Vishnu is believed to have undergone nine avatars, or incarnations ; the most celebrated is the eighth, when he appeared as Krishna, and, by his victories, obliged the Hindoos to substitute the offering of images instead of hu man sacrifices, and milk for blood. The tenth incarnation of Vishnu has not yet taken place. The religion of the Hindoos is contained in their sacred books, called Vedas, the divine authority of which, however, is rejected by the Jains in the south of India,—a sect who differ in some im portant tenets from those who follow the Brahminical reli gion. All the Hindoo sects believe in the immortality of the soul, transmigration, and a future state of rewards and punishments ; hut their faith in these important points is intermixed and debased by the most absurd legendary tales and mystical allegories.
The most ancient accounts which we possess respecting Hindostan, represent the inhabitants as divided into four castes, which still subsist. 1st, The Brahmins, who pro ceeded from the mouth of Brahma at the same time that he produced the Vedas ; hence their province is to pray, read, and instruct. 2nd, The Chepteree, from the arms of Brahma, whose province it is, by strength and military prowess, to protect from ill : The Vaissya, or Brice, from the belly or thighs, whose province it is to supply the ne cessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, by agriculture and commerce ; and, 4th, The Sudras, from the feet, who are doomed to labour. Besides these, there are the Pascars or Chaudolas, who, having lost their caste, are held in the utmost abhorrence, and treated with the utmost indignity by all the other castes.
The Brahminsare subdivided into ten great classes, and these are further subdivided according to the districts they are born in and the families from which they are sprung. The Brahmins of Malabar will neither eat nor drink with Brahmins of the other parts of India ; whereas the Brahmins of the north, especially the Haiga Brahmins, do not scruple to cultivate the ground, to trade as merchants, and to eat fish. Although the Brahmins are not permit ted to exercise the sovereignty, yet they are of a high er rank than princes. The laws, religion and prejudices of the Hindoos, alike invest them with very great privileges and immunities : no greater crime can be committed than that of murdering a Brahmin. He pays only one per cent. per month interest for money, whereas the second caste pays one and a half; the third two ; and the tourth five : if he finds what belongs to a stranger, he keeps the whole, or five-sixths of it; whereas another person finding his own, is obliged to give up a part of it. All the priests are
chosen from this order ; they may also become secretaries and accountants. Some of the divisions of the Brahmins deem it unlawful to destroy animal life, or even to eat eggs ; others feed on fish or fowl, but not on animal food. The following extracts from the ancient Hindoo laws will further illustrate the comparative state of the Brahmins and the lowest castes. " If a Sudra reads the Vedas to any of the other three castes, or listens to them, oil, wax and melted tin, shall be poured into his ears : if he gets them by heart he shall be put to death : if he spits on a Brahmin, his lips shall be cut off. A Sudra, Brice, or Chepteree, guilty with a woman of the BrAmin caste, who has a master, shall suffer death, by mutilation and burning. A Brahmin guilty with a woman of any of the castes, who has a master, to be fined from 8 to 16 rupees. The shadow of a Paria'n passing over victuals, milk, or even water, defiles it." The institutes of Menou express ly declare that the abode of a Parian must be out of the town : he must not have the use of entire vessels ; his clothes must be the mantles of the deceased ; he must con tinually roam from place to place, carry out the corpse of every one who dies without kindred, be the common execu tioner, and receive his food in potsherds, but not by the hands of the giver. No Hindoo is allowed, by his religion, to quit the caste in which he was born. Tippoo forced 12,000 Brahmins of the coast of Malabar to swallow beef broth, in consequence of which they lost their caste, be came outcasts, and were either starved to death, or com mitted suicide. ' Almost every action in the daily life of a Hindoo is pre scribed by his religion ; there are rules for diet, and for the manner and time of eating: he must pray thrice a day, morning, noon, and evening. The sipping of water is in despensably necessary in all his ceremonies and religious acts, and running water is always preferred. The Gayatrie, which is regarded as the most holy text in the sacred books, is repeated a hundred or a thousand times, according to the magnitude and the variety of the sins to be expiated. In ancient times, animals, and even human beings, were sacri ficed to their gods ; but, with the exception of the Ghat teries, who on great occasions choose a human victim, and always sacrifice animals, only fruits, flowers, incense, and money, are offered in sacrifice.