child, I do not give you that blow for any fault you have committed, but that you may
recollect that the little creature you see in the fire is a salamander; such a one as never
was beheld before to my knowledge.' So saying he embraced me, and gave me some
money."
It seems unreasonable to doubt a story of which Signor Cellini was both an eye
and ear witness. Add to which the authority of numerous sage philosophers, at the head
of whom are Aristotle and Pliny, affirms this power of the salamander. According to
them, the animal not only resists fire, but extinguishes it, and when he sees the flame
charges it as an enemy which he well knows how to vanquish.
That the skin of an animal which could resist the action of fire should be
considered proof against that element, is not to be wondered at. We accordingly find that
a cloth made of the skins of salamanders (for there really is such an animal, a kind of
lizard) was incombustible, and very valuable for wrapping up such articles as were too
precious to be intrusted to any other envelopes. These fire proof cloths were actually
produced, said to be made of salamander's wool, though the knowing ones detected that
the substance of which they were composed was Asbestos, a mineral, which is in fine
filaments capable of being woven into a flexible cloth.
The foundation of the above fables is supposed to be the fact that the
salamander really does secrete from the pores of his body a milky juice, which when he
is irritated is produced in considerable quantity, and would doubtless, for a few
moments, defend the body from fire. Then it is a hibernating animal, and in winter retires
to some hollow tree or other cavity, where it coils itself up and remains in a torpid state
till the spring again calls it forth. It may therefore sometimes be carried with the fuel to
the fire, and wake up only time enough to put forth all its faculties for its defence. Its
viscous juice would do good service, and all who profess to have seen it, acknowledge
that it got out of the fire as fast as its legs could carry it; indeed too fast for them ever to
make prize of one, except in one instance, and in that one, the animal's feet and some
parts of its body were badly burned.
Dr. Young, in the Night Thoughts, with more quaint ness than good taste,
compares the sceptic who can remain unmoved in the contemplation of the starry
heavens, to a salamander unwarmed in the fire:
"An undevout astronomer is mad!
* * *
"O, what a genius must inform the skies!
And is Lorenzo's salamander-heart
Cold and untouched amid these sacred fires?"
Chapter XXXVII: Eastern Mythology
Zoroaster - Hindu Mythology - Castes - Buddha - Grand Lama.
Zoroaster.
Our knowledge of the religion of the ancient Persians is principally derived from
the Zendavesta, or sacred books of that people. Zoroaster was the founder of their
religion, or rather the reformer of the religion which preceded him. The time when he
lived is doubtful, but it is certain that his system became the dominant religion of
Western Asia from the time of Cyrus (550 B. C.) to the conquest of Persia by
Alexander the Great. Under the Macedonian monarchy the doctrines of Zoroaster
appear to have been considerably corrupted by the introduction of foreign opinions, but
they afterwards recovered their ascendency.
Zoroaster taught the existence of a supreme being, who created two other mighty
beings and imparted to them as much of his own nature as seemed good to him. Of
these, Ormuzd (called by the Greeks Oromasdes) remained faithful to his creator, and
was regarded as the source of all good, while Ahriman (Arimanes) rebelled, and
became the author of all evil upon the earth. Ormuzd created man and supplied him
with all the materials of happiness; but Ahriman married this happiness by introducing
evil into the world, and creating savage beasts and poisonous reptiles and plants. In
consequence of this, evil and good are now mingled together in every part of the
world, and the followers of good and evil - the adherents of Ormuzd and Ahriman -
carry on incessant war. But this state of things will not last forever. The time will come
when the adherents of Ormuzd shall every where be victorious, and Ahriman and his
followers be consigned to darkness forever.
The religious rites of the ancient Persians were exceedingly simple. They used
neither temples, altars, nor statues, and performed their sacrifices on the tops of
mountains. They adored fire, light, and the sun as emblems of Ormuzd, the source of
all light and purity, but did not regard them as independent deities. The religious rites
and ceremonies were regulated by the priests, who were called Magi. The learning of
the Magi was connected with astrology and enchantment, in which they were so
celebrated that their name was applied to all orders of magicians and enchanters.
Wordsworth thus alludes to the worship of the Persians: -
". . . the Persian, - zealous to reject
Altar and Image, and the inclusive walls
And roofs of temples built by human hands, -
The loftiest heights ascending, from their tops,
With myrtle-wreathed Tiara on his brows,
Presented sacrifice to Moon and Stars
And to the Winds and mother Elements,
And the whole circle of the Heavens, for him
A sensitive existence and a God."
Excursion, Book IV.
In Childe Harold, Byron speaks thus of the Persian worship: -
"Not vainly did the early Persian make
His altar the high places and the peak
Of earth-o'er-gazing mountains, and thus take
A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek
The Spirit, in whose honor shrines are weak,
Upreared of human hands. Come and compare
Columns and idol-dwellings, Goth or Greek,
With Nature's realms of worship, earth and air,
Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer."
III. 91.
The religion of Zoroaster continued to flourish even after the introduction of
Christianity, and in the third century was the dominant faith of the East, till the rise of the
Mahometan power and the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the seventh century, who
compelled the greater number of the Persians to renounce their ancient faith. Those
who refused to abandon the religion of their ancestors fled to the deserts of Kerman and
to Hindustan, where they still exist under the name of Parsees, a name derived from
Pars, the ancient name of Persia. The Arabs call them Guebers, from an Arabic word
signifying unbelievers. At Bombay the Parsees are at this day a very active, intelligent,
and wealthy class. For purity of life, honesty, and conciliatory manners, they are
favorably distinguished. They have numerous temples to Fire, which they adore as the
symbol of the divinity.
The Persian religion makes the subject of the finest tale in Moore's Lalla Rookh,
the Fire Worshippers. The Gueber chief says, -
"Yes! I am of that impious race,
Those slaves of Fire, that morn and even
Hail their creator's dwelling-place
Among the living lights of heaven;
Yes! I am of that outcast crew
To Iran and
to vengeance true,
Who curse the hour your Arabs came
To desecrate our shrines of flame,
And swear before God's burning eye,
To break our country's chains or die"
Hindu Mythology.
The religion of the Hindus is professedly founded on the Vedas. To these books
of their scripture they attach the greatest sanctity, and state that Brahma himself
composed them at the creation. But the present arrangement of the Vedas is attributed
to the sage Vyasa, about five thousand years ago.
The Vedas undoubtedly teach the belief of one supreme God. The name of this
deity is Brahma. His attributes are represented by the three personified powers of
creation, preservation, and destruction, which under the respective names of Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva form the Trimurti or triad of principal Hindu gods. Of the inferior gods
the most important are, 1. Indra, the god of heaven, of thunder, lightning, storm, and
rain; 2. Agni, the god of fire; 3. Yama, the god of the infernal regions; 4. Surya, the god
of the sun.
Brahma is the creator of the universe, and the source from which all the
individual deities have sprung, and into which all will ultimately be absorbed. "As milk
changes to curd, and water to ice, so is Brahma variously transformed and diversified,
without aid of exterior means of any sort." The human soul, according to the Vedas, is a
portion of the supreme ruler as a spark is of the fire.
Vishnu.
Vishnu occupies the second place in the triad of the Hindus, and is the
personification of the preserving principle. To protect the world in various epochs of
danger, Vishnu descended to the earth in different incarnations, or bodily forms, which
descents are called Avatars. They are very numerous, but ten are more particularly
specified. The first Avatar was as Matsya, the Fish, under which form Vishnu preserved
Manu, the ancestor of the human race, during a universal deluge. The second Avatar
was in the form of a Tortoise, which form he assumed to support the earth when the
gods were churning the sea for the beverage of immortality, Amrita.
We may omit the other Avatars, which were of the same general character, that
is, interpositions to protect the right or to punish wrong- doers, and come to the ninth,
which is the most celebrated of the Avatars of Vishnu, in which he appeared in the
human form of Krishna, an invincible warrior, who by his exploits relieved the earth from
the tyrants who oppressed it.
Buddha is by the followers of the Brahmanical religion regarded as a delusive
incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by him in order to induce the Asuras, opponents of the
gods, to abandon the sacred ordinances of the Vedas, by which means they lost their
strength and supremacy.
Kalki is the name of the tenth Avatar, in which Vishnu will appear at the end of
the present age of the world to destroy all vice and wickedness, and to restore mankind
to virtue and parity.
Siva.
Siva is the third person of the Hindu triad. He is the personification of the
destroying principle. Though the third name, he is, in respect to the number of his
worshippers and the extension of his worship, before either of the others. In the
Puranas (the scriptures of the modern Hindu religion) no allusion is made to the original
power of this god as a destroyer; that power not being to be called into exercise till after
the expiration of twelve millions of years, or when the universe will come to an end; and
Mahadeva (another name for Siva) is rather the representative of regeneration than of
destruction.
The worshippers of Vishnu and Siva form two sects, each of which proclaims the
superiority of its favorite deity, denying the claims of the other, and Brahma, the creator,
having finished his work, seems to be regarded as no longer active, and has now only
one temple in India, while Mahadeva and Vishnu have many. The worshippers of
Vishnu are generally distinguished by a greater tenderness for life and consequent
abstinence from animal food, and a worship less cruel than that of the followers of Siva.
Juggernaut.
Whether the worshippers of Juggernaut are to be reckoned among the followers
of Vishnu or Siva, our authorities differ. The temple stands near the shore, about three
hundred miles south-west of Calcutta. The idol is a carved block of wood, with a
hideous face, painted black, and a distended blood-red mouth. On festival days the
throne of the image is placed on a tower sixty feet high, moving on wheels. Six long
ropes are attached to the tower, by which the people draw it along. The priests and their
attendants stand round on the throne on the tower, and occasionally turn to the
worshippers with songs and gestures. While the tower moves along numbers of the
devout worshippers throw themselves on the ground, in order to be crushed by the
wheels, and the multitude shout in approbation of the act, as a pleasing sacrifice to the
idol. Every year, particularly at two great festivals in March and July, pilgrims flock in
crowds to the temple. Not less than seventy or eighty thousand people are said to visit
the place on these occasions, when all castes eat together.
Castes.
The division of the Hindus into classes or castes, with fixed occupations, existed
from the earliest times. It is supposed by some to have been founded upon conquest,
the first three castes being composed of a foreign race, who subdued the natives of the
country and reduced them to an inferior caste. Others trace it to the fondness of
perpetuating, by descent from father to son, certain offices or occupations.
The Hindu tradition gives the following account of the origin of the various castes.
At the creation Brahma resolved to give the earth inhabitants who should be direct
emanations from his own body. Accordingly from his mouth came forth the eldest born,
Brahma, (the priest,) to whom he confided the four Vedas; from his right arm issued
Shatriya, (the warrior,) and from his left, the warrior's wife. His thighs produced
Vaissyas, male and female, (agriculturists and traders,) and lastly from his feet sprang
Sudras, (mechanics and laborers.)
The four sons of Brahma, so significantly brought into the world, became the
fathers of the human race, and heads of their respective castes. They were commanded
to regard the four Vedas as containing all the rules of their faith, and all that was
necessary to guide them in their religious ceremonies. They were also commanded to
take rank in the order of their birth, the Brahmans uppermost, as having sprung from the
head of Brahma.
A strong line of demarcation is drawn between the first three castes and the
Sudras. The former are allowed to receive instruction from the Vedas, which is not
permitted to the Sudras. The Brahmans possess the privilege of teaching the Vedas,
and were in former times in exclusive possession of all knowledge. Though the
sovereign of the country was chosen from the Shatriya class, also called Rajputs, the
Brahmans possessed the real power, and were the royal counsellors, the judges and
magistrates of the country; their persons and property were inviolable; and though they
committed the greatest crimes, they could only be b
anished from the kingdom. They
were to be treated by sovereigns with the greatest respect, for "a Brahman, whether
learned or ignorant, is a powerful divinity."
When the Brahman arrives at years of maturity it becomes his duty to marry. He
ought to be supported by the contributions of the rich, and not to be obliged to gain his
subsistence by any laborious or productive occupatio. But as all the Brahmans could not
be maintained by the working classes of the community, it was found necessary to allow
them to engage in productive employments.
We need say little of the two intermediate classes, whose rank and privileges
may be readily inferred from their occupations. The Sudras or fourth class are bound to
servile attendance on the higher classes, especially the Brahmans, but they may follow
mechanical occupations and practical arts, as painting and writing, or become traders or
husbandmen. Consequently they sometimes grow rich, and it will also sometimes
happen that Brahmans become poor. That fact works its usual consequence, and rich
Sudras sometimes employ poor Brahmans in menial occupations.
There is another class lower even than the Sudras, for it is not one of the original
pure classes, but springs from an unauthorized union of individuals of different castes.
These are the Pariahs, who are employed in the lowest services and treated with the
utmost severity. They are compelled to do what no one else can do without pollution.
They are not only considered unclean themselves, but they render unclean every thing
they touch. They are deprived of all civil rights, and stigmatized by particular laws,
regulating their mode of life, their houses and their furniture. They are not allowed to
visit the pagodas or temples of the other castes, but have their own pagodas and
religious exercises. They are not suffered to enter the houses of the other castes; if it is
Age of Fable or Beauties of Mythology Page 40