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, ’ Respect for the life of creatures is good; this is what ought to be said by a father, by a son, by a brother, by a friend, by an acquaintance, by a relation, and even by mere neighbours: this is well; this is to be done. He who acts thus is honoured in this world, and in the other world infinite merit results from this gift of the Law. (4799.) OA APPENDIX C. TABLET XIL Piyadasi, the beloved of the Gods, honors all forms of religious belief, whether professed .. ascetics or by householders, both by giving alms and by other modes of showing respe But the beloved of the Gods does not esteem alms and marks of respect so highly .as the increas: of that which is the essence of renown. Now the increase of that which is essential for all forms of belief is of many kinds, ‘but. nevertheless the base of it is, for each of them, praise in words. Yurther, a man must honor his own: faith without blaming that of. another, and thus will but little that is wrong occur. There are even circumstances under which the faith of others should be honoured, and in acting thus, according to circumstances, a man increases his own faith and injures that of others. He who acts differently diminishes his own faith and injures that of others ; he, whoever he may be, who honours ‘his own faith and blames that of others -out of devotion to his own, and says, moreover, Let us make our faith conspicuous ; that man, I say, who acts thi merely injures the faith he holds: concord alone therefore is desirable. Further; let men listen to each law and follow it with submission, for such is the desire of the King, beloved of the Gods Further, may men of all. faiths abound in knowledge and prosper in virtue! And those who have faith in this or that religion should repeat this :—The King, beloved of the Gods, does not value alms or marks of respect so much as the increase of that which is the essence of renown and the multiplication of all beliefs, To this end great ministers of law, and superintendents of women * * * and other officers are appointed, and the fruit of this institution will be the speedy increase ° all religions, as. well as the illumination of the law. Extract from Tablet XII, ‘the rest being so injured that it does not admit of continuous translation :-— - - There is not in either class of the heretics of men, & procedure marked by such grace * ” nor so glorious, or. friendly, nor even so extremely liberal: as Devd4nampiyo’s injunction for the non-injury and content of living creatures; * * * and the Greek king besides, by whom the kings of Egypt, Proremaios and ANTicoNos and Macas, * * * both here and in foreign — countries, everywhere wherever they go, the religious ordinances of Devénampiyo effect. conversion. Conquest’ is of every description, but the conquest which -bringeth joy, springing from pleasant emotions, becometh joy itself. The victory of virtue is happiness * * * such victory is desired in things of this world and things of the next world. v. R. A.S8., XI. 233) ee TRANSLATION OF THE BHABRA Teecnibaos By Proresson WIsoN. Piyadasi, the King, to the venerable Assembly of. Magadha, commands the infliction of little pain and indulgence to animals, It is verily known, I proclaim, to what extent my. bases and aioe (are placed) in Buddha, and in the Law, and in the Assembly. | Whatsoever (words) have been spoken by the divine Buddha, they have all been well said, and in them verily I declare that capability of proof. is to be discerned; so-that the pure law (which they teach) will be of long duration, as far as Ee ‘ama worthy ‘(of being. obeyed). , For these I declare are the precepts. of the Law ‘of the principal discipline (Vinaya), having overcome the oppressions of the Aryas and, future ‘perils, {and refuted) the songs of the Munis, the Sitras of the Munis, (the Practices) ‘of. iniferior , eesti oe censure -of .a light ond; and. (all) false doctrines. im These things, as declared by the divine Buddha, I ne and I desire them to ie regarded as the precepts of the Law. Ss =. And that as many as there may be, male aid female mendicants, may hear and observe them, as well also as male and female followers (of the laity). These things I affirm, and have caused this to be written (to make known to you) that such .will be my intention. i. . APPENDIX D. 2385 APPENDIX D. THE Hae races worship three classes of deities,—the Grama devata, or village..god ; the Kula devata, or household god; and the Ishta devata, the personal or patron god. Snake Worship is general throughout peninsular India, both of the sculptured form and of the living creature. The sculpture is invariably of the form of the Nag or Cobra, and almost every _ hamlet has its Serpent deity. Sometimes this is a single snake, the hood of the Cobra” being spread open. Occasionally the sculptured figures are nine in number, and this form is called the “Nao nag,” and is intended to represent a parent snake and eight of its young, but the prevailing form is that of two snakes twining in the manner of the Esculapian rod. Some Hindus hold that the living snake is not worshipped di a devaté by any Hindu sect, but is reverenced in commemoration of some ancient event. If this be correct, it has, perhaps, relation to some astronomical occurrefice. Others, however, maintain that it is as a devata that it is worshipped; but whatever be the origin of the adoration, the living snake is worshipped everywhere throughout Southern India. On these occasions the worshippers resort to the snake’s residence, called in Urdu the 45,6 os ipsa Simp ki hit, which they ornament with streaks of vermilion-and daubs of ‘turmeric, and of wheat flour, and they hang garlands of flowers near, strung on white cotton thread, and laid over wooden frames. Also, in the ninth Sravan, which occurs in the rainy season, the “ N4g panchami” festival occurs, on which Hindus go in search of snakes, or have them brought to their houses by the “ Sanpeli,” the snake charmers who snare them. The snakes are then worshipped, and offerings are made to them of milk, and - in nearly every house figures of snakes, drawn on paper, are fixed on the walls and worshipped. Those who visit the snakes’ hits, plant sticks around the hole, and wind white cotton thread around and over the sticks. The Mahratta women go, a number together, to the snakes’ hit, and, joining hands, circle five times round and round it, singing songs, and then prostrate themselves. They pour milk into the hole (they ought to give it to the snake). They hang festoons of Chernhela flowers and cucumber fruit, and sprinkle a mixture of sugar and flour (Sakr Suji). On the 25th January 1868 I halted. in the temple of the Grama devatd of Assaye, where Sir A. Wellesley defeated the Bhonslah. I there saw Hanuman with a lingam, and Basava, the bull, and the tulsi plant, and on the western wall of the temple was a cobra snake, drawn in white, which the worshippers said was travelling to Ceylon. or Lanka. They laughed when I said he. would be long on his journey. In Southern India the deity under whose name the snake is worshipped is Subramini, whose shrine is said to be in the western part of Mysore, and the image there is described as a Shapes lump of earth. I have only once seen living snakes in the form of the Esculapian rod. “Tt was at Ahmednuggur, - in 1841, in a clear moonlight night. They dropped into the garden from over the thatched roof ‘of my house, and stood erect, They were all cobras, and no one could have séen them without at once récognizing that they were in congress. Captain Havelock, to whom I showed. these remarks, mentioned in reply that he once, in broad daylight, in the jungles, saw pythons, just - as I have sketched them,* in the, singular form of the Esculapian rod, but many natives mention having seen this sight. Natives of India believe that it is most fortunate to witness snakes ‘so engaged, and they believe that if they can throw a cloth at the pair to touch them with. it, the cloth becomes a representative form of Lakshmi of the highest virtue, and is taken home to their houses and preserved as such. * A sketch of the serpents in this attitude accompanied the letter, but not sufficiently perfect to enable a woodcut to be made from it—J. F, GG 2 236 _ APPENDIX D. No Hindu, ordinarily, will kill a snake, but turns aside on seeing it. Young men who pb: been educated at English sehools, however, have no such reserve, and a Mahratta Brahmin — informed me that he has killed three of them. Snakes are kept in houses in Ceylon and Guzerat, partly seemingly as objects of worship, and partly to destroy rats, but no similar practice prevails in the south-eastern parts of Epepeienae India. Cu. Ep. Batrovr, M.D. Secunderabad, 23d January 1868. MEMORANDUM ON SNAKE WorsHIP. On the Nag Panchmee festival; which occurs, I think, on the fifth day of the Hindu month Bhadoon, in the rainy season, Nags (Cobras) are worshipped by most of the lower classes of the people in the Deccan, and more particularly in the Shorapore country. The principal of those classes in Shorapore are the Beydars, who are decidedly an aboriginal tribe, which is numerous in Mysore and in the southern Mahratta country. The Shorapore class came from Mysore and settled in Shorapore and the Rachore Doab, under chieftains who were originally servants of the Rajahs of Beejanugger, but who became subjects of the Kings of Golburgah and Beeder, and of Beejapoor after the fall of the Beejanugger state. The Beydars have not mingled with other Hindu castes, and though they profess to be Hindus, they adhere to many of their original .