IMPOSING ON THE IGNOBANT 267
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They must beware of teaching this prayer to the degraded Sudras. Whoever dared to do so would assuredly go to the infernal regions— he, his father, and his children;
and if a Sudra happened to overhear a Brahmin repeating it he would inevitably go to the same place and remain there for all eternity. I have said it, and I repeat it,' says the author, ' let them beware of making it known to the Sudras, under pain of eternal damnation.
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No meditation, penance, sacrifice, knowledge, prayer, can compare in efficacy to the gayatri mantram. Its
merits are superexcellent, but it must also be kept a profound secret. It was Brahma himself who composed it expressly for Brahmins.
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This is the idea which must be formed of the goddess
gayatri. Though she appears under the form of a prayer, it must be recognized that she is the Supreme Being, and she must be worshipped as such. Brahma, who composed this mantram, taught it to Indra, who taught it to Yama
; he in turn instructed Siva, who taught it to the Brahmins.'
Such are the prayers and ceremonials used by Brahmins when performing the three sandhyas, and such are the extravagant absurdities to which they are bound to conform.
The intense and mysterious solemnity with which they perform all this ceremonial is intended to persuade others
that its end and object must be of the highest and most vital importance; the inner meaning being quite beyond the reach of the vulgar and ignorant. Every care is taken to strengthen this opinion; and they use the greatest precautions to exclude the searching eyes of educated persons.
Though assured of the blind credulity of the ignorant masses over whom they hold sway, they are well aware
that, if ever the spell should be broken, their charlatanism and cupidity would stand revealed, and they would then
become the laughing-stock of the public.
If the sandhya really represents the cream of the Vedas,
I do not think that any European will regret the want of a wider acquaintance with these famous books. As an excuse for the fantastic folly of many of their religious