Chapter Eleven

AN EXAMINATION OF THE DIFFERENT RELIGIONS PREVAILING IN ARYAVARTA (INDIA)

Aryavarta (India) before , years ago.

Now we shall examine the religions of the Aryas, i.e., the people who liven in Aryvarta (India). This country is such that no other country in the whole world can come up to the level of its excellence. It is also called the Golden Land as it produces gold and precious stones. It was for this reason that in the beginning of the world the Aryas cam to this country. We have already stated in the Chapter on Cosmogony that the good and the noble men are called Aryas, whilst those who are otherwise are called Dasyus.

The natives of all other countries on the earth praise this very country, and believe that the philosopher’s stone is to be found here. Though this story of the philosopher’s stone is a myth, yet it is true that this country (Aryavarta) itself is verily a philosopher’s stone whose very touch converts all base metals – poor foreigners – into gold – rich nabobs.

Since the beginning of the world till , years back, the Aryas were the sovereign rulers of the whole earth, in other words, there was only one paramount power whose suzerainty was acknowledged by the rulers of the earth. Till the time of the Kauravas and the Pandavas, all rulers of the earth and their subjects obeyed the law laid sown by the rulers of this country, for it is said in the Manu Smriti, that was compose in the beginning of the world. “Let all other people of the earth – Brahmans*, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shoodras, Dasyus and Malecchas – learn arts

* Braahaman’s _Teachers – secular and spiritual. Kshatriyas – Men of governing class, statesmen, soldiers, etc. Vaishyeas – Merchants, artisans and farmers. Shoodraas – Men of the servant class, laborer. Dasyus – Wicked people Malechhas – Barbarians.

and science suitable to them from the learned people born in this country.” MANU : . The perusal of the Mahaabhaarata proves that the Aryas were the sovereign rulers of the earth till the coronation of EmperorYudhisthtira and the Great War of Mahaabhaarata, for we read in that book that King Bhaagadatta of China, Babruvaahan of America, Vidalakha* of Europe, the Ruler of Greece, King Shalya of Persia and various other rulers came as ordered to take part in the Great War and in the coronation of Emperor Yudhishthira.

Whe the house of Raghu held paramount authority (in this country), even King Raavana of Ceylon acknowledged its suzerainty. Later when he revolted against its authority, Prince Ram Chandra having vanquished and dethroned him placed his younger brother Vibhishana on the throne instead. Since the time of Swyambhava to that of the Paandavas the Aryas were the paramount power throughout the whole world.

Thereafter, mutual dissensions among them compassed their destruction, for in this world, over which a just God presides, the rule of the proud, the unjust and the ignorant (such as the Kauravas were) cannot last very long. It is also a law of nature that the accumulation of wealth in a community out of al proportion to its needs and requirements brings in its train indolence, jealousy, mutual hatred, lustfulness, luxury and neglect of duty which put an end to all sound learning and education, whose place is usurped by evil customs, manners and practices like the use of meat and wine, child marriage, and licentiousness.

Besides, when people acquire perfection in the military science and the art of war, and the army becomes so formidable that no one in the whole world can stand it on a field of battle, pride and party spirit increase among them and they become unjust. Thereafter, the lose all power either through mutual dissensions, or a strong man from among families of little importance rises to distinction and is powerful enough to subjugate them, just as Shivajee and Gobind Singh rose against Mohammedan rule and completely annihilated the Muslim power in India.

The fact that the Aryas were the sovereign rulers of the earth since the beginning of the world till the Great War called Mahaabhaarata, is also proved on the authority of the Maitreyopanishad

* Called so account of his cat-like eyes.

which says, “Why! Besides these, there have been other Mighty Rulers who were the Sovereign Lords of the whole earth; such as Sudyumna, Bhuridyumna, Indraashwapati, Shashavindu Harishchandra, Ambrisha, Nanaktu, Saryati,Anarnya, Akshasena, and also such like Emperors as Mauruta and Bharat.” MAITRY UPANISHAD, ,.

The names of such Sovereign Rulers as Swyambhava.* etc., are clearly mentioned in theMahaabhaarata, the Manu Smiriti and other authoritative books. Only the prejudiced and the ignorant regard these statements as fallacious.

~ Is it true that the ancients knew the use of fire-arms, such as Agneyastra, about which we read in ancient Sanskrit literature. Were cannons and muskets known to the ancients or not?
~ Yes, it is true. Guns and like fire-arms were used in ancient times. The Agneyastra and the like weapons can be manufactured by the application of scientific principles.
~ Were they brought into existence through magical formulae sanctified by the Gods?
~ No, the methods of manufacturing these weapons were evolved as the result of deep thought (mantra). But mere pronouncing of mantra, which is nothing but a collections of words, cannot produce and substance. Were any one to say that the chanting of a mantra (or a hymn) can produce fire, he may be asked as to why it should not burn the throat and tongue of the person who recites it. How funny that a person should burn himself to death while meditating the death of his enemy. A mantra literally means the power of thought, hence Raja mantri, from Raja- state, and mantri – one who thinks) is one who thinks over the affairs of a State and is the King’s adviser.

Thus, men after deep study acquire a knowledge of the laws of nature, and by the proper application thereof make many dis-

* What a pity that the descendants of these Aryas are being crushed under the wheel of the foreigner.

coveries in the domain of art and invented machines. As for instance, if an iron arrow or a ball be filled with such substances as when ignited will produce smoke, which by coming in contact with air or the rays of the sun will catch fire, he will have invented an Agneyastra. The fire opened by it will fail of its effect, if the commander of the opposing army discharges a Varunastra which is made of such materials whose smoke is converted into a cloud.

The moment it comes in contact with air it immediately begins to rain and extinguishes the fire. Likewise, there existed in ancient times other weapons of war, such as Vaagaphansa – which when discharged against an enemy paralyzed his limbs – and Mohanastra – which was charged with such narcotic substances whose smoke could cause stupefaction of the soldiers of the enemy -, and Pashupatashtra – another kind of Agnevastra, in which electricity produced from a wire, glass or some other substance was employed to kill one’s enemy.

As regards the words Top (cannon) and Bandook (muskets) they belong to a foreign language and not to Sanskrit or to any of the Indian Vernaculars allied to it. Now what called a Top (cannon) by the foreigners, is spoken of as Shatagahni (literally that which kills hundreds at a time) and bandook (musket), Bhushundi in Sanskrit and Arya Bhaashaa (one of the most widely spoken Indian Vernaculars). Hose who are unacquainted with the Sanskrit literature write and say all sorts of nonsense. Their writings can never be considered as authentic by the learned.

All the knowledge that is extant in the world originated in Aryavarta (India). Thence it spread to Egypt, thence to Greece, thence to the whole continent of Europe,, thence to America and other countries. Even today India heads all other countries in the matter of Sanskrit learning. The impression that the Germans are the best Sanskrit scholars and that no one has read so much of Sanskrit as Professor Max Muller is altogether unfounded. Yes, in a land where lofty trees never grow, even Recinis Communis or the common Castor oil plant may be called an oak.

The study of Sanskrit being almost non-existent in Europe, German scholars like Professor Max Muller, who have read a little Sanskrit may have come to be regarded as the highest authorities in Germany, but compared with India the number of Sanskrit scholars in that country is very small. We came to know from a letter of the President of a German University that even learned enough to interpret a Sanskrit letter are rare in Germany. We have also made it plain from the study of Max

Muller’s History of Sanskrit Literature and his commentary on some Mantras of the Vedas that the Professor has been able to scribble out something by the help of the so-called Tikaas or paraphrases of the Vedas current in India, for instance, he translates the word Bradhnam into a horse in the vedic verse which runs as:- Yunjanti bradhanam arusham charanti….” Even Sanyanacharya’s rendering of it unto the sun is much better, but its real meaning is the All-Pervading Spirit.* This will suffice to show how much Sanskrit learning Professor Max Muller and other Germans possess.

It is a fact that all the science and religions that are extant in the world originated in India, and thence spread to other countries. Mr. Jacolliot, a native of France, tells us in his book called Bible in India, that India is the source of all kinds of knowledge and good institutions. All sciences and religions found in the world have spread from this country. He prays to God thus, “Mayest thou, O Lord , raise my country to that height of civilization and progress that had been attained by India in ancient times.”**

Prince Dara Shikoh had also come to the same conclusion viz., in no other language is knowledge to be found so perfect as in Sanskrit. He says in his commentary on the Upanishad that he read Arabic and other languages, but his doubts were never dispelled, nor was he ever so happy till he studied Sanskrit, which cleared all his doubts and made him extremely happy.

Again look at the Zodiac representation on the temple of Man at Banares so beautiful is it that even today it gives wondrous information on astronomy though it has not been properly looked after. It will be a very good thing if the rulers of Jeypore were to look after the Temple and make necessary repairs.

The fall of the Vedic civilization..

It is a pity that this jewel of country received such a rude shock from the Great War the even today it has not recovered from its effects, for what doubt can there be in the ruin of a country wherein brothers begin to kill each other. Rightly has it been said, “When the time of destruction is at hand, intellect becomes perverted,” VRIDHA CHANIKYA, : , and men do foolish things. Should anyone, offer them good advice, they

* Vide our book called ” An Introduction to the exposition of the Vedas”wherein the true meaning of this mantra is fully explained. ** These are not actually his words, this is what he says in substance. -Tr.

take it ill, but are always willing to follow unwholesome advice. When most of the learned men, Kings and Emperors, sages and seers were killed or died in the Great War, the light of knowledge began to grow dim, and with it the dissemination of the Vedic Religion came to an end. The people became a prey to mutual jealousy, hatred and vanity. The strong seized upon the country and proclaimed themselves kings. Thus, when the empire was divided into so many independent states even in India, who could then have kept the foreign possessions under control.

When the Braahmans became destitute of knowledge, there could be no talk of the ignorance of the Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shoodras. Even the ancient practice of the study of the Vedas and other Shaastras with their meanings died away. The Braahmans only learnt the Veddas by note – just enough to enable them to earn their livelihood. Even that much they did teach to the Kshatriyas, and others.

As the ignorant became the teachers of the people, deceitfulness, fraud, hypocrisy, and irreligion began to increase among them. The Braahmans thought that they should make some arrangement for their livelihood. They held a council among themselves and agreed to preach to the Kshatriyas and others:- “We alone are the object of worship to you. You could never enter Heaven or obtain salvation except by serving us. Should you not serve us, you shall fall into an awful Hell.”

The Vedas, and the Shaastraas written by the Vedic sages and seers have declared men of learning and as Braahmans and worthy of respect; but here they, who were ignorant, lascivious, deceitful, licentious, lazy and irreligious, declared themselves as Braahmans and worthy of homage. But how could the sterling virtues of the righteous, learned and truth-loving Brahamans be found in them. When the Kshatriyas and others became absolutely destitute of Sanskrit learning, whatever cock and bull stories the Braahmans connocted, the simpletons believed. They ensnared all in their net of hypocrisy, brought them under thorough control and began to teach:- “Whatever a Braahman declares is as infallible as words falling from Divine lips.”

When the Kshatriyas and others who had more money and brains became their dupes, these so-called Braahmans got a golden

opportunity of enjoying sensual pleasures adlibitum. They also declared that all the best things of the earth were meant for the Braahmans only. In other words, they subverted the whole system of Classes and Orders, and based it on the mere accident of birth, instead of on the qualifications, character and works of the people, as it originally was. They even began to accept charity given in the name of the dead, in fact they did whatever they pleased. They went even so far as to say:- “We are lords of the earth. No one can enter Heaven without serving us.” The so-called Braahmans of the present day say the same thing.

Now if they were asked as to which place they would go to after death – since they did such wicked deeds indeed that they deserved no better abode than a terrible hell and therefore they would be turned into worms, ants, moths and the like – they get highly enraged and cry out, “Were we to curse you, you would be destroyed, for it is written “He that wrongs a Braahman shall be damned.” It may be said in reply to this, that certainly it is true he that wrongs a man, who is perfect scholar of the Veda, is well-versed in divine knowledge and imbued with piety and righteousness, and is devoted to the good of the whole world and is therefore called a Braahman, shall certainly be damned, but you neither deserve to be called Braahmans, nor are entitled to our homage.

The source of false religions..

~ What are we then?
~ You are popes.
~ What is a pope?
~ The word pope is originally meant father in Latin, but here this term is applied to a person who robs another through fraud and hypocrisy and achieves his selfish end.
~ No, we are Braahmans and holy men (Saadhu) for our parents were Braahmans and we are the disciples of such and such a holy man.
~ It may be true, but one does not become a Braahman or a Saadhu by being the offspring of Braahman parents or a disciple of a Saadhu. A man becomes a Braahman or a holy man by bearing good character, by doing righteous deeds and by possessing such good virtues as altruism. It is said that the Popes of Rome used to say to their followers:- “If you will confess you sins before us, we shall grant you absolution from them. No one can enter Heaven unless one pays homage to us and thereby obtains our

permission. Should you wish to go to Heaven you must deposit money with us and you will get your money’s worth of property there.” Upon hearing this, those ignorant men who had more money than brains and were anxious to enter Heaven would offer the stipulated amount of money to the Pope who would then stand before the image of Jesus Christ or Mary and write down a draft in the following words:-

‘O Lord Christ! The bearer has deposited Rs., to Thy credit with us in order to get admission into Heaven. When he comes there mayest Thou be pleased to give him in Thy Father’s Kingdom, houses, gardens and parks worth Rs ., horses, carriages hounds and servants worth Rs. ,, foods, drinks and clothes, etc., worth Rs. ,, and get him the remaining Rs. , in cash so that he may entertain his friends, brothers and other relations etc.’

The Pope would then sign his name on the draft and give it to the supplicant saying:- “Tell your family members before-hand to put this draft under your head in the grave before you are buried. The angels will then come to take you to Heaven, and after you have been conveyed there along with the draft, you shall get everything mentioned therein.

It seems as if the Popes had had the monopoly of Heaven. These popish practices lasted in Europe only so long as it was sunk in ignorance, but now that the people have become enlightened, the false practices of the popes do not flourish so well, but at the same time have not altogether disappeared.

As in Europe, so in India the popery appeared in a thousand different forms, and cast its net of hypocrisy and fraud, in other words, the Indian popes have kept the rulers and the ruled from acquiring learning and associating with the good. In fact, they have always been misleading the people and have done nothing else.

But let it be borne in mind that it is only those who practice fraud and hypocrisy, and follow other evil occupations that are called popes, whilst those, even among the so-called Braahmans, who live righteous lives, are learned and devoted to the public good, deserve to be called true Braahmans and holy men.

Thus it is proper to designate the deceitful, the hypocritical and the selfish – i.e., those who serve selfish ends at the sacrifice of the interest of others – alone as popes, while good and learned men as Braahmans and holy men (Saadhus); because had there been no such true Braahmans or Sadhus as escaped from the traps laid by theJainees, Mohammedans and Christians, who would have helped to keep up love for the Vedas, and the Shaastras

in the minds of the Aryan people, and maintain the system of Classes and Orders? This indeed has been the works of true Braahmans and Sadhus.Manu has said:- “Let a wise man extract nectar even from poison.” The escape of the Aryas, however misled into popish practices, from the snares of the Main and other religions has indeed been like nectar extracted from poison.

Thus when the laity became bereft of knowledge, the popes who had read a little of the ritual became haughty, they combined together and declared before the kings and others in authority that it was unlawful to punish a Braahman or a Sadhu, and such texts as declared “let no Braahman be killed; let no Braahmans and Sadhus, were applied to themselves by the popes. They also wrote books containing false statements whose authorship they attributed to the great sages and seers of the past in order to stamp them with authority.

These books they passed off as the writings of the great Vedic seers and read them out to the people. Thus under the cover of these great names they succeeded in getting themselves out of ht reach of the Law and did whatever they liked, in other words, they have framed such strict laws that no one durst sit or stand, eat or drink, come or go, sleep or wake without their permission.

They instilled into the minds of the rulers that these so-called Braahmans and Sadhus, who were really popes, might do whatever they liked. They should never be punished. The rulers should not even ever think of punishing them. When the people became so ignorant, the popes did and made others do whatever they wished.

This evil took root years before the Great War, and even though the Vedic sages and seers lived in that age, yet the seeds of indolence, negligence, mutual jealousy and hatred had begun to sprout a little, and gradually they grew into lofty trees. When the preaching of the truth died away, ignorance spread all over India and its people began to quarrel and fight among themselves, for it is said, “Righteousness, wealth, gratification of legitimate desires and salvation are attainable only when teachers of the highest type are found in a country, but in the absence of good teachers and good disciples dense ignorance prevails. Whenever good teachers are born who preach the truth, ignorance is dispelled and the light of truth begins to shine forth.” SAANKHYA :, ..

Then the popes got the laity to worship them and their feet, and began to say that in that alone consisted their (future) happiness.

When the people were completely brought under subjection, the popes became entirely negligent of their duty, and extremely immersed in sensuality. As they were like shepherds, and the people like their sheep – ignorant dupes knowledge intellectual power, strength, courage, bravery and valor and all other good qualities were gradually lost. When they became licentious, they began to use meat and drink wine secretly.

The sect of Vaama Margis..

Then a sect sprung up among them whose followers wrote books called the Tantraas in which various statements were introduced with words Shiva said. Parvati said, Bhairava said. In these books such curious things are written as follow:-

“(Madya) wine, (Mansa) meat, Meena) fish, (Mudra-cakes), Maithuna) copulation, all these five beginning with the letter M lead to salvation in all ages.” KALITANTRA.

“While in the circle of Bhairava persons of all Classes are regarded as twice-born, but after leaving the Bhairavi circle they all revert to their respective Classes.” KULARNAVA.

“He, who drinks and drinks and drinks till he falls to the ground, gets up and again drinks, shall never be born again.” MAHANIRMANA TANTRA.

“Excepting his mother let a man have sexual intercourse with all women. The Vedaas an the Shastras and other ancient books are like harlots. But the Saambhavi Mudra* is like a lady of high birth who lives in privacy.” JNANA SANKALANI TANTRA.

* Shambhavi Mudra is the name of certain positions of the figures practiced in devotions or religious worship offered to Paarvati – wife of Shiva. _Tr.

Now look at the trickery of these stupid popes that whatever is considered to be highly sinful and opposed to the Veda is regarded as virtuous by the Vaama Margis. The use of meat, wine, fish, delicious eatables, such as various kinds of cakes, and copulation are considered as means of attaining salvation. Believing all men to be (incarnations of) Shiva and all women and all women (incarnations of) Paarvati they mutter the absurd couplet, “I am Shiva and thou are Paarvati, let us then co-habit” and they co-habit – not matter who the man and the women be, and see no harm in it.

The low women whose very touch is considered to be polluting are regarded extremely pure by them. As for instance the Shaastra forbids the touch of a woman when she is menstruating, but the Vaama Margis believe her to be very clean.

Reader! Mark, how meaningless is that verse of theirs which says:- “Sexual intercourse with a woman is menses is like having a bath (in the sacred Tank) at Pushkar, with an outcast woman a pilgrimage to Kashi (Benares), with a woman working in leather like a bath (in the Ganges) at Pragaya (Allahabad), and with a washer-woman like a pilgrimage to Mathura, and with a prostitute like a pilgrimage to Audhya.” RUDRYA MALA TANTRA.

They call wine pilgrimage, meat purity and flower, fish No. and water-cucumber, copulation No. , and a cake, No. . they have employed such names to meat, etc., so that others may not understand them. They call themselves lotus-like, kind hearted, brave, merciful, mighty and the like, while they call others thorn-like, perverted, emaciated (like lean animals). They say that in a social gathering of the Vaama Margis all persons, whether Brahmans or outcasts, become Dwijas (i.e., twice born), but as soon as they leave that meeting, they revert to their respective Classes.

In a Bhairavi Circle* they mark or draw a triangle, a square, or a circle on the earth or on a piece of board, on which they place a pitcher full of wine, worship it and read this mantra “O Wine! Thou art free from the curse of Brahma.” In a sequestered place, where none but the Vaama Margis can go men and women meet together; the men strip a woman naked and worship her, while the women strip a man naked and worship him. Then, any

* i.e., social gathering of Vaama Margis. -Tr.

man can get hold of any woman, be she his own wife, daughter, mother, sister or daughter-in-law or anyone else’s and co-habit with her.

They fill a cup with wine and place meat the sweets on a plate. Then the officiating priest takes that cup in his hand and saying, “I am Bhairava (the Indian Bacchus) or I am Shiva ” drinks it up. Thereupon the rest of the company drink out of the same cup. Having stripped naked someone’s wife or a prostitute, or a man, they give a sword in her or his hand, call her a goddess (Devi) or him a great God (Mahadeva).

They worship her or his private organs and make that goddess or God drink a cup of wine and themselves drink of the same cup turn by turn. They go on drinking till they get completely drunk. Anyone of the men can then co-habit with any woman, be she his own sister, mother or daughter, he likes.

Sometimes when extremely intoxicated they fight among themselves with their shoes or fists, pull each other’s hair, or kick one another. If anyone vomits there, he who ahs attained the highest stage of perfection, i.e., is an aghori (and omnivorous person) or an adept would even eat up the vomited matter.

The following are the qualifications of an adept among them:- “He that drinks away bottle after bottle in a public house, sleeps in a brothel in order to misconduct himself, and commits similar other sins without compunction or shame, is like a great Sovereign Emperor of the whole earth among the Vaama Margis.” TNANA SANKALANI TANTRA.

In short, the greatest sinner among them is called great, whilst he who is virtuous and afraid of committing evil deeds is called small, for it is recorded in one of their scriptures, “He that is restrained from the commission of sinful deeds by the fear of public opinion, of disobedience to the dictates of the scriptures, of tarnishing the family name and of being looked down upon by the country at large is human, whilst one who commits wicked deeds without any shame is Divine (Eternal Shiva).”

The Uddisa Tantra describes a ceremonial thus. Let bottles filled with wine be placed in niches in all the four walls of a room. Then let a man drink a bottle of wine from one of the four walls of a room. Then let a man drink a bottle of wine from one of the niches and to the next, and have another bottle, thence go to the third

niche, and have still another bottle and then go to the fourth and go on drinking till he falls down on the earth like a log. When he comes round a bit let him again drink in the same way till he falls a second time, let him repeat it a third time, and when he gets up a fourth time, he shall never be born again. But the fact is that it is extremely difficult for such men to be born again as men.

They shall, on the contrary, enter the bodies of very low creatures and remain there for long time to come. The law has been laid down in the Tantra, books of Vaama Margis that a man can have sexual intercourse with all women (except his mother), even if they be his daughters, sisters or other near relations.

There are ten kinds of higher knowledge known among them. One of them is Maatangi knowledge. One who is versed in this believes that even a mother should not be spared, that is a man can have sexual intercourse even with his own mother. These people mutter some magical incantations while having sexual intercourse in the hope of acquiring occult power. Very few people indeed are there in this world who are so insane and do idiotic as these Vaama Margis!!!

He who would advocate untruth must revile the truth. Mark what theVaama Margis say:- “The Vedas and the Shaastras and other ancient books are like common harlots, but the Shambhavi Mudra is like a lady of high birth and of great chastity.”

No wonder! These Vaama Margi being so low and degraded in their morals founded a religion so entirely opposed to the to the Veda. Later on when their religion had widely spread over India, they roguishly introduced some of their evil practices even in the name of the Veda as the following quotations will bear out:-

“Let a man drink wine (sura) in the Saautramani Yajna.” “Let a man eat meat in a Yajna.” “A slaughter ceases to be slaughter when this deed is done in a Vedic sacrifice.”

“There is no turpitude in eating flesh, drinking wine, and committing adultery, for that is the natural way of created beings, but abstinence being great reward.” MANU.

Now the word suraa, that does not mean wine, has been translated as wine in one of the above quotations. The word suraa really means the juice of a creeper called Soma. These Vaama Margis, who have started such wicked practices as killing animals in a sacrifice, should be asked if, as they hold, it to be true that a slaughter ceases to be as such in a Vedic sacrifice, what harem will there be if a Vaama Margi and his family members be slaughtered and then offered in a sacrifice?

It is childish to say that there is no sin in eating meat, drinking wine and committing adultery, for meat cannot be had without killing animals, and it can never be right to hurt or kill animals without an offence. With regard to drinking wine, it is interdicted everywhere, and nowhere except in the books of Vaama Margis has it been allowed, on the other hand its use has been forbidden in all (sacred) books.

Sexual intercourse with a woman excepting one’s wedded wife is undoubtedly sinful. He who declares it permissible is indeed himself a great sinner.

They interpolated these and similar other verses into the works of the seers, and also wrote books in the name of many great sages and savants, and thus introduced such sacrifices as Gomedha – a sacrifice in which horses were killed. They declared that by slaughtering these animals and offering them as a sacrifice both – the animals sacrificed and the Yajamaana – went to Heaven. This evil practice seems to have originated on account of their ignorance of the true meanings of such wods as Ashwamedha, Gomedha, and Naramedha that occur in the Braahmans, for had they understood them, they would not have committed such blunders.

What are then the true meanings of such words as Ashwamedha, Gomedha, and Naramedha?

~ Their meanings are not what the Vaama Margis think. Nowhere in the scriptures and other authentic books it is written that horses, cows and human beings should be killed and offered as a sacrifice in the sacred fire, called Homa. It is only in the books of the Vaama Margis that such absurd things are written.

Wherever in the authentic books of the sages the sanctions of such a sacrifice is found, it should be understood that the verse or the passage has been interpolated by the Vaama Margis. Now mark! What the Shathapatha Braahmana says on the subject:- “A king governs his people justly and righteously. This called Ashwamedha.” “A learned man gives a free gift of knowledge to the people. This also called Ashwamedha. Again , “the burning of clarified butter and odoriferous and nutritious substances in the fire in order to purify the are is also called Ashwamedha. SHATHAPATHA BRAHMANA : , ;.

“To keep the food pure or to keep the senses under control. Or to make a good use of the rays of the sun or keep the earth free from impurities (clean) is called Gomedha.” “The cremation of the body of a dead person in accordance with the principles laid down in the Vedas is called Naramedha.” *

– The sacrificers assert that the Yajmaanaa and the animals burnt in a sacrifice both go to heaven, and also that they bring the animals (burnt in the sacrifice) to life again. Do you think it to be true or not?
~ No, if it be true that they go to Heaven, why should not he (as well as his dear relations), who asserts it, be killed and burnt as a sacrifice and thereby sent to Heaven, or why could they (i.e., the sacrificer and his relations) not be brought back to life after they have been killed and burnt in the sacrifice.
– It the Vedas do not sanction this kind of sacrifice, why should the Vedic hymns be chanted at the time?
~ The hymns cannot prevent anyone from chanting them, for they are only a collection of words, but they do not mean that the animals should be slaughtered and burnt in sacrifices. The Vedic hymns Agnaye Swaha, etc., mean that the clarified butter and other nutritious and odoriferous substances, when burnt in the fire, purify the air, rain, and water, and thereby promote happiness on this earth. How could those idiots understand the true meaning of the Vedic hymns, because the selfish minds know and believe in nothing else but serving their selfish ends.

Seeing these evil, popish practices as well as others, such as feeding the priest in order to satisfy the spirits of the dead, a most dreadful religion, called Jainism or Buddhism, that reviled the

* The Yajamaana is a person who institutes or performs a sacrifice and pay the expenses of it. This is the orthodox meaning of the word. – Tr.

Vedas and the Shaastras, sprang up into existence. It is related that in this very country there was a certain king of Gorakhpur who performed a sacrifice in which these popes officiated. His beloved queen died during an act of sexual intercourse with a horse as required in such a sacrifice.

This disgusted the king who renounced the world, handed over the government of his kingdom to his son, became a mendicant and began to expose the trickery of these popes.

A brief statement on Charavaka, Abhanaka and Jainism Back to contents

There are two sects of the Jain or Buddha religion called Charvaka and Abhanaka. Its followers wrote such verses as the following:-

“If an animal when slaughtered and burnt in a sacrifice go to Heaven, why should the Yajamaana (the master of ceremonies) not slay his own father another dear relations and burn them in a sacrifice and thereby help them go to Heaven?”

“If oblations offered to the priests in the name of a deceased ancestor satisfy the latter, it is useless for people going abroad to take any cash with them for maintaining themselves during the journey; because of eatables offered to the priests in the name of a departed ancestor can reach him, why cannot the food and drink prepared at home and offered on plates and in cups in the name of the person gone abroad by his relations reach him in foreign lands? When a person living in a distant country or in a place, say only cubits away from where the food and drink are offered in his name, cannot obtain them, it is impossible then for a departed ancestor to receive things offered in his name.”

The people began to believe in these teachings of the Charavakas, etc., that stood the test of reason. Thus their religion (Jainism and Buddhism) began to spread. When many good kings and landlords became its followers, the popes too inclined towards it, for they would go whenever they got plenty of cash. They soon embrace Jainism. There are many popish practices, but of a different kind, even among the Jainis. These will be described in Chapter The majority of the people embrace their religion, but others who lived in the hills in Benares or at

Canouj, and in the West and in the South (of India) did not accept it. The Jainis being ignorant of the knowledge of the Veda attributed the popish practices (then current among the followers of the Veda) to the Veda and began even to run down these scriptures. They prohibited the study and teaching of the Veda, suppressed the custom of wearing Yajnopavita (the sacred thread), which is a symbol of culture and of belonging to one of the three upper Classes, abolished the system of Brahamacharya, etc., destroyed as many books of the Vedic literature as the could get hold of, and even persecuted and oppressed the Aryas a great deal.

When they gained in power and had ceased to be afraid of any body, they began to favor and honor their followers – both the householders and the mendicants – and to dishonor and punish the followers of the Veda unjustly. They began to live in ease and luxury, and being puffed up with pride became over-bearing in their manners. They also made huge images of their religious teachers, calle Tirthankaras – from Rishabhdeva toMahaavria – and began to worship them. Thus the practice of worshipping idols originated with the Jains (in this country). The belief in God decline and the people took to idolatry instead. Thus, Jainism reigned supreme for about years in India. The people during that time had become quite destitute of the knowledge of the Veda. This must have happened nearly , years ago.

Shankaracharya

About , years ago Shankaracharya, a Braahmana of Dravid (Southern India), studied Grammar and all other Shaastras – books on Logic, Philosophy, Metaphysics, Theology, etc. – during student life, and seeing the religious degradation of his country began to soliloquies thus:- “What a pity! The true theistic Vedic religion has disappeared, whilst the atheistic Jain religion has prevailed to the great detriment of the people. This (i.e., the Jain religion) must be put down somehow.” Shankarcharya had not only read the Shaastras but also the Jain scriptures. He was also a powerful debater.

He began to think as to what was the best method of overthrowing Jainism. At last he came to the conclusion that preaching and holding discussions with the Jainis were the best methods to put down Jainism. With this object in view he went to Ujjain (in Central India). King Sudhanwa then ruled there. He had read the Jain books as well as a little Sanskrit. Shankaracharya began to preach the Vedic religion there. He went to the king and said “You have read the Jain books as well as Sanskrit, and also believe in the Jain Religion. I, therefore ask you to arrange a discussion between the exponents of the Jain

religion and myself on the condition that the vanquished party should embrace the religion of the victor and that you should also accept his faith. Although king Sudhanwa was a follower of the Jain religion, yet as he had read Sanskrit he had some light of knowledge in his heart, and his intellect had not been obscured by extreme animalism, because a learned man can distinguish between right and wrong, and then embrace the truth and reject falsehood.

As long as King Sudhanwa had not come across a very learned teacher, he was in doubt as to which of the two – Vedic and Jain – religions was right, and which false. When he heard Shankaracharya, he was very much pleased with what he said, and replied that he would certainly arrange the desired discussion and find out which religion was true and which false. He invited many exponents of the Jain religion from very distant places and convened a meeting for a discussion between them and Shankar.

In this Shankar was to prove the truth of the Vedic religion and to refute Jainism, whilst the Jain teachers were to prove their own religion to be true and refute the Vedic religion. The Jainis held that there was not Eternal Maker of this universe, and the soul and the world were beginningless, they were never created, nor will they ever be reduced to their component elements.

On the other hand, Shankaracharya maintained that the Beginningless, Omnipotent Supreme Spirit alone was the Maker of the Universe, the world and the soul were unreal, and as the Great God had created the universe by virtue of His Maya, he alone sustains it and causes its dissolution. The soul and the world are like things seen in a dream. God Himself became metamorphosed into this world and sports about in it.

The discussion lasted for many days; in the end the religion of the Jainis were refuted both by reason and cogent proofs, while the that of Shankar remained unrefuted. Thereupon those Jain teachers and King Sudhanwa renounced Jainism and embraced the Vedic religion i.e., the religion advocated by Shankaracharya. Then there was a great stir and noise about it in the country. King Sudhanwa wrote letters to his friends and relations and among others to rulers of the country, by whose help discussions between Shankar and other Jainis teachers were arranged in different places, but the Jainis having been defeated in the first discussion lost everywhere.

Thereafter Sudhanwa and other kings arranged for Shankar’s tour throughout the whole of India and furnished him with an escort of armed men to protect him and with servants to attend upon him. Form that time onward the people (of India) began to wear the sacred thread and

study and teach the Vedas. For ten years he toured all over the country, refuted Jainism and advocated the Vedic religion. All the broken images that are now-a-days dug out of the earth were broken in the time of Shankar, whilst those that are found whole here and there under the ground had been buried by the Jainis for fear of their being broken (by those who had renounced Jainism). Shankar also refuted Shivism that ahd come into vogue a little before his time, and also Vaama Margism.

At that time this country was very rich, and its people were also patriotic. Shankar, King Sudhanwa and other kings had not had the Jain temples pulled down as they intended to establish schools therein to teach the Vedas and other Shaastras. When the Vedic religion had been established in the country and they were about to adopt measures for the diffusion of knowledge, two men, outwardly followers of the Vedic religion but bigoted Jainis at heart, in other words, perfect hypocrites whom Shankar had befriended on finding a suitable occasion poisoned him with such a poisonous substance that his appetite failed and an eruption broke out on his body, and he died within six months.

Then all lost heart so much so that even the dissemination of knowledge that was about to take place did not do so. Shankar’s disciples began to teach his commentary on the Vedaant Shaastra, called Shankar Bhaashya, and other books that had been written by him. In other words, they began to preach what had been professed by Shanker with a view to refute the Jainis more successful, viz., hat Brahmaa (God) was the true reality, the Universe was an illusions and that the human soul and God were one.

They started monasteries, Shringeri in the south, Bhugovarahan iin the East and Josi in the North and Sarda at Dwarka iin he West (of India), became their abbots, gained wealth and power , and began to live in ease and luxury, as after the death of Shankar his disciples were highly honored.

Now it must be understood that if it was the belief of Shankar that God and the human soul were identical and that the world was an illusion, it was not good; but if he had avowed this doctrine simply in order to refute Jainism more successfully, it was a little good.

Beliefs of the Neo-Vedantists.

The beliefs of the Neo-Vedantists are discussed below in the form of questions and answers:-

– The world is unreal like things seen in a dream, or like a piece of rope mistaken for a snake, or like a sea-shell seen glittering in the sunshine for a piece of silver or like a mirage for

water, or like a town of angels or like a juggler’s trick. (Brahmaa) God alone is real.

~ What do you call real?
– What does not exist and yet appears to do so.
~ How can a thing appear to exist when it does not exist at all?
– By adhyaropa.
~ What do you mean by adhyaropa?
-Adhyaropa or adhyasa consists in believing a thing to be different from what i really is; the refutation of a wrong belief is called apavaada; by the help of these two this phenomenal world can be taken to exist in Brahmaa Who is Himself Unchangeable.
~ You have fallen into this mistake by believing a piece of rope to be real while a snake to be unreal. Is not a snake also real?

If you say that it does not exist in a piece of rope we ask, “Does it not exist in some other place or does its idea not exist in our consciousness?” If it does, a snake then is not unreal. In the same way, other illustrations, such as that of a mollusk-shell mistaken for a piece of silver, can be shown to be wrong. Similarly, things seen in dreams also exist somewhere in the world. Their ideas exist in our consciousness, hence it cannot be said of them that they exist by adhayaropa (i.e., by erroneously attributing the properties of one thing to another.

– If this be true, how can one see a thing in a dream that was never seen or heard to exist in the wakeful state, such as a man’ s head is cut off and he himself weeps, or a stream of water flows uphill?
~ Even this argument does not support your contention, because impression of a thing cannot exist in one’s mind unless h has seen or heard of it, and there can be no remembrance without mental impressions, and without remembrance there can be no direct consciousness of a thing. When a person hears from another that such and a such person’s head was cut off on a field of battle and his father or brother or some other relation was seen to weep, or when a person sees water from a fountain jetting up, all these things make impressions on his mind. When he is no longer in his wakeful state and dreams in his sleep of what he had seen or heard, since he sees all these things in himself, it can be understood how he comes to imagine that his own head is cut off and he himself weeps or that a stream of water flows upwards. This is

again not like imagining a thing to exist which does not exist at all, it is more like sketching in which a sketcher embodies his idea of what he had seen or heard on paper, or like painting in which a painter by forming a metal picture of his subject paints it on canvas.

It is true though that sometimes such things are seen in dreams as are still remembered, for instance, one sees one’s teacher (in a dream), while on other occasions one recalls things in a dream that had been seen or heard long time ago and had therefore completely passed out of one’s memory; in such cases one forgets whether one sees, or hears the same as one ha seen or heard before in the wakeful state. But things cannot be remembered so methodically in dreams as in a wakeful state.

Again a person born blind can never dream of colors, hence you definition of the words Adhyaropa or Adhyasaa is wrong. And what the Neo-Vedaantists called Vivartavada is also untrue. The term Vivartavada means that a person erroneously considers the universe to be real, while it is only illusory (Brahma alone being a real entity), just as one mistakes a piece of rope for a snake.

– There can be no knowledge of an Adhyasa – a thing that is supported – without the knowledge of its Adhishthan – that which supports it, – for in the above instance had there been no rope, the idea of a snake being there would never have entered one’s mind. As there is no snake in a piece of rope, nor there ever was, not shall it ever be, in dim light a man may mistake a piece of rope for a snake and tremble with fear, but when he sees it with the light of a good lamp, his mistake is at once corrected and he ceases to fear, in like manner a man erroneously conceives that this world exist in Brahma this illusion of the existence of the world comes to an end, and he finds that it is all Brahma.
~ Who erroneously experiences this illusion of the world in Brahma?Q. – The human soul.
~ Whence did the human soul originate?
– Out of ignorance?
~ What is the origin of ignorance and where does it reside?
– Ignorance is without a beginning and resides in Brahma
~ Was there ignorance of self or of something else in Brahma and who was it that became ignorant?
– Chidabhasa
~ What is the nature of this Chidabhasa?
– It is Brahmaa. Brahmaa become ignorant of Brahmaa, in other words, He forgets His own nature.

A.~ What is the cause of this forgetfulness?

– Nescience.
~ Is nescience an attribute of an Omnipresent, Omniscient Being or of one who possesses finite knowledge.
– Of the latter.
~ Do you then believe in the existence of a second conscious entity besides the Infinite, Omniscient, Conscious Being? And where did the being possessed of finite knowledge, you just spoke of, come from? Of course it would be alright if you were to believe in the existence of another beginningless, finite, conscious entity besides Brahma, but you do not, hence the objection.

Again were Brahma to become ignorant of Self, this ignorance would spread throughout the whole Braham just a pain in one part of a man’s body makes all other parts (of his body) helpless, so would Brahma, if afflicted with ignorance or pain in one part, feel Himself ignorant or afflicted with pain throughout His whole self.

– It is all an attribute of Upadhi.
~ Is Upadhi possessed of consciousness or not? Is it real or otherwise?
– It is indescribable, in other words, it cannot be said of it that it possesses consciousness or is without it, is real or apparent.
~ This is quite absurd for on the one hand you say that it is nescience, and on the other you hold that it can neither be said to be possessed of consciousness, nor devoid of it, neither real nor unreal. It can be compared to a piece of gold adulterated with copper which can neither be said to be gold nor copper, but a mixture of both.
– Just as the ether of the pot, the ether of a house, and the ether of a cloud appear to be distinct from the universal ether by virtue of being enclosed by the pot, the house and the cloud, while in reality they are all identical with the universal ether, in like manner Brahma appears

to the ignorant different in different persons and things by virtue of the intervention of maya, nescience, and antahkaran (the internal organ of thought) and also by being spoken of collectively and individually, while in reality He is one and the same in all. It is said in the Katha Upanishad, “Just as hear pervades objects of the various sizes and shapes, such as big and small, long, broad and round, and assumes the different forms of those objects, so does God pervades different antahkarans an assumes their forms, but as a matter of fact He is distinct from them.”

~ “Even this assertion of yours is wrong. Just as you believe the pot, the house and the cloud, in the examples cited by you, to be distinct from ether, inn like manner why do you not believe the material world – both in its casual and present visible forms – and the soul to be distinct from the Supreme Spirit, and the latter distinct from the former (i.e., the matter and the soul)?
– “Just as heat pervades all objects and thereby appears to assume various forms, so does the Supreme Spirit by pervading the soul and matter appear to the ignorant as one possessed of form, but in reality He is neither matter nor the soul.” Again, when a thousand trays full of water are placed in the sun, a thousand different reflections of the sun are seen, but in reality the sun is one, and does not perish, move or spread when the trays get broken or their water moves or spreads, in the same manner Brahma is reflected in the antahkaran – this reflection is is called chidabhasa or the image of God.

The soul exists as a distinct entity only so long as the antahkaran lasts, but the moment the antahkaran, having attained perfect knowledge ceases to exist, the soul attains the nature of Brahma, i.e. becomes God. But as long as the soul is ignorant of its true nature which is Divine, and thinks that it is the Chidabhasa that enjoys, feels pleasure or pain, commits sinful or virtuous deeds or is subject to birth and death, it cannot get freedom from the bondage of this world.

~ This illustration of yours is of no good. The sun has a form so do the trays and the water therein, possessed forms. Again, the sun is separate from the trays and the water therein and vice versa. These two facts alone make it possible for the sun to be

reflected. Has all these been formless or had they not been separate from each other, there would have been no reflection of the sun. God is Formless and being Omnipresent like ether noting van be separate from Him., nor van the (i.e., God and the Universe) be one and the same, as the relation of one that pervades and one that is pervaded by exists between God and the world, in other words, when the pervader and the pervaded seen from the anwaya and Vyatirekabhava* point of view, they are united together and yet are always distinct from each other.

For, if they be one, the relation of the pervader and the pervaded cannot exist but it is clearly said in the Brihdarayaka Upanishad that this relation does exist between God and the world. Again there can be no reflection of God because it is impossible for a formless object to be reflected (in a transparent medium). As to your belief regarding Brahmaa that He becomes the soul through the intervention of Antahkaran , it is like a child’s prattle, for the Antahkaran is mutable, movable and separate, whilst Brahma is immutable and entire. Should you not believe Brahmaa and the soul to be different form each other, how would you answer the following objection.

The Antahkaran being movable, the part of Brahmaa which it would occupy would become devoid of consciousness, whilst the part where it shifts from would become possessed of knowledge, just as an umbrella cuts off the sunshine wherever it is carried, ceases to intercept it where it has been shifted from, in like manner will the Antahkaran by acting as an intercepting medium make Brahmaa at one moment ignorant and bound, and at the next wise and free. From the effect of the presence of an intervening medium like the Antahkaran, and Brahmaa being indivisible the whole of Brahmaa will become ignorant, which can never be true as He is ex-hypothesis, All-knowledge. Again, whatever Brahmaa, through the medium of a certain Antahkaran, has been,

* Anwaya in Logic means a “statement of the constant and invariable concomitance of the Hetu (middle term) and the Sadhya (major term) of an Indian syllogism…..Anwaya, in fact, corresponds to the universal A proposition of European logic ‘All A is B’. Vyatirekabhava means an assertion of the concomitance of the absence of Sadhya and the absence of Hetu, and corresponds to the converted A proposition ‘All not -B is not -a’…..A cause or Hetu is said to be connected with its effect by Anwaya Vyatirekaryapati when both the affirmative an negative relations between the thing to be proved and the cause that proves can be equally asserted; such a Hetu alone makes the argument perfectly sound and incapable of refutation. This process of arriving at the Vyapati or universal proposition corresponds to the methods of Agreement and Difference in Mills’ Logic.” – Tr.

say, at Mathura, the same cannot be re-called in Kashi (Benares) by Brahmaa, since He does not possess the same Antahkaran, as what has been seen by one cannot be remembered by another. The chidabhas that sees a thing a Mathura is not the same that lives a Benares, and the Brahmaa that illuminates the chidabhas of Mathura isnot the same that lives at Benares. If the very Brahmaa be the soul and not distinct from it, the soul ought to be Omniscient.

If the reflection of Brahmaa be distinct, none should be able to recall what he ahs seen or hear in thepast. If you say that one can remember because Brahmaa is one and the same. We answer that pain or ignorance in one part (of Brahmaa) should affect the whole of Brahmaa. Thus by such illustration you have represented the Eternal, Holy, All-wise, Ever-free, Indivisible Brahmaa as non-eternal, unholy, ignorant, and subject to bondage, and division.

– Even a formless object can be reflected, just as ether (sky) is reflected in a mirror or a in water and looks blue or dull gray, in like manner Brahmaa casts His reflection in all Antahkaran.
~ No one can see ether with his eyes as it is altogether formless, how can a thing be reflected in a looking-glass or in water when it cannot even be seen. Only a thing that possesses some form can look blue or deep gray, but never a formless one.
– What is then that looks bluish on high and is reflected in a mirror?
~ It is the particles of dust and water (that have gone up from the earth) and of Agni*. If there were not aqueous vapor above, where could the rain come from? Hence what looks like a tent (and over-spreads us) in reality a spherically-shaped mass of aqueous vapor. Just as fog, when looked at form a distance, appears thick and tent-like but gets thinner on approaching nearer, so does the watery vapor go up in the sky.
– Are the then the illustrations elating to a coil of rope and a snake and to things seen in dreams and the like, which have been adduced above by us, beside the point?

* That state of matter whose properties are light and heat, etc. See Chapter for further information on this subject.- Tr.

~ No, it is your understanding that is to blame, and this has already been pointed out. Pray tell us who it is that first falls a prey to ignorance?
– Brahma.
~ Is Brahma Omniscient or possessed of finite knowledge?
– He is neither Omniscient nor is He possessed of finite knowledge, because Omniscience and its reverse can be predicated of him alone whose (psychic vision) is barred by a limiting medium (Upaadhi).
~ Who is it that becomes subject to the influence of Upaadhi?
– Brahmaa
~ Then it is proved that Brahmaa can be both Omniscient and its reverse. Why did you then take exception to this statement? If you contend that upaadhi is something that has not reality in existence, with whom then did this false conception originate?
– Is the soul identical with Brahmaa or not?
~ It is different from Brahmaa, for if it were the same as Brahmaa, no false conceptions could originate. He, whose conception can be wrong, can never be All-truth.
– We recognize nod distinction between right and wrong, and all human utterance is devoid of actuality.
~ If all that you believe and say is false, hoe can you afford safe guidance?
-We don’t care whether we afford safe guidance or not. Conceptions of right and wrong originate entirely with us (and have o objective reality). It is the soul that is the witness and seat thereof.
~ If conceptions of right and wrong are purely subjective phenomena, you would be a thief and an honest man at one and the same time and, therefore, a very unsafe guide. For he alone is a trustworthy guide whose conceptions are correct, who speaks what is right and acts up to his convictions in accordance with what is right, and not one who is otherwise. Your statement being self-contradictory you cannot be right.
– Do you believe in the existence of the beginningless Maya that resides in the and envelopes Brahmaa?
~ No, we do not, because you interpret Maya as something which is not and yet appears to be. Only he whose mental vision is blurred will subscribe to this belief. It is impossible that a thing, which does not exist at all, should appear to exist, even as

it is impossible to photograph the son of a barren woman. Besides your view is opposed to the teachings of the Upanishads as is proved by the following passage of the Chhandogya Upanishad, “(Do thou,) O dear son, (bear in mind) that the world had verily a material cause.”

– Would you refute the teachings of even scholars like Vasishtha, Shankar and Nischaldas who were possesses of greater learning than you are? To me it appears that Vasishtha, Shankar, and Nischaldas could speak with greater authority.
~ Are you yourself a well-read ma or not?
– Yes, I have read a little.
~ Alright then, try if you can establish the truth of the doctrine promulgated by Vasishtha, Shakara and Nischaldas, we will refute your arguments. He whose position is proved to be right, will be regarded the greater authority. If the position held by you in common with those teachers had been impregnable, you would have succeeded in confuting us in debate by producing the arguments advanced by them, and in that case your position would have been accepted as right.

It is very likely that Shankaracharya had taken up this position with the view to refute more successfully the beliefs of the Jainis, for many a selfish scholar in response to the requirements of expediency preaches doctrines opposed to the dictates of this conscience. But if he really held beliefs like the identity of God with the soul, and the unreality of the external universe, his position was altogether wrong.

Let us now examine the claims of Nischaldas to scholarship. He say s in his book, called Vrittiprabhakar, that the oneness of God and the soul can be inferred from the fact of both of them being possessed of consciousness. An argument like this can be adduced only by men possessed of a poor intellect, because things possessing similar attributes are not necessarily identical, as points of dissimilarity may differentiate them just as the statement that Prithivi (solids) and Jala (liquids) being dead and inert, are identical, cannot be valid, in the same manner the contention of Nischaldas state above is illogical because finitude and fallibility differentiate the soul from God and omniscience and infallibility differentiate God from the soul; it is, therefore, clear that God and the soul are two distinct entities.

Now solidity and gankha (the property of exciting olfactory impulses) are attributes of Prithivi (solids) which distinguish if from Jala (liquids) which possesses rasa (the property of exciting gustatory impulses) and fluidity, therefore solids and

liquids are not identical. In like manner, God and the soul on account of possessing dissimilar attributes, never were, nor are, nor shall ever be one. This will suffice to show the extent of Nischaldas’s learning. As regards Yoga vashishtha, its author was a Neo-Vedaantis. It could not have been written by Balmika, Vashishtha or Ram Chandra, for all of them were followers of the Vedic religion and could not therefore have written a book opposed to its teachings, nor could they have preached anti-Vedic doctrines.

– Vyasa is the author of Shariraka Sutraas which also inculcate the identity of God with the soul. For example he says,

. “The soul manifests itself after attaining its true nature which is Divine, because the word (Swa) self stands for it its Divine Nature.” VEDAANT SHASTRA :,.

. “Jaimini holds that the soul is one with God, because there are passages in the Upanishads which declare that the soul can attain to a state of sinlessness.” VEDAANT :, .

. “The great teacher Audulomi believes that the soul retains the attribute of consciousness a lone in the state of salvation (hence is identical with Brahmaa) as there are passages in the Brihidaranyaka which declare that the soul is of the same nature as God.” VEDANT :, .

. “Vyasa holds that God and the soul are not different, because the passages like the above occur in the Upanishads.” VEDANT : .

. “When a seer (yogi) attains superhuman powers and regains his Divinity, he is not longer subject to the authority of a higher power, i.e., by virtue of his Divinity he attains final beatitude and remains in the state of emancipation as his own master as well as the supreme Governor of the universe.” VEDANT : , .

Now how would you explain these passages?)

~ You have wrongly translated these aphorisms. The following is their correct translation:-

. “So long as the soul is not cleansed of all its impurities, and does not regain its pristine purity, it cannot acquire superhuman* powers and attain eternal bliss through communication with the Divine Spirit that pervades the soul.”

. “In like manner the great sage Jaimini holds that so long as the soul does not attain superhuman psychic powers and free itself from the bondage of sin, it cannot attain and enjoy eternal bliss.”

. “The great Teacher Audulomi believes that when the soul is freed from all faults and imperfections, such as ignorance, attains purity and retains the attribute of consciousness alone, it establishes direct relationship with the All-pervading Deity.”

. “The great sage Vyasa holds that when a man attains a beatified state in this life by virtue of direct communion with God and acquisition of superhuman psychic powers and absolute knowledge, he recovers his original pure self and enjoys extreme bliss.”

. “When a yogi has reached a stage at which al his volitional activity is directed towards righteousness alone., he attains to a state of constant communion with God and obtains the bliss of salvation. Then he is free and is his own master quite unlike what we see in this world of ours, wherein one man is placed above another.”

Had the interpolation of the above aphorisms been different from what is given here, the following aphorisms would not be found in the same book.

(i) The soul which is distinct from God could not be the author of the universe, for being possessed of finite energy and knowledge it has not the power to build up the Cosmos. Hence the soul is distinct from God. VEDANT SHAASTRA :, .

(ii)”The soul and God are distinct from each other, as it has been declared by the Upanishads that they are different. Had it not been so, it would not be true that the soul attains bliss through communion with God Who is All-bliss and that God is the object of realization, whilst the

* I have to use this word for want of a better word. Here the term superhuman is used to express those powers that are not attainable by man except through the practice of the highest form of Yoga. – Tr.

soul seeks realization.” The soul and God are, therefore, not identical. VEDANT :,

(iii)”It having been declared by the Upanishads that God is distinguished from the soul and the primordial matter on account of His possessing the attributes of Resplendence, Holiness, All-glory, absence of incarnate existence, Omnipresence, and of His being Unborn and Deathless, without the necessity of respiration, bodily existence and mind, the subtler than the soul which again is subtler than primordial matter. On account of the Character and attributes stated above, God is distinct from both the soul and the matter.” VEDANT ,, .

(iv)”The Upanishads inculcate the union of the Omnipresent God with the soul, and of the soul with the Divine spirit. God and the soul are therefore distinct from each other as union can be predicted only of two distinct entities.” VEDANT :,.

“God has been declared Omnipresent in the Upanishad and because He pervades the soul, the soul which is pervaded is distinct from God that pervades it. This relation can be true only of two distinct entities. Just as God is distinct from the soul, in like manner is He different from learned men, otherwise called Devas, because the latter enjoy the use of the senses, and manas, the earth and other material objects, space, the atmosphere and luminaries like the sun.” VEDANT :,.

(vii)”As God and the soul are two distinct entities, the Upanishads declare that in the recesses of the human heart there lie hidden tow spirits – divine and the human.” VEDANT :,

(vii)”The soul circumscribed by a material body cannot be identical with God as the nature, attributes and characteristics of God cannot be predicated of it.” VEDANT :,.

(ix) “God is distinct from the soul as He pervades the senses, the manas, the earth and other material objects, and the soul. This fact of God being Omnipresent is clearly stated in all the Upanishads.” VEDANT :, .

(x) “The soul encased in a bodily tenement is not God, for they essentially different from each other in nature.” VEDANT :, .

Thus even the Shariraka Sutras* teach that God and the soul are distinct from each other in their very nature. In the same manner, it can be proved that there can be no Upakram (i.e., the issuing of the Universe from Brahmaa) and Upsanhara (i.e., the merging of the Universe into God at the time of Dissolution) as held by the Neo-Vedantis.

When they recognize not other entity excepting God, it must be He alone then that is subject to creation and dissolution, but the Vedas and other authoritative scriptures declare him otherwise. This belief of theirs is, therefore sacrilegious, for it is impossible that God Who is Unchangeable, Infinite, Holy, Eternal, Infallible, should become subject to change, creation and ignorance.

Even at the time of dissolution God (prakriti) (primordial matter), and the soul continue to exist separately. Therefore the Neo-Vedantic theories of Creation and Dissolution are also false. There are good many other beliefs of theirs that are opposed to the teachings of the Shaastraas and do not stand the test of reason and experience.

After the both the Jainis and the followers of the Shankar exercised some influence on the religious thought of the country and there were discussions and debates between them.

Vikramaditya, Bhartri Hari and King Bhoja and the Shivites.

Three hundred years after Shankara there flourished in Ujjain a glorious potentate named Vikramaditya. He put sown internecine warfare among the ruling Princes of India and established peace. Later on Raja Bhartri Hari acquired some proficiency in poetry and allied branches of literature, and in other departments of learning. He renounced the world, and abdicated the throne.

* Another name for the Vedant Shastra.

Five hundred years after Vikrama there flourished another king called Bhoja. He encouraged the study of Sanskrit Grammar to some extent, and patronized artistic poetry so much so that even a shepherd, named Kalidas, became the author of ‘Raghuvansha’. Whoever composd a fine verse and presented himself at his court was richly rewarded and honored.

after this the kings and aristocracy gave up the pursuit of knowledge altogether. Though the Shivites existed before Shankar’s time and after the Vaama Maarga had had it sway, they had not, then, acquired much influence. From Vikram’s time onwards this sect began to gain in influence and power. The Shivites were split up into many sections, such as Pashupata, even as the Vaama Maargis were divided into ten sections such as Maha Vidya. These people raised Shankara to the position of an incarnation of Shiva. Sanyasis also embraced the Shiva faith. They also kept on good relations with the Vaama Margis who took to the worship of Devi, the consort of Shiva, whilst the Shivites started the worship of Mahadeva.

Both the Vaama Maargis and Shivites besmear their bodies with ashes and wear rosaries, the beads of which are made of the Rudraksha tree, but the latter are not so much opposed to the Vedic teachings as are the former. The Shivites composed many verses like the following, “Fie on him whose forehead is not besmeared with ashes, and who had not got a Rudraksh rosary round his neck. He should be boycotted like an outcast. He who wears beads on the neck, on the head, in each ear, round each wrist, round each arm, one on the top of the head, and next to the heart is verily like unto Lord Mahadeva Himself.”

The Shaktas share this belief. Later on the Vaama Maargis and the Shivites combined together and introduced the worship of the male and female reproductive organs which are termed Jaladhari and Linga. These unblushing wretches did not feel the slightest shame in

following these idiotic practices. It as been well said by a poet, “The selfish when blinded by self-interest mistakes diabolical deeds for good actions, and are not alive to their sinful character.” They began to look upon the worship of stalks and stones and of the reproductive organs, as the sole means of attaining righteous ends, wealth, the fulfillment of legitimate desires and even salvation.

When after Raja Bhoja, the Jainis installed idols in their temples and began to frequent them for paying homage and adoration to the images, the disciples of these popes (Vaama Maargis and Shivites) began to follow their example. At about the same time in Western India Mohammedans and followers off other alien religions poured into India, the popes composed verses like the following:- “What ever may be the amount of pain inflicted, and even though the life be in jeopardy, let not the language of the Yavanas* be employed in speech. Let no one save his life by seeking refuge in a Jain temple, even though he be pursued by a mad elephant, for it is better to be killed by him than to set foot in a Jain temple.

They began to preach such pernicious doctrines to their followers. When asked to quote chapter and verse from some authoritative scriptures they expressed themselves (willing and ready to do so). On being pressed they quoted passages from the Markandeya Purana and recited pieces from the Durgapath purporting to sing the glories of Devi (goddess).

In the reigh of Raja Bhoja some Pundits wrote the Markandeya and the Shiva Puranas and gave out that Vyasa was the author thereof. When this was brought to the notice of the king, these Pundits had their hands chopped off by way of punishment. Further he issued an order that all works on poetry and other subjects should bear on their titles the names of the authors and not of sages and seers (of yore). This is written in the historical work Sanjivani by Raja Bhoja. This book is to be found with the Tivari Braahmans of Bhind, a village in the Gwalior State. The Rao Saahib of Lakhuna and his minister Ram Dyal Chaubey have seen it with their own eyes.

* The term Yavanas is equally applied to the Greeks and the Mohammedans, etc.-Tr.

It is clearly written therein that Vyasa composed , verses of the Mahabharat, and his pupils added another , . thus there were in all , verses in the original Mahabharat. In the time of Raja Vikramaditya the number of verses rose to ,. Raja Bhoja says that in his father’s time the number came up to , and at the time of writing the books under notice, when he was a middle aged man, it had risen to ,; if it went on increasing at the rate the Mahabharat will in no time become a camel’s load.

He further says that if books like the Puranas were made in the name of the ancient sages and seers, the people of Aryavarta (India) would be steeped in superstition and thus being deprived of the benefits of the Vedic Religion would sink deep in degradation. This shows that king Bhoja has some idea of the Vedic teachings.

In the country ruled over by Raja Bhoja and in the neighbourhood ther live some very clever mechanicians who, as the Bhoja Prabandha says, “has constructed a machine resembling a horse in shape that could traverse and half Kosas or about miles an hour on land as well as in air. Another mechanician had invented a fan that gave plenty of air and worked automatically.”

If these two machines had been still existent, the Europeans would not have inflated with so much pride.

The Puranics or Vaishnavites

In spite of the effort of the popes. Their disciples continued their visits to the temples of the Jainis, they even began to attend Jain meetings wherein passages from the Jain scriptures were recited. The Jain popes began to inveigh the followers of the Puranic popes into their nets. The Puranic popes then bethought of themselves that unless they devised some means ot stem the tide of conversion, their disciples would become Jainis.

Upon this the Puranic popes by mutual consultations came to the conclusion that like the Jainis, they should also have their incarnations, temples, images and mythological books. For instance they devised incarnations in place of Jain Tirthankars which likewise are in number. The Jainis have Tantras and sub-tantras. The Puranic popes wrote out Puranas (sub-puranas).

The Vaishnava sect took its birth years after Raja Bhoja. The founder Shathakopa was the son of a professional prostitute. In his time the movement achieved some successl his successor was Munivahana the son of a scavenger. He was succeeded by Yavanacharya who was born in a Mohammedan family. The fourth was Ramanuja, a Braahaman by birth. He propagated this creed. The Shivites had the Shiva Puran, and the Shaktas their Devi Bhagvat Puran, so the Vaishnavites their Vishnu Puran.

The authors did not publish these books in their own names, but instead fathered their publications on sages, and seers like Vyasa fearing that no one would attach any weight to what was published in their own name. These books should appropriately have been names Navina (i.e., of recent date). But there is nothing to wonder at if a poor man named his son Maharaj Adhiraja (Emperor), and if a thing of recent origin was named Sanatan (ancient). The contents of the Puranas bear on them the stamp of the internecine warfare of these sects.

Mark! It is written in the Devi Bhagvat Purana that a goddess named Shri, the mistress of Shripur, was the author of the universe. She also created Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadeva. She willed and then rubbed her hands and lo! There was a blister out of which Brahma was born. The goddess asked him to marry her. Brahma replied, “Thou ar my mother, therefore, it does not behove me to marry thee.” This enraged the mother goddess and she reduced her son to ashes. She again rubbed her hands and produced another son in the same way. She named him Vishnu. The same proposal was made to him with the like result. He too was reduced to ashes.

A third son was brought into being in the same way. She named him Mahadeva and made a proposal of marriage to him. Mahadeva replied, ” I cannot marry thee, unless thou art metamorphosed into a different woman.” She did the needful. Then Mahadeva asked her, “What do these two heaps of ashes signify?” The goddess replied, “These are the mortal remains of thy brothers. They did not obey my orders and were therefore reduced to ashes.” Mahadeva replied, “What shall I alone do? Bring them to life again and produce two other girls and let the three of us marry the three of them.” The goddess did what was asked of her and thus the tree couples were married. What a shame! The fellows did

not marry their mother but married their own sisters!!! Can this action be regarded morally justifiable?

Thereafter the goddess brought into existence Indra, etc. (Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Indra, were appointed as palanquin bearers of the goddess). Many such yarns have been spun out (in this book). It might be asked (of the Shaktas), “What was the body of the goddess like? Who were her parents? Who was the creator of that Shripur.” Should they say back in reply that the goddess had no beginning, it could not be right because whatever is the product of combination of elements must needs have a beginning. If the marriage if a mother with her son be a sin, why should not the marriage between brothers and sisters be regarded likewise?

Just as in the Devi Bhagvat Purana, Mahadeva, Vishnu, Brahma, etc., have been spoken of disparagingly whilst the goddess (Devi) has been exalted, in like manner in the Shiva Puran the Devi, etc., have been held up to contempt. All these have been described therein as the servants of Mahadeva who is proclaimed their Lord and Maser.

Now if the wearing of the stones of a fruit and the besmearing of the body with ashes can lead to salvation, why then the donkeys and pigs and other animals who wallow in dust, and Bhil and other low-born men who wear strings of fruit-stones on their bodies are already saved.

– In the Kalagnirudra Upanishad the besmearing of the body with ashes is enjoined. Is that false? Even the Veda commends this practice, because the words Tryayasham Jamadagni occur in the text of the Yajur Veda. In the Puranas it is stated that the tree which grew out of the tears that ran from the eyes of Rudra was named Rudraksha. It is for this very reason that the wearing of one Rudraksha absolves one from all sins, leads him to Heaven and he terrors of hell are as nought for him.
~ The author of Kalagnirudra Upanishad must have been one who was in the habit of besmearing himself with ashes, because passages like ‘the first line traced with ashes (on one’s forehead) represents the earth’ which occur therein are manifestly absurd, for how is it possible that a line drawn with hand everyday should stand for the earth. As regards the Vedic text Tryaysham Jamadagni it does not relate to the wearing of Rudraksha or

besmearing one’s body with ashes. On the contrary it means “Do thou, O Lord, ordain that my eyesight may be preserved uninjured for years and that i may also follow such rules of health as may help to preserve it.” This interpretation of the Vedic text is supported by the Shathapatha Braahman which says, “Jamadagni does verily signify eyesight.”

How foolish it is to assert that a tree can grow out of tears streaming from an eye! Who can subvert the laws of nature as ordained by God? Every tree grows out of the seed assigned to it by the Supreme Sprit, and not otherwise. It therefore follows that only savages, who are little better than beast, would wear Rudraksha, Tulsi,* lotus buds, blades of grass Sandal and besmear their bodies with ashes.

Thsu Vaama Maargis and Shivites are given to evil practices and are malicious. They do not even perform their (religious, and other), duties. Whoever is a good man among them does not believe in these things and does righteous deeds. If, as they say, Rudraksha and ashes scare away the minions of the Angel of Death, why are not policemen inspired with fright at their sight? When these things cannot frighten even dogs, lions, snakes, scorpions, flies and mosquitoes, why should the hosts of the Angel of Death (Lord of Justice) dread their sight?

-The Vaama Maargis and Shivites are not good, but I suppose the Vaishnavites are so.
~ Their sect being opposed to the teachings of the Vedas they are worse still.
– Why do you refute the Shaiva and other creeds, they find support in the following Vedic texts:-

“We adore Rudra, the wrathful.” “Thu art Vishnu.” “Adoration to Vishnu.” “We pray to Ganesh, the Lord of Hosts.” We pay homage to the goddess Bhagvati.” “We worship the Sun, the life of the universe – animate and inanimate.”

~ These texts lend no support to Shaiva and other creeds, for Rudra means God, vital air, the soul and heat. The text relating to Rudra would mean that we should render obeisance to God Who is the Punisher of all evils doers, and should take proper food to keep up the animal heat in the body. Besides, wherever

* It is the holy basil held in reverence by the Vaishanvites.-Tr.

Texts relating to Shiva are found in the Vedas, they mean that we should pay homage to the All-merciful God who showers blessings on all. A Shaiva is really one who worships Shiva – the All-merciful Being; a Vaishnava is one who worships Vishnu – the All-pervading God. A Ganpata is one who worships Ganpati – The Lord of Hosts i.e., (of the Universe); Bhagvata is one who sits at the feet of the muses. A Saurka is one who is the devotee of the All-pervading God, the Soul of the Universe – animate and inanimate. Thus Rudra, shiva, Vishnu, Ganapati, Surya, connote God, and Bhagvati connotes truthful speech.

These various Puranic texts were invented owing to the wrong interpretation of the Vedic texts (quoted above). The following story illustrates this tendency:- a faqir had two disciples who shampooed him everyday. One undertook to massage the right foot and the other the left. One day it so happened that one of the disciples had gone out shopping, while the other was at his post. In the mean time the faqir change his side andit so happened that the foot in charge of the disciple, who was away, fell on the top of the other foot that was assigned to the disciple that was present. The latter took a stick and aimed a blow at the offending foot. The faqir cried out, “Oh you wicked one! What have you done?

The disciple replied “Why has the other foot fallen on the one that I am kneading?’ Just at that moment the other disciple returned home and began to knead the foot assigned to him and found that it was swollen. He asked the faqir as to what had happened to that foot. The faqur related the whole story. This fellow without uttering a word or making a sign took up a stick and struck a heavy blow at the other foot. The faqir screamed aloud and both the disciples fell to battering his feet.

When there was a great uproar, a large number of people crowded in and asked the faqir what the matter was. A sensible man from among the crowd rescued the faqir, and expostulated with the foolish disciples thus “Look you her! Both these feet belong to the body of your preceptor. If you knead them, it is he alone that is benefited thereby, and if you cause injury to them, it is he again who suffers pain.”

Just as the two disciples in the story made fools of themselves, likewise the Shivites, Shaktas, Vaishnavites and the like revile one another, because they are ignorant of the true meanings of the

words Shiva, Rudra, Vishnu, etc., which, as is set forth in the first chapter of this book, are the different names of the Immutable God Who is Self-existent, All-wise and Blissful.

These men of little understanding do not use their brains and never give the least thought to the matter, otherwise they will soon find out that all such terms as Shiva, Rudra, and Vishnu connote One Supreme, Incomparable< Omniscient God, the Controller of the universe, on account of His possessing multitudinous attributes. Would not the wrath of God descend on such people?

Now mark he wonderful trickery of the Chakrankitas and Vaishnavites! The Ramanuja Patal Padhiti says:-

“Branding the body with red hot iron, making the mark of a trident on the forehead, wearing a rosary, bearing a name (ending in Das) and receiving the knowledge of the mystic word are the five holy acts that lead to salvation.” These people brand the upper-most part of their arms with a red-hot iron marked with the sign of a conch-shell, a discus, a mace, or a lotus, the quench the iron in a vessel containing milk. Some even drink that milk.

Now it is clear that the person drinking that milk must be tasting human flesh. These people hope to reach God by resorting to such practices. They argue that no one can reach God without branding his body in the way indicated above, for till then the devotee is raw (spiritually) unregenerated.

Just as everyone is afraid of a police constable in uniform, so the minions of Yama (Angel of Death) dare not approach one who is branded with signs which make them out to be Vishnu’s devotees. They further say “It is a meritorious act to mark the forehead with sign of a crozier, to brand the body with the signs of conch-shell, a discus, a mace, and a rosary whose beads are made of lotus stalk. These symbols inspire the Angel of Death and earthly potentates with awe. It is also a good thing to bear

a name ending in Das (servant), such as Narayan Das, Vishnu Das, and to be initiated into the knowledge of them mystic words such as “Adoration to Narayana.” This is for ordinary people. the mystic verse for rich and respectable people is “May we worship the feet of Narayana. Adoration to the Great Narayana, adoration to the great Ramanuja.” Verily this is quite business-like.

The wording of the mystic verse varies with the social position of the initiated. The Chakrankits believe that these five holy acts (sanskars) are the means of salvation. Just as Vaama Maargis have five Makaras (so-called holy practices beginning with the letter M.), likewise the Vaishnavites have five Sanskars (so-called holy practices beginning with the Letter S).

The Vedic mantras, that hey adduce in support of their belief as to branding the body with the signs of a discus, and a crozier, etc., when rightly translated would mean:- “O Lord Thou Who art the Protector of the universe and the Veda, and art Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Holy in nature canst not be approached by a human soul that has not been purified by means of thorough control of the senses, truthful speech, subjugation of the animal in man, conquest of the lower self, the practice of yoga, association with good men all these constitute Tapa) and is therefore not spiritually regenerate. It is only those, whose souls have been cleansed through righteous conduct and devotion to virtue, that can see Thee Who art All-Holy.” RIG VEDA. :, .

“Only those who lead a thoroughly righteous life can attain to the realization of the All-glorious, Supreme Spirit.” RIG VEDA :, .

Now it worth considering how Ramanuja and others can construe these texts as sanctioning the Chankrankit creed. After this how could they be regarded learned. Had they been so, they would not have put upon these texts such an impossible construction, for in these texts the words atapta tanu (which would mean unbranded body according to the Chakrankitic interpretation) occur

and not atapta bhuja (unbranded arem). Again the words atapta tanu comprehend the entire body from top to toe. Should the Chakrantikas the word tapa to mean branding with fire, they may shove themselves into a furnace and burn their entire body, even hen they will be acting against the spirit of this text. For in it tapa is stated to be the performance of righteous deeds like veracity in speech.

The following verse from the Taitreya Upanishad also supports this view. “Perfect purity of heart, truthfulness in word, deed and thought, restraining the mind from rioting in evil, keeping the senses under perfect control, i.e., the employment of the mind and sense organs for the practice of righteousness, the study of the Vedas and other books of true knowledge, and the molding of conduct in accordance with the Vedic injunctions constitute tapa.”The burning of the body by branding it with red hot iron is not tapa. It is a remarkable fact that the Chakrankits pose as Vaishnavites of a very superior order but do not think of the origin of their sect and of the evil practices connected therewith. Their founder was a man named Shatthakopa.

It is written in the authoritative works of the Chakrankitas and in the Bhagat Mal whose author was the bard Nabha. “The seer (Shathakopa)wove winnowing baskets and earned his living by selling them.” He was born of a whore; it is very likely that when he wanted to read with the Brahmans, he was refused this privilege, thereupon (having been exasperated) he founded the Chakrankita sect and introduced the use of marks on the forehead and started the practice of branding the arms

All this was opposed to the teachings of the Shaastraas and was evolved out of his own imagination. He was succeeded by his disciple Munivhana who was the son of an outcast. His chief disciple was Yavanacharya who was a Mohammedan by birth. Yavanacharya is sometime corrupted into Yamunacharya. After him Ramanuja who was a Brahman by birth, was converted to this faith. His predecessors had written some (sacred) works in the loval dialects. Ramanuja devoted sometime to the study of Sanskrit, was the author of a few books

in Sanskrit verse and of a commentary on the Shariraka Sutras and the Upanishads which gave an interpretation of these books quite contrary to what was given by Shankar. He criticized Shankar a great deal. For instance, Shankar holds that the soul and the Divine Spirit are identical; nothing besides God has an existence in fact. The phenomenal word is an illusion and is, therefore, unreal and perishable. Ramanuja on the contrary believes that God, the soul and matter are eternally co-existent,.

Shankar is wrong in so far as he says that the soul and the primordial matter as distinct from God do not exist and Rmanuja’s belief, that these three entities are eternally co-existent and yet the soul and God circumvented by Maya (matter) are one* is altogether absurd. The denial of the freedom of will and a belief in the efficacy of tilaka (making specific mark on the forehead) and of wearing rosary, and in idol worship, and other evil doctrines and practices are found in the Chakrankit faith. The creed of Shankar is not so much opposed to the Vedic teachings as that of the Chakrankits.

The origin of idol-worship.

– With whom did idol worship originate?
~It originated with the Jainees.
– Why did the Jainees start idol worship?
~They did it out of their ignorance.
– The Jainees contend that when one looks at an idol which is symbolical of deep meditation and peaceful repose, one’s soul is illumined by these spiritual influences.
~ The soul is possessed of consciousness, while idol is dead and inert. Do you mean to say that the soul should also lose its consciousness and become lifeless like the idol. Idol worship is a fraud. The Jaiinees were the authors of this mode of worship. Their beliefs will be examined in the th Chapter.
– It seems that the Shaktas have not borrowed this practice from the Jainees, for their idols are not like those of the Jainees.
~ It is true that the Shakta idols are not like the Jain ones. Had they made idols resembling Jain idols in very detail, they would have become Jainees. It is for this reason that they dressed images quite differently from those of the Jainees, for the Vishnavites and others deemed it their duty to oppose the Jainees and

* This is called Vasishtaadvaita.

vice versa. The Jain idols were always naked and represented a being who was seated in a contemplative mood and had renounced the world, while on the contrary the Vaishnava idols symbolized gods having by their sides goddesses, who were dressed out in fine style and excited lascivious thoughts by their lewd charms and licentious looks.

The Jains never blow conch-shell, nor ring bells (at the time of worship), while the Vaishnavites and others make a tremendous noise (by blowing conch -shell and beating drums, etc.). It was thus that the disciples of the Vaishnavities and the like vilely popes escaped from the clutches of the Jainees and were ensnared into the nets spread out bye these people. They also composed many books, which are replete with incredibly absurd stories, in the name of the great seers like Vyasa.

The Puranic Hindu and Chakrankitas sects.

They named them Puranas (ancient books) and began to read out select portions from them: They began to practice wonderful frauds and trickery. One of these popes would take an idol made of stone, conceal it in a mountain cave or a secret recess in a jungle or bury it in the ground. After this was done, he would proclaim to his disciples that Mahadeva, Parvati, Radha, Krishna, Sita, Ram, Lakshmi, Narayana, Bhairava, Hanuman, or some other God or goddess had visited him in his dreams and informed him that he or she was in such and such place, commanded him to get him or her (out of the place), install in a temple and become his )or her) priest. If these demands were complied with, he or she would grant him his heart’s desires.

The ignorant people who had ‘more money than brains’ would hear such stories and believe them to be true, they would enquire of him as to the exact site where the God or goddess was to be found. At this the pope would answer “The idol can be found in this mountain or that jungle, should you desire it I could lead you to the place.” Thereupon those fools would accompany that scoundrel to the place, find the idol and being struck with astonishment fall at the feet fo the Pope and exclaim “The God is indeed very gracious into you. Take the idol home and we will build him a temple wherein the idol may be installed, you shall be his priest and we shall also gain our hearts’ desires by paying our adoration to him.” When the trick playe by one of the popes was successful, the others followed his example, had recourse to jugglery and imposture and installed idols with a view to earn their livelihood.

– God being Formless cannot be contemplated. Idols are, therefore, absolutely needed. Where is the harm if we stand before an idol with folded palms, think of God and recite His name?
~ God being Formless and Omnipresent cannot have an image. If the sight of an idol puts God in one’s mind why cannot this wonderful creation, which comprehends the earth, water, fire, air, vegetation and a hundred and one other things? Cannot one think of God when he looks at the earth and the mountains which are wonderfully constructed, and out of which human beings fashion idols? It is altogether wrong to say that the sight of an idol makes on think of God. This would mean that when the idol is out of sight, the devotee would not think of God and, consequently when all alone, may succumb to the temptation of committing theft, adultery and the like sins. Believing as he does that there is no one to witness his actions, he would not scruple to commit the most degrading sins.

These are some of the evils that result from the worship of idols. Now mark the difference! He, who has not faith in idols and believes that the Omnipresent, Omniscient and Just God pervades the whole Universe, cannot even harbor evil thoughts in his mind – lave alone committing sins, because he knows that God witnesses all actions – good and bad- and that He is never away from Him even for one moment. He is fully aware of the fact that if he committed a sin – in word, deed, or thought – he cannot but he punished by a Just Providence.

Merely taking the name of God is of no use, even as the repetition of the word sugar does not give a sweet taste to the mouth, nor does the repetition of the word Neem (Melia azdiracta) imparts a bitter taste to the palate. The sensations of the sweetness and bitterness are produced only when sweet and bitter substances are brought in contact with the tongue.

– Is it then a mistake to take the name of the Lord? The Puranas assign great merit to this fact.
~ Your mode of taking the name of the Lord is erroneous and is not commendable.
– Why is our mode erroneous?
~ Because it is anti-Vedic.
– Pray tell us what the Vedic mode of taking the name of the Lord is.
~ It is this. Take for instance the name Nyayakari (Just) which is one of the many names. Contemplate what it connotes. Even as God dispenses justice to all and is free from the least taint of partiality, so should you conform your conduct to the requirements

of justice and always refrain from doing anything unjust. The contemplation of even one name of the Deity in this way conduces to one’s spiritual welfare.

– We too know that God is Formless, but we believe that He incarnated as Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Surya and Devi, etc., and also appeared in flesh as Rama, Krishna, etc. That is why the images of the Deity are extant. Would you say that even this is wrong?
~ Of course we would, for Veda declares God to be “Unborn Indivisible, Formless,” etc., and, therefore, not subject to birth and death and the necessity of incarnation. The doctrine of the incarnation of God cannot stand even the test of reasoning, for He, who pervades the universe like ether, is Infinite, Invisible and is not susceptible to pleasure and pain, cannot be contained in a drop of semen or in the uterus or in a bodily tenement.

coming into and going out can only be predicated of a finite being. To say that the Immobile Invisible God, Who pervades every particle of matter, can take on flesh is as absurd as ti would be to assert that the son of a barren woman was married and her grandson was seen.

– Being Omnipresent He pervades even an idol. Why is it not then right to contemplate and worship God in any object whatsoever, as it has been said “God resides neither in wooden objects, nor in stones, nor in things made of clay. The attainment of the Deity is possible only through faith. God is to be found in any object which one may choose to pin his faith to.”
~ Being All-pervading He cannot be imagined to exist in any particular object only. To hold to the contrary would be tantamount to believing that the sovereign Lord of the earth rules over a small cottage to the exclusion of His whole Empire and would be an insult to Him. In like manner, it is a blasphemy against God to imagine Him as existing in one particular object only.

If you believe Him to Omnipresent, why do you pluck flowers fro the garden and offer them to the idol, make a thin paste of Sandal wood and apply this to it, burn incense, beat drums and cymbals, and blow trumpets before it? He pervades your hands why do you then stand before it with folded palms? He is in your head

why should you then prostrate yourself before the image? He is in food and drinks, why should you then offer them to it? He is in water, why, should you the bathe it? God pervades all these things. What do you worship, the pervader or the pervaded? If the former, why do you then offer flowers, etc., to images made of stone or wood? If the latter, why do you then lay a false claim to the worship of God? Why don’t you say that you worship stalks and stones etc., which is the bare truth? Now tell us, whether your faith is always right or not?

If it be so, you will have to believe that God is subject to the power of you faith. Why don’t you then convert clay into gold and silver, pebbles into diamonds and emeralds, etc., the sea foam into pearls, water into clarified butter, milk and curd, etc., and dust into fine flour by the power of your faith?

You never desire sorrow why are you then afflicted with it? You always desire happiness, why can you not always obtain it? Why don’t the blind recover their sight through faith? You never desire death, why should you then die? Your faith then is not a true faith. True faith consists in believing things what they actually are believing that fire is fire and water is water. To hold the opposite view is the reverse of true faith. True cognition of objects is attained only when we know things as they really are. The reverse of this is false knowledge.

– The fact is that so long as you do not invoke a God by means of Vedic Mantras he does not make his appearance in the image worshipped. He comes as soon as he is summoned and leaves the moment he is requested to depart.
~ If as you say that the God comes into the image when invoked, why does not the idol show signs of consciousness and why does not the image also leave when the God is asked to depart? Whence does it come and here does it go? The fact of the matter is that the All-pervading Spirit can neither come into and idol, nor, leave it. If you mantras are efficacious that you can summon God, why can you not infuse life into your dead son by the force of the very same mantras? Again why can you not bide the soul depart from the body of your enemy?

The truth is that the popes trade upon the credulity of the unsophisticated people like you. There is not a single word in the Veda to support idol worship and the belief that God can be summoned and bidden to depart (at the will of the devotee).

– Here are some Vedic Mantras that support idol worship, etc., why do you then assert to the contrary?

“May the vital airs enter it (idol) and reside therein in ease for long. May the senses enter it and remain therein for long. May the Supernal Soul enter it and stay therein for long.”

~ You betray woeful ignorance when you make this assertion. Why do you not use your understanding a little? These texts are not at all found in the Vedas. They are to be found in the apocryphal Tantra books of the Vaama Maargis.
– Are the Tantras then mythical?
~ Undoubtedly they are so. Just ast there is not a single verse in the Vedas to sanction invocation of the Deity and vitalization of the idol, likewise there is nothing to indicate that it is right to invoke idols, to bathe them, to install them in temples and apply sandal paste to them.
– If the Vedas do not explicitly sanction idol-worship, they do not condemn the practice either. If they do condemn it, the inference is clear that the practice must have existed in ancient times, for it has been said, “Only that can be condemned which prevails.”
~ Of course there is no sanction for this practice (in the Veda and the Shaastraas), but on the other hand it is positively condemned thus:-

() “They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakriti – the material cause of the world – in place of the All-pervading God, but those who worship visible things born of the prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time.” YAJUR VEDA : .

()”The formless Supreme Spirit that pervades the universe can have no material representation, likeness or image.” YAJUR VEDA : .

() “Do thou offer thy worship to the self-same Brahma (All-pervading God) who transcends the power of speech and is the source thereof by virtue jof His being Omnipotent, and is the support of the Universe. No other Being is worthy of adoration.” KENOPANISHAD.

()”Do thou offer thy worship to the self-same Brahma who cannot be comprehended by the human mind and yet is cognizant of the inner workings of the mind. Do thou never worship the soul and the intellect in place of God.” KENOPANISHAD.

() “Do thou offer thy worship to the Being that cannot be seen with eyes, and yet, He it is from whom the power of sight is derived. Do thou never worship the sun, the fire and the lightening and other material objects which are distinct from Him.” KENOPANISHAD.

() “Do thou offer thy worship to the self-same Brahma who is not the object of auditory perception, and yet He it is who is the bestower of the power of hearing. Do thou never worship sound* etc., in place of the Lord.” KENOPANISHAD.

() “Do thou offer thy worship to the self-same Brahma who is not influenced by the breathing forces and yet is the director thereof. Do thou never worship the atmosphere in place of the Lord (which is distinct from Him).” KENOPANISHD.

* i.e. let not thy soul be held in bondage by the power of sweet and seductive speech. -Tr.

It is clear therefore that idol worship is interdicted (in the Veda and the Shaastraa).

Prohibition applies to deeds that have been done as well as to those that have not been done, the first named kind may be illustrated thus. A man is sitting somewhere and he is asked to leave the place. The last named may be illustrated as follow:

(a father says to his son) “O my son! Do thou never steal, nor jump into the well, nor associate with the wicked, nor remain without learning.” God has thus interdicted practices which were within the purview of His knowledge, and not within the knowledge of men. Hence the worship of stalks and stones and so forth is absolutely prohibited.

– Well, if idol worship be not a meritorious act, it is not a sin anyhow.
~ (Human) Acts are of twoe kinds only:- injunctions -i.e., acts like veracity in speech that have been positively enjoined by the Vedas and prohibitions – i.e., acts like mendacity that have been positively prohibited by the Vedas. Just as it is a righteous act to do what has been enjoined by the Vedas and a sin not to do it. If you resort to practices like idol worship which have been interdicted by the Vedas why then are you not a sinner?
– Mark! The Vedas are eternal. The practice of Idol worship could not have existed in remote antiquity. At that time the gods were visible. This practice originated with the authors of the Tantras and Puranas. When the knowledge and mental capacity of men suffered diminution, they found it hard to contemplate the Deity. Such men can of course fix their minds on idols only, hence idol worship is meant for the ignorant, even as a man can get to the top of a house only if he uses all the staircases, he could never succeed in his object. Idol worship is therefore the first step. When after worshipping images for a length of time, the devotee will gain in (divine) knowledge and in purity of heart, he will then be fitted for divine meditation. Just as a marksman acquires skill

in his art by shooting at the target and by continued practice learns to hit smaller objects, in like manner one who worships the visible symbols of the Deity will, in course of time, attain to the realization of the abstract Deity. Little girls play with dolls only so long as they do not actually get married. For these reasons idol worship is not an evil practice.

~ When it is held that only those acts are righteous that are sanctioned by the Vedas, while those that have been interdicted by them are sinful, idol worship is a sin even from your standpoint. Whoever accepts as authoritative books whose teachings are opposed to the Vedas may not inappropriately be termed a Nihilist.

Manu says ” whoever reviles, rejects, dishonors or contravenes the teachings of the Vedas is called a Nihilist.” MANU : .

“Whatever books have been written by low, despicable people who are opposed to the Vedas drag down the world to the lowest depths of misery and are therefore useless and false. They further envelop the world in dark ignorance and are the cause of great misery in this world as well as the next.” MANU : , .

All books whose teachings are opposed to the Vedas gain publication and enjoy an ephemeral existence as they do not inculcate eternal principles. It is useless and wrong to believe in them.” MANU : .

All the sages from Brahma down to Jaimini have held that righteous conduct consists solely in rejecting all that is opposed to the Vedas and in practicing whatever has been enjoined by them, the reason being that the Vedas expound truth and nothing but truth, while all books like the Tantraa and Puranas that are replete with anti-Vedic teachings are false and, therefore, the worship of idols which they inculcate is likewise a sin.

People never gain knowledge by the worship of material objects, on the contrary they forget even what they have previously acquired. Knowledge is increased by serving the learned and by associating

with them – not by image worship. Can God ever be contemplated through the worship of stalks and stones? Certainly not! Idol worship cannot be compared with a staircase. It may more appropriately be looked upon as deep ditch, whoever falls into it is hacked pieces, can never come out of it and even dies there. Undoubtedly the acquisition of true knowledge and cultivation of habits of truthfulness and the like virtues by association with pious and learned men of he ordinary stamps as well as with learned Yogis of the highest order constitute steps that lead to the realization of the Great God, even as a ladder takes one to the upper story of a house.

No one has yet become a learned man through the worship of idols, on the contrary most of the idol-worshippers have remained in ignorance and wasted their precious lives an died (in despair). Moreover, all those who worship idols now and will do so in future will die without enjoying the fruits of (human) life which are there practice of righteousness, acquisition of wealth, realization of legitimate desires and attainment of salvation. Idol worship cannot be likened to target shooting.

Association with pious and learned men and a study of the laws of nature constitute the real target, by practicing at which one can reach God by gradual steps. Now is the worship of images like playing with dolls. The learning of the alphabet and good habits may fitly be compared to playing with dolls and is, therefore, the first step towards the realization of God. Bear in mind that whoever receives the right sort of training and culture will also, in due course of time, reach God, his true master.

– Mind can be concentrated on a material object, but it is difficult to rivet it on an immaterial one, hence the worships of idols is justifiable.
~ No, the concentration of mind on a material object is impossible, for it can grasp it at once and after mastering all the details wanders over fresh objects. On the other hand, in the case of Immaterial, Infinite God, do what it will, the mind will never be able to comprehend Him. God being Indivisible the mind cannot wander, it contemplates His nature, attributes, characteristics and being beatified is perfectly focused.

Had it been possible to concentrate the mind on a material object, all the people of the world would have been able to concentrate their minds, because it remains engrossed in worldly objects such as other minds, one’s wife, children and friends and wealth, but no one can concentrate his mind except on abstract Being, because He is Indivisible

A few evils of idolworship.

Hence idol worship is a sin.(This is the first argument against idol worship).

Millions of rupees are spent in constructing temples for idol worship. This leads to poverty and indolence.
Free and promiscuous mixing together of the sexes in the temples leas to adultery, internecine quarrels and the spread of disease (contagious).
The idol worshippers regard this mode of worship as the sole means of the practice of righteousness, the acquisition of wealth, the fulfillment of legitimate desires and he attainment of salvation. They, therefore, give up all active work and waste away their precious lives.
Since people worship idols with different names, forms and characteristics, they have not unity of faith and their mutually antagonistic beliefs and practices create bad blood in the country and lead it to its ruin.
They depend upon the idols for the defeat of their enemies and the triumph of their arms, and, therefore, do not exert themselves. The result is that they are defeated, and government of he country, independence and wealth with its attendant pleasures, fall to the lot of their enemies. They are themselves robbed of their independence and reduced to the condition of a subject race, suffer in a hundred different way like the pony of an in keeper and the donkey of the potter.
If some one were to say to another person that he would put a stone in his name or place, he will feel angry and will most likely abuse him or hit him back. In like manner the ignorant people who take a stone to be the symbol of the Deity and worship idols in place of God will surely have the Divine wrath visited upon them.
Laboring under mistaken notions, they peregrinate from temple to temple and from one country to another, endure untold misery, lay ace at the root of their worldly and spiritual welfare, suffer at the hands of thieves and are duped by thugs.

Money is given away to wicked priests who spend it on debauchery and the gratification of the bestial appetites on flesh and wine and in fomenting quarrels and in promoting litigation. Thereby the donor forfeits its happiness and is pained beyond measure.
These people lay themselves open to the charge of ingratitude by not showing due respect to their parents and other persons worthy of esteem and worshipping idols instead.
When these idols are stolen by thieves or are dashed into pieces (by some iconoclast), they set up loud lamentation.
The priestesses and priests are corrupted on account of illicit intercourse with other men and women and thus forfeit their connubial felicity.
The servants do not properly obey their masters and they turn against each other and are thereby ruined.
The soul by constant contemplation of dead and inert matter loses the power of sound judgment, because the material properties of the object contemplated (such as a stone) are transmitted to the soul through the manas.
God has created fragrant substances like the flowers to purify air and water and to prevent disease. If the priests were not to pluck the followers, the purificatory process would go on for an indefinitely long period, air and water would be purified and the flowers would continue shedding fragrance till the time of their natural decay. They cut off their useful career in the prime of their life. The flowers get mixed with mud, are decomposed and emit stench instead of sweet odor. Has God created flowers and other odoriferous substances for making an offering of them to the idols.
Sandal wood, unhooked grain and the like offerings get mixed with water and mud, and are then thrown into a drain or a cistern where they rot and give off such offensive odors as issue from human excrement. Thousands of tiny creatures are constantly produced and die and cause it to stink still more.

These are few evils caused by the worship of idols. It should, therefore, be given up by all righteous men. Whoever worshipped

idols. Worships it, or will do so in future could not have, nor can he now or will in future escape from the effects of these evils.

– Is no form of idol worship permissible? What is then meant by the expression worship of the five gods which has been in common use since times immemorial. Does it not imply the worship of the five gods called Shiva, Vishnu, Ambika, Ganesha and Surya.
~ No form of idol worship is permissible, but the worship of the five living gods is our duty. This expression Pancha Yajna or the worship of the five gods – has a very good meaning, but the ignorant fools have degraded it and construed it to mean something altogether different form what was originally intended. The worship of Shiva and the like gods has already been condemned. But we shall now explain what is meant by the worship of the five gods which is sanctioned by the Vedas.

This may be termed worship of gods that are truly worthy of reverence.

. “The first object of worship is the mother. It is the duty of her sons and daughters to serve this goddess with all their heart and all their soul, and keep her happy. Let her never be treated harshly.”

. “Second object of worship is the father. This God should also be served like the mother.”

. “The third object of worship is the teacher who bestows knowledge (upon his pupils). This God should also be served with utmost devotion.”

. “The fourth object of worship is the altruistic teacher of humanity who is learned, deeply religious, upright, well-wisher of all and goes from place to place preaching the truth the thereby making the people happy.”

. “The fifth object of worship is the husband for the wife and the wife for the husband.”

These are the five living gods who bring a man into being and bring him up, and it is through them that he gains true knowledge, sound culture and is instructed into the righteous principles of conduct. It is the worship them and worship of these that leads one to God. Whoever does not worship them and worship idols instead is a transgressor of Vedic principles.

– What harm would there be if people worship these as well as idols?
~ True happiness consists solely in giving up altogether the worship of idols and in serving mother and other living gods. It is an awful shame that people should have given up the worship of the living gods that impart happiness and have taken to the worship of idols instead. The priests have started this practice, because they thought that if the people placed eatables as offering before their parents, they would accept and eat them up, and in that case they (the priests) would get nothing to eat and would receive no offerings.

It is for this reason that they make idols, place eatables before them, blow trumpets and conch-shells, beat sym-balls, tom-toms and produce tintinnabulation and thus make, a tremendous noise and poke their thumbs at them as if to say “Be tantalized while we enjoy the viands!”

It is like this: one man hoaxes another and irritates him by putting food before him and saying to him “Take thou the bell” and poking his thumb at him removes the food placed before him, eats it himself with gusto. This sort of hocus-pocus is resorted to by these pujaris* (priests).

The priests adorn and beautify their idols so much that they glitter with dazzling brilliancy. Like thugs they adorn their persons to look attractive, and enjoy themselves at the expense of these ignorant, gullible, unsophisticated fools. Under a righteous Government these lovers of idols (priests) would have been compelled to earn their living by breaking stones, making bricks and carrying materials for building purposes or doing the like work.

– If one looks at the statue of a woman, his imaginations are inflamed with sexual desire; similarly when one looks at an image symbolic of supernal peace and imperturbability, there is no reason why he should not attain to a state of quietude and indifference to joy or sorrow.
~ He cannot: because his thinking faculty is blunted on account of his soul being influenced, by the inertness characteristic of dead matter (out of which the idol has been fashioned). Loss of judgment entails loss of the blessed state of indifference (to the joy or sorrow). This is a hindrance to the attainment of Divine knowledge, without which the attainment of bliss is not possible. Whatever benefits accrue to a man proceed from association with the learned, study of their biographies and perusal of their books (and not from the worship of their statues).

If you merely look at the image of a person and know nothing about his good qualities, you are not inspired with affectionate reverence for him. It is the knowledge of his good qualities alone which inspires that feeling. It is evil practices like idol worship that are responsible for the existence of millions of idle, lazy, indolent, and beggarly priests in India, who are mainly answerable for this wide-spread ignorance, fraud and mendacity in the country.

– Lat Bhairava and other gods displayed many miracles at Kashi (Benares) when Emperor Aurangzeb with a huge following of Mohammedans attacked that city on his mission of iconoclasm. When the invaders discharged a volley of rifle shots and cannon bombs, millions of hornets issued forth and put to flight the bewildered host.
~ This was not a miracle worked by the idol, it is very likely that there were a large number of hornets’ nests in the temple. The hornets are irascibly fierce in nature. When their nests are disturbed, they run after their invaders and sting them. The miracle of the stream of milk that flowed from the idol was only a trickery on the part of priests.
– Here is another instance. Mahadeva being desirous that he should not be seen by an infidel hid himself in a well, and the Veni Madhava God concealed himself in a Brahman’s house for the same reason. (Are not these even miracles?)
~ The wonder is that the army of sprites officered by Lat Bhairava and Kalbhairava and the hosts of the Angel of Death mentioned in the Gaarur Purana did not fight the Mohammedans and

route them. It is related about Mahaadeva and Vishnu in the Puraanas that they annihilated many a formidable fiend like Tripurasura, why could they not annihilate the Mohammedan invaders. This clearly show that the poor idols could not fight with the enemy or help their devotees in their fight.

When the Mohammedan invaders who had been breaking idols and pulling down temples in their march to Benares came close to the town, the priests took the idol of Mahadeva and threw it into a well and hid the idol of Veni Maadhava in a Braahman’s house.

If it be true that the emissaries of the Angel of Death dare not visit Kashi through fear of Kaala Bhairava, who would not let Kashi be destroyed even at the time of Dissolution, why were not the infidel soldiers scared away? Why did they permit the destruction of their king’s (i.e., Mahaadeva’s) Temple. All this is the invention of priests.

– When a man offers oblations to the manes of his ancestors at Gaya, their sins are forgiven, and, by virtue of the merits of this Shraadha, they go to heaven. The ancestors put out their hands to receive the cakes offered. Not this also false?
~ It is absolutely false. Hundreds and thousands of rupees are given away in charity to the priests for the good and happiness of the manes; these priests of Gaya waste all this money in prostitution and other sinful practices. If this be the merit of offering cakes to the manes at Gaya, why can Gaya not be freed from sins like prostitution.

No other hands, but those of priests are seen coming out (of the earth) now-a-days. Some rogue might have dug a pit with soft grass. He might have then induced a man to offer cakes to the manes of his ancestors by the mouth of the pit. The rascal in the pit must have put his hand out and taken the cakes. There could be nothing surprising if something like t his happened in the past. Likewise the story of Raavana having brought Bainaath is also false.

– Millions of people believe in the Kali and Kaamaaksha and other goddesses of Calcutta. Is it not a miracle (in itself)?
~ Not a bit. These people are intellectually blind, follow one another like sheep and fall into a ditch or a well, and cannot help themselves. One fool follows another and both fall into the ditch of idol-worship and remain therein and suffer.
– Well, let it* pass. In Jaggan Naath, anyhow, miracles are plainly visible. Every time the god Jaggan Naath changes its body, a log of sandal wood comes by itself to the shore from some distant part of the sea. Seven cooking pans containing rice and water are placed on fire, one on the top of another; rice is done in the upper as well as in the lower pans, but it is not done at all in the middle one.

Whoever does not eat the present from the Jaggan Naath idol becomes a leper. The Jaggan Naath car goes by itself. The idol not let itself be seen by a sinner. The gods built its temple while Indradaman was the ruler of the country. Whenever the God changes its body, three men – a king, a carpenter and a priest – die. Now, how could you prove the falsity of these miracles?

~ A man, who had worshipped Jaggan Naath for twelve long years, had then renounced the world and become a Sanyasi, came to Mathuraa and met us there. We inquired from him about all these miracles. He told us that they were all false. On reflection we are convinced that when the time for the god changing its body comes, a log of sandal wood is taken to the sea in a boat and then dropped into it. This is, then, washed to the shore by the sea-waves. Out of this log the carpenters shape idols.

As regards the miracles of the cooking pans, when cooking is done, none but the cooks are admitted into the kitchen and allowed to see anything there. Six round fireplaces are made in a circle and the seventh i made in the center. Clarified butter, dust and ashes are applied to the bottom of six pans in which water and rice are placed. They are, then, placed on the six fireplaces, when the rice therein is done, they are taken of the fire and their bottom well cleansed. Now they put fresh rice and water in the seventh cooking pan.

The pans are put on the central fireplace, one on the top of the other and the seventh one in the center of the lot. The mouths of the six fireplaces are then closed with iron sheets. The place is then thrown open to the visitors. Those among them who are rich are invited to see that the rice in the upper and lower pans is done, whilst that in the central pan is not at all done. Those who seem to have ‘more money than brains’ place gold and silver by way of an offering; some even promise to contribute something monthly Shoodras and other low class people bring eatables as an offering

* i.e., the miracle mentioned above.

into the temple. After they have been offered to the Jaggan Naath idol, these people eat a little of these eatables and leave the rest in the pans which are sent to the house of those who pay for them. All people – from the poor householders, Saadhus and mendicants down to the Shoodras and outcasts – sit in a row and eat together. When one set of people have finished eating, another set take their places and eat out of the same leaf-plates as the first one – in other words, they eat their leavings.

It is a most pernicious practice. As regards the third miracle, good many who go there return home without having eaten the leavings of others. As long as they stay there, they take the food prepared with their own hands. They never get leprosy and the like diseases in consequence. Besides, even in that town of Jaggan Naath there are to be found good many lepers who, in spite of daily eating and the leavings of others, cannot get rid of their disease.

This practice of eating one another’s leavings was started by Vaama Maargis as part of their Bhairavi circle. In proof of this may be mentioned that the idol of Subhadra who was sister to both Krishna and Baldeva, is seated in place of wife between the idols of the two brothers. Had it not been due to the Bhairave set, no such thing could ever have happened.

As regards the fourth miracle, it may be said that there must be some mechanism connected with the wheels of the car; when it is worked in the right way, the car moves, but when the midst of the gathering the mechanism is worked in the opposite way, the car stops. Thereupon the priests shout, “Give alms and do some meritorious acts whereby the god Jaggan Naath may be propitiated and allow the car to move and preserve our faith.”

As long as the money keeps pouring in, they keep on shouting lie this but as soon as it ceases to pour in, a native of Braj nicely-dressed and wrapped in shawls, etc., standing before the car with folded palms prays, “Do Thou, O Lord Jaggan Naath, allow this car to move on and thereby preserve our faith.” Then he kneels down, salutes the God and mounts the car, at that very moment the mechanism is turned the right way, the crowd shouts, ‘Hail Lord! Hail!” Thousands of people pull the cord (attached to the car), forward and the car moves.

The same kind of trickery is carried on in the temple of Jaggan Naath. Hundreds and thousands of people go to pay their homage to the idol, but the place is so big and so dark that even in the daytime lamps have to be lighted up before anything can be seen. A curtain is hanging before the idol, the priest and popes stand inside. When the curtain is pulled from one side, it is in front of the idol

and hides it. Thereupon they shout, “Present your offerings. You sins will be forgiven and you will then be enabled to see the god. Make haste.” Those poor simpletons are taken in by these scoundrels of priests. Then as soon as the curtain is drawn to the other side, the idol becomes visible. Thereupon all those foolish people shout. “Hail! Lord! Hail!!” After being hustled and jostled and put to various other indignities, they return home.

It is the same Indradaman whose descendants are still to be found in Calcutta. He was a great king. He was a devotee of Devi (goddess). He had this temple built at the cost of millions of rupees in order to remove vexatious restrictions in connection with eating and drinking from among the people of Aryavarta, but these foolish people never like to be freed from their shackles. As regards your belief that the gods built the temple of Jaggan Naath, there were not other gods but the builders who raised it.

A king, a priest and a carpenter do not at all die when the god changes body. They are all predominantly present there. It is very likely that in times gone by these three might have proved very troublesome to their inferiors who, in order to revenge themselves, might have poisoned them to death.

The interior of the Jaggan Naath idol is hollow wherein is placed another idol called Shaaligraam in a golden vessel. This is washed everyday with water and the wash is used for making what is called the sacred drink. Possibly they – the prisoners – smeared this idol with the essence of some poison at the time of evening prayers.

The next morning the sacred drink was made and given to those three persons – the king, the priest and the carpenter who died of it. Thereupon those slaves to Mammon might have given it out that the god, at the time of changing his body, carried away the three devotees along with him. Such wicked frauds are very often practiced (by selfish people) to rob others of their wealth.

– In Rameshwaram the linga* increases in length when the stream of water from the Gangotri is let fall on it. Now is this also false?

* The linga is a representation of the reproductive organ of the God Shiva.

~ Yes, it is false. That temple also is so dark that even in the day time lamps have to be kept lit up day an night. When the stream of water is let fall on the idol, the light from the lamps is reflected like a flash of lightning in the water. Besides this, there is nothing else that happens there. The stone neither increases nor decreases in size, it remains as it is. They (i.e., the priests) by such impostures rob those idiots – the lay people.
– Rameshwaram was built by Rama Chandra. Had the worship of idols been opposed to the Vedas, why should he have founded an idolatrous temple and Valmika mentioned it in his Ramayan?
~ In Rama Chandra’s time there was not a trace of the linga or its temple. It is true, though, that a king of Deccan by the name of Rama and this temple built and placed a linga in it and called it Rameshwaram – the Lord of Rama.

When Rama Chandra, while he was traveling back in an air-ship from Ceylon to Ayodhya accompanied by his wife Sita, and Hanumaan and others, reached this place, he addressed her thus, “O Sita, dear, being quite upset by your separation, we were wandering about in your quest and in this very place spent the four months of the rainy season,. Here we used to worship and contemplate the Great God Who pervades all, is above all the devas – sages, seers, and the most powerful material objects and forces – and is the Supernal Soul of all. Through His grace we got all the material of war.*Look at this bridge which we built across the sea (between India and Ceylon). We, then, crossed over to Ceylon an killed that (wicked) Ravan and have brought you back.” Valmika has written nothing more than this in his Ramayana.

– There is an idol of Kalyakant in the Deccan, which smokes the hubble-bubble up to this day. If idolatry be a false practice, this miracle should also be false.
~ It is undoubtedly false. It is altogether an imposture practiced by the popes. Very likely the mouth of the idol is hollow and there is a hole just opposite to the mouth in the back from which a pipe is carried through the adjoining wall to the room situated at the back of the one the idol is placed in. as soon as the priest, having got the hooka ready and introduced its tube into the mouth.

* This war was waged against Ravan (King of Ceylon presently Sri Lanka) who had stolen away Sita.

of the idol and fixed it there properly and pulled down the curtains , comes out of the room, the man in the backroom begins to smoke. While, on the one hand bubbling noise is produced in the hooka, on the other, smoke issues forth from the mouth and nostrils of the idol which has been blown into it through the tube that connects the back hole of the idol with its mouth. At that time the popes no doubt rob many an ignorant man of their money and reduce them to poverty.

– Behold! The idol, of Dakor left Dwarka with one of its devotees. The idol, several maunds in weight, was weighed against two grains and half of gold. Is not even this a miracle?
~ No, it is not. That devotee must have stolen the idol, whilst as regards the idol having been weighed against and half grams of gold, some one under the influence of Cannabis Indica must have spun this yarn.
– Somnauth used to live in mid air. It was a great miracle. Is this also untrue?
~ Of course, it is. There were magnetic rocks placed both above and below the idol. On account of their attraction and counter-attraction, it stood in mid air.

The Muslims’ plundering and looting of Hindu temples.

When Mahmud of Ghazni attacked this temple, it was razed to the ground, its priests and other devotees were humbled and reduced to a most wretched condition, and an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers was put to flight by a force of , men. A pretty miracle indeed!

The popish priests offered presents to the god, worshipped and praised him and addressed prayers to him, thus “O god of gods! Do thou destroy this barbarian and take us under thy protection.” They would tell their dupes – ruling princes:- “Do not be at all anxious. Rest assured, Mahaadeva is sure to send Bhairava or Virabhadra for your assistance who will destroy or blind all these barbarians.” Or they would tell them, “Our god is sure to manifest himself presently. Hanumaan (monkey-God). Bhairava (the Indian Bacchus) and Durga have appeared to us in a dream and promise to do everything for us.”

Those poor simple Rajas were easily taken in by these popes. They believed in all that they said and, therefore, did not resist the invader. Many popes, who were astrologers, said that that was not an auspicious time for them to fight, because one said it was the th moon while the other said that the Yoginee star would face them (when they go to fight) and

so on, they were altogether misled by the popes (and therefore they did nothing to defend themselves). When they were surrounded on all sides by the barbarians, they tried to escape from their miserable plight. Hundreds of popish priests and their dupes fell into the hands of the enemies. Their priests with folded hands implored the Mohammedans to spare their temple and the idol, and offered to pay Rs. ,, as ransom but the Mohammedans answered that they were not idol-worshippers but idol-breakers and off they went and began demolish the temple.

When the roof fell, and he magnetic rocks were shifted, down fell the idol which, when broken, was found to contain Rs. ,, worth of diamonds. When the popish priests were flogged, they began to weep. They were told to point out where the treasury was. Through fear of punishment, they revealed everything. Thereupon the Mohammedans, having looted the treasury and thrashed the priests, made slaves of them as well as of their dupes.

They made them grind corn, cut grass and carry urine and foeces but gave them nothing but parched grain to eat. Oh! Why did these people ruin themselves by the worship of stones? Why did they not worship the Almighty God whereby they could have put the barbarians, to rout and gained victory over them? Had they worshipped heroes and brave men in place of all those idols, what a protection they would have afforded.

the priests worshipped those stones so devoutly and yet not one of them shifted from its place, fell upon the head of one of the invaders and broke it. Had they served a single brave man as they did the idols, he would have done his best to protect those who had served him and to destroy their enemies.

– Ranchhora* thereby sent a hundi (bank-draft) to Narsee Mehta and helped him to pay off his debts. Is this also false?
~ Some banker must have helped hi with the money to pay off his debts, and someone must have given it out falsely that the Lord Krishna had sent him a hundi (bank-draft). In the year the English demolished the temple and its idols with artillery fire, where were the idols, then? (Why did they not do anything to defend themselves?) Baghers, no doubt, fought very bravely and killed many of their enemies, but the idols could not even break

* It is another name of Krishna.

one leg of a fly. Had there been even one so brave as Krishna, he would have utterly routed the enemy an put him to flight. Why should not those who seek his protection be soundly thrashed when their protector himself is beaten?

– Jwaladevi is a veritable goddess. It consumes everything. When anything is offered to it, it consumes one half of it and leaves the other half (untouched). The Mohammedan emperors had a canal of water let fall on it to extinguish it and sheets of iron fixed on it to choke it, but the flame (of fire) was neither put out nor choked. The goddess Hinglaj also is to be seen on the mountains at midnight mounted on a horse; it produces a thundering noise in the interior of the mountains.

The Chandrakoop – a well sacred to the moon – can talk. One who once passes through Yoni Yantra is never born again. By tying a thumra a man becomes great. As long as a man does not go to Hinglaj, however holy he may be, he is only semi-great. Are these things not credible?

~ No, that fire issues forth form the volcanic mountain called Jwala Mukhi. The impostures of the priest at that place are simply wonderful. When melted clarified butter is placed in a spoon on a flame, it takes fire at once, but when it is taken off or the flame is blown out, it is found that little of the butter has been consumed, while the rest of it remains in the spoon. The same thing happens in the case of Jwala Mukhi. Just as the fire of a fire-place consumes everything that is put into it and when fire breaks out in a jungle or a house it destroys everything, in like manner the fire of Jwala Mukhi consumes everything that is placed in it. There is nothing miraculous in this.

No goddess mounted (on a horse) is to be seen at Hinglaj nor is there anything else but a temple, a small reservoir of water and few water pipes here and there. There is nothing much besides the trickery of the popes at that place. They have also got a marshy pool of water from whose bottom bubbles (of gas) rise to the surface of water. The idiots call it Saphalyatra (literally successful pilgrimage).

The yoni Yantra is a mechanical contrivance invented by these popes to rob the pilgrims. The wearing of Thumras is also a priestly fraud. If he wearing of Thumras makes a man great, would not they also make a donkey loaded with them a mahapurush (great man)? It is the doing of great works righteously that makes a man great (mahapurush).

– The lake at Amritsar is verily nectar itself. One half of a fruit of Sapindus Detergens is sweet (whist the other half is bitter). There is a wall (at Gurdaspur) which (when shaken) bends but does not fall sown. At Rewalsar rocks float on the surface of the water. At Amarnath lingas (of ice) form by themselves, (several) pairs of pigeons are seen to come out of the Himalaya mountains to give Darshan and go back to the place whence they came. Are these things also not worthy of belief?
~ no. that lake is Amritsar (Amrit – nectar, sar – lake) only. When the place (where the town of Amritsar is sutuated) was a jungle, the water must have been good and sweet, hence it was named Amritsar (lake) or a lake of sweet water. Had it been real nectar, no one (as held by the followers of the Puraanas) ought to have died there. That wall (at Gurdaspur) must have been constructed in such a manner that it would been (when shaken) but would not fall.

As regards the fruit of Spindus Detergens being sweet, it can be accounted for in two ways; either asclepias pulchella must have been grafted on it, or it is only a yarn. With regard to the Rewalsar miracle, there must be some mechanism by which the rocks are made to float. At Amarnath glaciers of ice are formed, what to say of small lingas of ice. Those pigeons must have been tame ones and are let fly by men hidden behind the mountains. By such means these scoundrels rob the ignorant of their money.

– Haridwaar is the gate of heaven. If one bathes on the steps of Hari, he is freed from his sin. A man who resides in Tapovana (grove of austerity) becomes an ascetic. Gomukh the (mouth of a cow) is seen at Gangotri, Gupta (hidden) Kashi and Triyugi Narayan (god of the three periods of time) at Uttar Kashi, Kidar and Badri Narayan are worshipped by men for six months and by gods for the other six months of the year.

The mouth of Mahadeva called Pashupati is Nepal, his buttocks at Kidar, his knees at Jaggan Naath and his feet at Amarnath. By making pilgrimage to these places and bathing there one obtains salvation. Should a man desire to go to heaven from Kidar and Badri he could easily do so. What do you say to all this?

~ Haridwaar is the starting point of the road that leads to the (Himalayas mountain) in the north. Har ki pauri are the steps that lead to the pond close by, and are meant for facilitating

bathing therein. To tell you the truth it is Har ki pauri (steps of bones) as the bones of the dead from all parts of Aryavarta are thrown in there. One is never freed from his sins until he ahs suffered for them. The Tapovana may have been a grove of austerity in ancient times, but now-a-days it is only a grove of beggars. One does not become an ascetic by living in Tapovana but by practicing austerities, as there are plenty of untruthful shopkeepers who also live there.

The water that falls from the top of the mountain (Gangotri) forms the river Ganges. Some scoundrel must have shaped it like the mouth of a cow in order to rob the ignorant. It should also be remembered that very mountain is the heaven of the popes.

Uttar Kashi and the like places are very good for those who engage in meditation and contemplation, but imposters can practice plenty of trickery even there. As regards Deva Prayaga being the abode of gods, hence called Deva Prayaaga, it is also an invention of the Purana. It is mere nonsense. Prayaga is situated at the junction of the Alakhanda and the Ganges. It the Puranas were not to spin such yarns, who would go there and offer money to the popes?

Kashi is not hidden at all, it is quite visible. The fire there may have been kept up for ten or twenty generations (of these popes), but it has certainly not been burning for the last three generations.

the water in the tapta kunda (pond of hot water) is not, because it gets heated by its passages through the interior of the mountains where there is plenty of natural heat. In another pond close by, the water is cold as it comes from the surface or such part of the mountains hat are not hot. Kidar is a rpetty and healthy place, but even there the popes or their dupes have got a temple built on a firm rock

The chief priest and other popes fleece many a man who have more money than brains and indulge in sexual pleasures. Similarly, at Badri Narayan there are plenty of these thugs. Rvaljee is their chief. Let alone one, he keeps many women. They call the temple there Pashupati and the idol therein panchmukhi (five-mouthed). It is only where there is not law to punish such frauds, that they become so rampant. But it must be borne in mind that the natives of these hills are not such rogues as the residents of the holy places of pilgrimage who denude the pilgrims of their money. This part of the country is very beautiful and clean.

. On the Vindhyaachal mountain the goddess Vindhyeshwari,* Kali** and Ashtabhuji*** are all visibly present.

. Vindhyeshwari assumes three different forms in a day. There is not a single fly to be found in the premises of the temple.

. Prayaaga (Allahabad) is the king of the places of pilgrimage. By having one’s head shaved there, one attains perfection. By bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna, one obtains his heart’s desire.

. Similarly, the town of Ayodhya has with all that inhabited it flown to heaven many a time.

. Mathuraa is the greatest of all tirthas (sacred places).

. Vridaavana is the scene of (Krishna’s) dalliance (with the milkmaids).

. Pilgrimage to Govardhan and Braj only falls to the lot of the fortunate.

. at the time of a sun eclipse, hundreds of thousands of people gather together at Kurukshetra (and this is held very meritorious).

Are these things false?

. What is visible to one’s eyes is that there are three idols and hat they are made of stone.

. The assumption of three different forms on three different occasion sin a day by Vindhyeshwari is due to the cleverness with which the priests dress and adorn the idol with ornaments. As regards the absence of flies. Why, there are myriads of them there. We have noticed this fact with our own eyes.

. There must have been a barber in olden times at Prayaaga who composed some verses (or prayed some pope to do it for him) to the effect that it was a meritorious act to have one’s head shaved there. Had it been true that by bathing at Prayaaga people went to heaven, no one should have seen them returning home but the fact is that they are all seen coming back to their homes, and even if one gets drowned there, his soul wafted on air is carried up into space and born

* The mistress of Vindhya -Tr ** Literally Kali means black.-Tr. *** Literally Ashthabhuji means eight-armed.-Tr.

again. The name of the king of tirathas has been given to it by these lovers of Mammon. The relation of king and subjects cannot be predicated of material objects, hence it is absurd to call Prayaaga the king of sacred places.

. It is impossible to believe that the town of Ayodhya along with all that was to be found in it – dogs, donkeys, street sweepers, workers in skin privies, etc. – has been to heaven three times. It never went to heaven, on the other hand, it is where it was, but is only in stories invented by the popes that Ayodhya flew away to heaven. This story has, indeed, passed from mouth to mouth. All that is said about Naimisharanya is also an invention of these very priests.

. As regards the belief that Mathuraa is altogether different from the three worlds, it is quite false; but it is true in the sense that there are three creatures at Mathur that are very troublesome, indeed so much so that of their account no one can get any rest on land, in water or in air. One of them is the Mathuraa priest. Whosever goes to bathe in the Jumna finds him there waiting for exacting his toll and jabbering senselessly, “Give me alms wherewith I may enjoy myself by drinking infusion Cannabis Ind, eating pepper and sweets and bless you.

The second is the tortoise that will bite do what you will, and their number is so great that it is only with the greatest difficulty that one can bathe at the bathing-place. The third is the red-mouthed monkey that lives up in the air (i.e., on the tops of tees and houses). It would run away with anything it van get hold of, such as a turban, a cap, an ornament or a shoe, would bite, push and even kill a person.

All these three are regarded as fit objects of worship by the pope and his dupes. Several maunds* of gram and sugar are offered to the tortoises and the monkeys, cash and sweets to the popes. Thus they are all served by their votaries – the ignorant laity. Vrindaavana may have been a beautiful grove in ancient times, but now-a=days it is more like a grove of prostitutes, wherein young men and women, mendicants and their female dupes carry on most immoral

* A maund is an Indian measure of weight, it is equal to lb.-Tr.

practice. In like manner, the popes are highly successful in fleecing pilgrims on the occasion of the Dipmaala fair at Govardhan and in religious gatherings at Braj. Similar religious frauds are practiced at kurukshetra by the popes in order to make a good living for themselves. Good and righteous men among them, who have the public good at heart, keep aloof from these popish practices.

– Idol-worship and pilgrimage to holy places have been in vogue since time immemorial. How can they be false?
~ What do you call time immemorial? If you say that by the use of these words you mean that these practices have always been in vogue it cannot be right, otherwise how would you account for the fact that there is not mention of these things in the Vedas, the Braahmanas and other ancient books of sages an seers.

The practice of worshipping idols originated with the Vaama Maargis and the Jainees a little under , or , years back. It did not exist in India in ancient times, nor were there any places held sacred (tirathas) then. When the Jainees instituted Girnar, Palitana, Shikhar, Shatrunjaya and Abu as places of pilgrimage (Tirathas), the Puranics followed suit and established their own Tirathas.

Should a man desire to inquire into the origin of these Tirathas, he should examine the oldest records and brass plates kept by the pandaa priests. He would, then, be satisfied that they were all instituted within a period of to , years. Hence Tirathas are not ancient but of a recent origin.

– Is there no merit, then, in making pilgrimage to Tirathas (sacred places) or taking the name of gods? It is said that “By making pilgrimage ot Kurukshetra one is freed from all his sins committed in other places.” Are these things true or not?
~ No, they are not. If sins could be destroyed, the poor should become rich and prosperous, the blind get sight and the lepers be cured of their leprosy, but it is not so. Hence sin and virtue can never be destroyed.
– “Whosoever repeats the name of the Ganges, thousand of miles distant though he be (from it), his sins are forgiven and he goes to heaven (the realm of Vishnu) the utterance of Hari – a word composed of two letters – destroys all sins. (in like manner there is great merit in taking the name of Rama, Krishna, Shiva Bhagvati, or some other god or goddess.”

If a man sees the idol of Shiva or the lingam in the morning, all his sins committed in the previous night are forgiven, if at noon, his sins committed in the whole life, if in the evening those committed in the seven previous births are destroyed.” So you see that there is a great merit in seeing the idols of Shva, etc. Is this false?

~ What doubt can there be in its being false? No sin can ever be destroyed by taking the name of Hari, Rama, Krishna, Narayan, Shiva, Bhagvati, otherwise none in the whole world should suffer or be afraid of sinning. Now this is the reason that now-a-days sin is on the increase among the popes and their dupes. The idiots are convinced that they can be freed from their sins by taking the name of some god or making pilgrimage to some holy place. Acting on this conviction, they sin freely and thereby forfeit true happiness in this world as well as in the next. But (God has ordained that) whosoever commits a sin must suffer for it.
– Is there any kind of Tirath or any mode of taking the name (of the Lord) which is desirable?
~ Yes, there is. The study and teaching of the Veda and the Shaastras, association with righteous men of learning, promotion of public good, righteous living, the practice of yoga, freedom from malice and hypocrisy, truthfulness in word, deed and thought, the practice of Brahmacharya, the service of one’s father, mother, tutor and the learned guests, worship of God, mental tranquility, control of the senses, gentleness, activity, acquisition of knowledge, both material and spiritual, and of other good works are all Tirathas, as they help one to cross the ocean of misery and sorrow. Land* and water** can never be called Tirathas, since that which helps one to swim across (an ocean of) misery and sorrow alone constitutes a Tiratha.

* Land stands for temples, etc. -Tr. ** Water stands for rivers, lakes, etc.-Tr.

Land and water do not possess this property, on the other hand water can help one to get drowned (if he be so bent). A boat or a ship can be called a Tiratha as by means of it one can get across a river or an ocean. “Those Brahmachaaris who study under the same teacher and the same book are spoken of as serving the same Tiratha. (Samaan tiratha vaasi). So says the sage Panini.

“Let food and raiment, etc., be given to those who study the Veda and Shaastra and possess qualities like truthfulness in speech that constitute righteous living, and let the people in return acquire learning from such persons.”YAJUR VEDA . This is what the Yajur Veda says. Such people alone are entitled to be called Tirathas. As regards the method of taking the name (of God) in the Yajur Veda says:- “Taking the name of the Great God consists in performing great works of righteousness.” YAJUR VEDA :.

The nature, attributes and characteristics of God.

God is called by hundred different names (such as Brahma, Parameshwara, Ishwara, Niyaayakari, Dayalu, Sarvasshaktimaan, etc.) by virtue of possessing manifold nature, attributes and characteristics. He is called Brahma because He is the greatest of all. Parameshwara (Great God) because He is the Lord of the powerful, Ishwara because He is Almighty, Niyaayakaari (Just) because He is Just, never unjust, Dayaalu (Merciful) because He is Merciful to all, Sarvashaktimaan (Omnipotent) because He creates and sustains the world and resolves it into its elementary condition by His power alone and does not need the help of an other being.

Vishnu because He pervades all and protects all. He is called Mahaadeva because He is the Lord of all devas – all material and spiritual objects that possess brilliant or useful properties as well as sages, seers and wise men.

Rudra because He is the cause of the dissolution of the world. Let a man, therefore, try to imbibe His virtues) i.e., to be like God in nature and attributes, etc.). Thus let him be great by the performance of great works let him be powerful among the powerful, let him augment his power, let him never commit a sinful act. Let him be kind to all. Let him perfect his means of progress. Let him develop technical arts and with their help, make different kinds of things. Let him do unto others as he would be done by. Let him

protect all. Let him be learned amongst the learned. Let him diligently punish the wicked and protect the good. In short, molding one’s nature, attributes and character in accordance with those of God alone constitutes the true method of taking His name.

– “The Guru is Brahmaa, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is the Almighty Lord, the Guru is even Brahmaa (Great Lord); therefore, we bow unto the Guru.” Is this kind of Guru-worship right? Is it right to drink the water in which his feet have been washed, to obey him in all things, to look upon him as Bavan (an incarnation of the Deity) if he be covetous, as Nara Singh (half man and half lion -incarnation of God) if he be wrathful, as Rama, if he be attached to worldly things, as Krishna, if he be sensual, never to lose faith in him commit whatever sin he may, to believe that every step one takes in going to see his guru or a sant (so-called holy person) is as meritorious as the performance of an Ashwamedha Yajna?
~ No, it is not right. Brahmaa, Vishnu, Maheshewara and Paara-brahmaa are all names of God, the guru can never equal Him. This book (from which the verse quoted above has been culled), called Gurugitaa which teaches the great sanctity of the guru, is the work of some pope. It inculcates extremely popish practices. The true gurus are one’s father, mother, tutor, and atithis (altruistic teachers)

To serve them and acquire knowledge and culture from them is the duty of the children and pupils, but if a guru be covetous, worldly, sensual or possesses a nasty temper these men (i.e. the so-called gurus or holy men) should be left alone (but it is the duty of the king) to correct these men first by gently admonition, if still intractable to inflict bodily punishments or ever to put them to death.

There is nothing wrong in punishing them, such men do not become gurus by virtue of possessing learning and other good qualities. They are false gurus who tie strings of beads round the necks of their (chelas) dupes, make marks on their foreheads called tilakas, and teach mantras (mystic words), etc., quite oppose to the teachings of the Vedas.

They are not gurus but shepherds, because just as shepherds keep goats and sheep for the purpose of obtaining milk, etc., likewise these so-called gurus have male and female disciples (chelas and chelis) in order to strip them of their money with which they enjoy themselves. It is said of them by some one: “The greedy

guru and the avaricious disciple play tricks with each other. They are drowned in the sea of misery (like those who try to cross the sea in a boat made of stone).” The Guru thinks that his male and female disciples are sure to give him something, whilst the latter think that even if the guru is of not other use he is good enough for swearing (falsely) by or for obtaining absolution from sins.

They are both selfish and embodiments of hypocrisy. They get drowned in the ocean of misery in this world like those who try to cross the sea in a boat made of stone. Fie on such gurus and disciples. Let no one associate with such persons, but whoever does so, will sink to the greatest depths of misery.

The imposture of these shepherd gurus is just like that of the Puranic priests. They are extremely selfish people. Those who have the good of the public at heart may have themselves to suffer, out never do they cease doing what is good for the world. Both the guru-mahatamya (doctrine of the sanctity of the person of the guru) and the Gurugita are the inventions of these immoral, wicked gurus.

. “Vyasa is the author of the puranas. Whatever he has declared must certainly be held as authoritative.”

. “Let a man learn the meaning of the Veda by the help of Itihas (historical books such as the Mahaabharat) and the Puranas as they are all in harmony with the teachings of the Veda.”

. “In Pitrikarma (i.e., the ceremony in which oblations are offered to the manes of one’s ancestors) let a man hear stories from the Purana and the Harivansh recited.”

. “On the completion of an Ashwamedha Yana, let a man hear portions of the Purana recited on the th day.”

. “The Purana is the Veda as its teachings are in harmony with those of the Veda.”

. “Itihas (History) and the Puranas are called the fifth Veda.” SUTRAGRANTH.

These quotations conclusively prove that the Puranas are authoritative books, and once this is admitted, idol-worship and pilgrimage to sacred places are proved to be desirable, as both of them are inculcated by the Puranas.

~ Had Vyasa been the author of the Puranas, thee would not have been so many stories in them, as it appears from the perusal of his other works, such as his commentary on the Yoga Shastra, and the Vedanta Shastra, that he was a very truthful and righteous man of vast learning and a great Yogi. He could never have written such falsehood (as are recorded in the Puranas).

Those sectarians – so hostile to each other – who wrote the so-called Puranas (ancient books) such as the Bhagvat, which are in fact apocryphal and of recent origin , did not possess a particle of the noble qualities of Vyasa. It is not learned men like Vyasa who could write what is false and oppose to the Vedas and other true Shastras. It is the work of the selfish, ignorant and malevolent men.

Besides, Purana is not the name of such books s the Shiva Purana, since it is said in the Brahmanas and Sutra books:- “Ithihas, Puana, Kalpa, Gatha and Narashansi are five names given to the Brahman books.*

They are called Itihas (history) as they record such events as the discussion between king Janak and the sage

* i.e., the Aittreya, Shatapatha, Sama and Gopatha.

Those who say that Vyasa had collected the Vedas are altogether wrong, since even his father (Parashara), grandfather (Shakti), and great-grand-father (Vaisishtha), and Brahma and other sages, who lived long before him, had read all the four Vedas; this would have been impossible, had it been Vyasa who collected them.

. Yajnavalka. They are called Puranas (ancient) as they discuss such subjects as Cosmogony, Kalpa and because they discuss the power of the Vedic words and clearly demonstrate their true meaning, Gatha because they narrate stories by way of illustrating certain truths, Narashansi because they chronicle human acts – praiseworthy or otherwise.

. By the help of these (books) alone can the true meaning of the Vedic mantras be understood.

. Let a man hear something in praise of the learned.

. In this question also the same Brahman books are meant by the words Purana as the books written by Vyasa could possibly be recited after his birth (and never before this event), but is a fact even long before the birth of Vyasa expositions of the Vedas (Puranas), such as the Shrimad Bhagvat or the Shiv Purana, which are really of a very recent origin, and are replete with mythology and filthy stories.

When Vyasa read the Vedas and taught them to others and thereby disseminated their knowledge, he was named Veda Vyasa. Now Vyasa (in Sanskrit) means the diameter (of a circle) which is a line that passes right through the center of a circle from one end to the other Vyasa was called so, because he read and mastered all the four Vedas, from the Rig Veda to the Atharva Veda, and taught them to his pupils such as Shuka and Jaimini. Vyasa was his title only. His real name was Krishna Dwipayana.

The myth of the Hindu Puranas.

– Is everything that is said in the Puranas false? Is there nothing true in them?
~ They are mostly false but there may be a thing here an there that is true, but that is taken from the Vedas and the Shastras, while that which is false is the invention of the popes. In the Shiva Purana, Shiva is described as the Lord of all, while Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, Ganesha, and Svrya are spoken of as his servants, whilst in the Vishnu Purana, Vishnu has been held as the Supreme Spirit and

Shiva an other gods, as his servants. Again, in Devi Purana, Devi Purana, Devi is described as the Supreme Deity and Shiva, Vishnu, and the like as her servants. In Ganesha Khand, Ganesh is called the Lord of all, while the other gods as the servants. Why! If this is not the invention of the sectarian priests, whose else could it be?

Such self-contradictions are not possible even in the writings of an ordinary man, to hold the first statement as true, the second naturally must be false, and if the second statement be held to be right, the third must be wrong, and if the third be considered a correct, all the rest must be incorrect.

Again, the Shiv Purana describes Shiva; the Vishnu Purana, Vishnu the Devi Purana, Devi; the Ganesh Khand, Ganesha; the Surya Puran, Surya; Vay Puran, Vayu, as the author of the creation and dissolution of the Universe and then each of them considers them as created beings. If the Pauranics (Hindus) were asked how the author of the creation, sustenance and dissolution of the Universe could be created being and how a created being could be the First cause of the Universe, they would never be able to answer this objection.

Besides, the bodies of these beings must have been formed out of the matter composing the universe. When they form part of the created world and are localized, how can anyone of them be the author of the universe? Moreover, Cosmogony is described differently in the different Puranas and in a manner which is altogether impossible.

For instance, its written in the Shiva Purana – “Shiva wiled ‘Let me create the world.’ “Thereupon he create an expanse of water called Narayana from its navel sprand up a lotus plant, out of which issued forth Brahma who say that it was all water. He took a handful of water, looked at it and threw it back (into the ocean) which caused a bubble to rise from its surface. Out f this bubble came a man who addressed Brahma thus, “O My Son! Create the world.” Brahma replied. ” I a am not your son, rather you are my son.”

Thereupon they began to quarrel over it and continued fighting with each other on the surface of the water for one thousand years of the gods. Then Mahadeva began to think that as those whom he has sent forth to crate the world were fighting with each other, he must adopt some method of settling this dispute. For this reason he created out of them a bright linga, which immediately spread heavenward. Both were puzzled at its

sight. They agreed that its beginning and end should be found out and he that returned first, after having discovered its limits, should be considered as the father, while the other who returned later or without having discovered its two ends as the son. Thereupon Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise and went down, whilst Brahma embodied himself as a swan and flew upwards along the linga. Both traveled for on thousand years (of the gods) at the same speed as the human mind and yet they could not fathom it.

Therefore, Brahma above and Vishnu below began to think that if the other came back sooner after having found its end he would have to become the son. Whilst Brahma, was thinking in this strain, a cow and a tree, called Strychnos Potatorum descended down from above. Brahma asked them, “Whence have you come?” They replied that they has been travelling along that linga for one thousand years. Brahma enquired “Has this linga any limits?” they replied in the negative. The Brahma said to them, “Both of you accompany me and let the cow give evidence to the effect that she has been pouring milk over the head of the linga and let the tree say that it showered flowers over it, if yu do this I shall take you to a resting-place.”

They refused to give false evidence. This enraged Brahma and he cried, “If you refuse to give the desired evidence, I will reduce you to ashes (i.e., annihilate you) at once.” This frightened them both and consequently the promised to give the desired evidence. The all of them began to descend and continued in their downward course till they got back to the place whence Brahma had started. Vishnu had already got back there. Brahma asked him fi he had found the limits of the linga. Vishnu replied, “I have not been able to fathom it.” Brahma, then, said, “But I have succeeded.” Vishnu wanted him to produce his evidence.

Thereupon the cow and the StrychnosPotatorum tree gave evidence to the effect that they were both above the head of the linga. Upon this a voice came out of the linga and cursed the tree saying, “Since thou hast told a lie, thy flowers shall never be offered to me or any other god in the whole world, and whosoever offers them shall be destroyed.” It then cursed the cow saying, “Since thou hast uttered a lie with thy mouth thou shalt eat excrement with it and no one shall ever worship it. But in its stead thy tail shall be worshipped.” It also curse Brahma saying, “Since thou hast told a falsehood, thou shall not worshipped anywhere in the world.” It blessed Vishnu saying, “since thou hast spoken the truth, thou shalt be worshipped all

over the world.” After this both (Brahma an Vishnu) glorified the linga. This highly pleased it and out came a man from the inside of the linga with tresses of hair twisted on the top of his head who said ” I sent you both to create the world, why have you been quarrelling with each other.” They replied, “How could we create the world without some material?” Thereupon Mahadeva took a ball of ashes out of his matted hair an gave it to them saying “Go forth and create the world out of this ball.”

The authors of the Puranas should be asked where the bodies of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahadeva, the expanse of water, the lotus, the lingas, the cow and the Strychnos Potatorum tree and the ball of ashes came from when even the primordial matter – atoms and the five subtle principles (Mahabhuts)* did not exist?” they could never answer this objection satisfactorily.

The story of Creation in the Bhagvat Purana.

The story of Creation is given thus in the Bhagvat: – A lotus came out of the navel of Visnu, And Brahma out of the lotus, Swayambhava out of the right big toe of Brahma’s right foot and the queen Satyrupa out of his left great toe. Out of his forehead were born ten sons such as Rudra and Marichi who begot tem Prajapatis, whose thirteen daughters were married to Kashyapa. Out of these thirteen wives of Kashyapa, Diti gave birth to fiends, Danu to demons, Aditi to the sun, Vinata to birds, Kadru to snakes, Sharma to dogs, and jackals, etc., and others to elephants, horses, donkeys, buffaloes, grass, straw and trees such as acacia with thorns and all. Fie on you! O you senseless, idiotic author of the Bhagvat Puranana. What a shameless creature you were! You did not feel a bit of shame or hesitation in writing such falsehood! You became so utterly blind.

Human beings are, no doubt, the result of the union of the male and female reproductive elements of human parents but never animals, birds, snakes, etc. Such a thing being against the laws of nature as ordained by God is quite impossible; besides, how can there be any room for elephants, camels, lions, dogs, donkeys and trees in the womb of a woman? Moreover, why did not the lions and the like animals, after their birth, eat up their own parents? How can it be possible for animals, birds and trees to be born out of a human body?

It is a great pity that these people should have practiced such impostures as hve kept the world in darkness and doubt even up to this day. These blind popes and their blind dupes hear and believe in such utterly false things. One wonders if they are even men! Oh! Why did not the writers of Bhagvat and other

* See chapter for further information on this subject.

Puranas die in their mothers’ wombs or as soon as they were born? Had the people (of India) been saved from the hands of these popes, they would have been spared the pain and suffering that they are afflicted with.

– There can be not contrariety in these different versions of the Creation as the old proverb says, “Songs on marriage occasions are sung in praise of the person whose marriage it is.” When the devotee praises Vishnu, he regards him as the All-mighty God, whist all other gods are treated as his servants; when he begins to glorify Shiva, he looks upon him as the Supreme Spirit and on all others as his attendants or slaves. Everything is possible with God. Even other than human beings can be produced by the sexual union of men and women, if God wills it so. Behold! He ahs created the whole universe out of nothing by virtue of Maya. There is nothing that is impossible for him. He can do whatever he likes.
~ O you simpletons! On marriage occasions you, no doubt, sing praises of the person who is to be married, but you never call him the greatest of all, nor belittle or revile others, nor regard him as the father of all. Now, pray tell us do not you popes leave behind even wheelers, fawners, and flunkeys in the art of flattery and story telling? Whosoever you follow, you call him the lowest of all. What have you to do with truth, justice and righteousness? You have your own selfish interests alone at heart.

Maya is only possible in man as he is very often deceitful and hypocritical. They alone can be called Mayavi. If it be true that animals, birds, snakes, trees, etc., were the offspring of Kashyapa and his thirteen wives in the beginning of Creation, why are they not produced in the same way in our time.

The order of creation we have described is alone true. It seems that the pope having been misled by the following text of Shatapatha Brahman must have talked this nonsense. “Therefore, all this world was created by Kashyapa.” Now “God is called Kashyapa because He is pushyaka or Seer of all, in other words, witnesses the entire creation – animate and inanimate

– the souls and their acts and clearly sees all kinds of knowledge.” NIRUKTA :. By the rule of Mahabhashya which say that “the first and last letters of a word change places with each other,” P of pashyaka* changes its place with k and becomes kashyapa. Being ignorant of the true meaning of these texts, and (probably) intoxicated with Cannabis Indica decoction they (i.e., the authors of the Puranas) wasted their lives in writing what was opposed to the Laws of Nature.

The fallacies Markandeya Purana.

In the Markandeya Puranam, in the section devoted to the goddess Durga, it is stated that out of the bodies of the gods issued forth light which formed a goddess who killed a demon called Mahishasura or Raktabija. A drop of blood fell from his body and the like demons were produced in such large numbers out of this drop of blood that the whole world was filled with them (i.e., Raktabijas). Again blood fowed from his body i such a large quantity that it actually formed a stream.

The book is foll of similar other cock and bull stories. Now where was the goddess Devi, her lion and her army when the world became full of Raktabija demons. If you say that they were at a considerable distance from the goddess, the whole world was not then filled with Raktabijas. Had this been the case where would have been (room for) animals, birds, human beings, water, land, crocodiles, tortoises, fishes (big and small), plants and trees? One feels convinced that all these must have taken refuge in the house of the author of Durgapatha! What a wonderfully incredible story has he told whilst under the influence of Cannabis Indica!

Exposing the trickery of the Shrimad Bhagavat.

Now we shall expose the trickery fallacies of what is called the Shrimad Bhagavat. Narayana (God) taught Bhagavata to Brahma in verses thus: “earn thou, O Brahma, from me my highest and secret knowledge. It is also (highest) and hidden. It leads to the acquisition of righteousness and wealth, gratification of legitimate desires and attainment of Eternal Bliss.”

When the knowledge was called Vijana (i.e.,highest) why should it also have the qualifying word highest? When it has already been called secret, it is a mere repetition to call it hidden also. When the verse which forms the basis of the book is

* Pashyaka literally means a seer.

meaningless, why would not the whole book be the same? In the nd Chapter, Narayana blesses Brahma saying, “Thou shalt never be a victim to infatuation, either during Creation or Dissolution,” but in the tenth Chapter we find that Brahma through infatuation stole calves!! Now only one of these two contradictory statements can be true, while the other must be false or both may be false.

When you hold that there is no such thing as love, malice, anger, jealousy or pain to be found in heaven (Baikutha), why d id Sanaka and others become angry at the gate of heaven. If anger was there, it was no heaven. Jaya and Vijaya being gate-keepers, were bound to obey their master’s order and if they stopped Sanaka and others from entering the gate, what wrong did they do?

Being blameless, the could not be cursed, but a curse was pronounced against them, viz., “You shall fall on the earth.” From nature of the curse it is clear there was no earth (land) there, but water, air, Agni and Akasha were probably there. What did the palace, its gate and water, etc., then rest on?

Thereafter, Jaya and Vijaya glorified Sanakas and begged to be told when they would be allowed to enter heaven (Baikuntha). They were informed that if they worshipped Narayana through love, they would gain entrance into heaven in their seventh re-birth, but, if through malice, in there third re-birth.

Now it must be considered here that Jaya and Vijaya were the servants of Narayana, therefore, it was his duty to protect and help them. If a master were to allow his servants to be oppressed by others and do nothing to punish the oppressors, the consequence will be that everyone will trample on them.

It was incumbent on Naryana to reward Jaya and Vijaya for having discharged their duty faithfully, and punish Sanaka and others for having persisted in attempting a forcible entry into Biakuntha (heaven) and quarreled with his servants and cursed them. It would have been an act of justice on Narayan’s part to have thrown Sanak, etc., instead of Jaya and Vijaya, to the earth. When there is such an utter lack of justice in Narayan/s kingdom, the more his devotees – called Vaishnavites – are ill-treated, the better it would be for them.

Again, later on, it is said in the Bhagvat that after Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashypa were born, Hiranyaksha was killed by a boar (who was an incarnation of Vishnu)> this story is narrated thus. Hiranyaksha folded the earth like a mattress and made a pillow of it which he placed under his head and went to sleep. Vishnu incarnated himself as a boar, and caught hold of the earth from under his head. This woke him and a duel between the two followed. The boar killed Hiranyaksha.

If the followers of the Bhagvat Purana were asked whether the earth was round or flat like a mattress, they would never be able to answer this question as they are enemies of the Science of Geography. Well! When Hiranyaksha rolled the earth into a pillow, and placed it under his head, what did he himself sleep on and what did the boar walk on, since held the earth in his mouth?

What did they Hiranyaksha and the boar -stand on whilst fighting, as there was no other resting place? It seems that they must have fought on the chest of the pope who wrote this Bhagvat Pruana, but then the question arises what did the pope lie on? Now, this is all like what happens when liars and gossipers meet each other. There is not end of idle talk, of telling tales and spinning yarns.

Now, as regards Hiranyakashyapa, his son Prahlada was a great devotee of Naryana. When his father sent to school, he would ask his teachers to write the word Rama on his slate. When his father heard about it, he asked him why he worshipped his (father’s) enemy, the boy made no answer; he simply would not obey his father who, at last, had him tied hand and foot and pushed from the top of a mountain and thrown into a well but he wan not at all hurt. Thereupon his father had a red hot iron pillar heated in fire and said to the boy “If your God Rama whom you worship be the true God you should not be burnt by embracing the pillar.”

Prahlada made a start to embrace the pillar; doubt arose in the mind as to whether he would escape being burnt or not. Naryayana made rows of ants crawl on that pillar. That gave Prahlada heart, off he went and embraced the pillar which burst and man-lion came out of it who caught hold of his father and ripped his belly and then began to lick Prahlada lovingly and asked him to utter a wish. He requested that his father should be saved. The man-lion blessed him saying “Twenty-one of thy forefathers have been saved.”

Now, this is another yarn like the previous ones. Let a man who recites Bhagvat or hears it read be thrown down a hill; if this

story be true, he should reach the bottom unhurt. No Narayana will come to his help, the poor man will simple be hacked to pieces. Prahlada’s father sent him to school, not what wrong did he do? That the boy was such an idiot that he wanted to leave off all studies and renounce the world (i.e., become a Vairagi).

Let him who holds it true that ants did crawl over the red-hot iron pillar and Prahlada was not burnt by touching it be placed in contact with a red-hot pillar; if the suffers no harm, we could be believe that Prahlada might not have been burnt. Again, why was not the man-lion burnt?

Now did your Narayana forget that Sanak and others had been granted this boon that they would enter heaven int heri third rebirth. According to the Bhagvata, Prahlada was only in the fourth generation from Brahma. First was Brahma. He begot Kashyapa whose sons were Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapa. The latter begot Prahlada. To say then that twenty-one of Prahlada’s forefathers were saved, when he had only three, is nothing short of idiocy.

Then the same Hiranyaskha and Hirayakashyapa were reborn as Ravana and Kumbhakaran and as Shishupala and Dantavakra. What became of the man-lion’s boon granted to Prahlada. Only idiots can hear or talk such nonsense and not men who are possessed of learning and wisdom.

It is written about Putana and Akrura that “Akrura on being sent by Kansa left Mathura in a carriage drawn by horses that ran as fast as the wind at sunrise and reached Gokula which is miles distant from Mathura’ at sunset.” Now it seems that those horses must have been going round and round th author of Bhagvat., or the drivers lost their way and along with Kansa gone to sleep in the house of the author of the Bhagvat Purana.

The body of Putana, it is mentioned, was miles broad and good many miles long. Shri Krishna slew him and placed his body between Mathura and Gokul. Had this been true, both these towns as well as this pope’s house would have been buried (under his body). There is a story related of Ajamil which is altogether absurd. It runs as follows:- Ajamil name his son Narayana at Narada’s advice. When he was dying, he shouted for his son (by name). In came Narayana (God) instead of his son. Now did not Narayana know what was passing in Ajamil’s mind, viz., that he was calling his son, not Him? If such be the Nama-mahatamya, i.e., if taking the name of the Lord be such a meritorious act as

evidenced by the above story, why does Narayana not come now-a-days to free those, who take his name, of their misery and suffering? Why can prisoners not get their liberty by repeating His name?

In the like manner the dimensions of the Sumeru mountain given in the Bhagvat are quite at variance with the teaching of the Science of Astronomy. Oceans were caused by the tracks of the wheels of King Priyabrata’s carriage. The earth was ,,, miles in diameter. These and similar other stories are given in the Bhagvat. They are simply countless.

This book was made by Bobadeva whose brother Jayadeva wrote Gitagovind. He has written some verses in his book called Himadri to the effect that he was the author of shrimad Bhagvat. We had leaves of that book with us, out of which the first one was lost. We have composed the following two verses of the same purport as those that were on the leaf that was lost. Whosoever cares to see the original verses should consult the Himadri.

“The Prime Minister Himadri said to Pundit Bobadeva, I have no time to read your book called the Shrimad Bhagvat or hear it read. Please make a brief summary of it in verse so that by reading it I may be briefly acquainted with the story of the bhagvat.” There were altogether verses on the leaf that was lost. The following verses beginning with No. that are giving below are all the composition of Bobadeva:-

. “……certainly the story of the Bhagvat, retold is as follows:- The five questions of Shaunaka and Sutas’s answers (are given) in three (verses).” HIMADRI.

. questions and (subject of) invarnations, Vyasa’s disinclination for (writing) work, Narada’s convincing speech supported by arguments and (an account of his) own birth.

. Murder (of Arjuna’s children) while asleep by Drona, protection of Paarikshaita while he was in his mother’s womb by the Pandavas with arms, attainment of his position by Bhishmama, and Krishna’s arrival at Dwarka.

. The birth of Parikshita, who had heard Bhagvat read, Dhritrashtra’s going away, Krishna’s shuffling off his moral coil and then the Pandvas’ departure for the Himalayas (have all been described in the Bhagvat).

Thus have Chapters of the first Book of the Bhagvat been summarized in padas* (of this summary) in consecutive order. The king (ydhishtra) renounced his extensive kingdom in which justice was meted out to all, etc.,**

This completes ( the summary of )Book .”

Thus was a brief summary of the Chapters of Bhagvat prepared by Pundit Bobadeva and given to the Priime Minister Himadri. Whosoever wants to see a detailed account of it should consult the book called Himadri.

* A pada is the fourth part of a verse.-Tr. In the original these verses that are in Sanskrit have not been translated into Bhasha – the language win which the original is written. I have translated them into English directly from Sanskrit.

The same kind of imposture has been practiced by the authors of the other Puranas.

Now the life-sketch of Krishna given in the Mahabharat is very good. His nature, attributes, character, and life-history are all like that of an apta (altruistic teacher). Nothing is written therein that would go to show that he committed any sinful act during his whole life, but the author of the Bhagvat has attributed to him as many vices and sinful practices as he could.

He has charged him falsely with the theft of milk, curd, and butter, etc., adultery with the female servant called Kubja, flirtation with other people’s wives in the Ras mandal,* and many other vices like these. After reading this account of Krishna’s life, the followers of other religions speak ill of him. Had there been no Bhagvat, great men like Krishna would not have been wrongly lowered in the estimation of the world.

In Shiva Purana, the linga has been spoken of as possessed of twelve lights. Now in this linga there is not a trace of light, nor can it be seen at night without a lamp. All this is nothing but the trickery of the popes.

– When the ability needed for studying the Vedas was lost, the Smirits were composed, and when the intellect was so weakened as to render men unfit to grasp the Smritis, the Shastras were made, and when the mental vigor diminished to such an extent that the people were unable to study the Shastraas, the Puranas were written. They are only meant for women and the Shudras, as they are denied the privilege of reading the Veda or hearing it read.
This quite wrong; mental power can only come from studying and teaching. Besides, all men have a right to read the Veda or hear it read. History bears testimony to it, as for instance it is written in the Chhandogya Upanishad that Gargee and other women of yore had read the Veda, and even Janshruti, a Shudra by birth, had studied the Veda under Raikyamuni.

Moreover, it is clearly written in the nd mantra of the th Chapter of the Yajur Veda that every one irrespective of caste or sex, has a right to read the Veda or hear it read. Such being the case, why were not all those, who wrote false books, thereby led the people astray from

* This name is given to the circular dance of Krishna and the cow-herdess of Vrindavana. Tr.

the study of the true books and ensnared them in their own nets to serve their selfish interests, the greatest sinners?

The trickery of Astrology

Now what a wonderful net of Astrology they – the popes – have spread! By means of it they have ensnared all who are destitute of knowledge. They say that different hymns are dedicated to different planets thus:-

. Akrishnena Rajasa, etc, to the sun.

. Imam Deva Asapatanam su Vadhawam, etc., to the Moon

. Agnimurdha divah kakutpath, etc., to Mars

. Vrihaspate atiyadaryo etc., to Jupiter

. Udbudhya swagne, etc., to Mercury.

. Shukramandhasah, etc. to Venus

. Shanno devirabhishtaya, etc., to Saturn

. Kaya Nashchitra, etc., to Rahu

. Ketun Krinvanna Ketave, etc., to Ketu

But their interpretation of these hymns is altogether wrong. Thus

. Relates to the attraction between the sun and the earth.

. describes the attributes of a good king.

. describes (the properties of) heat.

. Refers to the performer of Yajna

. speaks of (qualifications and duties of a) learned man.

. describes (the relation between) the food and the reproductive element.

. describes (the nature and properties of) water, nervauric force and God.

. discusses (the qualification of a good) friend

. discusses (the importance and necessity) of acquiring knowledge.

These hymns have nothing to do with the planets (and their influence on men and his actions). Being ignorant of their true meaning, the people have been led astray.

– Have planets any influence over us?
~ Not the kind of influence the popes tell you about. It is true though that the sun and the moon by their heat and cold and

by their influence on the seasons are the cause of pleasure and pain to human beings according as they i.e., heat and cold, etc., agree with there nature or not. But the popes deceive you when they say “Hear us O great banker! The sun or the moon, by virtue of his or her being in the th sign of the Zodiac, is maleficent to you or her.” “The Saturn has chiefly affected your feet, for and half years you will suffer greatly through it.

It will make you leave your home and hearth, wander in foreign lands, but should you give alms, have the sacred hymns chanted, the holy books recited and their worship performed and thereby propitiate the planets, you may escape their wrath and the consequent suffering.” They should be asked, “Tell us O popes what relation do the planets bear to you? What is the nature of these planets.” (We are sure they would never be able to answer these questions).

_It has been said, “The whole world is under the governance of the gods, and the gods are under the authority of the mantras, while those mantras are under the control of the Brahmans, hence the Brahmans are called gods. We (the Brahmans) alone are privileged to invoke any deity (we like with the aid of the mantras, propitiate him and thereby obtain our heart’s desire. Had we not been possessed of this power, such atheists as yourself would not have even suffered us to live in this world.”
~ Are even thieves, robbers and other wicked people under the authority of your gods? It is gods, then, that prompt them to do evil deeds? If this be the case, there can be no difference between your gods and fiends. If the mantras are under your control and, by their help, you could do anything you liked, why do you not, then, bring gods under your control and make them steal the king’s treasures, carry them to your houses, fill your coffers and thereby enable you to live in ease and comfort?

Why are you, then, going about from door to door begging for oil (given in charity by the laity, in order to propitiate the Saturn)? Why do you not bring the god whom you call Kuvera – the god of wealth – under your control and get as much wealth as you desire, instead of robbing the ignorant poor? You say that the sun and other planets are pleased when you are given charity in their name and displeased when no charity is given. Give us some positive roof

of their pleasure and displeasure. Now, let any two persons be made to walk bare-footed on the heated ground in June – the hottest month of the year – the feet and body of the one with whom the sun is pleased should not be burnt, while those of the other with whom the sun is displeased should get scorched. Or let any two persons, with one of whom the moon is pleased while angry with the other, be stripped naked and exposed to cold all night on the day of full moon in December – the coldest month of the year.

If one of them feel cold and the other not, one could believe that the planets are maleficent as well as beneficent. Are they related to you any way? Are you in postal or telegraphic communication with them? If you possess the power conferred by the mantras, why do you not yourselves become kings or millionaires or bring you enemies under control?

An atheist is he who does not believe in God and the Vedas, and is the author of popish practices opposed to the Vedas. What harm can there be if a person who is supposed to be under the evil influence of a star, keep what is given in the name of the star and enjoy it himself? Should you say that the stars can only be propitiated when charity (in the name of stars) is given to you alone and not otherwise, we ask: have you got the monopoly of the stars? If so, send for the sun and the like planets to you houses and burn yourselves.

The fact of the matter is that the sun and the other planets are inanimate, they can do nothing to give us pleasure or pain, but all of you who live on the charity given in the name of the planets are real grahas, as the meaning of this word is truly applicable to you alone. Grahas mean those that accept (charity). As long as you do not go to a king, a millionaire, a big man or a banker, no one ever things of the Navagrahas (i.e., nine planets) but as soon as you – the very personification of the sun, the Saturn or other planets – attack any one, you never leave him till you have got something out of him and whosoever tries to escape your grip, you revile him and call him an atheist and so on.

-Look at the positive (visual) results) of the Science of Stars! The eclipses of the heavenly bodies, such as the sun and the moon are predicted. In like manner, the results of the science of the influence of stars on human beings are no less positive. One man is a millionaire, the other a beggar, one is a prince, the other a peasant; one happy, the other miserable. Is not this all due to the influence of the star?
~Eclipses and the like events are foretold with the help of Science of Astronomy and not of Astrology. Astronomy is a true science, while Astrology, excepting in so far as it is relates to the natural influence of the planets such as the heat of the sun, coolness of the moon, is false. By noting ht position of the earth and the moon that rotate in opposite directions to each other. (* the earth moves from west to east, whilst the moon from east to west) with the help of Astronomy, on can exactly know that at such and such time and such and such place there will be seen an eclipse of the part or whole of the sun or the moon.

In the fourth verse of the th Chapter of Grahlaghva it is written that when the moon comes between the sun and the earth, an eclipse of the sun occurs whilst when the earth intervenes between the sun and moon , and eclipse of the moon follows. In other words, in the first case a shadow is cast upon the earth by the moon, and in the second case it is just the reverse.

The sun being a luminous body no shadow can be cast on it. Just as in the case of the sun or a lamp various objects held in front of it cast their shadows in the opposite direction, so does it happen in the case of an eclipse. The people are born rich or poor, princes or peasants, as the result of their past deeds, and not as that of the influence of the planets. Many an astrologer marries his children in the most auspicious hour fixed according to the teachings of Astrology, and yet some of those marriages turn out to be unhappy.

Now why should such a thing take place and why should there by any widows or widowers (after such marriages), if astrology be a true science? Hence it follows that one’s deeds (past and present) are the only factors in the causation of pleasure and pain to him and not the influence of stars. It is strange that when the stars and the earth are situated in space so distant from each other that no relation whatever between them and man and his deeds can be demonstrated, how could stars influence human destiny?

It is human soul that is the author of deeds and reaps the fruit of its acts. If, as you believe, the stars could shape the destiny of man, tell us,* whether more than person is born at the same moment on this earth or not. If you reply in the negative, you cannot be right, but if you say yes, why does not then one man become an Emperor

* The moment of one’s birth is called Dhruva truti which helps an astrologer to cast the horoscope of a person.

like other? We could very well believe it, if you were to say that all this has been invented by you simply to earn your living.

Exposing the trickery of the Garur Purana.

– Is the Garur Puraana also false?
~ Yes, it is so.
– Then, what becomes of the soul after death?
~ The soul suffers or enjoys according to the nature of its deeds.
– It is said in the Garur Purana that Yamraaja (the King of Death), his minister Chitra Gupta, and his host of messengers, who are very fearful looking and whose bodies are like mountains of lampblack , are always at work. These latter get hold of the soul after death and put it in heaven or hell according to the nature of its deeds. Alms are given to benefit the dead, oblations to the manes are offered, ceremonies are performed to satiate the spirits of the dead and cows are given away to the Braahmans to help the departed soul to cross the Vaitarnee river. How can all these things be false?
~ These are yarns spun by the popes. When the souls, after death, go there (from other planets i.e., to the region of Yama), the King of death, with the help of his minister Chitra Gupta, judges them according to their deeds, but if the souls residing in Yamloka were to sin, there ought to be another Yamloka, (region of Yama) and another Yamraaja, etc., to judge them. If the bodies of the messengers of Death were as big as a mountain, why are they not visible, then? Being so big, one would think that not even one finger of Yamdut (a messenger) of death, who came to take the soul after death to the region of Yama, could get admitted through small door into the room in which a dying person may be lying.

Why are they not obstructed in their way on roads or in streets? If it be said that they can also assume a subtle form, where else but in his own house could the pope place the big bones of their mountainous bodies? When a forest takes fire, hundreds and thousands of ants and other insects lose their lives, the number of the messengers of Death that come to fetch the souls of those creatures must, indeed, be countless and consequently their huge bodies ought to darken the horizon. Besides, in their rush to get hold of the souls of the dead, they would knock against each other. And just as huge rocks come off the tops of big mountains and fall to the earth, so would big pieces of heir bodies, fall into the premises of those who read the Garur Purana and hear it read. They would, indeed, get buried under them and die. On the gates

of their houses or the road on which they are situated will get obstructed; it would be, then, very difficult for them to come out of there houses or walk on the roads. Oblations offered to the manes and alms given in the manes and alms given in their name do not reach the spirits of the dead, but they do reach the house, stomach or hands of their representative, the pope. The cow that is given away to help the departed soul to cross the river Viatarnee never gets to that river, but it does reach the house of the pope or the (the slaughter-house). Whose tail would, then, the poor soul get hold of to cross the Vaitarnee? Besides the hands of a dead person are buried or cremated here, how would his soul be able to catch the tail (of the cow)? There is apt story to illustrate it.

Once upon a time there was a peasant who had a fine cow that yielded gallons of mild per day. This milk was very delicious. Now and then even the pope (the priest attached to the family of the peasant) had the pleasure of drinking it. He was always thinking of somehow or other making the peasant give that cow away (in charity) to him on the occasion of the death of his father.

At last, when the father was at the point of his death, lost the power of speech, was taken down from his bed and laid on the ground and the friends and relations of the peasant were also present, the pope cried out. “O Yajman, let a cow now be given away (in charity) by your father.” The peasant took ten rupees out of his pocket; placed them in his father’s hand, and asked the priest to read the Sankalpa.* The pope said: “How funny! Is your father going to die more than once that you have substituted money for a cow.

At this moment you should bring a real cow that yields milk, is not old and is good in every other respect. Such a cow should be given away in charity. (The peasant) “I have got only one cow and my family cannot do without her. I cannot, therefore, part with her. Come, now, I give ten rupees more. Read the Sankalpa. You could buy a milder with this money.” (the pope) “Well! Well! Do you, then, hold your cow even dearer than your father? You are, indeed, a dutiful son!” Thereupon all the relatives backed the pope who had previously been misled and brought round to his opinion by him. He dropped a hint to them even

* Sakalpa is the formula read by the priest whenever anything is given away in charity by a person.- Tr.

at that time, whereupon they all combined together and, through sheer obstinacy, compelled the poor peasant to make a gift of that very cow to the priest. At that time he kept quiet, his father died, the priest took the cow, her calf and the mild-pail home, and, having tied the cow there and placed the pail in a safe place came back to the peasant’s house, followed the bier to the crematorium, and helped in cremating the body of the deceased.

Even there he resorted to trickery, fleeced the poor peasant in the performance of such rites as dash gatra and sapindi, the Mahaabraahman* also fleeced him and the beggars got a great deal out of him. As long as the kriya** ceremony was not over, somehow or other he managed to get milk by begging from his neighbors or relations, but on the th day after the death of his father, early in the morning he went to the house of the pope. On his arrival he saw that, having milked the cow and filled the mil-pail, the pope was about to get up. As soon as the pope saw the peasant, he said, “Come, O Yajman! And seat yourself. The peasant answered, “Rather you come hither. O Revered Sir!” (PP)*** Let me first place the mild-pail safely.

(P)**** No, No! bring the mil-pail hither. The priest went towards the peasant and seated himself by him and placed the milk-pail in front of him. (P) You are a big liar. (PP) What lie have I uttered? (P) Tell me, pray what did you get the cow for from me. (PP) To help you father to cross the river Vaitarnee. (P) Well! Then, why did not you cause the cow to be sent to the bank of the river Vaitarnee. I trusted all along that you must have done it, whilst you have kept the cow in you own house. Who knows how my poor father must have suffered in crossing the Vaitarnee. (PP) Oh no! By virtue of this gift of a cow to me here, another cow must have been created there to help your father to cross the river. (P) How far is the river Vaitarnee from here and on which side is it?

* Mahaabraahmans, a class of priests who accept charity given away by the relations of a dead person.-Tr. ** This ceremony is performed on the th day after death.-Tr. *** stands here for the priest. -Tr. (PP) **** (P) stands for the peasant. -Tr.

(PP) It is nearly ., kosas* from here, as the diameter of the earth is ,, kosas and is situated in the south-west. (P) You must have sent a letter or a telegram to such a distant place. If you have got a reply to the effect that a cow had been created there by virtue of the gift of a cow to you which helped such and such a person’s father to cross the Vaitarnee, please show it to me.

(PP) I have got no letter nor telegram to that effect. I have only the authority of the Garur Purana to assure you (that your father ahs safely crossed the Vaitarnee by the help of the cow that was made to me). (P) That book was written by one of your forefathers to enable you to make a good living by it, as none can be so dear to a father as his own sons. How can I believe what is written in it? When my father sends me a letter or a telegram asking for a cow, I will cause her to be sent to the banks of the Vaitrnee, help my father to cross that river and bring her back home.

Members of my family and myself will drink her milk. Bring hither that pail full of milk, the cow and her calf. He got hold of all these and returned to his house.(PP) As you take back what you had given in charity, you shall perish. (P) Hold your tongue, otherwise I will make up for all that we have suffered from want of milk for thirteen days. This silence the priest and the peasant went back to his house with cow, her calf and milk-pail.

If there were more people like this peasant of the story, there would not be so many popish practices extant in the world. Again, these people (priests) say that by offering cakes to the ten parts of the body of the manes, ten bodily organs are produced and by the performance of Sapiindi** the soul is united to this body consisting of ten parts (which is about the size of a thumb in size) and departs to the region of Yama. Now, if this be true, the coming of the messengers of Death at the time of one’s death must be useless. They ought to come after the th day of death. If it be true that the body is again brought into being by performing the ceremonies above alluded to, why does not the deceased come back home through love fro his wife and children?

Nothing is to be got in Heaven except what has been given here in charity, hence all kinds of things should be given in charity.

* A kosa is equal to a mile and quarter. ** Sapindi is a funeral rite performed on the th day after death.-Tr.

~ It seems that even this world is better than your heaven wherein there are rest-houses for the weary, people give alms to the needy, (dinner) parties to their friends and relations, and get pretty clothes and enjoy themselves in other ways. According to your statement, nothing is to be got in heaven. Let the popes go to such a heartless, poverty-stricken, miserable heaven and live in wretchedness. No sensible person, will have anything to do with it.
– When you hold that there is no Yama and No Yamalaya, where do the souls go after death and who judges them?
~ What is said in your Garur Purana about them (Yama and Yamalaya to be) is false, but the Vedic teaching regarding them is true. From such passages in the Vedas as “Yamena Vayuna,” etc., it is quite clear that Yama is another name ofr air or the atmosphere. The souls after death live in space supported by air, and the True, Just, Supreme Spirit, the King of Righteousness alone judges them all.
– It seems from what you have said that no one should give alms, nor should one ever give away cows, etc., in charity.
~ Your assertion is altogether absurd, as gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, rubies, food and drink, clothes and houses must be given away in charity to the deserving recipients, who have interest of others at heart, for the promotion of public good, but never to unworthy recipients.

Who should not be given charity.

– How do you distinguish between a worthy recipient and an unworthy recipient?
~ Whosoever is deceitful, hypocritical, selfish, sensual, lustful, wrathful, avaricious, and subject to infatuation, injures others, is greedy, untruthful and devoid of learning, associates with bad people, is lazy, repeatedly begs for alms from the same donor, compels a person to give alms by sitting at his door and causing him annoyance, does not take a refusal and keeps on begging, is never contented, reviles, curses or abuses those that do not give him anything in charity, turns into a enemy of one who has refused him alms once, though he has always helped him before, is a wolf in sheep’s skin, misleads others and cheats them, pleads poverty even when he has plenty, serves his selfish purpose by coaxing and cajoling others, is engaged in begging day and night, when invited to a dinner stimulates his appetite by the use of

intoxicants such as Cannabis Indica and eats to excess at the expense of others, and then gets intoxicated and neglects his duties, opposes the path of righteousness and follows that of unrighteousness to gain his selfish ends, teaches his disciples to respect and serve him alone, never other good and learned men whoa are worthy of respect, opposes the dissemination of light and knowledge, brings about discord in one’s relations towards his wife and husband, father , mother, children, friends, kings and fellow-subjects by teaching falsely that all these relations are unreal and the world is also an illusion, is an unworthy recipient.

Who should be given charity..

While he who leads a haste life keeps his senses under thorough control, studies and teaches the Vedas and Vedic books, is gentle, truthful, loves to promote public good, is of active habits, generous, helps to disseminate knowledge and righteousness, is virtuous, keeps an even mind, is not influenced by praise or censure, is fearless, full of courage and hope, is a yogi, is enlightened, acts in accordance with the laws of nature, the teachings of the Veda and Nature, attributes and characteristics of God, preaches truth justly, with out favor or fear, examines scholars of the Vedas and other true Shaastraas, flatters none, answers questions to the satisfactions of his questioners, loves others like his own-self, is free from ignorance, obstinacy, prejudice and conceit, and regards the censure of the world as nectar and public praise as poison.

Even when compelled to beg for alms in time of emergency and is refused does not feel hurt nor speaks ill of him who did not give him alms and leaves that place at once, is contended with whatever one gives him through love, is friendly towards the happy, kind to those who are in trouble, pleased with the righteous and indifferent to wards the sinful, in other words free from inordinate love or malice, is truthful in word, deed and thought, free from hypocrisy, jealousy and malevolence, is a man of high ideals, is highly virtuous and altogether free from any vice, is devoted to the promotion of public good with all his heart and with all his soul, , even sacrifices his life for the happiness of others, and is possessed of such other excellent qualities, is verily a worthy recipient. But in time of famine and want all living creatures can be considered as entitled to get food, water, clothes, medicines and other necessaries of life.

The three kinds of donors.

How many kind of donors are there?

~ Three – Best kind, middling and lowest. The best donor is the who takes time and place and worthiness of the recipient into consideration before he gives charity and does it for the purpose

of furthering the cause of enlightenment, righteousness and public good. The donor of middling kind is one who gives charity for the love of fame or some other selfish gain; whilst the donor of the lowest kind is one who does not do anything for his own good or for that of others, but simply wastes his money on prostitutes, flatterers and buffoons, bestows gifts in an insulting manner, makes no distinction between a worthy and an unworthy recipient, and gives alms to all like the shopkeeper in the proverb who sold all kinds of food stuffs at the rate of stones a rupee, inflects sufferings on the good and the righteous to benefit himself. In other words, he who honors those about whom he makes himself sure, after a thorough enquiry, that they are good, learned and righteous men is the best kind of donor, whilst he, who may or may not care to enquire whether a person is a worthy recipient or not but bestows gifts for gaining public applause, is the middling kind of donor; but he who grants gifts blindly without making an enquiry into the worthiness or unworthiness of recipient is indeed the lowest kind of donor.

– Are the fruits of charity raped her or in the next world?
~ Everywhere.
– Does one reap the fruits (of his charity) himself or is there any other power that makes one do it?
~ It is God who distributes the fruits of deeds. Just as a burglar or a dacoit does not himself want to go to goal (jail); but is sent there by the order of the king who looks after the comfort of the righteous and the good and protects them from the hands of dacoits, etc., and thereby keeps them in happiness; in like manner does the Supreme Spirit distribute the fruits – pleasure and pain – of deeds – virtuous and sinful.
– Do the Garura and other Puranas support the Veda and Vedic teachings or not?
~ No; on the other hand, they are opposed to the to the Veda, and teach what is contrary to its dictates. The same is true of the Tantras. A believer in the Puraanas and the Tantras is like one who is a friend of one person and an enemy of the whole world, because the teachings of these books create bad blood among the people; no man with any pretensions to learning could ever believe in them. A belief in them is a clear indication of the lack of learning.

The fasting days according to the Puranas.

Now, the following are the fasting days according to the different Puranas, etc. The th day if (each ) month andMonday (in each week) according to the Shiva Purana, Sunday according to the Aditya Purana; Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday according to Chandra Khand; the th day of each lunar month, according to the Vishnu Purana, the th is sacred to Vaaman, the th to Narishinha and Ananta; the day of full moon to the moon, the !th to Dikpaalas; the th to the goddess Durgaa; the th to Vasus; the th to Munis; the th to Swami Kaartik; the th to Naaga; the th to Ganesha; the rd to Aauri; the nd to Ashvani Kumar; the st to adya Devi; and Amavasya- the th day of the dark half of each lunar month – to the manes.

These are all fasting days according to the Puranas and it is written everywhere (in these books) that whoever partakes of food or drinks on these days or dates shall got to hell. It is incumbent on the pope and his dupes that they should not take on any day or date, otherwise they shall have to go to hell. To Nirnay Sindhu, the Dharma Sindhu, the Vratarka and other such books as have been written by lunatics have played such havoc with everyone of these fasts that the Shivites fast on the th day of each lunar month, while others fast on the th holding it to be the th.

What a strange state of affairs has been brought about by popish practices that people quarrel even over fasting! The object of instituting a fast on the th day (day of every fortnight of a lunar month) could be nothing else but selfish gain on the part of the popes. There is not a trace of fellow feeling in hem. The pope says, “all sins reside in food on the th day (of every fortnight of a lunar month).” Now this pope should be asked whose sins reside in food? Your sins or those of your father?

If it be true that all sins reside in food on the th day, no one should suffer from and be afflicted with pain on that day, but such is not the case. On the other hand, there is a great deal of suffering on account of hunger and thirst. Pain or suffering is the result of sin, hence it is a sin to fast. The popes have declared fasting to be a meritorious act and many a simpleton is taken in by hearing some such sill stories as the following:-

“There was a prostitute in heaven (the region of Brahma). She did some wrongful act, thereupon she was cursed and hurled back on earth. She praised (the God) and begged to be told how she could re-enter heaven, she was told that she would regain entrance

into heaven whenever some one gave up the reward of a fast on ekaasashi (th day of fortnight of a lunar month) in her favor. She came down in her airship to some town on earth. The king of that place asked her who she was. She repeated her story and said that if some one renounced the reward of fasting on ekaasashi she could go back to heaven.

The king had the whole town searched for a person who had kept that fast, but none could be found. One day a man and his wife, through anger had not taken her food for the whole day and night, and it happened to be ekaadashi on that day. Upon being questioned by the king’s messengers she answered that she had not knowingly kept fast on that day but had only accidentally gone without food.

They brought her before the king who ordered her to touch the airship she did as ordered and instantly the airship flew upwards.” When such is the reward of fasting unknowingly one ekaadashi, that of keeping a fast willingly on ekaadashi can have no bounds. O you blind people! if what you say be true, we should like to send a betel-leaf to heaven. It is a thing which is not be found here. Let all who fast on ekaadashi renounce the consequent reward in our favor. we succeeded in sending one betel-leaf to heaven in this manner, we shall also keep this fast; on the other hand if one betel-lead failed to reach heaven, we shall save you from fasting and the consequent pain and suffering.

they (i.e., the popes have given different names of the Ekaaadashis (of the year). One they have called Shanada or “bestower of wealth”, the other Kamda, i.e., one that gratifies one’s desires, another Putrada or bestower of sons, another still Nirjala or waterless. Many a poor, needy or childless man has kept the ekaadashi fast all his life and grown gray and even died without obtaining wealth, the object of his desire or a son.

The popes have instituted this waterless ekaadashi fast in the bright half of the month of Jyeshtha (corresponding to June) when it is so hot that it is enough to overpower a man if he goes without water even for one hour. Those who keep this fast suffer terribly from hunger and thirst. the widows of Bengal especially are indeed the greatest sufferers from this fast. The heartless butcher – who instituted this fast – had not got the least pity, otherwise he could have called it Sajala (with water) instead of waterless, and in its

place could have named the Ekaadashi of the bright half of the month of Pausha (corresponding to December) waterless. Had he done so, it would have been a little better. But what had this pope to do with feelings of pity and compassion. He acted on the proverb “Let a man live or die, but either case he should feed the pope well.”

When fasting is a correct practice.

A pregnant woman, a child or a youth should never fast: but if one must fast at all, one should do so when one has no appetite, and got indigestion or in sickness. On such an occasion one should take syrup (of fruits) mixed with water or milk. Whosoever does not eat when hungry and eats when not hungry suffers terribly from diverse diseases. Let no one, therefore, believe in the writings of these lunatics -e.g., the founders of these books, etc.

The doings of Gurus and their disciples, of the various sects and their teachings.

Now we shall discuss the doings of Gurus (so-called preceptors), and their chelas (disciples), the various sects and their teachings:- The idol worshippers and others of the orthodox cult say that the Vedaas are endless; the Rig Veda has Shaakhaas (branches), the Yjur Veda , the Saama Veda , and the Atharva Veda, ; out these only a few shaakhaas are available now-a-days, the rest have been lost; the latter must have contained authorities for the practice of idol-worship and pilgrimage to sacred places, etc., otherwise they could not have found their way into the Puraanas?

Since the cause can be inferred by observing its affects, there can be no doubt in the truth of idol-worship when it is taught by the Puranas. We answer by saying that the branches of a tree, be they small or large, are always like (its trunk) and not unlike it, likewise when the Shaakhaas, that are extant, do not sanction idol-worship, pilgrimage to sacred places, such as rivers, and the like practices, it is not possible that they were sanctioned by the lost Shaakhaas. Besides the four Vedas are found in their entirety, the Shaakhaas could never be opposed to the Vedaas and whatever is opposed to the Vedaas could never be proved to be their Shaakhaas.

This being the case, the Puraanaas are not the shaakhaas of the Vedaas, they are on the other hand books that contradict each other and have been written by sectarians. If you hold the Veda to be the word of God, why do you regard such books as go under the name of sages and seers as Ashwalayana and the like Divine in origin? Just as trees like the Ficus Religiosum, Banyani and Mango are known by their distinctive branches and leaves, so are the true meanings of the Vedaas.

known by the study of the Vedangas, the four Braahmanas, the Angas, the Upangas, and other books written by sages and seers; hence it is that they are called Shaakhaas. What is oppose to the Vedaas can never be held as authoritative, nor what is in conformity with them as unauthoritative. Should you say that idol-worship and the like practices were sanctioned by the lost Shaakhaas, one could retort by saying that very likely according to the lost shaakhaas the system of Classes and Orders was the reverse of what obtained in the shaakhas that are extant, viz., a Shoodra or an outcast was called a Braahman and vice-versa, what is unlawful regarded as lawful, duty as not-duty, untruthfulness in speech, a virtue, while truthfulness in speech a sin.

Now how could you meet such and objection except by saying what we have already said. In other words, we are bound to believe that the lost Shaakhaas were in conformity with the Veda and the Shaakhaas that are extant in the teachings with regard to the system of Classes and Orders, viz., a Braahman was called a Braahman, while a Shoodra a Shoodra, otherwise the whole system Classes and Orders and the like institutions will be topsy -turvy. Don’t you think that all the Shaakhaas were extant till the time of Jaimini, Vyaasa and Patanjali? If you answer in the affirmative, how is it then that they do not even mention such practices as idol-worship in their works? But if you say no, what proof have you then of the fact that those lost Shaakhaas even did exist?

Now Jaimini describes the whole Karamankanda (duty of man) in his Mimaansaa. Paatanjali the whole Upaasnakaand (methods of communion with the realization of God) in his Yoga Shaastra, and sage Vyaasa the whole Jananakaanda (Divine knowledge) is his Shaaririka Shaastraas quite in accordance with the teachings of the Vedaas. There is no mention even by name of idol-worship or pilgrimage to Prayaga andother sacred places to be found in their writings, and how could they have mentioned such things when they did not exist in the Vedaas. Had all these things been in the Vedas, they would not have but mentioned them in their books.

Hence it is clear that the worship of idols was not sanctioned even by the lost Shaakhaas, nor are these books included in the term Veda – the Word of God – because they take certain mantras of the Veda as texts and then expound them, and also because they contain biographies of various men and women.

These things are not possible in the case of the Vedaas, because they simply teach principles of knowledge for the guidance of man. There is

not the least mention of any man’s name in the Vedas. The practice of idolatry is, therefore, absolutely condemned (by all authoritative books).

The inclusion of Krishna, Rama, Shiva, etc., in the practice of idolatry.

Mark now! How the practice of idolatry has brought Shri Krishna, Rama Chandra, Shiva, Narayana, and other great men into public contempt and ridicule. Everybody knows that they were great Emperors and their wives Sita, Rukmani, Lakshmi and Paarvati, etc., were great queens, but the priests place their idols in the temples and beg for alms in their name (i.e., they turn them into beggars) thus:- “Come, O Great Banker! Come Sir! And see the idol, seat yourself and take charanamrit* adno offer something (to the God). O Sir! Sita, and Rama, Radha and Krishna, Lakshmi and Narayana, or Mahadeva and Parvati have not had a morsel of food or a drop of water for the last three days and they have absolutely nothing to-day (to eat or drink).

Come, O Queen! Come, Great lady! Get a nose-ring made for Sita. Send us some food to enable us to offer it to (the idol of*) Rama or Krishna. All their garments are tattered and torn, all the corners of the temple have come down, and it also leaks. Whatever the idols had, the wicked thieves have made away with. Some of their property was destroyed by rats. One day the rats did such an awfully wicked thing as to take one of the eyes of the idol out of its socket and ran away with it. We could not afford to replace it by a silver eye, hence we have merely put a sea-shell in its place.”

These people – the priests and laity – also have Raaslilaa (a dance which enacts the amorous pastimes of Krishna with cow-herdesses) and Raamlila (a Pauranic play in which deeds of Rama are represented). (During the course of these performances) Sita and Rama, Radha and Krishna dance while the priests and princes – their servants – are seated at their ease watching the dance! Sita and Rama are standing in the temple while their priests or devotees ae comfortably seated on cushioned seats (with their heads or elbows) resting on bolsters.

Even in the hot season they lock the idols in, while they themselves enjoy their siesta in comfortable beds in a place where a pleasant , cool breeze blows. Many a priests puts his Narayana (god) in a small box and wraps a piece of cloth round it and wears it hanging from his neck just as a female monkey carries about her little one hanging from her neck. When anyone breaks an idol, the priests laments pitifully

* Charanamrita (literally nectar of the feet) is the water in which the idol had been washed.-Tr.

and beats his breast nd cries out: “The devil has broken the idol of Sita, Rama, Radha, Krishna, Mahadeva or Parvati. Now it should be replaced by an idol of marble made by a clever scuptor.” “Food cannot be offered to Narayana without some clarified butter. Please do send a little if you can’t send much.” The priests say this and similar such other things about Sita, Rama, etc.,

At the end of Raaslila or Raamlilaa they send (the boys taking the parts of Radha and Krishna or Sita and Rama, round to beg (from the spectators). Wherever there is a festival or a fair, the get hold of a boy, and place a Mukuta (a kind of tiara peculiar to Krishna) on his head; he thus is transformed into Krishna, placed on a a public road and made to beg.

The reader can judge how disgraceful it is to do such things. Now tell us, pray, were Sita and Rama, etc., such poor, miserable beggars (as you represent them)? What is all this if not holding them to contempt and ridicule? Such things bring out great men into great disrepute. Had a priest placed Sita, Rukmani, Lakshmi and Parvati, when they were alive, on a public road or in a house and said, to the people “Come and see them and place something by way of an offering before them.” (Sita, etc.,) would never have done or allowed these idiots to do, what they pleased (with them.).

Had anyone done anything to hold them to public ridicule, they would never have suffered them to go unpunished. But as these men were allowed to go unpunished, their misdeeds have helped them to get a good thrashing at the hands of iconoclasts, they are still getting it and will continue to do so as long as they do not cease committing such sinful acts.

Can there be any doubt that the daily ruin of Aryavarta (India) and subjection of the idolators are due to their misdeeds, since the fruit of sin is misery and sorrow? Bear in mind that belief in the idols made of stones, etc., has chiefly been the cause of your downfall and if you don’t leave off the worship of stalks and stones even now, lower and lower you will sink everyday. Among all these (idol-worshippers) the Vaama Maargis are the greatest sinners. When they make a man their disciple (chelaa) they teach him, if he be an ordinary person, the following mantras:-

Dam Durgayai namah [we bow unto (the goddess) Durga], Bham Bhairavayai namah [we bow unto Bhairava (Indian Bacchsu)], Ain hrim kalim chamundayai vichche.

In Bengal the mantra that is chiefly taught consists only of one word such as Harim, shirm or Kalim. If the disciples be rich, they are taught the complete mantra.

The mantras of the ten kinds of higher knowledge are like the following:-

Hram hrim hrum bagalamukhayai phat swaha. Or Hrum phat swaha.

They also resort various practices in which mantras are put to practical use for killing other persons, seducing women, or causing them to dislike their lovers, or bringing about subjugation of lovers, etc. Of course mantras are of no use in helping them to achieve these objects. When they resort to practices whose object is ti kill some person, they take the stipulated price of murder from the person who wants somebody to be removed. On the one hand they make a effigy of flour or clay, stab it with big knives in the chest, navel and throat, drive nails into its eyes, hands and feet, make an idol of Bhairava or Durga above it, give a trident in one of its hands and touch the effigy in the situation of its heart, also make an altar on which they burn the flesh (of animals) as an offering, while on the other they send a man secretly to poison the would be victim or employ other means of killing him. If they succeed in killing him, while special rites for the purpose are going on, they call themselves Sidhas (men possessed of miraculous powers) of the goddess Bhairava, and recite such mantras as Bhairava Bhuta nathashcah,” etc.

They also mutter such mantras, s, “Maraya, Maraya Uchchataya etc.,” * eat meat and drink wine to their heart’s content, and draw lines with vermillion on their foreheads in the space between the eyebrows. Sometimes they would get hold of a man and kill him and offer his flesh as a sacrifice to the goddess Kali, etc., and burn it on the altar, and even eat it. Whosoever joins

* It lterally means kill, kill, cause dislike (between the lover and the beloved), cause hatred (between them) cut off. Split, pierce, bring under control, eat, swallow, break, destroy, subjugate my enemies.-Tr.

their Bhairavi circle, but refuses to eat meat and drink wine is killed by them and his flesh burnt on the altar. Those who are aghorees among them will even eat the flesh of a dead human body, while ajarees and Bajarees will even eat excrement an drink urine.

The sects of Vaama Maargis.

There are two sects among Vama Margis; one is called Choli Margi – the path of bodies, while the other is called Bija Margi – the path of Bija or seed (semen).

Choli Margists – their wives and husbands, boys and girls, sisters and mothers, daughters-in-law – meet together in a secret place, eat meat and drink wine together. They strip a woman naked, all men worship her private parts and all her Durgadevi (the goddess Durga). The women strip a man naked and worship his private parts. When they get quite intoxicated with drink, they take bodice of all the women present and shuffle them together and place them in a big earthen vessel. Each man goes there, puts his hand into the vessel, picks up a bodice, the owner of the bodice, be she his mother, sister, daughter or daughter-in-law, becomes for the time being his wife, and has sexual intercourse with her. When they get highly intoxicated, they would even fight each other with shoes, etc. early in the morning when it is still dark they go back home where they treat their mother, sister, daughters and daughters-in-law as such.

The Bija Margists – at the time of sexual intercourse drop the semen in water and mix it well with it and take this drink. These vile wretches believe that such acts lead to salvation! They are as a rule altogether destitute of learning, culture, understanding and other good qualities.

The sect of the Shivites.

– Well! Are the Shivites then good?
~ How can they be good? The proverb “As is the Lord of spirits, so is the Lord of ghosts” is applicable to them. Just a the Vaama Maagis teach their mantra and thereby rob their dupes, so do the Shivites teach their mantra of five words: “We bow unto Lord Shiva,” wear rosaries of Rudraksha (berries of the Eleocarpust ganitrus tree), smear their bodies with ashes, worship lingas made of clay and stone, should Har (Lord), Har (Lard), Bam Bam and

make a noise somewhat like the bleating of a goat. The reason they give for doing this is that the clapping of hands and the shouting of Bama Bam* pleases Parvati and displeased Mahadeva, because when the latter ran away from the demon Bhasma, derisive cheers were given, and Bam Bam was shouted. Whilst making of the noise like the bleating of a goat pleases Mahadeva and displeases Parvati, because when her father Daksha Prajapati’s head was cut off and put into fire and instead of it a goat’s head was placed on the top of his body, he made a noise like the bleating of a goat. This imitated by striking with fingers the blown out cheeks alternately in quick succession.

The Shivites also keep a fast on the day of Shivaratri.** they look upon all these things as means towards the attainment of salvation. They are as much mistaken as the Vama Margis, Arnyas, Parvatas and Sagaras and many householders are also Shivites. Some ride both horses, i.e., are Shivites and Vama Margis at the same time, whilst others are Vaishnavites as well. On of the Tantra books says, “Inwardly they are Vama Margis, but outwardly they are Shivites, i.e., wear Rudraksha, smear their bodies with ashes, while in the midst of an assembly they aver that they worship Vishnu. Thus do the Vama Margis go about the world in various guises.

More on the Vaishnavite sect.

– Are the Vaishnavites good?
~ Not a bit. They are just as bad as the Shivites. Look at the imposture of the Vaishnavites! They declare themselves to be the servants of Vishnu. Among them Shrivaishnavites also called Chakrangkitas hold themselves to be the best of all, which is altogether absurd.
– Why, we (Shri Vaishnavites) are, indeed, superior to all. We make marks on our foreheads like the sacred food of Narayana and draw a yellow line called Shri – the wife of Narayana – in the center. This is the reason we call ourselves Shri Vaishnavites. We believe in none but Narayana, do not even look at the linga of Mahadeva, because the Shri is present on our foreheads who feels ashamed. We recite Stotras, called A’ll and Mandara, worship Narayana by chanting the mantras sacred to Him. We do not eat meat, nor do we drink wine. Why are we not good, then?

* Bam Bam has the same significance as booing in English.-Tr. ** Shivaratri is the night of the birthday of Shiva.-Tr.

~ It is absurd to believe the marks on your foreheads to be impressions of the foot of Narayana, and the yellow line a Shri since they are made with your own hands. Your foreheads are painted like those of the elephants when they turn out in procession. How did the imprssion of the foot of Narayana come to be formed on your foreheads? Did anyone go to (Vaikunth), Vaishnavite’s heaven and had the impression of Narayana’s foot taken on his forehead? Besides, is Shri animate or inanimate?
– Animate?
~ Then this yellow line (drawn on the forehead) being inanimate could not be Shri. Moreover, is Shri brought into being or is it self-existent? If the latter, the yellow line on your froe head cannot be Shri as you draw it with your hands every day. Had it been Shri – beauty – on the foreheads of Vaishnavites, so many of them wound have been ugly-looking. When you have Shri – prosperity or wealth on you foreheads, why should you be begging from door to door and live on alms given by charitable people. It is, indeed, like obstinate and shameless people to have Shri on their foreheads and act like those who are in abject poverty.

There was a man among Vaishnavites, called Parikal, a great devotee of the Lord Vishnu. It was his great delight to steal or rob others of their wealth or acquire it through fraud, hypocrisy, and present it to Vaishnavites. One day it so happened that he did not meet a single man whom he could rob, nor did he get a chance of stealing anything. He was, therefore, greatly putout and was going about in this condition when Narayana thought that his devotee was in trouble.

He disguised himself as a banker and put on finger-rings and other ornaments, seated himself in a carriage and came before Parikal who, as soon as he saw the carriage went towards it and shouted to the banker. “Take off everything (valuable you have on) and give it to me, otherwise I will kill you.” Narayana was a little slow in taking off one of his finger-rings, thereupon Parikal cut his finger off and God hold of the ring. Narayana was highly pleased with Parikal and manifested himself in his four-

armed body and said, “You are my dearly beloved devotee as you serve the Vaishnavites with everything you get through robbery, theft or murder. You are, therefore, blessed.” Parikal then went and place all the jewelry before the Vaishnavites.

On another occasion Parikal took service with a merchant who took him along with him to a distant country in a ship. On the return journey, the merchant loaded his dhip with cargo of areca-nuts. Parikal took an areca-nut and cut it into two equal halves and asked the merchant to put one of the two halves in his ship and write down to the effect that one half of the nuts on board the ship belong to Parikal. The merchant replied that there was no occasion for doing it, he could take a thousand nuts, if he liked. There upon Parikal said that he was not a dishonest person that he would falsely take what did not belong to him, he wanted only his half nut.

The merchant was a simple-minded, credulous person. He wrote down as desired by Parikal. When the ship reached the port of destination and the cargo was about to be discharged, Parikal demanded half of the nuts. The merchant offered him his half nut but Parikal contended that half the nuts on board the ship belonged to him and he would have his share. The matter was taken to a Court of Law where Parikal produced the written document in the Court in which the merchant has agreed to give half the nuts on board the ship to him.

The merchant strongly protested against it, but Parikal would not give in, the Court was compelled to give the verdict against the merchant. Parikal took away half his share of nuts and offered them to the Vaishnavites who were highly pleased with Parikal. The idol of that thief and robber is kept to this (day in the temple) of Vasihnavites. This story is narrated in Bhagtamala. Now, let the wise see whether the Vaishnavites, their disciples and Narayana, all these three, are asset of priest of thieves or not.

It is true that a man can be good in certain respects, though he may belong to one of these various sect. Now observe how the Vsihnavites are divided among themselves with regard to their tilak and rosaries. Rama Nandees make their tilak with sandal marks on the sides and red in the center, Madhav, a black central line. Gaur Bengalees a dagger-like mark, Rama Prasadists draw a half moon on either side and a white round mark in the center. The significance of these marks is also different with these different sects. For instance, Ramanandists hold that the red line

represents Lakshmi seated in the heart of Narayana while Gosaeens say that it represents Radha seated in the heart of Sri Krishna. There is a story recorded in Bhagatmala which runs as follows:-

A man was sleeping under the shade of a tree. He died in his sleep, a crow sitting above on the tree passed its excrement that fell on the dead man’s forehead and formed itself into a tilak. The messengers of Yama came to fetch the body, Vishnu’s messengers also got there at the same time. There arose a quarrel between them over the body. Both said that they had their respective masters’ orders to fetch the corpse.

The messenger of Vishnu, in support of their claim, pointed to the mark on the forehead of the dead man that was sacred to Vishnu and said. “With that mark on the dead man’s forehead, how could you take him with you.” Thereupon the messengers of Yam kept quiet and went away, whilst the messengers of Vishnu carried him comfortably to Vaikutha wherein he was admitted by Narayana.

When such is the merit of a tilak made accidentally, can there be any wonder then if those who make their tilaka lovingly and with their own hands escape the terrors of hell and go to Vaikuntha? Now, what we should like to say is that if a man goes to heaven by making a small tilak on his forehead, he is sure to go to a place further than heaven by plastering or blackening his whole face or plastering his whole body.

It is clear, therefore, that all these things are altogether absurd,. Now many a Khaki* among Vaishnavites wear a small piece of cloth round their lions and sit before wood-fire, grow long-matted hair and assume the appearance of a saint, sit as if in deep meditation, smoke hemp (Cannabis Ind.) and Charas** awfully, and thereby keep their eyes red and congested, beg for handfuls of flour and grain, coppers and shells, dupe the children of the householders and make them their Chelas (disciples).

Khakis are chiefly men form the working class. If the find a man engaged in acquiring knowledge, the dissuade him from doing it by saying, “What have godly persons (santas) to do with studying, since those who read die and so do others who do not. Why should a man, then, wear out his teeth by reading? It bhoves Sadhus (so-

* Khakis (from Khak) – dust are called so because they besmear their bodies with dust and ashes.-Tr ** One of the products of Indian hemp. -Tr.

called holy men) to roam about the world, serve the santas (so-called saints) and sing the praises of Rama.”

Whosoever has never seen an incarnation of ignorance and idiocy, let him, then, go and have a look at a Khaki. He calls everyone who visits him, be he or she as old as his father or mother, a child. As is the Khaki so are the Rukhars, Sukhars, Godaryes, Jamatwala, and Suthreshahees, Akalees, Logees with pierced ears and Augars, etc. The following story related of a Khaki will serve to truthfully depict his character.

A Chela (disciple) of a Khaki was repeating his lesson, which consisted of Shriganeshaya namah, frequently in order to learn it by heart; whilst doing it he went to draw water from a well, hearing the Sadhu repeat Shriganesh Janamen Said, “O Sadhu! You are repeating incorrectly, you should say Shriganeshaya namah instead of Sriganesha Janamen.” He filled his jug with water and off he went to his guru (preceptor) and told him that a certain Bamman* alled his reading wrong.

On hearing that the Khaki got up at once and went straight to the well and addressed the Pundit thus, “You have been misleading my pupil. Curse you, what have you read? Look here! You know only one reading of the text, while I know three, viz., Shriganeshayanamen, Shriganesayannamen, Shriganesayannamen. “The Pundit replied, “Hear, O Sadhu! It is difficult to acquire knowledge. You can’t acquire it without studying” The Khaki retorted “Get away. I have licked all the (Sanskrit) scholars, ground them all in pestle and mortar and drunk them off in a cup of the infusion of Cananbis Ind.

Great is the might of the santas. What can you a tattler know?” The Pundit rejoined, “Had you been a learned man; you would not have called me names. You would have known hoe to behave.” The Khaki cried out, “Hallo! You want to become my guru! I will stand no sermons from you.” The Pundit answered, “How can you listen to good advice when you have no understanding. One must possess some sense in order to be able to profit by good advice.” The Khaki retorted, “He who reads all the Vedas and the Shastras but does not respect or serve the santas is indeed likeone who has not read at all.” The Pundit added, “I do respect and serve the santas but not disorderly men like you, because the santas are those who are

* It is a corruption of the word Brahamana.-Tr.

good, learned and righteous and promote public good.”

(Khaki). – Look here we (khakis) remain naked day and night, sit before fire-wood in all weathers, smoke hemp and charas furiously, drink as many as three jug-fuls of Cannabis Ind. Infusion in twenty-four hours, cook leaves of Indian hemp and dhatura eating them like vegetables; even bolt down arsenic and opium, remain intoxicated day and night and have no cares and worries, do not care for (the opinion of) the world, live (on alms), have such dreadful fits of coughing during the night that it becomes impossible for a man to sleep near by. Such are our powers and saintly qualities. Why do you then run us down? Bear in mind you old tattler! If you bother me again, i will at once reduce you to ashes.

Pundit ~ All these are the qualifications and characteristics of rogues nd charlatans and not of saintly men (Sadhus). A Sadhu is one who does righteous deeds, is always engaged in furthering public good, is free from vices, learned, and benefits all by preaching the truth.

Khaki – Get away. What do you know of the duties and qualifications of a sadhu. Great is the might of the santas! Don’t you try to measure with a santa, otherwise he may strike you wit a pair of fire tongs and break your skull.

Pundit ~ Alright Khaki! Go back to your place. Don’t get so angry with me. Don’t you know what a just government it is that watches over us now-a-days. If you beat anyone, you may be arrested, sent to jail or caned for it or you may be paid in your own coin. What will you do, then? This not the qualification of a Sadhu.

Khaki – Come along, my pupil! What a fiend you have introduced me to!

Pundit ~ you have never been in the society of a great soul, otherwise you would not have remained densely ignorant.

Khaki – I am myself a great soul and have, therefore, nothing to do with anyone else.

Pundit ~ Most unfortunate are they whose understanding is perverted like yours and who are do filled with pride as your are.

The Khaki went back to his seat, while the Pundit wended his way back home. After the evening-prayer was over, many

Khakees thinking him old and therefore worthy of respect came to see him and said, “salutations unto thee” and, after having prostrated themselves before him, took their seats. Tlhat old Khaki then addressed one of them, “What have you read? O Ramdas – servant of Rama!”

Ramdas replied ” Reveren Sir! I have read the Vishnusahasar nama.”

Then he asked another, “What have you read? O Gobindas – Servant of Gobind!” The latter replied that he read the Ramasatvaraja with such and such a Khaki. Thereupon Ramdas asked that old Khaki, “What have you read? O Great Sir!” The Khaki replied, ” I have read the Gita.” Ramdas rejoined, “O Whom?” The Khaki retorted, “Get away child! I never had a mater. Look here – when I lived in Paryagraja (Allahabad) I could not read a word. Whenever I happened to meet a Pundit with along Dhoti* I would take my Gita and point out a certain letter and ask him the name of the letter with a crown. In this way I went through all the chapters of the Gita but did not call a single man my master.”

Now, if ignorance would not make such people its permanent home, where else should it go? These people do nothing useful but instead drink, and remain intoxicated (most of the time), quarrel, eat, sleep, beat symbols, ring bells, blow conches, sit over a smoldering fire, bathe (frequently) and roam about uselessly in all parts of the country. It is easier to melt even stones than knock sense into the heads of these Khakees, as most of these men are really servants, laborers, peasants or water-bearers who have given up their work and become Vairagees or Khakees by just smearing their bodies with ashes.

They can never understand the great advantages of acquiring knowledge or associating with good men. All these sects have their respective mantras which is a sort of watchword. For instance, the Nathas have: “I bow unto the Lord Shiva.” The Khakees: “I bow unto the Man-lion.” The Ramavatars: “I bow unto the great Rama Chandra” or “I bow unto Sita and Rama;” the followers of Krishna: “I bw unto the Great Radha and Krishna or ” I bow unto the great Vasudeva,” and Bengalees: I bow unto Govind.” They make their disciples by simply repeating these mantras into their ears and teach such things as the following:- O my son! Learn the mantra of the

* Dhoti is a loose garment for the lower part of the body.-Tr.

water-gourd* “Sacred is the water, sacred is the ground and sacred is the well. Shiva says, hear O Parvati! Sacred is the water-gourd.”

Now can such men ever be considered Sadhus, learned men, of fit persons for promoting the good of the word.

The Khakes burn wood and bramble day and night, they consume wood worth many a rupee in one month. If they were instead to buy blankets and other warm clothing with the price of one month’s fuel, they would live in great comfort at a cost fo one hundredth part of what they spend on wood in a year, but where are they to get the sense to understand it.

They call themselves Tapaswis, austere devotees simply because they sit over wood-fire. If this could make men Tapaswis, savages would be greater Tapaswis. If growing of long-matted hair, smearing the body with ashes and making tilakas on the forehead can make a man tapaswi, anyone would become a tapaswi. Outwardly they pretend to have renounced the world but at heart they are engrossed in it.

The Kabirpanthees sect.

– Are, then, Kabirpanthees good?
~ No.
– Why ar not they good? They condemn idol-worship, etc., Karbir was born among flowers and (in the end) became a flower. Kabir lived even before Brahma, Vishnu or Mahadeva was born. He possessed great and miraculous powers. What the authors of the Vedas and the Puraanas did not know he knew. It is Kabir alone who has shown the right path. His mantra is: “Kabir is the true name, etc.”
~ Leave alone idol-worship, his followers worship even beds, cushioned seats, pillows, wooden sandals and lamps. The worship of these objects is nothing short of idol-worship. Was Kabir a flower insect that he was born among flowers and became a flower after death. It seems that the rumor current about Kabir is, after all, true. This is as follows:- There lived a weaver in Kashi (Benares), he was altogether childless. One day, a little

* It is a hollow gourd in which mendicants carry water.

before dawn while he was passing through a street, he happened to see a newly-born infant lying amidst followers in a blanket and took it home to his wife. She reared that child out of the basket and took it home to his wife. She reared that child till he grew up when he began to follow the business of a weaver. He went to a Pundit to learn Sanskrit with him, but he insulted him by saying that he would not teach a weaver.

In a like manner, he went to several other Pundits but no one would teach him, thereupon he began to compose hymns, etc., in incorrect and unidiomatic language and sing them to weavers and other low-class people to the accompaniment of a Tambura.* He especially spoke ill of the Vedas, the Shastras and the Pundits. Some ignorant persons were ensnared into his net. After his death his followers made a great saint of him. His disciples kept on reading whatever he had composed in his lifetime.

The noises that are heard on closing one’s ears are called Ahhat Sabda by them. This their chief doctrine. They call the activity of the mind Surati. To direct that in hearing anhat shabda is the highest contemplation of God and the chief qualification of a Santa (holy man). It is beyond the reach of time. The followers of Kabir make tilakas of the form of a dagger, wear strings of beads made of sandal-wood round their necks. Now a little reflection will show that these things can be of no help in the betterment of the soul and increase of knowledge. All this is more like a child’s play.

Sikhism – the sect of Guru Nanak.

– Nanak has founded a sect in the Punjab. He refuted idol-worship, and saved many people from embracing Mohammmedanism,. More over he never became a Sadhu and, instead, remained a house-holder. He taught the following Mantra:- “He whose name is Truth, is the Maker (of the Universe), the all-pervading Being who is Nirbhau (free from fear and enmity), is beyond the reach of time, is never born andis the all-glorious Being. Worship Him, (O Disciple!) May your preceptor help you to do it. That Supreme Spirit lived in the beginning of Creation, lives in the present and shall live in the future.” JAPAJAU PAUREE.

* A tambura is a musical instrument with wires.-Tr.

~ The aim of Nanak was, no doubt, good; but he did not possess any learning and was merely acquainted with the dialect of the (Punjabi) villagers among whom he was born. He was quite ignorant of the Vedas and the Shastras and of Sanskrit, otherwise why should he have written Nirbhau instead of Nirbhaya.

Another proof of his ignorance of the Sanskrit language is his composition called Sanskrit hymns (Satotras). He wanted to show that he had some pretentions to the knowledge of Sanskrit. But how could one know Sanskrit without learning it. Is is possible that he might have passed for a Sanskrit scholar before those ignorant villagers who had never heard a man speak Sanskrit. He could never have done unless he was anxious to gain public applause, fame and glory. He must have sought after fame or he would have preached in the language he know and told the people that he had not read Sanskrit.

Since he was a little vain, he may possibly have even resorted to some sort of make-believe to gain reputation and acquire fame, hence it is that in his book called the Grantha the Vedas have been praised as well as censured, because had he not done so, some one might have asked him the meaning of the Vedic Mantra and as he would not have been able to explain it he would have been lowered in the estimation of the people.

Anticipating this difficulty, he, from the first, denounced the Vedas here and there, but occasionally also spoke well of the Vedas, because had he not done so, the people would have called him a Nastika, i.e., and atheist or a reviler of the Vedas. For instance, it is recorded in the Grantha, “Even Brahma who constantly read the Vedas died. All the four Vedas are mere fiction. The Vedas can never realize the greatness of a Sadhu.” SUKHMANI, : .

“Nanak says that a man versed in Divine knowledge is himself God.” SUKHMANI :.

If the scholars of the Vedas like Brahma are dead, have not Nanak, etc., also shared the same fate. Did they consider themselves immortal? The Vedas are a mine of all kinds of knowledge. Whatever a man, who calls the Vedas mere fiction, says, is a mere fabrication. If the word Sadhus is another name

for idiots, how can they ever understand the greatness of the Vedas? Had Nanak held up the Vedas alone as the supreme authority, he would not have succeeded in founding his sect, nor would he have been recognized a Guru (Master). As he was quite ignorant of Sanskrit, he would not have been able to teach others and thereby make them his disciples.

It is true though that in Nanak’s time the Punjab was altogether destitute of Sanskrit learning and was groaning under the tyranny of the Mohammedans. He did save some persons from embracing Mohammedanism. Nanak in his lifetime had not had many followers, nor did his sect flourish much. But it is a habit with the ignorant that they make a saint of their Guru after his death, then invest him with a halo (of glory) and believe him to be an incarnation of God.

Nanak was neither a rich man, nor was he one of the aristocracy and yet his followers have written in Nanak Chandrodaya and Janamsakhi that he was a great saint who possessed miraculous powers, met Brahman and other (sages of yore), had long talks with them, all paid him homage on the occasions of his marriage when he went to marry his bride, he had a long procession of horses, carriages and elephants ornamented with silver, gold, pearls and diamonds. All this is recorded in the above-mentioned books. Now what are these but yarns spun by his followers. It is his followers who are to blame for this and not Nanak.

After his death, the sect of Udasees originated with his son, while that of Nirmalas with Ram Das, etc. Many a successor to the throne of Nanak have incorporated his writings in the Grantha. The tenth Guru of the Sikhs was Guru Gobind. Since his time no addition has been made to it, but, instead, all the smaller books that were extant then were collected together and bound in one volume (and the name of Granth was given to it). The successors of Nanak wrote various treatises: some of them invented fictitious stories like those of the Puranas and, acting on the precept “The man versed in Divine knowledge is himself God,” arrogated to themselves Divine privileges.

Their followers renounced the practice of good works and Divine contemplation and, instead, paid their Gurus the homage due to God. Thus has been done a great mischief. It would have been very good had these men kept on worshipping God in the way pointed out by Nanak. Now, the Udasees claim to be superior to all others, while the Nirmala make the same claim for themselves. The Akalees and Suthreshahees hold that they are above all, Gobind Singh was indeed a very brave man among the followers of Nanak. The Mohammedans had oppressed his people very much. He was

anxious to revenge himself on them, but he had neither the men nor the necessary material for the purpose whilst the Mohammedans were at the zenith of their power. He, therefore, resorted to a strategem. He gave it out that the goddess had given him a sword and a blessing saying: “Go forth and fight against the Mohammedans. You shall win.” He gained many supporters from amongst the people. he (appointed) five kakars, i.e., five articles all beginning with the letter K as the signs of his faith just like five makers of he Vama Margis – and five Sanskars of the Chakrankits. The five Kkars of Sikhs were of great use in fighting. The are as follows:-

. Kesha – long unshaven hair – this protects the head, to some extent, against blows from sticks and sword thrusts.

. Kangan – a big iron ring worn by akalees on their turbans. Kara – an iron bangle worn on the wrist which helps to protect the wrist and the head.

. Kachha – a kind of knickers used in running and jumping, very commonly used by wreslters and acrobats for the same purpose. It protects the most vital parts of the body as well as makes the movements free.

. Karda – a double -edged knife useful in hand -to-hand fight with the enemy.

. Kangha – a comb for dressing the hair.

Gobin Singh, through his wisdom, started the practice of wearing these five articles. They were very useful for the time in which he lived, but they are of no use at the present time. (It is strange -that) those things which were required to be used because of there being of great service in fighting (with the enemy) have now come to be regarded as part and parcel of the religions of the Sikhs. It is true that they do not practice idolatry but they worship the Grantha even more than idols. Now is not this idolatry?

To bow down before an material object or worship it is idolatry. They ply their trade just like all other idolators and make a good living by it. Just as the idolator priests show their idols (in the temples) to the visitors and receive (gifts offered by them to idols). .Likewise do the followers of Nanak worship the Grantha and teach others to do the same and receive what is offered to it. The followers of the Grantha do not show the same amount of respect to the Vedas as do the Puanics. Of course it can be urged in their

defense, that these people had neither even read the Vedas, nor heard them being read, they could not, therefore, be blamed for showing scanty respect to them. If they were to read the Vedas or hear them being read, those among them, who are free from prejudice and bigotry, would not doubt embrace the Vedic religion. It is greatly to the credit of these people that they have done away with various troublesome and useless restrictions in the matter of eating and drinking, it will be a very good thing indeed if the would also free themselves from sensualism, vanity and false pride and advance the cause of the Vedic religion.

The teachings of the Dadupanthee sect.

– Are then the teachings of the Dadupanthee true?
~ The only true path is that of the Vedas. Follow it if you can otherwise you will always be sunk in ignorance and misery. According to his followers Dadu was born in Gujrat. Late on he lived at Amera near Jaipur where he followed the business of a taili.* Wonderful are the workings of the laws that operate in tis Universe created by God, that even Dadu came to be worshipped.

Now they – the Dadupanthees – have renounced the teachings of the Vedas and Shastras and taken, instead, to the muttering of Dadu Ram Ram** which alone is held to be the means of obtaining salvation. It is only in the absence of true teachers that such malpractices come into vogue. It is only a short time ago since the Ram Snehi (lover of Rama) sect came into existence at Shahpura.

They have given up the performance of duties enjoined by the Vedic religion, and have, instead, come to believe that the repeating of the word Rama is a very good thing, it alone leads to the attainment of true knowledge, concentration of mind necessary for Divine contemplation, and salvation, but it is a pity when hungry they cannot get bread and vegetables by the repetition of this name, as food and drink can only be had from the house-holders.

They also decry idol-worship but have themselves become objects of worship (like the idols). They mostly live in the company of women, as Rama*** can never be happy without Ramki.

* A taili is one who manufactures oil. ** Lit. Dadu, God, God, which may mean verily Dadu is God or an incarnation of the Deity. O Dadu? Repeatedly take the name of Rama.-Tr. *** This a play upon words. As these men are always repeating the word Rama, they are called Rama; Ramki literally means of Ram – a female devoice of Rama. Tr.

The Rama Charan sect.

There was a Sadhu named Rama Charan. Eh founded a sect at Shahpura (udeypur State). His followers believe the repetition of the word Rama to be the highest Mantra and the holiest doctrine. The following is written in one of their books which records the utterances of Sant Das and others.

“When a man repeats the name of the Lord, all his doubts are dispelled, diseases afflict him no longer and the Great Judge, Yama, tears his record* into pieces and all his sins are forgiven.”

Now, let the intelligent reader see how, by the mere repetition of the word Rama, doubts, which is another name for ignorance, can be dispelled , the judgment of the Great Judge given in accordance with the nature of one’s deeds, good and bad, averted or sins forgiven. Such teachings simply tempt men to live in sin and thereby waste their lives.

The following are the utterances of Rama Charan, the founder of the sect, “Hear, O friend most attentively how great is the might fo the name of the Lord! By repeatedly taking the name of Rama one is freed from all sins. Whosoever has taken His name has

* A document in which are noted all the good or evil deeds done by a person.-Tr.

crossed the ocean of misery but whosoever has forgotten Him shall fall into the hands of Yama. It has been said that all but Rama is false. By the worship of Rama one ceases to do all (evil) deeds. The sun and the moon shall dance attendance on him. Rama says he has nothing to fear, all the three worlds shall sing his praises. Yama has no power over him who repeats the name of Rama. By repeatedly writing the name of Rama (on a slate or paper, etc.,) rocks have been floated (on water).

The Lord has incarnated for the good of His devotees. Whosoever makes a distinction (between men) on account of caste, high or low, surely wastes his life. The Santas see no inequalities (among men) on account of caste. Repeatedly mutter the name of Rama, as Rama pervades all. He who sings the praises of Rama is great, his power cannot be gauged. Rama (says) the limit of Santas’ greatness can never be reached. Let a man sing His praises according to his own understanding.”

For the perusal of the books of Rama Charan and the like it appears that he was a simple villager who was quite illiterate, otherwise he would not have spun such yarns. They are altogether mistaken who teach that, bye the mere repetition of word Rama, one’ s sin is forgiven. By teaching such false doctrines these people waste their lives as well as those of others.

One is not freed even from the fear of police constables, thieves, dacoits, wolves snakes, scorpions and mosquitoes, let alone that of Yama which is very great indeed, even if he repeats the name of Rama day and night.

Just as by repeatedly saying the word sugar one’s mouth does not become sweet, in like manner the mere repetition of the word Rama can be of no avail. It is the practice of righteous deeds such as truthfulness in speech that can free a man from the fear of death. If Rama would not hear his devotees when the utter his name once, it is not likely that he would ever hear them even if they were to repeat it all their lives. But if he hears them when they take his name once, it is useless then to take it a second time.

They have started these frauds to make their living by robbing others and thereby waste their lives. It is strange that these people should call themselves lovers of Rama, while they conduct themselves lovers of widows. Had not such frauds flourished in India, it would not have been reduced to its present wretched condition. These people give the leavings of their food to their

disciples and eve women pay homage to them by prostrating themselves on the ground. Their Sadhus and women very often also sit together in retirement.

The Ram Das sect.

The second branch of this sect originate at Kherapa in Marwar. Its history is as follows: There was a man clled Ram Das who was a Khera* by caste. He was a very clever man. He had tow wives. First of all he led the life of an aghori, and ate with dogs, then he became a Vama Margi of the kunda panth (lit. the Path of Kunda or an earthen pot) type and later a kamaria** of Rama Deva and went about from place to place, singing hymns along with his two wives till he met Ram Das, the Guru of Dheras, at Seethal who taught him the doctrine preached by Rama Deva and made him his disciple.

This Ram Das established himself at Khaerapa. His sect flourished.there, while that of Rama Charan, at shahpura whos history is related thus: He was a Bania (shopkeeper) of Jaipore. He got himself initiated into the Fourth Order, i.e., of Sanyas by a Sadhu and made the latter his Guru, when to Shahpura and set up there. Imposture soon takes root among the ignorant and so it happened in this case. Following the teachings of rama Charan regarding making no distinction of caste, the people of this sect receive in their fold men of all castes from Brahmans down to outcasts.

They are even to-day very much like Kundapanthees as they eat out of earthen pots only. The lay people of this sect eat the leavings of their Sadhus who lead the people astray from the path of the Vedas, cause them to forsake their parents and give up their business. They make people their chelas and hold the name of Rama, one is freed from the sins of his countless previous lives. No one can obtain salvation without it.

Whoever teaches that the name of Rama should be taken with every breath is looked upon as the true guru who is regarded even

* Dhera is one of the lowest classes in India. The higher class people regard that even the touch of a person belonging to this class is enough to pollute them.-tr. ** Chamars are low class people who follow the business of shoe-making. Those who wear ochre-colored garments and sing hymns composed by Rama Deva, which they call shabda (the Word) to people of their own caste as well as to others, are called Kamaris.

greater than God. His image is worhipped. The lay people wash the feet of these Sadhus and drink that water. When a chela (disciple) lives away from his guru, he is directed to keep the nails and a few hairs of the beard of his guru with him and daily wash them with water and drink it.

They show greater respect to the books containing the utterances of Ram Das and Har Ram Das than the Vedas, walk round it and pay homage to it by lying down on all fours. They teach men and women the same mantra. The followers of this cult believe that their happiness consist in taking the name of Rama alone and consider it a sin to read.

It is recorded in one of their books:- “Learning is useless, it is sinful to read. All works are useless unless one repeatedly takes the same of Rama. Even the study of the Vedas, the Puraanas and the Gita is of no avail if it is not accompanied by the uttering of the name of Rama.’

Such are their teachings. They further teach that it is a sin for a woman to serve her husband but it is a meritorious act on her part to serve Sadhus. They have no faith in duties of each Class and Order. They call a Brahman who does not belong to their sect, low, but an outcast who belongs to their sect is considered superior to a Brahman who is not of their cult.

On the one hand, they say that they do not believe in the above quoted utterance of rama Charan, viz., The Lord has incarnate for the good of His devotees.” All this fraud and trickery, which they practice, is highly detrimental to the interests of the Indian people.

We have but very briefly criticized their creed in the belief that a few words on the subject will be quite sufficient for the wise.

The cult of the Gokuliey Gosaeens.

– The cult of Gokuliey Gosaeens is undoubtedly very good. Mark! How they are rolling in wealth and luxuries. Can it ever be possible to enjoy such luxuries unless they were possessed of Divine powers?
~ The luxuries the Gosaeens enjoy are not the result of their own efforts. It is at the expense of the house-holders that they live such luxurious lives.
– Nonsense! It is all due to the Divine powers of Gosaeens otherwise why don’t other people enjoy the same pleasures as they?
~ Should they resort to the same kind of fraud and deception as the Gosaeens do, they would surely obtain all those luxuries that they enjoy. Whilst those who would practice greater rascality might be still more prosperous.
– What rascality is there in it? It is all lila (work) of Golaka.
~ It is not the work of Golaka but of Gosaeens; if it be not that Golaka must be like this (world). This sect originated in Telung. Its founder was a Telung Brahman by the name of Lakshmanbhatt who, after he was married, deserted his parents and wife – it is not known why – went to Kashi and took sanyasa. At the time of his initiation into this order he told a lie to the effect that he was not married.

By chance his parents and wife happened to hear that he had turned a Sanyasi at Kashi, they came there and remonstrated with his guru for having initiated him into sanyasa while he had a you wife living. His wife asked him to initiate her also into sanyasa, if he could not send her husband back with her. He sent for Lakshman and told him that he was a liar, bade him renounce sanyasa, and live with his wife as he had taken sanyasa through telling a lie.

He did what he was bidden, i.e., renounced Sanyasa and went back with his wife. It is worth remembering that this sect was founded in falsehood and hypocrisy. When they went back to Telung, their caste people refused to take him back into the caste. Then they took to wandering from place to place. When he, along with his wife, was passing through a jungle, called Champaranya, near Charna Garha aplace not far from Benares, he found that some one had left a child there, after having lighted up fire all round at some distance from the child.

The object of the deserter seems to have been to save the child from immediate death at the hand of wild animals. Lakshmanbhatt and his wife took the boy and adopted him as their son. They went to Kashi and began to live there. When the boy grew up, his parents died. He had read a little in his boyhood. He went to the temple of a Vishnu

Swami and became his chela (disciple). He happened to kick up a row there and consequently came back to Kahi and became a sanyasi. Later on the he came across a Brahman who was also an outcast like himself. He had a daughter and asked him to leave off sanyasya and accept the hand of his daughter. He did the same. Why should not the son have done what the father had done before him?

After marriage he went back to the same temple of Vishnu Swami where he had taken Sanyasa. But he was turned out if it on account of his marriage. Then he went to Brajdesha where ignorance is rife and began to spread his net of fraud and hypocrisy and falsely gave out that Shri Krishna had met him and asked him to send back to Golaka all the godly souls, that come down from Golaka to this mortal world, after having purified them by means of Brahma Sambanddha, i.e., (bringing about union with Brahma or God), by telling the ignorant people alluring stories, he gained over a few persons. He made altogether converts. He also adopted the following Mantras as his watch-words which are of different kinds:-

“The Great Krishna my shelter”, “unto the beloved Krishna of cowherdesses.” These are the two mantras for ordinary purposes. But the next mantraa is for Brahma Sambandha, i.e., for bringing about union with Brahma as well as for samarpana (offering). “The great Krishna is my shelter. I who am overpowered by (ananta) eternal tapa and kalesha (pain) caused by separation from Krishna for a thousand years offer my body, senses, vital airs and their functions, my wife, house, son and wealth to my Master Krishna. I am thy servant, O Krishna!”This the mantra for both male and female disciples.

Now the second mantra begins with the word kleem which is only to be found in the Tantras – books on Vama Marga. This shows that this (Ballabha) sect is a branch of Vama Marga. This is the reason that the Gosaeens pass much of their time in the company of women. Was Krishna only beloved of cowherdesses and

not others? He alone is beloved of women who are engrossed in sensualism. Was Krishna such a man then? Ti si useless to use the words a thousand as Ballabha and his disciples are not omniscient that they could tell with such exactness the number of years since Krishna lived. The world had been suffering from Krishna’s separation for thousands of years before the birth of Ballabha and his cult, but no one was sent down for the salvation fo the souls that had come down on this earth from Golaka.

Tapa (pain) and Kalesha (pain) are synonymous words, one of them ought to have been used and not both. It is also useless to use the world ananta (eternal) as the word sahasra (a thousand) had already been used. Only one of the two words could be used. Either the word thousand or the word eternal ought to have been omitted. It is most absurd to use both.

Besides, even the birth of Ballabha cannot be of any use to one who has been eternally overpowered by pain or sorrow, since what is eternal or endless can have no end. Moreover, why should one’s body and bodily senses, vital oars, the internal organ of thought, and their functions, wife, house, son and wealth be offered to Krishna? He being Puranakama – one whose desires are completely fulfilled – cannot desire for anyone’s body, etc.; besides the body and the like cannot, properly speaking, be offered as the term body includes all parts of it from top of the head to the nails of fingers and toes.

By offering the body even everything that is fouls in it, such as urine and foeces,is offered. Now, how could you like to do that? Besides, all the sins and virtues of the devotee having been offered to to Krishna – it is Krishna who will have to rap the fruits thereof. It is a curious thing that the Gosaeens ask people to offer all these things to Krishna, while the offerings are appropriated by themselves.

Why don’t the Gosaeens also accept all the foul excretions such as the urine, that are to be found in the body (which is accepted as an offering)? Do they act on the proverb that says “Gulp down all that is sweet and spit out what is bitter”? It is also written (in their books) that an offering should be made to Gosaeens only and never to one who belongs to some other sect,. Is not this extreme selfishness? All this fraud had been invented to

rob others of their money and uproot the pure religion of the Vedas, by the perusal of the following verses from Siddhant Rahasya – the book on which the Gosaeen sect is chiefly formed – let the reader observe what kind of trickery was practiced by Ballabha?

. On the th of Shravan, in the middle of night , I was thus spoken to by the Mighty Krishna Himself:-

Criticism ~ Now these people should be asked how it could be possible for Ballabha to meet Krishna who died about , years ago back.

. Whosoever becomes a chela (disciple) of Gosaeen and presents everything to him by way of offering (thereby comes in contact with Brahma) is freed of all sins – physical and spiritual – which are of five kinds.

~ This falsehood was invented by Ballabha to mislead people in order to allure them into is net. Why should the male and female disciples of Gosaeens suffer from disease and poverty, if it be true that they are freed of all sins?

(i) “Sins that ar natural, such as are caused by animal passion and anger. (ii) Sins that are related to time and locality. (iii) Sins that are declared to be such by public opinion (such as the use of prohibited food) and by the Vedas, such as untruthfulness in speech. (iv) Sins that are the result of bad company, such as theft, illicit intercourse, sexual intercourse with one’s mother, sister, daughter-in-law, or tutor’s wife, etc. (v) Sins caused by touching those that should not be touched (such as outcasts. -Tr)

let no disciple of Gosaeen ever believe in such sins, in other words, he can do as he likes.”

. “There is no other way but the Gosaeen faith to free one of his sins, therefore, let not the followers of this faith ever enjoy things – animate and inanimate – that have not previously been offered to the Gosaeen.

~ This is the reason that these people even offer their wives, daughters, daughters-in-law and their wealth, etc., to Gosaeens. The rule regarding the offering of females is that no one should co-habit with his wife unless she had previously been to the Gosaeen.”

. “Therefore let the followers of this faith first offer all things to Gosaeens as nothing can be offered after the owner had enjoyed it himself.”

. Hence let the disciples of Gosaeens, in whatever they do, first offer all things to them. Let them offer their wives to Gosaeens before they have sexual intercourse with them.”

. “Let not the male and female disciples of Gosaeens ever hear or accept a word of the teachings of faiths other than the Gosaeen cult. It is well known that such is their practice.”

. “Let a man of his faith offer all things, and just as all the streams that flow into the river Ganges lose their individuality and their water takes the mane of Ganges water, so do all who join the Gosaeen faith lose their bad qualities and embrace good qualities. Let them, therefore, always declare that their faith is supremely excellent and had no defects.”

Now let the reader see whether it is true or not that of all faiths that of Gosaeens is the most selfish. Well, Mr. Gosaeens!

You do not possess even one attribute of Brahma, how could you then ring about union of your disciples with Brahma? If you answer that you are yourself Brahma and, therefore, by coming in contact with you one is unite with Brahma, we cannot believe you as you do not possess a single attribute, characteristic or power of Brahma. Have you then become Brahma simply in order to live in luxury and ease, and have sensual enjoyment? You purify your disciples – make or female – by having them offered to you, but you yourself as well as your wife, daughter, daughter-in-law and other relations must remain impure, as you and they are never offered.

Now you believe that what has not been offered is impure, why are not you yourself, who are born of impure mothers impure? Hence it behoves you to offer your wife, daughter, daughter-in-law to persons of other faiths (in order to have them purified). If you say, “No, no, that won’t do.” Why is not right ten that you should also give up the practice of having other people’s wives and wealth etc. offered to yourself. Let by-gones be by-gones. Henceforth you should give up all your false and evil practices and tread the path of the Beautiful and Divine religion of the Vedas, realize the object of man’s existence on earth and reap the four-fold fruit (of human life) viz., practice of righteousness, acquisition of wealth, gratification of legitimate desires and attainment of salvation and thereby enjoy happiness.

Now mark again! These Gosaeens call people of their cult followers of the path of nourishment. In other words, eating, drinking, waxing fat and enjoying oneself by having sexual intercourse with all sorts of women constitutes the path of nourishment. They alone must know how they suffer from most terrible diseases such as Fistual-in-ano and die a lingering and painful death (in consequence of sexual excesses). The Truth is that it is not the path of Pushti (nourishment) but of kushti (leprosy). Just as all the tissues of a leper’s body disintegrate, liquefy and are discharged and he groans most fearfully and finally dies; in like manner the Gosaeens are seen to suffer terribly and die most miserable deaths. Hence the name of the path of hell can be very well applied to the Gosaeen cult, as hell is another name for pain and suffering, whilst heaven is another name for happiness.

These Gosaeens have thus cast their net of hypocrisy and fraud and ensnared the poor simpletons into it. They declare themselves to be incarnations of Shri Krishna and hence Masters of all. They say that they who are the best among men are born to save all those daivi (angelic) souls who have come down on this

earth from Golaka. As long as one does not become their disciple he shall never enter Goloka, wherein there is only one man and that is Krishna, all others are women. Bravo! Yours is a fine faith! All the disciples of Gosaeens will become Gopees (cowherdesses), – mistresses of Krishna. One can imagine the wretched plight of a man who has the ill-fortune of having two wives but pity the man who has millions of wives. His sufferings can have no bounds. Now what will you say to this Mr. Gosaeen if you say that Krishna possesses might powers, he can please all of t hem, his wife called Swamini (mistress) must possess powers equal to Krishna as she is his other half.

Animal passions are equally strong in men and women or rather a little stronger in woman than in men, why would the same not hold good in Goloka. This being the case, wives of Krishna other than the mistress will quarrel and wrangle with her, as wives of the same husband are, as a rule, very jealous of each other, and consequently Goloka compared to heaven will be not better than hell and such terrible diseases as Fistula-in-ano which are the result of sexual excesses will be rampant in Goloka as here. Tut! Tut! Tut!

Even this poor mortal world is better than your Goloka. The Goseens who declare themselves to be incarnations of Krishna live most sensual lives and consequently are afflicted with such diseases as Fistula-in-ano, Spermatorrhoea, why would not Krishna, the Lord of Goloka, suffer from the same kind of diseases as his representatives, the Gosaeens here. If you say he would not, how is it then that his incarnations, the Gosaeens, suffer, so much here?

– Disease can afflict incarnations (of Krishna) in this mortal world but not in Goloka. Disease cannot approach Krishna there.
~ No, this cannot be true as disease is sure to follow sensual enjoyment. Are any children born of those millions of wives of Krishna? If you answer in the affirmative, we ask, are those children male or female or both? If you say they are all girls, whom are they married to, as there is not other man but Krishna there? If you say there are other men besides Krishna, you will be contradicting your original proposition. If you say that all the children are boys, the same objection will hold good, viz., whom are they married to? Or shall we believe that they manage to arrange the whole affair with so many female inmates of Goloka. If you say there are other women besides the Gopies – wives of

Krishna – you contradict what you said in the beginning, viz., “There was no man but Krishna and no women but his wives in Goloka.” If you hold that there are no children born in Goloka, impotence will be attributable to Krishna and sterility to his wives. This Goloka looks more like the harem of the Emperor of Delhi with its army of women.

Again the Gosaeens cause their disciples – male and female – to offer their bodies, hearts, and wealth to them. Now this cannot be right, because at the time of marriage the body of the husband has been offered to the wife and that of the wife to the husband, hence they wholly belong to each other, how can their hearts then be offered to some one, else, because the body cannot belong to one while the heart is in some other place. When the heart has been offered to one i.e., the husband or the wife, it is nothing short of adultery to offer the body to another.

The same holds good of wealth; in other words, nothing can be offered to one person when the heart has been offered to another. The real object of Gosaeens in inventing these frauds is that they want their disciples to work and themselves to enjoy the fruits thereof. All the Gosaeens of Balabha sect are outside the pale of the caste of Telung Braahmans and whoever, through mistake, gives his daughter’s hand in marriage to one of them is turned out of his caste and considered as polluted, because the Gosaeens are outcasts. They are destitute of knowledge and lived most indolent lives.

Mark! How a Gosaeen behaves when he is invite to the house of one of his disciples. When he gets there, he quietly sits down and remains silent like a wooden doll, he does not say a word. The poor Gosaeen would undoubtedly speak if he were not an idiot as it has been said, “The strength of the ignorant leis in silence.” Were he to speak, he would betray his ignorance. He keeps on staring at women most attentively and whoever is looked at by him thinks herself mostly lucky and her husband, brother, father, mother and other relations are highly pleased.

All the women touch his feet and whosoever becomes the object of his favor or choice has one of her fingers pressed a little by his big toe. That woman and her husband and other relations consider themselves most fortunate. Her husband and other relations address her thus. “Go there and serve the feet of the Gosaeen.” But if the husband and other relation are not pleased with this kind of favor from the

Gosaeen, he accomplishes his object through the help of go-betweens and touts. The truth is that there are plenty of such people in and about the temples of Gosaeen. Now as regards their method of extorting money (from their disciples), they ask for it in the following fashion: “Bring an offering for the Gosaeen his wife, son, daughter, and chief servant, the footman, the musician and the god (i.e., idol of Krishna.”

Thus they rob their disciples of their money in the name of seven persons. When a disciple of the Gosaeen is bout to die, the Gosaeen puts his foot on his chest and avariously accepts whatever he gets. Is not it more like the work of Mahaa Braahmans? Occasionally a disciple of the Gosaeen, when about to marry, sends for him and makes him accept that hand of his bride at the ceremony.

At the saffron bath men and women, especially the latter, rub a paste containing saffron on the Gosaeen’s body, seat him on a wooden board placed in a tub and help him to wash. Then he puts on a pitamber – lower garment and his wooden sandals – and comes out of the bath. his dhoti – the garment covering the lions and legs worn at the time of bathing – is then thrown into the tub. His disciples then use the water of the tub as a sacred drink and offer the Gosaeen betel leaf containing condiments which he chews, swallows a little of the juice and spits out the rest in silver cup held up by a disciple near his mouth. This is distributed among his disciples as a special gift

Now what kind of men are they? Can stupidity and irreligious conduct go any further? A great many of the Gosaeen who accept offerings (from their followers) would eat of the hands of Vaishnavities alone, other would never do so much so that they would even wash their firewood. Now aren’t they polluted by using their flour, sugar (red and white) clarified butter, etc., unwashed? But they are helpless in this matter, because should they wash these articles, they would lose them altogether.

They also say that they spend a great deal on the amorous sport and sensual enjoyment of Sri Krishna, but it is really Gosaeens themselves on the gratification of whose sensual appetites all this money is spent. The Truth is that most abominable things are done by these Gosaeens, for instance during Heli* days they fill syringes with colored water which they discharge at the private parts of women. They also sell eatables which is not permissible to Braahmans.

* This is a festival celebrated in spring all over India. It chief feature is that the people throw colored water at each other. -Tr.

– The Gosaeens do not themselves deep an open shop for selling eatables, such as bread, dal (split-peas), curry, rice, vegetables and sweets. They distribute leaf-plateful of these articles to their servants who sell them but not the Gosaeens.
~ Why would the servants accept these things if the Gosaeens would pay them their monthly wages instead. The Gosaeens sell the eatables such as rice and dal in the hands of their servants in lieu of wages. They then go and sell them at shops, etc. Had the Gosaeens themselves sold these articles, they would have at least saved their servants, who are Braahmans, form the doing of an act which is forbidden (by the Shastra).

In that case, Gosaeens alone would have been responsible for the sin of selling eatables. Thus the Gosaeens themselves first commit a sin and then drag others down with them. In some places, such as Nathdwara, even the Gosaeens themselves sell these things. To sell eatables is the work of the low and not of the high. It is such men who have reduced Aryavarta (India) to its present

The Swami Narayana Cult.

– What do you think of Swami Narayana Cult?
~ The proverb “Like the goddess Shitla, like her beast for riding the donkey” aptly applies to thissect. Inother words, the followers of Swami Narayana resort to the same sort of wonderful trickery in order to fleece others as the Gosaeens. The brief history of this sect is as follows:-

There was a man called Shjanand. He was a native of a village near Ayodhya. While he was wandering as a Brahmachari through Gujarat., Kathiawar, Kutch and the like countries, he noticed that the natives of those countries were very ignorant and guileless, onw could easily lead them to believe in whatever religion one liked. He, therefore, cast his net of fraud and hypocrisy there and mde three or four disciples who took counsel among themselves and gave it out that Sahjanand was an incarnation of Narayana and possessed of great miraculous powers.

He could assume the four-armed body of Narayana Himself for the pleasure of those who are devoted to him. One of this disciples asked Dada Khachar, a great landowner of Paran in Kathiawar, that if he desired to see the four-armed Narayana they could request Sahjanand to grant his wish. He answered that he thought, it would be a very good thing, if Sahjanand could do it. That Dada Khachar

was a perfect dunce. Sahjanand in dark room put a diadem on his head and held a conch-shell in one hand and a discus in the other – both hands lifted upwards.

Another man stood behind him with a mace in one hand and a lotus in the other and then thrust his hands forward under his armpits and lo there was a veritable four-armed Narayana! The disciples of Sahjanand instructed him to have only one peep at Narayana and then immediately close his eyes and come out of the room, otherwise if he looked at him too long Narayana might get angry with him.

They took him to the dark room in which Sahjanand was standing motionless, like a statue, wearing shining silk garments. They turned light on him by means of a lantern. The moment Dada Khachar saw the form of the four-armed Narayana, light was turned off. All of them fell down on their knees andpaid their homage to Narayana and came out of the room. At the same tiem they said to Dada Khachar that he was a very lucky man, he should now become the disciple of His Holiness. He assented to their proposal. By the time they got to another room, Sahjanand had change his dress and was found seated on a cushioned seat there.

They pointed out to Dada Khachar that His Holiness had assumed another form and was present there. He fell in their tap and from that very moment the Swami Narayana cult took root as Dada Khachar was a great landowner. Sahjanand made that place his headquarters. He wandered here and there preaching to all. He initiated (sadhus) many of his disciples into the Order of mendicants.

Occasionally he would press some nerve in the neck of a sadhu (disciple) and render him unconscious and tell people that he had caused him to attain the clairvoyant state. The simple, guileless people of Kathiawar were ensnared by him by such acts of scoundrelism. After his death, his followers practiced a great deal of fraud and hypocrisy. Their case will be aptly illustrated by the following story:-

A man was caught burgling. The judge ordered his nose and ears to be cut off by way of punishment. As soon as his nose was cut, that scoundrel began to sing, dance and laugh. The people asked him why he did it. He replied it was not a thing that could be told. They, again, inquired what kind of thing it was that

could not be talked about. He answered it was such a thing that he had never heard of it before. They again said; “come, come, tell us what it is.” He rejoined that he could see the very four-armed Narayana Himself standing before him and that is the reason that he sang and dances and blessed his stars that he had seen the Lord face to face. The people wanted to know why they could not see Narayana. He replied that their noses were in the way, they could only see Him when their noses were cut off, and not otherwise.

Some dunce among the people wanted to see Narayana even at the sacrifice of his nose. He offered his nose to be cut so that he could see Narayana. That rogue chopped off his nose and whispered in his ears, “you should also do like me, otherwise we shall be laughed at.” Thereupon that man also began to sing, dance, skip about, play and laugh, and say that he could also see Narayana. By and by, the mumber of the people who had their noses cut in order to see Narayana, reached about ,. There was then a great hallabaloo, they called their sect “The cult of Narayana-seers.”

An ignorant king heard of it and sent for those people. when they got there, they began to sing, dance and laugh. The king asked them the reason of all this. They replied that they saw the Narayana Himwself face to face. The king asked why he did not see Him. The Narayana-seers answered that he could not do so on account of his nose. A soon as he would have his nose cut, he would see Narayana face to face.

The King thought that it appeared to be right. He, thereupon, asked his astrologer to findout the most auspicious time for having his nose removed. He replied: “May it please Your Majesty! O giver of food! * o’clock on the morning of the tenth instant, is the most auspicious time for having Your Majesty’s nose cut and for seeing Narayana.” Well done, O Pope! Is in your almanack recorded even the time for chopping off one’s nose.

When the king made up his mind to have his nose cut off, he ordered that all those thousand men be fed at the expense of the Stat. On this they went into ecstasy and began to sing, dance and skip about. The ministers and some other wise people of the State did not like this affair. There was an old man years old who was Prime Minister four generations back. His great grandson who was Prime Minster at the time told him everything. Thereupon he said: “That man is a scoundrel, take me to the king.” He did

as he was asked to do. When he had taken his seat, the king gladly told him everything about the Narayana-seers. The old Diwan, i.e. the ex-Prime Minister answered, “Hear, O King. Do not be in such a hurry. One soon repents of what one has done precipitately without properly inquiring into it.”

King – Could all those thousand men be telling a lie?

Diwan ~ They might be telling the truth or a lie. That cannot be decided until the matter has been properly investigated.

King – How to investigate

Diwan ~ By the help of our knowledge of the Laws of Nature and the eight kinds of evidence, such as Direct Cognition.

King – How can one, who has not read, inquire into a matter?

Diwan ~ By advancing his knowledge, by associating with the learned.

King – What should one do if one could not find a learned man?

Diwan ~ Nothing is impossible for one who strives after a ting.

King – Pray, then, tell us what is to be done in this case

King ~ I am an old man, live an indoor life, and have only a few days more to live, let me then first test the truth of the contention of these men. You can afterwards, do what ever you thing proper.

King – it is a very good suggestion. Find out, O Astrologer, the most auspicious time for our beloved Diwan (to have his nose cut).

Astrologer – May it pleas Your Majesty! a.m. on the th of the bright half of the current month is the most propitious time for this purpose.

On the appointed day the old Diwan went to the King at a.m., and asked him to take a couple thousand soldiers with him )to the place where his nose was to be cut).

King – What is the use of the soldiers there?

Diwan – Your Majesty is not so well-versed in state-craft. Have the kindness to do as I suggest.

King – “Well General! Go and get the soldiers ready.”

The King formed a procession and set out with ministers and other influential men at : a.m. When the Narayana-seers saw the king coming

towards them, they began to sing and dance. The King sent for their leader who was the founder of this sect and was the first one whose nose was cut, spoke to him thus: “Show Naryana to our Diwan to-day.” He assented. When it was ten o’clock, a man held a plate under the nose of the old Diwan, while the leader of the Narayana-seers chopped off his nose with a sharp knife and placed it on the plate. A stream of blood began to flow from his nose, and the Diwan’s face became pale. The rascal, then, whispered into his ear. “You do also laugh and tell the people that you see Narayana now. Remember a cut nose cannot be made whole and if you don’t say what I tell you, everybody will laugh at you.”

After he had said this, he stood apart. The Diwan took his handkerchief and pressed it against his cut nose. The king asked him, “Tell us pray if you see Narayana now.” He whispered in the King’s ear, “I see nothing. This rascal has, without any cause, disfigured and misled these thousand people.” the king, then, asked him what he advised him to do. The Dwan answered, “Arrest them all, inflict heavy punishment on them and keep them in prison as long as they live, whilst the scoundrel who led them all astray should be place on the back of a donkey.

Let various indignities be heaped upon him and let him, then, be put to death. When the Narayana-seers saw the King and his Diwan whispering into each other’s ears, they made preparations for running away, but being surrounded on all sides by the soldiers they could not escape. The ing ordered. “Let all of them be arrested and fettered. Let their villainous ringleader’s face be blackened. Let him be made to ride on a donkey and wear a necklace of torn and tattered shoes and pass through all the principal streets of the town in this condition. Let the children throw dust and ashes on him.

Let him them be beaten with shoes in all the chief thoroughfares and finally out to death by being torn to pieces by dongs. If this rogue be suffered to go unpunished, nothing will deter other from following his evil example.” Thus did the cult of the Narayana-seers come to an ignominious end. Like them there are plenty of other people opposed to the teachings of the Veda who are very clever in defrauding other of their money. Such are the evil doings of various sects.

The followers of the Swami Narayana cult resort to trickery, fraud, and imposition in order to fleece others. Many among them, in order to milead the ignorant, declare on their death-bed that Sahjanand seated on a white horse has come to convey them to heaven and that he always came to that temple once a day. On the occasion of a fair the priests remain inside the temple while down below a

shop is kept open which communicates with the temple through an opening. Whenever a cocoanut has been offered in the temple, it is thrown down into the shop through that hole. That cocoanut is again bought and offered by some other worshipper. Thus the same cocoanut is sold about a thousand times in a single day. Other articles are sold in the same way.

There is another thing peculiar to this sect. A Sadhu of this sect is made to do the work of the caste he belongs to, for instance, a barber Sadhu shaves, a potter Sadhu makes pots, a Sadhu who belongs to the artisan caste does the work of an artisan. A Sadhu, who is a bania (a shopkeeper) by caste does the work of bania. A Shudra Sadhu that of a Shudra..

The priests of this sect have imposed assort of tac on their followers and by their quackery amassed millions which go on multiplying everyday. whoever succeeds to the Sahjanand throne marries and becomes a householder, wears jewelry (ornaments). Whenever he is invited to the house of one of his disciples, like the Gosaeens he accepts offerings in his own name as well as in that of his wife, children, etc. The followers of this sect call themselves good company, whilst other they call bad company!

They never serve anyone or show respect to anyone, however good and learned he may be. If he belongs to some other faith, as it is considered a sin by them to do so. In public the Sadhus of this sect do not even see the face of a woman but in private who knows what evil practices are rampant among them.

Not much has come to light. Here and there a few cases of sodomy have come out. When those who hold high positions among them are about to die, their disciples throw them sown into a secret well and give it out that such and such a holy man with body and all has gone to heaven.

Sahjanand himself came to take him away. He carried him away, in spite of our repeated requests, to let that holy man remain here as he was of great use here on this earth, but he replied that he was badly needed in heaven. They would say that they saw Sahjanand and the air-ship with their own eyes. He seated that holy man in the air-ship with their own eyes. He seated that holy man in the air-ship and carried him up, while flowers were being showered on him.

Whenever a Sadhu falls ill and there is not hope of his recovery, he declares that he will go to heaven tomorrow night. The rumor has it that even if he did not happen to die that night but merely lost consciousness, he is nevertheless thrown (alive) into a

well for fear of his prophecy turning out to be false. Similarly, when a Gokalaya Gosaeen dies, his disciples say that the Gosaeen has spread out his lila (sport).

The mantra that is taught by the Gosaeens and Swami Narayana priests is the same, viz., “Shri Krishna my shelter” which they say, means “Shri Krishna is my shelter” but may also mean “let Shri Krishna seek my shelter.”

All these sects compose mantras of absurd construction quite contrary to the rules of Grammar, etc. Their leaders being illiterate, cannot be acquainted with the laws of Grammar and Logic.

The Madhawa faith.

-Is the Madhawa faith good, then?
~ The Madhwists are like other sectarians. They are also Chakrankits with this difference that the latter, i.e., the followers of Ramanuja have themselves branded (with red-hot iron) only ones in life whil the Madhwists brand themselves once a year, the Charankits paint a yellow line on the forehead while tlhe Madhwists paint a black one. A certain Mahatma (great soul) had the following discussion with a Madhwa Pundit.

Mahatama ~ Why have you traced that black line and a moon-like mark on your forehead?

The Pundit – It will lead me to heaven (Baikuntha). Besides the great Krishna was also dark, and that is another reason for our tracing a black line on the forehead.

Mahatama ~ If, by drawing a black line and painting a moon -like mark on the forehead you go to heaven, where will you go if you were to blacken you whole face. If you want to become like Krishna, you will have to blacken your whole body as he was black all over his body.

It is clear, then, that the Madhwists are no better than other sectarian.

The Lingankit faith.

– What do you think of the Lingankit faith?
~ It is quite like Chakrankit cult. Just as the Chakrankits are branded with a red-hot iron ring and believe in none but Narayana, in like manner the Lingankits are branded with a red-hot ling a (phallus) and believe in none but Mahaadeva, with the addition that a lingankit wears a linga of stone covered with silver or gold hanging from his neck. Even before he drinks water, he shows it to the linga. The mantra of the Lingankits is like that of the Shivites.

Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthna Samaj.

– Are the Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj people on the right path?
~ Their system of belief has a few good points and many that are objectionable.
– The Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthna Samaj are the best of all, as their principles are very good.
~ Their principles are not altogether good, since it is impossible that the work of men ignorant of the Vedas could ever be altogether good.

Their good points are:-

. They have saved a small number of people form embracing Christianity.

. They have helped to abolish idolatry so some extent.

. They have freed people to some extent from the shackles of false books.

Their objectionable points are:-

The people belonging to these Samajes are very much wanting in patriotism, have imitated the Christians in many things, have even altered the rules and regulations governing marriage and eating and drinking with others.
Let alone being proud of their country and the greatness of their forefathers, they run them down to their hearts’ content, laud the Christians and Europeans to the skies in their lectures. They no only never mention the names of Brahmaa and other sages in their discourses of yore, but, on the other hand, say that since the Creation there have never been men so learned as the Europeans. The people of Aryavarta (India) have always been ignorant and have never made any progress.
Leave alone speaking well of the Vedas and the Shastras, they have not even kept aloof from speaking ill of them. In the sacred books of the Brahmo Samaj the names of Christt, Moses, Muhammad, Nanak, and Chaitanya are mentioned in the list of holy men but not a single name from among the sages and seers of the past. One can easily infer from this that these people hold the same

beliefs as have been taught by those whose names are recorded in their sacred book as holy men. Though these men are born in Aryavarta, have lived on its products and are still doing the same, yet they have renounced the religion of their fore-fathers and are, instead, inclined too much towards foreign religions, call themselves scholars, while they are quite destitute of indigenous Sanskrit learning, and, pluming themselves on their knowledge of English, have been so precipitate in founding a new religion. Now how can these things conduce to lasting happiness and progress of mankind?

They eat and drink most indiscriminately, ie., they even eat and drink with Europeans, Mohammedans and out cast people, etc. They must have thought that promiscuous eating and drinking and the breaking of caste alone will lead to their reformation as well as to that of their country but such things can bring about no reformation, on the contrary may cause great mischief.

– Is class-distinction God-made or man-made?
~It is both God-made and man-made.
– Which distinction is God-made and which man-made?
~ The division of living beings into men, animals, birds, water-creatures, has been created by God , and again, division of animals, into such classes as cows, horses, elephants, and of trees into such classes as Ficus Religiossum, banyan and mango, and of birds into swans, crows, herons and the like, and of water-creatures into fish and crocodiles is God-made, in like manner the divisions of men into Braahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras is God-made (but this does not mean that men are born as Brahmans, Kshatryas, etc., it only mans that in every community men naturally fall under four heads, Braahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas ans Shudras). The system of Classes and Orders should be instituted in accordance with what has been written before; in other words men should be divided into different classes according to their respective temperaments, attributes, qualifications and performances. Now, this the work of man himself, hence it is said that this distinction of classes is man-made. It is the duty of the king

and other good and learned men to examine all men thoroughly and them place everyone of them into one of the four classes – Braahman, Kshatriya, Vasihya, and Shoodra according to his qualifications and deeds.

Even the differences of food are God-made and man-made. For instance, the lion is a carnivore whilst the rhinoceros is a vegetarian. This difference in their foods is God-made. But the differences in food among men vary with the customs and manners of different countries and ages. These differences are man-made.

The advanced life styles of the Europeans.

– Look at the Europeans! They wear boots, jackets and trousers, live in hotels and eat of the hands of all. These are the causes of their advancement.
~ This is a delusion, since the Mohammedans and low-caste people also eat of the hands of everyone and yet they are so backward. The causes of their advancement are:-

The custom of child-marriage does not pevail among them.
They give their boys and girls sound training and education.
They choose their own life-partners. Such marriages are called Swyamvara, because a maid chooses her own.
They do noat allow their children to associate – with bad consort, people. being well educated, they do not fall into the snares of any unprincipled person.
What ever they do, they do after discussing it thoroughly among themselves and referring it to their representative assemblies.
They sacrifice everything, their wealth – there hearts , a ye their very lives – for the good of their nation.
They are not indolent, on the contrary, they live active lives.
They allow boots and shoes made in their country (or those made after their patter in this country) to be taken into courts, and offices, but never Indian shoes. This must suffice to convince you that they value their boots much more than they do the natives of many other countries.
They have been in this country for more than one hundred years, and yet they wear thick clothing, as they used to do at home, up to this day. They have not

changed the fashion of their country, but many among you have copied their dress. This shows that you are foolish, while they are wise. No wise man will ever imitate others (blindly).

Everyone among them does his duty most faithfully.
The always obey the orders of their superiors).
They help their countrymen in trade, etc.

It is the possession of such sterling qualities and the doing of such noble deeds that have contributed to the advancement of the Europeans. They have not become great by wearing boots, shoes, and eating in hotels and doing such other ordinary things or by doing evil things.

Besides, caste distinctions are also to be found among them. Whenever a European, however high his rank or state in life may be, marries a girl of no-European parentage or one whose religion is different from his own or when a European girl marries a non-European, they stop all intercourse with him or her. He or she is an outcast.

They do not invite him or her to their social functions, nor do they eat at the same table with him or her nor do they have such relations as of marriage with him or her children. What are these if not caste distinctions? They mislead you simpletons by saying that there are no caste distinctions among them, and you, through your simplicity, are even foolish enough to believe what they say.

Hence, whatever you do, do it after giving it a most careful though and attention, so that you may not have to repent of it afterwards.

It is a sick man that needs a physician and his medicines, but not one who is in good health. An enlighten man is like a healthy man whilst and ignorant man is like one who is afflicted with disease. His disease is ignorance. To cure him of this disease, the teaching and preaching of truth and the imparting of true knowledge are the proper remedies.

Through their ignorance the orthodox imagine that religion consists in regulation – eating and drinking alone. Whenever they find a person conducting himself improperly in the matter of eating and drinking, they at once infer and say that he is polluted and forthwith cease to pay any attention to what he says and to associate wit him. Now pray

tell us whether your knowledge is for your selfish good or for the good of others. Of course, it would have been for the good of others, had those ignorant people profited by it. If you say that you can’t help it if they do not profit by it, it cannot be true. You are to blame and not they, because had you behaved properly, they would have loved you and consequently profited by your knowledge. You have sought after your happiness and consequently destroyed the good of thousands.

You have greatly sinned in doing so, since it is a sin to do others harm while it is meritorious to promote public good. Hence it behoves an enlightened man to conduct himself properly and help the ignorant to cross the ocean of misery. He should not act like a fool. On the contrary, he should act in such a manner as would help him as well as others to make some progress everyday.

. Q. – We do not believe that any book is revealed by God or contains nothing but truth, since no man is infallible, all books made by him must be fallible. Hence we accept truth from all quarters and reject untruth. Truth, be that in the Veda, the Bible or the Qoran, is acceptable to us but not untruth found in any book.

~ That which helps you to embrace truth, will also cause you to accept untruth. When all men are fallible, you being men cannot be otherwise. Consequently whatever you say or write cannot be altogether true, hence you cannot be entirely depended upon. This being the case, your beliefs deserve to be rejected like the food which is mixed with poison. No one can, therefore, accept your sacred book as authoritative.

You are no more omniscient than others, hence occasionally you would, through error of judgment, be liable to reject a truth and accept an untruth. It, therefore, behoves us all, whose nature and knowledge ar finite, to lean on the Word of the Infinite, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Supreme Spirit as we have state in the th Chapter of this book which treats of the Vedas as revealed books.

You should also believe the same otherwise the proverb “Lost on one side as well as on the other” will be applicable to you. When truth and nothing but truth is to be found in the Vedas, you do yourselves as well a others harm in hesitating to accept them (as the Supreme Authority in the ascertainment of truth). This is the reason that the people of this country (Aryavarta) do not look upon you as their own (flesh and blood). You not been of

help in the advancement of your country as you beg from door to door, i.e., have borrowed a few religious beliefs (truths) from the Mohammedans, and a few others from the Christians and so on. You think that by doing so you will be able to do good to yourselves as well as to others, but that you will never be able to do. Just as if the parents of a child were to take upon themselves to nurse all the children in the world, it will be impossible for them to succeed in it, on the contrary, they will lose even their own children ) i.e., their own children will die from want of care), the same is true of you.

Now how can you test the truth or error of your beliefs or bring about the advancement of your country without accepting the Vedas an the Shaastras as the Supreme authority. You have no remedy for the disease this country is afflicted with. The Europeans do not care for you, whilst the natives of this country look upon you as followers of an alien religion.

Even now it is not too late for you to recognize your mistake and further the cause of your country with the help of the Vedas and other true Shaastras. When you hold that all truths come from God, why don’t you then, accept the truths embodied in the Vedas revealed to the sages by God? Since you have neither read the Vedas nor have any desire to do so, how can you profit by the knowledge embodied in them?

. You believe in the creation of the world without a material cause and also that the soul was created just as the Christians and the Mohammedans do. We have discussed this subject in the th and th Chapters of this book and shown therein that this position is quite untenable. It is altogether impossible for an effect to come into being without a cause and it is equally impossible for a created object not to cease to exist.

The fallacies of Forgiveness of sins.

. Another objection against your faith is that you believe in the forgiveness of sins through prayer and repentance. This doctrine is responsible for the increase of sin in this world. For, according to the Pauranics (Hindus) a man can get rid of his sins by making a pilgrimage to holy places, according to the Jainees by muttering the mantras called Navakaar and making pilgrimage (to sacred places), according to the Christians by (believing) in Christ, and according to the Mohammedans by saying ‘I repent’. There being nothing in these faiths do deter people from the commission of sins, the tendency towards sinful life has greatly increased. You

are quite like the Pauranics in this respect. Had you read the Vedas or heard them being read, you would have known that no sin can be remitted till one has suffered for it. This would have deterred you from sinning and cause you to tread the path of righteousness. If one could be freed of his sins without having previously suffered for them, God would stand guilty of being unjust.

. You believe in the eternal progress of the soul. Now, this belief is altogether untenable, since the finite nature, attributes, and actions of the soul can only produce finite results.

– God being Merciful can award infinite merit for finite actions
~ Should he do so His justice will be destroyed. Besides, no one will make any progress in the practice of virtue, because even a few good works will suffice to produce infinite results. Such doctrines as the forgiveness of sins, however numerous, through repentance and prayer lead to the increase of sin and decay of virtue.

Can language evolve by instinctive knowledge?

– We believe that the instinctive knowledge is even superior to the Vedas, had there been not instinctive knowledge given to us by God how could we have learnt the Vedas and taught them to others? Hence our faith is very good.
~ This is all nonsense. The knowledge given by another cannot be called instinctive. What is instinctive is natural, it can neither increase or decrease nor can it help any one to make any progress, since the savages also possess this instinctive knowledge and yet they have not made any progress. The acquired knowledge alone is the cause of progress.

Now, mark you! All of us during our childhood did not possess accurate knowledge of right and wrong, virtue and vice, but after having studied under our learned teachers, we were enabled to distinguish between right and wrong, virtue and vice. Hence it is wrong to hold that instinctive knowledge is all-sufficient.

Disbelief in the pre-existence of the soul.

. You must have copied the Christians and the Mohammedans in your disbelief in the pre-existence of the soul and its re-birth (after death). For a full discussion of the subject the th Chapter of this book may be consulted, wherein we have refuted various objections urged against this doctrine (of metampsychosis). You should understand that the soul is eternal (beginningless and endless), its actions also must be eternal like the flow of a river.* the doer and the deed are eternally related to each other

* See Chapter for an explanation of the expression eternal like the flow of a river. -Tr.

(i.e., the relation between the doer and the deed is indissoluble). Was the soul, then, sitting idle before its present birth or will it remain idle after death? If your belief be pushed to its logical conclusions, it will end in showing hat even God (will be) idle (after the present Creation). Disbelief in the previous existence of the soul and its rebirth after death attributes to God the injustice of conferring benefits or inflicting suffering for deeds never done and of depriving the soul of the fruits – pleasure or pain – of its labor, respectively.

For, if there were not re-birth of the soul after death, all the deeds done in this life will bear no fruit (be lost) since the fruits of virtuous or sinful acts done in this life cannot be reaped till the soul is re-embodied. And, again, how can it be consistent with justice of God to bestow no previous life (and, there fore had not done any deeds to merit reward or punishment).

If it were otherwise, i.e., if the pleasure or pain in this life be not awarded in accordance with one’s deeds done during his previous life, God will be guilty of injustice and besides, the deeds done in this life will go un-awarded (as the soul will not be re-embodied). Therefore, it is not right not to believe in the doctrine of metampsychosis.

. it is also wrong on your part not to believe in other devas, such as those objects that possess useful and brilliant qualities or learned men, besides God, because God is called Mahaadeva ( or the Lord of all devas). How would he have been called Mahaadeva had there been no devas.

. It is also not good of you not to regard the performance of homa and other useful acts that promote public good, as duties incumbent on every individual.

. It is also not right on your part not to feel grateful to the sages and seers of your who have conferred so many benefits on mankind and, instead, incline so much towards Christ, etc.

. The belief that the various kinds of knowledge, science and philosophy – the effect- came into existence without the help of the Vedas, the source of all light and knowledge – the cause – is altogether untenable.

. it is also absurd to do away with the Yajnopavita (the sacred thread) and Shikha – (the symbolic tuft of hair on the

scalp – signs of learning that distinguish the literate twice-born Classes from the illiterate shudras – and become like the Mohammedans and the Christians – when you dress in English clothes to look respectable and educated, and seek medals, etc. Has the Yajnopavita and Shikha become too cumbersome for you?

. There have many good and learned men since the time of Brahma. You never say a word in their praise, while you are never tired of singing the praises of the Europeans. Now, what would you call it but flattery and prejudice?

. It is self-contradictory to believe that the soul was the result of the inanimate with the animate, just s a sprout comes out as the result of the union of the seed with soil, to deny its existence before it was created and then to say that, though created, it shall never cease to exist.

If there was nothing, animate or inanimate, besides God, before Creation, where did the soul come from? Whose union took place (which resulted in the production of the soul)? Of Course, it will be alright if you were to believe that the soul and matter are eternal (beginningless). But this will go against your belief that, before the Creation of the world, nothing but God existed.

Hence if you are anxious for the advancement of your country, you would do well to join the Arya Samaj and conduct yourselves in accordance with its aims and objects. Otherwise, you (will simply waste your lives) and gain nothing in the end. It behoves us all to lovingly devote ourselves with all our heart, with all our wealth, and aye even with our lives, to the good of our country, the land of our birth, the land of the products of which we have lived, the land which sustains us still and will continue to do so in the future.

No other Samaj or Society can equal the Arya Samaj in its power to raise Aryavarta. It will be a very good thing, indeed, if you would all help this Samaj, as the capability of a Samaj or society to do good depends not, on any single individual but on all the members that support it.

Are all religions good and therefore, not deserving of criticism?

– You have all along been refuting everybody. All religions are good, hence it is not good to criticize anyone (of them). Why do you tell us this is better than what others teach. Even if you do, has there been no one equal to you or greater than you? It does not become you to so vain. In this universe,

created by God, there are men of all grades. Let no one, therefore, harbor conceit

~ Does the same Dharma (religion) hold good for all? If you say no, we ask, are the different religions opposed to each other or otherwise? If you answer they are opposed to one another, one of them can only be true, but if you aver that they are in harmony with each other, it is useless to have different names. If follows, therefore, the same dharma (religiona) and adharma (irreligion) hold good for all. This what we teach differently from others.

If an Emperor were to make a list of all the different religions (extant in the world) they would not be less than one thousand but the chief among them are only four in number. Viz., the Pauranic (Hindu), the Christian, the Jain (or the Buddhistic) and the Mohammedan. All other sects are included in these four. If he should not turn an inquirer after truth and ask a Vaama Margi “Reverend Sir! I have never had a preceptor before, nor embraced any religion yet. Tell me, pray, which you think is the best religion in the world, so that I should embrace it.”

Vama -Our religion is the best.

Inquirer ~ What do you think of the remaining nine hundred and ninety-nine?

Vama – They are all false and lead their followers to hell. It is also written “There is no religion higher than the Vama Marg.”

Inquirer ~ What is your religion?

Vama – If consists in believing in the Goddess Bhavati, in using five things beginning with the letter M, such as Mans (meat), Madira (wine), etc., and holding the Tantras, such as Rudrayamal, etc., as sacred books. If you want to be saved, embrace our faith and become our disciple.

Inquirer ~ Alright, I will see other holy men as well and make inquiries about their religion. I will, afterwards, embrace the religion is which I have the greatest faith and for which I feel the greatest love.

Vama – O My good man! Why are you in doubt! These people will mislead and ensnare you into their nets. Don’t you go to any other religionist, take refuge in our faith or you will repent. Mark you! Our faith holds out the prospect of enjoyment of sensual pleasures as well as the hope of salvation.

Inquirer ~ Well, anyhow I will inquire into this question (from others).

He, then, went to a Shivite and put him the same question as he had done to the Vama Margi who gave him the same sort of answer as latter had done, with this addition that, without believing in Shiva wearing Rudraksha and smearing the body with ashes and worshipping phallus, no one could be saved. He left the Shivite and went to a Neo-Vedantis and addressed him thus, “Tell me, O reverend Sir! What is your Dharma?”

Neo-Vedantist – we do not believe in religion or irreligion. We believe ourselves to be God, we cannot be affected by religion or irreligion. The whole world is an illusion. Shouldest thou desire to be possessed of true wisdom and pure consciousness, get it out of thy mind that thou are soul, believe thyself to be Brahma and thou shalt be saved forever.

Inquirer ~ If your are Brahma (God), Who is Eternally-free, why don’t you possess the nature, attributes and characteristics of Brahma, and why are you imprisoned in this (human) body?

– Thou seest the body while I don’t. This is because thou art in ignorance. We see nothing but Brahma.

Inquirer ~ Who are you that see, and whom do you see?

– It is Brahma that sees and Brahma sees Brahma.

Inquirer ~ Are there two Brahmas, then?

– No, Brahma sees His Ownself.

Inquirer ~ Can anyone stand on his own shoulders? There is no sense in what you say. You talk like a mad man.

He, then, went further and inquired from Jainees what they thought was the true religion. They answered the same fashion as the other three had done but with this addition that ” All other religions but the Jain, are false. There is no eternal God, the Maker of this world. The world has been eternally existing as it is and will continue to exist forever. Come, become our disciple, since, we are good in all respects, and all our doctrines are true. All faiths except the Jain are false.”

Then he proceeded further and put the same question to Christian as he had done to others, who answered him in the same strain as the Vama Margi, but with this addition that “All men are sinners, and cannot free themselves from sin by their own exertions. No one can be saved until he has been purified through faith in Christ who revealed

(his infinite) mercy by sacrificing his life by way of atonement for the sins of mankind. Come and become a Christian.” Having heard this, he went to a Maulvi (Mohammedan priest) and asked him the same question. He gave him the same answer as others had done, with this addition that, “No one could obtain salvation without believe in One God Incomparable without a second, His prophet and the Holy Qoran. Whosever refused to believe in this religion would go to hell. He was an infidel and deserved to be put to the sword.”

He, then, went to a Vaishnavite andhad the same sort of conversation with him who also added that even Yamaraj (king of death) “trembles with fear at the sight of our tilak* and chhap.”** The inquirer thought in his mind: “Well, if these things had no terror for mosquitoes, police constables, thieves and robbers, and one’s enemies, who should the messengers of death fear them?” As he went further he found that every religionist called his own religion the best and the truest.

One said that his religious teacher Kabir was a true prophet. Another said our Guru Nanak was the greatest teacher. Another said that Ballabhu was the greatest among men, he was God incarnate whilst others said the same of Sahjanand and Madhava, etc.

Having questioned all those thousand religionists and found that they were all opposed to each other, he came to the conclusion that there was not one among them whose religion he could embrace as there were witnesses against everyone of them (who could swear that he was wrong). They were no better than the lying shopkeepers, prostitutes, and buffoons who bragged about their own commodities (at the expense of others) and cried down others. Then he thought of those verses of the Upanishad which say,:- “Let a seeker after truth, the, repair to a preceptor well versed in the Vedas, who has realized God, with a suitable present in his hands (and avoid the snares of hypocrites). He should initiate such an inquirer as is possessed of self-control, contentment and tranquility of mind, into the truly divine science, – which treats of the nature, attributes and characteristics of God – and do all in his power to teach him what means he should adopt to learn the true nature of righteousness, wealth, legitimate desires, emancipation and God.” MUNDAKA !: ii, , .

When he met such a man he addressed him thus, “O Reverend Sir! My mind is greatly perplexed by the wrangling of these

* A mark made on the forehead. ** Marks of having been branded with red-hot iron. -Tr.

various sects. Should I become the follower of one of these, I shall make the remaining my enemies. How can one be happy who has enemies and only one friend? Teach me, Sir, what I should accept.”

The true teacher. ~ All these religions are the product of ignorance. They are the enemies of knowledge, mislead the ignorant, the foolish and the unenlightened and ensnare them into their nets, and thereby gain their selfish ends; these poor, ignorant people miss the object of their lives and waste them. In whatever they agree with each other, know that to be the Vedic religion worthy of being accepted, but in whatever the all disagree, know that to be wrong, false, sinful and unacceptable.

Inquirer. – How am I to test what you say?

The true teacher. ~ You go and ask them all the following questions,* they will be unanimous in their answers.

There upon the seeker after truth went to the assembly of , religionists and said with aloud voice, “All you people! Lend me your ears. Tell me pray, whether it is dharma (right) to speak the truth or otherwise.” They all answered with one voice, “It is right (dharma) to speak the truth and wrong (adharma) to tell a lie.”

Similarly, on being questioned they declared unanimously that Dharma (true religion) consisted in acquiring knowledge, controlling the sensual passions, marrying in the full bloom of life, associating with te good, cultivating active habits and being honest in dealings with others, whilst it was irreligion to remain ignorant, become a slave of the senses, commit adultery, keep bad company, be dishonest in dealings, practice fraud and hypocrisy, bear malice and do harm to others.

Thereupon he asked them, “Why don’t you agree in this manner and advance the cause of true religion and eradicate false religions.” They replied, “Should we do so, who will care for us. Our disciples will leave us, won’t obey us, we shall lose our

* These questions are the same as the inquirer puts to religionists in the next paragraph.-Tr.

livelihood. We are now enjoying ourselves, all this enjoyment will be lost to us, therefore even when we know what true religion is, we continue to teach our false, sectarian religions and refuse to abjure falsehood and embrace the true religion, acting on the proverb ‘Cheat the world with your cunning and enjoy yourself.”

Look here! It is like this. No one in this world gives anything to a man who is honest and true, nor does anybody care for him. But that resorts to hypocrisy and fraud lives in plenty.”

-~ Why does not the king punish you for swindling others by means of fraudulent practices?
– We have made even the king our disciple. So you see, our arrangements are perfect. None shall escape us.
~ You rob others through fraud and thereby injure them, what answer will you give to your God? You will undoubtedly fall into an awful hell. You commit such sins for enjoying yourselves for this short span of (human) life. Why can’t you give up these frauds?
– When that happens we shall see what hell we all into or what punishment God inflicts on us, when we do not take anything from others by force, the people give us wealth of their own free-will.

. ~ You are just as punishable as a man who robs a child by coaxing him, for it is said, “He who is ignorant is a child. He who is wise, is called a father or an old man.” Whosoever is leaned and wise does not fall into your snares but the ignorant who are like children fall as easy prey to your trickery and fraud. You ought to be punishable by law for defrauding them.

-Who can punish us when both the ruler and the ruled are our followers. When our profession is made punishable by law, we will change our program, and make a different one.
~ You now sit idle and swindle others, would it not be to your good as well as to that of the house-holders if you would pass your time in acquiring knowledge and teaching their children?
– Why should we give up life-long pleasures, pass our childhood and youth in acquiring knowledge and the rest of our lives in teaching and preaching? What shall we gain by it. We can now get hundreds and thousands of rupees without doing any

thing, live in ease and comfort and enjoy ourselves, why should we give up this easy life?

~ But it has awful consequences. You are afflicted with terrible diseases, die young, are looked down by the wise and you don’t understand.
– Friend! You are a mere child yet and do not understand the world. Nothing can be done without money, no religion can exist without money, no good works can be performed without money. He who had no money always talks of money, looks at the good things of (this world) with avidity and sighs.

All men hear of the Indivisible, All-powerful, Beings described as possessed of powers, but no one has seen Him. On the other hand, the Rupee of annas* is the real and visible God, hence it is that everyone is engaged in the pursuit of making money, since all things can be accomplished with the help of money.

~At last, the cat is out of the bag and we know you in your true colors. All this fraud that you have set up is for your selfish gain, but tends to ruin the world. Just as the preaching of truth benefits the world. Just as the preaching of truth benefits the world, so does the teaching o untruth injure it. When what you want is only wealth, why don’t you engage yourselves in trade and make your pile.
– But, then, we shall have to work hard and run some risks of loss as well, while now in our present trade it is all profit and no loss. Now, mark! We make nectar water and give a few drops of it to a man, tie a string of beads round his neck (make him our chela) or disciple. He is like a beast of burden for us as long as he lives. We can, then, drive him about as we like.
~ What do these people give you all this money for?

* an Anna is equal to a penny.

~ When you are not yourselves saved, nor know the nature of salvation, not the way to attain it, what would they get who serve you?

R.- Is the reward for service ever to be got in this world? No, Sir! They are compensated for it (in the next world). Their reward will be commensurate with their services (to us) here.

~ Whether they will get anything in return for their services or not (is rather doubtful), what I should like to know is what will you, who accept their services (and money, etc.) get? Hell or something else?
– We devote ourselves to prayers, we shall gain happiness in consequence thereof.
~ All your prayers are for gold which will all be left here after death, and even the lump of flesh (i.e., human bodies) which you nourish so fondly will be (cremated) and reduced to ashes and remain here. Had you worshipped God (instead of Mammon) your hearts would have been pure.
-Are we impure then?
~ Your hearts are very impure, indeed.
– How do you know that?
~ From you conduct and dealings (with others).
– The conduct of great men is like the teeth of an elephant. He has one set of teeth to eat with whilst another set (tusks) for show. In like manner, we are pure at heart but outwardly we resort to these (fraudulent) practices by way of division.
~ Had you been pure at heart, you would have been upright in dealings with others. But you are not so, hence you have very dirty interior.
– We may be anything but our followers at least are good.
~ Like masters, like pupils.

R.- There can never be one religion for all mankind, for people differ so much in their nature, temperaments and characteristics.

~ If all were educated alike in childhood and would practice dharma (righteousness) such as truthfulness in speech, and abhor

adharma (unrighteousness) such a untruthfulness in speech, they would all certainly be of one religion. It is true though that there will always be two kinds of men, viz., righteous and unrighteous. But that does matter. As long as the righteous outnumber the unrighteous, there is happiness in the world, but when the unrighteous preponderate, suffering and misery increase. Were all good and learned men to teach alike, there will be one religion among all men in no time.

– It is the Kaliyuga (Iron age) now. Don’t you expect things of the Satyuga (Golden age) in this age.
~ Kaliyuga is the name of a period of time. Time is actionless. It cannot be a factor in the causation of righteousness or unrighteousness. You yourselves are the incarnations of Kaliyuga. Virtue and vice in men are not natural but the result of the influence of association (education), and environment, etc.)

Having said this, he went to the A’pta (the true teacher) and addressed him thus: O Reverend Sir! You have, indeed saved me, otherwise I should have fallen into the snares of one of these sects and ruin myself. Now I will expose the fraud of these hypocrites and preach the true religion of the Vedas.”

The true teacher. ~ This is, indeed, the duty of all men, especially of leaned men and Sanyasis, to teach all men how to defend truth and refute untruth and thus, by the preaching of truth, promote public good.

More on today’s Brahmacharis and Sanyasis.

– Are the Brahmacharis and Sanyasis (of today) good?
~! These two Orders are good in principle, but there is a great deal of hypocrisy rampant even among them now-a-days. There are many among them who assume the name of Brahmachari, grow long-matted hair, pretend to possess wonderful powers, but are engrossed in muttering the name of some deity and in rituals.

They never even take the name of studying. They do not at all exert themselves for the study of that Brahma – Veda – which gives them the name of Brahmachari. All these Brahmacharis are as useless as the teats (loose flesh) hanging from the neck of a goat. There are also any number of Sanyasis who are destitute of knowledge, and carry staffs and water-gourds – symbols of hteir Order – with them, but do nothing to further the cause of the Vedic religion. Such men generally enter into Sanyas when they

are quite young, leave off their studies and wander about begging from place to place. Such Brahmacharis and Sanyasis waste their time visiting sacred places (such as rivers, hills, temples, etc.), and stone images, and paying homage to them, do not preach even when they are well-versed in learning, and find hypocrisy and false practices rampant in the land, eat and drink and live in ease (not caring a brass farthing for their country). They are engrossed in their little jealousies and feuds, revile each other and conduct themselves improperly (in various other ways). It is thus that they pass their time.

They seem to think that they have done their duty simply by wearing ochre- colored garments and carrying their staffs and water-gourds, believe themselves to be superior to all, never do any good works. Such sanyasis live useless lives in this world. Of course, those among them who are engaged in altruistic works are alright.

Pantheism

– Are the girls, the Puris and the Bhartis and other Gosaeens good? The go about in groups, help thousands of Sadhus to enjoy themselves, preach Vedanta (pantheism) wherever they go, and read and teach a little, therefore, they must be very good people, indeed.
~ All these ten names such as Giri, Puri, etc., are not ancient but of recent origin. They form themselves into groups for the sake of getting good food. There are plenty of Sadhus who join these companies for good only. They practice a great deal of hypocrisy as well.

For instance, they make one of their company their Mahant (religious superior) who is also their head man. Every evening he sits on a raised cushioned seat, all the Sadhus and Brahmans stand up before him with followers in their hands, read such couplets as “Unto Narayana, Padammbha, Vasishtha Shakti, his son Parashar, Vyaasa, Shuka, and the great Gaurpada,” and the shout Hara Hara (God, God), shower flowers on him and prostrate themselves before him.

Whosoever does not want to do it, finds it hard even to live among them. They practice all this hypocrisy for mere show so that they may get a name for holiness in the world, and thereby obtain plenty of money to enjoy themselves. There are nay number of abbots, (heads of convents or sacred places) who, though married, pride themselves on being Sanyasis. They do nothing (useful). They

never perform the duties of Sanyasis (Vide Chapter ) and simply waste their time. They even oppose one who gives them good advice. Mostly these people smear their bodies with ashes and wear Rudraksha. Some of them are proud of belonging to the Shaiv sect. In religious discussions they advocate Shaivism as taught by Shankarcharya and refute Chakrankitism. They never engage in advocating the Vedic religion nor in refuting false faiths.

These Sanyasis hold that they have nothing to do with the advocacy of truth or the refutation of untruth, because they are great souls. Such people are a mere burden to the community.

No wonder then that religions and sects opposed to the Vedas, such as the Vama Marg, the Christianity and Mohammedanism have multiplied and are still on the increase while they (i.e., the followers of the Vedic religion) themselves are being decimated and yet their eyes won’t open, but how is it possible when there is no zeal in their hearts for promoting public good and doing their duties.

These people set a higher value on their dinner than on anything else, are very much afraid of the censure of the world. Sanyasis are enjoined to abjure love of public applause, love of wealth and sensual enjoyments and love of kith and kin and disciples. How can they be called Sanyasis when they have not been able to renounce these passions?

It is the paramount duty of a Sanyasi to devote himself day and night to the promotion of the good and happiness of the world by impartial preaching of the Vedic religion. It is useless for them to call themselves Sanyasis as long as they do not dos the duties obligatory on their Order. It is only when the Sanyasis devote themselves to the promotion of public good more earnestly than do the householders, actuated by self-interest, to their own affairs, that all Orders remain progressive.

Mark you, false faiths are increasing before your very eyes, the people are even turning Christians and Mohammedans, you do not make the least effort to protect your own people and convert others to your faith (i.e., the Vedic religion)?You could do it only if you had a mind (to do it). As long as you Sanyasis do not improve yourselves, the inhabitants of Aryavarta and other countries will not make any real progress.

A country makes genuine progress only when the causes of advancement such as the study and teaching of the Vedas and other true Shastras, the keeping of Brahmacharya and other Orders in good condition, and the preaching of truth, are in operation. Bear (you Sanyasis) in mind, there are many false and hypocritical

practices in vogue which you really know to be such. For instance, a Sadhu with trading propensities declares himself to be a saint (Sidha). He claims to possess miraculous powers such as making the childless women bear children. On hearing this many women go to him and, with folded palms, pray for sons. The fraud of a saint blesses them all saying, “You shall bear sons.”

Whosoever among them bears a son, attributers this happy even to the blessing of our Saint. Poor woman! What answer will she make if she were asked: “By whose blessing did pigs, donkeys, bitches and hens get their little ones? There are others who declare that they can bring the dead to life. The ignorant believe it to be true. Now, why should these people themselves die if they possessed the power they pretend to. There are other rascals, again, who invent such cunning devices to deceive the cleverest.

Take, for instance, the thugs of Dhanasari. They got to them looks robust and is of a taking appearance is appointed their ring-leader. Henceforth, he is a Sidha (saint). They place him in a sequestered place outside a rich town or village and themselves go into the town and ask everyone who comes across their way if he has seen or hear of such and such Mahatma (Saint). They are asked, “Who and of what kind is that Mahatama?”

They answer, “He is a great Saint. He can tell what passes in you mind. Whatever he say s comes to pass. He is the king of young is we have left our hearths and homes in his quest. We heard from some one that he had come this way.” The house-holder rejoins: “When you happen to meet that Saint, please do not fail to inform me also of it. I shall also have the pleasure of seeing him and questioning him about my heart’s desires.”

All day long they repeat the same story to anyone who meets them. At night they all assemble together at the Rendezvo us, eat and drink together and sleep in the same place. They get up in the morning and all the four accomplices of our Saint again go into the town and repeat the same story. This goes on for two or three days. Then they go to a rich man and tell him that they have found a Saint and if he has a desire to see him they could take him to him. When he is about to accompany them, they ask him what he wants to inquire (from the saint). He says, that he wants to have a son or wealth to be cured of some disease or to overcome his

enemy. They then take him to our Saint and seat him according to the understanding arrived at between the Saint and his accomplices. Thus if the visitor be desirous of getting wealth, they seat him on the right of our Saint, if of a son in front of him, if of getting cured of some disease on his left, if of overcoming his enemy, they bring him from behind and seat him among those who are in front.

The instant the visitor salutes him, our Saint, proud of his powers, cries out with a loud voice, “do I keep sons in store here that thou hast come with the desire of getting a son,” or “Do I keep bags full of God here that thou hast come with the desire of getting wealth.

Mendicants never have wealth,” or “Am I a doctor that I should cure thee. Go thou to a doctor.” These rogues have also certain signs by means of which they indicate to the Saint what relation the sick man bears to the visitor; for instance, if it be this father, one of the accomplices raises his thumb, if his mother, index finger, if his brother, middle finger, if his wife, ring-finger, if his daughter, little finger; and therefore our Saint, can at once tell if his father, mother, brother wife or daughter is ill.

The visitor is quite captivated by these answers. The scoundrels say to him, “Is not he what we told you?” the visitor replies, “yes, he is the same a you told me, you have done me a great favor. I am, indeed, very lucky to have had the pleasure of seeing him.” Thereupon the rogues say, “Look here, brother, this Saint is his own master. He is not likely to say here for long. If you want to have his blessing, serve him with all your heart and soul and wealth because it is said, “It is service that bears fruit. Should he get pleased with anyone, who knows what blessing he may give him as the old proverb says: Most inscrutable are the ways of Saints!”

The visitor having heard such soft and soapy words is highly pleased and wends his way back home praising the Saint. The swindlers also go with him, lest anyone should expose their fraud. He also praises our Saint before his friends oar other people who happen to meet him on the way. By and by, the news spreads all over the town and then there is a great halloobaloo.

Everyone is heard to say, “A great Saint ahs come and put up at such and such a place, let God to see him.” When people go there and put questions to the Saint as to what their heart-felt desires agree, all order being lost he does not answer any question and remains quite silent except that he says, “Pray don’t tease me.” Thereupon all his accomplices begin to say, “If you tease him any more,

he will go away.” Sometimes a very rich man in the crowd takes one of the accomplices to one side and says, “Let the Saint tell me what passes in my mind and I shall believe him to be a true one.” The swindler asks him what it is, the rich man tells him what his desire is; and the swindler, then, takes him an seats him according to the above understanding. The Saint at once tells him what his desire is.

The whole crowd hears his answer, it is in the mouth of everyone that he is indeed a very great Saint. Everyone brings an offering according to his position, such a sweets, copper, silver, gold, cloth and flour, etc. the swindlers fleece them as long a the presents keep pouring in.

Some times our Saint can come across one or two such men as have such men as have ‘more money than brains’, who pay him a thousand rupees or so in return for which he gives them a pinch of ashes and his blessing for a son in the following words: “If thy devotion be true, thou shalt get a son”.

There are many such thugs who can only be found out by the men of intelligence and enlightenment. The study of the Vedas and association with the good and the learned enables one to escape the clutches of such swindlers since the true visual organ of man is knowledge. Without education and culture, there can be not enlightenment.

They alone are entitled to be called men and scholars who receive good education and training in early life, whilst those who live in bad company, become wicked and sinful, remain most foolish and thereby suffer terribly. Hence it is declared that knowledge is the highest thing in the world. Whosoever knows believes.

It is said: “Whosoever does not know the merits or the properties of an object always runs it down just as a Bhil rejects the beautifully- fragrant Gunja flowers and, instead, wears a garland of Gajamuktas. In like manner, he alone, who is learned, wise, and virtuous and associates with the good, is a Yogi, is studious, energetic, possesses self-control and is gentle, reaps the fourfold fruit of human life, viz., practice of righteousness, acquisition of wealth, gratification of legitimate desires, and attainment of salvation and thereby lives in happiness here in this world as well as in the life to come.

We have thus briefly discussed the religions of the people of India (Aryavarta). We shall now publish, for the information of all, a brief history that we have come across of the Arya kings.

We give a list of the Arya kings of Aryavarrta which includes all the rulers from the Emperor Yudhishthir to the Emperor Yashapal. The history of the Aryan Emperors of India from Swaymbhava to Yudhishthir is given in such books as the Mahaabhaarata. The reader will get an idea of the history of the Aryan Rulers from Yudhishthir downwards.

This is a translation of what appeared in the fortnightly, called Hari Chandrika, and Mohan Chandrika issued from Shrinathdwara at Chittore, the capital of Udypur State in Rajputana.

It will, indeed, greatly benefit the country if the Arya people (i.e., the natives of India) will make a continue search for books on ancient history (of India) will make a continued search for books on ancient history (of India) and on other branches of knowledge and publish them. The Editor of the said fortnightly got a book in manuscript written in Vikama ( A.D.) from a friend of his and published a brief summary of the Aryan Emperors in the two issues of his Journal, Nos. and , in the year Vikrama ( A.D.) which is given below:-

Genealogy of the Aryan Emperors of Aryavarta (India).

The Aryas ruled in Indraprastha (Modern Delhi) from the time of the Emperor Yudhistir down to that of the Emperor Yashpal. The total number of the Rulers is about , the period covered by their rule , years, months and days. Its detail is as follows:- About Emperors belonging to the House of Yudhishthir ruled in Indraprastha collectively for , years, months and days. Its detail is as follows:-

The Prime Minister Vishrava killed his Emperor Kshemaka and began to rule himself in his place. Fourteen Emperors belonged to his House who ruled collectively in Indraprastha for years, months, and days, thus:-

The Prime Minister Viramaha killed his Emperor Virasalasena and began to reign in his place. Sixteen Emperors of his House ruled (in Indraprastha) collectively for years, months and days, thus:-

King Dhanadhara of Prayaag (Allahabad) killed Emperor A’dityaketu of Maghda and began to reign in his place. Nine kings of his House ruled for years, months and days, thus:-

Vikramapala led an expedition against Malukh Chnnd Bohara, King of the West (India), and fought a battle with him in an open field and was killed at the hand of Malukh Chand who

Arilaka . Swarga (Heaven) is the enjoyment of extreme happiness and the attainment of the means thereof.

. Narka (Hell) is another name for undergoing extreme suffering and possession of the means thereof.

. Janma (birth), which consists in the soul’s assumption of the gross, visible body, viewed in relation to time is three-fold, viz., past, present and future.

. Birth is another name for the union of the soul with the body, and death is the dissolution of the link.

. Niyoga is the temporary union of a person with another of the opposite sex, both parties may belong to the same Class or the male may belong to a Class higher, for the raising of issue, when marriage has failed to fulfil its legitimate purpose. It is resorted to In extreme cases, either on the death of one’s consort, or when protracted disease has destroyed reproductive power in the husband or in the wife.

Rajapala . Stuti (Glorification) consists in praising Divine attributes and powers or in hearing them being praised, with the view to fix them in our mind and realize their meaning. Among other things it inspires us with love towards God.

. Praarthanaa (Prayer) is praying to God, after one has done his utmost, for the gift of highest knowledge and similar (other blessings) which result from union with Him. It creates humility, etc., (in the mind of the devotee).

. Upaasanaa (Communion) consists in conforming ourselves, as far as possible, in purity and holiness to the Divine Spirit, and in feeling the presence of the Deity in our heart by the realization of His All-pervading nature through the practice of Yoga which enables one to have Direct cognition of God. Upaasanaa serves to extend the bounds of our knowledge.

. Sagun Stuti consists in praising God as possessed of specific attributes which are inherent in Him; while Nirgun Stuti consists in praising God as devoid of attributes which are foreign to His nature.

Samanta Mahapal killed the Emperor Rajapala and reigned for years. Raja Vikrammaditya of Avantika (Ujjain) invaded his territory and put the Emperor Mahanpala to death. He reigned

Sagun Upaasanaa consists in resigning oneself to God and His Will realizing Him as possessed of attributes that are in harmony with His nature; while Nirgun Upaasanaa consists in resigning oneself to God and His Will realizing Him as devoid of attributes that are foreign to his nature.

for years. He ws killed by a minster of King Shalivahana called Samudrapala Yogi of Paithana who began to reign in Raja Vikramaditya’s time. Sixteen kings of his House ruled collectively for years, months and days, thus:- In other words I believe what is worthy of belief in the eyes of all, such as veracity I speech; while I do not believe what is considered wrong by all, such as untruthfulness. I do not approve of the mutual wrangling of the sectaries, since they have by propagating their creeds, let the people astray and turned them each other’s enemy.

Nos. The sole aim of my life, which I have also endeavored to achieve, is thi help to put an end to this mutual wrangling, preach universal truths, bring all men into the fold of one religion whereby they may cease to hate each other and, instead, may firmly love one another, live in peace and work for their common weal.

Names of Aryan Kings May this doctrine, through the grace and help of God, and with the support of all truthful, honest and learned men who are devoted to the cause of humanity (Aptas) reach every nook and corner of this earth so that all may acquire righteousness, wealth, gratify legitimate desires and attain salvation and thereby elevate themselves and live in happiness. This alone is the chief object (of my life).

YearsA WORD TO THE WISE

Months[“Mayest Thou (AUM) O God, Who art (Mitra), Friend of all, (Varun)Holiest of all, and (Aryama) Controller of the Universe, be merciful unto us. Mayest Thou (Indra) O God Almighty, (Vrihaspati) Lord of the Universe, Support of all, endow us with knowledge and power, Mayest Thou (Vishnu) O Omnipresent and (Kurukrama) Omnipotent Being, shower Thy blessings all around us.”]

Days

Samudrapala

Chandrapala

began o reign Indraprastha (Delhi). Ten kings of his house ruled collectively for years, month and days, thus:-

Queen Padmavati (wife of Govind Chand) died childless. All her ministers unanimously plaved Hari Prem Vairagee to rule in his name. Four kings of his House ruled collectively for years and days, thus:-

* In some historical books he is called Manak Chand.

Raja Mahabahu abdicated his throne and went to live in a forest, in order to engage himself in Divine contemplation. A’dhi Sena, King of Bengal, having heard this, came to Indraprastha and took possession of the capital and began to reign there. Twelve kings of his House ruled in Indraprastha for years, months, days, this:-

Damodra Sena oppressed his nobles very much. One of them, called Dipa Singh, revolted against him and got the army to join him. He slew the Raja in a battle and began to reign himself. There were kings of his dynasty who collectively ruled for years, months and days. The detail is as follows:-

Raja Jivan Singh, for some reason, sent all his army to the North. Prithvi Raj Chauhan, King of Vairat, on hearing this, marched against him, killed him in a battle and began to reign* in Indraprastha. There were kings of his dynasty who collectively ruled for years and days; thus:-

* It is written in other works on history that Sultan shahab-ud-din Ghaur marched against Prithvi Raj and had to return home defeated several times. In the end in the year Vikrama through mutual dissensions among the supporters of the emperor Prithvi Raj, shahab-ud-din defeated Prithvi Raj, blinded him and took him back home with him and took the reins of the government of Indraprastha in his own hands. The Mohammedan rule lasted for years during which time there were altogether (Mohammedan) rulers.

**Sultan Shahab-ud-din Gauri of Ghazni iinvaded the kingdom of Raja Yashapala (defeated him) and imprisoned him in the fort of Prayaaga (Allahabad) in ( ( A.D.) and himself began to reign in Indraprastha (Delhi). The account of the reign of Kings covering the remaining period of years, month and days is given fully in many historical books, hence it has been omitted here.

In the next Chapter we shall discuss the Buddhistic or Jain religion.

END OF CHAPTER