History Of Caste

[acharya]

97. Decline of the caste system.

The caste system has maintained its vigour unimpaired either by the political vicissitudes and foreign invasions of India or by Muhammadan persecution. Except where it has been affected by European
education and inventions, Hindu society preserved until recently
a remarkably close resemblance to that of ancient Greece and Rome
in the classical period. But several signs point to the conclusion
that the decay of caste as the governing factor of Indian society is
in sight. The freedom in selection of occupation which now obtains
appears to strike at the root of the caste system, because the relative
social status and gradation of castes is based on their traditional
occupations. When in a large number of the principal castes the
majority of the members have abandoned their traditional occupation
and taken freely to others, the relative status of castes becomes a
fiction, which, though it has hitherto subsisted, cannot apparently be
indefinitely maintained. The great extension of education undertaken by
Government and warmly advocated by the best Indian opinion exercises
an analogous influence. Education is free to all, and, similarly,
in the careers which it opens to the most successful boys there is
no account of caste. Thus members of quite low castes obtain a good
social position and, as regards them personally, the prejudices and
contempt for their caste necessarily fall into abeyance. The process
must, probably, in time extend to general social toleration. The
educated classes are also coming to regard the restrictions on food
and drink, and on eating and drinking with others, as an irksome and
unnecessary bar to social intercourse, and are gradually abandoning
them. This tendency is greatly strengthened by the example and social
contact of Europeans. Finally, the facilities for travelling and the
democratic nature of modern travel have a very powerful effect. The
great majority of Hindus of all castes are obliged by their comparative
poverty to avail themselves of the cheap third-class fares, and have
to rub shoulders together in packed railway carriages. Soon they
begin to realise that this does them no harm, and get accustomed
to it, with the result that the prejudices about bodily contact
tend to disappear. The opinion has been given that the decline of
social exclusiveness in England was largely due to the introduction
of railway travelling. Taking account of all these influences, and
assuming their continuance, the inference may safely be drawn that
the life of the Indian caste system is limited, though no attempt
can be made to estimate the degree of its vitality, nor to predict
the form and constitution of the society which will arise on its decay.

ARTICLES ON RELIGIONS AND SECTS
<b>Arya Samaj</b>

[_Bibliography_: Sir E.D. Maclagan's _Punjab Census Report of 1891_;
Mr. R. Burn's _United Provinces Census Report of 1901_; Professor
J. C. Oman's _Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India_.]

List of Paragraphs
1. _The founder of the sect, Dayanand Saraswati_.
2. _His methods and the scientific interpretation of the Vedas_.
3. _Tenets of the Samaj_.
4. _Modernising tendencies_.
5. _Aims and educational institutions_.
6. _Prospects of the sect_.

1. The founder of the sect, Dayanand Saraswati.

_Arya Samaj Religion_.--This important reforming sect of Hinduism
numbered nearly 250,000 persons in India in 1911, as against 92,000 in
1901. Its adherents belong principally to the Punjab and the United
Provinces. In the Central Provinces 974 members were returned. The
sect was founded by Pandit Dayanand Saraswati, a Gujarati Brahman,
born in 1824. According to his own narrative he had been carefully
instructed in the Vedas, which means that he had been made to commit a
great portion of them to memory, and had been initiated at an early
age into the Saiva sect to which his family belonged; but while
still a mere boy his mind had revolted against the practices of
idolatry. He could not bring himself to acknowledge that the image
of Siva seated on his bull, the helpless idol, which, as he himself
observed in the watches of the night, allowed the mice to run over it
with impunity, ought to be worshipped as the omnipotent deity. [240]
He also conceived an intense aversion to marriage, and fled from home
in order to avoid the match which had been arranged for him. He was
attracted by the practice of Yoga, or ascetic philosophy, and studied
it with great ardour, claiming to have been initiated into the highest
secrets of _Yoga Vidya_. He tells in one of his books of his many
and extensive travels, his profound researches in Sanskritic lore,
his constant meditations and his ceaseless inquirings. He tells how,
by dissecting in his own rough way a corpse which he found floating
on a river, he finally discerned the egregious errors of the Hindu
medical treatises, and, tearing up his books in disgust, flung
them into the river with the mutilated corpse. By degrees he found
reason to reject the authority of all the sacred books of the Hindus
subsequent to the Vedas. Once convinced of this, he braced himself
to a wonderful course of missionary effort, in which he formulated
his new system and attacked the existing orthodox Hinduism. [241]
He maintained that the Vedas gave no countenance to idolatry, but
inculcated monotheism, and that their contents could be reconciled
with all the results of modern science, which indeed he held to be
indicated in them. The Arya Samaj was founded in Lahore in 1877,
and during the remainder of his life Dayanand travelled over northern
India continually preaching and disputing with the advocates of other
religions, and founding branches of his sect. In 1883 he died at Ajmer,
according to the story of his followers, from the effects of poison
administered to him at the instigation of a prostitute against whose
profession he had been lecturing. [242]

2. His methods and the scientific interpretation of the Vedas.

Dayanand's attempt to found a sect which, while not going entirely
outside Hinduism, should prove acceptable to educated Hindus desiring
a purer faith, appears to have been distinctly successful. The leaders
of the Brahmo Samaj were men of higher intelligence and ability than
he, and after scrupulously fair and impartial inquiry were led to
deny the infallibility of the Vedas, while they also declined to
recognise caste. But by so doing they rendered it impossible for a
man to become a Brahmo and remain a Hindu, and their movement has
made little headway. By retaining the tenet of the divine authority
of the Vedas, Dayanand made it possible for educated Hindus to join
his sect without absolutely cutting themselves adrift from their old
faith. But Dayanand's contention that the Vedas should be figuratively
interpreted, and are so found to foreshadow the discoveries of modern
science, will naturally not bear examination. The following instances
of the method are given by Professor Oman: "At one of the anniversary
meetings of the society a member gravely stated that the Vedas
mentioned _pure_ fire, and as pure fire was nothing but electricity,
it was evident that the Indians of the Vedic period were acquainted
with electricity. A leading member of the sect, who had studied
science in the Government college, discovered in two Vedic texts,
made up of _only eighteen words in all_, that oxygen and hydrogen
with their characteristic properties were known to the writers of the
Rig Veda, who were also acquainted with the composition of water,
the constitution of the atmosphere, and had anticipated the modern
kinetic theory of gases." [243] Mr. Burn gives the following parallel
versions of a verse of the Rig Veda by Professor Max Müller and the
late Pandit Guru Datt, M.A., of the Arya Samaj:

_Professor Max Müller_.--"May Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Ayu, Indra,
the Lord of the Ribhus, and the Maruts not rebuke us because we shall
proclaim at the sacrifice the virtues of the swift horse sprung from
the Gods."

_Pandit Guru Datt_.--"We shall describe the power-generating virtues of
the energetic horses endowed with brilliant properties (or the virtues
of the vigorous force of heat) which learned or scientific men can
evoke to work for purposes of appliances. Let not philanthropists,
noble men, judges, learned men, rulers, wise men and practical
mechanics ever disregard these properties." In fact, the learned
Pandit has interpreted horse as horse-power.

3. Tenets of the Samaj.

Nevertheless the Arya Samaj does furnish a haven for educated Hindus
who can no longer credit Hindu mythology, but do not wish entirely
to break away from their religion; a step which, involving also the
abandonment of caste, would in their case mean the cessation to a
considerable extent of social and family intercourse. The present
tenets and position of the Arya Samaj as given to Professor Oman
by Lala Lajpat Rai [244] indicate that, while tending towards the
complete removal of the over-swollen body of Hindu ritual and the
obstacles to social progress involved in the narrow restrictions of
the caste system, the sect at present permits a compromise and does
not require of its proselytes a full abjuration. In theory members
of any religion may be admitted to the Samaj, and a few Muhammadans
have been initiated, but unless they renounce Islam do not usually
participate in social intercourse. Sikhs are freely admitted, and
converts from any religion who accept the purified Hinduism of the
Samaj are welcome. Such converts go through a simple ceremony of
purification, for which a Brahman is usually engaged, though not
required by rule. Those who, as Hindus, wore the sacred thread are
again invested with it, and it has also been conferred on converts,
but this has excited opposition. A few marriages between members of
different subcastes have been carried out, and in the case of orphan
girls adopted into the Samaj caste, rules have been set aside and they
have been married to members of other castes. Lavish expenditure on
weddings is discouraged. Vishnu and Siva are accepted as alternative
names of the one God; but their reputed consorts Kali, Durga, Devi,
and so on, are not regarded as deities. Brahmans are usually employed
for ceremonies, but these may also, especially birth and funeral
ceremonies, be performed by non-Brahmans. In the Punjab members of
the Samaj of different castes will take food together, but rarely
in the United Provinces. Dissension has arisen on the question of
the consumption of flesh, and the Samaj is split into two parties,
vegetarians and meat-eaters. In the United Provinces, Mr. Burn states,
the vegetarian party would not object to employ men of low caste as
cooks, excepting such impure castes as Chamars, Doms and sweepers,
so long as they were also vegetarians. The Aryas still hold the
doctrine of the transmigration of souls and venerate the cow, but
they do not regard the cow as divine. In this respect their position
has been somewhat modified from that of Dayanand, who was a vigorous
supporter of the Gaoraksha or cow-protection movement.

4. Modernising tendencies.

Again Dayanand enunciated a very peculiar doctrine on Niyoga or the
custom of childless women, either married or widows, resorting to men
other than their husbands for obtaining an heir. This is permitted
under certain circumstances by the Hindu lawbooks. Dayanand laid down
that a Hindu widow might resort in succession to five men until she
had borne each of them two children, and a married woman might do
the same with the consent of her husband, or without his consent if
he had been absent from home for a certain number of years, varying
according to the purpose for which he was absent. [245] Dayanand held
that this rule would have beneficial results. Those who could restrain
their impulses would still be considered as following the best way;
but for the majority who could not do so, the authorised method
and degree of intimacy laid down by him would prevent such evils as
prostitution, connubial unfaithfulness, and the secret _liaisons_
of widows, resulting in practices like abortion. The prevalence of
such a custom would, however, certainly do more to injure social
and family life than all the evils which it was designed to prevent,
and it is not surprising to find that the Samaj does not now consider
Niyoga an essential doctrine; instead of this they are trying in face
of much opposition to introduce the natural and proper custom of the
remarriage of widows. The principal rite of the Samaj is the old Hom
sacrifice of burning clarified butter, grain, and various fragrant
gums and spices on the sacred fire, with the repetition of Sanskrit
texts. They now explain this by saying that it is a sanitary measure,
designed to purify the air.

The Samaj does not believe in any literal heaven and hell, but
considers these as figurative expressions of the state of the soul,
whether in this life or the life to come. The Aryas therefore do not
perform the _shradhh_ ceremony nor offer oblations to the dead, and
in abolishing these they reduce enormously the power and influence
of the priesthood.

5. Aims and educational institutions.

The above account indicates that the Arya Samaj is tending to become
a vaguely theistic sect. Its religious observances will probably
fall more and more into the background, and its members will aspire
to observe in their conduct the code of social morality obtaining in
Europe, and to regulate their habit of life by similar considerations
of comfort and convenience. Already the principal aims of the
Samaj tend mainly to the social improvement of its members and their
fellow-Indians. It sets its face against child-marriage, and encourages
the remarriage of widows. It busies itself with female education,
with orphanages and schools, dispensaries and public libraries, and
philanthropic institutions of all sorts. [246] Its avowed aim is to
unite and regenerate the peoples of Aryavarrta or India.

As one of its own poets has said: [247]

Ah! long have ye slept, Sons of India, too long!
Your country degenerate, your morals all wrong.

Its principal educational institutions are the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic
College at Lahore and the Anglo-Vedic School at Meerut, a large
orphanage at Bareilly, smaller ones at Allahabad and Cawnpore, and a
number of primary schools. It employs a body of travelling teachers
or Upadeshaks to make converts, and in the famine of 1900 took charge
of as many famine orphans as the Local Governments would entrust
to it, in order to prevent them from being handed over to Christian
missionaries. All members of the Samaj are expected to contribute one
per cent of their incomes to the society, and a large number of them
do this. The Arya Samaj has been accused of cherishing political aims
and of anti-British propaganda, but the writers quoted in this article
unite in acquitting it of such a charge as an institution, though some
of its members have been more or less identified with the Extremist
party. From the beginning, however, and apparently up to the present
time, its religious teaching has been directed to social and not to
political reform, and so long as it adheres to this course its work
must be considered to be useful and praiseworthy. Nevertheless some
danger may perhaps exist lest the boys educated in its institutions
may with youthful intemperance read into the instruction of their
teachers more than it is meant to convey, and divert exhortations
for social improvement and progress to political ends.

6. Prospects of the sect.

The census of 1911 showed the Arya Samaj to be in a flourishing
and progressive condition. There seems good reason to suppose that
its success may continue, as it meets a distinct religious and
social requirement of educated Hindus. Narsinghpur is the principal
centre of the sect in the Central Provinces, and here an orphanage is
maintained with about thirty inmates; the local members have an _ata_
fund, to which they daily contribute a handful of flour, and this
accumulates and is periodically made over to the orphanage. There is
also a Vedic school at Narsinghpur, and a Sanskrit school has been
started at Drug. [248]

Brahmo Samaj

[_Bibliography:_ Professor J. C. Oman's _Brahmans, Theists and Muslims
of India_ (1907); _Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India_ (1908);
Rev. F. Lillingston's _Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj_ (1901). The
following brief account is simply compiled from the above works and
makes no pretence to be critical.]

List of Paragraphs
1. _Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the sect_.
2. _Much esteemed by the English_.
3. _Foundation of the Brahmo Samaj_.
4. _Debendra Nath Tagore_.
5. _Keshub Chandar Sen_.
6. _The Civil Marriage Act_.
7. _Keshub Chandar's relapse into mysticism_.
8. _Recent history of the Samaj_.
9. _Character of the movement_.

1. Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the sect.

_Brahmo Samaj Religion_.--This monotheistic sect of Bengal numbered
only thirty-two adherents in the Central Provinces in 1911, of whom
all or nearly all were probably Bengalis. Nevertheless its history
is of great interest as representing an attempt at the reform and
purification of Hinduism under the influence of Christianity. The
founder of the sect, Ram Mohan Roy, a Brahman, was born in 1772
and died in England in 1833. He was sent to school at Patna, where
under the influence of Muhammadan teachers he learnt to despise
the extravagant stories of the Puranas. At the age of sixteen he
composed a tract against idolatry, which stirred up such a feeling of
animosity against him that he had to leave his home. He betook himself
first to Benares, where he received instruction in the Vedas from the
Brahmans. From there he went to Tibet, that he might learn the tenets
of Buddhism from its adherents rather than its opponents; his genuine
desire to form a fair judgment of the merits of every creed being
further evidenced by his learning the language in which each of these
finds its expression: thus he learnt Sanskrit that he might rightly
understand the Vedas, Pali that he might read the Buddhist Tripitaka,
Arabic as the key to the Koran, and Hebrew and Greek for the Old and
New Testaments. [249] In 1819, after a diligent study of the Bible,
he published a book entitled _The Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to
Peace and Happiness._ Although this work was eminently appreciative of
the character and teaching of Christ, it gave rise to an attack from
the missionaries of Serampore. Strange to say, Ram Mohan Roy so far
converted his tutor Mr. Adam (himself a missionary) to his own way
of thinking that that gentleman relinquished his spiritual office,
became editor of the _Indian Gazette,_ and was generally known in
Calcutta as 'The second fallen Adam.' [250]

2. Much esteemed by the English.

Ram Mohan Roy was held in great esteem by his English contemporaries
in India. He dispensed in charities the bulk of his private means,
living himself with the strictest economy in order that he might have
the more to give away. It was to a considerable extent due to his
efforts, and more especially to his demonstration that the practice
of Sati found no sanction in the Vedas, that this abominable rite was
declared illegal by Lord William Bentinck in 1829. The titular emperor
of Delhi conferred the title of Raja upon him in 1830 and induced
him to proceed to England on a mission to the Home Government. He
was the first Brahman who had crossed the sea, and his distinguished
appearance, agreeable manners, and undoubtedly great ability, coupled
with his sympathy for Christianity, procured him a warm welcome in
England, where he died in 1833. [251]

3. Foundation of the Brahmo Samaj.

Ram Mohan Roy, with the help of a few friends and disciples, founded,
in 1830, the Brahmo Samaj or Society of God. In the trust deed of
the meeting-house it was laid down that the society was founded for
"the worship and adoration of the eternal, unsearchable and immutable
Being who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe, but not by
any other name, designation or title peculiarly used by any men or
set of men; and that in conducting the said worship and adoration, no
object, animate or inanimate, that has been or is or shall hereafter
become ... an object of worship by any men or set of men, shall be
reviled or slightingly or contemptuously spoken of or alluded to
either in preaching, or in the hymns or other mode of worship that
may be delivered or used in the said messuage or building." [252]
This well exemplifies the broad toleration and liberality of the
sect. The service in the new theistic church consisted in the recital
of the Vedas by two Telugu Brahmans, the reading of texts from the
Upanishads, and the expounding of the same in Bengali. The Samaj, thus
constituted, based its teaching on the Vedas and was at this time,
though unorthodox, still a Hindu sect, and made no attempt at the
abolition of caste. "Indeed, in establishing this sect, Ram Mohan Roy
professed to be leading his countrymen back to the pure, uncorrupted,
monotheistic religion of their Vedic ancestors; but his monotheism,
based, as it was, essentially upon the Vedanta philosophy, was in
reality but a disguised Pantheism, enriched as regards its ethics by
ideas derived from Muslim and Christian literature and theology." [253]

4. Debendra Nath Tagore.

After the death of its founder the sect languished for a period of ten
years until it was taken in hand by Debendra Nath Tagore, whose father
Dwarka Nath had been a friend and warm admirer of Ram Mohan Roy, and
had practically maintained the society by paying its expenses during
the interval. In 1843 Debendra drew up a form of initiation which
involved the renunciation of idolatry. He established branches of
the Brahmo Samaj in many towns and villages of Bengal, and in 1845 he
sent four Pandits to Benares to copy out and make a special study of
the Vedas. On their return to Calcutta after two years Debendra Nath
devoted himself with their aid to a diligent and critical study of the
sacred books, and eventually, after much controversy and even danger
of disruption, the Samaj, under his guidance, came to the important
decision that the teaching of the Vedas could not be reconciled with
the conclusions of modern science or with the religious convictions
of the Brahmos, a result which soon led to an open and public denial
of the infallibility of the Vedas.

"There is nothing," Professor Oman remarks, "in the Brahmic movement
more creditable to the parties concerned than this honest and
careful inquiry into the nature of the doctrines and precepts of the
Vedas." [254]

5. Keshub Chandar Sen.

The tenets of the Brahmo Samaj consisted at this time of a pure theism,
without special reliance on the Hindu sacred books or recognition of
such Hindu doctrines as the transmigration of souls. But in their
ordinary lives its members still conformed generally to the caste
practices and religious usages of their neighbours. But a progressive
party now arose under the leadership of Keshub Chandar Sen, a young man
of the Vaidya caste, which desired to break altogether with Hinduism,
abolish the use of sect marks and the prohibition of intermarriage
between castes, and to welcome into the community converts from all
religions. Meanwhile Debendra Nath Tagore had spent three years in
seclusion in the Himalayas, occupied with meditation and prayer; on
his return he acceded so far to the views of Keshub Chandar Sen as to
celebrate the marriage of his daughter according to a reformed theistic
ritual; but when his friend pressed for the complete abolition of all
caste restrictions, Debendra Nath refused his consent and retired once
more to the hills. [255] The result was a schism in the community,
and in 1866 the progressive party seceded and set up a Samaj of
their own, calling themselves the Brahmo Samaj of India, while the
conservative group under Debendra Nath Tagore was named the Adi or
original Samaj. In 1905 the latter was estimated to number only about
300 persons. [256]

Keshub Chandar Sen had been educated in the Presidency College,
Calcutta, and being more familiar with English and the Bible than
with the Sanskrit language and Vedic literature, he was filled with
deep enthusiastic admiration of the beauty of Christ's character
and teaching. [257] He had shown a strong passion for the stage and
loved nothing better than the plays of Shakespeare. He was fond of
performing himself, and especially delighted in appearing in the
role of a magician or conjurer before his family and friends. The
new sect took up the position that all religions were true and
worthy of veneration. At the inaugural meeting, texts from the
sacred scriptures of the Christians, Hindus, Muhammadans, Parsis
and Chinese were publicly read, in order to mark and to proclaim to
the world the catholicity of spirit in which it was formed. [258]
Keshub by his writings and public lectures kept himself prominently
before the Indian world, enlisting the sympathies of the Viceroy
(Sir John Lawrence) by his tendencies towards Christianity.

6. The Civil Marriage Act.

By this time several marriages had been performed according to the
revised ritual of the Brahmic Church, which had given great offence
to orthodox Hindus and exposed the participators in these novel rites
to much obloquy. The legality of marriages thus contracted had even
been questioned. To avoid this difficulty Keshub induced Government
in 1872 to pass the Native Marriage Act, introducing for the first
time the institution of civil marriage into Hindu society. The Act
prescribed a form of marriage to be celebrated before the Registrar
for persons who did not profess either the Hindu, the Muhammadan,
the Parsi, the Sikh, the Jaina or the Buddhist religion, and who
were neither Christians nor Jews; and fixed the minimum age for a
bridegroom at eighteen and for a bride at fourteen. Only six years
later, however, Keshub Chandar Sen committed the fatal mistake of
ignoring the law which he had himself been instrumental in passing:
he permitted the marriage of his daughter, below the age of fourteen,
to the young Maharaja of Kuch Bihar, who was not then sixteen years
of age. [259] This event led to a public censure of Keshub Chandar
Sen by his community and the secession of a section of the members,
who formed the Sadharan or Universal Brahmo Samaj. The creed of this
body consisted in the belief in an infinite Creator, the immortality of
the soul, the duty and necessity of the spiritual worship of God, and
disbelief in any infallible book or man as a means of salvation. [260]

7. Keshub Chandar's relapse into mysticism.

From about this period, or a little before, Keshub Chandar Sen appears
to have attempted to make a wider appeal to Indians by developing the
emotional side of his religion. And he gradually relapsed from a pure
unitarian theism into what was practically Hindu pantheism and the
mysticism of the Yogis. At the same time he came to consider himself
an inspired prophet, and proclaimed himself as such. The following
instances of his extravagant conduct are given by Professor Oman. [261]

"In 1873 he brought forward the doctrine of Adesh or special
inspiration, declaring emphatically that inspiration is not only
possible, but a veritable fact in the lives of many devout souls
in this age. The following years witnessed a marked development of
that essentially Asiatic and perhaps more especially Indian form of
religious feeling, which finds its natural satisfaction in solitary
ecstatic contemplation. As a necessary consequence an order of devotees
was established in 1876, divided into three main classes, which in
ascending gradation were designated Shabaks, Bhaktas and Yogis. The
lowest class, divided into two sections, is devoted to religious study
and the practical performance of religious duties, including doing good
to others. The aspiration of the Bhakta is ... 'Inebriation in God. He
is most passionately fond of God and delights in loving Him and all
that pertains to Him.... The very utterance of the divine name causes
his heart to overflow and brings tears of joy to his eyes.' As for the
highest order of devotees, the Yogis, 'They live in the spirit-world
and readily commune with spiritual realities. They welcome whatever is
a help to the entire subjugation of the soul, and are always employed
in conquering selfishness, carnality and worldliness. They are happy
in prayer and meditation and in the study of nature.'

"The new dispensation having come into the world to harmonise
conflicting creeds and regenerate mankind, must have its outward
symbol, its triumphal banner floating proudly on the joyful air
of highly-favoured India. A flag was therefore made and formally
consecrated as 'The Banner of the New Dispensation.' This emblem of
'Regenerated and saving theism' the new prophet himself formed with
a yak's tail and kissed with his own inspired lips. In orthodox Hindu
fashion his missionaries--apostles of the new Dispensation--went round
it with lights in their hands, while his less privileged followers
respectfully touched the sacred pole and humbly bowed down to it. In
a word, the banner was worshipped as Hindu idols are worshipped any
day in India. Carried away by a spirit of innovation, anxious to keep
himself prominently before the world, and realising no doubt that
since churches and sects do not flourish on intellectual pabulum only,
certain mystic rites and gorgeous ceremonials were necessary to the
success of the new Dispensation, Keshub introduced into his Church
various observances which attracted a good deal of attention and did
not escape criticism. On one occasion he went with his disciples
in procession, singing hymns, to a stagnant tank in Calcutta,
and made believe that they were in Palestine and on the side of
the Jordan. Standing near the tank Keshub said, 'Beloved brethren,
we have come into the land of the Jews, and we are seated on the
bank of the Jordan. Let them that have eyes see. Verily, verily,
here was the Lord Jesus baptised eighteen hundred years ago. Behold
the holy waters wherein was the Son of God immersed.' We learn also
that Keshub and his disciples attempted to hold communication with
saints and prophets of the olden time, upon whose works and teaching
they had been pondering in retirement and solitude. On this subject
the following notice appeared in the _Sunday Mirror_:

"'It is proposed to promote communion with departed saints among
the more advanced Brahmos. With a view to achieve this object
successfully ancient prophets and saints will be taken one after
another on special occasions and made the subject of close study,
meditation and prayer. Particular places will also be assigned to
which the devotees will resort as pilgrims. There for hours together
they will try to draw inspiration from particular saints. We believe
a spiritual pilgrimage to Moses will be shortly undertaken. Only
earnest devotees ought to join.'"

8. Recent history of the Samaj.

Keshub Chandar Sen died in 1884, and the Brahmo Samaj seems
subsequently to have returned more or less to its first position of
pure theism coupled with Hindu social reform. His successor in the
leadership of the sect was Babu P.C. Mazumdar, who visited America
and created a favourable impression at the Parliament of Religions
at Chicago. Under his guidance the Samaj seems to have gradually
drifted towards American Unitarianism, and to have been supported in
no slight degree by funds from the United States of America. [262] He
died in 1905, and left no one of prominent character and attainments
to succeed to the leadership. In 1911 the adherents of the different
branches of the Samaj numbered at the census only 5500 persons.

9. Character of the movement.

The history of the Brahmo Samaj is of great interest, because it was
the first attempt at the reform and purification of Hinduism made under
the influence of Christianity, the long line of Vaishnavite reformers
who strove to abrogate Hindu polytheism and the deadening restrictions
of caste, having probably been inspired by the contemplation of
Islam. The Samaj is further distinguished by the admirable toleration
and broadness of view of its religious position, and by having had for
its leaders three men of exceptional character and attainments, two
of whom, and especially Keshub Chandar Sen, made a profound impression
in England among all classes of society. But the failure of the Samaj
to attract any large number of converts from among the Hindus was
only what might have been expected. For it requires its followers
practically to cut themselves adrift from family and caste ties and
offers nothing in return but an undefined theism, not calculated
to excite any enthusiasm or strong feeling in ordinary minds. Its
efforts at social reform have probably, however, been of substantial
value in weakening the rigidity of Hindu rules on caste and marriage.

Dadupanthi Sect. [263]

_Dadupanthi Sect._--One of the sects founded by Vaishnava reformers
of the school of Kabir; a few of its members are found in the
western Districts of the Central Provinces. Dadu was a Pinjara or
cotton-cleaner by caste. He was born at Ahmadabad in the sixteenth
century, and died at Narayana in the Jaipur State shortly after
A.D. 1600. He is said to have been the fifth successor in spiritual
inspiration from Kabir, or the sixth from Ramanand. Dadu preached
the unity of God and protested against the animistic abuses which
had grown up in Hinduism. "To this day," writes Mr. Coldstream,
"the Dadupanthis use the words Sat Ram, the True God, as a current
phrase expressive of their creed. Dadu forbade the worship of idols,
and did not build temples; now temples are built by his followers, who
say they worship in them the Dadubani or Sacred Book." This is what has
been done by other sects such as the Sikhs and Dhamis, whose founders
eschewed the veneration of idols; but their uneducated followers could
not dispense with some visible symbol for their adoration, and hence
the sacred script has been enthroned in a temple. The worship of the
Dadupanthis, Professor Wilson says, is addressed to Rama, but it is
restricted to the Japa or repetition of his name, and the Rama intended
is the deity negatively described in the Vedanta theology. The chief
place of worship of the sect is Narayana, where Dadu died. A small
building on a hill marks the place of his disappearance, and his bed
and the sacred books are kept there as objects of veneration.

Like other sects, the Dadupanthis are divided into celibate or
priestly and lay or householder branches. But they have also a third
offshoot, consisting in the Naga Gosains of Jaipur, nearly naked
ascetics, who constituted a valuable part of the troops of Jaipur
and other States. It is said that the Nagas always formed the van
of the army of Jaipur. The sect have white caps with four corners
and a flap hanging down at the back, which each follower has to make
for himself. To prevent the destruction of animal life entailed by
cremation, the tenets of the sect enjoin that corpses should be laid
in the forests to be devoured by birds and beasts. This rule, however,
is not observed, and their dead are burnt at early dawn.

Dhami, Prannathi Sect.

_Dhami, Prannathi Sect._--A small religious sect or order, having
its headquarters in the Panna State of Bundelkhand. A few members of
the sect are found in the Saugor and Damoh Districts of the Central
Provinces. The name Dhami is simply a derivative from _dham_, a
monastery, and in northern India they are called Prannathi after their
founder. They are also known as Sathi Bhai, brothers in religion,
or simply as Bhai or brothers. The sect takes its origin from one
Prannath, a Rajput who lived in the latter part of Aurangzeb's reign
towards the end of the seventeenth century. He is said to have acquired
great influence with Chatra Sal, Raja of Panna, by the discovery of a
diamond mine there, and on this account Panna was made the home of the
sect. Prannath was well acquainted with the sacred books of Islam, and,
like other Hindu reformers, he attempted to propagate a faith which
should combine the two religions. To this end he composed a work in
Gujarati called the Kulzam Sarup, in which texts from the Koran and
the Vedas are brought together and shown not to be incompatible. His
creed also proclaimed the abolition of the worship of idols, and
apparently of caste restrictions and the supremacy of Brahmans. As
a test of a disciple's assent to the real identity of the Hindu and
Muhammadan creeds, the ceremony of initiation consists in eating in
the society of the followers of both religions; but the amalgamation
appears to be carried no further, and members of the sect continue
to follow generally their own religious practices. Theoretically they
should worship no material objects except the Founder's Book of Faith,
which lies on a table covered with gold cloth in the principal temple
at Panna. But in fact they adore the boy Krishna as he was at Mathura,
and in some temples there are images of Radha and Krishna, while in
others the decorations are so arranged as to look like an idol from
a distance. All temples, however, contain a copy of the sacred book,
round which a lighted lamp is waved in the morning and evening. The
Dhamis now say also that their founder Prannath was an incarnation
of Krishna, and they observe the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's birthday
as their principal festival. They wear the Radha Vallabhi _tilak_
or sect-mark, consisting of two white lines drawn down the forehead
from the roots of the hair, and curving to meet at the top of the nose,
with a small red dot between them. On the cheeks and temples they make
rosette-like marks by bunching up the five fingers, dipping them in
a solution of sandalwood and then applying them to the face. [264]
They regard the Jumna as a sacred river and its water as holy, no
doubt because Mathura is on its banks, but pay no reverence to the
Ganges. Their priests observe celibacy, but do not practise asceticism,
and all the Dhamis are strict vegetarians.

There is also a branch of the sect in Gujarat, where the founder
is known as Meheraj Thakur. He appears to have been identical with
Prannath, and instituted a local headquarters at Surat. [265] It is
related by Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam that Meheraj Thakur was himself the
disciple of one Deo Chand, a native of Amarkot in Sind. The latter
was devoted to the study of the Bhagwat Puran, and came to Jamnagar in
Kathiawar, where he founded a temple to Radha and Krishna. As there is
a temple at Panna consecrated to Deo Chand as the Guru or preceptor
of Prannath, and as the book of the faith is written in Gujarati,
the above account would appear to be correct, and it follows that
the sect originated in the worship of Krishna, and was refined by
Prannath into a purer form of faith. A number of Cutchis in Surat
are adherents of the sect, and usually visit the temple at Panna on
the full-moon day of Kartik (October). Curiously enough the sect has
also found a home in Nepal, having been preached there, it is said,
by missionary Dhamis in the time of Raja Ram Bahadur Shah of Nepal,
about 150 years ago. Its members there are known as Pranami or Parnami,
a corruption of Prannathi and they often come to Panna to study the
sacred book. It is reported that there are usually about forty Nepalis
lodging in the premises of the great temple at Panna. [266]

Jain Religion

[_Bibliography: The Jainas_, by Dr. J.G. Bühler and J. Burgess,
London, 1903; _The Religions of India_, Professor E.W. Hopkins; _The
Religions of India_, Professor A. Barth; _Punjab Census Report_
(1891), Sir E.D. Maclagan; article on Jainism in Dr. Hastings'
_Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_.]

List of Paragraphs
1. _Numbers and distribution_.
2. _The Jain religion. Its connection with Buddhism_.
3. _The Jain tenets. The Tirthakars_.
4. _The transmigration of souls_.
5. _Strict rules against taking life_.
6. _Jain sects_.
7. _Jain ascetics_.
8. _Jain subcastes of Banias_.
9. _Rules and customs of the laity_.
10. _Connection with Hinduism_.
11. _Temples and car festival_.
12. _Images of the Tirthakars_.
13. _Religious observances_.
14. _Tenderness for animal life_.
15. _Social condition of the Jains_.

1. Numbers and distribution.

_Jain_.--The total number of Jains in the Central Provinces in 1911
was 71,000 persons. They nearly all belong to the Bania caste, and
are engaged in moneylending and trade like other Banias. They reside
principally in the Vindhyan Districts, Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore,
and in the principal towns of the Nagpur country and Berar.

2. The Jain religion. Its connection with Buddhism.

The Jain tenets present marked features of resemblance to Buddhism,
and it was for some time held that Jainism was merely a later offshoot
from that religion. The more generally accepted view now, however, is
that the Jina or prophet of the Jains was a real historical personage,
who lived in the sixth century B.C., being a contemporary of Gautama,
the Buddha. Vardhamana, as he was commonly called, is said to have
been the younger son of a small chieftain in the province of Videha or
Tirhut. Like Sakya-Muni the Buddha or enlightened, Vardhamana became
an ascetic, and after twelve years of a wandering life he appeared
as a prophet, proclaiming a modification of the doctrine of his own
teacher Parsva or Parasnath. From this time he was known as Mahavira,
the great hero, the same name which in its familiar form of Mahabir
is applied to the god Hanuman. The title of Jina or victorious,
from which the Jains take their name, was subsequently conferred
on him, his sect at its first institution being called Nirgrantha or
ascetic. There are very close resemblances in the traditions concerning
the lives of Vardhamana and Gautama or Buddha. Both were of royal
birth; the same names recur among their relatives and disciples;
and they lived and preached in the same part of the country, Bihar
and Tirhut. [267] Vardhamana is said to have died during Buddha's
lifetime, the date of the latter's death being about 480 B.C. [268]
Their doctrines also, with some important differences, present,
on the whole, a close resemblance. Like the Buddhists, the Jains
claim to have been patronised by the Maurya princes. While Asoka
was mainly instrumental in the propagation of Buddhism over India,
his grandfather Chandragupta is stated to have been a Jain, and his
grandson Sampadi also figures in Jain tradition. A district which is
a holy land for one is almost always a holy land for the other, and
their sacred places adjoin each other in Bihar, in the peninsula of
Gujarat, on Mount Abu in Rajputana and elsewhere. [269] The earliest
of the Jain books belongs to the sixth century A.D., the existence of
the Nirgrantha sect in Buddha's lifetime being proved by the Cingalese
books of the Buddhists, and by references to it in the inscriptions
of Asoka and others. [270] While then M. Barth's theory that Jainism
was simply a later sect of Buddhism has been discarded by subsequent
scholars, it seems likely that several of the details of Vardhamana's
life now recorded in the Jain books are not really authentic, but
were taken from that of Buddha with necessary alterations, when the
true facts about their own prophet had been irrevocably lost.

3. The Jain tenets. The Tirthakars.

Like the Buddhists, the Jains recognise no creator of the world,
and suppose it to have existed from eternity. Similarly, they had
originally no real god, but the Jina or victor, like the Buddha or
Enlightened One, was held to have been an ordinary mortal man, who
by his own power had attained to omniscience and freedom, and out of
pity for suffering mankind preached and declared the way of salvation
which he had found. [271] This doctrine, however, was too abstruse
for the people, and in both cases the prophet himself gradually
came to be deified. Further, in order perhaps to furnish objects of
worship less distinctively human and to whom a larger share of the
attributes of deity could be imputed, in both religions a succession
of mythical predecessors of the prophet was gradually brought into
existence. The Buddhists recognise twenty-five Buddhas or divine
prophets, who appeared at long epochs of time and taught the same
system one after another; and the Jains have twenty-four Tirthakars
or Tirthankars, who similarly taught their religion. Of these only
Vardhamana, its real founder, who was the twenty-fourth, and possibly
Parsva or Parasnath, the twenty-third and the founder's preceptor,
are or may be historical. The other twenty-two Tirthakars are purely
mythical. The first, Rishaba, was born more than 100 billion years ago,
as the son of a king of Ajodhya; he lived more than 8 million years,
and was 500 bow-lengths in height. He therefore is as superhuman
as any god, and his date takes us back almost to eternity. The
others succeeded each other at shorter intervals of time, and show
a progressive decline in stature and length of life. The images of
the Tirthakars are worshipped in the Jain temples like those of the
Buddhas in Buddhist temples. As with Buddhism also, the main feature
of Jain belief is the transmigration of souls, and each successive
incarnation depends on the sum of good and bad actions or _karman_
in the previous life. They hold also the primitive animistic doctrine
that souls exist not only in animals and plants but in stones, lumps
of earth, drops of water, fire and wind, and the human soul may pass
even into these if its sins condemn it to such a fate. [272]

4. The transmigration of souls.

The aim which Jainism, like Buddhism, sets before its disciples
is the escape from the endless round of successive existences,
known as Samsara, through the extinction of the _karman_ or sum of
actions. This is attained by complete subjection of the passions and
destruction of all desires and appetites of the body and mind, that
is, by the most rigid asceticism, as well as by observing all the
moral rules prescribed by the religion. It was the Jina or prophet
who showed this way of escape, and hence he is called Tirthakar or
'The Finder of the Ford,' through the ocean of existence. [273]
But Jainism differs from Buddhism in that it holds that the soul,
when finally emancipated, reaches a heaven and there continues for
ever a separate intellectual existence, and is not absorbed into
Nirvana or a state of blessed nothingness.

5. Strict rules against taking life.

The moral precepts of the Jains are of the same type as those of
Buddhism and Vaishnavite Hinduism, but of an excessive rigidity,
at any rate in the case of the Yatis or Jatis, the ascetics. They
promise not to hurt, not to speak untruths, to appropriate nothing to
themselves without permission, to preserve chastity and to practise
self-sacrifice. But these simple rules are extraordinarily expanded
on the part of the Jains. Thus, concerning the oath not to hurt,
on which the Jains lay most emphasis: it prohibits not only the
intentional killing or injuring of living beings, plants or the souls
existing in dead matter, but requires also the utmost carefulness in
the whole manner of life, and a watchfulness also over all movements
and functions of the body by which anything living might be hurt. It
demands, finally, strict watch over the heart and tongue, and the
avoidance of all thoughts and words which might lead to disputes
and quarrels, and thereby do harm. In like manner the rule of
sacrifice requires not only that the ascetic should have no houses or
possessions, but he must also acquire a complete unconcern towards
agreeable or disagreeable impressions, and destroy all feelings
of attachment to anything living or dead. [274] Similarly, death by
voluntary starvation is prescribed for those ascetics who have reached
the Kewalin or brightest stage of knowledge, as the means of entering
their heaven. Owing to the late date of the Jain scriptures, any or
all of its doctrines may have been adopted from Buddhism between
the commencement of the two religions and the time when they were
compiled. The Jains did not definitely abolish caste, and hence escaped
the persecution to which Buddhism was subjected during the period of
its decline from the fifth or sixth century A.D. On account of this
trouble many Buddhists became Jains, and hence a further fusion of
the doctrines of the rival sects may have ensued. The Digambara sect
of Jains agree with the Buddhists in holding that women cannot attain
Nirvana or heaven, while the Swetambara sect say that they can, and
also admit women as nuns into the ascetic order. The Jain scripture,
the Yogashastra, speaks of women as the lamps that burn on the road
that leads to the gates of hell.

6. Jain sects.

The Jains are divided into the above two principal sects, the
Digambara and the Swetambara. The Digambara are the more numerous
and the stricter sect. According to their tenets death by voluntary
starvation is necessary for ascetics who would attain heaven, though
of course the rule is not now observed. The name Digambara signifies
sky-clad, and Swetambara white-clad. Formerly the Digambara ascetics
went naked, and were the gymnosophists of the Greek writers, but now
they take off their clothes, if at all, only at meals. The theory
of the origin of the two sects is that Parasnath, the twenty-third
Tirthakar, wore clothes, while Mahavira the twenty-fourth did not,
and the two sects follow their respective examples. The Digambaras now
wear ochre-coloured cloth, and the Swetambaras white. The principal
difference at present is that the images in Digambara temples are naked
and bare, while those of the Swetambaras are clothed, presumably in
white, and also decorated with jewellery and ornaments. The Digambara
ascetics may not use vessels for cooking or holding their food, but
must take it in their hands from their disciples and eat it thus;
while the Swetambara ascetics may use vessels. The Digambara, however,
do not consider the straining-cloth, brush, and gauze before the
mouth essential to the character of an ascetic, while the Swetambara
insist on them. There is in the Central Provinces another small sect
called Channagri or Samaiya, and known elsewhere as Dhundia. These do
not put images in their temples at all, but only copies of the Jain
sacred books, and pay reverence to them. They will, however, worship
in regular Jain temples at places where there are none of their own.

7. Jain ascetics.

The initiation of a Yati or Jati, a Jain ascetic, is thus described:
It is frequent for Banias who have no children to vow that their
first-born shall be a Yati. Such a boy serves a novitiate with a _guru_
or preceptor, and performs for him domestic offices; and when he is
old enough and has made progress in his studies he is initiated. For
this purpose the novice is carried out of the tower with music and
rejoicing in procession, followed by a crowd of Sravakas or Jain
laymen, and taken underneath the banyan, or any other tree the juice of
which is milky. His hair is pulled out at the roots with five pulls;
camphor, musk, sandal, saffron and sugar are applied to the scalp;
and he is then placed before his _guru,_ stripped of his clothes and
with his hands joined. A text is whispered in his ear by the _guru_,
and he is invested with the clothes peculiar to Yatis; two cloths, a
blanket and a staff; a plate for his victuals and a cloth to tie them
up in; a piece of gauze to tie over his mouth to prevent the entry
of insects; a cloth through which to strain his drinking-water to
the same end; and a broom made of cotton threads or peacock feathers
to sweep the ground before him as he walks, so that his foot may not
crush any living thing. The duty of the Yati is to read and explain
the sacred books to the Sravakas morning and evening, such functions
being known as Sandhya. His food consists of all kinds of grain,
vegetables and fruit produced above the earth; but no roots such as
yams or onions. Milk and _ghi_ are permitted, but butter and honey
are prohibited. Some strict Yatis drink no water but what has been
first boiled, lest they should inadvertently destroy any insect,
it being less criminal to boil them than to destroy them in the
drinker's stomach. A Yati having renounced the world and all civil
duties can have no family, nor does he perform any office of mourning
or rejoicing. [275] A Yati was directed to travel about begging and
preaching for eight months in the year, and during the four rainy
months to reside in some village or town and observe a fast. The
rules of conduct to be observed by him were extremely strict, as has
already been seen. Those who observed them successfully were believed
to acquire miraculous powers. He who was a Siddh or victor, and had
overcome his Karma or the sum of his human actions and affections,
could read the thoughts of others and foretell the future. He who had
attained Kewalgyan, or the state of perfect knowledge which preceded
the emancipation of the soul and its absorption into paradise, was
a god on earth, and even the gods worshipped him. Wherever he went
all plants burst into flower and brought forth fruit, whether it was
their season or not. In his presence no animal bore enmity to another
or tried to kill it, but all animals lived peaceably together. This
was the state attained to by each Tirthakar during his last sojourn
on earth. The number of Jain ascetics seems now to be less than
formerly and they are not often met with, at least in the Central
Provinces. They do not usually perform the function of temple priest.

8. Jain subcastes of Banias.

Practically all the Jains in the Central Provinces are of the Bania
caste. There is a small subcaste of Jain Kalars, but these are
said to have gone back to Hinduism. [276] Of the Bania subcastes
who are Jains the principal are the Parwar, Golapurab, Oswal and
Saitwal. Saraogi, the name for a Jain layman, and Charnagar, a
sect of Jains, are also returned as subcastes of Jain Banias. Other
important subcastes of Banias, as the Agarwal and Maheshri, have a
Jain section. Nearly all Banias belong to the Digambara sect, but the
Oswal are Swetambaras. They are said to have been originally Rajputs
of Os or Osnagar in Rajputana, and while they were yet Rajputs a
Swetambara ascetic sucked the poison from the wound of an Oswal boy
whom a snake had bitten, and this induced the community to join the
Swetambara sect of the Jains. [277]

9. Rules and customs of the laity.

The Jain laity are known as Shrawak or Saraogi, learners. There
is comparatively little to distinguish them from their Hindu
brethren. Their principal tenet is to avoid the destruction of all
animal, including insect life, but the Hindu Banias are practically
all Vaishnavas, and observe almost the same tenderness for animal life
as the Jains. The Jains are distinguished by their separate temples
and method of worship, and they do not recognise the authority of
the Vedas nor revere the _lingam_ of Siva. Consequently they do not
use the Hindu sacred texts at their weddings, but repeat some verses
from their own scriptures. These weddings are said to be more in the
nature of a civil contract than of a religious ceremony. The bride and
bridegroom walk seven times round the sacred post and are then seated
on a platform and promise to observe certain rules of conduct towards
each other and avoid offences. It is said that formerly a Jain bride
was locked up in a temple for the first night and considered to be
the bride of the god. But as scandals arose from this custom, she is
now only locked up for a minute or two and then let out again. Jain
boys are invested with the sacred thread on the occasion of their
weddings or at twenty-one or twenty-two if they are still unmarried
at that age. The thread is renewed annually on the day before the
full moon of Bhadon (August), after a ten days' fast in honour of
Anant Nath Tirthakar. The thread is made by the Jain priests of
tree cotton and has three knots. At their funerals the Jains do not
shave the moustaches off as a rule, and they never shave the _choti_
or scalp-lock, which they wear like Hindus. They give a feast to the
caste-fellows and distribute money in charity, but do not perform the
Hindu _shraddh_ or offering of sacrificial cakes to the dead. The
Agarwal and Khandelwal Jains, however, invoke the spirits of their
ancestors at weddings. Traces of an old hostility between Jains and
Hindus survive in the Hindu saying that one should not take refuge in a
Jain temple, even to escape from a mad elephant; and in the rule that
a Jain beggar will not take alms from a Hindu unless he can perform
some service in return, though it may not equal the value of the alms.

10. Connection with Hinduism.

In other respects the Jains closely resemble the Hindus. Brahmans
are often employed at their weddings, they reverence the cow,
worship sometimes in Hindu temples, go on pilgrimages to the Hindu
sacred places, and follow the Hindu law of inheritance. The Agarwal
Bania Jains and Hindus will take food cooked with water together and
intermarry in Bundelkhand, although it is doubtful whether they do
this in the Central Provinces. In such a case each party pays a fine
to the Jain temple fund. In respect of caste distinctions the Jains
are now scarcely less strict than the Hindus. The different Jain
subcastes of Banias coming from Bundelkhand will take food together
as a rule, and those from Marwar will do the same. The Khandelwal
and Oswal Jain Banias will take food cooked with water together when
it has been cooked by an old woman past the age of child-bearing,
but not that cooked by a young woman. The spread of education has
awakened an increased interest among the Jains in their scriptures
and the tenets of their religion, and it is quite likely that the
tendency to conform to Hinduism in caste matters and ceremonies may
receive a check on this account. [278]

11. Temple and car festival.

The Jains display great zeal in the construction of temples in which
the images of the Tirthakars are enshrined. The temples are commonly of
the same fashion as those of the Hindus, with a short, roughly conical
spire tapering to a point at the apex, but they are frequently adorned
with rich carved stone and woodwork. There are fine collections of
temples at Muktagiri in Betul, Kundalpur in Damoh, and at Mount Abu,
Girnar, the hill of Parasnath in Chota Nagpur, and other places in
India. The best Jain temples are often found in very remote spots,
and it is suggested that they were built at times when the Jains
had to hide in such places to avoid Hindu persecution. And wherever
a community of Jain merchants of any size has been settled for a
generation or more several fine temples will probably be found. A
Jain Bania who has grown rich considers the building of one or more
temples to be the best method of expending his money and acquiring
religious merit, and some of them spend all their fortune in this
manner before their death. At the opening of a new temple the _rath_
or chariot festival should be held. Wooden cars are made, sometimes
as much as five stories high, and furnished with chambers for the
images of the Tirthakars. In these the idols of the hosts and all