Genealogy of the South Indian Deities by Ziegenbalg Bartholomaeus Jeyaraj Daniel

Author:Ziegenbalg, Bartholomaeus,Jeyaraj, Daniel. [DANIEL JEYARAJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2011-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

All the people of [religious] orders, who are found today in great numbers among the South Indians, imitate the sages mentioned above in various ways. They wear mostly cloth made of the skin of a tiger and carry with them the instruments that the sages possess. They think that through the performance of religious austerities in several ways they, too, will become sages and obtain great gifts. However, at present there are only a very few people who are considered to be sages. Though some have this title [lit. name] and, at the same time, tell of wonders, the South Indians confess that in the present age, no one could imitate those prophets who lived in this world in former times and became the They also say that simultaneously these sages have established the Dhyāna and the Jñāna in this world; these two things have always remained [L 212 v] among the people. The former means the spiritual meditation that has been mentioned previously; it is linked with prayer. The latter means wisdom. A South Indian writes the following about it in a letter: “He who obtains wisdom is the one who does not get misled either by good or by evil; he does not love either house or [agricultural] field or wife or child or any other thing in the world, but renounces everything and considers them to be unnecessary. To summarize: he does not make any difference between the castes of people, except among the sexes, male and female. He does not believe in any other god, but only in the one god. He does not even love worldly things a little. He is not influenced by anything; he is [also] without pride and all other sins. Such a man is known as a wise person. This is also the meaning of the term Jñāna. Besides, there is also another wisdom that can be obtained by those who still live a married life, have some profession and make the offerings. This Jñāna is found in a person who is not obsessed with food and drink, does not show partiality in dealing with people, [L 213 r] is merciful and compassionate, is completely without pride and arrogance, does not tell untruths and is without falsehood, does not commit any sin deliberately, prays and meditates, knows himself well, lives according to the law [i.e., sacred scriptures] of god, keeps his office and does his work. Those who are married and live in the world but follow the above-mentioned principles in their doing and living can also be considered wise people. In general, he is a wise man who knows what god has commanded and does accordingly,” etc.

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