MAY, 1873.]
151
NOTES AND MISCELLANEA.
NOTES AND MISCELLANEA. ON ATTRACTION AND REPULSION,
From the Methnawy of Jellól-al-dyn Râmy : 1st Duftur No. I.
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Because they are aggrieved at your life. They possess the electrum and reveal it,
Then they entice your straw, your nature vile; But when their grand electrum they conceal Your resignation quickly turns revolt . -
E. REHATsek.
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THE MAHA MAGAM AT KUMBHAKONAM. THE town of Kumbhakonam is the scene of one
of the greatest of Hindu festivals, the “Mahdi Mú
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gam, which is celebrated once in twelve years, and to which people from all parts of India repair, to obtain remission of their sins by washing in the waters of the Ganges, which (according to Hindu legend) are brought, in some miraculous manner to the sacred tank on the south-east side of the
great temple.
This tank, which is known as the
Mahd Māgam tank, is supposed to possess miracu lous virtues at this particular season, for the god dess Gangă is said to visit the tank once in twelve years to cleanse herself from the pollution con
tracted by her, in consequence of so many thou sands of human beings bathing in her waters and leaving their sins behind them. The purifier comes here to be purified, and at the same time to purify the multitudes of pilgrims and devotees
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who flock to Kumbhakonam on this auspicious oc
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and be clean. The legend given of the origin of
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casion, that they may wash in the sacred stream
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this festival is briefly as follows:–
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The grandsons of a certain king of the solar race who reigned in the ancient town of Ayodhya were commanded by their grandsire to carry to the
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eight corners of the earth a horse which had been
offered in sacrifice, according to the peculiar rites of the Hindus appointed for the Aswamedha Yaj na. The object in sending round this horse was, it would seem, that all the kings of the earth might do homage to it, such homage being reck oned a token of submission to the great sove
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When a small sage professed the belief
That heaven is an egg and earth its yolk, An asker asked: “How does the earth abide
In this great ocean of the firmament, A lamp suspended in the welkin vast P
Does it slide neither down nor up at all P”
reign of the solar race who had offered it in sacri
fice. During their journey the horse was one
The sage replied: “The attraction of the sky
night stolen from the princes by the god Indra,
From all directions keeps it in the air; As dome of loadstone molten standing fair Holds iron with itself suspended high.” The man rejoining said: “Can heaven pure Attract this sinful melancholy earth?
who concealed the animal in the lower world close
It so repels it from all sides alike To fix it amidst awful hurricanesſ" Thus the aversion of the blessed saints
by the spot where a Rishi was performing pen ance. After a long search the princes discovered the horse where it had been concealed, and, ima gining that the ascetic was the person who had made away with it, they immediately attacked him, while he was still deep in his devotions. The ire of the otherwise meek Rishi was roused by this
In aberration fetters impious men
sudden and sacrilegious violence to his person, and
In the repulsion of this world and next
darting fire from his eyes he consumed his ene mies, reducing them to a heap of ashes. Through
For either hopeful pledges they have nono. You spite the servants of the Lord Most High
the intercession of the aged grandsire, and, subse.