another to present sweetmeats, or cloth, ornaments, money, rice, a house, a necklace, one hundred water-lilies, one thousand toolůsee leaves, or a grand supper. All these offerings come to the bramhŭns.*

If the gods 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 Fortune, thou blind god; thou canst look upon others, but art blind to me.' 'The gods are dying,' says another, 'otherwise 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.

SECTION XV.

Vows, (Vrutů.)

CERTAIN ceremonies, performed at stated times, frequently by females, are called by the name vrătů. The following is an example of one of these ceremonies : At the fifth of the increase of the moon, in the month Maghu, what is called the Ponchůmee-Vrătă is performed. On the day before the commencement of this ceremony, the woman who is to perform it, eats food without salt and only once in the day, refrains from anointing her body with oil, eats rice that has not been made wet in cleansing, and puts on new apparel. The following morning she bathes, after which the officiating bramhŭn arrives at her house, and the things necessary for the

* The shastri has declared that no gifts are to be received from the hands of shōōdrés, 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 bramhens, repeating, for the removal of his sin, the gayůtree one hundred and eight times, or more.

worship are brought, as, a new earthen jar, rice, sweetmeats, a new poita, a piece of new cloth, clarified butter, fruits, flowers, &c. The woman presents to the officiating bramhŭn, who sits in the house on a mat made of kooshŭ-grass, with his face towards the north or east, a piece of new cloth, and, putting a cloth over her shoulders, and joining her hands, informs him that she intends to perform this vrută every month for six years, and prays him to become her representative in this work. She then rises, and the bramhun, taking the shalgramů, places it before him, and performs the worship of Vishnoo and Lukshmeë. In the third and fourth years, on the day preceding and on the day of the worship, she eats rice not made wet in cleansing; the next year, on these days, only fruits; the following year, on these two days, she fasts. On the last day, (at which time the six years expire), the of ficiating bramhuns attend, to whom she says, 'I have now finished the six years' vrătă I promised: I pray you to perform another vrutů.' She then gives to each a piece of cloth, a poita, and some betle-nut, and putting a cloth round her neck, and joining her hands, begs them to perform the necessary ceremonies. Placing the shalgramů before them, they then perform the worship of Shivů, Sooryů, Gŭnéshů, Vishnoo, and Doorga, in which offerings are made of cloth, sweetmeats, &c. Next they worship the woman's spiritual guide, in which, amongst other things, an offering is made of a bamboo plate having on it a number of articles, and among the rest a piece of cloth. To this succeeds the worship of Vishnoo, Lukshme, and the officiating priests. A priest next prepares an altar four cubits square, by spreading sand upon the ground. At three of the corners he fixes three pieces of wood, lights some straw, and then worships the fire; next he boils rice, and, with clarified butter, presents the burnt-offering. The female now puts a bamboo plate on her head, and walks round the fire seven times; then, standing still, she says, "O Ugnee! I call thee to witness, that I have performed this vrůtů six years.' She says the same to the sun, the shalgramů, and to the bramhŭns. Next she gives a fee, and distributes the gifts to the priests and bramhŭns. The bamboo plate which she placed on her head is laid up in the house, and the whole closes with a grand dinner to the bramhüns and others. This is the form of a vrutŭ on a large scale. The Hindoos have, it is said, two or three hundred ceremonies called by this name.

Savitree-vrută. In this ceremony the wife of a Hindoo, in the month Asharhu, worships her husband: she first presents to him a new garment, hangs a garland of flowers round his neck, rubs his body with red lead and ointments, and while he sits on a stool, worships him, by presenting different offerings to him, repeating incantations, and praying that she may never be separated from him as her husband, nor ever become a widow. After a number of other services paid to him, among which she makes him partake of a good dinner, she walks round him seven times, and then retires.

Adŭrů-singhasunŭ-vrůtů is observed every day in Voishakhŭ for one year. During the thirty days, thirty women, the wives of bramhuns, are entertained; a different female each day. When the bramhunee arrives, a seat is given her on the porch, and the mistress of the house washes her feet, fans her, anoints her head with oil, combs her hair, ornaments her forehead with paint, anoints her body with perfumes, and employs a female barber to paint the edges of her feet. After this she conducts her into the house, where she is fed with all the dainties the house can afford, and dismissed with a gift of kourees. On the last of the thirty days, in addition to this entertainment, a piece of cloth is presented to a bramhunee. The benefit expected from this vrătă is, that the female who thus honours the wives of bramhöns shall be highly honoured by her husband in another birth.

It would be easy to multiply examples, for almost every Hindoo female performs one or another of these vrutus; but this will be sufficient to give the reader an idea of these ceremonies; from the merit of which some expect heaven, others children, others riches, others preservation from sickness, &c.—The vrůtůs are a very lucrative source of profit to the bramhŭns.

* Vrătăs are unconditional vows to perform certain religious ceremonies; but what is called manůnů (see a preceding article) is a conditional vow, promising to present offerings on condition that the god bestow such or such a benefit.

Jj

SECTION XVI.

Fasting, (Oopivasă.)

FASTING is another work of merit among the Hindoos. A common fast is conducted in the following manner: the person abstains on the preceding day from rubbing his body with oil, and from eating, except once in the former part of the day. The next day he eats nothing; and on the following day he eats once, worships some god, and entertains one or more bramhuns. If a person be unable to fast to such a degree, he is permitted to take a little milk on the second day; if he be very weak, he may add fruit, curds, sweetmeats, &c.

Some Hindoos fast on the 11th of the increase, and the 12th of the decrease of the moon in every month; on the 11th in Shravănů, Bhadrŭ, and Kartikŭ;† on the 12th in Shravănů; on the 14th, of the decrease of the moon in Phalgoonă; on the 9th in Choitră; § on the 8th in Bhadrǎ ;|| and on the 8th in Ashwină.* In this month many natives of Hindoost'han fast on the first nine days of the moon, in honour of Doorga, and observe, as they say, a total abstinence even from water. Fasts precede some of the festivals; after the death of parents Hindoos fast three days; after that of a husband, a wife fasts three days; before offering an atonement, a fast is observed; the day any pilgrim arrives at a holy place he fasts; in fulfilling vows, the Hindoos keep many fasts; some persons enter into a resolution to fast every other day, and persevere in this for years. Some renounce rice altogether, and keep a perpetual fast, living on milk, fruits, &c. Others (pilgrims) offer a certain fruit to some

* Widows keep this fast so strictly, that if a widow were dying, and a draught of water would prolong life, her friends would scarcely give it.

+ On the first of these days Vishnoo goes to sleep; on the second he turns to the other side; and on the third be awakes.

The occasion of this fast is thus related: On a certain occasion, Doorga asked Shivů what would please him most, and be a work of the greatest merit. He replied, to hold a fast in his name on the 14th of the wane

of the moon in Phalgoonů.

The birth-day of Ramů.

Krishnu's birth-day.

* The time of the Doorga festival.

idol, and renounce this kind of fruit, promising never to eat of it again to the end of life. The gods, it is said, delight to see their followers renounce any thing as an act of devotion or attachment to them. This person presents to bramhuns fruit, thus renounced, on the anniversary of the day on which he renounced it.-Another custom bearing a similarity to fasting also prevails among the Hindoos: in the months Asharhŭ, Shravůnů, Bhadrň, and Ashwinŭ, many renounce certain articles of diet, and others omit to be shaved, as acts of devotion to the gods.

The blessing expected from fasting is, that the person will ascend to the heaven of that god in whose name he observes the fast.

SECTION XVII.

ever may

From da, to give.

Gifts, (Danŭ.)*

PRESENTS to learned bramhuns; to those less learned; to unlearned bramhuns; to one whose father was a bramhun but his mother a shōodrů, and alms to the poor, are called by the name of dană. The things which may be presented are, whatHindoos. These are the common be eaten, or worn, or is in use among gifts, but the shastrus have pointed out extraordinary gifts; a daughter in marriage without receiving a fee ;† a pool of water ;‡ a shalgramů; a house containing food, + The generality of the respectable Hindoos say, that receiving a fee for a daughter is like selling flesh; yet the lower orders of bramhuns commonly receive money or giving a daughter in marri age. Formerly the Hindoo rajas assisted the bramhuns by giving them money for the expences of their weddings. A story is related of a raja who was intreated by a bramhon to bestow a gift upon him for the expences of his marriage. The raja ordered him to put a garland round the neck of the first woman he met, and let her become The bramhun went out, and met the raja's mother returning from bathing. When about to put the The garland round her neck, she demanded the reason of this strange conduct, which the bramhon explained. old lady told him to wait, and she would bring about what he wanted: she sat at the door of the palace, and compelled her son to come and invite her in. She replied, that she was become the wife of such a bramhŭn, and that she must go with her new husband. The raja, thunderstruck, called for the bramhŭn, gave him a thousand roopees towards his wedding, and brought his mother into the house again.

his wife.

Pools are dug every year in all parts of Bengal, and offered to all creatures, accompanied with a number of Jj2 ceremonies.