Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 179

THE EFFICACY OF MAXTRAMS
ones, if this Sanskrit verse,
is to be believed
139
which one often hears repeated,
:
Devadhtnam jagat sarvam,
Mantradhinam ta dtvata
Tan mantram brahmanadhinam
Brahmana mama
devata.
under the power of the
the
the gods are under the power of mantrams
mantrams are under the power of the Brahmins there-
The argument is plainly
fore the Brahmins are our gods.'
set out, as you may see, and these modest personages have
no scruples about arrogating to themselves the sublime title
of Brahma gods, or gods of the earth.
As an instance of the efficacy of mantrams, I will cite
the following example, which is taken from the well-known
Which means,
gods
'
The universe
is
;
;
;
Hindu poem Brahmottara-Kanda, composed
in
honour
of
Siva
Dasarha, king of Madura, having married Kalavati,
daughter of the king of Benares, was warned by the prin-
cess on their wedding-day that he must not take advantage
of his rights as her husband, because the mantram of the
five letters, which she had learned, had so purged and puri-
fied her that any man who ventured upon any familiarities
with her would do so at the risk of his life, unless he had
been previously cleansed from all defilements through the
same medium. Being his wife she could not teach him
this mantram, because by doing so she would become his
The next day the
guru, and consequently his superior.
husband and wife both went in quest of the great Rishi,
or penitent, Garga, who, on learning the object of their
visit, bade them fast for one day and bathe the following
day in the Ganges. Thus prepared the pair returned to
the penitent, who made the husband sit down on the ground
facing the east, and having seated himself by his side, but
facing the west, he whispered these two words in his ear,
"Namah Sivaya 1 ! " Scarcely had the king Dasarha heard
these marvellous words when a flight of crows was seen
issuing from different parts of his body, which flew away
and disappeared these crows being nothing more or less
:
'
;
1
This means,
letters.
Dubois.
'
All hail to Siva
'
!
and
is
the mantram of the five