Life and religion of the Hindoos. : $b With a sketch of my life and experience.Gangooly, Joguth Chunder
Religion
Life and religion of the Hindoos. : $b With a sketch of my life and experience.
Gangooly, Joguth Chunder
Hindus; India -- Social life and customs
[22] The term worshipper, in the Hindoo sense, denotes the man who
spends the money, brings the image, and entertains the people at his
house, no matter whether he himself officiates and offers prayers or
not.
[23] Oshoor means monster, or opposite to Shoor-god. The men of cruel
characters, feared for their wicked deeds, are called Oshoor by the
Hindoos.
[24] This and kindred incidents show the ancient Hindoos did not
hold _caste_ as favorable, nor regard it as objectionable in
affairs of marriage, as they of the present age do. Now, as we
have observed in the first part of the volume, wealth, learning,
personal accomplishments, bow down to _caste_. A second-caste
man _cannot_, on any account whatever, marry his children to
those of the first, or to Brahmuns. But in the present case we see
the young princess offers her hand to an unrivalled intellect, not
caring as to the quarter or caste in which it might be found. There are
several instances of this kind, of fathers offering their daughters
to a suitable man. Thus Jŏnuk, the father of the goddess Shita, sent
a proclamation to the world that “Whoever shall be able to break an
arrow in two, shall have Shita for his recompense.” (This fatal arrow
belonged to Shiba, the Destroyer, and was left in the palace of Jŏnuk.)
In the legend we read of King Droupad offering his daughter to any who
would pierce the eyes of a gold-fish which had been hung six miles
above the ground, not looking at it directly for his aim, but only
seeing its shadow in a vessel of water. Doymontie marries a king who,
at her wish, boiled rice without fire and water. Bidda took a vow to
enter into literary and theological controversy with a man before she
would marry him. In the above cases invitations had of course been
extended to kings and nobles in general, and not of any particular
caste.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account