The Flower of Forgiveness.
by Flora Annie Steel.
"Surely this is very rare?" I remarked, as looking through a herbarium of Himalayan plants belonging to a friend of mine, I came upon a small anemone which, contrary to the custom of that most delicate of flowers, had preserved its colour in all its first freshness. Indeed, the scarlet petals, each bearing a distinct, heart-shaped blotch of white in the centre, could scarcely have glowed more brilliantly in life than they did in death.
"Very rare," returned the owner after a pause; "I have reason to believe it unique--so far as collections go, at any rate."
"I see you have called it _Remissionensis_. What induced you to give it such an odd name?"
He smiled. "Dog Latin, I acknowledge. As for the reason--can you not guess?"
"Well," I replied, looking closer at the white and red flowers, "I have not your vivid imagination, but I presume it was in allusion to sins as scarlet, and hearts white as wool. Ah! it was found, I see, near the Cave of Amar-nath; that accounts for the connection of ideas."
"No doubt," he said quietly, "that accounts for the connection in a measure; not entirely. The fact is, a very odd story--the oddest story I ever came into personally--is connected with that flower. You remember Taylor, surgeon of the 101st, who died of pyaemia contracted in some of his cholera experiments? Well, just after I joined we chummed together in Cashmere, where he was making the herbarium at which you have been looking. He was a most charming companion for a youngster eager to understand something of a new life, for, without exception, he knew more of native thought and feeling than any other man I ever met.
He had a sort of intuition about it; yet at the same time he was curiously unsympathetic, and seemed to look upon it merely as a field for research, and nothing more. He used to talk to every man he met on the road, and in this way managed to acquire an extraordinary amount of information utterly undreamed of by most Englishmen. For instance, his first acquaintance with the existence of this anemone grew out of a chance conversation with an old ruffian besmeared with filth from head to foot, and it was his consequent desire to add the rarity to his collection, joined to my fancy for seeing a real pilgrimage, which brought us to Islamabad about the end of July, about the time, that is to say, of the annual festival.
"The sacred spring where the pilgrimage is inaugurated by a solemn feeding of the holy fish is some way from the town, so we pitched our tents under a plane-tree close to the temples, in order to see the whole show. And a queer show it was. Brummagem umbrellas stuck like mushrooms over green stretches of gra.s.s, and giving shelter to a motley crew; _jogis_, or wandering mendicants, meditating on the mystic word Om, and thereafter lighting sacred fires with Swedish _tandstickors_; Government clerks, bereft of raiment, forgetting reports and averages in a return to primitive humanity. Taylor never tired of pointing out these strange contrasts, and over his evening pipe read me many a long lecture on the putting of new wine into old bottles. For myself, it interested me immensely. I liked to think of the young men and maidens, the weary workers, and the h.o.a.ry old sinners, all journeying in faith, hope, and charity (or the want of it) to the Cave of Amar-nath in order to get the Great Ledger of Life settled up to date, and so to return scot-free to the world, the flesh, and the devil, in order to begin the old round all over again. I liked to think that crime sufficient to drag half Hindostan to the nethermost pit had been made over to those white gypsum cliffs, and that still, summer after summer, the wind flowers sprang from the crannies, and the forget-me-nots with their message of warning came to carpet the way for those eager feet seeking the impossible. I liked to see all the strange perversities and pieties displayed by the _jogis_ and _gosains_. It was from one of the latter, a horrid old ruffian (so ridiculously like _Il Re Galant "uomo_, that we nicknamed him Victor Emanuel on the spot), that Taylor had first heard of the Flower of Forgiveness, as the man styled it. He and the doctor grew quite hot over the possible remission of sins; but the subsequent gift of one rupee sterling sent him away a.s.severating that none could filch from him the first-fruits of pilgrimage--namely, the opportunity of meeting a Protector of the Poor so virtuous, so generous, so full of the h.o.a.rded wisdom of ages. I recognised the old humbug in the crowd as we made our way to a sort of latticed gallery belonging to the Maharajah"s guest-house, which gave on the tank where the fish are fed. He salaamed profoundly, and, with a grin, expressed his delight that, after all, the great doctor _sahib_ should be seeking forgiveness.
""I seek the flower only, Pious One," replied Taylor, with a shrug of the shoulders.
""Perhaps "tis the same thing," replied Victor Emanuel with another salaam.
"The square tank was edged by humanity in the white and saffron robes of pilgrimage. Br.i.m.m.i.n.g up to the stone step, worn smooth by generations of sinners, the waters of the spring lapped lazily, stirred by the myriads of small fish which, in their eagerness for the coming feast, flashed hither and thither like meteors, to gather in radiating stars round the least speck on the surface; sometimes in their haste rising in scaly mounds above the water. The blare of a conch and a clanging of discordant bells made all eyes turn to the platform in front of the temple, where the attendant Brahmans stood with high-heaped baskets of grain awaiting the sacrificial words about to be spoken by an old man, who, with one foot on the bank, spread his arms skywards--an old man of insignificant height, but with an indescribable dignity, on which I remarked to my companion.
""It is indescribable," he a.s.sented, "because it is compounded of factors not only wide as the poles asunder from you and me, but also from each other. Pride of twice-born trebly-distilled ancestry bringing a conviction of inherited worthiness; pride in hardly-acquired devotion giving birth to a sense of personal frailty. _That_ is the Brahman whom we lump into a third-cla.s.s railway carriage with the ruck of humanity, and then wonder--hush! he is going to begin."
""Thou art Light! Thou art Immortal Life!" The voice, with a tremor of emotion in it, pierced the stillness for a second before it was shattered by a hoa.r.s.e, strident cry--"Silence!"
"Taylor leaned forward, suddenly interested. "You"re in luck," he whispered, "I believe there is going to be a row of some sort."
"Once more the cry rose harsher than before: "Silence, Sukya! Thou art impure."
"A stir in the crowd, and a visible straightening of the old man"s back were the only results.
""Thou art the Holiest Sacrifice! We adore Thee, adorable Sun!"
""Silence!"
"This time the interruption took shape in a _jogi_, who, forcing his way through the dense ranks, emerged on the platform to stand pointing with denunciatory finger at the old Brahman. Naked, save for the cable of gra.s.s round his loins and the smearing of white ashes, with hair lime-bleached and plaited with hemp into a sort of _chignon_, no more ghastly figure could be conceived. The crowd, however, hailed him with evident respect, while a murmur of "Gopi! "tis Gopi the _bikshu_ (religious beggar)" pa.s.sed from mouth to mouth. This reception seemed to rouse the old man"s wrath, for after one scornful glance at the new-comer he was about to continue his invocation to the sun, when the _jogi_, striding forward, flourished his mendicant"s staff so close to the other"s face that he perforce fell back.
"Before the crowd had grasped the deadly earnest of the scene, a lad of about sixteen, clad in the black antelope skin which marks a religious disciple, had leaped, quivering with rage, between the old man and his a.s.sailant.
""By George," muttered Taylor, "what a splendid young fellow!"
"He was indeed. Extraordinarily fair, even for the fairest race in India, he might have served as model for a young Perseus as he stood there, the antelope skin falling from his right shoulder, leaving the sacred cord of the Brahman visible on his left, while his smooth, round limbs showed in all their naked, vigorous young beauty.
""Stand off, Amra! who bade thee interfere?" cried the old man sternly.
The bond between them was manifest by the alacrity with which the boy obeyed the command; for to the spiritual master implicit obedience is due. At the same moment the chief priest of the shrine, alarmed at an incident which might interfere with the expected almsgiving, hurried forward. Luckily the crowd kept the silence which characterises gregarious humanity in the East, so we could follow what was said.
""Wilt remove yonder drunken fanatic, or shall the worship of the Shining Ones be profaned?" asked the old Brahman savagely; and at a sign from their chief the attendants stepped forward.
"But the _jogi_ facing the crowd, appealed direct to that fear of defilement which haunts the Hindu"s heart. "Impure! Impure! Touch him not! Hear him not! Look not on him!" The vast concourse swayed and stirred, as with a confident air the _jogi_ turned to the chief priest.
"These twelve years agone, O! _mohunt-ji_"[1] thou knowest Gopi--Gopi the _bikshu!_ since for twelve years I have been led hither by the Spirit, seeking speech, and finding silence! But now speech is given by the same Spirit. That man, Sukya, anchorite of Setanagar, is unclean, false to his race, to his vows, to the Shining Ones! I, Gopi the _bikshu_, will prove it."
"Once again a murmur rose like the wind presaging a storm, and as the crowd surged closer to the temple, a young girl in the saffron drapery of a pilgrim took advantage of the movement to make her way to the platform, with the evident intention of pressing to the old man"s side; but she was arrested by the young Perseus, who, with firm hands clasping hers, whispered something in her ear. She smiled up at him; and so they stood, hand in hand, eager but confident, as the Brahman"s voice, clear with certainty, dominated the confusion.
""Ay! Prove it! Prove that I, Sukya, taught of the great Swami, twice-born Brahman, faithful disciple, blameless householder and pious anchorite in due turn, as the faith demands, have failed once in the law without repentance and atonement! Lo! I swear by the Shining Ones that I stand before ye to-day, body and soul, holy to the uttermost."
""G.o.d gie us a gude conceit o" oursels," muttered Taylor.
"The remark jarred on me painfully, for the spiritual exaltation in the man"s face had nothing personal in it; nothing more selfish than the rapt confidence which glorified the young disciple"s whole bearing, as he gazed on his master with the sort of blind adoration one sees in the eyes of a dog.
""Think! I am Sukya!" went on the high-pitched voice. "Would Sukya come between his brethren and the Shining Ones? I, chosen for the oblation by reason of virtue and learning; I, Sukya, journeying to holy Amar-nath not for my own sake,--for I fear no judgment,--but for the sake of the disciple, yonder boy Amra, betrothed to the daughter of my daughter, and vowed to the pilgrimage from birth."
"A yell of crackling laughter came from the _jogi_ as he leapt to the bastion of the bathing-place, and so, raised within sight of all, struck an att.i.tude of indignant appeal. "When was an outcast vowed to pilgrimage? And by my _jogi"s_ vow I swear the boy Amra, disciple of Sukya, to be an outcast. A Sudra of Sudras! seeing that his mother, being twice-born, defiled her race with sc.u.m from beyond the seas."
""By George!" muttered Taylor again, "this is getting lively--for the sc.u.m."
""Perhaps the Presence is becoming tired of this vulgar scene,"
suggested an obsequious _chupra.s.si_, who had been devoted to our service by order of the Cashmere officials; but the Presences were deeply interested. For all that, I should not care to witness such a sight again. The attention of the crowd, centred a moment before on the _jogi_, was turned now on the boy, who stood absolutely alone; the girl, moved by the unreasoning habit of race, having dropped his hand at the first word and crept to her grandfather"s side. I can see that young face still, awful in its terror, piteous in its entreaty.
""Thou liest, Gopi!" cried the Brahman, gasping with pa.s.sion; and at the words a gleam of hope crept to those hunted eyes. "Prove it, I say; for I appeal to the Shining Ones whom I have served."
""I accept the challenge," yelled the _jogi_ with frantic gestures, while a perfect roar of a.s.sent, cries of devotion, and prayers for guidance, rose from the crowd.
"Taylor looked round at me quickly. "You are in luck. There is going to be a miracle. I saw that Gopi at Hurdwar once; he is a rare hand at them." He must have understood my resentment at being thus recalled to the nineteenth century, for he added half to himself, ""Tis tragedy for all that,--to the boy."
"An appeal for silence enabled us to hear that both parties had agreed to refer the question of birth to the sacred cord, with which every male of the three twice-born castes is invested. If the strands were of the pure cotton ordained by ritual to the Brahman, the boy should be held of pure blood; but the admixture of anything pointing to the despised Sudra would make him _anathema maranatha_, and render his master impure, and therefore unfit to lead the devotions of others.
"I cannot attempt to describe the scene which followed; for even now, the confusion inseparable from finding yourself in surroundings which require explanation before they can fall into their appointed place in the picture, prevents me from remembering anything in detail--anything but a surging sea of saffron and white, a babel of wild cries, "_Hurri!
Gunga-ji! Dhurm! Dhurm!_" (Hurri![2] Ganges! the Faith! the Faith!) Then suddenly a roar--"Gopi! a miracle! a miracle! Praise be to the Shining Ones!"
"It seemed but a moment ere the enthusiastic crowd had swept the _jogi_ from his pedestal, and, crowned with jasmin chaplets, he was being borne high on men"s shoulders to make a round of the various temples; while the keepers of the shrine swelled the tumult judiciously by cries of "Oblations! offerings! The Shining Ones are present to-day!"
"In my excitement at the scene itself I had forgotten its cause, and was regretting the all too sudden ending of the spectacle, when Taylor touched me on the arm. "The tragedy is about to begin! Look!"
"Following his eyes I saw, indeed, tragedy enough to make me forget what had gone before; yet I knew well that I did not, could not, fathom its depth or measure its breadth. Still, in a dim way I realised that the boy, standing as if turned to stone, had pa.s.sed in those few moments from life as surely as if a physical death had struck him down; that he might indeed have been less forlorn had such been the case, since some one for their own sakes might then have given him six feet of earth. And now, even a cup of water, that last refuge of cold charity, was denied to him for ever, save from hands whose touch was to his Brahmanised soul worse than death. For him there was no future. For the old man who, burdened by the weeping girl, stood opposite him, there was no past. Nothing but a h.e.l.l of defilement; of daily, hourly impurity for twelve long years. The thought was d.a.m.nation.
""Come, Premi! come!" he muttered, turning suddenly to leave the platform. "This is no place for us now. Quick! we must cleanse ourselves from deadly sin--from deadly, deadly sin."
"They had reached the steps leading down to the tank when the boy, with a sob like that of a wounded animal, flung himself in agonised entreaty at his master"s feet. "Oh, cleanse me, even me also, oh my father!"
"The old man shrank back instinctively; yet there was no anger, only a merciless decision in his face. "Ask not the impossible! Thou art not alone impure; thou art uncleansable from birth--yea! for ever and ever.
Come, Premi, come, my child."
"I shall never forget the cry which echoed over the water, startling the pigeons from their evening rest amid the encircling trees.
"Uncleansable for ever and ever!" Then in wild appeal from earth to heaven he threw his arms skyward. "Oh, Shining Ones! say I am the same Amra, the twice-born Amra, thy servant!"