To the Memory of

THE REV. SAMUEL PEARCE, OF BIRMINGHAM ;
THE REV. JOHN SUTCLIFF, OF OLNEY;

AND

THE REV. ANDREW FULLER, OF KETTERING,

and to

THE REV. JOHN RYLAND, OF BRISTOL;
THE REV. JOHN FAWCETT, OF HEPDEN-BRIDGE;

AND

THE REV. ROBERT HALL, OF LEICESTER;

and to

THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY,

AND ALL THE OTHER EUROPEAN AND OTHER COLLEAGUES OF THE AUTHOR IN INDIA;

THIS WORK IS VERY AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,

BY

THE AUTHOR.

SERAMPORE, June, 1815.

PRONUNCIATION OF HINDOO NAMES.

IN endeavouring to give the sounds of Săngskrită words, the author has adopted a method, which he hopes unites correctness with simplicity, and avoids much of that confusion which has been so much complained of on this subject. If the reader will only retain in his memory, that the short i is to be sounded as the short o in son, or the u in Burton; the French é, as a in plate; and the ēē as in sweet; he may go through the whole work with a pronunciation so correct, that a Hindco would understand him. At the beginning and end of a word, the inherent vowel (n) has the soft sound of au.

CONTENTS:

BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION, BY REV. W. O. SIMPSON,

The following are the illustrations.

I-Günéshu, commonly known as the Pulliar or Belly God.FRONTISPIECE.

II.-Bramah, the Creator.

III.-Vishnu, the Protector.

IV.-Shiva, the Destroyer with his Wife Parvatee.

V.-Krishna, the most celebrated Incarnation of Vishnu

VI.-Khali, Parvatee represented as avenging Justice.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

THE Hindoo theology founded on the same philosophical notion as that

of the Greeks, that the Divine Spirit is the soul of the world, proved from the

Greek writers, i.—from the Védanta-Sará, ii-A system of austerity founded

on this system, iii.-Extract from the Shree-Bhagůvátů on this subject, iv.—

Account of the ceremony called yogň, by which the Divine Spirit, dwelling in

matter, becomes purified, extracted from the Patinjälú Dharshănă and the

Gorikshi-singhita, v.-No real yogees to be found at present, vi.-Absurdity

of these opinions and practices, ib.-Another class of Hindoos place their hopes

on devotion, vii.--The great mass of the population adhere to religious cere-

monies, viii.-Conjectures on the origin of the Hindoo Mythology, ib.-on

images, as originating in moral darkness, and the depravity of men, ib.—those

of the Hindoos not representations of the One God, ix.-n
-nor of his perfec-

tions, ib-nor of human virtues, ib.-nor of the objects of natural science, x.—

but in general the invention of kings, to please the multitude, ib.-The doc-

trine of all the East, that God in his abstract state is unknown, and unconnect-

ed with the universe, ib.—the object of worship the divine energy, subject to

passions, in consequence of its union to matter, xi.-the creation of the gods

first, ib.-Proofs that the divine energy is the object of adoration, from the forms

of the gods, xii.-the modes of worship, ib.-the common observations of the

Hindoos on the phenomena of nature, xiii.-The divine energy the object of

worship among the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, &c. proved by quotations from

various authors, xiv.-The subjects embraced by the Hindoo mythology, ib.-

The ancient idolatry of this people confined to the primary elements, the

heavenly bodies, and aërial beings, xv.-the succeeding objects of worship,

Brimha, Vishnoo, and Shiva, the creator, the preserver, and destroyer, ib.-

next the female deities, as the representatives of nature, ib.-then sundry

deities, connected with corrupt notions of Divine Providence; and afterwards

deified heroes, xvi.—The number of the IIindoo gods, ib.- Benefits sought from

different gods by their worshippers, ib.-Brumha-his form-allusions to his

attributes-conjecture of Mr. Paterson's examined, xvii.-Vishnoo-the attri-

butes of his image explained-conjecture of Mr. Paterson's noticed, xviii.-

Shiva, and the attributes of his image-remarks on the worship of the Lingň-

resemblance between Bacchus and Shiv-two other forms of Shivă noticed,