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6 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
is a Brahmin, sitting near it, wearing the clothes of Muslims and receiving monies offered at the Darga. This he did for the sake of money. Religion or no religion what the Brahmin wants is Dakshina. Indeed the Brahmins have made religion a matter of trade and commerce. Compare with this faithlessness of the Brahmins the fidelity of the Jews to their Gods even when their conqueror Nebuchadnezzar forced the Jews to abandon their religion and adopt his (religion) [1] .
Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made an image of gold, whose height was three score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king, ordered the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar, the king had set up.
Then the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then an herald cried aloud,
“To you, it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack-but, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
And who so falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of burning fiery furnace.”
Therefore at that time, when all the people heared the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack-but, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar,
“O King, live for ever.
Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack-but, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick shall fall down and worship the golden image;
1 What follows is from Damet Ch. 3 (Old Testament).