"First, dire Chimera's
conquest
was enjoin'd,
A mingled monster of no mortal kind;
Behind, a dragon's fiery tail was spread,
A goat's rough body bore a lion's head;
Her pitchy nostrils flaky flames expire,
Her gaping throat emits infernal fire.
A mingled monster of no mortal kind;
Behind, a dragon's fiery tail was spread,
A goat's rough body bore a lion's head;
Her pitchy nostrils flaky flames expire,
Her gaping throat emits infernal fire.
Camoes - Lusiades
Dow, the philosopher Goutam
appears to have been a very Duns Scotus or Aquinas in metaphysics, the
Pythagorean reason why the Brahmins abstain from animal food, is a
convincing proof of their ignorance in natural philosophy. Some will let
vermin overrun them; some of the Banians cover their mouth with a cloth,
lest they should suck in a gnat with their breath; and some carefully
sweep the floor ere they tread upon it, lest they dislodge the soul of
an insect. And yet they do not know that in the water they drink, and in
every salad they eat, they cause the death of innumerable living
creatures.
The sacred books of the Hindoos are written in a dead language, the
Sanskrit, which none but the Brahmins are allowed to study. So strict in
this are they, says Mr. Dow, that only one Mussulman was ever instructed
in it, and his knowledge was obtained by fraud. Mahummud Akbar, emperor
of India, though bred a Mohammedan, studied several religions. In the
Christian he was instructed by a Portuguese. But, finding that of the
Hindoos inaccessible, he had recourse to art. A boy named Feizi, was, as
the orphan of a Brahmin, put under the care of one of the most eminent
of these philosophers, and obtained full knowledge of their hidden
religion. But the fraud being discovered, he was laid under the
restraint of an oath, and it does not appear that he ever communicated
the knowledge thus acquired.
[476] Kotwal, the chief officer of police in a town. --FORBES' Hindustani
Dictionary.
[477] _The monster forms, Chimera-like, and rude. _--Chimera, a monster
slain by Bellerophon.
"First, dire Chimera's conquest was enjoin'd,
A mingled monster of no mortal kind;
Behind, a dragon's fiery tail was spread,
A goat's rough body bore a lion's head;
Her pitchy nostrils flaky flames expire,
Her gaping throat emits infernal fire. "
POPE'S II. vi.
[478] _So Titan's son. _--Briareus.
[479] _Before these shrines the blinded Indians bow. _--In this instance,
Camoens has, with great art, deviated from the truth of history. As it
was the great purpose of his hero to propagate the law of heaven in the
East, it would have been highly absurd to have represented GAMA and his
attendants as on their knees in a pagan temple. This, however, was the
case. "GAMA, who had been told," says Osorius, "that there were many
Christians in India, conjectured that the temple, to which the catual
led him, was a Christian church. At their entrance they were met by four
priests, who seemed to make crosses on their foreheads. The walls were
painted with many images. In the middle was it little round chapel, in
the wall of which, opposite to the entrance, stood an image which could
hardly be discovered. The four priests ascending, some entered the
chapel by a little brass door, and pointing to the benighted image,
cried aloud, 'Mary, Mary! ' The catual and his attendants prostrated
themselves an the ground, while the Lusians on their bended knees adored
the blessed virgin. " Thus Osorius.
appears to have been a very Duns Scotus or Aquinas in metaphysics, the
Pythagorean reason why the Brahmins abstain from animal food, is a
convincing proof of their ignorance in natural philosophy. Some will let
vermin overrun them; some of the Banians cover their mouth with a cloth,
lest they should suck in a gnat with their breath; and some carefully
sweep the floor ere they tread upon it, lest they dislodge the soul of
an insect. And yet they do not know that in the water they drink, and in
every salad they eat, they cause the death of innumerable living
creatures.
The sacred books of the Hindoos are written in a dead language, the
Sanskrit, which none but the Brahmins are allowed to study. So strict in
this are they, says Mr. Dow, that only one Mussulman was ever instructed
in it, and his knowledge was obtained by fraud. Mahummud Akbar, emperor
of India, though bred a Mohammedan, studied several religions. In the
Christian he was instructed by a Portuguese. But, finding that of the
Hindoos inaccessible, he had recourse to art. A boy named Feizi, was, as
the orphan of a Brahmin, put under the care of one of the most eminent
of these philosophers, and obtained full knowledge of their hidden
religion. But the fraud being discovered, he was laid under the
restraint of an oath, and it does not appear that he ever communicated
the knowledge thus acquired.
[476] Kotwal, the chief officer of police in a town. --FORBES' Hindustani
Dictionary.
[477] _The monster forms, Chimera-like, and rude. _--Chimera, a monster
slain by Bellerophon.
"First, dire Chimera's conquest was enjoin'd,
A mingled monster of no mortal kind;
Behind, a dragon's fiery tail was spread,
A goat's rough body bore a lion's head;
Her pitchy nostrils flaky flames expire,
Her gaping throat emits infernal fire. "
POPE'S II. vi.
[478] _So Titan's son. _--Briareus.
[479] _Before these shrines the blinded Indians bow. _--In this instance,
Camoens has, with great art, deviated from the truth of history. As it
was the great purpose of his hero to propagate the law of heaven in the
East, it would have been highly absurd to have represented GAMA and his
attendants as on their knees in a pagan temple. This, however, was the
case. "GAMA, who had been told," says Osorius, "that there were many
Christians in India, conjectured that the temple, to which the catual
led him, was a Christian church. At their entrance they were met by four
priests, who seemed to make crosses on their foreheads. The walls were
painted with many images. In the middle was it little round chapel, in
the wall of which, opposite to the entrance, stood an image which could
hardly be discovered. The four priests ascending, some entered the
chapel by a little brass door, and pointing to the benighted image,
cried aloud, 'Mary, Mary! ' The catual and his attendants prostrated
themselves an the ground, while the Lusians on their bended knees adored
the blessed virgin. " Thus Osorius.
