The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-10

kirs marched in a procession naked, even the breech cloth having been abandoned for the occasion. and so great was the reverence for them that their followers struggled to obtain the sand made sacred by their tread, number of people meeting their death in the crowd. These fakirs are sup posed to have reached state of sim lessness, but one of them seized a child along the line of march and dashed out its brains in the presence of its mother, claiming to be advised that the gods desired a human sacri- flee. He was arrested by the British officials and is now awaiting trial on the charge of murder. The papers re- gently reported another instance in which a fakir was the cause of mur- der He was consulted by a woman who had lost several children and was anxious to protect her prospective child from a like fate The fakir told her that she could insure her child g ' life If she would herself bathe in hu- \ man blood, and she and her husband | enticed a seven-year-old boy into their | home and killsd him to secure the | blood necessary for the bath. The fa- kirs are not only a danger to the com I muity in some cases and source or demoralization at all tiesm, but they are T heavy drain upon the producing wealth of the country. Adding nothing \ to the material, intellectual or moral development of the country, tEey live upon the fears and credulitJ of tae people.
 The Hindu mind takes kindly to the metaphysical, and the Hindu priest. have evolved an intricate sys- l tenn of philosophy in support or tneir religious beliefs. Reincarnation IS set forth as theory necessary to bring ! Gods plans into accord witn man conception of justice. If man Is born blind or born into lnfavorable sur l roundings, 1t Is explained on the the ory that he is being punished Tor sins | committed during a former exlstehce' ! If he Is born into favorable environ I ment, he is being rewarded for virtue | previously developed.
 ! If is not quite certain whether the | IIindus have many gods or many rorms | of one god, for the ancient Vedas speak | of each of several gods as If they were supreme. The most popular god Is sort of trinity, Bramah, the Creator, \ Vischnu, the preserver, and SiVa, the l destroyer, being united in one. Some times the trinity Is spoken of as rep resenting creation, destruction and rem ovation, in which Krirshna appears as the principal god. Out of this system have sprung a multitude of gods until the masses bow down ito stocks and
 stones."
 The most pernicious product of the
 Hindu religion Is the caste system. In
 fant marriage is terrible. but that will
 sucumb to education; the seclusion of
 women is benumbing. but it will give
 way before the spread of European and
 American Influence, and with 1t will SC
 the practical servitude of widows. as
 the practice of suttee (the burning oi
 widows) has practically gone. But tho
 caste system, resting upon vanity anc
 pride and egotism, is more difficult tc
 eradicate. Nowhere in the world II
 l caste so memorable in Its demands ol
 l so degrading In its influence. The lint
 between the human being and the beas
 of the field Is scarcely more distinctly
 drawn than the line between the vari
 ous castes. The Brahmas belong to th' priestly class and are supposed to hav'
 sprung from the mouth of Brahm, th'
 | great creator: the kshatrias. or war , rior class, are supposed to have spruns z from the shoulders of Brahm; the Vals'
 vas, or merchant class, are supposed tC haye sprung from the thighs of Brahm : while the Sudras, or laborers, are sup
 posed to have sprung from the feet ol
 1 Brahin. There are numerous sub-di' visions of these castes, and besides
 ! these there are outcasts, although there
 does not seem to be any room below
 the Sudras for any other class. The caste system not only affects social in.
 tercourse and political progress. but il complicates living. A high caste Hindl cannot accept food or drink from low ] caste and must purify his water bottle if low caste touches it.
 About 70 years ago a reform in Hin duism was begun under the name O