Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 219

DEFILEMENT BY THE DEAD
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persons, their clothes, their furniture, their temples, &c., &c.
It is principally this ineradicable prejudice which has raised
such an insurmountable barrier between them and the rest
mankind. Obliged by their religious tenets to hold
themselves aloof from every one who does not share their
beliefs, they can never, under any circumstances, be on
such friendly or confidential terms with any stranger as
would arise from feelings of mutual esteem and respect.
It is undoubtedly from the Brahmins that the other Hindus
have picked up this absurd prejudice, for it is in strongest
force amongst them (the Brahmins).
The predominating
idea in their general conduct, and in their every action in
life, is what they call cleanness
and it is the enormous
amount of care that they take to keep themselves clean,'
to prevent any sort or kind of defilement, and to purify
themselves from any uncleanness that they may have
contracted, which gives them their ascendency over other
It is one of the special duties of the Brahmachari
castes.
to be well versed, at an early age, in the customs and
practices regulating this important branch of Hindu law.
In all countries the sight of a human corpse produces
a thrill of horror. Every one has a strong aversion, amount-
ing almost to repugnance, to touching a dead body.
But
Hindus consider that the mere fact of assisting at a funeral
is sufficient to defile them.
When the ceremony is over,
they immediately hasten to plunge themselves into water,
and no one would dare to return home without having thus
purified himself.
Even the news of the death of a relative,
though it may have happened a hundred miles away,
produces the same effect, and every member of the family
who receives the news must purify himself. Friends
and simple acquaintances, however, are not contaminated
of
;
'
thereby.
The moment a Hindu has breathed his last the necessary
preparations for his funeral begin, for as long as the body
remains in the house, neither the inmates, nor even their
neighbours, can eat or drink or attend to their usual occupa-
tions.
I have seen the service in a temple, where a large
congregation had assembled, entirely suspended until the
body of a man who had died not far off had been removed.
Neither incense nor any other perfume would purify a house