "peace hath her victories no less renowned than war " ; still a peculiar halo of glory attaches to military achieve- ments. The achievements of the Hindus in philosophy, poetry, sciences and arts prove their peaceful victories. JUit their military achievements were equally great, as will appear from their mastery of the science of war.
Their civilizing missions Covered the globe, and Hindu civilization still flows like an under-current in the countless social institutions of the world.
In the Aiteriya Brahman, Emperor Sudas is stated to have completely conquered the whole world, with its different countries.
That the Hindus were quite capable of accom- plishing this feat, is clear from the remarkal)le article tiiat appeared in the Contemporari/ Review from the pei of Mr. Townsend. He says : "If the Prussian conscrip- ti(jn were a])plied in India, we should, without counting reserv^es or land'wehr or any force not summoned
iSee IIang'.< A. B., Vol. II, p. 5-M.
I
in time of peace, have two-aml-a-liaH" inillinn*; of soMicrn actually in barracks, with S(I(),(|(mi recruits fdiniui; up every year — a force with whi'jji nut (tuly Asia hut tin; AvorM iniiiht he sulnhicih"'
(Jeueral Sir l:iii IlaTr.ilton, in his Scrap h<M»k on the first part of the II u>so-, Japanese A\ :ir, Miys : " Whv there is material in the North of India an«l in Nepaul sufficient and fit, mider irood hiuh'rsliip, f<> shak«' the artificial society of lOurope to its foinulatioTis."
The territorial streni^th (»f India in ancient an<l ever, in mcdia-val times, was i^reater thau it has ever been durinu; the last thousand years. Purm-awa is said to have possessed 1.1 islaiuls of the ocean. Sec Ma- hahharata Adi})nrva, 8141^, ''''Trisdasa Sdmuiira Yd /iuijui A^snan I'liniraird/i, etc."
That the Hindus were a ^p'at naval power in an- cient times iB clear from the fact that one of tlnr ancestor?* of TJnma was *' Sahara,. em])hatically calle<l the S«i-kin«j, Avhose sixty thousand sons were so many mariner-."'
Plinv, indeed, strifes that "some consider t Ik- four Satrapies of (iedeosia, Arachosia, Aria and I*aro|>ami>us to helonu^ to India.'' " Tlii- wctuld include," says Mr. 111- phinst<5ne, "about two thirds of Persia,""*
Strabo mentions a lar-e part of Persia to liave Ihvm abandone<l to the Hindus by the .Macedonians.'
Colonel Tod savs: "The aiuials of th<' Yadus of Jaisalmer state that Ioul:" anterior to Vicrama, they held dominion from Gha/ni to Samarkand, that they establish- ed themselves in those rei^ions after the Ma! '' - *•.
'C<intcMiiporni V Kcvicw for.liiiip IHHS. "Will Kii^'IhihI n-tain iu<li.i. " '■iJtMVs R.iiastliaii. Vol. 1. \>. fiOL'. :»IIistory of Iiuiia. |) 2lV2. •*Si'c Strabo. Lib. XV, ji. 471.
122 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
and were n i:iin impelled on the rise of Islamif^m -within the Indus.' He adds : ** A Tnultiplicity of scattered facts and g^of^.'uphical distinctions fully warrants our assent to the j^i v-ral truth of these records, which prove that the Yndu i '.e had dominion in Central Asia."^ He a^so says : " One- '^liing is now proved that princes of tiie Hindu faith ri-'ed over all these reo-ions in tlie first ages of Islamism, u id made frequent attempts for cen- turies after to reconquer them. Of these, Haber gives us a niosi: striking instance in his description of Gazni, or, as he writes, Ghazni, when he relates how when the Rai of Hind besieged Subakhtagin in Ghazni, Subakhtagin ordered flesh of kine to be thrown into the fountain, which made the Hindus retire."^ The celebrated Balabhi was reduced by the «ame stratagem.
" Bappa, the ancestor of the Banas of i^Iewar, aban- <loned Central India after establishing his line in Chitor, and retired to Khorasan. All this proves that Hinduism j
prevailed in those distant regions, and that the intercourse was unrestricted between Central Asia and India. "-^
" The Bhatti Chronicle calls the Langas* in one page \ \ Pathan and in another Raj])ut, which are perfectly recon- cileable, and by no means indicative that the Pathan or Afghan of that early period or even in the time of Rai Sehra Avas Mohamedan. The title of Rai is a sufficient proof that they were even then Hindus," Colonel Tod adds: " Klmn is by no means indicative of the Moham- edan faith.'"''
'T<mI"s Knjastliuii, Vol. 1 1, p. 2;:(» ^Toil's h'aJMstlK.ii. V..1. 11, p. ■22-2. •'T.d's Kajastliaii, \'<.l. II, p. i>;il. ■''Ilicy were Solaiiki Hnipnts. •''Tod's Kaja.stliau, \'i>l. IL p. '2i>S.
FOKEioK i{i;r,ATi \'2?,
KmiiuMit riroolv writers — cwe-witncssCHof tijo h|>U'ii- (lour ol" India — hear testimony to th<* jtroKpority of th.-* country, which, even in h^r decline, was siitticieiitly ;rreut to dazzle their iniaj^ination. The Indian Court wa» the liaj)|)y seat to which Greek })<)liticians repaired an un sadors, and they all speak of it in j^lowini; terniH.
Mr. Weber says : "Thus Mej^asthenes was nciit hy SeleucustoChander^upta,' I)eiinachusa«;ain by Anti(M-hu« autl Dionysius," and must pr<>l)al>ly ]>asilis hy Ptolemy II to AnH'it;if!;hat{i, son of Ghandcrgiipta."
Antiochus the Great concluded an alliance ' with Sobhatrsen about 210 B.C., but was (rventuallv dcfcJitcd and slain bv him. Colonel Tod siys : '' The obsciire leirends of the encounters of the Yadus with the aHic«l Syrian and Bactrian kiuLTs wouhl have seemed altogether illusory did not evidence exist that AnticK-hus tho Gnnit was slain in these very re<'ions by the Hindu kiiii,' Sobhui^sen.''*
The Greek kini^, SeUucus, even i^ave ChamlcrLMinfa his dauirhter to wife." Professor Weber siv> : *' In the retinue of this Greek princess there of course ciime to Patlij)Utra, Greek damsels as her waitinL'- maids, and these must have found j»articular favour in the eyes of the Imlians, especially of their princes.
For not only are mentioned as articles
of traffic for India, but in Indian inscriptions also, we find Yavan girls specified as tribute : while in
MVtlier's Indian Lit<'raturo, ]>. 2.'»1, fixjtiiut*'. -Max DunkiM-'s History of AiiN<niity, V<>1. IV. p. I.'».'. nVilsoir.s Vishnu I'nrana. Vol. II. p. l.'jl. ^Tod's Rajasthan. Vol. II, p. 'I'M.
^La.sson, I. A. K. ii, 208 : T. Wliocler's History of India (HTI). p. 177.
12-1 HINDU SUIT.RIOinTT.
Indiiin literature, and especially in Kalidasa, avc are iiiForiiied that Indian princes were waited upon by Yavanis (Greek damsels); Lassen, I. A. K. ii, 551,957, and my Preface to Malavika, p. XL VII. ''^
The Persian Emperor, Naiisherawan the Just, gave his daughter in marriage to the then Maharana of Chitor.
Even the Ramayana says that in Ayodhia, ambas- sadors from different countries resided.- According to Justin, the monarch of Ujjain (Malwa) held a corres- ])ondence with Augustus.'^ Augustus received at Samos an embassy from India. The ambassadors brought elephants, pearls and precious stones. There was a second embassy from India sent to Emperor Claudius, of which Pliny gives an account. He received from theamljassadors, who were four in number, the informa- tion about Ceylon which he has embodied m his Natural History. Two other embassies from Hindu princes to liome were sent before the third centur}' A.C., one to Trajan (107 A.C) and another to Antonius Pius. These relations continued as late as the time of Justinian (530 A.C.)
Strabo^ mentions an ambassador from King Pandion to Augustus, who met him in Syria. It appears from I'eriplus and Ptoleni}' that Pandion was the hereditary title of the descendants of Pandya, who founded the kingdom in the fifth century 15. C." A brahmin followed this ambassador to Athens, where he burnt himself alive.
Wcliur's Indian liitcradire, ))]>. 2">1, ^)'2, foot note. -.Mrs. Mannin.Lc's Aiiticnt ami Mcdia-val India, Vul. II, ]i. 27. •■'Sep Tod\ Hajastlian, Vol. II, p. 313. 'I-ih. XV, p. OC.'J. *Klpijin.>>tonc's Hi-story of India, ]). 218.
KOKKKiX UKLATIdNS. 125
"Til OHO of Asoka's iMS('rij>ti()iis, live (irccjk princes :ij>]>e:tr. — (1) Antioi'luis of Syria, (l') Ptolemy, Phila- (K'lplioii of Kuyj)t, (3) Anti^jfoiios (lonatosof Macudon, (1) MaL!;as of Ivorciic, (")) Alcixaiidcr II of I']j»iriis." "Great intercourse," says a writer, "formerly subsisted between the Hindus and llic n;»tions of the SVest."'
Thus, when excn in tho>e <lays, Indi:i was so i^ri^at as to exuet the homai;*' of all who saw her, though lier «;;rand political and social institutions had lost their })ristine })urity and vigour, and those mighty forces Vvhich worked for her welfare and greatness were dis- appearing, when even in her fall she was the idol of foreign nations, how mighty must she have been when she was at the height of her power, at the zenith of her i>lorv! Her constitution still stands like some tall ancient oak in a forest shorn of foliaL^', but still defvinu: the discordant elements that raire round it, still lookintr down, with a majesty and dignity all its own, upon the new-sprung, prosperous young trees growing round it in happy ignorance of the storms and gusts in store.
It is curious to learn that even in her decline, India was sufficiently strong to defy the great concpierors of the old world. It was threatened by the ])rosperou8 empire of Assyria, then at: the meridian of her ]K)wer under the celebrated queen Semirami*;. She used the entire resources of the empire in preparations to invade India, and collected a considerable army. "After three years spcn-t in these extraordinary preparations, she sent forward her armies, which some writers describe as amountinsf to several millions of combatants, but tlie narrative of Ctesias estimates them at three hundred
iSce Asiatic Researches, Vol. HI, pp. L"J7-L'y».
126 HINDU SLTERIORITV.
tliousiind foot, five liundrcd tiioasaiid horse, Avbilc two tliousaiid boats and agreat immber ot" mock elephants were conveyed on the backs of camels." ]>ut what was the result? "The army was utterly routed and Semiramis brought back scarcely a third of h(3r host ; some authors even maintain that she herself perished in the expe- dition."^ '
Horrid suggi'stiou I tliinkcst thou llicn the gods Take oarc of niPii who caiiio to hnrii thoh" altars, Prol'anc their rilt's, and traiii[ile on their hxws ? Will they nward the bad ? It cannot be.
— Sophocles : Antigone.
In later times, the Yadu king, Gaj Singh, who founded Gajni (Ghazni), single-handed "defeated the combined armies of Shah Secunder Roomi and Shah Manu'aiz.""
^Murray's History of Imlia, y. ;i(l. -Tod'ri Kajasthan, Vol. II, p. L':.'!'.
CAisK OF India's iall. 1l'7
X— CAISK OK INDIA'S FALL.
" Tin* rnco of mortal mnn is fnr too wcnk To ijrow not dizzy on nmvontcd licii^lits.
— (JoKTiiK: I]t)ii(jrniii.
AhKXAXDKi! the rjront could not have won liis one vic- tory over tli<j Hindus li:id it not Ijcun for tin- <lisiinioii existing nnionu; tlicni. Tlic Goriimn iiistorian, Max Dunkcr, savs : — " What esscntiallv tended to wxwVo. the attack easier was the discord anioni; tlie St:ites and tribes of the l;ni<l of Indus,"'
Sir William Hunter savs that "the Hinilu kin•^ Mophis of Taxila, joineil Alexander with ."),()UU men against Porus.""
Professor ]\Iax Danker says : "The Kshndraks and thv^ Malavas foro-ettinu' their aneiiMit hostilit\- now eom- hined ai^ainst a common foe (Alexander), but the Kslnid- raks turned false and retire<l. The ^Lilavas continued their r(!sist{ince, and at last succeeded in lodoino-an arrow into the heart of Alexander and his commander, Abre;>s." ' The Professor then relates how Mophis, the kino- of Takshasila, who was one of the most powerfid kini,^< in the Punjab, joined Alexander, and n)any other j)etty kini^s foUowino^ his examjtlc, brought about the defeat of
Porus. It should not be fori^otten that when Alexander attacked Porus "his arinv was twice as stronij (in numbers) and had been yet further increased by o,00U Indian from Mophis and some smaller States."^
'Mux J)imkiT'.s History of Ami(piity, Vol. IV. p. ;{!tl. -Iluutcr's luiin'riiil (Jazottoor. " Itulia." p. 2C.2. .See also Cun- ningham's Ancient Gcogrnpliy of India.
^History of Antiij[nity, \'ol.. I\'. y. 404. 41Ji.story of Antifiuity. Vol. IV. y. '.\\Yj.
128 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Were it not for tliis unfortunate di^^nnion of tlic Hindus thcnipelves, the Great Alexander^ would ])rol):il)ly have shared the fate of the Assyrian Seniiraniis.
Like the melodious song of a dying swan, India again shone forth for a moment in all its glory under A'icramaditva. But this was the last faint glimmering of the consumed fire covered with ashes, the last symptoms of vitality that break upon a dying man. " There is good reason to believe," says Sir W. Jones, in his Preface to Sakuntala, " that the court at Avanti was equal in brilliancy in the reign of Vikramaditya to that of any monarch in any age or country."
The emperors lihoj and Akbar alone of the later rulers of India made attemj)ts to give some brilliancy to
1 Aloxaiider's troacliorotis :iiiil cruel, conduct duiiui;' lliis cxpcdi- tinii can only be justified on the ju'inciple tliat "all is fair in love and war." The lliiidn laws of war do not sanction an attack i>n an unprepared foe, it being against their cliivalrous instincts to do so. Alexander, however, took tlie Aswakas at unawares and deCealcd ihcni. Then again he tried iiy stratagem to defeat Cleophis (the niotlicr oF the deceased Hindu king, who had assumed the conduct of affairs. (See Curt 8, ](l : dustin 12. 7.) On the death of the Hindu ('<immander, the Indian auxiliaries surrendered ami encaniiie(l <in a hill in front of the Macedonian camp, peace having been proclaimed in the town. T.nt tlif >urrendered Indians were killed thr next day, on the ju-elence that they meditated treachery, and tin' town of the .Masaka taken by assault. "Whatever may liave liecn the case with the sh/i/xiskI inlenlion of the Indian mercenaries," asks Max Hunker, "and the iuielli^'ruee which Alexander is said to have received of this inli'iitiou — flu' city had fulhlled tlie condition imposrd upon it and had given up the mercenaries, — why then W!i< it attacked in this unexpected and uinneritcd manner against llir terms of the capitulation .' "" — J/i.ston/ aj Aiitiijiiifij^ \\\ IV, p. yjl.
.y'tfY/,./ ."^r,,. /A, ^„../ y^.nr/,. o\n/,rici r/ ^J. //.,'.
CArSK OF I\T>Ta's 1"AM.. 12!)
tlK'ir courts li\ followini:; the example of tho fri'^at, \'i,.. rMnia' in Mclorn'mt:; tlicni willi llie famous " Nau liatna."
India j)ossesse'(l a most ('a]>al)le and licmic leader when it was first threatened with a permanent comjuest b\- the ^loslcms. The world has iieror sc'n a more cliivalvous leader of men tlian the mighty I^ritlivi Kaj of Ajmer. He defe;\ted the Sultan of (ior more than once. Colonel Tod says:, "Even the Moslem writers acknowledge that Shahabuddin was often i^nioniinously defeated before he finally succeeded in making a con- quest of Northern India. "^ The Ai/een AUmri says: '• In thi; reign of Kaja Pithowra, Sultan ^loo/eddin Sam made several incursions from Ghazni into lliuflustan but never irained anv victorv. . . . It is said that the R:ija liained from the Sultan se\en i)itched battles."'^
Were it not for the fatal disunion between Prithvi luaj nnd Jai Chand, and the traitorous conduct of the latter and of the king of Anhuhvarra Parun an<l the Haoli Rao Hamir, India might never have fallen under the domination of the invaders from Afghanistan and Turkistan.
The Sicayamvar of Sanjogta, daughter of the King of Kanauj, is an event of world-wide importuice — of nuich greater importance to the world than the rape of
ISonio European critics, in the fulness of their wisdom, deny that Vicraniivlitvft ever existed. Tnis irresistibly reminds one of .Vrohbisliop "NVhately's famous paniplilot, " Historic doubts relative t<> ^'a|>oleoll JJonaparte."
-'Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. II. ]'. JTc*.
^Ayeen Akbari, by Gladwin, p. 'JT. The popular leuvnds of RaJ- putana say that. w!ien SliahalMiddin was captured (see loit'fl Kaja>-ilian, Vol. I, p. 257 1 Prithvi Raj ordered him to In.- taken round tlic city in a woman's garb, and tlien sot him free,
180 HINDU SLPEHIORITY.
Helen by Paris. Tlie lovely Sanjogta, in defiance of her father's vain-glorious wishes, and, in contempt of the pretentions of the assembled nobility of Northern India, determined to give her hand only to the " flower of the far-famed Rajput chivalry," Prithvi Raj of Ajmer, threw the varmala (marriage garland) round the golden effigy of that hero, placed by Jai Chand at the portals of the palace, unconsciously as an emblem of the protective might of " the Pride of Rajasthan," and as a tribute to his glory as the defender of his race against foreign aggression. The chivalrous Chohan appeared at the riirht moment, at the imminent risk of losing his life, as well as of defeating the object of the daring enterprise, to answer the call of a noble female of a royal house, and to carry away, from amidst the united heroism of Hindustan, the prize which had attracted all the impor- tant ])rinces of India to Kanauj — thus fully vindicating his character as the most intrepid and heroic of the Hindu princes. This magnificent feat cost Prithvi Raj his throne and the- Hindu nation their indepen- dence. The Tricala Chund truly said that " he pre- served his prize : he gained immortal renown, but he lost the sinews of Dehli." In the desperate running fight of five days, Prithvi Kaj Inst his Inindred samrants (heroes) tlu; leaders of liis :inii\ , the mainstay of liis throne. Himself unal)le to overcome Prithvi Raj, and burninir Avitii revenfi^e for i)is humiliation, Jai Chund now bo'i-an to intriirue with the enemy of the Hindus the Sultan of (flK)r.
"Tiie brave. Irservc the fair." The bi-ave Chohan not onlv secured the I'nir of Kaiiaiij, but di>co\ered at Na<'ore a trea>urc amouuiiug to be\eu niilliuns in gold.
CAUSE OK India's fall. l.'il
This nl:iniK'(l liis enemies still more. Colonel Tod says: '' Tlic prinees of KaiKiuj :iii<l Patuii, dreadint; the iiilhi- enee of sueh sinews of war, invited Shalialmddin to aid their design of huniiliatini; the Cljohan.'" Al)ul Fazal says : "Shahabuddin formed an alliance with Unja Jai Chund, and havinjjj raised a lariie army, came to attack the dominions of Pithowra. The liaja (Prithvi U:ij), vain with the rememhrance of his former victories, col- lected together only a small number " troops, and with these he marched out to attack the .-^ultan. Ihit the heroes of Hindustan had all j)eiished in the manner above described : besides, Jai Chund, who had been his ally, was now in leauuc with his enemv."
Hamir also joined the traitors. Colonel Tod says : " There were no less than four distinguished leaders of this name (Hamir) amonc^ the vassals of the last liajput Emperor of Dehli, and one of them who turned traitor to his sovereign and joined k^hahl)uddin was actually a Scvthian and of the Ghikar race. The Haoli Kao, Hamir, was lord of Kanirra and the Ghiknrs of I'amer.""
The result of the encounter is well known. The treacherous plan of operations devised by Jai Chund and adopted by the Sultan against Prithvi Piaj, resulted in the overthrow of the Hindu supremacy in India. Prith- vi Raj fell into the hands of the enemy ajid was fiken to Ghazni. P)Ut there he succeeded, with the assistance of the ever-faithful Chund, in administering dciith to the conqueror of his country. The following couplet of Chuud confirms the poj)ular tradition on the subject —
'Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. '200. -Tod's Kaja-vtlian, Vol. I, p. obU.
132 HiXBU srrKRiORiTr.
xVbiil Fazal, in bis Ayeen Albari, also says : " The fiiithful Cluuid followed his pritce to Ghaziii and con- trived to gairi the favour of the Sultan. Having ob- tained an interview with the Rajah, and administered comfort to his mind, he told him that he would take an 0])portunity of praising his skill with the bow, Avhich would raise the Sultan's curiosity to see him perform his feats, when he might make a proper use of his arrow. In consequence of Chund's representation, the Sultan wished to see the Raja exercise his bow, when he seized the opportunity and shot the king dead upon the spot."^
The same fate met tJie next creat leader of the Hindus when Baber invaded India. Had not the Tuar traitor who led the van of Sanga's army gone over to Baber, Rana San2;a- would have settled for ever the question of Hindu supremacy in India. Says Colonel Tod : " With all Baber 's cpialities as a soldier, supported by the hardy clans of the 'cloud mountains ' of Karatagin, the chances were many that he and the}' terminated their career on the 'yellow rivulet, of Biana. Neither skill nor bravery saved him (Baber) from this fate, which be appears to have expected .... To ancient jealousies he was indebted for not losinsc his life instead of o-ainino; a crown, and for being extricated from a condition so desperate that even the frenzy of religion, which made death martyrdom in this holy war, scarcely availed to expel the despair which so infected his followers that
1 See also Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 194.
2" Saii^a organized liis forces, A\ith which he always kept the field and ere called to contend with the descendants of Tinioor, lie liad gained eighteen pitched l)attles against the kings of Delhi and Malwa.— TuiVti Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. yuO.
CAUSK OF India's iam.. \:,Z
in tlio l)itterncss of heart lie says, 'not a siniili! person who uttered a manly wonl, nor an iiiiUvi(hial wlio deliv- ered a eoura.i2;eous opinion." Colonel Tod deserii)es tin; sad pliiihtoniaher and the negotiations pendin^^ Uahcr's blockade at Kanua, and pves the name of the traitor, "who sold the cause ol" his eountrv."
'* oil, for a tonguo to cniirM' tin- slave WliuM- iii-ason Mko a dcailiy Mii^lit Comes over the counsels of tlie brave And blasts them in tlitir liour of niiglit."
^loouE : Fiif Worshippn-t.
After descrihinii' the hattle, Tod says : " While the battle M-as still doubtful, the Tuar traitor who lc<l the ^an (herole) went over to Baber, and Sanga was obliiivd to retreat from the field, which in the onset promised a glorious victory."^
India has fallen a victim to her own internal dis- sensions and disunion. She has been betrayed by her own sons and not conquered by the foreign invader. Porus, Pirthvi Uaj and Sanga were defeated by their own countrymen, not by their enemies. Thus ended the work of ruin that had bcL^un with the Mahabharata !
n'hc traitor was " the chief of Hayscen, by namo Sillaide, of the Tnar tribe." " Treason/' say^ Tod, effected the salvation of Baber " — Rujftfth'jii, Vol. I, p. 300,
HINDU COLONIZATION OF THE \\'ORLD.
All plaros, tlint tlir eye of lionvon visits Alt' to a wise innii ports aiid liajipy Iiavi-iis ; Tcarli thy necessity to icnsnn thus; ThiTc is no viitiK' like inrt-ssity.
— SllAKEHPEAf.K : liirhitnl II.
TriE tuniinii: point in tlic liistorv of Iiulia, ii:iv. in tlio history of tlie world, was the Mahabliurata — tli<' death-stroke to Indian prosperity and ulory. I'cforc tliis catastrophe, Hindu civilization Avas in full vifrour. It declined gradually after the Mahahhara'a till it wasj'ttack- ed first by the Arab senii-barbarisin, and then bv tlu; Kiiro- pean civilization. Simplicity with refinement, hone.-ty with happiness, and glory with power and peace, were the splendid results of the Hindu civilization : complexity with outward polisji, selfishness and cunninLr with pr<v gress and prosperity, success ^itii immoderate vanity, Avealth with miserv are the offsprinjis of the latter. The ■\iah:iV)harata was a war not only between man aiul man, but between the two aspects of the heart, the two phases j of the mind.
There are two remarkable features of that period, differing in nature but coinciding in their < ff(»ct on India. Tliesf were destrurfion and cni/t/ran'on. The irood and the great men of India cither emigratt-d or were killed: the elL'ect upon India was liie same — inimical to her
loG iTTx^r STTEinoniTV.
])rospcrltv. AVhole tribe:s were Ivillinl : whole races emi- fjirated. It is true that, in addition to many civilizing expeditions, there had been tribal emigrations before that momentous period. But these later emigrations sucked out the life-blood of India. These emiirrations, as also the settlements and colonies of ancient Greece, differed in an important respect from the modern settlements of the Europeans. The Grecian settlements attracted the best men of Greece ; and the Indian emigrations helped powerfuU)^ to set in motion those disintegrating forces that have undermined onr national superiority, destroyed our independence and ruined our societ}' and religion.
But there is no evil that is an unmixed evil : to ever}' cloud there is a silver lining. In the present case, India's loss was the world's irain. Thouuh India's ♦xreatness beQ:an to decline, the entire Western world from Persia to Britain received in the colonists the seeds of their future sfrcatness. The ^lahabharata was thus fraught with world-Avide consequences.
Says Mr. Pococke : " But, perhaps, in no similar instance have events occurred fraught with consequences of such magnitude, as those flowing from the great re- ligious war which, for a long series of years, raged throu;r]iout the lem^th and breadth of India. That contest ended by the expulsion of vast bodies of men, many of them skilled in the arts of early civilization, and still greater numbers warriors by ])rofession. Driven bevond the Himalavan mountains in tlie north, and to Ceylon, their last stronghold in the south, swept across the valley of the Indus on the west, this persecuted ]ieo}»le carried with tiiem the germs of the
HINDU CoI.DNI/A'riON". l:'.7
Eiiropoan arts and sriencTs. Tlic miuhfy liiiinan t'ulc that passed the harrier of the I'liiij:!'), rolhid onward towards its dcstiiR'il (lianni'l in KiU'ojx' and in Asia, to Iniiil its beneficent office in the moral fertilization of tlie world "' It is, of course, triK^ that oinii^ration from India had been ^oini]^ on from time immemorial. Xotwith- •standinii; the marvellous fertility of the soil and the wonderful industries that llourislv'il in the countrv, Iiulia had to plant colonics to provide for Ikt super- abundant population. Professor Heercn says: — "How could such a thickly-peoplc'l, and in some ])arts over- peopled country as India have disposed of her super- abundant population except by })lanting colonies ; even though intestine broils (witness the expulsion of the Buddhists) had not obliged her t(» have recourse to such an expedient ?"-
The earliest emigration appears to date sometiire after Maim. One of the oldest colonies founded by the Hindus was in Egypt; America, with some other coun- tries, "was also colonised before the last great ^ligration. The principal migration t(j Greece took place soon after the Great War. The word kapi'^ for ape appears in the heirogly[)hic writings of Greece of the 17th century B.C., which shows that the colonization ol Greece must be dated long anterior to the era of Closes.
It would perhaps be interesting to know the exact time when the Mahabharata took ])lace.
In fleterminini!" dates our elforts are cloLTged at every step by the dearth of historical records, liut it is not ill historical literature alone that we have to
1 linliii ill Greece, p. 2(5. -Historical Rosearclu's, Vol. II, ji. ;;iO. 3 Weber's IikUuii Literature, p. i}.
138 HINDU SUrERIOR[TV.
mourn tliis loss. Every 1)raiicl) of literature, every science and art has suffered from the rava";es of iu'norant fanaticism. Some have disappeared completely; others h.ive come down to us in a more or less mutilated form. The present scarcity of historical works, however, sliould not be rei^arded as a proof of the absence of the Art of History any more than tlie present poverty of the coun- try be accepted as a proof of its indigence in ancient times. For one thinn, the enmity of Aurang/eb towards all historical writings is well known. J»nt it is the Arab, Afghan and Tartar semi-barbarism that is responsible for the destruction of literature, wliethia* in Egypt or in India, in Persia or in Greece. The destruction of the Alexandrian Liln'ary Avas one af those notorious foats by which the progress of humanity was put back by a thousand years. But the loss to humanity by the -whole- sale destruction of the libraries of India is beyond cal- culation. That eminent anti(j[uarian and explorer, Rai liahadur Sarat Chander Dass, says : " In the lofty nine- storied temple at Buddha Gaya, which was formerly called the Mahagandhola (Gandhalaya), the images of the past Buddhas were enshrined. The nine-storied temple called Katandadhi of Dharamganja (universitv) of Xalanda was the repository of the sacred books of the ^lahayana and Ilinayana Buddhist Schools. The temple of Odantapuri V'/hara, wiiich is said to have l)een loftier than either of the two (liiiddha Gaya and Xalanda) contained a vast collection <'[" lUiddhist and BraJiminical works, which, after the maimer of the lireat Alexandrian Library, was burnt under the orders c»f Moliamed P>en Sam, general of Jiakhtyar Khilji, in liM2. A.D.'"
• Tlic Iliii-Jiistaii lt(»vit.'\v l'i;r Marrli, ILHiC |). 187 (L'niversilit'S ill AiK-iviit India).
IIINDr COLONIZATION. lOQ
Sultini Alla-U(l-<liii Kliilji Itunit tlic fMinous li))r:irv ;if Atiliiilwani Patau. Tlio TariLli Flro: S/irilil Pays that Firoz Shah TiiL;"lilak l)un»t a larur lil)rarv of Sanskrit books at Kohaiia. Saye(l (Jhulani Hiisciii, in his \\v\\- kiiown hook, Sair MutdkJireni (NOL I, i>. ) 10), compiled ill the reiun of Auran^zch, who called himself Secunder S<hu\ savs : " Sultiin Sikandcr (Auraiigzcb) was the most bii^'oted of the Sultans, and burnt the books of the Hindus whenever and wherever he <^ot them/'
Instances of such savagery could be multi)>lied easil v. These are all manifestations of that mental aberration to which humanity is evidently subject at intervals, the disease beini]: the same, the occasion mav be the outraiies conniiitred by the ^toths an<l \ aii<lals of earlier times or the Arabs and the Tartars of the latter dav.
Mr. Dow, in the Preface to his History of Hindustan observes : '* We must not, with Ferishta, consider the Hindus as destitute of genuine domestic amials, or that those voluminous records thev i)ossess are mere legends framed i)y lirahmans." Mr Wilson, with his usual fairness, remarks that " it is incorrect to say that the Hindus never com})iled history. The literature of the south abounds with local histories of Hindu authors. ^Ir. Stirling found various chronicles in ()i'issa, and Colonel Tod has met with eiiually abundant material in liajputana."^
Professor Hcer(Mi savs : " Wilson's translation of Jinj Tarani/ini\ a history of Kashmir, has clearly demons- trated that regular historical composition was anartnot un- known in Hindustan, and affords satisfactory grounds for
'Mill's India, Volucut' 11, paije 67, footnote.
140 HINDU SUrKKIORITY.
concUidiiigthat these productions wore once less rare, nnd that further exertions mav briiiiz: more reiics to li"-ht."^
Professor Wilson's assertion that " ""enealofries- and chronicles are found in varous parts of India recorded Avitli some perseverance," will be supported by all who know Hindu society.
The critics who resolutely deny the existence of the art in Ancient India on the plea that none of the pro- ductions of the art are to be found, will do well to con- sider the fact that even the A'edas would have been lost had the Mohamedan rule continued a centurv or so Ioniser without giving birth to a Dayanand. When such has been the lot of their most adored possession, what better handling could the poor Art of History- have aspired to obtain ?
The illustrious Colonel Tod says : " If we con- sider the political changes and convulsions which have happened in Hindustan since Mahmud's invasion, and the intolerant bici'otrv of mauA' of his successors, we shall be able to account for the paucity of its national works on history, without being driven to the improbable conclu- sion, that the Hindus were ignorant of an art which was cultivated in other countries from almost the earliest ages. Is it to be imagined that a nation so highly
^ Heereu's Historical Researches, Vul. II, p. J43.
2 The genealogies are still kept and arc to be found in almost every part ol Ilindustan proper. lu Raji)iUaiia, where they arc regularly kept, you may 8ekct any man of tlie Vaishya Varna, and, after a little search, you can generally find out the names and abodes of every uiember of his ancestral family for about twenty generations back. There is a clau named "Jagas" who have made this their hereditary prufub^ion.
HINDI' (•.>!, oNIZATION. 1 1 I
civilizod ns the Iliiidiis, a]1lon_l,^«t wliom tlie exact sciiMU'cs fl(^iirislu'(l in pcrrection, l)y wlioiii the tiiu; arts, arclii- tectiiiv, sciil[)tuiv, poetry and music wcTCMiot only culii- vati!<], l)iit tiUiL;ht Ji!i(l dofiiicd hy tiio nicfst and most ela- borate rules, Wire totally uiia('(|uainted uitli the simjile art of reeordinir the events ni' their hi>torv, the charactcr.s ol" lluir I'rinces, and the acts ol' their reii^ns ?"'
He then asks, whence <lid Ahid I'a/.id ohtain the materials of his ancient History of luilia, if there were no historical records at the time of lia j Taraui^ini ? This, he declares, sut!iei(MUly proves the existence cf the art. Then, ai;ain, he says that in CluuKrs heroic history of Prithvi liaj, we find notices which authorise the infer- ence that works siinilar to his own were then extant."
It must not he supposed that the authors of these "works were iuiiorant l)ards. We find that riiinid's his- tory contiiins chapters on laws for govern in l; empires ; lessons on diplomac}', home and foreign. See also the admirable remarks of the French C)rientalist, ^lonsieur Al)el liemsat, in his McUuhfes A8iati)jue.s.
J)Ut to return to the point. Swami Dayanaiid Saraswati, in his Bhuinika, says that '),0U7 years have passed since the be^dnning of the Kaliyug eia. The Siddhnnta Stroniam\ one of the most popular of the Hindu works on Astronomy, says that the Kaliyug era,
' Ii)troduction to 'IVtd's Kiijasthan.
-In Rajinjtaim, many liistorical works are to bo found, such as, (1) Vijya Vilas, (2) Surya Prakash. (3) Klioat, (t) .lairat Vilas. (:►) Haj Piaka>li, (G) .lai Vilas, (7) Klioman Kasa. (S) Maun Charilra. The last two arc comitarativoly of rocent date. Sop Rasaniala or Hin- du Aniuils o\ the Provinco of Gujar.it, bj the Iloncurabic A.V.Furbos; Gujarati Edition, 1890, (Buuibay).
142 HINDU SlTERTOniTV.
at the time of the cstablishnient ot" the Salivahaii orn, was 3.ir;>. It savs: — ^TcTt: ^^JT^t ^JTTf% ^rf??rT50?q^3TT¥fsf
The Salivahaii era at present (190G A.D.) is 182S : so that the Kalij'uga era should now be ol7'J+1828 = 5007.
The author of the book, Ji/o/iri'/tlha Bharan — a liistory of the reiii;u of Vicramadit3-a, composed in the Sambat era 24 ( Vicrama era)— says that that year corresponded with tlie year 3068 of the Kaliyng era. Tiiis also makes the Kaliyug era now 3068 — • 24+1063 = 5007.
The Vraha Sanghita of Vrahamilir (contemporary of \ icramaditya) says that the constellation Snptarishi Avas in Maghn Nakhshatra in the reign of Yudhishtira, and that the date of his reign may be obtained by add- ing 2526 to the Salivahan era. According to this, Yudhishtira reigned 2526 + 1828 = 435-1 years ago.
^ETRR- iTWTS ^5T^: ^rafcT ^^^ ^f^f^t STlTcf^ I
Kalhan Bhatta, in his famous v;ork, Baj Taringini^ savs that Yudhishtira was born when 653 years of the Kaliyuga era had passed.
^W¥ ^g ^riV ^^fy^¥ (<"i^) ^ 'Hc\^ I
Tliis, too, shows that 4351 + ()53 = 5007 years have passed since the commencement of the Kaliyug era.
iiiNDr coroNizATioN. 1 1.*;
The ristrnnomors, I*:!nis;ir mihI Arvn lilmtta n-spof't- iv('l\" lioM that tlir Mahal)liar:ita took placci (JiJlJ ;,',, vcars aiiil ()(»-"^ years alter tlie comiiiem-enieiit of the Kahvn;^.'
I'radhuaruhnunii. on the eontrarv, Imlds that: the sapi'tris/ii wcw in the Miii;/itt XnLlishatra jit thi; juiicti<jn ol' the Dwaparand the Ivahvii^. He says: —
Aceoriliiii;- to him, therefort', Viulhislit ira ili »iiri^he<l at the beLfinniiiu^ ol" the KahviiLl.
An inseription in a Jain temple on a hill near Vahola, Kahida^i,^gi district, Deccan, says that tlic temj)h', huilt l>y King- Pulkeshi II, of the Chalukya family, was erccte I o7i^') years after the Mahahharata, and wlien ').')() vears of tlie SaLa era had passed, thus proving that the (jrcat War rook place 373'; — o")(!= :-)171> years before the Saka era; in other words, 31 7'.> + iSi^S (Saka era) =oUU7 years ago. The inscription runs as follow.- : —
^=^T9i;^ ^'^t ^T% ^Z-g lf"^ginTQ =g KVl'i) I
Followinii' evidentlv the view held by I>radhgari;h Muni, tlie author of the Ai/ecii-i-A/i(jar/\ says that \'iera- niaditya ascended the throne in the 3,044th year of the Yudhishtira era. This also makes the Yiidhi.shtira era begin 3044 + 11)03. (N'icrama era) = 5007 years ago.
Thus, the authorities are all agreed that the Kali- yuga commenced 5,007 years ago: opinion, however, is
^" Iiidiaii Eia<." p. ^.
-Tlif Imliaii Auti-inarv, V.l. VIII. [>. I'l-'.
Ill IllXnU SUPERIORITY.
divided as to "u-hcn the Great AVar took place. Tradition seems tt) say tiiat the Mahabharata took jdIucc at the coniiuenceineiit ot" the Kali^uu', while the astronomers think that it look place about the middle o£ the 7th cen- tury of the Kaliyuga era. Whichever view is correct — the former or the latter — we know, on a comparison of these times with the dates of Scriptural histor}-, that the Kaliyug era commenced before the birth of Noah, and that the Great War took place either before his time or soon after it.
The mio'rations from India, as stated before, took place Eastwards as well as ^Yestwards and Northwards. The Eastern migrations were to the Transgangetic penin- sula, to China, to the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and to America. The Northern and the North-western to Turkistan, Siberia, Scandinavia, Germany and lU'itain, as well as to Persia, Greece, Rome and Etruria. The "Western, to the eastern parts of Africa and thence to Egypt, ^^^e find that Egypt, Persia, Assyria, and Greece all derived their learning juid civilization from India and that the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Grecian, the German, the Scandinavian and the Druidic Mytho- logies Avere all derived from the Hindu Mythology.
Sir Walter Raleigh strongly supports the Hindu hypothesis regarding the locality of the nursery for rearing mankin<l, and that India was the iirst peopled couD.trv.'
a
The Central Asian theory of emiration is unable to meet the difficulty proscMited by the fact that "the
1 History of tlie World, p. !Mt. H« would at oiicc have found the orijjin of Ararat iiad lie known dial llio llimlus call tlicir country, ' Arvavarta."
c
inXDl* rcn-dM/ATlON". 1 1.',
Astronomy of the Iliiulns aii'l oi'tlu! (Jliincso a])|)Oiir to 1)0 the remains ratlier than the elements of a Seienee." Tlie advocates of tlie theory are obhi^ed to assume tliat ill ancient times a nation existe<l more advanced tlian cither, the remains of wliose achievements in Science still survive in tlie literature of the Hindus and the Chinese.
"That the Flindns, the Persians, the Kirvptians and the Chinese, from the earliest periods of their history divided the time alike, namely, the ye:ir into li' months and o().'i} days, and tlu^ day into 1^1 hoin-s : that thev livided the Zodaic alike into ll' sii^ns ; that ih.-y divided the week alike into seven davs, "whicli heini: an arhitrarv division, could not be the result of accident, but proves that they ol)tained it from the common source of an an- cient people who already possessed a hiijh degree of civilization," But what nation floin-ished anterior to the Hindus, the Chinese and the i'crsians, no out; has vet theo- rised ; much less has it been proved that that primitive nation attained to a hiiih degree of civilization. On the concrary, all comi)etent authorities are unanimous in holding that ''Hinduism (Hindu Literature, Science and Arts) developed itself on the shores of the Ganges and the Jumna," and that "the Hin<lu civilization originated and attained to its highest pitch only in Intlia."
Tliere is thus an abruj)t break in the Central Asian theory of emigration. Tim theory sketched out in the following ])ages alone can satisfactorily exj)lain all such difficulties. Count P>jornstjerna' says : " It is ihcF-e ( Arya- wartii) we must seek not only for the cra<lle of the I'rah- min reli<!:ion, but for the cra<lle of the ingh civilization
' Theojjoay of the Hindu?*, p. ICH.
146 HINDU SUPEHTORITY.
of the Hindu?, wliicli gradually extended itself in the West to Ethiopia, to Egypt, to Pha'nicia ; in the East, ro Siani, to China, and to Japan ; in the South, to Ceylon, to Java and to Sumatra ; in »he North, to Persia to Cakheaand to Colchis, whence it come t«> Greece and to Rome, and at length to the remote abode of the Hyperboreans."
Colonel Olcott savs : '* The modern school of com- /^ ])arative Philology traces the migration of Aryan civili- zation into Europe by a study of modern lanu'uai'es in comparison with the Sanskrit. And we have an equally, if not a still more striking means of showing the out- flow of Aryan thought towards the West in the philoso- phies and religions of Babylonia, Egj'pt, Greece, Rome and Northern Europe. One has only to put side by side the teachings of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, HonuT, Zeno, Hesiod, Cicero, Scoevola, Varro and Vir- gil with those of Veda-Vyasa, Kapila, Gautama, Patan- jali, Kanada, Jaimini, Narada, Panini, Marichi, and many others we might mention, to be astonished at their identity of conceptions — an identity that upon any other theory than that of a derivation of the younger philoso- phical schools of the West from the older ones of the East would be simply miraculous. The human mind is certaiidy capable of evolving like ideas in different ages, just as humanity ])ro<luces for itself iii each generation the teachers, rulers, warriors and artisans it needs. F)Ut that the views of the Aryan sages should be so identical with those of the later Greek anil Ron)an pliilusophers as to seem as if the latter were to the former like the re- jection of an (object in a mirror to the object itself, Avithout an actual. ])liysical transmission of teachers or books ir<.iiii the Ea.'^L Lu the West, is something op^w^sed
lIINDr COLONlZATKtX. 117
to coiimioii sense. And this i\*siu\\ corrolKM'atcs onrron- victicns tlmt (lie did I!i,^\ ])tians wwr cniiurants from India ; nearly all tlie famous ancient ])liil<»so]ili( rs Jni>/ heen to E;iy]if fo Ifarn her icisdom^ from the flewish Moses to tlie Greek Plato.'"
Sir \\ illlam Jones savs : " Of tlie rnrsory observa- tions on the Hindus, wliieh it would re(|uire volumes to expand and illustrate, this is the result, that they had an immeUK^rial athnilv with the ol<l I'ersians, Ktliiopians and Ktiyptians, the PhdMiiciaus, Greeks, and Tusf;;in<, the Scythians, or Goths, and Celts, the Chinese, Japanese, and Peruvians.''-'
The author of " India in Greece" savs : " Al though the province of Pelasa or Ikdiarsent fortl; a hody of emi- grants so ]^o^verfnl as to ^ive a ecneial nr.nie to the great Oriental movement which helped to people the niaiidand ;uid islands of Greece, vet. the numbers from this province alone give no adequate idea of the popula- tion that exchanged the sunny land of India for the more tem])crate latitudes of Persia, Asia Elinor, and Hellas. The mountains of Ghoorka ; Delhi, (hide, Agn», Lahore, ^[ultan, Kashmir, the Indus, and the pro- vinces of Uajputana, i<cnt forth iheir (ulititunuil tJumsuiuls to feed the Jlviiui tide tint jhnrcd toiiuirds tJic hinds of Enrojie (UiiJ of Asin. \\"\\\\ thesi; wiirlike pilgrims on their journev to the far \\'e>t— l)ands as enterprising as the race of Anglo-Saxons, the descendants, in fact, of some of those very Sa as of Northern India — like them, too, filling the solitudes, or facing the perils of the West, there marched a force of native warriors, sufficiently
1 Si'o the TliPt.>t)i.liist f.M Manh 1««1, \k Vii. -Asiutiv U»'soaivlitt>, V>>1 1. y i2G.
148 HINDU SUPERIOniTY.
powerful to take possession of the richest o£ the soil that liiy before them.
" Though unsuccessful in the (j!;\'en.t stru_£r.iilc that terminated in the expulsion of themselves andtlieir reli- gious teachers, their practised hardihood left them nothing to fear from the desultory attacks of any tribes who miijht be bold enough to obstruct their march."*
He a^ijain savs : " The actual extent of the Pelas<nc race (which in fact became a synonym for the general population of India, when transplanted to Europe and Asia), far exceeded the idea of Neibuhr. So vast were their settlements, and so firmly-rooted were the very names of kingdoms, the nomenclature of tribes, that I do not scruple to assert that the successive maps of Spain, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Persia, and India, may be read like the chart of an emigrant."^
Uudiiv in Greece, i<[<. L'y and 30. -India in Greece, p. 32.
HINDU rOLoNIZATinx. 1 I!)
I.-KCVrT AM) KTIIIOPIA.
In flio affornnoii tlx'V onnn' iiiitn a land. In wliicli h >otMiiod always aftrrnooii.
Ecvi'T was oriuinally a colony of tlie Hiii<l;is. It appears that altoiit seven or ci^lit thousand years aiTo ;i boiiy ol" colonists from Intlia settleil in l\i;y[)L, wlieie they est'al)lished one of the niiiifhticst empires of the old ■world. Colonel Oleottsavs: '' We have a riiiht t(» more than sus[)ect that India, cii;ht tlionsand years ago, sent a colony of cmi'^rants who carried their arts ami hi,i:h civilization into what is now known to us as Kix\ pt. This is what IJrugseh Bev, tiie most modern as well as the most trusted E<iyptologer and antifpiarian, says on the ori<:;in of the old Eiryptians. UeLTardinii^ these as a hranch of the Caucasian family having a close afHnity with the Indo-Germanic races, he insists that tlicv ' nii^ifrated from India long before historic memory, and crossed that bridge of nations, the Isthmus of Suez, to find a new fatherland on the banks of the Xile.' The Kirv|)tians came, according to their own records, from a mysterious land (now shown to lie on the shore of the Indian ocean), the sacred Punt; the original home of tlieir gods who followed thence after their people who had abandoned them to the vallev of tlie Xile, led by Anion, Hor and Hathor. This region was tlic Egyptian 'Land of the Gods,' Pa-Nuter, in old Egyptian, or Holylandj and now proved beyond any doubt to ha\e
l.'iO iiiNDr srrKiaoiiiTv.
been quite a (lifTcrent place from the Ilolylaud of Sinai. ]>y tlie pictorial hieroglj-pbic inscription fouiul (ami interpreted) on the walls of the temple of the Queen Haslitop at Der-el-bahri. we see that this Punt can be no other than India. For many ages the Egyptians traded ■with tlieir old homes, and the reference here made by them to the names of the Princes of Punt and its fMuna and flora, especially the nomenclature of various precious woods to be found but in India, leave us scarcely room for the smallest douljt that the (jld civilization of Egvpt is the direct outcome of that of the older India."
Mr. Pococke says : " At the mouths of the Indus dwell a seafaring people, active, ingenious, and enter- prising as when, ages subsequent to this great move- ment, they themselves, with the warlike denizens of the Punjab, were driven from their native land to seek the far distant climes of Greev'e. The commercial people dwellini'- alon<>- the coast that stretches from the mouth of the Indus to the Coree, are embarking on that emi- irration whose raao.Miii'icent results to civilization, and whose m^antic monuments of art, fill the mind with mingled emotions of admiration and awe. These people coast ah^ng the shores of Mekran, traverse the month of the Persian Gulf, and again adhering to the sea-board of Oman, Hadramant, and Yeman (the Eastern Arabia), thev sail up the Red Sea ; and again ascending the mighty stream that fertilises a land of won<lers, found the kingdoms of Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia. These are ihe same stock that, centuries subsequently to this/' colonization, spread the blessings of civilization over ll;'llu> and licr islands."- Jbee the Tbeosopliist for Murch Ibtfl, I'.l;:^. -laUin in Uieoc*?, p. 42.
IlINDr roi.nMZAlInN. 1 .', I
Mr. Pocockc thus smiiiniiriscs liis rcscar ln's : ** I would now hricllv rccMpitiil itc the IradinLr rviilciiccH of tlio colonization nl" Africa fro!ti Xorth-wcstcrii India and Lh(3 Himalaya proNinccs. /V/>7, fi-om tin- pi-ovinciss oi- rivi*i'> (ha'iviii;;- tlu-ir naiia-s from tlic irr(,'at rivers of India ; Kecowlbj^ from llic towns and |)rovincL'.s of India or its northern frontiers ; fJtiniii/, from the Kulinir Chiefs styled liamas (Kameses), v.V:c. ; foitrt/i/i/, simila- rity in the objects of sepnltnre ; fi//Iih/, arehitectnral skill and its urand and gigantic character: and si.vthhj, the [»ower of translating words, im:iuined to be Egyptian, throui!:h the medinm of a in(jdified Sanskrit."'
Mr. Pococke then ])roceeds to subjoin "the opinions of men of sound judgment in comiection with the In- tlian colonization of Kgyjit.'
The name " Nile ' was given to tiie great river of Egypt by the Indian settlers there. "Eoral)ont 10 miles below the Attock," says a critic, ''the Indus has a dean, deep and rapid current, but for above a hundred miles farther down to Kalabagh it becomes an enormous torrent. The water here ha.sa dark lead cr)lour, and hence the name Xilab or Blue river given as well to the Indus as to a town on its banks, about 1:^ miles below AttfK-k.'' As Aboasin (a classical name for the Indus) gave its name to Abusinia (Abys.sinia) in Africa, so here " we now observe the Nilab (the blue water) bestowing an aj^pn- lation on the farfamed "Nile" of Egypt. This is one of those facts which prove the colonization of Egypt to have taken place from the coast of Scinde."
lliiJia ill (.tret"*'", p. -<>I ,
15:? HINDU surEuioiUTV.
Apnrt from liistorical evidence there are ethnologi- cal grounds to support the fact that the ancient Egyptians ■were originally an Indian people. Professor Heeren is astonislied at tlie "])liysical similarity in colour and in the conformation of the heiid" of the ancient Egyptians and the Hindus. As regards the latter point, he adds : " As to the form of the head, I have now before me the skulls of a mummy and a native of Bengal from the collections of M. Blum en bach ; and it is impossible to conceive anything more striking than the resemblance between the two, both as respects the general form and the structure of the lirm portions. Indeed the learned possessor himself considers them to be the most alike of any in his numerous collections."^
After showing the still more striking similarity between the maimers and customs, in fact, between the whole, social, religious and political institutions of the two peoples. Professor Heeren says : " It is perfectly agreeable to Himiu manners that colonies from India, /.<?., Banian families should have passed over into Africa, and carried with them their industry, and perhaps also their religious worship."- He adds : " It is hardl}' possible to maintain the opposite side of the ipiestion, f/j , that the Hindus were derived from the Egyptians, for it has been already ascertained that the country bordering on the Ganges was the cradle of Hindu civilization. Now, the Egyptians could not have established themselves in that neighbourhood, their probable settlement would rather have taken place on the Coast of Malabar."
iHoeren's Asiatic Nations, A'ul. II, p. 'M)i\. ^ILiTin's lli.storieal Kc.H'urclics \v\. II, [i. oO'J.
iiiNnr coLONizATrox. I.'.J
Tlic learned professor ooiicludcs : " W'liMtfvor woi'dit may be nttaeheil /-> [ii'lliin Inulition (tnd f/ir, r.r/)ress tcsthnomi of Ensehiu^ eontiriniii^' tlie report of inii^rutloiis from tlie hanks of the Inihis into Eirypt, then; is certain- ly nothini;- improlnihle in the event itself, as a (h^sire of jjain would have formed a sntlieicnt indn<'eni(!nt." Decisive evidence of the fact, however, may he foinid in Philostratus and Xonnus. For furtiicr infornmfion on the subject, viilc Religion.
After tracinix the descent of Piiilippos oi" Maccdon and his son, Alexander, from lihili-Pcs or lihil-Prince and llamnion in Af^'haiiistan, Mr. Pococke continues : *' And these same Bhils, i.e.^ the Uhil Uralnnans planted this same Oracle of Hammon in the deserts of Africa, ■nhither I have already shown that they had sailed ; "where tlicv founded Philai, i.e.. Dhailai, the citv of the Bhili, in lat. 24== North, lon.ir. 7^^ East.i
Mr, Pococke, who mude the sul)ject his lifo-lonij study, says : "The early civilization, then, the early arts, the indubitably early literature of India are erpially the civilization, the arts and literature of Ku;ypt and <>f Greece — for ideographical evidences, conjoined to hii^- torical fact and relii^ious practices, now prove beyond all dispute that the two Intter countries are the colonies of the former."^
Ethiopia,' ns is universally admitted now, avas colonised by the Hindus. Sir W. doncs says : '* I']thiopi»
'India in Greece, p. fi'). ^Jmii^ Jn Grooco, j>. 71.
3"TIio ancient geographers called by the name of Eihiopia all l^iat part of Africa which now constitutes Xiihia, Ahvssinia, Sauaor, Darfur, and ©ongola," — Thcogonij ftf the Hindut, p. 14,
154 HINDU SUPERIOrvTTV.
and ITiiidiistan were possessed or colonised by the same extraonlinarv race." '
Philostratus introduces the Brahman larchus l)v stat- in"; to his auditor tliat the Etliioninns were orio'inallv an Indian race compelled to leave India for the impurity contracted by slaying a certain monarch to whom they owed ailej^iance."-
Eusebius states that the Ethiopians emigrating from the River Indus settled in the vicinity of Egypt/
In Philostratus, an Egyptian is made to remark tliat he had heard from liis father tiiat the Indians were the wisest of men, and that the Ethiopians, a colony of the Indians, preserved ihe wisdom and usage of their fore- fathers and acknowledged their ancient origin. We find the same assertion made at a later period, in the third century, by Julius' Africanus, from whom it has Ixren preserved by Eusebius and Syncellus.*
Cuvier, quoting Syncelhis, even assigns the reign o£ Amenophis as the epoch of the colonization of Ethioj>ia from India.''
The ancient Abyssinians (Abusinians), as alrendy remarked, Avere oriainallv miirrators to Africa from the banks of Abuisin, a classical name for the Indus.^
As will appear from the accounts of the commercial position of India in the ancient world, commerce on an extensive seale existed between ancient India iuid Abys- sinia, and we find Hindus in large numbers settled in the
'Asiatic Roscaifhes. Vdl. J, j). 12(1,
^V. A. Til, C. S.'' '• India ill Grewo," p. 200.
•*L<Mi7i), Barkers' t-ilition ; " Meroe."
4S.'o " Fixlia in Groecc," p. 205. •'■]'. Is ..f ?)is " DLscours/' ire.
f'llvfrc'irs Historical Hoscaivlios, Vol. 11. y. :'10.
lirNDl' COLONIZATION. ]o5
latter country, " whence also," says Colonel Tod, " the Hindu names of towns at the estuaries of the Gambia and Senegal rivers, the Taml)a Cundi and another Cundas." He continues : "A wiitrr in the Asiatic Journal (^'ul. IVj p. ol^.j) irives a curious list of tlu* niunes cf places in the intcTior uf Africa, mentioned in Park's Second Journey, which are shown to be all Sanskrit, and most of them actually current in India at the present day.
'See Tod's Rajasthau, Vol. II, p. SOi), footnote.
1»G ni^DU SLTEIIIOIUTY.
II— PERSIA.
Not vainly did llio early rcrsiiui make His altar the liigli iilaccs, and the peak
Of earth — o'ergazing uionnlains, and tims take A fit and unr^alled temple, there to seek
The spirit, in Avlinse honour shrines are weak, Upreared of huuiau hands.
— EvnoN : Childe Harold.
Mr, Pococke saj^s : " I have glanced at the Indian settlements in Egypt, which will again be noticed, and I Avill now resume my observations from the lofty fron- tier, which is the true boundary of the European and Indian races. The Parasoos, the people of Parasoo Ram, those warriors of the Axe, have penetrated into and given a name to Persia ; they are the people of Bharata ; and to the principal stream that pours its waters into the Persian Gulf they have given the name of Eu-Bharat-es (Euphrat-es), the Bharat Chief."i
Professor ^lax MuUer's testimony is decisive on the point. Discussing the word ' Arya,' he says : *' But it was more faithfully preserved by the Zoronstrians, who migrated from India to the North-west and whose reli- gion has been preserved to us in the Zind Avesta, though in fragments only."- He again says : " The Zorustrians were a colony from Xorthern India." ^
Professor Heeren says : "In point of f:ict the Zind is derived from the Sanskrit, and a passage in Manu
'India in Greece, p. 45. Sgcicnee of Language, p. 242. •* Science of Language, p. 2do.
HINDI" eor.ON'IZATlON. 1 .">7
(('lin])t('r X, sloki's -i;;- I.')) iiiiikcs tlic l'('r>inii> to \\■.\\^^ ilesfciuled troin tlu.' Iliinliisnf the second ur Warriur Ciiste.'"
The old name oF tlie comitrx, /?•///, was irivcn I»v iIk; S^*^»^. first settlers there, who were Airaii, tiw; dcHeeiidantn P^' of Aira, tiic son of Puniravas the son ol" iliidha of tlie T.iinir race. (Airan is plural of AiraK- These sett ler.s had hee'ii expelh^d from India after lonij wars, sj)oken ol' hy ancient clironicles of IV'rsia as Avars between Iran and Turan, Tnran bcini^ a corrupt form of Suran, Surd the Sun. the sun tribe-i. The trii)e of " Cossu'i" seen near the banks of the Tii^ris, are the people of Kasi, the classical name of Henare.^.
Sir W. Jones says : '' 1 was not a little surprised to find that out of ten wonls in Dii Perron's Zind Dic- tionary, six or seven were pure Sanskrit."*^
Mr. Haug, in an interesting:! essay on the oriLjin of
Zoroastrian religion, compares it with IJrahminism, and
points out the originally-close connection between the
Brahminical and the Zoroastrian relitrions, customs and
observances. After comj)aring the Jiames of divine
beings, names and legends of heroes, sacrificial
rites, religious observances, domestic rites, and cosmo-
graphicalopinions that occur both in the Vedic and Avesta
writings, he says : " In the ^ edas as well as in the older
'Historical Il(.'SLar..hes, Vol. II. p. 220.
- India in Greece, p. Itjl.
^rtir W, JoucV works, Vul, I, pp. ^2 an J «J,
158 HINDC SUPERIORITY.
portions of the Zind-Ave^^ta (see the Catlias), tlici'e are sufficient traces to be discovered that the Zoroastrian religion arose out of a vital struggle against a form which the Brahminical religion had assumed at a certain early period,"^ After contrasting the names of the Hindu Gods and the Zoroastrian deities, Professor Hang savs : "These facts throw some light npon the au'e in which that o;reat reliirious struo'o-le took place, the consequence of which was the entire separation of the Ancient Iranians from the Brahmans and the foundation of the Zoroastrian religion. It must have occurred at the time when Indra was the chief god of the Brahmans. "^
It is not an easy matter to ascertain the exact period at which the Hindu colonization of Persia took place. It is certain, however, that it took place long before the i\lahal)harata. Colonel Tod says : " Ujaraeda, by his wife, Nila, hud five sons, who spread their branches on Ijoth sides of the Indus. Regarding three the Puranas are silent, which implies their migration to distant regions. Is it possible they might be the origin of the Medes ? These Medes are descendants of Yayat, third son of the patriarchy Menu : and Madai, founder of the Medes, was of Japhet's line. Aja Meiie, the patronymic of the branch of Bnjaswa, is from Aja 'a goat.' The Assyrian Mede in Scripture is typified by the goat."'
'Hang's Essays on the Parsees, p. 287.
-Hang's Essays ou the Parsees, p. 288,
Of great importance for showing tlie originally-close relationsliip between tiie Brahminical and Parsi religions, is the fact that several of the Indian gods are actually mentioned by name in the Zind Avesta, some as demons, otiiers as angels. — Hmiff's Essays, p. 272.
^Tod's Kajasthan, Vol. I, p, 11.
iiTxnr roLoxT'/ATiox. '[',<)
Apart from tho pussai^o in ^Iniiu,' doscriblng the origin ol' lIk' luicicnt Persians, there is another argument to support it. Zoroaster, tlie Pro])]iet of the Ancient Persians, was born after the emigrants from India hud settled in Persia, long enough to haxc become a se[>arate nation. Yyasu held a grand religious discussion with Zoroaster at Balkh in Turkistan, and was therefore his contemporar}'. Zanthus of Lydia (B.C. 470), the earli- est Greek writer, who mentions Zoroaster, says that he lived about six hnndred years before the Trojan War (which took place about 1800 B.C.). Aristotle and Kndoxus place his era as munh as six thousand years before Plato, others five thousand years l)efore the Trojan War (see Pliny : Historia Naturalis, XXX, l-o), Berosos^ the Bab3donian historian makes him a king of the Babylonians and the founder of a dynasty whicli reigned over Babylon between B.C. 2200 and llC. 2000. It is, however, clear that the Hindu coloniza- tion of Persia took place anterior to the Great War.
In the first chapter (Fargard) of the part Avliich bears the name Vendidad of their sacred book (which is also their most ancient book), Hurmuzd or God tells Zapetman (Zoroaster): "I have given to man an excellent and fertile country. Nobody is able to give such a one. This land lies to the east (of Persia), where the stars rise every evening." " When Jamshed (the leader of the emi(i-rating nation), came from the h/)jhland in the ea-<t to the plain, there were neither domestic animals nor wild, nor men." "The country alluded to above from which the Persians are said to have come can be
i^Mannsmrili is aduiittedly mwch older than the Mahabhaiata.
160 HINDU SUrERIOEITT.
110 other than the North-west part o£ ancient TncHa — Afa'hanistan and Kashmir — beini:!; to the east of Persia, as well as highland compared to the Persian plains."^
Mr. Pococke says : "The ancient map of Persia, Colchis, and Armenia is absolutely full of the irost distinct and startling evidences of Indiau colonization, and, what is more astonishing, practically evinces, in the most powerful manner, the truth of several main points in the two great Indian poems, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The whole map is positively nothing less than a journal or emigration on the most gigantic scale."^
ITlioogony o[ tlio Tl nidus. -Iiidlft in Oron'o, p, 47.
HINDU COLONIZATION. IGI
TIT.— ASIA MIXOR.
The Cok'hian virgin, wlioso bold iuuid URdauntod grasps the \Tarliko spear.
— >.EsciivLus : Prometheus.
The Chaldeans wern ori"inallv mii2:rators from India. Chaldea is a corruption of cid (family or tribe) and deva (a god or brahman.) The country, colonized by the tribe of Devas or Brahmans, was called Chaldea, whence the word Chaldeans. Couiit ]^)jornstjerna says : "The Chaldeans, the Babylonians and the inhaljitants of Colchis derived their civilization from India." ^
Mr. Pococke says: " The tribe 'Abanti' who fought most valiantly in the Trojan War were no other than the Rajputs of ' Avanti' in Malwa."-
The Assyrians, too, were of Hindu origin. Their first king was Bali, Boal or Bel. This Boal or Bali was a ffreat kin^ of India in ancient times. He ruled from Cambodia to Greece. Professor Maurice says : " Bali . . . was the puissant sovereign of a mighty empire extendinii' over the vast continent of India."
Mr. Pococke sa}'s: "Thus, then, at length, are dis- tinctly seen — firslli/, the identical localities in the Indian and Tartarian provinces whence Palestine was colonized; secondly^ the identity of idolatry is proved between India, the old country, and Palestine the new ; fhinUi/, the identity of the Raj[)ut of India and of Palestine ; fourthly, the positive notification of the distinct tribe Avhich the Israelites encountered and overthrew."-^
iTheogouy of the Hindus, p. IH-S. - India in Grcc'<;e, p. So. ^ludia in Greoco, p. 221).
162 HINDU SUPEIJIORITY.
IV.— GREECE.
TliP nioniitain lodks on ]\Iavathoii —
And Marathon looks on tlic sea;
And nmsing there an hour alone,
I dream'd that Greece ruiyht still he free.
— Byrox : Don Jnun. '
The Hindu emic'rations to Greece have already been mentioned. The subject, is of such fascinating interest that eminent scholars and archaeologists have devoted their time and learninor to unravel the mysterv connected with the origin of the race, whose splendid achievements in peace and war yet stand unrivalled in Europe. Colonel Tod and Colonel Wilford laid the foundations of a system of encpiiry in this branch of historical research, on which Mr, Pococke has raised the marvellous structure of '* India in Greece," which stands firm and solid, defyino; the violence and fnry of the windv criticism of ignorant critics and the hail and sleet of certain writers on Indian Archteology, blinded by inveterate prejudices. Mr.Pococke quotes chapter and verse in proof of his assertions, and proves beyond all shadow of doubt the Hindu origin of the ancient Greeks.
After describing^ the Grecian society duriui!; the Homeric times, Mr. Pococke says : "The whole of this state of society, civil and militarv, must strike everyone as beini!" eminently Asiatic, nnich of" it si)ecificallv Indian. Such it undoubtedly is. And I shall demonstrate that these evidences were but the attendant tokens of an Indian colonization with its corresponding religion and language. I shall exhil/it dynasties disappearing from Western In- dia to a})pear again in Greece : clans, whose martial fame
HINDU COLONIZATION. 103
is still recorded in the faithful chronicles of North-west- (M-ii India, as the gallant bands who fought upon the plains of Troy."'
" i>ut, if the evidences of Saxon colonization in this island (Great Britain) — I speak independently of Anglo- Saxon history — are strong both from languageand political institutions, the evidences are still more decisive in the parallel case of an Indian colonization of Greece — not only her language, but her philosophy, her religicjn, her rivers, her mountains and her tribes ; her subtle turn of intellect, her political institutes, and above all the mysteries of that noble land, irresistibly prove her co- lonization from India."^ " The primitive history of Greece," adds the author, "is the primitive history of India."
There are critics who concede the derivation of Greek from the Sanskrit, but stop short of the necessary inference that the people who spoke the former language were the descendants of those who spoke the latter. Of such, Mr. Pococke asks : ''Is it not astonishinij that reason should so halt half-way in its deduction as to all(3w the derivation of the Greek from an Indian lan^uaire, and yet deny the personality of those who spoke it ,• or, in other words, deny the settlement of an Indian race in Greece?""^
The word Greek itself signifies the Indian origin of the ancient Greeks. The royal city of the Magedh- anians or Kings of Magadha was called " Raja Griha." " The people or clans of Griha were, according to the regular patronymic form of their language, st}'led
I India in Greece, p. 12. ^ India in Greece, p. 10. i^ India in Greece, p. lio.
1G4 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Graihka, whence the or<linary derivative Graihakos (Graikos) Gra?cus or Greek," ^ This shows that the Greeks were miuTators from Mag^hada : which fact is still further strengthened when we consider that their prede- cessors in their adopted country were also inhabitants of Maghada. These people were Pelasgi. They were so-called because they emigrated from Pelasa, the ancient name for the province of Behar, in Aryawarta. Pelasoo is a derivative form of Pelasa, whence the Greek Pelasgo. The theory is fiu'ther strennthened when we find that Asius, one of the early poets of Greece, makes King Pilasgus spring from " Gaia." This " Gaia " is no other than the " Gaya," the capital city of Pelaska or Behar.
^Euba^a was colonized by " Eu-babooyas," the Bahoojas or warriors par excellence. The Makedonians (Macedon = Magada) were the inhabitants of Maghada, the same province. The people of Behar or JMaghada^ it appears migrated in several tribal groups to Greece; and their migrations are marked by the different names they gave to the part or parts of their adopted country. Says Mr. Pococke : " The Bud'has have brought v,'ith them into Thessaly the far-famed mythological but equally historical name of ' Cilas,' the fabulous residence of Cuvera, the (Hindu) god of wealth, and the favourite haunt of Siva, placed by the Hindus among the Hima- layan mountains, and applied to one of the loftiest peaks lying on the north of the Manasa lake. "-
1 India in Greece, p. 295.
~ India in Greece, p. 99. The Hindu name for Heaven was carried by the migrators with them to Greece and tlience adopted by the Ro- mans, Kailas became Kailon for the Greeks and Cochim for the Romans.
HINDU COLONIZATTON. IG')
Many otlier tribes ol' tlio Khshntriyas migrated to Greece and the isles of the Archipelago. The l^teotiaiis were the " Baihootian," llajput dwellers on the hanks of Behoot (Jehluni) : the Cossopaei were the Kashmiriaiis so-called from Casayapa, the founder ol" Kashmir. 'I'lu; Hellopes were the Chiefs of the Hela trilx; and their country " Hellados, Hella-desa." The names, ]\Iount Korkedus ( Ivertetcha rangx; in Afghanistan), Locman (Lughman of Afghanistan), and Mount Titarus (the Tatara P;iss of Afghanistan), Mount Othrys (Sanskrit name of Himalaya), Matan Astae (Matan-Vasti " the dAvelling place of the Matans,a tribe of Kashmir), Kestrine (Khashirii/a, warrior caste, and ina, chief), all point to the fact that many of the migrators were originally inhabitants of the iSTorth-western parts of India.
Speaking; of the Hindus having reared a Mytholo- 2;ical superstructure on physical facts in making ]\Iount Ivilas, the abode of the gods, Mr. Pococke says : " Thus it was with the native of Indus and of the rockv heights of Hela, when he became a settler in the Hellas ; and thus it was with his polished descendant in Athens, who though called a Greek was yet as thoroughly Sindian in his tastes, religion, and literature as any of his forefathers." •
" The land of Hellas, a name so dear to civilization and the arts," says Pococke, " was so-called from the raao^nificent ranjxe of heights situated in liilochistan,
styled the ' Hela' mountains The chiefs of this
country were called Helaines or the chiefs of the Hella. The formation of the term Helenes in Sanskrit would
ijiulia in Greece, p. 6'J. *Iiulia in Greece, pp. 48-50.
166 HINDU SUrERInlUTY.
be identical with the Greek. Hel-eii (tlie Sun-king) is .said to have left his kingdom to Aiolas, his eldest son, uhile he sent for Dorus and Zuthus to make conquests in foreign lands. Haya is the title of a renowned tribe of Rajput warriors. They were called Asii or Aswa, and their chiefs, ' Aswa-pas,' and to use the words of Conon, as quoted by Bishop Thirlwall, " the patrimony of Aiolus (the Hai3'ulas) is described as bounded by the river Asopus (Aswa-pas) and the Enipeus." Such, then, was the Asopus, the settlement of the Haya tribes, the Aswa chiefs, the sun worshippers, the children of the Sun-king or Helen, whose land was called in Greek Hella- dos, in Sanskrit, Hela-des {llela, Hela; des, land). Of Achilles, sprung from a splendid Rajput stock, I shall briefly speak when developing the parent geography of Dolopes."^
1 Jiulia in Gieoce, i>[>. iS-50.
jii.Njji coi-itNizArmx. Ui7
\.— ROME.
"OliTili.T! Fatlior Til.cr : To whom tlir Koiiiims lu-iy. A Roman's lite, a limiian's aims, Take lliiiu ill cliaiyt- lliis day I
— Macaui.av : Ilorotius.
]\Ir. Pococke savs : " The i'Teat heroes of India are tlie oods of Greece. Thev are in fact — as thev have been often rationally attirmed, and as plaursibly but not as rationally denied — deified chiefs and heroes ; and this same process of deification, both among Greeks and Romans — the descendants of colonists from India, con- tinued, specially amongst the latter people down to and throughout the most historical periods."^
The Romans were the descendants of the Trojans, the inhabitants of that part of Asia Elinor in Avhich Hindu settlements had long been estaljlished. Niebuhr says : " Home is not a Latin name." Mr. Pococke says
it is " Rama." The Sanskrit lono- "a" is rei)laced bv
i^ 1
" o " or " w " of the Greeks, as Poseidon and Poseidan.- Their neighbours, the Etruscans, had a system of religion in many respects similar to that of the Hindus. It is remarkable that their religion was as perfect in ceremonial details as tlie religion of the Hindus, or of the Egyptians (which was a direct outcome of Hinduism.) But the early Etruscans, too, were a body of colonists from India who penetrated into Italy some time before or about the Hindu colonization of Greece. Of the Asiatic tribe called " Asor," Count Bjornstjerna says : '* It seems to be the same tribe which came by sea to Etruria."^
1 India in Grewe, p. \\2. -India in Greece, \\ IGG, •^Theogony of the Ilind'-.s \>. 1U5.
168 HINDU SLTERIORlTr.
YT._TURiaSTAN AND NORTHERX ASIA.
"At length tlien to the ^vide earth's extreme bounds, To Scythia are we come, those pathless wilds Where human footstep never marked the ground."
■ — jEschylus : Prometheus.
The Turanians extending' over the whole of TiU'kistan and Central Asia were originally an Indian people. Colonel Tod says : " x\bdul Gazi makes Tamak, the son of Tare, the Turishka of the Puranas. His descendants gave their name to Tocharistan or Turkistan."^ Pro- fessor ]\Iax Muller says : " Turvas and his descendants who represent Turanians" are described in the later epic poems of India as cursed and deprived of their inherit- ance," and hence their miirration.
Colonel Tod says : " The Jaisahner annals assert tliat the Yadu and the Balica branches of the Indu race ruled Korassan after the Great War, the Indo-Scythic races of Grecian authors." Besides the Iklicas and the numerous branches of the Indo-Medes, many of the sons of Cooru dispersed over these regions : amongst whom we may place Ootooru Cooru (Northern Coorus) of the Puranas, the Ottorocm\T; of the Greek authors. ])Oth the Indu and the Surya races were eternally sending their superfluous population to those distant regions."''
A ]\tohamedan historian^ says that the conntry of Khatha was first inhabited by a body of emigrants from India.
1 Tod's Rajasthan, Vol, T. p. U)3. -'Science of Language, p. 212. STod's Kajastluin, Vol, 1, p. 16. -illistury of China, Vol. IJ, p. 10,
niNDU COLONIZATinx. ](';0
A band of Hindu settlers left India for Sil)eria, where they founded a kingdom, with Bajra[)ur as its capital. It is related that on tlie death of the kin<f of that country in a battle, Pardainun, Gad and Sambhn, three sons of Sri Krishna Chandra, with a lar^-e number of Brahnians and Ivshatriyas, went there, and the eldest brother succeeded to the throne of the deceased Raja. On the death of Sri Krishna Chandra they paid a con- dolence visit to Dvvarka.^
Colonel Tod savs : " The annals of the Yadus of Jaisalmer state that long anterior co ^'ikrama, they held dominion from Ghazni to Samarkand ; that they estab- lished themseh'es in those regions after the Mahabharata or the Great War, and were again impelled on the rise of Islamism within the Indus."- He further says : " Tiie Yadus of Jaisalmer ruled Zabulistan and founded Ghazni."'^ They claim Chaghtaes as of their own Indu stock, " a claim which,'' says Colonel Tod, " I now deem worthy of credit."
The Afghans are the descendants of the Aph(jana^ the serpent tribe of the Apivansa of ancient India. " Ac- cording to Abu Haukal, the city of Herat is also called Heri. This adjoins Maru or Murve.""* The country called Scestan, which the Middle Eastern (Question may yet bring more prominently before the public, Avas a settlement of the Hindus. Colonel Tod says : " Seestan (the region of cold, see-sthaii) and both sides of tiie
■'TTari Vanslui, Vishnu I'iirva, Adhyaya 97.
ildd's Hajastluui, p. b2\).
^Tod's Rajasthati, Vol. f, p. C,]. "Tlic sons of Krishna ovcntnally loft Indus behind and passed into Zabulistan, and peopled these countries, even to Saniarkand."'--p. H,'>.
*Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 231.
170 HINDU KUPERIORITV.
valley were occnpiecl in the earliest periods by another branch of the Yadus."^ Colonel Tod again sa^'s : " To the Indn race of Aswa (the descendants o£ Deomida and Ba.jaswa), spread over the countries on both sides of the Indns, do we owe the distinctive appellation of Asia."- That the Bactrians were an Indian peo]:)le has already been shown. And that the Indian mig:rations extended
CD
to Siberia and the northern-most part of Asia is evident from the fact that the descendants of the Aryan raio-rators are still ftamd there. "The Samovedes and Tchondes of Siberia and Finland are really Samayadus and Joudes of India. The Ian2;ua2:es of the two former races are said to have a stronsj affinity and are classed as Hindu- Germanic by Klaproth,the author of 'Asia Polyglotta.' "s Mr. Remusat traces these tribes to Central Asia, where the Yadus long held sway. Sama, Syam is a title of Krishna. Thev were Sama Yadus.
1 Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. 1 1, p. 230.
2Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. T, ik G3. " Europn derived from Sarupa, 'of the beautiful face,' the iiiiiiul syllable .-■?( and en having- the same signification in both languages, viz., good. Rupa is countenance."'— 1>. 515.
3Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. T, p. 529." The race of Joude is described by Baber as occupying the mountainous range, the very spot mentioned in ll..' annals of the Yadnn as iheir ])liice of lialt on quitting India twelve centuries before Christ, and thence called Yadu-ki-dang, or bill of Yadu.
HINDU COLONIZATION. 171
VII.—GEUMANY.
The [iross's uvagii- Irttors. That blessing ye brought forth, Behold I it lies in fetters Oil the soil that gave it I'irlh.
— CAMrBELL: Ode to the Germans.
That the Ancient Germans were nii<Trators from India is proveil by the following passage from Muir : " It has been remarked by various authors (as Jvuhn and Zeitschrift, IV . 9-11!:) that in analogy with Manu or Manus as the father of mankind or of the Aryas, German mythology recognises Planus as the ancestor of Teutons," The English 'man' and the German ' mann ' appear also to be akin to the word * manu,' and the German 'mensch' presents a close resemblance to 'manush' of Sanskrit."^
The first habit of the Germans, says Tacitus, on risinir was abliition, which Colonel Tod thinks must have been of Eastern orio;in and not of the cold climate of Germany,- as also " the loose flowing robe, the long and braided hair tied in a knot at the top of the head so emblematic of the Brahmins."
The Germans are the Brahmans or Sharmas of India. Sharma became Jarma and Jarma became Jerman. For in Sanskrit sh and^' and a are convertible into one another, as Arya, Arjya and Arshya (see l\Iax ]\Iuller's liig Veda.) Csoma-De-Coras in the Preface to his
J MiinniiiL,''s Ancient and Mediioval India. Vol. I, p. 118. ^Tod's Rajasthan, Vol, 1, pp. 63 and yu.
172 HINDU SUl'ERIOP.ITY.
Tibetan Dictionary, says : "The Hungarians will find a fund of information from the study of Sanskrit respect- ing their origin, manners, customs and language."
The Saxons are no other than the sons of the Sacas, who lived on the North-western frontier of Arvawarta, wdience they migrated to Germany. The name Saxon is a compound of " Saca " (Sakas) and " sanu '* (descen- dants). They were so-called because they were descen- dants of the Sakas. Their nanie for Heaven is the same as that of the Indians. A critic says : "It is from the Himalaya Mountains of the Sacas that the ' Sac-soons ' those sons of the Sacas (Saxons or Sacsons, for the words are at once Sanskrit, Saxon and English) derived their Himmel or Heaven."
Colonel Tod sa3's : "I have often been struck with a characteristic analogy in the sculptures of the most ancient Saxon cathedrals in England, and on the con- tinent to Kanaya and the Gopis. Both may be intended to represent divine harmony. J)id the Asi and Jits of Scandinavia^ the ancestors of the Saxons, bring them from Asia?"^
Tod's Rajasthan, Volume I, (People's Edition), p. 570,
HINDI' COLONIZATIOX. 173
VIIL— SCANDlXAViA.
Tlic S'.vodi>li sage aduiircs in yoiulcr bowons, liis winged insects and his ru.'-y lluwors.
— C.\:\iT'r,Ki.i. : Plmsurcs of Ilojir.
The Scandinavians are the descendants of the Hindu Kshatrijas. The term Scandinavian and tlie Hin(Ui " Kshatriya" or the Warrior caste are identical, "the former beinir a Sanskrit eiinivalent for tlie latter:" "Scanda Nabhi" (Scanda Navi) sio-nifies Scanda Chiefs (Warrior Chiefs).
Colonel Tod says: "The Aswas were chiefly of the Indu race, yet a branch of the Suryas also bore this desio'nation." In the Edda we are informed that the Getes or Jits who entered Scandinavia were termed Asi, and their first settlement was Asigard {Asi (jarlt^ for- tress of t^ie Asi)."
Pinkerton says : "Odin came into Scandinavia in the time of Darius Hystaspes, oOU years before Christ, and that his successor was Gotama. This is the period of the last Boodha, or Mahavira, whose era is 477 before Vicrama, or 533 before Christ. Gotama was the successor of Mahavira."^
"In the martial mythology and warlike poetry of the Scandinavians a wide field exists for assimilation." -
" We can scarcely question," says Count Bjornst- jerna, "the derivation of the Edda (the religious books of ancient Scandinavia) from the Vedas."^
1 Tod's Rajiistlnin, Yul. I, p, U4. -Tod's llujasrlian, Vol. I, p. 0«. ^Iboogoiiy of the liiudus, p. lOb.
174 HINDU SUPERIOKITV.
The principle on which the seven days oEthe Aveek nre named in India is the same on which it has been done in Scandinavia : —
(1) Sundai; is called by the Hindus Aditwaram, after xiddit, the sun, after which also the Scandinavians call the day Sondag.
(2) Monday \i cdWaA by the Hindus Somaicaram^ from Soma, the moon. Among the Scandinavians it is called Mondari.
(3) Tuesday is called Manyaliraram in India after the Hindu hero, Maugla. It bears the name Tisdag amongst the Scandinavians, after their hero, This.
(4) Wednesday is termed Botidhawayrwi by the Hindus, after Boudha ; by the Scandinavians, it is deno- minated after Oden (\yodan, Bodham, Budha), Onsdag.
(5) Thursday is called Brahaspatiicaram by the Hindus, after Brahspati, or Brahma, their principal god; it bears the name Thorsdag amongst the Scandinavians, after their principal god, Thor.
(6) Friday is called by the Hindus Siicravaram^ after Sucra, the ooddess of beaut}^ ; it is named by the Scandinavians after Freja, the goddess of beaut}', Frejdag.
(7) Saturday is called Saniicaram by the Hindus after Sanischar, the god who cleanses spiritually ; it is named Lordag by the Scandinavians from loger, bathing.
" AVe have here," says Count Bjornstjerna, himself a Scandinavian gentleman, "another proof that the I\Iyths of the Scandinavians are derived from those of the Hindus,"^
'Xlicogouy of tht; iiiudu-, p. 1G9.
HINDU COLONIZATION. 17o
THE IIYJ^EIIBOUEAXS.
"Iliiil. Mountain n\ ih-Vv^Ui ] Palooo of i^lorv, I'lcsscd \iy (;l<>i_v":- Kini,' I AVilli iirosperiiit;' shade embower uie, wliile 1 sing Thy wonderf^. yet tinreaoh'd by mortal Hight ! Sky-})ierehig tuoiintain ! in thy bowers of love Ni> tears are seen, save wliere medioir.al stalks AVeep tlrops balsamic o'er the silvered walks."
— Hyjix to Im>ra : Sir IT. Jones' iranshtti
on.
The lij'pcrborefins (who formerly occupied the Xorth- ern-most parts of Europe and Asia) were the Khyber, purians, or the inhabitants of Khyberpur and its district. Another Khvber settlement will be seen in Thessaly on the Eastern branch of Phd-nix river. Its name is tolcrablv well-preserved !is Khyphara and Khyphera.^
j\[r. Pococke says: " AYliile the sacred tribe of Dodo, or the Dadan, fixed their oracle towards the north- erly line of the Hellopes, in Thessaly, the immediate neighbours of the Hyperboreans took up their abode to- wards the south of the holy mountain of To-]\Iaros, or Soo-Meroo. These were the Pashwaran, or the emigrants from Peshawar, who appear in the Greek guise of Pas- saroii. We now readily see the connection between the settlements of the Dodan (Dodonian Oracle), Passaron (Peshawar people), and the offerings of the Hyperboreans, or the men of Khyber])ur, who retained this appella- tion wherever they stibsequently settled."^
1 India in Greece, [>. 120. -India in Greece, p. 127.
176 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
GREAT BRITAIN".
" Whether this portion of tlie world were rent By the rude Oceau, from the Continent, Or thus created : it was sure designed To be the sacred refuge of mankind."
"Waller : To thf Proifctor.
The Druids in ancient Britain were Buddhistic Brah- mans ; they adopted the metempsychosis, the pre- existence of the soul, and its return to the reahns oi universal space. They had a divine triad, consisting of a Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, as with the Buddhists. The Druids constituted a Sacredotal Order which reserved to itself aione the interpretation of tlie m3"steries of religion.
" The ban of the Druids was equally terrible with that of the Brahmans ; even the king a^^ainst whom it was fulminated ' fell,' to use the expression of the Druids, 'like grass before the scythe.' "^
]Mr. Pococke says: 'Tt was the Macedonian hero who invaded and vjinquished the land of his forefathers im wittingly. It was a Napier who, leading on the small but mighty army of Britain, drove into headlong flight the hosts of those warlike clans from u'hose pareiit stock hhnselt and not a few of his troops icere the direct de- scend antsy '^
Mr. Pococke also says: "The Scotch clans, their orioinal localities and their chiefs in Afghanistan and Scotland, are subjects of the deepest interest. How little did the Scotch officers who perished in the Afghan
iTheogony of tlie Hindus, p. 104. -India in Greece, p. 86.
HINDU COLONIZATION". 177
campaign tliiiik that thv.y -were opposed l)}- the same tribes from whom tJici/ tlunn^dces sprann ! A work on this subject is in progress."^
]\Ir. Pococke says : " It is in no spirit o£ etymologi- cal triflino' that I assure the reader, that the far-famed ' hurrah' of his native country (England) is the war- cry of his forefather, the Rajput of Britain, for he was long the denizen of this island.- Ilis shout was ' haro! haro I' (hurrah! hurrah !) Hark to the spirit-stirring strains of Wordsworth, so descriptive of this Oriental w^arrior. It is the Druid v.ho speaks : —
Then seize the spear, and mount the scytlicd irheel.
Lash the j)rniul sU'od, and whirl the flaming stci'l.
Sweep through the thickest host and scorn to lly,
Arise ! arise ! for this it is to die.
Tims, neath his ranked care tlii' I)niid sire
Lit the rnpt sotd, and fed the martial fire."
"The settlement of the people of the Draus in this island, the northern part of which was essentially that of the Hi-BUon-])Es (E-budii-des,) or the land of the Hiya IJad'has at once accounts satisfactorily for the amazing mechanical skill displayed in the structure of Stone Henge, and harmonises with the industrious and enterprising character of the Budhists throughout the old world ; for these are the same people who drained the valley of Cashmir, and in all probability the plains of Thessaly."
The history of the Druids is thus explained : "The Druids were Drui-des. They were in fact the same as the Druopes. The.se venerated sages, chiefs of the tribes of the Draus, were of the Imlii Vansa or lunar race. Henue the Symbol of the crescent "worn by
1 India in Ureeoe, p. 77. ^ludia in Greece, p. 114,
178 nixDu surERioiUTT.
these Druids. Their last refuge in Britain from tlie op- pression cf the llomans was 'the Isle of Saints' or 'Mona' (more properly ' Mooni,' Sanskrit for a holy sage). The Druids were the bards of the aocicnt Rajputs."
Hark! 'twas tlie voice of hai.'t)s that pouri'd along
The hollow vale the floating tide of song;
I see the gliltering train, in long array,
Gleam through the shades, and snowy splendours play:
I see them now with measured steps and slow,
'Mid arching groves the white-rohed s;iges go.
The oaken wreath with braided fillet drest —
The crescent beaming on the holy breast —
The silver hair which waves above the lyre,
And shrouds the strings, proclaim the Druid's quire.
They halt and all is hushed.
That the Hindus lived in Britain in ancient times is clear from the f.ict that a chief of the twiceborn was once brought from Saka-dvvipa (Britain) to India by Vishnu's eao-le.^
For further information re2;ardino' the Hindu colo- nization of Great Britain see Godfrey Higgins' " Celtic Druids", wherein it has been proved that tlie Druids were the priests of the Hindu colonists who emigrated from India and settled in Britain.
iColebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. II, p. 179, Ti-anslation of Jatiniala. The learned Pictet says : "I here terminate ihis parallel of the Celtic idioms with the Sa)isl<rit. I do not believe that after this marked series of analogies, a series which end)races the entir(> (U'ganiza- tioii of thi'ir tongues, that their radical alllnity can be conleshHl.
"The Celtic race establisiied in Europe from tin' most ancient times must have been the first to arrive there. The decisive analogies which thi!Se languages still present to the Sanskrit carry us back (o the most ani,'ient i)eriod to which we (;an attain by Comparative Philology, . . " LeUre a M. Uundioldt. Jonrntd Asiatiipie (ISoG). p. 155.
IIINDLT COLONIZATION. 179
EASTERN ASIA.
r>nt, (^li I vhat jjcncil of a living star
Could paiul (luit gorgeous car,
In whirli as in an ark supremely bright,
Tiie horil m1' boundless light
Ascending calm o'er the Empyreuni sails.
And with ten thousand beams his beauty veils.
— Hymn to Surya : 'Translated bij S. IT. Jones.
The eastward wave of Hindu emii2:ratioii covered the whole of Eastern Asia, comprising the Transgan- getic Peninsula, China, Japan, the isles of the Indian Archipelago, Australia, and broke upon the sliores of America.
The manners and institutions of the inliabitants of the Transffiino;etic Peninsula bear so strono; an affinity to those of the Hindus that one cannot resist the idea of their havin"; been a Hindu race at some distant ])eriod. The fundamental principles which underlie their polit3^ manners, morality and religion are the same as those of the Hindus. In fact, it ma}- be taken for "granted that the Transrranjxetic Peninsula was bat a part and parcel of India so far as society, religion and polity were concerned. There was no fj^eneral chancre in India but was also wrought there. The propagation of Bud- dhism was not confined to India ; the people of the Transgangetic Peninsula took their share in it.
Till recently the Peninsula was swayed wholly by Indian thought, but by and by a second power was felt to assert itself. Cirina accepted the religion of the Great Buddha. Thenceforward ic became a ri^■al power with
ISO HINDU SUPERIOrvITY.
In<li:i ill the eyes of the inhabitants of the Peninsula. The Aryas soon reverted to their ancient faith, or rather to a modified form of the ancient faith, but on the people of the Peninsula the grasp of the reformed faith was too firm to be so easily shaken off, and hence the silver card of friendship that tied the two together Avas snapped. The inhabitants of the Transgangetic Peninsula thence- forward began to look up to the Celestials rather than to the Hindus for enlightenment and instruction. But as their political and social institutions had a Hindu cast, a total overthrow of Hinduism in consequence of this cleavage was impossible. Their civilization there- fore retained its Hindu basis.
It is a well-known fact that the Pardah system was unknown in ancient India and that it came in the train of the Mohamedan invaders. The present position of the Burmese women in the social and domestic life of Burmah, supports the theory that the Celestial iutluence over the countries between the Brahmaputra and the Pacific was too strong and deep to allow the people there to follow the Hindus in their revolutionarv social changes that were unha{)pily forced upon them by the wave of a less civilized but a more determined foreian aggression.
" The Burmans, we are told by Symes, call their Code generally, Dharmasath or Sastra ; it is one among the many commentaries on j\Ianu. Mr. Syme speaks in glowing terms of the Code."^
Mr. Wilson says : " The civilization of the Burmese and the Tibetans is derived from India."
^Sce Syme's Embass-y tu Ava, [). 320.
nixnr roLONTZA'iinx, 1,S1
The nniiie Ijiirmali itself is oi" E^iiidu derivation and proves the Hindu oriuin o(: tlie Iinrmnns. 'I'he name Camboja is fre(|iientl3' mentioned in Sanskrit works, and who that has read accounts of it will deny its identity with Cambodia ?' In l-SSi a Hindu temple was exca- vated in that country by a Frenchman,- whose writings prove that in ancient times, if not a part of the Indian empire, it wfis most closel}^ connected with it.
China, too, was a colony of tlie ancient Hindus. Accordinir to the Hindu theory of emiirration, China was first inhabited by the Kshatriyas from India. Colonel Tod says: "The genealogists of China and Tartary de- clare themselves to be the descendants (jf " Awar," son of the Hindu King, " Pururawa."-^
" Sir \V. Jones says the Chinese assert their Hindu ormin. *
AccordiufT to the traditions noted in the Schidiiiq. the ancestors of the Chinese conducted by Fohi came to the plains of China 2900 years before Christ, from the hiiih mountainland which lies to the west of that country. This sIk^ws that the settlers into China were oriii'inally inhabitants of Kashmir, Ladakh, Little rhibet, and Punjab, wliich were parts of ancient India.''
^Couipaiu Oambistlioli of Arrian, Cauiba-Srliala (.Sllialii = j)laeL' or district). The word denotes the dwellers in the Kaud)a tir Kanihis couiitrj'. So Kamboja may be explained as those born in Kaniba or Kauibos. — Wil'^ona Vishnu Purana. Vol. II, p. 1S2.
2Tlie Indian Mirror of the 2nd September 1882.
^Annals of Rajasthaii, Vol, I, p. 35.
"^ Annals of Rajasthan, Vol. I, j). o7 .
^It may be reiterated that in the days of the Mahaliharata and for
lon'4" after, Ari^Uauishiii wa> a part of Aryawarta. Tlie liaja of Kandaiiar
was a Hindu, and his daughter Khandiiari or Gandiiari was the mother
of iJuryodhau. Even at the time of Alexandet- the Great it was a part
of India.
182 mxDU SLTEiaoiuTv.
The religion and culture of China are undoubtedly o£ Hindu origin. Count Bjornstjerna says : ''What may be said with certainty is that the religion of; Cliina came from India."
That ancient India had constmt intercourse with China no one can deny. China^ and Chinese products are constantly mentioned in the sacred as w^ell as the profane literature of the time. Chinese authors, too, according to Elphinstone, note Indian ambassadors to the court of China. Professor Heeren says that " the name China is of Hindu origin and came to us fi'om India." See also Vincent, ^'ol. II, pp. 574, 75." The word S/'nhn occurs in the Bible, Isaiah xlix. 12.
The wave of Indian migration before breaking on the shores of America submerged the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Colonel Tod sa3^s : " The isles of the Archipelago were colonized by the Suryas (Surya- Vansa, Kshtri^yas) whose mythological and heroic his- tory is sculptured in their edifices and maintained in their writing's."''
]\lr. Elphinstone says: "The histories of Java give a distinct account of a numerous body of Hindus from Kalinoa who landed on their island, civihzed the inhabi-
iRauiayana Bientions Chinese silks and other raanitfactures.
2M. de Guigues says that Magadha was known to the Chinese by the name 2Io-L-iato, and its capital was recognised by hoih its Hindu names, Kusuinpurii, For which the Chinese wrote Kia-so-mo-pon-lo and Patal/putra, out of which they made Fatoli-tse by translating y;<<</-a, which means sou in Sanskrit, into their own corresponding word, /.^r. — Journal of the Itoi/al Asiatic Society, Vol.V. [Such translation of names has thrown a veil of obscurity over many a name of Hindu origin- Hindu geography has thus suffered a great loss] .
3 Tod's Rajasthau, Vol. IL p, 218, footnote.
HINDU COLOXTZATTOX. LSTi
tants and c.stal)lishcd an era still subsi>tiii^i:", the first year of which fell in the seventy-fifth year before Christ,"^
"The colonization of the eastern coast of Jiiva" by lirahnuins is "a fact %Yell established by Sir Stain- ford Kaffles."^
. Later immigrants from India were evidently I^ndd- liists. Mr. Sewell says: "^S^itivc tradition in e[ava relates that about the bef»unning oi the seventh century ((JOo A. D, accordin'.; to Fergusson) a prince of Giijrat arrived in the island with 5,000 followers and settled at !Matar:un. A little later 2,000 more inunigrants arrived to support him. He and his followers were Buddhists, and from his time IJnddhism was firmly established as the religion of Java."-
"The Chinese pilgrims who visited the island in the fourth century found it entirely peopled by the Hindus. "■< Kespecting the inhabitants of Java, Mr. ikickle says: "Of all the xlsiatic islanders this race is the most attractive to the imagination. They still adhere to the Hindu faith and worship.""*
Dr. Cust says : " In the third group we come once more on traces of the great Aryan civilization of India ; for many centuries ago some adventurous Brahmans from the Telegu coast (or from Cambodia) conveyed to Java their religion, their sacred books and their civilization, and Java became the seat of a great and powerful Hindu dynasty.'* As regards Borneo, the largest island of the
^Elphiustone's Hit^tory of India, p. 1G8.
2Heereii's Historical Researches, Vul. II, p. 303, footnote.
3 Antiquarian Notes in Java, .Journal, R. A. S., p. 402 (11)06).
4See R. A. S. Journal, Vol. IX, pp. 136, 38 on the History of Java.
•"'Beauties, Sublimities and Harmonies of J^ature, Vol. I.
''Lino'uistie and Orlt'utal Essays.
1^ »
181 HINDU SUi'ElUOIUTr.
Archipelago, another traveller ^ observes that "in the very inmost recesses of the mountains as well as over the face of the country, the remains of temples and pagodas are to be seen similar to those found on the continent of India bearing all the traits of Hindu my- thology; and that in the country of AVahoo, at least 400 miles from the coast, there are several of very superior workmanship with all the emblematic figures so com- mon in Hindu places of worship,"
Sir Stamford Raffles Avhile describing): the small island of Bali, situated towards the east of Java savs : " Here, together with the Brahminical religion, is still preserved the ancient form of Hindu municipal polity."-
The 13ugis of the island of Celebes trace back their history to the Savira Greding, whom they represent to have proceeded in immediate descent from their heavenl}" mediator Baitara Garu (which is distinctly a Hindu name), and to have been the first chief of any celebrity in Celebes-
As regards Sumatra, M. Coleman says : "Mr. Ander- son in his account of his mission to the coast of that island (Sumatra) has, however, stated that he discovered at Jambi the remains of an ancient Hindu temple of con- siderable dimensions, and near the spot various mutilated figures, which would appear to clearly indicate the former existence of the worship of the Vedantio philosophy."-'
Australia was probably deserted soon after its settlement. But that the wave of Hindu civilization and
^Sie Daltou's account of the Diuks of Boriiei' in llic Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol, VII. p. lOo. 2Doscriptioii of .lava, Vol, IT, p. 2?.f;. •''ColevuiinV Ilimlu ^lythology, p. 3G1.
HINDU COLONIZATION. 1S5
emii2:ration did at one time Ijreak on tlu', sliorcs of Australia is evident from the fact that many extraordi- nary thing's are found there. Amono' other thintrs, the native races have c'ot a kind of arrow, which clearlv be- tra^-s its Hindu origin. This arrow called homerang by the natives, is exactly the same as that used by Arjuna and Karan in the Mahabharata. Its great merit is that it returns to the archer if it misses the aim.'
i'ur furtlicr infuriiiatiou on the puiut sec '' MiliUirj- Science."
186 HINDU SLTERIORITY.
AMERICA.
Ameiica ! hulf brotlicr of the world ! With something good and bad of evoiy land ; Greater than thee have lost their seat, Greater scarce none can stand,
— Bailey : Festus,
The fact that a highly-civilized race inhabited America long before the modern civilization of Em-ope made its appearance there, is quite clear from the striking remains of ancient and high refinement existing in the country. Extensive remains of cities which must have been once in a most flourishing condition, of strong and well-built fort- resses, as well as the ruins of very ancient and magnificent buildings, tanks, roads and canals that meet the eye over a very wide area of the southern continent of America, irresistibly force us to the conclusion that the country must have been inhabited at one time by a very highly- civilized nation. But whence did this hi2,h civilization
snrmo- 9
^prmg
The researches of European antiquarians trace it to India. Mr. Coleman says : " Baron Humboldt, the great German traveller and scientist, describes the existence of Hindu remains still found in America."'
Speaking of the social usages of the inhabitants of Peru, Mr. Pococke says : " The Peruvians and their an- cestors, the Indians, are in this point of view at once seen to be the same people."-' The architecture of ancient America resembles the Hindu style of architecture.
Uliudu >r.vtlinh>'j:y- ]>. ooO. "India in Greece, p. 17-1.
HINDU COLONIZATION. 1X7
Mr. llard}^ says: "The aiiriciit edifices of Chicheii in Central America bear a striking resemblance to the topes oE India.'" Mr. Sqnire also says : " The Buddhist temples of Sonthern Imlia, and of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, as described to us by the learned members of the Asiatic Society and the numerous Avriters on the religion and antiquities of the Hindus, correspand with great exactness in all their essential a,nd in many of their minor features with those of Central America,"- Dr. Zerfii remarks: "We find the remarkable temples, for- tresses, viaducts, acqueducts of the Aryan group." "'
A still more significant fact proves the Hindu origin of the civilization of ancient America. The mythology of ancient America furnishes suificient grounds for the inference that it was a child of Hindu mythology. The following facts will elucidate the matter : —
(1) Americans worshipped Mother Earth as a mvtholoa'ical deitv, as the Hindus still do — dharti mata and pri/hvi mata are well-known and familiar phrases in Hindustan.
(2) Footprints of heroes and deities on rocks and hills were worshipped by the Americans as devoutly as they J^i'e done in India even at the present day. Mexicans are said to have worshiped the footprints of Quetzal Coatle, as tlu^ Indians worship the footprints of Buddha in Ceylon, and (^f Krishna in Gokal near Muttra.-*
J Eastern Monachism. ^Serpent Symbol.
3 A Slannal of Historical Development of Art. *The Marwarees of Ajiiier vrorslii]) tlic footprints of Ajaipal, llie founder of Ajnier, on a rock near the city.
1S8 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
(3) The Solar and Lunar eclipses were looked upon in ancient America in the same light as in modern India. The Hindus beat drums and make noises by beating tin pots and other things. The Americans, too, raise a friirhtf al howl and sound musical instruments. The Carecles (Americans) think that the demon Alaleoyo, the hate7^ of lifjht^ stcallows the moon and the sn,n in the same loay as the Hindus think that the demons Rahu and Keti'i devour the sun and the moon.
(4) The priests were represented in America with serpents round their heads, as Siva^ Kali and others are represented by the Hindus.
(5) The Mexicans worshipped the figure made o£ the trunk of a man with the head o£ an elephant. The Hindus, as is too well-known, still worship this deity under the name of Gane'^h. Baron Hum])oldt thus remarks on the Mexican deity : '' It presents some remarkable and apparently not accidental resemblance with the Hindu Ganesh.''''
({)) The legend of the Deluge,^ os believed in by the Hindus, was also prevalent in America.
(7) The Americans believed that the sun stood still at the word of one of their saints. In India, it is said that the cries of Arjuna at the death of Krishna caused the sun to stand still.
(8) The tortoise myth is common to India and America. Mr. Tylor says : " The striking analogy between the tortoise myth of North America and India is by no means a matter of new observation ; it Avas in-
iBralima caused tlic delu.i^e when only one pions man named Satyavrata. and \n< I'lnnily uud iome animals were saved. — Asiatic liesearches, Vol, I.
HINDU COLONIZATION. 189
decti noticed bj^ Fiitlier Lafitan nearly a century and a half aii^o. Three "-reat features of tlic Asiatic stories are found among the North American Indians in their fullest and clearest development. The earth is supported on the back of a hut>e floatinij; tortoise, the tortoise sinks nnder and causes a deluge, and the tortoise is conceived as being itself the earth floating upon the face of tile deep."^
(!)) The serpent-worship was common to both v countries. In India, even to the present day, the ser- pent is the emblem of wisdom, power, duration, life, eternity and a symbolic representation of the sun. The fact that serpent- worship is common to the Hindu, the Egyptian, the Syrian, the Grecian, the Chinese, the Scandinavian and the American mythologies has been held to be another proof of the Hindu mythology being the parent of these systems of mythology. Their philo- sophy was also derived from India. Their belief in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls stamp their philo- sophy also as being of Hindu origin.
Apart from mythoh^gy, the manners, customs and habits of the ancient Americans bore a very close resemb- lance to those of the Hindus. Their dress, costume, and sandals prove them to be of Indian origin. The dress of American women was the same as the national dress of Hindu women.
All that can be safely asserted as to the date of the Hindu colonization of Atnerica is, that it took place after the time of Sri Ram Chandra. That America was frequently visited by the Hindus till long after the
^ Early History of Mankind.
190 niNBU SUPERIORTTY.
Mahabharata Is amply proved by historical records as well as the fictitious literature of the Hindus.
Sri Ram Chandra and Sita are still \yorshipped in America, and, remarkably enouo'h, under their original names. In America, an annual fair takes place, which closely corresponds with the Dashera (Ram Chandrajee- ka-Mela) of the Hindus. ^ Sir W. Jones says : " Rama is represented as a descendant from the sun, as the husband of Sita, and the son of a prhicess named Causel3'a. It is very remarkable that Peruvians, whose Inces boasted of: the same descent, st3ded their greatest festival Raraa-Sitva ; whence we may suppose that South America was peopled by the same race who imported into the farthest parts of Asia the rites and the fabulous history of Rama.-
Mythology, architecture, philosophy, traditions, man- ners, and legends of ancient America all argue the Hindu origin of the Americans. This is supported b}' what we find in the Puranas, the Mahabharata and other historical writings. It is expressly stated in the Mahabharata that Arjuna conquered Patal Desa, and married Alopi, daughter of the king of that country, named Kuroo, and that the fruit of this union was Arawan,'^ who afterwards distin- o'uished himself as a sfreat warrior.
A word regarding;' the route to America used bv the Hindus. They seem generally to have taken the sea route from Ceylon or from some place in the Bay of Bengal to Java, l>ali, or Ijornco and thence to America — to Mexico, Central America or Peru. But more
^ For full iiiirticulars see The Tlieosopliist for lybG. ^Asiatic Kcsearches, Yul. T, p. 42G. ^Mahabharata, Lheeshm Parva, Adhyaya 91,
TTIXIHT COLOXTZATIOX. I'Jl
ndventurous spirits n))pe:ir soiiictiiiu's to have clioscn tlie land passage to America throiiLiii China, Moiigoira, Silu;- ria, Liehring Straits (which, as geology has proved, Avas not in e>:isteiice until recent times), and Xorth America.
It has been urged that tlie Hindus, heing {jrohihit- ed from crossino; the sea or even the river Attock, could not have o-one to foreiii^n climes in considerable numbers, either as traders or as settlers. Such criticism, however, only betrays ignorance oE Hindu literature and Hindu liistor}^ Colonel Tod says : " It is ridiculous with all the knowledge now in our possession, to su])pose that the Hindus ahvavs confined themselves Avitiiin their gigantic barriers, the limits of modern India." ^
The most ancient as well as the most authoritative work in Indian literature, the Veda, enjoins mankind to 2:0 to foreii^n countries in steamers and balloons. The Ytjur A'eda (Adhyaya 6, Mantra 21), says : —
" Oh men, wdio are fit to do administrative work righteously, go to the seas in big, fast-going steamers, and to the hiiih heavens in balloons built on scientific principles." Also. —
■»55^ ^T?: ^IcfTcT II ^^o ^o ^^ I TT° ^8 II
1 Tod's rvaia>tban, Vol, II, p. 218.
192 HINDU SUPEKIOlilTY.
Man II says : —
^^ =gfC^ faim^ Tjf^r^t ^1 ^TT^Tt II
" Let mankind from the different countries of the world acquire knowledge from learned men born in this country (India)."
AVith regard to the adjudication of disputes regard- ing the amount of fares, Manu says : —
" The final decision as to what is the suitable fare w^ill rest with traders, who are fully acquainted with sea-routes as well as land-routes.
Manu ao;ain savs : —
There are numerous instances on record of political and religious leaders of India having gone to Europe and America on political and religious missions, Mahrishi Yyasa with Sukhdeoji went to America and lived there for some time. Sukhdeoji eventually returned to India via Europe (Heero Desa), Persia and Turkistan. The journey took him three years and is succinctly described in tlie Mahabharata, Santi Parva, (Sookh utpatti, Adh. 32 G).
Just before the Great War, the Pandavas started on a conquering expedition to foreign countries. The journey was twice undertaken. On the first occasion they went to Burmah, Siam, China, Tibet, Mongolia,
HINDU COLONIZATION. 193
Tartary, Persia ami returned to India i/'a Ilirat, Kiiluil, Kandahar and Baluchistan. At Kandahar ((iandhar) they were the guests of the father-in-law of Dhritara- shtra. The second ^lission was towards tlie West. Starting;' from Ceylon (Sangal-dwipa) they went to Arabia, thence to Egypt, to Zanzibar and other parts of Africa. See Mahal)harata, SabhaParva, Adhyayas, 26-28.
The Great Arjana, in the course of a voyage visited the following islands : (1) Agastha Tinitlia, (2) Pooluni Tirath, (3) Subhadra Tirath, (4) Karandliam Tiratli, (5) Bharadwaja Tirath. See Mahabharata, Adi Parva.
The Emperor Sagarji's extensive foreign conquests are also well known. His conquest of the islands of the Indian Archipelago is mentioned in the ancient traditions of those islands, where he is still worshipped as the " God of the Sea." See also Ramayana, Balkanda, V. 2.
The succession of the sons of Sri Krishna to the throne of Bajrapura* in Southern Siberia (to tl)e north of the Altai ^lountains) has already been mentioned.
It is also well-known that the emperors and kings of India often married foreign princesses. In addition to Dhritrashtra's marriage with the daughter of the kino- of Afirhanistan, and Arinna's with that of tlie American King Kuru, we find that Unardliaji, grand- son of Sri Krishna, married the princess Ookha, daugliter of Ban, King of Shoont, which belonged to Egypt.- Maharaja Chandragupta married the daugliter of Seleucus, King of Babylon; and the then ]\Iaharana of Udaipur' (Rajputana) married the daughter of Xausherwan tlie Just, King of Persia.
iSee Hiiri Vansa Parana, Vishnu Parva, Adliyaya, 97. -'See Hari Vausa, Vishnu Parva, Adh. 11G-Ii^7.
194 HINDU SUPERIORITY,
The obnoxious probi1)ition to cross the Attoclv is of recent origin. The Hindu possession o£ the Afghan and Persian territories was a relic of their ancient conquest. So late even as the first few centuries of the Christian era, the Hindus lived in thousands in Turkis- tan, Persia and Russia. For an account of the Hindu commercial colony at Astrakhan, see the account given by Professor Pallas, ]\Ir. Elphinstone says : " Even at the present day, individuals of a Hindu tribe from Shikarpur settle as merchants and bankers in the towns of Persia, Turkistan and Russia."^ The same may be said of a large number of the natives of Jaisalmcr. A few passages from ancient Sanskrit works of his- torical importance may be quoted to show that the original founders and forefathers of many of the different nations of the world before they migrated to their respective countries, were inhabitants oE India, As quoted above, Mann (Chapter X, page 43) says: —
?I^ W fff^TT^tqif^lTT: ^f^¥ mciW- I ^■Ef^cq- iTcnwt% m^JHi^ii^^ "^ II
" The following tribes of Kshatriyas have gradually sunk into the state of Vrishalas (outcastes) from the extinction of sacred rites, and from having no commu- nication with the Brahmans, viz., Paundrakas, Oclras, Dravidas, Kamhojos, Yavanas, Sakas, Paradas, Palilavas, Chinas, Kiratas, Daradas and Khasas," etc.
lElphinstone's Hietory of ludia, p. 135,
HINDU COLONIZATION. 105
Sir \y. 'Jones, in his treatise on the Chinese^ nii- (lei-!st:nKls "by Chinas, tlie Chinese, who, as the Brahmins report, are descended from the Hindus." The other names, which are apparently those of otlier nations, may be thus explained : The Sacas were the aticient Saca3. The Pahlavs were ^ledes speaking Pahlavi or the ancient Persian. The Cambojas were the inhabitants of Kamboja or Cambodia ;- the Yavans, as is well known, were the Greeks. The Dravids may be the Druids of Great Britain. The Kirats were the inhabitants of Baluchis- tan, Daradas of Dardasthan in the Chinese territory. The Khascs'^ were probably some people of Eastern Europe.
The Mahabharata (Anusasana Parra, Verses 2103 and 2104) while giving us a further view of the origin of the various nations of the world, says : —
5tftf^^iTT wPr^^^ren: ^f^^ ^\^^'' II =^<^«8 II
iSif W. Jones' Works, Vol. I, p. 99.
2 That Kamhojas meant the inhabitants of Cambodia is supported liy two verses from the Mahabharata, where they are said to be living towards the north-east : —
" The son of Indra conquered the Daradas with the Kambojas and the Dasyus who dwelt in the northeast region." — Mahabharata, Book IT, 10:U,32.
^This people is mentiouod in the Ramayaua also.
196 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
These tribes of Kshatriyas, vlz.^ Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Dravidas, Kalinclas, Pulindas,!. Usinaras, Kolisarpas, and Mahishakas, have become outcastes (and exiled) from seeing no Brahmans.
This is repeated in Verses 2158, 59, where the followino; additional tribes are named : Mekalas, Latas,
O 7 3
Ivoiivasiras, Samdikas, Dorvas, Cham*as, Savaras, Bar- baras, Kh^atas."
f^^TcTT ^^iTT^^^ cTT^T: Wf^^ ^TcT^: I
Tlie Kambojas, Sakas, Sabaras, Kiratas, and Var- varas are again mentioned in the Mahabharata, Drona Parva, Verse 4747 : —
gi:^5;Ti!it fssriciHr ^^x\m cr^q "% ii
iThe Andhras, Puudras, Sabaras, Puliudas, Mutibas, are also mentioned in tlie Aitreya Brahniana.
^Vishnu Parana names over two hundred different peoples known to the Hindus, including Chinas, Pahlvas, Yavanas, Barbaras, Bahlikas, (people of Balkh) and Hujis. — Sec Wilson's Vishnu Furana, Vul. II, p. Iu6.
HINDU COLONIZATION. 107
" Sameya (kstroying the host, converted the beauti- ful earth into a mass ol: mud with the tlesh and bh)od of tliousands of Kambojas, Sakas, Sabaras, Kiratas and Yarvaras. The <>ruund was covered with the shorn and hairless bat lon2:-bearded heads i of the Dasvus, and their helmets as if with birds bereft of their plumes."
As many as 16 different foreign tribes are said in Santi Parva (Section 65, line 2429ff.) to have descended from the Hindus, King Mandhatri asks Indra : —
Si
'^W\'' "Sf^^T X^ZV' SRTS^t^i^^g ^^^W: I
-1
W^=^^ ^^cTT^ f g;^T: :^^T^ v^-^-%-\'- 1 1 w^ H?Tl^ft^r^ ^'^'^ fsi^^rmf^ir: I
flf^"?^ Wii m\'^\ '^i t ^^TT^'^fe: II
SJ
^WT*iT?:cr ^if^ql" ^i^i^ < a 1 1 " The Yavanas, Kiratas, Gandharas, Chinas, Sava- ras, Yar\'aras, Sakas, Tushoras, Kantas, Pahlavs, Andh- ras, Madras, Paundras, Pulindas, Romathas, Kambojas men spring from Brahmans and from Kshatriycif^^ per- sons of the Vaisya and Sudra castes. How shall all these people of different countries practice duty, and wdiat rules shall kings like me prescribe for those who are living as Dasyus ? Instruct me on these points, for thou art the friend of our Kshatriya race."
Manu's account of the origin of the Y^avanas, Sa- kas, etc., is supported by the Yishnu Purana. When
1 Coaipare the hairless but loiig-bearded heads uf the Arabs,
198 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Saii'ara learnt from his mother all that had befallen his father, Bahu, being vexed at the loss of his paternal kingdom, he vo^ved to exterminate the Haihayas and other enemies who had conquered it.
" Accordingl}^ he destro3^ed near! 3^ all the Haihayas. AVhen the Sakas, Yavanas, Kamb(ijas, Paradas and Pah- lavas were about to undergo a similar fate, they had re- course to Yashishtha, the king's family priest, who inter- posed on their behalf in these words addressed to Sagara, representing them as virtually dead : ' You have done enough, my son, in the way of parsning these men, who are as 2;ood as dead. In order that vour vow mio-ht be fulfilled, I have compelled them to abandon the duties of their caste, and all association with the twiceborn.' Aaree- ing to his spiritual guide's proposal, Sagara compelled these tribes to alter their costume. He made the Yavanas sli a ve their _h ead s , the Sakas shave half their heads, the Paradas wear long hair, and the Pahlavas beards. These and other Kshatriyas he deprived of the study of the Yedas and the A^ishatkara. In consequence of their abandonment of their proper duties and of their deser- tion by the Brahmans, they became Mlechhas."
The Harivansa Purana also says: — ^^Sakali Yavana Kambojah Paradah Pahlavas tatha \ Kolisarpah Sama- hishah Darvas cliotah Sa-Keralah I Sarve te Kshatriyas tata tesham dharmo niralritah I Vasistha-vachanad rajan Sagarena ]\[ahatmana. \ The Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Kolisarpas, Mahishas, Darvas, Cholas and Keralas had been all Kshatriyas, but deprived of their social and religious position by the great Sugara (Hindu king) in accordance with the advice
niXDU rOLONIZATTON. 199
of Yaslilsht-lin, S(iiiin otlior tribes are nl.'^o mentioned in the next verse to have received similar treatment.'
Priyavrata, Swayambhva's son, divided the earth into seven dwipas : —
(1) Jambn D\vi[)a (Asia).
(2; Plaksha ,, (South America).
(3) Pushkara ,, (N'orth America).
(4) Kraunch „ (Africa).
(5) S'aka ,, (Europe).
(6) S'ahiiali ,, (Antarcta, Austraha). (7j Kusa „ (Oceania).
Col. Wilford, however, thus interprets them, which is obviously wrong : —
Plaksha includes Lesser Asia and America.
Kusa answers to the countries between the Persian
Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Western
boundary of India. Krannchu includes Grermany, Shaka means the British isles. Pushkara is Ireland.
Shalmali are countries by the Adriatic and Baltic, Jambu Dwlpa is India.
iMr, Colebrooke (Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, V"ul. I, p. 453) quotes an ancient Hindu writer, who states that the Barbaric tongues are called the Parasica, the Yavana, the Ronjaka and tlie Bar- bara : "the first three oi" which," says he, "would be tlie Persian, tlie Greek and the Latin. But wliich is the fourth and how Latin became known in India, it is difficult to say." And yet it is a well-authenticated fact that in the time of Vicramaditya there \>a^ constant intercourse between India and Rome,
200 niNBU SUrERIORITY.
Owing to the destruction of the greater part o£ Sanskrit literature, it is impossible now to interpret correctly these geographical facts, not only because these are only the fragmentary remains of the Science of Geography inextricably mixed up with Puranic raytholoj}^ and theology, but to a great extent because many of these ancient dwipas and countries have been so materially altered in consequence of the Cataclysm called the Deluge, as to have become impossible of identification now. The father of the modern o-eolouical science, Cnvier, expresses the following opinion regard- ing this Deluge in his Descours Sur la^ Revolutions de la Surface, da (rlohe^ p. 283 (5th Edition) : — " I consider with Messrs. Deluc and Dolomieu that if there is anything established in geology, it is the fact that the surface of the earth has been the subject of a ijreat and sudden revolution, the date of which cannot U'o much further back than five or six thousand years ; that this revolution has sunk (^enforce) or caused to disappear {fait-d'isparadre) some of those lands which were for- merly inhabited by men, together with those species of animals which are now the most common."
AYe thus find that the HincUi civilization overran the entire universe, and that its landmarks are still to be seen all over the globe. Nay, it still lives and breathes around us. Says Monsieur Delbos : " The influence of that civilization worked out thousands of years a(jo in India is around and about us every day of our lives. It pervades every corner of the civilized world. Go to America and you find there, as in Europe, the influence of that civilization which came originally from the banks of the Ganges."
LITERATURE.
Wns it not wisdom's sovereign power Tliat beamed her brightest, purest llarae, T'illniiie her sages' soul the thought to frame, And clothe with words his lieaven-taught lore ?
— ^seiiYLUs : Promethean Chained.
There is no surer test of the real o-reatness of a nation than its literature. Literatare embodies not only the in- tellect of a nation bat also its spirit. It is a record of the learning, the wisdom, the refinement, the achieve- ments, the civilization of a nation — a record of all that a nation thinks, says and does. Literature thus holds a mirror to the state of a nation, and serves as an index to mark its position in the scale of civilization and greatness. Mr. W. C. Taylor thus speaks of Sanskrit litera- ture : " It was an astounding discovery that Hindustan possessed, in spite of the changes of realms and chances of time, a language of unrivalled richness and variety ; a language, the parent of all those dialects that Europe has fondly called classical — the source alike of Greek flexibility and Roman strength. A philosophy, com- pared with which, in point of age, the lessons of P^tha- goras are but of yesterday, and in point of daring spe- culation Plato's boldest efforts were tame and common- place. A poetr}' more purely intellectual than any of those of which we had before an}" conception ; and sys- tems of science whose antiquity bafHed all power of astronomical calculation. This literature, with all its colossal proj>ortions, which can scarcely be described
202 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
without tlie semblance of bombast and exao:g'eratiou claimed of course a place for itself — it stood alone, and it was al)le to -stand alone.
" To acquire the mastery of this language is almost the labour of a life ; its literature seems exhaustless. The utmost stretch of imagination can scared}^ compre- hend its boundless mythology. Its philosophy has touched upon every metaphysical difficulty ; its legis- lation is as varied as the castes for which it was designed."^
Count Bjornstjerna says : " The literature of India makes us acquainted with a great nation of past ages, which grasped every branch of knowledge, and which will always occupy a distinguished place in the history of the civilization of mankind. "-
" The Hindu," says Mr. W. D. Brown, " is the parent of the literature and the theology of the world. "^ Professor Max Midler says : " Although there is hardly any department of learning which has not received new light and naw life from the ancient literature of India, yet nowhere is the light that comes to us from India so important, novel, and so rich as in the study of religion and mythology."*
General Cunningham savs : " Mathematical science was so perfect and astronomical observations so complete that the paths of the sun and the moon were accurately measured. The philosophy of the learned few was per- ha])s for the first time, firmly allied with the theology of
iJourual (if the lioyal Asiniic Society, Vol. li (Idllt). W.C. Taylor's paper on Sanskrit Literature, -Tlioogony of tin; Jliiuins, p. Sb.
^'J'he D,iili/ Trihniw (Salt Lake City) for lu'lunary 20. 1884. 4Max Miilkn's India : What can it teaqli us .' p. 110-
LITKUATUHE. 203
the believing many, and Rralmiiinism laid down as arti- cles of faith the unity of God, the creatioQ of the world, the immortality of the sonl, and the responsibility of man. The remcjte dwellers upon the Ganges distinctly made known that future life about which Moses is silent or obscure, and that unity and Omnipotence of the Creator which were unknown to the polytheism of the Greek and Koman multitude, and to the dualism of Mithraic legislators, while Vyasa perhaps surpassed Plato in keeping the people tremblingly alive to the punishment which awaited evil deeds." ^
Professor Heeren .says : " The literature of the Sanskrit language incontestably belongs to a highly-cul- tivated people, whom we may with great reason consider to ha\e been the most informed of all the East. It is, at the same time, a scientific and a poetic literature."- He also says : " Hindu literature is one of the richest in prose and poetry."
Sir W.Jones says that "human life would not be sufficient to make oneself acquainted with any consulerahle part of Hindu literature."
Professor ^lax Muller says : *'The number of Sans- krit works of which M:<s. are still in existence amounts to ten thousand. This is more, I believe, than the whole classical literature of Greece and Italy put together."^
The Indian Sanskritist, Pandit Shyamji Ivrishna- varma, in his paper on the use of writing in Ancient India, speaks of Sanskrit literature as a literature more ex-
1 Cuuuin.<;ham's History of the Sikhs.
^Heeren's Historicnl Rpse:u-ches, Vol. II, p, 201.
•'Asiatic Researches, Vol. I, ji. oOl.
'^Max MuUer's India : What can it teach us ? p. 81,
204 ni^DU SUPERIORITY.
tensive than the ancient literatures of Greece and Rome combined."
Rev. Mr. AVard says : " No reasonable person will deny to the Hindus of former times the praise of very extensive learning. The variety of subjects upon which they wrote prove that almost every science was cultivated among them. The manner also in which they treated these subjects j)roves that the Hindu learned men yielded the palm of learning to scarcely any other of the ancients. The more their philosophical works and lawbooks are studied, the more will the enquirer be convinced of the depth of Avisdom possessed by the authors."^ Mrs. Manning says : "The Hindu had the widest range of mind of which man is capable."^
The high intellectual and emotional powers of the ancient Hindus were in any case destined to produce a literature, remarkable for its sublimity and extent; but when these great gifts had the most perfect, melodious, and the richest language in the world to work with, the result could not but be a literature not only the most fertile and fascinating; in the world but wonderful in range and astonishing in depth.
Sanskrit Language.
Sir AV. Jones, the most intellectual of the European critics of Sanskrit literature, pronounced the Sanskrit lano-uao"e to be " of a Avonderful structure, more perfect
1 "Ward's Antiqnity of Hinduism, Vol. IV, conclusion. ^Ancient and Mt'diiCTul India, Vol. 11, p. ItS.
LITERATKUE. 205
tlinii the Greek, more copious than tlie Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either."'
Professor Bopp" also says that " Sanskrit is more perfect and copious than the Greek and the Latin and more exquisite and eloquent than either,"
Professor ]\Iax Muller calls Sanskrit the " lanr>uan;e of languao'cs ", and remarks that " it has been truly said that Sanskrit is to the Science of language what Mathe- matics is to Astronomy."'^
Professor Wilson says : " The Hindus had a copious and a cultivated language." "The Sanskrit," says Pro- fessor Heeren, " we can safely assert to be one of the richest and most refined of any. It has, moreover, reached a hi^'h dei>'ree of cultivation, and the richness of its philosophy is no way inferior to its poetic beauties, as it presents us with an abundance of technical terms to express the most abstract ideas."*
The distin£>'uished German critic, Schleojel, savs : "Justly it is called Sanskrit, i.e.^ perfect, finished. In its structure and grammar, it closely resembles the Greek, but is infinitely more regular and therefore more simple, thouoh not less rich. It combines the artistic fuhiess
1 Asiatic Researches, Vol. I, p. 422. "Sanskrit has the most prodigious conipoiinds, some of them extending to 152 syllables" — Adatic Researches, Vol. I, p. o()0.
-Edinboroiigh Review, Vol. XXXIII, p. 43,
•^Science of Language, p. 203.
^Historical Researches, Vol. II, pp. 109, 110. As an example of Mr. .lames Mill's perverted taste and invete- rate prejudice against everything Hindu, the following may be cited: Le I'ere Paolino says that ".Sanskrit is more copious than Latin. It has several words to express the samething. The sun has more than 30 names, the moon more than 20 : a house has 20, a stone G or 7, a leaf .5, an ape 10, and a crow 9." Mr. James Mill, thereupon says that " the highest nifrit of I.ingnage would consist in having one name for everytiiing wliicli required a nanh- and no more than one'' On this Prof. Wilson exclaims : " What would become of poetry, of eloquence, of literature, of iutelloct. if language was thus shorn of all that gives it beauty, variety, grace and vigour." — Mill'n India, Vol. II, p. 91,
206 HINDU surEuiokiTr.
indicative of Greek development, the b^e^'^ty and nice accuracy of; Latin ; whilst havintj;- a near affinity to the Persinn and German roots, it is distinguished by expres- sion as enthusiastic and forcible as theirs."^ He again says : " The Sanskrit combines these various qualities, possessed separately by (Dther tongues : Grecian copious- ness, deep-toned Roman force, the divine afflatus charac- terising the Hebrew tongue."^ He slso says : "Judged by an organic standard of the princip;d elements of lang- uaiie, the Sanskrit excels in o-rammatical structure, and is, indeed, the most pet'ectly-developed of all idioms, not excepting Greek and Latin. "^
The importance of this "language of languages" is clearly recoLi'nised when we consider, with Sir W. W. Hunter, the fact that "the modern philology dates from the study of Sanskrit by the Europeans."'*
Sir W. Jones' assertion that " Deonaii'ri is the original source whence the 'alphabets of Western Asia were derived,"'' not only proves the great antiquity of the Sanskrit literature but points out the channel through which Sanskrit philosophy and learning flowed towards the West, and, working in the new and fresh materials • available there, produced Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Cicero, Scarvola, Varoo, Virgil and others to divide the laurels of literary
'Scliolegel's Histoiy of Literature, p. 117.
^'Ibid, p. 105.
^Ibid, p. 100.
'^Imperial Gazetteer, ''Tmlia,'" p. 204. The foundation of the scicMice of comparative philolo^'v was laid hy the publication of Bopp's Comparative Grammar in 1818 A.D.
•5 Asiatic Researches, Vol. I, p. 423. Professor Heoien (Hist. Researches, Vol. II, pp. 20l and 202) says that Sanskrit literature is not only very rich but also extremely ancient.
LITERATURE. 207
repntntion witli ^'yns^, Knpila, Oautnmn, Pataiijali, l\a- iiada, -laiiiniiii, Xarada, Paiiiiii, Mariclii and N'aliniki. The study of coinpirative ])liilol()ii'v, in so far as it lias advanced, tends to show that Sanskrit is the mother of all Indo-Eiiropcan languages. From the Sanskrit were derived the original roots and those essentially necessary words which form the basis of all tlu'sc; lani!;na<j'es. In other words, the part that is common to all or most of the languages of this group is su[)plied to each language by the Sanskrit.
Mr. Pococke savs : " The Greek lanfjuiioe is a deri- vation from the Sanskrit."^ The learned Dr. Pritchard savs : "The affinity between the Greek laniiuaiie, and the old Parsi and Sanskrit is certain and essential. The use of cognate idioms proves the nations who used them to have descended from one stock. That the reliu'ion of the Greeks emanated from an Eastern source no one will deny. We must therefore suppose the religion as well as the lanii'uaire of Greece to h;ive been derived in u'reat part immediately from the East."^ Sir W. Jones says : " I was not a little surprised to find that out of ten words in Du Perron's Zind Dictionary six or seven were pure Sanskrit."-'
Professor Heeren says : " In point of fact, the Zind is derived from the vSnnskrit."*
As the Deonagri is the source from which the alpha- bets of AVestern Asia are derived, so are the Sanskrit names of the fiixures 1 to lU the source from which most
n
lano[ua<2;es have derived their names of the said fiii'ures.
1 India in Greece, p. l-S,
^Dr. Pritcliard'.s Pliysical History of ^lau, Vol. I, p. 502.
^Sir W. Jones' Works, Val. I, pp. 82, 8:3.
*Heereu's Historical licsearches. Vol. li, p. 220.
208
HINDU SUPERIOKTTY.
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LITEIJATrUE.
201)
NUMERALS.
|
Sanskrit. |
Zi.ul. |
Greek (Doric). |
Latin. |
Gothic. |
|
Prat'liaiiia |
Frat'hema. |
Trot a |
Prima. |
Fiiniia. |
|
])\vitiva |
I'itva. |
i 'outora, |
Altera. |
Aiii"li;ira. |
|
Tritiva |
Thritva. |
Tiita. |
Teitia. |
Til rid vo. |
|
Cliaturtlia. |
Tmiva. |
Tetarta. |
Qnarta. |
Fidvordo. |
|
Panehauia. |
Pni,'dlia. |
Ponipta. |
Qiiiiita. |
Fiinfto. |
|
Shasta. |
Cstva. |
Hi-kta |
Soxla. |
Saislitt). |
|
Saptaina. |
Haptat'ha. |
Hcbdoma. |
Scptiina. |
Silmiido. |
|
Aslitaina. |
Asteuia, |
Ogdoa. |
Octava. |
Alitudo, |
|
iXavaina. |
Naiiiiia. |
Einidla. |
Nova. |
NiniuUi. |
|
Dasaina. |
Dasema. |
Dokata . |
Ueciuia, |
Tailmndo. |
|
Sanskrit. |
Liitin. |
Greek. |
Litlmnian. |
Welsh. |
|
Eka. |
Uu. |
Hen. |
Wein. |
Uii. |
|
1 )va. |
l)u. |
Dii. |
Dn. |
1 )an. |
|
Tri. |
r.i. |
Tri. |
Tri. |
Tri. |
|
C'liatnr. |
Qnatnr. |
Tessar. |
Kettnar, |
Pedwar. |
|
Pam-h. |
Quinqiic. |
Pente. |
Penki. |
|
|
SI 1 ash |
Sex. |
Ilex. |
Szestzi. |
|
|
Sa|ita. |
Septera. |
llepta. |
Septyni. |
Saith. |
|
Aslita. |
Octo. |
Okto. |
Asztuni. |
|
|
Nava. |
Movem. |
Ennea. |
Dewvni |
Naw. |
|
Dasa. |
Decern. |
Deka. |
Deszinit, |
Deg. |
To these luiinenils we subjoin a brief conspectus of the
Analogy of Verbs.
Singular.
|
Sanskrit. |
Ziiul. |
Greek. |
Latin. |
|
Dad-a-nii |
Dadha-uii |
Dido-mi |
Do |
|
Dada-si |
l)adha-si |
l)ido-s |
Da-s |
|
Dada-te |
Dadha-te |
Dido-ti |
Da-t |
|
Ph |
ral. |
||
|
Dad-Ill as |
Dade-mahi |
Dido-mes |
Da-miis |
|
Dat-t"ha |
Dasta? |
Dido-te |
Da-t is |
|
Dad-te |
Dade-nti |
Dido-i)li |
Da-nt |
210
HINDU SUPERIORITV.
General View of the Persons of the Verb.
First Person.
|
Sanski-it;. |
Zind. |
Greek. |
Latin |
|
Tishtami |
Histaini |
Histemi |
... Sto. |
|
Dadaiiii |
Dadhami |
Didouii |
... ])... |
|
Asmi |
... Ahmi ... |
Emini |
Sum |
|
Balirami |
]>ammi |
... riioi-o |
... Fero. |
|
Vahami |
Vazami |
... Ekho ... |
... Veho |
Second Person.
|
Asi |
.. Ahi ... |
... Essi |
... Es. |
|
Tishtasi |
Ilisht'hahi |
... Histes ... |
... Stas. |
|
Dadasi |
.. Dadhahi |
Didos ... |
... Das, |
|
]'>liarasi |
... Bai-alii |
Pliereis |
... Fers. |
|
Tisht'lu's |
Jlistois |
Histaios |
Stes. |
|
Dadliyas |
Daidhjao |
Didoies |
... Des. |
|
B hares |
Bharois |
Pherois |
... Fera |
Second Person Plural.
|
Tisht'hat'ha .. |
Hist'hat'ha |
Histate |
... Statis, |
|
Biiarat'iia |
Bara'ha |
.. Plierete |
... Fertis |
|
Tisht'het'ha .. |
HistaeLa |
Histaiete |
... Stetis. |
|
Dadyata |
Daidhyata |
Didoiete |
... Detis. |
|
Bhareta |
. Baraeta |
Phcroite |
... Fei-ati |
lliird Person.
|
Asti |
Ashti |
... Esti ... |
... Est. |
|
Tishtati |
Hisiitoti |
Histate |
... Stat. |
|
Dadati |
Dadhaite |
... Didote ... |
... Dat. |
|
Barati |
Baraite |
... Phere(t)i |
... F<Tt. |
|
Bharet |
Baroit ... |
Pheroi |
... Ferat |
|
Dadyat |
. Daidliyat |
Dedoic |
... Det. |
TIdrd I^erson Plural.
|
Santi ... |
Hento ... |
... (S) enti |
Sunt. |
|
Tishlanti |
Hislenti |
... Jlistanti |
otiint. |
|
Dadati |
... Dadenti |
... Didoiiti |
... haul. |
|
rdiaranti |
Pjai'dili |
IMu'i-iiiifi |
J''t'i-mit |
|
^'uhal»li |
Vazeiiti |
Ekhunli |
Wduiiit. |
IJTKKATIJIJE. 211
Viiiw OF ■•DiDoMi"' IN tiil: Future Tense. Sinyular.
|
Ziiul. |
Greek. |
|
|
Dii-.syauii |
• • • |
])()-S0. |
|
Da-S!iysi |
... |
l)o-seis. |
|
Da-syati |
... |
Do-sci. |
|
Dual. |
||
|
Da-S3'at'has |
• • • |
Do-seton. |
|
Da-syatas |
• • • |
Do-seton. |
|
Plural. |
||
|
Da-syanias ..„ |
• • • |
Do-so men. |
|
Da-sy.-it'lia |
Do-sctc. |
|
|
Da-syanti |
• .. |
Do-sonti |
|
Supines and Infinitives. |
||
|
Sanskrit. |
Latin. |
|
|
St'Iia-tuui, to stand ... |
• • • |
S latum. |
|
Da-tam, to j^ive |
• • • |
Datum. |
|
Jiia-tvim, to know |
*.. |
No-tmn. |
|
Patiiui, to drink |
• • • |
Pudiin. |
|
E-tum, to go |
« a ■ |
Ilinii. |
|
Stra-tnm, to strew ... |
• • • |
Stratum. |
|
Auk-tuui, to anoint ... |
• • • |
Unctinii. |
|
Svani-tnin, to sound ... |
• • • |
Son-i-tuui. |
|
Sarji-tuni, to go |
• • • |
Ser[)tum. |
|
Vauii-tuni, to vomit ... |
■ • • |
Voniituni. |
|
Pesh-tuui, to bruise ... |
• • • |
Pistum. |
|
Jani-tum, to beget ... |
• • • |
Gon-i-tunu |
The scale of calculation is common to all nations, and owes its origin to the Hindus. Dr. Indlantyne is inclined to support the theory that Sanskrit is the mother of all Aryan (Indo-European) languages.
J\Ir. Ijopp^ says that at one time Sanskrit was the one language spoken all over the world.
1 Edinborough Review, Vol. XXXIIl, p. io.
212 HINDU SLTEKIOlilTY.
Mons. Dubois^ says that Sanskrit is the original source of all the Em^opean languai^es of the present day.
Miss Carpenter- says that though the original home of Sanskrit is Aryawarta, yet it has now been prov^ed to have been the language of most of the countries of modern Europe in ancient times.
A German critic says that " Sanskrit is the mother of Greek, Latin and German lanouages, and that it has no other relation to them : this is the reason wiiy Max Muller calls it the ancient language of the Aryas."
The great antiquity of Indian civilization is un- questionably beyond comparison ; and the antiquarians are unanimous as to the incomparable antiquity of the Sanskrit literature also. The oldest writings of the oldest nations except the Hindus are, according to some Orientalists, the records of various developments of Buddhism which took its rise in India after the decline of the V^edic religion. Count Bjornstjerna' says: "The so-called Hermes Scriptures (the names of all the sacred writings of the Egyptians) contain metaphysical treatises in theform of dialogue between Hermes (Spiritual wisdom) and Todh, Bodh, Buddh (earthly wisdom), which throuo-hout exhibit the doctrines of Buddhism." Again, "the early Egyptian writing which in the translation is called Pimanders Hermes Trisjiiefjistus^ and forms a dialogue between Pimander (the highest intelligence) and Thodt, (Bodh, Buddha) which developes the metaphysics of the Buddhists touching the trinity."
1 Bible ill India.
^Jiiunial of the Indian Association.
STheugony of the Hindus, p. 100.
litki;ati:i;k. 2lo
]\Ir. Weber savs : " Aii<l wliilc tlio clainisof (-Jic -written records o(' Indian literatnre to a hii^li anti(|nity arc; thus indisputably proved by external geographical testimony, the internal evidence in the same direction, which miy be gathered from their contents, is no less conclusive."'
AkT of WlUTING.
This introduces ns to the important literary ques- tion as remu'ds the art of writino; in Ancient India. Apart from Mr. Weber's acceptance of " the claims of the written records of Indian literature to a high anti- quity," Professor Wilson says: "The Hindus have been in possession of that (writing) as long as of a literature."^
Professor Heeren says: "Everything concurs to establish the fact that alphabetical writing was known in India from the earliest times, and that its use was not confined to inscriptions but extended also to every pur- pose of common life."' Count lijornstjerna says that the Hindus possessed " written books of religion" before 2800*B.C., or 800 years before Abraham.^ Professors Goldstucker, Bohtlingk, Whitney and Roth hold that the authors of the Prdtlsakhyas must have had written texts before them.^
^Weber's Indian Literature, p. 5. 2Mill's India, Vol. II, p. 40, footnote, SHereen's Historical Researches, Vol. II, }). 202. Theogony of the Hindus, p. 2G. 5 Weber's Indian Literature, p. 22, footnote.
214 HINDU SUrEKlUUlTY.
Consideriiiir the backwardness o£ other nations in the invention of the art oE writing, and finding it im- jjossible to give the second place to the nation to whom they owe all their learning and wisdom, the advocates o£ the theory of: "Greek Culture" hesitate to assign high antiquity to the Hindu art of writing.
Professor Max Muller, for one allows no written work before 350 B.C. This strange and absurd sup- position is wholly inexplicable. Apart from the internal and direct evidence, one fact alone is sufficient to refute the supposition. When geometry and astronomy flourished so highly and extensively in India more than 3,000 years before Christ, according to the calculation of the celebrated astronomer, Bailly, is it at all conceivable that writimr should have been unknown before 350 B.C.? Professor Max Dunkersays that according to Max MuUer's theory the Brahmanas must have been retained in me- mory till 350 B.C., but " it seems to me," he says, " quite impossible, considering their form." He adds : " If the Brahmanas which cite the Vedas accurately in their present arrangement, and speak not only of sylla- bles but of letters arose between 800 and 600 B.C., it appears to me an inevitable conclusion that the Vedas must have been existed in writing about 800 B.C."
Mr. Shyamji Krishnavarma, Orienti\l Lecturer of Balliol College, Oxford, in the paper he read before the International Congress of Orientalists at Leyden in 1883, which he attended as the delegate of the Government of India, has dealt with the subject in a masterly way, and shown that the art of writing has been in use in India
1 For furcher partlculartj see his History of Antiquity, Vol. IV, pp. 100,157.
LlTr:RATUlJE. 21;
.)
since the Vcdic (imos. Ho snvs : " I feci no hos^itntion in saying that there are words and phrases occurrini:; in the Sanhitas of the Vedas,^ in the Braliinanas and in tlie Sutra ■works, ^vhi(•ll leave no doubt as to the use of the written characters in ancient India. It may be confidently as- serted that the systematic treatises in prose which abounded at and long before the time of Panini could never have been composed without the help of wi-iting. We know for certain that with the exception of the hymns of the Rig Veda, most of the Vaidik works are in prose, and it is difficult to understand how they could possibly have been composed without having recourse to some artificial means."
Katyayana says : — ^^q^c^fl-q^t %<i-^: ^f ^if^f*?: "When the writer and the witnesses are dead." Yagyavalka mentions written documents ; and Njirada and others also bear testimony to their existence. Even
1 To the objection that tho word Sniti, as a synonym of Veda, conveyed the idea of what was learnt and taught by hearing, tlius prov- ing the absence of written books, he neatly replies that the word Smrtti, derived from " Sinri,'^ to remember (as Sruti comes from Sru to hear), wonld eqnally convey the same idea and prove the same thing, though it is admitted by all that the art of writing was known to the authors of the Smritis. After quoting a part of a hymn in the 10th Mandala of the Rig Veda,- " some one seeing the speech does not see it, wliile another hearing does not hear it," and showing that one could not sec the speech unless it assumed some tangible shape like that of a book or manuscript; also, that one could not possibly count a million without an acquaintance witli writing, not to speak of having technical names for a million, a hundred million, nay, for a hundred thrnisand million, as we find them given in the seventh Chapter of the white Yajur Veda — for we find that in Greece before writing became known, tho highest number of what could be technically expressed was only
216 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
Max Miillcr himself is compelled to admit that " writing Avas known to the authors of the Sutras."
The supposition that writing was unknown in India before ooO B.C. is only one of the many instances calculnted to show the strange waywardness of human intellect. If anyone of lesser authority than Max MuUer had advanced such a supposition he might .have ''been pronounced a maniac. It was left to' the 4^rned professor to conceive the possibilit}^ of a language of the structure of Sanskrit beiniz: cultivated to the extent of producing compositions like the Yedas, the Brahamanasand the Upnishads,and of a people achieving wonderful progress in mathematics and astronomy without being able to write A, B, C, or one, two and three! ! !'
10,0UO and in Rome only a thonsand- — he goes on to show that tlio ■nords " Kanda and Patahi" which occur in Vedio literature prove the existence of written books in ancient times. After pointing out that tlie Adhikarn, or heading rule, in Panini's grammar was denoted by Svarita, which proved conclusively that he employed writing and that the sixth chapter of Ashtadhyayi says that people in Panini's time used to mark the figures eight and five on tlie ears of their cattle, he concludes: "The fact that Panini makes allusion to coins, for instance f^fE^ '^"^ *^^5 ^ith which latter perhaps the word '"rupee" is connected, and that he actually mentions the two word^ fWtfcf and f^lf^, hoth meaning writing, affords palpable proof of his acquaintance with the art of writing, without which, as I have said, he could never have produced his great grammar."
1 Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 523. The Greeks prais(? the beauty of the writing of the Indians. See Strabo, Lib, XV, p. 493.
Megasthenes says that "the Hindus used letters for inscriptions on mile-stones, indicating the resting places and distances." Curtius also says that " the Indians wrote on soft rind of trees." Nearchus men- tions that " the Indians wrote letters on cotton that had been well beaten together." Fattier Paufino says that "cotton paper was used in India before tjie Christian era. — II/>-tor/cal Ik'searches, Vol. II, [). 1U7.
LITER ATUKE. 217
TIiG cxtraordinnry vocal powers oC tlic Hindus, combined with their wonderi'nl inventive genius, ])ro- dnced a lan_<>"nage which, when fully developed, v;as connnensurate with their niarvcllons intellectual faculties, and which contributed materially in the creation of a literature unparalleled for richness, sublimity and range. The peculiar beanties inherent in the offspring of such high intellectual powers were greatly enhanced by its scientific up-bringing and by constant and assiduous exercise it has developed into what is now such a model of perfection as to well-deserve the name of deo-banl, or "the language of the gods." The very e.jvccllence of the languno'e and the scientific character of its structure have led some good people to doubt if this polished and learned language could ever have been the vernacular of any people. Fully realizing the significance of the fact that, with all their boast of the highest civilization and culture, they possess a language highly defective and irregular v>dien compared to the Sanskrit, these critics find it difficult to believe that the Hindus ever spoke that perfect language.
j\Ir, Shyamji Krishnavarma, in the learned paper on the subject he read before the International Congress of Orientalists at Berlin, on 14th September 1881 , demolishes all the arguments advanced against the Sanskrit language having ever been a spoken vernacular of India, and proves that not only was " Sanskrit, as we find settled in the Ashtadhyayi of Panini, the spoken vernacular at the time when that grammarian flourished," but that " it is at present extensively used as a medium of conversation and correspondence among learned men in all parts of India, from Kashmir to Cape Comorin."
218 HINDU SUPEKIORITY.
Professor Max Muller sa_ys: "Yet such is the mar- vellous continuity between the past and the present in India, that in spite of repeated social convulsions, religious reforms and foreigu invasions, Sanskrit may be said to be still the only language that is spoken over the whole extent of that vast country." He adds: "Even at the present moment, after a century of English rule and Enc-lish teachinsj, I believe that Sanskrit is more widely understood in India than Latin was in Europe at the time of Dante." ^
Who after this can say that Sanskrit was or is a dead language ?
India : 'What can it teach us ? pp. 78, 7U,
TRK VEDIC LITr.RATL'KE. 219
I.— THE VEDIC LITERATURE.
Veil after veil will lift — but there must be Veil upon veil bcliiiid.
— BuddhcCs Sermon.'^
Professor Max Mullersays: "The Vedic literature'* opens to us a chapter in wliat has been cj'.Ued tlie edu- cation of the human race, to ^hich we can find no parallel anywhere else."^
The ^'edic literature consists of (1) The Yedas, (2) The Brahmanas, (3) The Sutras.
The Yedas are four in numljer and are called the Rig Vedti, the Yajur Yeda, the Atharva A'cda, and the Sama A'eda. The Rig A^eda and the Yajur Yeda are the most important of the Yedas, as they respectively deal with the knowledge of things physical, mental and spiritual and the application of that knowledge.
The Yedas are universally admitted to be not only by far the most important work in the Sanskrit language but the greatest work in all literature.
It is nothing short of a miracle that while impor- tant works in almost all departments of human learning that were cultivated in ancient India have perished, the most important of them all, the Yedas, the fountain-head of allj knowledge and the parent of all literature and science, have come down to us secure and intact. ^V'hile most of the important Sanskrit works from Manu Smriti, the most ancient code of law in the world, to the
1 Light uf Asia, y. I'l. 2 India : What can it icach us ? p. 89.
220 HINDU SUPEEIORITY.
RaraayanaandtheMahabharata have been tampered with, the Vedas, by the very inimitable grandeur of their language, and the unequalled sublimity of their contents have defied all attempts at interpolation.
As, however, the studv of the Vedas has Ions: been neglected, and a thorough knowledge of the' Sutras and A'edangas by which alone the Vedic mantras may be interpreted is ,,^'^ery rare, the Vedas are rarely well understood even by the learned amongst the Hindus.
When the Yajur A eda was presented to A'oltaire, he expressed his belief that it was the most precious gift for which the West had been ever indebted to the East.^
Guiiiault savs : " The Hio: Veda is the most sub- lime conception of the great highways of humanit3\"
Mons.i Leon Delbos speaks enthusiastically of the grandeur and sublimity of the Vedas. " There is no monument of Greece or Rome," he asserts, " more pre- cious than the Rig Veda."^
Professor Max I\Iuller says : " In the history of the world, the Veda fills a gap which no literary work in any other language could fill."^ He also saj's: " I main- tain that to everybody who cares for himself, for his ancestors, for his histor}', for his intellectual develop- ment, a study of Vedic literature is indispensable.""* The Hindus hold the Vedas to be the Revelation, and its study accordingly is indispensable po every man.
1 Wilson's Essays, yol. Ill, p. r,04.
^Mons. Leon Delbos' paper on the Vodas read before the Interna- tional Literary Association at Paris, on 14th July 1884, the venerable Victor Hugo being in the chair.
3 Wilson's Essays, Vol. Ill, p. 339.
^Max MuUer's India : What can it teach us ? p. 121.
THE VEDIC LITEHATCUE. 2iM
The \'c(1as nrc admittedly the oldest books in the
world. " Thea^eot" this venerable hymnal (Iti<2: \ eda),"'
says !Sir AV. A\'. Hunter, " is unknown." '" They (the^
A'edas) are the oldest of books in the library of man-
kind," says Professor Max Aluller. " Thev are without
doubt," says Professor Heeren, " the oldest works
composed in the Sanskrit."' "Even the most ancient
Sanskrit wriiini'-s allow the Vedas as already existing."-
No country except India and no language except the
Sanskrit can boast of a possession so ancient or venerable.
Xo nation except the Hindus can pretend to stand
before the world with such a sacred heirloom in its
possession, unapproachable in grandeur and infinitely
abov'e all in glory. The Yedas stand alone in their
solitary splendour, serving as a beacon of divine light
for the onward march of humanity.
The Hindus hold that the Vedas contain the irerms of all knowledge, and that their teachings are in complete consonance with the doctrines of true science.^ The
1 Historical Uoseaiclics. Vol. II, p. 1-10.
-Heereu's llistnm-al Researches, Vol. II, ]). 127.
^See P. Guru Datta's- Yedic Texts, No. 2, printeel at tlie Virja- nand Press, Lahore, Those who read their own hisiorioal theories in tlie Vedas will do well to consider the words of Professor Barth. After pointing out some of the metaphysical theories contained in the Vedas he proceeds: " These alone are sufficient to prove, if necessary, how pro- foundly sacredotal this poetry is, and they ought to have suggested reflections to thuse who have (iffccted to see in it only the work of primitive shepherds celebrating the praises of their gods as they lead their flocks to the i)asture." — Barth's Religions of India, p. :1P.
Professor Thielve of Leyden, too, expresses the same opinion, only more strongly in Tlicologixche Tijdochrift lov i\\\y 1880. As Professor Max Mnller admits, the Europeans " are still on the mere surface of Vedic literature," and must not reject it as useless if they do not find in it corroboration of their preconceived theories of anthropology and sociology. See India : What can it teach us? p. llo.
222 HINDU SUrEHlORITY.
late lamented P. Guru Datta of Lahore attempted to interpret a few mantras of the Rig Veda on the strength of Swami Dayanand Saras wati's commentary on the Vedas. The result was astonishing. Interpreting the 7 til mantra of the second sukta of Rig Veda, —
f*T^ ^ ^cf ^^ ^^?!l ^ frgiKHiT 1 f^4 ^cT]=qt ^T^^T II
p. Guru Datta says : " This mantra describes the {(Ihiyam) process, or steps whereby the well-know^n of liquids, water, can be formed by the combination of tiro other substances {ijrltachim sadhcnita). The word sndhanfa is in the dual number indicating that it is two elementary bodies which combine to form water. What those two elementary substances according to this mantra are, is not a matter of least importance to determine. The words used to indicate those two substances are m.itra and rarana.
" The first literal meanino- of mitra^ is measurer. The name is given to a substance that stands, as it were, as a measurf'r or as a standard substance. It is the measurer of density, or of value, otherwise known as quantiva- lence. The other meaninc; of mitra is 'associate.' Now in this mantra, mitra is described as an associate of varima.'^ It will be shown how varuna indicates
1 The viord mitra is foi-med by adding the nnadi suffix; kra to the root mi, according to the sutni ^ffff^fff^lf^*^'. WV II ^101° 8 I ^^8 II The meaning is ffliftcfti^T'i^ =R^fclfvJ^: I or one tliat measures or stands as a standard of rcl'crciRM'.
-Varuna is fonucd hy ailding unadi suffix unan to root rri to accept ^^^tPc^^*^*?^ II 1,^ 1 1 Hence it means that which is accept- able to all or seeks all.
THE VKDir i.nr.nATrRK. i>*i3
oxvnjen H'as.' Now it is well-known tluit hvdroucn is not only the lightest element known, nor is it only monovalent, but that it has a strong afiinity for oxygen ; hence it is that it is described as an associate of varuna. Many other analogies in the properties of mitra and hi/dro(/en go on to suggest that what is in Vedic terms styled as mitra is in fact identical with hydrogen. Mitra for instance, occurs as synonymous with itdaiia in many parts of the Vedas, and udaiia is well characterized by its lightness or b}* its power to lift up.
"Thesecond element with which we are concerned is vartma. Varuna is the substance that is acceptable to all. It is the element that everv living being needs to live. Its well-known property is rishadah, i.e., it eats aw^ay or rusts all the base metals, it burns all the bones, etc., and physiologically purifies the blood by oxidizing it, and thereby keeping the frame alive. It is by these properties that varuna is in general distinguished ; but it is especially characterized here as rishadah. No one can fail to perceive that the substance thus distinctly characterized is oxvgen gas.
" Another word used in the mantra is puta dakshavi. Piita is pure, free from impurities. Dalsha means energy. Pitta daksham is a substance pure possessed of kinetic energy. Who that is acquainted with the kinetic theory of gases cannot see in jmta daksha the properties of a gas highly heated ?
" The meaning of the mantra taken as a whole is this. Let one who is desirous to form water by the combina-
1 Again, we have in ISIigliantn. the Veclio Dictionary, Chapter V, Section 4, ffl^ ^fcT l(^«imS?f2rT5R || Hence mitra means that \vhich approaches or seeks association with others.
224 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
tion of two substances, take pure hydroo-en gas highly heated and oxygen gas possessed of the properties rishadah, and let him combine them to form Avater."
The Brahnianas^ too^ are sometimes held by the ignorant to be part of the Yedas : but as Professor Weber says, " strictly speaking, only the Sanghitas are A'edas." The Brahmanas are either commentaries on the Yedas or philosophical disquisitions based on them.
Of the period when these Brahmanas were compos- ed, Professor Weber says : " AVe have here a copy of the period when Brahmans with lively emulation carry on their enquiries into the highest questions the human mind can propound ; women Avith enthusiastic ardour plunge into mysteries of speculation, impressing and astonishing men by the depth and loftiness of their opinion, and who solve the questions proposed to them on sacred subjects."^
The Brahmanas, composed by some of the wisest sages of the ancient world, though not enjoying the authority of the Vedas are of the highest value to the student of the Yedic literature.
The Sutras are divided into —
(1) Sikhsha (phonetic directory).
(2) Chhandas (metre).
(3) Yyakarana (grammar).
(4) Xirukta (explanation of words).
(5) Jyotish (astronomy).
(6) Kalpa (ceremonial).
This division will show that the study of language was cultivated by the Hindus from the earliest times on scientific principles.
1 Weber's Indian Literature, p, 22.
THE VEDIC LITERATURE. 225
Speaking of the Pi';itisakhya (a sub-division of Siklisha) of the white Ynjush, Professor H. H. Wilson says : " Such laborious minutiie and elaborate subtleties reflating to the enunciation of human speech are not to be met with in the literature of any other nation."'
Professor Wilson again says: "It is well known how long it took before the Greeks arrived at a complete nomenclature for the parts of speech. Plato only knew of noun and verb as the two component parts of speech, and, for ])hilosophical purposes, Aristotle, too, did not go beyond that number. It is only in discussing the rules of rhetoric that he is led to the admission of two more parts of speech — conjunctions and articles. The pronoun does not come in before Zenodotus, and the preposition occurs first in Aristarchos. In the Pratis;ikhya, on the contrary, we meet at once with the following exhaustive classification of the parts of speech."'
Mr. Alexander Thomson, the late talented and able Principal of the Agra College, and one of the best philologists in India, used to say that the consonantal division of the alphabet of the Sanskrit language was a more wonderful feat of human genius than any the world has yet seen. Even now the Europeans are far behind the Hindus in this respect. Professor ]\Iac- donell says: "We Euro2>eans, 2,500 years later, and in a scientific age, still employ an alphabet which is not only inadequate to represent all the sounds of our language, but even preserves the random order in which vowels and consonants arc
^Wilson's Essays on Sanskrit Literature, Vol. Ill, p. ol7, -Wilson's Essays ou Sanskrit Literature, Vul. Ill; \<. 321, (;3rd edition).
22G HINDU SUrERTOKITY.
jinnhlecl up as they Avere in the Greek adaptation of the primitive Semitic arrangement of 3,000 years ago."'
Rev. ]\[r. Ward says: "In philology the Hindus liave, perhaps, excelled both the ancients (Greeks and Romans) and the moderns."^
Professor ^lax Muller says: "The idea of reducing a whole lanouno-e to a small number of roots, which in Europe was not attempted before the sixteenth century by Henry Estienne, was perfectly familiar to the Brah- mans at hast 500 years before Christ."^
" The science of language, indeed,'.' says Sir A^ . A\ . Hunter, "had been reduced in India to fundamental principles at a time when the grammarians of the West still treated it as accidental resemblances.""*
Another branch of the science of language, the JXrammatical treatment of it, was cultivated to a degree which not only defies comparison, but is unique in the annals of literature. The most eminent Indian gram- marian, Panini Muni, sits on the hallowed throne of un- rivalled literary reputation, having achieved the most perfect work of its kind of which the hiunan mind is cap- able. Professor Weber speaks in rapturous terms of Pani- ni'sVichievement. He says : "We pass at once into the magnificent edifice which bears the name of Panini as its architect, and which justly conunands the wonder and admiration of everyone who enters, and which, by- the very fact of its sufficing for all the phenomena which language presents, bespeaks at once the marvellous
J History of lliiulu Clicmistiy, Vol. 1, p. 25. ^Mythology of the Hiinlns.
•"^iMax Muller's Lectures on the Science of Language, p. .SO. For IL Estienne, see Sir Jolin Stoildart, Glossology. ■iJnii.irial (Jazeltei-r, " India. " p. 2U.
■I'liK N'KDic LrrKKA'rruic. 227
iii<;'nniiity of its inventor and liis prolound penetniLion ol" tlie entire niateriul of tiie language.'"
Sir W. Hunter says: "The grammar of Pauiiii stands su])reme among the grammars of the world, alike for its precision of statement and for its thorough ana- lysis of the roots of the language and of the formative principles of words. V>y applying an algebraical termi- nology, it attains a sharp succinctness nnrivalled in brevity, but at times enigmatical. It arranires in loijicad harmony the whole phenomena Avhieh the Sanskrit lang- nage presents, and stands forth as one of the most splen- did (ichlevements of human invention and industry. So elaborate is the structure that doubts have arisen whether its iniiumeraljle rules of formation and i)honetic 'change, its polysyllabic derivatives, its ten conjugations with its multiform aoriscs and long array of tenses could ever have been the spoken language of a people."-
Planning says: ''The celebrated Panini berpieathed to posterity one of the oldest and most renowned books ever written m any lani>-ua<>'e."'' " The scientific com- pleteness of Sanskrit grannnar appeared to Sir \\\ Jones so unaccountfibls tliat he wrote about it with amazement and admiration."^
lAVeber's Indian Literature, p. 210. "Those niles (of «i;raniniar) are formed with tlie utinost conciseness, the consequence of very iiii^-enious methods." — Colehrooke on Sanskrit and Prakrit hinguages, Afiiutic Jietsearches, Vol. VII.
-Imperial Gazetteer of India, Art, "India," p. 211:.
■^Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. I, p. oSl. Ancient and ]\Iedia'val India, A'ol. I, p. ;;7I). " The .grammatical works 1(1' th" Hindus are so reiiiarkalili' tliat in their own department they are said to exceed in nicrii nearly all, if not all, ^ramuialical pro- ductions of other nations. "-p. O^o.
228 ^I^'DU surEuioKiTY.
In Europe, generally speaking grammatical science does not yet treat of those high principles which nnderlie the life and growth of knguage. It is not fair to Panini to compare with his Vya/carcma, the grammars of modern Europe, wdiere the grammatical science has not yet grasped those princij)les of the formation and develop- ment of a language, which it is the unique honour of Sanskrit grammars to classify and explain.
Mrs. Manning says : " Sanskrit grammar is evi- dently far superior to the kind of grammar which for the most part has contented grammarians in Europe." ^
"Vyakarana," says the same authoress, "was not merely grammar in the lower acceptation of being an explanation of declension, conjugation and other prammatical forms, but was from its commencement a scientific grammar or grammatical science in the highest sense which can be attributed to this term."^
j\Ir. Elphinstone says : " His works (Panini's) and those of his successors have established a system of grammar, tlie most complete that ever was employed in arranging elements of human speech."^
Professor Max Muller says : " Their ( Hindus) achievements in grammatical analysis are still unsur- passed in the grammatical literature of any nation."
" Panini, Katyayana, and Patau jali, are the cano- nical triad of grammarians of India," and, to quote Mrs. Manning once more, "such (grammatical) works are originated as are unrivalled in the literary history of other nations."*
'Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. I, p. o81.
2See Goldstiicker's Panini. p. I'JC). VYakar;ina = nndoing or analysis.
^^Elphinstone's History of India, p. 14G.
* Ancient and Medianal History of India. Vol. I, p. 381. "Hindu crrammarians liavp boon pn^jja^-od in the solution of interesting prol)lems from times immemorial.'' — p. oSl.
TIIK VKDIC I.T'lKKATUltK. 220
^[|-. A\':ir(l ^avs : " Their _uT:unin;n's arc very nu- merous, and reflect the hiiihest credit on the in!j,\'nnil\' o£ their aiUhors."^
Profeissor Sir ^lonicr AVilliams remarks : " Th(! grammar o£ Paniiii is one oF tlie most remarkahh; literary works that the world has ever seen, and no other countnj can produce any grammatical .'^j/stem at all comparable to it, either for orii/inal'iti/ of plan or analytical suhtlety.^^ The Pi-ofessor again says : "His Sastras are a perfect miracle oi" condensation."
A commentary on Panini's grammar was writtini l)y Katvavana, author of Varttikas. He was criticised hy Patanjali, who wrote the Mahahliasliya, Avhich is, accord- ing to Professor Sir Monier AVilliams, " one of the most Avonderful grammatical works that the genius of any country has ever produced."^
The following grammarians are said to have pre- ceded Panini : — Apisali, Kas3-pa, GariiTa, Galava, Sak- ravarmana, lUiaradwaja, Sakatyana, Sakalja, Senaka, and Sphotayana.
As regards lexicons, the Reverend Mr. Ward says : " Their dictionaries also do the hiidiest credit to tlie Hindu learned men, and prove how highly the Sanskrit was cultivated in former periods."
MVavLi's ^Mythology of tho Hindus. -Iiuliun AVisdoiii. ]». 172.
•MMoniiT Williaui.s' Indian Wisdom, pp. I7(j and 177. rataiijali is said to have liecn born al (ionarda in llio east of Fiidia and livi-d for some lime in Kaslimir. His mother's name (aecording to some) was Ganika. Panini wns, liowover, a native of Slatiiia, to tlie noitli- west of Attock .111 the Tiidns. Hi< mother. Dnkshi. was descended from Haksliii. Professor Goklsliieker thinks he has groiiudb to decide that Panini Hved before Buddha.
230 HINDU SUrERIOKlTY.
II.— POETRY.
]MessinQ,'s 1)0 with thoni aiul ctfriiiil iiraiso, Tin' |i(K'(s who oil L'lirtli have iiiailc us lieirs Ot" Truth and pure delight by heavenly lays.
— Wordsworth.
Count Bjornstjerna says: "Poetry rales over till in India; it has lent its forms, its coloring, and its charms even to the most abstract sciences, yea, even to religion."^
Professor Max Danker says : " The treasares of poetry in India are inexhaastible."- Among sach a " poetical people" as the Hindas — as Professor Heeren'' aptly terms them — poetry tloarished in wonderfal laxariance, and its varioas branches were caltivated with marvellous success. Professor Heeren says : " The varioas branches of poetry, such as the narrative and the dramatic, the Ivric as well as the didactic taid the apologue, have all flourished in Sans- krit literature, and produced the most excellent results.""* Mr. Elphinstone says : " All who have read the heroic poems in the original are enthasiastic in their praise, and their beauties have been most felt by those whose own productions entitle their judgment to most respect. Nor is this admiration confined to critics who have peculiarly devoted themselves to Oriental literattu-e. Milmtm and Schlegel vie w^ith Wilson and Jones in their applause ; and from one or other of these writers w^e learn the simplicity and originality of the composition; the sub- limity, grace and pathos of particular passages; the natural dignity of actors ; the holy parity of manners, and the inexhaustible fertility of imagination in the authors."''
"^Tiicogonv of tlio Hindus, v. 80. -History of .\ntiquity, Vol. IV, ]i, 27. ^Ui^t. liJsearehes, Vol. 11,' p. ISO. "^llist. ];,■., ar.'hes, Vol. 11, p. 117, ■''J'llpliiii.-loiie"s lli:>tury of India, p. 155.
KIMC I'ol/l'iiV. 2:U
II [.—EPIC POKTRV.
A 11(1 liiTc llic sinL;('r i'nr liis iii'l,
Xui all ill vain iii;i_v plcail, Tlic soul;' thai iHM'Vcs a iiali"ii"s Iirai'l,
Is in itsoll' a deed.
— Tennyson.
PnoFEssou TTkei;kn s^,3^s : "The litcmturc of tlic Iliiidus is rich in ('[)Lc pootry."' The U:iinay:in;i and the Maha- hharata, however, are the ])rinci])al epics, tlie e[)ics par e.xcellence o£ India. Professor Monier W'ilHanis tluis sneaks of them : " Altiioui''h the Hindns, hke th(; Greeks, have only two great epic poems, namely, the llama vana and the Mahabharata, jQt to compare these Avith the Iliad or the Odyssey is to compare the Indus and the Gixn<j-es risini!; in the snows of the world's most colossal ranges, swollen Ijy numerous tril)utaries s])read- ing into vast shallows or bi'ancliing into deep divergent cliannels, with the streams of Attica or the mountainous torrents of Thessally. There is, in fact, an immensity of bulk about tb.is, as about every other department of Sanskrit literature, which to a European, accustomed to a more limited horizon, is absolutely bewildering."- Of these remarkable poems, the Ramayana is the older, while the Mahabharata is the larger of the two. Apart from their high poetical merits, in which they defy rivalry and discard comparison, their enormous bulk is a standing puzzle to the European critics.
^ Historical Roscarclies, Vol. II, p. 147. -Indian Epic Poetry, p. 1.
232 HINDU SUPERIORlXr.
A comparison with the other great epics of the old "World will give an idea of their enormous size. :\l:ihal)harata has 2,20,000 lines.
Kamayana has 48,000 ,,
Homer's Iliad has 15,693 „
Alrgil's ^luiead has 9,868 ,,
The Iliad and Odyssey together contain 30,000 lines. Schlegel calls Ramayana "the noblest of epics."
" Ramayana," says Professor Monier Williams, "is niidonbtedly one of the greatest treasures in Sanskrit literature." Sir W. Jones says : " The Ramayana is an epic poem on the story of Rama, which, in unity of action, magnificence of imagery and elegance of style far sur- passes the learned and elaborate work of Xonnus."^
After giving the argument of the Ramayana, Prof. Heeren, with his usual moderation, says : " Sucli, in few words, is the chief subject of Ramayana, while the de- volopment and method of handling this simple argument is so remarkably rich and copious as to suffer little from a comparison in this respect with the most admired pro- ductions of the epic muse."-
Professor Sir M. Monier Williams says : " There is not in the whole range of the Sanskrit literature a more charming poem than the Ramayana. The classical purity, clearness and simplicity of its st3de, the exquisite
1 Asiatic Roscarchos, p. 255. A writer in the Westminister Jteriew for April 18G8 oiTers MaliaMiarata such a remote antiquity as to leave behind not only Mann but even the writings of Asvalyana, etc. Count Jijornstjerna dates it at 2000 B.C. Dr. Mittra points out that "tlie Mahabharata, in tlie course of ils thousands of verses, nowliere alludes to Ijuddhism ;uid Buddha, and must therefore, and ou other grounds not wortli naming here, date from before the birth ol' Sal<ya." — 7Vu' J i(</u Anjuvx, Vol. r, p. 38.
-Ileereu's Uistorical Researches. Vol. II, p. 140.
EPIC roETlvV. 2?)?)
touches of true poetic (eermg with which it uIjouikIs, its gr;ij)hic (lescrii>ti<)iis of heroic incidents, nature's li'i'aiK I - est scenes, the deep acquaintance it dis})lays wilIi (he. conflictino' workings and most refined emotions ol' tlic human heai't, all entitle it to rank among the most beauli- ful compositions that have appeared at any period or in any country. It is like a spacious and delightful garden, here and there allowed to run wild, but teeming witli fruits and flowers, watered by perennial streams, and even its most tangled lungle intersected with delii>htful pathways. The character of llama is nobly portrayed. It is only too consistently unselfish to be lium;ui. We must in tact bear in mind that he is half a god, yet though occasionally dazzled by flashes from his su[)erior nature, we are not often blinded or bewildered by it. At least in the earlier portion of the poem he is not generally represented as more than a heroic, noble- minded, pious, virtuous man, whose bravery, unselfisii generosity, filial obedience, tender attachment to his wife, love for his brothers and freedom from all resentful feel- ings, we can appreciate and admire. When he falls a victim to the spite of his father's second wife, he cherishes no sense of wrong. When his father decides on banishing him, not a nuuMuur escapes his lips. In noble language he expresses his resolution to sacrifice himself rather than allow his parent to break his pledged Avord. As to Sita, she is a paragon of domestic virtues. "-
^ '• When iiU'Utiticil with tlio ili'ity, lie scciiis liiiii.<('ll' uiK'nUM-inns ol' his tine rliai:i(ii'r. [t is even pussililc tiiat the [nissnuvs whicli iiuikc hiui ill! iii';iniati<iii of Vishnu iii.iy bt- Idler iuU'r^iulatiun.s."
-ludiaii Epic I'uc'try, p. 1-'.
234 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Sita is the noblest ideal of a woman. Her nol3le and calm devotion to her lord, her unbounded love, her exalted conception of the eternal, nay, divine relation of a wife to her husband are ideals unparalleled for lofti- ness and sublimity in any language or literature. AVhat can be more noble than her address to Rama when she pleads for permission to accompany him into banishment ?
A wife must shai'e her husband's fate. My duty is to follow thee Where'er thou goest. Apart from thee, I would not dwell in heaven itself Deserted by her lord, a wife is like a miserable corpse. Close as thy shadow would I cleave to thee in this life and hereafter. Thou art my king, my guide, my only refuge, my divinity. It is my fixed resolve to follow thee. If thou must wander forth. Through tliorny trackless forests, I will go before thee treading down The prickly brambles to make smooth thy path. Walking before thee Shall feel no weariness : the forest-thorns will seem like silken robes ; The bed of leaves a couch of down. To me the shelter of thy presence Is better far than stately palaces and paradise itself. Protected by thy arm, gods, demons, men shall have no power to harm me. With thee I'll live contentedly on roots and fruits. Sweet or not sweet, If given by thy hand, they will to me be like the food of life. Roaming with thee in -desert wastes, a thousand years will be a day ; Dwelling with thee, e'en hell itself should be to me a heaven of bliss,
"Juliet," says Prof. Dowden, "is but a passionate girl before this perfect woman," meaning, Brutus' Portia, but what becomes of Portia herself before this heavenly woman, this ethereal being, this celestial Sita ?
As for Rama, his character simply stands un- rivalled in all literature, ancient or modern, Asiatic or European.
Principal Griffith says: "Well may the Ramayana challenge the literattn*e of every age and country to protluce a poem that can boast of such perfect characters as a Rama and a Sita." He adds : " Nowhere else are
EPIC POETUV. 235
poetry and morality so churmingl}" united, each clevatinii; the other as in this really holy poem."
Miss Mary Scott says : " The Ramayana is full of ])oetr3% and Sita one of the sweetest types of woman- hood that I have ever read."^
As for the Mahabharata, Professor Hereen says : " It Avill scarcely be possible to deny the Mahabharata to be one of the richest compositions in Epic poetry that was ever produced."^
Dr. F. A. Hassler of America thus waxes eloquent in praise of the Mahabharata: "In all my experience in life, I have not found a work that has interested me as nuich as that no))le production of the wise, and T do not hesitate to say, inspired men of ancient India. in fact I have studied it more than any other work for a long time past, and have made at least 1,000 notes which I have arranged in alphabetical order for the purpose of study. The Mahabharata has opened to me, as it were, a new world, and I have been surprised beyond measure at the wisdom, truth, knowledue, and love of the riii'ht which I have found displayed in its pages. Not only so, but I have found many of the truths which my own heart has taught me in regard to the Supreme Being and His creations set forth in beautiful, clear language.'*
The Hamilton, Daily Spectator (May 31st, 188S) thus speaks of the Mahabharata : " This poem is really a series of religious, moral, metaphysical, philosophic and political disquisitions strung upon a thread of narrative. This not only gives to the modern world a living picture
1 Letter to F. C. Koy, dated London, the 8tli December 1883.
"Historical Researclies, Vol. II, p. IG-L
^LettertoP. C. Roy,dated21st July, 1888. See Roy's Malmbliarata,
236 HINDU SUPEIUORITY.
of Imliau life, morals, manners, politics, religion and philosophy as they existed more than 2,000 years ago, but they transmit to us son:ie of the most sublime poetry and some of the deepest and noblest thoughts that have ever been given to the world."
Krishna, the greatest politician of the world, says : —
" The wise grieve not for the departed, nor for those who yet survive. Ne'er was the time when I was not, nor thon, nor yonder Chiefs, and ne'er Shall be the time when all of us shall be not ; as the unbodied soul In this corporeal frame moves swiftly on through boyhood, youth & age, So will it pass through other forms hereafter — be not grieved thereat. The man whom pain and pleasure, heat and cold affect not, he is fit For immortality : that which is not cannot be — and that which is Can never cease to be. Know this : — the being that spread this universe Is indestructible : who can destroy tlie Indestructible ? These bodies that enclose the everlasting soul, inscrutable. Immortal, have an end — but he who thinks the soul can be destroyed, And he who deems it a destroyer, are alike mistaken : it Kills not, and is not killed ; it is not born, nor doth it ever die ; It has no past nor future — unproduced, unchanging, infinite : he Who knows it fixed, unborn, imjierisliable, indissoluble. How can that man destroy another, or extinguish aught below ? As men abandon old and threadbare clothes to put on oihers new. So casts the embodied soul its worn out frame to enter other forms. !No dart can pierce it ; flame oannot consume it, water wet it not, Nor scorching breezes dry it : indestructible, incapalile Of heat or moisture or aridity — eternal, all-pervading, Stedfast, immovable ; perpetual, yet imperceptible. Incomprehensible, unfading, deathless. uiiiu:aginable."
Miss Mary Scott says : "The characters are splen- didly portrayed. It is a thoroughly martial poem, and one can enter into the battles between the Pandus and Klu'US." Professor Sylvian Levi of Paris says : "The Mahabharata is not onlv the laro-est, but also the ""rand- est of all epics, as it contains throughout a Hvelv teach- ing of morals under a glorious garment of poetry .'.'i
'Letter to P. C. Roy, dated the 17th jMarch 1888,
EPIC rOKTRY. 2l\7
The Amci'ican ethnologist, JcrcmiiJ.h Curtiii, writ- ing to liabu P. C. Koy, the enterj)risiiig pp.Mislier of an English translation ol' the ^lahabharata, says : '• 1 h:i\(! ju-^t finished reading cartifally from hcgliming to end, 24 nnnihers of vonr translation of tin; Mahabharata, and can honestly say that i li;i\e nerer ohiaiiied more plea- ,vtrc friwireadlnii any book in wy life.^ The Mahal )harata M'ill open the eyes of the world to the true character and intellectual rank of the Aryans of India. You are cer- tainly doing a great work, not only for Hindustan, Init for the Arvan race in other countries. The Alahabharata is a real mine of w^ealth not entirely known, I suppose, at present to any man outside your countiy, but W'hich Avill be known in time and valued in all civilized lands for the reason that it contains information of the highest import to all men who seek to know in singleness of heart, the history of our race upon the earth, and the relations of man with the Infinite Power above us, around us and in us."
Saint Hilaire Bartholemy thus speaks of the ]\Iaha- bharatain the Journal Des Savantes o^ September 188G: " When a century ago (1785) Mr. AVilkins publish- ed in Calcutta an extract from the grand poem ( Maha- bharata), and made it known through the episode of the Bhao-vadjnta, the world was dazzled Avith its mao-nifi- cence. Vyasa, the reputed author of the Mahabharata, appeared greater than even Homer, and it required a very little indeed to induce people to place India above
Greece It has not the less been admitted
that this prodigious Hindu epic is one of the grandest monuments of its kind of human intelligence and genius."
1^500 lioy's Truiifilatiou of Muluibliarata, part XXX.
2o8 HINDU SUPEUIORITY.
The IVatertofrn post (Tuesda^y, June 22, 1886), calls Mahiibharata, " one o£ the most wonderful poems of which we have any record," and says: " The poem is the Mahabharata, the oldest, the most voluminous, and, according to AVheeler, the historian of India, the most valuable epic in any language. It consists of some 2,20,000 lines, is fourteen times longer than the Iliad."
Sir Edwin Arnold, in his " Indian Idylls," claims for parts of it " an origin anterior to writing, anterior to Puranic theology, anterior to Homer, perhaps to Moses.'' He fin-ther says : " What truer conception of a wife than this, written more than three thousand years ao-o : " She is a true wife who is skilful in household affairs : she is a true wife whose heart is devoted to her lord ; she is a true wife who knoweth none but her lord. The wife is man's half : the wife is the first of friends : the wife is the root of salvation. They that have wives have the means of beino: cheerful : thev that have wives can achieve good fortune. Sweet-speeched wives are as friends on occasions of joy : they are as mothers in hours of sickness and woe. A wife, therefore, is one's most valuable possession. No man even in anger should ever do anvthino; that is disao'reeable to his wife, seeing that happiness, joy and virtue, everything de- pended on the wife," and concludes by saying: "we may well accept this great poem as one o£ the [)riceless possessions of the East."
]\lr. Titus Munson Coan, in the New York Times (4th March, 1888), says: "The Hindu epics have a nearer siirnificance for us than anvthino- in the Norse mythology. The Mahabharata, one of the longest of these poemsj has wider romantic element in it than
Eric roETiiv. 2o9
King Frithiof's Scuja ; its action is cast upon a grander scale, and its lierocs belittle all others in mythology. The Hindu poems, early though they are, contain otliical and human elements that are unknown to the Norseman. It is in this that their endurinu", their "Towini'' interest remains for the mind of Europe and of America,"
The Hamilton Daily Spectator of olst May, 1888, after speaking of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata as *' immortal works," says that the great epic of India, " ■\lahabharata, is the longest and iu some respects, the greatest of all epic poems."
Mon. A. Barth says : " Some portions of the Maha- bharata may well compare with the purest and most beautiful productions of human genius.' The Ramayana is three times as large as Homer's Iliad, and the Maha- bharata four times as large as the Ramayana. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey have thirty thousand lines, the Maha- bharata has two hundred and twenty thousand lines, and, in addition, a supplement of sixteen thousand three hun- dred and seventy-four couplets. But it is not in size alone that the sacred epics of Valniiki and A'yasa excel. They enchant by the wonderous story they tell of ancient Aryan life, faith and valour. There is also a lively teach- ino- of morals under a glorious garment of poetry." "Matchless vivacity, unsurpassably tender and touching episodes, and a perfect store house of national anticpnties, literature and ethics. "-
^ Revue De L'Jli<to/rc Dcs Reli;/inn.-i. Farh 188i», p. 38.
2The Montreal JleraUl, (Thursday, Nov. 12tli, 1801). Trubnor's American, European and Oriental Literary Record, new Series, Vol. VII, No. 3, speaks of the Mahabharata as "the wonderful ejiie," and regrets "how little has up to the present been done to unravel tiie mysteries it contain-^, or even to smooth a path leading to its golden treasures ! "
240 HINDU SLTERlOiaTY.
Speaking o£ a certain part ot the Mahabliarata, a c^i^ic savs : "We know o£ no episode, even in Homeric poem.s, which can snrpass its grandeur or raise a more solemn diro'e over the desolation o£ the fallen heart o£ men." '
The characters ol the five Pandavas, of Krishna, Darvodhana, Drona, Bhishma and Karana, are drawn with a true poetic feeling "and with nuich artistic delicacy of touch." Yndhishtra, Arjuna, Bhima, are portraits worthy of the highest poets, and can only be drawn by men of extraordinary imagination, and I)y soaring intellects as Vyasa.
Perfection is a merit known only to the Hindus. " A European poet would have brought the storj^ to an end" after the termination of the war in favour of the Pandavas, but "the Sanskrit poet has a far deeper in- siiiht into man's nature '' and would not end there, to the dissatisfaction of the reader, but would wind u]^ the story and end with the translation of the Pandavas to Heaven.
"The Ramayana and the Mahabliarata," says Wil- son, "abound with poetical beauties of the first order, and particularly in delineations of picturesque maimers and situations, and in the expression of natural and amiable feeling." -
"There are many graphical passages," says Professor M. Williams, "in the R.amaj^ana and ^lahabharata, which
I The Westminister Review for October 1842. "Many of its (]\lali;x- bliarata's) episodes of themselves would make perfect poems of the lirst grade, and wouM stand comparison witli any European poems. Tliere is a toucliing episode, fidl of true poetic feeling, in Adiparva (ildt, called Bakahadlia, as there are a thousand others." — Monicr \Viiruuii>' Ej>ic Poetiji iij' I itilia.
-Mill's India. Vol, II, p. 52, footnote.
EPIC rOETRY. 211
for honuty oC do^criptioii, onmiot bo snrpn!?r>c(l by nny- thiiii!; in Homer, . . . th;it the diction of Ijulian epios is more polished, re_i»'nl:ir :ind cultiviited, and the lan^'u- no^e ixUoi^'cther in a more advanced stage of devolopment than that of Homer." Then, as to the description of scenery,^ in wliich Hindu poets are certainly more f^ra- phic and picturesque than either Greek or Latin ... he adds : "Yet there are not wantinii* indications in the In- dian epics of a higher degree of cultivation than that represented in the Homeric poems. The battlefields of the Rama3'ana and the Mahabharata are not made bar- barous by wanton cruelties, and the description of Ayodhya and Lanka imply far greater luxury and refinement than those of Sparta and Troy." Ramayana and Mahabharata rise above the Homeric poems also in the fact "that a deep religious meaning appears to un- derlie all the narrative, and that the wildest allegory may- be intended to conceal a sublime moral, symbolizing the conflict between good and evil, teaching the hopelessness of victory in so terrible a contest with purity of soul, self-abnegation and th(i subjugation of the passions.""^
Mr. Herbert Spencer, the greatest of the modern Euro- pean thinkers, condemns the Hiad among other things for the reason " that the subject matter appeals continually to brutal passions and the instincts of the savage."^
Sir Monier Williams says : — " And in exhibiting pictures of domestic life and manners, the Sanskrit
^"lu Homer, the de^^c^iption of scenery and natural objects are too short and general to be really picturesque. Twining says that the (Treek poets did not look upon Nature with a painter's eye." — Monier Williams' InUan Epic Poetry.
2 Indian Epic Poetry, p. 4,
3 Herbert Spencer's Autobiography, Vol. I, p- 2G2.
242 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
epics are even more valuable than the Greek and
Roman. In the delineation o£ women, the Hindu poet
throws aside all exaggerated colouring, and draws from
Nature. Kaikeyi, Mandodari, Kausalj^a, and even Man-
thra, are all drawn to the very life. Sita, Draupadi,
and Damayanti engage our affections far more than
Helen or even than Penelope. Indeed, Hindu wives ^
are generally perfect patterns of conjugal fidelity : nor
can it be doubted that in these delightful portraits of the
p\atlvrata^ or devoted wife, we have true representations
of the purity and simplicity of Hindu domestic manners
in early times."
" jSTothing," says the author further on," can be more beautiful and touching than the picture of domestic and social happiness in the Ramayana and the Malia- bharata. It is indeed in depicting scenes of domestic affection, and expressing those universal feelings and emotions ^\hich belong to human nature in all time and in all places, that Sanskrit epic poetrj' is unrivalletL'''''^
In addicion to these two most celebrated epics, there are a large number of 'smaller epics which would Aveli stand comparison with similar poems of any country.
1 Count Bjornstjeina &ays : "Among other remarkable particulars in this poeui is the ]iure light in which it sets the nohle character and higii- minded devotion ul' the women oi India" — Tltfoijuini of the Hind H!<, p. 82.
^Indian E[iic Poetry, pp. 57, 58. " Contrast with the respectful tone of Hindu children towarils their parents the harsh manner in which Telemachus geneially speaks to liis niuther. Filial respect and affection is ([uite as noteworthy a feature in tlic Hiiulu character now as in an- cient times. 1 have heeu assured by Indian officers that it is cuniUKin for unmarried soldiers to stiui themselves almost tostravation pdint that they may send money to tiieir aged parents In this, tlic Hindus might tjach us (I^nghslimcn) a lesson." — ;S//- Monirr W^UUiuuh.
V.VIC I'oKTin', 213
]\Ir. Colchroukc speaks of Ii(i(/huraiisa in the lii^licst terms, and says, " Sisiipnfhadh is another celebrated epic poeni."i '''' Klrat Arjunya is remarkable," accord- ini;' to Colel)rooke "for the variety of measnres and the alliteration," while Maha Kavyas a))pears to the European reader very remarkable for verbal int^'eiuiity." ^^Bhalil/iari/a, by Uhartari Hari, is a poem of considerable reputation."'' '^K/i.mar Sambhaca is charming and fanciful," and, adds Mr. Griffith, "the author nuist have tried all the fertility of resource, the artistic skill, and the exquisite ear of the author of Lala Rookh.''''^
Naloda>/a, which is attributed to Kalidasa, "is remarkable for showing the extraordinary powers of the Sanskrit language, and it is impossible not to wonder at the ingenuity of the workman."'
The Haiihava Pandava Vijaj/a, b}^ Kaviraja, " is rather a curiosity than a poem." Mr. Colebrooke s[)eaks of it as an instance of a complete poem, every canto of which exhibits variet}' of metre. "This," says Mrs. Manning also, " is an extraordinary poem."
Of Nala Damayanti, Professor Hereen says : " Re markable as this episode appears for inventive merit it is not at all inferior in })oint of style, and some passages would do credit even to Homer himsel/y^
The imagination of the ancient Hindus Avas un- rivalled in fertility and range ; in fact, like the whole
1 Ancient iiud jMcilia'Viil Iiulia, Vol II, i», lo4, - ^Manning's Ancient and Medianal India, Vul. IT, p. 135. •Hiiid, [). 137. •' VtMi)al ingenuity is its most reinarkable (|iiality.'' Colebrooke regards "Kirat Arjunya, Kumar SamMiava, lia^lm N'aiisa, "Nalodaya, Megliduta, with another, as G excellent compositions in Sanskrit." — MiacelUincous Essir//s, p. 81.
•iprerare to Griffith's translation o[ the "IVirlli of the War tJoil." ^Old Indian Poetry. ,jHeereu's. Uist. Researches, Vol, II, p. 1G7.
2 4 4 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
face of nature, like those stupendous mountains, majes- tic rivers, and boundless expanse o£ the country around them, the ancient Hindu standards o£ strength and splendour are bewildering to some critics, who are "accustomed to a more limited horizon." Their (Hindu) creations are. therefore, not oidy unrivalled but un- approachable in beauty, richness and grandeur.
To the European everything is grand, sublime and magnificent in India, whether you look at the outward expression of nature, or at the physical and mental resources of the country. Look at the creation of God or the creation of man, you are absolutely struck with amazement and awe ! The snowy peaks of her sublime Himavat seem to raise their heads hio-her than the hifdiest heaven, while before their Indra and Brahma the European Apollo and Jupiter sink into insignificance. "If we compare," says Professor Heeren, "the mytho- logy of the Hindus with that of the Greeks, it will have nothingto apprehend on the score of intrinsic copiousness. In point of aesthetic value, it is sometimes superior, at others, inferior to the Greek : while in luxuriance and splendour it has the decided advantage. Olympus, with all its family of gods and goddesses, must yield in ])ompan(l majesty to the palaces of Vishnu and Indra." i "The Hindu mythology," he says, "like the sublime compositions of Milton and Klopstock, extends its poetic flight far into the regions of unlimited space." He adds : "The Hindu Epos has a greater resemblance to the religious poetry of the Germans and the English tlian Greeks, with this difference, that the poet of India has a
"1 TluWfu'ri llisl>»iiral RrM'aivhes. Vol. 11, p. 1*85.
Eric roKTKY. 245
•svidcr rnnQ-e afTorded to liis iinai>;liiatiou than tlic latter." Some critics hold that the Ramayana is the ori<;'inal o£ the Iliad,' tli.it the latter is only an adaptation of the former to the local circumstances of Greece, that Homer's description of the Trojan war is merely a mytholo<Tical account of the invasion of Lnnka by Ram Chandra. The main plot, of course, is the same. Troy stands for Lanka (Tabrobane), Sparta for Ajodliia, Menelaus for Rama, Paris for Ravana, Hector for Indrajit and Vibhi- shan ; Helen for Sita, Agamemnon for Sugriva, Patroclus for Lakshmana, Nestor for Jamvant. Achilles is a mixture of Arjuna, Bhima and Lakshmana.
Indeed, it is very improbable, if not impossible, that the Greeks should produce all at once poems wliich stand amongst the greatest feats of humm genius, and occupy a place in literature inferior only to the Lidian epics (in some respects). Anterior to Horasr, Greek literature has no existence, even no name, and it is difficult to believe that, without any previous cultivation whatever, some of the hii^hest and the noblest work in the whole rani^e of literature should come into existence. The English literature did not begin with Milton, or the Roman with Virgil ; nor does the Sanskrit with Yalmiki or Vyasa, as the Greek does with Homer.
Apart from external circumstances, the subject-matter lends support to the theory in a remarkable manner. The plot, the characters and the incidents reseml)le those of the Hindu epic poetry so strongly that it is difficult to explain this phenomenon, except by assuming that the one has drawn extensively, if not wholly, from the other.
i"Evcu tlic actiuu ol" the Hindu Epic is iiiacud iii an a^v far anterioi" to liistuiical computation." — llcercn's Historical licnearchcs.
246 HINDU SUrEKIOUITV.
I
And if we consider the external circumstances, the state of civihzation of the two nations, their hterature, wealth and constitution, the learning' and character of their creators, little doubt remains as to who were the real creators and who the adapters. ]\I. Hippolyte Faache, in the Preface to his French translation of the Ramayana, says that " Ramayana was composed before the Homeric poems, and that Homer took his ideas from it."
Apart from the fact that the main story has been ado])t- ed, and that the underlying' plot of tlie one (Ramayana) and the principal characters (jf the other ( Mahabharata) have been taken and fused together into a national epic by the Greeks, it is clear that episodes and separate in- cidents from the Indian eoics have been taken and versi- fied in the Greek tonf>;ue. Colonel AVilford asserts that " the subject of the Dionysus of Xonnus was bor- rowed from the Mahabharata."' About Ravana's inva- sion of the kingdom of Indra, Count Bjornstjerna sa3's : " This myth is probably the foundation of the ancient Greek tradition of the attempt of the Titans to storm Heaven."'
Professor Max Dunker says : " AVhen Dion Chry- sostora remarks that the Homeric poems are sun'>- by the Indians in their own lan<2;uat'e — the sorrows of Priam, the lamentations of Hecuba and Andromache, the bravery of Achilles and Hector — Lassen is undoubtedly right HI referring this statement to the Mahabharata and putting Dhritrashtra in the place of Priam, Gandhari and Draupadi in the places of Andromache and Hecuba, Arjuna and Kama in the places of Achilles and Hector.";^
1 Asiatic licsearclics, Vol. IX, p. "J;:5. - TliO()<,'oiiy ut Uio Hiiidus, p. til. ^History of Antiquity, Vol. IV, p. «.t.
DRAMA. ^^'
DRAMA.
To \v;ikc tlic sDiil liy Iciulcr strnK'i^s of art, To raise tlu' LC<'iiins ainl to nicinl ilir lirart, To make iiiaiikiipl in conscious virtue lioM, Live o'er each scene, and he what they heholJ.
— Pope : Pro. to Addison's Cofo.
The drrimatic writings of the Hindus are equally remarkable. External nature, as might be expected in a country which is " the epitome of the world,"' is the special forte of the Hindu poets, and, in no country, aucient or modern, has j^ature (in contradistinction to man) been treated so poetically or so extensively intro- duced in poetry. But, though outward nature must attract, by its magnificence and its beauties, the attention of a people gifted with such marvellous powers of obser- vation and sense for beauty, yet, the Hindus being a people given more than any other nation to analyzing thoughts and feelings and investigating mental pheno- mena, have made explorations in the realms of mind that exact the homage of mankind and defy emulation. To this reason, therefore, is due that the internal nature of man, the human mind with all its thouo-hts, feelin<'s volitions, all its desires and affections, its tendencies and susceptibilities, its virtues and failings and their develop- ments are all drawn with a pencil at once poetic and na- tural. Creation in perfect harmony with nature is a feature of the Hindu drama. The characters are all creations, perfect in themselves and in their fidelity to nature. Extravagance, contradiction and unsuitability
1 Murray's ilistury of Imlia, p. 1,
248 iiixnu surERiOKiTY.
ill the development — either of the plot or the characters — is never permitted. The dramas hold the mirror to jSTatnre and, in this respect, the Shakespearean dramas alone can be compared to them : while, as regards the language, Sanskrit must o£ course always stand alone in beauty and sublimity.
With regard to the extent to which the dramatic literature has been cultivated in India, Sir W. Jones says that the Hindu theatre would Jill as many volumes as that of any nation of modern Europe.
The Mohamedan conquest of India resulted in the effectual repression of Hindu dramatic Avri tings. Instead of receiving further development, the Hindu drama rapidly declined, and a considerable part of this fascinat- ing literature was for ever lost.
Professor Wilson says : "It may also be observed that the dramatic pieces which have come down to us are those of the highest order, defended by their intrinsic parity from the corrosion of time." Rupaka is the Hindu term for " Play," and " Dasa Ru.paka,^^ or description of the ten kinds of theatrical compositions, is one of the best treatises on dramatic literature and shows tlie extent to which dramatic literature was cultivated by the Hindus.
A writer says : " We might also conveniently transfer to them (Hindu dramas) the definitions of the European stage, and class them under the head of Tragedy, Comedy, Opera, ]3allet, P)urletta, IMelodrama and Farce." Professor Heeren says : "There are speci- mens of Hindu comedy still extant no way inferior to the ancient Greek."'
Ulii^lorioal lU'soiirclK'.s, Vol. II, p. lUl.
DRAMA. 249
Hindu drama, however, is in many respects superior to the Greek drama.
(1) Among the Hindus there are nine rasa or effects to be produced on the spectator. They are love, mirth, tenderness, fury, heroism, terror, disgust, won<ler and tranquilUty. " The serious part of this Hst is much more comprehensive than the Greek tragic rasa of terror and pity."
(2) " The love of the Hindus is less sensual than that of the Greek and Latin comedy." — Wilson.
(3) Valour, whenever displayed in the Hindu drama, is calm, collected and dispassionate. The calm intrei)idity of the hero of Vlr Charltra presents a very favourable contrast to the fury of Tidides or the arrof>;ance of a Rinaldo. The Hindu taste is much finer.
(4) Females were represented in general by females. " Boy Cleopetra" was unknown to the Hindu stage.
(5) The precise division of the Hindu pla3"S into acts is a feature unknown to the Greeks. The division into acts proves higher development.^
(6) There was, moreover, no want of instruction for stage business, and we have the "asides" and "aparts" as regularly indicated as in the modern theatre in Europe. '-^
i"In respect of dress and decorations, the resources of the Hindu theatre are sufficiently ample." — Heeren's Historical Researches, Vf)l. II,
2 On Mill's instituting a comparison between the Chinese and the Hindu drama, Professor Wilson says : "The action of the Chinese plays is unskilfully conducted, and they are wanting in the high poetic tone which distinguish those of the Hindus: at the same time they are ingenious and often interesting. They represent manners and feelings with truth. They are the works of a civilized people." — MilVs India, Vol. II, p. (iO
250
HINDU SUPEUIOfilTY
FolloAving nature more closely, the Hindu drama usuallj' blended "seriousness and sorrow with levity and laughter." In this respect, the Hindu drama may be classed with much of the Spanish and English drama to which, as Schlegel observes, " the terms tragedy and comedy are wholly inapplicable, in the sense in which they are employed by the ancients."
The higher purpose of the dramatic art was neyer lost sight of by the Hindus. This is a distinguishing- feature of the Hindu drama. Professor Wilson says : *' We may, however, obserye to the honour of the Hindu drama, that Parakhja^ or she who is the wife of another person, is never to be made the object of a dramatic intrigue : a prohibition that would haye sadly cooled the imagination and curbed the wit of Dryden and Coni2;reve."
Sir W. Jones says : "The dramatic species of enter- tainment must have been carried to great perfection when Vicramaditya, who reigned in the first century be- fore Christ, gave encouragement to poets, philologers, and mathematicians." " But what a course of prelimi- nary mental improvement," says Professor Heeren, " must the nation have gone through ere they could possess a writer like Kalidasa ! ere they could understand and appreciate his genius!"
Greater masters of drama, however, lived and died in India before Kalidasa ; Dandi was one of them. Unhappily, however, to the eternal misfortune and regret of the civilized world, his works have met the same fate as productions of the highest class in many other departments of Hindu literature and science have done.
1)1{AMA. 2.51
Love or srui(/(h\ the (iinotioii wliieli .'iftcr liiiiiLicr is the most powerful emotion in the world, is a leading principle in tlie dramatic literature of the world, and Mrs. Manning says: "Nowhere is love expressed with greater force and pathos than in the poetry of India." ^
The best known dramatists of the Hindus are Kali- dasa and Bhavbhuti. Kalidasa, "one of the greatest dramatists the world has ever produced," flourished in the reign of Yicramaditya in the first century E.G.,'*^ while Bhavbhuti lived many centuries later.
The masterpiece of Kalidasa is the play of Sakuntala. The plot of this "astonishing literary performance," as a great German critic calls it, is taken from the Maliabharata. Professor Heeren speaks in rapturous terms of this "far-famed drama, "'^ Avhichis incomparable for its beauty, charm, tenderness and fidelity to nature, and which, in fact, stands at the head of the dramatic literature of the world. He says : " And we must, in truth, allow Kalidasa to be one of those poets who have
1 Ancient and Madia}val India, Vol. II, p. 148.
2 Some critics attVct to 'think that the author f)f Saknntala was a contemnorary of Raja Dhoja and not Vicraniaditya, because a poet named Kalidasa is also found to have flourished in the court of Bhoja. Professor Wilson says: " There having been two Kalidasas in India, and the existence of a Kalidasa at the court (if Bhoja, is no argument a-'ainst Aniar's being conteniiiorary with another bard of the same name, (U- tlu'ir both having flourished long anterior to the reign of the prince." rrofess.)r Wilson then proceeds to explain the cause of such wild criticism, >\hich he says is twofold: (l)The disputants runinto the opposite vice of incredulity in order to avnid being thMughl credulous. (2) " Their opiK.siii.m to the many claims of Hinduism is not founded so much in greater leaniing or superior tal.-nts as in strong prejudices in favur of their own country and higii conceit of their own abilities." See Mill's History of India, Vol. I, !>. 174-
^Mannings Ancient and ^lediaival India, Vol. II. p. 171.
252 * HINDU SUPERIORITr.
done honour not merely to their nation but to all civilized mankind."^
Augustus Schlegel, the foremost German Sanskritist, says of Sahinfala, that it presents " through its Oriental brilliancy of colouring, so striking a resemblance to our (English) romantic drama that it might be suspected that the love of Shakespeare has influenced the translator, were it not that other Orientalists bore testimony to his fidelity. "-
Alexander Von Humboldt also notes the masterly mode in which Kalidasa describes "the influence of nature upon the minds of lovers, his tenderness in the expression of feelings, and above all the richness of his creative .^fancy"3 "Her (Sakuntala's) lo.ve and sorrow," saj's Dr. Sir W. Hunter, "have furnished a theme for the great European poet of our age." Goethe sings : —
Wouldst thou the young yejirs blossom and the fruit of its decline.
xVud all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed. Wouldst thou the Earth and Heaven itself in one sole name combine,
I name thee, 0 Sakuntala I and all at once is said.
As regards the diction of the Hindu drama, Profes- sor Wilson says : " It is impossble to conceive language so beautifully musical or so magnificently grand as that of the verses of Bhavbhuti and Kalidasa.""^ No dramatic
1 Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 19t.
^Monier Williams' Sakuntala, Preface. Schlegel (History of Literature, p. 115) says : "What we chiefly admire in their poetry is that tender fondness of solitude and the animated vegetable kingdom that so attract us hi the drama of Sakuntala, the traits of female grace and fidelity and the exquisite loveliness of childhood, of such prominent interest in the older epics of India. We are also struck with the touching pathos accom[)anyiiig deep moral feeling."
■' Ancient and Mediteval India, A'ol. II, p. 142.
^Wilson's Theatre of the Hindus, Vol. I, p. 63. As an instance of the great diversity of composition, I may mention the fact that the first 35 stanzas of Sakuntala exhibit eleven kinds of metre.
DHAMA. 253
literature dating earlier than the first century before Christ is extant to enable one to judge o£ its ({uality. The earliest specimen avaihible shows the language itself and the study of versification to have reached the liighest point of refinement, for the era of Mcramaditya, says Professor Heeren, " gave birth to the greatest master- pieces in the art."
Another celebrated play of Kalidasa is Vicrama and Urvasl. Comparing this play with Sakuntala, Professor AYilson says: " There is the same vivacity of description and tenderness of feeling in both, the like delicate beauty in the thoughts and extreme elegance in the style. It may be difficult to decide to which the palm belongs, but the story of the present play is perhaps more skilfully woven and the incidents arise out of each other more naturallv than in Sakuntala, wdiile, on the other hand, there is perhaps no one personage in it so interesting as the heroine of that drama." He adds : "The chief charm of this piece, however, is its poetry. The story, the situa- tion and the characters are all highly imaginative, and nothing, if partiality for his work does not mislead the translator, can surpass the beauty and justice of many of the thouo;hts."
The story is founded on a legend from the Satpath Brahmana. Vicrama (a king) loves Urvasi (a nymph of Heaven), and his love is not rejected ; but he is warn- ed that if he is ever seen by her naked or unveiled, she shall be banished. This is a myth, and the high dra- matic treatment of this scientific myth does the highest credit to the wisdom, observation and learning of Kali- dasa. Explanations of this myth are given by Max Muller in his "Comparative Mythology," as well as by
254 HINDU surEitioRiTY.
Dr. Kuhn, wherein he aUudes also to the ideas of AVeber. Max Muller makes Urvasi = da.v,'n. Another explanation is that Pururavas (or Yicrama) personifies the sun, whilst Urvasi is the morning mist (see Cham- ber's Encyclopa?rlia, S. V. Pururavas). Urvasi is an apsara, and we find in Goldstiicker's dictionary that the apsaras " are personifications of the vapours which are attached by the sun and formed into mists or clouds." Apsaras is derived from ap = water, and saras = who moves. ^ Profes- sor Goldstiicker holds, therefore, that the legend represents the absorption by the sun of the vapour floating in the air. When Pururavas becomes distinctly visible, Z/r^ja^z vanishes, because when the sun shines forth ihe mist is absorbed. Urvasi afterwards becomes a swan in the Satpafli, but Kalidasa changes the nymph into a climbing plant. " In Greece, Daphne becomes a laurel, because the country abounds in laurels, which are mani- fest so soon as the sun has absorbed the mist."
Bhavbhuti's popularity perhaps rivalled that of Kalidasa. Professor Wilson bears testimony to the extraordinary beauty and power of his language, and attributes his peculiar talent for describing nature in her magnificence to his early familiarity with the eternal mountains and forests of Gondwana. His best-known plays are the Uiira Bam Charifra and Madhava Malati. As regards the former, Professor Wilson says : " It has more pretentions to genuine pathos than perhaps any other specimen of Hindu theatre. The mutual sorrows of Rama and JSita in their state of separation are pleasingly and tenderly expressed, and the meeting of
iSec Wilson's Theatre uf the Hindus, Yul. I, p. 11)3.
DRAMA. 255
the father niul sons may be compared arlvanfaj/eoiisli/
Avitli similar scenes with wliich the fictions oi' ]'.uro]i(',
both poetical and dramatic, abonnd. Besides tlie
felicitous expression of softer feelings, this play lias
some curious pictures of the beau ideal o^ heroic bearinj^
and of the duties of a warrior and a prince. .4 h/)/h(;r
elevation can. scarcel// be selected for either. The true
spirit of chivalry pervades the encounter of the two
young princes. Some brilliant thoughts occur, the justice
and beauty of which are not surpassed in any literature."^
As regards Jfadhava Malafi, Prof : ^^'ilson says :
" It offers nothing to offend the most fastidious delicacy,
and may be compared in this respect advantageously
with many of the dramas of modern Europe, which
treat of the passion that constitutes its subject. The
manner in which love is here depicted is worthy of
observation, as correcting a mistaken notion of the
influence which the passion exercises over the minds of
the natives of at least one portion of Asia. However
intense the feeling — and it is represented as sufficiently
powerful to endanger existence — it partakes in no respect
of the impetuosity which it has pleased the writers
of the West to attribute to the people of the East.
The barbarous nations whose inhuman love Is wild desire, fierce as the sun they feel.
The heroine of this drama is loved as a woman. She is no goddess in the estimation of her iover. The passion of Malati is equally intense with that of Juliet. The fervour of attachment which unites the different
1 Wilson's Theatre of the Hindus, Vol. I, \>[>. 38-3, 84.
256 HINDU SUPERIOR ITY.
personaf^es of the drama so indissolubly in life and death
is creditable to the i Hindu national character. Unless
instances of such disinterested union had existed, the
author could scarcely have conceived, much less pictured,
it."
Altoo:ether, Madkava Malati is one of the most
charming, powerful and refined representations of the emotion o£ love to be found in the literature of any nation. The political life and manners of the Hindus are well depicted by Yisakhadatta in |his celebrated play, Mudrd Rakhshasa. It has the stir and action of city life, the endless ingenuity of political and court intrigue, and the ''staunch fidelity which appears as the uniform characteristic of servants, emissaries and friends, a singular feature in the Hindu character," which, Pro- fessor Wilson remarks, " it has not wholly lost." Professor Wilson adds: "It is a political or historical drama, and unfolds the political policy of Chanakya, the Machiavel of India in a most ingenious manner. The plot of the drama singularly conforms to one of the unities, and the occurrences are all subservient to one action — the conciliation of Rakhshasa. This is never lost sight of from first to last without being made unduly prominent. It may be difficult in the ivhole range of dramatic litera- ture to find a more successful illustration of the rule^^
The Mrichchhkati, or the Toy Cart, by Maharaja Sud- raka, possesses considerable dramatic merit. The interest is rarely suspended, and in every case the apparent inter- ruption is with great ingenuity made subservient to the common design. The connection of the two plots is much better maintained than in the play we usually refer to as
1 Wilson's Tlu'atre of the Hindus, Vol. 11, p. 20i. "TUe author
is the Massinger of the Uiudus," — Wilson.
DKAMA. 2.57
a liivi^py specimen of such ;i comhinntion, "Tlie Sp:inisli Fri'.ir." The deposition of Puliilva is interwoven w ith the main story so intimately, that it could not be detached from it without injury, and yet it never becomes so prominent as to divert attention from that to which it is only an appendage."^
The hero of the pliiy, however, is Samsthanaka, the llaja's brother-in-law. "A character so utterly con- temptible has perhaps been scarcely ever delineated. It would be very interesting to compare this drama for its merit of unity with The Merchant of Venice or The Two Noble Kinsmen^ two of the best English dramas, in both of which ihe underplot is so loosely connected ivith the mainploty
One more play- and I have done. The celebrated drama, Prabodha Chandrodayahy Krishna Misra, is much admired by Professor Lassen,'- who calls it peculiarly Indian, and ^''unlike anything in the literature of other countries. The allegorical personifications are not only Avell sustained but are wonderful, and the whole plot constructed with so much ability as to excite the admiration of all readers."
"Much of that of the Hindus," says Professor Wil- son, "may compete successfully with the great number of dramatic productions of modern Europe, and offers no affi- nity to the monstrous and crude abortions which preceded the introduction of the legitimate drnma in the West."
TsVilson's Theatre of the Hindus, Vol. 1, ]i. LSI.
-There are many other dramas of considerable merit and hi,i,'h repute. Mahnhir Charitra by Bhav Ijhnti. lidtiKtraU by Sri IJarish Deo, Maharaja of Kashmir, and Veni Snmhnra are amoui^ those uliich can be advniita^vously compared with simihir <lramas in the literature of other nations.
ilndUchc AUertliumkundc, Vol. Ill, \\ 700.
258 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
LYRIC POETRY.
And fill this song of Jai Deva with thcc,
And make it wise to teach, strong to redeem
And sweet to Hving souls. Thou, mystery
Thou, Light of Life ! Thou, Dawn beyond the dream !
— Hymn to Vii^hnu.
The Lyric poetry of the Hindus is the finest of its kind in the world, for the reason that the language in which it is written is the most melodious and musical on earth. As Professor Wilson remarks, the poetry of the Hindus can never be properly appreciated by those who are ignorant of Sanskrit. To judge of the merits of Hindu poetry from translations is to judge it at its worst. More- over, owing to the peculiarities of life and character of the Hindus, Europeans can hardly be expected to fully appreciate and enjoy their poetry ; as they can neither fully understand their character, nor fully enter into their feelings and s^^mpathise with them. To the Hindus, liharata's conduct in followino; Rauia into the iunole and entreating him to return to Ayodhia is as natural as anything in the world, while to Mr. Talboys Wheeler, the historian of India, it appears, " contrary to human nature." As Mr. Wheeler re2:ards the venerable Dasratlia as shamming when he gives vent to sorrow after having sentenced Rama to exile to keep a vow, what should he have thought of the Hindu ladies of the pre- sent day had he known that they would die or suffer any- thing rather than open their lips even to those who are dearer to them than life itself, when they think modesty
LYRIC rOETKY. 259
forbids their doing so, even when Ufe itself is in danger ? Hindu ideas of duty, obedience and modesty are much more complex than those of other nations. Still, when Hindu Lyric poetry has been properly judged, the praise has been liberal, and approbation emphatically expressed.
Gita Govind is the finest extant specimen of Hin- du lyric poetr}^, and it is difficult to find in any language lyrics that can vie with it in melody and grace. Mr. Griffith says : " The exquisite melody of the verse can only be appreciated by those who can enjoy the original."^
Schlegel says : " Tender delicacy of feeling and elegaic love cast a halo over Indian poetry," and " the whole is recast in the mould of harmonious softness, and is redolent of elegaic sweetness."^
Gita Govind has been analysed by Lassen in his Latin translation, beautifully translated in German by Ruckert, and has been dwelt upon with admiration by Sir W. Jones in his essay on the Mystical Poetry of the Hindus.
Professor Heeren sa3^s : "The Hindu lyric surpassed that of the Greeks in admitting both the rhyme and blank verse."^ He further says: "How much of the beauty of a lyric must inevitably be lost in a prose trans- lation it would be superfluous to remark ; and yet it is impossible to read the Gita Govind without being
charmed It is impossible, however, not to notice
the extreme richness of the poet's fanc}', the strength and vivacity of his sentiment particularly observable in
^Ancient and Median-rtl India, Vol. IT, p. 269. ^Sohlegel's History of Literature, p. 117. sUicstorical Researches, Vol. II, p. 187.
2 GO HINDU SUPERIORITY.
his delicate taste for the beauties in general, and which
not even the ardour of passion was able to extinguish."^ " Giia Govind exhibits," says Mr. Elphinstone,
*' in perfection the luxuriant iinngerj^ and the voluptuous
softness of the Hindu school."^
Another Hindu lyric is the Ritu SangraJi, something
like "Thompson's Seasons" in the English language.
Mrs. Manning says about it : " Ritu Sangrah, a lyric
poem by Kalidasa, is much admired not only by the natives of India, but by almost all students of Sanskrit literature.""'^
Mr. Griffith, in his translation of "Ritu Sangrah,"
saj^s : " Sir W. Jones speaks in rapturous terms of the beautiful and natural sketches with which it abounds," and, after expressing his own admiration, adds, "it is much to be regretted that it is impossible to translate the whole."*
Lyric poetry was extensively cultivated in India. Sir W. Hunter says : " The Mediaeval Brahmans dis- played a marvellous activity in theological as well as lyric poetry."
Special charm must attach to the lyric poetry of the Hindus, for, as Mrs. Manning remarks, "Kowhere is love expressed with greater force or pathos than in the poetry of the Hindus."''
1 Ancient and Mediaeval India, pp. I^^l), 11)0. .I.aideva, its author was born, as li(j himself says, at Kondnli, situated eitlicr in Calinga (n- in Burdwan.
^History of India, p. 15(1.
^Historical Researches, Vol. II. Professor Von Bohlon translated it into German and Latin in 1840 A,D.
'^Manning's Ancient and Modianal India, Vol, II, p. 205.
■'J Manning's Ancient and ^ledia'val India, Vol. 11, p. 148,
LYRIC rOETRY. 201
]\le(jh Piifa is nn excellent oxnmple of purely de^^eriptive poetry. Mrs. MnnninjTf says : " It is the most important of its kind, and is a favourite Avitli the Europeans too,"i Professor H. H. Wilson says: ''The lano-uaii'e (of IMeu'li Duta") althouo'h remarkable for the richness of its compounds, is not disfigured by their extravagance, and the order of the sentences is in general the natural one. The metre combines melody and dignity in a very extraordinary manner, and Avill bear an advcnitaffeous comparison with the best specimens of uniform verse in the poetry of any language, living or dead.""
1 Manning's Ancient and Modianal India, Vol. II, p. 257. ^Wilson's Essays, Vol. II, p, 312.
2G2 niNDU SUPERIORITY.
ETHICO-DIDACTIC POETRY.
Thy power the breast from every error frees And weeds out all its viees by degrees.
— GiFFORD : Juvenal.
The Hindu achievements in this branch of literature estabhsh once for all their intellectual superiority. It is this part of their literature that has made its way to ihe remotest corners of Europe and America. Its sway over the mind of the civilized world is almost despotic and complete.
Professor Wilson says : " Fable constitutes with them (Hindus) practical ethics — the science of Niti or Polity — the system of rules necessary for the good government of society in all matters not of a religious nature — the reciprocal duties of the members of an oro-anized body either in their private or public relations. Hence it is specially intended for the education of princes, and proposes to instruct them in those obligations which are common to them and their subjects, and those which are appropriate to their princely office ; not only in regard to those over whom they rule, but in respect to other princes, under the contingencies of peace and war. v Each fable is designed to illustrate and exemplify some reflection on Avorldly vicissitudes or some precept for human conduct; and the illustration is as frequently drawn from the intercourse of human beinos as from any imaginary adventure of animid existence, and this
ETIIICO-DIDACTIC TOETRY. 2(')'.\
mixture is in some dep^ree a peculiarit}^ o£ the Hindu plan o£ fabling or storytelling."^
It is now admitted by the learned everywhere that the fabulous literature of the world, which is such an im])or- taut, and, in some respects, so necessary a p:irt of the education of 3-oung men all over the world, apart from it being one of the most amusing, interesting andinstructive diversions from labour and severe study, owes its origin solely to the intelligence and wisdom of the ancient Hindus.
Panchiantra is far and awa}^ the best masterpiece in the whole fabulous literature of the world ; nay, it is the source from which the entire literature of fables, Asiatic or Eui-opean, has directly or indirectly emanated. Mr. Elphinstone says : " In the composition of tales and fables they (Hindus) appear to have been the instructors of the rest of mankind.' The most ancient known fables (those of Bidpai) have been found almost unchanged in their Sanskrit dress ; and to them almost all the fabulous relations of other countries have been clearly traced by Mr. Colebrooke, the Baron -de- sacy and Professor Wilson."
Dr. Sir W. W. Hunter says : " The fables of animals, familiar to the Western world from the time of uEsop downwards, had their original home in India. The relation between the fox and the lion in the Greek versions has no reality in nature, but it was based upon
^Wilson's Essays on Sanskrit Literature Vol. II, p. 80. ^History of India, pp. 15G, 157. For a guide to further in([niry as to the Hindu origin of European fables, see Transactions of the E. A. S., Vol. I, p. 156. " The complicated system of storytelling, tale within talc like the Arabian Nights, seems also to liavc been of their invention, as ar(? the subjects of many well-known tales and roman- ces. Oriental and European." — Elphimtone's Ilidory of India, p. 157.
264 HINDU SUPEKIOKITY.
the actual relation between the lion and bis follower, the jackal, in the Sanskrit stories. Pan.chtantra was translated into the ancient Persian in the sixth century A.D., and from that rendering all the subsequent versions in Asia Minor and Europe have been derived. The most ancient animal fables of India are at the present day the nursery stories of EnyJand and America. The graceful Hindu invagination delighted also in fairy tales, and the Sanskrit compositions of this class are the original source of many of the fairy stories of Persia, Arabia and Christendom."^
Professor Max Muller says : " The King of Persia, Khusro Nausherawan (531-579 A. D.) sent his physician, Barzoi, to India in order to translate the fables of the Panchtantra from Sanskrit into Pahlavi."^ llitopdesa (hita=good and iipdesa=iid\ice) as Mrs. Manning says, is the form in which the old Sanskrit fables became introduced into the literature of nearly every known language.
Fabel maintains the Indian origin of the fables common to India and Greece, which proves the antiquity of the Hindu fables.^
Professor Weber says : " Allied to the fables are the fairy tales and romances, in which the luxuriant
^Imperial Gazetteer, " India," p. 238.
-India: Wliat can it teach us? p. 93. "The Panchtantrn was translated iiito Persian in the sixtli century by order of ^N'aushcrawan and thence into Arabic and Turkish and Lastly into French." — liceren's Hlstoricdl Researches, Vol. II, p. 200.
•^Weber's Indian Literature, p. 211. "The fable reported by Arrian of Ilei'culcs having scarchi'd the whole Indian ocean and found (he pearl with wlucli he used to adorn his dauii-hler, is of Hindu oriuin," — Ileeren's Jliitoi-ical Researches, Vol. II, p. 271
ETniCO-DIDACTIC rOETRY. 205
fancy of the Hindus has, in the most wonderful degree, put forth all its peculiar grace and cliarni."^
Professor Wilson says : " The Fables of the Hindus are a sort of machinery to which there is no parallel in the fabling literature of Greece and Rome."- He also says that the Hindu literature contained collections of domestic narrative to an extent siirpasshyj those of any other people.
Mrs. Manning thus remarks on the Panchtantra: " Each fable will be found to illustrate and exemplify some reflection on worldly vicissitude or some precept for human conduct ; and instead of being aggregated pro- miscuously or without method, the stories are all strung together upon a connected thread and arranged in a framework of continuous narrative, out of which they successively spring."^
A careful study of the subject will show that even the books which appear to have a distinctive Persian character and are generally regarded to be of Persian origin are in reality Hindu to the core. Count Bjornst- jerna remarks: "The thousand and one Nights, so universally known in Europe, is a Hindu original translated into Persian and thence into other lano-uages. In Sanskrit the name is Vn'hat katha.^^* Professor Lassen of Paris asserts that "the Arabian JSights Entertainments are of Hindu origin."'
Despite the authority of so many learned Orientalists in favour of the Hindu origin of this liternture, and tlie
'Weber's Indian Literaturo, p. '2 I'd.
-'Wilson's Essays, Vol. II, p. 85.
^Anciont and Mediaeval India, Vol. 11, p. 274.
"i'riieogouy of the Hindus, p. 85.
5S?e his Ind. Alt. IV, \k 002,
2GG . niNDU SUrERIORITY.
express historical evidence as to the transmission of the Hindu fables to Arabia and Persia, there is overwhelminir internal evidence in the fables themselves to support the assertion that the Hindus have been the teachers of the rest of mankind in this important branch of literature. Take, for instance, the case of a particular fable. In the Panchtantra there is a story of a female bird who wished to make her nest further inland, because on the day of full moon the sea would be sweeping over the place where she then was. But the male bird objects, believing that he was as strong as the sea and that it could not encroach upon his nest. (Benfey, Yol. It, pp. 87-89). Now this story is, as Professor AVilson remarks, one of the decisive proofs of the Indian origin of the fables. The name of the bird in Arabic is Tita/ci, a word which cannot be resolved to any satisfactory Arabic root. It is " only a transcript of the Sanskrit T/'ff/bha, Bengali T/'f/'b and Hindu Tltihrl.
Wilson remarks that in the translation of Panchtan- tra, Kalalawa Damna, the name of the ox in Sanskrit was Sail] i wall' a ^ whence the Arabic Shan:ebeh, and those of the jackals, Karataka and Damnaka, whence the Arabic Kalala und Damnay The tale of Ahmad and Pari Banu betrays palpably its Indian origin. Pari Bhanu is decid- edly a Hindu name. The eldest of the three princes, Prince Husein, in search of some extraordinarv raritv which may entitle him to the hand of the Princess Nuran Nihar, re- pairs to the Indian city, Bisnagar (decidedly an Indian name) a metropolis of extraordinary wealth and population. Mr. Deslongchamps says : "The book of Sindebad is of Indian origin, and adds that the under-mentioned three stories were in a special degree derived from the original.
ETJIICO-DIDACTIG rOETllY 2^7
(I) The Ar.ibic story of a King, liis Son, liis favourites and seven \'aziers. (2) The Hebrew romance ol: the Parables o£ Sendebar, and (o) the Greek romance of Synti})as. From the Hebrew romance above de- scribed, Deslongchamps derives, "the history of the seven sages of Rome," Ifistoria septem sapiciitan Romw^ a very populnr work in Europe for three centuries.
Professor Wilson says : " In a manuscript of tlie Parable of Sendebar, which existed in the IJritish Museum, it is repeatedly asserted in anonymous Latin notes that the work was translated out of the Indijin lano:ua£»'e into Persian and Arabic, and from one of them into Hebrew. Sendebar is also described as a chief of the Indian Brahmans, and Beibar, the King, as a King of India." — Ellis' Metrical Romances^ Yo\. III.
A decisive proof of Sindebad being an Indian is the direct evidence on the subject, of the eminent Arabic writer, ]\[asndi. In his "Golden Meadows" (Mirajul- Zeheb), in a chapter on the ancient kings of India, he speaks of an Indian philosopher named Sindebad, who Avas contemporary with Kurush, and was the author of the work entitled, " The Story of Seven Vaziers, the tutor, the yoimg man and the wife of the king." "This is the work," he adds, " which is called the book of Sendebad."
By his interesting analysis of the Syntipas and the Parables of Sendebad^^ Professor Wilson clearly shows that the stories are one and all of Hindu origin.- He also shows that the " Seven Sages of Rome " is also of Hindu origin. liesides these fables and stories, says Professor Wilson, " various narratives of Indian origin forcc(i their way individually and unconnectedly to Europe."'^
nVilsou's Sanskrit Essays, Vol. IT, pp. 00, 100. -'Ibid, p, 101. ^Wilson's Sanskrit Essays, Vol. II, p. 101.
268 HINDU SUPERIOKITY.
Sir John Malcolm says: "Those who rank the highest among Eastern nations for genius have employed their talents in works of fiction, and have added to the moral lessons they desired to convey so much of grace and ornament that their volumes have found currency in every nation of the world."'
It is thus clear that the Hindus have produced a branch of literature the kind of which, in any consider- able degree, has never been produced by any other nation in the world, Asiatic or European, ancient or modern. This wonderful phenomenon is thus explained by Pro- fessor Heeren. " The poetry of no other nation exhibits in such a striking manner the didactic character as that of the Hindus ; for, no other people were so thoroughly imbued with the persuasion that to give and receive in- struction was the sole and ultimate object of life."=^
llle fixes the Crusades as the tiaie of the emigration to Europe of some of the well-known works of this kind, such as : — (1) The Katha Saritasagar, (2) The Veti'il Panclivinsati, (3) The Singha- sana Dwatrinsati, and (4) The Sukasaptati. The first of these works was composed for the amusement and instruction of Sii Harish of Kashmir, by the order of his grandmotlior, Suryavati, who became sati in 1093 A.D. But that the stories of which it is made up were of great anti- quity is proved from the fact of one of them occurring in Odyssey. In tlie fifth book of Katha Saritasagar there is a story of a man who be- ing shipwrecked is caught in a whirlpool, and esca[M's liy jumping up and cliuibiii'.' the branch of a fig tree, apparently thp, inSiiyair' ('i'Vrws Indiva) celebrated for its pendulous roots. Professor Wilson here refers to ■•0'^'^<j\^ ■^^'^^ ''!'■ 101-104, where Ulysses escapes from a whirlpool by jiim^rtig^ up and clinging to the branches of a fig tree — probably the Indian fio,' tree or bunvan, the -nendulous branches of which wonld be more within reach than those of the Sicilian fig; and Homer, he thinks, may have borrowed the incident from some old Eastern fiction. 'Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 197.
THE rUUANAS. 2G9
THE PURANAS.
" We are the voices of the wauderincr \\\m\ Which moan for rest and rest can never linJ, Lo ! As the wind is, so is mortal life, A moan, a sigh, a sob, a storm, a strife."
— Dei-els' Song to Pn'nee Siddharatlict.
The Puranas are looked upon as semi-relif^ions books. As a matter of fact they are, as it were, the store- houses, the vast treasuries of universal information, like the English "Encyclopaedia P>ritannica" with a unity of purpose and a theological bent. They contain disserta- tions and discussions on Theology, Mytholog}', History, War, Polity, Philosophy, Sciences, Arts and other things. In course of time, with the decline and fall of the Hindu nation, when the ideals of the nation were lowe?-ed, when plain living and high thinking ceased to be the national characteristics of the race, when the pure and sublime teachings of the Vedas and the Upanishads began to be neglected, interpolations inculcating the worship of dif- ferent gods and goddesses, celebrating the praises of holy places of India were made in these books from time to time, and they began to be looked upon with greater and greater reverence, with the result eventually that the most spiritual and scientific religion in the world was replaced by a mixture of Theology, Mythology and Sociology.
When the Hindus became too weak to defend them- selves from the attacks of the invaders from the North- west, in order to preserve their literature from destruc- tion they assigned it to the care of a class of men whom
270 niNDU suPEKioniTr.
they invested with special sanctity, and accorded them a privileged position in society. In time the exchisive spirit of these men urged them to look upon learning as their peculiar prerogative, and induced them, with the object of preserving the sacerdotal character of their class, to gradually put a bar to other classes acquiring a knowledge of the Hindu Shastras.
A glance at the contents of tlie Puranas, how^ever, w^ould reveal their real character ; and the commonsense of the Hindus can be relied on to assio-n these books their true place in the literature of the nation.
The W'orld is moving fast, and forces over which the nation, which long revelled in isolation and exclu- siveness to its serious detriment and undoing, has no control are now working so as to demand the utmost circumspection on the part of its leaders and thinkers in husbanding its resources, and preventing its energies from beincj; frittered away in followins; false ideals. If the fate of the ancient Egyptians, the Persians, the l^aby- lonians and the Greeks is to be avoided, it behoves all well-wishers of the nation not only to hold the mirror to its Avretched condition for the edification of the masses, but by making proper use of the useful and valuable lessons contained in parts even of this heterogenous — half sacerdojt-al, half profane — literature, direct its course tow^ards the realization of aims truly and clearly laid down in the sublime and pure teaching of the Vedas and the Upanishads.
Professor Heeren^ says that the Puranas are not the work of a A^almiki or Yyasa, but, like the poems of Tzetzes and other iirammarians, the fruit of extraordi-
1 Historical Kcsearclios, Vul, II, p. 177,
THE PURANAS. 271
nary (lilif2;cncc combined with extensive reacliiij^. He is, nevertheless, far from considering- tliem akogether as an invention of modern times, that is, of the ^Middle Ages.
The literal meanini*: of the word Purana is " old " and the Puranas profess to teach what is old. " They are," says Mrs. Manning, " written in verse with a view to public recitation at festivals, as vehicles for conveying such instruction as the people might be presumed to retpiire. Philosophically, they blend Sankhya philosophy with Vedanta, and practically they were a code of ritual as well as a summary of law."*
The Puranas have been compiled at different periods and by different men. They seem to have adopted dif- ferent innovations made into them by Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, Madhavacharya, and Vallabhacharya. " The invariable form of the Puranas is that of a dialogue, in which some person relates its contents in reply to the inquiries of another." The immediate narrator is ccfm- moidy, though not constantly, Lomaharshana or Soma- harshana, the disciple of Vyasa, vv^ho is supposed to com- municate what was imparted to him by his prece})tor.
The Puranas are divided into three classes : —
1. Sattvika, or " Pure," including Vishnu, Narada, Bha<''wat, Garuda, Padma and A'araha Puranas.
2. Tamasa, or " Puranas of Darkness," including Matsya, Karma, Linga, Shiva, Skanda and Agni Puranas.
8. Rajasa or " Passionate," including l^rahmanda, A^aivarta, Markandya, Bhavishya, Yamana and Brahma Puranas.
The first six Puranas are Vaishnava, the next six are
1 Ancient and MedicTval India, Vol. I, p. 2i4.
272 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
Shaiva, and the last six advocate the Gossain and Val- labhachari religions.
There are eii^hteen Puranas, and it is said that there are 18 Up-Paranas. " The eighteen Puranas are said to have 4,00,000 slokas or 16,00,000 lines. They are fabled to be but an abridoment : the whole amountincr to a crore or 10 millions of stanzas, even a 1,000 millions." And Professor Wilson adds : " If all the fragmentary portions claiming in various parts of India to belong to the Puranas were admitted, their extent would much exceed the lesser, though it would not reach the larger enumeration."^
To give an idea of their contents, a brief survey of two of the most important Puranas is subjoined. Shri Bhar/wat Parana, " that in which ample details of duty are described and which opens with the Gayairl : that in which the death of the Asura Vrita is told, and in which the mortals and the immortals of the Saraswata Kal])a, with the events of that period are related is called the Bhagwat Purana, and consists of eighteen thousand verses." It is perhaps the most important of all the Puranas. Its philosojjhy is Yedantic, and it opens with a cosmogony mixed with mysticism and allegory ; then follow an account of the creation and of the Yarha Avatara, creation of Prajapatees, Swayam Bhava, and then Kapila Avatara, the author of Sankhya Philosophy ; an account of the Manwantras, different legends of Dhruva, Yena, Pritha and an account of the universe follow. Other legends follow, including that of Prahlada, of the churning of the ocean, and the fish
iTIieni is a little confusion in tlie names of the 18 Puranas according to the different Puranas tliemselvcs.
THE ruiiANAS. 273
Avatars and others, and then a history of two Hhidu dynasties. The tenth book which gives tlie liistory o£ Krishna, is the most popular part of the Parana. The eleventh book describes the destruction of the Yadavas and the death of Krishna, and his teachino; Yoffii to Ud- dhava. The twelfth book contains the lives of the kiniis of Kaliyug, and gives an account of the deterioration of all thinofs and their final dissolution. As this Purana was recited by Sukhdeva to Parikshit, who was awniting the snake-bite, the king was actually bitten by the serpent and expired. It terminates with an account of Yyasa's arrangement of the Vedas and the Puranas, and with praises of its own sanctity.
Agnl Purana. " That Purana which describes the events of the Isana Kalpa and w^as related by Agni to Vashishta is the Agni Purana. It consists of 16,000 slokas. It commences with an account of the Avataras of Rama and Krishna, and devotes some chapters to "mystical forms of Shiva w^orship." A description of the earth, genealo- gies, etc., follow. Then comes a system of medicine, and the work winds up with treatises on rhetoric, prosody, grammar, archery and military tactics, etc. It also contains several systems of iiifi (polity).
The 18 Up-Puranas are enumerated as follows : —
1. Sanakumara. 7. Xarsingh. 13. Durvasa.
2. Xaradiya. 8. Parasar. 14. Maheshwara.
3. Shiva. 9. Kapila. 15. Manawa.
4. Varuna. 10. Samba. 16. Nandi.
5. Ansanasa, 11. Kalika. 17. Saura.
6. Aditya. 12. Bhagwat. 18. Vashishtha. The foregoing brief survey of the contents of two of
274 HINDU SLTEIIIOKITY.
the Piiranas is quite inadequate to enable the reader to form an idea o£ their importance, as lighthouses to a great Past. The Agni Purana, for instance, contains particulars of the military organization of the Hindus, which in consequence of the loss of the Dhanur Veda are of especial importance. The Deva Purana mentions the hralimasfra, which proves the use of fire-arms by the Hin- dus in those days. The Padma Purana contains a treatise on the geography of India in particulnr and the Universe ill general, which is of very great importfvnce. Matsya Purana explains the source from which the Jewish, the Christian and the Mohamedan story of the Deluge and their cosmogony are derived. Garuda Purana contains a treatise on precious stones, astrology and palmistry ; a system of medicine is contained in the Agni Purana, while theories of creation are to be found in almost all of them. Some Puranas throw important light on the industries and arts of ancient India, and may, if properly understood and followed, yet help the Indians to improve their position in the industrial world. It must, however, be admitted that sometimes, with a grain of useful information, there Avill be found a lot of useless chaff. On the whole, the Puranas have as much claim to be regarded as the religious books of the Hindus as the Encyclopaedia Britannica has to be accepted as the religious books of Englishmen. As to the antiquity of their contents there is no doubt. Professor H. H. Wilson says : "And the testimony that establishes their existence three centuries before Christianity, carries it back to a much more remote antiquity — to an antiquity that is probably not surpassed by any of the prevailing fictitious institutions or beliefs of the ancient world."
PHILOSOPHY.
How charming is divine philosophy,
Not harsli and crabbed, as dull fools suppose
]}ut musical as Apollo's flute,
And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets
Where no crude surfeit reigns.
— ]\IiLTON : Comus.
Philosophy is the rea.1 ruler of the arlobe : it lays down principles which guide the world. Philosophy shows how a transcendent genius exacts homage consciously or unconsciously from lower intellects. It is phi]oso])hy that blows the trumpet blast, and it is philosophy that blunts the edge of the sword. Philosophy reigns supreme, undisputed and absolute. It conquers the conqueror and subdues the subduer.
If it is true that a great nation alone can produce great philosophers or com.plete systems of philosophy, the ancient Indians ma}^, without hesitation, be pronounced to have been the greatest nation, ancient or modern. "Philosophers," says Professor Max Muller, "arise after the security of a State has been established, after wealth has been acquired and accumulated in certain families, after schools and universities have been founded and taste created for those literary pursuits which even in the most advanced state of civilization must necessarily be confined to but a small portion of an ever- toiling community."^
To what high pinnacle of civilization, then, must the ancient Indians have reached, for, says Professor Max ^Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 5G4, G5.
276 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Muller further on that " the Hindas were a nation o£ philosophers."^
The philosophy of the Hindas is another proof of their superiority in civilization and intellect to the moderns as well as the ancients. Manning says : " The Hindus had the widest range of mind of which man is capable.""
Schlegel speaks of the noble, clear and severely grand accents of Indian thought and says ; " Even the loftiest philosophy of the Europeans, the idealism of reason, as is set forth by Greek philosophers, appears in comparison Avith the abundant light and vigour of Oriental idealism like a feeble promethean spark in the full flood of heavenly glory of the noonday sun — faltering and feeble and ever ready to be extinguished."^
Professor Weber, speaking of Hindu philosophy, says : " It is in this field and that of grammar that the Indian mind attained the highest pitch of its marvellous fertility."* " The Hindus," says Max Muller, " were a people remarkably gifted for philosophical abstraction."' Schlegel says : " India is preeminently distinguished for the many traits of original grandeur of thought and of the wonderful remains of immediate knowledo'e."*^
Like all other things in India, the Hindu philosophy, too, is on a gigantic scale. Every shade of opinion, every mode of thought, every school of philosophy has found its expression in the philosophical writings of the Hindus and received its full development. Sir W. Hunter says : " The
1 Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. vJl. -Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol.1, p.l 14. ■'History of Literature, -i Weber's Indian Literature, p. 27. '^Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 5GC. •^History of Literature, P. l-'G.
niiLosDriiY. 277
problems of tlion£;iit and being of mind and mnttcr and sonl apart from both, of tlie origin of evil, of the sommian homim of life, of necessity and freewill, and of the relations of the creator to the creatnre, and the intellectual problems, such as the compatibility of evil with the goodness of God and the unecpial distribution of happiness and misery in this life, are endlessly discussed. Brahmin Pliilo.'iupliy c.vhaastcd the iwssibh solutions of these d/'jjiculties and of most of the other great problems which have since perplexed Greeks, Romans, Media-val schoolmen and modern men of science."
Speaking of the comprehensiveness of Hindu philosophy, Dr. Alexander Duff is reported to have said, in a speech delivered in Scotland, that "Hindu philosophy was so comprehensive that counterparts of all systems of European philosophy were to be found in it."
Professor Goldstiicker- finds in the Upanishads "the germs of all the philosophies. Count Bjornstjerna says : "In a metaphysical point of view we find among the Hindus all the fundamental ideas of those vast systems which, regarded merely as the offspring of phantasy, nevertheless inspire admiration on account of the bold- ness of flight and of the faculty of human mind to ele- vate itself to such remote ethereal regions. We find among them all the principles of Pantheism, Spinozism and Hegelianism, of God as being one with the universe ; of the eternal spirit descended on earth in the whole spiritual life of mankind ; of the return of the emanative sparks after death to their divine origin ; of the nnin- terrupted alternation between life and death, which is
1 Indian Gazetteer, i)p. 213, 214.
^Ancient and Media^al India, Vol, I, p. 149,
278 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
nothing else but a transition between different modes of existence. All this we find again among the philosophers of the Hindus exhibited as clearly as by our modern philosophers more than three thousand years since." ^
Even with the limited knowledge of Hindu philo- sophy and science that could be obtained at the time, Sir William Jones could say : "I can venture to affirm ■without meaning to pluck a leaf from the nev^er- fadino; laurels of our immortal Newton, that the whole of his theology, and part of his philosophy, may be found in the Vedas, and even in the works of the Sufis. The most subtle spirit which he suspected to pervade natural bodies, and lying concealed in them, to cause attraction and repulsion, the emission, reflection and refraction of light, electricity, califaction, sensation and muscular motion, is described by the Hindus as a fifth element, endued with those very powers."
Mrs. Besant says : " Indian psychology is far more perfect a science than European psychology."^
1 Theogouy of the Hindus, pp. 20, 30. As an instance of Mr. James Mill's stupiditj', if stupidity is compatible Avitli learning, one uiay cite his opinion that the Hindus were extremely barbarous, for they cultivated metaphysics so largely. Prof. Wilson takes exception to it, and says : " With regard to the -writer's theory that the cultivation of metaphysics is a proof rather of barbarism than of civilization, it may be asked, if Locke, Descartes, Leibnitz, Kant, Schelling were barbarous." — Mill's Ilixtorij of India, Vol. I, p. 74, footnote. Mr. James Mill is a conspicuous instance of a man whose mind becomes completely warped by prejudice. Mill's mind could conceive most absurd impossibilities. "Mr. Mill," says Wilson, "seems inclined to think that it was not impossible that the Pyramids had dropped from tjie clouds or sprung out of the soil." How this perverted intellect could educate one of the greatest English thinkers is a problem of some psj'chological interest. -Lecture on National Universities in Lidia (Calcutta), .January, 1 90G.
riiiLosoriiY. 279
♦ As Professor Max Miillcr has observed, " tlie Iliiuliis talk philosophy in the streets," and to this reason is due the thoroughly practical character of their ))hilosophy. " In this respect," says Bjornstjerna, "the Hindus Avere far in advance of the philosophers of Greece iind Rome, who considered tlie immortality of the soul as problema- tical."^ " Socrates and Plato with all their loni^in^s could only feel assured that the soul had more of immortality than aught else."- In India, however, the doctrine has not been accepted in theory only, it moulds the conduct of the "whole nation. This is true of philosophy. And it is due to its practical character that Hindu philosophy has extended its sway over so wide an area of the globe. Hindu philosophy even now holds undisputed sway over the minds of nearly half the inhabitants of the world, whilst its partial influence is no doubt universal.
In ancient times people came to India from distant lands to acquire learning and gain wisdom, and Hindu philosophy thus worked silently for centuries. That the Egyptians derived their religion, mythology and philo- sophy from the Hindus has been clearly established by Count Bjornstjerna ; and that the Greek philosophy, too, was indebted almost w^holly to the Hindu philosophy for its cardinal doctrines has also been shown by eminent Orientalists. The resemblance between the Hindu and the Greek philosophy is too close to be accidental. The Hindus, being far more advanced, must be the teachers, and the Greeks, the disciples. Mr. Colebrooke, the eminent antiquarian, decides in favour of Hindu originality and says : " The Hindus were, in this respect, the teachers and not the learners."^
iTlieogony of the Hindus, p. 27. ■^PJimlo, Taylor's translation. IV, p. 324. •"Transactions of the R.A.S., Vol. I, p. 579.
280 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
A Frencbnian observes that "the traces oE Hindu philosophy which appear at each step in the doctrines professed by the illustrious men of Greece abundantly prove that it was from the East came their science, and that many of them no doubt drank deeply at the principal fountain." The f^^reat Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, came to India to learn philosophy, and here imbibed the doctrine of the transmigration of soul propounded by the Hindu sages. Dr. Enfield says: "We find that it (India) was visited for the purpose of accpiiring knowledge by P3^thagoras, Anaxarchus, Pyrrho, and others who after- wards became eminent philosophers in Greece."'
Discussing the question as to what constitutes human nature according to the Hindus, the Swedish Count says : " Pythagoras and Plato hold the same doctrine, that of Pythagoras being probably derived from India, whither he travelled to complete his philosophical studies."" ]\Ir. Pococke says: "Certain it is that Pythagoras visited India, which I trust I shall make self-evident.""
Schlegel says : "The doctrine of the transmigration of souls was indigenous to India and was brought into Greece by Pythagoras."
Mr. Princep says : " The fact, however, that he (Pythagoras) derived his doctrines from an Indian source is very generally admitted, C nder the name of Mythraic, the faith of Buddha had also a wide exten-
1 History of Pliilosophy, by Dr. Enfield, Vol. I, p. G5. "Some of the doctrines of the Greeks concerning nature are said to have been derived from (he Indians." — p. 70.
-Theogony of the Hindus, p. 77.
''Pocoeke's India in (Jreeee, p. 353.
'^ History of Literature, p. 109.
I'liiLosonrY. 281
tion."^ Sir M. ]\Ioiiier Williams says that Pythagoras and Plato both believed in this doctrine, and that they were indebted for it to Hindu writers.^
Pyrrhon, according to Alexander Polyhister, went with Alexander the Great to India, and hence the scep- ticism of Pyrrhon is connected with the Buddhist phi- losophy of India. ^ Even Ward says : " The author is persuaded he (the reader) will not consider the conjec- ture improbable that Pythagoras and others did really visit India and that Gautama and Pythagoras were con- temporaries."^
Professor H. H. Wilson says : " We know that there was an active communication between India and the Red Sea in the early ages of the Christian era, and that doctrines as well as articles of merchandise were brouo-ht to Alexandria from the former. Epipharius and Eu- sebius accuse Scythianus of having imported from India in the second century, books on magic and heretical notions leading to Manicha^ism ; and it was at the same period that Ammonius Saccas instituted the sect of the New Platonists at Alexandria. The basis of the heresy was that true philosophy derived its origin from the Eastern nations."'
1 India in Greece, p. 3G1. Pythagoras, according to Mr. Pococke, was a Buddhist Missionary, He was
Sanskrit^ Bud'ha-Guriis, |
Greek, Putha-Goras, v Bud'has Spiritual Teacher. English, Pytha-Goras, J ^Indian "Wisdom, p. 68. "^Max Muller's Science of Langiiago, p. 80.
■^Ward's Mythology of tiie Hindus, p. xxiii (Entroduction). " According to Greek tradition, Thales, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Demo- .critus and others undertook journeys to Oriental countries in order to study philosophy." — Huston/ of Hindu Chemictn/, Vol. I, p. 2. •'Wilson's Vishnu Purana, Preface, p. xiv.
282 HINDU SUrERIORlTY.
Mr. Davies says : " Scythianus was a contemporary of the Apostles, and was engaged as a merchant in the Indian trade. In the course o£ his traffic he often visit- ed India and made himself acquainted with Hindu phi- losophy. According to Epiphanius and Cyril, he wrote a book in four parts, which they affirm to be the source from which the Manich^an doctrines were derived."^
It is thus clear that the Hindu philosophy is the fountain head of the Greek philosophy with regard to some of its cardinal points. True philosophy in fact originated with the Hindus. Man first distinguished the Eternal from the perishable, and next he perceived within himself the germ of the Eternal. " This discovery," says Professor Max Muller, " was an epoch in the history of the human mind, and the name of the discoverer has not been forgotten. It was Sandilya who declared that the self within the heart was Brahma."^
Excludins: the extensive atheistic and ao;nostic systems of philosophy propounded by Charvakj^a and others, and those by the Jain and Buddhistic philoso- phers, the principal Hindu schools of philosophy are known as the Darsanas. But much of the philosophical literature of the Hindus is lost. Professor Goldstiicker, too, thinks that "probably besides the Upanishads, there were philosophical works which were more original than those now preserved, and which served as the common source of the works which have come down to us as the six Darsanasy
The Darsanas are : Nyaya and Yeisheshika ; Sankhya and Yoga ; and Purva and Uttara Mimansas.
1 Davies' Bhagvvat Gita, p. lOB. -Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 1*0.
iMiiLosoriiY. :283
o
Nyaya.
The Nyaya S3'stem was founded by Gautama, who says that the way to salvation is the true knoAvled^e of! ^^T^, substance or being, which he classifies as under : —
|
(1) |
Prainana. |
(10) |
Bad.i |
|
|
(2) |
Piamolia. |
(11) |
Jalp.'i |
|
|
(3) |
Saushaya. |
(12) |
Bitanda.3 |
|
|
(4) |
Pray 0] ana. |
(13) |
Haitwabliasya (paralle- |
|
|
(;')) |
Drislitant, |
logism.) |
||
|
(6) |
Siddhant (principle). |
(U) |
Chhal. |
|
|
(7J |
Avayav (portion,) |
(15) |
Jati. |
|
|
(8) |
Taraic logic). |
(IG) |
NigTalistan (wlion onf^ |
|
|
(9) |
Nirnaya, |
is pusliod toan utteily nntonablo position.) |
The author then discusses (1) the nature of the argument and the proof, and their different kinds (^^T ^T mTTJn), (2) the nature of the soul as apart from senses, body and the mind. The relation of the soul with the body is through the medium of the mind or man. The soul and the body cannot affect each other directly but only through the medium of the mind. He then proceeds to prove the transmigration of souls, the om- nipresence and omniscience of God, and declares that He is separate from the souls who are countless in num- ber. The author believes the Yedas to be the Revelation, and advises all mankind to follow their teachin2;s. The material cause of the universe, he declares, is Pramanu
"^Bad = a discussion with a sincere desire to get at the truth. 2jalp = a discussion to refute the opponent.
'■^Bitanda = when one obstinately clings to his own doctrine and does not listen to the other side-
284 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
(atoms). The Pramanu are eternal. The author then proceeds to refute Atheism, and ends by giving reasons for a belief in God, An English critic says : " The great prominence given to the method by means of which truth mio-ht be ascertained has sometimes misled Euro- pean writers into the belief that it is merely a system of logic. Far from being restricted to mere logic, the Nyaya was intended to be a complete system of philo- sophical investigation, and dealt with some questions — such as the nature of the intellect, articulated sound, genus, variety, and individuality — in a manner so masterly as well to deserve the notice of European philosophers." i Mrs. Manning, after giving a brief outline of the Naiya- yic syllogistic pi-oof, says: "Even the bare outline here given shows Gautama's mental powers and practical mode of dealing with the deepest questions which affect the human mind.""
European logic employs phraseology founded upon classification, while the Nyaya system makes use of terms upon which a classification would be founded. The one infers that "kings are mortal because they belong to the class of mortal beings." The other arrives at the same conclusion, because mortality is inherent in humanity, and humanity is inherent in kings. The proposition given above would, as we have seen, be stated by a European logician as, "All men are mortal ;" by a Hindu as, " Where there is humanity there is mortality."
1 Chamber's Encyclopaedia, "Nyaya."
^Ancient and Medi;cval India, Vol. I, p. 173. Mrs. Manning says: "His clearness of aim and his distinct perception of right means towards its attainment continue to be the invaluable guide of successive generations."
rniLosoriiY. 285
The reasoning is the same, but the Hindu method appears to be simpler/
The German critic, Sclileiii;el, says: "Tlie Nyaya doctrine attributed to Gautama, from all that we can learn, was an idealism constructed with a purity and lo^^ical consistency of which there are few other instances and to which the Greeks never attained."^
As regards the logical system of the Hindus, Max
Dunker says: " The logical researches of the Hindus are
scarcely behind the similar works of modern times. "^
Mr. Elphinstone says: "An infinity of volumes have
■[i^ .^ . J^een produced by the Brahmins on the subject (Logic).""*
Veisheshik.
The Veisheshik is said to have been written not to oppose but to complete the Nyaya system : with slight modifications it is only a fuller development of the Nyaya. In Sanskrit, these two schools of philosophy are comprised under one head, " Manan IShastra." Kanada,
^The European is assisted by the abstract idea of Class; the Hindu makes use of what in Sanskrit is termed Vyapti. " It is difficuU," remarks Dr. Roer, " to find an adequate word in Engh'sh for this term." For further information see Translation of Bhasliapariohheda, pp. 31 and 32, note.
sSchlcgel's History of Literature, p. 126.
^History of Antiquity, p. 310.
^Elphinstone's India, p. 122. Mrs. Manning says: " To the abih'ty of the author may be attributed the yet continued popularity of the work Nyaya)."
2S6 niNDU SUPERIOR [TY.
the founder of Veisheshik, reduces the contents of the universe under six categories only. They are: —
1. Drabya (substance).
2. Gnna (quality),
?>. Karma (action or motion).
4. Suiuanya (generality or class).
5. Vishesha (atomic individuality or difference). G. Samvaya (intimate relation).
7. Abhav (non-existence) was added afterwards.
Kanada's work is divided into ten books, of which the first book, after reducing the sixteen xt^t^ of the Nyaya to six only, as given above, discusses the nature of Ahhar or non-existence. The second book discusses the nature of Drahya. In the third are discussed Atma and Antahkaran and their relation to each other. The Atma and AntaliJcaran correspond with the Jeeva and Man (^t) of the Nj-aya. The fourth book discusses the nature of the human body and the external nature as affecting it, while the Vedic dharma is upheld in the sixth book. The seventh book discusses Guna and ISambaya^ their natures, kinds and effects. The eighth book shows the way to what the Hindus call Gyana, or true knowledge of the mysteries of existence, non-existence and other metaphysical topics. The intellect and the Vishesha are discussed in the ninth book. The tenth book contains a detailed discussion on Atma and its gimas, etc.
The points of difference between the Nyaya and the Veisheshik are onl}^ two. (1) The Nyaya distributes the contents of the universe into sixteen categories, while the Veisheshik does so into seven only. (2) The Nyaya accepts four kinds of Pramana or arguments. The Veisheshik accepts only two — Pratyakhsha and Anuman — and rejects the remaining two, Jpman and Shabda.
PIIILOSOl'HY. 2S7
111 the iiiterestiiiii' introduction which Dr. liDcr appeiuls to the translation of Bhashapai'ichheda he compares Kanada's doctrine of atoms to that of Democri- tus, the Greek philosopher, and pronounces the former to be vastly superior.
" A'^eisheshik," says Mrs. Mannin<j^,' "leans towards physical science rather than metaphysical." The theory of sound ])ropounded by the Hindus seems to be in accor- dance with the latest European advancement in science. After distinguishing between the articulate and the inarti- culate sounds, Vishvanath, the author of Bhashaparichhe- da, says: " Some say its (sound) production takes place like a succession of waves ; according to others, like the bud of Kadamba plant" (verses 165, 166). The Tarak Scuiifrali, another work of this school, says: "It is ether in which there resides the quality of sound. It is one, all-pervading and eternal."^
The author of the History of Hindu Chemistry says : " His theory of the propagation of sound cannot fail to excite our wonder and admiration even at this distant date. No less remarkable is his statement that light and heat are only different forms of the same essential substance. But Kanada is anticipated in many
material points by Kapila, the reputed originator of the Sankhya philosophy."-'
According to the Yeisheshik, as also according to Nyaya, there are five members of the syllogism instead of three as in the English syllogism.
They are — (1) Proposition, (2) Reason, (o) Example, (4) Application, (5) Conclusion.
^ Ancieut and Mediieval India, Vol. I, p. 181. 2 Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. I, p, 189. •^History uf Hindu Cheujibtry, Vol, I, p. 1,
288 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
For iustauce, — (1) The mountain is fiery.
(2) Because it smokes.
(3) Whatever smokes is fiery, as a culinary hearth.
(4) This does smoke.
(5) Therefore it is fiery as aforesaid.
A charge of deficiency, "inacctiracy of definition," has been brought against the five-menibered syllogism. Dr. Ballantyne thus meets the accusation : "The five- membered expression, so far as the arrangement of its parts is concerned, is a summary of the NaiyayiFs views in resfard to rhetoric, 'an offshoot from logic' (see Whateley's Rhetoric, p. 6.), and one to which, after 'the ascertainment of the truth by investigation, belongs the establishment of it to the satisfaction of another."' To this Mrs. Manning adds the following : " In fact, Gautama appears to have expressed bare logic in two-membered argument, and to have added two other members when he sought to convince rhetorically. After the declaration and the reason, he inserts an ' example ' confirmatory and also suggestive, and an ' application,' that is, he shows in the fourth member of his syllogism that his example possesses the required character ; and then he Avinds up with the conclusion or Q. E. D,, which is common to all syllogisms."
Evidently the difference betweeen the Hindu and the Greek syllogism (for the Europeans have no syllogism of their own)'-^ is due to the difference of aim of the
* BaHantyne on the Nyaya system. — Tlie Fandit, Vol, I, p. 8'J. -" There are only two nations in the whole history of the world who have conceived independently, and without any suggestion from others, the two sciences of Logic and Grammar, the Hindus and the Greeks." — Max Muller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 158. Considering that the Greek philosophers derived tlieir philosophy from India, there may be a doubt regarding the Greek originality.
T'niLosorirv. 289
reiisoninp^ of the two nations. The Greek wanted to prove his contention, but the Hindu, beinn- more practical and thorough, wanted to convince his adversary.
Sankttya.
This remarkable system of philosophy was founded by Kapila, and is the oldest in the world. It teaches that there are twenty-four elements, and that the twenty- fifth, if it can be so-called, is the Furusha or Atma (soul). The primary cause of the world is Prakriti, one of the twenty-four. Of itself, Prakriti is non-active, is, in fact, neither produced nor productive, but it be- comes active by coming in contact with the Purusha.
The author holds that there are innumerable souls in the world, which fact constitutes one of its chief dif- ferences from the Vedanta. Sankhya says nothing of God, and on this account, some regard it as a system of scientific atheism : but that the system is theistic is proved by the fact that such a decided theist as Patanjali vindicates its character, and indeed supplements it by his own system, Yoga. Sankhya differs from Nyaya chiefly on the following two points : ( I ) According to Nyaya, Purusha is the agent, and he again is the legitimate party to enjoy the result of action (Karma) : Sankhya, on the other hand, teaches that in its own nature Purusha has neither happiness nor misery. It has nothing to do with Karma and its results, but by coming into contact with PraJcritl it takes upon itself the good or the bad results of Karma. This is our ignorance. Knowledge would make
290 HINDU SUPKRIORITY.
US shun good or bad results. We will then be happy. The second point is this : Sankhya teaches that there cannot be anything which has not existed before. AVe cannot make a body round unless roundness already exists in it. It may not be seen, but still there it is. Nyaj^a holds the opposite theory.
" Sankhya doctrine," says Mrs. Manning, "is a very great effort at enravelling the deep mysteries of our existence. On the one side it exhibits the worthless- ness of the perishable universe, including man with all liis powers and qualities. On the other side it places the imperishable soul. The perishable portion of this division is fully and firmly dealt with, and has excited the admiration and interest of such men as AVilson, Ballantyne and others. But concerning the soul or the imperishable portion of his subject, one feels that the author is reserved, or that he has more thoughts than he chooses to express."^
The word Sankhya (sajn = together and -l-hi/a = reasoning) indicates that the system is based on syn- thetic reasoning.
Sir W. Hunter says : " The various theories of creation, arrangement and development were each elabo- rated, and the views of the modern physiologists at the present day are a return with new light to the evolution theory of Kapiloj whose Sankhya system is the oldest of the Darsanas."-
lManiii?ig's Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. I, p. 153. ^Indiiiu Uazettoer, "India," p. '214.
PHILOSOrUY.
21)1
Yoga,
Without :i knowledge ot: Yixja^^ one cannot reach the real dei)ths o£ human nature, and can never fatlioni the hidden mysteries and the realities of the heart, and know the nature o£ the soul and of God. True metaphysics is impossible without Yoija^ and so is mental philosophy. Patanjali divides his work into four chapters. The first chapter, after discussing the nature of the soul and of Yo^/a, enumerates eight means or stages in the process by which Yoga can be accomplished. They are as under : —
fl.
y Universal duty.
Yoga. ■(
•*,
a. G.
n I . I
18. After
Yama (forbearance).
(1) Not doing injury to living beings.
(2) Veracity, (;:>) Avoidance of theft.
(4) Chastity.
(5) Non-acceptance of gifts. Niyama (Religious observance).
(1) External and internal purity.
(2) Cheerfulness or contentment,
(3) Austerity.
(4) Chanting Vedic hymns.
(">) Devoted reliance on the Lord. Asana (Postures).
There are lUO different postures of the body. Pranayama (Regulation of the breath).
(1) Inhalation.
(2) Exhalation.
(8) Suspension f Kliiimbhalri). Pratyahara (Restraint of tlie senses^. r>harna (Steadying of the mind), Dhyana (Contemplation). Samadhi (Transportation of mind or uncon?cionsncss^.
sivino; the above-mentioned sub-divisions
^ " Al-L>aruni translated Sankliya and Yoga into Arabic in the reign of Khalifa Al-Mammum." — Max Mullcr's /Scitncc af LaiujiuKje, ]), 105.
292 HINDU SUPERIOEITY.
the author describes the nature of Samadhi and its two divisions. The second chapter describes in details the ways and means to perform Samadhi. The third chapter describes the powers developed in a Yogi, when he has reached the last stage of Yoga. Samadhi on different objects imparts different powers to the Yogi. Samadhi on the Moon gives one particular power, on the Jupiter another, and soon. The fourth chapter treats of Mokhsha. Patanjali declares that when a man becomes an adept at Samadhi, he gains a knowledge of the past and the future, a knowledo-e of the sounds of animals, of the thouo-hts of others, of the time of his own death, etc.
It would be difficult to conceive all this but for the unimpeachable testimony of European scholars and officers. In an instance recorded by Pro. Wilson^ a Brahmin appeared to sit in the air wholly unsupported and to remain so sittins; on one occasion for twelve minu- tes and on another for forty minutes.
Colonel Olcott records an account of a yoc/i described to him by Dr. Kajendralal Mittra : " It is not known when this yogi went into Samadhi, but his body was found about 45 years ago quite lifeless. All manner of tortures were used to bring him back to consciousness, but all to no purpose. He was then touched by the hand of a female and he instantly came back to his senses. "-
Dr. McGregor says in his History of the Sikhs: " A novel scene occurred at one of these garden houses
^Essays on the Religion of the Hindus, Vol. I, p. 209. See the
description of the ijogis given by Ouisicritus, a follower of xilexander.
Also the account of Calanus.
•■iCoI. Olcott'ij k'ctuio on " Theosophy, the scientific basis of reli- gion," p. 18.
PHILOSOPHY. 293
in 1837. A faleer who arrived at Lahore engaged to bury himself for any length of time shut up in a box, without either food or drink ! Runjeet disbelieved his assertions, and determined to put them to proof ; for this purpose the man v;as shut up in a wooden box, which was placed in a small apartment below the level of the "round. There was a foldini^ door to the box which was secured by a lock and key. Surrounding this apartment there was the garden house, the door of which was likewise locked : and outside of this a high wall having the door built up with bricks and mud. Outside the whole there was placed a line of sentries, so that no one could approach the build- ing. The strictest watch was kept for the space of forty days and forty nights, at the expiration of whicli period the Maharaja, attended by his grandson and . _^ several of his Sirdars, as well as General Ventum, Cap- tain Wade, and myself, proceeded to disinter the fakeer." After describing the condition of the fakeer after disinterment, in a few words, the author says : " When the fakeer was able to converse, the completion of the feat was announced by the discharge of guns and other demonstrations of joy ; while a rich chain of gold was placed round his neck by Runjeet himself. ■ "Another gentleman of unimpeachable veracity de- scribes the wonderful feat of a Lama who became his guest in September 1887 at Darjeeling. After describing his postures, etc., the eye-witness proceeds : 'Suddenly he, still retaining his sitting posture, rose perpendicularly into air to the height of, I should say, two cubits (one yard), and then floated without a tremor or motion of a single muscle, like a cork in still water.' The above are
294 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
two out of numberless similar cases. In India not only these things but feats of a far more extraordinary nature are so common that they fail to evoke surprise at all."i
Fryer was quite astonished to see yogis "svho fixed their eyes towards the sun without losing their sight.
The Yoga philosophy is peculiar to the Hindus, and no trace of it is found in any other nation, ancient or modern. It was the fruit of the hio;hest intellectual and spiritual development. The existence of this system is another proof of the intellectual superiority of the an- cient Hindus over all other peoples.
MiMANSA.
Mimansa is the collective name of two of the six divisions of Hindu Philosophy. They are the Purva and the Uttara Mimansa. The terms Litara and Purva, meaning latter and former, do not apply to the relative ages of the Mimansas but to the sacred books which are indicated by them. Purva Mimansa treats of the Hindu ritual and Karmaka?id an promulo-ated in the Bralimanas. whilst the Uttara Mimansa treats of the nature of God and of the soul as taught in the Upanishads. And the two Mimansas are so-called because the Upanishads were composed later than the Bralimanas.
The Purva Mimansa gives in full detail the Karma we have to perform. The Yagyas, Aynihotras, gifts, etc. are all treated elaborately and minutely. The author, the venerable Jaimini, after discussing the nature of the dharma and adharma, says that dharma consists in
^See also "The Court and Camp of Raiijit Singh."
riiiLOsoi'iiY. 20.5
followinn; the teachinu's of the Vedas. Dharma is essentially necessary to gain liappiness.
The Uttara Mimansa is the work of the celebrated Vyasa, and is one of the most important of the six Darsanas. The school of philosophy of which the Uttara .Mimansa is the best exposition is called Ycdanta. The word A^'edanta means "the end or the nltimateaimof the A^edas," and the Vedanta system discusses the nature of the Brahma and the soul. The Uttara Mimansa is one of the grandest feats of the grand Hindu genius. The Brahmsutra of Vyasa begins with a refutation of atheism and a vindication of theism. It then lays down that the only way to salvation or mtdtl is atmcu/yana, or a true knowled2:e of the soul.
Professor Max Muller says: " Much that was most dear, that had seemed for a time their very self, had to be surrendered before they could find the self of selves, the old man, the looker-on, a subject independent of all personality, and existence independent of all life. When that point had been reached then the highest knowledge began to draw, the self within (the Pratyagatman) was drawn towards the highest self (the Paramatman), it found its true self in the highest self, and the oneness of the subjective with the objective self was recognised as underlying all reality, as the dim dream of religion — as the pure light of philosophy."
" This fundamental idea is worked out with systematic completeness in the Vedanta philosophy, and no one who can appreciate the lessons contained in Berkeley's Philosophy will read the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras without feeling a richer and a wiser man."' ^ India : What can it teach us ? p. 203.
296 HINDU surEiaop.iTY.
There is difference of opinion as regards the Vedantic A'iew of the nature of the soul and of God. Ramanuja Swami held that the relation between God and soul was that of a master and servant — that they were separate enti- ties, and that there were innumerable souls. The great Shankeracharya believed that the Yedanta taught that there was only one Brahma and all else Avas mdya or illusion.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati, however, has again reverted to the view originally held of Yedanta, and said that the Brahma Sutras or the real Yedanta Sutra never taught the unity of God and soul. Popular belief, how- ever, is swayed by the views of Shanker Swami, and the system is held to be an all-absorbing Pantheism. An}^- way, it is the most sublime system of philosophy ever propounded by man.
Of Sankara's commentary upon the Yedanta, Sir W. Jones says that "it is not possible to speak with too much applause of so excellent a work ; and I am confident in asserting that, until an accurate translation of it shall ap- pear in some European language, the general history of philosophy must remain incomplete.
Sir W. Jones says of Yediinta : " The fundamental tenet of the Yedantic school consisted not in denying the existence of matter, that is, of solidity, impenetrability, and extended figure (to deny which would be lunacy), but in correcting the popular notion of it, and in con- tending that it has no essence independent of mental perception, that existence and perceptibility are con- vertible terms, that external appearances and sensations are illusorv and would vanish into nothing if the divine
TiiiLosoi'iiv. 297
eiiei'i^y, which iiloiie sustains them, were siiSipended but for 11 moment : an opinion which Epicharmus and Plato seem to have adopted, and whi(.'h has been maintained in the present century with great elegance, but with little applause, partly because it has been misunderstood, and partly because it has been misapplied by the false reasoning of some popular writers, who are said to have disbelieved in the moral attributes of God, whose omni- presence, wisdom and goodness are the basis of the Indian philosophy." He adds : " The system is built on the purest devotion." ^ Sir James Mackintosh, an English philosopher, " calls the theory (propounded by Vedruita) refined, abstruse, ingenious and beautiful."
The Mimansa method of Purva Palsha (reason contra), Lttara Pcdsha (reason pro), and Siddhnnf (con- clusion) of the Shastras excite Professor Max MuUer's admiration, who says : " It is indeed one of the most curious kind>^ of literary composition that the liiiman mind ever conceived. It is wonderful that the Indians
iSir W. .lones' Works, Vol. T, p. 165. "Wo might be iiblc," says Count Bjonistjoina, " to resign ourselves witli iiaticiit subuiissior, iodic comfortless doctrine of Pantheism, if it only concerned (jurselves, hut together with the hope of our own continued existence, to lose at the same time that of seeing again those whom we have most loved upon earth, to break them for ever is a reflection tliat bruises the heart. What I shall we first be bereaved of these beloved ones, retain nothing of them but memory's faint shadow, and tlien when we are called to follow them, shall even this shadow tiy away from us ? No : such can never be the intention of the all-linmitifiij Creator : He lia^ imt dejiosit- ed in our hearts the tender feelings of love and of fiieiid>liip in order at life's goal to rend asunder for ever tiie band thai lia- been tied by lliemi Tliey are of a spiritual nature, they follow the •spirit l)eyond the I'oundary of life, where we sliall find again IIiom' wli<nii we have loved." — Thcogvii>j of the Hindus, p, 7'J. What a misundoisliinding of ranthekm I
298 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
slioiild have invented and mastered this difficult form so as to have made it tlie vehicle of ex.pression for every kind of learning." •
The six Darsanas are rarely read and understood by Europeans, owing partly to the extreme difficulty of the language and a peculiar and difficult philosophic technicpie difficult to acquire, and partly to the want on their part of that mental equipment which is the result of the highest intellectual training and great spiritual development.
As is well known, the Upanishads are the fountain head of all Hindu philosophy. They are said to be 52 in number. The Upanishads are disquisitions on philo- s(3phical subjects, and breathe an air of sublimity and spirituality which is nowhere else to be found. The profound philosophy they teach, the deep wisdom they contain, the infallible truths they establish, and the true })rinciples they set forth are the standing marvels of Indian intellect and moniunents of human genius.
In his Philosophy of the Upanishads, recently translated by Rev. A. S. Geden, M.A., Prof, Deussen claims for its fundamental thouo^ht "an inestimable value for the whole race of mankind." It is in "mar- vellous agreement with the philosophy founded by Kant, and adopted and perfected by his great successor, JSchopenhauer," differing from it, where it does differ, only to excel. For, whereas the philosophy of Scho- penhauer only " represents Christianity in its present form," we must have recourse to the Upanishads "if we
'"In this metli(Hl," .says Prof !Max .Muller, " the coiiciiteiiatioti of jirof and cons is often so coiniilirated and the reason on h(jtli sides de- fended liy the same author with such seriousness that we sometimes rf'iiiain douliiiul In which >idc the author leans, till we arrive at the end of the whole chaptei."
PniLOSOT'TfY. 209
arc willing to put tlie finishing touch to tlic Cliristiaii consciousness, and to make it on all sides consistent and complete." " Professor Deussen, it is true, iskind enough to Christianity to bracket the New Testament and the Upanishads as "the two noblest pro(Uicts of the religious consciousness of mankind," but leaves his readers in no doubt as to which he considers the nobler of the two."
The great German philosopher, Schopenhauer, says : *'0h! how thoroughly is the mind here washed clean of all early engrafted Jewish superstitions and of all philosophy that cringes before those superstitions. lu the whole world there is no study, except that of the originals, so beneficial and so elevating as tliat of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death.''''
Mr. Elphinstone, in comparing the ancient Greeks with the ancient Hindus, says : " Their (Hindus) general learning was more considerable ; and in the knowledge of the being and nature of God, they were already in possession of a light which was but faintly perceived even by the loftiest intellects in the best days of Athens." 1
B HAG WAT GiTA.
Bhaffwat Gita has for centuries moulded the thoua'hts and the conduct of a large section of the Hindu nation. BhagwatGita is essentially a work on the Vedanta philo- sophy, and appears to have been composed to correct a misconception of that noble system. Owing to a mis- understanding of the teachings of this sublime philoso-
Elpliin^tone's History of Iiuliii, i>. 49,
800 HINDU SUPET^IORITY.
ph}', men beo:an to neglect their duties and responsibi- lities, since there was only one Brahma and all else was illusion. This alarmed all good and thoughtful men, and as an antidote this excellent book, BhcKjwat Gita^ was written. It is skilfully introduced as an episode in the Mahabharata, but it is clearly out of place there. The battle-field is hardly the fittest place to hold protracted discussions on such sublime metaphysical questions as the book contains. Whatever may be the raison d'etre of the book, it has not only fascinated the minds of Hindus but has charmed Euroneans, who speak in rapturous terms of this celebrated poem.
Mrs. Manning says : "Bhagwat Gita is one of the most remarkable compositions in the Sanskrit language."
Professor Heeren says : " The poem certainly abounds in sublime passages, which remind one of the Orphic hymn to Jupiter quoted by Stoboeus."^
Mr. Elphinstone^ says : "Bhagwat Gita deserves high praise for the skill with which it is adapted to the general Epic, and the tenderness and elegance of the narative by means of which it is introduced."
J Historical Resoarchos, Vol. 11, [i. l'J8. 'History of lucliii, p. 155.
SCIENCE.
I.— MEDICINE.
A wise physician, skill'd our wounds to hoal, Is more than armies to the pubHc weal.
— Pope.
The science of moflicine, like all other sciences, was carried to a very high degree of perfection by the ancient Hindas. Their great powers of observation, generalization and analysis, combined with patient labour in a country of boundless resources, whose fertility for herbs and plants is most remarkable, placed them in an exceptionally favourable position to prosecute their study of this great science. Owing, however, to the destruc- tion of a great part of Sanskrit literature, it is impossible to form an accurate estimate of the high proficiency attained by the Hindus in this important science. Unlike philosophy and grammar, on which subjects ancient works still extant furnish sufficient material to enable one to form a correct judgment of their pre- eminence in those branches of learning, medicine is a practical science which has long been neglected owing to a variety of causes.
Lord Ampthill recently (February 1905) said at Madras : — " Xow we are beginning to find out that the Hindu Shastras also contain a Sanitary Code no less correct in principal, and that the great law-giver, Manu, was one of the greatest sanitary reformers the world has ever seen."
802 niNDU SUPEPJOETTY.
Professor Wilson says: "The Ancient Hindus at- tained as thorough a proficiency in medicine and sur- gery as any people whose acquisitions are recorded. This might be expected, because their patient attention and natural shrewdness would render them excellent observers, whilst the extent and fertility of their native country would furnish them with many valuable drugs and medicaments. Their diagnosis is said, in conse- quence, to define and distinguish symptoms with great accuracy, and their Materia Medica is most voluminous."^
Sir AVilliam Hunter has the following on the scope of Indian medicine : — "Indian medicine dealt with the whole area of the science. It described the structure of the body, its organs, ligaments, muscles, vessels and tissues. The Materia Medica of the Hindus embraces a vast collection of drugs belonging to the mineral, vege- table and animal kingdoms, many of which have now been adopted by European jjhysicians. Their pharmacy con- tained ingenious processes of preparation, with elaborate r directions for the administration and classification of medicines. Much attention was devoted to hygiene, regimen of the body, and diet."^
Mr. Weber says : " The number of medical works and authors is extraordinarily large.""
The Ayur Veda is the oldest system of medicine, and is said to have been revealed by the great Hindu
1 Wilson's Works, Vol. Ill, p. 269. , "Materia Medica," says Weher, "generally appears to have been handled ^rith groat predilec- tion."— -Indian Literature, p. 270.
r
^Imperial Indian Gazetteer, "India," p. 22(». ^Weber's Indian Literature, p. 2fi'J.
MEUICINF-. 803
physician, Dhanwantari,^ to his pupil Siisruta. C'haraka states that " orif^inally the contents of liis own works were communicated by Atreya ]\Iuni to Agnivesa, and. by him to Charaka, who condensed where it was too prolix and expanded where it was too brief." Su.sr//ta and Charaka are now the two most important and well-known Avorks on Hindu medicine.
The chief distinction of the modern European science of medicine is surgery. But even in surgery, as will be clear from the following (piotations, the ancient Hindus attained a proficiency yet unsurpassed by the advanced medical science of the present day.
Mr. Weber says : " In surgery, too, the Indians seem to have attained a special proficiency, and in this department, European surgeons might, perhaps, even at the present day still learn something from them, as indeed they have already borrowed from them the operation of rhinoplasty."^
"Their surger}^," says Elphinstone, "is as remark- able as their medicine."-^ Mrs. Manning says: "The surgical instruments of the Hindus were sufficiently sharp, indeed, as to be capable of dividing a hair longitudinally.""^
Dr. Sir W. W. Hunter says: "The surgery of the ancient Indian physicians was bold and skilful.
1 The name of this great man, Dhanwantari, has become a bye- word for an " adept." His name i.s always pronounced before taking medicine in Rajputana, in consequence of the popular belief that his prescriptions are infallible.
^Weber's Indian Literature, p. 270.
3 History of India, p. 145.
^Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II, p. 346.
304 HINDU SUPERIOKITY.
They conducted amputations, arresting the bleeding by pressure, a cup-shaped bandage and boiHng oil ; practis- ed lithotomy ; performed operations in the abdomen and uterus ; cured hernia, fistula, piles ; set broken bones and dislocations ; and were dexterous in the ex- traction of foreign substances from the body. A special branch of surgery was devoted to rhinoplasty, or opera- tion for improving deformed ears and noses and formuKj new ones, a useful operation which European sun/eons have now borrowed. The ancient Indian surgeons also mention a cure for neuralgia, analogous to the modern cutting of the fifth nerve above the eyebrow. They devoted great care to the making of surgical instruments, and to the training of students by means of operations performed on wax spread on a board or on the tissues and cells of the vegetable kingdom, and upon dead animals. They were expert in midwifery, not shrinking from the most critical operations, and in the diseases of women and children. Their practice of physic embraced the classifications, causes, symptoms and treatment of diseases, diagnosis and prognosis. Considerable advances were also made in veterinary science, and monographs exist on the diseases of horses, elephants, etc."
The author o£ the History of Hindu Chemistry says: "According to Susruta, the dissection of dead bodies is a sine qua mm to the student of surgery, and this high authority lays" particular stress on knowledge gained from experiment and observation.""
A word with regard to the Veterinary Science. Mr. H. M. Elliot says : "There is in the Royal library
Uiidiaii GazettetT, •'India," p. 220. Sec also Wcboi's Indian Liloratnre, \>. 270.
-ilislury i)i iiindu Cbcmistiy, Vol. 1, p. iOD.
MKDlClNEi
30(
lit Liikhiiow n ^vul•k on the veturinnry art, wliicli Avas triiiisliited h-om the Sunskril l)y order ot Ghayas-ud-diu ;Mohiuned Shah Khilji.
This rare book, called Knrmf-ul-mnJL, was trans- lated as early as A.H. 783 = 1381 A.D., from an original, styled Salotar, which is the name of an Indian who is said to have been a Brahman, and the tutor of Susruta. The Preface says that the translation was made '^ from the bar])arous Hindi into the refined Persian, in order that there may be no more need of a reference to infidels." The book is divided hito eleven chapters and thirty Sections.
Ciuiptoi- I. Oil the breeds and names of liorses ... 4 secLions.
II. On their odour, on riding, and breeding 4 „ 111. On stable uianageuient, and <'u wasps
building nests in a stable ... ... 2 ,,
^^ IV. On colour and its varieties ... ... 2 ,,
V. On tlioir blemishes.., ... ... "i ,,
., Vr. On their limbs ... ... .. 2 .,
,, VII. On sickness and its leuiedies... ... 4 ,,
„ VIII, 0:i bleeding ... ... ... 4 ,,
IX. On food a!id did ... ... ... 2
,, X. Oil feeding lor the purpose of fattening... 2 „
,, XI. On ascertaining the age by the (eclli ... 1 ,,
The j)recise age of this work is doubtftd, because, although it is plainly stated to ha\'e been translated in A.H. 7So, yet tlie reigning prince is called Stdtan Ghaias-ud-din Mohamed Shah, son of Mahmud Shah, and there is no king so named whose reign corresponds with that date. 1£ Sultan Ghaias-ud-din Toghlak be meant, it should date sixty years earlier, and if the king of Malvva, avIio bore that name, be meant, it should ])e dated one hundred years later ; either way, it ver}- much precedes the reign of Akber. '
l"It is curious, that witliout any allusion to this work, another on the veteriuary art, styled Salotari, aud said to comprise in the Sanskrit
306 HINDU SUrEUIOKITY.
The translator makes no mention in it o£ the work on the same subject, which had been previously trans- lated from the Sanskrit into Arabic at Baghdad, under the name of Kitab-ul-Baitarat. ^
Professor Weber says : "In the Vedic period, animal anatomy was evidently thoroughly understood, as each part had its own distinctive name." He also says: " The chapter of Amarkosha on the human body and its tliseases certainly presupposes an advanced cultiva- tion of medical science. ""^
Professor Wilson says : *' There is a very large body of medical literature in Sanskrit, and some of the principal works are named by Arabic writers as having been known and translated at Baghdad in the ninth cen- tury. These works comprise all the branches of medical science, sur^erv included, and contain numerous instances of accurate observation and judicious treatment."
The Hindus have, through this branch of knowledge, as through many others, been the benefactors of huma- nity; for, Hindu medicine is the foundation upon which the building of the European medical science has been constructed. His Excellency Lord Ampthill, the late Governor of Madras, while declaring open the Madras
original 16,000 slokas, was translated in the reign of Shalijahan, "wlien there were many learned men who knew Sanskrit," by Sayyid Abdullah Khan Bahadur Firoz .luug, who had found it among some other Sans- krit books, which during his expedition against Mewar, in the reign of Jehangir, had been plundered from Amar Singh, Rana of Chitor. It is divided into twelve chapters, and is more than double the size of the other."
1 Elliot's Historians of India, Part I. pp. 263, 64.
2 Weber's Indian Literature, p. 267.
MKDICINE. 307
Kino; Institute of Preventive Medicine, said : "The people of India should be gratefnl to him (Col. King) for having pointed out to them that they can lay claim to have been acquainted with the main principles of curative and preventive medicine at a time when Europe was still immersed in ignorant savagery. I am not sure whether it is L'enerally known that the science of medicine ori- ginated in India, but this is the case, and the science was first exported from India to Arabia and thence to Europe. Down to the close of the seventeenth century, European physicians learnt the science from the works of Arabic doctors ; while the Arabic doctors many centuries before had obtained their knowledge from the works of great Indian physicians such as Dhanwantri, Charaka and Susruta. It is a strange circumstance in the world's progress that the centre of enlightenment and knowledge should have travelled from East to West, leaving but little permanent trace of its former existence in the East."
Sir W. Hunter says: "The Hindu medicine is an independent development. Arab medicine was founded on the translations from the Sanskrit' treatises made by command of the Khahf of Baghdad (950-960 A.D.). European medicine down to the 17th century was based upon the Arabic, and the name of the Indian physician, Charaka, rei:>eatedly occurs in Latin translations of Avicenna (Abu Sina), Rhazes (Abu Rasi), and Serapion (Abu Sirabi).
Mrs. Manning says : " The medical works of India had already attained worldwide celebrity when the
1 Csoma de Koros was the first to announce that the Thihetan Tanjur contains among others translations o£ the Charaka, the Susruta, and the Yagabhata.
308 HINDU SUPKRIOTlTTr.
Khfilif of Baghdad collected the greatest M'orkp and summoned the most learned scientific men of their era to give brilliancy to Baghdad as a seat of learning. She adds : " It is impossible to exhibit India's ancient science to Euro[)eans unacquainted with Sanskrit or not having access to the native medical libraries, in which we understand many medical works are strictly withheld from Europeans.*'^
In support of the fact that Hindu medical works were largely translated by the Arabs, and that these translations formed the nucleus of their science, and that after being translated into European languages they formed the backbone of the European science of medicine, the followmg facts may be cited : —
Barzouhyeh, a contemporary of the celebrated Sassanian king, Noshirevan (A.D. 531-572), visited India to acquire proficiency in the Indian sciences.'-'
According to Professor Sachau, the learned trans- lator of Alberuni, " some of the books that had been translated imder the first Abbaside Caliphs were extant in the library of Alberuni, when he wrote his ' India,'
the Brahma Siddhanta or Sind-hiud, the Charaka
in the edition of Ali Ibn Zain and the Panchatantra, or Kalila Darana."'^
Almansur or Almanzar, who removed his seat from Damascus to Baghdad between 758 and 774 A.D., caused translations to be made from the Sanskrit of medical scientific works, among which we find particularised
\ Ancient and Modianal India, Vol. I, pp. 353, 54, 2History of Hindu Chemistry, Introdiiolion, p. 76, •"^Alberaui's India by Professor Sacliau,
MKDICINE. :')(ll>
a tract upon poisons hy Shank (meaning Charaka) and a treatise on medicine by Shashriid' ( meanin_i>- Susruta).
^Irs. Mannini'- savs: ''Later Greeks at Bniiiidad are found to have been accpiainted with the medical works of the Hindus, and to liavc availed themselves of their medicaments."- AVe learn with interest that Serapion, one of the earliest of the Arab writers, mentions the Indian Charaka, praising him as an authority in medicine, and referring to the myrabalans as forming part of Charaka's descriptions."^
Rhazes was a greater ])hysician than Serapion. He lived at Baghdad with Al Mansur. He wrote twelve books on chemistry. On two occasions, Rhazes refers to the "Indian Charaka" as an authority for statements on plants or drugs. ^
Another celebrated medical man is Avicinna (Abu Ali Sina), called Sheikh Rais, or the prince of pliy- sicians, who succeded Rhazes. He Avas the most famous physician of his time. He translated the works of Aristotle, and died in 1036 A.D. In treating of leeches, Avicinna begins by a reference to what "the Indians say," and then gives nearly the very words of Susruta,
1 Colebrooke's Algebra of the Hiiulus, Vol, II, p. 512. That Charaka should be changed by Arabic writers into Sarak, Susruta into Susrud, Nidana into Badan, Astanga into Asankar, and so forth, need not at all surprise us. Such transformations can well be explained on phonetic principles. Moreover, one must remember that the Indian works translated into Arabic were sometimes derived from pre-existing Phclvi versions, and in the migrations through successive languages the names often got frightfully disfigured.
^Ancient and Median-al India, Vol.1, p. 359.
■^Royle's Ancient Hindu iledicine, p. 3G.
4See Uoyle, p. 38.
310 HINDU SUPERIOIUTV.
describing the six poisonous leeches, amongst which are "those called krishna or black, the hairy leech, that which is variegated like a rainbow, etc/"
Emperor Firoz Shah, after capturing Nagarkot, had the -Sanskrit medical Avprks translated into Arabic by Ayazuddin Khalid.^
In the reign of Harnn-ul-Rashed, the Hindu me- dicine was not only valued by the Arabs, but Hindu physicians were actually invite<l to Bagdad, who went and reside<i in his court. For this information we are indebted to Ahu Osa/'ba, whose biographies are quoted by Prof. Deitz in his AnalecAa Medica^^ Wustenfeld, Rev. W. Cureton,^ Flii Miiller.
Ahu Osaiba states that Mania wa^ a Hindu, emin- ent in the art of medicine and learned in Sanskrit litera- ture. He made a journey from India to Iraq, cured the Khalif Harun-ul-Hasheed of an illness, and translated a work on poison b}' Charaka from Sanskrit into Per- sian. Another Hindu doctor named Saleh has also been eulogised by Ahu Osaiba. He was, it is said, one of the most learned amongst the Hindus, and greatly skilled in curino; diseases according; to the Indian mode. He lived in Iraq during Harun's reign. He travelled to Egypt and Palestine, and was buried when he died in Egypt.
Gabriel -Baciishna,^. Syrian, became one of the trans- lators of works on medicine from Sanskrit into Arabic. ''
' Koyle's Ancient Hindu Medicine, p. 88.
2Max Mullor's Science of Language, p. 167.
3Leipsic Edition of 1833, p. 124.
^Journal of the R. A. Society, VI, pp. 10r)-ll.''v
■'■'See Deitz's Analecta Medica. Dr. Furnell, Dy. Surgeon-General and Sanitary Commissioner, Madras, in his lecture delivered on the 1st jN.pril 1882, most vigorously supported the claims of Hindu medi- cine as one of the most ancient and the most advanced sciences ever
MKDICINK. 311
Professor Sanchau says : '* What India has contri- buted reached Baghdad by two different roads. Part has come directly in translations from the Sanskrit, part has travelled through Iran, having originally been translat- ed from Sanskrit (Pali? Prakrit?) into Persian, and farther from Persian into Arabic. In this way, <?. 7,, the fables of KdUla and Dinina have been comnuuiicated to the Arabs, and a book on medicine, probably the famous Charaka. — i>f luhrisf^ p, 303.
"In this connnunication between India and Bagdad Ave must not only distinguish between two different roads, but also between two different periods.
" As Sindh was under the actual rule of the Khalif
Mansur (A. D. 753-774), there came embassies from
that part of India to Baghdad, and among them scholars,
who brought along with them two books, the Jirahma-
sidhanta of Brahmagupta (Sindhind), and his Khan-
dakhadyaka (Arkand). With the help of these pandits,
Alfazari, perhaps also Yakub Ibn Tarik, translated them.
Both works have been largely used, and have exercised
a great influence. It was on this occassion that the
Arabs jimt became acquainted with a scientific system
of astronomy. They learned from Brahmagupta earlier
than from Ptolemy.
cultivated in the world. Speaking of the importance of drinking un- polluted water, he said that -'as the ancient Hindus were superior to all others in other respects, so also were they superior to the others in recognising the importance and value of water, as well as in insisting upon preserving the water from filth of any kind whatever." He added that in his address to the Convocation in ]879 he had said that the Hindu physicians were unrivalled in all branches of medicine at the time when the Britons were savages and used to go about quite naked. He then described the instructions contained m the Hindu medical works with regard to the use of water, which he said were most remarkable,
312 HINDU SUI'EKIUKITV.
" Another influx of Hindu learning took place under Harun, A.D. 786-808. The ministerial family Barmak, then at the zenith of their power, had come with the ruling- dynasty from Balkh, where an ancestor of theirs had been an ofhcial in the Buddhistic temple, Naubehar, i.e., uavai-iliara, the new temple(or monastery). The name Barmak is said to be of Indian descent, mean- ing/>arama/;a, i.e., the superior (abbot of the vihara?). Of course the Barmak famil)^ had been converted, but their contemporaries never thought much of their pro- fession of Islam, nor regarded it as srenuine. Induced probably by family traditions, they sent scholars to India, there to study medicine and pharmacology. Besides, thev enoaii'ed Hindu scholars to come to Baghdad, made them the cliief physicians of their hospitals and ordered them to translate from Sanskrit into Arabic, books on medicine, pharmacology, toxicology, philosophy, astro- logy and other subjects. Still in later centuries, Muslim scholars sometimes travelled for the same purposes as the emissaries of the Barmak, e.g., Almuwaft'ak, not long before Alberuni's time,"^
Mrs. Manning says: "Greek physicians have done much to preserve and diffuse the medical science of India. AVe find, for instance, that the Greek physician Actuarius celebrates the Hindu medicine called triphala. He mentions the peculiar products of India, of which it is composed, by their Sanskrit name Myrohalans."-^ iEtius, who was a native of Amida in Mesopotamia, and studied at Alexandria in the fifth centurv, not
1 Sachau's Translation of Alberuni's India. ^Ancient and Mediteval India, Vol, I., p. uDl,
/
I'lll. ^f.^'w.^' ^» ^'^^^
MKDICINE. 513
only speaks of tliu Mi/robalans^ ])ut mentions them as the proj)ei' cui'e for the disease called elephantiasis." Among the ancient Hindu physicians of note may be mentioned (I) Atreya, Agnivesa, Charaka, Dhan- wantri, Sashrutn, IJharadv^aja, Kapishthala, Bhela, Latukarna, Panisara, Harita, Kashraparu, Asaval- yana, Badarayann, Katyayana, Baijv^api, Krisa, Sam- krityayana, Babhravya Krishnatreya, Auddalaki, Sveta- keta, Panchala, Gonardiya, Gonikaputra, Sabandhu^ t?amkara, Kankayana. V^/r^-^-^^, /^^^U^\j., 3^^ih<x)yu.,
The EiKilishman (a Calcutta daily), in a leader in 1880, said : "No one can read the rules contained in great Sanskrit medical works Avithout coming to the conclusion that, in point of knowledge, the ancient Hindus were in this respect very far in advance not only of the Greeks and Romans, but of Mediaeval Europe."
Nearchas relates that the Greek physicians did not know how to cure snakebite. But the Hindu physicians cured it, and notified their abilitv to cui*e all who were alHicted with it, if they came to the court of Alexander the Great/
As regards their knowledge of the Science of Chem- istry, Mr. Elphinstone says : " Their (Indian) chemical skill is a fact more striking and more unexpected."
It is to be regretted that of the several works on chemistry^ quoted by Madhava, Rasarnava alone seems to have survived to our dav.
'See Wise's History uf Mediciiu', )i. Ij.
-A famous representative of this art (alchemy j was Niigarjuna. a native of Daihak, near Sounialh. He excelled in it, and (•oiuitused a hook which contains the substance of the whole literature on this subject;- and is very rare." — 11/^tor// of Hindu t'hcmid'ij, Vol, I, p. 54.
o
14 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
The author of the History of Hindu Chemistry says : " While Rasaratnakarna and Basarnava are Tant- ras pure and simple in which alchemy is incidentally dwelt upon, Rasaratana-samuchchaya (a modern work based on old Hindi medical works), is a systematic and comprehensive treatise on materia medica, pharmacy and medicine. Its methodical and scientific arrangement of the subject-matter would do credit to any modern work, and altogether it should be pronounced a produc- tion unique of its kind in Sanskrit literature."^
Dr. Ray says : " We have only to refer our readers to tlie chapter on the preparation of caustic alkali, in the Susruta, with the direction that the strong lye is to be ' pre- served in an iron vessel,' as a proof of the high degree of perfection in scientific pharmacy achieved by the Hindus at an early age. It is absolutely free from any trace of (piackery or charlatanism, and is a decided improvement upon the process prescribed by a Greek Avriter of the eleventh century, as unearthed by M. Berthelot. As regards dispensaries and hospitals, everyone knows that Buddhistic India was studded with them."^
In the European histories of chemistry, the credit of being the first to press chemical knowledge into the service of medicine and introduce the use of the internal administration of mercurial preparations, is given to
"Nagarjnna Bodliisatva was well practised in the art of compounding niedicines ; by taking a preparation (pill or cake), he nourished the years of life for many hundreds of years, so that neither the mind nor appearance decayed. Satvaha-Kaja had partaken of this mysterious medicine." — Beal's Buddhist Records of the Western World, Vol. II, p. -Jl-J.
1 Hi^tory of Hindu Chemistry, Vol. I, p. L.
211i5.iury of Hindu Chemistry. Vol. J, Introduction, p, viti.
MEDICINK. .''•15
Paracelsus (1493-lo-il). But, says the author of the PTis- torv of Hiudu Cheniistrv, " we have, iudecd, reason to suspect that Paracelsus got his ideas from the East."'
Dr. Ray says : " From the evidences we have adduced all along there can now be scarcely any question as regards the priority of the Hindus in making mercurial remedies a speciality ; and they are entitled to claim originalit}- in respect of the internal administration of metals generally, seeing that the Charaka and the Susruta, not to speak of the later Tantras, are eloquent over their virtues." "^
In Europe, however, the medicinal virtues of mercury do not appear to have been at all ascertained even in the days of Pliny the elder ; that writer termed quicksilver the bcme and poison of all things, and what would with more propriety be called death->^i\\'er.-^
Mr. Elphinstone says : " They knew how to pre- pare sulphuric acid, nitric acid and muratic acid ; the oxide of copper, iron, lead (of which the}^ had both tlie red oxide and litharge), tin and zinc ; the sulphurct of iron, copper, mercury, antimony, and arsenic ; the sul- phate of copper, zink and iron ; and carbonates of lead and iron. Their modes of preparing these substances "were sometimes peculiar."^
" Their use of these medicines seems to have been very bold. They were the first nation who employed minerals internally, and they not only gave mercury in
^ History of Hindu Chemistry, Vol. I, p. 60. -History of Hindu Chemistry, Vol. I, Introduction, p. (Ixii,) =^Natural History, h'b. 33.
*For further information, see Dr. Royle(p. 44 and on), who parti- cularly refers to the processes for leaking calomel and corrosive sublimat«.
ol6 HINDU SUPERIOKITT.
that manner but arsenic and arsenious acicl, which were remedies in intermittents. They have long used cinnabar for fumigations, by which they produced a speedy and safe sahvation. They have long practiced inoculation.
*' They cut for the stone, couched for the cataract and extracted the foetus from the womb, and in their early works enumerate not less than 127 sorts of surgical instruments." ^
In the course of a lecture to the natives of Bengal on national universities in India, delivered at Calcutta, in January 1906, Mrs. Besant said: "In physics and chemistry you have advanced far more. In medicine vou are still more advanced. In the West it is by no means a science but largely guess work. Indian medicine both of the Hindus and the Mohamedans is superior to the medicine of the West^
In order to o-ive an idea of the advanced state of the Hindu science of medicine and hygiene, as well as of what we may 3'et expect from the continued researches of the learned in ancient Indian literature in the way of valuable additions to the modern European medical science, I cannot do better than quote the words of His Excellency Lord Ampthill, Governor of Madras, at the opening of the King Institute of Preventive ^[edicine, in February 1905: "The Mohamedan conquests brought back to India much of the mediad knowledge which had been lost for centuries, and we have proofs that the Mughal rulers were great sanitary reformers in the magnificent
lElphiiistone's History of India, p. 145. The author also says: " Their acquaintance with medicines seems to have been very exten- sive. We are not surprised at their knowledge of simples, in which tl)ey gave early lessons to Europe andmore recently taught us the benefit of swolung dhatura in asthma and the use of cowitcU against vcormss"
MEDIClNi:. ol7
waterworks which still exist and perform their func- tions at various places in the north of India. Now, the British rulers of India have been bringing back yet more of the knowledge which emanated from this rountrj/ centuries ago ; and when we undertake municipal water supply schemes, with filter beds and h^-drauiic pressure, when we build hospitals and establish medical schools, when we promulgate regulations to check the spread of plague, or when we impose on local bodies the duty of Avatching over the health of the people, we are not in- troducing any modern innovations or European fads, but merely doing that which was done centuries ago, and again centuries before that, but which has long since been forgotten by all except the historian and the archaeologist. The study of these questions brings out the truth of the old saying that there is nothing new in the world. Now, this saying is even true as regards preventive medicine, which we are all apt to regard as one of the most recent discoveries of modern science. Colonel King gives clear proof that the ancient caste in- junctions of the Hindus were based on a belief in the existence of transmissible agents of disease, and that both Hindus and Mohamedans used inoculation by small-pox virus as a protection against small-{X)x ; and certain it is that long before Jenner's orreat discoverv, or to be more correct, re-discovery of vaccination, this art of inoculation was used for a while in Europe, where it had been imported from Constantinople ; and knowledge of medicine which flourished in the Near East at the commencement of the Christian era emanated^ as I hare already shown you, from Indian
3 IS niNDU SUPERIOR ITY.
His Excellency then added : " It is also very probable, so Colonel King assures me, that the ancient Hindus used animal vaccination secured by transmission of the small-pox virus through the cow, and he bases this interesting theory on a cj[UOtation from a writing by Dhanvantri, the greatest of the ancient Hindu physicians, which is so striking and so appropriate to the present occasion that I must take the liberty of reading it to you. It is as follows : ' Take the fluid of the pock on the udder of the cow or on the arm between the shoulder and elbow of a human subject on the point of a lancet, and lance with it the arms between the shoulders and elbows until the blood appears : then mixing the fluid with the blood the fever of the small-pox will be produced.' This is vaccination j^ure and simple. It would seem from it that Jenner^s great discovery was actually forestalled by the ancient Hindoos.''^
His Excellency further said : '• I cannot refrain from mentioning yet another of Colonel King's interesting discoveries, which is that the modern plague policy of evacuation and disinfection is not a wit different from that enjoined in ancient Hindu Shastras."
MATHEMATICS. olO
II.— MATHEMATICS.
Ill Miithematies lie was greater Thau Tyclio Brahe, or Erra Pater.
— BuTLEU : IluiUbras.
In mentsil abstraction and concentration of thous^ht the Hindus are proverbially happy. Apart from direct testimony on the point, the literature of the Hindus furnishes unmistakable evidence to prove that the ancient Hindas possessed astonishing powers of memory and concentration of thou2:ht. Hence all such sciences and branches of study as demand concentration of thought and a highly-developed power of abstraction of the mind were highly cultivated by the Hindus. The science of mathematics, the most abstract of all sciences, must have had an irresistible fascination for the minds of the Hindus. Xor are there proofs wanting to support this statement. The most extensive cultivation which astronomy received at the hands of the Hindus is in itself a proof of their high proficiency in mathematics. The high antiquity of Hindu astronomy is an argument in support of a still greater antiquity of their mathematics. That the Hindus were selected by natiu'e to excel all other nations in mathematics, is proved by her revealing to them the foundation of all mathematics. It has been admitted by all competent authorities that the Hindus were the inventors of the numerals. The great German critic, Schlegel, says that the Hindus invented " the decimal cyphers, the honour of which, next to letters the most important of human discoveries, has, with the com-
320 HINDU SUrEKlOUlTY.
iiiou consent ot' historical authorities, been ascribed to die Hindus."!
Prof. Macdonell says : " In science, too, the debt of Europe to India has been considerable. There is, in the first place, the great fact that the Indians invented the numerical figures used all over the world. The influence which the decimal system of reckoning depen- dent on those figures has had not only on mathematics but on the progress of civilization in general, can hardly be over-estimated. During the eighth and ninth centuries the Indians became the teachers in arith- metic and aloebra of the Arabs, and through them of the nations of the West. Thus, though we call the latter science by an Arabic name, it is a gift we ow^e to India."'
Sir M. Monier Williams savs : " From them (Hindus) the Arabs received not only their first conceptions of algebraic analysis, but also those numerical symbols and decimal notations now current everywhere in Europe, and which have rendered untold service to the progress of arithmetical science."^ ^ Says Manning : " To what- ever cyclopa3dia, journal or essay we refer, we uniform- ly find our numerals traced to India and the Arabs recognised as the medium through which they were introduced into Europe."'^\ Sir AV. W. Hunter also says : " To them (the Hindus) we owe the invention of the numerical symbols on the decimal scale, The Indian figures 1 to 9 being abbreviated forms of initial letters of he numerals themselves, and the zero, or 0,
1 Schlegel's History of Literature, p, 123, -History Sanskrit Literature, p. 424. ^Indian Wisdom, p. J-'l. ■*Aiicieut and Meiiioval Lidia, Vol. 1, p. o76.
:\rATIIEMATlCS. ."21
representing the first letter of the Sanskrit word for empty {sunj/rt). Tlie Arabs borrowed them from the Hhidiis, and transmitted them toEuro})e."'
Professor Weber says : " It is to them (the Hindns) also that we owe the ini>;enions invention of the numerical symbols, which in like manner passed from them to the Arabs, and from these again to European scholars. By these latter, who were the disciples of the Arabs, frequent allusion is made to the Indians and uniformly in terms of high esteem ; and one Sanskrit word even {uchcha) has passed into the Latin translations of Arabian astronomers."^
Professor AYilson says : " Even Delambre concedes their claim to the invention of numerical cyphers."
AlilTHMETIC.
Mrs. Manning says : " Compared with other ancient nations, the Hindns were peculiarly strong in all the branches of arithmetic."' Professor Weber, after declar- ing that the Arabs were disciples of the Hindus, says : " The same thing (i.e.. tlie Arabs borrowed from the Hindus) rook place also in regard to algebra and arithmetic in ]3articular, in both of which it appears the Hindus attained, quite independently, to a high degree of proficiency." Sir W. W. Hunter also says that the Hindus attained a very high proficiency in arithmetic and algebra independently of any foreign influence."*
llinpeiial Gazetteor, p. 219. "India." ^Weber's Indian Lileratniv. p. 25(5. ■^Ancient and Media'val India, Vol. T, p ,374, ^Imperial Gazetteer, " India,'" p. 21 y.
322 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
The English mathematician, Prof. Wallace, says : " The LiJavati treats of arithmetic, and contains not only the common rules of that science, but the application of these to various questions of interest, barter, mixtures, combinations, permutations, sums of pro- gression, indeterminate problems, and mensuration of surfaces and solids. The rules are found to be exact and nearly as simple as in the jjresent state of analytical investigation. The numerical results are readily deduced, and if they be compared with the earliest specimens of Greek calculation, the advantages of the decimal notation are placed in a striking light." ^ It may, however, be mentioned that Lilavati^ of which Professor Wallace speaks, is a comparatively modern manual of arithmetic ; and to judge of the merits of Hindu arithmetic from this book is to judge of the merits of English arithmetic from Chambers' manual of arithmetic.
It may be added that the enormous extent to which numerical calculation goes in India, and the possession by the Hindus of by far the largest table of calculation, are in themselves proofs of the superior cultivation of the science of arithmetic by the Hindus.
Geometry.
The ancient Hindus have always been celebrated for the remarkable j)rogress they made in geometry. Professor Wallace says : " However ancient a book may
1 Eaiiibui-yh Kcvicw, Vol. 20, j). 147.
MATHEMATICS 32o
be in which a system of trigonometry occurs, we mny he assured it was not written in the infancy of the science. Geometry must have been known in India loncj before the writing of the Surya Siddhanta,"^ which is supposed by the Europeans to have been written before 2,000 B.C.-
Profesor Wallace says : " Surya Siddhanta contains a rational system of trigonometry, which differs entirely from that first known in Greece or Arabia. In fact it is founded on a geometrical theorem, which was not known to the geometricians of Europe before the time of Yieta, about two hundred years ago. And it employs the sines of arcs, a thing unknown to the Greeks, who used the chords of double arcs. The invention of sines has been attributed to the Arabs, but it is possible that they may have received this improvement in trigonome- try as well as the numerical characters from India." ^
Mr. Elphinstone says : " In the Surya Siddhanta is contained a system of trigonometry which not only goes far beyond anything known to the Greeks, but in- volves theorems which were not discovered in Europe till two centuries ago."^
Professor Wallace says : " In expressing the radius of a circle in parts of the circumference, the Hindus are quite singular. Ptolemy and the Greek mathematicians in their division of the radius preserved no reference to the circumference. The use of sines, as it was unknown to the Greeks, forms a difference between theirs and the Indian trigonometry. Their rule for the computation
1 Mill's India, Vol.11, p. 150. 2See Mill's India, Vol. II, p. 3, footnote. ^Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, "Geometry," p. 191, '* History of India' p. 129.
324 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
of the lines is a considerable refinement in science first practiced by the mathematician, F)riggs."^
Count Bjornstjerna says : " We find in Ayeen AUmri, a journal of the Emperor x\kbar, that the Hindus of former times assumed the diameter of a circle to be to its periphery as 1,250 to o,927, ^The ratio of 1,250 to 3,927 is a very close approximation to the quadrature of a circle, and differs very little from that oiven bv Metius of 113 to 355. In order to obtain the result thus found by the Brahmans, even in the most elemen- tary and simplest way, it is necessary to inscribe in a circle a polygon of 768 sides, an operation, which can- not be performed arithmeticall}^ without the knowledge of some peculiar properties of this curved line, and at least an extraction of the square root of the ninth power, each to ten ])laces of decimals. The Greeks and Arabs have not given anything so approximate."^
It is thus clearly seen that the Greeks and the Arabs apart, even the Europeans have but very recently advanced far enough to come into line with the Hindus in their knowledge of this branch of mathematics.
Professor Wallace says : " The researches of the learned have brought to light astronomical tables in India which must have been constructed by the principles of geometry, but the period at which they have been framed has by no means been completely ascertained. Some are of opinion that they have been framed from observation made at a very remote period, not less than 3,000 years before the Christian era (this has been conclusively proved by Mons. Bailly);
iMilPs India, Veil. 11, i>. 1 .")(). '•*Th''(igf)iiy (if till' lliiidus. p. ;j7.
IIATHKMATICS.: • r)25
and if this opinion l)e"\vell foiincled, tlie science of ijeoine- try must hjive been cultivated in India to a considerable extent lonii^ before the ])eriod assigned to its origin in the West ; so that many elementary propositions may have been brought from India to (irF.ece."' He adds : " In geometry there is much deserving of attention. We Imve here the celebrated proposition that the square on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the squares on the sides containing the right angle and other j>ropositions, Avhicli form part of tlie system of modern geometry. There is one remarkable proposition, name!}-, that which dis- covers the area of a triangle when its three sides are known. This does not seem to have been known to the ancient Greek geometers.''''
The Sulva Sutras, however, date from about the eighth century B.C., and Dr. Thibaut has shown that the geometrical theorem of the 47th proposition, Book I, which tradition ascribes to Pythagoras, was solved by the Hindus at least two centuries earlier,- thus con- firming the conclusion of V. Schroeder tii;tt the Greek philosopher owed his inspirktion to India. •'
Mr. Elphinstone says : " Their geometrical skill is shown among other forms by their demonstrations of various properties of triangles, especially one which expresses the area in the terms of the three sides, and was unknown in Europe till published by Clavius, and by their knowledge of the proportions of the radius to the circumference of a circle, which tiiey express in a mode peculiar to themselves, by applying one measure and
1 Edinburgh Eiic}clopa?dia, "Geometry," p. 191. ^Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1875, p. 227. ^See History of Hindu Chemistry, Vol. I, p. xxiv, Intro.
326 HINDU SUPERIOIUTY.
one unit to the radius and circumference. This proportion, which is confirmed by the most approved labours of Euro- peans, was not known out of India until modern times." ^
Algebra.
The Hindus have been especially successful in the cultivation of algebra. Professor Wallace says : " In algebra the Hindus understood well the arithmetic of surd roots, and the general resolution of equations of the second degree, which it is not clear that Diaphantus knew, that they attained a general solution of indeterminate problems of the first degree, which it is certain Diaphantus had not attained, and a method of deriving a multitude of answers to problems of the second degree, when one solution was discovered by trial, which is as near an approach to a general solution as was made un^il the time of La Grange." Professor AVallace concludes by adopting the opinion of Playfair on this subject, " that before an author could think of embodying a treatise on algebra in the heart of a system of astronomy, and turning the researches of the one science to the purposes of the other, both must have been in such a state of advancement as the lapse of several ages and many repeated efforts of inventors were required to produce." "This," says Professor Wilson, "is unanswer- able evidence in favour of the antiquity, originality, and advance of the Hindu mathematical science."^
lElphiiistone's History of India, p. liiO. -'Mill's India, Vol. II, p. lol, Wilson's note,
MATHEMATICS. ^27
Mr. Colebi'ooke says: "They (the Hindus) uiulcr- stood well tlu^ arithmetic of surd roots ; they were aware of the infinite quotient resultinij; from the division of finite ([uantities by cipher ; they knew the general resolution of equations of the second degree, and had touched upon those of higher denomination, resolving them in the sinq^lest cases, and in those in which the solution happens to be practicable by the method which serves for quadratics ; they had attained a general solution of indeterminate problems of the first degree ; they had arrived at a method for deriving a multitude of solutions of answers to problems of the second degree from a single answer found tentatively."^ "And this," says Colebrooke i!i conclasion " was as near an ap])roach to a general solution of such problems as was made until the davs of La Granij'e."'
" Equally decided is the evidence," says Manning, " that this excellence in algebraic analysis was attained in India independent of foreign aid."
Mr. Colebrooke says : " No doubt is entertained of the source from which it was received immediately by modern Europeans. The Arabs were mediately or im- mediately our instructors in this study."
Mrs. Manning says: "The Arabs were not in general inventors hid recipients. Subsequent observation has confirmed this view ; for not only did algebra in an advanced state exist in India prior to the earliest disclosure of it by the Arabians to modern Europe, but
^Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. II, p. 419.
2Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. II, pp. 416-418. For the points in which Hindu algebra is more advanced than the Greek, see Colebrooke, p. IG.
328 HINDU SUI'EIMORITY.
the names by which the numerals have become known to ns are of Sanskrit origin."^
Professor Monier Wilhams saj's : " To the Hindus is due the inverdion of ahjebra and geometry and their application to (istronomyy-
Comparing the Hindus and the Greeks, as regards their knowledge of algebra, Mr. Elphinstone says : "There is no question of the superiority of the Hindus over their rivals in the perfection to which they brought the science. Not only is Aryabhatta superior to Dia- phantus (as is shown by his knowlege of the resolution of equations involving several unknown quantities, and in a general method of resolving all indeterminate problems of at least the first degree) bat he and his successors press hard upon the discoveries of algebraists who lived almost in our own time."'^ " It is with a feeling of respectful admiration that Mr. Colebrooke alludes to ancient Sanskrit treatises on algebra, arithmetic and mensuration."*
In the Edinburgh Review (Vol. XXI, p. 372) is a striking history of a probleui (to find ,i', so that ax- + b shall be a square number.) The first step towards a solution is made by Diaphantus, it was extended by Fermat, and sent as a detiance to the English algebraists in the seventeenth century, but was only carried to its full extent by the celebrated mathematician Euler,
1 Ancient and Media?val India, Vol. II, p, ;575. '-Mr. Colebrooke lias fnlly shown that algebra had attained the highest perfection it ever reached in India before it was ever known to the Arabians. Whatever the Arabs possessed in conmion with the Hindus, there are good grounds to believe that they derived from the Hindus." — Elphinstone's India, p. 133.
-Indian Wisdom, p. 185. •^Elphinstone's India, p. 131.
'^MuuuingN Ancient and Medi;\jval India. Vol. I, p. 374
MATHEMATICS 329
who arrives exactly at the pouit before attained by Rhashkaracharya." ^
Another occurs in the same Review ( VoUniie XXIX, p. 153), where it is stated, from Mr. Colcbrookc that a })articiilar solution given by Bhashkeracharya is exactly the same as that hit on by Lord l^rounker in 1G57 ; and that the general solution of the same problem was unsuc- cessfully attempted by Euler and only accom})lished by De la Grange in 1767 A.D. ; although it had been as com- pletely given by Brahmayapfa.
" But," says Mr. Elphinstone, " the superiority of the Hindus over the Greek algebraists is scarcely so conspicuous in their discoveries as in the excellence of their method, which is altogether dissimilar to that of Diaphantus (Strachey's Bija Ganita quoted in the "Edinburgh Review," Vol. XXI, pp. 374, 375), and. in the perfection of their algorithm (Colebrooke's Hindu Algebra quoted in the E. R. Vol. XXIX, p. 162).
One of their most favourite processes (that called cattaca) w^as not known in Europe till published by Bachet de Mezeriac, about the year 1624, and is virtually the same as that explained by Euler (Edinburgh Review, Vol. XXIX, p. 151). Their application of algebra to astronomical investio:ations and o-eometrical demonstra- tions is also an invention of their own ; and their manner of conducting it is even now entitled to admiration -
lElphiustone's l)idia, p. 131. Bliashkaracliaiya wrote the cele- brated book "Siddhaiita Siromaui," containing treatises on algebra ami Arithmetic. His division of a circle is remarkable for its niiiuite analysis, which is as follows :— ^ n)^Ze%^oY^^o
60 Vikala (Seconds) = A Tvala (Minutes"). ^, ,^r .^,l
bO Kala ... = A Bhaga (Degree). - -"* -^ /'
30 BhAga ... = A Rasi (Sign).
12 Rasi ... = iV Bhagana (Revolution).
380 ITIXDU SUPKRIORTTY.
(Colebrooke, quoted by Professor Wallace; and Edinburgh Review, Vol. XXIX, p. 158).
.Speaking of the Hindu treatises on algebra, arith- metic, and mensuration, Mr. Colebrooke says : " It is not hoped that in the actual advanced condition of the analytical art they will add to its resources and throw new light on the mathematical science in any other respect than as concerns its history, but had an earlier version of these treatises been completed, had they been translated and given to the public when the notice of mathematicians Avas first drawn to the attain- ments of the Hindus in astronomy and in sciences connected with it, some additions would have been then made to the means and resources of algebra, for the general solution of problems, by methods which have been re-invented or have been perfected in the last age."^
It is thus evident from what Mr. Colebrooke shows that the Hindu literature even in its degenerate state, and when so few works are extant, contains mathematical ■works that show an advance in the science in no way behind the latest European achievements.
As an instance of the remarkable and extensive practice and cultivation of mathematics in India, may be cited the case of a problem from Lallta Vistar. Mons. Wa^pcke,' indeed, is of opinion that, the account in the
• Colebrooke's MiscoUaueoas Essays. Vol. II, p. 410.
It may, however, be said that in some quarters the genuineness of the independent sohition of the problems mentioned above, and i\w discoverv of methods siniihir totiiose of tlie Hindus by modern Europeans liave been doubted, and such doabts may well be excused, considerint>' the extensive intercourse that has existed between India and Knropo i'or a Ion,!? tinie past.
-■iMem Siirla prnjHKjtdian des cJn'fres Ind/ens, Paris, 18(!.5, pp. 7r»-91,
MATIIKMATICS. 331
Lal'ila Vistara of the problem solved by Biuldha on tlie occasion of his marriage examination, relative to the number of atoms in the length of a Yojana, is the basis of the " Arenariiis "of the celebrated scientist Archimedes. The credit of the discovery of the principle of dili'er- ential calculus is generally claimed by the Europeans. But it is remarkable that a similar method existed in India asfes ajro. Bhashkeracharva, one of the world's greatest mathematicians, has referred to it. Following, however, in the footsteps of his Hindu })redecessors he does not expound the method fully, but only gives an outline of it.
Mr. Spottiswoode says : " It must be admitted that the penetration shown by Bhashkeracharya in his analysis is in the highest degree remarkable that the formula which he establishes, and his method, bear more than a mere resemblance — they bear a strong analogy — to the corresponding process in modern mathematical astronomy ; and that the majority of scientific persons will learn with surprise the existence of such a method in the writings of so distant a period and so remote a region."^
Mr. Lethbridge says : " Bhashkeracharya is said to have discovered a mathematical process very nearlj'- resembling the differential calculus of modern European mathematician?
"2
IS.
'J. R. A. S., Vol. XV'll. -Scbuol liistory v[ ludia, A)>iiL'iidix A, p. ii.
332 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
III.— ASTRONOMY.
'* Ye multiplying masses of increased
And still increasing lights : what are ye ? what
Is this blue ■wilderness of interminable
Air where ye roll along, as I have seen
The leaves along the limpid stream of Eden ?
Is your course measured for ye ? or do ye
Sweep on in your unbounded revelry
Tlirough an aerial universe of endless
Expansion, at which my soul aches to think,
Intoxicated with eternity."
Byron : Cain.
A European critic says : " For a man, the most sublime study is that of astronomy." And, indeed, what can be more sublime than the study of Nature in its broadest aspects, of the movements and the functions of those wonderful and splendid bodies with which the boundless expanse of the wide, wide space is thickly studded, where fancy is puzzled and imagination itself staggered ?
" Heaven Is as the book of God befoie thee set Wherein to read His wondrous words."
Milton : Paradise Lost,
The science of astronomy flourishes only amongst a civilized people. Hence, considerable advancement in it is itself a proof of the high civilization of a nation. Hindu astronomy, or what remains of it, has received the homage of European scholars. Dr. Sir William Hunter says : *' The Astronomy of the Hindus has formed the subject of excessive admiration. " " Proofs of very extraordinary
ASTKONOMV. So 3
proficiency," says Mr. Elphinstonc, " in their nstronomi- cal writings iire found.'
The Hindu astronomy not only establishes the higli proficiency of our ancestors in tliis department of know- ledge and exact admiration and applause : it does some- thing more. It proves the great antiquity of the Sanskrit literature and the hi<j;h literary culture of the Hindus. *' Mons. Bailly, the celebrated author of the History of Astronomy, inferred from certain astronomical tables of the Hindus, not only advanced progress of the science but a date so ancient as to be entirely inconsistent with the chronology of the Hebrew Scriptures. His argument was laboured with the utmost diligence, and was received with unbounded applause. All concurred at the time with the wonderful learning, wonderful civilization and wonderful institutions of the Hindus."- It must not, however, be forgotten, as this celebrated astronomer (Mons. Bailly) holds, that Hindu astronomy is "the remains rather than the elements of a science."^
Mr. Weber says : " Astronomy was practised in India as early as 2780 B.C."* But some of the greatest modern astronomers have decided in favour of a much greater antiquity. Cassini, Bailly, Gentil and Playfair maintain " that there are Hindu observations extant which must have been made more than three thousand
1 History of India, p. 129. 2Mill's History of India, Vol. II, pp. 07,98.
"^See Bailly 's Histoire de V Astronomie Ancienne (^Plutot les debria qii€ les elemens d'une Science).
** Weber's Indian Literature, p. 30. " Biot regards tlie 2357 B.C. as the earliest point when the course of the njoon was first watched for astronomical use." — Dunker's History ofAntiquiti/, p. 2^4.
•1 o
1 ]IINDU SUi'KKIOJaTV.
years before Christ, and which evince even then a very hiyh det/ree of astronomical science."^
Count Bjornstjerna proves conclusively that Hindu astronomy was very far advanced even at the beginning of the Kaliyug, or the iron age of the Hindus (about 5,000 years ago). He says : " According to the astro- nomical calculations of the Hindus, the present period of the world, Kaliyug, commenced 3,102 years before the birth of Christ, on the 20th of February, at 2 hours 27 minutes and 30 seconds, the time being thus calculated to minutes and seconds. They say that a conjunction of the planets then took place, and their tables show this conjunction. Bailly states that Jupiter and Mercury were then in the same degree of the ecliptic, Mars at a distance of only eight, and Saturn of seven degrees ; whence it follows, that at the point of time given by the Brahmins as the commencement of Kaliyug, the four planets above-mentioned must have been successively concealed by the rays of the sun (first Saturn, then Mars, afterwards Jupiter and lastl}' Mercury). They thus showed themselves in conjunction ; and although Venus could not then be seen, it was natural to say, that a conjunction of the jjlanets then took place. The calculation of the Brahmins is so exactly confirmed by our own astronomical tables, that notliino; but an actual observation could have given so correspondent a result." The learned Count continues: "He (Bailly) further informs us that Laubere, Avho was sent by Louis XIV as ambassador to the King of Siam, brought home, in the year 1687, astronomical tables of solar eclipses, and that other similar tables were sent to Europe by Patouillet
' Tlioogoiiy of the llindus, p. 32.
ASTRONO:\rY. ^?)i')
(a missionary in the Carnatic), and by Gontil, Avliidi latter were obtained from the Brahmins in Tirvalore, and that they all perfecfli/ agree in their calculations aJtIioft(/h received from (/ifcrent person.'^, at cdferenf times, an<l from places in India remote from each other. On these tables, Bailly makes the following observation. The motion calciilated by the Brahmins during the long space of 4,383 years (the period elapsed between these calculations and Baillj^'s), varies not a single minute from the tables of Cassini and Meyer ; and as the tables brought to Europe by Laubere in 1687, under Louis XIV, are older than those of Cassini and Meyer, the accordance between them must be the result of mvtu.al and exact astronomical observations." Then again, *' Indian tables give the same annual variation of the m.oon as that discovered by Tycho Brahe, a variation unknown to the school of Alexandria, and also to the Arabs, who followed the calculations of this school."
"These facts," says the erudite Count, "sufficiently show the great antitjuity and distinguished station of astronomical science among the Hindus of past ages." The Count then asks "if it be true that the Hindus more than 3,000 B.C., according to Bailly's calculation, had attained so high a degree of astronomical and geometrical learning, how many centuries earlier must the com- mencement of their culture have been, since the human mind advances only step by step on the path of science!"'
There are, however, many other arguments to estab- lish a far higher antiquity of the Hindu astronomy than what is assigned by Bentley. The equation of the sun's centre, according to the Indian tables, is 2° lOJ'; ^ Theogony of tlie Hindns. p. 37.
336 niXDU SUPERIORITY.
whereas the same quantity according to the modern observations is only 1° oo^' . It is one consequence of the mutual disturbances of planets that the eccentricity of the solar orbit on which the equation just mentioned depends, was greater in former ages than it is at the present time. From the quantity which the Hindus assign to this astronomical element, ^I. Bailly has drawn an argument in favour of the antiquity of the Indian tables, which it must be confessed is of great weight when the difference of the Indian and European determinations is considered as arising from the gradual alteration of the planetary orbits.
2. The quantities which the Indian tables assign to other astronomical elements, vu., the mean motions of Jupiter and Saturn, have been found to agree almost exactly not with what is observed at the present time, but with what the theory of gravity shows would have been observed at the beginning of the Kaliyug. Laplace discovered it after the publication of the Astronomie [ndien and inserted it in the Journal des Savans.
3. M. Bailly has shown that the place of the aphelion of Jupiter's orbit, determined by the Indian tfibles for the beginning of the Kaliyug agrees with the modern tables of Lalande when corrected by the theoretical equations of La Grange. The same thing is true of the quantity which the Hindus assign to the equation of Saturn's centre.
4. Another argument to vindicate the great anti- quity of Hindu astronomy is derived from the obliquity of the ecleptic which the Indians state at 24°. Both observation and theory concur in showing that tlie
ASTKOXO.MY. 337
obliquity of the ecliptic has been diminishing slowly for many ages preceding the present.
5. The length of the Hindu tropical year as de- duced from the Hindu tables is 365 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes, 35 seconds, while La Callie's observ^ation gives 365-5-48-49. This makes the year at the time of the Hindu observation longer than at present by 1'46". It is, however, an established fact that the year has been decreasing in duration from time immemorial and shall continue to decrease. In about 49 centuries the time of the year decreases about 40J". This, then, is an immistakahle proof of the very Jdgh antiqvitij of Indian ostronom.}/. The observation by the Hindus must have been made in the Dwapar (more than 5,000 years ago).
It should now be quite clear that in India astronomy was cultivated and wonderful progress in the science made at a period when the rest of the world, including the whole of Europe, w^as completely enveloped in ignorance.
Sir W. Hunter says : " In some points the Brahmans made advances beyond Greek astronomy. Their fame spread throughout the West, and found entrance into the Chronicon Paschale (commenced about 330 A.D. and revised under Heraclius 610-641).^
Mr. Elphinstone says: "In addition to the points al- ready mentioned in which the Hindus have gone beyond the other nations, Mr. Colebrooke mentions two in astro- nomy. One is in their notions regarding the processions of the Equinoxes, in which they w^ere more correct than Ptolemy, and as much so as the Arabs, who did not attain to that degree of improvement till a later period ; the other
1 Indian Gazetteer, Vol. IV, p. 218.
338 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
relates to the diurnal revolution of the earth on its axis which the Brahmans discussed in the fifth century B.G."^ Sir W. Hunter savs : " The Sanskrit term for the apex of a planet's orbit seems to have passed into the Latin translations of the Arabic astronomers. The Sans- krit ifccha became the anx (gen. ait 1/ is) of the later trans- lators." (Reinaud, p. 325 and AVeber, p. 257).
Professor Weber says : " The fame of Hindu astrono- mers spread to the West, and the Andubarius (or probably, Ardubarius), whom the Chronicon Paschale places in primeval times as the earliest Indian stronomer, is doubt- less none other than Aryabhatta, the rival of Pulisa, and who is likewise extolled by the Arabs under the name of Arjabahar."-
Professor Wilson says : "The science of astronomy at present exhibits many proofs of accurate observation and deduction, highly creditable to the science of the Hindu astronomers. The division of the ecleptic into lunar mansions, the solar zodiac, the mean motions of the planets, the procession of the equinox, the earth's self-support in space, the diurnal revolution of the earth on its axis, the revolution of the moon on her axis, her distance from the earth, the dimensions of the orbits of the planet, the calculations of eclipses are parts of a svstem which could not have been found amongst an unenlightened people,"'^
But the originality of the Hindus is not less
striking than their proficiency. It is remarkable that
the Hindu methods are all original and peculiar.
Professor Wilson says: "'The originality of Hindu
I History of India, p. i32, iootnote. "AVchor's Indian Literature, jj. 255. ^Mill's History of India, Vol. II,].). 100.
A?;TKONnMr. 839
nstronomv is i\{ once cstablislicd, I)Ut it is also proved by intrinsic evidence, and althougli there are some re- markable coincidences between the Hindu and other systems, their methods arc their own."' Mr. Elphin- stone says : " In the more advanced stai>*es, where they are more likely to have borrowed, notonlv is their mode of proceedings peculiar to themselves but it is often founded on principles, with which no other ancient people were acquainted, and showed a knowledge of discoveries not made even in Europe till within the course of the last two centuries, "-
In the sixth volume of the Journal of the Ameri- can Oriental Society', Professor Whitney published an English translation of Suri/a Siddhdnt by the Kev. E. Burgess, with an elaborate commentary by himself. This paper excited comments froniM. Biot, the late venerable astronomer of Paris, and from Professor Weber of Berlin. Biot believed that the Hindus derived their system of Nakahntrnn^ or moon stations, from the Chinese, but Pro- fessor Whitne}' contributed two other papers to the said Journal, in which he clearly shows that the Hindu Nalisliatra does not mean the same thing as the Chinese sleu. Sien means a single star, whereas Nalshaira expresses a (jroup of stars ^ or rather a certain portion of the starry heavens. Again, Professor AVeber shows that the Chinese slea is not traceable further than two or three centuries before Christ, while NaksJuitras are amongst the heavenly objects mentioned in the Vedic hymns. "'^ The great antiquity of the science, however, is the best proof of its originality.
1 Mill's History of India, Vol. If, p. 107. -Elphinstoue's History of India, p. 132.
3W. I). Whitney, "Views of Weber and Biut re.-pcct ing U.e "Relations of the Hindu and Chinese Asterisks, p. 25.
340 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
The Arabs were the disciples of the Hindus in this branch of knowledge also. Professor Weber says that Hindu astronomers are extolled by the Arabs. He adds : " For, during the eighth and nineth centuries the Arabs were, in astronomy, the disciples of Hindus, from whom they borrowed the lunar mansions in their new order, and whose Siddhdnts they frequently worked up and translated in part under the supervision of Indian astro- nomers themselves, whom the Khalifs of Baghdad, etc., invited to their courts."^
Dr. Robertson says : " It is highly probable that the knowledge of the twelve signs of zodiacs was derived from India."^
Sir \Y. W. Hunter says: "The Arabs became their (Hindus) disciples in the eighth century, and translated Sanskrit treatises, Siddhdnts, under the nsune Smdhends.''^ ■^ Professor Wilson says : " Indian astronomers were greatly encouraged- by the early Khalifs, particularly Harun-ul- Rashid, and Aimamun ; they were invited to Baghdad, and their works were translated into Arabic. The Hindus were, fully as much as the Greeks, the teachers of the Arabians."*
There are nine Siddhantas :' (1) Hrahma Siddhanta, (2) Surya Siddhanta, (8) Soma Siddhanta, (4) Vrihaspati Siddhanta, (5) Gargya Siddhfmta, (6) Nfirada Siddhanta, (7) Parasin- Siddhanta, (8) Pulastya Siddhanta, and (9) A^ashishta Siddhanta. Of these, the work best known to
^Weber's Indian Literature, p. 255. 2 Disquisition concerning India, p, 280.
■Undiau Gazetteer, "India," p. 218. -^Mill's History of India, Vol. II, p. 107.
■"The Panch Siddhantas, or the five principal astronomical works in general use are : (1) The Paulisa Siddhanta, (2) The Romaka Sid- dhanta, (^S) The Vashishta Siddhanta, (4) The Saura Siddhanta, Brahma Siddhanta, (5) The Failawaha Siddhaula.
ASTRONOMY. 341
Europeans is the Sitri/a Si/kiJurnfa which is the oldest o£ the extant SiddhantasJ There is internal evidence to show that Surya Siddhdnta is a very old book. The author in two slokas (Madhyan Addhaya, slokas 22, 23) gives the date when the book was written. He says:
"Six Manwantras have passed since the beginnin2^ of this kalp (present world) : and of the seventh i\Ian- wantra, 27 Chaturyugis have passed. The Satyug of the 28th Chaturyugi has also passed. From this the time of the compilation of this book may be inferred." This makes the book nearly 2,165,000 years old.
Mr. Davis calculates that the celebrated Hindu as- tronomer, Parasar, judging from the observations made by him, must have lived 1391 years before Christ, ^ and consequent!}", says Bjornstjerna, *' had read in the divine book of the heavenlv firmament long before the Chaldees, the Arabs and the Greeks."^
Mr. Houghton says : " From a text of Parasar it appears that the equinox had gone back from the tenth deoree of Bharv'i to the first of Aswini. or 23 deurees and 20 minutes between the days of that Indian philosopher and the year of our Lord 499, when it coincided with the orio-in of the Hindu ecliptic, so that Parasar probably flourished near the close of the twelfth century before Christ."
1 Indian Wisdom, pp. 184, 185-
2 Asiatic Researches, Vol. II, p. 288. siheogony of the Hindus, pp. 33) 34.
342 HINDU SUrElMOKITY.
After Parasar Miuii came Aryabhatta, Avho was a great astrologer too. The date of his birth is not known, though it is certain that he was born lono- anterior to Vicramaditya. He Avas the man who, according to the Europeans, first brought to light "diurnal revolution of the earth on its axis, and to have known the true theorv of the causes of the lunar and solar eclipses, and notice the motion of solstitial and equinoctial points."^
His principal works are: (1) Aryabatika, (2) Dasa Gitika, (3) Aryashta Sata.
The best known astronomer who flourished after Aryabhatta's time is Varahmihira, who became pre-emi- nent in astrology. Mrs. Manning says : " Varahmihira may be cited as a celebrated astronomer to whom astro- lo2'v was irresistibly attractive :" and as^ain, "He is called an astronomer, but it is for astrology that we find him most celebrated. He attained excellence in each branch of the Sanhita, and before w^riting his celebrated treatise called the Brihat- Sanhita he composed a work on pure astronomy."- Virahmihir lived in the first century before Christ, and was one of the nine gems at the court of Yikramaditya. The nine gems, or 7iaii ratan, were : —
%cn^ vf|w^ iirrn; ^Tf^^i^i: ii
Varahmihir's chief works are : (1) Vrihaj Jataka, (2) Brihat Sanhita, (3) A Summary of the Original Pancli Siddhantas. Mrs. Manning says : " Richness of detail constitutes the chief attraction of the book (Brihat
iSee Chamber's Encyclopaedia.
'-Ancient and Mediccval India, Vol. I, pp., 308,309.
ASTRONOMY. 1)4. S
Sanhita), a merit which was appreciated by tlie Arab astrologer, Albiriini (^'^r^^^), as it will be by ourselves ; for altliough professedly astrological, its value for geography, architecture, sculpture, etc., is uneqmdled by any Sanskrit work as yet published. "i
The last Hindu astronomer of eminence, however, was Bhashkeracharya, who is said by Europeans to have flourished so late as the twelfth century. He ex- pounded the law of gravity with peculiar felicity, while his mathematical works place him in the forefront of the world's great mathematicians.
The roundness of the earth and its diurnal rotation, however, w^ere known to the Hindus from the earliest times. Says a Rishi in the Aiteriya Brahmana : " Bv this great inauguration similar to Indra's, Tura, son of Kavasha, consecrated Janamjaya, and thereby did he subdue the earth completely round.''''' In Aryabhat- tiyam we read :
" The earth, situated in the middle of the heavens and composed of five elements, is spherical in its shape." Bhashkaracharya, in Goladhaya^ says :
" A hundredth part of the circumference of a circle appears to be a straight line. Our earth is a big sphere,
^ Ancient and Mcdiasval India, Vol. I, p. 370. See also Dr. Kern's Bib. Ind., Introduction, p. 27.
^Haug'sj Aiteriya Brahmana, Vol, II, p. 242,
o44 HINDU SUPEKIOItlTT.
and the portion visible to man being exceedingly small, the earth appears to be flat."
Dr. H. Kern, in his paper on " Some fragments of Aryabhatta," translates a passage as follows : " The terrestrial globe, a compound of earth, fire, water, air, en- tirely round, and compassed by a girdle, i.e., equator, stands in the air," etc., etc.
As regards the annual motion of the earth, the Rig Veda says :
■STT Jl^l^^fsf ^sffci fspEficf ^'^\ ^f TIT ^crsf^K^TTrf: I ^T g^^TJDT ^^m^ ^igw %^»^1" ^TSlsf^^lT f^^^ II The diurnal motion is thus described in the Yajur Veda : WT^ 31^5 ^r^^fifll^^ff'^TcT^* XT?;: I f^c{^ =^ 5f^'(^: II The Aiteriya Brahmana explains that the sun neither sets nor rises, that when the earth, owing to the rotation on its axis is lighted up, it is called day," and so on.^
^^ ^\^ irTer^%<flfcT Tijg% ^t^^^ cr^^frfflc^ ^'gTcflTsf' f^ipr^% SEj'^T^T^'^TTcf ^^^ ^Tf^iT 5^^TcT I ^ t" ■5:¥ sf '^^T=^T
fij^'^^^fcT I if =r f ^^T=^*r f5TT^"t^fcr ii As regards the stars being stationery, Aryabhatta^ says : HXT^s^C- f^^t^T^^^T^WIJTfcTf^Tf^^^ I ^?^?n^?T^^ ^'iTT^^^ 371"*t^'^TJni II " The starry vault is fixed. It is the earth which, moving round its axis, again and again causes the rising and set- ting of planets and stars." He starts the question. " Why do the stars seems to move ? " and himself replies : "As a person in a vessel, while moving forwards, sees an im- movable object moving backwards, in the same manner do the stars, however immovable, seem to move daily."^
iHaug'f? Aiteriya Brahamana, Vol. II, p. 242. iJColebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. II, p. 392, 3 Journal of ihe K.A.«., Vol. XX, p. 372.
ASTK(JNoMV. '345
The Polar davs and ni<:;lits o£ six months arc ulso described by him.
It has been remarked :
'' When it is sunrise at Lanka (the E(juator) it is mid- day at Java, sunset in America, and midnight at Rome." As reo'ards the size of the earth, it is said :
^ig^^^T^^g^: ffT^^^tW%^Tf^^T: II " The circumference of the earth is 4,967 yojanas, and its diameter is 1,581— yojanas." A yojana is equal to live English miles, the circumference of the earth would therefore be 24,835 miles and its diameter 7,905-5/24 miles.
The Yajur A^eda sa3's that the earth is kept in space owing to the superior attraction of the sun.
The theory of gravity is thus described in the Sldhdnta Shlromani centuries before Newton was born.
^^ JJ^^^lf^fW ^^TFTt^T 1 1
^% ^^^TcT ^tfcrf^^ ^%: 1 1 " The earth, owing to its force of gravity, draws all things towards itself, and so they seem to fall towards 'the earth." etc. etc.
346 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
That the moon and the stars are dark bodies is thus described : —
" The earth, the planets and the comets all receive their liirht from the sun : that half towards the sun being always bright, the colour varying with the pecu- liarity of the substance of each."
The Atharva Yeda says : " f^f^ ^I'hI" ^fyf^rr: | " " The moon is dependent on the sun for its light."
As regards the atmosphere it is stated :
"The atmosphere surrounds the earth, and its height is 12 yojanas (60 English miles), and the clouds, light- ning etc. are phenomena connected with it."
Mr. Colebrooke says : " Aryabhatta affirmed the diurnal revolution of the earth on its axis. He posses- sed the true theor}^ of the causes of solar and lunar eclipses and disregarded the imnginar}^ dark planets of m^'tholog- ists and astrologers, affirming the moon and primary j)]anets (and even the stars) to be essentially dark and only illuminated by the sun."^
As regards the solar and lunar eclipses, it is stated :
^K^^^fff^^f^H ^iftqm: II
" When the earth in its rotation comes between the sun and the moon, and the shadow of the earth falls on the moon, tlie phenomenon is called lunar eclipse, and when the moon comes between the sun and the earth the sun seems as if it was being cut off — this is solar eclipse."
1 Culcbrooke's Essays, .\[)pendix Gr, p. i67.
ARTnONOMY. ?)47
The fuUowliio- Ls taken from Varai nil lir's observations on the moon. " One half of the moon, wliosc orbit lies between the sun and the earth, is always bright by the sun's rays ; the other half is dark by its own shadows, like the two sides of a pot standhig in the sunshine."^
About eclipses, he says : " The true explanation of the phenomenon is this : in an eclipse of the moon, he enters into the earth's shadow ; in a solar eclipse, the same thing- happens to the sun. Hence the commence- ment of a lunar eclipse does not take place from the icest side, nor that of the solar eclipse from the easty-
Kali Dasa says in his Ear/hif Vansa:
Jai Deva sings in the Gita Govind : " His heart was agitated by her sight, as the waves of the deep are att'ected by the lunar orb."^
India has from time immemorial been the land of philosophers, poets, astronomers and mathematicians, and every now and then it produces a great genius. Less than two centuries ago, Rajputana produced an astronomer, no doubt the greatest of his time. This astronomer was no other than the famous Jai Singh of Jaipur. Sir William Hunter says: "Raja Jai Singh II constructed a set of observatories at his capital, Jaipur, Muttra, Banares, Delhi and U jjain, and was able to correct the astronomical tables of De La Hire ])ublished in 1702 A.D. The Raja left as a monument of his skill, a list of stars collated by himself, known as the Zij Mohammed Shahi, or Tables of Mohammed Shah. His observatory at Benares survives to this day."
iBrihat Sanghita, Chapter V, v. 8. ^Brihat Sanghita, Chapter V, v. 8. ^Tod's Rujasthan, Vol. I, p. 543.
348 HINDU SUPEKIOIIITY.
The celebrated European astronomer, Mr. Playfair, says : " The Brahmin obtains his result wiih wonderful certainty and expedition in astronomy,"^ This speaks volumes in favour of the original, advanced and scientific methods of the Hindus and their marvellous cultivation of the science. Professor Sir ]\[. Williams says : "It is their science of astronomy by which they (Hindus) heap billions upon millions, trillions upon billions of years and reckoning up ages upon ages, teons upon a^ons with even more audacity than modern geologists and astronomers. It short, an astronomical Hindu ventures on arithmetical conceptions quite beyond the mental dimensions of any- one who feels himself incompetent to attempt a task of measuring infinity." A strange confession of inferiority ! Well may Mrs. Manning exclaim : " The Hindus had the widest range of mind of which man is capable."^
In astronomy, as in other sciences, what scanty records remain not only show the astonishing proficiency of the Hindus in the science, but contain theories not yet understood by others, bir M. Mon. Williams says : " A very strange theory of the planetary motion is expounded at the commencement of the Si/ri/a Siddhanta, Chapter II," which is unknown outside India.^
^ Playfiiir on the astronomy ol the Hindus. Transactions of the li. A. S. of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. II, pp. I:J8, 139.
-.Vucient and Mediaeval India, Vol. I, \k U^^-
sMonier Williams' Indian Wisdom, p. 189. Mr. C. B. Clarke, F. G. S., says in liis Geographical Header: — "Till of late years we did not know with extreme exactness the longitndes of distant places." The ancient Hindu method of finding the longitude by first finding out. tlie DesJutntra Gatltika^ witli the aid of observations made at the time of the lunar eclipse, is not only scientific but iufalliblo»
MILITAUV SCIKNCI-:. 341)
IV.— MILITARY SCIENCE.
]\[y voice is still fui- war,
Gods ! oan a Roman senato hjng debate
"Which of tlie two to choose, slavery or death ?
Ai)J)isoN : Cato.
Captain Troyer says : *' All the traditions of the Hindus are hlled -with wars, in which religion certainly- had its share. I have shown this sufficiently already, without being- obliged to go back so far as the contests between the Suras and the A suras." ^
War as an art as well as a science was equally well understood in ancient India. The nation which overran nearly the whole of the habitable globe and produced Hercules, Arjuna, Sagarji, Bali could scarcely be con- sidered inferior to any other people in their proficiency in military science.
Being skilful sailors from time immemorial, the Hindus were adepts at naval warfare. Colonel Tod says: "The Hindus of remote ages possessed great naval
":
power.
Being: the greatest commercial nation in the ancient
o
world, and enjoying sea trade with nearly every part of the world (see "Commerce"), they were compelled to look to their navy to guard their trade and to make it suffi.ciently strong to ensure their position as the " mis- tress of the sea." Their position in the ancient world" being similar to that of England in the modern world
1 Troyer on the Ramayana in the Asiatic Journal for October 1844, p. 514. 2 Tod's RajasthaiK Vol. II, p, 218,
850 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
SO far as maritime affairs are concerned, their navy, too, was equally eminent and powerful. Manu mentions navigation to have existed among the Hindus from time immemorial. Strabo mentions a naval department in addition to the others in the Indian army.
Dhanur Veda, the standard work on Hindu military science being lost, the dissertations on the science found in the Mahabharata, the Agni Purana, and other works are the only sources of information on the subject left to us. Dr. Sir AV. Hunter says : " There was no want of a theory of regular movements and arrangements for the march, array, encampments, and supply of troops. They are all repeatedly described in the Mahabharata."^
Mr. Ward says : " The Hindu did not permit even the military art to remain unexamined. It is very certain that the Hindu kings led their own armies to the combat, and that the}'' were prepared for this impor- tant employment by a military education ; nor is it less certain that many of these monarchs were distinguished for the hisrhest valour and militarv skill.""
The ancient Hindu tactics of war were as original as valuable. It is said that the Hindus divided their army in the following manner : (1) Uras or centre (breast), (2) Kakshas or the flanks, (3) Pakshas or wings, (4) Fraligraha or the reserves, (5) Koti or vanguards, (6) Madhya or centre behind the breast, (7) Prishtha or back — a third line between the madhya and the reserve.^
Array of forces in action is generally termed vyuha.
^Indian Gazetteer, "India," p. 223. '-^Seethe Theosophist for March 1881, p. 12i. 3The sage Brihaspati was a great teacher of military scieuce, but unfortunately none of his works is now extant.
MILITARY SCIENCE. 351
Some viiiilias are named from their object. Thus :
(1) McK/hi/abhedi = one wliich breaks the centre, (2) Antar blisdi = that which penetrates between its division. More commonly, however, they are named from their resem- blance to various objects. For instance (1) Makararyi/ha, or the army drawn up like the ■\Iakara, a mire monster.
(2) Syenavyiiha, or the army in the form of a hawk or eagle with wings spread out. (o) Sakalavytiha^ or the army in the shape of a waggon. (4) Aradha chandra^ or half moon. (5) Sarvatobhadra, or hollow square. (G) Gomutrika^ or echelon. (1) Danda or staff, (2) Bhoja or column, (3) Mandala or hollow circle, (4) Asanhafa or detached arrangements of the different parts of the forces, the elephants, cavalry, infantry severally by themselves. Each of these vyuhas has subdivisions ; there are seventeen varieties of the Danda, five of the Bhoga and several of both the Mandala and Asanhafa.^
In the Mahabharata (Vol. VL, pp. 699-729), Yudhi- shtera suggests to Arjuna the adoption of the form of Siichimukha, or the needle point array (similar to the phalanx of the Macedonians), while Arjuna recommends the rajra or thunderbolt array for the same reason. Duryodhana, in consequence, suggests Abhedya, or the unpenetrable.
In their land army, the Hindus had, besides the infantry and the cavalry, elephants and chariots also. The elephants, " the living battering rams," as Macaulay
' See Agiii Parana. "The most important part of Hiiuiu battles is now a cannonade. I)i tin's iheji (jreutbj excel, and have occasioned heavy- losses to us in all our battles with them. Their mode is to charge the front and the flanks at once, and the manner in which they perform this manoeuvre has sometimes called forth the admiration of European antagonists," — Elphiustonc's Ili^torij of India, p. 82.
352 HINDU SUPEKlORlTr.
calls them, were a source of great strength when properly managed and skilfully supported by other arms. Of the elephants given by Chaudragupta to Seleucus, Professor Max Dunker says : " These animals a few years later decided the day of Ipsus in Phrygia against Antogonus, a victory which secured to Seleucus the territory of Syria, Asia Minor, etc." According to Ctesias, Cyrus was defeated and killed by the enemy, only because of the strong support the latter received from the Indian elephants. 1
As regards the soldierly qualities of the Indians even of the present day. Sir Charles Xapier, one of the highest authorities on the subject, says : " Better soldiers or braver men I never saw, superior in sobriety, equal in courage, and only inferior in muscular strength to our countrymen. This appears to me, as far as I can judge, the true character of the Indian army in the three Presi- dencies, and I have had men of each under my command. "2
The chivalrous conduct of the Indian sepoys on the occasion of the defence of Arcot by Olive, and when, to- wards the close of the Avar with Tippu in 1782, the
i''The proficiency of the Indians in this art (management of ele- phants) early attracted tlie attention of Alexander's successors ; and natives of India were so long exclusively employed in this service, that the term Indian was applied to every elephant-driver, to whatever country he might belong." — Wilson's Theatre oftJie Ilindns^ Vol. T, p. 15.
•' In war, the King of India was preceded by 10,000 elephants and 3,000 of (lie strongest and the bravest followed iiim.'' — Max Dunker's llistury of Antiiiuitij .
" Sixty years after the death of the Enlightened, the Indians assisted the Persian King, the successor of Darius in the invasion of Greece, when they trod th(; soil of Hellas and wintered in Thessaly. They defeated the Greeks aiul saw the temple of Alliens in flames, — ■ ]\lax iJunker's Iliston/ of Aiif/(fiiili/, Vol. IV, p. ;>iSl,
'■^The Ijidian Review (Calcutta) for November, lyyi), p. 181.
MlLITAIiV sriENCE. 3o3
whole of the force under (Jeneral Mathews were made prisoners is well known. The sepoys mao*nnniinously and spontaneously coritri\ ed with great personal risk to send every pie of their petty savings to their imprisoned officers, saying : " We can live upon anything, but you require mutton and beef." The conduct of the Indian sepoys shown on such occasions sheds lustre on the whole profession. General Wolsley, in a pnper on " courage," contributed to a journal, highly eulogised the bravery of the Indian sepo^-s. "During the siege of Lucknow," he said, *' tiie sepovs performed wonderful feats of valour."
Mr. Elphinstone says : "TheHindns display bra- very not surpassed by the most warlike nations, and \n ill throw away their lives for nny considerations of religion or honour. Hindu sepoys, in our pay have in two in- stances advanced after troops of the king's service have been beaten off ; and on one of these occasions they Avere opposed to French soldiers. The sequel of this history will show instances of whole bodies of troops rushino" forward to certain death." ^
Clive, Lawrence, Smith, Coote, Haliburton nnd many others speak of the sepoys in the highest terms.
Xow as regards the weapons used by the Hindus. Professor Wilson is assured that the Hindus cultivated archery most assiduously, and were masters in the use of the bow on horseback. Their skill in archery was wonder- ful. " Part of the archery practice of the Hindus consisted in shooting a number of arrows at once, from four to nine at one time." Arjuna's feats in archery at the tourna-
li<lphiu.stone's History of India, ^i. lUb.
354 HINDU SLTERIORITY.
ment before Drauj^adi's marriage, and again on the death- bed of Bhishma, must excite universal admiration.
The archery of the Hindus had something myste- rious about it. The arrows returned to -the archer, if they missed their aim. This was considered absurd until the discovery of .the "bomerang" in the hands of the Australians.'
AVarlike weapons and splendid daggers were pre- sented at the International Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, and a critic s}>eaking of them, says : " Beautiful as the jewelled arms of India are, it is still for the intrinsic merit of their steel that they are most highl}' prized. "^
That the ancient Hindus were celebrated for their sword-fight is evident from the Persian phrase, " to give an Indian answer,'^ meaning " a cut with an Indian sword." The Indian swordsmen were celebrated all over the world. In an Arabic poem of great celebrity, known as Sahart. MoalcKja, there occurs the passage : " The oppression of near relations is more severe than the wound caused by a Hindu swordsman."^
Ctesias mentions that the Indian swords were the best in the world."*
The following fivefold classification of Hindu wea- pons is exhaustive : (Ij Missiles thrown with an instru- ment or engine called yantramukta ; (2) Those hurled by h.?aidi (yc hastamakia 'y (3) Weapons which may or may
' Besides bows, other missiles as the discus, short iron clubs, and javelins, swords, masos, battle axes, spears, shields, helmets, armour and coats of mail, etc. are also mentioned. See Wilson's Essays, Vol. 11, pp. 191, 92.
^Manning's Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II, p. 365.
3 The Tafsif Azizi?,».j?, :Ji^^^llaiol <sJoI aJJo- /e^ ^ii^ . -. J.iib jLo
■*Max Dunker's History of Antiquity, Vol. IV, p. 43G.
MILITAIiV SCIENCE. 355
not be thrown, or m//^/a;jiM/(;/«, as javelins, tridents etc.; (4) Wliich are not thrown, as swords, maces, etc. ; (5) Natural weapons, jis fi«ts, etc. Bhin(hpala, Tomara, Naracha, Prasa, Rishti, Pattisa, Kripana, Kshepani, Pasa, etc., are some of the arms o£ the ancient Hindus now extinct. The cliief distinction of the modern military science is the extensive employment of /ire-arms, their invention being attributed to the Europeans, and it being supposed that firo-arms were unknown in ancient India. Nothinii', however, is farther from the truth. Though the Hindu masterpieces on the science of war are all lost, yet there is sufficient material available in the great epics and the Puranas to prove that fire-arms were not only known and used on all occasions by the Hindus, but that this branch of their armoury had received extraordinary development. In mediaeval India, of course, guns and cannons were commonly used. In the twelfth century Ave find pieces of ordnance being taken to battle-fields in the armies of Prithviraj In the 25th stanza of Frithvi- raja Rasa it is said that "The calivers and cannons made a loud report when they were fired off, and the noise which issued from the ball was heard at a distance of ten cos.
f5T ^T5T irm ifr^T VT^f^ II
An Indian historian, Raja Kundan Lall, who lived in the court of the king of Oudh, says that there was a big gun named Uchhma in the possession of His Majesty the
356 HINDU SUPEKIOIUTY.
Kill"' (o£ OlkIIi) which had been orighially in the artillery of: ]\Ialiaraja Prithviraj of Ajmer. The author speaks of a regular science of war, of the postal depart- ment, and of public or Roman roads. See Muntakhab Tafsee-ul-Akhbar, pp. 1^19, 50.
" Maffei says that the Indians far excelled the Portu2;uese in their skill in the use of fire-arms." ^
Another author quoted by Bohlen speaks of a certain Indian king being in the habit of placing several pieces of brass ordnance in front of his army. 2
" Faria-e Souza speaks of a Guzerat vessel in A.D. 1500 firing several guns at the Portuguese,' and of the Indians at Calicut using fire vessels in 1502, and of the Zamorin's fleet carrying in the next year 380 guns."*
But let us turn to ancient India. Professor Wilson says: "Amongst ordinary weapons one is named r«/Va, the thunderbolt, and the specification seems to denote the employment of some explosive projectile, which could not have been in use except b}^ the agency of something like gunpower in its properties."''
As regards "gunpowder," the learned Professor says : " The Hindus, as we find from their medical
iHist. ludica. p. 25. 2 Das Alte Indien, Vol IT, p. 63.
3 Asia Portnguesa, Toiu I, Part I, Chapter 5. -^Ibid, Chapter 7.
5 Wilson's Essays, Vol. II, p. ."02. The Indians are from time immemorial remarkable for their skill in fireworks. The display of fire- works has been from olden days a feature of the Dasehra festival. Mr, Elphinstone says : " In the Dasohra ceremony the combat ends in the destnictiou of Lanka amidst a blaze of fireworks which would excite ad- miration in any part of the world. And the procession of the native prince on this occasion presents one of the most animating and gorgeous spectacles ever seen," — Illpliinstone's Ili.itortf of India, p, 17B,
MILITARY SCIENCE. oo7
writings, were perfectly well !ic(iu:iiiite(l with the constituents of <,''unpowrler — sulphur, charcoal, saltpetre — and had them idl at liand in ureal abundance. It is very unlikely that they should not have discovered their inHaniniability, either singly or in combination. To this inference a priori may be added that drawn from positive proofs, that the use of fire as a weapon of combat was a familiar idea, as it is constantly described in the heroic poems."'
The testimony of ancient Greek writers, who, being themselves ignorant of fire-arms used by Indians, give peculiar descriptions of the mode of Hindu warfare is significant. " Themistius mentions the Brahman fijjhtiiig at a distance with li(/Jitmng and thunder.''''''^
Alexander, in a letter to Aristotle, mentions " the terrific flashes of flame which he beheld showered on his army in India." See also Dante's Inferno, XIV, 31-7.
Speaking of the Hindus who opposed Alexander the Great, Mr. Elphinstone says : " Their arms, with the exception of fire-arms, were the same as at present. '••
Philostratus thus speaks of Alexander's invasion of the Punjab : " Had Alexander passed the Hyphasis he never could have made himself master of the fortified habitations of these sages. Should an enemy make war upon them, they drive him off by means of tempests and thunders as if sent down from Heaven. The Egyptian Hercules' and Bacchus made a joint attack on them, and by means of various military engines attempt-
1 Essays, Vol II, p. 303.
2 0rat, XX VII, p. 337. See Ap, Duten's Origin of the dis- coveries attributed to the Moderns, p. 196.
"■^Elphinstone's History of India, p, 241.
358 HINDU SUPEKIURITT.
ed to take the place. The sages remained luiconcenied sp-^ctators until the assault was made, when it was repulsed by fier}- whirlwinds and thmiders which, being hmded from above, dealt destruction on the invaders."^
Commenting on the stratagem adopted by King Hal in the battle ao-ainst the kin^^ of Kashmir, in makinnf a clay elephant which exploded, Mr. Elliot says : " Here we have not only the simple act of explosion but some- thing very much like a fuze, to enable the explosion to occur at a particular period."^
Viswamitra, when giving different kinds of wea- pons to -Rama, speaks (in the Ramayana) of one as agneyn.^ another as shikhara.
" Carey and Marshman render shikhara as a com- bustible weapon."^
In the Mahabharata we read of "a flving ball emitting the sound of a thundercloud which Scholiast is express in referring to artillery."*
The Harivanaa thus speaks of the fiery weapon : 3Tm?TRW ^^B^T =^ VTT"T^TcHiTfr fl\ |
"King Sagafa having received /ire-arms from Bhar- gava conquered the world, after slaying the Taljanghas
iPhilostrati Vit : Apollon, Lib II. C. 33.
^Elliot's Historians of India, Vol. I, p. 365.
^ Various kinds of weapons are mentioned, some of which are extraordinary. As it is not known how they were made, what they were like, and how they were used, people think they are only poetic phantasies, Mr. Elliot says : *' Some of these weapons mentioned above were imaginary, as for instance, the vayava or airy." But who would not have called the gramaphone, the cinametograph and the wireless telegraphy imaginary oidy 50 years ago ?
•JBohlon, Das Alte Indien, II, 66,
MILITAUY science:. ooi)
and the HiiiliMvas," M, Langlois snys that "these fire-arms appear to have belonged to the Bhargavas, the family of Bhrigii."' Again,
srm^ iTfNT| T^TTf^ %^^?.^i ii ecT^T^ ^^^T^r q^^=^ fttrf?^^: i
" Aurva having performed the usual ceremonies on the birth of the great-minded (prince), and having tauirht him the A'edas, instructed him in the use of arms; the great -armed (Aurva) presented him the fiery weapon, which even the immortals could not stand."
Brahmastra is repeatedly mentioned in Sanskrit works. Professor Wilson, in his Sanskrit Dictionary, calls J3rahmastra " a fabulous weapon, originally from Brahma." For its use see Sri Bhaa^wat describinii; the fight between the son of Drona and Arjuna with the Brdhmnsfra. The Rev. K. ^I. Bannerjea in his work, *' The Encyclopiedia Bengalensis," says that the Brali- mastra was probably a piece of musketry not unlike the modern matchlocks."" Madame Blavatsky, in her Fsis Unveiled^ also shows that "fire-arms were used by the Hindus in ancient times."'^
In the description of Ayodhia is mentioned the fact of yaniras^ being mounted on the walls of the fort, which shows that cannons or machines of some kind or other were used in those days to fortify and protect citadels.
The Ramavana, while describinof the fortifications,
iHaiivansa, p. 68. ^iEncyclo. Bengal, Vol. Ill, p. 21.
3Isis Unveiled, Chap. XIV.
'^Y&.ntra means "that thing with which something is thrown.'
360 HINDU SUPEKIORITV.
says : " As a woman is richly decorated with ornaments, so are the towers with big destructive machines."' This shoW'S that cannons or big instruments of war like cannons, which discharged destructive missiles at a great distance, were in use at that time.
In descriptions o£ fortresses and battles, Shataghni.s are often mentioned. ShntaqJini literally means " that which kills hundreds at once." In Sanskrit dictionaries, i^hataghni is defined as a machine which shoots out pieces of iron and other things to kill numbers of men. Its othsr name is Brischi Kali, ^^^in'rft"
Shatagnis and similar other machines are mentioned in the following slokas of the Ramayana :
|
uito |
n |
|
4 |
|
|
21 |
|
|
39 |
|
|
60 |
|
|
61 |
|
|
76 |
|
|
86 |
|
Slokas |
12, |
13, 16 |
and 17 |
|
23. |
|||
|
Last |
si oka. |
||
|
36. 54. |
|||
|
32. |
|||
|
68. |
Kamavana says that the Shatonhni was made of iron. In the Sunder Kdnd it is compared in size with big broken trees or their huge oftshoots, and in appearance said to " resemble trunks of trees." " They were not only mounted on forts but were carried to the battle-fields, and they made a noise like thunder." What else could they, therefore, be but cannons ?
P)esides the Ramayana, the Puranas make frequent mention of Shataghni being placed on forts and used in times of emergency.. See Matasya Purana (wc^^TJff),
iRamanaya, Sunder Kund, Third Chapter, 18th verse. 5^ See Raja Sir Radh Kant Dev's Shubdkalpadrama.
^fUJTAKY .MCIKNCE. 361
" Art of Government." The name used in tliis Parana is Sahastrdt/hati (sjcT and ^'^W mean hundreds and thou- sands or innumerable)' ii;uns and cannons are mentioned as existing in Lanka, under Havana. They were called Nhulat Yantras.
Commenting on the passage in the Code of Gentoo (Hindu) Laws that "the magistrate shall not make war with any deceitful machine or with poisoned weapons, or with cannons and guns, or any kind of fire-arms," Halhed says : " The reader will probably from hence renew the suspicion which has long been deemed absurd, that Alexander the Great did absolutely meet with some weapons of that kind in India, as a passage in Quintus Curtius seems to ascertain. Gunpowder has been known in China, as well as Hindustan, far beyond all periods of investio-ation. The word fire-arms is literally the Sanskrit Agniaster, a weapon of fire ; they describe the first species of it to have oeen a kind of dart or arrow tipt with fire, and discharged upon the enemy from a bamboo. Among several extraordinary properties of this weapon, one was, that after it had taken its flight, it divided into several separate streams of flame, each of which took effect, and- which, when once kindled, could not be extinguished : but this kind of Agniaster is now lost."- He adds : "A cannon is called ' Shataghiee^ or the weapon that kills one hundred men at once,' and, that the
1 Shataghni differed widely from Matrala in tljat the Matvala were rolled down from mountains, while Shataghni was an instninieiit from which stones and iron ])alls were discharged, Jamera was another machine tliat did fatal injury to the enemy by means of stones. See accounts of battles with Mohamed Kasim.
^Halhed's Code of Gentoo Laws, Introduction, p.. ')2 See also Amar Kosha and Sabda Kalpaddrum, Vol. I, p. IG.
362 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
Puraiiii Sliasters ascribe the invention of these destructive engines to A'iswacarma, the Vulcan of the Hindus."
Mr. H. H. Elhot, Foreign Secretary to the Govern- ment of India (1845), after discussing the question of the use of fire-arms in ancient India, says : " On the ■whole, then, v^e may conclude that fire-arms of some kind were used in early stages of Indian history, that the missiles were explosive, and that the time and mode of ignition was dependent on pleasure ; that projectiles were used which were made to adhere to "'ates and buildinsfs, and machines settino- fire to them from a considerable distance ; that it is probable that saltpetre, the principal ingredient of gunpowder, and the cause of its detonation, entered into the composition, because the earth of Gangetic India is richly impregnated with it in a natural state of preparation, and it may be extracted from it by lixiviation and crystallization without the aid of fire ; and that sulphur may have been mixed with it, as it is abundant in the north-west of India."*
" Rockets," says Professor Wilson, " appear to be of Indian invention, and had Ion"' been used in native armies when Europeans came first in contact with them."
Col. Tod says : " Jud Bhan (the name of a grand- son of Bajra, the grandson of Krishna), 'the rocket of the Yadus,' woukl imply a knowledge of gun-powder at a very remote period."^
Rockets were unknown in Euro]>e till recently. " We are informed by the best authorities that rockets were first used in Avarfare at the siege of Copenhagen in 1807."^ . Mr. Elliot says : " It is strange that they
1 Riblio.L^raphical Index to tlic Historians of M. India, Vol. I, p. 973.
2 Tod's Uajasthan, Vol. II, [>. 220. 3 Teuny Encydoi-ardiu, V. "Kocket."
MILITARY sr'IF.XCE. 303
(rockets) slioiikl now be roo-arded in Europe as the most recent invention of artillery."'
There were in ancient India machines which, besides throwing balls of iron and other solid missiles, also threw jieculiar kinds of destructive li(|uids at great distances. The ingredients of these liquids are unknown ; their effects, however, are astonishing.
Ctesias,- Elian" and Philostratus* all speak of an oil manufactured by Hindus and used by them in war- fare in destroying the walls and battlements of towns that no "battering rams or other polioretic machines can resist it," and that " it is inextinguishable and insatiable, burning both arms and fighting men."
Lassen savs : " That the Hindus had somethino^ like ' Greek fire' is also rendered probable by Ctesias, who describes their emplo3'ing a particular kind of in- flammable oil for the purpose of setting hostile toAvns and forts on fire."^
Eusebe Salverte, in his Occult Sciences, says : " The fire which burns and crackles on the bosom of the waves denotes that the (Ireek fire was anciently known in Hindustan under the name of harrawa.''''^
But what establishes the superiority of the ancient Hindus over the modern Europeans in the noble game of war is the Ashtur Vidya of the former. *'The Ash- tur Vidya, the most important and scientific part (of
'Bibliographical Index to the Historians of Mohaniedau India, Vol. I, p. 357.
•-Ctesie, Indica E.rcnpta, XXVII (ed. Baor), p. 35G.
^ l)e Natura Animal, Lib. V., cap, 3.
•* Philostrati Vita ApoUonu, Lib. Ill, cap. 1,
^■i Lassen's Ind. Alt, II. p. 641.
fiRnglish Translation, Vol. II. p. 223.
364 HINDU SUPEHIOKITY.
the art of war) is not known to the soldiers o£ our age. It consisted in annihilating the hostile army by envoi v- ing and suffocating it in different layers and masses of atmospheric air, charged and impregnated with different substances. The army would find itself plunged in a fiery, electric and watery element, in total thick darkness, or surrounded by a poisonous, smoky, pestilential at- mosphere, full sometimes of savage and terror^striking animal forms (snakes and tigers, etc.) and frightful noises. Thus they used to destroy their enemies.^ The party thus assailed counteracted those effects by arts and means known to them, and in their turn assaulted the enemy by means of some other secrets of the Ashtur Vidya. Col. Olcott also says: *' Ashtur Vidya, a science of which our modern professors have not even an inkling, enabled its proficient to completely destroy an invading army, by enveloping it in an atmostphere of poisonous gases, filled with awe-striking shadowy shapes and with awful sounds." This fact is proved by innumerable instances in which it was practiced. Ramayana mentions it. Jalindhar had recourse to it when he was attacked by his father, Mahadeva (Shiva), as related in the Kartik Mahdtama.
Another remarkable and astonishing feature of the Hindu science of war which would prove that the ancient Hindus cultivated every science to perfection, was that the Hindus could fight battles in the air. It is said that the ancient Hindus "could navigate the air, and not only navigate it but fight battles in it, like so many war-eagles combating for the dominion of the clouds. To be so perfect in aeronautics, they must have known
i Theuisop/iist, March 1881. p. i'Jl.
MILITARY SCIKNCK. 3<i5
all the arts and sciences relating to the science, inchiding the strata and currents of the atmospliere, the relative temperature, humidity and density and the specific gra- vity o£ the various gases." ^
Viman Vldya was a science which has now com- pletely disappeared. A few years a^o, facts concerning this science found in ancient records were rejected as absurd and impossible of belief. But wireless telegraphy and the recent developments in balooning have prepared the Europeans to entertain the idea of the possibility of human knowledge advancing so far as to make it prac- ticable for men to navigate the air as they navigate the sea. And a day will come as assuredly as that the day will follow the night, when not only will the ancient Hindu greatness in this science be recognised, but the results achieved by them will again be achieved by men to mark their rise to the level of the ancient Hindus.
1 Colonel Olcotfs lecture at Allahabad in 1881. See the Theoso- phist for March 1881.
366 HINDU SUPERIORITY,
v.— MUSIC.
Music exalts each joy, allays each grief. Expels diseases, softens every pain. Subdues the rage of poison and the plague. And hence the wise of ancient days adored One power of physic, melody and song.
Armstrong : A. P. H. Music is the natural expression of a man's feelings. It comes naturally to man, woman and child in all condi- tions, at all times and in all countries. " The very fact of musical utterance," says Sir Hubert Parry, "implies a genuine expansion of the nature of the human being, and is in a varying degree a trustworthy revelation of the particular likings, tastes and sensibilities of the being that gives vent to it."
"yC. The Chinese emphasise its importance by calling it *^ the science of sciences."
" An eminently poetical people," as the ancient Hindus were, could not but have been eminently musical also. Anne C. Wilson, in what is perhaps the latest attempt on the part of a European to understand Hindu music, says : *' The people of India are essentially a musical race
To such an extent is music an accompaniment of
existence in India, that every hour of the day and season of the year has its own melody."^
Mr. Coleman says : " Of the Hindu system of music the excellent writer whom I have before mentioned (Sir W. Jones), has expressed his belief that it has been formed on better principles than our own."^
1 A Sliort Account of the Hindu System of Music, by Anne C. Wilson (1904), p. 5. '^Coleman's Hindu Mythology, Preface, p. ix.
MUSIC. 367
Colonel Tod says : "An account oE the state of musical science amongst the Hindus of early ages and a comparison between it and that of Europe is yet a desideratum in Oriental literature. From what we already know of the science, it appears to have attained a theoretical precision yet unknown to Europe, and that at a period when even Greece was little removed from barbarism." The antiquity of this most delightful art is the same as the antiquity of the Sanskrit literature itself. Anne C. AVilson says : " It must, therefore, be a secret source of pride to them to know that their system of music, as a written science, is the oldest in the world. Its principal
features were given long ago in A'edic writings
Its principles were accepted by the Mohamedan portion of the population in the days of their pre-eminence, and are still in use in their original construction at the present day."'
Music has been a great favourite"^ with the Hindus from the earliest times. Even the Vedas {e.g., Sam Yeda) treat of this divine art. The enormous extent* to which the Hindus have cultivated this science is proved by their attainments in it. But, unhappily, the master- piece on this " Science and Art combined," the Gandharva Veda, is lost, and references to it in Sanskrit works alone remain to point to the high principles on which the Hindu science of music was based.
' A Short Account of the Hindu System of Music by xV. C, Wilson, p.9.
2 Shakespeare says : "The man that hath no music in himself
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds Is fit for treason, stratagems and spoils ; Let no such man be trusted."
•'"'The Hindu system of nnisic is minutely explained in a great number of Sanskrit books." — Sir W, Juues.
3G8 IIINDL- SLTEiaoUITY.
Even at the present day the Tiotis and Rdc/uis oF the Hindus are innumerable, and the majority of them differ so minutely from each other that even the "culti- vated ear of the musical Europeans" cannot fully understand and follow them.
Sir W. W. Hunter says: " Xot content with the tones and semitones, the Indian musicians employed a more minute subdivison, together with a number of sonal modifications which the Western ear neither recognises nor enjoys. Thus, they divide the octave into 22 subtones instead of 12 semitones of the European scale. The Indian musician declines altogether to be judged by thefew simple Hindu airs which the English ear can appreciate."^
Anne C. Wilson says : " Every village player knows about time, and marks it by beating time on the ground, while the audience clap their hands along with him. He has the most subtle ear for time, and a more delicate perception of shades of difference than the Generality of English people can acquire, an acuteness of musical hearing which also makes it possible for him to recognise and reproduce quarter and half tones, when singing or playing"'
< Kor are Europeans able to imitate Hindu music. Mr. Arthur Whitten says : "But I have yet to observe that while our system of notation admits of no sound of less than half a tone, the Hindus have quarter tones, thus rendering it most difficult of imitation by Europeans. The execution of their music, I hold to be impossible to all except those who commence its practice from a very early age."^
1 imperial Gazetteer, " India," p. 224.
2 Anne C Wilson's Hindu System of Music. ^The Music of the Ancients, p. 22,
MUSIC. 369
He also observes : " Few of the ancient Hindu airs are known to Europeans, and it has been found impossible to set them to music according to the modern S3^stem of notation, as we have neither staves nor musical charac- ters whereby the sounds may be accurately expressed."^
Professor Wilson says : " That music was cultivated on scientific principles is evident from the accounts given by Sir \V. Jones and Mr. Colebrooke, from which it appears that the Hindus had a knowledge of the garnet, of the mode of notation, of measurement, of time, and of a division of the notes of a more minute description than has been found convenient in Europe."^ " We understand," says Mrs. Manning, " that the Hindu musicians have not only the Chromatic but also the Enharmonic genus. """^
The Oriental Quarterly Review says : " We may add that the only native singers and players whom Euro- peans are in the way of hearing in most parts of India, are reported by their scientific brethren in much the same light as a ballad singer at the corner of the street by the jjrime soprans of the Italian opera. "+
Sir W. W. Hun ter says : " And the contempt with which the Europeans in India regard it merely proves their ignorance of the system on which Hindu music is built up."'^ Professor Wilson says : " Europeans in
*The Music of the Ancients, p. 21.
^Mill's India, Vol. II, p. 41.
■* Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. IT, p. \h?).
^Quarterly Review for December 1825, p. 11)7.
^Imperial Gazetteer, "India," p. 224. ilrs. Anne C. Wilson says: " Not many Europeans, I fancy, would boast of being even superficially acquainted with the Dhrupada style of song, the popular Tappas,thc Thiimri soags of the N.-W. P., the Kharkhae or war-songs
370 HIXDU SUPERIORITY.
general know nothing of Indian music. They hear only the accompaniments to public processions, in which noise is the chief object to be attained, or the singing of the Mohamedans, ichich is Persian not Indian.'"^
There are six male rags, and associated with them are thirty-six female ragnees, which partake of the pecu- liar measure or quality of their males but in a softer and more feminine degree. From each of these 36 ra(piees have been born three ragnees reproducing the special peculiarity of their original, and these have in their turn produced offsprings without number, each bearing a distinct individuality to the pri- mary raga, or, to use the poetic Hindu expression, "they are as numerous and alike as the waves of the sea." That the Hindus cultivated music on scientific principles is proved by the fact that, as Mr, Whitten says, these ragas were designed to move some passion or affection of the mind, and to each was assigned some particular sea- son of the year, time of the day and night or special locality or district, and for a performer to sing a raga out of its
of the Rajputs, the Huttari chants, the nurseiy rhymes, the wedding and cremation songs of Gujrat, the Veniams, Pallam. lurtans of Madras .... Who amongst us know the lyric poetry of Vidyapati, of Chaiididas, Jaideva or the well-known family of Ram Bhagan Dutt, Bouietimes called the "nest of singing birds?" — p. 41.
1 Mill's India, Vol. II, p. 41. Professor Wilson adds: "The practice of art among them (Hindus) has declined in consequence probably of its suppression by the Mohamedans." Sir W. W. Hunter says : " Hindu music after a period of excessive elaboration sank under Mussalmans." — Imperial Gazetteer, p. 223. "However, it still preserves) in a living state, some of the earlier forms, which puzde the student of Greek umsic, side by side with the most complicated development."— Sir "\V. W. Hunter, p. 224.
MUSIC. 371
appropriate season or district would raake him, in the eyes of all Hindus, an ignorant pretender and unworthy the character of a musician.'^
The six principal ragaa are the following : —
(1) liindaul. It is played to produce on the mind of the bearers all the sweetness and freshness of spring ; sweet as the honey of the bee and fragrant as the perfume of a thousand blossoms.
(2) Sri liaga. The quality of this rag is to affect the mind with the calmness and silence of declin- ing day, to tinge the thoughts with a roseate hue, as clouds are gilded by the setting sun before the approach of darkness and night.
()^) Meg MalJar. This is descriptive of the effects of an approaching thunder-storm and rain, having the power of influencing clouds in time-s of drought.
(4) Deepuck. This rag is extinct. No one could sing it and live ; it has consequently fallen into disuse. Its effect is to light the lamps and to cause the body of the singer to produce flames by which he dies.
(5) Bhairava. The eft'ect of this rag is to in- spire the mind with a feeling of approaching dawn, the caroling of birds, the sweetne&s of the perfume and air, the sparkling freshness of dew-dropping morn.
(6) Malkos. The effects of this rag are to produce on the mind a feeling of gentle stimulation.
There is much that is common to both the Hindu and European systems. Mr. Arthur Whitten says : " Their (Hindus) scale undoubtedly resembles our diatonic mode, and consists of seven sounds, which are extended to three octaves, that being the compass of the
372 HIXDU SUPERIORITY.
human voice. Their voices and music, like ours, are divid- ed into three distinct classes. The bass, called odarah^ or lowest notes ; the tenor, called madm-rah, or middle notes ; the soprano, called the tarrah^ or upper notes. The similarity of the formation of the ancient Hindu scale to our modern system is noteworthy. We name the sounds of our scales : Doh, Ray, Me, Fah, Sol, La, Te. That common in India is :Sa, Ray, Ga, Ma, Pa, DhaNe.^ The reason of this similarity is evident. Sir W. W. Hunter says: "A regular system of notation was worked out before the age of Panini, and seven notes were designated by their initial letters. This notation passed from the Brahmans through the Persians to Arabia, and was thence introduced into European music by Guido d' Arezzo at the beo-innincr of the eleventh century." '
Professor Weber says : " According to Yon Bohlen and Benfey, this notation passed from the Hindus to the Persians,^ and from these again to the Arabs, and was introduced into European music by Guido d' Arezzo at the beginning of the eleventh century."*
But the principles of Hindu music were imported into Europe mucli earlier than this.
A The Music of the Ancients, pp. 2J, 22.
^ludiau Gazetteer, p. 223. See Benfey's Indien Ersch, p. 299, and Gruber's Encyclopasdia, Vol. XVIIl. " Some suppose that our modern word gamut comes from the Indian gaina = a musical scale. Prakrit is gama, while its Sanskrit is grama.
^ Hindu musicians used to go to foreign countries to grace the courts of foreign kings. King Behram of Persia had many Hindu musicians in his court.
^Weber's Indian Literature- p. 272.
MUSIC. o73
Strabo says : " Some of the Greeks attribute to that country (India) the invention o£ nearly all the science o£ music. We perceive them sometimes describing the cittiara of the Asiatics and sometimes applying to flutes the ephitliet Phrygian. The names of certain instru- ments, such as nabla and others, likewise are taken from barbarous tongues." Colonel Tod says: "This nabla of Strabo is possible the tahla, the small tabor of India. If Strabo took his orthography from the Persian or Arabic, a single point would constitute the difference between the N (nila) and the T (te')-"^ ^^ ^^'^^^ ' " ^^^ have every reason to believe — from the very elaborate character of their written music, which is painful and discordant to the ear, and from its minuteness of subdivision that they had also the Chromatic scale, said to have been invented by Timotheus in the time of Alexander, who miirht have carried it from the banks of the Indus."2
Colonel Tod also says: "In the mystic dance, the Rds-Mandala, yet imitated on the festival sacred to the sun-god, Hari, he is represented with a radiant crown in a dancing attitude, playing on the flute to the nymphs encirclino- him, each holding a musical instrument . . . . These nymphs are also called the nava-ragni, from rdga, a mode of song over which each presides, and nava-rasa, or nine passions excited by the powers of harmony. May we not in this trace the origin of Apollo and the sacred Nine? "
Bharata, Iswara, Parana and Karada were among the o-reat Hindu musicians of ancient India. "^ In more
5»
or
iTod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 569 (P. Edition).
sTod's Rajasthan, Vol. T, p. 570. -nVcber's Indian Literature, p. 272.
374 FIINDU SCPKlilOKITr.
recent times, however, Naik Gopal and T^nsen have been the most celebrated ones. About Naik Gopal, Mr. Whitten says : " Of the magical effect produced by the singing of Gopal Naik and of the romantic termination to the career of this sage, it is said that he was command- ed by Akbar to sing the raga deepuck, and he, obliged to obey, repaired to the river Jumna, in which he plung- ed up to his neck. As he warbled the wild and magical notes, flames burst from his body and consumed him to ashes." ^ He adds : " It is recorded of Tansen that he was also commanded by the Emperor Akbar to sing the sri., or night raga, at midday, and the power of thr3 music was such that it instantly became night, and the darkness extended in a circle round the palace as far as his voice could be heard." India, it seems, produced Orpheuses even so late as the 17th century A. D.
IMusic of the Ancients, p. 21. Dr. Tennet says: "If we are to judge merely from the number of instruments and the frequency with which they apply them, the Hindus might be regardsd as considerable proficients in music."
The instrument singa, or horn, is said to have been played by Mahadeo, who alone possessed the knowledge and power to make it speak. Singular stories are related of the wonders performed by this instrument.
The Beena is the principal stringed instrument of music amongst the Hindus at the present day.
•' Although not ocean born, the tuneful Beena Is most assuredly a gem of Heaven — Like a dear friend it cheers the lonely heart And lends new lustre to the social meeting ; It lulls the pains that absent lovers feel. And adds fresh impulse to the glow of paasiou."
OTHER SCIKNCES. 375
OTHER SCIENCES.
What cannot Art and Industry perform. When Science plans the progress of their toil 7
Bbattie : Minstrel.
That in addition to the astronomical, the mathematical, the medical and the military sciences, many other equally- important sciences flourished in ancient India is evident from the remains of some of the most important achieve- ments of the Hindus. Mr. Elphinstone says : " In science we find the Hindus as acute and diligent as ever."'
Medical science in a flourishing condition presup- poses the existence in an advanced state of s^-eral other sciences, such as Botany, Chemistry, Electricity, etc. The Ashtar Vidi/a{see Military Science) presupposes the exis- tence of the sciences of chemistry, dynamics, meteoro- logy, geology, physics, and other cognate sciences in a much more advanced state than what we find them in at the present day ; while the Viman Vidya presupposes an intimate acquaintance with an equally great number of such sciences. The huge buildings of ancient India and " those gigantic temples hewn out of lofty rocks with the most incredible labour at Elephanta, Elora and at many other places," which have not only excited admira- tion but have been a standing puzzle to some people, could not have come into existence if the ancient Hindus had not been masters of the science of engineering. The engi- neering skill of the ancients was truly marvellous. With all its advanced civilization, modern Europe has yet to
^ Elphin&touc's llifctory uf India, p. 13o.
376 HINDU SUPKRIORITY.
produce engineers able to build the Pyramids, or to turn huge rocks into temples. Mons, de Lesseps was no doubt an admirable representative of triumphant engineering skill, and was an honour to France, but he only followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, who were equally great, and who, too, had at one time connected the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. Mr. Swayne says : " A French engineer repeats the feat of the old native kings and the Greek Ptolemies in marrying by a canal the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, an achievement which will make the name of Lesseps immortal, if the canal can only be kept clear of sand,"^ The sands still maintain a threatening aspect.
As regards the Pyramids, the early fathers of the Church (Christian teachers before 500 A. D.), believed them to have fallen from Heaven, while others in Europe believed them to have sprung out of earth or to have been built by Satan and his devils.
The Mahabharata shows that the ancient Hindus had achieved wonderful advancement in mechanics. In the description of the Mayasabha (Exhibition), which was presented by Mayasar to the Pandavas, mention is made of microscopes, telescopes, clocks, etc.
An American critic says : " Such, indeed, was the mechanism of the Mayasabha, which accommodated thousands of men, that it required only ten men to turn and take it in whatever direction they liked." There was, he also says, " the steam or the fire-engine called the agni rath^
1 Swajne's Herodotus (Ancient Classics), p. 41,
O'l'iiF.i; sc'iF.NcivS. 877
That there were powerful telescopes hi ancient India
is, doubtless, quite true. One is mentioned in the
Mahabharata. It was given bv Vyasa jeo to Sanjai at
Indraprasta, in order to witness the battle i^oint^ on
at KurukshetraJ
As reijards the science o[ botany, Professor AYilson
says : " They (the Hindus) were very careful observers both of the internal and external properties of plants, and furnish copious lists of the vegetable world, with sensible notices of tlieir uses, and names significant of their peculiarities,"- If the AkJibar- id- Sadeeq'^ is to be trusted, a Sanskrit dictionary of botany in three volumes was discovered in Kashmir in 1887.
In the play Malati and Madhava^^ it is stated that the damsel drew Madhava's heart "like a rod of the iron- stone gem," which clearly shows that the Hindus were acquainted with artificial magnets as well as with tlie properties of the loadstone. Professor Wilson, too, sup- ports this view. He further says : " The Hindus early adopted the doctrine that there is no vacuum in nature, but observino; that air was excluded under various circum- stances from space, they devised, in order to account for the separation of particles, a subtle element, or ether, by w^hich all interstices, the most minute and inaccessible, were pervaded, a notion which modern Fhilosopln/ intimates some tendency to adopt, as regards the planetary movements, and it was to this subtle element that they ascribed the property of conveying sound : in which they
iSee Mahabharata, Bhceshma Parva, Chapter IT, shjka 10. -Mill's History of India, Vol. II, p. 97, footnote. 3Akhbar-ul-Sadeeq, dated 25th November 1887, p. 7. *Sce also Manning's Ancient and Media'val Indiii, Vol. II, p. 200,
o7(S niXDU RUPERIOniTY.
were so far right tliat in vacuo there can be no sound. Air again is said to be possessed of the faculty of touch, that it is the medium through which the contact of bodies is effected — ether keeps them apart — air impels them together. Fire, or rather light, has the property of figure — Mr. Cole- brooke renders it of colour. In either case the theory is true ; for neither colour nor form is discernible except through the medium of light. Water has the property of taste, an affirmation perfectly true ; for nothing is sensible to the palate until it is dissolved by the natural fluids,"' This shows that the Hindus were in no way behind the scientists of the nineteenth century.
The influence of the moon in causing tides seems to have been known to the Hindus from the earliest times. Ra</Inivansa (V. 61) says :
=^'^ l^%^mfT^■^^^J^J ii That the Hindus were excellent observers and became great Naturalists becomes clear from Professor ^Vilson's note on a verse of the drama of Mrichchhakati. Charudatta says :
" The elephants' broad front, when thick congealed The dried-up dew, they visit me no more."
Wilson says : " At certain periods a thick dew exhales from the elephant's temples. This peculiarity, thouo;h known to Strabo, seems to have escaped Naturalists till lately, when it was noticed by Cuvier.*^
Facts regarding diamonds, pearls, sapphires, etc.,- are mentioned with care, which show that the ancient
' Mill's India, Vol. II, pp. 05, 96.
-Tiie Theatre of the Hindus, Vol. I, p. 22, footnote.
OTJIKi; SCIKNCKS. o79
Hindus vvei'o thoroutihlv woll-vurseil in tlie sciences and the arts relating to lisherv and to mining, and tiie ])r()- cesses of separating and extracting \arious suljstances from the eartli.
That the ancient Hindus were masters of tlic sciences of chemistry, mechanics, meteorology is pr<.>ved by . one of the most wonderful of liuman achievements. This was the Viman Vkli/a. The baloons of the Western world give us an idea of what vlmans may have been like. Fifty years ago a viman was considered an impossibility. But ha})pily those days of Western scepticism are over, and a vlman^ for its practical advantages, is looked upon as an ideal of scientific achievement. A European critic says : " Viman Vidya. was a complete science amongst the ancient Hindus. They were its masters and used it for all practical purposes."
This indicates their master}^ of all tlie arts and sciences on which the Viman Vidya is based, including .a knowledge of the different strata and the currents of the atmospheric air, the temperature and density of each, and various other minor particulars. Viman Vidya is thus clearly mentioned in the Vedas. The Yajur- Yeda (Vr, 21) says:
^^^1f^ ^T'f T ^'TlfCWi;=^ ^T^^T \^^, ^f^cTK^^ ^Tf III
Mann also says :
This science is said by some to have been a ])art of the more comprehensive science called " the A ayu Yidhya" mentioned in the Sat pat Brahmana, X I and X I V.
Prof. Weber says: ^^ Sarpa Vidya (serpent science) is mentioned in the Satpat Brahamana XI 11, as a separate -science and T/.^A Vidya (science of i}oisons) in die
380 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
Asviilayiina Sutra." ^ " Sivedasa, in his Commentary ot* Chakrapani, quotes Patanjali as an authority on Lohasastra^ or 'the Science of Iron'."-
The Greeks derived their knowledge of electricity from India. Thales, one of the Greek sages, learned during his tour in India that when amber was rubbed with silk it acquired the property of attracting light bodies.
Not only were the sciences of electricity and magnetism extensively cultivated by the ancient Hindus, but they received their highest development in ancient India. The Yedantist says that lightning comes from rain. This can be easily demonstrated by the well-known experiments of Touilet and others : all these prove that Hindu sages perfectly understood all the electrical mag- netic phenomena. The most significant proof of the high development of these sciences is to be found in the fact that thev were made to contribute so much to theevery-day comfort and convenience^ of the whole com-
^ Weber's Indian Literature, p. 2G5.
2History of Hindu Chemistrj-, Vol. I, p. 55.
''As an instance of such practical adaptations of their scientific discoveries, the following may be useful : Visitors to Simla are familiar with the sight of young native children placed in a position in which they are exposed to the constant trickling of a stream of water. This custom is generally considered a cruel one, although it has not been shown that it promotes a high rate of mortality. The object is to put the young ones to sleep, and the means are probably not more injurious than many of the patent foods and medicines which arc the civilized substitutes. At the same time it is startling to find that Sir Joseph Fayrer, President of the Medical Society, is trying to introduce the hill custom in England. He says that the flowing of water on the vertex of the cranium never fails to induce sleep and that parents who are tormented with fretful children have only to pop them under an impro- vised water-spout.
OTIIKK S( IKNCES. 3S1
munity, and that their teachings were embodied in the daily practices of the ancient Hindus, wliicli does the highest credit to their practical wisdom and their scientific temperament.
Sleep is necessary not only to enjoy sound health but to keep the body and soul together. The question now is in what way to sleep to derive the greatest benefit from this necessary operation of nature. Its solution bv the ancient Hindus not only proves them to have been masters of the sciences of magnetism and electricity, but shows the spirit of Hinduism, which cannot be commend- ed too highly for its readiness at all times and in all directions to adopt and assimilate the teachings of science. Every Hindu is instructed hy his or her mother and grandmother to lie down to sleep with the head either eastward or southward.
Babu Sita Xath Roy cites slokas from the Shastras, which enjoin this practice. The Anhika Tuttiva, a part of our Smiriti Shastras, says : "1. The most renowned Garga rishi says that man should lie down with his head placed eastward in his own house, but if he long for longevity he should lie down with his head placed southward. In foreign places he may lie down with his head placed even westward, but never and nowhere should he lie down with his head placed northward."
"2. Markandaya, one of the much revered Hindu sages says that man becomes learned by lying down with his head placed eastward, acquires strength and longevity by lying down with his head placed southward, and brings upon himself disease and death by lying down with his head placed northward."
382 HINDU SUPERIOIUTY.
The learned writer found another sloka in the Vishnu Purana, which says : "Oh king ! It is beneficial to lie down with the head placed eastward or southward. The man Avho always lies down with his head placed in contrary directions becomes diseased."
After stating certain facts regarding magnetism and electricity necessary to enable a man (unacquainted with the elements of these sciences) to understand his expla- nation, Babu Sitanat.h Roy says : " According to what has been just now said, it is not very difficult to conceive that the body of the earth on which we live is being always magnetised by a current of thermal electricity produced by the sun. The earth being a round body, when its eastern part is heated by the sun its western part remains cold. In consequence a current of thermal electricity generated by the sun travels over the surface of the earth from east to west. By this current of thermal electricity the earth becomes magnetised, and its geographical north pole being on the right-hand side of the direction of the current, is made the magnetic north pole, and its geographical south pole being on the left-hand side of the same current, is made the magnetic south pole. That the earth is a great magnet requires no proof more evident than that by the attractive and repulsive powers of its poles, the compass needle, in whatever position it is placed, is invariably turned so as to point out the north and the south by its two ends or poles. In the equatorial region of the earth the compass needle stands horizontally, on account of the equality of attraction exerted on its poles by those of the earth ; bat in the polar region the needle stands obliquely, that is, one end is dcprcissedtuid the other
OTHER sciExrrs. 8S8
end is elevated on account o£ tlie inequality of attraction exerted on its poles by those of the earth. Such a position of the needle in polar regions is technically termed the dip of the needle.
"It has been found by experiments that the human body is a magnetisable object, though far inferior to iron or steel. That it is a magnetisable object is a fact that cannot be denied, for in addition to other causes there is a large percentage of iron in tlie blood circulating throughout all the parts of the body.
"NoAY, as our feet are for the most part of the day kept in close contact with the surface of that huge magnet — the earth — the whole human body, therefore becomes magnetised. Further, as our feet are magnetis- ed by contact with the northern hemisphere of the earth, where exist all the properties of north polarity, south polarity is induced in our feet, and north polarity, as a necessary consquence, is induced in our head. In infancy the palms of our hands are used in walking as much as our feet, and even later on the palms generally tend more towards the earth than towards the sky. Consequently south polarity is induced in them as it is in our feet. The above arrangement of poles in the human body is natural to it, and therefore conducive to our health and happiness. The body enjoys perfect health if the magnetic polarity natural to it be preserved unaltered, and it becomes subject to disease if that polarity be in the least degree altered or its intensity diminished.
" Although the earth is the chief source whence the magnetism of the human body is derived, yet it is no less due to the action of oxygen. Oxygen gas being naturally a good magnetic substance, and being largely
oS4 mXDU SUrERIORITV.
distributed within and without the human body, helps the earth a f]^ood deal in mao-netisins: it.
"Though every human body is placed under the same conditions with reo^ard to its mao^etisation, yet the intensity and permanance of the magnetic polarity of one are not always equal to those of another. Those two properties of the human body are generally in direct ratio to the compactness of its structure and the amount of iron particles entering into its composition.
" Now it is very easy to conceive that if you lie down with your head placed southward and feet northward, the south pole of the earth and your head, — which is the north pole of your body, and the north pole of the earth and your feet, which are the two branches of the south pole of your body, — being in juxta-position, will attract each other, and thus the polarity of the body natural to it will be preserved ; while for the same reason, if you lie with your head placed north w-ard and feet southward, the similar poles of your body and the earth being in juxta-position will repel each other, and thereby the natural polarity of your body will be destroyed or its intensity diminished. In the former position the polarity youp body acquires during the day by standing, w^alking and sitting on the ground, is preserved intact at night during sleep ; but in the latter position, the polarity which your body acquires during the day by standing, walking and sitting on the ground is altered at night during sleep.
" Now, as it has been found by experiment that the preservation of natural magnetic polarity is the cause of health, and any alteration of that polarity is the cause of disease, no one will perhaps deny the validity of the slokas
OTIIKK SCIENCES. 385
which instruct us to lie clown with our heads })lacecl south- ward, and never and nowhere to lie down with our heads placed northward.
?^ow, whv in those two slokas the eastern direction is preferred to the western for placing the head in lying down, is explained thus : " It has been established by experiments in all works on medical electricity that it" a current of electricity pass from one part of the body to another, it subdues all inflammations in that part of the body, where it enters into and produces some inflammation in the part of the body whence it goes out. This is the sum and substance of the two great principles of Anelectro- toNus and Cafchctrotoiufs, as they are technically called by the authors of medical electricities.
"Now, in lying down with the head placed eastward, the current of thermal electricity Avhich is constantly passing over the surface of the earth from east to west, passes through our body also from the head to the feet, and therefore subdues all inflammation present in the head, where it makes its entrance. Again, in lying down with the head placed westward, the same current of elec- tricity passes through our body from the feet to the head, and therefore produces some kind of inflammation in the head, whence it goes out. Now, because a clear and healthy head can easily acquire knowledge, and an inflamed, or, in other w'ords, congested head is always the laboratory of vague and distressing thoughts, the venerable sage Markandaya was justifled in saying that man becomes learned by lying down with his head placed eastward, and is troubled with distressing thoughts by lying down with his head placed westward."' 'Arya Magazine for Ueocmbci- 1883, p. -li.
3S6 HINDU SUrERIOKITY.
There are other time-honoured practice^;, which are founded upon a knowledge of the principles cf electri- city and magnetism. For instance, we find that (1) Iron or copper rods are inserted at the tops of all temples ;
(2) Mindulies (metallic cells) made of either gold, silver or iron, are worn on the diseased parts of the body ;
(3) Seats made of either silk, wool, kusa grass or hairy skins of the deer and tiger are used at the time of saying- prayers. Those who are acquainted with the principles of electricity will be able to account for these practices. They know that the function of the rod or the frisida {trifurcated iron rod) placed at the top of the Hindu temples is analogous to a lightning conductor. The min- dulies perform the same functions as electrical belts and other appliances prescribed in the electrical treatment of diseases. The golden temple of Vishweshwar at Benares is really a thunderproof shelter. Professor Max Muller recommends the use of a copper envelope to a gunpower magazine to exclude the possibility of being struck by lightning. The woollen and the skin asans (seats) protect our lives during a thunderstorm from the action of a return shock, and keeps our body insulated from the earth.
There is another practice among the Hindus which is explained by an Austrian scientist. In representa- tion, "around the head of each of the Hindu gods is the aureole." But why they should be so repre- sented was a mystery until liow. Baron Von Reich- enbach, an Austrian chemist of eminence, thus explains it. He says: "The human system, in common with every animate and inanimate natural object, and with the whole starry heavens, is pervaded with a subtle
OTUEU SriENCES. 387
r\ura, or, if 3-011 please, imj)onfIerable fluid, which re- sembles magnetisim and electricity in certain respects, and vet is analo<^ous with neither. This aura, while radiatino- in a faint mist from all parts of our bodies, is peculiarly bright about the head, and hence the aureole. "In fact," saj's Col. Olcott, "we see that Keichenbach was anticipated by the Aryans (Hindus) in the knowledge of the Odic auray And yet "we might never have understood what the nimbus about Krishna meant, but for this Vienna chemist, so perfect is tlie sway of ignorance over this once glorious people."' Another practice of the Hindus which is ridiculed by non-Hindus, and the importance of which is only dimly perceived by some of the Euroj>ean scientists, is that "when they sit down to eat, every man is isolated from his neiirhbours at the feast : he sits in the centre of a square traced upon the floor, grandsire, father and son, brother and uncle, avoiding touching each other quite as scrupulously as though they were of different castes. If I should handle a Brahmin's brass platter, his lotah or other vessel for food and drink,, neither he nor any of his caste v^ould touch it, much less eat or drink from it until it had been passed through fire : if the utensil were of clay it must be broken. Why all these ? That no affront is meant by avoidance of contact is shown in the careful isolation of members of the same family from each other. The explanation, I submit, is that every Brahmin was supposed to be an individual evolution of psychic force, apart from all consideration of family relationship: if one touched the other at his
^Col. Oloott's lecture ddivered at the Town Hull, Calcutta, ou 5th April, 1882.
o88 HINDU SUPERIOPJTY.
particular time when the vital force was actively centred upon the process oE digestion, the psychic force was liable to be drawn off, as a leaden jar charged with electricity is discharged by touching it with your hand. The Brahmin of old was an initiate, and his evolved psychic power was emplo3'ed in the atfuihotra and other ceremonies. The case of the touching of the eating or drinkino- vessel. Or the mat or clothino- of a Brahmin by one of another caste of inferior psychic development, or the stepping of such a person upon the ground within a certain prescribed distance from the sacrificial spot, bear upon this question. In this same plate of Baron Reichenbach's, the figure F represents the aura streaming from the points of the human hand. Every human being has such an aura, and the aura is peculiar to himself or herself as to quality and volume. Now, the aura of a Brahmin of the ancient times was purified and intensified by a peculiar course of religious training — let us say psychic training — and if it should be mixed with the aura of a less pure, less spiritualized person, its strength would of necessity be lessened, its quality adulterated. Reichenbach tells us that the odic emana- tion is conductible b}' metals, slower than electricity, but more rapidl}^ than heat, and that potter}^ and other clay vessels absorb and retain it for a great while. Heat he found to enormously increase quantitatively the flow of odyle through a metal conductor. The Brahmin, then, in submitting his odylicaly-tainted metallic vessel to the tire, is but experimentally carrying out the theory of Von Reichenbach.
I
ARTS.
L— ARCHITECTURK AND SCULPTrRE.
T askrd of Time for wlioin (hose trmplcs rose
Tliiit prostrate bv his hands in silence Ho;
His hps disdained the mystery to disclose,
And borne on swil'li-r wiir^s he hurried by
The broken cohimns wliose ? I asked of Fame
(His kindlincj l^Tnth giws life to works sublime) ;
With downcast looks of mingled grief and shame
She heaved the nncertain sigh and followcl Tim-'.
Wrapt in amazement ov(M' the snionldi'ring pile
I saw oblivion pass witli giant strides,
And while his visage wore Pride's scornful smile,
Haply these vast domes that even in ruin shine
" / reck not whose" he said, '' they now are miney
— livRON.
TnEKE is another immi?«takeablc proof of the wonrlerful civilization of the ancient Hindus — it is their nrchitec- tiH'e The mngnificent Hindu temples, the splendid palaces, the formidable forts and the wonderful caves are truly monuments of human genius and marvels of humnn industry and skill. They have excited the admiration of all European critics, and hav^e elicited expression;? of won- der and amazement from them. Mrs. Manning says: "The ancient architecture of India is so amazing that the first European observers could not find terms sufficientlyintensetoexpresstheirwonder and admiration, and althouo:h the vividness of such emotions subsides on more intimate acquaintance, the most sober critics still allow that it is both wonderful and beautiful."'
l>AiKMent and Medianal India, Vol. T. p. 301.
390 HINDU SLPEHIOiaTV.
Strength and durability, beauty and majesty are the characteristics of the Hindu style of architecture. Mahmud Ghaznavi writing to the Khalif from Mathura said that the buildings of India were surely not less strong than the Mohamedan faith. Such expressions of wonder from one of the greatest fanatics that ever lived is significant evidence of the highest development of the art of architecture in India.
Mr. Thornton savs : "The ancient Indian erected buildings the solidity of which has not been overcome by the revolution of thousands of years." ^
After speaking of Hindu sculpture, Professor Weber continues : "A far higher degree of development was attained by architecture, of which some most ad- mirable monuments still remain."^ While describing the structure of a building, Mr. Elphinstone says : ''The posts and lintels of the doors, the panels and other spaces are enclosed and almost covered by deep borders of mould- ings and a profusion of arabesques of plants, flowers, fruits, men, animals and imaginary beings ; in short, of every embellishment that the most fertile fancy could devise. These arabesques, the running patterns of plants and creepers in particular, are often of an elegance scarcely equalled in any other part of the icorld.'''''^
Mr. Fergusson describes a remarkable temple at Rameshwaram, of which the outer court measures the leno^th of the river face of Parliament House at West- minster by twice their depth.
1 Thornton's Chapters from thfi British History of India.
iJWeber's Indian Literature, p. 21i.
SElphinstone's History of India, p. 160. Tlie author also says : " Perhaps the greatest of all the Hindu works are the tanks. The Hindu wells are also very remarkable."
AUCIUTKCTUliK AND MCMI.l'TLI.K. .'^01
Of the pagoda at Kainesliwarain, Lord Valeiitia says: "The whole building presents a niagniticent appearance, which we might in vain seek adequate language to describe."'
After giving a description of the pagoda at Chalam- bron, 27 miles soutii of Pondicherry, Professor Heeren says : " On the other side of the large tank is the most wonderful structure of all. This is a sanctuary or chapel iti the middle of an enormous hall, 360 ft. long x 260 ft. in breadth, and supported by upwards of one thousand pillars each thirty feet high and disposed in regular order."=^ Dr. Robertson thus speaks of the Hindu architectural elegance : " Some of the ornamental parts are finished with an elegance entitled to the admiration of the most ingenious artists.""^
The cave temples are not only peculiar to this coun- try but show the highest artistic genius of the people. Professor Heeren* thus speaks of the Elora temples: " All that is great, splendid and ornamental in architec- ture above ground is here seen, also beneath the earth — staircases, bridges, chapels columns and porticos, obelisks, colossal statues and reliefs sculptured on almost all the
1 Travels. Vol. I, pp. 810, 341. A description of the temple of Muhdkiil at Ujjain and of the fnmons teraple of Gobind Deoji at Brinda- ban will give one an idea of the luagnificence of Hindu temples.
=^Heeren's Historical Researclies. Vol. II, pp. 95.
3 Dr. Robertson's Works, Vol, XII, "Disquisition Concerning India." p. 16.
4 See Historical Researches, Vol. II, pp. 60-70. "Magnitude," says Professor Wilson, " is not the only element of beauty in the cavern temples. The columns are carved with great elegance and fitness of design. Notice is taken of the numerous remains of temples in various party's of India in which extreme architectural beauty is to be found. ^MilVs History of India, Vol. II, p. 15.
392 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
walls, representing Hindu deities." An English critic says : " All this wonderful structure, the variety, richness and skill displayed in the ornaments sur23ass all description."^ Professor Heeren again says : " It is not without an involuntary shudder that we pass the threshold of these spacious grottoes, and compare the weight of these ponderous roofs with the apparant slenderness and inadequacy of its support, an admirable and ingenious effect which must have required no ordinary share of abiUties in the architect to calculate and determine !"" The learned Professor cone hides: '• Such are the seven Pasfodas or ancient monuments so-called, at Mavalipuram on the Corom:inde] coast, of wliich extraordinary buildings it will be hardly too much to assert that they will occupy a most distinguished place in the scale of human skill and ingenuity"^
Baron Dalberg was greatly struck with the architec- ture of Dwarka, which he calls " the wonderful city," and says : " The natives of that country (India) have carried the art of constructino; and ornamentinjj ex- cavated grottoes to a much higher degree of perfection than any other people."^
Comparing the Hindu with the Greek and the Egyptian architecture, Professor Heeren says : " In the richness of decoration bestowed on their pilasters, and, amono' other thino-s, in the execution of statues revsembling caryatides they (the Hindus) far surpass borh those nations (the Greeks and Egyptians)."
Mrs. Manning says : " The caves are remarkable also for the use of stucco and paint, not merely on the
^Asiatic Ht-searches, Vol. Ill, p. 405.
2 Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 74. Sakya Padamrita is tli, name of the sculptor of the Grottoes of Ellora.
^Heereu's History of Researches, Vol. II, p. 78. * Geographical Ephcineridcs, Vol. XXXII, p. 12,
AUCIllTECTLKK AND SC IIJ'TUKE. 39o
Avnlls l)iit oil llu' roof tind |>ill;irs. And the frets ;iii<l .scrolls arc of such beauty and eleirauce as to rival those at Pouipeii and the Haths of TitusJ — The Kailas and tlie other excavations of Western India excite our awe and wonder."-' She adds : •' India is most famous for ])illared architecture."' The pillared colonnades or choultries coiuiected with the Soulheru temples are the luost extraordinary buildings."" Buddhism gave a great stimulus to the development of archi- tecture ill ancient India : and with the spread of lUiddhism in foreigu countries, the l^uddhistic style of architecture was lari»elv borrowed bv foreign nations. Professor Weber hits the point when he says : " It is, indeed, not improbable diat onr Western steeples owe their origin to the imitation of the Buddhistic topes. "+ Col. Tod says : " The Saracen arch' is of Hindu
^Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol, I, p. 404. See also Feru;us- son's History of ARliitoctiirc, AHl. 11, p]). 4!)l)-oUl. Tlie Karli cave is till' most pcrtVct spcciiiM'ii nftln' cave tt'ni])l('S.
-Ancient and ModiaMul India, Vol. H. [i. 420.
s Ancient and Modianal India, Vol. I, p. 418.
-^^ Indian Literature, p. 1'74.
•'Tod's Rajastlian, Vol. I. \i. 7Sl. Colonel Tod, speakini;" of the Adh((/-(liii-l(i-Jlioii})ra at Ajnier, says: "I may fnrtlier, with this temple and screen before ns, speculate on the possibility of its IiaviuLj furnished some hints to the architects of Europe. It is well-kiiown iliaL the Saracenic ar(;h has crept into many of those structures called (jiotliic erected in the 12th and DJlh centuries, when a more Horid stvle succeed- ed to the severity of the Saxon or Roman : but I believe it has been doubted whence the Saracens obtained their modi-l : certainly it was neither from Egypt nor from Persia." He then goes on to surmise that the influence of the early Caliphs of Baghdad (who were as en- lightened as powerful), on European society was great, and that the victories of the Caliph's lieutenants ])roduce no tritling results to the arts, that '• this very spot, Ajmer was visited iiy the first hostile force which Islam sent across the Indus,"' and that the arches of the ''temule'' at Ajmer may thus l)e the models of the arches that Merc subsequently introduced amoiig>l the Saracens.
394 HINDU SUl'EhlOKlTV.
origin," and \^et some would deny the existence of arches in the architectural style of ancient India. ^
Sir William Hunter says : " Although Mohamedans brought their new forms of architecture, nevertheless Hindu art powerfully asserted itself in the Imperial works of the Mughals, and has left behind memorials which extort the admiration and astonishment of our ao-e. The palace architecture of Gwalior, the mosques and the mausoleums, of Agra and Delhi, with several of the older temples of Southern India, stand unrivalled for grace of outline and elaborate wealth of ornament."
Mr. Coleman says : " The remains of their archi- tectural art might furnish the architects of Europe with new ideas of beauty and sublimit}^"^
" English decorative art," to quote Sir W. W. Hunter once more, " in our day has borrowed largely from Indian forms and patterns. The exquisite scrolls of the rock temples at Karli and Ajanta, the delicate marble tracery and flat- wood carving of Western India, the harmonious blending of forms and colours in the fabrics of Kashmir, have contributed to the restoration of tade ill England, ''"'"
Mr. Coleman says : "The ancient Hindu sculpture can boast of an almost unrivalled richness and beautiful minuteness of floral ornaments which claim and excite our warmest admiration.""*
1 " The tiiiest example of the triuuiphal arches is at Barnagar, north uf Guzerat, which is the richest specimen of Hindu art," — Elphinstone's History of India, p. 163. 2 Hindu Mythology, Preface, p. ix.
:^Impprial Indian Gazetteer, Art "India," p. 225. "Indian art work, when faithful to native designs, has obtained the highest honours at the various International Exhibitions of Europe." Such is Indian art even in these degenerate days !
-t Hindu Mythology., Preface, p. vii.
ARCHITECTURE I^CIT.PTL'RE. .^05
" The grand temple at Barolli (J^ajputana)," says the Englisli translator of Heoren's Historical Researches, "contains unrivalled specimens ot" sculpture, some parts of which, especially tlie heads, in the language of an eye "witness, would be no disgrace to Canora himself."
Colonel Tod, after carefully examining and ex])lor- mg the temple, exclaims : " To describe its stupendous and diversified architecture is impossible ; it is the oflice of the pen alone, but the labour would be endless. Art seems to have exhausteti itselt\ and we sire perhaps now for the first time fully impressed with the beauty of Hindu sculpture. Thecolunnis, the ceilings, the external roofing where each stone presents a miniature temple, one risinsc over another until the crown, bv the urn-like la/as. distract oar attention. The carving on the capital of each column would require pages of ex])lanation, and the whole, inspite of its high antiquity, is in wonderful preservation.
" The doorway, which is destroyed, must have been curious, and the remains that choke up the interior are highly interesting. One of these specimens was entire and unrivalled in taste and beautv.'"'
iTod's Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 701. Col. Tod says: "In short, it would require the labour of several artists for six months to do any- thing like justice to the wonders of BuroUi-"
396 HINDU SUrKTllOUITY,
n._WEAVING.
Tlie Tvhnle world without art mid dross Would 1)(' but ono grrat wilderness.
-Butler.
Indians, even of the present day, are remarkable for their cleh'cacy of sense, especially their nicety of touch. Not onl}' is their observation very accurate and minute, which has given a peculiar charm to tlieir poetry and their line arts, but tlieir delicate and tactile sensibility, Avitli their general delicacy of sense, has enabled them to achieve a peculiar excellence in many of the industrial arts and manufactures. .Mr. James Mill says : " The delicate frame of the Hindu is accompanied with an acuteness of external sense, particularly of touch, which is altogether unrivalled, and the flexibility of his fingers is equally remarkable." '
Mr. Orme says: "The hand of the Indian cook- wench shall be more delicate than that of an European beauty. The skin and features of a porter shall be softer than those of a professed petit maitres. The women wind off the raw silk from the pod of the worm. A single pod of the raw silk is divided into 20 different degrees of fineness, and so ex(juisite is the feeling of these women that whilst the thread is runninsc throucrh their fingers so swiftly that their eye can be of no assist- ance, they will break it off exactly as the assortments change at once from the first to the twentieth, from the nineteenth to the second.'"-
' Mill's Iiidin, Vol. II, }.. 17.
-reopic and (nn-i'iuuuMii of Hindustan. j>|i. jOO and 413.
WKAVIXG. 807
It :i]iporirs that natiiro herself lias bestowed tlie ii'ift of excellence in arts mid mnnni'iictures on the }>:ttient, skilful Hindu. The other nations appear to be constitutionalh' unfit to rival the Hindus in the finer operations of the loom, as well as in other arts that depend upon the delicacy of sense.
Nature gave India another advantage Mr. ^lill says : " His (Hindu) climate and soil conspired to furnish him with the most exquisite material for his art the finest cotton which the earth producesy^
Mr. Elphistone, speaking of Indian cotton cloth, says, "the beauty and delicacy of which was so long admired, and which, in fineness of texture, has never yet been ap- proached in any country."^ ^Ir. Murray says : " Its fabrics, the most beautiful that human art has anywhere produced, were sought by merchants at the expense of the s^reatest toils and dangers.""*
Mr. Thornton says that the Indian muslins are " fabrics of unrivalled delicacy and beauty "*
' Mill's History of India, Vol. 11, p. 17. This shows that India Is capable of producing and in ancient times did produce tiie finest cotton used in weaving. In those days India had not to look to Egypt and America for cotton of a superior quality to enal^lc her to manufac- ture finer muslins to clothe her sons and daughters. It would be in- teresting to many to learn that cotton is thought to have "reached Europe in the time of tlie Crusade, through the medium of the Arabs, the Arab word kuta becoming our cotton." — Mrs. Manning's Ancient and Median-al India, Vol. II, p. 350.
-Elphinstone's. History of India, pp. 16.3, 101.
•J Murray's History of India, p. 27.
** Thornton's Chapters of the British History of India, Buddha forbids the use of fine muslin by religious women, because he once saw Gang-Dgah-mo (a woman having upon lier a very fine linen which was sent to Gsal-rgzal by the king of Kalighana) naked while she was wearing a full muslin dress. Togiveanidea of the value of such fine muslins. Dr. Watts says that inl77(i A.D., the finest muslin reached the price of £50 per piece (Taxtile Manufactures. p.70).
398 niNDU SLTERIORITY.
Mr. Both in his work, " Cotton Manufactures of Dacca," says that Aurangzeb once reproved his daughter for showing her skin through her clothes. The daughter justified herself by asserting that she had on seven suits, or jamas. ^ After comparing the finest fabrics of India and of England, Dr. Watson decides in favour of the Indian fabrics. He finds the yarn finer than any yet produced in Europe^ while the twisting given to it by the Hindu hands makes it more durable than any machine-made fabric.
" Shawls made in Kashmere," sRys Mrs. Manning, are still unrivalled.''- Even James Mill says: "Of the exquisite degree of perfection to which the Hindus have carried the productions of the loom it would be idle to offer any description ; as there are few objects with which the inhabitants of Europe are better acquaint- ed, whatever may have been the attainment in this art of other nations of antiquity, (the Egyptians, for example, whose fine linen was so eminently prized), the manufacture of no modern nation can, in delicacy and fineness vie with the textures of Hindustan,"^
*Mr. Elphinstoue says: "Gold and silver hi'ocades were also favourites, and were, perhaps, original manufactures in India." See Colebrooke, Asiatic Researches, Vol. V, p, 61. Rudra Yamla 7'antrn, in an enumeration of Hindu castes, mentions Pundraeas or Pattasutracaras, or feeders of silkworms and silk twisters : this autho- rity, therefore, in conjunction with the frequent allusion to silk in most ancient Sanskrit books, may be considered as decisive of the question, provided the antiquity of the Tantra be allowed, of which Mr. Colebrooke seems to have no doubt. Silk is, moreover, mentioned throughout the Archipelago by its Sanskrit name, Sutrn, which proves its Indian origin.
2" The presentation of Kashmir shawls to Sita supplies an additional proof in favour of the high antiquity of these celebrated fabrics."
mWVs History of India, Vol. II, p. 16.
WEAVING. 300
T\Irs. Manning sa3's: "Some centuries before our era they produced muslins o£ that exquisite texture Avhicli even our nineteenth century machinery cannot surpass."* The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the excjuisitely- fine fabrics of cotton have attained to such perfection that the modern art of Europe, Avith all the aid of its M'onderful machinery, has never yet rivalled in beauty the product of the Indian loom."-
A critic says : " Carpets are made at Masulipatam with unrivalled Hindu taste," to which Mrs. Manning adds: "Carpets have also been made in later days in Government prisons, under British superintendence ; the result proves that ice must not attempt to teach art to India.'' ^
Dr. Forbes Watson, in his work on the Textile Manufactures of India ffives an interestino; account of a series of experiments made on both the European and the Indian muslins, to determine their claims to superiority. The result was altogether in favour of the Indian fabrics. He concludes : " However viewed, therefore, our manufacturers have something still to do. With all our machinery and Avondrous a})pliances we have hitherto been unable to produce a fabric which, for fineness or utility, can equal the woven air of Dacca, the product of arrangements, which appear rude and primitive, but ^vhich in reality are admirably adapted for the purpose."
1 Ancient and MediaMal India, Vol. I, p. 359.
2 Encyclopaedia Britannica, p. 440. (Weaving).
•^ Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II, p. 363, Professor Heeren says : " The variety of cotton fabrics mentioned even by the author of Periplns as articles of commerce is so great that we can hardly suppose the number to have increased afterwards.''
riL-OTHER ARTS.
Art is loii" and time is tleetini?.
-LONOFKLI.OW.
Professor Weber says : " The skill of the Indians in the production o£ delicate woven fabrics, in the mixing of colours, the working of metals and precious stones, the preparation of essences and in all manner of technical arts, has from early times enjoyed a world-wide celebrit}^" ^
Professor Wilson says : "They had acquired remark- able proficiency in many of the ornamental and useful arts of life,"'
As regards dyeing, Mr. Elphinstone" says : " The brilliancy and permanence of many of the dyes, have not yet been equalled in Europe." He adds : " The brilliancy of their dyes is remarked on as well as their skill in manufactures and imitations of foreign objects. ""^
Dr. Tennet and even Mr. James Mill admit that the Indian colours are the most brilliant on earth. The Hindus were the earliest nation who discovered the art of extracting colours from plants. The names by which several plants are known in foreign countries bear testimon)^ to this fact. Indigo is so called after India. Pliny used to write iiuUco.^
^ Weber's Indijvii Literature, p. 275.
iJMill's History of India, Vol. II, p. 233.
3 History ot" India, p.] 64.
4 History of India, p. 243. See Strabo, lib. xv, p. 493.
■'^He says : " Cast tbe right indico upon the live coals, it yieldcth a flaiiif- of most excellent purple." — Manning's Ancient and Mediieval India, Vol, FI, p. 350.
OTIIKK ARTS. 401
Bancroft gives inucli praise t(» the "natives <»r India for having so man}' tiiuusand years ago discovored means by which the colourable matter of the plant- might be extracted, exygenated and precipitated from all other matters combined with it." Even Mill is constrained to say : " AiiK)ng the arts of the Hindus, that of printing and dyeing their cloths has been celebi-ated • and the beauty and l)rilliancy, as well as dui-abilitv of the colours they produce, are worthy of particular praise. '
]\Ir. Elphinstone says : '• The taste for juiinitc ornaments fitted them to excel in goldsmith's work."-
Professor Heeren says : " The art of working in ivory must have attained a high degree of perfection."
What is most remarkable, however, is the sim])licitv of their processes and the exceedingly small number of the instruments with Avhich they work. Stavorinus writes : " Their artificers work with so little apparatus and so few instruments, that an European would be astonished at their neatness and expedition."''
As regards painting, ^Ir. ]\Iill says : " The Hindus
copy with great exactness, even from nature
They draw portraits both of individuals and of groups Avith a minnte likeness."
1 Mill's India, Vol. 11, p. 21. "In somo of tlie more delicate raanufactiiros, however," says Mill, "particularly iuAveaving, spinning, and dyeing, tlie Hindus rival all nations as in the fabrication of trinkets t<io." Professor Heeren says: "The dress of the Hindus seemed extra- ordinarily white to the Greeks." — Historical Researchcf!, Vol. J I, p. -21 2.
2 1']lphinstone's History of India p. 104. "The Hindus cut the precious stones, polish them ir> a high degree of brilliancy and set them neatly in gold and silver."" — Mill's Iliatory of India, Vol, II, p. :jO.
SStavorinus' Voyage, p. 412. Foster was astonislu^d to see their instruments and their simple processes. — Asiatic Researches, Vol. II, p. 272.
402 iiiNDr sr?ERiOT7iTy.
As regnrt^s iron mnmifactaros, Professor Wilson says : " Casting iron is an art that is practised in this manufacturing country (England) only within a few Tears, The Hindus have the art of smelting iron, of welding it, and of making steel, and have had these arts from times immemorial."
Dr. Ra}^ sa3^s : " Coming to comparatively later
times, we find that the Indians were noted for their skill
in the tempering of steel. The blades of Damascus were
held in hio'h esteem, but it was from India that the
Persians, and, through them, the Arabs learnt the
secret of the operation. The wrought-iron pillar close
to the Kutub, near Delhi, which weighs ten tons and is
some 1,500 years old, the huge iron girders at Puri, the ornamental gates of Somnath, and the 24-feet
wrought-iron gun at Nurvar, are monuments of a bye-gone art, and bear silent but eloquent testimon}' to the marvellous metallurgical skill attained by the Hin- dus." Regarding the Kutub pillar, Fergusson says : " It has not, however, been yet correctly ascertained what its age really is. There is an inscription upon it, but without a date. From the form of its alphabet, Prinsep ascribed it to the third or fourth century." Mr. Fergus- son continues : " Taking A.D. 400 as a mean date — and it certainly is not far from the truth — it opens our eye to an unsuspected state of affairs, to find the Hindus at that age capable of forging a bar of iron larger than any that have been forged even in Europe up to a very late date, and not frequently even now. As we find them, however, a few centuries afterwards using bars as long as this lat in roofing the porch of the
~ 'Mill's Ilisfr.rv oflmlin, Vol. II. p. 47.
oTrir.n atits. 403
temple at Kuiiaruc, avo imi^t now bolicvc that tliey wcirc iiiLich more familiar witii the use of this metal than they afterwards becam(^ It is almost equally startling' to find that after an exposure to wind and rain for fourteen centiu'ies it is unrusted, and the ca[»ital and inseriji- tiun are as elear and as sharp now as when jjul up fourteen eenturies ago. There is no njistake about the pillar beiugof pure iron. General Ciumingham had a bit of it analysed in India by Dr. Murray, and another portion was analysed in the School of Mines here bv l)r. Percv. Both found it pure malleable iron without any alloy."'
Mrs. ]\[anning says : " The superior quality of Hindu steel has long been known, and it is worthy of record that the celebrated Damascus blades, have been traced to the workshops of AVestern India." She adds : "Steel manufactured in Cutch enjovs at the present day a repu- tatiori not inferior to that of the steel made at Glasgow and Sheffield."- Mrs. Mannino; also says : "It seems probable that ancient India possessed iron more than suffcient for her wants, and that the Ph(i;nicians fetched iron with other merchandise from India."'
Dr. Royle is of opinion that the system of rotation of crops has been derived from India. The Hindu far- mer understands extremely well how to maintain the productive power of his land. '
Professor Wilson says : "The use of glass for win- dows is a proof of civilization that neither tiieek nor Roman relinement presents."'
niistory of Iiulijiii and Easlorii Airhitt'Otiiro, |t. 508: od. IHItH. -Ancient and 3Iodia?vul Iiulia, ^'^lI. II. p. o(i."». ^Ancipntaiid Mediiv.val India, Vtil. II, \<. ^,)^'>^. See ''Coninierco." "♦Dr. Roxburgh t'uily approves of the Hindu M>toui of jiSjMieulture. Sir T. Munro calls it " a good svstoni." •:>MillV India, Vol. II. p. 10.
40-4 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
Dr. Forbes Watson says : " The study o£ Indian art might in numberless ways improve the character of the everyday articles around us (Englishmen)."
Chamber's Encyclopaedia says : "In manufacture, the Hindoos attained to a marvellous j)erfection at a very early period, and the Courts of Imperial Rome glittered with gold and silver brocades of Delhi. The muslins of Dacca were famous aires asfo throusfhout the civilized world. In the International Exhibition of 1852, splendid specimens of gorgeous manufactures and the patient industry of the Hindoos w^ere displayed. Tex- tile fabrics of inimitable fineness, tapestry glittering with gems, rich embroideries and brocades, carpets wonder- ful for the exquisite harmony of colour, enamel of the most brilliant hue, inlaid wares that require high magnifying power to reveal their minuteness, furniture most elaborately carved, swords of curious forms and excellent temper are amongst the ol)jecCs that prove the jjerfectlon of art in India.""
^ During his Viceroylty, Lord Dufi'erin once said : " The West has still much to learn from the East in mntters of dress." Of the much- despised dhoti, Mrs. Manning says : " Any dress more perfectly conveni- ent to walk, to sit, to lie in, it would be impossible to invent." — Ancient and Medioival India, Vol. 11, p 358.
^Chanibcr's Encyclopa-dia, p. bi'd.
COiMMERCE AND WEALTH.
I.— COMMERCE.
But cliief I>y iiiiinbers of iiKlustrioiis hands
A nation's wealth is counted ; numbers raise
Warm emulation ; where that virtue dwells,
There will be traffic's seat ; there will she build
Her rich emporium.
— DvEii : Flt'cce.
Though the Indians have practically no hand now in the commerce oE the world, yet there was a time when they were the masters of the seaborne trade of Europe, Asia and Africa. They built ships, navigated the sea, and held in their hands all the threads of international com- merce, whether carried on overland or by sea.
As their innnense wealth was in part the result of their extensive trade with other countries, so were the matchless fertility (jf the Indian soil and the numberless products of Hindu arts and industries the cause of the enormous development of the commerce of ancient India. As Cowper says :
" And if a bouiidle.s.s |ilenty bo the robe, Trade is a golden girdle of the globe."
India, which, according to the writer in Chamber's Encyclopaedia, "has been celebrated during many ages for its valuable natural productions, its beautiful manufactures and costly merchandise,"^ was, says the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "once the seat of commerce."^
1 Chamber's Encyclopcfdia, Vol. V, p. 536. -Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XI, p. 446.
4UG
HINDU SLTEKloRITT.
Mrs. Maiming says : " The indirect evidence afford- ed by tlie presence of Indian products in other countries coincides with the direct testimony of Sanskrit litera- ture to establish the fact that the ancient Hindus were a comraei'cial people."^ Slie concludes : " Enough has now been said to show that the Hindus have ever been a commercial people."^
Professor Heeren says : "The Hindus in their most ancient works of poetry are represented as a commercial people."^'
In Sanskrit books we constantly read of merchants, traders, and men engrossed in commercial pursuits. Manu Smriti, one of the oldest books in the world, lays down laws to govern all commercial disputes having reference to seaborne traffic as well as the inland and overland commerce. Traders and merchants are fre- quently introduced in the Hindu drama. In Sakuntcdd we learn of the importance attached to commerce, where it is stated " that a merchant named Dhanvriddhi, Avho had extensive commerce had been lost at sea and had left a fortune of many millions." In Nala and Dam- yanti^ too, we meet with similar incidents. Sir AV. Jones is of opinion that the Hindus " must have been navigators in the age of Manu, because bottomry is mentioned in it."* In the Ramayana^ the practice of bottomry is distinctly noticed^' Mr. Elphinstone says : " The Hindus
1 Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II, p. 353.
2 Ancient and ^Media^val India, Vol. II, p. 354. oHeeren's Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 266.
^Asiatic Researches, Vol. II, p. 284. Manu speaks of " mer- chants who traffic beyond the sea and bring presents to the king." — India in Greece.
<^See Ramavana, III, 237,
roM.MKKC'E. -lor
navigated the ocean as early as the age o£ Manu's code, because we read in it of men well uc(|uainted Avitli sea voyaoes."'
According to Professor ^liix Dunker, sirn)-l)uilding was known in ancient India about 2000 ]>.('. It is thus clear that the Hindus navigated the ocean from tlie earliest times, and that they carried on trade on an extensive scale with all tlic importnnt nations of the Old World.
With Phoenicia the Indians enjoyed trade from the earliest times. In the tenth century B.C., Solomon of Israel and Hiram of Tyre sent ships'- to India, whence they carried away ivorj', sandalwood, apes, peacocks, gold, silver, precious stones, etc., which they purchased frofn the tribe of Ophir.^ Now Ptolemy says there was a country called Abhiria at the mouth of the River Indus. This shows that some people called Abhir must have been livino; there in those da vs. We find a tribe called " Abhir " still living in Kathyawar, wliich must, therefore, be the Ophir tribe mentioned above. Professor Lassen thinks " Ophir '' was a seaport on the south-west coast of India. Mrs. ]\!annino; savs it was situated on the western coast of India.
As, however, the authors of Smith's Dictionary of the Bible think that Ophir was situated somewhere in Africa, let us go a little more closely into the question of this tribe. Let us first see if the articles imported
^ Elphinstone's History of India, p. IGfi. " The word used in the original for sea is not applicable to inland waters."
-Called the "Navy of Tarshish." See also the Book of Chronicles.
3Max Dnnkei's History of Antiquity, Vol. IV, and Manning's Ancient and Modia-val India. Vol. II, p. 349.
408 HIXDU SUPERIOraTY.
by the Xavy of Tarshish were procura])le in India, and if they were, whether they were procurable in Africa or ^ny other country also.
Among the things sent by the Hindus to Solomon and
Hiram were peacocks. Now, these birds were nowhere
to be found in those days except India, where they
have existed from the earliest times. " We frequently
meet in old Sanskrit poetry with sentences like these :
'Peacocks unfolding in glittering glory all their green
and gold;' 'peacocks dancing in wild glee at the approach
of rain ;' ' peacocks around palaces glittering on the garden
walls.' Ancient sculpture, too, shows the same delight in
peacocks, as may be seen, for instance, in graceful bas-reliefs
on the gates of Sanchi or in the panels of an ancient palace
in Central India, figured in Tod's Rajasthan (p. 405)."
At the same time it is quite certain that the peacock was not generally known in Greece, Rome, or Egvpt before the time of Alexander of Macedon, whose followers were astonished to see such a beautiful bird in India. It was after Alexander's time that peacocks came to be imported direct from India or through Persia into Greece. It was the Romans, however, who most delight- ed in the bird, admired it, and spent immense sums of money on it. It was the height of luxury for the high Roman dames and the old Roman epicures to have tongues of peacocks served to them at their tables.
There is, however, conclusive evidence to prove that Solomon and Hiram got their peacocks from India. This evidence is the name which the bird received in the Holy Land. "The word for peacock in Hebrew is universally admitted to be foreign ; and Gesenius, Sir Emerson Tennent, and Professor Max Muller appear to
COMMERCE. 409
agree with Profetsor Lassen in holding that this word as written in Kings and Chronicles is derived from the Sanskrit lano;uaixe."'
Now, with regard to ivory. It was largely used in India, Assyria, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Ele})hants are indigenous in India and Africa, and the ivory trade must be either of Indian origin or African. But the elephants were scarcely known to the ancient Egyptians, 2 and Professor Lassen decides that elephants were neither used nor tamed in Ancient Egypt. ^
In ancient India, however, as is well known, they were largely used and tamed. No description of a king's procession or of a battle is to be met with but elephants are mentioned in it. No chieftain was with- out his elephants. The elephant is an emblem of royalty and a sign of rank and power. The god Indra, too, has his " Airawat." Then, the Sanskrit name for a domestic elephant is ibha, and in the bazars of India ihha was the name by which the elephant's tusks were sold. In ancient Egypt, ivory was known by the name ehu. Professor Lassen thinks "that the Sanskrit name ihha miirht easilv have reached Eo^vpt throucjh Tyre, and become the Egyptian eba. It is thus very probable that India first made Egy})t acquainted with ivory. Mrs. Manning says : "It is Vjelieved that by this name, or by words derived from it, ivory must have been intro- duced into Egypt and Greece. Although by what process ibha was changed into the Greek elepkas, is not satis- factorily explained."
Though ivory was known in Greece before the time of Homer, who speaks of it as largely used, but tiie
'Ancient ami Mcdiivval India, Vol. N. ).. .■).">1 . ''^An('ient and MMiipval [ndia. N'ul. II. p. ;;.',1, SAUcrlliiiMikuM.le, \'.)1. I, [.. iWii.
410 UINDU SUrEllIORITT.
elephant itself was unknown to the Greeks until the day of Arabella, where thej^ saw Darius aided by war- elephants with their drivers from India. It was here that the Greeks for the first time saw these animals armed with tusks, which were familiar to them in trade. They gave the name of elephas to the animal itself, whose tusks were known to them by that name. By this name also, Aristotle made the animal famous in Europe. We thus see that from India were first imported ivory and peacocks into Egypt, Greece, Palestine and Persia, and that the "ophir" is no other than the ah/'r tribe of India.
It would be interestinof to many to learn that "it was in India that the Greeks first became acquainted with sugar," ^ Sugfar bears a name derived from the Sanskrit. With the article the name travelled into Arabia and Persia, and thence became established in the languages of Euroj)e.2
Mr. Maunder savs : " In the reiii'n of Seleucidai. too, there was an active trade between India and Syria."* Indian iron* and coloured cloths and rich apparels'* were imported into Babylon and Tyre in ships from India. There were also commercial routes to Phoenicia, through Persia, which will be mentioned later on. We have already seen that India exported her merchandise to Egypt. Mr. Elphinstone says : " The extent of the Indian trade under the first Ptolemi'es is a w'ell-known fact in history."
'Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II, p. 30 «. 2 Sec Li»ssen, p. 318. ■'> Maunders Treasnrv of Tlistorv. p. 77i).
•*Plia*nicians fetctied iron with otli^r niorchandise from India," — ■ Anc/'rnt <ivrj l^hdiivral India. \'ol. II, p, .304.
•'■'St',' Hopren''* Hi-^toricnl Eosonrdio?, Vol. II. p. 27'2. ^■'Klpliin.-toiie's Hi>t.orv of [i.dia, "\"ol. L p. 141.
COMMKKCE. 41i
In the Book of Genesis^ vre road that Joseph was sold by his brethren to tlie "Isliniaclites come from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt." Here, Dr. Vincent observes, we find "a caravan of camels leaded with the spices of India and balm and myrrh of Hadramaut." Some suppose that myrrh used to be imported into Egypt by the A.byssi- nians, in whose country it largely grows. But the most conclusive proof of its importation from India is the name which it took in Egypt. Dr. Royle"- observes that myrrh is called bal by the Egyptians, while its Sanskrit name is bola, bearing a resemblance v/hich leaves no doubt as to its Indian manufacture. Silk, pearls, diamonds, calicoes, and other commodities of India were also imported into Alexandria in Egypt, which remained for ages the chief emporium of the Eastern commerce.
This trade was carried on from Myos Hormos, the chief port on the Red Sea, where the Indian fleets arrived. It is said that the articles were carried from here to Coptos, and thence to Alexandria on the Nile.'^ In the middle ages also trade on an extensive scale was carried on between India and Egypt, whence frankin- cense, an article of perfumery, is said to have been mi- ported from Egypt into India.* Periplus clearly says that there was much direct intercourse between ancient India and Egypt. ^ Mr. Davies says: '• But apart from this occasional intercourse, a constant trade was carried on
1 Gonesi.^:, Chapter xxvii, p. 25.
■-Royle's Ancient Hindu Medicine, '-Myrrh/' p. 1J9.
•^Encyolopfedia Britannica, Vol. XI, p. 409.
4 Ibid, p. 440.
^jjce Heereu's Historical Researches, Vol. II, p, 300.
412 HINDU SUrERIOllITY.
between Alexandria and Western India. There was also an overland route through Palmyra."'
There was also an active trade between India and Greece. The mention of ivory by Homer and of several other Indian articles assign the trade a very ancient date. In addition to ivory, India also supplied indigo (as mentioned in Periplus) to Greece. The writer in Chamber's Encyclopaedia (Vol. Y, p. 557) says that indigo was imported into Greece and Rome from India, whence also the inhabitants of the former countries derived their knowledge of its use. In India it is called nil^ whence is derived the anil of the Portuguese and the neel of the Arabs. Homer knew f'ni by its Sanskrit name. Professor Max Dunker says that the Greeks used to wear silken garments which were imported from India, and which were called " Sindones," or "Tyrian robes."
Rome appears to be the westernmost city in Europe with which ancient India had anv considerable trade. The chief articles exported from India, in addition to those already mentioned, are, according to Periplus,^ cotton cloth, muslin, chintz of various kinds, cinnamon and other spicery ; diamonds, pearls, onyx stone, eme- ralds, and manv other inferior stones. Ctesias^ adds steel, drugs, aromatics, calicoes* and lac. ' Spicery appears to have been exported from India from the earliest times. Professor Heerensays: "India is the mother- countrv of spices, and from the most ancient times she supplied the whole Western world with that'
1 Davie's BhaQ:wat Gita, p. 195.
ijPonplus, p. 28.
■ilndica, Cliapter iv.
■*EiicyolopJPcUa BritaTiiiica, Vol. XT, p. 459.
^Ctcsius. ludu'i, Cliai'for.'xxi,
COMMKllCL. 113
article. 1 Peppor was very largely exported from India in the time of Theophrastos,- who disting-uishes several varieties of it. With pepper, its name also migrated through Persia to the West." M rs. Manning says : " Xard or spikenard, cassia, calamus, and what appears to be the bdellium of Scripture may be traced to India, where scents were early valued and carefully preparefl."^
Of the products of the loom, silk was more largcl}^ imported from India into ancient Rome than either in I^gypt or in Greece. ''It so allured the Uoman ladies,"' says a writer, "that it sold for its weight in gold."^ It is evident that "there was a very large consumption of Indian manufactures in Rome. This is confirmed by the elder Plinj^, who complained that vast sums of money were annually absorbed by commerce with India.'"' The annual drainage of gold from Rome and its provin- ces to India was estimated by him at 500 steria, equal to about 8^ 4,000,000.' " We are assured on un- disputed authority that the Romans remitted annually to India a sum equivalent to £4,000,000 to pay for their investments, and that in the reign of Ptolemies 125 sails of Indian shipping were at one time lying in the ports whence Egypt, Syria, and Rome itself were supplied with the products of Indian's
'Heeren's Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 274.
54 Theophrastos: Historical Plant. IX. 22.
y Sanskrit /^/y>/vrt//, whence the \j?d\x\ piper and pipper-
*Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II., p. Soil,
5Encyclopa?dia Britannica, Vol. XI., p. 4.')!).
« Pliny : Historical Nation, XII., p. 18.
'Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. XI. p. 4<;0.
^Life in Western India (Gathrie), from Tod's Western India, p. 221 ,
414 niNDl^ SUrKRIOKITY.
Arabia, being the nearest of the countries situated in the west of India, was the first to which the Indian comraercial enterprises by sea were directed. The long- continued trade with Arabia dates from a remote anti- quity. iVgarthachides,' who lived upwards of 300 years before the time of Periplus, noticed the active commer- cial intercourse kept up between Yemen and Pattala — a seaport in western India, which Mr. Pottinger indentifies with the modern Hyderabad in Sindh. Pattala in Sans- krit means a "commercial town," "which circumstance, if it is true," says Professor Heeren, " would prove the extreme antiquity of the navigation carried on by the Indus."- Professor Max Dunker says : " Trade existed betAveen the Indians and Sabii3ns on the coast of south Arabia before the tenth century B.C.""' — the time when, according to the Europeans, Manu lived. In the days of Alexander, when the Macedonian general, Nearchus, was entering the Persian Gulf, Muscat was pointed out to him as the principal mart for Indian products which were transmitted thence to Assyria.
That this trade was chiefly in the hands of the Indians up to the beginning of the last century is proved by what Mr. Cloupet, a not very ancient writer, says: "The com- merce of Arabia Felix," he says "is entirely in the hands of the banian^i of fiujrat, who from father to son have cstablisned rhemselves in the country, and are protected by the Government in consideration of a certain import levied upon their estimated propertv."^
' (.ieogr. Mill. I. ]<. (Wi. 2 Historical Resparclies, Vol. II, p. 209. •^Dnnker's Histnrv of Antiquity, Vol. IV, p, l^fi. *Froin tlie accounts of Mr. Cloupet in Allgeni. Geogr. Epheui, for Novttuibcr J 810, p. 22b.
COMMIiUCE. 41.5
Egypt was not the only j>Mrt of Africa witli wliicli the Hindus traded in olden days. The eastern coast of Africa called Zanzibar and the provinces situated on the Red Sea carried on an extensive trade with ancient India. Myos Hornios, as has been stated before, was the chief emporium of Indian commerce on the iJed Sea. Of the trade with Zanzibar, Periplus gives us pretty full information. After enumerating the com- mercial stations on the coast as far as the promontory of Rhapta, now called Delgado, which was the most southerly point of his geographical knowledge, and after describing" their mercantile relations witlr E<xvi)t, he continues: "Moreover, indigenous products such aa corn, rice, butter, oil of seasamum, coarse and fine cotton goods, and cane-honey (sugar) are regularly exported from the interior of Ariaka (Conkan), and from Barygaza (Baroucha) to the opposite coast." ^
This trade is also noticed bv Arrian, who adds that " this navigation was reiiularlv manaofed." Professor Heeren thinks that the trade with the gold countries of Africa will serve to explain the great abundance of this metal in India.
The African trade, too, was in the hands of the Hindus. Periplus2 calls our attention to the fact that the banians, of India as well as merchants of Greece and Arabia, established themselves at Socotra,'^ near the Gulf of Aden, beside the Cape of Guardafui. Professor Heeren* says it is a well-known fact that the banians or
1 Periplus. p. 8. -Periplns, p. 17.
•''It wa? forrnorlj' called the island of Dioscoridi.
•* Historical Researches, Vol. II.
416 UINDU SUPEHKnilTY'.
Hindu merchants were in the habit of traversing the ocean and settling in foreign countries. The fact that thousands of Hindus from Gujarat and its neighbouring provinces are even now found settled in the eastern districts of Africa, proves that in ancient times Indians in large numbers had settled in Africa for purposes of commerce.
The Eastern countries with which ancient India traded were chiefly China, Transgangetic Peninsula and Australia. Professor Heeren says that " the second direction which the trade of India took was towards the East, that is, to the Ultra- Gangetic Peninsula, comprising Ava^ Mallaca,^ etc., etc. The traffic with these countries would, of course, be carried on by sea onl}^, though the transmission of goods across the Bay of Bengal could not be attended with much difficulty."^
This commerce was actively carried on in the days of Periplus, as it actually mentions a place situated on the* Coromandel coast, from which the passage was usually made to Chrysa, which appellation, according to Ptolemy,* denoted Malacca, but according to the author of Periplus, the whole of the Transgangetic Peninsula.'^
Professor Heeren says : " The Hindus themselves were in the habit of constructing the vessels in which they navigated the coast of Coromandel, and also made voyages to the Ganges and the peninsula beyond it. These vessels bore different names according to their
'lis Sanskrit iiiirne is Anga^ which is noticed in the Ramayana. 2 Col. Wilford interprets the Sanskrit Yumala by Mallaca. See Asiatic Researches, Vol, VIII, p. o02.
•■3 Historical Researches, Vol, TI., p. 29G. 4 See Mannert, Vol. V, p. 242, •^Periplus p. 34.
riiNJ\lKK( E. -WT
size.' Kotliincif, inrleed, could furnish better proof that this commerce did not originate from ;in intercourse with the Greeks, but was the sole product of ancient native industry-, a fact which receives additional confir- mation from the existence of comrnercial towns and ports on the Coromtindel coast from time immemorial. Masulipatam, witli its cloth manufactures, as well as the mercantile towns situated on the mouth of the Ganges, have already been noticed as existing in the time of Peri plus ; and if we allow these places to have been even then very ancient, of whicli there is scarcely any doubt, have Ave not equal reason for believing their commerce and navigation to be so also ?"^
Ceylox.
A few words regarding the commercial importance of Ceylon will not be out of place. According to Cosmos, Ceylon was at one time the centre of Hindu commerce, for which purpose, indeed, its natural situation and commodious havens afforded singular opportunities."*
Cevlon has been known by a variety of names in the East as well as in Europe. It was called Taprobane, a name first used by " Onesicritus"* and ingeniously derived from Tap, an Island, and Rahan or Ravan, an ancient king conquered by Maharaja Ram Chandra.* Ptolemy remarks that it was formerly called Pahe^/niu/i'/i
'Some were called Sangara, dtliers Colaudiaplionta, uiul .so on. J^Historical Rosearches, Vol. II, p. 290.
3 Professor Heereri says : " Commercial history of India in mainly dependent on that of Ceylon." — Historical Researches, Vol U, p. 440. '^Historical Researches. Vol. II, p. 417. •"'Asiatic Researches, Vol. V, p. 39.
418 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
(which Pliny confirms), but that in his own time it was called Salice, and the natives Saloe (whence Selan and Ceylon). It was called ^Scuihal Dvipa by the Hindus.
In Ptolemy's accounts of Ceylon we find its coasts well furnished with commercial ports. ^ Talacori, Modutti, Amurogramum, Moagramum (Mahagram, a great city) are among the principal commercial cities described by him. Professor Heeren says : "It (Ceylon) was noted for commercial navii^ation before 500 B.C.""
From Arriau we know that the northern part of Ceylon was in a very highly-civilized state, and that it was a seat of extensive commerce with the countries from the farthest China in the East to Italv in the West."^
Pliny says : " Taprobane was for a long time considered to be a second world and went by the appel- lation of Antichthones," which proves its reputation as a seat of commerce and civ^ilization.
Some idea of the extent of the ancient commerce of Ceylon can be gathered from the accounts which Cos- mos gives of it, though at a comparatively later date. After describing the situation of the island and the name by which the Hindus called it, he says : " From all India, Persia, Ethiopia, between which countries it is situated in the middle, an infinite number of vessels arrive at, as v,'ell as go from, Ceylon. From the interior of the continent, as for instance from China and other commercial countries, it receives silk, aloes, cloves, and other productions, which it exports to Malabar, Avhere the pepper grows, and to Calliene (near Bomba}^), whence
^ Ptolemy, Chapter XII.
^Historioal Researches, Vol. II, p. 437.
'Historical Researches, Vol. 11, p, -J^):^.
CUM.MKKCE. 41 'J
is brought steel and cloth, for this latter is also a great conimerciiil port. It likewise makes consignments to Sindli on the borders of India, whence com(! musk 'and castoreum ; and also to Persia, Yemen, and Adule. From all these countries it receives articles of produce, which again it transmits into the interior, together with its own productions. Selandiv (Sinhal Dirl.pa) is consequently a great emporium, and being situated in the middlf of the Indian Ocean, it receives merchandise from, as well as sends it to', all parts of the world."'
Professor Heeren adds : " From Pliny, who quotes the testimony of ancient historians, namely, those of Alexander's age, who first discovered 1'nprobane to be an island, we learn that Ceylon enjoyed this commercial reputation in the time of the Ptolemies, and even in that of Alexander. If we extend this period but a century and a iialf furtlier back, which no one surely will consider unreasonable, we come at once to the interesting hinturlcal fact that during a space of a thousand years, that is from 500 B.C. to 500 A. I),, the island of Ceylon, so conveniently situated for such a purpose, continued to be the great emporium of the Hindu-carrviniJ: trade, from Adule on the cost of Africa, Yemen and Malabar and the Ultra Gangetic Peninsula, even to China." He also says : "Ceylon was the com- mon mart of Australian commerce."^
That a considerable portion of ancient India is
closely connected with that of Ceylon is clear, not only
from the remains of Hindu civilization still every uh»'ro
visible in the island, but also from the ex])ress testimony
1 Historical Researches, Vol. ]|, p. 298. 2Historical Researches, Vol. II. p. 12G.
420 HINDU SUPKRIORITT.
of the writers on the subject. The island o£ Ceylon has been celebrated in the historical and fabulous writings of India as being very prosperous and wealthy. " Golden Lanka " is a trite phrase in India. The island was politically, sociall}-, in religion, and, till very recently, even physically — after iiam Chandra's celebrated stone brido'e — a part of India. It was inhabited by Hindus, who, so far as nationality, language, religion and civili- zation are concerned, belonged to the same stock as their brethren of India. It enjoyed, therefore, an equally- considerable refinement and civilization. When the British first went to Ceylon, " they beheld with astonishment tlie stupendous remains of ancient civilization, not mere- ly temples and other edifices, but what is still more extra- ordinarv, tanks of such amazins^ extent as to deserve the name of lakes." Her ancient prosperity, her material streno'th, her moral and social achievements have all been testified to by many EuropcRU writers. Arrian, Cosmos,^ and a host of other o-i-eat writers, travellers and aimalists of the first centuries of the Christian era unanimously declare that Ceylon occupied the foremost position in the commercial transactions of the ancient world.
It has alreadv been remarked that the Alexandrian historians were the first to discover that Ceylon was an island. Professor Heeren says : "It is, however, quite evident from the testimony of Arrian that much of what is advanced respecting the trade of Ceylon may, with equal justice, be applied to the opposite coast of Malabar."
The sea-coast of India was naturally well furnished
with harbours and havens to cope with commerce on
I A inerclmiit wlio travelled about 500 A.D. in the reign of Em- peror Justinian TI as far as Adule, at that time a oelol)ratcd port bej ljiii,'in^' to thi; King of Axuino. in E(liii>]iia, npar Arkoeko.
a gigantic scale. Professor Heereri says : "Commercial towns and ports existed on the Coromandcl coast from time immemorial. The coast of Coromandel, and specially the sonthern part, is represented by Ptolemy to iiave been thickly-studded with a series of commercial towns."'
Extensive commerce bespeaks advanced civihza- tion. ^Ir. Elphinstone says : " The numerous commer- cial cities and ports for foreign trade which are men- tioned in Periplus, attest the progress of the Indians in a department which, more than any other, shows an advanced condition of the nation."-
Land Trade.
The land trade of India extended to China, Turkis- tan, Persia, Babylon, and sometimes also to Egypt, Greece and Rome. Mr. Vincent savs : " The country in the north with which India traded was China. "'^ The author of Periplus, after describing the geographi- cal position of China, says : " Silk was imported from that country, but the persons engaged in this trade were
1 Historical Researches, Vol.11, p. 297. The chief ports men- tioned in Periplus, p. 30, are: (1) Barygaza (Bliaroucli) ; (2) Miziris (Mangalore) ; (3) Nelkvnda (Neliceram) ; (4) Patala (Hyderabad in Sindh) ; (5) Calliene, (Gallian. situated over against Bombay) ; and the islands of Elephanta and Salsette. In addition to these Cosmos names Sindus (Sindh); Orrbota (Surat) ; Calliene; Sibor ; Parti; Mangaruth ; Salopatana ; Nelopatana ; Pudapatana.
'^ History of India, p. 241.
•"^Vincent, Vol. II, pp. 574, 575. The author says " the name Ghiua is of Hindu origin and comes to us from India."
422 HINDU SUI'EKIORITY.
the Indians themselves." It may, ho\A'ever, be added, in the words of an English critic :' "It is not improbable that silli was also indio:enous in India even at a remote
epoch. "^
As resfards the trade with central and northern Asia, we are told that '' the Indians make expeditions for commercial pnrposes into the golden desert Ideste^ desert o£ Gobi, in armed companies of a thousand or two thousand men. But, according to report, they do not return home for three or four years." The Talhtl Sulemcui^ or the stone tower mentioned by Ptolemy and Ctesias, was the starting point for Hindu merchants who v/ent to China.
Professor Heeren says : " By means of this build- ing it is easy to determine the piu-ticular route as well as the length of time employed by the Hindu merchants in their journev to China. If we assume Cabal, or rather Bactria, as their place of departure, the expedition would take a north-easterly direction as far as the forty-first degree of north latitude. It would then have ro ascend the mountains, and so arrive at the stone tower through the defile of Hoshan, or Owsh. From thence the route led by Cashgar, beyond the mountains, to the borders of the i::reat desert of Cobi, which it traversed probably through Khoten and Aksu (the Casia and Auxazia of Ptolemy). From these ancient towns the road lay through Koshotei to Se-chow, on the frontiers of China, and thence to Pekin, a place of great antiquity, if we are to understand it as the metropolis of Serica,
^Asiatic Rosearohes, Vol. II, p. 286. See also Sclilegel, Berlin, Calender, p. '.), (Edition 1829). ^Sca also " Art of Weaving,"
rOMMKJJCE. ■l'2'A
which, indeed, the accounts of Ptolemy would hni-dly leave any room to doubt. The whole distance amounts to upwards of two thousand five hundred miles." ^
As regards Western Asia, Professor Heeren snys that " the Palmyrians, in addition to their commerce by land, exercised also a sea-trade with India.""
" After the decline of Rome,'' says the Encyclopaedia Britannica, " Bassora became the chief commercial mart, and to Ormus merchandise from India was brouoht."'^
India traded with Europe by sea as well as by land. The writer quoted above says : " The produce of India was also brought to Europe by other routes, namely (1) by the way of Palmyra, then a flourishing city, and thence to Rome and other Western cities, through the ports of Syria ; (2) across the Himalaya mountains to the Oxus, thence to the Caspian Sea, and finally to its ultimate markets of Europe.""*
Foreign trade of a nation presupposes development of its internal trade. Specially is this true of a large country like India, with its varied products, vast popu- lation and hi"'h civilization. Professor Lassen of Paris considers it remarkable that the Hindus themselves dis- covered the rich, luxurious character of India's products; many of them are produced in other countries, but re- mained unnoticed until sought for by foreigners, where- as the most ancient Hindus had a keen enjoyment in articles of taste and luxury. Rajas and other ricli people delighted in sagacious elephants, swift horses, splendid
^Historical rlesearchos, Vol. 11, p. 290. -Historical Ilcsoarches, Vol. IT. ji. 409 ( Ap[)Piul!X IX). •^Encyclopaedia BritaTinica, Vol. XI, p. 4Go. *Eiicyclo{)aHlia Britannica. Vol. XI, p. 4.J9.
424 HINDI' S^UFERIORITY.
peacocks, frolden decorations, exquisite perfumes, pungent peppers, ivory, pearls, gems, etc., and conse- quently caravans were in continued requisition to carry down these and innumerable other matters between the north and the south, and the west and the east of their vast and varied country. These caravans, it is conjec- tured, were met at border stations and about ports by western caravans or ships bound to or from Tyre and Egypt, or to or from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea."^
Professor Heeren remarks : " The internal trade of India could not have been inconsiderable, as it was in a certain deoree prescribed bv nature herself."" Roval roads were constructed all over the country from east to west and from north to south, in addition to the num- berless rivers, along the banks of which considerable commerce was carried on.
Strabo, Plutarch, and Apollodoras agree in their statements that India had considerable trade roads in all directions, with mile stones, and was provided with inns for travellers. (See Strabo, Chap. XV, pp. 474 and 487). And these 'Toads," says Heeren, "were planted with trees and flowers. "^^
Active internal commerce was carried on in north- ern India alon"' the course of the Gano:es. Here was the royal highway extending from Taxila on the Indus through Lahore to Palibhotra (in Behar), and which was 10.000 stadia in length.'*
Kamayana, too, mentions another road leading from Ayodhya (Oudh) b}- Hastinapur on the Jamna, through Lahore, to the city of Giniheraja, in the Punjab.
Periplus, too, after saying that "the Ganges and its tributary streams were the grand commercial routes
1 See Ancient and Medispval India, Vol. II, p. 848. •^Historinal Researche.s, Vol. II, p. 2fi7. •"^Historical Researches. Vol. II, p. 279.
■iStraho, p. 1010. Pliny also speaks of it in his Xatnral History Vol. VI, p. 21.
of iiortluMMi Iiiditi," adds tlint tlie " rivers of tlie Southern Peninsula :d.s<» wen; ii:niii:ite<]/''
Accordino- u> Arrinn, the conimoreiid interronrso between the enstcni and western roitsts was earried on in coLintrv-hnilt ships.
Periphis iignin suys tliat " in Daeldmnah.'ides {Ihil- shina Pafhd of Snuskrit. or the Deccan) there are two very distinguished and eelehrated marts, nninod Taiiara. and Pluthama,- whence merchandise was brougiit down to Barygaza (Barauncli).
0/ene ' (Ujjainj was one of tlic cliief marts for internal traffic, and supplied the neighboiu-ing country with all kinds of merchandise. It also became th(» em- porium of foreign commerce. It transported Indian products to P)arygaza, and was a celebrated depot of the produce of more distant and northern countries.
Fairs were an important \'ehicle of trade, and were introduced in every part of the country. A large con- course of people assemble at these fairs in different seasons for the purpose of exchanging merchandise as well as discussing religious and national tonics. Even now lakhs of people assemble at Hardwar, ]>enares, Allahabad, on the banks of Xerbudda and other places.*
' Teriplus, j). i'y\) . ~~
-For the indent iHc.-if inn of these two pl.'iee<;, see Klphinsionc's "India," p. 223, footnote. "Tau:ara roinained for 2,000 years the great emporinin of the Mediterranean oonimeree." — Heeren. sHistorical Researches, Vol. If, p. 2H0. ''The ahnost innnnierable crowds tliat yearly flock to Benares, .Tagan Nath and elsewhere, amounting to many hundred thousands of souls, would obviously give rise to a species of comnvivc." — II/.'<tonc,/l Researches, Vol. II, p. 279. [For an account of fairs at Hardwar, see Hardwicke's accounts of it in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. ]], p. 312 ; wliere he says that two-and-a-half lakhs of souls as.semble every year, while on the occasion of Kuml>/> the iinmhcr i< mnny time laro-f.i-. T
426 nixDU surERiouiTY.
Re^'ardinof tliese Hindu fairs, Mr. Elphinstone says : "Indian fairs have strong resemblance to those of England. But no assemblage in England can give a notion of the lively effect produced by the prodigious concourse of people in white dresses and bright -coloured scarfs and turbans, so unlike the black head-dresses and dusky habits of the North." ^
Mrs. Manning says thas the Hindus traded even in the Yedic period, "and the activity in trade thus early noted has continued to be the characteristic of the countr}'.''-
The Enc3'clopa3dia Britannica says : " It (India) exported its most valuable produce, its diamonds, its aromatics, its silks, and its costly manufactures. The coinitry, which abounded in those expensive luxuries, was naturally reputed to be the seat of immense riches, and every romantic tale of its felicity and glory# was readily believed. In the Middle Ages, an extensive commerce w^ith India w^as still maintained throush the ports of Egypt and the Red Sea ; and its precious produce, imported into Europe by the merchants of Venice, confirmed the po]>ular opinion of its high re- finement and its vast wealth."^
i Elphinstone's History of India, p. 179. He also remarks that "many such places are also amongst the celebrated marts for the transfer of merchandise."
-Ancient and Mediaeval India, Vol. II. p. 347.
^^Encyclopa-dia Britannica, Vol. XI, p. 446. Foreign commerce on such a gigantic scale as described above was one of the principal causes of the immense ri(?hes of ancient India,
An
TI.— WKALTH.
Ruli in tlif gciM^ oi liidiM'> ^aiuly /.imk;.
Cammucli, : rica^iircs nf Hnp'-,
If history proves anything', it proves that in ancient times, India was the richest country in the world. The tact that she has always been the cynosure o£ all eyes, Asiatic or European, that people of less favoured climes have alwavs cast lonsfins^ looks on her fflitterintr treasures, and that the ambition of all conquerors has been to possess India, prove that she has been reputed to be the richest country in the world.
Her sunny climate, unrivalled fertility, matchless mineral resources and world-wide-exports in ancient times helped to accumulate in her bosom the wealth which made her the happy hunting gi'ound of adventurers and conquerors. Professor Heeren says : " India has been celebrated even in the earliest times for its riches."^ Dr. Wise says that the wealth, splendour and prosperity of India had made a strong impression on the mind of Alexander the Great, and that when he left Persia for India, he told his army that they were starting for that " Golden India " where there was end- less wealth, and that what they had seen in Persia was as nothing compared to the riches of India. Chamber's Encyclopa'dia says : " India has been cele- brated during many ages for its Avealth,"-' The Avriter of the article "Hindustiin" in the Encyclopaedia
^Hi'oi-cu's llistorioal Rcsoaivhes, Vol. II, p. 268. 2Cliambi,'r'^ Eticyoloptcdia, W'l. Vi Ail. "Iii-.liii," p. jclG.
428 HINDU .surEKKjiUTY.
Britaimica remarks that India " was naturally reputed to be the seat of immense riches."^ Milton voiced the popular belief when he sang of the wealth of India :
'• High on a throne of royal stiitc whicli far OtUshone the weahh of Orniuz and of Ind, Or where tlie gorgeous East willi richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric;, pearl and gold."
An idea of the immense wealth of India could be irathered from the fact that Avhen Sultan Mahmiid Ghaz- navi destroyed the far-famed temple of Somnath he found such immense riches and astonishing diamonds cooped up in the single " Idol of Siva " that it was found quite impossible to calculate the value of .that booty." After a stay at Mathura for 26 days, in which he collected large idols of gold and silver in thousands, many set in with priceless jewels, Mahmud went to Kanauj, which so astonished the tyrant and his followers, though long familiar with wealthy cities like Mathura, that they declared that Kanauj was only rivalle»l in splendour and magnificence by the high heavens.
Gold, the emblem of wealth, was iirst found in India. India was the home of diamonds and other precious stones in ancient times. Perinlus savs that " the Greeks used to purchase pieces of gold from the Indians." Nelkynda or Nelicerara, a port near Calicut on the Malabar Coast, is said to have been the only market for pearls in the world in ancient times.
Chamber's Kncyclopa'dia snys that the minerals of India are rich and varied. Diamonds, emeralds, plumbago, beryle, topazes, are among its products. Gold
' EuoyclopBcdia Britannica, Vol. XI, {). i46- 'See Lethbridgc'o " Ili^turj- of India."
WKALTir. 121)
has been found in Indiu irom time imnieniorial. The Deccau and the ^lalabar Coast are believed to be the gold-bearing districts/ and at Dharwar, quartz reefs of the richest description have been found.
India has been famous for pearls, topazes, saphires, rubies, emeralds, lazuli, corals and other jewels. The most famous pearls and stones are all of Indian origin. The pearl presented by Julius C;esar to Servilia, the mother of Brutus, as well as the famous pearl ear-ring of Cleo|)atra, were obtained from India. The most famous diamonds in the world are natives of India. Though the Pitt (or the Regent as it is now called) weighs lo6f carats and is larger in size, yet the Koh-i-noor^ Aveiffhinij^ only lOG^ carats,- hallowed bv aj^es of roman- tic history, is the most famous diamond in the world. Both were taken from India to England. The Pitt, how- ever, after being reduced in cutting from 410 to I3G^ carats was sold in 1717 to the Regent of France, the Duke of Orleans. It may still be seen at the Louvre, Paris. It is valued at £480,000, the Koh-i-noor at onlv £140,000. But the mythological and historical value of the Koh-i-noor is untold.
It was the wealth of India that impelled the rude Arabs to invade this country, and led the half-ci\ilized Tartars to overrun it. It was the wealth of India that attracted Nadir Shah to India, from whence he returned laden with immense booty, and caused the Abdali chief to renew his attacks on it.
1 Periplus (p. B6) speaks of c^old mines situated in the lower Gangc- tic Plain. Pliny speaks of gold and silver mines in the mountains of Capitalia, which arc represented by him as the highest of the Ghat Range. — Heeren's Historical Researches, Vol. II.
-When the Koh-i-noor first reached England it weighed 186^ carats.
430 HINDI' SUl'EKIUKlTr.
May be, us Sophocles sings ^ that,
"Gold is tlie worst of ills
That ever plaj^ued mankind : this wastes our cities,
Drives forth their natives to a foreign soil,
Taints the pure heart, and turns the virtuous mind
To basest deeds."
Yet gold has its virtues. It was gold which not only enabled England to save herselE and Europe in the last century but decided the fate of Napolean Bonaparte.-
1 Antigone, Act 1. ^ The representatives of the Allied Powers, assembled at Vienna, declared him an outlaw after his return from Elba, but declined to oppose liim for want of funds. On this, England granted them large subsidies. Thus began the war that ended in the crowning mercy of Waterloo.
Rp]LIGION.
True Rpligion Is always mild, propitious and humble, Plays not the tyrant, plants no i'aitli in blood, Nor bears destruction on hor chariot wheels, But stops to polish, succour and redress, And builds her grandeur on the public good.
J. Miller.
Rkligiok, the balm for afflicted minds, is, as Bacon ob- serves, "the chief bond of human society." It is the most powerful factor in the regulation of human affairs. As a man's company gives us a key to the general })rinciples which guide his conduct, so does a nation's religion give us a clue to those general principles and natural forces which are at work in it for good or for evil, and which will lead it either towards civili- zation and enlightenment or towards degeneration and darkness. As the habitual actions and trifling acts of a man are clearly stamped with the characteristics of his personality, so is the religion of a nation an index to mark its position in the scale of civilization.
Religion, then, is one of the tests of civilization. And true religion, which is only another name for Gyana or true knowledge, is a necessary result of pre-eminence in morals, philosophy, literature, science and general culture.
The present religion of the masses in India should not be liternllv taken to be the relijrion of their nnees-
432 inXIU' SUPERIORITY.
tors, and the nature of their religion should not be judged from the religious system of the modern Hindus. The once highly-spiritual religion of the Hindus has, so far as the masses are concerned, now become thoroughly materialised to mark their degradation, and things earthly are now installed in the place wdiich was once occupied by the eternal principle of all things.
The Yedic religion is the knowledge, the recognition of the eternal principles of being, of God, of spirit and matter, and their relation to one another as revealed to them in the Vedas.
Unbounded sympathy with humanity and infinite love for all God's creatures, which are the results of the noblest influences of true religion, found their supreme expression in India. No nobler sacrifice can be imao:ined than that involved in the resolution of the Indian who said : " Nev^er will I seek nor receive private individual salvation — never enter into final peace alone ; but for ever and everywhere will I live and strive for the universal redemption of every creature throughout the world. Until all are delivered, never will I leave the world of sin, sorrow, and struggle, but will remain where Iam."i
The Hindu religion is the knowledge and the com- prehension of those eternal principles which govern na- ture and man, those immutable laws which in one sphere are called " science," in another " true philosophy." It concerns itself not with things true under certain con- ditions or at certain times : its precepts are ever true, true in the past, true in the present, true in the future.
' Buddhist Catena.
UKLlLilOX. 433
True knowledge being one, it takes, without any distinc- tion, into its fold, Indians, Arabs, Europeans, Americans, Africans and Chinese. Its principles circumscribe the globe and govern all humanity.
The Hindu religion is not, like other religions, a confession of weakness, an humble admission of the helplessness of humanity, and an absolute reliance on an external power for the salvation of mankind. The Hindu relisrion is a confident assertion of supreme manhood — an assertion full of dignity and independence.
Schlegel says : " It cannot be denied that the early Indians possessed a knowledge of the true God. All their writings are replete with sentiments and expres- sions, noble, clear, severely grand, as deeply conceived as in any human language in which men have spoken of their God. "^
The Rev. J. Bryce admits that " there is every reason to believe that there existed a period in the Hindu history when the Brahma was the sole object of reli- gious adoration. "=^ Rev. Mr. AVard says : "It is true, indeed, that the Hindus believe in the unity of God. ' One Brahma without a second,' is a phrase verv com- monly used by them when conversing on subjects which relate to the nature of God. They believe al^o that God is Almighty, All-wise, Omnipotent, Ominiscient."
Mr. Charles Coleman says : '* The Almighty, Infi- nite, Eternal, Incomprehensible, Self-existent Being ; He who sees everything though never seen ; He who is not
^Wisdom of the Ancient Indians. ^Sketch of the State of British India.
434 HIXDU SUrEKlUIllTY.
to be compassed by description, and who is beyond the limits of human conception is Brahma, the one unknown true Being, the Creator, the Preserver and Destroyer of the universe. Under such and innumerable other defi- nitions is the Deity acknowledged in the Vedas, or the sacred writino-s of the Hindus."'
Col. Kennedy says : " Every Hindu who is in the least acquainted with the principles of his religion must in reality acknowledge and worship God in unity."
Count Bjornstjerna, after giving a quotation from the Vedas, says : " These truly sublime ideas cannot fail to convince us that the Vedas recognise only one God, who is Almighty, Infinite, Eternal, Self-existent, the Light and the Lord of the Universe."^
Maurice is assured " that the Brahmin is seeking after one Divine unseen object, nay, that his aim in his Avliole life and discipline is to purify himself from out- Avard, sensible things, that he may approach nearer to this one source of Illumination."' Mr. Colebrooke says that ** the ancient Hindu religion, as founded on the Hindu Scriptures, recognised but one God."*
" It is very doubtful," says Prof Monier AVilliams, " whether idolatry existed in the time of Manu's compilation of the Smriti."'''
Of the much-abused institution of Shraddhas, Prof. Max Muller says : " The worship of the ancestors and the offerins^ of Shraddhas have maintained much of their
1 Mythology of the Hindus. =^Thcogony of the Hindus, |.. 53, 3 Religions of the World, p. 44.
4 Asiatic Researclies, Vol. VIII, p. ,385, See also PatersonV Origin of Hindu religion in the Asiatic Researches. ^Indian Wisdom, p. 226.
UFLTGION. -loo
old sacrod character. They have sometimes beeu com- pared to the communion in the Christian Church, and it is cerrainly true that many natives speak of their funeral and ancestral ceremonies with a hushed voice and with real reverence. They alone eeem still to impart to their life on earth a deeper significance and a higher prospect. I could go even a step further and express my belief that the absence of such services for the dead and of ancestral commemorations is a real loss in our own reli- gion. Almost every religion recognises them as tokens of a loving memory offered to a father, to a mother, or even to a child, and tliough in many countries thev mav have proved a source of superstition, there runs through them all a deep well of living human faith that ought never to be allowed to perish.'"
The distinguishing feature of Hinduism, however, is, that it is a thoroughly scientitic religion. Religion and science went hand-in-hand in ancient India. The reli- gious tenets of other nations have been proved, and are admitted bv men of culture and thouo-ht to be in conflict with the teachings of modern science. In India, how- ever, theology is founded upon philosophy and science. The Vedic religion is, therefore, thoroughly scientific. Major Cunningham says: "In the East, however, philo- sophy has always been more closely allied to theology than in civilized Greece or modern Europe. "2
An eminent Frenchman says that the Hindu Revelation is "of all Revelations the only one whose ideas are in complete harmony with modern science."
1 India: What can it teach ns? p. 242. ^Cunningliam".s History of tho Sikhs, p. 2.3.
436 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
That gifted lady, Mrs. Begaiit, said at Calcutta: " India is the mother of religion. In her are combined science and religion in perfect harmony and that is the Hhidu religion, and it is India that shall be again the spiritual mother of the world." ^
The Yedas do not certainly teach such unscientific absurdities as that out of nothintr came somethinE^, or that the sun was created after the creation of the earth
1 Mrs. Besant's lecture at the Grand Tlieatre, Calcutta on Joth JaT'.uary ItlOG. In the course of the lectuie, Mrs. Besant said : "In the nineteenth century one of the postulates of science was that life, thought and consciousness were all results of certain molecular arrangements of matter. Brain, the speaker added, secreted thought as the liver sec- reted bile. The whole materialistic science tended to show that life was the result of an arrangement of matter. "Where tiie mechanical arrange- ment of matter failed, there thought failed. Intelligence and conscious- ness were simply the results of matter. That was the idea repeated in Tyndal's famous treatise — 'we must see in matter a permanent poteticy of every form of life.' But Hinduism proclaimed exactly the opposite. It taught that life was primary and matter secondary. Matter was simply a tool, instrument, vehicle. This was clearly explained in the ITpanishads, in the problem of cdmo. It was shown how the unem- bodied atma was in the body. The body was the dwelling-house of the embodied atwa. It is written that the atma desired to see and the eye was there. The atma desired to hear and the ear was there. Tho atma. desired to think and the mind was there. Con.sciousness was primary, atma was primary, while the senses, organs, the body were secondary. This was the Hindu teaching. The later discoveries of science also taught that consciousness is the creator and the matter is the form." The speaker then stated, by way of illustration, that " man had legs, as was plain to her audience, and they were able to walk ; and such was the case with other senses. But niodern science taught exactly the opposite. It declared that ci-eatares with legs desired to walk and legs were gradually formed by slow degrees after repeated efforts. The desire was an aspect of consciousness and not an arrangement of matter. The creatures wanted to move, so the organs of locomotion were gra- dually and duly bailt. The function of sight did not come from the vja : il \\u> ih« result of perception in coiisciousness."
RKLIGION. 437
Miss F. P. Cobbo very justly observes: " For nges back, and markedly since the days of Spinoza, facts iiave-been known to learne<i men utterly at variance with the re- ceived doctrines of the infallibility of Scripture, or even of its hit^torical accuracy.'"'
Mr. Froude says : "The truth of the Gospel his- tory is now more widely doubted in Europe than at any time since the conversion of Constantine."-
l)ishop Colenso says : " I a^^sert without fear of con- tradiction that vhere are multitudes now of tiie more intelligent clergy who do not believe in the reality of tiie Noachian deluge as de:«cribed in the Book of Genesis"''
^Ir. J. A. Laugland says : " The philosophy and the religion of to-day (Christianity) are opposed. The teachings of our divines and the teachings of our thinkers are antao-onistic."*
The Vedic dharma, however, never feared scientific advancement, nor was it ever guilty of the terrors of the Inqinsition. It never shed the blood of a Galilio a Copernicus or a Bruno.^
1 Broken Lights.
2 Short Studies on Great Subjects, Vol. J, ]>. 278.
^Pentateuch and Book uf .loshiia. Part II, Preface.
■* Religious Sc^'pticisni and Infidelity.
T)'- Although steadfast in his faith, the Hindu is not fanatical; he never seeks to make proselytes. If the Creator of the world, he says, had given the preference to a certain religion, this alone would have prevailed upon the earth ; but as there are many religions, this proves
the approbation of them by the Most High They (the Hindus)
regard God as present in the mosques, with those who kneel before the cross, and in the temple whore Brahma is worshipped. And is not this faith more in accordance with the true doctrine of Christ than that which lighted the Anto rln fp for the infallibility of the Popes, for the divinity of Mary, and for the miracles of the samtsr'—Theogonyofthe Hindus, pp. 67, 08.
438 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
The Co^intess 06 Jersey says in the Nmcfeenth Cenf'inj : " But to the higher caste Hindu (provided he knew anything about Hinduism) Christianity offers no solution to his doubts and to his fears. The doctrines of the Upanishads (the philosophical speculations of the Yedas) satisfy the utmost longings of the mind. The acute logic of the ancient Rishis has raised a bulwork of arguments to support the huge fabric of Hindu thought. The doctrine of Karma offers the simplest and most reasonable answer to the obvious inequalities and striking contrasts in this visible world, of happiness and suffering. The ferment and unrest of the soul in the search of knowledge is soothed and laid at rest when the object of contemplation is reduced to a figure-head and finally a point in space. This contemplation of point in space results in a self-absorbing delight which knows no end, and which places the soul high above all carnal wants and aspirations. This is the goal of Hindu philosophy. Christianity has nothing to offer to those who are r/issatisfied with Hinduism."^
1 Times of India (Weekly editimi) for 25th May 186d. Cliaplaiii Delia Valle; author of " A Voyage to Ea^t India," thus concludes the chapter " On the ^Moralities of the Hindu:" "0! what a sad thing it is for Christians to come short of Indians even in moralities, come short of those, who themselves believe to come short of heaven I " The chai)lain thus closes his interestinjj: work on the subject of conver- sion, whidi is as remote from accomplishment at this day as it was at that distant period : " Well known it is that the Jesuits there, who, like the Pharisees ' that would compass sea and land to make one proselyte' (Matt. 23-25), have sent into Christendom many large re- ports of their great conversions of infidels in East India. But all these boastings are but reports ; the truth is, that they have there spilt the precious water of baptism upon some few faces, working upon the necessity of some poor men, who for want of means, which they give them, are contented to wear crucifixes, but for want of knowledge ia the doctrine of Christianitv are only in name Christians." — A Voyage to East Indict, pp. 402, i*17, 418 and 480.
KKLKilON. 4:)[t
No religion in tlie world claims to he. in coni];ler.e harmony with the spirit of modern science cxciiit the Vedic religion. Buddhism, being only a iiiodified form of Hinduism, does not differ materially from the Vedic religion in its scientific aspects.
It has been shov^•n that almost every part of the world was, at some remote period, conquered and colo- nised by the ancient Hindus. Siir)ilarly, it will be found that the different nations of the ancient world derived their reliuion from ancient Aryavarta.
Even at the present moment more than Imlf of the human race are the express followers of the religions that emanated from India. If the population of the world be taken in round nund)ers at 1,000,000,000 we shall find from authentic lecords, that oo,000. 000 men profess Hinduism and Buddhism (the religions that originated in India), while only 470,000,000 men follow religions which are of non- Indian origin. Rev. Mr. Ward says : "Their (Hindus) ])hilo.sO[)hy and religion still prevail over the greater portion of the globe, and that it is Hinduism which regulates the forms of wor- ship and modes of thinking and feeling and acting throughout Japan, China, Tartary, Hindustan, the
Burman Empire, Siam, Ceylon, etc."
It is equally clear that the religions that did not originate in India have been strongly influenced by Hindu religious thought. Bjornstjerna says : " Bud- dhism has al?o extended its doctrines among most of the other religious systems." The Mosaic cosmogony, still believed in by the Jews and others, is derived from the Hindu system of cosmogony.
^Mythology of the Uiuclus:, Pi"*tace, p. iviii.
440 HINDU SUrERIORITY.
The origin oE the Greek Church of Christianity is thus explained by Mr. Princep : " The Buddhists of the West, accepting Christianity on its first announcement, at once introduced the rites and observances which for cen- turies had already existed in India. From that country Christianity derived its monarchical institutions, its forms of ritual and church service, its councils or conv^ocations to settle schisms on points of faith, its worship of relics and working of miracles through them, and much of the discipline and of the dress of the clergy, even to the shaven heads of the monks and friars."^
Some of the most important of the Christian ethical teachings may be found word for word in the writings of the Hindu philosophers, who flourished centuries before the birth of the Saviour. The corner-stone of Christian ethics, "Do unto others as thou wouldst thev should do unto thee," is nothing more than the teaching of Yagy- valka, who says : " It is not our hermitage, still less the colour of our skin that produces virtue, virtue must be practiced. Therefore, let no one do to others what he would not have done to himself."^
Mons. Delbos says that " the religious aspirations of that (Hindu) civilization are found grandly expressed in the Rig Veda. That civilization pervades in every corner of the civilized world, and is around and about us every day of our lives."^
It is an observation of Hume that one i^eneration does not go off the stage at once and another succeed, as
1 Piincep's Moiigdlia :iiul Taitary.
2See Max Muller's India: AVhat can it teach n? ? p. 74. ■''Mons. Delbos' pajier on the Yedas read before the International Literary Association at Paris on 14tli Jnly 18<iJ4.
i^KLiniON. 441
is the case Avilli silkworms and l)iittL'rnies. There is a varying margin, says Mr. Payne, into whirh the men of one age and those of the succe(Mlinf»: are ])lende(h
In tlie same way, one religion never completely dies out to be succeeded by another altogether new and in- dependently developed. As a rule, new religions are evolved out of the old ones, and the old ones are in a way the parents of the new religions. Christianity is evolved out of the Mosaic Scripture, which again is derived from the religion of the ancient Egyptians, which was derived from India. Mohamed{>nism, some writers hold, is a mixture of the Mosaic Scriptures, Christianity and the Parsee religion (which was derived from Hinduism), strongly tinged with the native spirit and singieminded- ness of the Arabs and the democratic principles of their social system.
Buddhism, as is well known, was only a revolt against Brahmanical tyranny, and was founded by Sakya Siuirh or Sakva Muni,' the son of Sudhodhana, kins; of Kapilavastu, situated to the north of Behar. According to Buddhistic writers, however, he was the third Buddha, not the first, there being twenty-two Buddhas in all. There have been several Buddhas" wdio ditt'er among themselves as they differ from the Hindus. But they all agree in the following points : — (1) They ac- knowledii-e the Vedic dharma as the foundation of their own. (2) They admit, in conjuction with this doctrine, a divine triad^ which combines the principle of the Trinity
^Buddha, as a child, was also called Siddhartlia. ^Theogony of the Hindus, p. 89.
442 HINDU SUrEllIOKITY.
"with th.at of the unit}', although frequent!}' under other names than those of tlie Trimurtee of the Brahnians. (3) In acknowledging the doctrine of the transmigration of the soul. (4) Regarding the soul as an emanation of the Divine Being, which, after having accomplished its transmiu'ration, returns to its hio'h orio;in.^ Buddhism differs from popular Hinduism in the following parti- culars : — (1) It does not acknowledge the Yedas as a revelation from God, but only regards them as a highly- deserving human composition, containing great but not revealed truths. (2) It does not recognise the division of castes, as Hinduism does. (3) It considers the inferior gods and demi-gods of the Brahmin religion merely as holy men sent by the Almighty for the benefit of the human race. "These Buddhas, therefore, were, like Luther Calvin and Huss, reformers of religion." (4) Their idea of God is different from the Hmdu idea.
Sir E. Arnold says : " Buddhism has in it the eter- nity of a universal hope, the immortality of a boundless love, an indestructible element of faith in final good and the proudest assertion ever made of human freedom."^
As regards the propagation of Buddhist doctrines, it is probable that at one time they spread over the whole world. In Burma, Siam, in most of the islands of the Indian Archipelago and Ceylon, in Thibet, Mongolia, Japan, Xepal, Bhutan and the Lesser Thibet it is still the prevailing religion; but that at one time it spread to
IThis shows the origin of Buddhism to have taken place after the ^Mahabhavnta. when the Yedanta came to be received as an Advaita system. Its rejection of the caste system a\^o points to the same period, as it was after the Maliabharata that the system began to be abused.
■^Liijht of Asia, Preface, p. xiii.
Turki.'^tan, Persia, E^ypt, uiitl Koine, and cwn to S<'iUi(li- luiviii and the British LsLinds, is most probable'
Count 15jornstjerna says : " It is cuIIcmI Goddmas (Gautama's) doctrine in Assam, Pegu, Ava and Ceylon ; Samaria's doctrine in 8iam ; Amidha Buddha^ s in Japan, /''/'.s'or Frt///Vs-in Chinaand Cochin-Cliina, Salya S/'ni/Ji's in Eastern Bengal and Ne|)al, Dhenna Raj/'s in Bootan ; uidi Buddha''s in Great Thibet ; Mahamiinis in Lesser Thibet, and Sak'ui Muni's inMongoliaand Mants-Chouri."''
"The Buddhist Monks, Bharana and Matanga, who first carried Buddhism lo China, durinu; the reiiJfn of the Han Emperor Mingti in A.D. Go were natives of Gan- dhara (Punjab), of which the capital was Taksliila. "Some authors conjecture the Gceti of the Chinese to be the same as the Greek Scythi, who were no other than the parent stock of the Hindu Sakya race."'^
^ " That the true seat of Buddhism," says Bjornstjeiua, " in ancient times was Hindustan is attested by the temples of EUoia, Eh'phanfa and Ajunta, uf which the greater part were dedicated to Tniddha, and also by the most authentic Hindu records. In a convcrsatinn with Bogle (the British envoy at Thibet) the Dalai Lama stated that Bralima, Yishnu and Siva were worshipped by the inhabitants of Thibet, but the lesser gods of India were not otherwise regarded by them than as holv men (Buddhism): that the people of Thibet, from 700 to 800 years back possessed many temples in India, but that the Brahmins had destroyed them, and that India was the real native seat of their gods and doctrines; he therefore begged the English envoy to obtain permis- sion from the Governor- General that they might again erect temples on the shores of the Ganges." — Thcogonij of the Hindus, p. 98.
2Theogony of the Hindus, i». 80, A. H. Bitchourin, a l{ii»i;in translator of Chinese religious books, says tiiat Buddhism universally prevails in the highland of Cential .Vsia.
^See Sarat Chaiuler Das. "Univer-ities in India," in the Hindustan Review lur Murcli I'JUtJ,
444 HINDU SUPERIOEITY.
"The foot-prints of Buddha were worshipped by his followers and were called Phrabat. They were engraved on rocks and hills, where people flocked from all parts of the country to worship them. They have now been found to be existing in most countries. These foot-prints are regarded by the Buddhists in the same light as the rain- bow in the religions founded on the Mosaic records, namely, as an assurance that the delage shall not return. Six such Phrabats are found in the East, one of them singularly enough in Mecca, whither the Buddhists made pilgrimages long before the rise of Islamism."^ This proves the prevalence of Buddhism in Arabia in ancient times.
Bjornstjerna continues : " But Buddhism has also penetrated to the banks of the ISTile, of which we have many proofs. The so-called Hermes Scriptures (the name of the sacred writings of the Egyptians) con- tain a metaphysical treatise in the form of a dialogue between Hermes and Thodh, Bodh, Buddh, which throughout exhibits the doctrines of Buddhism; they speak of the pre-existence of the soul, of its transmigra- tions upon earth (Metempsychosis), of its emanation from the Divine Being, and of \t^ final return to its high original.'""' There is another early Egyptian writing, Pimander's Hermes Trismegistus, in a dialogue form,
1 Tlioogony of the Hindus, pp. 92, 03. After discoursing on Socrates, Epicun^s, Zoroaster and Confucius, Schlegel says: " But they were not so generally revered as benefactors of their country : whilst for numeri- cal influence Gautama Buddha swayed the destinies of more millions of human beings than the four togetlier." — Hiatory of Literature, p, 124.
^Tlieogony of the Hindus, p. 100,
iJKLIGloX. 4 1 .')
bet\Yeen Pimnnder and Thodh, ^vllR•ll develops tlie jjiuldhi.st doctrine ot" TriniLy.
Count Bjornstjerna {ignin says: " The Cljaldcans, the Babylonians and the inhabitants of Colchis derived their religion nnd culture from India. "^ "Tl.at a s\-.s- tern of Hinduism," says Colonel Tod, " pervaded tlie* Avhole Babylonian and Assyrian empires, Scripture fur- nishes abundant proofs in the medium of the various types of the Snno-od, Bal Nath, whose pillar adorned every mount and every grove." -
" The Samaritans in Aram were Buddhists, as also the Essenes in Palestine, at least as to their private doctrine, for outwardly they followed the ^Mosaic law." The Gnostics were divided into two classes: (1) The Egyptians and (2) The Asiatics; and "the adherents of the latter," says the Swedish Count, " were in fact Buddhists who in a great measure adopted the external forms of Christianity, because they regarded Jesus as a Buddha who had appeared on earth in accordance Avith their own tenets." '"^
Count Bjornstjerna continues : " Even the Druids in ancient Britain were Buddhists ; they adopted the metempsychosis, the pre-existence of the soul and its return to the realms of universal space. They had a divine Triad consisting of a creator, preserver and des- troyer as with the Buddhists (and Hindus). The Druids constituted a sacerdotal order which reserved to itself alone the interpretation of the mysteries of religion."
The Druids propagated their doctrines in Gaul during the time of Caesar, whence they penetrated in the West
iThcogony of the Hiiulns, p. 38. ^Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 605, •^Theogony of the Hindu?, p. 101. *Thcogony of tlio iliudus, p. lOi.
446 HINDU surEKiouiTY.
to the Celtic tribes in Spoin, and in the East to Germany and the Cimbrian peninsula.
The spread o£ Buddhism to the above-mentioned parts of the world was for the most part anterior to Christianity ; simultaneously with the establishment of this creed, Buddhism penetrated so far as the Altai mountains in Asia and the Scandinavian peninsula in Europe. Into the last-named peninsula it was introduced by Sigye-Frldalfson^ surnamed Odin (in the ancient Scandinavian dialect Whodin; in is the article which added to Whod, Bhodd, Baddh, makes Whodin — Odin), chief of an Asiatic tribe called Asar."^
Buddhism being only a particular form cf Hindu- ism, not only is Hinduism the groundwork of Buddhism, but the mythology and the traditions of both are neces- sarilv one and the same. Hence, wherever Buddhism has spread throui^h the exertions of the Indians or wherever the Buddhist Hindus migrated, there is found between the religion, mythology, and scientific and philosophical writings of India and of those countries, an affinity too close to be only accidental. In the case of Scandinavia, however, the resemblance is so close that without assum- ing^ the mio-ration of the Hindus into the country, it cannot otherwise be explained satisfactorily. All the Indo-Sythian invaders of India, says Colonel Tod, held the religion of Buddha, and hence the conformity of manners and mythology between the Scandinavians or German tribes and the Rajputs.
^Theogony of the Hindus, p, 105. The author says: "It seems to be the same tribe which came by sea to Etruria. 'Tod'fc Rajasthiin, Vol. I, \k Gj.
KKLIcloX. -117
(1) After giving a few (jiiestions witli tlicir answers from the Eddu of the Scaiidiiiaviaus and a f(;\v similar ones from the Vedas, the Swedish Count, ]^)jornstjerna, concludes : " All these questions are so exceedingly similar to those which the angels make to iJrahma and the answers similar to those of Brahma in the Vedas, that loe can scarcely qyestio?i the derivation of the Edda from
the Veda:''
(2) " A common symbol of the Creator among the
Hindus (from whom it past into Egypt) was the scaral)- aeus or beetle. In Scandinavia, likewise, this insignificant insect was secred, and bore the name of the god Thor."
(3) " The resemblance between the serpent of Midyard, in the Edda and the serpent of Vishnu in tlie Veda is also worthy of remark, both being described as having encircled the world."
(4) "But what is most deserving of observation is the accordance between the gates of WaJhall and the Indian ages of the world, or yugs. According to the Edda, Walhall has 540 gates ; if this number be multiplied by 800, the number of Einheriers who can march- out ab- reast from each gate, the product will be 432,000, which forms the very elementary number for the so-frequently- named ages of the world or ynris, adopted both in the doctrine of Brahma and Buddha, of which the one now in course wall extend to 432,000 years, the three pre-
^Thc'ogony of the Hindus, pp. 107,108.
2" Five hiandred and forty doors, I believe lo be in Wallitvll. Eight hundred Einheriers can go out abreast when they are to fight against the Ulfven (the wolf V Here is meant the fatal encounter with Fenris Ulfven at the end of the world, when Odin, at the head of 4i 2,000 armed Einheriers takes the field against them. — (Sec the Edda),
448 HINDU SUPERIORITY.
ceding ones corresponding to this number multiplied by 2, 3, and 4."
Between the nomenclatures of the Scandinavian and Hindu rnvthoWies there is a remarkable resemblance. Love is in Swedish, Mrlek: Bengali, Karlekeya; while Swero-a is the Swedish name of Sweden and is situated near the North Pole. Skand, the God of war, reigns there (Scandinavia), and seven steps (zones) lead thither, of which the most northern is named 77mle, the ancient name of Sweden."^
It appears that the Hindu settlers migrated to Scandinavia before the Mahabharata, taking their philo- sophy and religion with them, but were soon absorbed by the natives owing to their inferiority in numbers.
Count Bjornstjerna says : " We have seen how Bud- dhism has spread first over the two peninsulas of India and afterwards proceeded to Ethiopia, Egypt, China, Corea, Thibet : it penetrated to Chnldea, Phoenicia, Palestine, Colchis, Greece, Rome, Gaul, and Britain."" It is thus clear that Buddhism, or rather Reformed Hinduism, at one time spread over almost every country of the ancient w^orld. We haye already seen (see Colonization) that Egypt and Greece were colonized by the Hindus in ancient times : those settlers must have taken with them their religion from ancient India. Direct and conclusive proofs, however, are available to prove that the religion of the ancient Egyptians and ancient Greeks was derived from India. On comparing, the religious systems of the Egyptians and theHindus we are struck by their resem- blance to each other. "Both proceed from monotheistic
iTheogony of the Hindus, p. 109. -Tlieogony of the Hindus, p, 101.
T^FJ.ir.Toy. .Mil
pruicii)les and degenerate into a polyLhei.stic heathenism though rather of a symbolic than of a positive rliaracttr. The principle of Trinity Avitli tliatofthe I'nitv, the pre- existence of the soul, its transmigration, the dixisionof castes into priests, warriors, traders and agriculturists are the cardinal points of both systems. Even the symbols are the same on the shores of the (ranges and the Nile. Thus ■\ve find the Liuijam of the Siva temples of India in the J*h(illusoi the Amnion temples of Egypt — a symbol also met with on the head dress of the Egyptian gods. A\'e find the lotus jJoivera^s the symbol of the sun both in India and in Egypt, and we find symbols of the immortality of the soul in both countries. The power of rendering l)arren ■women fruitful, ascribed to the temples of Siva in India, ■was also ascrii)ed to the temples oiAmmoii in Egypt ; a belief retained to our days, for the Bedouin women may still be seen wandering around the temple of Ammnn^ for the purpose of obtaining this blessing."^
Several names of Hindu mythology are recognised in Egypt : " Thus, Amnion^ the supreme god of the Egyptians corresponds to Aum of the Hindus; and the Erahminical Siva is found in the temple to which Alexander the Great made his pilgrimage from Egypt, and which 3'et bears this name." These resemblances between the two systems of religion prove that the one is derived from the other. The following arguments advanced by Count Bjornstjerna prove conclusively that the Hindu religion is the source of the Egyptian religion.
(1) "It is testified to by Herodotus, Plato, Solon, Pythagoras and Philostratus that the religion of Egypt
proceeded from India^
^Tlit'ogony of the Uiiulus, jip, iU, 41.
450 inxDU surERioRiTY.
(2) "It is testifiGfl by Niobiibr, Yalentia, Champol- lian, and Waddington, tbat tbe temples of Upper Egypt are of greater antiquity than those of Lower Egypt ; that the temples in Meroe are more ancient than those of Elephantine and Tliebes ; these more ancient than the temples of Tentyra and Abydos ; and these again more ancient than those of Memphis, Heliopolis and Sais ; that consquently the religion of Egypt, accord - ino" to the testimony of those monnments, proceeded from the South, which cannot be from any other land than from Ethiopia and Meroe, to wdiich conntry it came from India, as testified by the above-named Greek authorities.
(3) " The chronicles found in the temples of Ab3Tlos and Sais, and which have been transmitted to us by Josephus, Julius Africanus and Eusebius aU testify that the religious system of the Egyptians proceeded from India.
(4) " We have Hindu clironologies (besides those of Puranas concerning the Yugs, which are nothing but astronomical allegories) which go still further back in time than the tables of the Egyptian kings, according to Manetho.
(5) "There is a tradition among the Abyssinians which they say they have possessed from time imme- morial, and which is still efjually received among the Jews and the Christians of that country, that the first inhabitants (they say Cush, grandson of Noah, wdth his family) came over the chain of mountains, which separates the highlands of Abyssinia from the Red Sea and the Straits of Babel Mandeb from a remote Southern country. The tradition further says that they built
the citv (>[ A,i'uni ciirlv in ihe diivs oC Al)r:iliaiu. and that from thence they spread themselves, followinf^ tlic Kiver Nile downwards until they became (as dcjsephus Kays) the Meroetes ; namely, the inhabitants of tliat part of Aiibia, which bcinii; situated between the Nile and its confiux the Atbara. forms what is commonlv called the island of Meroe, from which they spread farther down the river to Egypt." Count l)jornstjerna thus concludes : " It appears from the above-mentioned grounds that the Hindus have a greater claim to the primogeniture of religion, and consequently to the primogeniture of civilization than the people of Ancient Egypt,"'
That the religion of ancient Greece was partly de- rived from Egypt and partly from India, as shown by ^Ir. Pococke, is sutHciently well known. Indeed, the cosmoii'onv of the whole world has been derived from India. That the Greeks derived theirs from the Hin- dus may be seen in the accounts Avhicli Damascius has (I'lven of the doctrine of (JrjtlicAia. It is as follows: "In the besfininu' was Kronos, who out of chaos created (/'(her (day) and erehos (night) ; therein he laid an egg (Hindu) from which came Phanea^ furnished with three heads (the l^)rahmin Trimurti). P//rt?2e5 created the man and the woman from whom the human race is derived. The cosmogony of the Egyptians also adopts the Hindu euii" which, divided into two. formed heaven and earth (^cide Diodorus and Plutarch )."-
The Mosaic system of cosmogony was derived from India. Count Hjornstjerna savs : " If we relleet iipnii all these testimonies res))ecting Moses, and consider the
^Theogoiiy of tin' Hiiiduis, pp. 43-10. ^Tlicugouy ol" Uic llindus. I'p. I;)",*, l;'.l.
ik
452 HINDU SUrERlOIUTV.
place (Heliopolis) where he studied, and if we also re- collect that the religion of the Egyptians was derived from India, we thus find a clue from whence Moses must partly ha\e obtained his cosmogony^ and also his religious system, which, like the Vedas, was constructed upon monotheistic principles." ^
The present cosmogony prevalent in the Christian and Mohamedan countries is also of Indian orio-in. The Buddhistic cosmogony is as follows : " In the beginning the earth was uninhabited, at which time the inhabitants of Heaven or of Bhurana (angels) used to visit the earth. These glorious beings consisting of men and women, through the purity of their spirit, had never yet cherish- ed any sensual desires, when Adi Buddha (the supreme God) infused into them the desire to taste the fruit of a tree resembling the almond, which excited the sensual appetite in them, and they afterwards disdained to return to Bhurana, and thus became the parents of the human rnce."- That this is the source from which the Bible and the Quran derived their common system of cosmogony there can scarcely be any doubt. It is thus perfectly clear that every system of cosmogony, whether ancient or modern, owes its origin to the Hindus.
The mythology of the Greeks, the Egyptians and the Assyrians is wholly founded on the Hindu mythology. Professor Max ]\luller says : " The poetry of Homer is founded on the mythology of the Vedas," ' and without the Veda, he says a little further, " the science of my- thology would have remained a mere guesswork and
1 Thcogony of the Hindus, p. 144. 2Xheogony of the Hindus, p. 131. •'Chip^^ from a German Workshop, Vol. Ill, p. 79.
.dM
HKLU.loN. 4.')3
without a safe basis." i The i^ods and godesses of Greece are but copies of tlic.ir lliinhi originals. Jupiter ... stuiiJs for liidra.
|
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... |
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Diirga or Parvat |
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Apollo |
1 • • |
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The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the sources of the Homeric poems, and the mythology of the Greeks is, to a great extent, only an adaptation of the Hindu mythology to local life and traditions of Greece.
The Christian mythology, too, is derived from that of the Hindus. Both ^Ir. Maurice"- and Sir W. Jones* believe Kama to be Raamah of Scripture, son of Cusli (Genesis, Chapter x. verse 7.) It is thus clear to a
I'jhips from a German Workshop, Vol. Ill, p. i)6.
2 Maurice's History, Vol. Ill, p. 104.
•^Sir W. Jones, iu the Asiatic Researches, VuK II, p. 40.
454 HINDU SUI'EKIOKITV.
student of comparative mj'thology that the Hindu deities are the objects of worship in some form or other throuirhout the world.
Mr. W. D. Brown says : " By careful examination the unprejudiced mind cannot but admit that Plindu is the parent of the literature and theology of the world. The researches and investigations made in Sans- krit language, which was once spoken in that country, by scholars like Max Muller, Jaccolliot, Sir AVilliam Jones and others, have found in the ancient records of India the strongest proofs that thence were drawn many or nearly all the favourite dogmas which latter theologians have adopted, and the strongest proofs show to the thoughtful student that the ancient Hindus were neither the practisers of idolatry nor the unlearned, uncivilized, barbaric race they have usually been thought, but a people enjoying a measure of inspiration that might be envied by more pretentious nations. And I have not the least doubt that these translations of ancient Hindu literature will confound the so-called modern civilizations, that they will look upon India as a century flower once more coming into full bloom wafting forth its delicious fragi-ance, and will be"" for a slip from its branches."'
1 'I'lie Dailji Tribune, Salt Lake City, United States, America, ►Suuda)' Morning, 2Uth February iy^4. '
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