On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
* tfilfa , Rajah Ramrnohwi Roy on the
Untitled Article
* rery . humble opinion of ourp ^ n nature ; and nothing perh apsj $ 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 these it has been that I , ( although born a Brahmin , and instructed in my youth in
all the principles of that sect , ) being thoroughly convinced ot the lamentable errors of my countrymen , have been stimulated to employ every means in my power to improve their minds , and Jead them to the knowledge of a purer system of morality . Living c onstantly among Hindoos of different sects and professions , I have had ample opportunity of observing the superstitious pueri * lities into which they have been thrown by their self-interested
guides , who , in defiance of the law as well as of common sense * have succeeded but too well in conducting them to the temple of idolatry ; and while they hid from their view the true substance of morality , have infused into their simple hearts a weak attachment for its mere shadow . < For the chief part of the theory and practice of Hindooism , I am sorry to say , is made to consist in the adoption of a peculiar rnode of diet ; the least aberration from which ( even though the conduct of the offender may in other respects be pure and
blameless ) is not only visited with the severest censure , but actually punished by exclusion from the society of his family and friends * In a word , he is to undergo what is commonly called the loss of caste . v On the contrary , the rigid observance of this grand article of Hindoo faith is considered in so high a light , as to compensate for every moral defect . Even the most atrocious crimes weigh little or nothing in the balance against the supposed guilt of its
Violation . * Murder , theft , or perjury , though brought home to the party by a judicial sentence , so far from inducing loss of caste , is visited in their society with no peculiar mark of infamy or disgrace . ,, * A trifling present to the Brahmin , commonly called pray asqhitf with the performance of a few idle ceremonies , are held as a sufficient atonement for all those crimes : and the delinquent is
at once freed from all temporal inconvenience ^ as well as all dread of future retribution . f My reflections upon these solemn truths have been most painful for years . I have never ceased to contemplate with the strongest feelings of regret the obstinate adherence of my countrymen io their fatal system of idolatry , inducing , for the sake of propitiating their supposed deities , the , violation of every humane find social feeling : and this ia various instances j but more espe-
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1832, page 616, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1820/page/40/
-