ASIATIC RESEARCHES: Or, Transactions of the Society, instituted in Bengal, for inquiring the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature of ASIA. (Volume The 1st), 1884 (1972).
THE INTRODUCTION
“a mere man of letters, retired from the world and allotting his whole time to philosophical or literary pursuits, is a character unknown among Europeans resident in India, where every individual is a man of business in the civil or military state, and constantly occupied either in the affairs of government, in the administration of justice, in some department of revenue or commerce, or in one of the liberal professions; [confirma o ar pedantesco de auto-importância que se atribuíam os colonizadores na época de ouro do colonialismo britânico comentado por Hannah Arendt] very few hours, therefore, in the day or night, can be reserved for any study, that has no immediate connection with business, even by those who are most habituated to mental application; and it is impossible to preserve health in Bengal without regular exercise and seasonable relaxation of mind; not to insist, that, in the opinion of an illustrious Roman, ‘No one can be said to enjoy liberty, who has not sometimes the privilege of doing nothing’. All employments, however, in all countries, afford some intervals of leisure; and there is an active spirit in European minds, which no climate or situation in life can wholly repress, which justifies the ancient notion, that a change of toil is a species of rose, [?] and which seems to consider nothing done or learned, while anything remains unperformed or unknown: several Englishmen, therefore, who resided in a country, every part of which abounds in objects of curious and useful speculation, concurred in opinion, that a Society instituted at Calcutta, on the plan of those established in the principal cities of Europe, might possibly be the means of concentrating all the valuable knowledge, which might occasionally be attained in Asia, or of preserving at least many little tracts and essays, the writers of which might not think them of sufficient importance for separate publication. The ASIATIC SOCIETY was accordingly formed on the 15th of January 1784, by those Gentlemen, whose names are distinguished by asterisks in the list of Members at ehe end of this book”
“Before we proceed to give a short history of the institution, it may be proper to declare that the Society will pass no decision in their collective capacity on any point of literature or philosophy, but that the writers of such dissertations, as they shall think worthy to be published from time to time, must hold themselves individually responsible for their own opinions; a declaration, which is conformable, we believe, to the practive of similar Societies in Europe.”
Fundadores: John Hyde, William Jones, John Carnac, David Anderson, William Chambers, Francis Gladwin, Jonathan Duncan, Thomas Law, Charles Wilkins, John David Paterson, Charles Chapman, Charles Hamilton, George Hilaro Barlow.
A DISCOURSE BY WILLIAM JONES
“I may confidently foretell that an institution so likely to afford entertainment, and convey knowledge, to mankind will advance to maturity by slow, yet certain, degrees; as the Royal Society, which at first was only a meeting of a few literary friends at Oxford, rose gradually to that splendid zenith, at which a HALLEY was their secretary, and a NEWTON their president.”
“since Egypt had unquestionably an old connection with this country, if not with China, since the language and literature of the Abyssinians bear a manifest affinity to those of Asia, since the Arabian arms prevailed along the African coast of the Mediterranean, and even erected a powerful dynasty on the continent of Europe, you may not be displeased occasionally to follow the streams of Asiatic learning a little beyond its natural boundary; and, if it be necessary or convenient, that a short name or epithet be given to our society, in order to distinguish it in the world, that of Asiatic appears both classical and proper, whether we consider the place or the object of the institution, and preferable to Oriental, which is in truth a word merely relative, and though commonly used in Europe, conveys no very distinct idea.”
“You may observe that I have omitted their languages, the diversity and difficulty of which are a sad obstacle to the progress of useful knowledge”
THE SYSTEM OF INDIAN, ARABIAN AND PERSIAN LETTERS
1. A DISSERTATION ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF ASIATIC WORDS IN ROMAN LETTERS – W.J.
“even Greek modern geographers, who were too vain, perhaps, of their own language to learn any other, [eles jamais precisaram, não é que fossem arrogantes – os britânicos vêem nos outros os próprios defeitos refletidos] have so strangely disguised the proper appellations of countries, cities, and rivers in Asia that, without the guidance of the sagacious and indefatigable M. D’ANVILLE, it would have been as troublesome to follow ALEXANDER through Panjab on the Ptolomaic map of AGATHODAEMON as actually to travel over the same country in its present state of rudeness and disorder.”
“Iekad hein tenagikom dhamairna;
Iacdha Alaina alassa laula tassina. [Ibn Zaidun]
The time will soon come, when you will deliver us from all our cares: the remedy is assured, provided we have a little patience.
When Dr. HUNT of Oxford, whom I am bound to name with gratitude and veneration, together with 2 or 3 others, attempted at my request to write the same distich in Arabian characters, they all wrote it differently, and all, in my present opinion, erroneously. … This admired couplet, therefore, I have never seen in the original characters, and confess myself at a loss to render them with certainty. Both verses are translated by D’HERBELOT without attention to the grammatical points, that is, in a form which no learned Arab would give them in recitation”
“Yecady hhina tunajicum demayeruna
Yakdi alaina ‘lasay lau la taasina.
When our bosoms impart their secrets to you, anguish would almost fix our doom, if we were not mutually to console ourselves.”
“After all, the rhyme seems imperfect, and the measure irregular. Now I ask, whether such perplexities could have arisen, if D’Herbelot or his editor had formed a regular system of expressing Arabic in Roman characters, and had apprized his readers of it in his introductory dissertation?”
“Sultan AZIM = Aazem”
pronúncia X escrita nativa fidelizada
A escolha do autor é pelo segundo método de transcrição, entre os dois. Mas o segundo permanece tão ruim que ele propõe um terceiro.
Primórdios de uma lingüística como ciência!
“The Bhagawat”
“a perfect system of letters ought to contain one specific symbol for every sound used in pronouncing the language to which they belonged: in this respect the old Persian or Zend approaches to perfection; but the Arabian alphabet, which all Mohammedan nations have inconsiderately adopted, appears to me so complete for the purpose of writing Arabic, that not a letter could be added or taken away without manifest inconvenience, and the same may indubitably be said of the Devanagari system”
a mother bird flutters over her young
Os ingleses pronunciam todas essas sílabas com “a”!
a mada bãrt flãttãs ãvá râ iã
“Se cerca, se disse:
L’amico dov’è?
L’amico infelice,
Rispondi, morì!
Ah! no; sì gran duolo
Non darle per me.
Rispondi, ma solo:
Piangendo partì.”
“Italian orthography, which, of all European systems, approaches nearest to perfection.”
“Sò hwen sm énjel, bai divain camánd,
So when some angel, by divine command,
Widh raisin tempests shécs a gilti land,
With rising tempests checks (?) a guilty land,
Sch az av lét ór pél Britanya pást,
Choose …
Cálm and sirín hi draivz dhi fyúryas blást,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast,
And, plíz’d dh’almaitiz arderz tu perform,
And, pleased the almighties urges (?) to perform,
Raids in dhi hwerlwind and dairects dhi starm.
Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.”
Péssimo sistema gráfico para não-anglófonos, e no entanto ainda o utilizavam ao fim séc. XIX!
…
Artigo muito chato para ler no todo.
2. ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS – FORT WILLIAM AND BETWEEN MADRAS AND CALCUTTA – Colonel Thomas Pearse
ilegível!!!
.
.
.
9. ON THE GODS OF GREECE, ITALY AND INDIA
“it is my design, in this essay, to point out such a resemblance between the popular worship of the old Greeks and Italians, and that of the Hindus”
“From all this, if it be satisfactorily proved, we may infer a general union or affinity between the most distinguished inhabitants of the primitive world, at the time when they deviated, as they did too early deviate, from the rational adoration of the only true GOD.”
.
.
.
ASIATIC RESEARCHES: Or, Transactions of the Society, instituted in Bengal, for inquiring the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature of ASIA (Volume 8).
.
.
.
8. ON THE VEDAS, OR SACRED WRITINGS OF THE HINDUS – Colebrooke
“The Rigveda originated from fire; the Yajurveda from air; and the Samaveda from the sun.”
“The true reason why the 3 first Vedas are often mentioned without any notice of the 4th, must be sought not in their different origin and antiquity; but in the difference of their use and purport.” 3 partes: poesia, prosa e cânticos.
“But the Atharvana, not being used at the religious ceremonies above-mentioned, and containing prayers employed at lustrations, at rites conciliating the deities, and as imprecations on enemies, is essentially different from the other Vedas; as is remarked by the author of an elementary treatise on the classification of the Indian sciences.”
“each Veda consists of 2 parts, denominated the Mantras and the Brahmanas; or prayers and precepts.”
“The theology of the Indian scripture, comprehending the argumentative portion entitled Vedanta, is contained in tracts denominated Upanishads; some of which are portions of the Brahmana, properly so called”
Mantra: “to speak privately”
“The deities invoked appear, on a cursory inspection of the Veda, to be as various as the authors of the prayers addressed to them: but, according to the most ancient annotations on the Indian scripture, those numerous names of persons and things are all resolvable into different titles of 3 deities, and ultimately of one god. The Nig’hanti (or first part of the Niructa), or glossary of the Vedas, concludes with 3 lists of names of deities: the 1st comprising such as are deemed synonymous with fire; the 2nd, with air; and the 3rd with the sun. In the last part of the Niructa, which entirely relates to deities, it is twice asserted that there are but 3 gods”
“The Niructa consists of 3 parts: the 1st, a glossary as above mentioned, comprises 5 short chapters or lectures. The 2nd, entitled Naigama, or the 1st half of the Niructa, properly so called, consists of 6 long chapters; and the 3rd entitled Daivata, or 2nd half of the proper Niructa, contains 8 more.”
“The further inference, that these intend but one deity, is supported by many passages in the Veda; and is very clearly and concisely stated in the beginning of the index to the Rigveda, on the authority of the Niructa, and of the Veda itself.”
“The deities are only 3; whose places are the earth, the intermediate region and heaven: namely fire, air, and the sun. (…) and PRAJA’PATI the lord of creatures is the deity of them collectively. The syllable O’m intends every deity [bate com o texto de Hegel sobre o hinduísmo] (…) it appertains to Brahme the vast one; to Deva God; to Ad’hyatma the superintending soul. Other deities, belonging to those several regions, are portions of the 3 Gods; for they are variously named and described, on account of their different operations: but in fact there is only one deity, THE GREAT SOUL (Mahan atma). He is called the sun; for he is the soul of all beings”
“Every line is replete with allusions to mythology(*) and to the Indian notions of the divine nature and of celestial spirits.
(*) Not a mythology which avowedly exalts deified heroes (as in the Puranas); but one, which personifies the elements and planets; and which people heaven, and the world below, with various orders of beings.”
“the celebrated Gayatri: this remarkable text is repeated more than once in other Vedas”
“It may be here sufficient to observe that INDRA, or the firmament, fire, the sun, the moon, water, air, the spirits, the atmosphere and the earth, are the objects most frequently addressed”
“Who knows exactly, and who shall in this world declare, whence and why this creation took place? The gods are subsequent to the production of this world: then who can know whence it proceeded? or whence this varied world arose? or whether it uphold itself or not? He, who, in the highest heaven, is the ruler of this universe, does indeed know; but not another can possess that knowledge.”
“What was the size of that divine victim, whom all the gods sacrificed? What was his form? what the motive? the fence? the metre? the oblation? and the prayer? First was produced the Gayatri joined with fire; next the sun (Savitri) attended by Ushnih; then the splendid moon with Anushtubh, and with prayers; while Vrihati accompanied the elocution of VRIHASPATI (or the planet JUPITER). Virati was supported by the sun and by water (MITRA and VARUNA); but the middle portion of the day and Thishtubh were here the attendants of INDRA; Jagati followed all the gods: and by that universal sacrifice, sages and men were formed.”
“The 101 gods, who are the agents in the framing of the universe typified by a sacrifice, are, according to this commentator, the years of BRAHMA’s life, or his affiliations personified in the form of ANGIRAS, etc.”
“The 38th chapter (or 3rd of the 8th book) describes a supposed consecration of INDRA, when elected by the gods to be their king.”
“Thus consecrated by that great inauguration, INDRA subdued all conquerable earths, and won all worlds; he obtained, over all the gods, supremacy, transcendent rank and preeminence. Conquering, in this world below, equitable domination, happiness, sole dominion, separate authority, attainment of the supreme abode, sovereignty, mighty power, and superior rule; becoming a self-existent being and independent ruler, exempt from early dissolution; and reaching all his wishes in that celestial world; he became immortal: he became immortal.(*)
(*) In the didactic portion of the Vedas, the las term, in every chapter, is repeated to indicate its conclusion. This repetition was not preserved in a former quotation, from the necessity of varying considerably the order of the words.”
“By this great inauguration similar to INDRA’s, UDAMAYA, son of ATRI, consecrated ANGA; and, therefore, did ANGA subdue the earth completely all around, and traverse it every way, and perform a sacrifice with a horse as an offering.”
“The son of ATRI bestowed in gifts 10,000 women adorned with necklaces, all daughters of opulent persons, and brought from various countries.”
“By this great inauguration, similar to INDRA’s, DIRG’HATAMAS, son of MAMATA, consecrated BHARATA, the son of DUHSHANTA”
“On that subject too, these verses are everywhere chanted: BHARATA distributed in Mashnara a 107,000,000,000 of black elephants with white tusks, and decked with gold.”
“This great achievement of BHARATA, neither former nor later persons have equaled; the 5 classes of men have not attained his feats, any more than a mortal can reach heaven with his hands.” Com certeza essa quantidade de elefantes simultânea poderia tirar a terra de seu eixo translacional!
“ATYARATI, son of JANANTAPA, replied: When I conquer Uttaracuru, then thou shalt be king of the earth, holy man! and I will be merely thy general. SATYAHAVYA rejoined: That is the land of the gods; no mortal can subdue it: thou hast been ungrateful towards me; and therefore I resume from thee this power. Hence the king SUSHMINA, son of SIVI, destroyer of foes, slew ATYARATI, who was thus divested of vigour and deprived of strength.”
“The priest considered his answer as illusory and insulting, because Uttara Curu, being north of Meru, is the land of the gods, and cannot be conquered by men: as this ungrateful answer was a breach of his oath, the priest withdrew his power from him; and, in consequence, he was slain by the foe in the battlefield.”
“That which moves in the atmosphere is air (Brahme), around which perish 5 deities, lightning, rain, the moon, the sun and fire.”
“whenever lightning perishes, [sempre que relampejar] pronounce this prayer: May my enemy perish: may he disappear, and none know whence his soul goes. Soon, indeed, none will know.”
ENQUANTO NÓS DORMIMOS, OS INDIANOS ESTUDAM? “The observance enjoined to him who undertakes these rites is as follows: let him not sit down earlier than the foe; but stand, while he thinks him standing. Let him not lie down earlier than the foe; but sit, while he thinks him sitting. Let him not sleep earlier than the foe; but wake, while he thinks him waking. Though his enemy had a head of stone, soon does he slay him: he does slay him.”
The AITAREYA ARANYA
“§IV. Originally this was indeed SOUL only; nothing else whatsoever existed, active. HE thought, ‘I will create worlds:’ thus HE created these worlds; water, light, mortal and the waters. That ‘water’, is the above the heaven, which heaven upholds; the atmosphere comprises light; the earth is mortal; and the regions below are ‘the waters.’
HE thought, ‘these are indeed worlds; I will create guardians of worlds.’ Thus HE drew from the waters, and framed, an embodied being (Purusha).¹ (…) the mouth opened as an egg: from the mouth, speech issued; from speech, fire proceeded. The nostrils spread; from the nostrils, breath passed; from breath, air was propagated. The eyes opened: from the eyes, a glance sprung; from that glance, the sun was produced. The ears dilated: from the ears came hearkening; and from that, the regions of space. The skin expanded: from the skin, hair rose; from that, grew herbs and trees. The breast opened; from the breast, mind issued: and, from mind, the moon. The navel burst: from the navel, came deglution; from that, death. The generative organ burst: thence flowed productive seed; whence drew their origin.”
¹ Assim como sempre, homem vem do húmus, ou, falando menos nobremente, terra molhada (e isso em todas as mitologias e religiões; a Cura em Heidegger).
The ears will give me maturity; the years will bring me the sounds.
OS AQUAMEN
“Grant us a smaller size, wherein abiding we may eat food.”
HE offered them the form of a cow: they said, “that is not sufficient for us.”
HE exhibited to them a horse: they said, “neither is that sufficient for us.”
HE showed them the human form: they exclaimed: “well done! ah! wonderful!”
Therefore man alone is pronounced to be “well formed”.
HE bade them occupy their respective places. Fire becoming speech, entered the mouth. Air, becoming breath, proceeded to the nostrils. The sun, becoming sight, penetrated the eyes. Space became hearing and occupied the ears. Herbs and trees became hair and filled the skin. The moon, becoming mind, entered the breast. Death, becoming deglutition, penetrated the navel; and water became productive seed and occupied the generative organ.
Hunger and thirst addressed him, saying “Asign us our places.”
HE replied: “You I distribute among these deities; and I make you participant with them.”
Therefore is it, that to whatever deity an oblation is offered, hunger and thirst participate with him.
HE reflected, These are worlds, and regents of worlds: for them I will frame food.”
HE viewed the waters: from waters, so contemplated, form issued; and food is form, which was so produced.
Being thus framed, it turned away, and sought to flee. The primeval man endeavoured to seize it by speech; but could not attain it by his voice: had he by voice taken it, hunger would be satisfied by naming food. He attempted to catch it by his breath; but could not inhale it by breathing: had he by inhaling taken it, hunger would be satisfied by smelling food. He sought to snatch it by a glance; but could not surprise it by a look: had he seized it by the sight, hunger would be satisfied by seeing food. He attempted to catch it by hearing: but could not hold it by listening: had he caught it by hearkening, hunger would be satisfied by hearing food. He endeavoured to seize it by his skin; but could not restrain it by his touch: had he seized it by contact, hunger would be satisfied by touching food. He wished to reach it by the mind; but could not attain it by thinking: had he caught it by thought, hunger would be satisfied by meditating on food. He wanted to seize it by the generative organ, but could not so hold it: had he thus seized it, hunger would be satisfied by emission. Lastly, he endeavoured to catch it by deglutition; and thus he did swallow it: that air, which is so drawn in, seized food; and that very air is the bond of life.
HE, the universal soul, reflected: “How can this body exist without me?”
HE considered by which extremity he should penetrate.
HE thought: “If without me speech discourse, breath inhale, and sight view; if hearing hear, skin feel, and mind meditate; if deglutition swallow, and the organ of generation perform its functions; then who am I?”
Parting the suture (siman), HE penetrated by this route. That opening is called the suture (vidriti),¹(*) and is the road to beatitude (nandana).
¹ “Sutura sagital, sutura que une os dois parietais, na linha mediana da abóbada craniana.”
(*) “Mind, or the faculty of reasoning, is reckoned to be an organ of the body, situated in the heart.”
Of that soul, the places of recreation are 3; and the modes of sleep, as many: the right eye is a place of recreation; [contemplação] the throat is a situation of enjoyment; [discursar e comer] the heart is a region of delight. [volição e raciocínio]
Thus born, he discriminated the elements: “what else can I here affirm?”;
and he contemplated this person (Purusha), the vast expanse: (Brahma) “IT have I seen.”
Therefore is he named IT-SEEING (IDAM-DRA): IT-SEEING is indeed his name:
and him, being IT-SEEING, they call, by a remote appellation, INDRA;
for the gods generally delight in the concealment of their name. The gods delight in privacy.
O deus que perdeu o nome próprio, dado pelos homens, morreu. Meruem é aquele que nasce para emanar luz somente quando é batizado. Jeová era poderoso. Deus é só sua corrupção, seu macaco, imitação.
§V. This is first, in man, a fetus, or productive seed, which is the essence drawn from all the members: thus the man nourishes himself within himself. But, when he emits it into woman, he procreates that: and such is its first birth.
It becomes identified with the woman; and being such, as is her own body, it does not destroy her. She cherishes his ownself, thus received within her; and, as nurturing him, she ought to be cherished. The woman nourishes that fetus: but he previously cherished the child, and further does so after its birth. Since he supports the child before and after birth, he cherished himself: and that, for the perpetual succession of persons; for thus are these persons perpetuated. Such is his second birth.
This self becomes his representative for holy acts: and that other, having fulfilled its obligations, and completed its period of life, deceases. Departing hence, he is born again: and such is his third birth.
…
§ VI.
… All those are only various names of apprehension. But this soul, consisting in the faculty of apprehension, is BRAHMA; he is INDRA; he is PRAJAPATI, the lord of creatures; these gods are he; and so are the 5 primary elements, earth, air, the etherial fluid, water and light: these, and the same joined with minute objects and other seeds, and other produced from eggs, or born in wombs, or originating in hot moisture,(*) or springing from plants; whether horses, or kine, or men, or elephants, whatever lives, and walks or flies, or whatever is immovable: all that is the eye of intelligence. … the world is the eye of intellect; and intellect is its foundation. Intelligence is Brahma, the great one.
(*) “Vermin and insects are supposed to be generated from hot moisture.”
By this intuitive intelligent soul, the sage ascended from the present world to the blissful region of heaven; and, obtaining all his wishes, became immortal. He became immortal.
§ VII. [fim deste Upanishad] May my speech be founded on understanding; and my mind be attentive to my utterance. Be thou manifest to me, O self manifested intellect! For my sake, O speech and mind!, approach this Veda. May what I have heard, be unforgotten: day and night may I behold this, which I have studied. Let me think the reality: let me speak the truth. May it preserve me; may it preserve the teacher: me may it preserve: the teacher may it preserve; the teacher may it preserve: may it preserve the teacher.
* * *
On the CAUSHITACI
“The original of the Caushitaci was among the portions of the Veda, which SIR ROBERT CHAMBERS collected at Benares; according to a list, which he sent to me, some time before his departure from India. A fragment of an Upanishad, procured at the same place by SIR WILLIAM JONES, and given by him to MR. BLAQUIERE, is marked in his hand-writing, ‘The beginning of the Caushitaci’.” Eles consistem em diálogos de instrução.
“I shall resume the consideration of this portion of the Rigveda whenever I have the good fortune to obtain the complete text and commentary, either of the Brahmana, or of the Upanishad, which bears this title.”
On the WHITE YAJURVEDA
“The Vajasaneyi, or white Yajush, is the shortest of the Vedas; so far as respects the first and principal part, which comprehends the Mantras. The Sanhita, or collection of prayers and invocations belonging to this Veda, is comprised in 40 lectures (Adhyaya), unequally subdivided into numerous short sections (candicu [ou candica, texto muito apagado]); each of which, in general, constitutes a prayer or Mantra.”
“Though called the Yajurveda, it consists of passages, some of which are denominated Rich, while only the rest are strictly Yajush. The first are in metre: the others are either in measured prose, containing from 1 to 106 syllables; or such of them as exceed that length, are considered to be prose reducible to no measure.”
“Yajush is derived from the verb Yaj, to worship or adore. Another etymology is sometimes assigned: but this is most consistent with the subject; viz. (Yajnya) sacrifices, and (homa) oblations to fire.”
“The prayers to be used at an Aswamedha, or ceremony emblematic of the immolation of a horse and other animals, by a king ambitious of universal empire, are placed in 4 chapters from the 22nd to the 25th.”
“many passages are ascribed to the first manifested being, named PRAJAPATI, PARAMESHTHI or NARAYANA PURUSHA; some are attributed to SWAYAMBHU BRAHME, or the self-existent himself: the reputed authors of the rest are CRIHASPATI, INDRA, VARUNA and the ASWINS: except a few scattered passages, which are ascribed to VASISHTHA, VISWAMITRA, VAMEDEVA, MADHUCHANDAS, MEDHATITHI and other human authors; and some texts, for which no Rishi is specified in the index, and which are therefore assigned either to the sun (Vivaswat or Adityai), as the deity supposed to have revealed this Veda; or to YAJNYAWALCYA, as the person who received the revelation: in the same manner, as the unappropriated passages of the Rigveda are assigned to PRAJAPATI or BRAHMA.”
“Several prayers and hymns of the Yajur-Veda have been already translated in Vols. V and VII”
Moments proceeded from the effulgent person, whom none can apprehend, above, around or in the midst. Of him, whose glory is so great, there is no image: he it is, who is celebrated in various holy strains. [cantos] … he severally, and universally, remains with all persons.
HE, prior to whom nothing was born … himself a body composed of 16 members, being delighted by creation, produced the 3 luminaries, the sun, the moon and the fire.
… To what god should we offer oblations but to him …
he, who knows its 3 states, its creation, continuance and destruction, which are involved in mystery, is father of the father. That Brahma in whom the gods attain immortality, while they abide in the third or celestial region, is our venerable parent, and the providence which governs all worlds. …
Who recognizes heaven, earth and sky to be him, knowing the worlds, discovering space and the solar orb to be the same, he views that being: he becomes that being; and is identified with him, on completing the broad web of the solemn sacrifice.
…
May VARUNA grant me sapience; may INDRA and air vouchsafe me knowledge; may providence give me understanding: be this oblation happily offered!
…
Thou art samvatsara, the first year of the cycle; thou art parivatsara, the second year; thou art idavatsara, the third; thou art idvat-vatsara, the fourth year; thou art vatsara the fifth: may mornings appertain to thee; may days and nights, and fortnights, and months, and seasons, belong to thee; may samvatsara be a portion of thee: to go, or to come, contracting or expanding, thou art winged thought. Together with that deity, remain thou firm like ANGIRAS.
“I have quoted this almost unmeaning passage, because it noticed the divisions of time, which belong to the calendar of the Vedas; and which are explained in treatises on that subject annexed to the sacred volume, under the title of Jyotish. To this I shall again advert, in a subsequent part of the text now cited, that fire, as in another place, sacrifice, is identified with the year and with the cycle, by reason of the near connexion between consecrated fire and the regulation of time relative to religious rites.”
“The 2nd part of this Veda is the Madhyandina Sacha, or Satapatha Brahmana; and is much more copious than the collection of prayers. It consists of 14 books (canda) unequally distributed in 2 parts (bhaga); the 1st of which contains 10 books; and the 2nd only 4. The number of lectures (adhyaya) contained in each book varies; and so does that of the Brahmanas, or separate precepts, in each lecture. Another mode of division by chapters (Prapataca) also prevails throughout the volume: and the distinction of Brahmanas, which are again subdivided into short sections (candica) is subordinate to both modes of vision.
The 14 books, which constitute this part of the Veda, comprise 100 lectures corresponding to 68 chapters. The whole number of distinct articles, entitled Brahmana, is 440: the sections (candica) are also counted, and are stated at 7624.”
DO CARÁTER NÃO-IMOLATÓRIO E INOFENSIVO DAS CERIMÔNIAS
“The Aswamedha and Purushamedha, celebrated in the manner directed by this Veda, are not really sacrifices of horses and men. In the first mentioned ceremony, 609 animals of various prescribed kinds, domestic and wild, including birds, fish and reptiles, are made fast; the tame ones, to 21 posts; and the wild, in the intervals between the pillars: and, after certain prayers have been recited, the victims are let loose without injury. In the other 185 men of various specified tribes, characters and professions are bound to 11 posts: and, after the hymn, concerning the allegorical immolation of NARAYANA, has been recited, these human victims are liberated unhurt, and oblations of butter are made on the sacrificial fire. (…) and the interpretation is fully confirmed by the rituals, and by commentators on the Sanhita and Brahmana; one of whom assigns as the reason, ‘because the flesh of victims, which have been actually sacrificed at a Yajnya, must be eaten by the persons who offer the sacrifice: but a man cannot be allowed, much less required, to eat human flesh’. It may be hence inferred, or conjectured at least, that human sacrifices were not authorized by the Vedas itself: but were either then abrogated, and an emblematical ceremony substituted in the place; or they must have been introduced in later times, on the authority of certain Puranas or Tantras, fabricated by persons, who, in this as in other matters, established many unjustifiable practices on the foundation of emblems and allegories, which they misunderstood.”
“The horse, which is the subject of the religious ceremony called Aswamedha, is also, avowedly, an emblem of Viraj, or the primeval and universal manifested being. In the last section of the Taittiriya Yajurveda, the various parts of the horse’s body are described, as divisions of time, and portions of the universe: morning is his head; the sun, his eye; air, his breath; the moon, his ear; etc. A similar passage in the 14th book of the Satapatha brahmana describes the same allegorical horse for the meditation of such, as cannot perform an Aswamedha; and the assemblage of living animals, constituting an imaginary victim, at a real Aswamedha, equally represent the universal being, according to the doctrines of the Indian scripture. It is not, however, certain, whether this ceremony did not also give occasion to the institution of another, apparently not authorized by the Vedas, in which a horse was actually sacrificed.”
“Hence the commentators explain death to be the intellectual being who sprung from the golden mundane egg: and the passage before cited from the Rigveda, where the primeval existence of death is denied, may be easily reconciled with this, upon the Indian ideas of the periodical destruction and renovation of the world, and finally of all beings but the supreme one.”
He felt dead; and therefore man fears, when alone. But he reflected: Since nothing exists besides myself, why shoul I fear? Thus his terror departed from him; for what should he dread, since fear must be of another?
… He caused this, his own self to fall in twain; and thus became a husband and a wife.
ORIGEM DAS ESPÉCIES VERSÃO HINDU
… She reflected, doubtingly: How can he having produced me from himself, incestuously approach me? I will now assume a disguise. She became a cow; and the other became a bull, and approached her; and the issue were kine. [rebanho] She was changed into a mare, and he into a stallion; one was turned into a female ass, and the other into a male one: thus did he again approach her; and the one-hoofed kind was the offspring. She became a female goat, and he a male one; she was an wew, and he a ram: thus he approached her; [ovelhas macho e fêmea] and goats and sheep were the progeny. In this manner, did he create every existing pair whatsoever, even to the ants.
“The notion of VIRAJ dividing his own substance into male and female occurs in more than one Purana. So does that of an incestuous marriage and intercourse of the first MANU with his daughter SATARUPA: and the commentators on the Upanishad understand that legend to be alluded to in this place. But the institutes, ascribed to MANU, make VIRAJ to be issue of such a separation of persons, and MANU himself to be his offspring. There is indeed, as the reader may observe from the passages cited in the present essay, much disagreement and consequent confusion in the gradation of persons interposed by Hindu theology between the supreme being and the created world.”
It would reverse established order, were a priest to attend a soldier in expectation of religious instruction.
META-TRECHO: As smoke, and various substances, separetely issue from fire lighted with moist wood; so, from this great being, were respired the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, and the Atharvan and Angiras; the Itihasa and Purana; the sciences and Upanishads; the verses and aphorisms; the expositions and illustrations: all these were breathed forth by him.
“The commentators remark that 4 sorts of prayers (Mantra), and 8 kinds of precepts (Brahmana) are here stated. The 4th description of prayers comprehends such, as were revealed, to, or discovered by, ATHARVAN and ANGIRAS: meaning the Atharvana veda. The Itihasa designates such passages in the 2nd part of the Vedas entitled Brahmana, as narrate a story: for instance, that of the nymph URVASI and the king PURURAVAS. The Purana intends those, which relate to the creation and similar topics. ‘Sciences’ are meant of religious worship. ‘Verses’ are memorial lines. ‘Aphorisms’ are short sentences in a concise style. ‘Expositions’ interpret such sentences; and ‘illustrations’ elucidate the meaning of the prayers.
It may not be superfluous to observe in this place that the Itihasa and Puranas here meant are not the mythological poems bearing the same title; but certain passages of the Indian scriptures, which are interspersed among others, throughout that part of the Vedas, called Brahmana, and instances of which occur in more than one quotation in the present essay.”
SOBRE GENEALOGIAS: “I do not find VYASA mentioned in either list: nor can the surname Parasarya, which occurs more than once, be applied to him; for it is not his patronymick, but a name deduced from the feminine patronymick Parasari. It seems therefore questionable whether any inference, respecting the age of the Vedas, can be drawn from these lists, in the manner proposed by the late Sir W. JONES, in his preface to the translation of MANU. [Em vez de árvore genealógica p.d., como nos Quatro Evangelhos cristãos, trata-se aqui de uma lista de quem transmitiu a doutrina para quem até chegar no corrente orador; podendo ser, além de professor, o marido ou o pai da pessoa seguinte.] The anachronisms, which I observe in them, deter me from a similar attempt to deduce the age of this Veda from these and other lists, which will be noticed further on.”
YAJNYAWALCYA proposes to his adversary an abstruse question, and declares: If thou dost not explain this unto me, thy head shall drop off. SACALYA could not explain it; and his head did fall off; and robbers stole his bones mistaking them for some other thing.
If then a felled tree spring anew from the root; from what root does mortal man grow again, when hewn down by death? Do not say, from prolific seed; for that is produced from the living person. Thus, a tree, indeed, also springs from seed; and likewise sprouts afresh after dying: but if the tree be torn up by the root, it doth not grow again. From what root, then, does mortal man rise afresh, when hewn down by death? He was born once for all? No; he is born again: and what is it, that produces him anew?
“The copy, belonging to the Canwa Sacha, subjoins a further list stated by the commentators to be common to all the Sachas of the Vajin, or Vajasaneyi Yajurveda, and to be intended for the tracing of that Veda up to its original revelation. It begins from the son of SANJIVI, who was 5th, descending from YAJNYAWALCYA, in the lists above-mentioned; and it ascends by 10 stepe w/o any mention of that saint, to TURA, surnamed CAVASHEYA, who had the revelation from PRAJAPATI: and he from BRAHMA.”
“Thus, according to Puranas, PARICSHIT, 3rd son of CURU, had a son named JANAMEJAYA; and he may be the person here meant, rather than one of the same name, who was the greatgrandson of ARJUNA.”
On the BLACK YAJURVEDA
“The Taittiriya, or black Yakush, is more copious than the white Yajush, but less so than the Rigveda. Its Sanhita, or collection of prayers, is arranged in 7 books (ashtaca, or canda), containing from 5 to 8 lectures, or chapters (adhyaya, prasna, prapataca). Each chapter, or lecture, is subdivided into sections (anuvaca), which are equally distributed in the 3rd and 6th books; but unequally in the rest. The whole number exceeds 650.”
“The first section (anuvaca) in this collection corresponds with the 1st section (candica) in the white Yajush: but all the rest differ; and so does the arrangement of the subjects.” “Thus the ceremony called Rajasuya occupies one canda, corresponding with the 8th prasna of the first book (Ashtaca); and is preceded by 2 candas, relative to the Vajapeya, and to the mode of its celebration, which occupy 14 sections in the preceding prasna. Consecrated fire is the subject of 4 candas, which fill the 4th and 5th books. Sacrifice (adhwara) is noticed in the 2nd and 3rd lectures of the 1st book, and in several lectures of the 6th. The subject is continued in the 7th and last book; which treats largely on the Jyotishtoma, the juice of acid Asclepias. The Aswamedha, Nrimedha and Pitrimedha are severally treated of in their places; that is, in the collection of prayers, and in the 2nd part of this Veda. Other topics, introduced in different places, are numerous; but it would be tedious to specify them at large.”
“9 entire candas, according to the 2nd arrangement indicated by the index, appear to be ascribed to PRAJAPATI, or the lord of creatures; as many to SOMA, or the moon; 7 to AGNI, or fire; and 16 to all the gods. Possibly some passages may be allotted by the commentators to their real authors, though not pointed out by the index for the Atreyi Sacha.”
A primeira vaca, que pariu 999 bezerros, e depois o milésimo.
Três sectos de deuses, da terra, da água e do ar, sacrificaram cada qual 333 destes rebentos a fim de adquirir domínio de um terço do mundo.
Outros livros “autônomos” contidos no Yajurveda negro: Taittiriyaca Upanishad, Narayana, “or, to distinguish it from another belonging exclusively to the Athrarvaveda, the great (Maha or Vrihan)narayana. They are all admitted in collections of theological treatises appendant on the Atharvana; but the last-mentioned is there subdivided into 2 Upanishads.”
“For a further specimen of this Yajurveda, I shall only quote the opening of the 3rd and last chapter of the Varuni, or 2nd Traittiriyaca Upanishad, with the introductory chapter of the 1st.”
BHRIGU, the offspring of VARUNA, approached his father, saying: Venerable father! make known to me Brahma. VARUNA propounded these: namely, food (or body), truth (or life), sight, hearing, mind (or thought), and speech: and thus proceeded, That whence all beings are produced; that, by which they live when born; that, towards which they tend; and that, into which they pass; do thou seek, for that is Brahme.
…
Venerable father! make known to me Brahme. [‘porque eu não entendo ainda todas as coisas, mesmo após muito meditar sobre elas; aprendi apenas que comida, ou corpo, é Brahma’] VARUNA replied: Seek the knowledge of Brahme by devout meditation: Brahme is profound contemplation.
…
Bhrigu então medita mais 3 vezes.
On the SAMAVEDA
“A peculiar degree of holiness seems to be attached, according to Indian notions, to the Samaveda” “The prayers belonging to it are, as before observed, composed in metre, and intended to be chanted, and their supposed efficacy is apparently ascribed to this mode of uttering them.”
“The additions here alluded to consist in prolonging the sounds of vowels and resolving diphthongs into 2 or more syllables, inserting likewise, in many places, other additional syllables, besides placing numerical marks for the management of the voice.”
But whoever makes an oblation to fire, being unacquainted with the universal soul, acts in the same manner as one who throws live coals into ashes: whole he, who presents an oblation, possessing that knowledge, has made an offering in all worlds, in all beings, in all souls. As the tip of dry grass, which is cast into the fire, readily kindles; so are all the faults of that man consumed.
On the ATHARVA-VEDA
“It may be here proper to explain what is meant by Upanishad. In dictionaries, this term is made equivalent to Rehesya, which signifies mystery. This last term is, in fact, frequently employed by MANU, and other ancient authors, where the commentators understand Upanishads to be meant. But neither the etymology, nor the acceptation, of the word, which is now to be explained, has any direct connexion with the idea of secrecy, concealment, or mystery. [Ninguém aqui é franco-maçon!] Its proper meaning, according to SANCARA, SAYANA and all the commentators, is divine science, or the knowledge of GOD: and, according to the same authorities, it is equally applicable to theology itself and to a book in which this science is taught. (…) The sense, properly deducible from this [other] etymology, according to the different explanations given by commentators, invariably points to the knowledge of the divine perfections, and to the consequent attainment of beatitude through exemption from passions.
SANCARA and ANANDASRAMA on the Vrihad aranyaca; as also the commentaries on other Upanishads: especially SANCARA on the Cathaca. Other authors concur in assigning the same acceptation and etymology to the word: they vary, only, in the mode of reconciling the derivation with the sense.
The whole of the Indian theology is professedly founded on the Upanishads. It is expressly so affirmed in the Vedanta sara, v. 3. Those which have been before described have been shown to be extracts from the Veda. The rest are also considered as appertaining to the Indian scripture: it does not, however, clearly appear, whether they are detached essays or have been extracted from a Brahmana of the Atharva-veda. I have not found any of them in the Sanhita of the Atharvana, nor in the Gopatha Brahmana.”
“In the best copies of the 52 Upanishads, the first 15 are stated to have been taken from the Saunaciyas, whose Sacha seems to be the principal one of the Atharva-veda. The remaining 37 appertain to various Sachas, mostly to that of the Paippaladis: but some of them, as will be shown, are borrowed from other Vedas.
The Mundaca, divided into 6 sections unequally distributed in 2 parts, is the first Upanishad of the Atharvana; and is also one of the most important, for the doctrines which it contains. It has been fully illustrated by SANCARA, whose gloss is assisted by the annotations of ANANDAJNYANA. The opening of this Upanishad, comprising the whole of the first section, is here subjoined.”
BRAHMA was first of the gods, framer of the universe, guardian of the world. He taught the knowledge of GOD, which is the foundation of all science, to his eldest son ATHARVA. That holy science, which BRAHMA revealed to ATHARVAN,(*) was communicated by him to ANGIR, who transmitted it to SATYAVAHA, the descendant of BHARADWAJA: and this son of BHARADWAJA imparted the traditional science to ANGIRAS.
(*) “SANCARA remarks that ATHARVA or ATHARVAN may have been the first creature, in one of the many modes of creation, which have been practised by BRAHMA.”
SAUNACA, or the son of SUNACA, a mighty householder, addressing ANGIRAS with due respect, asked: What is it, O venerable sage, through which, when known, this universe is understood?
To him the holy personage thus replied: Two sorts of science must be distinguished; as they, who know GOD, declare: the supreme science, and another. This other is the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, the Atharva-veda;(*) the rules of accentuation, the rites of religion, grammar, the glossary and explanation of obscure terms, prosody, and astronomy: also the Itihasa and Purana; and logic, with the rules of interpretation, and the system of moral duties.
(*) “Meaning the prayers contained in the 4 Vedas, disjoined from theology.”
But the supreme science is that by which this unperishable nature is apprehended; invisible or imperceptible, as is that nature: not to be seized; nor to be deduced; devoid of colour; destitute of eyes and ears; without hands or feet, yet ever variously pervading all: minute, unalterable; and contemplated by the wise for the source of beings.
“The Prasna, which is the 2nd Upanishad, and equally important with the 1st, consists, like it, of 6 sections; and has been similarly interpreted by SANCARA and BALACRISHNA. In this dialogue, SUCESA, the son of BHARADWAJA, SATYACAMA, descended from SIVI, SAURYAYANI, a remote descendant of the Sun, but belonging to the family of GARGA, CAUSALYA, surnamed ASWALAYANA, or son of ASWALA, VAIDARBHI of the race of BHRIGU, together with CABANDHI, surnamed CATYAYANA, or descendant of CATYA, are introduced as seeking the knowledge of theology, and applying to PIPPALADA for instruction. They successively interrogate him concerning the origin of creatures, the nature of the gods, the union of life with body, and the connexion of thoughts with the soul.
The 9 succeeding Upanishads (from the 3rd to the 11th) are of inferior importance, and have been left unexplained by the writers on the Vedanta, because they do not directly relate to the Sariraca, or theological doctrine respecting the soul. They are enumerated in the margin: 3rd Brama-vidya; 4th Cshurica; 5th Chulica; 6th and 7th Atharva-siras; 8th Garbha; 9th Maha; 10th Brahma; 11th Pru[a]nagnihotra.
The Manducya follows, and consists of 4 parts, each constituting a distinct Upanishad. This abstruse treatise, comprising the most material doctrines of the Vedanta, has been elucidated by the labours of GAUDAPADA and SANCARA. GAUDAPADA’s commentary is assisted by the notes of ANANDAGIRI.
Among the miscellaneous Upanishads, the first 13 (from the 16th to the 28th) have been left uncommented by the principal expounders of the Vedanta, for a reason before-mentioned.”
“The following 6 (from the 29th to the 34th) constitute the Nrisinha Tapaniya; 5 of them compose the Purva Tapaniya, or first part of the Upanishad so called; and the last, and most important, is entitled Uttara Tapaniya. It has been expounded by GAUDAPADA, as the 1st part (if not the whole Upanishad) has been by SANCARA. The object of this treatise appears to be the identifying of NRISINHA with all the gods: but, so far as I comprehend its meaning (for I have not sufficiently examined it to pronounce confidently on this point), the fabulous incarnation of VISHNU, in the shape of a vast lion, does not seem to be at all intended; and the name of NRISINHA is applied to the divinity, with a superlative import, but with no apparent allusion to that fable.
The 2 next Upanishads constitute the 1st and 2nd parts of the Cathaca, or Valli, or Cathavalli (for the name varies in different copies). It belongs properly to the Yajurveda, as before mentioned; but it is usually cited from the Athar-vana; and has been commented as appertaining to this Veda, by SANCARA and by BALACRISHNA. The commentary of SANCARA is, as usual, concise and perspicuous: and that of BALACRISHNA, copious but clear. Besides their commentaries, and several copies of the text, together with a paraphrase by VIDYARANYA, I have found this Upanishad forming a chapter in a Brahmana, which is marked as belonging to the Samaveda, and which I conjecture to be the Pancha vinsa Brahmana of that Veda.”
“The dialogue is supported by Mrityu or Death, and the prince NACHICETAS, whom his father, VAJASRAVASA, consigned to YAMA, being provoked by the boy’s importunately asking him (through zeal, however, for the success of a sacrifice performed to ensure universal conquest), ‘to whom wilt thou give me?’. YAMA receives NACHICETAS with honour, and instructs him in theology, by which beatitude and exemption from wordly sufferings may be attained, through a knowledge of the true nature of the soul, and its identity with the supreme being. The doctrine is similar to that of other principal Upanishads.
The Ceneshita, or Cena Upanishad, is the 37th of the Atharvana, and agrees, almost word for word, with a treatise bearing the same title, and belonging to a Sacha of the Samaveda. SANCARA has, however, written separate commentaries on both, for the sake of exhibiting their different interpretations (here, as in other instances, I speak from copies in my possession). Both commentaries have, as usual, been annotated.
A short Upanishad, entitled Narayana, is followed by 2 others (39th and 40th), which form the first and second parts of the Vrihan Narayana. This corresponds, as before mentioned, with an Upanishad, bearing the same title, and terminating the Aranya of the Taittiriya Yajurveda.
On the 3 subsequent Upanishads I shall offer no remarks; they have not been commented among such as relate to the Vedanta; and I have not ascertained whence they are extracted.
Under the name of Anandavalli and Bhriguvalli, 2 Upanishads follow (44th and 45th), which have been already noticed as extracts from the Aranya of the black Yajush, distinguished by the titles of Taittiriya and Varuni.
The remaining 7 Upa. are unexplained by commentators on the Vedanta. They are, indeed, sufficiently easy, not to require a laboured interpretation: but there is room to regret the want of an ancient commentary, which might assist determining whether these Upa. be genuine. The reason of this remark will be subsequently explained.”
“a late author has abruptly pronounced the Vedas to be forgeries (MR. PINKERTON, in his Modern Geography, vol II).
It has been already mentioned that the practice of reading the principal Vedas in superstitious modes tends to preserve the genuine text. Copies, prepared for such modes of recital, are spread in various parts of India, especially Benares, Jeyenagar and the banks of the Godaveri. Interpolations and forgeries have become impracticable since this usage has been introduced: and the Rigveda and both the Yajushes, belonging to the several Sachas, in which that custom has been adopted, have been, therefore, long safe from alteration.
The explanatory table of contents, belonging to the several Vedas, also tends to ensure the purity of the text; since the subject and length of each passage are therein specified. The index, again, is itself secured from alteration by more than one exposition of its meaning, in the form of a perpetual commentary.
It is a received and well grounded opinion of the learned in India that no book is altogether safe from changes and interpolations until it have been commented: but when once a gloss has been published, no fabrication could afterwards succeed; because the perpetual commentary notices every passage, and, in general, explains every word.”
EFEITO CASCATA: “The genuineness of the commentaries, again, is secured by a crowd of annotators, whose works expound every passage in the original gloss; and whose annotations are again interpreted by others. [!!!] This observation is particularly applicable to the most important parts of the Vedas, which, as is natural, are the most studiously and elaborately explained.
The Niructa, with its copious commentaries on the obsolete words and passages of scripture, further authenticates the accuracy of the text, as there explained. The references and quotations in those works agree with the text of the Vedas, as we now find it.
The grammar of the Sanscrit contains rules applicable to the anomalies of the ancient dialect. The many and voluminous commentaries on that, and on other parts of the grammar, abound in examples cited from the Vedas: and here, also, the present text is consonant to those ancient quotations.
Philosophical works, especially the numerous commentaries on the aphorisms of the Mimansa and Vedanta, illustrate and support every position advanced in them, by ample quotations from the Vedas. The object of the Mimansa is to establish the cogency of precepts contained in scripture, and to furnish maxims for its interpretations; and, for the same purpose, rules of reasoning, from which a system of logic is deducible. The object of the Vedanta is to illustrate the system of mystical theology taught by the supposed revelation, and to show its application on the enthusiastic pursuit of unimpassioned perfection and mystical intercourse with the divinity. Both are closely connected with the Vedas: and here, likewise, the authenticity of the text is supported by ancient references and citations.”
“The Indian legislators, with their commentators, and the copious digests and compilations from their works, frequently refer to the Vedas”
“Even the writings of the heretical sects exhibit quotations from the Vedas. [!] I have met with such in the books of the Jainas, unattended by any indication of their doubting the genuineness of the original, though they do not receive its doctrines, nor acknowledge its cogency.” Suponho que a formação de seitas e divisões numa religião politeísta seja um fenômeno muito mais dificultado – mas posso estar errado. De fato, se o Hinduísmo é tão antigo quanto parece, mesmo que isso seja verdadeiro há mais tempo que o suficiente para se haverem formado muito mais seitas heréticas que no Cristianismo ou Judaísmo.
“according to the traditions generally received in the peninsula of India, SANCARA lived little more than 800 years ago.”
“A conspicuous instance of systematic fabrication, by which Captain WILFORD was for a time deceived, has been brought to light, as has been fully stated by that gentleman. But though some attempts have been abortive, others may doubtless have succeeded. I am myself inclined to adopt an opinion supported by many learned Hindus, who consider the celebrated Sri Bhagavata as the work of a grammarian, supposed to have lived about 600 years ago.”
“In Europe too, literary forgeries have been committed, both in ancient and modern times. (…) But a native of India, who should retort the charge, and argue from a few instances, that the whole literature of Europa, which is held ancient, consists of modern forgeries, would be justly censured for his presumption.”
“The exact period when they were compiled, or that in which the greatest part was composed, cannot be determined, with accuracy and confidence, from any facts yet ascertained.”
“The zodiac is divided into 27 asterisms, or signs, the first of which, both in the Jyotish [espécie de calendário anexo a cada Veda] and in the Vedas, is Crittica, or the Pleiads. The place of the colures, [?] according to these astronomical treatises, will be forthwith mentioned; but none of them hint at a motion of the equinoxes. The measure of a day by 30h and that of an hour by 60min are explained; and the method of constructing a clepsydra is taught.” Sempre se sabe medir o tempo antes do início dos tempos (lição antropológica).
(*) “Perhaps this Hindu calendar may assist in explaining the Grecian system of lunar months.”
“But the history of Indian astronomy is not the subject of this essay.”
1 Cali-yuga = 432.000 anos
Estima a idade do calendário como 14 séculos antes de Cristo, ou 3400 anos antes da época atual.
“I now proceed to fulfill the promise of indicating such parts of the 4th Veda as appear liable to suspicion. These are the remaining detached Upanishads, which are not received into the best collections of 52 theological tracts, belonging to the Atharva-veda; and even some of those which are there inserted, but which, so far as my inquiries have yet reached, do not appear to have been commented by ancient authors, nor to have been quoted in the whole commentaries on the Vedanta.”
“This suspicion is chefly grounded on the opinion that the sects, which now worship RAMA and CRISHNA as incarnations of VISHNU, are comparatively new.” “the worship of deified heroes is no part of the Vedas” Sansão e seus blue caps…
“The institutions of the Vedas are anterior to BUDDHA, whose theology seems to have been borrowed from the system of CAPILA, and whose most conspicuous practical doctrine is stated to have been the unlawfulness of killing animals, which in his opinion were too frequently slain for the purpose of eating their flesh, under the pretence of performing a sacrifice, or Yajnya. The overthrow of the sect of BUDDHA, in India, has not effected the full revival of the religious system inculcated in the Vedas.”
“Rituals founded on the Puranas and observances borrowed from a worse source, the Tantras, have, in great measure, antiquated the institutions of the Vedas.”
ASIATIC RESEARCHES: Or, Transactions of the Society, instituted in Bengal, for inquiring the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature of ASIA (Volume 7).
“Sir Jones contemplated to publish these fruits of researches by the scholar-members in annual volumes for wider appreciation by the academic world, and the 1st volume of ASIATIC RESEARCHES came out under his own editorship in 1788, 3 years after the foundation of the Society. Sir Jones was the editor for the first 6 years, i.e., up to 1794. Fourteen more volumes were published under the auspices of the Society up to 1839.
And now Cosmo Publications takes pride in bringing out this 1st authorized reprint of the ASIATIC RESEARCHES complete in 20 vols. The wide range and variety of subjects dealt with in these vols. present a panoramic view of the civilization and culture of Asia in its different facets and in the different periods of history. There are no less than 367 essays, some amply illustrated in the series of 20 vols. An analysis of subjects with a select list of names of the contributors, given below, will enlighten readers about their worth.”
“Antiquities: Charles Wilkins, William Chambers, John Shore, William Jones, F. Wilford, Colebrook, Jonathan Duncan, H.H. Wilson.
History: Wilford, Jones, A. Sterling, Wilson, W. Hunter, J. Prinsep, John Crawford.
Language & Literature: Jones, W. Marsden, Colebrook, F. Balfour, J. Leyden, B.H. Hodgson, A. Csoma de Koros.
Religion, Manners, Customs & Music: Jones, H. Vansittart, Colebrooke, F. Buchanan, Duncan, J.D. Patterson, Leyden, W. Carey, Crawford, Wilson, Hodgson, James Low.
(…)
Ethnography: Jones, J. Rawlins, J. Eliot, J. Crisp, R. Wilcox, Hunter, Prinsep, Chambers.”
.
2. ON SINGHALA, OR CEYLON, AND THE DOCTRINES OF BHOODHA, from the Book of the SINGHALAIS. By Cap. Mahony.
“For the government of the present universe, which is to be considered in addition to those above stated, 5 BHOODDHAS are specified; 4 of whom have already appeared: KAKOOSANDEH BHOODDHA, KONA(…)AMMEH B. [ilegível], KASERJEPPEH B., and GAUTEMEH B., and the 5th, MAITREE B., is still to come. This last BHOODDHA will be born of a Braminee woman: and though the place of a BHOODDHA is now vacant in the world, yet there exists a SAHAMPATTU MAHA BRACHMA, or Supreme of all the Gods, who has it under his peculiar guidance. The last of the above-mentioned 4 BHOODDHAS (GAUTEMEH) is the one whose religion now prevails in Ceylon, and of whom it is here intended to make some mention.”
“THE BHOODDHISTS speak of 26 heavens, which they divide in the following manner.
The Deveh Loke, consisting of 6. The Brachmah Loke, consistinf of 16, 5 of which are considered as Triumphant Heavens. And the Arroopeh Loke, consisting of 4. They say of the virtuous ‘that they do not enjoy the reward of their good deeds until after having repeatedly died, and appeared as often in 6 first heavens, called Deveh Loke: in order to be born again, in the world, to great wealth and consequence: and having, at length, enjoyed a fore taste of bliss in the 11 inferior Brachmah Lokes, they ascend the 5 superior Brachmah Lokes, or Triumphant Heavens, where transmigrations end, and where they enjoy the fullness of glory, and the purest happiness.’”
“The learned Singhalais do not acknowledge, in their writings, a Supreme Being, presiding over, and the author of, the universe. They advert only to a SAHAMPATTEE MAHA BRACHMA, who is the first and Supreme of all the Gods, and say that he, as well as the host of Gods inferior to him, and their attendants, have neither flesh or bones, nor bodies possessing any degree of consistency, though apparently with hair on their heads, and teeth in their mouths: and their skins are impregnated with the most luminous and brilliant qualities. They assert a first Cause, however, under the vague denomination of Nature.”
“If there existed such a creator, the world would not perish, and be annihilated; on the contrary, he would be careful to guard it in safety, and preserve it from corruptibility.” Belo sofisma!
“The Singhalais speak nor further of what is understood by us under the term of Paradise, than that there is a place reserved for the blessed, free from all sin, full of all joy, glory and contentment. But Nirgowaneh, otherwise called Mooktzeh, signifying a Hall of Glory, where the deceased BHOODDHAS are supposed to be is, according to the testimony of GAUTEMEH BHOODDHA, situated, as already noticed, above the highest or 26th heaven, Neweh Sanja Fattehneh, the seat of the most perfect and supreme bliss. Hell, on the contrary, is supposed to be beneath the lowest extremity of the earth, with waters again beneath it, where the most dreadful tempests rage without intermission.”
BUROCRACIA DO ALÉM: “THE EARTH, or this world, called Manoospeh Loke, and the Inferior Heaven, Katoormaha Rajee Keyeh, are under the sub-direction of the God SAKKEREH: he again delegates his authority to 4 other Gods immediately subjected to him, who respectively guard the 4 quarters, or 4 parts, into which the Singhalais, in the system, divide the earth. [os 4 pontos cardeais]
“One of the quarters comprises our known earth of Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and is termed by them Jamboodweepeh.”
“Their nemesis is the God WEPECHITTEE ASSOOREENDREHYA, who resides beneath the Sea, in a lower world, termed Assoorehloke.”
SINCRETISMO MARAVILHOSO: “THE SINGHALAIS assert, as manifested by BHOODDHA, that there are 120,535 inferior Gods belonging to the lower heavens and the earth; besides innumerable Kombaendeyos, or angels; but the former, as well as the latter, are subject to the control of superior Gods.”
“The principal and most holy code among the Singhalais, and that which may be termed their Bible, appears to be the Abidarmeh Pitehkeh Sattappreh Karr(…)ee.”
“A priest of the religion of BHOODDHA, whom I questioned concerning the Vedas and Pooraans [Puranas] of the Hindoos, and whether the book just mentioned had any relation to them, replied: The Vedas are books in the possession of, and taught by, the Brahmines; they contain the principles of every science, but treat not of theology. We possess many books of the same tendency, and equally profound, in the Palee language, some of which have been translated into the Singhalais. We have no knowledge of the Pooraans.”
“The Hindoos must surely be little acquainted with this subject, by their allusion to only one. [Buda] BHOODDHA (if they mean BHOODDHA DHERMA RAJA) became man, and appeared as such in the world at different periods, during ages, before he had qualified to be a BHOODDHA. These various incarnations took place by his own supreme will and pleasure, and in consequence of his superior qualifications and merits. I am therefore inclined to believe that the Hindoos, who thus speak of the incarnation of a BHOODDHA, cannot allude to him whose religion and law I preach, and who is now a resident of the Hall of Glory, situated above the 26th heaven.”
“During the reign of the Portuguese in Ceylon, the religion of BHOODDHA was much persecuted, and became in consequence neglected, and almost unknown, even to its votaries. When the Dutch conquered the island, greater liberties being granted to the followers of BHOODDHA, the priests acquired some degree of light and with the assistance of learned men sent from Siam, religion again began to flourish.”
“A priest is bound to celibacy: but when anyone wishes no longer to continue in orders, he has it at his option to resign, at a meeting of the priests of his district, which takes place monthly, either at the new or full moon; sometimes at both. Quitting orders in this manner is not deemed a disgrace; but to be dismissed for improper conduct is looked upon as the greatest of all ignominy.”
FORBIDDEN TO: “kill even a fly, connection or a wish for such with women; any use of strong liquor; theft of the most harmless kind or a lie may be principally noted. They can eat once or twice a day”
.
.
.
7. On the SANSCRIT and PRACRIT LANGUAGES. By H. Colebrooke.
“Sanscrita, Pracrita, Pais achi and Magadhi are, in short, the 4 paths of poetry. The Gods, etc. speak Sanscrita; benevolent genii, Pracrita; wicked demons, Pais achi; and men of low tribes, and the rest, Magadhi. But sages deem Sanscrita the chief of these 4 languages. It is used 3 ways; in prose, in verse and in a mixture of both.”
“LANGUAGE, again, the virtuous have declared to be fourfold; SANSCRITA, or the polished dialect; Pracrita, or the vulgar dialect; Apabhrania, or jargon; and Misra, or mixed. Sanscrita is the speech of the celestials, framed in grammatical institutes: Pracrita is similar to it, but manifold as a provincial dialect, and otherwise; and those languages which are ungrammatical, are spoken in their respective districts.”
“THE Pais achi seems to be gibberish, which dramatic poets make the demons speak when they bring these fantastic beings on the stage. The mixture of languages noticed in the 2nd quotation is that which is employed in dramas, as is expressly said by the same author in a subsequent verse. It is not then a compound language, but a mixt dialogue, in which different persons of the drama employ different idioms. Both the passages above quoted are, therefore, easily reconciled. They, in fact, notice only 3 tongues. 1. Sanscrit, a polished dialect, the inflections of which, with all its numerous anomalies, are taught in grammatical institutes. This the dramatic poets put into the mouths of Gods, and of Holy personages. 2. Pracrit, consisting of provincial dialects, which are less refined, and have a more imperfect grammar. In dramas it is spoken by women, benevolent genii, &c. 3. Magadhi, or Apabhran[i/s?]a, a jargon destitute of regular grammar. It is used by the vulgar, and varies in different districts: the poets accordingly introduce into the dialogue of plays a provincial jargon, spoken by the lowest persons of the drama.”
(*) “Sanscrita is the passive participle of a compound verb, [e.g., adornado] formed by prefixing the preposition sam to the crude verb cri, and by interposing the letters when this compound is used in the sense of embellishment. Its literal meaning then is ‘adorned’. And when applied to a language, it signifies ‘polished’. Pracrita is a similar derivative from the same crude verb, with pra prefixed: the most common acceptation of this word is ‘outcast, or man of the lowest class’: applied to a language, it signifies ‘vulgar’. Apabhransa is derived from bhras, to fall down; it signifies a word or dialect which falls off from correct etymology. Grammarians use the Sanscrita as signifying ‘duly formed, or regularly inflected’; and Apabhransa for false grammar.”
“The languages of India are all comprehended in these 3 classes.”
Sânscrito é para os brâmanes. Pracrit para os guerreiros, os camponeses e mercadores. E o terceiro idioma para os invisíveis, os inomináveis, os Chandala.
Uma língua x, mãe de todas, teria se desmembrado no Sânscrito, no Pahlavi (na Pérsia) e no Grego.
A linguagem dos Vedas é ainda mais arcaica e abstrusa que aquela do Sânscrito clássico, dos grandes poetas da idade de ouro da literatura hindu.
“The rules have been supposed to be anterior to the practice; but this supposition is gratuitous.” Sua única ocorrência é com esperantistas ou tolkienianos!
“Similar rules for avoiding incompatible sounds in compound terms exist in all languages; this is sometimes effected by a deviation from orthography in the pronunciation of words; sometimes by altering one or more letters, to make the spelling correspond with the pronunciation.”
“PANINI, the father of Sanscrit, lived in so remote an age that he ranks among those ancient sages whose fabulous history occupies a conspicuous place in the Puranas, or Indian theogonies. The name is a patronymick, indicating his descent from Panin; but, according to the Pauranica legends, he was grandson of DEVALA, an inspired legislator. Whatever may be the true history of PANINI, to him the Sutras, or succint aphorisms of grammar, are attributed by universal consent. His system is grounded on a profound investigation of the analogies in both the regular and the anomalous inflections of the Sanscrit language. He has combined those analogies in a very artificial manner, and has thus compressed a most copious etymology into a very narrow compass. His precepts are, indeed, numerous, (not fewer than 3996) but they have been framed with the utmost conciseness; and this great brevity is the result of very ingenious methods, which have been contrived for this end, and for the purpose of assisting the student’s memory.”
“It must not be hence inferred that PANINI was unaided by the labours of earlier grammarians: in many of his precepts he cites the authority of his predecessors, sometimes for a deviation from a general rule, often for a grammatical canon which has universal cogency. He has even employed some technical terms without defining them, because, as his commentators remark, those terms were already introduced by earlier grammarians.”
“The various ancient grammars of the Sanscrit tongue, as enumerated in a memorial verse, are 8 in number, and ascribed to the following authors; viz. INDRA, CHANDRA, CASA, CRITSNA, PISALI, SACATAYANA, PANINI and AMERA JINENDRA.”
“A PERFORMANCE such as the Paniniya grammar, must inevitably contain many errors. The task of correcting its inaccuracies has been executed by CATYAYANA, an inspired saint and law giver, whose history, like that of all the Indian sages, is involved in the impenetrable darkness of mythology. His annotations, entitled Varticas, restrict those among the Paniniya rules which are too vague, enlarge others which are too limited, and mark numerous exceptions which had escaped the notice of PANINI himself.
THE amended rules of grammar have been formed into memorial verses by BHARTRI-HARI, whose metrical aphorisms, entitled Carica, have almost equal authority with the precepts of PANINI, and emendations of CATYAYANA. If the popular traditions concerning BHARTRI-HARI be well founded, he lived in the century preceding the Christian era; for he is supposed to be the same with the brother of VICRAMADITYA; and the period when this prince reigned at Ujjayini is determined by the date of the Samvat Aera.”
“A most copious commentary on the emendations of PANINI’s rules was compiled in very ancient times, by an uncertain author. This voluminous work, known by the title of Mahabhashya, or the Great Commentary, is ascribed to PATANJALI, a fabulous personage, to whom mythology has assigned the shape of a serpent.” “All possible interpretations are proposed: and the true sense and import of the rule are deduced through a tedious train of argument, in which all foreseen objections are considered and refuted; and the wrong interpretations of the text, with all the arguments which can be invented to support them, are obviated or exploded.
VOLUMINOUS as it is, the Mahabashya has not exhausted the subject which it treats. Its deficiencies have been supplied by the annotations of modern grammarians. The most celebrated among these scholiasts of the Bhashya is CAIYATA, a learned Cashmirian. His annotations are almost equally copious with the commentary itself. Yet, they too are loaded by numerous glosses; among which the old and new Vivaranas are most esteemed.”
“A catalogue of verbs, classed in regular order, but with few references to the rules of etymology, is extant, and is known by the title of Dhatupata. It may be considered as an appendix to the grammar of PANINI; and so may his own treatise on the pronounciation of vocal sounds, and the treatise of YASCA on obsolete words, and acceptations peculiar to the Vedas.”
“The subject of gender alone has been treated by more than one writer reputed to be inspired, namely, by CATYAYANA, GOBHILA and others.”
“The number of verbal roots amounts to 1750 nearly; exclusive of many obsolete words omitted in the Dhatupata, but noticed in the Sutras as the roots of certain derivatives. The crude verbs, however, are more numerous, because many roots, containing the same radical letters, are variously conjugated in different senses: the whole number of crude verbs separetely noticed in the catalogue exceeds 3000. From each of these are deduced many compound verbs, by prefixing one or more prepositions to the verbal root. Such compounds often deviate very widely in their signification, and some even in their inflections, from the radical verb. The derivative verbs again are numerous; such as causals, frequentatives, &c. Hence it may be readily perceived how copious this branch of grammar must be.”
“A very voluminous commentary on the catalogue of verbs was compiled under the patronage of SAYANA, minister of a chieftain named SANGAMA, and is entitled Madhaviya vritti. It thoroughly explains the signification and inflection of each verb; but at the same time enters largely into scholastic refinements on general grammar.”
“SUCH vast works as the Mahabhashya and its scholia, with the voluminous annotations on the catalogue of verbs, are not adapted for general instruction: a conciser commentary must have been always requisite. The best that is now extant is entitled the Casica vritti, or Commentary composed at Varanasi. The anonymous author of it, in a short preface, explains his design: ‘to gather the essence of a science dispersed in the early commentaries, in the Bhashya, in copious dictionaries of verbs and of nouns, and in other works’. (…) Though he never deviates into frivolous disquisitions, nor into tedious reasoning, but expounds the text as succinctly as could consist with perspicuity, his work is nevertheless voluminous; and yet, copious as it is, the commentaris on it, and the annotations on its commentaries, are still more voluminous.”
“THE outline of PANINI’s arrangement is simple; but numerous exceptions, and frequent digressions, have involved it in much seeming confusion. The 2 first lectures (the 1st section especially, which is in a manner the key of the whole grammar) contain definitions; in the 3 next are collected the affixes, by which verbs and nouns are inflected. Those which appertain to verbs occupy the 3rd lecture: the 4th and 5th contain such as are affixed to nouns. The remaining 3 lectures treat of the changes which roots and affixes undergo in special cases, or by general rules of orthography, and which are all effected by the addition, or by the substitution, of one or more elements. The apparent simplicity of the design vanishes in the perplexity of the structure. The endless pursuit of exceptions and of limitations so disjoints the general precepts that the reader cannot keep in view their intended connexion and mutual relation: he wanders in an intricate maze; and the clew [novelo] of the labyrinth is continually flipping from his hands.”
BATTOJI DICSHITA, Siddhanta Caumudi (para entender os Sutras de PANINI e constatar muitos exemplos para cada regra) “Descendants of BHATTOJI, in the 5th or 6th degree, are, I am told, now living at Benares. He must have flourished then between 1 and 2 centuries ago [sécs. XVII ou XVIII].”
“The Hindus delight in scholastic disputation: their grammarians indulge this propensity as much as their lawyers and their sophists.”
“The commentaries on the Siddhanta Caumudi and Manorama are very numerous. The most celebrated shall be here briefly noticed. 1. The Tatwa bodhini expounds the Siddhanta: it is the work of INYANENDRA SARASWATI, an ascetic and the pupil of VAMANENDRA SWAMI. 2. The Sabdendu sechara is another commentary on BHATTOJI’s grammar. It was composed by a successor, if not a descendant, of that grammarian. An abridgement of it, which is very generally studied, is the work of NAGESA, son of SIVA BHATTA, and pupil of HARIDICSHITA. (…) Though called an abridgement, this Lahu Sabdendu is a voluminous performance. 3. The Laghu Sabdaratna is a commentary on the Manorama of BHATTOJI DICHSHITA, by the author’s grandson HARI DICSHITA. This work is not improperly termed an abridgement, since it is short in comparison with most other commentaries on grammar. 4. BALA SARMAN PAGONDIYA, who is either 4th or 5th in succession from BHATTOJI, as professor of grammar at Benares, has written commentaries on the Caustubha, Sabda ratna and Sabdendu sechara. [Isso é o que eu chamo de vocação que passa de pai para filho!]”
Os mecenas indianos patrocinavam os grandes gramáticos.
JAYANTA, Tatwa chandra, “a very excellent compendium”.
“THE Caumudis, independently even of their numerous commentaries, have been found too vast and intricate for young students.” Madhya Caumudi como o melhor sumário. “It contains such of PANINI’s rules as are most universal, and adds to each a short but perspicuous exposition.”
“the most esteemed contemporary popular grammar is the Saraswata, together with its commentary, named Chandrica. It seems to have been formed on one of the Caumudis, by translating PANINI’s rules into language that is intelligible, [hahaha] independently of the gloss, and without necessity of adverting to a different context.”
“Like most other Sanscrit dictionaries, it is arranged in verse, to aid the memory.”
“alphabetically in the Indian manner by the final consonants.” (!!!)
“This excellent etymologies compilation by BHANUJI is entitled Vyachya sudha.”
“Technical terms are mostly excluded from general dictionaries, and consigned to separate nomenclatures.”
“The Haravali is a vocabulary of uncommon words, compiled by PURUSHOTTAMA”
“BEFORE I proceed to mention other languages of India, it may be proper to mention that the school of Benares now uses the Siddharta caumudi and other works of BHATTOJI as the same school formerly did the Casica vritti.” “In many places, however, the Mahabhashya continues to be the standard of Sanscrit grammar. It is, therefore, studied by all who are amitious of acquiring a critical knowledge of the language.”
“There is reason to believe that 10 polished dialects formerly prevailed in as many different civilized nations who occupied all the fertile provinces of Hindustan and the Dekhin.”
“THE Sareswata was a nation which occupied the banks of the river Saraswati. Brahmanas, who are still distinguished by the name of their nation, inhabit chiefly Penjab [Punjab], or Panchanada, west of the river from which they take their appelation. Their original language may have once prevailed through the southern and western parts of Hindustan Proper, and is probably the idiom to which the name of Pracrit is generally appropriated. This has been more cultivated than any other among the dialects which will be here enumerated, and it occupies a principal place in the dialogue of most dramas.”
“THE Canyacubjas possessed a great empire, the metropolis of which was the ancient city of Canyacubja, or Canoj. Theirs seems to be the language which forms the groundwork of modern Hindustani, and which is known by the appellation of Hindi, or Hindevi. Two dialects of it may be easily distinguished; one more refined, the other less so.”
8-9. On the Religious Ceremonies of the HINDUS, and of the BRAMENS especially. By H.T. Colebrooke (essays II & III)
“A FORMER essay on this subject (Vol. V) described the daily ablutions performed with prayers and acts of religion by every Brahmen. His next daily duty is the performance of the 5 great sacraments.”
1st. Study of the Veda
2nd. sacraments of the manes, deities and spirits, “[this] will be made the subject of the present essay”
3rd. “and the hospitable reception of guests will be followed in the next”
“It does not fall within my present plan to describe the manner in which the several sects of Hindus adore their gods, or the images of them; and I shall therefore restrict myself to explain the oblations to fire”
(…)
.
.
12. A Summary ACCOUNT of the LIFE and WRITINGS of AVYAR, a Tamul Female Philosopher. By the Rev. Dr. John.
“She was a polytheist, and invokes the god SUPPIRAMANIEN or PULLEVAR (or POLLEAR or GANESA, this comparable to the Roman JANUS), the Son of SIVEN, who is held by the Hindoos to be the protector of learning and science, as MERCURY was amongst the Greeks. He is also said to be the second son of SEEVA.”
A Índia também possui seus Sete Sábios (com 4 mulheres).
Relatos tão chatos quanto as estórias das mil e uma noites com arquétipos conhecidos do Ocidente inclusos, como a criança abandonada que na realidade tem por destino se casar com uma pessoa como foi profetizado, de modo que o motivo do abandono da criança era justamente evitar o que, graças ao abandono, acaba por finalmente se suceder, etc. E depois até as crianças criadas por animais, sem pais. E ainda depois, bebês falantes… Urgh!
Avyar, rainha da obviedade (nos aforismos traduzidos).
.
14. ACCOUNT of an hereditary living DEITY, to whom Devotion is paid by the BRAMENS of POONA and its Neighbourhood. By Cap. Edward Moor.
“MOORABA GOSSEYN was a Bramin of Poona, who, by abstinence, mortification and prayer, merited, above others, the favourable regards of the Almighty. GUNPUTTY, the most common name in this country, among the many hundreds of SREE GANESA, accordingly vouchsafed to appear to him, at Chinchoor (Chintijwur is perhaps the most correct orthography), in a vision by night”
“THE GOD covenanted that a portion of his Holy Spirit should pervade the person thus favoured, and be continued as far as the 7th generation to his seed, who were to become successively hereditary guardians of this sacred substance, which proved to be a stone, in which the GOD was to be understood as mystically typified. This type is duly reverenced, is carefully preserved, and had ever been the constant companion of the sanctified person inheriting with it the divine patrimony. THIS annunciation happened about the year A.D. 1640, and 6 generations have since passed away.” Um crápula aplicou uma pegadinha do Malandro milenar num povoado, que bacana!
“The Bramins admit that the farther they remove from the favoured man in whom the GOD became incarnate, the greater is the chance of degeneracy”
(…)
.
.
.
19. An ACCOUNT of the BAZEEGURS, a Sect commonly denominated NUTS. By Cap. David Richardson.
“A PERUSAL of Grellman’s Dissertation on the Gipsies of Europe, in which this country is considered as having given birth to that wandering race, induced me to commence an inquiry into the manners of a people in Hindoostan denominated Nuts, whose mode of life seemed somewhat to assimilate with his description.” “Strictly speaking, these people might be denominated players or actors, from their Persian name of Bazee-gur, which may be literally rendered a juggler, or tricker: but the appellation of Nut extends to several tribes, and properly belongs to many more; each party having branched out, and formed itself, into a distinct sect, agreeably to the habits of life, or modes of subsistence, which necessity, and local circumstances, may have induced them to adopt as their own peculiar calling or art.
THE Bazeegurs are subdivided into 7 casts, viz. the Charee, Ath bhyeea, Bynsa, Purbuttee, Kalkoor, Dorkinee and Gungwar: but the difference seems only in name, for they live together, and intermarry as one people: they say they are descended from 4 brothers of the same family. They profess to be Moosulmans”
“When a Sonar, or goldsmith, is termed Zurgur, or Sadu-kar, he will in general be a Moosulman; and in this way we meet with Joolaha, Mochee Durzee, Hujam, Qissukhan, Moosuwwir, Meeanjee, instead of the Hinduwee words Tantee, Chumar, Soojee, Naee, Kuthuk, Pande, Chitera, for a Weaver, Shoemaker, Taylor, Barber, Story-teller, Schoolmaster and Painter, in succession. The word Hulalkhor, which is applied to a Sweeper, generally indicated the same discrimination of a Moosulman, as Bhungee does to a Hindoo; a truth which the 2 nations acknowledge with great reluctance. The reason is obviously founded on that pride of cast which they both support, often at our expence. In this instance they will stoutly deny the fact stated here, unless the inquirer knows enough of the language to call a Hulalkhor before them, if Moosulmans, and desire him to repeat his creed, &c. In this and the other duties of Islamism, they are no doubt often so defective that we cannot venture to affirm they are orthodox Moohummudans anymore than we can vouch for the Bhungees being perfect Hindoos: all we dare in candour alledge being that these people respectively lean, in their belief, worship and manners much more to the one religion than the other, as the text will elucidate in the Nuts’ history before us. It is a curious enough circumstance that there are certain employments here engrossed almost exclusively by the Moosulmans; among these the (ilegível) or Suqqas, who carry water, and the Suees, or grooms, may be enumerated as the most prominent.”
“But of the Prophet [Mahomet] they seem to have little knowledge”
“The notions of religion, and a future state, among this vagrant race, are principally derived from their songs, which are beautifully simple.”
“Nor soul nor love divine can die,
Although our frame must perish here;
Still longing hope points to the sky:
Thus sings the poet Das Kubeer.” [espécie de semideus destes ciganos]
“Liquor with them is the summum bonum of life: every crime may be expiated by plentiful libations of strong drink” !!!
“any person who has accumulated property is soon considered as a culprit, and a charge being brought against him, the complaint is carried before a Punchaet, [juiz ou júri] when the business commonly concludes by his being obliged to provide a Lethean draught for the fraternity to which he belongs.” Muito mais sábios que nós. No Musks, no losers.
“It is no uncommon thing to see 4 or 5 miserable infants clinging round their mother, and struggling for their scanty portion of nourishment, the whole of which, if we might judge from the appearance of the woman, would hardly suffice for one.”
“Their marriages are generally deferred to a later period than is usual in this climate, in consequence of a daughter being considered as productive property to the parents, by her professional abilities.” ??
“The girls, who are merely taught to dance and sing, like the common Nach girls of Hindoostan, have no restrictions on their moral conduct as females” “After the matrimonial ceremony is over, they no longer exhibit as public dancers.” “nor are any preparations for the marriage thought of till her assent has been given in cases where no previous choice has been made.” Ou seja: um oxímoro. É claro que a ‘relaxação moral’ dos primeiros anos é tão estudada quanto a estrita obediência dentro do casamento.
“the derivate word Nutkhut, meaning, in the Hindoostanee, a rogue, blackguard, etc. Truth still forces us to add that Nutkhut is rather applicable to imaginary than downright roguery, in expressions of endearment and familiarity.”
“These sects, viz. the Bazeegurs, having adopted, if not the religion, at least the name of Moosulmans, are more civilized than the other wandering tribes.”
“Some of their woman are, I have heard, extremely handsome” hmmm!
“Though I must confess I have not seen any who, in my opinion, came under that description to personal charms.” Mas que etnografia meia-boca!
“I find these people in Mr. Colebrooke’s arrangement of the Hindoo Classes, mentioned in the 6th class, under the head of Nata, Bazeegurs, etc., and in Sir William Jones’ translation of the Ordinances of Manu, chapter X, article 20-23. Their origin is clearly pointed out, which the following extract will show:
Those whom the twice-born beget on women of equal classes, but who perform not the proper ceremonies assuming the thread and the like, people denominated Pratyas, or excluded from the Gayatri.
21. – From such an outcast Brahmen springs a son of a sinful nature, who, in different countries, is named a Bhurjacantaca, an Avantya, a Vatadhana, a Pushpadha and a Saicha.
22. – From such an oucast Cshatriya comes a son called a I’halla, a Malla, a Nichivi, a Nata, a Carana, a C’hassa and a Dravira.
23. – From such an outcast Paisya is born a son called Sudhanwan, Charya, Viganman, Maitra and Satwata.
From the word Maitra may, I imagine, be deduced the origin of the name generally applied sweepers, [varredores] and people of that description, and that the common derivation of it from the Persian word Mihtur, a prince, may possibly be an error.”
“The Panchpeeree, or Budeea Nuts, differ from the Bazeegurs in many points; though, probably, in the manners, there will be found a stronger similitude to the Gypsies of Europe, than in those of any others which may come under review.”
“the goddess Kali generally obtains the preference.”
“They inter their dead; and the only ceremony seems to be to forget their sorrows, by getting completely drunk immediately afterwards.”
Só as mulheres podem ser dentistas e tatuadoras, bem como só mulheres podem ser tatuadas.
“Should it so happen that they do not return home before the Jackal’s cry is heard in the evening, their fidelity is suspected (…) and are punished accordingly. A fault of that nature committed with anyone not of their own cast is an unpardonable crime.”
“all their views are concentrated in the enjoyment of the present moment, and that enjoyment consisting wholly in excessive intoxication, and the grossest indulgence of the sensual appetites.”
“The Conjurers or Jugglers, who arrived in Europe about the 13th century, and who introduced the viol of 3 strings, appear to have been a race almost exactly similar to what the Bazeegurs are at this day; in confirmation of which the following extract from Doctor Burney’s History of Music may not be thought inapplicable:
The police frequently repressed their licentiousness, and regulated their conduct. Philip Augustus banished them the 1st year of his reign; but they were recalled by his successors, and united under the general name of Minstrelsy, having a Chief appointed over them, who was called the King of the Minstrels. Louis IX exempted them from a tariff or toll at the entrance at Paris, on condition that they would sing a song, and make their monkeys dance to the tollmen, &c.” “In 1395, their libertinism and immoralities again incurred the censure of government, by which it was strictly enjoined that they should henceforth neither in public or private speak, act or sing anything that was indecorous or unfit for modest eyes and ears, upon pain of 2 months imprisonment, and living upon bread and water.”
* * *
DICA DE INICIAÇÃO HINDU: Talvez o melhor seja se instruir a sério primeiro pelos VEDANTA.
Seclusão Anagógica 