Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/348

302 divine books which, if a Sudra heard read, his head would cleave asunder.) I am the medium of blessings from heaven to men. Without me, the world would be a desert; for by me the infant is purified, the man married, and the dead buried. By my prayers, misfortunes are averted, the sick healed, curses removed. If the Sudra lie for me, it is no sin; if he drink the water in which my toe has been dipped, he will be purified. Though a beggar, I occupy a height to which kings may not aspire; nay, even the gods are subject to the prayers I utter!"

If you ask the Christian missionary, "What is a Brahmin?” he might answer, “He is what you would expect a man to be who held such opinions as to his nature, rights, and offices.” The proud belief of his own purity, wisdom, and exaltation, the supreme contempt of all other men that dwells in the breast and appears in the speech and mien of the Brahmin, cannot, I think, be paralleled in the world. From his birth he is followed by a succession of ceremonies, each one tending to enhance his self-sufficiency. When twelve days old, a feast is held with many rites for the purpose of giving the young Brahmin a name. When six months old,