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XXVI. Hinduism in Assam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Charles N. E. Eliot
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Extract

DURING a recent visit to Assam I made some notes on the religion of the country which may possibly prove of interest. The forms of Hinduism prevalent there merit attention for two reasons. Firstly, they present some special developments of the Vaishnava faith in which monasticism and puritanism attain a prominence unusual in contemporary India and, secondly, they illustrate clearly and compendiously the methods by which the propagation of Hinduism in areas originally not Hindu is effected. The historical record, if not ancient, is exceptionally authentic for the last few centuries, and though the Assamese sects have features of their own yet the circumstances of their rise and subdivision may throw light on what occurred elsewhere.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , October 1910 , pp. 1155 - 1186
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1910

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References

page 1155 note 1 I am indebted for much information toGait's, History of Assam, Calcutta, 1906Google Scholar, the Assptm District Gazetteers, and the Report on Assam in the last census of India, 1901. The article on Assam in Hastings' Encyclopœdia of Religion and Ethics unfortunately did not come into my hands until after the present paper was written.

page 1157 note 1 See Gait, E. A., “Human Sacrifices in Ancient Assam”: JASB., 1898, p. 56Google Scholar.

page 1158 note 1 But Udyāna is traditionally connected with magic and Tantrism, and it would appear that the goddess Anahit, who was revered in Bactria and who figures on the coins of the Kushans, was worshipped with immoral, if not with bloodthirsty rites. It would consequently not be surprising if Tantric elements were found in Kushan Buddhism.

page 1158 note 2 That is to say, the Tantras inculcating Śāktic worship. The name is commonly restricted to such works, but it means merely abridgement and Vaishnava Tantras from South India are quoted.

page 1159 note 1 See for these stories of dismembermentFrazer, , Adonis, Attis, and Osiris, pp. 269–73Google Scholar.

page 1159 note 2 Gait's, note (History of Assam, p. 11)Google Scholar seems to me misleading in so far as it implies that the germ of the story is found in the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa. The germ of Daksha's sacrifice is found there, but hardly of Satī's dismemberment. In the Purāṇas Satī dies of vexation, but is not cut in pieces. In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa she is consumed by self-produced fire. The late appearance of the legend does not of course mean that it is late in itself, but merely that it was not known or not countenanced by Sanskrit writers until mediaeval times.

page 1160 note 1 At the present day converts to Hinduism are generally enrolled in the Koch caste. Koch was originally a tribal name, but in Assam it now signifies merely a caste with no racial character, but divided into many subdivisions in which the rules of Hinduism are observed with varying strictness. The families of converts often pass through several subdivisions in successive generations. They begin in the lowest, where eating flesh and drinking alcohol are permitted, and then pass into higher classes where these practices are forbidden. New converts are called Saraniyas, i.e. those who have repeated the Saranam formula to a Guru.

page 1161 note 1 Gait, , History of Assam, 1906, p. 351Google Scholar.

page 1161 note 2 Watters, ii, pp. 185–6. But possibly Yuan Chwang's own visit to the Court of Assam may have led to the introduction of Buddhism. In any case it is probable that a few centuries later, when it had been accepted as the religion of Tibet, it did not remain wholly unknown to Assam.

page 1165 note 1 So I was told, but I saw only six.

page 1166 note 1 The rules for these sacrifices are given in the Rudhirādhyāya (Chapter of Blood) of the Kālikā Purāṇa, which, however, appears to prohibit them for the three highest castes. It is translated in Asiatic Researches, vol. v, 1798, pp. 371–91Google Scholar, and specially mentions Kāmākhyā as one of the goddesses who are pleased with human victims. Before the immolation the sacrificer worships Brahmā and other deities as if they were present in different parts of the victim's body, and then adores the victim himself as an assemblage of all the deities. An axe is consecrated to Kālī by the recitation of special mantras, and with it the victim is decapitated. His head is offered to the goddess on a salver of gold, silver, copper, brass, or wood, but not of iron. Offerings of the sacrificer's own blood drawn from the upper parts of the body may also be presented, as also a lamp with which he has burnt himself in various places.

page 1167 note 1 A translation of this work has been published by Manmatha Nath Datt, 1900. Printed by H. C. Dass, Elysium Press, Calcutta.

page 1170 note 1 Assam District Gazetteers, Lakhimpur, 1905, p. 126Google Scholar.

page 1170 note 2 Aniruddh, the founder of the Moāmariās, is said to have been this Gopal Deb's immediate disciple, and to have seceded from him.

page 1171 note 1 This is the usual spelling of the word, but it appears to be really the Sanskrit chattra, an umbrella or shelter for pupils. In Eastern Bengal and Assam ch is generally pronounced as s.

page 1175 note 1 Though the general appearance of an Assamese sattra is Sui generis, the plan of the interior seems to be much the same as in Sikhim. Waddell's, diagram of a Sikhim temple (Buddhism of Tibet, p. 291)Google Scholar would represent a Namghar if it were longer in proportion to its breadth.

page 1176 note 1 They perhaps correspond to the images of the kings and other guardian deities placed at the door of Buddhist temples, and like them are of grotesque appearance.

page 1178 note 1 The following is the list of the teachers of the sect as given me. I preserve the orthography of the original. (1) Sankaracharjya, (2) Podmacharjya, (3) Mundanacharjya, (4) Kebalacharjya, (5) Sodanundo, (6) Nityanundo, (7) Bhobanundo, (8) Kanchananundo, (9) Brahmacharinunda, (10) missing, (11) Choitonya Swarupanundo, (12) Ramadutta, (13) Nimadutta, (14) Madhobacharjya, (15) Brahmanunda Bharoti, (16) Krishnanunda Bharoti, (17) Biswanath Bharoti, (18) Hridoyanunda Bharoti, (19) Bishnu Bharoti, (20) Sri Choitonya, (21) Damodardev, (22) Bolodev, (23) Bonomali Dev, (24) Ramadev, (25) Krishnadev, (26) Atmadev, (27) Kamdev, (28) Sohodev, (29) Rokitidev, (30) Bishnudev, (31) Bibhudev, (32) Basudev, (33) Subhodev, (34) Narodev, the present Adhikar.

page 1179 note 1 See especially his Rāmayāṇa, book vi, Doha 3, and the preceding Chaupai (p. 67 in Growse's translation), where Rāma, after moulding a lingam at Ramesvaram, says: “There is none other so dear to me as Śiva. No man, though he call himself a votary of mine, can ever dream of really finding me if he offend Śiva. If he desire to serve me in antagonism to Śiva his doom is hell. He is a fool of no understanding. They who either out of attachment to Śiva dishonour me or who serve me but dishonour Śiva shall have their abode in the deepest hell until the end of the world … To all who serve me unselfishly and without guile Śiva will grant the boon of faith.”

page 1182 note 1 The list is, in the orthography of the original: (1) Śankar Deb, (2) Mādhab Deb, (3) Bandula Atta, (4) Parsu Ram Deb, (5) Kamal Lochan Deb, (6) Niranjan Deb, (7) Satananda Deb, (8) Satya Brat Deb, (9) Rudra Kanta Deb, (10) Krishn Kanta Deb, (11) Lakhi Kanta Deb, (12) Śrī Śrī Chandra Kanta Deb, the present Adhikar.

page 1183 note 1 Assam District Gazetteers, 1905, vol. ii, Sylhet, , pp. 84–9Google Scholar. Strange sects called Sahaj Bhajan and Ratikhoa are also reported from Sylhet. They are said to take women as their religious teachers, and worship them as incarnations of Rādhā.

page 1185 note 1 There is another large one at Wartāl.

page 1186 note 1 Gait, , History of Assam, p. 175Google Scholar.