Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-09-13
Human Sacrifice In India.

! w what NAV be called the Brahmini-
cal period of Hindooi>m. human sacri.
! hce must have prevailed. II Is evcr
believed by many that the Sccts called
SaktaS form, rly ate portions ofthc flesh
and drank The blood OF the victims sac
rIhccd at the secret orgies. The first
idea OF sacrifice seems t. have been that
OF supplying the deitic> with nouri>h-
mcnt. Gods and men all fca,tcd TO-
gcthrr. Then succeeded The notion Of
the need If "iCar'ouS suffering. or life
for life. blood for blood. Some dt:tic<
were believed 10 thirst for human tlood.
and the blood Of animals was >uh>titu-
ted Tor that Of men. Other forms of
Immnlitlon we're once common in In
dia. The Thugs maintained that they
sacrificed their victims To the goddess
Kali Now that Thuggism has been
suppressed, a good deal of datura poi
soning i practi>"d by the same class Of
people. The killing of femal, infants
| once prevailed extensively in the PAN
Iab and Ralputana, owing To the difficult
" of providing daughters with suitable
h'l>hnnds aud tie immense expenses
cn'alled by nuptial festivities.
Again, IN former days sclf-immola-
ton was common. Many inundated
themselves at the great car festivals.
voluntarily throwing themselves under
the enormous wheels. not only OF the
car of JaGlnnath at Puri in Ori~>a. but
oi other idol cars al>o. found similar
cars attached 10 every large plgoda in
~" south Of India. Some of them are
- large and neavv that they require to
b" Supported on sixteen wheels. and on
particular day once year they arc
drawn through the streets hv thousands
people. Every now and then per-
sons are crushed under the wheels.
Sclt-lmmo'atlon, in other WAYS. was
once extensively prevalent. There are
some sand hills in the Sa,pura range
dedicated 10 the god Siva->uppo>cd TO
delight IN dr>truction-trom a rock on
which many youths have rrrcipitated
themselves, because their mothers. be-
ing without children. have dedicated
their first born sons Ia the god With
regard to the immo'atlot of the faithful
wife commonly called Suttcc-Satil
who followed her husband in death. and
burned herself in his funeral pile. eve
rywhcrc in India saw scattered about
IN various places monuments erected
over The ashes of Salts, and everywhere
scch monuments are still regarded with
the greatest vencratIon .bv the people.
nappiiv We put stop 10 this in 1929
though we had previously sanctioned i,
under certain regulations. believing that
we ought not 10 interfere with an an
cicnt religious custom. In one wear an
othcral report OF 500 widows burnt was
received NJ Calcutta. Between 1915 and
lS2S the average varied from 900 to 600
per annum.
W course. leprosy in India, as in 9TH
er Eastern countries. Is a kind of living
death. l"pcr> are excluded from So
cie'y' and can get no employment: and
they often gave themselves up of their
own accord 10 be buried alive. the mo-
tive simply being desire 10 be released
from physical suffering. This was
called performing samadh (Sanskri,.
sdm"d1i. su>pcncIng the connection be-
tween socl and body bv religious ab-
stractioul.
Avery respectable Hindoo gentleman
came to the river Narhada. attended b,
large r'inuc, 20 perform >amadh. in
consequence nj an incurahle disease un-
der which he lahored. After taking
leave "i his family, he entered boat.
which conveyed him 10 the deepest part
Of the rivcr. lie then loaded himself
with sand, and stepping into The water
disappeared.
The population i increasing in de-
gree which threatens ~ become wholly
manageable. Then widows never mar.
~ again: not even ittheir bov husbands
die, leaving them widows nj the ace of
". a woman - supposed 10 he Sacra-
mcntlv united u one husband. and be.
longs n him forever. Every town ey.
cry village, almost sServ house, Is fill
"i widows who are debarred from all
amuSements. and converted INTO house
hold drudseS. They often lead bad
ives. Their lite. like that Of the leners
IS kind oflivins derh. and thew would
onen checriully give themselves up 70
be burned alive If the law would LET
'hem. Only rfe other dav in Nepal.
where our supremacy i> still barely re.
tcsniIcG, The widows OF SIR Jung Babs.