Across India by Oliver Optic

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"While we are quietly seated here, I should like to ask for some
information in regard to Juggernaut," said Uncle Moses. "I used to read the
most horrible stories in my Sabbath-school books about that idol."

"Those stories, as I have been informed by elderly Englishmen, were
published in the United Kingdom, and all of them are inventions or gross
exaggerations," replied Sir Modava, with his pleasant smile. "Puri, or
Juggernaut, is in the district of Orissa, on the western shore of the Bay
of Bengal. It is one of the holiest places in India among the Hindus. It
contains a temple of Juggernaut, in honor of Vishnu, in which is an idol of
this Hindu god, called Jagannath, which is mentioned in history as far back
as A.D. 318. Vishnu is the Preserver of the Hindu trinity, and therefore in
an especial sense the god of the people; and sometimes 100,000 natives
gather at this shrine, bringing offerings to the value of nearly L40,000.

"The town has a population of twenty-two thousand, and it contains six
thousand lodging-houses for the pilgrims who visit it. The chief temple has
a hundred and twenty others in an enclosure, with a tower one hundred and
ninety-two feet high. Juggernaut's car, of which you have read, Mr.
Scarburn, is a sort of temple, thirty-five feet square, and forty-five feet
high, with wheels seven feet high. The car-festival is the chief of
twenty-four held every year, when the idol is dragged to the country house.
Though the distance is less than a mile, the sand is so deep in the roadway
that it requires several days to complete the journey.

"The idols in the temple are hideous-looking objects, with enormous eyes
and crescent-shaped mouths, the horns pointing upwards. But they are very
richly ornamented; for the idol has an income of over L30,000 from lands
and religious houses. It used to be currently reported and believed that
fanatical, crazy devotees cast themselves under the wheels of the car, and
were crushed to death, immolating themselves as an offering to the god. But
these statements have been strictly investigated, and branded as the
calumnies of English writers. Two distinguished savants have declared that
self-immolation is utterly contrary to the worship of Juggernaut, the very
unusual deaths at the car-festival being almost invariably accidental."

"It is a great pity that these horrible stories were ever poured into the
minds of children, and I am thankful that the libraries contain nothing of
the kind now," added Uncle Moses.

The company breakfasted with excellent appetites after the exercises of the
morning; and then Lord Tremlyn conducted them to the large saloon where the
Nautch had been given, and they were astonished to find that one end of it
was occupied by no less than fourteen men, not one of whom was more than
half clothed, though the tom-tom player had on a pair of short trousers.
This fellow began to beat his instrument with frantic energy, moaning and
howling at the same time as though he was in great agony.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Belgrave, putting her fingers into her ears.
"Can't you stop that hideous noise, Sir Modava?"

"No more howling!" protested he in Hindu.

The chief juggler declared that they could not go on, and Uncle Moses
suggested that they had to overwhelm the senses of the audience to enable
the jugglers to deceive them. Their Hindu guide talked with them, and then
ordered them to leave the hotel. The performers were not willing to forego
the rich reward expected; and a compromise was effected by which the
tom-tom was to be used, but the howling was to cease. Lord Tremlyn had
announced the nature of the entertainment as they entered the apartment,
and most of the tourists had heard of the wonderful skill of Indian
jugglers.

A couple of the performers produced two swords twenty-six inches long, and
pushed them down their throats to the hilt, and then asked Dr. Hawkes to
feel the point in their stomachs. Another put a stone in his mouth, and
then began to blow out smoke and a cloud of sparks from his nose as well as
his mouth. Turning a somerset, he cast the stone on the floor. One took an
iron hoop from a pile of them, and set it to spinning on a pole in the air.
He continued to add others, one at a time, till he had eighteen of them
whirling above his head.

Another set a lot of small swords circling in the air, till he had ten of
them buzzing about his head. At the same time a sleight-of-hand man was
doing a variety of tricks very skilfully, and acrobats were mounting on
each other's shoulders, and pitching themselves about very promiscuously.
While the party were wondering at the skill of the performers, though many
of them had seen most of the tricks at home, a boy about eight years old
came into the room with a good-sized basket in his hands, which he placed
on the floor as the men spread out into a semicircle. The child stepped
into the basket, which did not seem to be big enough to hold him, even when
reduced to his smallest dimensions.

The drummer played a new tune, and sang in a low tone. The boy seemed to
have a fit, and writhed as though he were in convulsions, finally dropping
down into the basket very slowly. Mrs. Blossom was sure the basket was not
big enough to contain him, and wondered what had become of him. Then the
performers threw themselves on the basket, closed the lid, and began to
punch it in every direction with long and wicked-looking knives. The ladies
were appalled at the sight; but they were assured that it was all right.

The Hindus finally crushed down the basket till it was almost flat, and it
did not look as though there was any space in it for a kitten, much less an
eight-year-old boy. Then the men formed a circle around the basket, and
began a sort of chant. Something like a voice seemed to be sounding in at
the open windows. It continued to come nearer, and at last appeared to
proceed from the basket, which began to be distended, till it was restored
to its full size. Then the lid was removed, and the child sprang out, to
the great relief of Mrs. Blossom.

Then one of the jugglers set a top to whirling, placed the point on the end
of a stick, and balanced it on his nose. So far it was no new thing; but
one of the spectators was asked to say stop at any time he pleased. Captain
Ringgold gave this command; and when he did so, the top ceased to whirl,
though, upsetting the bicycle theory, it kept its place on the stick. "Go!"
added the commander, prompted by Sir Modava; and the plaything began to
whirl again, as though its gyrations had not been interrupted. It was
stopped and started again several times, till the spectators were
satisfied.

The stick and the top were critically examined by the whole party, but not
one of them could suggest an explanation of the trick. The last two acts
were the most surprising; and the rest of the performance, though skilfully
done, did not amount to much. His lordship gave the chief juggler a handful
of silver, and they left the hotel with a profusion of salaams; for they
did not often make in a month what they got for an hour, the Hindu
gentleman said.

CHAPTER XXII

A MERE STATEMENT ABOUT BUDDHISM

"I looked into a Hindu temple this morning while I was walking about," said
Louis Belgrave, after the jugglers had been discussed a while. "I saw some
very ugly-looking idols; and I should like to ask if they really represent
individuals, or are creatures of the imagination."

"Both," replied Sir Modava with a smile; "there are, as you have been told
before, a great many different sects, and a system of mythology. About all
the gods and goddesses known to the Greeks and Romans have an existence in
the Indian mythology more or less similar to them. Indra, the counterpart
of Apollo in some of his functions, drives the chariot of fire that lights
the day.

"Rhemba was born of the sea, and is the Indian Venus; Cama is Cupid;
Parvati, whose image you saw at Elephanta, is Ceres; and so on to the end
of the chapter. These divinities are represented in the temples, but they
are without form or comeliness."

"They are not much like the beautiful statues of the Greeks," added Louis.

"The most prominent Indian sects are the Saivas, or worshippers of Siva;
the Vaishnavas, who bow down to Vishnu under his several incarnations, like
Krishna, whom you could not greatly respect; and the Jains, allied to the
Buddhists, found mostly in the northern sections of India. They occupy
important positions, and possess wealth and influence. There are
subdivisions into sects among them, and it would be quite impossible to
follow them through the mazes of belief to which they adhere. There is a
great deal of philosophy among many of the sects."

"But what are the Buddhists?" inquired Dr. Hawkes.

"Buddhism is quite as much a philosophy as a religion. It is not as
prevalent in India proper as formerly; though it is still dominant in
Ceylon, Napaul, Burma, and in the more northern countries of Asia. Its
history is somewhat indefinite. Gautama, of whom a great many pretty
stories are told, is sometimes regarded as the founder; though some who
have studied the history of the sect, or order, do not believe that the
Buddha was a real person, but an allegorical figure.

"Those who give a personal origin to the system, now said to be the
religion of one-third of the human race, begin with Prince Siddhartha, a
young man disposed to be an ascetic, and inclined to retire from the world.
In order to wean him from his meditative tendency, his father, in order to
cure him, and prevent him from forsaking his caste, married him to a
beautiful princess, and introduced him to the splendid dissipation of a
luxurious court. A dozen years of this life convinced him that 'all was
vanity and vexation of spirit,' and he became a sort of hermit, a religious
beggar, and spent his time in dwelling upon the miseries of human life.

"He used up years in this manner, and after much reasoning, came to the
conclusion that ignorance was misery. He gave himself up to study, and at
last came to believe that he had reached the perfection of wisdom. The tree
under which he sat when he reached this result was then called
_Bodhidruma_, or the tree of intelligence; and the Buddhists believe
the spot where it grew to be the centre of the earth. A tree that passes
for this one was discovered by a Chinese, still standing twelve hundred
years after the death of the Buddha; and the bo-tree of Ceylon is regarded
as its legitimate descendant. You have been told something about it.

"In Benares, having ascertained the cause of human misery, and learned the
remedy for it, the Buddha began to preach his peculiar salvation. In the
phrase of his religion he 'turned the wheel of the law.' One of his titles
is _Chakravartin_, which means 'the turner of a wheel.' The doctrines
of the Buddha are written out on a wheel, which is set in motion with a
crank, though it is sometimes operated by horse-power; and such machines
are sometimes seen in front of religious houses in Thibet, and the monks
have portable ones."

"I thought the religion of Thibet was the worship of the Grand Lama,"
suggested Louis.

"That is a form of Buddhism. The most important of the converts of the
Buddha was the Rajah of Magadha, or Behar, on the Ganges, which gave him a
good start, and it has since made almost incredible progress. It would take
too long to state the doctrines in detail of this sect, and you get an idea
of what it must be from what I said of its founder. Its leading doctrine is
the transmigration of souls, also called by that tough word,
metempsychosis, though other Hindu systems adopt this belief. It seems to
include the recognition of the immortality of the soul, which at the death
of the body passes into another form of existence,--a man, a woman, a lower
animal, or even a tree or other plant. The Buddha claims to have been born
five hundred and fifty times,--a hermit, a slave, a king, a monkey, an
elephant, a fish, a frog, a tree, etc. When he reached his highest
condition of perfection, he could recall all these different states of
being; and he has written them out.

"Some of the negroes of Africa have this belief, and when a child is born
they decide upon the ancestor whose soul has returned to the flesh in this
world. There are one hundred and thirty-six Buddhist hells, regularly
graded in the degree of suffering experienced and the length of time it
endures, the shortest term being ten million years. A good life secures an
elevated and happy life on earth, or as a blessed spirit in one of the many
heavens, where existence is continued for a bagatelle of ten billion years.
When the _karma_ is exhausted"--

"What in the world is that?" asked Mrs. Blossom, who was struggling to
understand the subject.

"It is the allotted term of existence, including the manner of living,
whether in bliss or misery. The person must be born again, and then become
a god, or the vilest creature that crawls the earth, according as he has
behaved himself. The Buddhists do not appear to have any idea of a personal
God; and they are practically atheists, though there are many good things
in their system. They recognize no omniscient, omnipresent, all-powerful
Supreme Being, who presides over the universe and all that is in it. They
are pessimists, and believe that life, on the whole, is misery, a curse
rather than a blessing. I have given you only a faint outline of what
Buddhism is. It has points in which it resembles Christianity. Buddha is
dead and gone; but his followers put up petitions to him, though there is
no one to hear and answer their prayers. But I must stop for the want of
time rather than because there is nothing more to be said; and I have done
no more than touch the subject."

"But it is not very different from Brahminism," suggested Professor Giroud.

"You are quite right, Professor," replied Sir Modava. "Brahma means the
universal spirit; but it is not a personal divinity to be worshipped. I
believe there is not an idol or sculpture in all India that represents
Brahma. Something that passes for this mystic spirit is represented with
four heads."

"But is there not a new church or philosophy of recent date--I mean Brahmo
Somaj?" inquired Dr. Hawkes.

"Rammohun Roy, or Rajah Ram Mohan Rai, was a Hindu ruler in the Presidency
of Bengal, born in 1772. His ancestors were Brahmins of high birth. He
studied Sanskrit, Arabian, and Persian, and was a profound scholar and
philosopher. When he began to have some doubt about the faith of his
fathers, he went to Thibet to study Buddhism, where he was so outspoken
that he offended the priests and others, and his religious belief brought
upon him the enmity of his own family. In 1803 he lived in Benares, and
held a public office at one time. He published works in the languages with
which he was familiar, directed against idolatry, which he labored to
uproot.

"He succeeded to abundant wealth at the death of his brother in 1811. His
influence assisted in the abolition of the suttee, and in bringing about
other reforms. He published 'The Precepts of Jesus,' accepting his
morality, but denying his divinity and the truth of the miracles. More than
fifty years ago he started an association which became the Brahmo Somaj,
which is a living and working society still. He went to England in 1831,
and was received with great respect and friendliness. I have great
reverence for the man, though I do not accept all his religious views."

"Lord Tremlyn informed this company in regard to the divisions of caste, so
that I think we have a tolerable idea of the matter," said Captain
Ringgold, reading from a paper in his hand. "But all these sects and castes
are divided again into tribes and trade societies. Then there is a
considerable portion of the people who, though they are fully recognized as
Hindus, are outside of the pale of this multiform organization."

"I should say that all this would make endless complications in business
and society. Each of these societies, or whatever you may call them, is
independent, and has its own regulations. None of its members can marry
into another caste, or even eat with those of a lower rank. A man born into
one of these associations having a particular business cannot take up
another calling without being pinched by the social law in all that he
holds dear in life. His wife deserts him, his children refuse to
acknowledge him as their father, and his property is absorbed by his
society or caste. All this for no crime, no immorality; and he may be a
noble and true man. If he chooses to be a tinker, instead of a trader, all
the gods of Hindu antiquity light upon his head, and worry him to the
funeral pyre by the shore."

"That is quite true, Captain, and I join with you in condemning this
grossly heathen institution," added Sir Modava. "But time and Christianity
will yet do their work, and my country will be saved. But I submit, my dear
Captain, that there is another side to the question."

"Quite true, and I was about to state it. The man who remains faithful to
the requirements of the society is protected and supported. Wherever he
goes, at whatever distance from his country he may be, he finds a roof and
a hearthstone which he may make his own for the time. If gone for years, he
will find the house and the field of his fathers undisturbed, of which he
may take possession. This institution may remove care and anxiety from the
mind of the man, and make him, as we find here, calm and contented, but
without the ambition of the business-man. I have taken most of this from a
book I found in Bombay."

"The most influential caste here are mostly Jains and Buniahs; and though
they belong to different tribes, they are united in business matters. They
wear their own costumes; but they have done more than any others for the
prosperity of the place," said Lord Tremlyn. "They are the speculators in
cottons and other goods, and many of them have immense wealth. The Buniahs
are always intelligent, and somewhat aristocratic. You may know one of them
by his tall turban, like a shako, though sometimes it is rolled like a
conch-shell. Around his dress he wears a red band, which he twists about
his limbs, and has a long calico tunic closely fitted to his chest. His
chosen calling is that of a commercial broker.

"These rich Hindus, while adhering to everything required by their
religion, adopt English fashions, and revel in British luxuries. You will
see them late in the afternoon on the public roads, in elegant carriages,
drawn by the finest horses, and attended by servants in rich liveries.
Their houses are magnificent, furnished like the Parsee's we visited the
other evening. The social intercourse between them and their European
neighbors is very limited.

"The Mohammedans here are an important class of people, and some of them
are very wealthy, and are honest and upright merchants. They are very
strict in the observance of their religion, and not one of them would eat
pork or drink wine or liquors. If it were the beginning of their year,
which is different from ours, you might witness a celebration of the day.
It is called the Mohurrum, and takes place on the shore of the Back Bay.
They construct a great number of temples of gilt paper, and after marching
with them in procession through the city, they cast them into the sea. I do
not quite understand what it means; but the first month is usually a time
of mourning and fasting in commemoration of the sufferings of the two
nephews of the Prophet. The ceremony at the water is very ancient."

"The wives of Mussulmans here have more liberty than in most Eastern
countries. They go about the streets with their faces uncovered, and are
clothed for the most part like the Hindu women. As they appear in the
street they are not so neat as the other native females, who spend much
time in bathing, and are always clean and tidy. I have nothing more to say
at present."

"I have an announcement to make," said Captain Ringgold. "To-morrow
forenoon we shall return to the Guardian-Mother, and sail for Surat."

The party spent the rest of the day in excursions about Bombay in three
parties, each under the direction of one of the hosts.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE UNEXAMPLED LIBERALITY OF THE HOSTS

The Blanche, the elegant white steam-yacht of General Noury, which had
sailed in company with the Guardian-Mother from Aden, and which had
assisted in the rescue of the crew of the Travancore, had come into the
harbor of Bombay, and lay at anchor not half a mile from her consort. The
owner was a Moor of the highest rank, and a Mohammedan; and he had friends
in Bombay, though he had never been there before. He had written to them of
his intended visit, and they had taken possession of him on his arrival.

The general had been invited, with Captain and Mrs. Sharp, to join the
party of her consort in the business of sight-seeing; and Lord Tremlyn and
Sir Modava had united with Captain Ringgold in the invitation. The
commander of the Blanche had visited the party on shore; but he was engaged
in making some changes on board of his ship which required his attention.
The Mohammedan magnates had kept the general very busy, night and day, and
_feted_ him like a king.

Lord Tremlyn had taken care of the engineers and other people of the
wrecked steam-yacht, and had treated everybody in a subordinate capacity
with princely liberality. He and his Indian associate were both
multi-millionaires, with fortunes inherited from their ancestors and other
relatives; and unitedly they had placed a large sum of money in the hands
of the captains of the two steamers, to be equitably distributed among
their ships' companies. Captain Ringgold remonstrated against this lavish
gift to his own people.

"It is a sailor's duty, and a large part of his religion, to assist those
in peril and distress on the sea, the poor and the rich alike, and I
dislike to have my men rewarded in money for a service of this kind," said
he rather warmly.

"It was the good Father in heaven who sent your ship to our aid when we
were perishing; but he works through human agencies, and I feel it to be a
solemn duty to recognize my obligations to those so providentially sent to
save us," replied his lordship, taking the hand of the commander with much
feeling in his tone and manner. "I shall never cease to be grateful to
Heaven for this interposition in my favor, and that of my companions; for
all of us were in the very jaws of death."

"I can understand your feelings, my Lord; but all my people, as well as
myself, may soon require the same service we have rendered to others, and I
desire to let what we have done be placed to our credit against the
possible debt of the future," added the captain.

"I shall feel better and happier when I have done, in connection with Sir
Modava, what I propose, and I beg you will withdraw your objections,"
persisted the viscount.

They argued the question for some time; but at last the commander yielded
the point. Every seaman, fireman, and waiter received five pounds, and
every officer a larger sum, in proportion to his rank, after the manner in
which prize-money is distributed on board of ships of war. The same
apportionment was made on board of both steamers, and Lord Tremlyn and Sir
Modava were most vigorously cheered by the two ships' companies.

Due notice had been given to Captain Sharp of the intention to sail for
Surat on Tuesday; and on the day before the cabin party of the Blanche,
which included Dr. Henderson, the surgeon of the ship, came to dine with
their friends at the Victoria Hotel. General Noury, who had been taking
leave of his Mussulman hosts, was attended by three of them, who were at
once invited by his lordship to join them at dinner, and the band of the
Blanche had been sent on shore for the occasion.

The general had been taken about the city and its vicinity by his host, and
they were anxious to retain him longer in Bombay. He was on excellent terms
with Lord Tremlyn, who, though a strict Churchman, was not a bigot; and his
connection with the affairs of India had brought him into intimate
association with men of all religions, and there were about thirteen
million Mohammedans in the Punjab.

His lordship renewed his invitation to the general to join the party who
were going across India, and he seemed to be inclined to accept it. His
Mussulman friends declared that he would be most cordially welcomed by all
the people of their faith, especially if attended by such excellent
Christian people; and they appeared to have none of the bigotry so often
found among the followers of the Prophet.

"I don't quite understand your plan, Captain Ringgold," said Captain Sharp.
"You go to Surat, and from there across the country;" for the conductors
had decided not to go to Kurrachee. "But what becomes of the ships?"

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