________________
JULY, 1916]
THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
119
object to the superstition that the lali, the emblem of marriage, should be suspended by turmeric-coated threads, or that it should have 108 threads. He did not again object to the use of the margosa twig, the breaking of cocoanut, the use of crowns to ward off devils, and scores of other superstitions. He did not insist on worship in the church or even the confessional. He did not stand in the way of his converts serving in Hindu temples, for instance, as musicians,-his idea being that profession had nothing to do with religion. He even positively subscribed to the Hindu idea of physical cleanliness and bath. He did not prohibit his disciples from wearing the holy ashes or studying Hindu fables and legends, religious and otherwise. In short, he recognized the social hierarchy of Hinduism, and conceded by a practical life that the Pariah could not claim equality with the Brahman, that caste was not inconsistent with true religion, that the minor rituals and the harmless ceremonies and superstitions did not clash with Christian beliefs and doctrines. It was these concessions that made the people think that he was a Sanyasin. He might be an eccentric, an erratic Sanyasin; all the same, he was a Sanyasin. It was these concessions again that enabled him to speak boldly in certain respects with impunity and without being discovered to be a Christian. He said that of the four Vedas, which the Hindus had known, three only were being studied, the fourth having been lost centuries back. He said that he had just rescued that Vêda from obscurity and that a study of it was more necessary than the study of the three other Vēdas for the salvation of the soul. And he boldly maintained that, according to that Veda, the idols ought not to be worshipped ; that the existence of the Hindu triad, Brahma, Vishņu and Siva was
myth; that Chokkanatha, the object of their daily worship, was nothing but a piece of stone, a handiwork of man, deserving of worship as much as any piece of wood or stone. He was also against the rubbing of ashes, and against the worship of the lingam. In the place of the Hindu triad he substituted the Christian triad and Christ, and the Saints; but these were given such Hindu names that they could hardly be considered to be Christian.
His success. The labours of De Nobilis did not go unrewarded. Many of the highest castes became his disciples. An Indian guru was baptized, after twenty days, controversy with him, under the name of Albert. By the year 1609 a family of 20 Naiks, a near relation of the king, a brother of the grand warden of the palace," a prince"-probably a Polygar,"! and many others of high social status and official dignity,-Brahmans and priests, Rajas and courtiers, Náikens and Veļļaļas, flocked to the presbytery and became Christians," if we can use the expression to such doubtful Christians. The profound scholarship) and the pious life of De Nobilis, together with that good sense or duplicity which restrained him from offending the prejudices of his converts, enabled him to maintain a firm if not an enduring empire over the minds of his disciples. The latter were, for their part, much attached to him. They loved him as tender pupils, and as their fresh gratitude could not he restrained within the limits of prudence, the name of De Nobilis as a saint and scholar, as a sage and seer, spread widely, and reached the ears of Muttu Krishnappa himself. The Karta at once expressed a desire to see such a great sage ; but to De Nobilis a premature revelation of his mission would be a fatal blow at its eventual success. He therefore pleaded the excuse that, if he was flattered by the condescension of the Karta, he was unfortunately unable to take advantage of it, as his principle of life was against publicity and against the very sight of women, whom, he said, he was very sure to meet in case he stepped out of his humble home.
(To be continuod.)
51 Nelson says that even Tumluchchi Naik, whom he absurdly styles the chief of all tio Tottiyans from Vaipar to Vijayanagar, longed to become a Christian, but the fear of his suzernin prevented him from doing so. See Madu. Manual, p. 116.
