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idol in tlie market , or constructs one with his own . hands , or has one made up under bis own . superintendence , it is his invariable practice to perform certain ceremonies , called Trdrt Pratisht' * ha , or the endowment of animation 5 by which he believes that its nature is changed from that of the mere materials of which it is fornved , and
that it acquires not only life , but supernatural powers . Shorlty afterwards , if the idol be of the masculine gender , he marries it to a feminine one , with no less pomp and magnificence than lie celebrates the nuptials of his own children , The mysterious process is now complete 3 and the god and goddess are esteemed the arbiters of his destiny , and continually receive his must ardent adoration .
< c At the same time the worshiper of images ascribes to them at once the opposite natures of human and of super-human beings . In attention to their supposed wants as living beings , he is seen feeding or pretending to feed them , every morning * and evening ; and as in the hot season he is careful to fan themso in the cold he is
, equally regardful of their comfort , covering them day and night wkh , warm clothing * , and placing them at night in a snug bed . ' —Pref , pp . xiii . xiv .
The doctrine of the Vedant that " God is £ very where and every thing is in God / ' which is , it seems , pleaded in behalf of Hindoo idolatry , amounts to no more , according to Ramrnohim Roy , than c < that nothing is absent from God , and nothing bears real existence except by the volition of God , whose existence is the sole support of the conceived existence . of the
universe , which is acted upon by him in the same manner as a human body is fcy a soul . ' * Reformers are opposed every where by the same prejudices . Idolatry is defended in Hindoostan by the argugument of custom .
" Let the authors of the Veds , Poorans , and Tuntras , it is said , * assert what they may in favour of devotion to the Supreme Being-, hut idol worship h& « been practised for so many centuries ^ that custom fenders it proper to continue that worship . ' It is , however , evident to every one possessed of common sense , that custom or fashion is
quite different fram divine faith 3 the latter proceeding from spiritual authorities and correct reasoning " , and the former being merely the fruit of vulgar caprice . What can justify a man , who believes in the inspiration of his religious books ^ in neglecting the direct authorities of the same works , and subjecting himself entirely to custom and fashion , which are liable to
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perpetual changes , and depend upon popular whim ? C 6 I may conclude this subject with atr appeal to the good sense of my countrymen , by asking them , whose advice appears the most disinterested and most
rational—that of those who , concealingyour Scriptures from you , continually teach you thus : * believe whatever we may saydon ' t examine or even touch your Scri ptures— neglect entirely your reasoning : faculties— -do not only consider us , whatever may be our principles , as gods on
earth , but humbly adore and propitiate 113 by sacrificing * to us the greater part ( if not the whole ) of your property : or that of the man who lays your Scriptures and their comments , as well as their translations ,, before you , and solicits you to examine their purport , without neglecting the
proper and moderate use of reason 3 and to attend strictly to their directions , by the rational performance of your duty to your sole Creator , arid to your fellow-creatures , and also to pay true respect to those who think and act righteously ? I hope no -one
can be so prejudiced as to be unable to discern which advice is most calculated $ 0 lead him * to the best road to both temporal and eternal happiness . " Pref . pp . xxi . — xxiii .
After the Preface is an introduction , which we lay before the reader as a whole , on account of the pure moral feeling * which it expresses : u physical powers of man are limited ; . atid when viewed comparatively , sinit into insignificance } while in the same ratio , his moral faculties rise in our
estimation , as embracing a wide sphere of action , and possessing- a capability of almost boundless improvement . If the short duration of human life be contrasted with the great ago of . the universe , and the limited extent of bodily strength with the many objects to which there is a necessity
of applying- it , we must necessarily be disposed to entertain but a very humble opinion of our own nature ; and nothing , perhaps , ' is so well calculated to restore our self-complacency as the contemplation
of our more extensive moral powers , together with the highly beneficial objects which the appropriate exercise of them may produce . On the other hand , sorrow and remorse can scarcely fail , sooner or later , to be the portion of him who is
conscious of having * neglected opportunities of rendering benefit to his fellow-creatures . From considerations like tlieso , it has been that I , ( although born a Brahmin , and instructed in my youth in all the principles of that sect , ) being- thoroughly convinced of the lamentable errors of my countrymen , have been stimulated to employ erevy .
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566 Review .- — Hindoo Unitarianism ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1819, page 566, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1776/page/42/
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