Idolatry among the Hindoos

Author(s): A Retired East Indian

Source: The Catholic Layman, Vol. 1, No. 12 (Dec., 1852), p. 143
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30065091
Accessed: 07-04-2019 19:43 UTC

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 1852.] THE CATHOLIC LAYMAN. 143
That such was their mind is clear
by the poorest from
and most ignorant the
classes of site chosen
subsequent
the for their storing should be cool and dry, and
people.
passages, where they The Bramins,
prove, to a man, repudiate
enforce, and anything
limit thesobest
the aspect
sense- is that facing the north, as, when muc
exact
effect of this less, and even
"prohibitory the lower
part of classes
the exposed
are ashamed often to
precept."* tothe east
No or south, early sprouting is th
effort of reason, without revelation,
acknowledge it; while, at thecould
same time,know, consequence;
their of whereas, if the northern sides bf wall
dread with
certainty, that it is forbidden to idols
and reverence for their show our
discovers ditches,
manyor plantations
itself honour
on for are chosen, their sprouting or
the true God by raising statues
occasions. Nor need this inbehis name;
a matter vegetating
of surprise; to is prevented,
forman it as long as it is possible, next
would seem but a fitting acts of and just and
power, motion, tribute
knowledge are to season.
his
often Roots intended for storing till a late perio
sacred
attri-
majesty. If it was thought buted to these necessary
lifeless blocks, which,that should
the
if true, befinger
would taken up very carefully, and the leaves
of God should write on the
naturally tables
obtain for them the of stone
greatest wrenched
the
reverence. Thus, off by the hand; the crowns will thus remain
injunc-
tion not to take his name in vain-which our ideas of on one occasion, in a Bramin's house, in the town of uninjured, which will be scarcely possible if those em
the respect due to his awful attributes might have Hoobly, in Western India, an earthen image was pro- ployed to trim them are allowed to do so with a sharp
led us to think superfluous-how shall we venture toduced, very slowly and gradually. First a foot appeared cutting instrument. The tap-roots should not be cu
omit, as unimportant, the fourth verse, which guards us(this was shown to the astonished populace, by the off, neither should the outer bark or skin of the root
against a sin into which our reason and nature would Bramin, as what had occurred during the previous be cut or bruised; the roots may be packed on th
rather lead us than serve as any natural protection ? night, while he slept); after a few days, another footground in longitudinal heaps, about six feet wide at th
It seems an irresistible conclusion, that the Roman was found beside it; and gradually legs grew on these; base, and tapering up, about six feet high, to a singl
Catholic Church has decided it to be, at least, a distinct and, in the course of months, a perfect image of Vishnuroot at top. It will be of much service if some branch
and important part of a precept of the Deity, and, appeared-self-created. Can we wonder if the populace of brushwood are placed in layers through the roots;
though they do not adopt our interpretation, they give itworshipped such an image ? they will prevent them slipping and tumbling down,
sufficient importance to make its omission, by indivi- Europeans generally receive these and similar tales which, without this contrivance, is a fertile source o
dual priests and teachers, an unwarrantable breach of with such undisguised derision, that Hindoos seldom annoyance. Parsnips and carrots will be much bene
their doctrine, as it certainly appears a violation of theventure to tell them the stories which are current amongfitted by being packed in pit or river sand. After th
frequent injunction applied to these very verses-" Thouthemselves of miraculous cures performed by images, androots are packed as above described, they should be we
shalt not add unto the word which I command you,of the acts of locomotion and supernatural power which thatched. Roots may also be packed in cool, dry shed
neither shall ye diminish ought from it."f are attributed to most of the idols throughout India ; butor cellars, and in caves or pits, where the subsoil is dry
As to the fact that this omission is common and these, remarkable as they are, are fully equalled by the Stored as above, any of these roots will keep till an in
usual, it is only necessary to ask for any oftales cheap current of Christian images in Papalcredibly long period in the spring.
thegenerally
catechisms, in ordinary use among the masses, to To
Europe. besay nothing of ancient stories, that of the Milch cows should be kept closely in the house, wit
iatisfied that the practice of the generalityimage of priests
of the Virgin Mary, at Rimini, in Italy (referred the exception of about an hour for exercise, durin
has ventured to differ from the declared theory to in of their number of your paper), which moves its which time their byres should be made clean and com
a former
church. I am not aware of any catechism in Italian eyes (commonly called the winking image), is a matter fortable; their food should be generous, for which they
that gives this fourth verse, for the translation of the of the present time. I have heard that this story was will amply pay. Alternate feeds of cooked and raw foo
Trent Catechism is not in use among the laity. Ger-strongly reprobated by M. de Sibour, the Archbishop of are much the best-the cooked in the morning and at
man catechisms, of very large size, omit it also; and inParis, as injurious to religion, and calculated to bring it night, the raw at mid-day. Cattle thus taken care o
France the commandments are usually taught in cou- into contempt. Whether thePope is otherwise minded,are much more profitable than leaving them starvin
plets, of which the following are the first:-- or whether he has favoured the world with his infallible and shivering at the backs of ditches, or poaching th
" 1. Un seul Dieu tu adoreras, et aimeras parfaitement. opinion, or decided that the miracle was true, perhapsland, in fruitless endeavours to pick up a sufficiency
2. Dieu envain tu ne jureras, ni autre chose pareillement." some of your readers may be able to say. In the town food, to say nothing of the inhumanity of the system.
Young stock should also be well and carefully house
The only Irish one that 1 have seen with a transla-of Tournay, in Belgium, there is, in one of the churches,and fed; they require an abundant supply of nourishin
tion makes the same omission,t and there are abun-an image of the Blessed Virgin, w!hose face is quitefood-as much, or more so, than those full-grown-to b
dance in the English that follow the example. Is it black. So unusual an appearance excited the curiosityprofitable to their owners; it is a ruinous system to kee
surprising that Protestants give an unfavourable con-of a gentleman of our party who was looking at thestock on cold, bleak pastures; and the improving farmer
church, and he asked the sextoness the cause. She
struction to so general a suppression, and is it not who has once shaken off the sloth and indifference
strange that Roman Catholics will not refer to the true
replied, that on one memorable occasion, when
which too often characterize the generality of our
standards of their faith, instead of allowing such per-Tournay was besieged, that image of the Virgin brethren, and put his stock on better and more care-
versions of their own doctrines? had advanced to the ramparts, and, by catching
the balls of the besiegers in her apron, had savedful keep, finds-in their altered appearance, and the
FONTIUI PETITOB. the town; but that the powder of the cannon prices obtained at the early summer fairs-so amply re-
had blackened her face as we saw it. The visit to mninerated, that he will hardly be tempted to return to
IDOLATRY AMONG THE HINDOOS. old habits.
Tournay which I here narrate occurred many years ago;
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMAN.
but I conclude that "the blach virgin " is there still. Pigs.--There is no description of stock to which clean-
SIR-The anecdote, told in your paper for No- liness, warmth, and good keep are more essential at
For the story which the sextoness told the priests would
not be responsible; but for the state of the image theythis season than fatting pigs, stores, and breeding sows,
vember, of the reply of a Tinnevelly Hindoo gentleman
to a Roman Catholic priest, forcibly reminded me ofsurelya are, as it must have been coloured by their per- particularly as we are under the impression tha
more
question which I often asked myself, many years ago, mission: and when images perform such prodigies pigs,
of for some time at least, will be the best paying
valour, who can blame the people for worshipping stock. Cooked turnips, cabbages, parsnips, carrots,
when I first went to India-viz., "What is idolatrythem ?" ?
that sin so universally denounced in the Bible. This mangels, with a liberal allowance of pea, bean, oatmeal,
question was suggested by the fact, that while idols wereThe charge of idolatry was one brought against theor barley-meal, 'will not be lost on the pigs, but pay
conspicuous in every Hindoo temple, and "under Romish Church, at a very early period, by Mahomed liberal per centage.
every green tree'" by the road side, and while the Bra-and his followers; and the contempt which they exhi- Digging.-On small farms this is the time to dig al
mins themselves were to be seen prostrated before them,bited towards the cross was solely as an object of wor-land not under crop; dig deeply and roughly, so as to
ship. They believed, too, that the Blessed Virgin wasexpose as great a surface as possible to the ameliorating
they all, when questioned, declared they did not worship
idols, but that they bowed down before them as the re- the third person of the Trinity ; and though this wasinfluence of the winter's frosts and thaws. In wet or
evidently an error, even in the corruptest ages of thein drained ground, the land can be dug in ridges, and
presentatives of the absent deities, to whom, in reality,
their homage was addressed. church, yet it shows Mahomedans considered that shein dry land it can be dug out without ridges; but in
This reply of the Bramins, connected with the fact received Divine honours from the Christians with whomueither cases, deeply and roughly, not scratching it in
that the idolatry of Hindoos is considered in Europe an came in contact.
they the usual old, slovenly manner. It may remain so
admitted fact, led me to examine the account given in A friend of mine in India had a Mahomedan servant,until the sowing time, when, if intended for grain, i
the 32nd chapter of Exodus, of the first great apostasywith whom he used to converse freely on religiousmay be sown and harrowed in without any furthe
of the Jewish nation, when they made the golden calf; matters. This man once classed the prevailing religiouspreparation. But the mode of digging that we mos
and there I was struck with the expression, in versesystems
5, of India as follows:-" The Hindoos and the commend is, to throw up the land as it is dug into
" to-morrow is a feast to Jehovah." The golden calf" Portuguese worship images; the English and the Moha-high and narrow drills, similar to those made for tur-
was, therefore, no new god, but intended as the repre- medans worship God." nips. This mode can be adopted whether the land is in
sentative of the Holy One, who had "brought them I am, sir, your obedient servant, ridges, or with a plain surface without furrows; the
out of the land of Egypt;" for, in the 8th verse, this A RETIRED EAST INIDAN. advantages of this method are, that a greater surface i
power is attributed to their idol, though, as the people Nov. 27, 1852. exposed to the frost, snow, and air; it lies so high, tha
themselves well knew, that idol was not in existence, it is quickly dry, and if intended for corn will break
as an idol, when their deliverance from Egypt took FARM OPERATIONS FOR DECEMBER. down early in the spring in the best possible condition
place; they could not, therefore, have imagined that but if intended for a root crop the advantages are stil
(From the Irish Farmer's Gazette.) greater; for if the land is thrown up into drills, 27 or
this calf had brought them out of Egypt. The nation
Wheat.-We should hope that the greater portion of asunder, in the spring, there is no more to b
28 inches
were hardly so besotted as to think that; but they held
it to be the visible representation of that power whichthe seed wheat has been committed to the ground donelongthan deposit the manure in the drills as already
ere this. Where that has not been the case, no formed, exertion and split them with the spade, covering th
had delivered them from Egyptian bondage.
should be spared in doing so without delay; in manure
The belief held by many, that the calf was supposed to
no case from both sides, when the drill is formed
should it be deferred till after Christmas, as after againthat
for the reception of the seed, whether parsnips,
be a god distinct from the true, as Baal or Moloch, and
that the Israelites, in making it, had determined periodto it will be getting late to sow any of thecarrots,
winter mangels, or turnips, &c. Care should be taken
varieties.
change the supreme object of their worship, may have in the digging to pick out all scutch-grass and root
weeds,
arisen from the expression, in the first verse, "make usBeans and Peas may still be sown; the best variety
of bean to sow now is, the Russian, or the Heligoland,Odds nd Ends.--Keep draining, digging, subsoiling,
gods," and that in the fourth verse, "these be thy
gods;" but the word translated " gods " in both these and gathering manure, for without a liberal use of
for the feeding of stock; the best for human consumption
passages is the same-n_'vnt-mentioned in the first are, the early Mazagan and long pod. manure the draining, &c., will be of little avail; there-
chapter of the Book of Genesis as the Creator of heavenPeas chiefly used in feeding stock are, the gray fore,
ma- gather and manufacture manure by every means in
ple, Pennsylvanian, and strawberry; for human food,your
the power; let nothing be lost. Remove all crooked
and earth; and it is with reference to this plural noun
that Aaron, in the fourth verse, uses the plural pro- early Charleton, early Hotspur, double-blossomed May and cumbersome fences, and form new ones;
useless
and marrow-fat peas are best. cut down, plash, and lay all overgrown fences. Keep
noun " these," which would evidently be inapplicable to
the single object (the calf) to which he was pointing.
the flail, or thrashing-machine, busy, so as to have
Storing Roots.-Take every advantage of dry weather,
fresh and clean straw before the cattle. Scour and
The gross, material worship of a lifeless idol (suchinaspulling and storing Swedish and Aberdeen turnips,
Europeans, who have not lived in an idolatrous country, clean out all open ditches and ponds. Cut and brui
mangels, parsnips, and carrots, before they encounter
furze, which is an excellent food for horses or cows,
severe frosts. Roots, particularly turnips and mangels,
suppose to exist there) is rarely acknowledged, except
intended for late keeping, are much more injuredwhen by it can be obtained. Repair and paint implements
* Dr. Donovan's Translation, page 360. Coyne, Dublin. frosts than most people imagine; for, although nowhere
in- required, and let the well-regulated labour o
Deuter. Iv. 2.
jury is perceptible to the eye, their keeping properties dependant on him, and a clean comfortable farm
those
t Published by the College of the Sorbone Paris,.are .. much injured when expose4 to severo frosts.yard, The be the careful farmer's pride and pleasure.

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