SECTION THE SECOND TREATS OF CERTAIN OPINIONS ENTERTAINED BY THIS SECT CONCERNING THE CREATION: A SUBJECT WHICH IS ALSO DISCUSSED IN THEIR PURANAS OR HISTORIES.—In the second part of the Bhagavat, one of their most esteemed Puránás, it is recorded that the Almighty Creator, in the beginning, first placed the mantle of existence on the bosom of Pra­kriti ,* or “nature,” and produced the fourteen Bhu­vanas,* or “worlds.” The first sphere is that of the earth, which has been estimated by some of the ancients at five Kotes (50 millions) of Yojans,* each Kote being equal to one hundred Lakhs (10 millions) and each Jojun to one Parasang and one-third; above the terrestrial is the aqueous sphere; above which is that of fire; beyond which is the aërial, over the celestial; beyond which is the Ahankar,* or that of “consciousness;” and higher than this is the Mahat-tat (Mahat-tatwam)* or “essence,” which is equal to ten of those below it; and Prakrit having enveloped it, intelligence penetrating through all the things before said, rises above: on earth it becomes knowledge; by means of water, there is taste; by means of fire, form; by means of air, the touch of cold and dry; by means of the heavens, there is the perception of sound; and the organs of perception, are the exterior senses; and the internal sense is the seat of consciousness. In the same part of the Bhagavat it is stated that, by nature, the heavens are the vehicle of sounds; and consequently, the nature of the air gives the perception of sound and touch; in all other bodies the air is spirit, and from it arises the energy of the senses. To the nature of fire belongs the perception of sound, touch and form; to the nature of water, that of sound, touch, form, and savor; and to the nature of earth, that of sound, touch, form, savor, and odor.

Of the fourteen created spheres, seven rise above the waist of the Almighty, and the remaining seven correspond with the lower part of his body; accord­ing to which enumeration the Bhú-lok,* or the earth and terrestrial beings form “his waist;” the Bhú­vanlok ,* or the space between the earth and sun, “his navel;” the Surlok,* “his heart;” the Mehr­lok ,* “his breast;” the Jonlok,* “his neck,” the Tapalok,* “his forehead;” the Satyolok,* “his head;” the Atellok,* “his navel and podex;” the Batellok,* “his thigh;” the Sotollok,* “his knee;” the Talá­tellok ,* “the calf of the leg;” the Mahátollok,* “the heel;” the Rasatollok,* “the upper part of the foot;” the Pátállok,* “the sole of the foot.”

There is another division limited to three spheres: the Bhúlok, “the sole of the Almighty's foot;” the Bhuvarlok, “his navel;” the Súrlók, “his head:” the whole fourteen gradations in detail are thus reduced to three, signifying a mighty personage, the same as the Deity.

In the same section of that volume it is also stated, that from the Almighty sprang Svabhávah,* “the self-existing;” that is, Nature and Time; from Nature and Time proceeded forth Prakrit, which signifies Símáí, “universe;”* from Prakrit came forth Mahat-tat;* and from this latter, which is the same as Mádah, “mental exaltation,” issued the three Ahankárs, or modes of consciousness, “per­sonality, egotism,” Satek, Rajas, Tamas.* Satek, “goodness,” means “the intellectual energy;” Rajas, or passion, “the attraction of vile propen­sities, or “sensual pursuits;” and Tamas (dark­ness), “the repelling of what repugns,” in Arabic, Ghazab, or “wrath.” From Rajas issued forth the senses; from Satek, the lords of nature and the ser­vants of the existing beings; and from Tamas came forth Shaid, “enchantment;” Shuresh, “confusion;” Rup, “form;” Darsan, “sight;” and Gandah, “smell;”* that is, hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell; from which five were produced the heavens, air, fire, water, and earth. Also from the three above-mentioned properties (gunás) the three mighty angels, Vishna, Brahma, and Mahísh, came into the area of the creation.* Moreover, for the purpose of creation, eight other Brahmas were also impressed by the first Brahma with the characters of existence, and these became the various gradations of the spiritual, corporeal, the high, the low, the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms.

In some of their treatises, God is the same as time, works, and nature; whilst, according to others, these are regarded as the instruments of his majesty.

In other treatises, the Almighty is held to be light, surpassingly great and splendid, of exceeding bril­liancy and radiance, corporeal, invested with mem­bers.

Other descriptions represent him as pure light, abstract being, simple existence, unconfined by place exempt from transmigration, free of mat­ter, without parts, uncompounded, divested of the attributes of accidents, and the creator of the world, and all therein contained. According to other dissertations, God is the producer of beginning and end, exhibiting himself in the mirror of pure space, containing the higher and lower, the heavenly and terrestrial bodies.

It is stated in the first part of the Bhagavat, that the truly-existing is an abstract being, one without equal or opposite, who in the various languages amongst the human race has denominations suited to the belief of his worshippers, and that the mode of attaining union with him depends on eradicating wrath, extirpating bodily gratifications, and banish­ing the influence of the senses, This holy essence is called Naráyan,* whose heads, hands, and feet exceed all number.

At the period when this world and all it contains were buried under the waters, Tot, or “intellect” lay reclined in the sleep of unity, on the head of Adsesh,* the supporter of the earth. From the navel of this exalted being appeared the lotus flower, called by the Hindoos Kawal;* out of which arose Brahma, from the members of whose mighty existence all created beings hastened into the area of visibility.

It is recorded in other treatises of this sect, that they give the name of Naráyan, or “the majesty without color,”* that is, “without the qualities of accidents,” to the absolute essence and abstract being of God, who is in pure space. They say, moreover, that his essence, which is devoid of all forms, made a personage called Brahma, who was constituted the medium of creation, so that he brought all other existences from behind the curtain of nonentity into the luminous area of being. In like manner that sublime essence manifested itself in the soul of Vishnu, so that he became an Avatár, and to him is confided the preservation of what­ever Brahma created. That glorious essence next called up Mahadeo, for the purpose of destroying Brahma's creation, whenever infinite wisdom requires the transformation of the visible into the invisible world; from which three agents arises the arrangement of all things in the universe.* They say that Brahma is an aged man with four heads; Naráyan, or Vishnu, holds in his hand the Chakra, or Disk, “a sort of weapon;” he always assumes the Avatárs, or “incarnations;” of which ten are greatly celebrated. Avatár* means appearance or manifestation; Karan* signifies cause; Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadeo are called Trikaran, or the three causes.

In the Satya-Jog there was a Rakshas,* named Sámak Asur, who performed such great religious austerities, that he became enabled to work miracles; he having taken the Anant-Ved* which was in Brahma's possession, and from which are derived the four Vedas given to mankind, fled into the water; on this, Vishnu, on the fifth day of the fifth month, Chét,* “March-April,”* in the Kishn Bichah, having assumed the Matsyávátar, or “the form of a fish,” plunged into the water, slew the Rakshas, and recovered the Veda: this was the first Avatar.

The second was the Kurmávátar, or “that of the tortoise.” Anant Ved signifies “the numberless Vedas;” Matsya, “a fish;” Avatár, “descent,” or “manifestation;” Chét, “the fifth solar month;” Kishn Bicheh, “that portion of the month which is without moonlight and when the nights are dark.”

On the twelfth of Chét, in the Kishn Bicheh, he assumed the Kurmávátár, or “that of the tortoise.” They say that the Angels and Deeves (Asurs), taking the serpent Vásukir,* formed with him a cord, and fastening this to a lofty mountain called Mandára,* made with it a churn-staff, which they moved about in the mighty ocean, whilst Naráyan remained under the mountain to prevent it from falling; and by this agitation they procured the water of life. In the kingdom of Kalinga, they have formed the image of a tortoise, and among the wonderful sights of that region is the following miraculous event: if they cast the bones of a Brahman or a cow into the adjacent reservoir, in the course of a year one half of it becomes stone, and the other half remains unchanged. It is worthy of remark, that some Persian astronomers represent the constellation Cancer by a tortoise, nay call it by that name, instead of Kharchang, or “crab.” Ferdúsi, the sage, thus expresses himself:

“The lunar lord beheld the ascendancy of the tortoise.”

And as they account Cancer the ascendant sign of the world, it is therefore likely that the ancient Hindú philosophers represented this constellation* under the figure of the Kurma, or “tortoise;” also by the Matsya, or “fish,” is meant the constellation Hút, or “Pisces,”

The third was the Baráh, or “boar Avátar,” when a Rakshas, named Karanyáksha, having taken away the earth and carried it under the water, Vishnu, on the sixteenth of Chet in the Shakl Pacheh,* or “bright half of the moon,” assumed the form of a boar, slew the demon with his tusks and brought out the earth.

The fourth was the Narsinha, or “man-lion Avá­tar.” There was a Rakshas named Kiranya Kashípú, whose son, Prahláda, worshipped Vishnu, and as his father persecuted him on that account, Vishnu, there­fore, on the fourteenth of Baisakh,* in the Shakl Pacha, or “bright half of the moon,” having assumed the form of the Narsingh, whose head and claws were those of a lion joined to a human body, slew the demon Kiranya Kashipú.

The fifth was the Vá-mana, or “dwarf Avatar.” When the Rakshas, Bali daitya, through his reli­gious exercises and austerities had become lord of the three worlds, that is, of all above the earth and below it and the heavens, so that the angels were hard pressed and deprived of their power; Vishnu, therefore, on the twelfth of Bhadun* in the Shakl Pachah, descended in the Vámanah Avátár, and coming into the presence of Bali, requested as much of the earth as he could traverse in three steps: to this Bali consented, although Sukra, or “the planet Venus,” the director and guardian of the demons, exhorted him not to grant the request, saying: “This is Vishnu, who will deceive thee.” Bali replied: “If he come to me as a suitor, what can answer my purpose better?” Vishnu, on this, included the whole earth in one step, the heavens in the second, and in the third, rising up to his navel, said to Bali, “Whither can I pass?” Bali, on this, presented his head; on which Vishnu, who saw this, having placed his foot, sent Bali* below the earth, where he has ever since continued to reign with sovereign power, during many hundred thou­sands of years. It is to be noted, that Vá-mana means a dwarf, as he was a diminutive Brahman.

The sixth Avátar was Parasu Rama.* The Chatri, or “military caste,” having become evil doers, in consequence of this, Vishnu, on the seventh of Bha­dun , in the Shakl pachah, or “brighthalf of the moon,” assumed the Avátar of Parasúram, who was of the seed of the Brahmans. In this incarnation he exter­minated the Chettri class so utterly, that he even ripped open their females and slew the fœtus. According to the Hindus, Parasuram is always living; they call him Chirangivah, or “long-lived.”

The seventh is the Ram Avátar:* when the tyranny of the Rakshas Rávana, sovereign of the demons, had exceeded all bounds, Vishnu, on the ninth of Chet in the Shaklpachah, becoming incarnate in Rama, who was of the Chettri caste, overthrew at that time Rávána, chief of the demons of Lanka, (Ceylon). Now Lanka is a fort built of golden ingots, situated in the midst of the salt ocean. He also recovered Sita,* the wife of Rama, who had had been taken away by the Rokshas, which is a name given by the Hindoos to a frightful demon.

The eighth was the Krishn Avátar. When Vishnu, in the Dwapar-Jog, on the eighth of Bhádún, in the Kishn pachah, having assumed the Avátar of Krishna, slew Kansá. Krishna was also of the Chettri or “military caste.”

The ninth was the Budh avatar. When ten years only of the Dwapar-Jog remained,* Vishnu, in order to destroy the demons and evil genii, the causers of night, assumed the Avátar of Buddha, on the third of Baisakh, in the Shakl pacheh.

The tenth Avátar is to occur at the expiration of the Kali-jug, for the purpose of destroying the Mle­chas, or “enemies of the Hindoos.” The Kalki Avá­tar is to take place on the third of Bhádún, in the Shakl Pachah, in the city of Sumbul, in the house of a Brahman named Jasa. Kalki is also to be of the Brahman caste. He will destroy the corrup­tions of the world, and all the Mlechas, that is, Muhammedans, Christians, Jews, and such like, are to be entirely extirpated: after which the Sat­yog, or “golden age,” is to return.

They moreover maintain, that the contingently-existing inhabitants and beings of earth are unable to penetrate into the presence of the necessarily-existing sovereign, and that the essence of the Creator is too exalted for any created beings to attain to an acquaintance with it, notwithstanding the high knowledge and piety with which they may be adorned: it therefore seemed necessary to the Almighty God to descend from the majesty of abstractedness and absolute existence, and exhibit himself in the various species of angels, animals, man, and such like, so as to enable them to attain to some knowledge of himself. They therefore assert, that for the purpose of satisfying the wishes of his faithful servants, and tranquillizing their minds, he has vouchsafed to manifest himself in this abode, which manifestation they call an Avátar and hold this to be no degradation to his essence. This tenet has been thus interpreted by Shidosh, the son of Anosh: According to the Súfís, the first wisdom is the knowledge of God, and of the universal soul, his life; and in this place they have expatiated upon the attributes of the Almighty; thus by Brahma they mean his creative power; and by the old age of Brahma is implied his perfection: philosophers also call the first intelligence, the intel­lectual Adam, and the universal soul, the intellectual Eve. The sage Sunai has said:

“The father and the mother of this gratifying world,

Know, is the soul of the word,* and the sublime wisdom.”

By Vishnu is meant his attribute of divine love, and also the universal soul; and they give the name of Avátar to the spirit derived from the soul of the first heaven; in which sense they have said: “Avá­tars are rays issuing from Vishnu's essence.”

But these sectaries do not mean that the identical spirit of Rám, on the dissolution of its connection with his body, becomes attached to the body of Krishna; for they themselves assert that Parsurám (the sixth Avátar) is immortal, and his body ever­lasting.

When Rámachandra became incarnate, he encountered the other; and Parsurám, having posted himself on the road with hostile intentions, Ráma­chandra said: “Thou art a Brahman and I a Chet­tri: it is incumbent on me to show thee respect:” then applying the horn of his bow to Parsurám's foot, he deprived him of all power. When Parsu­rám found himself destitute of strength, he asked his name, and on learning that it was Ramachandra, he was greatly astonished, and said: “Has Ráma­chandra's Avátar taken place?” and Rámachan­dra having replied “Certainly,” Parsurám said: “My blow is not mortal, I have taken away thy understanding.” On this account it happened that Rámachandra possessed not intelligence in his essence, and was unacquainted with his true state, wherefore they style him the Mudgha, or stupid Avátar.*

Vasishta, one of the Rishies,* or “holy sages,” who is now along with his wife in the heavens, enrolled among the stars: he was the instructor of Rama, and brought him to the knowledge of him­self; and his counsels to Ráma have been collected by the Rishi Valmiki in the History of Ráma, called the Ramáyana, and the name of Jog-Vashishta, given to them, which they call Indrazaharájóg Vashishta.* Some parts of these tales were selected by a Brah­man of Kashmir, and afterwards translated into Persian by Mulla Muhammed, a Súfí. To resume: Ráma, on hearing this expression from Parsurám, said: “My arrow, however, errs not:” he then discharged some arrows which have become the janitors of paradise, and do not permit Parsurám to enter therein. This parable proves that they are by no means taken for Avátars of Naryáan; as, although Pursurám and Rám were two Avátárs of Vishnu, yet they knew not each other. Again, it is an established maxim among philosophers, that one soul cannot be united in one place with two distinct bodies. Besides, it is certain that they give the name “Avatárs of Naráyan” to the souls which emanate from the universal soul; and that they call Naráyan the soul of the empyreal, or the fourth heaven. As to their assertions that Naráyan is God, and their acknowledging his Avátars as God, and their saying that the Almighty has deigned to appear under certain forms, all this means that a Naráyan is the same with the universal soul, which the Súfees entitle “the life of God.” As life is an attribute of the Almighty, and the perfection of attributes con­stitutes his holy essence, consequently the souls which emanate from the universal soul, or that of the empyreal heaven, which is the life of God, know themselves, and acquire the ornaments of pure faith and good works; and also, on being liberated from body, they become identified with the universal soul, which is Vishnu, or the life of God, agreeably to this saying: “He who knows his own soul, knows God:” that is, he becomes God.

As to their acknowledging the fish, tortoise, and boar to be incarnations of the divinity, by this they mean, that all beings are rays emanating from the essence of the Almighty, and that no degradation results to him therefrom, according to this narra­tion of the Mir Sáíd Sharif, of Jarjan (Georgia).

As a Súfí and rhetorician were one day disput­ing, the latter said: “I feel pain at the idea of a God who manifests himself in a dog or hog:” to which the Súfee replied: “I appeal from the God who displays not himself in the dog.” On this, all present exclaimed: “One of these two must be an infidel.” A man of enlightened piety drew near, and showing them the exact import of these expres­sions, said: “According to the belief of the rheto­rician, the dignity of God is impaired by his mani­festing himself in the dog; he is therefore dis­tressed at the idea of a God thus deficient. But, according to the Súfee, the non-appearance of God in that animal would be a diminution of his dignity, he therefore appeals against a God defi­cient in this point: consequently, neither of them is an infidel.” So that, in fact, the Súfís and these sectaries entertain the same opinions.

The author of this work once said to Shídósh: “We may affirm that by the fish is meant the lord, or conservative angel, of water;” as, according to their mythology, a demon having taken the Vedas under that element, was pursued and slain by Vishnu, and the Vedas brought back: thus their mention of a fish originated from its inseparable connection with water. By the tortoise is meant the lord, or conservative angel, of earth; as their mythology relates, that the Avátar of the tortoise occurred for the purpose of the earth being supported on its back, as is actually the case; they have also especially mentioned the tortoise, as it is both a land and aquatic creature, and that after water comes earth. By the boar are meant the passions and the propaga­tion of living creatures; and as to the tradition of a demon having stolen away the earth and taken it under the water, and of his being pursued by Vishnu under the form of a boar, and slain by his tusks, its import is as follows: the demon means dissolute manners, which destroyed the earth with the deluge of sensuality; but on the aid of the spirit coming, the demon of dissoluteness was overthrown by the tusks of continence: the boar is particularly men­tioned, because its attribute is sensuality; and it was reckoned an Avátár, because continence is virtue. The Narsinh, or “man-lion,” is the lord, or conserva­tive angel of heroism; and as this constitutes a most praiseworthy quality, they said, that the Narsinh was a form with a lion's head and a human body, for when they spoke of impetuous bravery in a man, they made use of the term “lion.” By Vámana , or “dwarfish stature,” they meant, the lord of reason, strength of reflection, and an intellectual being; the dwarfish stature implying that, notwith­standing a diminutive person, important results may be obtained through him; as in almost a direct allu­sion to this, people say: “An intelligent man of small stature is far superior to the tall block­head.” By Rajah Bali, they typify generosity and liberality.

Shidósh was delighted at this interpretation, and said: “They have also recorded that Krishna had sixteen thousand wives; and when one of his friends who thought it impossible for Krishna to visit all of them, said to try him: ‘Bestow on me one of thy wives,’ Krishna answered: ‘In what­ever female's apartment thou findest me not, she is thine.’ His friend went into the different apartments, but in every one of them he beheld the god engaged in conversation with its mis­tress.” This story implies, that the love of Krishna was so rooted in their hearts, that they cared for none besides, having his image present to their eyes, and dwelling every moment on his beloved idea.

The tradition of Vishnu's always bearing the Chakra in his hand (a kind of military weapon), alludes to the knowledge and decisive demonstra­tion which are unattainable without the aid of soul.

In Mahadeo, they allude to our elementary nature by the serpent twined round his neck; they mean anger, and the other reprehensible qualities which result from corporeity; by his being mounted on a bull, the animal propensities; by the tradition of his place of repose being the site for burning the dead, is signified, the total dispersion of the particles of bodies and the perishable nature of things. Mahadeo's drinking poison is also to the same pur­port. In this sense they also say that Mahadeo is the destroyer of all worldly things; that is, elemental nature imperatively requires the dissolution of com­bination (connection), and that ultimately death comes in the natural course.

They also hold that every angel has a wife (female energy), of a similar generic constitution, and originally derived from Brahma; and as we have before stated, the philosophers call the first intelli­gence the True Sire, and the universal soul, Eve; and thus he is the head and the wife the shoulder; the universal soul is the body of the empyreal heaven; and in like manner the other celestial souls and bodies have wives of the elementary nature; as they give the appellation of wife, or energy, to whatever is the manifest source of action.

Moreover the established doctrine held by these sectaries is, that each class should worship a particular angel, and the wife or female energy of that angel; the worshipper regarding the object of his adoration as God, and all others, as created beings; for example, many believe Naráyan to be the supreme God; several others, look up to Mahadéo, and many to the other male and female divinities; and thus, pursuant to the four Védas, which according to their common belief are a celestial revelation, they do not hold any angel who is the object of their praise as distinct from God: by which they mean that God, who is without equal, having manifested himself under innumerable modes of appearance, contemplates the glorious perfection of his essence in the mirrors of his attributes; so that, from the most minute atom to the solar orb, his holy and divine essence is the source of all that exists.

“To whatever quarter I directed my sight, thou appearedst there; ’

How widely art thou multiplied, even when thy features are unseen!’

The Fakir Arzú says: the above interpretation is confirmed by this tradition of the Hindus, that Agasti,* a star, was formerly a holy man, who once collected all the waters in the palm of his hand, and swallowed the whole; which means that Agasti is the same as Sohail, a star adjacent to the south pole, on the rising of which, all the water that has fallen from heaven is dried up, agreeably to the Arabic saying:

When Suhail ascends, the torrents subside.”

Many enigmatical and figurative expressions of a similar description occur in their writings; for example, Mahésh or Mahadeo, is an angel with matted locks and three eyes, which are the sun, moon, and fire; he has also five heads; his necklace is formed of a serpent, and his mantle of an elephant's hide. There are nine Brahmas, eleven Rudras or Maha­deos, twelve suns, and ten regions, viz.: east, west, south, north, zenith, Nadir, Akni, “between east and south;” Níreti, “between south and west;” Dayab, “between west and north;” and Isan, “between north and east.” The angels are in number thirty-three Kotes, or three hundred and thirty millions, each Kote consisting of one hun­dred Laks, or ten millions. These angels have spiritual wives, who produce a spiritual offspring. They likewise hold human spirits to be an efful­gence proceeding from the divine essence; if to knowledge they add good works, with a clear per­ception of themselves and of God, they return to their original source; but should they not know themselves and God, and yet perform praise­worthy acts, they dwell in Paradise, where they remain during a period of time proportioned to their meritorious works; on the expiration of which period they are again sent down to this lower world, and again to receive a recompense proportioned to their deeds.

The actions even of the inhabitants of Paradise undergo an investigation, and are attended with reward or punishments duly graduated. They also hold that all those persons who are not sufficiently worthy of entering into paradise, but who have observed religious ordinances in order to obtain dominion and worldly enjoyments, shall acquire their object in a future generation. They also say, in respect to any great personage, in whose presence the people stand girt with the cincture of obe­dience, that the rewards and results are, that this person continues in a suppliant attitude devoted to the service of God and those individuals who pros­trate themselves before him, are in fact humbling themselves in adoration of the Almighty; in short, they hold all splendor and greatness as the rewards of alms and good works; thus they relate that whilst the incarnation of Rámchandra abode in the desert, he sent his brother Lachman to bring some roots of herbs in order to break his fast; but, notwithstand­ing a diligent search, he being unable to find any, returned and represented this to Rámchand, who replied: “The earth abounds in food and drink; but in a former generation, on this very day, I omitted the performance of an act which would have been well pleasing in the sight of God, namely, that of contributing to the sustenance of indigent Brahmans.”

They moreover believe that evil-doers, after death, become united to the bodies of lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, swine, bears, reptiles, plants, and minerals, in this world, and receive under these forms their well merited punishment; but that those who have been guilty of aggravated crimes are hurried off to the infernal regions, where they remain suffering torture during a period of time proportioned to their evil deeds; and when they have undergone the destined punishment, they again return to this world. They also believe that there is in paradise a sovereign, named Indra, and that whoever offers up a hundred Aswamédas,* becomes Indra. When his appointed time in paradise, in the full enjoyment of sovereign power has passed, he is on the expira­tion of that period to descend to the lower world, and there obtains a recompense proportioned to his acts. Moreover, Indra's spouse is named Sachí Devi, and falls to the share of the person who attains the rank of Indra. Note: by Aswaméda is meant the sacrifice of a horse of a certain color, and according to certain established rites. However, by Aswaméd, their learned doctors understand “abnegation of the mind:” for imagination is a fierce charger, the sacrifice of which is an imperative duty on the religious ascetic; or it may allude to the destruction of the animal passions.

They also believe that angelic beings are subject to concupiscence, and wrath, and the cravings of hunger and thirst; their food consisting of perfumes and incense, sacrifices, meat and drink offerings, with the alms and oblations made by mankind; and their beverage, the water of life.

They also assert that the stars were holy person­ages, who, on leaving this world of gloom, through the efficacy of religious mortifications became lumi­nous bodies, ascending from the lower depths of this abode of the elements to the zenith of the crys­talline sphere; nay, their birth-place, name, family, with the names of their fathers and grandfathers, are carefully enumerated in the sacred volumes of this sect. Thus they say that Sanicher (the slow-traveller) or Saturn, is the son of the glorious Lumi­nary; and Mirrikh or Mars, the son of the Earth; the world-enlightening sun, the issue of Kashyapa, the son of Maríchí, the son of Brahma; Zóhrah (or the regent of Venus) the son of Bhrigu; and Utáred (Mercury) the son of Kamer (the regent of the moon). Some however maintain the moon to be the son of Attri the Holy, but, according to others he is sprung from the sea of milk.

* * These opinions contain a marked allusion to the tenets held by the distinguished Parsi sages, namely, that the intellectual soul has a relation to that sphere with which its good actions are con­nected: they consequently apply the denomina­tion of Sun to the spirit of one united to the sun, and his father is entitled “the father of the Sun.” *

The writer of this work once observed to Shídósh, the son of Anosh: “Perhaps they mean by the sires of the stars, their presiding intelligences, as in the technical language of philosophers, the name of sires is also given to the intelligences, on which account Jesus called the Almighty ‘Father.’”

According to them the elements are five in number, the fifth being the Akas (or ether), which word in its common acceptation means “the heavens;” but according to the learned it implies empty space, or space void of matter. One of their distinguished doctors, Sumitra, son of the Ray of Kalinga, holds that Akas, which the Greek Platonists call space, is simple and uncompounded. Damudar Das Kaul, a learned Brahman of Kashmir, also holds Akas to signify space; and space is understood by the Platonists among the Yonian to be an extent void of any substance (a vacuum), which may be divided into parts, the totality of which parts may be equivalent to that extent of the general vacuum which is con­gruous and equal to it, in such a manner as to com­prise every particle of that extent which is the space in every particular division of the general space. There is an extent interposed between two things, and this extent is void and free of matter. According to their account, no better interpretation of Akas than that which is conveyed by the word space, can be offered.*

They moreover assert that the heavens have no existence, and that the constellations and stars are fixed in the air. According to them there are seven samudras, that is oceans, on this earth: the salt sea, that of sugar-cane juice, the sea of spirituous liquors, that of clarified butter, the sea of curds, the lacteal, and lastly, that of sweet waters. They also say that there rises above the earth a mountain called Su-Meru* entirely formed of the purest gold, on which the angelic beings reside, and around which the stars revolve. There are nine spheres, namely: those of the seven planets, with those of Rás and Zanab (the head and tail of the dragon), which are also borne along in their celestial vehicles. Rás and Zanab are two demons who drank the water of life, whom Vishnu, at the suggestion of the sun and moon, smote with a weapon called the Chákra, or disk, and rent open their throats; in revenge for which, the moon is devoured by Rás, and the sun by Zanab; but as their throats are rent open, whatever is taken in at the mouth issues at the aperture in the throat: by this allegory they allude to the lunar and solar eclipses.*

Brahma dwells in a city called Rást Lok;* Vishnu in a region called Vaikanth; and Mahadeo on a moun­tain of silver named Káilasa. They also maintain that the fixed stars have no actual existence, but that the objects which shine by night are couches of gold set with diamonds and rubies, on which the inhabitants of paradise repose.* * On this Shidosh remarks: “It is agreed that paradise means the heavens, and also that the fixed stars are in the eighth heaven; so that, consequently, the heavens constitute the couches of the souls.” * *

They esteem the majesty of the great light as the supreme of angelic beings, and on a careful investi­gation of their books, acknowledge no existence as superior to him in dignity; as the constitution of elemental compounds, and the existence of all beings is dependent on and connected with his auspicious essence. They moreover regard Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh, the radiance and reflexion of his light; saying, it is his majesty alone which, by its acts and operations, is called by these three names. They represent him as a sovereign, in the human form, seated in a chariot which signifies the fourth heaven, to which are attached seven horses, with angels and spiritual beings, accompanied by royal trains and gorgeous pomp, continually passing before his majesty. They also esteem him as the source of existence and as universal existence. * They also believe the earth to be the skin of a Raksh or evil genius, who was put to death, and his skin stretched out: the mountains are his bones; the waters his blood; the trees and vegetables his hair. By Raksh they mean a demon, which here implies the material elements on this earth, which according to them is supported on four legs; alluding in this to the nature and number of the elements, each of which rests on its own centre.

** According to them Saturn limps, which typifies his long period of revolution; and Bhúm, or Maríkh, “Mars,” is a demon, on which account they ascribe to him a malignant influence. * Zoharah , or “the regent of Venus,” is the director of the demons, and to this planetary spirit they ascribe the sciences and religions of the barbarians, and the creeds of foreign nations.

The Muhammedan doctors say, that Islamism is connected with this planet, from which source pro­ceeds the veneration paid by them to Friday, or the day of Venus. Múshteri, “Jupiter,” is accounted the director of the angels, and the teacher of the system of Brahma, which is conveyed in a celestial language, not used at present by any beings of ele­mental formation: thus, although the Koran is a divine revelation, the language of it is in general use among the Arabs; but the four Véds which the Hindus account a celestial volume, is written in Sanskrit, a language spoken in no city whatever, and found in no book, save those of a particular sect: it is called by them “the speech of angelic beings.” The Véda was given to them by Brahma, for the due arrangement of human concerns. By angels or divine beings, they mean eloquent speakers, and learned authors, who, being illuminated by the effulgence of primitive wisdom, interpreted what­ever was revealed to them. It is to be remarked, that every one who pleases may derive from the Védas arguments in favour of his particular creed, to such a degree, that they can support by clear proofs the philosophical, mystical, unitarian, and athe­istical systems, faith, and religion; Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, fire-worship, the tenets of the Sonites, or those of the Shíâs, etc.; in short, these volumes consist of such ingenious parables and sublime meanings, that all who seek may have their wishes fulfilled.

They say that the Almighty is a great body, and that all other beings are in his belly; which resembles the opinions maintained by the venerable Shaikh Shahbáb ud deen Maktúl, whose tomb may God sanc­tify! namely, that the universe is one body, which contains all others in existence, and is called the universal body. It has one spirit, which compre­hends all others, and is called the universal soul; and one single object of intelligence, from which they derive all intelligences, calling it the universal intelligence. It is stated in the Mujmal al Hikmat, or Compendium of Philosophy, that the Almighty is the spirit of spirit; and according to Azar Húshangian , “the intellect of intellect.” Shaikh Bó Ali* (whose place of repose may God illuminate!) thus speaks:

“The Almighty is the soul of the universe, and the universe the reunion of all bodies;

The different angelic hosts are the senses of this frame;

The bodies, the elements, and the three kingdoms are its members;

All these are comprehended in the divine unity; all other things are illusion.”

This sect gives the appellation of Rakshas, which means evil genii or demons, to all those who do not profess their faith, and who perform not good works.

Time, in Hindawi Kal, is a measure of the move­ment of the great sphere, according to the philoso­phers of Greece and Persia. The author has also heard from the Brahmans, and in conformity to the opinions ascribed to the most distinguished persons of their caste, it is stated in the work entitled Muadan Ushshaffai Iskandari (a selection taken from several Hindi medical treatises), that time, according to the Hindu philosophers, is a necessarily-subsisting imma­terial substance, durable, incorporeal, that will ever last, and admits not of annihilation. Time has been divided into three kinds, namely, past, present, and future; but, as in their opinion time admits neither of alteration nor extinction, these divisions are not in reality its attributes, although correctly used when applied to acts performed in time. According to the succession of acts, they figuratively describe time as past, present, and future; as in reference to the solar revolutions and phases, they call it by the names of days, nights, months, years, and seasons: in short, they have so many intricate distinctions of this same nature, that the mere attempt to enumerate them would fill several volumes. They all agree that this world is to continue for four ages: the first, the Rast yug, “the righteous,”* which lasted one million seven hundred and twenty-eight thou­sand common years; during which, all human beings, high and low, exalted and humble, princes and servants, adhered to the practice of righteous­ness and truth, passing their glorious existence in a manner conformable to the divine will, and devoted to the worship of the Almighty; the duration of human life in this age extended to one hundred thousand common years. The second, the Treta Yug,* which lasted one million two hundred and ninety-six thousand common years: during this period, three-fourths of the human race conformed to the divine will, and the natural duration of life extended to ten thousand years. The third was the Dwapar Yug,* which lasted eight hundred and sixty-four thousand ordinary years, during which one half the human race performed good works and their life was limited to a thousand years. The fourth is the Kali Yug,* or “iron age,” which is to last four hundred and thirty-two thousand years, during which three-fourths of the human race will be immersed in sin, infatuation, and evil works, and the term of human life reduced to a hundred and twenty ordinary years. These four ages (4,320,000 years) they call a Chakra, and seventy-one Chakras a Manwantar; on the expiration of seventy-one Chak­ras, there elapses one day of the life of India, the ruler of the upper world; and on the expiration of fourteen Manwantars, reckoned according to the preceding calculation, one day of Brahma's life is terminated.

They say, that the Almighty, having united him­self with Brahma's body, created the world through his medium: Brahma thus became the Creator, and brought mankind into existence, making them of four classes, namely: the Brahman, Chattriya, Vaisya , and Sùdra. To the first were assigned the custody of laws and the establishment of religious ordinances; the second class was formed for the purposes of government and external authority, being appointed the medium for introducing order into human affairs; the third was composed of hus­bandmen, cultivators, artisans, and tradesmen; and the fourth for every description of service and attendance. All races not comprised in one of these four divisions are not accounted of human origin but of demoniacal descent: however the demons or Rakshas, through the practice of religious austeri­ties, attained to such dignity that Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh (Siva) became their attendants. Thus Rávan,* through the efficacy of religious mortifica­tion, became lord of the world and its inhabitants; Brahma was reader of the Vedas at his court; the sun filled the office of cook; the clouds were his cup-bearers, and the wind his chamberlain.

* Finally, according to the sectaries, the life of Brahma lasts a hundred extraordinary years of three hundred and sixty days, with nights corresponding to the days,* so that up to the present time, that is, the period of composing this work, in the year of the Hejira 1055 (A. D. 1645), there have elapsed four thousand seven hundred and forty-six years of the Kali-Yug. So many Brahmas have appeared, that the sums of their years exceed the limits of human comprehension; they have merely a tradition that one thousand Brahmas have successively appeared and been annihilated; so that the present is the thousand and first, of whose life fifty years and half a day are expired, which commences the half-day of the fifty-first year. As soon as the age of Brahma terminates, according to the preceding cal­culation, or amounts to the destined number, he then forms twelve blazing suns, whose heat and splendor consume alike both earth and water, so that there remains not a vestige of this world or its productions, and mankind plunge beneath the waters, which catastrophe is called Pralaya, in Hindawi: after this event, another Brahma appears and cre­ates the world anew, which process of dissolution and reproduction continues to all eternity. The Hakim Umr Khakani says:

“Those who adorn the heavens, which are a particle of time,

Come, and depart again, re-appear on the same stage—

For, in the skirts of heaven and the robe of earth, there is

A creation which is successively born as long as God exists.”

By the prolonged periods of duration ascribed to these celestial personages, they allude to the antiquity of the world, which is so immensely great that it cannot be comprised in numbers. The man of spiritual attributes, Shídosh, the son of Anosh, says: “On the termination of the great cycle, human creatures reappear, and the water enveloping the terrestrial globe becomes of the same radical constitution as the waters on high; again, through the intense heat of the luminary, the water dis­appears, and twelve suns are formed: from the ascent of vapors and the blending of exhalations, the celestial disks are enveloped, when the tailed comets, which the Persians call ‘minor suns,’ and the Arabs Shamseyat, or ‘smaller solar bodies,’* * consume alike the humid and the dry: such is the necessary termination of that cycle: the world and its inhabitants will be created anew.” * Mulla Ismail Suffi, of Isfahan, says:

“The world which is one, the creator, and the creation,

Both these worlds are like the scum of his cup;

This revolution of time resembles a painted lantern,

Which, notwithstanding its motion, remains in the same position.”

The assertion “that only the four classes above enumerated are of human race,” implies that this denomination is attached to the professors of humanity, virtue, and discrimination; superior to which is showing mercy to the animal creation; also the knowledge of one's self and of the Creator; nay, the person destitute of these characteristics has no share of the nature of man. Thus the sage Ferdusi says:

“Whoever deviates from the path of humanity

Is to be accounted a demon, and not of human race.”

* According to these sectaries, the worship offered to the forms of Mahadeo and Naráyan, and to the statues of the other spiritual beings, is highly to be commended. Strangers to their faith suppose them to look upon the idol as God, which is by no means the case, their belief being as follows: “The idol is merely a Kiblah, and they adore under that par­ticular form, the Being who has neither accident nor form.”

Moreover, as mankind is an assemblage composed of superiors and inferiors, they have made images of the directors of the people, and constituted them their Kiblah: besides, as all things exhibit the power of the Almighty, they form images according to their similitude. They also say, that as the Avá­tars are radiant emanations of the divine essence, they therefore make images on their likeness, and pay them worship: so that, whatever is excellent in its kind, in the mineral, vegetable, or animal world, is regarded with veneration, as well as the uncom­pounded elementary substances, and the starry spheres. Rai Manuhar Kuchwáhhah has said:

“O Moslem! if the Kâbah be the object of thy worship,

Why dost thou reproach the adorers of idols?”