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Article THE THREE STEPS. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Three Steps.
Sacra deum , structa ? sacris fcralibus ara : Omnis et humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos . lllis et volucres metuunt insistere ramis , Et lustris recubare ferffi : nee ventus in illas Incubuit silvas , excussaque nubibus atris Fulgura Lucan ' s Pharsalia , lib . 3 .
Thata country like India , whose jungles , even at this period of general cultivation , form , in some places , an impervious barrier , and whoso sages have ever affected the austerity and seclusion of anchorites , should once have abounded with the noblest groves , is a supposition neither incredible or improbable ; and that they were used in the earlier ages as paces of religious assembly , is still less so . Modern travellers inform us that , even at the present day , the Fakirs and Gymnosophists assemble under the sacred batta
, or banian tree , to cook their food , recite their prayers , and fulfil their dreadful penance . It has been asserted , and that assertion has been supported by the evidence of tradition , that the very early inhabitants of India were neither so gentle in their manners , or so guiltless in their oblations , as are the modern ; but that they delighted in the effusion of sacrificial blood as much as their abhor and avoid itThe truth of this
progeny . assertion is too well authenticated , both by ancient and modern writers , to be disputed . Indeed the Vedas themselves confirm it ; for there we find enjoined , on solemn occasions , the sacrifice of a bull , a man , and a horse .
Ihe ancient Hindoos believed that the Aswamedah jug , or horse sacrifice , if performed one hundred times , gave to the fortunate rajah universal dominion , that even the heavens became tributary to his will , and the inferior deities his ministering subjects . The great difficulty was in procuring a steed perfectl y white , with the exception of the ri « ht ear , which should be black . The horse so" sacrificed , is iii the place of the saenficer , bears his sins with him into the wilderness , into which he is turned adrift
, and becomes the expiatory victim of those sins . Halhed , in his preface to the code of Gentoo laws , observes , that this ceremonv reminds us of the scape goat of the children of Israel ; and , indeed it is not the only one particular instance in which a similitude may be traced between Mosaic and Hindoo systems of theology . _ It was in one of the primeval forests of India , at a period of antiquity anterior to her erection of the oldest city or pagodathat trembling crowd
, a of worshippers were assembled before the mouth of a lone cavern in which resided the all-powerful fakir and rajah , Meroun . Beneath hishand the hundredth steed had fallen ; earth trembled at his name ; the inferior deities heard his commands , and obeyed in silence . Intoxicated by the possession of a power which he had neither the mind to comprehend , or the benevolence to use , to promote the welfare of mankind the world became almost a desert . His wrath could onlv be armeased
by the most fearful sacrifices and superstitious rites ; the blood of the young and beautiful was poured in libations upon his unrighteous altars , and hymns of slavish worshi p greeted him whenever he condescended to appear among his abject subjects . The cause of the unusuall y numerous assembl y was a demand which the obscene tyrant had lately made , namely , that a hundred of the noblest maids of Hindustan should be sacritied to his honour . Terror , too conquered , within the breasts of his miserable subjects , the yearnings of nature . Fathers beheld with indifference their offspring led to death !
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Three Steps.
Sacra deum , structa ? sacris fcralibus ara : Omnis et humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos . lllis et volucres metuunt insistere ramis , Et lustris recubare ferffi : nee ventus in illas Incubuit silvas , excussaque nubibus atris Fulgura Lucan ' s Pharsalia , lib . 3 .
Thata country like India , whose jungles , even at this period of general cultivation , form , in some places , an impervious barrier , and whoso sages have ever affected the austerity and seclusion of anchorites , should once have abounded with the noblest groves , is a supposition neither incredible or improbable ; and that they were used in the earlier ages as paces of religious assembly , is still less so . Modern travellers inform us that , even at the present day , the Fakirs and Gymnosophists assemble under the sacred batta
, or banian tree , to cook their food , recite their prayers , and fulfil their dreadful penance . It has been asserted , and that assertion has been supported by the evidence of tradition , that the very early inhabitants of India were neither so gentle in their manners , or so guiltless in their oblations , as are the modern ; but that they delighted in the effusion of sacrificial blood as much as their abhor and avoid itThe truth of this
progeny . assertion is too well authenticated , both by ancient and modern writers , to be disputed . Indeed the Vedas themselves confirm it ; for there we find enjoined , on solemn occasions , the sacrifice of a bull , a man , and a horse .
Ihe ancient Hindoos believed that the Aswamedah jug , or horse sacrifice , if performed one hundred times , gave to the fortunate rajah universal dominion , that even the heavens became tributary to his will , and the inferior deities his ministering subjects . The great difficulty was in procuring a steed perfectl y white , with the exception of the ri « ht ear , which should be black . The horse so" sacrificed , is iii the place of the saenficer , bears his sins with him into the wilderness , into which he is turned adrift
, and becomes the expiatory victim of those sins . Halhed , in his preface to the code of Gentoo laws , observes , that this ceremonv reminds us of the scape goat of the children of Israel ; and , indeed it is not the only one particular instance in which a similitude may be traced between Mosaic and Hindoo systems of theology . _ It was in one of the primeval forests of India , at a period of antiquity anterior to her erection of the oldest city or pagodathat trembling crowd
, a of worshippers were assembled before the mouth of a lone cavern in which resided the all-powerful fakir and rajah , Meroun . Beneath hishand the hundredth steed had fallen ; earth trembled at his name ; the inferior deities heard his commands , and obeyed in silence . Intoxicated by the possession of a power which he had neither the mind to comprehend , or the benevolence to use , to promote the welfare of mankind the world became almost a desert . His wrath could onlv be armeased
by the most fearful sacrifices and superstitious rites ; the blood of the young and beautiful was poured in libations upon his unrighteous altars , and hymns of slavish worshi p greeted him whenever he condescended to appear among his abject subjects . The cause of the unusuall y numerous assembl y was a demand which the obscene tyrant had lately made , namely , that a hundred of the noblest maids of Hindustan should be sacritied to his honour . Terror , too conquered , within the breasts of his miserable subjects , the yearnings of nature . Fathers beheld with indifference their offspring led to death !