"Adultery is a sin against the laws established in our societies; but Divine Beings are not subject to our laws of convenience. The incomprehensible views of God ought not to be confounded with those of men. There are actions of which the end is unknown, which would be criminal for us, but would not be so for either gods or saints; for holiness, like fire, purifies all things."

The episode from the Mahabharata, called BhagavatGeeta, forms one volume of the Pouranas. It is more beautiful in style, and more spiritual in its teaching, than any of the others. According to the triple division of duties common among Hindoos, it prescribes three kinds of penance. "Penance of the body, to be chaste, and free from all offences; penance of words, to speak always with kindness and truth, and to read the Sacred Books diligently; penance of thoughts, to subdue one's self, to purify the soul, to be silent, and disposed to benevolence."

Pen

"To practise penance to obtain dignity or fame, or to give one's self an air of sanctity, is a penance little worth, and has its source in inferior influences on the soul. ances performed by a man attached to foolish doctrines, or those which consist in self-torment, or those whose end is to do injury to another, these have their source in the region of shadows."

"God resides in the heart of all creatures."

"When thy spirit shall have become perfectly free from the labyrinths in which it is involved, then thou wilt arrive at indifference concerning the Vedas and the sacred traditions."

It is stated in the Pouranas that the Vedas were carried from India to Egypt, by a noble and blameless race of men, called Yadavas, who emigrated thither on account of the persecutions of a tyrant named Cansa; and that afterward a race of men called Pali, or Shepherds, went from India and conquered Egypt.

The idea that a dead uniformity of opinion prevails in Asiatic countries, is a mistake, originating in our ignorance of their internal history. There is certainly far less acti

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vity of mind than in Europe, and of course changes are more slow and limited in effect. But the same questions, which have agitated the theological schools of Europe, have disturbed the East also, under forms modified by their circumstances. They have an immense number of commentaries on their Sacred Books, filled with nice metaphysical distinctions and intricate arguments concerning disputed texts.

The division of the Vedas into two distinct portions, one teaching spiritual doctrines concerning the unity of God and the communion of the soul with Him, while the other prescribed elaborate ceremonials and the worship of many symbolical deities, originated in the idea that it was impossible to elevate the minds of the populace to the contemplation of One Invisible Spirit, and, therefore, it was necessary to clothe religious ideas in forms suited to their comprehension. Thus while higher doctrines were reserved for sages, the worship of external symbols was not only allowed to the ignorant, but absolutely prescribed, though always represented as far inferior to the contemplation of One Unchangeable Being.

The people accustomed to worship images of symbolical deities, soon chose one or another of them for a favourite, and regarded it as God himself. Thus, there grew up a very large body of worshippers of Siva, called Sivaites. All that the Vedas ascribe to the Supreme Being, they ascribe to Siva. When they speak of the final state of holiness at which a perfect saint arrives, they call it the absorption of his soul into Siva. They have a Sacred Book, which they say is a revelation from Siva; and they deny the possibility of salvation to those who do not believe in his incarnation therein described. Whenever one of his true worshippers dies, they believe he sends some of his attendant Spirits to usher the soul into his presence, and become a sharer of his felicity.

Another sect, nearly as numerous, adore the Supreme Being under the name of Vishnu, and are therefore called Vishnuites. Bramins alone officiate as priests among

them, as among the other sects; but they allow people of all castes to devote themselves to the contemplative life. They eat no flesh, refrain from bloody sacrifices, and are peculiarly distinguished by their tenderness towards animals. That portion of the Pouranas which favours this worship declares: "The devotees of Vishnu alone are in a situation to surmount the illusion of appearances. It is advantageous and meritorious to be born man; still more so to be born a Bramin; but a Bramin may corrupt himself and become abject. There is incomparably more merit and more nobleness in the practice of true devotion; but rigorous penances, long prayers, frequent ablutions, almsgiving, vows, and sacrifices, have no merit, and confer no beatitude, without this devotion to Vishnu."

"To avoid the pains of hell there are no means more efficacious than to remember Vishnu, and invoke his sacred name. Yes, his divine names have so much virtue, that even if pronounced without design, or by mistake, they will not fail to produce salutary effects."

The author of this Pourana goes on to tell the history of a Bramin, who had given himself up to all manner of vices. One of his sons was named Narayana, a title of Vishnu, signifying Moving on the Waters. When the wicked Bramin was dying, he called this son, without thinking that he was repeating one of the names of Vishnu. But the sacred word, thus carelessly pronounced, saved him from all his sins, and immediately opened for him the gates of Paradise.

All Hindoo theology teaches the pre-existence of souls, who are gliding through the universe, and assuming multifarious forms, till they complete the great circle of destiny, and become the Supreme Soul again, as they were at the beginning. The belief that Spirits descended from their original sphere and became men, that by holiness they might become beatified spirits in Paradise, and then return to earth to be born again in some new form of mortal existence, naturally gave rise to the idea that men remarkable for wisdom or holiness had descended from some

higher sphere, and were in fact gods incarnated in a hu man form to fulfil some great mission. The Invisible One, who could only be contemplated by an abstraction of the intellect, was too far removed from a great majority of minds; and even the powerful emanations, Vishnu and Siva, appealed to their sympathies far more strongly when brought down to them in the persons of mortals who lived in their midst. Hence we meet everywhere with warriors and saints, who were believed to be deities in disguise. History and mythology consequently mix together in such a confused tangle, that it is often impossible to tell where the adventures of the king or warrior end, and those of the god begin.

The Vishnuites split into two principal sects. One is more devoted to Vishnu in the form of Rama; the other believes that his eighth incarnation in the form of Crishna was the most perfect and the most efficacious.

Both were

princes, and holy men, and great workers of miracles. The advent of Vishnu under the name of Crishna is the most poetic and the most remarkable. The Bramins date it before the Cali Yug; that is, more than five thousand years ago. The following account is abridged from the Bhagavat Geeta, which Sir William Jones supposes to have been written one thousand four hundred and fifty-one years before the birth of Christ :

The earth was so oppressed by the dominion of Evil Spirits, that she could no longer endure their injustice. Assuming the form of a cow, she appeared before Indra, and complained of her wrongs. He referred her to Siva, who, in his turn, sent her to Vishnu. Vishnu escorted her to the Temple of Brahma the Invisible, on the borders of the Milky Sea. There the oracle commanded him to become a man, and be born in the city of Matra, under the name of Crishna. Vishnu replied: "I will become incarnate in the house of Yadu, and will issue forth to mortal birth from the womb of Devaci. It is time I should display my power, and relieve the oppressed earth from its load."

Devaci was the sister of a tyrannical king named Cansa, whose oppressions are said to have caused the first emigration to Egypt. He married her to a Bramin named Vasudeva, descended from the Yadus, or Yadavas, the oldest and noblest line in India. Returning from the wedding, Cansa heard a prophetic voice declare, "The eighth son of Devaci is destined to be thy destroyer." Alarmed at this omen, he put his sister and her husband into a strong prison guarded by seven iron doors, and whenever a son was born to them he caused him to be immediately destroyed. When Devaci became pregnant the eighth time, her countenance was radiant with celestial light. Brahma and Siva, with a host of attendant spirits, came to her and sang: "In thy delivery, O favoured among women, all nature shall have cause to exult. How ardently we long to behold that face for the sake of which we have coursed round three worlds!" The seasons preceding this marvellous birth were uncommonly regular and genial, the planets were unusually brilliant, strong winds were hushed, rivers glided tranquilly, and the virtuous experienced ex traordinary delights. In the month Bhadron, at deep midnight, when the Sustainer of All was about to be born, the clouds emitted low musical sounds, and poured down a rain of flowers. When the celestial infant appeared, a chorus of heavenly Spirits saluted him with hymns. The whole room was illuminated by his light, and the countenances of his father and mother emitted rays of glory. Their understandings were opened, they knew him to be the Preserver of the World, and began to worship him. But he soon closed their minds, so that they thought he was merely a human child born unto them. While his mother was weeping over him, and lamenting the cruel decrees of her tyrannical brother, a voice was distinctly heard, saying: "Son of Yadu, carry this child to Gokul, on the other side of the river Jumna, to Nanda, whose wife has just given birth to a daughter. Leave him, and bring the girl hither." Vasudeva inquired: "How is that possible in a prison so closely guarded?" The voice replied: VOL. I.-6