Part 37 (1/2)

It is interesting to see the remains of the older belief still flouris.h.i.+ng in midst of epic pantheism. Although Indra has no such hymn as has S[=u]rya, yet is he still lauded, and he is a very real person to the knight who seeks his heaven.[14] In fact, so long as natural phenomena were regarded as divine, so long as thunder was G.o.dly, it was but a secondary question which name the G.o.d bore; whether he was the 'chief and king of G.o.ds,' or Vishnu manifesting himself in a special form. This form, at any rate, was to endure as such till the end of the cycle. There are other Indras. Each cycle has its own (i. 197. 29). But sufficient unto the age is the G.o.d thereof.

If, relinquis.h.i.+ng the higher bliss of absorption, the knight sought only Indra's heaven, and believed he was to find it, then his belief practically does not differ much from that of his ancestor, who accepts Indra as an ultimate, natural power. The question arises whether, after all, the Indra-wors.h.i.+p of the epic is not rather popular than merely old and preserved. Certainly the reality of the belief seems quite as strong as that of the ever-newly converted sectary. It may be doubted whether the distribution of theological belief is very different in the epic and Vedic ages. Philosophical pantheism is very old in India. The priest believes one thing; the vulgar, another. The priest of the Vedic age, like the philosopher of the next age, and like the later sectarian, has a belief which runs ahead of the popular religion. But the popular religion in its salient features still remains about the same. Arjuna, the epic hero, the pet of Krishna, visits Indra's heaven and stays there five years. It is the old Vedic G.o.ds to whom he turns for weapons, till the civaite makes Indra send the knight further, to civa himself. The old name, king of the Vasus, is still retained for Indra; and though the 'divine weapons,' which are winged with sacred formulae, are said to be more than a match for the G.o.ds; though in many a pa.s.sage the knight and the saint make Indra tremble, yet still appear, through the mists of ascetic and sectarian novelties, Indra's heaven and his grandeur, s.h.i.+ning with something of their old glory. Vishnu still shows his solar origin. Of him and of the sun is it said in identical words: ”The sun protects and devours all,” and ” Vishnu protects and devours ” (of Vishnu, pa.s.sim; of the sun, iii. 33. 71). A good deal of old stuff is left in the Forest Book amongst the absurd tales of holy watering places. One finds repeated several times the Vedic account of Indra's fight with Vritra, the former's thunderbolt, however, being now made of a saint's bones (ii. ch. 100-105). Agni is lauded (_ib_.

ch. 123). To the Acvins[15] there is one old hymn which contains Vedic forms (i. 3). Varuna is still lord of the West, and goes accompanied with the rivers, 'male and female,' with snakes, and demons, and half-G.o.ds _(d[=a]ityas, s[=a]dhyas, d[=a]ivatas_). Later, but earlier than the pseudo-epic, there stands with these G.o.ds Kubera, the G.o.d of wealth, the 'jewel-giver,' who is the guardian of travellers, the king of those demons called Yakshas, which the later sect makes servants of civa. He is variously named;[16] he is a dwarf; he dwells in the North, in Mt. K[=a]il[=a]sa, and has a demoniac gate-keeper, Macakruka. Another newer G.o.d is the one already referred to, Dharma V[=a]ivasvata, or Justice (Virtue, Right), the son of the sun, a t.i.tle of Yama older than the Vedas. He is also the father of the new love-G.o.d, K[=a]ma. It is necessary to indicate the names of the G.o.ds and their functions, lest one imagine that with pantheism the Vedic religion expired. Even that old, impious Brahmanic fable crops out again: ”The devils were the older brothers of the G.o.ds, and were conquered by the G.o.ds only with trickery” (in. 33. 60), an interesting reminiscence of the fact that the later name for evil spirit was originally the one applied to the great and good spirit (Asura the same with Ahura).[17] According to a rather late chapter in the second book each of the great Vedic G.o.ds has a special paradise of his own, the most remarkable feature of the account being that Indra's heaven is filled with saints, having only one king in it--a view quite foreign to the teaching that is current elsewhere in the epic. Where the sectarian doctrine would oppose the old belief it set above Indra's heaven another, of Brahm[=a], and above that a third, of Vishnu (i. 89. 16 ff.). According to one pa.s.sage Mt. Mandara[18] is a sort of Indian Olympus. Another account speaks of the Him[=a]layas, Himavat, as 'the divine mountain, beloved of the G.o.ds,' though the knight goes thence to Gandham[=a]dana, and thence to Indrak[=i]la, to find the G.o.ds' habitat (III. 37. 41). Personified powers lie all around the religious Hindu. And this is especially true of the epic character. He prays to Mt. Mandara, and to rivers, above all to the Ganges. Mt. Kol[=a]hala is divine, and begets divine offspring on a river (I. 63). The Vindhya range of mountains rivals the fabled Meru (around which course the sun and all the heavenly bodies), and this, too, is the object of devotion and prayer.[19] In one pa.s.sage it is said that in Beh[=a]r (M[=a]gadha) there was a peak which was continuously 'wors.h.i.+pped with offerings of flowers and perfumes,'

exactly as if it were a G.o.d. The reason why flowers are given and worn is that they bring good luck, it is said in the same chapter (II. 21.

15, 20, 51).

What is, perhaps, the most striking feature of Hindu religious thought, as a whole, is the steadfastness with which survive, even in the epic and in Buddhism, the forms and formulae of the older faith.

At a time when pantheism or nihilism is the avowed creed the ancient G.o.ds still exist, weak, indeed, yet infused with a true immortality.

This is noticeable even more in unnoticeable ways, in the turns of speech, in little comparisons, in the hymns, in short, in the by-play of the epic. 'Withered are the garlands of the G.o.ds, and their glory is departed,'[20] but they still receive homage in time of need. And in that homage is to be seen, and from the same cause, the revived or surviving wors.h.i.+p of the Veda. Each G.o.d in turn is mighty, though Agni is the mightiest of the old divinities. In an epic hymn to him it is said: ”Thou art the mouth of the worlds; the poets declare thee to be one and three-fold; as carrier of the sacrifice they arrange thee eight-fold. By thee was all created, say the highest seers. Priests that have made reverence to thee attain the eternal course their acts have won, together with their wives and sons. They call thee the water-giver in the air, together with lightning. On thee first depends water. Thou art the creator and Brihaspati, thou art the two Hors.e.m.e.n, the two Yamas, Mitra, Soma, Wind” (i. 229. 23 ff.).[21] And yet this is in a pantheistic environment! The Rig Veda is directly invoked, though, of course, not directly cited, in the old hymn to the Hors.e.m.e.n, who are, however, elsewhere put with low animals and Guhyakas, demons (i. 66).[22] They are the ”physicians of the G.o.ds,”

the ”first-born” the golden birds which weave the white and black of time, create the wheel of time with all its seasons, and make the sun and sky (i. 3. 55 ff., ”_v[=a]gbhir [r.]gbhis_”). Indra himself is extolled in Kadr[=u]'s hymn; he is the slayer of Namuci, the lord of cac[=i]; he is the great cloud, cloud and its thunder, creator and destroyer; he is Vishnu, 'Soma, greatly praised,' as well as fire, air, time in all its divisions, earth and ocean; when lauded he drinks the _soma_, and he is sung in the Ved[=a]ngas (i. 25. 7 ff.). Praised with this hymn in time of need of rain, Indra ”commanded the clouds, saying, 'rain down the ambrosia'” (26. 2); where there is still the rain as synonymous with ambrosia, and Indra not very differently conceived from his Vedic self. Thus in comparisons: ”As Indra standing in heaven brings bliss to the world of the living, so Vidura ever brought bliss to the Pandus” (i. 61. 15). But at the same time what changes! The G.o.ds a.s.semble and sing a hymn to Garuda, the epic form of Garutman, the heavenly bird, who here steals the _soma_ vainly guarded by the G.o.ds. Garuda, too, is Praj[=a]pati, Indra, and so forth.[23]

The G.o.ds are no longer divinities distinct from the dead Fathers, for they are ”identical in being.” So Agni says when the latter is cursed by Bhrigu: ”The divinities and the Manes are satisfied by the oblation in fire. The hosts of G.o.ds are waters, so, too, are the Manes. The feasts of the new and full moon belong to the G.o.ds with the Manes; hence the Manes are divinities and the divinities are Manes. They are of one being (_ek[i]bh[=u]t[=a]s_). I (Fire) am the mouth of both, for both eat the oblation poured upon me. The Manes at the new moon, the G.o.ds at the full, are fed by my mouth” (i. 7. 7 ff.).[24] Such G.o.ds the epic hero fears not (i. 227. 38 ff.). Hymns to them are paralleled by hymns to snakes, as in i. 3. 134 ff., against whom is made the ”_sarpasattram_ (snake sacrifice) of the Pur[=a]nas” (i. 51. 6).

Divinity is universal. Knights are as divine as the divinest G.o.d, the All-G.o.d. Arjuna, the G.o.d-born man, to whom Krishna reveals the Divine Song, is himself G.o.d.[25] In this case whether G.o.d becomes human, or _vice versa_, no one knows.

Under the all embracing cloak of pantheism the heart of the epic conceals many an ancient rite and superst.i.tion. Here is the covenant of blood, the covenant of death (represented by the modern 'sitting'[26]), and the covenant of water, which symbolizes both friends.h.i.+p and the solemnity of the curse. The former are ill.u.s.trated by Bhima's drinking blood as a sign that he will fulfil his vow,[27]

and by R[=a]ma lying by Ocean to die unless Ocean grants his wish. Of the water-rite that of offering water in hospitality and as a form in reception of gifts is general; that of cursing by 'touching water'

(_v[=a]ry upasp[r.]cya_), occurs in iii. 10. 32. For this purpose holy-gra.s.s and other symbols are known also,[28] and formulae yield only in potency to love-philters and magic drugs. Another covenant besides those just noticed seems to lie concealed in the avoidance of the door when injury is intended. If one goes in by the door he is a guest who has antic.i.p.ated hospitality, and then he dares not refuse the respect and offering of water, etc, which makes the formal pact of friends.h.i.+p. If, on the contrary, he does not go in by the door he is not obliged to receive the offering, and may remain as a foe in the house (or in the city) of his enemy, with intent to kill, but without moral wrong. This may be implied in the end of the epic, where Acvatth[=a]man, intent on secret murder of his foe, is prevented by G.o.d civa from entering in at the gate, but going in by stealth, and 'not by the door' of the camp, gets to his foe, who lies asleep, and kills him (x. 8. 10). This might be thought, indeed, to be merely strategic, but it is in accordance with the strict law of all the law-books that one, in ordinary circ.u.mstances, shall avoid to enter a town or a house in any other way than through the door (Manu, iv. 73; Gaut. 9. 32, etc.), and we think it has a moral significance, for this _a-dv[=a]ra_ (non-door) rule occurs again in the epic in just the circ.u.mstances we have described. The heroes in this case are not afraid of their foe, who is in his town. They insult every one as they approach, but they find some other way of getting in than by pa.s.sing through the gate, for the express purpose of being morally able to make the king fight with them after they have entered his city. And they cite the rule 'according to law,' which is that one may enter his foe's house by _a-dv[=a]ra,_ 'not by door,' but his friend's house only 'by door.' As they have not entered 'by door' they say they may refuse the hospitality which the king urges them to accept, and so they kill him (ii. 21. 14, 53). Stepping in through the door seems, therefore, to be a tacit agreement that one will not injure the resident.[29]

In the epic, again, fetis.h.i.+sm is found. The student of the 'science of war,' in order to obtain his teacher's knowledge when the latter is away, makes a clay image of the preceptor and wors.h.i.+ps this clay idol, practicing arms before it (i. 132. 33). Here too is embalmed the belief that man's life may be bound up with that of some inanimate thing, and the man perishes with the destruction of his psychic prototype (iii. 135). The old ordeals of fire and water are recognized. ”Fire does not burn the house of good men.” ”If (as this man a.s.serts) he is Varuna's son, then let him enter water and let us see if he will drown” (iii. 134. 27 ff.). A human sacrifice is performed (iii. 127); although the priest who performs it is cast into h.e.l.l (_ib_. 128).[30] The teaching in regard to h.e.l.ls is about the same with that already explained in connection with the law-books, but the more definite physical interpretation of h.e.l.l as a hole in the ground (_garta_, just as in the Rig Veda) is retained. Agastya sees his ancestors 'in a hole,' which they call 'a h.e.l.l' (_n[=i]ray[=a]_).

This is evidently the h.e.l.l known to the law-punsters and epic (i. 74.

39) as _puttra_, 'the _put_ h.e.l.l' from which the son (_putra_) delivers (_tra_). For these ancestors are in the 'hole' because Agastya, their descendant, has not done his duty and begotten sons (i.

45. 13; iii. 96. 15); one son being 'no son' according to law and epic (i. 100. 68), and all the merit of sacrifice being equal to only one-sixteenth of that obtained by having a son. The teaching, again, in regard to the Fathers themselves (the Manes), while not differing materially from the older view, offers novelties which show how little the absorption-theory had taken hold of the religious consciousness.

The very fact that the son is still considered to be as necessary as ever (that he may offer food to his ancestors) shows that the believer, whatever his professed faith, expects to depend for bliss hereafter upon his _post mortem_ meals, as much as did his fathers upon theirs. In the matter of the burial of the dead, one finds, what is antique, that although according to the formal law only infants are buried, and adults are burned, yet was burial known, as in the Vedic age. And the still older exposure of the body, after the Iranian fas.h.i.+on, is not only hinted at as occurring here and there even before the epic, but in the epic these forms are all recognized as equally approved: ”When a man dies he is burned or buried or exposed”

(_nik[r.][s.]yate_)[31] it is said in i. 90. 17; and the narrator goes on to explain that the ”h.e.l.l on earth,” of which the auditor ”has never heard” (vs. 6) is re-birth in low bodies, speaking of it as a new doctrine. ”As if in a dream remaining conscious the spirit enters another form”; the bad becoming insects and worms; the good going to heaven by means of the ”seven gates,” viz., penance, liberality, quietism, self-control, modesty, rect.i.tude, and mercy. This is a union of two views, and it is evidently the popular view, that, namely, the good go to heaven while the bad go to new existence in a low form, as opposed to the more logical conception that both alike enter new forms, one good, the other bad. Then the established stadia, the pupil, the old teaching (_upanishad_) of the householders, and the wood-dwellers are described, with the remark that there is no uniformity of opinion in regard to them; but the ancient view crops out again in the statement that one who dies as a forest-hermit ”establishes in bliss” ten ancestors and ten descendants. In this part of the epic the Punj[=a]b is still near the theatre of events, the 'centre region' being between the Ganges and Jumna (I. 87. 5); although the later additions to the poems show acquaintance with all countries, known and unknown, and with peoples from all the world.

Significant in xii. 61. 1, 2 is the name of the third order _bh[=a]ikshyacaryam_ 'beggarhood' (before the forest-hermit and after the householder).

It was said above that the departed Fathers could a.s.sume a mortal form. In the formal cla.s.sification of these demiG.o.ds seven kinds of Manes are enumerated, the t.i.tle of one subdivision being 'those embodied.' Brahm[=a] is identified with the Father-G.o.d in connection with the Manes: ”All the Manes wors.h.i.+p Praj[=a]pati Brahm[=a],” in the paradise of Praj[=a]pati, where, by the way, are civa and Vishnu (II.

11. 45, 50, 52; 8. 30). According to this description 'kings and sinners,' together with the Manes, are found in Yama's home, as well as ”those that die at the solstice” (II. 7 ff.; 8. 31). Constantly the reader is impressed with the fact that the characters of the epic are acting and thinking in a way not conformable to the idea one might form of the Hindu from the law. We have animadverted upon this point elsewhere in connection with another matter. It is this factor that makes the study of the epic so invaluable as an offset to the verisimilitude of belief, even as belief is taught (not practiced) in the law. There is a very old rule, for instance, against slaughtering animals and eating meat; while to eat beef is a monstrous crime. Yet is it plain from the epic that meat-eating was customary, and Vedic texts are cited (_ iti crutis_) to prove that this is permissible; while a king is extolled for slaughtering cattle (III. 208. 6-11). It is said out and out in iii. 313. 86 that 'beef is food,' _g[=a]ur annam_. Deer are constantly eaten. There is an amusing protest against this practice, which was felt to be irreconcilable with the _ahims[=a]_ (non-injury) doctrine, in III. 258, where the remnant of deer left in the forest come in a vision and beg to be spared. A dispute between G.o.ds and seers over vegetable sacrifices is recorded, XII. 338. Again, asceticism is not the duty of a warrior, but the epic hero practices asceticism exactly as if he were a priest, or a Jain, although the warning is given that a warrior 'obtains a better lot'

(_loka_) by dying in battle than by asceticism. The asceticism is, of course, exaggerated, but an instance or two of what the Hindu expects in this regard may not be without interest. The warrior who becomes an ascetic eats leaves, and is clothed in gra.s.s. For one month he eats fruits every third day (night); for another month every sixth day; for another month every fortnight; and for the fourth month he lives on air, standing on tiptoe with arms stretched up. Another account says that the knight eats fruit for one month; water for one month; and for the third month, nothing (III. 33. 73; 38. 22-26; 167). One may compare with these ascetic practices, which are not so exaggerated, in fact, as might be supposed,[32] the 'one-leg' practice of virtue, consisting in standing on one leg, _ekap[=a]dena_, for six months or longer, as one is able (I. 170. 46; III. 12. 13-16). Since learning the Vedas is a tiresome task, and ascetic practice makes it possible to acquire anything, one is not surprised to find that a devotee undertakes penance with this in view, and is only surprised when Indra, who, to be sure has a personal interest in the Vedas, breaks in on the scene and rebukes the ascetic with the words: ”Asceticism cannot teach the Vedas; go and be tutored by a teacher” (III. 135.

22).

One finds in the epic the old belief that the stars are the souls of the departed,[33] and this occurs so often that it is another sign of the comparative newness of the pantheistic doctrine. When the hero, Arjuna, goes to heaven he approaches the stars, ”which seen from earth look small on account of their distance,” and finds them to be self-luminous refulgent saints, royal seers, and heroes slain in battle, some of them also being nymphs and celestial singers. All of this is in contradiction both to the older and to the newer systems of eschatology; but it is an ancient belief, and therefore it is preserved. Indra's heaven,[34] Amar[=a]vati, lies above these stars[35]] No less than five distinct beliefs are thus enunciated in regard to the fate of 'good men after death. If they believe in the All-G.o.d they unite with him at once. Or they have a higher course, becoming gradually more elevated, as G.o.ds, etc, and ultimately 'enter'

the All-G.o.d. Again they go to the world of Brahm[=a]. Again they go to Indra's heaven. Again they become stars. The two last beliefs are the oldest, the _brahmaloka_ belief is the next in order of time, and the first-mentioned are the latest to be adopted. The hero of the epic just walks up to heaven, but his case is exceptional.

While angels and spirits swarm about the world in every shape from mischievous or helpful fairies to R[=a]hu, whose head still swallows the sun, causing eclipses (I. 19. 9), there are a few that are especially conspicuous. Chief of the good spirits, attendants of Indra, are the Siddhas[36] 'saints,' who occasionally appear to bless a hero in conjunction with 'beings invisible' (III. 37. 21). Their name means literally 'blessed' or 'successful,' and probably, like the seers, Ris.h.i.+s, they are the departed fathers in spiritual form. These latter form various cla.s.ses. There are not only the 'great seers,' and the still greater '_brahma_-seers,' and the 'G.o.d-seers,' but there are even 'devil-seers,' and 'king-seers,' these being spirits of priests of royal lineages.[37] The evil spirits, like the G.o.ds, are sometimes grouped in threes. In a blessing one cries out: ”Farewell (_svasti gacchahy an[=a]mayam_); I entreat the Vasus, Rudras, [=A]dityas, Marut-hosts and the All-G.o.ds to protect thee, together with the S[=a]dhyas; safety be to thee from all the evil beings that live in air, earth, and heaven, and from all others that dog thy path.”[38] In XII. 166. 61 ff. the devils fall to earth, mountains, water, and other places. According to I. 19. 29. it is not long since the Asuras were driven to take refuge in earth and salt water.[39]

These creatures have every kind of miraculous power, whether they be good or bad. Hanuman, famed in both epics, the divine monkey, with whom is a.s.sociated the divine 'king of bears' J[=a]mbavan (III. 280.

23), can grow greater than mortal eye can see (III. 150. 9). He is still wors.h.i.+pped as a great G.o.d in South India. As an ill.u.s.tration of epic spiritism the case of Ilvala may be taken. This devil, _d[=a]iteya_, had a trick of cooking his embodied younger brother, and giving him to saints to eat. One saint, supposing the flesh to be mutton (here is saintly meat-eating!), devours the dainty viand; upon which the devil 'calls' his brother, who is obliged to come, whether eaten or not, and in coming bursts the saint that has eaten him (iii.

96). This is folk-lore; but what religion does not folk-lore contain!

So, personified Fate holds its own as an inscrutable power, mightier than others.[40] There is another touch of primitive religious feeling which reminds one of the usage in Iceland, where, if a stranger knocks at the door and the one within asks 'who is there?' the guest answers, 'G.o.d.' So in the epic it is said that 'every guest is G.o.d Indra'

(_Parjanyo nn[=a]nusa[.m]caran_, iii. 200. 123. In the epic Parjanya, the rain-G.o.d, and Indra are the same). Of popular old tales of religious bearing may be mentioned the retention and elaboration of the Brahmanic deluge-story, with Manu as Noah (iii. 187); the Acvins'

feats in rejuvenating (iii. 123); the combats of the G.o.ds with the demons (Namuci, cambara, Vala, Vritra, Prahl[=a]da, Naraka), etc.

(iii. 168).

Turning now to some of the newer traits in the epic, one notices first that, while the old sacrifices still obtain, especially the horse-sacrifice, the _r[=a]jas[=u]ya_ and the less meritorious _v[=a]j.a.peya,_ together with the monthly and seasonal sacrifices, there is in practice a leaning rather to new sacrifices, and a new cult. The _soma_ is scarce, and the _p[=u]tika_ plant is accepted as its subst.i.tute (iii. 35. 33) in a matter-of-course way, as if this subst.i.tution, permitted of old by law, were now common. The sacrifice of the widow is recognized, in the case of the wives of kings, as a means of obtaining bliss for a woman,[41] for the religion of the epic is not entirely careless of woman. Somewhat new, however, is the self-immolation of a man upon the pyre of his son. Such a case is recorded in iii. 137. 19. where a father burns his son's body, and then himself enters the fire. New also, of course, are the sectarian festivals and sacrifices; and p.r.o.nounced is the gain in the G.o.dhead of priests, king, parents, elder brother, and husband. The priest has long been regarded as a G.o.d, but in the epic he is G.o.d of G.o.ds, although one can trace even here a growth in adulation.[42] The king, too, has been identified before this period with the G.o.ds. But in the epic he is to his people an absolute divinity,[43] and so are the parents to the son;[44] while, since the elder brother is the same with a father, when the father is dead the younger brother wors.h.i.+ps the elder. So also the wife's G.o.d is her husband; for higher even than that of the priest is the husband's divinity (III. 206). The wife's religious service is not concerned with feasts to the Manes, with sacrifice to the G.o.ds, nor with studying the Veda. In all these she has no part. Her religion is to serve her husband (III. 205. 23), and to die, if worthy of the honor, on his funeral pyre. Otherwise the epic woman has religious practices only in visiting the holy watering-places, which now abound, and in reading the epic itself. For it is said of both practices: ”Whether man or woman read this book (or 'visit this holy pool') he or she is freed from sin” (so in III. 82.

33: ”Every sin committed since birth by man or woman is absolved by bathing in 'holy Pushkara”). It may be remarked that as a general thing the deities invoked by women are, by predilection, female divinities, some of them being mere abstractions, while 'the Creator'

is often the only G.o.d in the woman's list, except, of course, the priests: ”Reverence to priests, and to the Creator ... May Hr[=i], cr[=i] (Modesty and Beauty), Fame, Glory, Prosperity, Um[=a] (civa's wife), Lakshmi (Vishnu's wife), and also Sarasvat[=i], (may all these female divinities) guard thy path, because thou reverest thy elder brother,” is a woman's prayer (III. 37. 26-33).[45]

Of the sectarian cults just mentioned the _brahmamaha_, I. 164. 20, elsewhere referred to, is the all-caste[46] feast in honor of Brahm[=a] (or of the Brahmans); as _ib_. 143. 3 one finds a _sam[=a]ja_ in honor of civa; and distinctly in honor of the same G.o.d of horror is the sacrifice, _i.e._, immolation, of one hundred kings, who are collected ”in the temple of civa,” to be slaughtered like cattle in M[=a]gadha (II. 15. 23); an act which the heroes of the epic prevent, and look upon with scorn.[47] As a subst.i.tute for the _r[=a]jas[=u]ya_, which may be connected with the human sacrifice (_Ind. Streifen_, I. 61), but is the best sacrifice because it has the best largesse (III. 255. 12), the Vaishnava is suggested to Duryodhana. It is a great _sattram_ or long sacrifice to Vishnu (_ib_.

15 and 19); longer than a Vishnuprabodha (26 Oct.). There is a Smriti rite described in III. 198. 13 as a _svastiv[=a]canam_, a ceremony to obtain a heavenly chariot which brings prosperity, the priests being invoked for blessings (_svasti_). Quite modern, comparatively speaking, is the cult of holy pools; but it is to be observed that the blessings expected are rarely more than the acquirement of _brahma_-worlds, so that the inst.i.tution seems to be at least older than the sectarian religions, although naturally among the holy pools is intruded a Vishnu-pool. This religious rite cannot be pa.s.sed over in silence. The custom is late Brahmanic (as above), and still survives. It has been an aspect of Hindu religion for centuries, not only in the view taken of the pools, but even occasionally in the place itself. Thus the Ganges, Gay[=a], Pray[=a]ga, and Kuru-Plain are to-day most holy, and they are mentioned as among the holiest in the epic catalogue.[48] Soma is now revamped by a bath in a holy pool (IX.