CHAPTER VI.
Death.—Boithornee.—Bathing.—Anointment.—Sho.—Burning the Body.—Expression of Mourning.—Widows.—Shoratho.
Death.—Boithornee.—Bathing.—Anointment.—Sho.—Burning the Body.—Expression of Mourning.—Widows.—Shoratho.
“None but the sinners die under their own roof,” is the prevailing belief among the Hindoos. The person who dies at home, and on Tuesday or Saturday, is believed to be surely possessed of an evil spirit,roth jonēē. His ghost walks round the house and frequents the places where he rested in his lifetime. Hence, the moment the physician has declared that there is no hope of life for the sick person, the friends hurry him away to the ghaut on the bank of the river Ganges, where they lay him down in such a way that he may see and bow down to the sacred river. It must be observed here, that in almost every ghaut, either at the expense of the town, or of a single individual, some rooms are erected for the accommodation of the sick and their friends, because in some instances they linger a long time before death comes. In that case they all remain there day and night. If the sick person be a rich old man, having four or five sons living, a great many religious ceremonies are performed at the ghaut. In the morning and afternoon a priest expounds the sacred legends to a large audience, who come to visit the sick and hear the preaching.
“Boithornee” is performed at this time, either by the sick himself, if he is able to utter the words, or by his oldestson. It is believed that between the edges of this world and the other there is a river, Boithornee, to cross by those who go from this. There are no boats at all. Each one must provide the means for himself. Hence, at the point of death, or a little while before the departure from this world, the traveller dedicates a cow, and a large quantity of raw rice, pease, clarified butter, sugar, and clothes, unto the gods. As a compensation, the infernal spirit will provide him with a cow, which will carry him over to the other side of the Boithornee, and the eatable things will satisfy the spirits on the way. The reader will, no doubt, compare these with the funeral proceedings of the ancient Greeks, and see how nearly they resemble each other. Sometimes it happens that the sick man recovers after a while, and consequently desires to return home. This is a bad omen, and a sad case, especially if the man be aged. They would say the messenger ofJom, Pluto, had arrested him by a mistake, having the commission to take away another in the same family. Sometimes, through a mistake, they summon some one in the neighborhood!
When the man returns home, he closes his eyes on the way; the first thing he sees is an idol in the priest’s hand, and calls any person he may choose by name, who is expected to go to the city of Pluto in his stead. Hence he calls an old person in the family if there be one, because it will be a comfort to him, and his death is lamented less. I was once posted with an idol in my hand to receive a young lady, who had been carried by the forgetful “peons of death.” She opened her big, dark eyes, looked earnestly both at me and the idol (for this was the only chance for her to see a young man face to face), and humbly bent her head, saying, “Takoor, grant that no misfortune, consequent to my return, may befall the family.”
When the men see the sick person breathing his last, they plunge his whole body up to his neck, and shout, “Gunga Nara onŏ, Brohmo om Ramŏ.” But if they be Sudras they omit the wordom, which is too sacred for them to utter. The reader will easily imagine how soon the last remnant of life flies from the body under such treatment, and, to add to the sufferings of the last hour, a man pinches very tightly the great toes of the sick until he dies. They then erect a pile of wood, which is nearly six feet long, three broad, and six high, on which they lay the dead body. Before doing this they anoint the body, and put a cross on the forehead with the sacred mud from the Gunga. When the corpse has been laid down on the wooden pile, the oldest son of the deceased walks seven times round it, with a blazing torch in his hand, repeating some words after a Brahmun of low order, who performs the funeral service. He then touches the mouth of the dead with the fire of the torch; the friends help him in this, and in the course of five hours they burn the body to ashes. If any one should touch a person of the funeral party, he must stay with them until the end of the service. They take a piece of the burnt body and enclose it in a mud cup, and throw it into the river. The Hindoos, as a people, burn the dead bodies of their friends; but to give the reader true information about this custom I should say, however, that there are some low castes,PottoandJugēē, who burn or bury their dead as circumstances permit. Again, the children under one year of age, of any caste whatever, are buried on the river’s side; but no tablet or monument is erected on the spot. The reason why the infants are buried is, I believe, the unwillingness to put fire to their delicate frames.
They then wash the funeral place, remove the ashes, and bathe themselves before they leave the spot. The leadingman of the party, i. e. the son of the deceased, erects a pole nearly eight feet long on the place just washed and cleaned, also sets there acolser, or water-pitcher, and ashora, or earthen saucer, with eight small sea-shells upon it, and slightly strikes the pitcher with a shovel, and turns his face in the opposite way. As he leaves the place he does not turn back to see the things behind him, for it is said, if any should dare to look back, he would see hosts of evil and infernal spirits dancing and feasting on human flesh. I have often thought I should like to ascertain the truth of this, by doing what is thus forbidden, but I had no opportunity, because, when my father died, I was young and superstitious, and the second son. Now, being outcasted, I have not the privileges of a son, consequently, even in the absence of my older brother, some one else in the family will burn the body of my mother when she dies.
The party then walks first to the house of the man that died, slowly repeatingHorēē Cōle, touches some fire, cutsnim(a leaf having a little taste), and chews a few grains of raw rice, which are purposely kept on the street near the house.
The expression of mourning is shown in various ways. Those bearing the same family title, such as Gangooly, Mookerjea, Doss, &c., will not shave their heads, cut the nails, anoint the body with oil, nor use any sort of animal food, for some fixed time. If the death of a Gangooly be known to hundreds of Gangooly families, they would all observe these rules, and one additional, namely, they would not offer prayers or worship the idols. The Brahmuns and astrologers observe these mourning customs ten days, the physicians fifteen, and others a month, during which time the sons suffer a great deal. They all dress in white, go with wet clothes after bathing, eat rice, boiled potatoes,peas, &c., once in twenty-four hours, and sleep on the floor on a carpet, quite separate from wife, children, or any friends.
There are some peculiarities in boiling the rice, the only meal of the day. Almost every one is required to cook for himself at this time of mourning. The earthen pan is placed on three large iron nails driven into the ground, and the fire for the cooking is made of dry cocoa-nut leaves.
During those days of mourning the sons of the deceased call on every family in his native place, high or low caste, rich or poor. Entering into a gentleman’s house, they thus address him: “Sir, to-day is the sixth day of my father’s departure from this world. He has received the grace of Gunga. I am ignorant of a great many things, inexperienced, and know not what to do. I earnestly entreat you to be kind enough to go to my house, superintend everything necessary, advise me and others interested in my case, receive and entertain the guests in my behalf,” &c. It is customary to give some pecuniary aid to them, especially if they be poor, for it costs a large sum of money to perform the ceremony, and entertain several hundred persons, at least. The day before the ceremony,—which comes, as before stated, on the tenth day to a Brahmun, the fifteenth to a physician, and the thirtieth to the low castes,—they all shave their heads; the women simply cut their nails and bathe in the river. The oldest son, who is the chief actor in the scene, offersthus pindoo(made of rice, butter, [ghee,] and bananas) to the spirit of the departed father, as food for the ten days. Now, on the next day, comes theShrawthō, or grand ceremony. The invitations, through letters and by messengers, draw immense crowds of relatives, friends, priests, monks, and beggars. In an open spacious place, either in the worshipping department of the house or outside of it, an earthen altar is erected,andbrisho kastō, or funeral post, is placed near it. This post is carved out from a piece of wood, eitherbale,nim, orjug-go doomur, a kind of fig-tree. The priest marries a calf and a young bull before it, while it serves as a pole to which cords are fastened for the purpose of binding the queer bridegroom. They brand both sides of the bull, so as to make him conspicuous all the days of his life. A peculiar caste is hired to do this, because to burngo churmo, cow’s skin, is a profane act. Hindoos have different castes to do the profane as well as sacred part.
All sorts of household furniture are dedicated to the gods, and then distributed to the Brahmuns. Some choirs, composed of common men and women of ill repute, come to sing the legends of Krishno, for which they receive some compensation. Sometimes twenty, more or less, different choirs come, and the people know not which to hear. In such cases, however, they hear the leading ones, giving them a liberal sum, and sending others away with but little. But it ought to be mentioned here that the choir having a handsome young lady, well dressed and ornamented, as its head, will secure a hearing at any rate, and, the whole time being occupied with feasts and entertainments, she is engaged to sing again, when all will be quiet.
Three days after this ceremony, they all anoint themselves with yellow powder and oil, and form a long procession of singers, priests and relatives, carry the funeral post on their shoulders, and stick it into the ground by the side of the river. Every year, on the same day, the children or grandchildren of the deceased are required to repeat some part of thisSha-ahho, and entertain as many persons as their circumstances will permit. Hence a Hindoo gentleman entertains people in feasts nearly six times a year, in honor of his departed forefathers. Even a poor man is bound todo this, otherwise he will be regarded as an infidel and a sinner.
There is a Brishookasto, or funeral post, in the Salem Museum, where curiosities from India are placed for exhibition. There is also another at the room of the American Unitarian Association.
It seems necessary to me to give my Christian friends some idea of widowhood in Bengal. The very day a girl becomes a widow, her colored clothes, silver and golden ornaments, are all taken off, and a mark of red powder, which every married woman wears on the forehead, is rubbed out. Henceforth she is to dress in white, and wear no ornament of any kind whatever during her lifetime. Her daily meals are reduced to one, and that is prepared in the simplest way possible. She is strictly prohibited the use of any sort of animal food. This restriction has been carried to such an extreme, that, if a scale of fish be found in the plate of a widow, she must immediately stop eating and go without food the same day. Each widow is required to cook her own food, and to abstain entirely from food and drink two days,aka-thusly, in every month. There are other fasting days for this class of wretched women, but the young ones feel satisfied with observing the two fixed ones. Who can witness the sufferings, the sighs of the Bengalee widow of thirteen or fourteen years, on the fast-days, without pity? In the warm days of April, when the burning sun dries up the ponds of their water, scorches the leaves of the trees, these poor victims to the rigidness of superstition faint and pant in hunger and thirst. If they are dying on theaka-thuslyday, a little water will be put to the lips, merely to wet them. In order to escape these continual sufferings, it has been the practice with many widows to burn themselves with the corpse of the husband,and though the subtle Brahmuns inculcate various rewards for the burning of the Shuttee, yet I cannot see anything more weighty than the putting an end at once to all their troubles, even at the guilt of suicide. They have no hope of ever cheering their widowhood in the world. A learned Brahmun, the principal of Calcutta Sanscrith College, is earnestly engaged in redeeming the condition of the widows by introducing the system of widow marriage. Having a deep knowledge of the national literature, also the Scriptures of the country, he traced back its customs and institutions, and wrote a pamphlet, in which he succeeded in proving that widow marriage had been known to the Hindoos of old. His reference to the ancients, his able arguments and pathetic discourses in behalf of the wretched millions, were met by the people with the ferocity of lions. Nearly sixty pamphlets were published by the enemies of the widows, against this great reformer. Amidst the heavy shower and thunder of reproach from his blind countrymen, this noble child of God, with a few friends by his side, with the love of humanity in his heart and the smile of his Father upon his head, stood firmly, and, summoning all his forces, maintained the honor and superiority in the field. With an elaborate work he answered his opponents, confuted their mistaken reasonings, and, to their great mortification, married a young Brahmun widow of sixteen to a suitable bridegroom. May he be successful in instituting this wished for system, which will save the females of Bengal from manifold sufferings and sins!
It ought to be observed in this place, that no widow is asked or forced to die with her husband. She who voluntarily takes up her cross and follows after her beloved husband of life, is welcome. Every preparation will be made to help her in this act of mistaken devotion. I have heard of somewidows, who made all the necessary arrangements for this mode of suicide while their husbands were living. As it would be a disgrace to the family in case of her failure, the people ask her to consider the matter well, and, finding her firm in her position, bind her and her dead husband together with some cords, and lay them both on theChittaor funeral pile, where she is burned alive amid the praises of the spectators. In many instances, the devoted widows, forsaking their little ones, and committing them to the care of others, have followed after their husbands. It is a heartrending scene indeed to behold the wretched children, who, with horror unspeakable, witness the death of their two dearest relatives on earth,—the one taken away by the natural death, the other, yea the sweeter, the tenderer of the two, a victim to superstition, a martyr to her conviction of the mistaken precepts of her priests.
My sisters in Christ, be grateful to your Father for the light you possess. Learn to appreciate the thousand blessings which crown your heads, and, comparing your privileges, your comforts, your associations with those of Indian females, thank heartily the great Giver of all. O, do not carelessly tread on the pearls cast so lavishly before you, but prize them, feel their influence, and make good and right use of them! Remember that to whom much is given, much will be required from the same. Pray for yourselves, and pray in behalf of your sisters in the bondage of superstition, pining and mourning in ignorance. God raise the hearts of the people of this country, especially of women, that some daughters of God, like blessed Mrs. Judson, Mrs. Mundey, and others, might take pity on the dismal condition of their sisters in the bright, yet dark, heathen India. Noble Christian men and women, who send only their male missionaries to India, do not know that the female India, whichis the better and larger portion of the country, has no chance nor allowance to hear them. So the women grow up and die in ignorance, yea, entire ignorance, of the only wise God. Their lives are spent in the worship of the ideal gods and goddesses! In the dark days of their widowhood, which lasts with life, there is nothing to comfort them, no hope, no promise to calm their troubled spirits, no knowledge of literature, science, or true religion to draw instructions therefrom. Sad, dark, dismal, pitiable, their conditions are! Nothing but the lights of the true religion can emancipate them from their servitude, strengthen them in their weakness, and exalt them from the low and degraded surface they stand on. Let pity awake in your tender breasts, ye women of America and England, towards the suffering millions! God does everything by instrumentalities, you are the same in his hands. Work then if it be expedient, or send the female teachers to work in the harvest of your King. Behold, the harvest is great, but the laborers are few! Help them, and bless them with the light you enjoy,—yea, the light of the knowledge of the King eternal, immortal, and the only wise God,—and yours will be the blessings forever!