DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0214
202 Mantras and Bijas.
gods are subject to the Mantras; the Mantras to the Brah-
mans; therefore the Brahmans are our gods1/
Often these Mantra-sastrls are mere professional fortune-
tellers. I may mention as an illustration that a Sakta Brah-
man of this type came to see me one day at Patna. He asked
to look at my hand, and, after examining it for a minute, pro-
phesied that my stay in India would be happy and prosperous,
except that on that day fortnight I should meet with a great
disappointment. I smiled at the absurdity of his attempting
to forecast my future biography, but it is certain that I only
met with one unexpected and most mortifying contretemps
from the day of my departure from England to the day of my
return, and that happened on the very day predicted. It
must at least be acknowledged that the coincidence was re-
markable.
I may also give an outline of a story told to me by a
Maratha Pandit, which well illustrates the sort of use these
Mantra-sastris are supposed to make of their magical powers.
A certain Sakta Brahman, named Bhaskaracarya, well-versed
in the Mantras, expected to be asked to a dinner-party given
by a wealthy friend, but received no invitation. This so irri-
tated the Brahman that he determined to revenge himself on
the householder who had ventured so imprudently to slight
Mm. Having waited till the moment when the assembled
guests, with appetites stimulated by the fragrance of an array
of choice dishes, were about to feast on the delicacies prepared
for their consumption, he quietly in his own house selected a
particular Mantra, and by simply repeating it turned all the
viands into foul and fetid excrementitious matter. The story
goes on to relate how the householder, suspecting the cause of
this disastrous metamorphose, sent a messenger in hot haste to
1 The Sanskrit version of this saying is given incorrectly by Dubois
(p. 77). I have heard it variously rendered. Perhaps the following is
the most usual:—Devadhmam Jagat-sarvam Mantradhinas-ca Devatah
Mantrai-ca Brahmanadhlnah Brahmana mama Devatal.i.
gods are subject to the Mantras; the Mantras to the Brah-
mans; therefore the Brahmans are our gods1/
Often these Mantra-sastrls are mere professional fortune-
tellers. I may mention as an illustration that a Sakta Brah-
man of this type came to see me one day at Patna. He asked
to look at my hand, and, after examining it for a minute, pro-
phesied that my stay in India would be happy and prosperous,
except that on that day fortnight I should meet with a great
disappointment. I smiled at the absurdity of his attempting
to forecast my future biography, but it is certain that I only
met with one unexpected and most mortifying contretemps
from the day of my departure from England to the day of my
return, and that happened on the very day predicted. It
must at least be acknowledged that the coincidence was re-
markable.
I may also give an outline of a story told to me by a
Maratha Pandit, which well illustrates the sort of use these
Mantra-sastris are supposed to make of their magical powers.
A certain Sakta Brahman, named Bhaskaracarya, well-versed
in the Mantras, expected to be asked to a dinner-party given
by a wealthy friend, but received no invitation. This so irri-
tated the Brahman that he determined to revenge himself on
the householder who had ventured so imprudently to slight
Mm. Having waited till the moment when the assembled
guests, with appetites stimulated by the fragrance of an array
of choice dishes, were about to feast on the delicacies prepared
for their consumption, he quietly in his own house selected a
particular Mantra, and by simply repeating it turned all the
viands into foul and fetid excrementitious matter. The story
goes on to relate how the householder, suspecting the cause of
this disastrous metamorphose, sent a messenger in hot haste to
1 The Sanskrit version of this saying is given incorrectly by Dubois
(p. 77). I have heard it variously rendered. Perhaps the following is
the most usual:—Devadhmam Jagat-sarvam Mantradhinas-ca Devatah
Mantrai-ca Brahmanadhlnah Brahmana mama Devatal.i.