Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/417

Rh whose name means “lord of the world," is a form of Vishnu, and the hero-god Rama is another.

If such is the treatment which the supreme deities of India receive at the hands of the Hindus, we may judge of the respect with which the minor gods are regarded. A multitude of absurd, puerile, and most insulting narratives of their lives are everywhere told, and listened to with satisfaction by the very men who daily pray to them. Women, sitting on their doorsteps, sing in responsive verses the most gross charges of folly, impotence, meanness, and crime against the two rival deities. Men, as they walk the streets, chant the history of transactions in heavenly circles that would be a shame to any human family. Nor do they hesitate to curse the gods, if they do not get from them what they desire. A commonplace incident will illustrate the total want of respect for the highest deities, which is, I believe, universal in India. The native preacher who assisted me in Royapooram, when going among the people, was hailed by a fat, heathenish Hindu, and asked about his books and business. The man then began to rail at missionaries, but added that he had met one padré who was