DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.640#0103
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
the Creator, the Preserver, and the Reproducer. When some
giant, blessed by Brumha, has destroyed the creation, Vishnoo
and Shivtt have been applied to; but they have confessed that
they could do nothing for the tottering universe.
Reverence for the gods, especially among the poor, as might
be expected, does not exceed their merits; yet it is a shocking
fact, that language like the following should be used respecting
what the Hindoos suppose to be the Providence which governs
the world :—when it thunders awfully, respectable Hindoos say,
* Oh! the gods are giving us a bad day;' the lower orders say,
* The rascally gods are dying.' During a heavy rain, a woman
of respectable cast frequently says, ' Let the gods perish! my
clothes are all wet.' A man of low cast says, 'These rascally
gods are sending more rain.*
In witnessing such a state of gross ignorance, on a subject of
infinite moment to men, how forcibly do we feel the truth and
the wisdom of the declaration of the Divine Author of the
Christian religion, ' This is life eternal, to know thee the only
true God!' A correct knowledge of the Divine perfections, in
the mind of a sincere Christian, is a treasure which transcends
in value all the riches of the earth: for instance, how much does
the doctrine of the Divine Unity tend to fix the hope and joy of
the Christian! but the poor Hindoo knows not, amongst so
many gods, upon whom to call, or in whom to trust. In the
spirituality of the Divine Nature, united to omniscience and
omnipresence, the Christian finds a large field for the purest and
most sublime contemplations; but the degraded idolater, walk-
ing round his pantheon, sees beings that fill him only with
shame or terror: he retires from the image of Kalee over-
whelmed with horror, and from those of Radha-Krishnii with
confusion and contempt—or else inflamed with concupiscence.
How effectual to awaken the fears and excite the salutary appre-
hensions of those who neglect their best interests, is the scripture
doctrine of the Divine Purity and Justice; but the wretched
Hindoo has the examples of the most corrupt beings, even in hi*
the Creator, the Preserver, and the Reproducer. When some
giant, blessed by Brumha, has destroyed the creation, Vishnoo
and Shivtt have been applied to; but they have confessed that
they could do nothing for the tottering universe.
Reverence for the gods, especially among the poor, as might
be expected, does not exceed their merits; yet it is a shocking
fact, that language like the following should be used respecting
what the Hindoos suppose to be the Providence which governs
the world :—when it thunders awfully, respectable Hindoos say,
* Oh! the gods are giving us a bad day;' the lower orders say,
* The rascally gods are dying.' During a heavy rain, a woman
of respectable cast frequently says, ' Let the gods perish! my
clothes are all wet.' A man of low cast says, 'These rascally
gods are sending more rain.*
In witnessing such a state of gross ignorance, on a subject of
infinite moment to men, how forcibly do we feel the truth and
the wisdom of the declaration of the Divine Author of the
Christian religion, ' This is life eternal, to know thee the only
true God!' A correct knowledge of the Divine perfections, in
the mind of a sincere Christian, is a treasure which transcends
in value all the riches of the earth: for instance, how much does
the doctrine of the Divine Unity tend to fix the hope and joy of
the Christian! but the poor Hindoo knows not, amongst so
many gods, upon whom to call, or in whom to trust. In the
spirituality of the Divine Nature, united to omniscience and
omnipresence, the Christian finds a large field for the purest and
most sublime contemplations; but the degraded idolater, walk-
ing round his pantheon, sees beings that fill him only with
shame or terror: he retires from the image of Kalee over-
whelmed with horror, and from those of Radha-Krishnii with
confusion and contempt—or else inflamed with concupiscence.
How effectual to awaken the fears and excite the salutary appre-
hensions of those who neglect their best interests, is the scripture
doctrine of the Divine Purity and Justice; but the wretched
Hindoo has the examples of the most corrupt beings, even in hi*