any one will give him a pair of shoes, his feet will not be biistered on a journey; and if a person honor him with gifts of aromatic spices, he will be preserved from offensive smells and exhalations all his days. The husbandman may not cultivate his field, he may not put the sickle into the ripe corn, without first giving the Brahmin his due. He is the first at court, and in attendance on the Rajah. In the most fertile parts of the country, in towns and villages, where the inhabitants are in comfortable circumstances, Brahmins are found in the greatest numbers. In the western parts of Bengal, where forests abound, and where the ground is less productive, they are but rarely seen; they "love to eat the fat, and drink the sweet," and have taken good care to obtain both for their portion. SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. SUTA'S NARRATIVE. "Hear, O Rishi! * a most excellent and sin-destroying narrative, which I will relate as I heard it with other Rishis from Vyasa. Formerly there was a famous Rishi, named Gautama, and his virtuous wife was named Ahalya; with her he performed, during a thousand years, a rigorous tapas † in the southern country, near the mountain Brahmadri. At this time a drought had desolated the country, and neither moisture nor rain had the earth experienced for a hundred years; water there was not; and ascetics, men, birds, and beasts, died every where. On beholding this lamentable state, Gautama, having reflected, performed for six months the severest mortifications in honor of Varuna; at the termination of which the god appeared to him and thus said: 'I am propitiated by thee, O holy devotee! Demand whatever boon thou wishest, and I will grant it.' Gautama then requested rain; but Varuna replied, 'How can I transgress the divine command? Ask some other boon, which it may be Saint. A tapas is a course of severe penance, either to propitiate a divinity or for other purposes, and the advantage derived from it is always superhuman. in my power to bestow upon thee.' On hearing this, Gautama said, 'O god! if thou art pleased with me, and willing to grant me a favor, I will request that which thou canst easily perform cause, then, to appear a hermitage which shall surpass all others in beauty, and shaded from the sun by fragrant and fruit-bearing trees, where men and women by holy meditation shall be liberated from pain, sorrow, and anxiety; and also, as thou art the lord of water, let it enjoy a perennial fountain.' Varuna replied, 'So be it;' and then, causing a pit to be filled with water, he thus said: "This water shall remain unexhausted, and thy name shall become celebrated by this reservoir becoming a place of pilgrimage.' Having thus spoken, Varuna disappeared. In this manner did Gautama obtain water, with which he performed in due manner the daily ceremonies. He sowed, also, rice for holy offerings, and watered it from this inexhaustible fountain; and grain of various kinds, trees, flowers, and fruits adorned his hermitage. Thus the grove of Gautama became the loveliest on the terrestrial orb; and there resorted ascetics, birds, and beasts, to live in happiness; and there, likewise, holy men fixed their abode with their sons and disciples. In this grove none knew sorrow, and gladness alone prevailed. But listen to what afterwards happened. "On one day Gautama had sent his disciples to bring water; but, when they approached the fountain, some Brahmin women who were there prevented them, and scoffingly called out, 'We are the wives of holy anchorets; after we have filled our pitchers, you may then draw water.' The disciples returned, and mentioned this circumstance to the wife of Gautama; and Ahalya, having consoled them, proceeded herself to the fountain, and, having drawn water, brought it to her husband. Thus she did daily; and the other Brahmin women not only scoffed her, but at length went, and thus each falsely addressed her husband: 'My lord! Ahalya daily taunts me and the other Brahmin women, and I have no other resource than thee. Violence, falsehood, deceit, foolishness, covetousness, and inconsiderateness, are the innate vices of women; and, alas! of what avail will holy meditation be to me if I suffer every day the reproaches of Ahalya?' Each husband, having heard these words, revolved them in his mind, and thought that they could not be true, and that they would be guilty of ingratitude if they noticed them. But their wicked wives every day reproached them for not affording them redress; and at length, one day, as they were passing through the grove, they overheard their wives making the same complaints to Gautama, and therefore believed that what they had said was true. The devotees, having then assembled together, began to consult respecting the manner in which they might resent this injury, so that their revenge might not appear to proceed from them; and, after deliberation, determined on invoking the assistance of Ganesha. They then propitiated him with offerings of durwa, lotoses, and rice; of vermilion, sandal-wood, and incense; of rice-milk, cakes, and sweetmeats; and with prostrations, prayers, and burnt-offerings. Well pleased, the god appeared and thus spoke: 'I am propitiated: say, what boon do you desire?' They replied, 'If thou art willing to grant us a favor, contrive to remove Gautama from his hermitage; for, if we adopt any means for that purpose, we shall expose ourselves to censure.' Ganesha answered, 'To injure or destroy a man who is free from blame is not just; and to return evil for good will be productive of sorrow, and not of benefit. Whoever performs holy meditation will obtain the happiest result; but the injuring of another will destroy the advantages which would be derived from it. Gautama has given you gold, and you wish to return glass; but that which is right ought to be performed.' Having heard these words, the devotees, from mental delusion, thus replied: 'O lord! we entreat thee to do what we have requested, as we desire no other favor.' Ganesha then said, 'Good cannot produce evil, nor evil god: from its very essence, evil must produce misery, and good happiness. Gautama will enjoy happiness from his holy meditation; but sorrow alone can result from your present wish. But you are deluded by female fascination, and you cannot, therefore, discriminate between good and evil. I will, however, comply with your request; though you will undoubtedly hereafter regret having made it.' Having thus spoken, Ganesha disappeared. "Gautama, unacquainted with the evil intentions of the devotees, joyfully performed each day the sacred ceremonies; but one day, being in a field of rice and barley, Ganapati, having assumed the form of an extremely debilitated cow, appeared there trembling, and scarcely able to move, and began to eat the rice and barley. Observing this, the compassionate Gautama lifted a stalk of grass and struck the cow with it, in order to drive her away; but scarcely was she touched with the stalk when she dropped on the ground, and immediately died, while all the devotees beheld what passed with looks of distress. The holy men and their lovely wives then exclaimed, 'O Gautama! what hast thou done?' Gautama, also, in amazement, thus addressed Ahalya: 'What an accident! How can I have incurred the anger of the gods? what shall I do? where shall I go? thus involved in the guilt of the murder of a cow!' The devotees at the same time thus reproached him: 'Alas! O holy Rishi! of what avail has been thy knowledge? Alas! of what avail thy burnt-offering and thy strict performance of every ceremony?' In the same manner, their wives thus reproached the wife of Gautama: Alas! Ahalya, of what avail have been thy wisdom, and the universal respect shown to thee? Alas! of what avail thy virtue and piety?' Thus they reviled Gautama and his wife, and then exclaimed to each other, 'Let us not look on the ace of this slayer of a cow: whoever looks on his countenance will become equally guilty; and whoever approaches his hermitage, that man's offerings neither will fire nor the manes receive.' Thus reviling Gautama, they all threw stones at him. Gautama then exclaimed, 'Alas! alas! what shall I do? I swear, O holy men! that I will depart from this place.' Having thus spoken, he removed to a distant spot, and there erected a hermitage; but as long as this sin, falsely imputed to him, remained unexpiated, he could perform no holy ceremony, and his wife continued exposed to the insults of the other Brahmin women; and thus Gautama suffered the greatest misery. At length, after a short time, Gautama assembled the holy men, and thus addressed them: Have compassion on me, and acquaint me with the ceremonies by which my sin may be expiated; for without instruction no good act can be effected.' together respecting the penance which ought to be prescribed, while Gautama stood at a distance in an humble posture; and, after deliberation, they thus said: 'Sin can never be expiated except by suitable purification; for this purpose, therefore, do thou circumambulate the whole earth, and, on returning here, circumambulate a hundred times the mountain of Brahma, and thus thou wilt be purified; or make ablutions in the Ganges, and on its banks, having made ten millions of earthen lingams, worship the god whose symbol is the lingam, and then perambulate the sacred mountain and bathe in the hundred holy pools. By these means thy sin will be expiated.' Having heard these words, Gautama first circumambulated the holy mountain; and afterwards, as directed, formed the earthen lingams, in order that he might be restored to his pristine purity. He then, with The Brahmins then consulted Ahalya, and his disciples, worshipped Shiva with the holiest rites and most intense devotion. At length the lord of the mountain-born goddess descended from the summit of Kailasa and thus addressed him: Say, what boon dost thou desire?' On beholding that form divine, a sight of which is so difficult to be obtained, Gautama was filled with delight, and, having reverenced the mighty god with laudatory strains, requested that he would liberate him from the guilt that he had incurred. Shiva replied, 'Happy art thou, O mighty Rishi! and the fruit of all thy pious acts hast thou obtained, for thou art free from sin. Thou hast been deceived by these wicked men, for even the three worlds become purified by thy presence. How, then, canst thou be polluted by an act committed by these evil-minded men, |