DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0271
Hero-worship and Saint-worship. 259
was marked by any extraordinary act of self-sacrifice or
heroism, or so-called miracle. Nevertheless, it is important
to note that the idea of divinity seems to be specially asso-
ciated with five classes of living persons—kings, warriors,
Brahmans, saints, and sages—and that these enjoy a kind
of a-priori claim to subsequent apotheosis.
And first in regard to kings — every king is regarded
as little short of a present god. In Manu's law-book a king
is said to be created by drawing eternal particles from the
essence of the eight guardian deities (VII. 4). Again, he says,
'A king, even though a mere child, must not be treated
with contempt, as if he were a mortal; he is a great divinity
in human shape' (VII. 8). In proof of the hold which these
ideas still have on the people of India, I may mention that,
according to a statement in a recent number of a native
newspaper, there is now a sect of persons in Orissa who
worship the Queen of England as their chief divinity.
The transition from the worship of kings to that of mili-
tary heroes and conquerors is of course easy. Great war-
riors have always in India commanded a large share of
popular homage, though their full apotheosis has generally
been deferred until after death and until their human origin
has become obscured in the mists of tradition. The most
noteworthy instances of such deification have been Rama
and Krishna, both of whom, notwithstanding their human
parentage and human career, were ultimately1, as we have
seen (pp. 110-114), exalted by their worshippers to the first
rank among Vishnu's incarnations.
And, to this day, all living persons remarkable for great per-
sonal valour and strength, or for supposed miraculous powers,
run the risk—like Paul and Barnabas at Lystra—-of being
converted into gods. Even any unusual deformity or strange
eccentricity may be an evidence of divinity.
1 In the Maha-bharata the divinity of Krishna is occasionally disputed,
as by Sisu-pala and others.
S %
was marked by any extraordinary act of self-sacrifice or
heroism, or so-called miracle. Nevertheless, it is important
to note that the idea of divinity seems to be specially asso-
ciated with five classes of living persons—kings, warriors,
Brahmans, saints, and sages—and that these enjoy a kind
of a-priori claim to subsequent apotheosis.
And first in regard to kings — every king is regarded
as little short of a present god. In Manu's law-book a king
is said to be created by drawing eternal particles from the
essence of the eight guardian deities (VII. 4). Again, he says,
'A king, even though a mere child, must not be treated
with contempt, as if he were a mortal; he is a great divinity
in human shape' (VII. 8). In proof of the hold which these
ideas still have on the people of India, I may mention that,
according to a statement in a recent number of a native
newspaper, there is now a sect of persons in Orissa who
worship the Queen of England as their chief divinity.
The transition from the worship of kings to that of mili-
tary heroes and conquerors is of course easy. Great war-
riors have always in India commanded a large share of
popular homage, though their full apotheosis has generally
been deferred until after death and until their human origin
has become obscured in the mists of tradition. The most
noteworthy instances of such deification have been Rama
and Krishna, both of whom, notwithstanding their human
parentage and human career, were ultimately1, as we have
seen (pp. 110-114), exalted by their worshippers to the first
rank among Vishnu's incarnations.
And, to this day, all living persons remarkable for great per-
sonal valour and strength, or for supposed miraculous powers,
run the risk—like Paul and Barnabas at Lystra—-of being
converted into gods. Even any unusual deformity or strange
eccentricity may be an evidence of divinity.
1 In the Maha-bharata the divinity of Krishna is occasionally disputed,
as by Sisu-pala and others.
S %