Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/284

 540 RELIGION OF BALI. name the sacred triliteral syllable «wm, pronoun- ced by them ong, as in the expression ong Siwa Chatiiy^'baja, " adoration to Siwa with the four arms." I did not observe that the Balinese made, like the Hindus, any scruple to pronounce this sacred and mystical syllable. The perpetual and tiresome routine of ceremo- nies practised by the genuine Hindu are generally, as far as I could discover, neglected by the Ba- linese ; and the strange and wanton prejudices on the subject of food are paid little regard to by the body of the people, who eat beef without scruple^ and among whom the domestic foxd and hog aiFord the most favourite articles of diet. The Brahmins are more scrupulous, and abstain from every species of animal food, confining themselves to what is barely vegetable ; some of the more meritorious even restrict themselves to roots and fruits. In Bali I could discover no religious mendi- cants. In a fruitful soil, understocked with in- habitants, and where the priesthood possess valu- able temporal authority, there is less occasion to seek for spiritual distinction. Those whimsical and extravagant acts of self-mortification which have made the Hindu devotee so famous, are un- known to the Ascetics of Bali, whose severest penances consist of — abstinence from some descrip-