From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan | Page 6

suffice to show you the difference that
exists between the same objects in Europe and in India. Nowhere more
than in India does a human being feel his weakness and insignificance.
The majesty of the tropical growth is such that our highest trees would
look dwarfed compared with banyans and especially with palms. A
European cow, mistaking, at first sight, her Indian sister for a calf,
would deny the existence of any kinship between them, as neither the
mouse-coloured wool, nor the straight goat-like horns, nor the humped
back of the latter would permit her to make such an error. As to the
women, each of them would make any artist feel enthusiastic about the
gracefulness of her movements and drapery, but still, no pink and white,
stout Anna Ivanovna would condescend to greet her. "Such a shame,
God forgive me, the woman is entirely naked!"
This opinion of the modern Russian woman is nothing but the echo of
what was said in 1470 by a distinguished Russian traveler, "the sinful
slave of God, Athanasius son of Nikita from Tver," as he styles himself.
He describes India as follows: "This is the land of India. Its people are
naked, never cover their heads, and wear their hair braided. Women
have babies every year. Men and women are black. Their prince wears
a veil round his head and wraps another veil round his legs. The
noblemen wear a veil on one shoulder, and the noblewomen on the
shoulders and round the loins, but everyone is barefooted. The women

walk about with their hair spread and their breasts naked. The children,
boys and girls, never cover their shame until they are seven years
old. . . ." This description is quite correct, but Athanasius Nikita's son is
right only concerning the lowest and poorest classes. These really do
"walk about" covered only with a veil, which often is so poor that, in
fact, it is nothing but a rag. But still, even the poorest woman is clad in
a piece of muslin at least ten yards long. One end serves as a sort of
short petticoat, and the other covers the head and shoulders when out in
the street, though the faces are always uncovered. The hair is erected
into a kind of Greek chignon. The legs up to the knees, the arms, and
the waist are never covered. There is not a single respectable woman
who would consent to put on a pair of shoes. Shoes are the attribute and
the prerogative of disreputable women. When, some time ago, the wife
of the Madras governor thought of passing a law that should induce
native women to cover their breasts, the place was actually threatened
with a revolution. A kind of jacket is worn only by dancing girls. The
Government recognized that it would be unreasonable to irritate women,
who, very often, are more dangerous than their husbands and brothers,
and the custom, based on the law of Manu, and sanctified by three
thousand years' observance, remained unchanged. ----------
For more than two years before we left America we were in constant
correspondence with a certain learned Brahman, whose glory is great at
present (1879) all over India. We came to India to study, under his
guidance, the ancient country of Aryas, the Vedas, and their difficult
language. His name is Dayanand Saraswati Swami. Swami is the name
of the learned anchorites who are initiated into many mysteries
unattainable by common mortals. They are monks who never marry,
but are quite different from other mendicant brotherhoods, the so-called
Sannyasi and Hossein. This Pandit is considered the greatest Sanskritist
of modern India and is an absolute enigma to everyone. It is only five
years since he appeared on the arena of great reforms, but till then, he
lived, entirely secluded, in a jungle, like the ancient gymnosophists
mentioned by the Greek and Latin authors. At this time he was
studying the chief philosophical systems of the "Aryavartta" and the
occult meaning of the Vedas with the help of mystics and anchorites.
All Hindus believe that on the Bhadrinath Mountains (22,000 feet
above the level of the sea) there exist spacious caves, inhabited, now

for many thousand years, by these anchorites. Bhadrinath is situated in
the north of Hindustan on the river Bishegunj, and is celebrated for its
temple of Vishnu right in the heart of the town. Inside the temple there
are hot mineral springs, visited yearly by about fifty thousand pilgrims,
who come to be purified by them.
From the first day of his appearance Dayanand Saraswati produced an
immense impression and got the surname of the "Luther of India."
Wandering from one town to another, today in the South, tomorrow in
the North, and transporting himself from one end of the country to