DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.641#0185
17S THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
entereth into his heart; who is happy of himself; who is
without affection; who rejoiceth not either in good or evil;
who, like the tortoise, can restrain his memhers from their
wonted purpose; to whom pleasure and pain, gold, iron,
and stones are the same.' 'The learned,' adds Krishnii,
' behold Brumhu alike in the reverend bramhun, perfected
in knowledge; in the ox, and in the elephant; in the dog,
and in him who eateth of the flesh of dogs.' The person
whose very nature, say they, is absorbed in divine medita-
tion ; whose life is like a sweet sleep, unconscious and un-
disturbed ; who does not even desire God, and who is thus
changed into the image of the ever-blessed; obtains ab-
sorption into Brumhu °.
The ceremonies leading to absorption are called by the
name of tiipushya, and the person performing them a
tupushwee. Forsaking the world; retiring to a forest;
fasting, living on roots, fruits, &c. remaining in certain
postures ; exposure to all the inclemencies of the weather,
&c.—these, and many other austere practices, are prescrib-
ed, to subdue the passions, to fix the mind, habituate it to
meditation, and fill it v/ith that serenity and indifference to
the world, which is to prepare it for absorption, and place
it beyond the reach of future birth.
The reader will easily perceive, that this part of the Hin-
doo religion, separated, as it confessedly was in some mea-
• Some of the followers of Vishnoo (voishniivus) are not pleased with
the idea of absorption, or of losing a distinct and conscious state of ex-
istence. They are represented as praying thus :—' O Vishnoo! we do not
wish for absorption ; but for a state of happiness in which we shall for
ever see and serve thee as our lord ; in which thou wilt continue as our
beloved master, and we as thy servants.' Agreeably to this prayer, they
believe that devoted voishniivus after death will be freed from future
birth, and remain for ever near Vishnoo in the heaven of this god.
entereth into his heart; who is happy of himself; who is
without affection; who rejoiceth not either in good or evil;
who, like the tortoise, can restrain his memhers from their
wonted purpose; to whom pleasure and pain, gold, iron,
and stones are the same.' 'The learned,' adds Krishnii,
' behold Brumhu alike in the reverend bramhun, perfected
in knowledge; in the ox, and in the elephant; in the dog,
and in him who eateth of the flesh of dogs.' The person
whose very nature, say they, is absorbed in divine medita-
tion ; whose life is like a sweet sleep, unconscious and un-
disturbed ; who does not even desire God, and who is thus
changed into the image of the ever-blessed; obtains ab-
sorption into Brumhu °.
The ceremonies leading to absorption are called by the
name of tiipushya, and the person performing them a
tupushwee. Forsaking the world; retiring to a forest;
fasting, living on roots, fruits, &c. remaining in certain
postures ; exposure to all the inclemencies of the weather,
&c.—these, and many other austere practices, are prescrib-
ed, to subdue the passions, to fix the mind, habituate it to
meditation, and fill it v/ith that serenity and indifference to
the world, which is to prepare it for absorption, and place
it beyond the reach of future birth.
The reader will easily perceive, that this part of the Hin-
doo religion, separated, as it confessedly was in some mea-
• Some of the followers of Vishnoo (voishniivus) are not pleased with
the idea of absorption, or of losing a distinct and conscious state of ex-
istence. They are represented as praying thus :—' O Vishnoo! we do not
wish for absorption ; but for a state of happiness in which we shall for
ever see and serve thee as our lord ; in which thou wilt continue as our
beloved master, and we as thy servants.' Agreeably to this prayer, they
believe that devoted voishniivus after death will be freed from future
birth, and remain for ever near Vishnoo in the heaven of this god.