The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-11-14
TORTURE.
How Fakirs Torture Themselves Even 70
the Death.

iio" Units torture themselves Even to
the Death.
Of all the children of Aryan stock tba
Indian takir is said to be the most con-
seryative, unchanged, and unchanginp
ne Is grotesque anachronism in the
new civilization. There is tradition Of
SAINT who sat for 16 years with one
arm appraised until it stiffened in that no
sition, like the dead limb of a tree and
the nails grew into the palm of his.
hand Another is said to have placed n
pinch OF earth on the end of his ont
stretched tonGae, planted q seed therein.
and sat until Q seed sprouted and leaves
appeared. a rye part of the article in
Harper's for ctOber, by Mr.. Edwin Lord
weeks, on hindu and Moslem," is given.
10 description of fakirs and their won
derful endurance of physical torture for
the good of their souls. We quote as fol-
lows:
An ascetlc with whom we had the hon
or of personal interview had invented
an original method of attaining that Gle
walton of spirit through maceration of
the flesh, which all must compass before
tney may hope for endless FESTIVE saw
him on the road from Ajmeer to the sa
cred lake of POscha, dwelling alone in the
wilderness. The fine road by which we
descended steep decliyity among the
hills made an abrupt turn at the bottom
of the slope, and the driver had to rein
IN his horses, which were rearing and
plunging at the sudden apparition of a
small white tent, and silent figure squat.
| ting at the entrance. With three broad
white striped chalked across his forehead.
and hair toned to the deep and streaky
bronze hue so prevalent at the Concours
Hippique, he was like japanese monster.
carved from knot of wood. Just in
side the tent stood an elaborate iron
bedstead, and there was neither mattress
nor sheet to conceal the framework of
the structure, with transverse bars
thickly planted with long iron spikes, ON
which, for eight hours of the twenty
| four, the fakir was accustomed to stretch
his emaciated body. AT that moment he.
was taking a rest, and his eyes, the only
signs of life in his wooden countenance.
were fixed on us. The bedstead had been,
constructed in Ajmeer at the expense of
one of his disciples, a wealthy Hindu
merchant. This valley was the play
ground of divers striped and spotted
brutes of the cat family-to such an ex-
tent that ron-barred refugees for goats
and goatherds had been built at intervals
| along the road, and we have often since
thought, with certain uneasiness, of the
lonely fakir, whose only defense was his
sanctity, and wondered whether he had
|
When the hot wind of April was at its
height in Benares, few weeks later, and
| the mercury daily stood at 100 to 40
degrees in the shade, while it marked 159
degrees in the sun, the writer could but
admire the fortitude of devotee whom
ne daily saw at the boat-landing on the
Ganges, and who is thus described:
His idea of establishment was i'm
aginative and Dantesque. From a sort
OF gallows on the bank of the river, in
a spot at once exposed to the full power
OF the sun, the reflected heat from the
calcined bank, and the burning wind
which swept the dust and parched leaves
into, whirling eddies. he hung suspended
by his heels, with his face covered by
inquired prayer cloth. With each os-
citation of the dangling figure. as it
slowly swayed to and fro, his head pass
ed within foot of hot fire made of the
pungent fipjacks with which the Hindu
cooks his rice. Another. whose ASPECT
denoted the highest degree of self-im-
notation. galloped down the road. mount
ed on frightened COW. 4 shred of yell
low cloth concealed but little of his dusty
anatomy, wasted by vigils and long fast
ing, and he waved tattered umbrella
as he tore past, yelling at the top of his
voice. For the daring simplicity and
originality of his makeup he deserved
the academic palms of his ORDER
Benares is the principal gathering place
OF this motley tribe of zealots and ascot
les. and hither they troop during the
spring festivals from all quarters of In
dia. Mr.. Weeks says:
when one drifts down the Ganges in
the morning, along the crowded stone.
steps of the Chats, rising in graded ter
races like the seats of the coliseum TO the
great palaces and temples above. the boat
passes close TO the little platforms of
plank built out from the steps over the
whlrling current: and here, on these
platforms, sheltered under huge tent-like
umbrellas of straw mating sit rows of
holy men and sanity Brahmans in rapt
meditation and silent ecstacy, OCCASION
ally unbending for a little friendly Cos
sip. Here they glory in the happy end
ing OF their pilgrimage, and enjoy what
must be the nearest approach to perfect
beatitude vouchsafed to man, for they
have arrived at their goal, and they have
no baggage to distract their thoughts
from pious meditation. no huge overland
trunks nor bundles of wraps to worry
them, no hotel bills to pay, no care for
the morrow, for what they shall eat or
where they shall sleep. and the more
ragged and unkempt they are the more
shall they find admiring disciples and wOr-
shippers among the fair. who shall pay
worthy tribute of 'pice' for their wisdom.
| Inc uIdNe dpOSlleS OF OIner CreeuS may
well feel disheartened at the utter hope
lessnesS of making proselytes among
them. for what greater bliss could they
offer in exchange for this: If it be so
ordained that they are to die on these
steps, among hurrying feet, in the full
glare of the sun. and exposed to the burn
ing wind. they shall pass away in perfect
content. sure that their souls will attain
the long-coveted rest without first I'M
dergoing probation in any inferior form
of animal life. Die at Benares, or die
! on hereditary land is a saying held IN
; repute among orthodox Hindus, for this
! is their Mecca
WHAT Is A GUARANTEE?