DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.641#0079
72 THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
child may Teeover. Thus the poor Hindoo carries his
property to dumb idols, and knows nothing of the happi--
ness of casting all his cares on that glorious Being, ' who
careth for him.' The vows made at such times are various.
One promises to sacrifice a goat, a sheep, or a buffalo;
another to present sweetmeats, or cloth, ornaments, money,
rice, a house, a necklace, one hundred water-lilies, one
thousand tool usee leaves, or a grand supper. All these
offerings come to the bramhuns'.
If the god do not grant the requests and regard the vows
made at these times, the worshipper sometimes vents his
rage in angry expressions; or, if the image be in his own
house, he dashes it to pieces. Such an enraged worshipper
sometimes says, ' Oh ! thou forsaken of the goddess For-
tune, thou blind god; thou canst look upon others, but art
blind to me.' ' The gods are dying,' says another,( other-
wise my five children would not have died; they have eaten
my five children at once.' ' After having worshipped this
god so faithfully, and presented so many offerings, this is
the shameful manner in which I am requited.' Words like
these are common; but this is in times when the passions
of the worshippers are touched by the death of a child, or
by some dreadful misfortune: and those who treat the gods
so roughly are generally of the lower orders.
• The shastru has declared that no gifts are to be received from the
hands of shoodtfis, except land or virgins. If, however, a bramhun have
received a forbidden gift, he is directed to offer it to Vishnoo, and then
distribute it among bramhuns, repeating, for the removal of his sin, th?
gayiitree one hundred and eight times, or more.
child may Teeover. Thus the poor Hindoo carries his
property to dumb idols, and knows nothing of the happi--
ness of casting all his cares on that glorious Being, ' who
careth for him.' The vows made at such times are various.
One promises to sacrifice a goat, a sheep, or a buffalo;
another to present sweetmeats, or cloth, ornaments, money,
rice, a house, a necklace, one hundred water-lilies, one
thousand tool usee leaves, or a grand supper. All these
offerings come to the bramhuns'.
If the god do not grant the requests and regard the vows
made at these times, the worshipper sometimes vents his
rage in angry expressions; or, if the image be in his own
house, he dashes it to pieces. Such an enraged worshipper
sometimes says, ' Oh ! thou forsaken of the goddess For-
tune, thou blind god; thou canst look upon others, but art
blind to me.' ' The gods are dying,' says another,( other-
wise my five children would not have died; they have eaten
my five children at once.' ' After having worshipped this
god so faithfully, and presented so many offerings, this is
the shameful manner in which I am requited.' Words like
these are common; but this is in times when the passions
of the worshippers are touched by the death of a child, or
by some dreadful misfortune: and those who treat the gods
so roughly are generally of the lower orders.
• The shastru has declared that no gifts are to be received from the
hands of shoodtfis, except land or virgins. If, however, a bramhun have
received a forbidden gift, he is directed to offer it to Vishnoo, and then
distribute it among bramhuns, repeating, for the removal of his sin, th?
gayiitree one hundred and eight times, or more.