Their
vow is, that from this position they will not stir, that they will not
move nor turn, nor eat nor drink, till the seeds planted on their lips
begin to sprout. This usually takes place on the third or fourth day.
After this they arise, and then think that they are very holy.
There is a class of devotees in this country called Yogis, whose object
it is to root out every human feeling. Some live in holes and caves.
Some drag around a heavy chain attached to them. Some make the circuit
of an empire, creeping on their hands and knees. Some roll their bodies
from the shores of the Indus to the Ganges.
The Rev. Mr. Heyer, in one of his letters from India, says, that an
Indian devotee has spent more than nine years on a journey from Benares
to Cape Comorin, that is, from the 27th to the 7th degree of north
latitude. The whole journey is made by rolling on the bare ground, from
side to side. When he comes to a river, of course he cannot roll over
it. He therefore fords it, or passes over it in a boat, and then rolls
on the banks of the river just as far as the river is wide. By doing
this, he supposes that his determination to roll all the way is fully
carried out.
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