IV
DEVI—GODDESS!
A young unmarried girl is by some in Bengal called Kumari—Princess, and when married, Devi—Goddess.
I was musing on this, and all it told of the feeling of a Nation, and of the true beauty of that feeling at its best, when an old Prime-Minister friend of mine in a Native State came to invite me to a Ceremony.
It is known how I love all things primitive and individual, and my orthodox Hindu friends are very good to me in remembering this. “But of course I will come,” I promised. “What is it this time?”
“The worship of young girls,” said he. There was the idea again, the central idea in all Hindu thought in relation to women. … The worship of the Life-Bringer.
It was very simple, as all such Ceremonies
