Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 164
THE IDEAL GURU PORTRAYED
124
to enlighten the ignorance in which the rest of mankind
He is a man who performs all the acts of
is plunged.
worship of which Siva is the object, omitting none who
knows no other god than Siva, and reads no other history
than his who shines like the sun in the midst of the dark
;
;
who meditates
clouds of ignorance which surround him
unceasingly on the merits of the lingam, and proclaims
everywhere the praises of Siva who rejects, even in thought,
every sinful action, and puts in practice all the virtues that
he preaches who, knowing all the paths which lead to
who observes
sin, knows also the means of avoiding them
with scrupulous exactitude all the rules of propriety which
do honour to Siva. He should be deeply learned, and
know the Vedanta perfectly. He is a man who has made
pilgrimages to all the sacred places, and has seen with his
own eyes Benares, Kedaram, Conjeeveram, Ramesvaram,
Srirangam, Sringeri, Gokarnam, Kalahasti, and other spots
which are consecrated to Siva. He must have performed
his ablutions in all the sacred rivers, such as the Ganges,
the Jumna, the Sarasvati, the Indus, the Godavari, the
Kistna, the Nerbudda, the Cauvery, &c, and have drunk
He must have bathed
of each of these sanctifying waters.
in all the sacred springs and tanks, such as the Surya-
pushkarani, the Chandra-pushkarani, the Indra-push-
He
karani, and others, wherever they may be situated.
must have visited all the sacred deserts and woods,
such as Neimisha-aranya, Badari-aranya, Dandaka-aranya
;
;
;
;
Goch-aranya, &c, and have left his footprints in them.
He must be acquainted with all the observances for pen-
ance or asramas, such as are enjoined by the most famous
devotees, and which are known by the names of Nara-
yana-asrama, Vamana-asrama, Gautama-asrama, Vasishta-
asrama. He must be one who has practised these religious
He
exercises, and who has derived benefit from them.
must be perfectly acquainted with the four Vedas, the
Tarka-sastram (or logic), the Bhoota-sastram (exorcism),
the Mimamsa-sastram (exegetics, &c), &c. He must be
well versed in the knowledge of the Vcdanga (six auxiliaries
of the Vedas), of the Jyotisha-sastram (astrology), of Vaidya-
sastram (medicine), of Dharma-sastram (ethics), of Kaviana-
takam (poetry), &c, and he must know by heart the eighteen