Indian Antiquary Vol 26

SR No.: 032518
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 360
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 135

MAY, 1897.)
SPIRIT BASIS OF BELIEF AND CUSTOM
131
civilization. They use the tricolour of France for purposes of clothing, and the more advanced of them are said to supply the place of handkerchiefs with such flags. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that they debase the use of umbrellas. The limited number of the specimeus available prevents them from becoming objects of prey; but otherwise than as guards for a procession they are not held in any great estimation, and the true spiritual purpose of the umbrella is as entirely lost sight of in Africa as it is in Europe.
The umbrella is properly & remnant of solar worship, and it is only the degeneracy of later times, and especially the levelling and democratic spirit of Europe, which has debased it to the paltry uses of keeping oneself dry, and, with a few ancient persons, not on that account to be accused of sun-worship or Sabæan heresies, of warding off the fierce rays of the sun. The robust people of old times did not want to be protected from sun or min. They were too hardy, and too much inclined to do nothing, unless they could not avoid it, to care for the elements. If there was a very heavy tropical shower, they simply got under shelter. If the sun was too hot for work, they were glad of the excuse for being lazy. In any case their occnpations were such as preclnded the use of the umbrella as a mere effeminate means of protection. Even now-a-days the agriculturist does not hoist an umbrella when he ploughs his fields or hoes his tarnips: and the nautical man, unless he be the captain of a Thames penny steamboat, does not fear rheumatism so much as to unfurl a gingham. The primitive fisherman rather liked being wet than otherwise when he hauled in his nets. The rice cultivator absolutely rerels in slush. Umbrellas are not, therefore, necessarily a sign of the degeneracy of the human race, though superficial observers might think them so. The Siamese work, the Thia Chang, gives us the correct notion of their proper origin :-"The expression, San Konang (the three brilliant things)," says the learned author, "designates the sun, the moon, and the stars. These illuminate the world by the command of the Lord of the heavens, and disseminate their beneficent rays into all parts of the universe. To point the finger suddenly at them is a grave breach of respect, and merits grievons punishment." Here, then, we have the true first notion of the purpose of the umbrella. Weak human nature is unable so to govern its actions as to be uni. formly mindful of the celestial powers. In the common affairs of life men are constantly pointing in all directions, and might inadvertently stare rudely at the moon, or the stars, or even at the sun, though there is not so much danger of that. In order to protect themselves against such thoughtfulness, and, moreover, to avoid the danger of unsccmly actious and possibly disrespectful gestures in full view of the God of Day, the umbrella was inventeil. Consequently, when the article first came into use, it was most generally used in fine weather when the sun was high in the heavens, and thus was most liable to be offended. In rainy weather the danger was not so serious, for the great luminary covered up his face in clouds as with a veil, and it was not so necessary to guard against heing rude to him. As a natural consequence, whenever it rained, the primeval sun-shade inventors put down their umbrellas and were happy. In latter days, sceptical people, who did not scruple to speak disrespectfully of the sun, let alone the stars, found the parasol - in the etymological sense convenient for keeping off the rain ; and, when the pious-minded were lowering their umbrellas, these heretical weaklings unfarled theirs to shelter their sorry bodies. Hence the modern desecration of the ancient implement of worship.
There are abundant proofs of the original religious signification of the umbrella, which, but for modern prejudices, would long since have establisbed the sanctity of the article, had it not been for the levity which has been so long suffered to direct its jokes at the venerable survival. The mistletoe sinks to the level of "kiss-in-the-ring," the Pyramids serve as a means of support to rascally Arabs, the Derby horse drags a "growler," the Druidical stone is a convenience for unensy cattle, and the pious sun-shade becomes an unwarrantably loaned nmbrella. Is it not sculptured on the ruins of Nineveh and on the monuments of Egypt, where every detail of the carving shews that it is bright sunny weather, and that there is not a hint of a shower ? In the fifth incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver, that chief of the Hindu Trinity