Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 172

RESPECT SHOWN TO GURUS
132
There they give audience to the numerous members of
their flocks who come to perform worship, to receive their
asirvadam (benediction) and their prasadam (gift), to offer
presents, to bring complaints about the infraction of rules
and customs, &c.
Hindus, on presenting themselves before
their guru, first perform the sashtatiga, and then touch the
ground with each side of the forehead. The holy man
replies to this mark of respect by gravely pronouncing the
word 'Asirvadam !
On hearing this, his worshippers rise
and receive the prasadam from him, which he gives, whisper-
ing the following words, if they belong to the Siva sect, in
'
their ear
It is I who
thy guru, and whom thou art
bound to worship.'
The followers of Siva, having thus done homage to their
Jangamas and Pandarams, proceed to perform a very dis-
'
am
:
They solemnly pour water over the
guru and wash them, reciting mantrams the
while
then carefully collecting the water so used in a
copper vessel, they pour part of it over their head and
face, and drink the rest.
The Vishnavites go through a similar ceremony with
their gurus
and this is by no means the most revolting
of the marks of respect which these idiotic fanatics delight
in paying.
A piece of food that a guru has already masti-
cated, or the water with which he has rinsed out his mouth,
at once becomes sacred in their eyes, and is swallowed with
gusting ceremony.
feet of their
;
;
avidity.
About ten miles from the fort of Chinnerayapatam a
hermitage is to be found, known by the name of Kudlu-
gondur, where a Vishnavite guru has taken up his abode.
This solitary mutt, though but a poor place to look at, is
visited by a great number of devotees, who go there to
offer their homage to the penitent, to receive his asirvadam
and prasadam, and through them the remission of their
sins.
I have been informed by some of these pilgrims
themselves, that the more enthusiastic amongst them watch
for the moment when the old guru is about to expectorate,
when they stretch out their hands, struggling as to who
shall have the happiness and good luck to catch the super-
fluous fluid which the holy man ejects
the res