Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 55
55 Split thou my rivals, Darbha…Crush thou my rivals, Darbha…Burn thou, my rivals…Consume thou my rivals…Slay thou my rivals, Darbha…Slay all who wish me evil. (vii) In Yajur-Veda (27:2) we have: Agni, be those uninjured who adore thee, thy priests be glorious and none beside them. (viii) In Yajur-Veda (11:80) we have: Agni, him who would seek to injure us, the man who looks on us with hate, turn thou to ashes. Besides the Vedas, other Hindu books also contain the same sort of teaching. In the Manu Smrti, admitted by all Hindu schools as a reliable Hindu Scripture, we have: * (i) Whatever man of the three highest classes, having addicted himself to heretical books, shall treat with contempt those two roots of law, he must be driven as an atheist and a scorner of revelation from the company of the virtuous (II: 11). Are the critics of the Vedas to be banished from the country? (ii) A man of the lowest class, who shall insolently place himself on the same seat with one of the highest, shall either be banished with a mark on his hinder parts, or the king shall cause a gash to be made on his buttock (VIII: 281). (iii) A Brahman may seize without hesitation, if he be distressed for a subsistence, the goods of his Sudra-slave; for as that slave can have no property, his master may take his goods (VIII: 417). (iv) But a man of the servile class whether bought or unbought, he may compel to perform servile duty; because such a man was created by the Self-Existent for the purpose of serving Brahmans (VIII: 413). (v) A Sudra, though emancipated by his master, is not released from a state of servitude; for, of a state, which is natural to him, by whom can he be divested? (VIII: 414). (vi) Should he (a Sudra), through pride, give instructions to priests concerning their duty, let the king order some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and ear (VIII: 272). From these passages from Manu it is obvious that according to the Hindu religion, the grace and beneficence of God are confined to a few chosen castes. For some human beings it is a sin to recite the Vedas or listen to their recitation, and if they break the rule and seek either to recite, listen to or memorize any part of the Vedas, dire punishment amounting even to death is the penalty they have to pay. The quotations are from the translation by Sir William Jones, 1869.