Great Indian Religion

Author(s): G T Bettany
Publisher: Ward Lock Bowden and Co

Page 56

44 THE BRAHMANISM OF THE CODES.
We must give some further detail of the Brahman's life and course of study; for although it only partially
The four applies to the other classes of Hindus, it repreperiods of life. sents that ideal which they continually looked The student.
ident. up to and revered, and is as characteristic of Hindu religious life as that of the clergyman of the present day is of our own. We cannot fail to be astonished at the lengthy student period which the Brahman must go through. Studentship might last for nine, eighteen, or thirty-six years, or even for the whole of life. The most important of the numerous preliminary rites was the investiture with the sacred cord or sacrificial string, which must be of three threads of cotton, twisted to the right, and worn over the left shoulder and across the body to the right hip. The ceremony commenced with taking a staff as tall as the pupil, and worshipping the sun while standing and walking round the sacred fire, after which he begged alms and food in succession of each person present according to a fixed order. After having eaten, and purified himself with water, a series of formalities is required before the teacher begins to instruct his pupil in the Veda, the syllable Om being always pronounced at the beginning and end of a lesson. Once initiated, regular bathing, with libations of water to the gods, the inspired Rishis, and deceased ancestors, is required of the Brahman student, and he must reverence the deities (explained later to mean, “ worship the images of the gods"), and place fuel on the sacred fire. He must live a chaste life, refrain from meat and all sensuality, from dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments, must never injure any living creature, must not wear shoes or use an umbrella, and must refrain from anger, covetousness, idle disputes, and gambling. The regulations for securing reverent behaviour towards the teacher are very elaborate; and parents and elders generally are to be highly regarded. It is declared that the trouble and pain which parents undergo on the birth of their children cannot be compensated even in a hundred years, and obedience to them and to the teacher are the best forms of austerity; the son must rejoice to do what is agreeable and beneficial