Besides The Viharas Already Described, There Are Many Others,
Scattered Over The Slope Of The Mountain.
These temple-monasteries
are all smaller than the first, but, according to the opinion of
some archeologists, they are much older.
To what century or epoch
they belong is not known except to a few Brahmans, who keep silence.
Generally speaking, the position of a European archaeologist in
India is very sad. The masses, drowned in superstition, are utterly
unable to be of any use to him, and the learned Brahmans, initiated
into the mysteries of secret libraries in pagodas, do all they can
to prevent archeological research. However, after all that has
happened, it would be unjust to blame the conduct of the Brahmans
in these matters. The bitter experience of many centuries has
taught them that their only weapons are distrust and circumspection,
without these their national history and the most sacred of their
treasures would be irrevocably lost. Political coups d'etat which
have shaken their country to its foundation, Mussulman invasions
that proved so fatal to its welfare, the all-destructive fanaticism
of Mussulman vandals and of Catholic padres, who are ready for
anything in order to secure manuscripts and destroy them - all these
form a good excuse for the action of the Brahmans. However in
spite of these manifold destructive tendencies, there exist in
many places in India vast libraries capable of pouring a bright
and new light, not only on the history of India itself, but also
on the darkest problems of universal history. Some of these
libraries, filled with the most precious manuscripts, are in the
possession of native princes and of pagodas attached to their
territories, but the greater part is in the hands of the Jainas
(the oldest of Hindu sects) and of the Rajputana Takurs, whose
ancient hereditary castles are scattered all over Rajistan, like
so many eagles' nests on high rocks. The existence of the
celebrated collections in Jassulmer and Patana is not unknown to
the Government, but they remain wholly beyond its reach. The
manuscripts are written in an ancient and now completely forgotten
language, intelligible only to the high priests and their initiated
librarians. One thick folio is so sacred and inviolable that it
rests on a heavy golden chain in the centre of the temple of
Chintamani in Jassulmer, and taken down only to be dusted and
rebound at the advent of each new pontiff. This is the work of
Somaditya Suru Acharya, a great priest of the pre-Mussulman time,
well-known in history. His mantle is still preserved in the temple,
and forms the robe of initiation of every new high priest. Colonel
James Tod, who spent so many years in India and gained the love
of the people as well as of the Brahmans - a most uncommon trait
in the biography of any Anglo-Indian - has written the only true
history of India, but even he was never allowed to touch this folio.
Natives commonly believe that he was offered initiation into the
mysteries at the price of the adoption of their religion.
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