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Into the Congo River. the Factories. trip to Shark's Point. the Padrao and Pinda. The best preparation for a first glance at the Congo River is to do as all do, to study the quaint description which old Purchas borrowed from the "Chronica da Companhia de Jesus em Portugal."
Who, again, is my sire in the universe? I myself am my grandfather. I am, indeed, the Grandsire and the Sire. By those rites He worshipped His own self, and having finished the worship, disappeared there and then. Hence have the Pitris come to be called by the name of Pinda. Even this is the foundation of the designation.
The Pinda that is offered to one's ancestors on earth that has been duly purchased becomes inexhaustible. Forests, and mountains, and rivers, and Tirthas are regarded as having no owners. No earth need be purchased here for performing Sraddhas. Even this has been said, O king, on the subject of the merits of making gifts of earth.
These offerings take the shape of articles of food which are theoretically partaken of by the shades of the deceased ancestors, the idea of making such offerings being very similar to that of the Hindus when they offer the "pinda," or cake, to nine generations of ancestors, i.e. to propitiate the shades of the departed, and to obtain their help thereby.
"Vaisampayana said, 'Then Bhishma and Kunti with their friends celebrated the Sraddha of the deceased monarch, and offered the Pinda. And they feasted the Kauravas and thousands of Brahmanas unto whom they also gave gems and lands. Then the citizens returned to Hastinapura with the sons of Pandu, now that they had been cleansed from the impurity incident to the demise of their father.
If she cannot come to the place, or does not receive an account of her husband's death, she shall wait the appointed ten days of uncleanness, and may afterwards die in a separate fire. If she die in a separate fire, three days' uncleanness will be observed; after which the Pinda must be performed.
They claim the power of stopping rain by cursing the air, and of producing it by prayer, and by "a devout procession to Our Lady of Pinda," a belief truly worthy of the Nganga; and a fast ship is stranded that "men may learn to honour holidays better." When the magicians swear falsely they either burst like Judas or languish and die "a warning to be more cautious how they jest with God."
Pinda was for a time the head-quarters of the Portuguese Mission, subject only to that of Sao Salvador; it consisted of an apartment two stories high, which caused trouble, being contrary to country custom. Par J. B. Douville, Secretaire de la Societe de Geographic de Paris pour l'annee 1832, etmembre de plusieurs Societes savantes francoises et etrangeres.
The titles of Portugal were adopted by the Congoese, according to Father Cavazzi, after A.D. 1571, when the king constituted himself a vassal of the Portuguese crown. Here was the Pinda whose port and fort played an important part in local history. "Built by the Sonhese army at the mouth of the River Zaire," it commanded both the stream and sea: it was plundered in 1600 by four French pirates.
To sacrifice to the gods, and to practise every kind of austerity, all this is designed to secure a birth in heaven, but here there is no mortification of selfish desire, there is still a selfish personal aim; but to bend the will to seek final escape, this is indeed the work of a true teacher, this is the aim of an enlightened master; this place is no right halting-place for you; you ought to proceed to Mount Pinda: there dwells a great Muni, whose name is A-lo-lam.
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