64
HISTORY OF INDIA.
[Book IV.
AD.
Hindoo devotion.
Its exclu- siveiiess.
It« true character.
cines, divine learning, and the various mansions of deities, are acquired by devo- tion alone ; their efficient cause is devotion. Whatever is hard to be traversed, whatever is hard to be acquired, whatever is hard to be visited, whatever is hard to be performed, all this may be accomplished by true devotion ; for the difficulty of devotion is the greatest of all. Even sinners in the highest degree, and of course the other offenders, are absolved from guilt by austere devotion well practised. Worms and insects, serpents, moths, beasts, birds, and vege- tables, attain heaven by the power of devotion. Whatever sin has been con- ceived in the hearts of men, uttered in their speech, or committed in their bodily acts, they speedily burn it away by devotion, if they preserve devotion as their best wealth."
In regard to this devotion, it is to be observed in the first place, that the portion of it which is conceived to constitute the highest perfection, and for which, consequently, the greatest rewards are reserved, is utterly impracticable to the great body of the Hindoo population. It requires free access to the Veda, but in point of fact this access is so far from being free that it is fenced round b}^ an impassable barrier. The whole Suclra class — in other words, the people generally — are strictly prohibited from forming any acquaintance with it. It must not be read in their presence ; and the Brahmin presuming to teach it to them, commits a sin so heinous as to sink him to one of the lowest hells. Even the mode of expiating sin must not be taught to a Sudra; and in any religious act in which he may " imitate the practice of good men," he mvist not make mention of "any holy text," though it is again and again declared that on such mention the efficacy of the act itself mainly depends. Hence it appears that Hindooism, so far from placing all men on an equal footing, and reward- ing them according to their deserts, is a system of unvarnished and revolting favouritism, confining the means of attaining final felicity to the few, and con- signing the many to a state of helpless ignorance, which makes their perdition all but inevitable.
It is to be observed, in the second place, with regard to this lauded devotion, that when it is closely examined the praises bestowed upon it are found to be undeserved. In some passages quoted above from the Institiites of Menu, the insufficiency of mere ritiial observances is distinctly declared. The following passage goes still farther; for it declares that forgiveness cannot be obtained without a repentance proved genuine by its fruits: — " In proportion as a man who has committed a sin shall truly and voluntarily confess it, so far he is dis- engaged from that offence, like a snake from his slough ; and in proportion as his heart sincerely loathes his evil deed, so ftir shall his vital spirit be freed from the taint of it. If he commit sin, and actually repent, that sin shall be removed from him; but if he merely say, 'I will sin thus no more,' he can only be released by an actual abstinence from guilt." Such passjiges, howevei*, prove only
to be lights shining in a dark place. Many other passages breathe so different
