Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 305

THE MAN OF
SIN
265
O water at the time of the Flood,' &c,
the words
and so on, as before mentioned.
Then lie ejects by a forcible expiration the water in his
nostrils, which carries away the sinful man, whom he
He represents this man of
crushes at once upon a stone.
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:
!
sin to himself as a powerful being, of extraordinary strength,
with a red belly, white hair and beard, and a hideous and
distorted face \
He evokes the gayatri, and turning to the west, he
says
god of the day, on whom depends the happiness of
mankind, I offer the evening sandhya deign to honour me
with your presence
O goddess gayatri, who are the
emblem of the Vedas and the word of Brahma, whose
name is composed of three letters
I offer you jmja ;
hasten hither that I may be happy
Whilst making this prayer his hands are spread open and
raised towards heaven.
He then rubs his hands together
and puts them to his breast, believing in imagination that
the gayatri is reposing there.
He cracks his finger-joints
ten times, and turns round at the same moment
and by
that he closes all places of egress, so that the goddess
cannot depart. He pictures her to himself as an old woman,
having Siva's face, riding on an ox, dwelling in the disk
of the sun, and united to all the Vedas.
Then he says
Divine wife of Siva you are the mother of all that is.
I offer you puja at the approach of night, take me under
your protection and save me
Come, gayatri, come and
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my
favourably hear
Whoever
'
prayers
recites these words will obtain
!
all
that he asks
Here is another portrait of a man of sin, culled from the Sama-
Veda
The murder of a Brahmin forms the head of the man of sin
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drinking intoxicating liquors, the eyes
theft, particularly of gold, the
face
the murder of a guru, the ears
the murder of a woman, the
nose the murder of a cow, the shoulders ; the rape of another man's
wife, the chest
the wilful production of abortion, the neck
oppression
of the innocent and just, the belly
ill treatment of any one who has
sought protection, the stomach to slander your guru, violate a virgin,
betray a secret confided to you, or to be false to any one who has relied
on you, these arc the private parts and the thighs and the hairs of
these are the smaller sins.
This man of sin is of gigantic stature, and
has a horrihle face
he is black, and has wild bright eyes
he delight p
in torturing mankind.'
Dubois.
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