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India's religions and social characteristics. 239
It is the common reply of the modern Hindoo to the missionary,
when accused of worshiping many gods, " Oh
these are various manifestations of the one God ; the same
as, though the sun be one in the heavens, yet he appears in
multiform reflections upon the lake." That there are ignorant
Hindoos who worship images, is doubtless true ; and equally
true that there are Roman-Catholic Christians who worship
pictures and the Virgin Mary, and Protestants who worship
the Bible, instead of accepting its inspired truths.
Defined in general terms, Brahmans believe in Brahm,
the One self-existent, manifesting himself in the relation
of creator, destroyer, preserver. Up to the present time,
there have been, say these Hindoos, nine incarnations ; the
ninth is that of Christna, son of the virgin Devanaguy.
He was begotten by the thought of Vishnu ; and, at the
moment of his birth, celestial music filled earth and heaven.
Christna signifies, in Sanscrit, sacred.
" The initiated Brahman," says Manu, " should take the
vow of chastity, that he may present himself at the holy
sacrifice with heart and body pure." The Catholic missionary
Dubois says in his work entitled " Moeurs des Indes^"" —
" Justice, humanity, good faith, compassion, disinterestedness,
all the virtues, in fact, were familiar to them, and
taught to others both by precept and example. Hence it
comes that the Hindoos profess, at least speculatively, nearly
the same moral principles as ourselves ; and, if they do not
practice all the reciprocal duties of men towards each other
in a civiHzed society, it is not because they do not know
them."
The sacred books of the Brahmans are rich in moral
teachings ; to wit —
:
" Love of his fellow-creature should be the ruling principle
of the just man in all his works ; for such weigh most in
the celestial balance."
'^
As the body is strengthened by muscles, the soul is fortified
by virtue."