DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0149
Vaishnavism. Vallabha Sect. 137
have come to be regarded as representatives of Krishna upon
earth, or even as actual incarnations or impersonations of the
god. So that in the temples where the Maharajas do homage
to the idols, men and women do homage to the Maharajas,
prostrating themselves at their feet, offering them incense,
fruits and flowers, and waving lights before them, as the
Maharajas themselves do before the images of the gods.
One mode of worshipping the boyish Krishna is by swinging
his images in swings. Hence, in every district presided over
by a Maharaja, the women are accustomed to worship not
Krishna but the Maharaja by swinging him in pendent seats.
The Pan-suparl ejected from his mouth, the leavings of his
food, and the very dust on which he has walked, are eagerly
devoured by his devotees, while they also drink the water
rinsed from his garments, and that used in the washing of his
feet, which they call Caranamrita, ' feet nectar.' Others,
again, worship his wooden shoes, or prostrate themselves
before his seat (gadi) and his painted portraits. Nay, infinitely
worse than all this: it is believed that the best mode of
propitiating the god Krishna in heaven is by ministering to
the sensual appetites of his successors and vicars upon earth.
Body, soul, and property (in popular language tan, man, dhan)
are to be wholly made over to them in a peculiar rite called
Self-devotion (samarpana), and women are taught to believe
that highest bliss will be secured to themselves and their
families by the caresses of Krishna's representatives.
The profligacy of the Maharajas was exposed in the cele-
brated trial of the Maharaja libel case, which came before
the Supreme Court of Bombay on the 26th of January, 1863.
The evidence given, and the judgment of the judges, have
acted as some check on the licentious practices of the sect,
but it is still held to represent the worst and most corrupt
phase of the Vaishnava religion.
The reformation of the Vallabhacarya system effected by
Svami-Narayana will be described in Chapter VI, p. 148.
have come to be regarded as representatives of Krishna upon
earth, or even as actual incarnations or impersonations of the
god. So that in the temples where the Maharajas do homage
to the idols, men and women do homage to the Maharajas,
prostrating themselves at their feet, offering them incense,
fruits and flowers, and waving lights before them, as the
Maharajas themselves do before the images of the gods.
One mode of worshipping the boyish Krishna is by swinging
his images in swings. Hence, in every district presided over
by a Maharaja, the women are accustomed to worship not
Krishna but the Maharaja by swinging him in pendent seats.
The Pan-suparl ejected from his mouth, the leavings of his
food, and the very dust on which he has walked, are eagerly
devoured by his devotees, while they also drink the water
rinsed from his garments, and that used in the washing of his
feet, which they call Caranamrita, ' feet nectar.' Others,
again, worship his wooden shoes, or prostrate themselves
before his seat (gadi) and his painted portraits. Nay, infinitely
worse than all this: it is believed that the best mode of
propitiating the god Krishna in heaven is by ministering to
the sensual appetites of his successors and vicars upon earth.
Body, soul, and property (in popular language tan, man, dhan)
are to be wholly made over to them in a peculiar rite called
Self-devotion (samarpana), and women are taught to believe
that highest bliss will be secured to themselves and their
families by the caresses of Krishna's representatives.
The profligacy of the Maharajas was exposed in the cele-
brated trial of the Maharaja libel case, which came before
the Supreme Court of Bombay on the 26th of January, 1863.
The evidence given, and the judgment of the judges, have
acted as some check on the licentious practices of the sect,
but it is still held to represent the worst and most corrupt
phase of the Vaishnava religion.
The reformation of the Vallabhacarya system effected by
Svami-Narayana will be described in Chapter VI, p. 148.