Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 309

WHO PERFORM THE SANDHYA
269
most Brahmins neglect and are even altogether ignorant
them.
The Kshatriyas and the Vaisyas must also perform the
sandhya but it is not as obligatory for them, especially for
Furthermore, the mantrams
Vaisyas, as it is for Brahmins.
and ceremonials of the latter are quite different, and not
nearly so numerous.
The Jains also perform the sandhya. As for the Sudras,
they can only make simple ablutions, without any prayers
but any one who wishes to be distinguished
or ceremonies
from the vulgar herd, and to be considered a more exalted
person, rarely fails to perform the ablutions at least once
a day. To see them one would never think that those
who perform the sandhya are actuated in any way by a
The Brahmin gets through all these
spirit of devotion.
ceremonies and repeats all these prayers as quickly as
possible
he is like a schoolboy gabbling over a lesson he
and this, like everything else, is all
has learnt by heart
performed perfunctorily and as a duty to be discharged
with all possible celerity.
of the greater part of
;
;
;
;
CHAPTER
—
VIII
Brahminical Fasts. The Custom of Rubbing the Head and Body with
The Over-indulgence of Brahmins. Their Scrupulous Observ-
Oil.
ance of Custom. Reflections on this Subject. Their Samara-
Sudra Feasts.
dhanas, or Public Feasts.
—
—
—
—
—
are obliged to keep frequent and often pro-
They are expected to accustom themselves
to them as indispensable adjuncts of their religion from
Even old age, in-
the day they assume the triple cord.
firmity, or sickness, unless it be very serious, is not held
to exempt them from these fasts.
Brahmins
longed fasts
l
.
One is perpetually struck by the numerous points of resemblance
between the manners and customs of modern Brahmins and those of
the Pharisees, with which we have become acquainted through the
Holy Scriptur