Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/300

258 power. The orthodox Hindus, therefore, will not worship Budh.

“But," I inquired of the munshi, “will you worship the lying Vishnu, who thus appeared on earth to deceive men, and destroy their virtue by teaching them a false religion?” “Oh yes," said he; “of course we will.” Upon my trying to make him see the wretchedness of such a god, and the worthlessness of such worship, he seemed quite incapable of discovering any thing out of the way in doing evil that good might come. It is painfully true of the Hindus that, "professing themselves to be wise, they have become fools;" for "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

The Jainas do not hold the doctrines of Budh in a pure state. They have mingled with them Brahminic views. They say that sanyasees, or holy men, having mortified their appetites and passions, become completely insensible to pleasure or pain, to hunger, thirst, or any want. Their souls, freed from earthly pollution, rest upon God in unbroken contemplation. Finally, the body dissolving, or evaporating like camphor when heated, returns to the elements, and the