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Twined in his long black hair was a wreath of scarlet fire flowers; every face brightened as he fled past. "You have again brought the sign, Piang. When do we fight?" asked Kali Pandapatan. The fire-tree has not yet bloomed in the enemy's country, and we may yet pass through safely," Piang replied. "You have spoken," said the dato and laid his palms on the youth's head.
There is a deep-rooted idea in India that a man's daily life must be accompanied by religious observances and regulated by a religious code, by no means of universal application but still suitable to his particular class. An immoral occupation need not be irreligious: it simply requires gods of a special character. Hence we find Thugs killing and robbing their victims in the name of Kali.
Then at a wave of his skeleton arm the two men threw upon the thatched roof of a hut a grey preparation of gunpowder which was but a pyrotechnical trick, and immediately the thatch burst into flames. "There, accursed ones unbelievers! Kali has spoken!" the yogi declared solemnly, and turning on his heels went back to the camp.
Captain Sleeman played the part of their evil genius, for in his anger at their abominable deeds he decided, in spite of the resistance offered by the heads of the East India Company, to wage war to the knife against the religion of Kali. Captain Sleeman was chosen to fill the appointment, and he dedicated to it all his courage and practically his whole life.
We are now, it is said, at the close of the first five thousand years of Kali yuga. And this same yuga, or epoch, has 427,000 years still in store for us and our descendants! Before it arrived, the other three yugas Kritha, Tretha, and Dwapara had passed on; and these, together, were equal to more than ten thousand divine years, or to nearly four million human years!
He, of whom thou hadst asked me, is known by the name of Vasudeva. He it is whom Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas and Sudras, having distinctive features of their own, humbly serve and worship with restrained hearts and performing their own duties. He it is who, towards the close of the Dwapara Yuga and the beginning of the Kali Yuga, is sung of with Sankarshana, by believers with devotion.
Further down the body was another circling belt, showing less dark against the black trunk. Then, even as I puzzled to know what the thing was, a memory slid into my mind, and straightway, I knew that I was looking at a monstrous representation of Kali, the Hindu goddess of death. Other remembrances of my old student days drifted into my thoughts.
Victory to thee, O best of mothers, whose feet the world adores! O fearless refuge of the pious! Kali of the dreadful ornaments! Honour and glory to thee, O kindly goddess! Be pleased to accept the sacrifice of my head in behalf of King Shudraka." Then he suddenly cut off his own head with his dagger.
Then a door opened in the temple, exposing a brightly illuminated image of the goddess Kali, before which a white-robed priest began a barbarous incantation, while the tribe of worshippers prostrated themselves upon the earth. "But what interested me most was the central eye of the huge wooden idol. I could see by its flashing brilliancy that it was an immense diamond of the purest water.
Lakshmî, Sarasvatî and Sîtâ are benevolent, but they hold no great position in popular esteem, and the being who attracts millions of worshippers under such names as Kâlî, Durgâ, or Mahâdevî, though she has many forms and aspects, is most commonly represented as a terrible goddess who demands offerings of blood.
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