Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/134
conscience. A Sanskrit text came to their aid in the difficulty. It says "Medicine (whatever it may be) is (as sacred as) the water of the Ganges, and the physician (should be respected) like the (God) Nārāyana, the remover (of pain or sin)."
(3) When many Hindus began to drink tea in the restaurants of the Persians, they began to justify their conduct by declaring that the Persians are more or less Hindus, and that their forefathers were the brothers of Hindus.
(4) For a certain number of purposes it is necessary to use the water of the Ganges, which has a purifying power, to clear some kinds of pollution. In distant parts of India many people keep some water from the Ganges for special occasions. The water is generally scarce, and the uses to which it could be put are many. Again, if one family has any quantity of it, say, about a pint or a quart, all the families in the neighbourhood would like to have some use of it in the case of extreme necessity. Then in order to make the water go for a long time the following method is resorted to. One or two drops of the Ganges water is poured in a gallon of ordinary water. Thus that gallon is converted into Ganges water. This procedure is justified on the ground that when a stream flows into the river Ganges the water of the stream is converted into water of the Ganges.
All this procedure may seem ludicrous; but if properly considered there is nothing bad or blameworthy about it; if we have laws, certain rules of conduct, they generally leave a strong impression on our minds. If we wish to deviate from the established moral principle very few of us can satisfy our conscience or justify ourselves in the eyes of the world around us by the principle of expediency only. We