s Kali, Durga, Devi,
and so on, are not regarded as deities. Brahmans are usually employed
for ceremonies, but these may also, especially birth and funeral
ceremonies, be performed by non-Brahmans. In the Punjab members of
the Samaj of different castes will take food together, but rarely
in the United Provinces. Dissension has arisen on the question of
the consumption of flesh, and the Samaj is split into two parties,
vegetarians and meat-eaters. In the United Provinces, Mr. Burn states,
the vegetarian party would not object to employ men of low caste as
cooks, excepting such impure castes as Chamars, Doms and sweepers,
so long as they were also vegetarians. The Aryas still hold the
doctrine of the transmigration of souls and venerate the cow, but
they do not regard the cow as divine. In this respect their position
has been somewhat modified from that of Dayanand, who was a vigorous
supporter of the Gaoraksha or cow-protection movement.

4. Modernising tendencies.

Again Dayanand enunciated a very peculiar doctrine on Niyoga or the
custom of childless women, either married or widows, resorting to men
other than their husbands for obtaining an heir. This is permitted
under certain circumstances by the Hindu lawbooks. Dayanand laid down
that a Hindu widow might resort in succession to five men until she
had borne each of them two children, and a married woman might do
the same with the consent of her husband, or without his consent if
he had been absent from home for a certain number of years, varying
according to the purpose for which he was absent. [245] Dayanand held
that this rule would have beneficial results. Those who could restrain
their impulses would still be considered as following the best way;
but for the majority who could not do so, the authorised method
and degree of intimacy laid down by him would prevent such evils as
prostitution, connubial unfaithfulness, and the secret _liaisons_
of widows, resulting in practices like abortion. The prevalence of
such a custom would, however, certainly do more to injure social
and family life than all the evils which it was designed to prevent,
and it is not surprising to find that the Samaj does not now consider
Niyoga an essential doctrine; instead of this they are trying in face
of much opposition to introduce the natural and proper custom of the
remarriage of widows. The principal rite of the Samaj is the old Hom
sacrifice of burning clarified butter, grain