[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Storia do Mogor](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci) › [Storia do Mogor (Irvine)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine) › 246 # Storia do Mogor 246: The Life of Brahma. Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 246 - **Language:** English ### [246](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.246) These Hindus state in their fables that Brahma, the eldest son and husband of Paraxcety (Parasakti) was born in the navel of his younger brother. They have no shame at thus placing the effect before the cause, which is obviously contrary to the very nature of things. Making no reflection on all these contradictions, they pass on to tell you the virtues residing in Brahma's countenance. From it, as they assert, the Brahmans were produced. This class of men is among them the most considered and the noblest. Being themselves the authors of all these fables, they accept without any hesitation the origin I have just stated, and thus call themselves, so to speak, the god Brahma. From his shoulders, they say, came the rajahs, who hold the second rank of nobility. From his thighs came the Catharis (Khatris, Kshatriyas), or traders and shopkeepers, who are the third group. Lastly, the fourth grade issued from his feet, and are called Chutre (Shudra), the lowest caste, the most abject of all. They say that this same Brahma writes in the head of every man what he will do throughout his life. After this writing has been made neither he, nor his brothers, nor the three together \[95\] can efface it or withdraw it. But what he has written in the heads of others he has to undergo in his own person. They recount that, wishing to take his own daughter to wife, and conscious that this was not the conduct of a man, he took the shape of a stag. He then gave his daughter to the stag. When they had celebrated the ceremonies of marriage, they retired into the woods. But the gods Vishnu and Rudra and the other three hundred thousand millions of gods, seeing the infamous act of Brahma, and the disgrace reflected on them thereby, resolved to punish him. Rudra was selected to execute the decree they had made. This god was directed to behead Brahma, and this he did with his finger-nail. Nevertheless, Brahma did not thereby die. For he had four heads left, one only of the five having been removed. This Brahma, in addition to finding himself without a head, found himself also without a temple, without followers, and without molten image, the reason of which I will here state. The Brahmans say that they are themselves the god Brahma, and their dwellings are places appointed for worship — that is to say, where this god ought to be prayed to, and the adoration and homage rendered which are his due ; that it is to them that other men should deliver all that they possess in order to secure the happiness, the wealth, and the enjoyment they desire. All that these Brahmans say is believed by the other Hindus to be infallible. Yet are they such deceivers that they keep faith with no one. Lastly, they say that Brahma married a woman called Sarasvadi (Saraswati), who was very learned. For this reason he always carries her about on his tongue in order to be correct in all his answers. He suffers patiently for that reason the annoyance and the pain that such a continuous lodgment must necessarily bring upon him. Others say the god Brahma is the generative power of men, that being the sole god Brahma. Here, then, is what is said and believed by one or the other; by the last class he is called 'potter,' a very derogatory name in this country. - [Previous: 245](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.245) - [Next: 247.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.247.1) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.246](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.manucci~en-irvine.246) · Pramāṇa