Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 562

522
A SUICIDE TEMPORARILY FRUSTRATED
He
the greatest enthusiasm and respect wherever he went.
was nicknamed Sava V or 'the corpse,' and he always
carried upraised in his hand the dagger with which he was
on the point of it was stuck a small
going to kill himself
lemon. Everything was in readiness for the horrible sacri-
fice, the victim himself having fixed the day on which it
'
;
was to be consummated. Immense crowds had assembled
out of curiosity, greatly pleased to think they were to witness
a horrid sight but the magistrate of the district, who was
a humane and sensible man, caused the hero of the tragedy
to be brought before him, took away his dagger, and
ordered him to be conducted out of the district, absolutely
forbidding him to re-enter the country. A few months
afterwards, I learned that the maniac had carried out his
dreadful vow on the banks of the Tungabudra, to the
delight of an enormous crowd which had collected to enjoy
the revolting spectacle. There is nothing improbable,
therefore, in the story told by Diodorus Siculus of the
Brahmin Calanus, who terminated his life by allowing
himself to be burnt alive in the presence of Alexander's
;
army.
The above are a few examples of the deplorable and fatal
Hindu superstition. Such are the natural results
effects of
of the foolish theories of ancient philosophers, the most
enlightened men of their times, as to the best means of
purifying the soul and ensuring certain and everlasting
happiness.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Fourth State of the Brahmins, that of the Sanmjasi.
for this Holy State.
Ceremonies of Initiation. Rules
by the Sannyasi.
—
—
— Preparation
to be followed
The
fourth state to which a Brahmin can attain is that
a state so sublime, according to the Hindu
authors, that it ensures, even during the short space of
a single lifetime, more spiritual blessedness than an ordinary
man could attain in ten millions of regenerations 2
of a sannyasi,
.
1
A
—
corrupt form of the Sanskrit word sapam. Ed.
Book VI of the Laws of Mann directs him for the fourth period of
his life to wander about as a Bhikshu or Parivrajaka, 'religious mendi-
cant.'
Here arc a few rules for the regulation of this Jinal stage of his
-