Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 513

A LESSON IN CREDULITY
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only contributed to strengthen the faith of the
and none doubted that this holy sannyasi was
really a divine being who under human form had deigned
to pay a passing visit to their monarch, and during the
silence of the night had returned to the abode of happiness
from which he had descended. The appearance of the holy
personage, as well as his miraculous disappearance, formed
for many days afterwards the sole topic of conversation
at the court, in the town, and throughout the entire king-
dom, until at length people grew tired of always repeating
the same story, and nothing more was heard of it.
A short time after the event Appaji was one day at the
court of the king his master, when the latter reminded him
of the question which he had asked him to solve, viz. Is
it the customs which are ridiculous, or only the men who
follow those customs ? Appaji was only waiting for his
opportunity of answering and having obtained an assur-
ance from the king that nothing he said would offend his
majesty, if his explanation were sincere and full, he addressed
the king as follows
Great king, your own conduct solved
the question in a manner quite irrefutable, at the time
when you visited the cave in the mountain to see the
penitent.
You will no doubt be astonished to hear that
this famous personage is none other than the shepherd
who for many years has been looking after my sheep,
a stupid and uncouth man who is only capable of inspiring
you with the most sovereign contempt
Yet it is to this
very personage that you and your whole court rendered
divine honours
and that, moreover, on my sole testimony.
The multitude followed blindly in your steps, and without
trying to get to the bottom of the matter, or to gain any
knowledge of the object of their devotion, they gave them-
selves up in an access of religious zeal to honour as a god
an unknown and miserable shepherd who has hardly
sufficient intelligence to distinguish him from brute beasts.
Does not all this afford a most striking proof that men in
their religious and civil usages only follow a beaten track ?
Thus you yourself have justified the truth of the ancient
proverb which says Jatra marula, J ana morula.'*
Krishna Roya, far from being angry with the liberty
which Appaji had taken with him in order to bring home
course,
public
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