Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Página 565

RULES TO BE OBSERVED
525
the other, while under his arm lie carries an antelope's
These three things are all that he is now allowed to
skin.
Then he thrice drinks a little pancha-gavia,
call his own.
and also some of the water in his gourd he repeats the
;
guru has taught him and he is then
a sannyasi for life. All that remains for him to do is to
present to the attendant Brahmins the cloths and money
which he has brought with him.
mantrams which
his
;
The newly initiated must conform strictly to the in-
structions that he has received from his guru, and must
follow minutely all the rules laid down for persons of his
The following are the chief of these, to which
profession.
have added a few remarks of my own
Every morning, after he has performed his ablutions,
I.
a sannyasi must smear ashes on his body V
The majority of Hindus only smear them over their fore-
I
:
'
heads.
He must take only one meal every day.'
This rule of fasting is followed not only by the Brahmin
II.
'
(sapta parvata), the Seven Sacred Jungles (sapta arania), the Seven
Sacred Trees {sapta vruksha), the Seven Castes (sapta Tenia), the Seven
Inferior and Superior Worlds (sapta loka), &c.
Seven too is an uneven
number, and all the uneven numbers are considered lucky. For example,
take the famous Trimarti (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva). Virgil also
says
:
tibi haec primum triplici diversa colore
Licia circumdo, terque haec altaria circum
Effigiem duco
numero Dens impare gaudet
Necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores.
Terna
:
.
.
.
While on the subject of the sannyasi' 's staff I might refer to the rods
of Moses, of Elisha, and of all the prophets ; the augur's staff, the pas-
toral staffs of the Fauns and sylvan deities, and those of the Cynics ;
but I will leave to the intelligent reader the task of making what com-
parisons he thinks proper.
Dubois.
1
In times of great tribulation the Jews used to cover themselves
with sackcloth and ashes in token of their sorrow and deep repentance
for their sins.
This was the way in which the Ninevites showed their
repentance. In France, in several religious houses, it was a duty to
lie on ashes when at the point of death.
The Council of Benevento in
1091 ordained that the faithful should put ashes on their heads on the
first day of Lent to promote a spirit of humiliation and penance during
that holy season, by bringing to their recollection the words of Holy
'
Scripture
Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.''
:
Dubois.
—