The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 2 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Religion
The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 2 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Iran -- Religion; Religions
Of this people, the author of this book saw in Lahor, the capital of
the sultan, a Brahman, called Sri Manu Rama, who would not accept any
nourishment from the Musulmans, nor keep society with strangers. It
was said, that an Umra of the Mahommedans had offered him three lacs
of rupees, which he refused to take. Pursuant to his religion, he
abstained from animal food. Kesayi Tívárí is one of the Brahmans of
Benáres, and well conversant with the science of his class. Having
left his house, he settled on the bank of the river Ravi, which passes
near the garden Kamran, at Lahór: given up to devotion, he seeks no
protection against rain and sun; he lives upon a little milk; and
whatever he has collcted during several months, he spends in the
entertainment of the pious Brahmans whom he invites.
[73] _Munji_, a sort of grass, from the fibres of which a
string is prepared, of which the triple thread worn by the
Brahman should be formed (_Saccharum munja Rox._)――(_Wilson’s
Sanskrit Dictionary._)――D. S.
[74] Ward enumerates only ten _Sanskara_, or “ceremonies:”
_Garbhádhána_, _Púngsavana_, _Simonton-nayana_,
_Játa-karma_, _Nishkramana_, _Náma-karana_, _Anna-práshana_,
_Chúra-karana_, _Upanayana_, and _Viváha_ (vol. III. p. 71).
[75] The above interpretation is not correct; the name of
the ceremony गर्भाधान is derived from _Garbha_, “the fœtus,”
and _adhan_, “taking;” according to Wilson’s Dictionary, a
ceremony performed prior to conception; but, according to
Ward, a ceremony to be performed four months after
conception, including a burnt sacrifice, the worship of the
Shálgráma, and all the forms of the Nándí-Múkhí-Shrádda. The
Shalgrama (from _Shal_, “to move, to shake,” and _Grama_, “a
village”) the _ætites_, or “eagle-stone,” black, hollow, and
nearly round, said to be brought from mount Gandaki, in
Nepaul――an emblem of Vishnu (see Ward, vol. I. p.
283-4-5).――D. S.
[76] पुंसवन. A religious and domestic festival, held on the
mother’s perceiving the first signs of a living conception:
from _pung_, “a male,” and _shu_, “to bear.”
_Nándi-Mukha-Sráddha_, funeral obsequies performed on joyous
occasions, as initiation, marriage, etc., in which nine
balls of meat are offered to the deceased father, paternal
grandfather, and great grandfather; to the maternal
grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather;
to the mother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great
grandmother: from _Nandi_, “good fortune,” and _Mukha_,
“principal.”
[77] सीमन्तोन्नयन a purificatory and sacrificial ceremony
observed by women, on the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of
their pregnancy: from _Simanta_, “a portion of the hair,”
and _Unnayana_, “arranging;” this forming an essential part
of the ceremony――(_Wilson_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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