CHAPTER 2.
Hindoo System of Religion.
The Hindoo system is this.

A great divine spirit or essence, 'Brahma', pervades the whole universe; and the soul of every human being is a drop from this great ocean, to which, when it becomes perfectly purified, it is reunited.

The reunion is the eternal beatitude to which all look forward with hope; and the soul of the Brahman is nearest to it.

If he has been a good man, his soul becomes absorbed in the 'Brahma'; and, if a bad man, it goes to 'Narak', hell; and after the expiration of its period there of _limited imprisonment_, it returns to earth, and occupies the body of some other animal.

It again advances by degrees to the body of the Brahman; and thence, when fitted for it, into the great 'Brahma'.[1] From this great eternal essence emanate Brahma, the Creator, whose consort is Sarasvati;[2] Vishnu, the Preserver, whose consort is Lakshmi; and Siva, _alias_ Mahadeo, the Destroyer, whose consort is Parvati.