BELIEF IN PREDESTINATION 615
What is written on the forehead must be fulfilled. It is also upon this irrevocable and irresistible destiny that Hindus
lay the faults and crimes committed by them. Instances
of this are constantly occurring in the European courts of justice now established in the country. Thus, when judges
ask criminals what has brought them to commit the crimes for which they are convicted, they invariably respond,
Thus it was written on my forehead, and it was not in my power to avoid it ].
Each man is also endowed with one of the three qualities of which mention has been made before, namely, goodness or truth( satva), passion( rajas), ignorance( tamas). Whichever of these qualities has fallen to a man ' s lot is inherent in his being, and is in conformity with his deeds in previous
existences; it influences him in all the actions of his life.
This doctrine of fate or destiny was recognized in heathen antiquity from the earliest times. It was the subject of speculation among Greek and Roman philosophers; and, as we all know, there are philosophers of modern times who
have felt no shame in adopting it. However, the wisest of the Greek and Roman philosophers correctly gauged the consequences of attributing such an influence to destiny, an influence which, by depriving men of all liberty, destroys both virtue and vice, and constitutes God the Author of all crime. In other terms, that is to say, it disturbs the basis of all morality and of all religion.
Vishnu.
One of the commonest names of Vishnu in the southern part of the Peninsula is Perumal. His devotees are fond of invoking him under the name of Narayana; and he has a thousand other names, of which the Brahmins have composed a species of litany which they call Harismarana.
I have said elsewhere, concerning the worship rendered to Vishnu, that the sign of the namam, which his followers trace on their forehead, is the distinctive symbol of that
1
This was the excuse offered by a Hindu who was a few years ago
charged with the murder of his mistress at the Mazajron Police Court, Bombay, for the sake of her jewels. Ed.