Chapter XIII: Section THE TENTH: On the System of Those Who Profess the Doctrine of (3)

[380] नक्षत्र The Pauránic and popular enumeration of those
mansions, or constellations is twenty-seven; Abhijit, the
twenty-seventh, being considered as formed of portions of
the two contiguous asterisms, and not distinct from
them.――(_Wilson’s Dict._)

[381] अष्ट दिशाः These eight cardinal points have each their
regent, viz.:
पूर्व its regent is Indra, इन्द्रः
पश्चिम ―― Varuna, वरुणः
दक्षिण ―― Yama, यमः
उत्तर ―― Kuvéra, कुवेरः
Between S. and E. the regent is अग्नि or वड्निः
―― S. and W. ―― नैरॄतः
―― N. and W. ―― वायुः
―― N. and E. ―― ईशानः

[382] भैरव “the formidable,” a name of Síva, but more
especially an inferior manifestation or form of the deity,
eight of which are called by the common name _Bhái ravas_,
and have each a particular name, all alluding to terrific
properties of mind or body.

[383] The edit. of Calcutta adds to Chamunda _Set mantra_.

[384] These are personified energies of the Gods, called
Mátris, viz.: क्यलक, कालञ्जरी, कौमारी, वैष्णवी, बाभ्रवी,
चमुण्डा, भवानी, पार्वती.

[385] I cannot hope to have restored every name of the
Persian text to its correct original form.

[386] If the seven Richis, who are supposed to abide in the
constellation of the Great Bear, are meant, their names
differ very much from those commonly given, which are as
follows: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulustya, Kratu, and
Vás ishta.

[387] _Bang_ is an inebriating, maddening draught, made of
hemp-leaves, henbane, opium, or masloe.――(_Richardson’s
Dict._)

[388] Black is the color of the Sunnites. This supports
Professor Wilson’s _Statement_, agreeing with the Dabistan
(see _As. Trans._, N. S. p. 75), that the Madárián are
Sunnites. But, considering the descent of their founder, and
the concurring account of several Asiatic authors, we may be
disposed to denominate them Shiâhs, or Jsmámiahs, although
the latter have adopted green as the distinguishing color of
their sect, which is also that of the followers of the
prophet.

[389] One _seer_ = 2 lbs. 6 oz.; French weight, 933.005
grammes; 40 seers make a _maund_; one maund, in English Troy
weight is 100 lbs.; French grammes, 27,320.182――(_Useful
Tables_, edited by James Princep, Esq., Part I. p. 63).

[390] Badih-eddin, “the marvel of religion,” was the son of
Saíd Alí, and his origin is traced up to the Imám Hossaín,
son of Alí. He was born in the year of the Hejíra 442, A. D.
1050-1. Under the reign of Ibrahim Sherkey, he came to
India, where he died in 1433 A. D., according to the dates
of his birth and death 383 years old, but 395 and even 400
years old, according to the legend of this saint, who owed
his longevity to the power of keeping his breath. Under the
simple name of Madár, he is held in great veneration in
India, where an annual feast is celebrated in his honor, and
his tomb visited by numerous pilgrims, even in our days. He
is said to have had 1442 sons, say spiritual children or
disciples――(See for Madar, _Mémoire sur les particularités
de la Religion musulmane dans l’Inde, par M. Garcin de
Tassy_, pp. 54-62).

[391] This tale reminds us of a similar story related in the
Mahábharat (Adhi-parva, Sambhava-parva, Adyaya 75, 76, edit.
Calc., vol. I. p. 115). _Kacha_, the son of Vrihaspati, who
was killed three times by the Asuras (the first time
swallowed by jackals; afterwards, cut to pieces and thrown
into the sea; and, finally, pulverised and swallowed by
Çukra, the preceptor of the dáityas) and each time brought
to life in a miraculous way.

[392] This a village near Firezabad, in the province of
Agra.

[393] Armillam membro suo aperuit erecto.

[394] These sectaries worship the more terrible attributes
of the Deity. Said Jelál, or Jelál-eddin Bokhárí was born in
the year of the Hejira 707 (A. D. 1307); he died in 775 (A.
D. 1374), and is buried in the town of Auch, in the province
of Multan.――(See the work of M. Garcin de Tassy, quoted pp.
69-70).

[395] The founder of this sect was Patanjali, born in
Havriti-varcha, he taught in Bhagabhandara. His school is
theistical, called _sa Jswara Sankhya_, or “philosophy with
the Lord.” God is the supreme ruler, a spirit or a soul,
distinct from other spirits or souls, untouched by those
evils to which these are subject; indifferent to all good or
bad actions and their consequences, as well as to all
transitory conceptions; he is omniscient; teacher of the
earliest things which had a beginning that is, of all
mythological divinities; himself infinite, and illimited by
time. Patanjali insists upon austere religious practices,
exterior and interior, to which he ascribes wonderful
effects.

[396] सूर्य मखाः

[397] अष्ट भुवन लोकः

[398] सर्व प्रभादेव.

[399] महाज्योतिः

[400] नमस्कारः

[401] The Dabistán (p. 269, edit. of Calc.) affords a
curious specimen of a Sanskrit prayer transcribed in Persian
characters; this prayer is here restored to its original
form in Devanagari. The literal translation of it,
subjoined, shows that it is composed of a series of epithets
encomiastical of the sun; these epithets have been most
freely amplified in the paraphrase which the author of the
Dabistán has given of the original prayer:

महज्योतिः उत्तमोदयः नृस्वादः लोकनः आहारः सुदर्शनः दृष्टिः मिथनः
महावतारः उत्तमप्रकासः पथ्वी स्मरणः महादातामुक्तसङ्गः आत्मदाता
शरीरज्योतिः स्व आत्म वुधनाथः सर्व ज्योतिः आतपः प्रकाशः औपमिकः
स्वर्ग दाता देवसहायः

“_Thou art_ the great light――most gloriously rising――the
delight of men――resplendent――_granter of_ food――agreeable to
sight――the eye _of heaven_――the promoter of union――the great
incarnation――the most excellent manifestation――mindful of
the earth――the chief bestower of the devotion to
emancipation――the dispenser of life――the light of
bodies――the lord of intellect and of interior life――all
illuming――the radiance of the day――the effulgency――the
supreme light――only like thyself――the donor of heaven――the
companion of the gods.”

[402] स्वर्ग लोकः heaven.

[403] भूलोकः

[404] लोजानि.

[405] कल्याणं.

[406] The Dict. gives only सनकाः and सनत्कुमाराः the four
sons of Brahma, inhabiting the Janaloka.

[407] जीव दय.

[408] पुण्यवन्त्.

[409] धर्ममयास्.

[410] स्वी.

[411] द्युव मुर्तयस्.

[412] आकाश.

[413] गिरयश्.

[414] तारा फलं also तारा पथः _ta ra patha_.

[415] आहरणं means literally “taking, seizing;” in logical
language, “compassing, comprehending,” that is applying an
organ to the object to which it is adopted. This is the
special function of the organs or instruments of action. We
have (see note, p. 122) enumerated “intelligence, egotism,
and mind;” these are the three internal organs; and “five
organs of perception, with five organs of action,” the ten
external organs. Those of action, _compass_, and _maintain_;
those of perception, _manifest_: therefore “compassing,
maintaining, and manifesting,” are the functions of the
thirteen-fold instrument――(See the work quoted, _Sank’hya
Karika_, 32. p. 110).

[416] सङ्ख्यानं.

[417] साधन.

[418] जितेन्द्रिय लोक.

[419] तपस्या.

[420] ज्योति मण्डलं.

[421] ध्यानी.

[422] त्यागी.

[423] वैरागीः

[424] उदासीः

[425] वन्यासीः

[426] अवछातः

[427] चन्द्र भक्ताः

[428] This passage seems to allude to the Hindu creed about
the souls’ journey from the earth to the uppermost heaven.
According to this, a hundred and one arteries issue from the
heart, one of which passes to the crown of the head. By that
passage, the soul of the wise issues and meets a solar ray,
by which it proceeds to the realm of fire, and by several
other stages to the _moon_; thence to the region of
lightning, and higher up, through Varuna’s watery region, to
the realm of Indra, so as to reach at last the abode of
Brahma.――(Transact. R. A. Soc., vol. II. pp. 31. 32.)

[429] अग्नि प्रमाणाः

[430] पवन भक्ताः

[431] जल भक्ताः

[432] पृथ्वी भक्ताः

[433] त्रि पूजाः

[434] मनुष्य भक्ताः

[435] Nânac was born A. D. 1469, in a small village called
_Talwandi_, now _Raya-pur_, on the banks of the _Béyah_, the
ancient _Hyphasis_, in the district of _Bhatti_, in the
province of _Lahore_. He was the only son of _Kalu_, of the
Kshatriya caste, and the _Vedi_ tribe of the Hindus――See
vol. XI. of the _As. Res._, pp. 197-292, edit. Calc. _a
Sketch of the Sikhs_, by Brigadier-General Malcolm. The
learned author, whilst with the British army in the Penjab,
in 1805, collected materials that would throw light upon the
history, manners, and religion of the Sikhs. He succeeded in
obtaining a copy of the _Adi granth_, the sacred book of the
Sikhs, and of some historical tracts, the most essential
parts of which were explained to him in Calcutta, by an
intelligent Sikh priest of the _Nirmala_ order. Dr. Leyden
enriched this stock of materials by supplying the general
with a translation of several tracts written by Sikh authors
in the Penjabi and Duggar dialects, upon the history and
religion of their nation. We may therefore believe we
possess quite satisfactory information about the Sikhs in
General Malcolm’s _Sketch_. I shall mark the references to
this work in my notes by G. M. The Dabistán, never quoted in
the said _Sketch_, furnishes some additional, and
corroborates the principal, information derived from other
sources.

[436] Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, the son of Umer Shaigh
Mirza, descended on the father’s side from the great Tâimur
Beg, and on the mother’s, from Gengis Khan. He was born A.
D. 1483, and succeeded, in the 12th year of his age to his
father, as king of Ferghana, a small country between
Samarkand and Kashgar. Driven by his enemies from his
paternal kingdom, he became the founder of one of the
greatest empires in the world.――(See _Memoirs of
Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, emperor of Hindustan_, written
by himself in the Jaghatai Turki, and translated partly by
the late John Leyden, Esq., M.D., partly by William Erskine,
Esq. London, 1826.)

[437] Nânaki, the sister of Nânac, was married to a Hindu of
the name of _Jaya-Ram_, who was employed as a grain-factor
of Dâulet Khan Lodi, a relation of the reigning emperor of
Delhi. Nânac attended at the granary of Daulet Khan, which
was in charge of Jaya-ram, at Sultan-púr――(G. M. p. 200.)

[438] Dâulet Khan Lodi, an Afghan by birth, was formerly
private secretary to Mah-Toghluck, the eighth king of Delhi
of the Tartarian dynasty, called Toghluck, which reigned
from 1321 to 1412 A. D. At that time Dâulet Khan was placed
at the head of the empire, but, at the end of one year and
three months, he was obliged to yield his power to Khizer
Khan, who founded the dynasty of Sadat, in Delhi. This
dynasty, after thirty-eight years, made room for that of the
Afghan princes of Lodi. Dâulat Khan established himself in
the Penjab. In the general disorders of the empire, this
Afghan chief, being attacked by other Afghans, connected
himself with Baber, the Tartarian invader of Hindostan, in
1534, against Ibrahim Lodi, the Afghan king of Delhi, and
after the victory of Baber, continued to rule the Penjab.

[439] Jaya-Rama was put in prison by Dâulet Khan, on the
charge of having dissipated his property, but was justified
by Nânak’s confessions――(G. M. p. 204).

[440] पवनाहारि “wind-eater.”

[441] He was one day lying on the ground with his feet in
the direction of the temple of Mecca: “How darest thou,
infidel,” called out a Muhammedan priest, “turn thy feet
towards the house of God?” “How can I turn them,” answered
Nânac, “in a direction where the house of God is not?”――(G.
M. p. 274.)

[442] The first expedition which Baber undertook towards
India was, according to Ferichta, in 1505; from Cabul, which
he had conquered the year before, he pushed to, and along,
the Indus. He attempted, later, three times to invade India,
namely, in the years 1519, 1521, and 1522; but, being
engaged in war, on one side with the Usbeck Tartars, and on
the other with the Afghans, he did not completely succeed,
till his fourth attempt in 1525, and in 1526 having
overthrown Ibrahim Lody, in a great battle near Panniput, he
destroyed the Afghan dynasty, three kings of which had
reigned 74 years in Delhi. It was probably about this time
that Nânac happened to be introduced to Baber, before whom
he maintained his doctrine with great firmness and
eloquence. The Tartarian conqueror, pleased with the Sikh
reformer, ordered an ample maintenance to be bestowed on
him, who refused it, saying, that he trusted in him who
provided for all men――(G. M. p. 206).

[443] Nânac (G. M. p. 204) travelled throughout India, and
went also to Mecca and Medina, teaching his doctrine every
where with a due regard to that of others. He showed great
moderation, and even courtesy, in his intercourse with the
public teachers of other religions. When he visited in
Multan the Muhammedan Pîrans, or “old wise men,” he said: “I
come, like the sacred Ganga to visit the ocean.”

[444] बाणि _báni_, speech.

[445] “A hundred thousand Muhammeds,” said Nánac (G. M. p.
275) “a million of Brahmas, Vichnus, and a hundred thousand
Ramas, stand at the gate of the most High. These all perish.
God alone is immortal. Yet men who unite in the praise of
God are not ashamed of living in contention with each other,
which proves that the evil spirit has subdued all. He alone
is a true Hindu whose heart is just, and he only a good
Muhammedan whose life is pure.”

[446] Nánac (G. M.) had two sons. There is in our days still
a tribe among the Sikhs, called the Nánac-páutras, or
“descendants of Nánac,” a mild inoffensive race; if not, as
is generally the case, mendicants, they are travelling
merchants.

[447] خوديمانى _khudimaní_ is the _ahankára_ of the Indians,
rendered in English by “consciousness, egotism,
individuality.”

[448] Nánac died in Kirti púr Dehra, on the banks of the
Rávi, the ancient Hydraotes of the Greek geographers. Kirti
púr continues to be a place of religious pilgrimage and
worship.

[449] Nánac (G. M. p. 208-9) bequeathed his succession to a
Kshatriya of the Tréhun tribe, called Lehana, who had been
attached to him, and whom he had initiated in the sacred
mysteries of his sect, and honored with the name of _Angad_,
perhaps _anga_, which word in Sanskrit signifies “body.”
This Angad wrote some chapters of the Adi-grant´ha. He
died in 1552, at Khandur, a village about 40 miles east of
Lahore.

[450] Amaradas (G. M.), a Kshatriya of the tribe of Bhalé,
died A. D. 1574, at the village of Gondaval, in the province
of Lahore.

[451] Rámadas (G. M.) was the son-in-law of Amaradas; to
Rámadas some Sikh authors ascribe the foundation of the town
Rámpur, or Rámdáspur, but falsely, as it was a very ancient
town, known formerly under the name of Chak. He however
contributed much to its increase, and dug a tank or
reservoir of water, which is celebrated to our days under
the name of _Amrita Sara_, “the lake of the water of
immortality.” Rámadás died, in 1581, at Amrita Sara, leaving
two sons, Arjunmal and Bharatamal, the former of whom
succeeded him.

[452] Arjunmal (G. M. p. 212) is celebrated for having
compiled the Adi-granth from the writings of his
predecessors, not without his own additions and
commentaries. Thirteen authors after him contributed to the
work as it now is. The Adi-granth is, like the rest of the
books of the Sikhs, written in the Gurumukh characters,
which are a modified species of the Nagari character.
Arjunmal was put to death in 1606, by the intolerance of the
Muhammedans.

[453] Janaka was a sovereign of Mithila, and father of Sitá,
the wife of Rámachandra. The name of Janaka became a general
name of all Mâithila kings.

[454] In the Indian genealogies, several Sahadevas are
mentioned. As we are evidently upon fabulous ground, we may
be excused from attempting to establish that the Sahadeva of
the text is the son of Pandu, or another.

[455] Probably कर मण्डलं _kara mandalam_, from _kara_,
“hand,” and _mandalam_, “an orb, a round cup.”

[456] I have not yet ascertained the correct Sanskrit title
of this book of the Hindus; but _Bashest_ is Vasishta, a
celebrated Muni, who rivalled and vanquished Visvamitra.

[457] Visvamitra, a Muni, the son of Gádhi, originally of
the military order, but who became by long and painful
austerities a Brahmarshi, in which character he appears in
the Rámáyaná, as the early preceptor and counsellor of Ráma.

[458] The Pápîha is believed to be the _falio nisus_, also a
kind of cuckoo (_luculus radiatus_); possibly the _chátaca_
of the Hindus, supposed to drink no water but
rain-water――(See _Megda duta_, “the Cloud-Messenger,”
translated from Sanskrit into English, by H. H. Wilson,
Esq., p. 14). The Papîha is celebrated in Indian romance for
his fidelity to his mate. Kalá, having been separated from
Kamrup (see the Adventures of Kamrup, translated from the
Hindustanee into French, by M. Garcin de Tassy, p. 96) says:
“Le Papîha erre-t-il dans la forêt sans celle à qui l’unit
l’amour?”

[459] _Náisán_ means a Syrian month, which corresponds to
April; the drops of Náisán, or of spring-rain, are believed
to produce pearls, if they fall into shells, and venom if
they drop upon serpents.

[460] सुमेरु _Suméru_, the sacred mountain _Méru_, on the
summit of which Brahma resides.

[461] A fabulous mountain, anciently imagined by the
Asiatics to surround the world, and to bound the horizon on
all sides.

[462] Tyrhoot, a district in the province of Bahar, situated
principally between the 27th and 28th degrees of north
latitude.

[463] The author of the Dabistán adds here the following
words: “And such a person is called in _Persian_ ‘a freeman,
in the state of higher freedom;’” he forgets that the
conversation takes place between two _Indian_ sages.

[464] The author amplifies this idea, so often repeated,
here again in four lines, which I did not think necessary to
translate.

[465] A similar repetition, running through three lines in
nearly the same words, is omitted in this translation.

[466] The philosophy of the Hindus has been more fully
explained in the foregoing chapters, to which several
passages of the present section relate.

[467] The Jats inhabited in very ancient times the borders
of the Indus in the lower parts of Multan. There they were
known to the Greek and Latin writers, under the name of
Calhæi, Malli, Oxidracæ as being without a king,
“_arattas_,” and divided into seven communities, who, united
by a common danger, resisted Alexander. In the same country
they opposed, 1300 years after the Macedonian invader, the
irruption of Sultan Muhammed, the Ghaznavid, by whom they
were beaten near Multan on the Indus. Inhabitants of
mountains as well as of plains, they acted a part in the
many wars which took place on the western frontiers of
India, either as predatory hordes, or as allies, or as
mercenaries of the belligerant parties. During the ensuing
disorders of the Indian empire, they extended themselves
towards the east of India, and became masters of the
mountainous district which is limited, on the east by the
rivers Thambul and Jumna; on the west, by the kingdom of
Jâipur, which to the south extends as far as twenty coss
from Agra; and to the north borders on the province of
Delhi. It is not necessary to pursue here the history of the
Jats in all its various vicissitudes; I shall only add that,
in the year 1707, Thuraman, one of their leaders, laid the
foundation of the fortress of Bhurtpúr, 20 miles N. W. from
Agra, and that this became celebrated, to our days, as the
capital seat of the Jats. They are Hindus of the fourth
great caste of Sudras.

[468] उदासो _udásí_, one who has no passion, nor affection
for any thing; in popular acceptation, a religious mendicant
in general, or one of a particular order.

[469] The reign of Jehangir lasted from A. D. 1605 to 1628.

[470] This date agrees with that given by Ferishta of the
rebellion and the imprisonment of Khusro.

[471] According to the Sketch of the Sikhs by General
Malcolm, Arjunmal was immediately succeeded by his son
Har-govind, whilst the Dabistán mentions his brother as his
successor. There appears an hiatus, or some confusion in our
text; so much however is indicated clearly enough, that
there was a contest about the succession between the brother
and the son of Arjunmal.

[472] The dictionary gives no satisfactory interpretation of
the word, as relating to the text.

[473] Har-govind (G. M. p. 213) was a warlike Guru, or
priest militant, and wore two swords in his girdle. Being
asked why he did so: “The one,” said he, “is to revenge the
death of my father; the other to destroy the miracles of
Muhammed.” His character appears in the Dabistán less
advantageously with respect to the religious customs of his
sect, from the austerity of which he is said to have greatly
relaxed, and he permitted the promiscuous use of flesh of
all animals except that of the cow: his military character
however is maintained in all accounts of him.

[474] Gwalior is situated in the province of Agra, eighty
miles travelling distance south from the city of Agra.

[475] Foujdar, an officer of the police in Hindostan, and
chief magistrate, who takes cognizance of all criminal
matters.

[476] Hargovind had five sons, the eldest of whom was Guru
daitya, the father of Har ráyi.

[477] Rayi is a title a little inferior to that of Rája,
generally applied to the Hindu chief of a village or small
district.

[478] सङ्गतिः

[479] The author of the Dabistán does not carry the account
of the Sikhs further than to the time of Harrayi, a
peaceable Guru, who died in 1664. After a contest between
his sons, or, as some Sikh authors relate, between his son,
_Har Krichna_, and his grandson, _Ram Ray_, the former was
chosen. He died in 1664, and was succeeded by his uncle,
_Tégh Bahader_, in spite of the opposition of his nephew,
Ram Ray. Tégh Bahader was imprisoned and put to death by the
Muhammedans, in 1675. After his death, the sect appeared
crushed, but under his son, _Gura Govind_, the Sikhs rose
again, no more as a sect, but as a nation endeavouring to
establish their independence. Guru Govind is considered by
them as the founder of their national greatness; he is the
tenth, that is, their last acknowledged religious ruler; he
is the author of the _Dasama Pádsháh-ka grantha_, or “the
book of the tenth king;” he changed the name of his
followers from Sikhs to _Singhs_, “lions,” who distinguished
themselves by a blue checkered dress; he first instituted
the _Guru-mata_, or “great council,” among them, and
established the _Akalis_, or “the immortals,” who preserved
their name and consideration until our days; in short, he
sanctioned, and confirmed by institutions, the doctrine
taught by his predecessors, who endeavoured to separate the
Sikhs from the mass of the Hindus. Indeed “the admission of
proselytes, the abolition of the distinction of casts, the
eating all kinds of flesh except that of cows, the form of
religious worship, and the general devotion of all Sikhs to
arms, are ordinances altogether irreconcileable with Hindu
mythology”――(G. M. p. 268).

Guru Govind is supposed to have died in 1708, at Naded in
the Deccan. After him, _Bandu_, a Váiragí, or ascetic,
united the Sikhs under his banners: during some time
successful and formidable, he fell at last before the power
of the Muhammedans. Without pursuing the later history of
the Sikhs, I shall content myself with stating that they
succeeded in forming in our times, under their late Rája,
Ranjet Singh, the kingdom of Lahore, of four millions of
inhabitants, dispersed over a surface of 70,000 square
miles, exclusively of the province of Kachmir, annexed to
their dominions.

See also upon the Sikhs _The Sigar-ul-Mutakherin_, by Mir
Gholain Hussein-Khan, translated from the Persian into
English by General John Briggs, London, 1832, vol. I. p.
109, etc.