The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
Indian law-book of Manu goes farther and says that “even an infant king
must not be despised from an idea that he is a mere mortal; for he is a
great deity in human form.”(154) There is said to be a sect in Orissa who
worship the Queen of England as their chief divinity. And to this day in
India all living persons remarkable for great strength or valour or for
supposed miraculous powers run the risk of being worshipped as gods. Thus,
a sect in the Punjaub worshipped a deity whom they called Nikkal Sen. This
Nikkal Sen was no other than the redoubted General Nicholson, and nothing
that the general could do or say damped the enthusiasm of his adorers. The
more he punished them, the greater grew the religious awe with which they
worshipped him.(155) Amongst the Todas, a pastoral people of the
Neilgherry Hills of Southern India, the dairy is a sanctuary, and the
milkman (_pâlâl_) who attends to it is a god. On being asked whether the
Todas salute the sun, one of these divine milkmen replied, “Those poor
fellows do so, but I,” tapping his chest, “I, a god! why should I salute
the sun?” Every one, even his own father, prostrates himself before the
milkman, and no one would dare to refuse him anything. No human being,
except another milkman, may touch him; and he gives oracles to all who
consult him, speaking with the voice of a god.(156)
The King of Iddah told the English officers of the Niger Expedition, “God
made me after his own image; I am all the same as God; and He appointed me
a king.”(157)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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