Chapter VIII: Section THE SEVENTH: DESCRIBES THE TENETS OF THE SÁKTÍAN.――The belief

of this sect is as follows: Síva, that is Mahádeva, who in their opinion with little exception is the highest of the deities, and the greatest of the spirits, has a spouse whom they call _Máyá saktí_;[232] this spouse shows first one color, and then another, that is, something else than what really exists: for instance, water like wine. This spiritual and material principle has three natures and three qualities, namely: _rajas_,[233] that is, “dominion and desire;” _sattva_,[234] which is “rectitude and wisdom, and the power to control the senses, not to be subject to them;” and _tamas_,[235] or “violence, passion, besides eating, gluttony, and sleeping.” With the Hindus, Brahma, Vichnu, and Mahadeva are personified as proceeding from these three conditions,[236] or as the powers of the three qualities mentioned. This Máyá is the maker of the productions of this world and of its inhabitants, and the creator of the spirits and of the bodies; the universe and its contents are born from her: from respect of the said productions and of the mentioned effects, she is entitled _Jagat-ambá_,[237] or “mother of the universe;” non-entity finds no access to this creator; the garment of perishableness does not sit right upon the body of this fascinating empress; the dust of nothingness does not move round the circle of her dominion; the real beings of heaven, and the accidental creations of the nether world, are equally enamoured and intoxicated of desire before her; bound by these ties of deceit in this revolving world, whoever rebels feels the desire of _mukt_, that is, of emancipation, independence, and happiness; nevertheless, from carelessness, he pays obedience and worship to this world-deceiving queen, and never abandons the path of adoration of this bewitching lady. This goddess, that is the spiritual principle, exists in all living beings in six circles, which they call _shat chakras_,[238] as the fibres in the stalk of a water-lily, in which there are six divisions: 1. the _Muládhára_, or “the sitting-place;” 2. the _Manipúram_, that is, “the navel;” 3. the _Swadhishtanam_,[239] “the firm place, and which commands the upper region of the navel;” 4. _Hrid_,[240] or “the heart;” 5. _Sáda_,[241] that is, “the purified mansion and the place of purification,” and this proceeds from the upmost part of the breast; 6. _Agni tchakra_,[242] or “the circle of the fire,” and this is that of the eye-brows. These are the six circles, and above them is _Indra_, that is the window of life, and the passage of the soul, which is the top and middle of the head; and in that place is the flower of the back of one thousand leaves: this is the residence of the glorious divinity, that is, of the world-deceiving queen, and in this beautiful site reposes her origin. With the splendour of one hundred thousand world-illuminating suns, she wears, at the time of rising, manifold odoriferous herbs and various flowers upon her head and around her neck: her resplendent body is penetrated with perfumes of various precious ingredients, such as musk, safran, sandal and amber, and bedecked with magnificent garments: in this manner, as was just described, she is to be represented. The worship of her form and appearance, the adoration and submission, ought to be internal and true; and the exterior veneration, to be paid before her image; moreover, all that has been divided into five sections and explained in the Yoga śastra, is to be performed with assiduity. The interior worship consists in representing her image, and in keeping her remembrance every where; the possessor of such an imaginative faculty and devotedness is called _bhakta_,[243] that is, “a possessor of gladness and of the mansion of perfect delight, and of _mukt_, or ‘liberation’ to be enjoyed in this mansion of a permanent happy existence.” The mode of this worship is contained in the _Agama_,[244] and the whole sect conform themselves to it. With them, the power of Mahadeva’s wife, who is Bhávání, surpasses that of the husband. The zealous of this sect worship the _Síva-linga_, although other Hindus also venerate it. _Linga_[245] is called the virile organ, and they say on behalf of this worship that, as men and all living beings derive their existence from it, adoration is duly bestowed on it. As the linga of Mahadeva, so do they venerate the _bhaga_,[246] that is, the female organ. A man very familiar with them gave the information that, according to their belief, the high altar, or principal place in a mosque of the Muselmans, is an emblem of the _bhaga_. Another man among them said that, as the just-named place emblems the bhaga, the minar, or turret of the mosque represents the linga: on which account both are found together. In many places and among a great number of the Hindus, this worship exists: a great many follow the Agama, in which wine drinking is approved, and if, instead of a common cup, a man’s skull (which they call _kapála_[247]) be used, the beverage is much more agreeable. They hold the killing of all animals, even of man, to be permitted, and call it _bala_.[248] At night they go to the places which they call _śmaśána_,[249] and where the dead bodies are burnt; there they intoxicate themselves, eat the flesh of the corpses burnt, and copulate before the eyes of others with women, which they name _śakti púja_:[250] and if the devoted woman be that of another, the good work is so much the more valuable, and it is certain that they offer their wives to each other; the disciples bring their wives and daughters to their preceptor; they unite with their mothers, sisters, paternal and maternal aunts, which is against the custom of the Hindus, who do not take daughters of their near relations. The author of this work saw one of the learned men of this sect, who read to him a book of modern composition upon their customs, and therein was stated that it is permitted to mix with every woman except one’s daughter. This man began to abuse the work, saying that the text was contrary to the old customs of this class, and that no such thing is to be found in the ancient books, and declared it at last to be a mistake of the copyist. They say that the woman exists for the sake of being desired; she may be a mother or a daughter. In their opinion, there is no enjoyment higher that that of love; the Hindus call it _kámada_;[251] and say that, when a woman and a man are in close conversation, whoever disturbs them is worthy of God’s malediction, because they both therein share a state of happiness. The Agama favors both sexes equally, and makes no distinction between women; they may belong to whomsoever: men and women compose equally humankind, and whatever they bring forth makes part of it. This sect hold women in great esteem, and call them _śaktis_ (powers); and to ill treat a _śakti_, that is, a woman, is held a crime. The high and low value the Lulís (public girls) very high, and call them _deva kanya_,[252] “daughters of the gods.”

Among them, it is a meritorious act to sacrifice a man, which they call _naramédha_;[253] then the _gómédha_,[254] or sacrifice of a cow; further, the _asvaméda_,[255] and finally, any other animal. When they perform a sacrificial ceremony, which they call Kála-dek (_kaladéya_)[256], they unite the blood of as many animals as possible in a large vase, and place therein the man whom they bring over to their creed, and they drink with him from that blood. Whenever the worship of a god, or of the wife of a god is performed, the ceremony is called _ishtam_,[257] and the master of the ceremony _ishta_. The creed of this sect is, that any god or wife of a god may be worshipped in two ways: the one is called _bhadram_,[258] which consists in abstaining from shedding blood, and in being pure; the other, termed _vakam_,[259] which admits spilling blood, commerce with women, and neglect of purity; but they think this second preferable, and say that each deity, male or female, has a form under which he or she is to be represented; but that the worship of a female divinity affords a greater recompense. When they have an intimate connection with their own or another’s wife, they behold in her the image of the goddess, and think to personate the god, her husband, and at this time they sing a prescribed song, which to entune at the very moment of the closest junction, they believe to be most recommendable. There is a deity whose praise they sing with unwashed hands;[260] and another whom they worship with the mark of their cast drawn with dirt on their forehead. Some of these goddesses are by them called “queens,” and others “servants;” and the worshipper of a woman is also termed “servant.”

The author of this work saw a man who, singing the customary song, sat upon a corpse which he kept unburied until it came to a state of dissolution, and then ate the flesh of it; this act they hold extremely meritorious. They say that the desires of this and of the other world attain their accomplishment by means of the worship of a god or of a goddess. The followers of this sect send their barren wives, in order that they may become pregnant, to the performers of such acts, and these men use the women before the eyes of their husbands: whoever does not send his wife to his master, renders in their opinion the purity of his faith very doubtful.

The Gossain Tara lochana, a Brahman, was of this sect, and devoted to the worship of Káli, a female deity. Having gone to Kachmir in the year 1048 of the Hejira (1638 A. D.), he practised pious austerity; at last, as is usual, he chose a concubine, for which, they say, five things are requisite: fish, wine, the wife of another man, flesh (if human flesh so much the better) and a mantra, that is, a song. The Hindus used to distinguish fish from flesh. Finally, having accomplished the act of a Gosain, Tara lochana became the friend of Ahsen Ulla, named Zafer Khán ibne Khájá, Abul hasen Taramzi, who was the governor of Kachmir: this took place by the interest of the confidential servants of the lord’s house, who were well disposed to be directed by a perfect Gósain. The said lord wished Taralochana to procure him victory over the Tibetans; the Gosain promised it to him, provided he should conform himself to his directions: Zafer Khan consented to it, and a convention was concluded between them. Tara lochana said: “Appoint a great number of Lúlían who are never to separate from me, because in our religion the intercourse with these is preferable to that with other women, on which account they are entitled _Déva-Kanyá_, ‘the daughters of the gods;’ my meal must never be destitute of wine and other intoxicating liquors; to begin, let a sheep be killed for me, and the necessaries and materials of repast be prepared.” Zafer Khan did all the Gosain demanded; when he made his expedition to Tibet, he obtained a remarkable victory, and returned triumphant. At last, a disagreement took place between the Gosain and Zafer Khan; the former quitted the latter, who soon after, on account of a dispute between the Sonní and the Shiâh of Kachmir, lost his consideration, and being obliged to retire, went to Kabul; there Muhammed Tafer, one of his relations, gave him some fatal stabs with a poniard, in consequence of which he lay sick for some time. Soon after he lost his office and property, and remained long in Lahore without a situation. The author of this book saw in the year 1055 of the Hejira (1645 A. D.) in Gujerat, a district of the Panjab, Tara lochana, who told him “It was on account of his difference with me that so great a misfortune befel Zafer Khan.” Urfi of Shiraz says:

“The bounty of the Eternal does not reject the unbeliever,
Provided he acquire perfection in the adoration of his idol.”

Shédosh, the son of Anosh declared: that, according to the explainers of the law, there must be observed in any pursuit a due relation and correspondence to the intended purpose: further, in the pursuit of a virtuous spirit, sanctity and purity are required; but in the pursuit of a base spirit, nothing of purity enters, and may be dispensed with. This subject has been treated in the second section of the work thereupon.

The writer of this book saw in the same year, and in the place beforesaid of Guzerat, a man called Mahadéo, who at night was always sitting upon a dead body. I also saw Sadánand, of the same sect, who said to one of his disciples: “I wish to perform a rite, called the worship of the hair.” The disciple brought his own daughter, and Sadánanda gazed at her hair, kissed her face, and in that way enjoyed her before the eyes of her father. I saw besides a person who brought his wife to him, saying: “I have no son in my house.” It is the belief of this class that, if in such a manner any one has intercourse with a barren woman, she obtains whatever she desires; on that account, some of the women, at the moment of intimate junction, demand from the perfect man the gift of _mukt_, that is, union with God Almighty, and emancipation from this body. It was for that reason, that Sadánanda used the woman before the eyes of her husband. One day, Sadánanda sat in a burying place, naked, with one of his friends, and drank wine, when one of the orthodox Brahmans passed that way, and saw these men. The disciples said: “This Brahman will tell the people what he saw, and expose us to ridicule.” Sadánanda replied: “It does not matter.” When the Brahman came home, he died.

When in the year 1059 of the Hejira (1649 A. D.) the author of this work happened to be in the district of Kalinga, he saw in every village of this country the image of a god, or of a spirit called by some particular name, and each of these spirits is supposed to be the author of some sickness or misfortune, for the removing of which they offer their prayers to him. One of these spirits is _Anamberam_; and when a person gets a pimple, he brings an animal, commonly a domestic bird, to the chapel, and sacrifices it. In the work _Khálasa al hayat_, “the essence of life,” composed by Mulla Ahmed Tatvi, is stated, that upon the sepulchre of _Asefnívas_,[261] a sage of Greece, they used to sacrifice a bird, and they say that, in the book which treats of the ceremonies of pilgrimage to the before-named deities, three kinds of sacrifices are enumerated: agreeable perfumes, sweet cakes, and beverages; besides Mulla Ahmed Tatvi mentions in his work just before quoted, that _Herámes_ (that is Idris)[262] has established fumigations and wine of grapes for the use of sacrifices.

Among the great idols of the country or Kaling is _Gang-Durgá_.[263] They say, Ramachandra déo, one of their great Rájas, descendant of the celebrated family of Kaśyapa, ruled in Orissa. This Rája, having called a goldsmith, gave him the mass of gold which he demanded for making an image of Durga. The goldsmith, having carried the gold home, intended to form the goddess of copper and to purloin the gold, thinking that, as to break into pieces an idol is not permitted among the Hindus, he could keep the gold without fear of discovery. With this project he went to sleep. When he awoke, he saw that one half of the gold remained on the spot, and that the other half was formed into the image of Durgá; having carried this with the remaining gold to Ramachandra déo, and told the story, the Rája gave him the residue of gold, and carried the idol, in his house and in his travels, constantly with him. They say that, after the death of Kaśyapa the Great, Makandéo assembled under his sceptre the nations of this country, and that Vichnunath déo Sukra conquered the town Sri Kakul,[264] from the Rája Nanda. Ramchandra déo moved his army towards Sri Kakul, and took the fort; Vichnu-náth, being informed of it, marched against him; Ramchandra déo, unable to resist his force, fled; Ganga Durga was by her guardians thrown away in a village, from whence she fell into the hands of a Brahman, who flung her into the barn of a villager. This man, having taken her up, carried her to his house. The goddess appeared to him in a dream, and said: “Offer me in sacrifice thy eldest son, and I will make thee Rája.” After a certain time, the villager told this secret to Vishnu-náth déo, who, having taken the idol from him, gave him a horse ornamented with gold, and a magnificent dress, and carried the goddess to Naránya púr, his residence. As she demanded from him also the sacrifice of a man, Vichnu-náth déo killed every year one of the thieves and like sorts of men before her altar. After the death of Vichnu náth déo, his sons did the same. When Vikramajet déo, who descended from Vichna nath déo, was killed, and the country disturbed by insurrections, then Dasvent-ráu, who was one of the grand-children of Vichnu-náth déo, having taken up Durga, fled from fear of the army, commanded by Jalil ul Khader Tulají Khan Bég, to Márkúl. Bhúpati, the Rája of Márkul, being also afraid of the attack of the famous general, sent him the goddess Durga, on Monday, the ninth day of the month Rabish ul avel, of the year 1062 of the Hejira (September, 1651, A. D.). The idol was of gold, in the form of a female, with limbs very well proportioned, four arms, in two of her right hands carrying a three-pointed pike, which the Hindus call _Trisúla_,[265] and with which the goddess was striking _Mahisha Asura_, a demon under the form of a buffalo; he was beneath her right foot; in another hand she had a white ball, and in the fourth, the chakra, or discus, which is a circular weapon peculiar to the Hindus; under her left foot was a lion, and beneath him a throne. When they weighed the image, they found it equal to four panchiri, measure of the Dekhan. Even now, they sacrifice in every village of the Kohistan of Nanda-púr, and country adjacent, a man of good family.

Another idol, called _Mávelí_,[266] is in the town of Bister.[267] The belief of the people there is that, when an hostile army comes to attack them, the divinity, under the form of a woman selling vegetables, goes into the camp of the enemy, and whoever eats what she offers, dies; and during the night she appears like one of the public girls, and whoever finds her charming, and calls her, meets with death. They relate many strange and wonderful things about her. When in the year of the Hejira 1069, A. D. 1658-9, the famous general Tavaljí Khan Beg besieged and took the fort Kot Bahar, which is stronger than the fort of Bister, there died so many men and beasts of various maladies and the particular effects of climate, that their number exceeds all computation; and this the inhabitants of the fort of Bister attributed to the power of the goddess.

There is another class of followers of Síva, that is, of Sáktían, whose creed is quite different from that just before stated: they never have intercourse with the wife of another; they drink no wine. The adorers of Síva are obliged to drink wine in the _Síva-ratra_,[268] which is a sacred night: because it is written in their books that they ought then to fill a cup with wine and to drink it; as, according to the rule of this sect, it is not a matter of choice to drink wine; many who cannot get it, having procured a draught of syrup, mix a little of a fermented liquor with it to render it like wine, and take it for such, calling it _pána_.[269]

Sri Kanta, a Kachmirian, is conversant with many sciences of the Hindus; he knows the sástras, that is, the sástras of the Pandits, namely, the _Smríti sastra_,[270] or “the written law;” the _Kavi-sástra_,[271] “poetics;” the _Tarka-sástra_,[272] “logic and dialectics;” the _Váidyá vidyá_,[273] “the medical science;” the _Jyótisha_,[274] “astronomy;” and the _Pátanjala_,[275] that is, the restraining of the breath; he knows besides very well the Vedanta, or metaphysics, etc. In the year 1049 of the Hejira (1639 A. D.) the author of this book saw him in Kachmir; he is one of the saints of the Hindus. Sri Kant was invested by the inhabitant of heaven, Núr-ed-din Mahommed Jehangír Pádshah, with the dignity of a judge of the Hindus, in order that they may be tranquillised, and in every concern have nothing to demand from the Muselmans: as it has been established in the code of Akbar, that the tribes of mankind, high and low, with the existing diversity of creeds and difference of customs, which are all under the trust of a beneficent lord, ought to dwell in the shade of protection of a just king, and persevere in the performance of their worship and the exigencies of their devotion, so that, by the authority derived from the chiefs, the sons of the age may not stretch the hand of oppression over the condition of the people.

The belief of the Hindus is as follows: all the _tírths_,[276] that is, “places of pilgrimage,” which are in the world are in imitation of the fixed model _Haratírth_, which is in Kachmir; for, after having visited the holy place of Kachmir, there is no desire to see that of any other country; and they call it the great place of pilgrimage, likewise _prayága_,[277] which is celebrated at Máhábád; there are Shah abad ed-din púr, and Gangavara, Lárasún, and Kisâlíhazra. There are many miraculous things in Kachmir; one of them is _Sandebár_, and they relate: In ancient times, a holy Brahman dwelt in a cavern of the mountain, where he devoted himself to the worship of the Almighty God. Once every year, he went to the Ganges to bathe. After having passed several years in that way, Gangá said to the Brahman: “Thou measurest always such a length of road, on which thou dost set aside the worship of God: my convention with thee is this: that, when the sun reaches the constellation of the Bull, I will three times a-day come to thy resting-place.” From this time, when the great luminary throws his effulgence towards the constellation of the Bull, the water of the river springs up boiling from the basin of the fountain, which is near the place of his devotion. _Sundeberari_, in the cavern of the mountain, became celebrated: it is a square basin, and has on its eastern wall an open cavity, from which, as well as from several other vents and holes in the sides of the basin, the water springs up. However steadfastly one may look, the bottom cannot be discovered. And in the middle of the eastern side, there are seven holes, which the people of Kachmir call _Saptarshi_,[278] “the seven Rishis;” on the northern side is an issue, which they call _dama bhaváni_;[279] when the world-illuminating sun begins to enter the constellation of the Bull, the water appears there in the following manner: it springs up first from the large cavity, then from the _Saptarshi_: so the Hindus call seven rakshasas, and give their name to the constellation of the Great Bear. Further, the water comes up from the _dama bhaváni_, that is “the mansion of _Bhaváni_, the wife of Mahadéo.” When the cavity is filled, then the water, passing over the borders, runs out; the Sanyásis and other Hindus, who had come from distant places, throw themselves into it, and the people who find no room, carry water from it. Afterwards, the ebullition declines in such a manner, that there remains not the least trace of the water. In this month the water boils up three times a-day, namely, in the morning, at mid-day, and in the afternoon, at the hour of prayer. After the lapse of this month, no more water is seen, until the sun enters again into the sign of the Bull.

“Certainly, every thing announces God,
And offers the proof that there is but He.”[280]

The historians of the times know Sandeberarí among the wonders described by the ancient learned men of Kachmir. The ignorant among the Muselmans of Kachmir say, that Sandeberari is the well of _Abu Ali_, and believe it to be the work of _shaikh Arráis_; the truth is, that _Hajet ul hak_ never came to Kachmir: as it is evident from the concurring testimony of history.

HISTORY OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS SHAIKH ABU ALÍ HUSSAIN, THE SON OF ABDULLAH SINA (GOD BLESS HIS GRAVE!)[281]――The father of Abu Alí was a native of the environs of Balkh, and his mother was Sitára. Abu Alí was born in the year 333 of the Hejira (944 A. D.)[282] When he had attained his eighteenth year, he was conversant with all the liberal sciences. They relate, that Amír Nuh, the son of Manzur Sámáni,[283] in a grave malady, when the doctors knew no remedy, was restored to health by the salutary power of the songs of Abu Ali. When the Sámánían were in distress, he directed himself towards Khórasan, the king of which country, Alí, the son of Mámun Massar, received Abu Ali with perfect favour. When Abu Ali was accused before the Sultan Mahmud Sabak tegín,[284] of being opposed to the religion and creed of the ancient wise men, and when the Sultan showed a disposition to apprehend him, the Shaikh was alarmed and fled to Abyúverd; the satellites of the Sultan followed him with pictures and descriptions of his person, which were well drawn, and sent by the Sultan to all parts of the kingdom, in order that the magistrates and head men of office, by means of this picture might bring the fugitive before the Sultan. The Shaikh, informed of it, fled towards Jorjan (Georgia). By means of the remedies of the Shaikh, many sick were cured. Shamsen ul mâlí Kábús, the son of Vashamger,[285] had a nephew on his sister’s side on a sick-bed, all the remedies applied by the physicians proved useless; by order of Kabus, they brought the Shaikh to the pillow of the sick; but, in spite of all his cares and observations, the learned physician could not discover the cause of his illness. The Shaikh said to himself: “This young man may be in love, and from exceeding pudicity keep his secret unclosed.” On that account he ordered the names of all the places and towns to be written, and one after another to be read before the patient, whilst the Shaikh held his finger upon the pulse of the young man. When they pronounced the name of the abode of the beloved, the motion of the pulse of the enamoured was perceptible; the Shaikh ordered also the names of all the private houses to be read; at that of the object of his desires, the pulse of the desirous became disturbed; moreover they began to read the names of the inhabitants of the houses; when they arrived at that of his idol, the pulse of the adorer again beat higher. Mazheri of Kashmir says:

“The pulse of the loving beats higher, agitated only at the
name of the beloved.”

Thus, the perfect science of Abu Alí found the true remedy: he said to one of the head men near Shams ul mâlí: “This young man is in love with such a girl, in such a house, and there is no remedy but the gratification of his desire.” After trial, the truth of these words was found.[286]

When the Umras and the ministers of state withdrew from the obedience of Kábus, whom they imprisoned, the Shaikh retired into the country. Some time after, he betook himself to Ráí.[287] Majed-dóulah Abu Táleb Rustam, the son of Fakher ed dóulah Dalímí, the Hakim (governor) of Rái,[288] showed him great regard and honor; the Shaikh restored Majed ud-dóulah from the malady of melancholy to good health.

When Shams ed-dóulah made war upon Helál,[289] son of Bader, son of Hasnávíah, who came from the capital of the right faith (Mecca), he defeated the army of Bâghdad. The Shaikh went from Rái to Kazvín,[290] and from thence to Hamdan.[291] Shams ed-dóulah was cured of a colic by the remedies of the Shaikh, whom he then raised to the dignity of a Vizír. The chiefs of the army conspired against the life of Abu Ali; he fled, and remained concealed during forty days. Meanwhile, the malady of Shams ed-doulahreturned; the Shaikh, having come forth from his place of concealment, delivered the Sultan from his illness, and was again raised to the Vizirat. After the death of Shams ed-doulah, the throne was filled by Bahá ed-dóulah, the son of Táj ed dóulah.[292] The Umrahs requested Abu Alí to accept the Vizírat, but he refused his consent. About this time, Aláded-dóulah, the son of Jâfer Kakyuah,[293] sent from Iśfahan an invitation to the venerable Shaikh to join him; but the Shaikh declined to come, and concealed himself in the house of Abu Táleb, a dealer in perfumes. Without the example of any other work before his eyes, he composed his work, entitled _Shafá_, “remedy,” treating the whole of physics and metaphysics.[294]

Tájed doulah, having assumed the name of Alaved-dóulah, kept the Shaikh, by this assumption, employed in a continual succession of affairs. When Alawed dóulah conquered the country of Tájed ud dóulah, he brought the Shaikh to Iśfahán.[295] Towards the end of his life, a disease of the bowels seized the Shaikh, and gained strength, on account of his active life in the service of Alawed dóulah, and of the expeditions of his enemies. The patient was carried in a covered chair. When Aladed-dóulah came to Hamdán, the Shaikh felt that nature had exhausted her strength, and could not resist the force of the malady; on that account, having desisted from applying any remedy, he took a bath, and having distributed his property in alms to the poor, the indigent, and the necessitous, he turned his mind to God and the elect of the divinity; at last, on a Friday, in the month of Ramzán, of the year 427 of the Hejira (1035 A. D.), he passed from this deceitful world to the residence of happiness.[296] A great man said:

“From the globe of black clay to the summit of Venus,
I traversed all the difficulties of the world;
Every tie which was fastened around me, on account of deceit and
illusion,
Was loosened――except that of death.”

The extraordinary and astonishing actions performed by Abu Alí have been described in the book about the application of remedies in several histories[297], few of which are reproduced in these pages; and so much only with the intention to prove shortly to the candid reader, that Shaikh Abu Alí never came to Kachmir, about which intelligent and ingenious men in all countries agree.

“There is no house which may not be the house of God.”

[232] माया शक्ति.

[233] रजस् “foulness,” according to the interpretation of
Colebrooke and Wilson.

[234] सत्त्वं “goodness.”

[235] तमस् “darkness.”

[236] According to the Vayu-Purana (ch. V.), Brahma proceeds
from _rajas_; Vichnu from _sattvam_; and Siva or Mahadeva
from _tamas_. According to the Sánkhyá Kárika (sl. xiii):
“Goodness (sattvam) is considered to be alleviating and
enlightening; foulness (rajas), urgent and versatile;
darkness (tamas), heavy and enveloping. Like a lamp, they
co-operate for a purpose (by union of contraries).”

[237] जगद् अम्बा.

[238] षट् चक्राः See the six circles or regions of the human
body enumerated (p. 131, notes); here the denominations of
the three last divisions are different from the former.

[239] स्वाधिष्ठानं.

[240] हृद्.

[241] साद.

[242] अग्नि चक्र.

[243] भक्त.

[244] आगम a work on sacred science in general, and in
particular a Tantra, or any work, inculcating the mystical
worship of Siva and Sakti.

[245] िलङ्ग The Phallus, or Síva, under that emblem; it
signifies also nature, or _Prakritti_, according to the
Sánk hya philosophy, which considers this as the active
power in creation.

[246] भग.

[247] कपाल.

[248] बलं “rigor, severity, blood, strength, power.”

[249] श्मशानं “a cemetery.”

[250] शक्ति पूज.

[251] कामद, “giving what is wished; granting one’s desire.”

[252] देव कनयाः

[253] नर मेद.

[254] गो मेप.

[255] अश्व मेद.

[256] काल देयं.

[257] इष्टं, “an act of sacrifice, an oblation,” etc.; from
इष _isha_, “to wish;” substituted for यज्ञ _yadjna_, “to
sacrifice.”

[258] भद्रं “pure, pious, virtuous.”

[259] वकं “to be crooked, depraved, wicked.”

[260] This reminds us of the _Selli_, dwelling about Dodona,
where Jupiter was adored, and, by whose spirit moved, they
prophesied (ἀνιπτόποδες) “_with unwashed feet_.”――(_Hom._,
_Iliad_, XVI. v. 235.)

[261] اسفنيوس. I am at a loss to find the true name of the
Greek sage. In our days a class of Hindus, pursuant to an
ante-brahminical worship, venerate spirits, called _Vetals_,
to whom in sickness they make vows, to be paid on recovery.
The votive offering is generally a cock, the same that the
Greeks used to give to Æsculapius, when they thought their
cure owing to his sanatory powers――(See the Journal of the
A. R. S. of Great Britain and Ireland, No. IX. p. 194.)

[262] The prophet Enoch.

[263] Perhaps ख दुर्गा _Kha Durga_, “the heavenly Durga.”

[264] The names of the country of Kalinga and of the town
Sri Kakul occur at p. 3 of this volume. The town now called
Cicacole, in the northern Circars, once the capital of an
extensive district, is situated in lat. 18° 21´ N., long.
83° 57´ E.

[265] ित्शूूूलं a trident, a three-pointed pike, or spear,
especially the weapon of Síva.

[266] It is, perhaps, _Mahèsvarí_.

[267] The name which I find nearest approaching to that
above is _Bidzergur_, a town in the province of Allahabad,
lat. 24° 37´ N., long. 83° 10´ E., with a fort on a high and
steep mountain in the midst of an unhealthy country.

[268] िवरात्रिश is a celebrated festival in honor of Síva,
on the fourteenth of the moon’s wane, or dark fortnight in
Mágha (January, February).

[269] पानं drinking in general.

[270] स्मृतिशास्त्रं.

[271] कविशास्त्रं.

[272] तर्कशास्त्रं.

[273] वैद्यविद्या.

[274] ज्योतिषं mathematical, astronomical, and astrological
science.

[275] पातञ्जलं The Yoga-system of philosophy, from
Patanjeli, the sage by whom it was first taught.

[276] तीर्थ.

[277] प्रयाग signifies “sacrifice, oblation;” in compositon
it is applied to many places of reputed sanctity, situated
at the confluence of two rivers, as _Déva-prayága_,
_Rudra-práyaga_, _Karna práyaga_, and _Nanda-prayága_, in
the Himála mountains, which with Prayága, or Allahabad,
constitute the five principal places so termed――(_Wilson’s
Dict._, _sub voce_).

[278] सप्तर्षि.

[279] दम भवानी _dama_ signifies, in the Védas, “the hall of
sacrifice.”

[280] This verse is taken from the Arabic work entitled “The
Birds and the Flowers,” composed by Azz-ed-din Almoka dési,
published with a translation and notes by M. Garcin de
Tassy.――(See p. 8 of the text, and p. 131 of the notes).

[281] The merely cursory mention made of Abu Ali in the
foregoing lines, is sufficient for inducing the author to
interpose between the Sactis and the Vaishnavas, the account
of a man who neither belonged to the Hindus, nor professed
their religion.

The name of this celebrated personage is _Abu Alí Husain Ben
Abdallah, Ben Sina, Al Shaikh Al ráis_; he is commonly
called _Ibn Sina_; the Jews name him _Arabisans Aben Sina_;
and the Christians _Avisenna_.

Herbelot gives an account nearly similar to that of the
Dabistán, of the astonishing learning of Abu Alí and of his
flight before the persecutions of the Sultan Mahmud, and the
cure which the famous doctor performed upon the nephew of
the king of Georgia.

[282] According to Abulfeda and other authors, he was born
in the town of Bokhara, in 370 of the Hejira (980 A. D.).

[283] Mansur I, son of Abdelmalek, was the sixth king of the
Samánís: this dynasty derived their name from Sámán, whose
father is unknown. Sámán, a robber, had a son, Assad, who
quitted the infamous profession of his father, and educated
his sons in a manner which enabled them to rise to the
highest dignities under the Khalif Al-Mamon and his
successors. Ismâil, a grandson of Assad, founded the
princely dynasty in Mavaralnahar (Transoxana), to which
other provinces were annexed. Nine Samanian kings ruled from
the year of the Hejira 261 to 388 (A. D. 874-998).

[284] The first of the dynasty of the Ghasnavis. According
to the author of Nighiaristan, quoted by Herbelot, Avisenna,
when at the court of Mamon, king of Khorasan, was called by
Mahmúd to his own capital; the refusal of the Shaikh to obey
drew upon him Mahmud’s persecutions.

[285] Kabus, a prince of the Dilámi dynasty, ruled in the
provinces of Giorgian, Ghitan, Mazinderan, and Tabaristan,
upon the western and southern shores of the Caspian sea.

[286] The sagacity of Avisenna can but remind us of that
with which Eristratus, a disciple of Chrysippus and grandson
of Aristotle, discovered the secret cause of the mortal
malady of Antiochus, son of the Syrian king Seleucus: the
young prince was in love with his stepmother, Stratonice.
But Kabus, for preserving the life of his nephew, was
subject to no personal sacrifice; Seleucus saved his son by
the cession of his own wife.

[287] Ráí is a town in Irak Ajemí, or Persian Irak.

[288] Majed-doulah, the eighth prince of the Búyí dynasty,
reigned in Isfahan and ín Persian Irak, during his minority
under the tutelage of his mother, Seidát; at his majority he
confided the vizirate to Avisenna, on which account an open
war broke out between him and his mother. Seidát defeated
and took in a battle, before the town of Rái, her son, and
reassumed the government, but afterwards resigned it to him,
satisfied to guide him by her counsels, much to his
advantage, until her death; after which the weak prince
delivered himself into the hands of his conqueror Mahmud
Sabak tegin.

[289] Shams-ed-doulah (according to Herbelot, Samsameddulah),
son of Adhadededdulat, was the tenth prince of the Búyi
dynasty.

[290] Kazvin, a town in Persian Irak.

[291] Hamdan, a town in Persian Irak, to the west of Kazvin,
about 450 miles N. W. of Isfahan.

[292] Herbelot states Baha-ed-Doulah to be son of
Adhad-doulat, and brother of Samsameddulat.

[293] Herbelot says, that Abu Alí entitled his great work
_Canun fil thebi_, “Rule of Medicine;” this book has been
abridged and commented by Said Ben Hebatallah, by Razi Ben
al Khatib, and by another author, who has composed the
_Mugiaz fil theb_.

[294] We read in Abulfeda’s history (vol. III. p. 64): “In
the year of the Hejira 414, A. D. 1023, Ala-ed-daula Abu
Jafar, commonly called son of Kakuyah, took Hamdam from one
of the Búyís, say Sama-ed-doulah Abúl Hasan, son of
Shams-ed-Doulah.”

[295] The biography of Avisenna involves a variety of events
which cannot be here sufficiently developed for removing the
obscurity attending the short account of our author. The
name of Tájet-ud-doulah is not found in Abulfeda’s and
Herbelot’s notice of the Shaikh Avisenna.

[296] Adopting as true the year of his birth, as stated in
the Dabistán (see p. 169), Abu Ali, according to the above
date of his death, would have died in his ninety-first year.
According to Abulfeda (see vol. III. p. 92), he died in his
fifty-eighth year; Herbelot says, he died in the year of the
Hejira 428, A. D. 1036, in the fifty-sixth year of his life.

[297] Herbelot says that Avisenna wrote his biography
himself; the French author mentions a life of the celebrated
Muhammedan doctor, composed by doctor Giorgiani.

* * * * *