Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of IndiaTod, James
History
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Tod, James
Rajasthan (India) -- History; Rajput (Indic people) -- History
The Appendix, No. XII., being a grant of privileges to a minor shrine of
Kanhaiya, in his character of Muralidhar or ‘flute-player,’ contains
much information on the minutiae of benefactions, and will afford a good
idea of the nature of these revenues.
=Effects of Krishna-worship on the Rājputs.=—The predominance of the
mild doctrines of Kanhaiya over the dark rites of Siva, is doubtless
beneficial to Rajput society. Were the prevention of female immolation
the sole good resulting from their prevalence, that alone would
conciliate our partiality; a real worshipper of Vishnu should forbid his
wife following him to the pyre, as did recently the Bundi prince. In
fact, their tenderness to animal life is carried to nearly as great an
excess as with the Jains, who shed no blood. Celibacy is not imposed
upon the priests of Kanhaiya, as upon those of Siva: on the contrary,
they are enjoined to marry, and the priestly office is hereditary by
descent. Their wives do not burn, but are committed, like themselves, to
the earth. They inculcate tenderness towards all beings; though whether
this feeling influences the mass, must depend on the soil which receives
the seed, for the outward ceremonies of religion cost far less effort
than the practice or essentials. I have often [532] smiled at the
incessant aspirations of the Macchiavelli of Rajasthan, Zalim Singh,
who, while he ejaculated the name of the god as he told his beads, was
inwardly absorbed by mundane affairs; and when one word would have
prevented a civil war, and saved his reputation from the stain of
disloyalty to his prince, he was, to use his own words, “at fourscore
years and upwards, laying the foundation for another century of life.”
And thus it is with the prince of Marwar, who esteems the life of a man
or a goat of equal value when prompted by revenge to take it. Hope may
silence the reproaches of conscience, and gifts and ceremonies may be
deemed atonement for a deviation from the first principle of their
religion—a benevolence which should comprehend every animated thing. But
fortunately the princely worshippers of Kanhaiya are few in number: it
is to the sons of commerce we must look for the effects of these
doctrines; and it is my pride and duty to declare that I have known men
of both sects, Vaishnava and Jain, whose integrity was spotless, and
whose philanthropy was unbounded.
-----
Footnote 4.19.1:
Manu commands, “Should the king be near his end through some incurable
disease, he must bestow on the priests all his riches accumulated from
legal fines: and having duly committed his kingdom to his son, let him
seek death in battle, or, if there be no war, by abstaining from food”
(_Laws_, ix. 323). The annals of all the Rajput States afford
instances of obedience to this text of their divine legislator. [The
injunction to seek death by starvation is an addition by the
commentator, and is not included in the original text.]
Footnote 4.19.2:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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