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Consequently another religious order now appears, men who give up all their connexion with the life of man, re linquishing not only business and pleasure but wife and 170 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY children, the worship of ancestors, the worship of the gods, property, house, ordinary food and clothing. They shaved off their hair, begged their food, and slept in a cave or at the root of a tree. Hence they were called parivrajakas, 1 vagrants,' and bhikshus, ' beggars '. But the most significant name is sannydsls, ' renouncers,' because they renounced 41. SADHU WEARING SANDALS FILLED WITH SPIKES (Photograph by Wiele & Klein.) ordinary life so completely. The points to be noted are those that contrast with the hermit : worship is abandoned altogether ; food and clothes are got by begging ; and all connexion with the family, society, and the state is com pletely destroyed. This new order of ' monks ', as we shall call them, was ASCETICISM 171 divided into numerous groups differing in faith and practice. Buddhist and Jain monks as well as all classes of Hindu monks had the same general ideal of the houseless life, as they called it. This form of discipline may be called world-aban doning asceticism. 109. Modern ascetics differ in several respects from the men of the earlier periods. The new ideas and practices came in with modern Hinduism. A number of the modern schools were organized by the great S'ahkara in the first half of the ninth century. There are two main points to be noticed : (a) Modern practice is a combination of the practice of the hermit and the monk. The modern ascetic, or sadhu, as we shall call him, is supposed to be cut off from the world like the monk, but, like the hermit, he does not give up wor ship, (b] Most sadhus are 42. MODERN TAPAS This sadhu, being swung head downwards over a fire by a disciple, was photographed recently at Alla habad. (Photograph kindly favoured by Mr. E. M. Moffatt.) sectarians : they are devotees of Vishnu or of Siva. There are several orders, notably the Ekadand'is, or One-rod Sannyasls, to which Sahkara belonged (see fig. 30), and the Tridandts, or Three-rod Sannyasls, to which Ramanuja belonged (see figs. 31 and 38), which are restricted to Brahmans. These conform in most points to the ancient 172 OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY rule of the monk ; yet even they will be found worshipping one of the great gods. All the non-Brahman orders reflect a number of other characteristics of modern Hinduism : they believe in pilgrimage, and often wear showy tokens of the great tlrthas, or places of pilgrimage, which they have 43 MuDEKN SlVAlTK .SAD HI" His body is smeared with ashes. lie was under a vow of silence and would not answer questions except with guttural grunts. He would not touch money, but a friend who hap pened to be near accepted a few coppers and promised to buy him some food. Photographed outside the temple of Ramesvara at Bhuvanesvara. (Photograph kindly given by Mr. Frank Anderson, Bombay.) visited. They carry symbols of their gods. A Vishnuite will carry a salagrama stone, a discus, or an image of Rama or Krishna. A Sivaite will smear his body with ashes like Siva, and carry a trident, a tiger's skin, or a human skull. Many keep up the old forms of self-torture. ASCETICISM 173 Asceticism has greatly deteriorated in modern times. There is no serious thought-movement in it ; a large propor tion of sadhus are ignorant men ; many are grossly immoral ; some of the orders are coarse and indecent ; and Hindus acknowledge that there are but few sincere and earnest men amongst them. Yet here and there one meets a man of character and learning. NOTE. — The text at the bottom of the page is the rule of THE ANCIENT WANDERING MONK, parivrajako. : ' He shall have neither fire nor dwelling ; he may go to the village to get his food by begging ; he shall be indifferent, not irresolute, a man of meditation and of concentration of mind.' Mdnava Dharmaidstra, vi. 43. : II PART II HINDUISM AS A SYSTEM CHAPTER XIV WHAT IT IS TO BE A HINDU TO-DAY A MAN is a Hindu because of two things, birth and con formity. no. Birth. In order to be a Hindu, a man must have been born in one of the social groups which historically have become associated together in Hinduism, chiefly under Brahman supervision, and which are known as castes. A European may call himself a Hindu, because he believes certain Hindu doctrines ; but, according to all Hindu books and all Hindu usage, it is absolutely impossible for him to become a Hindu. in. Conformity. In order to remain a Hindu, a man born in Hinduism must conform to the usages of the group in which he was born. The customs of the various castes vary to an extraordinary degree. In some castes a great many things are obligatory, in others comparatively few. 112. Conformity applies to four groups of actions : — (a) MARRIAGE, FOOD, OCCUPATION, RESIDENCE. The rules about marriage are the most fundamental part of caste. NOTE. — The text at the top of the page describes THE ORTHODOX HINDU : ' He who observes the usages established among the virtuous, who is a believer in revelation, and free from ill-will, lives a hundred years, even though he does not possess any external marks of prosperity.' Vishnusmriti, Ixxi. 92. PP es M 178 HINDUISM AS A SYSTEM To marry outside one's caste is altogether forbidden ; usually choice is further narrowed to one section or sub-caste ; and even within this subdivision there are the further restrictions of pravara and gotra, which we need not explain here. To transgress any of the rules of marriage is the surest way to be excommunicated. Rules with regard to food restrict the articles of diet that may be eaten, the persons by whom food may be cooked, and the persons with whom it may be eaten. Educated men in the large cities usually keep caste rules about food in their own homes, but disregard them outside. Rules about occupation are in general very loose and easy among the educated classes, but very stringent where modern thought has not penetrated. An educated man may usually take up any occupation he pleases. The old law which forbade sea-voyages and residence outside India is being gradually laid aside by the higher castes. (/;) DOMESTIC CEREMONIES. The observance of certain domestic ceremonies is absolutely binding on every man who wishes to remain a Hindu. They are carried out with the utmost care in every family under the guidance of Brahman priests. In the code of Manu, as in the older sacred books, twelve domestic rites or sacraments, samskaras, are prescribed for the twice-born castes : — (1) Garbhddhdna, impregnation, following the marriage ceremony. (2) Pumsavana, male-production, about three months after marriage. (3) Simantonnayana, hair-parting, the parting of the woman's hair some time before the birth of her child. (4) Jdta-karman, birth-ceremony. (5) Ndma-karana } name-giving. THE HINDU OF TO-DAY 179 (6) Nishkramana, carrying-out. In the fourth month the child was carried out to look on the rising sun. (7) Anna-prasana, food-giving. (8) Chauda, tonsure. (9) Kesanta, hair-cutting. (10) Upanayana, initiation, the ceremony which intro duces the boy to his education. (See above, p. 42.) (i i) Samdvartana, home-coming, the return of the student to his home from the house of his teacher. (12) Vivaha, marriage. In the case of a girl there was no initiation, and the other ceremonies, with the exception of marriage, were performed without the recitation of sacred texts. To-day the twice-born castes usually observe only the following : — (5) Nama-karanay name-giving. ) Usually observed to- (7) Anna-prasana, food-giving.) gether. (10) Upanayana, initiation. (12) Vivaha, marriage. The other castes have corresponding ceremonies. (f) ANCESTOR-WORSHIP. As we have seen in our first lesson, the Hindu family is patriarchal in form, because it rests on ancestor-worship. Modern customs differ a good deal in detail from the customs of the Rigvedic and earlier ages, yet in the main the ideas and the practice are the same. Strictly speaking, the ceremonies connected with the burning of the dead do not, in the opinion of modern Hindus, come under the head of ancestor-worship. All primitive peoples believe that whoever touches a dead body is defiled thereby, and this idea still survives in all its strength in Hinduism.