EZD OF WISCONSIN. TRANSFERRED TO U OF W LIBRARY STACKS INTRODUCTION. In a former work,* I have given, as far as possible in the language of the sacred books, an account of the deities commonly worshipped by the Hindus of Northern India. In this I propose to give an account of the life of the Hindus, which is largely the result of the worship of those deities. Having lived for many years in India, and met with all classes of the community in the cities and in the villages, and having conversed with them in their own language, I have learned much that is not to be found in books written on this most interesting subject. I have read much that has been written by Europeans and Bengalis concerning the faiths and practices of the people; and in conversation with priests and pundits have tested the accuracy of many of the statements made in these works, so that what is found in these pages may be received with confidence as a trustworthy account of the religious life of the Hindu community. In this book, as in my former one, I have abstained from comment on the character of these practices; my work here is rather that of a chronicler than of a preacher. In writing of the mythology *“Hindu Mythology-Vedic and Purānic." Thacker and Co., New, gate Street; and Thacker, Spink, and Co., Calcutta, |