છાપા કરેછે છેલજા || ભાંડ ભાંડ બાલેછે ભાલ || [TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE.] In the Vaishnava religion it is said Kanayá (i.e. Krishna) did this business- (They) whose high priest is Gosáiji, The head of the Samarpanis (dedicators), Make over to him their bodies, minds, and wealth, The Vaishnavas among themselves practice The Vaishnavas sport among themselves the spring sports, Some Vaishnavas are dark, Some Vaishnavas are indecent talkers, Some Vaishnavas are effeminate, Some (are even like) widows. (They) make foppish seal-impressions,* (And) put on indecent brows; They debase their appearance by adultery, Being destroyer of female (virtue). Another sect is that of Braj; Their religion (is) called the husband's religion; And do wicked acts.† Akha Bhagat, a man of distinguished piety, who flourished in Gujarát about the same time, and who was once a follower of the Mahárájas, used to recite a couplet which has since become a proverbial saying among the Gujaráti people, and which is as follows: ગુરૂ કીધો મેં ગોકુળનાથ, ઘરડા બળદને ઘાલી નાથ ।। On their persons with the gopechandan or white earth. The attention of the author was directed to this passage by Kalidas. [TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE. "I adopted Gokulnáth for my guru, and thus put a string in the nostrils of an old bullock: one who lightens wealth but does not lighten the pressure (on the heart),-what good can such a guru confer?'' In the Kávya Dohan (the Cream of Poetry), or Selections from the Gujaráti Poets, we find the following piece, written probably about a hundred years ago, by Krishṇarám, a Gujaráti poet:— વૈષ્ણવ થઈને વેષ, મળાને આરાધે કરે ધર્મનો દ્વેષ, રિાવની નિંદા સાધુ || ૯ ૧ || મળંકારથી અંગ, સરસ સમાવી બેસે ॥ ૯૯ || વિઠલ તણો વિશ્વાસ, શુદ્રોને મન ભાવે || ૧૦૨ ||* [TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE]. Having assumed the appearance of a Vaishnava, They worship the feeble sex. They hate (the true) religion, And accomplish the defamation of Shiva. Having become Samarpani (dedicators) (they) indulge In (the sense of taste by) eating Sird-pure. (Thoughts of having) connection with other women Having decked up their persons, With ornaments they sit. * Kévya Dohan, pp. 110, 111, 2nd edition. (Their) non-Vaidik tenets (They) daily read and praise. The deeds of Krishna Chandra (They) regard as (if they were their) soul. They become the slaves of impostors, (To whom they) bow their heads. The minds of (these) Shúdra (Vaishnavas) like Sajjanand Swami, better known as Swámi Nárayan, who flourished in Gujaráti about sixty years ago, and founded a new sect, exposed the immoralities committed by the Mahárájas, and thus induced the intelligent portion of the Vaishnava community to become his followers. Mr. H. G. Briggs, the author of "The Cities of Gujaráshtra," in the eleventh chapter of his work, referring to Sajjánand Swami, says:— "No longer influenced by those dreads which had hitherto intercepted his career, he commenced his crusade against the Vallabha Kula, better known as the Gosáinji Maháráj. He boldly denounced the irregularities they had introduced into their forms of worship, and exposed the vices which characterized the lives of their clergy" (pp. 237, 238). In the "Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay" (now the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society), vol. ii., published in the year 1820, Capt. McMurdo, Resident in Katchh, writing about Katchh and its people, makes reference to the Mahárájas as follows :— "The Bháttiás are of Sindh origin. They are the most numerous and wealthy merchants in the country, and worship the Gosáinji Mahárájas, of whom there are many. The Maháráj is the master of their property, and disposes of it as he pleases; and such is the veneration in which he is held, that the most respectable families consider themselves honoured by his cohabiting with their wives or daughters. The principal Maháráj at present on this side of India is named Gopinathji, a man worn to a skeleton and shaking like a leaf, from debauchery of every kind, excepting spirituous liquors. He is constantly in a state of intoxication from opium and various other stimulants which the ingenuity of the sensual has discovered. He was originally a Brahman" (vol. ii. pp. 230, 231). Mr. Frederick Hall, formerly Professor of the Government College at Benares, published in 1854 Káshi Námah, one of the Persian works of the deceased Munshi Shilal Sheikh, in which the author makes a distinct reference to the sect of the Gokul Gosáins, or the Mahárájas. We give below the text and its English translation: دويم كوشائين كوكل بکوکلست مشهوراند بیشتر اوضاع ظاهر مثل کوشائیان بندرابن و وضع قشقه علحده و مریدان آنها بیشتر بقالان راتي اند که پیشه مهاجني دارند دیگر کسي کمتر به مريدي آنها میل میکنند و مریدان آنها از مرد و زن بوقت مرید شدن تن من دهن هر سه چیز گور آرین مینمایند یعنی در خدمت و براي خوشي و از جسم و دل و زر دریغ ندارند و زن و مرد هر روزه بلاناغ و بعضي مرتبه براي ديدار مرشد و بت معبود میروند و سواي اين آن قدر حسن اعتقاد متحقق دارند که بوقت شادي منكوح خودرا بلا تصرف اول بخدمت پیر دستگير مي فريسند بعده ألش مرشد کامل بكام مریدان غافل میرسد و اگر احیانا شخصي از مریدان در فرستادن منكوح بطورند کورتالي و تامل نماید برغم انها منكوح او عقيم میگردد و شوهرش را سود بهبود نمي شود چون خطره مرقومه از مدت دماغ آن ابلهان را پریشان ساخته بترس و خوف درين عمل منکر مي کوشند و سواي منکوحه جدید نیز اگر بطرف زوجہ کسي مرید میلان مرشد ميشود به مجرد استمزاج حاضر میسازند و جميع این ابلهان اعمال فسق و فجور مرشدرا كرشن كريرا مي شمرند و مرشد را معبود خود دانسته ارشاد اورا بمنزله وحي آسماني میدانند و رازداري اعمال او مي سازند خورد نوش آنها نهایت مي لطیف و فاخره و اکثر متمول باشند [TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE.] "The Gokul Gosáinjis.-They are generally known (by the name of) Gokulasth. In all their outward manners they are like the Bandrában Gosains, and they apply the Kasliká (mark made by the Hindus on the forehead) in a different way, and their followers are mostly Gujaráti grocers (or banians), who carry on the business of máhajans (or bankers). Few other people are inclined to become their followers. Their followers, whether men or women at the time of becoming their followers, make an offering to the guru (i.e. the spiritual guide) of these three things, namely, body, mind, and wealth,—that is, for (his) service and gratification; and they withhold not from him their bodies, hearts, and gold. Men and women unfailingly go once every day, and some of them three times (daily), in order to behold the face of their spiritual guide, or the adored idol. And, besides this, they are so firm in their good faith, that when they marry, they first send their wives to their spiritual guide without having made use of them; and the leavings of their accomplished guide are afterwards tasted by the ignorant disciples. Should any one of the disciples hesitate to send his wife as mentioned above, she becomes, agreeably to their belief, a barren women, and her husband will not benefit by her; and as this dread has disordered the brains of those foolish people for a long time, they, from fear, exercise this obnoxious act. Besides the newly married wife, should the guide desire the wife of any followers, as soon as they discover his intentions they produce her; and all these fools regard the wicked and sinful deeds. of their guide as the gambols of Krishna, and, considering their adored guide as God, they respect his words as revelations from heaven, and conceal his doings. The food and drink of these (Gosáins) are delicious and luxurious, and most of them are wealthy." |