When he announced himself as the inspired
teacher of the nations he took the name of Buddha--the wise man, the
enlightener, the inspired prophet.]

[Sidenote: THE SACREDNESS OF KASEE.]

Long before the time of Gautama Hinduism prevailed at Benares, and we
have observed its rites were practised side by side with those of
Buddhism when the city was visited by two Chinese pilgrims. Some time
afterwards it obtained full sway under the form of fanatical devotion to
Shiva the Destroyer, and that sway it has maintained down to our day.
What Jerusalem is to the Jews; what Mecca is to the Muhammadans; what
Rome is to the Roman Catholics--that, and more than that, Benares is to
the Hindus. They form by far the largest portion of the population of
India, and to them Benares--or as they delight to call it, Kasee the
Splendid, the Glorious City--is the most sacred spot on earth. They say,
indeed, it is not built on the earth, but on a point of Shiva's trident.
They assert that at one time it was of gold, but in this degenerate age
it has been turned into stone and clay. In their belief the Ganges is
sacred through its entire course, but as it flows past the sacred city
its cleansing efficacy is supposed to be vastly increased. The rites
performed at Kasee have double merit, and its very soil and air are so
fraught with blessing that all who die there go to heaven, whatever
their character may be. With this belief diffused among the millions
who, differing widely from each other in nationality and language, are
devoted to Hinduism, it may be supposed how many eyes are reverently
turned towards Kasee, and with what eager steps and high expectations
vast numbers resort to it. I have frequently seen persons entering the
city, not on foot--that they did not deem sufficiently respectful--but
prostrating themselves on the ground, measuring the ground with their
bodies, and approaching the sacred shrines. And then, especially on the
occasion of great festivals, bands may be seen entering the city, often
composed of women--hand-in-hand lest they should lose each other in the
crowd--singing the praises of Shiva and the glories of his city. Many
aged people come from distant parts of India--the greater number, I
believe, from Bengal--to reside and end their days in it, that by
becoming Kasseebas (dwellers in Kasee) they may when they die become
Baikuntbas (dwellers in heaven).

Though Benares be _par excellence_ the sacred city of the Hindus