Travels in India (Tavernier) 145.6

145.6

These Bonzes are clad in yellow, and wear on their loins a small red cloth as a waistband. They make an outward show of great modesty, and one never sees them manifest the smallest degree of passion. At four o’clock in the morning they rise at the sound of bells to say their prayers, and they do the same towards evening. There are certain days of the year when they withdraw from the conversation of men to live in retreat. Some live on charity, and others have well-endowed dwellings. As long as they wear the garb of Bonzes they cannot possess wives, and they must relinquish it if they desire to marry. They are for the most part very ignorant, and know not what they believe. It appears, however, that like the idolaters of India they believe in the transmigration of the soul into many bodies. It is forbidden to them to take the lives of animals; nevertheless, they make no scruple about eating animals which others have slain, or have died naturally. The god whom they worship is a phantom, of whom they speak blindly, and they are so obstinate in maintaining their gross errors that it is difficult to cure them of them. They say that the God of the Christians and theirs are brothers, but that theirs is the elder. If any one asks them where their god is they reply that he has disappeared, and that they know not where he is.