Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1874-01-29


Bali to stay in the house, SO she went
back to the huts Of her father. It was,
sherefore Rail-, the Sidhani who was
put in charge of Phui's body. She
knew nothing Of her husbands art Of
feigning death or OF Balls art of re-
viying, and rejoicing that she could
have the funeral Of the loved one all to
herself while the hateful Bali was away
she made haste with the ceremonies
and reduced Phul'. body to ashes.
The news Of Phuls death was slow
to reach the land where Bali lived; but
when she heard the sad story she
fastened back to her children's home
accompanied by several disciples of the
fakir Samerpuri, and told Rail- that
Phul was alive when she had burned
him. Rail-, Mortified and Inundated
by her irretrievable mistake, fed from
the house and went to live with her
brother in-law.
To one not acquainted with the
wonderful feats performed by the fakirs
Of Persia and Hindustan this story
must seem highly improbable. There
is, however, no reason for doubling its
truth. Besides the Acting Secretary Of
the British Government Of the Prniab
DIR. Lepel II. Griffin, there are 8 num-
Der Of high officials, officers, and
physicians in East India who have wit
messed similar feats of feigning death
for several weeks and months, and any
one, if willing to pay large sum for
it, may witness it himself. On search
ing Oriental literature it will be found
| that there are are number of Persian
and Hindoo seets that practise the art
OF icigning death. It is mentioned
several times in the Shasl.as and in the
Sikh Granth under the name Of Pura,
nayaln, or Stopping Breath; als, in the
Yogacastra, the manual Of the Yogis,
and i'll the Kacikhanda. In the Persian
books 1t is spoken of as Habs i-dam, OF
Retention Of Breath English readers
will find some hints on the principles OF
the art in 'ICabistau" OF the School Of
Manners, which has been translated
from the Persian for the Royal Asiastic
Translation Fund.
The first condition is to learn to do
without food. One must begin by
eating nothing daring the day, and
having only light meal at night. SAT-
must never be eaten. Meat, fish, wine,
oil, mustard, onious, garlic, turnips,
sour and sharp things, exceptgger,s in
are forbidden. The chief articles of
food are rice, wheat, milk, sugar,
honey, ghrta (melted butter,) and a
few others of which we know only the
Aengal nomes-such as kalakasunda
kanthanatija. It is also necessary to
do without drinking water; bat
peculiar sect, the Augharh, drink a
great deal Of ardent spirits
The second condition is to live IN
der ground and in an even tempera-
tufe. Preference is given to gaha,
OF subteiTaiean cell Hith a small! hole
Tor an entlrnee, which is closed up by
some friend when the higher degrees of
perfection haYc been attained. The
essentials are: no ventilation, no light,
and no noise. She cvucIl must be
warm, and is best made Of i,ttv.', cotton
wool, or furs.
The PRINCIPAL rules Of cont1i,ct are to
move about very slowly i'll oder to
decrease tie frequency Of taking breath
| and Tor the same purpose 10 lie down
and rest as much aspoaeible It 10 also
necessary 70 keep silent, sn,l spend the
time IL lnet;it@ting oi, ON, Che Sjpreme
Being. incessalit prayers must also be
made for the purpose of Keeping the
whole system IN a drowsy condition
To give an idea of the extent to which
these SO called prayers and meditations
are carried, it may be stated that a
Dandin speaks, but as inaudibly as
possible, the mystic word On 10000
times every day. Other sleep-inducing
words are Soham, BAN, Lam, Ram,
Yam, and Ham, which ;re repeated in
different orders Of succession 5000.
After these things have been well
practised, the disciple learns to remain
for three hours in a position called
'saddhasana" This is to sit down with
the left heel under the hauncA and
the right heel in front; to hold with the
right hand the big toe. Of the right foot,
and with the left hand the other big
toe, and 10 press the chain firmly on
the chest. One must also practise STAN
ding on his head. after going through
number Of such exercises the disciple
must practise inhaling the air and re-
tanning it as long as possible In these
exercises he must be careful to breathe
in a very slow manner; the taking Of
breath must consume II seconds, and
every exhalation "a seconds. The
next exercise is to breathe only through
the nostrils, and to carry the air, by
swallowing, into the stomach. Then
it is necessary to inhale with one nos